Surge (St. Martin Family Saga: Emergency Responders) Book 3: St. Martin Family Saga: Emergency Responders (7 page)

The best thing about me is you.
She pulled a post it from the side of her mirror that hadn’t been there before.
Jackson
. She’d recognize his barely legible scrawl anywhere. She took the piece of paper in her hands and pulled it close to her heart. “I love you Cracker Jack.” Somehow he always knew what she needed even before she needed it. It was more than incredible. She retrieved her purse and placed the note in the pocket and patted the outside with her hand.

Back in the living room everyone was paired off. As she entered, Cash opened his arm to her. “Clara Bear, you’re beautiful. I’ll be the envy of every man.” She smiled at Cash while she basked in his adoring words.

Across the room her eyes connected with sizzling sapphire jewels. Dressed in a gray Henley and black jeans that fit his body like a glove highlighting every muscle, Jackson embodied every woman’s late night fantasy. Her mouth opened and she breathed out a short shallow breath of air. Standing beside him, also taking him in, was Lexi. Her eyes practically bulged as she scanned down his body and back up, but he didn’t connect with her. Instead he stared into Clara’s soul, their connection, even from across the room, was unmistakable and she hoped no one else would become aware.

Since there were fourteen in their party they loaded into two SUVs. Cash and Clara rode with Logan and Jessie, taking the third seat while Lexi and Jackson took the middle.

Jackson turned to face her and smiled. “Bellefontaine’s playing. You love him.”

“I do.” She returned his smile. “I like the rubboard the best.” Lexi turned and observed their interaction.

Lexi began to twirl her fingers in Jackson’s hair. His hand closed over hers as he placed her arm back on her side of the seat. A few minutes later her body inclined toward his and her fingers found their way back into his hair. Her long sculpted nails raked his neck. When he grasped her fingers this time he wasn’t as gentle. He tossed her arm down and said, “Stop.” Her eyes locked with Clara’s and the fire she saw in them made her uneasy. What was she thinking? Was it Jackson’s presence that caused her to look so vibrant?

Next to her, Cash was oblivious as Isa texted him pictures of herself and the baby.

The next few hours were an exercise in futility. Lexi started to drink and became even more belligerent with Jackson than she’d been in the car. Around the dance floor her hands were all over him. He tried to keep his distance, but it was useless. As the night wore on he actually had to hold most of her body weight up to keep her from falling flat on the floor—a sight Clara knew she would enjoy, but felt guilty for thinking.

Leaning against the wall, she and Cash were taking a break when Lexi and Jackson approached, “You wanna give me a break here Cash?”

Cash exhaled through clenched teeth. “I guess I can do that, but to be fair Dad intended her for you.” Cash laughed at his plight. “Probably wouldn’t have to work very hard to take advantage of that either.”

“Not interested.” Jackson’s head shook.

“Yeah, that’s a high maintenance nightmare.” Cash walked over to Lexi who was too drunk to have followed their conversation.

Jackson stood next to Clara and exhaled long and slow. “Bug, you’re so beautiful.” At his words she sat up a little straighter. His thumb slid under the shoulder strap of her dress. “I love you in this dress. So pretty.” He leaned close to her ear and inhaled. “I need you so hard right now. Dance with me.”

He led her to the dance floor and when their connection was finally secured she watched him breath in deep. “Clara, I can’t go so long without touching you. It makes me anxious. I can’t explain it, but I’m like a runaway train. The only thing that can stop me from destructing is you.” His right hand knotted in her left while his arm slid across her back, pulling her in close—so close they were no longer moving their feet, just swaying in the space as couples swirled around them.

Jackson pulled her to a dark corner and that’s when she noticed there were two guys she didn’t recognize dancing with Lexi while others watched from the sidelines. She put on quite a show in her red siren’s dress. The men cheered and whistled, motivating her to continue. Her dress crept up while her neckline plunged creating an erotic display. She seemed like one of those playboy models. Jackson’s face looked pained.

“Jackson?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t like her?”

His hands on her tugged her into his side. He kissed the spot behind her ear that made her giggle. “She’s all surface with no deep structure.”

Hmm. He spoke in guy code. She didn’t know what he’d meant by that. “Do you like to watch her?”

“The spectacle she’s creating? She’s making idiots of those men. It’s also kind of sad don’t you think?”

“She’s sophisticated and confident. Kind of sexy.” She shrugged.

He pulled back to look down into her eyes. “You know what’s special, Bug?”

“What?”

“The way I make you confident in the privacy of our bedroom. That you save it just for my eyes. That’s sexy. That’s sophisticated.”

