Jaxon (Heartlands Motorcycle Club Book 5) Read online

  I laugh as if she’s got me all wrong, but my blushing cheeks betray me. “I wasn’t…”

  “I’m ten years old,” she says in a flat tone that she probably got from her uncle Beckham. “I’m not an idiot. I know you like him.”

  This time I can’t answer. I can’t lie. This little Yoda will see straight through me into my soul.

  “He likes you too,” she says with a smile.

  “No, he doesn’t.” I can’t even fathom that this gorgeous man could be into me. He could have anyone he wants and I’m just… well, I’m just a runaway waitress working in a busted up biker bar in a small crappy town. I’m nobody worth liking.

  She raises her eyebrow at me and it makes my heart pound. “I know my Uncle J. He’s got it bad for you. He didn’t take his eyes off you all day.”

  “I think that had to do with my tight jean shorts,” I say with a laugh. “Doesn’t mean he was into me.”

  “Yes, it does. Do you know how many girls have tried to get with Jaxon and gotten nowhere instead?”

  “We shouldn’t be talking about your uncle this way,” I say. She is only ten years old. But five seconds later, I can’t take it anymore. “How many girls?”

  “A lot! My teacher tried to hook up with him and she is gorgeous.”

  This time it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “How do you know they didn’t?”

  She lets out a quick snorting laugh. “Because I got a C in participation. If my uncle was shagging her I would have gotten at least a B minus.”

  We paint each other’s toenails in silence for a minute as thoughts race through my mind. Is he really interested in me? Could it work? There did seem to be something there…

  “My uncles might come across as a little wild,” she says as she carefully paints my pinkie toe, “but they’re good men. Who else would temper their outlaw lifestyle so they could take in their ten-year-old niece?

  “After my mom died, I thought I was going to have to live in an orphanage,” Nixie says after a long pause. “My dad is in a state penitentiary. When he gets out, I’ll be twenty-four years old. I was all alone at the funeral, feeling like my world was crumbling to pieces when Jaxon picked me up and promised he would always be there for me. Beckham came and wrapped his arms around the both of us and said we were a team now. He said we’d always be together. And we have been ever since. Ah, you’re crying.”

  I embarrassingly start wiping my eyes with the back of my hands and they come away wet with tears.

  “Don’t be sad,” she says as she playfully squeezes my toe. “You have a great guy chasing you. You should be happy.”

  “I am,” I tell her with a sniff. “It’s just… that was beautiful. I don’t have anyone like that in my life. Someone who loves me and looks out for me.”

  She grins. “Something tells me you will soon.”

  “If only I could be so lucky. Whatever happens with your uncle J, you’ll always be welcome with us. I’m looking to join a happy family, not tear one apart.”

  She sticks out her foot and spreads her toes apart. “Pinkie promise?”

  I wrap my little toe around hers and nod. “Pinkie promise.”

  It’s dark out and Nixie is asleep on the couch when there’s a soft knock on my door. I quickly fix myself up and then open it to find Jaxon and Beckham standing in the hallway.

  Jaxon is leaning against the doorframe as he checks me out in a brazenly shameless way. My body shivers with heat as we drink each other in. He looks just as gorgeous as he did this afternoon, even more so now that I’ve been waiting desperately for him for a couple of hours.

  “Sorry, we’re late,” he says in a deep voice that seems to light every nerve ending in my body on fire. “Troy needed us back at the club.”

  I know better than to ask about club business, and the truth is, I’m just glad he’s here.

  His brown eyes are fixated on me as I just stand there, holding the door like a goof.

  “Are you going to invite us in?” he finally asks with that panty-melting grin.

  “Of course,” I say with a gasp as I get ripped out of my happy daze. “Come in.”

  They both fill the doorway as they step into my apartment. These men are huge. They’re built like oil tankers and I barely come up to Jaxon’s chin.

  “Nixie is sleeping on the couch,” I tell them. “We painted each other’s nails and bonded.”

