Chapter Nineteen
Jay
I look at the clock on my computer for the millionth time, willing it to move faster. I swear it’s taunting me. Normally I’m always on the move at work and the day flies by, but today my mind can’t seem to focus.
Picking up my phone, I check to see if Jordan has texted me with any updates. I’m disappointed when I see nothing new. I don’t know if no news is good news. I hate not being there with him, holding his hand while he has to go through all of it.
“Jay.” I jump at the sound of Miles calling my name. I must’ve zoned out. “Why don’t you head out?” he says, studying me for a moment. I glance back at the clock and see it’s only a little after three. I still have a list of things I need to finish.
“Sir, I...” I want to leave. To go to the hospital and check on Jordan. I’ve felt off all day, and I want to be close to him right now, but I also know I’ve missed a few days already and there are things I need to take care of here. I still have a pile of emails to go through and a few reports to go over, as well.
“Jay, go. I know you’re worried. You have a million vacation days saved up.” He’s right. I do. I never use them. “This isn’t a request. Do what you need to do, and go. Your mind isn’t even here right now, so there is no point in staying.”
“I promise I’ll get all caught up—”
He raises his hand to stop me. “It’s fine. You’re my best employee. I know everything will be taken care of, and we have nothing pressing that can’t hold off for a day or so.”
“Thank you.”
Miles nods and goes back to his office. I don’t wait another moment before I grab my purse and shut my computer down. I pick up my phone, checking it once again as I head to the elevator and slide in the key card. The one I told myself I’d probably never use but now I can’t seem to help myself.
When I get in the elevator, my phone dings with a text from Jordan. I hurry to open and read it.
Jordan: Take a cab.
I glance up at the camera and smile before shaking my head. I have a feeling Jordan can even pull up building security from his phone. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do with technology.
Me: You watching me?
Jordan: Always.
That should probably be creepy, but all it does is make me feel warm inside. I love that he worries about me enough to check in. I’ve never really had that before. When I lived at home, I was always the one doing all the worrying for everyone else. They all seemed to think I had it all under control, so no one ever bothered to see if I was okay. Having Jordan do this now is comforting in a way I wouldn’t have expected.
When I exit the building, I grab a cab and head straight for the hospital. Traffic isn’t too bad this time of day, and before I know it, I’m hopping out and making my way into the recovery wing, where Jordan’s dad is located.
When I walk into the room, Jordan looks up, and I watch a smile pull at his lips. Some of the tension leaves his body as he stands, moving towards me. He looks like he hasn’t slept much. I know at night in bed he tosses and turns until I stroke my hands through his hair. It’s the only thing that settles him down, but I’d do it all night if it meant he finally had some peace. He’s been a mess the past few days, and I know the stress is wearing on him.
“Hey,” I say softly. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer into him. I bury my face in his chest, breathing him in. Some of the worry of the day fades away at his simple touch. I never knew having him in my life would offer me so much comfort.
“I missed you,” he says against the top of my head, and I feel him kiss me there.
“I missed you, too,” I admit. “How are things?”
I try to pull back so I can look at him, but he only holds me tighter, not wanting to let me go.
“They said he should wake up anytime now.”
More relief washes over me. They’re letting him wake up. That’s good. Better than good. “So we wait?”
“We wait,” he agrees as he picks me up and sits us both down in the chair beside the bed. He cradles me in his arms, and I snuggle against him, feeling his hope seep into me.
“Jordan?”
“Rest,” he says, stopping me from asking questions.
“You’re the one who needs sleep,” I insist, finally getting to really look into his eyes.
“I just need to hold you. Then I’ll be good to go.”
“Hmm,” I mumble, burying my face in his neck. I feel even more tension drain from his body as his warmth surrounds me.
I must drift off, because the next thing I hear is a man’s gruff voice. “You always going to hog her like that?” Jordan laughs quietly at the man’s question.
I turn my head to see Jordan’s dad is awake, and he’s staring at me. In one movement, I’m up on my feet. “You’re awake!” My eyes water as I step toward the bed.
Jordan hits the call button by the bed rail.
“Now why did you do that?” his dad huffs, clearly not pleased that the doctors and nurses will come in at any moment.
“Let them check you over, Pop. You scared the shit out of me.” Jordan’s words are filled with so much relief.
His dad reaches up, touching the spot where he got hit. “How long have I been out?”
Jordan sighs deeply. “It’s been a few days.”
His dad shakes his head. “I don’t remember a damn thing.” I can tell he’s trying to concentrate, but it isn’t coming to him.
At that moment two nurses come rushing in with a doctor, and all three of them start looking him over.
“I feel fine. Just a small headache,” he reassures everyone once again. He says he’s ready to go home, but Jordan isn’t having it. The doctor says everything is looking great, but they want to keep him a few more days to monitor his progress.
