Chapter Thirty two
Irina turned her eyes back to the shore, watching as he fell back into the sand, smiling to herself, she ducked under and swam further, approaching the young couple noisily just to be sure. Pulling up out of the water a few meters away, no longer able to touch the bottom as everyone had drifted eastward and had left the sand bar, she was glad to find them both circling each other and not in an embrace, her daughter in the middle of threatening Vaughn was death should he try to drag her under again.
Grinning, but moving all the same, Vaughn's eyes lit up as he saw Irina and he called for help, "Do you want to lend me a hand?"
Sydney turned quickly to find her mother, her own eyes lighting up before darkening as she asked, "You didn't argue with dad again did you?"
Irina laughed, treading water, "No, he just needed some time to think."
"Oh," Sydney nodded, turning her sights back to Vaughn as he came too close. "Excuse me," she said. Plowing head long into him, it was a few seconds later that Vaughn found himself under water, hands on his shoulders, Sydney's face underwater with him as her hair swirled around them. Off to the left he could see Irina, still above water and decided to risk the situation. Moving in, he roughly kissing Sydney on the lips, taking his chance as Sydney's grip lessened, Vaughn kicked away, surfacing a few feet closer to the pier at the same time as Sydney.
"Truce," he immediately spluttered out, his hands in the air.
Sydney watched happily as she raised her own hands, "Truce."
Irina finally persuaded them out of the water an hour and a half later, just after one with the promise of lunch on the sand. Walking up she was rattled to find Jack looking relaxed, lying on his side, a book, old looking, almost antique, flipped open lying in his hand as he read. Seeing them approaching, he shut it and carefully put it back into the bag, sitting up ready to greet them. "Have a good swim?"
"Yeah," Sydney volunteered when she found that Vaughn was too scared to answer and Irina too enthralled in looking at him to bother with words, "The water was great, you should have joined us."
"Perhaps," he answered, "I took the chance to think instead." No one missed the blatantly obvious way that his eyes slid to Irina's and both Sydney and Vaughn's brows creased low. "You guys want lunch right?" he asked, perking up and his eyes disentangling themselves from Irina's.
"Yep, any ideas?" Vaughn asked.
"Fish and Chips?" Jack pointed out, trying to keep it hidden that he had had this conversation planned out for about an hour.
Irina saw the plan and quickly adopted her part, "Yeah, fish and chips are great around here."
"Okay," Sydney said, her voice drawing off, "You want us to go and buy some?"
Jack smiled, happy to see everyone coming close to quoting what he'd thought they should say, "Yeah, there's a nice little shop just over the road we came in on." He looked to Irina who nodded, "Just go up the track, cross the road and it's just on your left."
"Fine," Sydney said, her eyes moving from one parent to another, "What do you want?"
Jack's eyes moved back to his daughter's in a flash, his mind throwing out an answer he thought he'd better not voice so instead he was quick to say, "Whatever you think I'll like."
"Mom?" Sydney asked already knowing the answer.
"What ever you think."
"Right," Sydney said, her voice level while her insides shook with laughter, "We'll be back in fifteen minutes."
"Take your time," Jack bit his lip, knowing he'd gone too far when ever Vaughn's eyes lit up with understanding. Biting his tongue, he just nodded to them, watching as they turned and left, Vaughn grabbing Sydney's hand as they turned the corner onto the path that led to the car park, their figures disappearing into the dense foliage hiding the world from the beach.
"Irina," jack said, offering her a hand as he sat himself down on the mat, circumspectly, she took it and lowered herself to the ground beside him, sitting alongside him on the mat, he legs crossed as they both watched the rolling water for a few minutes. "You've thought about it?" she asked, sick of the silence and wondering how he could bare it.
"Yeah," he said, "Though it only took me a few minutes."
She laughed, her amusement throaty and deep, seductive to say the least, "So what were you thinking about?"
"Other stuff." He paused, "Before I start I need you to understand a few things." She nodded and he continued, "Whatever I say here, you can't count on it."
"You're saying that you can and will take it back?"
"No," he hastened to correct, grabbing her arm, holding her at the elbow with tentative hands once he realized what he'd done, "I mean, I don't want you to consider it to mean anything...outside of us." She nodded, knowing that he simply meant that she shouldn't try to base the future around it. "Okay?"
"Yeah. Now what is it you have to tell me?" she asked, her tone light while her eyes were darker than they'd ever been, her gaze steady and the muscles in her arm tense as his thumb traced circles on the inside of her elbow. She wasn't prepared to pull away, but until she heard him say what she needed to hear, she wasn't prepared to give in either. Should he say it, she would most probably give in completely.
"Irina," he said, his other hand coming up to her thigh as he turned to look her in the eyes. There wasn't going to be any long speech, there wasn't going to be any explanation, it was going to be simple and eh was ready to say it, he knew he was ready to say it even if it doomed him to eternal damming, he wanted to say it, needed to.
"Don't move an inch," the accent was thick, Russian perhaps on first hearing, but then it was a twist of a few others as well, cutting through the silence as both Irina and Jack felt the nozzle of a gun on each of their necks. "Stand up." They did so, their eyes connected as they watched each other, ready and willing to attack the three men holding them. But then, "Don't try anything. There are enough of us to kill you twelve times over. Weapons, on the ground slowly."
"We have none," Jack said, voice level as he continued to search Irina's eyes for an answer to his question of what to do.
"You're sure?" the male asked maliciously. "We'd hate to think you were lying."
"Sure." Irina said.
"Good," he said, his hand flicking out in a silent order.
