Lerdo123
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(3/12/04 5:49 am)
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Precious Illusions: Chapter 3
Author's Note:
Thank you to everyone who's left feedback for previous chapters. Any comments, gripes, questions, things you'd like to see happen, etc? They're all welcome.  Oh, and back chapters are HERE.
Chapter 3
Their gazes met and held as the silence stretched out between them like an invisible thread. His eyes were remarkable, she thought, so endlessly blue. And filled with infinite kindness, as they’d always been when she looked into them. From the beginning, she’d felt safe with him. Elizabeth had never felt that way with anyone else--not before, and not since. Jason’s eyes were as blue as the ocean, but instead of feeling like she’d drown in them, when she looked into them she felt like she was sitting on a boat, being lulled to sleep by the warm sunlight kissing her shoulders and the gentle rocking motion wrought by all that blue.
When he reached out his hand and took hers, she didn’t stop him. His touch was warm and reassuring, and the brush of his thumb over the back of her hand filled her with longing for the girl she’d been a lifetime ago. She’d been clean once, and real. Now it was as if a thin film of soot covered her entire existence. The thought made her flinch and pull her hand out of Jason’s grasp. She knew it was abrupt, but that didn’t stop her.
Flashing a brittle smile, she said, “Do you still have that bike?”
Jason nodded.
She turned her head and shot a quick glance out the window. “Well, it looks like it’s stopped raining. What do you say we go for a ride?”
“It’s cold,” he replied.
Elizabeth studiously ignored the slight downward tilt to his lips. Shrugging her shoulders, she said, “So I’ll wear my coat.”
“Ok.You’ll have to wear a helmet, though.”
She pouted briefly. “Yes, sir,” she finally said, raising her right hand in a mock salute. Plucking at the faded gray t-shirt she was wearing, she said, “I don’t suppose you’ve got any of my old jeans.”
“I do.”
Elizabeth bit down on her bottom lip in an effort to stop herself from asking the question that had nagged at her when she’d woken up there in Jason’s bed.
“Go ahead and ask.” Jason said.
“What? I didn’t say anything.”
“But you wanted to. I know it, you know it.”
“Says who?” she replied, irritation evident in her voice.
“Me. I know you want to ask me why I kept your clothes.” He shrugged. “So go ahead and ask.”
“No. I. Don’t,” she ground out through clenched teeth. He was right, but she’d be damned if she’d let him know it. She desperately wanted to stand up and march right out of the room, but she was all too aware of her currently pantless state. So she settled for crossing her arms over her chest and raising her chin haughtily.
“Look,” he said, his eyes boring into hers, “you can pretend all you like, but I can still read you. Your face is still an open book to me.” He brushed the tip of his index finger over her lip. “You nibble right here when you’re trying not to say something,” Jason said, his voice suddenly husky.
Elizabeth shivered as a frisson of awareness skittered down her spine. She jerked back from Jason’s touch, unnerved. The room suddenly felt very small and very hot. She cleared her throat and looked away, fixing her gaze on the wall.
Jason let his hand drop and stood. “I’ll get you those clothes.” He started to walk away, but her voice stopped him.
“It’s been a long time, Jason--”
“Seven years,” he said, cutting her off.
She stared at his back and fought the desperate urge to tell him everything, to let him take care of her and make everything ok again. “You don’t know me anymore.” She waited for him to respond, but he stayed silent. “Some things have changed.”
“Some things haven’t.”
Elizabeth heaved a sigh of frustration. “Jason...”
“I kept them because I missed you.”
She blinked and watched as Jason left the room, her mouth suddenly as dry as the desert. He’d missed her.
*******
Elizabeth was fighting to keep the mask in place, but he could see the cracks in it. Damn it, she was hurting, badly, and doing her best to hide it from him. Something told him it had to do with more than Ric’s death, though that was bad enough. But he couldn’t help her if he didn’t know what was wrong. He knew he’d have to be patient, though what he really wanted was to force her to talk to him. But she wouldn’t react well to being backed into a corner. So he’d wait.
Jason turned when he heard the bathroom door click open behind him. All thought swiftly fled his mind as he took in the sight of Elizabeth clad in faded jeans that clung lovingly to the curves of her legs and bottom. She’d gained just a touch of weight over the years, and his body’s reaction proved just how much he liked it. The fuzzy lilac-colored turtleneck sweater she wore clung softly to the fullness of her breasts. She’d pulled her hair up into a ponytail, and she looked so young and innocent standing there that he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and steal just a taste of those cotton candy curves and see if she’d melt on his tongue.
But he contented himself with a smile when he noticed the flush of color that stole over her cheeks at his approving gaze. “Are you ready to go?”
“Definitely,” she said, her lips quirked upward in a small but genuine smile. His pulse sped up a few more beats.
He shrugged into his black leather jacket and watched as Elizabeth buttoned up her coat, her dark head bent in concentration . Thank you for bringing her back to me. Jason Morgan didn’t believe in God, so he couldn’t say exactly who the silent prayer was addressed to, but he wouldn’t take it back either.
The rain had stopped, leaving the air cold and still. The sky loomed gunmetal gray overhead, but it was beautiful in its stark simplicity. Jason handed Elizabeth an extra helmet before pulling out his own and strapping it on.
Elizabeth stood staring at him with wide eyes and open mouth.
“What?” he asked.
“Since when do you wear a helmet?” she asked, her voice colored with incredulousness.
“Since I saw what can happen if I don’t.”
“What happened?”
Jason shook his head with mock seriousness and placed his hand lightly over her mouth. “Shh... Enough talk. Now we ride.”
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