Taming Jax (First Wave Book 5) (28 page)

“What about Wolfen?” Melina asked, and Jax cursed her own stupidity for not calling a vet tech to come watch the puppy while they were gone. Damn if the man wasn’t making her stupid!

“I got hold of someone while Jax was in the shower, they will be here within a few minutes of our leaving. He’ll be fine since you already took him outside.” Reven said as he came back into the room.

Jax saw that he was still avoiding her gaze, and it was beginning to irritate her. She refused to admit, even to herself, that she felt a pull towards him that was a little more difficult to fight than it had been before they had wild monkey sex in his room. Then her room, she thought with a contented sigh.

“I’ll go put him in the bathroom.” Jax said and without thinking about it, she laid a brief hand on Reven’s chest as she passed him. She turned to glance back as she scooped up Wolfen and was pleased to see that he looked a little stunned.

Jax was feeling pretty smug about how she affected him until he turned his heated blue gaze on her. The promise of retribution in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine before she hurried into the bathroom.

She stood against the closed bathroom door with the puppy in her arms and breathed deeply to calm her suddenly erratic pulse. When she opened her eyes, she stared straight into her own smiling face in the mirror over the sink.

“Your daddy is pretty potent little guy.” Jax whispered to the squirming puppy before she set him down on the floor to play with his toys.

Unwilling to go back out there right now until she calmed herself a little, she sat on the closed toilet lid and watched the puppy wag his tail and play with his toys.

When she had touched his chest, Jax could feel the heat and desire rise in him. She had felt her energy pull towards his and the sparks that occurred as she had run her hand across him. Damn if the heat and desire hadn’t crashed through her as well, she thought with a sigh.

“Jax? Is he ok?” Reven called from outside the bathroom door, shaking her from her musings.

“Yeah, yeah he’s fine. I was just making sure he had his toys.” Jax lied, irritated that he’d interrupted her thoughts.

Her beast, Ritan, screamed ‘hypocrite’ in her mind, reminding her that she had broken another of the hybrid code rules by lying to him. She didn’t want to think about it right now.

Jax flung open the door and was a little surprised to see Reven standing right outside. The hallway was certainly not big enough for the two of them with his wide shoulders crowding it, and Jax tried to avoid touching him as she turned to the living room and the girls.

Reven was hot on her heels and right before she entered the living room, she felt his hand between her shoulder blades. The heat from his hand and the sparking of their combined energy distracted her until he trailed his fingers down her spine.

Jax gasped and shuddered at the goose bumps and chills that rushed up and down her spine at his intentionally erotic touch. She grasped the corner of the wall for support before turning accusing eyes to him.

Reven didn’t bother to disguise the raging desire she’d caused to rise in him and made no apologies for teaching her a lesson about teasing him at an inappropriate time.

Jax narrowed her eyes at him. Between his energy, his attitude and that look on his face she knew that he was trying to beat her at her own game. It didn’t start out being a game to her though, more of a curiosity.

However, she had no reason to defend herself to the irritating oaf either, and if he wanted to turn this into a game, then she’d be the one to school him; she thought with a challenging grin at him.  

Oh shit! Reven thought as he shook his head at her. “No, no, no! Jax don’t do this!” Reven said as he reached for the crazy woman.

Damn if she didn’t twirl out of his grasp and head into the living room with the girls. Reven took a deep breath and adjusted himself in his pants. He’d had no intention of giving her the impression that this was a game. All he wanted to do was impress upon her that giving him a raging hard on in front of the kids wasn’t a good idea.   

Leave it to Jax to assume that he’d issued a challenge, Reven thought with a sigh. He didn’t need the gift of future sight to know that this was going to be the most miserable day of his life. It was hard enough to control his desire and need for her before they had mated, now that he’d had a taste of his beautiful mate, he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop.

“Come on Reven! We’re waiting on you!” Jax cheerfully called from the living room.

Reven could hear the taunt in her voice, as if daring him to accept her challenge. He knew nothing good would come of this. That Jax was expecting some kind of clear win in this little game, but he knew there would be no winner. Unless…

Reven tried to hide his smile as he turned the corner and entered the living room. He ignored the smug grin on Jax’s face and headed to the front door. He held it open as Melina ran out and Jax walked quickly passed him with Bayla, as if she thought he’d try to touch her again. Not yet, my beautiful mate, he thought to himself. Not yet.

Reven clicked the fob to unlock the doors on the SUV while he secured the front door. By the time he got to the vehicle, Jax already had the kids buckled inside. He laughed to himself at how she was making a concerted effort to avoid any more ‘chance’ opportunities to touch.

He had no idea what the rules of her game were, or even what it would take to win or lose. But it didn’t matter; he thought as he slid into the driver’s seat and drove to the headquarters building. He would win. He didn’t have a choice.

