A Hidden Truth

Learning; Good Morning

[Jaxon]

    Leading her back to the chairs, I leaned her against my chest. Clayton was watching us closely. In his life, he’d probably only seen healthy relationships like the one between Red and my sister. The additional care needed for someone with issues like Juniper was dealing with, was foreign to him.

    My mom dealt with some PTSD from her relationship with her first husband. I saw my dad care for her, and treat her gently until she found herself. Until she knew she was safe with him. It was how they were for most of my formative years. Now, they acted like my sisters and their husbands, even having arguments without her being scared he’d hurt her.

    “I’m sorry, Uncle Jax. I didn’t know Juni needed you like that. I hope you can forgive me.” Clayton said.

    “That’s what family does, Clay.” I replied, stroking Juniper’s hair.

    She’d started sliding down and I realized she was falling asleep. This was not the place for one of her nightmares, or one of her dreams. Especially, since I didn’t know which one it would end up being. I really wanted to hear what would happen next. I resolved to let her sleep and to wake her if she started either way.

    The men settled back down. Juniper’s feet ended up in Teddy’s lap and her head in mine while she rested. No one questioned it. I continued stroking her hair while the meeting went on.

    The flash drive they’d found in Hank’s office had numbers for dealers and buyers. It also contained spreadsheets tracking payments and goods. With this information, Trace would be able to watch some people and try to catch them in the act. There was also a list of drop spots in the surrounding towns for various items.

    We moved on to plans to keep Juniper safe. Mostly, the men were supposed to keep an eye out for Hank and stop him from approaching her if they saw him. Otherwise, they were to go about their usual business. Once Gary was back, he would escort her any place she needed to go.

    When one of the men asked why it would be believable for her to be around Gary all the time, he turned and told them he would like them to spread rumors that he was Teddy’s live-in boyfriend. He made it seem like it was a story rather than the truth. Teddy snickered.

    We’d decided on the story that I’d introduced them. Since people had seen me and Teddy out on a date, we would tell everyone I tricked him into going out on a date, and leaving the house, so I could introduce him to Gary. It would cover the fact that I was with Juniper now and why Teddy and I’d been out together.

    The meeting ended shortly after. Some men came up to talk to Gary and Teddy. Just to nail down details for their stories. Juniper had slept soundly for the entire thing, so I was fine with chatting with Trace and Beau for a while. Trace repeated the confrontation story. I told them about her having a nightmare related to her previous punishments.

    Almost everyone had filtered out except me, my brothers-in-law, Juniper’s brothers, Mike Garrison, Clayton, and Luke Motts, the pastor, when Juniper started moving and talking. I tried waking her up, but she was deep. It was terrible, but I was happy she was having a nightmare.

    She started apologizing and saying she wouldn’t do something again. I looked at Teddy for guidance. From now on, I intended to be the one to take care of her bad dreams. Juniper was my entire focus.

    “Now’s a good time to learn. You need to get her to a place where you can hold her tight while keepin’ her arms at her side. It stops her from tryin’ to hit you and helps calm her down.” He said softly.

    I slid over into the chair she was mostly occupying which helped me to pull her up against me. Her begging was now accompanied by pleas to stop. Clayton looked like he wanted to do something. I wrapped my arms around her and pressed her chest to mine tightly. She began hyperventilating.

    “Let her know who she’s with. That she’s safe. Never ever call her baby or baby-girl.” Teddy instructed.

    “Juniper, sweet? It’s Jaxon. Everything’s okay. I have you. Jaxon’s here, sweet girl. You’re okay.” I murmured as I held her.

    Her cries turned to whimpers as she started to wake up.

    “Relax your arms as she wakes up and let her take over.” He directed.

    I relaxed my grip so she could move her arms, while keeping it strong enough she wouldn’t fall. Juniper reached up and put her arms around my neck, pulling herself to sit in my lap with her head tucked into my neck. I stroked her back while she worked on becoming fully conscious.

    “Jaxon? Did I fall asleep, honey?” She asked softly.

    “Yes, sweet. I woke you up when the nightmare got bad. I wanted you to rest as much as possible.” I whispered.

    “You saved me again. At this rate, I’ll never be able to pay you back.” She chuckled into my ear.

