“Nothing.”
Gage rumpled up his sandwich wrapper and shot it into the garbage can. He leaned forward, his face hard with anger, his words icy. “You know what, fuck you! You don’t have to talk to me about it, keep it all to yourself, whatever. But I’m going to lay it on the line for you because I’m sick of you using the kid.”
Jax’s eyes widened. “I’m not using my kid.”
Gage made a face. “Yes, you are. Maizy isn’t the answer to your redemption, dumb ass. If you make her your only reason for living because you think you have to fix what happened, you’re gonna be one lonely man someday. Maizy’s going to run out of the house screaming the second she can, just to get away from your overprotective crap.”
Jax held up a hand to shut Gage up.
But Gage didn’t want to be shut up. “She’s not learning about healthy relationships—she’s learning how to carry grudges and isolate herself. You’re a pretty good father now, Jax, but this bullshit you’ve been carrying around since she was born is just that. Bullshit. So someday, when you’re a lonely asshole, and Maizy hates your guts because you smothered the shit out of her and maybe kept her from having another female in her life who loves her like you do, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Jax didn’t even have the time to react before Gage was shoving back his chair, tipping it over with an angry grunt and blowing out of his office.
He gripped the edge of the desk until his knuckles were white. If he let go, he’d get up, drive home and knock the shit out of Gage. He couldn’t see for the anger—a red, ugly haze where he was smashing Gage’s face against the wall.
“Jax?”
Em put her hand on his, soft, questioning—everything Em. “Is everything all right?”
Jax snatched his hand away, driving back his chair with a shove so hard it hit the wall. He came around the desk and dragged her to him, simultaneously closing and locking the door to his office. “I am now.” He hauled her against him, lifting her off her feet until she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Tell me to stop and I will,” he ground out, his cock so hard, all he could think about was being inside her.
Her eyes were wide, but they stared straight at him—blue—full of questions—but perfect, so fucking perfect. “Don’t stop,” she whispered, like she didn’t know what she was getting herself into, but was willing to take the ride anyway.
Jax yanked her skirt up over her hips, grateful for her wispy panties—they made it easier to rip them and drop them on the floor. He walked backward until she was up against the wall, until his hand was in her wet-hot pussy, touching, sliding, thumbing her clit.
Her gasp, that little sound she made that was a hitch of breath and a shudder, drove him crazy.
Em’s arms went around his neck, her lips, soft and full, crashed against his, her chest pumped hard, pushing her breasts against his shirt. “Condom?”
“Wallet,” he rasped, letting her wiggle her fingers into his back pocket and pull it out. She dropped it between them and he fumbled for it, managing to locate it while Em busied herself with his belt buckle and zipper.
She pushed his pants down over his hips, taking his boxer-briefs with it, and then her fingers were circling his length, grasping it and twisting her hand up and down until he had to make her stop before he came right there.
No. He wanted to be in her wet pussy, drive into her hard, so he’d drive her out of his head. “Enough,” he demanded, shoving her hands away and replacing them with the condom while she clung to his shoulders and waist.
“Hold on to me,” was all he could manage from his tightly clenched jaw with the tip of his cock so close to all that heat.
Em did as instructed, putting her arms around his neck, still looking him square in the eye. But she wasn’t asking questions now. Now she had the same look in her eyes he imagined he had in his—like they were going into battle and the first one to come won.
Christ, she was so damn sexy, Jax didn’t think anymore, he reacted by driving upward, jarring her slender body with the force of his first stroke. He tightened his stance, planting his feet firmly on the floor and drove into her hard again.
So damn tight, Em was tight and wet and she fit his cock like a hot glove, surrounding him with her slickness.
Jax cupped her ass with one hand and slammed a palm against the wall with the other in order to get the proper leverage. Em responded by tightening her legs around his waist, squeezing him so tight, he’d come in a split second if he wasn’t getting better at keeping his focus.
Which was to fuck her ruthless, remind himself this was just some sex with a hot woman. Her soft whimper meant she was close—he knew it now—craved the sound slipping from her throat.