Free Tempt Me Twice 1 by Kate Laurens Page A

with me. Now get upstairs, or so help me, I’ll carry you up there myself.”
    “Like hell you will.” I gaped at him, unable to help it. I was so angry over everything that had happened, and he’d just proved himself a worthy target. “Don’t you dare.”
    “Kayla.” This time when he said my name it was full of dangerous intent. It was the thought of the exquisite torture that being carried against his body would be that finally had me grinding my teeth together and stalking towards the garage.
    I seethed silently as I followed Jax upstairs. I knew that I wasn’t being overly rational, but I was sick of being told what to do, of having my life ordered against everything that I  wanted.
    But by the time Jax had held the door open for me and conspicuously given me some space, I’d cooled off enough to realize that I was being a complete bitch. I silently brushed my teeth and changed into the tank top and shorts that I slept in, berating myself as I did.
    He was one hell of a friend. It was just too bad for me that I was realizing how much I wanted him to be more.
    Prepared to apologize, I moved from the living room to the doorway of the bedroom, where Jax had disappeared. I’d assumed he was getting ready for bed, and that I would be crashing on the couch. Instead I found him changing the sheets... for me, I realized.
    “Jax, I’m not taking your bed.” I sighed when he ignored me and moved closer. “ Jax .”
    “If you don’t want me sleeping on the couch, then we can both sleep in here. But you’re not sleeping in the living room. No way.” Tucking a sheet onto a mattress shouldn’t have been a sexy thing to watch, but when Jax did it I felt my traitorous hormones again begin to fizz into my veins.
    “Both of us?” The words came out as a squeak. Sleep all night within touching distance of Jax... and not be able to touch him?
    That did not sound like a good time.
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I perched on the edge of the bed as I spoke, and I didn’t try to hide what I was feeling. “Jax, you know that.”
    I watched as his entire body tensed. He was silent as he finished making the bed around me, the fingers smoothing down the comforter edging around my seated hips but never actually touching.
    He seemed to be debating with himself over something, so I stayed silent.
    “Why won’t you go home alone?” He finally asked. I knew that he was really asking me to share what had happened to me to make me so scared.
    For the first time in years it was on the tip of my tongue. It would be such a relief to share the burden.
    I couldn’t. No one had believed me, and so the words were frozen inside.
    “Why won’t you leave Fish Lake?” I countered. Sliding over on the mattress, I seated myself cross-legged at the edge of the bed. Jax stood in front of me, leaning over to brace his hands on the mattress and look me directly in the eyes.
    “I know something bad happened,” I continued after a long, tension filled moment. I could see on his face the same emotions that I was feeling—he wanted to tell me, I was sure of it, but the words were frozen somewhere down deep inside.
    Remembering how the feel of Nick’s hand in my own the day before had grounded me, had made me feel like the world was a little bit less of a horrible place, I slowly reached for one of Jax’s hands.
    I heard his sharp intake of breath as I traced a fingertip over the lines of his scars.
    He moaned, that large body quivering under the gentle touch. The room seemed to shrink, and it became harder to draw a breath.
    Slowly, my pulse racing and my heart in my throat, I pressed a kiss into the palm of his hand.
    A strangled sound issued from the back of his throat. Before I could even blink he’d fisted his hands in the hem of his T-shirt and pulled it up and of his head. My mouth went dry at the sight of his ridiculously perfect torso, naked to my eyes, and then he’d wrapped me in his arms and pulled me close.
    I