Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from "Sons of Anarchy." They are the property of Kurt Sutter and Fox Network. No money is changing hands in the writing, reading or distribution of this story.

Warning: This chapter contains descriptions of sexual acts

Chapter 55

Joss was unaccustomed to not being able to roll or shift in her sleep as she needed to, she'd gotten good at changing her position while staying on her side of the bed, and was always careful not to roll so that she'd end up facing Tig, these rules so much in the forefront of her mind that she even abided by them when her brain had shut off for the day. But now it was different, she couldn't move, and it had waken her up, where the answer to what impeded her from being able to stretch a bit and straighten her legs was immediately apparent. Her man; more than just against her, more than just holding her, he was clasped around her, both of them laying on their sides, facing one another, his arms around her neck and her leg up and over his hip, his leg also bent upwards beneath hers, holding hers in place. He'd silently insisted that they sleep together this way, the last round of sex finally tiring them both, but neither of them content to let go of the other, Tig not even willing to withdraw from her body, and adopting this position to allow his dwindling erection to remain nestled within her for as long as possible. She could still feel it, though it had slipped from her sheath, and perhaps Tig had noticed to, because he suddenly took an unsteady breath in his sleep and pushed against her, his arms tightening around her too.

Joss smiled, he was a man of such extremes; to think that when they'd met, he would chase her out of bed with him when he was done fucking her, and now this, his insistence to not only hold her close, but to stay inside of her all night. It wasn't the norm, and it wasn't even what most people would consider "sweet;" it was control, primal custody as visceral as Tig was, as visceral as they were together. He wouldn't lose her, she wouldn't leave him, she was his, and he was hers, and there was no other place for them, except together. Tig's loudest statements were always made in the most silent of ways, but still Joss knew there was a good chance when he did wake up, he'd likely be freaking out that they were so close, he couldn't help it, it was who and what he was.

But after all the sex tonight, Tig was likely to sleep for awhile to come…wow…it had been hard now to remember when it had all started, because really, it started before they left for the clubhouse, and seemed like it had just lasted straight on through the evening, just not always in the most physical of ways, but when they'd gotten home again…wow! Tig should have been tired! Joss had long understood that for him, sex was an important part of how he was seen, based on the quantity of it he had and was able to procure for himself, but unlike most other men, how good he was at it, or how in demand he was as a lover, was never something he was judged by, or cared about. But now, maybe Tig wasn't consciously extending himself until he knew she was satisfied, or maybe he wasn't aware of how much it influenced him when Joss made the pleasure he gave her known to him…or maybe she and him were just "good together" as the saying went, but there was so much more to sex now for both of them than there ever had been before. He now knew every place on her body that felt good, or even made her cum, and he'd even found a few that Joss herself hadn't known about. Even back when he did sort of care, he didn't put forth much effort, always made sure she got hers, but mostly, Tig knew he had a big dick, and he just let Joss find a way to make that work for her…but tonight, maybe it had been spurred on by how she'd cum just from necking with him in the chapel, but he was all about making that happen again and again and again, until Joss's body was just too tired to keep up with what his wanted to give her. And he was still so very Tig in how he gave it too, not tender, but possessive, not sharing pleasure with her but forcing her to accept it, his gentleness far from gentle, but the love Joss knew he felt for her evident in it all.

Hmm…she'd never told him he was good in bed…that was some new territory she looked forward to covering…when he woke up, of course. She smiled, couldn't wait to see his reaction to hearing that; Tig was so silly when she did give him compliments that other men expected to hear, acting at first like he didn't understand what she meant, then providing her with examples of why she was wrong, then being angry, and embarrassed that she'd even brought it up, and finally, sighing and looking at her and saying something akin to, "I hate when you notice that shit…but…thanks!"

Joss was still smiling a bit as she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep; it would have been nice to stretch her legs a bit, but she liked the feeling of Tig between them too much to give it up. Besides, him waking up and scrambling away from her was inevitable, she could wait until then, and lay her head back down softly against Tig's chest, where he'd been pressing it, but as soon as she did, he flinched, his eyes opening next, realizing, just as she had, that he couldn't move, that he was caught up in something, and that it was her…but that was it…he just yawned and lay there looking at her.

"You okay?" She asked him, because it was startling to not see him startled.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Are you?" He asked next, as if maybe he was missing something that he should have been concerned about.

Joss laughed a bit. "Everything's okay," she said, reassuring him, because now she could feel some tenseness in his body, his arms becoming rigid and his heart beating faster. Hmm…he may have woke up, but Tig wasn't really awake, until now.

