Chapter 13
Cassie
The song comes to an end and I feel absolutely empowered. I still can’t believe my stupid brother and Jax convinced me to do that but either way, I am so glad they did. Singing on a stage again felt amazing and I can’t for the life of me understand how I could possibly have stopped.
Well, I know why I stopped and it was necessary at the time but tonight something feels as though it has clicked back into place, like a piece of my soul has returned to me.
They did give me the hardest song on the planet to sing, not because of the notes or runs but because of the lyrics. My eyes sought out Jax’s as the lyrics poured out of me and in that moment, just the two of us existed.
I look out at the crowd and am humbled to see them all come to their feet and applaud for me, even Sara and Sean turn to face the stage, Sara with a beaming smile while Sean watches me with love in his eyes and mouths a ‘thank you’.
‘You’re welcome,’ I mouth back with a little nod before giving a slight nod to the crowd and making my way off stage.
Wow. I feel like I could be high as the adrenaline rushes through my body. The M.C. invites the rest of the bridal party and the guests to join the bride and groom on the dance floor so I’m hardly back to the table before Jax sweeps me up in his arms and turns me around to head straight back to the dance floor.
A waiter walks by with a tray of champagne and Jax scoops two glasses off and hands one to me. “Enough of the serious bullshit tonight, we’re partying now.”
With a grin, I take the champagne flute and throw it back. “Let’s do this,” I say.
The band is switched for a DJ and the music is turned right up. Drinks are passed around and all the oldies hit the road while us young ones stay to celebrate a great night.
We dance and party the night away and I’m stolen away by an extremely drunk Tom when the M.C asks all the couples to hit the dance floor. ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer comes on and all the couples around start making out on the floor with a bit of dirty grinding included. I try my hardest to bat Tom away but end up slapping a hand over his mouth to hold him off, though that only has him making out with the palm of my hand while I’m laughing like a fool.
“Do you mind not defiling my little sister,” Logan says as he and Carter finally come to rescue me. They drag Tom away who somehow confesses over the sound of the music, his undying love for me and promises he will be back to rescue me from the torturous clutches of my evil brothers.
With that I find another glass of champagne and search the room for Jax, only to find him attempting to avoid being groped by an older woman who must be looking for a young stud to show her the time of her life. I walk right up to them and drape myself over Jax who instantly puts his arm around me, “Sorry, love,” I say to the lady while roaming my eyes greedily up and down his body. “I think you’ll find this one is taken tonight, besides he needs someone who can keep up.”
Jax looks down at me with lust burning in his eyes before turning his attention back to the lady. “I think you’ll find more luck over there,” he says, pointing out the senior's table. She gasps in outrage before Jax sends her a wink and whisks me off.
I lead him outside and start walking out into the yard. “What are we doing?” he asks with a grin.
“I have an idea,” I tell him.
I start leading him towards the break in the fence between our two properties before he starts to grow weary. “You going to explain this idea anytime soon?”
I turn back to him and give him a charming smile which I know he recognises instantly as sneaky. “I’m getting all our old shit back,” I explain.
“You mean, you’re breaking into my parent’s house?” he clarifies.
“Eh,” I shrug, “tomato/tomato. You in?”
A grin spreads wide over his face as a twinkle appears in his eyes. “Hell, yeah.”
Before he has finished his sentence, I grab him by the hand and rush through the gate. We run around the perimeter of the property trying to keep in the shadows of the trees. We pass the pool house and sneak in between the two buildings before heading for the back door.
Jax bends down and lifts up an old plant pot and sure enough comes back with a key. “Bingo,” he grins.
He unlocks the back door to his family’s estate and we sneak in as quietly as possible, though, with us both as drunk as skunks, I’m pretty sure we’re heard all over the house, but here’s to hoping.
Jax roams around the house acting like some kind of assassin and I have to bite down on my lip to keep from laughing too loudly. We head up two flights of stairs until we come to the level with his room. We tiptoe across the landing and down the hallway just in case his parents are close and push open his door.
He walks into the room and looks around as if he had never seen the place. I gently close the door behind me and watch him with hooded eyes. My hand moves before I even have a moment to think about what I’m doing. My fingers wrap around the strap of my dress and slowly pull it down.
Jax notices the movement and turns his gaze on me, his knees go weak as he drops to the edge of the bed to watch the show.
I slip my other arm out of the dress and slowly let my silver gown drop to the floor. I step out of the material leaving me in nothing but a pair of panties and my high heels. He looks at me as if he is a man who has been starved for the past three years and who is about to get his first meal. His eyes take in my body as I very slowly strut towards him.
I drop down onto his lap and grab his tie before loosening it from his neck. His hands instinctively wrap around my waist as he allows me to slip the tie over his head. He licks his lips as he watches me with need flaming in his eyes. I climb off him and pull him up in front me before turning him around and tying his hands behind his back. Satisfied he won’t be able to get out of it, I find a chair and push him down into it.
