Page 126 of The Never List
Well, fuck that.
I hop down, dancing my way over to him, but I don’t dare touch him. I’m not one of the Legend groupies desperate for attention and a great story. I’m his mate potential, and I meanhis, since he’s the one who started this whole beautiful mess in the first place.
His eyes slide over my body with each roll of my hips, each arch of my back or trail of my fingers over my breasts. The tension tightens between us so much I ache.
“What do you think?” I finally ask when the song ends and another one doesn’t immediately replace it. Instead, we’re plunged in a thick, weighted silence beyond that of my rushed breaths. “Do I get the job?”
Jax wets his lips, flicking a finger toward me. “What is it you think you’re doing here?”
Taken aback, I blink at him a few times. “It’s your turn,” I say, my confidence slipping a rung on the ladder inside me. “You weren’t home. Figured I’d come to you.”
“Home,” he repeats, dragging out the word. “Do you already consider my space yours?”
“I…”
Mortification steals my words, my soul threatening to crumple in on itself.
Jax’s smile is sharp, and I can’t lie. Itstings. I’ve seen him give out a dozen or more of these smiles to anyone and everyone. It’s the one that’s meant to scare people away, keep them guessing, keep them running.
My heart thumps rapidly against my chest, adrenaline coursing through my veins as he holds me in a staringcompetition that has every single one of my muscles clenching. Anger blazes over my embarrassment. Goddess damn him, he’s a stubborn prick.
“Ohh,” he groans, shaking his hands. “What a nice bite of anger, butterfly.” He draws in a sharp breath like he’s taking a hit off the emotions storming me. “Delicious,” he says, and I fucking tremble at the way he says the word.
He’s toying with me, testing me, or trying to shove me away. I’m not sure, and I don’t care. I can play this game all night. Crossing lines is what he wants? Then here the fuck we go.
I lean down, gliding my hands up his thighs and bringing our faces within inches of each other. The only emotion he shows is the slight bob of his throat while I’m sure he can feel every single one of mine—my skittering pulse at the power of his muscles beneath my hands, the intake of my breath as his scent storms my senses, the way that connection between us straightens up and aches from being this close to him.
“If you want me to leave, Jax,” I whisper, my mouth a breath away from his, “just give the order.”
His lips draw back, almost like he’s baring his teeth at me, at my nearness. Like some predator that’s met his match, and he’s scrambling to try and figure out how to fight me off.
But he doesn’t.
He doesn’t flinch at my touch, doesn’t push me away, and I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of one of his blades. One wrong move and I’m done.
“Rylee,” he whispers, nothing but cold, hard warning in his eyes. “I’m not like my friends,” he says. “You should run while you still can.”
I do the exact opposite, throwing one leg on either side of his hips, splaying my hands over his chest. “I’m not running.”
He groans, his hands flexing on my waist. I can’t tell if he’s holding me there or preparing to throw me off, and the rush of the unknown spikes in my blood. His eyes flare a little as he registers the thrill in me.
“I’mnotrunning,” I say with more determination this time, remembering Pierce’s words about Jax’s fears, about why he is the way he is. He needs to know I’m here no matter what. “You chose me, Jax,” I say, some of the pain coming through in my words. “You can say you hate me all you want, but I don’t buy it. Stop trying to push me away. Unless you really regret your decision…then I’ll walk out that door right now.”
A muscle in his jaw ticks. I can see it there—the truth written all over his features for once. Hewantsto tell me to go. He wants to tell me I’m the worst mistake of his life. I know this right down to my bones, but he doesn’t say it. Instead, that battle plays out in his eyes as his fingers bite into my hips.
“Jax, please,” I say, shuddering atop him. “I’m done fighting this. Don’t push me away.”
A low growl rumbles his chest as I rock against him, a pure searing heat spearing through me at what I feel beneath me. Goddess, he’s hard as fucking granite pressed against me. He wants me, too.
That feels like a win in itself.
“I’m not like my friends,” he says again through clenched teeth, gripping my hips and jerking me forward again, scraping my heat right over his hard length. “I’m nottrying to win your heart.” He growls the words.
My head spins with the sensations, the leather shorts shifting enough that only the thin netting and his slacks separate us.
“I want to ruin it,” he continues, eyes burning. “I want to ruinyou.”
I wrap my fingers behind his neck, a stuttered sigh rasping out of me as he moves me over him. I can’t form words, can’t think outside of this long-awaited contact.
