Author's note: Ok, when I said a teeny delay between chapter 5 & 6 the final chapter, I meant teeny! I hope this wraps things up nicely for you all. I am definitely open to the idea of a sequel? Anyone else?

Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed. Please let me know what you think of this one...I was worried a bit about it I can tell you! There is less angst, more lurve and another flashback or two!

I end with the lyrics of the song that inspired me. (enter apt. disclamer for lyric useage here!)

Chapter 6

previously on...)

"How about we make it less complicated?"

"What do you mean?"

"You remember when I said things come out of my mouth, not always the right way and at the right time?"

She shifted her head in his lap to look at him again, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, ok, so maybe I didn't need to tell you that."

"No, you really didn't."

"Ok, so when we get back to DC, move in with me."

She sat bolt upright and turned to look at him, with utter shock on her

face and he couldn't help it, he laughed.

She wasn't quite sure she'd heard him correctly; there was no way he'd said what she thought he'd said. Maybe she was further gone than she thought. What had he just asked? No, stated rather than asked.

She needed it repeated. "Say that again?"

"Move in with me?"

-----------------------------

"Well, at least that sounded more like a question this time!" She said brusquely, with more confidence than she felt. If he was going to fumble this and make it seem like he was asking her to move in for reasons other than truthful ones, she'd make him suffer.

At least he had the good grace to look sheepish. "Look at it this way. We're both going to be Chief of Staff, free time is not going to be a premium for either of us."

"Josh!"

"Your voice just got all high there, Donna."

"Joshua!"

"Ok, ok, not a romantic reason I know."

"Are you serious?" She took his chin in her hands and lifted his face to look him directly in the eye.

"Donna," He smiled crookedly, sounding slightly panicked. "You're the one who laid it out. We've got the rest of transition, first one hundred days, midterms, and re-election! I don't want to get four years down this road and find we haven't seen each other, that we've wrecked this," he pointed form his chest to hers, "because we never spend time together. It's hard enough for people who have been married years to make it work." He looked desperately at her, but she recognised that he was trying to hide the uncertainty and was trying not to pressure her. She felt her stomach flop and lowered her voice as she replied, thinking maybe she'd yanked his chain a little too hard...after all, he couldn't be serious?

"Yeah, but Josh, I didn't mean…"

"It's ok, Donna," he whispered, sounding deflated. "It's ok, if you don't want to. I understand. But ….but let me say this." He looked up her again, seemingly trying to take one last shot at this. "I want you to be there, I want to be there when you're having bad dreams because I want to hold you when you have them."

And that stopped her in her tracks all over again.

She had caught glimpses of this man before, the one who said romantic things disguised as throwaway comments, hoping that the object of his affection wouldn't notice, but that actually they would notice. The same man who once flew half way round the world.

It was just going to take some getting used to – that she was on the receiving end of his intense and all encompassing passion now.

"I don't know what to say."

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows at her – which she knew meant he was thinking – wow, Donna Moss at a loss for words. He was probably doing it just to get her to realise it was still him. The fact he knew better than to say it out loud spoke volumes.

"Yes…no….or I'll think about it?"

It turned out, for Donna, that there was only one answer. "Yeah."

"Is that a yeah to the those are the options, or a yes to…"

"It is a yes to moving in with you."

An enormous grin split his face, his eyes lit up and he sighed loudly in what could only be classed as relief. "Thank you." He said picking up her hands and kissing them. "Donna, I can't do this without you. I need you." There was no response to that but to kiss him.

He tightened his arms around her and squeezed, getting carried away with himself. She yelped and he crushed her to him, breaking the kiss.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, lowering her delicately down onto his lap.

"You think we'll have press to deal with?"

"There's my Donna, practical to a fault. Lou can deal with that. We'll deal with it. Hell, the secret service can deal with it."

Of course their relationship would be newsworthy, but he was confident it would be one of those non-stories. If they did it now, before inauguration, no one would care anyway. He didn't like to think of it that way, but Kazakhstan, and their first 100 days, was pretty much going to detract from the CoS moving his girlfriend into his apartment. The Secret Service would have to learn to love Donna.

