by Claire Adams
“I don’t think we should go any further,” he said. “But I’ll stay with you.”
I didn’t have the energy to ask him why or even push for him to go further. I was happy to just have him in my bed. My heart pounded at the thought of what we had done earlier in the evening. We had come as close as two people could get to having sex, and then we backed away from it. It was going to be weird to have him in my bed and neither of us touching each other.
We crawled under the covers fully clothed, and Jackson wrapped his arms around me. I felt safe and comfortable with him there. I felt like the whole day was melting away around me. I couldn’t remember a man ever giving up a night of sex to cuddle with me. It impressed me that Jackson was willing to do something so selfless. And, I was happy I he hadn’t asked me to put a pillow between us. The feeling of his arms wrapped around me was amazing.
“What was her name again?” I asked him.
“Rose.”
“How did she die?”
Jackson was silent for a minute and then I heard him take a deep breath.
“We were in Qatar. She went out to the farmer’s market without me, before I had woken up. I had told her it wasn’t safe to go out alone, but she snuck out anyways. She never returned. There were people looking for me, coming after me, and they killed her to get to me.”
I heard the sorrow in his voice, and I could tell she had meant a lot to him. I didn’t need to know anything more. My hands wrapped around his and I held onto him as we both drifted off to sleep. It wasn’t exactly an erotic evening or anything like that. But it was an intimate evening and that was enough for me.
The intimacy in my life had been non-existent for many years. It wasn’t like working as a stripper was a job where I would meet the man of my dreams and I knew that. I knew I had to just tough it out until I got myself into a better situation. But year after year came and went, and I never got myself into a better situation. I had felt so trapped before I met Chase, Jordan, and Jackson.
The previous night at the club felt so different to me. I didn’t need to be there anymore. I had an offer from Chase for $250,000. My life was going to be totally changed after we found Ana. There was a sense of relief in knowing that I could finally start my life over. Perhaps I wouldn’t even have to dance again. Because dancing that night hadn’t been fun at all.
Dancing when you don’t have to dance was a totally horrific experience. It felt like I was selling my soul on that stage. Then, when I saw Jackson walking to the private room with Ally, well, it was the last straw for me. I couldn’t take it another second.
I hated dancing, no matter how good I was at it.
As I finally drifted off to sleep, I vowed to not cry in front of Jackson again. I felt like I was turning into some needy woman who needed him by my side and that wasn’t who I wanted to be. I never wanted to need a man. I was stronger than most the men I knew.
Jackson, of course, was a far different case than most of the men I knew. He was strong, stable, and sensitive. He was more even tempered than any man I had ever met, and he smelled like a man. His smell hit my nose like a delightful range of scents that I couldn’t get enough of.
Throughout the night, as we stayed wrapped up in each other’s arms, I periodically smelled Jackson. Not like a little sniff of the man, no. I took in a long drawn out breath that filled my nostrils with his scent. I didn’t think he wore cologne or anything like that, his smell was more natural than that. Perhaps a combination of his shampoo, soap, and deodorant.
I didn’t sleep well that night, but it wasn’t because of nightmares or fear. Instead, my mind was wrapped up in the thoughts of Jackson and how he had loved this woman so much, he hadn’t slept with another woman since her death. It was extremely romantic and I hoped someday I would find a man who loved me that much. Obviously, I hoped I wouldn’t die, though.
We both tossed and turned as the daylight started to seep into the room through the curtains. My throat was incredibly sore, and I reached up to feel the tender bruise that I knew covered my neck. There would be no more dancing for me for a few days. At least Stephano would know I had a logical reason for taking the days off and I wouldn’t have to explain anything to him.
“How does it feel?” Jackson asked as he gently touched my neck.
“It’s sore, but I’ll be all right. I’ve had much worse.”
I didn’t want to say that and felt bad after I did. Jackson didn’t need to know about all the times I had been abused or beaten in my life. He wasn’t there to hear my sad story. He was there to help find Ana for his brother.
Jackson sat up and flipped the light on so he could take a closer look at my neck. I smiled as he looked at my bruising with a serious face. He seemed like he was examining the stocks for the day. I couldn’t help but start to laugh.
“What are you looking at?” I giggled.
“You.”
“Well, I’m all right. You don’t have to keep looking at my horrific bruise.”
“It’s not so bad. I mean, if you like the purple scarf look.”
“Oh, no, is it already purple?” I said as I jumped up and went to the mirror to look at it.
Jackson was quickly behind me and I felt him move my hair away from my neck to behind my shoulder. His fingers gently moved across my back and I watched in the mirror as he leaned down and gently kissed my neck.
It felt so good to have him touching me. I wanted to hate it. I didn’t want to fall for Jackson. But the gentle touch of his lips sent my heart fluttering into the stars. He was the whole package and as much as I didn’t want to sleep with him, I did want to keep him around forever. His touch was exactly what I needed in my life.
My eyes fixated on him in the mirror and the gentle touch of his kisses. He towered over me and his body was, at least, twice the size of mine, yet he was so gentle. Jackson was a giant with a sweet heart and a good soul.
