Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Asia
“So what’s the play?” Jack asked.
He wouldn’t let this go. The walk back to the house after setting up the next watch shift was peaceful. Now I felt anything but.
But Jack didn’t control my moods, or the decisions I made for this farm. Those I made for myself.
I took off my boots, pulled out my favorite pajamas, which consisted of a pair of way too small satin shorts that I’d left after a visit while I was in college, and a white tank top that had definitely seen better days.
As I pulled out the pajamas, I thought back to my dresser at home. Right now, the few clothes I had lived in a plastic storage tote.
But that dresser…I’d obsessed over it for ninety painstaking days. By the time I’d finally bought it, the store manager knew me by name.
I wondered what happened to that dresser.
“I’m talking to you,” Jack said.
I glanced at him, frowned, then went back to what I was doing. The pajamas were out, so I checked the clean clothes that I still had, dreading laundry. I grabbed a pair of socks tucked at the bottom, and—
“Asia, this is serious,” he said.
“Well, let’s talk then, Jack,” I said. I turned and faced him, but didn’t look in his eyes.
“So answer the question. What’s the play?” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Casual at first glance, or as casual as Jack could ever be. But those eyes…
“And why are you asking me what the play is?” I asked.
“You’re the one who decided to let a stranger onto the farm.”
“And you’re the one who led him here.”
He dropped his arms, his eyes narrowing. “Do you think this is a fucking game?”
“No, Jack, I don’t think it’s a game.” I stood there, a foot and a half away from him, the distance between us, the space between planets. “So what’s the play? Why are you asking me?”
“Why do you think I’m asking you, Asia?” Jack said. His arms were still at his sides, his hands curled into fists.
I smiled. I had never seen Jack quite like this. “Are you trying to suggest you’re asking because what I think matters?” I started to pace, but made myself stop. “Because you’re following my lead?”
“I am following your lead. It’s your farm.”
“It’s my uncle’s farm,” I corrected.
“Sure,” he said. “So what’s the play?”
“There isn’t a play, Jack. I just didn’t see a need to kill him.”
“That might come back to bite you in the ass.”
“It might. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
His jaw ticked.
“And besides, I’m sure if there’s a problem, you’ll fix it,” I said.
“I’m going to keep watch,” he said.
“You know there’s no need. Elliot’s on top of it, you should get some rest,” I said.
“I’m not tired,” he countered.
“What then?”
Absolutely the stupidest question I could have asked.
Because I knew the answer, and he did, too.
He stepped towards me, and on instinct, I stepped back.
Jack stepped forward again like I knew he would, like he always did.
Like he always would.
No. I couldn’t rely on that.
But I couldn’t deny this either.
This…whatever it was had been between us since the moment I stepped onto that elevator.
What if someone else had been there instead of Jack?
I’d be dead now.
I knew that. Knew I owed him my very life, but that didn’t change the pain.
But the pain didn’t change this either.
He stopped when I was at the edge of the bed, stared down at me with that feral gleam in his eye that still sent shivers down my spine.
For a second, he changed. I didn’t know how to describe it, but some part of me wondered if it was possible, even as crazy as it seemed, that maybe, possibly, he felt whatever this was, too.
I couldn’t afford to let myself think that, and it didn’t matter. He leaned forward, his eyes still ferocious, and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.
It was a whisper of a touch, barely there in a way that made me feel it more than his deep, bruising kisses ever would.
I craved one of those because maybe that kind of kiss would keep away whatever was at the back of my mind threatening to soften me away.
I didn’t know. But I told myself not to think, not to examine for once, to just let things be.
And this, me and Jack like this, it worked. In this insane world, one that was a nightmare turned reality, this was the only sane piece of it, the only thing I could rely on.
I kissed the corner of Jack’s mouth as softly as he kissed me.
He reached out, hands warm, encompassing on my shoulders. He brought our bodies together, and like always, the fit was perfect, my curves molding into his hardness.
God, the irony wasn't lost on me. I smoothed my hands down his back, up his sides, shivering at the play of muscles under my palms as he did the same.
Curled my fingers and pulled his shirt up and off. He curled his fingers and did the same. We reached for each other’s pants simultaneously, my hand weaving under his as I worked his belt open.
He popped the button of the jeans I worried wouldn’t fit soon and pushed my pants down at the same time as I did his. Did the same with my underwear.
I reached out and rubbed my hand around his shaft as he used his fingers to test my readiness and coat my clit with my wetness. I gathered the precum that leaked out of his slit and rubbed it on his shaft as he stroked me.
I had one arm on his shoulder, he had one on mine, just enough space between our bodies for our hands to work. He pushed me down on the bed and I pulled him with me.
We moved in synchronicity, my thighs opening to welcome him as he slid home. My walls opened as he fed me his cock, squeezing as he pressed inside.
I locked my legs around him when he was fully seated. I stared into his eyes at the first thrust, meeting him with one of my own.
And so we moved a twist of roaming hands and entwined bodies. Thrusts and counter-thrusts, our breaths in time. I came apart in his arms at the first blast of his cum.
I wished everything else could be like this, holding on to that wish as I rode out the climax.
I kept my eyes closed, my body entangled with Jack’s until it was impossible to stay that way, my hips hurting from the position, our combined mess leaking out of me.
But as long as I had my eyes closed, I could hold on to this, knowing that it might be true.
Trying not to be heartbroken over the fact that that truth would only last as long as this moment did.
And once this moment was over, I was left with the real world. A world where this, as perfect as it was, didn’t exist.