Important Author's Note: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M, M and a whole lot of M. Look away little younglings. You've been warned.

Year 4
Rae is 20

I take a deep breath, trying to subdue my rage before I step inside the training room. Jake is already there and I'd rather not soil his day with my preoccupations. He comes to meet me when he sees me walking towards him and I instinctively slump into his arms when he wraps them around me.

"Hey, baby," he says, studying my face after he brings his lips to meet mine in a sweet kiss. I smile and he presses his eyebrows together. "What's wrong?"

Honestly I don't know why I even bother sometimes. Jake can read me like a book.

"Bad morning," I tell him. "I ran into Tyson. He's still getting on my case about initiation."

Mike, my old boss, retired. He was a sweet old-timer and he had no problem giving me the month off. I was his favourite marksman. Tyson, on the other hand, isn't thrilled about the idea.

"Still?" Jake blurts out pointedly. "Tell Tyson to back off before I pistol-whip him in the jaw."

"So dark. So violent," I tease, relaxing deeper into his tense arms, getting high off the sweet, male scent of him.

"I'm serious, Rae. I don't like that he's bothering you so much. It's already been okayed by the leaders. It's old news, so what's his deal?"

"I don't know," I say, finally able to peel myself away from Jake. "But don't worry about it. I'm more than able to pistol-whip him myself if needs be."

"So what's stopping you?" Jake asks, following quickly behind me.

God knows I want to. But I don't want to do anything that could sabotage me keeping this position, and if it's too much of a problem with my new boss then that's exactly what's gonna happen. Either that or I'll have to change jobs and I really hope it doesn't come to that. I love my job. I work in weaponry; making, testing and repairing the colourful Dauntless artillery. It's a rush; testing the limits of a firearm, the steadiness and sharpness of a knife, the reach of a bullet. It doesn't feel like working at all.

Truth is I'll miss Dauntless if it ever disintegrates. It might not be perfect and sometimes my faction mates can be too much to swallow, but the Dauntless are as close to freedom as one can get in this city. There's nothing like the thrill of the wind in your face as you speed down the zipline, or jump off a moving train, or the childish joy of getting hit by a paintball or a wad of food during a cafeteria food fight.

I really don't mind the factions. I just wish we weren't enslaved to them. But if getting rid of them is the only way we can be free to just be who we are, then so be it.

"I'm just giving him time to come to his senses," I answer finally. "That's all."

"Enough time has passed don't you think? He's been getting at you for weeks now and quite frankly I'm running out of tolerance."

I turn around and give Jake an eye. "You're running out of tolerance?"

"I'm the only one that's allowed to piss off my girl," he explains with an agitated tone and a straight face. Dammit, he's serious.

"Oh," I say, dragging out the word, unable to resist the urge to smile at him even though I know he's angry. "Is that how that works?"

"Absolutely. So the next time Tyson breathes too loudly around you, it'll be the last. If you don't put an end to it I will."

"Ok," I say sweetly and I watch and wait for his face to relax. Hopefully I remember to keep my mouth shut the next time Tyson gets at me. Jake can be a little short-tempered when it comes to people and me. I might not be able to pacify him next time. And then I will definitely lose my job. But that's just because he loves me and it makes him a little crazy sometimes.

I was glad when he started training the initiates with me. It's nice having someone I can trust on-board, though he's completely unaware as to why I'm doing this. He knows nothing of Divergents and simulations and Erudite conspiracies. And even though the Erudite's not watching us anymore and things have been fairly quiet between the factions, that could change at any moment. One day I'll have to tell him. I don't know how but I'll have to tell him everything, even the fact that they most likely murdered his mother.

But that's for a darker day, and for right now I just want to keep living in sweet bliss with him.

I walk back toward him and kiss him fervently on the lips, knowing damn well that as upset as he may be he could never resist it. I press up against him, forcing him backwards into the wall and I steady him there. Then my fingers work at his belt until it's no longer an obstacle. I unhook the course button of his pants and I pull at his zipper.

"What are you doing?" he whispers against my kisses.

"Trying to take your mind off my boss."

Jake grins wickedly. "Don't start nothing you don't plan on finishing, girl."

And biting my lip I run my hand slowly down his hard stomach until I'm between his legs. I claim him in my hand and I move it over and around him, feeling him become harder and harder under my fingers. I squeeze tightly as I stroke him. He moans and his head tilts backwards.

"Still thinking about Tyson?" I whisper in his ear, gently taking the soft lobe of it between my lips and teeth.

