CHAPTER FOUR
The waves whispered softly against the shore, like a lullaby meant only for the sand.
Elena had come out to the wide deck alone, needing the salt wind to scour away the weight of the morning…the way Jax's hands had felt on her skin hours earlier, still lingering like a promise she wasn't sure she deserved.
The memory of his touch kept surfacing unbidden..rough palms sliding over her ribs, fingers threading through her hair, the low rasp of his breath against her throat.
It made her cheeks warm even now, standing in the open air.
Luke was already there.
He leaned against the railing, forearms braced on the weathered wood, staring at the water like he owned every acre of it.
White linen shirt rolled to the elbows, sunglasses pushed carelessly into his sun-bleached hair.
He looked effortless, golden, the way he always did when he wanted someone to notice how perfectly the light caught him.
"You disappeared," he said without turning. "After our little chat earlier."
"I needed air."
He glanced over his shoulder…that easy, practiced smile curved his mouth. "Plenty of air out here."
She stayed near the glass doors leading back into the house. Didn't close the distance.
Luke straightened slowly, hands sliding into his pockets as he walked toward her. Deliberate steps, unhurried.
"You've been different since we got to the Hamptons…Quiet, Happier, maybe or just… distracted."
Elena met his eyes..steady hazel, always too knowing. "I'm fine."
He stopped a few feet away..close enough that she could smell the salt on his skin mixed with his cologne..something sharp, expensive and citrus-edged.
"You don't have to pretend with me, Elena…i see it. The way you look at him. The way he looks at you like you're the only thing keeping him upright."
Her stomach tightened. "This isn't a conversation we need to have."
"It is if you're making a mistake." His voice dropped, softer now…"He's your bodyguard. That's the job..When the job ends, he leaves. I'm not going anywhere."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you deserve someone who can stand next to you in the light. Not in the shadows behind you."
He reached out slowly, giving her time to pull away and brushed his fingers along her bare arm. Light and testing.
The touch was warm, deliberate and lingering just long enough to make her skin prickle.
Elena stepped back. "Don't."
His hand dropped. The smile stayed, but it no longer reached his eyes. "You're shaking."
"I'm not."
"You are." He tilted his head, studying her. "Are you sure about him? What happens when the cameras stop rolling and the checks clear?"
The words landed like a small, stinging slap. She felt heat rise in her throat. "I've thought about it. I'm still here."
Luke held her gaze for a long beat. Then something shifted in his expression…charm giving way to something colder, sharper, almost calculating.
"Fine," he said quietly.
"But when it blows up… don't expect me to be the one who picks up the pieces."
He turned and walked past her, his shoulder brushing hers on purpose enough pressure to register as deliberate.
She didn't flinch. Didn't move until his footsteps faded down the hallway and the glass door clicked shut behind him.
The house felt colder when she stepped back inside. She moved through the wide hallway on bare feet, silent on the hardwood, needing to find Jax.
Needing to tell him what had just happened before the words festered into something uglier.
Voices stopped her outside the study door…half-open, spilling warm lamplight into the corridor.
Jax's tone was low, controlled, edged with something dangerous and a woman's voice..sharp, venomous and unmistakable.
"…you really think you can just end this?" Victoria was saying.
"After everything I've done for you? For him?"
"You did nothing for me," Jax answered flatly. "You used me and now you're trying to use her."
A bitter laugh, short and cutting. "She's a client, Jax.When the check clears, you'll be gone and she'll be alone again."
Silence stretched..thick, electric.
Then Jax's voice, quiet and final: "I'm not going anywhere."
Elena pushed the door open.
They both turned.
Victoria's eyes narrowed to slits. "Eavesdropping now?"
Jax stepped toward Elena immediately, positioning himself slightly in front of her…protective instinct, automatic. His body blocked half the room from Victoria's line of sight.
Victoria looked between them, lips curling. "This is pathetic."
"Get out," Jax said.
Victoria's smile was thin and vicious. "You'll regret that."
She brushed past Elena on her way out, heels clicking sharp against the floor like gunfire..the front door slammed a moment later, the sound echoing through the empty house.
Jax exhaled through his nose. "She's been calling all morning.
Threatening to pull strings, leak stories, anything to get a reaction."
Elena locked the study door behind her..slow twist of the bolt, deliberate. She crossed the room to him, took his face in both hands. His stubble rasped against her palms.
"You meant it?" she asked softly. "About not going anywhere."
His hands settled on her hips..warm, steady. "Every word."
She kissed him.
It started slow, with comfort..lips brushing, breathing shared.
Then it deepened. His fingers tightened on her hips. Her own slid into his hair, tugging lightly. They stumbled backward until her spine met the edge of the wide oak desk. Papers slid to the floor in a soft cascade.
She tugged at his shirt. He yanked it over his head in one impatient motion.
Scars everywhere…familiar now, loved now. Thin silver lines across his ribs, the puckered burn near his collarbone, the faint graze along his side.
She traced them with reverent fingertips. He shivered under her touch.
Her top followed. Bra unhooked with practiced ease. His mouth found her neck, her collarbone, lower. She gasped when his lips closed over her nipple, tongue circling slow and deliberate.
He lifted her onto the desk in one smooth motion. Her legs parted instinctively. His hips slotted between them, pressing close.
Clothes came off in hurried, desperate layers..jeans shoved down, underwear pushed aside.
He entered her in one slow, deep thrust.
They both stilled…Breathed. Felt the stretch, the fullness, the perfect fit.
Then he moved..deep, steady, every roll of his hips pulling a soft moan from her throat. She clung to him…His mouth returned to her breast, sucking gently while his hand slid between them, thumb finding the exact rhythm she needed.
The desk creaked beneath them. The room smelled like them.. sweat and sex and something deeper.
She felt it building again…tight, bright, unstoppable.
"Jax," she moaned, voice breaking.
"I've got you," he rasped against her skin.
She shattered…clenching around him, crying out against his shoulder as the wave crashed through her. He followed seconds later, burying himself deep, groaning her name like a vow, shuddering through the release.
They stayed locked together, panting, hearts slamming in tandem.
He kissed her forehead…slow, calm, grounding.
"I'm not letting her near you," he whispered.
She smiled against his skin. "We won't let her."
A sharp knock cracked through the quiet..three fast, deliberate raps on the study door.
They froze.
Then Victoria's voice low and venomous…filtered through the wood like ice.
"Open the door, Jax. I have the photos. All of them."
Elena's breath caught in her throat.
Jax's arms tightened around her like steel bands.
The handle turned…slowly, deliberately.
The lock was held.
But the threat was already inside