The Perfect Weapon Ending 2 part 1 section 8
"Because you weren't going to have us? You weren't going to have the real connection---"
"So I'd settle for the symbol." She nodded and kissed the base of his neck. "It's...clear now."
Tugging lightly on one ear, Jack said, "It's amazing how clear the mind becomes when it's free from those extraneous worries such as…" he stopped and began in a falsetto voice, "How will I handle my little flying monkey, name of Sark? Or how will I keep from vomiting when I have to see Sloane again? Is he the mayor of Munchkinland? Or chief coroner? He thinks he's the man behind the curtain, but I think---"
"Jack…." Irina bit down hard on the inside of her cheek so she would not laugh aloud. He was trying to misdirect her. Those photos... He was toast. He was so toast. Speaking of which, where was that idiotic room service order? She wondered and gestured out of the bathroom. She needed to make a call, she thought. Tugging him out of the bathroom, she looked up at him curiously and decided to just ask. "Jack. I still don't understand how you were going to use those photos of us in a...to sound like a Regency novel, in a compromising position." She felt her brain click into gear. "Wait, a compromising position was generally one in which one participant was trapping another one into marriage. But, we're already married. Wait, aren't we? Did you get an annulment? Answers…I want ---"
"You wanted your chain, didn't you?" Jack said quickly in his normal voice, backing away towards the bathroom. The chain was probably the least of his worries right now. "Allow me to give it to you---"
"The chain. You. Had. It. The. Entire. Time?" Irina gritted out in a low voice. He was dead. She would kill him herself. Slowly…. But wait, that would be a waste. A waste of a perfectly-good man. A perfect man. Well, maybe not perfect, but as close as she was going to find on this side of the veil of life. And he certainly did know how to play the games. And she did love games. There was no better partner. So, she wouldn't kill him, but he certainly deserved to suffer a little. But not too much, she decided and stepped out onto the carpeted floor of the main area of the hotel room. Watching him reach into his pack and pull a string, she saw a length of gold emerge in his hand. Smiling at him, she rubbed her foot back and forth across the pile, testing its thickness, she waited.
Looking up at her, from his vantage point on the floor, Jack grimaced. "So, you win the flip. You get to kill Sloane, right?"
"After I kill you!" Irina dropped down on top of him.
He groaned and shifted under her. "For the love of! Give me a minute. Damn, I think you broke my coccyx!"
"I broke your co--?" She smiled slyly and slid to the floor and getting to her knees, bent over him. "Well, that would be a shame, a terrible waste. Here, let me kiss it and make it better."
He jacknifed up as she bent her head. Just as her mouth began to open over him, there was a bang, bang at the door.
"Agent Bristow! Are you okay in there? We heard a thud," one of the agents stationed as guards outside their door asked. "A loud thud. Like a body hitting the floor. Hard."
Jack pressed Irina's giggling mouth into his stomach. "I'm, um, uh--" he lost his train of thought as she turned her head and flicked her tongue on... "Oh my god...I'm fine! FINE! I....slipped on some water in the bathroom. But I'm fine."
The agent offered, "We really should come in to ascertain ----"
"Come in here right now and you will die."
"But..."
"We will be ready when the time comes. Don't worry. Go back to your post, NOW." Jack growled the words and scowled at Irina.
Irina bit his stomach trying to control her laughter. She stopped when she felt his hand stroking her hair. Resting her cheek on his abdomen, she looked up at him. Seeing the gentle look on his face, she sighed.
"I'm just glad... to laugh with you. When I was out here, reading that portfolio, I feared...we'd never find that connection again." Rubbing her cheek against the slightly hair-roughened skin beneath her face, she kissed it over and over. "But...we did."
"You keep rubbing your face on my lower abdomen like that and you'll be experiencing a connection sooner than you think," Jack said dryly.
She sat up regretfully. Looking back at him, she raised both eyebrows. "I....see that. You need a distraction."
"And you're easily distracted. Weren't you eager to find your chain again?"
"Oh, no." She looked around and saw no glitter of gold. "When I knocked you down it went sailing."
"Let's find that chain," Jack offered. He stood up and held out his hand to her.
Jumping to her feet, she leaned against him. When he hugged her she asked, "How about you look for it and I'll call room service and harangue them about the whereabouts of our breakfast?"
"Sure. Go ahead," Jack shrugged. Then smiled when she hugged him tightly before letting go to walk over to the phone. He began looking high and low. As he pulled a picture off the wall, to see if the chain had gotten caught on the hanger behind it, Irina looked at it carefully.
"What no camera behind the picture?" Irina asked with a grimace.
"No. One was enough." Jack shook his head and replaced the picture. He shoved aside a chair, then bent to look under the table.
Watching him, she said absently, "You know, it occurs to me that you owe me for that camera."
"Does it?" Jack rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming next. And it still wasn't him.
"Yes, you need to let me take replacements for my portfolio."
"And I'm still waiting for a picture of your waist with that chain....If I ever find it...." Jack muttered, as he pushed aside furniture.
