Galena

Chapter 5

A week later.

Galena sat behind the computer, working carefully as she ran over the security reports. It seemed like forever had passes since her date with Jesse. That had been quite an interesting night for her.

First he had confessed that he had already decided to marry her. That had made her uncomfortable, but only for a minute. She had dreamed about it so many times, and the thought that it could actually happen was pleasant.

Then the incident with the wine had happened. She had tried to make him think that she did not care about the dress, but in reality it was one of her favorites. She loved the way he looked at her when she wore it, and the way she felt in it. It had been a shame to see it ruined.

What bothered her more was the fact that he still had not asked her to go out with him again. She had made sure their evening had ended well enough. She had pulled him into the laundry room with her and spent nearly and hour and a half kissing with him. She had only stopped kissing him when she felt he could not take anymore with out it going too far, and even then she had been tempted. She wanted him, and wanted him badly.

After their make out session in the laundry room they had gone to her room and cuddled while they talked. They had spent almost three hours just talking. When Galena had started to fall asleep, Jesse had gently kissed her forehead, tucked her into the blankets, and left. She wished he had stayed so she could have enjoyed having him next to her, but it had not worked out that way.

She could not figure out why he had not approached her about a second date, she had even analyzed everything with Shalimar and Emma with out getting an answer.

She started to twist one of her long curls around her finger. Was it possible that Jesse had changed his mind about her? Her hazel eyes began to fill with tears at the thought.

Jesse stepped into the lab just in time to see the tears begin to stream down her cheeks. He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Galena lied as she pushed him away. She crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Just thinking about an e-mail I got this morning. It turns out an old friend died about a month ago."

"Oh, Baby." Jesse whispered. He pulled over anther chair and sat down next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine." She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave him a fake smile. "You are supposed to be working on the Helix."

"Already finished it." he cupped her chin in his hand. "And you are more important anyway." he kissed her forehead. "My future wife is far more important than anything I do around here."

Galena nodded slightly. "Say it?"

"I love you." he pulled her into his arms. "I love you more than anything else," he pulled away from her and looked into her eyes, "but I hate it when you lie to me. Now tell me what is really bothering you?"

"It's just that it has been a week and you still haven't asked me to go back out with you. Was our first date that bad?"

"Gal," Jesse shook his head, "I was planning on doing that this afternoon. I thought you might like to go out clubbing, just the two of us."

Galena smiled softly and fell into his arms. "I'm sorry that I doubted you. I love you, Jesse."

"Finish what you're doing and we'll go watch a movie or something. We can go clubbing tonight if you want."

"That sounds great. I could go for a movie about now." she pulled away from him long enough to close out the programs and turn off the computer. "Let's go. Or better yet, let's stay here for a while longer." She got out of her chair and sat down in his lap. "Bren is out for the day, and no one will bother us."

"Alright, but you are not going to keep me in here all day. I don't mind stealing away for a while so we can be along, but I have to take care of one or two small things so I can meet up with my father tomorrow."

"I don't want you to go see him tomorrow." She laid her head on his shoulder. "Please cancel with him, Jess. I worry too much when you go to see him."

"I can't cancel, Baby. My mother is coming this time, and she has something she wants to give me. Besides, I have to brag about my beautiful girlfriend."

"Than take me with you. You can show me off and maybe I can relax about you going to see your father."

"You'll probably get to meet them in a couple of weeks. They are going to pretend they still like me and throw this stupid, formal banquet for my birthday." he rolled his eyes. "Be glad you weren't born into money. That life is enough to make you crazy. Constant lies and everything is political."

"Why do you put up with it then? Tell them that you don't want to have anything to do with their politics."

"I'm doing this for us, Gal." he tightened his hold on her. "As long as I play along with them our lives will be easier, you'll get the wedding you deserve, and I'll be able to help Adam. My father has connections, and if I play along with him for long enough I may be able to use those connections."

"But do you really want to put everything out on a gamble? There's nothing worth it, Jess. All I need is you, I don't care about the wedding or anything."

"I'm also trying to get back on the cleared list to visit my grandfather." he softly kissed the top of her head. "They would adore you. My parents are the only ones who don't approve of my choices. My grandfather was a hero, Gal. He's everything I wanted to be as a kid, and I want you and our kids to have a chance to know him."

"Alright." Galena sighed. "I'll let you visit your father so you can see your grandfather again."

"I love you, Gal. Let's go somewhere else and relax for a while."

"Could we go to my room and paint my nails?" She sat up and gently kissed him.

"You are a mess. I never should have told you that Juls taught me to do manicures."

'Well what do you want to do with me?"

"Do you remember how we spent three hours talking and cuddling when we got home after our date?"

"I remember the time in the laundry room better."

"I'm not up for another one of those make out sessions. I spend half the time debating if it is alright for me to be kissing you like that. I'm still on thin ice with Brennan when it comes to you."

"We're just kissing! There is nothing wrong with how we interact with each other. We're both over twenty-one, Jess."

"I just don't want to risk Brennan interfering in our relationship, and if he thinks that we are being overly physical he will." He smirked and lightly kissed her. "Not to mention the affect that you have on me."

Galena wrinkled her nose and smiled slightly. "And here I thought you didn't think that way about me."

"How can I not think of you like that? You are a beautiful, smart woman; and you are also the woman that I love."

"Well you act far too much like a proper gentleman around me. I'm planning on marrying you! I think you can loosen up a little."

"Give it time, Gal. Brennan has to get used to the idea that I'm dating you, hell, I still have to get used to the idea." he gently kissed her.

"Alright, but just remember that I want this," she pulled him into a deep, long kiss, "and eventually I'm going to need this."

"I'm not ready to go there with you, and every time We're alone together I find myself wanting to carry things further than I should. It is just too soon for us to take that step."

"Can we at least talk about taking that step?" she snuggled into his arms and closed her eyes.

"I guess we can do that." he sighed as he tightened his arm around her shoulders. "I want to be with you like that, but there is a lot to consider. I don't want our first time to be just an expectation. I love you too much for that."

"I want it just as much as you do." she reached for his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "I need you to talk to me about this so I can make sure that our first time is perfect."

"The first time is never perfect." he squeezed her hand. "There are always far too many nervous thoughts, and you are both too focused on what you are doing wrong to enjoy it."

"You're not making this any easier on me." She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not very experienced."

"Is that why you are so nervous about it? Don't worry, Baby. You and I are going to be fine. The first time may not be perfect, but you always remember it every time you hold that person or kiss them, and it is the best part of that experience that stays with you."

"I guess there is no need to ask if you've got experience."

"It doesn't matter, Baby." he kissed the top of her head. "I love you more than anything."

"More than your computers?"

"More than my own life." He stood up, scooping her in his arms. "You and I are going to watch a movie for now, and then I'll take care of a couple of things for Adam while you let the other girls doll you up."

"Alright. I guess you can put me down and let me walk though."

"You're light and it's not that far to walk." He gently kissed the top of her head. "Besides, I think I like holding you like this."

Galena giggled and closed her eyes as she rested in his arms. "Brennan would never like this. It looks too much like We're about to get married."

Jesse laughed slightly as they stepped into the rec room and put her down on the sofa. "That part doesn't come until after the wedding." he sat down next to her, still laughing as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 'You know that I love you, right?"

"Of course." Galena slid closer to him and adjusted herself so she was straddling his lap. "I love you too." she pressed her forehead against his. "Now are you sure that you want to watch a movie?"

