Chapter Four #2
“Nick was the gallant knight and caught you,” Axel replied.
“Yeah, I'm younger and faster,” Nick said with a chuckle, replaying that earlier joke.
Axel rolled his eyes.
“He wishes he was faster. I was just too far away.”
Despite everything, a tiny laugh bubbled up and Jenna grinned. The two men had been standing beside each other, and Axel had taken a step forward when…
“Your gun is right over there. I put the safety lock on,” Axel said as he took the wastebasket.
“ll take care of it,” she whispered, totally embarrassed that they could see and smell her puke.
“No, I'll take care of it. You get dressed and then if you feel up to it you'll give us the lowdown of the chores. And about this Sam character,” Axel said.
There was a tinge of hardness when he said Sam's name. His jaw tightened, a flicker of something territorial flashing in his eyes.
Was he jealous? Had Cyn not told him that Sam was fifty plus years older than them? She kept her questions to herself as she stood.
The two men flanked her, probably concerned that she might fall again. Their nearness wrapped around her like heat, overwhelming and strangely comforting all at once, but she felt sturdy and waved them away.
Goodness! How was she going to handle having these two men around?
Had Cyn gone insane?
Was she herself insane for even entertaining the idea of keeping them here? Her pulse hammered as she hurried down the hall, the weight of two men, and one impossible future pressing at her heels. How was she going to handle this situation?
* * * * *
“I can see why you're attracted to her. She's quite pretty,” Nick said in a low voice when Axel returned from emptying and cleaning out the puke basket. Nick kept his tone casual, but something tight flickered in his chest as he watched Axel’s face.
“I am more than attracted to her. She was my fiancé. And she's more than quite pretty. She's beautiful, kind, and smart as a whip,” Axel replied and grabbed the wet towel and washcloth from the floor where they had fallen after Jenna had gotten up.
Nick’s smile faltered for half a second, just long enough for a zip of jealousy to sting before he smothered it.
“I haven’t seen this teddy bear caring side in you before. Should I be jealous?” Nick teased as he poured coffee into one of the three mugs he had placed on the counter.
Nick noticed Axel grimace at his teddy bear comment. He knew it was a prison instinct for him to hide any soft emotions. Being soft got one in big trouble inside those concrete walls.
He had wondered how Axel would react seeing the love of his life again. He had also wondered how they would handle their personal relationship once they got here. Everything had happened so fast, they hadn't discussed it.
“You better be jealous,” Axel’s voice had dipped lower, rougher, the way it always did when he was saying more than the words themselves.
He set the towel and cloth on the counter and Nick’s breath caught as his hand splayed across Nick's lower back. Heat shot straight through Nick, his breath catching as Axel’s fingers lingered a beat too long.
Damn, that man’s touch always turned him on. But now was not the time to think about his reaction. Axel and he were stuck here together compliments of the security devices on their ankles.
Axel wasn't going anywhere, but he did wonder how Axel would tell Jenna about them. If he would tell Jenna.
Nick was a demonstrative kind of guy, and he didn't know how he could keep his hands off of Axel now that they were out from behind the prison walls. But then again they had done a pretty good job of keeping their relationship a secret in prison. Or so he’d thought until Cyn had come along and mentioned a couple of times about their relationship and not quite following through on what she’d meant while he’d questioned her on the papers he and Axel were being asked to sign back in prison.
Oh crap, who was he kidding? Nothing was a secret in prison.
He watched as Axel grabbed a mug of coffee and lifted it to his mouth. Nick’s pulse thudded low and heavy, his body reacting before his mind could shut it down. His cock clenched in a really nice way as Axel's lips curled over the rim of the mug and he sipped his coffee.
Suddenly Axel’s gaze drifted to him and his chestnut colored dark brown eyes twinkled as he caught Nick watching him.
Axel lowered his mug, pursed his mouth, and licked his lips, his pink tongue making Nick’s breath back up in his lungs and a slow heat curled through Nick’s gut, tightening everything inside him.
