Jones, Beverly R

by All Things Sacred (Lit) (Triskelion)

  “I don’t think a fall caused this. Billy must have accidentally kicked you when he tried to jump over you.” Jackson winced as he gingerly touched the area near the cut. “Looks like his cleats might have caught you here.” He stood and said, “Be right back,” as he walked into the bathroom. He washed his hands and retrieved what he needed from the medicine cabinet.

  Kendall looked down at her chest. “Yikes, that’s ugly,” she announced as Jackson returned with a wet washcloth, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, ointment and bandages.

  As he walked toward her, his eyes rested on the spot that Kendall bent her head to examine. He thought it was anything but ugly. It was difficult to miss the swell of her breasts, the tanned skin that seemed to gleam against the blue satin bra, the errant wisps of dark auburn hair that fell across her chest as she looked down. He might have ‘played doctor’ when he was six, but Cynthia hadn’t looked anything like this. Hell, she didn’t look anything like this now.. He averted his eyes as he sat down next to Kendall and placed the bandages and ointment on the bed beside them. He set the bottle of hydrogen peroxide on the bedside table. Kendall looked up at him. He held the washcloth in one hand and brushed her hair back behind her neck with the other.

  “What are you going to do with that?” Kendall asked, looking alarmed.

  “I’m going to wipe the blood off. Then I’ll clean this cut out and bandage you up.”

  “Unh-uh. You’re not pouring that peroxide in there.”

  “That cut needs to be cleaned out. You’ve got dirt and God knows what else in there.”

  “Unh-uh,” she repeated.

  “You know, I remember one night not long ago when you were crying in the kitchen and you accused yourself of being a big baby. I said you were wrong. Don’t make me change my mind.”

  Kendall took in a deep breath, let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. “Fine,” she mumbled. “Go ahead.”

  Jackson began to gently wipe the blood and dirt from around the cut with the washcloth, careful not to press too hard against the abrasions. He paused and raised his head to look at her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she appeared to be holding her breath. Jackson laughed. “This is the easy part.”

  Kendall opened her eyes and watched him as he continued to clean around the cut. She studied his face. It was so intent with the concentration of his task. He winced a couple of times, as if he were afraid he had rubbed the abrasions too hard and hurt her even more. She watched his eyes as he worked, seeing in them what appeared to be expressions of both apprehension and devotion. A lock of chestnut hair fell across his forehead. She felt a sudden need to reach out and touch it.

  “Okay, here comes the tough part,” Jackson said, lifting his head and breaking her concentration. He unscrewed the cap on the bottle of peroxide. “You might want to lie down, so it doesn’t drip all over.”

  Kendall slid down so that she was lying flat, her head resting on the pillow. Jackson folded the washcloth and held it beside her to catch any runoff of peroxide.

  “This is going to burn like hell, isn’t it?” Kendall asked.

  “Probably,” Jackson answered her. “I’ll blow on it so it doesn’t sting so much.”

  “Is that a trick all you six-year-olds learned in medical school?”

  Jackson grinned and winked at her. “Ready?”

  Kendall shut her eyes and nodded her head. Jackson lowered the bottle of peroxide near the cut and tilted it slowly until a small stream poured out and covered the wound. The peroxide began to foam up immediately. Still holding the bottle in his hand, Jackson leaned over and blew vigorously on the cut. He kept blowing, darting his eyes up to her face. She was breathing rapidly through clenched teeth, her eyes squeezed shut. He could see tears beginning to form in her lashes as she struggled to overcome the pain. Jackson kept blowing..

  Soon the stinging subsided and Kendall opened her eyes. She saw Jackson’s head still lowered above her chest as he continued to blow cool air across the cut. His face was just inches from hers, the muscle in his jaw line flexing as he blew. He appeared so diligent at his task, as if he would continue until he hyperventilated if that’s what it took to soothe her. She realized at that moment how much she had come to care for this man. It saddened her to know she wouldn’t be with him long. She reached a hand up and gently touched his hair. “You can stop now,” she whispered.

  He stopped blowing and turned to look at her, his head still poised above her breasts. “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said quietly.

  “It’s okay. It didn’t really hurt that much,” she lied.

  “You’re not a very good liar. Don’t you know your eyes give you away every time? You can’t hide it, you know. Sadness, joy, pain, worry. You’ve got the most expressive eyes I’ve ever seen.”

  A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek. Oh, how she wanted him, wanted him to love her, even if only for this brief moment in time. She looked at him now with an expression that was impossible to misread. “What do you see in them now?” she whispered, her bottom lip trembling.

  Jackson blinked slowly, then stared into those beckoning green eyes as he moved to close the gap that separated them. He looked down tremulously at the lips he so desperately sought. He lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her softly, moving his lips easily against hers, tasting her, savoring her. Her breath whispered against his mouth, her lips parting for more. He raised himself higher, propping his hands beside her, careful not to touch the wound. His lips still grazed hers sensually, seeking only to cherish the softness of her at that moment.

