Seducing the Defendant

by Chantal Fernando

  “Perhaps,” he replies, flashing me a knowing smile. “I’d better hurry.”

  “Okay,” I mumble, burying myself into the sheets.

  What an eventful morning this has been.

  I WAKE UP BEFORE Demon, who must have been tired after all the excitement of a bar brawl, breaking in, dealing with us, and then having to go to the hospital to get stitched up. I’m not sure what he likes to eat for breakfast, but I assume pancakes and bacon are a safe bet. I also scramble some eggs and bake some fresh bread to cover all bases.

  “Good morning. How are you feeling?” I ask him, gaze going straight to his arm when he walks into the kitchen an hour later.

  “Yeah, I feel okay,” he says, eyeing the spread I’ve laid out on the table. “Fuck, Scar, you cooking for an army, or what?”

  “I didn’t know what you’d want, and I had heaps of spare time,” I say, shrugging. “Have a seat. Do you want some coffee?”

  “Love some,” he murmurs, sitting down and starting to pile food on his plate. “Is this how you trapped Jaxon? With your cooking?”

  “I didn’t trap him with anything.” I smirk, bringing a mug of coffee to him. “But I’m sure the food helped. You know what they say . . . the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

  He takes a bite of his pancake and moans. “I can vouch for that statement being very true.”

  I roll my eyes and sit down opposite him, grabbing a piece of bacon and taking a bite. “Are the men going to ask you where you went last night?”

  “I’m not a prisoner there, Scar. I don’t have to explain my every move. We all have our own shit going on,” he says, glancing up at me after trying the bread. “Did you bake fresh bread this morning?”

  I nod.

  “You woke up and baked bread, from scratch, just for my breakfast?” he clarifies, a bewildered look on his face.

  “Well, for both of us, yes,” I reply, wondering where he’s going with this.

  “If he doesn’t marry you soon, I will,” he mutters under his breath, then takes another giant bite of the bread. “You’d make a good old lady, Scar.”

  “After having met Valentina, I’ll definitely take that as a compliment,” I tell him, feeling happy as he demolishes the meal.

  “You should. And I haven’t seen Jaxon open up to anyone like he has you, especially after losing his sister. That really hit him hard. I didn’t think he’d recover from it, if I’m being honest.”

  I stay quiet, and try to control my expression.

  Because I didn’t know Jaxon had lost a sister.

  Isn’t that something you tell someone you love? It sucks that I didn’t know about such a big part of who he is, and something that obviously affected him a great deal. Pain changes people. I wish he’d have shared this with me, opened up to me. I want him to be able to feel like he can tell me anything. I want him to tell me everything. At the same time, I don’t want to bring this up to him, shouldn’t he be the one to come to me with it? I don’t want to push him to talk about something he’s not ready to, but at the same time what if he never says anything? I don’t want to ask Demon about it, because this is something that has to come from Jaxon himself.

  “Were you close with her?” I ask, not wanting him to know that I didn’t even know Jaxon had a sister. It makes sense now, though. The picture on the bookshelf, the one I assumed was an ex-girlfriend.

  It was his sister.

  Demon’s baby-blue eyes turn melancholy. “Yeah, we were close.” He smiles sadly, and takes a deep breath. “Jaxon adored Olivia, and so did I.”

  I study him for a moment, and then ask, “Did you two . . . ummm . . . have a thing?”

  “No,” he says, making a sound of pain. “I loved her, Scar. She was the one. The timing never seemed right, you know? So I waited. But I waited too long, because she found someone else. I thought she was happy, so I let her be so she could live her life. I should have been selfish and gone after her, because deep down inside I knew that no one could ever love her like I do.”

  Do, not did.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell him, not knowing what else to say. “You didn’t know, Demon.”

  “We never know,” he mumbles.

  “You did what you thought was right to make her happy. I understand that. All I want is to make Jaxon happy,” I tell Demon. “Like he does to me.”

