“How’d you know about this place?” I asked curiously.

“Christy told me about it and gave me the directions.”

“Oh.”

“What’s wrong?” he said soothingly, pushing my hair from one side to the other. He trailed kisses down my bare neck.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“Stop lying. You tensed the second I said her name.”

No response.

“She means nothing to me, Tiny.”

“She must mean something. You helped out her grandmother and all.” Pushing the matter that she must have meant something was Sara-code for: continue to tell me how much of nothing she means to you!

“Because she was the only nice girl before you came back. She wasn’t after the Scorpion man second in charge of bad-ass-ville. I felt bad for using her. A part of me kept her around that time in case you showed up. I’m a dickhead, I know.”

“She was fawning all over you yesterday.”

He laughed suddenly. I felt his head shake. “No, she most definitely was not.”

I scoffed. “She rubbed up against you, whispered in your ear, gave me dirty looks –”

“She did not give you dirty looks.”

“Okay, she didn’t, but the rest is true.”

He sighed, taking the palm of my hand with his own. He drew circles on my skin before saying, “Tiny, she wasn’t. She told me she was heading to Winthrop to be with her tattoo artist boyfriend, and I smiled at her and wished her good luck.”

“Why would she whisper that?”

“It was loud as hell in that restaurant, plus Gretel was talking up a fucking storm about convict art or some shit.”

I thought on that for a few moments. “She has a man in Winthrop?”

He laughed again. “You’re such a dumbass, Tiny. Did you not spot the sparkling rock on her finger? Christy got engaged a few weeks ago.”

I stilled. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

Damn. “Why do I overreact?”

“Because you’re jealous and you love me.”

Still was no excuse for it.

“She’s been through a lot,” Jaxon continued quietly. “Gretel… she’s hard on her. She pushed her to go to med school when she didn’t want to. She’s taken up some receptionist job at her boyfriend’s shop and hasn’t even told her yet.”

“What about her placement?”

“She said it was too stressful on her. That she needed a break. So I wished her the best of luck.”

“Oh.” I hoped she would find the happiness she was looking for.

We relaxed for ages, soaking the heat of the sun while feeling the coolness of the mist emitting from the waterfall. It was so surreal being here with him again.

“Where are we going to go?” I asked after sometime. “Are we never returning to Gosnells?”

“We are. In time.”

“Are you still going to be a Scorpion?”

“There’s no out of the Scorpions, Tiny. That’s a done deal. I gave them my word. The only way out is death.”

“Maybe we can fake your death.”

He chuckled, his chest vibrating against my back. “That’s easier said than done.”

“How did you become one?” I’d been dying to ask this. Sure, Remy had vaguely offered an answer, but it wasn’t good enough. I needed to hear it come from Jaxon.

Apprehension clear in his demeanour, he tensed. Softly, he said, “The men inside that prison were the vilest fucking people you’d ever seen. The kind that’ll eat you up and spit you out. Pretty boy Jaxon was a hit, and I knew quickly I’d be face down and ass up for some Jabba the Hutt. By then, Finley was serving the last year of his six year sentence – tax evasion, he’d said. He watched me fight and liked what he saw. He took me under his wing and offered me protection. In exchange, I’d do what he wanted me to do.

“What he wanted… it was bad shit, Tiny. They aren’t things I’m proud of. I’d rather gloss over a lot of it for now. But I got the job done each time, and he took me in more and more. We bonded a bit. I had nothing else to do but bond with this convincing rich businessman who not only protected me, but taught me how to run a business and how to make money.”

“And the whole woman thing with the club…”

“Finley wanted us to treat women like they were sport. Whatever he grew up in, that was the culture of it, I guess. He’s a damn good speaker, that guy. He could sell snow to the fucking Eskimos. What he does is clever; he brings in men that are down on their luck and builds them up again. When they feel powerful and invincible, they look down on everyone else around them. For a long time that’s what I felt. That’s the lifestyle I lived. Until you came back.”

He kissed my head and trailed his fingers down my arms.

“The night I was taken… You said I’d moved on when I asked you about Jade.”

I felt him nod. “Yeah.”

“What made you think that?”

“After I got out of prison, we tracked down the officer that planted the evidence on me. We beat the truth out of him. He said the Jackals were behind it, but we could never get to the bottom of why. I found out later about your mother, but it was only until Remy took you that I realized his obsession. Fritz broke it to me when I demanded the truth.

“During the time I got the news out of the officer, I went searching for you. I was in Winthrop after all. Finley later approached me a few days later and told me they’d found you, but that you were living with a man you worked for. That you were happy with him.” He paused and sighed deeply, gathering his thoughts before he continued.

“He proceeded to show me some photos of you and him through your apartment window. Nothing revealing, but there were photos of him in states of undress. It was Daniel. There was no reason for me to question it; it was apparent you’d moved onto another man. At that point, I was angry. I hated you. I wanted to hurt you even if you didn’t know it. Felt like you’d abandoned me, so I wanted to do the same thing. I tried to fill the void with the club, and it became my life. I’m sorry, Sara.”

I shook my head, my anger directed at Finley. “I never lived with Daniel.”

“Yeah, well, he made a very convincing case.”

“I want to hurt that man.”

Jaxon chuckled. “He’s going to be taken care. So forget him, Sara. Let’s just enjoy each other now.”

“But with you knowing about Remy now–”

“Do I want to kill him? Sure. What he did put me through hell, but what satisfaction would I gain by killing him? It won’t take back the years. What’s done is done, and I got my girl now.”

Wow, he was amazing. His strength was a thing to behold. I’m not sure Remy would have done the same… No, no, he would not have.

“There’s something I want to show you,” I then said.

“What?”

