Simply Irresistible (31 page)

No Maddie.

A hand settled on his shoulder. Sawyer. Through the thick, choking smoke, his friend’s face was tight and drawn, but he pointed
to the low stone wall between the inn and the marina.

Huddled there, wrapped in a blanket, face dark with soot, sat Maddie.

He took his first breath since Sawyer had called. An EMT was talking to her. Her head was tilted up, facing the still-blazing
inn, devastation etched across her face.

Jax crouched in front of her, his hands on her legs. She was shaking like a leaf. Or maybe that was him. “Maddie, Jesus. Are
you okay?”

She met his gaze, her own glassy. “It’s gone. The cottage is gone. And the inn—”

“I know, sweetheart.” Just looking at the charred remains made him feel like throwing up. Very carefully, he pulled her against
him, absorbing the soft, sorrowful sound she made as she burrowed against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck so tight
he couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t need air. He needed her. “I saw the ambulance, and then the remains of the cottage, and
I thought—” He closed his eyes and held her in that crushing hug, pressing his face into her neck. “How did you get out?”

“Through a window. The flames were blocking the door, and the window was painted shut. I broke out the glass with a chair.”

He was probably holding her too tight, but he couldn’t let go. She smelled like smoke and ash, was filthy from head to toe,
and she’d never looked better to him. “Chloe and Tara?”

“Chloe had an asthma attack. That’s who is in the ambulance. Tara rode with her.”

Weak with relief, Jax sat on the rock wall and held her in his lap, opening the blanket she had around her so he could get
a good look at her. She wore only a T-shirt and panties. Her arms and legs were streaked with dirt and soot. Her knees were
scraped and bleeding. Gently he took her hands in his and turned them over. She had a few cuts on her palms.

The thought of that stuck window had his blood
running cold. A couple more minutes and it would have been too late. With as much care as he could, he wrapped her back up
in the blanket and looked at the EMT. Jax had gone to school with Ty Roberts, and they sometimes played flag football together
on the Rec league.

“She’s refusing to be taken in,” Ty said.

“It’s just a few cuts,” Maddie murmured. “That’s all.” She was back to watching the inn. The firefighters had a good handle
on it now. The flames were nearly gone.

Ty looked meaningfully at Jax and then to the ambulance. He wanted to take Maddie in.

“Maddie.” Jax made her look at him. “Let me take you to the hospital. We can check on your sisters and get you cleaned up.”

“Not until it’s over.”

So they sat there and watched the blaze. When the flames were completely out, Sawyer spoke to the fire chief, then came over.
“When the cottage caught fire, the wind carried sparks to the inn’s roof. That’s how the second floor ignited. They were able
to contain it there.” He squatted beside Maddie and ducked his head until he could see into her eyes. “They’re not going to
let you go in there until tomorrow. It’s okay to leave. I want you to get into the second ambulance and go get checked out.”

“No, I’m fine, I—”

“You’re going,” Jax said, willing to out-stubborn her. “I’ll take you.”

Maddie opened her eyes when the Jeep came to a stop. It wasn’t quite dawn, and the sky was still inky black.

Christmas morning.

For a minute she sat still, remembering the panic of
waking up choking on smoke, the flames licking at the bedroom door, and watching Chloe fight for air…

God.
Chloe was okay, or she would be. At the hospital, they’d learned she was being held overnight for smoke inhalation. Tara
was staying with her, and Maddie could have, as well, but Jax had stepped in. “She’s coming with me.”

Four simple words that had filled Maddie’s head while the nurse had cleaned and dressed her wounds—no stitches required, thankfully—and
then given her a pair of scrubs to wear.

She’d been too numb and tired to argue with Jax.

No, that wasn’t true. She was tired, to-the-bone exhausted, but she could have still argued. After all, she had no reason
to go home with him.

Except she didn’t want to be alone in a hospital chair.

She wanted to be held.

She wanted to feel safe.

