Somewhere Warm (Part III)

[failegaidin]

Alrighty, guys. Here's the third installment of Somewhere Warm....

            After settling into their luxurious room, Chloe and Jack decided to spend their first day at the beach. Jack used the bathroom to change, leaving Chloe the bedroom. Opening her bags, she nearly choked at what Nadia had packed for her. Most of the things weren't even her clothes – Nadia must have gone shopping for her.

            Chloe gulped as she pulled out what she assumed to be her bathing suit. It was small and black and in two pieces – definitely not something she would ever have picked out. She desperately searched the rest of her bags, but the slinky black number was the only bathing suit packed. Chloe grimaced and began to change while imagining horrible torture techniques to use on Nadia when they got home.

 

***

 

            Jack sighed as he leaned on the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He had forgotten that going to the beach would mean wearing a bathing suit. And that wearing his swim trunks would mean that his scars would be visible for the world to see. He could get away with wearing a t-shirt down to the beach, but once they were there, there would be no reason to keep it on. Who went to the Bahamas and kept their shirt on? You were pretty much expected to waltz around in your bathing suit the entire time you were there.

            He slipped his shirt over his head and sighed again. Realizing that hiding in the bathroom all day wasn't an option, he opened the bathroom door and walked back into the bedroom.

 

***

 

            Jack's jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw Chloe. The black bikini top she was wearing accentuated every curve and left very little to the imagination. She had put on a green beach wrap, but the material was nearly sheer, and Jack could see that the bottom of the bathing suit didn't cover much either. He was left utterly speechless as he stared at her.

            Chloe crossed her arms and fidgeted, feeling extremely uncomfortable under Jack's scrutiny. She couldn't tell if he was staring because she looked that bad or because he was enjoying the view. She really hoped it was the latter. But he just continued to stare at her, and Chloe finally couldn't take it anymore.

            "I'm going to kill Nadia," she blurted.

            Jack reluctantly tore his eyes from her body and tried to focus on her face instead. "Huh?"

            "Nadia. I'm going to kill her. Right after I kill Milo."

            "Why Nadia?" asked Jack, still very much confused.

            "Do you see this?" Chloe yelled, gesturing at her barely-clad body. Jack fervently wished she wouldn't do that, seeing as how he was already having trouble focusing on anything BUT her body. "Does this look like something I would wear?"

            It was then that Jack realized that Chloe was nervous about her appearance. She had no clue how absolutely stunning she looked on normal days – nevermind when she was wearing that little black bikini…

            Jack snapped his thoughts back and walked over to her, placing his hands on her hips as she watched him warily. "Chloe, you look amazing," he whispered, looking her straight in the eye. She fidgeted some more, but eventually stopped as she realized he was being sincere.

            "Thanks," she whispered back, a broad grin growing on her face.

            Jack squeezed her hips and turned to pick up the bag that held their towels and umbrella. "But I expect that wrap to come off as soon as we find a spot on the beach," he said over his shoulder as he walked toward the door.

            Chloe's eyes widened for a moment before she came back with a retort. "And I expect you to lose that damn t-shirt. If I have to be half-naked, you have to be half-naked with me, Bauer." And with that she sashayed out of the suite leaving a shocked Jack following in her wake.

 

***

 

            There were quite a few people on the beach, but not enough to feel crowded. Jack and Chloe easily found a spot and laid out their towels next to each other. Jack set up their beach umbrella, but Chloe turned it so that it was shading the sand behind their towels. At Jack's inquiring glance, she replied, "I didn't come here to sit in the shade, Jack."

            As Jack settled down on his towel, he was suddenly distracted as Chloe took off her wrap. He never would have guessed that she had such gorgeous legs, but there they were, staring him right in the face. Breathing was suddenly becoming an issue for him as she sat next to him.

            "Your turn," she said, turning to him expectantly.

            "My turn for what?" he asked.

            Chloe reached over and began tugging his shirt up. "To lose the shirt, Jack. We had a deal remember?"

            Pushing her hands down gently, but firmly, Jack replied, "No Chloe. My shirt is fine just where it is."

            "Come on, Jack. You can't be nervous about how you look. You're gorgeous," Chloe replied as she kept fighting to rid him of his shirt.

            Jack stopped, still holding the bottom of his shirt down. "Gorgeous?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

            Chloe gave him a withering glance. "You know you're gorgeous, Bauer. Now take off the damn shirt!"

            Jack continued to fight her on the subject. "Chloe, what does it matter? Just leave my shirt alone!"

            Chloe didn't even spare him a reply this time. She just continued working on getting his shirt over his head. Finally Jack grabbed her wrists firmly and looked her in the eye.

            "Chloe stop."

            At the seriousness of his tone, Chloe did stop. She looked at Jack in confusion, wondering why he was giving her such a hard time about this. It wasn't like he was going to be exposing any more skin than she already was…

            "Your scars," she whispered.

            Jack looked away and nodded, letting go of her wrists. Chloe watched him for a minute, willing him to look at her. But he just kept his head down. She sat there thinking, wondering how she could convince him that it was okay, that they didn't bother anybody else and that they shouldn't bother him.

