Chapter Twenty Five
Jack sat by the window watching her. She must have been down there for over an hour and not for one second had his eyes strayed, typical, he knew. But she was, he had to admit, an incredible swimmer, she wasn't doing much now but before she had settled down to lie on her back and just float she'd been diving in and out, circling over and over and it was wonderful to watch. Not to mention the fact that she was swimming around, stomach up several times, clad only in what Jack saw, secretly, as a very seductive bikini.
But then, this was something he couldn't blame her for, he didn't have to watch, did he? Automatically his mind came up with a quick excuse; he was watching her because it was his job, national security. Funnily enough a little voice inside his head, the one that was becoming increasingly louder, had to ask whether it was his job to wonder just how silky the skin on her back was. Jack scowled out the window again.
Irina had spent the first ten minutes entertaining the eyes above with playful dives and strokes, but then she'd settled down, lying on her back, completely relaxed with her eyes closed. She had to be sure what she had first worked out at dinner was true, there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to mess this up simply because she hadn't bothered to think about it long enough. But now, after perhaps an hour of thinking the same scenarios over, looking for clues, she was sure, there was no doubt.
Carefully, knowing he was probably still watching her from a window she knew gave a great view, Irina pulled herself up and out of the water, grabbing the towel and drying herself off, ignoring the temptation to show off her legs, to tease him from afar, she simply retied the sarong and again draped the towel over her shoulders, making sure there was no way he could say she was trying to seduce.
Making her way up to the room she tried, desperately to concentrate on getting through the conversation she dreaded but had to initiate. The lift stopped at her level not long after and she stepped out, heading directly to her room, once again fidgeting with the towel, suddenly subconscious at how Jack saw her. Grabbing the handle she took a deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping in, letting her eyes sweep the floor as she shut the door prior to turning to look at Jack.
He wasn't wearing shoes, just socks: that was the first thing she noticed. Of course, the first thing he noticed about her was that her calves looked even more toned when they were wet. He scowled at her, helpless as to where his eyes went after glaring at her face, seeing her mouth twitch up as he looked again at the area above her neck, he realized skimming down over her body was perhaps a little more obvious than the voice in his head had claimed.
Irina thought the silence deafening and quickly cut through it with a question she didn't really care to ask, "What time is it?"
Jack raised an eyebrow, before looking at his watch, "It's just gone eleven."
Irina smiled, but not her normal smugness, "Late...we should get to bed." Jack scowled at her again, any mention of bed reminded him of her body, for some reason he wasn't prepared to fathom. Still, he nodded curtly and walked, or, as Irina saw it, stalked, towards the bathroom. Stupidly he walked far too close to her and was stopped by a hand on his upper arm. "Wait," Irina's voice was surprisingly quiet and this caused Jack to pause.
"What?"
"I want to ask you a question," both were enormously uncomfortable but Irina pushed on, "And I want as honest answer."
Jack didn't have anything to say so he just stood watching her, immensely aware of the hand that rested on his arm, squeezing to keep him at her side but almost mistakable for affectionate. He wasn't about to avoid her so he pursued the conversation, "What?"
Irina looked down, first time he'd seen her do that without knowing their was some personal gain she was looking for, she sincerely looked...shy, hesitant. Looking back up her head cocked to the side and she opened her mouth to speak, but then she closed it, her brow furrowed low in thought, this only rattled Jack further and he was about to ask her again what it was she wanted when she said, far too quickly for him to be sure he heard right and far too quietly for her to truly to have wanted him to hear, "Do you want to kiss me?" Still, her voice dripped with that irresistible accent and the uncertainty that Jack was sure she couldn't have faked was alluring for no apparent reason.
But all he could was stare at her. Of all the possibilities and he was sure he'd covered them all, he hadn't expected those words, that tone or this poise to come from the woman in front of him and it caused him to hesitate in his answer which only brought a small, provocative smile to her lips. Even his answer was easily mistaken for avoidance, which, he assured himself, it was not, "What?"
