Jax (The Protectors Series) Book #8 (3 page)

Chapter 3

It all happened so fast. One minute Jax had been searching the trails for Caroline, and the next, he was staring at her as if he'd never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. She'd been gazing up into a tree watching a bird. He now was holding her hand, feeling her slip as the ground gave away underneath them.

"I got you," he said, even as he felt their grip slip from the slick wet mud.

He knew almost before he felt the ground shift that he was going down with her. As carefully as he could, he pulled her up into his arms as he fell on his back, beginning their quick descent down the steep hill. He cradled her head against his chest as he watched the best he could for any dangers.

Using his feet, he did his best to slow their slide, but the mud was unforgiving. When he heard Caroline gasp out in pain, he held her tight with one arm and reached out his other, trying to grab anything that would at least slow them down. Finally, his hand caught a shabby-looking bush, but it was enough to stop them. As they jerked to a stop, he sat up, holding her close.

"Caroline, are you all right?" He looked down at her face pressed against his chest, her eyes closed tightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, but he could tell by the paleness of her face she was lying.

"What's hurt?" Carefully, he forced her away from him. "Caroline?"

She eased up and felt her right side, then grimaced. "I think I hit a rock or something, but it's okay. It's nothing."

Jax frowned. Her lie was evident in the scent of her blood. The sweet, erotic smell had his fangs growing with pulsing need. Looking up the hill they'd slid down, then around trying to find the best way to get her out of there, he cursed. His head snapped back to her when she hissed in pain as she tried to move off him. He grabbed her hand and moved it away from her side before lifting her shirt up. A long, jagged cut from the waist of her pants to midway up her side bled freely.

"Nothing, huh?" He cocked his eyebrow, but still stared at the cut, then pulled her shirt down and replaced her hand on her side. "Keep some pressure on it. I don't think it's deep, but it's hard to tell and I don't want to touch it with my muddy hands."

Caroline nodded, doing as he said as her eyes took him in. "You're covered in mud." A hint of a smile lit her face.

"You should see you," Jax replied, stopping short of smiling himself. "Dammit, Caroline, what in the hell are you doing out here?"

The smile slipped from her face. "What do you mean, what am I doing out here?" she snapped. "What are
you
doing out here?"

"Looking for you," Jax snapped back, knowing he was being a total ass, and yet he couldn't stop himself. He was pissed and worried, more pissed since he had found her safe. Well, sort of safe. Son of a bitch, he about died again when he watched the ground give underneath her. "No one knew where you were."

"I knew where I was." Caroline slid away from him, but then slid further down the hill. He stopped the movement by grabbing her. She jerked away from him then grabbed on to the small bush to keep herself stable.

Jax grumbled deep in his chest, his eyes narrowing. "You left your house unlocked, left your phone, and I highly doubt you thought to bring your gun." When she didn't say anything, just knelt in the cold mud staring at him, he cursed. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that my brother is out here somewhere just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. You are the easy target. He goes for the easy targets. At least make it a little more challenging for him."

Caroline's head snapped back in fear at the mention of Mika, but she didn't say a word.

"Has something happened?" Jax grasped her chin, not missing the fear in her eyes. "Dammit, Caroline, have you seen Mika? Has my sister contacted you?"

"You're a dick." Her words almost made him smile because she so didn't sound like the teacher he knew she was. "I went out for a run. I am a grown woman who can do things like that. I will not let the fear of your brother stop me from living my life. Yes, I should have brought my phone, but I didn't and it's really hard to run with a gun so I left it."

"Why, when I mentioned Mika, did fear color your eyes?" Jax probed, watching her closely.

"Color my eyes?" Caroline frowned, her head tilting as she stared at him.

"Yes," Jax replied, not understanding right away what she meant by repeating what he'd just said.

"You sounded so like a Native American." She searched his face, then shook her head. "Sorry, it's the teacher in me. And I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't seen or heard from either Mika or your sister. If I did, you would be the first to know, which is something
you
should know. I wouldn't keep that from you."

There was something about this woman that made it hard for him to remain mad or even irritated at her for very long, and that was rare. Everyone got on his nerves and he did hold grudges when people pissed him off, but had Caroline really pissed him off or was it the danger she'd put herself in that pissed him off?

"Are you profiling me?" Jax asked, his eyes searching her face.

"No." The smile started to come back, then she shrugged. "I guess I did stereotype you, maybe. I'm just fascinated…." She stopped talking, her face flushing beautifully.

That made two of them, he thought as he watched the different emotions play across her face. "Promise me you will be more careful." His voice was low, but the demand in his tone was evident.

"Okay." She nodded, then looked away.

Once again, Jax lightly grasped her chin to force her to look at him. "I'm serious, Caroline." He closed the distance between them by leaning toward her. "This isn't a game."

"I know." She leaned toward him, just inches away.

Jax tilted his head as his eyes stared into hers. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her right there, pull her underneath him and take her hard in the mud, in the middle of the wilderness. He knew it was his alpha drive urging him, but he fought it. This wasn't what one did in the twenty-first century and he needed to remember that. She was someone who deserved much more than having a quick mud fuck. Letting her go, he leaned away from her then stood, not missing the disappointment shading her face.

******

Caroline wanted to scream when Jax backed away from her. "Dammit," she hissed under her breath. He had to be the most irritating man she had ever met, and what shocked her most was that she wanted him more for it.

"What?" Jax had been looking up the hill, but when she hissed her curse, his gaze snapped back to her.

Shaking her head, she tried to stand. "Nothing," she lied. If she were a braver soul as well as a ho, she would just jump on him, rip his clothes off like she desperately wanted to, and make him pound her in the mud. She had to turn away from him because that thought turned her on, which made her moan deep in her throat.

