Chapter 69
“Jaxon, what is it?” Ruby asked as he pulled her up the stairs. Jaxon didn’t respond but he did urge her to walk faster.
“Jaxon, I’m going to fall. We’re going too fast.” She told him. She thought he had come to his senses when he slowed down but she suddenly found herself against a pillar in the hallway. Jaxon had both his hands at the sides of her head. He gazed down at her so intensely that Ruby thought he was going to kiss her.
“… Jaxon?” She called out when he didn’t say anything.
“I don’t want you doing what you did down there again.” He told her.
“Doing what? You mean helping Lucas?” She asked, confused. Jaxon shut his eyes in frustration then opened them to meet her eyes.
“No, not that. I’m glad you helped Lucas and I apologize for arguing with you.” He replied.
“Then what?”
“Don’t make me say it,” he sighed but she pressed on.
“Jaxon,” she drawled his name and he gave in.
“I didn’t like you excessively touching him. It wasn’t necessary.” He clarified after a moment.
“Excessively? You do know I had to touch him in order to remove the bullet right?” She quipped but he shook his head.
“I know that but all those extra rubs on his leg were uncalled for.” Ruby stared at him dumbfounded. Just what was he on about?
“… So you didn’t want me to comfort him?” She assumed and Jaxon sighed then dropped his hands back to his side.
“No, you aren’t getting it. I didn’t say you shouldn’t have comforted him. What I’m saying is that you didn’t have to touch him to do that. Soothing words would have sufficed.” Jaxon explained.
A fit of laughter erupted from Ruby and Jaxon looked at her with raised eyebrows. “What’s so funny?”
“You are! So you wanted me to help and comfort Lucas without touching him!?” She voiced out. But as she did, it dawned on her that Jaxon was indeed jealous.
When she first said it out, she had only been trying to ruffle his feathers a little bit. She didn’t actually think he would be that insecure about her touching Lucas. Especially since he was injured.
“So you were jealous,” she said with a smirk and Jaxon scowled.
“Can you blame me? You were busy caressing another man in front of me.”
“Caressing! Okay that’s a bit extreme. But who would have thought the ever confident Jaxon could get jealous? And of an injured man at that.” She smiled at him sweetly and that caused Jaxon’s scowl to deepen.
“Okay, enough teasing.” He demanded. Jaxon stepped forward once more, trapping her against the pillar and his hard frame. He peered down at her and Ruby could see the fire in his eyes.
“Promise me you will never touch another man that way.” He said. She glanced at him from under her lashes, surprised at the change in his mood.
“I promise.” She replied, surprised at finding herself agreeing. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment until Ruby broke the trance.
“Just so you know, I’m never letting you forget this moment. In fact, I need to mark it down on my calendar and celebrate, ‘the day Jaxon got jealous’ ” she said with a laugh. Jaxon laughed along with her and shook his head in amusement.
The laughter died down and Ruby found herself thinking about what had went down in the mall.
Someone had tried to kill her and if Lucas hadn’t stepped in when he did, she would most definitely be dead. Giving him first aid paled in comparison to what he had done for her.
She didn’t know when she stopped moving and frowned but Jaxon noticed.
Ruby had been joking and teasing him all this while so he was surprised when she suddenly stopped and looked like she was in pain.
“What’s the matter Gem?” He asked. She didn’t respond, but frankly, he didn’t think she heard him either. Not with the way her eyes were looking on into the distance obviously lost in thought.
“Ruby?” He tried again. Her head suddenly snapped up to look him in the eyes and he frowned when he noticed they were red rimmed. Did she want to cry?
“Are you thinking about Lucas again? He’ll be fine, don’t worry, the doctor will make sure of it.” He reassured. But the sadness he had glimpsed remained in her eyes.
“Jaxon, why are people trying to kill me?” Ruby asked him. Her eyes had gone blurry with tears and his hands itched to wipe them away.
Her question left him speechless. What was he supposed to tell her? He couldn’t possibly say that her parents had had a ton of enemies before they died. And since they were no longer here to face them, these people had transferred their aggression to her.
The last time she had been attacked had been a close call as well but it hadn’t impacted her the way this one did.
“I don’t know Ruby.” He lied but he swore to himself that he would take care of her. He knew that they wouldn’t have known about Ruby if he had not married her. But he did and that brought her into their radius.
Silent tears flowed down Ruby’s cheeks as he took her into his arms. He let her cry, stroking her back to make her feel better.
“It’s okay Ruby. I’m here and I will protect you.” He reassured her. He murmured words of assurance in her ears and she gradually calmed down.
He knew in his heart that he would protect her from whatever harm came her way. Ruby had her arms tightly wrapped around his waist and he relished that she could find comfort in him.
She let him go and stepped back from him. With the back of her hands she wiped away what was left of her tears.
“Thank you.” She told him. He offered her a handkerchief which she took and used it to wipe her dripping nose.
“Everything is going to be fine Ruby, I promise.” He told her firmly. He took her in his arms again and gave her a gentle kiss.