Chapter 18 - I've got you

Julia checked her phone for the hundredth time, hoping that Jack would at least text her.

He hadn't been there, on the square, when Tom and his men had captured Banks and his accomplice. She hadn't had the courage to ask Tom about Jack; afraid of what she might have heard. Afterall, the problem had been solved. It seemed Nicholas' men were no longer a threat to Jack's company... There's no reason for Jack to care anymore...

These thoughts would not leave her as the car approached Zoey's apartment building. Zoey's and Jack's apartment building... I guess I can now go back to my own place and we can all go back to normal... Julia wasn't sure anymore though what that normal was.

Tom's man still followed her to the apartment, another was still keeping watch by the door. Maybe we'll try going back to normal starting tomorrow morning? she thought.

Julia walked into the apartment, closed the door and leaned against it. She wasn't sure how to feel. I should feel relieved, happy, free! Instead she felt empty.

A moment later she realized the lights were on in the living room. Zoey and Jess were supposed to be out this evening....

"Zoey?" she asked hesitantly, walking into the room.

Instead of her friend however, Julia found Jack sitting on the couch. A glass of Scotch was standing on a table beside him. Jack was on the phone, but it seemed he was barely listening to what the person on the other side of the line was saying, as his eyes were intently staring at Julia, following her every move.

"I gotta go," he said and ended the call.

"Well, how nice of you to show up," Julia whispered ironically and moved to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water. She felt her mouth had been paper dry the moment she'd seen Banks on that damn square.

"I'm sorry, but did you expect me to cheer for you back there?!" Julia heard Jack getting up from the couch, but did not turn to him. She could sense he was angry. "Or maybe you want me to congratulate you for not getting beaten to death?!"

"Whatever, Jack," she just said.

Not sparing him a glance, Julia turned towards the stairs. She just wanted this day to end.

"Julia, wait." Jack crossed the living room and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry."

Julia stopped and turned to him hesitantly. There was no more anger in his glance, no cockiness, just worry.

"I just didn't know how to deal with the fact that you could get hurt again and I couldn't do anything about it. When you had gotten attacked I told myself it would never happen again." Jack combed his fingers through his already messy hair.

Julia remained silent, watching him surprised.

"...I told myself I would do anything in my power to protect you," he continued. "And everything was going well, until today. Today you put yourself in harm's way." Jack squeezed her hand harder, probably not even realizing it. "And all I could do was just stand there and watch... It's not something a man like me accepts easily, Julia. I'm not in the habit of allowing things to happen on their own accord. I'm usually the one in control..."

"Do you think I wanted to go out there?" Julia asked almost in a whisper. She wanted to scream at him, but just did not have the strength to fight anymore. "Do you think I wanted to face those men again? Well, I didn't Jack. I just felt there was no other way to end this..."

Jack kept quiet, but did not let go of her arm.

"Anyway, it seems the matter is resolved now," Julia continued. "You can be in control again."

"That's not what's important right now."

"Then what is, Jack?! Why do you still even care?"

"I..." Jack hesitated. Julia looked into his eyes and noticed some kind of struggle in them. Then, a second later, he seemed resolved on something. His arms relaxed and he said, "I care about you, Julia. A lot."

Julia was not expecting that. She stood pinned to the ground, unable to breath.

She searched Jack's face for any signs of a lie, but he actually looked earnest, relieved even.

Then Julia remembered that night she'd kissed him. True, she'd been half asleep back then, but she had meant it... Now, doesn't it mean that maybe you care for Jack too? A quiet voice in her head asked.

Julia's eyes dropped to Jack's lips. He noticed that and pulled her slowly to him. He rested his forehead against hers.

"Jack..." Julia whispered, not sure of what she was actually going to say. All she knew was that this was right. This was OK.

***

The kiss was like he'd remembered it from that evening two weeks earlier. No, it was actually better as this time it lasted. Jack wrapped his arms around Julia and she answered by putting her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer to her.

Kissing her felt so natural. Moreover, Jack couldn't get rid of one thought; finally. They've been through so many feelings towards each other, he and Julia, but what he was feeling right now was like coming home.

The kiss started getting hotter. Jack's hands found their way under Julia's blouse. Not only did she seem not to mind it, she started unbuttoning his shirt.

Jack pulled away for a moment, trying to search her face.

"Are you sure, Julia?"

She nodded, but the look in her eyes did not convince Jack. He cupped her face.

"Julia?"

"I want this, Jack..." she whispered; her voice hoarse. "It's just..."

"What is it?"

"I haven't..." she seemed embarrassed. "Since Seattle... I haven't..."

Jack understood her meaning immediately.

"Then let's do it properly," he said, stepping away from her.

"Properly?"

Jack sent Julia a charming grin and scooped her in his arms.

"My, my, Deschanel, aren't you a gentleman..."

Julia laughed out loud and in that very moment Jack knew he was lost. He would give everything to be hearing that laugh more often. He planted a passionate kiss on her lips and carried her to her bedroom.

By the time they landed on Julia's bed, Jack's shirt was off and on the floor. Julia's blouse followed right after.

