Chapter 51

As soon as the words were out, Sara felt a wave of panic. Shit! Where had that come from? She hadn’t even thought before she spoke, it had just come out, and Jon’s stillness worried her. Before she could say anything else, though, Sara became aware of a trickle of liquid on her shoulder, and she thought it was sweat until Jon raised his head.

His eyes were wet as he looked at her, grinning.

“Do you know how much I’ve wanted to hear you say that?” He asked, and Sara felt her own eyes welling up.

Jon felt faintly foolish, standing with tears in his eyes, but that feeling was far outweighed by the joy created by Sara’s words. He lifted his hands off the vanity and wrapped his arms tightly around her, as Sara tightened her grip around his neck, staying cheek to cheek, not spoiling the moment with more words.

Sara could feel Jon softening inside her, slipping away, and she slowly dropped her legs from where she’d locked them around his sides, letting them rest either side of his hips. She shivered suddenly, feeling the chill of the marble for the first time in a long while. Jon squeezed his arms tighter on her.

“Cold, babe?” He murmured in her ear.

“Mmmm. Want to warm me up?” She purred.

Jon sighed, and she felt his breath hot on her skin.

“Babe, I’d love to, but I’m afraid you’ll have to settle for getting cosy in bed. I told you - I’m not as young as I used to be!”

Sara chuckled. “Well, I’ll settle for quality over quantity any day……..and you’re certainly value for money.”

“You can pay me later.” Jon told her, tugging her toward him until she slid off the vanity.

Her legs felt wobbly - only partly due to sitting on the cold marble for so long - and Jon helped her onto her feet, steadying them both against the vanity. Sara smirked at him suddenly.

“You did say until we couldn’t walk…….”

Jon stared a second then laughed. “And I always keep my promises. C’mon - let’s see if we can make it to the bed.”

They managed it, Sara hauling the cover back and crawling onto the mattress, closely followed by Jon. He pulled the cover back up over them, snugging Sara in close against him, and they fell asleep almost instantly, spent.


Back at the party, Richie was nursing another glass of red wine, trying to make it last as long as he could. After the crazy phase he’d gone through when he was with Denise, he was being a bit more restrained when it came to alcohol, trying to avoid spirits and stick to beer or wine. Problem was, though, when he got bored, he was more likely to start drinking hard again, and he was fast losing interest in the party.

Sighing, he stood up, heading for the bar, then he stopped. He’d promised Ava - and himself - that he’d cut back on the drinking, and he wasn’t about to break a promise to his little girl, just because he was bored. Even though she was out in California with Heather - Christ, even the name nearly made him go grab a bottle of vodka - Ava was still the most important thing to him. His little princess, who made all the shit with Heather worthwhile, just because she was the result.

He checked his watch - after five am, which probably explained why the party was winding down. Even Matt couldn’t keep partying, and he was sitting drunkenly talking to somebody Richie didn’t recognise. Richie decided he’d given Jon and Sara long enough, and anyway they had their own room. He wandered over and said goodbye, getting a sloppy hug from Matt, then he headed out of the door, mildly surprised to find it was getting light outside already.

There were a few cabs outside, and he grabbed one, slumping back in the seat after telling the driver his destination. He was gazing out at the early morning traffic as the cab pulled up at a traffic light, and his own name came into his head. What’s with that? He thought, then realised he hadn’t actually thought it - he’d read it. The car sitting just ahead of them in the other lane had a bumper sticker which read “Caution - driver under the influence of Richie Sambora!”. He grinned as they inched forward, crossing the intersection but catching the next light on red, too. This time, the cab pulled up so the driver of the other car was level with the backseat, and Richie looked across. He was sitting on the right side of the back seat, so the driver of the other car was right next to him, and Richie wound down his window, reaching out to knock on the glass of the other car.

The driver, a cute blonde with bobbed hair, jumped, swinging her head around, clearly singing along to something. Her mouth fell open as she saw who’d knocked on the window, but she did have the presence of mind to roll down her window.

“Good mornin’, ma’am.” Richie said, hearing the familiar lyrics of ‘I’ll Be There For You’ coming from the car stereo.

“Uh, good morning.” She stuttered. “Can I…….can I help you?”

Richie’s eyes flicked over her pretty face and the cute blonde hair, Unfortunately he couldn’t see much more of her, but he did like what he saw. As he opened his mouth to answer, though, the cab moved away, and Richie leaned forward to bang on the partition.

