Justice Keepers Saga - Books 10-12

Chapter 2-2

“It"s adorable.”

They were partway up when the wheel stopped to load people into the next car. Not high enough to get a good view, but he did see lights reflected over the dark waters of the Red River. It was a beautiful night. Warm but not painfully so. For a moment, he almost thought that Anna would fall asleep in his arms. And he was okay with that.

At the apex of their climb, he had a lovely view of the city under a starry sky with only a few clouds drifting across the heavens. He never really thought that he would miss this place – when he was a kid, he had wanted to see the world – but having been all over the galaxy, he had to admit that there were days when he longed for the familiar. Only a few, but it did happen.

Anna sat up, and the wind teased her hair. Her impish smile returned. “You know, I have seen a lot of Earth media,” she began. “And I have it on good authority that there"s another carnival tradition we"re forgetting.”

lot“What"s that?”

Gently, she laid a hand on his cheek and turned his face toward her. Then she was kissing him. It was a chaste kiss, tender and sweet, one that soothed away his worries and left him with a warm glow.

It was almost midnight when they left the fair. Jack found himself driving down a narrow street that ran parallel to the river, a street lined with tall maple trees that stood like shadows, their dark branches reaching over the road. He was about to turn onto the Provencher Bridge when Anna put a hand on his thigh. “No, stay on Tache,” she said.

Gripping the steering wheel hard, Jack squinted through the windshield. He shook his head slowly. “Stay on Tache?” he muttered. “Why? There"s nothing on Tache.”

Anna was reclining in the front seat with her hands folded behind her head, and her soft laughter made him wonder exactly what she had in store for him. She could be quite devious when she wanted to be. “Just trust me.”

They continued on, passing a library, a park and several small apartment buildings. When they passed under a set of train tracks, Jack became even more confused. What on Earth were they doing all the way out here? He saw nothing but tiny houses.

“Just past the pumping station,” Anna said. “Now, left.”

Her directions led them to a short dirt road surrounded by trees, a secluded little hidey-hole on the bank of the river. He looked around, trying to figure out why Anna had chosen this place, and then it hit him. “This is a make-out spot! You want to go to a make-out spot?”

Anna sat with her arms crossed, her lips pursed as she stared indignantly through the window. “I don"t know what you"re talking about!” she insisted. “That you could even think such a thing about a woman of my breeding!”

whatthink“Um…”

Leaning over the gearshift, Anna seized a fistful of his shirt and pulled him close. Every last trace of reluctance fled from Jack"s mind when her soft lips found the side of his neck.

Anna practically climbed on top of him, holding him pinned with her hands on his shoulders. Her hot breath on his ear made him shudder. “The theme of this evening,” she whispered, “is doing all the things you didn"t get to do when you were younger.”

“Mm-hmm…”

She sat up, and even though she was just a shadow in the darkness, Jack could feel the intensity of her gaze. “So,” she cooed. “Do you wanna make out with a hottie?”

Jack tossed her down into the front seat, and then he was on top of her, nipping at her neck, her collarbone, the soft skin of her shoulder. The scent of her was intoxicating. Like strawberries.

Her mouth found his, and this kiss was anything but chaste. No, not chaste at all. It was ragged desperation. For a very long while – like an hour, at least – it really was just making out, but then Anna peeled his t-shirt off and flung it into the backseat. Her flannel sweater went next, and then one thing led to another…

Some men described s*x as a haze in which their conscious minds retreated and they acted on instinct, but Jack was intimately aware of everything. He felt it every time Anna"s fingernails left scratches in his back. He heard every sigh, reveled in the softness of her skin. He was aware of everything.

everything.Well…Everything that mattered.

And the only thing that mattered was the goddess in his arms. Everything else was just a distraction. Anna was the only thing in his universe. He listened for the pace of her breathing. He focused on the slight sting of her nails digging into his shoulder. He mixed it all together into a sparkling cocktail of information with only one purpose. Not just to give her pleasure; that was easy. Jack had discovered what she liked on their first night together. No, the real challenge was to leave her teetering on the brink for a little while, to tease her to the point of desperation. That way, it would be so much sweeter when he finally did take her over the edge.

realAt one point, he paused just to admire her face. There was no light, but Jack didn"t need it; he could sense every inch of her, every perfect inch. Anna was smiling up at him. “I love you,” she whispered.

