Blind Walker © 2014 by Mel Favreaux
Releasing 12.12.2014
Pre-Order Link: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PMEAOF0/
Old sheets still covered the couch and the armchair. Furniture was the bare minimum she could get away with. It looked like someone had been kind enough to sweep and dust for their arrival. She could still smell the lemon and grapefruit essential oils from the cleanser. It had more than likely been Amber because she’d taken it upon herself to stock them up on food. The Tigress had a penchant for food that stemmed from how she was forced to grow up. Now that she could, Amber always made sure there was enough.
The flat screen in the corner with her leather swivel recliner housed an entertainment area complete with four different gaming systems. It had been a while since she’d sat down to play.
“So you don’t use that for watching, I’m assuming,” Jax murmured when he spotted it.
She blushed. “I…kinda wasn’t kidding when I was talking about gaming. I used to be hardcore about it.”
Jax chuckled. “The more I learn about you, Iris…the deeper I fall.”
Yeah, that’s it folks. She grabbed him, inhaling his scent. The bag of clothing she’d brought in fell to the floor, and her fingers buried in his hair, drawing his mouth to hers. When he gasped, she took advantage, sweeping her tongue into his mouth.
Her fingers made quick work of the top few buttons of his shirt before she just pulled it over his head and tossed it across the floor. Kissing him again, she shook and tears burned her eyes.
Dammit, why am I crying?
When Jax pulled back from the kiss, a soft sob escaped.
“Shh…” His hands cradled her face, brushing away the tears with his thumbs. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
Why won’t the tears stop? The more she tried to hold them in, the harder she cried. What the hell? This is not what is supposed to be happening? What is wrong with me?
The next thing Iris knew, Jax cradled her in his arms as he strode through her small two-bedroom cabin.
“Where’s the bedroom?” he asked when they neared the hallway.
Still crying to the point where she was unable to form a verbal reply, Iris pointed to the first room on the left. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she refused to let him go. When he sat down on the bed, she curled in his lap.
Jax held her, not saying a word. The sun set before she was able to stop. His T-shirt was soaked beneath her cheek.
“I meant it when I said earlier I don’t cry often. I don’t know what’s wrong,” she admitted.
“How do you feel?”
Drying her face, she sniffed, expecting a horrible headache and was surprised and relieved to find she didn’t have one. Residual from the painkiller she’d taken earlier no doubt. “I don’t know. How am I supposed to feel?”
“You’ve never had a long, cleansing, cry like that before?”
She lifted her head and looked in his eyes, confused. “No, the only thing I feel after I cry like that is a damn headache, and my face is all swollen…” Reaching up she felt her face.
Jax laughed and moved her hands, curling them into his own. “It’s just something you needed to get out of your system. There’s a lot going on. A lot to be dealt with. It affects us all in different ways.”
“I’ve never been a crier, Jax.”
“Then maybe that’s why. You needed to cry…to come to terms with something that’s been bothering you for a long time?” Bringing her hands to his mouth, he kissed each of her knuckles. “Or…getting you ready to talk about it?”
“Tomorrow,” she breathed when he sucked her thumb into his mouth and swirled his tongue around the pad before nibbling it.
“Do you promise?”
This again? She didn’t understand why he wanted to hear her say that word so much. “I think that word means something different to you than it does to me.”
Jax frowned, stroking her hair behind her ear. “It means to keep your word, Iris. I’ve seen you do that.”
“Then ask me for my word. Promises are just…empty hopes and dreams that can be crushed.”
His gaze narrowed on hers, and he nodded. “Okay then, give me your word that tomorrow you will try?”
She closed her eyes. “You’ve my word.”
“Iris?” he whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Look at me.”
Sighing, she met his gaze. Gone was the nervous, word vomiting creature who’d made her laugh until she cried. In his place was the gentle and too kind man who had won over the Pantheress.
“I vowed to both you and the Pantheress that I was here for the long run, that I would try to be a man you could be proud of, and I’d try to mend this rift between you. I take my promises pretty fucking seriously.”
“I—I’m sorry—”
Jax grunted and leaned over her. “No, I’m sorry some bastard ruined that for you. But I’m not him, Iris. This is all new to me. I’m nervous and confused about what’s expected of me. The one thing, which despite all of this, is what I feel in your arms. It makes me feel like I can do anything. That I am…a part…of the magic that’s here, not just an outsider.” He brought her hand to his mouth, placing a kiss on her knuckles.
She had never met a man who talked half as much as Jax did, especially about his emotions. Dean appeared to be that way, too, but because he was an empath, it was easier to understand why. Jax was just…
Mine, the Pantheress grumbled.
Iris knew she was over thinking things, but that had been how she kept herself guarded for so long.
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