Page 22 of Axel (Belles & Bratva Beasts #2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

AXEL

I watch Ruby fall asleep, and if blue balls are a thing, I’ve got a pair. And if I don’t get another kiss from her soon, I’ll lose my mind.

But Brayton fucking Jervis, the quarterback?

And his husband?

They know my queen in the biblical sense?

This is hell.

Yes, I’m a hypocrite. There’s a room on the second floor of my mom’s club, and years ago, if I met a woman or three I liked—okay, one time there were four—we’d go up there.

But that man is dead.

I want a different life with Ruby, and deep down, it’s kind of fucking sweet.

Yes, she did whatever with bisexual NFL players, but she’s protecting them, too. Most women would exploit them or out them. Fuck an NDA. The payoff for a sex scandal exposing a famous football player to the press would be worth it.

But Ruby won’t rat them out. She won’t hurt them. She’s loyal.

She only told us when Brayton said she could. And it’s not like my gun gave them a choice and?—

“Hey, fuckwad.” Grant snaps me out of my haze, staring at Ruby’s long, fluttering eyelashes.

“What?”

He jerks his thumb toward the jet’s bedroom, and I know what’s coming.

He closes the door behind us and yells at me in a whisper, “She’s your fucking queen, and you know it!”

“No shit, Reacher dick.”

“Then what are you pussyfooting for?”

“Leave my feet out of this,” I snarl.

Grant winces, remembering our childhood and clocking what he just said. “Sorry, man, that’s not what I mean. It’s just… Why are you waiting?”

“She’s not ready.” I move on. “And you won’t say jackshit to anyone about her.”

“Careful, brother. Play any game too long,” he warns, “and you will lose her.”

Like Jace, Grant’s an inch taller than me, but I’m always his big brother. What I say goes, and he knows it. “I’m not playing games with her.”

“Aren’t you?” He points toward the door.

“She’s fucking amazing and perfect for you.

I’ve never met a woman immune to your swagger, but ta-da …

there she is. She’s a badass. She’ll tell you to fuck off and which way you can go, even when she knows who we are and what we’re capable of.

” He smirks, threatening, “If you don’t claim her soon, I’ll introduce her to Jace. ”

I laugh. “All those blow-jobs you get have sucked your IQ out through your dick because, one, I’ll kill a brother for her. Two, Jace would never betray me. Three, neither would you. And a million times, I’d fucking die for her, so don’t give me shit about her. Give me time. ”

“She’s not Katya. She won’t leave you.” His voice softens. “Katya was cold and conniving. I never knew what you saw in her but blonde hair and big tits. She was never right for you, and she was way too into Sire.”

I don’t argue a moot point. He’s right, she’s gone, and I don’t care.

“She never should’ve been your queen,” Grant insists, pointing at the door again, “because that woman is.”

“I know,” I concede. “I knew it the moment I met her.”

“Then what the fuck, man? Claim her. Don’t let her go. Jesus,” he throws his chin up, “she’s just like mom. She’s like the other queens—iron elegance and ruthless beauty. I’d be honored to be her second king.”

“The fuck you will,” I snarl. “Touch Ruby, and I’ll make Delphine a widow.”

“This again?” He rolls his eyes. “First, Nick. Now, you. And we know Nash will fight it, too. But … it’ll happen; we’ll make sure the queens love it, and it’s done. So, just start wrapping your jealous dickhead around it now.”

“Uh, folks,” the captain calls over the intercom. “We’re on our final approach. Please be seated.”

Minutes later, the plane lands, and Ruby’s still asleep.

It’s cute, the little drop of drool escaping her plump lips, so I smile. “Hey, Wildfire. Wake up, or your drool will douse the scorched Earth you’ve created in my life.”

“What?” Ruby startles, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Was I?”

“Drooling over me? Yes.” I unbuckle my seat belt. “Come on. Sparky’s waiting.”

I stand and offer my hand to her, but she scowls. “Are your boxers still in a jealous wad?”

But she slides her palm into mine, and it flutters my chest every time.

“Jealous? No. Possessive? Until my dying day over you.”

“Fine,” she sighs. “Can you possess a pizza on the way home, too, because I’m starving?”

“Home?” Grant grins, sliding the laptop into his bag. “You two playing paralegal or house?”

“Both.” We answer at the same time.

“Whatever you’re doing together,” he laughs, wrapping his arm around Ruby, and bending down to kiss her hair, “it’s safe with me. Promise.”

