Piece by Piece: A Modern Retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk

by Brandy Ayers

  Jax.

  “Harper, baby, please come back to me.” His normally smooth voice sounded rough, tortured. “I swear Harper, I will not leave this room until you open your eyes.”

  The light got bigger the longer he spoke to her, drawing her out of the nightmare she’d been stuck in for god knew how long.

  With a herculean effort, she dragged open her dry eyes, cringing at the pain radiating in every inch of her body.

  “Baby, open those green eyes a little more; let me see you.”

  All she wanted to do was close them again, block out the pain. But the desperation in his voice broke her heart, so she did as he asked.

  Dark circles under his eyes stood out against his tan skin. Still, he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life. Tears leaked down his face and he brought her hand cradled between his up to his lips to give it a gentle kiss.

  “There you are.” Relief filled his voice and the sound made her attempt a smile, only to groan and relax the muscles again.

  She opened her mouth to ask where Rose was, only to croak and choke on her dry and scratched throat.

  “Here baby, take a sip of water. They said your throat would be sore after they took the tube out.” He held up a straw to her lips and she listlessly wrapped her lips around it.

  The cold drink soothed her raw throat, making it easier to speak. “Where’s Rose?”

  “She’s safe. I moved her and your mother to my house until everything calms down.” He rubbed his lips over her knuckles, sending Harper’s heart soaring in her chest.

  “Kandy?” The sour taste of her name made Harper want to throw up.

  “Dead. When you pushed her away the sniper was able to get a clean shot and take her out, but not before she shot you.” Jax’s voice hitched, but he swallowed and kept going. “You lost a lot of blood, but no major organs were hit. It was a clean in and out wound. You’ll be okay, just need to rest and get your strength back.”

  “I want to know everything.” Harper could feel the exhaustion from trying to talk weigh her down until she wanted to slide back into that black shroud.

  “I know. And you will, but I need you to get some sleep. Now that I’ve seen your eyes and I know you’re going to be okay, I need you to rest. We have a long road ahead of us.” Jax smoothed the hair back over her head. The gesture comforted her until she sank back down into a deep sleep where not even dreams could touch her.

  ***

  “So you’re FBI.” It wasn’t a question. Harper knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it.

  “Yes. Special Agent Jackson Povero. I’ve been an undercover agent for four years. Before that I was on the special ops squad. Before that I was in the Army Special Forces.” Jax still held her hand on the bed, never letting go since she’d woken up again to find him watching her sleep.

  Things were still fuzzy in her head, but she’d slept so much she didn’t want to do it anymore. She wanted answers. Jax seemed to understand and continued to answer every question she threw at him. He told her about the operation. The sex trafficking ring Kandy, Royce, and George ran from The Beanstalk.

  “We thought George was in charge of the operation, but it turned out Kandy was the head the whole time. George and Royce were just the muscle, if you will. But they got greedy and thought Kandy’s cut of the money was too big, so they tried to do shipments without her, grabbing girls off the street at random without her knowledge.” Jax paused, searching Harper’s face as he fell silent. “Are you sure you want to do this now? It’s only been a couple of days. It can wait.”

  “No, I need to know now.” Harper knew she wouldn’t be able to relax until she had the whole picture of what had been going on in the club.

  “Kandy was an evil bitch, but apparently she was smart. Every venture she started, including the brothel she mentioned, had a partner involved, a man she could set up for the fall if things went sideways. In this case she had two, Royce and George.” Jax sighed, exhaustion written all over his face. “To the casual observer it appeared they ran the whole operation, but in actuality it was Kandy giving the orders. She also hand-picked the girls they would take from the street, and got them to trust her enough to lure them into trying drugs. That is when she would pull them into the truck. Royce took care of holding and transporting them, then both he and George indoctrinated them for several weeks in the house behind the club. Once the girls were ready to be sold off, Kandy would find and vet the buyers. Sometimes they were men overseas, mostly domestically though. George and Royce have been giving up information left and right, thinking it will get them a better deal. But no matter what, those two scumbags are going to prison for life.”

  “I still can’t believe all this went on in The Beanstalk and I had no clue.” She'd worked in that damn club for three years, and other than the prostitution that was common knowledge, she had no idea anything illegal went on there.

  “It isn’t your fault. Kandy hid it from you on purpose, knowing what your majors in college had been.” He squeezed her hand and smiled down at her. “They scheduled deliveries for when you were off. Never let Royce in the building while you were there, knowing you would recognize him and start asking questions. She even forbade George from touching you because she didn’t want to risk having you pissed and poking around.” Jackson gripped Harper’s hand in his, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss before finishing the story. “The night of the takedown, Kandy was supposed to be working the streets hand-picking more girls to manipulate and eventually kidnap. George and Royce planned the delivery for that night because they knew Kandy wouldn’t be there, and they didn’t care that you would. They were ignoring Kandy’s rules, going against her and getting greedy. Kandy surprised everyone that evening when she showed up at the club. Seems she suspected her partners were turning on her.”

