Rain Check

Rifiuto: Non Miriena

Summary: Even though it had been Carter fleeing the shower this morning, Zane had still- technically- promised her a shower. And now that he was back in his own body, he was going to have to make sure Jo took him up on that offer.

A/N: Warning: Mild sexual situations mentioned, not for work or to be read around kids. I enjoyed writing it, even if my muse decided to go outside my pre-set perimeters. Just a forewarning, this is an M, and I swear, I tried my hardest to keep it within the perimeters I'd set for myself. Although I think I'm going to have to have a serious talk with my muse about taking control of my writing. You have been thoroughly and completely warned.

A/N: I rewatched Jack of All Trades, and I couldn't help but wish that there was more shirtless Zane in the episode (because who can't get enough of the gorgeousness that is Zane/Niall?). I truly enjoyed writing this (was I the only one drooling at the sight of Zane in the shower before Jo showed up? or in the bedroom?) and figured we could use a little shirtless Zane in the shower love. So my brain came up with this. Don't expect much out of it, sadly, it's just smut. Pure, somewhat fluffy Z/J shower love.

This is actually the first real... smut piece I've written for Jo and Zane, and if it's too much, I can remove it. I'm not sure exactly how much is too much (I've read both Roguie's Unapproved Discipline and QuasiOuster's Point Taken- both are wonderful J/Z works, by the way, I highly recommend reading both of them because the sexy Jo/Zane-ness is just awesome), and I didn't want to go completely crazy with this, so I kept it within (what I hope are) fairly descent perimeters, and me not being sure of the acceptable Jo/Zane smut boundaries, I tried to keep it tame, but I fear my muse may have taken the whole story into her own hands and let it run wild.

So, against my better judgement (and my muse's SZO (Shirtless Zane Obsession)- I watch one episode of Melrose Place with Niall shirtless and gorgeous in it, and my muse suddenly decides to go bugnuts and turns this out) I've written it down and posted it.

The apartment was silent. Absolutely, and completely, silent. This wasn't the contented silence of sleep, nor the comforting silence of seduction waiting to take place. No, this was the silence that came right before the storm hit. Right away, he knew that this particular silence meant trouble. If not immediate fatalities, then ultimate and complete destruction. The silence of a woman not only hurt and betrayed by her best friend, but humiliated in the process of the whole chaotic day. Yes, this silence had vengeance to back it up.

Which only meant one thing, Zane knew, as he quietly shut the door and tossed his jacket on the back of his sofa. That Jo would either never forgive him, or finally succeed in her torture and killing of Carter, as she'd threatened earlier in the afternoon. Personally, if Zane had his druthers, he wouldn't mind seeing both Carter and Allison dead- the former for what he'd put Zane through in the Matrix, and the current for what she'd done to Jo- hell, he'd even help dispose of the bodies.

As soon as Jo had told him about how Carter had acted, well, honestly, Zane hadn't been surprised. In fact, he'd had a small inkling that Allison was the cause behind all the problems they'd been having this afternoon- the good doctor hadn't bothered to hide the hate, anger and jealousy that had flitted across her face whenever Jo was within her sights, or whenever the Head of Security was mentioned. The look of hate that had crossed Allison's face when Jo had given her toast at Cafe Diem had made it blatantly clear- to everyone- that Jo was to stay as far away from Carter as possible, if not move out of both state and country.

When he entered the bedroom, he found her sitting cross-legged, in only one of his button downs. She quickly reached up, fingers meeting flesh as she tried to hide the fact that she'd been crying. Obviously, Allison's betrayal hurt her deeper than Jo would ever let on. As he removed his t-shirt and tossed it in the hamper, he could feel her eyes on him, watching intently, even as his hands moved to work on his jeans. Her dark eyes drank him in, following every hard plane and line, every sculpted curve and hard muscle as he moved.

Once he tossed his jeans in the hamper, he turned and made his way to the bathroom, stopping to turn back to her. Her chocolate eyes smouldered with wanton desire, sultry and blazing with passion as they met his. A moment passed, before he nodded towards the bathroom, silently asking her to join him. When she didn't move from her position on the bed, he turned and headed down the hall, leaving her to her own devices. Once the shower door shut behind him, he sighed, telling himself that if she didn't join him, then he'd make sure she understood how much she meant to him later on in bed.

All too soon, he heard the shower door open and click shut, and grinned softly in the mirror. Time to entertain some company.

