A/N: Okay, so this chapter has some M rated material in the last section, nothing too explicit but if you blush easily feel free to skip it. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Reviews make my day.

Chapter 14 – Release

As Emma dragged her mother off the couch to look at the decorations Annie settled on the couch beside Jane.

She looked at him sideways. 'That could have been awkward' she smiled.

Jane ran a hand through his hair. It wouldn't have taken a genius to ascertain Lisbon and he had just been making out by their flushed faces and startled expressions.

Annie whispered, 'Aren't you two a bit old to be still at second base by this stage?'

Jane rolled his eyes and looked at her. 'You really want to have a conversation about your aunt's sex life?'

'From what I can gather she doesn't have much of one yet.'

He rolled his eyes again and moved off the sofa to wind up a musical snowglobe for Emma. As the tones of 'Winter Wonderland' filled the air and Emma was fully engrossed in them he whispered to Lisbon, 'I love you. I don't mind waiting. I didn't mean to pressure you earlier.'

Of course it was killing him waiting but it had to be her decision and despite how heated things got between them there was something still making her hold back. Something he hadn't figured out yet. If Emma and Annie hadn't walked in or he hadn't stopped things he knew she would have.

Of course some guilt at making love with someone after Marcus was expected but he didn't think that was what was making her hesitant. Not anymore. Once they made love he was expecting those feelings to surface and had readied himself for them but he didn't feel that they would stop her acting on her desires in the first place.

She had been afraid of loving someone again but over the past month she had given him no indication that she was hesitant in showing affection to him and that she wanted to be in love and to be loved by him. As he shook the snowglobe in front of Emma he glanced back at her trying to figure out the reason for her hesitation. Even after all these years she was still a puzzle to him some of the time.

As she walked him to the door later she stood on her porch with him, the door ajar behind her.

'I'll see you tomorrow' he said, kissing her cheek.

She put a hand on his arm to stop him before he turned to go. 'Patrick. I'm...I'm-'

He kissed her hair and pulled her towards him. 'Hey, I meant what I said earlier. I'll wait as long as you want, Teresa.' He withdrew and looked in her eyes. 'Cold showers are good for you, I hear' he smiled.

She laughed softly. 'I think I'll be having one of those myself tonight' she replied.

She sighed, 'I do want to. You know that, right?'

He nodded. 'That's obvious enough. Look, if there's anything that's troubling you... If it's something I need to do or say just tell me, Teresa. As much as I can read people I'm not psychic as you well know. If you need reassurance of my feelings-'

She shook her head. 'It's not that.' Her eyes flitted from side to side. He saw a hint of a confession drift across her face but just as quickly saw her shut it down again. 'I need to get back to Emma. Goodnight, Patrick. Thank you for the decorations, she adores them.' She kissed him on the cheek and went back inside.

The next few days were spent in a frenzy of gift buying. Christmas day was two days away. Jane and Lisbon were at his apartment sitting on his living room floor wrapping Emma's presents while Annie babysat. Lisbon's little girl had her mother's fine detection skills; she had already searched through practically every cupboard at home to find hidden gifts so they would be kept here until Christmas Eve night when Jane was going to bring them over after she went to bed.

Jane made them both eggnog as he hummed away merrily, putting a bow on a present.

'You really like this don't you?' Lisbon grinned at him. 'The whole Christmas thing.'

Jane shrugged, 'What's not to like? Giving presents and seeing the faces of those you love light up, who wouldn't love it?'

Lisbon took a first sip of the eggnog. 'Jesus, Jane! How much brandy did you put in this?'

Jane smiled at her devilishly. 'I'm trying another tact. Get you so drunk so I can take advantage of you. Is it working yet?' he grinned.

She smiled back at him and shook her head. 'Now I know better than anyone that that would be a hollow victory for you, Patrick Jane.'

'You're right' he replied, taking the glass from her and kissing her milky moustache away quickly before moving back to looking at the gift in front of him.

