Chapter 4

She sighed trying to search the note for hidden meanings. Soon realising how fruitless that was, she packed up and left.

In the cab her mind raced about what he made of the whole scene before with Martin. She went back over all that she had said and all of what Martin had said, trying to decide if any of it would have upset him.

She knocked on his door and heard soft music coming from inside. He opened the door and gave her a hug before he let her in. He was telling her it was ok, that he was ok. She began to speak but he put his hand up to stop her.

"Sit" He took her coat and led her to the sofa. Mindlessly humming he took off her shoes and rubbed her feet.

"Better?"

"Much better"

"Well, now you are going into the bedroom and getting changed into something comfortable. By the time you do that dinner will be ready, then we'll eat and then you're having a bath."

"Really, so you have my entire evening planned to the minute huh?"

"Yes I do now get in there; you're putting the schedule behind! Shoo, shoo."

Samantha smiled broadly; he was taking care of her. She had missed being the centre of his world and his attention.

After a delicious, if slightly overcooked (well, he tried) dinner, Samantha settled into the bath. Her tense muscles instantly relaxed and she leaned back to enjoy the hot water.

Jack came in and sat down on the edge of the bath and stroked her face. She'd fallen asleep.

"You're gonna go all wrinkly in there you know."

"Mmm, it's nice though." She mumbled coming round.

"Come on, lean forward and I'll wash your back."

She obliged and delighted at his touch, thinking how heavenly it was to have him all to herself and how difficult it was not to pull him in over the side.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about earlier?"

In all her relaxation she had put her conversation with Martin out of her mind. She sighed and nodded.

"I know I wasn't meant to hear it, but I'm glad I did."

"Really? I thought you'd freak out whenever I began my rambled speech."

"It was a good speech. It's obviously something you needed to get off your chest. I was flattered. I mean I knew you loved me, I guess I just didn't know how much or for how long. Did you really mean what you said about wanting me to be happy with Maria?"

"Yes. All I want is to see you happy, if it had to be with her then that was how it had to be."

He stopped rubbing her back and knelt down next to her on the floor.

"Thank you. It's all I wanted for you too except I was selfish. I only wanted you to be happy with me."

He looked away as if ashamed of what he'd said. He felt guilty that she had tried to be happy for him while she had been miserable.

"Jack, I know. It's ok. I'm glad because I am only happy with you. I've known that for a long time. It was just because of the girls. I respected you for trying again for them. I came from a broken home Jack. My dad took off and never looked back, never has. You're different, you're not that guy, you love those girls and they love you. I know you'd do anything for them. It only made me love you more."

He folded her into his arms, getting soaked in the process but he didn't care. She loved him and that was all that mattered. Her skin was warm and slick as he rubbed her back. Getting him excited in a way that he could finally now act upon instead of repressing it like he usually did.

"Come on out, that water's getting cold."

Noticing his excitement she said, "You could get in and heat it up for me!"

He laughed and held a towel out for her. He wrapped her in it and kissed her softly.

"I'll wait in the living room."

"I only wanted you to be happy with me." It was playing over and over in her mind.

Usually when her boyfriends had got possessive she kicked them to the kerb. She hated it. She didn't want to be anybody's, didn't want to be owned or controlled. With Jack it was different. She liked that he was possessive, jealous. It was in his blood, his nature and she loved it. In short it turned her on. Never had she known the feeling of being someone's completely and yet still her own person.

She dressed in comfortable sweats and decided to let her hair dry by itself, it would become all wavy and she knew he liked it that way. When she came out he had made her a cup of tea and put some soft music on.

They sat down together and stayed in silence for a while, they listened to the music and Samantha finished her tea. She drained all but a mouthful and passed the mug to Jack. He smiled at the memory it brought back and took it silently drinking the rest. Then he got up and washed the cup in the kitchen. She stood in the doorway and watched him. She smiled. They used to share a cup of coffee together. He'd only ever want a little bit so she would leave a mouthful in it for him and then he'd wash the cup.

