A/N: Okay, so I guess this is my fourth "Blue Bird" inspired fic. I'm obsessed with the possible scenarios awaiting us in Season 7, so here is another idea that occurred to me. It's a bit spicier than the others, and I'm exploring a different side of both Jane and Lisbon. We haven't seen how they behave when they're both truly in love, and hot for each other, so that's what I try to do here. I'm thinking this fic will be five chapters or fewer, but I'm not sure at the moment. I know where I'm going, just don't know how long it will take to get there. Thanks for coming along with me for another ride.

The Final Frontier

Chapter 1

"Ahem," came the sound of Abbot's clearing throat.

Jane reluctantly broke away from Lisbon, her hand sliding across his stubbled cheek. He sat slowly (and a little unsteadily) back in the chair across from her, his eyes never leaving hers. His gaze was warm with the glow of a low flame, and her face was flushed from his tender kiss and the sudden embarrassment at their interruption. She averted her eyes from both men, and Jane's lips quirked into a soft smile.

"Lisbon," said Abbot in only mild surprise. "Change your mind about DC?"

She dutifully lifted her eyes to her boss. "Yes, sir. If I'm still welcome in Austin."

Jane felt his heart leap at her words. It was official then. She was staying.

"Of course," replied Abbot. "Never gave final approval to that transfer, remember."

"Thank you, sir."

Abbot turned to Jane. "Well, I called in a few favors, and got the TSA to release you, Jane, so you can thank your lucky stars you won't be facing some major federal crimes."

"How 'bout I just thank you," said Jane. He'd never felt he was a particularly lucky man. Well, not until about five minutes before.

"Actually, you can thank my wife," Abbot said wryly. "I told her about this stupid stunt you pulled and she thought it was the most romantic thing she'd ever heard. Told me I'd better go easy on you or she'd stop cooking for a week." He patted his stomach and grinned. "I have my priorities."

Jane mentally took note to send Abbot's wife the biggest bouquet he could find in Austin. Jane grinned. The truth was, Abbot could have very easily used this incident as an excuse to throw Jane in prison for being in violation of his contract with the FBI, but they both knew why he hadn't. Abbot wanted to keep the team together, and he knew Jane wouldn't work without Lisbon. Abbot was a pragmatic man, and Jane solved cases, a fact of which Jane was smugly aware.

"Well, thank Mrs. Abbot for me then," Jane said.

Abbot gave a noncommittal grunt. "At any rate, you're free. Your bag from the Lodge is already checked in at the gate. We're going to have to hurry to make our flight. You too, Lisbon."

He'd been pretty confident they would both be heading back together. Jane had to hand it to Abbot—he was no slouch in reading human behavior himself.

Jane and Lisbon rose reluctantly, Jane tentatively testing his sprained ankle.

"By the way," said Abbot, as they respectively walked and limped out of the TSA detention area. A courtesy tram was waiting to whisk them to the security checkpoint. "We've got a case-in Houston."

"Houston?" asked Lisbon. "You mean we're not going back to Austin?"

"Not till we solve this case." He handed them a couple of brown file folders. "Something to read on the plane. Cho took the first flight out this morning, and Fischer is staying on in Miami to tie up loose ends on the De Jorio case, but she should be able to make it to Houston late this afternoon. Wylie is driving down from Austin and meeting us there. You two, do me a favor and get your minds back on the job now, will ya?"

"Yes, sir," said Lisbon, shyly avoiding Jane's eyes.

Jane had no comment; he was too busy staring adoringly at Lisbon.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were separated on the flight, much to Jane's frustration. He sat toward the back of the plane, a mother and little boy beside him. Lisbon was several rows away, next to a couple of newlyweds, and Abbot had paid out of his own pocket for the larger seats and extra legroom in first class. There would be no trading seats, and the flight was full. Lisbon gave Jane a regretful shrug and found her seat, putting her bag in the overhead bin. Jane managed to sneak in a quick peck on her cheek before she sat down, and she blushed, both of them remembering being on a similar plane the day before. Ironically, Jane was in row twelve this time, though he had an aisle seat.