  “Have you seen the way he looks at you, Scar?” He chuckles and adds, “Trust me, the man is happy. And when he’s happy, so am I. And so are you, apparently.” He chews slowly while watching me, then swallows before he speaks. “Irish is one of my brothers, but I’m glad it’s him in there and not you. And I’m glad Jaxon fought for you to win your case. I’m sorry I didn’t help him. It’s something I regret, but my loyalty is also to the club, so my hands were tied.”

  I didn’t know anything about this, but I guess it makes sense. “You don’t have to apologize, Demon,” I say, my eyes gentle on him. “I understand. And after spending time with Valentina, I understand even more. You would never betray your family.”

  He nods once. “Yeah, but Jaxon was my family first,” he says, then goes a little quiet.

  After a few moments of silence, I decide to change the subject. “Do you want me to check your arm?”

  “It’s fine,” he says, shrugging me off. “The nurse said I was lucky because it didn’t hit an artery, just the fleshy part. I just have to take the antibiotics and pain meds.”

  I don’t think he has a fleshy part on his arm, or anywhere else on his body, but anyway. “Did you take them?”

  “No.”

  I purse my lips, stand up, and grab some water from the fridge, sliding the bottle over to him. “You might want to do that.”

  “You trying to boss me around, Scar?” he asks, amusement etched all over his expression.

  “Just trying to take care of you, Demon,” I reply, not taking the bait. “If you want me to drop you anywhere let me know, otherwise I’m going to be hanging out on the couch all day watching movies, so you’re welcome to join me.”

  “That actually sounds good,” he admits, wincing as he lifts his arm up. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do much else today anyway. Don’t ask me how I rode here on my bike, because I have no idea.”

  “Adrenaline, maybe?” I suggest. “I don’t think you should ride home though. Let me know what you want to do, I’m free all day, so I’m flexible.”

  “Can I choose the first movie?” he asks, apparently having made his decision.

  “If you take your pills first,” I counter.

  “Deal.”

  chapter 33

  Jaxon

  WHEN SCARLETT DOESN’T ANSWER her phone, I rush home as fast as I can.

  “Scarlett?” I call out as I open the door and all but run inside. I stop as I enter the living room to see both her and Demon fast asleep, the TV on. Scarlett is lying on the couch, and Demon is on the floor, a pillow behind his head and a thick blanket covers his body. Is this what the two of them did all day? I can’t stop the grin on my face if I tried, as I pull out my phone and take a picture of the two of them. Not wanting to wake them up, I jump in the shower, trying to wash away the day. It was a long one.

  The good news is, I won’t have to deal with Sharon for much longer. I’ve been thinking of taking another break, maybe I’ll take Scarlett on a vacation somewhere. It’s always work with me, and for once I’d like to be able to relax and enjoy more time with her. By the time I’m dressed and resurface from my room, Scarlett is still asleep, but I see Demon at the fridge grabbing some juice.

  “Good morning,” I say to him in a dry tone. “Looks like you had a productive day.”

  He chuckles and replies with, “Your woman keeps cooking, so it’s hard not to spend the day in a food coma. Jesus Christ, how are you not triple your size?”

&nb
sp; “Gym and sex,” I reply in a dry tone. “How’s the arm?”

  “Not bad. Scar made me take painkillers,” he tells me, closing the fridge. “She can be a real pain in the ass when she needs to be.”

  I grin at that. “Considering you fell asleep around her, that tells me everything I need to know.”

  Demon has trust issues. He will never, ever fall asleep around someone he doesn’t trust. He rarely gives his back to people. He can be very paranoid, although I guess he does have reason to be that way. Especially with his job, he knows better than most that people aren’t always what and who they seem to be.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he mutters under his breath, but I see through him. He likes Scarlett. And I’m glad that he does—what’s not to like? “She won’t let me ride home either. In the morning my arm was hurting like a bitch, so I agreed, but I’m feeling fine now. I might head home while she’s asleep so she doesn’t have a panic attack.”

