John’s Letter – By April Rayne

Leaning a shoulder against the sealed frame, John stared out the big 10th floor window onto Central Park spread out below him. As with a million other tiny things that happened in the course of every day, it made him think of Marlena.

 

They’d stayed in this very suite a number of times because she loved this view of The Park. From up here, it always looked calm and quiet and inviting. Well, at least as calm and inviting as a park could look that had been dropped into the middle of one of the biggest and most metropolitan cities on the planet. Which of course, it had.

 

Invariably she’d remark on what a shame it was that they couldn’t open up the windows and let in some fresh air. And invariably he’d remind her they were in midtown Manhattan- a place not exactly known for its fresh air. Then she’d laugh that laugh of hers that would lighten his heart.

 

God, he missed her.

 

Hearing her voice in his head was only a small comfort to him now, and really did nothing to ease the ache of not having her here with him. He missed knowing she was close. He missed seeing her shoes kicked off inches from the door. He missed smelling her perfume drift subtly into his nostrils when she’d walk past him. He missed just being able to reach out a hand and know that in the span of just a few seconds, it would find hers. He sighed deeply.

 

Turning his back on the view that no longer held any interest to him, he stared across a similarly uninteresting and empty room. The room service cart that held only a single dirty coffee cup and a lone covered dish only depressed him more. He glanced at the big bed where only one pillow bore the imprint of a head. Small wonder, since he’d lain staring at the ceiling for only a short time before he gave up on sleeping and began pacing the room like a caged lion trying to figure out where to go from here. Literally.

 

His trip to some of the Basic Black offices throughout Europe had only been a temporary distraction that only served to fill his days. It was the nights that killed him. The nights were endless without her next to him, sleeping peacefully. He never got tired of having her cuddled close to him. He missed the way her hand would slide gently across the mattress in search of his warmth, or just to reassure her that he was near bye. He missed the luxury of rolling close to her and letting his senses fill with the smell of her hair and the sweet perfume of her skin that was just so….her.

 

He plopped onto the chair in front of a desk strewn with papers that might as well have been last year’s news since they didn’t engage him in the slightest. He gathered up the pile and began straightening the stacks of contracts, marketing reports and financial spreadsheets. Tucking them haphazardly into a folder, he shoved the whole mess into his briefcase. That was when he spotted the burgundy leather folio emblazoned with the gold Ritz-Carlton crest that had been buried beneath. Flipping it open, he stared for a moment before he pulled out a sheet of the heavy stock paper and picked up his pen.

 

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Marlena walked into the Brady Pub and sat in a booth as far from the bar as she could get. She didn’t want to see anyone. She didn’t want to socialize and she was praying to God that no one sought her out to ask for her advice. She was lonely and heartsick, and so utterly lost without John. He’d been gone almost 2 weeks but it might as well have been an eternity. It was almost perversely amazing to discover that even at this point in her life, the pain of missing him grew exponentially every single day. She looked past the people bustling around and gazed forlornly out the door to the Pub, where she spotted the first flakes of snow begin to fall. “Perfect.” she sighed with a grimace.

 

She ordered a glass of wine she really didn’t want, and pulled the stack of mail she’d grabbed off the desk on her way out of the house this morning and had yet to sort through from of her bag. Sifting through the junk mail she’d toss into the trash and the bills she’d pay attention to later at a fairly quick pace, her hands froze when she spotted the familiar handwriting. The rest of the envelopes slipped from her hands without so much as a second thought and scattered across the table, as her suddenly shaking fingers opened the envelope slowly. Her heart pounded in her throat as she unfolded the thick hotel stationary with the familiar symbol of the Ritz-Carlton in New York.

 

Doc,

 

I’m not even sure why I’m writing this, except that there seems to be a million thoughts in my head and I had to get a few of them out. I don’t like who I am lately, and I sure as hell don’t know how to fix it. But as my favorite shrink would tell me; I’ll take it one step at a time.

 

The biggest step; obviously, is this shitty situation with Kristen and Brady. That’s certainly not the entire cause of my dilemma, but it certainly has opened my eyes to some things I’ve apparently been avoiding. Things about myself. And things about us.

 

Since we returned home to Salem last year, it seems we’ve struggled to overcome one hurdle after another. And the only way we made it over those hurdles, was to do it the way we’ve done everything else on our life: together. I think that’s what has me so messed up Doc; because we’re not together. I know a big part of that is my fault, but I also know you. And I know you’ll agree that we both share some blame in this mess.

 

Kristen being in Salem again brought up a lot of old memories for me, and a lot of old feelings. Not of love or even of friendship, but rather feelings of a time when I tried so hard to believe that maybe Stefano had not managed to destroy another human being by turning them into a dark and twisted carbon copy of himself. There was a time when Kristen wasn’t as demented as the man she grew to call her father, and I suppose there was a part of me that wanted to believe she was a decent person at heart. But the DiMera name carries with it a poison that seeps into the soul and contaminates a person forever. Just because Kristen didn’t have Stefano’s blood in her veins doesn’t mean that his evil influence isn’t a part of who she is. I see that now. It’s changed who she is on the inside. And it’s changed her forever.

 

And I think what scares me the most is that, if she couldn’t escape that wickedness, what the hell makes me think I can? After all, the DiMera blood IS in my veins. It’s a part of me, no matter how hard I try to ignore it. I can hear him sometimes, you know? Like some ghost in my head, telling me I can’t escape my fate as a DiMera. He lurks in the darkness of my dreams like the Grimm Reaper waiting to pull me past the point of no return.

 

But then I’ll jolt awake and I look over to see your head resting on the pillow beside me. One look at your face Doc, and it chases the demons and the darkness away. It always has. And like a fool I walked away from that. I didn’t trust it enough, I suppose. And if there is one absolute, one lesson I have learned in my life, it’s that the one thing I can always trust, is you.

 

I don’t know how I let my faith is us be shaken. Am I still upset at the situation with Brady and Kristen? Yes. Not because you chose to keep something from me that you knew would hurt me, but rather that I gave you cause to question my loyalty to you by trying to give Kristen the benefit of the doubt. By letting myself believe that Kristen could be anything but the lying, manipulative bitch that we know her to be, you had no choice but to view my attempts to find retribution in her as a lack of commitment to us, and to our marriage. For the way that that must have hurt you, I couldn’t be more sorry, Doc. I should have been strong enough not to allow the evilness of DiMera’s influence to weaken the foundation you and I have spent our lifetime building. I’m ashamed that I weak enough to allow my mind to do the one thing my heart never would: push you away and make you question your faith in me.

 

Your faith in us.

 

The months we spent in Switzerland after the accident were some of those most confusing days I’ve ever known, and coming from me, that’s saying a lot. Excruciating pain and an almost insurmountable fear that the paralysis might have been permanent, were balanced for me by the unspeakable gratitude I felt at having you by my side. You were the only bright spot in my world for a long, long time, and I held on to that. You were my lifeline, Marlena. You really always have been.

 

There wasn’t a day that went by that you weren’t by my side, encouraging me at every turn. My spirit was crushed and I felt totally and utterly defeated, but still you promised me that we would get through it together. And you kept your word. When we found out about the embezzlement, people turned away one by one, and my name and reputation were shattered into a zillion pieces. But you were there. You were right by my side proclaiming my innocence and promising that we would clear my name. And you kept your word.

 

Nothing came between us, because we wouldn’t let it. And I drew such strength and such power from that. I want it to be like that again. I don’t have all the answers Doc. But I do know that the only way I want to spend the rest of my life, is with you by my side. It’s not worth it any other way.

 

I want to come home. I want us to sit down, lay all our cards out on the table, and get past this. I want us to talk until we’re blue in the face, and then we’ll talk some more. We’ll talk about the things we want to talk about, and we’ll talk about the things we don’t want to talk about it. I want to apologize for ever giving you a reason to doubt me. I want to apologize for so many things.

 

More than anything, I want to look into those beautiful eyes that know me better than anyone else ever has or ever will and make sure you understand that there never was, and there never will be another woman in my heart. You are my heart. You are my life. And I want to spend my life with you, the way we’re supposed to be.

 

Together.

 

I love you Doc. Always have……always will.

 

******************************************************

 

There were tears streaming down her cheeks as she rushed to stand. Her brain has just shifted into over-drive trying to think of how long it would take her to get home, pack a bag and rush to the airport, praying there was a flight to New York sometime soon. Very, very soon. Not that it would matter, she’d take whatever was available. The only thought in her head was that she had to get to him. She had to see him. To be with him. More than she wanted to breathe, she wanted to throw her arms around him and let him know that it would take a hell of a lot more than Kristen DiMera to pull them apart.

 

She hurried to gather up the scattered mail and tried shoving the messy handful into her purse, almost knocking over her untouched wine in the process. Her ears barely registered that the bell on the door jingled, and a rush of cold air blew in…along with a hint of something spicy and tinged with lime that reminded her of John’s cologne.

 

A split second later, a chill raced up her spine that was so familiar and so unmistakable, it took her breath away and made time stand still. When she lifted her head, she saw him standing there with snowflakes glistening in his dark hair and melting on his shoulders, and that grin on his face that stopped her heart. Dear God, please don’t let this be a dream.

 

She honestly couldn’t remember running the length of the Pub or hurling herself into his open arms, but in the space of a heartbeat, there she was, locked tightly in his embrace, with her lips pressed to his throat. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse and broken, but oh, it was music to her ears. She felt his sigh warm her neck as he nuzzled his nose into her hair and whispered the only words she ever wanted to hear again.

 

“I love you, Doc.”

 

 

Part 2

 

She honestly couldn’t remember running the length of the Pub or hurling herself into his arms, but in the space of a heartbeat, she was in his arms, locked tightly in his embrace, with her lips pressed to his throat. She felt his sigh warm her neck as he nuzzled his nose into her hair and whispered “I love you, Doc.”

 

Her arms curled between their chests as she buried her face in his shoulder breathing him in.  She didn’t make out the words he said, but rather, she heard the vibrations of his words hum through his chest.  She leaned back, still locked in his arms as their eyes met.

 

“I’m sorry, Doc,” he choked out.

 

Those words opened the flood gates, and all the pain she had been feeling rushed forward.

 

“Don’t do that to me again,” she sobbed.  “Don’t ever leave me like that…don’t ever abandon me like that again…never again,” her hands pounding against his chest with each word…each sob.

 

His embrace on her tightened, “Never again, baby.  I promise, never again, baby.”

 

Her head fell to his chest as her body convulsed with each sob, breaking his heart.  He had betrayed her.  He had hurt her.  He had broken her.  He cupped her face in his hands, tears filling his eyes as he saw the pain in hers.  He gently used his thumbs to brush away her tears which only caused more to fall.  He could no longer take it.  He needed her.  He needed her in every way possible.  His mouth came down hard and fast on her lips muffling her sobs.  His tongue pushed passed her lips and invaded her mouth eager to taste every part of it.  Soon her sobs turned into moans as she melted into him.  Her tongue tentatively slipping passed his teeth as their passion began to erupt.  She could feel John’s need for her pressing against her belly.

 

He broke their kiss needing to look into her hazel eyes again.  He needed to know she was going to be okay…that THEY were going to be okay.  Marlena drunkenly opened her eyes looking up at him.  A fog of desire swirled around them and seemed to create a barrier between them and the rest of the world.  Neither of them had noticed that their common enemy had entered the Pub and was watching them closely.

 

“We need to get out of here…NOW,” he said in a quiet, deep voice as his hand moved to her ass pulling her closer to him making sure she could feel every inch of his excitement.

 

“Oh, yes,” she purred.

 

John and Marlena walked back to her table to grab her belongings all the while John keeping his arm possessively around her waist…he wasn’t going to let her go again.  As John helped Marlena on with her coat, Kristen fumed.  They looked a little too happy for her liking, and she wasn’t going to let them leave the Pub with those smiles plastered on their faces.  Just as John and Marlena turned to leave, they “bumped” into her.

 

“Oh, John, Marlena, I didn’t see you.  I was looking for Brady.  We’re meeting for dinner.”

 

Kristen’s words dripped with arrogance.  The twinkle in her eye let them know she was trying to get a rise out them.  Marlena’s body automatically stiffened in defense.  John lightly squeezed her, unbeknownst to Kristen, letting her know that it was okay…he had her, he had her back, and Kristen wasn’t going to win this round.  Relaxing, Marlena laid her head against John’s arm and smiled.

 

“Well, when you see that son of mine, will you let him know that I’m back in town and would like to see him?”

 

“Why don’t you two join us for dinner?  I don’t think Brady would mind.  I mean, with as serious as our relationship is getting, I think there is a lot we all need to work out together.”

 

John smiled at her, “Yes, we do,” he leaned closer to her, “but right now, I need to go home and make love to my WIFE.”  He leaned back and kissed the top of Marlena’s head, “Let’s go, baby.”

 

“Good evening, Kristen,” Marlena said flashing her biggest smile as she and John pushed passed her and headed out the door.

 

As soon as they stepped out into the cool air, John stepped in front of Marlena and pulled her into a deep kiss. Kristen watching from inside, gritted her teeth and stomped her foot…having John on Marlena’s side was NOT part of her plan.

 

John rested his forehead against Marlena’s as he tried to catch his breath.  “I love you, Doc.  I’m never going to let ANYTHING or ANYONE come between us again.  There is a lot of my life I don’t remember, but the one thing I do remember is your steadfast love for me. I will never betray that again.”

“Oh, John,” she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks, “I’m sorry I let it get to this point.  I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.  And I need you to understand… I never doubted your love for me.  I knew you wouldn’t cheat on me, but I also knew Kristen would do whatever she had to in order to get you…to get her revenge.”

 

“I know that now.  I took my anger for myself out on you, and that was wrong of me.  You’re right though, we can survive anything but distance.  I am here, always and forever.  I will never leave your side again, and I will always be your biggest, loudest advocate.”

 

“I love you, my heart.”

 

“I love you too…so much,” he pulled her closer to him.  “Now, if we don’t leave right this minute, I will take you right here, right now, against the Pub window.”

 

“Tempting, but I don’t think Caroline would appreciate that,” she giggled.  “Take me home,” her eyes suddenly turning fiery, “and make love to me.”

 

All thought of Kristen flew out the window on the drive home.  In fact, at the moment, their biggest enemy was the traffic.  John swerved from lane to lane as he sped towards home.  His jaw muscles twitched with his agitation.  Marlena couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he needed her as much as she needed him.  His hand possessively rested on her thigh the entire drive, and every time he lightly stroked the skin just below the hem of her skirt with his thumb, her center throbbed for him.  Once in the parking garage, John put the car in park and was out the door with lightening speed.  As Marlena stood, John rushed up against her almost knocking her back into the car.  His arms encircled her waist and his lips met hers with unrestrained passion.  He began pulling at her jacket unable to control his lust.  She leaned back breaking their kiss.

 

“John,” she panted, “take me upstairs.  I don’t want to rush this.  I want us to take our time and savior each delicious moment.”

 

John tried to reign in his desire, “Doc, I can’t promise I’ll be able to last long right now.”

 

She slid her hand down cupping his erection, “Don’t worry, I didn’t say we were going to stop after one time.”

 

John’s lips curled up, “We should have grabbed some food to-go at the Pub…we’re going to need our energy.”

 

With that, he scooped her up as she let out a belly laugh throwing her head back with delight.  He carried her through the parking garage reveling in the feel of her breath oh his neck.  She couldn’t get enough of his scent…it was so intoxicating.  When they got to the lobby door, John regretfully put Marlena down without ever letting go of her.  She rested her head on his shoulder as they began to walk, and her beautiful aroma filled his nostrils with each step spurring on his arousal. The length of the lobby seemed to have stretched by miles.  With his arm around her and his hand resting delicately on her ass, he worked hard not to take off in a sprint for the elevators.  Marlena’s heart was fluttering as they walk.  She was so afraid she had lost John…so afraid her life was over…and now, he was there holding her, loving her, wanting her.  As they reached the elevator doors, she let out a little whimper.

 

“Hey,” he looked down at her while pressing the “up” button a little more aggressively than he intended, “what’s wrong, honey?”

 

Tears slid down her face.  “I thought I lost you,” she whispered.  “I thought the best thing in my life was gone.  My heart, my soul…they were shattered.  I walked across this lobby so many times thinking about how this may never be ‘our place’ again.  I’d make it through the lobby, practically running, and break down in the elevator.  And now you’re here.  I’m just…”

 

“Oh God, Doc.  I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for what I have done to you.  That’s a fact!”

 

He wiped away her tears as she smiled up at him.  The “ding” of the elevator alerted them to its arrival.  In one swift move, John pulled Marlena into the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.  As the elevator doors closed, John couldn’t wait any longer.  Before she knew what was happening, Marlena found herself against the wall of the elevator.  John pinned her hands above her head.  His mouth overtook hers in a frantic flurry of ecstasy.  His tongue darting around to taste every part of her mouth.  She moaned loudly has he pressed his hardness against her.  He let go of her hands.  One of his arms firmly wrapped around her waist while his other hand moved down her leg.  He found the hem of her skirt just above her knee and moved his hand slowly up her thigh under the fabric.

 

“John…John…” she panted, “what if the elevator stops?”

 

John removed his lips from her neck and looked into her eyes.  “That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he said in a husky tone.

 

He again began sucking and nipping her neck.  His hand moved up the inside her thigh.  He could feel her readiness seeping through her panties as he pulled them to the side.  His finger lightly grazed her center sending chills down her spine and causing a whimper to escape her mouth. His mouth found its way to hers as his finger slowly entered her.  Marlena reached down and pulled her skirt up above her hips, so she could easily rest her leg on John’s waist.  He began sliding his fingers in and out of her rapidly.  Her hips began bucking against his hand.  Soon she broke their kiss and buried her faced in his neck.  Her body tensing up around him as her walls pulsed her release.  “Oh God,” she groaned.  When her body relaxed, John removed his fingers from her and licked them clean.  He loved the taste of her.  She clung to him trying to catch her breath.  John held her close not wanting the moment to end.

