Three

Three.

While Jon showered, Lily took the time to change from her business couture pulling on a pair of dark three quarter jeans and a cream cashmere sweater. Tugging a knit cap over her messy hair she toed on some knee high boots and leant over her dresser squinting as she dusted some face powder on. Staring at her reflection shaking her head, she palmed her cheek and smiled her cheeks were still flush and her lips swollen from the "make out" session on the bed. Look at you all smitten. Jesus.

Her head snapped up catching Jon in the mirror padding back into the bedroom his, tight body showing off from the low slung towel, Jesus not again. The vision was still burning fresh in her mind from the Hampton's plumbing incident. With his well oiled body of chiselled abs and the slight dip just above his stomach... Yep she'd already imagined flicking her tongue into that. Shit.

She took a deep breath and turned around "Good shower?" she asked.

"I'm marrying you shower, Jesus Christ that was the best one I've had in a long time" he said ruffling his hair with the other towel in his hand. He'd had plenty of good showers but that one, strong full and invigorating. Just the way he liked his women.

She laughed "Well, I'm pretty possessive about my shower, the design came from a guy in Sweden who designs them for Swedish Spa's, it's one of my little indulgences we all have them right?" It was true, it was hideously expensive but worth every cent especially long nights after work she'd die for her shower.

Jon shrugged into a crisp black shirt "God yes…can you guess what mine is?" he asked with a grin.

Bringing her finger to her lip she cocked her stance "Hmmm, looking at you I know wine is one of your little interests, god knows you had enough bottles in your beach house" she teased.

"Oh, sure Miss Swedish shower" he said rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Hey… you don't have to use it" she pouted slipping on an oversized turquoise ring on her finger.

Jon laughed, how she made a pair of jeans and a plain cashmere sweater look like she was fresh off the catwalk, he had no idea. Moving towards her he tugged gently at her knit cap "This is cute" his nose rubbing against hers for less than a second with their eyes connecting.

"Only thing that would make that shower even better than it was, is if you were in it with me" the knowing grin spread right across his face into his eyes.

She almost choked on her words. "Well…I do have a shower before bed usually" she whispered. She was flirting now? How did he manage to always bring this out in her? She turned into either a bumbling nervous idiot or now a flirt it appeared. Her body was already craving the warmth of his, her eyes falling where the fair scatter of hair to chest scattered with a light field of fur, her fingers pulsing with the need to touch... This wasn't right.

He tilted her chin with his forefinger meeting her gaze "Promise?" he asked, the Lily he was looking at now he knew was the real Lily. She was confident, sassy classy and commanded the attention of those around her out there in the world. But here alone, with just the two of them he was finally beginning to feel her safety net that he had bet she kept up to people, slowly disappearing. His eyes fell down to glossed lips still remembering how soft they were, not resisting her this time pressing a kiss to them.

God he was pleased they were going out, he didn't know how much longer he could restrain himself but already he could see how important it was with how vulnerable she became with their intimacy.

Nodding she whispered "Promise" she jumped with the little tingle down her spine that ignited. She smoothed her hands down his arms "I'll let you get dressed and grab my things and order us a cab. We need to get over to the Tower Hill Tube station which is where the tour starts" her finger trailed down his chest right down to his abs before she pulled away and turned leaving him behind.

Once she was out of view she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Drying her clammy hands she descended the stairs with the click of her boots.

~

Thirty minutes later and a quick jostle in a cab they'd arrived at the Tower Hill tube station and purchased their tickets for the tour and were both handed brochures and asked to wait standing aside from the bustle of people spilling out from the tube.

The subtle chill in the air Lily tugged her woollen coat tighter around her body till she felt an arm around her shoulder "Bit cold there love?' he asked with a very bad put on British accent.

Shaking her body she laughed "It always drops so quick at night, come on we'll wait in here" she could see a few people were starting to give Jon second looks so she led him into Trinity Square, which was a large grass area dotted with park benches around the perimeter.

"You've seen the tower of London before?" she asked motioning across the road.

Jon followed her gaze across the blue water to the large ancient castle-like building that towered into over the river. "I have never been in there though, you?" he asked.

When he tucked his own hands into his pockets she threaded her arm through his.

"When I first came out here, yes I did all the tourist things with mom but I admit I haven't really done a lot for years. The tower always fascinates me though, so much intrigue. The crown jewels are kept in there and back in the day it was used as a fortress" she explained.

"Any gory parts?" he asked with a grin.

She snorted "Typical male, of course it was a torture chamber was well. A couple of Henry VIII's wife's were beheaded, and Edward the IV's two illegitimate sons were imprisoned there and no one ever knew what happened to them in but in 1674, two sets of child's bones were found there" shivering at the thought. So much death hung over this city in its history.

Jon nodded "Now that's what I am talking about" he laughed "Isn't it amazing how when you know things like but still the building is still so majestic and perfect"

"Totally agree" she looked out at the tower now silhouetted by the night sky. "All I can say is I'm glad I wasn't around in those days, woman were treated ridiculously like objects and had no rights" she said sadly.

Jon snorted "You would have been beheaded in a second, but if I was King I would have kept you around for a bit maybe as a mistress" he teased before omphing from the playful jab he got in the ribs. "What? I'd be a good master…." He teased pulling her closer, coconuts and mangoes mixing in with the smoggy air

"We'll see about that" she said with a small grin. Their attention was soon directed to a man standing on a park bench waving them and the few others around them over. "I guess this is us" Lily said leading him over.

The small man neatly dressed in a suit bobbed above the sea of heads "Good evening ladies and gentleman, welcome to the Jack the Ripper tour at night, Halloween style. Shortly we'll leave retracing the footsteps that the first serial killer of his kind made hundreds of years ago" the man stood straighter tucking his hands behind his back.

"There were five definite victims of Jack the Ripper but up to three or four more murders around the same era that couldn't a hundred percent be linked to him. The mystery still remains of who he was, but the evidence does suggest that he was a doctor with the body knowledge that he had and the precision of some of the surgical procedures used on his victim like removing their kidney or intestine."

Lily glanced at Jon, his blue gaze intense on the man speaking. She found herself looking a little longer wanting to trace the outline of the subtle laugh lines on his face. Her eyes flicked back to the sky, now mirroring the dark murky water of the river as the eerie cool breeze now tickled through their hair. She shivered a little, small gooses creeping up her skin under the cashmere.

This is what it felt like to do normal things away from work. Her life had become so revolved around the place she'd had no times to experience the simple things like this, bring cold outside at night having someone to lean in against for warmth, and she kind of liked it.

"You're not scared are you LJ?" his low raspy voice teased her ear lobe. He'd been watching her and had felt her body tense while the man had explained the horrible deeds Jack the ripper had done to prostitutes.

Looking back up her eyes she met his smile, the one that inspired the small crinkles of on the side of his eyes "Not at all" she said bravely. "It's just scarier when you know it's real…well happened. It's not a fable as such" she tried to explain.

"I know exactly what you mean, look he's starting to move" Jon pointed as the small group of people starting to drift behind the man. He wrapped his arm further around her shoulders as they began to stroll through the cool night air.