A/N: So... here we go. I got to honestly admit that I think this doesn't meet up with chapter 1, but while writing it I suddenly stumbled over so much hidden angst, that things got a bit out of hand. I hope it's still hot and enjoyable, though.
Showering
Upon entering the shower room he is greeted by the sound of running water and a wave of heavy, fruity-scented steam. The air is warm and humid, condensate coating the white tiled walls and foggy steam clouds waver around him. He follows the sound of the running water as if it is a sirens song, calling out to him, the slippery wet floor slightly cold under his bare feet.
Only one of the several shower stalls is occupied and even through the misty air he can clearly make out Gwen's deliciously curved figure. The lined up shower stalls are open at the back, not even curtains blocking the view, for all intents and purposes providing the needed privacy in case a lot of people needed to shower at the same time, but definitively being slightly outdated compared to today's standards. Jack certainly doesn't mind.
Gwen doesn't see him approaching because her eyes are closed as she massages, rubs shampoo into her hair, hands vanishing in a white mass of foam and bubbles; the sweet fruity scent getting stronger the nearer he gets. He watches her intently as she steps back under the spray of water, rinsing the shampoo away, hands combing through the now seemingly pitch black wet hair, which forms a stark contrast to her pale, almost white skin. Thousands of water droplets coating her skin reflect the light in just the right angle; she seems to be covered in pearls and diamonds. Oh God... and she is so beautiful. His arousal returns with a vengeance, sending his head spinning for a minute. Images flutter in front of his inner eye, him hoisting Gwen up against the tiled wall, his hands clutching her arse, grabbing muscled thighs, her legs circling his waist, pulling him closer, deeper... passion surging through them, their movements urgent, erratic, while they grind against each other, almost frantically yearning for release...
Focus! He has to stay in control, at least as long as it takes to seduce Gwen, and keeping the willpower in mind which she displayed earlier that could probably take quite a while.
When his hand comes to rest on her shoulder, her wet skin warm under his palm, she jumps a little, spooked; obviously she didn't hear him approach. "Jack?"
"Yeah." He squeezes her shoulder a little, reassuring, when he feels the muscles tense.
"Christ... don't sneak up on me like that. I thought I get a heart attack!" Despite the light tone, he can hear the tension, the tautness of nerves in her voice. Her jaw clenches. "Are you... are you naked?"
"Yes." If there hadn't been the slight panic in her voice he might have cracked a joke about questioning the obvious.
Now that the heated, sexually charged atmosphere of their imprisoning had dissipated Gwen was back to her determination to stay faithful to her beloved husband and fend him and the temptation he exerted off, while he feels the unresolved desire burn hot and low in his gut, a stomach-churning mass of red-hot coal. "Oh God..." Gwen's voice is all but a terrified whisper, goose-bumps spreading over her body, the hair on her arms and neck raising; not exactly the reaction he had hoped for.
She attempts to turn and wipe the water away from her eyes so that she could open them, but he stops her, gently taking hold of her hands when his arms encircle her, her back turned towards him. "Shhh." He whispers soothingly as he feels her tense against him, muscles flexing under his touch. After a moment of silent struggling against his grip he feels her arms rest slack at her sides. "Just keep your eyes closed."
She somewhat nods in response, inclining her head a little, swallowing visibly. Her body has so thoroughly tensed up that she is a rigid statue in his embrace. He can almost feel the quickening in pace of her pulse, her normally steady heartbeat turning into a fluttering staccato. Carefully he brushes the wet hair away from her neck, his fingers sliding over her smooth skin, so soft, before he pulls her just a little closer to him until her back rests firmly against his chest. The breath hitches in her throat, her lips slightly parted.
And they're back at the shooting range. For a second the memory is so vivid, so real that he can almost smell the gun powder. The only difference is that now his hand lies low on the bare skin of her stomach, no clothes separating them, only wet skin on wet skin; this time he won't let her go. He rests his chin on her shoulder, closing his eyes, enjoying the warmth of her body so close to his, so close and the spray of the shower as it finally washes the sweat from the day off him. "Let me wash you."
"Jack, I don't think..." The pitch of her voice is off, a little bit too shrill, nervous, but her eyes are still closed, because despite everything he did and said today, deep down she trusts him, even blindly.
"Let me wash you." His voice is soft as he repeats what he wants, but that doesn't change the fact that he is demanding it now, insisting; it still is an order.
Gwen finally complies after what feels like an eternity to him, albeit reluctantly. She nods, exhaling slowly as if steeling herself for an especially awkward or nasty task. "Okay, fine."
Jack hugs her slightly, soothingly, indicating they're on safe territory, friendly but can't suppress the giddy smile from spreading on his lips as he reaches for the shower gel. "Good girl." His lips graze the skin of her shoulder, his tongue licking away some droplets of water and he feels her shiver despite the warmth of their surroundings; he could almost taste the adrenaline rushing through her veins, a slightly acrid prickle on his tongue.
