CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
axel
Jenna fell asleep aboutten minutes ago. Her body finally relaxes into me, and her breathing evens. She probably is crashing from an adrenaline dump and will feel like shit when she wakes up. I study her small form; she sits across my lap and buries her face into the crook of my neck. I finally take a deep breath.
She is safe.
From the moment I saw her in that club, my insides had felt as if they were being ripped apart with worry over her. I close my eyes and try to even my breathing. How did I let this happen? She somehow entered my life and burrowed into my heart without even trying. I rub my hand up her back with featherlight strokes, careful not to wake her. Cal’s words from earlier ring in my head.
“She called me. That’s how we knew to come. She’s tough, but she needs you right now.”
Jenna saved our asses tonight, and she doesn’t even realize it. That’s why it pisses me off so bad Blaze even questioned her.
Gunner took a bad shot to the shoulder, and Max—a new prospect—took a shot to the leg. Other than that, we had come out unscathed. Both men were rushed back to the clubhousewhere Doc was waiting for them. Doc used to be an ER doctor before he retired and comes anytime we need his medical assistance.
“Axel, what do you want to do with her?” Blaze asks from the front seat.
“She’s coming back to the clubhouse with me until this gets figured out.” I keep my voice low.
Blaze nods, still staring out onto the street ahead. “Marley is on her way back now; she’ll be staying with me.” His neck muscles tense. “I won’t take any chances with her. I’m going to claim her in Church.”
Holy fuck.Claiming a woman is like marrying her in the eyes of the club. It gives our women protection and security from other clubs or danger. Blaze is taking a big step, making her his. I can’t help my smirk; Blaze deserves this.
“Good for you, brother. She’s a good woman and keeps you in line.”
For a split second, Blaze’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. Jax and Bear fell asleep in the back around the same time Jenna did, so we’re the only ones hearing this conversation.
“I know you’re going to do whatever you want, but let me make myself clear.” He turns the steering wheel and seems to melt back into the seat.Oh, here we fucking go.
“Jenna isn’t like the club girls that hang around. She isn’t just some chick you can fuck and walk away.” He says while staring out the front window. “She has become close with some of the brothers and fits in well with the women. We all like Jenna.”
I glare at the back of Blaze’s head as he speaks. Who the fuck does he think he is? And who the hell does he think I am? I know damn well Jenna isn’t some club girl looking for strange. She’s the opposite of every other woman I’ve ever met. She’s courageous, witty, and gives me a run for my money. She’s a ray of sunshine in any room she enters and makes even my grumpyass feel at ease around her. But Blaze has no right to concern himself with my relationship. I don’t say shit about the women in his life, so he needs to back the fuck off.
“She means a lot to Marley, and over the last few weeks, I’ve learned why. Jenna is not like us, Axel. So don’t do this if you’re just going to treat her like a club slut.”
That’s the last straw. “Blaze, you have no right to fucking tell me what to do. If I want to fuck Jenna and that’s it, then that’s my business. If I want more, that’s also my business, not yours. Stay out of it.” I need to set the record straight with Blaze. He has no business questioning my intentions. Blaze is my best friend, and I’ve never seen him try to protect someone from me, but for some reason, he feels he needs to protect her. Which pisses me off because I’ve never led a woman on or treated her with anything but respect. But something he doesn’t realize is I don’t think I can let her go.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, and this is the last thing I’ll say about it.” He now glares at me in the rearview mirror. “Fuck this up, and I’ll beat the shit out of you. Walk away now, and I can put a prospect at her door. She’ll be safe.”
The safest place for her is with me. I go to speak, but an ugly, visceral feeling creeps its way through my body, rendering me momentarily speechless. Am I being selfish?
I can’t be what she needs me to be. I can’t be the man who works a safe job and comes home to her every night at 5 p.m. so we can live a happy little life with a white picket fence and a fluffy dog. But this primal urge to hold onto her and never let her go—to have her body, to ruin her, to make her mine—had grabbed ahold of me and hasn’t let go.
“Drive to the clubhouse,” I growl at him. A small part of me likes the fact that my brother is protecting Jenna as if she’s already family. I know she’s safe with the club, but I can’t let Blaze think he can fucking parent me. “If you ever question meor threaten me again, we’re going to have a fucking problem.” I don’t care that he’s my VP or my best friend. I spit the words out as if they’re laced with venom, ending the conversation.
We drive into the compound. Blaze, Jax, and Bear exit the vehicle. Before closing his door, Blaze turns to me with a hard glare before his gaze drops to Jenna, softening a bit. He quickly closes the door and stalks into the clubhouse, leaving Jenna and me alone, wrapped in silence.
I bring my mouth down right next to Jenna’s ear, speaking softly so as not to startle her. “Baby, wake up. We’re here.”
I would carry her inside, but knowing her, she probably wouldn’t be a fan of that idea. Jenna likes to be independent, which is one of the things I like about her.
She stirs, her face scrunching with annoyance and then smoothing back out as she nestles into me.
“Leave me alone,” she says in a pouty tone.
I can’t help the small chuckle as I rub my hand down the side of her face. Brushing my thumb back and forth across her cheek, I sit her up so she has to wake up.
“Angel, you need to wake up.” Her eyes pop open as if realizing she’s still asleep in the car. Jenna softly rubs her eyes with the palms of her hands and then looks out the car window toward the compound.