 

“If this was a longer elevator ride, I’d take you right now.”

 

“We need to move to a taller building,” she said looking up at him with a drunken gaze.

 

John gave her a tender kiss on the lips as she brought her leg down from his waist.  They composed themselves just in time for the elevator doors to open on their floor.  John’s patience was gone now.  He grabbed Marlena’s hand and took off for their door.

 

As soon as they entered the townhouse, John closed the door and slammed Marlena against it.  His mouth engulfed hers, and she melted into him.  Oh, how she wanted him.  How she needed him.  She NEEDED to feel his touch.  She NEEDED to feel his warmth.

 

“John,” she panted, “I want your hands all over my body.”

 

“That,” he said ripping her blouse open, “won’t be a problem.”

 

He buried his face in her cleavage as her torn blouse slid down her arms.  His hands made quick work of her bra springing her amble breasts free.  His mouth came down on her nipple as one of his hands moved to palm her ass while the other found its way to her free breast.  Her hands moved to his shirt and nimbly unfastened every button.  Her entire body pulsed as her hands glided over his chest before moving to his shoulders and sending his shirt down his arms to the floor.  Her fingers took their time memorizing every chest hair and muscle ripple.  John’s mouth moved from Marlena’s breast down to her navel as he slowly brought down the zipper at the back of her skirt.

 

“John…John… My legs.  I can’t take it.”

 

Her skirt fell to the floor, and she kicked it to the side with her shoes.  John stepped back to see the vision before him…his beautiful wife in nothing but her lacy, black panties.  He scooped her up and moved her to the desk by the door.  His mouth found hers as he leaned her back.  Her back arched as soon as it touched the cold, hard surface pushing her breast against the soft curls of John’s chest.

 

Breaking their kiss, he looked deep into her eyes, “I love you, Mrs. Black.”

 

“I love you, Mr. Black.”

 

His lips moved to her neck licking and kissing every delicious nook.  Marlena’s eyes closed and she licked her lips savoring John’s warm lips on her body.  His strong hands moved all over her body memorizing every detail.  His lips moved down the center of her chest to her naval.  His tongue briefly dipped into the recess as his hands found their way to her hips.  In one smooth motion he slid her panties down her legs. Grabbing her thighs, he pulled her ass to the edge of the desk.  His left hand placed her right leg on his shoulder and held it there securely.  His right hand found its way to her left hand.  He kissed her wedding band before entwining his fingers with hers. His lips kissed her inner thigh right below her center.  He watched as her chest heaved up in anticipation.  He softly kissed her mound causing her breath to catch in her throat. He lightly flicked his tongue against her pulsing bud.  She moaned loudly as his left hand moved from her leg and to her delicate folds.  His fingers slid easily inside of her.  He immediately found her secret spot and began stroking it.  Her grip on his hand tightened as her free hand moved down and clawed at the flesh of her own thigh.  Her body lifted off the desk as her orgasm began to build.  His tongue manipulated her in all the right ways, and soon, her desire came rushing forward.  John moved up her body, his mouth overtaking hers as the last waves of her orgasm rolled through her.  Once her body relaxed, he carried her to the couch.  Quickly, he removed his trousers and boxers, kicking them to the side with his socks and shoes.  Marlena rested peacefully as she watched John…she couldn’t stop the smile from creeping across her face.  One of her legs draped over the back of the couch while her other leg hung down with her foot resting on the floor.  John moved to her and slowly brought himself down between her thighs.  He turned his head, resting his ear against her chest and took a moment to just listen to her breathe.  He listened to her heart beat to the same rhythm as his.  His nostrils filled with her scent.  Suddenly, Marlena felt the warm wetness of his tears on her chest.

 

“John? What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t know what I was thinking.  I don’t know how I allowed myself to be so hurtful towards you.”

 

Marlena lifted his head so he was looking at her, “Oh, my love, it was a bad situation.  We both made mistakes, but it’s in the past.”

 

“Doc, that day when I left… When you ran up and clung to me…I felt your love and your heartbreak…and I knew I was making a mistake.  I KNEW it was mistake to leave.  I KNEW IT, but I was so pissed at myself and the situation that I walked out.  It was childish and selfish, and I’m so, so, so, SO sorry.”

 

Tears streamed down Marlena’s face, “I know, my love.  I’m sorry too,” she cupped his face, “No more looking back.  Let’s move forward…together…as one.  We can survive anything life throws at us as long as we’re together.”

 

She pulled him into tender kiss.  He moved up her body as their kiss deepened.  Their tongues swirled around each other in a familiar dance.  His hands found hers and pinned them above her head interlacing their fingers. He leaned back to look into her eyes.  She smiled at him and tilted her hips.  Never breaking their gaze, he slowly entered her.  All the pain and sadness and frustration they had felt were swept away by their undying love.  Their passion filled the air, and once again, the world around them faded away.

 

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“Come on, Brady!  Your Dad wanted to talk with you.”

 

“Kristen, I don’t think he meant tonight.  He and Marlena probably need time to talk.  And how do we know if he even came back home?”

 

“Why put it off?  I don’t want to cause a rift between you two anymore,” she batted her eyelashes, “and if he’s not here,” she said banging on the door, “maybe Marlena will know where he is staying.”

 

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

 

John’s pace quickened, and Marlena’s eyes rolled back.  Her back arched up off the couch, and John took the opportunity to wrap one of his arms around her waist holding her tightly against him.  She drew her knees back allowing him deeper access to her.  Her hips bucked meeting each of his thrust.

 

“Oh, God!!  John…John…John…,” she panted.

 

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

 

Kristen knocked on the door again.

 

“Maybe no one is home.  Let’s just go.  I’ll call my Dad tomorrow.”

 

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

 

John and Marlena were oblivious to everything but each other.  Their bodies glistened with sweat.  Marlena moved her leg to rest on John’s shoulder.  His mouth came down to her neck licking and sucking all the spots that drove her mad.  Her entire body tensed.

 

“Come on, baby.  You’ve got this, give it to me,” he whispered into her ear.

 

His breath on her flesh sent chills down her spine.  Her fingernails dug into his back, and her foot pressed into his ass forcing him deeper into her.  With his arm around her waist, he lifted her ass off the couch causing him to hit her back wall.  His mouth came down on one of her breasts.  Sucking her in hard and flicking his tongue on her hard nipple sent her head spinning.  She was floating in an erotic utopia.

 

“Oh, fuck!!  John!  Don’t stop!! Don’t stop,” Marlena screamed as her walls pulled him in.

 

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

 

Brady stood between Kristen and the door, “Seriously, let’s just…”

 

“What?”

 

Brady blushed, “Ummm, yea, we should go,” he said suppressing a laugh.

 

Kristen moved to the door, “Why?”

 

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

 

“Oh, Doc!!  God, you’re amazing!!”

 

Marlena moaned loudly as her orgasm exploded from her center through every fiber of her being.  Her body was on fire.  The slightest of touch from John set her skin ablaze and sent a seductive zing straight to her pulsing mound causing wave after wave after wave of lust to immerse her body.

 

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

 

Kristen, wide-eyed and ashen, turned to face Brady who was leaning on the wall across from John and Marlena’s door.  He hung his head as he laughed to himself.

 

“Are they,” Kristen asked.

 

“Yes, they are having sex, and trust me, we aren’t having that talk with my Dad tonight,” he laughed.  “Belle and I were always jealous that our friends’ parents didn’t seem to have sex because our parents tended to have marathon sex.”

 

“I don’t even know what to say to that,” she said grimacing.

 

“Well, I say we go and have dinner.  I’ll talk to my Dad tomorrow.  Don’t worry.  He and I will work everything out, we always do.”

 

Brady took off for the elevator.  Kristen moved closer to the door…

 

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

 

“Oh God, Doc,” John said thrusting harder and harder, “I have never, and could never, love another woman the way I love you”

 

Marlena groaned unable to speak.  Her hands moved to the armrest of the couch and pushed against it forcing John deeper into her.  Another orgasm ripped through her body.  “John! John!! Oh fuck, John!!!”

 

“And NOBODY cums like you,” he said with a smile.

 

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

 

 

Kristen was now glaring at the door…twice John and Marlena had thwarted her plans, and she wasn’t going to allow it to happen a third time.  The sound of them together…together and happy…sent a flood of fury coursing through her veins.  She wanted revenge now more than ever.

 

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

 

Marlena was unable to catch her breath has her head came spinning back down to earth.  Her body was still convulsing with her orgasm as John slammed into her one last time finding his release.

 

“Oh, God, Doc,” he groaned.

 

Marlena’s body was limp under him.  Her eyes closed.  Her breath slow and steady.  Her face was beaming with contentment. John rested his body against her while keeping most of his weight on his elbows.

 

“I love you, Doc,” he said nuzzling her cheek.

 

“I love you too,” she smiled.

 

He gently pulled out of her and moved so that he was on his side between her and the back of the couch.  Without missing a beat, she turned onto her side allowing him more room.  He instantly pulled her against him so that the lengths of their bodies were touching.  Instinctively, she rested her head on his folded arm, and he buried his face in her hair.  He could feel her start to shiver and pulled the blanket off the back of the couch covering them both.  With one last exchange of “I love you’s” they both drifted off into peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time.

 

 

Part 3

 

Sometime around midnight, John shifted in his sleep and sighed happily as his hands encountered nothing but warm, soft skin. Mmmmm. Marlena. His heart did a happy little flip, even in its barely awake state.

 

Forcing one eyelid open, he registered his surroundings as his own living room, and like a tidal wave, the events of the last 24 hours came crashing to the forefront of his mind. The long trip back from New York; the seemingly endless car ride from the airport; and finally, rushing around town looking for her since he’d instinctively known she wouldn’t want to be home in this empty house without him.

 

John’s arms tightened around his wife, and he felt her snuggle adorably closer. She’d rolled over a little while ago to face him and now had her head buried quite happily in the crook of his neck as she drew in his warmth, his scent and his closeness with each breath she took.

 

John leaned down and pressed his lips to the shoulder that was just peeking out of the blanket he’d thrown over them both. Her sweetness shot through him, making him smile. He raised his arm to peer at his watch just as he felt her shiver and burrow closer. Dammit. She was chilly. He had to get her off the couch and into bed to warm her up.

 

He tried moving slowly, but didn’t get more than an inch before the arm she had around his middle tightened. “Noooo.” She groaned in her sleep. “Don’t… wanna …move.” came the muffled moan against his throat that quickened his blood.

 

John smiled and shook his head, and mentally kicked his own ass once again for being so fucking stupid. How in the hell could he have – even for a minute- thought Marlena would betray him. How could he have lied to himself that Kristen was anything but a conniving bitch? Disgusted with himself, he shook the thoughts from his head and concentrated on what was really important- the woman he held in his arms.

 

He tucked the blanket around Marlena as best as he could and moved with purpose, swinging his feet to the floor with her in his lap. Again she stirred, and trembled in his arms as the cool air snaked its way beneath the soft cotton throw. He brushed her temple with his lips. “Ssshhh. It’s ok baby. Let’s go to bed.”

 

Marlena fought to lift her eyelids as she tilted her head back to look up at him, a tiny, grateful smile on her face. “Bed?” she asked sleepily.

 

John smiled at her and nodded as he dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. “Yeah. I’ve got you Honey.” He said softly against her lips as he slid his arm beneath her and lifted her effortlessly. He stepped carefully across all the discarded clothing that littered the living room floor with a grin, and made his way to their bedroom. He whispered “Hang on to me .” and felt Marlena’s hand snake around his neck, keeping her tight to his chest. Perfect.

 

The bedroom door was ajar with only the small lamp on the nightstand on to cast its soft golden glow across the bed. He automatically drew in a deep satisfying breath. Jesus, the room smelled like her, he thought using his foot to nudge the door closed behind him. Soft,  sexy, understated, but still completely captivating. Just like her, he thought. He briefly dropped the hand at her back and reached to tug the pumpkin colored bedding back.

 

Laying Marlena amidst the pillows, he looked at her for a minute, and realized he just couldn’t bear to take his hands off her. He paused as he thought again of how he’d hurt her by walking away. How disappointed she must have been in him and his lack of faith; in her and in them.

 

Yet, it became unimportant once she saw him standing in the Pub. She rushed into his arms as is they’d never been apart. Later, he knew they’d talk. He knew they’d yell. He knew they’d disagree. Later.

 

But most of all he knew, she loved him and that he loved her, and as long as they held on to that love, they’d make it over all the other crap.

 

He sighed, and sank down onto the mattress beside her, holding her close, not willing to let go as he pulled the covers over them both and snuggled down. Man, it felt good to lie in his own bed, but it felt even better to do it with her all cuddled next to him.

 

Marlena sighed his name and tilted her head up to peer at him with sleepy eyes. “I missed this. I missed you so much.”

 

John felt another wave of shame pound him. “I know Doc. I’m sorry.” he ground out, surprised to find himself fighting the urge to cry again at what he’d no doubt put her through. “I’m…”

 

Marlena being Marlena waved away his torment with a simple shake of her head. “No more John. It’s done. It’s over.” She said as she stroked his cheek with warm fingers. “We’ll talk about it another time. Let’s go forward from here.”

 

John swallowed past the lump in his throat, and nodded silently. He leaned to kiss her and Marlena rolled gently to her back, ridiculously happy to pull his weight on top of her. Not needing any more coaxing, John let himself sink into her as his mouth opened wide and mated with hers. His tongue went deep, searching for more. They’d been apart much too long, and his body craved her flavor as if it were a drug he’d been denied. Which in some ways he supposed, he had.

 

The kiss was deep and endless and their bodies melted together as Marlena’s thighs immediately widened to welcome him home. In no more than the twinkling of an eye, John was a hard as a rock and ready to roll Marlena thought with a grateful groan as her body answered his with a rush of moisture to her pussy. It took only a few practiced movements before John slid inside her, filling her completely.  She gasped his name as her eyes flew open. His face filled her vision with eyes as blue as midnight, and he smiled at her and settled his mouth once again over hers.

 

There was no rushing now. No hurry. No speed. Just slow, sweet love.

John actually smiled when he felt Marlena’s nails rake paths of angry red welts along his back and sides as she clawed at him. His hips pistoned steadily into her and she accepted every thrust with eager willingness. His voice was thick. “Oh God, you feel so damn good.”

 

Marlena was in heaven. He was all she could feel; all she could smell; all she could taste. And the gentle and insistent rocking of his hips, seating him so deeply inside her body, set off tremors of ridiculous pleasure she wouldn’t have traded for a billion dollars. “Yes. Mmmmm yes John.”

 

John’s hand scooped beneath her shoulder as he rested his weight on his elbow and held her while his other hand gripped her chin in a gentle hold, bending to lick into the warmth of her mouth and nibble that sexy lower lip  -just because it pleased him so much. “I love you Marlena.”

 

Marlena’s face was a mix of love and ecstasy as her body and her soul reconnected with it’s other half.

 

As John picked up his pace a bit, he felt Marlena’s breathing begin to come in short, stuttered gasps as it washed sweetly across his lips. He loved how responsive she was to him. She always had been.  Even the gentlest touch was a thrill he could watch erupt across her skin. Every whisper still made her shiver in his arms. How could any man not want that honor from the woman he loved?

 

He felt her inner walls tighten deliciously around him and slowed the movement of his hips only through the greatest strength of will. He didn’t want to push her over the edge just yet, but rather draw out her pleasure as well as his own. It took every ounce of control to not rush them both to a blinding release, but he wanted more. He knew she’d ultimately enjoy the sweet torture, but she’d be pissed. He steeled himself for her response with a sneaky grin.

 

Marlena felt like she was hovering over the bed. Teetering on the edge of that beautiful cliff, ready to catapult into oblivion until John backed off, leaving her dazed and desperate and practically sobbing for the orgasm he kept just millimeters out of her reach.  Her voice was breathless and broken “Let me John…let me come.” she begged, as her nails dug at his back hard enough to draw blood.

 

“No yet, baby.” He said, with a dastardly deep plunge of his hips before remaining motionless again.

 

“John!” she wailed, feeling his arm beneath her tremble with the strain of his restraint. “Don’t hold back. Give it to me.” She said as her whole body shivered. “Please! Let me….”

 

John bit her chin playfully, even as he fought for control. “Hey. It’s not easy for me either you know. It’s….” he jack-knifed his hips, making her moan. “…it’s very hard!’

 

“Shit!” Marlena gasped, a second before the laugh bubbled out of her. “You’re insane, you know that?” she said on a stuttered breath.

 

“Yea, I know. I’m crazy. Crazy about you.” He smiled as he felt her hands slide down his flanks and attach themselves to his ass, making him groan deep in his throat. “Christ Doc, you’re killing me. You’re so tight, so perfect.” He said gruffly as his body trembled with tension.

 

“Mmmm, we’re perfect. THIS is perfect.” She said with a breathy little catch in her voice that all but undid him as his next downward thrust was met with a force that surprised even him.  Marlena hooked her leg higher along his hip and pulled him even deeper inside her, making them both shudder. “Do it John, please. You know you’re the only one who can.” she moaned. “The only one.” she gasped.

 

John kissed her again and knew his control was about to snap. He drew in a deep breath. “You’re damn right. Oh. I love you baby. Love you…”

 

John’s hips pulled back, only to sink home again at the exact moment Marlena tilted her own hips up that perfect fraction of an inch that seated him so fully inside her that suddenly the world went black.