Jesse pulled her close to him and gently kiss her. "It's a hard choice, but I think we'll be watching the movie." he closed his eyes as he tried to slow his racing pulse.

"Come on, Jess." Galena whispered and kissed him slowly as her fingers tangled in his hair. "I need some attention."

"If we start this now I don't think I'll be able to stop. I don't trust myself with you."

"Alright." Galena sighed as she slipped away from him. She settled back into her place beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. "You are going to have to loosen up some though."

"Give it time, Gal. We'll make this work if we're careful."

"Do you want to take this a step further?" Galena looked up at him as she took his hand in hers.

"That is exactly why I don't want to start anything." he squeezed her hand as he held her.

"Living in the same place, having such a close relationship, and constantly working together have all been factors in making us comfortable with each other, but I'm thinking that maybe we got a little too comfortable."

"So what, you want to cool our relationship?" her tone was frustrated as she tried to understand him.

"Baby, I just want to be careful. If you said yes I'd take you to one of our rooms right now. I want to be with you so much, but we can't go there yet." he put his arm around her and cuddled her close to him. "It may be tomorrow that we're ready to take that step, or it may not be until our wedding night."

"Alright." she closed her eyes for a minute and then quietly let go of Jesse's hand and got up.

"I'll see you this evening when we go clubbing."

"Gal, I don't want you to leave. Just come here and cuddle with me while we watch a movie."

"Are you sure you'll be able to restrain yourself?" she teased as she sat down next to him again and took his hand in hers.

"I'm absolutely sure." he kissed the top of her head. "Choose the movie that you wan to watch."

"Alright." she got up and walked over to the video cabinet, looking over the movies that were offered. "Do you mind 'American Pie 2'? I haven't seen it and I guess it is what you would call a morbid curiosity."

"That sounds fine." Jesse answered as he laid back on the sofa while Galena put the disc in.

Galena got the movie set up and walked back to the sofa. "So where am I supposed to sit?"

"Just come here." Jesse half laughed as he held out his hand to the girl.

Galena carefully laid down in his arms with her head on his chest. Jesse gently stroked her back as he held her, trying to enjoy the few minutes with the girl.

Later that night

Galena sat in front of her vanity mirror as she carefully began to put on her make-up. Looking over at the bed she smiled, thinking about how much Jesse would like her outfit.

She had bought it just a couple of days before and had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to wear it.

She carefully swept the make-up brush alone her cheek bone as she put on her blush. She bit her lip as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. There were still many times that she could not understand what Jesse saw in her.

'He had his beautiful Juliet and now he's got me. I don't know how any man could get over loosing a girl like her. Or maybe he isn't over her. He always tries to avoid talking about her when I try to find out more about her.' she felt the tears brimming in her eyes and quickly looked away from the mirror. Her sight landed on a picture of her and Jesse, she smiled softly as she looked at it, everything from the way he was holding her to the way he was looking at her in the picture conveyed his love. She quickly dabbed her tears away with a tissue and went back to getting ready.

She finished putting on her make-up, twisted her hair up into a loose bun, and pulled on her clothes. The soft, sky-blue mini skirt barely reached mid-thigh and showed off her long legs. The top was made almost like a men's dress shirt in the same color as the skirt. It tied halter style under her breasts and barely covered anything in the front, she put on the silver heart pendant that Brennan had bought her as a surprise and the small diamond earrings that Adam had given her when she had mastered the computers. Her shoes were strapped silver stilettos and she carried a matching hand bag. She looked in her full length mirror and smiled.

Impatient to go she ran out of her room, across the hall, and into Jesse's room where he was working on a final file. "I'm ready to go, Jess."

Jesse swiveled the computer chair around and smiled as he looked her over. "I just have to finish this up and we can go. Come over here and see if you can help me with it."

"Alright." she walked over and sat down in his lap.

He swiveled the chair back to face the computer. "There is one line of data in there that has this program running too slowly, but I can't find it. Adam thins this is pretty important and so he's put our date on hold until I find it."

Galena looked over the screen for a second and then smiled brightly. "It has a double frame load sequence." She pointed at the data line. "Each frame has to load, unload, and reload before the frame comes up on the screen."

"You're right." Jesse gently kissed her neck. "I can set this up to fix while We're gone."

"I'm glad I managed to help you. Do we get to go now?"

"I think we do. Which car do you want to take?"

"Yours. I like the way it drives." she slipped off his lap and straightened out her skirt.

For the first time Jesse noticed what Galena was wearing. "You look amazing."

"I'm glad that you like it." she smiled and took his hand as they walked out of the room. "I bought it just for you."

He let go of her hand and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. "And you've got new perfume too."

"Jasmine. Do you like it?"

"It's perfect." He deeply inhaled to let her scent imprint itself in his mind. "I should probably

ask you now if you are planning on drinking much."

"I don't want to pass out like that first time. I'm hoping we can do a little more talking and cuddling tonight when we get back."

"You are never going to let me get out of that are you?"

"I thought you liked that part of a date." she pretended to put and then gave him a bright smile. "I guess I'm loosing my touch on you."

"Trust me, Galena, you're not." he stopped for a moment to unlock her car door and let her in. "As soon as we get back from the club you and I will spend a little quiet, quality time together."

"You really know how to make a girl happy."

Jesse cranked up the car and pulled out of the garage as they drove down the road he reached over and took Galena's hand. "I at least know how to make you happy. I'm not so sure I would know how to make other women happy."

"You'd be surprised how good you are with women." she smiled and squeezed his hand.

"You're gorgeous, rich, smart, funny, and I could go on and on about what a great guy you are. Sometimes I'm amazed at how lucky I am to have you."

"Not half as lucky as I am to have you."

Galena blushed and leaned closer to him. "I love you, Jesse."

"I love you too." he let her cuddle up to him and smiled. "You'll never know how much it means to me that I have you."

"You want to tell me and see if I can get it?" she crossed her fingers, hoping that he would open up to her.

"Another time. I don't want to ruin tonight with stories of my past."

"You know that I'll understand whatever it is that you're not telling me."

"Trust me, this is not the time to explain the reasons I have so much trouble going into my past. A lot of bad things happened to me and the people that I cared about."

"There's not much that you can protect me from. I heard and saw just about everything that you can imagine when I was living in my father's house. His parade of girlfriends was a real eye opener."

"We'll talk about it one day. Tonight I just want to enjoy being with you."

"Alright I guess that I can wait till later."

"This kind of thing takes time; and trust me, we'll have plenty of time."

"Alright, but you have to promise me that I'll get the full story someday."

"I promise."

They fell silent as they road to the club. Galena decided to just enjoy her time with him instead of pressing the issue any further. Jesse relaxed when she left him alone about the subject. He knew that eventually they would have to face it, but he wanted to postpone that day for as long as he possibly could.

They pulled into the parking lot of the club and Jesse parked the car. He got out of the car and walked around to let Galena out of the car. As they walked to the club he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.

The bright lights flashed in Galena's eyes and the music blasted as the and Jesse stepped into the club. She leaned closer in to him as they made their way over to the bar. Although the club was almost empty, the music made enough noise to make the club seem full. They sat down at the bar and Jesse ordered their drinks.

Galena sipped at her drink, the normal strawberry daiquiri, and smiled at Jesse. "How did you find this place? It is so quiet here, well except for the blaring music it is quiet in here."

