***A/N: I am sooooooo sorry this took a while. I've been very busy on top of a nasty case of writer's block. But here's my next chapter! Aaaand the moment I'm sure at least some of you have been waiting for! Look away kiddies! ;) ***

Without breaking away, she deftly undid his tie and let it fall, then ran her hand down his chest and torso to where his shirt was still buttoned. Heat rose in his belly and he groaned; if she had this effect on him now, heaven help him.

"Jessie..." he murmured into her ear; she shuddered at the desire she heard in his voice.

She undid the remaining buttons on his jacket and pulled it off, then started on his shirt as they found their way backwards to the nearest wall. He pinned her against it and moved his lips to her neck as she arched her back to press herself closer, a slight whimper escaping.

Using what rational part of his brain was still functioning, he uttered, "If...if you don't tell me to stop, I-" His voice shook.

"Shut up and make love to me!" she breathlessly snapped, grabbing his collar and pulling him in for another kiss.

That first kiss had shattered the dam, all the tension, secrets, and stolen touches and looks of years past pouring out between them. He slipped one hand around to her back, finding the zipper for her dress and sliding it down. With the other he reached for her hair clip and undid it, letting her long, red hair cascade down her back, stroking the silken tresses before drawing her into a stronger, more urgent kiss. Clumsily they turned to the couch, her kicking her shoes off while yanking his shirt out of his waistband and him unzipping her dress completely as they went. Emotion building, she roughly grasped his shoulders, pushing him down onto the cushion. She straddled his lap, her fingers tangling in his soft hair as he left trails of kisses along her neck, shoulders and chest. Her heart pounded and she couldn't remember ever needing something as urgently as she needed this man now. She hurriedly grabbed a hold of her dress' hem, proceeding to pull it up, a task with which he was happy to assist. Sliding his hands up her thighs, he helped her pull the dress up and over her head, revealing a painfully seductive black lace bra and panties. His breath caught and he bit his lip. Sitting up slightly, he peeled his shirt off, soon to join its cousin scattered on the floor. Wrapping her in his arms again, he began tracing the curve of her breasts softly with his tongue. She gasped, gripping his belt then fumbling with its removal. After a moment his hands joined hers, both desperate to remove the offending, final layers of fabric between them. Trying to tug his pants off, he hooked his heels under the couch for leverage. Suddenly the backrest and bottom sprang outwards, flattening to form one long bed! Two startled bodies dropped backwards onto it in a tangle.

"Oh...I didn't know it did that!" remarked James after a slight pause. Then in unison they grinned, "How convenient!"

He arched his back and grabbed a hold of his pants, pulling and half-kicking them off. A few kisses and movements later, they found themselves completely exposed. The smile on her face and look in her eyes glowed with approval, and it only made him ache for her more. Propping herself up on one elbow, she smiled lustfully at him and traced her hands along his body. Though he wanted to take her right then and there, he let her explore. Not to be left out, he too let his hands and lips wander, eliciting sharp breaths and moans from her. Each noise and touch only made them want each other more, and finally they couldn't take it any longer as he swiftly rolled himself over top of her, nudging her knees apart with his own. His breath rough he looked at her, searching for this final approval to touch her in a way that could never be taken back.

She smiled softly, as if reading his mind, and whispered "I love you..."

He felt a tear in his eye. This was what he needed. Leaning in to kiss her, he moved himself to gently probe her entrance. Feeling just how ready she was nearly made him lose it, but he steadied himself. She moaned softly into his kiss as he slowly entered her further, then gasped aloud as he filled her completely. Their eyes met, and in that moment the rest of the universe was gone, melted away. There was only them, right now, that mattered. Drawing a shaky breath, he began a deep, slow rhythm, which she quickly matched. Time slowed and seemed to stop. They lost all sense of it, making love for what might have been hours, their breath and bodies tangled together. When they finally sailed over the edge they did so together, him crying her name and both of them clinging to one another, swearing they'd never let each other go again...

Later, they lay snuggled together enjoying this new-found closeness. Jessie rested her head against his shoulder, her fingers touching his scar and listening to his now-calm heartbeat...the heart that had nearly stopped forever, for her.

Her thoughts drifted back until he pulled her out of it with, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing..."