  Then he raised his head to look at her. The look on her face stabbed at his heart. She reached up slowly and placed gentle fingertips upon his lips as she spoke his name. She said it in a way that cleansed years of pain from his soul. The tears in her eyes were stronger now, the emotion welling up in her. He gently kissed her eyelids, her cheek, the side of her neck, then moved again to her mouth. The kiss was soft at first, as before, but grew stronger, the passion building in him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and ran delicate fingers through his hair. He forced her lips open with his as his tongue found the warm sweetness he had yearned for. His body shuddered and he kissed her more deeply, then deeper still, as if it would forever satiate the hunger he could no longer deny.

  Her hands moved down his back. His tee shirt was still damp from playing softball in the hot sun. She slid both hands underneath his shirt and gripped the smooth, taut skin, feeling the muscles rippling beneath her fingers as he moved above her. His mouth found her uninjured breast and he placed a light kiss on the swell above her bra. His breath came in quick, heavy bursts as he found the nipple through the soft satin and caught it gently in his mouth. He wanted to pull the material away, but he dare not risk hurting her.

  He realized then that he had broken his own rule, that he had let himself get carried away. He had kissed her again, when he had promised himself he wouldn’t. Especially now that her memory was coming back, now that he knew she had a husband out there somewhere. He wanted to take care of her, wanted to protect her from the evil she was sure would catch up to her soon. And he would do that. He would safeguard her as if his own life depended on it. But he wouldn’t do this. He couldn’t do this, he told himself. He raised his head, hesitated, then blew lightly on the wound of her other breast, as if suddenly desiring only to make her comfortable.

  “Does it hurt?” he asked quietly.

  “No,” she said as she shook her head against the pillow. She smiled at him, a warming smile that sent shivers across the back of his neck.

  He sat and looked at her for a while. She stared up at him and tried to smile, but it made her bottom lip quiver. Not a word passed between them. Jackson broke the silence finally and said, “We’d better put a bandage on that.”

  He squeezed antibiotic cream from the tube and began spreading it lightly across the abrasions with his index finger. When he reached the edge of her bra, he pulled it away slightly an
d rubbed more ointment where the abrasions continued. “I can’t get to all of it,” he mumbled, more to himself than to her.

  “It opens in the front,” she responded softly, looking up at him with steadfast eyes.

  He caught her expression, hesitated for a moment, then laid the tube of ointment on the bed and unclasped the front of her bra. He folded the material back to expose her breast and swallowed hard. He squeezed more ointment onto his finger and began to cover the rest of the abrasions. He was having difficulty with the contradiction of his feelings of compassion for her injuries and his arousal at the sight of her bare breast. He quickly grabbed the package of gauze and tore at it with his teeth. He removed the square of gauze and laid it over the wound, then tore off pieces of the white medical tape and pressed it gently around the edges. Jackson picked up the half of her bra that he had lain aside and replaced it over her breast, gingerly re-hooking it.

  He inhaled deeply and looked at her and tried to smile. “I hope I didn’t hurt you,” he said. “I tried to be as gentle as I could, but I guess that doesn’t come too easy for me. I’m used to mending wounds on horses, not women.”

  “You did just fine. It doesn’t hurt at all now, and I’m not lying this time,” she said softly, her eyes never wavering from his.

  He stared at her for another moment and saw that she was telling the truth.

  “You could never hurt me, Jackson,” she whispered as she reached up and smoothed his hair.

  His gaze lowered to her lips. God, how he wanted to kiss her just once more. He looked up into her eyes then and saw the expression he had longed to see there and knew that his battle to remain unaffected by her was lost. He leaned over and kissed her. He kissed her for a long time before he raised his head to look into her eyes again. She smiled at him, a tremulous yet intensely beckoning smile, as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “Kendall, I don’t think—” he began before she reached up and placed a fingertip across his lips.

  “Sh-h,” she responded quietly, “don’t think about anything right now. Not right now, okay?”

  He nodded slowly and kissed her mouth again gently, then kissed her forehead, her cheek, then moved down to her neck and kissed her there, as he breathed in the fresh smell of her hair, her skin, the entire essence of her.

  Kendall unhooked the front of her bra and Jackson raised his head and watched as she pulled it aside. He breathed heavily as he moved his head down to her uninjured breast. He brushed his lips across the swell of it, then moved to that delicate spot he hungered for. Kendall sucked in a quick breath, the sensation overwhelming her. She dug her hands into his back, softly moaning as he continued. It seemed to her that he was drawing every lucid thought from her. She was conscious only of her body now and the pulsating tremor that flowed and gushed from her breast to her groin and back again. He moved back up toward her face, kissing her throat, the side of her neck, her jaw, his lips and tongue tasting every inch of her as he went. His mouth returned to hers, hungrily seeking her.

  “I want to feel you against me,” she whispered.

  Jackson rose slightly and pulled his shirt over his head and threw it aside. He leaned down, gently laying his chest against hers. The feel of her skin against his was like a welcome mixture of searing heat and acute chill he couldn’t remember ever feeling before. Neither could he remember his heart being consumed with such an intensity of both passion and love. Had he ever felt like this before, or had he just forgotten? He didn’t think he would have forgotten a feeling like this.