Irina let her hand leave his arm, the skin of her palm burning with a vengeance. With new found confidence, mainly because he hadn't killed her, she continued, playing with him, "You heard me..."
Jack shook his head, taking a step back, "No, but...what?"
She laughed a deep, throaty chuckle that she hoped would have its desired affect. Unluckily, Jack was quickly rebuilding his superficial defense line and she couldn't tell. "Jack, I'm serious," Irina let her voice slip around in her mouth but forced the honesty that she knew was real onto her face, "I think you do." Her face lost all traces of humour as she looked at him, his mouth slightly open, his brow creased low and a look of complete incoherency taking over his features.
"What?" he stared at her, trying to get his thoughts into some logical order, the only thing continuously standing out was that that little voice kept yelling, 'The answer is yes, you moron,'. He stared at her again, but saw she'd finished speaking. "Irina, I don't think you have the right to ask me that, not to mention you seem to have forgotten the fact that I have made it very clear that I want you dead, I want you solitarily incarcerated, I want you gone."
"Jack," she stopped him, her voice thick and still serious, "First of all you're avoiding the question," she quickly continued, "Secondly, I couldn't be incarcerated and dead at the same time, choose one," she let the smile creep onto her face, "And lastly," he glared at her, knowing he was losing his grip, "You want me to be all these things but I think that perhaps, sometimes, you just want me." He would have glared but for the openness the question portrayed, in both of them. So instead he had to settle for indifferent, just staring at her, wondering what brought this on, automatically, he tried to find reason, "What? Is this some new idea for trying to weaken me? Trying to seduce me? Fool me? Because I'm telling you Irina, it won't work, I don't know what you're playing at, but it won't work."
Irina smiled at him, throwing him again, "Jack, I'm not trying to seduce you," she made the mistake of allowing emotion into her voice and the result was something that Jack could only relate to hurt. "I'm trying to work you out." Irina knew she was slowly loosing her own grip on the situation but didn't care, how dare he believe she would ask such a question simply for some ultimate game plan, did he really hate her that much?
But she was still sure of herself, knew she was right, positive that this wasn't some horrible mistake and that she was throwing caution to the wind for no real reason. So she simply waited for a reaction.
Jack was truly out of his league, he had little, perhaps no idea why she seemed to be being honest and the implications of what she was saying were endless, and yet still, that little voice, continued to speak the loudest, but he didn't give in to it. "What do you mean?" his voice was surprisingly level.
"You're a difficult man," she answered with a slight shrug and the unusual hesitance that she had taken on. "When I came back, I wanted to work out everyone. I know the guards that walk by my cell, Agent Vaughn, Sydney, Kendall, everyone, but you, I could never tell what it was that you were about, what you wanted." Her neck moved as she ducked and her eyes left his, "But then today, it slowly came together and, I'm right, you want me. You don't know, I don't know why, it's just a fact."
Jack expression was incredulous, his mouth tight as he tried to suppress the many things he wanted to say, instead he simply told her, "You're wrong, you know that."
She shook her head, moving away and sitting down on the bed. "I'm not, sometimes, yes, I'm wrong, but not about this."
"Irina," he cut across her, regretting using her name, "You're wrong."
Her head cocked to one side, "Wrong about what?"
At first Jack wondered how she had forgotten what the conversation was about, but then he realized, or more, that little voice told him, that there was no way on earth that he could tell her, look her in the eye and tell her that he didn't want her. "Irina," again that name, "I don't know how you came to this very wrong revelation, but playing games with me is going to get you no where."
Her face became serious again as she said, "Then come here," Clouds of suspicion rose in Jack's eyes, "Sit beside me and tell me that you don't want me." She paused, wondering why she'd chosen the phrase 'want me' it wasn't what she had been thinking down at the pool, but it would suffice, she decided and seeing he hadn't moved, she pushed him that last little bit. "Look me in the eye and say it, Jack, or can't you?"
A single glare was all she got before he looked back to the ground and walked over, firm defiance set in his eyes, "Irina," he said bending over her, his presence huge as she leaned back on her hands, knowing to touch him would be suicide. "I don't have to."
