A/N: Apologies to all for not having this out Friday as planned. I pulled out my laptop and booted it up, reached for my USB stick and had a bit of a panic attack because I couldn't find it. Turns out I'd left it at work, but that left all of you without the planned update. But now here it is.
But first, there are several misconceptions I need to clear up.
(1) Alex may be a pushy guy and things with Emily and the wedding may have gotten completely out of hand, but he would never physically hurt her, nor would he break the law to drug and rape her. That act was committed by the two nameless guys who were replaced on the team by Cassie and Clare; Alex actually saved Emily's life.
(2) Just to clarify Teresa's age for all interested, she is about 36. Yes, there is a significant age gap between her and Dave, but I don't think love knows what a barrier is, so there you have it.
(3) Okay, so my reference to all of the girls having kooky blood work still stands but not everyone is pregnant. Remember Jordan had low iron levels, we still don't know what Emily's issue is and I haven't even touched on Carrie yet and may not at all unless I feel it might actually be relevant.
Oh but you make my heart swell to bursting with warmth and happiness to read your words and know you like what I've written. The continued warm fuzzies are just amazing and I have to say I love you all to pieces. The reviewers making my day and keeping a constant smile on my dial are Wtiger5, HGRHfan35, greengirl82, miaa29, Hazmatt and HPforever-after. Because I love you all so much, the rest of this story is specifically dedicated to the six of you because you so consistently lift my spirits.
But I am dedicating this specific chapter to the wonderful Wtiger5 in the hopes that if the other piece didn't make you feel any better, this one will. Love you sweetie.
Rated M for violence, torture themes, drug use, coarse language and sex scenes. (yes, this is going to have a little bit of everything)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds at all, although they do own me and I do own Carrie and Toby, Chloe and India, Kelly and Brad and Ben.
Arabian Nights – Chapter 17
"Does it make me a bad mother that I want to trade in Ben for Chloe and India?" Jordan asked with a yawn as she entered the living area of their suite of rooms.
Derek watched her come towards him and felt a stirring in his body. She may have been exhausted, but dressed as she was in a pair of snug jeans and a warm sweater that clung to her substantial curves, she was totally messing with his libido.
She eyed him closely as he shifted and shook her head just slightly. "Down boy; I'm too tired for anything more than a cuddle."
He grinned and held out his arms. He couldn't do anything with his arousal, but he could ignore it as much as it would let him. She'd been through enough without having to deal with him pushing her before she was ready. He forced himself to be content just holding her when what he really wanted more than anything was to strip her down and see for himself that her body was unmarked by her ordeal.
"Ben was just missing you love, as much as I was. He's ten months old; old enough to realise when mummy is missing from his life and certainly old enough to pick up on the undercurrents flowing around him. I was trying to stay calm for him but underneath the surface I was in a panic because I didn't know where you were or if you were safe and I'm sure he picked up on that. Unfortunately that has messed with his schedule a bit, but we'll get him back on track."
"Then why aren't the Hotchner girls as unsettled?"
She shifted to lie on the couch with her head in his lap and he immediately started running his fingers through her hair as he shrugged. "I honestly don't know the answer to that question. Maybe the turmoil they already went through while Emily carried them and then the birthing process was so traumatic for them they are subconsciously thinking nothing else could ever be that bad." She raised an eyebrow in disbelief and he chuckled. "I didn't say it was truth love. I just don't know the answer. But hopefully Ben will take some of their calm into him and he'll be back to normal when he wakes."
She yawned again hugely, feeling sleepy with Derek's scent all around her and his hand stroking gently through her hair. She snuggled closer and murmured, "Do you think about doing it again?"
His hand stopped moving for a moment and then resumed that same gentle glide through her hair. "I've thought about it a lot, particularly since Ben has been a part of our lives."
"And?"
He smiled at her sleepy tone. She really was the sexiest woman alive and he sent up yet another prayer of thanks that she was here, safe by his side, being sexy even as she fell asleep on him.
"And I think in a year or two it would be a good idea to go again but I'm in no hurry."
She nodded under his hand. "Sounds go..." Another yawn interrupted her before she continued. "Sounds good. How would you feel if I stopped working full time and went to part-time hours with a view to seeing how I might do staying home with Ben and any other children we may have until they go off to school?"
