28. Jax

Chapter 28

Jax

J ax knew he displayed nothing of the rage he felt. It was deafening, like a violent white noise inside his head. He wasn't used to such expressive reactions, and he was finding it hard to keep his usual air of calm.

A Skull had attacked her, which meant they were actively searching. The thought that she could be taken, and even hurt was something he couldn't bear to imagine. He'd never understood all his brothers homicidal reactions when it came to their mates, until now.

Jax thumped his fist hard against the thick metal door, his usual patience non-existent. Even after giving Thea his jacket she shivered, her lips blue. She scowled at him when he'd taken her hand, but she hadn't protested as he'd guided her a few streets away to the back entrance to the Drunken Beast. He needed to get her to safety, and the bar was the closest.

Waiting for the door he glanced back at her, her eyes burning with distrust. Not that he gave a shit right then.

"Seriously," she whispered, her voice alone easing the tension along his beast. "How did you find me so easily?"

"He's probably tracking your phone," Ruhne said, his voice unnecessarily loud and whiny as he sat on his shoulder. "That's what I would do."

Jax ignored him. "If I hadn't been tracking you, you would have been dead by now." Her chin jerked up in defiance. "I dealt with it just fine."

"Really?" he growled, dipping his head closer. "What about the three scouts I killed on my way to you?"

Her brows furrowed. "Scouts?"

"Small Veyn, ugly fuckers with long rat-like tails. They're used as spies throughout the city."

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "It wasn't that bad. I'm fine," she said. "I had Ruhne with me."

"Don't involve me in your pissing contest," Ruhne muttered.

Jax shook his head, enjoying how her eyes glistened. "Just because you got lucky once doesn't mean it will happen again." He watched his words sink in, her cheeks darkening with anger. Which was great, because at least it gave her some colour. "Where were you when you noticed the Skull?"

Her jaw clenched at the demand. "Camden Market. I was talking to a friend, and I saw him in the distance."

He vibrated with a grumble. Bruises decorated the skin around her neck, light at the moment, but he knew they'd darken over the next few days. "You should have stayed at home."

Ruhne's wings draped over Jax's shoulder. "That's what I said."

Her lips parted in reply, but before she could say anything, the door swung open.

"Oh, hello beautiful," Sam greeted with a flirtatious grin. "J, you want to tell me why your date's soaking wet?" He swung his blond hair over his shoulder, amber eyes flicking between them.

"I need the office," Jax said, his hand still gripping Thea's. "And some spare clothes."

"Head on up." Sam jerked his head to the side. "No one's in tonight, and I'll try to see what I can find." He raised a brow toward Thea and Ruhne before moving in the opposite direction, heading back behind the bar.

Her hand tightened in his as he guided her towards the office, thankful that there was a second set of stairs that weren't directly on the dance floor. Thea continued to tremble, every step leaving droplets of water.

Ruhne jumped as soon as they'd entered the office. "I'm going to run a perimeter check," he said, fluttering his wings slightly. "I'll be back." Without another word he whizzed back down the corridor, so fast he was barely a blur of light before the door closed, silencing the noise.

Thea had moved to stand by the one-way mirrored windows. They overlooked the bar below, giving them the perfect view while remaining private. Riley's office had become a meeting point for his brothers, the poker table still set up to the left, while the desk to the right had a pile of paperwork yet to go through.

She didn't move when he removed his jacket, the leather pretty useless in keeping her warm when she was already so wet. "You're freezing."

She laughed, her lips curved when she turned to him. "You're incredibly observant."

"Hmm," he hummed, pulling his T-shirt off to hand to her. "Take everything off."

"Really?" Thea rolled her eyes, lips twitching as she yanked at her sodden clothes. "Anything to take your shirt off."

Stepping into the small bathroom, Jax grabbed the hand towel, coming back out to find her dressed in his T-shirt. It reached her knees, the fabric large enough it hung loose over her curves. Dropping down, he used the towel to dry her legs, the skin covered in goosebumps.

"I can do that myself, thank you very much," she said, grabbing the towel from him with an impatient huff. She immediately started to dry the exposed skin, the lights of the bar bright through the window behind her.

