Vengeance (13 page)

My breathing increases and pleasure shoots through me. I wrap my legs around him and he moves his fingers quicker.

“Jax…” I mewl.

“Come.” He hisses.

I moan again, and he slants his mouth over mine, driving his tongue in and causing me to explode around him. In seconds, before I even have time to process it, he is inside me, hard and fast. I grip his shoulders and he attaches his mouth to my neck and slams me with desperate need.

“Jax,
” I whimper.
“Jax.”

He is cursing and moaning into my ear, my legs are tightly wrapped around him, and my hands are supporting my body on the bench. He slides his mouth down to claim my nipple and bites down on it hard, I come again. He continues driving into me until I have released three times. He is sweating; his bronze skin is glistening. I trace my tongue over his shoulder, tasting the saltiness.

“You want me to come again?” He growls.

“Yes,” I pant.

“How much?”

“Please, please.”

He slams so hard the bench creaks, then his muscles bunch, and he roars a release, gripping my hips so hard it stings. When he finally slows, we are both covered in sweat. I can’t breathe properly, let alone talk. His green gaze meets mine, and I force out a weak smile.

“That.
Was.
Bad.” He breathes.

“You shouldn’t run from me.” I pant, leaning my head against the wall.

“I had plans, a nice evening…wine…roses, but no…you
come in here dressed
like that and
un-man
me.”

“You
un-manned
yourself.”
I grin.

“There will be revenge for that, hard core revenge.”

I smile and kiss his hot, sweaty lips. He moans and deepens the kiss until we are deep in passion. I pull back, panting yet again.

“Stop, there is only so much I can take.” I whisper.

“I am done for an hour or so…”

I raise my eyebrows.
“An hour or so?”

He gives me a wolfish grin. “Oh baby, that was just the beginning.”

CHAPTER
8

Jax leaves on cue, as he said he would. I sulk for the first two weeks. My mother has been keeping me company and has been a wonderful help with Lilly. She and Mack seem to have so much unseen tension,
and they flirt stupidly, i
t is a harmful message to be sending. Sam hates it, and it has been a very entertaining time for me. I wonder if there are unresolved feelings between my
parents?
Would Mack take my mother back if he could?

I found a job through the day working at a veterinary surgery. It has been a good distraction. Jax rings me every night as promised and always keeps me updated on his progress. So far, he has been unable to track Ben. I wonder if he is
,
in fact, not out on the
ocean?
I don’t really know, all I know is he is out there, and he will pounce. It’s just when and where.  I try not to focus too heavily on it. I know we are relatively safe with Jack and three of the crew members around.

“How are you today love?”
My mother smiles, walking out and snapping me from my thoughts.
She sits beside me on the porch swing.

“Not bad. I was thinking of going into town today?”

“Sounds very nice.”

I smile. “How are things with Steffan?”

She frowns. “I certainly don’t think the man misses me.”

“And Mack?”

She shoots me a glare. “Let’s not go there.”

“Well, I can certainly feel a lot of tension.”

“He and I have a bond. That is all.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes!”

“Ok.”

I stand and plod into the kitchen where our house maid,
Mr’s
Sadie, is preparing lunches. When Lilly is ready, I drive her to
school. It is my RDO and so mom
and I stop off at the shop and do a touch of shopping. We are laughing and giggling about old times as we are driving home, when I see a cloud of thick
,
black smoke coming from the direction of our house. We both stop talking.

“Jade, is that…”

“My house.”

I hit the accelerator, and we zoom home. What I
see,
puts me into shock. My house, my beautiful house, is up in flames. Thick, black smoke fills the sky and red
,
angry flames tear from the roof. I run quickly towards the mass of firemen trying to get the blaze out. I see Jack and the crew. They are ok, thank
God
. I glance around, where is the maid?

“
Mr's
Sadie?”
I cry out.

Jack rushes over and takes my face in his hands. “Jade, thank heavens, it happened so quickly.”

“
Mr’s
Sadie?”
I whisper again.

He shakes his head. “We couldn’t find her in time…”

I scream and crumble in his arms. He holds me tightly as the panic continues around us. I pull back and look up at him with trembling hands.

“Who did this?”

“I don’t know. We heard a loud bang, but figured something just fell. Then one side of the house just went up so quickly. We managed to get out the front door before the explosion hit.
Fuel, all around the house.
I couldn’t see anyone. I…think it was Ben.”

“
Jack
he was trying to kill us. He has to know Jax is away, he is trying to draw us out again.”

“We need to get to a safe place.
ASAP.”

“I need to call Jax.”

I slowly pull my phone from the pocket and dial Jax’s number.

“Hey baby.” He answers.

“J-J-Jax.”

“What’s wrong?” He asks, concerned.

“The house…Jax the house.”

“What is happening?”

“It’s gone.”

“Gone? Jade breathe. What is going on?”

“On fire, it’s gone.”

Silence.

“What?”

“Blew up.
Somebody lit it up.”

He screams a curse, and I can hear the panic in his voice.

“Get the fuck outta there Jade.”

“
Mr
’s
Sadie is dead.” I sob.