He knows he has to be careful here, very careful especially concerning choice of words and actions, although his blood screamed for a fast end to his abstinence. A slow approach was needed, sensitive, delicate, because Gwen was already tense enough, so if he pressed matters too much, cornering her, she might just bolt and run; he wasn't sure he would be able to endure that, not to mention what it could do to their relationship.
He nudges her to take a step back until the spray of water is not hitting them directly anymore. Gwen's breathing has become a little ragged, her chest heaving, blood definitively pumping rapidly as he can see looking at a vein at her neck, pulsing; her whole body is poised for a fight or flight reaction and just waiting for the signal. Jack only barely resists the urge to sigh in frustration. On the other hand, he had not really expected any other reaction, although hoped for more enthusiasm on her part.
There was definitively some kind of irony there and maybe when the pressure from his loins stopped he would be able to laugh about it and not gnash his teeth in exasperation. Despite her almost downright frightened reaction to his advances and his physical closeness he knew that Gwen was far from being unwilling. She was just restricted and mentally tortured by a very active conscience and learned morals that seemed outdated to him. But they weren't outdated for her and if her affair with Owen had weighed her down he wasn't sure he even wanted to imagine what they were about to do would do to her. It would only remind him why he had labeled her off limits in the first place and he was in no mood to have a battle between what his own conscience screamed (with a voice very much resembling the Doctors) and his body demanded going on in his head. He wanted her and he wanted her now, consequences be damned; for all he cared the world could end right now as long as he got Gwen.
Jack squeezes a portion of the greenishly glistening shower gel on his palm, spreading it evenly over both hands until they are equally slippery with the rich gel. She shudders a little when his hands glide over her shoulders, at first only ghosting, but soon fully touching the soft, warm skin, massaging. The fresh invigorating scent of Gwen's shower gel envelops them as his fingers work on her, generating soapy foam.
"Fruity shampoo but mint in the shower gel?"
"It's soothing and cool. Just what you need after a long and tedious day at work." She explains and shyly laughs at that, but twitches a little when his thumbs dig into the tightened muscles around her neck; maybe he was a bit rough, but she didn't complain. "...Makes your skin tingle." She adds, a half-whisper.
His response is to chuckle, low and dark, sexy. "I bet." Although he had tried to control his voice, the insinuations behind his words, the intensity of his voice make her shudder. "I'll make it tingle too." He more feels than hears the sharp intake of breath that he elicits. "I promise." Jack only whispered the last words into Gwen's wet hair, while his hands still massage the area of her shoulders and neck and he grins when he feels goose-bumps emerge again. He knows he is a smug bastard in this but he'd be damned if he didn't enjoy Gwen's delicious bodily reactions to aural triggers to the fullest.
Silence envelops them, the only sound their breathing, Jack's steady and calm but bordering to heavy and Gwen's more shallow and rapid, and the running water from the shower; they are surrounded by warm steam. The vapor condensates on his skin, forming small droplets, a cooling film on his hot skin, while the warm water flows, pools around their feet and scented foam slowly trickles down the delicate female curves of Gwen's naked body.
After a while she finally relaxes, her facial expression going soft, jaw unclenching, lips slightly parted, tension leaving shoulder and arms, her breathing becoming more centred and steady, her chest no longer heaving and Jack smiles to himself. Jack Harkness was a patient man, who always got what he wanted, because one of the luxuries that came with being immortal was the possibility to just stand down and wait; in this particular case he had waited longer than anytime before, though.
Ten more minutes of his hands working their magic on her shoulders and back and Gwen is literally purring in contentment like a cat. The low hum emerges from the back of her throat, too low to really be registered by the human ear, but he can feel it in his hands as it vibrates through her body. Definitively one of the sexiest and most arousing things he ever encountered.
Starting at the shoulders and upper back had been relatively safe because he guessed it wouldn't unnecessarily unsettle Gwen, but now he wanted to get a bit more exploratory and Jack had always been a risk taker. Apart from that personality trait he wasn't sure he was thinking straight anymore, because, despite his efforts on concentrating to just massage Gwen's shoulders, the sensuality of his hands easily sliding over her damp, slippery and silken skin, kneading her flesh had him aroused so fiercely that he thought he'd burst if he didn't find his release anytime soon. God... having his sexual activities restricted by the prudishness of this era had definitively caused his control over these things to slack.
After taking another portion of the shower gel he watches Gwen's face intently as his hands glide down her arms now, coating her skin with scented foam. Her lips twitch a little when he places a kiss to the palm of her right hand, but her eyes rest closed, her face relaxed, almost smiling; she is still purring. He carefully, diligently turns his attention to her hands, concentrating for a while on those slender fingers, gentle but strong, before he slowly trails back up her arm. When he starts to draw lazy circles with his fingers onto the sensitive and soft skin of her carefully shaved armpits, Gwen shivers again, just a little; maybe he is just tickling her, though. After all, this is one of the areas on the body that is, among other things, supposed to be ticklish.
