Guardian's Joy #3 (34 page)

“Looks like no nookie gonna happen in this
house today,” he said, grinning as if this arguing was a regular
occurrence. “Damn, you were fierce, Geekman. Didn’t know you had it
in ya.” He suddenly remembered his manners. “You okay?” he asked
JJ.

“I’m fine now.” She pointed with her chin
towards the door. “I’m sorry I caused all that.”

“I’m not.” He gave her a wicked grin. “Does
my heart good to see Canaan and Nico gettin’ their asses chewed by
the ladies.”

Col came through with a stack of cups and
saucers. “Has anybody noticed that when the fur flies, we always
get stuck cleaning up the shit. It’s not our turn. We need to get
some new recruits. I’m tired of being low man in the House
hierarchy.”

Dov snorted. “Word of the day?”

“You betcha. Didn’t think I’d get a chance to
work it in.”

“I love you guys.”

Dov grinned at Nardo. “You see? Women just
can’t help themselves.

“It’s a gift,” his brother added.

They thought she was playing into their
foolishness, but JJ meant what she said. They were trying so hard
to make her smile, to make her feel like everything was all right.
She had to turn away while she choked back the emotion that was
filling her throat.

“We’ll see you guys tonight and thanks.”

Nardo put his arm around her and steered her
toward the family room at the back of the house. Joy was falling
apart in front of his eyes and he felt powerless to stop it. He’d
encouraged her to unlock the secrets she held in her mind. No, he’d
pushed her and this was the result.

She was pulling away from him. He could feel
her attempt to gain some emotional distance from him and from the
House. Her words to the twins had sounded too much like goodbye.
She’d been happy here, happy with him. Even during their argument,
he’d felt her love. When she said she was going to Manon’s, he had
no fear she was running away. What had she learned about her past
to cause this sudden reversal?

Nardo was determined to find out.

Chapter
33

Nardo’s rooms; the two room suite that was
his private domain. Lying beside him while he’d dozed in her guest
room bed, JJ had envisioned this place and had played with a little
scene in her head, one where he asked her to move into these rooms
with him. She would no longer feel like a guest in the House. She
would be a part of it. A part of him. It was where she belonged.
With him. A fantasy unfulfilled.

She tried to take in every detail of Nardo’s
most private place. When their short time together was over, as she
now knew it would be, she wanted this place, this day, to be
imbedded in her memory forever, the dream that almost came
true.

The living area looked like Nardo, lean,
spare, comfortable. Floor to ceiling bookshelves lined one wall;
one section devoted to books, mostly manuals and non-fiction;
another section filled with a massive collection of music; vinyl,
CDs, tapes and a short row of old eight tracks, all neatly
arranged. The central section held a complicated looking stereo
system and a flat screen TV.

A desk holding the expected computer sat
against another wall and sharing the space, three photographs in
silver frames; one each of his parents, his beloved grandfather and
his much younger brother, Tony.

The sofa and two chairs were nondescript,
serviceable and comfortable looking. It was the coffee table that
drew attention. It was made of industrial looking metal, more trunk
than table. The lid of the trunk was made from glass and designed
to display a collection inside its lid, except Nardo’s held only
one item. It was a leather jacket, ripped and torn and folded to
display the powdered print of a long fingered hand.

“It’s yours,” Nardo said from behind her,
“Your print, my jacket. It’s the jacket I was wearing the first
night we met. I had a wild idea I could trace you through your
prints. By the time I figured out how to lift them, the twins had
brought you home.”

“Grace says they saved my life.”

Nardo laughed. “You probably saved theirs. I
can’t very well turn the two now, not after they brought you home
to me.”

Her back was still to him and he saw her
stiffen slightly and then deliberately release the tension and
relax.

“Do you want to talk,” he asked quietly.

“No. Not now. Later,” she said softly, almost
sadly. And then she turned to him and he saw the sadness in her
voice reflected in her eyes. “I want to make love to you.”

