"Everything okay?" Joey asked from the doorway.
Neither one of them heard Joey come up the stairs. Jessie still had her arm around John with her head on his chest. She was telling him about the time Sal had taken her to Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom for her seventh birthday because she loved Peanuts, especially Snoopy.
John was listening to Jessie intently, waiting to be there in case the memory got to be too much. He sifted through her curls as she talked to him, calming her.
"Yeah, we're good." Jessie sat up and smiled at Joey. "Everything okay downstairs?"
"Yes. Dinner is cleaned up and put away. Robert, Bailey and Sam are in the living room chatting it up."
Jessie got up and walked to the doorway. She kissed Joey's cheek. "Thank you for helping Robert."
John watched the two of them. He knew Joey was anxious to talk to her and that Jessie was ready for a distraction from talking about Sal. He didn't want to leave her, but he wanted to give them time alone. He stood up and reached for his crutches.
"I'm gonna go downstairs and catch up with Sam and Bailey." He stopped in front of Jessie, put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her forehead. "You okay?"
Jessie nodded. "Yes, thank you." She gave him a quick hug. "I love you, John."
"I love you too."
They watched John go. When he was out of sight, Jessie stepped up close to Joey, wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. Joey rubbed her back as he held her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just need this." She told him.
"Jess, can we talk?"
Jessie pulled away from him, took his hand and led him down the hall to her bedroom. She let go of his hand, as they entered, so she can close and lock the door behind him. Joey sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Is this about what happened downstairs?" She stood with her back against the door, looking down at the floor.
"I just never thought...at the hospital, the way you were acting...I mean I get it...with everything that happened...and the nightmare you had and the stress of being in the hospital...and not sleeping... I didn't like it, but I understood it. But, at the dinner...the way, you were with Robert...the way you talked about Sal...Sal of all people...that I don't get. I never thought...I could never picture you being that way towards him or anyone else. I need to understand."
Jessie looked up from the floor. "I don't understand it myself. I have all this stuff going on inside me and none of it is good...not even a little and when I let it go, you get what happened at dinner... but when I do, it's like this huge weight is lifted off my chest. It's the only time I feel...better, and I like it. I like feeling that way better than feeling like I do now, so I don't know what to do." She looked down at the floor again. "I don't know what to do anymore."
After a few moments of silence and not knowing what he was thinking about what she said, Jessie gave him an out.
"Look if you want to cut bait and call it quits, I wouldn't blame you and there would be no hard feelings." She took a deep breath. "I would rather you leave now, rather than later...when your afraid of me or even worse hate me for something I've said or done." She shook her head. "I couldn't...I couldn't deal with that." She said quietly.
Joey got up from the bed and went to her.
"I'm not going anywhere...not now...not later. Do you understand me?"
"I just don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Jessie I love you."
"But-"
He stopped her from talking with a kiss. "I love you." He told her again. He kissed her again, deeper and longer. "I will always love you." He whispered in her ear, then ran his tongue along her neck making her jump a little. He smiled at her reaction, then did it again on the other side. He kissed his way up to her mouth and looked into her eyes. "There's nothing you can do that would make me stop loving you. I'm yours. I don't want to be with anyone else."
Kissing him, Jessie grabbed his shirt in both hands and walked forward, backing him up towards the bed. When they reached the edge of the mattress she stopped, pulled his shirt over his head, and tossed it aside. She ran her hands over his chest taking in the warmth of his skin and the smell of his cologne. Her hands wandered lower, following the dark trail of hair that led to the top of his jeans and beyond, and started to unbutton them.
"Not yet." He told her as he gently moved her hands away. He sat her down on the bed, reached for the bottom of her shirt and quickly pulled it over her head, then leaned over, reached around her, unhooked her bra, and gently pulled it off. "I love you." He said taking in her toplessness.
Jessie took his hand, pulled him down on top of her and kissed him hungrily. "I love you too." She reached down between them and unbuttoned his jeans, but before she could get any further he pushed her hand away. "Joe.."
"Not yet." He sat up and pulled at the string of her sweatpants. "At the hospital...we had to rush through everything." Holding on to the waistband of her sweatpants, he stood up and pulled them off. He looked down at her and smiled as he reached for her lace-trimmed boy shorts, his favorite, and slowly slid them off. "Now we can take our time."
Joey crawled up into the bed next to her and she couldn't help but smile at him because he looked like Sylvester the cat after he finally caught Tweety Bird.