 

Marlena froze for a split second, as her inner muscles gripped his cock so deeply inside her and held him there in a vice grip. Her heel dug into the back of his thigh as she finally broke and let the orgasm assail her. A hot rush of molten cream poured from her center to surround him.  Her voice disappeared as the light exploded behind her eyes and only a low guttural growl rumbled from her throat. Her whole body shook as the orgasm plowed through her, leaving nothing but delicious waves of pleasure in its wake.

 

John thought she might have said his name, but he’d never be sure. He couldn’t hold back any longer as she milked him tighter than a fist, and he erupted inside her. Filling her. His hips pounded forward again and again as he emptied himself into her. All the regret, all the anger and all the love melded into this moment as his priorities seemed to realign themselves. His head dropped to her throat as he struggled for breath and sought the sweetness of her skin on his tongue.

 

Marlena tremble like a leaf on a tree as her body trembled and shook. Her arms tightened around his back, no slick with sweat, and her inner muscles continued to spasm and clutch at his dick. In that moment, the weeks she’d spent alone and feeling so rejected and ignored melted away.

 

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

 

Slamming into her hotel room, Kristen seethed quietly and threw her key on the table. Brady followed along like a puppy, still blissfully unaware of the real reason for her silent rage.

 

Not only did Marlena waste no time in getting John back under her spell of all that was good and righteous, Kristin thought, but somehow she’d made sure she had to LISTEN TO IT!! She brushed off the tiny voice of logic in her brain that said, it was her own fault for dragging Brady to John & Marlena’s townhouse in the first place, especially after the way they’d all but raced from the pub,  but she stomped that voice to death with the force of her own anger. Meanwhile, Brady’s voice, pathetically calm and rational, only irritated her further.

 

“Look, it’s no big deal. We’ll talk to him tomorrow. To both of them.” he said trying to soothe her. “I will make him understand, I promise. Once they relax and accept that I’m a grown man, in love with a beautiful woman, nothing else is going to matter.” he said, oblivious to the world beyond the walls of this hotel room.

 

‘Stupid fool.’ she thought. She spun on her heel, and turned on the innocent act that was beginning to nauseate her. “Are you sure? Because, you know, Marlena hates me. I mean, she HATES me. Even after all these years and everything I’ve done to try and make amends.”

 

Brady shook his head. “Look, I know she’s resistant….for obvious reasons. But Marlena isn’t like that Kristen. You don’t know her like I do.”

 

“Oh really?” Kristen barked out a laugh, trying not to let the venom drip so obviously from her words. “I think I know Marlena pretty well Brady. And believe me, being a DiMera makes me very capable of knowing when people hate me. She. Hates. Me. And she wants to make John hate me too!” Kristen decided to play the ‘victim’ role with a little more gusto, and turned on some tears for good measure. “I’ve tried so hard to be nice and friendly, and still she just…she just…” she pouted pitifully.

 

Brady gullibly layed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Oh don’t cry babe. Marlena doesn’t hate you. And neither does my dad. They just….don’t know you anymore. Give them some time. They ‘ll see you for the wonderful person you are now, and everything will be….”

 

Kristen turned to Brady and threw her arms around his shoulder, pressing her body to his. “You won’t leave me will you Brady?” she said, her words rushed and hurried. “You’ll stand by my side and help me make them see, won’t you?” she said with a sniffle and a trembling lip.

 

“Of course I will.” Brady soothed.

 

Kristen smiled and hugged him. Over his shoulder she peered at her own reflection in the mirror on the far wall, and winked at her own scheming twin.  Peering into her own eyes, she vowed to pay them both back. Oh yes. She and Stefano would see to it that John and his precious Doc were going to pay for the way they’d humiliated her all those years ago.  Humiliating this big dumb, dolt in the process would only be the icing on the cake.

 

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

 

Marlena’s breathing was finally settling back to normal, when John slid out of her and moved to lay beside her. Her head lolled exhausted but exhilarated on the pillow, and she turned her neck to peer at him. The man wore a smile a mile wide. She laughed, “What’s so funny?” she asked, with a grin.

 

John laughed. “Funny? Nothing at all, baby. I’m just surprised I’m not dead.”

 

Marlena peered at him confused. “What?”

 

“I came so hard, I thought my head was going to explode!” he teased. “Sometimes I wonder how making love to you always seems to get better and better over time, but Jesus! Being away from you makes me feel like a starving man.”

 

Marlena giggled and rolled to her side to stare at him. “Well, you’re not starving now, my love.” She said laying cool fingers on his still heated cheek.

 

“No.” he winked. “But I think there’s a good chance I’ll be hungry again soon.”  He watched Marlena toss her head back and laugh heartily. It was a beautiful sound.

 

“Well, we’ll deal with that a little later.”

 

“Oh yeah? Do you umm, you think you’ll be hungry too?” he teased.

 

Marlena’s eyes sparkled, even in the dimly lit room. “When you’re around? Always Mr. Black!”

 

“That’s my girl.” John’s eyes pinned hers as his smile faded and a serious expression overtook his handsome face. “I love you Doc.”

 

Marlena nodded. “I know you do. I always know that.” She said simply.

“I screwed up, I know. I just can’t bear the thought that me making a stupid mistake like that would  cause me to lose you.”

 

“Lose me? John, you can’t lose me.” Marlena said on a soft voice. “We make mistakes, we’re only human. But we have to always remember that the trick is to fight TOGETHER not to fight one another.”

 

“You’re right, I know. I don’t know how I was so blind.” He said angry at himself all over again.

 

“Don’t torture yourself John. It’s a classic DiMera battle strategy, to try to turn their unwitting victims into pawns in the game.” Marlena spoke volumes in a single sentence.  “Pit us against one another, and they’ve won half the battle.”

 

John looked at her as the truth of her words hit home. He shook his head sadly. “I fell hook, line and sinker, didn’t I?”

 

Marlena soothed him with her voice. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You did what you always do, and tried to find the good in someone. In someone you once had no reason to doubt.” Marlena looked at him evenly. “ But you know, I think what you wrote in your letter was true. Just because she wasn’t born a DiMera doesn’t mean Stefano’s influence hasn’t changed the person Kristen grew to be. And as much as we might want to think that maybe all those years away could actually have made her a better person, I just don’t think there’s any recovering from that. Not from Stefano.”

 

“No.” John agreed. “He’s too pervasive. Too damaging.”

 

Marlena’s eyes held his. “And that, my love, is why you’ll never be like him. It doesn’t matter that you have DiMera blood. Because even after all that he’s put you through, you are your own man. You’ve triumphed over him in so many ways John.” Her smile just lit him up inside. “And you always will. Unlike Kristen, you’re a better person because of him, not in spite of him.”

 

John felt his heart pinch. He truly was a lucky son-of-a-bitch to have her in his life. And he’d never lose sight of that again. He swore it to himself for the millionth time.

 

Marlena winked at him. “Besides, the look on Kristen’s face tonight at the Pub is certainly one I won’t forget for quite a while. It seemed like she was so sure you were going to rebuff me and fall for her cheap theatrics again.”

 

“Those days are over Doc. I’ve learned my lesson, that’s for sure. Now I just have to find a way to open Brady’s eyes. I still don’t understand how he can even…I mean, hell, she was once his….” He shuddered. He didn’t even want to say the word ‘step-mother’.

 

Marlena grimaced too, knowing exactly what he was thinking. “He does seem to be completely beguiled by her. And he’s very resistant to anything to the contrary. Believe me, I tried .”

 

John leaned over and kissed her lips soundly. “ We’ll fix it Doc. You and me. We’ll get our son to open his eyes and hopefully do it before she sinks her claws in much farther. I’m sure there’s a much bigger plan going on here, and I know damn well that Stefano’s fingerprints are all over it – right along with Kristen’s. She may be conniving, but she’s not bright enough to hatch something major without the old man behind her.”

 

 

Marlena smiled. He’d said “our son”. It made her heart smile just a bit. Then something occurred to her, and she looked at him oddly. “Wait. You think this is about money? That it’s all going to boil down to some business deal? Another attempt at destroying Basic Black maybe?”

 

“I don’t know. After all he’s done it before. But remember, this time the kid is involved, and Brady has Kiriakis ties too . Meld that with Basic Black and that’s a juggernaut that might surpass even DiMera’s empire. I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Brady opened his eyes and sighed into the darkness. Kristen was sprawled beside him sound asleep. He moved carefully, so as not to wake her, and rose from the bed. Padding into the bathroom silently, he closed the door tightly before turning on the light.

 

Blinking into the blinding light as it burned his pupils, he crossed to the toilet and took care of business. Flushing, he returned to the sink and turned on the faucet to wash his hands. He bent to splash some cool water over his face and the back of his neck. Then he did it again, and then once more. Odd how it almost felt like each time cleared a bit more of the cobwebs from his brain.  He rested his hands on the edge of the basin and looked at himself in the mirror.

 

The water beaded down his face, across those chiseled cheekbones and arrowed down to drip from his chin. It was only when he looked into his own eyes that he heard Marlena’s voice in his head.

 

How many times had she stood over his bed at night, with her gentle smile and her even gentler voice, tucking him in, urging him to say his prayers and telling him “Close those beautiful blue eyes that look just like you’re Daddy’s, so the sleep fairies can whisk you off to Dreamland, my love!”  He smiled at the thought.  Marlena had never been anything but a wonderful mother to him. Even back during those dark days in his teens when he’d been so hideous to her, she still found a way to forgive him. To love him. To be his mother.

 

He looked at the man in the mirror once more, and prayed that when this was all over, she’d feel that way again.  Because the blue eyes that peered back at him were still as she’d said: just like his Dad’s. And like his father, he’d come to his senses too.

 

He was his father’s son, and Brady Black wasn’t about to let a DiMera rip his family apart. Not again. Dad  and Marlena may not know it, but so far, everything was under control. Kristen thought he was helplessly in love with her like some faithful lap dog  that would follow her blindly in her quest to hurt his father and Marlena. Well, then, fine. Let her think that.

 

He shut off the light and walked back into the darkened bedroom. Looking down at the sleeping woman in the bed, he chuckled silently to himself. Yeah. Let her think that. Laying down beside her, Brady stacked his hands beneath his head and stared at the ceiling.

 

The DiMera’s may have gotten their way with the men of the Black Family in the past. But those days were over.

 

Way over.

 

 

Part 4

 

Marlena strolled along happily wearing a grin from ear to ear and looked at the faces that passed her by without really seeing anyone in particular. And that was fine with her. In fact, for the last 4 days, no one in Salem had really seen hide nor hair of Mr & Mrs Black. And that too, was just fine.

 

Oh, John and Marlena had seen Tim, the Brady Pub’s delivery boy, and they’d seen Charlie the guy who did the deliveries for the deli on 4th Street. And Benny Wong -who delivered for the Saigon Palace had popped by more than once, but other than food deliveries, no one had heard a peep from beyond the doors of the Black’s townhouse. And to be honest, for the better part of the last 4 days, neither John nor Marlena cared to venture out into the real world, preferring to stay in their own romantic little bubble and make up for lost time.

 

And they had. Oh my, they surely had.

 

Yes. It was all quite fine, Marlena sighed contentedly and tightened her grip around the fingers that wound their way so perfectly through hers as they strolled leisurely in the early morning sunshine.

 

John felt pretty much the same. It was good to walk through Horton Town Square with Marlena’s hand in his, and her scent swirling on the breeze that just tickled his nose. It was damn good. In fact, it almost allowed him to forget- even for only a brief moment, all the shit they’d just come through. But as usual, reality intruded, and the events of the past few weeks rushed back into John’s subconscious like a locomotive. They maintained a lazy, casual pace and picked up two steaming cups of coffee as the world seemed to bustle around them, before snagging a spot on the bench in the center of The Square.

 

John allowed them both the luxury of a few grateful sips of caffeine before spoke. “I hate to bring this up Doc, but…”

 

Beside him, Marlena chuckled. “I was wondering how long it would take you.” she said knowingly.

 

John just shook his head. “The last few days have been so perfect, I didn’t want to ruin it.”

 

Marlena indulged him. “You’re not ruining anything.” she said lightly.
“Besides, it’s not like it’s going to go away if we ignore it.” she said looking down at the cup in her hands. She didn’t know what tomorrow might bring, but her gut told her that whatever it was – it wouldn’t be good.
John nodded. “I think….I think I’m going to have to make a call. Or maybe I should say; I’m going to have to make THE call.” he paused, looking for the right words to explain himself to her.

 

Marlena pursed her lips and said softly. “I think it’s the only choice we have now.”

 

John gave a humorless laugh realizing she’d known exactly where his thoughts were headed without him having to say a word. “It’s not what I want, Doc. And I know its sure as hell not what you want either. I didn’t want to go there again, I really didn’t. I just…I just don’t know how else to…” his words trailed off. “I don’t want to wake up some day and have all this shit come bubbling back up to the surface.”

 

Marlena’s eyes remaining in her lap. “You mean like the way a demented, psychopath popped up out of nowhere to torment us? Again?” Her voice was sad, but she held her ground.

 

“I know baby. I’m sorry. “

 

“You couldn’t have prevented this John. I know that.”

 

John shook his head, and tried to keep his anger in check. “I hate that we let her….no.” He held his tongue and amended his words. “That I let her. I let her do exactly what she wanted which was to drive a wedge between us. I hate that I let her manipulate ….”

 

Marlena saved him the trouble of fumbling through any further explanation by rested her hand gently on his arm. “I know, honey.” she said simply. She waited until John lifted his eyes to meet hers. “Call.”

 

John swallowed a huge gulp of hot coffee that singed his esophagus on the way down and waited for the phantom jolt of caffeinated courage to kick in. Then he pulled his cellphone from his pocket, and with a heavy sigh, dialed a number he knew by heart.

 

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

 

Brady easily navigated the pre-rush hour morning traffic along River Road with practiced ease. He preferred heading into the office early anyway, and today especially, he used those few isolated minutes to try organize his thoughts.

 

When he reached the office, he tipped his hand in greeting to Jasper, the weathered old garage attendant as he steered his Jeep into its assigned spot along the far wall on the lower level. No one else -including his grandfather had arrived yet, which fit his current needs perfectly.

 

He cut the engine and pulled in a deep breath before he reached to snap open the briefcase that sat on the seat beside him. Thankful for the darkly tinted glass, he pulled at the tiny little tab in the corner, and exposed the ‘secret’ compartment that held three specific items: a disposable cell phone, a small leather wallet and a gun.

 

He glanced around casually to be sure he was; in fact, alone. Ignoring the other 2 items, Brady Black picked up the phone and powered it on, then called the number he’d gotten a bit too much use out of lately.

 

“Good morning Mr. Black.” said the woman with the monotone voice he knew only as Bianca. He wasn’t even going to bother wondering how she knew it was him.

 

Brady chuckled. “Good morning to you too Bianca. Is he in yet?” he asked almost unnecessarily.

 

Her voice held no inflection whatsoever. “One moment please.” he heard before he was accosted by a Musak version of an old Frank Sinatra tune that would probably have made Old Blue Eyes hang his head in shame.
It took under a minute for the man to answer. “Well, well, well. Good morning Brady. I trust you have good news for me since you’re calling so early?” the man said a bit too cheerfully.

 

Brady cast his eyes around once more to ensure he was alone. “Well, I don’t exactly have bad news, and that’s kind of the same thing these days.”

 

The man laughed. “I suppose it is. As it happens I was going to contact you today. It seems we’re going to alter the plan a bit.”

 

Brady’s senses immediately went on full alert. “Alter? Why? I thought we were set.” he asked, obviously irked. “I’ve been busting my ass for weeks to put everything into place according to your dictates, and this late in the game you tell me you’re changing the plays?”

 

“Oh, we’re just going to make a few tiny modifications.” he said lightly, his accent belying his building irritation.

 

“Modifications? What the hell does that mean? You said…” he began indignantly.

“I know what I said Brady.” the man said with force, halting any further complaining Brady had planned to do. “And as we’ve discussed before, no stone is going to go unturned. We’re going to execute this plan with targeted precision and end this mess once and for all.” His words were impeccably enunciated and left absolutely no room for argument.

 

Brady had had enough. He wanted this conversation to be done with. “Fine.” he huffed. “Just tell me what the plan is now, huh? I don’t like surprises.”

 

The man sighed easily. “Relax Brady. I can promise, that you’ll be quite pleased to know that we have recently acquired what you might call…” he paused for effect, “… an ‘ace in the hole’.”

 

Brady rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah? And what the hell is that.” he said with more ire than he actually felt.

 

“Oh, it’s not a what. It’s a who.”

 

Brady’s mind raced. “OK.” he ground out impatiently. “ So…who?”

 

The man paused just long enough to set Brady’s teeth on edge.

 

“Actually, I think this information might be better off handled in person. How soon can you hop a flight here?”

 

Brady snorted and tried to play it as macho as he thought the situation called for. “Man, I wish I’d have known I’d be required to be at your beck-and-call before I signed on for this little expedition. I’m not really accustomed to jumping when somebody snaps their fingers.” he cracked beligerently.

 

The man on the receiving end of the call was neither amused nor tolerant of such behavior. His voice went hard and his tone held a deathly calm that belied the situation at hand. “Be here. In my office by 5pm my time then, and I won’t have to snap my fingers at all.” he bit out before then line went dead.

 

Brady cursed silently as he closed the phone and tucked it back into the corner compartment. Before re-securing the lining, he pulled the small black leather wallet out and flipped it open. The wallet contained only two items; one of which was a laminated ID card with a photo of himself. He stared at his own image and shook his head. “How the hell did you get yourself wrapped up in this shit Black?” he asked his glossy, unsmiling twin.

 

Consciously ignoring the item on the other side of the wallet, he closed it and jammed it unceremoniously back under the false lining next to the gun and the cell phone- which he made a mental note to toss into a dumpster later in the day.