He met her eyes in the mirror first, before turning towards her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Her long black hair had been pulled back in a haphazard bun, and slowly, she reached up, trailing her fingers over his abs and up his chest to cradle his neck. She pressed her soft curves into his hard planes, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her, leaning down to capture her lips. When he pulled away, he gently trailed kisses over her cheek to her temple, breathing in her familiar scent of gunpowder, sweat and vanilla lotion. "So you decided I needed a little company, huh?" He whispered, nibbling gently on her earlobe.

She sighed into his embrace, eyes rolling back. When he let go of her ear and pressed a soft kiss to the space below, she replied, "You offered a shower, I'm taking it."

He pulled away, searching her dark eyes. She gave him a small smile, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. He let his eyes roam over her body, tugging until they stood beneath the spray. Rivulets of water raced down her olive flesh, and slowly, he pressed his lips to her skin, sucking at the pulse point on the side of her neck before moving down to kiss away the water on her shoulder and clavicle. When he glanced up next, it was to the mottled bruise forming where his mouth had last been. A smile tugged at his lips, and he resumed his tasting of her skin, trailing one hand over her backside and pulling her closer.

"God, Zane, keep going." Her soft groan as he moved his mouth down to kiss at the soft swells of her breasts, flooded his brain, and he tightened his grip on her waist as he continued his work. "Oh, Zane." She tangled a hand in his hair, twirling his dark locks around her fingers and tugging- a silent order for him to keep going.

By now, both were thoroughly drenched, and he quickly reached up, yanking the tie from her hair. The wet black locks cascaded down her back, sticking to her skin and brushing against his cheek as he moved his mouth up to bite at her shoulder. The tie dropped from his hand, and he reached up, grabbing a fistful of the raven curls and tugging, pulling her mouth back to his for a scorching kiss.

She pressed her body against his, reaching one hand down to stroke at his waist and hips. Slowly, he released her mouth, dragging his teeth along her lower lip before finally letting go. One glance at her swollen lips and he couldn't hide the grin that flashed across his face, before it quickly vanished; suddenly, replaced with the image of Jo's mouth on Carter's in the infirmary, even after they switched back. "Zane, what's a'matter?"

He grinned, but knew that his sudden shift in mood showed in his eyes. "I just... I can't get over-"

She groaned, pulling away from him, the moment suddenly tainted. "Zane, can't you just let it go? Please? Stop." She reached out, taking his hands in hers.

"But, Jo, the... algorithms-"

"I don't care about algorithms, Zane! I told you that! Weren't you listening to me? At all?" She played with his hands briefly, before laying her own on his abs. "Zane, I care about you- only you. When I got naked this morning, it was with you, not Carter, not Fargo, nor anyone else! You."

He sighed, taking her hands. "Jo-" But she reached up, pressing a finger against his lips.

"Don't you understand? Nothing happened between Carter and me, nothing is going to happen, nothing will ever happen- Matrix Eureka or no. The first thing that matrix got wrong, was that after four years, I'd thought you were dead, and moved on to Carter. That would never happen, because even if four years- hell, even if forty or four hundred years passed- I would never stop looking until I found you. Never." He nodded, wrapping his arms tight around her, resting his chin atop her head. "You have nothing to be worried about, Zane. In any universe- in every universe- I would always choose you. I love you, how could I not?"

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you, too, Jojo."

Funny, how a year ago, those words would never have crossed his lips. Especially in Jo's direction. But now, he found he couldn't stop saying them. Nor could he stop the fluttering in his chest every time he laid eyes on her, or was around her. Amazing, how two years of being around this Jo could make him forget the bitter hate he'd held for the other Jo. No, technically, they were same person; the only difference was the lives they'd lived in Eureka up until the timeline shift. He found that he was becoming more and more like the Zane Jo remembered from her timeline.

"Growing up."

She pulled away, looking up at him. "What?" Confusion filled her eyes, and she bit her lip.

"I said, I'm growing up." She raised an eyebrow.

"As opposed to... what? Growing down?" She cracked, a smirk tugging at her lips. He chuckled.

"No, I meant, I'm growing up. Becoming... more mature-"

"I didn't know that was possible with you."

He rolled his eyes, and smacked her lightly on the ass in mock scolding. "Funny." But the sparkle of mirth in his eyes betrayed his tease. "But seriously, I'm growing up because of you."

"Really?" She wrapped her arms around his waist, sliding her hips against his. He inhaled sharply, catching sight of the delight on her face. "So I've... what? Made an honest man of you?" She asked, leaning up to capture his lips in a deep, searching kiss. His own words rang loud and clear in his head, and as he drank her in, he realized that she was right.

