Reunion Ch 01 4

I wouldn't have come to the reunion if I'd known he would be there.

I wouldn't have come, and I wouldn't be wearing this damned short blue skirt, either.

I was let into Liz's apartment, all smiles, with a bottle of merlot in one hand and the other free for hugs and handshakes. There were so many people, some I hadn't seen in years. We'd been a close-knit group in college, and kept in touch on the Internet for the past three years since graduation. And Liz was wonderful enough to host a party. It was so great to see everyone. Everyone except—

"Jack. What are you doing here?" I breathed, shocked to see him appear next to me.

He stood there, grinning, as he looked me up and down slowly. His dark eyes sparkled mischievously. "That's no way to greet an old friend. Don't I get a hug as well?" Without waiting, he pulled me into his arms, hands caressing my back. "I missed you, Hilary," he whispered.

I pulled away angrily. "I wish I could say the same for you." I tugged at my flared skirt, trying in vain to make it cover more of my legs. "I thought you weren't coming."

He laughed. "It was a last minute thing."

He hadn't changed at all since I'd last seen him. Same wiry, thin frame, belying his strength. Same grace in his movements. His dark hair fell in his dark Spanish eyes they same way they always had. He wasn't tall, but towered over my five feet and three inches, and he tried to rest his chin on top of my head as he put an arm around my waist.

"Jesus Christ, Jack, I told you, you could come only if you left Hilary alone," Liz reprimanded.

"Why did you let him come at all?" I demanded.

Liz turned her glare to me. "He's one of my friends, too, Hil. Try to play nice."

And then she was gone, leaving me at Jack's mercy once again.

He gave me a wolfish grin. "Now why would I leave you alone when the whole reason I came was for you?"

I turned on him. "Jack, I'm serious. I haven't spoken to you in years for a reason. Leave me alone."

He looked as though I'd slapped him. He seemed to have thought I would welcome him back with open arms. "Fine," he huffed, and skulked away.

He kept his word, too. At least for a while. He stayed on the other side of the room from me at all times. He even pulled our friend Janet into his lap and whispered into her ear as she giggled and looked at him seductively, but his gaze was firmly fixed on me. I turned away from them, disgusted, and made my gin and tonic stronger.

As always happened when my college friends got together and alcohol was present, people invariably started pairing off (tripling off, even, in one case). I looked up from a conversation with Liz to see Jack leading Janet by the hand to one of the empty bedrooms.

"What the fuck is he doing with her," I muttered under my breath.

Liz turned to see what I was looking at. "Well, you pushed him away."

I blushed. "No, I just mean—I'm just concerned about him. She's a total slut."

Liz rolled her eyes.

An hour or so later, Jack was back at my side, strong hands on my waist. "How come you don't like me anymore, Hilary?" he murmured into my ear. His breath smelled of wine.

I ignored the question. "What happened to Janet?"

"I bit her. She didn't like that." I could hear the amusement in his voice. He nuzzled my ear and nipped at it. "Not like you, hm?"

I gasped as I tried to pull away, but his hands held tighter. "I'm not like that anymore," I protested.

"Right, of course you're not, you're a good little girl," he said softly, dangerously. "You wouldn't ever dream of letting the big bad sadist bite you, no, not at all."

"Leave me alone," I said, but I didn't even sound convincing to myself. His low voice was lulling me into some kind of trance.

"You haven't changed, I know you haven't," he continued, his lips brushing against my neck. "If you're so sweet and innocent, what's this skirt for?" His hands moved down from my waist, finding the end of the material. "Who were you trying to seduce, Hil? Mike? Scott? Who?"

"Nobody," I mumbled

His hands moved up along my bare skin. "Are you so sure," he continued, "that you knew I wasn't going to be here? Maybe you wore it for… me?" He punctuated the end of his question by lightly biting my neck.

The feel of his teeth snapped me back to reality.

"Fuck no." I wriggled out of his grasp. "Find someone else to be your bitch, because you're not pulling me into this again."

He pretended to pout. "But Hillary, you know that

you're

my favorite bitch."

I scowled and stomped my foot. "I'm not your bitch!"

The room went silent. Everyone stared.

After a moment, Liz made her way through the crowd. "Hillary, can I talk to you for a sec?"

She pulled me into the hallway. "Look, I'm really sorry that Jack's here, I know how uncomfortable he makes you."

"I just wish I knew beforehand, so I could—

"Not show up?" She half smiled. "Look, he's crashing here until his new apartment becomes available, since I've definitely got the space. So I couldn't

not

invite him. And I knew if I told you, you wouldn't come."

"That isn't fair!" I protested. "He

harasses

me!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. But just avoid him. He's harmless, you know that. It's not like he's going to rape you."

I said nothing.

Harmless, my ass.

"Look, you loved him at one time, right? So surely you can find it in you to tolerate him for a couple hours."

"Fine," I huffed.

Liz must have talked to Jack as well, because he stayed away. He sat on the other side of the room, alternately sipping at his glass of wine and staring intently at me. It was unsettling, like he could see right through me. And right through my clothing.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. During a lull in the conversation, I made my way to his side. "Stop it," I hissed.

"Stop what?" He smiled lazily, knowingly.

"You know. Staring at me. Like that," I added, when he fixed his gaze on me again.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Bull shit you don't. You're trying to make me feel uncomfortable."

"

Aroused

was more what I was going for."

I almost laughed. "Honey, it takes a lot more than a look to get me going. You know that."

I immediately regretted saying it as soon as I saw the sudden shift in Jack's face. His eyes were dark, dangerous. "Oh yeah?" he questioned mockingly, running a single elegant finger along my arm. I trembled involuntarily. "What

does

it take, Hillary?" His finger ran up to my neck, tracing the small hollows there. "None of my old tricks seem to be working anymore…" he trailed off, nuzzling my ear. A small moan escaped my mouth unbidden when he lightly bit the cartilage. "Or are they?" he murmured in my ear.

