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“I’M TAKING BREA,” Jax announced as they walked back into the library.
Victor immediately stood from the chair he’d been sitting on and it fell with a clatter behind him. “Like hell you are.”
Those were her thoughts exactly. Her soulmate might be crazier than she was...but then why had she agreed to go with him?
“She’s my wife, and it’s my decision,” Jax said firmly.
“You haven’t even bonded with her yet,” Annalieese said lightly.
Brea cringed at the openness of his family with what she considered private. She could only imagine what would happen if they discovered she and Jax had already been intimate.
“That’s our business. Not yours,” Jax said.
“Actually, it’s the council’s business,” Victor clarified.
A hot fire shot up from her belly at the mention of council. That group of smug, old-school members were in dire need of an upgrade. If Jax would climb off his high-horse for five seconds, she could stay here and confront them.
“I don’t really give a shit about council. When we’re ready, we will be ready, and it isn’t happening before I leave. Since both of you have made it clear Brea isn’t welcome or safe here, I am taking her with me,” Jax said.
His mother’s hurt gasp pulled Brea’s eyes to her. Annalieese covered her lips with her trembling hands and her devastated eyes darted from her son to Brea.
“She’s not prepared−” Victor started, and Jax held his hand up to stop him.
“Who ever is?” He turned to his siblings and barked, “Let’s go.”
Brea could tell by their slow nods and fixated, wide eyes, that they were shocked by the scene unfolding before them.
Jax walked to the gateway, pulling Brea alongside him, and out of his family’s hearing range. When his eyes looked to her, she saw so much in those green gems. She saw anger boiling to the edges, while protection and frustration swirled the centers and mixed with exhaustion. Her soulmate looked worn out.
Brea’s fight plummeted to the back of her mind as her soul, their connection, scolded her for giving him such a hard time. He didn’t agree with her opinions, but he was trying.
A tingling desire to reach for him overtook her. She laid her hand on his chest and heat seared through the material of his black shirt. Jax’s muscles tensed against her palm. His breath caught in his chest and he grabbed her wrist, gripping it like he was going to tear her hand right off.
“Thank you,” Brea said, sincerely. “You’re controlling, and a close-minded ass, but no one’s ever gone to the extremes you have for me, especially when I’ve caused this much grief.”
Jax’s tight lips released a smirk, clearing the defense in his eyes. “An insult with a compliment...do you not know how to simply say thank you?”
She sent him a wry smile. “It’s like cooking. I know how to do it; I just don’t like to.”
Jax bent down and kissed her. She hadn’t expected the show of affection in front of his family, or even after their recent argument. The relief of the kiss pressing against her lips enveloped her. It felt like he needed the connection to survive. He even wrapped a solid arm around her waist, sweeping her off her feet. Her body arched fully against his with a mind of its own, while his tongue aggressively pressed past her shocked lips and greedily took her mouth as his own. If he was going to control anything, she was okay with him controlling this part of their relationship.
Only when they parted, did she hear the commotion around them.
“Son of a bitch, they slept together before bonding,” Victor said.
When Jax set Brea on her feet, she instinctively moved behind him. For someone who had already stood up to Victor and was prepared to stand up to council, she didn’t understand her instinct to move away, but decided it was simply knowing that Jax was better equipped to handle Victor than she.
“Technically, we’ve slept together every night since our vows,” Jax said.
“You know what I mean, son. What did we raise? A bunch of sloppy adolescents?” Victor turned to Annalieese. “This is your fault for coddling them,” he accused. Annalieese looked back at Victor, unfazed.
“Dad, do you think the three of us have never had sex?” Declan asked.
Victor raised a finger at Declan and said, “Not your business, boy.”
Brea felt her hands tightening around Jax’s arm, and he turned to face her. “Remember, don’t let go of my hand. And I’m not just saying that to cop a feel.” He winked and straightened, waving Declan and Gabrielle over.
Gabrielle chuckled as they all reached for hands. “Who are you sleeping with?” she said to Declan.
“Like I’m telling you.”
“I don’t really see Declan cheating on his soulmate. Mr. Stickler to the rules. Me, maybe, except I actually like Kane.” Gabrielle glanced at Brea long enough to tell her Kane was her soulmate, and then back to her brothers. “Jax, obviously...”
Obviously? What did that mean? How many women had Jax been with?
“But not Declan.”
Declan lightly elbowed his sister. “Shut up.”
“Brea’s probably gotten some action, too. She didn’t even know Jax and she’s feisty just like him.” When Gabrielle looked at Brea for confirmation, Brea disappointed her with the truth.
“I didn’t, actually,” Brea said.
Gabrielle seemed skeptical. “Really?”
“Yes. I’m a Second. Sex or even dating isn’t permitted. If I got caught or suspected of doing either, there would have been severe punishments awaiting me.”
Gabrielle frowned. “You didn’t date?”
Brea shook her head.
“Let me get this straight, all through high school, you didn’t date? Or have sex? You’re a virgin?” Gabrielle’s shock was mortifying. “Or you were a virgin until Jax popped your cherry.”
Brea felt the heat of more humiliation rise up her throat and heat her cheeks. Her clammy hand gripped Jax’s tightly, and her other hand held Gabrielle’s. Declan moved forward toward the gateway, watching for Brea’s reaction.
“Is that what you’re saying?” Gabrielle prodded.
“What are you waiting for?” Victor howled from behind them.
