Jax puffed out his pretty lips in a pout, and it was all Cade could do not to lean over and taste them. The sudden compulsion actually horrified him, and he backed up a couple of steps. Jax still sat against the headboard, holding his brother close to him, but when he realized he was naked under the blankets, his face turned an interesting shade of red, and he glared over at Cade.

“Where are my clothes?”

“I took them off you to dry them. Your brother is still wearing wet clothing, so it might be a good idea to tell him to go to the bathroom and take them off. He can wrap himself up in blankets. I’d hate for him to get sick.”

“Don’t worry about it—I’ll take care of my little brother. What kind of sick pervert are you that you want to get him out of his clothes?”

Cade blew out a frustrated breath. “Oh, for God’s sake. We don’t molest children. I was only concerned about his welfare. You’re the one who’s dragging the child around in the pouring rain. You say you can take care of him, so do it.”

“Yeah, well, that’s none of your business, is it?”

“Do you really think his clothes would be any protection to him if either of us wanted to hurt him? He’s got to be uncomfortable. He can wrap himself in blankets and I promise you nobody will touch him.”

Jax seemed to think it over for a few minutes and then finally whispered something in Mason’s ear. Mason got off the bed and took the blanket Connor was holding out to him and went into the bathroom.

“I won’t let you fuck me,” Jax said tightly as soon as Mason closed the door behind him, startling Cade.

“Nobody wants to fuck you,” Cade said, though that was exactly what his wolf wanted to do, so he took another step backward to put more distance between them. “But you need to start telling me the truth or I’ll turn your little ass over my knee and spank you so hard you won’t sit for a week.”

Jax flushed, and his mouth fell open in complete surprise. A strange look passed over his face, but was gone so quickly Cade couldn’t get a fix on it. Damn it, he’d just promised himself he would take it easy on the kid.

Jax glared up at him furiously and puffed out his chest. “You touch me and I’ll make you sorry. What is it? What do you want to know?” He narrowed his eyes suddenly. “Are you some kind of cop? She got the five bucksback. That’s all I took, I swear to God.”

“Are you a runaway?”

“I’m nineteen years old, asshole. I’m not running away from anything or anyone. I can go wherever I please.”

“Okay, good to know. You can go anywhere you like—so long as your probation officer says you can. And what about the kid?” Cade replied softly, jerking his head toward the bathroom. “Are you telling me you have custody of that boy?” He pulled from his pocket the business card he’d found in Jax’s wallet. “Maybe this guy will have some information on you. I can call him and find out.”

“N-no. Please. Tthat’s an old card. And what gives you the right to go through my things anyway? Damn it, why are you doing this, you asshole? What difference does it make to you who we are?”

“Stop lying to me.” Cade blew out a long breath took a step toward Jax, who glared back at him defiantly.“And stop cussing at me.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you. But if you hit me, I’ll hit you back,” he said, drawing back his fist.

Cade recoiled, and looked at him with surprise. “I have no intention of hitting you. But tell me why you’re on probation and tell me the truth, or I might spank your ass.”

Jax’s mouth fell open in surprise. He sputtered a few times but must not have liked the look he saw in Cade’s eyes, becausehe held up a hand in a placating gesture. “Okay, okay. I-I beat up one of my relatives, and he pressed charges. Since I was over eighteen, and I didn’t have any money to post bond, they put me in jail for a few days, and I got out on probation. That’s the truth, I swear.”

“Why did you beat him up?”

“It was just a family misunderstanding. I have kind of a bad temper.”

“No shit. And the boy?”

“He’s my little brother. I’m like his guardian now.”

Cade raised one eyebrow. “You’re like his guardian. Seriously? You expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t give a shit what you believe. None of it’s any of your goddamned business.”

Cade took another quick step toward him, sat down on the side of the bed and hauled Jax over his lap in one smooth motion. He pulled down the sheet and let his hand fall twice sharply, watching with satisfaction as his hand print made a pink mark on each of the perfect white globes of his boy’s ass.

“No!” Jax yelled. “Stop—stop, please, I’m sorry.”

Two more blows fell, not enough to really hurt, but enough to sting. Jax squirmed violently on his lap and to his surprise, Cade felt a very hard rod pressing against his thighs. So his boy liked being spanked. Shit, I’m so fucked.