"Jack..." Good lord, a man trying to find something was about as ridiculous as ... Wait, this was enjoyable, watching him shift furniture, bend over. Yes, this was...a good spectator sport. She sat down on the bed, pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and watched the show.
"Where the hell did it go?" He bent down and looked under the bureau. Well, this was an interesting position, he decided, as he slowly raised his head. She clearly had no idea of the view she was giving him.
"Jack...Maybe try to the right?" A profile view would be nice, she decided. She really wished she had that camera, but Jack wouldn't let her do that quite yet. He would though, she decided firmly. He would.
"I saved it all those years..." He shook his head and stood up. Shoving aside the bureau slightly, he looked behind it, keeping one eye on her sitting on the bed. Nah, this position was doing nothing for him. He needed to get lower.
"Jack.... Did you look under the bed?" At her suggestion, he bent down and she got to her hands and knees to crawl forward to see better.
"Sewed it into that pack and..." He trailed off as he saw her position. Hmm. She had always liked that one...
"Jack... How about the nightstands?" He stood up and put his hands on his hips and looked around the room. She slid stomach down on the bed and rested her head on her hands.
"No, the trajectory would be all wrong, if you calculate..." He picked up the bedclothes from the floor and shook them out. He'd like to wrap her up in these like Cleopatra in the rug and just carry her out of here, back to his place or hers, wherever the hell that was, although he had a good idea. Forget the mission, forget everything but the need for them to reconnect.
"It's in this room," Irina said firmly. "We know that. If we can't find it, then no one can..." She bent her legs at the knee and began swinging them back and forth. Maybe a photo of him wearing just a sheet, covering just the essentials. But not a white sheet. Black... Yes. Black sheets. She'd have to order some new ones for---
"Now. Now... I can't find it?" He dropped the sheets and stood there, staring at her. Without even realizing it, he smiled broadly. She looked like the girl he had first known, lying front down on a blanket on the quadrangle, reading a book as he walked toward her. Involuntarily he took a step toward her. He reached his hand out, "You know... Your butt is still just as...grabbable as it was thirty years ago, maybe I should widen the area of search in this scavenger hunt. I mean, I should leave no possibility unexamined, isn't that right---"
"Jack!" She wiggled away, rolling over and laughing, called out. "Grabbable is not a word. Then or now." She laughed again, remembering how he'd sneak up and pat her butt in public, irritating her endlessly. She stopped and pointed. "It's on the curtain!"
"Oh." He halted his pursuit of her butt and turned to look at the window. "Why didn't you say that before instead of letting me look everywhere?"
"Because I was enjoying watching you bend over? Want to do it again?"
He stopped in the act of reaching up for the strand of gold hanging over the curtain rod, glinting in the sunlight of the new day outside. Plucking it free with careful fingers, it was a delicate piece after all, he turned to face her. "Oh, I don't know. I'll bend over if you sit like you were originally and give me an eyeful of your assets, you know the ones deep in---"
"You....! I'm ordering breakfast now!" She growled and leaped to her feet and grabbed the phone.
"Make sure you add some eggs or something with protein," Jack ordered, his tone tight suddenly, as he looked down at the chain and then out the window through the slit in the curtains. Running the chain through his hand, he added softly, as he tried for control. Faith, he told himself, faith. "You need to eat. This could be a long day."
"Jack, I'm perfectly capable....Okay, eggs it is. Still scrambled, right?" she said softly as she saw the quickness of his movements, another signal. He needed to just tell her what he was thinking...but not yet, she knew, it was too soon. But she did know that he wanted to fuss because he was nervous. Okay, this wasn't hard. She could figure this out if she paid attention.
"Whatever you want. I'm hardly a picky eater...." he began, then looked at her. Trying to distract himself from her imminent departure, he added in as leering a voice as he could manage, "Unless you count, of course, a preference for a certain type of honey..."
"Jack Bristow." She shook her head and dialed the phone to check on and add to the breakfast order. Hanging up, she told him, "They said it might take a little longer. That's okay? We still have time? I can't find my watch."
"Oh," Jack shrugged and looked away but not before she saw the glint of mischief in his eyes. "Don't worry, we have more time than you think. It really didn't take you that long out here, although I'm sure it seemed like forever. So don't worry, if you can't find the watch---"
She sighed. Part of his game plan. "Let me guess, while I was asleep. Where did you put it? Where's my watch, Jack?"
"Under the mattress."
"Under the...."
"You're no princess, honey."
"What?"
"Princess and the pea...." he said absently, as he continued playing with the chain in his hands. Why wasn't she asking for it?
"Well..." She lifted up the corner of the mattress and scowled as she saw her watch there. "If I had a scepter, you know where I'd be sticking it about now?"
"Do you know where I'd like to stick my scepter?" Jack asked, turning to walk toward her.
"No, where?" She said, snapping her watch around her wrist and stifling a laugh when he rolled his eyes.
"Your crown..." He held up the chain and then coiled it around three fingers. "I could wrap this around---"
"So could I," she said huskily, looking down meaningfully. "It appears we are at a stalemate."
