Twisted Pursuits (3 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

THIS WAS
A BAD IDEA, SHE CHIDED HERSELF
as her eyes scanned the crowd for a familiar face. Maybe he wasn’t coming she mused strolling towards the exit and there he was, leaning casually against an impressive white Range Rover, a smile breaking across his face as he saw her. He was wearing blue jeans and white t-shirt that outlined narrow hips and broad torso, black ray-bans perched on his nose, appearing the epitome of wealth and sensuality. He was so gorgeous she couldn’t stop staring; she had to drag her eyes to his face as he eased away from the car and walked towards her.

“You look beautiful today babe”, he crooned, his eyes glittering as they travelled from her knee length sun dress to her face as his hand rested on the small of her back and propelled her in the direction he had come.

She was surprised to see a chauffeur emerge from the driver’s seat and pull open the passenger door for them and Jordan ushered her inside.

“OK?” he asked.

She nodded mutely wondering where they were headed as he instructed the driver they were ready.

They were well on their way before she finally developed the nerve to ask, “where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise”, he said, touching her nose playfully, then added, “not far from here though”.

They travelled for another five minutes or so on the highway leading to the western side of the island. They took a left turn that led them to a large iron gate; the chauffeur said something to a man who appeared to be a security officer, he disappeared into a room like cubicle and the gate began to slide to the side. They proceeded down a paved driveway into the most beautiful flower garden she had ever seen.

There were flowers of every kind for as far as her eyes could see as Jordan opened the car and helped her out, then he went to the back of the car and returned with a heavily laden basket and a blanket which he handed to her. There was a medieval looking building in front of them; with two floors, white French windows and a stone structure with the sign ‘gift shop’ above its entrance. The driver walked towards the gift shop while Jordan led her through a narrow roadway unto a sprawling manicured lawn with a long paved walkway lined on both sides by royal palm trees that led to a large gazebo. They skirted the gazebo and crossed a board walk that sat over a stream, and went as close to nature as one could ever get. She was instantly assailed by nature’s voices; birds chirping and a gently gushing river in the distance, the sights and scents enveloping them, were all simply magical.

They walked a few more meters where they were in open view of the river, Jordan placed the basket on the ground and took the blanket from her hand and opened it over the soft grass. She was so engrossed in the picturesque setting that she hadn’t realized he was seated until he pulled her down beside him on the blanket.

“This place is marvelous Jordan”, she muttered finally breaking the trance.

“I’m glad you like it”, he breathed.

He began unpacking the basket which contained a mixture of baked chicken, steamed vegetables and potato salad. She watched, mesmerized as his muscles rippled under his shirt as he dished out a serving of the food in the finest china she had ever seen.

“No suit today?” she noted, attempting to distract
herself from the ever present awareness between them.

“I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off”, he said nonchalantly, “no sense wearing a suit and tie to a picnic, is there?”

“I guess not”.

“I hope you like chicken”, he said handing the food to her, a hopeful smile on his face.

“Sure”, she took it while he popped open a bottle of red wine.

“Wine?”

“I don’t drink” she informed him.

“Just one little sip”, he coaxed propelling the glass towards her lips.

“Alright”, she conceded, accepting the glass and swallowing a large gulp. She coughed as the bitter liquid clogged her throat, causing her eyes to water.

“Sip slowly” he coaxed, rubbing her back soothingly.

“I’m fine”, she said as soon as the pain in her throat began to recede, disturbed as his hand on her back went from soothing to a stimulating caress.

He withdrew his hand and they resumed their meal in a soothing silence filled with sounds of the gushing river a few feet away.

She frowned suddenly, “don’t they accept guest here for picnics and family outings”.

“Yes, as a matter of fact they do”.

“But there is no one here”, she proclaimed.

“I rented the property for the evening”, he shrugged.

“You what?” she exclaimed, “
this property is at least a hundred acres? I cannot imagine how much that must have cost”.

“I’m flattered that you’re concerned”, he chuckled, “but I doubt I’ll be rendered bankrupt because of it”

“I see”, she said embarrassed and returned to her meal.

The food was delicious and after a sumptuous slice of sweet potato pudding she simply had to say it.

“Hmm, that was delicious, who prepared it?” she wondered aloud, sipping the wine as he had suggested, finding it a bit less intolerable the more she consumed.

“Pansy”, when she quirked an eyebrow, he clarified, “my housekeeper”.

She gave a nervous laugh, “I thought you would say you’re mother did”.

It was his turn to laugh, “
my parents are away, as they are most of the time”.

“Oh”, she said nonplussed.

He looked at her quizzically, “What about your parents? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you speak of them”.

