A/N:

To the readers: I love you. Thanks for showing an interest.
To the subscribers: I love you sooo much, sorry for making you wait so long!
To the reviewers, past and future: you ROCK, thank you so so so much for your comments! :D

Warning (or should I say you're welcome?) - superrrrsmut ahead. Pretty much half of these 5000 words are smutty. And the rest? Fluff! Enjoy!

The next few weeks passed far too quickly. Juliet continued to look in the Los Angeles area for jobs in her desired field. The community was tight-knit, and Edmund's influence seemed to be everywhere. Just when she thought she had a clear way in, the door would shut in her face and she'd be left wondering if it was even possible to pursue her career in this city, but she never gave up hope. Being with James made it easier, even though Richard's deadline was beginning to loom.

Meanwhile, James made sergeant, and Juliet was there at the ceremony that honored him and the rest that had been given the title. Anyone connected to the precinct that didn't know they were together certainly knew after that. The smiles they gave each other, Juliet's proud gaze and James' adoring one, and the dances they shared at the small reception made even the happiest of married couples jealous.

They had their own dinner to celebrate. Miles and Rachel were invited, their closest friends and family, and Miles took the opportunity to tell the most embarrassing stories he could remember involving James and his early career in the police force. Embarrassing, or at the very least funny.

Rachel and Juliet were still holding back their laughter from the last story, the one in which James and Miles stole all the rookies' clothes while they were showering, forcing the new recruits to wear towels that were not built to cover big, tough cops for more than the short walk from shower to locker.

"Had to show 'em who's boss." said James. His arm was stretched over the back of Juliet's chair, and he caught her eye as she finally got her giggles under control and turned to smirk at him.

Miles nodded, feigning dead-seriousness. "And that was the only way." he insisted.

"I didn't think that ever happened in real life." Juliet teased him.

"Yeah, that's straight out of Police Academy," said Rachel, leaning back in her chair. "And it actually sounds pretty innocent coming from you two." She looked from Miles, seated next to her, to James, who was seated across Miles, and back again. Their eyebrows rose slowly, and they regarded her with oh really? expressions before turning to each other.

"Innocent." Miles said in disbelief.

"What exactly are you implying?" James asked her, putting on not-so-innocent airs. He smiled at Juliet, and looked back to Rachel, waiting for the reason she might suspect them of such evil doing.

"Oh, please." Rachel scoffed. "I want to hear a bad one."

"Well," said Miles, looking at James. "There was that one training course, when you shot all the civilian targets in the head..."

Juliet turned to James, her mouth wide open but smiling.

"Now hold on," James interrupted, his whole attitude shifting. "There's more to this story than what Miles is gonna tell you-"

"Notice how he only gets defensive when the story involves him?" Miles asked Rachel. "When I'm the one getting embarrassed, he doesn't care."

"You shot innocent cardboard cutouts?" Juliet asked James, as if she might have been related to one of them. She laughed at his sheepish smirk, and at the way he shifted in his seat.

"I was in a bad mood that day." James said, putting it lightly. Juliet laughed again, and Rachel grinned, shaking her head. "I shot the criminals too!" he assured them.

"James used to have a problem with authority." Miles explained, smirking at his friend who, in embarrassment, couldn't even look at any of them. "The officer running the training program told him he needed to improve his accuracy."

Rachel laughed. "I guess that's one way to do it." she said.

Juliet put her hand on James' leg, rested her chin in her other hand and smiled at him.

"It's hard to imagine you being so naughty, James." she said, the teasing twinkle in her eyes causing James to give her a very meaningful look.

"You really wanna talk about being naughty in front of family?" James asked her, smiling smugly when her eyes opened wide and her lips pressed closer together.

"Uh oh." Rachel said playfully.

"I meant at work!" Juliet insisted.

"Guys," Miles said, in a much more disgusted tone of voice. "Please. There's still food on the table."

"Oh, come on," Rachel scolded him. "They're a cute couple, they're allowed to have their innuendo."