She raised her fingers to his mouth and
slowly traced his lips. “Close your eyes,” she whispered and waited
until he obeyed.

Feather light touches skimmed along his
hairline, starting at the center of his forehead and moving down
along the sides of his face to his ears, outlining their shells
with the tips of nails. From there she followed the shape of his
jaws. Fingers never stopping, she spread them wide down the length
of his neck and up again over his Adam’s apple. From there, she
returned to his face, her ever moving fingers played in the hollow
of his cheeks and lingered over the bones above.

Her nails combed his brows and circled his
eyes. Finally, her hands rested gently to either side of his face,
but she wasn’t finished painting the contours of his features. Her
thumbs skimmed delicately over his eyelids and danced along his
lashes. Fingers close to the corners of his eyes traced the tiny
fans of lines. Her thumbs left his eyes and moved down along his
nose, first following the bridge and then moving out to the sides
where they tracked the faint creases to the corners of his mouth
where the journey had begun.

Nardo raised his hand to touch her, but her
gentle “Shhh,” stopped him and he dropped it back to his side. Her
touch was exquisite torture. Her fingers ran over his lips again
and daintily forced them apart. He complied willingly and brought
his lips together to suck on the finger that lay along his tongue.
His breath caught in his throat when that wet finger slid over his
chin and down his throat to the hollow at its base.

He felt her rise on her toes and her lips met
his. As soft and elusive as butterfly wings, they nibbled and
kissed until her tongue darted out and invited his to play. Still,
she wouldn’t let him move.

JJ’s eyes were closed, too. She would always
see his face in her mind’s eye, but she wanted the feel of him, the
taste of him committed to memory as well.

They kissed, lips and tongue dancing together
in a tantalizing ballet in which she played the lead. When he
leaned forward, she leaned back, never allowing more contact than
lips against teeth and tongue. Long moments passed until she
finally placed her hands on his chest to hold him in place as she
withdrew.

“Open your eyes,” she whispered and stepped
away from him. She stepped out of her shoes, grateful she’d chosen
them over her usual laced boots. Her hands then went to the hem of
her bulky sweater and she forced herself to move slowly as she
peeled it up and over her head.

She kept her eyes on his and savored his look
of want and need, another treasure to hold close to her heart. Her
jeans were next. Their slide over her slender hips took her panties
with them. Her already hardened nipples stiffened further at
Nardo’s groan of pleasure. Standing naked before him she held out
her hand for his and led him to the bedroom.

Nardo followed her, his eyes on the slender
form of her back, the gentle undulation of her firm and rounded
buttocks, the long lithe legs that would never cease to fascinate
him. This woman moved him in ways no other woman ever had or ever
would. She was meant for him. He’d recognized it the first time he
saw her and had foolishly denied it. He wanted to stop, tug on the
hand that held his and pull her back to enfold her in his arms and
kiss away the sweet and tender sorrow in her eyes.

When she’d stood before him, naked and
hesitant, she’d exposed more than the strength of her muscles and
bone, more than the silky smoothness of her skin. As she stripped
away her clothes, it was as if she stripped away the last of her
resolve to keep a part of herself hidden from him. She was so
fragile and vulnerable and beautiful. He hoped she could see how
deeply her offering affected him.

He still didn’t speak. He understood that
this was something she felt the need to do, this offering of
herself. It meant more to her than sex or comfort or even love. She
was giving him a gift and taking something from him in the process.
He wasn’t sure yet of its meaning, only that it was important and
so, going against his nature to take charge, Nardo remained silent
and followed his Joy’s lead.

She drew him to the bed, smiled at the covers
pulled tight and cornered with military precision, and turned those
covers back. She then turned him, letting go of his hand. With slow
and deliberate efficiency she removed his clothes. His erection was
swollen with need and want and when she ran her hand over him with
the same gentle investigation she’d used on his face, an
involuntary hiss of pleasure escaped him. He ran his hand over his
head, mostly to avoid touching her and the gesture drew her
attention to his tied back hair. Gentle pressure on his shoulders
had him sitting on the edge of the bed and when she stepped between
his knees to reach around him to untie his hair, he groaned again.
Her breasts were within reach of his lips and tongue, the rosy buds
already pebbled with arousal and he longed to taste their cinnamon
sweetness. Forgetting his resolve to let her lead, his tongue
darted out.