"Why am I the only one completely naked?" She asked as he licked and sucked her neck, leaving long wet trails from her neck to her chest.
"Because I said so." He grinned devilishly, moving his head down from her neck to her breasts. Licking and sucking the right, he squeezed and fondled the left. After several minutes he switched sides.
"This isn't fair." Her body was tingling and she put her hand in his hair to encourage him. "Yeah, that." She told him when he started to nibble.
He moved his hand slowly down her stomach and it twitched, involuntarily, as her body anticipated where his hand was going.
"I said I love you, I never said I'm fair." He told her, his hand between her legs. He slid two fingers inside her and smiled when she sighed happily and closed her eyes. "You could get me back later...if your up to it."
"Shut up and kiss me." She ordered, squirming under his hand.
"Yes, ma'am." He did as he was told, covering her mouth with his, their tongues dancing as he took in the sounds of his pleasuring her. Becoming acutely aware of the pressure in his pants, his actions were causing, he groaned and deepened their kiss.
Jessie was teetering on the edge and although she was loving what he was doing to her, she wanted more. She wanted him.
"Joey...Joe...please." She managed to get out in between their kissing.
He knew what she wanted. "Okay baby, okay" He whispered in her ear.
Barely missing a beat, he slid his fingers from her, unzipped his pants, pushed them down and shook them off. He crawled on top of her, easily guiding himself inside her and pushed inward, slow and deep. He buried his face in her neck and groaned as he reveled in the feeling of her wet warmth.
They were in sync, each of their movements complimenting the other, both trying to push each other to the same end. Jessie reached it first. Clawing at his back, she cried out into his shoulder. Joey came minutes later, groaning as he kissed her, he pushed as deep as he could and emptied himself inside her.
"I love you so much." Joey ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her softly.
"I love you too." She reached up and touched his face. "I don't know what I did to deserve you..."
Joey grinned, propped himself up on his elbows, slid himself out of her, and rolled on to his back. "That could be taken two ways ya know."
She curled up beside him laying her head on his chest. "Well, I mean it in a good way."
"I know, I'm just teasing." He ran his fingers through her hair. After she was quiet for several minutes, he looked down at her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just thinking."
"About?" He could feel her smile against his skin. "About what?" He repeated.
"I forgot how much I loved doing it that way...compared to, ya know...rushing things."
Joey laughed. "You forgot huh?" He kissed her, forcing her to straighten out her body, so she would face him. He buried his left hand in her hair and kissed her. Distracting her with his tongue work, he slid his right hand between her legs and teased her with his fingertips.
As soon as she felt him, she moved her leg up on to his to give him full access to her. When she felt him slide his fingers inside her, she moaned and pressed her hips down to push them deeper.
"Let's make sure you don't forget again," Joey said into her neck before he started to assault her with his mouth.
When Jessie reached down to take him in her hand he didn't push her away.
Their second round of love-making was more powerful and intense. When she felt they were both ready, Jessie took control. She crawled on top of him and eased herself down onto him, as Joey raised his hips to push himself inside her faster. She controlled the pace and motion, working them both so they could climax together. She said his name and he sat up and kissed her. The moment his tongue touched hers, her lower half exploded with pleasure and the second her throbbing insides gripped him tighter, his did too. They held each other for several minutes, waiting for their bodies to calm. Joey laid back down and pulled Jessie with him. Her head on his chest, he put his hand in her hair, twisting her damp curls around his fingers.
"You okay?" He asked kissing the top of her head.
"When I'm with you...always." She looked up at him, kissed him softly on the mouth, slid off him, and rolled on to her side. Reaching behind her she pulled his arm over her, forcing him on to his side, and pulled him in close to her.
Joey laid his head, just above hers. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, you know that."
"What happened with you and John before? Something was wrong. I felt it the minute I saw his face."
"I told him not to feel bad." She sighed. "He helped me deal with how I felt about Sal...and to do that he made me remember things I was trying to forget. After crying like a big baby, for what seemed like forever, I fell asleep...and I dreamed about him."
He picked his head up and kissed her temple. "I'm sorry. Was it a bad one?"
She nodded. "It wasn't John's fault though. I brought it on myself. I was being a jerk."
Joey propped his head up with his hand and ran the back his hand over her cheek.
"Will you tell me about the dream?"
Jessie was glad he could only see the side of her face because she winced at the question. She didn't want to tell him. She just wanted to forget, but she couldn't say no. After all, he gave her everything and asked for nothing. Taking a deep breath to ready herself, she nodded.
Tbc...