The color drained from her face and she began to finger the locket at her throat that housed a photo of her parents. She had never spoken of them since she had been told of their deaths when she was four years old. Even Anna had heard of their deaths from another girl at school who lived in the same neighborhood as Lauren.

“I’m sorry”, Jordan was saying, “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business”.

“No it’s fine”, she said forcing a smile, “my mother died three months after I was born from pneumonia and my father two years later in a train wreck in London”.

“My goodness”, he exclaimed, massaging her palms comfortingly, “that's horrible”.

The familiar tightening in her chest when she thought of her parents surfaced with a vengeance and against her best efforts a tear slid down her ashen cheeks. Big warm hands pulled her gentle to a solid chest, as a sob broke free from her compressed lips, he stroked her hair soothingly.

“Shh”, he crooned, “it must have been very difficult for you. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without my parents, even though they were away so much”.

He was big and warm and she couldn’t resist snuggling into him. Gradually the remnants of grief melted away, replaced by a warm glow of awareness and contentment. This had to be right, despite what Nana had
said. She felt safe and warm in his arms and at that moment she wished she could stay there forever.

“I’m fine now”, she muttered softly, lifting her head away from his chest only to collide with the glowing embers of his eyes.

She was transfixed, she couldn’t move if her life depended on it as his head descended towards hers.

JORDAN WATCHED AS EXPRESSIONS
of shock, curiosity and desire warred across her face as his lips captured hers. He nearly lost his head when he tasted the sweet nectar of her lips but the memory of her scurrying away from him on the beach cooled his ardor slightly. He caressed her lips slowly until she sighed and melted into him, he took the opportunity to stroke her tongue and his hands explored her tentatively through her sun dress.

He had to stop this, he told himself, or he was going to ravish her, right here, right now; the rock hard bulge in his pants was evidence enough of this. He pulled away and stared into eyes filled with need and that ever present innocence. Her lips were slightly parted and kissed swollen, her hair a little tousled and her breast rising and falling with her ragged breathing; the fire in his blood escalated; he had to move.

“Shall we go for a walk along the river?” he asked huskily.

“Yes”, she muttered breathlessly allowing him to pull her to her feet.

They strolled up the narrow walkway beside the river; admiring the ethereal scenery and flowing river. His hands found hers and she squeezed it and smiled up at him; his heart soared at her response and the familiar heat unfurled in him, he stomped it down and smiled back.

They continued on their journey hand in hand while he told her of his love for horses and his tour
business. He talked a little of his parents and for some strange reason he decided that when they visited he wanted her to meet them. He took pictures on the slope with his iphone; mostly pictures of her smiling, with the sun shimmering on her beautiful hair or just staring at the beauty before them.

They reluctantly retraced their steps when they realized that it would soon be nightfall, retrieved the basket and headed for the car. The electric lights were on by the time they got to the car and Daniel was waiting.

“Who is he?”

“That’s Daniel, my driver slash bodyguard when the need arises”, he said.

“But you drive yourself most of the time”, she declared.

“Let’s just say I like my freedom”, he intoned.

She frowned, “are you in danger or something?"

“Apart from the dangers of living, I doubt it”.

She gave a sigh of relief and he frowned; no one was ever concerned about his safety except those he’d paid to and his parents. She stifled a yawn as they settled into the car and before he knew it, her head lolled towards his shoulder. He pulled her to him and she snuggled into his side and sighed in contentment through the haze of sleep.

She was a mystery he could not fathom but a delight he most certainly welcomed. Never had a woman driven him to such heights of wanting or denied his wishes. Yet she had expressed a concern for his wellbeing that was heartwarming. He sighed. He was at a loss, she was becoming like a drug and the thought of not seeing her ignited a sense of desolation in him. He frowned, it did not go unnoticed that she was reluctant when he touched her and the way she behaved as if the feelings there heated embraces evoked were completely foreign to her.

They were near her destination now but he was reluctant wake her. The passing street lights illuminated her face and his breath caught in his throat at what he saw. Long lashes rested against her golden cheeks, her lush lips slightly parted and her nostrils flaring delicately. An inexplicable warmth spread through him for this enigmatic girl and he knew he had to keep seeing her even if it meant taking cold showers, every single day for the rest of his life.

He thought of kissing her awake but settled for gently shaking her. She moaned and snuggled closer and his body stirred to life. He gritted his teeth.

“Lauren, honey you’re home”, he whispered close to her ear.

She squirmed, her hands knotting in his shirt and moaned, raising her head from the cocoon of his arms.

“Where am I”, she asked groggily and went scarlet as she surveyed her surroundings, him included.

“You fell asleep”, he explained unnecessarily, thinking he would love for her to wake up in his arms more often.

