Winters Rising Read online

  Brea’s fingers dug through his hair and into his scalp. The water tickled her skin, and she gasped at the thrill of it all.

  “You okay?” Jax pulled away enough to look at her. Water trickled down his face, and over his thick shoulders. His eyes smouldered, and her body longed for him against her.

  Okay? Okay! This was an erotic moment of bliss. Was he serious?

  She didn’t answer him, instead taking his distraction as an opportunity to appreciate what his body offered her. One of his thick arms rested on the rock over her shoulder and as he pulled back, she was able to run her eyes across his whole thick, hard body.

  “I would be better if you got back up here,” she said.

  He grinned. “You tease.”

  She slapped his chest, wishing he had a shirt on to yank him back against her. “You’re the tease.”

  “Damn, you’re beautiful.” His voice was hoarse.

  When Brea didn’t think she could handle another second apart from him, his body collided with hers, promising her the most sensual moment of her life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  HOURS LATER, LYING by the waterfalls on a blanket Jax had made from his clothes, he propped his head up with one hand, and ran fingers from his free hand along Brea’s bare stomach. Positioned on her back, he had access to all parts of her silky skin drying in the sun.

  They would have to leave soon. He didn’t want to step out of this paradise and back into reality with her, but knowing Brea finally saw him for who he really was and not the man she’d invented made it possible for them to blissfully return anytime.

  He thought about her comment about him talking to Seconds. Jax worried about her concept of the society’s teaching. With an angry council on their way, he needed to make sure he and Brea were on the same page. But he also wanted to be sure she knew today had not been about bonding. He knew if he said the wrong thing, her skepticism would return.

  “Tell me something about you,” he said. “Your family. Your childhood. Anything.”

  Her eyes danced through the leaves above them, but when they landed on him, her face shifted with the topic.

  “You met my family at the vow ceremony,” she said, almost coldly.

  “I briefly met them. Tell me about them.”

  Brea frowned, looking away. “They are all Seconds and none of them are destined to marry Gatekeepers.”

  Jax ran his finger along her jaw line before making her look at him. “Not about their destiny. About them.”

  Brea pursed her lips. “They all have dark hair,” she said. “And dark eyes. My blonde hair and blue eyes are the result of my odd duckling status in the family.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “You are anything but an odd duckling. More like a precious jewel in the middle of a mountain of gold.”

  Brea’s lips curled up. “Most people want the gold.”

  “Most people don’t know what they’re missing.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure you feel that way with my attitude since arriving.”

  “Why do you undermine yourself like that?”

  “Everyone undermines Seconds. What difference does it make if I do it?”

  “You’re not a Second anymore.”

  Brea stiffened beneath him and moved his hand away from her.

  “What did I say?”

  Her face contorted, seemingly struggling with her thoughts. He wasn’t surprised when she sat up, putting distance between them. “You can’t change my past. To say I am not a Second because I am bound to you sounds like you think that makes me better. Because it does. Right? Your status is higher than mine, even though your whole house is run by Seconds, you are better.”

  “I didn’t mean it as an insult.” He reached for her. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

  She pulled away. “You mean you don’t want me to disagree with you.”

  This was exactly the path he hadn’t wanted to go down with her. “That’s not what I said.”

  “You don’t have to.” She stood up and grabbed her clothes.

  “Don’t make me the bad guy−”

  “My childhood sucked,” she said, turning back to him, tears forming at the rims of her eyes. “My parents were strict, abiding every single rule given by council. There were no fancy vacations, or even vacations at all. We went to school to serve you and your kind while being left in the dark about everything.”

  Your kind? Was that how she saw him?

  Although he didn’t want to fight with her, he found himself grateful she could now express herself fully to him.

  “As we grew into young adults, we were taught not to question the teachers, or our parents. When all other teenagers had the freedom to express their opinions, we were punished.” Brea pulled her top over her head, turning away as she pulled it down over her torso. He watched her shoulders rise and fall, before she said, “I’m not the only Second to feel the way I do about Gatekeepers.” She turned back to him, her tone heated. “In fact, I would say more than half of Seconds resent Gatekeepers from the moment we learn we are Seconds and what that entails for our future. Not only is the name degrading, as you’ve proven right now, but the life and teaching that goes along with it is demeaning. I strongly believe the logistics of all gate-keeping should be taught across the society. Not privately, for only the Gatekeeper families.”

  Jax stood.

  “The government doesn’t keep the entire human race aware of every little detail of the world. Regular people would go crazy if they knew every detail,” he pointed out, trying to reason with her. He might not agree with Lexcon’s methods, but he didn’t know all of them either.

  “But the government gives people freedom. Something we get taken away when we’re born a Second.”

  “Being part of our society is a privilege.”

  “Says the Gatekeeper who thinks because I’m no longer a Second. Now I’m better. Have you noticed me at all in your home? I didn’t, still don’t, know where I stand in your household.”

  “You’re my wife.”

  “Exactly,” Brea said the word as if she were insulted.

