Sparring Partners (26 page)

"Jesse, come get me. Yes, Jordon's here, but
he's preoccupied rearranging spinners into rainbows in the tackle
box. And, your mother's acting like a petulant twelve year
old."

Jordon stabbed himself with one of the
spinners. He scowled at Irma as he pulled the damned thing out.
When he put it back, he stared at the mess he'd made of the lures.
Sure enough, they were arranged according to hue, not size or
purpose.

He glanced up at Reed. She was acting like a
brat and he wanted to spank her. He also wanted to kiss her until
all her energy focused on making both of them burn.

He had to get out of here.

Before William kicked him out, he'd started
to set up a deal with Takahara Enterprises, to purchase the
alternative health care division of their business. No one knew he
was talking to Takahara, not even William. What he needed now was
to get back to work. What he didn't need was another dose of
elfland's poison apples. He was already tripping his way down the
rabbit hole.

"Hurry up Jesse before your mother does
something stupid. She looks like she's about to push Jordon off the
pier."

Jesse appeared, out of breath, long
brown-black hair damp with perspiration. He took one look at Reed
and moved into the space between her and Jordon. His gaze shot to
Jordon and, once again, Jordon saw the man inside the boy. This kid
matured well past his chronological age. Hopefully some day body,
mind and spirit would be reconciled. That would almost be worth
hanging around to see.

"She's used to getting her way."

"So am I."

"She doesn't stop if she thinks she's right.
Even if it hurts her."

"Got a few scars myself."

"She doesn't know how to give up."

"
She
is right here gentlemen, and
she
is fully capable of speaking and acting for
herself."

Jesse held Jordon's gaze, willing him to
understand who he was dealing with. Jordon was beginning to grasp
the enormity of the situation he'd found himself in, and wondered,
not for the first time, why his spirit chose such a stubborn,
opinionated, pain-in-the-ass to bond with. Those bonds were still
tenuous. They could be severed with a minimum of pain if he decided
to sever them now, and get on with the reason they were established
in the first place.

Work.

Security and respect, that comes with
influence at the highest levels of society.

A safe, untouchable, existence.

The kind of life he strived for since he
gave his name to a baby, who wasn't his, one day, only to bury her,
and divorce her mother the next. No one needed that kind of pain.
That kind of potential for ripping life, heart, and breath from a
man, leaving only a kernel of pride and self-preservation to spark
the cold flame of determination that made him an untouchable
success.

This woman, and her band of merry men and
women, could send him right back to that dark scary place, where
afternoons spent fishing and making love under willow trees
mattered.

Jordon shuddered as a chill ran down his
spine. He wiped away the sweat at his temples before it made its
way into his eyes. Jordon blinked, nodded to Jesse his agreement,
although for the life of him he wasn't quite sure what he'd
silently agreed to, and gathered the tackle for Jesse to take with
him.

"Irma needs to rest. We were out here longer
than is good for her. Make sure she drinks something with glucose,"
Jordon looked down at Irma and smirked, "Some of that bitter
lemonade would be good, before she rests for a bit."

Jesse packed up the protesting Irma and
headed toward the house. Jordon waited until they were out of
earshot before he turned to Reed. He drained his face of expression
out of a long habit of negotiating with worthy adversaries.

"If you want to
talk
, you'll have to
do it under the willow tree."

"Fine." Came her clipped reply.

Well that was easier than he expected.

"Naked."

Jordon waited for her to explode. He really
had no desire to talk or be lectured to. He relished the ability to
storm away and leave her to her elf-stomping until she fell in. But
she'd stopped stomping. He watched as she lifted her shirt and
pulled it over her head without pretense, or any attempt at
manipulating him with her feminine wiles, such as they were. Under
her peace frog shirt she had on a bright yellow skintight tank. The
kind he knew she favored wearing instead of a bra. It wasn't all
that sexy, he thought, his mouth suddenly dry.

"Let's go." She said, as she spun and headed
toward the other end of the pond.

