Chapter 68

Buckling his seatbelt in preparation for landing, Jon would be happy to get on the ground.  Beyond that, he was anxious to get into Rachel’s bed.   It had been four long, lonely nights since she’d left for California to spend the pre- Christmas days with her family.  He’d missed her warm body every one of those nights.  

She might be the one who was gone, but she could hardly be at fault for what he considered the extended separation.  He had all but forced her on the plane when she said she didn’t want to miss his fundraiser performance in Red Bank.  Even on the way to the airport, she insisted she would wait to travel with him, but he assured her there would be plenty of other shows she could attend.  In the end, Rachel finally acquiesced and taken off for the west coast by herself.

The holidays were supposed to be a break, but family obligations meant the Christmas holidays would be as hectic for the two of them as Thanksgiving had been.  Bi-coastal celebrations demanded they return to New Jersey right after Rachel’s family gathered for Christmas Eve. The middle-of-the-night travel plans made him feel a bit like Santa Claus, seeing as it would allow them to be back on the east coast for Christmas morning with his kids and the rest of the Bongiovi clan.  

He hopped a plane the minute the show in Red Bank was over, happily bound for the California and his girl. 

Now safely on the ground at the regional airport near her home, Jon fingered the house key in his pocket before retrieving his bag from the overhead compartment.  Thanking the pilot and crew, he bounded down the stairs, determined footsteps taking him to the waiting car.  Bag tossed onto the seat next to him, he looked at the time on his watch and considered whether or not to call Rachel and tell her that he was on his way.  Ultimately, since the local time was after 2 a.m., he decided against calling.  He chose to spend his time plotting creative ways of surprise when he crawled into bed next to her.

Rachel’s favorite breakfast restaurant became visible out the car window and Jon knew he was close now.  An unexplainable sizzle ran through his body – he was actually excited.  When the car turned the corner and her house came into view, that excitement was replaced by the realization that he’d developed some sort of attachment to this place.

Not because of the house, or the location, or even the key to the front door that he always carried with him.  It was because she was in there. 

He felt the warmth of her before the key was even into the front door lock.    The lights in the foyer had been left on and, after stepping inside, he locked the door behind him.  His eyes immediately tracked up the stairs, settling on the door to the master bedroom. 

And her.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Jon rushed past the baby pictures of Lauren and Tyler and quietly opened the bedroom door.  His bag made a soft plop, but other than that, the only sound was Rachel’s breathing.   

He couldn’t actually see her, but the scent of her was enough to have him tearing his clothes off at warp speed.  All the creative ways he had planned to wake her were forgotten.  All that mattered was the way her silky body felt against his when he crawled between the covers and draped an arm around her waist.

She stirred at his touch and twisted her body to face him, her leg instinctively slipping between his.  “You’re here,” was her sleepy greeting before his mouth found hers.  “How was the show?”

The last thing on Jon’s mind was that night’s show.  Hands roughly pulled her closer while his mouth searched for, and found, a stiff nipple begging for attention.  “Show was fine.  Good.   Mmm… missed you.”  Squeezing her against him, Jon rolled to his back, dragging her on top of his body. 

Ordinarily, stamina wasn’t a problem for Jon.  Tonight, however, was a different story.  He didn’t know if it was the anticipation of being back with Rachel, too many days without sex, or just the rabid way she was grinding against him.  He just knew this was not going to be an all-nighter.

“It’s been too long, Rach… I can’t hold off much longer.”

She did nothing to help the matter, settling herself onto his hardness and clenching those female muscles that made him crazy.  Nothing felt like Rachel’s wet heat fisted around his cock.   “Go, baby… Now.”

Freed by her encouragement, Jon gripped her hips and pounded up into the sweetness over and over until he could feel the buzz in the soles of his feet.  He panted her name and softly moaned how good she made him feel right up to the moment where their shouts of release were the only sounds in the room. 

Fast and furious or slow and loving, it didn’t matter.  Sex between them was more satisfying than any drug he’d ever been offered, and he knew she would back him up on that. 

“Christ, I needed that.  Maybe I’ll have enough skin to close my eyelids and actually sleep tonight.”

The late hour didn’t lend itself to a lot of chit-chat in the name of catching up.  Neither of them seemed to need it anyway. 

Rachel scooted into the curve of his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.  With her arm thrown across his waist, they were comfortably in their favorite sleeping position when she kissed his chest and sleepily muttered, “I’m glad you’re home.  Love you, babe.”

Jon was knocked in the head with the realization that what he had felt when pulling up to Rachel’s house earlier was a sense of coming home.   He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tight to him. 

“Love you.  Glad to be home, too.”

                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The few days spent in California with her family had been splendid, Rachel thought.  Jon seemed to fit in easily with the family and had even proven his stellar acting ability when opening the hideous sweater he’d received as a gift from her mother.   The only downside was that they hadn’t had a single bit of time for themselves.

