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A Book By Its Cover |
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Chapter 11 Lady Jaye gradually woke to the almost-forgotten sensation of high-quality linens and downy warmth. Stretching cat-like in her silky cocoon, a Cheshire smile formed as memories of the night before surfaced, and lost in her revelry, it took her a moment to realize the bed was otherwise empty. Opening an eye, she ran a hand over the far pillow, but it had already cooled down, meaning Flint had been up for some time. She started to get out of bed, but when she recognized the sound of the television playing softly in the background, she burrowed back under the covers; if he was being considerate enough to let her sleep in, she was going to indulge for a few more minutes. “Considerate” was definitely an accurate term. For all his eagerness, he’d treated her like the most intimately studied battlefield map in history, thoroughly charting her various bruises, scrapes and sore muscles, and then carefully planning his advances so that even at their most vigorous, she’d felt no discomfort. Jaye probably should have been annoyed that, yet again, Flint lived up to his own bragging, but – as the recipient of said skill – she found herself very tolerant about his boasting this time. Not that she planned on stroking his ego by admitting it, but he probably didn’t have any doubts given her reactions. She hadn’t had the chance to let him know he was welcome to spend the rest of their leave with her earlier, but it was an invitation she absolutely planned on extending - in a few more minutes. A half hour at the most. Besides, it was his fault she was feeling so worn out. She had started to sink back into sleep when the comforter flew off the bed and a heavy weight landed behind her on the mattress. “I know you’re awake,” he whispered in her ear. “No, I’m not,” she muttered, sliding further under the sheet. At least he wasn’t feeling any morning-after awkwardness, even if he was far too chipper. “Are you okay, Alison?” he asked. A moment later, he’d pulled the cover back far enough to rest a hand on her forehead. “Do you want me to call Doc?” “What?” Sleepily, she rolled over enough to face him, surprised to see how serious he looked. “It’s not like you to sleep in so late. Are you feeling well?” Levering herself up on one elbow, she read the bedside clock, let out a grunt and tried to bury herself back under the sheet. “I still remember a world where seven-thirty wasn’t considered late.” “Well, we did go to bed pretty early last night,” he pointed out, running his hand soothingly over her arm. “Yeah, but it’s not like we went to sleep right away. Besides, I think I have a reason to be tired,” she said teasingly, but she felt his muscles tense. “I know. You wiped out all your reserves on that mission. It’s going to be a few days before you’re back to normal.” “That’s not what I was talking about,” she said softly, touched by his concern. Grabbing his arm, she wrapped it around her and snuggled back against him. “Here, make yourself useful.” He drew her close, resting his hand over hers. “What about your medication?” “It’s just an antibiotic. My feet aren’t going to fall off it I don’t take it exactly eight hours after the last dose, Dash,” she said reassuringly around a yawn. “Oh, you never said if it was okay to call you by that name.” “I certainly liked the way you were saying it last night,” he said with a throaty chuckle. “Well, I liked what you were doing at the time,” Jaye conceded with a grin. “And you don’t have to comment on that admission.” His laughter grew as he ran his lips across her cheek. “I was having fun myself. I wouldn’t mind doing it again if you’re interested.” “Talk to me when I wake up.” “You’re awake now.” “No, I’m not. I talk in my sleep,” she said, the corner of her lip curving up slightly. “Ah, and linguists can carry out coherent conversations in their sleep,” he said humorously, and Jaye let out a sigh when he started nibbling on her earlobe. “Come on, get a shower and let me take you somewhere nice for breakfast.” “Later?” “Now.” “Why?” “Because I’m starving,” he said before nuzzling her neck. “How can you be starving after all you ate last night?” she laughed, shifting so he had better access. “If you remember, we worked up an appetite again after dinner.” “Hmm,” she sighed, reaching up to stroke his cheek. She had to give him credit – if nothing else, his stamina had been enjoyable. “I see you found the razor. Did they leave everything you needed?” “Yeah, how did you know?” he asked, lifting his head up to stare at her quizzically. “I told them to leave toiletries for you when I made the reservations. Call me crazy, but I suspected you weren’t going to turn me down,” Jaye said, giving up on going back to