His hands find their way to her chest, pausing on her collarbone where he can feel her pulse against his fingertips; the pace is quickening again. She gasps a little, blushing rather furiously when he carefully, gently soaps her breasts. A strange, almost broken, half-strangled sound escapes Gwen's lips when his thumbs brush over the aureoles, circling the already erect nipples.
Satisfied by this response his hands slide down towards her stomach, flat against her ribcage and he can't resist the urge to place a kiss on her pierced navel, gently tugging at the metal with his teeth after he kneeled down in front of her. The blatantly desperate pant from Gwen following this action causes a very smug smile to spread on his lips.
"Jack... really, can you..." She twitches a little now, her body squirming, trying to actively avoid his touch on the sides her stomach; the skin literally ripples when the muscles twitch.
"Shhh. Steady Gwen. And keep your eyes closed."
She leans her head back, facing skyward, towards the ceiling, before she bursts into a fit of giggles which shakes her whole body. "Right..." He can see her visibly swallow, a squeal almost making it past her lips this time. "But for Christ's sake stop tickling me!"
That makes him laugh. "As you wish."
He is still kneeling in front of her, his face only inches away from her heated skin, only inches away from her carefully shaved pubes; every time his breath hits the skin low on her taut stomach she trembles a little, goose-bumps rising again. Gwen had surrendered herself completely to his touch and although Jack is the one on his knees, she is the one in the submissive, subservient position, allowing, trusting, granting him to just do as he pleases.
Jack could tell Gwen was excited, maybe even thoroughly thrilled by what he was doing and if it hadn't been for the scent of mint dominating the air surrounding them he was sure he would've been able to smell her arousal at this proximity. Her skin is radiating warmth off, slightly flushed and when his hands slide over her arse, down her thighs to come up front again, she is still seemingly getting hotter, almost burning under his palms as he caresses the velvety, but vulnerable skin he finds on the inside of her thighs.
The intimacy of what he is doing, what she allows him to do is nearly overwhelming now as his fingers massage her thighs, glide over those slender but muscled legs to shortly grip her calves, down to her ankles, caress, or maybe tickle the sensitive flesh in the hollow of her knee on his way back up; he feels more than a bit lightheaded.
Gwen is chewing rather furiously on her bottom lip, her teeth biting down on it roughly and he can clearly see that the lip is already reddened, swollen from the constant assault. Her eyes are still firmly closed, the lids pressed shut vigorously as it seems, brows furrowed in concentration, her breathing heavy; hands clenched to fists at her sides.
"What about Ianto?" She literally chokes the words out, voice trembling as much as her body.
Trust Gwen to be already halfway to the nirvana and still be able to make him and herself feel guilty and frustrated. The problem with human emotions was and always would be, even in the 51st century, that lust and aggression were just too close together on the same scale and he takes a deep calming breath to fight the urge to succumb to violence; after all there is a dangerous dark side in him that just waits for a chance to surface. Just for the fraction of a second he hates her for playing with him, torturing him, teasing him, albeit subconsciously, before he suppresses the highly inept, fleeting, threatening feeling. After all she is hardly to fault for the way reacts towards her.
However Jack doesn't even try to bite back on the frustration, the annoyance which is almost bordering to anger, even his patience can run thin. "I sent him home." His voice is low, he is almost growling; it's a warning.
And Gwen, either oblivious or too stubborn to care, chooses to ignore it. "That's not what I meant."
I know! This was another reason why he had tried so hard and so long to stay away from Gwen. She was a too good person, too gentle, too empathic, too committing, always eager to do the right thing even when she didn't. But he just doesn't want to think about it, not now, and if he could choose: not ever. It wasn't her fault that this situation was so difficult for her, though; not everybody had the luck to be born in a time with his totally different (some people scoffed: absent) moral standards. A loving husband at home was definitively a very sound and safe reason to try and withstand him with everything she could muster, at least from her point of view. He on the other hand would only think about how to deal with Ianto when he came to that; after all, improvising was one of his many talents.
Gwen abruptly snaps him out of his reverie after some moments of awkward silence. "Jack... you're hurting me." Her voice is as soft as her fingers as they briefly caress his hands, which are gripping her thighs hard enough to leave bruises. He hadn't even realised that his fingers painfully dug into her flesh.
Jack just stares at her, at that beautiful, gorgeous and completely naked woman, standing in front of him, eyes still closed, still trusting him, holding his hands gently in hers while his eyes find the red marks his fingers left on her pale, freckled skin. Gwen was a believer and she had chosen to believe in him, completely, beyond any reason, without reservations, without setting any conditions; her willing display of blind trust thrilled him. God... how much I want her! All he wished to do now was to love her until the world stopped turning.
