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

[complexguy]

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[complexguy]

He's completely stunned, and he's pretty sure he completely blacked out for a moment. His eyes rake over her body so appreciatively, and all he wants to do is touch every inch of her skin.

"Sweetheart..." He lets out a breath, stepping forward. "Goddamn are you beautiful."

[dharmalady]

She didn't realize she was holding her breath, and when he steps closer, her lips part in an exhale.

That's all it takes, words, and she flushes, nipples tightening without being touched. It's him. It's just James.

Swallowing, she watches him, waiting for the moment he'll reach out and touch, almost tense with anticipation.

"Am I?" she asks softly, knowing it means everything that he thinks so.

[complexguy]

"In my whole life, Juliet, I never wanted anyone like I do right now." There's a moment where he hears himself, and he can so easily hear these words being the same words he'd employ in a con, trying to manipulate and charm. He knows how it must sound, but he hopes like hell that she knows he's being serious, he's authentic, and he's completely in awe as he looks at her.

He doesn't know where to touch first, and he wants to cradle her breasts in his hands. But what he wants more than anything is to kiss her, for her to know how much all of this means, how much she means to him.

So his hands come to rest against her hips, and he leans in close, hesitating only for a moment before he presses his lips to hers.

[dharmalady]

She knows this can't be a con. She knows it because she doesn't have anything to give him but this, herself. Her heart feels as though it's slamming in her chest, and she knows she's shaking, but it's sheer want vibrating off of her.

When he kisses her, her lips yield to his immediately, one hand reaching out to rest against the side of his neck.

God, kissing him is the most perfect thing she's ever done.

[complexguy]

He snakes one arm around her waist now, pulling her a little closer while cradling her cheek with his other hand. This is only their first kiss, but he already knows he's never felt this good, this wanted. He also never wants to stop kissing her.

[dharmalady]

Juliet has never been kissed this way in her life, and she doesn't want it to end. Her hands grasp at his waist, and then she's pushing at his shirt, wanting to feel him skin to skin.

For the few seconds they pull apart she feels cold, and reaches for him the second she can to wrap her arms around him. She kisses him, tongue gliding along his bottom lip, seeking permission to kiss him deeper.

[complexguy]

He doesn't hesitate, inviting her deeper, even as he moves to push her shorts off. He's going slow, though, just to give her a chance to stop him.

[dharmalady]

She isn't stopping him, she'll never stop him.

When she's completely naked in front of him, she pulls her hair down and lets it tumble down her shoulders, over her breasts. Then, she pulls him into another kiss as she fusses with his jeans, pushing them down slowly along with his boxers.

[complexguy]

When he's completely naked with her, he pulls her closer so they're skin to skin, lips fusing to hers in a passionate kiss as he actually lifts her up into his arms now and cradles her close. Then he slowly begins walking towards the water with her.

[dharmalady]

She's never been cared for this way, taken care of, and she soaks it up, completely. This isn't desperation or boredom, this isn't just getting something out of their systems. For two months now, he's made her feel like a person again, and not just something to be owned.

He's slowly been bringing her back to life, and she's never felt more alive than right now. Once they're in the water, her legs wrap around his hips, arms around his neck, and she can't help it. She smiles at him, kissing him softly this time.

"Hi," she murmurs, loving the feel of her chest pressed to his, their bodies fitting together.

[complexguy]

"Whatever it takes to keep you smilin' like this, I'm gonna do it," he breathes out in response, kissing her again softly. He can't stop caressing her back, hands roaming over her skin so tenderly.

[dharmalady]

For a moment she's lost in the touch, in the kisses. She's so blissed out that it takes his fingers brushing against rough, raised skin to pull her out of the moment. She tenses before she can realize why, flinching away.

Juliet forgot about the brand, forgot that it's there for a reason she knows he'll carry. She wasn't planning on ever telling him.

She also wasn't planning on ever being naked with him.

"Sorry," she breathes out, not wanting him to think he did anything wrong.

[complexguy]

"You okay, Blondie?" He asks softly, but with worry in his voice. Without seeing it, it feels like some kind of scar and he has no context for it at all. An old injury of some sort, obviously.

"Can I see it..." With her apology, he knows it must be bad.

[dharmalady]

It's inevitable that he will, at some point, because she doesn't plan on never doing this with him again. She hopes.

She's getting ahead of herself.