Jack stroked Julia's hair gently, admiring her soft skin and perfect legs.

"You are a vision, Stiles, you know that?"

Julia blushed slightly and covered his mouth with hers.

Her hands trailed down his chest and his abs which sent shivers to Jack's core. Never had he expected to feel Julia's delicate fingers on his skin.

Jack undid her bra and cupped one of Julia's breasts. God, she has a perfect body... he thought hovering over her.

And just as he was about to kiss her again, Jack realized Julia went stiff. He looked into her eyes questioningly and saw fear in them. Her gaze was all over the room, as if trying to find a way out.

"Julia?" Jack whispered, moving away from her slightly, trying to give her some space. "We don't have to do that..."

Julia locked her eyes with Jack's.

"You are safe with me, you know that, right?" he asked, unsure how to give her comfort. It was clear to him that in her mind she went back to that night in Seattle.

"I know..." Julia whispered in a hoarse voice. She moved to kiss Jack, but he stopped her and kissed her on the forehead. "What are you doing?" Julia asked, surprised, seeing Jack moving away and laying down next to her.

"You know, Stiles, even though we've always been at eachothers throats I've always felt there was that chemistry between us. Now, I feel it stronger than ever and..." He pointed to their bodies, "this is going to happen... but not tonight."

"Jack, I'm sorry... I..."

"Julia, don't apologize. It was selfish of me to try and get you to bed on a day like today. Not when Nicholas Starr is still in bed with us."

"How can you say that!?" Julia exclaimed with a shaky voice. She tried moving away from Jack, but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest.

"I'm not trying to make you feel worse, Julia," Jack put his face in her hair inhaling her intoxicating scent. "I just see this is not the right time."

He could see she wanted to object, but instead of doing that Julia took a deep breath and kept quiet. Still a lonely tear slid down her cheek. Jack wiped it away and then covered Julia with a duvet.

"Will you stay?" she asked quietly, seeing that he was about to leave.

Jack nodded with a grin and slid under the covers pulling Julia to him again.

"Although, Stiles, if I'm to get any sleep tonight, you do need to cover that magnificent body of yours..." He lifted the duvet slightly uncovering Julia's breasts.

Julia laughed at the words. The sound calming Jack's nerves.

She got off the bed and went for the closet. Still with her back to him, she put on a t-shirt. Turning around she threw another one at him.

"Back at you, babe!" she said pointing to Jack's chest.

Jack caught the t-shirt realizing that it was actually one of his. This was the t-shirt Julia had slept in back at his apartment after the unfortunate events at the Brady Corp. party.

"I took it to wash it..." she explained with a blush. Oh, how he loved that blush. "And then did not have a chance to bring it back..."

"Yeah, right, Stiles, I'm sure you just couldn't part with a piece of me..." Jack sent her a naughty smile and put the t-shirt on.

He realized that a couple of months, maybe even weeks, ago such a remark would infuriate Julia. Now, however, she just laughed and dived under the covers next to him.

"Deschanel, your cockiness is so boring..."

"I have a feeling, Stiles, you are starting to like it," Jack whispered, closing Julia in a tight embrace.

He was starting to love the way her body fit perfectly against his.

"Thank you, Jack," Julia whispered sleepily when the lights were off.

"For what?"

"For seeing whatever I did not want you to see..."

***

Something woke Julia up. And it wasn't the presence of Jack Deschanel in the same bed with her. She'd been aware of his arms around her all night and couldn't believe how good that felt, how safe that felt.

Julia opened her eyes slowly and realized that that something that woke her up was actually a someone, and no other than Jack's sister.

Every now and then, even though Zoey and Jess had a help, Zoey liked to portray the lady of the house. On days like these she would clean the apartment or make laundry. It seemed today was the laundry day for her. With a huge laundry basket in one hand Zoey was picking Julia's clothes from the flour and putting them into the basket.

"What a messy girl you are, Jules," Zoey whispered seeing all the clothes scatter around.

Julia kept quiet, watching her friend. She knew what was going to happen any moment, yet she wasn't sure whether to laugh or be scared about it.

In that moment Zoey picked up Jack's shirt from the floor. Julia watched as her friend's eyes turned to the size of sourcers.

She'd probably assumed that Julia was asleep, so hadn't even spared a glance in the direction of the bed. Realizing that the shirt belonged to a man though, and probably one she knew, Zoey shot an excited look towards Julia's bed.

"Yes! Finally!" she exclaimed.

Julia couldn't help but smile at that reaction. At the same time the noise coming from Zoey, woke her brother.

"Oh my god, you two! I thought this would never happen!" Zoey continued her happy banter. "I actually thought that hell would freeze sooner!"

"If I knew this would be the wake up I'd get, I would reconsider coming here," Jack said in that sexy scratchy voice, which made Julia want to throw her friend out of the room.

Zoey must have realized that, as she turned around in a flesh and almost ran for the door.

"I'll make you breakfast!" she exclaimed. As she was closing the door, she added "Mom will be so thrilled!"

That earned her shocked expressions from both Jack and Julia, but Zoey wasn't there anymore to see them.

"Should we worry about that?" Julia asked.

"Can we worry about that later?"

