Chapter 79

They walked on toward the Watering Hole, neither of them bothered now by the rain that slicked their clothes against them. Belatedly, Jon offered Sara his baseball cap, but she just laughed.

“A bit late for that, I think.” She pointed out, then smirked at him. “But I’ll add that to the list!”

When they finally reached the bar, they entered together and Sara veered off to the left, pointing to the sign that said ‘Chicks’. Jon laughed quietly at that as he went over to the bar, looking for Alex. The young barman was serving somebody, but he spotted Jon and raised a hand, silently asking him to wait. Jon grinned and hopped up on one of the bar stools, looking out through the full-length windows as he absently removed his glasses and cap, raking a hand through his hair, damp despite the protection of his cap. He was still gazing outside when Alex came up behind him.

“Did you want your bag?”

“Yeah, thanks Alex.”

Jon took the bag and unzipped the top, pulling out the shirt he’d bought for Sara.

“I’ll be right back.” He told Alex, taking the shirt and heading for the bathrooms.

Sara was standing in front of the mirror, combing out her tangled hair as best she could with her fingers, when Jon knocked softly on the door, calling her name. There was no-one else in the bathroom, and Sara called to him to come in, still fighting the knots from her hair. Jon pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a black shirt which he held out for her to take.

Unfolding the shirt, Sara read the slogan ‘Give me the chocolate and nobody gets hurt!’. She burst into laughter as she read it.

“I love it!” She took a step forward to kiss Jon. “Thank you. I guess you know me too well, huh?”

“I don’t think it’s possible to know you too well, darlin’, but I do know how much you love your chocolate!”

“Okay - hold the door closed - make sure nobody comes in!”

Obediently, Jon leaned against the door, his eyes focused directly on Sara as she swiftly stripped off her wet t-shirt, dropping it onto the counter. She glanced at the mirror and saw Jon watching her, and she turned slowly to face him.

“Are you being a voyeur again?”

He grinned lazily. “Absolutely.”

Sara shook her head as she turned again to pick up the new shirt. “You’re incorrigible.”

Jon laughed. “Nah, babe - just horny.”

She was giggling as she pulled the shirt over her head, extremely impressed to find it was a perfect fit. Her hair was still a mess, but there wasn’t much she could do about that, except rake it back from her face.

“That’s the best I can do.” She told Jon, who grinned again as he straightened away from the door.

“You’re gorgeous. As usual.” He wagged a finger at her as she began to make a face. “Don’t do that! Just wait till Alex sees you - you’ll see I’m right - the boy’s sweet on you.”

“Stop saying that! Come on - I need coffee.”

They left the bathroom together, heading back to the bar. Alex had put Jon’s bag down behind the bar again, but he lifted it up again when he saw them. Disconcertingly, Sara did notice his face brighten when she walked in, and when she glanced at Jon she saw the beginnings of his smirk.

“Shouldn’t you put on a dry shirt, too?” She suggested, and Jon nodded.

“Yeah.”

Unlike Sara, Jon didn’t bother going to the bathroom to change, just pulling a fresh shirt from his bag then hauling the wet one off over his head.

“I knew it!” Alex exclaimed, and both Sara and Jon looked at him.

“You knew what?” Sara asked, fairly sure she knew what he meant.

“Sorry. The tattoo. You’re Jon Bon Jovi, aren’t you?”

“Last time I checked, yeah, but don’t tell anybody.” Jon joked.

“They all said I was nuts - said there’d be no reason for somebody like you to be here in Perranporth.” Alex looked at Jon curiously. “Why are you here? What possible reason could you find to come here?”

Jon laughed as he saw Alex’s eyes turn to Sara.

“The best reason in the world, Alex. You’re looking at her.”

Sara was blushing beet-red by now, and she picked up Jon’s dry shirt, throwing it at him.

“Put your shirt on, Jon. You don’t want to catch a chill, not at your age.” She grinned wickedly.

“See what I have to put up with?” Jon looked at Alex, appealing for support, but not finding any since Alex was still trying to come to terms with his being there.

Jon put on the dry shirt, his distinctive tattoos once again hidden by his sleeves.

“I guess we should take your stuff to the hotel - looks like the rain’s stopped.”

“Sure, but I thought you wanted coffee?”

“I can get some over there.”

Leaving the Watering Hole, Sara led the way back to the hotel - this time going up the beach and across the car park, avoiding the stream. There was no-one at reception, so she shrugged and headed on upstairs, Jon following close behind. Sara took a key from her bag and opened one of the bedrooms.