"Alright," Tig's arms slipped from around her and he rolled as far away from her as he could get. "Yeah, I remember, this was my idea…but get offa me!"

Joss started to laugh, whereas any other woman may have been appalled by such a sudden rejection. However for Tig, it wasn't nearly as sudden as it usually was, nor was it a true rejection. She slipped her leg from around his hip and it felt so good to move her knee and other joints into some other position…finally…she loved being close to Tig, and it was hot to think that his cock had still been inside her as they'd fallen asleep, but ouch…her own hip joint felt like it had rusted in place while wrapped around him. "You still okay?" She asked, laughing again as she stretched her legs out.

"Yeah," Tig nodded and sat up a little, groaning with a stretch of his own, then rubbed at his eyes a bit and looked down at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I tried."

Joss smiled up at him softly, he really was sweet, in his own way. "You did fine," she insisted. "You always do."

Tig nodded, but she knew they weren't going to get into that. He yawned and looked out the window behind him, and it was still pretty dark outside. "Why'd you wake up for?"

"I don't know," she answered, he didn't have to know that being tangled around him was putting kinks into her joints, she'd gladly suffer it all again if it meant being close to him like that. But, maybe this was a good time to get an answer to that question she'd tried to get an answer to before, and then had tried once again to ask in the chapel, but never got the chance to before kissing him made Joss forget everything that wasn't Tig. "I was thinking about next weekend, and it kinda got me wondering about something, that's all."

"What?" Tig asked, and he sort of sneered, wow, he must have really hated the Custom Bike Awards, but he dropped the look of irritation and reached down, pulling her pillows more under her head, making her comfortable, and curious all at the same time. "Put your legs straight," he instructed then kind of turned his back to her, but laid down, the back of his head coming to rest, where else, but over the now smooth crescent between Joss's thighs.

Tig lay back as if it wasn't an odd pillow he'd selected, but Joss was laughing…she could feel every hair on his head brushing across her soft mound, creeping into the sensitive bend of her thighs, rustling at the base of her stomach, all of them doing some kind maddening little dance against her susceptible skin, like the feet of a thousand little gnats marching along the most pleasantly intolerant of ridges on her body. "Tig!" She was laughing and squirming, and then laughing some more at how Tig ignored it. "That really tickles!" She exclaimed, and was trying so hard to hold still, but now that she'd tipped him off, Tig smirked and began to nuzzle his dark hair against her sensitive white skin until Joss bucked and laughed so much her abdominal muscles ached and there were tears in her eyes.

"Stop movin'!" He grumbled, but still smirked and finally held still himself. "Seriously, I need like another hour of sleep, and then I'm banging you again." He reached up and took her hand in his, bringing it down over his chest, moving her fingers through the dark curly hairs, watching her touch him as he did it. That was some new interest of his, not only allowing her to touch him in certain places, but to stare down at her hands and fingers on his skin as they pressed to it or moved over it. "Why are you worried about the CBA's?"

"I didn't say I was 'worried,'" Joss answered, and tried to adjust herself a little so that her hip bone wasn't directly beneath Tig's back, but it only made everything ticklish again when she moved and, besides, he didn't seem to mind anyway. "I was just wondering about what was going to happen." Joss was really good at this by now…never start directly with Tig when he didn't really want to talk about a particular thing, whatever it was she wanted to discuss, it had to gently drift into the conversation, or better yet, let him be the one nudged into introducing it!

"You wanna know what's going to happen?" Tig asked with all his annoyances plainly heard in his voice as he looked up towards her. "I'll tell you," he smiled in an irritated fashion. "First, there will be a lot cocksuckers looking and pointing at us, then taking cellphone pictures of our cuts whenever we turn around, so they can come up with something similar for their little shithole riding club, and then they'll be over like we're all brothers cuz we ride, and start asking stupid shit questions about our bikes, call them 'plain,' and start asking us about Harley's greatest mistake ever, the V-Rod, which they all fucking love, and after that, they'll be there with this big asshole smile on their faces, showing off some piece of shit 1943 BMW their grandfather brought back from Germany during the war, that they went ahead and restored, but with a Cessna engine or some shit, and there's hardly enough original parts of the fucking thing to even call it a BMW anymore, and it's such a fragile, useless piece of…sculpture, they can't even start it, let alone ride it!"