sleep. Rolling over to face him, she ran a hand down his bare chest to the towel wrapped around his waist, smiling when he slid his arm under her to hold her close. “I’m glad you asked,” he said softly, kissing the top of her head. “And I’d like to take you out for some breakfast. Maybe we can come back and work up some appetite for lunch before you have to check out.” “I’m going to stay here for the rest of the leave,” she said, running her fingers through his chest hair. Looking up, she smiled at him fondly, trying to keep her expectations at bay. She’d entered this working on the assumption that all he wanted was some fun, and Jaye wasn’t going to build up her hopes that it would lead to something more. If it turned out to be more than a fling, that would be great, but she was going to accept whatever happened. At the very least, it would get the sexual tension out of the way so they could become better friends – not to mention getting a very pleasurable vacation at the same time. All she needed to do was keep herself from falling any deeper for the lunk-head in the process. “You’re welcome to stay with me if you want,” she offered, playfully poking him. “If you let me catch up on my sleep.” His smile spread slowly. “I’d like that, but isn’t this going to get expensive? This place can’t be cheap.” “Don’t worry about it,” she told him as she settled into the crook of his arm. “Wake me up in a half hour or so for breakfast.” “I’m hungry now,” he said, rolling her over so she was on top of him and peeling the sheet away from her. Exposing her upper body, he began to move his fingers along her flank in a slow and sensuous manner until she let out a moan. “Besides, I can’t give you a proper good-morning kiss until you brush your teeth.” “Oh, smooth move, Romeo,” she laughed. “Come on. Are you going to let me take you out to eat?” “I have a better idea,” she said, stretching across him to reach the phone and dialing room service. “Yes, we need breakfast for two, with orange juice and coffee. Make it something hearty,” she said, her eyes twinkling as she moved her hips against his suggestively. “Oh, and send up a roll of gauze bandages as well.” “I don’t think I want to know what type of kitchen they have if you can order bandages from it,” Flint said only half-jokingly as he worked the rest of the sheet away from her body. “They’ll forward the message to the front desk. If you need anything, they’ll get it for you,” Jaye said, pushing off of him to climb out of bed. “Hey, where are you going?” he asked, propping himself up on his elbows. “You’re the one who wanted me to take a shower,” she said, enjoying the way he stared at her nude form as she walked backwards toward the bathroom. With a wicked grin, she turned around and bent over to pick up a robe from where it had landed on the floor. “You might want to ah, calm down, and get dressed before room service gets here,” she called out over her shoulder, grinning to herself when she heard him plop down on the bed with a groaning laugh. By the time she’d finished showering and dressing, room service had already left their breakfast, and Flint was fixing her morning coffee. To her surprise and delight, he made no move to rush her, and they enjoyed a leisurely meal as they scanned the newspaper, sharing interesting tidbits with one another. As they were wrapping up, a knock sounded at the door, and the hotel doctor came in to personally re-bandage her feet. Lady Jaye explained the injuries with a simple story of a hiking trip gone awry, but Flint mischievously embellished the tale, and he rolled his eyes as the gullible older man believed his ever-wilder descriptions, even when he said she had been “hunting wabbits” in a good Elmer Fudd imitation. His smile died when the doctor started hectoring her on how lucky she had been, detailing the damage trench foot or gangrene would have done to her. The elderly man finally left when housekeeping showed up, and Flint asked if she wanted to go for a walk in the park. Once outside, she slipped her arm into his and nudged him gently. “I see I have a lot to teach you,” she said, smiling when he looked at her curiously. “You never give more information than necessary in a cover story. You can always add details later, but you can’t take them back.” A few jokes later, he started to relax and returned her smile, but he remained understatedly doting and a tad overprotective as he escorted her. Lady Jaye noted the way he was discreetly watching her gait, making sure she didn’t overdue it as they crossed the park, and his behavior was sweet albeit puzzling. He directed her to a sunny bench beside a pond before her feet began to ache, purchased a bag of breadcrumbs and wrapped his arm over her shoulders as they sat and talked while watching the ducks’ antics. After she chuckled at his Donald