Game on Constable
Jack was startled awake by the slamming door. He opened his eyes to see Elizabeth walking toward him carrying a mallet. "Hey! What are you doing?" Jack sat up quickly.
"Come on sleepy, we're going to play croquet!" She swung the mallet down across the carpet.
"Croquet?"
"Yes, come on," she sat on the edge of the bed, "it'll be fun…and it doesn't involve water or a boat."
Jack smiled, "Okay, I guess I don't have to ask if you're feeling better," he climbed out of bed, "I'll get ready for…croquet."
She watched him get out of bed and tapped his bottom with the mallet.
"Hey! Watch that!" Jack rubbed his backside.
"Just getting that bottom moving!" She laughed.
Jack smiled at her, entered the bathroom and turned on the water.
Elizabeth went to the door, leaning on the frame, "Are you taking a bath?"
"No, just washing up. Unless you'd like to join me for a bath?" He came to the door and gave her a quick kiss.
"No thank you," She went back to her mallet and practiced swinging it, "I should warn you Thornton, I've played a lot of croquet."
"Oh really?" Jack yelled from the bathroom, "Well I've swung a few mallets in my day. I'll still win, you'll see."
Elizabeth smirked, "Oh really?" she imitated him, "We'll see about that. Should I wait for you downstairs?"
He opened the door and Elizabeth gasped at him, only wearing his underwear, "Oh my…" She walked to him, "If you care to play just like this, I'll let you win," she touched his bare chest.
"Ahh, I won't be needing an advantage," he smiled at her touches but grabbed her hand as it went lower, "Don't touch my mallet."
"Jack!" The corners of her mouth curled up and she giggled.
He laughed and took his clothing from the cabinet. He quickly dressed and they headed downstairs.
"How are your bruises this morning?" Jack asked as he offered his arm.
"Colorful, but not hurting too badly," she said.
"Good, don't want you having an excuse when you lose," he smirked.
She tugged his arm, "No excuses here mister!"
Once outside on the croquet course, "Okay, pick your ball, you get one stroke to start," Elizabeth put her hand on her hip waiting for Jack to make his first move.
"Okay," Jack hesitated.
"Remember Jack, croquet is a subtle, tactical game," Elizabeth said, "we each have a pair of balls…"
"Ahh," Jack felt himself blush, "no comment."
"You get extra strokes if your ball goes through the hoop," she whispered in his ear.
"Are we still talking about croquet?" he replied.
"Do you need me to help you? I can show you how to swing your mallet," she move closely behind him and covered his hands with her own.
"I can swing my own mallet, thank you very much," he replied, "but I do like your helping me."
"Shhh, move your hips."
Jack purposely bumped her, "Like that?"
"Okay, enough coaching, hit your ball," she stepped back.
They each took several turns and Elizabeth moved into the lead. Jack enjoyed watching her play. Her concentration before each swing excited him for some reason and she always gave him a flirty look after each stroke.
Jack wasn't doing as well, but continued playing. "I guess I'm still warming up."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Well you better hurry up, games almost over and I'm winning."
Jack went to her, lifted the brim of her hat and kissed her.
"Jack, that's not allowed in the game!"
"Couldn't help myself," he hoped to throw her off her game, "had to kiss my beautiful wife and formidable opponent."
Elizabeth pouted and put her hand on her hip, she was on to him. As he went to take a turn, she fanned herself with her hand, "It's warm today," she tugged the collar of her blouse, glancing at Jack.
Jack smirked, looking up at her as he aimed, "Nice try Mrs. Thornton," he whacked the ball but missed the hoop.
Elizabeth squealed, "Nice shot Jack."
He tilted his head, "Ahh….."
Elizabeth took her last stroke, "I won! I won!"
Jack let his mallet fall to the ground, "I demand a rematch my dear."
"No, no rematch, I won, fair and square," she clapped her hands.
"Is there a prize for this win?" Jack asked.
"There should be," she walked close to him, "I'll have to think of one." Jack thought she was going to kiss him, but she brushed on past him.
"Ahhh ha," Jack shook his head, "Okay, what's next?"
"Archery!" She swung her mallet.
"Archery? Have you ever done that?" Jack was leery.
"No, but we can learn together," she took his arm, "I already know you have good aim."
