They dropped Martha and Ianto off at Ianto's flat. Watching the pair walk away hand in hand, the Doctor grinned. "Well, they seems to getting on rather well, I'd say," he said.

"Ianto is really falling for her," Jack replied.

"Does that bother you?" asked the Doctor.

"No, not at all. Why should it? I don't own him," Jack said with a chuckle.

"Can't say the same about me, though, can you?" This with a grin and a flirtatious wriggling of the eyebrows.

Jack stopped in the car park outside the Hub. He turned in his seat, catching the Doctor's hand, pulling it to his lips to drop a kiss in the Time Lord's palm. "You gave yourself to me," he whispered. "So no, I can't. You belong to me. And I suppose I've told you I've been yours for a very long time now."

The Doctor brushed his fingers through the hair over Jack's ear. "Yeah," he said breathily. "You did. That first night. So far our only night. Such a wonderful night it was. I want more like it."

"We got cheated," Jack said. "Those damned Nostrovites. But you're getting better now. You look so happy. I take it you enjoyed our first proper date?"

"Loved it!" said the Doctor. "Thanks…it's been a lovely evening."

"And it isn't over yet. Wanna take a moonlit stroll by the bay?"

"Oh, I'd love that!"

Jack placed his fingers beneath the Doctor's chin, leaned in and took a kiss. "I've seen you in moonlight. And you're so beautiful in it I want to see you in it again."

They exited the SUV and, hand in hand, strolled towards the bay. This late it was pretty much deserted. Jack led the Doctor to a bench and they sat, fingers laced together. Moonlight danced on the water. They could even see a few stars. A city isn't the best place to see stars, so this was a bonus. They heard a woman laughing somewhere in the dark. They weren't the only lovers seeking out the moon, apparently. The Doctor rested his head on Jack's shoulder. "Sorry I was acting like a stroppy child. I'll make it up to everyone. Promise."

"There's time," Jack replied. "You're still not quite well yet. And I'm still worried about how your experience on Mars affected you. How are you doing with that?"

"Better," he replied. "I'll say one thing. I've learnt my lesson. The only good thing that's come of it is us. Somehow it seems shameful to me that I should get this, after what I did."

Jack stood, and, taking the Doctor's hand, pulled him up and into his arms. "Listen, just…don't beat yourself up, yeah? Don't ask yourself what you were thinking. Do the kinder thing and ask what you were learning. I know you well enough to know you feel you should suffer. What you aren't seeing is that you did suffer. You knew you did something wrong. You felt so horrible about it, and I think that's a pretty bad punishment. Like I said, I know you, and no one judges you more harshly than you judge yourself. And you won't do anything like that again. Now we're bonded, you know you'll be coming back to me again and again, and you're not going to want to come back with news of another slip in judgment like that. I've seen inside that sweet little noggin of yours. You don't want to disappoint your husband."

The Time Lord looked into Jack's eyes and Jack could see the sincerity there. "No," he said. "No, I certainly do not. I want you to be proud of me. I want you to look at me and think, 'that's my mate, my husband, and I am so proud of him.' You were always this… always waiting for me, all this time, and I was too stupid to really see the possibilities of us. And it's not fair I did that to you. So I'm going to do my best to make you proud of me, and to show you how happy I am that you did wait." He leaned in to brush their lips together. He stepped back, taking Jack's hand in his, and with the other hand, he touched Jack's cheek with his fingertips. "Let's go inside." He added, nodding towards the Hub.

Jack poured the Doctor another glass of Merlot and sat beside him. Once again, he had donned the pajamas Ianto had picked out and sat, long legs curled beneath him, looking intently at Jack, smiling the smallest of smiles as he sipped his wine. The Merlot stained his lips and brought a glow to his skin. Jack brushed his cheek with the back of his fingers, then curled an arm around his shoulders.

"Make me a promise?" Jack said softly.

The Time Lord looked at Jack quizzically, his gaze soft, and for lack of a better word, open. "What would you have me promise?"

"I want you to be careful when you finally do go," Jack said. "Promise me. If you promise, I know you'll do your best to keep your word. I don't expect you to not take risks. We both know you could never do what you have to do and play it safe. Just…promise me you won't do anything too rash. Promise me you'll think of me. That you'll think of coming back to me. I love you. I love all of you. I'll love the next you, and the one after that until there aren't any more. But I want you to take care of this you. I lost my Nine too soon. My Ten—my perfect Ten; I want you to take care of every regeneration, so we can be together as long as we can."

"I will, promise. Now I have you, I have someone to come home to. So yes, I promise."

"What did you say?"

"I said I promise to take care of myself."

"No, no, the other thing. Now that you what?"

"Have someone to come home to," the Doctor smiled gently, knowing what the words meant to Jack. "Yes, Jack. Home. Wherever you are. That's my home now.

