More Than Just a Job
Steve lay staring at the ceiling, willing himself to sleep, but knowing that it wasn't going to work. He had tried to put it out of his mind for tonight, but for the moment he could think of nothing else. He wanted to wake Jo and sort it out right now, but he had to work out the problem for himself before he could talk it over with her. Monday they were spending the day together, just the two of them, maybe then would be the time to talk to her.
Steve felt Jo stir in her sleep and he moved his arm so that she could cuddle up next to him. Her face was at peace, and the silk of her nightwear was cool against his body. She had on an oversized shirt in a silver grey, and as she leant up against him he felt the warmth of her skin gradually come through the material.
His mind was in turmoil. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone. He knew that he had waited this long to be married because she was the woman he was meant to spend his life with, but he just couldn't marry her, not now, not like this. The scent that Jo used wafted over him, and for a moment his eyes filled with tears and his chest constricted. He wanted to turn and run, taking Jo with him, and never look back, but that was a coward's way out, and although he had been many things in his life, a coward was not one of them. He would face it, soon, with Jo, he would face his fears and together they would work out what to do. Feeling better for having made a decision, or at least a partial one, Steve glanced over towards the clock, and was relieved to see that it was only one in the morning; he would get a few hours sleep before he needed to head back to the station.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rae and Jesse had still been together in the living room when Eliana had woken up just after midnight and hadn't dropped back to sleep until the clock in the hallway struck two, Rae had made her way into her bedroom too tired almost to even get undressed.
"Honey, let me do that for you tonight. I know you can do it, but you are almost asleep on your feet and I can have you in bed in about two minutes."
"Thank you, Jesse; I don't think I even have the energy to argue with you." She had stood there and let Jesse do as he had offered, and true to his word she was in bed in a couple of minutes. Rae carefully made herself comfortable and Jesse pulled the covers up over her and knew that she would be asleep before she even had a chance to kiss him goodnight.
Jesse lay looking at her for a long time, the moon was shining brightly through the curtains and it lit up her face. Rae's hair was short and spiky, but he knew that if he ran his hand across it he would feel it soft against his fingers. They still hadn't talked about what had happened in the week, but he needed to tell her that she had hurt him; although he had a feeling she had no idea just how much. To be compared to that, that animal, and in such a venomous way, even now the tears stung his eyes as he thought about it and he knew that they needed to clear the air between them before she went to San Francisco. As he laid there he saw a frown cross her features, and he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
"No, please … please, don't." Rae was in her own home, but something was wrong, everywhere she tried to go there was a barrier to stop her. She could see Eliana, she was playing happily in the living room but Jesse wouldn't let her go to her. 'Danger, you put our daughter in danger.' "No, Jesse, I love her, please…" His hands came up in front of her and she flinched. Crying out as she did so.
"No, God, No!"
Jesse took his wife in his arms, as nightmares went he knew it was short, and she was already out of it, but it had taken a toll on her, and she was shaking in his arms. "Honey, it's ok, it's over, it's all over." He knew that she was awake, but wasn't surprised that she didn't answer. Gently he rocked her until her breathing became deep and even, and then, finally giving in to the temptation, he stroked her soft silky hair as he lay her back on the pillow and let her sleep. He was surprised that the nightmare had come now and not when they'd had their argument, but he guessed that maybe because she was relaxed it had found its way to the surface a little more easily.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rae and Jesse heard their daughter begin to chat to her soft dolly just after eight o'clock, and although both of them groaned they knew that they were lucky to have slept as late as they had. "What are you planning to do today, Jess? You don't have to work for three days do you?"
"Oh yeah, three days, bliss." Jesse smiled a contented smile; it would be good to be home.
"We need to talk, really talk about things, and I have to go see Gilbert, I have an appointment with him this afternoon, I also have files to go through for Steve, I would like to do those today sometime, and I want to go to the garden centre. I also need to go shopping to get some comfy clothes for The Willows, but I thought I'd ask Texas to go with me maybe Tuesday and you can look after Eliana."