            Finally she stood up with a determined look on her face and pulled the t-shirt over his head before he could recover from his surprise. She calmly folded the shirt, ignoring the look he was giving her. He was still staring at her as she sat down next to him again. She returned his gaze before planting a quick kiss on his shoulder.

            "You're still gorgeous," she said.

            Jack couldn't help but smile as she laid down in the sun.

 

***

 

            "Chloe, you're going to burn," he said a few minutes later.

            "I don't care," she mumbled, her voice muffled by the towel. She was lying on her stomach, letting her back and legs soak in the tropical sun.

            "You will tonight when it starts to hurt and the rest of your vacation is ruined," he pointed out.

            Chloe sighed, but propped herself up on her elbows and looked at Jack. "Okay."

            Jack nodded. "Good."

            Chloe continued to stare at him, but Jack couldn't figure out what she wanted.

            "Well?" she prodded.

            "Well what?" he asked.

            She reached over and grabbed the suntan lotion out of her bag and tossed it to him. "I can't reach my back," she said in explanation before lying back down.

            Jack stared at her body with something akin to terror. It wasn't that he didn't want to touch Chloe – on the contrary, that was pretty much all he wanted to do. But if he put this lotion on her, he would only be able to think about the feel of her skin for the rest of the trip – possibly for the rest of his life.

            Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. He could do this, he told himself. It was just a friend helping another friend. While having more than friendly thoughts about her. Jack shut his eyes and tried to expel those images from his mind.

            "Squirt and rub, Jack."

            "What?" he practically screeched, her voice abruptly pulling him out of his fantasies.

            "Suntan lotion. It's pretty simple. You squirt and rub."

            "Right," he mumbled.

            Thankfully Jack didn't melt when he started rubbing the lotion in. He concentrated on the task at hand, methodically covering every inch of her exposed flesh with the sunscreen. Her skin felt nice under his hands and he found it very difficult to convince himself to stop when the job was finished.

            Chloe, on the other hand, was melting. She knew she was playing a dangerous game when she asked Jack to put the sunscreen on her, but she was hoping that her body wouldn't betray her as much as it was. The feel of his hands on her bare back and on her thighs made her want to push him back on his towel and have her way with him right there on the beach. She imagined what it would be like to have Jack Bauer in her bed, touching her like this all over her body. The very thought made her skin go hot, and she thanked God that the sun was so strong. She had to bite back a moan of regret when Jack pulled his hands away and put the cap back on the bottle.

            "All set," he said quietly.

            Chloe sat up and grabbed the bottle from his hands. "Thanks. Your turn."

            Jack shook his head. "Chloe…"

            "Oh shut up, Jack. Your scars don't bother me. Now turn over."

            Realizing that it would be useless to fight her on this, Jack laid down on his stomach with out another word. He expected to feel the cool lotion on his back, but was surprised when he just felt Chloe's fingers, tracing his wounds.

            "Oh Jack…" she whispered. "What did they do to you?"

            Jack found himself shivering as Chloe placed feather-light kisses along his scars. She gave them her full attention and didn't miss a single one. By the time she was putting the sunscreen on her hands, Jack's breathing was already labored.

            Her small hands on his back were driving Jack crazy. All he wanted to do was turn over and pull her down with him, kissing her with everything his body was screaming at him. It didn't help matters that she was kneading his muscles as she worked the lotion in, making him groan in pleasure. He suddenly wondered how he was going to make it through the whole vacation sharing a bed with her. He wasn't sure he could even make it one night without kissing her, nevermind two weeks.

            With the sunscreen finally dealt with, Jack and Chloe laid down and enjoyed the beach. They both dozed in the hot sun, reveling in the fact that there were no international crises that they had to attend to. All that had to worry about was not burning and remembering to eat.

            As the sun began to set, Jack sat back up. He nudged Chloe until she joined him, and they watched the sky dance in brilliant colors as the day came to a close. Jack watched Chloe from the corner of his eye, amazed at how breath-taking she was. It was nice to see her relaxed and enjoying herself.

            "I want to be a beach bum," she said suddenly.

            Jack laughed. "A beach bum?"

            "Yeah. You know, live in a hut on a beach. Maybe run a bar or a tourist shop." She turned to look at him. "It sounds nice."

            "Wouldn't you miss your computer?" he asked.

            Chloe thought for a minute. "Well, I'd like to have a computer with me. But hacking into systems and doing satellite feeds? I think I could live a happy beach life without those."

            Jack stood up and stretched out his hand for her. "Come on," he said.

            "Where are we going?"

            "Dinner. There's a great place at the other end of the beach."

            "But Jack, I need to change."

            "No you don't. Put on that little wrap thing and you'll be just fine."

            "Jack, that wrap is practically see-through."

            "I know," he said smugly.

            Chloe glared at him, but accepted his hand. As she put on her wrap, Jack put his shirt back on and packed up their stuff. Then taking her hand, he led her down the beach.