Chapter 21
Let’s Just Pretend For A While
It was raining when the jet landed in London. Drops of water had been splashing against the window I’d been looking out for two hours, matching the mood I was in. No one bothered me, except for Ryan when he’d tried to talk to me right after we’d taken off, but I didn’t even answer. He got the hint that I wasn’t in the mood for chatting.
Over the past few days, everyone had gotten used to me not wanting to talk. Sure, I’d say a few things here and there when the conversation got to me, but my mind was somewhere else entirely.
Vince Peters. I knew I’d heard the name somewhere when John had told me. I had to do some research on the guy, but the stories came back to me when I saw his picture and read the news articles about him.
He’d been the object of an international manhunt almost nine years before. Wanted for kidnapping, conspiracy, and attempted murder, he’d been captured in Egypt and sent back to the U.S. in handcuffs, surrounded by dozens of FBI agents with guns. His trial was broadcast all over the news and the jury had come to a verdict after not even an hour of deliberation once the three week trial had come to a close. The man had been in prison ever since on a sentence of thirty years.
But just because he was in prison didn’t mean he didn’t have any contact with the outside world. My guessing was he still had say in the Order’s business, even when locked up. John had said he had the prison system in the palm of his hand. Just seeing his picture made me think he was a manipulative man with that smug smirk of his, even when the judge had said he’d pretty much be spending pretty much the rest of his life behind bars.
Who’s to say he wouldn’t find some way to get out before his time was up?
“Come on, Em,” Ryan’s voice called, breaking me out of my reverie. “Let’s get to the hotel before we have to leave for the meeting.”
“I hate when they have these meetings at night…” Jude started as he walked out the door and down the steps, his voice carrying.
Gathering up my things, I followed behind them, only to stop at the top of the stairs beside Ryan to look out at the cloud-covered London skyline. I could feel his eyes on me before opening the umbrella in his hands, shielding us both from the rain.
“We’re going to the hotel for about an hour before head out again,” he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Then we’re off…”
“I’m going to have to talk to you,” I told him quietly, looking up at him. “When we get to the hotel…privately.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Is this about what you and John talked about a few days ago when he called last?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Then I already know about it.”
This time, it was me who raised an eyebrow when I looked up at him. “How do you know?”
He shrugged as we slowly started descending down the stairs. “John called me after you hung up with him the other night. When you came back in your room, you looked upset, but I knew you wouldn’t tell me anything if you didn’t want to…or couldn’t. So I was going to call John, threaten an answer out of him, but he beat me to it. He told me what was going on…why you were acting the way you were. And what he told you, Em…he’s absolutely right. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You guys actually had a civil conversation where you actually agreed with each other?”
He sighed dramatically. “That’s all you got from that?”
I smiled slightly, shaking my head before leaning more into his side, thankful that I had both him and John to look out for me, no matter how much I hated it sometimes.
***
While everyone was getting ready later that afternoon, I sat at the edge of my bed in my room, listening to their conversations from down the short hallway to the sitting room.
Tory, Jamie, and I were sharing a suite, while Ryan and Jude had one down the hall. Realizing my mood for the past few days, Tory and Jamie had let me take the bigger room so I could have some time alone. It was needed, sure, but I didn’t want to be alone then. I wanted another’s company more than any of theirs.
I wanted John.
And seeing as I hadn’t talked to him since he told me about Vince Peters, I wanted him even more.
A knock on my door made me turn my head to see Jamie there, watching me. “Hey, Em, we’re almost ready to go. What about you? You need to change and get everything together…”
Ryan was behind her then, pushing my door open more to come inside. “I’ve got this,” he told her. “Let me take care of her, okay? You, Tory, and Jude go and head down to the lobby. I’ll be down in a moment.”
Jamie watched him for a moment before looking at me with a slight smile, nodding, and turned around, closing the door behind her.
“I can’t do this, Ryan,” I whispered, looking up at him. “I can’t go out there, knowing that the Order…Connor Peters…Vince Peters…want me. I don’t need to be out in the open. I can’t risk it…risk John getting hurt…or you…or anyone else…I just can’t.”
“And you won’t.”
“What?” I questioned. “What are you talking about?”
He smiled, sitting down beside me as he took my hand. “Another thing John and I talked about. You’re not coming with us, Em. We can’t risk anything. So you’re going to stay here while the four of us go to the meeting. We’re going to have to stay until at least nine o’clock tomorrow morning and we’ll back around ten…but you won’t be alone.”
“I’m staying here? And what do you mean you won’t be alone?”
