He was motionless, his face buried in the pillow beside her head, his body covered with sweat and his breathing labored. She could feel him, still buried deep within her, his heart beating so fast it seemed like she could hear it. She let her legs relax from their position wrapped tightly around him, allowing them to slowly glide along the outer edges of his hips and thighs and onto the mattress. She rubbed her hands over his back, gently, soothingly. After a couple of minutes he lifted his head and kissed her before moving off of her, rolling onto his back and declaring himself spent.
Kate lay quiet and motionless for a little while. She finally slipped out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom, the room dark except for the light coming from the television. She returned wearing a t-shirt and panties and slipped back into bed. She felt him reach over and touch her stomach. He rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at her. He caressed the nipple on her left breast through the shirt until it was hard and then slid his hand down to her side, stilling it there.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm just ready to call it a night Jack, I'm exhausted and probably won't be able to walk tomorrow." Kate said her tone moody and dangerous.
"Are you trying to tell me I was too rough?" Jack asked taking offense to the idea that he'd pounded on her so long and hard he'd hurt her.
"You were fine Jack, EVERY TIME." Kate sighed, the emphasis on the final two words not lost on him.
"What's going on Kate? You make it sound like you weren't a willing participant EVERY TIME." Jack asked.
"Nothing is going on! I'm tired and I want to go sleep. Do you really need to fuck me again Jack or can we please just go to sleep?" Kate yelled.
"No problem. Goodnight Kate." Jack said, obviously confused and a little hurt by behavior.
Jack slipped out of bed, grabbed his clothes and entered the bathroom. He resurfaced fully dressed and sat in the chair to put his shoes on.
"Where are you going?" Kate asked.
"Does it matter?" Jack asked.
"I'm sorry Jack." Kate said her voice starting to crack a little.
"I'm sorry too Kate." Jack said as he stood up.
He looked at her for a moment, sighed heavily and left the room. Kate curled up in a ball and cried herself to sleep, knowing she'd hurt him, but not in the mood to explain why she was feeling angry enough to lash out at him, especially since she really wasn't sure herself.
Kate woke the next morning to the sound of water running in the bathroom. She looked around the room. There was a pillow and blanket on the couch of the suite. Jack had obviously come back sometime during the night and slept on the couch. She heard the water shut off and jumped a little when the door opened and he walked out wearing nothing but a bath towel around his waist.
"Relax Kate, I have no desire to fuck you again. I just need to get dressed and I'll be out of your way." Jack told her, his tone cold and unfeeling.
"Jack, please, I'm sorry." Kate pleaded.
"Yeah, I know, you told me that last night. Don't worry about it Kate. It was just sex right? You've been begging me to fuck you since we met and I did and now you're done with me. I get it." Jack said his voice dripping with anger and sarcasm.
"Don't talk about me like I'm a whore Jack, it wasn't like that." Kate shot back.
"Yeah, well from where I'm standing that's exactly what it feels like Kate, but my father did hire you to be my escort so it's all good. I'll leave you cab fare for the luncheon." Jack told her.
"I don't think I'll be going to the luncheon." Kate said.
"Personally, I could care less, but if you want my father to pay you, not showing up for one of the two things he's paying you to show up for isn't the best way to accomplish that." Jack said.
Kate started to respond when her cell phone began to ring. She answered it and he watched her closely and listened to her side of the conversation.
"How high is his fever?" Kate asked.
"No, that's too high. Um, take him to the emergency room and I'll see if I can get a flight out of here." Kate said.
Her conversation snapped Jack out of self pity/anger mode and back into Kate's reality. Her terminally ill child was running a high fever and she was too far away from him to help him. He immediately went from offended, hurt lover to compassionate doctor/friend.
"How long will it take them to get him to the hospital Kate?" Jack asked.
"Just a minute…….what Jack?" Kate asked.
"How long will it take whoever has your son to get him to the hospital?" Jack asked again
"About 25 minutes, why?" Kate replied.
"Give me a second." Jack said and punched a few buttons on his cell phone.
Kate listened to him discuss TJ's situation with someone for a few minutes and then close his phone.
"Jack what are you doing?" Kate asked.
"Tell them when they get to the ER to ask for Dr. Greg Lucas. If we leave right now we can be there in 5 hours. You're never going to arrange a flight in that amount of time so don't argue with me." Jack ordered.
Kate was shocked at how quickly he'd gone from being mad enough to toss her out on her ear to compassionate enough to make sure he got her home to her sick child. She owed him such an enormous apology, his actions the day before obviously done with nothing but good intentions, his kindness, gentleness and the caring, passionate way he made love to her genuine.
They dressed and packed in silence, an uncomfortable silence that was bordering on painful. He checked them out, gave the valet his ticket and they sat on a bench outside waiting for his car to be pulled around.
"How'd you get your car here?" Kate asked.
"I went and got it last night when I left the room." Jack answered.
"I figured you left in search of alcohol." Kate said.
"Don't flatter yourself." Jack replied sarcastically.
