This is the third chapter in a series. To understand the characters and events presented here, please find Something In Her Eyes Ch. 1 and Something In Her Eyes Ch. 2 for the full back story. These stories are dedicated to my inspiration and my love. I miss you, my baby, my SSB.
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As he packed his third bag, Glen wondered if he had finally lost his mind. He could not believe that he was actually going to go through with it. When he was much younger, people wondered about his sanity, if he was all there. They wondered what kind of future he would have, if he would possibly end up in prison. Back then, up until he turned 14, he used to get into trouble – a lot of trouble. 'Somebody call the police' kind of trouble. As he reached into the cherry-stained wood dresser to pull out extra clothing for an unplanned number of days away from home, he thought about how far he had come since those days.
In the past twenty-some-odd years Glen had straightened up, cleaned up his behavior and completed a good education. Now he had a good job, was doing positive work, and was making decent money. He had proved everyone wrong who thought he would not amount to anything; that he would always be someone constantly in trouble for doing something terrible. Why in the world was he about to risk it all now?
He looked at the invitation one more time. A mixture of pain, lust, longing, dread, anxiety, adrenaline, desperation and love all churned together in a storming sea inside of him, making it hard to think properly and clearly. Michael, one of the star graduates of his The Bridge Home Community Re-entry Program, had swiped a copy for him one afternoon while making a delivery of documents to her office related to the court case. Michael knew without ever being told just how Glen felt about her, he had known since the first time he saw them together when she came to visit the program before deciding she would take them on as a client. So Michael took the sample invitation just in case Glen wanted to know. He was discrete enough to place it on his desk in an envelope without saying a word, and Glen appreciated that. For that, he was willing to forgive Michael this slight lapse into an old habit of petty and not-so-petty theft that had previously landed him in prison.
Glen tucked the invitation into the bag that had his other supplies. He really didn't need it - all the information on the card burned a painful hole in his psyche. Would he really risk everything for this? He made one final check to make sure he had everything before loading the three bags in the back of his car. He was running on instinct. The animal in him was out in full form, running wild, acting on primal urges. That was the only way to explain what he was contemplating doing.
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Three months earlier...
Jordan was lost in thought as she rolled the sheer black stockings up her legs. She barely registered that her fiancé had been speaking to her.
"What did you say, honey? I'm sorry, my mind was preoccupied." It was Friday evening and all week Jordan had not been able to free her mind of the experience she had with Glen the previous Monday: their lunch date, the fruit, and the seedy motel afterwards... She had never experienced anything so intense with another human being. Yet, she walked away from the encounter determined that it could never happen again and therefore it would never happen again. Nevertheless, both her body and mind were possessed with the memory – every place on her body where Glen had touched or kissed still tingled in recollection. It was only on Thursday when she could finally sit without experiencing the slight tenderness that remained from all that he had done to her. She remembered the fiery look in his eyes, his smell, his taste, their combined tastes as she licked them off of him - off of his lips, his chin, his cock... Seemingly nothing could free her mind from reliving the experience over and over again, and it was driving her crazy.
"That's been happening a lot lately, sweetie," her fiancé, Richard said. "I'm beginning to worry about you. I said, 'we don't have to go if you are too tired or not feeling up to it,'" he repeated, watching her get into her black cocktail dress. It was one of his favorites that showed off her curves nicely and contrasted well with her sun-kissed skin. But he could tell that Jordan was not really in a party mood.
"No, Alan is a good, close friend of the family," Jordan said. "I haven't seen his daughter Liz for years, but we were close when we were kids, so we really need to be there to support her if nothing else." Jordan remembered how close she and Elizabeth used to be as teenagers. Their parents were close friends and the kids of both families used to play together often as they were growing up. Then right after high school, Liz got pregnant unexpectedly, and married soon after. She and her husband moved away to the next town over, and all family gossip indicated that their marriage was degenerating and had become abusive. Under the circumstances, the friendship between them had just waned. Then things took a turn for the better about 6 years ago when Liz mustered up the courage to get a divorce. Afterward she went back to school and took classes full time, worked full time, and somehow still managed to raise her son. Liz's father, Alan, was throwing the party as a joint celebration of her 35th birthday, her son's 16th birthday, and her graduation with a master's degree in early childhood education. It was truly a remarkable comeback story.
