Title: Their Way
Author: Roguie/ SunSpecOps/ Danae Bowen
Fandom: Eureka
Pairing: Jo/Zane
Rating: T+, possibly a very light M.
Spoilers: Up to and including Just Another Day
Summary: Jo Lupo had seen some amazing things in her life, but right here, just steps in front of her, on the eve of the fulfillment of her most important dream, lay the most amazing sight of all.
Disclaimer: Eureka obviously doesn't belong to me, I just like to borrow the characters and mutate their inner voices. My house is small, my car is useless and my dogs are pains in the arse, but they're all I have.
A/N: There she goes again, that silly muse of mine. Woke up yesterday, turned on the tv to a Bow Flex commercial, and yep, there she went, off on a tangent about Zane, and muscles and sweat and licking. I had to let her write this or I was never likely to get a good night's sleep again. (tell you the truth, I think my muse may be somewhat obsessed with sweaty!Zane! She's not normal!) Nothing too naughty in it, just a good bit of observation… and maybe a little fun. :D And, hey, Purple? Yes. Yes. Yes. I am working on Catching the Wave, I swear. I promise. Just enjoy this in the meanwhile, would you do? :D
~~~E~~~
Jo Lupo had seen some amazing things in her life; that sort of thing kind of went hand in hand with living in a town like Eureka. She could count the normal days she'd had in the past seven years on a single hand. Black holes, androids, time shifts, faster than light travel, living computers and teleportation were the ones that came immediately to mind.
She'd seen the town threaten to burn under the heat of a second sun. She'd met and shook hands with an immortal, made so by science gone wrong. She'd kissed Carter on the whim of her own pheromones commanded by an ancient alien dust that made the town's Sheriff irresistible.
Her life never seemed to cease amazing her, sometimes to a point of frustration, but recent events let her know, without a doubt, exactly how much she appreciated the life she lived.
She had friends that were more family than anything else. She had a job that brought her authority and respect from her peers. She had a little house that still smelled of fresh construction, as she's only spent the last week living within its walls.
The gold and diamond ring that lay on her finger glinted and gleamed in the pale light of Zane's apartment as if it knew there was only one more day before a delicate gold band would mate with it for life, to help it become whole as Zane Donovan would Jo.
The final wedding preparations were enormous, their frustrations and tension bleeding through and stressing their relationship in what could only be described as the infamous Lupo-Donovan way.
Rather than bitch and snark at each other, Jo had moved into her little house a week before, leaving Zane to pack the remainder of his apartment, and they'd agreed that a week of separation would do them well. Now, with her father and brothers spilling out of her suddenly too small home and less than twenty four hours to go before she traded her name for his, Jo found herself darkening his doorstep, letting herself in silently and following the small sounds of his movements to the spare room.
Yep, Jo Lupo had seen some amazing things in her life in Eureka, but after a solid week of separation, not even 1947 living, breathing and happening around her could top the sight that graced her eyes in that moment.
He was so concentrated on his workout that he'd not noticed her shadowing his doorway. He certainly didn't hear her sudden intake of breath over the pull of the weight machine. He didn't pick up her scent over the thickness of his own musk. He didn't feel her suddenly onyx gaze, pupils blown wide by desire built from days of separation, as it raked over his body with a sudden, almost uncontrolled hunger that border lined desperate starvation.
His blue eyes were closed, his lips were moving in a series of numbers that could have been counting his repetitions, but in fact were counting away the seconds until Jo was back in his arms, this time permanently. If she'd known this while watching his lips move, wishing his words were whispered against her skin rather than the heated air of the tiny bedroom, she'd have had no will left to resist the pull of his body to her own. Instead, she watched him without word, perfectly manicured fingernails digging into the doorframe, her whitened teeth worrying her bottom lip as she fought for sanity.
He hadn't worn a shirt for his workout, not even one of his ridiculous wife beaters that often left so little to her vivid imagination. Instead, with every single lift of his arms, she was forced to watch muscle and sinew shift beneath glistening skin. His workout shorts did nothing to help the situation, his large thighs stressing the thin fabric to its boundaries as he flexed, involuntarily pulling her eyes unerringly to his center, bring a slow curse to her lips.
