After Maison Blanche – By Ms. Goldie

Chapter 1

John sat in his cell, chained to the wall in the dungeon of Maison Blanche. He hadn’t slept all night. All around him, carved into the floor, and the wall, was the word, Doc. John used the edge of his manacle to scrape across the ancient stone. Over and over again, Doc. His wrists were bloody, and inflamed. Still he scraped and carved, unable to do anything else while his brain continued to roar its helplessness, and it echoed off the walls of his mind. 

The door to his cell opened, and Celeste walked in carrying a tray of food. She looked at him in that way she had, a mix of boredom and I don’t give a fuck, and she said, “I’ve brought your breakfast.”

“I told you I won’t eat drugged food,” John said weakly, scraping the line on the letter D. 

“If you don’t eat. You will die,” Celeste told him.

“If I do eat, I’ll die,” John said, continuing to carve into the stone. “John Black will cease to exist. Wouldn’t you call that death?”

Celeste sighed. This John Black was a hassle she’d never asked to deal with. Stefano and his projects were exhausting, “Stefano is becoming angry with your lack of cooperation, John.”

“Where’s Doc?” John asked.

Celeste glanced along the wall, and at the floor surrounding John, saying, “She is safe. That is all you should concern yourself with.”
“I want to see her,” John said, coughing.

“I’m going to have to speak with Stefano about your wrists, John,” Celeste told him, noting the blood that dripped from his arm, and the smears across the stone all around him. “Your hurting yourself, and you will be useless to Stefano.”

“Do you think I fucking care?” John roared. “I want to see, Doc!”

Pushing his tray of food closer to him, Celeste left his cell, intent on finding Stefano.

John continued the scraping. The sound was calming, and he’d stopped feeling any pain hours ago. He kept seeing Marlena tied to the chair, unconscious. Her blonde hair spread about her, as her head hung limply to the side. Stefano had the ultimate weapon in Marlena. The old man knew, John would do anything to keep her safe, anything. He knew that eventually, John would consume every drugged food placed in front of him, if John thought Marlena’s life was at risk. Without Marlena, John would continue to refuse to eat. He would become weaker and weaker, eventually dying. That wasn’t going to happen. Stefano had plans for John Black. Plans that did not include dying. With Marlena at Maison Blanche, and the constant worry over her safety, John would be more malleable, more cooperative. The same could be said for Marlena, she would do anything for John. 

Stefano was smug when he entered John’s cell. John claimed to love Kristen, but Stefano knew better. Maybe on some level, John did love Kristen; however, Stefano knew the woman John really loved, the one he would die for, was Marlena, and he would use that to his advantage. He stood in the doorway, allowed the light from the hallway to leave a halo around his body, “I know you are a very determined man, John, but not even you can hope to break tempered steel, eh?” 

Stefano stepped further into the murky depths of the room. Looking around he realized that John wasn’t trying to escape. He had instead surrounded himself with one name over and over again, further reinforcing Stefano’s feeling that Kristen was nothing more than a distraction. A way to forget about the one woman who would always hold John Blacks heart. Stefano snorted in disgust. When he had first decided to send his mercenary to Salem to pose as Roman Brady, the man had balked. What an epic mistake that had been on Stefano’s part. He stared at John in frustration, “See, you tried to escape, John, and I cannot have that happen again, but…look on the bright side…”

“The bright side,” John asked him with a sneer. “I always found your sense of humor questionable.”

“Yes! See, now, we can talk face to face. Much more civilized, don’t you think?” Stefano said, knowing he has all of the control.

Civilized? John wants to laugh at the irony. Stefano has him chained to the wall, half naked, in a dungeon. John stood up, stepping closer, “Where’s Marlena?”

Stefano smiled menacingly, “Ah, see? Now, how did I know that you are going to ask that question?” He walked over to the television monitor mounted to the stone wall, and turned the power on, glancing back at John. The man was deteriorating quickly. It was obvious he’d lost a significant amount of weight, and Celeste was right about John’s wrists. Stefano sighed, realizing he was going to have to get this in hand quickly. 

John stared at the screen. Marlena was lying on a bed, seemingly asleep. But there was something wrong with the way her body is positioned. She was still dressed in the same clothes she wore the evening before, and her body was lying diagonally across the top of the bed, as if someone carelessly dumped her there. John waited. He waited for some sign of life, and when her hand twitched, he visibly sighed in relief.

Stefano smirked, and said to John, in a voice reeking with sarcasm, “Poor thing. She had a very rough night.”

“You lousy bastard,” John said, emotional pain etching every line of his face. “What did you do to her? She’s not moving.” Feeling his anger mix with his fear, he roared, “What the hell did you do to her?”

Stefano maintains a sense of calm, as if John were overreacting to the situation, “Calm yourself. Calm yourself. She wasn’t very cooperative, John.”

John watches helplessly as Marlena wakes. At first she’s groggy, and confused, but he hears her whisper, “John?” Sitting up quickly, she grabs her head, and says more loudly, “John.” Suddenly, she’s frantic, staring around herself. Getting to her feet she wobbles, gripping the corner of the four poster bed, whispering to herself, “Where am I? Oh, G-d, where am I? John!”
John closes his eyes in relief, “She’s all right. How did you get her here?” Stefano doesn’t answer him, he simply arches his eyebrow, and John says, “That’s a stupid question. You tricked her didn’t you?” John lunges at Stefano, “I should have fucking killed you when I had the chance!”

“Careful, John! Careful! You will get an infection in your wrists if you keep straining like that.”

John stared at the man he hated more than anyone else in the world, and he said in low tones, “I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to get out of here, and I’m going to kill you when I do it.”

“You lay one finger on me,” Stefano told him, “and your precious Marlena’s life will be over.”

Having Marlena at Maison Blanche made everything a million times more complicated. John asked Stefano, “What are you after, old man? What’s the game this time around?”

“This is a game of epic proportions.”

“Marlena’s got nothing to do with this, so cut her out of it,” John said. 

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, John! She is my insurance,” Stefano tells him with a laugh. “Now, you will play by the rules. You see, while you say you love Kristen, you and I both know that your one true love is locked in a room upstairs. A mistake on my part, I’ll admit. I never dreamed that my mercenary would actually fall in love with the beautiful Marlena Brady. But, it has come to be quite handy for our current situation, don’t you think?” Stefano paused, and then said, “Which reminds me, Celeste has informed me that you are still not eating.”

“Your fucking food is drugged, so you can brainwash me again—”

“—You’re certain of that, are you?”

John eyed Stefano warily, “Let’s just say, I’m not taking any chances.”

Stefano shrugged his shoulders, “All right, but remember the choice was yours, John. Unfortunately, Marlena will pay the price.” Stefano turned to leave.

John roared, “You leave her out of this! You fucking coward!” John heard the clank of Stefano’s keys in the door, and returned to watching the television monitor as Marlena fell back onto the bed. He leaned weakly against the wall, sliding to the ground. All of his energy was exhausted. He hadn’t eaten in days, choosing to consume only water. If he kept this up, he would die. He knew that, and then Marlena would be left in Stefano’s hands.

John stared up at the monitor weakly, studying Marlena. She seemed healthy. She wasn’t injured. She was beautiful. Sometimes his heart would swell so much with his love for her that he thought it might destroy him, but he knew…his love would destroy her. He felt it bone deep. If he couldn’t find a way to end Stefano, his love would destroy her, because Stefano would continue to use her against him every time he devised a new plot. He had to focus on getting out of here, saving Marlena, and getting back to a life with Kristen. He’d already hurt Marlena enough, he had to focus on Kristen, and yet he continued to watch Marlena entranced.

The door to Marlena’s room opened, and John felt his heart rate pick up when Stefano stepped inside. Marlena stepped back, hitting her knees on the edge of the bed, as Stefano said casually, “Welcome to Maison Blanche.”

“Where’s John?” she demanded.

“You mean to tell me, you’re not just a little surprised to see me?” Stefano asked her. “After all, I’m supposed to be dead. Lost in a fiery car crash, correct?”

Marlena replied, “No. I would never believe you’re dead, not until I saw your dead body in front of me. Now, where’s John? Where is he?”

“Here,” Stefano told her gesturing around himself graciously. “At Maison Blanche, of course.”

“I want to see him. Now.”

“Marlena,” Stefano said, sitting on the sofa. “I’m afraid that John is not feeling very well at the moment.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, but she had a sinking feeling that she already knew.

“Don’t believe him, Doc,” John whispered from his place on the floor. 

John listened as Stefano told Marlena, “He has not been very cooperative. Of course, I expect you to set a much better example. You will persuade John to do what I tell him to do.” 

“You want me to help you?” Marlena asked incredulously. 

“It would be to John’s benefit,” Stefano said.

“Nothing you have ever done has been to John’s benefit,” Marlena replied. “Every intention you have is evil, and I will not help you manipulate him.”

“That’s it, Doc,” John rasped, feeling pride well up inside him. “You tell him.”

“Your loyalty to your ex-lover is really very touching, and I’m sure that your husband will be very moved by it. By the way, if you wish to see your husband and your children again, I suggest, that you cooperate,” Stefano told Marlena.

“No,” she said firmly. She had a quick flash of guilt as she thought about Roman, but she pushed it aside. She couldn’t afford to focus on anything but John right now.

“Hmmm,” Stefano murmured, taking a bite from an apple. “You know. I saw a man starve to death once. It takes an incredibly long time, and it’s quite painful.”

Marlena knew he was referring to John. Stefano had said, John wasn’t feeling well…that meant he wasn’t eating, and Marlena knew he probably wasn’t eating because he suspected the food was poisoned or drugged. Stefano left her room with a smug look, and she fell to the floor crying, “He’s not eating! Oh, G-d!”

John felt his heart break, watching her cry over him, “That sick, fucking, bastard! I gotta get outta here! I gotta get outta here.” But, he was too weak to move. Refusing to eat for over a week would do that to a persons body. 

