Agent S5: Jaydan (13 page)

A sob escaped.

“Ssh, baby,” his lips brushed hers. “You’re killing me.”

His mouth found hers, warm, moist and unhurried. His heart pounded against her ear, his familiar taste blending with beer to sate the thirst that threatened to choke her.

In that moment, love erupted behind her eyelids in a light of brilliant color. She loved Jaydan Rose with complete and unequivocal adoration. She loved him for who he was, his foul temper, his merciless teasing, his selfless bravery and daily sacrifice.

Austin’s voice sounded beside them. “Sometimes, you’ve got to just knock someone upside the head, you know?”

His words carried in the now silent hall, his voice ripe with sarcasm. She felt Jaydan smile against her lips before breaking their kiss completely. Raising his head, he kept her close as he kissed her forehead. “Let’s go, baby.”

Lifting her into his arms, he carried her from the hall, her face buried against his neck. Whistles and catcalls followed them out the barn doors and into the cool night.  The light breeze flittered along her skin, raising gooseflesh on her arms. She snuggled closer against him.

Walking straight to the house, he stopped to hang his hat on a hook by the front door. “Where’s your bag?”

She pointed down the hall. “In the bathroom.” Releasing his neck, she said, “You can let me down.”

Carrying her down the hall, he stopped in the bathroom doorway and picked up her bag. “Is it all in here?”

Nodding, she pulled closer as he made his way down the hall. Entering one of the bedrooms, he kicked the door shut behind him.

The clothes he’d worn on the island lay discarded on the floor, his bag nearby. Photo albums sat at the end of the double bed, a box beside them. Otherwise, the room could’ve been any other room in the house with its heavy oak furnishings and quilted comforter on the bed.

Lowering her to the floor, he clutched her face in both hands and kissed her with gentle, clever strokes of his tongue. Lavish and slow, his kisses serenaded her without words, his warmth a blanket of refuge in the turbulence of her heart.

Pulling away, she hung her head.  If she didn’t get out everything on the table, she’d go mad.

“I was perfectly fine, Jaydan, living my life, trying to make a place for myself in the world.” She lifted her gaze to his. “And then you showed up and messed up everything.”

Taking her hand, he caressed her palm with his thumb. “Baby-“

“No.” She tugged away her hand. “I’m going to get this out.” Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly. “I don’t want to do this if -”

He pressed his lips against her temple before feathering them down her throat with maddening tenderness.

“…if it’s not me you want.” The words came out in a breathless rush.

His lips came back to hover over hers. “Hope, it’s always been you.”

Her heart slammed against her ribs, wanting to take flight. The tears returned to flow down her cheeks, a silent exodus of heartache and frustration.

“I don’t want you to be sorry again, Jaydan.”

Leaning his forehead against hers, he said, “God baby, I was never sorry.”

He kissed her again, sweet, soft, his tongue delving with languishing ease.  With a mere kiss, he dissolved her into a puddle of raw need, reduced her to a mindless slave of acquiescence.

Taking her hands, he laid them against the placket of his vest and covered them with one of his own. She undid the top button, then the next, releasing a button with each new kiss they shared.

Shrugging out of it, he tossed it behind him. Tugging the tie from around his neck, he threw it over his shoulder. His eyes swirled, dark and determined, his fingers opening the top button of his shirt.

Moving them out of the way, she took over, kissing the exposed skin of his chest with each button released. Reaching the waistband of his pants, she pulled his shirt free. Her palms smoothed over his chest, eliciting his shudder, as she curved them over his shoulders. The cuffs caught on his armbands.

With a soft smile, he unbuttoned a shirt cuff. She caressed his wrist where the armband fused to his flesh. “Last night… did it hurt you?”

He worked the other cuff, his solemn eyes boring into hers. “Nothing hurts like watching another man touch you.”

Her stomach clenched in a painful knot. She understood that so well, had felt the same way watching Sarah Jane in his arms.

“I would’ve preferred you.”

“You’re going to have me.” His cocky grin made her smile as his pants dropped to the floor, leaving him gloriously nude.

If God had ever created the perfect man, he stood before her now, his need for her evident. His hard, angled muscles drew her touch with yearning wonder, her fingers gliding over his smooth skin with devotion. Her hands traveled over his chest and down his sides, exploring every dip and bulge. He stood stock still, his heavy-lidded eyes watching her with barely restrained hunger.