"You wouldn't say that," said Miles. "If you'd heard what I have heard."

"Is that why James never spends the night at our place?" Rachel teased her sister, making Juliet laugh and shake her head. It was Juliet's turn to sheepishly avoid eye contact with any of them.

"Reminds me of your first year of undergrad." said Rachel, smiling mischievously.

"Rachel." Juliet said, turning to her sister and drawing her name out so she'd know she was serious. "No."

"When you had to call me from that boy's dorm room..."

"No!" Juliet almost squealed, trying even harder to shut her up with her eyes. The way Rachel said boy, there was definitely a story behind it.

"Hey, if she's got dirt, she's gotta share it." James insisted. Juliet moaned, placing her elbows on the table and using both hands to cover her forehead.

"Oh, no," Rachel said, laughing sympathetically with her sister. "I can't, not when she does that."

"That's not fair," said Miles. "We told you everything - !"

James cleared his throat at that declaration, as a playful warning to his friend.

"Almost everything." Miles conceded.

"And now I have to tell the story," said Juliet. "Because your imaginations will run wild if I don't." She gave Rachel a wry look as she said it, since Rachel's backpedaling only made it seem more scandalous. James gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze, and she could only shake her head as she chuckled softly to herself.

"One night," she began in a most begrudging manner. "Early in my freshman year of undergrad, I was at a party, and I had a few too many drinks - as girls that age often do when trying to impress a boy."

"I won't even look at a girl if she's below a point-two." Miles chimed in.

"That's blood alcohol level," James explained. "For the layperson at the table."

"Thank you." Rachel said wryly, though she could have guessed from the context. She turned to Miles after that. "And, ew."

"Well," Juliet said, cutting back in so she could get it over with. Miles chuckled, Rachel smiled, and Juliet continued. "The boy must have been impressed, because we went back to his room, and..." She'd been so sure she could say it, but now that the time had actually come, she couldn't get the words out.

"...And?" James prompted her. Rachel couldn't leave them in suspense any longer. Before Juliet could, Rachel very quickly ended the story.

"And she was so loud, his neighbors called the cops." Rachel burst into laughter, and Juliet covered her face again. Rachel put a hand over her chest, unable to catch her breath. "They thought he was killing her!" she squeaked.

James laughed and hugged Juliet around the shoulders, pulling her to him and kissing the top of her bowed head. "Sounds like you were havin' fun." James murmured into her hair, though Juliet barely noticed through the sound of Rachel laughing.

"It's been fifteen years, Rach." she muttered into her hands, looking up with a red face and a good-natured smirk. "And it has never been funny."

"They nearly broke the door down," Rachel continued, still laughing. "And they were both too loud and too drunk to realize until the whole dorm was gathered outside!"

"That," said Miles. "Does not surprise me at all."

"I am not that bad!" Juliet insisted, referring to more recent activities, even though her reputation with all of them was, at this point, shot.

"He's messin' with ya." James reminded her. She knew by now that Miles would always take any joke to the extreme. That, and James didn't want Juliet to stop making the sounds she made when she was in his bed.

"I'm a cop." Miles said, as a matter of fact. "Does this mean I get to storm into your room every time you're-"

"No, Miles." said Juliet, before James even had the chance. "No, it doesn't." She laughed, finally, though she was still embarrassed.

"Where did you find this guy?" Rachel asked James, pointing at Miles with her thumb.

"Back alley somewhere." James deadpanned. "His picture was on the back of a milk carton. I called his parents, but they didn't want him anymore. So I fed him, clothed him, taught him how to fight crime..."

"Oh, you taught me?" Miles asked, indignant.

Juliet grinned and bit her lip as the boys started debating which one of them had always been the other's keeper. She was grateful for the change in subject, and it did not slip by her that the three of them had all deftly changed it for her. Her sister, who'd started it in the first place, her boyfriend, who already knew more about Juliet in bed than Miles and Rachel would ever be able to force from her, and Miles himself, who could have easily begged for more details but didn't, because he knew what James would do to him.