She interrupted his musing. "I can't believe you just asked me to move in with you."

"Neither can I."

She turned her head in his lap so she could rest against his knees as he drew them up, bringing them closer. "You've never lived with anyone before, have you?"

"No….You have though."

"Urgh, yeah, that doesn't count." She squirmed in his lap. "I was a kid. But you've never lived with anyone before."

"We just established that."

"Not even close?"

"Well…."

"What?"

"Amy and I…we talked about it."

……………………………

Donna had liked Amy after having tried very hard not to. Obviously there were many grounds not to like her, mostly because she had been having vast quantities of sex with Josh. That and she remained the only person who had ever asked Donna outright about her feelings for Josh.

Of course Donna was aware of the rumours about them, but no one had ever had the balls to ask her straight, apart from this ex-girlfriend who still had a blatant interest. Even the other assistants had never asked, not after the shooting, not ever after Gaza. They all held the Donna-Josh dynamic in reverence, turning a blind eye to the attraction that was apparently painfully obvious to everyone.

When CJ asked her whether the "Josh Thing" was happening, it was like CJ had been waiting for confirmation of long held suspicions. There was no talking Donna out of it this time, no pushing her to leave to do something else, find someone else. It was time to acknowledge that it wasn't taboo anymore and that CJ gave them her blessing.

Donna had been jealous of Amy, of course, and had felt a resurgence of it at Leo's wake; it was hard not to given that she and Josh were on very shaky ground, but they were on that ground together. Amy had made him happy for a while and although it would not have been like him to seek solace in someone's arms, she'd been momentarily worried that he'd fall for Amy's charms again.

Then she'd seen the look on Josh's face as Amy tried to set him up with a friend, barrelling into him about the VP at Leo's wake. Leo's wake for crying out loud – arrogant, insensitive bitch.

"But you never did move in with her."

"No. God, no, can you imagine?"

Silence.

"Ok, dumb question," he conceded.

And there, the past girlfriends thing had been dealt with.

"Your place is nice." She said, settling into his chest. He smelled like the sea, and like Josh, and his scent made her giddy.

"Mmm hmm." He agreed, burying his face in her damp hair.

"Donna?" He was serious again for a moment, seeking permission to broach an uncomfortable subject.

"Yes?"

"I know I don't have to tell you this, but I'll feel better if I say it out loud and then it's said."

She nodded.

"Sometimes, a lot of times, the job is going to come first." He sounded resigned and determined. "There are going to be times, lots of times, when I don't come home at all, when I can't tell you what's going on. I mean, we're going straight into it with Kazakhstan. The World is insane and we're at the centre of it."

"Josh." Again he knew, with the whispering of just his name, he knew she understood, implicitly.

"I know I don't have to tell you."

"I know who you are. I don't expect or want you to change, Josh. I fell in love with who you are. I'm going to help you be the best Chief of Staff you can be and I hope you'll help me be the same. Just promise me one thing?"

"I'll need to hear the promise first, you're just trying to get me in trouble."

She allowed him that. "If there's a problem between you and me, we will talk about it. If the problem is us, we have to talk about it; no avoidance. I don't want to add to the White House relationship disaster statistics. I know I can't see the future, I know we've only played around the edges of the kind of stress and responsibility we're about to suffer. We are more than the sum of our jobs and I don't want to lose us, especially after what we've already overcome, what we've been through. Keeping everything inside nearly destroyed us both first time round. Promise me we won't do that again."

"Donnatella That I can promise," he whispered solemnly, lacing his fingers with hers and pressing her knuckles to his lips. "Do you have any idea how beautiful you are, how much I want this? I can't regret a minute that has brought us to this point, but I am going to make the most of every minute after this one.

