HIS: Book 1 in the HIS trilogy Page 6

  Shaking his head to signal his willingness to concede to her Sam tilted his head back as he tried to get comfy.

  They stayed in a comfortable silence for about half an hour before the door flew open and Jax stormed in.

  He took in Sam on the bean bag chair and her still laying on the bed before he whipped his head back around to glare at Sam.

  "Just what the fuck are you doing in here?" he growled.

  Sam cocked his head to the side as anger clouded his features.

  "I was watching over her Prez; maybe you would like to enlighten us as to just what or should I say who the fuck you were going; to be gone so long?" Sam's words made Winifred freeze up.

  She had been just about to separate them or yell at them to shut up because she beginning to get a headache when Sam's words sank in.

  Who was Jaxxon with and why was he with her when he said he wanted her.

  "You know what I don't answer to no body but myself. I don't answer to you, I don't answer to my father and I don't answer to the club... but just this once for Winifred's sake I am going to answer your question." Jaxxon moved across the room to stand in front of Sam before he glared down at him.

  "I was making sure that cock sucker would never be able to try that shit with Winifred or anyone else ever again, also I was making sure Winifred had everything she needed at my place."

  Leaning down Jaxxon brought his face directly in front of Sam's

  "I stopped messing around with Ava a long time ago so you need to get over this shit. You want her then go say something to her but understand this you ever try and put doubt in my girls mind again and I will fix it so that you never have a chance with Ava... or any other girl for that matter understood?" His words caused Winifred to shiver they were said with so much coldness so much threat.

  Winifred listened as Sam responded.

  "Yeah man I got you."

  "Good then get your ass up and head back to your post outside this door." Jaxxon stood straight and pointed to the door.

  Sam stood but instead of heading to the door he walked to Winifred's side.

  Leaning down he whispered in her ear, "I may be a part of the club and I may have to answer to Jax but should you ever need me I will help you no matter what or who." he kissed her temple then patted her shoulder before turning to look at a now enraged Jaxxon.

  "Calm down you territorial ass I was just saying bye." Sam spit at Jaxxon before walking out of the room gently closing the door behind him.

  Winifred sat up and looked at Jax who was now pacing the room fist clenched.

  "Jaxxon what was that about? Sam was just looking out for me and he was nothing but a gentleman."

  Jaxxon stopped pacing to look at her, "I don't like him near you."

  "Why?"

  Jaxxon paused a moment before holding up two fingers to indicate his problems.

  "One because I ordered him to stand guard at your door and then I find him half asleep in your room, and second because he is still holding a grudge over something I had no control over."

  Jaxxon resumed his pacing.

  "Ava?" Winifred asked feeling the unfamiliar pang of jealousy settling in her stomach.

  "Yes."

  Winifred sat quietly for a minute before she asked,"Did you love her?"

  "No, me and Ava had a special bond and we had sex but it was definitely NOT love." Jaxxon came over to Winifred and he sat beside her on the bed his elbows braced on his knees; head down.

  "Ava and I grew up club kids, her dad was the Prez of the Knight Riders so we would hang out and bitch about our lives at club meetings..." he sighed, his shoulders rising and falling under the weight of his life.

  "She wanted to be a lawyer but her father had plans of using her to unite our two clubs. He wanted her to be my old lady, I wanted something more than club life as well... we just seemed to have to deal with the same shit so eventually we gave in and pretended to date to satisfy our fathers and yes we had sex but if was just a physical thing no emotional shit involved."

  Winifred leaned over unsure of how he would react but needing to touch him she placed her hand on the center of his back before she began to slowly rub her hand up and down in a soothing manner.

  "Sam wanted her huh?"

  Looking up over his shoulder at Winifred Jax smiled, "Yeah he did."

  "So what happened?"

  "She's like me, which is why we even had what we had, she wanted something different and she went after it. She is a lawyer over in Driscoll county now...whenever I come back to town she makes a special trip out to see me and there has been occasional sex but again it's only physical... this time I told her I wasn't interested and she left."

  Winifred wanted to ask him why he hadn't been interested but she didn't want to be that presumptuous so instead she asked.

  "Why wont she give Sam a chance?" after all Sam was a great looking guy.

  Turning he reached out and traced her jawline with the side of his pointer finger,

  "Because Slider lives and breathes the club if she is with him she is back in with the club..."

  "Oh." Winifred said as she looked down and her hands clasped together in her lap.

  She felt bad for Sam he seemed like a nice guy and he looked fantastic but to be in love or like with someone who wouldn't give you the time of day because of the things in life your passionate about would suck.

