Chapter Three

He began with his lips pressed to her neck, the sensitive spot beneath her ear. His tongue bathed the soft skin, he alternated between licking, kissing, and nibbling, driving her to distraction with the focus on just the one space.

Her hands ran along the expanse of his back, feeling the skin, a thin sheen of perspiration, and the essence of Jamie. Her legs parted on their own, pulling him in closer so that she could hold him tight with her arms and her legs. She felt his arousal pressing against her stomach, the edge of the condom brushed her skin as he moved his body lower to concentrate on her bosom.

Her mouth fastened to one of his nipples. She ran her teeth over the sensitive nub and he cried out his response before taking her mouth with his. Both hands slid underneath her, his nails scratching a bit as he lifted her to hold her tight and close to his body.

He could feel her need against his thigh as he rocked them together and kissed her head softly, locking eyes with her. "I love you, I have for eight years," he murmured. "Even when…"

"Ssh," she whispered. "No regrets, not tonight, not ever again. No regrets."

She arched her body to show him how welcome he was to press closer to her. "Jamie…oh Jamie…Jamie…now…"

He covered her lips with his and dipped two fingers inside of her, feeling the moist, slick heat. With a smile and a kiss, Jamie angled his hips and took what Eddie offered. They moved slowly, locking their hands and their eyes, not wanting to have an inch of separation between them. This all started eight years ago, and each hoped, as they joined their bodies they would be celebrating anniversary in each other's arms.

"Nope, nope," Jamie laughed. "I'm not doing the whole cowboy boot thing, I'll do just fine in my regular shoes. You can do boots if you want."

"No, I have pretty wedding shoes from Kara's wedding I'm going to wear," Eddie laughed. "Just think of it Jamie, only ten more weeks and we'll be lying here again, making love, hopefully making life…"

"I hope you aren't disappointed if it doesn't happen on the honeymoon, sweetheart," Jamie whispered. "I don't want any bad memories or anything negative happening to ruin these moments."

"Nothing will," Eddie whispered. "It's just a dream, but I'll be happy to just be Mrs. Reagan finally. This is my bliss, what we already have."

Jamie rubbed her arm and her back and kissed her lips softly. A knock came to the door, Jamie looked at the clock, nearly midnight. "Who on earth?"

Eddie grinned, she planned a surprise for Jamie, a new tradition. At the door was room service sporting a tray of ice cream, toppings, and water bottles. "Happy Anniversary! Our first partner anniversary we ate Italian ice or close to our first partner anniversary so…I thought it can be like our pancakes, a nice way to mark the day."

They ate their created sundaes naturally, Eddie rolling her eyes in bliss at the flavors of the ice cream and toppings. Jamie watched her enjoying herself, he loved it when she laughed, when she smiled.

Some ice cream had dripped on Eddie's chin. Jamie leaned over and kissed it off of her skin. They were both tired and fill of treats. Eddie rolled onto her side, the sheet slipping down, exposing her bare back. Jamie caressed the skin and pulled her close to him. As their eyes grew heavy, he kissed her deeply, "I love you, partner…we're a team, always will be."

Eddie smiled, "Yes, a team…the best team."

Jamie sighed and hugged her to him, wanting this to be the way they were for the rest of their lives.

After their traditional pancake breakfast, Jamie and Eddie went to see Max and April. The boys were going fishing and the girls shopping for wedding items.

"Hey," Eddie greeted as they approached catching Max in her arms giving him kisses. "Are you having fun with Aunt Kara and Uncle Luke?"

"Yes," Max replied. "Lots fun. April cry, I sing song...now go fish!" Jamie looked at his little April, she seemed tired.

Jamie picked April up hugging her close. "What's wrong honey?" he asked softly bouncing his daughter a little. "Awww, it's okay honey. Lay your head on Daddy," Jamie soothed.

"Did she cry?" Jamie asked Kara. "She fussed, but Max sang and Luke rocked her, then she was okay."

Jamie felt for his young girl rocking her in his arms placing a gentle kiss on her head.

Eddie took April, "Guess what?!" She said excited so that April engaged

"You get to come shopping today with Mommy and Aunt Kara for wedding things!"

April clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay shopping! Mommy and Aunt Kara, I big girl."

"Yes you are a big girl..." Eddie hugged her. "Maxy, sing nice for Daddy and Uncle Luke when you fish."

Max smiled proudly, "Yes, Mommy. Later Maxy and Mommom sing?"