His hand stilled again and this time it didn't resume. She forced her eyes open to better gauge his reaction to her announcement.
"You've been thinking about this a lot."
"Well first we nearly lost Ben to the ocean. Then I nearly lost my life to Vincent's attack. Then it was you I nearly lost and then for whatever reason it was my turn to be in trouble again."
He grinned suddenly. "Well when you put it like that..."
She thumped him hard and pushed back her exhaustion as she sat up beside him. She pulled her hair away from her face and turned to look at this man she loved more than any other.
"I'm dead serious Derek. Being on maternity leave and home so much with Ben has given me a greater understanding of all that my life has been missing. A sense of home, a family environment that feels loving and healthy. You travel a lot with your work and I get that but so do I and I don't feel that it's fair to ask our children to have to grow up with both of us absent, even if we are home with them as frequently as we can manage it. And besides, I haven't really been enjoying my job for a long while."
He frowned, suddenly all serious and attentive. "Why didn't you say something sooner? I would have supported you if you'd wanted to make changes in your life earlier. And how long have you been feeling so unhappy with your work?"
She smiled slightly and lifted her hand to lightly trace his frown. "I think I'm still struggling to get rid of the last vestiges of my single lifestyle so every now and again something crops up that I keep to myself out of habit. I'm not deliberately trying to shut you out of my life and I am getting better at sharing all of me. I know you would have supported me; you've never once indicated you aren't happy right where you are and I treasure your love and support in my life.
"But I'd been slightly discontented in Counter Terrorism for a little while before JJ approached me about working with you guys and then coming on board with all of you and seeing what a family you were even then...I went back to my unit and told myself to be happy where I was but it just got worse and worse. Then we got together and Ben happened and we got married and I lost sight of how unhappy I was for a while there because I was really, truly happy for the first time in my adult life but then I had too much time on my hands to think and it just made things worse all over again."
She stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Maybe now isn't the time to dump this all over you, but I'm learning the hard way to take every moment as it comes because there just may not be a tomorrow. And I don't want to wake up with regrets because I kept quiet about the things that mattered to me."
He shifted her until she straddled him, the body contact intimate despite their clothing between them but the eye contact even more so as he cupped her face in his hands.
"Jordan, you are my wife, but more than that you are the other half of my soul; whatever concerns you also concerns me because your happiness is tantamount to my own. I know we have both had our struggles in making our relationship work but we are certainly stronger together so we'll get there in the end and it's okay to admit you might still be struggling in some areas; I know I am. But I push through because I fully believe you are worth it and I love you more than anything else in life.
"As to stepping down from full-time to part-time when you return to work, I think its a great idea if it is what you want. And if you want to quit work altogether for the time being to be a stay-at-home mother, I will completely support you in this also because the thought is a total turn-on for me for some reason I can't explain." She smiled despite the tears running down her face as he continued. "We can easily afford it and knowing I would always be coming home to you would be an even greater incentive for me to come home to you in one piece, or to simply come home at all. As long as when you make your decision you don't make the one everyone else wants you to make; be a bit selfish in this and grab on to your happiness; you've more than earned it."
She was sobbing outright now, unable to see and uncaring because her heart already knew what was right in front of her as Derek eased her closer still and kissed her slowly and deeply. He soothed the turmoil in her, his touch whispering that it was alright, that she was loved and cherished and desired. And when her crying eased, the message changed as well.
She responded hungrily as the pressure at her mouth increased. Her hands slid up his bare arms to stroke across his shoulders and neck before sliding up over his head as his lips shifted from hers and drifted across to the sensitive skin at the back of her ears.
All thoughts but those of the man surrounding her fled as his lips settled just behind her earlobe and suckled hard. She whimpered and writhed, trying to break the insistent contact but his hands held her fast as she came apart in his arms.
"Clits are so overrated," he murmured smugly as her body collapsed over his, causing her to smile slightly. "Just rest love, you're safe here with me."
She didn't even have the breath to answer as sleep came up to sweep her over-wrought and exhausted body into its arms.
New Section
Teresa yawned hugely in response to the huge yawns Jack and Toby were releasing almost every minute as they walked back to their suite after a very long morning. Dave looked at the boys, then at her and chuckled softly, but he said nothing as he opened the door. He stayed silent as he steered the boys down to one of the spare rooms and onto one of the beds. They lay down and were out like lights. He pulled their shoes off, tucked a blanket around them and stepped out of the room.