"You shouldn't have gone out alone," he said, barely controlling his anger at her being hurt. The bruises somehow looked worse in the dimmed light.

"I wasn't alone. I had Ruhne." She moved the towel to the bottom of her hair, dabbing the pink strands.

"A pixie hardly fucking counts." Jax crossed his arms, having to restrain himself from touching her. "You wouldn't have been hurt if you'd have listened to me."

"I'm fine."

"Fine?" His eyes dipped to the bruises. "What you did was reckless."

She laughed, but there was an edge to the sound. "I'm not a child, Jax. I'm a thief. I know the risks. I've been caught on the wrong end of a knife on more than one occasion, and I still go back for more. Do you want to know why?"

Jax waited, her anger a sparkle he wanted to fan further just to see her explode.

"Because I have to. Because it's the only way I know how to help my family." She threw the towel over one of the chairs. "So no, I wasn't being reckless. I was taking control of a shitty situation."

"Control?" he growled. "Is that what we're calling it?"

"I was trying to find out about the client," she said in an irate tone. "Who organised the job and why."

"You could have waited."

"Waited?" She pressed a single finger to the centre of his chest, pinning him with an antagonistic glare that made him want to put her on her knees. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to come get me at your convenience . "

"Thea," he warned, keeping his voice calm. Except there was nothing calm about the energy cracking the air between them. It was like he was the flames, and she was the fucking fuel. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into."

"I don't exactly have the luxury of running away," she continued, as if he hadn't spoken. "Do you know what? We're not discussing this with your chest out." She dragged a hand through her hair, the ends starting to curl.

"Excuse me?"

"It's distracting." Colour flushed her neck, moving up to her cheeks. "If I had my tits out, would you be able to concentrate?"

His beast let out an amused purr, and he allowed the noise to escape. "I don't know, why don't we find out?"

Thea blinked, choking on a laugh. "This isn't funny!"

"Do you see me laughing?"

"Of course not," she growled, the sound delicate from her slim throat. "Because you're this man of bloody ice. Your emotions shouldn't have to go through ten different filters for you to feel, Jax."

An exhale parted her lips when he closed their distance, her back hitting against the cool glass as she stumbled back. The tension twisted between them, an abrasion against his already tight skin.

"I had to learn not to feel, to not let my emotions dictate my decisions," he said, placing his hands beside her head so he could lean even closer. "To not be impulsive, because emotions only cause mistakes." The glass was cool against his palms, contrasting the heat coursing through his veins.

"Are you calling me a mistake?" She licked along her bottom lip, leaving a wet sheen he wanted to taste.

MINE, Beast snarled, pressing him to take her then and there. Jax wanted to fist his hand in her hair, tip her head and claim her lips so completely that the urge was a ferocious burn through his veins.

"You should never have kissed me, little thief. You have no idea what you've done." He dropped his voice, loving how her body reacted so viscerally to the tone. "All I can think about is you."

Thea glared at him, her pulse a fierce beat.

"I can't forget the way your lips tasted, or how your cunt strangled my fingers when you came so prettily on my lap."

Thea shivered, and it wasn't from the cold. "Jax." She whispered his name like a curse.

"Years I've not had to feel, and then you happened." His breath feathered across her lips. "My colourful, reckless mate."

"Not your mate," she said, her pupils nearly obscuring her beautiful eyes.

Her breath hitched when he brushed his lips briefly against hers. "Yet."

The tension snapped, Jax swallowing Thea's moan when he hooked his hands beneath her thighs and lifted. She melted against him so easily, her kiss just as intense as she fought for dominance she had no chance of winning.

"This means nothing," she whimpered when he moved to her throat, her head angled to give him easier access as he nuzzled his nose to the skin. "Just because I find you hot in a dark and brooding way doesn't mean I'm your mate."

Jax chuckled, rocking her core against his growing cock. It ached against his jeans, cutting against the zipper and testing the fabric's strength. Thea gasped, groaning when he did it again, and then again. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, breathing coming in little frantic pants. He wanted to fuck her against the window, the lights and scenes of the bar surrounding her like a beautiful frame. He'd push her tits against the cool glass and make her watch everyone below while he stretched her around his cock. He'd take it slow, sinking every single inch inside her at a torturous pace. Until she was a whimpering mess, begging to be fucked.