 

Reaching into his jacket he pulled out his personal cell phone and called the airline to book a flight for later that afternoon. He couldn’t risk using the Kiriakis jet, or any other private plane. He’d have to fly commercial.

 

Once that task was accomplished, he locked his car and made his way into the building. As the elevator silently rose to the floors occupied by Titan Inc, Brady made one last call.

 

He explained to Kristen that he had some business to attend to and he wouldn’t see her for dinner. He told her that he wouldn’t be back until much later that night, and he mentally prepared himself for her whining, petty responses. She didn’t disappoint him.

As the elevator deposited him at Titan’s Executive Offices, he moved by rote through the halls to his private office, all the while peppering his conversation with the appropriate amounts of ‘Of course, I’ll miss you’s’ and ‘You know I love you too’s’ to soothe her ridiculously ruffled feathers until he thought he just might vomit.

 

Promising to see her as soon as he returned to Salem, he ended the conversation as quickly as he could and tossed the phone onto his desk like it all but burned his fingers. Looking at the open appointment book on his desk – which featured a loaded schedule, he tried to figure out just how the hell he was supposed to rearrange his day to accommodate this sudden change in plans. He wanted this over and done with so he could get on with his life.

 

His own life.

 

First things first. He scribbled a note that said “See me ASAP” and dropped it on his secretary’s desk, before heading back into the private lounge in search of the biggest, strongest cup of coffee he could find. A few minutes later, as the first fragrant drops of Kona blend began to accumulate in the pot, he heard the distant ‘ding’ of the elevator and knew his employees were about to start filtering in for the day. Good. The sooner he got started the sooner the day would be over.

 

He looked at his watch. Damn it. Not even 8:00 am and it was already shaping up to be a lousy day.

 

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

 

The early afternoon sun streamed through the townhouse window behind him as he worked, and threw a slice of light across the notepad in John’s lap. The pages he flipped through looked like they could have belonged to a high school freshman. A jumbled collection of names, dates, locations and other snippets of thoughts had been written, printed, scribbled, circled, decorated with arrows or asterisks, boldened for effect, completely crossed out or earmarked with multiple underlines for later investigation. Whatever came into his mind, he wrote it down. It helped him to see things in black and white.

 

In a weird way, the chaotic mess of words reminded him of his days as a cop – looking at the ‘murder board’ they’d roll into the squad room during really difficult cases. Every clue and piece of evidence would be posted up waiting for the flash of inspiration that would somehow help someone to find the elusive link that turned all those various pieces of the puzzle into an airtight case.

 

Through the fog of concentration, he felt the cushion on the couch beside him sink, and smiled as Marlena eased down against his hip. She held a glass filled with ice, water and some fresh lemon slices. One glance and he realized that his throat was parched. But of course; she’d known that. He grinned and clipped the pen to tablet and tossed both onto the coffee table in front of them, before he lifted his arm to wrap it around her shoulder. She snuggled gratefully closer.

 

Accepting the glass, he lifted it to her in a silent salute. “Reading my mind again, Doc?” he said through dry lips before taking a long and grateful sip. He sighed contentedly as the cold water slid down his throat.

 

Her voice was gentle and her breath was warm against his cheek and she leaned back and kissed the soft skin just below his ear. “You’ve been brainstorming a long time. I thought you might need to clear the cobwebs a little bit.” She slid out of her shoes and kicked them beneath the table beside John’s loafers, before tucking her legs beneath her.

 

That first sip felt so good he went back and took another long pull and allowed it to do just that. “The good doctor knows her stuff.” he smiled, stretching to rest the glass on the end table beside him. Turning back, he laid a kiss on her lips, making her giggle as his chilled mouth warmed beneath hers. He pulled her closer and relaxed into the pillows behind them. Nudging the tablet on the coffee table with a sock covered foot, he exhaled. “We’re gonna do this you know. I’m not sure how yet, but we’re gonna do it.”

“Oh, I know.” Marlena said, in full agreement, wrapping an arm around his middle. “I have every confidence in you.” she smiled. “I just wish it didn’t have to be at Brady’s expense.” she added sadly. “I keep going over it and over it in my mind. I have for weeks.” she shrugged helplessly. “I just don’t see anyway to avoid hurting him.”

“I still just don’t understand how he can even….” his voice drifted as he closed his eyes and he shuddered.

 

“I know. I know.” she soothed him, not at all eager to rehash this topic yet again.

John managed to look both angry and sad. “It just feels like ……like I failed. I failed you. I failed us. And I failed my kid.” he mumbled, his eyes on the floor.

 

Marlena understood that the lack of control of their current predicament was something John was simply NOT used to. His years with both the Salem PD and the ISA, as well as his control of Basic Black had conditioned him to rely almost solely on his own judgment and his gut instincts. This sense of helplessness was totally foreign to him.

Marlena morphed into “Doc” mode. “Maybe you’re just not looking at it in the right light, John.” she said simply.

 

John’s head tilted in question. “Meaning?”

 

Marlena considered her words. “If you were, oh …let’s say you were going to build a house. Would your first order of business be to go out and buy dishes for the kitchen? Or a medicine cabinet for the bathroom? Or buy carpeting for the hallway?”

 

John looked at her as if she’d lost her mind, as his brows drew together in confusion.

Marlena ignored his look and smiled gently. “Or do you think you’d start by laying a strong foundation. Putting down stable floors. Building strong walls and ceilings. Making sure the structure of the house was stable and steadfast.”

 

Realization dawned on him, and his face relaxed.

 

“You’re calling in the cavalry. That’s not a sign of weakness. That’s a sign of strength. That’s what’s going to enable you to lay the strongest foundation possible.”

 

“I hope so, Doc.” he said, sighing deeply, his lips against her forehead. After a minute or two of silence to let the truth of her words sink in, John spoke. “What time is our flight?”

Marlena looked at her watch. “We should head to the airport in about an hour.”

 

John sighed. “All right.” He’d be ready, though he was far from eager. He inhaled deeply and smiled at the faintest hint of apple that still clung to her hair from her shampoo. An idea began to form in his head.

 

Marlena nodded to the tablet on the table with a chuckle. “You know, you might want to try pulling those notes of yours into something another human being could decipher. Because that-” she said with a nod to all his scribbles “…might as well be hieroglyphics.

 

John shrugged as his hand slid from her shoulder, down her back to cup her bottom. “I can do that on the flight.” he said in a low voice. “You said we have an hour.” He nudged her hair aside with the tip of his nose so he could get to the skin of her neck. He laid his lips on the sweet smelling column of flesh and tasted her.

 

Marlena laughed that deep, throaty chuckle that set his blood to simmer. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

 

John made a sound deep in his throat and merely tipped her chin up with his index finger just before his mouth settled on hers. Her lips were soft and willing and parted on a warm sigh to welcome his tongue. He needed no more prodding than that.

 

Marlena reached up to hook her arm around his neck and hold him close, and simply enjoyed the kiss. His taste, his smell, and the feel of all that lean hard muscle tightening beside her sent a charge of electricity through her unlike anything she’d every experienced with anyone other than this man. When his lips released hers, to skim along her jaw on their way down her throat to the spot just below her ear that she knew would leave her helpless, Marlena summoned her strength and moved her body.

Unfolding her legs from beneath her, she threw one across his thighs and pulled herself across his lap. Looking down into his deep blue eyes, she merely grinned when both his hands settled on her hips and rocked her against the erection that was beginning to strain the fly of his charcoal slacks. Her fingers slid the buttons of his pale blue shirt through their holes with ease. “You know we’re gonna have to make this one quick, don’t you Cowboy?” she said with a sexy smile, her lips still wet from his kiss.

 

John shrugged dumbly and stared at the glorious sight before his eyes, even as her hands slid beneath the now parted material of his shirt and sifted through the soft dark hair that covered his chest. He swallowed and enjoyed the shiver her touch sent through him. “Baby, you can do that as long as you’d like. I’ll just call my pilot and tell him we’ll be late.”

 

Marlena’s eyes sparkled as her hands slid across his shoulders to push the shirt down his arms. She shook her head easily. “We have a very important appointment this afternoon, and we’re not going to be late.”

 

John grunted. “One of the benefits of having my own plane is that I fly whenever I damn well please.” he said darkly as his hands slid to the waistband of her jeans and deftly undid them.

 

Marlena smiled and leaned forward to kiss his throat “Oh I know.” she whispered as her tongue left a warm, wet path to his earlobe, which she took between her teeth and nipped lightly. “It also means that once we’re finished, you can make love to your wife while we’re 35,000 feet above the rest of the world.”

 

John’s eyes shot a panicked glance to the tablet holding his scattered thoughts and scribbled notes that he still needed to transcribe before the meeting and he wondered just how fast a man could write when he had a hot, willing woman and soft leather coach vying for his attention. But leave it to Marlena, she made the decision easier on him.

 

She reached between her thighs and ran her nails lightly over his thick cock. “So.” she jerked her head to the book on the table absently. “…even though you’ll have some work to do during our flight up, we’ll have that lovely thought to look forward to on the way home.” Her fingers gripped tightly and stroked him with expert precision before releasing the catch of his slacks and sliding down the zipper to free him. “Now, what do you say we make the most of the next hour?”

 

“Uh huh.” John mumbled as his palms slid beneath the soft red cashmere sweater she wore and encountered even warmer, silky skin. He lifted the fabric over her head and practically drooled at the sight of her breasts encased in a thin layer of soft, stretchy lace. Red lace.

 

Holy shit.

 

“Yes, baby. Let’s do that!” he agreed, and reached behind her to undo her bra.

 

 

 

Part 5

 

It was fairly safe to say that everything changed that day.

 

And it altered the course of their lives in ways no one had anticipated.

 

Looking back on that fateful afternoon, it was hard to tell exactly what happened – and in what order ; that had cause such a shift in the delicate balance of their lives. For those involved, it no doubt seemed like everything clicked into focus at the exact same moment.

 

John and Marlena were escorted into the spacious office, and only her stunned gasp could be heard as she and her husband came to a jarring halt, and the room fell into an immediate dead silence.

 

“Oh!” Her eyes quickly scanned the room and immediately identified the other occupants.

 

One; of course, was the man they’d come to see, but it was the presence of the younger man who turned at the sound of her voice that had blind-sided her completely.

 

But really, what mother wouldn’t recognize the son she’d raised since he was barely out of diapers?

 

Recognition hit John at exactly the same time as Brady Black looked up at his parents with stunned and slightly guilty eyes.

 

Neither man spoke, as they sized one another up in that instant; their brains calculating the implications of just what finding each other here meant.

 

It took all of about five seconds until 2 pairs of identically angry, ice blue eyes whipped around and pinned the man who pushed to his feet with only a resigned sigh from behind the big desk – arms outstretched in welcome; and his signature enigmatic smile on his face.

 

It took a lot to rattle an experienced warrior like Shane Donovan. He’d been in the spy game for more years than anyone wanted to count. His instincts were razor sharp and finely tuned, which was what made him so capable as the ISA’s Director of Operations.

While John Black had retained his reputation as one of the best agents the ISA ever held on its roster, Shane knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if anyone was going to be paired with his old friend at this late stage of his now resurrected career – it would be his son.

 

While Brady lacked most of the discipline and certainly all of the finesse the ISA usually demanded of its field agents, he had a fire in him to resolve their current conundrum that mirrored his father’s. The simple fact that he’d been willing to throw himself in the DiMera viper pit for the sake of his family’s protection had been exactly what Shane had depended upon when he’s contacted Brady all those months ago and laid out his plan.

“Oh… my… gosh!” Marlena’s whispered; her voice breaking the eerie silence a split second before her husband slammed the door with enough force to rattle the art on the walls, and nearly making her jump out of her skin.

 

It seemed to take no more than a heartbeat before all the men in the room found their voices at the same time, and they all spoke simultaneously.

 

“Now gentlemen, …” Shane began before he was interupted.

 

“What the hell, Director!?” Brady all but shrieked as he hopped to his feet.

 

“Are you insane? There better be a damn good explanation for this!” John boomed.

Shane cleared his throat, intending to continue to speak as well, but it was John’s voice that sliced across the room again before the Englishman had a chance to talk.

 

John Black pinned his son with a glare, but his words were directed at Shane. His voice however, dropped to that deep, deadly calm tone that all of them knew from years of experience, was nothing to trifle with.

 

“Donovan, If you think -even for a split-second, that I will allow my kid to get pulled into the spy game – you’re crazy! I won’t have it! I won’t!” he spat.

 

Brady’s voice joined his father’s as his words were hurled simultaneously at Shane. “Well , so much for me going undercover! This was all supposed to be to protect Dad and Marlena and yet THIS is what you pull?”

 

Shane again, tried to speak, but was cut off.

 

“Protect ME?” John shouted and threw his hands up in utter confusion. “Are you both out of your God damn minds?”

 

“John, please stop shouting and give him a chance to explain. Maybe it’s not…” Marlena tried; laying a hand on John’s arm, before Brady interrupted pointing a finger at Shane.

 

“If this is the ‘change in the game plan’ you mentioned Director, then I really don’t see how any of this is going to work at all. If you think I’m going to continue to put myself on the line….”

 

John jumped on his words. “Gameplan? What the fuck are you talking about! You will not…..”

 

Neither John nor Brady had a chance to finish either of their sentence, before Shane’s voice silenced them both.

 

“That. Is. Enough!” Shane said with enough force to bring all conversation to a screeching halt.

 

Immediately lowering the volume to a more normal level as he walked around the desk- ignoring both seething men in the process and formally greeted Marlena, kissing both of her cheeks in proper British fashion.
“Marlena. You’re looking as lovely as ever. It’s wonderful to see you again” he said, his lilting English accent. “I’m so sorry to have put you into the middle of this, but I think it’s time the Black men learned how to play nice.”

 

He looked over his shoulder to find both men staring at him; hands on their hips, chests heaving, just waiting for the next pause in Shane’s words so they could pounce again.

Brady fidgeted and looked as though he were going to attempt to speak, but John cut him off with an angry smirk. “Stow it kid.” he said through clenched teeth. His eyes glittered dangerously and stayed on Shane’s. He drew in a calming breath and tried to control his tone, which –they all knew; was extremely difficult for him. Everyone present could tell John was close to imploding. “Old friend, there better be a damn good explanation for all this.”

 

Shane crossed to John and extended his hand for John to shake. “I give you my word, John. Let’s all sit down and relax a bit and I’ll explain everything to you. All of you.” He held a hand out to Marlena to help guide her into a chair beside the spot Brady had vacated, while John flanked her other side.

 

Brady sat heavily back into his seat with an audible and somewhat petulant sigh.

Marlena gave a glance to her left and then to her right at the men on either side of her, then cast a concerned look at Shane. “I trust you have everything well in hand Shane?” she asked warily.

 

Shane smiled and shrugged. “I’m certainly trying.”

 

Brady fidgeted nervously, and Marlena’s heart squeezed for him. She didn’t yet understand the details, but it seemed that whatever was going on, along with Shane’s help Brady had been trying to protect his father….and her. She laid a hand gently on his arm. “Brady, honey, relax. We’ll get this all worked out.”

 

On her other side she heard John’s loud and impatient exhale. “You don’t know that Doc. None of us really knows that, now do we, because none of us know what the hell is going on!” he bit out, his voice raising with every word.

 

Marlena’s head snapped to her husband, her brow arched in a perfect irritated imitation of his. “John! All this yelling is getting us nowhere! Can’t you just be a little bit patient?” she pleaded.

 

John looked at her, and his eyes softened a bit. “Patient? Really, Doc?” he asked his wife.

 

“Not exactly your strong suit, I know, my love. We all know that.” she smiled. “Please sit down.” said with an indulgent smile, before crossing her legs and calmly folding her hands in her lap before eyeing Shane. “Well Shane, what do you say? Let’s get everyone on the same page, shall we?” she asked diplomatically, though it wasn’t really a question.

 

Shane laced his fingers and looked at his friends. “It’s a simple proposition actually. We all know that Stefano DiMera – and by extension DiMera Enterprises is a massive conglomerate. Stefano has allies all over the globe in almost every facet of the business world. But a fact that is just as well known, yet is studiously overlooked, is that Stefano has just as many enemies.” Shane looked at the three faces before him and knew he held their attention.

 

“It’s taken quite a long time, and a massive amount of legwork but with the ISA’s extensive resources, we’ve spent the last few years laying the foundation to essentially …. build a mousetrap. A rather large and very intricate mousetrap; “ he explained reasonably. “…but a mousetrap all the same. One that we hope will shut Stefano down for good.” Shane’s eyed slid from one face to the next, silently pleased at how he rendered them all speechless.

 

Marlena was the first to speak and her eyes widened in wary surprise. “And you think you’ve found a way to do it?” Even her naturally tactful and genteel nature couldn’t hide the skepticism in her voice.

 

Shane only smiled. “Marlena. Why do you sound so surprised?”

 

John; seemlessly picking up his wife’s train of thought, followed her lead without missing a beat. “Because, as we all know Shane, history has proven that Stefano has a funny way of always outsmarting even the smartest plans. That’s why.” John gave a humorless chuckle. “The sneaky bastard always manages to be one step ahead of us. That’s not exactly a newsflash, is it?”

 

Shane shook his head in agreement. “No. No, it’s not.” He agreed. “But if we can execute this plan correctly, we will cripple Stefano where it hurts him the most.”

John’s eyebrow arched as his brain shifted automatically into ‘agent mode’. “His pocket.” he guessed.

 

Shane nodded.

 

John looked over at his son, who had begun to fidget in his chair again. “And how exactly does my son figure into this master plan of yours?”

