Serendipity
[Recap: Jax is back in Port Charles after his business trip to the Far East -- and with V. Things are about to get interesting (I hope). Consider it rated R to be on the safe side. Light your own candles, put on your own music and I hope it doesn't disappoint.]
Chapter 30: Venus Undone
"Jax "
He barely heard the faint whimper of his name escape before he felt her mouth hungrily against his. It was the only answer he needed… the one he wanted more than his next breath. He slid his hands into her hair still damp from her shower, cupping the back of her head… locking her questing mouth tightly against his own so he could taste her to his frenzied heart's content. His thumbs rubbed lightly along the firm outline of her jaw, coaxing deeper entry into the warm honey hidden behind her lips… deeper… deeper… over and over again, til his lungs burned for air. Jax broke contact, his forehead tilted on hers, struggling for deep breaths and control as he felt nothing but her body pressed along the length of his. "V…"
V stared up at him helpless to deny the raging need for him that overwhelmed her every sense. Even the sound of his voice made her blood run hot. She stared up at his face… the working of the muscle in his jaw… his tightly closed eyes… the swollen part of his lips as his warm, moist breath fanned her mouth… back to his eyes again, willing him to look at her… to explain his sudden hesitation.
But before she could ask, Jax seemed to hear her silent request and peered intently at her with those sky-blue eyes of his… almost as if he was hunting for something hidden in her gaze. Then what he was looking for escaped deep and low in his voice.
"Are you sure?" Her surprise and confusion that he'd even have to ask such a thing -- given the circumstances -- must have shown on her face, still held close to his by the strong curves of his hands. But still he persisted, determined that there be no misunderstandings between them, especially tonight. "I want you like I've never wanted anything else in my life, V… but there are things that we've left unsaid -- things that have gotten in the way before…."
Jax gently trailed his fingers along her delicate cheekbones… lost in her eyes, her face. Desperate to take what she offered, but equally adamant that nothing happen that she might want to take back in the bright light of day. How did one distill all the questions that needed to be answered… all the things that needed to be said so that no regrets would lie between them? "I don't care who came before…" Not Brenda or Garcia -- they don't matter anymore. "I just know that no one else will come after." I won't share. I'll be the only man in your life, and I'll beat any other man that so much as looks at you cross-eyed bloody senseless -- I don't care how much of a Neanderthal that makes me. "But if this isn't what you want… if you have any doub-- "
The light caress of her fingers on his lips stopped the words he forced out in defiance of the blood-churning desire that pounded in his veins. The bottled false courage that she'd shared with Jerry earlier in the evening had lost most of its potency, and what was left of it quieted her usual fears. But it wasn't what made her want him to stay. It just took too much energy to hide what she felt tonight. And for every logical, sensible reason she could think of to object to what would happen next if she let it… not one of them made the longing in her heart go away. She'd been logical and sensible and reasonable and patient for so long -- all her life, in fact. But that wasn't the way she felt tonight -- not about him, not about this. Above all, for once she wanted to face him without pretending to feel less for him than she did.
"Are you where you want to be tonight, Jax?"
"Yes." His eyes burned bright in the dim light, as he gently stroked a thumb across her bottom lip, surprised the power she held over him wasn't obvious to her by now. "God, yes."
"Then I'm sure." Whatever might happen tomorrow, she'd risk it.
After his burst of honesty, she thought he needed to hear one of her own in return. "And for the record… there's never been anyone else before… not in the way you mean…." V felt her cheeks stain slightly at that small confession, but she didn't look away from the intense probe of his eyes. "Just so you know…" She wasn't sure what else to say to him exactly, an attack of momentary insecurity choking any other words tightly in her chest as she waiting for his reaction. But if that little tidbit of information didn't send him running for the door, V figured she could get through the rest without dying of embarrassment.
That familiar slow, confident curl of his smile that never failed to make her pulse stop for an instant -- punctuated by the flash of a dimple -- was his silent first reply. He buried one hand in the dark hair at her nape, enjoying its silky tickle between his fingers. The fingers of the other hand trailed leisurely on the curve of her jaw… the firm tilt of her chin… the slope of her neck… til they slowly swept back and forth beneath the cover of her robe along the collarbone that she longed to rub out of nervous habit. "I think we'll manage."
A smile, the rough timbre of his voice and four seemingly ordinary little words made a strangely delicious warmth race through her body. Anything else she might have said was lost in the seductive possession of his mouth. Jax was gentle one moment, fierce the next… both hands again holding her head now so she couldn't escape the persistent strokes of his lips. She melted against him, willing captive to his exploration.
Sweet… so sweet… He couldn't get over how she tasted. The sugared satin of her mouth. The kitten-velvet of her tongue. He thought of nothing but getting closer to her… feeling her next to him… beneath him as he painstakingly backed her towards the shadowed haven of her bedroom.
In the amber half-light of the lamp dimly gleaming beside her bed, she glowed as he watched… her translucent skin… the copper glints in her hair… the dark burn of her eyes. All that was missing was that incandescent smile that always made him think that she'd swallowed sunshine. "Beautiful… so beautiful…."
He curled one hand in the soft fabric of her robe and pulled her close to him again. The other hand threaded into her hair, pushing it away from the delicate flesh of her neck so that he could lightly feast on it as he had some weeks before. The tender strokes of his lips… the gentle nips of his teeth soothed by the hot brush of his tongue… over and over again until V thought she'd lose her mind.
