The Perfect Weapon Chapter 2009: Part 2 Section 1 of 2
Chapter 2009: part 2 Section 1 of 2
Irina opened the closed door and frowned. Why was it so dark in here?
She put down her packages inside the door. Removing her shoes, she put them neatly to the inside of the door and closed it. She would prove that she did have an imagination. If she could find her husband that is... She waited until her eyes adjusted to the blackness before her as light spilled over her shoulders. She looked around. He hadn’t been in Dave’s room, where Dave was soundly sleeping.
Oh. Jack was in bed.
She closed the door, then padded silently over toward the bed and smiled. She reached for the clip that held her hair up and tossed it aside. She’d worry about it later. Right now she had a different priority - which was getting in bed with her husband for the first time since... Hmm. Since Panama, when they hadn’t really slept. If luck was with her, they wouldn’t be sleeping much in ths bed either. Reaching out, she lightly ran a fingertip down from his shoulder, along the curve of his bicep. His bare arm. Hmm. How much else was bare? She slid her fingertip down his skin, enjoying the texture. Suddenly, Jack’s hand flew out and clamped on her forearm.
“Jack!” Irina hissed, pulling at his hard, tight hand. “It’s me!” She expected him to laugh and say, ‘Hymie?’ His next words, however, shocked her speechless.
“Laura? Or do you prefer Irina?” Jack hissed back, his voice tight.
Irina blinked. What was he doing? What he having a nightmare or was this a game- Irina gasped as Jack pulled her up and tossed her lightly over him onto the bed.
Thud
Looming over Irina, Jack planted his hands on her shoulders, holding her still. “How interesting. I thought you were dead.”
A game!
Irina felt a smile spread across her face and the beginnings of warmth between her legs. A game. Their game. A game based upon the fantasy she had told him earlier. He had picked up the cue in a way she had never expected. Of course, he had. That unpredictability was one of Jack’s great strengths in any game. She shifted, deciding on her next move. Jack clamped his hands on her arms and shifted more of his weight over her, forcing her to stillness. She felt him bend his head downward, felt his hair brush against her face and held her breath in anticipation of the unexpected.
Jack whispered, “Are you okay, honey? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
The whisper.
Irina closed her eyes and felt another surge of heat flood her heart and her body. Oh god. All of the elements were in place for a great game. Jack. Her. An idea. The whisper. How long had it been since his whisper made her body ready itself for his? If she hadn’t known instinctively that he was instigating a game, that whisper - the kind they’d reserved for checking on each other during a game - would have told her everything about his intentions. A game for just the two of them. How long had it been since they’d played a game like this? This time the thud she felt was her heart beating in excitement.
“No. I’m fine,” Irina whispered back. “Just startled. It’s been a long time.”
“It has. Let me know when you’re ready.” Jack relaxed and leaned on his left side, his legs still covered by the bedcoverings. He loosened his right hand from its grip on her shoulder to brush her hair away from her face.
Irina lifted her free left arm and curled her hand around Jack’s. She whispered, “I’m ready. Start over.”
Jack smiled at her actions and shifted a bit more of his weight toward his back. There was no rule against helping the other one achieve their goals, after all. And if there were such a rule, he’d simply break it. He repeated, “How interesting. I thought you were de-“
Jack groaned as Irina used her hand and a sudden movement to flip him onto his back and straddle him. She grabbed his hands and shoved them over his shoulders, holding him still. She waited. He was really going to just surrender so easily? She smiled. He must really want to play this game. Or he must want her to have control. Or for her to think she had control. Hmm. Which option was it, A, B, or C? She squirmed as she felt the moistness between her legs.
Jack grinned into the darkness and waited for her next move. He could almost hear her trying to decide on her next play in this game where the power shifted constantly between them. When she stayed quiet, he wrapped his hands around her wrists, warning her to make her move or he would try to shift the power back again.
Irina took the cue from long practice. She cleared her throat and held onto Jack’s shoulders tightly, trying to calm herself. It was a game. Thank god. In her excitement, her accent deepened naturally as she said, “I’m not dead. I’m very much alive.”
