Heart's Desire-4
by: Cristina
The next morning, Cassie wakes up in Jax's arms. It felt so good to be next to him and feel his breath on the back of her neck. She knew that he still had a long way to go before he was completely over Brenda's betrayal. But he had been able to talk about it last night. That was a start.
Jax is still asleep and Cassie carefully slides out of his embrace and changes back into the clothes she was wearing the previous day; which are miraculously dry. When she turns around, Cassie notices that Jax is awake and watching her.
"Morning, Jax."
He sits up and rubs his hands over his eyes. "Yeah. Well, we should get going if we're going to find this blasted treasure." Jax picks up his bag and strides out of the cabin without another word to her.
Confused, Cassie picks up her own stuff and follows him out. Jax is already walking back into the rainforest.
"You have the map, right. Let's see where we are supposed to be going."
Silently, she hands him the map and watches as he examines it, trying to determine their position. He heads off to the right and she follows him. After about five minutes of complete silence, Cassie can't take it any more.
"Did I do something to offend you? I'm sorry if things got too personal for you last night. But you don't have to avoid me like the plague."
Jax stops and turns to face her. "Everything's fine. I just think we should get this little adventure over with already."
He continues walking through the jungle, with Cassie hot on his heels. "Not until we deal with this. I realize that you are used to being in control and last night you weren't. But it was good. You were talking about your feelings."
"If I wanted a therapist, I'd hire one."
"Oh, yeah, you are so perfect. What happened last night that is upsetting you so much? You're acting like we made love or something--"
He looks at her coldly. "Believe me when I say that will never happen."
"I'm wounded."
"Look, Cassie, we got a little too close last night, so I'm doing my best to distance us from one another. Unfortunately, we are stuck with each other until this little adventure is over."
She looks at him in disbelief. "I'm so sorry to be such a pain. You aren't exactly my dream date either, Jax. And don't worry about 'distancing' yourself from me. Contrary to what you may think, I am quite capable of restraining myself from jumping your bones." Jax raises his eyes heavenward. Why did it have to be her? She was some piece of work.
She has had enough of his silence and reaches out and grabs his arm, turning him to face her. "Unless that's not what your worried about. Maybe we've already gotten too close. And you're worried that you'll actually take a step away from the pain of your wife's betrayal." Cassie moves so that she is only inches away from him. "Maybe you're afraid to fall in love again because that would give someone else the power to hurt you."
She was getting to him. It was all he could do to keep from kissing her. She was truly the most infuriating woman that he had ever encountered. "Are you through? Because you might want to turn around."
Cassie turns and sees that they have reached the cave that they were looking for. Her eyes light up and she runs ahead of Jax, into the cave; momentarily forgetting the fact that they were in the middle of a very serious conversation. He follows her, grateful for the distraction from their previous discussion.
Inside, she takes out the map and consults it for directions on how to proceed. She looks over at Jax, puzzled. "All it says is 'x marks the spot.' What does that mean?"
Jax looks around the cave for a moment, then smiles. He points to a small spring in the corner. On the wall above it, is a ray of light shining on the wall. Forming a perfect "X." They go over to the spring and start digging with a shovel Jax had in his backpack. Cassie is aiming a flashlight into the murky water, trying to see if Jax is making any progress.
He looks up and notices that she is watching him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just can't believe that we're actually digging for treasure. It's so ... strange ... but I'm glad that I met you and we're doing this."
Jax continues digging. "Yeah. It will make a great story for your paper."
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
He is about to respond when the shovel hits something and makes a loud noise. Their eyes meet and Jax carefully extracts a metal box. They pry it open and inside, is a huge blue diamond sitting in a bed of cloth.
"Oh, Jax ... it's huge. I've never seen a diamond this big."
Jax looks at the stone carefully. "And it's a blue diamond. It's flawless."
"We did it."
They both have the urge to throw themselves into the other's arms, but both restrain themselves. Cassie doesn't want to push Jax, since he obviously isn't ready to take their relationship that way. And Jax isn't sure what he's feeling for Cassie. One thing he is sure of is that the intensity of his feelings for her is a little frightening.