"I called in a favor from an old friend." he took a quick drink of his beer and smiled at her. "The only other people here are employees of the club. My friend shut down the club tonight for us with the condition that her employees got to have some fun too."

"Well this is almost as good as having the place completely to ourselves."

"Actually you're going to have the place to yourselves." A petite blonde walked up to them. "I'm Deana Matherson, and I own the club."

"Galena Varren." Galena half whispered.

Deana smiled and turned to Jesse. "She's as adorable as you told me she was. Now, make sure you lock the place up when you're done, and try to avoid staying past legal operating hours. Take what you want from the bar, we've got the 'Bartender's Bible' so feel free to mix it up. And the drink is sex-on-the-beach, not sex-on-my-bar." She lightly kissed him on the cheek, tossed him the keys and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Galena."

Galena bit her lip as she watched Deana and everyone else leave. Once everyone was out of earshot she started to laugh. "Does she really think that we'd do that!"

"That is just Deana's personality." He took another sip of his drink. "And I happen to know she did it once." his eyes sparkled slightly. "Fortunately she did that on a weekend that the bar was closed."

Galena smiled as she sipped at her drink. "So, were you scared that you would fall off the bar?"

"You are good." he leaned over and lightly kissed her. "But let's just forget about the past and concentrate on the present."

"I love you." she took his hand and then leaned in to kiss him again. "Can you put on some better music for us?"

"Give me just a minute." he got up and headed to the cabinet that housed the stereo system. "There is a bottle of wine chilling for us behind the bar. If you'll get it out and find a couple of glasses I'll pour us some."

"Alright." Galena got up and walked to the bar. She stepped behind it and quickly located the wine cooler. Inside was a single bottle of Chardonnay with a red ribbon tied around it. She pulled the bottle out and set it on top of the counter. It was quickly followed by two, long stemmed, crystal glasses and she began to hunt down the corkscrew.

Jesse joined her at the bar and carefully opened the bottle. "I think you'll like this better than the daiquiri." he poured them each a glass and the re-corked the bottle. "I hope that tonight goes better than the first date. I don't want to ruin that outfit."

"I kind of like this one, so I'd prefer that it not get ruined." Galena smiled and leaned over the counter to kiss him. She felt herself relaxing as the softer music Jesse had chose filled the room. "Do you want to dance?"

"Sure." Jesse agreed and set his glass down.

Galena set her wine down and walked around the bar to Jesse. He pulled her into his arms as they made their way out to the dance floor.

2 hours later

Galena leaned back into Jesse's arms as she finished the last of her wine. She had made it through four, full glasses with out passing out, but was beginning to feel the slightest bit tipsy. To Jesse the girl was clearly drunk, but he decided not to say anything. There was no point in causing trouble that night.

As a song with a slightly faster tempo began to play, an idea began to form in Galena's head. She got up and headed over to the bar where a cabaret were set up, mostly just for show.

Jesse watched as the girl climbed up on the bar and carefully twisted around the pole. Although it went against his better judgment he leaned further back in his seat and just watched her.

With sloppy, drunken movements Galena managed to twist herself around the pole in a very sensual manner. Her fingers carefully untied her top and she let it drop down to the floor.

Slowly she twisted around the pole and landed in a perfect split. She unzipped her skirt and let it fall to her ankles before kicking it off.

Jesse sat in the booth staring at the woman who was now only in her bra and underwear, both of which were very laced baby blue pieces that revealed plenty of what was underneath them. Thoughts of how much further he wanted to carry things began to run though his mind and he felt his pulse run faster than it had ever run.

Galena neatly jumped down from the bar as the song ended, picked up her clothes, pulled them back on, and then walked back over to Jesse. She slid in next to him and softly kissed him. "Did you like the show?"

"It will be a week before my heart rate returns to normal." he pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "Where the hell did you learn stripping and pole dancing?"

"One of my old friends worked at a strip club for a while. She thought it would be a good idea if I learned how to do it." she blushed slightly. "I hope that I didn't do anything too cruel to you."

"I think that I'll manage to live." he gently kissed her. "You are a very beautiful and very sexy woman."

"And you are a very hot guy." she giggled and slowly climbed into his lap. "I think that we had better go home before I do anything that I'll regret. The stripping was bad enough, but I don't know what I might do next."

"Alright, I'll take you home." he softly kissed her. "Next time we'll have to bring the others too."

"And I wont be able to do any stripping for you." she slid off his lap and straightened her skirt. She stumbled slightly, but Jesse managed to catch her. "I've gotten just a little sloshed." she giggled.

"Yeah, just slightly." He carefully led her to the door and out to the car. "I'm going to go lock up. You wait here and I'll be back." he headed back into the bar, scribbled out a quick note of thanks, turned off everything, and locked the door behind him. When he got out to the car he found Galena sound asleep. He shook his head slightly and then cranked up the car and drove them back to Sanctuary.

A week later.

"So has Jesse told you anything about what his parents plan to do for his birthday?" Emma asked as she handed Galena a plate to dry off.

"All I know is that it will be a formal banquet. He's waiting on an e-mail from Noah to let him know who all is invited." She put the plate in the dried stack and took another one from Emma. "Once he finds out who all is invited I'll go shopping for my dress."

"You do realize no matter what they do about the rest of us Noah and Isabella will want a chance to meet you." Emma rinsed the last dish and handed it to Galena. "You'll be the deciding factor when it comes to who inherits the Kilmartin estate."

Galena looked at Emma questioningly. "Doesn't Jess get it all since he's an only child?"

"You'd think that they'd do it that way, but no. Isabella's sister has a son close to Jesse's age. Unless the Kilmartins decide to give everything to Jess the estate will go to his cousin."

"So unless they like me Jess is out of his inheritance?" Galena leaned against the counter. "That seems horribly unfair."

"That is how it goes with people who have money, but don't feel bad. Several of Noah's friends have no kids to leave their estates to, and Jesse will probably get some money from that. He's well liked by the family's friends. And his grandfather has a bit of an estate that will go to him. There isn't much money there, but Jess will get a lot of the things that he treasured as a child."

"That will mean a lot to him." she started putting away the cleaned dishes. "I'll be glad when Brennan manages to fix the dishwasher."

"I think we all will." Emma gave Galena a warm smile. "They will love you. You are just as adorable and sweet as you can be."

"Thanks, Em. I guess I'm still a little nervous about all of this. When he told me what his parents had done to him I couldn't understand why he still goes to see his father every so often."

"As much as Jesse hates the politics that come with having money, he loves the connections he can get and use for the Underground. And I think somewhere in his heart and mind he still wants a good relationship with his parents. No matter what they do to you they are still your parents, and a part of you will always want to have a relationship with them."

"I can understand that." Galena bit her lip as she debated with herself for a moment. "I still wish I could have a relationship with my father. When the time comes I want it to be him that Jess asks for permission to marry me from, not Brennan. I love my cousin, and I appreciate all that he's done for me, but it is not the same."

"Have you and Jess been talking about marriage already?"

"It's been mentioned once or twice." she began to twist a long curl around one finger. "We've decided that we are going to get married eventually, but we want to spend some time dating and really getting to know each other first."

"I guess that it would be dangerous for you two to start a relationship that could end up in a disaster. There is no where to escape here, and I can't imagine either of you ever wanting to leave." her gray eyes sparkled at the secret. "I promise that I wont tell Brennan anything about what you just told me."

