Losing Control (11 page)

Jagger watched as the two of them walked together, happy that they seemed to be becoming friends. He glanced over at Tyler and grinned. “Call the kids, let’s have some fun.”

Chapter Fourteen

“D
o I need to tape your ribs?” Bianca asked as she saw Jagger sit gingerly on the bed.

“That would be a good idea. They don’t hurt so much today, but they’re still sore to the touch. There’s some medical tape in the bathroom. Not sure if it’s on the counter or under the sink.”

She nodded, heading into the bathroom. Glancing at the counter, she grinned. Jagger was not the cleanest of guys. He was very disorganized, and she couldn’t help but straighten up as she searched for the tape she needed. Not seeing it, she bent down and opened the cabinet door. There was a huge mess. Pulling things out, she continued to search when she came to a packet of papers. She knew she shouldn’t look, but she couldn’t help it. Glancing through them, she saw a birth certificate that read
John Edward Stone,
the date of birth was right with Jagger’s age. She wondered if it was his and Jagger was just a nickname. She snickered, he probably
hated
his real name with a passion. Tucking that information into her pocket for another time, she found the tape and walked back out into the bedroom.

“You are one messy man.”

“I’m a bachelor, what can I say?”

For some reason, she felt the need to tease with this new relationship. “Bachelor, huh?”

“Not anymore, of course,” he stuttered to correct his mistake.

“Really? Because we’ve never put a label on any of this.”

“Well, I sure as hell ain’t seein’ anybody else, and I assumed you weren’t either.”

Even though it had started out as teasing, Bianca was happy to hear it confirmed for her. “I’m not.”

He got up and stood in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Their height difference was not huge, but he widened his stance so that they could touch noses. “Bianca Hawks, will you be my girlfriend?”

A feminine giggle bubbled up from deep within her. It caused every macho part of his genetic makeup to take notice. It made him protective of her, and he knew that he would do anything within his power to keep her safe and happy.

“I haven’t had any better offers lately, so why the hell not?” she teased.

It always seemed so important to the two of them that they not take anything too seriously. But this, this, he wanted serious. “Don’t joke, it’ll hurt my feelings.” His honesty was plainly there in his eyes.

Suddenly, she realized how much this really did impact them. It wasn’t something to joke about. “I would love to be your girlfriend, John Edward Stone,” she finished with a shit-eating grin.

He blinked, surprised that she had known his real name. “How the
hell
did you know that?”

“You really shouldn’t keep your birth certificate underneath your bathroom sink. Who the hell does that anyway?”

“That’s not important. What
is
important is the fact that you said yes.”

“Now don’t think you can start bossing me around or anything,” she warned.

He placed his hand over his heart, fixing her with a cute glare. “Never.”

“Somehow I think you’re placating me, but I’ll take it.”

His hands buried in her hair and pulled her mouth to his, giving her a kiss that promised possession and a million other things she didn’t want to think about for fear that they would never come to fruition.

“You guys ready?” Tyler’s loud voice boomed from beyond the door to the dorm room.

“Give us a minute,” Jagger called back, his eyes never leaving Bianca’s face. Her eyes followed his tongue as it snaked across his bottom lip.

“So, girlfriend of mine, tape these ribs up so we can have fun.”

She loved the sound of that.

Mandy shrieked, holding on to Jagger’s waist as they went flying down the hill.

“You might have to fight my daughter for your boyfriend,” Denise teased as the sled came closer to the women.

They had been outside for hours playing in the snow, and Bianca’s face was freezing. “I think it’ll be alright,” she said, blowing her breath into the hands that cupped her face.

“I don’t know, teenage crushes are powerful.”

“I’m sure if she takes another ride down with Tyler, he’ll be the object of her affection.”

Denise raised an eyebrow. “You might have a point there. Mr. Blackfoot seems to be the object of
every
woman’s affection.”

They laughed as they nodded their heads in agreement. “You
do
have a point there.”

