After much waiting...

Chapter Eight

"You know, I was going to kill you, slowly and painfully. But, I think I've changed my mind," Jackson explained after her screaming stopped.

Lisa decided not to try and respond, her mouth in pain from having the duct tape viscously ripped off. In fact, she could feel little beads of blood flowing down her chin, but she made no move to wipe it off, not knowing what he would do if he saw her making any sudden movements. Hell, any movements at all.

"I'm going to untie you," he continued, not looking in her direction at all, his comments seemed offhand, "don't bother running," he added, "everything is locked, but, feel free to tire yourself out."

She glared at him, giving herself permission to do only that. Warily, she watched as he approached her, unsure of what his motives really were. He kneeled down and swung her legs so that they were dangling off the couch. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a switchblade, to which Lisa involuntarily flinched at. Letting out a knowing chuckle, he somewhat roughly picked her feet up and slipped the blade in between her flesh and the knife, and with a deft upward motion, her bonds were cut. Unconsciously she rolled her ankles the minute the ropes fell, trying to dispel the discomfort that she was feeling.

"Up," was his next, curt command. She didn't waste any time in complying, wanting desperately to have her arms free again. With his hands on her shoulders, he spun her around, quickly cutting the ropes that bound her hands. Her shoulders ached from having been in that position for so long and she gently rubbed her wrists trying to sooth the burn from the ropes.

Once he was finished he simply stepped back, to which Lisa was quite surprised. She had expected more pain to come her way, or, he was lulling her into a false sense of security to which she knew he was more than capable. "Follow me," he instructed, turning his back and walking out of the room. Not wanting to incur his wrath she followed, if a little warily.

They walked down a short hallway and came to the kitchen. Moving into the interior of the room Lisa gingerly took a seat at the kitchen table, sitting as close to the edge of the seat as possible, without falling off. She wanted to be prepared for whatever he threw her way, and she wanted to be able to run as quick as possible. Not that she would get very far, but she would cross that bridge when she got there. She watched as he went over to the refrigerator, he seemed to be rummaging for something before he stopped and looked back towards her. "You've been out for a damned long time. I'm assuming you're hungry. What do you want?"

She raised her eyebrow and she said, before thinking, "What, not going to let me starve?"

"I already told you," he snapped, "that I'm not going to kill you. You should know by now that I don't lie."

Lisa didn't respond and it wasn't long until Jackson turned his back to her and went back to looking for something to eat. In the end he just got her a bowl of cereal. She sat staring at the cornflakes that were sitting in the milk, not having taken a bite. Even though she saw him pour it into the bowl from the container (and the same with the milk) she still wasn't too sure if she wanted to eat something that had been offered by one Jackson Rippner, not matter how much her stomach voted in favor of the food. Her thoughts were interrupted when Jackson cleared his throat and said, "If you don't eat those soon, they'll be soggy. And I know how much you hate soggy cereal."

At that her eyes flew up to his and she knew he was deadly serious. She shuttered to think of how he knew that. Yes, she knew that he had followed her in the weeks before the flight but she had no idea how closely he had actually watched her. How could she not have known?

Picking up the spoon she begrudgingly ate the semi-soggy cereal, forcing herself to eat it all.

An hour later found Lisa sitting in one of the spare bedrooms in Jackson's home. He had brought her up after she finished her bowl of cereal, and she had been sitting in the center of the bed ever since. Not moving, her mind kept going over the number of horrible things that Jackson could, and probably would, do to her that didn't involve her dying in the end. And after each one she shuddered. She had never been so terrified in her life; for even on the plane she had a plane, there was the possibility of escape once the plane landed. But now she was locked in a house that she had no idea where it was, she could be out of the state for all she knew. Trying desperately not to cry, she laid down on her side, facing the door. Closing her eyes she took a few deeps breaths, trying to quell the rising panic. Panic would do her no good. She needed to keep a level head, as hard as that may be.

It hit her all of a sudden how truly tired she was. All this semi-panicking was an exhausting thing. She closed her eyes, determined not to fall asleep. She didn't know how long she stayed that way, slowing slipping towards unconsciousness, but the second she felt herself fall, she pulled herself back, opening her eyes for a few brief seconds.

It was during one of her more calming interludes that she heard the door opening, far beyond the point of caring, she kept her eyes closed. It wasn't until she felt the bed sink beside her that she opened her eyes, and leaning above her was a very calm looking Jackson, right arm on her other side, effectively pinning her down with nowhere to go.

Startled, she just lay there, gazing up at him, wondering what he had planned. She watched as he brought his head closer, stopping right next to her ear. "Just relax," he breathed, his breath hot against her neck. Nodding faintly, she waited to see what he would do next and she flinched slightly when she felt him kiss the side of her neck.

He chuckled to himself at her reaction, but that didn't stop him. Leaving a trail of small kisses, he followed the line of her neck down to her collarbone, then across a short way to the very center, stopping at the dip in the bone. Laving the area with his tongue, he brought his left hand up and cradled the back of her neck, gently tipping it up, leaving her throat exposed. He brought his left leg around and straddled her body, though she was too busy focusing on his tongue to realize it at first. It wasn't until he settled his weight more fully on her that she noticed, briefly struggling as panic started to cloud her mind.

Jackson lifted his head and peered down at her. "Shh," was his gentle command. She ceased her struggles and just looked at him, watching his progress as he leaned to capture her lips. It was gentle kiss, yet forceful. As she opened her mouth to gasp, Jackson took that as an invitation for his tongue, and wasted no time in thrusting it in her mouth. Lisa didn't know what to do, this kiss was different from the ones before, there was a gentleness to this was that was lacking in the others. It almost made her want to give in.

After thoroughly investigating her the recesses of her mouth, he traced his tongue along her jaw line, then down further, past her collarbone, to the collar on her shirt. He sat up and looked down at her, his hands on her hips, seemingly contemplating something when his hands started their upwards journey, reaching under her shirt until he was stopped by her bra. He cupped her breasts, thumbs trailing over the material covered flesh.

Bra or not, she felt her body responding, her nipples tightening under his touch. He swooped down again to kiss her, stifling the moan that she almost, involuntarily, let escape. He drew back slightly to gaze in her eyes, a soft smile on his face. She felt her body responding wholeheartedly to him, heat pooling at her center. Her mind full of nothing but thoughts of him. She groaned slightly when he renewed his assault of her neck, suckling on the sweet spot just below her ear.

"Lisa," he moaned against her neck, his hands never stilling on her breasts.

She let out a groan when she heard him, leaning her head back, giving him full access to her.

"Lisa," he said again, this time louder.

"Mmm…Jackson…" she moaned in response, thoroughly reveling in the feelings that he brought out in her.

"Lisa," the voice was more stern now, and suddenly she felt herself being shaken.

And next thing she knew, she was awake.

SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I know, I'm a horrible horrible person. Feel free to hate me now, I deserve it. If you haven't boycotted this story for lack of updates, please please REVEIW. So, I've been having a pretty depressing couple of weeks, which is part of the reason I haven't updated. I've been sick, I had an absolutely horrible birthday (so far, being 19 sucks), and I've had play rehearsal. But I will do the best I can to update a lot faster, 'cause I feel really bad about the delay. So...that being said, let me just reiterate the plea for reviews. :o)