THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR BEING PATIENT! WRITERS BLOCK IS A REAL BITCH. THEN THERES THAT ADULT THING WE HAVE TO DO, YOU KNOW, WORK, COLLEGE COURSES, PARENTING, THAT GIG. I'LL TRY TO NOT BE SO LONG BETWEEN POSTINGS!

Chapt. 27

Claire caught her breath and rolled over onto her back just in time to see Joe shut the bathroom door behind him. She heard the familiar click of the lock and wondered if she had done something to upset him. He'd been different this time with her. They had slept together a few times since that first night and he'd always been attentive and sweet, making sure that he wasn't hurting her, but not this time. He had been rough this time, but it had been nice. He hadn't hurt her, and in fact it had felt amazing to mix it up, for him to take of the white gloves so to speak and not worry about breaking her. Even still she couldn't shake that it was just too different, almost as if he'd forgotten he was with her.

She heard the vibration coming from the bedside table and looked to see Joe's phone sitting there, lit up with a message. She reached out and picked it up, tapping out the numbers that would unlock the cell phone. *Invalid Passcode* Hmm, she thought, maybe she had entered it wrong. She carefully tapped the numbers once again, only to get the same message. She was sure that was the code he had given her. The phone lit up again in her hand and she saw the name, though she couldn't see the message. It was from his ex-girlfriend, his daughter's mom. Curiosity got her and she tried one more time to enter the passcode he had given her. Again she got the same error message. He must have changed it she realized with a sinking stomach.

"He's been talking to his ex, Claire," Nic's words filled her head and she shook them away. Nic was wrong. Of course he talked to her, they shared a child, but that was as far as it went. Joe loved her and wouldn't do that, would he? So, maybe he hadn't actually said the word love, but his actions showed her that he DID love her. She sat the phone back down where she had found it and stood, walking to the bathroom door. She tried the handle, but as she thought, it was locked. Something must be on his mind tonight. It had to be for him to act so different. Claire sighed and walked back to the bed, pulling an old t-shirt and a fresh pair of panties out of her bag. She was dressed and in bed before he opened the bathroom door.

SADIE

"It's been so nice spending time with you Jon. FaceTime is great, but, it doesn't beat being able to touch you." Sadie was sitting beside Jon on the high hotel bed, his hand holding hers, his thumb making those soft circles on the back of it.

"I can't lie, it's been really nice having you here." He smiled at her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "I'm glad you decided to come out."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until he leaned down and tipped her chin up. He leaned down and just before his lips found hers he whispered, "You can't do this on facetime." The kiss was slow and sweet, tender but held a message that more was on the horizon. His hand cupped her face, pulling her into him, before sliding into her hair. She sighed against his lips, smiling, and he felt himself smiling too. He had no idea what was going on inside of him, he'd never let himself really hope for something with anyone, but this time… well he was hoping that this would go somewhere besides hell.

Sadie let her arms go around his neck, her fingers playing with his hair. She didn't want to rush things with him, but at the same time she wanted him so badly. The way his tongue traced its way over her bottom lip, then her top lip, coming back to dance with hers as he tugged her bottom lip between his teeth had her body responding fast. She let one hand run down his chest, tugging at his t-shirt. When she pulled it up, trying to get it off of him, his breath hissed out between his teeth as he gritted them. Her fingers brushed his skin and he groaned aloud. She realized then that she had never seen him without his shirt, well aside from the few times he'd lost it in a match, but never like this, when it was just the two of them. Suddenly she wanted to see him, his skin, and his reaction if she were to press her lips to his bare chest, his back. She tugged harder at his shirt and felt him hesitate. Maybe she had read him wrong.

"I um, I'm sorry… I just wanted to feel your skin beneath my lips."

"Sade, it isn't you, I swear that. God damn I mean, if you knew how bad I wanted you out of your shirt right now too… I just… look, I don't show my body. We can flip the lights and I'll let you take it off, but I just, I've not shown my body in years okay?"

"But why Jon? You have an absolutely perfect body."

He smirked with a low, sarcastic laugh. "And that is why I won't show it. I'd hate to ruin your image of what's beneath this old shirt."

"I'm beginning to think that there would be nothing to achieve that Jon." He watched as she sat up and took her shirt off, slowly over her head. She smiled as his breath sucked in harshly, then hissed out through his teeth that she knew he was clenching.

"Damn it woman. You're fucking beautiful." He reached out, around her back and swiftly unsnapped her bra with one hand. She thought of what that suggested, that he had done this before, many times. She wouldn't think about that she vowed as he stared at her, admiring what he saw. "Sadie, dear God Sadie, you made it so damn hard to not take you right here and now."

She smiled and leaned over, letting her lips take control of his as she brought his hand up to cup her breast, encouraging him to massage, to play with her body. Turned out he didn't need much encouragement for what turned into one hell of a night.