  I laugh nervously as Beckham silently walks over to the couch. He bends down and picks her up so gently that he doesn’t even wake her up. She just moans as she curls into his big chest and falls deeper into her slumber.

  It’s amazing to see such a strong and feared man be so gentle with the ones he loves. It’s going to be a lucky girl who bags Beckham for a husband. He’s the strong silent type who would kill a dozen men before he lets one hurt you.

  But I’ll leave Beckham for the next girl. I already have a crush. A big one.

  On his brother who can’t seem to take his eyes off me.

  “Nice place,” he says as he looks around at my tiny apartment. I suddenly feel very self-conscious with his eyes on my things. I’m embarrassed. I feel like it’s not enough. The last tenants left the yellow stove and there’s duct tape all over the hinges of my fridge that won’t stop buzzing. I don’t have the nicest things, but I take care of what I have and make it as nice as I can.

  Jaxon walks over to the pot of flowers I have growing on the counter and smells one. “They’re beautiful,” he whispers as Beckham carries Nixie to the door, “just like their owner.”

  Jaxon walks over to me and seeing such a big powerful man in front of me, giving me that look… oh, it’s making me so wet.

  “Thanks for taking care of Nixie,” he says in that rough dominant voice. He cups my jaw and gently runs his thumb over my black eye. My eyes fall closed as a moan slips from my throat. “I didn’t find the guy who did this to you yet. But I will. I’ll make him pay.”

  I wrap my fingers around his forearm and the thickness of it intensifies the deep throbbing between my legs. “I don’t care about that anymore,” I whisper. “I’m just… I’m glad you’re here.”

  We stare at each other for a long heated moment and my small crappy apartment fills with a thick sexual heat that is stifling. I know he’s feeling it too.

  “Maybe you could… stay for a bit?”

  He licks his lips as his eyes drop down to my mouth, only for an instant, then he’s turning to Beckham who’s waiting in the hallway outside the door.

  “Go on, Becks,” he says. “Take Nixie back to the hotel. I’ll stay here for a while.”

  Beckham nods and then leaves without changing his expression.

  My pulse goes into overdrive as I watch Jaxon walk to the door and close it. He’s wearing his leather cut with the skull in flames and Heartlands written across his upper back.

  I always thought those cuts were so sexy, but seeing it on Jaxon in my apartment as he closes the door is something else. It’s beyond sexy. It’s out of this world. It’s surreal.

  I have a biker of my own. And it’s not just going to be for a night. It’s not going to be for a few minutes on a pool table in front of everyone.

  This could be it. I could be his Old Lady. His one true love.

  Don’t get ahead of yourself, girl. You don’t know why he’s here.

  He still looks tense and on edge as he comes back over.

  “Want a drink?” I ask as I head over to the pantry. “I have some red wine.”

  “That sounds great,” he says as he sits down at my kitchen table and watches me as I struggle to open it.

  “I’m always so bad at this,” I say as I fumble with the opener. “My first day of waitressing, I cut myself so badly opening a bottle of wine that I had to go to the hospital and get a stitch. I was bleeding everywhere. All over the poor customer’s filet mignon. I still have the scar. See?”

  “Come here,” he says as I hold up my index finger.

  I have butterflies in
my stomach as I go over to him. He pulls me onto his lap as he looks at it. This time I don’t push off him. I enjoy it. I breathe in his rich masculine scent. I melt against his hard body. I close my eyes and let the feeling of finally being home wash over me.

  “It’s such a little guy,” he says as he takes my hand. He brings my old faded scar to his lips and kisses it.

  My heart is pounding as I stare at him. He’s so hot up close. He’s got a face you can stare at for hours. That an artist would kill to sketch. His nose is big and bold, and on any other face it would be too much, but on him… it’s perfection.

  I swear my cheeks are bright red and I’m worried he can feel the heat emanating from between my legs as I admire his features, so I hop off his lap and continue with the wine.

  Finally, I get it open and pour him a glass. I sit down at the table next to him as we sip it. We talk for a long time. Until the empty bottle of wine is in the recycling bin and a second one joins it.