  He wanted desperately to make love to her. He wanted desperately to protect her, to shield her from any further pain or heartache. At the same time that little voice inside gnawed at him, stop this, stop this now, don’t do this... He had listened to that voice for so long now. He had let it guide and protect him from the kind of pain he never wanted to relive.

  And with Kendall that pain would surely come, might even be worse than he feared. He knew that once he made love to her, the pain of losing her would be impossible to bear. Her memory was coming back. She had a husband out there somewhere, one who may be waiting for her. A husband who didn’t sound like he deserved her, but one who was there, all the same.

  There was a possibility she would be gone from his life soon. Jackson didn’t want to think about that. He could think of nothing right now other than how much he wanted her. He couldn’t deny it any longer. He just wanted her, and he knew he’d be willing to take as much as she was willing to give, as much or as little of her that he’d be left with in the end. He kissed her deeply, his hands running through her hair, his chest moving against hers. He flinched as the thought struck him that he might be hurting her and he raised his body above hers. He looked down and gently touched her bandage.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

  Kendall gazed up at him with eyes that held a mixture of passion and adoration. She looked at him in a way no one had ever looked at him before. “You’re not hurting me,” she answered, reaching up to caress his temple with her fingers. She brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, then ran her fingertips down his cheek and across his lips. He kissed her fingers as they hovered over his mouth.

  Jackson reached down, unsnapped her shorts and removed them. He dropped her shorts onto the floor, then removed the blue satin panties. She raised herself on an elbow so that he could bring the bra around her back and gently remove it from her injured side. He sat on the edge of the bed to remove his shoes. She lay on her back and marveled at the sight of him. The smooth, tanned skin taut against hard muscles that flexed and rippled as he unlaced his cleats. She placed her hand on his back and stroked it gently, unable to refrain from touching him for even a moment. He stood and looked down at her. His eyes wandered down the length of her, then back up again, where his eyes met hers.

  “My God, you’re so beautiful,” he said as he looked at her with a hunger and intensity that seemed to rip through him. He removed his jeans and dropped them to the floor. Then he went to her. He lay down beside her and pulled her against him.

  They were both consumed with a powerful need to feel their bodies against each other, the full length of each of them melting into one another, their skin tingling and chilling and burning all at once. Jackson ran his hand over her hips, then down, where his fingers probed until he found the spot that made her gasp. His fingers continued moving against her as her breathing became heavier. She pressed her mouth against his hungrily. He kissed her, his tongue searching desperately for solace from the ache of wanting her.

  He raised his body above hers. He looked down into her eyes, eyes that beseeched him with desire, and something else, something he’d never seen before, and then he slowly slid into her. She gasped more loudly this time as he pressed his face into her neck and a muffled groan sounded in his throat. She sucked in her breath, her body moving beneath his, writhing from the bliss of feeling every part of him. He moved slowly within her while he kissed her, grasping her hair in his hand and clenching it at the base of her neck.

  It seemed to Kendall they continued like that forever, lost in a world only the two of them could define. She felt the sensations burst inside of her over and over. And she wanted to be with him like this forever. She didn’t want to think of this ever ending. Her mind whispered urgently, I love you, Jackson, though she dare not speak it out loud. Her heart cried with the love she felt for him, the love she wanted to give him forever, though she knew she wouldn’t be with him that long.

  Then the tears welled up in her eyes as he began moving more rapidly, the crescendo bursting within her even more powerfully than before. A guttural sound escaped from Jackson’s throat as he collapsed on his elbows, being careful not to lean into her bandage. He breathed deeply for a few moments and then turned toward her and kissed her cheek. He felt the wetness there and raised up to look at her. The sun was going down, casting shadows into the room, but he could see the tears on her face.

  “I’ve hurt y
ou?” he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in a pained expression. “God, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.” He gingerly touched the tape around the bandage and began to remove it. “It might be bleeding again. I’m so sorry.”

  “No,” she whispered as she reached up and put her hand over his. “It doesn’t hurt.”

  “What, then? What’s wrong? Are you still worried about the man who’s looking for you?”

  “No. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing’s wrong at all.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks and kissed him on the mouth.

  He held her face and looked at her and kissed her again. “No one’s going to hurt you, Kendall. I promise you that. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He pulled her face into his chest and rubbed the back of her hair. “You don’t have to be scared, baby.”

  She held him tightly around his neck, fighting valiantly to choke back the tears. Tears she so desperately wanted to shed for the loss she felt. If it were only a simple matter of fear. But it was so much more than that. Her mind screamed at the loss that would soon come.

  Oh, Jackson, she cried inwardly.

  Chapter 16

  >Jackson and Kendall rejoined the crowd out in the yard. Some of the guests had begun to filter away. Jackson apologized for his absence to those who remained, but explained that Kendall had been injured and her wounds had required immediate attention. The top of the bandage showed above the low neckline of Kendall’s clean shirt. Jackson had also put a bandage on her thigh, though it hadn’t required one. They both thought it would better explain their long absence. Tom and Casey exchanged knowing glances, a smile escaping from Casey’s lips.