"Good. If he knew he would kill Jesse." she put away her last dish. "I'm still not completely sure though. Jesse and I do love each other deeply, but that doesn't mean he and I will definitely be getting married. For all I know we could still decide that marriage is not the right relationship for us and decide to part as friends."

"I guess that is a possibility, but I don't see it happening. Over the last several months Adam, Shal, and I have seen the development of you relationship with Jesse, and it has been large part of our conversations. Adam has known since day one that you were the right one for Jess, and Shal and I began to agree with him only a few days later."

"Nice to know that you've all been spying. I guess I don't need to give you anymore gossip sessions."

"We still don't know what happened when you got back from the club last week." Emma pointed out.

Galena smiled softly as she thought back to how her second date with Jesse had ended.

Flash Back

Galena woke up just as Jesse parked the car. "Sorry I fell asleep on you."

"It's alright." he whispered. "We had a late night and you've got to be tired."

"A little." she confessed. She leaned over to him and kissed him, gently at first but the kiss quickly became more heated. She crawled over the console so she was in his lap facing

him, found the lever on the seat, and then used the lever to lay the seat back.

Jesse's hands slid down to her hips as he kissed her. Even though his body was beginning to react he did nothing to stop her. Instead he let his hands slide back up her back and allowed his fingers to find the knot that held her shirt up.

She started to tense when her shirt fell from her body, but let herself relax as his hands explored more of her skin. She began to unbutton the soft pink shirt he was wearing, letting her fingers brush against the warm skin of his chest. She was unfastening his belt when she felt his fingers open the clasp in the front of her bra. The instant she felt his hands lightly on her breasts she stopped and pulled away from him. "I'm sorry. I-I can't do this." she stammered as she quickly refastened her bra and put her top back on. "I really want to, but I'm not ready. I don't want our first time to be like this."

"It's alright." Jesse pulled her to him for a soft kiss. "We still need to talk about it some more anyway."

Galena opened the car door and got out. "In other words you don't have one on you and would have had to stop it anyway."

He smiled as he fixed the car seat and got out of the car himself. "I love the way you always know what I'm not saying. It's been well over a year so I don't keep anything in my wallet, and anything I did have would be expired."

"You're going to have to remedy that situation soon." she gently smiled at him and then took his hand. "Come cuddle with me for a while, and this time don't leave me when I fall asleep. I want to wake up in your arms."

"Let's compromise." he kissed her. "I'll come cuddle you for a while and stay a little while after you go to sleep, but I'm not spending the night. Waking up to you in my arms is what I will savor most the first time we make love so I want to wait till then."

Galena smiled brighter and then led him out of the garage.

End Flashback.

"Gal?" Emma called.

"Sorry." she shook her head. "We haven't made love yet and all that happened last week was a bit of cuddling."

"Alright." Emma pulled out the teapot and filled it with water. "You still haven't given any details about what happened on your date. I know he got Deana to shut down her club for the night, but that is it."

"It really wasn't that interesting."

"I'm a Psionic, you know that you can't lie to me. I promise not to tell Brennan."

"Alright." Galena relented as she sat down at the table. "He took me to Deana's club where I was completely surprised by us getting the club to ourselves. She had a bottle of wine chilling for us, and told us to help ourselves to whatever."

"Deana has always been nice like that. I an think of several times that she has closed down the club for us so we could have a party or whatever." she continued to work on making the tea. "So Deana left you with the club and a chilled bottle of wine."

"We spent about two hours dancing and talking. I think I drank most of the wine on my own." she smiled softly. "I didn't pass out, but it did affect me. I put on a partial strip show for him right before we left."

Emma raised an eyebrow as she looked at the girl. "You put on a strip show for him?"

"I only got down to my underwear and bra." she looked down at the table and then looked back up. "I guess I got a little carried away."

"You can kick back a little sometimes. If you want to put on a strip show for him you can. I just never thought that you would be one to do something like that."

"I don't think anyone thought I could do it." she took the cup of tea that Emma handed her. "I actually have a bit of a confession to make. When we got home the other night we didn't come in immediately. We nearly took that step."

"Did he tell you why he stopped it?"

"I stopped him actually. I was there in his arms, and we were slowly, well not so slowly, moving on to that next step. I think if he'd gone a little slower with me we would have gone there."

"Were you ready to go there with him?" Emma asked gently.

Galena inhaled deeply and then exhaled. "I don't know. I want to be with him. I can't help but thinking about how our first time will go, and I want to take that step. I just get scared every time we get close to it."

"He doesn't want to force you into anything, and he'll wait for as long as you need."

"I know." Galena whispered as she sipped her tea. "I think that we both want it, but We're both nervous about taking the step. He's a great guy and I love him to death."

"But it is a large step to take, and one that will change a lot in your relationship." Emma filled in what the girl left unsaid.

"Exactly. I don't want to do anything stupid."

"You'll know when the time is right." Emma promised.

That evening

Galena laid on Jesse's bed, flipping though a book while Jesse checked on his e-mails. She looked up at him for a moment and smiled. I don't know how in the world I managed to get a guy like him

"Are you ready to hear who all is invited to the banquet?" Jesse asked as he shut down his computer.

"I guess." she put the book down and sat up.

"We are all invited. For once they didn't cut anyone from their invitation list."

"That sounds nice. I guess the girls and I will get to go shopping tomorrow then."

"Probably. Have you got any idea of what you are going to get?" he laid down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

Galena snuggled back into his arms and closed her eyes. "I'm not telling. I want it to be a surprise."

"Fair enough."

"So when is the party?"

"Next week. You've got eight days to find an amazing dress."

"And your present. What do you want?"

"Nothing." He tightened his hold on her. "I've got everything I want right here."

She smiled slightly and interlaced her fingers with his. "There has got to be something you want for your birthday."

"If you are going to insist on buying me something, there is a complete collection of Byron that I wouldn't mind having. It would be something that we could enjoy together."

"Alright." she turned to her side and lightly kissed him on the cheek. "You want to skip out on the movie night thing and just hang out in here?"

"There's too much temptation in staying here." Jesse sighed. They laid on the bed in silence for a moment before he spoke. "We need to talk about what nearly happened last week."

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to."

"Gal, this is serious stuff. I know we both try to convince ourselves that we'll stop things before we go too far, but last week is an example of why that wont work."

"We stopped it." Galena whispered stubbornly.

"We almost didn't stop it." he gently kissed her forehead. "I love you, Gal, and I don't want us to do anything that we will regret. I screwed up the last relationship I was in, and I don't want to mess this one up."

"You're not going to mess this up." she reassured him. "We know what we are doing here, Jess."

"We think we know what we are doing, but this is a complex situation. We're living and working together in addition to dating. We don't have room to make mistakes."

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself. No relationship is perfect. I mean look at Shalimar and Brennan, they are constantly getting into spats. They just manage to get past their problems."

"Alright, lets not debate about that. We need to discuss our physical relationship."

"We both know the basics about that step."

"Gal," Jesse sighed, "don't make this difficult. We've come a long way since you moved in, and everything that has happened to us has made an impact on our relationship, sex will affect it even more."

"I know, Jess. If we have that kind of relationship we'll be changing this in our relationship, and there are plenty of risk factors."

"I just want to make sure that we are both ready for those changes."

"I'm getting there." she whispered to him. "I'm getting there."

Two days later.