"Definitely not," Jake says, breathless.

"Good."

I trail my lips down his ears and down his neck, leaving kisses and soft nibbles wherever they tread. I feel the quickness of his pulse slamming against my lips.

"Rae," he says gutturally. "Stop." But his neck tilts away, bidding me access, and his manhood becomes hard and large and wet and sticky between my fingers.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" I ask sultrily.

"Raelene," he says again, his eyes closed, his tongue caressing my name.

"Yeah?" I ask innocently.

"We don't have enough time before the initiates get in," he says through gritted teeth.

"Such a shame," I say, knowing damn well that we don't, not even for a quickie.

Jake grabs my hand. "Stop," he growls thickly.

"Ow," I cry playfully as he pulls it out of his pants and brings it up to his face. His lips quirk up in a half smile and his eyes shine bright with some rude thought.

"What?"

His grin deepens and he says, "Your hand smells like dick."

I bring it to my face and oh god he's right. I sigh. "Great. Now all the initiates will know I shoved my hand down your pants."

"Good," he says audaciously. My mouth falls open.

"Oh, screw you."

"I fully intend to," Jake growls. And grabbing me from underneath both arms, he lifts me off the floor as if though I weighed nothing. With his weight he presses my back into the wall and I fasten my legs tightly around his hips. And without him having even touched me yet I'm a jittery, moist mess, and I feel a throbbing in the pit of my sex.

Damn me for forgetting that I could resist him no more than he could resist me.

Jake bites his bottom lip as he grins wickedly, his eyes eager, and then he kisses me. I moan into his mouth and he smiles briefly against the kiss before he deepens it. His kiss becomes demanding and insistent and I shiver when his tongue brushes against mine. His breathing accelerates as he leans deeper into me. Hungrily, I run my hands up to his face and into his hair.

His hand leaves the side of my face and swiftly it crawls up underneath my blouse, leaving a line of static in its path. He cups my left breast and I twitch. The feel of his fingers against my nipple makes all of my insides tighten on command. I wrap both arms around his neck to steady me as his hand slips out of my blouse and it joins the other, fumbling at the zipper of my jeans.

"Why don't you wear a skirt sometimes, baby?" he says, sucking and leaving kisses against my neck. "You always make this so hard for me." But effortlessly he manipulates dexterous fingers, exploring me, enjoying me, until I'm just a ball of tense, sexual need. I bite into his neck to stifle a moan when he thrusts them inside me. And reeling from the intensity of his kiss, the pleasuring of his fingers and the pressure of his hard, heavy body imprisoning mine against the wall, I summon my release and then I'm almost there. I clench tight around his fingers, but then there's a sudden emptiness as he withdraws them.

I cry out in frustration and I mentally scold myself. I should have seen this coming.

"Jake. No," I beg as he pulls away and sets my legs back on the floor.

"We'll finish this later," he says, grinning and biting his lip.

My eyes open wide. "Jake, you can't leave me like this! I'll be frustrated all day!"

"Serves you right," he says with a nod. "Just try and pass it off as your usual charm." And then he walks away with a satisfied grin, knowing that he just beat me at my own game. I stand in place, my mouth hanging open, not sure whether to love him or hate him.

"Jake! Come back here! You asshole!"

He turns around and he smirks at me, the curve of his mouth pushing his cheeks upward into his eyes. The gorgeous bastard.

I pass my day alternating between wanting to hit something and grinning silly. I'm left sensitive by Jake's assault and when the gentle rubbing of my own underwear frustrates the living crap out of me, I find myself screaming at the initiates, the poor little things.

In their best interest and mine, I give them the afternoon off, knowing that Jake will hear about it soon enough. Not like it matters. He's gonna leave me to boil for as long as he can. And that he does. But I wait for him and I do it patiently until nightfall.

I stand in the kitchen of my apartment wearing nothing but his favourite pair of royal blue underwear, jittery and fresh and ready. He enters the room without a sound, yet I sense him before I hear or see him. But my body has always been highly aware of his presence.

Jake wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me to him, the skin of his bare chest against my back. Oh yes, I think, not caring to suppress the subsequent moan.

I turn around quickly and the hunger in his eyes makes me quiver. Denying me meant denying himself after all. Without saying a word and with one quick motion he runs both hands through my hair, and finding the tail of it he wraps it hastily around his wrist and pulls it downward, forcing my face upwards to his. I grin against his lips.