Duck imitation when one unlucky duck kept missing the bread, he started a running commentary using the voice until she was laughing heartily, and then he leaned in to kiss her, gradually deepening it until she pulled back. “Behave. We’re in public,” she chided him gently. Flint’s eyes danced with mirth. “And I thought you weren’t inhibited.” “I’m not. But getting sexually active in an area where children can walk up to you is just tacky.” “Right,” he said, chortling softly as he leaned back on the bench. “I don’t do tacky. Unless it’s for a mission,” she admitted with a shrug. “If you have any doubts about my inhibitions, I’ll settle that when we get back to the hotel.” “I always thought you were classy,” he said sincerely. “Oh, I’m sure that’s why you’ve been chasing me,” Jaye laughed. “Well, yeah,” he said, surprising her. “At least part of the reason.” “Really?” “Sure. You’ll do whatever is needed for a mission without complaining, but I know I can take you somewhere nice and you’ll fit in.” “You worried about where you could take me?” she asked, thoroughly enjoying the irony of her brash lover being concerned about her social skills. “So your standards go beyond ‘female’ and ‘breathing’ to knowing which fork to use with the salad.” Flint smiled as he shrugged. “I do have standards. Mainly, I know you won’t bore me.” “You better be careful. With lines like that, everyone is going to know you’re familiar with the Romantics,” she deadpanned. “You know they weren’t called that because they wrote about romance.” “I know, I know. Frankenstein is the quintessential Romance novel.” “This is what I’m talking about. You’re at least as intelligent as I am and possibly better educated. I can’t think of a subject that I could talk about where you couldn’t at least keep up with it. You can take care of yourself, you aren’t going to freak out if you see a mouse or something like that, you care about others and are willing to risk your life to help them,” he said, grinning at her expression. “And you’re hotter than hell.” Lady Jaye watched him carefully for a moment, fairly amazed that something other than sex had factored into his decision to pursue her. As heartening as his admission was, she refused to read too much into it. “That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” she told him honestly. “Then I need to work on that.” “Save the lines. I’m not interested in them.” “Hey,” Flint said, cupping her cheek to turn her face toward him. “I’m honest, remember? I mean it. You’re … not boring.” “Neither are you,” she said, kissing him softly before snuggling back against his chest. When it started to cloud up, they headed back to the hotel, but Flint pulled her into a Chinese takeout place on the way. Going over the menu, she teased him about his timid choices, and he eyed her suspiciously when she said something to the clerk in Mandarin. Once back in the suite, they spread out their feast on the table, and Jaye finally got him to try one of the spicier dishes, but she wasn’t fast enough to warn him when she noticed his forkful contained an overabundance of dried chili peppers. Laughing at his expression as sweat broke out on his face, her apology eventually ended up being very personal. Snuggling together on the floor, Flint reached up and pulled down their dishes, and they finished lunch picnic-style. She was getting ready to get up when he rolled her over, smiling wickedly as he dragged a spoonful of sweet and sour sauce down her belly and showed her there were no hard feelings. It was early evening before she woke up again, and she grinned to find he had tucked her into bed after their last romp. As she walked to the bathroom, she noted approvingly that he’d cleaned away the remnants of their lunch and neatly folded her clothes on the dresser as well. After freshening up, she pulled on a robe and padded into main area of the suite. The television was tuned to a race, but Flint’s attention was focused on a book. When the crowd started cheering, he marked his place with his finger, looked up quickly to see what was happening and then returned to reading after watching the replay of the accident. “Hey,” she said, sitting gracefully on the sofa arm and resting a hand on his bare arm. He’d take a shower at some point, and still had a towel draped over his shoulders and one wrapped around his waist. “Hey, yourself,” he said, closing the book and slipping it between the cushions. “Did you have a nice nap?” “Very. That bed is wonderful.” “Are you sure the bed was responsible and not the company?” he asked with a lusty grin. “No, it was the bed,” she said impishly. “The company makes waking up fun. Thanks for tucking me in.” “I didn’t think the floor would be too comfortable.” “Not likely,” she said, leaning over him to fish out the book, frowning as she read the title. “Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli? I thought he was a prime minister.” “He also wrote a couple of novels,” he said, shifting on the couch and clearing his throat. “I read when I want to wind down.” “It was probably a wild assumption on my part, but I figured a guy who spent six years studying literature likes books,” she teased him gently, hoping to get him to feel comfortable sharing this side with her. