JAX (Breaking the Declan Brothers #1) (6 page)

“If I am,” I whisper, “tell me, Em, is it working?”

She shifts back, looks at me for a few seconds, and with each second, my cock grows another inch behind the bar. Fuck me and my restraint, I promised myself not to give into her right away, but hell, she’s too damn tempting. She grabs her purse and stands up, and her eyes stroke me hard, just the way I want her to stroke my cock. “Maybe. I’ll see you around, Jax.”

I place my hands on the edge of the bar and lift up. “Maybe, you will.” I grin, holding it until she walks toward the back to meet up with her friends. Fuck. I’m finished. She has me, and she doesn’t even know it. That’s okay. I’m gonna keep it that way for a while longer. Emmie Rue is used to getting what she wants, but when it comes to me, she’s gonna have to give a little more than she’s given to any other guy.

But I gotta be very careful. I can’t fuck this up with my brutal needs. I must be patient, and I must remain in control.

CHAPTER SEVEN

 “This is the last one, girls,” Lurlene says carrying a bottle of wine.

“That’s okay,” Rayna lifts her glass, “I’m trashed.”

“You should be, this is your fifth refill,” Lurlene says.

“Didn’t know you were counting, Mom,” Rayna smirks, watching the wine as it flows into her glass. “Hey,” her eyes flash to me, “where’d we get this one from again?”

“Book Club, and don’t start. You know you fell in love with her the second you heard her rendition of
Fifty Shades of Grey.
”

“You’re right.” Rayna slouches back into the wicker chair. “I do love ya, Lurlene. Emmie gets me in trouble, and you keep me honest. I couldn’t ask for any more from my two best gals.” She looks up at the sky with a sigh. “God. I forget how beautiful it is here. Look at that moon. It’s perfect.”

We all look up to appreciate the night’s beauty.

“Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody,” Lurlene quietly says.

“Who’s that,” I ask Lurlene, who’s always quoting somebody.

“Mark Twain.” She looks at me. “Ready?” She lifts the wine bottle.

“Please.” I hold my glass out to her. I’m trashed too, but I want to keep going.  It’s been three days, and Jax hasn’t called. So getting drunk in the backyard with my two besties is just what I need.

And I tried real hard not to think about him, but it took a day just to get the sting out of my ass. I never had a man spank me before, but I gotta say, I liked the display of dominance, and it felt oddly intimate. Jax stirred something new and exciting inside of me.  I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted to feel his firm hands all over my body, igniting my flesh with his vigorous control.  I’d never admit it, but I didn’t want him to stop hitting my ass. In fact, I wanted him to do it harder.

I imagined it last night in bed, the roughness of his hands taking my body with that same possessiveness. Like when I watched him fight, I want that savage part of him unleashed on me. My hand had wandered between my legs last night. I needed release, but I didn’t take it. And it wasn’t because he told me not to, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. I held back because the next time I come, it will be with Jax Declan. I just don’t know how long I can hold out, and I hate waiting around for him to call. It’s so not me to wait on any guy.

“Rayna,” I say after taking a sip of my wine. Damn, I’m getting shitfaced. “Have you seen Slate yet?”

“No,” she holds her glass close to her chest, “but I’m not looking for him. So if I do see him then so be it.”

“But you’re supposed to break that Declan brother.” Lurlene sets the bottle on the table and sits down.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it done. I’ll break his heart. Slate Declan will take one look at me, realize what he’s lost, and instant heartbreak. Breaking my Declan brother, easy peasy. What about you?” Rayan looks up at Lurlene.

“I’m on task.” Lurlene grins. “I met the philandering Zeke Declan.”

“I thought I saw you talking to him at the bar.” Rayna waves a finger at her.

“I was, but I’m taking my time. I like to study my subjects so I can determine the best curriculum. But that Zeke Declan, he’s a real smooth one.”

“I got faith in ya,” I say, sipping on my wine.

Lurlene’s eyebrow lifts. “And what about you, any progress, yet? Has Jax called?”