"Well, Cass, we should get back to Rio and make the exchange for Jerry."
**********
They arrive back in Rio without incident. Cassie immediately calls the number given to her by the kidnappers. Jax stands nearby, ever mindful of the priceless stone in his backpack.
"Hello? It's Cassandra Lawrence. I have the stone and we're ready to make the exchange ... When? Why can't we do this now? ... I realize that but I thought ... Fine. Tomorrow then."
She hangs up the phone and turns to Jax. "They want to make the exchange tomorrow morning at this old fort."
"Fort?"
She nods. "Yeah. It's leftover from the last big revolution that they had here. It's only an hour away. But they don't want to do it until tomorrow. I guess they need to prepare for this and make sure we don't set some kind of trap for them."
"I guess that means we have some time to kill."
"It would appear that way."
Jax sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "We should see about getting a couple of rooms for the night."
They start walking towards the hotel that they had planned to stay at earlier, to check in and retrieve their luggage. Cassie gets the feeling that Jax isn't very comfortable being with her.
"You know, Jax, you don't have to worry. Everything will be fine. Tomorrow, we'll exchange the stone for Jerry and you can forget that you ever met me."
Without looking at her, Jax replies, "I don't think I can forget you ... Why don't we check into the hotel and take a couple hours to rest and freshen up. I'll meet you at the restaurant downstairs for dinner. Okay?"
"Sure."
**********
After dinner, Jax is walking Cassie back to her room. They had a good time at dinner, talking about their respective childhood and families. Hearing about Cassie's family disturbed Jax. She is such an amazing woman, it is hard to believe that her relatives are as she describes them. Little did he know. They reach her door, and Cassie opens it with her key.
"Thank you for tonight. I want you to know, that I had a really good time with you during this whole ... caper. I'm so glad that I met you. And I'll be sorry when we have to say goodbye tomorrow."
"Me too."
She turns on the lights, and nervously fiddles with her hair. "Do you want to come inside for a drink or something," she asks, not really expecting him to say yes.
"Sure. For a litle while."
Jax comes inside and closes the door behind him. She walks over to the bar in her room and fixes drinks for the both of them. Neither of them have anything to say all of a sudden. She is trying to keep herself distanced from him, because she knows that she'll never see him again after tomorrow. Cassie can't understand why it bothers her so much. She's only known him for a couple of days.
Jax puts his drink down on the table. "Where are you going when this debacle with Jerry is over?"
She smiles. "I don't know. I'll have to write the story. It usually helps me to be alone when I'm writing. Are you going back to Port Charles?"
"I think so. There are a few things that I need to take care of."
Cassie nods and walks over to the open window on the other side of the room. His eyes follow her. She is standing there with her back to him and Jax knows what she is feeling. She looked so gorgeous in the clingy red dress she was wearing. She has a flawless, curvaceous figure. Beyond the physical attraction, there was a definite mental connection between the two of them.
Music begins to filter through the window from the restaurant downstairs. Right now, they are playing Selena's "I Could Fall in Love." A little piece of home for the American tourists staying at the hotel.
I could lose my heart tonight
If you don't turn and walk away
'Cause the way I feel I might
Lose control and let you stay
'Cause I could take in my arms
And never let go
I-I could fall in love with you
I could fall in love with you
Jax walks up behind Cassie. She senses his presence and turns to face him. The look in his eyes confuses her for a moment. For the first time, it's almost as though the sadness has managed to fade away for a moment. He slowly reaches out to her and takes her hand in his own.
"Will you dance with me," he asks.
Cassie isn't sure if this is really happening, or if it is some sort of elaborate dream. Whatever it is, she isn't about to fight it. She nods and allows Jax to take her in his arms as they begin to slowly dance to the music. She is sure that he can feel her heart beating against his chest, because it feels as though it is about to jump out of her chest.
I can only wonder how
Touching you would make me feel
But if I take that chance right now
Tomorrow will you want me still
So I should keep this to myself
And never let you know
'Cause I could take in my arms
And never let go
1-I could fall in love with you
I could fall in love with you
Having her in his arms feels so right. Jax knows that he should be scared, because no woman has ever had this much power over him. Except for Brenda. And he had always thought that a love like theirs would never come along again.
