Elle rode on the back of Jax's bike back to Charming, both lost in their own thoughts. She rested her head against the reaper on his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, wishing this were under different circumstances. Wishing that the night with Nik had never happened and it was just her and Jax out for a ride, enjoying their time together.
Jax felt her head resting against his back and smiled grimly, wanting nothing more than to take back the last couple of weeks. To go back to that conversation with Lenevsky and tell the fucker that she belonged to him, that he couldn't have her. He thought about everything he was going to do to Lenevsky once he finally got his hands on him. Jax had never relished in the thought of killing somebody before – that was more Happy's thing. He took no pleasure from taking lives. But this one, he would enjoy.
They pulled into Elle's parking lot in front of her apartment a couple hours later and Jax sent Opie a message letting him know they made it back okay. He looked over and saw Tig's bike still parked a few spots down from him as Elle hopped off the bike, handing the helmet back to him.
"Well, thanks for the ride," she said awkwardly as he started to get off to walk her to her door, but she stopped him, "Tig's still here," she said, pointing out his bike, "So, you know… protection detail still intact." Jax nodded, retaking his seat as he watched her enter her apartment. He continued to sit there, debating whether or not to follow her in, as the door closed behind her.
Elle entered her apartment, locking the door behind her, to find it seemingly empty. She frowned, her heart racing. It was way too quiet in here. She slowly pulled her gun out of her bag before setting the bag on the counter of the island in the kitchen and moving through the living room. She saw a trail of clothes, including Tig's cut and Bex's favorite shorts, leading to Bex's room and her heart slowed. She grinned, shaking her head and setting the gun on one of the end tables before walking up to Bex's room.
"Bex?" she called, "Tig? Are you decent?" She heard muffled yelling from inside the room, "Okay, well get decent, I'm coming in!" She opened the door to find Tig tied to the bed, spread-eagled and butt naked.
"Ah!" she yelled, covering her eyes, "God, I really didn't need to see that! Where's Bex?" Tig had a gag through his mouth, his eyes wide, shaking his head furiously as he tried to talk through the gag.
"What the hell kind of freaky stuff were you guys doing?" she asked, looking around the room and not seeing Bex anywhere. She shrugged and walked to the bathroom, freezing as she opened the door. Bex had one hand handcuffed to the shower rod, also naked, leaning against the wall, her eyes closed.
"Seriously, what were you guys-" she started as Bex turned towards her slowly, clearly dazed, and Elle saw that she was bleeding from the side of her head. Bex's eyes widened in terror.
"Oh God, Elle! You've got to get out of here! Run!" she screamed. Elle's eyes widened as she took several steps backwards before turning around and running down the hall. When she got to the living room, a hand reached out and grabbed her and she saw her way blocked by Nik, his cold eyes leering down at her.
"So it seems I've got you at last," he said quietly as Elle opened her mouth, screaming as loud as she could. Nik grabbed her by her throat, shoving her against the wall, tightening a grip on her so hard that she was worried she'd lose consciousness as he completely blocked her airway. She struggled against him, grabbing his arms, trying to pull them away from her throat as he stared into her eyes, slowly squeezing the life out of her.
"For a dead woman you're pretty lively," Nik snarled in her ear.
Outside, Jax was still sitting on his bike, thinking about Elle when he heard her scream. He jumped off, running up the stairs to her door and found it locked. He took a few steps back, pulling out his gun and shot the lock several times before bursting in and saw Nik pressed against Elle, his hand still at her throat. Jax shot several times but he was so worried about hitting Elle he missed Nik completely. Nik swung Elle around, blocking himself from Jax's shot as he pulled Elle towards the kitchen, grabbing a knife from the butcher block on the counter.
"I was hoping to strangle her to death, but I'll be just fine slitting her throat," he sneered, raising the knife to her throat.
Elle looked at Jax, at the murderous expression on his face as he held the gun up, pointed at them. She knew he wouldn't dare take a shot with her in front, so they were at a standstill.
"Drop the gun!" Nik screamed at Jax, pressing the knife harder to Elle's throat.
"Let her go and I'll drop the gun," Jax stated, rage coursing through his veins.
"I let her go, you shoot me," Nik said through narrowed eyes. Elle felt a trickle of blood run down her neck from the knife at her throat.
"You kill her and you'll be dead before her body hits the floor," Jax growled. Elle took a deep breath, adrenaline coursing through her as she pulled her elbow up and jammed it into Nik's side causing him to stumble back, releasing her. She desperately tried to run down the hall to Bex's room. If she could get Tig untied, he could help. Jax fired several shots off at Nik as he ducked behind the island in the kitchen. As soon as there was a break in firing, Nik stood, taking Jax by surprise as he threw his knife at him, grazing his shoulder with the blade, before charging at Jax, knocking the gun out of his hands. Nik grabbed the gun, firing several shots over his shoulder as he ran down the hall before Elle could get to Tig.
