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

They finally managed to get away from the reception at about eleven o'clock. The girls had already left with some of the staff to go back to the same bar as the previous night, and even Ellie had agreed to join them this time.

"So what changed your mind about Ron?" Abbey asked as they sat in the limo which was taking them back to the hotel.

Jed looked round at her. "It was something that John Marbury said."

"Go on."

He caught hold of her hand. "He said, 'Every man here would love to have an Abigail in their lives – but the one over there is all yours.' And – well, I just knew he was right."

Abbey's forehead wrinkled into a frown. "You can't mean that it's taken you forty years to realise that?"

Jed gave a small laugh. "No, of course not – of course I knew it. But sometimes it just needs someone else's eyes to see it too, to remind you–"

"Jed, is this because of Ron?"

He looked at her. "I honestly don't know what it's because of, Abbey. I just know that John said the right thing at the right time."

"Okay."

"He said something else too."

"What?"

"He said that now I should cherish and treasure and simply be with you–"

Abbey smiled. "I should have kissed Lord John for that advice."

Jed looked at her, his face still serious. "Do you feel that for the last eight years you've had to share me with the world?"

Abbey's face stilled. "Did John say that too?"

"Yes."

"That's a hard one. I'm not sure – yes, there were times – but then there were–" She broke off. "God, Jed, I just don't know how to answer that."

His intense blue eyes rested on her. "Whatever we decide to do in the future, we have to do it together."

Abbey frowned again. "We've always been together."

"No, we haven't. You've been a doctor, I've been a politician – okay, we've always supported each other, but we've each done our own thing. But now – well, I just want us to spend whatever time we have left doing things together."

"We've plenty of time, Jed."

Jed looked away. "You know what I mean."

Abbey's lips tightened as she struggled with her emotions, knowing exactly what he meant. The MS – the damned MS – she didn't even want to think about it, not when things had been good for so long. She looked at him. "Not now – please – not now," she breathed.

"Okay," he said quietly, knowing that this was not the right time. But John's words had hit him hard – 'We so rarely live for the moment, do we?' And, deep inside him, he knew John was right, that they had to live for the moment, because there was no telling what the future might bring. And even as he thought it, he wondered whether his mother and father had done just that – before their future together had been so tragically snatched away from them.

After a long silence, he drew in a deep breath. 'Live for the moment,' he thought. His quick grin eased the tense emotion that hung between them and he looked at her under his eyelashes. "And of course when I said 'doing things together'–"

Abbey let out the breath she had been holding. This was better, this she could cope with. The other thing they would deal with some other time. "You mean 'doing – things together'?" she queried, her mouth twitching slightly.

"That's exactly what I mean right now," he said in the low voice that always turned her on. His hand reached for the split in her skirt and started sliding upwards, very slowly, along the silkiness of her stocking until his fingers reached the lacy top. All the time his eyes were watching her as she drew in a deep breath, savouring the beautiful eroticism of his feather-like touch. Aware of the driver and agent in the car, albeit on the other side of the window, she had to force herself not to let a small gasp escape when Jed's fingers finally touched her skin above the stocking. As he too drew in a quick breath, she stretched out her hand across his thigh to the hard bulge in his pants and was rewarded when he let out an involuntary grunt of pleasure.

Quickly he looked out through the darkened windows of the car. "I'll swear this damned car is taking us on a sightseeing tour of Brussels by night!" he complained.

Abbey started to laugh. "People pay a hundred bucks for a limo tour like this!"

"I'd pay two hundred right now just to be back at the hotel!"

At that moment, the car turned the corner and pulled up outside the brightly lit entrance of the hotel. "Well, there you are then!" she said, still laughing. "You gonna share that two hundred bucks between the agents and the driver?"

Jed pulled her to him for a quick kiss. "No way," he said, "but I'm gonna have my own sightseeing tour in just a few minutes from now – and it won't be Brussels by night!"

"You think?"

"I know!" he chuckled.

At the door of the suite, he turned to the two agents. "Absolutely no interruptions, fellas," he said, giving them a quick wink.

"Yes, sir."

As soon as he'd closed the door, he flung off his jacket and pulled his bowtie loose, then unfastened the top button of his shirt. "That's better," he said, "that thing was strangling me. Now come here, and let me hold you like I've been wanting to all evening!"

