Jordan Reclaimed

by Scarlett Cole

  “Ow. Ow. Ow. Motherfucker,” she cried, and his heart twisted in his chest.

  “That might be the second time I’ve heard you swear, Lex,” he said, attempting to distract her. “All done on that one.” The red welt on her thigh hadn’t broken the skin, as she’d been protected by her clothes. “Just got to deal with the one on your back, and then we can get you dressed.”

  It struck Jordan as he stroked Lexi’s hair over her shoulder, running his fingers over her smooth skin in a way that wasn’t the least bit sexual, that this was the first time he’d taken care of someone else like this. Among the band, they tried to be supportive, but they weren’t physically caring. They took care of their own shit. And all the other women he’d been involved with had usually been one-night stands or short runs of fun. But caring for someone else in this way was incredibly . . . personal. Fulfilling even. Fuck, who was he kidding? It was intimate, and special. It was something he could get used to. Not that he ever wanted to see Lexi hurt ever again, but knowing he could be the person she ran to, the guy who could make it all better for her, made him feel like he had value for once in his life.

  “You doing okay, Lex?” he asked as he cleaned the wound on her back and applied the cream.

  She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I’m better now that I’m here with you.”

  Jordan wiped his finger clean on the cloth and then grabbed his T-shirt off the back of the sofa. He scrunched it up so he could slip it over her head and slide it down her back gently, figuring the loose fabric wouldn’t irritate her too much.

  “How’s that?”

  “Much better. Thank you, Jordan,” she said on a sigh. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest.

  He wrapped one arm around her waist, the side that wasn’t sore. He placed a hand on her head and held her against him.

  “What am I going to do about Dad, Jordan?” she asked quietly.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Do you want to call the police?”

  Lexi shook her head. “I know I should. But how does that help either of us? I don’t intend to ever put myself in that position with him again. I’ll move out tomorrow. Rent a place, crash with a friend or something, until the house is sold. But with a criminal record, Dad would have an even harder time getting a job.”

  He wanted to push her to call the police, but she’d made some valid points. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t go over there and deliver his own kind of justice.

  “Will you promise me something, Jordan?” she asked.

  “Anything, Lex,” he said quickly, meaning it completely.

  “Promise me if I don’t report it to the police that you won’t go over there and do something stupid.”

  Fuck. “Don’t ask me that,” he said. “I can’t let him get away with this.”

  “Promise me. My dad is smart. He’ll report you without hesitation. And he’ll likely sue you for damages.” Lexi stepped back and looked him in the eye, and, goddammit, he could feel himself wavering.

  “It’ll be worth every penny to nail the bastard who did this to you. I don’t care.” He stroked a piece of her hair back behind her ear.

  “I care, Jordan. You are more important to me than he is. Please. Help me move my stuff out, keep me safe. But don’t retaliate.”

  He hated the idea of her moving in with a friend when he wanted her here with him. “Okay, I’ll promise on one condition.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Move in here with me, Lex. And if that feels like too much after such a short time, move into Dred’s room, and I’ll move back into my room or the guest room. Just let me . . . I don’t know . . . look after you for a while.” Perhaps she’d get used to the idea and stay. In fact, he’d make that his mission. Because as much as he’d tried to fight it, the tightness he felt in his chest every time they were together could only mean one thing. He’d fallen in love with the woman in front of him.

  “I can’t . . . it’s too soon . . . it’s too—”

  “Just say yes, Lex.”

  He waited patiently while her eyes searched his, and then a sad smile broke out across her face.

  “Thank you, Jordan,” she said, lifting herself onto her toes to kiss him.

  Finally, he was worth something.

  * * *

  “Thank you so much for your understanding. I’ll see you next week.” Lexi hung up the phone.

  Jordan leaned over the breakfast bar and took her hand. “What did they say?”

  “They gave me three days off. Told me to go get some rest.” Lexi’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “I hate that I had to tell them at all, but they’ll see the marks when I go back, anyway. Seriously, I want to run away and hide right now.”

