I want to everyone who left a review for this story, I read them all! You guys are the best.

Thanks to Maddsgirl75 again for all the Beta help and listening to me whine.

Chapter 6

Joss changed into jeans, a plum colored short sleeved blouse and flats. The way John smiled at her when she emerged from her bedroom told her that he approved of her attire. On their way out the door she grabbed a jacket as he'd requested.

Reese escorted her to a black SUV parked at the curb just outside her building. They climbed in and John pulled out.

"Where are we going?" She asked again.

"Patience, Joss, patience." John said, still with that smile on his face.

John drove them out of the city towards Westchester. They drove for quite a while, and it was starting to get dark when he finally turned off the main road onto a gravel road marked "Private". Joss threw John a look, and John simply said, "It's OK, I know the landowner."

"Finch?"

"Finch."

After about a mile, the gravel road wound behind a low hill to a meadow with a large tree in the middle that was well out of sight of the main road. John parked and opened the back of the SUV, handing Joss a couple of blankets to carry while he grabbed a large cooler. Joss was delighted, a picnic dinner!

"Where should we sit?" she asked.

"Oops, forgot something," and John took a small remote control out of his pocket and clicked.

The bottom branches of the tree in the middle of the meadow sprang to life with hundreds of tiny lights. Joss gasped with delight and looked over at John, he was wearing a very smug smile. Joss didn't care, this much planning and care deserved a genuine reaction, and Joss did not mind letting John know she was very happy about his choice of venue.

"I can't believe you went through all this trouble for me." Joss said.

"Who else would I do it for?' John asked, with a hint of surprise in his voice.

Joss spread a blanket under the tree and they settled down to eat. The food was delicious and they stuffed themselves. The conversation flowed easily and naturally, just as it had during their previous date all those months earlier. When Joss thought about it later, she marveled at how easily they returned to being completely comfortable with each other.

John groaned and crawled over to Joss and lay down with his head in her lap. "My stomach hurts," he complained.

"I know, I feel the same way!"

Joss started absent mindedly running her fingers through his hair while staring off into space.

"What are you thinking about?" John asked.

Joss looked down at him and smiled a dazzling smile that made John very glad he was already lying down or he would have been driven to his knees by the sheer beauty of it. "I like it out here, thank you for bringing me here."

John sat up and pulled her into his arms. "You have no idea how much I've enjoyed this, Joss." He leaned down and kissed her. And she kissed him back. They finally had to break apart, and John looked down at her with a mixture of love, desire, and awe, while she smiled back at him with the same mixture of emotions in her eyes. Neither one could believe the other one felt like THIS, and they both did.

After staring at her for a minute or so, John went back in for another kiss, this time he gently pushed his tongue into her mouth, and she allowed him in. His tongue caressed hers slowly at first but gradually the speed increased on both sides.

John finally had to pull back, and Joss was very glad he held her tightly in his arms because she just would have melted onto the ground into a giant puddle otherwise. She buried her face in his neck instead so he couldn't see how she was about to die of happiness right then and there. Every nerve ending she had was on overload, and she was breathing heavily. She barely restrained herself from ripping his clothes off. Even though she could feel his racing pulse against her cheek, she had no idea he wanted to do the same thing to her. They sat like that for several minutes, just enjoying the feel of each other in their arms.

Joss felt John take a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked up at him and he seemed to be struggling with something. Finally he looked down at her.

"I love you, Joss," he said, in a deep husky voice.

"Oh, John!" Tears sprang to Joss's eyes. She had never even dared to hope she would one day hear him say those words to her and she was briefly rendered speechless.

John looked away. "I know I don't have the right. I shouldn't be with you. Darkness follows me. And then I saw the darkness starting to follow you too, and I couldn't let that happen. I've seen it destroy so many people, I was not going to let it take you."

"So you thought if you stayed away from me, I'd be OK? You were going to give up your happiness to protect me?"

John nodded miserably, still looking away from her.

Joss took his head in her hands and forced him to look at her. "John, you did not bring the dark into my life; I did, when I became a cop. I deal with it every day on the job. If you stay away from me, that just means I don't have my Guardian Angel anymore."

John had to smile at that.

She leaned in and gently kissed him. "I don't want you to stay away, because I love you too."

John looked startled, and she nodded at him with a big smile on her face. "I know what my life is like with you and I know what my life is like without you. I definitely prefer the version with you."

Before she knew it, she was on her back, and John was on top of her, ravishing her mouth. His hands were everywhere on her, not that she minded. She gave as good as she got, and John was in a very giving mood.

John rolled over onto his back pulling her on top of him and slowed the pace. Finally, she sat up, straddling John's lap and looked down at him lying beneath her. He was smiling; God, he was so handsome when he smiled and she was so overwhelmed with love for him that a tear trickled down her cheek. He sat up, reached out and gently wiped it away. "Why are you crying?" He asked with great concern. "Did I hurt you? Do you want to stop? I'll take you home if you want."