  I softly chuckle and touch his unharmed arm. “It’s up to you. I can drive you, or ride your bike back for you if you want to take my car, but then they’ll see me.”

  “Yeah.” He sighs. “Better I just ride alone; it’ll be fine.” He pauses and smirks. “I’ve done worse. Hell, we’ve done worse.”

  I can’t deny that one. “I know.”

  I walk him outside, hug him, and then watch as he rides away.

  I don’t know what he’s doing, or what he’s going to do when his case is over, but I’m worried about the man. When Scarlett rushes outside when she hears the rumble of his motorcycle, I know she’s worried too.

  “You let him ride? His arm!”

  I wrap my arm around her and kiss the top of her head. “He’s fine, baby. Don’t worry about him.”

  “I can’t help but worry about him,” she admits, shifting on her feet. “Even if it was just a flesh wound.”

  “Is that what he told you?” I ask, not sure whether to laugh or cringe.

  “Wait, what?” she growls, turning to face me, her eyes narrowing. “He told me he cut the fleshy part of his arm so it wasn’t a big deal.”

  Yeah, that was not what happened at all.

  The knife hit an artery, and he’d lost a lot of blood.

  “It’s fine, Scarlett,” I say, hiding my amusement at her reaction. You’d think Demon was her grown kid or something. “He’ll be fine. Come on; let’s go inside. Is there any food left over? I’m hungry.”

  She nods. “There’s some in the oven.”

  Demon sends me a message a little later saying he’s back at the clubhouse and that he’s fine. I show it to Scarlett, hoping she can stop worrying about him.

  “Any other friends going to drop by in the middle of the night at any point?” she asks as she lays in bed, kissing my rough cheek.

  “Nope, I have no other friends,” I tell her. “Unless Tristan or Hunter get into a bar fight at some point.”

  “Are they fighters?” she asks, arching her brow. “I imagine them fighting in the court instead of with their fists.”

  “Hey, don’t underestimate us lawyers,” I say, rolling her onto her back and pinning her arms above her head. “We’re sneaky, and we don’t like to lose.”

  “I think some of them are a little rough around the edges too,” she murmurs, licking her bottom lip. “No matter how much they disguise it in expensive suits and a good vocabulary.”

  I throw my head back and laugh. “You’re only saying that because you met Demon, and you now know that we grew up together.”

  She grins, and lifts her head to kiss me. “You’re adaptable, Jaxon. I think you’d fit in anywhere, be king anywhere. ”

  “Are you going to be my queen anywhere?” I ask, kissing down her neck. “Because that’s the only way I’d want it.”

  She sighs in pleasure as I suck on her smooth skin, just enough so I don’t leave a mark, then lift my face up and move my lips to her breasts, which are covered in a black push-up bra. I pull the cups down and latch on to one of her pretty pink nipples, sucking, and biting enticingly, knowing how much is turns her on because her nipples are so sensitive.

  “Jaxon,” she whispers, her mouth dropping open, her eyes turning heavy. I love when she gets like this, so submissive, just waiting for me to please her and take care of everything. Trusting that I will take care of everything. I slide the straps of her bra down so I have easier access and continue to tease her until she pleads to give her more. Only then do I let my fingers roam farther down, inside her panties, feeling how wet and ready she is for me. I’m hard as a fucking rock, but I want her to be so damn turned on before I slide into her. I want her to be begging for my dick, and then I’m going to give it to her and make her come more times than she thinks is possible. I pull her panties all the way down and remove her dress. Her bra is still clasped at the back, so she sits forward and takes it off for me.

  I appreciate that.

  I move down the bed, spread her milky thighs, and start to lick her from bottom to top. She squirms, and I pin her thighs down and continue to taste her until she comes.

  Only then do I let go of her thighs, lift her into my arms, and carry her into the shower. She stands there on shaky legs while I turn the water on, testing the temperature before placing her under the warm water. I take off my clothes, then join her, pressing her against the tiles and kissing her until neither of us knows who is who.