"You're thinking about the day I got that, aren't you?"

"Maybe...more like the night I took off, actually."

Pulling away, she stood and picked up one of the throws that had been kicked off at some point, wrapped herself snugly in it and walked over to the nearest window. Leaning against the frame she gazed out into the harbor. James mimicked her, grabbing a throw for himself and standing at the opposite side of the same window; he wanted to be near her but knew her body language meant she needed a little space.

After a moment she chuckled, "I never wanted to fall in love with you."

"Gee, thanks..." he muttered with a snort.

"Oh, don't be a drama queen! I mean way back, when we were still in Team Rocket. Once I thought I was, I tried to fight it off. Oh, I tried so hard..."

"But, why Jess?" he asked sadly.

"Because of what I already told you, and because I thought I was being stupid and childish. Love was for saps and certainly not for someone like me. I didn't think I deserved it. And also, let's face it; once you sign up for that gig there's no such thing as a happy ending. Your story ends with you either dead or in jail. But...I couldn't make it go away. I came close to telling you the night I left," she gripped her blanket tighter, "You holding me and pleading to come with you, almost losing you...but I still couldn't. I spent so long denouncing the evils of truth and love I couldn't admit that the truth was...I loved you."

She turned her head slightly to smile at him, and he grinned back, stepping closer as he took her hands in his, "And my love for you extends to the stars above..."

Embracing each other tightly, she looked at him, her voice and expression hardening, "If we're going to be together, if I'm going to trust you with my heart, I have one thing to say..."

"What..?" his face showing concern with a touch of confusion. She remembered that look well from whenever she had announced she had a plan.

"You break my heart, and I'll break your neck."

"Oh, I know!" he beamed, then turned more serious, "I wouldn't, I couldn't hurt you, Jessie..."

He meant it too, knowing deep in his very core he'd rather die than betray her trust; he knew how seldom she gave it away and how closely she guarded herself. Looking into his emerald eyes, she knew he meant it sincerely.
Besides, he was a terrible liar.
Winding her arms around his neck, her heart more at ease than it had been in ages, she pulled him in for another kiss. Surprised at how easy this was becoming he did the same. It crossed his mind that if he died today, despite every other mistake and failure in his life he would be content just for finally telling, not to mention showing, this mercurial, amazing woman just how much he loved her.
Feeling that fire well up in them again, Jessie broke their embrace, stepping back and loosening the blanket she wore to let it pool at her feet. The moonlight coming through window shone across her skin and hair and he inhaled sharply at the effect. Letting his own blanket fall they stood before each other, naked not just physically but emotionally. Taking his hand she led him back to the bed, but as he started to move himself over her, she flipped them over to straddle him.

"Oh no you don't," she breathed, shuddering again as she felt how much he already wanted her, "my turn."

"As you wish, m'lady..."

The moon had sunk low in the sky and a warm glow was growing on the eastern horizon when Jessie's eyes slowly opened. For a few groggy seconds she wondered where she was. Then, feeling movement against her back, she quickly remembered very well. Glancing down, she saw she was still quite naked, with James's arms wrapped snugly around her. With a contented sigh she wriggled herself closer to him, savoring the moment. This caused him to awaken himself, and he yawned loudly. Jessie rolled to face him and they grinned at each other.

"Good morning..." she sighed.

"Good morning, beautiful..." he replied, giving her forehead a peck.

She rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to argue that she probably looked perfectly awful right now, and asked, "Is there a blanket within reach? I'm a bit chilly..."

He turned over and reached for another one of the throws on the floor. As he did, she couldn't help but notice several fine, red lines scratched across his back. 'Oops!' she thought, 'Well, that's a compliment, right?'

Grabbing the biggest one, he arranged it over them and moved closer.

"Warm enough?"

Looking into his green eyes, she suddenly felt emboldened.

"Not quite."

Rolling again to lay on top of him, she propped herself up on her elbows and smirked at his quizzical expression.

"This is a little better..."

"Really now?"

He ran his hands down her back to cup her bottom, a move for which she gave a little moan of approval.

"I think we can figure something out."

