He sounded so outraged she had to choke down a laugh. They were drawing the attention of the people around them, but Jamie focused solely on Lennox, who didn’t look at all sorry about what he’d done.
“You shoulda moved faster,” he told Kade.
“Fuck off.”
Jamie gently pried Kade’s hand away from his face. “Let me have a look.”
Someone nudged her, and she turned to find Rylan holding out a T-shirt. She used the soft fabric to dab at Kade’s face and mop up the blood, then gingerly touched his nose. His blood stained her fingertips, but it was no longer gushing. The flow had slowed, and it was clear that the bone hadn’t been displaced.
“It won’t need to be set.”
“You sure?” He cursed again. “Because it hurts like a motherfucker.”
She dabbed away more blood. “It’s broken, but it’s a good break. Trust me, just ice it down and let time do all the work. You’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”
“Lucky,” Lennox agreed. “You think it hurts now? Would’ve been worse if she had to set it for you.”
Kade took the shirt and pressed it to his nostrils. “How do you know so much about setting a broken nose?”
Jamie jerked a thumb at Lennox. “Because this asshole got into a lot of fights when we were younger. I had to set his nose half a dozen times.”
“She knows what she’s doing,” Lennox said grudgingly.
Now that her hands weren’t busy, she once again felt awkward in Lennox’s presence. “Go put some ice on it,” she told Kade. She lightly squeezed his arm, then walked off to rejoin her team.
* * *
Frustration burned in Lennox’s throat as he watched Jamie go. Shit. He hated the distance between them. Hated it. But he knew it was his own damn fault.
He shouldn’t have allowed things to escalate between them the other night. He shouldn’t have sat there stroking his dick while he’d issued brusque orders at Beckett.
Damn it, he couldn’t get Jamie’s moans out of his head. The sounds she’d made when Beckett was fingering her . . . Every throaty, breathy noise had been imprinted in Lennox’s brain.
But now things were weird between them. She couldn’t even look him in the eye, and she’d barely spoken to him in two days.
His gaze shifted from Jamie to Kade, who was still scowling at him.
“Sorry,” Lennox mumbled. “I got carried away.”
Kade sighed. “It’s fine. You’re right—I need to move faster.”
As the other man left to hunt down some ice, Lennox went over to the cistern to wash his hands. Once again, his gaze sought out Jamie, whose blond head was turned as she spoke to one of the women in her group.
He’d known this would happen. He’d shown her a glimpse of the lust he felt for her, and it had scared her away. She’d been locked up in her room every night since then, and he’d been too chickenshit to knock on her door.
But he couldn’t avoid her forever. Sooner or later they’d have to talk about shit. Which was why, when Rylan and Pike asked for volunteers for the next event, Lennox spoke up in a sharp voice.
“Jamie and I volunteer.”
Her head whirled in his direction, uncertainty flickering in her eyes.
He just smiled.
The members of his team shouted their encouragement as Lennox entered the fighting square Rylan and Pike had set up. Randy slapped his back and said, “You got this, bro,” and Lennox grinned in response. He and the kid were becoming fast friends.
Jamie still hadn’t moved an inch. She stood with her group, her expression more and more unhappy as she watched Lennox stretch one arm behind his head.
“He called you out, gorgeous,” Rylan said in a singsong voice. “Time to represent your team.”
She frowned.
“If you forfeit, the Green Team gets the point . . .”
“We’ll get the point either way,” Lennox taunted. “She’s hesitating because she knows I’m gonna win.”
Jamie’s nostrils flared. Lennox’s smirk widened. His best friend was competitive by nature, and he knew his challenge wouldn’t go unmet.
Jamie took a quick sip of water, then handed the plastic bottle to the woman beside her. Her team members cheered as she joined Lennox in the ring.
