Part 8 – Whispers of the heart
Heavens seemed to have opened. Cold rain poured down at the muddy ground, accompanied by an uncomfortably icy breeze.
Irina, who was sitting behind Jack on the horse, pressed her trembling body to his and tried to pull her already soaked cape into her face to shield her skin. It didn't work. The cape was too wet to keep her warm in any way.
She pressed her cheek to Jack's shoulder and felt that he took her hand into his and rubbed it to warm her up.
"We can't go on in this storm!" he said loudly. Despite the fact that she was so close to him, she had problems understanding his words. The loud rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance, soon followed by the crashing sound of lightning.
"What do you suggest? Camping under a tree?"
"No, that's too dangerous. We have to find a barn. The next village is still miles away and I can't make the horse go fast when we can't see anything through the rain." He replied. "Do you think you can go on for another five minutes?"
"Would it make a difference if I said no?" Irina asked back and he laughed.
"No, since there is no barn here..."
"Then don't ask..." Irina replied. They kept silent and now both looked out for a barn. Being so close to the open sea, the thunderstorm had soon reached them.
Irina had never been afraid of lightning or thunder, but now she felt more than uncomfortable. Especially when a lightning bolt hit a tree only thirty meters away from them. It gave a loud crashing, wood-splitting sound when the tree slowly bent and sank to the muddy earth.
The horse whinnied, panicked, and she gasped in shock when it was about to go up in the air and start to run in blinded fear. Jack managed to calm it down at the last second.
Irina closed her eyes and laid her head to Jack's back. She couldn't explain why, but somehow she felt safe when being close to him. Ridiculous considering the fact that Jack was a soldier, but for now she would just accept that feeling.
Another ten minutes later, she noticed that Jack had stopped the horse. She opened her eyes. They were standing in front of a large barn.
He got off the horse and then helped Irina down. She didn't contradict but was thankful for his supporting arms. Due to the coldness she didn't even know anymore whether she still had legs – not to mention how to use them. Jack steadied her and scanned her with concern until he was sure she was standing safely. Then he went to the large door of the barn.
Irina touched the horse's nose, trying softly to calm down the frightened animal. It nuzzled closer to her. Finally, Jack had managed to open the heavy wooden door. He looked inside and came out again ten seconds later.
"It looks dry and should be okay to work as cover for the night."
Irina set herself in motion and led the horse inside. While she moved the horse into a stall with hay, Jack closed the door behind them. After Irina had tied the horse securely to one of the wooden piles, she collected some hay to dry the horse's fur.
Before she could start, Jack softly took the hay out of her hand. "Go to sleep. I will take care of the horse. You're all soaked and will catch a cold."
"Fine..." Irina nodded, her hands rubbing her own arms to warm her up. "Thank you..." she added before she turned and went to look around for a good place. She found some woolen blankets in one of the empty stalls and took them into her arms. Then she climbed up a small ladder and found herself in a hayloft. It was almost warm and she turned to look down.
"It's warmer up here!" she announced and laid one of the blankets to the hay. Then she pulled off her soaked cape. The dress followed until she was standing in her undergarment – a white, thin dress. She stretched to hang the soaked pieces of clothing onto one of the wooden beams.
Then she let herself sink to the blanket and snuggled herself into a second one. Her body was trembling and she was actually afraid of catching a cold. In weather like this it was easy to get sick and she remembered one winter when she and Katya had both been ill. They had laid in their bed with a cold for almost three weeks, both suffering from fever. She knew, in these days one could easily die from an illness.
When Jack had climbed up the ladder, he found her shivering in the hay. He went to his knees next to her and handed her a small bottle.
"Here, this is going to warm you up."
She looked at the liquid inside, then she took a huge sip – one second later Jack was seriously afraid that she would choke at the coughing attack that followed. He helped her to sit up and shook his head.
"I didn't say you should drink the whole content at once!" His voice showed a hint of amusement. "This is high percent alcohol, so be careful."
Irina looked at him. "Shut up..." she managed to say under her breath. "This stuff is awful... and I don't even feel a little warmer!" She took another sip, this time more careful, then handed the bottle back at Jack to pull the blanket up to her neck. "How long do you think this storm is going to last?"
The sound of rolling thunder seemed frighteningly close and through the small space between the wooden beams she could see the lightning outside.
