Chapter 90

Wrapped in the comfort of Jon’s embrace, Sara felt faintly stupid for getting so upset, but it felt sort of good to actually admit to it, and to let Jon see a side of her that he hadn’t seen before. Come to think of it, nobody had really seen that side of Sara before. Her parents, maybe, when she was younger, but she could probably count on one hand the number of times somebody had seen her cry, though she felt comfortable with Jon seeing her that way. Strange.

Her throat felt raw from the crying, and Sara loosed her grip on Jon’s neck, sitting back enough to see his handsome, familiar face. He was watching her patiently, his eyes tender, and she took his face in her hands again, kissing his lips softly.

“Thank you.” She whispered, and a slight frown furrowed his brow.

“For what?”

“I don’t know. For caring. For, well, just for being you, I guess. Thank you, Jon.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I love you. But you’re welcome, anyway.”

Sara moved out of his arms, wrapping the cover around herself as she began to slide off the bed.

“Where you going?”

“I need a drink. My throat hurts. Do you want anything?”

“I want you. Does that count?”

“Oh, you’ve got me, Jon. I need water though.”

She padded through to the bathroom, still swathed in the cover, returning with a glass of water. As Sara sat down on the bed again, Jon grinned.

“I know how to cheer you up.” He said, getting off the bed.

He picked up the bag he’d dropped when he saw her crying, and reached in to pull out a chocolate bar, offering it to Sara. She smiled as she took it from him.

“I knew I loved you for a reason.” She said, tearing open the wrapper and breaking off a piece.

Jon fished in the bag again, finding the shirt he’d bought for her, and he brought it over as he sat on the bed next to Sara. She held up a piece of chocolate for him, and Jon took it in his teeth as he handed her the shirt.

“You bought me something else? You make me feel bad, Jon - I’ve never given you anything.”

He gave a gentle smile. “Sure you have. You gave me your trust, and you gave me a second chance. There’s nothing better you could give me.”

“Are you trying to make me cry again?” But she was smiling as she unfolded the shirt and read the words. “Thank you. Again. Seems like that’s all I’m saying today, huh? C’mere.”

She laid the shirt aside and leaned toward Jon, kissing him again, but not the staid, tender kiss of earlier, a hungry, demanding kiss, her tongue pressing insistently into his mouth. Her hands slid around his waist, hooking into the bottom of his t shirt and pulling it up and off over his head, only taking her mouth from his for the second the shirt covered his head. The cover fell away from her as Sara pressed her body against Jon, and his hands went around behind her, cupping her ass to pull her tight against him.

Sara ran her lips lightly along the ridge of his cheekbone until she reached his ear, whispering to him as her fingers came down onto the button of his jeans.

“I need you so much, Jon.”

She opened his jeans and pushed them down to his thighs, freeing his cock to her touch. Stroking him gently, Sara heard Jon’s groan close to her ear.

“I need you, too, baby.”

He kissed her once more before pushing her backward onto the mattress and holding himself above her for a moment, then he pushed himself all the way inside her in one slow, smooth stroke, and he could hear her purring in her throat at the feeling. Jon leaned down to kiss her again, but after a few seconds, Sara twisted her mouth away from his.

“Look at me.” She murmured, and Jon rose higher, onto his outstretched arms, as he looked down at her pretty face, seeing her eyes still reddened.

Sara clutched at his back, encouraging him to move faster, and Jon drove into her harder, seeing the change in her expression as he let his thighs power him deep inside her, thrusting into her as far as physically possible, feeling her starting to tense around him already. She was moaning softly, in rhythm with his thrusts, breath sobbing in her throat, and she came just seconds before Jon did, her voice a strangled cry as she said his name. Jon gave a deep groan as he came, staying high above Sara as he stopped moving, grinning down at her, his jeans still wrapped around his thighs.

Jon slowly eased himself out of Sara, lying down on the bed next to her with a satisfied smirk.

“You look pleased with yourself.” Sara said, rolling to face him, and Jon chuckled, gesturing at his jeans.

“Yeah, well - I didn’t even get a chance to take my jeans off, baby.”

Sara giggled. “What? Pleasured your girl with your boots on?”

“Something like that.” He cocked his head to the side as he looked at her. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“My girl?”

“If you want me to be, I am.” Her smile slipped slightly. “At least until tomorrow, when you leave.”

“Aw, c’mon, darlin’.” His fingertips under her chin brought her closer for a kiss. “You’re my girl whether you’re with me or a thousand miles away. Besides,” he leered at her, earning himself a smile, “we’ve still got the rest of today.”

“Y’know, you’re right.” Sara sat up, forcing herself to think positively for a change. “So what will we do for the rest of the day?”

In answer, Jon grabbed her and pulled her down beside him again, smoothing back her tangled hair. A devilish smile curved his mouth for a moment, then he touched his lips to hers, his tongue sliding across her closed lips until she opened for him. She still tasted of chocolate, and Jon’s tongue leisurely explored her mouth, before his lips started to slide down to her neck, his tongue trailing down to the notch at her collarbone. He nipped at the prominent bone either side with his teeth, then returned to her mouth for another kiss.

Moving away again, Jon stroked Sara’s face as she smiled, lying on her side close to him, then he pressed his lips against her forehead and sat up.

“Why don’t we take a walk?” Jon suggested, a glint in his eyes. “We could look for rock pools.”

Still lying flat, Sara idly stroked her hand up and down Jon’s back. “I thought you were afraid we’d get arrested?”

“We just won’t get caught, that’s all. Come on - whaddya say?”

“I say you’d better pull your pants up first.”

“You may want to put yours on.” He hit back, and Sara laughed.

“Okay.”

Jon pulled his jeans back up and found his t shirt on the floor while Sara grabbed her jeans and a clean shirt, then she fought her hair back into a ponytail and was ready to go. They headed on downstairs and out into the sunshine, and they strolled hand in hand along the smooth sand, down to the water’s edge, then walked in the shallow surf, away from the town.


In her office, Linda was doing one final email check before leaving for the day, when she opened the email from an airline, initially assuming it was advertising. It wasn’t, though - it was the confirmation for the flights Richie had booked, and she was slightly surprised at the price shown, until she noticed the notation ‘First’ against the class booked. Wow. Talk about making an impression, then she realised that guys like this probably never flew any other class.

She quickly printed out a copy and folded it into her purse before shutting down for the night. Looked like her next couple of nights would be spent trying to figure out what to take with her on her trip to California. After a brief hesitation, she scribbled a short note to Richie, telling him she’d received the confirmation, and thanking him, then she faxed it to the number he’d given her earlier, since she didn’t have his phone number to hand.

In California, Richie found the fax a few hours later, when he returned to the house, and he grinned as he read it. Now all he had to do was charm her over the weekend, and try to get her to stay a bit longer. Or at least get her to promise to come back.

He’d already decided, though, that he wasn’t going to try to dazzle her with his money, but he’d use what Jon had called the legendary Sambora charm, and pray that worked. They’d gotten along pretty well on their first date - Richie could hardly believe, at his age, he was dating, and getting so worked up about it! - so he’d just try more of the same. He just hoped Linda still wanted to give things a chance, and that they’d both feel the same when they met again.