They were completely unmatched in terms of size. At six-two, he towered over her five-four frame, and he had at least eighty pounds on her. But Jamie’s size was deceptive. She’d taken Kade down the other day, and in the past she’d gotten Lennox on his ass more times than he’d like to admit. Though it probably had to do with the fact that she knew him so damn well. Jamie always seemed to sense what he was going to do before he did it, and she adjusted her counterattacks based on that.
“You really want to do this?” she muttered.
She still wasn’t meeting his eyes, so he grabbed her chin and twisted her face toward him. “You scared, love?”
A sneer curled her lips. “Bring it on, baby.”
“Same rules as yesterday,” Pike said. “Three rounds, five minutes each. Winner will be judged on skill, or automatically declared if one of you taps out.”
Lennox cracked his knuckles and grinned at her.
Jamie retaliated by whipping off her tank top, which left her in a cotton bikini bra. “Don’t want to get your blood on my shirt,” she said sweetly.
Her teammates hooted.
He was too busy staring at her tits. The perfect swell of cleavage spilling out of the tiny bra.
Rylan’s sharp whistle signaled the start of the first round, and Jamie came at him so fast he didn’t have time to react. Her fist connected with his jaw with a sharp crack, but Lennox managed to lock her wrist with both hands before she could land another punch. He twisted her arm and spun her around, holding her against his chest in a tight lock.
“Is that all you’ve got?” he whispered in her ear.
She made an angry sound and jammed her elbow into his gut, with enough force that she was able to wiggle out of the hold and stumble backward. Then she bounced on the balls of her feet, both fists up. Her fighting pose was so fucking cute he had to smile.
They circled each other for a few moments, a slow, almost seductive dance that stirred his groin to life. And then it was go time. In the blink of an eye, they both launched forward, fists flying, forearms coming out to block. Even as Lennox worked to restrain himself, to go easy on her, he couldn’t stop the flood of adrenaline that surged through his veins, and it was only fueled by the loud cheers of the crowd around them.
“Kick ’im in the balls!” one of the girls on Jamie’s team shouted.
When he trapped her in another armlock, Jamie proved she wasn’t above taking her teammate’s suggestion. Her knee flew up and connected with his groin. Lennox barked out a curse, the jolt of pain causing him to slam his fist into her abdomen. She flew back, her eyes blazing at him.
“Fucking dick!” she yelled.
Ignoring the pain shooting through his testicles, he flashed a cocky grin. A moment later, Rylan whistled again.
“End of Round One!”
Rylan and Pike promptly bent their heads together to confer before declaring Jamie the winner of that bout.
Lennox rolled his eyes when she stuck out her tongue at him. Little brat.
The second round was more of the same. They each got in a few good blows, until one costly error gave Lennox the upper hand. His sharp uppercut made her stumble, and the nanosecond in which she lost her balance allowed him to kick her legs from under her and send her tumbling to the ground. A second later, Lennox was on top of her, his thighs on either side of her torso, his forearm against her slender throat. He didn’t exert enough pressure to squeeze her windpipe, but the dominant pose made it clear that he could.
“Tapping out?” he teased.
“No.” Sweat beaded
on her forehead as she tried to shove him off her. She batted at him with her fists, but he had her pinned solidly to the ground.
The cheers and whistles from his teammates faded away. All he could focus on was Jamie’s beautiful face, the way her perfect mouth twisted in frustration as she realized she couldn’t overpower him. He became aware of her thigh muscles quivering beneath the weight of his lower body, the way her breasts heaved as her breathing grew labored. He felt himself hardening but didn’t bother disguising the response by shifting his hips. He just let her feel every hard inch of him.
Her blue eyes widened. “Lennox . . .” Soft and questioning.
He realized he was still staring at her, allowing all his naked hunger for her to show in his eyes. The knowledge that he wasn’t strong enough to mask his lust spurred him to push his forearm deeper into her throat.
“Tap out,” he growled.
Something akin to disappointment flickered in her eyes. Then her arm came out and she tapped her palm on the pavement.
His team roared. Hers booed.