  Then I get down on my knees, lift one of her legs up and over my shoulder, and go down on her again.

  And I’m only just getting started.

  “YOU NEVER TAKE TIME off work,” Tristan says, surprise written all over his face. “I don’t think you’ve ever taken time off since I’ve known you. Except when Olivia . . .” He trails off, then clears his throat. I tried to take time off after Olivia died, but that didn’t last long. “Who are you and what have you done with Jaxon?”

  “Leave the man alone,” Kat pipes in, winking at me. “He never had anyone to go on vacation with before, now he does. I think it’s cute.”

  Not amused, I sigh at the two of them, and shake my head. “Thank you to the peanut gallery. I was actually thinking of surprising Scarlett with a trip somewhere. And you’re right, Tristan, I haven’t taken any vacation time, so I hope you can hold down the fort while I go away for as long as I want.”

  I haven’t taken on any new cases, and I won’t until I know what I’m doing. A break is needed, and spoiling my woman is necessary. I just hope the library will let her take some time off too, or this will all be for nothing.

  “Hawaii?” Kat suggests, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Or how about Greece Croatia is meant to be absolutely beautiful.”

  “I’ll have a look,” I tell her, offering her a smile. “Thanks for the ideas.”

  Hunter sticks his head in and glances around. “We having a meeting without inviting me?”

  “Just all making comments on Jaxon’s latest life decisions,” Tristan says, smirking at me.

  “What? Did he finally sleep with Sharon?” Hunter teases, earning a dirty look from me. “Because otherwise, I can take one for the team.”

  “You’re a pig,” Kat says to him, but without any heat. If anything, she sounds amused by it. “And by the looks of things, she only has eyes for one criminal lawyer, the unattainable Mr. Jaxon Bentley.”

  Oh how I’m not going to miss these daily unwelcome meetings in my office.

  “That’s because she hasn’t seen how ripped I am under this shirt,” Hunter says with confidence. He starts flexing, and Kat starts laughing, which makes Tristan scowl and mutter, “Okay, that’s enough. Show-off.”

  Callum walks into my office next and glances around at everyone. “Are we having a secret meeting that I’m not invited to? Not cool, guys. It’s because I’m the youngest here, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly why,” Kat tells him. “Ha
ve you told Jaxon your plans?”

  “What plans?” I ask him with curiosity.

  “I’ve decided to apply to be a law clerk for a judge,” he says to me. “It won’t start until after I graduate law school, but I thought it might be a good career path.”

  “Hopefully you get Judge Williams,” Hunter says, then blurts out laughing. He’s referring to the one judge every lawyer in the county tries to avoid.

  “That’s cold, Hunter,” Tristan says, looking to Callum. “Judge Greer is a nice guy. Maybe you will get him, instead of the Dragon.”

  That’s actually what people call her behind her back.

  Callum looks between all of us. “I’m sure I can handle whoever it is,” he says, confidence in his tone. “If I can survive you lot, pretty sure I can survive some old-ass boring judge.”

  “You’ll have to let us know who you end up with,” Kat tells him, eyes sparkling. “We’re going to miss you, but how exciting.”

  “Doesn’t anyone have any work to do?” I ask, to which they all answer with a collective “Not really.”

  “How are we one of the top firms in town?” I wonder out loud.

  “The other ones really suck,” Kat suggests, shrugging. She pulls on the red material of her blouse and adds, “And we are pros at winging things. Oh, and we all have pretty great minds.”

  “And we’re all good-looking,” Hunter adds, a smirk playing on his lips. “I heard one of my clients discussing it on the phone, actually.”

  I scrub my hand down my face. “I feel like I’m losing some of my IQ listening to this.”

  “Why are you grumpy? You’re going on vacation soon,” Tristan points out. He turns to Kat and smiles at her. “Maybe we should christen his office when he’s gone.”

  I point at him. “I’m locking my office up, thank you very much. Jesus, where else have you christened? And when do you find the time? Someone is always here. Poor Yvonne.”