"You are so wrong, you know." Jayce shifted in her chair uneasily, and Tiara sneered. She turned away again, and stared into the fire. "Something you said the other day has been tickling the back of my brain."
"What might that be?"
"You said the road ran both ways."
"Yeah, so?" Tiara frowned.
Jayce took a deep breath. "Did you know Angie had a restraining order against Slim and me?" Tiara felt the blood drain from her face. A restraining order for what? Why prevent Jayce for seeing her? Why prevent her father from seeing her? She shook her head. Jayce continued. "I can't give the specifics for Slim, but I wrote to you every day for a month, and once a week for a couple more after that. I knew they made it to your house. Angie made certain that I knew. I stopped writing you on my nineteenth birthday."
All this time Tiara believed Jayce had abandoned her, but she hadn't given up, not at first, anyway. "Jayce, I swear, I never saw even one letter." Then something Jayce said snagged her attention. "Was the restraining order to make sure you stopped trying to contact me?"
Slowly, Jayce shook her head, and then turned to stare at Tiara's face. This time, Tiara shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. Tiara had no choice but squirm, the hurt reflected in the blue depths painful to witness, knowing that she was the cause, even if inadvertently because of her mother.
The emotional turmoil dredged up inside the shack seemed mirrored by the force of the storm outside. Tiara's focus was on Jayce, yet the thunder still cracked, flashes of lightening lit the room like a strobe. And, with each strike, her nerves strained to snapping.
She almost gave up hope that she'd get an explanation when Jayce stood and walked to the fireplace, tossing another log on the fire. "One of my letters was returned to me opened," Jayce said, keeping her back to Tiara. "I expected you were letting me know you weren't interested, maybe to leave you alone. But it wasn't from you."
"What did Angie do?" Tiara grimaced, afraid of what she'd learn in the answer. Circumstances forced her to live with Angie for too long, not to realize what kind of vindictive woman her mother had been. For years, Tiara had assumed herself the only victim of Angie's hatefulness. Had she been so wrong as to shun the only people--the one person--on her side the whole time? Tiara wanted Jayce to turn around, but part of her feared what she might see. "Jayce, look at me."
After she said the words, Tiara was almost sorry. When Jayce turned around, Tiara noticed a lone tear, glistening in the fire's light, trickle down Jayce's cheek. Witnessing emotion, usually so uncharacteristic from the cheerful, playful woman, caused Tiara to stiffen in dread. She wasn't surprised to hear the trembling of her voice when she asked, "What did Angie say in the letter?"
Jayce didn't meet her gaze. In a whisper, Jayce said, "She wrote, 'You are perverted. Tiara wants nothing to do with your filth. Keep your aberrant behavior away from my daughter.' Angie used a very bright red marker to write the message." Jayce inhaled deeply. "Since I never received a letter from you..."
"You took it as my agreement with Angie's point of view." No wonder Jayce had given up on attempts to keep the channels of communication open. Jayce nodded solemnly. Tiara swallowed against the constriction in her throat from sentiments she held at bay--barely. Rage and excitement battled for release. Tiara was mad at Angie, however useless it was now, for keeping away the one person who ever made her feel alive inside. Excitement that maybe she would have had a chance at "happily-ever-after" if she'd come back sooner. One point niggled at Tiara, and she asked, "Then why kiss me? Hell, why even give me the time of day after that?"
Before Jayce answered, a boom of thunder, imitating cannon fire, shook the shack. Tiara screeched and shivered violently enough to make her teeth clench. In less than a second, Jayce was in front of her, wrapping Tiara in her arms. "I've got you," Jayce whispered against her ear. "Nothing's gonna happen to you." Just as Tiara acknowledged the statement in her head, she heard the audible gulp in Jayce's throat. She pulled away a little and gazed up into Jayce's eyes. Even in the meager lighting, Tiara saw the blue depths darkening with desire, with need. "Well, almost nothing is gonna happen," Jayce whispered against her lips, just before claiming them hungrily.
