Title: Consequences of Action

Chapter: 2

~~~~~~~~~~

After Risa had verified Dean’s version of events with Hank, she felt that horrible heat of embarrassment upon her face. Her suspicions had been wrong. She had to apologize to Dean, make it up to him somehow.

She found him in their cabin, sitting at the table cleaning a gun, the pieces of it laid out on the tabletop before him. He looked up when she came inside, setting the piece in his hands down and leaning back, brows raising in mute question.

Risa pulled out the chair beside him and sat down. “I jumped to conclusions.”

“I should have told you. Cas said --”

“Wait, you talked to Castiel about this?” She stared at him, hurt that he’d talked to Cas before her. Risa wasn’t sure why that hurt so much, because he’d always told Castiel things he didn’t tell anyone else, even her.

Maybe it hurt because she’d always thought husbands and wives would be each others best friend, like she’d seen with her own parents.

“He mentioned it --”

“Dean, is there nothing you don’t talk to him about? I mean anything at all? Does he know everything about us? Does he have to know everything?”

“I don’t tell him everything, Risa.” His foot nudged hers. “You were saying?”

Swallowing her annoyance with Cas’s inevitable involvement, she sighed, wiping her perspiring palms on her jeans. Cas was always involved somehow. There wasn’t any way on earth she was going to get away from it. The man -- angel, former angel, whatever he was -- was a firm fixed part of Dean’s life from before she’d even met Dean. She knew there was a story behind why their bond was so deep, but she’d yet to hear it. Dean didn’t like to talk about some things. “I should have trusted you and I know that, okay? It’s hard for me to do that, even now.”

“I know.” Dean crossed his arms on the table. “It’s hard for me to remember to tell you things. For a long time it was me and my dad, then me and….” He cleared his throat. “Cas came along, added Bobby, and by the time you and I made things permanent….” He leaned closer. “Risa, I’m still getting used to this, just like you are. Man, I never thought I’d have a long-term girlfriend, let alone a wife, so you’ll have to keep that in mind. Frankly, though, I thought you trusted me.”

“I do trust you, Dean, but…you’re only human. Men --”

“Men screw-up and screw you over. I’ve heard the story and I get what’s going on in your head about it, but I made a promise to you that I’d be faithful to you and I meant it. You think I’m going to break that promise?”

“Not willingly.”

“What do you want me to do here, Risa? I’ve got a camp full of people who need leading and one of the things that goes along with that is comforting them when they’ve lost the people they love most in this world. It’s part of my responsibilities.”

What she wanted was to be included, to feel like he valued her involvement, and to not be afraid he’d leave her. “Take me with you. Let me help. Don’t go alone in the middle of the night. Most of all, talk to me.”

“Anything else?”

“That’ll be a good start.”

After a moment, he nodded. “Okay. From here on out, I take you with me to pay respects, even if it means a detour to find you. No more midnight visits just because I know the person is awake.” One hand moved beneath the table, reaching out and gripping hers. “We talk more than I’ve ever talked with a woman outside of bed, just so you know.” He turned his head a little. “We good now?”

“I suppose.”

“Good, because I need to talk to you about tomorrow.”

“What about tomorrow?”

“We’ve got a convoy coming in. Cas is bringing them, probably in the afternoon. I told him to let them sleep in tomorrow, give us a chance to get a few people out there to observe them. I’m going to need you to direct them, get them settled once they do arrive.”

Why her? Usually Dean was in the thick of things, giving orders and meeting people.

He studied her, squeezed her hand. “I think you’ll be a good judge of who we can put where until we can make more permanent arrangements for all of them. Cas says there’re sixteen people, five of them couples and the rest single. When Cas gets back, he can get one of the little cabins ready for the group leader.”

“Are you anticipating trouble?”

Dean released her hand and reached for the pieces of the gun again. “No, but let’s be prepared for it anyway.”

She pretended to read for awhile on their couch, watching him in the low light. Periodically, he’d glance up and smile a little in her direction. Her trust issues could easily come between them if she didn’t get a grip on them. The thought of losing him terrified her. Dean Winchester was the best man to come into her life in a very long time.