Usually though, after he'd wash the cup he'd go straight into the bedroom where they'd make love. Tonight he placed the cup back into the cupboard and leaned back against the worktop. She'd perched up on the worktop opposite him. Her legs were swinging beneath her as she lowered her head but still looked at him.

"So?" He folded his arms.

"So what?" She smiled, knowing full well what he was getting at.

He moved over to her and put his hands on her legs. He slowly moved them up and down the tops of her thighs as she sighed and closed her eyes at his warm and gentle touch, wondering how she ever did without it.

She smiled again, placing her hands on his, lightly grazing her fingers up his forearms. He shuddered and smiled.

With their gaze locked he slowly began to lean into her face for a kiss. She began the same action, stopping millimetres from his lips.

"I love you." She said firmly, burning her gaze into his eyes. He nodded.

"I love you too."

She leant in the rest of the way and softly pressed her lips to his. As she did he felt his whole body relax. Still with his hands on her legs he moved them gently apart so that he could stand in between them and be closer to her. As he did so the kiss deepened and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer to her. His arms went around her back going underneath her shirt, gently rubbing circles on her bare skin as their kiss became more and more intense. She groaned from the skin to skin contact.

Her legs wrapped tightly around his back and she became aware of how aroused he was. Both of them let out a moan as they pressed against each other. She pulled back from him and they both sighed heavily, trying to recover from the kiss. Her legs were still around him and he still had his arms tightly around her. She wondered how to tell him that she wanted to go to bed with him. She knew he was still afraid to rush her but the desire inside them both was too great to resist. She smiled wryly as she figured out a way. Her hand travelled to his face, stroking it softly as her finger traced a line down from his forehead to the top of his ear. He began to smile, knowing what she was doing by the wicked look that had just entered her eyes, but he let her do it, curious to know if it would still be there.

Her finger found what it was looking for just behind his ear. She waited for his reaction. He closed his eyes and moaned and she laughed softly. She replaced her finger with her tongue and his moans became louder and deeper.

When they had first spent the night together she had ran her hands through his hair and discovered this soft spot by accident. Simply touching it drove him wild. He told her his knees went weak and he'd do anything she said whilst under the spell. So, it became a silent invitation by her. Every time she touched it or licked it, it meant she wanted to go to bed.

"That is not fair." He managed to say as she continued her assault on "the spot".

"Does this mean you want to go to bed?" She mumbled a yes and that was all he needed. He scooped her off the work top and settled his hands under her backside, giving it a squeeze as he did so. She moaned again and that was it. He had to get her into the bedroom right now, he thought to himself. He turned around and began to walk forward with her in his arms.

"You know, you're going to have to stop that if you want me to be able to walk."

She stopped and laughed; licking her lips and kissing him again.

He somehow opened the door to her bedroom and his favourite scent hit him as he had never forgotten it. If he had to he'd name it "Simply Samantha". It was an amalgamation of her shampoo, perfume, the laundry detergent and softener she used on her bed clothes and the natural sweet scent she had anyway. It made him dizzy with desire for her and gently set her down on the bed so that she was sitting on it with her legs on the floor. Once again he knelt in front of her and kissed her. He slowly took off her t-shirt and sighed when he found nothing under it. She tugged at his t-shirt and he pulled it over his head, discarding it on the floor.

He laid his head on her chest, hearing her heart pounding against his ear. His heart seemed to be matching it beat for beat.

Their love making was slow and tender, later as they lay still tangled in each other; awake but silent he turned on his side and supported his head with his hand. He looked into her eyes and took her hand.

"I never stopped loving you, you know. I was just trying to do right by everyone and I ended up hurting the two people who should have been my priority all along. Us."

"Let's just forget about it. That was our past, this is our future. I don't want to waste anymore time, I just want to be with you." She said softly, leaning against his chest and pressing up against him.

Later on as she lay sleeping in that little nook under his arm that only she seemed to fit into he thought back to that terrible day when he watched from across the street, powerless, knowing all he wanted to do was go barging in there like Rambo and go in and get her.

She shifted beside him and he shook the image of her on that night away. Pulling her even closer to him he was never going to let her get hurt like that again.