Her breath caught in her throat at every tiny bite he took. Her hands roamed restlessly over his back, his waist, his chest… anywhere she could reach that would appease the eager need to touch him. But his clothes were in the way. She wanted to feel his skin beneath her fingertips as she only imagined before tonight. She trailed her hands up to caress the skin that peeked out above his collar before persuading the top buttons of the shirt to give way… one after another.
As methodically as he was ravaging the sweet skin of her neck and ear, Jax was equally anxious to feel the cool balm of her hands against his burning flesh. Without removing his mouth from her, he pulled his shirt from inside the waistband of his jeans, grabbed a shirttail in each hand and forcefully yanked them apart… scattering the buttons V hadn't reached in all directions. He felt her surprised gasp against his ear at his unexpectedly show of impatience as he reluctantly pulled away and grasped the light material of his T-shirt and hurriedly drew it up over his head. He was mildly concerned that he was rushing her and chastised himself to go slow… take his time. But in that blind moment before he escaped the knit confines of his undershirt, her warm silky palms slid slowly from the broad muscular expanse of his shoulders to the rock-hard ripple of his stomach… and every other conscious thought but having her disappeared.
V locked her shining eyes with his in charged pause that lasted a heartbeat or two. She slid one hand from his chest and tentatively pulled at the gathered sash holding her robe tightly closed, but it didn't easily give way. Oh… no... I don't believe this. She tugged at the knot again, still without success. Frustrated, V glared down at the offensive tangle and tried again, with the fingers of both hands this time… but with no better luck. This can't be happening… not now. Then, she felt Jax's hands settle calmly over hers.
"Let me…."
The warm thrill of his voice brought her eyes back up to his face… so near. Her hands and arms fell slowly aside in silent acquiescence to his request. Blood pounded in her ears as she felt the collective weight of the sash divide easily for his fingers, the ends swinging heavily down against her thighs and the material of the robe parted for his hungry gaze. She nervously darted her tongue out to wet her suddenly parched lips and swallowed hard, waiting for the last of her protective shield to join his shirt, socks and shoes on the floor by her bed.
But it didn't.
Instead, she glanced up to find Jax's eyes still focused on hers… waiting. He didn't look away as she felt the heat of his palms slide -- painfully slow -- beneath her robe… along the bare skin of her waist. But still, he didn't push the robe away -- he just kept drawing the same lazy circles with his fingertips on her sensitive skin… from the indention of her waist… up to the first suggestion of her ribcage… down across the feminine swell of her hip. Each hand tracing the same, maddening pattern as if he had all the time in the world while he was slowly driving her insane… making her more sensitive to his touch with each feathery pass til she ached for the next.
Yet, he made no move to rid her of the only thing that separated her nakedness from his complete view. His hesitation to do just that confused her. What are you waiting for? V searched his face for answers. His hands might be lazy and patient, but his face wasn't… it was taut and haunted by his burning, restless eyes that watched her every move, her every breath… waiting. And then she knew. Me… you're waiting for me… That knowledge chased away any traces of fear or inhibition from her. Oh, Jax… how you surprise me…
The tips of his fingers kneaded more insistently into her flesh at the enlightened semi-smile that curled the corners of her parted mouth and the raising of her chin in mock defiance of his calm control. Jax felt his heart tighten in his chest and a sharp intake of breath leave a harsh dryness on his tongue as he watched her gather the collar of her robe in each hand and peel it slowly towards her pale shoulders til it draped briefly in the crooks of her elbows before pooling at her bare feet. Beautiful… so beautiful…
Then he felt her warm lips against the hollow of his neck, a single bead of sweat trickled tauntingly down his spine. V began kissing a fiery path across his shoulder and chest, wetly caressing the firm flesh that was so different from her own. All the while his hands slipped farther around her waist to the small of her back, persuading the bare silk of her breasts up against his chest… his deep sigh at the intimate rub of her skin against his was lost in his carnal possession of her hungry mouth. But when Jax felt her fingers at the button of his jeans, he wasn't sure how much longer he could remain standing… the power of his ache for her nearly brought him to his knees. He ruthlessly shoved both jeans and boxers to his feet and kicked them carelessly aside before he reclaimed V's soft, relentless mouth and sent the two of them tumbling back onto the bed.
The next sensation V knew was the cool, crisp feel of the sheets beneath her bare back… the only relief to the heat that clawed at her skin as she welcomed the hot weight of his body. But it wasn't enough… she needed more… more of him. Closer… please… closer… God, yes… "Jax…."
Jax settled against the yielding curves of her body as if she'd been made for him. She was sweet and wild, but he couldn't get enough… close enough… deep enough. Closer… yes… closer… baby, please…
Everything became a frantic, slow-burning blur… a tangle of arms and legs and hands and mouths and sheets… the intimate brush of skin against skin, begging for more, promising more in return… the frenzied and steady rhythm of pounding pulses and human cravings… a man so powerless to and powerful in his desire… a woman so generous in her passion… a timeless dance of want and need, demanding and giving, relentless and forgiving.
In a moment of sudden hush, he stared up at V's face above him… captured in the lamplight, aglow with her desire and his, her eyes flickering like candles, chasing a ghost of satisfaction that was almost within her reach… and Jax wondered how he'd ever gotten so lucky and found her. Then the sound of her smoky voice calling his name echoed in his ears before he rolled her beneath her and the world as he knew it came undone.
Some time later… after her heart returned to its usual steady flutter in her chest, the last thing V felt before the night claimed her in sated sleep was the anchor of his body curled around hers from behind… his strong arm wrapped across her waist, his hand still tangled in her fingers and her whispered name on his lips. "My Venus… my sweet Venus…."
To be continued
Dawn