Suzanne Wright - From Rags

“Meribel, France.”

“She’s gone skiing?”

“I’m not sure where exactly they’re staying, but Warren knows.”

Warren groaned. Why oh why did he mention the holiday to Dane? “Anna’s going to have my balls for this.”

Dane smiled. “Well it seems to me, then, that you should go with him. You’re both going to have a lot of explaining to do. Might be best to have each other to lean on for strength.”

Warren shook his head. “You’re loving all this, aren’t you?”

“I told the pair of you that I would get you back for the shite you pulled at my bachelor bash and my wedding night. Oh and let’s not leave out the stuff you put in the best man’s speech just in case Niki didn’t already know I’d been a bit of a slut in the past. Excuse me for finding some sweetness in revenge.” He smiled, unashamed. “Go on then, get your arses on a plane and go see your girls.”

At the risk of entering the world of stalking, Connor immediately booked a flight to take him to Jaxx.

Crap! Crap! Crap! The word circulated round Anna’s brain as she read the two text messages that Warren had left for her; the first was sent five hours ago with news of his and Connor’s upcoming arrival and the time of their flight. The next was to announce that they had arrived at France ‘safely’ – like she cared about that part – and would be there in something like forty-five minutes. He had sent the last one thirty-five minutes ago . If only she had checked her phone when she first got back instead of now just before they were going back out again!

Crap! Crap! Crap! To think she’d been worried about impressing Warren! It turned out that he was going to be the one having to do the impressing because unless he had some way of getting back in her good books she was going to do a Jaxxon on him: she was going to kick him in the balls.

Not five minutes ago Anna had been thinking about just how great Jaxxon was doing with some space away from Connor. The past few days had been such a laugh. Hitting the slopes. Going dog sledging. Almost getting concussion while ice skating. Drinking until all hours of the morning – well, that was mostly just Anna. Gulping down all that gorgeous French wine and cuisine. Abusing the hot tub and sauna. Trying to talk French and failing miserably. Not once had they mentioned the boys or anything else stress-related since they arrived. And now, thanks to the big gob on her boyfriend, the perfect holiday was going to be tainted.

“Have a guess who has left over a dozen messages on my phone,” said Jaxxon as she entered Anna’s room.

Anna’s eyes widened. “Saying what?”

“Just that he wanted to meet up, completely unaware that I’m not even in the country.” The thought of that made Jaxxon smile.

Anna winced. Crap! Crap! Crap!

“I’ll phone him after we’ve been to the restaurant. Come on or we’ll be late for our table.”

She considered telling Jaxxon about their soon-to-arrive visitors but if she did that then the person getting yelled at would be her rather than the two arses who were truly at fault – all she had done was trust her boyfriend with a secret.

Grudgingly Anna sent a message to Warren strongly advising him and Connor to unload their stuff while she and Jaxxon were out. She contemplated telling them to wait there at the challet but then decided it would be better for Jaxxon to first see Connor while they were out. Anna figured that Jaxxon might very well go ape shit so if things were going to be smashed she would rather it not be anything from their challet. And, who knows, maybe the fact that they were in a public place would make Jaxxon contain herself. Of course it wouldn’t.

Twenty minutes later they were at the front of the queue within the restaurant which was one big posh bugger in Jaxxon’s opinion. The walls and ceiling were covered with oak wooden slats. The floor was tiled in a colour closely resembling oak. It might have made Jaxxon feel like she was in a box if the ceiling hadn’t been so high. The fantastic part was that one side of the two-floored restaurant was all glass.

Anna tried not to fidget and squirm but how the hell was she supposed to remain calm?! Those two idiots would have unpacked their stuff at the challet by now and be here any minute. There could be bloodshed. She saw that while Jaxxon was busy admiring the interior, the maître d' was gaping at her in a way that suggested he knew who she was. Something like twenty seconds later they were seated at one of the best tables near the glass wall. Considering that their booking had been last minute, it was obvious that this table hadn’t been reserved for them. It was a circular table, she noticed. Good, because soon they’d be needing to cram two other people on it.

“I love it when that happens,” said Anna, referring to the special treatment. Even better, they were presented with a complimentary bottle of red wine when handed their menus. Immediately she poured herself a glass. She needed the calming effects of alcohol.

Jaxxon looked at Anna curiously. “Are you alright?” The girl was chugging down that wine like it was the drink of eternal life. Come to think of it, she’d been restless since before they left and had been nibbling on her lip like she did when she was dreading something.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Anna, what’s going on?”

“Just remember that I love the bones of you, I really do.” She poured herself some more wine. Holy Mary Mother of God keep her calm, I’m begging you?!

“Anna, make sense.”

“And don’t forget that violence doesn’t solve anything. Well, it doesn’t solve everything.”

“Why would I be inspired to become violent?” And that was when she felt it; that tingling down her spine as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Ever so slowly she swerved her head. She vaguely registered that Warren was chatting to the maître d'. Most of her attention was taken up by the figure beside him that, as always, had the most overwhelming presence…and was staring right at her. An oppressive sensual hunger struck her and desire instantly began to course through her body, heating her blood and twisting her insides. Even while she was mad as hell at him, she wanted him. What cheesed her off more was that a part of her was glad to see him.

The instant Connor spotted her he felt like he could breathe again. The knot in his stomach untangled and the ache that had been throbbing in his chest for days stopped abruptly. But the throbbing in his pants didn’t ease one bit. In fact, it worsened as need assailed him violently. She was his addiction and going cold turkey had left him a mess. Seeing her eyes alive with fury only served to make his cock harder.

Anna observed as Jaxxon and Connor’s gazes met and, instead of the verbal and physical explosion she was expecting, there was that same electrical exchange of pure, primal need between them that she saw at the charity event. Just like then, the people around them were caught up in the moment, in the excess sparks of desire that surrounded the couple. It was there and then that Anna came to a conclusion about Jaxxon and Connor: as much as their craving for each other was primitive and raw, their connection couldn’t be on just a physical level. A link that intense couldn’t only survive on sexual hunger. It would need the involvement of the mind and the soul just as much as the body.

Jaxxon continued to hold his eyes as he stalked toward their table at a casual, non-threatening pace. He stopped before her and slowly bent down, pressing the softest lingering kiss to her lips. She wondered why she hadn’t slapped him yet. She wanted to. Really wanted to. But instead all she seemed to be doing, despite her anger, was devouring the sight of him. Their gazes never left each other’s the entire time that two more chairs were added and Anna and Warren took positions on either side of her, almost as if protecting her and Connor from each other. That then left him opposite her, which made it easier to snarl at him.