They leaned in and kissed, but only for a minute later the door handle jiggled and Persian waltzed in with a white paper bag in his mouth.
It only took a moment before he spotted them and the bag fell from his jaws with a dull thud, "Aaah!" he cried.

They disentangled themselves, Jessie screaming and yanking the blanket up to her neck, almost leaving poor James exposed.

"Eeek! Get out!"

"Hey I live here!" retorted Persian.

There was a brief, awkward silence. Then Jessie and James, their faces beet-red, started to frantically chatter in unison.

"Persian! This isn't..."

"Well it is but..."

"We can explain..."

Persian sat down and snorted, "Well it's about time!"

The two humans glanced at each other. Then, as if receiving a mental signal from the other, asked together, "What's do you mean, it's about time?"

"It's about time you two finally stopped dancin' around matter!" Persian gave an exasperated sigh before he continued, "I've been watchin' you look all lovey-dovey at each other, hug constantly, start ta half-admit how you feel for ages an' quite frankly I got tired of it an' I'm happy you both grew a spine an' just got it over wit!"

"You...noticed?" asked James curiously.

Persian's ears flattened, "You two are about as subtle as a herd of Tauros."

A little while later, after Jessie had insisted upon a quick shower, they all sat around the dining table enjoying breakfast and discussing the day's adventures ahead. For the time being she had borrowed one of James' long button-up shirts and a pair of socks. Persian revealed the bag he had brought contained an assortment of pastries, courtesy of a baker down the street they were friends with.

"We have a kinda barter system with him," the feline explained to Jessie as he lapped a bowl of cream, "We bring him fish, he gives us a bag of goodies. Win-win."

"Sounds like you two have it made here," she replied, brushing her hair, "You've got your jobs, a house, friends, all the free baked goods you want..."

"And now that we've got you too, it's perfect!" added James cheerfully through a mouthful of fruit danish.

Jessie snorted, "This place is a glorified shed! There's barely enough room for you two! I am not moving in here."

"We'll figure something out," James said, leaning over to kiss her, "We always do."

They smiled lovingly at each other. Then Persian piped up, "Hey, you two better cool it! We don't need another mouth to feed!"

They both nearly choked on their food at that, and glanced sideways at one another, blushing fiercely.

Jessie found her voice first, "Hey cat! That's our business!"

"You can always move in with your wild friends..." grumbled James, his face still quite red.

"Ah-hahahaha!" Persian laughed at their discomfort, relishing a little revenge for them teasing him the night before, "Don't you just want a lil' one runnin' around?" he stood on the table, reaching over to poke at Jessie's belly, "Aww! Boy or girl? When are-whoooa!"

His paw slipped on Jessie's work folder she had set on the table in front of her, intending to go over it after breakfast. Papers went flying like startled birds. She yelled at him and tried to grab at them. He scrambled to regain his balance, which only scattered the rest of them everywhere.

"Eh-heh...oops..." said Persian sheepishly as the last few papers fluttered to the floor.
James clapped a hand over his mouth as he tried not to laugh; it was kind of funny, after all.

Jessie's eye twitched, "You stupid-! It took me forever to organize that! Help me pick these up now!"

A little while later, after all the paperwork had been found and re-organized, Jessie flipped through the file on Gus' place. Biting her thumbnail and mumbling to herself, she went over it several times before asking, "Didn't you guys say he has a place a few blocks down the street from the one where we met up?"

"Yep, it's an old ice-house he made into a storage and processing plant. " replied James as he sipped his coffee.

Snapping her fingers Jessie declared, "Ha! I knew it! It's not listed anywhere on his file. This lists all his properties, income, expenses, et cetera. Now, what is he hiding?"

"What makes you think he's hidin' somethin'?" wondered Persian.

"There's only a couple reasons you wouldn't mention a property you own, and none of them are good," she replied, closing the folder, "And my criminal instincts aren't gone yet. I knew I smelled a rat when I met him! Say boys; who wants to do a little sleuthing? Find out what he's up to?"

Persian raised a paw, "Ooh! Me!"

"If we can find some dirt on that guy, I'm in!" added James with a nod.

"Alright then!" Jessie stood, flipping her hair back, "Let's go!"

James raised an eyebrow, "Um, you might want to put on some more clothes first..."