  He tells me about his club and how he’s looking for a change. “The time for risks are coming to an end,” he says as I try to keep the hearts out of my eyes and stay focused on his words instead. “We have Nixie to take care of now. That’s what I like about the Seneca chapter. They’re trying to go clean. We’re hoping that after we take care of this for them, they’ll let us stay.”

  Maybe it’s the wine, but I’m grinning from ear to ear. He does want to stay. Maybe there is a future here.

  I open up and tell him about my parents back home and how I ran out of the house at sixteen years old. I haven’t told anyone that since I left, but with him, it comes out so easily. So naturally, as if we’ve known each other for years. He holds my hand on the table and listens intently to every word I say.

  By the time I stumble to the bathroom and look at my rosy cheeks in the mirror, I’m in love. “He’s so hot,” I whisper to myself and then break into giggles. “Don’t fuck it up!”

  He’s got this way about him that is intensely appealing. His eyes have this possessiveness to them as they follow me wherever I go. I like how he looks at me like that. I like thinking that I’m his and that one day he’s going to lay ownership on me.

  “It’s dangerous to drink and drive,” he says with a grin when it’s after midnight. “You don’t want me getting hurt, do you?”

  “Of course not,” I tell him with a smirk. “You can sleep on the couch.”

  He looks over at the small couch I found on the side of the road and runs a hand through his long blond hair.

  “You want me to lie on that? Where am I going to put my legs?”

  “I’m not a club slut,” I say with a sharp tone. I just want him to know that. “I’ve never been with any of those guys at the club. I’ve never been with any guy, actually.” Shit. The wine talking. “And I’m not about to give it up after only one day of knowing a guy.”

  “All right,” he says as he walks over to me. He’s so big. He’s towering over me, making me feel so tiny. He takes his big powerful hand and gently tucks a strand of my black hair behind my ear. “I’ll wait.” He licks his lips as he looks down at me with his eyes full of desire and passion. “I’ll wait an eternity for you. But please don’t make me.”

  My body stills as he leans down and gives me a soft gentle kiss on the lips.

  “Goodnight, Stella,” he whispers, the heat of his breath tickling my lips. “I can’t wait to see you in the morning.”

  I head over to my room as he lies down on my couch. My head is spinning as I close the door and lean on it, cursing myself for not inviting him in.

  My pussy is howling with need. She’s an angry pulsing beast who wants to invite Jaxon in and devour him whole.

  I drop onto the bed and have the worst, most fitful sleep I’ve ever had.

  Until something wakes me…

  Chapter Six

  Stella

  The bad dream wakes me up with a start. I fly up into a seated position as I clutch the blankets to my pounding heart.

  Tears are streaming down my cheeks and I let out a sob as the memory of the nightmare replays in my mind.

  The men. The Outlaws. They had burst into my room and I was powerless to stop them.

  “It’s just a dream,” I whisper to myself. “Just a dream.”

  The tears stop as I run my hands through my hair and look around. My room is exactly how it was when I fell asleep. The window closed, the door opened a crack, my clothes from the day draped over the chair like usual.

  Jaxon sleeping in the other room…

  Knowing he’s here makes me feel instantly better. Instantly safer.

  And suddenly, he’s at the door, pushing it open.

  “Stella?” he whispers in his deep soothing voice. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” I say, my voice trailing away when I see what he’s wearing, which isn’t much. He’s standing in the crack of my door, wearing nothing but a pair of tight black boxer briefs that are clinging tightly around his muscular thighs.

  The light over the stove is on and the warm glow is washing over his hard sculpted body. I can see every deep curve of his abs, the broad scope of his powerful chest, his arms, good lord, his arms…

  My thirsty eyes travel down to his pelvis with the mouthwatering V that looks like it was etched into stone by a master artist plunging into his boxer briefs. The large bulge in his underwear sends the throbbing pulse returning between my legs with a vengeance.

  “I heard crying,” he says in a low voice as he steps into the room.