"Not quite, but you're getting there." He replied, breaking the kiss to return to his work on her body. She laughed softly, playing with his hair as he moved to kiss his way down her stomach. As his lips moved over the soft flesh of her hips, and he gently kissed the inside of each thigh, she reached back, blindly finding the shower wall and sagging against it. Jo had to admit, that she loved the foreplay almost as much as the sex- especially since Zane knew exactly how to turn her legs to jelly. At this point, she didn't even notice the water hitting them like a summer rain; she only focused on Zane, his mouth, and the intense pleasure he was putting her through.

He grinned against her wet skin as a barely contained groan escaped her throat. As he continued his array of kisses, he suddenly felt her body begin to contract, and Zane pulled away, watching in silence as his girlfriend slowly slid down the wall, bracing her hands against the slick tile as she balanced on the balls of her feet. A moment passed, before her head lolled towards him. He didn't bother hiding the grin that tugged at his lips as he realized her eyes were almost- if not completely- unfocused and dialated.

"Keep going, babe. I was so close-" He shook his head, enjoying the affect he had on her.

"Oh no, no, no. I don't care how close you came; we go together, remember? Either together or end it right here." He watched her shake her head almost drunkenly as he repeated what he'd told her at Cafe Diem the night after the Fireball incident over a week ago. His eyes misted over as he remembered how he'd nearly lost her; while he hated to admit it, if Carter hadn't been with her when SARAH burned, he would never be able to look at Allison again without wanting to kill her. He was just thankful Jo had survived with only minor smoke inhalation and a brusied ankle. And then of course, putting his ultimatium on the table at Cafe Diem that night, had only cemented the very strong bond the two possessed from the beginning.

Gently, he reached up, tracing her features before capturing her lips. He poured everything into his kiss, pulling her close and pressing her small body to his. Her hands moved up from their place on the wall, to cradle his head, and suddenly, she latched onto him; knees finally giving out. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her onto the shower floor, never breaking the kiss. He explored every nook and cranny of her mouth, tasting the very familiar crevices, drinking deeply from her as he slid his tongue along the back of her lower lip, savoring her taste when he finally pulled away. Pressing a soft kiss to her lips, he grasped her hips, helping her stand. "Can you stand? Good, because I wasn't even close to done with you yet." She nodded, her dialated eyes sparking at the playfulness in his tone.

Minutes passed, before he was able to press another kiss to the inside of her thigh. With a firm nip to her skin, he ran his hands over her hips, ignoring the bite of her short nails digging into his shoulders. Her nails dug deeper into his shoulders, and his heart skipped a beat as she threw her head back, a moan escaping her throat. He felt the pressure ease up on one shoulder as she reached up, pressing her palm against the tile behind her. "Oh my God, Zane!"

She groaned, and he felt her entire body shudder in pleasant waves. The salty taste of her skin mixed with the water traveling down her thighs, and he nuzzled her inner thigh with his nose. She tilted her head back, and when he looked up, it was to the graceful slope of her exposed neck, mottled and red with bites leading from behind her ears to her shoulders.

He stood, pulling her close. One look in her dark, wide eyes, and he leaned down, engulfing her mouth in his, pressing her hard against the wall in the process. She wrapped one arm around his neck, nails once again digging into his skin, as her other hand moved down between them. She gently- almost lovingly- began to stroke and caress him, and he struggled to keep from moaning in pleasure; instead, he pushed his tongue to the back of her throat, enjoying the feel as her tongue rubbed against his.

"I'm glad you decided to join me." He whispered, pressing a kiss to her ear as he slid his hands up her arms, lacing their fingers and holding her against the wall. He forced her arms over her head, and she tilted her head back, allowing him to suckle on the sweet pulse on the other side of her neck. She pressed her hips into his, only to be rewarded with him pushing her back against the wall and moving his lips down her throat to the hollow between her breasts. He tightened his grip on her hands, enjoying the pleasured groans that filled his head as he ran his tongue over the slick nub of her nipple. The water rained hard around them, racing down her chest, slipping past his lips as he continued to suckle and pull gently at the pebbled skin. A gasp escaped her throat, lusty and breathless as he slid his teeth gently over the sensitive tip, before moving to the other one. She dug her nails into the backs of his hands, arching her back as his gentle touch sent spasms of pleasure through every cell in her body.

As he brought his lips back to hers in the gentlest of gentle kisses, she finally found the strength to shake the desire he'd caused, and pushed against him, effectively flipping them over so that she had him pressed against the wet, cold wall. The sudden shift in positions momentarily knocked the breath out of him and he shook his head lightly, scattering the stars flashing before his eyes. When he met her gaze again, it was to find Jo grinning at him wickedly as she ground her hips into his. With expert skill, he slipped out of her grasp, grabbing her around the waist and flipping them over until he was once again in command, as his mouth melded to hers.