"I'm going to catch a cab to the airport, try to catch a flight out." Kate said as she stood and grabbed her bag.
Jack stood and grabbed her arm, holding firmly enough to keep her from getting away from him. He grabbed the bag away from her and handed it to the valet. He led Kate to the passenger side of the car and opened the door for her.
"Get in." Jack ordered.
"No, I'm not going to spend the next 5 hours trapped in a car with someone that hates me." Kate resisted.
"I don't hate you, now get in the car and try to focus on getting to your son instead of how much we don't want to be around each other." Jack told her his voice calm, but serious enough to convince her that her not riding back to LA with him wasn't going to be an option.
As soon as she was seated in the car he closed the door, tipped the valet and climbed into the driver's seat. He pulled away from the hotel and headed toward the freeway. They traveled through the city for about 15 minutes and he exited the freeway.
"What are you doing?" Kate asked.
"I need to fill up." Jack answered and pulled into a large convenience store with gas pumps in front of it.
He filled the car with gas and then pulled the car up to the front of the store.
"Now what?" Kate asked.
"I don't function well without coffee. Want anything?" He asked.
"No." Kate answered.
Jack entered the store and came back out a few minutes later with a sack and two coffees. He set the coffees on top of the car, opened the door and handed Kate the sack. He grabbed the coffees and seated himself back in the driver's seat. He put the two coffees in the cup holders in the console and put his seatbelt on.
"I didn't know how you liked it so there is cream and sugar in the bag. There's also a couple of breakfast burritos, some of those little chocolate donuts and a couple of bottles of water in the bag." He said and began backing the car out.
"Thanks, but I'm not hungry." Kate mumbled.
"Bullshit. You haven't eaten anything since we shared a cotton candy yesterday afternoon so eat." Jack pressed.
"Are you going to force me to eat and drink now Jack? You forgot to ask me if I needed to go to the bathroom before we left." Kate snapped at him.
"It's a long drive Kate and I know you aren't going to want me to stop. You aren't going to be of any use to your son if you're dehydrated and weak from hunger so how about you just stop acting like a child and take care of yourself." Jack told her in a flat, no nonsense tone.
They drove in silence for about 45 minutes. She ate the breakfast burrito he bought her and was actually grateful because she really was bordering on starving. She sipped her coffee and looked at him. He was staring straight ahead, sunglasses not allowing her to read his eyes. He could feel her staring at him and looked over at her.
"What?" He asked.
"You're going to miss the luncheon." She said.
"I'm going to miss the awards dinner too." He mumbled.
Before she could speak his cell phone began ringing. He looked at it, saw it was Greg and answered it.
"Tell me something good Greg." Jack said.
"I don't know yet Jack. He's pretty sick. He wants his mom, is crying for her. I can't settle him down enough to examine him. Is she handy?" Greg asked.
"Yeah, I'll put her on." Jack said and handed the phone to Kate.
"Who?" Kate asked.
"Your so…..TJ is upset, asking for you. Do you think you can calm him down?" Jack asked.
Kate took the phone from Jack, composed herself and spoke softly and gently. Jack focused on the road and listened to her side of the conversation.
"TJ it's mommy."
"I know baby, mommy is coming. I'll be there as fast as I can."
"It's okay honey, don't cry. The doctor isn't going to hurt you, he wants to help you."
"Don't be afraid, mommy will be there very soon and I have a present for you. I love you baby and I need to hang up now, can you give the phone back to the doctor." Kate said, no longer able to compose herself.
She handed the phone back to Jack and fought her tears, fought the pain the large lump in throat was causing, fought the feeling of not being able to breathe. Jack was trying to watch the road, listen to the doctor and keep an eye on Kate who in his professional opinion was having a pretty severe anxiety attack on top of being emotionally spent. He closed the phone, dropped it in the console and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Kate you need to take some deep breaths." He coaxed in a calm, gentle voice.
"Pull the car over Jack." Kate screamed.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Now Jack! I'm going to be sick!" Kate yelled.
Jack barely got the car stopped before she jumped out and ran toward the grass on the side of the highway. He exited the car and went to her, holding onto her with one arm and holding her hair back with his free hand. When he was sure she was finished he helped her sit back and ran to the car. He grabbed a bottle of the water, looked around, popped the trunk, grabbed a clean t-shirt out of his luggage and went back to her.
He poured some of the water over the t-shirt and wiped her face and mouth with it and finally convinced her to take a sip of the water. He picked her up and carried her back to the car, setting her in the seat sideways, legs hanging out of the car. He squatted down in front of her and took a long hard look at her. Her cheeks were tear-streaked, eyes swollen from too much crying and too little sleep, her facial features weary from worry. She placed her hands on his shoulders and then let one glide along the side of his face, along the jaw line before allowing a fresh river of tears to flow.
"I am so sorry Jack. I didn't mean to…I mean it was so spec……you are so sweet, you went to so much trouble to make everything special and I know that, I promise your efforts didn't go unnoticed. The last two days and last night have been so wonderful and I don't know why I……I'm just so. It's not you Jack. It's me. I'm a mess. I'm so scared and confused right now and I don't, I can't do this." Kate sobbed.