Chapter Fifteen
JAYCE HAD WORRIED this would happen, knew she couldn't stop herself from kissing Tiara. She didn't understand her own reactions when near Tiara, she simply responded as her heart compelled her to do. They were part of the same whole, Jayce incomplete without Tiara. Jayce also realized she'd said too much about Angie. She couldn't stop herself, she wanted Tiara to know the truth, because Jayce wanted more than friendship from Tiara. She wanted what could have been. Even through her other relationships, short as they usually were, including with Sarah, Jayce kept linking memories of Tiara and using those in comparison against the other women. If soul mates truly existed, Tiara was hers, and she'd known it that summer in the barn.
Though Jayce doubted Tiara was ready for the entire truth, she needed an honest answer to her question. Breaking the kiss, Jayce pulled away, and realized from Tiara's sharp gasp that the blanket no longer covered her. Aware of Tiara's discomfort with her nudity, Jayce pointedly ignored it to concentrate on one matter at a time. Gently she clasped Tiara's face in her hands and tilted Tiara's gaze upward so she would only see Jayce's face. Once she had Tiara's attention, Jayce said, "Because I very much wanted it to be a lie. Since our first kiss, I wanted you to return at least a smidgen of the feelings I have for you."
Tiara didn't appear convinced. "Why'd you run away that day?"
Embarrassed and flushed, Jayce replied, "I didn't run."
"Why?"
"Oh, Red," Jayce muttered in agony. "You were a thirty-plus year old soul in a fourteen year old body. I didn't know what to do with the situation. I wanted you so badly that I physically hurt. Touching you as I wanted would have bordered on illegal, my being weeks away from eighteen." They were close enough that Jayce could feel heat radiating off Tiara's body, the warmth of her expelled breath caressed Jayce's face. Her own body responded to Tiara's proximity, tingling as if zapped by a bolt of the lightening's current. "Before I could work anything out in my head, Angie took you away. After what was written on my returned letter, I thought I'd been mistaken, fooling myself into believing I read more in your response to our kiss." Jayce released Tiara's face, and gently ran her hands up and down Tiara's blanket covered arms. "Angry, and hurt, I simply quit believing we were more than just kids who grew up as neighbors."
Tiara wrinkled her nose. "Angry because Angie classified you as deviant?" she asked, tenderly poking a finger into Jayce's bare abdomen. "Maybe she thought that meant bully."
Arousal coursed warm and sweet as melted chocolate through Jayce's blood. She groaned, trying to concentrate on the topic. "No, Angie knew exactly what she meant. After the restraining order, I had no doubts Angie would have me arrested if given the chance."
"I'm sorry she hurt you," Tiara said.
"Yeah, well, you're the one who had to put up with her full-time." Some of the lightheartedness drained from Tiara. Jayce continued, fighting the urge to comfort her. "Actually, I guess I hurt because I knew that kiss in the barn would be the first and last kiss we'd ever share and I never told you how I really felt about you." Jayce was on dangerous ground with the admission and her nudity and her need. Pulling away and snatching the blanket from the floor, Jayce wrapped it around herself and backed up. She did what she should have done long ago. Jayce had confessed her feelings, and explained the circumstances of the past. Obviously, emotions truly were all on her side, as Tiara wasn't returning any admissions. "You should get some sleep."
"Don't you mean 'we' should get sleep?" Tiara asked.
"Well, yeah. I'll use the chair or stretch out on the floor." Jayce wished Hollywood had thought to use bunk beds in here. Maybe she'd see to that matter later.
Tiara scowled. "You'll never get any sleep that way." As if an everyday occurrence, Tiara stretched out on the bunk, blanket still
tight around her, and scooted back against the wall. With a quick pat to the space beside her, Tiara said, "Come on. I promise to behave myself."
Immediately, Jayce felt flustered. Being close to a naked Tiara, she didn't think she could make the same promise. In a voice that croaked, Jayce turned her back, blew out the flame to the lantern and said, "Get under the covers, they're clean. Edna takes care of that every week. I'll sleep on top." When Tiara chuckled, Jayce felt her entire body heat with embarrassment. "Oh...that's... that's not what I meant."
"I know," Tiara said softly, a hint of laughter remaining. "Okay, your turn."
Jayce carefully climbed up, trying to keep the blanket secured around her. Then she stretched out stiffly, her body as aware as her brain that, despite the barriers, Tiara was mere centimeters from her. Shivers of pleasure ran through Jayce. Both were silent for a long time, and Jayce could feel that Tiara's tension matched her own.