“Aw.” Ruby punches his abs. “Thanks, Reacher. Can you give me a nudey butt-shot as you leave, too?”

“Not if he wants to live,” I warn.

“He’s just jelly,” Grant whispers to Ruby. “It’s kinda a cute look on him.”

“Cute will be my bullet in your ass.”

“Hah,” Grant scoffs. “It’s made of steel. It’ll bounce right off.”

“Go!”

I point toward the pilot, waiting by the open door, and Ruby practically holds Grant’s hand, exiting the plane. Not like a couple. Like new besties bonding over how-to-make-me-murder.

We say goodbye at our cars parked side-by-side. Ruby gives Grant a big hug, and I flip him off.

But he won’t tell our brothers about her.

Grant knows what losing my first queen did to me. I didn’t grieve losing Katya. I grieved losing my pride and letting my family down. I wanted to give a grandchild to my mother. Or maybe it was the guilt over Alena that finally caught up with me, too.

Tough to say.

But I disappeared into a cold, dark hole until a wildfire with a skinned, bloody knee tripped into my life.

By the time we’re home, the pizza delivery guy is waiting patiently at my gate. He’s used to me. He knows I tip big.

While we eat at the kitchen table and Sparky purrs against our legs, Ruby goes on about what we should name the kittens, but I keep imagining Brayton Jervis and their threesome.

How many has she had? And did she mean it? She only does two men at once, never just one? So what does that mean? She’ll never truly be mine?

I drop my slice, losing my appetite, and Ruby notices.

“You’re getting jelly again, aren’t you?”

I wipe my lips with a napkin, answering with silence.

“You know,” she huffs, “I didn’t order hypocrisy on my pizza. You give me reasons to be jealous, too. I’ve seen you at the sex club with all of those hot women. I bet you’ve been quite primal and Dom with many pussies.”

“No one but you,” I seethe, rage making me see red. “I told you the truth; I haven’t been on a date since I met you, and I’ve never had a sub.” I clench my fist, growling, “Only YOU make me feel this way,” and slam it so hard on the table that my plate flies off, crashing into pieces on the floor.

It sends Sparky running away with a yowl.

“And you don’t get to scare me like this.” Ruby’s hand suddenly shakes, shoving her plate away before she jumps up. “As a child, I lived with a terrifying man because I had no choice. But as a woman, I will never choose to suffer another threatening one.”

She turns to race upstairs, but I chase after her.

“Ruby, wait. I’m sorry. ”

She whips around in the stairwell. “There are two sides to every story—in my life and in yours—but you know what, Axel? You’re an asshole in all of them.”

“So I’m supposed to be happy about your threesomes?”

She arches a brow. “Like you’ve never had one?”

I suck my teeth.

“That’s what I thought. We’re both guilty,” she sneers. “And just where do you get off? We’re not a couple. You don’t own me. You just have me trapped with you and in deep, dangerous shit because of your escaped Bratva life, so thank you. My middle finger Hallmark card is in the mail.”

“So, it was an act today?” Why does this suddenly hurt so much? Why can’t I breathe? “You, wanting to be my queen. It was a joke to you?”

“No, it was…”

Her eyes search mine, and I see her fear. It’s like I have her trapped in a corner. I’m her biggest threat but…

Growing up, I never let my father see my pain. I wouldn’t give the devil the satisfaction.

But I let Ruby see it. I let her see it wasn’t a joke to me. To be her king is all I want. To have her as my queen is what I live for. What am I fighting for if I’m not fighting for her?

“I don’t know what it was.” She stammers, tears welling in her eyes, “I … I just… I just need to run.”

It’s what she does, but she can’t leave. So, she dashes into her bedroom and slams the door, and I disappear into mine.

After a lonely shower, I slip on clean boxer briefs and socks and fall into bed, weighed down by something I’ve never felt.

It’s heavy and suffocating the breath out of me.

I turn out the light and stare at the ceiling, but all I can think about is kissing Ruby, how she moaned over my lips, how I wanted so much more with her.

Minutes, maybe an hour, pass until I’m startled by a voice at my door .

“Hey, dickhead.” Ruby sounds shaky. “Are you asleep?”

“No.”

“I don’t feel good.”

Jumping up, I race to my door and yank it open to Ruby, staring up at me while she stands frozen in tiny pink shorts and a matching top covered in race cars. She’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, but the look on her face isn’t.