The door to his cell clanged and rattled a few minutes later, as Stefano opened the door with a grin, “Did you like that little show, John?” He glanced up at the television monitor, watching Marlena where she sat crying on the floor. “She’s very upset isn’t she?”

“I fucking hate you,” John said from his place on the floor.

“You have to eat,” Stefano told him.

John shook his head, “Not knowing that the food is drugged. See, I made a vow to myself. Never to be controlled like that again.”

Stefano shrugged his shoulders carelessly, “Eh. The life of the mother of your child is in your hands, John.”

John stared at Stefano for a long moment, and he finally said, “I’m not going to agree to anything, until I see for myself that Doc’s alright.”

“She’s right there!” Stefano said gesturing at the television monitor.

“In person!” John said loudly. “Face to face, or we have no deal.”

“One hour,” Stefano told him. “You get one hour, and then you eat.”

John’s stomach sank. As soon as he started eating, the drugs would kick in, and the torture would begin. He’d remembered enough to know how it went, but he couldn’t refuse. He couldn’t risk Stefano hurting Marlena, because as much as he talked of Kristen, and as much as he forced himself to think of a future with Kristen, he’d never stopped loving Marlena. He only kept his distance because she asked him to. She was trying to save her marriage to Roman, and he loved her so much, he would respect that. He had to respect that. 

Chapter 2

The dread in Marlena’s stomach grew as she was led through a secret panel in the wall under the stairs, and into a dank, basement. It seemed ancient. Older than the house itself, it seemed. The scent was an overwhelming mix of earth, mold, and dampness. “Where are we going?” she asked Celeste softly, hearing her voice echo in the space around her.

“John is refusing to eat, until he can see for himself that you are well,” Celeste said, pulling a set of keys from her pocket. She pulled the heavy metal door aside, and gripped Marlena’s arm firmly, pushing her inside, and tossing a bag of supplies in after her. “He’s been partially sedated, so don’t think of trying to escape. Stefano wants John’s wrists tended to, and you need to reassure him that you are fine. You have one hour.”

The door closed with a long metal scrape, and Marlena’s eyes struggled to adjust to the dimness of the room. It smelled strongly of human sweat. She noted a toilet in the corner, and a small sink. There was nothing else, besides a small framed bed, and a light blanket. John sat on the floor. Chains hung from the wall with shackles attached. He looked up at her with a soft smile, “Doc…I thought I was dreaming.”

“John,” she said softly, approaching him slowly. All around him along the wall and across the floor, she saw Doc scraped into the stone. How long had it taken him to do this? What had he done it with? Then she noticed his wrists, and realized, he’d done it with his manacles. She had to get him onto the bed somehow, and then look him over. She wasn’t sure exactly what Stefano thought she might accomplish in this dim light. “John, can you stand?”

He reached for her face with filthy fingers, and he whispered, “I dreamt you were here, Doc.”

“I am,” she said with tears in her eyes. She reached for the metal frame of the bed, and dragged it toward the sink, placing her closer to the water source, and she rushed back to John’s side. “Can you stand?”

John smiled at her with a dazed expression, “Do I have to?”

“I’d like you to,” she whispered, pushing the sweaty hair back from his forehead. “I’d like to get you onto the bed, and see if I can’t get you cleaned up a bit.”

John slowly pushed himself to his knees, and Marlena used every bit of strength she had to get him upright. John leaned on her heavily as she led him toward the bed on the other side of the room. John buried his face in her fragrant hair, and he said on a sob, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I thought you’d called me,” she whispered, getting him awkwardly onto the cot. “I thought you needed me.”

John was quiet, trying to gather his thoughts through the haze of the drug he’d been injected with, finally saying, “I didn’t call. Stefano must have used a recording of my voice.”

Marlena sat beside him, smoothing her cool palm over his face, and she whispered, “I realized I was tricked when I woke this morning.” She stood to grab the bag Celeste had tossed into the room with her. Rummaging through it, she found a towel, wash cloths, and basic first aid supplies, as well as soap. There was also a clean pair of pants. 

Using one of the washrags to stop the sink, Marlena ran water into the basin. It was cold, but it was all she had. She started to unbutton John’s pants, intent on getting them off of him, and he grabbed her wrists, “If you get the chance to get out of here. Run, Doc. You have to go, if you get the chance. Does Roman know you’re here?”

“Roman thinks, I’ve run off with you,” she said softly. “He’s not looking for me.”

John tried to sit up, “He knows you wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t leave Sami or Belle…he knows that!”

Marlena didn’t respond to what John said. Roman wouldn’t be looking for her. She knew that. He would assume she’d done the worst thing, because that was how it usually went with Roman. Assume the worst, and apologize when he was wrong. “Lay down, John,” Marlena replied barely above a whisper. “You’re weak. Have you eaten at all?”

“I’m not eating his fucking food, Doc. It’s drugged. I know what he’s going to do.”

Marlena was scared, and she asked him, “What?”

“He wants my mind, Doc. He wants to break me down, and steal my mind again, and I’d rather die,” he said. “I’d rather die.”

Marlena unbuttoned his jeans. They were filthy, likely the same pair he was wearing the night he came here looking for Stefano. “Lift your hips, John. I need to get these off of you.”

“Doc,” John said, struggling to sit up. “I can do this.”

“Lay down,” she told him firmly. “You can barely walk. Let me do this. We don’t have much time, okay?” John lifted his hips, allowing her to pull his jeans and his boxer shorts down his body, and over his long legs. John attempted to cover himself, and Marlena chuckled, “I’ve seen it before.” Reaching for his hand, she helped John into a sitting position, and said, “You’re filthy.”

John said sarcastically, “I was doing a science project. Trying to see if I can grow fungus.”

Marlena smiled from behind him, “Well, the science project is over.” 

John shivered when the cold soapy rag slid over his back. “Doc, if you can get away, I want you to go straight to Abe or Roman. You can’t go to the local police here. Stefano owns them.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she whispered, washing his back carefully. “We’ll figure this out, but I’m not leaving you.”

John reached back, gripping her wrist, “Doc! Don’t try to help me. I want you to take care of yourself—”

“—John!” she cried.

“—you promise me!” he said. 

“I can’t,” she whispered, moving to kneel in front of him. “I can’t.” She looked away trying to focus on the task at hand, and get him as clean as possible. He was so thin. Marlena’s fingers trailed over his ribs, “John, you have to eat.”

“Doc,” he said helplessly. “I won’t be able to fight him.”

“What about Belle? What about Brady?”

John started crying. Whatever Stefano had injected him with was making it almost impossible for him to regulate his emotions, “They’ve got you, Doc. I can’t let him have my mind again.”

“Fight him, John. Fight him with everything you have. You’ve done it before. You told me you have!”

“I was healthy then! I wasn’t being drugged! I don’t think I can fight him this time, not if he’s drugging the food…and I can’t let him turn me back into his mercenary.”

Marlena rinsed the wash rag, and drained the filthy water, before running more into the basin. Soaping the rag up again, she whispered, “Can you stand and turn around?”

John stood, and the silence surrounding them was deafening. Marlena washed his legs with gentle passes of the washrag, and as much as he didn’t want his body to respond to her ministrations, it was impossible to not respond. He felt his cock lengthening, even as he tried to think of other things. Her palm brushed over his buttocks, and he groaned, “Doc…”

Marlena looked up from where she knelt, behind him, “John?”

“Doc,” he said with a rasp in his voice. “Hand me the washcloth. I’ll finish up,” he said. He attempted to turn around, but found himself getting dizzy.

John being aroused did something to Marlena. She stood up and wordlessly handed him the washcloth, trying not to stare. She wanted to keep washing him, maybe stroke her fist along his length. Shaking her head, she looked away. Those types of thoughts had no place in their lives. So, as John finished cleaning himself off, Marlena distracted herself with rummaging through the bag to find the first aid supplies she’d seen earlier.  She glanced over, watching the muscles in John’s back ripple as he slid the clean pants over his ass. Marlena looked away again. She shouldn’t be looking at him in any way other than a medical one. 

John sank to the mattress exhausted, and fell back. Marlena gently lifted his feet, placing them on the bed, and sat beside him. Clearing her throat, she said, “If you don’t eat, you die. But if you eat, and the food is drugged, maybe you can fight it.”

“If the food is drugged, I don’t know if I can fight, Doc. I don’t know if I have the energy left to fight,” he whispered watching her gently wrap his wrist in gauze. 

She reached for his other wrist, “John, I would rather die fighting to get out of here, than to give up five more years of my life.”

“That’s why you have to leave if you get the chance,” he said with growing exhaustion.

“I’m not leaving here without you—”

“—don’t you worry about me!” he told her, touching her face softly.

Marlena couldn’t stop herself. She laid beside him on the cot, resting her head on his shoulder, and her palm on his chest, and whispered, “I won’t let him hurt you.”

John said, “Hey, isn’t that what I’m supposed to say to you?”

“You’ve got to fight him,” she said softly. “You’ve got to resist him. For Brady. For Belle…for Kristen.”

John said softly, “For you.”

Marlena wiped the tears from her eyes, “For me.”

“Whatever happens, Doc. Don’t try to help,” he told her. “Just stay out of it.”

Marlena rose up on her elbow, whispering, “Oh, my G-d…now I know why he wanted me here.” She saw the truth of it in John’s face, even though he didn’t respond. “Stefano brought me down here for one reason,” she said, laying her head back down on his shoulder. “And it’s working.”

John wouldn’t admit to her that she was right, choosing to say, “I don’t know what you mean—”

“—yes, you do,” she said softly, brushing her fingers gently over his chest. “He knows you won’t resist him, if you’re worried about me.”

John chose to remain silent, if he continued to deny what she was saying they both knew it would be a lie. Instead he closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Having her next to him made him feel stronger. It made him want to keep fighting, and he shouldn’t want it. John rolled towards her, burying his face in her hair, and wrapping his arm around her hip, whispering, “Thank you.”

