A/N Now some of you may disagree with my interpretation of the word 'temperance', but I've decided to take it as meaning the following:
a state of calm and balance, a way of knowing when it's time to give something up, and being able to have restraint.
So...if it's wrong, suck it up! :)
He had taken it off.
He had taken it off, and Teresa Lisbon had no idea why. She was fairly certain that he hadn't lost it, and in the time that she had known him, he had never once sent it for cleaning. She really had no idea.
So Lisbon had every intention of ignoring the fact that today, for the first time in a number of years, Patrick Jane wasn't wearing his wedding ring.
***
She was actually surprised that he managed to go as long as he did without annoying her.
"Why were you acting all strange today?"
Lisbon glanced up at the clock on her wall, realizing how late it was.
"Thirteen hours. I'm impressed, Jane." He sunk into the seat opposite her.
"Thank you. Now answer my question."
"I wasn't acting any different to how I normally do," she replied easily. Jane leant forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
"You're lying," he said after a moment. She sighed heavily.
"What do you want?"
"I'm not wearing my wedding ring," he stated. Her insides jumped at his casualness.
"Oh, really?" she said, feigning surprise and hoping that he wouldn't hear the waver in her voice.
"Yes, really."
"That's nice for you."
Jane frowned curiously.
"Why aren't you asking me if I'm OK?"
Lisbon set down her pen, sitting back in her seat.
"Are you OK?"
"Thank you for asking, Lisbon. Yes, I'm fine."
She stood up, moving to place something into the filing cabinet, and swallowed the lump in her throat.
"I'm really busy, Jane, so if you wouldn't mind..."
"Lisbon, why did you ignore my missing ring?"
"Why are you making such a big deal out of it? I already told you, I didn't notice until you pointed it out."
"You're lying," he sang for the second time, earning himself a sharp glare. Jane took a step towards her, and in the hope of putting some space between them, Lisbon backed away. Right into the corner.
His grin grew.
"That, my dear Lisbon, was your first mistake. I knew that what with you being the outstanding investigator you are, you would notice the absence of my wedding ring. What intrigues me most is why you would pretend not to," he said, his voice infuriatingly matter-of-fact.
Lisbon knew she was blushing, and the unmistakeable twinkle in his eye did nothing but confirm her suspicions. She kept her mouth shut, glaring at him and defensively folding her arms.
"Ask me why I took it off."
"I don't care, Jane. Leave me alone."
Jane chuckled, and his hands slid to the small of her back.
"What are you doing?" she gasped, her voice a higher pitch than usual. Jane grinned, a stark contrast to the seriousness in his eyes.
"I'm conducting an experiment," he said softly, "into how far I'll be able to push the professional boundaries once I tell you that I'm done pretending you're nothing more than a friend."
She stared up at him.
"Jane...you don't mean that," she protested.
"Yes, I do."
Lisbon shivered. Jane smirked, pressing himself closer against her. This was wrong on so many levels, but she was powerless (or so she convinced herself) to do anything about it.
"Am I making you uncomfortable, Lisbon?"
She glared at him.
"No," she snapped in reply.
"You want to know why I'm not wearing my wedding ring," Jane said in a low voice, "but you're afraid of what I might say, because there are too many rules, too many things in the way. Too many reasons why we shouldn't."
He dusted his lips over her cheek bone, letting his hands wander up her back.
"I don't care why you took it off," she replied stubbornly. Jane grinned.
"Yes, you do," he murmured. She slapped at his hands, pushing him away.
"Stop it!"
"Stop what?"
"Stop trying to...to..."
"To seduce you?" he finished with a grin. Lisbon released a shaky breath, her chest heaving.
"Yes," she admitted breathlessly. Jane let his forehead fall against hers, his smirk breaking into a grin.
"Is it working?"
Lisbon felt a reluctant smile tug at the corner of her lips.
"Yes."
The consultant lowered his head to the curve of her shoulder, pressing kisses to her neck. Lisbon took a deep breath, her smile disappearing at the realization of what they were about to do.
"Don't do this unless you plan on following through," she said softly. Jane paused, his wandering hands growing still.
"I always follow through," he murmured, searching for her lips, "Always."
Then his lips were touching hers, softly at first, until her hand tangled in his golden curls, and Jane deepened the kiss with a small groan.
Lisbon pulled him closer, sighing in pleasure when her back collided with the wall and his firm body pressed up against her. Their lips still joined, Jane moved to sit on the edge of her desk, pulling on the front of her jacket until she was as close to him as possible.
"We shouldn't be doing this," she murmured against his lips, although her smile told him that she really wasn't protesting. Jane chuckled knowingly.
"You're mouth is saying no, but your body is saying something completely different."
Tugging his bottom lip between her teeth to stifle her laugh, Lisbon's hands fell to his waist, her fingers searching for the pocket of his vest. She felt the cold circular object beneath her fingertips, and smiled into the kiss, withdrawing her hand from his wedding ring.
Jane pulled back, his lips barely leaving hers.
"A balance," he murmured, "between past and present."
"Are you certain this is what you want?" Lisbon said softly, "Because I don't know how much longer I can hold myself back."
He let a hand drift to her cheek, smoothing his thumb over her cheekbone.
"I want you," he replied seriously, "and I want to be able to love you without feeling like I'm betraying my wife."
At the horrified look on her face, Jane chuckled, pressing another quick kiss to her lips in the hope of stalling her protest.
"I didn't mean that I did feel that way. I just want you to be able to have all of me."
That was by far the sweetest thing anybody had ever said to her, and Lisbon didn't quite know how to take it. She lowered her eyes to his chest, fixating on the smooth tanned skin just visible above his shirt.
"Can we make this work?" she asked. Instead of replying, Jane once again caught her lips with his, sliding his hands backwards through her hair. A soft groan of contentment escaped her, and Lisbon realized that he had once again found a way to wrap her around his little finger.
Not that she minded, of course, because with the pleasure coiling in the pit of her stomach, the rest of the world was slowly fading away.
"Patrick?"
"Yes, my dear?"
"I just thought I should point out that I'm not having sex with you in my office."
His chuckle sent warmth rushing through her body, from her lips right down to her toes. Another kiss, longer this time.
"How do you feel about my sofa?"
So my ending totally...well, sucked. But I think part of me was reluctant to end it. I'm so sorry it took me a while to update! Oh yeah, and this very sadly brings us to the end of 'Cardinal Virtues'. Thank you to everybody who has been reviewing! If you're interested, I'm planning on doing the Seven Deadly Sins as well, but that depends on the alien invasion scheduled for November...