He grabbed her, pulling her back to the living room, his gun aimed at Jax who ran and ducked behind the counter. Nik threw Elle against the wall on the far side of the living room as he walked towards where Jax was crouched behind the counter. Elle watched with wide eyes, terrified that Nik was going to kill Jax in front of her. Jax couldn't die. Not when he thought she hated him. Not when he didn't know how she really felt about him.
And that's when she remembered. Her gun was on the end table. She ran towards it and Nik saw her out of the corner of his eye. She ducked behind the couch as he tried to fire at her and he moved towards her as Jax ran at him, knocking the gun out of his hand as they both crashed to the floor. They both scrambled to get the gun back back and Jax grabbed it, raising it from his position on the floor to fire at Nik as he felt the gun click. It was out of bullets.
"FUCK!" he screamed in frustration, tossing the gun to the side as Nik grinned and rushed at Jax, punching him square in the jaw. Jax's head fell back and Nik took off towards Elle, who had frozen in fear before she had reached her gun. He grabbed her as she made a move towards it, throwing her on the ground and crawling on top of her, intent on killing her with his bare hands. Jax groaned and rolled over, seeing Nik on Elle. He hurriedly stood from the floor and rushed towards them as Elle struggled to speak.
"Jax!" Elle gasped, struggling against Nik, trying to pull his hands from her throat, "The end table." Jax turned and saw Elle's gun sitting on the end table and grabbed it as Nik realized a split second too late was happening. He loosened his grip on Elle to try to get to the table first and as he turned he saw Jax pointing the gun at him.
Jax fired several rounds into Nik's chest and he lurched at the impact of the bullets. Elle screamed as Nik collapsed onto the floor in a pool of blood and she scrambled out from under him, hurriedly standing and running into Jax's arms.
"It's okay," he murmured into her ear as sobs erupted from her. Her shoulders shook as she cried into his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her.
"Will someone get me the fuck out of here!" they heard Bex scream from the bathroom and Jax looked down the hall to see Bex handcuffed to the shower rod.
"Oh yeah," Elle said, chuckling through her sobs, "Tig is tied up to the bed, too." Jax led Elle to the couch, settling her down while he went to get Bex released and untie Tig. Tig walked out of the room hurriedly zipping up a pair of jeans and Bex ran into her bedroom to pull on an oversized t-shirt before coming out into the living room. They all stood over Nik's body, staring at him.
"The police will be on their way," Jax commented.
"It was self-defense," Bex said. Jax shrugged.
"Self-defense is a difficult thing to prove for ex-cons," he told her dourly.
"So leave," Bex said, "I'll tell them I shot him with his own gun. They can't trace that back to you." Jax swallowed hard, looking over at Elle and walking towards her. He bent down in front of where she sat on the couch, rubbing her cheek with his hand.
"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded shakily, before reaching out to his shoulder.
"You're hurt," she whispered. Jax looked down at his arm, surprised to see blood trickling from a wound. He licked his fingers, wiping some of the blood away.
"It's nothing," he said, turning back to her, "It'll heal on its own." She nodded, staring at him in shock.
"You saved my life," she said. He smiled.
"I told you. I'm never letting anything happen to you again," he said. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her lips against his. He stumbled back in surprise at first before leaning into the kiss, pushing her against the back of the couch. She gripped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as he slipped an arm behind her, relishing in the feel of her lips against his. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing his tongue entry.
They didn't pull apart until Bex tapped them on the shoulder.
"You guys need to go, now, before the cops get here," she said, "I'll make a call into 911 as soon as you leave, telling them Nik shot the door open, broke in, and tried to kill me but I got the gun away from him and shot him."
"I'll send someone over after they get the body out of here to clean this place up," Jax told her and Bex nodded as he turned his attention back to Elle.
"Come on, let me get you out of here," he said. Elle shook her head.
"No, I can't let Bex deal with this on her own," she said softly.
"It's okay, sweetie, I'll be fine. You need to get out of here, go calm down, clean yourself up," she said. Elle looked up at her.
"Are you sure?" Bex nodded and Elle stood, realizing her legs were shaking and stumbling slightly as Jax caught her.
"Alright let's get out of here," Jax said as Bex pulled her phone out to put the call into 911.
"You going to the clubhouse?" Tig asked, pulling on the t-shirt he had retrieved from Bex's room and sliding his cut back on. Jax shook his head.
"No, I'm gonna take her back to my house. I'll be over there later," he said. Tig smirked as he walked towards the door.
"Yeah… sure you will," he replied, "You know, if you don't get pussy after that-"
"Tig, get out of here," Jax growled and Tig grinned before heading outside. Jax took Elle's hand in his and they followed him out. Elle climbed on Jax's bike, wrapping her arms around his waist as they took off, passing several police cars with flashing lights zooming towards the apartment complex as they left.
They pulled into Jax's driveway several minutes later and Elle hopped off the bike, barely registering where she was or what was happening. Jax led her inside and sat her on the couch while he walked into the kitchen, getting a clean rag and wetting it. He tore his t-shirt off to get a better look at the wound in his shoulder before walking back out into the living room and once again kneeling in front of Elle, bringing the rag up to wipe the blood off her face and neck.