"I don't know." He replied and Irina turned away when he started to pull all of his soaked clothes off. She sank back to the hay and looked through the small spaces into the dark night outside, hoping that her body would stop trembling anytime soon. It didn't. Instead she felt colder every minute. Finally, she looked up and found Jack lying ten meters away on his blanket.
"Could I get some more of that drink?" she asked and he lifted a little to look at her, then threw the bottle at her. She caught it and took a huge sip. Jack saw the bottle trembling in her hand and raised his eyebrows.
"You should pull your soaked undergarment off. It's gonna keep you cold and all soaked." He advised and Irina laughed sarcastically.
"No way!" She knew he was right, but she would not fully undress when she was lying in a barn with a man she hated. Men were all the same when they were lying ten meters away from a naked woman.
"Don't be a fool. You know I'm right!" Jack stated dryly, then laid back. "Fine, it's your choice."
Irina laid back and hugged herself with her arms, trying to keep herself warm. She took a sip of the drink, then another until her stomach seemed to revolt. She was hungry and too much of that alcohol was probably not the best idea, but at the moment she wished for nothing but that her body would stop trembling. She threw the bottle back at Jack, who took a mouthful himself then laid back. Thoughtfully, he stared at the ceiling for a long time wondering why he felt so comfortable.
Usually he didn't feel comfortable when he was with a woman. They were annoying and btchy, and most of the things they told weren't true. They talked without brains just to please a man. He had always hated that. He didn't want a robot who just repeated his opinion. If he talked to somebody, he needed the other person to have their own opinion.
Irina was not like those women... she was more - he searched for an appropriate word - manly - in her behavior, yet so female on the other hand that she attracted him more than any other woman had ever done.
He remembered the day. Before it had started to rain he had only spoken a few sentences with Irina, but one thing he certainly knew, was that she would never lie to him just to please him.
Well, she would lie just to annoy me, betray me, and keep secrets from me, he thought bitterly, but anyway it was refreshing compared to the women at court.
His eyes went again to the woman who was lying ten meters away, and he found her still shivering. With a deep sigh he finally got up and crossed the distance between them.
"Okay, sit up?"
"What?" Irina asked and sat up when she heard his movement. He was always surprised by her fast reactions. Obviously she was used to defending herself. He wondered what had happened to her that she was so used to having to defend herself.
"Pull off that damned dress now! I don't want to get to London with a dead person."
"I'm not pulling my dress off." Irina contradicted loudly and with a certain sharpness in her voice. She pulled her blanket higher and her eyes held him challengingly.
"Fine," Jack nodded and folded his arms. His voice was absolutely neutral when he added, "You have two options. Either you do it yourself, or I'm doing it. I would prefer the last option, but I'm sure you disagree here. You have ten seconds to choose."
She stared at him open-mouthed and didn't doubt a second that he would do what he had promised.
"Two..." he counted. Irina pulled the blanket higher. "One..."
"Fine!" Irina burst out. "But I want you to know that I'm not doing this because I'm afraid of your threat. I'm just not in the mood of killing somebody."
"Of course," Jack nodded amused and turned around to grant her some privacy. Irina pulled the dress over her head and then wrapped her naked body deep into the woolen blanket until only her face and feet could still be seen.
"Ready," she said and Jack looked at her dress, then he went to his knees and took her naked feet into his hand. They were icy.
"What are you doing?" Irina hissed and crawled back, hiding her sudden feeling of vulnerability behind a mask of aggression. Jack held her.
"I'm trying to warm you up and prevent your circulation from breaking down."
"I don't want..." she started but Jack cut her off before she was even able to finish.
"And I don't want you to become ill."
Irina surrendered to his touch since he wouldn't discuss the subject any further. Slowly, she relaxed and laid back a little. Her head was spinning slightly and she felt light-headed – a state of mind in which she didn't want to fight or discuss. His hands were warm at her feet and soon her skin felt better and didn't hurt so much anymore. She wished he would extend those touches to her whole body.
Not aware that her wish was reflected in her eyes, she just stared at him and he held her gaze for a long time before he slowly moved his hands higher to her leg. She shivered – he couldn't define whether it was caused by his touches or her coldness – and smiled softly.
