A/N: Rating for this chapter is NC-17

"Hey, where d'you think you're going?"

Jed caught her arm as Abbey pulled the duvet aside and started to move her legs over the edge of the bed.

She turned back to him. "I thought you were still sleeping."

"I was – but I woke up when you moved away from me. See, I miss you even when I'm asleep!"

Abbey swung her legs back into the bed and turned so that she was facing him, her head resting on her hand. "I was just thinking that I ought to decide what to wear to go to Brussels."

Jed grinned at her. "Now how did I know that was gonna be the first thing you would worry about?"

"Jed, all my clothes here are casual ones, apart from the suit I wore at the Inauguration."

Jed lifted himself so that he mirrored her position and reached out so that his other hand was resting on her hip. "Not a problem, honey – just wear your casuals, there's gonna be a bag of clothes for you on the plane – and hopefully a couple of decent suits and shirts for me too."

Abbey frowned. "And just where are we supposed to change into these clothes? The restroom on the plane?"

"No – in what used to be our bedroom on the plane."

Abbey's eyes widened. "Air Force One?"

"Yep. They're using it to bring Sam and the others over to Europe so Josh has arranged for it to land at Shannon to collect us."

"So that mean we're on duty again as soon as we go up those steps?"

"'Fraid so, sweetheart. As soon as we arrive at Shannon actually – there's no way we can fly under the radar on this one."

"Do we get to fly back to America on Air Force One too?"

"Yeah."

"Oh well, that's something – I wasn't looking forward to airline plastic tray meals!"

Jed laughed. "You're incorrigible!"

"I am, aren't I?"

"Come here." He leant back against the pillow and Abbey moved into her comfort zone, with her head against his shoulder and his arm wrapped around her, his fingers idly twirling the strands of her hair.

"I've been thinking–" he said slowly.

"Oh, dangerous pastime, Josiah!"

"No – seriously. This thing tomorrow has made me realise that I don't actually want to stay in the political arena any more."

Abbey moved her head back to look at him. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Jed, you've been in the political arena more than half your life now, you're a politician, you started being a politician when you ran for the Statehouse thirty years ago."

"I'm also an economist, in case you've forgotten."

"So is that what you want to go back to?"

"I don't want to go back to anything, I want to go forward."

"To what?"

"That's what I'm not sure about right now. But you said something the other day that made me think."

"I did?"

"Yeah, you said, 'This is something you feel strongly about' – and it made me start thinking of just what I feel strongly about."

"And?"

"That the sixty four thousand dollar question, isn't it? I feel strongly about so many different things."

"You can't fix everything, Jed."

"You've said that to me before."

"Yes – and I always loved you for trying."

"I still feel that I need to do something more. I think Jimmy Carter must have felt the same – he set up his Carter Centre to advance human rights."

"Is that what you want to do?"

"I don't know – maybe something on the same lines, but not the political stuff that he's still involved with. Something practical, something that will help people, give them hope that things can get better – if not for them, then at least for their children, for the future–" Jed sighed, and shook his head, then gave her a small smile. "I'll get there, Abbey – just give me time."

"The code of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says 'We shall give our children better than we ourselves had.'"

"Who said that?"

Abbey smiled. "You did – years ago, when you were campaigning in New Hampshire."

"Did I? You've got a better memory than I have then! But yeah, I guess I always wanted to make the world a better place for our children and their children."

"You're echoing Eddy there."

Jed nodded slowly. "Yeah." He gave a small smile, then went on, "I wonder what he would think of the world today? His generation won the war against the threat of Hitler's National Socialism, they thought they'd ensured a new era of world peace – but then we spent the next forty years in a Cold War against Communism, we had Korea and Vietnam – and now we've got a whole new war against terrorism. A better world for our children? We're not making a very good job of it, are we?"

"You did what you could, Jed. You got Zahavy and Farad to sit down together and talk."

"While at the same time we were bombing the hell out of Syria."

"The terrorist training camps in Syria – not Syria itself."

"Yeah, okay. You know, I scared myself sometimes at the White House."

"Why? I mean, yes, I know you did – but why in particular?"

Jed thought for a minute. "It was me versus the President at times. I did want to bomb the hell out of Syria when they shot down that plane with Marcus Tolliver – that scared me, feeling like that, feeling white hot with fury. And that was me – not the President – and it scared me – because I could actually have ordered it."

"Leo and Fitz wouldn't have let you do it."

"They didn't let me do it. Fitz painted a scenario of an attack on the airport – and then said the world would see it as – what was he said? – a 'staggering overreaction by a first time Commander-in-Chief.' That was the point when I realised that I had to separate myself into me the person and me the President. It wasn't easy."

"I know."

"It never got any easier either. The times when as President I had to do things that I had to struggle to do – not commuting a death sentence, sending troops into danger areas – and Shareef of course–"

"Jed, don't go there."