Jordan finished dressing and together she and Richard drove to the party being held at Alan's house on the other side of town. During the drive Jordan remained quiet in her thoughts, so he turned on the radio. The silence was louder than the music. They arrived an hour after the party's official start time.
"Come in, come in," Alan said, grabbing Jordan by the arm and leading her through the foyer. "This must be Richard." The two men shook hands, then Alan continued, "there is someone here you absolutely must meet."
Jordan's breath caught in her throat as Alan led her and her fiancé over toward the couple. The woman, who she did not know, was attractive in a short, chic red dress. She was laughing heartily, hanging on the arm of none other than Mr. Glen Arrington.
"Both of your dads and I were close friends, we were all in the same guard unit," Alan explained as he brought Jordan and Glen together. Jordan saw an equal look of shock on his face as he extended his hand to shake hers.
They were both stunned to be meeting like this and it showed from the looks on their faces. Jordan was nervous even though she knew Glen would maintain a professional decorum. She waited for him to speak first to see how they would play it. It gave her much needed time to catch her breath.
Glen did not acknowledge to Alan that he already knew Jordan as he said hello. His demeanor had recovered quickly, and the initial shock on his face was long gone. He shook her hand firmly, enveloping her small hand in his large one. Just before letting it go, he used his middle finger to draw a lazy circle in Jordan's palm. No one could see what he was doing. He worked his finger back and forth in her palm like he was massaging a crevice and Jordan marveled at how the slightest touch from him could get her heart racing.
An equally well acted look of concerned surprise came over Glen's face as Alan explained why he was introducing them. "It just so happened that I was out on sick leave with a rotator cuff injury the weekend of the chopper accident," Alan revealed. Jordan and Glen had discovered on their own two weeks ago that their fathers were in the same Army National Guard unit and died together in a freak helicopter crash during training exercises. "Well," Alan continued, "given that your dads were good friends and the nature of their deaths, you two really should know each other. My daughter Elizabeth knows you both - you Jordan better than Glen - but we were talking before the party and realized that you two had likely never met. So Jordan Thomas, meet Glen Arrington."
"It is very nice to meet you, Jordan," Glen said. "And this is my girlfriend, Selena." The woman in red offered her hand to Jordan as well.
"It's very good to meet you as well, Glen, Selena, and this is my fiancé, Richard," Jordan said. The five of them took turns shaking each other's hands with Alan in the middle.
A slight look of panic crossed Glen's face as he watched Jordan shake hands with Selena, and Jordan thought she might faint watching Glen shake hands with Richard. The tension was high and they both wanted to defuse it, so they each led their partners away, agreeing to talk more about their fathers' connection later in the evening.
Seeing each other with their respective partners unexpectedly stirred something primal in both Glen and Jordan. They each felt a deep need to reclaim possession of the other, mark the other as their territory. They both tried to fight it. It started subtly, each of them stealing glances at each other from across the room. If one did not immediately see the other, they would shift positions and strain their neck looking, checking to see what the other was up to. Every time their eyes met it stoked the need burning in each of them. They would each look away quickly lest anyone else detect the emotion on their faces. Jordan made sure to stand and position herself such that if Richard were talking to her, his back was facing Glen.
Jordan tried to control herself and stop looking in Glen's direction, but she could never go more than a few minutes without seeking him out, searching for him, looking to see if he was still looking at her. Sometimes she just felt the heat of Glen's stare burning into her and she had to acknowledge it. The room was getting warm, very warm.
It is never polite to discuss war or politics at a dinner party but as the evening wore on, never one for convention, Jordan found herself discussing both and was embroiled in a heated argument. Jordan welcomed the distraction as it helped her manage to push the sexual tension she had going on with Glen out of her mind. She was determined to stick to the promise she made to herself after their last time together: that their brief affair, beautiful as it was, could not go on. Arguing with other party goers was a way to let off some of the steamy heat Glen's lustful, piercing gaze had stirred in her.
Hearing the rising voices on the other side of the room and seeing Jordan in the thick of it, Glen made his way over toward the commotion. Selena was with him, right by his side. As he passed Jordan making his way around the circle of guests also embroiled in the argument, Glen discretely reached out to caress Jordan's fingers and squeeze her hand, ever so quickly. It was just a touch but yet so much more, filled with unspoken desires. Jordan knew it was Glen without seeing him. Richard was in the same circle but standing opposite of Jordan. As it so happened, where Richard stood was the one opening in the group where Glen and Selena could also stand and join in.