He felt a little light-headed himself, otherwise he would have listened to the voice inside that told him that the alcohol had those effects on her – and him – and that it was best to not move this any further. He didn't listen, but he pulled his hands away from her leg and moved up her body, slowly reducing the distance between their faces.
"You know how I could warm you the best?" His voice was hoarse from desire and she smiled warmly. Had he ever looked so damned cute?
"I have an idea..." she replied and framed his face with her hands. Her fingers stroked his cheek, then her thumb brushed over his lips. Unconsciously she let her tongue moisten her own lip when the vivid image of kissing him occurred to her mind. Jack stared at her, unable to turn his head away from this erotic gesture. He moved closer.
The blanket around her body slid down a little and revealed the silky skin of her shoulder and parts of her cleavage. She didn't care, she just stared at him.
"Let me keep you warm..." he whispered, touching her bare shoulder. Irina closed her eyes for a moment. There was a voice inside her that screamed that this was wrong, that she hated him and would truly regret this in the morning. Yet, his closeness and the promise of feeling him even closer was so seducing that she couldn't think rationally. In an incomprehensive way she felt attracted to him... which made her want to run away at the same time.
"I hate you..." she stated lowly and the way she said it would have been more fitting of a declaration of love. Jack chuckled slightly, never losing her eyes.
"I'm not so fond of you, either." He replied playfully, using the same hint of tenderness she had used. He wanted to give her the possibility to retire and give him a sign to not move any further. She didn't - instead she reduced the distance between their faces even more.
"This doesn't mean anything..." she continued.
"Of course not. It's just to keep you warm..." he assured tenderly and stared into her eyes – the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Then suddenly his lips crashed on hers, devouring them in an almost harsh exploration. Irina met his mouth with the same passion and for a moment they fought a silent battle for control, until she finally surrendered to him and fell back into the hay, pulling him over her but never losing his lips.
Although never been married, she had slept with men and was used to passion, but nothing had prepared her for the inferno of flames that built up in her stomach now. The mixture of alcohol in her blood and Jack's kiss clouded all her reason. A deep moan escaped her throat and she buried her hands in Jack's hair.
His tongue licked at the corner of her mouth, then he sucked in her lower lip before he continued to explore her skin down her jaw and throat in short, passionate kisses. She laid her head back and closed her eyes at the feelings that he awoke inside her. Her blood seemed to turn into a flood of hot lava that set her whole body into an almost unbearable fire.
When Jack pulled her blanket open, he admired her nakedness for a moment before he started to claim the newly exposed skin with his lips. Her hands roamed over his back and shoulders, desperate to feel more of his body against her.
Finally, he broke free to discard the rest of his clothes and wrapped them both in the warm blankets on the hay. For a split second Irina asked herself what they were doing here, but she was way too lost in the anticipation of what was about to come.
Her body shuddered slightly when she felt his heat against her and she relaxed into the comfortable warmth. Her hands framed his face softly while she looked deeply into his eyes. She lifted her head a little to touch his lips with hers in what could barely be called a kiss – a silent invitation which he took without thinking.
His hands ran down her body while he seduced her with a deep open-mouth kiss until she was writhing under his touch and gasping for oxygen.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered, and for a moment he felt as if his heart broke. She was his enemy, a woman he was supposed to arrest and give away for execution. At this thought he started to kiss her more thoroughly, wanting to erase the unpleasant thoughts from his mind. He buried his head at her neck and stilled for a moment, just feeling her soft touches.
She is my wife, he suddenly thought and kissed the delicate skin under her ear. He felt her shiver and was rewarded with a soft moan of hers. Irina was his wife... yet the marriage wasn't worth anything since she wanted an annulment – and so did he, didn't he? He couldn't marry a terrorist, since the queen would charge him with treason and surely have him executed as well – so marriage was out of the question. But at least for tonight, they were married...
Jack took her hand and pinned it softly to the hay, their fingers entangling tenderly. She covered his cheek with short kisses. "Jack..." Her voice was merely a whisper, yet full of longing and tenderness. She wasn't even aware that she had said it out loud.
She locked her eyes with Jack's deeply, unable to stop drowning in them. Over and over again she covered his skin with kisses, intoxicated by his scent and the taste of alcohol on his lips until he moved his head lower and sucked in one of her breasts.