Jed looked at her for a long moment then tightened his arm round her, remembering the hell of their long estrangement, when Abbey had taken herself off to the farm, when he'd felt so bereft that it was as if he had lost part of himself. "Please don't ever stop loving me, Abbey," he said suddenly.

She looked up at him and saw the vulnerability in his blue eyes. "I couldn't ever stop loving you," she said softly.

He drew in a deep breath. "I wish we could stay here like this and make love for the rest of the day."

"No can do, babe – what time do we have to leave here?"

"About eleven."

Abbey glanced at the clock at the bedside, then gave him a seductive smile. "Okay, so that gives us about three hours then."

"I could probably last about three minutes right now – but I do like your confidence in my abilities."

She slid her hand down him and then grinned as she felt his erection "My God, you do want it, don't you?"

Jed closed his eyes and groaned as her hand went round him, her fingertips sliding up and down. "Jeez, that is soooo good, just keep doing that to me." Then, with another groan, "No, stop – else I'll come before we've even started."

"What do you want me to do then?"

"Just kiss me."

"Where?"

"NO, not there – oh God–" His body stiffened as she made to go down on him. "Abbey, just give me a minute," he gasped and leant back, his eyes closed.

Abbey smiled to herself as she watched him. She loved it when he was helpless like this – loved knowing that she could still have this effect on him – loved knowing that she only had to touch him again and he would be gone. Just thinking about it sent a hot flame of desire shooting right through her and her whole body stiffened suddenly in response.

She knew he had felt it too. He was breathing heavily, fighting for control. Eventually his eyes opened and he looked up at her. "Goddammit, woman, why do you have this effect on me?"

"Because I'm the sexiest creature alive?" Abbey murmured, repeating the words he had said to her so many times.

"Because you're the sexiest creature alive – and because I love you–" Jed's voice dropped a tone and became husky as he went on slowly, "–and because any minute now I'm gonna come inside you – and take you right up to the top of the cliff – and hold you there on the edge – and then we're both gonna fall over the edge together."

Abbey felt her whole body melting at his words, knew that the sensations racing through all her nerve endings had already started that ascent, but she pretended to be casual. "Sounds okay to me."

His crystal blue eyes were a mixture of love and lust as looked up at her. "You ready for the cliff edge then?"

Another wild spasm shot through her and she knew that the same look would be in her own eyes. "You know you turn me on when you talk like that."

"Like what?"

Now he was tormenting her and her body was taking over, her skin getting hot and starting to tingle. "When – when you tell me what you want to do," she managed to whisper.

"You like me telling you?" he asked, his voice low and so sexy – so incredibly sexy. "Telling you how much I love to hold your breasts? – feel your nipples harden? – trail my fingers down you? – until I reach your thighs – and then–" Again her body responded and with a groan she dropped her head back on to the pillows.

"I think – I think I might just like it even more when you do it," she said, then drew in her breath as she felt his hand on her breast.

"Here?" he asked softly. "Or here…Or here?" His hand moved to her other breast, then down to her stomach, then slowly, torturously, started sliding further down. Abbey knew that she was at the point where he'd been just a few minutes before – one more touch and she would be gone.

"Jed – please–"

Jed recognised the desperation in her voice and moved to lift himself above her. She looked up – looked into those intense blue eyes and knew that she was already on the edge, her body aching for him and the release he could bring her.

His eyes looked down at her, almost apologetically now. "I can't promise that I can hold this for very long, sweetheart."

"Neither can I," she breathed. As he slid inside her, she felt herself quivering with the building climax inside her. "Neither can I," she repeated with a short gasp.

As soon as he started moving on her, she knew that she was seconds away from losing everything. "Jed!" she cried as all her senses raced towards the release. No need for the frantic search for that release, it was coming just because he was there, deep inside her. "Oh – oh God – oh yes – Jed! – Je - ed!"

Jed felt her contractions pulling against him and was propelled straight into his own mind-blowing release as he groaned her name over and over…

"I guess I was right about those three minutes, wasn't I?" he said casually when they finally came back to earth again and she collapsed into helpless laughter.

At eleven o'clock they were both ready when the two black cars pulled up outside the cottage.

"Here they are," Jed said, holding Abbey's dark brown coat for her to slip on over her black trousers and dark red sweater. She turned back to him, pulling her hair away from the collar, and he started to fasten the buttons for her.

"Well, I suppose this makes a change from undressing you, doesn't it?" he said with a chuckle.

Abbey started to make her way towards the door but Jed's voice stopped her.

"Abbey–"

She turned. He'd walked over to the window and was standing looking out at the bay He held out his hand to her and she went back to join him.

She knew what he was thinking. "We'll never forget this week, will we, Jed?"

"No, I guess we won't." He looked at her. "It's not been the peaceful kind of week I anticipated when I booked the cottage for us – but it's certainly been a week that I will never ever forget."

"Me too. I love you, Jed."

"And I love you." He leant forward to kiss her gently, then released her as the expected knock came on the door. "Okay, let's go for it, sweetheart."

TBC