The Rebel

This is my adaptation of "Rebel With A Cause." by Kim Nelson.

Chapter 10

Jax reached out to touch her.

When Jax’s hands dove into her hair. Brenda gasped and
stumbled forward to plant her hands against his chest.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you,” he told her,
his voice rough and grating as his fingers combed through her
brown locks of hair. He tugged gently to make her lift her head.
“And this, too.”

His mouth covered hers, the strength went out of her knees and
she collapsed against him in a trembling heap. But if she had
expected his embrace to be tender, tentative, she was wrong.
His kisses wasn't soft. Not like they would be on a first date. He
offered no tenuous touch or inquisitive grasp. He took what he
wanted and the greed and the want his mouth possessed was
enough to send alarm bells ringing through Brenda's head. But
they were easily ignored. She closed her eyes and stepped
head-on into the storm, leaving it for him to find the way back to
sanity.

"I probably shouldn't have done that."

"Probably," she agreed, the vibrant timbre of his words sending a
pleasant chill down her spine, but she didn't care what was
proper and not proper. Not when the heat of his skin was
warming hers and not when keeping him at arms length was
something she new was near impossible. Jax McCarty wasn't a
man to be contained or held at bay. She had recognized that
from the instant she had met him in that dark alley. Had
wondered at it, been awed by and fought against it, she gave up
the fight and released the stranglehold she had on his shirt to
reach up and pull him back down to her.

It was an action that forced him to swallow her moan of pleasure.
Yet it was a sweet reward, and he was ready for another taste.
The first little taste had been overwhelming, her flavor so
all-consuming that he nearly devoured her whole. But he wanted
to savor the next taste. He wanted to enjoy every sweet morsel
of her mouth as she pressed it to his.

Coaxing her lips open, his tongue swept inside and his
exploration deepened until the blending was so complete that it
was difficult for him to know where he ended and she began. It
was a startling revelation, and it made it easy for him to abruptly
break away from her.

"I'll see you in the morning."

Not waiting for her to agree, disagree or respond, Jax just walked
away, jumped on his bike and roared out the drive, but he
couldn't escape the desire flowing through his veins. He could
only curse himself for being drawn in, for forgetting that he was
only with her because the challenge had appealed and the game
she'd offered had compelled him. But he didn't want to play
anymore. At least, not by the original rules, because the stakes
had changed.

He didn't want just what he'd set out to accomplish. He wanted
more...which would be acceptable if he didn't keep forgetting
what it was he had originally set out to achieve.

Cursing himself again, he zoomed down the freeway towards his
own exit ramp.

Losing track of the goal was unheard of. At least for him. He
was known for his single-mindedness, his unerring aim, his
unrelenting drive in going after...and getting...whatever it was he
wanted. That quality was what made people either love or hate
him, depending on what side of the negotiating table they were
sitting on.

But Brenda Barrett had managed to distract him. She was the
first and only person to do that in years...since his inexperience
had given way to hard-line decision making that allowed him to
ignore sentiment and go straight for the jugular. It made him
wonder about getting involved with her, staying involved, and it
made him doubt himself. And he didn't like that one bit.

Pulling into his driveway, Jax coasted into the garage where he
parked the bike before going into the house, entering the living
room and impatiently click on a light.

It annoyed him that he'd lost sight of his objective, especially
when all it took was the stimulation of his libido. Brenda Barrett
was much more than he had expected. The whole situation was.
He stalked to one end of the room only to pace back again. And
that was the problem. He'd made an error in judgement

The challenge Brenda offered him wasn't like the ones he was
used to taking on. This venture had emotional issues, something
he usually ignored in the cold-hearted world of business.
Business was business. But that wouldn't work this time,
because instead of dealing with the hard facts of buildings and
figures, he was contending with a woman who had wants and
needs that were triggering his own wants and needs. It was an
unexpected complication, but not an unwelcoming one.

