20

Her mother wasn’t home. In fact, there was nothing but an empty house to greet her. Mara let herself in and slumped into a cream-colored sofa. Maybe it was her own fault for thinking her family might be a comfort for once.

They had never been before, not even after she bought her mother a house or sent her siblings to college. They didn’t call to check in on her and they didn’t seem to care what went on in her life. News of the stalking situation had to have reached them and still, her phone didn’t ring.

The empty house was probably a blessing in disguise.

Sighing, Mara headed upstairs to one of the guest rooms and ran a shower. She’d already texted Althea to have the plane on hold until she was ready, and even knowing how pissed he’d probably be, she texted her bodyguard her location.

He hadn’t replied.

Mara pressed her leg to the guest bed so she could dry her thighs and calves. She'd spent a lot longer in the shower than she expected to but she wasn't mad at it. As soon as that water hit her body, she felt calm again and by the time she was ready to get out, her clarity had returned.

Running away had been stupid. Unsafe.

And why should she run away when she made the rules? How’d she end up being manipulated by her own employees? Was she a child who couldn’t speak up for herself? No.

She checked her phone again to see if Jackson had replied. When the blank screen stared back at her, she groaned and tossed her phone onto the bed. Was he going to quit now? Not only for the intensity of her attack but for how stupid it made her… She'd wanted him to quit when she first met him… but now…

She wasn’t sure how she felt now.

Mara straightened herself and stretched the towel out to dry her back when the bedroom door opened.

"Mara, have you lost what little m—"

“Jax?”

Mara snatched the towel closed, which now felt entirely too small. His green eyes seemed to burn her skin as he scanned her body for a little too long. That didn’t seem right… because how had she never noticed his eyes were such a pretty green? She was sure they were brown…

He swallowed roughly, blinking like he needed to clear his vision.

"How’d you get in here?" she asked, trying to secure the towel around her chest, but every time she tightened it, the corners at the bottom lifted, exposing her thighs. The verdict seemed to be clear: she couldn't cover her top and bottom half at the same time.

Jackson cocked his head to the side, a strangely animalistic move, and didn’t answer. He took two silent steps into the room and kicked the door closed.

“…Jax?”

There was no acknowledgment except the intensity in his eyes. He didn’t even seem to care that she was calling him a nickname.

He took another heavy step towards her, his eyes rolling over her exposed thigh. "Do you have any fucking idea how dangerous what you just did is?"

“C-coming to my mom’s house?” she puzzled.

“The press conference,” he growled, sending a shiver up her damp spine. What had gotten into him? There was being protective, and then there was whatever this… Was he sniffing the air?

Her cheeks flushed. What was going on right now? With the way he was staring… and growling… her body didn’t feel like her own, responding with warmth that spread from her throat down to her toes. She didn’t know what to do with herself.

He inhaled sharply and took another step. "You left a secure room to venture into an unsecured building. Then left in an unsecured transport… to come to an unsecured home where—" His voice dropped dangerously— “You didn’t even bother to lock the front door."

With another heavy step, she realized he had backed her up toward the wall, pressing a few fingers into the wall near her hip, and, with his other hand, pressed a finger into her sternum. “You didn’t wait for me or listen to my instructions… and you gave your stalker a wet dream of a press conference, Mara. What. Were. You. Thinking?”

Each punctuated word sent warm breath and scented cologne into her face, scrambling her brain. Her heart raced in an entirely different way. Her grip on the towel loosened as she exhaled. He was uncomfortably close, and his fingertip pressing into her skin made her squirm. The swell of his nostrils as he breathed her in, made her heart do jumping jacks in her chest. He was so handsome it hurt. Words wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried. She just kept staring into those piercing green eyes and wishing he would…

“It wasn’t my idea.” That was a terrible cop-out, and she knew it.

Jax opened his mouth instantly, bit off whatever he was about to say, and leaned in. A deep exhale brushed over her collarbone, releasing his finger pressed to her chest. “This is your life. If your manager comes up with a stupid idea, guess what? You don’t have to go along with it.”

“That’s not fair, I—”

“You don’t EVER put yourself in danger, Mara. Do you understand me? I don’t give a damn who tells you to do what.”

She could only nod. The tone of his voice made her go soft, bending her forward until her clenched hands were pressing into his chest. It was like being commanded from within. His voice swept into her brain and turned it off completely. He was a furnace, sending heat all the way to the back of her neck where she wished he’d press his hand… what was wrong with her? That was inappropriate. This was all inappropriate, but she couldn’t pull away.

“You know what I specified in the contract, Mara.” He snapped her into focus, stepping fully into her space as one of his legs slid between her own. When had she started staring at his mouth as it moved? And why wasn’t she pushing him away? “Are you going to have a problem following my orders?”

“No,” she panted, embarrassed by her body’s reactions. This was beyond desperate… beyond…

“Good,” he rumbled, his nostrils and pupils flaring as his eyes dropped to her mouth. His hands brushed against her hips as he pulled away, and the loss of heat made her shiver. He gave her one last survey and nodded. “I’ll be waiting for you downstairs. Then it’s straight to a safe location until you tell me we’re catching a flight.”

She nodded, no more than a puppet with a scrambled brain, watching him exit back the way he came.

***

Jackson barely kept his claws retracted. He curled his hands around his mouth and breathed deeply. He fucking smelled like her. Fuck he wanted to go back. His eyes rolled back on the force of his next groan. He needed to get a grip, but his wolf wasn’t interested, making him swipe his tongue over the skin that had touched her.

It wasn’t enough. He needed more. He needed…

“Ready,” she said from behind him, the sound of her footsteps cutting into his brain. He forced his hands down to his sides, refusing to turn around and face her. She’d see exactly what her body did to him…

“Car’s ready and waiting,” he said, throwing open the front door. “Let’s go.”