  “I know plenty of women who would be thrilled to be the wife of a Gatekeeper,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “It’s too bad you didn’t have the freedom to bond one of them.”

  “I don’t want to bond with one of them.”

  “Your soul doesn’t want to bond with one of them. Your soul controls you, while council gives you the freedom to escape to a tropical island.”

  “Fighting about this is useless. How can we win against something that has been like this since the beginning of time?”

  Brea groaned, closing her eyes. “That’s always the answer. All through school, whenever I would ask why we couldn’t learn about our history, about the way things work, or about why they would tell me no, the answer was always because it’s been that way since the beginning of time.”

  “Why change a good thing?”

  “It’s not good!” she shouted at him. “And just because it’s always been that way doesn’t make it right. We are basically put in a school that brands us to believe our only duty is to take care of Gatekeepers. It’s our destiny.” She air quoted the “destiny” and folded her arms tightly across her front before continuing.

  “We’re made distinctly aware that we are not equal to you. In a society that promotes equality, we are taught differently and, at the same time, taught nothing. So when I looked at you and didn’t know what would happen after our bonding. There are horror stories about how Gatekeepers treat their soulmates.”

  What was she talking about? Horror Stories?

  “The teachers secretly warn us and prepare the ones who bare the marks. I had to be strong, independent and brave because you could have been different. I could be in a dungeon right now instead of this tropical island. All I had to keep me ...me...was to avoid bonding with you.”

  Jax took a step back in shock and rubbed the back of his neck. �
�Brea, that doesn’t happen.”

  “Are you so blind that you really believe that? Your whole family is shocked by my behavior because they want me to bow down to you. Your dad−”

  “Loves my mom. They are equal.”

  “It’s not always like that between bonders.”

  Jax took her hands in his.

  “I don’t think I’m superior to you. I don’t want to be nor do I want you to feel unwelcomed in our home. I can’t fix the way the council chooses to teach but I can promise you I am disgusted if that is the way you and other Seconds are treated or taught. I am no better than you. I got a birthmark that states my job, not my status.”

  “I want to fix the way we are taught. I want to make a difference...” She stopped suddenly, like she’d revealed too much to him.

  “And how do you propose to do that?” he asked, getting a bad feeling in his gut.

  She looked down at the ground between them.

  “Brea?”

  She looked up, straightening her shoulders. “Council is coming to your house and I plan on drawing up an outline to propose a change in the schools.”

  Son of a bitch. The schools were honestly the last thing Jax wanted to discuss with council. There was a bigger picture that Brea was missing: Unborns were born. This information, or lack thereof, was huge. He didn’t want council to get distracted by his wife bringing up the school system.

  “They won’t be there to talk about changing their ways when we have defied them with our lack of bonding. They are going to be angrier than all hell at us.”

  “Then I will make them listen.”

  “How?”

  Brea bit her lower lip and Jax repeated his question. “How?”

  “I will refuse to bond until they listen to me,” she said.

  The ground beneath Jax twisted. Brea’s defense was refusing to bond? He immediately felt used. When he’d thought she’d needed time to adjust to him and her new life, she’d been plotting behind his back.

  “Has this been your plan all along?” he growled.

  “No.”

  Her answer came too quickly and he glowered down at her. He’d given her plenty of room but he wouldn’t tolerate lying.

  “It’s pretty convenient,” he gritted out.

  “That’s all it is. Convenience. I didn’t know not bonding would call for a meeting. I don’t know much, remember?”

  “So you say.”

  Brea stepped back, taking her hands with her. He watched as she put her defenses back up, defenses he’d worked hard all day to lower.

  “Are you calling me a liar?” she accused.

  “You haven’t been all that upfront since arriving.”

  “Me? I’ve been here for only four days. I’ve uprooted my life, been dropped in a cold house, and told to bond or else. But never have I lied. Unlike you. You claim to not know how the wives of Gatekeepers are treated, but you know. You turn a blind eye and promise yourself you’re going to be better. Aren’t you just as bad if you don’t try to make a change?”

  This was ridiculous. She was talking like a mad woman.

  “You are not approaching council. Do you understand?” His strict, dark voice would have deterred anyone, but not his wife.

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “Anything you say, darling. And if I don’t obey, I bet there’s a nice dark dungeon where your dad trained your mother to be the perfect Gatekeeper’s wife.”

  She had gone too far.

  Jax swiped his clothes from the ground before he turned into the dreaded Gatekeeper she thought him to be.

  “Get dressed. We’re going home.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  THEY ARRIVED HOME without a second to spare. Brea still reeled from Jax’s opinion about the society being fine the way it was. And then forbidding her to approach council...who did he think he was? Oh, that’s right, a gatekeeping god.

  While they were gone, Gabrielle had experienced another vision. But once Declan healed her and Jax, Brea stormed out of the library without listening to the details of Gabby’s version. She could hear Jax at her heels and didn’t miss Victor’s enraged look or the curious look from Annalieese. Nor did she care. Jax didn’t and would never understand her view of the community, so she would face council alone. Jax leaving on another rip would give Brea the perfect opportunity to approach them without the hassle of his domineering ways. If he didn’t want her talking to council, he’d better lock her in the dungeon.

