87 - Homebound Train

Petey looked over at Jon, his face purposeful and serious as he talked to yet another person on the phone.  She rolled her head on the plane’s seat, turning to look out the window and into the Atlantic Ocean. 

They’d gone back to bed and had sex again after their soul baring talk.  Very good sex, but different from what she’d come to expect when they were together.  It was quite obvious that they weren’t ‘fucking’ anymore, and she wasn’t complaining.  The tender way he looked at her, and the meaningful touches were enough to send a woman up in flames.   And the kisses.  Oh God, the kisses. 

Her well-used lips turned up with a smile as Jon’s personal plane glided through one of the few clouds along the eastern seaboard between Washington and New York.  The kisses were almost more intimate than the sex.  He truly made love to her mouth, as though he were the one who had never indulged in kissing before.  A shiver snuck through her.

When Jon arrived back at the suite with Henry - who had been inexplicably prickly - she felt as though she’d had to almost referee the two men for their first ten minutes.  Once she’d finally told them to ‘grow up’ and that she needed them to get along, Henry reluctantly warmed back into the brother she knew, and Jon, in turn, relaxed into his normal self.

By the end of the visit, Jon encouraged her to fill Henry in on, at least some of, the details – that Daniel was blackmailing her for a product of her work at the University.  Her protective older brother was immediately ready to put the good doctor's head on his blacksmith's anvil and pound it with a hot hammer, which amused Jon.  He later told her that, if nothing else, he respected the hell out of her brother.

Henry had ultimately left with the reassurance that Jon and Petey had a plan and that everything was going to be fine.  It didn’t mean he was any less angry with Dr. Daniel Lewis, but he agreed to let his sister handle her own affairs with the assurance that she would let him know the minute anything went not according to plan.

That’s when the outgoing phoning spree launched itself.  Jon had first called the Senator and smoothed that situation, receiving the Senator’s promise to do nothing but keep an eye on Daniel.  The promise bothered Petey, but Jon assured her that having an extra set of eyes – or ten – on Daniel was not a bad thing.  It would be harder to pull any more surprises out of his sleeve if they knew what he was up to.

That particular bit of business taken care of, a parade of other calls were made to people she didn’t know – Jon’s lawyer, publicist, a distant relative, a private investigator, Dorothea and, his current call, Richie.  In order to allow time for all the fine details of those calls to meld together, Daniel would be allowed to assume all was going according to his plans - until Monday.  That's when Jon's personal hail storm would move through Carnegie-Mellon University.

I almost feel sorry for Daniel.

Petey pushed the silly thought away and listened to the now familiar overview of her family connections, her work at the University, her former fiancé and blackmail – all without mentioning the pictures.  The only thing that made this call different from the previous ones was the heat creeping into Jon’s voice.

“No, goddammit.  I told you it would be fine……  Yes, I did!.....  I am absolutely not discussing this with you…..  No…….  No, you can’t talk to her, because you’re acting psycho.”

Petey laid a soft hand on Jon’s shoulder, and then wiggled her fingers, silently requesting the phone.  Jon frowned, regarding her solemnly for a moment before relinquishing it without another word to Richie.

“Hi Richie,” she greeted with a smile in her voice, her left hand resting on Jon’s thigh and petting him soothingly through the denim of his jeans. 

She heard what sounded oddly like a sigh of relief come across the line.  “Hello, pretty Dark Angel.  You’ve had some people worried.”

Contrition caused her to pull a small frown.  “I know, and I’m sorry.”

“Jon might be an asshole, but he can fix problems.  You should have talked to him.  Or at least me,” he added quietly, before tempering his voice into cool steel.  “Is he being good to you, Darlin’?  No more crying?”

“No more,” she assured, a little confused by the abrupt conversational turn.  “Everything is fine, I promise.”

“Because if he doesn’t treat you right, all you have to do is say the word.  He might be my best friend, but you’re… a woman who should be treasured.”

Petey squirmed a little in her seat and Jon lifted an inquiring brow.  Shaking her head, she spoke to Richie, “I appreciate that.  You’ve always been so nice to me.”

“It’s not exactly a chore,” he teased gently.  “But I mean what I'm saying.  If Jon starts acting like a prick, all you have to do is say the word.  I won’t hesitate to remind him how a lady should be treated."  A soft snort found its way into the phone, and Richie added under his breath, "He’s already on notice.”

“What do you mean, notice?”  Petey didn’t understand the context to which Richie was applying the words.

“Don’t worry about it, Darlin’.  Just know that I’ve got your back, okay?”

For the first time in her remembrance, Richie was making her a little uncomfortable.  She didn’t understand the basis of what was going on here.  She would come right out and ask, but she didn’t feel as though she had the freedom to pursue it with both men present and on edge.  Maybe it was because of her disappearance and this was just a display of his relief.  She hoped as much.

“O-kay.”

“Will you call me if you need anything?” 

“Of course,” she assured him.  He then reverted to the demeanor she was familiar with, and they chatted for a short time so that he could see everything was as fine as she said it was.  Saying her goodbyes and with a smile of relief, Petey gave the phone back to Jon.  The last half of the call, things had been light and easy, just like they had always been with Richie.  She must have imagined the other.

“Yeah?” Jon was growling at his friend.  “I told you…..  Yeah, I remember……  You have three weeks to get a grip on this.  I want your head in the game once this tour starts…….  Yeah, I do. I really do.”