Jack pulled her into him and hugged her, rubbing his hand over her back and talking softly to her.
"It's okay and I'm sorry I got so angry, but you pushing me away isn't going to work Kate. I know we've only known each other for two days, and I'm not going to profess my undying love for you after just two days, but there is something going on here, something good and if you can look me in the eyes and tell me you don't feel it too then we can go our separate ways once we get back to Los Angeles." Jack said.
"It's not that simple Jack." Kate said as she pulled away from him.
"Why do women always say that? It's either complicated or not that simple. It is that simple Kate. I like you and you like me and I know you have this enormous responsibility that is your only priority and I don't want to distract you from your son." Jack said.
"Then what do you want Jack?" Kate asked.
"I want you to trust me Kate and not shut me out because you're scared. I want you to talk to me and tell me what happened last night. That's all I want right now Kate and maybe later you'll let me in, maybe even lean on me a little if it helps." Jack said.
"Okay." Kate said softly.
Jack helped her slide the rest of the way into the car and closed her door. He got back into the car and they continued to their drive back to Los Angeles. Kate tilted her seat back and was asleep 10 minutes after the got back on the road. Jack would steal glances at her occasionally. She looked so sweet and beautiful, the sunlight coming through the window, making her face and hair almost glow.
He thought back to the night they had shared. Making love in the limousine hadn't been in his plans, but the moment presented itself and he didn't want to deny his feelings any longer. That she so got a little scared and nervous during the foreplay made her that much more desirable to him, not that her being eager and jumping him wouldn't have been acceptable in his mind, but the trepidation more of a turn-on because that meant what was about to happen was meaningful to her, maybe as meaningful as it was to him.
He'd tried to treat her to a decent meal in the hotel restaurant, but she claimed she wasn't hungry, so they had gone to their room and began tearing at each other's clothes before they managed to get the door shut all the way. They didn't even make it to the bed, the sexual hunger taking over and him lifting her up, holding her against the wall and pushing himself inside her quickly, both of them moaning and groaning, seeking relief and realizing this wouldn't last long as he thrust himself in and out of her, making her cry out after just a few thrusts and then a few more before he too let go. Had he been too rough?
He carried her from the wall to the bed, staying inside of her, kissing her, pulling at her clothes, trying to get to her breasts, wanting and needing to suck on her nipples, finally ripping the dress and the bra to get them out of his way and feeling her flood him with intense heat and moisture at the act, a feeling that would've made him come if hadn't just filled her with his seed a few minutes earlier. He remembered talking to her, telling her how special she was, how being inside of her felt and she replied by describing what he felt like inside of her and then she whispered naughty, descriptive things into his ear and smiled as she felt him stiffen inside her. She had wanted it too, hadn't she?
She was so wet and hot and urging him on and before long he was up, arms flexed pushing himself in and out of her again, making her moan and pant and eventually squeal and clench around him. God she was so beautiful and the way she said his name while gazing into his eyes had led him to believe she was as into what was happening as he was. Had he read her wrong?
They ended up with her on top of him, sitting in his lap, their faces just inches apart as he slowly thrust himself into her. They shared wet, sloppy kisses and she encouraged him with explicit details of her anatomy until he stiffened and filled her loin once again, the warm liquid seeping back out and over the area where they were connected, neither feeling the need to move, or separate, content to hold onto each other until they were ready to go again. Wasn't she as into it as he was? Had he really misread all the signs?
They made love four times, once in the limousine and three times in the room. He had to stop after the third time and catch his breath, allow his body to recharge for at least an hour before attempting any more sex. She'd been so receptive and eager and willing and he was confused how they went from two people making love to him just fucking her so quickly. He knew when she came out of the bathroom she was ticking, he just didn't know why. He thought about leaving her alone, allowing her to just stew, but decided that if he was going to have any hope of pursuing anything with her he had to speak up and make her talk to him, otherwise she'd just shut him out and move on and leave him wondering about what could've been.
He'd like to say he regretted it, but he didn't, feeling like Kate was fairly unstable emotionally and the eventual loss of her child would only make her more so and that she needed something stable to counteract all of it. He cared an awful lot, probably too much, about this woman to think about her facing the next few months alone and he pushed, maybe harder than he should've. She was in snake mode while lying in that bed, the fact that she'd dressed telling him she didn't want him to touch her, but he kept on and like a snake that was recoiling in fear she struck and landed hard, the venom entering his veins and hurting him more than he should've allowed it too.
He understood all of this, yet he still made her work for it and made her apologize and he knew he was in deep because normally he wouldn't have cared, wouldn't have stuck with it, but as he drove across the freeway and watched her sleep, knowing the incredibly deep shit he was going to be in with his father and the hospital he felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility to actively pursue whatever was happening between them. He knew he had to be the strong one, the fighter, the one that cared because all of her strength, fight and caring would be channeled into being there for her son, the idea of what she was facing putting a large lump in his throat.