Galena twirled in front of the three way mirror as she admired her dress. "Jesse is going to love this dress!"

"You look beautiful." Shalimar smiled at the girl.

"It is a great dress." Emma agreed as she stepped up next to Galena so she could look at her dress. "You are going to steal the show at the party."

Galena giggled and went into the dressing room to change back into her clothes. "I hope Noah and Isabella like it."

"They'll love it." Shalimar said as she picked up the discarded dresses and put them on the rack on the main door. "Isabella likes fancy things, and Noah likes whatever she tells him to like."

"So where to after we check out?" Emma asked.

Galena bit her lip for a moment as she debated with herself. "I need some help with Jesse's birthday present."

"I thought that was what the book was for." Shalimar questioned as the girl stepped back out of the dressing room.

"It is what I'm going to give him when all of you give him his presents but I want to do something extra special for his birthday."

"What do you have in mind?" Emma asked as they walked to the cash register to check out their dresses.

"Don't tell anyone." Galena whispered. "I want his birthday to be the first time he and I make love."

Shalimar and Emma exchanged a quick look with each other.

"Are you ready for that?" Emma asked quietly.

"Don't you want to wait till your wedding night!" Shalimar asked forcibly.

"No, I don't want to wait that long." Galena shot Shalimar a look for revealing her secret.

"So you've never?" Emma asked in disbelief.

"Never." Galena answered. "But I am ready to take that step. I just need you to help me buy some stuff. I want to get something sexy to wear and anything else you think I should get."

Shalimar and Emma exchanged another quick look while Galena signed the receipt for their dresses.

"Well?" she asked as she put up Adam's credit card.

"I guess we'll help you with the shopping." Emma answered and took the garment bag from the sales clerk. "But if we help you shop we also have to talk about a couple of things."

"I don't need a lecture. Brennan gave me enough to last a life time."

"Take it or leave it, Gal." Shalimar warned. "We're not going to be able to help you unless you know exactly what you are getting into. It is important that you know all of the risks."

"Shal, I think we can back off slightly." Emma spoke softly as they left the store. "Galena is responsible and Jess is more responsible than any guy I've known. She'll be fine with a short, quick talk."

"Alright," Shalimar relented, "we give her a short talk later."

"I'll go with that." Galena agreed. "Now let's go."

Six days later.

Galena stood in front of her mirror as she checked over her hair, make-up, and dress. Her dark brown hair was piled up on top of her head with a few curls cascading down. The dress was a strapless baby-blue silk ball gown with a sweetheart neckline and a full skirt. In keeping with formality she wore full length white dress gloves. She carefully lifted the hem of dress to look at the silver dancing shoes she had on. Smiling in satisfaction she turned away, picked up her purse and fake fur shawl, and stepped out of her room just as Jesse was stepping out of his room.

"Wow, you look really good in a tux." Galena smiled as she gently kissed him. "I may have to find away to get you in that tux a whole lot more often."

"Fortunately I almost like wearing tuxes. You look absolutely wonderful."

"So I guess we are going to meet up with the others in the garage."

"Actually, they are going in the SUV, and we are going to take my car. I want to have a little more time alone with you tonight."

"We're leaving before they do then?"

"No, they are already gone." he put his arm around her waist and walked down the hall with her. "I also wanted a chance to run over a few thing about tonight. I know you're used to formal events since Adam has brought us along to so many, but you've never met my parents."

"I'll be fine. I'm used to dealing with people."

"I know, Gal. I just want to give you a few guidelines about dealing with my parents. There are just some subjects that don't need to be brought up."

"Alright, give me your warnings. I don't want to cause a fight at the party tonight."

"It might be almost amusing to see you start a fight." Jesse laughed as they got in the car and began the drive to the Kilmartin mansion. "First of all, don't mention anything about my work with Adam. They both hate him. The only reason he was invited was to keep me from boycotting the party."

"You wouldn't have done that."

"You'd be surprised about what I'd do. The next subject to avoid is my childhood. If they bring it up you can talk about it, but you don't want to bring that one up. In conjunction with that you don't want to bring up my grandfather. I don't know if he'll be there or not, but there are issues there. The only other thing you really need to keep in mind is that money is power and power is what makes you right or wrong. As far as my parents are concerned you and I have little to no money so we are only right if we agree with them. If my cousin Leonard is there don't get into any arguments with him. He's currently the one set to inherit the family fortune so he's always right."

"Unless he disagrees with them?"

"You're learning." he took her hand in his. "I'll try to stay with you for the whole night, but if we get separated for a while one of the others will try to step in. they know who to avoid and who is good to talk to. I've got a couple of other cousins who will take care of you and I'll try to introduce to them as quickly as I can."

"Don't worry too much about me. I'll sweet talk everyone into liking me."

"I'm sure you will. Just don't over do the sweet talking. Its not good for you or anyone else."

"Alright." she laughed and smiled slightly at him. "So what do you think you're getting for your birthday."

"The girls will probably take tomorrow to cook for me like they do every year. Adam normally gives me a computer game or something for the computer. Brennan is the hard one to figure out. He had never given me the same kind of thing twice."

"And what do you think I'll give you?"

"I don't know." he confessed. "This is the first time you've given me anything."

"At least try to make a guess."

"I'm not good at guessing, but for you I'll try." he thought for a moment. "The book that I told you I wanted. The one with the complete collection of Byron's works."

"I guess we'll see how good you are in a couple of hours." She glanced out the window as they drove through the richer section of town.

"These are about half the size of my parent's house." Jesse glanced out the window and tried to identify a couple of the houses. "The one on the right corner belongs to Erik and Rose Taylor. They lived in our part of the neighbor hood for a while, but moved out of there recently."

"The house must have been too big after their daughter left, or too full of bad memories." Galena said as she stared at the house.

"So how do you know that?" Jesse looked at her questioningly.

"Because their daughter was Corinitha Vanya Taylor-Varren." Galena's eyes were a mix of amusement and sadness. "That is my grandparent's house."

"Do you want to go see them? I can show up to the party as late as I want."

"No." Galena shook her head. "I'm not ready to see them. Let's just go on to the party."

"Alright."

They drove silently through the neighborhood. Jesse focused on the road, occasionally glancing over at Galena who was looking at all of the houses. As they drove the mansions grew longer and more spread apart. Finally Jesse pulled into the drive way of one of the mansions.

The rolling lawn was carefully manicured and the landscaping was flawless. The windows of the house gleamed with light and soft music came floating in from the back yard.

Jesse passed by the other guests' cars and parked in the private garage, waving off the attendants who came rushing toward the car. He got out of the car and walked around to Galena's side where he opened the door and took her hand as she got out of the car.

"We're going through the kitchen just to make my mother a little crazy." Jesse explained. "Undoubtedly she's been by the front door waiting for us to arrive."

"You are a very bad boy sometimes." Galena half scolded as she leaned against him. "But I get we are going to have a lot of fun tonight."

"Just try not to get into trouble." Jesse warned. He lead her into the house where they stepped into the kitchen.

"Jesse!" one of the cooks cried when she saw them.

"It is good to see you, Rosa." Jesse said as he hugged the older, Hispanic woman.

"Mrs. Isabella is not going to like you coming in through the kitchen." Rosa scolded. "But at least I get to see my favorite boy and get a look at the little dear who has stolen his heart." Rosa put her hands on Galena's face and carefully examined her. "She'll give you good babies. She looks like the Taylor's daughter. I can't believe she's related to that scoundrel that always pretends to steal the silver."

