Uncoiled (complete)

Maybe I did

Jack tried staring down her newly discovered bravado. But she was persistent in her anger. And his impulsive act to stalk after her and rough her up a little only encouraged her defiance.

Deena lifted her chin despite their closeness. The edge of her lips almost rubbed against the top of his chest- their height difference made it easier for her not to be intimidated. For if her face were closer to his she may have lost this battle with him.

"Where'd you get the money from, kitten?" Jack breathed against her forehead.

"None of your business."

"That so?" momentary calmness returned to his voice. Jack considered using other methods to get her to talk. Mostly those with her back against a mattress.

Deena nodded.

"You've been workin' a corner 'round here somewhere- busyin' yourself while I'm away?"

Embarrassment kicked at Deena's face at what she knew he was probably picturing at that moment. Her... in someone's car... working her mouth and other parts for cash. She had no idea that the thought of another man's hands on her made Jack want to pull some limbs from their sockets.

"Maybe I was. What're you gonna do about it?" Deena stood on her toes as she delivered that last part.

Her movement upward made her body rub against the front of his. Jack was stuck between a hard place and a rock. Just when he was about to respond to her words and the soft flesh she moved against his, a car pulls up in the motel lot.

He wasn't going to make much of it- but when he noticed his little kitten's expression change he knew the two men climbing out of that car had something to do with what she carried in her pocket.

"Wow. I didn't take you for that kinda girl." disappointment snaked around his teasing banter.

Deena looked up at him like she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Two ? Tell me kitten, did they both go at the same time or did they take turns?" Jack spat.

Realization covered her face making her land a hard one against his left cheek.

"They must've liked it rough as well. Is that it?"

Smack! Against his right cheek this time.

Jack slammed his fists against the door behind her making her flinch and shrink into the door. Stalking towards the two men, he didn't even wait to hear what they were starting to say when he knocked one of them out with one blow to the temple.

The second one picked his hands up in surrender stuttering something about letting her keep it when an uppercut caught his tongue between whatever teeth he had left and a straight one gave his nose a crack. He stumbled back and fell on his ass.

--
Deena watched in horror as Jack took the men out without breaking as much as a sweat.

When he came back towards her and pushed the key into the knob "are you a boxer?" Was all she could dumbly mumble.

He softly nudged her chest with the palm of his hands making her stumble backward. Nudging her until she was in the middle of the room. He slammed the door shut with his foot. Locking it. Deena backed up until the backs of her legs hit the mattress.

"Did you let those men touch you?" Jack asked.

"So? What do you care? You want to own and control my body too?"
---
I'm the only one who will ever own your body. Jack wanted to say. But he bit his tongue.

Her words were more than just reactive. She was comparing him to the people she ran away from. Was he behaving like them? Trying to control her? The two were unequivocal. Jack's motivations were  different. He believed that. There was no way that he was like them. He had no pleasure in hurting her. Physically or emotionally.

Only one thing involving her would give him pleasure and it wasn't pain.

Blue light from the street lamps seeped through the curtains and kissed her face. His eyes traced every delicate outline the illumination made. No, he would never dream of hurting her. Jack reached up and ran his thumb across her bottom lip- trailing across broken skin and desperation. It was only then that he figured it out. She was hurting, and she wanted to hurt him as well. She most likely knew about Sam. Damn, has it been so long that it was clear as day when he finally got some. 

Her lips quivered under his gaze and warmed under his touch. 

Barely a whisper now, he asked her again. "Did you let those men touch you?" 

There was a glint in her eyes for the briefest of moments one that suggested to him she'd continue her banter. But it disappeared when his thumb pressed a little harder, the tip poking into her mouth. 

She shook her head. He lowered his hand to her neck, moving his forehead down against hers. It didn't escape Jack that his little kitten only blossomed under tenderness. Tender wasn't something he'd consider a difficult task. So he'd coax it out of her with the softness of a mother nurturing her child. 

"Where'd you get the money from?" he softly pushed. 

She swallowed, he heard the movement of her neck as the spit made it's way down her throat. 

"I stole it." 

Caught by surprise, he frowned and moved back. "What?" Jack was no longer whispering and like that the spell was broken. 

Deena stepped away from him, putting some distance between them. "The money, i stole it from those men you went all Rocky on." Pulling out the cash from her pocket, she threw what couldn't have been less than a thousand dollars onto the bed. 

Looking in her eyes, he searched for something that would indicate she was fucking with him. Jack couldn't see her taking something that didn't belong to her- despite how many times he mentally accused her of such, he could never truly believe it. 

But Deena wasn't joking. And the look on her face as she verbally confessed to that new sin made him realize that they needed to leave, again. 

Sometime down the highway, four  hours later or so, Jack veered off the road and onto a trail that led to dense trees. They had to sleep and this place was as good as any, Jack thought. Covered from traffic and too vacant for hitchhikers.  Considering that it was her fault they had to leave without a plan in the first place, he wouldn't hear any complaint coming from her. 

They were lucky enough to get out of there while the two men were still unconscious. Jack was sure that they must have been packing, probably more than a handgun each. 

Reaching his hand between the seat and the door, he reclined the back so he could lay in a slightly more comfortable position. From the corner of his eye, Jack can see that Deena was staring at him incredulously. She wanted to complain. He can feel her dissatisfaction with the way things turned out. What did she think ever came out of erratic behavior triggered by jealousy? Nothing good. 

But she said nothing. And Jack didn't stay up long enough to encourage dialogue. 

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