All focus was now on Brea. “Yes,” she finally whispered, stealing a look at Jax. His hand was on the door knob, ready to go, but the ticking in his jaw and darkness of his stare made her realize he was mad.
At who? Her? For what?
Brea should be furious at him for basically cheating on her. But, instead she found herself envious of Jax’s experiences. Experiences where he could follow his heart instead of just his fate.
Gabrielle gasped, catching the tension between Brea and Jax. “Jax, you didn’t know? How did you not know? She would have been tight and−”
“Can we please not talk about my tightness,” Brea said. “Or our sex life at all.”
“Gees, touchy,” Gabrielle said.
Jax ignored her and said, “Most Seconds are tight. They don’t have sex often.”
Brea’s mouth fell open. “You’ve slept with Seconds?” she asked.
“Now is not the time,” Jax said.
“Oh, now it’s not the time. When it’s about you, it’s not the time.” She turned to his siblings. “Have you two slept with Seconds?” Their guilty faces answered her. She shook her head, disgusted at all three of them. “Unbelievable.”
“Hey,” Gabrielle said. “We have the freedom to decide who we sleep with.”
“Right, of course you do,” Brea said, rolling her eyes. “You’re a Gatekeeper.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Brea couldn’t miss Gabrielle’s offensive tone, proving her lack of understanding at the division between Seconds and Gatekeepers.
Before Brea could say another word about the injustice of it all, Jax opened the door and started through the vortex, pulling the line of them with him.
Like before, the time rip took hold of Brea, pulling her body against her instincts to pull in the opposite direction. Without Jax wrapping her in his embrace, she was forced to focus on letting the rip take her. In a flash, the rip was over, and her feet were again on solid ground. Surrounded by a bunch of spoiled Gatekeepers.
For a brief moment, before opening her eyes, Brea wished she and Jax were back on the pirate’s boat, where they’d begun peeling back each other’s layers. But even more than wishing for that moment, she wished they were on the island again, walking hand-in-hand along the beach, laughing as they walked through the jungle, or making love under the waterfall. She longed to return to any of the occasions before he’d defined her status, before she’d discovered that he’d taken advantage of Seconds. All of his siblings had. It was a line which should never be crossed and they hadn’t even taken into consideration how their actions would affect those involved...how it affected Brea.
Brea opened her eyes, unable to handle another second of listening to her own thoughts. She was momentarily disoriented as she saw the same black, white and blue colors of the vortex surrounding them...only this was different.
They stood hand-in-hand in a room where the walls appeared to be covered in black and white electric currents with shades of blue pulsing through it like lightning.
This wasn’t a time or era, it looked like an entirely different world...a galaxy?
Brea pushed down the alarms going off in her brain. It wouldn’t do to panic in the company of professional Gatekeepers. This might not be a rip like the ones she’d taken with Jax, but those two rips hadn’t been elders-induced like this one. Maybe there was a pass-through, or pass-by, or another gateway, or...
“Where are we?” Declan asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Panic slammed inside Brea. If they didn’t know where they were...
“What is this place?” he continued.
Declan’s questions increased Brea’s panic and her heart began to beat stronger and faster.
What was she thinking coming on board for their job? It could be dangerous...clearly.
Gabrielle let go of Brea’s hand and she scrambled to grab it back, feeling all her bravery slipping away.
Jax reached for her other hand. “It’s alright.” He pulled Brea against him in a partial hug and she caught Declan roll his eyes. She looked weak, but Jax’s arm was a blanket of protection and soothed her spiraling nerves. Not even her mother’s touch had felt like this.
“Are you okay?” Jax asked.
She knew he would regret having her here.
Brea nodded, trying not to make more of a fool of herself.
Her birthmark pulsed more than normal, the irritation running deeper. She rubbed it, trying to relieve the tender twinge. Subconsciously, she knew it beat to remind her of the long overdue bonding to Jax. But now, was not the time.
Gabrielle left them to walk across the room and stopped at the far window. The light along the floor raced to each foot as she made contact, then spiraled away like fireflies when she stepped away.
“Um...guys...” Gabrielle turned to them, her face pale. “I think we’re in Lexcon,” she whispered.
Lexcon? Even Brea knew that was impossible. Lexcon was the spot in time where the elders resided, and where time stood still. No one came and no one went from Lexcon. It was impossible...wasn’t it? Or was that simply a story council created to keep Seconds in the dark?
The shade of white passing over Jax and Declan’s faces, suggested they knew as much as her.
“How do you know?” Declan asked.
Gabrielle turned and pointed out a window. Jax and Declan immediately crossed the room to look. Brea stepped forward slowly, testing the solidness of the ground. She supposed if it could hold the Winters’ brothers, she needn’t worry. Still, she traversed gingerly, each zigzag on the ground carrying away a bit of her fear. When she joined the trio at the window, she wiggled in front of Jax to see what had stilled them into silence.
Brea’s breath caught in her chest sending numbness down her body. They stood in one of the highest buildings in a city built out of the same crisscrossing illuminations that surrounded them. It resembled an electric light show. As if looking down on foundation wasn’t amazing enough, above them, and stretching into the distance of every direction, were hundreds of thousands of fast moving streaks of white lightning.
Brea squinted her eyes, arriving at the conclusion that each strip must be a time rip. All the bands streamed together and circulated into a large building resembling the White House.
“That’s the Lexcon symbol,” Gabrielle said, pointing at the sign on the front of Lexcon’s white house.
Brea glanced at her husband’s face, and noticed a clear shade of concern. I bet he wished they’d all stayed home instead of going on this rip.