Post 13
A few days later…
"You know Jaina's lifeday is coming up, right?" Kyp asked his roommate as they started their run. Jag just nodded and Kyp left it at that for the moment. He had been granted a couple of days off from Luke to go sleep in his own bed and take care of anything he needed to do. Bela was out of town for three weeks and Jared had assured the master that he could handle security for Jade for a couple of days. She had no plans to leave the house right now and no work that needed to be done right away.
Jared had smirked at him when he had told the man he needed some time away from Jade. He liked the guy, but at that moment he had wanted to punch him. The young guard had to see that something was happening between him and Jade, but he didn't say anything. Actually, he felt Jared's amusement when he and Jade got into any 'discussion'.
They ran in silence for about 30 minutes before Kyp decided to talk again.
"You coming to the bar tonight?" He asked him as they stopped at a crosswalk to let what little traffic was out this time of morning go by. Jag took a deep breath and slowly let it out, his gaze meeting Kyp's.
"I was planning on it," Kyp nodded, and they continued in silence, not bringing the subject up again.
Kyp and Jag were the last ones to arrive at the bar that night. When they finally made it over to the table through the crush of bodies Kyp chuckled to himself. The table was already littered with ale and shot glasses and it looked to him that pretty much everyone at the table was feeling good from the spirits they had already indulged in. He and Jag pulled over some chairs from a nearby table and straddled them at the only remaining side of the booth that wasn't filled.
Jaina was already drunk, that much he could tell. She was laughing at something someone had said, and her eyes had a glassy sheen to them. To her left sat Myri, Jake Storm and Valin. To her right sat Ben and Zekk. The waitress came over to deposit the latest round of drinks and the boys put their order in.
Kyp looked over at Zekk and raised an eyebrow. The Jedi knight leaned over and spoke loud enough that only they could hear.
"She's been here for two hours."
"Two hours?" They echoed at the same time.
He nodded and sat back against his seat. Jaina looked over and finally acknowledged them.
"Nice of you two to finally grace us with your presence." She told them cheekily.
"Sorry, Goddess. We mortals humbly beg your forgiveness." Kyp said as he bowed his head. Jag snickered.
"We do?" he asked, garnering laughter from the rest of the table.
A few hours later….
"All right, Goddess. It's time for you to go home and pass out." Kyp announced finally. He could tell she was tired and it was more than past time for her to stop. At this point she wasn't going to be able to walk home on her own.
Myri, Valin and Jake had already left, considering they all had to get up and work in the morning. Ben and Zekk were in the process of leaving and Jag was standing at the side of the table with his arms crossed, watching Kyp try to get Jaina out of the booth.
"I'm guessing you're not going to help me." Kyp told him with a glare.
Jag laughed. "Nah, you're having enough fun for both of us." Ben and Zekk both laughed and Kyp felt the urge to smack them all upside the head. Instead,
he worked on getting Jaina to help herself out of the booth, whereupon she promptly collapsed against him.
"Hope you had a happy lifeday, Goddess. Not sure you're going to remember it in the morning." He mumbled and heard her giggle from where her face was pressed against his chest. Rolling his eyes, he tugged one of her arms so that it was around his waist and proceeded to leave the bar. The other three men followed, trying to keep their laughter subdued. Once they made it outside, Ben and Zekk said their goodbyes, each heading to somewhere else besides the temple.
Kyp and Jag walked along in silence. Thankfully the bar wasn't that far from the temple so they didn't have far to drag Jaina. They were at the top step about to go inside the temple, when Kyp's comm went off. Reaching down, he answered it.
"Durron."
"Kyp, where are you right now?" Jared's voice came through and the two men looked at each other. This wouldn't be good.
"What's wrong?" He asked, shifting Jaina's weight so he could stand up a little straighter. Jag offered to take her and Kyp let him.
"Someone fired a shot into the house. Jade's fine, and I can't see anything from the cameras. Since it's just me here I was hoping you would check around outside quickly. I don't want to leave her alone."
"Is she ok?" Jag raised an eyebrow at Kyp's tone. If he didn't know better, he would say his friend's voice was a little strained.
"Yeah, she's just shaken up. I have her locked in the security office."