Abbey was pulling her earrings out. "Hang on a minute, Jed. Can you unfasten my necklace?"

"I can unfasten anything you wish to have unfastened, sweet knees."

"Just the necklace for now. We'll save the strip poker for later."

"Now there's an idea!" Jed moved round to unfasten her necklace at the same time as Abbey finished taking out her earrings. As he dropped it on to the table, he went on, "Can I muss your hair now?"

Without waiting for an answer, he buried his face in the back of her neck, loving the silky feel of the curls and the wonderful scent that exuded from them. His arms went round her, his hands cupping her breasts and she leant back against him as his mouth moved to her earlobe and then to the side of her neck.

Abbey gave a small sigh of pleasure then turned to face him. "Let's at least go through to the bedroom – then you won't have to carry me when my knees start melting." She caught hold of the tails of his bow tie and pulled him towards her, kissing him straight on the mouth, then automatically wiping away the lipstick mark with her thumb. "And let me take my make-up off first."

As he followed her to the bedroom, he started to unfasten his shirt, but she stopped him. "I'm taking off my make-up," she said, "and then I'll take off your clothes – so you just can just lie there on the bed and wait."

"Yes, ma'am!" He leaned for a moment against the doorframe and grinned at her. "You're very sexy when you're being bossy, you know? Can I at least take my shoes off?"

"Yeah, you can do that."

For a few moments, he stayed by the door watching her, loving her so much that he ached. Then he moved to pull back the covers of the bed and took off his shoes. Lying back on the bed, his hands behind his head, he looked towards Abbey as she used tissues and a tub of something to remove her make-up, and then smoothed her face with something from another jar.

"Hey," he said suddenly, "your dress isn't the same colour as these sheets."

"I told you," she said, "the sheets are cream, the dress is champagne."

"And there's a difference?"

"You just said yourself my dress wasn't the same colour."

"Abbey, you gonna carry on tormenting me for another hour?"

"Tormenting you?" Abbey hid a small smile, knowing that the longer she kept him waiting, the more desperate he became – and the more desperate he was, the hotter their sex became – and tonight she needed that.

He looked across to where she was sitting at the antique French dressing table with its bevelled mirror. "Come to bed, Abbey."

"You're not ready for bed."

"That's because you said you wanted to undress me – and just the thought of you doing that is driving me insane! We've had about five hours of foreplay already this evening, so will you please come here?"

"You come here, boyfriend."

Jed slid himself off the bed and moved towards her. She stood up and turned to him, lifting her hands to cup his face and give him a kiss. His arms went round her and the kiss deepened. But still she managed to pull the bow tie from around his neck and started unfastening his shirt buttons. His hands went round to her back to start sliding down the zipper of her dress.

"My dress for your shirt?" she said, starting the game they'd played many times before.

"That's a deal," Jed replied and then, after he'd shrugged off his shirt and she'd let the gown fall to the floor, he took a step towards the bed. "What's next?"

"Your pants for my bra?"

"Done," he said with a grin. Abbey unfastened the button and zip of his pants and pushed them down, then helped him as he struggled with the fasteners of her basque. She flung it to the floor, at the same time taking another step towards the bed.

Jed looked down at her breasts and groaned. "Oh God!" As he brought his head down to take her nipple into his mouth, Abbey gasped as the flame shot down to somewhere deep inside her. Her hands clutched his shoulders as her body arched involuntarily.

Eventually she managed to say, "Your boxers for my panties?"

"Mmm," he breathed. Still with his mouth on her breast, his hands went to her panties and started to slide them down

"End of game," Abbey whispered weakly, trying to push down his boxers, but too much on fire now to manage it. "Just get them off!"

"I thought that was my line?"

"Sexual equality rules okay!" she muttered.

Seconds later they had got rid of their remaining garments, and came back together. Jed pulled her against him, loving the feel of her softness against him. "God, Abbey, I need you," he groaned.

"You sure do," Abbey murmured, moving her hand down to his hard erection. "Hot tub again?"

