Waking up to the sunlight streaming across her bed from the window; Lena squinted against the bright light as she stretched out slowly. She paused in her efforts to get out of the bed as she discovered that she was being held back…by an arm? Peering down at her waist, she shook herself mentally; gasping as she began to recall the events of the previous night.
Despite the way her mind was screaming at her, saying this was still part of a dream; she couldn’t deny the warmth of the man sleeping next to her, with his arm curled around her waist and a leg looped over her lower body. Shifting so that she could get a better look at John; she found herself stopped short as the sight beside her literally took her breath away.
He looked so…peaceful. She had never seen him looking this relaxed; not while awake. And if the man was sexy when awake, that was nothing compared to how he looked now. Bringing up her hand, she trailed her palm across his face from temple to cheekbone; pausing there to scoot forward and plant a light kiss at the crease of his eye. She smiled as he groaned sleepily; using the opportunity presented by his arm moving out from around her waist as he woke up to slip out of the bed and sneak into the bathroom.
As she shut the door behind her, she took a deep breath; exhaling slowly as she moved to turn on the faucet and get ready for a shower. There were a lot of things she couldn’t explain about last night…why she had jumped into bed with John Reese, of all people, almost without a second thought being at the top of that list.
Furthermore…why had he jumped in bed with her? He knew who her father was…what he was capable of. He abhorred some of the things that had been done by the hands of the mob; and she couldn’t exactly say she blamed him, despite her sense of loyalty to the man who had given her life.
And yet, here he was, in her bed; hell bent on protecting her, and apparently on making her out of her mind with feelings she had sworn to lock away after…
Shaking her head to ward off the ghosts of the past; she stepped into the shower, shutting the door and moving back into the warm spray of water. As the water ran over her body, she tried in vain to reassure herself that this was just…just a one night stand. Reese’s line of work was not permissive to anything more; much the same as how her lifestyle made any kind of extraneous relationship…dangerous. Especially now that she was about to be thrown head first into a war with the other crime families. No, she couldn’t possibly afford to be…
Lena found her thoughts coming to a screeching halt as she heard John enter the shower; the act of looping his arms around her waist from behind caused her to jump slightly.
“What are you doing, Lena?” He asked, his voice pitched low and sending a shiver of electricity down Lena’s spine.
“I’m showering, John. I have a…uh…the meeting…” She replied, trying hard to remain coherent as he dipped his head to begin kissing the back of her neck. His actions were doing nothing to help her place some distance between them; both emotionally and physically. Yet, she couldn’t find it within herself to stop him as he continued biting and sucking a trail from her neck to her shoulder; while his hand began a slow trail down her stomach.
She grabbed his wrist just as he was about to make her lose all sense of rational thought; bringing it up to her face and feathering a kiss against his palm before turning to face him, saying:
“John…we can’t.”
The look he gave her then almost knocked her flat on her bottom. She could see he was torn somewhere between pain and understanding at her statement; and she fought back against the tears now clouding her vision as she stepped away from his embrace and continued speaking.
“We can’t do this. Acting like we actually have a shot at…at…whatever this is? With what you do…with who I am it just…it can’t work, John. It can’t.”
“Lena, I know you’re scared…” John began, moving forward to grab her hand; but he was cut off as she looked up at him, her eyes shining as she brought up a hand to wipe away a tear.
“Scared doesn’t…it doesn’t even begin to cover it, John. I can’t even understand why you would be willing to put yourself through this after…after what happened to you.”
John moved forward again, wrapping an arm around her waist as he drew her in towards him. Bringing his other hand up to move her face so that she was looking directly at him; he held her eyes with his own as he spoke.
“I get it, Lena. I know you don’t want to get hurt. After what you went through…what we’ve both gone through…it makes sense that you don’t want to get involved with someone again. But you can’t refuse to live just because of what may happen.”
“John, the last time I…lived…as you call it; I received reinforcement for all the reasons why I can’t afford any involvement…with anyone. The one person who may have mattered to me the most…more than all of this; maybe even more than my obligation to my father…he’s dead now. He’s dead because he tried to get me out of this life. He tried to save me John; and he died because of it…I can’t…I can’t have that happen to you; I…”
Lena was forced to stop speaking then; unconsciously moving forward to let her head fall onto John’s bare chest as she finally let the tears fall. She hadn’t wanted to break down like this; least of all in front of him. Not when he was always so…calm. Even now, when they were both revealing more than either of them were used to; he was composed. Closing her eyes as she absorbed the feel of his hands moving up and down her back; she took several deep breaths to calm herself before stepping away a bit to look back up at him.
“John, I’m sorry; I just…I didn’t mean to fall apart on you like that…”
“Hey…hey, look at me. It’s okay” John said, cupping her face with both hands as he feathered the pads of his thumbs along her cheekbones. Leaning down so that they were face to face; he ghosted a kiss against her lips, before he pulled back again, trying to gauge her reaction. Seeing that she had closed her eyes, and had begun leaning towards him; he decided he could continue speaking.
“I understand if you don’t want to do this. But I’m telling you; I won’t try and get you out of this life if you don’t want you to. You may play hell getting me to let you do whatever it is you do without being involved myself…but I’m not going to pressure you to walk away. I’m not going to try to make you tear yourself apart between whatever this is, and your father. I would never make you do that. I’m just asking you to let me help you live…”
John was cut off as Lena brought a hand up; placing two fingers over his mouth as she offered him a shaky smile.