The Jeep’s heater had been on her full blast as they left the hospital, but she was still shivering. She felt like her teeth
were going to rattle right out of her head. Jax had driven with his left hand, keeping his right hand on her, rubbing up and
down her thigh, squeezing her icy fingers with his warm ones.

The passenger door opened, and she jerked.

“Just me,” Jax murmured, having exited the Jeep and come around for her. Crouching at her side, he unhooked her seat belt
and held her for a moment, fiercely, before lifting her into his arms.

“I can walk,” she said, even though she made no attempt to do just that.

“Pretend you still believe I’m that superhero.”

With a sigh, she looped her arms around his neck and pressed her face to his throat, breathing him in. The scent of him filled
her, and her burning throat tightened.

She already missed him. Letting out a shuddery breath, she kept her eyes closed as she heard him open his front door and make
a low comment to a sleepy Izzy. A few moments later, he let her feet slide to the floor.

Because she was still barefoot, she could tell she was on tile. But this tile was deliciously warm thanks to his heated floors.

Keeping one arm around her, he leaned away for a beat, and she heard the shower go on. “You’re shaking,” he said.

“I think that’s you.”

“Maybe.”

She opened her eyes and found his, dark and shadowed with concern.

“Do you know how fast that fire moved?” he asked. “How much of a miracle it is you all got out?” He ran a hand over his eyes.
“Christ, Maddie. If you hadn’t woken up when you did…”

Her heart caught at his raw voice. “But I did,” she whispered, reaching for him. “I’m okay, Jax. Look at me. I’m indestructible,
apparently.”

“
Resilient,
” he said and tilted her face up, looking at her from fathomless eyes. “Strong and giving and resilient.”

She thought about the things that meant so much to her and could count them with the fingers on one hand. Her sisters. The
inn.

Jax.

And all of it was in jeopardy. “I’m still mad at you,” she whispered.

“I know.”

She pressed a hand to her heart, which ached more than her cuts and bruises, and then to his. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.
Today. Whatever it is.” Words failed her past that. She wanted comfort, and she wanted to feel alive, and she knew he could
provide both.

“You need to get in the shower and warm up.”

“With you.”

Pressing his forehead to hers, he let out a slow breath. His hands, when he lifted them to her, were careful on her body as
he stripped her out of the scrub top, taking in each and every one of her cuts and bruises. Then he slid the bottoms down
her legs and paused at the sight of her Supergirl bikini panties. “Did I ever tell you,” he murmured, dropping to his knees
to press a kiss to her bruised hip, “that I’m pretty convinced you have your own superpowers?”

Bending her head to take in the top of his, she gave him a shaky smile that she knew didn’t make it to her eyes. “What are
they?”

“The power to get past all my walls…”

“Jax.” She closed her eyes as he hooked his thumbs in the sides of the undies to slowly drag them down. She gasped when her
world tilted as he picked her up and deposited her into the shower. He stepped in behind her and, without a word, washed her
hair and then her body, quickly and efficiently.

She could feel him behind her, hard and aroused, but his touch remained gentle and soothing. It was just
as well. With exhaustion sneaking up on her again, she could do little more than lean against him.

The next thing she knew, the water was shut off, and he wrapped her in a big, soft towel. He redressed her cuts, drew one
of his own big, soft T-shirts over her head, and placed her on his bed.

She heard him move to the door. “Jax—”

“Sleep.”

“ ’Kay.” She listened to him moving around the house for a while. His phone rang, and she heard him quietly telling someone
he had her.

He had her.

It was true, she realized. He had her heart and soul…

No. That wasn’t right. He’d held back from her. Was still holding back…

Or was that her?

God, she was so confused, and tired…

“Sleep,” he said again, back in the room now, running a hand down her arm.

She caught his fingers in hers. “Stay,” she said, tightening her fingers on his.

“Always.” The mattress dipped beneath his weight, and then she was carefully scooped up against his big, warm body. Their
legs were entangled like it was the most natural thing in the world, as if they’d been sleeping together for years. His touch
slid over her like a soothing balm, making her ache from deep inside, making her shiver for more. “Just for tonight,” she
whispered, snuggling in, feeling the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear.

