Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Crossing Jordan. I've just borrowed its fabulous characters from Tim Kring, et. al. and I promise to return them unharmed… mostly.
A/N: Like I've said before, I only write when something gets in my head and won't leave me be… low and behold it's happened again. I waited around for someone to write a fill-in-the-blanks about what happened in between the ending scene of Loves Me Not and the beginning scene of The Elephant in the Room, but no one did, so I was left with no choice but to do it myself. This was intended to be a one-shot (as are most of my stories), but it started getting a bit long. This first chapter is very tame, but this story will be rated M for what will definitely be adult content in any future chapters.
This first chapter is basically what happened in that ending scene of Loves Me Not and all dialogue is as it appeared on the show.
Reviews and constructive criticism are highly valued.
Snowstorms can be both a blessing and a curse, Jordan thought as she climbed the stairs, carrying a small bag with what little food she could scrounge up in the inn's gift shop. The same storm that to one person means a cozy night curled up in front of a fire can mean a trip to the morgue for another unfortunate soul after his car hits a patch of ice and sends him careening into oncoming traffic.
Jordan hesitated at the top of the stairs. Snowstorms can be a blessing of being snowed-in with a gorgeous man. Jordan smiled ruefully at the open doorway of their room, as if it could sense the irony. But it is also the agony of sleeping in the same bed with said gorgeous man, and knowing, despite your utmost desires, that nothing will happen.
You're both adults, Jordan wordlessly whispered to herself and she took a deep breath and entered the room.
She found Woody sitting on the bed they'd shared the night before, sniffing some sort of translucent liquid in a canning jar. He glanced over at her, his hair spiking in all directions in that way that made Jordan want to take her fingers to it and tease it even more. You're both consenting adults, an inner voice taunted.
"Hey. Any news that the road home might be open yet?"
"No," she smiled as she leaned down towards him and sat on the bed, "looks like we're snow bound." One by one she began removing the snacks she had procured from the bag. "Candy eyeballs," she explained as she passed the bag to Woody, who gave it a questioning look. "Salt water taffy," handing over the next bag. He gave a more approving sound this time, quirking up his eyebrow in a playful notion. Jordan removed the last of the bag's contents, "Noose cookies," she passed him the jar.
"Yeah," he said, placing the jar next to the other items he'd set on the bed beside him, obviously unimpressed with the menu. "How about a liquid dinner?" Woody countered. "Davey gave it to us as a thank you gift," he explained as he handed the jar he had been holding to Jordan.
She looked at him questioningly. "Moonshine?"
His response was a slight smile and shrug. Jordan put the jar to her lips and took a sip of its contents. He couldn't hide his smirk as she winced at, what he had learned earlier, the most horrible tasting concoction of alcohol he'd ever encountered.
"Oh!" she groaned, the alcohol burning its way down her throat until the welcome feeling of warmth filled her belly. "Umm…ugh... it grows on ya." She giggled as she passed the jar back to a smiling Woody, who turned to place it on his bedside table. As he turned back toward her his face grew serious.
"Say, Jordan, it's…uh… nice to be us again," he paused, his eyes were warm and Jordan realized that, for one of a very few times in the past months, he looked genuinely happy, "past all that."
"The fighting, anger… yeah," she lowered her head, afraid to show the emotions that this topic always brought in her, but at the same time wanting Woody to know that she, too, had missed their… relationship, for lack of a better word.
"We did good on this," Woody continued, his eyes pulling hers up again, "I missed that."
She smiled that little smile that always made his heart skip a beat or two, "Yeah, me too," she paused and, trying to lighten the mood a little, added, "except for the almost dying part."
"Yeah, except for that," his eyes never left hers.
Woody moved toward her, the bed creaking under their weight. He wrapped his arms around her in a friendly hug. Jordan's hands instinctually went to his back, and she smiled into the crook of his neck.
Suddenly the temperature in the ice-cold room seemed to be rising exponentially. Jordan senses were overwhelmed by the closeness of him. She could smell his unique sent that she had come to adore over the years; something comprised of soap, cologne, hair gel, and a certain je ne sais quoi she couldn't put her finger on, but it gave an overall effect that was his, and his alone.
Woody held her, closing his eyes and enjoying the closeness of her body and the feeling of her chestnut curls tickling his cheek. He'd wished he could say he'd forgotten the feeling of her in his arms, but he'd be lying if he did. Wanting Jordan was something akin to coming home; the memories never fade, and once you've come back it seems as if the time you've spent away vanishes and you're left with the impression that you'd never left.
He closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her citrus shampoo. God, how he'd missed this. He'd missed their easy rapport, their early morning runs, and dancing the night away in each other's arms. But most of all he missed this feeling between them. Right now he wanted nothing more than to take his lips to hers and show her, really show her, exactly how much he'd missed her.
There was a problem with that plan, however – namely: JD. Jordan and Pollack had been together for months now, and just yesterday he'd witnessed Pollack's words of love to her. Despite how they'd come off in more of a "marking his territory" way, Woody didn't doubt the sentiment behind them.
No, he silently told himself, she's taken, and through no fault but your own. He opened his eyes again and placed a chaste kiss in her hair.
Jordan's eyes were closed, savoring the fleeting moment of being wrapped up in the arms of the man who held her heart – a man who hadn't held her like this in nearly a year. She would have missed the ever-so-slight kiss he dropped in her hair had it not been for the uncanny connection they shared, even after all of these months of bitterness. His simple innocent kiss touched her soul in a way that JD's had not yet managed to in their relationship. Her lips yearned for the heat of his skin, and found contact with the nape of his neck for the briefest of moments.
He broke your heart, something whispered from the depths of her mind, could you survive it a second time? Reluctantly she pulled away slightly.
The feeling of Jordan's lips brushing his skin sent waves of desire washing over him. You notice how Jordan deftly side-stepped Pollack's comments? Maybe she doesn't feel the same way. Maybe she's still in love with someone else, he thought as they slowly pulled apart. A split-second of seeing the same desire he was feeling mirrored in her whiskey-colored eyes was all it took.
To hell with it, he decided and took her lips in his.
Jordan instantly recognized the fire in his eyes. She'd seen it countless times over the past four years, turning his eyes from a pale sky blue to a darker and heated color of sapphires.
To hell with it, she deemed as his lips tentatively took hers.
His kisses were hesitant at first, slow and cautious, as if he feared startling her. Jordan's eyes opened momentarily, ensuring that this was truly happening. She could taste the moonshine on his soft lips. Her mouth languidly explored his and she trailed her hand from his back, along his chest, finally resting on the back of his neck, encouraging him to continue.
Jordan could feel the heat of passion permeating every inch of her. As they gradually eased backwards onto the bed she opened her lips, giving him full access to her mouth. She was rewarded by his tongue tracing along her lips and dipping into her awaiting mouth, finding her own tongue and teasing it until she responded in kind. Seeking more contact with his body, Jordan reached her leg over his own and pulled herself closer to him. She felt Woody's hand travel from her back down her body, ultimately coming to a stop along her calf.
All thoughts in her mind, other than those of his lips' ministrations and his hands caressing her body, faded into nothingness. The past didn't matter, Pollack didn't matter. All that mattered now was that this feeling continue, and that she let Woody know exactly how much, and for how long, she had wanted this.
A/N: Don't worry... more fun to come... if some reviews come my way. Wink wink, nudge nudge.