Mason looked at Jax, who nodded, and he walked over to Connor, who steered him back to the table.
“Let us go,” Jax said in a low tone. “I’ll leave town right away—I promise. ”
“And go where? What are you doing in Mississippi, anyway, if you’re from Alabama?”
“W-we hitchhiked out this way. We’re going out west, or that’s the plan, anyway. ”
“Where out west? Who do you know there?”
Jax shrugged. “Nobody really, and we don’t have any firm plans. Just wherever I can find a job. I’m…uh…looking for work. ”
Cade looked skeptically at Jax. He’d been relieved when Jax pulled the pillow over to cover his groin. He’d been keeping his eyes from straying to that bulge by sheer willpower.
“What are you going to do to us?” Jax asked again, his eyes flashing.
Before Cade could answer, the door opened to admit Rayce, who was carrying several takeout boxes and balancing a drink carrier on top of them.
Rayce looked around the room curiously, and Jax shrank back even farther against the headboard, pulling the pillow up to hug it to him. Favoring Jax with a charming, reassuring little smile, Raycebrought the cartons over to the bedside table. “I brought you all a little petit dejeuner,” he said. “Oh, and I managed to get enough rooms for all of us for tonight, so you can figure all this out. They didn’t know anything at the diner except that they’ve never seen either of them around here before. ”
Jax watched them both with wary eyes and glanced longingly at the door.
“Good,” Cade said, nodding. “Thanks, man. ” Then he glanced back over at Jax. “Don’t even think about it. You move one inch off that bed, and I’ll finish what I started with that spanking. ”
Jax gave him a resentful, furious glare, but stayed where he was. Cade nodded approvingly and reached for one of the takeout containers, handing it to Jax. Inside there was scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and creamy grits with a blob of butter swimming on top. A fat, flaky biscuit sat on top of the bacon. The smell wafting up off the food made Jax close his eyes and tremb
le, but he still looked first toward Mason to see if he got one too. Mason was already eating.
“Well, go ahead and eat,” Cade said sternly, a little moved by Jax’s reaction to the food and trying not to show it. “Don’t let it get cold. ”
Jax opened his eyes wide and then tore into the food, just cramming it in his mouth and not waiting to open the little pack that held a plastic fork and knife. Cade and Rayce watched in startled fascination until Cade put out a hand to grab Jax’s wrist.
“Slow down, damn it. Nobody’s going to take it away from you, but you’ll make yourself sick eating like that. ” He made Jax look up at him and nod before he took his hand away and watched him make a real effort to slow down. “That’s right. Slower, and damn it, use the fork. You can’t eat those eggs and grits with your fingers, oryou’ll burn yourself. ”
Cade opened the packet for him and cleaned off his fingers with the napkin before putting the fork in his hand. “Slow down, or I’ll feed you myself. ”
That got Jax going slower, and finally, Cade jerked his head at Rayce, and they went over to stand by the door. He spoke to him quietly in French. “His full name is Jackson CodyMonroe. ”
Jax glanced up at the sound of his name, but Cade ignored him.
“He’s from Piedmont, Alabama, according to his license, and he’s nineteen years old. ” At the look of disbelief on Rayce’s face, he shook his head. “I know, I know, he looks too young, but that’s what’s on his driver’s license, and it seems to be authentic. We’ll need to check it out to make sure. He’s running away from something, I think, but since he just got out of jail back home, he has to be over seventeen, or they’d have put him in a Youth Detention Center. Says he beat up a relative who pressed charges, and now he’s on probation. ”
Rayce raised one eyebrow. “Really?”
They both glanced over at the slight figure on the bed and Cade sighed. “Yeah, I can’t see him beating up anybody as little as he is either, but that’s what he said. Assuming he’s telling the truth, I don’t think anybody will be looking for him, except maybe his probation officer. He’s been abused in the past, and still has the scars to prove it, but they’re healed over. Could be what he and his little brother are running from. That bothers me too. Where arethe child’s parents? We need to check it out. ”
Rayce nodded. “What are you going to do?”
“Fuck if I know. I don’t want this, and I don’t want a boy who looks like he’s fifteen years old. He’s not my type at all, damn it. And he’s too fucking young. ”
Rayce watched him sympathetically, and nodded. “I know, mon ami, but not much you can do about that, is there?I meant, what are you going to do about taking them with us? You’re attracted to the boy, no?And he’s your mate—you can’t leave him behind. ”
Cade grimaced and glanced back over at Jax. He’d finished his breakfast and was trying to follow their conversation, though Cade was pretty sure he didn’t understand a word. When he saw Cade staring at him, he tossed his hair out of his eyes and picked nervously at the sheet covering his chest.
“Of course, I’m fucking attracted to him, damn it! I can barely keep my hands off him. I know it’s the soif de sang. But I don’t want to be so attracted. I don’t want to feel like this. I want to just rewind this whole damn thing back to this morning. I wish I’d never passed by that stupid diner. ”
“What should I tell the others?” Rayce asked quietly.
“Tell them…tell them nothing until I can find out more. Maybe it’s some kind of mistake. Maybe I’ll wake up in the morning and be back to normal. ”