Her face fell as he stood back up but didn't move away, his face empty once more, she bit her lip before trying again, "Then why do you keep looking at me? Why watch me so closely, why is it that you seem to be more alive whenever we speak?" she paused, knowing she was gone, there was no way she could ever take these words back and she had truly lost control, "Don't you notice the electricity? I mean..." she let her voice trail off, not prepared to continue, instead just lying back on the bed, the towel still covering every inch of skin she knew Jack was itching to touch, to taste.
Jack stared at her as she lay back, he noticed the tiny area of skin that was exposed but tried to ignore it, instead continuing to try to string her along, "How could you even guess that I feel like that? After everything?"
She watched him from the bed, "Last night, in your sleep," she reveled in the look of horror that came over his face, "You were...flirting with me. I thought, I mean," she paused, seeing how much this was hurting him but pushed on, "I figured you just thought I was Laura or someone else, but then, just before I fell asleep, you called me Irina, and..." she continued to watch his horror, wincing for no real reason, "Then the whole day, you've watched me and reacted in ways you shouldn't have and..."
Jack threw a glare at her once he regained his composure, "Irina," he paused, "I'm sleeping on the floor."
She could have cried, but didn't, instead hurling herself up form the bed and grabbing his arm again, before he could leave, "No," she demanded, "Not until you look me in the eye and tell me the truth."
Okay, did have a good lot more planned and would write it but I am now banned form the net until the end of the month, so no transcript, no clips, no photos, and a very , very mad me, Life sucks right now, I have to go back to school and sit around doing absolutely nothing for 7 hours a day and put up with my family. I hate the book I am reading and at the moment I hate a lot of other things. If you can't tell, I wrote the above earlier today but now that I sat down and my dad went off at me, I don't think it would be wise, I also had a bit of No gift to update, but I'm not happy with it and unable to touch it without possibly ruining it, so bad luck, live with this. There will be no more updates for like five, maybe six days, and sorry guys, so review this one.
Jack sat by the window watching her. She must have been down there for over an hour and not for one second had his eyes strayed, typical, he knew. But she was, he had to admit, an incredible swimmer, she wasn't doing much now but before she had settled down to lie on her back and just float she'd been diving in and out, circling over and over and it was wonderful to watch. Not to mention the fact that she was swimming around, stomach up several times, clad only in what Jack saw, secretly, as a very seductive bikini.
But then, this was something he couldn't blame her for, he didn't have to watch, did he? Automatically his mind came up with a quick excuse; he was watching her because it was his job, national security. Funnily enough a little voice inside his head, the one that was becoming increasingly louder, had to ask whether it was his job to wonder just how silky the skin on her back was. Jack scowled out the window again.
Irina had spent the first ten minutes entertaining the eyes above with playful dives and strokes, but then she'd settled down, lying on her back, completely relaxed with her eyes closed. She had to be sure what she had first worked out at dinner was true, there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to mess this up simply because she hadn't bothered to think about it long enough. But now, after perhaps an hour of thinking the same scenarios over, looking for clues, she was sure, there was no doubt.
Carefully, knowing he was probably still watching her from a window she knew gave a great view, Irina pulled herself up and out of the water, grabbing the towel and drying herself off, ignoring the temptation to show off her legs, to tease him from afar, she simply retied the sarong and again draped the towel over her shoulders, making sure there was no way he could say she was trying to seduce.
Making her way up to the room she tried, desperately to concentrate on getting through the conversation she dreaded but had to initiate. The lift stopped at her level not long after and she stepped out, heading directly to her room, once again fidgeting with the towel, suddenly subconscious at how Jack saw her. Grabbing the handle she took a deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping in, letting her eyes sweep the floor as she shut the door prior to turning to look at Jack.
He wasn't wearing shoes, just socks: that was the first thing she noticed. Of course, the first thing he noticed about her was that her calves looked even more toned when they were wet. He scowled at her, helpless as to where his eyes went after glaring at her face, seeing her mouth twitch up as he looked again at the area above her neck, he realized skimming down over her body was perhaps a little more obvious than the voice in his head had claimed.