Marlena looked up at him, “You never have to thank me for caring about you, John. Never. Never. We’re going to figure a way out of this.”

John’s anxiety skyrocketed, “Doc, you—you can’t get involved in this. Please!” 

Her fingers lingered across his forehead, and softly over his cheekbone, “I won’t stand by and allow him to hurt you. I won’t.”

“If you get involved…Doc, I will worry about you,” he said.

“You’re worried about me already, John. Just the same way I’m worried about you,” she told him. “We’re going to figure away a way out of this. We have to. But don’t think for one minute, John Black, that I will stand by and do nothing. I have never been that type of woman.”

John chuckled lightly, “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“If Celeste brings you food…you have to eat something, John. Don’t eat all of it, if you’re worried, but you can’t continue to avoid eating, because if we do manage to find a way out of here you need to have enough energy to run,” she told him. 

“What if I don’t know who I am?”

“What do you love more than anything in the world? It can be anything. A person, an item…maybe even a place,” she said. “You find that place or that person in your mind, and you escape there. If Stefano starts to brainwash you, you have to find that thing that grounds your mind and focus on it. Can you do that? Can you promise me, you’ll try to do that?”

John stared into her hazel eyes. That thing that he loved, was her. More than anything. He whispered, “I’ll try, Doc. For you, I promise, I’ll try.”

Chapter 3

John ate his first meal in nearly a week, and within twelve hours, Stefano started his psychological warfare. Puccini’s Tosca had been blaring over speakers, while a strobe light flashed, for the past five hours on a loop. John had to acknowledge the genius way Stefano decided to begin the process. Sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep, combined with psychotropic drugs, would break most men. John had a vague recollection of Stefano standing over him, at one point during the night, saying, “You’re mind is mine again, just as Marlena will be mine,” Stefano said.

Marlena. No, Marlena would never belong to Stefano. John would die first. If anything or anyone could keep him firmly tethered to his mind, it was Marlena. His mind had been wandering the whole time, through years of memory, he sifted, but John had done what Marlena said. He focused on the thing he loved the most. Her. John laid in the bed, face down to shield his eyes from the flashing light, and he thought about Marlena. The drugs kept trying to pull him under, and his mind drifted…

“Marlena…I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it,” John said sitting down on the ground behind her. The air in the cave was cold, and Marlena sat in front of him shivering. He touched her shoulder softly,“I’ve got a special feeling for you.”

Marlena spun around to look at him, her hazel eyes flashing with anger, “Don’t you say that to me!”

“Right from the very beginning, before I knew anything about myself…I knew, that I cared for you,” he whispered, running his fingers along her jaw.

John’s fists clenched as he fought to stay in control of his own mind. He could feel his fingernails digging into the palm of his hands, as he screamed, “Doooooooc!”

“What are we going to do?” she asked him, staring up at him with wide eyes. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t ever want to let you go,” he whispered, staring down into her hazel eyes. The wind blew her honey colored hair across her face, and he stepped closer, saying, “Ever.”

“What?” she asked him with a soft smile. “I’m your hostage now?”

John was immobile, and his body was rigid. Stefano watched on the monitor in his office, and asked Celeste, “Is he asleep? What is he doing?”

Celeste smirked, almost glad that Stefano’s attempts at brainwashing John, and breaking him down, were not succeeding. She wanted him to give up these plots, and stop this obsession he had with John Black, and the Brady’s. Celeste asked him, “Can he hypnotize himself? He seems to be—”

“—No! He cannot hypnotize himself!” Stefano roared, but he wasn’t so sure. John wasn’t reacting the way he was supposed to. He was too calm. The music, the strobe light, it should be driving him mad, and it wasn’t working.

“Honey,” Marlena whispered, sliding her palm under the neckline of his shirt. “Tell me.”

“Doc,” he whispered. His lips softly played over hers, gentle kisses that sucked softly at her mouth.“Do you want me to stop?”

She stared into his eyes, breathing heavy, “No.”

“Then shut up,” he whispered. Kissing her softly again, he said, “I love you.”

Marlena groaned into his mouth, “I love you too.”

Stefano turned the volume of the music louder…hoping for a reaction. He got no reaction at all. If anything, John disappeared further into his own mind. Stefano roared in anger, “I don’t understand! It’s been hours of this, and he sleeps?”

“Life is passing so slowly, and it’s all your fault,” Marlena said teasingly, slowly unbuttoning her shirt as she turned away from him.

“Oh, yeah, now how’s that?” he asked her, glancing over the curves of her backside, and thinking about all of the ways he’d like to lick her body.

“I keep thinking about you all day long, and about what it’s like to wake up with you, and…what it’s like to go to bed with you,” she said, turning to face him.

“They sound like pretty nice thoughts to me,” he replied, stepping closer.

Stefano screamed in frustration, turning the music off. He watched in fury as John seemed to have fallen asleep. Switching off the lamp, he told Celeste, “Tomorrow, Celeste. Tomorrow, I try again, and this time, I will succeed.”

John laid on the bed, allowing the silence and the darkness to surround him. His body slowly relaxed. Every muscle in his body hurt with a deep ache from being so tense for so long. He was still in love with Marlena. If he hadn’t fully realized it before, he realized it then. Rolling onto his back, his arm fell over his forehead, and he whispered into the darkness, “Fuck.”

Across the room, he heard Marlena rustling around in her bed. He’d warned her about the television monitors, and the cameras. He’d wanted her to know that Stefano was watching her all the time. Her soft voice said, into the darkness of her room, “John? Can you hear me? I wondered if Stefano turned the camera off at night? Or if maybe, he kept it on for…I don’t know…” She was silent for a moment, and she said quietly, “Do you remember our honeymoon? When we drove to West Virginia in the convertible?”

John smiled, knowing she couldn’t hear his response, and, because of the drugs, partially believing himself to be dreaming, “Yeah, Doc. Yeah, I remember that.”

“The music was so loud, and the wind was even louder,” she whispered. “I’ve never been so happy in my life. I—I just wanted you to know that. No matter what Stefano does, John. Remember what I said, hold something in your mind and—”

The television monitor cut off, and John smiled. Stefano was watching. He had to be. John could almost feel the man’s anger radiating through the walls of Maison Blanche. John fell into a restless sleep, full of dark images, interspersed with soft touches, and Marlena’s face, her hair, her skin, and her body.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Roman entered the pub to see his mother with Belle and Brady. He felt an immediate sense of frustration. Those kids weren’t family, and he didn’t understand why his parents continued to watch over them like they were. Striding across the pub, Roman asked Caroline, “Why’s Belle here? And Brady? I thought Carrie and Austin were watching them while Marlena was off on her romantic rendezvous with John,” Roman said.

“Roman,” Caroline said. “Marlena is not on a romantic rendezvous with John.”

“Well, Carrie said, that she went to meet John,” Roman said with a sneer. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.”

Caroline looked at her son sadly, “There could be a lot of reasons, you know. John went to look for Stefano. For all we know he could be in trouble. They could both be in trouble.”

“John would never ask Marlena to meet him, if he thought it would put her in danger,” Roman replied. “Face it, Mom. John is the one she’s chosen to be with. She’s with John, and as far as I’m concerned she can stay there,” he finished bitterly.

“Roman, I really don’t think Marlena would leave the children, and run off with John,” Caroline said. “It’s not who she is. It’s not in her nature. No, I think there has to be a very good reason. You’ll see.”

“Well, Ma, maybe you don’t know her as well as you think you do,” Roman said, turning to leave. Marlena was probably down in New Orleans with John, shacked up in a hotel, while they fucked each other senseless. Roman Brady was no fool, and he wouldn’t go looking for someone who obviously didn’t want to be found. John and Marlena deserved each other. 

Caroline watched her son walk out of the pub, with a sad look on her face, “No, Roman, I think you don’t know Marlena as well as you think you do.”

Sami came out of the back area of the pub, and sat down beside her Grandma as she fed Belle applesauce, “Do you…do you believe what you told Dad? Do you think my Mom and John have a reason for…being gone?”

Caroline set the spoon down, and began to wipe the applesauce from Belle’s face, “Think about your mother, Sami. Think about how she has always treated you. Forget the affair for a moment, and just focus on Marlena…is she the type of person to run off, and leave her children? You need to think about that. Stop focusing on your anger, and your fathers anger…that anger is justified, to be sure, but it shouldn’t take over your mind. It shouldn’t be the basis for every thought and feeling you have. People make mistakes, Sami.”

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

John lay on his cot, trapped between being awake, and being in a drugged state that left him in a haze of pain. His back was covered with lacerations, and the bruising along his ribs made it difficult to breath. He wasn’t sure if Marlena’s soft breath against his ear was real or imagined. He wasn’t sure if the light caress of her fingers over his face was a dream, or not, but he wanted it to be real. “Doc,” he rasped, barely able to speak. “Doc…”

“I’m here, John” she whispered, brushing her fingers over his face softly. “I’m here with you.”

John started crying. He needed to be strong for her, and he couldn’t. Stefano was slowly destroying him, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on. It had been days of suffering through Stefano’s psychological torture, only to have it followed up with physical torture. John’s mind fought to stay grounded, and hold Marlena at the forefront. Every time a session was unsuccessful, Stefano returned the following day with a more aggressive assault. John knew he was losing the battle.

“Doc…I can’t…I don’t know how much longer I can hang on,” he whispered roughly. 

Marlena rested her body in front of his, continuing to rub her hand over his face softly, “John! Please! Don’t let him do this to you!”

“I’m trying, Doc,” he said softly. “But that shot that he just gave me…”

“I know,” she said with tears in her voice. “I know. You’ve got to fight the drugs, John. Belle and Brady…they need you. John, I need you.”

“I love you,” he whispered. He could hear Stefano’s voice and his laughter echoing in his mind. Barely able to keep his eyes open, he said, “It’s you…”

“Me?” Marlena asked him, bringing her face close to his. “What do you mean?”

