17 - SMUT WARNING in last part. You can skip it if you want. It won't impact the story flow for you.

St. Pierre, Honeymoon Suite

John plugged the encrypted phone that Tate had provided them into its charger. He hadn't told Natalie about the switch, knowing she would worry about Cristian, but he was concerned about how that telephone number had been accessed and if the phone itself had been compromised. The attack had taken place right after Natalie used the phone to talk to her mother. That might have been what Cristian's warning meant.

John ran a hand through his still damp hair and walked over the window. They were on the 10th floor of the hotel, which was the tallest building in its area so he wasn't that concerned about being watched. From this vantage point he could see over the border to Canada, where tomorrow he and Natalie would continue their flight.

He didn't let on to her, but he was getting very uneasy about being out in the cold this long. Last word Bo had gotten was that the organization responsible for taking Cristian out from under Tico Santi's nose and programming him to kill Tico and then the other heir, Antonio, was also responsible for the attack on the safe house. The same organization that was supposed to have been taken down by now. John wasn't sure what was true and what wasn't, but he was certain that they were not safe to go home or even to stop running.

He'd had talked it through with Tate while Natalie had taken a nap earlier. Tate had asked him if he was making the danger out to be worse than it was because he was afraid to go back home with Natalie and move forward. Whether this running away was from danger or from his feelings. John smiled ruefully. It was a fair question. He'd been running from his feelings for Natalie for a long time. Seizing on every reason or escape to avoid them or convince himself he couldn't have her. All John could do was trust his instincts and do his best to keep her safe.

John sighed and picked up his gun and made sure it was loaded. He wished he had a target range to escape to right then. He hated thinking about this stuff almost as much as he hated talking about it. Yet, he couldn't seem to stop the thoughts crowding in on him. When he thought Natalie was kidnapped by the Killing Club killers and possibly dead he'd realized that he might never get to fix things with her. For the most part he thought he had, as much as he could while things were left open with her husband - be that grief or parting. Or, he thought with a sinking in his stomach, trying to make things work with Cristian.

Holding the gun John walked to the other side of the suite and opened the door. He peeked out at the hall and then the stairwell that was across the hall from their plush room. Satisfied, he went back into the room and closed the door. He engaged the locks and then tested it with a pull.

'All clear?" Natalie asked.

John turned around, a quip ready on his tongue. Then his tongue and brain seized as he caught sight of Natalie standing at the bathroom door clad in a turquoise slip.

"I asked if we're all clear." Natalie flipped her still-brown hair over her shoulders and waited.

"You look beautiful." His voice broke on the last word.

"Thank you." Natalie smiled and skimmed her hands over the silk at her hips.

'No. Thank you." John looked around for a place to put his gun.

"Actually, I think you should thank Tate."

"Oh, I will. I will."

Natalie walked over to John and took the gun out of his hand. He toyed with the silky strap on her shoulder. Natalie moved out of his reach towards the bed and put the gun down on the bedside table.

"Tate had another present," John said.

"Oh?"

John walked over to one of the suitcases and pulled out a box and tossed it to her.

She caught the box of condoms and laughed. "Subtle. But only 12?"

John walked over towards her and put his fingers through her hair. "I like the brown, but I can't wait until it's so red it burns my fingers." He moved his fingers to her neck.

"John?" Natalie sighed as his touch sent shivers down her spine and her nipples hardened.

"Hmmm?" John was completely focused on making Natalie melt.

"John?" Natalie loved the look of total concentration and lust in his eyes. "I want to make love with you."

"I kind of figured that out." John tilted her head back and pressed his lips to hers and took her under into a passionate kiss.

"You were saying?" John asked as he pulled up for air.

"What?" Natalie kept her eyes closed and tightened her arms around John's neck.

"About making love."

Natalie opened her eyes and blinked a few times. "You said you wanted to wait for some...some." Natalie pulled away from John and walked a few feet away. She stood with her back to him as she tried to gather her words. Then she turned around looking completely serious.