~~~~~~~~~~

With the watch team in place, Jo made a final circuit of the camp herself, making sure things were shut down for the night and if they had to fight, they could. She spoke to Rick for a few minutes, going down their checklist with him, and briefly discussing their tentative plans for the next day. As they spoke, she noticed Castiel sitting on the tailgate of his truck watching them. She wrapped up the conversation and approached him.

“Hey.”

“Hey. You’ve got everyone settled for now, right? And the watch team is patrolling? It’s the perfect time to have that talk. Come on in.” Castiel beckoned with one hand. “Join me.”

Jo hoisted herself up onto the tailgate and into the bed of the truck. He had a topper on it and she was amused to note he’d apparently come ready for camping. He had a blow-up mattress wedged in the bed with a sleeping bag laid over it, a cooler up by the cab, and those stick-on lights the ran on batteries and tapped on. He even had a couple flat pillows.

“Cozy,” she remarked, moving up onto the mattress and touching the pillows. They weren’t plain flat pillows, they were that memory foam stuff. “Memory foam, right?” She’d been using a rolled up sweatshirt as a pillow for weeks.

He grinned. “Yeah. We raided one of those mattress stores for their entire stock of them. Ever since Dean tried one in a mall one day --”

“Dean went to a mall? Willingly?”

“Long story.” By the amused look on Castiel’s face, it was quite a story, too. “Anyway, he wanted a couple about four months ago and decided it was time we had some pampering. If you can’t justify a little pampering at the end of the world, when can you, right?”

“You camp out here?”

“I like to be alone sometimes, take a couple days by myself out here in the woods. Drives Dean nuts. The first time I went out by myself like that I didn’t take a radio. I’ve never seen Dean quite that angry before and I’ve seen him just swimming in ire. Well,” he shrugged, “you know how he is about those he considers his own. He ordered me to keep a radio close at all times. When the cell service finally went, I think Dean had withdrawal from it.”

She smiled, conjuring up an image of Dean with his cell phone, lamenting the loss of it, maybe even giving it a funeral.

“We keep this area pretty well patrolled. Not saying Croats don’t slip past, because it does happen and did regularly for quite awhile, but it’s rare these days.”

When she was settled in a semi-comfortable position on the mattress, he raised the gate and closed the topper access, though the window was cracked for air. He closed the thin cotton curtain, giving them privacy. The curtains to the cab and on the sides were closed already, rigged so that no one could see them.

It was close quarters with not a lot of head room. Cas moved up to join her, lying on his side and stretching an arm up. He removed two bottles from the cooler, opened them, and handed her one. “Here. It’s not that brand you liked and it’s not cold, but it’s all I have right now. I wasn’t planning on company and I happen to like warm beer so I didn’t bother with an ice pack.”

Jo thought she’d never tasted one as good. It’d been weeks since she’d tasted anything except water. Only water was essential and they were down to only essentials. “Thanks.” She took another long swallow, “It’s great,” then mirrored his position, lying on her side.

“You’re very welcome.” Reaching up, he bumped off all but one of the lights. The remaining light seemed dimmer than the others had been, barely a candle glow.

They chatted in as the sounds of the others outside died down and people went to sleep, scooting closer in order to talk in low voices that wouldn’t easily be overheard.

He stared at her a long moment. “Was it what you thought it would be? The hunting life, I mean?”

Jo took a swig from her bottle in an effort to stall answering the query. In truth, no. Dean and her mother had both been right. She’d had an overly romantic view of that life, and while she’d been very good at putting together a file, hunting was hard for a young woman by herself. There were a lot of prejudices against cute young blonds that she’d had to work against.

When Sam, possessed, had found her in Duluth, she’d been doing a helluva lot of soul-searching on what she really wanted. Jo’d half talked herself into cutting her losses, sucking it all up, and returning home to Ellen’s inevitable chorus of ‘I told you so’, when Sam had found her. Sam and Dean Winchester, pulling her head-first back into the drama and bolstering her resolve.