A smile spread across his face. He was used to dealing with
complications. As far as complications went he had suffered
through far worse than Brenda. Still, she was a problem he'd
have to deal with. The pull of attraction that erupted so easily
would have to be ignored, set aside, until he was free to deal
with it. And her. And until she knew who he real was.

Jax picked up the phone and punched in a number, mindless to
the time and the groggy mumble that came across the line. "Hey
Jerry, its me, Jax. I'm just checking in."

A long groan was the first reply, rapidly followed by a resentful,
"Jax, bloody he**, do you know what time it is?"

"Long night, Jer?" Jax's lips twitched.

"Nevermind. You know sometimes you can be a real pain in the
rear."

Jax laughed.

"What are you doing up so late anyway?"

"I was celebrating with a special lady."

"The Barrett chick?"

Jax grunted.

"It doesn't sound as if it went very good."

"It was okay under the circumstances," Jax responded, his blood
starting to boil as he remembered the embrace on Brenda's
porch. The truth was going to have to come out soon. "But I'm
starting to feel like a spy in the enemy camp."

"Does she know who you are?"

"No, she doesn't. I used one of the alias that I use for
emergencies."

Silence filled the phone line.

"Did you find anything out about that property in Malibu? Why we
didn't know anything about it?" Jax said, in order to change the
subject. He wasn't in the mood for a lecture from his older
brother.

"It was a private sale. That's why we...and everybody
else...knew nothing about it. It went through some Realtor that
just happens to be an old friend of Harlan Barrett, but that's not
who got it directly. It went through one of his officers, Michael
Sonny Corinthos."

Jax frowned. But Sonny had led Barrett to believe there were
other bidders, probably to make it look as if he was working
harder than he was to close the deal when he'd actually just been
waiting for the seller to cave in...an act that could have lost the
sale completely if the seller had gone elsewhere. "I've met him."

"Sounds like you liked him, too."

"Let's just say he reminds me of the North end of a southbound
mule."

Jerry laughed. "Sounds like he make a good impression on you."

Jax grinned. "What's the story on the takeover?"

"The bidding is still hot and heavy."

"And Barrett's still in on it?"

"With Corinthos leading the way."

Jax felt relief lessen the guilt he felt. At least Brenda wasn't
standing directly in his way. That might leave the possibility of a
future together even if there was a bloody battle.

"You're..."

"I'm following your instructions to the letter, little brother."

"Any deadlines been made?"

"No. They're either holding out and trying to shake everyone off,
or they're waiting for the numbers to go up higher."

"Up the ante."

"Any suggestions?"

"Use your imagination. I'll be in touch. Goodnight Jerry and
sweet dreams." Jax hung up and shoved his hands in his pockets
as he walked over to the patio doors.

Part of him wanted to back out of his job with Brenda. It would
leave him free to pursue her on a different level...if she still would
have him when she found out his real name...but he didn't like
leaving jobs half done. And she was still vulnerable.

With her victory in Malibu, she had shown her father, Sonny
Corinthos, and the rest of the board that she was a power to be
reckoned with, but her battles were far from over even if she had
finally realized nice guys finish last and the teamwork didn't
always mean being a team player Sonny would be out for
revenge, and he was bound to play dirty. Given the chance he
would undercut her with her father, and Jax didn't want that to
happen. It would hurt her...not that, save for an attraction he
was sure to pass once the heat of passion had been unleashed to
burn itself out, he was overly concerned with what happened to
her.

She was a big girl and could take care of herself. Otherwise she
wouldn't be where she was in her father's firm. It built up, and he
had only just started turning Brenda into the fire-breathing
business exec she needed to play in the big leagues of corporate
combat. The only problem with this was, could he trust himself
to keep his hands off of her during the transformation? When the
ice she tried to keep herself encased in started to melt, he
couldn't imagine standing idly by.

Jax smothered a sigh. But keeping her at arms length was only a
small part of his worries. He had a job to do, a decision to make,
and when it came time to look out for himself, he didn't know if
he could protect her, too. Or keep intact the feelings of mutual
attraction that were pulling them closer together.