Ryan just smiled, leaning over to kiss my forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
I nodded, feeling even more nervous as I watched him walk out of my bedroom before hearing the door to the suite close shut.
It was only a moment later that my phone, which was on the bed beside me, started ringing. John’s name flashed across the screen.
“Why are you freaking out?” John asked right when I put the phone to my ear. “You’re starting to freak out, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” I whispered, biting my lip. “Why haven’t you called me?”
“Because I had some plans to work out.”
“Like talking to Ryan…which I still find strange.”
“Well, when it comes to you, Emmy love, we agree on most.”
I smiled, though it started to waiver when I heard a soft knock on the suite door. “There’s someone at the door.”
John laughed slightly. “Then why don’t you look to see who it is?”
Realizing what he was implying, I bolted out of my room and straight for the door. I could still hear him laughing from the other side before I could get the lock and fling it open.
“Hi,” he smiled, pulling his phone from his ear and tucking it in his inside jacket pocket. That leather jacket of his…gosh, I missed it. And him. Definitely missed him.
I reached for his hand then, tugging him forward and straight into me as the door closed behind him. Immediately, I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning up on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. He chuckled against my mouth, wrapping one arm around my waist as he tangled his other hand in my hair.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered, eyes still closed when I pulled back slightly. “I thought you were supposed to be…”
“I’m supposed to be right here,” he said quietly, brushing my hair back. “I told you. The only reason I’m here is because of you. I’m here to watch over you. And since both Ryan and I knew that you wouldn’t want to risk anything, we agreed that you’d stay behind…and I’d be here with you.”
I smiled slightly, opening my eyes. “Did you bring any food?”
John snorted, dramatically rolling his eyes…but went to open the door. When he did, a room service cart was sitting right outside. “And you think I don’t know how you work…”
My bed was our unofficial table, spreading everything out in front of us, as I turned the television on to an old movie that was playing. We weren’t really watching it, just had it on as background noise as we ate and talked about anything.
“Is Stella still pestering you?” I questioned once we’d finished eating and put everything back on the cart to leave outside the door. The television was still on, but the only other source of light was the lamp on the table beside the bed.
“About you? Totally,” he nodded, lounging back against the pillows as I sat facing him, legs crossed under me. “She and Ren are here still. They actually went with Ed to the meeting, though they’re with President Foster and Stella’s dad. She knew that I was going for a reason, putting two and two together, but I didn’t tell her there was a change of plans and I was coming here instead. She would have stowed away in the backseat of my car if she’d known.”
“I wouldn’t have minded,” I smiled. “I miss the crazy girl.”
“I know you wouldn’t have. But me? I wanted you all to myself. I’m selfish.”
That made me laugh. “You can say that again. Have you ever thought that I wanted to see her? Her and Ren?”
“Too bad.”
“You’re so rude.”
“But you love me anyway.”
“Unfortunately.”
John grinned as I moved to lie down beside him then, curling up into his side with my head on his shoulder, left hand resting on his chest.
“What else has been happening that you haven’t told me yet?” I asked, tracing patters with my fingertips on his shirt.
“Did I tell you what the baby was?”
“No…do I get to chase a little Emmy around?”
He smiled widely, shaking his head. “Unless they name him Emmett, no.”
“So it’s a boy?” I grinned back.
He nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah, it’s a boy. That was quite clear enough on the screen,” he laughed. “Dad and I went with them to the doctor’s appointment, along with Grant’s parents and sister. You can say Grant and I got a little too excited when the doctor said it was a boy, yelling and high-fiving and all. Elena wanted a girl, sure, but she was excited, too. She says she’s always wanted her first kid to be a boy. They don’t really have a name picked out like they did if it was a girl, but I’m sure they’ll figure something out. But Elena said that when they do have a girl – and she said she’s popping out as many kids it takes until she does – she’s still naming her after you.”
“Well, let’s hope that, by that time, I’ll be able to see her again. Hopefully soon, because I want to be there when that baby boy’s born.”
John nodded, his smile fading just a little. “I seriously hope all of this is over soon, too. I’m so tired of having to look over my shoulder all the time, worry that something’s going to happen to hurt my family or you. I just want everything to be normal again, you know? Where we can all live our lives and not have to be scared all the time.”
I nodded against his shoulder. “I know,” I whispered back. “It seems that all we’ve ever done is run, doesn’t it?”
He turned his head to kiss my forehead and grabbed my left hand. “Exactly, but at least right now we can just pretend for a little while that everything’s right in the world. We can just relax and lay here together as if this were just another evening with just the two of us.”
“Sounds like the perfect plan to me.”