Cassie rests her head against his chest, just enjoying the rightness of being able to touch Jax and have him touch her. She closes her eyes for a moment and listens to the words of the song; which perfectly express her feelings for this man.
And I know it's not right
And I guess I should try to do what I should do
But I could fall in love, fall in love with you
I could fall in love with you
Siempre estoy sonando en ti
Besando mis labios, acariciando mi piel
Abrazandome con ansias locas
Imaginando que me amas
Como yo podia amar a ti.
So I should keep this to myself
And never let you know
'Cause I could take in my arms
And never let go
As the song begins to wind down, Cassie looks up at Jax. Their eyes lock and she knows that something important is about to happen. Slowly, Jax lowers his head and allows their lips to touch. The kiss is gentle and tentative at first, as he tests his feelings for Cassie. She allows him to set the pace, because Cassie knows it isn't easy for him. As the rightness of their kiss becomes apparent, it increases in intensity.
1-I could fall in love with you
I could fall in love with you
I could fall in love, I could fall in love
With you...
Jax slowly traces his tongue along her lips, outlining them. Cassie parts her lips as she slides her arms around his neck. They are so consumed with the magic of their first kiss, that the only thing that separates them is the sound of voices outside the window. They pull apart and Jax carefully looks outside. Once again, it is the private army that had forced them into the jungle the previous day.
Wordlessly, they gather her belongings, and go next door to get Jax's. He and Cassie carefully slip past the militia and exit the hotel through the rear entrance. They jump into their rental jeep and take off out of the parking lot and away from the hotel. It's a good thing too, because the army is on its way upstairs.
**********
Jax parks the jeep once they are back in the jungle, and in a position to watch the road ahead of them. He turns off the ignition and leans back in the driver's seat. Cassie looks over at him.
"Those were the same men that were shooting at us earlier, weren't they?"
Jax nods. "I can only figure that they somehow found out that we're looking for the treasure ... or have it, as the case may be. And they want the stone."
"Great."
Jax leans his head against the headrest and closes his eyes. Cassie shifts in her seat and looks him over. He senses her penetrating gaze, and opens his eyes. "What's wrong?"
"Are we staying here?"
"It looks that way."
Cassie rests her head on the seat. "We're going to spend the night here, in the middle of nowhere again?"
"Don't worry, Cass. There aren't any dead bodies here. It's a warm night and I don't think we're in any danger of another monsoon. I think it's best if we spend the night here, make the exchange tomorrow morning and then get out of this god-forsaken place."
She nods. "Okay." Cassie watches as Jax closes his eyes again. He promptly opens them when he realizes that she is still staring at him.
"What is it?"
"I was just wondering if you're going to pretend that kiss at the hotel didn't happen."
He shakes his head in frustration. "What is it with women? Is that all you can think about?"
"Oh, well excuse me for placing some importance on it. And don't pretend like it didn't mean anything to you, because I know that it did. I felt the way that you kissed me."
Jax can't look at her. "It wasn't anything that big. It was just a friendship kiss."
She bursts out laughing. "You are lying through your teeth. That was not a friendship kiss. That was a 'I want you now' kiss."
"You're being ridiculous."
"Why are you pretending that it didn't mean anything? Do you think that I'll hurt you?"
Jax really doesn't want to discuss this with her right now. "I think we should try to get some sleep. Who knows what awaits us tomorrow."
"Fine."
She closes her eyes. What is the matter with him? Cassie knows that Jax felt everything that she did when they kissed earlier. It could not have been just her imagination. Obviously he wasn't ready to put his wife in the past. And she would have to try and accept it. While she tried to sleep, Jax was watching her and wondering why he was trying to pass their kiss off as nothing. When it was definitely something.
He wanted her. There was no question about it. But there was something holding him back. Maybe it was Brenda. Or maybe it was himself. Jax had been burned the only two times that he'd allowed himself to love a woman. How could he go for a third time? His eyes wandered back over to Cassie.
How could he just let her go tomorrow?
...to be continued...