“Check my right pocket.”

He put his hand into my right pocket and withdrew my silver chained bracelet. His breath escaped him as he turned it over and picked up the heart.

“Fuck,” he whispered in disbelief. “I thought this was gone.”

“Remy took it, and when he came clean to me about what happened, he gave it back to me.”

He exhaled harshly behind me. “I hate that fucker. I really do. Give me your wrist.”

I held out my wrist and he slipped it on. Then his fingers roamed over every link in the chain. “Perfect,” he said. “Right where it belongs.”

When there were no more words left to say, I shut my eyes and turned my head, pressing my ear against his chest. I listened to the strong beats of his heart thinking, this heart belongs to me. He tightened his arms around me and rested his chin on my head. This was our little bubble of heaven right here and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

*****

I opened my eyes and blinked up at the sky. I was resting on my back wondering how long I’d been asleep for. Then I felt it. Warm kisses up my legs and calloused hands gripping my hips. I smiled and looked down at Jaxon, trailing his way up and up.

“Did I wake you?” he whispered, pushing my shirt up to my breasts so he could kiss around my belly button.

“I think my body is in sync with yours.”

“How so?”

“The second you want to rumpy-pumpy, I’m up and at it.”

“Rumpy-pumpy?” He paused and laughed against my stomach.

I grinned. “Is there something wrong with my terminology?”

“No, I’m more than happy to rumpy-pumpy with you all night long for the next seventy years.”

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. “You really think we’ll be doing it when we’re ninety-something and gross looking?”

“Fuck yeah, because we’ll be ninety-something and gross looking together.” He unbuttoned my shorts and slid them off of me. Then he looked up at me with surprise and said, “You’ve gone all commando.”

“I didn’t stop to pack more than one pair of underwear in my haste to escape biker-ville. It just wasn’t up there on my to-do list at the time.”

“I’m not complaining at all, Tiny. It’s one step eliminated in my process of worshipping.”

I smiled like a goofy moron as he stroked my legs up and down. He kissed my abdomen and hips, and then continued on a route that led to my inner thighs. I could already feel my face heat up in anticipation. This was the best wake-up ever!

I spread my legs wide, not giving a shit how hasty I looked.

“Take your shirt off,” he muttered between his kisses.

I hastily took it off and brought my hands to his head. This sexy, fuckable hair! I had the sudden urge to tug on it as hard as possible. His kisses turned wetter and then one hand grabbed at my hip and the other rode along my abdomen and settled on my breast. I shut my eyes and felt his mouth slowly make its way to my core. He was taking an absurdly long time, but I didn’t care to hurry. I wanted to enjoy the ride that had my heart beating faster and my breaths coming quicker.

The warmth of his tongue enveloped my folds and my body jerked at the sensation. I couldn’t help the moan that escaped my lips. I opened my eyes and looked down at him and tightened my hands in his hair, urging him to continue. He kissed around me again before settling back at my folds. When he lapped his tongue against it again, I shook beneath him, feeling my skin burn from the pleasure.

He pushed my bra down and lightly stroked my nipples. So much sensation, my brain shut off and all I could do was feel and pant in the open air. How could he be away from me for so long and remember every fucking thing that set me off? As my body continued to jerk, he settled an arm against my hip, forcing me down so that I couldn’t writhe no matter how much my body wanted to.

“Jaxon,” I quivered. “Please…” Please what? Make it last forever? Or get me there? I didn’t even know what I wanted.

He sucked fiercely at my clit, sending off bolts of pleasure and pain. I couldn’t fight it if I tried. I always unravelled so embarrassingly quick with him. I cried out and tried to grind against his face, needing the pleasure as much as my next breath.

I shook at its abruptness, so unpredictable and strong like a lightning bolt. My body savoured in the pulse of it. I felt every bit of tension loosen inside of me. Jaxon kissed up my body until he was hovering over me with his own content smile on his glossy wet lips.

“You taste so damn good,” he said as he undid his jeans.

I smiled and eyed his hands as he pulled down his jeans. I fought my hardest to say the next words without laughing. “Hey, Jaxon?”

“Hmm?”

“I want to… suck your penis.”

He stopped suddenly, eyeing me like I’d just lost my mind before his lips broke into a seductive grin. He knew exactly what I was referring to. “That was possibly the most unsexy thing I have ever been told.”

“What?”

“You don’t say penis in sexual situations, Tiny.”

I fake pouted. “Dick?”

“No, you know the word. Say it over and over again.”

“Cockcockcockcock.”

He buried his face into my breasts and laughed his ass off.

“Was that romantic?” I cheekily asked when he finally cooled off.

He looked down at me, smiling, and nuzzled his nose against mine. “The most romantic.”

“Good. Now are we going to rumpy-pumpy or what?”

“Oh, yes. We most definitely will, Tiny.”

Twenty Three

I hadn’t been this happy in years. I felt like a whole new person, like the past six years I’d been a caterpillar in my cacoon waiting for my transformation. It was rejuvenating.

I jumped on Jaxon’s back, wrapping my legs around his front while I kissed up his neck. He grumbled at the unexpected act and quickly held my legs.

“My little monkey,” he chuckled. “I haven’t done this to you in how long?”

“Since I was fifteen, when I didn’t want to ruin my shoes and you walked me over the mud.”

“You kept going on and on about those ugly shoes–”

“It’d taken me forever to save up for them! They weren’t ugly either.”

“They were hot pink with weird fucking green lines on them or some shit; looked like someone had thrown up magic marker all over them.”

I yanked on his hair and he shook with laughter. They were the bomb-diggity shoes. How dare he belittle them! Though I’ll admit I was quite impressed he remembered what they even looked like after all this time.