The room was small and pretty, in a slightly old-fashioned, country cottage style which was somehow perfectly suited to the location. Jon dropped his bag on the floor, noticing that Sara had lied - there was only one bed. She laid her bag on the deep windowsill, turning to face Jon, her voice husky and low as she tossed him the key.

“Lock the door.”

Jon obeyed with alacrity, turning the key in the lock as Sara tugged the curtains closed, casting the room into a premature twilight. Sara felt slightly awkward now, the recent difficulties playing on her mind, and Jon could see it in her face, knowing the next move had to be Sara’s. After a brief hesitation, she took a step toward him, raising one hand to his face. Jon lifted his own hand, pressing her palm against his cheek, then taking her hand and bringing it to his mouth, kissing the back of her fingers as he looked into her eyes.

A tiny moan escaped Sara’s throat and she took a final step forward, pressing her body against Jon’s as she kissed him, drawing his tongue hungrily into her mouth. Jon slipped both hands under the back of her t-shirt, onto her velvet-soft skin, his tongue driving deeper into her mouth, groaning as his hunger for her grew.

Jon dropped one hand lower, onto her backside to pull her closer, and at the same moment he registered the wet denim against his palm, Sara shivered convulsively. Pulling back from her mouth, Jon looked at her dripping hair as Sara shivered again.

“Baby, you need to get out of those wet jeans and get warmed up. You’ll catch cold.”

“You’re wet, too.”

“Yeah, but I’m not the one shivering.” He pointed out reasonably, and Sara couldn’t argue.

Stepping away, Jon ducked his head through the only doorway, looking into the bathroom.

“I’ll fill the bath for you.” He told her. “Get out of those wet jeans.”

“Yessir.” She muttered rebelliously, but did as she was told.

The bath filled quickly, and Jon was just pouring in one of the small bottles of bubble bath when Sara padded into the bathroom wearing just her new t shirt and her panties.

“Okay - you get in the bath and warm up.”

“You could warm me up instead.” She suggested.

“Oh, believe me, I certainly intend to do that, darlin’, but have your bath first. I’ll even bring you coffee.”

Another shiver gripped her, and Jon looked concerned, but Sara quickly stripped off her t shirt and underwear then stepped into the bath, gasping at the heat of the water on her chilled body. Jon left her for a few minutes, going to the bedroom to make coffee, but changing his mind when he saw the packets of hot chocolate. He changed into a pair of dry jeans while the kettle boiled, then made two drinks and took them both into the bathroom, where he handed one to Sara. As she took her first sip, Jon threw a towel down on the floor and sat on it, close to the bath, reaching out to caress Sara’s bare shoulder.

She turned to look at him with a soft smile, her wet hair dangling around her face, the ends vanishing into the bubbles. Taking another drink of her chocolate, she wrinkled her nose slightly.

“Did you put sugar in this?” She asked.

“Nah. I figured you were sweet enough.” That lazy grin which warmed her up far more than the bath. “D’you want sugar?”

“No. I want you.”

Jon smiled. “Jesus. I never thought I’d get to hear you say that again. I’m so sor….”

Sara put her fingers over his mouth, her swift movement sloshing the bathwater dangerously close to the edge of the tub as she twisted around.

“If you apologise again I’ll kick your ass!” She warned him, then grinned. “At least, I will if you SAY you’re sorry. You promised to SHOW me.”

Jon’s lips moved against her fingers as he smiled, his tongue snaking out to lap at her fingertips before he reached up to take her hand.

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten - trust me, darlin’.”

He laid down his already empty cup and swivelled round onto his knees, pressing close against the side of the bath as he leaned forward to kiss her. Sara freed her hand, curling her fingers into the waves of damp hair at the back of his neck, losing herself in his taste and the beautiful feeling of his mouth on hers. As Jon’s hand came onto her shoulder, pulling her closer, they were disturbed by a sudden clatter as Sara’s fingers slackened their grip on her cup and it fell, spilling the remaining chocolate into the bath.

They both looked down, seeing the cup floating sadly in the water, surrounded by a spreading pool of chocolate in the water.

“Oops.” Sara said with a smile. “Maybe I’d better get out of this bath, before I end up covered with chocolate.”

Jon chuckled. “Yeah, ‘cause you know how that played out last time.”