“The doctor wants to make sure you’re okay. Please, Pop. It’s for your health.”
I step forward, placing my hand on his arms. “Please stay. We’ve been so worried and—”
“All right.” Jordan’s dad gives in to me easily.
It makes me smile, and Jordan shakes his head.
“Well, aren’t you going to introduce us?” his dad adds, making me blush. “I always felt like I knew you. Even when he would try to keep it a secret, I knew.” He gives me a teasing smile, and I watch Jordan duck his head shyly.
“Pop, this is Jay. Jay, this is my father, Rick.”
“But you can call me ‘Dad’ or ‘Pop,’” Rick adds. He reaches out, taking my hand and kissing it. His eyes soften, making him look so much like Jordan. He lets out a deep breath, and I know he’s fighting sleep. The doctors put something into his IV to help manage his pain.
“Why don’t you kids get home. Let this old man rest so I can get out of here soon. I still want my Sunday dinner.”
“Maybe I should stay...”
Rick ignores Jordan and looks over to me. “Make sure he gets home and gets some sleep. He looks like he needs it.”
“Hey, not all of us got to nap for the past few days,” Jordan teases his dad, making him smile. I see so much love in his eyes for his son. He’s more worried about him then he is about himself.
“Give me a hug.” His dad leans up, opening his arms for Jordan, and they have a long embrace before pulling back and saying they love each other. It’s adorable how close they are. I wish I had that with my family. But I always felt like the outsider looking in on them.
“You too,” he says. I lean down, and he wraps me in a tight hug. “Take care of my boy. I’m sure this shook him,” he whispers in my ear. I give a small nod, and he kisses me on the cheek. Then Jordan is pulling me to his side. “See? He’s going to try to hog you,” Rick says, patting my hand. “You kids get home.”
“See you in the morning, Pop,” Jordan says when we get to the door.
“Bring me my coffee,” Rick retorts, winking at us.
Jordan agrees, and we leave.
“He’s sweet. I already love him,” I say as Jordan pulls me into his side, wrapping one arm around me and kissing the top of my head.
“Yeah, Pop has always had sway with people. He makes everyone feel welcome.”
“I wish I had that with my family. You guys love each other so much.” I sigh thinking about mine. “I can barely get my mom on the phone. Pretty sure she’s dodging me.” Not that I can blame her. She knows why I’m calling. Her daughter is driving me insane.
“Well, you do have us. We’re yours, too. Pretty sure Pop is going to try to steal you from me. I can already see the giant dinners the two of you will be making every Sunday.”
Jordan lifts his hand to wave for a cab. His words mean more to me than he knows. I’ll be a part of a family that will actually like having me around. The cab pulls up, and he opens the door for me.
For a moment, he stills and brushes my cheek with the back of his fingers. “Why the face?” he asks, staring into my eyes.
“I’m just happy,” I tell him. No, I’m more than happy. Happy isn’t a good enough word for what I’m feeling right now.
“Come on, let’s get home and I’ll make you even happier.” He helps me into the cab, and I feel peace settle in my chest. Home. I love hearing him say it.
“I should probably do some work. Can I use your office, and maybe a spare laptop?”
“You don’t have to ask to use anything of mine. I’ll show you how to log in when we get there. You can work, and I’ll get us food.”
“Sounds perfect.” I snuggle into him as we ride in comfortable silence. I feel better than I have in days. Even the rain has finally stopped.
When we get to his place, we walk inside and he gives me a serious look. “If you don’t like it, we can change it.”
“Hmm?” I ask, not understanding.
“I want you to like the place.”
“I love this place.”
It must be the answer he’s after, because he leans down and kisses me. I try to deepen it, but he pulls away. “If you start that, I’ll never be able to feed you, and you won’t get to see your surprise.”
“Fine.” I give him a small pout, and against his own words, he kisses it off my face. Though this time, when I try to deepen it, he lifts me and throws me over his shoulder. It makes me laugh as all my hair falls into my face so I can’t see anything.
Before I know it, I’m back on my feet and see I’m in Jordan’s office. I glance around and see a new desk. It’s white with silver trim and looks beautiful. On top of it is a computer, and beside that are dozens of notebooks.
“Jordan,” I whisper. “How? Why? This is amazing.”
He wraps his arms around me from behind. “We can change anything you want. I still need to put up some shelves for all your notebooks.” He motions to a wall.
I turn in his arms and look up at him. “When did you have time?”
“I had some help, but it didn’t take much. It was more having to order things.”
I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, making him bend down to kiss me. This time he deepens the kiss, and when my butt hits the desk, the notebooks fall to the floor. My legs fall open as he steps in between them.
I go for his shirt, trying to get it off him. I love when he doesn’t have on a shirt so I can run my hands on his bare skin. He feels me tugging and helps me pull it from his body. Then he’s rushing to get me out of my clothes. I lean back, helping him get my pants off, then my shirt goes next. Quicker than I thought possible, I’m completely naked on the desk in front of him.
