If Tomorrow Never Comes (32 page)

Quietly
Jordan entered the bathroom.
  
Never
before was she unable to take her eyes off a man.
 
The commanding presence of Jake's body
visible through the thin shower curtain stole her breath.
 
Time had revealed his soft core, yet his
exterior remained a visual display of sheer male sexuality.
 
Rigid muscles covering broad shoulders,
tapered to a narrow waist that continued on to perfect firm buttocks.
 
Yes, she thought Margaret was right he was the
epitome of a hero, and tonight he was her hero.

It
only took a second for gold satin to wither to the floor.
 
A wave of her hand moved the shower curtain
aside.
 
Though Jake's back was turned,
she saw him tense, every part of him alert, and aware.
 
There was no stopping the eager hands finding
his wrists briefly before slithering upward over the contours of powerful
arms.
 
Beneath her touch she felt him
quake.
 
She saw his head rear back, heard
his quick intake of breath, reactions encouraging her to massage the tense
muscles, rhythmical movements that played a torturous melody down washboard
sides, around a firm waist.
 
Moving
upward fingers finding the forest covering his chest lingered.
 
Running circles around smooth dark rings
brought his nipples erect.
 
As hands
continued to explore the plane of his stomach, she inched closer and closer
until he drew her body tightly against his.
 
At
 
once, she wished she could
enter him where she’d be safe forever.

Manly
hands lathered with soap found her forearms, his fingers warm and tender stroking
gently.
 
Ear pressed to his back, Jordan
heard the propulsion of his heart, lungs frantically gasping for air.
 
He didn’t move, so content was he as her lips
pressed kisses all over his back.
 
He
smelled wonderful, the taste of him even better, and she wondered if it was
remembering him dressed in a tux that was making her shudder or memories of the
treasures beneath.
 
Every part of her
wanted to move, even toes that raised and lowered her body in slow, easy
motions allowing her breasts to brush against his skin, a spontaneous notion
that soon brought her stomach and hips against his buttocks.
 
Before her fingers found and clung to his
penis, she knew he was aroused.
        
Despite
the groan swelling the occupied space, Jake did not allow her hands to linger his
desire was so great.
 
Unable to survive
much longer, he turned around.
 
With so
much love for her showing in his eyes, the water spray was nothing compared to
the tears drowning her cheeks.
 
Holding
her from him, eyes touring her body did the kissing.
  
Hands smoothing back her hair cupped her
face to tilt it up to him, his tenderness making her gasp.
 
They were dangerous commodities, his eyes',
his smile, his lips, the thumbs roughing her cheeks.
  
Yet, nowhere near as dangerous as his
talented mouth slowly floating over every speck of her face.
 
Finally, his lips found hers drawing them in,
separating them to allow his tongue to seek its reward.

Freeing
her face, his hands glided over her neck and shoulders before coming to rest on
her breasts where they lingered.
 
Soon he
was frantic his desperation evident when he suddenly pressed her against the
wall, his body restless to seek satisfaction, his mouth refusing to relinquish
hers, her arms tight around his neck as his hands worshiped everything they
touched.
 

Desperate
for breath, lips separated hers moving to explore his stomach that drew in
quickly.
 
Jordan’s surprise echoed within
the confines as masculine hands came to her head, fingers raking through hair
maintaining a gentle grip lifting her to align her face with his.
 
She had no memories of, how their bodies
found the floor, how the towel came beneath her.
 
Jake never released her senses long enough,
but never would she forget the sensation of his urgent thrusts, her own cries
of pleasure as each drew their own climax to mesh with the other.

____________

Hearing
Jordan enter the bathroom, Jake stiffened despite pretending not to be aware of
her presence.
 
He was having all he could
do to keep from hauling her into the shower.
 
Then, when she entered, he thought he'd die if she touched him, surely,
if she didn't.
 
Her fingers spreading
delicious tingling heat, each touch like a match setting fire to everything in
its path, sensations that seared his heart and soul.
 
She was pushing him beyond coherent thought,
filling him with an euphoria becoming whimpers low in his throat one minute,
gigantic sounds launched into space the next.

He
was unable to believe the vision beneath him until seeing the rising flush of
blood on her throat, her breasts, their joining, and flesh fusing.
 
Pressing deeper, he found the hot center of
her orgasm sweeping licking flames through him making him gasp in a wild
intoxicating pleasure. There was no stopping the bursts of flashing rays set
off in his brain, the tremors before the familiar rush of ecstasy claimed
him.
 

Jordan
was ultimate splendor.
     
This time he
knew she no longer feared him.
 
She loved
him.
 
She wanted him.
  
Still, each of her tiny movements spelled
out an almost audible goodbye bringing with it a rush of reality, and a deep
sadness.

Hoping
to dispel those emotions, he carried her quickly to the bed to prove again, how
much he loved her and her him.
 
This time
it was her turn to be tortured and while doing so, Jake reached that realm of
insanity that convinced him as long as they were joined she couldn't
escape.
 

Now,
while holding her tightly, he’d tell her he knew about her past.
 
The sane portion of him still in tack knew
that unless they cleansed the past, there was no future.
  
Each evening when returning home, he’d always
wonder if she'd be there.
 
