Chapter 26 Jax
There’s one thing that hadn’t changed about Faye and that was for certain—she was still a stubborn brat.
It made me both want to spank her perfectly round ass, and kiss her until I took the very breath from her so she would shut up for once.
As soon as I felt like I was breaking down one wall, there came another.
I saw the look in her eyes when we were dancing.
I knew my girl was still in there. Her pain was so heavy, all I wanted to do was help her carry it.
She thought her scars made her unworthy, but had no idea how otherworldly and beautiful they made her.
She’s a true diamond built by pressure and pain.
Like a painted canvas full of both light and dark.
She was meant to be admired and enamored.
I loved her darkness just the same. I wanted her darkness to make love to my demons, just to see her shine for me in those blissful and fleeting moments.
Moments that still captivated me, moments that still brought me to my knees.
Faye thought her pain would scare me away, but I didn’t scare easily.
Not even Odin himself could keep me away from her.
I needed to make her remember what it felt like to submit to a man who was deserving, with full trust and certainty.
It would take time, but I would do that for her.
I would wait for my girl. I’d waited five years.
I would crumble her towering walls and make them bow to me.
The only tears I wanted to see her ever shed, were the tears she’d shed choking on my cock as I claimed her.
Creed and Avi’s engagement party was today. He asked me to be his best man a few weeks ago and of course l accepted the honor.
I struggled in the mirror with my bolo tie, my thoughts racing about a certain brown-eyed beauty.
A thief who took up space in my hollow heart.
My suit was fitted and tailored to my tall muscular frame, but I cuffed the long sleeve button up so the tattoos on my forearm peeked out.
I was proud of my ink, yet haunted by it most times.
A suit really wasn’t my style, but I’d do anything for my little brother.
Fucker owes me for this. This whole engagement ball idea was Selene’s.
We weren’t even surprised. The woman threw all the events in town, and to no one’s surprise she outdid herself every time.
Avi hired Selene to take care of all the planning.
She was too busy for party planning when she was constantly working and taking care of her parents.
I was happy for my brother, but it all seemed sudden.
He had me out here looking like a bearded Viking Ken doll.
I tousled with my suit and groaned. Maybe it was my nerves.
Maybe I was jealous of my brother. Marriage was a strong, unbreakable bond, and a promise in our bloodline.
A vow, a bond I had yet to make to anyone, knowing I’d want that bond with one person only. My little light.
I brushed my dark auburn beard in the mirror.
Today was the day. I knew Faye would be at the engagement party, and I had been looking forward to this day for months.
Not just to see my brother celebrate, but also because I knew my little tinkered light would be there.
There were so many things I wanted to say to her, I just didn’t even know where to start.
What did you say to the girl you fell in love with six years ago who you hurt, and who hurt you right back, then sent you into a dark spiral?
Oh hey, sorry I was such a shithole? That would probably be a good start, I thought to myself.
She hates me when I’m not making her come, and I couldn’t blame her.
Something about seeing her car vandalized sent an eerie alert in me that jumbled my insides.
It wasn’t unusual for the bible thumpers to do pranks like this, especially this time of year. But I saw the trepidation in her eyes.
This was different, and I think she knew it too.
It seemed like both our closeted skeletons were busting loose.
Except I’d learned to own mine, to alchemise mine.
A lesson that had to be learned, not taught.
A lesson my girl was on the brink of and I wanted nothing more than to take the burden on her.
I was too wise to be so ignorant—knowing the dark night of the soul was crucial for anyone’s becoming and healing process.
It was true when they said ‘feel so you can heal’.
The problem with feeling was some souls got so caught up in the darkness, they never made it out.
I had been at the pit of that very hell.
A hell I had to endure behind bars for two years, mainly keeping to myself.
Some inmates were mortal, some not so much.
Including the corrections officers. You could tell which ones had their allegiances, too.
Especially the inmates with certain capabilities and wealth.
Those two years were still not nearly as bad as the two years in those mountains in Norway.
Nobody was capable of touching me. Not here, not in prison, not anywhere I was a Grimwood, my last name alone ranking above all else.
I could live with myself and the things I’ve done, it was my honor.
But the question was, could she? The mere thought of rejection tugged at me, ready to be on the brink of my destruction.
I walked out to the overly themed ball engagement party, wanting to choke myself with one of these damn hanging linens.
I sat down at my reserved seat with my brothers and Pop when I saw her walk in, taking the very breath right out of me.
Her olive skin was luminous in the sunset, her dark hair pinned up in loose curls.
Her dangling earrings were simple yet gorgeous, just like her.
The necklace she wore was a dainty chain that wrapped around her neck, accompanied by a dark crystal, wrapped in gold swirls.
A necklace I’ve noticed she’s worn ever since she got here.
I’ve never felt jealous of a piece of jewelry before, besides at this very moment.
I wanted to wrap my hands around her dainty neck and kiss it.
Melt into her skin… into her. But it was always her exotic dark eyes that got me, and those heart-shaped lips.
My gods, what I wouldn’t give to kiss those sensual lips again.
She wore a long black fitted satin dress.
How fitting, I thought. The last thing she probably wanted to do was be at an engagement party while going through a divorce.
I glanced down to her boots, chuckling while drinking my whiskey.
You can take the gal out of the country, but can’t take the country out of the gal.
I was impressed that even then, even now, after everything, deep down she was still that small town girl.
I sniffed the air to catch her scent. I yearned for her so deeply, groaning in arousal. She smelled like home. Like mine.
Faye sat at the table with her mother and Birdie.
I don’t think I’d ever seen her this dressed up and it made my cock swell in my dress pants.
I tried to adjust myself in my seat. I needed to calm down.
It wasn’t until I watched her light up while talking to her daughter and then get lost in a candle’s flame that was on the table’s centerpiece, that my dick went limp.
I knew that look. My girl was somewhere, but not here.
One minute she was vibrant and the next she was gone again.
Her expression blank, her eyes hazy. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
Where was my little light? I was going to flame her embers, and add more coal to her weakened flame. Where did you go, baby girl?