Just for tonight.

Another lie, of course. She’d fallen for him, just as she’d fallen for her sisters, for the inn. And she was losing
them all, one by one. She felt the sting of tears against her closed eyelids and, to hide them, buried her face into his throat.

His hands slowly stroked over her body, tender but sure. She knew he was offering comfort, but she took more, pressing in
closer, anticipation humming through her. They were on their sides facing each other, and she drew a leg over his. Rocking
her hips, she let the very tip of him, velvet over steel, slide into her.

He groaned roughly and tightened his grip on her, holding her still. “Maddie. You’re hurt—”

She impaled herself, and, with another groan, he rolled her beneath him, filling her so entirely she saw stars. Bending low,
his lips rested on the strong pulse in her throat, and she both felt and heard her name on a whispered breath.

Restless, she ran her hands down his back, digging her fingers into him, urging him on. Lifting his head, he held her gaze
prisoner as he began to move within her, long, slow, delicious thrusts, a mind-blowing grinding of his hips. On the edge,
her eyes began to drift shut in sheer, numbing pleasure.

“No, look at me. Feel me. Feel
us.
”

Opening her eyes, she looked right at him. She saw her life, her heart echoed in his eyes, and she burst in a kaleidoscope
of colors and emotion, unlike anything she’d ever felt.

When she could breathe again, he was waiting for her, still hard inside her. His forearms were alongside her face, his hands
cupping her head. “I love you,” he said, honest and sure, more a vow than a confession as he thrust into her and came, sending
her spiraling again.

It was the last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her.

Twice she woke them both up with nightmares, hyperventilating and caught up in the sense of being trapped. In between the
dreams, she tossed and turned.

Jax would have fought her demons for her if he could, she knew that by the way he spent the hours holding her close. It was
close to noon before she woke up fully, and she opened her eyes to find Jax watching her.

“It’s gone,” she said, voice still a little hoarse. She knew her eyes were puffy and red, and that her hair had to be as wild
as ever. “It’s Christmas, and it’s all gone.”

Propping his head up on his hand, he used his other to tug her in close. “Yes.”

Closing her eyes, she swallowed hard and pressed her face into his chest, her scratched-up arm gliding up to hook around his
neck. She felt her tears wet both of their skin, and he made a low sound of regret. “You’ll rebuild,” he said.

She shook her head.

“There’s fire insurance on the property.”

It wasn’t the words that set her off. It was the reality that he’d always known more about all of this than she did, even
though it was her life. Not his fault, not her fault, she got that. It was no one’s fault, but it didn’t make it any easier.

Worse, even if they rebuilt, they’d still sell, because that’s what her sisters wanted. Majority rules.

It devastated her.

As did knowing that walking away meant walking from Jax, too. She rolled out of the bed and began jerking on clothes.
His
clothes.

“Let me guess,” he said. “You just remembered you’re mad at me.”

Mad? More like confused as hell. She turned to the door, wearing his sweatpants, a Henley, and her heart in tatters on the
sleeve.

“Maddie.” He snagged her hand in his, halting her progress.

“I’m going to call a cab to go to the hospital.”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I’ll take you.”

He drove her in silence, not saying a word until she went to get out of the Jeep. Taking her hand in his, he brought it up
to his mouth and kissed her bandaged palm. “You used to be afraid of me, and I understood that. But now it feels like you’re
afraid of what you feel for me. Of what I feel for you. And that I
don’t
understand. Not one bit, Maddie.”

Her eyes misted, and she shook her head in denial, causing him to pull her over the console and into his lap, nose to nose.
Though he was careful not to hurt her, he wasn’t gentle. “You think you’re losing everything,” he said, running his hands
up her arms. “But it’s not true. You have the power to stop this, Maddie. To not give up. Make a stand. Make a stand and take
what you want.”