Eddie kissed his head, "Yes we can sing. Give Mommom a kiss."

Max reached both hands out, happily giving her a wet kiss on the cheek.

Jamie smiled at Luke, then the boys, "Let's go catch that winning fish," he bounced Max along keeping him engaged. The guys headed to the lake with Jake, Alex, and Max. The rented a rowboat and headed out. They all put their life jackets on and headed out.

"So, did you have a good time last night?" Luke asked. "I'm sure it was all you hoped it would be?"

Jamie nodded casting his line with bait into the water. "Yeah, it was...thanks a lot for that," Jamie smiled, "My Eddie is something though. She had room service bring us ice cream, we did that on the very first anniversary of our partnership. She's big on tradtions."

"She's great Jamie, you two are meant to be together like I feel Kara and I are," Luke smiled.

"Kara went through a lot with Matt," Jamie replied. "But she's happy now. We've all paid our dues for this happiness

"We sure did and then some," Luke agreed. "But if it was meant to be." The talk turned a little racier, Luke wanted to know what put that smile on Jamie's face.

At first Jamie only smiled checking on his line. "Yeah well you know how beautiful Eddie is she made the night worthwhile."

"Eddie is a gorgeous woman," Luke replied.

"She is perfect for me, just perfect. She's also compassionate but a little crazy..." Jamie smiled hoping he got the drift.

"My Kara too," Luke laughed. "When they go out together..."

Jamie shook his head laughing, "Not just then man when we're alone just us..."

Luke laughed, "Oh Amen to that...Kara and I as well. We definitely light some fires, however...we are temporarily out of service. She is feeling too sick during the day and no energy at night."

"Yeah don't worry that won't last forever and it's so worth when you hold the baby for the first time," Jamie looked down at Max.

"I know..." Luke replied. "Not one day goes by I don't miss my son."

"Sorry Luke," Jamie apologized looking away at the water, feeling bad. "You and Kara are going to have a beautiful child together."

Max's rod tightened and the pole bent..."Daddy! Daddy!"

"Looks like you got a bite buddy let Daddy help you," Jamie took the pole, helping Max reel it in.

"Oh, what about these?" Eddie asked as she held up some white lacy material, an idea for chair covers.

"I like the lace," Kara replied. "But the russet is more fallish and will highlight those colors in the leaves by your tree."

Eddie sighed, they had been out for hours planning the finer details of the wedding. April was being a little angel, sitting nice in the stroller, eating her cheerios and drinking juice from her cup.

"I think you're right," Eddie replied. 'The russet. You want to take a break and get a soda?"

Kara smiled, "Yeah, I need all the details about last night, you and Jamie could hardly stay apart in our room so…"

Eddie blushed, "It was nice, it was incredible actually. Jamie's ambitious though, he bought a box of 50 condoms for us to use as birth control, and then he says, this should hold us a week…"

Kara and Eddie laughed, and April laughed too, just because it was fun to do that. "He's definitely ambitious," Kara laughed. "But why condoms, I thought you were doing Depo?"

"I was," Eddie replied. "But right after the undercover was over, we talked about another baby and we want to try as soon as we get married. Our babies could be really close in age if it works out right!"

Kara smiled, "That will be wonderful, Eddie. April and Max are such treasures. I'm so excited about another child, they'll be best friends our little ones."

"I hope so…" Eddie replied. "So anyway, the condoms…Jamie's sexual appetite is just off the charts and I can't get enough of him either. We had that month off, but now we're making up for lost time, at least five nights a week, maybe six nights depending on his work schedule."

Kara just stared, right now she and Luke were off their sexual peak, her morning sickness and pregnancy fatigue was messing with that, even still, their love life was never as active as Jamie and Eddie's. "Wow!" was all Kara could say.

"Well, come on,' Eddie laughed. "You and Luke are newlyweds. You might have had to hang it up now, but before…"

"Three nights a week, maybe four," Kara replied. "Jamie is an overachiever."

April clapped her hands, "Daddy!" she announced. "Jamie, Daddy!"

All three of the girls had to laugh at her timing. "Let's go pick out some pearls and things to wrap around the bouquets. Maybe we can get April a little present, she's being so good."

Eddie nodded, "I think you can pick out a little bracelet, would you like that!"

April laughed and clapped again, she was over the moon happy on this girl's day out.