  "Yeah Oh." Jax copied.

  Winifred looked up at Jaxxon, uncertain about what tomorrow might hold for her now so she hesitantly asked, "Jaxxon whats going to happen now?"

  Smiling a sad smile Jaxxon answered.

  "Now you pack your bags and anything else you want or need and I take you home with me where I can keep you safe."

  Reaching down he patted her thigh before he stood up and left the room allowing her the space she needed to process everything that was taking place in her word.

  Looking around her room Winifred took in her bleak little corner of the world and decided that a change was not necessarily a bad thing and she did at least have Jaxxon when a lot of other people far worse off than she didn't even have that making them totally alone to face their challenges.

  Realizing that setting there procrastinating on things was accomplishing nothing Winnie got up and began packing her stuff in a suitcase.

  She was pragmatic and left the unnecessary things only packing what she really needed or loved too much to leave behind.

  Pretty soon she had everything she would need to leave this house behind toothbrush and paste included.

  Sitting on the bed she had made up she hugged herself.

  She had always planned on leaving one day but now that the day had come she was nervous.

  While it hadn't been a great home it had been guaranteed and hers.

  Jax wanted to take her from here but he was a stranger, a stranger who had saved her and stood by her but what if he grew tired of her? Was she ready to support herself? What would happen to her mom?" She was in the middle of a one person two sided debate when Jax returned Sam hot on his heels.

  Looking at her bags packed and by the door he nodded in satisfaction before ordering Sam to take the bags out to his truck.

  After Sam left Jax stood in the doorway his hands on his hips an air of impatience once again surrounded him.

  "So you ready for this?" he asked.

  Shaking her head yes Winifred stood and slipped past him leaving her room for the last time.

  At the bottom of the stairs her mother stood tear stained cheeks and a frail look about her a lost look in her eyes.

  It was like she had lost her purpose in life.

  Come to think of it when did she get home?

  Her mother looked up and saw Winifred a hollow smile formed of her pale face.

  "Winifred you know where Mark is don't you, I can't find him and he won't answer his phone." she crossed and uncrossed her arms before lifting her left hand to her mouth absentmindedly chewing on her nails.

  "There was
a note saying he had left me that he needed to work on being a better man and it was for my own good but he already is a great man what would he need to work on?" obviously her mother was talking more to herself but her words filled Winifred with a new found fire and a burning hatred.

  "I hope you find a man to treat you just the way you let that sick bastard treat me Elaine and I hope one day with your eyes fully open to just how much of a weak fool you are you look me up and we work out our many problems to finally be mother and daughter... but there's a greater chance of ice forming in hell than that ever happening."

  Heading out the front door and into the fading sunshine Winifred felt free and unbound for the first time in a long time.

  Taking in a deep breath of relaxing freedom Winnie was jolted back to reality when Jaxxon took hold of her upper arm before dragging her off the porch and to the large black truck with tinted windows parked in her driveway.

  He opened the door helped her up and in before shutting the door rounding the truck and hopping in.

  He had no more than entered the truck and shut his door before he turned the key in the ignition and pulled away.

  Winifred look in the large passenger side mirror at her mother now standing on the front lawn crying until her mother disappeared from view.

  Bye mom, bye old life, hello tomorrow.

  Chapter 8

  The drive was quite and intense.

  Winifred needed assurance that she had made the right choice she needed Jax to tell her his plans and she needed it all laid out in simple black and white.

  Looking over at him, with her purse clutched tight against her stomach Winifred worked up the courage to speak.

  "Jaxxon..." she began, but before she could get out another word Jaxxon spoke; his eyes never leaving the road.

  "We need to clear something up fast, when it's just me and you I am totally fine with you calling me Jaxxon, hell call me an asshole I don't care, but in the clubhouse or around the guys it's Jax or Prez none of that Jaxxon bullshit...okay?"

  Winifred answered "Okay" but her mind was finally piecing things together.

  The Jaxxon she knew was sweet, often moody, and thoughtful, but Jax or Prez was the guy who scared the shit out off her that first day as he glared at her across the street or when he grabbed her arm in the restaurant.

  That was the side she would be facing most days now and that was the one who was taking her to his home.

  She was never more uncertain of her situation than she was now.

  "What you want?" his voice breaking through her cluttered thoughts.

  Turning to him confused by his question Winifred asked, "Huh?"

  Releasing a deep breath as if he was trying to keep his cool he glanced over at her.