Jack chuckled, "I wish I could sneak you off into those bushes right now, I'd get a bullseye for sure," he tapped her lips with his finger, "right there, a big kiss."
Elizabeth giggled and they headed to the Archery field.
A lovely woman with black hair, wearing a tailored suit of black and gray greeted them. "Hello, I'm Annie and I'll be your guide and instructor today."
"Hello, I'm Jack," Jack shook the woman's hand. She smiled broadly at him.
"And I'm Elizabeth…his wife," Elizabeth extended her hand stepping right up against Jack.
"Okay…well, let's take our bow and practice our hold technique," she demonstrated the proper stance and hold one should have with the bow.
Annie went to Jack, "Stand back a bit more, spread your legs," she touched his hips, "face that way without moving your feet." She touched his shoulders.
"Like that?" Jack asked.
"Yes, that's just perfect," Annie gripped his upper arms, "you're an excellent student Jack."
Jack looked at Elizabeth as Annie touched him, "Thank you…" he mumbled.
"Now, put your arm out straight when you are going to aim and pull," she gripped his arm with one hand and his shoulder with the other. Jack felt Elizabeth's cold stare.
"Excellent Jack," she pressed her hand against his, "hold that arrow tightly…"
Elizabeth twisted her bow in her hand watching them.
When Jack glanced again at Elizabeth, her eyebrows shot up as she stared at him.
Jack turned to Annie, "Thank you for your help."
"My pleasure Jack," Annie said. "Elizabeth, would you like some help?"
"Thanks for asking, but no, I'll just aim and shoot," Elizabeth released an arrow and got a bullseye. She looked at Jack.
Annie smiled, "Very impressive. Jack, you could do that too." She touched his arm again.
"Okay, we're done here," Elizabeth put her bow down.
Annie turned, "But Jack hasn't shot his arrow."
"Okay Jack, shoot your arrow," Elizabeth watched.
As Jack positioned the arrow in the bow, Annie stepped closer to him.
Elizabeth took a step, "Just shoot the arrow Jack!"
Jack shot the arrow and it sailed high over the target.
Annie was startled at Jack's terrible aim, "Oh my, well, you can do better than that with my help," she handed him another arrow.
"No…no I don't believe I can. One shot, that's all I get," he forced the bow into Annie's hand, "thank you."
He walked to Elizabeth.
"Done shooting, had enough coaching?" she asked.
Jack nodded, "Yes, one shot Jack, that's me."
Elizabeth huffed, turned and stormed off. Jack rushed to keep up with her, "Will you calm down," he touched her sleeve.
"I'm calm," she folded her arms, "What game should we play next?"
He stepped closer, "You're the one who wanted to play games."
"Not the "lets allow women to touch my husband game", that's not what I wanted."
Jack swallowed a chuckle, "Don't be silly. I don't care about her..or anyone else but you," he reached for her and she sighed against him, "I'm hungry, how about a picnic?"
Elizabeth couldn't resist his dimpled grin and twinkling eyes, "Well… just the two of us?"
"Of course just the two of us," he was inches from her face, "there's no one in this world for me but you. You know that, right?"
She nodded.
They got a basket lunch from the hotel dining room and headed out to a secluded spot past a grove of trees. The mountain view was breathtaking. Jack spread a blanket and they sat. Elizabeth was quiet.
"You were too nice to her Jack," Elizabeth couldn't stop thinking about it.
Jack rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry! What was I supposed to do? She was only teaching me."
"She was touching you and that is not how you teach, I should know," Elizabeth began unpacking the basket.
Jack moved closer to her, "Elizabeth, do you think for one minute that I thought anything at all about that?"
Elizabeth shrugged, "No…" She melted whenever he got close to her.
"Of course not," he reached for her.
"Besides I can teach you things ol' Archery Annie can't," she tugged his collar as he tried to wrap his arms around her.
Jack smiled, "I'm your willing student…" He gently lowered her on the blanket and they kissed,"teach away Mrs. Thornton."
After several romantic kisses, Elizabeth pushed away, "I thought you were hungry…"
He wiggled his eyebrows, "Oh yes, food…you distracted me."
They ate sandwiches and fruit from the basket. "Have you ever played tennis?" Elizabeth asked.
Jack swallowed and put down his sandwich, "Tennis? No, can't say I've ever played tennis," he sighed.
"It's similar to lawn badminton, we could go play that for a while," Elizabeth put things into the basket.
