What's A Briard?

i. It had been an insanely long, strange night. Doppelgangers and bombs and their home invaded once more. 

But the bad guys had been dispatched and in the golden heat of a California morning, everything looked marvelous once again.

Especially his beautiful wife and her wide, appreciative grin. 

The emeralds sparkled in that rich, gilded sunlight but not as much as Jennifer.

She launched herself into Jonathan’s arms and he caught her up, burying his face in the voluminous ruffles as he spun her around.

They were safe, they were alive, they were together.

Everything looked marvelous - was marvelous - once again. 

ii. Jonathan found her in their bed, the duvet carefully folded back. 

She was propped on the pillows, her long legs crossed demurely as she waited for him.

But that was as far as “demure” went on her, for there was nothing but acres of pale skin and the flash of diamonds and emeralds around her neck. 

“It was awfully nice of someone to buy them as a gift for someone.” She said, her tone even huskier than normal. 

“Awfully nice.” Jonathan responded, watching the way the diamonds shifted against the swell of her breasts.

i. Teasing Jonathan - in all kinds of ways - was one of Jennifer’s favorite pastimes. She wasn’t really mad about the tarragon, although the stress of turning their house upside down once again might have gotten the best of her. 

She enjoyed role playing as much as the next woman - perhaps even more, with a partner like Jonathan - but sometimes enough was enough. Thankfully, Max came clean to Elizabeth so her days as a maid were over. 

The champagne was doing its job, filling her blood with starlight. Giggles rose to the surface as Jonathan leaned in to whisper in her ear. 

ii. Jonathan was truly looking forward to being back in their own room that night. The nights in Max’s room had been uncomfortable. Oh, the room itself was perfectly nice and the bed comfortable. But Max’s space was Max’s space, and even if the whole charade was his idea, it was still unnerving to be in his personal rooms without him.

They’d been too tired to do anything more than sleep, but even if they hadn’t, Jonathan wasn’t sure he could have brought himself to do anything more anyway. 

i. The fire roared beside them, keeping the frosty chill of the air conditioning at bay. Jonathan wanted to recapture the cozy pleasure they’d found in the snow and then somehow lost with their houseguests. 

It wasn’t even a real fight. He was irritable and achy and he took it out on his wife, something he wasn’t very proud of. He wanted to erase that squabble, overwrite it with silly rhymes and longings whispered into Jennifer’s skin. 

He wanted to chase the shiver over her skin and replace it with kisses of apology and forgiveness until they were all that existed. 

ii. It felt so nice to be snuggled up beside Jonathan, his strong arms warding off the chill. There had been a chill and not just from the air conditioner. 

She wasn’t even sure what caused it, what made the house suddenly feel so small. The lack of space pinched at them until they were sniping at each other. They never sniped at each other. 

At least not until Pamela and Braddon showed up. As if their toxic relationship tainted the very air on the estate. 

Are you named after anyone?

Not my first name, but my middle name is after my parents’ best friend.

When was the last time you cried?

It has been a few days, but the last time was tears of relief.

Do you have kids?

Not human ones. I was never particularly interested in that.

What sports do you play/have played?

LOL not much of a sporter. I was an avid horse rider, though.

Do you use sarcasm?

Like it’s my job.

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Their hair.

What are your hobbies?

My doggies. Reading. Writing. Drawing. Fan art.

Do you have any pets?

Boy do I. There’s Ocho, a 7 year old briard.

Then there’s Noodle, a 5 year old Briard.

And finally we have JJ, a 7 month old Löwchen.

How tall are you?

I thought I was 5’7” but at the doctor they said 5’5.5”.

Favorite subject in school?

I guess English class. It was the easiest for me.

Dream job?

i. Jennifer was a serious student and a precocious one at that. The death of her mother and the long absences of her father, not to mention the very worldly advice of her well-meaning Aunt Renee, meant that she was wise beyond her years. Even so, she’d never harbored crushes on her teachers. Not the dashing first year French professor in her senior year at Gresham or the overly interested TA in her junior level journalism class. 

Looking at Jonathan in his robe and naughty expression, she knew he would be the one teacher she was certain to be hot for. 

ii. It didn’t seem wise to Jonathan to put Jennifer in a classroom with a bunch of college athletes.  She was so prim in her co-ed outfit and backpack, but he had the luscious curves of a grown woman. She was well beyond the dreams of the boys in this school and he knew it.

Because a woman like her had been well beyond his own dreams when he was their age. 

He’d hoped to get a little one-on-one advanced learning in the bed of his suite, but Jennifer refused to take the bait. 

i. There wasn’t actually much on Jennifer he would call anything other than perfect. But he couldn’t resist the chance to tease her a little bit, enjoying the way her eyes narrowed and she began swiping the pillow in his direction. 