"I guess you've met Brennan." Galena laughed. She felt at home with the woman and could understand why Jesse was smiling more broadly than he had since she had known him.

"That boy is trouble, but you are a dear." Rosa kissed both of Galena's cheeks and then straightened Jesse's bow tie. "Now both of you get out there. You must get the fortune back from Leonard."

"I'll try to sneak her back in here later so you can question her." Jesse promised as he lead Galena out of the kitchen.

"I like her." Galena whispered.

"Thought it would be good for you to see her before We're thrown to the lion's den."

They stepped into the main hallway and then walked to the ballroom. Galena's eyes lit up as she took in everything around her. She saw Adam talking to an older couple who she figured had to be important. In one corner of the room Emma was laughing and talking with a man who looked like a slightly older version of Jesse, while Shalimar and Brennan were both talking to an older man in formal military dress.

"This is so pretty!" Galena exclaimed.

"Glad you like it." Jesse started to lead her over towards where Shalimar and Brennan were. "There is someone I want you to meet before we go deal with my parents."

Galena smiled and allowed him to lead her.

"Jesse!" the older man said when he saw them walking over. "You're father said you had a surprise."

"And I do." he hugged the man. "Grandpa, let me introduce you to the woman who will probably be next to take the family name, Galena Varren."

"It is nice to meet you, Sir." Galena smiled warmly.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you." William Kilmartin answered as he took the girl's small hand and kissed it. "I always knew that my grandson had good taste in women. If he ever gets around to asking you to marry him you will make a fine addition to the family."

"It will be a while before he asks her." Brennan spoke up. "They just started dating a couple of weeks ago."

"I am sure that they will make an appropriate decision." Shalimar continued quickly.

William smiled and gently began to lead Galena away. "Noah and Isabella will be waiting to meet you, and I'm sure that they want to see their son. Leonard is starting to annoy them."

"Has he brought home another one of his girls?" Jesse asked as the trio walked away.

"She's quite something." William laughed. "He never brings home a woman that your parent's approve of, but this one that you've brought is adorable. You're a Taylor aren't you?"

"Why do you ask?" Galena fought to keep her tone smooth.

William looked at her again and smiled wistfully. "You look exactly like Cor did. She ran away a good twenty five years ago to marry some guy. His family had money too, but he had been cut off for some reason."

"Talking about the Taylor's is an invitation for trouble." Jesse said, trying to save Galena from the subject.

"It's alright, Jesse." Galena whispered. "I am Corinthia's daughter. She died when I was just a little kid."

"Your mother was a very nice woman and everyone liked her." William gently squeezed the girl's hand. "Ignore whatever is said about her and your grandparents. Most of the people around here don't understand love."

"Jesse Alexander!" a female voice called.

Jesse cringed as he turned to face Isabella Kilmartin. "Mother."

"How do you think it make your father and I look when you show up and hour and a half late to your own party!" Isabella scolded. "We have been worried to death that something happened to you."

"No, We're fine." Jesse reached for Galena's hand and pulled her closer to him. "I guess I should introduce you to my girlfriend."

"Yes, you should." Noah said as he walked over. "I've been hearing about this girl for weeks and I'll be glad to finally meet her."

Galena smiled softly as she put her arm around Jesse and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She quickly decided that Jesse got most of his looks from his father, but had his mother's hair and eyes. "I've been waiting to meet you too." she said softly.

"Mom, Dad, this is Galena. Gal, my parents Noah and Isabella Kilmartin." Jesse tightened his arm around Galena.

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Noah said as he gently shook the girl's hand. "You are all my son ever seems to talk about."

"You are pretty." Isabella said slowly as she looked over the girl. "I hope that you are all that he says you are."

"So do I." Galena whispered.

"Are Jace and Aaron here?" Jesse asked as he looked around the room.

"Out by the pool." Noah answered. "I wouldn't take her to meet them. You're cousins are both slightly drunk. Take her to meet Leonard."

"She'll be fine." Jesse argued. "We'll be back by the time dinner is served." Jesse lead Galena out of the room. "They don't particularly like Jace and Aaron."

"So do you think your cousins are drunk?"

"Probably." Jesse smirked. "Jace is eighteen and Aaron is nineteen. They try to drink whenever they can." he led her out to the pool where his two teenage cousins were drinking.

Galena was once again struck with how much like him Jesse's cousins looked, but these two had dark hair and eyes. "How many times did your parent's families intermarry?"

"My dad's oldest brother married my mom's older sister, and that is why Leonard looks so much like me. Jace and Aaron are the sons of the middle Kilmartin brother."

"Jesse!" one of the boys said as they both walked over to them. "She is absolutely gorgeous!"

"Don't get any ideas, Aaron." Jesse warned. "I'm not going to give you the slightest chance to steal her."

"But you wan us to help you protect her from Uncle Noah and Aunt Isabella." Jace guessed.

"Only if I get separated from her. She'll need you two to swoop in and protect her if that happens."

Jace and Aaron exchanged a look and then turned back to face Jesse.

"You sneak us some wine or something and we'll do it. Uncle Noah has already cut off our supply and the evening has barely started." Aaron said and held out his hand.

"One glass each." Jesse agreed and shook his cousin's hand. "Now I don't want any trouble from either of you about this."

"Don't worry, Jess." Aaron laughed. "She'll be in good hands. Now you need to get in there and let the real party get started. Rosa made her herb chicken for you."

"Alright." Jesse put his arm around Galena's shoulders and led her away. "At least I don't have to worry about you being thrown to the wild savages anymore."

"I like them." she leaned in closer to him. "They are nice kids, even if they like alcohol a bit much."

"Don't worry about them, they can handle it."

They stepped back into the ballroom and were swept away by the activities of the evening. They sat through the dinner, which was full of speeches give by a select few of the guests.

After dinner Galena was given a whirlwind set of introductions to meet the rest of Jesse's family and some of the Kilmartin's important friends. As Galena was being introduced to the family Jesse got pulled away for a while, but Jace and Aaron immediately stepped in to keep an eye on the girl. She soon found herself in a lively conversation with the two brothers and Jesse's grandfather.

Jesse managed to break away from the guests and stole away to the corner where Galena was. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist as he kissed her neck.

"You want to help me open the presents that everyone brought?"

"Sure." Galena giggled. "I can hardly wait to see what you will get."

"Mostly useless stuff." William laughed. "No one on the guest list has ever been known to buy a gift that anyone actually likes, but it will be a good chance for you two to escape for a minute."

"I think my team mates will have come through with decent gifts." Jesse laughed as he took

Galena's hand and let her away into a small room where presents were stacked on a table. "Finally, I get a few minutes alone with you."

"So that is why you wanted to come in here." she softly kissed him and leaned into his arms. "I love you."

"Love you too." he held her tight for a moment and then kissed the top of her head as he let her go. "Lets open a couple of the presents for image at least."

"Yeah." Galena sighed as she followed him over to the table.

Jesse sat down in a chair and drew Galena onto his lap so he could hold her. "So we have just a few billion presents we can go through. That should be enough to save us from the party for a while."

"We can open them until your mother comes looking for us." Galena giggled as she picked up on of the presents and looked at the gift tag. "Is this one really from Senator Morrison?"

Jesse checked the gift tag. "Yeah, don't be surprised if we find presents from several important people. My father has always prided himself on knowing influential people."