Shit! If Irina used that version of her accent, the game wouldn’t last very long. “I see. That is not how Laura sounded.” Jack forced himself to move, to slide his hands up her arms and gently stroke her neck until her head tilted back. “So, I must ask you to indulge me with this question. Is that your natural accent?”
“Why? Do you like it?” Irina teased, having felt him still the moment she had begun to speak in that accent. She brushed her fingers against his nipple and felt it constrict under her touch. “Do you like it better when I use that accent to speak of my... malfeasance?” Irina drawled the word out as long as possible and felt something under the covers grow a little longer as well. Ha. If only her brain weren’t half-melted already, she might be able to find another polysyllabic word and send him right over the edge into her arms.
“Unfair tactics,” Jack growled in a low tone, his voice lost somewhere between the conscious game and the need beneath. Or was it above? “Evil...”
“All’s fair.” Irina shivered at the huskiness in her husband’s voice and at the firmness of his touch as he ran his hands along the side of her body once again. Apparently, he couldn’t keep from touching her any more than she could stop stroking the hard, warm chest under her hands. So long... What was he doing? She grabbed his hands as they tunneled under her shirt. If he did that she'd lose her place in the game.
“Is this love or war?” Jack squeezed her hands once.
“I’ll show you.” Irina kicked the covers down with her feet, then released his hands to slide her clothed body down his length carefully. Would he use a counter move or stay quiescent? She waited and he did as well. She smiled when he stayed still, wondering if he felt the rise of tension, hoped he was rising to the occasion, that he had remembered. She bent her head and found his thigh with her mouth. Oh. He was naked. She moved her mouth inward.And he was rising to the occasion. At least that was always predictable about Jack.
Jack cleared his throat as her felt her warmth breath against his skin. Trying to keep most of the humor out of his voice, he began, “So. You’re alive. As am I since I evaded the death penalty after your little midday swim in the river. I always wondered. Did you have a bathing suit on under your clothes?”
Irina lifted her head as she heard the laughter in his voice. He was joking about that? Something tight inside her relaxed even as she realized that this game board was a new one. “If you keep that up, I’ll have to punish you-“
“But wasn’t that one of my stellar qualities in your reports - the ability to keep it up?” Jack bit back a laugh as he felt her chuckle against his leg. She pinched his thigh a little harder than strictly necessary. “Might I inquire this time - what’s your objective on this mission? I assume you’re on a mission. So that I can rearrange my bureau drawers if necessary, just how long are you planning on staying this time?”
“Forever.” Irina answered immediately. She leaned up to caress as much of his skin as she could reach, her fingers trailing over his chest, shoulders and down his arms, before settling her hands around his. Jack turned his hands over and they interlaced their fingers. Holding hands in the darkness, she whispered, “Forever. I promise.”
“Forever? Hmm. I’ll...wait and see.” What would she do now? Was she just going to cut to the chase and apologize or-
“Good enough.” Irina slid her hands down, then up Jack’s legs. What was the game they were playing again? She was distracted. She looked down into the darkness wishing she could see. Well, she’d have to take her time and thoroughly compensate for her lack of sight. Given how long his legs were this could indeed take a while. She dragged her fingernails up his thighs and felt his muscles tense under her hands. Clearly that meant she should continue this modus operandi since it was working quite well. She should probably have apologized first, but she didn’t need Dave’s advice. This strategy seemed to work fine. Yes, it did, she decided as she brushed against his hardness and felt him move in her direction.
“What do you want?” Jack asked impatiently. Besides crawling all over me and driving me insane. Why didn’t she just... Tell her, said a little voice that sounded familiar.
Irina sighed. How she had missed him asking that question, but she didn’t want to hear that tone. It was reminiscent of Panama. He had to be punished for that. Her fingernails skated across his hardness and immediately moved away.
Jack groaned. His body wanted to take something nice and warm and soft, but he could take a cue. “I do hope you realize that you’re not going to get intel out of me this time unless you’re planning on torturing me.”
“I don’t want any intel from you! I want-- “ Irina slid her hands firmly and slowly from Jack’s collarbones down over his chest muscles and abdomen. Fitting her actions to her words, she continued caressing him as she murmured, “You. Just you.”