  Jax followed her into his living quarters now without a word. She peeled off her shirt, tossing it on the floor as she made her way down the hall toward the shower. Even after spending a wonderful day in a tropical paradise with him, their last conversation now made her itch to cleanse off his lingering scent.

  “Brea, I want you to stay in my wing until I get back,” Jax said, heading straight to the walk-in closet.

  Wearing only her bra and shorts, she leaned against the doorframe and crossed her legs. His shirt was missing, too, and he also slipped off his shorts, pulling another pair of pants off a hanger.

  “Isn’t that lovely,” Brea said to him. “There’s the controlling, bossy, Gatekeeper I had you pegged for. You’ve tried so hard to hide this part of you, but here it is, popping out when necessary, just like every other Gatekeeper.”

  His shoulders rose and the sound of air sucking between his teeth twisted her stomach. He pulled on his pants and yanked a shirt over his head with sharp movements, finally stopping in front of her. “I’m asking−”

  She rolled her eyes at the outright lie. “You’re not asking. You’re ordering. Guess what?” She stepped even closer, wishing they could have come home and showered together. “I don’t like being ordered.”

  She poked his chest. It heated beneath her fingertip, warning her to focus on hating him, not wanting him.

  “My whole life I’ve been ordered around. I’ve been taught my status, told I would bond with you, and give birth to your babies. Not mine, not ours...yours. So, forgive me, if I need a tiny bit of freedom to call my own. You can’t lock me up in your wing like a prisoner. I will bond with you. I will have your children. But I will not let you control my time.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “And, I will talk to council while you’re gone.”

  He ran his hands across his face and a louder, wilder groan rumbled up his chest. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re impossible?”

  Brea didn’t answer him. What was the point? This was a prime example why arranged souls were not a good idea. The arrangement lacked respect and the elements of teamwork. She was still alone. She turned on her heel and stormed into the bathroom, giving the door an extra push to make a loud slam. It only slammed against Jax’s body.

  “Get dressed,” he barked, before slamming it himself, getting in the last word.

  Stay here. Get dressed. Blah, blah, blah.

  Brea took her sweet time in the bathroom, basking in a long, warm shower, applying some basic makeup, and blow drying her damp hair.

  When she finally exited the bathroom, she found Jax gone.

  Good. Jerk.

  Brea slipped on a pair of black skinny jeans and a chiffon blouse, prepared to borrow Jax’s office and tackle an outline for council. Maybe there was information in his office she could use against them. She would bust that damn door down if she had to, because future Seconds were depending on her. No one stood up for them and she knew she could make a difference...she could feel it.

  Jax spoiled her plans by stepping out of the bedroom, and stood waiting for her by the door. His wet hair indicated he’d used the guest shower. His scowl, which reminded her of his father’s angry looks, indicated his fury.

  He opened the suite door. “After you,” he gritted.

  Brea poured herself a cup of coffee instead.

  The door slammed shut.

  “Brea, I don’t have time for this,” he snarled.

  “I’ll stay put, I promise,” she lied.

  “I doubt it. Either you come with me
willingly or I fling that sexy body of yours over my shoulder and carry you. I don’t care either way.” His eyes smouldered. “Your choice.”

  She could scream. His need for control sickened her.

  Slipping into her shoes, she strode past him and grumbled, “It’s still controlling if you’re giving ultimatums.”

  “It’s for your protection.”

  “I doubt it. Where to? The dungeon?”

  “SO, ALL WE HAVE, IS a baby getting taken out of a crib,” Jax clarified, walking across the length of the study.

  His family had impatiently waited for him, but instead of being relieved when he’d finally walked through the door, he’d received a round of disapproval at Brea’s presence.

  While his father glared, his mother silently scolded.

  Jax wasn’t happy about it either, but what choice had Brea left him? Not to mention his father’s earlier behavior and the possibility of council arriving at any moment. Without Jax present to protect Brea, he was left with no other alternative than for her to join him on another rip. She just didn’t know it yet...neither did his family.

  He looked at her now, her blue eyes absorbing every detail of the how’s, what’s, when’s, and where’s of their discussion. He could see her mentally photographing every word to use in her meeting with council. A council who didn’t listen to Gatekeepers, let alone Seconds. She would be fighting a losing battle−she simply didn’t know it.

  When she caught him watching her, Brea’s angry eyes threw daggers back at him.

  “Jax, I swear, if you start with ‘so all we have’...” Gabrielle mimicked, throwing her hands in the air, as if he did such motions. “...I will tell Mom how you sneak in your contraband.”

  His protein powder and Millie. Let’s see the next time he’d let Gabrielle borrow a scoop for her smoothie. He would relocate his stash as well. What were they? Five?

  The siblings participated in a glaring war.