“Let me get rid of them. Promise to get dressed and wait for me?”
“Where would I go?”
He narrowed his gaze. “Are you forgetting who you’re talking to here?”
“Of course not,” she said sweetly.
“You’re known for running.” He cupped her neck and brought her to his lips again, thinking he could kiss her crazy, give her just a slight taste of his impetuous need and she would then have more reasons to stay than she’d have to leave.
“I’ll wait on you,” she promised, flattening her hand against his evident bulge.
He groaned, wondering if he could walk the twenty or so feet to the truck when he was aware of the aroused vixen at his back. “Wait, Brianna.” He used a firm tone, one he’d already determined she liked. “I’ll be right around the corner.”
“Jax, I don’t want to hurt you.”
As he’d turned to walk away, she’d caught him in the middle of the second step. “What do you mean you don’t want to hurt me?”
Her lips thinned. Her small nostrils pulsed. She seemed to have a hard time coming up with the right words to say.
“What is it?”
She took a deep breath. “I…I’m crazy about you.”
“And that should hurt me?” He’d been mad about her before she was even legal so the feelings were mutual.
“But I’m—”
Two doors slammed in the distance. In another minute or two, his brothers would walk around the house. He flinched. That was what this was all about. Did she think he would be surprised? Had she forgotten how brutally honest she’d once been with them, how she’d told them she was attracted to all three of them?
“You want us, not just me,” Jax said, figuring he’d make it as easy as he could for her.
“I want you all,” she agreed, starting to dress.
“We’ll see what we can do about giving you everything you want.”
Chapter Nine
Brianna turned her phone off and on again. No signal. She needed to let her sisters know where she was so they wouldn’t worry. She was giddy all over as she waited for her phone to reboot. She could almost hear Gemma’s warning. The Jackson brothers were only after one thing. She’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire. They’d never buy the horse after they’d taken a ride for free. And the old adages would go on and on.
Gemma needed to get laid. Maybe if she had a man of her own, she wouldn’t be so bitter whenever she mentioned one of the Jackson brothers. Drina and Coco would probably share a bottle of wine and toast the event. In the back of Brianna’s mind, she truly believed they wanted her with Jax, Tyler, and Flint. They wanted her with them because they loved her and wanted her to be happy, but more than anything else they were tired of bailing her out of trouble.
She shuddered then. The cool night air whipped around her and she remembered how her mother used to tell them to take their sweaters with them if they were going to the Nolichucky. “The air is colder down there,” she once said.
Wrapping her arms around her upper body, she realized she wouldn’t be chilly for very long. Jax would come back and see her arms covered with chill bumps and immediately drape himself around her. Those big muscular arms would hold her close and his brothers would look on with a dab of lust in their expressions.
She wondered what was taking them so long. She’d lost time while dressing. Her mind had been a hundred miles away as she’d thought of Jax’s promise. He’d said they’d see what they could do about giving her everything she needed. Her fingers settled on her bottom lip as she thought of that bruising kiss, the one he’d planted on her lips without hesitation, without any reservations.
He’d wanted her. She closed her eyes and cursed like crazy. He’d wanted her but he hadn’t taken her because he was fucking scared she’d been raped, taken against her will.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She needed to find the courage to sit down and tell them what happened. Handsome hadn’t raped her. He hadn’t forced himself on her. He had abused her at the end of an act she’d first enjoyed, but she didn’t want the Jackson brothers to think of her as damaged goods then. She didn’t want them to treat her any differently than they would’ve six months ago when she’d knocked on their door and told them everything.
Brianna could still picture them standing there in the foyer. Jax had shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Tyler had acted plain guilt ridden. Flint only stuck around for a minute or two. Rumor had it later that he tried to run off the three women they had waiting for them upstairs. Women Brianna had watched enter their home, women Brianna wanted them to send on their independent ways because she had fully and intentionally tried to ruin the Jackson brothers’ good time.
Thinking back to that moment in time gave her great cause for impatience. She’d wanted them then. She wanted the Jackson brothers now.
Wondering what was keeping them, she peered around the corner, expecting to see Tyler and Flint with Jax. Instead four men had Jax down on the ground, beating him senseless.
“Stop!” Before she thought better of it, she showed herself. “What do you think you’re—”