"That's not the kind of mating for which I'm searching," Jack smiled tightly, as he sifted the chain through his fingers.
Like worry beads, she thought, watching him. "Just put it on the dresser for right now," she suggested. As he did so, she picked up a brush and sat down on the bed and motioned to him. He sat down next to her watching her silently as she lifted her hands and began to brush her hair. Seeing his eyes drop down to her breasts, uplifted as she worked the brush, she rolled her eyes. "If you can tear yourself away from ogling me, we should talk about the plan."
"I can multitask. I can look at you and come up with a plan at the same time."
"Really?" She smiled and looked down at his lap. "It looks to me like something other than a plan is coming up."
"Oh, that has a plan too." Jack put his hand on her knee and her hands stopped in midmotion. She put the brush down.
"Oh?" Irina asked eagerly as she put her hand on top of his. "We match..." she said softly rubbing her hand on his. "Look...."
"I know," he agreed, looking at her. She had always had a dislike of her hands, something he had never understood. "Did I ever tell you---"
"Probably not! It appears there is quite a bit you didn't tell me." She opened her mouth, then closed it at the look of anger in his eyes before he blinked and it disappeared. "That was probably not a wise...comment, was it?
"Given that small detail you neglected to tell me?" He snapped his mouth closed and shook his head. "You know what? Just say what you're thinking, don't hold back. In fact... promise me you'll do that. I need you to...push me."
"I think I can guarantee that I'll have no trouble getting angry with you from time to time, Jack," Irina said dryly. "You are, after all, the most irritating man alive."
"We all have our strengths," Jack shrugged. "And irritating you also enables me to win something I want. Remember?" He smiled as he lifted a hand and traced a circle around first one breast, then the other. "They seem to...." he added as each nipple beaded under the progressively smaller circles.
"Oh, shut up."
"I don't notice you pushing my hands away," Jack noted, as he curved those hands up over her softness and began to brush his thumbs lightly across her nipples.
"I'm not an idiot." Irina smiled and tugged on his hair. "That's your job. And speaking of which, that ability you have to keep your mouth shut when you should be telling your wife who you are...That's when a strength becomes a weakness."
"Is that so, Ms. I have to do everything myself?" Jack snapped, his eyes flashing, his hands sliding down to curve around her waist and holding on tightly. Irina sighed happily. Good, he was getting angry and showing it. Good. And she liked it when he held her so firmly, as if he'd never let her go. Always had.
"First of all," Irina pointed out, poking her finger into his chest, trying to provoke again. "I did ask for help this morning, in case you've for---"
"I know." Jack said softly, interrupting the beginnings of a tirade with the quiet fervency of his words. "Thank god."
She opened her mouth and then closed it. Having no words to thank him for allowing her to see this vulnerability she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on his willing mouth. Sighing, she pulled back and after touching his mouth with her fingertip, urged him, "Jack. I have to tell you something. A weakness of yours, that didn't allow you to see what---"
"You're right. I neglected to tell you... You should be angry with me about that. God, be angry. Just don't be...defeated. Don't be lost. Be the strong woman I loved. The strong woman I...lusted after. Needed."
"You did?" She asked, momentarily distracted.
"I did. That night we made Sydney... seeing you standing there in the doorway..." He lifted his free hand to her face and traced the edges, her cheekbones, her jaw line. "So...strong. I thought...like a warrior princess. A---"
"A queen," she whispered.
"Yes." He took a deep breath and slid his hand around the back of her neck and held on firmly. "Not some delicate...flower who could feel a watch under the mattress, but someone strong enough to handle everything I could give."
"Even," she said firmly, grasping his jaw and holding it so that he could not look away. "Even when you lose control."
He pressed his lips together and automatically began to look down when she dug her nails in. "Alright! I know, you like it when I lose control."
"Like the night of the jewelry. Remember how I---"
"If we start talking about that, you'll truly find yourself in a compromising position," Jack warned with a glint in his eyes.
"Ah.... That would put you over the edge? I'll make a note of that."
"Good." He stared at her, hearing the sincerity in her voice as she talked about the future. He turned his head and kissed her palm. Closing his eyes, just for a moment, he told himself, he sat there and enjoyed her touch, then sighed when she slid her hand up into his hair and stroked his scalp.
"Jack," she murmured, watching him, feeling him relax. He needed the physical touch, she knew and continued moving her fingers in his hair. "I hope your fertile brain is coming up with some good ideas, some ways for us to reconnect. You have--"
"Remember, taking turns? You had good ideas too." Jack opened his eyes and nodded at her, ran his thumb slowly over her knee. "Do you remember...." He looked at the gold and diamonds winking around her neck.
"The night of the necklace?" She touched her hand to that same necklace, currently around her throat. Then tilted her head back when he leaned down and kissed each diamond, one, two, three, his lips warming the skin around it, making the necklace come to life for her again.