"Mmm, shopping or staying home with my little girl, decisions, decisions. Can I get my secretary to call your secretary on that?"
"You can, but I may be out of town by then. Of course, Sally could always look after her and you could come clothes shopping with me, we do pay her a retainer after all."
"Ha, ha. Funny lady. No, I think Eliana and I could do some gardening, she enjoyed being at the beach yesterday, it will be nice for her to get some air again."
Rae didn't say anything, but she filed away what he had said. Maybe after all he would relax and let them all have a life outside these four walls. With a smile Rae just nodded and carefully climbed out of bed, she headed towards the bathroom as her husband went out of the door and down the hallway to get Eliana from her crib.
Half an hour later the three of them were sitting at the breakfast table, Jesse was eating toast and reading the paper, Eliana was slowly killing a banana and Rae had a page from the drive by murders in her hand, and was deep in concentration. The phone rang on the wall beside her, and without thinking Rae moved her right hand and picked it up. "Detective Yeager…. Sorry, Travis residence … Hi, Texas… no, I thought I'd go see them later this morning … Oh, ok, I'll leave it today then. You take care, bye now." Rae shut off the phone and put the cordless part on the table. "That was Texas, she asked if we were gonna go see Alex, apparently Mark is going in and then he'll be discharged, so I guess we'll go see him at home."
"Detective Yeager, I guess you do miss it don't you?" Jesse looked at her and could see the guilt in her eyes.
"Oh yeah, like you wouldn't believe. Jesse, I know you would like me to be a stay at home mom, but I'm never gonna be. I couldn't do it in London and I can't do it here. I won't be on the streets until this little one is born." Rae paused as she placed her right hand gently on her stomach. "But if I am passed fit, I will go back, you know that don't you?"
Jesse put his paper down and nodded his head. "Yeah, I know, and the part of me that loves you, just for you, wants you to do that. But the other part, the part that sees you as our children's mother and my wife, wants you to stay home, to be safe and sound and there for them, for me. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am."
"I know, and I wouldn't want you any other way, as long as you can let me carry on doing it, I will make sure I come home each night and be where I am supposed to be."
"I know you believe that, but there is always someone out there who needs to make a quick exit, or get even, or just feels like blowing away a cop and that cop could be you. You can't plan for that, no one can."
"I know that, and I am careful, I always have been, but, and it is a big but, if you are meant to die one day it'll happen, however careful you are. I have always believed that. Until that day comes for me I will live my life to the best of my ability, help all those I can along the way, and love my family. I can't do anything else, because I was raised that way, and I have always lived like that." Rae had put the piece of paper down, but now she picked it back up. "I was raised that way."
"Rae?" Jesse knew that their conversation was over, and that she had moved back into the mode that made her a successful police officer, but he didn't want her to do that not yet.
"Hold on, Jesse, let me just jot this down, ok?" Rae didn't wait for a reply but got out of her chair and moved over to the hold-everything-drawer by the sink, she returned with a pencil in her left hand. Jesse watched as Rae, with her right hand holding the paper, began to slowly write. Jesse could see the letters forming, and although they were larger than normal and not as neat, the words were legible, and he could see that she had written just what she had said I was raised that way, then she drew a line up from that to some typed words, but Jesse couldn't make those out. That done Rae looked up and smiled. "Sorry, but it's been a long time and I need to write things down straight away or they've gone."
"That's ok. Rae, listen, I am finding this really difficult, I guess some of it is a male protection thing, I feel that you have been put in danger so many times, and I should have, on at least a couple of occasions, been able to save you and I didn't, Steve feels the same I know about Eliana being taken … but so do I." Jesse knew that he had jumped straight in but he needed to talk about this now, before his courage failed him.
"Why? Nobody could have predicted what was going to happen, we can't blame anybody for it, but we can thank Steve and Ron for getting her back for us."
Jesse took a deep breath. "I told Willis that Eliana was our daughter."
"I know, Jesse, Steve told me. Do you want to let me know what happened?"
