DISCLAIMER: Bionic Woman and its characters are the property of NBC. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Companion to Present Lovers, Past Tense by Geekgrrllurking. As double dog dared, Geekgrrl! We make a good team! Keep up the good work and I shall do the same.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Past Tense, Present Lovers
By Shatterpath
This is a mental dance that requires my utmost attention. Distractions or no distractions, one cannot afford mental wanderings while working on a bomb. Everything appears to be in order, and damn well better be, so I carefully close the briefcase and lock it shut. At last I can take a deep breath, knowing that things are as safe as possible, tension only partially draining out of my torso. Then I hand the case to the other cause of my tension and distraction.
"Don't drop it," I nag out of habit and real worry, but my smile is authentic. I'm still pleasantly baffled at all of this new… stuff with Jamie. The heat and adoration in her face makes me tremble all over, my soul calling her hers.
"What do I look like, Nathan?" she chuckles saucily and heat follows up the trembling I hide only with sheer will. What I really want to do is grab her and shove her up against that wall and…
Abruptly, Jamie's smile deepens and she steps away to tug the curtain back. I've no doubt the van is still in its place outside the Hilton Berlin. Nathan is many things, but a flake is not one of them.
"Just checking if you were still awake down there, Geekboy," Jamie sasses seemingly to no one, but I've grown used to accommodating her bionics. No different than the earwig I have yet to activate. But she's so distracting that my negligence to communications has gone unnoticed so far.
That… that dress she's barely wearing should be illegal. Or kept strictly in the bedroom because the things it's doing to my hormones are sinful. Not to mention her sassy smirk when she turns and sees my expression. I feel the heat in my face, but I cannot force myself to look away, wanting so bad to do dirty things to that fine physique.
It takes real effort to remind myself that we're still on the job.
I'm still not used to this, to us. This passionate young woman is an astonishing person, sexy and aggravating and driven. She has made me feel things, impossible emotions, so strong that they shake me to my core. My hyper-vigilance to calm and control is shaken by her and her effect on me. But, best of all, smirks my internal shrink, is that she improves me.
Damaged but still strong, Jamie keeps moving forward. Even when she falters and breaks, she is never weak. I marvel at her and want to both protect her and be protected by her.
Jamie is still smiling as she steps to my side and trails a friendly hand up the inside of my arm. As has become habit now, she keeps her eyes averted to preserve our privacy in these brief moments. It's taken some time to get used the idea, as my instincts see it as an avoidance tactic, despite the truth. But there is nothing of avoidance in her touch and I feel my skin pebble in delighted reaction, my heart rate soaring. That teasing pink tongue tracing over her bottom lip cracks my iron control just that little bit more.
Jamie's expression alters from attentiveness to thoughtful and she speaks up. "The CIA are on their way in, we should go," she informs me, eyes still hot and needy. "Nathan said Alexis is with them."
It breaks the mood more effectively than a bucket of icewater. All the memories still hurt, though not with the violent rawness at the time.
"What is it with you and that woman anyway?" Jamie asks softly and I debate for long moments how to answer, turning over the memories and my breakdown in my mind. Only honesty will keep this young woman at my side and there is really only one way this can play out.
"She's my ex."
That pretty young thing in the joint US-Israeli task force in Rome had been a trial to all involved. After all, even then, the CIA didn't ask for Burket's help lightly. I still wander what young Agent David wanted from Alexis, or if it's my scarred jealousy still grumbling after all these years. I was in too deep with the ill-advised affair with Alexis, far more often opponent than ally in our mutual war to protect our homeland. Then, there was the breakdown back at HQ weeks later.
I'm not at all looking forward to how this will affect my relationship with Jamie.
Her touch on my temple almost startles me, jerking me out of my racing thoughts. "That explains a lot, actually."
The knock at the door makes me grind my teeth in frustration, but I'm calmed by Jamie's sweet kiss. Guess the interface is down then. She's very careful to protect us from prying eyes, even as her going incommunicado drives Burket insane. With a heavy sigh, I reluctantly pull away and go to the door. I'm not at all looking forward to this.
"Alexis. To what do we owe the pleasure?" I bare my teeth in a grin that is entirely false. I feel more like a wolf, cornered and angry and dangerous. But Jamie being close reassures me again because I'm not alone. Opening the door further reveals two hulking goons without a scrap of humor between them. I really don't miss being like that and it's always a shock to note that fact.