Her hesitation is in having to explain anything to him, because it's obviously not just a scar. And it's still a freshly healing wound--she'd only been branded a few weeks ago. Or was it over thirty years ago now? James will know a brand when he sees one and she looks at him, eyes moving over his face slowly before untangling herself from him.

Walking a few paces up the embankment so he can see, Juliet's back is to him now, and she closes her eyes, arms wrapping around herself.

[complexguy]

James follows her, and the moment he gets a good look at it, his eyes narrow in anger. "Son of a bitch," he breathes out harshly; in direct contrast to the anger in his tone, his touch is soft and tender as his fingers stroke near the still-healing skin.

"They did this to you?" It was just a few months ago, so the wound hasn't even healed much, and he's pissed. He wants to hurt someone, but he can't. The obvious target would be Benjamin Linus, but he's an innocent kid, so the anger rising to the surface has nowhere to go right now.

[dharmalady]

His touch still makes her shiver, and she ducks back down into the water, turning to face him now. She hasn't answered his question, but the answer is obvious.

"They wanted to execute me. Ben took that off the table as an option."

Thanks to Jack, but she doesn't say that part out loud.

[complexguy]

His eyes close tightly for a moment, and she'll be able to see the tight way his jaw keeps clenching and unclenching. He barely knew her then, and he didn't like her or trust her, but everything's changed now. He cares deeply about this woman in his arms, and he'll do everything he can to protect her. To know she was hurt like this feels like a punch to the gut.

"No one's ever gonna hurt you again, Juliet," he promises huskily, the emotion so palpable between them.

[dharmalady]

She relaxes, swimming back into his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck. He didn't ask why, and it seems like they're moving on.

At his promise, she tucks her face in against his neck, just wanting to feel him wrap around her now.

"I feel safe with you," she murmurs, a quiet admission between them.

[complexguy]

He's not done talking about it, but he needed to make sure she understood, that she knew he'd never let anyone hurt her ever. With one hand on the back of her head, he breathes out huskily.

"You tell me. Everything that happened. Why they were gonna kill you, why they didn't."

He knows (or, he thinks he knows) why Ben kept her alive, given his infatuation with her.

[dharmalady]

Shit. She closes her eyes for a second, then pulls back enough to hold his face in her hands.

This moment is ruined, she knows it. She's the one who ruined it, and she knows what telling him is going to do to him.

"They were going to kill me, James, because I helped you and Kate escape. Because I killed Danny." That friend, she mentioned. That guy who sat in her kitchen once drinking tea while they talked about the risks of his wife getting pregnant.

"When Jack found out, he forced Ben to take my execution off of the table in exchange for not letting him die on an operating table. The brand was a compromise."

She tells him everything in a sort of detached, clinical way, everything being said as a statement of fact. And then she drops her hands, floating in front of him quietly.

[complexguy]

The more she says, the more tense he gets. "You almost died... 'cause of me," he murmurs lowly, tense and upset. She didn't even know him then, but she risked her life, and he doesn't know what to do with that feeling.

"Don't you ever do that again. Not for me. You hear me?" He's not worth it, and he can't stand the idea of her being hurt because of him.

She's shutting down on him, though, and he can see it in her face. So he has to know, he has to see that it's sunk in. Cradling her cheek, he forces her to look at him.

"I won't see you hurt. Never again."

As it is, he wants to kill someone right now.

[dharmalady]

"It wasn't because of you, James, it was because I chose to kill Danny. I could have incapacitated him."

But she didn't, because she wanted to give two people their best chance.

"Why wouldn't I try to help you?" she asks quietly, reaching out to cradle his face in return.

"Especially now?"

[complexguy]

She was still doing it for him, regardless of the method she chose (killing, rather than just knocking him out).

"I ain't worth all that," he breathes out, though he doesn't pull away from her touch. "Not if it means your life."

[dharmalady]

"Don't try to tell me how much you're worth to me," she chides him, looking vaguely distressed about it, like she can't fathom losing him.

"You have no idea, James Ford."

Juliet whispers his given name, clinging to him like a lifeline in the water.

[complexguy]

He stares at her, noting the fear in her eyes at the thought of anything happening to him, and it's more love than he's ever felt in his life.

"Do you get it?" He murmurs huskily, his breath exhaling harshly against her skin as he breathes tensely. "Do you understand what seein' that mark on you does to me? I wanna kill everyone who had a hand in hurting you. It tears me up inside, Juliet."