 

Shane took a moment. “We all know that while Stefano isn’t as young as he used to be, he still wields the lion’s share of the power in the family. But we’ve discovered that lately he’s been slowly laying the groundwork to begin to turn over control of DiMera Enterprises…..”

 

John and Marlena held a collective breath, while Brady sighed heavily.

 

“…to his heirs. Chad.” Shane began, “….and Kristen.”

 

Watching the light of recognition dawn in John’s eyes as he began to process the implication of his words.

 

Marlena’s brain was sent into overdrive too; but on a much more personal level. She looked at Brady, her jaw hanging open. Her thoughts began to race…

 

“So, with Brady’s help we’ve been…” Shane began.

 

“You’ve been using my kid as a spy.” John said.

 

Shane smirked. “Well, John, that IS our business.” he stated unapologetically.

Marlena was still trying to catch up, as her head pivoted between the men, before landing on Brady who now sat slumped in his seat with his chin in his hand.

 

While the men were focusing on the more strategic aspects of this plan, Marlena was thinking in a much more practical vein. And when realization finally struck, it was like a lightning bolt. She grasped his forearm pulling his eyes to hers. “Oh Brady, honey.” she breathed quietly, “…does that mean what I hope it means?”

 

Eyes that were the exact same shade of blue as his father’s lifted, and held Marlena’s, and after an anxious moment, he nodded gently. He never could lie to Marlena. At least, not directly. The love she’d always felt for him shone on her face every time she looked at him, and made him forget that while he’d grown up without his biological mother, he’d been far from motherless.

 

A part of Marlena’s heart got just a little bit lighter as hope began to blossom inside her that maybe, this whole mess with Brady and Kristen seemed now to be part of an elaborate ruse, and not the twisted, perverse pseudo-romance that Brady had been trying so hard to make everyone believe was true love.

 

Beside her, John followed a slightly altered train of thinking as he rose impatiently to his feet and began a slow pace along the carpet that faced Shane’s desk until he stood directly in front of Brady’s chair.

 

Everyone in the room tensed.

 

“So… let me see if I understand this brilliant plan of yours Donovan. You’ve not only turned my kid into an undercover operative….” he spoke, in a dangerously low growl, “…but now you’re telling me that you’re also dangling him as bait in front of Stefano DiMera? Do I have that right?”

 

Marlena took a breath, ready to try to calm John’s ire, but Brady laid a hand on her arm, in a silent show of understanding. His voice was almost a whisper. “It’s ok.” he said, trying to ease her worry. He looked up at his father with tired eyes. “Dad. I promise you, I’m fine. And thanks to Director Donovan’s constant supervision…” he cast a look at Shane, “…I’m never without back-up.”

 

Shane nodded. “I know this is difficult for you John, since Brady is your son, but I can assure you, he has never been without the full support of the ISA behind him. I’ve made sure of that.”

 

John looked down at his son. “Brady, please understand. It’s not always a question of having back-up.” He said, sliding an evil glare to Shane.

 

“You’re not trained. You don’t have the experience to take on something like this. And Shane,…” his head pivoted to the Director, “…you know very well that one wrong move and this whole thing can come tumbling down like a house of cards.”

 

Shane nodded quietly. “True, But as I’ve said, we’ve woven a very intricate web. And with Brady’s help…”

 

John whirled on his old buddy. “Why the hell didn’t you just call me? Why wouldn’t you just contact ME? If you need help? If you need someone familiar with the inner workings of that crazy son-of-a-bitch’s brain, why not just ask…me? Why go after my son?” John said, his voice rising with every word.

 

The room fell silent as his voice echoed before falling silent.

 

Shane looked pointedly at John, then at Marlena. His words were measured, and carefully chosen. “John. I know that you realize your reputation with the ISA is stellar. Your status with this organization is impeccable and we know that we can depend on you for almost anything. The success rate on your missions rivals the best agents the ISA has ever had. Ever.”

 

John knew all of this to be true, so he shrugged his shoulders in baffled agreement. “Right! So…why?”

 

Shane looked at Marlena, then again at John. “Because we know that you decided you wanted to put some distance between the ISA and your personal life. And we wanted to respect that decision.”

 

John huffed out a breath and resumed his position in his seat, while Marlena – whose head had been pivoting between her husband and her son snapped to Shane. Her voice, much like her husbands, deepened significantly when she got her hackles up. Her hazel eyes narrowed on the Englishman. “If you’re thinking for even a moment that I’ll ever apologize for wanting John away from this business; you are very sadly mistaken.”

 

Shane shook his head defensively. “That wasn’t what I meant Marlena. Not at all.” He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “No one knows better than I the sacrifices that have to be made when you sign on with the ISA. My family life – or lack thereof has certainly suffered. My marriage to Kimberly was a casualty of this war we wage on a daily basis. As is my relationship with my children. I won’t argue that.” he said, his voice laced with sad resignment. “But when we look at the bigger picture, I think you will agree, the rewards outweigh the risks.”

 

“And just what are the rewards Shane.” Marlena said evenly.

 

Shane’s smile held no happiness, but was proud none the less. “I may be a modest man Marlena. But I am good at what I do. Very good in fact. And there aren’t many people who can say the same.” he flicked his eyes over to John and then returned them to Marlena with a quick wink. “Your husband being the most notable exception.” he added with a grin. “We fight the small fights that we can win first, and we stockpile our ammunition for the bigger battles ahead. But those battles take planning. And strategy. Months; sometimes years of preparations.” He shrugged. “That’s where I come in. It is my forte’.” He nodded his head shyly. “I’ve been told we Brits have a knack for it.”

John steepled his fingers impatiently. “This is all very educational Shane, but I still haven’t heard the part about how you found it necessary to rope my son into this fiasco.”

 

Shane took a deep breath. “Brady was chosen ….for his pedigree.”

 

John’s eyebrow arched dangerously but Shane merely held up a halting hand, and went on.

 

“Brady’s participation was desirable on many levels. His involvement in Basic Black is extensive. His connections to The Titan Corporation and to Kiriakis International are massive. He’s proven himself to be a formidable businessman, a wise investor and a shrewd negotiator. And yes, his family connections were what ultimately tipped the scale in his favor. The fact that he is your flesh and blood John, was certainly more than just a contributing factor.” Shane smirked. “Each aspect of Brady’s possible involvement was strategically engineered to pique Stefano’s interest.”

 

John’s body went still. So did his blood.

 

“His interest in what?” Marlena questioned.

 

Brady sighed and hung his head almost shyly.

 

Shane spoke only a single word. “Domination.”

 

 

Part 6

 

The room had fallen quiet. Dead quiet.

 

John’s voice broke the stillness as he repeated the word Shane had dropped like an atom bomb on the conversation. “Domination?”

 

Shane nodded, and began in his typically calm, collected tone. “Look. We know that Stefano loves money. And we know that he loves power. But we also know that – above all else, Stefano loves the challenge he gets from playing his twisted games. And the only games he plays, are the ones he’s sure he’ll win.” He watched the faces of his guests with satisfaction when no one disagreed with him. “Most of the time, he engineers his challenges so that his victims never even realize they’re being played.” He raised his eyes somewhat guiltily to his old friend. “I would imagine, no one knows that quite as well as you do, John.” he said quietly.

 

Even without touching her, John felt the tremble that coursed through Marlena and shook her to her very soul. He nodded in silent agreement, as Shane continued.

“That being said, we know how much Stefano enjoys orchestrating his evil little charades. So I thought, what better way to entice him….than with a game of our own.”

Marlena swallowed audibly. “And Brady’s family connections; as you put it, are meant to entice Stefano…to do what exactly?”

 

Shane sat forward and folded his hands on his desk as he looked at them all. “What if Stefano thought he could unknowingly manipulate Brady’s supposed love for Kristen, and use it draw him into the DiMera family fold. And in doing so, wrest away from Brady his controlling interests in both Titan Inc. and Kiriakis International. Then; sneak in and pull the rug out from under Basic Black Worldwide…and do it all with the added satisfaction of having used the only son of his arch enemy to ruin it all.” He waited for that to sink in before he added; ” In one… fell… swoop.”

 

“Damn.” John breathed as the implication of Shane’s words settled in his chest and blossomed to a dull ache as realization began to take hold. “The combined resources of Titan Inc. and Kiriakis International are extensive on their own. Pile on Basic Black’s diversified company roster, and add it to what DiMera Enterprises is already worth…Jesus. It would make Stefano…” his voice trailed off before Marlena picked up his train of thought.

 

“… virtually unstoppable. He would be wealthy beyond belief and his business holdings would boggle the mind.”

 

Shane nodded in agreement. “He could; in all likelihood, become one of the single largest business magnates- in the world.” Shane stated. “He would rival the richest and most powerful capitalists on the planet.”

 

Marlena let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “He’d like that wouldn’t he?” she said meekly. As much as she might loathe the basis for Shane’s plan, she knew the inner workings of Stefano’s psyche. She could easily recognize the appeal such a challenge would have on him and his massively overblown ego.

 

Shane only nodded.

 

Marlena glanced over at John. “So, it looks like you weren’t too far off the mark after all. It all boils down to money… and power.” she said quietly.

 

John looked at his wife. “And control.” he glanced at Brady who’d been wisely silent this whole time. “Much as I hate to admit it Shane, you’ve made a valid argument.”

 

Shane’s smile lasted only a hint of a second before John’s eyes narrowed again and he pointed an accusing finger at him. “Doesn’t mean for even a heartbeat that I like you going behind my back and recruiting my boy.”

 

Shane capitulated. “I know that this is hard for you John, simply because Brady is your son, but I think that, if we look at this in the most logical vein, we can all agree that joining forces not only gives us an obvious advantage, but also the best average for a favorable outcome.”

 

John leaned back in his chair to look around Marlena’s back to where Brady sat and addressed his son. “I’m assuming Vic has no idea that you have any involvements in anything other than your job at Titan, right kid?”

 

Brady shook his head and spoke for the first time in quite a while. “No, of course not. Grandad has no knowledge whatsoever about this. No one does. Except the two of you, now.” he shrugged. “Director Donovan has been quite insistent on that.”

 

John shook his head at Brady, then at Shane. “You better make damn sure he doesn’t get a whiff of what’s going on Brady. Don’t underestimate him. Vic is no pushover.” John said with obvious respect for the older man.

 

Marlena’s head turned toward Brady as well. “And Kristen?” she asked quietly in that way she always had where her eyes asked more of a question than her words.

Brady hoped he wasn’t visibly blushing, but his face suddenly felt like it was on the receiving end of a blowtorch. He shook his head at Marlena and struggled to avoid looking directly at her, not wanting to see the hurt and disappointment he was sure he’d find there after deceiving them all. “No, I think I’ve been quite convincing. She believes I’m hopelessly in love with her and that I’d be willing to do anything for her. Even going so far as to betray my family.” He looked down at his lap. “She already thinks that our relationship is some sort of victory against you and Dad.”

 

Marlena knew that fact all too well, though she took no glory in it, and instead reached over to lay a comforting hand on Brady’s where it rested on the arm of his chair. Her voice; when she spoke was quiet and calm, but it seemed as stern to him now as it did when he was 7 and he got reprimanded for playing his video games long after his bedtime. “Brady, honey… please know that Kristen will do absolutely anything to get what she wants.” Her voice gentled a bit so as not to be condescending, but she commanded his attention none the less. “Even if she is serious about you, and of her feelings for you – which she may very well be; she would think nothing of stabbing you in the back to achieve her goals.”

 

John nodded. “You have to understand Brady, that if push ever comes to shove and Kristen is forced to choose sides with either you or the old man…. Stefano will always win out. She may expect you to turn on your family, but believe me kid; she’d never do the same. She talks a good game, but she doesn’t have the guts to defy Stefano.”

Brady nodded only half-heartedly, and tried not to be impatient. “I know that Dad, Marlena. Believe me, I do.” he stressed. “But she has no idea what’s really going on. She thinks I’m blindly in love with her. And, I honestly think in her own weird way, she loves me. ”

 

Marlena’s eyes dropped from Brady’s, her heart aching just a little bit at the knowledge that Brady still held on to a tiny glimmer of hope; just as John had, that maybe there was some good in Kristen. She’d felt that way herself too, a long, long time ago, but had learned the hard way that it was simply impossible. Brady would have to do the same.

John shook his head, but his voice was sharp. “Son, she doesn’t know the meaning of the word. Trust me. I’m not proud to say it, but I speak from experience here.” he said bitterly.

 

Marlena tried to take a bit of the edge off John’s words. “Honey, even though she might not be Stefano’s blood, she IS his daughter. In every way. And at her core, sadly, she is as ruthless and as evil as he is. Please don’t let yourself be fooled by her duplicity.” she pleaded with him gently, laying warm fingers along the back of his hand. “Her feelings aren’t to be trusted any more than her words.” she said gently.

 

Brady knew that what they were saying was the truth. And he wished he could assure them that he had a handle on the situation. But he knew things were still too raw at the moment and in reality, there were way too many variables. This grand deception of theirs would just have to play itself out on its own. But he had confidence that he could pull it off. He had to. Otherwise, what would be the point?

 

“Please, just trust me.” Brady smiled at Marlena gratefully, and gave her an adorable wink. “And don’t worry.” he said, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing it quietly. “I got this.”

 

In that moment, she saw so much of his father in him, that she thought her heart might just explode with happiness. Marlena’s face split with a grin from ear to ear as she looked at him with eyes that held nothing but love.

 

To hell with biology; she thought. This was her son. In every way. And he always would be. She’d watched him evolve from a precocious little boy, to a teenager haunted by demons of his deceased mother, and into a magnificent and magnetic man. He held a place in her heart that was as steadfast and as deeply rooted as Eric, Samantha or Belle.

 

John watched the exchange silently, and marveled again at the woman he was so fortunate to have by his side as he walked through this adventure called life. He could never have asked for a better mother to his children or a more loyal partner of his heart. He smiled at them, and felt the tiniest bit of hope blossom in his mind that maybe this was doable after all.

 

Marlena willed away the tears that pooled in her eyes and reached for John on her other side before she looked at Shane. Gripping both of their hands in her own, she drew courage from their warmth as she shook her bangs from her forehead and took a deep, cleansing breath. “OK Shane.”

 

Like John, Shane had been wisely quiet as well, appreciating from afar, the relationship Marlena had forged with her stepson so many moons ago. It was glaringly apparent that her love for him knew no bounds. That knowledge, made Brady’s involvement in this plot even more tenacious. It gave him a new sense of respect for the younger Mr. Black.

Marlena looked at Shane with a renewed demeanor of purpose and zeal. “Let’s lay it all out.”

 

Shane looked unsure for a minute, his gaze catching John’s questioningly.
John only smiled at him and threaded his fingers through his wife’s. “Might as well get used to it Shane. Marlena’s a part of this now as much as I ….” he looked over to Brady with a proud nod of his head, “…and my son are. Let’s get this thing done.”

 

Shane quickly weighed the implications of just what that might entail. In all honesty, it was a contingency he’d already planned on, so the decision wasn’t a tough one.

 

“All right then.” he said simply. “Here’s how this is all going to go down.”

 

 

Part 7

 

John hung up the phone with the cockpit and he looked out the window at the setting sun. His pilot, Charlie said they’d gotten the ‘all-clear’ from the tower to make their final preparation before take-off from Washington and we’re just awaiting their official departure instructions.

 

According to Charlie, there were some storms that were moving across their projected flight path that might pepper their ride with some turbulence and he wanted them to be prepared. The unstable conditions in the atmosphere seemed fitting to John, since he was feeling a bit unstable himself. He gazed out the window again and tried to corral some of the random thoughts rolling around in his head.

 

“Charlie says we might be in for a bumpy ride tonight sweetheart. Let’s make sure we’re not caught off guard. ”

 

“All righty then.” she said with an easy smile.

 

He watched Marlena move easily around the cabin storing his jacket and her purse in one of the small compartments toward the rear of the aircraft before she stepped over to the bar. Calm cool and collected. That was his Doc.

 

She didn’t look the least bit perturbed by the day’s events, and he guessed he should be thankful for that. Her movements were relaxed and comfortable. She poured a Scotch on the rocks for John, and a glass of Pinot Grigio for herself, and capped and stored both bottles before coming to sit beside him on the leather sofa.

 

Taking the tumbler gratefully from her hand, he swirled the amber liquid around, listening to the gentle clinks of the cubes against the cut glass. He indulged in an icy sip before he stretched his other arm across the back of the sofa, and smiled when Marlena snuggled down into his side. He tugged her closer and kissed her forehead with chilly lips, chuckling when she shivered. “Sorry Doc.” he smiled easily.

 

Marlena tilted her head up with a smile in search of another kiss, and was, of course rewarded with one. She winked at him saucily. “I’m sure I’ll find a way to have you make it up to me.” she said in a playfully sexy voice that had John swallowing forcibly.

“Happily.” John nodded his agreement, though she could tell he was still distracted. It was hard not to be.

 

It took a minute before her mellow voice broke the quiet. “You know, I know that I don’t have even the tiniest percentage of the experience that you have in things like this, but I do know Stefano.”

 

John nodded again, and looked at her. “Do I sense a “but” coming?” John set his drink into the little well built into the side tables that would hopefully prevent any spillage during their flight, and then slid Marlena’s wine glass in beside it.

 

“But…” she said, “…if this strategy of Shane’s goes according to plan, it might just be the incentive Stefano needs. If we can…draw him out, it’ll be impossible for him to resist.”

 

John was quiet for a moment, and Marlena knew his mind was busy calculating all the possible outcomes. “If this thing goes according to plan, yes. But chances are we’ll hit more than just a snag or two.”

 

Marlena considered that thought. “Don’t you think Shane has built a little leeway into this operation?”

