Mr. & Mrs. America, Aftermath

...

Lord Bevington dropped by a few weeks later and asked me if I cared for a drink. I'd learned this was code for we needed to talk.

We got a pint and sat in a secluded part of his club. He got right to the point.

"Fancy Jack will make a good son-in-law?"

"Yes. I like him quite a bit. I believe he's perfect for Polly. She can be quite a handful when she sets her mind. I'm pretty sure he won't put up with a lot of drama. I see a couple of epic rows before they settle down to domestic bliss."

"Do you like him enough to be neighbors?"

I looked at him while he grinned.

"All right boss, give. What's going on in that devious mind of yours?"

"Nothing that isn't a matter of public record. Did you know he was third in his graduating class? Or that his uncle is a senator, or that he's got a cousin in a field close to what I used to do. I think you've met her a couple of times. A tall woman, about your age, blond? Her name is Madeline. Ring any bells."

Well, what a small world. Madeline had indeed stopped by to see me about six weeks after we returned from our last mission, right after the locals had chatted with me. She called and said she was in town, so I invited her to dinner. We had a nice meal, and she asked if we could go back to my place for coffee. I knew what she was saying, she wanted to talk, but not in public.

She inspected my place, even asked if she could handle the sword. She slid it out of the scabbard and tested the edge, not a bit surprised when she drew a little blood.

"Is this the one?"

I didn't understand the question.

"Is this the one that retired Mike?"

I didn't hesitate to answer. "Yes it is."

She smiled. "I can't understand why so many people underestimated you all these years. You broke him, you know. His nerve was almost completely gone. We retired him with a nice pension, but he spent several months in the area, working for an arms dealer and plotting revenge on you. He was about to put a price on your head, or sell you out to Isis as S7. Oh, don't look so surprised, unlike those jackasses we do have the technology to figure out who you guys were, all but the Kurd. We couldn't have that, it would have opened too many cans of worms, so we sat him down and had a nice conversation. I think the threat of taking his remaining appendages convinced him to come home.

Believe it or not, he's an accountant now, living in Cleveland. Like I said, he has a nice pension from us, so he's in good shape financially. He joined the American Legion, goes down every Friday for a few beers and war stories. Everything he tells them is bogus, but they eat it up. He's even dating, a timid little thing that worships him, and he's very nice to her. I wouldn't be surprised to see him married with a couple of kids in the near future.

The point of all this is to tell you you're safe as far as he's concerned. He goes pale every time your name is mentioned."

She sat back, sighing. "Now that the bullshit is out of the way, how would you like to come to work for us? You've proved you're every thing we look for, and your age could work in your favor."

I didn't hesitate in turning her down. "Thanks for your vote of confidence, but I'm quite happy here. I think my adventuring days may be over."

She grinned. "I thought you might say that. Okay then, how about this? Consider consulting for us from time to time. No field trips, just research and opinions?"

I thanked her and told her I would have to run it by my boss. Her smile got bigger. "Oh, I'm sure I can persuade Teddy to lend you out from time to time. Thanks for the evening. It isn't often I get to relax with a nice guy. We should do it again sometime."

I kissed her cheek as she walked out and told her she had a standing date every time she was in the country. She was still smiling when she got in the Bently.

...

I flew home two weeks before the wedding, seeing old friends and colleagues, even did two guest lectures. I spent a pleasant evening with the Dean and his wife. He gave it all in an attempt to lure me back, but my heart wasn't in it anymore.

The kids wanted me to stay at our old house, but there was no way. I ended up staying in the same suite Sherry had used when she talked me into our little adventure.

I had just returned to the suite from a very pleasant visit with the Dean. I'd brought him a gift, a case of very smooth British Rye whiskey, and he insisted we sample a bottle. A sample turned out to be a whole bottle, and I was glad I wasn't driving. The taxi had just dropped me off when there was a knock at my door.

I had started undressing and buzzed enough not to think about it when I opened my door, shirtless. You can't imagine my surprise to see Jo standing there. And it wasn't the Jo I remembered.

She always kept her hair in a short, professional bob, and now it hung past her shoulders, the dark hair hanging in loose curls and accented by random highlights. The dress she was wearing would never pass for professional attire, high hem, low neck line, a shimmering shade of dark blue. To top it off she was wearing glasses. All her life she wore contacts, telling me glasses made her look nerdy and she wouldn't be taken as seriously without them. They didn't make her look nerdy, they gave her a sexy librarian vibe. And her shoes must have five inch heels at least.

She grinned at the expression on my face before breezing by me, rubbing her hand across my chest.

"I see you're still exercising, Pete. You have the body of a man twenty years younger."