"Hmm," Jack grinned as he raised his head. "Maybe we can do that again." He slid his hands up her thighs, until they were each resting across the top of one leg, his thumbs pressing on the inward curve, gently forcing them apart. "There were moments that night....I've never forgotten."
"At last you admit it!" She snapped at him. What an annoying man he'd been those times he'd pretended not to remember, like that me first game.
"Well, there were definite highlights," he agreed. "Like the look on your face when I tossed the dress across the garage."
"I liked that dress," she said absently, watching his hands caress her skin, feeling the warmth on her legs radiate inward.
"A terrible sacrifice of fashion, was it not?" he whispered, lightly stroking the firmness of her thighs with his hands. "But well worth it."
"You thought!" She fought back a smile.
"It got me what I wanted. You know me, goal oriented." Jack grinned and with just one fingertip began tracing a circle on her lower abdomen as he had done that night.
"The goal of what?" She stared down at his hands on her and murmured, "What? The goal of taking me on the car at home?"
"Mmm. I was thinking more of you naked except for your stockings, driving around town, my hand---"
"Jack... Where is your hand going right now?" She wiggled as his left hand slid inward and began to press...right there, she thought, that would be good.
"A trip down, I mean up memory lane?" He asked as he began to slide a finger over her curves. "Hmm, guess we've had a recent shower on this... road. It feels somewhat damp..."
She burst out laughing and reluctantly shoved his hand away, shaking her head. "You were.... are...."
"That night was fun." He didn't know why he was babbling on like this about old times, but... Then again he did. He needed to use them, to find that connection that would feed his faith.
"Because you turned the tables on me!" She laughed, although a part of her couldn't help wondering how he might have done that now, had she made a different choice. She was going to ask him, once they were finished... What was it they were doing? Jack was telling her truths, to be sure, but what was he gaining from this....?
"But that plan of yours wasn't the one I was remembering." Jack ran his hands over her hips, searching for the tiny stretch marks he recalled, but they had probably faded, as most scars did, with time.
"No? What then..." She watched his hands and sighed as she remembered how he would gently touch those stretch marks left from her pregnancy, kiss them, call them badges of courage. "Sweetie, tell me..." she urged absently, as she closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.
"Do you remember the time in the cemetery?" He asked quickly, then slid his hands into her hair, tugged her forward and took her mouth in a hard kiss, taking her mouth over and over again until she was gasping. "Remember... 'If you don't stop,' I said..."
She burst out laughing. That was a fun memory. She'd forgotten about it. For some reason. "We were such kids. And I was so bad."
"Very bad." He smiled and picked up the brush again. "And I loved it."
"You drove me to it! With your...care and concern and patience. So much damn patience that it drove me... Wait a minute. It was... a doubleplay, wasn't it?" She reached for the brush. She was going to brush his hair, alright. Very...briskly.
"Who, me?" He laughed and held the brush just out of reach. "It only takes her how long to figure it out?"
"Oooh. To get me to make the first move, you deliberately drove me to such lengths---"
"No, you drove me..." Jack grabbed her hand and began to slide it up his thigh. "You drove me to such lengths...remember?"
"Go, go!" Emily had urged, laughing as the Bristows had hesitated and Jack said something admonitory to Arvin. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of this sweet child for a few hours." Then she had winked at Laura, "Or as long as it takes."
"Well....If she starts to fuss, she likes the glider," Jack had said to Arvin, taking a step toward the door, then turning back. "And I always sing to her--"
"Jack, I think Emily and I can handle Sydney for you while you find a place to waylay your wife," Arvin had laughed softly.
"Oh, I've already found the place," Jack had whispered back.
"No substitute for background research, I know. And you've packed the trunk?" Arvin had rolled his eyes; Jack's trunk was a running joke among their friends. You could find anything in that trunk.
Jack nodded, then nodded in the women's direction. "What do you think they're talking about?"
"I shudder to think. Women are the more dangerous in any species." Arvin narrowed his eyes as the women laughed after Laura had smoothed her hand down her dress.
"I agree, the strapless bra was the way to go given how low that bodice is. Don't bend over or..." Emily smiled and shifted the baby in her arms. "Or you'll get exactly what you want, just not necessarily where you want it." When Laura raised her eyebrows, fighting to keep from laughing, Emily laughed. "You know what I mean. I don't think you want it on the table at the restaurant. But, are you wearing those stockings he likes?" Emily whispered. Laura nodded. "Well, then, you're home free. He sees those and he'll forget all about his worries about it being too soon after the baby. Men are easy."
"True," Laura nodded, having heard that truth before at a KGB academy. Then told a truth she had learned for herself, "Especially when they love you." She bent down, kissed Sydney's head and picked up her purse.
Emily agreed. "And just show them a flash of something forbidden and---"
Laura added, "Or something they've forbidden themselves. Like a stupid man--"
"Honey? Ready?" Jack asked, holding the door open. Laura smiled widely, making Jack's eyes narrow. Oh good, he thought, she was up to something. Noting the amusement in Emily's eyes as she came over to hand him Sydney for a goodbye kiss, he skewed his eyes toward Arvin.