Jesse nodded his head and began to speak, "Sally brought her into the hospital to get checked out, because she was sick… If I had stayed home with her none of what followed would have happened. Alex was up with you; at least I think he was with you, and so Louise Willis, who was on duty, asked me to check her over. I said I couldn't… because she was my… daughter." Jesse's voice wavered and he looked at his precious child as she sat in her highchair. The banana had long since disappeared, but the pieces of apple that he had cut up to go with it were still being devoured. "It was my fault. She wouldn't have known who she was if it hadn't been for me… and she wouldn't have been… taken. Oh, God." Jesse, his hand over his mouth, turned away, not wanting his child to see his tears, even though he knew she wouldn't understand.
Rae quietly pushed her chair back and stood up. She kissed her daughter on the top of the head as she passed and then she placed her hand on Jesse's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her and began to cry, harder and more deeply, as he let the feelings of guilt he had been carrying finally come to the surface. Rae put her right arm around his back and she felt his tears soak through the material of her t shirt. Jesse's head was resting on the top of where her bump would be, and she gently rubbed her hand over his back, feeling the tight muscles underneath her fingers.
Gradually the sobbing subsided, and Jesse turned a tear stained face up towards his wife. His eyes were red and swollen, and he had no words to express what he was feeling. "My darling, you need to pick up our daughter and go into the living room, put her in the playpen and then sit on the sofa, come on." Jesse just nodded mutely and did as he was told. Rae put her work back in its folder, she had other far more important things to deal with at the moment, and then she followed her family into the other room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jo had seen Steve off to work just after eight, and then she had eaten breakfast with Mark. Michael had called the hospital and relayed a message that Doctor Sloan would be in to see Doctor Martin and what would be the best time? With the news that Alex would probably be going home after lunch they were just making plans for the rest of the day when a thought struck Jo and she headed for the phone. "Rae? It's me, Texas, I was just wonderin' whether you were plannin' on goin' to see Alex an' Shannon today…? Mark is goin' in to see them both, an' then apparently he just said that Alex will be released… Ok, Rae, you look after yourself y'hear? Bye, Honey."
By the time Mark got to see Alex it was eleven o'clock, and the young doctor was sitting, already dressed, in Shannon's room. He looked a little tired, and anxious, but Mark could tell that he was ready to leave.
"Alex, Shannon, how are you feeling today?"
"Mark, I'm so sorry that your weekend was ruined, but if you want to do it again, count us in, we may stop by a supermarket on the way rather than the local store though." Alex smiled and stood up as his friend entered the room.
"Doctor Sloan, please tell him to go stay with my mom for a few days. I don't want him to be home on his own, please." Shannon's face was pale against the stunning black of her hair, and the worry was evident in her eyes and her voice.
"Shannon, please, call me Mark, and I have to admit, I am a little concerned myself about him being alone."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The tears had finished, but Jesse was still very emotional, and for a while the two of them just sat in each others arms and said nothing. Finally Rae turned her head and after kissing him gently on the cheek began to speak.
"Honey, how long have you been feeling guilty about being to blame for Eliana's abduction? Even though nothing will persuade me that you are responsible."
Jesse swallowed hard before he began to speak. "Since I was talking to Steve on the beach. I suddenly realised that if I hadn't said anything that morning none of it would have happened, the whole nightmare would have been beyond our imagination. Rae she nearly died because of me. How will she feel when she knows that?" His voice filled with emotion again, and he leant heavily against his wife.
"Jesse, was it my fault that Levington targeted me?"
Jesse looked up at her. "No, Honey, you know that, we went over it, he fell for a very beautiful, kind lady, and just took it to extremes."
"And is it your fault that Willis targeted Eliana?"
"Yes, because she wouldn't have known who she was if I hadn't told her."
"Ok, I'll give you that bit. You told a nurse at your hospital that you had a daughter, and guess what? This beautiful little girl right in front of her was that daughter and you were proud to be able to do that; it's what daddies do." Rae's voice was strong and firm, but still Jesse couldn't quite believe her.