She smiled and leaned into his neck using her teeth to trace the slightly raised vein.

“Mmm, don’t do that here or I just might combust on the hardwood floor.”

“I’m not going to stop.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“What are you going to do with her?”

“I guess I’ll see her back to the estate since she’s in no shape to see herself back.”

The light from the bathroom illuminated their private alcove. Eve exited and looked straight into Clara’s eyes and then she took in their provocative position—Clara’s legs wedged between Jackson’s and their bodies linked together with arms that entwined tightly.

Clara’s head popped up from where it rested on Jackson’s shoulder. “Here comes Eve.” Clara knew Eve hadn’t mentioned a word to Clay about their relationship. If she had the atmosphere wouldn’t have been so festive.

“So you two are still together.”

Jackson cleared his throat. “It’s much more than that.”

“Are you deliberately trying to be discovered?”

He shook his head. “The corner is dark until the bathroom door opens.” She turned to test his statement.

“So what’s the plan?” She pointed between them. “You need to come clean and tell the family.”

Clara jumped in. “They will never understand. They won’t accept our relationship.”

“Why not?” Eve frowned.

“Jackson is one of their brothers. It will be seen as betrayal.” Clara’s foot tapped nervously on the dusty floor.

“I stayed with them for a while after my parents died. Until I went off to college.” Jackson clarified.

Dawning spread across Eve’s face. “Oh.”

“But it’s not betrayal, we want to get married.” Clara smiled.

Eve gasped. “Clara!” Her hand went to her chest. “You’re way too young to get married.” She set her intense gray eyes on Jackson. “What are you thinking to allow these fantastic notions to run through her head?”

“Were it up to me, I would have already married her.”

Her head shook. “This is so bad. Clay is just going to kill you.”

Jackson grimaced. Cara didn’t like when Eve said that particular phrase. A phrase she was beginning to use a lot lately. Clara knew Jackson looked up to Clay and the last thing he wanted was to cause a rift between them and lose him as a friend and brother.

“You can help us.” Clara said.

“No.” Her head shook vigorously. “Please don’t ask me to do that.”

“But he’ll listen to you.”

“I can’t talk about this here.” She seemed frayed as she trudged off to link up with Clay on the dance floor.

“Well Bug, we’re loving on borrowed time.” Jackson stared out onto the floor, watching Eve with Clay.

Clara took his hand in hers. “No matter what happens we will always be together.”

He kissed their connected hands. “Always.”

Chapter 7

Given the late
hour, the dance hall had emptied by half and some of the brothers had wanted to head back to the house. Jackson tried to pull Lexi away from the dance floor, but he couldn’t get through the pack of rabid males. As a result, they’d missed the first SUV back to the estate. She’d been shoeless for the last hour. The slit in her dress had torn and now was actually revealing things that should not be uncovered in public. When he’d tried to tell her she cooed in his ear and asked if he liked what he saw. He couldn’t be more disgusted with his current predicament. Did her father know she had a drinking problem? He suspected not, but he wasn’t very happy at getting stuck with her for the evening. Meanwhile his sweet Clara was back in her room with the pink-canopied bed. A bed he wished he shared with her.

The night wore on and even the youngest St. Martin brothers had had enough. Cory spoke up from the sidelines where they all currently watched. “Jackson, if you don’t go and physically throw her over your shoulder so we can leave I’ll fucking do it.”

From beneath his arm Brook spoke up, “Over my dead body. She came with Jackson, he needs to be the one manhandling her.”

Exasperated, Jackson exhaled. “She didn’t come with me. She was thrown at me by her father.” Cal laughed from his position atop a barstool.

Chloe took a swig from her beer and said, “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to get out. My stamina for this stuff is not what it used to be. I’m beat. If you don’t go and fetch her, I’ll freaking do it.”

They all laughed and Cal said, “I think you could take her.”

Shit. He headed onto the dance floor to retrieve this privileged daughter of some land tycoon who had an overblown sense of entitlement. What problems did she have that she needed to conduct herself in such a manner? Tomorrow morning when her head was nice and fat because her electrolytes would be out of sync he’d give her a piece of his mind, and he’d do it loudly.

When he arrived at the center of the wooden floor she brashly slurred, “Jackson, you super fine man, get that juicy ass over here and let me grab a handful.”

He bent and shoved his shoulder into her abdomen and threw her over his shoulder.

“Oomph.” She expressed.

He’d be lucky if she didn’t vomit down his back.

“You’re a strong man.” She squeezed his ass.