"Well, let's se what you got!"

Jesse opened the paper and found a leather photo album with a note inside. "'For pictures of you and your future wife'" Jesse read aloud. "I guess my parents have been spreading the word that you and I are together."

"And I guess they all assume that we are going to get married."

"I only seriously dated a couple of girls, and not a single one of them has been mentioned in years. You are probably they first one that hear about for almost ten years. Besides we are planning on getting married."

Galena smiled and handed him another package. "This one is from Adam."

Jesse opened the paper to find out what was inside. "A new computer game, just like I told you. 'Tunnel Quest.' This one might be one of the better ones."

"I guess it looks pretty good. Just don't let it get you in trouble." Galena looked at the game for a moment and then handed him another present. "This one is mine."

Jesse felt the present before beginning to open it. "I'd guess that this is the book I asked you for."

"Why don't you find out." she turned so she could lightly kiss him.

Jesse put down the book as he kissed her back, harder and more demanding. The intensity of the kiss made him want to take her over to the sofa he knew was just a few feet away and make love with her there and then. He knew that he should probably stop but he did not want to.

"Jesse." Noah said as he walked into the room. "You're mother wants you. She says it is time for the dancing."

Jesse sighed as Galena broke away from him and got up. "We'll be right with you."

Noah nodded and walked out of the room, he would have to have a discussion with his only son later.

"I'll make it up to you later." Galena promised as they walked back into the ballroom where the music and dancing had already begun.

Jesse took her out onto the floor and began to lead her in the steps. "This means We're almost done with the night. The only thing after dancing is us saying good night to the guests, then we can sneak into the kitchen and talk to Rosa while she eats."

"That sounds good." Galena smiled softly. She wished that a regular slow song was playing instead of the formal waltz so she could lean into Jesse's arms.

"You don't like this do you?" Jesse led them into a quiet corner and pulled her into his arms, ignoring all rules of propriety and the looks several of his mother's friends shot him for disrupting the dancing.

"It's better now." she closed her eyes as they swayed to the music.

"We'll stay back here as long as we can. Of course that might not be too long." Jesse sighed as he saw his father leading a woman over to them.

"Jess," Noah began, "this is Lexa Pierce. She's with some friends of the family. Why don't you dance with her for a minute while Miss Varren and I go talk to Leonard. Your cousin is very interested in getting to know her better."

Galena stepped back from Jesse to look over the woman Noah had brought over. 'So, I'm not good enough for them. They've go to set him up with some black-haired, blue-eyed knockout that has the luck of being friends of friends of the family. It is almost tempting to say who my parents were.' She lightly kissed Jesse and followed Noah away.

Jesse gave Lexa a slight smile and took her hand as they stepped back out onto the main dance floor. He spent nearly twenty minutes dancing with the woman who kept trying to bring the conversation around to his work with Adam. He glanced around the room, trying to find Galena, but he could not locate her. Finally he decided to take drastic measures. He deliberately miss-stepped causing Lexa to trip and fall to the floor. Jesse carefully helped the woman up, trying his best to look apologetic. "Sorry for that."

"It's alright." Lexa forced a smile, no way was she going to deal with him for a minute longer. He might have information on Adam Kane, but he was too focused on his girlfriend to talk about work. "I think I will try to find some champagne."

"I'll see you later then." Jesse said as the woman left. He managed to spot Galena talking with Leonard and Aaron and walked over to them.

"She's horribly boring isn't she." Leonard said when he saw Jesse approaching them.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Jesse denied as he pulled Galena to him in a front to back hold.

"You deliberately tripped her." Leonard smirked. "I've known you long enough to know that you don't make mistakes like that when you dance."

"I was worrying about what you were doing to my girlfriend."

"I had her!" Aaron protested.

"Doesn't mean that I wasn't worried." Jesse kissed the top of Galena's head. "Now I'm going to take her out to dance for a while."

"Just don't trip her." Leonard joked as Jesse and Galena walked away.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing away, stopping only when the band put away their instruments. Jesse managed to make nice with the guests as he bid them good night. Finally the only people left were Jesse, Galena, the Kilmartins, and the staff. Jesse took Galena to the kitchen so she could talk to Rosa for a while and then went to find his father in the study.

Noah Kilmartin was seated at his desk with a glass of brandy. He looked up when he heard Jesse come in. "Close the door behind you and sit down. I want to have a word with you about Miss Varren."

"Of course." Jesse sighed as he closed the door and then sat down in the chair across from his father.

"She is related to James and Lisa isn't she?" Noah asked as he poured a glass of brandy for his son.

"I don't know." Jesse confessed. "We've only talked about her mother's side."

"I like her, Jess. It is your mother who has a complaint. The girl is young and lacks the social skill needed to be a Kilmartin." Noah took out two cigars, put one in his mouth and lit it. The other he offered to Jesse who refused it. "You already have strayed from the path that we wanted you to follow, and I don't think she is good for you. What ever happened to Juliet? She is the kind of woman who could do the Kilmartin name justice."

"She was my best friend, and she died over a year ago." Jesse gritted his teeth and downed half his glass of brandy. "At least I don't bring home prostitutes like Leonard does."

"I will admit his taste in women is poor, but he had a good head for business. You did too before you started to work with Adam Kane and developed that hero complex of yours."

"It is late and Galena needs to go to bed so can we cut to the chase?"

"Alright." Noah looked his son square in the eye. "If you marry her you loose any chance of getting the fortune. Everything that your mother and I have worked so hard for will go to your cousin."

"I don't care about the money." Jesse countered. "I never have and you know it."

"You're right." Noah nodded. "That is why I didn't argue with her about this. By the way, you're back on the list to visit your grandfather. Happy birthday, Son."

Jesse nodded and left the room, heading back to the kitchen where he could hear Galena and Rosa laughing. "We've got to go, Gal. I'll bring you back to talk with Rosa some other time."

"Alright." Galena hugged the woman as she followed Jesse out. "I'll call you and we can talk."

"You do that." Rosa kissed both of the girl's cheeks and both of Jesse's cheeks. "You be nice to her, and be careful with her tonight. She loves you very much to have planned what she has."

"Alright, Rosa." Jesse laughed as he and Galena walked out to the car. "Any chance of you telling me what she was talking about?"

"No chance in hell." Galena gave him a bright smile. "How did it go with your father?"

"The contest is over." Jesse sighed in relief. "He and my mother have made up their minds about the money." he returned her smile and lightly kissed her. "We wont see a cent of it, but I've gotten back on the visitation list."

"That is great!" she hugged him and then gave him a long, hard kiss. "I love you!"

"I love you too. You ready to go home?"

"Yeah." she smirked as they got in the car. "I'm ready to go home and go to bed."

"Then lets go." Jesse agreed, missing the hidden meaning behind her words.

An hour and a half later.

Galena stood in front of her mirror, carefully looking over her reflection. She had left her hair up and her make up on, but had completely changed clothes. The soft, formal blue dress was carefully put away where it could be safe until she could take it to be laundered, and she had changed into a baby blue lace teddy with a matching short robe. She slicked on a coat of lip gloss and then wrapped up in a blanker. It took her a moment of hesitation before she managed to leave her room to go across the hall and softly knock on Jesse's door.

Jesse opened the door and was slightly surprised to see Galena. "I thought you wanted to go to bed?"