    “You never have to, sweet. Are you ready to go home?” I asked.

    “Please. I have school in the morning and I’m exhausted.” Juniper sighed.

    I let her go so she could slide off my lap. We walked out of the workshop with my arm around her waist. I led her to the car and climbed into the backseat with her. Teddy drove us back to the ranch and we headed to bed. I had my sweatpants this time, in a bag in the trunk of my car.

    In bed, she curled up with her head on my chest and drifted to sleep quickly. I was close behind. Now I knew what to do if one of her nightmares hit, I wouldn’t have to rely on Teddy to soothe her first. I figured her dreams would calm down once things weren’t as stressful or crazy.

[Juniper]

    I woke up before my alarm went off. Unlike yesterday, Jaxon had his arm around me and I was sleeping on his chest. He was topless again. His muscles were well defined, but not overly large. I was embarrassed about how he refused my advances last night. Not every guy was like that, I guess.

    He was beautiful and sweet. I wanted him so badly it felt like there was an unscratchable itch deep inside me. When he kissed me outside the meeting last night, I wanted to drag him to the ground and wrap my legs around him. I wondered at what it would be like to be with him.

    Jaxon was probably just as sweet and gentle in bed as he was in the rest of his life. I’d been surprised when I touched him under his pants yesterday and found he was bigger than Hank. I didn’t know much about men, but I did know Hank was average size. It made me curious about what it would be like to have Jaxon in my mouth, among other places. It had my mind occupied almost all evening.

    I reached down to see what it was like when he wasn’t awake and aroused. Hank never let me see him soft, not even after he was done. Carefully, I pulled the blanket down and raised the waist of his sweats and briefs.

    “Juniper. No.” He groaned.

    “I just wanted to see.” I pouted.

    Jaxon chuckled. “You’ll want to touch if you look. That’ll lead to more, then you’ll be late for school.”

    “So, there could be more today? I could skip a day of school. I have perfect attendance for this year. I can miss a day. One of my teachers was at the meeting last night, he’d understand.” I purred.

    “We’ve been dating for less than twenty-four hours, Juniper. Can you wait for me to be ready for this step?” He asked.

    I lowered the cloth in my hands, making sure it didn’t snap back to his skin. Why was I having so much trouble with this? I’d never felt these urges before. My fingers itched to touch him and I wanted to do things to him all the time. Fantasies abounded in my head. Ever since Friday night.

    “How long is that wait? Not to be rude or anything, I’m just curious about how long I’ll have to feel like this before I’m allowed to do anything about it.” I sighed, pulling myself up to look in his eyes.

    “Is it really so difficult to wait for me, sweet girl?” He smiled.

    “It is, Jaxon. I want you so bad. Please.” I whined.

    Jaxon rolled over, pinning me beneath him. “I’ve been craving you ever since Thursday. I had to take a cold shower on Saturday, and that only barely helped. The way you move, the sounds you make, the feel of your skin and lips, all drive me completely insane. And the things you do in your sleep. The way you moan my name. Sweet, I’m dying, but it’s too soon since the last time he touched you. I want you to wait until Saturday. Just until I know you’re only thinking of me.”

    “I never even thought of him when I was with him, Jaxon. Except ways I could hurt him. The last time I was with him, I thought of you.” I admitted with a blush.

    “Really? That… and you don’t feel weird about the idea of being with me after that?” He asked.

    “No. It was the only time it wasn’t terrible. I mean… until the last part. Thinking of you made me feel better. It was the first night I dreamed of you, too. Teddy said it was horrible. What happens? You said I moan your name, Teddy said I scream it. What do I do? Please tell me. I can’t stand not knowing.” I begged.

    He lowered his face to my ear. “Are you sure you want to know, sweet girl? It might embarrass you.”

    “I’ve already stripped off in front of men old enough to be my father and both my brothers, plus totally failed to entice the only man I’ve ever wanted to take to bed. I’m pretty immune to embarrassment at this point.” I giggled nervously.

    “Mmm.” He hummed making me shiver down to my core. “Well, you rubbed up on me, grinding into my side saying things like ‘yes, Jaxon, right there, honey’. Then you reached down and started touching yourself and moaning my name over and over.” Jaxon murmured.

