She pulled away and wiped the iron-tasting warmth from her lips with the back of her hand. “Now I’m truly a monster,” she whispered.
Jax shook his head slowly and looked down at her with the proudest expression on his face. He ran a light touch over the painful bite on her neck. “No, Anna. Now you’re claimed. Get on up, grab a few pair of those sexy granny panties, and pack a bag.”
“Why?”
“Because Ben has released you to me until I can get you stronger.”
Annalise frowned in confusion and drew back, searched his face in the early morning light. “How will you do that?”
“With help.”
“From who?”
Jaxon’s smile stretched his face. “From the Gray Backs.”
Chapter Eleven
Annalise wrung her hands nervously. A day and a half drive had turned into two and a half days thanks to She-Devil taking her body twice in Jaxon’s truck. She rested her head back against the shredded headrest and felt like a jerk. His truck had been really nice before she’d sharpened her claws on it.
He’d done well both times to pull over to the side of the road and drag her out before she could destroy it completely, but he was sporting a few new scars now thanks to the black-furred hellion living inside of her. A juicy bug splatted against the windshield, and she snarled. Already her skin was tingling as if she would Change again.
“Can we revisit the idea of a cage room?” she asked Jax.
“You won’t need one up here. You won’t hurt anyone. If you fight them, they’ll just enjoy the bloodbath. Change all you want. You aren’t dangerous to the shifters in Damon’s Mountains.”
“So, explain again why I have to be the Second of Red Havoc?”
“Because you kicked Barret’s ass repeatedly. That last one he took as a challenge and really went at you, and you took your claws to him and demoted Murder Kitty to Third.”
Annalise giggled. “Murder Kitty should be my name.”
Jax made a ticking sound behind his teeth, barely audible over the sound of the country song on the radio. The Beck brothers were playing. She loved them.
“Brody wasn’t murder,” Jax said. “He was revenge. Any man who hurts a woman like that deserves worse than you gave him. He’s lucky. I would’ve done it slow.” Jax’s voice lowered and became too rough to be human. “I would’ve made it last a couple of days. Maybe given him to the Gray Backs when I was bored. Maybe let Damon light him up and devour his ashes. Trust me, Anna, you did Brody a favor he didn’t deserve. You’ll get no judgement from me or anyone else for She-Devil defending you like that.”
“I know who Damon is. I’ve been researching,” she said, holding up her phone and shaking it slightly. The sunlight caught the jewels on the skull case.
“Thata girl, and what did you learn?”
“Damon Daye, aka the blue dragon, reigns over these mountains. There are three crews. The Ashe Crew, the Boarlanders, and your Gray Backs. And most of them make a living by being lumberjacks. Ha. Are you a Lumberjack Werebear, Jax?”
He chuckled, slid his free hand over her thigh, and squeezed gently. Warmth immediately dumped into her center just from his easy and comfortable touch. He’d seen her at her worst over the last two days of traveling and trying to control She-Devil, and he was still here. Still laughing and touching her. Still supporting her.
He wore a blue baseball cap on backward today. He was scruffy-sexy with his unshaven face, dark eyes, white T-shirt, and jeans with holes at the knees. And he sat here with her, the epitome of a relaxed man, steering wheel turning in one hand, and an easy smile on his lips, like she wasn’t going to shift at any moment. He wasn’t scared of her at all.
Good man. Strong man. Her man.
“I did work logging jobs some of the seasons, but mostly I’m a worm farmer.” He slid her a huge grin. “Does that turn you on?”
“A worm farmer?” she asked, waiting for the punchline.
“It’s a family business. My ma built this worm empire from the ground up, and now her worms are the biggest name in bait worms and compost worms in the world. Willa’s Worms.”
“Oh, my gosh, I’ve seen those in the store! In the hunting and fishing section. They are stored in those little refrigerators by the cash register. The logo is pink and blue and has a cartoon worm. I always thought it was so cute.”
“Yep. I take care of shipping. They were there because I made it happen.”
“So you aren’t really a farmer then. You are on the business side.”
“Oh, no. Ma wanted me and my brother to learn the business from the bottom up. I had to work my way into shipping. I started out with my hands dirty.”
“And wormy,” she teased. “So sexy. Jaxon Barns, professional worm wrangler. I’m so turned on right now.” She wrapped her arms around her middle and snickered then tried to make a serious face and whispered, “Jax. I like your worm.”
“Stop it.”
“Maybe sometime, you wanna…stick it in my slimy wormhole.”
“God, seriously? You sound like Ma right now. My worm is getting limp.”
“Let me feel.” She reached across his lap and petted his crotch.
“Hands off my worm.”
“Heeeere, wormy, wormy, wormy.”
“Woman, seriously, you’re giving wormy a boner, cut it out. We’re almost there. Or don’t cut it out, but I’m gonna fuck you so hard against one of these trees, you’ll be screaming my name and get us busted.”