"If I hadn't said anything she wouldn't have taken her …"
"No, she wouldn't, but you can't plan for that to happen. You were showing off your daughter, I want to do it all the time, and I've been a mum three times before. She is your first child, she is beautiful, happy, sunny… and yours, you didn't do anything wrong, and nothing you or anybody else says will make me change my mind on that."
"But I wasn't showing off, I wasn't boasting, I was trying to adhere to hospital protocol and how will she feel when she knows what I did?"
"She won't feel anything, because you won't tell her, and neither will I. You are her daddy, she loves you, it's unconditional, and nothing that has happened so far will change that. Jesse, you're a wonderful father, Honey, please, don't beat yourself up over this, it wasn't your fault, the circumstances were against us. But if you hadn't been there that day, if you had stayed home with her, I would have died." Rae stopped talking; the knowledge of what she said hit her suddenly and with force. "I would have died." This time her voice faded away, and she was the one leaning heavily into her husband. "Jesse, you saved my life, and I don't think I ever thanked you."
"Rae, don't. I don't want to be thanked; I don't want anything except for us to be together. I love you, Rae, you are all I have ever wanted, Eliana and the new baby are just a bonus, and I know I get worried about the two, sorry, three of you, but I can't help it."
"Shhh, I know, and I do understand, but you have to let go, let us live our lives as they are supposed to be lived. We will always have to be more vigilant than we would like, but we don't need to lock ourselves away, ok?"
Jesse nodded, and then they snuggled up together and watched as their little girl played with her toys oblivious to all the emotions around her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steve had spent all morning going over his case notes on both the body parts and the drive bys. He had also finished up all the paperwork relating to the shooting at Lewis' Stores, and received word from Community General that Silvester Lewis had lost his arm, but was now out of danger, and was expected to make a full recovery.
Daniel Upton, as Steve had discovered his last name was, had been placed in juvenile detention and was expected in court on Tuesday. Steve would be there to give evidence, and he would be able to fulfil his promise to Alex to let him know what was happening.
With all that was going on, Steve still couldn't shake the feeling that whatever he had said in the past, he couldn't marry Jo, not the way it was right now, and in the end just after three he closed all his files, shut down his computer and headed for the gym.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rae had sat with Jesse for a while, until she was certain that his feelings were under control and he was happy for her to move. "Jess, I need to go and get on, did you want to stay here with Eliana?"
"Mmm, what, sorry, I was miles away, no, she's ok, I'll come and make a coffee, would you like anything?"
Somehow the conversation seemed false to Rae, but she nodded her head, delighted to be able to do so. Until it had become a movement that caused her pain she hadn't realised just how many times in a day she had needed to do it. Eliana watched as the two of them left the room, timing it to perfection. As they both disappeared from sight she began to cry and with a sigh Rae turned and went back into the room.
"Honey, we are only in the kitchen, and you have to sit in your chair in there, come on." Rae unclipped the play pen and watched as the little girl now grinning from ear to ear crawled out of it. She stood and waited and Eliana moved over and out of the door and into the hallway. Jesse was standing just inside the kitchen and she kept crawling until she was just in front of him, then she reached up, grabbed his pants in both hands and pulled herself up.
"Dada, aii." Jesse beamed; he was just so in love with his daughter and when she spoke to him he felt like he could float away with her. Carefully crouching down so as not to unbalance her he placed his hands underneath her arms and picked her up.
"Hey, Sweet pea, you are gonna be walking before long, no doubt about it."
"And then we will really know we have her." Rae smiled, she could remember her and Tony sitting on the floor of their flat in London with John standing up against one or other of them and willing him to walk. By the time Patrick had been born and was showing signs of becoming fully mobile the necessity to encourage him hadn't seemed so great, and when Mara had been walking properly by ten months Rae had been horrified. She knew that Jesse wouldn't understand her memories so she kept them to herself, and just carried on smiling.
Eliana was now in her high chair, a simple wooden jigsaw in front of her. There were four pieces, each one was a cartoon animal and they had little red knobs on them. The idea being you picked them up by the knob took them out of their space and then replaced them. If, however, you were Eliana you took them out, sucked them and threw them on the floor, you then batted your eyelashes at your daddy and waited for him to pick them up for you. As the first piece hit the floor Jesse leant over and picked it up, proving to his daughter that it never failed, and so she dropped the next piece.
