Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

He chuckled. "Just enough to keep you from turning into a giant ice cube."

"Thanks," she said. "It feels wonderful."

She took another sip of the drink and set it aside. He reached forward and put her hands in his and rubbed them gently. He lifted her hand, trying to warm the backs with his breath. Her shivering started to subside. He stopped his ministrations and stared at her.

Jason could feel the room heating up and not from the fire. She didn't look away, but started chewing her lower lip. That was the last thing Jason could take. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss. It was consuming and possessive, but there was nothing more that he wanted in the world than to be with this woman, this minute.

They stood and Jason gently pulled her into the bedroom. The room was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the moonlight that slanted in through the one small window. He led her to the bed, keeping his silence, letting the anticipation build for them both by the simple touch of his hands on hers.

When they reached the bed, he moved to stand in front of her, then wrapped her in his arms, brushing her lips softly at first, then more urgently when a quiet moan escaped her lips. She pressed herself against him, and he could feel the length of her body through his clothes, the wanting pouring off her in heated waves. His hands found her hair, and he eased her head backward, trailing kisses down her neck and then undoing one button of her shirt at a time, following each with another kiss.

He slid her shirt off her shoulders, kissing her soft skin and cupping her breast through the satin material, rubbing his thumb across her nipple, smiling to himself as it responded to his touch.

She pulled his head up and imitated his motions, first trailing kisses down his neck and then his chest as she undid the buttons. She paused only for a moment and undid the button of his jeans and zipper, nipping the tender flesh that was protected by the clothing.

Jason pulled her to him and they finished undressing with more urgency. Their clothes finally out of the way, he lifted her, one arm around her waist and the other supporting their weight as he laid her on the bed. He was so hot and intense, every muscle in his body ready to devour her, but wanted her need to be as intense as his.

He stroked her skin, kissed her lips and slowly moved his fingers to the soft wet folds that held his salvation and slid a finger inside of her. Her plea for more as her hips pressed up into his hand was more than he could take. His hand moved to her hip and guided her upward as he plunged inside.

Rocking forward, his head swooped downward, clenching her nipple in his teeth. Her cry of ecstasy along with her orgasm sent him over the edge.

Jason rolled to his side, pulling her into his arms as he did. Their labored breathing was the only sound filling the room. He rubbed his hand on her arm, not really certain what to say. He'd certainly had sexual encounters on other missions, but everything seemed to be different in this place. He began to wonder if he was looking for more than was really there because he was starting to find the connections to his family and that was triggering other things.

He tilted his head and kissed the top of hers. Her hair smelled like cinnamon, clean and sweet and exotic all at the same time.

Tina pushed away from him and sat up, a look of wonder and concern on her face. He tried the silent angle again, hoping to hear her thoughts first, but not certain he should let her mixed emotions come out with a statement first. He wanted to reassure her, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to reassure her about. They both knew that he wasn't here to stay.

"I should go home," she said.

Her quiet tone was more of a question than a statement. She waited for his reply, but he wasn't sure what to say. She started to move off the bed, her head hanging a little low. All of a sudden Jason felt like a heel.

"No," he said, keeping his tone low and soft. "Stay."

"Stay?"

"You didn't bring your coat and it's freezing outside," he said.

She went from shy to furious in the span of two heartbeats. She started stomping around the room gathering her clothes. Jason knew he had done that wrong, but wasn't sure how to rectify it. His experiences with women weren't the kind that demanded the right words at the right time after sex. He'd successfully avoided real relationships his whole life.

He slid off the bed and put on his pants. Grabbing her arm as she stormed past him, he tried to pull her in for a kiss, but she stared at him as if he were a snake. He was beginning to feel like one and not quite certain why. "Tina, wait," he said. "I'm sorry. All of this has taken me by surprise. I don't know all the right words to say. Just stay and we can talk about it."

She left the bedroom with her clothes in hand and went to the bathroom. She came back out dressed and slipped on her shoes.

"Come on," he said, hating the pleading sound in his voice. "Don't leave like this."

She turned to look at him and before he could say anything else, grabbed his coat off the table and stormed out the door.

Jason sank into one of the chairs, running his hands through his hair. A sudden thought occurred to him. And he turned his gaze over to the table where his computer and other equipment were situated.

Tina had just walked out the door wearing his coat. The coat he'd put his handheld system in just before she'd arrived.

"Damn women and damn complications," he shouted.

Jason grabbed his shoes and a sweater from the bedroom. Throwing them on, he half ran to the front door and opened it. As the blast of freezing-cold air hit him full-force, he knew that this wasn't going to go well. He glanced at the thermometer as he ran out the door — thirty-five degrees before the windchill, and an icy rain was starting to fall.

He ran across town to Tina's house. No matter what, he needed to get his PDA back so that he could call in the Scorpion and get the other equipment that Denny thought he needed and maybe…maybe he could muddle through an explanation.

He wasn't good at this sort of thing, talking about what he was thinking or feeling, and he couldn't afford any more interference in this mission. Where Tina was concerned, it seemed that none of the lines that were supposed to work felt right. And besides that, she was different. Different than any other women he'd ever known, ever been with. She would see what he could say as the cheap platitudes they were. Sadly, they were all he could offer her. His mission had to come first.

By the time Jason made it to Tina's street, he was soaked and half-frozen. As he turned the corner, he stomped in a puddle that didn't look deep, but was actually a pothole in the road deep enough to slosh icy-cold water past the top of his boot.

"Damn it," he cursed, feeling his toes curl as his sock turned into a freezing sheath of wool.

Taking her porch steps in one big motion, he banged on her door, knowing that he could only stand there for a couple of minutes at most before he really needed to be inside and out of the cold. The wind shifted, and rain started slanting in sideways. The porch wasn't much protection and his foot was turning to a Popsicle with each passing second.

Tina pulled open the door a crack, and Jason didn't wait for an invitation. He pushed his way inside.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled.

"Freezing my ass off!" he snarled. "You took my coat."

He stepped farther into the room and came to an abrupt halt when he saw Chris Marley sitting on her sofa. Jason turned to stare at Tina, then back at him. The warmth that he had felt as he initially entered the house was replaced by a wave of ice that cut deeper than the storm brewing outside.