The younger boys did much better than the older boys on their fishing trip. Max and Alex both won money with their fish, and they decided to share the winnings and get three medium fishing rods, so all three boys could have new rods. Jamie and Luke were both proud of their sons for that.

They docked the boat and had a picnic. Jamie sat down with Luke while the boys played tag and other games. "Max, he's your son?" Luke asked looking at the boy's dark eyes, curly, dark hair, and stockier build. "I know that Eddie is adopting him, he looks like his Mom?"

Jamie shook his head "No, he looks like his biological father, actually. My first wife trapped me into marriage, I ended up losing Eddie because of that, but I got Max and it was all worth it. I love him as if he was my own, just like Tom loved April and you love these boys. We are going to get April's birth certificate changed, I started those papers, and Eddie is going to formally adopt Max after we are married. We're going to try for a baby, things are going to look up for us, all of us."

Luke smiled, "I never thought I would love again, that I could allow myself to love again, but I did, both Kara and the boys. It's a gift from the Lord."

Jamie couldn't agree more.

After lunch, Jamie and Luke got the boys back in the boat, then started to untie it to get back in themselves. Luke's foot slipped as he pulled the rope and sent him toppling into the lake. Jamie moved too fast and off center to try to grab him and ended up falling in after him. The boat rocked, but the little boys were light enough that they managed to stay in the boat. They couldn't help but laugh at the Daddies, swimming back to the boat soaking wet.

As he often did, Max broke into song, though this time, Jamie didn't find it very endearing. "Row row row your boat…" Max sang as Jamie and Luke both squished back into the boat.

"What about these?" Kara modeled a pair of turquoise and gold earrings shaped like cowgirl boots. "Luke ought to love these, don't you think?"

Eddie laughed out loud, "Those are hysterical. You should get those."

"Nah, there's no place to wear them in New York," Kara replied. "We're trying very hard to decide if we want to stay in New York, for now…"

Eddie didn't want her friend to move, but she also wanted her to have happiness. She smiled, "You'll know…"

Kara agreed and smiled, removing the earrings, but neglecting to remove the matching necklace.

Eddie carried April to the checkout, keeping the small girl on her hip. They paid for their goods then headed out of the store. Eddie turned feeling someone following them, the girls started to walk faster, they heard a man yelling at them to stop, "Eddie why is he chasing us? Did you steal something?" Kara joked. "No, you did!" Eddie gasped as she saw the necklace hanging around Kara's neck." The women found themselves fleeing the scene, laughing like two kids caught shoplifting.

The faster they ran, the faster he pursued, screaming at the top of his lungs, "You come back here!"

Both Kara and Eddie were hysterically laughing when they came to a stop, even little April was laughing, it was a fun riding bouncing up and down on Mommy's hip.

"Excuse me, ma'am," the security guard stepped into their path. "May we see your receipts and bags please? Purses too."

"Excuse me, but we are both members of the NYPD, we didn't steal anything, it was an accident! I spent good money in this store for my wedding and I have a mind to take it all back!"

"Ma'am, you set off the alarm and…" The security guard looked at the tag hanging on Kara's neck. "Your friend is wearing a necklace from the jewelry department…"

"Oh," Kara gasped embarrassed. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't trying to steal this…"

"Tell it to the cops downtown, Ma'am," the guard replied. "We'll verify your NYPD claim, but I bet they never heard of you!"

"My fiancé is the son of Commissioner Reagan," Eddie pleaded.

"Any my husband used to work for your sheriff's department, Deputy Luke Martens," Kara replied handing the necklace over trying not to laugh at how seriously they were taking this small time event.

"You're the woman Luke married?" the responding deputy said. "I knew he was marrying someone from New York. Can you show me some ID?"

The problem was soon solved, the security guard took the necklace back in a huff and Eddie and Kara were released to go home. As they walked to the car Kara turned to Eddie, "why did we run?" They erupted into laughter again, April joined in just for the fun of it.

The girls were still laughing about their experience when they got back to the hotel. The men and boys had just returned to the room and dried off when Luke's phone went off. "Luke Martens," he answered. Jamie watched his friend as he toweled off his hair. "Oh, really, yes, they're fine, George, but I bet you were in a world of hurt…That sounds about right." Luke listened a bit more. "Of course, yes messenger it over to the hotel. I owe you one, George."

Jamie raised an eyebrow at Luke as he said, "You're not going to believe this…"

When Eddie and Kara arrived back at the room, Max and Kara's sons ran up to them. "We got fishy!" Max bragged. "We win and get rods to play fishy at home!"