Jake grabs the crook of my neck and with his fingers dug deep into my hair, he kisses me, hard and possessive, with lips that only become more and more urgent against mine. My hands grab at his arms, at his shoulders, at his neck, coming to rest in his hair and I tug at it urgently.

Clumsily, we stagger backwards like drunken lovers, kicking away whatever dares to put itself in our path. My fingers fight blindly with his belt and I undo his pants, tearing them away from his hips. They fall to the floor and he steps out of them. We collapse violently on the bed, his weight pressing into me, and with his lips not leaving mine for even a second he releases my hair and tugs violently at the hook of my bra. He pulls it off and unceremoniously he hurls it across the room.

Finally his lips break free and he leaves hungry kisses on my jaw and on my neck and between my breasts. And then his fingers ruthlessly tease my left nipple as he takes the other in his mouth, making my toes curl. His tongue dances viciously around it and he nips at me. I shiver and like clockwork I moan and my back arches, pushing me even deeper into the sweet warmth of his mouth.

He leans down farther and begins to kiss and suck down the line of my midsection until he's pulling off the last of my underwear and sucking at my thighs. I shudder when the stubble on his cheek brushes against the sensitive skin there. Then unexpectedly I jerk with what feels like a sudden wave of sweet shock as his thumb finds my clit and he enters one and then another long finger inside me. I writhe under his touch as they dance inside me, knowing just where to press and how hard, how fast to press it. I cry out when his mouth joins the dance, and his tongue expertly moves with his fingers, assaulting me, claiming me.

Closing my eyes and almost unable to breathe, I relish the feel of his mouth and his fingers in and on me, and I make no attempt to silence the breathless whispers of his name that escape my lips. My legs begin to stiffen as I feel my release building up inside me and my body folds as if it would break. I cry out over and over again as he pushes me once then twice then three times over the edge.

He doesn't let me fall. With his free hand he reaches up and pulls at my nipple, knowing the rush it sends through me. And the combination of multiple assaults makes me gasp and my eyes water as again I feel an orgasm building, every muscle in my body growing taut with tension and desire. It's sensational. But then it's too much, it's too much too quickly, and I feel like I am about to burst or self-destruct. I push violently against his hand, my thighs trembling, and desperate to escape his sweet torture I crawl up the bed. But he grabs me by the hips and he pulls me back down.

"Where you going?" he growls, steadying himself on his knees. His fingers grasp at my sides and he lifts me to him, and before I can react he plunges deep inside me. I gasp as he fills me, grabbing at his fingers where they are clawing at my hips. And he picks up the pace, thrusting faster, harder, and I cry out in sweet ecstasy. He covers my mouth to quiet me and I bite his palm. It only makes him thrust harder. My legs tremble and my insides begin to quiver as my whole body moves to his rhythm, aroused even further by just the sight of his beautiful form over me. He breathes raggedly and his jaw is set and I know that he is lost in me.

I've never felt as vulnerable as I do when my body is completely at his mercy. But I've never felt as powerful as I do when his mouth twitches and he moans gutturally as I tighten around him, knowing that I'm the one making him do that, like a pixie bringing a giant to his knees.

But I don't fight it. I don't want to fight it. Any of it. I am a willing slave to his impeccable understanding of my anatomy.

Damn the Erudite.

"Come for me, baby. One more time," he begs as he thrusts into me over and over, pushing me and pushing me until I am close to the edge again. And clawing at the sheet beneath me, coming apart in his hands, I obey.

I convulse and shatter into a million pieces as with one final swing of his hip I ascend and touch heaven. I scream out into his palm as I let out a release that can only be described as glorious.

Bless the Erudite.

Just the same, Jake groans as he reaches his climax and he empties himself into me. He collapses on top of me and goes limp inside me, the full weight of him pressing me into the mattress.

Skilfully he flips us over so that I'm lying on top of him; his body my mattress, his chest my pillow, and with his arms set in the crook of my neck and in the groove of my back he steadies me there. And I just lay there stretched out on top of him, soothed by the swift rise and fall of his chest as he catches his breath, feeling loose-limbed and Jello-like, replete.

Times like this time are so different from our first time. Hovering over me, he had leaned down and he smiled into a kiss, his hands on either side of my head. The kiss became hungry and desperate and there was no point in denying that we wanted each other right then and there. Our hands were careful but committed as they explored long desired territory for the first time. And it was with much enjoyment that we had learned each other. It wasn't strange or awkward as I had feared it would be. It was sweet and intimate to the very end.