"Doctor," Jack said in a shuddering whisper. He pulled the Doctor close, and slowly, so very slowly, he brought their mouths together in his most tender kiss. He wrapped his arms around the Doctor, gently pulling him into a close embrace. "Now, listen to me in turn," Jack whispered into the tawny hair. "You have touched my heart more deeply than even I ever imagined you could. Life has become more precious to me now than it ever has been. I once thought I wanted to be able to die. But not now, unless it's to die when you do. With you, I could live billions of years and they would feel like a handful of days." He dropped a kiss into the Doctor's hair, inhaling the scent of him.

"You've made me so happy," the Doctor replied. "So long I lied to myself about you. Almost from the beginning. When I knew you were trying to make a better man of yourself is when it started, you know. Back before I regenerated. Back even before you kissed me. You made me so proud of you. I…Jack, I've wanted you such a long time, but I kept lying to myself about it. I kept telling myself that with you it was only lust."

"Well, there is that, too," Jack teased.

The Doctor chuckled. "You know all those times I scolded you for flirting? I pretended to you, and to myself, that you were just being undisciplined. But really? It used to make me insanely jealous. I wanted to be the center of attention for you. I would never dream of tying you down to me only, unless that's what you wanted. But…well, I rather like being the center of attention with you." He finished his Merlot and put aside the glass. "Now, I gave myself to you. You alone. Just you." He bit his lower lip for a moment, lowering his lids to look at Jack from under his thick lashes. "And I'll tell you a little secret. I rather like a possessive lover. I want to know I'm that important. I know I have a big ego, and maybe that's why. But…"

Jack couldn't help being amused at where this was going. "But what?" he prompted.

"Well, if I make you jealous? I know your people really don't, but…maybe you could find it in your heart to want to keep me all to yourself. You know. Like…if someone flirts with me? I'd rather think it was wonderful if you let them know I'm yours alone." Jack pulled him into his lap. He snuggled into Jack, curling up in his lap like a contented child.

"You want me to be possessive. I can do that," Jack chuckled. "Just be careful you don't flirt back or you'll find out what a safe word is really for. Seriously, though…you fancied me back then?"

"We-e-llll…"

"Well, what?"

"Back then, before I regenerated, that me liked flirting with you, but I didn't have the courage to follow through. Even though I knew you fancied me. And then, even though I knew you still fancied me after I regenerated, I sort of thought you liked the old me better because you didn't flirt with me so much. I just assumed you weren't quite as attracted to this me. And I missed it. I missed you flirting with me, and I hated it when you flirted with everyone else, but not with me."

"Of course I still wanted you, I just thought you didn't want me," Jack said, tightening his arms around the Doctor.

"But you liked the old me better." This with a small pout; he was all big hurt eyes and drawn-together brows. He looked almost as if Jack had struck him. Something in Jack's chest twisted at that.

"Are you…are you jealous of yourself?"

"Could be."

"The old you was very sexy, but in a different way. The old you had a kind of grumpy charm. Back then, you were a bit prickly, and kind of an alpha male. Which is good, because that's part of the reason I was willing to listen to you and try to be a better man. I wanted to impress you. But this you? I adore this you because there's a kind of sweetness to this you. And this you is much more affectionate. This you loves hugs and kisses. You regenerated within a family unit. And I think it made you crave affection in physical ways. You're, well, more tender now than you were. The old you, when I kissed him, it was sort of like kissing a wall. You were accepting, but I could tell you would never really let me in. But when I kiss this you it's more than accepting, it's giving. You were very handsome back then, and that you I still love. But this you? You're more than handsome, sweethearts. You're downright pretty. So don't be jealous of yourself, sweethearts. I love all of you. Each and every one of you."

He slipped his arms around Jack's neck then and offered his mouth, and yet again, Jack found himself filled with wonder that he could make himself so, well, soft. Jack covered the Doctor's mouth, savoring the cute little sounds he made when Jack explored the Time Lord's mouth with his tongue. Soft. Yes. Soft except for a certain part of his anatomy. But he hadn't touched his lover there just yet. Jack ran his hands over the Doctor's body, gauging how relaxed he was, pressed his palm against the Doctor's chest, once more measuring his love's hearts-rate, caressing and stroking, building up the anticipation in them both.

Jack felt the Doctor melting in his arms and couldn't help feeling just a bit smug. Out there in the Vortex, out in Time and Space the Doctor holds all the cards, but not now, not here, not with Jack. Where love is concerned, Jack is the expert, and the Doctor knows it. He may be The Oncoming Storm out there, but here, curled up in Jack's lap, soaking up kisses and caresses, there's more than just the softness. There's something brittle, something which could so easily shatter this half-crazy alien that Jack has so long loved, and Jack vowed to himself to shelter him in any way he could.

"TARDIS?" Jack broke the kiss long enough to gasp.

