Chapter 12

"I could say the same thing you know," Jon rumbled, having set his own empty bowl and fork aside. He let his head fall until his cheek was resting on top of her head. "You travel a fair amount too, Val." So on the traveling front, they were going to have a hard time coordinating schedules. "You know, if I'm in the area, any area you are, we could meet up." He suggested, which was his way of letting her know he wasn't against the idea of continuing this relationship, such as it was, with her.

"Yeah, we could do that. I'd like that, actually. I wouldn't mind seeing you in the ring again either." Vallea did enjoy watching him at work, doing his thing and dominating his opponent. It made her all warm and fuzzy inside. Jon wanted to pursue this with her and she honestly wanted to as well, to see where things progressed. "I know both of us traveling and being apart a lot won't be easy, but…when we do see each other, it'll be well worth the wait." Looking up into his eyes, Vallea cupped his face in her hands and softly kissed him, unable to hold back any longer. "By the way," She broke the kiss, breathing heavier, and could tell he was too. "I'm an open book. You can ask me anything you want."

"I'm good, babe," He brushed his lips against hers. "Learning is the fun part." Asking was cheating. Well, depending on what it was, but for the most part, people tended to learn as they went about others. "So…if I bring a blanket out here in front of the fire, you going to let me ravage you under all these stars?"

His eyes turned upwards, taking in the breathtaking view. This was a view he missed when he was in a city, or traveling constantly. It was good to come out here, in the mountains, and just reconnect and get away from all the technology and crap that came with it. Nothing beat a Vegas sky, no matter where she was in the world and she had traveled a great deal of it, even overseas. Nothing compared to the beauty of the mountains and sky in Vegas. Not a lot of people thought of Vegas the way she and Jon did. They didn't appreciate the majestic, natural beauty it held because of all the distractions and bright lights.

"Hmm, I think you could talk me into it…" Vallea slid her hand up his bare chest, enjoying the smoothness, and knew he waxed probably on a weekly basis. "That's if I don't ravage you first, handsome." Nipping his bottom lip, Jon growled and a shiver shot down her spine, her nose rubbing against his. "Better go get that blanket."

He was up and in the tent in a heartbeat, growling when he heard her giggling outside. Emerging, John spread the blanket out between the tent and fire, away from the ledge because the worst way to die in any situation was naked. Mostly because it meant all bodily fluids and functions would be quite visible to everyone instead of potentially hidden by clothes. No thanks.

"Get naked, woman." He ordered, eyes raking over that silk-clad body as she stood up from the log.

"You first. I wanna see that beautiful body of yours in the firelight." Moonlight too since it was a half-moon out tonight, along with the stars. Vallea chewed her thumbnail while watching him, admiring the physique, and felt her mouth water along with her panties drenching. "Mmm, delicious…" When he growled at her to get naked a second time, Vallea knew better than to disobey and slowly slid the straps of the nightgown down her arms to let the material pool at her feet, wearing…nothing beneath. She hadn't put undergarments on, not seeing a reason or need since she knew how badly Jon wanted to sex her up on top of this mountain. "Like what you see, Jon?"

"Yes, yes I do." Jon then hesitated, realizing that he had not washed himself up or anything. "Hold that thought." He was such a moron and knew the wipes were nowhere near the same as using water and soap, but…he didn't smell like swamp nuts anymore either. That was just embarrassing, the idea of her being anywhere near his junk and it reeked. "Bad Jon, bad." He muttered, ducking back out into the night air.

"Everything okay?" Vallea gasped when he yanked her flush against his rock-hard body, the skin-on-skin contact feeling incredible.

His mouth crashed on hers, kissing her with a fiery passion that left her breathless, shaky, and needing more, craving more. There was something different about this time between them, an electricity in the air neither could explain or describe. It wasn't just the simple fact they weren't in a bed – this was on top of a mountain, under the moon and stars. Something was changing between them, though neither refused to admit it aloud. There was such a deep, raw, unexplainable connection between them and they hadn't even known each other that long.

"Jon…" He lead her down on the blanket he sprawled out and the dance between them began.

Jon didn't bother trying to understand, he just went with it. Maybe it was how they had met, her dangling from that ledge, him rescuing her. Maybe it was their shared love of Vegas, the glitz and grit of the big city, and then the adoration for the natural, majestic terrain once you left the city behind. Or maybe it was just the excitement of something new. Either way, tonight, under those stars with a roaring fire going beside them, he was focused solely on her.

"You know, I think I'm open to that idea of yours to fuck in the glass orb." Vallea commented hours later, sprawled on top of Jon's chest with his hand lazily stroking her back, her lips gliding over his warm, clammy skin. "Maybe I do have an exhibitionist in me after all." She teased, nuzzling his chest and cooling down from the intense bout, slowly coming down from the sexual high. It was a high unlike any other, no drug would ever compare to it. "Look what you've done to me, Jon Good."

"Ain't done nothing, woman," He drawled, his voice a low rasp as he finger-combed her rather mussed-up hair. Jon had discovered that in the middle of a lusty bout, Vallea seemed to enjoy having her hair pulled on. "It's easy to be an exhibitionist out here, we're by ourselves." Not that he wouldn't like to have a go in the orb with her. "You get a group of people in line, staring up, you might change your mind…" He ran a hand down her spine and to her curvy ass, palming a cheek.