 

“Sure Doc. I’m not trying to be deliberately negative, but history alone tells us that when it comes to Stefano DiMera, the only thing we can be sure to expect – is the unexpected.”

 

Marlena shuddered. “Don’t we know that from experience.” she said, bitter sarcasm evident in her tone.

 

“We sure do.” he agreed, sadly. “But you know what? We’ve got a lot going for us too.”

Marlena sat up and turned to look at him. She tilted her head with a smile, happy to know that he held on to even a small measure of hope in what was about to unfold.

“We do.” he reiterated simply. “ If Brady can pull off this deception of his with Kristen – not that I approve of it, by ANY means; “ he added adamantly, “but if he can keep this charade going a little while longer, we might be able to at least have the tiny bit of leverage we need to get the ball rolling.”

 

“That’s Shane’s belief as well.” she concurred.

 

John nodded. “All we have to do is set the wheels in motion. If Stefano takes the bait…”

“When he takes the bait.” Marlena corrected optimistically.

 

“When. “ John relented. “When he takes the bait – that’s when we round up the troops. Once we get all our wagons in a circle, and everyone gets on board, I think we’ll pick up the momentum we need. If Donovan’s right….” he mused holding a palm out, as his voice trailed off.

 

Marlena sighed. “I know. Shane believes this may be our only true hope of bringing Stefano to his knees. Well, metaphorically speaking.” she added quietly.

 

John released a heavy breath. “Look, Doc. You know I wanna stay positive, but I think it’s better if we don’t get our hopes up too high. There are still a million and one things that can go wrong.”

 

Marlena nodded with a sigh of her own. “Oh I know.” she grimaced. “ ‘The best laid plans…’ eh. ” she quoted.

 

“Exactly.” John said with a hopeful shrug. “We really do have to take this one step at a time. If we don’t; and Stefano gets wind of this….” he sighed. “…this whole plan could nosedive in an instant.”

 

The phone on the table beside John’s elbow buzzed discreetly, interrupting his somber train of thought. John picked it up. “Yeah Charlie.”

 

“Mr. Black, if you and Mrs. Black will get buckled in, we’ll prepare for takeoff? We’re about to taxi into position.”

 

Beneath them, the Blackhawks powerful engines whined to life as the blocks were removed from beneath the wheels and the plane began to move slowly across the tarmac to its assigned place in line on the runway.

 

“Will do Charlie.” John replied. “We’ll be ready.”

 

“Can I get you or Mrs. Black anything before we take off? I’d be glad to send Patrick back into the cabin to see if you folks need anything.” he said, referencing his co-pilot.

“No, thanks man, we’re good.” he said. “Let’s head for home.”

 

“Yes, sir.” Charlie said with purpose before signing off.

 

`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`

 

Brady stuffed some contracts and other assorted files back into his briefcase, as the flight attendants alerted the passengers that they were beginning their descent to Salem Airport. They’d hit a good deal of turbulence on the way home and he wondered if his dad and Marlena would too. His flight had departed more than an hour before theirs, so he’d had to rush across town from ISA Headquarters to catch his plane.

 

He would have loved to hop a ride back to Salem on John’s plane and avoid all the hassles associated with flying commercial– even if he was seated quite comfortably in First Class, but he needed to continue being as cautious as possible. He never knew when Kristen – or any of Stefano’s other loyal minions, would be out and about spying on him.

 

So, ‘keeping up appearances’ would continue to be the rule of the day. At least for the conceivable future.

 

The one spot of good news was that he’d used the time to focus on some of the paperwork he’d had the good sense and forethought to grab off his desk on his way out of his office that afternoon. So instead of being preoccupied with how much he hated flying commercially – especially when conditions were less than perfect, he’d accomplished a good deal of work. The day hadn’t turned out to be the complete waste of time he’d feared it would be when he’d started out that morning.

 

The downside: he certainly wasn’t looking forward to heading back to Kristen’s hotel tonight, even though he’d promised her he would. She’d be whiny and needy and would probably pepper him with a million silly, pointless, nosey questions and just be an all-around pain in the ass, and he was really in no mood for that bullshit tonight.

 

If he didn’t show up, however, she was sure to throw an all-out hissy fit; complete with tears and wailing and moaning about of how much she missed him, and how he was her only friend, and how everyone hates her and blah, blah, blah. And God help him, he had neither the energy nor the patience to deal with that crap either.

 

Oh how he wished he could just go home and sleep in his own bed; peacefully, quietly. Blissfully alone.

 

But that was not to be.

 

He had no choice but to continue with this charade. At least now he’d be able to do it knowing that his dad and Marlena could be comforted knowing it was nothing but a sham.

 

Somehow; he thought, the deception had felt easier when no one knew he was lying. Not that that little fact had made it any easier. Quite the opposite in fact. He’d never fancied himself as much of an actor, but the past few months had seemingly taught him otherwise. And all things considered, he thought he’d done a fairly convincing job.

 

He would admit, he really was happy he no longer had to see that look of pity and sad frustration on Marlena’s face, and be tortured by the knowledge of how disappointed in him she must have been, thinking that he was truly in love with Kristen, and was willing to toss her and his father aside so casually to foster that relationship. He and Marlena had certainly had their ups and downs over the years, but knowing how it must have hurt her was like a blow to his heart.

 

The anger and disappointment he’d caused his father was another sin he wasn’t sure he’d ever truly recover from. But as with everything else about this weird parallel universe he’d been living in lately, he was hoping the ends would justify the means.

He sighed deeply and pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and tossed a piece in his mouth to help with the popping of his ears as the plane descended and landed smoothly on the runway.

 

The pretty flight attendant who’d been smiling at him since she’d welcomed him aboard, and discreetly slipped him her phone number on a cocktail napkin, popped by his seat one final time to let him know if there was anything at all she could do for him, she had a 36-hour layover in Salem that she’d be delighted to spend with him.

 

This farce of an affair with Kristen certainly hadn’t made him immune to a gorgeous woman. And this girl was hot. Hair that looked like shiny mahogany and eyes the color of melted chocolate were certainly nothing to walk away from; nor was a body that curved and swayed in all the right places. And heaven knew he was man enough to admit that any other time, he’d have taken her up on her offer without a second thought. Brady Black appreciated a beautiful woman, and beautiful women appreciated Brady Black.

 

But….there was Kristen. And with Kristen came “The Plan” as he’d come to think of it.

Shit. The Plan.

 

He smiled gallantly and refused her more than generous offer in the most gentlemanly way he knew how, and wondered again how much longer he’d have to turn offers like that down before all this ISA and DiMera nonsense was over and done with. He gave himself a mental slap on the forehead; and not for the first time today. Better not to dwell on it. There wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it any way.

 

Not yet.

 

“Well, Brady.“ he mumbled to himself under his breath as he watched the girl saunter away; all the while appreciating the view of her very fine rear end as it disappeared beyond the curtain into the next cabin to help escort the coach passengers from the aircraft. He groaned, gathered his belongings and got himself ready to deplane. “Might as well get on with it.”

 

`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`*`

 

Kristen paced the carpet in front of the bed, surprising even herself that she hadn’t worn holes in the fabric as she waited for Brady’s return.

 

When he’d called that morning telling her he had to go out of town on a spur of the moment thing, she’d wanted to scream. Not that she’d miss him; well, not really. Not the way she wanted him to THINK she’d miss him anyway. She sighed. Sometimes this whole charade was so tiring.

 

She was still seething at having been dished up a hearty serving of crow as John came back to Salem a few days ago- and rushed right back into Marlena’s waiting arms once again. Could she never catch a break? What would it ever take, she wondered, to get him away from his precious Doc?

 

She’d been so sure when John had bolted after their ill fated little meeting in this very room that she’d successfully driven a big enough wedge between John and Marlena to finally shake the good doctor’s trust in her hero of a husband.

 

But it hadn’t lasted.

 

It never did. Dammit!

 

She’d taken great pride in the way Marlena had moped around town while John was MIA, looking for all the world to see like some poor lost waif whose lover had up and disappeared. Which in a way he had. Except of course for the fact that he sure wasted no time once he was back on solid ground in beating a path right back to her door…and to her bed apparently.

She stopped and scowled at her own reflection in the mirror. “Damn goody-two-shoes bitch!” she spat. “What the hell does he see in that sanctimonious do-gooder anyway? What’s she got that I haven’t got?” She let her eyes wander over her mirror image.

Dressed in a short, teal colored nightie trimmed in black lace, she smoothed the shiny fabric over her middle. “Good enough to tempt Brady.” she grinned evilly. “Maybe John would rather come crawling back to you and your saintly ways Marlena, but I have Brady Black. And I have him exactly where I want him. Between the sheets.”

 

She grinned appreciatively at her reflection. She looked pretty damn good. At least, she thought she did. Well, as long as they didn’t look too closely.

 

Her eyes twinkled with spite. She stepped closer to the mirror and leaned in, scanning her face with more concentration. The make-up did wonders at filling in the tiny little creases, but some of the lines etched on her face were just to deep to hide. Greed, spite and venom tended to make their presence known on a woman’s face and she was surely no exception. Not at her age anyway.

 

That was something she refused to dwell on: her age. She refused to think – for the millionth time, of just how many years it was that she had on Brady anyway.

 

Aaaah, Brady, she thought. Her grin kicked up at the corner. “So gullible.” she thought with derision. “Gullible, love struck Brady.” She knew her relationship with Brady irked Marlena to no end. And irking Marlena pleased her inordinately.

 

“It’s not like we all lead perfect little lives filled with sunshine and lollipops. Do we Doc?” she sneered “That’s ok, Marlena.” she said to the empty room. “One of these days John will come to his senses.” she said with more strength than she actually felt. “But until then, I guess I’ll just have to console myself with a younger, hotter version.” she preened sarcastically.

 

Just then her phone chimed on the nightstand and she practically jumped at the sound. Her long legs ate up the distance and she snatched the phone from the tabletop and peered at the screen. It was from Brady. “Just landed in Salem. See you soon. Love you.”

 

She tossed her head back and cackled with delight. “Atta boy Brady. Come home to Momma.” she crowed, before wincing at her own poor choice of words. She’d studiously avoided thinking about the fact that she once been Brady’s mother. Well, step mother. Sort of. Almost.

 

Though, even back when he was a toddler; she mused, Brady would see Marlena walk into a room and it was like everyone else ceased to exist. He’d dash into her arms and cuddle close as she cooed to him; his head pressed close to hers and his little arms locked around her neck. Marlena would whisper into his ear as she rocked him and held him tight to her, and Brady just beamed at her like she’d hung the moon.

 

“Bitch!” Irritated all over again, Kristen shook off thoughts of the past and proceeded to type a string of hearts and kissy-face emoji’s into her phone, then pressed SEND. Now all she had to do was wait for Brady.

 

One way or another, she thought, she’d get her revenge. On John. And on Marlena. She’d see to it.

 

Little did she know; however, she wasn’t the only one harboring plans of revenge that night.

 

 

Part 8

 

John hung up the phone with the cockpit and stood, helping Marlena to her feet. “All right baby, let’s get your seatbelt on. We’re ready for lift off.” he said as they moved to the cluster of club chairs in the rear of the main cabin. Her heart did a happy little skip at the thought of their little pre-flight ritual.

 

Marlena sat lightly and looked up at her husband, her eyelashes batting prettily, before letting the grin split her face. She reached her arms out to him, and slid her hands slowly across his broad shoulders as he leaned down toward her. The muscles in his shoulders bunched beneath her fingers. Yum.

 

With a glint in his eyes, and a sexy little wink, John slid his hands along her thighs and around her hips as he reached for the seatbelt straps in the crease of the gray leather seat just beneath her cute little bottom. With a laugh, he gave her ass a gentle little pinch that they both enjoyed, and while he did, he skimmed his lips warmly along her neck, and kissed her, loving the satiny feel of her skin against his lips and the faint, sweet smell of peaches from her shampoo. It was just insane how he adored all the little things about her.

 

Marlena sighed, reveling at the feeling of peacefulness that came from being totally immersed in the safety and the bliss of this man’s love. And oh, how she loved him. Sometimes it still amazed her that just a small, simple kiss affected her so. She could feel the way her heartbeat immediately quickened and her skin tingled whenever it was in close proximity to his. And the lovely thing was that it had been that way since the very beginning.

 

She tightened her arms around his neck pulling him closer and tilted her head to happily return his kiss. Her lips landed just below his ear, and her senses filled with the cool, spicy aroma of the cologne that still clung to his skin. She breathed deeply and lovingly, before moving her head back just a bit and nipping his earlobe gently with her teeth. He shivered when her tongue peaked out to stroke the freshly nibbled on flesh.

 

John growled low in his throat, making Marlena giggle.

 

Her voice was a sweet, warm whisper that slid into his ear. “You taste so damn good.” she said softly as she felt him click the belt in her lap into place.

 

John hands moved slowly up her body, grazing the backs of his knuckles purposely against the stiffening tips of her nipples that jutted out proudly from beneath her blouse. He felt the shiver of delight that zinged through her, as it was seemingly transported from her body, and shot like lightning into his own. “You’re gonna be the death of me, woman.” he teased with a sexy grin.

 

Moving to cup her cheeks in his palms, he pulled her eyes to his. Before she could even blink, his lips came down hard on hers, determined and filled with need. His tongue speared the warm recesses of her mouth; searching for the flavor of her that he was so completely addicted to.

 

Desire sizzled in the air.

 

If it wasn’t for the dull chime that filled the otherwise quiet cabin, things might have flamed out of control there and then, but John’s ears picked up on the subtle sound, and he reluctantly pulled his mouth from hers and grudgingly sagged into the seat beside her.

 

“Dammit.” he mumbled, as he let go of her only long enough to fasten his own seatbelt as they felt the plane turn slightly before lurching to a brief halt at the base of the runway as the engines revved.

 

Charlie’s voice followed another louder chime as the overhead speaker announced their departure. “Mr. & Mrs. Black. Please be sure your seatbelts are fastened, we are clear for take-off.”

 

As had always been their habit, John held out his palm and smiled to find Marlena’s hand open and ready to join his. Lacing his fingers through hers they leaned back against the leather head rests and listened. The engines howled as the brakes were released and the big jet began its bumpy procession down the runway quickly picking up speed. In less than a minute the wheels lifted from the tarmac and they were airborne and aimed for the clouds.

 

Gravity did its job, pinning them to their seats for the next few minutes until the aircraft leveled out and the plane had reached its desired cruising altitude. Soon the discreet little seatbelt light on the panel above them blinked off, signaling they could move around more freely.

 

Marlena smiled at him. “Perfect lift-off.

 

John unlatched his seatbelt almost immediately and angled his body toward hers while he brought their joined hands to his lips and laid a kiss across her knuckles. “Yeah but, remind me to have Charlie work on his timing.” he joked, the desire in his eyes was still evident.

 

Marlena only smiled at him with eyes full of love. “Man. I am one lucky woman, you know that?” she said quietly.

 

He nodded easily. “I know the feeling.” he said sincerely and kissed her hand again.

Marlena turned to look out the window as the plane floated above the clouds. “Wow.” The setting sun struggled to poke its last rays of the day through every gap and crevice, and turned the early evening sky to a gorgeous canvas of purples, oranges and blues. She sighed. “Isn’t that beautiful.”

 

Beside her John spoke softly. “It most certainly is.” he agreed.

 

“The colors are just magnificent, aren’t they?” she asked, hearing only a non-committal grunt in response. When she turned her head from the window to look at him, his eyes were looking nowhere near the picturesque evening sky – but rather at her.

She smiled “I was talking about the view.”

 

“So was I.” he stated simply, his eyes still cemented on hers.

 

She jerked a thumb in the direction of the window. “I meant the view out there. It’s beautiful! ” she laughed.

 

John just shrugged his shoulders. “No need for me to look outside when there’s such incredible beauty right in front of me.”

 

Marlena; finding it impossible not to blush like a schoolgirl, pinned his eyes with her own. “Ah, John Black. How is it that you can say even the corniest things sometimes, and it’s still just …so … unbelievably romantic?” she questioned innocently.

 

John chuckled. “What can I say? You inspire me.” he added with a wink.

 

She grinned at him as she reached to unclip her own belt. “Really?” She pushed easily up out of her seat and swung gently into his lap, hooking an arm around his neck. “Hmmm. I think I’d like to hear some more about that.”

 

John tightened his arms happily around her middle and held her close. “I’m not sure if I can even put it into words.” he explained seriously.

 

Marlena’s eyebrow hitched. “Try.” she whispered just before her lips moved to the shell of his ear, where she kissed him ever so lightly. John’s legs tightened beneath her, making her immediately go back in for another feather-light peck. The hard-on that had barely begun to abate since their last kiss returned quickly – and with a roaring vengeance.

 

“Try, huh?” he said, his voice immediately husky with desire as her cute little ass nestled sexily into his lap. Deciding honesty was the best policy, he thought for a moment. “Well, you inspire me every day. You inspire me to be a good father, and a good grandfather.” he said easily, as she kissed the tip of his ear with smiling lips. “And every time I look at you, I’m inspired to be a better husband.”

 

Her laugh was low and throaty. “Oh, my. That’s a good start. What else?” she mumbled against his neck, as her lips slid down a bit lower.

 

“You inspire me to better man. You always have.” he said quietly. Seriously.

 

The sincerity in his voice brought her head up. She looked him in the eyes and rested her forehead on his. “You; my love, are the finest man I’ve ever known. You amaze me every day with your integrity, with your sincerity, with your strength. I’m so very thankful for that. ” her voice whispered sweetly against his lips and quickened his blood.

 

John swallowed audibly. “Sounds pretty lofty. I’m not a saint, you know.”

