by Belle
Hi everyone! Here's the next installment of the Promise... I hope you all enjoy it! Please PLease Please send feedback. It helps me write faster! Thank you! - Belle
***************************************************************
*******************************************************************************
The Promise: Chapter 5
"1451, 1453, 1455…."Jax’s voice trailed off as he stopped in front of room 1455 and opened the door. He turned to face Brenda and stepping aside so she could walk past him, made a grand sweeping gesture with his hand. "Here we are my lady - your castle awaits you."
Brenda rolled her eyes and laughed softly despite her will not to as she walked into the room and flipped on the lights. "I certainly hope you don’t expect me to think of you as my knight in shining armor now Jax…. just because you - Oh my god." She stopped abruptly causing Jax to practically plow into her. Her voice was suddenly frantic and she whipped around, her face pale and her dark eyes wide with what seemed to almost be fear. "Jax - we’re in the wrong room… they gave us the wrong room."
"What? Why do you think that?" Jax glanced at the key in his hand, feigning confusion. "What are you talking about? This is our room. Room 1455." He tried to get by her to walk into the room, but she refused to budge.
"I don’t care if this is room 1455! Someone has made a mistake. This can’t be our room because we have a king size bed!!" She was almost hyperventilating, and Jax had to bite his lip to keep himself from bursting out with laughter. He’d expected her to get upset, but never had he imagined her getting this freaked out over the idea of them sharing a bed. Why - she was practically frothing at the mouth! This was really too much.
"Brenda. Calm down. So… we have a king size bed. We’re both adults. I don’t really see what the big deal is. The bed is huge - we’ll sleep on opposite sides."
"You don’t see what the big deal is?" Brenda echoed, her perfect mouth falling open and her eyes widening with alarm. "Jax - we barely know each other! I’m not - Wait." She stopped and let out a quick breath. Walking over to the bed, she sat on the edge and picked up the phone.
"What are you doing?" Jax asked, sitting down on the opposite end of the bed and watching her.
"I’m calling the front desk to ask what happened." She clarified, crossing her legs and closing her eyes for a second.
Jax suddenly felt panicked. If she spoke with the front desk or concierge they would tell her that the two rooms he had reserved both had king sized beds and then he would really be dead. "You know I really don’t think that’s a good idea." He said quickly.
"Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?" Brenda asked, giving him a look and holding the phone away from her ear slightly.
"Because well… because…" he was thinking of a logical answer when he heard her say hello. Without thinking about what he was doing, Jax lept across the bed, took the phone from her and hung it up.
"WHAT in heavens name do you think you’re doing!?" Brenda cried, jumping off the bed, and glaring at him with indignance.
Jax was caught off guard by his own actions, and he hesitated. "I, I… well -"
"You what?!" She was furious now. The fact that he’d hung up the phone was bad enough, but now that he wasn’t even bothering to defend himself she felt inflamed. "You know - I came up here with the intention of making an effort to actually be NICE to you -"
"Oh wow - thank you so much your highness." Jax muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"and you go and - Wait… what did you just say?" Brenda stopped talking and narrowed her eyes.
"I said wow - thank you so much your highness" Jax was getting seriously pissed off now also. What had started off as a fun joke a mere fifteen minutes ago was now beginning to seem like the absolute worse idea he had ever had. Zack apparently had no idea what he was talking about. This woman was the bitch from hell. There wasn’t anything sweet or good about her. Except maybe her deceptive angelic appearance. And even that was beginning to annoy him. Nothing was more frustrating than despising someone you wanted more than you had ever wanted anyone in your entire life.
"Don’t get sarcastic with me buddy." Brenda warned, shaking her head and walking towards him.
"Or what? What are you going to do to me Brenda?" Jax walked towards her and didn’t stop once they were face to face. He kept walking - causing her to walk backwards. "I don’t get you at all. Ever since the second I met you I’ve tried to be a gentleman and be nice, but you get angry with me for everything I do. I smile - you yell, I offer you my shirt - you scream, I try to get us a room with two double beds and when there just happens to be a king size bed you freak out like I have the plague. IS there anything in the world that doesn’t -"
"You’re lying."
Jax stopped speaking immediately. "Excuse me?" He was so surprised by the incredible calm that had overcome her that he didn’t realize he had backed her into the wall.
"I said you’re lying. About not having known we’d have a king size bed that is…" Brenda oozed understanding and Jax despised the assurance in her eyes as she spoke along with the casual way she shook her head and arched a slender eyebrow. "I can’t believe I didn’t realize it right away… you actually planned on the two of us sharing that bed!"
"Brenda - I don’t know what you’re talking about because I didn’t have a clue about this bed…." Jax put on his best poker face and looked deep into her eyes. That always did it when it came to lying to anyone - especially to women.
"Oh please. Stop working me with the eyes." Brenda laughed a little. "That may work on some women - but not on me. Anyway - I know you’re lying…. You have a little line above your left eyebrow that keeps tweaking up every time you claim you didn’t know about the room and it always does that when you’re not telling the truth."
Jax froze. "How did you know that?" He felt his heart begin to pound. This was insane. How could she possibly know that? Only his mother knew that about him…. not even Jerry, Gwen or his father had ever figured that out and here was this absolute stranger calling him on it less than 24 hours after having met him!
