6. All in the Family
CHAPTER SIX
All in the Family
Though Ian’s kill count was frighteningly high, his ‘body’ count wasn’t.
As the son of the most infamous Reaper in The Society, he had gained a reputation for his wit, charm, and skill.
Highly respected among Reapers, highly sought after by women.
He could talk a woman out of her panties within mere moments of meeting her.
Ian loved women. To him, they were beautiful creatures.
Soft. Mesmerizing. Intelligent. But they had become to him what they had always seen in him—a hot commodity.
In Ian’s world, women were either the predator or the prey.
There was no in-between. The predators enjoyed fucking him, but that’s all it ever was. The prey, well… Moladh Roselyn.
In this life, there were no expectations to find love. Eventually, he’d find a compatible Reaper to start a family with and birth more Reapers into the Society as their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents had done, regardless of love.
And then along came Deja…
“Ian…”
Every time she moaned his name, his body vibrated with unquenchable thirst. He wanted to consume her.
Sink his teeth into her heart and devour her until she confessed what he was aching to hear.
That he had deconstructed her mind and ripped apart the fabric of her reality as she had done to him.
For reassurance that he wasn’t the only one who had descended into utter madness from this unhealthy, overbearing obsession.
“Oh, god, Ian!”
Her fingers dug into his scalp, tearing at his hair.
Her teeth biting into his neck as if she were the immortal goddess he worshiped her to be.
Her thighs clenched around his waist, her body jumping with each desperate, chaotic thrust. He roughly grabbed her ass, violently slapping his pelvis into her own, wishing he could be more gentle, but too desperate, too hungry, too insatiable to manage any self-control.
Her whimpers held so much control over him that it angered him. She made him vulnerable, transparent, naked, and completely uninhibited. His tongue bathed her skin, reveling in her taste. His nose sank into her bosom, inhaling her intoxicating scent before his lips chased her nipple.
She had climaxed so many times, milking him for everything he had, and yet still… he wanted more. Needed more. As if he would die if denied the privilege of hearing her voice, seeing her face… her smile.
Her body went limp with fatigue in his arms. Deja felt Ian trying to nudge her awake before she looked at him sleepily and frowned at the serious look on his face. “...what?” she asked.
And as he gazed into her eyes, Ian felt a strange mix of fear, sadness, and excitement. Terrified at what horrible things he’d do for this woman.
“...Ian?”
“I’d burn this world to the ground for you,” he said before he could stop himself.
Deja looked at him, startled, before smiling.
“Um… Thank you. But I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” she chuckled.
Running her fingers through his hair, she looked at him tenderly.
He was so entranced by her gaze that he didn’t catch the way the water around them moved before Jax was pulling her out of his embrace.
And just like that, the spell was broken. Her eyes were on his brother, along with her warmth, her affection… her love.
“Hey, you…” she said softly as Jax pulled her naked, weary body against his firm, muscular chest.
Possessively wrapping his arms around her, Jax grabbed her ass, lifting her onto his waist. “Did you enjoy yourself?” Jax asked, caressing her lips. Deja hummed her satisfaction before Jax claimed her lips, sucking her tongue into his mouth.
Ian leaned back against the hot tub as his eyes roamed Deja’s body, jealousy and desire arousing him. As Deja and Jax spun in the water, kissing ferociously, Deja’s eyes fell on Ian. And as Ian held her gaze, again, it frightened him the things he’d do for this woman.
Deja rubbed her sore thighs that were still throbbing. Grabbing her notepad, she headed for the living room. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said, flipping open her notepad.
“Do we really need a lesson on how to interact with your family? We’ve already met them,” Ian advised.
“You’ve only met my parents and a few of my friends at an engagement party. This is a family barbecue. A Black family barbecue,” she emphasized.
“So basically this is a cultural lesson,” Caleb mused.
“Yes. Now shut up and sit down. I have a lot to get through,” she said, leaning back against the counter. Jax grinned as he held a sleeping Chloe to his chest. “First-” she started when Keith raised his hand. “I haven’t even started, Keith! What could you possibly have a question about?”
“Can we take bets on who folds trying to get you alone first?” Keith grinned.
“No. There will be none of that. No PDA in front of my family,” she said.
“So what you’re saying is, don’t get caught trying to feel your sexy ass up,” Keith smiled.
“That is not what I’m saying- Keith, shut up,” Deja snapped. “Rule #1 and most importantly, don’t tell anyone about us, or this, whatever this is.”
“You mean the killing or the fucking?” Caleb smiled.
“Both! 2: After Caleb and Jax’s last debacle, no alcohol,” she said.
“Boooo!” Keith hissed.