Smoothing her hands over his rounded backside, she massaged him a moment.  His breath hitched, his body’s response proving his enhancement worked on
every
muscle he possessed.

Working her way around his narrow waist, she reached for him.

He caught her wrist. “I’ve barely survived this much.” Kissing her palm, he let their joined hands drop to his side. “This time, we’re taking it slow.”

Jaydan knew if he screwed this up, he’d lose her for good. They’d been through too much, had said too many things.

Ugly things.

If he didn’t show her she’d become the center of his universe, she’d find someone who would. That would freaking kill him.

He knew Austin had kissed her to give him a good kick in the ass. He also knew his little brother wasn’t a fool. If he screwed up with Hope, Austin would be all over it like manure on the bottom of his boots.

He’d decided to let her go. Had told himself he didn’t need a sun in the middle of his universe. He could live in darkness, away from her. He’d done it since they met.

However, after having her, tasting her - hell, just holding her - to think another man would have that made him crazy. He’d never considered himself a jealous person.

Until Austin made him realize he loved her.

He’d rather fight with her any day of the week than spend another day away from her like today. She brought light to his world, the impossible and the unimaginable. She brought challenges beyond anything he’d ever wanted to tackle before.

A moment’s peace would never be had again.

Pulling her to the bed, he shoved aside the albums and box, and sat down. She stood between his legs, one eyebrow cocked.

“I thought cowboys knew how to treat a lady. You sit down and I stand?”

“You’re getting the best side of this deal. Trust me.” Whipping her shirt over her head, he stared at the full breasts swelling from her push-up bra. “Um, on second thought…”

She sputtered with laughter. “Treating a lady… remember?” Hooking her arms around his neck, she brought her satin-covered breasts to within inches of his mouth. “Focus, Rose.”

“Believe me, I’m focused.”

She chuckled as he kissed the crown of each breast. God, it was good to hear her laugh. They hadn’t done nearly enough of it.

Dipping his tongue into her cleavage, her breath caught and all laughter ceased.

“Yes, Jaydan.”

With slow, light movements, he lowered one strap over her shoulder, his fingers trailing down her toned bicep. The cup of her bra fell just shy of exposing her completely. Teasing her with his tongue, he played along the satin edge, never crossing over, never giving her what she wanted. Her breath came in shallow puffs, her eyes closed below knitted brows.

Tugging the other strap with the same, delicate care, he watched gooseflesh rise behind his feather-light trace. Shrugging her shoulder, she lowered the strap further. Her perfect breast came into view, pink, lush and beautiful.

Taking her in his mouth, his greed showed itself, his hands clutching her sides, holding her in place. She held him there, her moans emboldening him, pleading with him.

Revealing the other breast, he pleasured her, his body hardening more with each moan, knowing his plans for
slow
lovemaking would never happen if he didn’t
slow
down.  Flicking the hooks at her back, he pulled away her bra and tossed it to the floor. She stood in front of him, bare-breasted, her skin swollen and red from his mouth. Her platinum hair trailed down her shoulder in a mussed tail, her jeans low on her rounded hips.

He’d never seen anything hotter.

Spanning her waist, his hands skimmed up her back, her skin soft and supple in his palms. A shiver ran down her spine, her lips parting.

“Kiss me...” she whispered.

Slanting his mouth over hers, he dipped inside with deliberate ease, his hands lowering her jeans to the floor. With a squeeze to her buns, her panties followed, leaving her magnificently nude… and his for the taking.

Her words were breathless. “I thought you’d never get there.”

Smiling, he took his fill of her. “Patience, baby.”

Planting her mouth on his, she gave him a wet, explicit kiss, making no bones about what she wanted from him.
Now
.

“I don’t do patience, Rose.” Her dark eyes spun with burning hunger.

He knew that, but provoked her anyway. “You do, tonight.”

His fingers played along her inner thigh, her legs spreading wide for him. He teased her, drawing close to her essence, but never quite touching.

“
Jaydan
…” With a growl of frustration, she climbed on his lap, settling down on his legs with a slow, slick slide along his length.

His system shot into full gear, energy surging through him with hot, intense need. She settled there, her heat searing him, her breath heavy and cool against his mouth.

“Two can play this game, Rose.”

Cursing under his breath, he lifted her, their breath still mingling close. He lowered her just shy of what she craved, holding her there, giving her the briefest of tastes before raising her again.