“Fuck,” he mumbles as his eyes roam over me. He drops to his knees in front of me, grabbing a hold of my thighs and pulling me to the edge of the desk.
“I’ve missed this. Missed you.” His voice is deep and low against my sex, and he begins to devour me like he’s starved.
I grab his hair, needing something to hold on to. I’m desperate to touch him.
“Jordan,” I moan. I try to push up with my hips, wanting to be closer to him. I need to be wrapped around him as tightly as possible.
“So fucking sweet. No one knows just how needy and wild you get when you’re turned on. And they never will. This.” I look down at him, this giant man on his knees in front of me, pushing my thighs apart. “This is all mine. Forever.”
“Yours,” I admit, loving his words but needing his mouth back on me. “It’s yours, Jordan. Please take it.”
At my words, he covers my sex with his mouth. I rise off the desk, my orgasm fast approaching. From the second he took his shirt off, my body began to tighten for it. As he loves my clit, the muscles in my legs tense as he grips my thighs tighter. There’s no escape for me, nowhere I could possibly want to go. The only thing I can do is cry out as he gives me the release I so desperately need.
I scream his name over and over again as he pulls the pleasure from me. Waves of it flow through my body, and I don’t know if I have the longest orgasm of my life or if it’s made up of several that roll together. It’s passion unlike anything I’ve ever felt, and I’m certain the things he did with his mouth should be illegal in all fifty states.
My eyes fall closed, and I don’t know how long I lie there, sprawled out on the desk. When I open my eyes, I see Jordan standing over me with a satisfied look on his face. You’d think he’d just had the orgasm, from the smile he’s wearing.
He leans down and gives me a soft kiss. I can taste the pleasure he just gave me on his lips, and somehow that makes the kiss more intimate. I run my fingers through his hair, wishing we were in bed and I was cuddled in his arms.
“Now that was rude of me,” he says, and I open my eyes.
“You can do rude things to me all the time, if that’s what you consider rude.”
He smirks down at me and shakes his head. “I ate, but you didn’t.” He pulls me into a sitting position, then picks his shirt up off the floor and slides it over my head.
“Put your finger here.” He points to a little pad I didn’t see on the desk.
“That is not where I want to put my finger right now,” I sass, wanting us to go to the bedroom.
He chuckles, then lifts my hand and kisses my palm. He takes my finger and puts it on the pad. I watch as the computer comes to life. “Now you don’t have to worry about fifty million passwords.”
“I like that,” I admit. It’s pretty cool seeing it all open for me. I bring my hands back to him and rest them on his chest. “I like this, too.” I start to trail my hands down his body, but he grabs my wrists.
“I’m going to feed you first.”
“Forget the freaking food.” I try to push for more, but my stomach isn’t on my side. It growls, and Jordan raises an eyebrow. He’s smug, and we both know he’s won this round.
“I’ll get the food. Play with your new toy.”
I huff.
He leans down, getting but a breath away from my lips.
“I want you fed before I get you in that bed again, because I don’t know when I’ll let you out of it.”
He gives me a kiss that’s just deep enough to make me want more before he’s striding from the room. I watch him go, wishing I had taken his pants off so he’d be walking around in just underwear. Damn it.
I jump off the desk and pick up the notebooks, then I sit down in the chair and start clicking on the computer. It looks like Jordan already set me up. All my tabs are there, and even my favorite websites are pinned to the desktop. I shake my head at how sneaky that man is.
I pull up my emails and start going through them, trying to clear as much stuff as possible. I really need to sit down with Miles and go over things that aren’t adding up. Or maybe I could have Jordan look them over.
Time passes as I weed out the ones I need more notes on and the ones I can handle now. My email dings, and I freeze when I recognize the sender. I remember it from before, and a creepy feeling sets in. I hover over the email before finally clicking on it.
From: [email protected]
Subject: none
Don’t become the little birdy in the box.
I sit there, staring at the email, unsure what to do. Jordan walks into the room, and I pull my emails down, smiling at him. I really don’t want to worry him with this right now. This is the first time in days he’s really been smiling. The tension in his body has eased and he seems content. I don’t want that coming back on him right now.
“Hey,” I say, standing up. He looks at me a little funny.
“You ready to eat?” he asks.
I glance back at my computer, debating what to do. Jordan wraps his arms around me and nuzzles my neck.
“Let me feed you. Let me take care of you tonight like you did for me today.”
I run my hands into his hair like I always do and nod. I will give him what he wants, because it’s what I want, too.
“Sounds perfect,” I tell him. I’m not ruining this day with threatening emails. I’ll tell him about it tomorrow and let him take over. I won’t keep anything from him. But as long as I’m in his arms, there’s nothing that can touch me.
Tonight I’m falling into Jordan and forgetting everything else.