Time Sensitive Target

Part 55 - Friends

Jase pulled Paige in to his body, her gentle permission releasing a myriad of feelings he hadn't realised he'd been guarding. Locks of hair laced between his fingers as he reached towards her, their eyes connecting with deep fervour whilst their features pressed closer together until Jase's lips found hers. He matched the carefulness of her first kiss, tentative and gentle. It took new strength to prevent himself from acting the way his body wanted to; seizing her with passion and urgency he knew could be too much. But the response from her mouth was hungry. Paige pressed herself closer to him, absorbing his warmth and lulling herself in the newfound security of his embrace. Something deep pulled her towards him, not just a longing, but a bond she realised she'd been blind to for a long time. 

Paige responded to Jase's tender kiss as though they were designed for one another. She slipped her tongue across his soft lips lightly, inviting him to do the same and part her mouth to explore each other's taste. And he did, probing her tongue with his own until their hands couldn't help but move across skin, passion and need casting away any caution. Jase drew his mouth away from Paige's arduously, only to flutter kisses across her cheek and jaw down to her neck, but the absence of her warm kiss made him ache. He pinched her earlobe with his teeth lightly, tonguing the tiny soft indentation where her jawline reached her ear and running his mouth down her neck, nipping at the delicate skin in his own frustration at not allowing himself to devour her whole. 

How he wanted to. The animal in him wanted to throw Paige back and enter her heedlessly, and what torture it was to restrain himself. Paige's hands roamed across his tensing abs towards the snake of hair that ran from his belly south. She felt a desperation for him, anything to be closer to him even more than they were. She needed to be encompassed, encapsulated by his body, bound together so there was nothing parting their flesh. Paige's fingers tugged at the waist band of Jase's pants, urging them down. When he felt the strain of stretching fabric across his groin Jase bared his teeth and bit tersely above Paige's collarbone, knowing he had to pull back. 

"Paige," he growled, forcing her hands away with might he had to conjure. Paige looked up at him, clear blue eyes open and honest, unclouded with a newly trusting innocence he could hardly bear. 

"What's wrong?" She asked, the rise and fall of her chest rapid and steady from the rush of arousal. 

"We shouldn't," Jase shook his head and reluctantly stepped back, putting his hand across his mouth absently as he stroked his jaw in thought. Paige knew better than to argue. He wasn't wrong; who knew what strange muddle of emotions propelled her towards him and whether or not it would have felt right afterwards? It was definitely a terrible idea. Then why did it feel so right?

"I know," Paige replied, gaining more control of her senses. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it- it just felt... I was sorry. I am sorry, I missed everything that was important and-"

"Stop," Jase frowned and stepped closer to Paige once again, resting a soothing hand on her arm. "None of that matters. I just... don't want either of us to regret anything." He knew she was overcome with thoughts and emotions after the revelation he'd shared, something that could easily make her confused and skew the way she felt about him. What Paige interpreted as desire could very well just be relief that he was no longer the enemy she'd thought he was. He couldn't make the bold move she leaned towards in case she realised afterwards it was just the confusion of it all. 

"No, you're right, you are right," Paige looked down at her feet sombrely, rethinking the reliability of her own body's reaction. "Let's... try this again. Now I know what it was all really for... maybe we can start afresh," she glanced up shyly to Jase's clouded eyes, hurting with the loss of her gentle warmth against him. 

"Does that mean you're going to stick around? Work with Lorres?" Jase frowned. 

"Maybe. Under the stipulation that Jack has nothing to do with me, maybe. I'm not sure yet." 

"Mm. So if you're sticking around San Diego, we're going to do this? We're going to be friends?" Jase's nostrils flared slightly at the F word, knowing he would never be just her friend. 

"Friends," Paige repeated, slightly caught off guard and uncomfortable with the firm status. "Yes, we could be friends." 

"Okay," Jase nodded resolutely. "I'm going to go and... take a cold shower," he gave a small smile and pushed away thoughts of her supple skin against his. 

"Right," Paige laughed nervously. Friends, it was a healthy decision. A fresh start, a new beginning at life and a renewed sense of peace and purpose. Paige felt optimism returning gradually as she mapped out hazy ideas of how her future could go. After a while, when the dust settled, who was to say whether or not kissing was an unfriendly activity, after all? All she had to do for now was deal with Jack and Lorres, and begin to shape the new foundations of her life. If fate allowed, her friend Jase could very well be a part of that.