Kyp ran his hand over his face and took a deep breath. "I'll be there in about 20 minutes." He told Jared, then cut the signal.
"I'll get her to her room." Jag told Kyp as the master tried to take Jaina back from him. When he didn't respond, Jag looked up and found Kyp giving him a weird look. He rolled his eyes.
"Go!" Kyp hesitated for just a moment, then turned and ran back down the steps. Shaking his head, Jag started down the hall, a quiet Jaina trying her hardest to keep from falling down. He heard her giggle and couldn't help but smile.
A few moments later they arrived at her door. Jag leaned her against the wall and propped her up, his hand against her stomach as he tried to keep her from falling down to the floor. He winced as she raised her head from her chest and smacked it on the wall behind her.
"Ouch." She mumbled. He started to put the numbers into the lock and stopped.
"Is your code the same?" He asked her quietly, silently hoping no one would walk by and see her in this state. She didn't answer for a minute and he thought she might have fallen asleep. Then she answered.
"No, it's different. Try 0742." She told him quietly. He started to punch the numbers in and stopped, realizing what the numbers meant. It was too much of a coincidence that she had randomly picked them. He looked over at her and searched her face. She opened one eye to look at him.
"What's wrong? Won't it work?" Jaina asked, furrowing her brow.
Gathering himself, he turned back to the lock and punched the numbers in. When the door swooshed open, instead of trying to get her moving again, he just picked her up. Normally she would have protested, but she was too far-gone to say anything right now.
Still not saying anything, he quietly padded to her room and didn't bother to turn the light on. There was really no need to because she had left her blinds open and the moonlight along with the lights from the street bathing everything in their glow. Jag set her feet on the floor and helped her sit down on the bed. Before he could help her further she fell to her side on the bed and sighed. Jag lifted her legs up so she was lying down and started to take her boots off. Moving to sit them over to the side, he grabbed the blanket she kept rolled up at the foot of the bed and covered her up.
He settled the blankets around her and then started to straighten up when she grabbed his arm.
"Aren't you going to take my clothes off?" He heard her ask him sleepily. Her eyes opened and while they were still glassy he saw something in them he hadn't seen in a while. At least not for him.
"I don't think that would be a good idea Goddess." He whispered, not daring to move. A huge grin formed on her face and he felt her hand move from his arm to his shoulder. He should move. He should leave. He should run screaming from her room. But he stood still, soaking in every bit of her touch. Every bit of her presence. Gently he sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed.
They stared at one another for what seemed like hours, but he knew it was only minutes. She hadn't moved her hand from his shoulder, in fact, it was now moving up and over to his neck. His brain was telling him to run, but he let his heart rule.
He wasn't sure who moved first, but suddenly he found himself kissing her and everything else faded away. Jag's hands became entangled in her hair and he felt her arms wrap around his neck and pull him closer. Using her weight, she fell back onto the bed and brought him with her. Jag offered no resistance, one hand leaving her hair to brace himself so he wasn't laying fully on her.
Jaina's tongue snaked into his mouth and he felt his stomach twist. Her kisses still had the ability to bring him to his knees. Slowly, he trailed kisses down the line of her jaw to nuzzle her ear then worked his way down her neck. He heard her growl in frustration as he sucked gently on the skin over her collarbone and fought the urge to laugh as she tried to drag his lips back to hers.
She captured his mouth again and he knew he had to stop this while he still had the ability to do so. Making his kisses more gentle, he finally found the strength to pull his mouth away from hers. As he pulled away, she sucked his bottom lip with hers and Jag fought back a groan. She tried to pull him back to her, but he stopped her.
"No Jaina. Go to sleep." He admonished her softly. Her eyes were closed, but the frown on her face was intense. Jag sat there watching her until he was sure she had fallen asleep. When he looked at his chrono, he saw that it was two hours later and he mentally kicked himself. Tucking the covers back around her and placing a kiss on her forehead, he stood up and left the room.
Kyp was sure he had sped the whole way to the house, and he really didn't care. He had barely put the speeder in park when he jumped out and bounded up the steps. Using the force, he had the front door open before he even got there and was greeted by a surprised Jared.