 

“Oh, I know. I’m pretty thankful for that too.” she chuckled as her lips skimmed across his cheek, and her fingers sifted through the hair at the nape of his neck. She kissed his temple sweetly, her lips feather-light as she held his head aloft with her fingers, before dipping back down and scraping her teeth along the taunt skin of his cheekbone. Feeling the muscles in his thighs bunch and tighten beneath her own sent a thrill through her. Dear God, how she loved the effect she had on him.

 

“You should be. Because right now you’re inspiring me to remove every piece of clothing from this beautiful body of yours, and do some very unholy things to you. That’s not very saintly.” he groaned as his hand cruised up her side to slide across her breasts; his thumb stroking her nipple with slow, practiced ease.

 

Marlena felt the desire in her go from a smoldering flame to a 10-alarm blaze in the span of a heartbeat. “No.” she gasped in agreement. “No, it’s not.” She struggled to pull in a gulp of air as John’s talented fingers caressed her breasts while his mouth connected with her collarbone. She enjoyed the warm wetness of his tongue on her skin for only a minute before she obeyed the call of her own hungry body demanding his taste in a much more base, and elemental way.

 

She pulled her body up straighter and attacked his mouth hungrily. Her tongue slid between his lips with fierce purpose, as her arms wound even more tightly around his neck. With John’s mouth opened beneath her own, and his tongue twining deeply with hers, she could feel the rush of hot, wet heat that raced to the juncture of her thighs. She sighed into his mouth.

 

The small sound sent arrows of fire into John and had his lips lifting grudgingly from hers. “That’s it.” he growled darkly. “Enough playing.”

 

He moved with determination as he tightened one arm around her waist and slid the other arm beneath her knees and stood, lifting her effortlessly in his grasp.

 

**************************************************

 

The lilting strains of La Traviata played from the speakers hidden around his study, filling the room with glorious music.

 

Stefano DiMera closed his eyes and let the magnificent voice of Luciano Pavarotti soothe him. By the evening, every man needed an outlet to help him unwind and release the stresses of the day. For Stefano, it was classical music. Opera, with its swelling music and belting vocals somehow managed to calm and relax him in a way nothing else could.

 

Business was good, and if he played his cards right, things were about to be even better.

 

Stefano thought about the project that had consumed most of this past month in fact. He’d been working on a plan to undermine a huge shipping company based at a prime location at the Port of Hong Kong along the South China Sea. If his old ‘frenemy’ Xi Chen was going to continue to be so lackadaisical about the Chinese shipping trade and their U.S. distributions, he’d soon find his export business in a complete shambles, and he’d wake up one morning to find control of his company had disappeared, and Stefano DiMera as his new majority stockholder.

 

Pavarotti’s voice floated across the air, telling Guiseppe Verdi’s tragic tale of love and loss, but Stefano only chuckled. Ruining people’s livelihood and businesses- especially those he claimed to revere as friends, gave him such pleasure. Putting the final touches on this scenario was the brightest spot of this very long and busy day.

 

And if that wasn’t enough, he’d already suffered through 4 tiresome and tedious phone calls tonight alone from his daughter Kristen, and each one had exhausted him more.

Ahh Kristen. Heaven knew he loved her, despite the fact that he was her father only by grace of his own will; but the girl tired him. Apparently a business meeting had taken her precious Brady from her grasp today and Kristen was pouting. He shook his head and tried again to let himself be imbued with the strength of the great tenor’s voice, but it wasn’t easy.

 

At his elbow his cell phone rang once again and Stefano tensed. Squinting to see Kristen’s name on the tiny lit display, he sighed. “What now.” He murmured as a shaky, stubby finger tapped the spot on the screen that answered the call.

 

Kristen exhaled heavily. “You don’t need to sound so annoyed Father.”

 

“I would certainly not do such a thing…. without cause.” He responded simply. “You have called me repeatedly already this evening Kristen.” he stated unnecessarily. “So tell me. What IS it?”

 

“Father, please. Why can you not understand how nervous I am with this little arrangement of ours!” she whined.

 

Stefano tried to be patient. “First of all, let us be clear.” He enunciated. “This arrangement is mine, and it will work perfectly if you will please just relax and let me do what is necessary.” he explained for what felt like the millionth time. “Brady Black loves you; does he not?”

 

Kristen grinned. “Yes, he does.” she gloated proudly. “He just texted me from the airport, and he’s on his way home to me right now. Like the love sick puppy he is.”

Stefano lifted his eyes to heaven and sighed. “Bellissima.” he said. “And when the time comes, we will utilize that love to its fullest potential.” he assured her.

 

“Father, will you tell me exactly what you’re going to do? I’ve asked you a hundred times….”

 

Stefano cut in. “And a hundred times I have told you to leave this to me! It is not something you need to concern yourself with.” He enunciated his word maddeningly.

“But Father…” she wailed.

 

“Kr-r-r-isten!” he said emphatically, with a distinct rolling of the ‘R’ in her name. “Please. Enough now! Leave these matters to me and go enjoy your time with young Mr. Black.” he said the name as though the very sound of it on his tongue was distasteful.

 

Kristen sighed audibly, knowing she was making no headway with him. “Fine.” She pouted once again. “We’ll speak tomorrow?”
Stefano gave a nod Kristen didn’t need to see to know was there. “Oh, I have no doubt that we will.” He chided gently. “Goodnight Kristen.”

 

She grimaced. “Good night Father.” He heard her say as he disconnected the call. He set the phone on the edge of the desk again and made the decision that he would not answer it again tonight. No matter the caller. He was tired and he wanted no further pointless discussions with anyone – least of all with Kristen simply because she was bored and missing her young boy toy. He had more important matters with which to concern himself.

 

Once again, Pavarotti’s Alfredo sang of his passion to his beloved Violetta, and Stefano tried to concentrate on the music to calm his apprehension.
The coming few weeks could turn the tide for his little plan and for DiMera Enterprises. The end of the month was looming and that was when Chen’s company; like so many others, would be most vulnerable to be overtaken as the stock certificates he was looking to snatch were renewed.

 

If his strategy proved successful and he could sneak in and wrest the majority of those stocks away from Chen and by extension, the rest of his Board before the Trade Authorities got wind of things, then he could set his sights on Victor Kiriakis’ Titan empire, and- his main objective: Basic Black. Once he’d conquered them, he’d be poised to take his knowledge of his adversaries weaknesses and use them to pull the stock from the company’s principal holdings and would essentially walk away with controlling interests without the government or the shareholders being any the wiser.

And that would only be the beginning. From there, the possibilities would be endless.

In his esteemed opinion, this little plan of his was not only masterfully devious in it complexity but brilliant in its simplicity. The bottom line was: it was doable. If he pulled it off, he would be revered for his business savvy and his strategic skill.

 

Stefano steepled his fingers and enjoyed the fantasy. One he hoped he’d turn into a reality. DiMera Enterprises would spread far and wide across the globe and he would attain the power and the respect of the business world that he felt he was so greatly deserving of.

 

Stefano smiled, his evil heart positively bursting with happiness. Thanks to Kristen’s assistance; not to mention using his clueless son Brady to get his foot in the door, Stefano would not only rip Victor Kiriakis to shreds

 

financially, but he’d finally do what he’d never truly been able to accomplish before: he would beat John Black.

 

As the music swelled and the tragic Violetta died in the arms of her true love Alberto, Stefano smiled and thought of the future. His future. And it was anything but tragic.

He’d see to that.

 

No matter who he had to destroy in the process.

 

*****************************`*****************

 

 

Part 9

 

The steady hum of the plane’s engines provided the perfect backdrop to ignore the world below them. Marlena’s feet left the floor and she was aloft in his arms before she even knew it. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs along with his name, as the speed of his movements caught her by surprise. “Oh! John!” she gasped as he strode the length of the cabin to the long leather coach.

 

He managed to swing her legs to the floor and set her on her feet all the while keeping her pressed against his body. The heat practically rolled off him in waves, warming her instantly where her skin was still pressed deliciously against his.

 

Enticing her. Exciting her.

 

Marlena’s heart beat a steady rhythm as her blood thrummed through her veins. She coiled her arms around his neck once more, her eyes pinning his with a solemn green gaze. “You know, I don’t think…. I’ll ever be able to get on a plane with you and not want to make love to you.” Her body undulated against his as she pulled him close, feeling the hard-on he’d had no chance; and no desire, of concealing. “It’s like some sort of Pavlovian trigger.” she smiled coyly at him.

 

John’s fingers slid between their bodies, already struggling to free the buttons of Marlena’s blouse in his desperate effort to touch her. “God damn right. Let’s keep it that way. Makes having my own plane worth every …single …penny.” The slippery material evaded his rushing fingertips making him groan in frustration. His hands fisted impatiently in the delicate material.

 

Marlena tilted her head back and laughed heartily. “Whatever you do, don’t rip it. I don’t want to have to walk through the airport looking like I’d been ravaged mid-flight.”

 

John’s eyes lifted to hers, and her heart slammed against her ribs at the hot blue desire she saw there. “Well, at least it would be accurate.” he said darkly.

 

She slid her hands from around his shoulders and let them cruise slowly down his chest until they laid atop his, halting his fumbling movements. “You want me to give you some help there, Handsome?” she asked quietly, her voice sexy and dark.

 

“Yes baby, please.” he begged. “Just do it fast.” he said on a rushed breath.

 

Marlena took the tiniest step backwards to put a few scant inches between them as her fingers slid the tiny buttons through their matching holes slowly. She watched him watching her, and it fanned the fire in her belly. Her eyes focused on his face – while his never once wavered from their intense concentration on the movement of her hands.

As she parted the material gently, John’s breathing was audible.

 

“How is it that I never get tired of looking at you? Or touching you.” he said, almost to himself, as his voice trailed off. His hands lifted and reached for her, settling gently at her waist before skimming up over the champagne colored camisole she wore.

 

Even the lightest touch against the delicate silk crackled with heat. He traced his fingers over the lace trimmed edges that framed her breasts and fought for control.

 

He almost chuckled, answering his own question. “It’s never enough.” She was right, he thought. His hands practically itched to rip everything off her, just so he could touch her. “I can’t get enough. My God, you’re just … dammit you’re beautiful Doc.” he said on a whisper.

 

Marlena shrugged the blouse slowly from her shoulders and let it silently flutter to the floor at her feet. “You make me feel beautiful.” she smiled. “Do you have any idea how sexy it is that I can actually feel your eyes on my body when you look at me. It’s …” she searched for a word. “…tangible.”

 

Her hands slid up his chest, and she was powerless to stop the hungry groan that bubbled from deep inside her from filling the otherwise quiet air around them. Every bit of him was hot, and as hard as steel, and it all belonged to her. Hers to touch. Hers to taste. Hers to possess.

 

Most importantly; he was hers to love.

 

Marlena’s fingers skimmed along the placket of John’s crisp white shirt as she began to undo the buttons all the way to his waist. She tugged the material from his slacks and sighed when her fingertips found nothing but warm, heated skin beneath. John growled low in his throat.

 

She smoothed her fingers around toward the small of his back, holding herself tightly against him and smiling as she felt him tremble beneath her touch. Stretching up on tip-toe, she placed a whisper soft kiss on one corner of his mouth, before she leaned over and did the same to the other side. “You’re mighty beautiful yourself, Mr. Black.” she whispered. “And you’re mine.” she added possessively, her hands coasting across his body; fingers flexing along the expanse of hot, rigid muscle until she could slide them up along the column of his neck to cup his jaw . “Do you understand me?” she demanded her voice suddenly filled with fierce determination.

 

John‘s eyes fluttered closed and he breathed deeply, inhaling her scent and trying to hold on to the last shreds of his composure. “Marlena.” He stood still, forcing his hands not to grasp and grab, as he allowed her do as she pleased and speak her piece.

 

Her eyes caught his, deep green and flashing fire. “I love you so much.” she said quietly. “And I will not share you. Not now. Not ever.”

 

Sliding her palms beneath the skin-warmed material of his shirt, she tugged it from his muscled shoulders, and pushed it down his arms. She left it to John to tug it the rest of the way off his wrists while she stroked her hands back down his chest through all the dark hair that was now threaded through with silver. “Never.” She caught his eyes again as she went to work on his belt; but not before she pressed a kiss to the center of his chest and said a silent prayer of thanks at the feel of his heart beating beneath her lips.

Dropping his shirt without a second thought, John raised his hands to cup her cheeks and bring her gaze to his. “I love you, Marlena.” he mumbled a millisecond before his mouth opened on hers; hot and wet and more than just the tiniest bit impatient.

 

Never one to shy away from a little heat – especially from this man, Marlena gave herself willingly over to the kiss. And she gave as good as she got. Kissing this man, was not something a woman took lightly. Not this woman anyway. But for as much as her senses were swimming, she still wanted more.

 

So she took it. Her hands moved with determination.

 

John was so intent and the taste of her lips, it took the cool air conditioned air of the jet’s cabin as it hit the backs of his knees when she pushed his slacks down over his hips to jolt him back to full awareness. He stepped out of them quickly and kicked them aside before he slid his lips almost grudgingly from hers.

 

Looking down at his wife, he tried to modulate his breathing and struggled as he always did, to take his time loving this amazing woman.

 

He looked briefly behind him at the couch and dropped his hands gently to her hips. His erection was testing the confines of his briefs, but still he smiled at her and sat carefully, tugging her gently to stand in front of him, his fingers urging her close enough between his splayed thighs to lay his lips on her silk covered stomach.

 

Marlena’s knees rubbed tantalizingly across his cock; the move neither accidental nor subtle. She sighed like a contented kitten and scratched her nails across his scalp, as they combed repeatedly through his hair. His breath continued to warm her tummy as he lifted the camisole up from her waistband of her pants as his lips went in search of skin. She could feel the warm, wet swipe of his tongue and it did nothing but fan the fire that burned inside her.

 

John’s hands were suddenly more adept at unfastening buttons it seemed, as the one that held her slacks up gave way to his fast fingers. Sliding the material down over the slim curve of her hips, they were soon puddled around her ankles.

 

Marlena took advantage of the brief moment of clarity and braced her hands on John’s shoulders as she stepped free of her clothing before leaning down to the phone on the table beside him. She lifted the receiver and swallowed to clear her throat while she still had a few functioning brain cells. It was their co-pilot Patrick who answered the line in the cockpit.

 

“Good evening Mrs. Black, how can I help you?” he said when he heard her voice. “Are you folks OK back there?”

 

Marlena struggled to keep her tone even. “We’re just fine Pat. We were …. we’re going try to um… get some rest, so if you gentlemen would give us some privacy, we’d appreciate it.” she said.

 

“No problem at all, Ma’am. We’ll be flying straight through to Salem for the next few hours – though we might be in the air a bit longer than usual. There are quite a few scattered storm systems in our path so we might need to maneuver around them. Just take some precautions back there in case we do hit some turbulence.”

 

She knew she heard his words, but her brain had lost the ability to focus, because that was the moment she felt her panties slide gently down her thighs and John’s tongue swirled a tiny circle along the ring of her naval before it slid lower leaving a warm, wet trail from his mouth in its wake. She whimpered- long and loud, and almost dropped the phone as the desire shot through her body like a spear.

 

“Mrs. Black? Are you ok?” Patrick asked, the worry evident in his voice.

 

“Yes!” Marlena said a little too loudly before she cleared her throat. “Um, yes Patrick. I’m fine.” Though she couldn’t actually see John’s eyebrow arch anywhere but in her mind’s eye, but she was sure she felt him smile against her skin. His hands slid up the backs of her thighs, fingers digging in, holding her even more tightly to him as his lips moved to the apex of her thighs.

 

She gasped out a very unsteady breath. “Thank you, uh Patrick, we’ll be…..uh, fine. John has everything … well in hand.” she breathed setting the receiver down as quickly as she could before she dropped it altogether, while John squeezed her ass again hard enough to pull another gasp from her. Her knees practically buckled in sensual delight. She shuddered with sheer pleasure.

 

John looked up at her and smiled, a deviously sexy smile splitting his handsome face. “That was pretty good thinking Doc.” he smiled as he bunched the camisole in his fist and pushed it higher as he returned his mouth to her body and headed North.

 

“Yeah.” she gasped distractedly, as his teeth scraped the sensitive skin just below her breast. “Oh damn it John, that feels…..mmmmm. Oh God, that’s so good.” she moaned, enjoying the tingle on her skin from his kisses and the warm, wet laps of his tongue as they began to sizzle in the cool air of the cabin. She shivered delightedly in his arms.

He looked up at her again, his eyes holding hers as he stood slowly and pushed the camisole up over her breasts and coaxed her to lift her arms so he could remove it completely. It was impossible to keep the pleased and satisfied grin off his face as he stripped her, so he didn’t even try. His gaze traveled appreciatively across her now naked body.

 

He slid his hands up and down, caressing every supple curve and watching the delight as it rolled across her pretty face. Her head lolled back onto her shoulders, pure pleasure evident in her every move.

 

“You’re beautiful.” His voice was a deep growl. “I’m not sure even you know what you do to me, Marlena.”

 

At the sound of her name, her head popped up and her hands cupped his jaw, her touch light yet so sexy and possessive. She brought his gaze to hers and she found her voice.

 

“Show me.”

 

 

Part 10

 

Marlena’s gentle command; coupled with the intense need in her voice was all that he needed to hear before he pulled her down to the couch. He swung her body easily beneath his and twisted to follow her, as he pressed her deliciously into the butter soft leather and aligned their bodies perfectly. His lips found hers.

 

Marlena’s arms wound around his neck, holding him tightly and refusing to let him go. Her mouth was hungry beneath his and she sucked at his lips, practically pulling the breath from his lungs. She enjoyed every stroke of his tongue and answered it with one of her own. She moaned low in her throat, struggling to find her voice, as they parted reluctantly in need of air. “Oh my God John, don’t stop. Don’t you ever stop…” she murmured as her body moved of its own accord against his.

