This is a one shot. That is all I am writing it to be I just wanted everyone to know that now. I own nothing.

Chapter 1

Lila's POV…

Not a word was said between us after his meeting with the president. Not until we had found a room for the night and were behind closed doors did the silence that surrounded us break.

"You alright?" whispered Jonah as we looked at each other. All I could do was nod because I honestly didn't know what to say to him. So much had happened and when I could look at him no more I left my umbrella against the door my coat slipping from my shoulders.

"Say somethin'" whispered Jonah still standing by the door as I approached the dusty mirror looking at my frayed self. I still didn't know what to say, I didn't know where we were supposed to go from here, and as my silence pressed on I suddenly felt him. He was right behind me, I could feel his presence, his breath brushing my shoulder, the need to shudder was hard to suppress. The silence was ungodly. It lasted nearly forever as I tried to find something to say; some way to tell him, to ask him what we were supposed to do now, but nothing would come. And then an instant before I could think another thought I registered his hands on me. His strong hands found my waist gripping it hard as if to check that I was really there and then he was pulling me back against his chest. He held me there and I felt his lips at the back of my neck. Suddenly everything seemed to fall away and it was just us. Jonah and me.

"What do we do now? Everything seems so different. Nothing's the same, so what happens now, Jonah. You just gonna leave me now and never look back," I said my voice cracking just slightly at the thought that I might not seem him again after this moment. As I spoke I felt him hold me tighter, I wondered if it was because I spoke the truth, but as his lips ran over my neck then my shoulders I couldn't think. That was one of the things I hated about him, he left me unable to think when he did that. Everything went through my mind again though, we had almost died, we had nearly lost each other, and now we were here. Here, together, alive. Slowly I let him turn me so we were facing each other and looking into his eyes I wanted an answer. As his arms encircled me I waited for that answer, but it never came. Instead he just stared at me and slowly he kissed me. My hands cradled his face before I could stop them and I kissed him back part of me wondering if this would be out last kiss.

"He could have killed you. I could have lost you. That's never happening again," whispered Jonah and looking at him I shook my head. I thought he was answering my question. Looking into his eyes, I saw his sadness and something else I couldn't quite place. But my heart was clouded by the belief that he was just gonna leave me and that I was never gonna see him again.

"You are gonna leave me again," I whispered staring at him still before beginning to pull away, but he pulled me back just as quickly.

"Lila, I have to, I can't let anything happen to you. I can't lose you, not like I lost my family, but it's not like you're thinkin. I'll come back; I'll come back to you. I couldn't just walk away," whispered Jonah holding my face in his hands now so I had no choice, but to look at him. I let everything he said fill my mind and slowly I came to terms with it. I didn't want him to go, but knowing he would always come back gave me solace. He was keeping me safe.

"Alright, as long as you come back," I breathed feeling as he stroked my cheek looking into my eyes and as he did so I knew he saw my sadness. He moved to kiss me then, but placing my hand on his chest I stopped him.

"Promise me," I growled letting him know just how serious I was. He still held my face in his hands and closing the distance between us still he looked at me. I once again saw that implacable emotion in his eyes.

" Lila, I'll come back, I promise," whispered Jonah after he said that a second passed between us before I smiled my hands continuing up his chest to wrap around him as I finally let him kiss me. It was an attacking kiss, the kind that takes weak women's breathe away, and as it continued I felt my feet leave the ground. He picked me up his hands in my hair as he held me tighter then I could ever remember him doing before.

"Jonah," I gasped my lips just barely leaving his knocking his hat to the floor as he moved us across the small room. My fingers ran through his hair making it a mess as he stopped suddenly letting me hover over the bed.

He continued to kiss me for the longest time still letting me hover. But when he finally stopped he looked down at me, laying me on the bed. He didn't join me right away instead he just stared at me as if deciding on something important. It was in that moment that I heard him say it for the first time.

"I love you," said Jonah that look from before in his eyes. It was then that I knew, I knew what that look was. It was love, he really truly loved me. I never thought I would hear him say that. Slowly he sat next to me on the bed and taking his face in my hands again I smiled gently at him. And then I kissed him hard with a passion that said those three words right back. Pulling him down on the bed with me I wrapped my arms around him holding him so tight. In the back of my mind I couldn't help thinking that it felt good knowing he finally loved me back. He kissed me for the longest time, he had total control, and as I laid there with him I let him have it. He was the only man that would.

"I love you too," I whispered as his lips finally left mine. I felt him smile in response as he moved over my throat his hands moving at their own speed to the front of my dress. With skilled fingers he opened it and let my breasts spill out. My dress was soon gone altogether and as he kissed me once more I felt him take one breast in his hand. They fit just right in his hands; it was like it was a match meant to be. As we kissed I ran my hands over his shoulders removing his coat letting it drop to the floor doing the same to his shirt just as quickly. When I moved my hands to his pants preparing to do away with them too that was when the kiss ended and he took hold of both of my hands. Jonah kissed them then my lips one more time before he stood up leaving me lying on the bed.