“I care about what you want about as much as you care about what I want.” Jack shifted into Irina’s caress and ran a hand down her spine, then back up curl around her shoulders and urge her close, his actions belying his words in this game. “Why are you here? Why did you return from the dead?”
“Because...” Irina licked the base of Jack’s neck and then began to run her tongue along her shoulder. She closed her eyes as Jack’s hands lifted into her hair. “I love you and Sydney.”
“Really.”
“Yes. Really.” My, he was quite the snot. Irina bit Jack’s bicep. When he didn’t wince, she did it again a little harder. “I don’t appreciate the snottiness of your tone-“
“What a shame. My heart bleeds purple piss.”
Irina sighed loudly around the grin on her face. Thank god it was dark because she didn’t think she could have pulled off the game if he could see her gleeful expression. “I’ll repeat this truth since it appears to have gone in one ear and out the other. I returned because I love you and Sydney. I missed you both. Terribly.”
“What you missed, no doubt, was your easy access to the secrets of the US government. Secrets I gave you so willingly. Has it been so difficult to find a replacement as stupid as I was?”
“No, it wouldn’t have been. I mean, you know what I mean.” Irina spoke impatiently, wishing she could find a way to handle this guilt she felt. She was sure Jack wasn’t trying to make her guilty, he was trying to move from point A to point B in this game. This territory was well known and no problem to traverse. Which meant that Jack was hiding a trap somewhere. She felt her pulse speed up and made no attempt to govern it. “I could have found another mark, an easier one. Had I tried. Had I wanted to try. But I didn’t.”
“Why didn’t you? Has that game grown boring?”
“Every game without you is boring, Jack,” Irina whispered. “And you weren’t stupid. The game only worked because I loved you.”
“Is that so?” Jack asked skeptically. In a voice devoid of all inflection, he asked, “Then why haven’t you returned before?”
Irina froze. Here was the trap. The trap of Option C. She had thought she was in control, but this game was for Jack too. This was why his hands and his mouth spoke different truths. He had never played this game before. Why...? Oh. This game was a way for him to vent his anger over her failure to return when she’d thought about it. Good idea and fair enough. Actually, more than fair enough, it was perfect. Use a game to deal with anger and anxiety? Perfect. A perfect weapon. Was this Jack’s perfect weapon? The game between them. They would each gain something from this game.
“Answer my question. I deserve that much from you.”
“Yes. You do. The truth is that I thought about it. From...the second I was on that plane heading...” She slid her hand downward. In the time-out whisper, Irina said, “Speaking of heading home...” and circled his hardness with her hand. She sighed happily. Her large hands were the perfect fit for Jack.
“Really.” Jack coughed as she circled him with her hand and squeezed lightly. He tried not to choke on his words that would take them back to the game. “Then why did it take you so long?”
“I was...I did try to contact you. I did! But something happened to my message. It was intercepted and I ended up at this KGB prison in Kashmir-“
“Can this be confirmed?” Jack stifled a groan as her hair brushed against the bare skin of his hip. Now, he was confirming for them both the fact that he could not resist her -- this woman she was becoming. His wife. She was back, they were playing a game and if she moved her hand a little more or her mouth, he might forget - as he had always done until it was too late - what he wanted most.
“How do I know! Call the archives in Moscow. I’m quite certain they would give you access to their files on KGB agents imprisoned for suspected treason. Not.”
Jack smiled in the darkness and tugged on Irina’s hair. He did love a smart-mouthed woman. He did love her. “So you were in prison? For how long? For all the time you’ve been gone?”
“Nyet,” Irina answered softly. She bent forward in the darkness, looking for him. She recognized guilt, an emotion with which she had become all too familiar. Only later would she realize that the emotion had overwhelmed her knowledge of the best game strategy and understand another reason why Jack had warned her to be careful of being overcome by regrets. “But I have come back. I have come back to our family. I swear to you my motives are personal, not professional. I swear--”
“bulls***. English is the best language for swearing, wouldn’t you agree? Comrade Derevko.” Jack grabbed her around the waist and pulled her suddenly forward on top of him.
“Jack. Listen to me,” Irina said urgently, feeling the tension in his hands. Had she made a mistake somehow? “I’ve come home. I swear--”
“Would that be in Russian or in English? Or would some third, more neutral language be more effective?”