“No.” I take another sip of the wine, getting that queasy feeling in my belly from the alcohol, the kind that a few aspirin in the morning can’t fix.

“Well, that’s it,” Rayna slaps her hands together. “Let’s go.” She stands up and places a hand on the table to stop from falling.

“Where to,” I ask, knowing deep in my woozy gut that I shouldn’t be asking.

“Off to find Jax Declan,” she points straight ahead, “to get you laid,” her finger shifts to me. “Tonight one of us is going to break a Declan brother, and tag, bitch, you’re it.”

“No way.” I shake my head, but the alcohol coaxes my hormones to go against my momentarily lost sober judgment.

“Oh, come on, now. You want him, Emmie. You’ve always wanted him.” Rayna leans down in front of me, body swaying with her finger still wavering at me. “Now, get your ass up and go get him.” She stands up. “And you’re driving, Mom.” She points at Lurlene. “I counted, too. And you only had two glasses of wine.”

“I’ve never driven a golf cart before,” Lurlene says.

“Yeah, and you’ve never fucked a guy before, but you’re taking on the best fuck in the Bayou. I got confidence in ya. Come on.” Rayna grabs my arm and pulls me up from the chair. “Come on,” she giggles, tugging me, “you know you wanna do this.”

Ten minutes later, and one near spillover of the golf cart when Lurlene hit a boulder, we make it to JZS’s. Rayna comes stumbling back out of the bar, out of breath, and wavering. “Melody says there’s an apartment in the back, and they all live there.” She gets in the cart. “Lurlene, to the back of the building.” She gestures with a wave of her hand.

“I don’t know about this.” I squeeze my hands together.

“Don’t start second-guessing yourself now.” Rayna grabs the bar on the cart as Lurlene spins off.

Unlike the front with all the lights and cars, it’s quiet and dark. Only a light shines above the front door, a beacon to my bravery. It’s daring me to go get what I want. The golf cart comes to a halt and my palms moisten. I wipe them off on my jeans, thinking some of the alcohol might be seeping out of me. I’m nervous about showing up unannounced at Jax’s place.

“Now,” Rayna turns to me, “when you get in there, you give my girl a kiss for me.”

“Your girl?” Lurlene’s face scrunches up.

“Lady,” Rayna glances at her, “my dog. I had to leave her with Slate when I moved.”

“Oh,” Lurlene says.

“I don’t know.” I rub my sweaty hands over my thighs. “I think maybe I should wait for him to call.” What if he has a girl in there? What if he doesn’t really want me? What if…

“Hey,” Rayne grabs my face cutting off my mental what-ifs. “You’re here. Jax is in there. Now, the question is do you want him?”

“Yes.” I can’t lie.

“Then,” Rayna leans in closer, eyes widening, “you go get him, girl.”

“Okay!” I nod my head, and before I lose my nerve, again, I grab the bar and haul myself out of the cart. I stumble. Shit, I’m drunk. I watch my feet as I make my way to the front door. I straighten my shoulders, take a deep breath, and rap my knuckles on the door. It swings open, and I lift my head. It’s dark inside, and all I see are dark hazel eyes. But even with the hood up on his sweatshirt, I know those distinctive eyes.

“Hiii, Slate,” I slur, clear my throat. “Is, ah… is Jax here?” His gaze shifts over my shoulder. I glance behind me. “Yeah, Rayna’s with me, over there if you wanna say hi.” I look back at him, but he doesn’t respond. He just turns around and disappears back into the darkness of the apartment.

Huh. I glance back at my posse and lift my hands out in the air.

“Emmie Rue.” I hear Jax’s deep southern drawl. I spin around, and whoa, in nothing but a pair of jeans, Jax Declan encourages my bravery to come back out and play. His eyelids lower. “Now,” he leans against the door jam, and crosses his arms over a muscle-crowded chest, “what brings you to my doorstep this evening?”