It made her realize how much she loved all three of them. It also made her think about how nice it would be for her and James to have a place of their own...

When James finished brushing his teeth that night, he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and smiled. He wondered how it came to be that he had a steady girlfriend, one that spent most nights in his bed, and one he found it hard to wake up without after the nights she didn't. She was there in his bed now, in just a t-shirt and her underwear, probably snuggled up underneath the blankets just waiting for him to join her. He realized then how silly it was to stand there staring at himself in the mirror and thinking about her when he could be holding her already. That behavior could no longer be helped. He was deeply, hopelessly, in love with her, and it felt amazing.

Juliet was on her side, her elbow resting on her pillow, and her head resting in her hand. She waited until James appeared in the doorway, in his boxers and nothing else, and she pulled his half of the covers aside. She was indeed in nothing but a t-shirt and her underwear, and she had indeed only been waiting for him to come back to her. She smiled when she saw him, and she looked his body up and down. She wanted to feel those strong, solid thighs between her own. She wanted to sink her teeth into his chest, dig her nails into his broad shoulders and lick each one of his abs. As each thought crossed her mind, her sweet expression transformed into something more seductive.

That sly smile of hers nearly killed him right then and there. It was nine o'clock, Miles was gone for the night and they were already getting into bed. It was going to be a long one.

He walked slowly, taking in the sight. It would always be one of his favorites. The closer he got to the bed, the more he could see of her. The curve of her hip, the specific way it met her waist, the way one leg crossed over the other, hiding the part that laid between them. Her t-shirt was riding up; he could see a patch of her stomach, and the way the shirt hung over her breasts... they may have been covered, but he could still see every detail.

He climbed right in beside her, pulling her as close as possible and going straight for her neck with his kisses. She hummed so softly, and she put both arms around him as he put her on her back. She could feel how hard he worked at the gym. The muscles in his neck and shoulders were taut when he held himself over her. With one hand he reached down, pulled her thigh up and wrapped her leg around his waist, grunting like a caveman as he pressed closer. It made her smile. Through her panties, and through his boxers, she could feel his already rock-hard erection. He rubbed against her, hard, and she thrust her hips up to meet the motion of his. She moaned and sighed; he left a wet spot on her neck, and moved to kiss her mouth. Lips met, their mouths hungry for that feeling. James pressed his tongue inside, tasting deeply, mimicking what he'd do with his cock once he had her all warmed up. She made a sound, a soft cry muted by the thrust of his tongue, and he felt her hand find it's way down between them. She held him against herself, so that he would stay in the right groove when he thrust there too. She sighed, and she moaned again, with each motion. They both looked down between their bodies, at Juliet's thighs tensing as her hips rocked up and down, at the shape of James covered by dark fabric rubbing against the pale pink of Juliet's underwear, and at Juliet's hand, stroking and guiding him as he moved.

"God, I even love dry humping you." James murmured. He smiled, and Juliet giggled softly, and her reaction made him smile wider.

"It's not dry humping when you make me this wet." Juliet whispered. His next thrust was slow but hard, and he kissed her while she moaned. The hand that held her thigh to his side, it slipped further down, around her leg so he could feel exactly how wet she was. The fingertips on that hand touched her where he'd enter her, and found the outside of her panties weren't just soaked, they were slippery. He spread it around, playing with her over her underwear, and she moaned louder. He was harder than before, having felt the effect he had on her. She was drenched, just from grinding her pussy on his cock.

James shifted his hips, taking away the instrument of her pleasure. She was breathing heavy, completely turned on and ready for whatever he wanted to do next. The hand that had touched her tugged on her panties, pulling one side, then the other, alternating until he could pull them down from her legs without tearing them off. He didn't even look; he completed the task by feel alone, and he bowed his head so he could nuzzle and suck at her breasts through her t-shirt while he did it. Once her feet were free of them, he lowered his body further, and her legs fell apart to welcome his face between her thighs. His tongue lapped at her entrance, tasting what had soaked her underwear. She moaned and spread her legs wider, and she held the back of his head gingerly with one hand. Her other arm was bent, and she rested her head on it, turning her face toward her own soft skin as James licked her up, down, and everywhere. She whined, calling out her pleasure in sweet little bursts. He wanted them louder. He wanted her to scream and make the neighbors believe all hell had broken loose in his apartment.