M rated territory from now on

She didn't know if it was the heat of the brandy or Jane's kiss on her lips but she suddenly pushed the present between them out of the way and launched herself on top of him, her mouth back on his in an instant. He fell back to the floor, his legs under her as she kissed him again greedily.

'Lisbon' he gasped, the surprise of the attack stopping his body from reacting to her for a moment. But as she lay on top of him and darted her tongue inside his mouth to quieten him no amount of biofeedback was helping him keep an erection from forming as she lay on top of him with a fierce wildness in her desire. It was her turn to gasp now as she felt his want for her. This only drove her on more and she began to unbutton his shirt buttons quickly.

'No' he whispered urgently, trying but not managing to stop himself from kissing her back with ferocity.

'What?' she panted, her lips now kissing the small tuft of hair in the middle of his chest.

'No' he said, a little louder, gaining some control back and making her stop and look up at him.

'I thought this was what you wanted. What we both want' she said, catching her breath.

He pulled himself away from her and sat up so that he was on the floor with the palms of his hands on the carpet beneath him. She knelt in between his legs, eyeing him quizzically for a further explanation.

He exhaled a loud breath. 'Not like this. I want our first time to be special, Teresa. I don't want to rush. I want to be able to take my time. For us both to take our time. You can only stay another hour or so and that won't be nearly enough time.'

She huffed and got to her feet. Annie was going out with some friends later so she had to get back to look after Emma in a little while. 'Jesus, you really are a goddamned romantic, aren't you?' she said, shaking her head.

As he stood up he was relieved to see she wasn't angry and didn't see this as a rejection. Perhaps whatever reason she was hesitating had dawned on her again, giving her cold feet in any case.

He put his arms around her from the back and kissed her neck. Unfortunately for him, this closeness to her only brought his erection back to life.

He heard her chuckle lightly. 'I think you'll need more than a cold shower tonight.'

She turned around to him to find him blushing at her, embarrassed at his lack of self control. 'I feel the same' she said. 'I'm...I'm-'

'Frustrated as hell. Yeah, I know, tell me about it' he smiled, sighing.

She nodded, blushing herself now and kissed him on lips quickly. As she went to move past him he stopped her and pulled her into his lap on the couch. A moment later he moved her legs so she faced him, her legs straddling him. How the hell had he managed that in about two second flat?

'What are you doing?' she smiled. 'I thought we didn't have time for whatever the hell seduction you're planning?'

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. 'We don't. But we do have time to get rid of that frustration of yours. For tonight anyway' he said softly, his lips dancing on her ear as he spoke the words.

Lisbon shivered at his touch and blushed. 'You...You don't have to do that. I'm okay' she whispered but could feel her heart race.

He continued his soft kisses down her neck, his words coming out like smooth butter. 'I know I don't have to. I want to.'

He stopped and looked at her as she continued to blush, her eyes darting from side to side. 'If you'll let me. If you want me to.'

She just stared at him for a moment as he continued to gaze at her. His hands rested on her hips and he didn't move a muscle. It suddenly registered in her head that he was asking for permission. She licked her lips and gave him an almost imperceptible nod. He smiled widely and pulled her a little closer to him.

He began his kisses again, lightly touching her neck and grazing her cross. She put her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes, his kisses were feather light but their touch on her skin lit up her nerve endings. He continued kissing her, indiscernibly moving further across and down her chest and collarbone with each contact. He moved a hand from her hips and opened a blouse button slowly, his lips caressing the skin as it was exposed. This continued for the next three buttons. He was kissing her cleavage now, licking it and making his kisses a little more pronounced on her skin. He felt her heart pump rapidly in his ear and her breathing become more ragged, her hands digging into his shoulders.

He moved back again and put both of his hands to her face, cupping it and kissing her mouth gently. Lisbon could barely kiss him back and wondered briefly if he had somehow hypnotised her into the trance her body was now in. He whispered something in her ear but she couldn't hear it at first, her mind entirely taken up with how he was making her body tingle. 'Teresa' he said, kissing her ear after saying the word a little louder, 'May I take your blouse off?'