He mumbled something under his own breath, but looked away from her and back up the hill. "I don't think we should try that way." He turned and reached out for her. "Come here."

Grasping his hand, she welcomed his strength as she slid in the mud moving closer to him. He bent and carefully picked her up. "Let me know if I hurt your side."

"I'm fine," she replied, being more than truthful. Being held in the safety of his arms definitely made her feel fine. Not knowing exactly what to do with her hands, she put one on his shoulder and the other on top of her own hand.

"Shit!" Jax cursed when he tried to take a step, but sank deep in the mud.

"I can walk." Caroline started to push away from him, knowing her added weight was making him sink deeper.

Jax didn't answer, but he grabbed her hips. "Wrap your legs around me." He positioned her where he wanted her. "You need to hold on tight. I'm going to jump."

She did as he said without question, putting her total trust in this man. Wrapping her legs and arms tightly around him, she sighed when he used one strong arm to hold her flush to his body.

"You ready?" His breath ruffled her hair.

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't close her eyes in fear; she knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Deep down, she knew it was so she could burn this memory in her mind forever. Being held like this, by Jax Wheeler, was something to be savored, and something she had daydreamed about.

"You can open your eyes now." Jax's voice broke through her thoughts.

Slowly, she opened them to find they were at the top of the hill, safely away from any danger of falling again. "Oh." She looked around, then at Jax. He slowly put her on her feet. Her sweatshirt rubbing against her cut made her groan.

"We need to get that cut cleaned." Jax frowned. "Can you walk?"

Dammit, yes I can walk,
Caroline thought and yet, she totally wondered if she could lie so he would carry her back to the house. Knowing she wouldn't do that, she nodded. "Yes, I can walk." When Jax didn't say anything, Caroline started back down the trail.

"You're going the wrong way." Jax hadn't moved, but stood watching her.

"No, I'm…" Caroline looked around at her surroundings and frowned. "Obviously lost."

"Yes, you are." His tone sounded angry. "And that's exactly why you need your phone and firearm with you."

"Okay. Okay." Caroline slammed her hand on her hip, totally forgetting about the jagged cut on her side, and groaned. "Lesson learned. Now can we go, please? I'm cold, muddy, and I have to…"

"To what?" Jax eyed her when she stopped her sentence.

Caroline rolled her eyes at herself. She had to pee, but she'd be damned if she told him that. She almost did because her brain must be covered in mud like the rest of her body, making her a dimwit.

"Get some coffee." She huffed, angry with herself that she let this man get under her skin to the point she always felt tongue-tied and spoke without thinking. She never did that, ever… and did she actually call him a dick? This man had her doing and saying things that shocked her. "I'm cranky until I've had a pot."

"A pot, huh?" Jax moved to the side of the trail that fell away—or had the possibility of falling away—as Caroline moved next to him.

Caroline walked beside Jax as he led them out of the woods. A thought came to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you," Jax replied without missing a beat.

Okay, she'd definitely set herself up for that. "Well I didn't need saving until you spoke out of the blue and scared me, which made me slip and then the ground gave way. I was perfectly fine before that."

"You know"—Jax held her arm to help her across a fallen log on the trail—"you suck at thank-yous. I saved you from falling through your roof and now this, but each time you blamed me."

"I place blame where blame is due, Mr. Wheeler." Caroline huffed, then felt bad. "And I did thank you, I think, when you saved me on the roof after you made me angry enough to stomp across the rotten wood. And I do thank you for stopping my descent down the hill when you caused me to slip by scaring the crap out of me."

Jax actually laughed. The sound was enough to make her stumble as tingles and goose bumps shimmered across her muddied skin and other parts that only he could bring alive.

"Yeah, you definitely suck at thank-yous." Jax didn't even look down at her, watching the trail in front of them, too focused on getting them out of the woods. "And I was getting ready, along with Blaze, Sid, and Steve, to come and work on the roof, but then Sid told me you called, frantic, so I rode out earlier with him and Lana. What had you so frantic, Caroline?"

Okay, now she felt like a total ass. He had been worried about her and all she could do was blame him for her own clumsiness. And no way was she going to tell him about her dream because, honestly, she didn't want him to disappear again, and knowing how he felt about his brother, he would do just that. In his own idea of making sure everyone was safe, he would walk away. Before she could apologize or explain anything, her house came into view and Lana, followed by Sid, was running toward them.

"Where in the hell have you been?" Lana reached her, her eyes roaming first down Caroline's body and then Jax's. "And what exactly have you been doing?"

Sid also checked them both out, a huge grin spreading across his handsome face. "About time, buddy." He elbowed Jax with a wink.

"Shut the fuck up, Sid," Jax growled, then looked at Lana. "She fell and has a cut on her side, that's it. We need something to clean the wound."

"Are you okay?" Lana's knowing grin slipped into a worried frown.

"I'm fine." Caroline started walking toward the house. Jax didn't have to sound so disgusted at Sid and Lana's misconception of why they were muddy. "But no one will be fine if I don't get a cup of coffee." She pushed past Sid who still wore a grin, mixed with concern.

Steve and Blaze stood by the side of the house, both looking at her. "So," Steve began and just the look on his face clued Caroline in on a joke coming on. She didn't know Steve well, but knew him well enough to know she didn't want to hear what he was about to say. Her mood had soured greatly.

She walked right up to Steve and stopped. "If you're not going to say, 'Caroline, you have a strong steaming cup of coffee sitting inside waiting for you,' I highly suggest you say nothing at all, Steve."