    I could feel myself blushing. The way he was saying these things, just inches away from my ear with his whole body pressed against mine, was making me wet. I worked to keep myself from rubbing against him again. My breathing got heavier with the strain.

    “When you finished you did scream my name and panted. Like this.” He panted in my ear making me moan a little. “Then you hugged me, and said, ‘I love you, Jaxon.’ After, you fell into a deep sleep. You did that four times Sunday night. I had to go to the bathroom and relieve myself because it made me hard as a rock, every… single… time.” Jaxon ground his lower body into mine, punctuating each word of ‘every single time’.

    It put me over the edge I hadn’t fully realized I was building to. I arched and moaned, rubbing into him and feeling sparks flutter through me. He began moving in earnest, kissing my neck as he used my body to stroke his erection. His breath coming in strained pants as he ground against me, building a fire in me that threatened to explode soon.

    “Oh, Jaxon. That feels so good.” I breathed.

    “You drive me crazy, sweet.” He groaned.

    I wrapped my fingers in his hair with one hand and grasped at his back with the other. His kisses turned to nibbling and sucking on my neck. He moved faster. I knew he was getting close.

    “Jaxon, please.” I begged softly.

    “Please what, sweet girl? What do you need?” He asked between breaths.

    More than anything, I wanted him in my mouth. It seemed almost perverse to take such a wonderfully spontaneous act and add a porn-y aspect. I didn’t want to ruin it.

    “Harder, Jaxon. I want to feel more of you. Please.” I sighed.

    He pushed more firmly making me cry out. I’d had so many small orgasms, I was beginning to feel light and fuzzy. As he finished, he stroked hard against me and held himself there. I could feel him pulse against me as his body released.

    Jaxon lay on top of me, trying to catch his breath. I felt giddy. I giggled and kissed his neck.

    “That was certainly not what I had in mind for this morning.” I purred into his ear. “But it was pretty close.”

    He laughed breathily. “You are the most amazing and frustrating woman I’ve ever met, Juniper Fordyce.”

    “I do love you, Jaxon. Especially because you’re so smart and pure and strong and protective. I’ve only ever felt like this with you. How did you manage to be everything I needed all at once?” I asked, softly.

    “I guess I just got lucky. I love you, too, Juniper. Everything about you excites me and makes me eager to know more. I want to take care of you, talk to you, and make love to you.” Jaxon murmured.

    “You need to clean up. My alarm will go off soon.” I said.

    “Right. Just need to get up.” He strained and pretended to fall a few times, landing with his face in my breasts and my stomach, before he got up and left with the small bag he’d brought with him. I laughed as he left the room.

    Laying back on my pillows, I reveled in the afterglow of being intimate with a man who actually loved me. Even though it hadn’t been exactly what I’d been hoping for, enough pressure had been relieved that I was feeling much better. My alarm sounded, bringing me out of my musing.

    I bounced out of bed and went to my closet. I pulled out some white leggings, a short dark blue skirt, and a white top with a blue lace design at the neck, hem, and sleeves. It was one of my favorites because it was a little flowy, just barely dress code in front, fully covered the scars on my back, and had bell sleeves that were fun to play with. I paired the outfit with navy ballet flats.

    When I left the closet, Jaxon was sitting at the desk, waiting for me. I slid into his lap and kissed his cheek. He wrapped his arms around me and smiled before he nuzzled my neck.

    “I still have to go do my hair and makeup. Then I’ll be ready to go. Are you having lunch with me again today, honey?” I asked.

    “I’d love to, sweet, but I have to meet up with Trace and Carson. I’ll pick you up after school, though. Don’t leave with anyone except me. Alright?” He murmured into my neck.

    “I’ll miss you, my Jaxon.”

    “Probably not nearly as much as I’ll miss you, my Juniper. Now, go finish getting ready.” He groaned as he pushed me out of his lap.

    After I was done getting ready, I grabbed a piece of pizza out of the fridge and ate it carefully over the sink. No point in dirtying dishes, and it was cheaper than getting breakfast at school. I grabbed my backpack and followed Jaxon out to his car when I was done with my breakfast.