“Ah…” I go to take a step but lose my footing. I nearly fall into him. Shit, real smooth. I slap my hand next to his shoulder on the door frame so that doesn’t happen again. I blow the fallen hair out of my face and look up. Damn, he’s gorgeous. I sway a little closer. “Thought, maybe you lost my number.”

“Nope.” He shakes his head. “It’s still in my phone,” he says with a small smile, eyes gradually casting over my body from head to toe. Shit, what he does to me with those allusive gazes. “So,” he says, those sexy eyes finally making their way back to mine, “what’s up with the late night visit?”

Dammit. He’s looking all in control, all sober and shit. He knows what I’m here for, and he’s going to make me say it. I strum the tips of my fingers on the doorframe, staring at him as he patiently waits. “You know why I’m here.” There, I said it, and without a single slur.

His head tilts to the side, and he surveys me for another second. “You’re drunk, aren’t you?”

“Yep.” I nod, no sense in denying it now. Hell, I nearly fell into him for Christ’s sakes. “I’ve had a few.”

He rubs the back of his neck and takes a deep breath, looking up at me from long dark lashes. “Go home, Em.”

“What?” Okay, maybe he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on here. Maybe he needs me spell this shit out for him. “In case you’re not getting it—”

“Oh, princess, I get it.” He drops his hand and shoves it into his pocket. “You’re drunk and you want to fuck.”

“Yeah…” I flip my hands out. “So?”

He bends down to my level, and he smells so damn good, fresh and clean, like he just got out of the shower. “
So
,” he looks right into me, no doubt, seeing my inebriated, randy soul, “you can turn your cute little ass around and take it back home, ‘cause I’m not gonna fuck you.”

“Not ever?” Oh fuck, did that shit just come out of my drunk, desperate mouth? 

He grabs me by the chin. “Now,” his thumb strokes my bottom lip. Damn him and that stroking thumb! “You know the answer to that question.”

“And still,” I lick my lip, savoring his touch, “you’re not inviting me in.”

“Not tonight, princess.” He shakes his head. “But remember what I said.” His hand drops from my face. “I want that pussy untouched. Now be a good girl, Em, do as you’re told, and head on home,” he says just before he shuts the door in my face. Yeah! In. My. Face. I whip around and stomp back to the cart pissed. Be a good girl? If he’d let me in his apartment, he’d see just how much of a good girl I can be!

 “Well,” Lurlene says brows lifted.

I slump into the seat, somehow feeling that sting in my ass triggered once more by Jax Declan. “He turned me down. I knew this was a bad idea, but I let you talk me into it,” I snap at Rayna, but the expression on her face shuts my anger right off.

She looks up at me, and my heart breaks for her. “Was that Slate,” she quietly asks.

I reach out and touch her shoulder. I forget how much she cared about him. They have a history, and no matter what she says, I know she loved that guy with every piece of her heart. “Yeah, it was,” I say but keep the fact that he didn’t seem like he wanted to see or talk to her to myself.

“You’re right.” Rayna’s eyes lower. “I’m sorry, Emmie, this was a bad idea. Lurlene, take us home.”

For a brief moment, I forget about the ass I just made of myself, and I wrap an arm around my friend and hold her all the way home.

CHAPTER EIGHT

I stare at my laptop, seeing the words, but I can’t concentrate. I pick up my coffee and look around the café. I’ve been coming here since finding it on the second day of our arrival. It’s the perfect place to work. Nothing like the one I go to in Manhattan—the coffee here is better. I’m not into all that flavored shit. I like my coffee black. That’s it. No fuss.

Setting down my mug, my eyes land on a hot guy sitting across the room. Dark jeans, a black t-shirt, topped with hair that’s a chaotic mess, that sexy kind of messy. He smiles at me, and I smile back, ‘cause that’s what I do. I flirt. Tease. I make them feel like they might actually have a chance. Why? Well, if they’re shallow enough to hit on me on the sole basis that I’m pretty then I enjoy playing with them a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I get you need to be attracted to the person you’re with, but most men are driven by the dick in their pants, and that’s it. So, I like fucking with it without getting my hands dirty.