We laid there for about a half an hour, saying nothing. It was a comfortable silence, one where no conversation was needed to fill the gap. John had started playing with my ring, holding it up and looking at it sparkle, twisting it slowly around my finger, fitting his fingers in the spaces between mine over and over.
I leaned up on one elbow beside him, holding my right hand to my head as I watched him continue to play with the ring. His lips were curled up slightly, his eyes never leaving the diamonds sparkling even in the dim lighting of the lamp on the bedside table.
“You still wear it on this finger,” he said then, lifting my left hand up to kiss my knuckles, his eyes shifting up to my face. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” I smiled.
His smile grew, even though his eyes were a little wary. “Well, your last name is Raymond now…”
“Exactly,” I winked, feeling a little daring. “So you’re stuck with me.”
John laughed, threading his finger through mine as his eyes went back to the ring. That wariness was still apparent, if not growing…and seeing it made an uneasy feeling start gnawing in the pit of my stomach.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, smoothing out the lines between his eyebrows. “Why are you looking at it like that?”
He turned his head toward me, watching me before he spoke again. “Do you remember when you came back with me to London after you and Stella were attacked in Boston? That next morning…you confessed about all your fears about us and what was going to happen after all this was over. You bared your soul to me then…and I offered myself up to you, too.”
I nodded. “I remember.”
“You’re not the only one with fears of the future, Em.”
“How so?” I asked, though the question made me nervously bite my lip.
He shrugged slightly, looking down at my hand again. “Well, first off, everything that’s happening with the Order wanting to take me out permanently…that’ll worry anyone.”
“And you know that all of us will do anything in our power to keep you safe. You and Ed.”
“I know, but I just…I’ve come close to death before and I don’t want this to be the final time. I’ve been sliced up with a sword, stabbed in the chest…third time’s the charm, you know? I don’t want my time to be up when I feel like I’ve just started living.”
“You’ve done twenty-five years of living…”
He shook his head, stopping me. “No, not really. I was a crazy kid, a stupid teenager, and a total asshole up until last year. And I know I’ve already told you this, but you’re the one who changed everything for me. You came into my life so quickly and latched yourself onto my mind and heart and refuse to let go. I refused to let you go.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “You make me sound like a parasite or something.”
John snorted, rolling his eyes again. “Nice, Emmy,” he smiled, shaking his head as he reached up to gently touch my face with his other hand. “But seriously. It’s like you’re a part of me, as sappy as it sounds, and there’s no way I can make you leave, as if I ever wanted you to. Not even when you did after the wedding, or when you died in my arms…you’re always there and always will be.”
I couldn’t help but stare for a moment. “You’re right…that is extremely sappy.”
“You go straight to that,” he sighed, smiling. “But that’s one of the reasons I love you. Besides, you’re the one who’s turned me into a total sap.”
“Oh, yeah? Tell me more…”
“Well, you realize that I’ve spent some time thinking about the rest of my life…”
“Who hasn’t?”
He lifted my hand again, making my ring sparkle. “First off, this wouldn’t be just a ring that you’re wearing. An engagement ring would be with it and it would be a wedding ring. You know what this ring really means to me…and to Mom. She wanted me to give these to the woman I intend to marry. It may not be for a few more years, after you finish school and becoming a curator like you’ve wanted to do since you were a kid…but that woman is you.
“After, I’d follow you wherever it is you want to live, whether it is in New York or England or Italy…I don’t care as long as you take me along with you. We’d start building a life together, a house and a dog and the kids I want to give you. I know you want three or four, but I’m thinking four – three handsome boys like their father, definitely…and then the baby of the family…a girl. Because if she looks just like her beautiful mother, she’ll need those three older brothers to beat up on any boy who even looks her way…and I will be right there with them.
“And when they’ve grown up and gone off to school and start lives of their own, it’ll just be me and you again. We’ll both be older, grayer, and have lines on our faces that mark the time that has passed, but you’ll still be my beautiful Emmy.”
The way he put it into words…I could almost see everything he’d said in a clear picture in my head – the ring, the house, the kids, the life…even the dog. And I couldn’t help but want it all.
I was nineteen, barely had a semester’s worth of college, no money to my name, and barely knew what all I wanted in life…but there was one thing for certain.
I wanted him to be with me every step of the way.
When things got tough and I’d stumble and fall, John would always be there to catch me, to help me up and make sure I was okay…before pushing me forward again, telling me not to give up.
I could see that wary look start to reflect in his eyes again, but all I did was smile before shifting toward him, leaning down to kiss him.
“I like your plan,” I whispered against his lips. “A lot.”
“Yeah?” he grinned, leaning back slightly.
