“Jill?” he asked.
She moved her hand, her face pinkening even more. “I know about sex, Jax. We had classes on it and everything.”
Now heat filled his face. He cleared his throat. “Um, okay. Good.” Did he have to worry about sex education for the younger kids? He rubbed the back of his aching neck. Tension. Too much tension. “I just, ah, wanted you to know that you weren’t alone. You’ll be okay. You and the baby.”
“I know. I love Byron. It’ll be fine.”
Nothing was going to be fine, and young love was about to make Jax’s life a lot more difficult. “All right. Good talk.” He stood and walked to the doorway, where he turned around. “Do you mind if I ask why you looked so terrified when I wanted to talk to you?”
She bit her lip and shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just, that, well, I don’t know you. I just see you with guns and knives telling people what to do.” She smiled. “But now I’m not scared of you.”
“Okay.” He opened the door, his mind reeling. “Make sure you up your rations of dried milk and protein. I think you need more of that stuff now.”
She nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Jax.”
Jax left the room, rubbing his chest. God, he missed Wyatt.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The next world war will be between man and nature. Nature has never lost.
—Dr. Franklin Xavier Harmony
Jax topped off the disastrous talk with horny teenagers by scouting outside and making sure his barriers were in place. When Los Angeles had begun to fall to looters and survivalist gangs, he’d immediately gathered any allies he could find and had taken over the food distribution center with the crappy slum apartments next to it. He’d sent groups to gather weapons, fuel, and medicines. Then he’d created two surrounding lines of defense, the first with downed Mack trucks, and then an inner circle of overturned minivans. They’d spiraled inward, creating barriers as they went.
The air was cool but finally dry. He checked the line, signaled to the guards at post, and finally reached the eastern end, where a truck met headquarters. Marvin padded by, turned his massive head, studied Jax, and then moved on. Obviously he’d already eaten.
Raze leaned against the brick wall, odd blue eyes cutting through the darkness. “That’s a lion. A real lion.”
Jax nodded. “Name is Marvin.”
Raze shook his head. “Marvin. How was the heart-to-heart with the kids?”
“Completely sucked.” Jax noted Raze’s alertness even while lounging. “How good are you, anyway?”
“Pretty damn good,” Raze countered. His broad chest expanded and slowly relaxed as he let out air. “I haven’t had a chance to tell you that I’m sorry about Wyatt.”
The name sliced into Jax’s gut, and he fought a wince. “Thanks.”
“Seems like he was the heart around here.”
Jax nodded. “Yeah. Well, he and Tace were both full of heart.” Now Wyatt fed the worms and Tace searched for his humanity. “Lynne is a sweetheart, but people don’t trust her, so she can’t take that role. Sami is fighting her own demons, whatever they are, and she doesn’t reach out to others. And we both know you’re here for reasons of your own.”
“Yep.”
“Most special ops guys don’t share much.”
Raze twirled a knife end over end. “I never said I was special ops.”
“Like you needed to.” Jax crossed his arms. “You’re not army.”
“Nope.” Raze cocked his head to the side.
“Not Green Beret or Secret Service.” Jax rubbed his chin. “Beyond a SEAL.” He smiled. “SEAL Team Six, were you?”
Raze lifted an eyebrow. “No such thing.”
Right. “How did you end up here, man?” Jax asked.
“A story for another day.” Raze slid the blade back into the sheath at his belt. “I knew you needed to take out Twenty, and I had a score to settle, so I figured I’d help out.”
Jax rolled his neck. “I appreciate the help. Is there any chance you’ll take a more active role around here?” He could really use somebody with Raze’s training.
“No.” Raze eyed the gathering dark clouds. “Why are you doing this?”
“Huh?”
Raze settled again. “With your skills, you could’ve headed into the woods and just lived off the land. You don’t have family, you didn’t have friends, and you didn’t have a woman when you gathered this hodgepodge of a group together. So why?”
Jax frowned. “We were under attack, by first the bacteria and then rival gangs, so I just reacted. There were people to save.” He lifted a shoulder. “I’ve been fighting ever since, and that’s all I know. Now I’ve vowed to end Cruz for my brother.” And he’d promised safety to a woman, one who needed protection more than any other person on earth. “To be honest, I always figured we’d find a cure, regroup, and then the government would step in.” Was it too much to hope that might still happen?
“It’s funny. With all the stories about you, almost making you a legend, nothing hints that you’re such an optimist.”
An optimist? Jax snorted. “I’m not even close.”
“You think we’re going to survive Scorpius and go on? I mean, as a species?” Raze asked.
Jax paused, his mind clicking. “Yes. Don’t you?”
Raze scratched the stubble on his chin. “No. I think we’re tilting at windmills right now.”
Jax studied him. “Then why fight?”
“I’ve got my own reasons.” Raze pushed off the wall.
“I got that the second you walked into camp,” Jax said easily. “You might be quiet, but this isn’t my first rodeo. I read you day one. I just don’t know what your agenda is.”
“I figured.”
Okay. Jax made to go. “Well, good talk. While you’re being helpful, I wouldn’t mind if you helped train some of the civilians.” He’d gotten sucked in with friends; maybe Raze would, too.
“Happy to help, but, Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not a group activity type of guy.”
Finally, they were planning to go to Myriad in the morning. She was so close. Lynne tried to focus while working in the headquarters infirmary after dinner, taking note of a soldier with an infected cut. They needed some antibiotics. She wondered how many kids in the center of the territory had infections, ear or tonsil, that weren’t getting better. “I’d kill for some amoxicillin,” she said to Tace.
“People already have.” He finished organizing their meager supply of bandages. “Why don’t you head on up and get some sleep? When Jax says we’re leaving at first dawn, he means it.”
Her eyes ached, and her temples pounded. While she wouldn’t sleep, lying down and shutting her eyes for a minute couldn’t hurt. “Okay.” She dodged through the rec room and up to the apartment, shoving open the door.
She stilled at finding Jax inside. Moonlight, weak and waning, cut through the boards over the window to light the area. “What are you doing?” she asked, glancing at a pile of clothing and weapons on the couch.
“Come here,” he said, tugging a pair of jeans from the bottom of the pile. “Put these on.”
She hesitated at the door. “I like my yoga pants.”
“Too bad. You’ll need jeans, something sturdier for your legs and weapons, tomorrow.” He held out the denim. “Try these on.”
Great. Jax Mercury in full bossy mode was too much at the moment. She approached the couch, kicked off her shoes, and added a shimmy to her ass when she dropped the yoga pants. Trying to appear innocent, she held out a hand for the jeans.
His lids dropped to half-mast, and he handed over the denim. Masculine tension filtered through the room and took over the atmosphere.
She slid into them, shaking her butt, sucking in her stomach to button the top. They were tight but would loosen upon wearing.
Jax slid a gun belt around her waist and tightened it, dropping to his haunches to attach the two strips to her right leg. “I’ve seen the way you can shoot.” He shoved a black gun into the weapon holder, his face near her midriff.