 

John’s own voice was hoarse. “I don’t think I could even if I wanted to, baby.” he mumbled with his head all but buried in her cleavage.

 

“Mmmmm.” He licked and he nibbled at her skin, and reveled in the sweet taste of her on his tongue. He delighted in her sexy little gasp as he sucked a tender nipple into his mouth, and felt Marlena’s hands at his hips trying in vain to push the elastic waistband of his boxers down. He was so hard that the material had been stretched practically to its limits, and now encased him like a second skin. It wouldn’t budge, and her hands twitched in sincere annoyance.

 

He released her quickly; lifted his head with great regret, and moved to push himself up to stand.

 

Marlena protested immediately with a strangled cry as he left her arms and the cool air touched her skin… until she saw the look on his face as he gazed down at her.

The heat returned with a vengeance and washed across her body, even though the physical warmth of him had not. Because in his eyes, she saw the sheer force of his desire, and it sizzled through her bloodstream and heated her from the inside out.

John practically tore his briefs away with a vicious tug while he let his eyes enjoy the sight of her spread out naked and panting before him.

 

The normally pale skin that spanned her collarbone was tinged with a warm, pink blush; and the way her legs spread- ready to cradle him and draw him deep within her body was enough to make him weep.

 

Marlena’s eyes had turned a deep and dangerous shade of green that quickened his blood. The hunger in her gaze as she watched him, hit him like a punch in his gut as he rested a knee on the couch, and loomed above her for only a few brief moments.

John could almost feel the way his own eyes went dark and feral.

 

His vision was darkened with lust and passion; and his senses were heightened.

He felt the tiniest trembles that coursed through her as she shivered beneath him in sensuous anticipation. He could even smell her. The sweet, enticing aroma of her passion for him pierced the air that surrounded them. And the sheer force with which he wanted her; and needed her, almost scared him.

 

The amazing thing was – it didn’t scare Marlena. Not in the least.

 

And it never had.

 

Whether John was a gentle, sensitive and caring lover, or a man driven by a dark desperation to dominate and possess her, she never wavered. Ever.

 

Marlena loved him in all of his moods, no matter the incarnation. She stood with him today, as she had for all the years they’d been together: side by side and toe-to-toe and loved him through all of it. Unabashedly and unconditionally. It had been that way from the beginning.

 

Marlena enjoyed his eyes on her until she could no longer stand the distance for another second and reached her hands out to him; her fingers twitching in mid-air in a placid attempt to beckon him closer.

 

John inhaled a steadying breath and lowered himself to her.

 

Marlena could feel the warmth of his body before he even touched her as he inched closer with maddening slowness and the heat of desire surrounded them both.

 

And then, he smiled that smile, and Marlena’s heart did a double beat. She knew what was coming. He reached for her, and in a single move, set her every nerve ending on fire.

 

John snagged her hands from the space between them and Marlena felt them lifted and pinned above her head, as his mouth slid hotly down along the taunt column of her throat. She felt her entire body go rigid with longing and tense desire as his tongue stroked her skin, and his erection settled in the hot, wet ‘V’ of her thighs. A single graze against her clit had her dangerously close to orgasm.

 

“Oh…my…..God!” she gasped. Her hips bucked uncontrollably against him and John moved back for another thoughtful pass. As his hips jack-knifed to stroke deliberately against her damp lips once more, Marlena would have shot off the couch if not for the strong arms that had her so effectively and deliciously immobilized even as she undulated so sensuously beneath him.

 

His mouth barely lifted from her neck as he spoke. “Oh! Shit Doc, that’s so fucking hot.” he mumbled. His mouth sucked beneath her chin as he forced her head back and swiveled his hips again, delivering more exquisite torture. As his tongue stroked along her jaw to her ear, his voice slid inside her head with its sexy command. “You know what I want, baby.” he breathed heavily. “I want you to come for me. I’m not even inside you yet, and… you’re ready to blow apart in my arms.”

 

Above her head, Marlena’s fingers flexed in his hands and he loosened his grip only long enough to thread her fingers through his. “Jesus John.” She dug in and tightened her hold. “I want you … I need you! Please. I need to… feel you. Please. ” she moaned, struggling to speak.

 

It was not really a request.

 

John scraped his teeth sharply along her jawline and he kissed her wetly as his mouth found hers before his voice rumbled darkly from his chest. “Oh sweetheart, I will. You know I will. But my lady comes first.” he choked out before bearing down and grinding his hips into her spread thighs. “Literally.”

 

Marlena felt John lift his head to nip her chin with his teeth as he began to stroke her, harder and more insistently. There was nothing gentle or delicate here. Just pure driven lust. His breath was hot against her neck as he crowded and surrounded her. All she could feel…was him.

 

He was so hard; his penis was drawn up tight against his stomach, and in the perfect position to apply sweet, demanding pressure where her body craved him the most. And he certainly did.

 

John’s dick pummeled every nerve ending in the most delicious and perfect way, and Marlena knew the orgasm was unstoppable.

 

“Oh…oh…oh God!” she gasped helplessly, her voice high and breathy until she closed her eyes and gave herself up to it.

 

And to him.

 

John’s hand slid down her body to cup her breast; her nipple trapped tightly between his strong fingers as he massaged and caressed her sweet flesh, adding another layer of pleasure to the sensations that barreled through her. “Come on baby.” he demanded. “Give it to me.”

 

Helpless, and so delightfully dominated, Marlena gave in, and gave herself over to him. “Oh! Oh… f-f-fuck John….!” she gasped, her voice now deep and husky.

 

“Yeah! That’s it; come for me, Marlena.” It took only a few seconds until he felt the tremors move through her. He leaned down and let his mouth cover hers, swallowing her keening moan as she came.

 

“Oh. Hell yes!” he said darkly against her lips. Her body quaked against his as she rode the wave of fulfillment, and he reveled in feeling as though she pulled him into the vortex with him.

 

He felt her arms go lax, as the pent up tension in her limbs surrendered to her climax and she practically wilted in his embrace. John released her hands to let them drape weakly back over the arm of the couch, and used his own to brace his lower body up for only a brief moment so he could look at her.

 

Perfection.

 

His eyes drank her in. She was so beautiful. She was his everything. And he knew there was nothing in this -or any other lifetime that could compare to what this woman meant to him.

 

He watched her head loll to the side as her chest heaved, her lungs pumping like bellows, and her eyes fluttered open slowly. Her sleepy gaze found his and her arms lifted weakly, her hands searching for the feel of his skin; longing to touch him. “Oh…Oh my God John.”

 

Through the blackened window over their shoulders came a dull flash of light, followed by another as lightning lit the sky for a heartbeat before returning it to its endless blanket of deep solid blue. John felt the plane bank slightly before the engines surged and the plane ascended higher; the pilot no doubt trying to maneuver them above the weather.

 

It could storm all it wanted. John didn’t care. He had much more pressing matters to contend with.

 

Marlena’s hands rested on his forearms, her touch feather-light; her fingers gentle. But light and gentle wasn’t what he wanted. He needed more, and he intended to get it. He leaned down and kissed her hand where it rested on his arm. “You don’t think we’re done, do you?” he asked darkly.

 

She shook her head knowingly. Her movements were weak, but her body was quickly being infused with a surge of power and intensity drawn from the fire in John’s eyes. Resistance as they say, would be futile.

 

True to form, she knew exactly what he wanted. And what he needed. Her voice was hushed, but it slid over him like a sexy wave. One hand slid up to rest delicately on his jaw as she spoke.

 

“Fuck me.” she begged quietly. “Please.”

 

He grinned at her, and angled his hips down to stroke her once more, the head of his dick sliding easily through her creamy lips. He carefully guided himself into position, and paused for only a heartbeat at her entrance; his dick literally dripping with anticipation. With a slow and steady motion, he slipped inside her. Inch by maddening inch, until not a breath of space separated them.

 

John watched Marlena’s head stretch back, her shoulders pushing her torso up briefly off the surface of the couch before her body surrendered and she crumbled with desire. Then her eyes blinked open to connect with his in that moment of total sexual awareness and something inside her clicked. Her muscles contracted and held him in a vice-like grip. Her body refusing to let go.

 

John felt her tighten around him like a vise. “Oh, Jesus, Doc. That’s so….so good.” he whispered, though honestly didn’t know for sure if his words and the moan of pure delight that followed were spoken out loud, or only resonated in his head.

 

What he did know, was that he felt her body surround him and draw him home -as it always did. It was the most surreal sensation, because as their bodies joined together, their minds did too. It was a feeling he’d never gotten tired of. It had been there the first time he’d made love to her, and it was there now.

 

He leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. “I love you Marlena. Love you so much…” he breathed.

 

John’s hand bracketed her chin and held her as he leaned in to kiss her. Marlena let the bliss of the moment surround her as he pulled his hips back and thrust forward, seating him even deeper than he’d been before. And then he did it again. And again.

 

Lightning zinged across the blanket of sky below them, and thunder rumbled in the distance, making for a perfect parallel to the crackling heat they were generating between the two of them.

 

And still it wasn’t enough.

 

The delicate walls of her vagina pulsed powerfully around him, massaging him as he moved. Marlena’s thighs widened, welcomed him, begging him silently for more. “Oh yes, John. God, how I love it when you do that.” came her gasping declaration. “Give me more.” she pleaded..

 

And more was exactly what she got it.

 

John’s tongue danced with hers, fusing his mouth to hers once more as his hips pounded out a steady rhythm. He felt her nails dig into the taunt flesh of his forearms; felt them scrape deep channels into his skin, but he didn’t care.

 

She held on tightly, her body synching with his as she matched his cadence. “Do it. Oh my …God! John ….do it.” she mumbled into his gasping mouth. She took everything he offered and gave back as good as she got.

 

“Oh damn, Doc! Oh…” he growled. He angled his hips just so, and in a matter of seconds, was in the perfect position to grind exquisitely against her overly sensitive clit once again on the down stroke. He could feel the tightening in her body, and he heard her pull in a sharp breath. He knew he’d hit her sweet spot. And once he was there, he dug in for all he was worth. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, she be right there with him.

 

She looked up at him, and her eyes widened just enough to give John the signal he needed. “Please John….” she stuttered. “… God…you’re going to make me….. come again!” she moaned.

 

“Oh please…”

 

“That’s right. I’m here baby. I’m right here with you. Give it to me Doc. I want to feel you all around me this time.”

 

“Oh! S-s-s-shit! Oh…. John!” she gasped, her voice going high and breathy and desperate as her body prepared itself to be sent into orbit once again. “I love it when you’re inside me….so deep and ….oh God. It’s so good.”

 

John grabbed her knee; widening her legs impossibly farther, opening her to him even more than before – and bared down.
“I want you…with…me…John…..oh God. Do it!” she begged in a voice he barely heard.

His hips never stopped and he felt her clench deliciously all around him.

 

“Yes.” he growled.

 

He saw her open her mouth as if to speak again, but no more sound came out.

He watched in mute fascination as the orgasm crashed over her with the strength of a hurricane. And buried as deeply as he was inside her body, he felt every bit of it. Her inner walls clutched at him, making it impossible for him not to follow her into the most perfect oblivion he’d ever known. He was a strong man, but with her sweet little body gloving him in its powerful, passionate grip, he knew no amount of self-control could hold off the climax that was a mere heartbeat away.

 

As Marlena’s body shuddered delightfully, she pulled him into the turbulent maelstrom with her. Her eyes fluttered closed as she convulsed around him. Her hands flew to the tops of his arms, her nails raking down his biceps, scoring his skin and drawing angry red welts in their wake.

 

Neither of them even noticed.

 

John felt her grip him like a vise; her body siphoning him greedily and holding on tight. Passion sucked him in deeper as the tremors barreled over her and shook her body with startling force. John paused for what felt like a mere instant as he watched her in utter fascination before she pulled him right along with her.

 

With a single mighty thrust, he poured himself inside her, his voice exploding from his lungs with a powerful yell. He let the familiar spasms of satiation wrack his body as he surrendered himself to the surreal power of their shared release.

 

Covered in a heady sheen of sweat that matched Marlena’s, his body came down to blanket hers, his chest still heaving as his lungs struggled for air. He could still feel her sweet pussy milking every last drop from him, as the aftershocks skittered through her and traveled along the sensitive, tingling nerve endings of his dick.
His head rested gratefully against hers, his fingers tangling in her hair as he held her close.

 

With great effort, Marlena turned her head into the curve of his throat; her mouth automatically seeking the warm and salty taste of his skin on her tongue. Her sexy, gasping little breaths warmed his cheek.

 

They remained that way for a while; both of them completely unable and unwilling to move. Neither wanted to break the perfect silence of the afterglow. After a few minutes, John felt her arms slide up along his damp shoulders; her fingers lacing at the nape of his neck. He turned his head into the sweet column of her throat and kissed her.

 

Marlena shivered in his arms. “Oh my goodness.” she managed in a croaky voice, her stunted words pulling him back to the present. “Wow.” she whispered.

 

John heard the smile in her voice, and didn’t even try to suppress his grin.

 

The plane lurched as it hit a pocket of dead air and John levered himself up quickly so as not to jolt and hurt her as she remained lying beneath him.

 

Her hands refused to let him go, and she gripped him tighter with a sexy little grunt.

He looked down at her with a sly smile. “Don’t worry.” he said gently nipping her chin. “I’m not going far baby.”

 

“You’re not going anywhere at all.” she said before cupping his cheeks and tugging him closer again in search of his lips.

 

Her mouth was hot and sweet; and as if the last half hour had never happened, John felt his dick twitch inside her, as his desire for her ratcheted up another notch. John grinned at her as he somewhat reluctantly ended the kiss, wiggled his eyebrows, and delighted in her laughing response.

 

“Oh. You’ve got to be kidding.” she giggled as his hips bumped hers, sending another round of shivers up her spine.

 

John shrugged adorably. “Can I help it if you make me insatiable?” he teased?

Marlena stretched her head back and laughed. “Insatiable, huh? Makes me sound like quite the temptress.” she shrugged her shoulders prettily. “ I can’t say I don’t like the sound of that.”

 

“It’s true.” he shrugged before leaning in to kiss the very tip of her nose. “How bout if I get you a blanket?”

 

Marlena grimaced. “That means I have to let you go.” she said with somewhat mock sourness as her hands slid down his back stroking his damp skin. “I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

 

John’s grin kicked up one side of his mouth. “Well, ready or not, if I don’t move soon, your cute little ass is gonna be freezing and it’ll be too late.”

 

“Too late?” she said deeply. The husky tone of her voice immediately arrowed straight to his crotch as she wrapped one of those long and sexy legs so high around him, her calf rested on the small of his back. “Too late for this?” she asked innocently as she pulled him forward.

 

“Holy Christ.” he growled darkly as her creamy heat wrapped around him. “Maybe I’m not the only one who’s insatiable, huh?” he asked through tightly clenched teeth.

Ignoring his words with a regal sniff, she scratched her nails up along his sides and around to stroke across his middle, loving the way his abs tightened and bunched beneath her touch. “I’m not worried. You’ll keep me warm….won’t you honey?” she purred sexily.

 

John dipped his head and kissed her once again. “Only until I draw my last breath.” he stated seriously.

 

“Ahhh, always such a gentleman.” she smiled and winked at him, her hand cupping his jaw sweetly. “There’s a blanket in that basket, by the way.” she stated without moving her gaze from his and crooking a thumb over her shoulder at the small wicker basket that sat on the floor tucked beside the couch and held the remote for the TV, a few magazine and some other odds and ends.

 

John’s eyebrow arched suspiciously as he stretched around her to tug the soft fleece throw from its container with a flick of his wrist, before spreading it over them both as he turned her in his arms and curled up with her snug against his chest. “You know, this looks suspiciously like a set-up. Did you plan on seducing me, Mrs. Black?”

 

Marlena looked up at him from where her head rested on his shoulder. “Oh Baby.” she smiled. That’s a fact.” she said simply, before struggling to stifle a yawn. She blushed shyly.

 

The cabin was washed in another pale blue flash as lightning bolts chased each other through the clouds. John grinned and kissed his wife soundly before cradling her head with his palm, holding her to him in a tender caress. “Nap a little while sweetheart. By the time you wake up, we’ll be landing in Salem.”

 

Marlena nodded and kissed his jaw. “OK, ” she said quietly, “…but just for a little while.” as the exhaustion of the day began to claim her. “Love you.” she breathed.

 

“And I love you.” he whispered into her hair.

 

As was its habit, John’s brain simply refused to just relax and fall asleep. Instead it began systematically examining the bits and pieces of the concrete information they were going to need to build on, in order to execute Shane’s master plan. There was still a lot to do; and seemingly a million pieces of this massive puzzle that still had to be put into place. One slip could easily give Stefano the upper hand.

 

He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t.

 

Marlena sighed in his arms as sleep claimed her, and her body went lax against him.

He looked down at her curled in his arms and thought of all she’d been through over the years at Stefano’s hands. That bastard had put them both through the wringer. But that was about to stop.

 

Forever.

 

He pressed his lips lightly to her forehead. There’d be no more of this cat and mouse game. He wouldn’t risk losing Marlena. And he’d fight with every ounce of strength he possessed to see to it that Stefano never hurt her ever again.

 

If there was anyone he could trust, it was Shane. And he’s been right on one very important point: the only way to beat Stefano was to play the game his way. And if that meant fighting dirty, then so be it.

 

It was time for this demented little chess game that DiMera had set in motion so many years ago to come to a fitting and final conclusion.

 

Only this time, the Pawn would be the one to emerge victorious, and the Queen wouldn’t be left alone on the board. He’d be right there by her side.

 

He’d see to it.

 

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