………………………………………

Election Day

Josh placed the glass down hard, his decision made. Rising from the sofa, he walked purposefully to the elevator and stopped right behind her. She straightened, acknowledging his presence and moreover his acceptance of her unspoken offer.

He focussed on a spot in front of him on the door, needing to concentrate on something other than the way his fingers were aching to touch her.

Not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet.

He took a step to the side to see her face, but she was looking ahead, cool and apparently calm.

The chime of the elevator arriving broke his stare and he watched her as she walked to the centre of the elevator and turned, apparently avoiding eye contact with him. She stretched out and pressed a floor button and he skipped forward as the doors started to close. He wasn't going to miss a second offer of spending the night with Donnatella Moss. He leaned his back against the side of the car and tried desperately not to look phased, although aware that not for a minute would he fool her.

She stood tall and straight, her head slightly to one side, looking at the button curiously. Maybe she was having to concentrate on not jumping him too? The thought cheered him.

Not being able to stand still, even for the short duration of the elevator ride he moved behind her and waited again. He balled his hands into fists at his sides fighting the urge to touch her and get this thing started.

Finally.

The damn elevator had to be broken or extremely heavy, or something, or else it would never have travelled this slowly.

Finally the doors opened, excruciatingly slowly, and simultaneously they stepped forward, walking side by side, until Josh, bouncing on the balls of his feet slipped around her in an attempt to reach his door first. Spinning round, he reclined against the door trying to force her eye to his with a grin. She stopped dead in front of him, face still oddly blank, and his grin faltered, and he smiled weakly at her, fishing in his pocket for his key and holding it out to her, hoping this private and comedic ritual would break the ice.

"Josh, you can work keys. It's just the cards you have trouble with." She deadpanned.

"Right," he said, breathing somewhat easier, reassured that she was bringing banter and turned the key in the lock. He swung the door open and let her go in first, following closely enough to breathe in her scent.

He shut the door behind him and turned to face her, pressing his back against the door and fumbled behind him until he locked the door with a loud click. She had walked forward and stopped in the middle of his room, appearing to survey her surroundings. He watched her face as she gazed around, at the table strewn with papers, the door to the bathroom, the TV that was still on.

Her eyes wandered across the bed as she turned slightly away from him.

She dropped her sweater on the end of the bed, smoothing it with one hand, regrettably making him consider whether she was stalling for time. Was she taking one last moment to contemplate what the hell she was doing?

He had struggled to gauge her expression for the first few moments of their conversation downstairs. It had taken him a few seconds to figure out he was being propositioned. It didn't normally take him that long to work it out – or maybe it did. Maybe it was just because it was her.

As he contemplated this she peered upwards and met his gaze and he finally saw an expression he recognised. If he wasn't mistaken, he was seeing a reasonable sized portion of Donnatella Moss impatience.

Ok then.

He took a step towards her and she instantaneously mirrored him and suddenly they were kissing and touching, his hands cupping her face, her hands on his shoulder, then hands on waists, backs, tangled in hair.

Inescapable urgency overtook them both, kissed turned to bites, sighs to groans, hands that had been running over clothes now unbuttoning, unzipping, yanking cloth away from skin.

He had to feel her skin against his.

…..

She had to feel his skin against hers.

She'd waited too long for this moment. She thought it was gone lost

forever that night in DC when she'd offered him her key and it all got screwed. He hadn't called her, hadn't rung to see if he could knock on her door. She didn't think for a minute he would reject the offer, but everything spun away too fast; she'd known, from the look on his face that something had happened making Edie return her key and he was regretting a missed opportunity.

Nothing had gone wrong tonight. So far.

She pulled his undershirt over his head, breaking a kiss that was threatening to bruise both their lips. Going to work on his belt, he tried to pull her top down over her shoulders. Finally realising what he was aiming for she let go and allowed him to raise it over her head.

As she stood before him in her bra and skirt, watching his face as his eyes roamed over her, she felt weak. He ran his gaze back up to her face and she could have sworn his brown eyes had turned black.