Rae moved over to her side of the kitchen table and began to take her pieces of paper back out and lay them in front of her. She hadn't even looked at the information on the body parts yet, preferring to deal with the drive bys, because that had happened first, and also she felt that she owed it to Bob and the other dead officers to try and help Steve as much as she could.
I was raised that way. She had written that down before they had gone into the lounge, and now Rae began to think back to what had been in her mind then. Sandra Breth was a Catholic; she had been raised that way. Rae wasn't a Catholic and didn't know that much about the faith, but she did know that they went to confession, and everything that was said in that little box was confidential, so if she had unburdened herself to a priest about what she had been doing, he would be unable to do anything but try to persuade her to give herself up.
George had said that she wanted to be married in church, and that she had been to see the priest the day he broke up with her. Then the man had run, stupid, stupid, she knew he was scared, but people had died, and he had taken the coward's way out. For a moment Rae felt the anger that she had for him threaten her, but she pushed it down and tried to concentrate on the matter at hand, as she did so a mug appeared by her right hand and she looked up to see Jesse smiling down at her.
"Here you go, Detective. I guess I have to give you back don't I?" He was smiling, but there was sadness in his eyes.
"Maybe not, Jess. This could be it, I could be unable to do more than this ever, but you are the person I will always come back to, I promise."
"Honey, that will do me, it will do me just fine." He smiled properly then, and Rae knew, without a doubt, that if she did make it back to work she would have his full support.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time Steve got home it was a little after six and Jo was sitting in the morning room, with her pad, making more lists. With a shake of his head Steve headed upstairs, he needed to speak with his dad.
Two minutes later he was back. "Jo, where are all Dad's things?"
"At the beach house, he said that he felt fine, an' he was movin' back in right away. I tried to call you, 'bout half past three, but I couldn't reach you, not at work nor on your cell phone, Honey, where did you go?"
"Nowhere, I just had some things to think through. Jo, he can't go home and live by himself, it's not time. Anything could happen. I'm gonna call him, tell him to come back here." All his other problems paled into insignificance as Steve began to worry about his father.
"Steve, he won't be on his own. He has a lodger."
"A what? Oh, come on, Jo, you are telling me that Dad just miraculously found somebody else to live with him since I left home this morning? How can he have someone move in … does he know them …? Maybe I should run a background check on them… I have to go over there." Steve was talking as he walked up and down and Jo could see that he was very, very worried.
"Steve, slow down an' listen to me. Do you really think I would have let your daddy go home if it wasn't safe? There is no problem, an' if you had been near your phone you would have known all about it. Go see him, it will put your mind at rest, but he's fine."
"Mmm." Steve was on his way out of the house before he had finished murmuring to himself, and Jo with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders went back to her piece of paper and her wedding plans.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time Steve arrived at the beach house he was even more anxious than he had been when he left Jo, he parked in his usual space, and looked round to see if he could see a car to show that the new inhabitant was home. The only car apart from his own was his dad's so with a feeling of disappointment that he was still none the wiser about the lodger he walked up the steps and into the familiar hallway.
"Dad, it's only me." Steve called out, wondering whether his apartment was still his own.
"I'm on the deck, Son, come on out."
The cool evening wind blew at his hair as he joined his dad, and as he stood next to him at the rail he placed a hand on his shoulder. Steve was about to ask if he was glad to be home, but when he saw his face as his father turned to him he knew the answer. The lines had disappeared, he was relaxed and at peace with himself, he was where he was happiest in the entire world, he was home.
"I've missed this. You and Jo have a wonderful home, and you were all very kind to me, but this is where I belong, Steve."
"I know, Dad, but it's time for me to move on. Part of me can't believe that I won't be living here, with you, but my place is with Jo now."
"Son, I always knew that you would move from here one day, at least I always hoped that you would, but only to get married to a wonderful girl, and you are, but your apartment is just that, yours, until you are married nobody else will use it."