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you know how to read.” He shrugged sheepishly. “It’s, … people act weird when they find out.” After a long moment, she realized he wasn’t going to offer any more information. “Is it any good?” “I like it.” “Can I borrow it when you’re done? About all that’s left in the women’s barracks are legal texts and engine manuals.” Jaye handed him the book back and placed her arm around his shoulders. “You’re not the only one who reads to wind down. Most of us don’t pick obscure Victorian books, though.” Flint looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. “And you accuse me of having an ego. This is a classic. Just because you haven’t heard of it, doesn’t mean it’s obscure.” “Good point,” she admitted, smiling at him as she patted his chest. “But you do have an ego.” “If you say so,” he replied, reaching for the remote to turn off the television. “Are you getting bored staying here?” she asked him. Flint’s eyebrows lifted up as he gazed at her meaningfully. Reaching over, he flipped the hem of her robe back to expose more of her leg, and he started massaging her thigh. “You have to be kidding.” Letting out a disbelieving huff and shaking her head, she slid off the sofa arm and straddled his lap, resting her head against her shoulder. “You’re hopeless.” “Well, you kept me waiting long enough.” “Oh, and you didn’t see anyone else in all that time,” she joked. “No.” When she pulled back to look at him, he shrugged. “I wanted you.” “I hope it was worth the wait,” Jaye said, hiding her blush by nuzzling his neck. “Nope, not at all. That’s why I can’t wait for you to be ready to go again,” he teased. “You are hopeless,” she said fondly. “I meant were you getting bored while I rested. You never struck me as a couch potato.” He wrapped his arms around her loosely. “It’s something you’ll learn in time. When you get a chance to relax, you take it. It doesn’t matter what you do. You need to rest, so I’ll catch up on my reading and watch some TV while you do.” “And now that I’m awake?” “We can do whatever you want. If you’re still tired, we can just make out some tonight.” “Oh, my nap was very restful,” she said, kissing his neck in a lazy manner and smiling when his hands started roaming over her back. “Do you want to fool around before dinner or after?” He flashed her a lopsided grin. “Both.” Jaye stared at him for a moment, finally shaking her head. “I was right. You really are an oversexed Neanderthal.” “Don’t you think ‘virile’ is more accurate?” “No,” she stated, giggling at his expression. “I think oversexed Neanderthal sums it up nicely.” “Come on, Al,” he cajoled her, grinning as he drew her in for a kiss. She planted her hands on his chest and pressed back. “‘Al?’ I know I can’t get away from ‘Allie’, but you’re not calling me ‘Al’.” “Yes, I am,” he said, his eyes dancing with delight. “As a caveman, I have severely restricted vocalization abilities, and I can’t handle a polysyllabic name.” “Dash,” she said in mock-warning. “Yes, Al?” “You’re not calling me that.” “I think I am,” he said, giving her a broad grin as he suddenly stood up and tossed her over his shoulder. “Put me down!” Jaye laughed when he started banging his chest with his free hand as he headed toward the bed. “Ook, ook.” “You sound like an ape!” “Oookidy-ooky-ook?” “Now you sound like a demented ape, you big goofball,” she said, swatting his rear as she hung upside down over his shoulder. “Put me down.” He dropped her on the bed, pinning her before she could roll away from him. For all his teasing, his kisses were gently passionate and she returned them with equal fervor. Pulling back, he opened her robe and eyed her body hungrily, his breath growing ragged as took in her form. After a lingering moment, he was on her with a long, drawn out, “Oo-oook.” They spent the rest of the evening in the hotel, eating the leftovers for dinner and eventually curled up on the couch to watch movies. The discovery that Flint was a cuddler came as a bit of a shock, but she was quick to take advantage of the fact, savoring the feel of being in his arms. When they got ready for bed, she raised an eyebrow when he climbed under the covers naked. With a teasing grin, she curled up against him and caressed his chest. “Are you a closet nudist?” “No, but I don’t have a change of clothes,” he said, chuckling as her fingers ran over his