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

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.

Edited 2019-10-03 14:45 (UTC)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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?"

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."

"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.

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."

No one has ever loved her the way he's loving her, right now, and she could sob in sheer relief at simply having someone. At having this.

Without thinking, Juliet cruses her lips to his and kisses him with everything in her before pulling back, forehead against his.

"I would do it again. I would do it for you over and over again," she whispers emotionally, just as fierce as he's being.

They're both saying it, without saying it, how deeply they love one another. She doesn't even realize that she's crying, pulling him into another searing kiss, her fingers tangling in his hair.

When he presses closer, he's practically slamming up against her, desperate and breathless as he kisses her deeper and lifts her a little again. He needs her, he can't let go of her, he realizes. He never wants to let go.

No one in his life has ever cared like this, and he's never made anyone feel safe. But that's all he wants to keep doing, and he knows it.

Her legs are around him again, her fingers tangling in his hair, her mouth fused to his. God, she wants him, she wants to show him what he does to her.

She's ready, she's been ready, and she reaches between them now, one arm around his neck as she holds his gaze and guides him into her body. The moment he's inside of her, everything changes. She can feel it, her heart seeming to skip a beat as he sinks home.

He's wanted this, too, he just didn't know how to get there; when to get there. But she makes that choice for them now, and there's no turning back. He'll never want anything or anyone else, only her. Just being joined with her, he knows nothing in his life has ever felt this good.

"Juliet..." He groans as his body presses closer and he rocks his hips slowly against hers.

A part of her, but only a small part, wonders if she's setting herself up for another loss, but already this feels different. He feels different, and now that they're joined, some of her urgency wans and she simply enjoys the feel of James moving.

He's perfect, and she murmurs that softly into the crook of his neck as they move together. She didn't know there was anything that could feel this good, but here he is, filling her over and over again, and she's never felt more loved and wanted in her life.

She whispers his name back to him, lips falling against his pulse.

"Don't ever stop," she pleads urgently, desperate to keep him, to keep this.

Being with her as they moved through time, he got a good sense of Juliet and what an incredible person she truly is. She's got a heart so damn big, and he knows all he ever wants to do is make her proud. He's also damn terrified he's not good enough for this, for her, but she makes him want to be worthy, want to be a better man. He'll do anything for her.

He can't seem to get close enough to her, wanting their bodies to be one somehow, but this is perfect. It's everything.

"Never," he promises, even though it still terrifies him. Not having her terrifies him more.

When the pleasure is too much, when she can't keep it at bay any longer, she moves her hips faster against him, dropping her head so that she can tuck her face right against his neck.

Gasping loudly, the hand at the back of his head grips his hair just as her body tightens around him and she cries out his name as she shatters around him. Juliet can't feel anything other than pulsing pleasure that radiates out and down her limbs. She's aware she's holding him tightly, but she can't see or hear, chest heaving against his.

He feels a surge of warmth, a spark, and then it's like every single nerve in his body is on fire. It's incredible, and he clings to her as tight as he dares, keeping his hand on her lower back so she's steady against him. When she's over the edge, he loses complete control, grunting with pleasure as he climaxes. He's panting softly, letting his head drop to her shoulder, lips pressing a tender kiss there.

Juliet's never felt so alive in her life, and she needed him, needed him to know that she's his.

"I wanna go home," she whispers after a while.

Because she wants to hold him, to be held, and she wants him again, wants to take her time.

"You got it, Blondie," he smiles as he steals another kiss from her lips. And then he lifts her again, carrying her back to shore and finally setting her down (reluctantly) just so they can dry off and get dressed.

Since they need to dry anyway, Juliet stretches out on the grass in the sun.

Silently, she reaches out for his hand so that he'll maybe lay beside her while they dry.

"C'mere."

He grasps her hand, squeezing her fingers as he smiles and moves in closer. Laying on his stomach, James scoots close to her, pressing a tender kiss to her shoulder.

"Never seen anything so beautiful," he murmurs softly, lightly caressing her skin, with his fingers trailing up and down her stomach.

She shivers, humming pleasantly as her eyes close.

"Can I confess something to you?" she asks, opening her eyes again and biting at her bottom lip to suppress a smile for now.

"Well, don't keep me waitin', sweetheart," he smiles back at her, so curious now.

She delays it a bit just to kiss him, her hand resting on the side of his face, stroking the scruff on his cheek.

When she pulls back, she smiles softly at him, serenely.

"I finally have a new happy memory."

Not one steeped in sadness, either.

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