81. Anna

81

Anna

Furious, I barged into the office. My stomach was turning again, but I didn't even care if I threw up right on them. They would fucking deserve it. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I shouted. Elonso immediately stumbled back against the wall to give me room as I stormed up to Jax and pushed him. "Is that why you've been acting so horribly? You think the baby is Emerson's?"

Jax looked down at me stonily. "Stop."

"No, you fucking stop. How dare you? You think that I'm lying to you and passing off his baby as yours? Is that really what you think of me?"

"No, it is not."

"Then what? You and I fucked in that motel room, and we banged a little bit on the boat too. Not to mention at London's, and all over the place here. And I told you that Emerson never touched me like that. I would have torn his head off before I let that happen!"

Jax looked over my head. "Elonso, will you leave us? And please close the door on your way out."

"Oh, so you're worried that people will hear your explanation to me but not that people would hear you ask Elonso if my baby is Emerson's?" Hot rage coursed through me, and I bellowed the last part at the top of my lungs. Jax didn't even move as I whirled around, grabbed a stack of papers and flung them in the air. Tears coursed down my cheeks. This whole time, he wasn't sure if the baby was his, and this was how he was treating me?

"I never thought you were lying to me. You've blocked out a good portion of your life," Jax said calmly from behind me. I couldn't even turn around and look at him.

"That was magic. My own magic that was manipulated inside of me," I said tightly.

"And Emerson had a multitude of witches in his pack. How can you be certain that they didn't do the same thing?"

"Because their magic wouldn't have touched me! My mother was the only witch who could have gotten inside and manipulated my magic, and she's fucking dead," I shouted as I whirled around.

Jax still didn't move. "There have been cases of mates being raped but not remembering it. Even when people tell them it happened, they can't fathom a scenario where they were touched by someone other than their mate, and that is how they dealt with it."

"And you believe that before you would believe that this child is yours? Is there a reason? Something you're not telling me, because I can't understand it, Jax. Can you not have children? Did some witch tell you that you'd never have children? Where is this coming from?"

Pain flashed in his eyes, but he just stared at me. I wiped my face. "Do you just not want to be a father, Jax?"

"Even if the baby was biologically Emerson's, I would raise it, Anna. I would be his father. That is not where this is coming from."

"But you won't tell me. You don't want to talk about the baby. You worry I might see Emerson in a different light because he was trying to save me from Maeve. He's dead, Jax. I was there to make sure he was dead. I don't forgive him, and I certainly don't have warm fuzzy feelings about him. I don't know why you're acting this way, but you're a fool, and I'm kind of starting to hate you for it."

I tried to walk out, but he vaulted over the desk, grabbed my arm, and spun me around. "Christ, Anna, I thought I would be okay if you hated me, but it's fucking killing me."

"Then explain it! Explain what the fuck is going on inside of your mind! Just tell me!"

Instead, he kissed me. I wanted to push him away, to tell him that this didn't solve anything, but I was so desperate to feel him.

Last night, when he'd gotten into to bed with me, my heart had fluttered all night. I'd had butterflies in my stomach like a fucking schoolgirl and thought that we'd finally be at peace. He'd hold me, tell me that he loved me, and everything would be fine. Instead, he'd been stiff next to me, and whenever his hand grazed my belly, he'd immediately moved it away. It was all I could do not to sob in the bed next to him.

Now, he kissed me like he would never let me go. His arms lifted me until my legs were hooked around his waist, and his hands wandered under my shirt. Inside me, my wolf howled in relief. I needed that skin-to-skin contact.

But what she didn't know was that this wasn't solving anything. I needed him to tell me what was wrong, not another hard fuck where he would just turn and leave me afterward with guilt on his face.

When he whirled around, shoved papers off his desk, and planted my butt on it, I expected it hard and fast, but he immediately gentled his kiss as he worked on the button of my pants. "I love you," he whispered. "I need you to know that."

"I love you, too." But that wasn't solving anything. Why did he say it so desperately?

"I need you to trust me, too. Please."

I lifted my hips as he pulled my pants off, and I removed my shirt. He got naked in return, but my panties were still on. We stared at each other. "You have to give me something, Jax. I'm hurting."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Settling between my legs, he tipped my chin back and kissed me gently. His hands stroked my bare thighs until I was wiggling and squirming for him. His cock was heavy against the thin strip of panties. One nudge, and he could be inside of me.

I ached for him. He owned every part of my body, and even though I want to scream and cry some more, I couldn't say no. When he touched me, when he was inside of me, I felt him all the way through.

"I never want to hurt you." His kiss skimmed down to my chest, and he wrapped his hands around my throat and pushed me flat against the desk and pinned me as he suckled at my nipples. Pleasure coursed through me, and I gasped and tried to arch into his mouth, but I couldn't move.

The slow torture continued. "Everything I fucking do is to protect you, Anna. Everything. I hate the way you looked at me today. The way you pulled away from me. It's killing me."

"Please tell me," I whispered as my legs fell open for him.

"I can't." His breath was hot on my pussy, and he licked me long and slowly.

With a cry, I locked my thighs around his head. "Then make me come."

"You're mine, Anna. Fucking mine." He fucked me with his mouth, long and slow, and fingered me until I was screaming for release. Anyone on this floor would have known exactly what was happening, but I didn't care.

And when he finally pulled up and buried himself inside of me, his eyes were hot with hunger. Pushing myself up, I grabbed his head and pulled him down for a kiss. Only then did he finally move. I was wound so tight that it only took moments for me to come, and it was so violent that he groaned and pounded into me. He snarled my name and came inside of me.

Limp, I closed my eyes when he pulled out, and he rested his head on my stomach.

"Please don't leave," he whispered as he kissed my bare skin. "Don't leave me."

"I'm right here." I wove my hands through his hair and tried to think of anything I could say to help ease the pain between us.

Then, Jax jerked off my body like someone had pulled him. I was upright and on my feet when I felt the bond die. One. Two. Three. Four.

The deaths continued. One right after another in rapid succession. Jax's howl of agony ripped through me, and his phone rang. In a panic, I grabbed it and put it on speaker phone.

"London's men went mad," a wolf shouted. There were screams and roars in the background. "Two of them killed seven of the guards on the norther border. And the rogues are descending."

There was a shout of pain, and the call went dead.