Author's note: This will be the last chapter for this story. I'm officially calling it complete. I am, however, going to continue writing for Jack and Harper. They've got a few stories left in them. Besides, I'm not quite ready to give them up.

Thank you to everyone who followed and reviewed faithfully. You guys rock! A special 'thank you' to mccoylover. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gotten past chapter 4 without your encouragement and support. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Chapter 10

The room was dark except for what little light flowed in from the living room. Harper lay there trying to catch her breath. Her heart still pounded in her chest. She could hear Jack next to her. His heavy breathing synchronized with hers. She stretched out her body; letting out a satisfied groan in the process and flexed her fingers.

Jack chuckled and broke the silence, "Something wrong with your hands?"

Harper could hear the amusement in his voice. "Yeah, I can't feel them - or my toes for that matter." She turned onto her stomach to face him.

He laughed heartily. "Numb? That's the first time I've heard that one."

"Well with me, it's a sign of a really good orgasm." She leaned into him and rested her chin on his sweat dampened shoulder. "Or in this case… several really good orgasms."

He looked down at her and even in the dim light of the bedroom could see her cheeks turn crimson. His lips found her forehead and he lightly kissed it.

"I need water." Her voice barely above a whisper, "Do you want something?"

"No, I'm fine."

She gracefully slipped out of bed and casually walked out of the room without covering up. Generally she would have grabbed a robe, but she felt brave with Jack. She didn't have to hide herself from him.

Jack smirked at the young woman's brazenness as she strode out of the room. Her nakedness wasn't lewd. It was elegant almost. He exhaled a heavy sigh. His mind wondering to their previous lovemaking; the feel of her body pressed against his, her mouth on his body, the taste of her skin. He shouldn't have let this happen.

Harper came back into the room, the only illumination now coming from the street lights outside her window. She offered her bottle of water to Jack. He sat up and drank, not realizing how thirsty he actually was. Harper slid in between the sheets next to him. She nestled up to him and rested her head on his chest. Their positions eerily similar to those in her dream a couple of hours earlier. Their bodies fit like they were made for one another. She inhaled deeply; his smell filled her senses. Harper stroked Jack's hand as it rested on his stomach. She was surprised at its softness. Coupled with tenderness his soft hands had moved over her body expertly like he'd touched her a thousand times before. She felt immensely close to him and again was jolted back to her dream.

"Do you remember when you asked me why I became a lawyer?"

Jack snickered, "I believe I got the stock answer of 'To help people.'" He watched as she continued to pet his hand. The look in her eyes was distant.

She smiled remembering his impervious gaze at her 'stock answer'. "I was 12, when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer." She paused in thought. "My mom works for the city of San Saba, 28 years now. My daddy, like his father and his father's father, was a roughneck for 47 years. Since he was 16 - he retired last year." She sighed. "They were high school sweethearts, got married right after high school. My entire life I watched my parents live paycheck to paycheck. Struggle with the constant needs of five children. I mean, don't get me wrong, we always had everything we needed, but it was hard. Daddy often worked double sometimes triple shifts."

Jack brought his free hand up and tenderly ran it through her long hair as he listened quietly.

"I watched him come in every night, sometimes in the mornings after he'd worked all night after working all day - straight to the tub without fail. His hands always had grease on them." She began tracing the creases of his palm. "No matter how much he scrubbed. He's a good dad, always made time for us, fishing, games, plays, whatever. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you, but I was definitely a Daddy's Girl." Jack grunted confirming her statement. "Somewhere along the line I decided I wanted out. I wasn't going struggle to make ends meet. I wasn't going to marry a boy I'd known my whole life, someone who had to take a bath before he could sit down to dinner every night. That's why I became a lawyer. Even then at 12 I-" Harper's voice wavered, "I was so ashamed that I felt that way." She softly chuckled, "I've never said that out loud before."

They lay there a few minutes Harper still caressing Jack's hand tenderly. His breathing lulled and drew her back to the present.

"I didn't even want to be a lawyer." His deep, raspy voice was startling in the quiet of the dark bedroom. "I wanted to be a cop like my old man. He made it clear at a very early age that I was going to be a lawyer. It was not an option. Nor was failure. He was my father." Jack shrugged beneath her. "I loved him and I wanted to make him happy. He was… an awful father, a tyrant. And over time, I began to hate him. He's been dead for over twenty years now and I still do." He wrapped his fingers around hers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it with quiet understanding. "Parent's elicit a great number of different emotions from their children. They're all valid. It's the ones that resonate, the lasting ones that matter."

She looked up at him. He held their intertwined hands at his chest. "And yours is hate?"

Jack smiled. "The SOB's lucky he got that."

She released her hand from his and stroked his face carefully. Their lips met in a soft and gentle kiss that quickly became passionate and demanding. Jack's hand slid to her breast, kneading it provocatively. Her moan stifled by his mouth. His hand moved past her waist and around her rear pulling her into him.

Their kiss broke as Jack began making his way down her neck. Harper felt his growing hardness when her pulled to him. A throaty chuckle escaped her, "Again?"

He ceased grazing her neck and smiled wickedly. With both hand on her rear end he pulled her fully on top of him. Their hips began grinding together causing Harper to whimper wantonly.

"If you'd rather not…" he said as he started to move her off of him.

She groaned frustratingly. She pressed down on his stiffness causing Jack to grimace in slight pain. She chuckled and smiled mischievously. "Don't be a tease, Jack."

Jack lay exhausted beneath Harper. He could feel her heart pounding on his chest. His hands roamed leisurely over her body causing chill bumps to form. She laughed as she moved from on top of him, flexing her numb fingers and toes as she went.

"Are you good at everything you do?"

He wrapped his arm around her as she curled into his chest. "I told you," his lips rested on the top of her head, "failure's not an option."

Lulled by Jack's steady breathing and comforting presence Harper silently drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. And for the first time since her attack, she slept through the night.