Jack wiped his mouth and put the napkin into the basket. "It's so nice here, can't we stay here for a while?"
"No, I want to play games," Elizabeth protested as she stood.
"Okay, lets go play tennis." They folded the blanket.
"But if there's an attractive tennis teacher there, we aren't playing!" She wagged her finger at him.
Jack shook his head, "Don't be ridiculous…and I wouldn't call Archery Annie attractive."
"Oh, did you notice?"
He touched her arm, "You're the most attractive woman in the world to me. So please don't be jealous."
She looked down, "I'm not jealous. I just don't think it's proper that someone touches my husband."
"I'm all yours, you know that, you're the only one I want touching me." He slid his arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze after he picked up the picnic basket.
Her eyes grew wide, "Jack!"
Jack sighed, "Okay…let's go play tennis."
There was one tennis court available, much to Jack's chagrin, and they picked up rackets and went to the court. A young gentleman came running over to them, "Hello folks, ready to play? Singles?"
Elizabeth turned, "Yes, singles."
"Singles?" Jack asked.
"Have you played before?" the man asked.
"Yes, it's been a while, but yes." Elizabeth said. She looked at Jack who held his hand out. "My husband has not played."
"Okay, we'll get started," the man said.
"Now a man can be the teacher," Elizabeth whispered to Jack, "that's appropriate."
"This is Theresa, she'll show your husband the basics," the man said. Elizabeth sighed.
Jack smirked and shook the woman's hand. She was young, blonde and wearing a split skirt of white cotton with a pale pink blouse. Elizabeth's mouth hung open as she began to bounce the tennis ball.
Jack and Theresa went to the opposite court and she began showing him how to stand and how to swing the racket. Elizabeth hit a ball toward them and Jack hit it back, all smiles.
Elizabeth missed the return because she was watching Jack getting instructions from Theresa. When Jack went to retrieve a ball, he felt a ball whack him in the head. He turned, rubbing his head, "Hey!"
Elizabeth lifted one eyebrow and turned around, telling the male instructor, "Can you help me improve my swing?"
"Yes, lets see…." He approached her and said, "go ahead like you were going to serve the ball."
She whacked the ball over the net….and another…and another. Several hitting Jack, he kept raising his arms to dodge the flying tennis balls.
"You're hitting it a bit too hard," her instructor told Elizabeth as he walked closer to her.
Elizabeth put her hand up, "No, that's okay. I don't really want a lesson." She looked over the net at Jack and his unhappy expression directed at her. She suddenly realized it wasn't Jack's fault that he had female instructors who wanted to help him learn. He certainly was approachable, friendly, polite and oh so handsome, what woman wouldn't pay attention to him. She walked to the net, "Jack, I think we have a card game waiting for us!"
Jack looked at her and smiled, relieved to end this game and to go play cards. He politely thanked Theresa, quickly walked to the net and took his wife's hand, "Thank you, I don't like tennis."
"Neither do I," she laughed.
He got closer, "You really want to go play cards?"
She smiled.
They left the tennis courts and headed to the hotel entrance.
"I'm sorry I was jealous about your instructors today. I should realize that women find you attractive, all you have to do is smile and they all swoon."
Jack laughed, "The only woman I want swooning after me is you Elizabeth. Only you."
She kissed his cheek, making Jack smile.
They entered the hotel and Elizabeth's eyes grew wide, "Oh!"
"Oh no, now what do you want to do," Jack was looking around wondering what she had seen.
"Ice cream, look, the sign says "Ice Cream Social", let's go see Jack," she pulled his hand.
They went into the Confection Shop, bright and cheery with its black and white checked floor and red cushioned seats. Elizabeth had strawberry and vanilla and Jack had chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
"Yumm, isn't this good?" She asked, stealing a spoonful from his dish.
"Yes, delicious," Jack smiled, "better than being with Archery Annie or Tennis Theresa."
"Very funny…"
"I saw that man trying to give you a lesson," he said, stealing a spoonful from her dish.
"Well, I realized …. " she sighed and waved her hand, "It was just silly."
"People are going to come into our lives Elizabeth. It's important to remember that we're a couple, we're one. There's no one in my heart but you," he reached for her hand.
She sighed, "Yes, we are one. You're the only one in my heart too Jack."