  “Mortifying” didn’t even begin to describe it. She hadn’t felt right lying to the head of the ballet company, but she also didn’t want everyone else to know, so it was best to tell Karen and let her discreetly handle it. Either way, there was no way she was heading into rehearsal this morning.

  “You want to run away and hide?” Jordan asked, excitement lacing his tone.

  “If only,” she laughed.

  “No, I got this,” Jordan said, jumping to his feet. “Wait here.” He raced up the stairs. “Nikan!” she heard him roar.

  Lexi shook her head. She had plans that needed making, but today just didn’t feel like the day. At some point she would need to go home to pick up her things, but it was best to give her father a chance to cool down and sober up. Plus, she figured Jordan would loan her another T-shirt if she asked. He’d been such a gentleman when they’d gone to bed, but in the middle of the night, she woken up wrapped in his arms, his erection pressed against her ass as he snored softly behind her. She’d wanted him to help her escape the thoughts plaguing her by making love with him, but when she’d woken him, he’d refused. Instead, he’d pulled her even closer, urging her to rest and recover. Maybe she could seduce him. Didn’t guys love it when chicks wore their clothes?

  A thunder of footsteps and voices roared down the stairs. Elliott went down into the basement and reappeared with four large suitcases.

  Nikan had his phone pressed to his ear. “Yeah, wheels up this morning,” he said, winking at her. “What have you got?” He took one of the cases from Elliott and disappeared upstairs.

  Lennon hurried into the hall and pulled on his coat, hat, mitts, and gloves. “Morning, Lexi,” he said as he headed toward the mudroom.

  Then the room fell quiet again. Minutes later, Jordan came back downstairs dressed, carrying a suitcase that was now obviously heavier than it was before.

  “Here,” he said, passing her a giant hoodie lined with soft fleece and a pair of shorts. “Put these on. They’ve got a drawstring you can tighten. It’s going to look a bit ridiculous on you, but it won’t be for long. I’d give you sweatpants, but they’ll be way too big.”

  “Jordan,” she said. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re going to your place to get your stuff. Three cases. One you pack to take with us, the other two we’re going to give Lennon to bring back here. Then you and I are going to run away and hide.”

  Lexi felt as though her chest was expanding like a balloon being inflated. “We are?”

  “We are.” He gripped hold of both sides of her T-shirt and tightened it in his fist. “There is so much I still need to learn how to do, but this I can fix. And when you pack, put this T-shirt in the take-with-us case. Last night wasn’t the night, but some time over the next few days, I’m gonna fuck you in it.” Jordan grinned at her, and she couldn’t help but return the smile.

  That smile diminished once she was covered in Jordan’s oversized clothes and seated in the back of Lennon’s car, which was currently parked outside her home. The living room curtains were open, but there was no sign of her father in his preferred seat by the window.

  “You know we aren’t going to let h
im get near you, right?” Jordan said as he brought her hand to his lips.

  Lennon turned in the driver’s seat and lifted his sunglasses. “You have my word on that, Lexi,” he added, sincerely.

  Intellectually, she knew her father didn’t stand a chance against the two men. But she still felt a rush of adrenaline at the thought of getting out of the car.

  “We can do this for you, if you want, Lex. Just tell me what to grab.” Jordan ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

  “No,” she said. “This is something I need to do.”

  They stepped out of the car and hurried to the side entrance. Once inside, Lexi stopped for a moment and pressed her ear to the door to the main floor. Relief flooded her when she heard no sound, but that didn’t stop her from rushing around the basement, asking Lennon to pack up all the things on her desk. Jordan helped fill her suitcases as she pulled on clothes of her own.

  There was no way to relax until they were back in Lennon’s car.

  Lennon ran the cases out to the trunk, while Jordan placed his arm around her. “All good?”

  She took one last look around the place she had called home. There was nothing left that couldn’t be replaced, and no matter what happened next, she wouldn’t be back here to stay.