  "You got my attention for a reason but never said what it was."

  Oh yeah she had been about to ask him how all this was going to work out.

  "I-I just wanted-well I want to know what you see happening with us, what your plans are for me-I-I need you to just tell me what we are doing now because I think-no I know I am freaking out here." having stumbled through that Winifred felt her heart racing, her head started throbbing, she couldn't get her breath, and her heart felt like it was trying to explode in her chest.

  This was the worst pain she had ever felt.

  She didn't feel the truck slow down, or hear the sound of Jaxxon's seat belt snapping as he released it and yanked it out of his way all she felt was white hot pain.

  "Alright luv your going to have to calm down, your having a panic attack but your going to be fine understand? I am here and I got you...hey you wanted me to talk let's talk okay."

  Jaxxon removed her belt to and was scooping her up from her seat.

  He pulled her into his lap and held her against his muscular chest.

  He was so warm and strong, his strength made her world seem a little less hectic and out of control.

  He was brushing her hair back from her face and rubbing her back.

  He was telling her to take slow deep breaths and release those breaths out her nose.

  Following his advice Winnie felt her body relax she felt her heart beat slow and the pain ease up before it went away leaving her exhausted and weak.

  She was just getting herself collected when she noticed Jax was talking.

  "...I have this little house it was my parents house before they split up and now it's mine, I am going to take you there and get you set up in the spare bedroom...you can decorate it anyway you like hell you can decorate the whole damn house if you want." he gave a soft half huff of amusement before shaking his head.

  "I always wanted a yellow kitchen..." Winnie trailed off.

  She had wanted to let him know that his offer had been heard and that she was pleased that he was working hard to make this easier on her.

  "Why yellow?" he asked.

  Looking up at him she shook her head no before saying it didn't matter.

  "Yes it does; why yellow?" he asked again.

  "When I was little before things with my mom got bad...before my dad died my mom would let me look through magazines with her as she came up with these plans for her dream home." sitting up and scooting out of his arms Winnie sat beside Jaxxon who reached out and pushed another strand of hair back out of her face.

  "One day I saw this kitchen in canary yellow I loved it; it had these white wicker chairs around a old white wood table with brown wicker basket of green apples in the center. I told her that it was the most perfect kitchen in the world... she cut the page out and placed it in her folder with a label that said Winnie's kitchen. Dad was planning to build her a house from the ground up but he died before he ever purchased the first nail, mom burned the folder and then she just vanished and I was left with that shell you saw." sniffling she wiped her eyes and removed the moisture before it could fall.

  Neither said a thing for a moment then Jaxxon slid back under the wheel and fastened his belt; Winnie seeing he was ready to get back on the road didn't the same.

  Not another word was said until they pulled off the main road on to a small gravel drive.

  After passing two large oak trees that sat on either side of the drive Winnie saw the house come into view.

  It was perfect.

  It was a little one story wooden ranch style house enclosed by trees and surrounded by flowers.

  There were hedge bushes, a concrete walkway leading up to a small porch and three good sized windows across the front.

  The house was an off yellow in hue and had brown shutters.

  It was trimmed in white and looked like a fairy tale to Winifred.

  Winnie hopped out of the truck the minute it came to a stop and walked all around it taking in the small shed which housed the lawn mower and other yard cleaning instruments, there was also another larger garage used for working on cars and bikes.

  In the very back there was a yard table with four chairs a bird bath and a tire swing.

  "Where has this place been all my life?" Winnie asked herself.

  Making her way back around front she saw Jax leaning against the front of the truck arms crossed over his chest and feet crossed at the ankles.

  His head was down but his eyes followed her every move.

  She busted out laughing.

  Jax looked utterly confused.

  "What the hell is so damn funny?" he barked.

  Lifting her shoulders in a shrug she explained, "It's you and this house... and you." she motioned between them.

  "I can't picture you living here let alone owning the place and keeping it up this nicely...no offense." she quickly added.

  Jaxxon scowled at her for a second and she was sure she had indeed offended him but just as she was about to apologize he smiled and his smile grew.

  Easing up from his relaxed pose he walked past her heading towards the front door as he spoke.

  "That's because a few of the guys old ladies came out yesterday and cleaned up the inside and had the men repaint the outs
ide, before it was not dump but it sure wasn't this pretty either."

  Shaking her head in relief Winnie followed him inside.

  It was a cozy blend of off shell white and warm chocolate coloring, there were hardwood floors throughout, in the den there was a fire place and in the back there was a small sun room.