Joss's words came out in a rush. "Oh, John, I never thought I would ever feel this way again. After Robert died and I was left alone, I thought I was going be alone for the rest of my life. I'm not alone for the first time in so long and I have someone as amazing as you telling me that you love me."

"You think I'm amazing? Really?" John seemed shocked.

"What else do you call a man who puts his life on the line very day for complete strangers?"

John looked down, embarrassed. "I call it someone who has a lot to atone for."

Joss reached out and grabbed his chin forcing him to look at her. "Well, I call it amazing." And she kissed him before he could argue further.

"Joss, I want to make to love to you."

She nodded her assent, and he started undoing the buttons on her blouse, while his lips ghosted over her neck and shoulders, planting little nips and kisses randomly over them. Every nerve ending in her body was on fire and Joss was sure she was going to pass out from pleasure before he even got her shirt off. Her head dropped back and she moaned softly as his fingers brushed against her skin.

John set her blouse aside and started working on the clasp on her bra, and it soon joined her blouse. It was a warm night and the night air felt incredibly sensuous on Joss's skin. A quick tug and John's shirt was off and joined hers in the pile.

John turned his attention to her breasts. Once again he lightly ghosted his lips over her, planting random kisses while she whimpered his name. He gently latched on to one nipple, teasing it with his teeth and tongue, while he played with the other one between his thumb and forefinger. Joss threw her head back and moaned while running her fingernails down his back.

John's hands wandered down to her jeans, he popped the button and lowered the zipper. He lay her down on her back on the blanket and removed her pants so that she was completely naked. He knelt over her, just looking at her, and Joss suddenly became very self-conscious. She wasn't young anymore, and she was acutely aware that physically she was the exact opposite of Jessica. Jessica had been tall and light and thin, and Joss was short and dark and curvy. In the middle of a field, under those twinkling lights, there was no place for her hide.

"Do you like what you see, John? She asked, scared of the answer. She would just shrivel up and die right here if he was unhappy with her.

But she shouldn't have worried. John was looking down at her with gentlest look in his eyes. "You're so beautiful, Joss," he said in tight, low voice as he gently ran his long elegant fingers over her body. She shivered and arched her back as his hands roamed over her.

He, of course, was gorgeous. His body was all lean muscle, graceful and powerful. She reached out and gently touched the scar the CIA bullet had left behind. John took her hand in his. "It's healed Joss. I never blamed you."

Joss couldn't meet his eyes, she would always blame herself.

He laid down next to her. She leaned over and gently kissed the scar and then slowly started kissing her way up his flat stomach while he ran his fingers through her hair. His head dropped back and he moaned, "Oh, Joss". She never thought her name had sounded more erotic.

Joss reached for his jeans, and John helped her take them off. She took his erection in her hand, gently stroking it while it was his turn to gasp out her name. She began licking the head and then slowly taking the entire length into her mouth, lightly scraping it with her teeth as she swallowed him. She looked up to see his eyes rolled back into his head in ecstasy. She smiled, happy that she alone could have that affect on him. She attacked his erection, licking and sucking, trying to give him the maximum pleasure possible.

Suddenly his hands where pulling her off him and flipping her over onto her back again. He slid his body between her legs, and only paused when his cock was poised at her entrance. She opened her eyes and looked at him, wondering why he hesitated. He met her eyes, "I love you," he whispered, and surged into her, filling her and causing her to moan loudly as she arched her back up into him.

Joss wrapped her legs around his hips as he pumped in and out of her with swift, sure strokes. She was incoherent with pleasure. It was a good thing no one was around for miles given the volume of their cries. He reached down and stroked her clit, driving her over the edge.

Swiftly he withdrew from her and turned her over so that she was on her hands and knees. He held her by the hips and plunged back into her, burying himself to hilt. She screamed his name, and it had never sounded sweeter to him. He thrust into her wildly, until she climaxed again, and this time he let himself follow her.

They collapsed onto their sides, facing each other. Joss's hair fell across her face hiding it from John. He reached out and gently brushed it back, tucking it behind her ear so he could see her. She opened her eyes and smiled a happy, sated smile at him. He smiled in return and pulled her over to him so that her head was on his chest, holding her tightly against his lean, muscular body.

Joss gazed up into the eyes of the man who had just turned her world on it's side. She knew she would never let any man touch her like that again; no one could ever follow him.

And he loved her. He. Loved. HER. The star quarterback loved the nerdy girl. She had loved him, wanted him for herself, for so long and it was almost too good to be true to be lying here now with him.

"Joss?"

She looked up at John. He was staring at her with that intense look again. "This wasn't casual for me, I..I hope it wasn't for you."

"Oh, John. No, this is most definitely not casual for me. I don't know how we are going to make a relationship work, but we will make it work."

John gently kissed her. "Yes we will", he said fiercely.

Joss snuggled up against the man she loved. John clicked off the lights and they spent the rest of the night cuddling, making love and watching the stars.