  I take the blankets and hold them up to my chest. I’m wearing an old Blink-182 t-shirt and a pair of underwear. Nothing I would want him to see me in. I don’t have any nice pajamas since I never have men sleeping over.

  “I just had a bad dream. I’m okay.”

  He runs a hand through his long blond hair as he looks at me. My eyes dart to his big round tricep and then slide down to his back muscles that are visible from the front.

  “Was it The Outlaws?”

  “Yeah,” I whisper. “It’s okay now. You’re here.”

  He walks over and sits on the foot of the bed, watching me. “That’s right I am. And I’m not going anywhere. So, if those fuckers show up in your dreams again, you dream of me walking in and kicking their asses for even daring to look at you.”

  I smile as my body heats up and my nipples harden. I’ve never had a man on my bed before and I’m not prepared for how much I want him to stay.

  “How’s the couch?” I ask after a long moment has passed. “Not too short, I hope?”

  “It’s perfect,” he says as he flashes me a devastating smile. “Although, I think I’m a bit too long.”

  “You can stay here.” The words are out before I’ve processed them. Before I’ve analyzed them a million times to be sure that Jaxon sleeping in my bed is a good idea.

  He raises an eyebrow as he turns to me. “Are you sure, Stella? It’s going to happen eventually. I’m sure of that. But once I get into that bed with you, I’m not going to be able to stop myself from doing all the things that have been running through my mind all day.”

  “I don’t want you to stop yourself,” I say. Man, the words just keep flying out of me tonight. Who put my vagina in charge?

  “I thought you weren’t going to give it up after knowing a guy for only one day?”

  “Well, it’s after midnight, so technically it’s been two days.”

  He gives me that sexy grin as he stands up and walks over to my side of the bed. “That’s good enough for me.”

  I scoot over and he comes under the blankets. My heart is going haywire. I’m flustered and full of excited nerves as he slides next to me, wrapping his big arms around my body. I moan as he pulls me against his big warm chest, letting him take charge.

  I don’t have to be nervous, I tell myself. Jaxon will take care of me. He’s a true alpha and he’ll be that way in the bedroom too, taking charge of everything.

  “Come here,” he says as he cups my jaw and
tilts my head up. He takes my mouth with a rough dominant kiss that rips the air from my lungs.

  I’m moaning and pulling his big body closer as his tongue slides against mine, giving me a taste of his warm masculine mouth.

  My pussy suddenly feels so wet as I feel his weight pressing down on me. I spread my legs as he shifts between them.

  When his thick hard cock presses against my needy pussy, I let out a whimper. He grins and then kisses me again.

  His hand slides under my shirt and his big powerful palm grips my bare breast as he grinds his huge dick against my clenched pussy. This is all happening so fast, but at the same time, it’s not happening fast enough.

  I need to feel him inside, stretching me, filling me, making me his…

  My hands slide into his long soft hair as he grinds his strong hips against me, pressing his throbbing erection against my pulsing sex.

  “I’ve been hard like this all day thinking about your sweet cunt,” he growls as he pushes his shaft against my aching clit. My face twists up as a long deep moan claws its way out of my throat. He feels so good between my legs. He’s right where he’s supposed to be. Where he’s meant to be.

  “When I saw your ass in those jean shorts,” he says as he massages my breast and looks down at me, “I thought I was going to go insane. I needed you so badly, Stella. It’s all I’ve been able to think about.”

  He grabs the bottom of my shirt and pulls it up to my neck. “Fuck,” he whispers under his breath when he sees my bare breasts spilling out.

  He takes a few seconds to admire them, but he can’t resist touching them for longer than that. His hands are on them first and then he lowers his lips, kissing, licking, and sucking every inch of them, from the soft curves to my hard little nipples that are standing straight up, begging for his attention.

  The thick steel rod pressing against my pussy is making it hard to think straight. I’m sure my panties are already soaked through.

  “I want to feel your skin against mine,” I say as I glance down at the only stitch of clothing on him. I’m not used to talking dirty yet, and it’s the only way I can ask him to get us both naked.