"I promised that I'd make up for our interrupted kiss." she gave him a soft smile. "Do I get to come in?"

"Yeah." Jesse stepped back to let the girl in and then closed the door behind them. "Are you cold?"

"A little. Bet I'd warm up if you held me." her tone was slightly playful.

"Come here." Jesse sighed as he sat down on the bed. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. "About now I could be tempted to let you stay."

"Do you want me to stay tonight?"

"I wont ask you to if you don't want to."

"I know." she snuggled closer to him. "But do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

"It would be nice. A good quiet night together." he kissed the top of her head. "But I'm not asking you to stay."

"Of course you're not." she slid off his lap. "You know, you never got my present opened."

"I'll have to see what you got me tomorrow when we open all of the presents."

"I'm afraid that you've only got part of your present in that pile." she let the blanket drop to the floor. "Happy birthday, Jesse."

Jesse drank in the image before him. She was just as amazing as he had always imagined. It would be so easy to take her down onto the bed and spend the night making love with her, the perfect ending to his not so perfect day; but he could not. There was already too much at risk and he was not about to loose her over a simple mistake. "Not tonight, Gal."

"Jesse," she pouted, "I want to. I love you."

"I love you too, Baby, and that is why we can't."

"Why not?" she sat down next to him. "We both want this! We're ready to take this step."

"I don't want to loose you." he cupped her face with his hand and softly kissed the top of her head. "If I take that step with you it will all be over before we know it. You're cousin blames me for driving Juls away, and he's probably right."

"I'm not going to leave."

"I know." he sighed. "But Brennan would never allow us to continue our relationship. Your cousin loves you, Gal. He only wants what is best for you."

"I know." her hazel eyes clouded with tears. "I just want to be with you. This is what is best for me. You, Jesse Alexander Kilmartin, are best for me."

Jesse softly kissed her. "I want to be with you too. You are the best thing that has happened to me."

She leaned into him and laid her head on his shoulder. "Forget me just wanting this, I need to take this step with you. I need to do it now."

"Alright." he held her tight for a moment. "Come to me tomorrow. We will take the night and spend it together."

"No." Galena shook her head. "I want to be with you tonight."

"Not tonight, Gal. We had this discussion the other night when we came back from the club."

"It's alright." she softly kissed him. "It is a risk that I'm willing to take. We're ok to not use anything tonight. We're both clean and I already started on birth control."

"You over plan everything."

"I just wanted to make sure that there was no way for you to talk yourself out of this. I love you."

He gently stroked her face with the back of his hand. "We'll just deal with your cousin in the morning."

"That sounds perfect." she leaned in to softly kiss him. "I love you so much, Jess."

"I love you too, Gal." he whispered as he pulled her to him. He stared into her hazel eyes for a moment and then roughly kissed her. For the first time he took no care in being gentle with her as he pressed her against him.

"Jesse, wait." Galena whispered as she broke the kiss and pushed slightly away from him. "Let's start slow. I need this, but I also need you to be gentle." she blushed slightly as he stroked her back. "This is not just our first time, this is my first time."

"Oh, Baby, I don't deserve this. Not after everything I've done." Jesse whispered. "Are you sure that you are ready for this? I don't want to push you into anything."

"This is what I want. I love you, and I'm ready for this. All I'm asking is that you be gentle with me, at least at the start."

"Alright, we'll start slowly." he gently leaned in and kissed her.

Galena felt her breath catch as she fell against him. Her hazel eyes slipped closed and her fingers tangled in Jesse's hair.

Jesse took his time with the girl, focusing his attention to her soft, full lips first and then moving on to trail light kisses along her jaw line. It was pure, unadulterated pleasure to hold her in his arms, knowing that she wanted him to have her.

Galena moaned slightly as he kissed her throat. She could feel the heat of his hands on her through the lace. Her fingers slipped to the hem of the t-shirt he had on and she worked the fabric up his body.

Jesse pulled away from her long enough to help her pull the shirt over his head, and then he pulled her into his arms again, falling back on the bed so she was on top of him. His icy blue eyes sparkled dangerously as he tangled the fingers of one hand in her long, dark brown curls. There was no doubt that she was surrendering to him. Her eyes were locked onto his and showed no fear, only love and desire.

Galena began to grow impatient as Jesse stared into her eyes. She decided to move things along and kissed him even more roughly than he had initially kissed her. She wanted him to take her then, but a part of her held out, wanting the experience to last.

Jesse slid his hands along Galena's body, wanting to feel her skin under his hands. As he skimmed her curves with a light touch he could tell that her intense workouts paid off. She was tall and delicate, but she was absolutely built with muscle. His hands cupped slightly over her breasts, the one part of her body that had always amazed him. She was built thin on her tall frame, but she had enough to fill out at least a C cup.

She whimpered softly at his touch, and let her teeth scrape against his lower lip. The experience was already better than she had expected and they were still only in the foreplay. She felt amazingly calm, no worries about what she was doing right or wrong. It was not how she had expected to feel, but she was enjoying every second of it. "I need you." she whispered.

Jesse gently stroked her face and looked into her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too." she whispered.

It was only a matter of seconds before their clothes left their bodies and they were tangled in the sheets. Galena closed her eyes as they settled into an easy rhythm, still feeling safe in his arms. It was almost reassuring for her to be there, in his bed making love with him. The sleepy hazel eyes opened as she felt herself coming closer to her first climax, and stayed locked with his through it.

The instant that he heard his name come from her lips Jesse knew that it was sealed. She was his, forever.

Hours later.

Galena woke up still feeling euphoric. She smiled softly as she rested in Jesse's arms with her head on his chest. For a moment she felt slightly worried. As much as she loved him it had been a big step for them. She took a nervous breath, but relaxed as she let it out. His hand held hers and he had an arm around her. It was as if he had known she would need his reassurance.

Jesse woke up, relieved to find Galena still in his arms. He had been half worried that she would leave him during the night, scared by the step she had taken; but she was still there. He kissed the top of her head and tightened his hold on her as he thought back to the night before.

Flashback

Galena sighed as they broke apart, both too exhausted to continue making love. "Thank you." she whispered as she cuddled into his arms.

"For what?" his finger tips gently stroked her face.

"For being gentle." she brought her hand to his face. "That was an amazing experience." he hazel eyes filled with tears and she softly cried.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Jesse asked as panic flooded him.

"Nothing." Galena wiped at her eyes. "I love you so much."

Jesse gently wiped away her tears and kissed both of her eye lids. "I love you too, Baby." he could feel the tears building in his own eyes. "I'm never going to let you go."

Galena kissed him passionately, revived and wanting to make love again.

End flashback

"Morning." Galena whispered as she sat up slightly.

"Morning to you too." Jesse softly kissed her and then looked into her eyes with concern. "You ok?"

"No." Galena shook her head and smiled brightly at him. "I'm wonderful."

"Good, I was worried. I love you, and I never want anything to hurt you, not even our relationship. I was worried that you'd regret it this morning."

"I was ready for this." she gently kissed him. "I love you, Jess."

"I want to take this a step further." he tightened his hold on her hand. "I want to share a room with you so I can wake up to you every morning."

"Alright." she laid back in his arms. "You and I will move your stuff into my room later."

"Why your room?"

"Because," she smiled softly, "it is bigger than yours."

"You win." he sighed. "We'll start moving later."

"Sounds perfect." she whispered. "Sounds absolutely perfect."