“Why, yes.” Irina slid her hands around the back of Jack’s neck and leaned over him. “A third language would be much more effective.”
“Which is what? German? French? Italian?” Jack smiled as he remembered their wedding night and hoped she did as well.
“Nyet. Non. Nein. No, you idiot. This.” Bending down to kiss her husband, Irina remembered how sweet he had been to her on their wedding night and gently touched her mouth to Jack’s, fitting their lips together in a long, slow kiss that spoke of promise, as well as passion. Their lips met and met again, until they both had to pause for air. Jack slid his hand to the back of her head and held her still as she quickly took the kiss from soft to possessive in seconds. “You are mine,” Irina whispered, biting Jack’s lower lip. When he opened his mouth as he always had in response to that cue, she slid her tongue inside. Yesss, she thought as they explored each other, yes. He is mine again. She lifted her head, their lips clung and she reangled her head and pushed him back into the pillow, showing him how she wanted him. But...the words, the words, Irina remembered suddenly. “What did that language tell you?” Irina pressed another kiss onto Jack’s mouth. “In any language, I love you and want to be with you. Forever. Whatever it takes.”
“Oh!” Jack sighed happily and tightened his arms around his wife. With the expulsion of breath went the last of his anger. Judy and Dave had given him the same advice. One recently, one so long ago. How irritating that they were correct, that all he’d needed to do was find a safe way to vent and then he could release the anger. He lifted one hand to rub gentle circles on the skin over her heart. He bent forward and kissed the circle he’d made with his hand. Against her skin, he whispered, “I love you. Thank you for playing-“
“We’re not done yet!” Irina whispered back urgently. He had surrendered his anger, she could feel it, but that didn’t mean this game wasn’t a good one. She had an idea. Ha. She slapped his shoulder. “Keep going!”
Jack began to laugh and bit his lip. In a normal tone, he said disinterestedly, “Unfortunately, there’s no way I can verify the truth of your-“
“You disappoint me, Jack.” Irina pressed Jack’s hand against her chest. Did he feel how fast her heart was beating? She pressed her other hand over his chest. Not fast enough.
“I beg your pardon.” Jack moved his hand under her shirt and bra quickly to cup his wife’s breast and pinch her nipple. Wait a minute. Wasn’t she supposed to apologize? She seemed to have forgotten that in the throes of this game. He wanted the words. Tell her, his brain said. Later, said a somewhat less intelligent organ. Later, shouldn’t you be trying to get that nipple in your mouth? “What is your point? Other than this one.”
“Since when does Jack Bristow, the man whose file indicated he was a master at the in and out, not have an idea about how to elicit the truth from a woman?”
Jack gaped at her in the darkness. His hand stilled. “What the hell!”
Ha! Irina smiled smugly. He would have never expected Ms. Possessive -- as Dave had called her on more than one occasion - to deliberately bring up the subject of his past sexual exploits. “Go ahead, Jack Bristow,” Irina said, in Russian, once again. She smiled as she felt the finest of tremors in the skin of his arms as he heard her words. He liked that. Ha, again. It was her turn now. “Show me how to use sex as a weapon to obtain the truth. Go ahead, torture me with your...weapon.”
Jack closed his eyes as he felt his pulse hammer in his temple, in his neck, his chest and in his groin. He reached out and found the hem of her shirt. Slowly lifting it over her head, he asked, “Is that what you want? You are absolutely certain?”
“That is what I want. Your weapon.” Irina pulled off her bra and tossed it aside.
“Which one?” Jack grasped Irina by the shoulders and in a swift move, rolled her under him.
“There’s more than one? I’m impressed.” Irina slid her hands down to Jack’s bare butt and squeezed another impressive attribute. Then she pinched him. “Yes, impressed, but somewhat worried. Have you been exposed to hazardous waste recently?”
Jack bit his lip to keep from laughing. He dropped his head against her shoulder. When her arms came up and encircled him, he smiled against her skin, knowing she could probably feel that reaction. “No. But apparently you lack imagination.”
“Oh really? Well, then just how many weapons are there to torture me with?” Irina swore that if Jack corrected her grammar she would torture him. She tightened her grip on his shoulders and squeezed hard. Take the cue, Jack. “Tell me.”