I just nodded and pulled him back to me.
My body was practically over his as the one hand that had been playing with my ring wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling me over him so that my knees were on either side of his hips. A gasp left my mouth, but he quickly silenced it as his other hand trailed slowly up my back and weaved his fingers into my hair, holding me steady.
And then, just like in D.C., I could feel when the air changed around us, only this time, I wasn’t quite as confident. So when John sat up with me still straddling him, I pulled back and looked away, feeling my cheeks burn not just from the heat of his kiss. He didn’t say a word, just waited until my eyes slowly turned back to his face.
Seeing that look in his eyes – that one of love, want, need – it only made me more confident. Because I was the one he loved, the one he wanted, the one he needed…and he was all the same for me.
So when I smiled, he knew what I wanted.
I shifted forward, moving slowly against him, both of us let out a moan before I stopped them both with a kiss. Both my arms wrapped around him with one hand lacing into the short hair at the back of his head. But the kiss didn’t last very long.
John pulled back and set his hands gently at my waist where my shirt had ridden up. His eyes lifted to mine, silently asking if it was okay, and I lifted my arms in answer. After pulling my shirt off and tossing it to the floor, I was the one to reach behind and unhook my bra, but I hesitated in taking it completely off. I swallowed hard as his hands trailed up my sides, pulling it down over my arms before throwing it to the floor with my shirt.
Moving slightly, he pressed a kiss to the edge of my jaw before laying me down. His eyes roamed my exposed upper body before one hand reached backward to pull his own shirt off, moving so that he was hovered over me.
“Are you sure?” he whispered, tracing his thumb across my bottom lip.
I nodded. “Yes.”
He swallowed hard, looking a little nervous himself. The last time we’d come this close, he’d tried to stop everything. But this time…this time there was no going back. I didn’t want to, though. “I’ll take it slow, but tell me if you want to stop.”
I nodded, reaching up to pull his face down to mine, but I already knew I wouldn’t want to. There would be no worrying, no interruptions…
Just us.
***
“You know,” I whispered a few hours later as we lay tangled together in the sheets. “I love your scars.” I was gently tracing around the new one on his chest, the pink, puckered skin still healing, watching him breath slowly in and out.
One of his hands was trailing up and down the bare skin of my back and the other reached up to brush against my own scar on my shoulder. “I love yours, too…even the newer ones. Whose ass do I get to kick for them?”
I laughed, leaning up on one elbow so I could look down at him. “Who do you think?”
John raised an eyebrow, a smug smile curling at the corners of his lips. “Just wait until the guy comes back…then he’s going to get his ass handed to him.”
“Well, let’s hope he doesn’t find us like this…then it’ll be you who gets your ass handed to you,” I smirked, winking at him.
As I rolled off him, John dug a finger into my side, making me squeal and laugh. He didn’t stop until my face was red and I could hardly breathe, but then he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling my naked body up against his. My laughter died down then and all I could do was look into his eyes, playful and loving and beautiful. I couldn’t help but smile slightly as I reached my hands up to his face, leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips.
But when his arms tightened around me, I could feel the raised skin of the scar on his chest, making me stop.
“John, be careful, would you? You’re still healing.”
He looked at me disbelieving before he snorted out a laugh. “I’m completely fine, Emmy love. Violet checked everything out yesterday. She, Miles, and Lacey are here for a few days. The scans said that the puncture wound to my lung should be completely healed in a week or two more by the looks of it and my stiches were taken out last week on my chest. Everything’s looking great, though, and I’m feeling a lot better now.”
“Are you sure? Because…”
A wicked grin lit up his face. “Em, you’re kind of late to be asking me if I’m okay, you know. You should have asked me a few hours ago.”
My face was on fire as I looked away from him, biting my lip when he started laughing. “Yeah, I guess you’re right…”
“Exactly,” he grinned still. “And am I right in saying that you love this…?”
He leaned down, brushing his fingertips across my hip as he pressed a kiss to the hollow below my ear. I squeezed my eyes shut as my teeth dug into my lip and my hands wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him closer. “Mm-hm.”
His lips trailed up my neck and along my jaw before his face hovered over mine. I still had my eyes closed, but I could feel his on me, tracing every plane of my face while his hands roamed other parts of me. I sighed in comfort, leaning my head toward the hand that caressed my cheek then. Slowly, I opened my eyes, reaching up to grab that hand in both of mine, turning it over to press a soft kiss to his palm.
John was smiling then, before he slowly leaned down again to gently kiss me. But it didn’t last as long as I would have like it to, because he was pulling back just a few moments later.