“Oh”.

He thought of kissing her, hell he wanted to devour her, but he recalled that Daniel was in the driver’s seat and he didn’t think that would sit well with her so he pushed opened her door instead.

“Goodnight”, she smiled tentatively at him, “and thanks for the picnic; it was lovely”.

He griped her palm, “will I be seeing you on Monday”.

She nodded and he pecked her cheek quickly and bade her goodnight. He waited until she closed the door behind her before he instructed Daniel to drive away. A sense of anticipation settled in his heart that he could not remember feeling in a long, long time, if ever at all.

CHAPTER SIX

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS WERE FILLED
with new beginning and pleasant discoveries for Lauren; to which Jordan was foremost. Starting the first Monday after their picnic excursion Jordan would pick her up after work, they would have dinner at some elaborate restaurant or one of his resorts in the area or simple burgers and fries or fried chicken in a local fast food   restaurant. They would talk endlessly about inane topics and laugh at their silliness, both, content to just be in each other’s presence. Saturdays, they had the entire day to explore and as usual Jordan went overboard, deciding that since it was her day off, it was officially his as well. All this was done under the guise of working as far as Nana knew.

The weather was pleasant, as most days were on the island, and as
such, Jordan decreed that each Saturday he would acquaint her with the enchantment of their Island home.  On their first outing, they climbed the falls at the famous Dunn’s River, drank coconut water from the husk with straws and reclined on its lush beach to soak up a little sun. Next it was on to Green Grotto Caves where they explored the debts of the murky caves, ate beef patties and sodas at the snack bar after which he bought her a stunning painting of the Reggae legend Bob Marley in performance at the gift shop. It was back to Ocho Rios to Dolphin Coves where they swam with the dolphins and witnessed the longest snake she had ever seen. She had cringed at the sight and latched on to Jordan, but he had only laughed and consoled her by stating that the snake was tame and hence harmless.

After a full day of attempting, failing and finally beginning to grasp the art of sitting a horse and moving it, riding the four wheel bike, cycling a whole mile and back, taking a rafting tour where she was informed at length of Jamaica’s Flora and Fauna and the most exhilarating, if not a little scary, the zip line; she was bone tired.  However she simply could not resist attempting the swing jumping although Jordan had warned that she was too weary for such a strenuous activity before he had left her to get refreshments.

She would soon find that she had made a grave error when she was strapped to the seat at the end of a three yard long swing and flying in the wind. She screamed as the swing propelled her body, to and from, higher and higher towards the sky, when it finally halted she was as flaccid as a rag doll. She thought she saw Jordan but she wasn’t sure as the faces seemed far away and she couldn’t hear anything above the ringing in her ears. She was sure however that it was his arms she fell into just before the world went black. 

She woke in a room that smelt faintly of anesthetics and a big warm hand gripping hers almost bruisingly.

“I want to see him in my office first thing Monday morning”, Jordan was shouting angrily, “she could have been seriously hurt for heaven’s sake, at my own Adventure Park”

This is Myles Adventures and Tours! She had had no idea; he had been so easygoing with the staff that she’d assumed their behavior was due to his commanding presence.

“
Dammit! Where is the doctor”, she heard Jordan’s continued raging and realized that her eyes were closed.

“He’s on his way”, a voice to her distant left answered, “don’t worry Mr. Myles, she’ll be fine.    She’s just tired”.

She moaned and opened heavy lids and croaked, “Jordan”.

“I’m here baby”, he whispered urgently, then shouted, “nurse she’s coming around”.

It seemed the heavily rounded woman was there in an instant, “how are you feeling Ms.  McKenzie”.

“Exhausted” she whispered truthfully, gripping her sore throat.

The nurse elevated her head with two pillows and made to spoon-feed her with something from a cup. She shook her head as her stomach churned with revulsion.

“It will make you feel better”, she coaxed.

Surprisingly Jordan extended his hands, “I’ll do that”.

Even the nurse seemed shocked as she gave the container to him.

“I can do it”, Lauren said but fell back against the pillows, her brows perspiring, after she attempted sitting up.

Jordan made no comment as he patiently spooned the stingingly sweet liquid down her throat, encouraging her to drink when she coughed on the first sip and waiting indulgently until she drank every last drop
.

“I don’t know what he was thinking”, Jordan was saying, “I was gone for two minutes, I thought I told you to stay put. Never mind, I’ve already called my assistant for a disciplinary meeting Monday morning”.

“This is Myles' Adventures and Tours, isn’t it?”

“I wanted you to experience it before I told you”, he responded, “but look what happened, you almost got killed”.

“Don’t be ridiculous”, she laughed weakly, feeling better already, “Don’t be angry with him   Jordan. Please”

“Ok. Don’t worry about that now”, he coaxed.