"Don't hold back, baby." said James, between open-mouthed kisses. "I want someone to call the cops on us."

Juliet grinned, trapping the laughter in her stomach. He'd broken the spell, but she loved him for it.

"The only cop I want is already here." She groaned lazily. She propped herself up on her elbow, pushing him away, shoving him onto his back so she could climb on top of him. "And I'm gonna suck his cock." she added in a whisper. James kissed his girlfriend's dirty mouth, and they worked together to get his boxers off. He laid his head down on his pillow and got comfortable, wondering how long he'd last until he had to fuck her. She kissed her way down. Her hair brushed his sides as she crawled backwards, and her hair hid her face until she gathered it all with her forearm and swept it behind her head. So he could see what she was doing.

She took him all in at once, using her hand to cover what wouldn't fit in her mouth, and he throbbed inside of her. His hand cradled the back of her head, another way to feel the motion when she began to move, very slowly, up and down. With her tongue, she lavished his cock with as much attention as he'd given her and then some, and she fought to make his tender touch transform into a fist full of her hair. When that happened, she knew he'd be ready. In the meantime she hummed, she moaned and made sounds like he was delicious and belonged in her mouth. He breathed in uneven patterns, and tried not to get too carried away as thoughts of coming down her throat took over his brain.

"Juliet," he said minutes later, his voice rough but his actions very gentle. "I gotta be inside you."

She understood where. She let him slip out of her mouth, sucking him hard on the way out. She crawled up to meet him, rubbing her whole body against his. He grabbed at her hips, and ran his hands up and down her back. They kissed, and Juliet laid down next to him, on her side. They both took her t-shirt off together, and James pulled on Juliet's thigh so her leg was draped over his waist. They kissed, and Juliet moaned happily. They were only close enough when they were like this, completely naked with their bodies in full contact.

"I love you." she said, the words slipping out so naturally, before she could really think about them. They'd been saying those words a lot lately, and it still felt new. It still gave James that unfamiliar - though nothing less than amazing - feeling when he heard them. The feeling was even stranger, and just as amazing, when he said them himself.

"I love you too, baby." he said, grunting a little as he positioned their bodies. Her panting became more intense when she felt him poking at her, looking for his way in. Some pleasant form of panic seized her, when she realized she was going to be filled by him soon. She cried out, much louder this time, as he pushed his way inside. He made a protective, encouraging sound and kept moving, until their hips were flush and he was inside her completely.

She grabbed his waist, to keep him there for a longer moment, to prevent him from pulling out and thrusting back in before she was ready. She just wanted to feel him, feel every inch.

"You know how good this feels for me?" He spoke to her, his voice low and right in front of her face. Her eyes were closed, and she forced them open so she could look into his eyes. He was looking back at her, and the intensity made her inner muscles clench. "You know how much I love being inside you?" He didn't pull out, but he pushed his hips against her, trying to get even deeper. Everything was deep - his voice, her moans, the feelings that stirred when they were physically connected. Juliet's hand clutched at his hip, but James was stronger, and he pushed her hip away so he could pull out. He rocked back into her, as gentle as he could make himself be, and her eyes slipped closed again. She laid her head down fully on the pillow, and then buried her face in the crook of James' neck, shouting a moan at his chest as he began to fuck her slowly. The hand she held at his waist let go, relinquishing control, and he thrust up into her a little harder. She let her hand rest on his abs in front of hers, feeling them tense as he worked his hips. Her mouth opened wide, and her tongue came out to lick his neck. She moaned again, louder, and almost bit him.

