The Random Affair

by James H Roby

  Jackie’s head poked from of the kitchen. “No coffee. I got tea…is that okay?”

  “Only if you got -”

  “Earl Grey?” Jackie smiled further demonstrating how well she knew Jordan. He suppressed his own smile as he lowered himself onto the couch. He really wanted to be more enigmatic to coincide with his public persona as an investigator. He accepted his friends and family probably could see through all that. To be honest, this ‘self-vision’ wasn’t due to any vanity on his part. Instead, it was an occupational necessity. He always felt keeping an emotional barrier between him and everyone else would enable him to go into dangerous situations without friends worrying about him – no one worries about someone they can’t figure out. It never seemed to work out that way. Jackie along with the UrbanKnights, his parents and few close friends, had pierced Jordan’s shield.

  Jackie emerged from the kitchen carrying a serving tray. It swayed a bit in her grip. What was that about?

  Upon it was a tea pot, saucer and a pair of mugs. She sat next to her guest. Jordan accepted the mug of tea from his friend and took a spoon and a couple packets of sugar. Honey would have been better. The mug bore the scripture, “The man of integrity walks securely”. Jordan never asked her, but he always assumed this mug was especially for him.

  He enjoyed his ‘spot’ of Earl Grey, but he hadn’t adapted the English tradition of taking the drink with lemon. Jordan was willing to open his tastes to new things, but he would only go so far. You can take the boy out of the city…

  Jackie quietly sipped at her tea, still sporting a slight, secret smile. When she brought the cup from her lips, Jordan saw her pleased look.

  “Now, what, Jack?” Her eyes seemed to brighten at his personal nickname for her.

  “Nothing,” she said, “I was thinking about you and your tea. You know, Jordan, you’re not that guy I met in college.”

  He turned to her. “Really? Wow, who’d have thunk it? Are you surprised I’ve matured?”

  She laughed. “I didn’t say anything about maturing…”

  “Ha, ha. So what are you saying?”

  She paused before she answered, cocking her head to one side. She studied Jordan, as was her way, much like a doctor examines a patient. It may have been her professional life intruding on her personal one, except Jordan remembered her always looking at him like that.

  “Well you and this tea,” she told him, “that’s so…I don’t know, European. But back in college, you were so…”

  “Cool?”

  “Hardly.” That earned Jackie a hard look from her visitor. She ignored it. “You were trying so hard to define yourself.”

  “What!” Jordan jumped back into the couch’s cushions.

  “You know it’s true.” Jackie reached out to playfully slap his hand. “First you were a rapper, then a DJ.” she stopped to laugh, rocking with her mirth. Jordan bit his lip. It was funny. Everyone goes through a period of discovery. It was natural, of course, a part of growing up. But when you hear someone else talk about it, it was a little silly.

  “You were something else,” Jackie said. “You had a demo tape and everything. What was your ‘rap name’?”

  Helpless to deny her recollection, he said, “King Rock.” Jackie put a hand to her lip to hide her laugh, the other unconsciously tightening on Jordan’s. He surrendered and joined her in the joke. Tears were in her eyes as she continued her trek down memory lane. “Jordan Noble: rapper!”

  “I could have been too,” Jordan protested, “if my crew hadn’t abandoned me at the talent show. I had mad skills, yo.”

  She ignored his protests. “Instead, you became Jordan Noble, secret agent.”

  “Intelligence operative,” he said, elevating his chin. To the world at large, Jordan Noble was never an agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency. All open source records reflected he spent his military career in Missile Operations in North Dakota and then doing classified staff work at the Pentagon. Something followed about him being an ethics instructor at the spy agency, but never a field agent. Even Jordan’s family thought that he was just another officer in the United States Air Force. Years ago, however, Jordan needed a trusted ear he could confide in and revealed the true nature of his government service to Jackie.

  She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, intelligence operative. Sitting around drinking Earl Grey.”

  “Oh, so I’m all worldly now, and you’re feeling me, huh?”

  Jackie blushed at Jordan’s blunt way of putting what was essentially true. Somewhere in the room, Regina Belle asked “Do You Wanna Get Serious.” The silence between the pair stretched to awkward dimensions. The two friends, who could talk about anything, couldn’t tolerate the discussion of their own feelings. Jordan realized he had embarrassed her and knew he had brought the evening to a premature end.

  “Well,” he said as he set his mug back on the tray. “Score one for my big mouth.”

  Jackie smiled gently but said nothing. Jordan nodded at her silence and took it as agreement. He stood to leave. She was on her feet after him.

  “You don’t have to leave.” Her voice trailed off at the end. This was something neither one of them wanted to deal with.

  He continued through the living room to the front closet and the door beyond. “It’s probably best. There’s no need to…” he fought to find the right phrase, “force this.” He drew his coat from the closet and put it on. Behind him, Jackie struggled to resolve the situation. The attraction was there, he had seen it time to time over the years. But it wasn’t a hot blaze passions are known for…maybe a cozy campfire. Good for snuggling and little else.

  He got his coat and looked back to her. Jackie’s fingers locked and unlocked, seeking something to do. If he knew her, and he did, the past months were going through her head. Late night phone calls. The business referrals they sent to each other. Longing looks. Casual hand holding. Though never spoken, these actions were the down payments for future romance.

  He twisted his lips into a half smile and unlatched the door. It cracked open. He felt her hand at his shoulder.

  “Jordan.” He turned to her at the sound of his name.