Here, in this dark and impersonal room, she could see and taste the need in him, knowing him. The same need coursed through her and breaking the moment she hastily returned to getting his pants off as he did the same to her skirt.

Suddenly they were both in nothing but underwear and just as the clothing ceased to be a barrier, Josh seemed to have come to a grinding halt. He stopped facilitating her nakedness and just stared at her body. Embarrassment passed through her as she revealed her scars to a lover for the first time, but because it was Josh, the moment was fleeting. He had scars of his own he kept hidden.

……………………

He had never been so turned on, just from the sight of her, a pale Goddess in silk as white as her skin. Knowing he couldn't stay upright much longer he grabbed her tightly, pulling her close, moulding her body to his. He adored the sigh that escaped her as he ground himself into her. He'd kicked off his shoes as she lowered his pants. She still had her heels on, making her taller than him giving him the perfect opportunity to graze his teeth along her neck. They kissed again, increasingly forcefully, until finally he reached up and tangled his hand in her hair twisting their bodies together and pulling them down onto the bed.

He lay on top of her, the urgency continuing as they crushed themselves against each other, like eager teenagers, tongues wrestling, nails scratching, teeth biting, furiously working to remove the last pieces of cloth between them.

This wasn't going to be pretty, nor was it going to last long.

He took her nipple into her mouth and she arched beneath, moaning louder this time. Gripping her waist, Josh rubbed his hands across the small of her back creating a delicious friction, lowering his hands to knead her ass and finally pushing the last piece of lace down over her hips. From where he was positioned, suckling her breast, he could see her as she raised her knees to slip the straps of her heels down and push her shoe off. He took the opportunity to push her panties off, not waiting for permission. He ran his fingers up her calves and then inside her thighs, finally drawing his fingertips slowly across her wet sex.

…………………

Unable to resist she opened her legs to him, any sense of decorum a

fading memory. Moving her one hand that wasn't forcing his head closer to her breast, she reached towards his boxers in an attempt get them off. Taking the hint he quickly released her pushing himself off her and his boxers off him. As soon as he laid back down on her she grasped his erection and squeezed.

"God, Donna."The first words either of them had spoken since getting in the room. She ran her fingers and nails over the length of him, revelling in the wetness as his tip. Shifting under him, she squirmed to position herself so he could just get the hell inside her.

"I'm on the pill Josh." She knew how brusque, how entirely unromantic

and edging towards desperate she was coming off but she didn't give a shit.

He didn't answer her but pressed his lips firmly against hers and she arched her back, opened her legs just a bit more and slid inside.

……………………………

His eyelids flickered shut as he slid into her, moaning loudly, her name on his lips. She was hot and wet and tight and he could not stay still to let her get used to him. Judging by the way she was grinding up into him, pushing on his shoulders, she didn't want him to take his time either. Thank God because there was no way this was going to last. He didn't want to hurt her but she was insistent he complied, slowly inching forward until he was entirely sheathed within her.

He raised himself on his arms, bracing himself on the mattress. He began to thrust harder, deeper, mesmerised by the undulation of her body under his. She dragged her nails across his shoulders and down his chest. He watched as she tilted her chin down, to see where their bodies met and if possible, knowing she was looking at him pounding into her, turned him on more.

"Touch yourself Donna," the words out of his mouth before he thought them. She snapped her eyes to his, and for a moment he thought's he'd gone too far, too much too soon. But when he looked in her eyes, he saw no shock or distaste, just need.

Then she did something that nearly finished him off. She raised her delicate fingers to his lips and offered them to him. He moaned quietly and complied with her unspoken request, his tongue wetting her three middle fingers, which she then lowered to where their bodies joined. She put her fingers either side of his cock as he plunged steadily into her, feeling him, right where they became one.

"Donna," he growled. Was she torturing him, repaying him for countless debts? The extra pressure on his cock, he couldn't take it. He put his hand down to hers and laced his fingers with hers, pinning her hand that had been accosting him to the bed.