"You did!" Eddie exclaimed holding her son tight as April sought out Luke's cowboy boots.

"Yeah!" Jake told them. "It was soooo cool and fun. And guess what?"

"What?" Kara asked, glad to see her boys enjoyed themselves so much.

"Luke and Jamie fell in the lake," Alex laughed. "They fell in and got soaked!"

Eddie's shoulders shook with laughter for the fifth time in the last hour. She saw the pile of saturated and smelly fishing clothes, "How did you two manage to fall in the lake and the boys stay dry?"

Luke shook his head, "If we knew how that happened, it wouldn't have. And how was your day?" He wrapped his arms around Kara and gave her a kiss. The video of them running down the sidewalk chased by the security guard was on his phone.

"It was good, we have bags in the care that you need to get out," Kara replied.

"So, nothing other than shopping?" Luke pressed.

"No, just shopping and a little lunch," Kara replied sharing a guilty look with Eddie.

"You sure you don't want to come clean?" Luke asked then hit the play button. There was Eddie and Kara, running down the street, April laughing and holding her mother's hair. "Oh my God, he sent that?" Kara laughed as Jamie and Eddie looked on.

In seconds, the entire room was erupting in hysteria over the silliness of the day, even the children were laughing, although they had no idea what in the word was so funny.

Jamie and Eddie let the kids settle down with Kara and Luke, then stepped out on their own, taking Kara and Luke up on another night of privacy. They ate at the restaurant in the chalet, a sample menu for the wedding. "Oh, this fish is so good,' Eddie enjoyed the salmon in butter with a dill cream sauce. "With this rice and the asparagus, what do you think honey?"

Jamie took a bite, "I like this. Are you sure about the three menu choices, that's a little more costly…"

"It's our wedding, I'm fine with the whole family ordering off the menu," Eddie replied. "But that would really throw those dollar signs for a loop. Here, try the steak with mustard sauce."

Eddie fed Jamie a bit of the food and he smiled "That's a keeper for sure."

By the end of the meal, the menu was set and Eddie was beginning to feel more comfortable about the shape of the wedding. "Don't worry, honey. It's going to come together perfectly. We have food, we have the songs picked out, we met with the minister and put the deposit on the rooms." Jamie kissed the side of Eddie's head.

She leaned on him, "Can we go see it? The tree? I want to see our tree?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Jamie smiled. He'd snuck off earlier while Eddie was helping Kara with the kids. He put a blanket, strawberries, and wine in a sealed picnic basket by the tree for them to enjoy. With his arms around Eddie, they walked to their tree. Eddie smiled when she saw the basket and blanket, "You did this? How did you know?"

"If you didn't ask me I was going to ask you. I've missed this place, our special tree…" Jeremy tipped his head and took Eddie's lips softly with his own. "No one will see us up here…it's so black out…all I can see is the shine in your eyes."

Eddie slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, "Sometimes, Reagan, you say the most romantic things…" She sealed their lips together and touched their tongues just slightly to each other. She inhaled his scent and relished in the feel of him.

Together they spread out the blanket and snuggled up against the tree, their arms wrapped around each other. Eddie fed Jamie the berries and he fed her, they snuggled together and looked up at the big Montana sky. "Too bad we can't honeymoon out here, just right here, you and me."

"We will spend it here, part of the wedding package," Eddie replied. "But this tree has spiders and when the family sees it…they'll be down here planning a shivaree. If Luke tells Danny about that little western tradition, the trick they play on us won't be a serenade, will you please talk to him?"

"Yep," Jamie replied. "No shivaree for us, we aren't doing that, even if I have to take a gun to my brother and Spencer."

"Spencer," Eddie sighed. "I know he's your friend…"

"We will both be sober as judges, I promise you," Jamie replied. He understood her sensitivity to Spencer, their entire relationship nearly ended because of poor choices there.

Eddie nodded and laid her head on Jamie's chest. When the berries and wine were gone, just nuzzled her and slowly turned her onto her back. "I want to love you, right here, right now. In our special spot…do you want to?"

"I always want you, Jamie," Eddie sighed against his kiss. "Now and forever, I'll want you."

They made love to each other, slowly, deeply, with their eyes opened and connected to each other the entire time. As their hand caressed and their mouths explored, their bodies connected, his hardening to fill her, hers stretching to accommodate him. The earth moved beneath them as them as they became one with each other, when it was over, no place had ever felt so much like home.