Cade’s hand moved over his ass, massaging it gently, working away the sting, wanting badly to put him back down on the bed and bury his cock between those newly pink cheeks. Deciding this was a very bad idea, he put him back on the bed and stood up, turning away from him.

“Okay, then. Don’t evercuss me again. And I’ll decide what’s my business.”

“O-okay. I’m sorry. Just…please let us go.”

Mason came out of the bathroom, looking with alarm over at Jax, who held out a hand to him.

“Are you okay, Jax? I heard you yelling.”

Jax ruffled his hair and pulled a pillow over his erection that was tenting out the sheet. “I’m fine, Mace. We’re just talking, that’s all.”

Connor stepped over to the bed and held out his hand. “Mason, why don’t you come back over and watch cartoons so my brother can talk to your brother, okay?”

Mason looked at Jax, who nodded, and he walked over to Connor, who steered him back to the table.

“Let us go,” Jax said in a low tone. “I’ll leave town right away—I promise.”

“And go where? What are you doing in Mississippi, anyway, if you’re from Alabama?”

“W-we hitchhiked out this way. We’re going out west, or that’s the plan, anyway.”

“Where out west? Who do you know there?”

Jax shrugged. “Nobody really, and we don’t have any firm plans. Just wherever I can find a job. I’m…uh…looking for work.”

Cade looked skeptically at Jax. He’d been relieved when Jax pulled the pillow over to cover his groin. He’d been keeping his eyes from straying to that bulge by sheer willpower.

“What are you going to do to us?” Jax asked again, his eyes flashing.

Before Cade could answer, the door opened to admit Rayce, who was carrying several takeout boxes and balancing a drink carrier on top of them.

Rayce looked around the room curiously, and Jax shrank back even farther against the headboard, pulling the pillow up to hug it to him. Favoring Jax with a charming, reassuring little smile, Raycebrought the cartons over to the bedside table. “I brought you all a little petit dejeuner,” he said. “Oh, and I managed to get enough rooms for all of us for tonight, so you can figure all this out. They didn’t know anything at the diner except that they’ve never seen either of them around here before.”

Jax watched them both with wary eyes and glanced longingly at the door.

“Good,” Cade said, nodding. “Thanks, man.” Then he glanced back over at Jax. “Don’t even think about it. You move one inch off that bed, and I’ll finish what I started with that spanking.”

Jax gave him a resentful, furious glare, but stayed where he was. Cade nodded approvingly and reached for one of the takeout containers, handing it to Jax. Inside there was scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and creamy grits with a blob of butter swimming on top. A fat, flaky biscuit sat on top of the bacon. The smell wafting up off the food made Jax close his eyes and tremble, but he still looked first toward Mason to see if he got one too. Mason was already eating.

“Well, go ahead and eat,” Cade said sternly, a little moved by Jax’s reaction to the food and trying not to show it. “Don’t let it get cold.”

Jax opened his eyes wide and then tore into the food, just cramming it in his mouth and not waiting to open the little pack that held a plastic fork and knife. Cade and Rayce watched in startled fascination until Cade put out a hand to grab Jax’s wrist.

“Slow down, damn it. Nobody’s going to take it away from you, but you’ll make yourself sick eating like that.” He made Jax look up at him and nod before he took his hand away and watched him make a real effort to slow down.“That’s right. Slower, and damn it, use the fork. You can’t eat those eggs and grits with your fingers, oryou’ll burn yourself.”

Cade opened the packet for him and cleaned off his fingers with the napkin before putting the fork in his hand. “Slow down, or I’ll feed you myself.”

That got Jax going slower, and finally, Cade jerked his head at Rayce, and they went over to stand by the door. He spoke to him quietly in French. “His full name is Jackson CodyMonroe.”

Jax glanced up at the sound of his name, but Cade ignored him.

“He’s from Piedmont, Alabama, according to his license, and he’s nineteen years old.” At the look of disbelief on Rayce’s face, he shook his head. “I know, I know, he looks too young, but that’s what’s on his driver’s license, and it seems to be authentic. We’ll need to check it out to make sure. He’s running away from something, I think, but since he just got out of jail back home, he has to be over seventeen, or they’d have put him in a Youth Detention Center. Says he beat up a relative who pressed charges, and now he’s on probation.”

Rayce raised one eyebrow. “Really?”