She was halfway to the willow tree before
Jordon started after her.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Our nakedness together changes me
completely

Rumi~ 13th Century

Reed didn't stop at the willow tree.
Instead, she crossed the small bridge that covered the creek behind
the pond and made her way to the small clearing, completely
isolated by trees and brush for three-hundred-sixty degrees around.
No one could see them there. She didn't think anyone would be
interested in watching them, but she didn't know Irma and Jesse had
walkie-talkies either, and some modicum of parental restraint
should be exercised in front of her adopted son.

Truthfully, Reed acknowledged she wasn't
sure she could keep her volume down, and she didn't want an
audience for what would undoubtedly be juvenile behavior on her
part. Jordon, of course, wouldn't let his iron will crack enough to
do more than narrow those all-seeing green-gold eyes while she
screamed, screeched, pounded, and pawed at the farce her life had
become since she met him.

Why did she agree to out to dinner with a
total stranger?

Why did she hop on a jet with him and fly to
Vegas?

Why did she marry him?

And why in the name of the God and Goddess
did she allow herself to love him?

"Ahhrrr..." The sound hurt her throat but
she made it again. Apparently loudly enough that Jordon was able to
find her. "Ahhrr..."

Reed pulled off the remainder of her
clothing, except for her hiking sandals, and turned to face Jordon.
He stood a good three feet away, out of striking distance for both
arms and legs. She'd have to charge him to hit him, and with his
reflexes, Reed knew she'd be flat on her back before she connected.
She didn't mind being naked all that much, but she sure as hell
minded giving him the advantage of being on top.

Jordon gave her a quick once over, crossed
his arms over his chest, and spread his feet so he was firmly
anchored to the ground. Nothing in his stance, or his countenance,
suggested he was moved one way or the other by her nudity.

Maybe it was the shoes.

"You wanted to talk. So talk."

His coldness chafed her, and Reed suddenly
felt more exposed than she'd felt when her father disowned her
after finding out she was pregnant. Her world imploded when her
mother died. It fell to ash when her father called her a whore.

Reed moved to her pile of clothing, and was
about to throw her t-shirt back on when Jordon's hand manacled her
bicep with enough force to bruise. She jerked her head around,
willed the stinging in her eyes away, and was mesmerized by the
heat in his eyes, more gold now than green, sparkling with fire not
completely banked.

"Don't."

Relief spread momentarily through her.
Jordon wasn't quite as unaffected as he wanted her to believe. Reed
let the shirt fall. Jordon's grip eased but he still held her.

"You brought me out here for something. Spit
it out."

He loomed over her as she squatted next to
her pile of clothing. It was times like these that she remembered,
too late, just how big and powerful he was, like a giant cat all
lumbering grace until he pounced, bringing the full force of every
pound. She should have felt intimidated. She didn't. Whether that
was stupidity, or something deeper and more trusting, Reed couldn't
tell. Her I.Q. had taken a holiday the day she met Jordon.
Something more elemental, and arguably more knowing, had taken its
place.

"Back off."

"Step away from the clothes."

"Is everything a negotiation with you?"

"It is. I told you that the first day we
met. I'm the same man today, sweetheart."

Something flashed in Jordon's eyes that
looked like uncertainty but it was gone before Reed could be sure,
replaced with the scathing offhandedness he reverted to whenever
she challenged him.

Reed reached for her shorts and his grip
tightened again. She ignored it and him and fumbled around for the
invitation. She stood up as soon as she had it in her hands,
hitting his jaw with the top of her head in the process. He let
go.

"Ouch, woman. I'm going to have to have my
teeth capped the way you're going at me."

"If you weren't bruising my arm you wouldn't
have had to worry about it." Reed shot back, glaring up at him as
he rubbed his jaw.

His hand stopped. His eyebrows lowered and
he managed to look stern and sorry at the same time. He reached for
her arm, but she blocked him and took a step back at the same
time.

"I didn't intend to hurt you."

His expression told her that was true.

