"That was longer than a minute." Juno purred, twining her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. "Much longer."

"I ran the whole way, I swear." Jamie said solemnly, his arms around Juno and his bag thumping against her calves as he walked them backwards, steering them towards the hotel room, neither one of them pausing to come up for air in the several hundred yards it took them to navigate the parking lot. Juno tugged on Jamie's shirt and pressed kisses to the skin of his neck, making Jamie break out into a set of full body goose bumps. "This isn't like you, Juno." He muttered softly, carefully steering them into the side door of the hotel.

"I know." Juno said, breathless and flushed. "It's really, really not like me. At all. But I'm just going with it, because I really like it right now."

"No complaints here." Jamie said with a broad grin. "I love it when women throw themselves at me. Not that it's ever really happened before, but…" He voice became strangled as Juno rubbed the length of her body against his, emulating dance moves that might have only been previously seen in a risqué Las Vegas dance number.

"Mmm…" Juno murmured, trying to keep the wicked smile from her lips.

"Inside." Jamie muttered anxiously, his voice slightly strangled as Juno continued to sway and shimmy against him. "We have to get inside. Now." He jammed the card into the lock and the door swung open, and Juno and Jamie nearly tumbled into the room in their eagerness to be alone.

Jamie marched across the room and snapped on the lights before throwing down his bag, quickly surveying the room with a quick glance. When Juno's eyes swept across the room in the light and landed on the bed, her stomach did a slow belly flop and her mouth went dry.

Bed.

Sex.

NAKED.

Uh Oh.

"Um." Juno said, suddenly uneasy. Jamie walked back across the room and yanked her inside the door and with a deft flick of his wrist, flung the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the doorknob. "Uh… Jamie?"

"Don't worry, darling." Jamie said, lifting a hank of her hair and kissing the base of her neck. "I'm prepared."

Juno whirled around, stopping Jamie in mid pucker. "No, it's not that, but that's useful information to have." She looked back at the bed again. "It's, um, well, I know you think I'm a babe now and everything…"

Jamie raised an eyebrow and grinned in agreement. "Total babe, yes."

"Okay, yes, right now." Juno said, feinting left and right to avoid Jamie's wandering hands while she tried to explain her rising panic. She normally was able to ease men into this conversation because they had been on at least several dates, and knew a little more about her… appearance. She and Jamie didn't quite have that luxury. "But when I get… um, when I remove clothes, that opinion is going to change. A lot. So we should turn off the lights. And, um, you should close your eyes until I'm under the covers."

Jamie looked at Juno with a mixture of amusement and consternation. "I thought maybe I could talk you into a doing a strip tease for me." Jamie grinned wider and Juno blushed despite her shaky smile.

"My idea of a strip tease is slowing to a walk as I bolt from the bathroom to the bed." Juno answered honestly, making Jamie laugh and pull her against him in a warm hug.

"This is a self image free zone." Jamie intoned, his chin against the crown of her head. "You aren't allowed to doubt your beauty in here. I asked the hotel clerk for this room specifically because of its magical powers in making everyone feel beautiful."

"Okay, that's really sweet and all, but I'm serious, I'm not…" Juno tried again to explain her dismal fear at Jamie seeing her naked.

And then rejecting her.

She wasn't skinny. She wasn't toned and tanned. She wasn't slender and dainty.

She just wasn't.

And if she had to get naked in the full light of the hotel room, Jamie was going to find that out for himself.

And then he'd just be a blur rushing for the door, Juno was sure of it.

"Juno?" Jamie said softly, his lips pressed against her temple tenderly.

"Yes?" She whispered.

"Take your clothes off or I'll do it for you." Juno giggled at Jamie's half request, half growl and stepped away from him to either argue or comply, whichever came first.

"Okay, but I'm going to…" Juno tried again and Jamie interrupted.

"This topic is no longer open for conversation." Jamie said seriously, one hand raised to stop her protestations. "Strip."

"I can't tell you what a sexy turn this conversation has taken." Juno tried not to laugh as Jamie watched her shaking hands try to unbutton her shirt.

"How about this?" Jamie asked, his eyes locked on the skin being slowly revealed from beneath her hands. "Strip faster."

Juno giggled and motioned to the bed with one hand. "You first. And close your eyes."

Jamie rolled his eyes, but upon seeing Juno's determined glare at him, He nodded his compliance. He ambled over to the bed, dropping articles of clothes along the way and flicking off the light casually. Juno tried not to pant as Jamie's body was revealed piece by piece as he made his way to the bed.

Now that, she thought with a shudder, was a striptease.

She had been right, she thought a second later. Jamie looks as good out of his clothes as he does in them.

Wriggling out of her jeans, Juno hurried over to the bed and leapt under the covers beside Jamie, who was propped up against the headboard, his hands locked behind his head casually. When he made no move toward her, Juno looked over at him with alarm. "Um? Jamie?" She asked cautiously.

"Is it safe?" Jamie asked. "Can I open my eyes now?"

Juno smiled and thanked any and all available gods for making him close his eyes while she jiggled her way across the room. "Open your eyes and get over here." Juno murmured, sliding to the middle of the bed to meet him halfway.

**

Juno's eyes opened hours later, and she squinted to see the digital clock on the bedside table beside her. Realizing it was the middle of the night, she sighed and wriggled back against Jamie again, inhaling his warm scent and loving the feel of his skin on hers.

His arms tightened around her, pulling her closer to him. "Go back to sleep, darling." He said, his voice thick with sleep. "It's late." He paused, and she could almost hear the grin in the dark. "And you must be utterly exhausted."

Juno giggled and buried her head against his chest, a smile on her face. "Utterly."

"Good." Jamie said softly, his hands caressing the skin of her back and shoulders. "Sleep."

Juno closed her eyes at his command and sighed again. "Did you really close your eyes?" She whispered after a long moment.

"Yes." Jamie answered automatically. "Though, in the interest of full disclosure, I might have peeked. Once."

Juno stiffened, and then willed herself to relax. After the last few hours, she was confident Jamie was fully acquainted with her body by now.

"And for the record…" Jamie continued, sleep overtaking him again. "Wow."

Juno was still smiling when she drifted back to sleep.

1317 / 24006 / 50000

before . after