Her life after that incident hadn’t changed. It had been every bit as hard as it had been and continued to be such until Ellen had found her. If Jo’d had any doubts about her mother’s abilities, they’d been quashed at Ellen’s fist at her motel room door at three a.m.. Ellen had proven to Jo that she still had a few things to teach Jo about life and hunting. Jo could admit that Ellen had made it easier and not just with the money issue. Her mother had known an awful lot of people and had plenty of contacts to help them out on many occasions.

“No,” she replied with all honesty. “It was nothing like what I’d thought, but then, it never is, is it? And this here?” She gestured to the camp outside. “It’s certainly not the life I signed up for. I never had any desire to lead people; never thought I’d be in charge of fifteen people, let alone the over forty I started out with. Dean always made it look easy, you know?”

“I do. He does.” Castiel moved even closer, his face now only a few inches from hers. She could feel the heat from his body against her, smell the ghost scent of a pleasant aftershave on his skin.

“I thought doing some good meant killing a few monsters, exorcising a few demons. It’s a lot more than that. Somewhere along the way, I learned that nothing really gets easier. There’s no magic age where all problems go away and you can handle anything. Sure, you get better at some things, yet overall, getting older sucks. More responsibilities, many never anticipated. Like, I thought my mom would be around forever. I thought there’d be plenty of time for us to iron out the whole mother-daughter drama we had going on and by the time we did, it was too late to enjoy it. We wasted so much time, Cas. I wish I was just half the woman she was.”

“Are you so sure you’re not?” Stretching his hand out, he gently tapped his bottle against her bare arm.

Jo laughed. “Uh…yeah. I’m very sure. Ellen Harvelle was like a force of nature, or don’t you remember her?”

“No, I remember Ellen. She was a…determined woman.” He lifted his bottle and drank as though the words were a toast.

“That’s one word for her. I look back now and cringe at how I was when Dean and Sam first walked into the Roadhouse: a cocky little immature snot so sure of herself and what hunting and life was all about. I’m amazed now that my mom didn’t take a switch to my spoiled ass -- or keep me chained up in the basement like I suggested she was trying to do.” The memory embarrassed her, and Jo shook her head, swirling the remaining beer in her bottle. “I’m sorry. I’m not even letting you get a word in edgewise.”

“I don’t mind.” He shifted again, smiling. He had a nice smile. “Isn’t catching up all about talking?”

“It usually involves both people talking and not just one monopolizing the time.”

“You’ve got a lot on your mind and….” One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “I’m patient. I can wait. What happened to Ellen, Jo? I asked Mya and she said to ask you.”

“Same story you’ll hear from anyone. Croat ambush. Happened outside Augusta, Georgia. She was infected, told me to shoot her, and I did.”

“Mya made it sound like some huge secret she couldn’t divulge without your approval.”

“Mya can be very cautious sometimes.” She licked her lips. “I don’t really like to talk about it or think about it. I had to kill my own mother. It sobers a person. Makes them grow-up a lot and fast.” Jo sighed and pointedly changed the topic. “Well, what about you? Is this life what you thought it’d be?”

Castiel considered the question with a slight frown, then shook his head. “Yes and no. There’s much more to humanity than I’d anticipated, things that can only be experienced and can’t be experienced while having angelic powers. I’ve learned things no other angel can understand, but at the same time, it’s very much what I thought. Certainly not boring.” He drained his bottle. “I continue to study mankind and the bits of knowledge available when I can.”

“You’re a scholar?”

Cas chuckled. “Not how Dean describes it, but accurate. My study habits have come in handy on more than one occasion.”