"That was a fast 20 minutes." He commented, as a smile came to his face.
Kyp glared at him, then started down the hall towards the security office. He heard the young man behind him but didn't say anything. Slapping the door open, he walked in and found her. She was sitting at the table in front of the monitors, her legs pulled up to her chest and slightly rocking back and forth.
"What happened?" Kyp asked, not really talking to anyone in particular, just asking the question that had been pounding at his brain since he had gotten the call from Jared. Jade turned around at the sound of his voice and he saw that she had been crying. He made no move to go to her though. Jared came around to stand between them and cleared his throat.
"We were sitting in the living room, Jade was working on something and I was reading a book when the glass in the doors shattered."
Kyp transferred his gaze to Jared. "You're both ok?" When Jared nodded, Kyp finally took a deep breath and sat down in a chair near him. Jade hadn't moved from where she was. Kyp's heart was pounding in his chest and he fought to control it. He wouldn't be any good if he couldn't calm down.
"I didn't go outside, since it was just me. I locked the house down and then brought her in here." Kyp nodded, then looked back over at Jade. She gave him a small smile, but he could feel her fear in the force. This was the second time she had been shot at and the third 'attack' against her. It unnerved her, not that he could blame her.
He stood and unclipped his light saber from his belt. "Stay here. Both of you. I'll be right back." Then he left the room.
"Soooo…."
Jade looked up at Jared, wondering what he was thinking. Actually, she probably didn't want to know, now that she thought about it.
"You're gonna make Kyp go to the ball."
She just stared at him, not sure how she wanted to answer that. Of course she wanted him to go. She would feel so much safer if he went. If she was honest with herself, she knew it wasn't for that reason alone. Jade was extremely curious on how he would look dressed up and how it would feel to have him all to herself all night. It was so dangerous for her to have those thoughts though. She chastised herself for going there and focused on Jared again.
"Somehow, I don't think I can make Kyp do anything. You on the other hand, I have no problem ordering around."
"You don't seem to have an issue with doing it with him either." He mumbled, then looked back up to see if she had heard him. The glare she sent his way told him she had. Jared just smiled and was about to say something when the windows to the back door shattered.
He heard Jade scream right before he vaulted over the table and dragged her to the floor, bringing his blaster up at the same time. It was too open in here, he thought to himself. When no shots followed, he stood up and pulled Jade down the hall, keeping himself between her and the back yard until they got to the security office. He gently pushed her in and locked the door behind him. Jared momentarily forgot about her as he moved into work mode. Running over to the monitors, he searched for any sign of life outside the house.
Finding none, he went over to the controls and rewound the footage for a few minutes ago, searching for something out of the ordinary on it. Nothing. The only thing he saw was the blaster shot coming from the back property line. Cursing under his breath, he turned around to find Jade had taken a seat and was in shock. He was getting a little tired of this. They needed to catch Bela in the act soon. He wasn't sure his nerves were going to last long enough if they didn't.
Jared reached down for his comm unit and dialed Kyp.
Kyp slowly made his way around the yard, starting at the back door. He stretched his senses out as far as he could, trying to find anything or anyone close by. He found nothing.
"Damn it." He mumbled to himself. Maybe Jared had found something on the video feed. He completed a circuit of the yard before walking back inside. The door opened before he got there and he shot the man a glare.
"Kyp, I could see you on the cameras. I knew you were coming down the hall. Don't give me any crap right now."
"Did you look at the video yet?" He asked, walking over to the control console. Jared joined them and they both watched it a few times coming to the same conclusion. They weren't going to get anything from it. The person had hidden too well and had been able to get away quickly.
Sensing the Master's anger, Jared made an excuse about boarding the windows up and left the room. Kyp leaned against the console and closed his eyes. This wasn't Bela. He knew it, but he had no idea who it could be. Granted, the man hadn't been quite so attentive to Jade lately, but he still didn't think him capable of this. Who in the hell wanted her dead? Or did they just want to scare her off? Kyp slammed his fist down on the panel and glared at the monitors in frustration.
He jumped when he felt a hand on his arm and whipped around reaching for his lightsaber when he realized it was Jade. Here she was, scared out of her mind and trying to comfort him. Sighing, he reached over to pull her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. Again he found himself reaching out to her and it was just as confusing as last time. He focused on her for the moment. She needed this comfort right now, and he wasn't about to deny her.
