8. Jaxon
JAXON
There’s lots of things I didn’t expect to happen today.
For it to be this damn hot.
To cancel my weekly drink with my uncle.
To have a runaway bride appear at my hobby garage. That’s strange enough in itself. But to feel such immediate chemistry and attraction that I have to stop myself from reaching for her to kiss her is something else entirely.
In any other situation, I would have done it… but not to someone who was supposed to marry someone else today. That doesn’t stop me from thinking about what else is under her sweatshirt every time it slips off her shoulder and the straps of that tank top tease me, though.
Sitting with her tonight was enchanting.
There’s no other way to describe it. The way her nose crinkled up when she laughed, or the way her dimples popped out when she smirked.
We were just in cosmic sync or something.
She was incredibly intelligent, funny, and easy to talk to.
Flirty in a not-desperate way; hell, I don’t even know if she knew she was doing it. But it sure left me wanting more.
I can’t pretend to know what she’s feeling or why I asked her if she was okay, but I’m grateful I did because it was clear she needed that release.
When she stopped, she seemed genuinely nervous about being alone, so I offered to sleep in the spare room.
The relief was immediately evident in her voice when she agreed.
It’s not my smartest move because I have to wake up early tomorrow.
A few weeks ago, I ran out of chips in a family poker game and started betting various things, including my time.
Thanks to my brothers, everything spiraled, and I amassed three weeks of barn chores because they teamed up on me to be dicks.
It especially sucks because I have to get that done before I get to my office for my actual workday.
But a bet is a bet, and I’m not one to back out.
After her door is shut, I retreat to my room.
It’s been a while since I’ve stayed in the cabins, and I forgot what a great job we do here.
We have fifteen of these luxury cabins, thirty standard ones, and fifteen long-term rentals.
The sixty of them bring in the majority of our profit, and every once in a while, it’s neat to take a step back and look at how amazing they are.
When I stop hearing movement on the other side of the wall, I’m grateful she’s found sleep.
That woman has had a day. I’m not quite as lucky because I have a never-ending to-do list rolling around in my head as we speed towards our high season.
After I sneak down for a midnight string cheese, sleep takes me, too.
“Jaxon!” A scream wakes me up right before she pounces on me in bed. Della is hysterical, and I’m trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Her phone is in her hand, and I see 9-1-1 on it; she’s ready to connect the call while I’m shaking off the cobwebs from being woken up like this.
“Della!” I say, trying to mitigate the panic and figure out what the fuck is happening. “What’s wrong?”
She’s out of her mind. It’s like she’s experiencing the night terrors that my nephew gets, almost speaking in gibberish. I put her face between my hands to try to get her to look at me, but she’s not responding. Instead, she’s in full-on hysterics.
Then I hear it: the spine-chilling sound of a cougar wailing. Della screams again when she hears the blood-curdling noise and buries her head in my bare chest, trying to crawl inside. “Someone’s being murdered!” she shouts between sobs. “We have to call for help!”
Sheer terror has her body convulsing in my arms. I’ve never seen someone look like this before.
“Della. Della,” I say more forcefully, shaking her shoulders, hoping she registers my touch and pulls out of her head. “Del, that’s a cougar. No one is being murdered. That’s a cougar.”
The cougar screams again, and it sounds like it’s right outside our cabin.
Della shrieks and scrambles to get up, but I contain her in my arms. That sound makes even the most experienced ranchers pause, especially because it can carry for half a mile across our open terrain.
It’s no surprise it scares the shit out of someone who’s never heard it before, but Della is out of her ever-loving mind as she thrashes about.
Her body is still shaking, and I’m not sure if she even registered what I said because she’s still mumbling as if she’s partially asleep.
I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I know I need her to snap out of this.
Since I’m not going to hit a woman or go get a cup of water to douse her with, I do the next thing that comes to mind.
I turn her, bring her close, and kiss her, fully expecting to get slapped.
Time stops.
This kiss is supposed to break her out of the moment, but it creates a whole new one.
I feel her breath hitch on my lips before she settles into it.
What was supposed to be a peck sends lightning throughout my body.
It lasts longer than I expect, and I reluctantly pull away slowly, savoring the forbidden taste.
When I do, she’s looking at me with wide eyes, but is no longer screaming.
“It’s a cougar,” I say with a steady voice. “It’s a scary sound, and I expect it to happen a handful more times, but it’s not close to us. It’s loud, and it can echo across the property.”
The sound pierces the air again, and she ducks down, wrapping her body around mine.
I pray to God that she doesn’t move too much from the spot she is in, because I am just in my boxer briefs.
Every second that Della Tatroe and her tight as fuck body is bucking on top of me, with tits spilling out of a too-small tank top and tight spandex shorts, is one second closer to me busting out of my underwear.
“You’re safe. Not even the cougars can open doors,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
She takes a breath, but can’t seem to stop her body from shaking. “That’s horrific. Oh my God. I’m sorry. I swear it sounded like someone was being killed. How do you live here?” she says, not mentioning the kiss. “How much longer will that go on?”
“A couple more times over the next ten minutes. Those first few were abnormally close together.”
She’s still wrapped around me, and her shake turns to more of a chill. Probably because she’s practically naked. Reaching down, I pull the comforter over her and rub her back. No part of me has the right to be doing any of these things, but she’s not objecting, so I keep going.
“You okay, Del?” I ask.
“Not even a little,” she whispers.
Her skin is silky soft under my fingertips, and I know this is stupid, but I can’t pull away and take her off me. In fact, I’m wondering if I’ll have the fortitude to not take her lips in another kiss, because temptation is an understatement.
“Jaxon, can…” a heavy sigh leaves her lips, “Can I… can I… sleep in your room tonight? I’m terrified.
I know they can’t come in, and I know I am a twenty-five-year-old woman who graduated at the top of her class, so you know I’m smart, and there’s no logic…
I just can’t. I’m sorry, I know this is fucking insane.
I’ll even sleep on the floor in here. I would really appreciate it if I didn’t have to be alone right now. ”
“Well, I’d say the floor, but seeing as you’re already under the covers, I suppose you can stay,” I joke. Of course, sleeping next to someone I’m stupidly attracted to is a bad idea, but I’m not going to hang her out to dry.
After a quick laugh, I hold my breath, trying not to think about how good she feels sprawled across me, or how badly I want another kiss.
We are both frozen, but after a minute goes by, she slowly slides off my chest, making sure not to disconnect from my body, and settles in the crook of my arm.
There is not an inch of space between us, and my restraint is hanging by a thread when I imagine sliding those shorts down her legs to see where the night takes us.
Those thoughts are doing nothing to help curb the raging hard-on I have, but they’re there all the same.
Also not helping is the fact that after that adrenaline dump, there’s no way I’m going back to sleep, even though it’s three in the damn morning.
“Del?” I whisper, just quietly enough so if she’s asleep, she’ll stay asleep.
“Yes?” she whispers back.
“How long do you think it’s going to take for your heart rate to go down?” Her body is so close to mine that I feel it thrashing against me.
Her laugh isn’t so quiet. “Probably never knowing that sound exists in the world.”
“You’ll get there,” I chuckle back, and I can’t stop myself from kissing the top of her head. “You’re safe here.”
“Thank you, Jaxon. For everything,” she breathes.
I squeeze her rather than answer, and soon after that, her breathing slows. She crashes so quickly, I wonder if she had fallen asleep earlier at all.
And in this instant, with this stranger of a woman lying in my arms, I wonder if my brother was right earlier today when he said this was a bad idea. His reasons were different, of course, but something about Della makes me think that her seventy-two hours are going to be more than I bargained for.