She watched his face as he gingerly wiped hers with the rag and then he took her hands holding them out to him. She noticed there was blood all over them as well. She watched as he cleaned the blood off her hands, his touch gentle. Elle took the rag from him, reaching over to his shoulder, gingerly pressing it against the wound.
"Does it hurt?" she asked, and he shook his head slowly, his eyes focused on her face, his heart beating rapidly, as she continued to stop the bleeding. She pulled it back, running her fingers lightly over the clean cut.
"Thanks," he said softly, still not taking his eyes off her face. She finally looked up at him and nodded, suddenly feeling all the emotion from the day swoop over her like a wave.
"I thought…" she said, tears forming in her eyes, "I thought you were going to die." He smiled at her, kissing her forehead before looking back at her.
"You couldn't get rid of me that easy," he said. She shook her head.
"No, Jax. I really thought you were going to die, and I'd never be able to talk to you again, and you'd die thinking that I hated you, and…" her voice choked up as a sob escaped from her mouth and Jax pulled her into him again.
"Elle, it's okay, I'm okay," he assured her and she clung to him.
"It's just, I… I don't hate you, Jax," she choked out, and he gripped her tightly, running a hand through the back of her hair.
"Good, because I'm fucking crazy about you," he murmured. She pulled back from him, looking him in the eye.
"You are?" she asked, smiling at him and he nodded.
"I am," he said. She sighed, pressing her forehead against his, unsure of how to respond.
"I didn't think I was ever going to be able to forgive you," she said, "And that hurt me almost as much as what you did, because I cared about you so fucking much." He continued to watch her ardently, hoping with all his heart this was leading where he wanted it to go.
"But when I thought you might die…," She sighed, pausing to search for the words, "I don't want to be angry with you anymore. I just … want to be with you," she finished, a gleam in her eye and he grinned broadly.
"So you're saying all I have to do next time you're pissed is almost die?" he asked.
"You better not do that!" she said, smiling in spite of herself. He reached a hand up to brush the hair from her face, looking into her eyes and noticing that the look of wonder and excitement she used to have when she looked at him was back. He leaned forward to kiss her tentatively and pulled back, searching her face with his eyes. She looked back at him, stroking his bruised jaw line before leaning forward to kiss him back. He clung to her, wrapping his arms around as he slowly stood, scooping her up in his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck while he carried her down the hall to his room.
He laid her down on the bed, crawling on top of her as she pulled him down to her and kissed him. His hands roamed down her body, snaking up under her tank top and she shifted her body so he could raise it up over her shoulders. He looked down at her, propped up above her on his hands.
She brought her hands up, trailing them hungrily over his chest before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as he leaned down, pressing his lips urgently against hers. She moaned as he pulled apart and he grinned, loving the sounds she made. He moved down her body, gently kissing along her collar bone before cupping her breasts through her bra, kissing the top of her mounds. She arched her back toward him as he reached behind her, unhooking her bra and she struggled out of it, throwing it to the floor.
He bent his head down, taking a breast into his mouth, lightly flicking her nipple with his tongue and causing her to moan as his hand reached up to cup her other breast. She reached down for his belt, the bulge in his jeans obvious. He knelt above her on his knees, allowing her to undo his jeans as he worked on hers. They both squirmed out of the last remaining clothes keeping them apart and Elle reached for him, taking his hard cock in her hands and stroking him as he groaned at her touch. It throbbed under her hand and she felt it grow until she was forced to let go as he hooked his elbow under her knee, bringing it up and spreading her. He rubbed his hand along the lips of her pussy, looking deep into her eyes as he inserted a finger into her, feeling her wetness. She moaned as he stroked her pussy with his hand, writhing at his touch. She reached her arm up, hooking it around his neck, running her fingers through his hair.
"Jax," she murmured, almost pleading with him, and he growled, removing his hand and taking his place at her entrance.
He couldn't remember ever needing to be inside someone so badly as he stroked his cock along the outside of her pussy before fully inserting himself inside of her. He paused for a moment, relishing the feel of her fully wrapped around him, before he slowly pulled out. She looked into his eyes and moaned, feeling him fill her as he thrust in and out. He slowed his pace down, reaching his hand up to brush her hair back, the intimacy of the moment crashing over him and he wanted more.
He sat up, pulling her with him and extending his legs as she crawled onto his lap, wrapping her legs behind him and her arms around his shoulders. He slid inside of her easily and deeper than before and they slowly began rocking back and forth as he held her crushed to him, kissing her, never wanting this to end. She clung to him as she tossed her head back, her breathing shallow as he buried his face in her chest. She let out a guttural moan as he felt a shudder run through her body and he couldn't hold back as he felt her spasm around his cock, screaming his name.
They stayed like that, wrapped around each other, breathing heavy, Jax still burrowed deep inside Elle. He grabbed the back of her head, pulling her in to kiss her, never wanting to let go.
A/N So this was probably the hardest chapter to write so far, so any feedback would definitely be appreciated! Thanks to those who review and those of you that don't review but are still reading - I appreciate you so much, too!