James closed his eyes and groaned, concentrating fully on the feeling of being that deep inside of her. The way she adjusted to him, her body accomodating his presence as he invaded her space...but she wanted him there, and as much as he pushed, her body also drew him in.

For Juliet sometimes it felt like too much, the way he filled her so completely. The idea, as much as the feeling, overwhelmed her. "You feel so good, James..." she moaned against the thick muscles on his neck. "So good..." she whimpered, desperate but unable to express all she was feeling in words.

She lifted her head, searching for his mouth. She was suddenly ravenous for it. She attacked him with her kiss, and he really thrust into her hard, moving faster after hearing her say the words. He could feel her breasts moving against his chest as he rocked her body. She'd wrapped her arm around his torso, and she held him like her leg held his waist. It was like cuddling and fucking at the same time, as intimate and dirty as they wanted to make it. She broke the kiss, squeezed him and moaned, climbing higher at the very thought. Being so close, moving against him, she was experiencing a wonderful friction. She could feel him everywhere.

"You gonna come for me?" James said, low and in her ear, reading the signs her body was giving him.

She nodded, her voice louder than she expected when she answered him. "Yeah," she said. "God, yes..."

She was near silent after that, holding her breath as she let the feeling spread inside of her. Then, her own private supernova hit her, and she gasped before the shouting moans began. Holding her tight in his arms, he felt the motion of her body shift and change, from that desperate up and down rocking to the shake of an intense orgasm. There were times he couldn't believe he'd been the one to make her feel that way. No one else he'd ever been with came like that. It blew his mind every time.

It blew Juliet's mind just the same, because no one she'd been with made her come the way she did for James. With her shakes subsiding, she could concentrate on his pleasure again, making sure he got off as completely as she did.

"That feel good, baby?" he murmured, taunting her since he already knew the answer. He'd felt the whole thing right along with her.

"Yes," she answered, her voice soaked in emotion and the orgasm that still wasn't completely over. "Yesyesyes..." she muttered until their mouths fused. He thrust into her, faster, and he felt her tense all her muscles, squeezing him everywhere - her arms, her legs, and especially inside. It made him stop kissing her so he could grunt out loud. He felt himself losing control, the primal need to hump the living daylights out of her taking over. He pushed her onto her back, their bodies still pressed as close together as possible, and he started a steady push with his hips, harder, faster than before.

"James," she panted, overwhelmed again by the power they had over each other. She held him close, and she rested her cheek on his shoulder while he buried his face in the pillow behind her head. She kept tensing and releasing the muscles in her thighs. He couldn't fucking take it when she did that.

"Juliet," he croaked, grunting with every quick thrust. He made her shout again, a sharp cry every time he slammed into her. Her moaning deepened when he suddenly slowed down, his thrusting shallow as he started to come inside of her. Her arms hugged him around his torso, her face still tucked neatly on his shoulder, and she relaxed her legs and pelvis, focusing on the warmth she felt from him.

"I love you so much." she sighed. The sound of her voice made his hips jerk. She took it with a softer cry, He was still now, save for the involuntary shakes of his body as it finished emptying itself into her. They were coming further and further apart, until he was done and he stopped thrusting for good. She held him in place, pulling him deeper inside of her and they laid that way for a while. He let his weight rest on top of her body, and she didn't complain. They breathed, and held each other, still feeling every inch of skin, the pressure and the heat.

James kissed Juliet's neck. She responded by doing the same, and soon their lips found each other, sharing soft afterglow kisses. James slipped out of her and flopped onto his back. Juliet rested her head in the crook of his arm, her legs still spread at an angle that would accomodate him if he'd still been on top of her. James took a very deep breath, and the sound he made when he exhaled, letting it all out at full force, made Juliet grin. Her accompanying chuckle caught his attention, and he smiled at the ceiling.

"I think I just had a religious experience." he told her.

Turning her head to the side, a slight stretch to squeeze more pleasure out of her body, Juliet chuckled again. Then she turned toward James, draping her leg over one of his legs, and her arm over his chest. Her face found a home pressed against his neck, and he pulled her closer.

