★ but I'm going to be okay as long as you're beside me along the way

[complexguy]

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[dharmalady]

Juliet smiles softly and opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out save for a rasp. No voice, then, and so she nuzzles the side of his nose with her own. She can whisper, so that's what she goes with.

"Spent a long time yelling your name."

It sounds like it hurts, even though it doesn't.

[complexguy]

As his eyes open, he reaches out now to stroke her cheek tenderly, worried eyes focused on her. "Never wanted to put you through that, baby."

[dharmalady]

"I know. But you're home. All that matters."

Her fingers lightly move over his face again, finding a tiny, tiny scratch and dragging her thumb over it slowly.

"I was so worried about you. We got to the valley and it was flooded out," she rasps.

[complexguy]

"And you didn't think I'd come back?" he asks softly, reaching out to rake his fingers through her hair tenderly.

[dharmalady]

"I thought the island did what it's always done best to me," she admits.

"It isn't that I gave up on you. It's just...this place, James," Juliet tries to explain feebly, tears blurring her vision as she glances away.

[complexguy]

"Screw this damn place." He pulls her a little closer, swiping his thumb across her cheek to brush away the tears. "What we got, it's stronger than anything else."

[dharmalady]

She swallows hard, and when she looks at him, her trust in him is palpable. She believes him.

"It's you and me, James. Here. Anywhere else."

Juliet presses her forehead to his. "I love you."

[complexguy]

"I love you, too." The words come so freely, so easily, and yet every time he says them, he feels like he's coming home for the first time. It's an incredible feeling he wouldn't know how to even explain.

"I ain't ever goin' anywhere without you, Juliet."

[dharmalady]

"Good." She seals her word with a kiss, then makes slow, easy love with him before they fall asleep again for a little while. When they finally rejoin the world of the living, Juliet makes them something to eat and the rest of the day is fairly lazily spent.

A few afternoons later, Amy comes over to do the makeover she insisted on, and Juliet's in a dress--very 70s, she wants to die a little--and her hair is smooth and straight with a braid wrapped around the crown of her head. She's wearing lipstick to boot, and when she finally looks in the mirror, she's not sure what to think. It's...her, but a version of her that never really existed. Rachel existed as this exact person, and Juliet mostly stayed in her shadow.

After Amy leaves, Juliet just starts getting dinner ready, not bothering to change or take off the makeup, wanting James to see, first.

[complexguy]

When James gets home from work that day, he smiles as he steps through the door, delighted by the aroma hitting him. "Hey, sweetheart," he calls out, moving into the kitchen.

The moment he sees her, he takes a good, long look at her from head to toe, resting his hands on her hips. "Damn. Look at you."

[dharmalady]

"Hey, baby," she says with a soft smile, then blushes all the way to the tips of her ears.

"I look like I'm gonna be on a float in a parade," she says, rolling her eyes while trying to hide a pleased smile.

"You like the dress, huh?"

[complexguy]

"I kinda like what's under the dress a little more, but...yeah. Yeah, I like it," he grins, kissing her softly. "And you look damn beautiful, but you mind if we wipe this off?" He asks, meaning the makeup. She just doesn't look like her.

[dharmalady]

She laughs softly, hands at his sides.

"I don't know why Amy bothers with it on a tropical island. Ditch the makeup, keep the dress?"

For now anyway.

[complexguy]

"Keep the dress, but you ain't gonna be wearin' it for long most days," he promises her with a grin, curving his hand around her ass appreciatively.

[dharmalady]

The amount that she's blushing and smiling is so much that for a second she hides her face against his chest, then playfully shoves him away so she can go to the bathroom and wash her face. She does double back to kiss him again though, grinning, and quickly gets rid of the makeup.

When she returns, her hair is still pulled back in a ponytail and she slides dinner into the oven before facing him.

"Better?"

[complexguy]

James watches her appreciatively again, arms crossed with a grin on his face. When she turns around, he leans back against the countertop, still just grinning and watching her.

Finally, a delayed response: "You say somethin'?"

[dharmalady]

"You're ridiculous," she laughs, setting a forty-minute timer before stepping between his legs and going in for a real kiss.

"How was your day?" she asks, unable to help kissing him again before he can even answer.

[complexguy]

He takes that invitation to turn her, lifting her up on the counter and pressing close. It happens so quickly, he's sure she barely has time to catch her breath or think.

"Better now. Been missin' my girl." With that, he kisses her again, sliding her dress up the length of her thighs.

[dharmalady]

All she has time to do is let out a little squeak of surprise, and then she's grinning.

She isn't wearing any underwear under that dress, courtesy of her quick trip to the bathroom, discarding them because she knew this would happen.

"I missed you, too. Especially while Amy was painting my face. Coulda used a rescue."

She's slowly unzipping his jumpsuit while kissing his neck softly.

[complexguy]

He groans huskily, the way he knows by now turns her on. And then he tugs her closer, moving his hand to her inner thighs, then groaning again when he realizes she's not wearing underwear. He's so damn turned on, grabbing a kiss from her lips and then nipping lightly as he seeks the taste of her.

"Damn, baby..."

[dharmalady]

She shivers, warmth making her stomach coil in anticipation.

"See something you like?" she asks as she lets her legs part in anticipation, leaning back on her palms.

[complexguy]

"Always like what I see." He pushes her legs apart just a little more, then ducks his head to press a kiss to her inner thigh, teasing her.

[dharmalady]

She shivers, breath hitching as a hand moves to his hair now and tugs just a little.

"Do you want me?" she asks him, voice husky with barely contained want.

[complexguy]

"Do I want you..." He repeats, grinning as he kisses her other thigh, but then his answer comes when he dips his tongue into her, swirling it intently around her clit.

[dharmalady]

She gasps and arches her back, closing her eyes as her lips part in a moan. He's always going to be the only person who's only done this to her, and God, it's so damn good.

Juliet rolls her hips slowly against his mouth, panting. "God, James, right--" Before she can even get the rest out, he moves exactly the right way and she jerks forward, crying out sharply as her thighs tense.