Hands fisted on his shoulders, she glared down at him. “Dammit, Jaydan…”

He trailed his tongue over one breast, before nipping at it. Immersing her again, he gave her a little more, before picking her up.

She cursed like a D.I.R.E agent.

“Are you ready to give?” He wouldn’t let her know how close he was to losing it.

“I’ve been
trying
to give, dammit…”

He smiled at her frustrated tone. “I want your surrender, Hope.”

A sheen of perspiration dotted her skin. “No…”

She crushed her mouth to his, taking there what he wouldn’t give her otherwise. It was the hottest damned kiss he’d ever had, one that pushed him to limits he hadn’t neared before.

Breaking it, she braced her arms against his shoulders and pushed away, depriving him of her breasts. Catching her bottom lip in her teeth, she gave him one of her signature, self-assured grins.

He said, “You’re not staying there.”

Her voice rang of breathless arrogance.  “Give me what I want.”

Jaydan grinned. He couldn’t believe he was playing this game when he’d never been harder in his freaking life.

It had always been a battle of wills with them. Here, now, they played on an even field, with the same goal, the same needs.

Each other.

Watching her face, he lowered her again, further still. Her heat cupped him now, the tables turning. With a loud moan, she leaned back her head against her shoulders.

“Jaydan, please. No more.”

Gritting his teeth, he lowered her onto him with excruciating slowness, until she took him to full hilt.

Their groans echoed in the stifling room.

Clinging tight, she moved on top of him, giving them both what they’d fought so hard to deny, yet needed to endure. He’d intended it to be a sweet surrender, yet their passion had been pushed too far, had taken too long to quench.

“
Jaydan
.” Her muffled cry washed over him, her body climaxing around him, taking with it his very soul.

He’d found his weakness, his fatal flaw. She held him now as he shuttered, her smile against his throat its own aphrodisiac. There was no feat too great, no distance too remote. For this,
for
her
, he’d do anything, go anywhere.

Without her, it meant nothing.

“Is that you?”

Jaydan sat against the headboard, an old photo album in his covered lap. They’d just made love for the third time after discovering Jaydan’s enhancement made for a much quicker recovery than other men.

She’d never wrangle in his arrogance now.

Snuggled against his side, she was content to lie naked and relive memories with him. The room smelled of sex and sweat, with remnants of Jaydan’s cologne on his discarded clothes. She could still taste him on her tongue, hear the reception going loud and strong outside.

He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s me. I was a scrawny kid, wasn’t I?”

Smiling up at him, she said, “You look like your father.”

Jaydan sobered, his finger resting on the photo of the two of them together. He held his first rodeo trophy for calf roping. He could be no more than eight.

Spiked with sadness, his voice lowered to just above a whisper. “I was so damned happy that day. Not because I won but because Dad was so proud of me.” He swallowed hard. “He called everyone he knew – I think he would’ve taken out a billboard if we’d had them around here.” His chuckle sounded flat.

Hope squeezed him before kissing him on the cheek.

Flipping the page, he perused the photos, his fingers stopping on one at the bottom.

“We were building the barn. We’d gotten up the walls just in time for him to leave for Wyoming the next day. He died there.”

Pain seared her chest, knowing how he felt, knowing how much he still hurt. She wanted to take it on for him, away from him.

“How did he die?”

He looked down at her, the pain in his eyes like a lance to her heart.  “A bull stepped on him. He died instantly…” Struggling to swallow, his face looked flush with pain. “They wouldn’t open the casket. I told them I wouldn’t believe it until they proved it to me.”

Shutting his eyes, his brows creased. “What I saw when they opened it… God… Hope, it wasn’t my dad.” Opening his eyes, he looked right at her, the pain searing her heart. “But I recognized his hands. I’d worked alongside him for thirteen years – I would’ve known them anywh -” His voice broke.

Sitting up, she kissed him hard on the mouth. He clutched the back of her head, his lips clinging to hers with raw desperation.

She pulled away. “I’m so sorry, Jaydan.”

Looking down at the photo again, he said, “My life changed that day. No matter how hard I tried to stay on the path he wanted for me, I screwed it up at every turn. My grades dropped, I started drinking my sophomore year. I started sneaking into Sarah Jane’s room as soon as I could drive.” He shook his head. “I used to give her everything she wanted because she gave me the only thing
I
wanted.”

Hope looked away. She couldn’t think about it, wouldn’t think about it. They’d come too far to let old memories ruin it.