Julia just nodded, feeling the pleasant chills the look of Jack's messy hair and stubble caused in her core.

For a moment the humiliation she'd felt last night, when Jack had said that Nicholas Starr was in bed with them, returned to her. Julia pushed it away immediately though. This was literally and figuratively a new day, the past was finally becoming the past. Julia felt she wanted to start that new day with that sexy man lying next to her.

"Would you like to take a shower?" she asked in a whisper. Seeing that Jack didn't get the hint, Julia added quickly, "With me?"

Jack sent her a wide grin finally understanding her suggestion, but a moment later his face went serious. Knowing what he was about to say, Julia cupped his face.

"Yes, I'm sure of it, Jack." She kissed him gently. "Besides, it's not everyday that I have a half naked CEO in my bedroom. I need to make use of that opportunity..." she added and got out of bed.

She could feel Jack watching her, as she took off her t-shirt and dropped it to the floor.

"Rather slow in the morning, aren't we, Mr Deschanel?" Julia teased, seeing Jack was still watching her from the bed.

She walked into the bathroom quickly, knowing that she might run out of her bravery if Jack didn't react to her proposal soon.

Julia turned on the shower and immediately felt the steam from the hot water surrounding her. Right after that she heard the click of the bathroom door closing; Jack took her up on the proposal.

His arms were around her a second later, his lips on her skin trailing kisses down her neck.

Julia turned to Jack slowly. He was completely naked by now. She could see he was ready to be with her.

"Not so slow after all," she said, grinning.

"That's right, Stiles. Now you are the slow one..." Jack whispered, raising his brow. His fingers slowly moving down towards the last piece of underwear Julia had still on.

"And what are you going to do about it, Deschanel?" She challenged him.

Jack accepted the challenge immediately. He kneeled in front of Julia and started pulling down her bikinis excruciatingly slowly.

When he got rid of the last piece of garment Julia was wearing, he kissed the inner side of her thigh. Julia held to his arms afraid of losing balance.

Jack got up slowly.

"I've got you," he whispered and lifted Julia up.

She wrapped her legs around him and Jack walked them both into the shower.

She revelled in that feeling being in his arms was giving her. Jack was looking at her as if he had a wonder in front of him. But the thing that reassured her that whatever they were doing was right, was the look on Jack's face; it wasn't only desire, it was care, tenderness and one more emotion she wasn't able to, or did not want to, name yet.

His arms were strong, yet gentle. He leaned Julia's back against the wall and started kissing her passionately. The water was flowing all around them, engulfing them, even protecting them from the outside world. This moment was only about Julia and Jack and nothing or no one could destroy that now.

Jack lifted Julia gently and then entered her, filling her completely. They remained motionless. Julia knew he was giving her time to get used to his size. She grinned, feeling euphoric.

"Being slow again, Deschanel?"

That was sign enough for Jack. He started moving faster inside her which earned him a moan of pleasure from Julia. Hearing that he sent her a cocky smirk.

The intensity with which he was looking into her eyes was pushing Julia off the edge. She knew she would soon reach her climax.

"Jack..."

"We should have done that long ago..." Julia couldn't help but state once they were out of the shower.

She was sitting in a bathrobe on her bed, drying her hair with a towel. Jack, with a towel wrapped around his waist, sat down on the bed next to her.

"I concur, Stiles..."

Julia raised her brow sensing a but in his statement.

"...but with your obvious hate towards me I'd venture to say making any move on you, would probably mean ending up without my..." He looked down at his groin.

"I concur, Deschanel..." she admitted with a blush. "Although you can't deny that... the dislike was mutual?"

"Was is a correct tense," Jack said, pushing one of the loose strands of Julia's hair behind her ear. That unknown emotion again in his eyes.

"Do you care to explain though where you got the condom from?" Julia asked, remembering that Jack came prepared.

He laughed hearing her question.

"It's not like I planned this, Stiles..." He raised his hands in a defensive move. "It's also not what you think," he added in a more serious tone.

"It's not?"

"Well, I'm not walking around fucking every girl in sight, if that's what you thinking..."

Julia suddenly felt bad for questioning him like that.

"I'm sorry, Jack, I did not mean that..."

"My girlfriend back in LA," he interrupted her in a warm tone. "The one you... briefly met in the hotel during the party?"

Julia blushed again at the memory. She did not answer, just nodded.

"Well... she liked to have sex in strange places. So I always had a condom with me, in case she'd... get inspired."

"Well, I'm glad that you thought of protection, Jack," Julia said, wanting to end the subject.

"At your service, Miss Stiles."

Jack got off the bed, looking around the room, probably in search of his clothes.

"Let me go downstairs," he said, locating his shirt, "And see about that breakfast Zoey promised us."

"And maybe convince her to... well, not inform the whole world about what she saw here this morning?"

"You got it. She will not be able to resist my charm and will keep quiet..." Jack said, buttoning his shirt. He then winked at Julia and moved to the door.

"We both know, Deschanel, that your charm does not work on your sister..." Julia called out after him.

"As long as it works on you..." Jack retorted, closing the door.

Julia stared at the door, turning crimson.