"I… I don’t know." Brenda said slowly, looking as confused as he felt. She was quiet for a second. What the hell was happening to her? Why did she know obscure things about this man? Why did the idea of spending the night in this room with him make her want to shed her skin and run for cover. Emotions that she couldn’t understand were boiling within her, and all of a sudden she erupted. "Who cares how I knew that! THAT isn’t the problem. You’re lying to me and the fact that we now have a king size bed is the problem!! I can’t believe you did this - I just - you… me…. this is an absolute nightmare! I’m going to call Annie right now and tell her I want to switch rooms." She tried to walk around him to get to the phone, but Jax blocked her and wouldn’t let her by. He stared down at her with such intensity that it scared her and she began to beat on his chest with her fists. There was something so familiar about this woman that Jax didn’t know what to think. All he knew was that he couldn’t stop looking at those lips of her’s that yelled at him with such passion that it took his breath away. More than anything - he wanted to kiss her. Just once…. Just once before she left this room and never spoke to him again. Without thinking about what he was doing, Jax grabbed her hands and pulled her closer to him - pushing her body against the wall and looking deeply into her eyes.
"Let me go - you… you brute." Brenda’s heart was thundering inside her chest, and she tried to shake herself free from his grasp, but she was so mesmerized by those blue eyes of his that her attempts were not only half-done but also futile.
Jax could feel her heart pounding against his chest, and he smiled. "Is that really what you want Brenda?" His voice was deep and husky, and Brenda swallowed. She felt as though she was going to pass out if he didn’t stop holding her and looking at her asthough he could see through her deep into her soul.
"Of course it is." She managed to get out, not even bothering to try and get away from him. Damn her body for betraying her.
"You’re lying." He whispered, leaning forward and brushing her cheek softly with his thumb. He let it rest under her chin and he tilted her face softly up so they were mere centimeters apart.
"I am not." She shot back forcefully.
Jax gave her a cocky grin and laughed intimately. "Oh yeah? Then why are you trembling?" Before she was able to answer, he leaned closer and brushed his lips softly across hers. When she refused to respond, he tightened his grasp around her waist, and pulled her even closer to him. He traced her lips lightly with his tongue, and smiled to himself as he felt her trembling mouth begin to respond. "Kiss me Brenda…. Kiss me just once." He murmured against her mouth, feeling delight by the way she began to respond. Fire erupted in his soul as he kissed her and marveled in how it felt like coming home. He felt as though he’d been born to kiss her… Their kiss intensified as she wrapped her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his hair and he could feel her tongue licking his lips when all of a sudden they were interrupted by the distant ringing of the telephone.
"Ignore it." Jax whispered, sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her over to the bed.
"Jax." Brenda’s voice was urgent underneath his smoldering kisses. He didn’t respond, and they continued to kiss. Jax laid her down on the bed and he was removing his jacket when he heard the phone again and was shot into reality when he realized it was his cell phone. "Damn." He muttered, sitting up and disentangling himself from Brenda, who was staring at him with passion still fuming in her dark eyes. Her chest was heaving and she sat up and tried to straighten herself and calm her breathing. She felt outrage and displaced passion boiling inside of her.
"Jax." She heard him answer the phone and then say, "Oh hi sweetheart." So it was his fiancee…. Anger swept through her, and as he pulled away from the phone for a second to apologize, Brenda found herself jumping off the bed and slapping him swiftly across the face before she ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Jax heard the sound of the lock click and he sighed heavily.
"Jax? Jax are you okay? Honey are you still there?" Jax could hear Gwen’s sweet voice calling him on the phone, but as he rubbed his injured face, all he could think of was one thing. He was in trouble. Big trouble.
*******************************************************************************
Behind the security of the locked bathroom door, Brenda couldn’t stop
herself from shaking and crying. What was happening to her? She had never
let herself get that carried away by kissing anyone before. Not even Michael
and he was the love of her life. It had been asthough another person took
over her body and she had no control over what she was doing. Even now -
she could still feel the burning off Jax’s kisses on her lips and she
had to fight herself from unlocking the door, throwing him down on the bed
and having her way with him. This was insane. All of it. Absolutely crazy
and all she knew was that she had to get far away from him. Fast. Unfortunately
- considering the fact that thanks to Jax they were sharing a room with a
king size bed, the chance of her doing that at the moment were slim to none.
So she made up her mind. She would quite simply have the spend the evening
in the bathroom. She knew that was completely illogical and that it was giving
him a horrible advantage by showing him the power he had over her, but…
she just couldn’t think of another way to get through the night.
Having made up her mind, she took a couple deep breaths and splashed some cold water on her tear-streaked face. Why was she letting him do this to her? She wondered, running her fingers through her dark hair and sitting down on the floor with her back against the door. She could hear him talking on the phone outside and despite her best attempts, she couldn’t quelch the jealous feelings that were overtaking her as she thought about the fact that he was talking to his fiancee. He was speaking in a tone she had never heard him use before, and it bothered her that he never spoke to HER in the way in which he was talking to Gwen or whatever her name is. This was just so unfair. He was able to kiss her one second and then disregard her, yet she was left feeling completely confused and jittery. He was making a mockery of her and she couldn’t stand it! No - she would not let him win. No matter what she would NOT let him know that he was getting to her. Brenda counted to ten, took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. She braced herself for having to see him, and was happy when she made it across the room to pick up her bag without swooning. Jax glanced at her and she saw surprise flash on his face when he realized she had willingly come out of the bathroom. She smiled triumphantly to herself. So he had expected her to stay in the bathroom all night. Good thing she’d reconsidered that idea. Slipping back into the bathroom, she opened her bag, and began to rummage through it for her favorite pajamas. When she found them, she held them up in front of her and giggled gleefully. Yes - these should certainly do the job… Putting them quickly on, she brushed her hair, touched up her make-up, spritzed on a little perfume and then covered her scantily-silk clad body up with a bathrobe. Jax was never going to know what had hit him.
To Be Continued….