Okay, so where do I start apologizing for the tardiness of this update? Words really can't describe how mad I am at myself for neglecting it for so long. If it makes it better, I did write about half of this chapter and then lose it. So...yeah. This chapter also turned out a lot different than what I had originally in mind, which may or may not be a bad thing. Depends on what you guys think :)

I would like to thank those who subscribed to this and favourited. Y'all (homage to living in Texas) rock!

Yay33N - Thank you so much! I'm flattered :) Though I personally love Walter Mashburn, but I'm making him as a pill in this story as he is meant to be the antagonist here.

Disclaimer: I promise that I don't own The Mentalist. Bruno Heller does.

Once Lost, Now Found

Chapter Seven

She knew what she had just said was the truth, and so did he. She loves him and there is nothing that she can do to change that, even though she was engaged to be married to Walter Mashburn. He loves her back and much more so than Walter ever could, and that concept slightly frightens her.

"Teresa," he spoke softly and took hold of her chin in his weathered hand, "It is of my concern that you may marry a man that you do not love. It is my concern because I love you."

His tone of voice was so sincere and she could not keep her breath from hitching in her throat. She felt an overwhelming amount of emotions hit her all at once and also felt the overwhelming desire to hit him and then kiss him. For years Walter had tried time and time again to woo her into a relationship and then later marriage. Once she accepted his proposal, the man was practically over the moon. Now with Patrick Jane back into the picture, things have changed dramatically, and most likely not in Walter's favour. Only on a couple of instances had she seen Walter angry, and she knows that the man will follow up on his threats. His threats are what worry her. It's not like she is afraid that Walter is going to hurt her, but more over that he would hurt Jane for 'stealing' her away from him.

She places her hand above his and pushes it away from her chin. Lisbon tries to take in a deep breath and look up at him, but realizes she can't look him squarely in the eye without the urge to profess her love to him again and again. Not that he would mind. He shifts before her and takes her hands in both of his and moves in closer to her. Her eyes slip shut and she feels him press a soft kiss to her cheek.

"I love you too," she whispered, her eyes opening and gazing into his. She gulps and somehow finds the courage to add onto her previous statement, "But I love Walter too."

His hands tighten around hers and she instantly feels like she has just committed the greatest of all sins. Jane almost looks angry with her when she stated that she also loved Walter Mashburn and not just him. The anger in his eyes almost seems predatory and she can't even deny the warmth that stirs in her belly under his intense gaze.

Jane pulls her closer to his body and removes one hand from hers. He quickly places it at the back of her head and pulls her head roughly until her lips were only millimetres from his, "I dare you to say it again," his pupils instantly dilate.

She stands on her toes, "I love Walter," her voice is low and challenging. She is challenging him to brutally kiss her and to be honest she has yet to realize why. She knows that this really isn't the right thing to do, but who cares anymore. She's in love with Patrick Jane and consequences be damned.

He wraps an arm around her waist and tugs her closer until she is flush against his body. Jane takes one last glance into her eyes and presses a hard kiss against her mouth. He moves his mouth sensually over hers, his tongue running along her bottom lip. She gasps and feels his tongue move inside of her mouth and stroke against her own. She moves both of her hands up to wrap around his neck, one hand burying into his curls as their mouths continue to move against one another's.

They move away from each other briefly for oxygen. He intensely stares down at her and his hands drift from around her waist to around her hips. Under his gaze, she shifts her footing and runs her tongue along her bottom lip. Her lips are swollen. His eyes darken and he grips onto her hips tighter and starts to move her backwards until the back of her knees hit the bed. She falls backwards and he moves so he is above her, his arms pressed against either side of her to keep his weight from crushing her petite body.