“The thing that I love most in the world,” John said, before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Marlena rummaged through the first aid supplies that Celeste had given her, and she said to John softly, “I love you too, John.”

She spent the next thirty minutes cleaning John’s back. She’d rolled him onto his chest, leaving his back exposed, and even in the dim light cast from the lone window in the cell, she could see the damage done by Stefano DiMera. Long after Marlena finished, she sat beside him on the cot, smoothing her hand gently over his ribs, and his lower back. 

His sleep was restless, and, in his drugged state, he mumbled things that made her wish she’d made different choices in life.

John was lost in a dream, a dream of Marlena, and the life they could have had. It was mixed with the life that they’d once had. All of it was confusing and convoluted. What was real and what was false? It changed quickly. She stood in a black void, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t reach her. Every step should have brought him closer, and yet every step pushed her further away. John reached for her, screaming, “Doc!” 

Marlena watched his eyes move rapidly beneath his eyelids, and she whispered to him softly, trying to sooth him, “John. Shhhh, John. Sleep, honey. Just sleep.”

John’s mind conjured Roman, standing behind her. The darkness was closing in on them, and Roman grasped Marlena’s arm tightly, almost violently, growling, “She’s mine.”

“You never loved her!” John roared. “You never appreciated her! Her strength! Her intelligence! You take it all for granted!”

Roman continued to pull her away, even as John struggled with every step, in an attempt to reach her. With a smug grin, Roman said, “She’s mine.” And they were gone.

John screamed into the darkness of the dungeon, “Doc! No! I love you!”

The door to John’s cell scraped open with a shrill whine. Stefano stood there watching Marlena stroke over John’s skin slowly. She was beautiful. He wondered what it might feel like to have her hands caress his skin. 

Without bothering to glance at Stefano, she told him, “I hate you. We will get out of here, and I hope you die in the process.”

“Marlena, Marlena, Marlena,” Stefano said with mock sincerity. “If John did not fight me so much—”

“—don’t give me your lies, and your false platitudes,” Marlena hissed. “You enjoy hurting people, especially, John.”

Stefano watched her for a moment longer, and said, “You’re time is up. Leave him.”

“I want to stay,” she said. “I can’t leave him like this.”

“I have a proposition for you, Marlena. A chance to earn time for John,” Stefano told her, as if he were offering her a gift.

“Time?”

Stefano said, “Chess, Marlena. We used to play quite often during your time with me.”

Marlena was confused, “No, I was—I was in a coma.”

Stefano laughed, stepping into the hallway, “Were you?”

Chapter 4

“Roman,” Shawn Brady said. “I was wondering if ye spoke with Marlena?”

Roman sighed in frustration as his father approached him, where he sat nursing a beer at the pub, “No I haven’t talked to Marlena, and I can tell by the tone of your voice, you’ve been talking to Mom.”

“Listen, would ye?” Shawn said, placing his hand firmly on Roman’s shoulder. “Something has got to be wrong! Otherwise, Marlena would have called here asking about the kids! Think about it! Suppose she run into John, and suppose the two of them run into Stefano, that would explain why we ain’t heard from her.”

“If John found Stefano in New Orleans, or wherever that plantation is, Marlena would be the last person he’d call,” Roman said. “No matter what else I think about him, he’d never subject Marlena to that kind of danger. No, no! The truth is, that they’re off having a great time together, and I’ll tell you something, Pop, I am not about to go down there to New Orleans, and show up in the French Quarter at their hotel room, and ask them how the hell they’re doing!”

Shawn understood Roman’s worries, but he pushed forward anyway, “You tell them you was worried about Brady and Belle!”

Roman’s voice became louder in anger, and he said to his father, “Pop, will you just drop it! Let it go! Okay? She’s gone, and I hope she stays away!”

Shawn watched helplessly as Roman stood up, and walked out of the pub. When he turned around Sami was standing there with tears in her eyes. “I think you might be right,” Sami whispered. “Mom…as angry as I am at her…Mom wouldn’t just run off, and disappear without calling. It’s not like her. She wouldn’t leave Belle.”

Shawn wiped the tears from Sami’s face and he said to her, “Your mother wouldn’t leave you, Samantha.”

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

Celeste stood, watching Marlena’s room from around the corner. She’d delivered Marlena’s breakfast begrudgingly, and she was tired of dealing with Stefano’s projects. She’d left Marlena’s door unlocked purposefully, deciding to let the woman wander the house. John laid on the floor of the basement, in his own filth, with a raging fever. The man needed medical care. Celeste may love Stefano, and she may turn a blind eye to his machinations, but she would not be an accessory to murder. As much as she hated Marlena Brady, she knew the woman was devoted to John. Marlena would find more than she bargained for, for sure. Just as Celeste had predicted, Marlena headed straight for John. Snorting with derision, she walked away, mumbling, “Let Stefano deal with it.”

Marlena found her way to the dungeon on her own, and took the key from a hook hanging on the wall outside. She hadn’t seen John in days, and she knew why. Stefano didn’t want her to see what he’d done to John. She needed to see for herself that he was still alive. She slid the door open, and in the shaft of light that was cast upon the floor, lie John’s prone body, shackled to the wall. He was curled into a fetal position, and Marlena’s heart stopped, and then started back up, beating a staccato rhythm that vibrated through her whole body. 

“John!” she cried, moving to his side quickly. The smell of blood, sweat, and urine was strong. She started crying. She couldn’t fathom the type of mind someone like Stefano DiMera possessed to project this type of pain onto someone. 

A shadow crossed the door, and she heard Stefano roar, “How did you get down here?”

She turned to him with tears streaking over her face, “You promised! You said 12 hours with no drugs! You promised! If I—I, if I beat you at chess! And I did! I did!”

Stefano was flustered. She wasn’t supposed to be down here, and she certainly wasn’t supposed to see John in this condition. With no way to cover what he’d done to John, Stefano told her, “He hasn’t had any drugs! I kept my word!”

Marlena continued to sob, “But you keep him in this condition? He needs medical attention. He needs to be cleaned up and cared for. I want him in my room, now!” She heard Stefano’s footsteps walk away.

John’s eyes fluttered open, and the pain in his whole body washed through him again. He closed his eyes, thinking he was better off unconscious, where the pain couldn’t touch him. Marlena’s soft voice called to him though the haze, and he opened his eyes again, “Doc…you can’t be here…you can’t be here…”

“I’m not leaving you,” she said firmly. “I’m not! Stefano will either bring you to my room, or he can lock me in here with you, but I won’t let you leave my sight.”

“He’s winning,” John said weakly, unable to move. “He’s beating me, Doc…he’s breaking my spirit, and as much as—as much as I try to hang onto you, he’s gonna, he’s gonna take my mind.” John reached for Marlena, using what little strength he had left, and he whispered, barely audible, “And my life…”

Marlena watched John slip into unconsciousness, as she heard multiple footsteps echo down the hallway outside. Stefano’s shadow overtook the doorway again, and Marlena heard him say, “Pick him up, and take him to her room. Now.”

Marlena scrambled to her feet, wiping the tears from her face fiercely, “I want twelve hours!”

“Marlena,” Stefano said as if her were speaking to a child. “He has two hours left.”

She stepped closer, screaming, “I want twelve hours! He needs that! You’re going to kill him if you keep this up, and then what use is he to you?”

Stefano eyed her for a moment. She was fire, and passion, both things that he admired. Both things that Stefano DiMera loved to crush. Nodding his head the barest fraction, he said, “I’ll give you your twelve hours.”

“No drugs,” Marlena said firmly. “I want first aid, clean water, and food without drugs.”

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

Marlena’s cool fingers trailed over John’s face gently. He was burning up with fever. Celeste approached Marlena with a bowl of ice, “Here are the ice cubes.”

“Celeste,” Marlena said softly, barely sparing the woman a glance. “Thank you.”

“I’ll bring more towels,” Celeste said quietly. John looked much worse in the light of a properly lit room, and guilt washed over her. She’d been a participant in what had happened to John in the dungeon, she couldn’t deny that. She’d done a lot of things in her time with Stefano that she wasn’t proud of. Stefano’s growing interest with the beautiful Marlena Brady was just another slap in the face from the man she loved to the point of obsession.

Marlena took a piece of ice, brushing it over John’s lips, allowing it to melt into his mouth, “John. John, honey…can you hear me?” Speaking more to herself than John she said, “I have to get his temperature down.”

Marlena ran into the bathroom attached to her room, and ran the tub full of lukewarm water. Rushing back to his side, she looked up when Celeste entered the room, “We have to get him in the bath.”

“The bath?” Celeste asked her. “Is it that bad?”

“He’s hovering near 104 degrees. Yes, it’s that bad!” Marlena said in growing frustration. Celeste helped her lift John’s lax body. The two of them combined were barely able to get him into the tub, neither bothering to remove his pants. Marlena said, “I need ibuprofen and acetaminophen. I’ve got to get this fever down, and figure out where the infection is.”

Celeste scrambled from the room, intent on finding the items requested, while Marlena kneeled beside the tub, using a washrag to drag cool water over his face and chest. John’s eyes, fluttered, and his body shivered violently, “Doc…”

He was lost in fever induced hallucinations. 

“You and I were just victims of fate!” John told her emphatically. “Fate twisted by Stefano DiMera! He took Roman, he put me in his spot, and because of that, you and I share an indestructible bond!”

Marlena stared at him, and whispered, “I know…I know, I know…”

John touched her face softly, “When you and I made love, Doc, it was as pure as if we were married.

Marlena stroked his chest, “John! It’s Marlena. I need you to drink some water for me. Can you do that?”

John moaned in pain, “Water?”

“Yes, water,” she said, tipping the glass to his mouth. “Take it slow…it’s water, it’s water baby.” John started to drink, water dripping down his chin, and into the bath. “Slow down,” Marlena told him. “Slow down, honey, slow down.”

John’s eyes opened briefly. He stared up at her, whispering, “I love you, Doc. I love you.”

