"Does anyone know where Luna is?" Jack asked to what might as well have been air.

"Guys?" he repeated.

Merritt smirked and moved a chess piece to take out one of Daniel's: a now very concentrated and frowning Daniel. While Daniel was searching for his next move, Merritt finally replied, "I think she went upstairs."

He'd already checked there. Checking again wouldn't hurt. The narrow cement staircase that took Jack upstairs was getting darker, as the only the light source was the glassless windows peeking out to the hills of Italian countryside. He had to admit, this was one of the hide outs he had the least complaints about.

He checked the rooms for her again with no luck. Then he heard it: a faint sound, but certainly not an unrecognizable one. Surely not? He waited again for the sound and went toward it. After some trial and error, it brought him to a mirror with a heavy wooden frame. He stood, silent, ear turned toward the glass and waited again for the sound. He observed that the tile floor in front of the mirror was scratched in just the right way… He pushed on the frame of the mirror, and slowly with a creak it swung in revealing a dimly lit stone staircase. He could hear the sound more clearly now.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs and turned a sharp corner, he stood frozen at what he saw. There was Lula, knees drawn up to her chest, head hung. Jack stood frozen in both mind and body. What has her like this?

When she saw him, she started, red eyes wide and smudged with black.

"I'm…," he cleared his throat, "I was just looking for you."

Silence. She just took him in for another moment and swallowed hard. "Thanks, I'll be back up in a minute," she said in a cracked voice.

He contemplated going away, but his feet remained frozen.

"I can climb the stairs myself, you know," she said. He would have almost believed she meant it, if it weren't for the way her words lost conviction at the end of her statement. He stepped until he was right in front of her and crouched down. "I'm not going anywhere."

At that, she hung her head again and let the tears take her again, and it wrung Jack's heart in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Just when he thought he had it figured out on all the different ways she could pull the rug out from underneath him, this happens.

He moved to her side and gingerly placed a warm hand on her shoulder. She tensed at first, but then leant into it. His arm moved around her and drew her closer as her back shook. She leant in until her head rested against his chest where she could hear his heart beating. It lulled her until all that remained of her sobs was an occasional gasp for air that always seems to happen after one has an ugly cry. Jack ran his free hand down her back, over and over. He waited until she calmed to the point of relative silence before he asked softly, "May I ask what's the culprit?"

She inhaled. "Kinda a long story."

"Like I said, I'm not going anywhere," he replied.

She gave a half smile. "Well, remember… remember how I made reference to my mom holding the knife to my father and all?"

He nodded.

"Just… gets to me sometimes. Sometimes I'm fine to throw it out as a joke, and I can laugh. Other times, like these, it just hits me, and I find it a little harder."

"What happened?"

She stared straight at the wall as she explained, "Well he deserved it, to say the least. She just snapped after all that time of just taking it from him. He got drunk, came home and demanded things of her she wasn't willing to do. Something about the smell of whiskey and being smacked around made her 'not in the mood,' I guess. So the knife was the little extra motivation he gave her. She always told me to go to my room when she heard his truck pull up so I didn't get my share of the love. It was terrifying. Not knowing what's happening to your mom or how long she'll have to endure it. This one time, I couldn't stand it any longer, and I came out. I went across the kitchen with all the broken glass, and then I saw her through the crack of the door to their room. She was on all fours, my father behind her, holding knife to her throat, and… you get the picture. It's an interesting way to learn about the birds and the bees. It wasn't until I was in high school that I figured out it actually supposed to be a good thing for both parties. Only to figure out with experience that's usually not the case anyway, but it's not as bad as having a knife to you. Yeah."

She finally looked up at him, and before she could confirm whether or not she saw a slight wetness in his eyes, he leaned down and kissed her. Open mouthed, deep, and desperate. Desperate for her to know she's safe now. He hoped she didn't think the wrong thing of it, but it was really the best way he could think of right now to show her what he didn't have the words for. If the way she responded was any sign, he'd done the right thing.

She ran her tongue over his lip and his tongue met hers in another instant. He moved his hand to her cheek and under her chin. His lips moved to just barely touch her ear, his hot breath making her shiver. She let out a soft moan, and he froze.

He searched her eyes for the answer to the question the moan presented, and she answered it by moving to straddle him.

"Help me forget. Just for a moment," she said, a slight plea in her eyes. He looked at her, and he was sure he had never seen anything so beautiful. It can't be like this. Not this time.

"No. No. Let me show you what it can really be like, okay? Not just something to patch up something that really deserves a remodel." Did he hear himself right? Who was he kidding: this wasn't what he was used to at all, what he was good at. The fun, playful romps against the wall were. But she wasn't like the rest of them, no. This was for her. She had to have something better.