He leans down and presses a softer kiss against her cheek and then against the corner of her mouth. Her breath hitches in her throat and she raises on leg to tangle with one of his. One of his hands caress the side of her cheek and he leans down again to press a passionate kiss against her lips and press the lower half of his body into hers. She gasps and throws her head back to arch into his body. She reaches her hands up to rest on his shoulders and digs her nails in. Realizing and also disliking the fact that he is still wearing a shirt, she begins to pull it from his trousers and pull it over his head. He grunts in response and temporarily moves away from her to help her remove it from his body. He haphazardly throws it onto the floor before he goes back down and contenting himself with trailing kisses down the side of her throat.

Jane stops when he reaches the silky lace collar of her shirt and looks up at her. He brings his fingers to the little buttons and begins to deftly undo them. The entire time she watches him, her eyes a smoky green and her mouth parted. She sits up more alert to help him remove her shirt and he is instantly greeted with pale creamy skin. He smiles and leans down to press a series of soft kisses across her shoulders, collar bone, and finally her chest. She hums and runs her hand through his silky blond locks as he trails kisses down the length of her body. He pauses when he gets to her abdomen and sits up a little to gaze down at her. Curiously, she sits up and looks down to see what Jane is staring at and instantly realizes. Stretch marks.

When she was pregnant, stretch marks had formed against her skin. She often commented to Grace about how she hated them and wish there was some way she could get them to go away as they made her extremely self-conscious. Especially with Jane looking down at her abdomen with adoration.

"Patrick," she whispers.

He doesn't look up and reaches forward to stroke a finger along one of the marks, "You're beautiful."

She shifts beneath his gaze and tries to cover her body, "Patrick, please don't look at my belly."

He takes hold of her wrists and looks into her eyes, "These marks were given to you as you were carrying my child," he looks back down at her belly and presses a soft kiss on every couple of marks he can see, "It only makes me love you more."

Her heart swells and she has to bite her lip to keep herself from making any type of unwanted noise. She leans back down against her pillow and continues to run a hand through Jane's hair as he worships her abdomen, and when she feels tear droplets hitting the skin of her belly, she knows to the extent as to how much he loves her. And it is more than Walter Mashburn could ever love her.

…

Walter entered the Virgil Minelli home in hopes of meeting up with his fiancée to see why she had been avoiding him earlier today. He knew that Patrick Jane, Junior's father, was here in Sacramento and he had to admit that he did feel an extent of jealousy towards the man, though he'd never readily admit that. He had spent years trying to grab her attention, and once he did, Patrick Jane comes back into the picture and shatters all chance he had at marrying a beautiful woman.

He turned his head at the sight of movement out of the corner of his eye and sees Minelli standing in the doorway from his study, "Ah, Walter, how have you been faring?"

Walter shifted his footing, "Well, I could be better as my fiancée seems to have found a new object of her desire. Patrick Jane, the artist you hired."

Minelli nods in recognition, "Yes, I had some sort of idea that this Patrick Jane may indeed be Junior's father. It is one of the reasons why I asked for him to come to Sacramento."

"Even with her engaged to me?" Walter crossed his arms over his chest, slight fury and betrayal threatening to overtake his actions, "Because you and I both know that I can own everything that you own and love in a matter of seconds."

The older man refused to be intimidated, "I wanted to see her happy. For so long she has been void of happiness and from what Mr. Rigsby has told me, Patrick Jane may be the best way to fill that void."

"She is happy with me. She will continue to be happy with me even after our marriage," Walter pressed on, "and I will not allow some weakling of a man take that away from me."

Minelli looked at Walter. Everyone knew that he was a type of man that always got what he wanted, which is what attracted him to Teresa Lisbon in the first place. She was the first woman he'd ever encountered that would not fall head over heels in love with him and fall into his bed. It was because she seemed forbidden to woo and love to all the other men was why Walter pursued her steadfastly. This was mostly because when she arrived to Sacramento, she had a notable swell to her abdomen signalling she was with child. Walter Mashburn was the only man around that had the guile to woo her.

Again, I apologize for neglecting this story for so long again. It's one of the reasons why I was absent from this site for so long. I really wanted to update this one...:(

Next time I'm going to try to update "The Immortals," my other very AU story.