Looking towards the living area, he saw it was deserted, so he walked down to the bedroom he shared with the love of his life and smiled softly. She'd sprawled on the bed and was sound asleep, her glorious fall of mahogany brown hair spread out underneath her.
He walked to the bed and removed her shoes much as he'd done for the children before he stretched out beside her. He'd cover her up to keep her warm in a minute, but he was sorely tempted in that second to wake her up and ask her to clarify her earlier statement.
"So that's code for you making the next eight and a half months of my life a misery with your over-protective attitude."
He knew from JJ and Emily in particular that pregnancy lasted for ten months; if that was true, Teresa was saying she was six weeks pregnant. The thought of his child growing inside of her reduced him to awe-struck incoherency.
He lay his hand lightly on her stomach; then deciding he wanted skin to skin contact, he shifted her sweater out of the way and splayed his hand across her bare skin, marvelling that something he couldn't even detect yet was already developing into a human being. He shook his head slightly. As a young man, he'd contemplated getting married and having a family, but as the years went by, he'd struggled to find a woman who could actually deal with the man he was. He was Italian, and he freely admitted that the things said about Italian arrogance were entirely true. Coupled with a job with the FBI, most women saw only his looks until they realised he wasn't going to change for them and then they all walked out.
Then he'd quit the FBI to write full-time and things changed, though not in any ways that were beneficial to his goals. The women he met saw his fame and his money and though his good looks continued to be a bonus, most of them left because of his sheer arrogance and the hours he spent chained to his computer when his muse gripped him. So he'd stopped seeing women and concentrated on his career, taking the time to work uninterrupted on one of his most famous books to date.
Even his three wives had left him, deciding he wasn't worth the trouble in the end.
And then there was Teresa, starving herself for her career and hungry for something that actually appealed to the sharp mind hiding behind her stunning green eyes. To this day, he still didn't know what had possessed him to go to the lengths he had to not only save her life but to give her an entirely new one. However, over the years, his reasoning hadn't mattered one bit as she'd proven to be worth her weight in gold. Though he'd nearly thrown her out on her delicious derriere when she had made her first move, firmly putting her in her place and ordering her to never try anything like that again. And she hadn't.
He'd spent years kicking himself for that initial rejection as his interest in her slowly grew and at the same time looking for any signal she might have put out that told him she was still interested in him as a man. There hadn't been even one and he'd just about stopped hoping that he'd get another chance; then she'd made her second move on him and he'd seen his second chance and despite the mistakes he'd already made in life, he'd quickly jumped to take advantage of the moment before him. And again he'd never regretted his decision.
The decision to stop with the book tours had been easy to make and yet one of the most difficult of decisions; easy in that he'd tired of being in the limelight; hard because his choice would put a stop to spending those tour months wrapped up in her feminine warmth.
Only to himself would he ever admit to being terrified of being without her and furious with himself for his weakness and vulnerability. But she was without a doubt his greatest strength and asking her to marry him had in the end been the easiest thing in the world to do; it had also been the only thing she'd ever threatened to leave him over; his constant bemoaning his stupidity in waiting so long to make her his. She'd told him to let it go or she was walking out the door and never coming back. She said everyone made mistakes, he'd made a doozy and a half of this one, but he was more than making up for it so she didn't want it coming up ever again.
He knew now that none of it mattered. He'd thought himself well past his prime and yet here this amazing woman was, all set to become his wife and creating life in her womb that he'd placed there; his Italian pride was very pleased with this knowledge. He'd nearly lost her several times both through his own actions and through the actions of others, but he'd finally figured out what an amazing gift she was and he was never giving her up.
He shifted until his head rested on the pillow and shifted her up and into his arms as he snagged the blanket at the foot of the bed and pulled it up over them both. She stirred slightly in his arms and mumbled something unintelligible, nuzzled his throat slightly and then settled again.
He smiled as love threatened to overwhelm him and as sleep claimed him, he vowed that he would never again hesitate to see the precious gifts set before him.
End-
A/N: Not a lot to say here except that I hope you are enjoying the calm before the return of the storm.
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