Jo shifted position, her forearm touching his. The contact felt charged with electricity and she waited for whatever was going to come next. Whether it was simple conversation or more, she’d take it.

~~~~~~~~~

Rick crawled in beside Mya. “Ten bucks says that truck starts a’rockin’ within the hour.”

“I never bet on a sure thing.” She finished braiding her auburn hair. “Besides, Sunshine, I don’t have ten bucks.”

“I’d be willing to accept other payment,” he assured her with a lecherous waggle of his brows that she promptly ignored. He’d been hoping for some love in the evening himself, but Mya didn’t look particularly agreeable to that end. What she looked was worried.

“I’m sure you would,” she replied absently, lying down so she could still see Castiel’s truck. “What do you think of this Castiel guy?”

Rick considered the question. It had been obvious Jo knew him by her reaction upon first seeing him from their truck and she hadn’t seemed upset or worried either. More like relieved. He knew the task of leadership weighed her down, yet she’d been reluctant to give it up even when they’d had plenty of willing volunteers. She’d declined to step down, insisting to him in private that she had to follow her mother’s example. Ellen was her baseline for leadership decisions. What would Ellen do? At one point, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Jo tattooed WWED on the back of her hand.

Jo couldn’t let herself relinquish control, as though if she did, she’d fall apart completely. Maybe that was the case. She was a little tightly wound and more so as the days passed. Rick wondered what would happen when they reached Dean Winchester’s camp and Jo didn’t have to lead. Would she then fall apart? According to her, Dean would lead them and that was why they were heading to her friends.

Castiel was one of those friends, but how friendly had the two been way back then? The way she’d talked to him about Dean and Castiel…. Rick had gotten the impression that it was Dean she’d had something of a connection with, not Castiel. And yet she’d looked at Castiel all afternoon like she was hungry for him and not in a friend way. As the minutes, then hours passed, Rick had seen an answering hunger in Castiel directed towards her. A lot of lust going on between the two. He’d no doubt what would happen tonight and couldn’t help thinking it’d be good for Jo.

He joined Mya and said in a cautious tone, “He seems like a stand-up guy.”

“Yeah, maybe. He asked me about Ellen.”

“Jo did know him before all this. Since she and Ellen were practically joined at the hip when I joined up, I’d assume he knew Ellen too. It’s a natural question.”

Mya rolled onto her back. “I told him I wasn’t sure Jo wanted me to say anything and for him to ask her.”

“A nice neutral non-answer.”

She shot him a dirty look. “He can just talk to her about it.”

“Well, what do you think of him?”

“He’s…different. Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know. He feels old to me, like ancient, millennia old, but….” She shook her head. “I don’t know, Rick. I can’t get a handle on him and I don’t know what to think about that. Is it a bad thing?”

“Jo trusts him.”

“I know, but how does she know she can?” Her brows rose with the question. “She hasn’t seen this guy in years. He could have changed.”

Rick cast a glance at Castiel’s truck. He suspected Castiel had changed and that was one reason Jo was now drawn to him. “Let’s try not to be too suspicious until he gives us a reason for it.”

She agreed, and quickly fell asleep. Rick, however, remained awake awhile longer, smiling a little when nearly to the hour marker, the truck across the clearing began to rock gently.

~~~~~~~~~

Jo drank the last swallow of her beer, feeling a pleasant little warmth in the pit of her stomach. When she went to set the bottle aside, he took it from her, setting it with his out of the way.

“You want another one? I’ve got a few more in there.”

Jo considered it, deciding not to. She didn’t want to be drunk. Her tolerance was low from not drinking anything but water in weeks. It wouldn’t take much to reach the point of intoxication. There was no way she wanted to walk into Dean’s camp tomorrow nursing a hangover. That wasn’t the sort of impression she wanted to give Dean. She shook her head. “No, I think if I have another I might actually become a little tipsy.”

“Tipsy can be good.” He leaned over, hand raising, fingers sliding along her jaw.

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

Before she could move, he was kissing her.

He was a good kisser -- gentle, playful, exploratory. Jo enjoyed the kiss, not protesting when he eased her back and continued to kiss her. It had been a very long time since she’d been kissed with the expertise in it that he displayed.

How did he get so good at it?

One led to many more that left Jo breathless and warm. It was nice to be held and touched by loving hands. She let it go on far longer than she normally would have, only just realizing how starved she’d been for affection of this sort. His weight was a welcome press over her and she wrapped her legs around him. One of his hands slid under her shirt, fingers warm against her skin. They were fast leaving playful territory for something far more serious and Jo wasn’t willing to stop it.

One night, she thought. Just one night. No one has to know.

Jo opened her eyes, making a decision she hadn’t made in years now. “Would you do something for me,” she asked, sliding her hands up his back beneath his t-shirt.

Raising up a fraction, he looked down at her a few seconds. His eyes seemed very dark. “Of course. What is it?”

“Play along.”