He stands back up, his legs a bit stiff after kneeling for quite some time on the hard floor, and pulls her with him under the spray of water to wash the soap off of her body. His arms encircle her waist and for the moment he is completely content with just holding her, although his erection is pressing against her stomach, reminding both of them of their earlier heated encounter. He can feel Gwen's breathing against his chest, rapid and laboured, a slight trembling going through her body. "I don't care about the consequences." He whispers, his left hand tangling in her hair, lips trailing down the delicate line of her jaw. "I don't care about anything... I just want you." Pure desire was talking out of him, again, the closeness of her warm soft body making him giddy.
And Gwen was still obviously having second thoughts, slightly inclining her head, getting out of his reach. She finally opens her eyes, staring right back at him and this time he isn't telling her to keep them shut any longer. Her big eyes, at the moment seemingly more brown than green, unbelievably beautiful, fix on him intently, a defiant stare. He couldn't keep the frustration he felt from displaying in his voice any longer. "Are you waiting for something?"
"Actually I am still waiting for you to tell me to go home, you know, eat lasagna, kiss my husband..." It's almost hilarious, having this kind of conversation while she already is naked in his arms, so close, so close. She swallows visibly, her hands lying on his biceps'; helpless and strong and oh-so-vulnerable all at once. This time it is Jacks heart rate speeding up, the beating becoming fluttery and excited.
"And why should I do that?"
Gwen gently squeezes his arm, slightly shaking her head. "Because it would be the right thing to do, Jack. We're friends, best friends. I really shouldn't be here and we shouldn't do this. So I better go now." She pointedly looks from where his hands hold her to his face and back, waiting for him to let her go. He knows that she is expecting him to let her go, as he always did, but this time he is not going to meet her expectations.
Jack can't, Jack won't let her go. Instead of loosening his grip on her, he pulls her closer, kissing her until they have to pull apart, breathless. "I'm tired of doing the right thing." There is a bitterness in his voice that even surprises himself; they are so close now his lips brush hers with every word. Gwen just stares at him, those astonishingly innocent eyes, more brown than green at that moment, widened with surprise, pupils already or still slightly dilated. "Doing the right thing killed Owen and Tosh and it will probably kill you and Ianto too at some point." Jack swallows, suddenly almost overwhelmed by a wave of emotions he thought securely shut away and buried deep down within him; love and loss and longing. "Let me love you tonight, Gwen." I want to lose myself in you.
Maybe it was the almost desperate tone of his voice that melted Gwen's resolve or maybe he was misinterpreting her actions, but at least he thinks he saw her slightly nodding before hugging him, leaning against him, arms coming to rest at his back, head resting against his chest. It is a purely friendly, almost comforting gesture and that's an alarming notion for him, dampening his hopes and desire a little, although her naked body is pressed completely against his. Wet warm naked skin on wet warm naked skin. They stand still, as if frozen in time, the water pouring down on them, neither of them knowing what to do.
"We should dry ourselves, before we start growing webs."
***
Later Gwen was sitting on the bench in front of the lockers, tightly wrapped in a white fluffy towel, slicking her wet hair back. He catches her secretly staring at him, lips slightly parted, obviously very much enjoying what she is seeing and Jack can't help but smirk. While he had had Gwen's naked body to look at all the time while they were in the shower, she had not yet gotten the chance to see him in all his naked glory before, especially not in his current state of half-arousal.
He knew how he looked naked and what that view did to people and he also knew how much more impressive he looked naked and wet. When he wipes some of the water droplets from his smooth chest with a towel Gwen's tongue darts out nervously, moistening her lips. Their eyes met and she must realise that he caught her watching him, causing a slightly embarrassed blush to spread on her cheeks as she looks away quickly.
He was probably pushing his luck here, but he'd always loved to take some risks and Gwen was comfortably nestled down in the towel, warm, cozy, relaxed, skin flushed; a definitively promising base for whatever would happen. "Let's go to bed." His voice is all but cooing, luring, a guttural call of temptation. He had laid out the bait, always the perfect seducer, and all he has to do, all he can do now is to wait for Gwen's final decision.
For some moments, which feel like an eternity to Jack, she just stares at his outstretched hand as if it was something entirely alien. He can see both the doubts, the fear, the guilt and on the other hand the excitement, the thrill that he felt surging through her earlier, on her face, battling for dominance. Finally her eyes meet his, shining green orbs now, full of emotions, full of life; and he just knows that she was going to share it with him.
Her hand is warm and soft in his as he leads her towards his bunk, a content, satisfied smile on his face; he is going to make sure that Gwen will never get tired of following him, just as he promised on their first meeting.