“Put Jack on.”

“O…ok.”

I hand the phone to Jack and listen as he speaks with Jax.
Going over the details.
My mother holds me close as we wait for further instructions. The police officer walks over a moment later.

“Is this your house mam?”

“Yes.” I croak.

“Do you know what happened?”

I shake my head. “We arrived home to this.”

“Was anybody here?”

I can’t
dob
in the pirates; it will get far too messy.
“Just the maid.”

“Where is she?”

“Dead.”
I whisper.

“Oh, mam, I am so sorry.”

I nod weakly.

“Do you know why anybody would light your house on fire?”

Of course I bloody do. “No.”

“We will ask questions later, I am sorry
Mr’s
Watts.”

I nod. Jack walks back over and hands me the phone. I take it.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby, are you ok?”

“I don’t know.”

“Jack is taking you to Mack’s house. I don’t think Ben knows your father lives here. I am coming home. I will be a day or two. Don’t go out, stay in.”

“My house.”
I sob.

“I know baby, we can build another one.”

“No.”

“No?”

“I want to go to the island Jax.”

He pauses. “We will talk later, just get to your dads and watch my baby.”

“Ok.”

“Hang in there
, I will be there soon.”

“Ok.”

“Love you.”

“You too.”
I whisper, hanging up the phone.

“Come on angel, we need to go.”

I look over at Jack; my eyes hurt. I am not sure if it is from the smoke or the crying, but they are burning. My mother is silent, she just stares at the house, her mouth is slightly open, and her eyes are huge. Jack takes my hand, then hers and leads us to the car. When we are in, he chats with the officers a while before getting in himself.

“Lilly, where is my daughter?”

“We are going to get her now, it will be ok.”

We ride in silence to Lilly’s school. When I see her come out, relief floods me. Thank
God
. Jack drives us over to Mack’s house, and he comes barreling outside. I fall into his arms, and he soothes me with useless words. My mother is next, and seeing them in each other’s arms is undoubtedly quite odd.

“Where is Sam, Eli?” I ask.

“She took him to the doctors, I just called. They are on their way back.”

“Jax is coming home.”

“We will have constant watch on the house, with police and the crew. We will work out more details when Jax gets back.”

“And
Mr’s
Sadie’s family?”
I choke.

“The police will let them know.”

I nod weakly, and then walk inside. Mack shows me and my mother to a room, and we fall onto the bed. She finally speaks.

“I can’t believe it. I didn’t realize this world you lived in was so…deadly.”

I look over at her. “I married a pirate, what did you expect?”

“Common sense is what I expected. What about your daughter, she could have been in there!”

“What are you saying?” I whisper.

“He is lethal Jade; he is putting you in a deadly world and it is going to kill off someone you love if you aren’t careful. Leave, come home, give her a life.”

I gape.
“Without her father?
I love him; I will NEVER love anyone the way I love him. How do you suppose I just get over that?”

Her eyes flicker to Mack. “You can move on if you have to.
Even if you never get over it.”

“I am not you mother. I am not selfish enough to give up the man I love for a life like yours. Sorry, he is my life. We will move to the island until Ben is sorted, we are safe there but don’t you ever tell me to leave my husband.”

“You are living a fantasy Jade, and it is going to crumble.” She growls.

“Grace enough…” Mack warns gently. “Now is not the time.”

“When is the time Mack? You just think
it’s
ok for her to run about with pirates?”

“I know Jax loves her, and I know it is the life she wants. You can’t change that, and neither can I.”

“She will die, or worse, Lilly will die.”

“Stop!”
I cry. “I mean it mother, stop. It isn’t the
Damn
time.”

“When is the right time?” She
screams
. “When you are dead?”

“Just because you and Steffan are over, doesn’t mean you can take it out on me. Look where living a nice life over love got you, a husband who is fucking around!!”

Mack gapes. “Steffan is cheating on you, why didn’t you tell me?”

“It doesn’t matter Mack. All that matters is my daughter’s safety, which clearly she can’t get.”

I throw my hands up. “I am done here. I am leaving.”

“Jade, you can’t leave.” Mack says touching my arm.

“Don’t touch me daddy, I will leave, and you will never see me again. I did it once, don’t push me.”

He glares at me, actually glares at me. It stops me in my tracks.
Damn
, Mack isn’t going to go all
father
like, is he? He is. He grips my arm and hauls me close.

“This is your life, if you think I am going to let you out this front door, you are VERY wrong. Now sit down on that bed or I will toss you on there and spank your bad mannered little ass like it should have been spanked when you were a child. Stop your immature, childish nonsense, and don’t threaten me again. You are my daughter, and I have put up with your shit for long enough, treat me like a father or I will stop treating you like a daughter.” He yells, loudly and angrily.

I blink rapidly. Mack has never spoken to me like this before, never. It shocks me so heavily; I can’t speak. What’s more, my chest is clenching with raw pain. It hurts, his words hurt, but they are what I have needed for so long. Tears thunder down my cheeks and I pull my hand from his grips.

“I am going to sleep in a different room.” I whisper, and then shove past Mack.