Lennox was unsteady getting to his feet. As Rylan gleefully announced, “Winner!” Lennox held out his hand to Jamie, his heart beating erratically.
Her mystified gaze searched his face as she took his hand so he could help her up. She didn’t look pissed that he’d won the fight.
Truth be told, he didn’t feel as if he’d won a damn thing. He felt as if he’d lost.
“Nice job,” Jamie murmured, and something in her tone brought a squeeze of pain to his heart.
She walked over to her teammates without a backward glance. The defeat lodged in his chest only thickened.
Shit. Maybe he needed to follow her lead. Keep avoiding her. Keep pretending that the other night had never happened. He might have screwed up by opening the sex door, but there was an easy fix for that. All he had to do was slam the door shut, lock it up, and throw away the key.
And . . . he spared a rueful glance at his crotch . . . it was probably best if he got laid tonight.
10
“I need to sit down before my ankles explode.” Bethany’s massive belly bobbed as she awkwardly lowered herself onto the couch next to Jamie, who instantly moved over to make room for the pregnant woman.
Smiling, she glanced at Bethany’s bare ankles, which did look a tad swollen. “Aw, sweetie. You need to stop working at the restaurant. You’re on your feet too much.”
“My feet? You should see my feet,” Bethany retorted. “God knows I can’t, but I’m told my toes look like sausages.” She sighed. “I hate being fat.”
Jamie leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You are not fat. You’re beautiful.”
“Sorry, but the music’s too loud. All I heard was you’re and fat.” Bethany blinked innocently, which made Jamie laugh.
The music was kind of loud, though. And the rec hall was packed. Nearly every Foxworth resident was at the party Rylan was throwing to celebrate the successful first day of the tournament. Jamie had to hand it to him—the idea to turn the training into a competition had really done the trick. Instead of complaining, everyone was teeming with excitement now. She’d even seen half a dozen teenagers in the courtyard earlier practicing their knife-throwing techniques.
Reese was bound to be happy about this. By the time Rylan and Pike were done, the woman would have a highly trained army at her disposal.
“Heard you and Lennox got into it today,” Bethany said curiously.
“Not really. It was just a training exercise.”
“You sure? Arch said it looked pretty intense.”
Jamie didn’t remember seeing Bethany’s man at the fight. Or around town, for that matter. Arch was one of the men who didn’t require any training. He was already as lethal as they came, and was usually assigned to the watchtower at the back gate.
“It was nothing,” Jamie insisted. “Really.” If by nothing she meant he was on top of me and hard as a rock.
God, he’d been impossibly hard. And he hadn’t even tried to hide it. Which was only all the more confusing. Lennox was sending so many mixed signals her head was spinning. He seemed determined to push her away, while at the same time desperate to pull her closer.
But it didn’t matter. Any sexual involvement between them was not a good idea, especially now that she’d witnessed the kind of damage it could cause. All they’d done the other night was orgasm in the same vicinity and it had led to days of awkwardness. She didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to their friendship if they actually had sex.
“If you say so.” Bethany sounded unconvinced, but she was smart enough not to push the issue. Instead she chewed on her bottom lip for a second, then said, “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Ask away.”
“Hudson . . .” Bethany trailed off.
Jamie’s guard instantly shot up. “What about her?”
“I didn’t get a chance to spend any time with her when she and Con were here, but I overhead Reese and Sloan talking the other night.” Bethany frowned. “Is it true she’s Dominik’s sister?”
Jamie hesitated. Then nodded.
Which clearly wasn’t the desired response, because Bethany’s mouth instantly curled into a sneer.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Jamie said hastily. “Believe me, I wasn’t thrilled about it either when I found out, but Hudson isn’t like the others in the city. She’s not out to get us.”
“But her brother is.”
“He might not be.” Jamie still wasn’t convinced of that herself, but she felt she owed it to Hudson to come to her defense. Connor’s woman had been nothing but kind to her. “Hudson and Dominik’s father used to be in charge of the Enforcers. Did you know that?”