He touched her face, fingertips trailing across her brow. In seconds, he seemed to understand her request, head dipping in a slight nod. “I can do that. You have something in mind?” Gaze still on hers, he pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth.

“Yes.” Her cheeks were hot, flaming with heat. The air around them felt charged with electricity, all of the hairs on her arms standing up. Jo was embarrassed to say her request out loud, but how would he know if she didn’t?

“Tell me,” he coaxed, placing another kiss at the opposite side of her mouth.

She moved her hands to the waist of his jeans, thumbs slipping beneath the fabric. “Convince me. Persuade me. Don’t take no for an answer. Use dirty tactics.”

There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “You want me to…force the issue?”

“Coercion, not physical force. Please. Otherwise, I can’t…. I don’t have casual sex, but I can do it if I pretend….” She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut, waiting for him to refuse and pull away.

“I understand. I’ll do it, if it’s what you want.” He shifted against her. “You do want to have sex?”

Jo nodded, opening her eyes once more. “Hell, yes.”

“If you change your mind, how will I know?”

She gave him a word she’d say if she honestly wanted to stop.

~~~~~~~~~~

Her request startled him a little. It seemed odd to him that Jo would want that sort of experience. After all, Jo was a competent hunter and leader, but if that was what she truly wanted, he was happy to give that to her.

Castiel thought about her request and how he could give her the experience she wanted from him. Several scenarios flitted through his mind and he latched on one. A plan of action formed and he returned his hand under her shirt.

“Now where were we?” Cas tugged at the underside of her bra, pulling the fabric down and then shoving it up so her breasts were bare. “Ahh…there we are.”

Jo arched her back, pressing up against his hand, a soft moan leaving her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~

She was surprised by how relieved she felt by his acceptance and then immediately ashamed by it as well. She didn’t want to admit even to herself that she wanted him to take control of the situation; to take her objections and set them aside; to make it okay for her to have casual sex with him. She wanted him to remove the responsibility from her. After years of keeping a tight reign on herself by necessity, it was difficult to let go even when she wanted to.

Cas’s mouth left hers, lips caressing a trail to her ear, his voice a hoarse whisper. “Take your jeans off. I want to be inside you.”

A good crude cue to begin protesting. She unwrapped her legs, pushed at him. “Cas stop. I can’t.”

“Of course you can. Or I can. Whichever.” He unbuckled her belt, the sweep of his fingers along her waistband tickling. “Just slide them down and off.”

“Stop. Please?”

“Why? Why do you want to stop? I know you’re enjoying this. You want me inside you as much as I want to be there.” His voice remained smooth and low, with the practiced charm of a rake.

Exactly what she wanted and needed. Jo shuddered, fighting the urge to wrap her legs back around him. “That’s beside the point. I want to stop.”

“Come on, Jo.” He lowered himself against her again, lips sliding along her jaw in a coaxing caress. “It’s only sex.”

“There’s no such thing as only sex. Cas, stop.”

He paused, but then levered off of her. “If that’s how you feel about it.”

“It is. I’m sorry. I learned a lesson a long time ago about self-respect and if I do this I’ll hate myself.” Jo bit her lip and sat up, pulling her bra back down. “We need to talk about tomorrow and going to the camp.”

Cas sat up as well. “Hold on. Not so fast.”

“What?”

His gaze dropped from her face down to the swell of her breasts and lingered. When it returned to her face, she glimpsed very convincing calculation swimming there. He was better at this than she’d expected him to be. Jo tugged her shirt back up, but not too far. Just enough to still leave a glimpse of her cleavage.

“There needs to be an exchange from your end if I’m taking sixteen people into a camp that’s already tapped out and full.”

“What do you want,” she asked with caution. “We don’t have much, but of course we’ll share what we have with the camp.”

One hand stretched to her, fingers touching her cheek. His thumb dragged across her lower lip. “Not them, Jo. Not your people. You. An exchange from you.”

She swallowed hard, wanting to lean over and kiss him again, but holding herself back. “I don’t have anything but my clothes and weapons.” She thought she could see where he was taking this and wholeheartedly approved of the scenario taking shape.

One brow slid upwards a fraction, his lips curving in a tiny, seductive grin. “Sure you do. Think really hard and it’ll come to you.” His hand lowered, fingers tracing the neckline of her tank.