"True, I can't argue with that." Then again, having Jon's cock inside of her that high up, there was no way she would pay attention to anything else besides this man screwing her against the glass. Not a doubt in her mind. "I want to…talk to you about something, but…I'm not sure how to go about it. I'm not good with this kind of thing, never have been." Her brows drew together in thought, a hesitation coming over her features. "No, forget it. Sorry. My brain is a jumbled mess."

Vallea couldn't be selfish and ask him to sleep with only her when they barely saw each other, could she? Would they be able to stay exclusive to each other given their jobs and how much traveling was involved, all those nights on the lonely road? Temptation would sooner or later beckon to them and Vallea had never been one to be pinned down by a man. Something told her Jon was the same way, which made this a lot more complicated.

Jon considered her, gathering whatever she wanted to say was important, or at least she thought it was important. However, given that they had just had sex, and he knew damn well that tended to mess up a person emotionally, thanks to chemicals and happy endorphins being released, he preferred to err on the side of not saying or doing anything out of a 'moment' that may not last. "If it's still on your mind tomorrow, we can talk about it then." He offered, figuring that would give her time to sort out if she still wanted to talk about it and how to go about it.

She appreciated the sentiment, knowing that come morning, when he had to leave and both returned to reality, the real test would begin. The night wasn't over though, it was only beginning as she sat up to lean forward, capturing his mouth with hers. Jon had stamina, there was no question about it, but just kissing, touching, feeling, and exploring was enough sometimes too. Vallea was in trouble and she could already feel herself falling for Jon, if she hadn't already. What woman in their right mind wouldn't fall for a great man like Jon? Eventually, they made it back to the tent to zip up for the night, the fire dying down and they fell asleep in each other's arms just a little after 5 AM.

It was probably illegal or something, but one of life's greatest pleasures was the ability to take your morning piss off a mountaintop. Of course, one had to check to make sure the wind wasn't going to blow it right back in his face, but still…a pleasure. After shaking, tucking, and using wipes to wash his hands, he stretched and enjoyed the view. The sun was making its morning rise over the desert, and while it was still pleasantly cool, he knew within the hour it would start warming up. Yawning, he turned back towards the tent, smiling slightly at the sight of Vallea's sleeping form through the mesh door.

Maybe he'd wake her up…

"Mmm…"

Vallea shifted at the warm hand caressing her backside, since she was on her side, and slowly opened her eyes to meet Jon's electric blues. She smiled up at him sleepily, yawning, and accepted a soft kiss from him. What time was it? He told her to get up and watch the sunrise with him, it would start any minute and he wanted to share it with her. Vallea couldn't turn that offer down, even though they'd only had about 2 hours of sleep, and nodded, pushing herself to sit up with another yawn. Pulling her nightgown on over her head, along with her hoodie, Vallea quickly went to relieve herself in the small grassy area the mountain had, the only place she could go to the bathroom, and then rejoined Jon after using wipes. On little to no sleep, she'd never felt better in her life and knew she'd be going to be very early that night once at home.

Personally, Jon planned on getting his sleep on the plane. He preferred being awake, there was too much to do, to see and experience to waste it on sleep. Sleep was an evil necessity. He wrapped his arms around Vallea's waist and rested his chin on top of her head as they faced the rising sun. He smiled when he heard her soft inhale as reds and oranges began streaking the sky.

"We should do this again." Different mountain with more time.

"Yeah, I'm game. This is breathtaking."

Vallea felt as if she were in a dream all over again and leaned her head back against his chest, not remembering the last time she felt so content. There were mountains all over the place around Vegas, she would not mind climbing every one of them with Jon. Hell, screwing him on every mountaintop sounded like a damn fine idea. What she'd been thinking the previous night, what she wanted to talk to him about or simply say, was back on the forefront of her mind again. No, she wouldn't do it, she wouldn't ruin this memorable moment with him and just enjoy the golden glow mixed with the colors in the sky.

Most people saw the desert as being barren, lifeless, and devoid of color. True, there was a lot of brown, but with the various shades, dotted with greenery every which way, Jon saw a harsh beauty. Dangerous and deadly to the unwary and uneducated yet beautiful, nonetheless.

"Good, we'll figure out our schedules and plan something out, doll." There, they were already making plans to see each other again, he smiled and dropped a kiss on top of her head.

Putting pressure on something like this that budded out of the blue and organically – the last thing Vallea wanted to do was screw it up. "Absolutely."

Maybe they would luck out and their schedules would mesh well together. Only time would tell with that. Vallea wouldn't stop working for the other people she'd told him about and that was about to happen because Monique didn't have any other work for her at the moment. She had to keep food on the table and the bills paid, after all. If they were truly meant to be together, to see each other, it would happen and she had to just let fate take its course.

"Thanks for waking me up. I would've kicked myself in the ass if I missed seeing something this amazing."

"I know." This was a killer view that too few people got to witness. Their loss was definitely his gain because he didn't like the idea of sharing this place, this scenery, with anyone but her. "You hungry, Val?"

She was probably starving, they had gotten a lot of exercise and not much sleep. They'd probably need to nap before descending the mountain. Going down would be easier since they would be walking but that didn't make it any less dangerous. Her stomach gargled at that moment, making both of them laugh.

"I guess I am, yeah. Why don't we eat and then try to get a few more hours of sleep?" She reached up to caress his bearded face with the back of her hand. "You look tired, even if you don't want to admit it and I could use a few more hours myself before we have to leave." They could always lay down and talk, but something told her as soon as they did, both would be out like a light.