Cool and collected, Alexis sweeps arrogantly into the room, noting and dismissing Jamie with a cold glance.
"Ruth, I should have known you'd be underfoot somewhere. We've come to see what mercenary assignment Burket has blundered into now. This is our jurisdiction as I'm sure you're well aware."
With deliberate calm I close the door on the goons and turn to this scar from my past to play out this endless game yet again. Years of training are like armor, allowing me to shove my roiling emotions in a little box to be dealt with at some safer date. I will not allow this mission or the lives of my partner and myself to be endangered by this petty woman I once thought I loved. Hell, I won't even allow harm to come to her, because that's what I do. That clarity allows me some icy calm even as Alexis and I argue and mentally circle one another like battling predators, hungry and dangerous.
There was a time that our volatile chemistry was a thrill, keeping me on that breathless edge of danger. I suppose I owe young Ziva David a word of thanks for saving me from carrying on with the adrenaline junkie affair.
That doesn't lessen the pain of being tossed aside for a young, gorgeous piece of ass, however. And Alexis has always been good at irritating me. Hell, that's how the affair started in the first place. I don't even really here the words anymore, it's like a play we've rehearsed a million times and can recite by rote.
"Ruth," Jamie's voice shatters the old dance and, startled, both Alexis and I fall silent. The touch of that flesh and blood hand trails newly-familiar fire up my arm and she drapes her arm over my shoulders in a gesture that is not at all platonic. I must look like a deer in someone's headlights right now, my brain stunned into complete quiet. "As much fun as you're having with… old friends." A fierce glare at Alexis almost makes me laugh. The chaos of having Jamie Sommers in my life has shown up again. Then I note her fingers toying with the sensitive short hairs at the base of my skull and the heat of battle begins to phase into something more carnal. "It's time for the drop."
Just like that, Jamie has stamped her possession of my body and soul to this old lover who irks me so. Unconsciously, I sweep my hand over the enticingly bare back of my young lover before curling it around the curve of her fine ass. I don't miss the shiver of reaction, even as that blue-eyed glower never falters.
It seems like I just might understand the appeal of the attentions of a sexy young thing after all.
The realization strikes me in a brief, intense moment. Ziva took Alexis on to manipulate her and things went ugly, leaving behind this bitter creature I barely recognize. All these years I've let her play me and… I don't have to anymore. Sure, Jamie too is perfectly capable of manipulating me, and has, but she has nothing to gain from screwing me over. That, and… I trust her.
The wash of giddy calm and adoration is better than any high I've ever experienced and I can face my nemesis with devastating composure. "You can observe if you like Alexis, but Berkut will be taking this weapons dealer down tonight with this sting we have set up and there is nothing you can do about it. Just keep your people out of our way." Then I nod to the briefcase and give Jamie a happy grin and a quick squeeze. The opened door is a silent 'get out' to Alexis and our gazes meet and hold for a long second.
She sees that this competition is over for me. Whatever she does from now on is all her own bullshit. I have finally moved on. Jamie pausing at the door on her heels just reinforces that.
"Better wait up for me. I may need a hand getting out of this dress," Jamie murmurs softly and I barely refrain from dragging her back in and ravishing her senseless, to hell with the rules. She winks and strides off down the hallway after the CIA trio, taking my heart with her.
This woman of mine is high on success, practically bouncing around with unspent energy. She's earned it, having pulled off the drop without a snag. Even Jonas complimented her on the fine work, making her preen all the more.
That happy energy easily persuades Jonas and the guys to send us off to bed early to rest up for flying out tomorrow. And Jamie hardly has to ask me to come along for the early turn-in time. For despite my perverse curiosity of what the guys know and might gossip about, I can't bring myself to care enough to stay.
Not with that fine young woman sashaying out of the bar with a sassy grin and a cheerful 'goodnight' tossed back over her shoulder.
Somehow I manage to keep my hands to myself all the way to the suite, where the clack of the door uncorks a need that is insatiable. As happens so often, I forget Jamie's unnatural strength, as she always allows physical equality in our lovemaking. So I shove her against the closed door and ravage her tender mouth, kissing her like I need it like air or water or sanity.
Jamie breaks the kiss, panting, sucking in breath. "First Antonio, then Alexis," she teases, nuzzling along my jaw. "What am I going to do with you, Trouble?" Higher thought is impossible as that wicked mouth kisses behind my ear and I am a puddle.