Jane spent the first part of the flight to Houston staring morosely at the back of Lisbon's dark head. It was torture, having to settle for only a brief taste of her soft lips after all the years he'd already waited. For once, he had no patience with the child who squawked constantly to his mother from the window seat, and he tapped his good foot in uncharacteristic agitation. He could have caused a scene, maybe come up with some ruse to sit closer to Lisbon, but he knew any kind of ruckus could land him back in hot water with the TSA (and perhaps with Lisbon), so he reluctantly refrained.

Still, his blood hummed with longing, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. An hour into the two and a half hour flight, he abruptly unbuckled his seatbelt and limped down the aisle to Lisbon's row. He squatted beside her and gazed at her a moment as she sat there on the aisle, trying to get some sleep. There were circles beneath her eyes, darkening her pale skin. Lack of sleep he supposed, and the residual puffiness from crying. He imagined he looked much the same way. It had been an emotionally trying twenty-four hours. He hated to wake her, but he was as impatient as a child at Christmas.

"Lisbon," he whispered, touching her hand. She jerked awake.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly as her eyes focused on him in some surprise. "I uh…missed you."

Two days ago she would have batted his hand away in annoyance, demanding he get back in his seat. Now, she smiled softly, her cheeks blooming with color. "Me too," she said.

She laced her fingers with his, and both of them looked down at their joined hands in awe. It was then that Lisbon noticed that, instead of a gold band on his left hand, there was only a white tan line. She looked up into his somber eyes, felt hers mist over. He was truly ready to move on. With her.

"How's your ankle?" she asked, unable to form the words she really wanted to say. He smiled gently in understanding. There would be plenty of time for that later, when they were truly alone.

"Better, I guess." He had taken his shoe off again against the swelling, and his heavy cream-colored sock looked garish against the dark industrial carpet.

The flight attendants were rolling their refreshment cart back toward them from the front of the plane, handing out drinks and little packets of pretzels along the way. Jane didn't have much time.f

"So, is everything all right with you?" He asked her, his expression a bit hesitant. She could still back out…

She squeezed his hand, her dimples appearing as she smiled. "Everything's fine, Jane. I haven't changed my mind."

It was strange being read like that by her, almost as strange as being unable to read her accurately for the past month. "I'm glad," he said, and brought her hand to his lips.

"Pardon us, sir, but we need to keep rolling. Please return to your seat and let us offer you something to drink." The attendants had stopped right in front of him.

"Bye," said Lisbon softly.

"Meet me in the restroom later," he whispered, his eyes mischievous.

"No way," she hissed back, but he'd already made his way back down the aisle. The man next to Lisbon smirked knowingly; he'd heard their entire conversation.

"He just needs help with his uh…foot. He sprained it," she finished lamely.

The man shook his head and went back to reading his Kindle.

After the flight attendants had finished their beverage service, Jane rose again and went to the restroom at the front of the plane, touching Lisbon's shoulder as he passed. She stared after him, her heart thumping.

It had only been a little over an hour that they had kissed for the first time. She could hardly believe it had happened, though when she closed her eyes she could still feel the warmth of his lips on hers, the quick, seeking swipe of his tongue inside her mouth. She'd never felt such joy, such a sense of rightness. It had only lasted seconds, but those few moments had changed everything.

Before she'd found Jane in the TSA detention area, she'd called Pike and told him the truth. She didn't love Marcus enough to move to DC, and certainly not enough to marry him. He'd told her they didn't have to rush, didn't even have to live together—just begged her to give their relationship a chance. She'd ended the call, sad that she'd hurt him, that she'd deceived herself so terribly. But now she'd been given the only man she'd ever truly loved, she realized happily, and he was waiting for her in the airplane lavatory.

She avoided the amused eyes of her neighboring passenger and unbuckled herself, walking purposefully toward the restrooms. Looking around to be sure a flight attendant wasn't watching, she tapped lightly on the door marked occupied. She heard the latch slide, and she pushed on the accordion style door.

Jane had backed up as far as he could to allow her to squeeze inside, practically sitting on the sink, and he chuckled quietly as she maneuvered herself into the tiny enclosure. With great struggle, and lots of unintentional (and tantalizing) contact with Jane, she managed to close and lock the door behind her. Her breathing audible from both her exertion and excitement, she turned and faced him, finding that he was much, much closer than she'd anticipated.