  “Yeah,” she said, sadly. “Take me away, Jordan.”

  Six hours and one private jet flight later, Lexi was leaning back on her sun lounger, letting the hot Jamaican sun warm her skin as she lay alongside their private pool at the luxurious Round Hill resort. Insects and birds chirped around them in the otherwise total silence. She looked up from the guidebook she was reading. “I don’t know what’s more exciting. The fact that JFK honeymooned here or that Ryan Gosling stayed here.”

  Jordan looked at her over the top of his sunglasses from the pool. “Ryan Gosling gets within ten feet of you and I’m going to beat the crap out of the fucker.”

  He swam to the edge and hoisted himself out of the water, the muscles in his arms and shoulders flexing. Like a predator, he stalked over to her, removing his glasses and throwing them onto his own towel. His black board shorts hung low on his hips, his body dripping with water. Christ, even his stomach muscles flexed. Suddenly she had the urge to run her tongue along them.

  Soaking wet, he placed his knees on either side of her legs and crawled up her body, the cool drops of water soothing her heated skin.

  “Keep looking at me like that, Sexy-Lexi, and I might take you right here.” He lowered his body onto hers, and she could tell by the way his cock pressed against her that he wasn’t joking. She placed her hands on his head and pulled his mouth to hers.

  “Keep pressing up against me like that,” she said as seductively as she could, “and I might let you.”

  “Lex,” Jordan warned. “We aren’t completely private.”

  He rolled off her and pointed up toward the next villa over. “I’m sure they could see us from their patio,” he said. “But tonight, when it’s dark, then . . .” He trailed off with a wink.

  Jordan lay on his side and threw his arm over her stomach, and Lexi turned her head to face him. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she said, quietly. “I had no idea how badly I needed this. How much do I owe you?” There wasn’t an easy way to ask the question, but she didn’t expect him to spend his money on her.

  “Nothing, and don’t argue,” he said, not giving her a chance to cut him off. “It’s only money, Lex. To be honest, I have a shitload of it. So if I can do things like this that make our lives together better, I’m going to—every chance I get.”

  “Well, in that case, I am doubly grateful. And I’m sure there are other ways I can make it up to you,” she said, looking up at him coyly.

  “Hmm,” Jordan said, running his hand up over her hip and onto her butt. “I like the sound of that.” He pressed his lips to hers and Lexi welcomed him, opening to him. His touch was warm yet lazy. Sexy, but not in a rip-your-clothes-off kind of way.

  “Can I ask you a question, Lex?” he murmured between gentle kisses along her collarbone.

  “Keep kissing me like this, and you can do anything you want,” she replied.

  He pulled away from her and took hold of her hand. “I’m sorry . . . for running. I scared myself while talking to you about what happened to me as a kid and needed space. Regret is shitty, but I felt it as soon as I realized what I’d done. When I figured it out, I rushed back to the house, but Nik told me you’d gone.”

  Lexie let out a sigh. She’d been trying to think of the right time to bring his disappearing act up, but in the light of everything else, it had fallen down the priority list. “Then make me a promise, Jordan.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “Promise me that next time it gets hard, or tough, or you simply need space . . . promise me you’ll just tell me. Okay? I won’t stop you from going, but it will stop me from worrying.”

  “I promise. I’m sorry I gave you cause to worry.” He kissed her lips gently, and she could feel the sincerity in his apology.

  “Good. So, what was your question?”

  “I didn’t want to ask yesterday, but when you told your dad you were selling the house, did that mean the New York ballet guy changed your mind? Are you selling because you’re leaving? I mean, we’ll manage, whatever you want to do, but I’m just trying to get my head around it.”

  “Oh my gosh, Jordan. No.” She turned on her side to face him properly. She’d left the poor guy hanging, too wrapped up in her own shit. “Definitely not. I’m staying in Toronto.”

  Jordan’s shoulders relaxed as the stress she hadn’t noticed he’d been carrying dissipated. “Thank fuck for that. I mean, should you ever want to go dance somewhere else, we’ll make it work, but I’m relieved you’re not.”