I let my eyes close as I felt the softness of his touch on my skin. It was sweet and calm and nothing that I had felt in a very long time. He didn’t grab onto my body; he didn’t pull me close to him. Instead, he just continued to hold my hair out of the way as he kissed the back of my neck.
Then, I felt his kisses as they moved slightly around to the side of my neck. He continued to kiss me gently and paid specific attention to my purple bruises. I opened my eyes to look at him in the mirror and saw him bent over as he tried to reach my neck. Finally, he just sat on the dresser and pulled me toward him.
He pressed my chin up into the air so he could continue to kiss each and every section of my bruised neck. It was soft and sensual, and I longed to stay in that moment for as long as possible.
Jackson continued to turn me as he made his way across my neck with his lips. He moved slowly and gently until he had finally turned me all the way around and his lips touched the back of my neck again.
I sat down on his lap as I pulled his arms around me and held onto them while his lips moved up and down my spine. There was a part of me that wanted more. I felt the need to ditch all my clothes and pull Jackson into the bed with me.
But then there was a part of me that just wanted to stay right there in that moment with his soft lips pressed up against my injured body. It felt safe, it felt romantic. I liked every second of it.
There was a contradiction with Jackson that was hard for me to get my mind around. He was a tough and rugged guy, yet when he kissed me, he was soft and sweet. I suspected that the true Jackson was somewhere in the middle of all that. And, I really wanted to get to know that man. The guy who didn’t pretend to be tough just to show off. I wanted to know that guy.
“I need to shower and then we can talk about the day ahead.”
“Me, too. I think I know how we can get into Stephano’s house. He’s angry with me, but I’m sure he will let me in. Then, you could come in right behind me and we could find her quickly and sneak her out,” I said as I turned around and faced Jackson.
“How about we start with showe
rs and food? Then, we can move on to planning our mission for the day.” He laughed.
I knew I was taking things seriously, but I liked having a purpose that didn’t involve taking my clothes off. I enjoyed feeling useful and I really wanted to find Ana and make sure she was safe. I hated the idea of Stephano having control over her. I hated that he was such a dangerous man and she was so vulnerable.
Ana wasn’t at all like the other girls at the club. She wasn’t at all like me. She wasn’t going to be able to protect herself and that just made me sick to think about. Stephano would use her and abuse her all he wanted. He didn’t care if a guy wanted her kept clean, he always did whatever the hell he felt like doing.
“All right, one…two…three. Go!” I yelled as I ran toward my shower.
Jackson just laughed and made his way to his room to get his shower done. There was a part of me that wanted to invite him to shower with me or even for me to jump into the shower with him. But I didn’t want to push things. I liked that we hadn’t had sex yet. I liked the feelings that I had for him. They were such a mix of things that I had never really experienced before. I just wanted whatever it was between us to keep going. I didn’t want to ruin it.
“Take your time,” I heard Jackson yell about five minutes after I got into the shower.
Men were always so quick at their showering. They didn’t have nearly as much to do with their upkeep as women did. I relished the warm water on my body as it hit all my sore muscles. It felt wonderful to simply relax and take in the enjoyment of a nice long shower.
“What should we get for breakfast?” I yelled out as I climbed out of the shower about fifteen minutes later.
There was no answer.
I wrapped myself in a towel and opened the bathroom door. It was eerily quiet in the two hotel rooms. I walked over to Jackson’s room and I saw a note on his table.
Stay here. Don’t leave. I’ll be back after I get Ana.
“What? God damn it!” I yelled as I threw the note across the room.
Jackson had just ditched me and gone off to get Ana all by himself.
Chapter Nine
JACKSON
Roxanne was growing on me and I didn’t want her to be in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation at Stephano’s house. She had done really good work the night before at the club and it was my turn to get some stuff done.
As I left the hotel room, I knew that I was going to make her really angry by going without her. But after all that talk about Rose throughout the night, I had a bad feeling about Roxanne being involved in the whole thing. There was no need for it.
I would make sure and tell Chase that she had helped a great deal and that she should get the money he promised her. But there just was no way I wanted her to be involved in this part. Stephano had probably told his goon to kill her, and if I hadn’t come along, she would have been dead. I knew Roxanne thought she wasn’t very trusting of people, but the sheer idea that she trusted Stephano at all showed she just couldn’t think straight in this situation. I had no option but to leave her at the hotel.
Star Island was a very small manmade island home to a highly exclusive neighborhood in South Beach Miami. I had taken a tour there once when my family traveled to Miami. I found that my old memories of the island were surprisingly accurate when I arrived to take a look around. From what I remembered, the island had private security and cost millions of dollars in property taxes each year. Only the elite of the elite would choose to live on an island like that.
The problem that I saw was going to be how I could gain access to Stephano’s home if the island had so much security. I was going to have to find a way in, and once I did that, I would just grab Ana and get out of there. It wasn’t likely that she was being guarded by more than one man, and I could easily take out one guy.