Bethany shook her head. “I’m not too knowledgeable about their military hierarchy.”
“There’s not much to know. Each colony has a commander who calls the shots, and a head Enforcer who leads the men on the field. Hudson’s father was the commander, but after he died, Ferris took over. Since then, the rules have changed. More colony sweeps, increased violence.” Jamie shrugged. “According to Hudson, Dominik isn’t happy with all the changes. Supposedly he’s trying to fix that.”
Bethany looked doubtful, and Jamie didn’t blame her one bit. “Really? Because the colony sweeps are still going strong.”
“I don’t know what he’s doing or what his plan is,” Jamie admitted. “But for what it’s worth, he did help Hudson escape from the Enforcer compound. When he had the opportunity to kill Connor, he let him go instead. And he even gave Hudson a satellite phone she can use to contact him. She sent him her coordinates, and so far he’s been keeping the sweeps away from her location.”
“Lucky her,” Bethany said bitterly. “Because he sure as hell isn’t keeping any of those assholes away from here. Did Reese tell you what happened with Nestor last month? How that dickhead was waving his gun around like a madman, demanding Reese give him Sara?”
Jamie stiffened. “Sara?”
“He wanted to take her on their colony sweep so she could ‘service’ him and his men. Fucking pervert was lucky Gideon was at the farm that day—”
“Gideon?”
“Sara’s father. Gid would have strangled the man with his bare hands. Sloan stepped up, though.” Disgust colored Bethany’s tone. “The Enforcers are monsters. I honestly can’t believe that Dominik, their leader, is any different.”
Neither could Jamie, but she was willing to give Hudson the benefit of the doubt. For now, anyway.
“Why do you ladies look so serious?” came Arch’s deep voice.
The ginger-haired giant approached the sofa and perched on the edge of it. At six-seven and close to three hundred pounds, the man was imposing as hell, but his expression conveyed nothing but tenderness as he leaned in to stroke Bethany’s huge belly.
The sight ma
de Jamie’s heart ache. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before. Like she were the sun and moon and everything in between.
“I was telling Jamie about Nestor,” Bethany admitted.
Arch’s green eyes hardened. “Fucking bastard. Sloan should have killed him.”
“The Enforcers would have opened fire if he’d done anything more than knock Nestor out,” Bethany said firmly. Arch’s hand was still on her stomach, and she covered it with her own. “Sloan did the right thing.”
“Strongly disagree.”
As the couple began to bicker about what Sloan should or shouldn’t have done, Jamie raised her whiskey glass to her lips and took a long swig. The alcohol burned her belly, slowed the flow of her blood. She was already a little drunk, but not drunk enough.
If she was going to officially exorcise her attraction to Lennox, she needed to be much, much drunker.
She glanced around the room, her gaze sweeping over the rowdy group of men standing around the pool table. The couples in various stages of undress. The sexual escapades being conducted in the shadowy corners of the room. She spotted Rylan leaning against the wall, a bottle in one hand, his blue eyes fixed on the door. She got the grating feeling he was waiting for Reese.
She shifted her gaze in search of Lennox and found him in the back corner. He was sitting in an overstuffed chair, and he wasn’t alone—there was a dark-haired woman in his lap, nibbling on his neck and playing with his hair. Lennox had a hand on her hip, and he was slowly grazing his fingers over the strip of pale flesh where her shirt rode up from the waistband of her jeans.
“Who’s that?” Jamie nodded in the direction of the woman and gulped some more whiskey.
Bethany followed her gaze. “Oh, that’s Cassie. You’ve met her before.”
Right, she had. The brunette worked in the laundry room; Jamie remembered handing off her sheets and pillowcases to Cassie during her last visit.
“She doesn’t usually come to parties.” Arch grinned when he noticed where Lennox’s hand had disappeared.
Almost immediately, Cassie’s spine arched erotically as Lennox fondled her breasts under her shirt.