Steve closed his notebook shut with a snap, he leaned back in his chair and stretched. Kevin was pensively staring down into space, lost in his own thoughts but his fingers were tightly entwined with mine, and every so often I felt his thumb rub across them reassuringly. He looked up suddenly and caught my eye. Again that flash of naked emotion shone there for me to see, telling me something with his eyes, but what? Uncertainty had begun to set in as I didn't trust my judgement at the moment, but I felt a renewing strength fill my tired aching limbs as I drew on his support, I hoped we wouldn't be much longer. Chewing on my lip I looked around taking in all the stunned faces of our friends, what happened tonight had brought home the situation to everyone. They sat around us in a group, and had listened to me tell Steve about my ordeal and answer any questions he asked. Aj, looked drained after the intensive grilling Steve had put him through. There had been so few leads that Steve was desperate for any detail no matter how small. Aj had racked his brain inside out for any recollection, and apart from a general height and build description, Steve still did not have much to go on.
He stood up abruptly and rubbed his face with his hands in frustration. 'I dunno, I've never had a case like this, no leads, no frigging leads. They normally slip up as they get bolder, but this guy, he's smart. He's careful, very careful. We'll need to discover how he got in here tonight. I thought the security here was supposed to be stricter.'
'Well, if he's got the technology smarts, which he seems to have, counterfeiting a pass would be no trouble for him. See how easy he accessed Jac's phones without being traced.' James added. He to was frustrated and felt guilty because he had been separated from us. I must remember to talk to him later I thought to myself. I did say I thought I could never be totally protected, and this proved it. I fidgeted about in my chair. My head was starting to throb and I rubbed at my eyes tiredly, causing Kevin to glance worriedly at me, his heavy brows crinkling in concern. I leant in against him and he slipped an arm about my waist so I could rest my head on his shoulder. His head rested on mine with a sigh, and distracted by his closeness I tried to follow the conversation around us, when all I wanted to do was crawl into his arms and go to sleep.
'That's true James, well I guess we've covered all we can do here tonight. So look everyone go home, and if you remember anything, the slightest detail, please ring me on this number.' He handed out his card to everyone, but was interrupted by his partner.
'Steve got a minute?'
'Yeah. Found something?' he asked hopefully.
'Yep, we found the clown mask and the outfit. He dumped it in a trashcan down the street. Forensic is on the scene now, but don't get any hopes up this guys been awfully elusive, so if you want to come and look, we'll be there until forensic say we can bag the evidence.'
'Ok see you in a sec, I'll finish up here first.' Steve turned back to us. 'Ok lets call it a night. Kevin take Jac home, she looks beat. I'm sorry we haven't got any further in this case. It's just a step at a time.'
Kevin stood up unwinding his arm from about my waist, but resting his hand lightly on my shoulder. 'Steve just do what you have to do ok? From now on we'll have eyes in the backs of our heads. But I'm taking my wife home before she collapses with exhaustion.' He mentioned wife diffidently, like he was making a confession of sorts to all of us but I was too tired to make anything of it.
'Yeah you do that Kevin, and Jac, don't take any silly chances. Do not stick to the same routine, don't drive the same way to the studio every day. Be unpredictable, James, Gideon, you know the drill. Now is the time to be very careful. I don't want to panic anyone, but my guess is he'll try again. He's shown himself to be very persistent, so please be careful Jac.'
'I'll do my best to Steve. That's all I can promise isn't it really?' I said with a tired shrug of my shoulders. Kevin hand tightened suddenly, gripping my shoulder as the truth of my words hit home. I looked up at him and his eyes seriously bored into mine. We both knew what was at stake here, the dice had been thrown and would the tumble favour us? I stood up gathering my tattered dress about me and turned to our friends. Everyone stood as one and it was a fairly emotional goodnight between us all. I clung to AJ.
'Oh Bone, never was I so glad to see anyone tonight as I was you. I possibly owe my life.'
He held me tight against his thin frame, his raspy voice emotional as he cradled me to him. 'Arhh sweetheart, please Jac no. You're safe and that's all that matters.' He held me close and whispered against my ear. 'Now go home babe, make sure you and Kevin sort your shit out.'
I looked at him curiously.
' I know you want to, don't you?' I nodded and he smiled and kissed my cheek and with a shove he pushed me towards Kevin.
'Take this gal home Kev, and look after her.' He said with a laugh, he winked at me and I had to grin and shake my head. Kevin threw a questioning glance in my direction but I kept him guessing.