Jagger got up from where he and Mandy had come to a stop. Bianca didn’t miss the grimace on his face.

“You okay?” she asked, walking over to where he stood, a little unsteadily.

“Yeah, but I think I over did it,” he admitted, taking fast, shallow breathes.

She put her arm around his waist and let him lean his weight against her. “You wanna go inside?” she asked.

“Why don’t you go get in the hot tub?” Liam asked, coming to stand next to the two of them.

“There’s a hot tub here?” Bianca asked, her face brightening.

“Yeah, we got it a few months ago. Some of us are getting to be a little old to ride these bikes,” he grinned.

“I’ve got a bathing suit, if you need it,” Meredith offered, having overheard the conversation.

“Sure, that would be great.”

“And you need to take a pain pill,” Tyler encouraged.

“I hate those things. They make me sleepy.”

“That’s what you need, my brother. Yeah, this was fun and all, but you’ve probably set yourself back a few days. Go and enjoy yourself. We’ll keep everybody away.”

Jagger sighed. “Too bad we won’t be enjoying ourselves too much.”

Chapter Fifteen

J
agger lay in the hot tub, his head thrown back as he sighed. This was heavenly.

“You comfortable?” Bianca asked, a smile on her face.

“This is the best I’ve felt in days.”

A thought occurred to her. “Why didn’t you use this when you first came home?”

He shrugged. “I was feeling sorry for myself. Pissed off that it had happened and embarrassed really. You don’t like to admit to other members of the club that you’ve laid your bike down.”

“Stupid macho pride?” she finished for him.

“Pretty much.”

He held his arms out to her. “Why don’t you come over here and sit next to me?”

“Don’t think you’re going to get fresh with me, Jagger Stone. You’re hurt.”

She had no idea how much he wished he could do the things he wanted to do with her. Say the feelings that bubbled up in his throat every time he saw her. He just knew that he would scare her away, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I’m not going to. I just want to feel you next to me.”

When he said things like that it threw her off. His tongue really was silver, and she was helpless against it. She swam over to his side and sat next to him, stretching out on the seat that allowed one to lie down in the warm water. She put her feet and legs in Jagger’s lap and almost purred as he stroked the bare skin there.

“Your skin is so smooth,” he whispered.

“You can thank Meredith for that. She gave me a razor and shaving cream along with the bikini.”

He had to laugh at how blunt she was. If he was honest at all, he loved that about her. She closed her eyes as he continued stroking her leg. He made a complete circuit from her foot to her thigh, and then back again. The calloused roughness on the tips of his fingers spoke of how often he played guitar and the hard work he did at the shop.

Jagger wondered just how far he could go with this, how much she’d allow him to have of her. Deciding to push his luck on the next pass, he went a little further up on her thigh. She didn’t say anything, but her breath hitched and he could see her nipples harden against the bikini top she wore. The next pass, he went so high his finger slipped under the material of the bottoms and he held his hand there for a moment, letting her get used to it.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, his voice rough.

“No,” she breathed.

The need in her voice was almost his undoing. It would be worth it to hurt himself – he rationalized – to just feel pleasure with her. But he wanted to do this for her. Wanted to prove to her that he wasn’t selfish and did put her needs in front of his.

“You’ll tell me if this isn’t okay?”

“This is way more than okay,” she assured him. She was achy and needy as he again slipped his finger underneath the material there and began a light stroke against the bare flesh that greeted him.

The warmth that he felt there went straight to his groin and he moved deeper into the water to offer himself some relief against the tightening of his shorts. He moaned loudly when she brought her own hands up to cup her breasts.

“This feels so good,” she told him, massaging them and undulating against the pressure of his hand at her core.

The warmth and wetness of her was more than just the hot tub, and there was a part of him that wanted to beat his chest, knowing that he had brought her to that state. “What do you want, baby?” he asked, his voice low and deep.