Arvin looked from Emily to Laura, who was staring at Jack. Noting that Jack had not taken his eyes off his wife, Arvin elbowed him and said, "Don't hurry back. We can handle Sydney."
"Yes, take your time," Emily urged, putting a hand on Laura's back and nearly shoving her out of the door. "After all, we're used to you two disappearing for hours."
"Jack, we have time...?"
"Yes. And besides..." Jack hesitated. Then said, through clenched teeth, "Arvin and the flying monkey expect you to have... spent the night with me, I would imagine."
Irina nodded slowly. "Sark no doubt thinks it's a plan."
"Can I ask...what did you ever tell him about us? Just in case."
"I never said anything about you. The only time I can ever remember having a conversation about any male-female interaction with him was when he was a teenager and I told him.." She smiled ruefully. "I told him, in essence, that I believed that one of the basic aspects of the game between a man and a woman was the chase game."
"So will he expect that I'll chase after you?" Jack asked quickly. "If he extrapolates... sees that what lies between us is more than operatives gaming against each other, but could also be a man and a woman playing the game between them?"
Instantly she saw his point and meeting his eyes, they both smiled. Irina agreed. "We can use that to our advantage in case this goes badly this morning. He'll want to be able to have his own options---"
"Yes. He'll want to have some ace in the hole if I come after you and he gets caught in the crossfire." Jack exhaled. What a relief to play this with someone who just...
Irina nodded swiftly, feeling excitement build. Jack was the best partner. "Some piece of intel he can trade. I'll take care of it. Use him. In case this goes badly. And Arvin...I don't know what he thinks about my feelings for you. But he does know how you..." she trailed off and looked down, put her hand on his leg, rubbed it back and forth.
Jack put his hand on top of hers and waited until she looked up again before he nodded. "Arvin knows how I felt about my wife. He knows I'm not going to let her, you, go until I have to. And that I may make you late. That would be the norm." Jack shrugged. Then smiling suddenly, he kissed her upturned lips. "How many times were we late going to parties or anywhere else?"
"The question is, how many times are we going to be late in the future?" Irina asked, but it was not a question.
"Wait..." Jack said, halting the forward momentum of the door as he began to close the passenger side door. "When you got in, did I see...?" Looking down at her, he licked his lips and asked softly, "Do you have on those stock--"
"We should leave. After all, I thought our reservations were for---" Laura had said primly, setting her purse carefully down on the seat next to her.
"Screw the reservations. What do you have on?"
"A dress." Laura had said firmly, reached out grabbed the door handle and slammed the door closed.
Jack stood there a second or two, then loped quickly around to the driver's side. Suppressing a grin as he watched Laura slide over to unlock his door before he could, he then had to suppress groan as he looked down her bodice. "What the hell do you have on?" he moaned as he flung open the door and slid inside quickly. "Barely?"
"A dress. Must I repeat myself?" Laura asked in what they referred to as her schoolteacher voice. When they were playing that game.
"Jack..." Irina said, running her fingers down his forearm. "Remember that game?"
"Hmm. Will I have to stay after school for detention again?" Jack asked, laughing.
"You always did seem to do your best...work when you had one on one instruction," Irina smiled and leaned forward to meet his lips.
"Well, I guess I don't know much about fashion. That's not much of a dress to my ignorant eyes. You'll have to...teach me. That's it. Instruct me. I'm an eager pupil." Jack had reached his hand out as she scooted quickly back across the bench seat. "And what about what's on your legs?"
"Jack, we need to get going." She tapped her fingers impatiently on her thigh, 'accidentally' hitching her skirt up a tiny bit higher with each movement.
"We need to get going alright," Jack murmured, his eyes on her hand. "And I'm thinking that there is a motel around--"
"I'm hungry." She moved her fingertips back and forth across her leg. "Aren't you?"
"I made a mistake waiting. See. I can admit when I'm wrong. I was wrong. So wrong." He shut up when she shot him a look and stopped moving her fingers. Looking at him impatiently, she waited. He sighed. "I'll stop now." She began moving her fingers again. He smiled and noted, "And I'm beyond hungry. And I can give you---"
"Jack. The restaurant. This is our first time out since Sydney was born nearly three months ago and I intend to enjoy every minute."
"Well, I could make sure you enjoy every---"
"I've had enough appetizers. I want a meal. A full meal. All the courses."
"Ah. Soup to...[i]nuts?" He smiled as he saw her fight back a smile. "Would you like a course with some...tongue? Properly seasoned?"
She looked away before saying, again in that annoyingly prim voice, "No, thank you. We've had quite a bit of that the last month of so and as fond as I am of it..."
"Ah, you want something with more meat?"
She gave up and burst into laughter. "Jack Bristow. We are going to that restaurant. You're the one who's wanted to wait."
"I know," Jack shook his head as he started the car and began backing it out of the driveway. "What a fool, but after watching what you went through having Sydney, I was afraid..."