"I'm not some candy-ass you can hurt by
squeezing." Reed said, unconsciously rubbing her upper arm. She was
a candy-ass, but he didn't need to know it. Besides, he hurt her
pride more than her arm. She didn't expect him to fall to the
ground worshiping at the altar of her nudity, but a cat call or
whistle would have been nice.

"I can see that." He said, staring at her
hand where she was rubbing her bruised skin.

Reed dropped her hand, gritted her teeth and
thrust the envelope at him, waiting for him to take it. He took his
sweet time reading the damn thing, and Reed glanced at her
clothes.

"Don't even think about it." He didn't look
up.

"I can hear you. Save it for later."

Reed didn't realize she was growling at him,
low in her throat.
The way you're going there won't be any later
big guy
. Reed wasn't sure she was soothed by that thought or
disappointed. She opted instead for neutrality. She could always
get mad later.

Jordon kept his head down but shifted his
gaze to her. "So."

Later was now. "So? So when did dinner
become a weekend with the high and mighty, not to mention a weekend
with your ex-fiancé?"

Jordon cocked his head at her and narrowed
his eyes. "My what?"

"You heard me. The woman you were supposed
to marry, remember? Tall. Skeletal. Blond. Dripping diamonds
you
bought her."

Jordon smiled and Reed wanted to
explode.

"What bothers you most little elf?" He took
a step closer. Reed took two steps back.

"That Giselle's tall?" He took another
step.

"Blond?" Another step.

"Or dripping diamonds?"

Reed stumbled, trying to keep a safe
distance between them. Jordon caught her and brought her to him
with ease. She could feel his heat through his damp shirt and
shorts. His hand moved to her buttocks and he held her to him. He
was hard but in no hurry to satisfy that particular need, although
he wasn't above stoking it in her. His hand radiated heat as he
rubbed, squeezed, and caressed the fullness of her.

"Does it matter?" She was hoping for
defiant. What came out was too breathless for that.

"It does to me. Two of those I can fix." His
hand ran the length of her back, skimming the crease of her
buttocks. Reed shivered. Jordon chuckled and bent to whisper in her
ear.

"I can't make you taller. It would be a
shame of monumental proportions to change all this fire to straw,
but it could be done if you want." He said, running one hand
through her curly red hair that wouldn't stay blond no matter how
strong the dye.

"I can have you dripping diamonds from
here..." His finger traced the sensitive shell of her ear, "to
here..." he said trailing that finger to her belly-button, "to
here." The back of his hand grazed her hooded clitoris as he
captured her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the tender
skin above the plain rose gold band he placed on her finger in
Vegas.

She was about to rip her hand away and ream
him up one side and down the other for making her feel this way
when he picked her up in his arms, walked back to her pile of
clothing, and sat with her cradled in his lap.

He cupped her face gently in both of his
hands, green-gold eyes searching hers without pretense. "God, I've
missed you. These past few days have been hell."

He kissed her tenderly, barely touching her
lips. His tongue darted out seeking entrance, and his kiss
deepened. It wasn't carnal. Not yet. It was giving and loving and
real. Jordon pulled away and buried his face in her neck. Reed
wrapped her arms around him and held him there.

"I've missed you too."

Jordon pulled back and looked into her eyes.
She saw longing there and a need to believe her, but there was
something more. He was holding something back. Before she could
probe any further, she was sitting on the grass and he was standing
beside her.

It took no time at all for him to disrobe.
He took a step back, giving her time and distance. She supposed it
was to decide if she really wanted this. If she really wanted him.
He was even more powerful naked, standing before her like an
offering from the Gods. Maybe he was. She certainly wanted him to
be...to be what she wondered? Then it hit her with a clarity
reserved for those few decisions in life that make us who we
are.

Hers.

She wanted...she needed...him to be
hers.

Reed moved to him on her knees. She reached
up and guided him to her mouth. He was hard and full and she had
trouble taking him to the hilt, but that didn't stop her from
trying. He tasted of salt, soap, and musk that was solely Jordon,
and Reed loved it. She licked up and down. She sucked and savored,
and in the end, when he tried to push her away, she held tight,
taking as much of him as she could possibly take.