The Doctor shook his head. "I'd like your quarters, like the first night. We can do it in the TARDIS later."

Down in Jack's quarters, he pounced on the Doctor, pinning him, and began kissing his face. "I mean what I said, I'm going to kiss every freckle on your face."

"Later," the Doctor purred. "I'd rather like it if you kissed me in other places right now." He slipped Jack's braces off his shoulders and began undoing the buttons on Jack's shirt.

Feverishly they stripped each other of anything that came between them, Jack's clothing joining the Doctor's pyjamas on the floor at the foot of Jack's bed. Jack kissed his way down the Doctor's flat, tight little belly, pausing there to tongue his navel before going lower, kissing and licking his way to his prize.

Eating the Doctor was like having the best candy in the universe. His flesh, for one thing, seemed infused with that honey-and-sage flavor. His balls, covered only with the lightest down, tasted like that as well, only with a touch of musk involved. He gripped the Doctor's spread thighs, pushing them further apart. Cupping the Time Lord's round little ass cheeks in his hands, Jack swallowed the Doctor's cock, drinking in the sweet little whimpers and croonings. When Jack slid two fingers inside him, he squirmed delightfully and made the cutest little cooing sound Jack had ever heard. It didn't take long to bring him to his climax—Jack was, after all, quite good at this. He savored the feel of the Doctor's long, slender fingers in his scalp, let him buck up into Jack's mouth while Jack plundered his clenching ass throughout the Doctor's orgasm, drinking in the low, soft moan along with the Doctor's honey-and-sage come.

He made his way back to the Doctor's mouth and kissed him deeply, pushing a mouthful of come between the Doctor's lips before starting to work on those lovely oral talas. In a matter of minutes, he had the Doctor shivering and whimpering in his arms.

Holding his lover he rolled onto his back, spread his legs. "Suck my cock," he ordered. Knowing the Doctor was on the very edge of one of those wonderful oral orgasms, he looked down the length of his body as the Time Lord eagerly curled up between Jack's legs. The Doctor grasped his cock and began to suck for all he was worth, rubbing both talas against the head and shaft, bottoming out only to pull back to the head and start over again. Jack grasped his head, bucking up into the perfect suction, watching as the Doctor shuddered with his oral orgasm.

He didn't let go, pushing the Doctor's head back down. "Keep going," he said. "I want to come in your mouth. I want to make you come again like that."

His fingers tangled in the brown mop, Jack bucked his hips up forcefully, then held the Doctor's head as he withdrew, leaving only the head of his cock in the Doctor's mouth. He finally pushed him all the way off. "Beg," he said. "Beg, and maybe I'll let you have it again."

"Please," the Doctor whimpered. "Please, let me suck you. Let me make you feel good."

Jack eased his cock back into the Doctor's mouth, sliding slowly all the way in, then all the way back. He let the Doctor rub the head of his cock first against the tala behind his teeth, then the one on the roof of his mouth. He grasped the Doctor's head firmly and buried his cock completely, holding him still, letting the lack of gag reflex and that wonderful respiratory bypass work their magic as he ground his cock into the Doctor's throat in skilled little circles. He felt the muscles begin to ripple in his lover's throat, and, knowing the second oral orgasm was about to hit, he bucked in and out of that lovely mouth. The Doctor shuddered, groaned, and in the midst of his orgasm Jack let go, filling the Doctor's mouth and throat with a copious load. It had been weeks since Jack had had sex, and the pleasure burned through him, listening to the soft liquid sounds of his Doctor gulping down every drop.

Heart hammering wildly, he pulled the Time Lord up and let him nestle his head on his chest, just above his heart the way the Doctor liked to. He ran his hand down the Doctor's lithe back, savoring the softness of his skin, toying with the little mole there. The Time Lord's fingers kneaded the flesh of his chest like a contented kitten.

He rolled the both of them onto their sides, his heart warming at the way the Doctor clung to him…again, that fragility, that brittleness. This creature whom Sontarans hated but respected and Daleks feared, trembling in the arms of a human, albeit an immortal one, humbled Jack. He blinked back tears. Already Jack grew hard again. He wanted to be inside the Time Lord, but decided to let him rest a bit. Instead, he poured his heart into just holding his lover, kissing him, letting his hands smooth soothingly along the lean body.

"If I was a praying man," he said. "I would thank every god and goddess there is for you," he said. He rarely spoke with such honesty, but with the Doctor it was easy because it was the truth.

The Doctor chuckled. "My Jack," he said. "My masterful lover." He grinned at Jack cheekily. "I like having you in charge. But I know how much you adore me. And don't think for a minute that I won't use it. Also, I know how good in bed you think I am."

"Little shit!" Jack said. "Watch it! I might make you pay for that."

"Do." The Doctor said. "Oh, please do!"