Marlena’s soft fingers brushed over his face, and she felt tears roll down her cheeks. He was delirious with fever. She smiled, as his eyes closed again, and she said softly, “I love you too, John.”

Stefano stood in the doorway, and Marlena could feel his presence before he said anything. “I’ve never seen you in action as a doctor,” he told her casually. “You are very good.”

Marlena continued to ignore him, running the cool wash rag over John’s chest in a repetitive motion, in an attempt to cool his body. Celeste returned with the medicine, and Marlena woke John gently, placing it in his mouth, encouraging him to swallow, “Drink the water, John. Please, honey, drink the water.”

Once she was sure that the medicine had gone down, Marlena focused on cleaning him. John was in, and out, of consciousness. 

“It all goes back to Stefano, doesn’t it?” Marlena said softly. “It just goes on and on and on.”

“Doc, you just do whatever you feel is right, and I’ll support you on that,” John said, putting his coat on. “I will stand behind whatever decision you make.”

“Do you know how old-fashioned, bone deep, lucky I feel to have you for a friend?”

“Yeah, I do,” he told her with a smile. “That’s one thing Stefano can never take away from us. I know for a fact, Doc, whatever happens to me, or you, our friendship’s always going to be there.”

Once John was settled into Marlena’s bed, and the blankets were tucked around him, she looked at Stefano, and she said, “Leave us.”

“You’re door will be locked this time, Marlena,” Stefano said. “I won’t risk you wandering around again.”

She ignored him, brushing the back of her hand softly across John’s face. Stefano wanted an audience. That man always wanted an audience, and she wasn’t going to give him one. 

John turned his face into her palm, and he groaned, “Doc…”

“Would you like to feed her?” Marlena asked him softly, uncapping Belle’s bottle.

“Oh,” John said reaching for the bottle. Looking at the baby in his arms he said, “Well now, does little Belle want her bottle? Wanna try this out, hmmm? Oh, look who’s hungry. That was good, Mom, that was good.”

“She just loves to watch you, doesn’t she?” Marlena said with a smile.

John rocked Belle in his arms, remembering his time with Sami and Eric when they were young. He looked at Marlena, with a soft look in his eyes, “Brings back some memories, doesn’t it?”

“Every time you’re in this house, or holding Belle…I think about when it was your house, and we were a family,” she whispered.

John stared at her, feeling himself get lost in her eyes, and he murmured, “It felt like it was going to last forever, didn’t it?”

Marlena could barely speak, so she nodded, and whispered, “Forever.”

Marlena watched John sleep fitfully. She’d treated the cuts and lacerations on his back, and she’d wrapped his ribs, which she suspected might be cracked. Reaching for his wrists, she noted the red, inflamed skin, and suspected it was the cause of the infection in his body. Slowly and methodically she cleaned them, and silently, she worked out a plan. If this continued, John would die. She would lose him forever, and Belle and Brady would lose their father. Marlena had seen the change in Stefano over the last week. The way his beady eyes roamed her body, the way he tried to give her leeway in the hopes of gaining her favor. She could use this. She could use it to manipulate him, and get her and John out of Maison Blanche.

Chapter 5

Stefano had given up on stopping Marlena from seeing John. Every measure he had taken, she had somehow managed to get around. She’d even picked the lock on her door at one point, and he had no idea how she knew to do that. Stefano made sure she never went upstairs, because the last thing he needed was for Marlena to discover his other houseguest. She went between her room, and John. 

Marlena’s fixation on John drove Stefano mad, but he could let it go, since she seemed to be warming up to him. She played chess with him regularly, and although this slowed his progress with John significantly, it didn’t stop it completely. Stefano was impressed that Marlena had retained her chess skills, especially since he’d had Rolf wipe her memory before she woke from her coma. There were things Marlena didn’t need to remember from her time with him. She had stopped speaking to him with a voice laced in hatred. Stefano smiled from where he sat at his desk, watching her go into the dungeon. She could have her time with John, Stefano was playing the long game now, and he intended to win.

Marlena smiled to herself. She knew Stefano was watching her. He had cameras all over the house, and she had pinpointed the location of most of them, as she took her daily trek to see John. For the past week she had slowly opened up with Stefano, pretending to let her guard down, and Stefano, in all of his arrogance, fell for it. She held back cringes, when he touched her hand softly. She allowed him to kiss her cheek goodnight. Tonight, she planned to win this game she started. Stefano was ripe for seduction. She slid her hand into her pocket, and wrapped her fingers around the tranquilizers that Celeste had left for her the night before. One last visit to John. 

John sat on the floor, propped against the wall. Stefano had just injected him with another dose of the drugs less than thirty minutes before. There were periods of time when Stefano left him alone. Time when his water and food were free of drugs, and he was left to sleep for hours at a time. John had asked Marlena about it, but she never gave him a clear answer. John knew she was doing something. She was making some type of deal with Stefano, so that John might have time to recuperate between sessions. 

The door to his cell opened, and Marlena entered silently, coming to sit next to him on the floor. John’s body rolled into her, his head resting on her chest, as he whispered, “Hey, Doc.”

“Oh, John,” she said softly, caressing his face. She felt so guilty over losing her last game of chess. She won occasionally, but not consistently. Marlena knew that as soon as the twelve hours were up, if she’d lost the last match, Stefano would inject John immediately, and begin another round of torture. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry…”

“Sorry?” he rasped. “Doc…no…are you okay, Doc?”

Marlena was anything, but okay. “Yeah,” she whispered. “So far…”

His hand weakly grabbed her wrist, stopping her hand as it swept along his neck, “What’s wrong?” He didn’t have the energy to lift his head, or even open his eyes, but he could feel that something was off.

Marlena kissed his forehead, “Nothing is wrong.” Everything was wrong. John was so weak. He was getting stronger, but minimally. Her wins at chess matches with Stefano were too inconsistent.

John’s head lifted slightly, and his lips ended up resting on her neck, “You’re lying. What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

She swallowed thickly, but she wouldn’t tell him. Stefano had been standing over her as she slept, and she’d awoken to him slowly trailing his fingers over the swell of her hips. She wouldn’t add to what John was going through, by telling him that. “John, I’m fine,” she said gently. “I wanted to spend time with you now, because—because I’m having dinner with Stefano later—”

John struggled to sit up, but his body wouldn’t move, and he ended up resting more heavily on her, “No…Doc…please…”

“I’m going to get us out of here, John. I’m going to do it.”

John struggled to get his thoughts together, “It’s not safe…what are you doing? Doc, what are you planning?”

Her hand resumed its loving caress over his face, and she whispered, “Whatever I have to do to get us out of here. I won’t continue to stand by and watch him do this to you. I lo—care for you too much, John.”

He felt the drugs pulling him under, “I love you, Doc. I love you…but you’re not telling me something. What aren’t you telling me?”

Marlena smiled softly. Every time he was under the effects of the drugs, he told her he loved her. He never seemed to remember it later, but she felt a certain swell of love in her own heart when he said it. “I love you too,” she whispered. Marlena knew she would loose him within minutes. The drugs were pulling him down. “Don’t worry. It’s nothing, John. It’s nothing.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We have to get out of here,” she told him. “I have a plan.”

“No,” he said, feeling himself sink deeper. He felt so helpless, so weak…his fingers clawed at her shirt, “No…Doc…what are you…”

John’s head fell to her shoulder, and Marlena said, “John! John…I need you to get on the cot. You can’t stay here on the floor. John…”

He slowly looked at her, and said, “You’re so fucking beautiful, Doc.”

“Come on, John,” she said, feeling her stomach flutter. She stood up and leaned down to help him up. “Come on, honey. Up on the cot.”

She’d barely managed to get his feet lifted, when John reached for her, pulling her down beside him. His fingers stroked over her face, “I mean it, Doc…fucking beautiful.”

Marlena leaned forward, resting her face on his chest briefly, and she kissed him softly. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Maybe…maybe then the drugs will wear off,” John murmured. Getting lost in his memories again.

Marlena sat up, and kissed him softly on the lips, “If this works, John…maybe we’ll be getting out of here.”

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

“Roman!” Bo said in exasperation. “I really feel like you’re oversimplifying this. It does not make sense that John called Marlena down to New Orleans…he wouldn’t do that. Not if he thought Stefano DiMera was down there!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Roman muttered, aiming another dart at the dartboard.

“No,” Bo told him. “That’s not what you’ve been saying. Your argument is that John wouldn’t call Marlena if there was danger. I’m telling you, Roman, if he thought Stefano DiMera was anywhere near New Orleans, John wouldn’t have called her at all. Something is wrong.”

Roman looked at him for a moment, weighing what his brother had just told him, but Roman couldn’t get past his own jealousy. Then, there was the little issue of Marlena’s call to him last night, “Bo, Doc called me last night. She’s fine.”

“She called you?” Bo asked, feeling uneasy.

Sami leaned against the wall listening to her father and Bo. Her mother had called last night? Her Dad hadn’t mentioned that to her. Roman threw the last dart in his hand, and turned towards Bo, “Yes. She called. She’s with John. She’s fine. She asked about Sami’s Algebra class, and said some bullshit about reminding her of the FOIL method. She’s fine.”

Sami was confused. Her mother knew every class she was in, and she wasn’t in Algebra. Sami stepped out from around the corner, and she said, “Dad, exactly what did she say?”

“Sami,” Roman sighed in exasperation. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“Dad! I’m not in algebra! Mom knows that,” Sami told him. “What did she say?”

Roman looked at Sami, “She said she hoped that your grade went up in Algebra, and to make sure you studied the FOIL method. She made me repeat it back to her, so I didn’t forget.”

“No,” Sami said softly. “No, you’re right, Uncle Bo. Something has to be wrong. I’m in geometry. She knows that. She helped me on an assignment, and it was the Pythagorean theorem. Mom would never make that type of mistake…unless it was on purpose.”

“Sami,” Roman said. “I know that you really want to believe that your Mom didn’t run off with John—”

“—she didn’t,” Sami said. “She’s always in my business. She doesn’t forget details. She did that on purpose. Mom never forget the details.”