Gideon said above the goodnights. 'The car's here Kevin, are you both ready?'
Kevin glanced down at me inquiringly. I looked up at him, looked deep into those vivid green eyes as he held out his hand. I placed my hand in his. I knew Kevin would at least see me through this. But as Aj said we needed to get our shit together, and I really hoped we would, because I wanted to so very badly.
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He stood still. His heart a raging swirling tempest of emotion. Foiled. How did she foil him again? The voices screamed inside his head. She loves him, not you. She loves him, not you. Placing his hands over his ears he howled in anguish. How could she betray him. He had seen enough with his own eyes tonight, to know the voices were telling the truth. Incensed he felt his fury boil up within, till it exploded. He flung himself about his room, tearing, ripping, smashing, and destroying anything he could get his hands on. Then as quick as the anger erupted, it subsided like wave upon the sand leaving him feeling deadly calm. He would teach her a lesson. She would now pay for her betrayal.
************************************************
I fidgeted about in the bed, trying to get comfortable. I was probably overtired. Kevin was in the bathroom brushing his teeth after his shower. He appeared in the doorway and switched off the light. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room, but I could make out his shadowy body move across the room. I felt the bed give way as he sat on his side and listened to him fiddle about in his usual nightly ritual, taking off his watch, playing with the clock, then he would tuck his hair behind his ears, before lifting back the covers and climbing in. He brought a smile to my face. Kevin always did this methodically before he climbed into bed unlike me who tumbled into bed like a whirlwind. He reached over and pulled me close against his chest. Kevin's hand rested lightly on my hip for a moment, before he shifted in closer as he made himself comfortable.
'Jax what did Aj say to you before we left.' He asked softly against my ear.
'Umm, what?' I asked sleepily as I snuggled in against his warmth.
'Aj, what did he say to you? I know he said something because you looked taken aback. I'm just curious that's all.'
I yawned and tiredly slurred out my words. 'Oh nothing really, he just told me to go home and make sure you and I get our shit together.'
'Oh. He just had that look in his eyes and I wondered what he was up to.' I felt a light kiss on top of my head. 'Go to sleep baby, we'll sort our shit out, don't you worry.'
'I hope so Kevin, I really hope so.' I barely got out as my eyes closed and I drifted off into an exhausted slumber.
The blackness was smothering me, surrounding me like a shroud. It was hazy and oppressive, swallowing me up. I could not breathe. The press of darkness was closing in on me. I needed air, fresh clean air. I wanted away from this stifling choking fog that suddenly weighed me down, pulling me deeper and deeper into the mire of blackness. Suddenly hands reached out to grab me from all directions. Horrible wrinkled claw like fingers, with blackened rotting nails pulled at me, tugging at my clothes, my face, my flesh. Terrible apparitions leapt out chasing me this way and that as I ran through the endless gloom. Escaping from them, another horror made its presence known, an evil faced clown with a manic laugh loomed up in front of me, catching hold of my fleeing body. And I screamed.
I flailed about in the bed, my arms and limbs caught in a tangle of sheets and covers. I awoke feeling damp and clammy as the cold sweat of fear clung to my body. I felt cold and was shivering uncontrollably.
'Baby, baby, shush, hush. It was just a bad dream, just a bad dream. Jax baby. It's ok, I'm here, I'm here. You're safe, you're safe.' Strong, but gentle arms cradled me close. Gentle hands stroked and caressed my face as he held me tight against his chest. Feathersoft kisses rained all over my face as Kevin tried to quiet my anxiety and panic. His lips found my eyes, cheeks, and nose as he placed kisses all over my face in an effort to quiet me and calm me down. I responded like a child to his gentle handling, quietening under his reassuring hands. He captured my fluttering hands as I fought against all contact, holding them tight against his bare chest. I could feel his heart beating against my fingers and a wave of warmth flooded my limbs at the contact with his bare skin, pushing the effects of my nightmare to the recesses of my mind as I realised who had hold of me. He leant in again to kiss my forehead but in the shadowed moonlit room I turned my face unexpectedly to face him so our lips met and clung together in what started as a tender kiss but soon became an exploration of each other's feelings. It deepened as we clung together before pulling apart to study each other in the faint dim light. Kevin raised himself on his elbow and looked down at me and I could sense his uncertainty. Hesitantly he trailed a finger lightly along my jaw stopping at my chin, leaving his hand lightly resting against my cheek. The pale moon's rays danced through the half closed blinds painting his finely drawn face, shadowing and highlighting his chiselled features, but it couldn't hide or dull the luminescence of his bright green eyes. A lock of his long black hair fell across his forehead and I was tempted to push it away, but something about the sudden tension in Kevin's body stopped me. Dark hooded brows framed eyes that even in the semi darkness shone with an intensity that was so much a part of the Kevin I loved. Huskily in his slow drawl he spoke quietly into the silence but he couldn't keep the longing out of his voice. 'Jax baby do you think this is a good idea? I know I once I promised you I'd finish what I started eventually, but babe, I can't do this. I can't do this while you are feeling vulnerable and not thinking straight. It wouldn't be right.'