Turing my back on him, I flick my eyes over my shoulder and hook my thumbs into the waistband of my panties and ever so slowly drag them down my thighs, bending until my panties have reached my ankles. He groans and I straighten back up before turning and slowly dropping into his lap, which is when I start to dance for him.
I straddle his waist, feeling his hardness grinding into me through his pants. I grab his shirt and tear it open, listening to the buttons, one by one hit the floor. I push his shirt back over his strong shoulders and chest. My hands find purchase there and begin exploring.
I drop my face to his and kiss him deeply before sliding off his lap and latching onto his belt buckle. I whip it off and drop to my knees before him. His eyes widen in anticipation and he raises his hips to help me remove his pants and underwear.
I wrap my hand around his hard length and look up into his eyes as I slowly raise up on my knees. My hand pumps a few times as I lick my lips and slowly draw him into my mouth. His eyes close in satisfaction before opening and watching me move.
I tease him slowly before I start picking up my pace. “Please babe, untie me,” he begs.
I slow my movements and shake my head ever so gently with him still inside me. I notice the muscles bulging in his arms and have no doubt he is trying to get himself free.
With a grin, I get back to work.
Moments later he is smirking as he flies up out of the chair, drops the tie beside me and grabs me around my waist and lifts. I fly backward, hooking my legs around his waist before he slams me into the wall of his bedroom, plunging himself deep inside me in the same instance.
“Holy shit,” I groan as he begins to pound into me. “That wasn’t...” thrust. “Part of the…” thrust. “Plan.”
“I figured so I made my own plan,” he grins at me.
I can’t help but laugh, after all, this is exactly how I intended we would eventually end up. My laugh quickly turns into needy moans as he works my body right to the edge.
I come hard around him as he stills within me, finding his own release. His forehead drops to mine and we desperately try to catch our breaths.
“Next time I’m using handcuffs,” I tell him as he releases my legs and helps me find the floor.
He scoffs and raises an eyebrow at me. “You think handcuffs are going to stop me when I know your pussy is involved.”
I smirk up at him and with a roll of my eyes, I step out of his arms and dash into his bathroom. I clean myself up and head back out to find him with his pants on, searching through his wardrobe for a new dress shirt. I slip my dress back on and begin searching around his room.
The room is filled with old memories, some good and some bad. I even notice that there is quite a lot of my stuff in here. Jax finishes in his wardrobe and I find all his old jerseys and with a smile, I grab one of his empty hockey bags out of the top of his wardrobe and start loading it up.
I turn around and find Jax sitting on his bed watching me with an amused smile on his handsome face and I give him a pointed look. “Are you seriously just going to sit there? This could be one of your only chances to get this shit back.”
“Good point,” he says getting to his feet and grabbing all his old watches and anything that was special to him.
I search through his bedside table and find a little black velvet box and I sit on the edge of the bed as I slowly open the box. A beautiful silver engagement ring stares back up at me and I find myself struggling for air.
The bed dips beside me and Jax reaches for the box, taking it in his hands and giving it a look over himself. He lets out a sigh and begins to murmur, “I have no idea what possessed me to leave this here,” he sighs. “I had gone to ask your dad permission because we were going to be living together on campus and I needed him to know my intentions. I was going to wait a year or so before I asked you because I knew we were way too young and you would have had my balls for asking so soon.”
I reach over and take his hand in mine, unsure of how I could possibly comfort him right now. We sit in silence, both staring at the ring that would have been our future when we hear a noise coming from the hallway. “Shit,” Jax curses, standing up and pocketing the ring. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”
I get up as he grabs the bag and I gently open the door, peeking my head out into the hallway, the same way I used to when I’d sneak in and out of his room as a teenager. The coast is clear so we duck out the door and sprint down the hallway, by this point, not caring if we were to get sprung. Jax flings open the back door and we run out, chuckling like a bunch of school girls but he quickly drops the bag and heads back in.
“Jax?” I ask into the night but get no response.
He comes out moments later with as many bottles of his dad’s expensive liquor as he can possibly carry before smirking and loading them off to me. He picks up the hockey bag and we dash away.
We head back over to my property and ditch his bag upstairs before heading back to the reception to find the party still in full swing. With a grin, we walk on in and instantly get cornered by Carter. “Where the hell did you two disappear to?” he questions.
“Oh, you know,” I say. “I just had to seduce Jax in the middle of a break and enter.”
“What?” he asks, his jaw dropping to the ground. I give him a wink and turn to leave but I see Jax pull the bottle of liquor out from behind his back, making what I had just said completely forgotten. The boys whoop and shout and once the majority of the guest leave, the real party gets started.
It must be at least four in the morning when Jax carries me up the stairs and helps me out of my dress. I pull on a singlet and stay in my panties before climbing into bed, Jax loses his clothes and climbs in beside me. Throwing his arm around my waist and spooning me. The move comes so naturally but I guess that’s just how it is after we slept beside each other since we were kids.
