This chapter took so much longer than I thought! I was having a seriously hard time figuring out where I wanted to take it, but I think I've got a good grasp on it now. Anyway, let me know what you guys think! Thanks so much for the reviews and support thus far!
Lisa arched her back as his hands did torturous things to her body, and her mind was clouded with the desire to touch every inch of his skin. Her lips parted with a gasp as he hit a tender spot, and she could feel his lips turn to a grin against her skin.
His lips were on hers again, his hands pulling away the remaining articles of clothing. A shiver ran down her spine as he gripped her hips for a moment, squeezing them affectionately. She hadn't realized that her eyes had closed until she heard his gentle command. "Look at me."
The bright blue that met her were startling. Not because of their color, but because of the emotions that were reflecting back at her. Lust, desire… and love? His hand ran up her stomach as he pulled back and smiled.
"Leese.."
"Jackson, please.." Her voice was thick with desire, and when he leaned down to kiss her again, her hands scratched down his back.
"I love when you say my name." She shivered again when he whispered in her ear.
"Jackson… "
"Leese." This time it was shorter, and the warmth from a moment before was gone. "Leese.." The hands on her shoulders were no longer loving, but gripped hard. "Wake up."
Sitting up so fast that she almost smacked her head against Jackson's, her eyes shot open. "What?" For a moment, her brain was still in the dream, and she was utterly confused. But as she adjusted and saw the light outside, she knew that she was back into reality. And then she saw his smirk.
"Well, well. That seemed like quite a dream you were having." That earned him a glare as she tried to collect herself, and she forced herself to look away from him. "I'd ask what it was about but I think it's pretty obvious, hm? Anyway, I brought you breakfast." Setting the tray in front of her, she could smell the delicious eggs and toast, as well as the coffee she desperately needed.
Lisa was horrifically embarrassed. What had she said out loud to give away her dream? And the knowing look in his eyes only further pissed her off. But what annoyed her the most was how much her body had responded to just a simple dream. Her heart was still racing and she could still feel the warmth of it..
As she took a bite of toast, Jackson's cell phone went off. Looking warily in her direction, he picked it up and turned away from her.
"Hello?" Lisa watched curiously as his shoulders suddenly tensed.
"We have to go." Hanging up the cell phone, he slipped it in to his pocket and pulled the sheets off of her.
"What? Why?" Standing up and pulling on her pair of jeans, she was fully awake now. The slight panic in his voice was enough to scare her.
Ten minutes later, they were on the road. It highly annoyed her that she had not gotten the chance to shower and finish her breakfast, but for some odd reason, she had decided to trust him. Once they had been on the interstate for awhile, she finally spoke.
"Why did we have to leave?"
"My cell phone.. There was no one on the other line. I think they were trying to trace it."
"Who?" Unconsciously, she leaned closer to him. Perhaps he would finally give her some of the information that had conveniently been left out so far.
With an aggravated sigh, he lit a cigarette and rolled the window down a little. She wrinkled her nose up at the smell.
"I haven't been fully honest with you. No, I didn't lie really, I bent the truth. Ever since the Keefe incident, you, your father, and I have been watched. Needless to say, you pissed off all the wrong people when you botched that. Yes, you. Not I. I failed because I made it personal instead of making sure the mission was finished. But you were the one that called and stopped the whole thing, effectively fucking up their plan and drawing quite a bit of unneeded attention. They knew if they killed you right after, it would be obvious and give the authorities even more evidence and reason to find them. So they waited. Your father's death was probably just a coincidence, but I know for a fact that they want to eliminate you. And me."
At some point during his little story, her mouth had fallen completely open. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "And now?"
"Well, as fate would have it, your rapist is the assassin sent after us. It's almost too weird to be true, but it is. His job is very similar to mine but in a different organization. A competing one. And he'd love nothing more than to take me out - you're just a paid job. He must have been on assignment in Miami when he raped you because he has a.. thing.. for raping young women. The only reason he's never been caught is because his organization covers it up. You were just fortunate that there was no evidence."
Lisa leaned her against the window of the Mercedes and closed her eyes. "You're making this up."
"I wish. It sounds like something out of a bad Tom Cruise movie, doesn't it?"
She didn't say anything.
It was a few hours later that she came out of her daze and began to notice road signs. They were heading north.
"Where are we going?"
"A place where they can't find us."
Lisa couldn't have possibly found the house that they were at again even if she'd made notes. It was a gorgeous colonial mansion on a creek, with tall columns and a porch that wrapped all the way around. From what she gathered, they were somewhere on the northern side of the South Carolina coast. It was the complete opposite of what she'd imagined Jackson owning.