Now airborne and destined for New Jersey, Rachel was grateful for the few hours they would share alone on the plane, even though she was spending a portion of it trying  to turn the Jovi jet into a flying North Pole.

As soon as they’d taken off, Rachel had excused herself to the rear of the plane to put the finishing touches on her plans.   Stashed in the back storage compartment was a miniature Christmas tree adorned with the tiniest of lights and ornaments.  She put it on the floor and surrounded it with the packages that she’d hidden throughout the aircraft.  The last order of business had been to turn the TV monitors into a crackling fire, courtesy of a DVD she’d found at the local drugstore. 

With everything as festive as she knew how to make it, she pulled the curtain open that divided the two sections of the plane.  Tugging Jon by the wrist, she winked and purred, “I’m ready for you.”

“That’s nothing new.”

“Don’t be a smartass, Jon, or you won’t get any of your goodies.”

“The only goodies I’m interested in are yours.” 

It was amazing how he could take any conversation and put just the right tone in his voice to spin it into something… decadently evil, she thought.

 “Don’t start, or we’ll spend the entire flight having wild sex.” 

Rachel pulled him past the now-open curtain to reveal all her holiday preparations.  She was thrilled at his obvious delight.

 “You’ve outdone yourself, Mrs. Claus.  Santa may have a couple things stashed around here for you, too.”  Jon moved beyond her and into the bathroom where he retrieved several hidden packages, all wrapped in classic holiday paper and varying in size. 

“Ooh!!  I must have been a very good girl this year.”

“Exactly!  But in such a bad way”,  he chuckled while tossing his packages around the tree next to hers.  The largest box was presented to her dramatically and with a glimmer in his eye that she hadn’t seen before.  “Here.  I want you to open this first, but I’ll confess right now… this one is more for me than it is for you.”

The box was fairly large with substantial weight, Rachel noted.  “Well, it’s too heavy to be sleazy lingerie.”

“Hey!  I do not buy sleazy lingerie.”

“Honey, the fact that it’s expensive doesn’t negate the sleaze factor.”  Her teasing wink in his direction momentarily took her eyes off the package as she tore the paper away, but the minute she looked back, Rachel squinted like she’d just sucked on a lemon.

“Oh, Lord, no!  I beg of you!”  The expensive barista machine Rachel held in her hands matched the one in Jon’s kitchen.  “Please don’t make me learn how to use this thing!”

“Oh yes!  Not only are you going to learn to use it and make me a decent cup of coffee, you’re not going to be able to live without it.  Trust me!”

Her laughter filled the cabin of the plane.  “I adore you, Jon, but you have no idea how much I hate this gift!  I’m too old to learn a new way to make coffee!”

“Nonsense!  I’m bringing you into the current century with this thing.  You’re gonna love it.  I’ll show you how to use it.  It’s not that hard, I promise.”  He tilted his chin in the direction of the remaining packages, “My turn?”

Rachel turned to retrieve one of the other gifts and mumbled, “I’m not sure you’re worth the effort I put into your Christmas presents.” 

With lightning speed, Jon reached out to grab her at the waist, tucking her into him.  “I’m COMPLETELY worth the effort, baby.”

Shaking her head at his arrogance, she passed the smaller of the boxes to him.  She watched with delight as he tore the paper off to reveal a box containing a can of spray-on sunscreen and a tiny black bikini bathing suit.  The bikini was rock star girlfriend worthy with a skull and crossbones across one cup. 

“You don’t really expect me to wear this, do you?” he playfully snorted.

“Maybe you should open the package that goes with it.”

She retrieved the flat box from under the tree, leaving the other token gifts she’d gotten him.  This was his real gift.  The others were just fun little things that he didn’t need or wouldn’t miss if they went unopened. 

Placing the package on his lap, she graced him with a soft,  lingering kiss.  “I think you’ll like this one better.”

“I know I like getting to open two in a row.”  Again, he ripped the wrapping without hesitation, and opened the box to reveal a small stack of pictures with a brochure clipped to them.    “I see blue water and white sand!  I’m already happy.   Does this mean there’s a vacation in our future?”

“Mmm-hmm…. Turks and Caicos!”  She pulled the pictures from his hand, pointing excitedly to one in particular.  “Look at this house - it has a private beach and gorgeous views of the water.”

While she was as excited as any little girl on Christmas morning, Jon… wasn’t.  He was wearing that nervous look on his face – the  one she’d seen him wear when a fan encounter got a little too close for comfort.   “Honey, it’s beautiful, but… I’m just not sure when I can get away.”