It appeared neither was going to get any sleep tonight.
THE RANDOM FLASHES of lightening no longer eclipsed the soft golden illumination cast by the fire. Her fear of storms no longer an issue--much--since Tiara felt safer as long as Jayce was with her. As Tiara lay still, trying not shift and unintentionally brush against Jayce, her head endeavored to make sense of all she'd learned tonight.
Those last years under Angie's roof had taught her how self-centered and hateful her mother really was. But she'd never expected that selfishness had extended beyond Tiara's own personal dealings. In all the years after Angie's death, Tiara's beliefs of abandonment had never wavered. Never would she have considered that Angie had intercepted her incoming, and obviously outgoing, mail. Never, not even remotely, expected that Angie would file such harsh legal papers against the two people Tiara loved and needed most. She didn't know why she should be surprised, though, since the crux of Angie's reasoning was to isolate Tiara's affections. Only it had elicited the opposite. Being with Angie was like a prison sentence she had to endure until she could escape.
All the bottled up anger she'd felt toward her father and Jayce seemed pathetic and useless, in light of the new information. Now Tiara didn't know if she could move beyond all those years of torturing herself about never measuring up to their expectations. She certainly wasn't going to overcome it in a single night.
Cursing Angie for causing all the lost years that she could have shared with Jayce, knowing she had a place here, with people who loved her for simply being herself. How many other things had she been wrong about? Jayce had told her that Slim didn't gamble, but the evidence, Majestic, was in a corral proving otherwise, so how could she be wrong about that too?
One question replayed in her mind. Did the new knowledge ultimately change anything? No, she couldn't let it. Tiara had a wonderful business, a house of her own, and co-workers who were the closest things to friends than she'd ever expected to have. Knowing Jayce cared for her, had for these many years, was wonderful, however, it didn't change the fact that Tiara would resolve a few issues, while waiting for Slim, and would eventually leave. The last thing she needed was to start a relationship--not that Jayce had offered one. Jayce had just cleared the air.
Did she even want to explore an emotional association with Jayce? Of course she did. Why else was she laying here, the strain building from wanting to touch Jayce, even if the contact fleeting. Tiara realized if she touched Jayce, it would lead to sex. Was sex enough? Would that be fair to Jayce?
"HEY, YOU OKAY?" Jayce asked. So close to Tiara, though both pretended not to be bothered by their proximity, was torturous. She had to know how far Tiara would let her go.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tiara answered.
Hearing what she perceived as tension in Tiara's voice, Jayce could tell Tiara was far from fine. "You sure?" Jayce shifted onto her side, facing her. "You seem ready to explode."
Tiara tensed at the subtle shift in distance as Jayce eased a little closer, her body absorbed Tiara's warmth, and it took every ounce of effort not to reach out, draw flush against Jayce's body. "Is it the storm?
I can take your mind off of that for you."
"Jayce, don't joke."
"Who says I'm joking?"
Tiara groaned, "I admit I'm attracted to you. Nevertheless, we're like cats and dogs lately. I can't make a commitment, shouldn't--"
"I'm asking for tonight, not expecting forever." Jayce leaned toward Tiara and she came eagerly into Jayce's arms. Through the material of her blanket, Jayce could feel her body's warmth as Tiara embraced her. Jayce ran her hands over Tiara's shoulders.
"Strong," Jayce commented, as if surprised.
"Construction workers are like that," Tiara said her lips against Jayce's throat. She laughed, and Jayce felt some of the nervous tension drain out of her.
Jayce used her lips to trace the line of her jaw, then brushed Tiara's hair aside and began to kiss her ear.
Tiara gasped, and Jayce felt her shiver.
Slipping both hands under the blanket, Jayce caressed the warm length of her back, then the smooth skin over her ribs. When Jayce felt the swell of breast against her hands, she paused. Tiara made an inarticulate sound and, fitting her body closer, put both hands in Jayce's hair, gently drawing her closer, kissing her so soundly Jayce thought she'd melt from the heat.
Jayce felt a jolt of electricity travel directly from her lips to somewhere far lower. First, Jayce was aware of the exquisite softness of Tiara's lips, then, as she pressed her mouth firmly to Jayce's, the warm satin wetness of her tongue. It entered between Jayce's lips slowly, gently, as if asking permission. Then, more urgently, meeting with an insistence that left no doubt as to what she wanted. When Tiara withdrew, Jayce clutched her tighter.
