AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You live here?” I ask, confused.
“Home. Yes.” Ace barges straight through the door and turns left into a kitchen and breakfast room. He gently lays me on the island in the middle of the room. Jax comes in, topless, looking surprised to see us there. He’s so lean and toned, his chocolate skin glistening in the early morning sun, he makes my mouth water.
“Why do you guys live in a house in the woods away from the main dorms?”
Thorn and Rebel enter the room and Rebel replies, “Because the headmistress has a boner for me so I can do whatever I want.”
The guys snort, but Jax throws him a dirty look. Thorn tells me, “The headmistress is Jax’s mum-“
“Fuck off, Thor! She’s my stepmother,” Jax’s gruff voice cuts in. I get the impression, from the tense set of his shoulders, that he’s not too happy about this conversation. As he turns away from the guys, I see he has a large Celtic cross tattooed on his right arm. His arms are muscular but proportioned well with the rest of his body. He looks athletic and fit.
“Yeah, right, sorry dude. Stepmother. And so Jax here is allowed special privileges. A bit like you were, Princess. And because we’re his bros, we get to live here too.”
“What happened?” Jax asks, turning to me.
“Fell. Hurt. Fix.” Ace grunts before I can answer. I try to protest that I’m fine, but Jax just smirks and turns back to Ace. Rebel and Thorn grab a pop from the fridge and disappear back out again. Good. I don’t need an audience.
“So your date didn’t go well then?”
“This wasn’t a date. We were just running,” I cut in. Both boys ignore me.
“Date good.”
“A date has to involve kissing or food or something at least.” I feel like Jax is baiting him, but I’ve no idea why.
Ace stalks over to the cupboard and yanks open the door, grabs something, and slams it shut again. Jax’s espresso eyes are glowing with mirth as he watches the exchange. Ace tosses whatever he got out of the cupboard at me, and I quickly catch it. I look down and see he’s thrown a packet of crisps at me. He points at them as he stalks towards me.
“Food, see?” When he gets to where I’m lying on the counter, he threads one hand through the hair at the back of my head and firmly but gently pulls my face towards his. Before I can do anything, his lips crush mine in a burning kiss. Holy shit. I’m so shocked I don’t respond; I just freeze like a statue and let him kiss me.
A moment later he pulls away, smirking. “See? Food and kiss. Date. Good kiss. Good date.” He pauses and looks at me quizzically. “Do over.”
“Wh-What?” I think maybe I bumped my head when I fell, I'm definitely a bit slow. I think that was a question, but I’m quickly learning that Ace doesn’t really ask anything.
“He wants a do-over on his date. He’s asking if he can date you again?” Jax kindly translates, but his shoulders are shaking with silent laughter.
“Erm, yes?” Ace smiles at me, and it’s breathtaking. Wow. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: he’s seriously beautiful.
“Good. Shower. Change. Clothes,” he tells Jax. I’m guessing they’re his plans now as he heads out of the kitchen. “Fix her.” That was definitely an order.
Jax goes to the kitchen sink and takes a small green first aid kit from the cupboard underneath. With his bare back to me, I’m surprised to see an enormous black tattoo spanning his entire back. It’s a pair of mismatched wings; on one side are beautifully detailed feathers that resemble angel wings, and the other looks like a leathery veiny bat wing. I love the contrast between the two, and the workmanship is exquisite.
When he turns back to me, I try to jump down off the counter, but he barks at me to stay put. “I’m fine, really. It’s just a couple of grazes,” I try to insist, but Jax is adamant that he’s going to look at them. I kind of give in, wondering if he’s doing this because Ace told him to. Ace might be cute as fuck, but I wouldn’t want to go against his orders. So I relax and let Jax do his thing.
Jax begins by taking my hands in his and gently brushes the loose gravel from my grazed palms. He gets a cloth, wets it, and wipes the cuts clean. There’s a little blood but nothing too bad. Next, he does the same on my knees - and I sigh because my favourite pair of workout bottoms are all torn on the knees. Jax carefully peels the material away from the cuts and pushes it up my thighs so that he can see the extent of the damage. My knees are in a worse state than my palms, but they’re really okay. It’s not like I’m going to need stitches or anything.
Suddenly, I’m hyper-aware that Jax and I are alone in the room together. I watch as he cleans the blood from my shin that’s run all the way down my leg. He’s standing at the end of the island, between my parted legs, and it’s an oddly intimate gesture. His hands are a burning caress on my bare skin. I squirm uncomfortably. He turns to the first aid kit and then back to me and presses something cold and wet against the cut on my left knee.
“Mother fucker!” I screech and jerk away from Jax’s touch. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
“I’m cleaning your cuts. Don’t be a baby.”
“You just did that with the water. Why the fuck are you pouring liquid fire on me?”
“Don’t exaggerate,” he huffs. “I’m using alcohol to make sure they don’t get infected.”
“They’re grazes. They’re not going to get infected. You cleaned them with water. You know, like a normal human being would?”
The bastard ignores me and continues to dab the alcohol on my other cuts. I’ll admit, it smarts for a second, but then it’s not too bad. I may have overreacted slightly. I blame his proximity. Once he’s happy that I’m not going to die of an infection, he puts the first aid kit away and goes to my swollen right ankle. He undoes my trainers and peels my socks off. Yuck. I mean, I’ve been running, so let’s not pretend this is some kind of Prince Charming, glass slipper in reverse, sort of moment. I’m pretty sure my feet stink. Surprisingly, Jax is a gentleman and doesn’t say anything, so I give him a bonus point for that.