"Hi," he said, eyes sparkling down at her. He had one foot on the floor, the other knee on the toilet, and his hip pressed almost painfully against the sink.

"Hi," was her breathless reply.

"Well, this is very brave of you, Teresa," he said softly, one hand going up to brush a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "But I knew you'd come."

She tried to look annoyed, but the pleasure of being so near to him made her fail miserably. Still, she couldn't let him get too confident, at least not yet.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes," he said. "'Without curiosity…woman would not be woman,'" he paraphrased.

She arched an eyebrow. "Who came up with that chauvinistic expression?"

He grinned. "Some French guy- but I'm so glad he was right."

He cut off her affronted reply with a kiss she felt clear to her toes. It was nothing like their first at the airport. While that had been filled with the sweetness of newfound love and tentative exploration, this was all longing and pent-up desire. His sensual lips were masterful, at once teasing and fulfilling, and she opened to him gladly, his tongue hot and potent in her mouth, tasting of his recent cup of orange pekoe. Her fingers slid into his hair, the softness bringing an ache to her heart, a grateful hum emitting from her throat. He smelled of expensive cologne and, faintly, the sweat of two days without a shower, his beard a bit scratchy against her cheeks. She breathed him in, wanting to absorb his very essence, hungry for him in a way she had never experienced before.

His hands glided down her arms to her waist, and he pulled her closer still—her first intimate contact with Jane as a man. It was humbling, exciting, and a bit surreal. He was already aroused, and she could feel the slight trembling in his fingers, his breaths shaky as their lips parted briefly for air.

"Teresa," he said, and then he took her mouth again.

Her lips were captivating, yet he continued to explore her bottom through the barrier of her jeans, then her back beneath her blouse, eager to experience all of her at once. The smoothness of her skin made his heart lurch, increasing the intensity of his kisses tenfold. His hands moved from her back to her flat stomach, then up to her lace covered breasts, full and responsive in his hands.

"Jane," she gasped, turning her head from his overwhelming kisses. "We have to stop."

At the loss of her lips, he compensated by raining open-mouthed kisses on her neck, finding her delicate ear and laving the lobe with his tongue. When he nipped it gently, she had to grip his shoulders to keep her knees from buckling. As usual, he was ignoring what he didn't want to hear.

"I am not…having sex…with you on…an airplane," she maintained while his dexterous fingers brushed back and forth over her nipples. She still wasn't stopping him, not really, though her hands now rested on his chest, feeling the tattoo of his pounding heart.

"What? No Mile-High Club, Teresa?" he whispered near her ear. She shivered, closing her eyes tightly against the sensory overload.

Sudden turbulence jolted them around like dice in a Yahtzee cup. Jane fell against the sink, taking Lisbon with him. She slipped, banging her head against the wall before he could catch her, yelping in pain.

A disembodied voice gave them the bad news.

"We will be experiencing some mild turbulence, ladies and gentlemen, so the captain has asked that everyone return to their seats and fasten your seatbelts."

"Shit," he cursed under his breath, both at Lisbon's injury and his sexual frustration.

He carefully smoothed back her hair to examine the red blotch on her forehead.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," he said, cringing.

Maneuvering around her, he wet a paper towel with cold water and pressed it to the lump that was already forming below her hairline. The plane shook alarmingly, and when they both were jostled violently again, Jane had to reluctantly admit it wasn't safe in the tiny restroom anymore.

"You go first," he told her. He kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in Houston."

When Lisbon emerged from the lavatory, she felt several pairs of eyes alighting on her, and she blushed furiously, avoiding looking directly at anyone as she stumbled back to her seat in the bucking plane. It was only when she sat down that she realized her blouse was unbuttoned down to her bra.

Her row mate didn't even try to hide his grin, as his eyes wandered to her disheveled appearance.

"What the hell are you looking at?" she growled, reaching for her buttons.

The man held up his hands in surrender and turned his head toward the window.