"I'm not going to change my mind if we wait, I can promise you that," John said.

"I'm not either, John. I want to be with you. I want there to be an 'us' and I don't want to wait. Look at us. Where we are." She motioned around the room. "We're running from people who want to kill us. We may not have a lot of time."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Natalie felt her stomach flutter at his intensity. She loved when he was in cop mode, when he was protective of her. She also knew when she had to draw a line and remind him she could take care of herself in some situations. Like this one. She walked back towards him and put her hand on his cheek.

"John I have wanted you for a very long time. It hasn't been easy and without hurt, but here we are in this moment. I don't want us be cheated out of any more time together. I love you."

John's eyes glistened with unshed tears and he swallowed with difficulty.

"John," Natalie said softly.

"I love you, Natalie." He cupped her head and brushed back her hair.

Natalie smiled and her face glowed. John's lips lifted in a smile that he did his best to not repress as was his habit.

"We're going to condition those lips so they don't fight a smile." Natalie put her fingers to his lips.

John's eyes darkened and he captured her fingers with his lips.

Natalie laughed and put her other hand behind his head and pulled it down. John let her fingers go and initiated and sweet, slow kiss. His hands cupped her waist and then slid up the silky material up her rib cage and stopped below her breasts.

"No more waiting."

>>>>>>>>>

Natalie was sleeping on her side, John curled around her. The blanket was pulled up under her arms as the room air conditioner cooled the room just below most people's level of comfort. Fortunately, both John and Natalie liked it that way.

John stroked her bare arm as he watched her sleep. Their lovemaking, all three times, had been like nothing he had ever experienced before. He sent a brief thought to Caitlin, but then he let it go. He had never felt so connected to a woman before while making love. Not even that first time after they came back from Atlantic City had it felt like this. That had been fun and passionate. They were both different now.

There was no Haver, no Caitlin and no Cristian between them. It was just them.

John felt himself harden again at the sense memory of being inside her. He couldn't help but press himself against her bare skin, but he didn't want to wake her. They had a long way to go tomorrow and he wanted her rested and alert. God, he smiled to himself, he was just making excuses. He just wanted to take care of her. He stopped stroking her arm and wrapped his arm around her and held on.

He bit back a groan as she shifted in her sleep, grinding herself into him. His slid his fingertips down her clavicle and slipped under the sheet and rubbed her nipple. He felt it harden under his fingers. His breathing quickened.

His hand trailed down her body and he nudged her legs apart with his knee. He dipped his fingers in her moist center and she let out a moan.

"You're awake."

"Ever since little Johnny woke up against me."

"Hey, watch it with the little." He punctuated his scold by slipping a finger inside her. He teased. Aroused. Tempted. Slid another finger in and caused her to writhe against his pulsing hard on.

The ghost of her taste filled his mouth.

Her hand gripped his hip and pulled at him desperately. He had intended, had thought that after making love with her three times that this time would be less frantic, but he was already craving to be inside her hot core.

He felt around blindly behind him for the condom box. He heard it hit the floor and he groaned.

"Get them, dammit!" she ordered.

He whipped around and picked them up.

Natalie pulled it out of his hands and ripped one out of the box. She opened it with her teeth and prowled toward him. She unfurled the condom over him and then sat herself down on hjm.

Both of them moaned in satisfaction as he filled her. John supported her arching back as she raised and lowered herself on him. Her breasts brushed his chest and her hair was tangled in his hands. Within minutes she was panting and on the edge.

"That's it, baby."

John felt himself gripped and squeezed by her inner contractions, but he held back his own release just until he felt and saw her reach the peak. Then he emptied himself. They kissed sloppily and moaned into each other's mouths up and over the pleasure ride and as their bodies shook in the aftermath. He gathered her against him and held on.

"I love you." He didn't know how lived without her in his arms.

Tonight they had gotten to a new level in their relationship. Tomorrow they would enter a new country.