“3,” she continued. “If my uncles challenge you to spades, decline.”
“Why?” Ian asked.
“Just do it,” she sighed. “Eat all the food on your plate, or my mother will take offense. My Aunt Chandra makes her own hot sauce. Avoid it. At all costs. Kids will ask you for money. Ignore them, or you’ll never know peace.
Don’t talk about cops, politics, or religion.
If anyone asks you about us, just defer them to me. ”
“HBIC. I like it,” Keith grinned.
“Should we bring a dish?” Ian asked.
“No. God no. Just bring my mother flowers or something,” she sighed.
“Deja, I think you’re stressing out for nothing. We’re adults. We know how to behave,” Caleb reassured her.
“You’re also killers… who kill,” she said frankly. “So excuse me for being a little on edge about having you around my family.”
“She says that like we’d actually hurt them,” Keith snorted.
“You don’t trust us, sweetheart?” Ian asked.
Deja scoffed. “Is that a trick question?”
“That’s just hurtful,” Ian grinned as Caleb and Keith laughed.
“Alright, enough,” Jax said finally. “Regardless of how well-behaved you think you are, she has spoken,” Jax smirked at Deja.
Deja bit down on her bottom lip as her cheeks flushed with heat. When did this man start making her weak in the knees again?
Her breathing escalated as the car pulled up to her parents’ house. Deja could hear loud music and people laughing from the backyard. It wasn’t until she felt Jax’s hand on her thigh that she realized how tense she was.
“Relax, baby,” he said affectionately, squeezing her thigh. Taking her chin between his finger and thumb, he looked into her anxious eyes. “Com’ere…”
Lately, Jax’s words felt like a spell that Deja was quick to fall under. She instinctively leaned towards him until his lips caressed hers. And as his fingers slid between her thighs and his tongue worked her lips open, she felt the anxiety melt away.
“Ready?” he asked, wiping the corner of her mouth. Deja nodded as Jax leaned in to taste her lips again before he finally got out of the car and walked around to open the door for her.
Taking Jax’s hand, she saw Keith, Ian, and Caleb already parked and waiting against the car.
While Ian was stylishly dressed in black slacks, a white open-neck blouse, and a black blazer, Caleb and Keith sported a pair of jeans complemented by Caleb’s black V-neck sweater rolled to his elbows, and Keith’s sleeveless black hoodie revealing his numerous tattoos and his blond hair tied in a bun behind his head.
Keith’s whistle snapped her out of it when she realized how intensely they were staring back at her. “Well, fuck me,” Keith grinned, his blue eyes raking over her baby blue cashmere skirt and yellow cropped sweater. “No, seriously… fuck me.”
“Keith, behave,” Ian said casually, nibbling his lip as his eyes lingered on Deja’s form.
“You look beautiful,” Caleb smiled.
“Ravishing,” Ian added with a smirk.
Deja smiled, embarrassed. “Thanks, guys.” She turned to see Jax slip a pacifier into Chloe’s mouth.
Chloe’s flowery pastel green dress was in stark contrast to Jax’s gray V-neck sweater that clung deliciously to his biceps and chest. She smiled, watching Jax tenderly kiss Chloe on the cheek. Deja exhaled. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
“Terrence, can you pick up some more ice? We’re running out,” Debra asked her nephew.
“Auntie Debbie! The Po-lice at yo door!” one of the kids shouted.
“The police? Wha-?” Debra asked, turning around when she saw her daughter at the gate with the Donovans.
“Chile, that ain’t no police! That’s Deja and her in-laws-to-be!
” She approached the gate to let them in as everyone curiously gathered around.
“There’s my grandbaby!” Debra beamed, smothering Chloe with kisses.
She threw her arms around Jax as he hugged her back.
“Thank you for having us, Mrs. Louis,” Jax smiled.
“You’re family now!” Debra smiled widely. “Everyone, this is Deja’s fiancé, Jax. And these are his brothers, Keith and Ian. And their cousin, Caleb.” Deja smiled anxiously as family members whom she hadn’t seen in years crowded her.
“Baby DeyDey got a baby of her own!”
“You still planting flowers and all that white hippie shit?”
“Marcus!”
“Wha-”
Deja chuckled nervously at her cousins’ barrage of questions before she leaned in towards her mother. “Mom, Jax and I aren’t engaged.”
“Well, I told them you were, 'cause I ain’t raised you to be nobody’s baby mama,” Debra muttered through a smile. Deja let out a sigh of frustration as she watched her mother hug Caleb and Ian.
“These are for you,” Ian said, handing her a bouquet of carnations. “Deja told us they were your favorite.”
Debra smiled. “You boys have given me a garden’s worth of flowers! Thank you.”