“Roman, I’m telling you…something isn’t right with this whole thing! John’s been gone more than a month. Marlena’s been gone for a little more than three weeks. They wouldn’t leave Belle and Brady for that long, unless something was wrong, and I think it’s really time to look into this,” Bo told him.

Roman walked over to the dartboard, retrieving his darts, and he looked at Bo, “Doc’s fine. Nothing is going on, and I’m getting really tired of my whole family trying to get me to go after a woman who obviously made her choice…and it wasn’t me.”

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

Celeste opened the door to John’s cell, wobbling a little on her own feet. She was drunk. She knew she was. She’d watched Marlena in her room getting ready to have dinner with Stefano, and she had never hated anyone more in the entirety of her life. She needed Marlena gone. She needed John gone. She sat down the tray with his food, and looked at him, “If I am forced to cook for you, you are going to eat it whether you like it or not.”

John was watching the monitor on the wall. Marlena had just walked into the living room, and Stefano looked up from where he sat, “Marlena, you look especially beautiful tonight.”

Celeste grabbed the soup from John’s tray, hurling it at the television. She screamed, “Damn you, Stefano!” She stumbled to the side, and landed on the edge of John’s cot awkwardly.  She drank too much Prosecco, and now she couldn’t seem to feel anything, but sadness. “I knew he was after that bitch!”

John was intrigued by this drunken version of Celeste. He stood up carefully, still trying to get his mind right, as the last round of drugs burned its way through his system, “So you and Stefano are close?”

Celeste started crying softly, “I was there for him. Whenever he needed me. I gave him everything! My heart, my soul…and look how he tramples on it!”

She’s drunk. John can smell the alcohol on her breath, as he slowly lowered himself down beside her, “So he used you, huh, Celeste?”

“I was a doormat for him, and he knew it!” she growled. “No matter how much I gave to him, it was never enough! It was always another he wanted!”

Marlena’s soft voice came from the monitor, and John turned his head, “I’m not a stupid woman, Stefano. I know when I’m beaten.”

Stefano reached out, touching her face softly, admiring her beauty, “You are far from stupid, Marlena.”

She wanted to vomit, and cringe away from his touch, but she forced herself to keep placid lines along her face, “So, I realize that my life, as I know it, is over. I’ll never see my—I’ll never see my children again. Or John.”

John stood up on shaky legs, “Oh, no…Doc! What are you doing?”

“You cost me my husband,” she said softly.

“No, Marlena,” Stefano said. “That is your doing. I simply took advantage of the situation that you presented when you slept with John, behind Roman’s back.”

John felt that Marlena was playing with Stefano, but he didn’t know why. He stepped closer to the monitor, watching her facial expressions, as she turned her back to Stefano. “No, Doc…what are you doing?”

Marlena schooled her features, and thought to herself, stroke his ego. Turning to face him she said, “You manipulated that. No one does that better than you do.”

John pulled on the chains that bound him to the wall, feeling the pain in his wrists, “No! Doc, what are you doing?” He was confused, and scared. She had a plan, and it was a plan he knew nothing about. This was a dangerous game she was playing. 

Stefano smiled, obviously pleased with Marlena’s words, “Well, I’m very happy to see that you appreciate my talents.”

“Fuck!” John roared, pulling at his chains. “Doc, stop this! Whatever you’re doing…stop this!”

He turned when Celeste’s body fell from the cot into a drunken heap on the floor. John continued to stare helpless up at the screen as Marlena stepped closer to Stefano, placing her palm on his chest, “Oddly enough, I have a certain…fascination for what you’ve done.”

“Nooooo!” John roared.

Chapter 6

Marlena watched as Stefano finished the last of his drink. The drink that she had drugged with the tranquilizers Celeste intended for her to take the previous night. Marlena had watched John slowly deteriorate over the last few weeks, and she’d finally decided to devise a plan to get them safely out of Maison Blanche. John had lost a significant amount of weight because he was eating barely one meal per day. His incoherence in his drugged state, left Marlena living in fear for what the drugs were doing to him. She had no idea what type of chemicals Stefano was injecting into John’s body. But, it was much worse than just drugs. He had cuts along his arms, and on his back. John had bruises along his rib cage, from being punched repeatedly. Stefano claimed John simply needed to be more cooperative. When Marlena questioned him, John wouldn’t give her any details about how he was injured. Even in his ever weakening state, he tried to shield her from the horror of what was being inflicted on him almost daily. While she held him in her arms, and cried over his condition, John had stroked her face, and told her, “I’m fine, Doc. It’s going to be okay. I’m going to figure out how to get us out of here.” Marlena knew that John was too weak. Stefano had beaten him, and drugged him, repeatedly. John had nothing left to give. If she didn’t do something, he would die. So, she’d come up with a plan. 

She watched Stefano’s face, studying him for signs that the sedatives might be taking effect. She was disappointed, since he seemed to be suffering no ill effects. Instead he stared at her naked body lustfully, clad only in her panties, and white thigh high stockings, and he said to her, “Go on…don’t stop. Go on. Go on.” 

As Stefano leered at her body, with a grin on his face, Marlena began to lower her stocking down her leg slowly, drawing this seduction out for as long as possible, in the hope that he eventually collapsed. She has to force the bile rising in her throat back down, and pray the drugs took effect before her charade went too far. If Stefano realized what she was up to, she wasn’t sure how he might react. She didn’t think she could handle much more of his pawing hands on her skin, or his mouth on her body. She’d have bruises later, from the rough, careless way he’d grabbed at her. This was the stuff of nightmares, but her mind kept going back to John. For John, to save his life, she would endure Stefano’s bites on her breasts, and his hot breath along her leg. John. For John. Stefano licked his lips as he said to her, “You’re beautiful Marlena. I know why all men want you…and now you are mine…” 

Stefano lowered his head to place wet kisses along the inside of her knee, and Marlena shivered in revulsion. His face rubbed along her inner thigh, and Marlena had to remind herself that John was fighting for his life, chained in the dungeon directly below them. She absolutely had to follow through with this plan until the end. Just when she felt like she couldn’t take anymore, and she might push him away, Stefano collapsed face first into the sofa, and Marlena sobbed in relief, shoving his hand away from her body. She pushed his body to the side, refusing to allow herself to panic now that it was over. 

For some reason, readjusting her fallen stocking helped her gather her sense of control, as if that one gesture calmed the raging panic in her body. Swallowing back the feeling of disgust once again, she ran her fingers along Stefano’s belt, unhooking the keys to John’s shackles. She grabbed Stefano’s smoking jacket from the chair, and quickly wrapped it around her naked body. She shivered again in disgust. Without thought, or care to her state of undress, Marlena rushed to the dungeon to unchain John, and get the hell out of Maison Blanche. 

John had watched what was happening on the monitor helplessly as Marlena undressed, and laid herself bare, physically and emotionally, for a psychotic sociopath…just to save his life. John wasn’t certain his life was worth everything Marlena just went through. His heart ached for her knowing that, as she allowed Stefano to kiss her, and run his hands along her body, she was disgusted inside, and very likely scared. She did this for him, and he would never be able to repay this. She wouldn’t let him if he tried. He glanced over at a very drunken Celeste passed out on the dungeon floor, and hoped she stayed in that condition. When he looked at the monitor again, Stefano had collapsed, and Marlena was pulling the keys off of his belt loop. Hope rose in him fast, as well as something else that never truly left him…love for the woman who just seduced their enemy to save his life. That woman, that amazing, brave, courageous woman…he still loved her.

“John!” Marlena called as she threw open the dungeon door, and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. She could feel the cool air of the room wash up along her thighs, reminding her of how little clothing she actually wore. Burying her face in his neck, her body started shaking, the adrenaline beginning to wear off, and the fear starting to grab at her again.

John’s chains clanked, and rattled as he reached for her, and grasped her body tightly to his. He shoved his face in her hair, and breathed deeply. “Oh my G-d, Doc! Are you—are you okay? I was watching the monitor…Stefano didn’t hurt you did he—”

Marlena pulled away from him quickly, the loose jacket she was wearing falling partially open in the front, exposing her breasts. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything. She wanted to get John out of those chains. “—No! No, no, he passed out first…but I got the key!” she said, pulling back and holding it up. She gingerly took his wrists in her hand, noticing that the bandages were already coming undone again, and she moved to unlock the manacles. 

John reached forward to retie her sash, and cover her up her exposed breasts. His fingers brushed against her skin, and as much as he wished he didn’t respond to her being so close, he knew, he would always respond to her. He thought of her and Roman, and it hurt. If it was what she wanted, he would support that choice, and he would force himself to move on…with Kristen. The problem was, over the last month, he’d fallen even deeper into love with her. How would he move on from that?

John leaned his head forward, and rested it against hers as she struggled to remove the cuffs surrounding his wrists, “You took a really big risk tonight, Doc. Such a big fucking risk! Why did you do that?”

For a second she stopped moving, and looked directly into his eyes. Her heart stuttered a little. It did every time she looked at him. She stated with fierce confidence, “For you, and it was worth it. I would do it again…John, for you, I would do it again. Now we can get out of here.”

Once the cuffs fell from his wrists with a loud clanking rattle, John looked at her, and then pulled her into his arms again, feeling relief that she was okay. With a rough voice, he said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Marlena turned quickly, almost tripping over Celeste’s unconscious body in her rush to get out of the dank, oppressive room. She stopped abruptly, but John gripped her hand tightly, and said, “Leave her, Doc, we gotta go.” John grabbed her hand and pulled Marlena up the stairs, and out of the dungeon he’d lived in for the last month.

Upstairs, they found that Stefano had rolled onto the floor. John said, “We need to get him downstairs, so we can lock him in and call Abe…or Shane, but that fucker is not going to touch you again.”

“John, how? You’re so weak,” she said.

