The desire to rip my clothes off, and his, to remove that one last layer painfully separating us, is hard to resist. Jax is much more in control here than I am, his lips slow and intentional as they explore mine.
He’s also the first one to pull back.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for ages,” he whispers over my mouth, his thumbs caressing the sides of my ribs. “But I meant it. You’re tense enough to snap. Allow me to help.”
A shiver runs down my spine when his fingers slide to the front of my leather jacket and start unbuttoning it. Our eyes are locked, his dark gaze a pit of bottomless hunger as he slides my jacket off my shoulders, leaving me only in a cotton tank.
When I inhale, my breasts press against his hard chest. My nipples harden, aching with desire for his touch.
A breath hitches in my throat when Jax slowly kneels and places my hands on his shoulders before lifting one of my legs and unlacing my leather boots.
“I’m definitely tense.” I breathe out the words.
Jax chuckles and pulls off both my boots. Then, he rises again and by my hips, guides me towards my cot.
“Face down,” he whispers into my ear and turns me around.
It takes me a minute to get moving, my mind is so dizzy with the proximity of him.
Once I’m settled on my stomach on top of the furs that line my cot, I rest my chin on the backs of my palms and sigh. Jax’s weight settles on my bottom as he straddles me.
He rests his palms flat over the top of my back and carefully applies pressure as he starts to massage my coiled muscles.
He was right. I’m even more tense than I realized.
“Oh, fuck,” I groan as he works every muscle in my shoulders and back masterfully with his hands. “I really needed this.”
“Told ya.”
For once, I allow myself to sit in the moment, and simply be. I focus on the pleasant tingles Jax’s touch evokes across my body, and how good his weight feels on top of me. My mind drifts as the memory of his naked chest and hard six-pack surges to the front?—
I’m stupid with desire.
Jax chuckles close to my ear. “Naughty.”
I groan. “Can you blame me? You’re such a tease!”
He hums against my neck. “You’re not wrong…I do enjoy taking my sweet time.”
His hands slide down the sides of my waist, and when he presses his thumbs into my glutes, a moan escapes me.
Damn. He really knows what he’s doing. I’m not even naked yet, and he already has me panting with need…
That’s why his next words are like a bucket of ice water. “Promise me you’ll let your spies go in first. That you won’t march ahead of your army into Talbot’s estate.”
My eyes snap open, every muscle in my body tense once more.
The heat retreats, and the cold air of the tent nips at my exposed skin.
“Jax.” My voice is hard. “I’m the Ezkai General. I won’t hide behind my men like a coward.”
A beat of silence.
With a sigh, Jax gets off me. I push myself up on my knees and turn to face him.
“Being an Ezkai General doesn’t mean charging into every conflict head-on,” he says, calmly. “I don’t want you walking into a trap when it can be prevented.”
I press my lips into a thin line.