“Will you please stop violating me?” The brothers howled with laughter. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Back at the estate he carried Lexi up to her designated room and placed her on the bed. She immediately started to gag so he turned her onto her side and held a trashcan beneath her head. Once she was done gagging he went to the attached bathroom and ran cold water over a rag. On the bed her top had unhooked and her huge jiggly breasts were exposed. And yeah, they were attractive but there were some problems: A) they were silicon, unnatural; B) She’d gone a few sizes too large and they extended the width of her back. He personally didn’t like that look; C) They weren’t Clara’s.

“Will you help me get this dress off?”

Of course he would. He just felt sorry for her now. He peeled the dress down and since she’d been showing what she had all over the dance floor he wasn’t surprised to find her completely naked beneath. He wiped her face with the cold rag and gave her a bottle of water.

“If you stay, I’ll fuck you really well.” Her hand grasped his crotch hard and he instinctively pushed her away. “You like the daughter.”

His head shot up and he looked into her eyes. “What?”

“The daughter, Clara, you like her.”

His lips tightened at her expert analysis. What could he say that wouldn’t implicate them both?

She leaned forward, and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. His spine stiffened. “Don’t worry hot guy, I won’t say a word.” She pinched her fingers together and ran them from one corner of her mouth to the other. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“How do you feel now?”

“I’m okay.”

“Are you done vomiting? Because if you’re not you need to sleep on your side. You’ve got a trashcan right here. Don’t lie on your back.”

“Yes doctor.” She giggled and it was a sickeningly sweet sound, high pitched and excessive. Not breathy and perfect like Clara’s giggle. God, he couldn’t wait to get to her. “Do you have something you can put on?”

“I sleep nude.”

“Fine. But you may get sick all over yourself.”

“Maybe I can wear your shirt.” She pulled at his shirt, exposing his stomach before he could pull it back down.

“I don’t think so.”

“My, my, that sister is a lucky lady.” She raked her nails over his clothed abdomen.

He stood. “Make sure you stay on your side.” He hated to leave her sick as she was, but he wasn’t about to play nursemaid to her all night and miss out on Bug’s precious promise of wine and cheese and her sweet body.

He left the room and headed straight for Clara’s. He twisted the handle ever so slowly to avoid making a sound. Inside he found her sprawled on the bed looking sexier than he thought possible in the white cotton sleeveless gown she wore. On her nightstand the wine was open and about half empty. Had she drunk it?

His hand slid up her thigh, connecting with her hip. “Clara.”

“Mmm, Cracker Jack. I’ve been waiting much too long for you.”

“I agree.” He took off his shoes and socks, and climbed up on the bed next to her.

Pulling her across his lap he bent and kissed her lips confirming that she did in fact drink the wine. “Bug, you drank the wine.”

“Mmm, I did.” Her eyes were closed, but she had a ridiculous smile on her lips.

“But you’re—” Her finger pushed into his lips.

“Spare me Jackson. I waited for you for three hours. I didn’t think you were coming. Where were you?”

“I had to tend to Lexi. She got roaring drunk and puked up her guts.”

“Why can’t she find her own boyfriend?”

He kissed behind her ear. “Did you eat my cheese too?”

She giggled in delight, the sound so precious to his ears he could cry. “No, I just drank your wine.”

She stood on her knees and bent over the edge of the bed, hanging upside down. When she was once again upright she had a knife and cheese board, along with the brick of cheese.

“Talk to me about this cheese.”

While she cut into it she rattled off the information. “I told you it’s aged one year. It’s named after the town in Spain—La Mancha. If it reads Manchego, you know it’s the real deal.” She swept her arm across the space in front of her. “The region is located on a vast plateau high above sea level. The sheep endure arid conditions with excessive wind and heat. The winters are quite cold and the summers quite hot so the best cheese is produced between August and December when the sheep are happy and fat.” She placed her arms in a large circle over her puffed up belly and laughed.

He was mesmerized as he watched her relate the information. “I—love—you.”

She smiled and poured wine into a glass she no doubt pilfered from the kitchen. She passed the glass to him and placed a piece of cheese in his mouth.

“What do you taste?”

“Mmm, nutty and reminiscent of caramel with a tangy acidic bite.”

Her eyes lit up as she took a bite. “Now sip the wine.”

“It’s very complex isn’t it?”

She nodded. “Quite intense. I think it’s your favorite. You always moan when you eat it.”

“I do not moan.”

“I hate to break it to you, but yeah, you do.”

He finished the cheese she’d cut. “I want more.” He also wanted to watch the little show she gave that she wasn’t aware of as she bent over the bed.

She went down to the end of the bed again and started to lean over when his hand landed on the back of her thigh and then he bit into the fleshy part of her butt.