The day she
wasn't, he’d wither and die.
 
He could
only pray she wouldn't hate him for deceiving her.
  

Instead,
the stupid, foolish, frightened part of him so madly in love stole his
conscience.
 
He asked her to marry him,
and then allowed her to get away with a smile for an answer.
 
Her whispered, “I love you,” a jubilant
trembling that jangled his senses and robbed his honorable thoughts.
 
She actually laughed when he handcuffed her
to him easily accepting his explanation that he wasn't going to take any
chances of her getting away again.
 
Her
spiraling giggles became louder and louder and he could actually see mischief
dancing in her eyes when he explained that he didn't have the strength left to
pluck her from danger again, at least for the remainder of the evening.
 
Sadly enough, the truth was, he hoped to buy
time to regroup the nerves that had mutinied.
 

A
goodbye note signed with her last name would suffice, Jordan hoped.
 
It would take Jake a while to investigate,
and of course, he would, by then she'd be somewhere, anywhere, she didn't
care.
 
Nothing mattered anymore.
 
She wasn’t surprised when he handcuffed her.
 
She knew he'd make sure she didn't escape
while he slept, the reason she placed the keys to the cuffs beneath her pillow
before entering the bathroom.
 
All she
had to do now was patiently wait until Jake slept, and he did.

CHAPTER 30

           
Pungent carbon monoxide inundated the cab weaving between
enemy lines.
 
With its horn blaring
relentlessly it charged toward its destination.
 
Preoccupied, the lone passenger failed to hear the clanking early
morning traffic intoxicating the putrid air with uproarious sounds.
  
Soon she would become insignificant and
bewildered by the everyday chaos plaguing O’Hare airport.
 
In spite of the warmth made murky and nippy
by the gloom possessing her spirit, the brilliance of the morning persisted
radiating through smog-streaked windows highlighting the tears coursing down
Jordan's porcelain skin.
  

____________

           
Dream clouds dissipating brought Jake one hundred percent
awake.
 
Handcuffs once securing his
wrists sailed across the room denting a wall. Every profanity imaginable
assaulted his mouth.
 
Damned if Jordan
wasn't the sneakiest woman he'd ever known. What a rotten, underhanded thing to
do, seduce him with womanly wiles, exhaust him, while planning to take
advantage of his weakness.
 
How was he
ever going to live with her?
 
How was he
ever going to live without her?
 
Right
this minute, what he wouldn't give to teach her a thing a two.
 
Then again, he knew the moment their eyes
touched his bones would turn to dust and the lesson would begin and end with
kissing every inch of her.

           
Forged indignation assisted him in jerking on jeans and a
tee shirt.
 
Like a grizzly long overdue
for prey, he grumbled to the door.
 
Wrenching it, open he came against a wall of Margaret.
 
Clad in her terry robe, hair unruly about her
face, out of breath, looking pale and distraught she handed him a piece of
paper.
 
Having seen Jordan enter a cab,
to Jakes considerable relief, she jotted down the company name and the number
of the vehicle.
 

           
Angrily plucking the phone, Jake's finger just finished
punching out the number when McMaster's arrived, in his hand, the package Jake
asked him to search for at the Parakeet Club.
  

           
The day Jake received Jordan's parcel returning his money
he hightailed to the office.
 
Discovering
the break in, he knew no one but Billy dared to touch the contents.
 
His suspicions painfully confirmed meant
Scorpio had everything.
 
After informing
Mike of the theft and what he anticipated Jordan to do next, they collaborated
on a plan.
 
Before parting, Mike
reassured him no matter what happened he'd search for the package.

           
Jake stared blankly at the parcel now positioned on the
coffee table in front of him, his hesitancy to open it agonizingly apparent.
 
Knowing it was essential to find out if the package
contained the missing material Jake wanted, Mike persisted.
 
Against better judgment, Jake finally
relented.
 

           
Moments later, shrinking further into the couch cushions,
in quick succession his expression registered shock followed by sorrow.
 
Before Mike placed a DVD in the recorder,
Jake knew the female wouldn't be Jordan.
 
When he discovered his instincts were right, the protective padding of
his hands hid his horror struck face.
 

           
Shattered were his intentions to convince Jordan he had
destroyed all evidence of her past.
 
There was no saving her reputation now.
 
The condemning proof could be anywhere, in the hands of anyone who might
decide to ruin her at any time.
 
She’d be
forever sentenced to a life of, loneliness, and heartbreak, running from the
cruelty of the world.
 
Scorpio got the
last laugh after all.
 
Whoever said
someone couldn't hold people’s lives in their palms, and crush them.
 
Even from the grave, Scorpio managed to rip
hearts out and obliterate futures.

           
Margaret was beside Jake, her arm around his trembling
shoulders, palms smoothing back and forth, her voice reassuring, “Jacob, listen
to me, my son.
 
When you love someone, as
much as it hurts, sometimes you have to set that person free.
 
If they come back to you, you know their love
is as true as yours.
 
If they don't, you
never had it to begin with.
 
Jordan is a
free spirit now because of you.
 
You've
transformed her into a strong, healthy person, both physically and
mentally.
 
She's a brilliant woman whose
determination will get her through.
 
You
have to let her go and trust one day she'll return.”