"Thanks, Dad," A gust of wind blew across the deck, and Steve, suddenly worried for his father, placed an arm round his shoulders and smiled at him. "Let's go back in the house, ok?"
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"Dad, can I get a soda?"
"Steve, this is still your home, you never asked before, why start now?"
"I … I don't know, it just seemed wrong to take one without asking." Steve followed his father in, taking a detour through the kitchen to pick up the two cans of soda on the way.
When he got into the living room he could see the folders that he had left his father on his two major cases lying on the table. He leant over, opened the first file, removed a set of photos and spread them out. "We didn't get a chance to talk about these, want to go through them now?" Steve could see that his father was fine, and as there seemed to be no sign of the lodger he knew he and his dad could talk shop.
"Yeah, I had a quick look, but I need your input." Mark put his glasses on, and made himself comfortable at the table. He had missed this.
"Ok, these are the locations where the … the body parts were left, I don't see that there is any link between them, I think they were opportunistic. Two cars that had their trunks left unlocked, maybe in the first instance the whole car was unlocked, because it sure didn't start out the day in my parking space. Then I got sent hair. You leave that in the trunk of a car, or a bus station locker it might get missed, but send it in a parcel to a police station, there is no chance it is gonna get overlooked. The foot, let's face it, he wanted it found immediately, and he chose well, the video from the bus station didn't show his face, or anything about the murderer except that someone left it in that locker. Normally I would say that just because a person left a clue it didn't mean he was the killer, but there is no way I can think of that he could persuade someone else to carry a foot around for him."
"No, I see what you mean; I guess it would be very difficult to get somebody to run that errand. Steve, what is in the jar, it looks like…"
"Yeah, it is! Oh, excuse me, Dad." Steve stood up and turned away. "Atishoo, atishoo." As Steve reached for a tissue from the counter he heard his dad begin to talk.
"No, you can't do that, I know, it's riveting stuff, but it's for me. Come on, off."
"Alex, your lodger is Alex … and Kira! Atishoo, atishoo… Dad could you go to my apartment, I have some of my tablets down there."
Mark got up and with a smile headed for the stairs, as he did so he saw the cat make his way over to one of her best friends, and Steve backing away, rubbing his eyes furiously as he did so.
Steve suddenly heard the sound of the front door being opened and then closed, and the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Alex came slowly into the living room, but he stopped, blushing to the roots of his hair as he saw Steve standing there.
"Oh, um, hi, Steve." He tentatively held his hand out to the tall man standing in front of him.
"Alex. Is there a problem?" Steve looked at the young man in front of him and hoped he had stopped sneezing. For the first time that he could remember Alex looked afraid of him.
"No, well, yeah, I just moved into your house."
"Alex, I'm glad you're here."
"You are?" Alex sounded incredulous.
"I was worried what I was gonna do when I got married. I don't want Dad to be on his own, but I knew he would never agree to come live with us, this is great."
"I have one of the spare bedrooms; I won't go into your apartment."
"Alex, it's not my house, it's Dad's. Once I'm married and gone, he's at liberty to do what he wants with it, the apartment and the rest of the house. If he offers it to you, and you want it, take it, ok?"
Alex nodded his head. "I'll think about it."
"Now, can I get you a soda? We're just going over a couple of my cases if you want to join us." Steve realised that he couldn't have said anything better. The look of both delight and relief that crossed the face of the young man made it clear that he knew he had been accepted.
The rest of Steve's evening had passed pleasantly, and it was after ten before he got back home. Once again the house was in darkness, and as he entered the kitchen he found not only a plate of food but a note from Jo.
Honey,
I have decided to have an early night, so that I will be bright and cheery for our day out. I suggest that when you have eaten you come to bed too. It will be fun tomorrow, but I plan on wearing you out, and you will need to be on your toes.
I love you, Cowboy,
Jo
XXXX
Seeing the sense in what she said, Steve ate his supper and headed to the shower room and in just over half an hour he was curled up in bed beside her. Jo moved and moaned a little as he made himself comfortable, but he knew that he hadn't really disturbed her.