He watched her as she moved her other salvia damp hand down, in defiance of him, willingly complying with his earlier request. She began to circle her clit, urgently, insistently as if she knew how he was only hanging on by sheer will. He shifted his angle, up so that his cock was strumming against her. She began to pant and he felt her begin to vibrate underneath him.

Dammit, this really wasn't going to last very much longer.

…………..

She felt the familiar first signs of her orgasm where every part of her that could feel, felt deep, like her body was rising out of the bottom of a pit. The trembles were just threatening to turn into spasms and she removed her fingers, wanting his movements to be what sent her over the edge. She grabbed his ass and pulled him deeper.

"Now."

And he pushed harder and deeper than she thought possible, the sound of skin slapping together increasing and invading. Josh was filling her more than she'd ever been filled and she spilled over the edge. Over and over the waves hit her and she struggled to stifle her screams. She forced her eyes open to watch his face as he came, his final totally uncontrolled thrusts elongating her own orgasm. She watched him fight to keep his eyes open, try desperately to keep his eyes on her. She revelled in his shout and grimace that so closely reflected pain. She'd imagined this moment a million times, but nothing came close to the look on his face as he came down from his orgasm, focusing his eyes on her.

After a few seconds of staring he collapsed on top of her and quickly rolled off to one side. She knew he did it to not hurt her, but she felt a little disappointed; she loved the weight of his body on her, it was so masculine and the weight made it all real. But then, as he rolled on to his back, he clasped her hand nearest to him in both of his, pulling it to rest across his stomach, seemingly not wanting to let go, but not having the energy to do much else. She understood that and didn't mind one bit.

………………..

His body was still pulsating. Quick it may have been but that was the best sex in his life. He didn't want to let go of her but didn't have it in him to do anything else but just breathe and hope to God he recovered rather than passing out. He knew he should say something but had no idea what. He let go of her hand with one of his and wiped his hand across his forehead, exhaling loudly, but quickly retaking her hand again. He glanced across at her to find her looking back and thank God, she was smiling. He grinned back and swallowed every witty remark that came to mind. He knew when to shut up.

……………………..

She smiled at the goofy look on his face. It was the exact look she'd known he'd have. The patented Josh Lyman "I'm da man" look. She couldn't help but smile, it meant it was all real and all right. They'd had sex and the earth hadn't stopped turning.

Of course, they hadn't actually spoken yet and that could be where the wheels came off. She tried to think of something to say – and considering the amount of words spoken in the years they'd known each other, it was surprising when she drew a blank.

But right now she had more pressing matters to attend to and that was probably because of what had just been pressed up against her bladder.

"I'm just gonna…" she said, nodding towards the bathroom.

"Ah…sure," he said, releasing her hand with seeming reluctance that reassured her.

Standing and being separated from him, she had this sudden urge to be dressed that she hadn't had in front of a lover since she was a teenager. Remembering that she was old enough to know better, she took a silent breath and just went for it, crossing the room as quickly and gracefully as she could manage, all things considered.

As she walked into the bathroom, she was disconcerted to find she couldn't tell if his eyes on her; even after months apart she could still tell when he walked into a room.

She walked straight into the bathroom and did what she had to, washed her hands, looked in the mirror and ran a hand through her hair, getting the inevitable bed head tangles out. She turned, placed her hand on the handle, took another deep breath. Opening the door Donna was confronted by the second thing that night that convinced her the world was still spinning on the same axis it had always done.

There was Josh, splayed across the bed, flat on his back and sound asleep.

………………………………………………..

Present Day

Donna loved his scent, warm and masculine and the way that even as they drifted apart in the course of the night, old habits dying hard, he still sought her in his sleep. When she had woken earlier in the night, she had cuddled close to him and he had remained soundly asleep but managed to draw her close. Now in early daylight, she shifted herself back into that position again, sliding her hand up his chest, through the rough hair that she loved so much already.