Axel’s eyes warmed, and darkened, a silent acknowledgment that he saw everything Nick wasn’t saying.
Man, the guy had always made him feel right nice whenever he looked at him.
Despite neither of them identifying as to being gay, they’d fought their mutual attraction to the point of physically fighting with each other in the beginning, much to the guards and other inmates amusement.
Then they’d been forced to become cellmates, and they had eventually caved to the irresistible sparks between them.
Funny how the same man who once threw punches at him now made him feel steadier than anyone else ever had.
Man, he wondered if he could sneak a kiss from him before Jenna returned. The thought hit him hard, reckless, and terrifying, because he didn’t know where Axel’s heart truly lay anymore.
* * * * *
Jenna halted in the hallway, just like she had done earlier when she’d heard the intruders.
Axel and Nick stood in the kitchen, staring at each other. Their looks were intense, raw, and hot. She would have to be blind not to see that there was something going on between the two men.
Gosh, she’d never expected Axel would be into another man. Had never anticipated she would find it sexy to watch the man she had once loved with all her heart look at another man in a similar way as he had done with her.
She had no idea what to do except to stare at them.
The stranger was good looking. Younger by several years than both herself and Axel. He had brown wavy hair and a sexy five o’clock shadow. His eyes were dark blue, the color of a stormy sky.
He was smiling at Axel, and she noted laughter creases at the sides of his eyes. She suddenly wondered what he’d done to get himself into prison. A man who looked like that at another man, had some goodness in his heart.
She continued to stare as both men seemed oblivious to her.
Heavens above. Axel was here.
How many times had she dreamed of him one day being released from prison and looking her up.
She had fantasized about getting him an early release through Cowboys Online, the very program for convicts she had created.
But she had known it was unethical because they knew each other and she hadn't wanted to compromise the Cowboys Online program further by doing it.
Despite it being unethical, she had written a couple of letters to Axel letting him know the program existed and for him to apply and that she would gladly step aside to avoid any conflict of interest. He had never written back or contacted her.
Now her assistant, Cyn, was in charge of Cowboys Online, and she had somehow persuaded Axel to apply and had gotten him out.
The thought that Jenna was dreaming haunted her as she watched him. He still looked so damn good. Sexy. So cute.
Her body hummed with arousal just as it had always done when she thought about him. Just like last night when she’d masturbated to him being here.
Abruptly Axel's gaze broke away from the other man and zeroed in on her. The shift was so sudden it felt like the air tightened between them.
Surprise crashed through his face as he saw her. For a heartbeat he looked almost young again, unguarded, hopeful. Then he grinned and her whole world just suddenly felt right.
Warmth unfurled low in her chest, loosening something she hadn’t realized was clenched. Suddenly she felt safe. She felt loved.
“Hey, Jenna. Come on, have a sit down. Nick will get you a coffee.”
Okay, so this stranger’s name was Nick.
Axel waved his hand to the chair that he pulled out at her kitchen table. The simple gesture hit her harder than it should have. It was familiar, intimate, achingly normal. And she felt compelled to do his bidding. She sat down and Axel plopped his mug on the table and sat opposite from her.
“You look better. Do you feel better?” Axel asked as he stared at her. His gaze turned so incredibly intense that she felt breathless and she could barely nod. Heat crept up her neck, her breath catching under the weight of it.
She couldn’t stop staring at him. Taking in everything about him.
Every detail felt like a memory she’d been starving for.
His dark eyebrows, perfectly arched, as always.
His nose, which was angled just slightly at the bridge, from when it had been broken during a bar fight. His wide, blunt cheekbones.
His sensuously shaped mouth that she suddenly ached to kiss.
“Not sure coffee is the best thing for you with an upset stomach. Maybe you'd rather have a chamomile? Saw some in your cupboard,” Nick’s voice grabbed her attention as he placed the steaming mug of coffee in front of her.