To help with my investigation of the island, I decided to pretend to be a tourist and take a water tour of the area with Duck Boat Tours. It would give me the vantage point of going all the way around the island and hopefully, the tour guide would even point out which house was Stephano’s. Though, I was positive I could figure it out by the amount of security around the home.
People who participated in illegal activity often had one of two set ups for their security systems. Either they used high tech cameras and other warning systems, or they used men with guns that shot people. I needed to know which system Stephano had going on if I was going to break in and take Ana.
“One ticket please,” I said to the man in front of the boat that also drove as a vehicle from South Beach to the water.
“Would you like the star tour or regular tour?”
“You know, I think I’d like the star tour. I want to know where all the celebrities live,” I said with as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster.
Luckily, the tour guide wasn’t very perceptive and didn’t care what I wanted the tour for. He seemed more than happy to take my money as I got on the tour boat behind him. The boat was packed with about two dozen tourists, all very excited to experience the vehicle that drove on the street and then right into the water.
After about thirty minutes of watching him convince people to take the star tour and not the regular tour, our boat was filled up and we were able to make our way through the streets of Miami and toward the waterway. The people who insisted on taking the normal tour had to get off our boat and onto the boat that was behind us.
The vehicle we were in was pretty ingenious. It had tires and drove like a car until we made it to the water, where the boat engine took over to guide us through the water toward Star Island. It seemed like a good money maker for anyone who had such a boat in the Miami area.
“Technically, Star Island is a public property, although the security gate and guard out front is often enough to prevent people from driving on the island,” the tour guide started to say as we made our way over the bridge toward where we would enter the water.
“Excuse me, did you say it is public property? So, anyone can drive onto the island?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. But the security guard will write down your license plate and remind you to stay on the main roads. You are not allowed in any of the homes and you will be charged with trespassing if you even walk in their yards. Every corner has security cameras and the guards watch them very closely.”
I felt an instant sense of relief at the information the man shared. If the streets were public, then I could easily rent a vehicle and drive into the neighborhood. Certainly, I risked much more than being arrested for trespassing if I was going to be at Stephano’s house. I knew that he would just kill me if he realized I was there to steal one of his girls.
“That’s fun, thanks,” I said with my big tourist smile.
“To tell you the truth, though, you’ll get a better view of the houses from the water. On the street, you just see big walls. Now, if you look to our right you will see Sylvester Stallone’s house.” The guide started in on his program.
As our tour made its way around the island, I could tell that the guide was probably very accurate about having better access to the houses from the water. The houses had lots of shrubbery and bushes, but minimal security from the water to their homes. I suspected they still had motion detectors and maybe even dogs, but the front gate was where they built ten-foot walls and iron gates. Obviously, those things would have obstructed their view if they put such a security measure near their waterfront.
I had to decide which way would be best for me to get into Stephano’s house. Both seemed extremely easy, but the real problem would be figuring out what security system he had going on. A good guard dog could often throw off even the best break-in attempt.
Our tour through the water named a lot of big celebrities, but I noticed the tour guide never mentioned any of the other people who lived on Star Island. Of course, there was Stephano, but I wondered who else hid away on the tiny island. It seemed the perfect location to hide away from law enforcement. The secluded affluent neighborhood
was the last place police would look for criminals.
As the tour ended, I needed to find out more information on how tough the security was on the island. It was pretty clear to me that I wasn’t going to make it into Stephano’s house that day, but I could gather a great deal of information to make things easier the next time I came to the island.
“Hey, George, that was a great tour. Can I buy you a drink?” I said as we disembarked.
“I’ve got another tour, then we usually head over to The Heat across the street. You’re welcome to join us. Ex military?” The tour guide wasn’t as inept at seeing clues as I thought he was.
“Yes, sir.”
“Let me buy you a drink, then. How about five o’clock?”
“Sounds good.”
One of the best ways I had found to get good information was to be friends with people. Take the time to get to know them and people were more willing to give you any information you needed.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really like talking to people much in my day-to-day life. I did it for work when it was required, but even then, I usually tried to find a way around dealing with actual people whenever possible.
By the time George the tour guide showed up at the bar, I had already availed myself to a beer. I intended to look drunk later that evening and what better way to do that than to actually have a few beers. It had been a whole day since I had drunk a beer – I was about due my normal daily relaxation.
“What branch?” George asked as he sat down next to me.
“Navy,” I replied. There was no use lying to the man. I was just a tourist doing some looking around Miami.
“Seal? You look like a Seal.”
“I dabbled in the Seal world. But I got out and moved overseas. I’ve been in Italy doing woodworking for the last couple of years.”
“Wow, that’s a big change.”
“Yeah, but so relaxing,” I said as I sipped my beer. “How about you? How did you end up in Miami?”
As we continued our small talk, I got to know George quite well. I learned about his family and his business. He was an interesting guy and very friendly. He seemed really genuine, and I thought he would appreciate our conversation. I also thought that he would have some information on Stephano, since he had been doing his tours for so many years.