"Zane, I need you." He held her against the wall, brushing against her sensitive nerves before slowly slipping into her. Their choreographed dance was leisurely at first, filled with gentle caresses and soft kisses, before he drove deeper into her. Zane forced his eyes open, and he watched the wave of emotions crash over her features as lust-filled moans escaped her delicious lips.

"And I want you." He replied, voice low and gruff as he continued. She wrapped a leg around his waist, driving him further into her warm body, and as they moved faster, he released her hands, wrapping his arms around her waist until her body was flush against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she dug her nails into his back, small crescents appearing as she drove her nails into the soft flesh at the base of his neck. She clung desperately to him, struggling to contain the moan of pleasure that was making its way up her vocal chords. He buried his face in her neck, nuzzling against her ear; the familiar, beautiful raven strands he loved so hung down her back, clinging to her soft skin and attaching themselves to his cheeks and chin.

He held her close, pressing her against the tiled wall as water rained around them, racing down their skin, mixing with the sweat that coated their bodies. Even now, in the midst of their play and pleasuring, Zane still cradled her gently against him, refusing to release the beautiful goddess who'd chosen him to be hers in body and soul. For her part, Jo had buried her face in his neck, breathing in his scent, pressing soft kisses to his neck, as she enjoyed the feel of the man she loved inside her. Eventually, they locked eyes, savoring the feel of being together again, of becoming one in body and soul, and gently, Zane pressed a soft kiss to her lips; a silent promise that he would always be with her. He nudged his nose against hers in a loving gesture, before they resumed their familiar dance.

As their eyes locked, and they moved closer and closer to the edge, he whispered softly to her, mouthing the three words he'd longed to tell her in the Matrix. She gave him a soft smile, mouthing them back to him with a tender kiss to his lips. He watched her face as her climax pushed her over the edge, enjoying the overwhelming crash of emotions that raced through her dark eyes and across her face. At this moment, he realized that this was perhaps the most beautiful gift she could give him- her heart shone and filled her dark eyes, baring every scrap of her soul for him to see, some pieces broken, others shattered, all put back together with the protective coating of caution around each piece- and he knew, that he was giving her his own heart, that his own soul- just as broken as hers- was reflected in his blue gaze, for her and only her.

When they returned to earth, he reached up to cradle her face tenderly in his hands. Their breath mingled, their hearts beat together as one, and she ran her hands down his arms, meeting his eyes as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. He rested his forehead to hers, breathing deeply, relishing the sound of her heavy breathing in his ear as he held her close. The familiar hum and tingle that flowed through his body matched hers, and he pressed a kiss to her lips.

He chuckled silently, nuzzling his nose into her wet locks as his heart slowed to normal and she wrapped her arms around him.

"You'll have to let me entertain you more often, Jojo." He whispered, sidling up behind her and wrapping his arms around her as she stood in front of the mirror, drying her hair with a towel. She laughed softly, locking eyes with him before she tossed the towel on the counter and turned in his arms.

"Why Zane Donovan, are you asking me to move in with you?" She crossed her arms over her small breasts, eyebrows raised, mock surprise on her face. He thought a moment, glancing ceiling-ward as her words ran through his head, before he met her gaze again and shrugged.

"Would you move in if I asked? Would you even consider it?" He didn't bother trying to hide the uncertainty in his voice, and as he reached around her, locking his arms around her waist, he found himself praying silently that she would accept. He heard her breath catch as she looked up at him, before feeling one small hand rest against his chest. He felt her stiffen in his embrace, and as he watched her, he knew that she was thinking back to before the timeline shift- when another Zane had asked her a similiar question, albeit one with a much more permanent solution. She'd hesitated then too, stumbling over her words and struggling to think as that Zane had knelt before her, waiting for her reply.

Not that it wasn't guaranteed that they'd get to that solution someday too, but he had to remind himself that each small step would eventually join together and become the dance they wanted for their lives.

"Zane-"

"You practically live here anyway. Half of your stuff is here, and it'd be a pain in the ass to trek it all back to the bunker, let alone your house when Zimmer finally finishes it." He said, tone casual, though his blue eyes betrayed the fear and anxiety her hesitation was causing. "Besides, since we're working together and sleeping together-" He leaned down, his lips brushing the delicate shell of her ear as he spoke, "and since things are already complicated between us, I really fail to see how you moving in could complicate things further."

He punctuated his statement with a kiss to the space behind her ear and a nip to her lobe before pulling away. When he looked up at her again, it was to a small smile tugging at her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers playing with the still damp hair at the nape of his neck. She seemed to think it over momentarily, before capturing his lips in a steamy kiss, saying,

"I thought you'd never ask to exchange keys."

*Done