Joss tried not to laugh, but this time it had nothing to do with being tickled by Tig's hair. She understood his frustration and his abhorrence of course, and in some part, she shared it as well, but it was just his attitude and the way he talked about it that threatened to have her laughing once more. "Okay, but I was kind of meaning about—"

"And then," Tig continued, as if she wasn't talking, which that time made Joss have to cover her mouth with the hand he wasn't holding against his chest, he was just too funny when he expressed himself against something like this. "These bitches, who all think they're some bodie's old lady, will be hanging around in this…herd, looking at us and blowing kisses and shit to Jax, but still talking about how 'dirty' looking he is, and tell us shit like we should paint our bike red or blue or whatever the fuck, and one of them, inevitably the one with the fattest damn ass, will bolster up the courage to ask one of us to take her for a ride on the back…and these aren't just annoying, stupid bitches, baby, these are the ugliest bitches!" He stressed, looking up at her again. "I mean like, 'smash their faces in dough and make gorilla cookies,' ugly!" And that time Joss couldn't help it, and she started to laugh, but Tig ignored her and continued. "And there's always that one stupid cocksucker, standing around and telling us how we can improve our bikes…telling us that if we open our carb up, 'it'll make a lot more noise and have a lot more presence when we roll into town'…yeah, and it'll also blow your engine unless you're riding in high altitudes, you dumb, dickless, fuckhead!"

"Okay," Joss said and took a deep breath, having spoken more for herself, because she could feel how stiff and tense Tig was getting, one of his hands had clenched into a fist, and she knew because her fingers were trapped inside of it. She couldn't be laughing and talking him down right now. "But there must be something good about it, because Clay wants to do it."

Tig sighed and began to relax a little. "Yeah," he half heartedly admitted. "It does keep us good with the civilians…makes us look like Robin Hood to them, makes it so there'd be a lot of public backlash if ATF or the FBI ever does try to take us down big time." He said, but then she felt his hand clench again around hers. "But I hate it, Joss! And I fucking hate that no civilian gets what I am! I am one of the last truly free men in America, and they don't even have an idea of what that means or what that is, and so they need to stay the fuck away from me!"

"I know, baby, I know," Joss gently soothed, and smoothed his wild hair with her free hand. Wow, keeping Tig from punching someone's head off next weekend was going to be no easy feat. "They don't get it, you're right," she said, and it suddenly became even more clear why Tara had such a hard time finding a place within this club…she was a civilian, she'd never "patched over," as it were, she truly didn't get it. Damn it…it wasn't fair…despite that, and despite Tara having gone to Tig and running her mouth about Opie, Joss did still like her, she was the first friend Joss had ever made, and it was hard to just let go of that.

"You know what I am," Tig said next, and it surprised her, but she knew to just be quiet and let him continue, if he was going to, and say nothing about his comment if he didn't. "And I shoulda made you part of it the first time you pleaded with me to take you with me," he paused and looked up at her again. "I'm sorry, baby."

Oh Tig…Joss's heart thumped sadly in her chest, she hated it when he was mopey, and she wasn't going to let him stay that way, his ridiculous anger was preferable to this. "No, you knew what you were doing, Tig." She said, and stroked her finger over his hair and then around and behind his ear, Tig twisting his neck to actually encourage her to touch more of him. Joss smiled a bit, he was a wolf eating out of her hand. "You weren't ready, and neither was I. I would have been as out of place and awkward as Tara is," she hadn't wanted to say that, hadn't wanted to use that example, but she knew offering Tara up would do Tig some good, and it was, she could feel the change in his 'ready for war' posturing. "There were some things I had to learn, some things I had to go through before I could be what you need me to be, and some of them may have been awful and scared me more than I ever understood I could be scared, but in a way, I did it all for you, and if it means making myself better for you, I'd do it all over again if I ever have to!" Wow, that wasn't exactly what she'd thought she was going to say, but thinking about Tara and how aimless she was and how pointless and unnatural it was for her to be anywhere near this life, near this club, made Joss realize just how much SAMCRO blood now flowed through her veins, and how absolute and unqualified and potent Tig's ownership of her was. "I belong to one of the last free men in America," she said, feeling Tig's muscles start to stiffen once more against her, but in a different way now. "And I never want to know any other life than this!"