She bit her lip when he teased her ever so slowly, her hand grabbing his tighter. When his lips touched her stomach and finally laid down on her belly button she closed her eyes. He was burning a path straight to her heart with his kisses. His touches didn't only warm her body, but also her soul – a warmth she had longed for all her life. For a moment she forgot about everything – who they were and what had been. And she felt deep inside that she was falling for him and there was nothing she could do against it.
Jack took his time kissing every inch of her belly before he moved back up and touched her cheeks to claim her mouth again. He couldn't get enough of her sweet lips. Carefully he shifted his body a little so he was lying in between her legs. She moaned when she felt his erection pressing into her thigh and wanted to pull him closer but he took his time teasing her with his hands and mouth until she thought she couldn't bear it anymore.
He made sure that she was lying comfortably before he finally entered her ever so softly, silencing her and his own moans with his lips. She moved a little to adjust to him and held him close to her body. For a long time neither of them moved, they just continued to caress each other tenderly and without hurry.
"How can you be so gorgeous?" Irina breathed and her thumbs stroked his lips. He moved inside her slightly and she sighed, her hands wandering to his shoulders and clasping them. "God, you feel so good..."
"So do you..." he uttered and kissed her cheek, then her earlobe, before he forced himself to still again. He didn't want this to end so soon – he wanted it to last forever. Irina sighed in frustration when he stopped her movements with his body and hugged him closer.
"Please... take me now." She bit his earlobe in a playful and seductive gesture and he moaned in desire, thrusting deeper into her against his will. Her head fell back in need. "Don't stop. Oh god..."
He complied, fascinated by the look of her, and took possession of her exposed skin. When she wrapped her legs around his body, the walls of reason finally shattered and his control broke. He thrust into her faster and their moans mingled to the age-old song of passion, joined only by the sound of raindrops and thunder from outside the barn.
Her hands held on to his back as if he was her only hold. He touched her face with his hands, his lips only inches away from hers. He wanted her to be his, he wanted her heart to belong to him – forever, not just tonight. But he knew that this wish could never be fulfilled – even more, that wish must never be fulfilled. They were on different sides...
"Irina..." he breathed into her ear like a sweet caress and she pressed her cheek to his.
"Jack... Jack!" Her voice was trembling and he felt that she was close. He stroked a drop of sweat from her slick skin and kissed her deeply, his hand running down her body and stroking her center. Her sharp cry was silenced by his lips and only heard by him. When she shattered in his arms only seconds later, crying out his name in ecstasy, he followed her almost immediately, filling her body with his life-giving essence.
Slowly he stopped his movements, his head buried at her neck. She ran her hands through his hair, still unable to open her eyes or form any coherent thought.
When the sound of rolling thunder finally reached her conscious mind again, she moved slightly and turned her head to look outside through one of the spaces. She felt Jack shift and then his lips on her neck and ear.
His lips met hers immediately when she turned her head. They kissed for a long time, neither of them willing to break contact. Then, finally, they separated.
Irina watched Jack fetching the other blankets and turned onto her belly to look out into the dark night and see the raindrops pouring down the dark wood into the barn. Her world was turned upside down. She had shared many nights with men, but no one had ever made her feel like he did. Jack Bristow touched her soul and that scared her. It was already bad seeing an enemy as your friend, but allowing him to touch your soul was your undoing.
She turned a little when she felt his body snuggling back against hers, then the warm covers around them. Jack wrapped them up in the comfortable warmth, then he laid his head to her back, her body tightly hugged to his.
"I feel dizzy..." Irina murmured after a long time and closed her eyes as the room started to spin more and more.
"So do I..." Jack placed a tender kiss on the back of her neck, his body still weary from the incredible experience they had just shared.
"The whole room is spinning..." Irina murmured and now he looked up worried. He touched her forehead, then wrapped the covers closer around her body. Maybe the effects of the alcohol on her were stronger than he had thought. "You probably had a little too much alcohol. You should sleep a little."
"No, what if robbers find us... or lightning hits the barn and..."
"Shhh..." he kissed her tenderly. "Sleep. I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you."
"Promise?" she asked sleepily and Jack chuckled.
"Promise..." he replied and sighed deeply. For tonight he would do anything to protect her. But how could he promise to not let anything happen to her when he was supposed to arrest her?