In the restroom, Jane looked down at the bulge in his pants in dismay; the thought of sitting in his seat for another hour or so in this condition was unbearable. He tried closing his eyes, breathing deeply, thinking of baseball stats and reciting the periodic table. But thoughts of smoky green eyes and soft breasts kept overcoming his every attempt at biofeedback and psychological subterfuge. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. His face was flushed, eyes dark with unfulfilled desire, his hair sticking up courtesy of Lisbon's fingers. He shook his head at his reflection, realizing this problem wasn't going to be so easily solved.

With a heavy sigh, Jane unzipped his trousers, while the plane jumped crazily beneath his feet.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cho was there to meet them in an FBI SUV. After stowing their small bags in the rear storage compartment, Abbot climbed in the passenger's seat and Jane and Lisbon got in back. Broad daylight prohibited the surreptitious meandering of naughty hands, and besides, Jane didn't want to anger Lisbon by making out with her in the backseat in sight of their boss. But boy, was he sorely tempted—his hands fairly twitched with the self-control he was exerting. His remedy in the bathroom had only been a temporary fix.

With a herculean effort of her own, Lisbon avoided looking Jane directly in the face, fearful her coworkers would know in an instant that she had very recently been fooling around with Jane in the airplane lavatory.

Of course, their uncharacteristic silence and the sexual tension between them were dead giveaways that something was definitely up between them. Still reeling a bit from his own recent revelation, Cho kept glancing in the rearview mirror at his long-time colleagues, trying to come to terms with how he could have been so blind. After his talk with Abbot, he'd chalked it up to denial out of self-preservation. After all, he'd had to suffer through years of Rigsby and Van Pelt's romantic drama; the last thing Cho wanted was to see his former boss and the perpetually troublesome consultant go at it.

"Any ransom demands or phone calls from the kidnappers?" Abbot was asking Cho.

"No. Wylie's set up at the victim's house. He said he'd call if something came through. Houston PD is waiting for us to arrive."

Abbot turned to look over his shoulder at Jane and Lisbon. "Any insight from those files?"

Jane had actually forgotten all about the case; his file was still stuck in his bag in the back.

"Not yet," he hedged.

Abbot's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Last time Jane had said he'd had nothing, they'd been led on a wild goose chase to Miami.

"I'm surprised Homeland Security's not on this, considering it's an astronaut whose been abducted," said Lisbon. "I figured they'd be concerned about national secrets or something."

Jane shot Lisbon a look of surprise. An astronaut?

"I thought that too," said Abbot, "but DC is taking a wait and see attitude here. Major Nelson is a wealthy man, so unless the motive appears to be more than financially motivated, they're leaving it to us."

"Major Nelson? Really?" Jane said in amusement. It was obvious this was the first he'd heard the ironic name of the victim.

Lisbon handed Jane the file she was holding. "Here, try doing your homework for a change," she said wryly. He purposely touched her fingers in the handoff, and they both felt the pleasant jolt of awareness. Jane grinned, and Lisbon's gaze skittered away self-consciously.

"Any suspects?" Jane asked, scanning the contents of the file.

"Not yet," said Cho. "I've only had time to interview the wife so far, though. The major never made it home after work last night, and Mrs. Nelson called his office at NASA, but no one had seen him since five p.m. yesterday. The area hospitals hadn't had any accident victims meeting his description. Around two this morning, a call came from his abductors. They said they'd state their demands in twelve hours. That's when she called the police."

Jane glanced at his watch. There was less than an hour remaining.

"After the call, Lisbon, you and Jane might have to go to NASA and talk to his co-workers," said Abbot.

"Yes, sir."

"Ahh…the final frontier," said Jane with his first spark of genuine interest in the case.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me, you always wanted to be an astronaut, or maybe Captain Kirk."

"Captain Picard, actually," Jane countered. "Hey, I was born and grew up in the space age. Nothing was more exciting than gathering around the TV and watching a space shuttle launch. Astronauts are heroes, as far as I'm concerned. Boldly going, etcetera, etcetera…"

"Huh," said Cho, surprised. Jane was always so pessimistic about everything remotely bureaucratic. Who would have thought that didn't include NASA? Of course, Cho felt the same way about the space program, so he shared the belief that this kidnapping was especially heinous.