He disconnected the call with a sigh and dropped the phone into one of the cup holders that was built into the table before them.  Reaching for Petey, he pulled her against his side and rested a weary cheek on top of her head.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable, so she let it blanket them until he was ready to speak.  

“Petey, are you sure about this?”

Wriggling out of his grasp, she looked at Jon in bewilderment, finding that his eyes were cloudy and troubled. “Sure about what?”

“Us.  Me.  Are you sure you want to get involved with me?”

Was he changing his mind?  Had he realized that Patience was the one giving him warm fuzzies, and not Petey?  Patience in her perfectly socially acceptable evening gowns and suits?  What was prompting this?  He hadn’t seemed uncertain up until this phone call with Richie. 

“Jon?  Richie said you were on notice.  What does that mean?”

His knee bounced up and down as he lifted and dropped the heel of his boot against the plane’s floor.  Snaking out a hand, he wound their fingers together and put them on his thigh.  “It means he pointed out a mistake that I made and is watching me to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“What mistake?”  Deep blue eyes inspected light blue, as though deciding how little he could get away with telling her. He ended up selecting three well-placed words.

“Making you cry.”

Her eyes fell shut on a quiet gasp of embarrassment.  Richie told him?  That wasn’t something Jon was ever supposed to know.  She didn’t want him knowing  that she'd suffered such a debilitating blow at his hand, and that he held that kind of power over her.

Isn’t that what love is?  Giving one another your most fragile parts for safekeeping?

Shushing herself, she murmured a quiet, “I wish he hadn’t mentioned it.”

“Well, he did, and took great pleasure in taking me to task.  And so did Dorothea, when she found out I’d been ‘mean’.  Do you know she thought I was the one who hit you?”

“No!”  Petey’s head whipped up with horror.  He would never physically hurt her!  “How could she think that?”

“Because they both have endless proof that I’m a selfish sonofabitch, and that I do shitty things.  That’s why I’m asking if you’re sure you really wanna do this?”

Damn him.  This was a foreign playing field for her.  It would be so easy to succumb to uncertainty and insecurity, playing the game that he didn’t want her, so he was pretending to give her a way out.  Hoping she would take it.   Did she do the selfless thing and offer him the means to gracefully retreat, or did she demand what she wanted?

“Why are you asking?” she demanded, choosing her path.  “I don’t understand how these relationship games work, and I’m not interested in learning.  I prefer to keep everything on an honest, factual basis.  So… are you having second thoughts and hope I’ll give you the easy way out,  or do you really think you’re not worthy of my love?  ”

A flash of respect appeared in his eyes at her candor.

“Is this what I have to look forward to?  Honesty to the point of being blunt?”

She met his gaze head on, with nothing hidden.  “It’s the only way I know how, or am inclined, to be.  That other stuff will tie me up in knots.”

“Good.  Then I’ll be honest, too.”  Petey leaned against the plane window, chin high, and held her breath, braced for the worst.  “I have a nasty temper at times, and can’t promise that I’ll always say the politically correct thing to you when I’m in the middle of being pissed off.  I’ll try, but I can’t promise.  I also can’t stand the thought of making you cry, so in the interest of full disclosure, I’m offering you an out.  It’s the only guarantee that it won’t happen.”

Her shoulders eased back to their normal position, muscles relaxing.  This she could deal with.  “Can you that when you can’t curb your tongue, you’ll be genuinely remorseful?  Can you promise to atone for your sins with amazing makeup sex and words of love?  Or, even better, can you promise you’ll love me so well in between temper tantrums that I’ll won’t care to let it roll off my back?” 

Then she laughed, head shaking at her own presumptuousness.  “That’s all a little intense for a conversation that doesn’t involve clergy.  Sorry.  Just tell me that, if I see your tongue turning acidic, I can shut you up with a kiss before you turn insulting.”

“Petey…”  Jon unfastened her seat belt and guided her to sit on his lap.  “I love you.  I’m still feeling kinda intimidated by the words, but the feelings are there.  So yes, if it keeps me from being an ass and unnecessarily hurting your feelings,  you can shut me up anyway you want.”

“I’ll have to work on some creative ways to do that,” she murmured, touching her lips to his and parting them for the possession she knew he would take.  He didn’t disappoint her, sweeping in to fill her mouth with his presence, his taste and his emotion.  Jon could hide a lot of things, but he couldn’t hide the way he felt when they kissed.

“How much longer before we land?”  She combed through his hair, short nails scratching against the scalp as she waited for him to answer.

“About twenty-five minutes.”  He dipped his head to nibble at her mouth again.  “Why?”

She smirked seductively against his greedy lips.  “I know you like my kisses, but I want to make sure you still appreciate my other oral talents.”

“Is that so?”  He looked down his nose at her, eyes dilating with the possibilities and his own naughty smirk in place.  “But I thought I had brutal honesty to look forward to from you?  That’s pretty vague.”

Wriggling her bottom in his lap, she could instantly feel the effect of her movement.  Smiling lips pressed to his ear, Petey huskily rephrased her request.  “I want to suck you off.  Brutal enough?”

“Ohhh, Baby,” he purred.  “I’m soooo looking forward to your brand of brutality.”

Petey utilized the remainder of their flight showing him just how brutal she could be….