"This is yet one more reason why men should not be there when babies are born. What cowards you all are. I saw Dave's face turn green when you told him, in greatly exaggerated form, what it was like," she teased. "I was the one who went through all that pain."
"I believe I shared, in some small measure..." Jack grinned back at her, then flexing his hand with a grimace. "Some measure of your pain."[/i]
Irina reached out and took Jack's hand in hers. "Did you ever tell Sydney about that?"
Jack curved his fingers around Irina's hand. "No. I don't know how to have that kind of conversation with her, how to start or...anything. And besides, it seems like the kind of story her...." He paused, then squeezed her hand as he said encouragingly, giving her another reason, he hoped to return. "You should tell her. A mother should tell a daughter about giving birth."
"Now, I can do that, can't I?" Irina said suddenly. "The possibilities...." She smiled and he stared at her, seeing, feeling the potential himself, in the warm of that smile.
"Unbelievable." Jack sighed as he finished paying the bill in the restaurant. "Are you finished making me pay for wanting to wait?" Laura just smiled as they left and returned to their car, hand in hand.
"Didn't you have a good time?" Laura asked, as she trailed a fingertip up Jack's bare forearm as he sat next to her and rolled up his shirt sleeves, having discarded his suit jacket in the back seat.
"A good time is not what I would call it," Jack smiled at her. Placing his fingers on the back of her neck, he bent his head to hers. Lightly licking her lips, back and forth, until her mouth opened, he whispered, "A hard time is a more accurate description." He bent his head and trailed his lips down her neck and along her shoulders. Nipping along her shoulder strap, he noted, "Every time you'd let this strap fall down..."
"It was purely accidental," she argued half-heartedly, closing her eyes, enjoying the feel of his lips on her skin.
"Sure. And you and Emily were exchanging coffee cake recipes tonight," Jack said derisively. Giving her skin one last little nip, he sat back up and started the car.
"Aren't you warm in that shirt and tie?" She asked, walking her fingers up the length of the tie and crossing her legs so that the skirt would ride up on her thighs. He automatically looked over after pulling into traffic. Bingo. Men were easy.
"I've been warmer," Jack had shrugged, although he could feel the sweat on his brow as she shifted and the hem of the skirt went even higher. Did she have on those stockings he liked....
"I remember wearing those in Bangkok," Irina said smugly. "I remember your reaction."
"Be quiet," Jack growled.
"Admit it!"
"Yes. I...You look good in lingerie," Jack admitted. If that wasn't an understatement. He waited. 1, 2, 3...
"I look good? Good? Where are three polysyllabic words when you want them? Good? That's all you can...." Her eyes narrowed. "You didn't care for that dress though, did you?"
"The BOB dress?" Jack shook his head. "No."
"Bob?"
"B-O-B. Bimbo of Bangkok? Oomph!" He exhaled when she slammed him to the bed.
"Be honest. You wanted to rip that dress and everything else I was wearing -- or barely wearing -- right off." Irina demanded, leaning over him.
"That's my general reaction to lace things, as you'll recall,"Jack admitted, enjoying the view, even if there was no lace involved.
"Yes, I've been warmer," he said in a whisper, looking over at her happy face. She was having a good time teasing him. He thought he'd seen a flash of lace when she got in the car earlier. It was driving him crazy. He lifted his right hand from the steering wheel and laid it on her knee and began to slide it upward.
"Have you? Such as when...." She tugged on the knot of his tie.
"When you kept crossing and uncrossing and recrossing your legs in the restaurant. Swinging your foot in those heels---"
"Oh, these?" She asked bending her leg at the knee and putting her foot on the seat. Taking her time, she unclasped the strap of the shoe and tossed it into the back seat.
Jack grinned and nodded. "Yes. Those. Very... nice." He waited while she removed the other shoe and it too went sailing into the back. Somewhere. Who cared. What were they talking about...Oh yeah. Her legs. Those stockings. "And every time that dress went a little bit higher and then I could hear the sound of those stockings as they rubbed against each other---"
"Oh, like this..." Laura asked and rubbed her thigh against the other, making a slight skritch sound. "You have excellent hearing."
"Sometimes that's not an advantage," he asserted, hearing the roughness of his own breathing as he took an exit a little too quickly. But damn, he really wanted to get to this place he had met a contact the other day. It was perfect.
"Oh, no, let me..." She shoved his hand away and slowly tugged the tie loose of the knot and began to remove it. She tossed the tie into the back seat. "Hmm, what else needs removing?" She asked with a grin and played with the second button on his shirt.
"Could you possibly move any slower?" Jack groaned. "I'm dying here..."
"Not that we haven't found...pleasurable alternatives, I'll admit, but I've been dying for weeks now, let me remind you," Laura laughed, her fingers slowing even more when Jack put his hand heavily back on her leg and began stroking his way up the stocking. How long could she drag out unbuttoning his shirt? And where were they going anyway? That exit hadn't been the one to the ocean. She shrugged. Jack must have found some place... Well, it had to be better than the last time they'd made love fully. Or tried to.