Oh boy, she could smell him. He smelled pleasant. Clean and soapy and male. His nearness brushed against her awareness, steady and warm in a different way than Axel.
She stared at his hand as he let go of the coffee mug. It was a large hand. A nice hand. Strong looking fingers. Long enough to plunge deep into her vagina.
Oh my! Why was she reacting to both of these men? Her husband had just died. What was wrong with her?
She forced herself to make eye contact with Nick. Wow, did he ever have nice blue eyes. A flutter of something unfamiliar stirred in her stomach, something unsettling, unexpected.
“I should be fine with coffee,” she answered in a thick voice that sounded oddly aroused.
At least she hoped she would be fine.
Thankfully, her tummy didn't revolt at the rich, robust aroma of coffee and her entire body was aware of both men watching her.
Nick nodded.
“So, who is this Sam? And why are you in charge of his chores?” Axel asked.
Jenna could barely hide her smile. The faint edge in his voice sent a ripple of awareness through her.
Yes, he was still interested in her, even with the passage of so much time.
The realization hit her with a bittersweet ache.
Even after his refusing to see her as a visitor when he was sent to prison.
Even after that awful letter that he had sent telling her he did not love her anymore and she needed to go on with her life without him.
She should be upset with him. She had been for years, but over time she’d realized he’d been setting her free.
“Sam is an elderly neighbor who takes care of my place when I'm in the city. He's away for surgery for a couple of weeks, so I'm taking care of his chores.”
Axel seemed satisfied with her answer and simply nodded.
“Tell us what needs doing over there and Nick will head over,” Axel said in a firm voice.
“Can you drive?” She asked Nick.
Gosh, she would be alone with Axel with Nick gone. How was she going to handle this?
“My license expired while I was in prison, but I can drive as long as there aren't any cops to catch me. Don't want to give them an excuse to send me back, especially now that I have finally met the love of Axel's life.”
His grin was easy, but there was a shadow behind it. Instincts told her that this was a man who’d learned to joke through hard things.
Jenna instantly liked him, but her being the love of Axel's life? She wasn't so sure, especially at the way the two of them had just been looking at each other.
A flicker of something unnameable tightened in her chest. Curiosity, maybe. Or something more complicated.
“No cops way out here,” she replied.
Except last night, but she wasn’t saying anything about it at least not yet.
Nick nodded.
To her surprise, Nick produced a small notebook from the breast pocket of his military green shirt along with the stub of a pencil.
“Tell me what needs to be done.”
Her mind whirled as she shot off the chores to him.
Nick wrote quickly, asked questions, all the while whipping around at the back of her mind was the thought she did not want to be alone with Axel.
But half an hour later, she stood in her parking lot.
She watched with dread as the red taillights of Tim’s bright red truck, a brand new truck that hadn’t been necessary, had a virtual stranger driving off in it.
Soon, the taillights disappeared at the top of the hill, leaving her with a strange mix of dread and anticipation as Axel stood beside her, his body heat whipping against her like an inferno.
Her pulse stumbled as old instincts roared back to life.
Damn him, why was she still reacting to him after all these years apart?
“We'd best get to the chores. What did you need me to do first? Remember I'm a city bumpkin. No idea what to do on a ranch or farm or whatever this place is.”
His voice dipped into that familiar teasing drawl that always used to undo her and now made her body hum. Just like old times.
“It was supposed to be my dream horse ranch. Tim added the chickens. We’ll start there,” Jenna said as she led him to the chicken coop.
“I am assuming Tim is your late husband. Cyn mentioned he had died unexpectedly,” Axel said as he followed her.
“Yeah,” Jenna said, feeling the cut of grief slice through her again as Tim’s name landed like a stone in her chest.
Axel’s footsteps slowed behind her.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. The gentleness in his tone scraped raw against her grief and unexpected heat flickered low in her chest. Was he talking about Tim…or about everything they’d lost? She shoved the emotions down hard.
Later. She’d deal with all of it later.
She just needed him working so she could call Cyn.
And fire her ass.