The idea alone almost had him coming, but a quick fuck wouldn't satisfy his hunger for her; it would only fuel it.

Primal desire pulsed cruelly beneath his skin, the need to possess her an overwhelming urge that he barely contained. He had to steady himself, show her what it meant to be his.

Hooking one of her legs around his hip to better steady her weight, he yanked the T-shirt up to expose one of her breasts. Thea hissed at the cold glass against her back, the sound turning to a moan when he wrapped his lips around the pierced nipple and sucked.

Fuck.

He was going crazy, the taste of her addictive as he bit down hard enough for her to cry out. He moved to her neglected breast, nibbling along the tender flesh. Wetness flooded her thighs, the skin slick when he reached with one hand to brush against her slit. She must have taken off her underwear with her clothes, because her lower body was bare.

He wanted to groan, to sink to his knees and devour every inch. But that would mean having to unwrap her legs from his waist. "Look how wet you are for me," he groaned, sinking his finger inside.

Thea gasped, her cunt already clenching around him before he added a second finger.

"What? Nothing to say?" He pumped them in a steady rhythm, thumb reaching up to brush against her clit.

"Jax!" Thea shook, her body completely caught between his and the glass.

"Beg."

"You're such an arsehole." Thea tried to rock her hips, but he had her pinned. His fingers no longer thrusting. Instead, he curved them to press against the spot inside that had her whimpering.

"Your body doesn't think this is nothing." He slowly spread his fingers, thumb circling her clit but not touching. "It already knows it's mine." She let out an impatient little snarl, her words unintelligible when he eased a third finger inside. Fuck, she was tight. "Mine to touch."

He moved slowly, watching her eyes widen at the stretch.

"Mine to fuck."

He had thick fingers, and three were larger than the average cock.

"Mine to possess." His thumb pressed against her clit, and before long, she was fucking against his hand. "That's it, little thief. You're taking them so well."

"Jax," she hissed, breasts heaving with every pant. "I swear if you don't…"

He flicked her clit, and her body clenched, the muscles of her thighs seizing around his hips. And fuck if it wasn't the most beautiful sight. Her face twisted as if she were in pain, lips parting as a rush of wetness soaked his fingers and jeans in her delicious scent.

It took a second for her to catch her breath, but when she did, she shoved at him. Jax immediately stepped back, allowing her to slide gently down the glass. Her hands went to his jeans, only for him to grip her wrists.

"I'm not in control." If she touched him then, he was sure to hurt her.

The look she shot him caused his lips to curve, because she was as desperate for him as he was for her.

"Seriously?" she said with a raised brow. "Sex is what gets you to smile?"

They heard a knock, followed quickly with the door opening. Jax turned, blocking Thea with his larger body.

"Clothes," Sam said, eyeing Jax's bare torso with a smirk. "The T-shirt is one of Payne's, so the fit shouldn't be awful, but the only spare jeans are mine. You'll have to deal with soggy shoes, sorry." He lay the clothes on the desk, his leopard prowling behind his amber irises.

Jax nodded, waiting until Sam closed the door before turning back to Thea. She'd already moved around him, reaching for the jeans and tugging them on. The size was a little big, but not enough to cause issues. She hesitated when she touched the hem of his T-shirt, and Jax simply leaned against the glass, watching her with a craving only she could relieve. He caught the fabric when she threw it at him, unable to take his eyes away even when she pulled down the ‘Drunken Beast' work shirt. It fit snugly against her breasts, highlighting the gentle curves.

Grabbing her bra and underwear, she shoved them in the back pocket of the jeans before searching through the rest of her wet clothes. She picked up her phone, frowning at the screen.

Jax peered over, finding she had fifteen missed calls from her mum and sister. Without a word, she scrolled until she found her mum's name, but when she didn't answer, she tried her sister.

"Thea? Where have you been?" Molly asked, Jax able to pick up the conversation clearly. "We've been trying to get hold of you!"

Something was wrong.

Thea met his gaze, worry dripping from her tone. "What's happened?"

"Dad's been rushed to hospital. It's bad; you need to get here right now."