Breathing hard, Jayce finally broke off the kiss, leaning back, weakened as her hand caressed, and then rested atop Tiara's hips. If they hadn't already been lying down, Jayce knew she would probably have oozed to the floor like goo.
In the half-light of lightening and the fire, Tiara's kisses were more fierce, more urgent. So much passion surprised Jayce, but then Jayce believed she understood. Tiara was holding back the fear, of the storm and of the emotions required for intimacy. A fine decision, Jayce thought, making love was one of the sweetest distractions she knew.
Jayce ran her hands over the incredible softness of Tiara's skin, and Tiara shuddered, taking Jayce's hands and putting them on her breasts. Tiara's nipples hardened under Jayce's palms, and she bent to brush them with her lips. Jayce took each hard bud in turn in her teeth, and Tiara moaned. She put her hands in Jayce's hair, not gently this time, and raised Jayce's head from her breasts. Looking at Jayce for a moment, Tiara kissed her with a demanding tongue. Jayce slipped her hands around Tiara, clasping her firm buttocks and held her tighter, as she pushed a knee between Tiara's legs, Tiara began to move against Jayce in a rhythm of her own.
"Please, Jayce," she breathed, taking her mouth away, gasping for breath.
Jayce brushed her hand from Tiara's behind to her inner thigh and found her hot, wet center. Tiara gasped, her arms tightening around Jayce as she stroked Tiara's lovely velvet wetness until she began to tremble.
"Now, Jayce," she gasped, "now."
Jayce slipped two fingers inside her, Tiara immediately closed around her fingers in a series of fluttering spasms. Tiara clung to Jayce and gasped her name, some of the sharp, sweet pleasure that claimed Tiara, claimed Jayce, too, and pierced her heart to her soul by the wonder of holding in her hand the throbbing center of Tiara.
As the spasms subsided, Jayce put both her arms around Tiara and held her, stroking her hair and kissing her. Jayce pulled the blanket over them, running her hands along the warm, lovely length of her back, and Tiara sighed.
"Thank you for that," Tiara said.
"You don't need to thank me," Jayce told her, smiling.
Tiara tapped Jayce's nose with one finger. "Hmmm," she said thoughtfully, shifting to kiss Jayce, more gently this time.
Through barely parted lips their tongues me
t turning Jayce's blood to molten lava. Tiara's tongue invited Jayce to speak her need without words. For Jayce's part, she was fast becoming unable to tolerate much more of this. Her desire now as urgent as Tiara's had been, and Jayce at the point where it was impossible to delay much longer. As Tiara ran her hands over Jayce's breasts, taking her nipples between her finger and thumb, a nova flared in the pit of Jayce's stomach. Jayce groaned, and Tiara needed no further invitation.
Kissing Jayce once more, quickly, Tiara slipped a hand between Jayce's thighs, and found the place where she needed to be touched. Tiara's clever fingers opened her like a flower, entering once, and then withdrawing. Beginning a gently, rhythmic stroking, Tiara managed to fan an already red ache of desire to a white-hot flame of urgency. Jayce gasped, feeling like an eager climber approaching the peak of some mountain: almost there, almost there. Then, just when Jayce thought she might faint from desire, a hot wave of liquid came boiling down along nerve endings and swept her away to a place where there was neither sound nor light; no sensation save the ecstasy that had seized Jayce.
Afterward, in the ebb tide of pleasure, when neither could breathe or speak, Jayce realized Tiara was looking down at her. She brushed Jayce's lips with hers, smiled beautifully and smoothed back Jayce's sweaty hair.
"Sweet," she said. Then, settling down beside her, Tiara put her head on Jayce's shoulder.
Jayce put one arm around her, and was about to say something-- nothing important--but when she looked down, Tiara was already asleep.
Chapter Sixteen
TIARA WAS NESTLED in the crook of Jayce's arm as she stared at the approaching dawn outside the window, Tiara's hand gently rubbing across her chest and abdomen. Jayce heaved a contented sigh. If she could stay like this forever, it wouldn't be long enough. When Tiara shifted, removing her hand, Jayce wanted to draw her back.
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