He knew he had her right where he wanted her when she flicked his hat from his head and he tumbled backwards.

Her expression was downright feral when she called him a sexist savage, her thigh pressing hard against the fly of his jeans. He caught her arms and her giggles fell into his open mouth before she kissed him. 

ii. Jennifer made him pay.

She hadn’t even pulled his jeans all the way off. They bunched around his knees and limited his movement, which was exactly what she wanted. His cheeks were stained scarlet and his hips were jerking into the cool air of the bedroom, desperate for a release she wouldn’t give him. 

She abandoned her clothing layer by layer until she was topless and sitting perched over him, her smile dangerous.

With slow, deliberate movements she dragged herself over him, nipples barely touching his skin over his torso and lower. 

i. Jennifer shivered, but it had nothing to do with the temperature. 

Jonathan’s gaze was fixed on her, all of his immense attention focused on her mouth. The hand across her middle fiddled at her waist, fingers brushing her shirt out of the way until he encountered bare skin. His palm was hot on her belly and she tingled when he breathed against her lips. 

Max was talking and each time Jonathan’s mouth drifted away Jennifer’s stomach clenched with thwarted desire. 

He stroked her quivering stomach and dipped playfully beneath her waistband. 

“I know what’s important.”  He refused to look away. 

ii. Jonathan had never once thought about firing Max. Their relationship wasn’t like that, even if he did give Max a paycheck every week. He was, however, tempted to topple the man overboard if he didn’t stop interrupting. 

Jennifer was warm and pliant in his embrace. He hadn’t yet tasted her but he knew her lips would be sea-kissed and salty. She would taste of bright sunshine and tangy need. Her fingers clutched at his elbow, even as she shook her head to chase off Max’s words. 

i. Jonathan couldn’t believe, in all their years together, they had never been ice skating. Not even at Rockefeller Center or on their multiple trips to Vale. 

Although to be fair, they were well acquainted with the hot tubs in all those exotic locations. Usually the call of warm heat was greater than chilly ice, and Jonathan was never one to turn down the chance to cavort naked with his wife. 

After 5 minutes on the ice, he knew why they didn’t skate. 

Jennifer wobbled at his side and, having had enough fun for one day, Jonathan pulled them both down. 

ii. Jennifer’s back was chilled against the ice, but she could forgive anything for Jonathan’s warm weight across her. He thought he was a sly one, although she couldn’t blame him. Come to find out, she wasn’t a big fan of ice skating. 

Still, she threaded her gloved hands in his hair and tugged playfully. 

“At least moan my name when you do that.” Jonathan whispered in her ear, and a blazing flash of lust warmed Jennifer from her toes to the top of her head. 

i. Just when Jennifer thought her husband couldn’t become any dearer to her, he would do something like support her in her care for Watson. Most men wouldn’t want another dog in the house, although most men didn’t dote on their pets the way Jonathan did with Freeway. But the ease with which he accepted Watson into their house was just another of a thousand reasons why he was the best man in the world. 

And just like any doting father, he was quick to take advantage of the quiet house while the “children” were off at the vet with Max. 

ii. If Jonathan calculated correctly, they had at least two hours before Max would be back with the dogs. He could do a lot in two hours, just as soon as he had Jennifer naked. 

It was the middle of the afternoon, the house was empty, and they hadn’t made love on the couch in a long time. 

He moved his mouth to her throat and she arched back, a sure sign that she was as interested in a midday delight as he was. 

The sound of the gate buzzer, while annoying, was not surprising. 

i. Jennifer’s skin was warm against his hands, and Jonathan allowed himself to fall into the kiss. The adrenaline of the fight had his blood singing and she was a soothing balm, her tongue drawing him closer. 

“I think I like you a little gray.” She said when she pulled back, her nose still brushing his cheek. 

“I think I like you in this little dress.” He countered and his fingers traced up her spine. She shivered in his arms and breathed his name into his skin. “But I think I like you out of it even more.”

She giggled brightly.

ii. They all rode home together, with Jennifer tucked tightly to Jonathan’s side in the backseat of the Bentley. The sky was rosy with the coming dawn as they wended their way to Katherine’s house. Jennifer yawned widely and curled closer to Jonathan’s warmth. He’d given her his coat but the Los Angeles morning was still chilly and his arms were so, so warm. 

“We’ll be home soon, Darling.” He promised and she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, nuzzling like a contented kitten.

i. He really was so very cute. All of Jonathan’s clothes suited him, from the sinful polo breeches to the swirl of a kilt. But there was something so very classic about her husband in a tuxedo. 

