Chapter 23 (NC-17)
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Keesha shifted in the bed. She reached for Jax, and her eyes snapped
open as she realized he wasn't there.
Still. It was after 3 in the morning, and as far as she knew, Jax had
never come to bed. She turned on the desk lamp and sat up in the bed.
Jax continued to pace his home office as he waited for the phone to
ring. Finally it did and he pressed the speaker phone button. "Yes."
"We're at the same mark as last week Sir. Everyone else has seemed to
have lost money..."
"That's not good enough. I don't want a profit by default...people
count on me to make their companies stronger. A company isn't strong
just because the others have fallen by the wasteside. That's just part
of it." he sat down on his desk. He hated Thursday's. That was
basically the end of the business week, and all of his business
partners would come to him by 8:00 Friday morning. If he didn't show
improvement on their projects, they would threaten to disassociate
themselves. And he couldn't afford that. He was only as good as his
partners were satisfied. They had to stay on top, until *he* was ready
to end the relationships, usually to form a better one elsewhere.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Never mind. I'll handle it myself. I'm the one they expect results
from." Jax hung up and went back to his computer. A second later he
heard a knock. He looked up.
"People expect a lot from you, don't they?"
"Keesha, why are you awake?" he went back to looking at the screen.
Perhaps if he made a last minute invasion into this company...
"I'm thinking of making some cinnamon rolls."
"At 3 in the morning?"
"Hey, that way they'll be ready for breakfast. I make them from
scratch you know."
"No, I didn't know that."
"You never answered my question."
"When you're on the top, people expect a lot, yes. Because they know
what you're capable of....buy out." He would buy out Mikyo
Incorporated's main competitor, Akira Corp, and it would register by
the end of the day. And then J&J Jacks of New York would have the
bigger interest in MI. Of course, that would remain a secret until
Jax was ready to leave MI for greener pastures. He shut down his
computer.
"So, what do you get in return?"
"Why, all of this." he teased, looking around before leaving his
office. Keesha followed and watched as he sat on the couch, picking up
the phone. Soon he was speaking in Japanese. Keesha came up behind
him on the couch and leaned over, massaging his shoulders. Jax closed
his eyes and continued to listen to the person on the other end of the
phone. After a moment he hung up. "Your hand seems stronger." he
mumbled as she moved her attentions up, rubbing against his temples.
"Jax?"
"Hmmm..."
"Who do you count on?"
"No one. You have to count on yourself."
"You count on Jerry." Keesha stoped her massage and came over, joining
Jax on the couch.
"Yes, but only after myself. I know that Jerry is there, that he will
take care of me, if I need him. But I try not to need him to. He has
his own life to lead. Life is much easier if you don't count on
people. All it does is set you up for a fall if they fail."
"Did someone fail you?"
"Why all the questions about my life?"
"I was just...I'm trying to figure you out. You give a lot..."
"I take a lot as well. Ask Ned."
"I'm not talking about business. I mean in general. You give and you
don't like to take."
"You don't know that...."
"When we were in my old place, the hotel room, and you were sitting
there with Jerry, he was obviously upset at your idea, that we get
married and go after Sonny. And you simply blew him off."
"I had made up my mind by then. Besides, it's a good thing, or else I
would never have gotten the chance to fall in love with you." he
grinned.
"Don't even try it, we're having a serious discussion here."
"Again with the serious. Besides, I am serious."
"You're trying to take care of Jerry now, with this Miranda thing,
right? What if the tables were turned, you would never accept help
from Jerry unless you asked for it, and that's something you would
never do."
"You think I'm wrong for wanting to protect my own brother?" Jax stood
from the sofa and moved over to the window by the door.
"No, of course not. I'm just...I'm trying to figure out why it's so
easy for you to...give...to protect, or even just be supportive....but
whenever someone wants to do something for you, whenever someone wants
to help you, you can't fully accept it. Why is it okay for you to have
only yourself to depend on, but it's fine for others to count on you?"
Jax was quiet and Keesha expected him to turn around with that smile
which sent her heart into orbit, and say something about her thinking
too much. Instead he came over and sat down next to her on the floor,
his eyes full of sadness. "It hurts less that way." he answered in a
whisper.
"Hurts less when?"
"When something happens, and in the end, all I have to count on is
myself anyway." he stood again. "And Jerry." he admitted.
"And me." Jax looked down at Keesha. "I need for you to know that you
can count on me. Past the end." she continued as she got off the floor
to stand in front of him.
Jax closed his eyes as Keesha stood on her toes, reaching up and
kissing him tenderly. He returned her kiss cautiously, and wondered
why. He had made love to her before, this wasn't a new experience, yet
a part of him almost wanted to fight it.
Keesha sensed his resistance and pulled back for him. Jax opened his
eyes, and staring into hers, he stepped closer. She continued to look
up at him, waiting, as he bent slowly. Finally his lips met hers once
more and he kissed her softly while his hands removed her robe, leaving
her completely undressed. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her
against him and she shuddered, returning his kiss deeply.
They continued kissing, and Keesha trailed her hands down his body,
inserting them into his boxers....Jax broke of the kiss with a deep
moan.
Keesha took advantage of her mouth being free, and traced her tounge
down Jax's throat, her hands still stroking him, until he breathed her
name. She freed her hands and pulled his boxers down; Jax stepped out
of them and managed to open his eyes to look at her again. She kissed
her way down Jax's body, pausing to nibble and suck where his groans
directed her, until finally she was kneeling in front of him.
Keesha pushed her hair back and then bent, licking her way up the
inside of Jax's leg. At his inner thigh, she returned to using
butterfly kisses, and once again Jax closed his eyes, taking a
shuddering breath. Quickly he knelt down in front of her, until they
were face to face again. He kissed her hungrily, reclining back on the
floor, leading her to rest on top of him. He started to lean up when
she pulled away from him again, but already she was sucking on his
navel...he laid fully on the ground again and moaned.
Keesha rested her hands against Jax's sides. She bit her lip absently
and then ran her tongue slowly up the length of him. Jax called her
name, his hips arching against her, and she enveloped him entirely into
her mouth.
Jax's hands managed to find hers as the warm wetness of her mouth
threatened to bring him past the returning point. They laced their
fingers and a moment later he arched against her one last time,
releasing.
Keesha kissed the inside of Jax's thighs once more before standing. By
the time Jax came back to reality and opened his eyes again, she was
already in the kitchen.
"Keesha?" Jax sat up. "I love you." he called with a smile.
Keesha closed her eyes before finishing her water. "Jax?" she came out
of the kitchen. He looked over at her and she tried to read his mood.
"Never mind..."
"Okay." Jax came over and picked Keesha up, carrying her upstairs to
the bedroom.
Shani]]>