She shivered, feeling her nipples harden into tight points, aching for him to touch them.

“Is that not clear enough,” he asked, moving closer. “How about…” His lips touched her temple, then moved to her ear, breath hot. “Put out to get in. One night per person. Your people need you.”

“I can’t,” she whispered.

“You mean you won’t.”

“I can’t.”

He sat back with a regretful turn to his brow. “Then I’m afraid I don’t remember the way to the camp.”

“That’s blackmail,” she protested. “You’re an angel, Cas --”

“Not anymore and not in a very long time. Come on, Jo. One night per person, that’s all. What would they tell you to do? If you asked them? Would they rather stay out here with your self-respect intact, or would they want relative safety at that cost? Is it really such a high price? Would they see it as one?”

“I can’t.”

“Take awhile and think about it.” He returned beside her, cupping her neck with one hand. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Please….”

“Make your decision before tomorrow morning. I’ll take a quickie on good faith as part of one night if it takes you all night to decide, but know that I’ll still want the rest of that night later. No decision, no go. I’ll leave you here. Try explaining that to them.”

“Prick,” she spat, jerking back and banging her elbow on the wheel well when he released her. She hadn’t expected him to.

“I can afford to be,” he replied, lying back, and stretching out on the mattress. “Let me know what you decide.”

She knew it wasn’t real, that he was playing the role she’d handed him, but she was very surprised by how good he was at this, at taking a scenario and running with it. Jo thought he would be good in theater. “Cas, it’s been a really long time for me. I’m not on anything anymore.”

“Statistically, your chances of getting pregnant from one time are low. But if you’re afraid of going without, I might have some spermicidal jelly. That should ease any fears to that end.”

“It’s wrong to ask this of me. It’s not you.”

“It’s the new me.”

“I don’t think I like the new you.”

“Hey, give me a chance. I’m a fun guy these days.”

“Is it fun blackmailing me?”

“Coercion is actually the word you’re looking for because I’m using this to achieve a desired end. I’m being a go-getter, Jo, going after I want, or in this case who, in a way that ensures I prevail in that quest.”

“It’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong these days?”

“We don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Then I guess you should be making that decision pretty soon, huh? How much is your self-respect worth?” He shrugged one brow at her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel watched her face in the glow of that slap on light, the play of emotions there fascinating to see. She was pretty good at this herself. He watched her closely for nonverbal clues as to how to proceed.

“Dean won’t know?”

“Not unless you tell him.” An interesting decision to bring Dean into it.

“Fifteen nights.”

“Sixteen,” he corrected. “Don’t forget yourself.”

She caught her tongue between her teeth and shook her head. Jo sighed. “Okay, Cas. Sixteen nights for sixteen people.”

In one smooth movement, he sat, anticipation throbbing in his veins. He realized right then that he was going to achieve the one thing Dean never had no matter how hard he’d tried: get Jo Harvelle on her back beneath him. Maybe he’d even allow himself a little gloating in his dreams over that one.

Cas pulled his shirt off, tossing it up towards the cooler, then drew her against him. Her kisses were frantic with need and he had to lay her back to calm that surge of desire somewhat. If he didn’t calm her, this would be over far too quickly. “Shhh,” he breathed at her ear. He removed her shirt and bra, exploring her curves with slow sweeps that had her wriggling beneath him with impatience.

~~~~~~~~~~

Her body was aflame with desire, each pass of his hands and mouth on her skin pushing higher until Jo was desperate to be fully naked with him. Jo’s hands were shaking when she undid her jeans and slid them down and off. She felt like she couldn’t even begin to get enough air in her lungs and all she could think of was having him inside her. She was about to dispense with her panties as well when he stilled her hands.

“Not yet.” His voice sounded rougher, an almost palpable touch upon her, grating in a very good way.

Castiel slid down her body, lips nibbling along the waistband of her panties, his tongue swirling, hands holding her hips in place. He sucked at one spot about an inch below her bellybutton and Jo strained against his grasp, gasping for breath and shuddering when he moved lower to caress her thighs. The stubble on his jaw scraped pleasantly on the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, his breath hot, causing a clenching of further anticipation in her belly.