ribcage. “I thought about running back to base to pick something up, but I didn’t want to take a chance. With my luck, Hawk would want me for an assignment, and this is one leave I definitely want to finish.” “Call the front desk and give them your sizes. They’ll get something for you.” “Isn’t it kind of weird to have a stranger go buy skivvies for you? You don’t know what you’ll end up with.” “Silk, probably.” “That doesn’t sound very practical.” “Don’t knock it until you try it,” she said, doubting he was ready to indulge in a personal shopper. Yawning, she rested her head against his shoulder. Her lips curled upward as he started pulling the covers away from her body, and she let out a soft laugh when he began exploring in earnest. “You cannot be ready to go again.” “It hasn’t been too much, has it?” he asked, his concern evident. Jaye smiled as she ran her fingers along a faint bite mark along the base of his neck. “I didn’t do that because I wanted you to stop.” “I don’t want to overdue it,” he said. “Trust me, you haven’t. Not yet, anyway,” she said, letting out a laugh. “But I’m glad it’s not a two-week leave, or I’d need a vacation afterwards.” He reached up to brush a lock of hair out of her eyes. “No, if we had that much time, I would have found a quiet tropical beach for you.” “Hmm, that sounds nice,” she said, looking up to roll her eyes. “Of course, we wouldn’t have made it out of the hotel.” “If you wanted to go play in the sand, we could have,” he chuckled. “I wouldn’t care what we did during the day as long as you spent the nights with me.” “Well, just so long as you planned the trip better than you did my retrieval,” she joked, hoping to relieve whatever lingering issues he had with the mission by making light of it. Instead, he pulled back, his expression unreadable as he stared at her. “Dash, it’s okay…” “You don’t know.” She cocked her head in confusion. “Know what?” “No one’s told you. We weren’t there to retrieve you. We thought you were dead.” Lady Jaye returned his stare with her own. “What?” “The spooks had pictures from the town square after the riot broke out. There was a picture of a woman near your contact, and it could have been you. She was the right build, the same hair color, dressed like a factory worker. There wasn’t enough of a face left to confirm it, but the spooks told us it was you.” “No wonder Scarlett was in such a good mood,” she said, trying to process the information. It also explained why everyone was so glad to see her when she got back to base. Not to mention Flint’s reaction. “She took the news pretty hard,” he said in a quiet voice. “We all did.” “My parents?” she exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. She’d never told them what type of work she did, not wanting to worry them. They’d be totally unprepared to find out she’d been killed on a mission. “Hawk didn’t tell them,” Flint assured her. “He was going to wait until, until we got back.” “Thank God,” Jaye whispered, grateful they’d been spared that agony. “Got back from what?” “We were there to see if we could get your body,” he said in a subdued tone. “What?” She knew the team’s motto was they never left anyone behind, but she couldn’t imagine how they planned to find her body in the chaos left by the mass shooting. “I wasn’t going to leave you there. I told the spooks to release some pictures of the town square and the mass grave where they buried the bodies. The Soviets said it was an explosion at the factory, but they had to let the UN in to investigate to keep up the illusion. We knew they’d transfer the remains from the mass grave before the inspectors got there, and we planned to get your body then.” He had dropped his head, but not before she caught the haunted look in his eyes. She could only imagine the horror of going through a mass grave of decaying bodies, trying to find one mutilated corpse in the pile. But he and the others had been willing to risk their lives to do it, and she couldn’t find the words to express her gratitude. “My God,” she whispered. “It was chance we were even at the safe house. Breaker wanted to see if he could eavesdrop on the terrorists’ conversations to see if he could find out if they got the plans. Then he and Scarlett found you staggering around the bog, and we couldn’t believe it. But you were so far gone, and we didn’t have any supplies to treat hypothermia. It was hours before you started to wake up. We didn’t think you were going to make it.” “I’m glad you were there,” Lady Jaye simply told him, reaching out to touch his face, and he leaned into her hand. “Thank you.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, they held each other tightly until he eventually lowered her unto the bed, tenderly stroking her back until she fell asleep. |
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