Once again as he lay in the dark his problems began to surround him, and he had a feeling that the sleep Jo had suggested would be a long time coming.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steve came out of the shower room just in time to see Jo run the brush through her hair for the final time. He stood watching her entranced, she had been in the shower first, and he could still see the white of the talcum powder on her shoulders, and the faint redness on her body from the heat of the water.
Jo put the brush down with a smile and then moved across to take her clothes out of the wardrobe. She knew exactly what she was going to wear, and had made sure it was clean and ironed the day before. The jeans were new and jet black in colour, and the shirt was a soft suede in an almost almond shade with brilliant embroidery across the shoulders and down the front to just above where two breast pockets were situated and also across the yoke at the back and down in tendril like shapes roughly to the waist. There were no buttons on the shirt; instead beautiful mother of pearl covered snaps caught the light, adding to the rainbow of colours that were visible on the stunning top.
As she stood there, running a finger across the nap of the fabric to see the shade change, Steve came across and, moving her hair out of the way, began to kiss her on the neck. He saw her hand move up and hang the shirt back in the closet, and then felt her body relax back against his and gradually she turned in his arms and began to kiss him, her tongue running across his teeth before he relented and opened his mouth for her. His passion increased quickly, lighting a fire within him that he knew needed to be fed, now.
Steve's long fingers wove through her hair, and the tips massaged themselves against her scalp, and then he moved them down and ran them over her full breasts, playing them across her nipples, and smiling as her breath became heavy and deep. Suddenly he picked her up and carried her over to the bed, where he let her fall, her hair splaying around her head like a halo, and then he was kneeling over her, and Jo knew he needed her, right now, that there would be no gentle foreplay, and so she lifted herself up, "Take me, Honey, if that's what you need, then take me right now."
"Oh, God, Jo." Steve looked down at her beautiful body, and knew that however much he wanted to take it slow, he needed her, then and there, and as he entered her and felt her muscles tighten around him the love he felt for her welled up inside, and he began to thrust himself deeply into her, watching her face as he did so. For a second she looked shocked, but then the passion that he felt seemed to pass through to her, and she was holding on tightly to the bedclothes and thrusting her body back against him.
"Now, Steve, now, Ahhhhhh, oh, Honey, now."
It was all over in a moment, but the devotion and trust it had taken for both of them to make love that way stayed, and as Steve collapsed over Jo she took him in her arms, and just held him, as tight as she could, and felt his heart beat against her own chest and his breathing as it gradually came under his control once more.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Steve and Jo arrived at her stables just after eleven, and put the various picnic items into the saddle bags of both their animals and then after making sure that Steve's cell phone was switched on they climbed up and began to hack off together. They had decided that the number left with the station would be the house number. Michael would get in touch with Steve only if the information was relevant to his two main cases. The English butler had been pleased to agree to this knowing how much both Madam and the Lieutenant needed the time alone without the intrusion of modern technology.
After an hour of gentle hacking and pleasant conversation Jo pulled her horse to a halt and looked around her. The landscape was lush and green, and she was about to take Steve to a place she had never shown anybody but her brother.
"Jo, are you ok? This isn't quite what I had in mind for the picnic, it's a bit … ah, a bit open isn't it?" Steve felt himself blush as he spoke, and he concentrated on giving his horse a hearty slap on the neck.
"No, this isn't where we are stoppin' it's where we start a journey I have never taken anyone on before. We can't ride together any more, I will have to lead the way, you need to stay close an' watch the floor a little bit, if my horse stumbles, be ready to pull yours up, ok?"
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Now, you see that hedgerow across at the end of this meadow? Well, that's where we're aimin' for first, an' I'll beat you there. Yeehaaaaaaa!" Jo slapped her horse with the reins on either side of the neck and took off, her hair flying out behind her. Steve was caught completely unawares, and for a second or two just stared after her, but then his mount began to get restless, and he gave it its head and they began to fly too, determined to catch up to the horse and rider galloping along in front of them.