When they got there, it was already late. They'd gone down so many small roads and finally ended up on a dirt one that had lead to the gate. She stared up at it in amazement.
"This is your place?"
"Yes, surprising I know." He handed her the suitcase and locked the car.
"I just never pictured you going home to a beautiful southern plantation, that's all." They walked side by side up the gravel walk and to the large front door.
"We won't stay here long, this is just a stop. I need to regroup and come up with a better plan."
As Jackson checked the house to make sure there were no bugs or people lurking, Lisa walked out on to the back porch. If the front was beautiful, then the back was breathtaking. The sun sparkled on the rippling water, and the tall grass swayed with even the slightest breeze. There was even a dock that stuck out far into the creek. It was so peaceful that it was hard to believe who the owner was.
The screen door squeaked open and Lisa glanced over her shoulder to see Jackson. "Well?"
"Just us," He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over at her. She was casually leaned against a column, and the sun was making her skin almost shimmer. The wind moved a curl into her line of vision and she girlishly tucked it behind her ear.
Shaking himself, he quickly retreated inside. The last thing he needed was to be distracted by her again. Mistakes would be made and they would both end up dead. Dumping his brief case on to the table of the living room, he slumped down on to the couch and began thumbing through papers. He knew they didn't have much time.
When Lisa finally wandered back in, she could smell dinner cooking. And if that was any sign of how good it was going to be, well, it made her mouth water. She hadn't had anything to eat other than the one piece of toast she'd managed to grab when they rushed out of the hotel room that morning.
There was already two glasses of wine, plates, and utensils laid out on the small kitchen table. Jackson had just finished cooking when she walked in.
It was odd how domestic they had become. And she felt a little uncomfortable knowing how easily she'd slipped into the role. After all, here they were at his house, eating his food, and planning to spend god only knew how much time together. Sitting down, she picked up the wine glass and took a larger gulp than was necessary. For a moment she wondered where she would sleep that night. She'd been comfortable knowing he was there beside her, in case anything had happened of course.
He set her plate in front of her - chicken, salad, corn, and a biscuit.
Dinner consisted of meaningless and sparse conversation, and when they were both finished, they took the plates to the kitchen and retreated to the back porch once more. He lit a cigarette and she worked on her third glass of red wine.
It was almost pissing her off how easily he had infiltrated every aspect of her life. He wasn't keeping her captive, so to speak, but she felt as if he held her in some respect. Somewhere along the line she had become intrigued, and more than that, by Jackson Rippner. He was handsome, and she knew that he could be charming when he so needed to be. Had the Tex-Mex Jackson been an act? Or was that some part of his personality that he hid away until it was convenient.
"How much of it was an act?" She spoke without thinking, and she almost didn't recognize the hoarse voice as her own.
"Of what?"
Clearing her throat, she finally looked to him. "The tex-mex."
"I wondered if you'd ever ask about that." Jackson stared straight at her, meeting her gaze evenly. It was almost unnerving, but she refused to back down and look away. Taking the moment, he marveled at how much she had improved in just the few days with him. While she was obviously still grieving her father, she wasn't obsessed with it. And her skin had regained its natural color. After what seemed like a long moment, he answered.
"Not all of it was an act, Lisa. I didn't have to try that hard to pretend to be attracted to you." He was satisfied with the frown that came to her face. Obviously it wasn't the answer she was looking for.
Standing up and walking closer to her, Jackson's signature smirk was in full force. He was too close to her before she even knew it.
"Now, Leese, let me ask you something.. You were dreaming this morning when I woke you up. It was obviously something of a… sexual nature. So why did you say my name? And in that tone of voice, well, it leads to assumptions." Jackson had backed her up against a column, her body was shaking with his closeness.
The anger that suddenly surged through her was unstoppable, and before she could even stop herself, she'd reached up and slapped him so hard that his head jerked to the side. He stayed that way for a minute, his fingers coming up to touch the trail of blood that trickled down his lip. She was trapped between his warm body and the hard column.
"You see, Leese, I knew I was right. Thanks for proving it to me. Maybe you'd like to tell me about the dream? We could always try to make it come true." It was obvious that he was teasing her, his lips inching ever closer to hers. For a moment, an urge to meet him half way over came her, but she held back. His hand moved slowly from her lower back to the back of her head, where he entwined the soft brown curls between his fingers.
"Get away from me.." She was trying to sound surer and braver than she felt, but deep down she wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him.
Just as it seemed he was going to kiss her, and her eyes had slid shut, he stepped away and let go of her. "Shall I show you to your room?"