  “I haven’t been fair,” she said. “All this time. What we’ve been doing…I’m attracted to you. You’re a great man and a good catch.” She smiled at the last bit, as if it would help heal his wounded pride and make this easier. He just turned to face her, eyes intense. He had an overwhelming sense something was ending. She was one of the few people he trusted without pause. If this was the last he would see her, he wanted to burn the memory of her into his brain.

  Jackie dropped her head and moaned softly. “This isn’t working. I’m just messing it up. Let’s just say that we’ll be better friends than lovers.”

  It was his turn to sigh. It was a long tiring road getting here. Just face the truth and get on with it. Rip off the damn band aide. “Okay, Jack. If that’s what you want.”

  Several seconds passed as the pair tried to figure out what to do next. A kiss was straight out but would a hug be too friendly? On impulse, Jordan reached and caressed her cheek. He paused for a moment to look into her brown eyes. Jackie leaned in and kissed his cheek. She pulled back and tears brimmed. Jordan felt the hot sting fill his own eyes. He was about to turn when she leaned in again. Their lips met. Soft. Brief. She was backing away again but Jordan came forward. Her lips parted and his tongue slid through. They stopped kissing again, yet still close enough for noses to touch. His hands rested gently on her hips. She, however, had a fistful of his shirt in her grip.

  “It’s…it’s hard.” The words came out of her between gasps of air.

  “It always is,” Jordan said. “I’ll just -”

  “I don’t want you to go.” She dared to look in his eyes.

  “But you don’t want me to stay.”

  A heartbeat. Then another. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

  She kissed him again. Not a kiss goodbye. An invitation whose
meaning was clear. The passion caught Jordan off guard but only for a moment. His arms encircled her as he returned her affection. She put her weight on him, forcing him back, slamming the door closed. Her breath was hot on his face, rapidly flowing over him in a steadily increasing rhythm. His right hand filled with her hair, pulling her head back so he could probe her mouth deeper. As they broke, Jackie pulled away with a gasp. She looked at him, almost like a wild creature. No trace of the reserve woman he had known for so long. In her stead was a being fueled by lust, if the look in her eyes were any indication. Her breasts peered from behind her dress, heaving in time with her breathing.

  Without saying a word, she turned and started up the stairs. Jordan undid the buttons of his shirt as he followed her. By the time he reached the landing, his jacket was a memory and he was working on his pants. Jackie made it to the bedroom. She turned and Jordan seized her with a kiss. It was her turn to be caught unaware. Thirty-three seconds passed before her survival instinct won and forced her to split the kiss. She drank in a lungful of air, but it was too late. She was completely at the whim of Jordan’s advances and he was no mood to be denied. He lunged forward and they fell onto the bed. He gave her no chance to recover and he descended with another kiss.

  The forbidden lust that had remained bottled within him had finally found release. His hands explored her body, each touch, she jolted as if a shock of electricity igniting her entire being. Nimble fingers discover the buttons of her dress.

  “Oh, God.” The words slipped out of her as he with the skill of a safe cracker, slid his hand beneath the lace of her undergarment and caress her hip. She went to moan but his lips came down firm on hers. Their tongues gently introduced themselves again. Jordan slightly shifted his weight so that his other hand could invade her bra and touch ever so gently the curve of her breast. Beads of sweat covered her. He moved to straddle her. He dropped his underwear, the last of his clothing. No sooner than they were gone, Jackie sat up. She pushed Jordan back, just a step. She looked at his naked body for the first time. There was no going back now.

  Before she could fully appreciate the view, Jordan bent over and yanked off her panties in a single motion, making her gasp. He smirked as he went to his knees.

  “Wait, wait. Wait.” Even as words left her lips, her legs opened for him. “I’m not…I don’t think I’m…” A breath. “Okay…okay.”

  Her spine curved as Jordan’s tongue kissed the innermost part of her. If she enjoyed his handling of her body thus far, heaven was sure to follow.

  Time had no meaning as Jordan pleasured her. His skill was such that he brought her just to climax, and then back down, only to start again.

  “Jordan…Jordan, stop. I can’t take anymore.”

  He almost felt bad for her. A woman always so in control. Now on the brink of begging. Her every nerve in her body would be alive and at full readiness by now.

  “Jordan…”

  He wouldn’t make her beg, and like a master of his craft, Jordan somehow knew that he had taken Jackie as far as he could with this technique. He stood to enter her. She widened her legs as he lay atop her. She grabbed Jordan by the arm so hard, three days would pass before the marks faded.

  Their bodies came together. Slowly, then increasingly faster. Her eyes rolled into her skull, showing only the white. Jordan filled her as if they were designed for each other.

  He suddenly increased tempo. The climax was nigh. Jackie brought him close, tightening the hold, as if that were possible. Breaths were now grunts. Movement, swift and deliberate. Not one iota of strength was wasted. Their entire beings, body and soul, were totally dedicated to physical, sexual pleasure.

  Then they felt it, as one. The orgasm forced every muscle to tighten as if a bolt of lightning had descended on them from on high. A moment in time so short yet all consuming, united them like no other. Tightly closed eyes opened slowly and they regarded each other as if for the first time. In many ways, it was. A door had opened and another had closed. Friends they were and friends they would always be. Fortunately, the enormity of the moment cannot be grasped by the mortal mind for long and quickly as it came…it was gone.

  “Damn,” Jackie sighed.

  Jordan could only drop his head and laugh.

  JAMES H. ROBY

  is the author of six novels in the UrbanKnights series. A former Air Force officer, he lives near Chicago, Illinois.

  Visit his website at jamesroby.net.

  Contact him at jameshroby@gmail.com