Naked with entwined limbs and racing hearts, panting and shaking in the aftermath of our passion, he drew my body closer to his, holding me and nestling me against him. I closed my eyes as he pressed his forehead against mine. It overwhelmed me, just how right it all felt.

It doesn't scare you? How natural this feels? I had asked him.

No. That's what scares me, he said. And I knew exactly what he meant.

Some people say soul mates don't exist. I beg to differ. There is a synchrony in everything Jake and I do, even something as simple as making the bed after we've destroyed it with our playful ramping. And there's a charge that fills the room every time our eyes or bodies connect. And no matter what the genre of our lovemaking, being with each other is always powerful, meaningful, taking us even deeper in love than we were before. The depth of it really is frightening when you let yourself think about it.

I twist my neck to look up at him and all I see is the rest of my life, all I'll ever need. And when he returns my gaze with earnest eyes, I know that that's exactly what he sees when he looks at me.

"Stay the night?" I say, and I reach up slowly to kiss his lips still stained with the taste of me. I don't even know why we have separate apartments. Most nights I sleep over at his apartment or he at mine, especially during the winter, and we both have keys to both apartments. I guess it's because there's only one thing left after moving in together.

Jake smiles at me. "Is that part of your plan? Tire me out so that tomorrow I won't be able to think straight?"

"Come on. Stay with me," I say again. I kiss his hand. "You're ready for tomorrow. But I'll let you pick first if you stay."

"I don't need any special favours from you," he says, still smiling, as I nibble idly on his finger. Like hell he doesn't. I can't wait to kick his ass. I always win when we play Capture the Flag with the initiates.

"Yeah, you're right. You'll still lose."

"I don't know what you're talking about. After the victory party I win either way." He grabs my ass possessively, sending the sound of a loud clap throughout the bedroom. "I don't understand how you're so good at that game. My inner Erudite tries to predict your next move, but you always outsmart me. Now why is that?"

I've been trained in the art of war.

"I'm unpredictable," I say with a flirty wink.

Jake laughs heartily. "No, you're not, baby."

I slap him on the arm playfully. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I know you," he says, blushing. "That's all."

"Oh yeah? What am I gonna do next?" I place a kiss on his chest with lips still swollen from his kisses, and I begin to trail my hand downwards, letting my fingers dance as they brush against his skin.

"You're gonna try and convince me to stay."

"That I am," I admit. "If I do a good job will you stay?"

I wrap my fingers around the length of him and I look into his eyes even as I begin to kiss my way down his body; strong, beautiful and completely mine. His hips begin to buck as I stroke him, and his breath hitches loudly as I take him into my mouth. My fingers work at the base as I twirl my tongue around the tip and he flexes his hips, groaning, still looking at me. I suck harder and push him deeper and deeper into my mouth, and I feel powerful again as he writhes beneath me. He grips my hair, hard, and it eggs me on. I pleasure him until I feel his thigh tense beneath my hand and I know he's close.

He thrusts into my mouth and I grin around him as he curses. He pulls harder at my hair and I feel him swell against my tongue. I move faster, harder, pushing him deeper until he cries out and spills into my mouth. His body goes limp and drinking him in I quickly swallow the warm evidence of his satisfaction.

Licking my lips, I crawl my way back on top of his seemingly lifeless body. Seeing him so spread out and expended makes me feel like a goddess. I did that to him.

"You know I was gonna stay either way, right?" Jake says as he passes his hand over my hair.

"I know," I say, smiling.

His lifts his arm from my back and with gentle fingers he caresses my cheek, running them down to my neck. He stares down into my eyes and leaning forward he places a soft, chaste kiss on my forehead. "Do me a favour, huh?" he says.

"Anything."

"Don't ever go anywhere."

"Nowhere you wouldn't come with me."

He chuckles. "I'd go anywhere with you, woman."

"Oh, would you now?"

"Absolutely. I am utterly smitten by you, Raelene Summers," he says. I'm sure I blush five different shades of red. Poetic jackass.

"And I you, Jacob Shepherd."

"Good," he smiles. "Now go to sleep."

Smiling, I press my head against his chest, all but willing to fall asleep in the comfort and solace of his arms and to the strong, rhythmic beating of his heart in my ear. It's become my favourite lullaby. And feeling safe in the arms of my lover, my best friend, the second half of my contented soul, I drift off into a peaceful sleep.