"It's getting late, let's go change and grab some blankets and go on a romantic buggy ride," he said.
"Sounds wonderful," she took his arm and they headed up to their room.
Jack went to the balcony, "You can almost feel autumn in the air, getting dark a little earlier, the breeze is a bit cooler…"
Elizabeth walked behind him and put her arms around his waist, "Yes, it feels wonderful….especially being here with you."
Jack covered her arms with his and turned to face her. "Hey, you changed your dress. I love this pale blue one."
"Thank you, I wanted to wear this one for our buggy ride."
Jack's forehead creased, "Okay, I'm sure it will look beautiful on the buggy." It was a plain blue summer dress, buttons up the front, little ruffled collar with short puffy sleeves and a full flowy skirt.
She ran a finger down his cheek, across his chin, "Well, this dress is so easy to put on...and take off." She turned around and Jack watched her sway her hips.
"I'll remember you said that," Jack said watching her.
"Come on Mr. Thornton... I want to take a nice ride."
"Hmmm, I love you Mrs. Thornton," Jack shook his head.
They picked up a several blankets from the chest and headed downstairs.
Jack drove the buggy to a secluded area out near the pines, the fragrance was refreshing in the twilight.
Jack applied the break and to his surprise Elizabeth moved against him, touched his face and pulled him close for a passionate kiss. His hands caressed her back as she moved closer to him. She slipped her fingers between the buttons on his shirt, touching his skin. Jack pulled back, "We can put a blanket on the ground…"
"Okay," Elizabeth licked her lips.
He lifted her out of the buggy and they spread a blanket, they both came together in a kiss and sank down onto the blanket. Elizabeth pushed Jack onto his back, touching him, kissing him.
"My tiger girl," he kissed her hand as she snuggled against him.
"It's so beautiful here Jack, can we just stay here forever?"
"That would be nice….but it's not so practical…unfortunately," he rubbed her shoulder. When his hand lowered to her side, she winced. "Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to touch that bruise."
She sat up, "It's okay." She looked at him as she unbuttoned her dress, "I'll show you how it looks."
Jack swallowed as she slid the sleeves down her arms and she raised the fabric of the delicate chemise she wore under her dress. Jack cringed seeing the black and blue mark on her skin. "Oh, I'm so sorry you have that."
She fell against him, as a few tears roll down her cheeks. He held her close, "Shhh, don't cry." He kissed her tenderly and she responded, putting her hands around his collar and holding it in a tight grip. Jack touched her leg, "how is the bruise on your leg?"
"I don't notice it as much," she tugged on her skirt. Jack pulled the fabric of her skirt up. She raised her leg against him and he found that spot where her stocking ended and her soft skin began. He gently placed his hand there, content to touch and hold her leg. Their kisses continued. Her soft sounds enticed him and Jack sighed, "Elizabeth…what you do to me…" Elizabeth's need for him escalated as she unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it across his broad shoulders. Her lips found the skin of his neck and she pushed him onto his back. He closed his eyes as she placed sweet kisses on his body. She sat up, unbuttoned her chemise, removing it and pressed her body to his. Jack held her close, deeply breathing in her sweet scent. They were totally enthralled with each other, each movement having a purpose, each sound a love song sung to the other. Their palms so tight together, their fingers had no choice but to entwine and hold tightly. Their lips a steady surge of hunger for the love and desire they held deep for each other. Jack was gentle and moved his hands lightly over her skin. She laughed softly when his fingers fluttered across her tummy. He smiled at her and she touched his face, loving the way he looked at her, it was sweet but sultry and full of love. As she moved her legs against him, he moaned slightly and she held him tightly as she kissed his neck. The stars twinkled in the heavens above them as they united in an uninhibited love that only they could share.
Jack held her close, "Hmmm, this was the best game we played all day…."
"Certainly was…," she whispered.
Jack laughed, "Shot my arrow and hit the bullseye!"
"Jack!" She couldn't help laugh, "Yes, you did." She pulled the blanket up over her shoulders.
"Are you cold?"
"No, I'm wonderful…" she smiled.
"You sure are," he kissed her head.
"Jack!"
He playfully rolled over her, "I know how to keep you warm…" he kissed her lips and she swooned in his arms.
To be continued...thank you all for your support..and for supporting the other writers. I feel these stories have helped us get to Season Two...So exciting, we're almost there !