Her eyelids droop as she blinks back tears. “I can’t move my arms.”

Without thinking, I scoop her up. “Let’s go to the hospital.”

“I don’t want the bill.”

“I’ll pay it.” I start down the hallway.

“No, Axel. Just…” She can’t even wrap her hands around my neck. “Just lay me down with you. Put me in the recovery position, and don’t leave me.”

“Ruby, you’re having a seizure.”

“Not yet. Just… Axel, please. Listen to me.”

“Okay.” I won’t stress her out. I won’t make it worse. “Come on.” I walk her back to my bed and gently lay her on her side in the center, feet away from any objects that can hurt her. I turn on the light and kneel beside her, cupping her cheek. “Ruby, are you with me?”

“Barely.”

“Should I call your sisters?”

“Don’t worry them.” Her voice falls to a whisper, “It was too much today…”

“Okay, I got you.” I nuzzle my forehead to hers. “I’m not leaving you.”

Terror engulfs me as her stare falls blank. It’s as if she’s leaving me, her entire body sagging limp, and I watch, feeling rage that I can’t do anything to help her, to bring her back and…

And …

And…

Love .

That’s what this sudden warm urge is—a need to do everything, anything for her.

“Ruby?” I crouch over her. “I’m here, baby. I got you.” I’m still holding her cheek and terrified by her blank stare, trapped in a void for seconds.

After Ruby told me about her condition, I watched dozens of videos of people with epilepsy bravely sharing their seizures, trying to spread awareness and compassion, all at the expense of their most vulnerable and sometimes dangerous moments.

But it didn’t prepare me for this.

For this warmth flooding my heart, this fear and ferocity, too. I will never leave her. Not at her weakest. Not at her strongest. It’s okay if she runs. I just need her to know I’ll chase her. I’ll catch her every time.

I’ll be right here…

I count sixteen seconds before she slowly blinks as if she’s breaking the surface of consciousness. Like she’s finding focus, and I whisper, “Hey,” gently stroking her cheek, “you’re okay.”

She stares at me like she’s waking from a dream. It takes her minutes to speak, “I’m sorry.”

The lump in my throat is sudden. A flood of emotions bites at my eyes.

She’s apologizing to me? When I suspect this was my fault?

It’s her compassion talking. She’s focused on me. She’s worried about me and how I feel right now, and if she only knew it’s that one word I haven’t said to her yet.

“Please don’t apologize.” I caress her cheek, hoping to make her smile. “It’s my master plan. I finally got you in my bed.”

Weakly, she chuckles, barely looking around. “Sparky? ”

“She’s here.” I scoop her up from the floor. As if she could sense Ruby’s distress, she was yowling by the edge of my bed. “You know she’s the first pussy in this bed, and you’re the second. And for the record, this is the only threesome I want nowadays.”

I make her softly smile when I set Sparky beside her. But Ruby’s hand trembles, still recovering control, so I pet Sparky while she nuzzles Ruby, making her grin until Ruby jolts. “Oh god.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Did I…?” She glances down her body, her hand patting the bed beside her. “Did I?—”

“You didn’t.” Immediately, I know what she fears. “And it would be okay if you did.”

“Oh god,” she groans, closing her eyes. “Kill me now.”

“Kill you? Never. Be a dickhead and scare you. Yes, and I’m sorry. But get you? Always. ” I sweep an auburn tendril from her face. “I wet the bed until I was eleven. Childhood trauma, not epilepsy, but I understand.”

“You understand?” She blinks back surprised tears. “What kind of trauma?”

“Too much to say. But the one that stays with me is my feet.”

“Your feet?”

“My father would cut the soles of my feet so I couldn’t escape. He only did it to me because I was his heir, and he feared I’d run away.”

“Oh my god, Axel.” Tears spill over her freckled cheeks. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“Me too,” I huff. “I spend a fucking fortune on socks and shoes because no one can see my feet. I don’t want their questions and pity. So, please understand why I sleep with my socks on. ”

“Oh…” She twists to sit up. “Sorry. I’ll go back to my bed and?—”

“The fuck you will,” I say softly. “You stay with me, Ruby Jones. I’m not leaving your side. Not tonight. Not ever.” I brush my thumb over her lips. Not sexy this time. Just fucking dying for her. “So either you start running faster, or you get used to me holding you.”