I ran hand across his chin feeling the roughness of his goatee against my fingers. The combination of the nightmare and his kisses had left me shaken, but vulnerable I wasn't. I knew how I felt about him. Never was I more certain of anything in my life. His feelings towards me though were another matter. But I wanted him with a longing that was a physical ache deep inside of me.
I looked up into Kevin's face and studied the features that had become so beloved to me over the last few months and I made a decision. I leaned in and claimed his lips in another a slow, soul, searing kiss that left us both breathing raggedly as I pulled away to gaze into his stunning mesmerising green eyes. But I felt I needed to clear the air now.'Kevin I can't do this, I can't walk this path any more. If I burn my bridges now, so be it. I'll face the consequences, I'm a big girl but no longer can I deny what's in my heart.' Lightly I touched his face, caressed those features that had become as dear to me as my own life, and finding that stray lock of hair hanging loose about his forehead, I fiddled with it absentmindedly. ' See I happen to be in love with my husband, funny thing that hey, being in love with the man you marry?' I looked away from him. Letting my hand fall away from his face as I finally admitted my feelings, just in case the emotion I thought I'd seen in his eyes earlier was all an illusion of my wishful heart and nothing more than relief that I was safe. Gentle fingers turned my face back to face his. Kevin's eyes were tender as he looked down at me and shining out of them was all that emotion I'd seen in them earlier but the corner of his mouth twitched as he suppressed a smile.
'Well baby, a wife is supposed to love her husband, just like a husband is supposed to love his wife.' He sighed ' Aj's right Jax. It's about time we got our shit together.' With every word he placed a kiss slowly about my face, before looking at me with that smile of his that always melted my heart. 'Seems you and I have been going around in circles, and in opposite directions. How about we stop and walk the same path together for a change? See baby, I too happen to love the woman I married.' He gave me a teasing grin and feigned a frustrated sigh. 'So what are we to do about this problem of being in love with each other? Will we always do things round the wrong way sweetheart? Wasn't it supposed to be love and marriage, not marriage then love.'
I laughed softly at his teasing question as my fingers still lightly played with his fine hair. 'Maybe we will always do things the wrong way Kevin, I've always been different.'
He chuckled softly as his hands framed my face, but his eyes softened with affection. 'Oh that you are my love, and that's what makes you special. It's what makes you so precious to me, my beautiful lady, my love, my wife.' The bedroom was getting lighter as the early dawn tendrils pushed away the night's dark cloak. And I could see his face better in the lightened room now. He rolled onto his back pulling me with him so I was lying half across him and looking down at him. He then remembered my bruises and aches and he was all in a panic thinking he'd hurt me, his arms tightened about me. 'Oh god sorry baby, did I hurt you?' I nodded no, I couldn't feel any aches and pain while in his arms. I leaned in and touched his lips with mine. He moaned and wrapped his arms tight about me.
When I raised my face from his, he cradled my head in his hands. He looked deep into my eyes and sighed. 'I never thought to love anyone like I love you Jax. You hit me like a bolt of lightening and I don't think I can ever recover. Do you know that I love you so much? So much so that it just amazes me how deep I am in with you.'
I trailed my hand through his hair, pushing away that errant lock that persisted in flopping across his eyes. 'Do you believe in things that are meant to be. I wasn't a believer in love at first sight, but I guess the moment we first set eyes on each other something was there, wasn't it?'
He smiled and kissed my nose softly. 'Yeah that lightening bolt, it struck and started a bush fire.' His lips found mine again and we lost ourselves in each other's arms for a few minutes just enjoying this feeling of fanning the flames for each other. He rolled me gently onto my back and looked as if he was going to carry on the conversation. But with a grin I placed my fingers over his lips, letting them trace their outline but also stopping him from talking
'Kevin are you always this talkative in bed? 'I asked with a teasing smile.