“When Mom married Booker, I lost it. We fought all the time. I knew he would beat the hell out of me but I kept butting heads with him. Not too bright, huh?”

The world’s strongest man was way too hard on himself. “You were hurting.”

“One night, Sarah Jane told me her father would be gone for hours. We were in her room, just getting started when I heard him pull up. I knew she’d set me up.”

Hope caught her breath. “She wanted her father to catch you there?”

Nodding, Jaydan gave her a rueful grin. “I was able to climb out her window but he still saw my truck parked behind the house. When I got home, Booker was fit to be tied. He beat the shit out of me.”

“Oh, Jaydan…” She feathered her fingers through his hair.

“Mom sent me away that night. She was afraid he’d kill me. I packed up some clothes and my dad’s championship buckles and caught a bus to Colorado to join the rodeo. One of my dad’s old contacts gave me a place to stay but he wouldn’t let me ride until I finished school. So, he helped me enroll in the local high school, I graduated and enrolled in an online college. I loved it.”

“Why’d you quit if you loved it so much?”

He gave a bark of bitter laughter. “Another screw up. I had a bad night and another rider told me I’d never be a real champion like my father.” His hand clenched into a fist. “I beat the hell out of him and got kicked off the circuit for the rest of the year.” His cynical gaze met hers. “A couple of nights later, Naylor’s henchmen found me at the rodeo and offered me a job.”

Hope laid her head against his shoulder. He’d endured so much pain and turmoil. She felt helpless, useless against the hurt that he still carried inside.

“If you hadn’t followed that path, you wouldn’t be where you are now – with D.I.R.E.”

“And you.” With a sad smile, he gave her a quick peck on the mouth.

Picking up another album, he opened it to the first page. Gunner grinned at the camera, holding a newborn.

“Look at that fool.” Jaydan’s smile appeared genuine this time. “Issy already had him wrapped around her finger.”

Laughing, Hope sat forward to get a closer look. “Well, she is a cutie.”

Admiration shone in his eyes when he looked at her.  “Mom said you had Issy wrapped as soon as you walked in the room.”

Hope would argue the opposite.  “All little girls like to be treated like a princess. My mother used to do the same to me. It became a game for us.”

What Keegan had said about her mother living in the past still bothered her. Her logical mind told her to dismiss it, whereas her gut told her it rang true.

“Jaydan, do you think Cyrus tampered with Keegan’s mind?”

The photo album forgotten, he gave her a hard stare. “Why do you say that?”

“On the flight, she told me my mother was brought to the future in a time machine, and that Cyrus’ grandfather sent her to the past so Natalie’s family wouldn’t find her.”

Sitting up, he clutched her arms tight. “She said that?”

Frowning, she searched his eyes. “Yes. Why?”

Stilling, he cocked his head before he inhaled. “Do you smell smoke?”

Jumping up from the bed, he went to the window and lifted the blind. Hope sat up.

“
Shit.
There’s a fire out back.” Picking up his discarded jeans, he tossed her a gray t-shirt from his bag. “Get dressed.”

Jumping up, Hope pulled on the shirt and grabbed her jeans. “What’s out there?”

“The rear stables.” Grabbing her by the arms, he kissed her hard. “Go to the reception and find Mom. Stay with her until I come for you.”

Nodding, she called out to him as he ran out of the room. “Be careful.”
I love you
.

Jaydan reached the stables just as some of the men pulled up in a truck and piled out the back. Horses whinnied and cried as flames licked at the roof with insistent force.

Running inside, he ran down the open corridor to the opposite end of the structure. Heat shrouded him with suffocating intensity, clawing at his skin, burning his lungs. Opening the last stall, he chased out the frightened horse. Gunner arrived at his back, flicking open the opposite stall and shooing the animal outside.

“Hurry, Gunn,” Jaydan cried, before coughing into the crook of his arm. “That roof isn’t going to hold.“

Men yelled outside as someone pulled up in the water pump UTV. Water rained down on them, hot and scalding. They worked together, racing down the stable corridor, releasing horses.

Jaydan heard the creak. The snap.

Shit
.

Springing toward Gunner, he caught the long, center beam in mid-air, snatching it just above his brother’s head. With a ferocious growl, he threw it outside a second before the soggy roof gave way. Boards and shingles crashed down in a heap, Jaydan knocking them away with heavy, swinging blows. The wood burned his arms and his back, stinging and relentless.