They stood there for a few minutes, locked in each other's embrace. Kyp realized he was running his hand up and down her back and stopped. Jade moved her head up to look at him, and Kyp acted on instinct. The kiss was gentle, their lips barely pressed together. When she didn't protest, he brought one hand up to cup her cheek and increased the pressure. Jade curled her hands into the back of his tunic and he pulled her closer to him with the hand still on her waist.
He knew he should stop this, but he found himself extremely reluctant to do so. Now that he knew her taste, he had a feeling it was going to be nearly impossible to forget it. He felt her pulling away from him and tried not to groan from the loss of her lips against his. When he opened his eyes, he found her staring at him, her lips swollen slightly and face flush from the intimacy they had just shared.
"Ok. The door has been…" They jumped apart as Jared came back in the room. Kyp found his breathing hard to control as he looked at anywhere but Jade. The young guard stopped in his tracks when he saw how red Jade's face was and Kyp's normally calm façade anything but.
"Would you two like me to come back later?" He snarked, and had to duck when a datapad came flying his way. Kyp mumbled something about checking the grounds again and left the room. A bewildered Jade watched his retreating form and wondered how things had just changed between them. Hopefully, not for the worse.
Jaina was sitting on a lounge chair next to the pool, her sunglasses keeping the glare off her eyes, staring at the spectacle across from her. She crossed her arms in front of her and huffed. A chuckle came to her from her right and she reached out with the force and smacked Kyp upside the head. She smiled when she heard him yelp in pain.
"Not jealous are you, Goddess?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head to take the sting out.
"Why would I be jealous? He's not my boyfriend." She snapped back. Jaina knew Kyp could tell she was lying, but she didn't care. Her stomach protested and she tried to look away from the sight but couldn't.
Across the pool sat Jag Fel, but he wasn't alone. No, he was definitely not alone. He was surrounded by a group of women. Scantily clad women. Drop dead gorgeous women, at least 10 of them, were all vying for the man's attention. It was actually starting to make her sick. But she wasn't sure if she was sick from the image or the jealousy.
"If you keep your arms crossed like that, your tan is going to look weird Jaina." She reached out again and smacked her cousin Ben upside the head like she had Kyp. He was prepared though, and was able to block most of the force of her hit. She still managed to get a decent shot in, anyway.
Jaina just couldn't rip her eyes away from the sight of Jag right now. Trying to forget all the women clamoring around him, she focused on the man himself. He was sitting in a lounge chair similar to hers, in all his bare-chested, beautifully tanned, drool worthy glory. For a second, one of the girls leaned over him and blocked her view of him and she took the opportunity to close her eyes and gather her composure. Or at least try to. Even the backs of her eyelids were painted with the picture he presented, but thankfully minus the bimbos.
She imagined him pushing all the women away and standing up to look over at her instead. Shivers ran down her body as she imagined his gaze on her and suddenly, she didn't feel the heat from the sun. This was an entirely different kind of heat. Jaina could see him slowly walking around the edge of the pool, never taking his gaze off her. People in his path clearing a way for him as he stalked her like a Vornskr stalking its prey.
Suddenly, something was blocking the sun's rays and she opened her eyes to chastise them, when a small gasp escaped her. He was here. Standing in front of her, with his exquisitely sculpted abs and stomach, his beautiful face and his Imperial Red swim trunks, not leaving much to the imagination. The only thing she couldn't appreciate was his butt, but maybe she could do that when he went to sit back down.
"Hi." She squeaked out. He gave her a toothy grin and leaned down to brace himself on the arms of her chair, bringing the object of her obsession closer to her. Again she shivered and tried to form a coherent thought. Nope. Not gonna happen.
"Hi." He responded huskily. "I couldn't help but notice you looking my way." She couldn't see his eyes from behind his sunglasses, but she could feel him slowly looking her up and down. At some point she had uncrossed her arms and was now gripping the side of the chair, her hands just inches from his. The need to reach out and touch him was colossal. She realized he was waiting for a response, but her brain was still refusing to work with him being this close to her.
