Chapter 24 Chapter 24
JAX
I hadn’t slept.
Not even for a second.
The house had been quiet after midnight, except for the sounds that mattered. They’d come through the wall like knives—slow at first, then faster, rhythmic, obscene.
Mira’s voice had cracked open on a moan that wasn’t meant for me. Luca had answered with that low, possessive rumble as he buried inside her. The headboard had thudded against the shared wall in hard strokes. I’d counted them until I lost track.
I’d lain on my back in the dark, sheets twisted around my hips, one hand shoved down my boxers before I could talk myself out of it. Every time she gasped his name, my fist tightened. Every time he told her how fucking perfect she felt, how wet she was for him, how good she took his cock, I stroked harder. I hated myself for it. I hated him more. But most of all, I hated how badly I wanted to be the one making her sound like that.
When I came, it had been violent and silent, teeth sunk into my bottom lip until copper flooded my tongue. Release hadn’t brought relief. Only a hollow ache that sat behind my ribs like a stone.
Morning arrived too soon. The sunlight sliced through the kitchen blinds and painted stripes across the table. Zane sat at one end, shoveling scrambled eggs like the world hadn’t tilted on its axis last night. Luca lounged opposite him, coffee mug cradled in both hands, that lazy, well-fucked smirk permanently etched on his face. And Mira—
Mira sat between them, glowing in a way that made my stomach twist.
Her hair was still damp from the shower, curling at the ends. A faint purple mark peeked above the collar of her oversized sweater with Luca’s teeth, no doubt. Every time she reached for the butter, the sleeve slipped, revealing another bruise blooming on the inside of her wrist. She kept glancing at Luca, soft, shy little looks that he returned with slow, knowing smiles. Puppy eyes. Fucking puppy eyes. Like they’d discovered some private religion in the dark and were still drunk on the sacrament.
I stabbed my fork into a piece of bacon so hard the plate cracked down the middle and everyone glanced up.
Luca’s gaze slid to me, brows pulling down. “You good, Jax?”
“Peachy,” I said, and took a bite of bacon that tasted like cardboard.
Mira stayed quiet, eyes on her plate, cheeks pink and she hadn’t looked at me once since she walked in.
Then our Fathers voice slide into our minds and I went stiff. “Luca, Zane, coke to my office now.” He said and we all glanced at each other before looking at Mira who was supposed to have a class by eleven.
“I’ll drive her.” I said and Luca’s eyes narrowed a fraction. He studied me for a long beat, like he could smell the jealousy rolling off me in waves. But he only shrugged. “Fine.”
Mira murmured a quiet “Thanks,” still not meeting my gaze while I got up and made my way out with her soon trailing behind me.
The ride started in silence.
I kept both hands on the wheel, knuckles white. The back road to campus wound through pine and scrub oak, empty this time of morning. Five minutes passed. Ten. The quiet pressed against my skull until I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“So,” I said, voice low, almost conversational. “Did you enjoy taking Luca’s cock last night?”
Her head whipped toward me so fast the seatbelt locked.
“Jax—”
“I heard everything, little breeder.” I kept my eyes on the road, but I felt the heat radiating off her skin. “Every pretty little whimper. Every time you begged him not to stop. Sounded like he fucked you straight into heaven.”
“Stop it.”
“Did he make you come hard?” I dragged the words out, slowly. “Or was it just… good enough? Because from the way the bed was rattling, I’d say he fucked your brains out.”
“Jax. Stop the car.” She said and her voice cracked on the last word, filled with anger, embarrassment and something dangerously close to tears.
I glanced over to see her hands were balled into fists in her lap. Her cheeks were red and her eyes shimmered.
I pulled over hard and the car lurched to a stop on the shoulder. Dust clouded around the tires.
Mira reached for the door handle immediately.
I moved faster.
My hand shot out, caught her wrist, yanked her back before her feet could touch the ground. She gasped, startled. I was already out of the driver’s seat, rounding the hood in three long strides. I crowded her against the passenger door, one forearm braced above her head on the roof of the car, the other still locked around her wrist.
She froze.
“Jax, let go—”
“No.”
I pressed in until our bodies lined up, chest to chest, hips to hips. I let her feel it. Let her feel how hard I’d been since the second I woke up with her moans still echoing in my head and my cock trapped against the zipper of my jeans.
Her breath hitched.
I leaned down, mouth brushing the shell of her ear. “Can you take care of me too, Mira?” The words came out rough, almost desperate. “Or is it only Luca who gets to feel how wet you get? How tight you squeeze when you come? How fucking sweet you sound when you’re falling apart?”
She didn’t answer.
Her lips parted. No sound escaped.
I dragged my nose down the side of her throat, breathing her in. She still carried the faint musk of him, sweat, sex, cedar-and-smoke. It made me want to bite. To erase. To replace.
“Tell me to stop,” I murmured against her pulse. “Tell me you don’t want it.”
She didn’t.
Instead, her free hand fisted the front of my shirt.
And then she pulled.
Our mouths collided hard, messy, and desperate. Teeth clacked. Tongues fought. I groaned into her like a man who’d been starving for years. I licked deeper, claiming every inch I could reach, swallowing the small, needy whimper that vibrated in her throat, the same sound she’d made for him last night.
She kissed me back like she was drowning and I was the only air left in the world.
I slid my hand from her wrist to the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair, tilting her head so I could take more. She arched into me, hips rocking instinctively against the hard line of my cock. A growl tore out of my chest and I pressed her harder against the car, thigh sliding between hers, giving her something to grind against.
She moaned into my mouth.
The sound snapped something primal loose inside me.
I kissed her like I wanted to crawl inside her skin. Like I wanted to carve my name into every place Luca had touched. She clutched my shoulders, nails digging through denim, holding on like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go.
Time blurred. The world narrowed to heat and breath and the wet slide of tongues. My free hand found the hem of her sweater, slipped underneath, found soft skin and the sharp edge of a ribcage. She shivered when my thumb brushed the underside of her breast.
I pulled back just enough to look at her.
Her lips were swollen, cheeks flushed, eyes glassy and dark. She looked wrecked. Beautiful. Mine.
For one heartbeat, neither of us moved.
Then she whispered, barely audible, “Jax…”
I didn’t let her finish.
I kissed her again, slower this time, deeper, like I was trying to memorize the shape of her mouth. Like I was trying to tattoo the taste of her onto my soul.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders, then she froze like she had just realized who she was kissing. Hee eyes went wide, chest heaving, and then, voice shaking. “Stop. I—I can fuck who I want, Jax. It doesn’t have to be you.”
She took a sharp breath and looked me in the eye, those green pinning me in place. “Luca actually looks at me. He cares. You… you just want to fuck me and please your father!”
The words hit me like a punch.
I blinked, still pressed against her, and she stepped back, hands brushing her hair off her face, trying to reclaim herself.
Her gaze met mine, daring me. “So don’t get it twisted.”
And she walked toward the campus path without looking back.
I stayed where I was, hands still on the car, breathing slow. Because she was wrong about one thing. When I finally touched her again, I wouldn’t be asking.
And she wouldn’t be walking away after.