Tig sat up and was immediately leaning over her, his arms sliding between the mattress and her back, pulling her close and kissing her as he lay with all his weight against her, smothering her in such a secure and wonderful manner that made Joss further wrap her arms and legs around him, wanting more and more, loving the possession he took of her. "God damn it, Joss…" he sighed, between kisses, his heart thundering against hers as they both ran their hands the lengths of each other's forms, touching all that they could reach and kissing so deeply there was scarcely enough breath between them to speak. The seemingly endless earlier sex had slaked it a bit, but now it was back, that feeling of wanting to be with each other in however many ways they could be close. Tig trembled a bit above her, worrying her lower lip between both of his again and then kissing down her chin to her neck and across her collar bone as Joss tilted her head back and exposed every bit of her white throat to him. One of her hands sprawled over the reaper on his back, the other ran her fingers through his hair, directing his kisses back to her neck again, Tig complying, only with teeth, kissing first then biting hard enough with the desire filling them both to leave a burning mark. "There's no gettin' me away from you," he whispered then kissed her mouth again, sucking hard at her lips and her tongue, holding her tighter. "You know that, don't you?"

Joss he gasped at how he wanted to be sure she did know it, but before she could answer, Tig kissed her again, with some new urgency, like something spilling out of him and into her that he couldn't stop, his body more than just pressed to hers, but "dug" into hers though there was no penetration, just his arms, holding her so much against him she began to feel almost part of him, absorbed by him, his lips still whispering against her mouth as he kissed her, but it was impossible to make out all the words exactly, just a jumbled chant of emotions that he couldn't keep bottled up any longer, familiar words like "stay" and "come," "never" and "mine" that she'd heard before from him in little spurts that morning in the dorm, the night after he'd been the one who'd gone momentarily catatonic, but now there was at least one new word that joined their passionate flutter, "yours." Joss drew a shared breath with her man, not even taking her mouth from his as they did so, and she wrapped her arms around him even more, held him so much tighter than she ever had before, Tig groaning and finding even more strength with which to make her his in his arms. She'd thought of him as "hers" for some time now, but now Tig was thinking it too. "I love you," she somehow whispered, even as she felt his mouth over hers, imploring the touch of his tongue again, soon rewarded with that, and a deep growl from the muscle and living desire above her.

"You're making me hard again," he ground out against her lips, and bit her neck once more; arching his back, taking his weight more on his knees and Joss felt the belly of his big cock suddenly slap into the length of her hot, moist slit, growing even more and more slippery now at the touch. She moaned and angled her hips as much towards Tig as she could, feeling the contractions beginning already in her sheath, not cumming, but begging to caress every last inch of what Tig readied to slam into her. But then she was cumming, and only seconds after Tig was inside of her, giving and taking to and from one another with a volume more furious in their passion than could be imagined by most couples; no words between them, only a series of the most ancient and pure, guttural sounds born of how a woman's body was made, and how man's body responded to it, the bed shaking and the headboard striking the wall with a rhythm reflecting every deep thrust and every throb of their crazed hearts, everything that was the other racing and pulsing within them both now, so entwined that not even the eruption of climax separated them from one another.

It couldn't have lasted that long, Joss doubted she could have withstood the wickedness of its intensity for more than a few minutes, that part of it alone was exhausting, and now she and Tig both collapsed, he onto her and her against the mattress, covered in each other's sweat, the taste of one another enduring in their mouths, and their heavy breathing the only thing that made either of them continue to move. When this came on, it came on strong, and there was no other manner for it to have; "it"…why go on thinking of it in so impersonal a way? Joss knew what "it" was, in all its reckless and demanding insanity that grabbed hold of both of them and split them open and wrung them out into each other until he was her and she was him…it was their love, as ludicrous, unusual, wild and severe as she and Tig were themselves.

The sky and the earth were gradually piecing themselves back together now, and Joss could feel Tig beginning to regain some power over himself, whereas she still couldn't move, was just too exhausted, but Tig was stronger than she was, so it didn't surprise her to feel him moving off of her a bit, keeping his arms around her though, and rolling to his back, bringing her with him and letting her spread out across his still heaving chest. "Jesus Christ, I am going to be sore tomorrow," he moaned, still collecting his breath as he now arranged Joss's arm around the back of his neck, her head over his pectoral muscle and her other arm across his broad chest.

"Give me a minute," she smiled, regaining power enough to trace little designs on his sweaty skin with her fingertips. "I'll rub your back."

Tig kind of chuckled at her innocence, and it felt good to know that some remained…for Tig to tarnish. "No," he said and shook his head. "It's not my back that's going to be sore, little girl."