His low voice lulled me into complacency. I allowed him to continue the assault on my ear. I buried my face into his leather jacket, closed my eyes and breathed in his scent—almost musty, like an attic, like old comfortable sweaters, like college years spent happily handcuffed to his dorm room bed, his grinning face above me. His kisses drifted down my neck, tasting me as one of my hands tangled itself in his hair and the other explored his lean torso.

His hand found its earlier position on my thigh, right where my skirt started, and moved dangerously higher, tracing small circles on my inner thigh. I sighed and leaned into him as his other hand found my breast, biting back a small moan as he pinched my nipple.

"No bra," he breathed, so only I could hear. "You

are

just the same."

I leaned my head on his shoulder, my breath now ragged. I ran a hand up his thigh—dark jeans, as always—to where I could feel how much he wanted me. God, he was hard. I bit my lip as I remembered how he looked under those jeans. I ran my thumb along the zipper.

He let out a low, throaty growl and attacked my neck, sinking his teeth in, carefully at first, then with more pressure. He twitched slightly under my palm. I squeezed him gently, through the denim, and he bit harder. I had to hold back another moan. It was so good, so familiar, so—

Wrong.

I pulled away with a start, getting up, stuttering, apologizing. "I- I can't, Jack. I'm so sorry." I backed away carefully, not able to take my eyes off of him, off of the confusion and something else—hurt, maybe?—I saw in his eyes. "Must've had too much to drink," I mumbled, before I turned and ran for the bathroom.

I wanted to vomit, but I knew it wasn't from the two G&Ts I'd had. How did I let him get to me? How could I be so easily wrapped around his finger? Made to want him? I felt even sicker as I realized it—I had definitely wanted him. It was wrong. He was sick, a pervert. And if I wanted him, that made me just as sick and perverted as he was.

I splashed cold water on my face and breathed deeply

.

"It isn't your fault, Hil," I told myself. "He just has some kind of demented power over you, left over from when you dated

.

" Not my fault. I looked up into the mirror and saw my eyes about ready to fill up with tears. Not my fault.

There was a knock at the door. "I'm in here," I called.

The door flew open. Before I could say a word, before I could even fully spin around, Jack effortlessly hooked one arm around my waist, shut the door behind him, and slammed my back up against the door.

"You can't leave me like that," he panted, and kissed me hard, breathless; demanding more as he opened his mouth to possess mine. I had no choice but to return his kisses with increasing ardor. "God, you can't…" he gasped for air between kisses. "…can't leave me…"

I felt dizzy, light-headed. Maybe I really had drank too much.

"I still think about you. All the time," he confessed in a low voice, nuzzling my neck, still effectively pinning me against the door. I couldn't help but shift slightly against him where he was still so incredibly hard.

He closed his eyes and groaned, grabbing me around the waist and clutching me even closer to him. My sense came back to me, and I pushed him away slightly. "Jack, I…"

"I just can't forget you," he continued, seeming not to hear.

"You're just drunk," I told him, although I could tell from the look in his eye—there was a distance, a pain there, beyond the normal sparkle—that it wasn't just alcohol talking.

"Even if I was, it wouldn't matter. I'd want you either way."

"Jack, we've been over this a thousand times, I just can't be the person you want anymore."

"You've always been the person I want. Just give me one more chance." He wasn't begging; it was more of a statement, with an assumed agreement. "I just want to see if I can… change your mind." He wrapped his hand in my hair, pulling my head back to expose my neck, and trailed the tip of his tongue up it slowly.

The problem in dealing with Jack was that he knew what drove me crazy. I couldn't keep back my groan.

He grinned that devilish grin of his and bit down on my neck, hard. I gasped and clutched at him for dear life, sinking my fingernails into his back. But in the pain there was that familiar wash of pleasure. And in the fear of him, there was that familiar rush, that high.

He grabbed both of my wrists in his left hand and held them firmly above my head, against the wall. I protested, but was no match for him physically. "I just love you all stretched out and helpless, like this," he murmured, his eyes ravaging me. His other hand followed his eyes, but gently, feather-soft. It drove me crazy.

His hand finally reached my knee and slipped under my skirt. I couldn't think, couldn't say anything. My head lolled back against the door, my eyes closed. He kissed me, teasingly at first, licking my lips, then more forcefully, biting my bottom lip until I thought I tasted blood. I didn't care. I kissed him back, returning his fervor, as he clasped my ass and held us together.

It wasn't until he paused and stepped back to undo his belt buckle that I could think clearly again. "Wait," I said.

"Wait?" he questioned mockingly. "You didn't seem to want me to wait ten seconds ago."

"I wasn't thinking… I really can't do this."

Jack just laughed and nibbled at my neck. "Come on, Hil, don't be ridiculous."

I pushed him away, gathering strength. "I'm serious."

He looked taken aback. "Alright then," he said eventually, descending again upon my neck and ear with long kisses and tiny nibbles. I couldn't help sighing again. "I'll tell you what," he whispered sexily in my ear. "You look at me in the eyes and tell me you don't want me, and I promise to leave you alone from now on."

The next minute was the hardest one of my life. Slowly, I was able to look up and meet his gaze. "I don't want you," I said softly. "I want you to leave me alone."

It was half-true, anyway.

He pulled away, shocked. "Well, shit," was all he said. "I guess… I guess I'll just go, then." He buckled his belt and left, his gaze firmly on the floor.

"You did it, Hil," I whispered to my reflection.

But then why did I feel so awful?