Summary: Jax tries to teach Lydia to cook. Smuttiness ensues instead. With a little throwback to the conversation during the most recent chapter and that diamond scene.
“This doesn’t look right.”
Lydia frowns, staring critically into the bowl on the counter. Jax peers over from the stove.
“Is it supposed to be that color?” Lydia asks. “Or lumpy?”
She pokes the mixture experimentally with the wooden spoon in her hand. It looks nothing like the picture on her phone. Jax comes over. His expression is a combination of horrified and amused when he looks into the bowl.
“No, and no.”
He struggles not to laugh, and Lydia scowls.
“I told you I don’t cook,” she reminds him.
“This isn’t cooking, Lydia. This is mixing ingredients,” Jax says patiently.
“You left me unsupervised!”
“It’s fine,” he laughs. “Just throw it out and start over.”
He moves back to the stove and checks on the multiple dishes he is somehow cooking without difficulty. Lydia studies him, a little envious of his ease in the kitchen. She dumps the contents of the bowl into the garbage, then makes her way over to Jax. She purposely stands close to him, her side pressed against his. Jax turns slightly.
“Yes?”
“I have a better idea than me starting over,” she says, slipping an arm around his waist.
“What’s that?” he asks, turning down the burner temperature and stirring the sauce he’s prepared.
It smells amazing, and she’s starving. Of course, he also smells good, and she loves watching him cook, and that’s distracting her.
“You can cook, and I will continue to survive off of take-out when you’re not here,” Lydia suggests.
Jax raises his eyebrows. “Or you can try again so you can learn to cook and eat actual food when I’m not here.”
Lydia frowns, squeezing closer to him. “Or, you can come cook for me more often. I like that idea even better.”
He turns the burner off. “I could, but that defeats the purpose of me teaching you to cook.”
Lydia considers this. “But you’d get to see me more,” she points out.
“You’re impossible,” Jax says.
She grins triumphantly when he turns, resting his hands on her hips and tilting his head down to press his lips to hers.
“Isn’t that one of your favorite things about me?” she asks against his mouth. “My oh-so-determined side?”
Jax kisses her again, his hands sneaking under the back of her shirt to run over her skin.
“I have a lot of favorite things about you,” he murmurs.
“Yeah? Show me,” she breathes in his ear, then nips at his neck.
“I thought you were hungry,” Jax says, even as he lifts her up and she wraps her legs around him.
“I am,” she agrees. “For-“
Jax interrupts her, kissing her hard. “Don’t even say it.”
Lydia laughs. “You set yourself up for that one.”
He shakes his head, smiling wryly, then carries her into her room. She’s reminded of the first time he cooked for her, how incredible the food had been, but most of all, how much she’d wanted him. Jax looks at her curiously when he sets her down.
“What’s that look on your face?” he asks.
Lydia smiles, tugging at the hem of his shirt and lifting it over his head.
“Just remembering,” she says. “That first time you cooked for me.”
She shoots him a mischievous look, dropping his shirt and trailing her fingertips down his chest and stomach. “And when you asked if I was, and I quote, ‘satisfied’.”
Jax smirks. “I wanted to make sure you’d had enough to eat.”
Lydia snorts out a laugh. “I’m sure that’s exactly what you meant.”
He makes quick work of her shirt, then her bra, tossing them aside. Lydia groans when he runs his hands over her bare skin.
“It was,” Jax says in a low voice. “It’s not my fault you have a dirty mind.”
Lydia pulls impatiently at his belt until it’s undone and he gets his jeans off. “Isn’t that also one of your favorite things about me?”
Her breath hitches when he lifts her into the bed and presses slow, warm kisses from her ear down to her chest.
“It is,” he confirms.
His fingers deftly undo the button and zipper on her pants, easing them off. Jax settles between her legs, grunting when she wraps her legs around his hips.
“What else?” she asks, arching against him.
Jax nips at her neck, then lifts his head up, breathing all the things he loves about her in her ear. The last one makes her still her motions, blinking rapidly.
“That fiery temper of yours,” he murmurs.
Lydia is about to protest when he laughs quietly and continues, “It keeps getting you in trouble, but it’s also saved my life and kept me here with you.”
She tangles her hands in his hair, urging him up. His eyes are locked on hers, full of emotion.
“Jax,” she whispers.
The corners of his mouth tilt up. “I don’t know how I feel about you always getting me to open up like this though.”
“I’d say it’s a good thing,” Lydia says, bringing his lips to hers.
They slip out of their underwear, coming together easily, instinctively. Lydia arches into him when he presses into her, moaning his name. His eyes glow red, his fangs descending as they move together. She sees him smirk a little when she whimpers at the sight.
“I take it that’s a yes?” he asks.
“Always,” she pants.
He shifts them, pulling her back against his chest, his fangs gently pricking her skin. She’s nearly shaking, knowing what’s coming.
“You like when I do this,” Jax murmurs in her ear, pressing back into her and moving against her slowly.
“God, yes,” she gasps, and hears him chuckle quietly.
A scream nearly rips out of her when he sinks his fangs into her. Lydia digs her fingernails into his forearm at the sensations rolling through her. His mouth is hot on her neck, his fingers gripping her thigh. She rocks back against him, her breaths coming rapidly.
“God…Jax…yes…”
He slams his hip against hers, his hand slipping down between her legs, his fangs pulsing under her skin, and she comes apart, crying out his name. His rhythm falters when she clenches her muscles around him, and she feels him moan against her skin. Jax thrusts against her, hard, then stills.
She feels him gently detach his fangs, then seal her wounds. He drops to his side, pulling her tightly against him.
“Fuck,” she mutters, and Jax laughs.
“Dirty mind, dirty mouth…”
“Shut up,” Lydia laughs. “Would you prefer I not think the sex is amazing?”
“No,” Jax says immediately, and she jumps when he gently bites her shoulder.
She turns to face him, snuggling against his chest. One of her hands slips into his hair, running through the dark strands. Jax sighs quietly in contentment.
She’d figured out early on that he loved holding her close and having her hands in his hair when they were done. She loves these little things she knows about him. He tilts her chin up after a few minutes, kissing her sweetly.
“You still need to learn how to cook,” he says against her lips.
Lydia groans. “Seriously? I’m naked, and that’s what you’re thinking about?”
“Gotta keep your stamina up,” Jax jokes.
She nudges his shoulder until he shifts to his back, his pupils dilating when she straddles him.
“That’s why I need you to come cook for me,” she says.
His lips quirk up into an amused smile. “Like I said, love. You’re impossible.”