Jack And Anna - Back To Winnipeg

7. It Was Always You-2

Well, that was true…sort of. All matter naturally warped the fabric of space and time, thus creating gravity. The greater the mass, the greater the warp. Large objects like planets and stars created a field so strong that no ship could overcome it. You had to travel a certain distance away from Earth before jumping to FTL speeds. He forgot the exact number — something in the neighbourhood of three thousand kilometres — but of course, there were always loopholes.

“Big warp fields, no,” he countered. “Large folds in space and time that can propel a ship to FTL speeds — absolutely impossible when you’re this close to a planet. But small warp fields? We make those all the time. Every time we use our powers.”

“So, you want to redesign the shuttle’s engines to make smaller warp fields. That’ll go over well with the engineering teams.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Remember how Drayvin reacted when we dumped emergency power into the Scrappy’s FTL drive just so we could go to warp a few seconds sooner?”

They had been running from Ragnosian battlecruisers at the time.

Thrusting both fists into the air, Anna shook them violently. “‘My engines are not a battering ram for you to bludgeon your way through the laws of physics!’”

“They are delicate instruments!’”

A fit of giggles came over both of them. Jack found himself admiring his wife: her musical laughter, her beautiful eyes. How long had it been since he felt that little flutter in his heart?

“What?” Anna asked when she caught him looking.

“I just remembered that you have the sweetest smile.”

“Aww!”

They were pulled together as if by gravity. Their lips met, and he moaned, resting a hand on Anna’s back. It was slow and sweet and gentle, filled with the tenderness he had been craving for so long.

Within seconds, their tender kiss became a white-hot inferno of desperate need. He gloried in the taste of her, in the warmth of her body, in the-

He had to suppress another burst of laughter when he realized that he was having an intense make-out session in his sister’s bedroom. Definitely awkward. But there was something kind of hot about it. It felt like they were teenagers sneaking around.

Breaking away from him, Anna smiled and batted her eyes. “What?” she asked. “I can tell you’re amused; so, what is it?”

“This is Lauren’s bedroom.”

At first, she didn’t seem to understand the significance. Then she was wheezing and slapping his chest, weakly shoving him away. “Okay, okay, noted. We should probably get back to work any-”

Jack stood up and took her hand. Without another word, he led her back to the guest room, and she was more than happy to follow. They fell onto the bed, lying face to face, gazing into each other’s eyes. For a long while, they just remained like that, holding each other.

Anna’s gentle fingers trailed along his jawline. She pulled her hand back just enough to boop his nose. “Still think we’re going through the motions?”

Closing his eyes, Jack let out a breath, His cheek sank into the pillow. “I’m sorry I said that.”

“Sweetie, you have nothing to apologize for.”

“Sure, I do.”

“Okay, you have one thing to apologize for.” Snuggling a little closer, she pressed her lips to his forehead. “And that’s not telling me how you were feeling.”

one“I didn’t want to burden you with my pain while you were working through your own.”

“Yeah, that’s stupid, toxic masculinity bullshit. We’re supposed to get through this together, remember? I know you were trying to be considerate, but when you shut me out like that, it makes me feel unloved.”

Jack couldn’t resist the urge to squeeze her tight. It was a primal instinct, like he was trying to protect her from the world. Which was stupid, because the only thing she needed protection from was his bad decisions. However, as this conversation clearly demonstrated, he wasn’t exactly living in Logic Land at the moment.

Cupping her cheek with one hand, he snuggled a little closer and kissed her on the lips. “Anna, it was always you,” he murmured. “I’ve loved you from the day I met you.”

“Well,” she said, “it’s nice to be reminded.”

She rolled over, checking the time on her multi-tool, and then sat up on the edge of the bed. “Okay, I was wrong.” A moment later, she was on her feet and spinning around to face him. “We could both use a little fun. What do you say we join Randy for his party?”

Groaning, Jack sat up and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know,” he said, blinking to moisten his tired eyes. He hadn’t slept well the night before. “Do I have to get all fancified? I’m not really feeling the suave tonight.”

“I’m going in this,” Anna replied, gesturing to her outfit. She took his face in both hands, leaning forward until her nose was hovering just an inch away from his, so close he could feel her breath. “But if you want, I’ll put on the sexy underwear.”

Jack winced. “No, don’t put on the sexy underwear,” he pleaded. “It’s not like we can do anything when we get back here.”

She sauntered over to the door, pausing there with a glance over her shoulder. “I think I’ll wear them anyway,” she said. “And you can picture me in them, imagine all the things you want to do when you get me alone, and then remind yourself that we won’t be having s*x tonight because your dad is sound asleep in the next room.”

“You’re the worst.”

Anna blew him a kiss.