“Doc, I will find the strength,” he said, lifting Stefano’s heavy frame under the arms, and tugging him towards the stairs. It was a slow process, and John considered tossing the man down the stairs, but he didn’t. Once Stefano was inside, on the ground next to Celeste, John searched both of their bodies for keys, and then locked the door, leaving them inside. Turning to Marlena, he noticed that she seemed to be growing listless, “Doc…Marlena?”

She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes, “Hmmm?”

“You’re worrying me,” he whispered, wiping the tears that fell from her eyes.

“It’s over?” she whispered.

“It’s over, baby,” he said, wrapping her in the embrace of his arms. “It’s over.” Marlena’s arms banded around him tightly, and she sobbed. The weight of worrying over John, caring for his injuries, and playing along with Stefano’s maddening games of chess had taken their toll, and with the knowledge that it was over, she came crashing down. 

They made their way back upstairs, and just as they were about to enter the living room, they heard a loud crash upstairs. John said, “I’ll call Abe first, Doc. You can get dressed. Then we can figure out what the hell that noise was.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

John and Marlena stepped onto the third floor of the house. It was an area that Marlena had been strictly forbidden to go to, and she had never risked exploring it for fear that her access to John would be restricted. Marlena glanced at John, “Are you okay?”

“Doc, I’ll probably crash later, but right now, I’m okay,” he told her, opening the door to his left, and then closing it.

“What are we looking for?” she wanted to know.

“Well, Doc,” John said. “As far as I know, Stefano isn’t a cat owner, so we’re looking for the source of that noise we heard earlier.”

Marlena opened the door across the hall, and stood in the doorway in awe. “Um, John?”

“Yeah,” he said, approaching, and looking over her shoulder. The room was full of paintings. Paintings done in nearly every artistic style he knew, and he knew most of them, if not all of them. There were impressionist paintings, pointillism, realism, abtract…and they all had one thing in common, the subject.

Marlena whispered, “John there are hundreds…I don’t understand.”

He stepped into the room, saying as he went, “I don’t either. This makes absolutely no sense at all.”

Marlena walked over to a stack of paintings, tipping them forwards one at a time, looking into the eyes of the same person over and over, “John…every single painting is of Bo.”

“Why would Stefano have paintings of Bo? Unless the old man is sicker then I thought he was. This is…this is obsession,” John said. “Stefano can’t paint, but why? Why would he have these commissioned. Doc, this makes no sense.”

“Who are you?” a woman’s voice asked them. 

The door creaked, and Marlena spun around with a gasp staring at the woman in the doorway. A woman with deep green eyes, and dark brown hair. A woman who looked exactly like Hope Williams Brady. John had a flash of her face the last time he saw her, suspended over a vat of acid in a cage, the helpless victim of Ernesto Toscano. Marlena whispered, “Hope?”

“I asked you who you are?” the woman demanded.

“You don’t know us?” John asked her, stepping closer.

“No…” she replied. “Should I?”

“Did you…did you paint these?” Marlena asked her gently.

Her features softened as she stepped further into the room. “I dream of his face all of the time,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen him, and yet I feel like I know him so well.”

“That’s Bo,” Marlena said. She looked at John, “What do we do?”

John sighed, running his hands through his hair, “We need to call Abe back, and tell him to bring Bo.”

Chapter 7

It was two days before John was released from the hospital. Two days in which Marlena lived at the hospital with him, refusing to leave his side. When the doctors began to discuss his release, Marlena begged Shane to find them a place to go. Going back to Salem in this condition was not an option. They would immediately be accosted by family, and friends who would want to know what happened, and while well-meaning, it would overwhelm them both. She couldn’t face Roman’s wrath and his hatred. She couldn’t handle Sami’s vitriol. Sami was already angry because of the affair, so was Roman, and they wouldn’t stop to understand the situation before passing their own brand of judgement. Marlena and John needed time. Time to get themselves back together, so that they could rejoin their families in Salem, able to handle whatever was hurled at them. 

Within two hours of John’s hospital release, Shane had them safely ensconced in a town house in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It was only then, when Marlena knew for certain they were safe, that she seemed to fall apart. Her frame shook with anxiety. Memories of every horror she’d ever experienced started to replay in her mind. She tried to calm herself. They were safe. John was safe. She couldn’t break down in front of them. So, while John spoke softly with Shane in the living room, Marlena wandered off to the shower, intent on washing away every memory of Stefano’s hands on her body.

A few moments later, John softly closed the door on Shane’s retreating back, and he turned to face a small, but beautifully furnished, sitting room. A carved fireplace took up much of one wall, and the design followed 18th century French colonial trends. It was beautiful, the type of home a man would have provided a mistress a hundred years earlier. It had several bedrooms, a formal room, and a garden in the back. It was the perfect place for a romantic getaway. John shook his head. He could not start thinking like that. Marlena had been trying for months to repair her marriage with Roman. John knew he had to let her go. Taking a deep breath, he went to find Marlena. 

In the last few hours, she had grown progressively quieter, and he was concerned. As John approached the bedroom to check on her, he heard the shower water running, and the sound of soft sobs coming from the ensuite bathroom. John could almost feel Marlena’s pain echoing from the confines of the steam filled room. Her wracking sobs vibrated off of the walls. Those sobs told the story of a deeper grief than she had shown him in the last two days, and John’s heart broke for her all over again. She had been his rock over the last month. He knew with certainty that without her love, care, and fierce loyalty, he would have died. She saved his life, and John could only imagine the horrors she had hid from him in the process.

He remembered the rage he felt as he watched Stefano’s clumsy hands paw at her body in lust. His mind was screaming, She’s mine!, while physically all he could do was watch helplessly, and scream, No! at the monitor. He quietly walked toward the bathroom, opening the door wider. John stood immobile, watching with tear filled eyes. She stood in the shower crying as hot, steamy water trailed over her body. John stepped into the room, making a decision as he approached the glass of the shower, and watched her shoulders shake, as she heaved in huge gasps of air. Removing his clothing, he slowly opened the shower door, wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs. Stepping close to her body, letting her feel his heat before he touched her, he reached for her. Marlena turned into his arms, clinging to him, shoving her face in his neck. She gripped his back with her fingernails as if he were a lifeline. 

John held her trembling body, and roughly whispered near her ear, “Marlena? Doc?” His arms held her body close to his as his hands move soothingly over back. 

“I can’t get him off me…” she gasped, barely audible, as she struggled to breath. “I can’t get him off me…it’s like the time…it’s the same as when Kellam…” she sobbed, lifting her head, and staring up at him with tear filled eyes. John looked over her body, seeing scratches, and bite marks on her breasts. There were finger imprints on her thighs, and he wished he had just killed Stefano rather than giving him over to the ISA. Stefano had marked her body, in his clumsy aggressive attempt at love making. He’d hurt her, and John hated him more in that moment than he ever hated anyone before. 

John held her slick body close to his, and ran his hands over her hair, and along her back as she continued to cry into him. Marlena’s experience with Stefano, had her reliving a rape that occurred more than twenty years ago. She was a strong woman, a strong woman who wouldn’t ask for help, but he would never let her go through this by herself. It didn’t matter if she was the strongest woman on Earth, she had already lived through too much pain. Gently tipping her face up to his, he looked into her eyes, and said as softly as he could, “I’m going to help you okay, Doc? You have held me together for the last month, but you can rest now. Okay? Let me take care of you now.”

With her eyes averted from his, she slowly nodded her head in acknowledgement. John’s hands cupped her head, tipping it towards the spray, and carefully wet Marlena’s hair. He reached for the shampoo on the shelf, lathering her hair, and massaged her scalp the way he used to years before, when they were married. Marlena closed her eyes, feeling hot tears slide over her cheeks. If only. John rinsed her hair clean, before trailing his palms over the soft skin along her back, and over her shoulders, trying to calm her as she continued to cry softly. 

He watched the soap run down her body, following the dips and curves of her. He tried to redirect his thoughts when he felt his body tightening. His abdominal muscles rippled in response to her wet, warm, naked body. John soaped up a washrag he found on the shelf, and he began to gently wash her skin, running it over her shoulders, and around the nape of her neck. His strong hands coursed along her back reaching all of the areas he could, while she continued to hold onto him, and sob loudly. He tipped her face up to meet his eyes, and he whispered lovingly, “Doc, baby, I’m going to wash your legs okay?”

Without answering she released her hold on him, and gingerly stepped back, keeping her hand on his shoulder while he knelt at her feet. Carefully lifting her leg, he had to refrain from caressing her skin. Washing one foot at a time, John tried to convey to her exactly how much he cared through his gentle handling of her. His eyes were riveted on his large palm as it pushed the soft soapy fabric over her calves, and up her thighs. He barely heard her say, “Harder. John…scrub harder.”

“Doc?” he asked her, staring up at her. Her eyes were closed, and her face was awash with pain.

“Harder. Scrub harder. Please, John. Get him off me…please,” she begged.

Stefano. She wanted him to scrub Stefano’s touch from her flesh. “Baby, I don’t want to hurt you. I won’t, and I won’t allow you to hurt yourself either,” he told her as gently as he could. He stood up, touching her face, “Look at me, Doc.”

Marlena stared up at him, and whispered, “I feel so dirty.”

“Come here,” John said, pulling her against him, and holding onto her. “You’re not, Doc. What you did for me…I have no words for that. You saved us. You did that. You are the strongest, bravest, kindest woman I know.” The bruises on her body were a testament to what Stefano had done to her. They were a testament to what she was willing to do for him. Marlena and John both knew what might have happened the other night, had the drugs not taken effect. Stefano would have likely raped her, because he would not have stopped once he realized she had lied to him. 

John crouched back down again to finish washing her legs, finally running the cloth over her hips, and around to her buttocks. His fingers trailed over the bruises on her skin, and he said, “Doc, I need you to talk to me…please…”

“No one has ever treated me with as much care as you do,” Marlena whispered, pushing a wet lock of hair off of his forehead, as she stared down into his deep blue eyes. “No one.”