"Oh," Joss answered, but she was beginning to feel tired, and what he'd actually meant didn't flip over in her mind, until now. "Oh!" She was so startled…and felt kinda responsible now too. "I'm not wet enough for you, am I?" She asked, lifting her head up and looking apologetically at him.

"Joss," Tig laughed and pressed her head back down against his chest again, stroking her sweaty bangs off of her forehead. "That's not it, you didn't cause it, it's just…" he sighed, lost for the words to describe it. "Just been hittin' it a lot, and hard too," his hand continued to stroke her hair, his heart rate settling beneath her ear as did her own. "Take it as a compliment." He laughed again.

"Well I can't if I broke you," she laughed back, and nuzzled her head against his chest a little, it felt so good to do so, Tig's body was so strong and so male in all the ways Joss wanted it to be, nothing on him was weak or soft or underdeveloped. She planted a kiss on his skin, feeling the rugged muscle beneath it and she smiled. "I might need you again sometime."

"You need me, I'm there!" Tig said quickly and without any hesitation, and Joss smiled again. "Go back to sleep for now though, you're still too young and tender, not old and tough like me, you can't just keep on taking it and not rest in between." He explained, and even though she couldn't see it, Joss knew Tig was smirking at her as he'd said that.

"Uh-huh?" Questioned Joss, because it couldn't have been that Tig, for as old and tough as he was, really wanted to sleep too.

"Yeah." Tig replied, and pressed her head down to his chest a little more, but both of them started to laugh a little. It would be good to sleep again, and damn if Joss wasn't feeling a little bit of soreness now herself…Tig was right, they had been going at it a lot tonight alone, and it had been hard, and he was big…yeah, they should have both been sore. She was tired, she had been before that last interlude, but something wouldn't let her close her eyes. Opie…she had to know…what was she supposed to do? Was there a threat there, or wasn't there? She'd much prefer to hear that there were no issues, it wouldn't be easy for her if there were, but ultimately, for her man, if Opie had to go, he had to go. "Tig," she began, and was surprised when he began to speak.

"You still thinking about the CBA's?" he asked, "or you wanna tell me what's really on your mind?"

Shit, he was beginning to figure out her meandering style of talking about issues he'd rather not discuss. Oh well, that was the price of developing a bond between one another. Fine then, if he could take it, and he was basically insinuating that he could, she'd be direct. "Opie." Joss stated, and waited a moment to see what his reaction was, if he got annoyed or angry or turned off to the conversation, but instead, Tig sighed. "I'm sorry, but I need to know, Tig. A lot's happened, but you're the only one who knows what any of it means. You know I'm going to have to be around him next weekend; how do I see him? How do I treat him? What do you want me to do?"

"Joss," both of Tig's hands left her and rubbed his eyes again then he pushed himself up some on his elbows. "Look at me," he told her, and Joss sat up herself too, not having expected an answer that would have prompted this preparation. "You love me?"

"Tig," she sighed and looked up at him, one hand caressing the side of his face that still bore pinkish claw marks. "Yes, I love you," Joss answered. "But believe me, that's hardly saying enough about how I feel." And it wasn't, "love" was such an overused word…how could she compare her deepest feelings for Tig with someone's appreciation for cheeseburgers, or a particular song, or how they felt about their favorite pair of shoes?

Her fingertips gently traced his jaw line as his ice blue eyes rested on hers, like looking deep inside of her, then his head turned and he softly kissed her palm. "I know," he said, then reached over and wrapped one arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her mouth again, pulling away to speak after only a brief touch of his tongue to hers, but he only ended up kissing her again, and again, and again, deeper each time…caught up once more in what had been flowing between them all night long, and Joss wrapped her arms around him and began to helplessly give him everything he wanted. "Joss," he finally whispered, wriggling free of her arms and then pinning her hands down, trying to get control, apparently really wanting to talk to her about this, and yet, not wanting to discuss it all at the same time. "There's a lotta hell between me and Ope," Tig said. "And it ain't gonna just blow away on the wind, that shit's there for the duration," he looked down at her, wanting so badly to kiss her again, and Joss was just barely able to not to lift her head up and encourage him to…she loved him so much. But this was important, and it had been very much on Tig's mind, she could tell. "I know you love me," he said with so much conviction it surprised her. "This is not on you, so don't think it is," he continued, and his clear blue eyes were now looking down into hers with so much sincerity and something else that Joss couldn't name, but it had the edges of anger, the jaggedness of hatred the commitment of possessiveness and the strangest touch of sadness. "Opie's in love with you."