He smoothed a lock of damp hair off her forehead, kissed her softly on the nose and whispered. “I love you too…”

“Really?”

“More than anything in this universe.”

Once wasn"t enough for either of them, but when they were finally satisfied, when they were catching their breath and basking in the afterglow, Jack found the presence of mind to check the clock on his multi-tool. He blinked at what he saw. It was almost three a.m.! “Wow…”

He was lying in the front seat, staring lazily at the interior of the car"s roof. Anna was curled up on top of him with her head on his chest. “The blanket…” she mumbled. “In the back…”

He reached behind the driver"s seat and found a thin blanket there. Odd. He hadn"t put it there, and he had been out all day with Rajel and Cassi. Which meant that Anna must have hidden it in the backseat last night at the very latest. Which meant that she had been planning this date for a while.

Jack took the blanket and settled it over her. It was big enough to cover her from feet to shoulders but thin enough to be cool on this hot summer night. Anna sighed as she nuzzled his chest. “I know we have to go back soon,” she murmured. “But can we just stay here for a while? Can you just hold me?”

Jack closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seat cushion. He breathed deeply through his nose. “Sure,” he whispered. “For as long as you like.”

He found himself trailing his fingertips up and down her back, gently caressing her. Thoughts drifted through his mind. Things that had occurred to him earlier that afternoon, things he wanted to tell Anna. He half thought about mentioning them, but he was just so mellow. He didn"t want to move…or talk…

He just wanted to enjoy the feeling of his girlfriend"s warm body, listen to the soothing sound of her breathing as she fell asleep…

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.Jack woke up to realize that it was morning. The sun was shining bright over the Red River; the trees were standing tall with green leaves fluttering in the wind. And there was a cop outside his car.

A tall and broad-shouldered man with fair skin and gray stubble along his jawline, he leaned forward to peer through the window. It was open just a c***k; so Jack could hear the man just fine when he said, “Okay, lovebirds, time to go home.”

Rolling onto her back, Anna stretched languidly and sighed with contentment. Her eyes popped open. She was covered to her shoulders, but for half a second, Jack thought she would be mortified and clutch the blankets to her chest. That was what happened in the movies. Instead, she just smiled and said, “Good morning, Officer. Is there something we can do for you?”

“You can get dressed and go home.”

Stifling a yawn with her fist, Anna nodded. “Sure,” she said in a sleepy voice. “If you"ll just give us a moment, we"ll be on our way.”

The man backed away from the car with his hands on his hips, but his gaze never wavered. Not for an instant. Jack wasn"t quite sure what to do. He couldn"t start putting on his own clothes until Anna climbed off of him, and he was pretty sure she wouldn"t do that with the cop outside. Oh, this should be fun. I can"t wait to explain to Mom why we have to pay a fine.

Oh, this should be fun. I can"t wait to explain to Mom why we have to pay a fine.Anna sat up, holding the blankets in place to keep herself covered. Glancing out the window, she raised a thin eyebrow. “Were you planning to watch?” she asked. “Because, honestly, that might get me a little excited. And then Jack and I would have to have s*x again; it"s not smart to drive when you"re distracted by lustful thoughts. So, if you plan on watching, I"m going to have to insist that you stay for the entire show.”

haveThe cop was blushing so hard you might have thought that he was some sheltered, home-schooled kid. He averted his eyes for a brief moment and then regained some of his backbone. “Who the hell are you, lady?”

“The woman who saved your planet…what? Three times now?”

“Yeah,” the cop snarled. “And I"m Anna Lenai.”

“Well, actually…”

Crossing his arms, the cop tossed his head back and stared up at the sky with his mouth hanging open. “Look, I don"t have time for stupid college kids,” he growled. “Get dressed, go home and don"t let me ever catch you out here again.”

He stalked off toward his cruiser, which was parked a little ways up the road.

Anna flung the blanket aside without a care in the world and began retrieving her clothes from under the seat. “You heard him, sweetie,” she said, patting Jack"s thigh. “Oh, and can we stop at that Canadian coffee place you like so much? I think your mom would appreciate it, and I want to get one of those maple donuts before we get back to Leyria.”