"Let me remind you, my back might still be in pain after that little incident in New Jersey," Jack said with a grin and continued edging his hand up her thigh, he had to see if those stockings--
Laura laughed at the memory. "That wasn't fair of me."
As his hand reached the lace top of the stocking he sighed happily. Laura rolled her eyes, but smiled, equally happy at his reaction. He quirked his lips and noted, "This is hardly fair."
"Oh? How so?" She bent her head and concentrated once again on loosening the buttons. How many were on this shirt anyway?
"Well, if I have to lose another item, so should you." Jack smiled and with a swift movement reached his hand between her breasts and tugged on the front of her bra. "Don't you think---"
"Excellent point!" She smiled happily and scooted backward. Good, he was up for a game. Yes, she decided looking into his lap, he was definitely up for a game. "Hmm...whatever could I take off to even it out---"
"Well, if you want my input---" He reached his hand out again and grasped the hem of her skirt.
"Oh, I want your...input, but not about my clothing options," she said slyly, her smile becoming wider when he burst out laughing.
"Okay, ladies' choice," Jack agreed quickly. "Whatever you want, I'll take. But, I wouldn't mind---"
"I wasn't asking for suggestions." Laura shook her head at him. "I'll make up my own mind. Trust me on that." She reached behind her back, unclasped her bra and with a quick tug, pulled it free from the dress and sent it sailing away.
"Oh, I'll trust those kind of decisions." Jack smiled and curved his arm around her. Cupping her breast in his hand, he murmured as he began to stroke her nipple into a hard point, "You have good instincts..."
"How far do you think Arvin will trust you?" Jack asked, his hand stroking her back as she lay partially over him.
"Trust me? Not very far. I mean, would you?" Irina rolled her eyes. Then stopped as she felt his hand still on her skin. "Jack...I promised."
"I know. It's just..." He looked away. She firmed her lips and grabbed his chin with fingers that pressed.
"Look at me. You have to tell me. I'm not going to fill in the blanks for you this time. And Dave isn't here to push you either. It's up to you to tell me."
He snapped in annoyance, "I realize that. I'm not a child."
"All men are children." Irina snapped in return, then stopped, wondering if Sydney knew that. Wondering if she knew that sometimes you needed to give men a good, swift .... She smiled ruefully, she knew what Jack needed. She bent her head and took his mouth in a kiss so rapacious that she felt his body stiffen in shock, and then something else as he closed his eyes and pulled her as close to him as he could.
"Give me a minute to recover from that kiss and--"
"Jack..Stop it. Stop procrastinating. I can read your face."
"Since when?"
She opened her mouth to retort, then stopped. He was going on the offensive to avoid telling her something. Something...she noted his discomfort. Something hurtful, she would guess. Pressing into him with her body, willing him to feel her, she cupped his cheek with one hand as she asserted, "You're more worried than you let on. What is it? The truth. The time for... dissembling is long past."
He shook his head and then decided that she was right. He had to say this, had to just get it over with. Judy was right, faith could not coexist with fear. "I... want to trust you, Irina, more than you can possibly know. But the temptation Rambaldi represents to you.... I saw your face when we acquired that heart document originally..." He shook his head. "You..." He bit his words off.
"What?" She pulled her head back to look at him suspiciously. His tone was a warning that she was not going to like what she was about to hear.
"You looked like---"
"What?!"
"A b**** in heat, okay? You looked like a b**** in heat."
"A WHAAT?!"
"Sorry," he began, then stopped. "No. I'm not sorry. That's the truth. You have an obsessive desire for anything to do with Rambaldi. It's one of your greatest weaknesses--"
"My weakness! How about you---"
"I see what that obsession has done to Arvin, how it, the lust for power to acquire more and more Rambaldi has cost him everything--"
"Jack..."
"Even his wife---"
"Jack, I need to tell you---"
"So I think I can be forgiven for being concerned that you might make the same---"
"You're worried that I'll get..." She began, then shook her head. She needed to tell him the truth, but first they needed to resolve this other truth. "You're worried that you and Sydney can't compete with it."
"I have no intention of competing for you." He said it slowly. She looked at him and swore silently. He wore that look of dignity he donned like a mask, as he said, "You have to make the choice."
"Jack, I already made the choice. I choose to look at the portfolio, not the..."
"Rambaldi heart document hidden in your pack?"
She stared at him. "You... set me up. Of course. That guard, you scared him, manipulated him to look at me as some poor, pitiful..."
He snorted. looked away, then seeming to come to a decision turned back to face her fully. She looked at him, looked into his eyes as he shrugged and said calmly, "Of course I set you up."
Seeing the coldness in his eyes, she went completely still. This was the man of his profile so many years before, heard on her bugs, and finally, the man she had seen in action in Kashmir, Bangkok. This was a part of him she had not seen as Laura, might have never seen until it was far too late if she'd made a different choice.
"You meant what you said earlier in the night, didn't you? No limits?"
He shrugged again. "What do you think?"