“I never said I didn’t want this John. Because I do. I just don’t know how we can have something like this with…with everything…”
“We can have whatever we want; Lena. We can have whatever we want, as long as we’re willing to fight for it” John paused then to place his forehead against her own; breathing in the scent of her damp hair before he continued speaking.
“And I will fight for you.”
Touched beyond words at what he was telling her, Lena rose up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss against his lips; letting loose a small laugh as John took advantage of her closeness to deepen the kiss, wrapping his arms around her back once again and drawing her so close to his body that he could have absorbed her skin with his own. Backing her into the wall of the shower; he broke away from the kiss only briefly as he said:
“Tell me to stop and I will; Lena. But you’re approaching the point of no return here…”
Taking his face in her hands, Lena placed a kiss on the tip of his nose and each cheekbone; before drawing back and saying:
“Don’t ever stop; John.”
John gave her the most predatory smile she had ever seen before returning his lips to her own; even as his hands reached down to hoist her up so that she was positioned with her legs around his waist and her back resting against the wall of the shower. Letting out a moan as he grazed a finger over her core; Lena threw her head back and absorbed the feel of his lips on her skin as they forged a trail of fire down the side of her face and neck, before latching onto her collarbone.
Lena let out a breathy sigh as he bit down on her skin and continued tracing his finger around her entrance; and she found herself grabbing onto his shoulders in an effort to drag him closer to her as she unconsciously bucked her hips into him. She could feel the vibration of his laughter at her action through his hold on her collarbone; and had to fight to suppress a whimper as he broke that heavenly mouth away from her skin to speak.
“Waiting for something, Lena?” He asked her; still teasing her with his finger as he took in the way she was closing her eyes and losing herself in the moment, with him. That was all he ever wanted; for her to give up all the stress her father was putting her through and just…breathe. And by the little gasps she was making; the “breathing” was coming along quite nicely.
“John…don’t…I just…” Lena said; cursing herself internally at how damned impossible it was for her to think clearly with John smirking at her and…touching her. Touching her in a way that made her feel like she was on fire; and yet, also giving her the feeling of safety…of being cherished…
Sensing that her need was just as potent as his own; John withdrew his finger and entered her with a swift thrust, capturing her moan and swallowing it as he returned to kissing her and began making love to her in earnest. This wasn’t just sex, for him; not with this amazing, beautiful, and selfless woman. A woman who was considering getting herself involved in a crime war; just to keep what her father had worked for safe. He hadn’t encountered anyone quite like her in his lifetime; and he swore then and there that he wouldn’t let anyone, or anything touch her…not if he had anything to say about it.
It didn’t take long for the two of them to tumble over the edge together; and they used the remainder of the hot water from the shower to clean each other off before stepping out and getting dressed. John watched her while he buttoned his dress shirt; smiling slightly as he observed how serene she appeared despite what she was about to do. Stepping over to her to snake an arm around her waist as she finished adjusting her hair; he took a deep breath before speaking.
“I will be going to that meeting with you; Lena. There is still a threat to your life; and until we figure out where it’s coming from I won’t be leaving you alone. Not when I can help it.”
“Is that how you get your people to let you tail them all day long, John? You seduce them in a shower?” Lena asked, smiling as she leaned back into him; loving the feel of his broad chest against her back. She felt the rumble of his laughter through their connection; before he moved her around so she was facing him as he said:
“I can’t go giving away all of my trade secrets, Lena…where would be the fun in that?”
Lena laughed, bringing his mouth down to her own to kiss him; pondering at her sense of pure elation, even with the responsibility her father had given her looming before her. John had a way of calming her down; even when no one else could. And despite the brief flicker of fear over his determination to accompany her to the meeting with the other families; she knew there was no one else she’d rather have there by her side.
They barely had time to get into the kiss before John’s phone rang insistently from inside his pocket. Letting out a low groan of frustration, the ex-op answered the phone; moving away from Lena as he said:
“Yes, Finch?”
A brief pause ensued, during which Lena busied herself with straightening her room; before John hung up the call and turned back to her with an unreadable expression on his face.
“I…something’s come up. I’ve got to go help Finch with something; but I’ll meet you when I’m done? Just…just stay here, Lena. Stay here, and wait for me to come back.”
Lena shook herself as she attempted to comprehend what he was saying; unsure of where this sudden change was coming from.
“Is everything alright?” She asked; concern evident in her voice as she walked over to John and grabbed his hand with her own. “Is it Harold? Is he hurt?”
John looked at her for a moment; clearly torn over what to say, before he squeezed her hand gently and walked towards the door of her apartment, saying:
“I don’t know; Lena. I don’t know. Promise me you’ll wait to go to this meeting until I come back?”
Lena could only nod as she watched him walk away; closing the door behind him and leaning back against the door as she let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. As quickly as John had relaxed her; her feelings of anxiety over not only this meeting, but whatever was going on with John’s employer, were ramping up again.
Flipping on the television as she sat down on the couch; she resolved to make at least a somewhat decent attempt at distracting herself until this afternoon’s meeting. After all, she had to come up with some way to explain John’s presence to Scarface and the others…
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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