The sheen of sweat that coated his smooth body was what just about did her in. Jo was an extremely visceral creature; touch, taste, smell, that was what was real to her. He teased her constantly as she ran her fingers through his hair, her need to touch him always burning her fingertips until sated. His eyebrows always arched at her weirdness when she'd bury her face against his neck, her need to smell him a driving force in her continuing sanity. When she lay her lips on him, however, teeth and tongue deftly drinking in the salty sheen on his skin, his flavour a drug so potent that some days she could die without the smallest taste, that was when he had no smartass remark. Her tongue would trail a burning path from throat to chest, blood would turn to lava in his veins, his heart would pound a deafening, stuttering rhythm, he would forget to breathe, and all words would degrade into a single tortured groan that would set fire to every atom in her body. No, he never questioned her need to taste, and as her burning gaze swept down his body, lingering on all the places that practically begged to be slowly savoured, Jo struggled valiantly to keep her distance, the fire now burning inside her with such force she wondered if she wouldn't incinerate them both, given the chance.
Only then, as she forced her gaze back to his face, did she realize his cobalt eyes were on her, the strength of his need for her pulsing behind the shadow of his knowing smirk. He knew what he did to her, he'd always known. The Zane before. The Zane now. It never mattered for long; they were written in the stars, their names bound to each and every universe as one. Even erased from time, they couldn't stay apart, and that spoke volumes. Their souls were stitched together in time, and tomorrow they'd make it official in front of God, family and friends.
If she didn't combust in his doorway from the force of their mutual desire.
He sat up slowly, pinning her in place as his eyes raked over her body, drinking in the sight of her, face flushed, chest rising and falling heavily, one hand clutching the doorframe desperately, the other splayed out across her stomach delicately as if her next actions remained undecided.
"Hey, Jo," his voice was calm, amused even, so entirely straight forward that without the obvious sign of attraction growing before her eyes, she'd have wondered if he even cared she was there.
She wished she had a biting remark at hand to wipe the knowing smirk from his lips, but in the end it was only a tiny whimper that she managed in reply.
He had her pinned to the wall before the whimper had fully passed her lips, capturing it in mid air, matching it with a growl equally as wanton and desperate. Lips crushed lips, teeth ground into flesh, and tongues danced a duel that fueled their growing need as explosively as gasoline tossed into a raging fire.
Hands found slick skin and thin tank tops. Fingers traced hard muscle and kneaded soft flesh. Tongues traced paths of liquid fire, teeth nipped at throats, shoulders and any expanse they could find hold. Thighs were parted and hard steel pressed against soft heat until gasps and cries filled the air, chased by the sound of fabric tearing and the button from Jo's pants dancing a slow waltz down the tiled floor of the hall.
Vision clouded and bells rang as Zane dragged her off the wall, her legs wrapped tight around his waist while step by tortured step he inched them towards his bedroom. When her torn shirt came apart in his hands, bells rang again in that moment before warm lips met pebbled nipple over the lace of a sinful purple bra that he was sure had come from him.
Only when pleas to God and His son became audible, dripped not from their lips but from those of their friends, did they manage enough sense of self to pull back, staring in shock at Carter with his hands over his eyes and Fargo with his back turned to them, his neck the colour of over ripened raspberries.
"Aw, see this is why people ring the door bell before they come in, it gives you time to, oh, I don't know, put on some clothes?"
"I so never needed to see this."
With a self satisfied grin, Zane tossed Jo gently to their bed, blocking the door with his large frame. "Hey, guys, you're early."
Carter shook his head, cautiously opening an eye, realizing a very aroused Zane still stood half dressed before him, and immediately looked away again. "No, we're on time. You. You're late. Henry is waiting outside with Jo's brothers, wondering what's with the holdup. So I'd suggest moving before they come up here, too!"
No one could miss the muffled squeak of horror that came from the bedroom. Carter didn't have to look to know the infamous, mischievous Donovan grin was creeping unabashedly across Zane's face.
"Eh, tell them I lost track of time and still need to shower. I'll meet them there."
"Fine. Whatever. I could use a half hour to bleach out my brain now anyway, thanks."
Zane's chuckle as he glanced back into his bedroom made Fargo groan despairingly into the hands that covered his face and brought a choking laughter to Carter's lips.
"Can't rush perfection, boys. I'll need at least an hour." He turned back into the bedroom, but before closing the door his amused voice carried through once more. "Stick around if you want. Beer's in the fridge."
The apartment was deserted before Jo's first scandalized squawk, then shrieking giggle made it past the door.
As it turned out, Zane underestimated himself. It was midnight before he dragged himself through Café Diem's doors, welcoming the glares from his friends and soon to be brothers in law with a shameless grin. It was, after all, his bachelor party. It was only fitting to celebrate it in Lupo-Donovan style.
~~~Fin