I felt him grin under my fingers and make an effort to playfully bite one. Which he managed because I was too busy looking into his eyes for me to react quick enough to pull my hand away. He nibbled on my captured finger causing me to lose all track of my thoughts as I stammered and lost track of what I was saying to him. He laughed at me and let it go, but he playfully tortured me with his lips, as he kissed his way along my face, neck and jawline before raising laughing eyes to mine. 'No babe, sometimes I'm a man of action as well.'
I laughed softly. 'Well then action man, you promised me that one day you'd finish what you started. Now might be a good time to follow through with that promise don't you think?'
'My Lady Jacqueline' he said in an amused drawl. 'Your wish is my command. How shall I please my lady, like this?' And he proceeded to trail his mouth across my lips, jaw and he found my ear where he nibbled and teased gently, before feathering kisses downward along my throat. My skin prickled at the sensations he was inducing in my body, making me feel week limbed and languorous. He reached out with his hand and circled my waist drawing me against him so my body rested against his lean toned muscles. His mouth brushed my temple again, then again finding my ear his tongue playfully produced sensations that had me arching against him. I nuzzled at his throat. Finding his skin to kiss where I could. His hands found their way to the buttons of my nightdress where he easily undid them, then slipping the straps off my shoulder his lips followed their path down to the curve of my breasts. He sought my nipples with his mouth and fingers feathering my budding nipple with his gentle caresses. Gasping at the sensation I surged against him, craving his touch. Forgetting all my aches and pains in Kevin's arms I twisted out of his embrace to straddle his long lanky frame, trapping him between my legs. I leaned in over him and duplicated his kisses, working my way from his face downward to his own hardening nipples. He groaned and arched against me, allowing me to feel the hardened length of his growing shaft in his silken boxers. His breathing was shallowed and rapid as proof of his growing arousal as I teased and tempted his body with my mouth and tongue. But his hands were still roaming in lazy circles about my breasts and nipples sending warm chills through my body as I worked my way lower and lower, following the light dusting of dark hair that trailed to the top of his boxers. Easing myself upwards I gave the elastic a tug and eased his boxers lower, feeling the heat of his erection against my thighs as I freed his manhood. I rubbed myself teasingly against him and heard his breath catch in his throat. He drew me back down and turned me over so we were face to face, flesh to flesh, his hands laced through my short hair and he claimed my mouth in a searing kiss that turned by blood to liquid fire. I moaned into his mouth as our kisses deepened and became hotter, more passionate. His tongue found mine and we danced them together till the earth spun and we knew nothing but that we were together and we loved each other. Kevin seized the upper hand now, making me melt with the onslaught of sensations he was making me feel. Gentle fingers caressed and stroked till I writhed beneath him unable to bare this wanting no more.
'Kevin please' I groaned against his mouth, and with a groan of his own he obeyed my pleading and he swiftly moved as I opened myself to accept him with my eyes closed savouring the moment.
'Baby look at me.' He whispered against my lips. 'Let me show you how much I love you.'
I searched his face and saw the love shining out. How could I have ever been unsure of that deep emotion that shone there?
'Oh Kevin I do so love you.' I whispered back as I shifted my hips against him, moving with him in the dance of lovers that was as endless as time itself. Slowly at first he teased and tempted till naked need and longing increased the pace and we clung to each other dizzied, and trembling as I cried out his name as he transported me to a heaven that only existed with him. I felt him shudder against me, then he collapsed in my arms and I cradled his dark head close against me, placing kisses wherever I could against him. He sighed and rubbed his lips across my throat before raising his head and looking into my eyes.
'I love you Jax.' He found my mouth with his own and reaffirmed his love.
I laughed joyfully against his mouth. 'I'm glad I married a man of his word.' I pulled him back to me for another kiss and I giggled content. 'You do keep your promises, you did indeed finish what you started.'
He chucked and brushed a light hand through my hair. 'And you are an incorrigible tease my lady, but I love you Jax.' He rolled over pulling me with him so he cradled my head against his chest. He placed a tender kiss upon my hair. 'Now go to sleep my love, it's dawn already and I want you well rested. Tonight will be the first of many such kept promises.' I snuggled into him tired but sated.
'I love you too Kev.' And content, I slept the sleep of the exhausted but I felt more safe and protected than I had in weeks