“Go. Take a shower.”
“Are you sure?” She tugged at the collar of her shirt. “I could—”
I gripped the edge of the bed harder and squeezed my eyes closed. “Please, Sammy. Get the hell away from me.”
Chapter Ten
Sam
T he water had been hot and the pressure just right. Still, it hadn’t alleviated the tension in my muscles. I’d been standing right next to Jax when Heckle gave his warning. We didn’t know if it pertained to me or him, but it’d been clear. Break the rules and pay the price. We both knew…and neither one of us had cared. Even now, after knowing it had hurt him, I wanted to slide from the bed and make him kiss me again.
That was the drawback to Jax and me. It’d been that way for as far back as I could remember. We ignored everything and lived to keep each other sane and safe. Then when things between us changed, nothing else mattered. It was all about us. Screw the world.
I rolled over and pulled the covers with me, burrowing deep. They smelled of cigarettes and stale beer, but I didn’t care. I was too tired, both mentally and physically exhausted. Thoughts of Jax, of the pain he was in, and the danger that hung over our heads, played on repeat inside my head. The lingering memory of what we’d almost done, coupled with the fact that he was laying a few feet away, made my pulse quicken and my skin warm.
The cuff was heavy and growing tighter with each moment that passed. When I’d slid into bed, it was just past three in the morning. I’d been wearing this thing for almost twenty-four hours now. One day down. Only two left.
I looked down at the cuff and it contracted as if responding to my scrutiny. I’d actually forgotten about it for a while. Jax had that effect on me. Even when we were kids, he had a way of making my problems and fears fade until they were nothing more than harmless shadows on the wall. I wanted to be that for him, too. To be the thing that grounded him. But instead I’d instigated an act that had caused him pain. The skin beneath the black metal band twitched and I fought a shiver. An act that, despite what had happened as a result, I wanted to instigate again.
I shifted, this time rolling onto my back. The clock cast a faint glow on the ceiling. It was reflected on the television, the light playing off the bare bulb in the ceiling overhead. But there was something else. A faint rustling sound coming from just beyond the door.
I threw off the covers and, sliding out of bed as quietly as possible, crept across the carpet and put my ear to the door. The sound was almost like an animal scratching against the wood.
“What the hell?” Jax groaned from underneath the covers. The light beside his bed flickered to life. He shifted around, peering at me through the dim light with groggy annoyance.
“I dunno,” I said, pushing away from the door. “I thought I heard something.”
He shoved off the covers with a grunt and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The floorboards groaned as he padded barefoot across the room and stopped beside me. “Like what?”
I put my ear to the door again. Everything was quiet. Maybe I was losing my mind. “Nothing. I was probably dreaming.”
Without a word, he started back across the room. But he only got halfway to the bed when a knock stopped him. Quirking a brow, he turned and tilted his head. “Expecting someone?”
“Yeah.” I dove for my jeans and tugged them on. “I ordered a stripper.”
With a roll of his eyes and a finger to his lips, he backed toward the door. There was no peep hole, so he moved the curtains aside a fraction of an inch. “Looks human,” he said with a snort. “Then again, who the hell knows?”
“So, harmless?”
He turned to me, a spark of mischief in his eyes. A rush of warmth rippled through me. “You’re human and you’re far from harmless.”
I flipped him off and nodded to the door. “Safe to answer—”
The guy on the other side of the door began to pound.
I
“Are you sure?” She tugged at the collar of her shirt. “I could—”
I gripped the edge of the bed harder and squeezed my eyes closed. “Please, Sammy. Get the hell away from me.”
Chapter Ten
Sam
T he water had been hot and the pressure just right. Still, it hadn’t alleviated the tension in my muscles. I’d been standing right next to Jax when Heckle gave his warning. We didn’t know if it pertained to me or him, but it’d been clear. Break the rules and pay the price. We both knew…and neither one of us had cared. Even now, after knowing it had hurt him, I wanted to slide from the bed and make him kiss me again.
That was the drawback to Jax and me. It’d been that way for as far back as I could remember. We ignored everything and lived to keep each other sane and safe. Then when things between us changed, nothing else mattered. It was all about us. Screw the world.
I rolled over and pulled the covers with me, burrowing deep. They smelled of cigarettes and stale beer, but I didn’t care. I was too tired, both mentally and physically exhausted. Thoughts of Jax, of the pain he was in, and the danger that hung over our heads, played on repeat inside my head. The lingering memory of what we’d almost done, coupled with the fact that he was laying a few feet away, made my pulse quicken and my skin warm.
The cuff was heavy and growing tighter with each moment that passed. When I’d slid into bed, it was just past three in the morning. I’d been wearing this thing for almost twenty-four hours now. One day down. Only two left.
I looked down at the cuff and it contracted as if responding to my scrutiny. I’d actually forgotten about it for a while. Jax had that effect on me. Even when we were kids, he had a way of making my problems and fears fade until they were nothing more than harmless shadows on the wall. I wanted to be that for him, too. To be the thing that grounded him. But instead I’d instigated an act that had caused him pain. The skin beneath the black metal band twitched and I fought a shiver. An act that, despite what had happened as a result, I wanted to instigate again.
I shifted, this time rolling onto my back. The clock cast a faint glow on the ceiling. It was reflected on the television, the light playing off the bare bulb in the ceiling overhead. But there was something else. A faint rustling sound coming from just beyond the door.
I threw off the covers and, sliding out of bed as quietly as possible, crept across the carpet and put my ear to the door. The sound was almost like an animal scratching against the wood.
“What the hell?” Jax groaned from underneath the covers. The light beside his bed flickered to life. He shifted around, peering at me through the dim light with groggy annoyance.
“I dunno,” I said, pushing away from the door. “I thought I heard something.”
He shoved off the covers with a grunt and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The floorboards groaned as he padded barefoot across the room and stopped beside me. “Like what?”
I put my ear to the door again. Everything was quiet. Maybe I was losing my mind. “Nothing. I was probably dreaming.”
Without a word, he started back across the room. But he only got halfway to the bed when a knock stopped him. Quirking a brow, he turned and tilted his head. “Expecting someone?”
“Yeah.” I dove for my jeans and tugged them on. “I ordered a stripper.”
With a roll of his eyes and a finger to his lips, he backed toward the door. There was no peep hole, so he moved the curtains aside a fraction of an inch. “Looks human,” he said with a snort. “Then again, who the hell knows?”
“So, harmless?”
He turned to me, a spark of mischief in his eyes. A rush of warmth rippled through me. “You’re human and you’re far from harmless.”
I flipped him off and nodded to the door. “Safe to answer—”
The guy on the other side of the door began to pound.
I
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