"Let's do our best to get him home then," said Abbot. "I hear he has a mission in two days."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I want five-hundred-thousand dollars sent by wire transfer to this bank account…"

And the electronically modified voice rattled off a long stream of numbers on the speaker phone, which Wylie dutifully wrote down, even though they were also recording the call.

"Wow, you're aiming pretty low, aren't you?" Jane said, and Lisbon gasped beside him.

"Is that the police?" asked the caller menacingly of the trembling Mrs. Nelson. "I said, no police."

"Meh, you knew she'd call the police," said Jane. "He's an astronaut after all."

"I'm sorry," said Mrs. Nelson through her tears. "I was so scared—"

"The money better be in that account by five o'clock tonight, or Nelson's dead."

"We need proof of life," said Jane.

"You'll just have to trust me. Five o'clock." And he ended the call.

"Did you get that?" asked Abbot.

"Yeah. But it was a burner," replied Wylie.

"What if he's already killed James?" Mrs. Nelson said in despair.

"He's not dead," said Jane confidently.

"Jane," warned Lisbon. When would he learn to stop making unfounded suppositions? Though, she had to admit, he was usually right…

"There's something else going on here," he continued. "Why is he asking so little for a man who has millions?"

"It's not about the money," ventured Cho.

"Exactly."

"At any rate, we need to keep this out of the media as long as we can," said Abbot. "That little order comes directly from the White House."

"Yes sir," said Lisbon, Cho, and Wylie in unison. Jane merely shrugged.

They'd been sitting around the large, formal dining room table, Jane next to Lisbon. Upon the table, Wylie had set up his computer and phone tracing equipment. Beneath the table, a silent war raged between Jane's naughty hands and Lisbon's valiant attempts to hide her reactions and focus on the case.

It had started with Jane moving his leg to touch hers. That was rather nice, and she happily allowed that, enjoying their closeness. Unfortunately, this only encouraged him. When his hand dropped to her thigh, her eyes shot him a warning glance. She put her hand on top of his, gently but firmly moving it away. She barely controlled her gasp when it returned with a vengeance, sliding up her inner thigh and stopping just below her crotch. This time, she pinched his hand hard. He retreated, but a slight grin hovered around his lips, and his eyes glittered with banked desire.

Across the table, Cho met Lisbon's eyes. He frowned slightly, as if he knew exactly what was going on beneath the table. Lisbon blushed and looked away, kicking Jane beneath the table for good measure. He covered his laughter with a cough.

Oblivious to all of this, Serena Nelson, the young wife of Major James Nelson, seemed beside herself with worry and fear. Of course, the spouse was always the first suspect, so Jane watched the woman dispassionately a moment, paying close attention to the genuineness of her emotional display.

"Who would want to kidnap your husband, Serena? Anyone hold a grudge against him?"

She lowered the tissue from her eyes. "No one. Everyone loves him. He's a national hero."

Jane nodded toward a large framed picture on the wall of Nelson in his space suit, the NASA insignia and American flag in the background. It seemed to be some sort of public relations advertising.

"He's literally the poster boy for NASA, isn't he?" Jane mused. Nelson was a handsome man, with the blonde, all-American good looks the public loved when it came to these kinds of iconic roles.

Following his gaze, Serena managed to smile through her tears. "Yes. He's the kind of man who seems too good to be true—but really isn't; he's exactly the man he appears to be. Decent, hardworking, brilliant…"

"Hmm," Jane said enigmatically. "Come on, Lisbon, let's head to NASA."

Abbot nodded. "I've already been in touch with the administrator there at Clear Lake. They're expecting you. Fischer will be here to pick us up when her flight gets in. Wylie, you tag along. Cho and I can handle this stuff, maybe talk to the neighbors."

Jane's face fell. So much for being alone with Lisbon.

"Really?" said Wylie, trying but failing to hide his excitement.

"Sure. It's good for you to get some field experience," Abbot replied, and Jane saw the flash of amusement in the agent's eyes. That sly dog.

"Cool," said Wylie.

