JOSI

Josi's meetings with Rand have become a routine. Despite the fact that she's on a secret mission of her own, she still enjoys the time spent reading. They discuss multiple forms of media, share thoughts and opinions on things they may or may not agree with. Josi enjoys this part most.

"You know what I think?" She says. "I think Daisy Buchanan shouldn't have been let off so easily."

Rand turns a page. "And why's that?"

"Because Gatsby took the blame for her, and she just left with her husband while he was murdered for a crime she committed."

"There's the fact that she never asked for him to take the blame." Says Rand. "His obsession with her was a bit excessive."

A good point, but her views won't change. "She could have at least attended his funeral."

Rand agrees with this, which is not a usual occurrence. He reaches for a new book on the shelf, but in the midst of doing so, knocks Josi's bag to the floor and spills out its contents. There's lipstick, sunglasses, a couple more books. But within all those items is a bracelet that seems to capture Rand's attention. It's been hand crafted out of blue and white seashells, along with other sea life forms molded from beads.

"What's that?" Rand asks, eyes still on the accessory.

Josi picks up the bracelet after seconds of just staring at it, as though she were hesitant to do so. "It's a bracelet. A friend of mine gave it to me."

This plunges Rand deep into a thought bubble. Josi can see him work and rework some hypothesis in his head. It's only to be expected, seeing as that bracelet once belonged to his daughter, Annabelle. In Dami's memo, she'd crafted a couple like the one now in Josi's hands and had gifted them out to family and friends. Rand must be baffled at the coincidence of it all.

"What was your friend's name?"

Josi smiles, although inwardly. "Annabelle." And when Rand falls back into silence, she asks, "Why, do you know her?"

Rand sighs, and from his eyes Josi can see his sorrows. "She was my daughter."

"You're Annabelle Thatcher's father?" Thatcher, not Vero, because as listed in the memo, Annabelle adopted a different surname while in school, for fear of being linked to her infamous father. Well, it worked out well — not only in Annabelle's case but in Josi's.

Josi can tell from Rand's posture that his guard has been completely let down. She can see him play and replay records of his daughter in his head, pausing on clips that hold crucial meaning to him. She has to move her hand up to her mouth to hide the smile currently forming, because it is now evident that her mission has been accomplished.

Rand finally snaps out of his bubble. "What was Annabelle like at school?"

Josi successfully suppresses the smile and slips the bracelet on. She's about to put on a good show.

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Lessons with Croff consist of target practice and gun assembly. They occupy the indoor shooting range from the hours of five to six and dedicate their time practicing. Before each lesson, Croff makes sure to quiz Josi on the parts of the weapon, and each time, Josi aces them. She's found that Croff is very strict about time, so she sets her arrival a couple minutes before the lessons begin. He takes his job seriously, and that's what Josi thinks makes him a good teacher.

"Reassemble it." Croff instructs.

Josi takes off assembling. She sets the first couple of pieces in place, scans her work, then proceeds with the rest. With the magazine slammed shut into the gun, Josi is now done with the task. She places the weapon down on the table and turns to Croff for the results.

Croff is satisfied with her work. He heads for one of the shooting booths with an earmuff, takes aim at a target, and begins rapidly firing. The bullets all burrow through the center, one after the other, until he ceases the practice. He hands the gun over to Josi. "You try."

Josi sighs and steps in front of a different booth. This wouldn't be her first time practicing. Croff has her do them the majority of the time they're together for lessons. She steadies the gun and fires as she'd seen Croff do, but the bullets are nowhere near as precise as his. They stray far from the center and hit the outer parts of the target instead.

"Hey, it's better than last time." Says Josi.

To which Croff just sighs. He'd told her things like this take time and practice to better itself, which is why he doesn't grow frustrated. He must know this by experience. "That means more time practicing for you."

Josi nods. "You know, you're a very good teacher. Where did you learn?"

Croff hesitates with his answer. "I taught myself."

Somehow, it seems like he's hiding more. But Josi doesn't pry. He must have his reasons. Instead, she takes her shirt off to allow herself cool down from the heating room, and now all she has on is a cropped top too tight for her cleavage.

Croff, on the other hand, seems to have frozen. He just stares, as if his mind has shifted gears into park, and all he can do is remain in place while gazing at Josi's body. Finally, he catches himself and looks away, but Josi has already caught on to him.

"Keep practicing." Croff tells her before hastily exiting the range.

Josi sighs once he shuts the door behind him. She loads the pistol up and takes another shot at the target, except this time the bullets are far more precise. They all land on locations close enough to the center, with one hitting the center itself.

Josi lowers her gun and looks the target over, satisfied with her work. Then she smiles. A pleased, content smile.

~《¤》~

CROFF

Croff arrives the following day with Josi already in the shooting range. She's in the midst of reassembling the pistol just as he'd taught her, and she does it with so much speed it impresses Croff. While he'd rather not tutor her, he has to admit her dedication is commendable. Though he wishes that was all there was to these lessons, because he's not sure how much more he can take of her temptations.

Today he helps Josi with her shooting skills. He gives her tips on how to better her aim and even sets examples that aren't too complicated. Then he has her put it into practice.

Josi brings the weapon up to a target and tries to angle her body the same way she'd seen Croff do. "Was it like this?"

Croff studies her posture and finds a few flaws he needs to correct. He places a hand on her back, urges her to straighten up, and fixes the position of the gun with his other hand. "Give it a shot."

Josi gets to firing. The bullets land much closer to the center this time, with the furthest only two rings away from the rest. Instantly, she grins. "I did it!"

Croff finds himself smiling, until she turns to face him. It has only now just hit him how close they are. There he is behind her with his hand still on her back, eyes glued to hers as they sit in a heavy silence that reveals more about their attraction than words possibly can.

