Chapter Twenty
Ginny took a deep breath and watched Jaxon disappear up to the loft. This was the last place she’d expected to be today. Their objective, in the middle of nowhere, was to survive, and it if meant spending the night in a dilapidated barn that housed who knew what, then she was up for the challenge.
Something shuffled near the corner. A tiny brown mouse ran over the toe of her boot. She jumped back and screamed.
“What’s wrong?” Jaxon’s head popped over the edge of the loft and he looked own at her.
“Nothing. Just a stupid mouse.” She grimaced and kept her gaze on the floor, watching for any more rodents headed her way.
“He’s more scared of you than you are of him,” Jaxon said.
“I don’t care. Rodents are filthy and carry disease.” She scowled and looked around for any movement on the floor.
Jaxon laughed and disappeared back into the loft.
A few seconds later, he called out to her.
“Okay, you can come on up.”
She began her climb up the ladder. Though the wood creaked as she climbed, it felt sturdy enough to hold her weight.
She scrambled over the top of the loft onto the wide plank floor and stood up.
“Wow. This looks cozy.” The loft was awash in a soft glow of yellow light from a solar lantern that Jaxon had pulled out of his saddlebag. The blanket was spread out on the floor, and a thermos sat in the middle along with a large bottle of water.
She met his gaze.
He shrugged. “I figured you’d be hungry by now. I have some chili in the thermos and some chocolate chip cookies for dessert.”
She arched her brow. “You always make a picnic when you go to work?”
“I didn’t make it.” He laughed.
Her stomach tightened. Some woman must have cooked for him.
“Granny did. She always cooks for the Guardians, and when she knows we’ll be gone on a mission, she makes us take food.”
“Oh.” She relaxed. “That’s really nice.” Then she frowned. “Who’s Granny?”
“Granny is Jayden’s grandmother. She actually used to live in Louisiana with Jayden. But they are in Arkansas now, and she kind of looks after the Guardians as her own grandsons.”
She eased onto the blanket and tucked her legs underneath her. A pained smile crossed her lips. “That sounds nice. I’m sure you all appreciate her.”
“We do,” he said softly. He sat beside her.
“What did you say her grandson’s name was?”
“Jayden. Jayden Parker.”
“That name sounds familiar. How long have they lived in Arkansas?”
“Not very long. Almost a year.”
“Maybe I heard his name from my father talking about all the Arkansas Guardians he was going to take down.” She met his gaze. “Jaxon, do you know he has a list? A list of all of Barrett’s men. He wants to destroy Barrett and all his Guardians.”
Jaxon’s gaze hardened. “That fucker can try. But we’re not going anywhere.”
She swallowed and looked away. “I’m sorry about Heimy and Mitchell.”
“You know about that?” Jaxon cocked his head. His muscles tensed in his forearms and strained in his neck.
“John came home one night bragging about what Father had ordered to be done to the Guardian Heimy.” She blinked back the tears. “John was the one who carried out the torture of the Guardians. But it was my father who ordered it.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. If Jaxon didn’t hate her before, surely he would hate her now.
“Your husband did that to Heimy?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “He was going to finish Mitchell, but that’s when the Arkansas Guardians showed up and found the place.” She shook her head. “When he told me about Heimy and Mitchell, he told me if I tried anything, if I tried to get away or tried to kill myself, then you would be the next werewolf they killed.” She shook her head.
He reached over and took her hand in his. “What John and your father did had nothing to do with you. It’s not your fault. None of that is your fault.”
“But this situation that we are in is my fault, Jaxon. I killed my mother and my monster of a husband. The Packs, both Louisiana and Arkansas, aren’t just going to let me off with a slap on the wrist. There are consequences.” Fear clawed at her stomach, and she wanted to scream.
“Come here.” He pulled her into his lap. “Let me tell you something.” He brushed her hair away from her eyes and held her gaze. “Everything is going to be okay. I know with everything you’ve been through and everything you’ve seen, it’s hard to trust someone.” He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. “But I’m asking you to take a deep breath and trust me.”
She blinked back the tears burning her eyes. She never cried. She’d taught herself how to push down her emotions until they were under control. Now Jaxon had her wanting to weep like a baby.
She didn’t like it. She didn’t like not having her emotions under control.
“Say it, Ginny. I need you to say the words.”
She took a deep breath and then blew it out. “I trust you, Jaxon.”
A smile broke out across his face. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“Harder than you know.” She punched him playfully in the arm.