Jack opened his mouth and then closed it. Grammar was the least pressing problem he had right now. “How many weapons? Three.”
“Three?” Irina frowned. “If you include both hands, that would be four, so-“
“Let me explain this to you,” he offered, running his hands down her body to unbutton the top of her jeans.
“Well, you were a master at this. Or so I read in your file.” She would not think of the details Natasha had told her so long ago at a café in Paris.
“You should remember from personal experience. I don’t recall having any problems divesting you of your clothes or inhibitions. Of course, you were younger then. Much younger.” Jack smiled and waited. 1, 2, 3... “Ouch.” There it was, the pinch. Given the fact that he was naked, he should probably be relieved she’d pinched his butt and not something else. “Allow me to refresh your memory or if you want to keep this on a professional basis, give you some field experience. One must think of the weapons as sets.”
“I feel as though I’m being set up.”
“You’re so perceptive. It is about set theory.” Jack unzipped her pants slowly, tooth by tooth. “You remember that, don’t you?”
“I always did excel at mathematics.” Irina slid one hand to Jack’s chest and counted his pulse. Not fast enough. He was far too calm. She would have to find a way to change that.
“I’m sure you were an A student. Always prepared for class?” Jack bit back a gasp as Irina lifted herself up and rubbed her breasts against his chest for an all-too brief moment before lying down again.
“Of course.”
“Then why are you still wearing your pants?” Jack slid his hands inside those pants and curved his fingers around her hips.
“Because you’re lying on top of me.” Irina laughed as Jack immediately sat up and nearly ripped her pants and everything else off of her. “You’re making a mess. Which surely can’t be a good strategy on these missions when a speedy exit might be an advantage in the game.”
“True. I might get tangled up in your lingerie and fall down.” Jack emphasized the fact that he was talking about his wife. He didn’t know why she wanted to play this game, but given that she’d played along with his game, the least he could do was reassure her that hers was the only lingerie with which he’d want to tangle.
“If it were me, I’d help you back up.” Irina slid her hand down Jack’s body and ran her fingers down the hardness that was straining toward her touch. “See? With the slightest bit of help, you’re right back up.”
“I wasn’t aware that I’d gone down.” Jack leaned back and gently kissed the curls at the top of Irina’s legs. He spread her legs further apart until she could feel his warm breath on flesh that was quickly growing overheated. “And how could I ever forget doing that...honey...”
“Stop it!” Irina grabbed Jack’s arms and tugged him back up. If he started that so soon, the game would be over too quickly. “Back on point, Agent Bristow. If you fell, I - being a foolish enemy operative and unaware of your plans for me -- would help you back up and back to my bed. Where I’d convince you to never leave again and to show me all of those weapons. Show me.”
“Where should we start? I know. Which weapon would you want? Which would you choose?” Jack lay on top of his wife, supporting his weight on his forearms. Dipping his head, he nuzzled into her neck and then kissed his way over her jaw and chin until he met her mouth. Brushing his lips across hers, he smiled as she tilted her head up and offered her lips. “Would it be this one? The mouth?”
“How is the mouth a set? Do tell me so that I can study for that A grade,” Irina urged as their lips met and met again.
“The mouth is one set, composed of lips...” Jack dragged his bottom lip over his wife’s and then brushed it back and forth. “One lip, now two...” he whispered and pressed his mouth to Irina’s. She immediately kissed him back, sliding her hands up into his hair to hold him close. Jack immediately pulled back. Irina hissed in annoyance and then moaned softly as Jack took the opportunity to slide his tongue inside her mouth for the briefest taste before withdrawing to tell her, “Then there’s the tongue...” Jack ticked the edge of Irina’s mouth with his tongue. “And your favorite-“
“The teeth?” Irina asked eagerly. “Bite me.”
“Hmm. Here I am presented with a choice of two...” Jack kissed Irina’s left nipple and then her right. “One, two... different strategies.”
“Oh no...” Irina groaned.
“Yes. If I don’t bite you, it drives you crazy with wanting me to bite you. But if I do bite you it also drives you crazy. Whichever should I choose?”
TBC at Chapter 2009 Part 2 Section 2 of 2