Irina thought the silence deafening and quickly cut through it with a question she didn't really care to ask, "What time is it?"
Jack raised an eyebrow, before looking at his watch, "It's just gone eleven."
Irina smiled, but not her normal smugness, "Late...we should get to bed." Jack scowled at her again, any mention of bed reminded him of her body, for some reason he wasn't prepared to fathom. Still, he nodded curtly and walked, or, as Irina saw it, stalked, towards the bathroom. Stupidly he walked far too close to her and was stopped by a hand on his upper arm. "Wait," Irina's voice was surprisingly quiet and this caused Jack to pause.
"What?"
"I want to ask you a question," both were enormously uncomfortable but Irina pushed on, "And I want as honest answer."
Jack didn't have anything to say so he just stood watching her, immensely aware of the hand that rested on his arm, squeezing to keep him at her side but almost mistakable for affectionate. He wasn't about to avoid her so he pursued the conversation, "What?"
Irina looked down, first time he'd seen her do that without knowing their was some personal gain she was looking for, she sincerely looked...shy, hesitant. Looking back up her head cocked to the side and she opened her mouth to speak, but then she closed it, her brow furrowed low in thought, this only rattled Jack further and he was about to ask her again what it was she wanted when she said, far too quickly for him to be sure he heard right and far too quietly for her to truly to have wanted him to hear, "Do you want to kiss me?" Still, her voice dripped with that irresistible accent and the uncertainty that Jack was sure she couldn't have faked was alluring for no apparent reason.
But all he could was stare at her. Of all the possibilities and he was sure he'd covered them all, he hadn't expected those words, that tone or this poise to come from the woman in front of him and it caused him to hesitate in his answer which only brought a small, provocative smile to her lips. Even his answer was easily mistaken for avoidance, which, he assured himself, it was not, "What?"
Irina let her hand leave his arm, the skin of her palm burning with a vengeance. With new found confidence, mainly because he hadn't killed her, she continued, playing with him, "You heard me..."
Jack shook his head, taking a step back, "No, but...what?"
She laughed a deep, throaty chuckle that she hoped would have its desired affect. Unluckily, Jack was quickly rebuilding his superficial defense line and she couldn't tell. "Jack, I'm serious," Irina let her voice slip around in her mouth but forced the honesty that she knew was real onto her face, "I think you do." Her face lost all traces of humour as she looked at him, his mouth slightly open, his brow creased low and a look of complete incoherency taking over his features.
"What?" he stared at her, trying to get his thoughts into some logical order, the only thing continuously standing out was that that little voice kept yelling, 'The answer is yes, you moron,'. He stared at her again, but saw she'd finished speaking. "Irina, I don't think you have the right to ask me that, not to mention you seem to have forgotten the fact that I have made it very clear that I want you dead, I want you solitarily incarcerated, I want you gone."
"Jack," she stopped him, her voice thick and still serious, "First of all you're avoiding the question," she quickly continued, "Secondly, I couldn't be incarcerated and dead at the same time, choose one," she let the smile creep onto her face, "And lastly," he glared at her, knowing he was losing his grip, "You want me to be all these things but I think that perhaps, sometimes, you just want me." He would have glared but for the openness the question portrayed, in both of them. So instead he had to settle for indifferent, just staring at her, wondering what brought this on, automatically, he tried to find reason, "What? Is this some new idea for trying to weaken me? Trying to seduce me? Fool me? Because I'm telling you Irina, it won't work, I don't know what you're playing at, but it won't work."
Irina smiled at him, throwing him again, "Jack, I'm not trying to seduce you," she made the mistake of allowing emotion into her voice and the result was something that Jack could only relate to hurt. "I'm trying to work you out." Irina knew she was slowly loosing her own grip on the situation but didn't care, how dare he believe she would ask such a question simply for some ultimate game plan, did he really hate her that much?