Jed gave a deep sigh of pleasure as her hand enclosed him and then shook his head. "No – not yet." He brought his mouth down on hers and kissed her fiercely, and Abbey responded with the same passion, wrapping her arms round his shoulders and digging her fingers into his back as the frantic need surged inside her. He started to manoeuvre her back towards the bed, kissing her neck and then bending his head to kiss her breasts until Abbey felt that she was turning to liquid. As she reached the edge of the bed, she almost fell back on to it and then looked up at him through half-closed eyes.

"I want you, Jed – I want you so much."

He moved between her legs and she saw the naked desire in his deep blue eyes. "Lean back," he said and when she did, supporting herself on her elbows, he stretched his arms either side of her and then slid into her slowly, so slowly that she had to hold her breath, waiting for the moment when he would be fully inside her, filling her with his hardness. As he reached her very core, she collapsed backwards with a short gasp. Automatically her legs went round him, holding him, needing more.

Jed caught his breath as she tightened around him. He fought for control, pulling slowly out of her, loving her small whimper of protest and then the low moan of pleasure that came from her throat as he went into her again. Each time her body reached instinctively towards him and then they were both moving with the sure and familiar rhythm, until Jed knew that he was going to lose it completely. He tried to stop himself, paused and opened his eyes to look down at her. Her eyes flickered open too, sultry with passion and need. "Just take me, Jed," she whispered. Jed drew in a deep breath as he gave in to the demands of his body and then began to thrust deeply into her. "Come on, babe, come with me," he urged breathlessly.

Abbey lost all coherent thought. Everything inside her quivered with the frenzied onslaught to all her senses, with the fierce impulses that had overtaken her body as well as his, with the exhilarating knowledge that he had totally lost himself inside her. She was aware of his hoarse grunts and of her own cries as he thrust into her and they moved faster and faster, she felt the tingling build-up of electric sensations inside her – and then she reached the edge and arched upwards with a cry of 'Jed!' before she gave in to the ecstatic release with a gasp of "Oh God – yessss!" As her climax shuddered through her, Jed let go too with a final groan of "Abb-ey!" as he spilled into her, and then gasped her name over and over again with every spasm that jerked his body. Then he collapsed onto the bed over her, both of them gasping for breath.

"Jeez!" he said hoarsely, still trying to catch his breath. "Jeez, Abbey–" Eventually their gasps subsided and they relaxed against each other. Then, when Abbey winced slightly at his weight on her, he lifted himself off and she gave a small moan of protest as he slipped out of her. He looked down at her tenderly. "Good, huh?" he whispered.

"Mmmm." She was still lying half over the side of the bed, eyes closed and totally out of it, and gently he lifted her sideways so that she was full length on the bed. Then he lay down beside her, raising himself on to one elbow to look at her, loving the look of blissful satisfaction that shone from her face, even thought her eyes were still closed.

"I love you so much," he whispered.

She turned her head, half-opened her eyes and smiled lazily at him. "I just went to heaven," she murmured.

"Yeah." He looked down at her. "You're my heaven," he said softly.

"Mmm." She snuggled up against him and closed her eyes again, still lost in her haze of contentment and Jed slipped his arm around her and held her close.

"You asleep?" he said after a few minutes.

She half-opened her eyes again. "Nearly – why?"

His blue eyes glinted. "We have a hot tub."

"Now?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"You're insatiable, Jed Bartlet."

"Well, that's better than being venerable any day."

"You really mean it, don't you?"

He looked at her. "Yeah."

"Okay, you go fill it – I'll be there in a minute."

When she finally got some strength back into her lethargic limbs, she lifted herself from the bed and went through to the bathroom. Jed was already in the water and was pressing different buttons.

"I can't find the coloured lights," he said.

Abbey slid into the bubbling water beside him, then leaned over and hit the button. "This one," she said.

They both sat on the ledge, Jed with his arm round her, and watched the lights change colour for a few minutes.

"Can I kiss you?" he said suddenly.

Abbey looked round at him, amusement in her eyes. "Of course you can kiss me – you can kiss me anytime!"

"No, I mean just kiss you and hold you – and not have sex, but just – be with you."

Her eyes softened. "That sounds good to me."

And so, in the bubbling waters of the hot tub, they kissed gently, no longer needing the overpowering sexual release, but simply loving holding each other and being together.

TBC