“Cas, please!”

“Mmm….” He returned up her body, drawing his tongue along her lower lip. “Are you ready, Jo?”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure?”

The tiny barely there kisses he rained upon her cheeks, throat and chest were a torture. “You’re a tease,” she managed.

“I never tease without following through,” he assured her, stripping her panties away. In a minute, the jelly was inserted and he was finally covering her body with his, pressing into her with a firm hard thrust. Jo gasped, gripping the sleeping bag beneath her for just a moment with her trembling hands before touching his sides.

“Easy. It’s okay,” he whispered against her ear, shifting their position so that her hips were tilted a bit more, enabling a deeper entry. He moved slowly at first, continuing to whisper to her all those sorts of things lovers sometimes whispered: how hot and wet she was, how tight, how much he enjoyed being inside her.

His thrusts increased, hands and mouth moving over her skin, and then he raised up, bracing on his hands. His eyes opened, gaze locking onto hers. Desire burned there and Jo couldn’t look away. The guys she’d known all closed their eyes at this point, but not him. He watched her at his moment of climax. Cas blinked, groaning and shuddering against her. With a deep breath, he lowered his body, pressing a tender kiss to her lips.

The hours of the night passed in much the same way, a sometimes slow spiral of desire constantly simmering between them. She couldn’t get enough of him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel woke with a gasp, raising a hand to his brow and finding it slick with sweat. He was burning up, aching with need.

Tension thrummed in the air like loud insistent beats of music. The silken feel of Jo’s body against his was a sensuous torture he had to negate and there was only one way to dispel the tension. Cas skimmed his hand along her side, urging her onto her back. Her eyes opened, gaze heavy with sleep as she complied, her hands reaching for him, thighs parting to accommodate him, her mouth latching on to his.

There was no need for foreplay, Jo arching up with an eagerness that surprised him, her nails digging into his back.

Castiel lost himself in the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jimmy woke to a feeling of arousal so intense that he couldn’t have spoken a word to Castiel even if he’d tried. Sensation flowed over him, a rushing flashflood of it carrying him away. He was helpless to do anything but feel.

When Castiel opened their eyes, Jimmy looked down at Jo. Their eyes met. Wrapped within their climax was a familiar sensation: a total complete connection with her on all levels. He felt Castiel’s joy and satisfaction in it, let it roll over him. He felt whole for the first time since Amelia and in that was something much more, something he’d only felt once before in his lifetime.

He waited until Cas was slipping into sleep before sharing the revelation he’d had.

~~~~~~~~~~

Castiel was drifting to sleep once more when Jimmy spoke, his voice little more than a whisper.

Bet you a hamburger with all of the trimmings that we knocked her up just now.

Cas opened his eyes. What? Do you know something I don’t?

Oh, it’s just that I had that same feeling when Amelia got pregnant with Claire. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t know it happened, because sometimes you can. I did.

Feeling? Cas turned his head on the pillow to look at Jo. She was curled on her side facing him, lips parted a fraction, already sound asleep.

Of not being able to stop even if I’d wanted to -- which I didn’t and neither did she. Like now.

You’re imagining things, Jimmy. You’re just happy to have been awake during sex again. Don’t think I don’t know you’re awake sometimes. Besides, we used…. He broke off with a sharp gasp, realizing he’d neglected the spermicidal jelly they’d been using.

Oh no you didn’t, was Jimmy’s almost cheerful reply. I guess starting over from scratch is okay, though I’d like some input into names, considering I was awake in the moment. No offense, Cas, but some of the names of your brothers and sisters are weird.

Aren’t you jumping the gun a little?

Jimmy snorted. Hardly. I’m giving you something to think about so you’re prepared when she gives us the news in a couple months.

He adjusted the sleeping bag over Jo. Come on, Jimmy. You can’t know.

You tell yourself that. Remember: a hamburger with all the trimmings.

Castiel laid awake the last hour before dawn, getting up when he heard the camp begin to stir. Jimmy was teasing him. He had to be.