Croff is first to break eye contact. He steps away from her, once again cursing at himself for being so weak. "We should end things here."

Josi agrees. "You're right. This will be the last lesson then."

Upon hearing this, Croff sighs and frustratingly runs a hand through his lengthy hair. This should be good news. He won't have to deal with her temptations any longer. He'll finally be back to steering clear of her.

But why is there disappointment? Have his attempts at sealing up his feelings for Josi really been so futile? It seems he's made no such progress, because he's already begun longing for her again. If she leaves now, their time together really will come to an end.

Croff closes his eyes, preparing. Bracing himself. Because there's no going back.

Croff grabs Josi's arm and brings her into a kiss. Josi doesn't even seem surprised, like she'd been expecting it almost, because she instantly matches his energy. Croff moves her closer to his body. There must be no space between them. She needs to be as close as humanly possible. Then he kisses her harder. All those days of suppressed desire come flooding in, clouding his judgment in the process. He refuses to think about how mortifying this will be for Idris. He has decided to completely drown himself within Josi.

Croff picks her up and heads for the table — the same one used for the gun assembly-and sits her down. Before he even realizes it, his hands have already begun unbuttoning her shirt. And what he finds is a bra that hooks in the front, easy enough to unclip. If he didn't know any better, she'd expected for all this to happen.

And his suspicions are confirmed when out of her skirt's pocket, a condom slips out. He would laugh, because he isn't the least bit surprised. He's just been moving according to her expectations once again. But this time he will keep up those expectations.

Croff sends a finger between her cleavage and unhooks the bra. Now he's seen her half naked, an image he's tried so desperately to extinguish from his mind. Until today. And now that it's real, he can hardly control himself. He kisses her again and guides her body down to the table, his hand already fondling her breasts. He leads the kiss away from her lips and down her chest until he meets her hard nipples. She must already be turned on, which brings Croff some level of satisfaction.

Then he begins teasing her. He bites and kisses around her breasts slowly, and when her breathing pattern becomes erratic, he knows it's working. He wants to see more of her reactions. He wonders how she'll cope with his mouth around her dark nipples, so he ends the teasing and brings her breast into his mouth. This he knows satisfies her, because she begins squirming. Fidgeting. He even hears her curse under her breath. So he keeps it all up. Sucking and biting until he switches to the other breast.

Croff decides to switch gears. But before he goes any further, he pulls off his belt and folds it three times. "I need you to bite down on this for me."

Josi gazes up at him, seemingly puzzled. She follows directions, however, and takes the belt into her mouth, granting Croff freedom to move on to the next step. He first gathers her skirt around her waist, then sinks down between her legs and slips her underwear off. This is where he receives more reactions from Josi. He grabs hold of her thighs-a way to keep her pinned-and first kisses her folds as a way to gauge her reaction. Much to his satisfaction, she quivers under his grasp. If she's going to be this responsive then this will be diverting.

He takes her entire pussy into his mouth, and immediately Josi begins squirming. But he keeps her steady with his grip around her thighs; glued to that position as he runs his tongue around, sucking and tasting every inch, refusing to leave a single part out. Even when Josi's cry becomes muffled through the belt, he doesn't stop. He will stop only when he's satisfied. Only when he feels she's on the edge.

And to get her there, he keeps the same slow pace. It must be excruciating for her, seeing as she's gripping the edge of the table. Finally, when he takes notice of how much the trembling has increased, he stops. She's probably close to climaxing, but he doesn't want it to come just yet. He rises to his feet before the smudged juices around his mouth comes to his notice. He wipes it away and sucks it off his thumb.

When he meets her eyes he can tell she's bemused. After all, he stopped when she'd been so close to orgasm. He studies her once more. So helpless she is on the table; teeth digging into his belt, chest rising and falling rapidly, and nipples still harder than diamonds. To think he would one day see her like this. To think he would one day move past just a kiss.

Now comes the part that seals the deal. He zips his trousers down and pulls out his cock, then places the condom between his teeth and tears it open. He doesn't once steer his eyes away from Josi's. He keeps it fixed on hers through it all; a reminder of the act they're about to commit.

Croff slips the rubber on, then pushes his hair back in order to get a better view of the woman below him. He knows this is a dangerous line he's about to cross, but his senses have long since turned tail.

Croff enters Josi slowly, carefully, until he's mostly in. He spews out some incoherent curses as the pleasure takes control, his hands firm around her waist. His body has risen in temperature, chest heaving uncontrollable, and now all he can think about is the warmth he's been buried in. He clenches his teeth as he continues plunging into her, because now he's not so sure if he can stop.

Meanwhile, Josi has gone back to just barely coping. She sinks her teeth deeper into the belt, toes curling around Croff's waist, tears glazing her eyes. He gives her no time to rest because he, too, is far gone in his own gratification. He ruthlessly thrusts into her, keeping the pleasure going for them both to enjoy. Until finally, he pulls the belt away from her mouth and kisses her. Harder and with far more greed. Now that the belt is no more, he can hear her struggle through his thrusts. Perhaps this is better than trying to conceal her moans.

Josi sits up on the table, thighs wrapped around Croff as he continues plunging deeper. She grips the edge of the table with both hands, trying to manage, but when it proves futile, she grips his shoulders instead. He can tell she's trying to refrain from making a sound, so he kisses her once again to drown it all out.

And when he pulls away, he meets her eyes that have long since darkened with lust. Those eyes alone tell him they won't be done any time soon, and that's perfectly fine with him. He knows he'll regret it later like he did the kiss. But for the time being, he decides to give himself up to that same lust that currently clouds Josi.

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