"I think love transformed makes a powerful enemy." She stared at him and closed her eyes as she felt a click. "If you gave me what I needed, if I took it, when I left... Play one. I'd negate my agreement. Setting me up for the death penalty. But... you probably would have called in favors, for Sydney's sake." She shook her head. "Brilliant. And the doubleplay, because there has to be one? It would prove to Sydney that you were right, that I couldn't be trusted and by your generosity, by calling in favors.... Good one, Jack," Irina said softly, inclining her head, one gamesmaster acknowledging the other.
"Thank you." Jack said it softly, searching her eyes, seeing chagrin as her logic had kicked in almost too late. He exhaled in a hiss and put his hand on her shoulder, sliding it down over her shoulder blade, to rub her back. "I...." He stopped, he didn't know what to say.
"Jack, what were you going to do...." She stopped. "No, don't tell me. Give yourself that ace in the hole, let that be your security to cover your fears that, in case this all goes wrong today, that I won't come back. But I will. I promise. Even if..." She rolled her eyes. "Even if I looked like a b**** in heat. You are so going to pay for that comment."
"You come back to me and I'll retract every word in any way you want," he said fiercely, his fingers clutching at her back, then quickly releasing it, afraid the touch showed too much.
She stared at him. Then burst out laughing. Then stopped laughing. "You're not kidding, even now, are you? You're worried."
He shook his head. "I wish I weren't worried. I wish... you could have seen yourself in a mirror."
"Given that I broke the mirror in here when I saw a truth in it earlier, how about this?" She asked, thinking hard. "What is one word you would use to describe me?"
"Stubborn," he said immediately. Then she watched his face and body relax. He nodded and touched her cheek. "Ah. You got me."
"Stubborn. So, if...I apply that quality to wanting to return to you, don't you believe that I would do anything in my power to ensure that it happens?"
He nodded slowly and pulled her into his arms. "I've always thought you could do anything to which you put your mind."
"You make up your own mind. Wow." He rolled his eyes. "And this is news?" he asked sarcastically, although he was laughing.
"Do you have a problem with that?" She looked around curiously as he pulled into a roadway leading into a cemetery.
"The only problem I have -- or rather, the most pressing problem I have at the moment..." Jack said with a smile and a downward glance into his lap. "Is wondering just when you're going to take off another item of clothing."
"When I feel like it," Laura said firmly, although her lips quivered with the urge to laugh.
"Do you..." he looked over and licked his lips. Running his finger tip along the lacy edge of a stocking top, he began stroking it up and down, moving it higher and higher while she squirmed on the seat.
"Do I...what?" She asked, watching his hand on her leg.
"Do you have on panties?"
She smiled and nodded. "The ones you like with the lace edges and---" She groaned when his finger brushed that edge and angled her hips toward his hand.
"Too bad." He sighed and moved his hand back down to the stocking.
"Too bad? Oh!" Laura had smiled. "It would have driven you crazy if I'd had nothing on under the dress. I'll have to remember that."
"Do that and I'll repay you for it," Jack promised, his eyes gleaming in the twilight as it began to fall.
"What are we doing in a cemetery?" Laura had asked, taking her eyes away from her husband's face, tight with arousal, long enough to gesture around them as he drew the car to a halt in a cul de sac.
"Didn't you want to be alone?"Jack had asked, his face lightening momentarily as he smiled at her. "You can't get more alone than a cemetery at night. There's no one here but you, me and the ghosts."
"Night? It's not even twilight yet, how long...?"
"As long as it takes."
She looked around cautiously, hoping her case officer had not chosen this night to tag her. Please not tonight. Tonight she just wanted to be with her husband, have some free time, enjoy him. Without any worries of onlookers. She looked around again. Good, no...ghosts of her other life, she decided after a careful perusal of her surroundings, noting suddenly that Jack was likewise scanning the area. No doubt he was just looking out for a caretaker or others seeking privacy. But seeing the calmness in his face, no anxiety or concern, she relaxed. They must be safe, she did not see anyone and he did not sense any danger. If her case officer were here, Jack would have... She shivered.
Irina blurted out. "I was always afraid when we were in public that my case officer---"
"Oh! That's why...." Jack grinned. "That's why you always resisted in public. Gee, any surveillance photos of us in the KGB archives that could replenish your portfolio?"
"Shut..." She began to say, then saw something in his eyes, hidden behind the teasing smile. "Jack. You know, you know, how much I loved you. Everything I did, from that first kiss, was because of... it was what I wanted to do. Every word, every touch was true. True. If...you feel exposed, so was I."
"Honey, does it give you the creeps?" Jack asked in surprise, sliding an arm around her. She was always so fearless, what was this about? "It's more like a park than a cemetery, don't you think?"
She looked around, seeing his point, noting the multitude of trees, the plantings, how many graves had flowers planted nearby. "Just someone walking over my grave, I suppose," Laura had shrugged and smiled up at him. "Now, where were we?"
"Room service!" came a voice from the door. Jack jumped up, pulled his pants on, ignoring Irina's soft whistle as he bent over. Rolling his eyes at her, he walked quickly to the door and took the tray from one of the guards.