She faced him again, his words registering and she nodded. She questioned for a second why he had asked her that, he could surely read her to know that she wanted him to but perhaps this was his way of making certain she still wanted him to continue, his way of ensuring she still felt in control. He smiled softly, his lips on hers again, this time in a long slow kiss as his tongue danced inside her mouth. She felt herself respond to him but it was almost like an out of body experience as her mouth and her tongue instinctively joined his.

When they parted from the kiss, Lisbon's blouse was removed. He shot her a little self satisfied smirk and she blushed as a small almost hysterical giggle emitted from her.

Then his face was serious with passion again, his pupils darker than she had ever seen them and she bit her lip, nodding again for him to go on. Nobody had ever kissed her or touched her with so much reverence and she was enthralled by it. As he moved one hand to caress her breast over her bra, he pulled her closer into his body with the other one. His erection was fully formed now but, thankfully, his biofeedback was working again so he felt sure he could control it. At the feel of his erection Lisbon instinctively went to touch it but Jane's hand moved to stop her at lightning speed. How he had done this so deftly as his mouth was now sucking on her bra clad nipple she had no idea.

He stopped nuzzling her breast and said, 'This isn't about me. It's about you', pulling her hand back and placing it on his shoulder again, his mouth now on the other breast.

She held his shoulders tight then moved one hand to the back of his head, her fingers teasing the hair at the bottom of his neck. She felt him respond as he groaned into her breast and his breathing sped up. His kisses were harder now, gentle nips and grazing his teeth against the cloth of her bra. She automatically began to grind into his erection, establishing a rhythm. He moved a strap of her bra down, nuzzling her shoulder and biting on it gently as he did so. He pulled the other strap down so that the top halves of her breasts were now exposed. His tongue danced over them, licking them and kissing them as his hands went back to her hips, pulling and pushing them back and forward and at first continuing the rhythm she had set. Then he sped it up a little. She responded immediately, her fingers now clenching his hair, her breaths coming out in ragged pants, moving faster and pushing her body into him. He moved his lips back to her neck and collarbone, pulling her closer into him, allowing her to feel how much he wanted her. Her breathing came in shorter and shorter bursts and he felt how close she was to the edge. He moved his lips back up to hers again, his tongue roughly entering her mouth as he increased the pace again of moving her body against his. She sucked on his tongue before moving her tongue around his lips, kissing him back intensely as her hips sped up again. She could feel all control leave her body and she dipped her head onto his shoulder, panting wildly. He whispered her name in her ear between soft kisses. 'Just let go' he murmured. 'I love you, Teresa.'

The first wave of orgasm hit her like a tornado, hard, fast and wild. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, her hands clenched in Jane's shirt. She could barely breathe but then felt Jane pull her so her entrance was at the tip of his erection, clothes and underwear the only barriers between them. He pulled her face back to him, hungrily kissing her and then put his hands on her jean clad ass, beginning a rhythm with her hips again, a rapid one this time, pushing and pulling her onto him again. Another wave flooded her as she came again, this time shouting his surname at the top of her voice. Her entire body shook with the force of it and Jane held on to her as she rode it out.

Afterwards he pushed her body a little further away from him but still kept her in his lap as she laid her forehead against his chest. He closed his eyes, stroking her hair and concentrated on controlling the flow of blood between his legs. It took almost every ounce of focus to manage it. She eventually lifted her head to gaze at him and shook her head. He managed a small smile and brushed a hair from her sweat drenched cheek before kissing it gently.

She didn't look embarrassed, just inquisitive.

He smiled again, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. 'That was a first for me too.'

'But...but you didn't even touch me. I mean at least not where I normally am for that to happen.'

He smirked before a wide grin filled his face. 'Not bad, eh?'

Then she laughed, one of the heartiest laughs he had ever heard from her and he found himself joining in.

'You've really never managed it like that before with anyone?' she asked outright.

He shook his head, still grinning.

'Oh god, this is going to be another thing you're going to be big headed about, isn't it?' she said, rolling her eyes but smiling.

He shrugged, a wide smile still on his face.