"Yeah," muttered Jane grumpily, as they headed out of the Nelson home. "Cool."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They spent the next two hours interviewing Nelson's fellow astronauts and other coworkers. Everyone seemed shaken to hear Nelson was missing, especially with the possible delay of the upcoming mission to the International Space Station. A lot of time and money had been invested in this mission, with both the Americans and the Russians depending on the delivery of supplies to the station. Nelson was to copilot the Soyuz craft with the Russian crew in Kazakhstan, and had been scheduled to leave for the Russian Cosmodrome in two days.

Lisbon swore everyone they spoke with to secrecy, emphasizing to them that any leaks could put Nelson in danger. Wylie took copious notes on his tablet, even snapping pictures of each person they interviewed.

On their way back to the parking lot, Wylie began reviewing his notes.

"Anyone seem like a viable suspect to you, Mr. Jane?" he asked.

"Meh," Jane replied dismissively. He actually did have his suspicions of one particular astronaut, but he would wait a bit and see what else might develop. "What do you think, my young apprentice?"

Wylie grinned at the Star Wars reference, then proceeded to give an in-depth analysis of each of the ten people they'd spoken to. Jane and Lisbon were silent, barely listening to the analyst as he prattled on. For her part, Lisbon was still fuming (and shaking) from the kiss Jane had stolen when he'd pulled her into an alcove. Wylie had been occupied examining an empty space suit, but more so by their guide, a cute scientist about Wylie's age who had been assigned to lead them around the NASA compound.

Her lips were still burning, her heart aflutter when she thought of his surreptitious touches during the rest of their investigation, and Jane's sore ankle gave him plenty of excuses to lag behind with Lisbon and take her hand for support.

Now, Lisbon unlocked the SUV and the three of them climbed inside, Wylie continuing his monologue.

"…then there was Major Garret. He's older than Nelson, but has never been in space before—"

"Wylie," interrupted Jane rather rudely. "I'll give you a hundred dollars to leave this vehicle for ten minutes."

"Jane—" said Lisbon in annoyance.

"But Agent Abbot said I was under no circumstances to leave your side," said Wylie.

Just as Jane had suspected.

Jane fished inside his suit coat pocket for his wallet. "Two hundred," came his counter offer.

Wylie reached over the console from the backseat and swiped the bills from Jane's hand.

"I'll give you fifteen minutes," Wylie said magnanimously. He exited the vehicle, heading for an old rocket on display near the main entrance.

"Now," Jane began, reaching for Lisbon's hand. "Where were we?"

"This has got to stop, Jane," she said, "I can barely concentrate on my job."

Jane smiled rakishly. "What a coincidence-me neither."

He leaned over to nuzzle her neck beneath her hair. She smelled amazing, and he wondered if she tasted just as good. The tip of his tongue came out to swipe over her neck and she shuddered, her hands going to his shoulders.

"Hmm," he hummed. Even better than he'd imagined.

"Jane…please," she begged half-heartedly.

He deliberately misunderstood her plea, and covered her mouth instead. She was helpless to resist him, letting him have his way with her lips and tongue, his hands roaming over the curves beneath her blouse with tantalizing confidence. This was Jane in full romantic mode, and now, finally released after years of suppression, the full force of his passion was overwhelming. She kissed him back with just as much ardor, knowing full well this was highly unprofessional, not to mention completely and blissfully out of character.

"Let's move to the back seat," he whispered harshly. "We have…eleven minutes."

She let out an involuntary bark of laughter. "What can we possibly do in eleven minutes?"

She felt his grin against her cheek. "Oh, won't you be pleasantly surprised."

He found her mouth again, distracting her while he reached across her to the door handle.

"No," she said, though she wanted to find out what he meant with every fiber of her being. Summoning all her strength, she pushed him back to the passenger's seat. He sat there in surprise, momentarily disoriented and breathing heavily.

"Lisbon—"

"We need to lay some ground rules."

"Rules aren't exactly what I want to lay at the moment," he said with a suggestive gleam in his eye. He took her hands again, pleased that her pulse skittered violently at her wrists.

She jerked her hands away, childishly folding her arms across her breasts. She took a deep, shaky breath, willing her heart to calm, her chest to stop heaving painfully.