“What are you doing? I didn’t say you could pull away.” I pouted, pulling him back to me.
“I’ll be back in just a few minutes,” he smiled against my lips. “I just need to go get my overnight bag from my car and I’ll be here again.”
“But you don’t have to…”
He chuckled, nipping at my bottom lip and making me whimper. “I have to,” he grinned. “Because I know you plan on stealing my shirt. But I will gladly surrender it to you.”
I watched as John stood and started pulling on his pants. He turned to look at me as he buckled his belt and I sat up, wrapping the sheets around my body. Slowly, he walked back to me, standing beside the bed. He put a finger under my chin, tilting it up so he could lean down and kiss me slowly again.
“I’ll be back,” he smiled.
“Hurry up.”
He was right. As soon as the door closed behind him, I got up and stole his shirt that was thrown on the floor beside the bed. I pulled it on as I walked to my open suitcase, grabbing a pair of pajama shorts and panties, and slipped them on.
When I heard the knock at the door a few minutes later, I smiled as I walked toward it, looking through the peephole at John’s profile before his eyes shifted to the door.
“Didn’t take the spare room key, huh?” I smiled as I opened the door. “I thought you’d be…”
John’s eyes were wide and locked on mine, chest heaving with every breath he took and sweat beading down his forehead. “Em…”
That’s when I noticed someone was standing behind him…with a gun pressed to the back of his head.
“Well, hello, Emmy Alexander,” Connor Peters grinned as he stepped to John’s side, shifting the gun to his temple. “Or should I call you Emmy Raymond, since that’s your name now?”
“John…” I whispered. “He…”
“Emmy, I want you to run,” John said. “You need to get out of here…”
Connor pushed the gun against his head, making him tilt it slightly. “She’s not going to run…both of you are going to come with me. I told you, John. I’m going to get my answers…and then both of you die. How romantic it’ll be, both of you dying together, both at fault. Very poetic, if you ask me.”
“No one did, asshole,” John growled, eyes cutting to him. “If you hurt her…”
Connor’s manic laughter echoed down the hallway. “Oh, I plan on doing more than hurting her. Long, drawn out torture…now that’s my specialty.” He nodded toward me, and then down the hall. “Now, Emmy Alexander-Raymond, start walking. “We’re going down to the service entrance. I don’t want any mishaps…”
John was pleading with his eyes before mouthing the word, “Run.”
I bolted for the stairs, the shouts of Connor and John following me. My feet pounded against the carpet before I skidded to a stop in front of the door to the stairs. As I grabbed for the handle, I looked back to see Connor pulling a needle from the side of John’s neck as he slumped unconscious to the ground. Connor’s eyes were blazing and I hastily pushed the door open.
Two hands connected with my chest, throwing me backward, making me lose my footing and smack the back of my head on a table on the opposite side of the hallway.
My vision blurred, ears ringing, before I started seeing the images of two people above me. Connor was who I saw first as he leaned down and stuck another needle in the side of my neck. But when he stood again, I could feel whatever drug he’d given me make me start to drift off. Not before I saw the face of the other person beside him, though.
“Nice job, gorgeous. One push and she was out. And here they tell me she’s a trained fighter now.”
“Well, she should really look to see if anyone is behind the door before she throws it open. Not very smart, seeing as someone could get hurt.”
Connor started laughing again after he leaned over to kiss her cheek.
And as my eyes started to close, she leaned down, her blond hair falling over one shoulder and blue eyes sparkling. “I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about me,” Braewyn smiled brightly. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Emmy.”
***Well, hey, guys! I would have had this up earlier, but Wattpad wasn't posting the last page for some reason.
Anywho...
There are three things I want to make know:
1. Yes, this was John and Emmy's first time together (and Emmy's first time ever). I build relationships between my characters, emotionally, before anything physical happens. That will happen in pretty much all of my stories.
2. No, there will not be an extended scene. I write YA fiction, guys. If I wanted to write a fully detailed sex scene in a story, I'd be an adult fiction writer.
3. No, there was no baby making in this chapter. We won't have a little John or Emmy running around in the next book. There WILL be a baby, of course...that beautiful baby boy of Elena and Grant's! (And yes, I know what his name is going to be...but I'm not telling.)
Okay, enough of that...
*peeks at you all and grins evilly*
What did you think about that lovely ending?
Braewyn's back!
*cue evil laugh here*
Oh, this is going to be good. You guys have no clue how pumped I am for the last three chapters! They're going to be INSANE!!!1
So, 100 votes and 30 comments before the next chapter? I'm sure you guys have lots to say...
Comment and vote!!!1***