She squealed with delight. “Shh. You’re gonna get me shot by a firing squad.” He drank from the glass in his hand and then flipped her over, kissing her deeply. Dipping his fingers into the glass, he painted her lips with the drops of wine dangling from his fingers. Her pink tongue slid along the slickened surface.

He lay alongside her and played in her beautiful natural waves with his fingers. “You need a bang trim.”

“I like to keep them long.”

“I don’t like it when I can’t see your eyes.”

She crawled on top of him, straddling him and removed her nightgown. He forgot what they were talking about. She wore a white lace thong and nothing else. “I need you.” She pulled at his belt and he assisted.

“Can you keep it quiet?”

“I’m quiet.”

“Not when you’re on top.”

She smiled shyly and placed the tip of her index finger in her mouth. “I’ll be quiet.” She slid out of her lace underwear and was completely nude as she set to work on his clothes. First she pulled his shirt off and then raked her fingers down his chest and torso. Her tongue traced over his abdominal muscles as she sighed sweetly. This is what he’d been wanting. He needed her sweetness and her light to save him from the bitter darkness. As she slid his pants and underwear off, he aided her efforts by raising his hips. She started rubbing her wetness over his engorged cock. Her tongue circled his nipples and it felt better than anything else he’d known in his twenty-eight years. Except when she put her mouth on his cock. Everything good started and ended with her. If he were to ever lose her he wouldn’t survive it.

His hands went to her hips and caressed, helping her slide back and forth until he panted her name. She sat up and gathered his arms, placing them above his head and then traced with a light touch down the underside of his arm to the hair in his armpit. “You stay put now or I’ll stop.” She smiled her shy smile with deep dimples and hooded eyes.

“I need you.” His voice was a strained whisper.

“I know what you need.” She leaned forward and nibbled on his lips and then slid down to his knees. She bent and grasped his cock in her grip. Her tongue darted out and she tasted the glistening top. She continued to lick her essence from him.

“Do you like how you taste?”

She nodded, but kept sucking him harder and deeper into her mouth.

“I like how you taste too.”

She slid a finger through her wetness and reached up to place the finger between his lips, not aware how sexy she was. The moves she made left him breathless as he licked and sucked her finger clean. “More.” This time she sat up and watched as she thrust her finger in and out of his mouth and he lapped it free of her juices.

Slowly she took him into her warm tight center until he was fully consumed by her. Her movements were rhythmic and hypnotizing. He liked this position because to maintain pace they had to communicate. Not with words, but with their eyes and she never took her powder blues from his gaze. He watched her hips and abs dance as the shadows in the room played off of their movement. She leaned back, placing her hands on his thighs, and then rode him hard, raising her hips high and slamming back down, her breasts springing up and down. He bit his lip to keep from screaming and he detected the metallic taste of blood in his saliva. Her pace grew less and less steady until she was gasping for breath and collapsed on top of him. He grabbed her hips and continued the motion that brought them to climax together.

As they came down together he gathered her long wavy dark hair and pulled it over her shoulder to allow air to breeze over her sweaty neck. He placed his lips on a drop that was sliding down the column of her throat. “You’re an amazing woman. I’m in awe of you.” He felt her smile against his neck.

“Don’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She closed her eyes and then he did the same.

In a dream someone whispered harshly in his ear. “Mmm, Bug.”

“No, it’s Lexi.”

He jumped up from the bed, realizing too late he was naked.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” He and Clara asked in unison.

“Well good morning to you too.” She overtly stared at his morning hard on. A pillow came sailing through the air to hit him in the crotch. Given his erection it hurt, but he held it there to cover himself. He looked over at a guilty Clara.

Lexi whispered, “Thought you might want to know the big guy is up and he’s looking for you.” She pointed to Jackson.

Lexi pulled him along through the bathroom that connected her room to Clara’s. Looking back over her shoulder she addressed Clara, “Gather his clothes and throw them into my room.” Clara threw his clothes into Lexi’s room. He picked up his boxer shorts and put them on faster than he ever had in his life. As soon as Clara shut one door it was as if a pulley system opened the main door.

Lexi was on her knees on the bed, pulling his head to her bosom. “Mmm, Jackson do you have to leave so soon?”

Clay’s deep baritone laugh could be heard around the room as it bounced off the walls.

He closed the door leaving Jackson and Lexi staring awkwardly at one another.

She bit into her bottom lip while he finished getting dressed. She cleared her throat, “I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night and to thank you for being so kind and patient with me.”

“Don’t mention it. And thank you for not ratting me out.”