An electric tremor coursed through her body
at the touch of his tongue and she almost succumbed to the
bittersweet pleasure of it. It took all her willpower to back away
and sink to her knees. Like a supplicant, JJ bowed her head.

This was something she had never been able to
do. It was why she had failed so miserably when she first tried to
earn some money on the streets. She was so frightened then, hadn’t
eaten in days and was already weak from hunger and despair. The
only things she had were her name and the stolen clothes she’d
exchanged for those she’d found in the trash dump. The only thing
she’d had to sell was her body. She couldn’t bring herself to do
it, was revolted by it and now that her memories were restored, she
understood why.

That was why she wanted to do it now as part
of her gift to Nardo and to herself. This wouldn’t be an act of
desperation or forced servitude. This would be an act of love.

JJ took him in her hands, felt the already
familiar beat of his heart through the silken steel of his shaft. A
bead of moisture had collected at the tip and she leaned forward
tentatively testing it with the tip of her tongue. She was
surprised by its salty sweetness and she tasted again. She felt
Nardo shiver and his thighs clenched her body. Shifting slightly,
she readjusted her arms so her elbows rested on his knees and the
warmth of his body pressed against the sides of her breasts. She
bent her head to him again, this time running her tongue along the
entirety of his shaft, thrilled at the pleasure it gave him. Taking
him wholly into her mouth she began to move. It took her a minute
to relax her throat to accept the length of him and another to find
the rhythm that seemed to bring him the most pleasure.

Nardo looked down at the miracle of Joy
kneeling before him. His hips moved against her and his hands
gripped her head, all pretense of control gone.

Contrary to the twin’s accusations, Nardo was
no stranger to sex or the broad spectrum of practices that brought
people pleasure. This was not the first time he’d felt a woman’s
mouth on his cock. It was, however, the first time he’d felt the
act to be more than an act of sexual relief. He watched her as the
tension in his body grew inexorably to the screaming pitch of
release.

“Stop,” he managed to gasp. “You have to stop
now because I can’t. Holy gates of Heaven, woman, stop!” But she
didn’t stop. Instead, she increased both pressure and speed. Head
thrown back, Nardo exploded. Roaring her name, his body rocked with
emotion and release.

His head fell to his chest and in a voice
raspy and deep with emotion, he whispered the words she longed to
hear one last time.

“You’re mine.”

JJ sat back on her heels, her chest heaving,
her head bowed. Nardo’s shouted release had been her release as
well. Her heart broke and her tears, held back for so long, fell
unchecked and ran in tiny rivulets over her thighs.

She’d planned on a day of passion to store
away for the lonely future hours, but the sound of his voice and
the emotion behind his words made her see that as much as she
wanted this, it was a selfish deception. He had a right to the
truth.

Nardo leaned over her and lifted her chin
with the tips of his fingers. “Tell me,” he said.

Chapter 34

JJ closed her eyes and clamped her lips
tightly together, locking her misery inside. She couldn’t look at
him. She couldn’t watch those beautiful hazel eyes with their
flecks of silver turn to lead when he heard what she had to say.
She moved his hand away and dropped her hands to her lap.

“I don’t know whether these people found my
mother or she found them, but she read the tarot, cast the runes,
saw whatever it was she saw and just before I turned twelve, sold
off everything we owned and moved us to a place where witches
practiced openly. She said it was my destiny. I don’t know if the
place had a name. Everyone there always referred to it as the
compound and I was too self-involved to ask.

“Over time, Mama figured out she’d made a
mistake, but by the time she realized it, it was too late. She knew
she was dying when we went there and I can’t help but wonder if her
decision was made out of desperation to see me cared for. It
doesn’t matter now. What was done was done.