His naked body soon fell atop mine again and as his hands ran over me, I kissed him. That kiss said so much. It said that I loved him and most of all that I would miss him. His kiss said the same thing right back. He didn't wait a second to be inside me because with one move he filled me. As he made love to me, truly made love to me for the first time, I kissed him in a way I never had before. I loved him so much I wanted him to feel it in more than my words. I wanted him to see it in my eyes and feel it in every kiss.

"You are so pretty, Lila," breathed Jonah into my skin as his hands continued over me. He made me feel that way in that moment, he made me feel like nothing less than an angel. The way he squeezed my breasts loving them, showing me that he loved me the only way he knew how.

"Jonah," I gasped breaking the kiss as I flung my head back in pleasure my breathing becoming a steady pant. No one could ever make me feel the way he did. Like my heart was about to burst. He held me in his arms in the most loving way, in a way he never had before. With my legs curled around his waist and my fingers in his hair he made love to me for what was truly the first time. It was like no other encounter we had ever had before. He stared down into my lust blown eyes in-between heated kisses, his hands firmly held my hips, and he thrust up into me at a pace that overwhelmed us both. It was a moment I would never forget.

"I love you," breathed Jonah against my skin our bodies beginning to stick together as his lips devoured my throat. For the first time he marked me as his, he scarred me with his love. Jonah Hex made me once and for all truly his.

"I love you too," I exclaimed nearly on a scream bringing his lips back to mine as he hit that spot deep inside me. He kissed me with such hunger I could feel myself nearing the edge and I knew he was almost there too.

As we continued our love making my hands slid down his back marking the skin with my nails breaking it and drawing blood making him break the kiss to groan, but not completely in pain.

"Lila," groaned Jonah thrusting into me harder as our eyes locked as we waited with baited breath for the end. Seconds after my name left his lips he came inside me slowing his movements.

"I love you," I breathed as he triggered my own release. It was whispered against his ear as I came clinging to him my eyes closing in pleasure. I was glad I said it for as I laid there with him I meant every word. I loved him. I would always love him. Until my dying day. We clung to each other neither of us willing to let go of the other just yet. For once that moment ended he would have to leave me again. Something neither of us wanted even if it was for the best of reasons.

At the end of it all, we looked at each other both of us breathing heavy. We looked at each other for a long time without looking away. It was like we were memorizing each other.

"Lila," whispered Jonah as my hands found his face a smile on my face as I kissed him. It was simple, but it was a kiss of love.

"I love you, Jonah," I exclaimed kissing him again except this time it was far from simple. It was passionate and filled with the very love I spoke of. It was the type of kiss a woman only gave to the man she loved with all her heart. As I did I felt him caress my cheek and breaking away I suddenly felt them. The tears I had been holding back.

"You better come back," I exclaimed my voice cracking as my tears gathered in my eyes despite my attempts at holding them inside. When he saw them he kissed me sweetly. He kissed me so sweetly his lips continuing to my face covering it in kisses in a way he never had before. Slowly then he pulled out of me and laid there with me in his arms. He didn't say anything instead he just held me as he always did before leaving me.

"I'll always come back to you, I promise, Lila," said Jonah finally sitting up and pulling me so that I sat against his chest.

"What if you can't, what if something happens to you," I whispered my voice cracking at the very thought. He didn't say anything to try to reassure me. I think it was because he knew I spoke the truth. He wasn't unkillable; he had been shot many times. He couldn't guarantee that something wouldn't happen. So instead we sat there in silence. It was a silence that only he could break.

"Look at me," breathed Jonah and instinctively I did as he kissed the back of my neck again. He had that look in his eyes again, that look that said he loved me. He looked deep into my eyes silently telling me that and then he kissed me. He captured my lips kissing me so hard and with all the love he held in his heart.

"I love you, Lila. No matter what happens to me, I love you. Know that and know that my heart is always right here with you. Whether I'm living, or in a pine box somewhere," whispered Jonah. It was his attempt to sooth my fear and while it was sweet as hell it made my heart ache. I didn't want him in a pine box, I wanted him with me, but he couldn't be. I would have to learn to live with that. But still I loved him and looking at him I only nodded my acceptance as I turned in his arms. Straddling him, I held his face in my hands, and kissing him I held him in my arms this time. Jonah ended the kiss when he felt the tears slide down my face, though for a much different reason, and as he wiped them away I smiled at him.

"I never thought I would ever hear you say you love me," I cried answering the question in his eyes.

"I never thought I'd say it to you. I had planned to keep it a secret, but turned out it was a secret I couldn't keep," smiled Jonah taking one of the hands from his face to kiss it moving it over his heart. I could feel it beating beneath his skin and locking eyes with him I smiled too. For the first time, I knew, I really knew that his heart was really truly mine. Just as my heart was really truly his.

"I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you. I love you. Lila, all I got is yours," exclaimed Jonah drawing me in close. I thought right away that he was going to kiss me, but he didn't. Not right away, instead he just looked at me before finally still holding my hand to his heart he kissed me with a tenderness no one else would think him capable of. But I knew he was capable of that. That and so much more.

That night he made love to me until the sun rose then that morning he left and as I kissed him goodbye I wasn't afraid anymore. I knew he loved me. I knew he'd come back to me as long as he was able. And in the mean time I knew I had his heart still here with me. Jonah Hex, despite what people may say was still a man, a man who couldn't live without his heart. So he would always return to me, its keeper.