33. Jax
33
JAX
W hy can’t I stay away? Jax wondered as he looked up at the half-burnt building in which Emma lived.
The building authorities had been doing everything they could to undo the damage caused by the fire. A large part of the city was being rebuilt from the ground up.
She’s lucky to have even half of a home to come back to at least. I’m glad she wasn’t hurt.
Jax’s knuckles knocked against the wood of her front door, and it only took a moment for her to answer. “Emma, I'm glad I was able to catch you at home. There's something I need to tell you, and we don't really have a lot of time to discuss it.”
Jax charged past her into her house.
“Come on in then,” Emma retorted sarcastically as she shut the door and locked it. “What's so urgent that you had to come here?”
“It’s my uncle. I don't think fixing the faulty potions is going to matter at this point. He's too blinded by rage to see reason anymore. I heard he even kicked Kiyan out, practically threatening to kill him if he tried to go back! I can’t even imagine what he’d do to me if I confronted him.” Jax was beside himself. He knew that eventually, he would have no choice, but the courage it required eluded him.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Emma asked, laughing humorlessly. He could tell she didn’t mean to belittle him, but that she was at as much of a loss as he was.
It was understandable, considering he was considered the Potion King . He was the one richer than the gods, and yet he was running scared like a child.
“I find that I'm braver when I'm around you. I'm not sure why, but there is a special connection between us. I know that you feel it, too… I simply can't ignore it anymore.” Without warning, Jax approached Emma, grabbed her arms, and pulled her into a kiss.
She tried to pull back, but Jax only tightened his hold on her, refusing to let her go.
His lips parted hers, and she let him, but she remained reluctant.
“Please, Emma,” he pleaded against her mouth. “I need you. I want you to be the person I go through this with.”
With those words, her arms relaxed and she allowed him to kiss her again. She even managed to kiss him back a few times.
He walked her back against the wall as his hands ran down to her hips, untying the knot keeping her robes closed.
The material fell open, revealing her beautiful bare skin.
Lea
T he horror that came over me was undeniable.
There was a part of me that wanted to succumb to it.
Think of the power I will have over him after this, I told myself. Not only will this destroy his marriage, but he’ll tell me his secrets, let me in, giving me even more fuel to burn down everything he’s built.
I sucked in a sharp breath as his cold fingers ran up my bare leg.
He picked me up by my waist, and lowered me down onto the couch.
It will be so easy. I would hardly have to do a thing…
I closed my eyes, but Emory's face popped into my head, reminding me of how he wanted nothing more than to recover Lea. For him, and for his cause. But it was too late—Lea would never let this happen.
But Emma would do it in order to secure her own self-interest.
There’s no going back. It’s time Lea dies for good. Tonight.
It was a choice between my heart or my wrath, and I chose the latter.
His lips felt like acid against my skin as he trailed kisses along the length of my neck.
I hated every moment of it, and that he was seeking pleasure from my body just like he’d done the last time, made it all the worse. I would much rather have preferred to hit him over the head and get it over with, but that wouldn't be satisfying enough. I wanted to humiliate him.
Everyone deserved to know what a fraud he really was. And he deserved to fall from his pedestal, forever regretting the day he betrayed me as he rotted away in prison for the rest of his miserable life.
He stopped for a moment, hovering over me as his raven hair fell in black silky waves over his forehead, blinking down at me with those horrible green eyes.
“ W ould you like for me to continue?” His words felt like lead weighing me down.
I stared at him, wavering, my mind not fully made up yet.
I hate you… You've taken everything from me, and there's no room in me for forgiveness.
My teeth clenched against each other, the fire inside me burning hotter and more feral than ever before.
I grabbed the sides of his face and hauled his mouth back down to mine as an answer to his question.
Goodbye, Lea.
I lifted my legs and wrapped them tightly around his hips, straddling and pressing him closer, letting the show of passion and wantonness convince me more than him.
With bated breath, his sensual gaze followed his fingers as he slowly ran them down my bare chest, his eyes dizzy with lust.
You have a doting wife and a beautiful daughter—the whole world at your fingertips—but it’s still not enough for you.
The greed in his eyes was all-consuming. It was like he was still searching for fulfillment or purpose.
I wiggled my hips against his, drawing a dark smirk from him.
“I’ve wanted this from the moment I met you,” he growled, his breath hot against my face.
I could feel the dark rage inside of me taking hold. “Is that so?”
I wanted more than anything to destroy him, and I didn’t care if it damned my very soul in the process.
He grabbed hold of my hip, pressing his fingers into my flesh as if he intended to imprint his mark onto me forever. His other hand slid over my shoulder, pulling down the robe that barely clung to me now.
His eyes immediately found my tattoo.
An icy fear ran through me.
There’s no way he recognizes it. Dai covered the entire marking.
I held my breath.
He smirked up at me and uttered my name, “Emma…”
I relaxed, realizing he was too vapid to remember me from so many years ago.
Lea probably didn’t even cross his mind anymore.
That’s right. Succumb to me. Let me lead you to your ruin. Both our ruin…
I closed my eyes, allowing myself to be absorbed by the sensations he awakened inside of me. It reminded me of my first time with him.
My shoulder began to burn with a fiery vengeance. Only this time, I had no idea if it was because of my wrath, or my betrayal to my past self. For whatever reason, it burned worse than it ever had before.
Jax stopped all of a sudden, hissing while grabbing his shoulder.
My eyes snapped up at him. “What’s wrong?” I muttered, but I already knew what was happening.
His marking is burning at the same time as mine?
I swallowed the lump developing in my throat as I blinked up at him, feeling a rush of something far less bitter in my chest. It tasted almost sweet—like something I’d wanted at one point.
I shoved the thoughts away and held my hand up to his cheek. “Jax?”
Do we really share such a connection?
“I’m fine.” Jax willed a smile to his face, returning his focus to me.
He caressed my cheek with the back of his hand, simply gazing at me for a few long moments before he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
I expected to feel revulsion, having to force myself not to recoil…
But his hands held my face with such gentleness, his eyes so tender and sincere, I must’ve been too surprised to feel what I was supposed to.
He removed his shirt and lowered his weight onto me. The feel of his sculpted body pressing into me was far more pleasant than it ought to have been. My breathing hitched, heat rushing and pooling much too readily down to my core.
My body was flushed with adrenaline, and for the first time in a very long time, it wasn’t for a bad reason.
Prickles of excitement ran up and down my arms as his hands explored me.
There was nothing but bare skin and unrestrained breathing between us now, and I finally allowed the pacing wolf to emerge from her cage. I succumbed to her charge entirely.
Jax looked surprised to find that it was his back being pressed to the couch this time, but a satisfied smirk quickly tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked up at me in awe.
That’s right. You’ll be worshiping me instead of Lunaira once I’m done with you.
Like a predator’s gaze never leaving her prey, I watched him closely as I slowly took him into me, drawing a long and deep groan from him.
It was the first of many that echoed into the night as I seized and reaped every pleasure and desire I’d ever wanted from him for myself.