“She’s not a judging woman, Nick.”His words hung between them, weighted with meaning.
Nick blinked, startled.Despite his fear, a shard of hope twisted in his gut.
“You’re serious?”he asked, quieter now.If Jenna was turned on, there might be hope.
“Wouldn’t joke about something like that.”Axel’s smirk lingered, challenging Nick to believe.
“Do you think she was jealous?”Nick found himself asking, curiosity taking hold.
Axel chuckled.
“If she is, would that be a bad thing?”
His stomach churned.One wrong move and this place and Jenna would vanish.Didn’t Axel see that?
“Jenna has got all the say here, Axel.We slip up, we’re both done.Remember, that’s what Cyn said.One of our release conditions is if one of us screws up we are both heading back to prison.”
“Since when do we play by the rules, my man?”Axel said with a lazy smile.
A shiver ran through Nick.Axel’s recklessness had always been intoxicating and terrifying in equal measure.
“She was sweet, Nick.And she tasted even sweeter.It’s been so long without her.My resistance drops a notch every time I look at her, and I knew she wanted me to bring her some relief, or I wouldn’t have done it,” Axel’s voice sounded tortured.
Nick’s breath caught at his confession.The tortured edge in Axel’s voice softened something inside him.This wasn’t just lust; it was history.
Damn!Don’t let him have ruined this, he thought, silent and desperate.His chest tightened.He couldn’t lose this place.He couldn’t lose Axel because if they got sent back, they’d be put in separate blocks.They’d never see each other.And he couldn’t lose the fragile hope forming between the three of them.But there really wasn’t anything he could do about it.They’d just have to wait and see what Jenna did.If she did anything.
Oh man, this was so not good.
“Let’s get to work,” Nick grumbled and started climbing the ladder.
He forced the words out, clinging to routine like a lifeline.Work was simple, predictable, safe.Everything else was a storm he wasn’t ready to face.
Chapter Nineteen
Sweet mercy!Had that happened?
Jenna’s pulse fluttered wildly.The memory felt unreal, like something she’d dreamed rather than lived.
Her skin still tingled in the places Alex had touched, as if her body hadn’t realized it was over.She could still feel his hot kisses, his scorching mouth on her pussy, his tongue pistoning into her vagina.
He certainly hadn't changed.He knew how to prime her engine and make her purr.Heat rushed into her cheeks.How mortifying that Nick had caught them in such a compromising position.She’d never been caught in anything so intimate, so vulnerable, except when her dad had caught her and Axel kissing that one time in the backyard.But this…was so much worse.
Her heart had been racing when she’d seen him standing there.How longhadhe been there watching?Had he seen everything?Had he heard her?
Had that been desire she’d seen flaring in his eyes before he’d gone into anger mode?
She chewed her lip, torn between hope and doubt.She barely knew him, yet something about him pulled at her.And just the thought of Nick’s mouth on her, made her gasp.
Was Nick yearning for her the way she was yearning for him?Had he wanted to kiss her, like she’d wanted to kiss him while she’d tended to his head wound?
It was a similar attraction to what she had with Axel.Not as bright, but similar.Axel was a wildfire she’d known for years; Nick was a slow-burn heat she didn’t understand yet.
Nick’s face had gone red too.Had it been rage?Jealousy?Or had he also been embarrassed?Was Axel right when he’d teased that she had a thing for Nick?Had it been teasing?Or was he seeing something?
As she rode the horse around the track, she kept glancing over their way.The ladder was propped up against the house, and the men were now on the roof ripping off the shingles on the opposite side.The scrape of their tools punctured through the humid air.Heat waves shimmered off the roof.It was very hot up there.
She gazed at her watch.It was almost lunch time.She’d have to prepare them something to eat.