When he was all starched and proper all she wanted to do was muss him up. A few undone buttons and a loose bow tie, his hair askew from where she tunneled her fingers through it. 

With care she straightened said tie, setting him to rights. The theater wasn’t the time or place for what she had in mind.

That was for the hotel. 

ii. Jonathan fixated on the feather boa all evening. It caressed his skin when Jennifer wound her arm through his, and tickled his nose when he dropped a kiss to her neck. It was frivolous and silly and he wanted nothing more than to torment her with it.

Later, much later, he would wind it over her breasts and watch them pucker with pleasure. He would tickle over her abdomen and between her thighs until her toes curled and her head thrashed against the pillows. 

The ridiculous thing would be ruined when they were done with it.

i. Jonathan wasn’t sure he would ever rid his mind of the image of Jennifer, her lips almost blue, gasping for desperate breaths. The would-be assassin was dead, which was for the best. Jonathan’s hands shook with the desire to kill her again himself. 

It was only Jennifer’s labored wheezing that brought him back to himself, as he hustled her into Janet’s office. 

He wouldn’t be separated from her again, not until Rhodes was safely behind bars. 

And even then. That night he’d face a future without Jennifer by his side, and the very notion chilled Jonathan to his very marrow. 

ii. Jennifer wasn’t sure how it happened. One moment she’d been standing in Jonathan’s embrace, confessing how bone frightened she’d been. In the next breath she was against the wall, her borrowed habit rucked up around her hips. 

Jonathan’s kisses scorched across her face, teeth snagging her lips and drawing her into a deep and desperate kiss. 

Every touch of his hands against bare skin burned, returning Jennifer to life. The fear and the rage coalesced into a consuming need and she pushed Jonathan backwards until he tumbled onto the small bed. 

i. “Do you regret it?” Jennifer asked. Everyone was gone, and they were spending the evening in front of the fire, limbs twined together and Jennifer’s head resting on Jonathan’s chest.

“With you? I don’t regret anything.” He rumbled, pressing a kiss to the shell of her ear. “Except maybe not meeting you before you met Elliot Manning.”

It was her turn to laugh lightly, and tug at the arm around her middle. “I’m serious.”

“So am I.” 

“Jonathan…” She tried to turn but he held her fast against him. 

“Darling,” He whispered. “With you I don’t regret a single thing.”

ii. Jonathan knew what she was asking. They didn’t talk about children, in spite of the years together. In spite of the pressure surrounding them to “make a family”.

Jonathan didn’t have much experience with mothers, least of all good ones, but the fierceness Jennifer displayed with Lisa told him she would have made someone a fantastic mother. 

He couldn’t regret their lives, though. Couldn’t wish them to follow a different path. 

“Do you?” He asked, suddenly wary of her answer.

The fireplace crackled merrily in the stretching silence. 

i. It wasn’t the first time Jonathan blindfolded his wife and gave her a surprise. 

It was one of the first times they tried it with their clothes on. 

He figured Jennifer’s reluctance to play the game this time was her worry (hope?) that all the time she spent getting ready would end up in a trail of clothes from the foyer back up to their room. 

The last time it happened, their discarded items were discreetly cleaned and returned to their places in the wardrobe before either of them had the chance to apologize. 

Pity that wouldn’t be happening again.

ii. The last time Jonathan had blindfolded her in the living area, the outcome had been more than a little satisfying. 

He tied his silk tie over her eyes, though his actions were tentative. As if he were concerned she might object. 

He painstakingly removed every piece of her clothing until she was writing in anticipation. Not knowing where he might touch next had been intensely erotic and she felt the same frisson of anticipation once more.

i. A man in a kilt was something to see.

Jonathan in a kilt was the stuff that Jennifer’s dreams were made of.

He didn’t show his legs enough, she decided, admiring the thickness of his calves all wrapped up in knee socks. 

He just looked so masculine. So virile. 

She couldn’t help but tease him, and herself. 

Jennifer ignored the better angel admonishing her and instead tugged at his kilt, pulling it a little higher and grinning when he smacked her hand away. 

“I’ll give you the bare facts later,” His tone made her belly flip. “The full exposure.”

“Promise?”

ii. “How do these things keep happening?” Jennifer asked, once the hubbub settled and they were back in their bedroom. “It’s like we’re advertising to get tangled up with crooks.”

“Just lucky.” Jonathan couldn’t wait to get rid of the uncomfortable shoes. 

“Ha.” Jennifer intoned and turned to see him tugging off one of the high socks. “Wait.”

“Wait?” He stopped at the gleam in Jennifer’s eyes. 

“You owe me a peek.” She bit her lip. 

“What would you say to a ‘feel’ instead?” 

Warm, sure fingers slid up his kilt to grip his cock.