She nodded her head, softly. He moved his mouth back to that ear that had wrung that delicious sound from her and licked softly. She whimpered, and the sound went straight to his groin. He kissed down her neck, torturously slowly, until he reached where her cleavage was spilling out of her t-shirt ever so slightly. After each one had a small kiss, he slid his hands down and then up again with her shirt hem in hand. Once it was over her head, his fingers made quick work of undoing her bra strap. Lula shrugged her shoulders so that the rest of the lacy garment fell to the stone floor below.

Jack looked on in one moment of admiration before letting his hands go. He cupped one breast and ran his finger over the nipple before lightly pinching it. Then came his mouth, taking the nipple and sucking gently, running his tongue over it.

"Jack," she half moaned, half hissed. He lingered a moment before repeating on the other breast. Lula, now breathing heavily, tugged on his shirt, motioning for him to rid himself of it. He smiled, and tugged it up and off. "Lord", was all she could think. Long before she was done staring, Jack held her waist and guided her to lie back. He shifted over her, catching her lips again. He kissed his way down her neck, to her stomach, before coming to the hem of her jeans. He looked up at her with a gaze that shot lightning through her, and undid the button and zipper before ridding her of the offensive garment completely.

He kissed her stomach again, and then without warning kissed her through the sheer fabric of her panties. She bucked her hips a little in shock. His hands grasped her thighs and moved them apart. Then her panties followed her jeans. Shifting his shoulders to fit between her thighs, he kissed the inside of one of her thighs. As if the sight alone of him between her legs wasn't enough, he gave a long lick up her slit and her hips instantly rolled and she cried out. Then his tongue was everywhere. Through her folds. Teasing her clit. Then inside her. And then came those fingers. Oh, god how good the roughness the pads of his fingers felt exploring her folds.

The instant he pushed his finger in it was coated. Did she have any idea how insane she was making him? Her hips would not stay still to the point where his free hand stilled her slightly. Seeing her like that: lips swollen, hair messy, head thrown back…

He let his lips stop their work for a moment to whisper loud enough for her to hear, "You're absolutely gorgeous, Lula."

She heard him through a haze of feeling, and when she had finally registered what he said, she decided he was wearing too much. She shifted over to him, and kissed him again. His lips were really heaven. Her hands started working at his belt, and soon his jeans joined hers. She looked eager and slightly uncertain, so he slowly guided her hand to rest over the bulge in his boxers. She tugged those down too. Oh. A pool of heat rushed to her middle at the sight of him.

"You're absolutely gorgeous, Jack," she said with a smirk. He laughed.

Then wrapped his arms around her again, kissing her with fervor. Laying her back, he moved back over her. Her now taught nipples scraped against his chest, and Jack closed some of the distance to feel it again, which also brought his member into contact with her. They both hissed.

"Please, Jack."

He then gingerly guided himself to her entrance, teasing a moment and effectively coating the tip in her excitement before slowly thrusting forward. He saw white light. Moans erupted from both of them. The pleasant pain of being stretched to the brink washed over Lula as she tried hard to keep her eyes open.

He began to start a rhythm hips meeting hers tenderly, but with a force that drove him deeper every thrust. The sound of skin meeting skin and soft moans echoed off the stone walls of the room. He settled his hands on her hips, bringing her closer to him as he rolled his hips forward.

OH. The new angle hit something right. He brought her leg up over his shoulder and repeated the motion. She clenched almost painfully around him every hip roll, and he knew he had to change it up soon for risk of things being over too soon.

In one swift motion, he pulled her up from under him and back to straddling him. He held her waist as she guided herself back onto him. He closed his eyes and let his head roll back. "Lula."

She continued their rhythm on him, his hands guiding her. Her breasts moving freely in front of him, he took one into his mouth again. Did she just whimper? She started rolling her hips against him. When he could feel her starting to clench around him again, he pulled her flush against chest and kissed her deeply, tongue roaming hungrily, hand coming up to caress her cheek again. Her smell invaded him, and it was something he never wanted to live without again. How quickly she had changed everything for him.

"I love you," he let out before he could judge any better.

Lula lost control then, seeing stars, and clenching tightly down on Jack, causing him to throw his head back in a groan as he followed her over the edge.

They both stayed there for a moment breathing heavily, before Lula whispered, "I love you too, Jack."

His eyes snapped up, and he saw her smile. He kissed her again. And held her to him closely.

"I promise I'll do everything in my power to never let you feel like this is endangering. You're safe with me, okay? I've got you. You'll never know any of that again."

Tears ran down her cheeks and all she could say was a soft, "Thank you."

He laid her down, and after grabbing a wool tapestry from one of the shelves in the stone, he gathered her up into his arms again, and they both fell into a deep sleep.

"Check mate," Daniel said as he smirked slightly.

Merritt frowned as he looked at the position of the pieces.

"You got lucky."

After a moment of positioning the game back to its original setting, Merritt looked around.

"Do you know where Jack and Luna went?"