  Lexi stroked his face, running her fingers through his beard in the way he liked. “I love the National Ballet of Canada. I think it’s wrong that it isn’t talked about the same way as the ballets in New York, Paris, England, and Russia. But it’s really close, and I want to be the dancer to help them get there.”

  Jordan took her hand and kissed the back of it. “My tour is coming up, Lex, and I’m already dreading not being with you,” he said, gruffly. “I know it’s not quite two months since I saw you dance on Christmas Eve, but I hate the idea of being away from you.”

  She looked up at the face she was well and truly falling for. “Well, misery loves company. I don’t like the idea of being separated either. I guess we’ll both have some crazy commuting coming up because I like us together too much for it to go any other way.”

  “Don’t even think about that,” he said, tugging her to him. “We’ll get through this, Lex. There are times when you’re going to have to travel to dance, and there’ll be times when I need to tour. And there will be moments when we can play hooky like this and steal time together.”

  His eyes looked even brighter in the warmth of the hot Jamaican sun, and they held the promise of his words.

  “Take me inside and make love to me, Jordan. Help me forget everything else.”

  He smiled as he stood and lifted her into his arms. He walked into the villa and took the three steps up from the living room into their bedroom before placing her down gently on the bed. His still-wet swim trunks hit the floor with a splat, and Jordan stood before her in all his naked glory.

  He reached forward for the front clasp of her bikini top. “Very considerate of you to make it such easy access, Lex.”

  A gentle breeze billowed the netting around the bed as he pulled slowly and deliberately on the strings of her bikini bottom. His eyes roamed her body, and butterflies danced in her stomach in anticipation of where he would touch her first. Her nipples tightened at the thought.

  Slowly, he ran the tip of his finger down her stomach, over the top of her mound and clit, and through her lips. “I love how wet you get at the idea of my cock in you, Lexi,” he said. “Do you know how desperate for you that makes me?”

  Lexi gasped as he eased his finger insid
e her and withdrew painfully slowly. She burned for him, ached where he touched her and even where he didn’t.

  “We have forty-eight hours, and yet I find I can’t wait to be inside you.” Jordan grabbed the condom from the box on the side table and covered himself. When he joined her on the bed, he sat leaned up against all the pillows piled against the headboard. “Come ride me, Lex,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Lexi turned onto her knees and crawled along his legs until she was sitting over him. Sunlight hit his dirty blond hair, turning it golden. He smelled like chlorine from the pool, and sunscreen. She slid her hands around his neck and kissed him deeply.

  Jordan reached between the two of them, and she could feel his cock brush against her entrance. As slowly as he had entered her with his finger, she lowered herself onto him with a groan. She lifted a little, allowed her wetness to coat him, before sliding all the way to the hilt.

  “Oh, God, Jordan,” she said, shocked at how he filled her, despite all the previous times they had come together.

  Jordan gripped her hips. “Fuck, Lex. Every fucking time, it feels like the best I ever had.”

  Spurred by his comments, Lexi began to ride him. Up and down, grinding against him. Chasing the fulfillment he always delivered. Chasing all other thoughts away.

  Jordan’s hands crept up her waist and gripped her breasts. He was looking down at where they were joined, and she looked too, watching Jordan slide in and out of her. Everything inside her tightened at the view.

  “Jordan,” she gasped breathlessly. “Would it freak you out . . . if I told you . . . I’d fallen in love with you?”

  Jordan stopped what he was doing and stared at her, his mouth slightly open. He shook his head as if to recover his thoughts, then somehow managed to flip them over so he was on top of her, still buried deep inside.

  He thrust into her, deeper and deeper. “No, Lex,” he said, his voice rough.

  His cock was hitting her in all the right places, and she was right on the edge. Jordan placed his hands on either side of her face and pressed his lips to hers. Not speaking, not kissing. He even stopped moving. There was a look of steely determination on his face as sweat trickled down his temples.