Finally the hedgerow that had seemed like a tiny green line just a few minutes before grew in size, and Jo wheeled her horse round away from it and brought him to a halt. The beautiful black steed stood, his muscles quivering as he began to calm down, and Jo watched as Steve and the almost silver horse he was riding quickly caught them up and as he brought it down to a canter, a trot and then to a walk and halt she smiled over at him and, her eyes bright with the exercise and excitement of their ride, reached over and patted his horse.
"She's a fast'un, I thought you might catch me, that's why I had to get a head start on you. Now Jet here he can keep goin' longer than Star, but over a short distance she'd have him every time."
Steve looked around him, they had covered quite a distance, and they were now completely surrounded by countryside, the city of Los Angeles could be a thousand miles away, there were no sounds but those of the birds in a nearby copse of trees, and the breathing of their horses.
"Jo, where are we going?" Steve looked around; he couldn't see a path or a gateway anywhere. He saw her smile and then she carefully and gently moved Jet forward and as they got closer to the hedge a small gap appeared. First of all the horse seemed reluctant to go through it, but with a little coaxing he slowly moved and then disappeared from sight. Steve pushed Star forwards, and the mare not wanting to be left alone followed without pause.
The ground went steeply downward, and Steve found himself leaning back in the saddle, all the time watching Jo as he had been told to do so that any stumble she took he could avoid.
After a while the ground levelled out and Jo waited for Steve to pull up beside her. "We have a little ways to go yet, but I just wanted to make sure you were ok."
"I'm fine, and this is just beautiful. Can you see where we're going to end up, or is it hidden?"
"No, if you look down a little, you can see dark green, we are aimin' for that. Honey, are you all right, do you want to get down and stretch your legs some?"
"No, I'm fine, and enjoying it much more than I thought I would. It sure beats the hell out of Ponyland!" Steve smiled and blew her a kiss. He had been a little cautious about going for a picnic on horseback, knowing that Jo was a far better rider than he, but she had wanted to do it so much, and the day was for them to be happy together, so he had given in, gracefully he hoped, and now he was glad he had.
"Ok then I reckon about another ten, maybe fifteen minutes an' we will be there." Jo clicked with her heels and her tongue at the same time and Jet sprang back into life, shaking his head and flicking with his tail, and it was clear that he knew just where he was going.
Steve watched as Jo headed away from him and followed her. The path seemed to double back on itself a little, and Steve could see the clearing where they had stopped for a while before it disappeared behind a large gorse hedge. If anything the air seemed to get quieter, and there was an almost surreal quality to the landscape. For a moment Steve wouldn't have been at all surprised if a hobbit or a troll hadn't wandered out of the undergrowth, and then with a laugh he shook his head and sent his fantasies back where they belonged. Jo looked back at him.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just fine, Jo this is beautiful."
"It sure it isn't it? I'll tell you all about it when we stop."
Steve just nodded, and then Jet stumbled, and with a gasp Jo found herself clinging to the neck of her steed.
"Honey, are you ok?" Steve pulled Star up as close as he could get to Jet without scaring the animal and leant in and took hold of the reins. Jo sat up and then slipping her feet out of the stirrups she dismounted and checked round all four legs to make sure that her horse was fine.
"Shhh, it's ok baby, Mommy's here, it's ok." Jo kept up a soothing chatter as she carefully and expertly moved her hands down each quivering leg, checking the muscles, and then lifting up each hoof to check that he hadn't spread a plate. Finally Jo straightened back up and smiled. "He's fine, that will teach me to keep my eyes front an' centre an' not at the handsome man followin' along behind."
"Are you sure that you are able to carry on?" Steve was worried, and it showed in his face.
"Honey, I usually come off this animal at least once a week that was nothin', I am fine, an' I have no intention of stoppin' now, we are almost there. We are so close we can walk the rest of the way if you would like."
"Ah, no, I would like to carry on riding, I feel more confident on Star than leading her, is that all right with you?"
For an answer Jo smiled at him and then with, it appeared, no effort at all she leapt back onto her horse and began to move forward once again.