2. Jax

2

Jax

It was a miserable week on the merchant ship. Saul and Amelia were both seasick, and Anna, Finn, and Kenzi struggled to keep their wolves from panicking and shifting. Anna and Kenzi, I could control through the pack bond, but Finn was beyond my reach until we were back on neutral territory. I should have taken the bond back before loading the ship, but this wasn't an issue that had occurred to me.

Eventually, we just had to drug him.

Cindy was too weak to shift, and Janelle had spent most of the trip clutching a small jar of dirt she'd smuggled on. By the time we reached London's port, we were all exhausted.

"Half of you look dead, and the other half of you smell as if you should be dead," London greeted me with a wrinkled nose. He glanced at Finn. "Oh. That one is dead."

"You try being on a ship for a week and tell me how you feel," I growled as I pulled Anna close. The bunks were barely big enough for me, so I hadn't been able to have my mate sleep in my arms for far too long.

"Yes, this is an odd way to travel. Lucky for you, we'll be driving to my keep." He was oddly stiff as he watched his wolves unloading the supplies from the ship and carrying them to the large moving trucks. It struck me how easy it was for London's pack to get and move supplies. He was the only one who had access to the port. It was an issue I knew that Maeve struggled with. I rarely used the ports since the roads between London's pack and mine were only accessible during the summer and half of the autumn. November brought snow that lasted well into April.

They took much longer to get to me, but it was easier for my supplies to come directly from the base of the mountain.

It also meant no pack interference.

"Everything all right? You look tense, my friend," I said as I clapped London on the pack.

"Everything is fine. Please refrain from touching me until you've bathed. You smell of piss and vomit."

"Maybe, but I'm off enemy territory, my wolf can run free, and my mate is mine again."

London's eyes strayed to Anna, and he nodded his head. "It is good to see you, my dear. I see you are traveling with a healer, but I've made mine available in case it was needed."

"We're all healed except for maybe our dignity," Anna sighed. "Although I think Finn might be a little stir crazy when he finally wakes up. His wolf is going to need to run. A lot."

"That can be accommodated. If you'd like to get your wolves loaded up, I need to see to something. Excuse me." London strode quickly away, and I turned and stared after him. His shoulders were tense. Something was bothering him.

"Hey. This dude is heavy," Kenzi complained. "If we don't get him to a car soon, I'm going to drop him and leave him right here in the middle of the road."

That was unlikely to happen, but it snapped my attention back to my unconscious wolf. I lifted him easily from Kenzi and Amelia's arms and carried him to the SUV. After laying him across the backseat, I indicated for Amelia, Kenzi, and Saul to ride with him. Anna, Janelle, and Cindy were with me.

Cindy hadn't said much on the ship, and no one had done anything more than make sure she was eating and drinking water. Even now, when I pointed to the SUV, she bowed her head and quietly slipped in.

Janelle looked after her in concern, but before she climbed into the vehicle, I caught her arm. "You remember what we talked about?"

She nodded. She was not to disclose her power to anyone and not to do any magic. She'd told me that she and Ava had developed a small friendship when they were together in my pack, and she had no expectations that the witch would have any issues welcoming her.

When it was just Anna and me on the road, I pulled her close and kissed her. She melted against me for a moment before she pushed away. "I am disgusting," she announced. "I need a shower before you even think of cuddling."

"You're beautiful."

"Sometimes I'm pretty sure I still smell of Emerson's blood."

"You do, and it's wonderful."

Rolling her eyes, she climbed into the car, and I couldn't help but grin. Despite everything that had happened in the past few weeks, I was still in awe of my mate. She could have killed Emerson. That in itself was amazing. I could still remember when she was showing me her neck and whimpering submissively. She could have slaughtered Emerson, and in the end, she'd understood the politics of a pack enough to let another end him.

She was truly the only woman I wanted by my side.

It was a two-hour drive back to London's keep. Cruz, his second, showed us to our rooms. He'd set up separate ones for Anna and me, but he hadn't counted on Janelle and Cindy. It was easy enough to give Janelle and Cindy Anna's room. She was bunking with me, no matter what.

She headed straight for the shower, and I stood in the middle of the room, reminding myself to give her space, until I heard her call my name. I'd never shed clothes faster. Jerking back the curtain, water sprayed in my face as I hauled her into my arms and pressed her against the tile.

Only then did I stop and stare up at her. "This isn't what you wanted."

With a small laugh, she ran her fingers through my dampening hair and sighed. "No. It was not what I wanted, but now that we're here, I'm not going to object."

Taking a slow moment to nuzzle her neck, I licked the water off her and grazed my teeth over her skin before I set her back down. "You want a bed where I can fuck you in comfort. And all night."

"I do want that, and I also want sleep, but your entrance has me all hot and bothered now." Her hand snaked down between us to palm my cock. "And I think you might need a little assistance."

Shuddering at her touch, I dropped my forehead down against hers and cupped her head. "Have I told you how amazing you were?"

"Since I did nothing amazing on the boat except shiver and try to climb the walls, I'm guessing you're talking about the night before we left." She pressed her lips against my chest. "I would have lost without you."

"That's not…"

"Don't deny it, Jax. I had plenty of rage, and he was slower, but it still wasn't enough. You fed me power through the bond, and that's how I did it. Don't get me wrong, I loved the outcome, but we did it. Not just me."

"When are you going to see yourself as I see you?" I sighed.

"If I saw myself as others did, I wouldn't have made it long." She released my cock long enough to climb me. "Fuck me, Jax. Hard and quick. I need to come."

She didn't need to tell me twice. As I sunk into her, her moan echoed off the shower walls. There had been zero privacy on the ship. No time or place to even take my own cock my hand, but also, no desire. None of us had been feeling our best, but I still felt the ache of not having her in my arms.

"Every night that we're here, I'm going to be inside you," I told her as I pumped my cock in her. "During the days, I'm going to steal you away to find some dark corner and sink my fingers in you until you want to scream but can't."

"Jesus, Jax," she gasped. "Fuck, you're hard."

I'd give her slow and romantic later. I'd give her hot and sweaty later. I'd give her dirty and unhinged later. Right now, we both just needed a release, and when she clenched around me and shivered, I found mine.

I eased her back down but didn't let her draw away. To my surprise, she wrapped her arms around me. Was she actually going to cuddle with me?

"I know what you're thinking, and don't," she muttered against my chest. "I'm just getting my land legs back and needed something to hang onto."

"I understand," I said gravely.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"I would never. Keep hanging on, baby. I'll get you nice and clean, and then when I'm done, I'm going to make you come on my tongue."

She shuddered just a little. "I don't know that there's going to be enough hot water for that."

"I'm not worried. I can create enough heat for the two of us."