"Nevertheless," she continued determinedly, "I have no plans of losing my job, okay? We are mature adults, not horny—"

"Speak for yourself."

She couldn't help smiling; he was so adorably and flatteringly aroused by her. She couldn't remember ever feeling so desired, not even with her first serious boyfriend back when she was a teenager.

"Okay, then, for myself, for my own sanity and job security, there's to be no touching of any kind while we're on the job."

He shook his head once. "Not gonna happen."

"Jane."

"I'm not saying I'm going to purposefully set out to disobey your rules—" here she raised her eyebrows skeptically—"but the way we're both feeling right now, I think it is highly improbable that you'll be able to keep your hands off me for the duration of this case."

"Oh, really? You're that irresistible, are you?" The man's ego knew no bounds.

"To you? Yes."

"I've been resisting your for thirteen years, Jane. I'm pretty sure I can restrain myself for a couple more days."

"For thirteen years, we've both managed to hold ourselves in check, it's true. But I'm not holding back anymore, Teresa, and I'm sure you don't want to either. Why deny ourselves any longer? Besides, now that the proverbial dam has burst, there will be no holding back this wave of—"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Spare me the corny metaphors, Romeo. If you will simply keep your hands to yourself, I'll be able to do the same, I assure you, the dam be damned."

He looked at her pityingly. "You're only deceiving yourself, Lisbon."

"Maybe, but I'm going to give it a good college try. Can I count on you?"

He regarded her a moment, and the seed of a plan implanted in his brain.

"Fine. I will comport myself with just as much self control as you do—that's as far as I will promise."

She eyed him critically, searching for subterfuge. He stared back at her, his eyes still filled with passion, so beautiful, so tempting. She nearly leaned over to kiss him, shocked at her overpowering desire to do so. She felt like she was drowning in heated green pools, her body swaying toward him almost against her will…a disturbing thought occurred to her, and she blinked.

"Quit that," she snapped.

"Quit what?"

He looked completely guileless, which meant of course he was doing something underhanded.

"Absolutely no hypnotizing."

"Now, Lisbon, that would be cheating."

"You bet it would be. You know how I feel about hypnosis. No more crap like that or this whole thing will be over before it even begins, Jane, so help me God."

"Okay. But can't you give me a little incentive to get me through this?" He gave her his most persuasive puppy dog eyes, which, while on another man would be a complete turn-off, on Jane Lisbon found them heart meltingly endearing. She forced her betraying heart to harden.

"I just let you kiss me and feel me up in the front of an SUV in broad daylight. That should tide you over for awhile."

He grinned. "That might make the waiting worse, actually. But what I mean is, I need a goal to work toward, something to challenge me. If I behave myself—as far as you do, mind—what will be my reward?"

She thought a moment. "When we get back to Austin, I'll let you take me out on a real date, to make up for that catastrophe in Florida."

"That's nice. And then what?"

"Well, what had been your plan for after dinner that night at the Blue Bird, Jane?" she asked, remembering the adjoining suites, the ocean view.

"I was going to take you dancing, tell you I was in love with you, then throw all my considerable charm into seducing you."

Her heart gave a loud thump. "Oh…that was a good plan." She swallowed. "Okay, if you are a very good boy, that will be your reward."

"Deal," he said softly, compellingly. "It'll be your reward as well, Teresa, I promise."

She had little doubt of that.

He held out his hand to shake on the deal, and she almost fell for it. She tucked her hands more firmly beneath her armpits, and he grinned at the near miss.

"Deal," she said instead.

At that moment, both of them jumped to hear the backseat door open upon Wylie's return.

"You need more time?" he asked brightly, putting his hand out for more.

"Yes," said Jane, at the same time Lisbon gave a vehement "No!"

She buckled her seatbelt and started the car, clearly giving both men her answer.

"Chicken," he murmured, so only she could hear.

She pointedly ignored him, and Jane chuckled confidently to himself.

No way in hell would he have to wait until Austin to get her into bed. She'd be practically begging for it long before they left Houston—it was an astronomical certainty.

A/N: So, what do you think so far? Please leave a review, and be sure to sign in if you want a reply to any questions, etc. Thanks!