His eyes narrowed, and the corners of his lips turned up into a smirk. “Oh, yeah?”
He pulled her close and tickled her ribs. She squealed and laughed and tried to get away.
“Jaxon, stop.” She laughed and curled up into a ball.
“Not yet.” He grinned and caught her arms in one of his hands and pinned them above her head. He tickled her without mercy with his free hand.
“Jaxon!” She squealed.
He finally stopped but continued to hold her arms above her head. He stared down at her. His playful expression shifted into another emotion.
Her smile slid off her face as she watched his eyes dilate. She knew what he wanted. But she didn’t know if she was ready.
“Jaxon?” She licked her dry lips and stared up at him. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breathing quickly turned to a pant. She wasn’t sure if it was fear or desire filling her chest with butterflies.
It had been so long since she’d been looked at like she was a woman and not something to be possessed.
Something flickered in his eyes and he slowly pulled back and released his hold on her. He got to his feet and went to the ladder.
“Where are you going?” She sat up, her breath but a pant.
“I need to check on something outside. I’ll be right back.” He climbed down the ladder.
She peered down at him from her position in the loft watching him quickly exit out the large barn doors.
* * *
What the fuck was wrong with him?
One minute they were playing around like old times, and the next she was looking at him with fear in her eyes.
Didn’t she know he would never hurt her?
He forked his fingers through his hair and walked around the outside of the barn.
He didn’t mind the rain soaking his T-shirt and jeans. It least it cooled his body and his libido. He stopped when he got to the back of the barn and looked up at the sky and squeezed his eyes shut.
Thunder rolled and lightning scrawled across the dark sky. The rain was coming down hard and fast now, and he knew there was no way the Louisiana Guardians would be riding in this shit. They would be holed up somewhere, waiting it out. Just like they were.
The Louisiana Assassins… Well, they were a whole other story.
He glanced around the perimeter and didn’t notice anything amiss. Taking a deep breath and getting his body under control, he walked back inside the barn.
“Is everything okay?” Ginny called from the loft.
He looked up and met her worried face. He smiled. “Everything is secure.” He glanced out the window. “With this downpour, I’m sure the Louisiana Guardians won’t be riding.”
He reached in his saddlebag, grabbed his phone, and checked to see if he had missed Lucien’s call.
His phone showed no calls.
Slipping the phone back into the saddlebag he pulled out the extra set of clothes he always carried with him.
He glanced up and noticed that Ginny wasn’t looking down. He pulled his wet shirt over his head and slung it on the seat of his Harley.
He tugged the dry shirt over his head and then unbuttoned his jeans and slid them over his hips. He tugged on the dry jeans and then grabbed his wet clothes. He hung them over the ladder to dry before climbing up.
“You changed clothes.” Ginny’s eyes ran down the length of him, and he shrugged.
“Yeah. I didn’t realize it was raining that hard outside. Good thing I always carry an extra set of clothes.”
“I tried the chili. It’s really good.” She held out the cup from the thermos that she had filled. “I found a fork taped to the side of the thermos. Granny was really smart to do that.”
He took the thermos and laughed. “You have no idea. That woman is crazy like a fox.”
“Really?” She cocked her head.
“Yeah. She’s stubborn and hardheaded, but she loves all the Guardians.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. She kind of keeps us in line.”
“What about Barrett?” Ginny asked.
“She tries to keep Barrett in line, but he doesn’t listen.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Granny isn’t scared of Barrett?”
“Granny isn’t scared of anyone.” He looked at her, and his smile slipped. He understood what she was getting at.
“Ginny, not all Pack Masters are the same. Not all are like your father,” he said softly.
She looked away.
“I don’t know who Granny is scared of, but I know who’s scared of Granny.”
She cut her eyes at him. “Who?”
“Lorcan.”
“Lorcan? The Assassin?” Her eyes grew wide. “You must be kidding.”
“Believe me, I’m not.” He sat down beside her and took a bite of the chili. “The Assassins were sent after Braxton. After they shot him, he managed to hide out at a bed and breakfast in Eureka Springs. Lorcan showed up on the doorstep, and apparently the B&B was hosting some writers and Granny in her B&B. Whatever they said or did to him still has everyone laughing about it.”
“They laughed at Lorcan?” She shook her head. “Those writers must have some kind of magic to have that kind of effect on an Assassin.”
“You, my love, have apparently never been around writers. They are a different species altogether.”