Reven sucked in a sharp breath when Jax ran her hand over his. The rush of erotic thoughts and feelings she projected to him through her energy nearly had him slam on the brakes. He yanked his hand away as if burned and glared at Jax.

He wasn’t the least bit fooled by the innocent look she tried to give him or the mouthed ‘sorry’. The mocking smirk on her face further killed any delusions of innocence. She was playing dirty, and he wasn’t amused.

Feeling a little gun shy, Reven kept his peripheral vision on watching her hands until he pulled into the parking lot of the building. He’d no sooner put the vehicle in park before he launched himself out of the vehicle and opened the back door to get Bayla.

He watched warily as Jax calmly got out of her seat and shut her door. She waited until Melina got out and put an arm around the girl, leading her to the building.

With a grunt of irritation, that Bayla mimicked adorably, Reven stopped fumbling the buckle on her seat belt and finally pulled her free. He cuddled the baby to him as he shut the door and followed at a more sedate pace, giving himself a chance to clear his head. The woman was going to kill him; he thought with a groan.

He couldn’t play by her rules. Her rules were set up so that only she could win. He knew that from months of painful experience. She thought to flit around and drive him crazy as she teased then darted to safety. Her first mistake was thinking there was anywhere, on any world, that she would be safe from him; he thought.

Reven smiled at the babbling baby as he entered the building and watched his mate’s sexy ass sway as she walked down the hallway with her arm around Melina.

No, there was nowhere she could hide now. She had played with their energy for only moments since their mating last night. He had been playing with energy his whole life, and she had no idea the power of the bond that came with mating. He’d had a thousand years of watching it first hand with Ivint and his mate, Sacara. 

It was time to create his own rules. Reven closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the newly formed energy strands. He focused carefully on a particular thought before looking intently at Jax and releasing it through the energy strand.  

Direct hit! Reven thought as Jax stumbled slightly. He quickly looked down at Bayla’s smiling face as Jax stopped and turned to glare at him. His long stride quickly caught up to them, and he stopped and looked down at Jax with what he hoped was surprise.

“What? Why are we stopping?” Reven asked innocently, as Jax glared at him with narrowed eyes. When Jax didn’t answer, Reven looked behind him as if to see if there was someone else she was looking at besides him.

When he turned back around he saw Jax getting ready to touch him and walked past her down the hall calling out behind him as he went. “Bayla and I are heading to the academy. You guys can mess around in an empty hallway if you want.”

Reven heard Jax growl and mumble before he felt her and Melina behind him. That was close, he thought. He’d have to be more careful in the future. The energy worked both ways for them and while she used only the physical medium to read him and project her emotions and thoughts, he used the strands binding them together to send his own without having to touch her.

Like the image he sent her a few minutes ago. It had been a short memory of the moment he’d finally seated himself fully inside of her, along with their moans of pleasure. Seeing her stumble and scenting the way the image impacted her, had made him feel happier than he could ever remember being.  

With her safely still mumbling behind him, he allowed the wide smile to break out on his face. He’d won that little battle. Yeah, he thought; it seemed pretty petty. But damn if it didn’t feel good to not only beat her for once, but to know for a fact that she wasn’t as immune to him as she loved to pretend.

Now though, he needed to smooth her ruffled feathers and keep her off balance for once. This time it was going to be his game and his rules. It was time he tamed his mate and made them a real family; Reven thought.

He stopped in front of the door to the academy and held it open for Jax and Melina. He followed them into the conference room they were led to and sat down on the opposite side of Melina, farther away from Jax.

Reven ignored the hard stare he could feel Jax giving him and situated Bayla comfortably in his lap before he turned to a nervous Melina and tried to comfort her.

“Don’t be nervous, little one. If you and Jax don’t like the plan this time, then I’ll block the door while the two of you rough her up until she comes up with something you like.” Reven said jokingly.

He almost choked on his laugh when Jax mumbled, “Sounds good to me.” Melina giggled until the door opened and a different Tezarian, a man, walked in and sat across from them at the conference room table.

“I am Shade fle’ te’ Nigellium. I have requested to take over Melina’s learning plan.” The man said as he smiled gently at Melina.

“Why?” Jax asked bluntly, uncaring that she sounded a little abrupt.

Reven was a little surprised when the man just chuckled at her rudeness before answering her question.

“I don’t know how much you know of my people, but my name means ‘House of Knowledge’. I chose Melina’s case, because of the uniqueness of her abilities and the challenge her case represents.” Shade said honestly.

He’d read the case files thoroughly. Not only on both of the children, but on Jax and Reven as well. He wasn’t the least surprised when Jax bristled at his answer and rushed to derail her coming rant.

“The challenge with a girl as smart and talented as Melina, will be in keeping her mind and her body active enough to learn. Unlike a traditional learning situation where the children spend most of the day behind a desk or learning simulator, Melina’s plan would involve a combination of learning situations based on expanding what she already knows.” Shade explained calmly.