"Pretty much anything you want," I moan truthfully and she slithers against my body, pulling my hips flush to hers. So I naturally feel my way over her curves and under that tease of a short skirt to caress that fine ass.
"Good answer," Jamie husks as I rake my eyes down her body before once again meeting the blue, blue eyes. She's a tease and I love it, really I do, but sometimes I have to tease back. So we stare at each other, close enough to share breath, bodies shifting where we're pressed together. When the intensity becomes too much, I don't hesitate to grab my lover and once more ravage her lips and feel her up desperately.
My bionic lover is perfectly capable of throwing me through a wall or breaking any bone in my body. Noting that, it amuses me greatly that she's a pussycat in bed. She I kiss her long and slow, once more memorizing the taste and feel of her. She squirms but I keep her still with the grip on her neck, unraveling the skinny bow holding the scrap of a dress to her curvaceous frame.
She is so impossibly beautiful, not a mark on her in defiance of everything that she's been through in life. Full breasts stand firm and lovely, the scrap of thong outlines her hips and groin and the tottering heels make her muscles stand in gorgeous relief beneath her smooth skin.
The rusty-sounding moan, dredged up from where I once was so icy and closed off before her smiles, before her touches, before… before her. Reverently, I touch her in an endless quest to memorize the feel of her. Off come the shoes and Jamie sinks to the bed so that I can deliriously slide my thumbs under the stretchy straps of her thong. Oh, I take such pleasure in tugging the straps along the upright pillars of her incredible legs and I stare in awe at her, naked and open to me.
"Please Ruth," her voice cracks like a teenage boy's from the stress in her body and shakes me from my staring. It is time now, to lie beside her and slowly kiss her until she makes that animalistic rumble of naked need deep in her throat.
My chuckle is loving and smug as I lick and nibble my way down her body, pausing at the best spots, making her writhe for it. Our sex lives are as varied as we can think of, but right now I need the sweet taste of her thick in my mouth. Mumbling and crooning in encouragement, Jamie eggs me on with obvious delight. Oh, she'd like to hurry me along, but I know her body better than she does and waiting makes her all the hotter.
Caressing the silky curves of her inner thigh, I stare up the plane of her body to meet the darkened blue eyes that stare in needy desperation. Oh, I suppose that I can grant mercy and gently peel back the thickened lips of her sex to lick her teasingly. Jerking like a unbroken filly, Jamie keens and I cling to her hips to stay with her.
Her honesty has taught me how to play her body like a complicated, finely-tuned instrument. With my strong mouth, this instrument of sustenance and speech, I draw her pleasure tighter, tying complicated knots in her libido. She squirms and whines, clawing at the sheets, her heels digging in heatedly. So I hum in sympathy, keeping my delighted amusement to myself and she grows ever tenser.
It happens then, the impending orgasmic earthquake rumbling over her powerful body, allowing the stretch of nearly enough fingers to get all the way inside her tightness. How I adore her like this, writhing in abandonment as I thrust again and again to keep her flying. At last, my name shudders up from deep inside on a low moan and I leave off, relishing the pulsing of her muscles around my fingers.
This woman might be a living weapon with thirty million dollars of experimental hardware that extends a life that would have been cut short, but she is also just a woman. Climbing up the glorious curves that hide what lies beneath, I caress her sweetly and possessively. Our bodies nestle closely, mine overheated beneath my clothes, hers cooling as she calms.
The blue eyes are guileless, perfectly matched in color and responses, the black pupils slowly drawing tighter as she stares up trustingly at me. My adoration is hot in my eyes and Jamie caresses my cheek lazily. The loving smile that warms my face is for her alone. So I kiss her, drinking in this bond between us.
"Mine," I murmur happily into her mouth before snuggling close, my face against her neck. Strong arms hold me and Jamie pressed her face to the short hair behind my ear and strokes my back tenderly.
The decision to let this woman behind the emotional walls that have protected me for so long was not taken lightly. She had to work for it, and I still have to work at it every day. But she's worth it.
As Jamie's powerful body gathers to effortlessly flip us over so that she can ravage me in return, I acknowledge that all my loves before her feel like practice for this. Together we're formidable and nigh unstoppable. Together we are the present and the future.
And the past is just that.
The End