  “Well, she was smart; I’ll give her that. Psychotic and evil, but smart.” There was still one thing Harper didn’t know, and it had been gnawing at her since discovering Jax was actually Agent Povero. “Jackson, was this, between us, was it part of the operation? Were you using me to get information?”

  Jackson unfolded himself from the chair and leaned over her with both hands cupping her face. “No, Harper, you were never part of the plan. You were the best surprise I’ve ever gotten in my life. I fell in love with you the moment you told me off in the stockroom. Loved that sassy tough as nails attitude you threw my way, and the spark of intelligence turned me on beyond belief. And if you’ll let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making all your dreams come true.”

  A tear slid down Harper’s cheek, and she knew, despite their unorthodox beginning, Jackson Povero was her forever.

  Epilogue:

  One year later

  Jackson (Jax)

  “Hurry up, they’re going to be home any minute.” Harper moaned and writhed beneath Jackson, making him chuckle.

  “I told you, I’m not rushing this. Rose and your mother will be gone for at least another hour, and I plan on spending at least half of the time with my face buried in your pussy.” He slid down her body, kissing and sucking her sweet skin as he went. They’d spent the last two days holed up in the house, doing nothing but fucking and making love, with the occasional break to sleep and eat. This would be the last time they had an empty house for quite a while, and Jackson planned to take advantage of every minute.

  Finally reaching the place he loved to be most, Jackson lapped at her sopping wet pussy with long, slow strokes. No matter how many times he tasted her, it never failed to turn him on to the point of thinking he would come before being able to bury himself deep inside her.

  “Oh god!” Harper wailed above him, and he couldn’t help but smile against her sweet center.

  “No need to call me God, Mrs. Povero; just call me Mr. Povero. In fact scream it as I make you come.” They had been married the weekend before in a small, quiet ceremony in the backyard of the secluded farmhouse he had been restoring for the past five year
s. If he had known all that time that he was preparing the home for his future family, he would have taken more pleasure in the backbreaking labor he had so often grumbled about.

  Concentrating on her clit, he sucked it into his mouth and flicked his tongue over it in the way he knew would make Harper’s hips rocket off the bed. After wringing the first orgasm from her, he refused to let up, sliding two fingers into her wet channel and pumping them in and out while making sure to hit that magic spot that sent her into incoherent ramblings.

  He loved how he knew her body like his own, knew how long to tease her, when to go hard, where to touch to bring her the most intense pleasure. Hearing her moan and scream thanks to his mouth and hand brought him immeasurable amounts of joy.

  “Mr. Povero, please, I need you inside me.” Hearing her call him that made him impatient to be joined with her again, and he complied, despite not spending near enough time getting close and personal with her pussy. But he had a whole lifetime to make up for it.

  Jackson sat back on his heels, pulling her up into a seated position with him. He helped her onto his lap, wrapping her long toned legs around his waist. And when he slid inside her wet heat. It felt like coming home all over again. “Baby, you’re squeezing me so tight. I want to live inside you like this.”

  Harper moaned and laughed at the same time. “That will make it awfully hard to go to work and school.” Harper took slow languid pulses up and down his thick shaft, and Jax almost lost the ability to speak with the pure pleasure of their coupling.

  “Fuck school and work.” He gripped her hips and took over the pace, slamming her hard down onto his cock over and over again until she wailed and screamed through two more orgasms. Only then did he let loose his own climax, spurting long and hard straight into her unprotected pussy. At the rate they were going, she’d be pregnant in no time.

  They collapsed together on the bed, struggling to regain their composure. After taking a bullet to the stomach, Harper had been afraid she wouldn’t be able to have children. But the doctor assured her everything looked good, and they both appeared to perfectly healthy and in tip top baby-making form. Jackson had wanted to get started planting children in her right away, but she insisted on waiting until after they were married. Now he was going at it like a man possessed.

  Jackson rubbed her flat stomach, imaging how it would look when she swelled with his baby inside. “You’re going to look so hot when you get all big and pregnant.”

  Harper laughed up at him from her relaxed position against his side. “You have to be the only man on earth who wants his wife to get fat. Of course you know when I do get pregnant it means I’ll eventually have to stop dancing for you.”

  “Fuck, I hadn’t thought about that.” After moving her into his house a few weeks after they took down The Beanstalk, Jackson had a pole installed in his basement. He’d been afraid she would get mad, but when he explained her talent and grace were too amazing to waste she had simply teared up and thanked him. Some days she used the pole as a means of exercise or catharsis, and some days she would sit him down on the lush velvet couch he had placed in the room and give him a show meant only for his eyes.