His fingers draw little circles over my waist and hips and before long, I’m pressing my ass back into him and his hands are removing my panties, he rolls me to my back while he hovers above me. I reach up and twine my hand around his neck and he instantly drops his lips to mine. My legs fall open and in the next moment, he is sliding into me.
My arms circle his body and his hand finds my breast. This isn’t the intense, drunken, needy screw from earlier in the night or the wild ‘I’ve missed you’ sex from weeks ago. This is slow, sensual and emotional, not just sex but making love.
I look up at him with love in my eyes and I desperately want to tell him what I’m feeling but I know now isn’t a great time, not unless I want to kill the mood. “I know,” he tells me, reading my mind. “Me too.”
That’s enough to put my mind at ease while he works to put my body at ease. A moan slips from my mouth and he smothers it with his kiss.
I raise my hips to meet his thrusts, taking him deeper and it doesn’t take long before we are coming together. He drops his head to mine and presses a gentle kiss to my lips. “What is it about you, Cass?” he groans against my lips.
“I could ask the same thing,” I murmur.
He looks into my eyes as he considers something before sliding out of me and pulling my back against him, spooning me once again. “Good night, Cass.”
“Night, Jax,” I whisper into the darkness as a yawn takes over me.
He pulls me in tighter and I instantly drift into a peaceful sleep.
It must be at least an hour later when I feel Jax pull away from me and hear the sounds of him climbing out of bed and pulling on a pair of pants. I listen as he takes a few steps towards the door and pulls it open. “What’s up?” I hear him say in his croaky nighttime voice.
“I was just checking in on Cass,” Sean says. “I figured she would be here with you.”
“Oh, ok, well she is fine, she’s out like a light,” Jax explains.
“Yeah, good. It looked like she enjoyed herself tonight,” he says with a hint of concern in his voice.
“Better believe she did,” Jax laughs. “I haven’t seen her like that in a long time. It was nice.”
“Yeah, sure was, man,” he says. “Listen, I actually came to talk to you.”
“Bout what?” Jax grunts, completely confused.
“About Cass, the real reason she is home,” Sean says, making me stiffen in bed. What on earth is he talking about? I’m home because the boys asked me to, because with Dad gone they needed me close, somewhere they could easily watch over me like the overprotective big turds they are.
“Go on,” Jax says, cautiously and I can tell by the tone in his voice that he suspects that I’ve lied about something.
“Shit,” Sean sighs. “Look, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t mention any of this to Cass but me and the boys sort of manipulated her into coming home.” I hear the cringe in his voice and I can imagine what his face would look like in this moment.
“Huh?” Jax grunts with amusement in his voice, prompting Sean to go on.
“She wasn’t happy in New York, we had all gone to visit but it never got better and we knew the best thing for her would be to come home, so after dad died we guilt tripped her, saying that we needed our baby sister home. We had all talked about it and agreed that what was best for her would be going to Denver and seeing you again. You’re what makes her happy and we knew, whether it was intentional or not, you’d take her pain away.”
Jax is silent for a moment but I’m a different story. I shoot out of bed and storm up to my big brother and push him in the chest. His eyes widen in shock, either too tired or drunk to have noticed me earlier. “You lying sack of shit,” I scream at him, “All of you, you’re nothing but dirty, lying douche bags.”
“Shit,” he murmurs under his breath.
“Shit?” I hiss. “That’s all you have to say?”
“Yep, what else can I say?” he says. “We don’t regret it. I mean, look at you, you’re smiling again. For fuck’s sake, you even sang tonight.”
“It should have been my decision when I came home,” I tell him. “I wasn’t ready.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, little sister. We had to step in. You are way too stubborn to have admitted it to yourself, if it was up to you, you would still be rotting away in New York, not living.”
“He’s right,” Jax cuts in. “You should have come home years ago.”
I give him a look that would scare the dead. “Whose side are you on here?”
He raises his eyebrow at me and gives me a stupid look. “Uh, theirs,” he says as if I should have known, but really, I should have.
I flick my attention back to Sean and all I can do is stare at him as I admit defeat. He is right, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
“Look, I have to go,” he says. “We have a flight leaving in three hours and I still need to consummate my marriage.”
“Gross,” I grunt as Jax puts his arm around my waist and pulls me to him.
“Night, kiddies,” he winks before backing away.
“Just so you know. I love you and I’ve had the best night but at this very moment. I really hate you,”
“Got the message loud and clear,” he smirks with a salute as Carter and Logan walk by on the opposite side of the landing.
“Oh, and I hate you fuckers, too,” I call out to them. They give me confused looks but I slam the door closed before they can question it.
“God,” I groan, “They are a bunch of jerks.”
Jax just smiles at me and drags me back to bed. “Come on, you can whine and bitch them out tomorrow. For now, I need to feel your body against me.”
How could a girl possibly resist that offer? “Ok,” I say climbing back into bed and feel Jax pull me against him. He whispers good night in my ear and plays with my hair until I have calmed down enough to fall back into a peaceful sleep.