As long as he was there everything would be alright, she told herself. Jordan always made everything better.

The doctor came shortly afterwards and proclaimed her fit to be released but noted that she should drink lots of fluid mainly energy drinks. Jordan took her home that night and insisted on taking her to her door, she was too weak to protest, instead she groped for explanations in case Nana was up, thankfully she wasn’t. She was so exhausted she barely made it out of the shower before she was fast asleep.

His gifts had kept on coming and just when she thought he had no more surprises, he did just that. On the Monday, following their picnic on Saturday, a charcoal drawing of her was delivered by Daniel. She looked like a sensual creature sitting on a chair in the middle of a flower garden; her hair wind tousled, her full lips parted and her eyes smoky. If she hadn’t seen where he’d signed with the charcoal she couldn’t have guessed that he'd done it; the way in which he'd captured the lines and tones of her face was remarkable. The very next day, he had sent a cell phone similar to his stating that he didn’t do personal voice calls anymore and that thing she had wasn’t worthy to be called a cell phone. She’d hit the roof but Jordan had described her behavior as childish, but at least she'd gotten him to promise to stick to normal tokens such as roses and chocolate or sweet treats.

On the fifth Saturday, he decided to take her to a local karaoke at an exquisite Diner off the high way leading out of town. After exhausting the voluntary talents, the vivacious host started randomly selecting person. She was on her third glass of wine when the host pointed to her; she had stared disbelievingly and turned to Jordan’s smiling face, he shrugged seeming amused by the whole situation as the crowd, on the host’s prompting kept shouting ‘red dress!, red dress!’, which happened to be her ensemble. She made her way to the stage reluctantly, all the while wondering what she was doing or why she'd even gotten up from her seat in the first place.

She couldn’t do this, she thought; she hoped the crowd didn’t see her hands shaking around the microphone. She had never sung anywhere except at church before and she was familiar with those people; this was an entirely different situation. She began searching the crowd and found exactly what she needed; serious brown eyes staring at her with a confidence she didn’t feel.

‘You can do it’, he mouthed.

She gained courage and the words of Adele’s ‘One and Only’ tumbled from her lips and as usually when she sang no one else existed except this time Jordan did and her eyes never left his.

Every word, every note, every tune was a declaration, an avowal, a proclamation to him and he seemed to understand as his eyes glowed with warmth, his features strained. She hardly heard the resounding applause or an old lady telling her she sang like an angel; she had eyes only for the beautiful male specimen in beige evening suit, holding her gaze, his right arm outstretched.

“You could rival Adele any day, my darling and win”, he murmured huskily.

“Thank you”, she said in a voice that didn’t sound very much like her own.

“Are you ready to leave?"

“Yes”, she said breathlessly, allowing him to lead her to the car.

He drove her home in a silence that was sizzling with undercurrents and she wasn’t surprised when he unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her astride him as soon as he switched off the car at the entrance of the street leading to her house. She felt wild and when he kissed her she responded with a fervor she never knew she possessed. Tonight’s revelation had unleashed the woman in   her, the woman who needed Jordan to sate the unbearable hunger that he had ignited in her ever since that first day at the diner. His lips had left her mouth and were travelling along her cheek bone, down to her neck; nipping and licking and as the fire unfurled in her she threw her head back and gave him access.

All the barriers between them were down. He seemed to be feeling the same freedom as he had never touched her so boldly after that night on the beach; she always felt his hunger when he’d kissed her each night but he always restrained it. Not tonight though; he cupped her full breast through her dress and kneaded them in his palms, his mouth still nipping at her neck. She moaned loudly and ground her hips boldly against him; he gripped her hips and moaned low in his throat, she felt something hard pressing against her thighs and realized what it must’ve been but she was too aroused to care. She wanted, needed him to make love to her, the shocking discovery increasing her need.

“Come home with me tonight baby”, he said between kisses.

The fog slowly cleared from her brain replaced by cold reality and she eased off his lap, crest fallen.

“I can’t”, she whispered, “Nana would never approve”.

He frowned and muttered a little irritatingly, “I’m sure Nana understands”.

She had to leave before she began to beg him to take her with him and damn the consequences.

“Goodnight”, she muttered almost inaudible opening the car door and racing to her house. She almost ripped the clothes from her body in frustration and as she stepped into the shower she convulsed in sobs. Why is it she never did anything she wanted to do? Everything was dictated to her; what to wear, what she could and could not do, she felt utterly hopeless.

She ignored the buzzing of her cell phone when it rang; she just held on to mini Jordan, wishing for
all the world it was the real one, and cried herself to sleep.