  They spent another minute simply gazing at each other, touching and caressing, and appreciating the miracle that was their lives. The front door slammed open and Rose called out to announce her arrival, interrupting their peaceful moment.

  Harper bit her lip, giving away her nervousness.

  “Hey, it is going to be okay. No matter what, we’ll deal with it, right?”

  Harper took a deep breath and nodded, trying to smile past her fear.

  ***

  Harper

  Harper never thought her life would turn out this good. If a year ago someone had told her she would be married, living in a beautiful house, and attending college again, she would have told them to fuck off.

  Now they were either about to add to that happiness or set them back again. But even as she fretted about Rose’s reaction to their news, she knew Jackson was right. They would get through it. They had dealt with worse.

  After cleaning up and getting dressed, the newlyweds made their way downstairs. Rose and her grandmother sat at the dining room table, coloring in an Avengers activity book. The little girl was on a superhero kick, in part thanks to Jackson and her belief that his job as an FBI agent made him one. Rose may have been on to something.

  Jackson and Harper took the seats across from Rose, clasping their hands together below the table as they struggled with how to start.

  Finally, Harper decided to just jump in. “Hey Rose, can you close that book for a minute? We have something we want to talk to you about.”

  Her grandmother stood from the table. “I’ll just give you guys a minute.”

  Rose smiled, laid the crayon down to mark her spot and closed the book as asked. “What’s up? Did you get me a puppy yet?”

  Jackson laughed and shook his head. “Nope, not until you clean your room every day for two weeks; it’s only been a week.”

  Rose rolled her eyes and propped her cheek on her hand.

  Harper could feel Jackson holding in the smile at her attitude. He said his girls were like two sassy peas in a pod. He loved it though, and was a total sucker for the feisty girl. Harper was honestly surprised he’d held out this long on the puppy request.

  “No, honey, we want to ask you a very important question. Jackson and I have been looking into it, and we found out yesterday that we can go ahead with our plans, if you’re okay with it. We would like to adopt you. We want to be your mommy and daddy. Would that be okay?” Harper fidgeted with Jackson’s hand under the table, holding her breath while she waited for Rose’s answer. It had been a long road to get the state approval to go ahead with the adoption proceedings. They had to jump through a ton of hoops to try and find her father first. But since he was most likely an anonymous John, all their efforts had turned up nothing, even with using FBI resources. After nine months of red tape, the judge had finally given them the go ahead.

  “What about my mommy in heaven, will she still be my mommy?” Rose cocked her head to the side, taking in the question like a champ.

  “Oh, yes honey. Goldie will always be your mommy. She loved you so much, and is watching over us all the time making sure we are all safe. But we want you to have a mommy and daddy on earth too, and we want to be your parents. We love you so much.” Harper felt the tears sting behind her eyes, but refused to let them fall. She didn’t want to freak Rose out.

  “What do you say, kiddo? Want to make this thing official?” Jackson squeezed Harper’s hand and winked at her.

  “I’ll be able to call you Daddy?” Rose looked at Jackson with awe.

  He cleared his throat, obviously holding in some emotions of his own. “I’d love nothing more. And I’ll do all the things a daddy would do. Like chase away your boyfriends and make you pancakes every Sunday.”

  The smile that stretched across Rose’s face at his answer could rival the brightest star. “Okay. I’ve always wanted to call someone Daddy, and having a mommy I can hug on earth sounds good too.”

  They all broke out in wide grins, looking back and forth between each other.

  “Can I get one of those hugs now, sweetie?” Harper choked out.

  Rose nodded and ran around the table, throwing her little arms around both her new parents as they knelt down to better hold her.

  “Daddy?”

  Jackson’s eyes filled with tears at hearing her call him the honored title for the first time. “Yes, my little girl?”

  “Can I get a puppy now?” She looked up at him with those big brown eyes and Harper knew he would never be able to resist.

  “Sure thing kiddo, anything for my girls.”

  The End

  Acknowledgments

  First and foremost, I have to thank my husband. The guy is seriously awesome, he gives me time to write whenever I ask for it, is a wonderful father to our kids, and all around just an awesome m
an. Without his support there is no way I would have kept venturing down this road to writing and publishing books. Thanks honey, you are the best!

  As always, I must thank my parents as well. They are two of the greatest people I know, and I strive to be like them in my everyday life. They encourage and support my writing, which given the subject matter is an amazing thing.

  One of the best things I have discovered while on this amazing journey to becoming an author is the incredible support systems out there for fellow writers. The ladies at CPRW have kept me sane when I thought I was going to lose it, given amazing advice, and some awesome laughs at meetings and retreats.

  Finally, to all my beta readers: Laura, Taylor, Emma, Mary Lynn, you all have helped me so much when it comes to cleaning up my books. Thanks for always being willing to read for me!