Irina turned her eyes back to the shore, watching as he fell back into the sand, smiling to herself, she ducked under and swam further, approaching the young couple noisily just to be sure. Pulling up out of the water a few meters away, no longer able to touch the bottom as everyone had drifted eastward and had left the sand bar, she was glad to find them both circling each other and not in an embrace, her daughter in the middle of threatening Vaughn was death should he try to drag her under again.
Grinning, but moving all the same, Vaughn's eyes lit up as he saw Irina and he called for help, "Do you want to lend me a hand?"
Sydney turned quickly to find her mother, her own eyes lighting up before darkening as she asked, "You didn't argue with dad again did you?"
Irina laughed, treading water, "No, he just needed some time to think."
"Oh," Sydney nodded, turning her sights back to Vaughn as he came too close. "Excuse me," she said. Plowing head long into him, it was a few seconds later that Vaughn found himself under water, hands on his shoulders, Sydney's face underwater with him as her hair swirled around them. Off to the left he could see Irina, still above water and decided to risk the situation. Moving in, he roughly kissing Sydney on the lips, taking his chance as Sydney's grip lessened, Vaughn kicked away, surfacing a few feet closer to the pier at the same time as Sydney.
"Truce," he immediately spluttered out, his hands in the air.
Sydney watched happily as she raised her own hands, "Truce."
Irina finally persuaded them out of the water an hour and a half later, just after one with the promise of lunch on the sand. Walking up she was rattled to find Jack looking relaxed, lying on his side, a book, old looking, almost antique, flipped open lying in his hand as he read. Seeing them approaching, he shut it and carefully put it back into the bag, sitting up ready to greet them. "Have a good swim?"
"Yeah," Sydney volunteered when she found that Vaughn was too scared to answer and Irina too enthralled in looking at him to bother with words, "The water was great, you should have joined us."
"Perhaps," he answered, "I took the chance to think instead." No one missed the blatantly obvious way that his eyes slid to Irina's and both Sydney and Vaughn's brows creased low. "You guys want lunch right?" he asked, perking up and his eyes disentangling themselves from Irina's.
"Yep, any ideas?" Vaughn asked.
"Fish and Chips?" Jack pointed out, trying to keep it hidden that he had had this conversation planned out for about an hour.
Irina saw the plan and quickly adopted her part, "Yeah, fish and chips are great around here."
"Okay," Sydney said, her voice drawing off, "You want us to go and buy some?"
Jack smiled, happy to see everyone coming close to quoting what he'd thought they should say, "Yeah, there's a nice little shop just over the road we came in on." He looked to Irina who nodded, "Just go up the track, cross the road and it's just on your left."
"Fine," Sydney said, her eyes moving from one parent to another, "What do you want?"
Jack's eyes moved back to his daughter's in a flash, his mind throwing out an answer he thought he'd better not voice so instead he was quick to say, "Whatever you think I'll like."
"Mom?" Sydney asked already knowing the answer.
"What ever you think."
"Right," Sydney said, her voice level while her insides shook with laughter, "We'll be back in fifteen minutes."
"Take your time," Jack bit his lip, knowing he'd gone too far when ever Vaughn's eyes lit up with understanding. Biting his tongue, he just nodded to them, watching as they turned and left, Vaughn grabbing Sydney's hand as they turned the corner onto the path that led to the car park, their figures disappearing into the dense foliage hiding the world from the beach.
"Irina," jack said, offering her a hand as he sat himself down on the mat, circumspectly, she took it and lowered herself to the ground beside him, sitting alongside him on the mat, he legs crossed as they both watched the rolling water for a few minutes. "You've thought about it?" she asked, sick of the silence and wondering how he could bare it.
"Yeah," he said, "Though it only took me a few minutes."
She laughed, her amusement throaty and deep, seductive to say the least, "So what were you thinking about?"
"Other stuff." He paused, "Before I start I need you to understand a few things." She nodded and he continued, "Whatever I say here, you can't count on it."
"You're saying that you can and will take it back?"
"No," he hastened to correct, grabbing her arm, holding her at the elbow with tentative hands once he realized what he'd done, "I mean, I don't want you to consider it to mean anything...outside of us." She nodded, knowing that he simply meant that she shouldn't try to base the future around it. "Okay?"
"Yeah. Now what is it you have to tell me?" she asked, her tone light while her eyes were darker than they'd ever been, her gaze steady and the muscles in her arm tense as his thumb traced circles on the inside of her elbow. She wasn't prepared to pull away, but until she heard him say what she needed to hear, she wasn't prepared to give in either. Should he say it, she would most probably give in completely.
"Irina," he said, his other hand coming up to her thigh as he turned to look her in the eyes. There wasn't going to be any long speech, there wasn't going to be any explanation, it was going to be simple and eh was ready to say it, he knew he was ready to say it even if it doomed him to eternal damming, he wanted to say it, needed to.
"Don't move an inch," the accent was thick, Russian perhaps on first hearing, but then it was a twist of a few others as well, cutting through the silence as both Irina and Jack felt the nozzle of a gun on each of their necks. "Stand up." They did so, their eyes connected as they watched each other, ready and willing to attack the three men holding them. But then, "Don't try anything. There are enough of us to kill you twelve times over. Weapons, on the ground slowly."
"We have none," Jack said, voice level as he continued to search Irina's eyes for an answer to his question of what to do.
"You're sure?" the male asked maliciously. "We'd hate to think you were lying."
"Sure." Irina said.
"Good," he said, his hand flicking out in a silent order.