“Ah ha!!!”  She grinned into his face, having already planned for that contingency.  “I’ve taken care of that.  Your assistant has been in on the whole thing!  She’s booked bogus appointments for a solid week to keep your calendar clear.  We’re leaving New Year’s Eve.  Val said you would want your own flight crew so, I’ve chartered Jovi Air for the trip and I had her take a look at everything.  It meets all the security requirements.  I want this to be a trip that you just get on a plane and know YOU didn’t have to work for it. Not one dime is coming out of your pocket.” 

His kiss was as unenthusiastic as he was.   “It sounds great, baby.  I can’t wait, but…”  Jon’s expression was similar to that of a parent trying not to hurt the feelings of their child.  Rachel knew exactly where this was headed, but that was okay.  She had actually expected it.  “It must have cost a small fortune.”

“It did”, she matter-of-factly informed him.  “But you’ll never know how much pleasure it’s brought me.  When was the last time somebody did something for you that didn’t ultimately come out of your own wallet?” 

She could tell by the look on his unwavering face that he wasn’t persuaded by her argument.   He was about to disagree when she shushed his mouth with a finger and softened the blow with a kiss. 

“Just this once, Jon… let me have this.  Let me feel like I’ve done something special FOR YOU.  Please?”

Rachel knew she’d won him over the minute he pursed his lips.  “Well, it has been a long time since somebody picked up the tab for me.   I suppose if you tempted me with sexual favors, I could be inclined to let you have your way.”

Her arms grabbed greedily around his neck, her squeal of delight likely only heard by dogs.   “Oh, Jon… I’m so excited!  I can’t wait to spend some time alone on the beach.  I’ve barely been able to keep it to myself.   I’ve almost slipped and told you half a dozen times!!!!  I really wanted to take you to Hawaii but the flight time was so much longer.  This is only about 2 hours and we’re there!”

She loved the sound of his laughter.  The way his eyes crinkled when he was genuinely happy was sexier than any posed picture of him.   He was absolutely, positively beautiful in those moments of complete relaxation.  That’s what she had with him right now – somewhere about 30,000 feet in the air on a cross-country flight, of all places, there was total happiness in him. 

“I’m excited, too, Rach, but this is a one-time thing… agreed?  Unfortunately my celebrity comes with a high price and sometimes that translates to dollars.  Vacationing with any hope of privacy is expensive and that’s not your responsibility.  So from now on, I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, but …”

“Stop.  You’re killing my Christmas spirit.”

Arm outstretched to wrap around her neck, she felt him kiss her temple before giving her a loving squeeze.   “Okay, okay!  You win.  It’s a perfect gift.  Extravagant as hell, but I love you for it.”

“You think you love me for it now?  Just wait until I get you to the Caribbean.  You know what the sun and sand does for my sex drive.  I’ll do things to you that you’ve never imagined – and I’m aware there’s very little you’ve NOT already done let alone imagined!”

“I have a feeling I won’t have to wait until the Caribbean for you to throw a little love around.”  He crossed over her to grab another, smaller package and offered it to her.  “Why don’t you open this and then show me how much you like it.” 

Once unwrapped, the famous logo resulted in Rachel belting out a giggle that Betty Rubble herself would be proud of. 

 “Cartier?  I don’t even need to OPEN it to throw a little love your way.”

“In that case, I’ll return it and you can just get right to the lovin’ part.”

As soon as she opened the box, the diamonds of the heavily-gilded watch sparkled even in the muted light of the plane.   But, then again, there were enough of them to light up the entire cabin of the aircraft. 

There was something about the exquisite, icy glitter of the gift combined with the perfection of the moment that made Rachel oddly emotional.   It wasn’t the obvious expense of the jewelry, it was… Well, it was Christmas. 

Christmas had always been about her kids.  Without them the last couple of years, the holidays had been events to ‘get through’.   She put on her happy face and offered her family a performance Meryl Streep couldn’t match.  Everybody thought she was coping exceptionally well – so strong, so resilient.  They never had an inkling about the depth of despair she had harbored. 

Tonight, though, she felt… whole.  And the tears she didn’t see coming spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

“Honey, don’t cry!” Jon reached across the sofa to hook his arm around her neck.  “C ‘mere.   It’s just a watch for Chrissakes!”

“It’s beautiful.” 

The back of Jon’s hand swept across her face to wipe the messy tears, then cupped her chin to capture a delicate kiss.  “I’m thinking it may just lead to more tears, but there is an inscription.”

Turning the timepiece over, Rachel had to wipe under her eyes to be able to actually read it. 

            

             Us

       Always

   Pinky Swear

           

 “You said you wanted us… this… for always, Rachel.  I’m just going on record – I’m in.  And since I’ve sealed it with the sacred pinky swear, you should know I’m really serious, young lady.”

Sniffles and the smacking of her kiss were the dominant sounds in this little oasis they’d created at 30,000 feet.  

It was Christmas Eve.  She was in the arms of the man she loved. 

There was peace on earth at long last.