Being able to know his body intimately was something she'd yearned for so long and now she was finding herself touching him whenever possible. She felt his heart beat under the pads of her fingers and shut her eyes to concentrate on the steady rhythm. She spread her fingers wide and kissed his chest between them, not wanting to wake him, but unable to keep her hands off him.

Mere hours ago, he had carried her to new heights, touching her, caressing her, firmly, gently. They made quiet intense love only once, silently, reverently, before curling together and falling asleep in each others arms. She hadn't been woken by nightmares this morning and she attributed that to the depths of her sleep and how protected she felt, wrapped in his arms.

Today was now their last day on the island. Josh had arranged to fly back late in the afternoon after discussing getting her moved into his apartment before they started back at work on Monday. She'd joked that if they didn't do it right now it probably wouldn't happen and he'd teased back saying they had to get it done quickly, so she might have to forego the complex packing, labelling and cataloguing system she probably had pre-prepared for moving days.

He'd earned a smack for that, but only because he'd been right.

She couldn't believe they were going to do it, especially as it made all sorts of sense, which was probably why it felt so odd. That and it had been his idea. Well a life being constantly surprised by Josh was going to be a good life. Moving in with him was a step she didn't think he would have been ready to take for years. She had to stop underestimating him. Once again she was forgetting he was a closet romantic, how hard he cared for those he loved and how he would move heaven and earth to get his goals in life. Being one of his goals was now real and she was going to be fit and healthy to give him back as much as he was giving her.

Reluctantly, Donna rolled onto her back; her leg was stiff. It still happened a fair amount, especially after physical exertion and there had been a fair amount of that the past few days. Needing some gentle exercise to loosen the joints and muscles she decided to get up and swim but was finding it hard to tear herself away from his sleeping form. She rolled back to face him again, but scooted back and propped her head up on her hand so she could watch him.

His chest rose and fell steadily, deeply, a faint white scar that possibly wouldn't be noticed unless you were looking for it. Blushing slightly, she realised there were a few fingernail scratches on his shoulder. She made a mental note to spend some time massaging those shoulders before long. Relaxation for him, turn on for her, maybe turn on for him too.

One arm curled under his head and the other stretched in front where he had been holding her. The white sheet draped down over his soft hips and she looked at the trail of hair leading from his belly button down beneath the sheet and she felt herself flushing again.

"Up, Donna," she whispered to herself, though still unable to tear herself away. Instead she found her hand snaking out to him, gripping his wrist gently, her thumb rubbing the outside of his arm, trailing further and further up, until she grasped his elbow. She smoothed the flat of her palm against his bicep and for the first time he stirred, softly moaning. She stilled instantly, not really wanting to wake him from what seemed a peaceful sleep, but again, unable to not touch him. She resumed pressing the flat of her hand up and onto his shoulder, shifting her hips closer to him. He began to stir again as the bed moved with her and he lifted his arm, placing it on her hip, his fingers tightening briefly. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised again how he was automatically reaching for her in his sleep.

Their vacation was drawing rapidly to a close. And yet everything else was just beginning. And it seemed that even in slumber, he wouldn't let them be separated.

Donna decided a little stiffness in her leg would be worth it, and settled back down beside him, to watch the dawn break, letting him hold her in his arms.

Tomorrow they'd wake together as well. And the day after that.And then as often as possible

And they would make it work. Together.

----------------

I know, quite a sudden ending, but I wanted J&D to wake in each other's arms, as they did on election day, but under much better circumstances.

Reviews still desperately craved!

Hold you in my arms – Ray LaMontagne from the album 'Trouble'

When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears, it was easy to see that you'd been crying.

Seems like everywhere you turn catastrophe it reigns, but who really profits from the dying?

I could hold you in my arms I could hold you forever.

When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions, it's my worried mind that you quiet.

Place your hands on my face, close my eyes and say love is a poor man's food - don't prophesize!

So now we see how it is this fist begets the spear, weapons of war, symptoms of madness

Don't let your eyes refuse to see, don't let your ears refuse to hear or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness

I could hold you in my arms I could hold on forever