"Hello, Jo. Now what the hell are you doing?"

Her grin and strut faltered, just barely. "Simply put, I've missed you. Please, give me a little time tonight, and I won't bother you again while you're here. Pretend we're just a man and a woman without emotional baggage enjoying some time together. No talk of the past or the future. Please Jake, just for a little while."

I stood silently as she became more and more agitated, before I grinned, and turned to the bar. "I like your hair. Drink?"

She touched her hair shyly and asked for a red wine. Drinks in hand we stared at each other, before she took my hand and led me to the sofa.

"I'm glad you like it. I just needed something different, you know? Jessica says it takes years off me."

"Jess was right. Can you believe Polly is going to be a wife, a military wife at that? Seems like yesterday she took her shorts and top off when she was five, declaring clothes 'stupid'. Only the threat of not letting her go back to kindergarten persuaded her to dress again."

She looked sad again. "I've come to realize lately that maybe she was on to something. People would have a lot less secrets if they had to conduct business nude. You know her honey has been groomed as an attache. He'll probably be posted overseas somewhere. You might end up seeing more of them than I do."

A stray thought of a smiling Lord Bevington filtered through my mind. The old bugger!"

"Maybe, Jo. I have no idea where they'll post him."

She shifted uncomfortably, and asked for another glass of wine. She finally looked up at me. "For God's sake, Pete, say something!"

I just grinned. "What do you want me to say, Jo? You came to me, so something must be on your mind. If you want me to say something first, here it is. I still find you amazingly attractive, especially with you new hair and look. And now that some time has passed, I want to thank you for the years, the kids, the times you were there for me. I have to believe in my heart that some of those times were genuine, and you really loved me as an equal."

Her carefully made up face slowly crumbled, and she started crying quietly. I got up from my chair and got a box of tissues, handing them to her. She grabbed my arm instead, pulling me down beside her and diving into my arms. It felt sad, but soothingly good at the same time.

After fifteen minutes or so she pushed back and ran into the bathroom. I was starting to worry when she emerged thirty minutes later. The makeup was reapplied to perfection, and somehow the dress had disappeared. She stood, framed by the door, in stockings and a garter belt, shelf bra, and not quite thong. All black with white polka dots. I couldn't help grinning. The very first time we made love she was embarrassed when I got her down to her bra and panties, yellow with white polka dots. She told me later they made her look like a little girl.

"A damned sexy little girl!" I replied, and it became a little gesture of affection that every time I bought her sexy lingerie I tried to get polka dots.

"I bought this for you two years ago, hoping to win you back. It's been in a drawer with the tags still on it until tonight. I swore that no one would ever see me in it but you."

I started to speak but she stopped me. "Don't talk. Don't think. Love me tonight. Afterwards I'll leave, I won't even try to spend the night. Please Jake, one more night for the love you had for me, that I had for you even though you think differently. Let me have a few hours to make a nice memory I can hold on to when the pain of being alone threatens to overwhelm me."

I thought about it for a second. "I don't have protection."

"I do. I'm on the pill, and there's a certificate in my purse declaring me disease free as of two days ago."

We were like porcupines mating, going slow and being very careful at first. As the past melted away we became more forceful, more demanding. She screamed in orgasm, something she had never done before. Jo also asked me to be rougher. "I want you to take me! Tonight I have no limits, so use me anyway you want. Ahhh...," she screeched, as I turned her sideways, one leg on the bed, the other straight up. Something my Greek beauty had taught me. I did as she asked, slamming into her hard. I was sure there would be bruises tomorrow.

Her second orgasm was so strong she passed out. I stopped, rocking gently, until she returned. She pushed me off, sliding to the floor and swallowing me to the root. Jo grabbed both my hands, putting them on her head. Sliding off for a second, she looked at me and said "Pull! Hard!,' and swallowed me again. We'd been at it for twenty minutes by then. I didn't warn her, just jammed her head down and sighed as I gushed. Jo kept it up until I was totally drained and sensitive. I fell back on to the bed and sighed.

"Damn, Jo..." was all I got out before she was on me, straddling my head. I remembered how she liked it, but went off script a few times, adding a new technique or two. Soon Jo was squirming, rotating her hips slowly. When she came it was a gush. Squealing when I refused to let go or stop, she managed to twirl around and swallow me again. It took seconds before I was rock hard again.

I twisted, throwing Jo off me, rising up and pulling her to her knees, and rammed home in one thrust. Her grunt was primal. I must have pounded her for fifteen minutes before she dropped her head down, her butt still high in the air. The new angle was enough to set me off.