But she was still sure of herself, knew she was right, positive that this wasn't some horrible mistake and that she was throwing caution to the wind for no real reason. So she simply waited for a reaction.
Jack was truly out of his league, he had little, perhaps no idea why she seemed to be being honest and the implications of what she was saying were endless, and yet still, that little voice, continued to speak the loudest, but he didn't give in to it. "What do you mean?" his voice was surprisingly level.
"You're a difficult man," she answered with a slight shrug and the unusual hesitance that she had taken on. "When I came back, I wanted to work out everyone. I know the guards that walk by my cell, Agent Vaughn, Sydney, Kendall, everyone, but you, I could never tell what it was that you were about, what you wanted." Her neck moved as she ducked and her eyes left his, "But then today, it slowly came together and, I'm right, you want me. You don't know, I don't know why, it's just a fact."
Jack expression was incredulous, his mouth tight as he tried to suppress the many things he wanted to say, instead he simply told her, "You're wrong, you know that."
She shook her head, moving away and sitting down on the bed. "I'm not, sometimes, yes, I'm wrong, but not about this."
"Irina," he cut across her, regretting using her name, "You're wrong."
Her head cocked to one side, "Wrong about what?"
At first Jack wondered how she had forgotten what the conversation was about, but then he realized, or more, that little voice told him, that there was no way on earth that he could tell her, look her in the eye and tell her that he didn't want her. "Irina," again that name, "I don't know how you came to this very wrong revelation, but playing games with me is going to get you no where."
Her face became serious again as she said, "Then come here," Clouds of suspicion rose in Jack's eyes, "Sit beside me and tell me that you don't want me." She paused, wondering why she'd chosen the phrase 'want me' it wasn't what she had been thinking down at the pool, but it would suffice, she decided and seeing he hadn't moved, she pushed him that last little bit. "Look me in the eye and say it, Jack, or can't you?"
A single glare was all she got before he looked back to the ground and walked over, firm defiance set in his eyes, "Irina," he said bending over her, his presence huge as she leaned back on her hands, knowing to touch him would be suicide. "I don't have to."
Her face fell as he stood back up but didn't move away, his face empty once more, she bit her lip before trying again, "Then why do you keep looking at me? Why watch me so closely, why is it that you seem to be more alive whenever we speak?" she paused, knowing she was gone, there was no way she could ever take these words back and she had truly lost control, "Don't you notice the electricity? I mean..." she let her voice trail off, not prepared to continue, instead just lying back on the bed, the towel still covering every inch of skin she knew Jack was itching to touch, to taste.
Jack stared at her as she lay back, he noticed the tiny area of skin that was exposed but tried to ignore it, instead continuing to try to string her along, "How could you even guess that I feel like that? After everything?"
She watched him from the bed, "Last night, in your sleep," she reveled in the look of horror that came over his face, "You were...flirting with me. I thought, I mean," she paused, seeing how much this was hurting him but pushed on, "I figured you just thought I was Laura or someone else, but then, just before I fell asleep, you called me Irina, and..." she continued to watch his horror, wincing for no real reason, "Then the whole day, you've watched me and reacted in ways you shouldn't have and..."
Jack threw a glare at her once he regained his composure, "Irina," he paused, "I'm sleeping on the floor."
She could have cried, but didn't, instead hurling herself up form the bed and grabbing his arm again, before he could leave, "No," she demanded, "Not until you look me in the eye and tell me the truth."
Okay, did have a good lot more planned and would write it but I am now banned form the net until the end of the month, so no transcript, no clips, no photos, and a very , very mad me, Life sucks right now, I have to go back to school and sit around doing absolutely nothing for 7 hours a day and put up with my family. I hate the book I am reading and at the moment I hate a lot of other things. If you can't tell, I wrote the above earlier today but now that I sat down and my dad went off at me, I don't think it would be wise, I also had a bit of No gift to update, but I'm not happy with it and unable to touch it without possibly ruining it, so bad luck, live with this. There will be no more updates for like five, maybe six days, and sorry guys, so review this one.