A few feet away, fire sparked anew, turning the fresh-cut hay into a blazing inferno. He had to get Gunner out of there. It would overpower them in seconds.

Turning around, he nearly collided with Gunner who stared at his armbands and chest with wide eyes.

“Holy shit, Jay…”

“Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Rushing down the corridor, he flicked open the remaining stalls, the fire on their tail. Gunner did the same on his side, Jaydan catching the last two for him. Reaching the end of the passageway, he shoved Gunner outside before following him out.  

His brother turned to him with wide, disbelieving eyes. “What the hell did you just do in there? Or better yet,
how
did you do what you just did in there?”

Ignoring the questions, Jaydan went to Booker who cursed as he fought with the water hose.   His shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his weathered face red from exertion.

“What is it?”

“The damned tank is too far away. I can’t get enough pressure in the pump to reach the other side of the building.”

Sprinting over to the plastic storage tank, Jaydan shoved into the tank with his shoulders, grunting with force. His muscles burned with energy, his feet digging into the ground to find leverage. The water tank moved a foot, then two, before Jaydan had it nearly six feet closer to the stables.

Running back to the men, Jaydan stopped beside Booker who gave him an incredulous onceover.

“Is that close enough?”

Booker gave a dazed nod.

Jaydan rushed over to Austin who held the hose. “You got this?”

“Yeah, now that I have water pressure.” Austin turned to him, before doing a double take. “What the?…”

Jaydan cocked his head. He heard a noise over the ruckus of the fire. It sounded like the whir of a blade. Looking around in the darkness, he didn’t see anyone else react so he blew it off.

“I’m going to check on Hope.”

Running past them, he made his way to the barn. Women and children stood just outside, watching the fire in the distance. When he got closer, everyone turned to him.

Everyone, but Hope.

“Mom, where’s Hope?”

She held a frightened Issy against her. “I thought she was with you.”

His heart stopped in his chest. “I sent her to find you. She never showed?”

His mother’s wide-eyed gaze sent panic racing down his spine. “No, she didn’t.”

Whipping around, he ran to the house.

The whir stopped him in his tracks.

In the pasture on the opposite side of the house, he saw it. The tiny lights. The outline of a helicopter against the dark sky, its silent, barely perceptible blades increasing with speed.

No
…

Racing across the yard, he vaulted a car, a second, and kept running. He’d never make it. He’d never reach her in time.

The helicopter lifted just seconds before he reached it. Jumping up, he grabbed a foot rail and yanked down hard. He fell to the ground, the chopper wobbling as it grazed the grass.

Hope’s scream echoed over the landscape, tearing at his soul.

He’d kill him. He’d freaking kill Cyrus Matheson.

Truck lights drew closer from behind him, shining on the chopper. The blades sped up again, whirring in silence. It lifted from the ground, taking him with it. Growling with frustration, he jumped down, pulling it with him, afraid to jerk it too much and endanger Hope.

His armband vibrated, glowing yellow. He ignored it.

“Grab the front guard, Jay.” Gunner yelled out the truck window.

Damn good thinking, Gunn
. He needed something to keep him grounded.

With a hand on the helicopter, Jaydan looked back. Stretching his arm, he reached for the truck. Gunner inched closer. Catching it, Jaydan hooked an arm through the guard. The chopper wobbled again, struggling against his strength.

A door slid open on the helicopter, a dim light appearing inside. Zeke held a gun to Hope’s head, her arms locked behind her back.

“Let go or I’ll kill her.”

Jaydan’s eyes connected with Hope’s. Stark terror shone in her round eyes.

He couldn’t let go.

Zeke cocked the gun at her temple. Panic flooded him, rage surging through his muscles like the fire they’d set in the stables.

Flicking his wrist, Zeke turned the gun on Jaydan and fired. Hope screamed. The bullet hit his shoulder, knocking him back against the truck. His head slammed into the guard, shooting pain through his skull and down his arm.

It dropped to his side before he slumped to the ground.

“Bring Keegan to the island.” Zeke slammed shut the chopper door. It shot into the darkness.

A foul, succinct curse escaped his throat, his face falling against the truck guard. Gunner rushed around to the front of the truck, Booker and Austin following from the other direction.

“You okay, Jay?” Gunner approached him with wary steps.

With a loud growl, Jaydan ripped the guard off the truck. The others backed away. Swinging back, he threw the guard as far as he could into the pasture. It disappeared from sight.