“Hold up a minute!” He turned back to the window as the cabbie slammed the brakes on. “What’s your name, darlin’?”

“Linda.”

“Hi, Linda. I’m Richie. Nice to meet you.” He stuck his hand through the window, and the bemused woman reached out and shook his hand.

“Y’know - I did know who you were.” She told him, starting to smile.

“I kinda guessed that, but it’s nice to be introduced, ain’t it?” Cars were starting to pile up behind them, horns honking, and Richie looked back quickly, seeing the queue. “Will you give me your phone number?” He asked.

“Sure.” Linda replied, thinking ‘yeah, like you’re gonna call me’, then she rhymed off a number.

“Write it down for me.” He requested, but Linda dug into her purse and produced a business card with her name and numbers on it. According to the card, she worked as a Patient Registrar in a hospital, and Richie carefully put the card in his pocket.

“I’ll call you, girl. Later. Right now, I’m kinda beat!”

“I need to get to work anyway.” Linda started to lift her foot off the brake. “Good to meet you!”

Richie watched her drive away, wondering what had made him do that. Just something about the woman had touched a chord with him, and he couldn’t put his finger on it yet. He grinned. That thought just had so many possibilities, but he was too tired to go there.

The cab dropped him at the hotel just before six am, and he made his way up to the suite, letting himself in and smirking when he saw the ‘dnd’ on Jon’s bedroom door. In his own bedroom, he dropped clothes in a trail all across the floor, falling naked onto the bed and going straight to sleep.


Jon jerked awake, hearing a sound in the hallway, and he craned his head to look at his watch. Six am. That meant it couldn’t be housekeeping, so it was probably Richie coming back. Jon felt surprisingly good, considering he’d slept for about an hour and a half, and he looked at the body next to him. Sara was lying with her head on his arm, a smile on her face even in sleep, and Jon felt his cock stir as he watched her sleep.

‘For Christ’s sake, Jonny’ he thought ‘you’re gonna screw yourself into an early grave’. He felt energised, as though the night had breathed life into him, and he knew he couldn’t stay in bed any longer.

Gingerly, he slid his arm out from under Sara, and she grimaced, but settled into the pillow instead. He fought back the temptation to wake her, but got out of bed and went into the bathroom for a very quick shower. When he came out, he threw on some sweats, then wrote a note for Sara, taking a rose out of a display on the table and laying both the flower and the note on the pillow next to her.

Jon let himself out of the suite and headed for the gym, where he found he had the place to himself. He threw himself into a brutal workout, devised by his trainer, which left him feeling exhausted but happy after an hour of sweating and pushing himself through the pain. After cooling down, Jon left the gym again, this time scorning the lift and jogging up the stairs, arriving at the suite with sweat running down his back beneath the shirt again. So much for the cool down.

He went back into the suite, then stealthily opened the door to the bedroom. Sara was just a small mound under the covers, and he kicked off his shoes before creeping across to the bed, taking off his shirt on the way. The rose and his note lay undisturbed on the pillow, and he picked them up, putting the note to one side as he sat on the bed, pulling the cover out of his way.

Sara was curled up, her knees almost touching her chest, and for once her hair hadn’t fallen over her face. Jon looked at the rose, at the deep pink petals, his mind conjuring an image of the fleshy petals hidden between Sara’s thighs, waiting for his touch. He shifted around, lying on his side next to Sara with his head propped on one hand, the rose in his other hand.

Delicately, Jon touched the rose to Sara’s forehead, moving it gently across her brow and then down the edge of her hairline to her ear. As he moved the bloom down over her jaw, Sara tilted her head further into the pillow, inviting the caress like a cat having it’s ears rubbed, not even waking. Jon kept the contact of the petals gossamer-light as he trailed the rose down the side of Sara’s neck, bringing it along to her favourite spot - that little notch at the base of her throat. He couldn’t suppress a soft chuckle as he watched her smile as he tickled her there with the flower, but he kept going, taking the rose down onto her chest, rolling the petals across each of her nipples in their turn, watching the soft skin pucker as they grew hard at the touch.

Jon grinned as he stripped the cover back so he could reach more of Sara, the rose moving along her flank and over her hip. He over-reached himself, though, when he slid the rose behind her hip, the pressure as he slid it against her ass harder than he meant, and it stirred her toward waking. While she was still half in sleep, he ran the flower back up over her shoulder to her throat, stroking against the soft hollow as Sara opened her eyes.