"You're drooling, Goddess." Kyp commented and was again smacked upside the head. She couldn't take her eyes off of Jag. He leaned closer and she imagined she could see the muscles in his arms flex with his movement and suddenly she found her hand reaching up to touch his arm.
"Um excuse me." Ben said to a scantily clad waitress walking by. "Can she get a bucket for her Jag drool." he asked her, pointing at his salivating cousin next to him. She heard a satisfied thwap, but her eyes never left Jag's.
They stared at each other for a moment, then he opened his mouth to say something. Words weren't coming out of his mouth though. His lips were moving, but what she was hearing was definitely not words. The sound came again and she wrinkled her brow in confusion.
Jaina sat straight up in bed, her alarm blaring from the table beside her. She darted her eyes around the room in confusion and suddenly realized it had all been a dream.
"What in the Sith!" She yelled, then winced as her head started ringing. Jaina fell back against the bed again and reached over to smack her alarm off. Groaning, she pulled the cover up over her head and cursed.
She lay there for a few minutes, trying to make the pounding in her head go away and was just about there when images from the previous night began to assault her. Jaina sat up again and threw the covers off her as she slipped on a pair of shoes and stalked out of her apartment.
Jag felt her before he saw her. He'd been waiting for her wrath all morning, and he was just glad they didn't have much of an audience right now. He was standing in the hall outside his room talking to Ben when she came around the corner and you could feel the air become electric. This was going to hurt.
Ben looked to where his cousin was coming down the hall and then looked back at Jag, with a question in his eyes. Jag said nothing, just pursed his lips together. She came to a halt in front of the men and you could almost see the anger rolling off her in waves.
"You kissed me last night." She all but shouted at him. He heard Ben snort from beside him and when he moved to look over her head to avoid her eyes he saw Zekk and Valin stop dead, eyebrows raised in shock. Jag cleared his throat and finally looked her in the eyes.
"Yes, I seem to remember that happening." He told her quietly. Ben hadn't moved from his side. Actually, Jag wondered if the young man was still breathing. He had to get Jaina out of the middle of the hall before the classes were excused. The last thing he wanted to happen was to have a hall full of people hear about how he had almost mauled her last night while she had been drunk.
"How…" He grabbed her arm and she stopped her tirade in shock.
"Let's go into my classroom and discuss this." He told her quietly, as he nodded at Ben then dragged her into the room. Jag stood just inside the door as he watched her stalk across the mat to the middle of the room. Her arms hung at her sides, hands fisted and he was suddenly glad he had no weapons in the room. Not that she really needed them, she was a weapon herself.
"You kissed me last night!" She shouted at him again.
"I think we've already established that Jaina. Can we move on?" He told her calmly.
She whirled to face him and he had the decency to wince at her stare. Walking back over to him she pushed him against the wall and got in his face as much as their height distance would allow.
"What were you thinking?" She ground out.
"I wasn't. Hence the discussion we are having at this moment." Jag's calm demeanor only served to infuriate her more.
"What right did you think you had to…"
"Damn it Jaina! You're the one who started the kiss!" He finally raised his voice at her. Her eyes widened and he sighed, bringing his hand up to rub his temples. She stepped back from him slightly and he slouched against the wall.
"What?" she asked quietly.
"You kissed me. I did finally come to my senses and leave." His calm had returned, but he was still frazzled. Closing his eyes, he dropped his chin to his chest and waited for her to process that.
"I couldn't have." She whispered.
"Jaina, you were drunk. Let's just forget about it." He said, as he stood up straight and walked back towards the middle of the room. He took deep breaths in an effort to control his pulse and the headache that was starting to form. It wasn't helping.
She was quiet for a minute before she spoke. "Did…anything else happen?"
He stopped in front of his desk and leaned on it.
"No. I left before it could, thankfully." Came his quiet reply. Since his back was to her, he didn't see her stiffen at his comment. She probably hadn't even realized that she had done it herself.
"Oh." Was all she said. Jag could have sworn he heard disappointment in her response, but surely he was mistaken.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you Jag. I'll just go now." And before he could even turn around she was gone. He stared at the door as it shut and felt his heart break…again.