I dropped beside her, pulling her into a spoon position. She snuggled to me, crying softly for a long time, before getting up and going in the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later she came out, fully dressed, holding her shoes. She had brushed her hair and fixed her makeup. I sat up, confused.

"Jo, you don't have to go. Stay a little longer."

She sat on the bed, rubbing her hand across my chest, noticing the six inch scar for the first time. "New? Are you still going off on adventures?"

I didn't answer. She didn't need to know.

Her sigh was loud in the room. "I can't stay. No, I don't want to stay. I'm glad we made love, honey, one last time. But you can't go home again, and we've both changed too much to try. This is my goodbye, Jake, and my apology. I finally figured out what you were waiting for. So yes, I am sorry. I should never have done the things I did. If I had known back then what I know now, I would have told Mike and your Dad to kiss my ass when we started talking about deceiving you. I would have taken my chances on this you."

She stood, bending over to give me a soft kiss. I felt the tears dripping onto my face. Not saying another word, she walked out, finally, from my life.

...

A week later, I walked Polly down the aisle and spoke my part in the ceremony. "Her mother and I do."

Jo nodded to me with tears in her eyes. We stood for the pictures and the receiving line, I had the traditional dance with her, and then we kissed each others' cheek and went back to our dates. I slipped in beside the blond and took her hand.

"You made that look a lot easier than I know it was.," she whispered as she kissed my cheek.

"It's not about Jo and me today, it's about Polly and Jack."

Madeline looked at me and grinned. "Damned convenient, for you with him stationed fifteen miles away. Polly will try to run both your lives. I pity her, breaking strong willed, independent men takes a toll."

...

That's right, Madeline. It was nothing serious or permanent, but when she was in the neighborhood she never bothered with a hotel room.

It was her fourth visit in eighteen months, and we'd become good friends. She got really tipsy one night, and I put her in my bed, canceling her ride and sleeping on my sofa. I got up the next morning, fixed an 'English' breakfast, and woke her with coffee and pain pills.

She drank the coffee and ate the breakfast a little later. When she got to feeling better, she leaned forward and whispered something I couldn't quite hear. Automatically I leaned forward, and she gave me a tremendous smack to the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

She grinned. "Obviously you need a little training. When you have a woman in a compromising position, you ALWAYS take advantage. Always. It's what people in my business do."

I grinned. "Sorry, I'm just an amateur here. Instructions duly noted."

The Bently pulled up and she walked to the door before pausing, and giving a tremendous kiss. "Good. Now, the next time I visit I expect you to get it right, just without enough alcohol. 'Til then."

I could hear her laughing as she rolled away.

Four months later she called. "I'll be in at seven next Thursday. Tell Teddy you're taking the weekend off."

I picked her up and whisked her away to a five star hotel on the coast, and for three days she was pampered with massages, beauty treatments, new lingerie, dancing, and intimate dinners. We'd walk the shore during the day, eating fish and chips or bangers and mash for lunch, with a pint or two. I even got her on a roundabout for a snuggle. She giggled like a child.

When she wasn't being pampered or being treated to fine dining, we would make love. She was surprisingly shy at first, but by the second day I thought she would eat me alive. Madeline was quite a woman.

She cried on my shoulders when I took her back to the airport. She gave me a tremendous kiss right before she boarded and pulled back, our faces almost touching.

"Listen to me! Until you find another love, every time I come back you will come to me immediately. If you have a date, break it! Understand? Don't make me have my associates show up to persuade you."

"Yes ma'am."

She had a trace of moisture in her eyes, and when the two young men she was traveling back with tried to tease her, she almost ripped their heads off. I grinned and called out.

"Bye, Maddie. Sorry I ripped up the teddy! I'll have a new one for you to model when you come back."

She went about ten shades of red while one of the men smirked. "Teddy? Really?" was all he got out before she punched him in the stomach hard enough to take his breath. Turning, she smiled sweetly at me.

"Make it pink, will you honey?"

And then she was gone. When I had the date for the wedding I called her and asked if she'd like to go. She actually sniffled before accepting, meeting me the day before the wedding in my suite. I was almost too tired to walk down the aisle. Jo kept her face carefully bland when I introduced her, reminding her of the last time they'd met. She was with another lawyer.

Jess said it was serious on his part, not so much on hers. Plus, he worked for Amnesty International. Jo had started volunteering again after she made partner, making them see how good it would make the firm look, and that's how they met. I looked inside and wished her happiness.

I flew home to England, and three days later opened a scroll that would change history.

*****

Well, there it is. I hope you enjoyed it. And there will be a sequel, maybe two. They will probably be as long as this one, so it may be three weeks before the next one.

Once again, my thanks to Jezzaz.

Q