23. Jax
TWENTY-THREE
jax
There was something about a wedding, especially one in a small chapel in Sicily, that brought out an unusually sentimental side of me. I never dreamed of marriage or a wife, even if a family was something I wanted someday. But every time a buddy of mine got married, there was a little piece of me that thought, yeah, I could see it.
Today was no exception. And unlike the usual vague notion of a someday marriage that would probably happen, when Mazzie walked down the aisle and I got a peek of Gian’s expression, there was a very real longing to see Natalie coming down that aisle instead.
Ridiculous.
We weren’t even dating. Didn’t live in the same place. And yet, I’d envisioned it nonetheless, brushing it off easily until the next equally intrusive thought wormed its way into my brain.
She would marry eventually. And it would be another man.
The thought of Natalie, my Natalie, in bed with someone else was all the proof I needed if there was any doubt in my mind about the strength of my feelings for her. Which, to be honest, there wasn’t.
I liked her. A lot. And after last night? There was no fucking way on Monday I’d go back to Kitchi Falls and pretend none of this happened. We needed to have a little chat, Nat and I. Problem was, that would mean talking about the one thing whose absence had allowed Natalie to retract her claws for a few days.
“Here you go.” Natalie handed me a Peroni. She’d cried at the wedding, and if I weren’t mistaken, those were tears in her eyes now too as she watched Mazzie and Gian slow dance.
“Thanks,” I said, moved by the depth of her feelings for her friends.
The reception was in a huge courtyard of a restaurant two blocks from the church. The procession here was one of celebration and clapping, onlookers cheering the newly wedded couple. A perfect wedding, in my opinion. Not too big, family and close friends, in a place known for celebrating the love of both. Well done, Gian.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
I turned to her, Natalie in a pale-yellow silk dress that accentuated every curve. With her hair piled on top of her head, she looked like some kind of sun goddess.
“I was thinking about the wedding,” I admitted.
“Yeah? What about it?”
“Just that it was so . . . not Gian.”
She laughed. “I wish I knew this ‘old Gian’ everyone keeps talking about.”
“Be careful what you wish for.”
“If you could have three wishes, what would they be?”
“That’s a tough one.”
Actually it really wasn’t. One came to mind pretty easily. And by the way Natalie was looking at me, she could read the direction of my thoughts.
“That can’t be one of your wishes.”
“No?”
“No. To waste a wish on sex? I’m talking big wishes, like life-changing ones.”
I resisted saying that sex could be life-changing, refusing to consider that last night’s might have been. “Okay, life changing. Can I wish my mom to stay alive forever?”
“Nope. Immortality isn’t possible.”
“Neither are having wishes come true, but I guess we’re ignoring that bit.”
“Sometimes wishes come true.”
“Do they?”
She nodded. “Hmm. Alright, more realistic. But not sex. This is tough.”
Her laugh lifted my soul. An odd thought if I’d ever had one. “Did I ever tell you that your laugh is amazing?”
“No,” she said, “I don’t believe you have.”
“Almost as amazing as the way you call my name,” I said more quietly, “just before you come. And don’t think I haven’t noticed exactly which name you’re using these days, by the way.”
“Jax.” She swatted my arm. “People are watching us.”
“Are they? Seems to me they’re dancing and having a good time and don’t give a shit about what we’re talking about in this corner.”
“Look at Mazzie. She’s peeking at us over Gian’s shoulder.”
True enough. “Then let’s give her something to see.”
With that, I stepped in front of Natalie, leaned my head into her and kissed her just liked I’d wanted to all fucking night. We hadn’t talked about being “public” about us, but I supposed it was too late for discussions. There was nothing nebulous about that kiss.
Before I wouldn’t be able to walk to the dance floor, I pulled away just as another slow song started.
“Dance with me,” I said, taking both of our drinks and putting them on a server’s tray.
Natalie didn’t protest, but she did look up at me, arms around my shoulders, as we began to sway to the music. “So I guess cat’s out of the bag.”
“Is that a problem?” I glanced at Mazzie. She wasn’t looking anymore but the smile on her face said it all. She was a happy bride who also seemed to be happy for her friend. I guessed Nat hadn’t trash-talked me too much to them.
“Not really.”
“Not really?” I’d have preferred “no.”
“I mean, they know it’s temporary.”
We were gonna have that talk sooner rather than later. At least we’d do it with Natalie in my arms, the real reason I asked her to dance. All night I just wanted to be close to her, to touch her. And more than just a brush of our legs at the wedding or a quick slip of my hand on her waist as I’d guided her into the restaurant.
“Do they now?”
“Obviously. When we get back, we’ve got the whole land thing between us. Not to mention the fact that you don’t even live in Kitchi Falls.”
“True,” I said. “There’s that.”
Fuck it.
“Do you wanna talk about the land thing now? Or wait until we get back?”
“Does talking about it mean you’re going to try to convince me the sale isn’t a bad thing?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s wait until we get back.”
Stubborn woman.
“And don’t forget the bet. As soon as we land on US soil, the pause is off. We won’t be able to even touch each other since I’m pretty sure that would be considered ‘getting together.’ Not that you’ve ever actually defined that.”
“I guess I could have said”—I lowered my voice—“getting together means me spreading cannoli cream over your nipples to lick it off, making you peak beneath my tongue just before I gently graze my teeth along them to make sure you know I’m there.” With her hair up, it was easy to whisper into Natalie’s ear. To brush my lips over it as I spoke. To place the gentlest of kisses just below and then a second on the top of her neck before whispering again. “Or I could have defined it as separating your robe while I was on my knees in front of you, spreading those luscious legs of yours before diving into your even more luscious pussy.”
Knowing Nat loved when I talked like that, I didn’t let up. I wanted to feel her sag against me, almost unable to stand.
“Or perhaps I could have defined it as what I plan for us when we get back. Me spreading your ass cheeks wide with you on all fours up on my bed. And then licking you from front to back, tonguing that fucking perfect ass of yours until you come for me like the gorgeous, sensual woman that you are.”
There we go. I held her up, smiling into her ear.
“Or maybe—”
“Enough,” she said, pulling back to look at me. “I literally can’t support my own weight.”
I’d noticed.
“I can’t take anymore,” she added.
My eyes widened innocently. “Take what, sunshine? I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh no? Not even a hint?”
“Not even a hint.”
“You are a bad man, Jaxon Hayes.”
“Funny, last night you said I was good. Very, very good, if I remember correctly.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe we talked about whether or not I was staying in your hotel tonight or at the apartment.”
I leveled her with a look that some of the guys in my unit told me only to use when I wanted to scare the shit out of someone. Not that I wanted to scare the shit out of Natalie, only make her realize there were not two sides to this discussion.
“If you think there is a chance in hell that we’re gonna be on a pause and you aren’t coming to my place tonight then you truly have learned nothing about me on this trip.”
She shivered in my arms.
“That sounds like a demand.”
“It is.”
“What if I don’t want to come?”
“Oh, sunshine.” I smiled slowly. “It doesn’t matter if you want to or not. You’re going to come over, and over, and over, making five times look like child’s play. That, dear Nat, is a promise. And I do not break a promise. Ever.”
She licked her lips. Whatever she put on them that kept them glossy and had me fantasizing about those lips wrapped around my cock all fucking night was some special kind of makeup sorcery.
“Do you think we can leave now?” she said finally, making me laugh.
“Before they cut the cake? Probably not. But maybe instead of eating it here, we can take a piece back with us.”
Natalie’s devilish grin was her response—the only one I needed.