"I love you so much back." he replied belatedly, stroking the skin on her arm. With a pleased smile she snuggled closer still, feeling she might melt down completely if she didn't hold on to him tight enough.

"James..." she said sweetly, making it sound like she was going to shower him with more heartfelt affection. "...Where are your handcuffs?" she asked, in the same innocent tone.

His eyebrows went up as she lifted her head from his shoulder, and a smile he couldn't control made his dimples deeper than she'd ever seen them before. He shifted his head so he could look at her. Juliet maintained her innocent expression, and the uncontrolled chuckle that escaped James' throat almost sounded nervous. "That depends on who's puttin' 'em on." he said. She grinned. "If you want to put 'em on me," James said slowly. "Then I left 'em at the office. If I'm puttin' 'em on you...well, there might be a pair in my bedside drawer over there."

Juliet smiled, and gave James a kiss on the cheek before she laid back down. "They were for you." she explained. He chuckled under his breath, and squeezed her frame against his body.

"I'm not goin' anywhere," he said. "If that's what you're worried about."

Juliet laid with her eyes open, now deep in thought. No, it wasn't his departure she feared.

"Okay," he said, folding quickly. "I'll let you cuff me if you tell me what's on your mind."

Juliet smiled again, her worry cut with surprise. He was half joking, but he'd been able to sense that something was wrong. It pleased her on a deep level, in the center of her heart, to know he knew her that well. She didn't want to ruin their perfect post-coital moment, but so immediate and accurate was his concern, she couldn't help but share one of the topics on her mind.

"Well." she murmured.

It wouldn't be the one that weighed most heavily. She still couldn't bring herself to open that one up.

"Embarrassing stories aside," she said. "I wasn't very experienced when I got married. And I sort of gave up on the whole mind-blowing orgasm thing after a few years."

Juliet lifted her upper body, and rested its weight on her elbow so she could look at James. He looked up at her with patient curiosity, tilting his head so he could look at her straight on.

"I just wanted you to know how happy I am to both give and receive them, now, with you." said Juliet. His eyes searched her face, the corners of his mouth turning up when he saw her little smirk. With the hand that had been stroking her upper arm, James reached up to brush Juliet's mussed hair behind her ear.

"Have I ever told you how much I love the words that come out of your mouth?" he asked. His hand brushed her cheek, his thumb brushing over her lips.

Juliet's smirk gave way to a big bright smile. "Yes." she said, wryly. "Yes, you have."

"I love everything about your mouth..." he said suggestively, pulling her closer. She gladly leaned closer, laughing against his lips as she kissed him. Their tongues soon joined the kiss, still hungry from all the pleasure they'd just given each other. It was never enough. The more they experienced, the more they wanted. Just when Juliet thought she'd melt again from his deep kisses, he ducked his head lower, pushing one of her breasts up to meet his mouth. He bathed the entire mound of flesh with his tongue, squeezing it gently as he did so. She sighed, her eyes slipping closed as he closed his lips around the nipple and sucked softly. It wasn't even purely sexual, the affection he showed toward her body. He'd kiss every inch just to say I love you.

"Whaddya say, Blondie?" James asked, voice muffled. He lifted his head and looked up at her, moving to kiss her other breast as he spoke. "Are the cuffs comin' out?" he asked, licking and sucking it just the same. "You do somethin' I have to arrest you for?"

Juliet sighed again. They were far past foreplay tonight. No more teasing. Just closeness.

"Not tonight." she said, sliding back down beside him. She took his tongue back into her mouth and kissed him, thanking him for all the attention he gave to her. He'd be ready again soon. When he was, she wanted to make love to him, long and slow, with both hands free to hold him.

A/N: Thanks as always for reading. I swear, plot will actually develop in the next chapter. Things will happen - different things! Oh, like you care...but don't be afeared, my best fluff always involves a lil drama! ;D