John thought of Roman. He knew what she meant, even if she didn’t say it. John treated her better than her own husband had. John stood, and gently lifted her chin so she looked at him, telling her, “I love you, Doc. That has never changed.”

Marlena ran her fingertips over his beard covered jaw, and said, “You do?”

“Marlena, there isn’t a day that goes by, when I don’t think about you or see you, and remember how much you mean to me.”

Marlena whispered, “I love you, John. I know that you, more than anyone else in this world, will always keep me safe.”

Marlena shivered. John noticed that the temperature of the water was beginning to cool, and he told her, “I’m going to wash up myself really fast, and then I’ll get you out ok?” 

“Okay,” she said softly, her eyes full of trust.

John turned away from her, and removed his wet boxer briefs, dropping them to the shower floor with a wet slap. He began to quickly wash his body. The soapy fabric causing the cuts, and abrasions on his skin to sting, but John continued to scrub over his flesh. Marlena gasped when she finally gazed upon the battered skin of his back and buttocks. She knew he was injured, but the dungeon had poor lighting, and she hadn’t been able to fully seen his more recent injuries. He had cuts on his skin that looked deliberately placed, and circular burns on his skin that were likely made with a cigar. There was newer bruising around his back and ribs. She ran her palms over his back, and she whispered, crying softly, “John…my G-d, what did he do to you?” 

Her fingertips softly trailed over the bruises, and cuts along his back. She gently palpated the purple and green bruising along his ribs, her hands spanning his wet flesh. Marlena started talking, “I tried so hard, John. I tried so hard to win every chess game, to buy you twelve more hours without pain or drugs…I tried so hard.”

He turned to face her, confusion mixed with apprehension etched on his face, “What? I—I didn’t understand why he would sometimes leave me alone for long periods, and your saying…you…oh, fuck, Doc!”

Marlena smiled at him gently, tracing her fingers over a burn on his shoulder, “I would spend hours with the devil…if it meant saving you.” She took the washcloth from him, and began to wash his chest. John felt the coolness of her breath along his skin, and his body began responding to her physical nearness.

“Doc, let me finish…” he said gruffly, reaching for the washcloth.

“John,” she told him staring up into his eyes. “I want to do this.”

“I don’t want to scare you, Doc. After what you’ve been through with Stefano…you don’t need…it’s just my—my body is reacting to you, and I can’t stop it. I’m sorry. Just let me finish washing myself.”

“No,” she said, and her tone brooked no argument. 

He looked down at her naked, water slicked skin, and his cock twitched. His hands made their way up her arms, and over her shoulders, while his palm cupped the nape of her neck, “Doc…” 

John’s stomach muscles constricted, as Marlena slowly pulled the soft rag around his hips, dipping down around his engorged cock, and then reaching around to his lower back. She stared up at him, her mouth so close, and she whispered, “Your body doesn’t scare me John. I know every inch of it.”

Dropping the soapy rag to the shower floor with a wet smack, Marlena’s small hand gripped his length, sliding over it. His eyes closed, and his head fell back, as he groaned, “G-d, Doc, that feels so good.” He felt her breasts slide across his chest as she moved closer, and the heat of her skin set him on fire. His cock grew even harder, and guilt overwhelmed him. Pulling away from her he said, “I can’t do this…Doc, we’ve got to get out of here.”

Chapter 8

She knew he was trying to protect her, from what happened with Stefano, from what his body was craving in that moment, from every horrific event she’d ever suffered through. John would always try to protect her. She knew their relationship, past, present, and future, was complicated. The guilt from their affair wrapped around them like a blanket, but Marlena shoved it off. She was no longer willing to allow herself to feel guilty for loving him. Love was pure. And that’s what she felt. Love. She loved John. She was in love with John. How they always managed to be there for each other in their worst moments would always be a mystery to her. But in her darkest times, she wanted him with her. She stepped closer, laying her cheek on his chest in the cooling water of the shower, and she realized it was time to acknowledge that. “John?”

He opened his eyes slowly, and tilted his head down to look into her eyes, desire clouding his blown pupils. “Yeah?”

She pulled back slightly, and touched his face, saying, “I love you.”

“I love you,” he said immediately. “I will always love you.”

She was quiet for a moment, and she told him, “I’m in love with you.”

John felt his heart begin to race, and suddenly he felt hopeful, “Doc?”

“Make me forget,” she whispered, kissing his wet skin, near his shoulder. “Just make me forget everything for tonight, and we can discuss it tomorrow.”

John didn’t know how it was possible, but his cock got even harder. He wanted to give her that. His body was screaming for her physically, but it was so much more than physical. Marlena was the only woman he ever made love to, that he connected to spiritually. When he was with her, it was as if they became one. He craved that connection, and seemed to constantly be searching for it, but it didn’t exist with anyone, but her. He stared down at her, feeling the rapidly cooling water hit his skin. His hands lightly traced across the top of her breasts. John would give her anything she asked for, but this, he had to be sure. He dropped his hand, and his  fists clenched and unclenched, as he struggled to keep himself from tugging her closer and grinding his hips into hers. He stared into her eyes, and asked roughly, “Doc? I need you to say it. Tell me what you want.”

She pressed her body, flush against his, so close that his turgid cock rubbed along her belly, and her nipples brushed his chest, repeating, “Make me forget…please John…make love to me.”

“G-d—Doc…” he moaned, looping his arm around her waist roughly, and burying his face in her neck in relief. His other hand slid into her wet hair, and he crushed his lips to hers without preamble. Fingers tightened in her hair, gripping it so hard that pain, and pleasure shot straight to her pussy. Marlena’s arms were around his neck in a moment, but almost as soon as his lips crashed onto hers, he stopped. Confusion lines his features. He used the leverage he had on her hair to pull her head back so he could look down into her eyes. They were both breathing hard, and the half-lidded, arousal blown stare Marlena was giving him, made it difficult to slow down.

John stared at her, unmoving, and finally rasped out, “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you…I—I think we should wait, because of what you experienced the other night with Stefano…maybe even because of what I went through over the last month. I don’t want to lose control with you, and I feel an energy, a tension in me…I’m almost vibrating with it, baby. I can’t hurt you. I can’t hurt you, but all my mind can conjure is burying myself in you, and pounding into your body.” John released her hair, allowing his hands to move to her shoulders, “I swear, Doc, I have done nothing for weeks, but dream of you. Dream of us…”

Marlena ran her fingers softly over his lips, and said to him, “John, I want this. That’s all. I can continue to lie to myself. You can continue to lie to yourself. No matter what we do, we will always circle back to each other. I’m done fighting that. It’s exhausting. I want you. We can discuss it later, tomorrow…the day after. It doesn’t matter.” Lacing her fingers through his, she whispered, “Right now, my mind is a whirlwind, and my body is screaming for you. For the past two days, I have relived the feeling of Stefano’s hands pawing at my skin, and my breasts, or hearing his heavy pants in my ears. For weeks, I watched his eyes light up with joy as he watched me, watching you suffer. I need to feel alive. I need to escape, we both do. We are so full of tension. Don’t question it. I’m done questioning it.” Her fingers fluttered over his chest hair, “I feel it rolling off of your body, John, that tension, the need to let go. I can give you that. My body is ready. It’s aching for you. I want to give you that. I need someone to love me…and you love me. I know you do.”

Still staring into her upturned eyes, John dragged his hand down her back. His fingers roughly pressed down the crease of her ass, and between her legs, pulling her up towards him. Marlena’s head fell back, and she whispered, “Oh, G-d yes!” 

The ache in her grew so fast, it bordered on pain. His thigh shoved between her legs, and his long fingers dipped into her pussy pulling her even closer. Slippery moistness coated his hand, and his groan was deep, guttural, “Fuck, Doc. You’re so wet—” He kissed her again roughly, almost biting at her lips, and asked, in a mix of desperation and anticipation, “You’re sure?”

Marlena gave him the sweetest smile, and pushed wet hair off of his forehead, saying, “I’m sure. I want you.”

He bit her bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, and then released it with a soft pop, telling her, “We’re getting out. Now.” 

John turned the water off, and with a shaky hand, he reached out, jerking the shower door open. With one arm around Marlena’s waist, he lifted her out with him. His other hand, the one coated with her musk, he lifted to his mouth, and licked clean. Marlena stared at him, in awe and desire, moaning. Deciding to give in, and take what she wanted, was liberating. She wasn’t going to hold back. 

Pulling a towel out of the nearby linen closet, John wrapped it around her body, rubbing it along her skin, and claimed her lips again. Her back ended up pushed against a nearby wall, and John kissed her as if he would devour her. His hand held her head steady, and his tongue plundered the depths of her mouth. Tasting her own essence on his tongue drove her desire higher. She wanted him everywhere all at one.

Carefully he lifted her, sitting her on the bathroom countertop. John forced himself to slow down. He would ravage her right there against the bathroom wall if she would allow it, and John had a feeling she would. He had to slow down. John used the same towel, to dry his own body while ascertaining whether or not this is the right choice for Marlena. Were they rushing this, or was it the culmination of something that was fated? The tension and the driving need for release was so strong, he didn’t think he could stop. He didn’t want to stop, but was it the right thing for Marlena at that point? Would she regret this later? Would she return to Salem, and still try to pick up the pieces of her broken marriage to Roman?

“John, stop,” Marlena whispered, as she softly reached around his nape, and pulled him closer. He caught himself on the edge of the counter with one arm on each side of her, leaning over her. “Come here,” she whispered, tipping her mouth up to his, and kissing him.

Johne moaned deeply, licking over her soft mouth, allowing his eyes to close briefly as the sensations washed over him. He murmured along her moist lips, “Doc, I’m just not sure. I know what you’ve been through before…years ago…it was so close to happening again with Stefano…” 

Marlena licked along his mouth, whimpering in her desire for him to react…to kiss her back. Marlena smiled against his mouth, “John stop talking, and kiss me.”

His mind wouldn’t rest. He had to be sure, because once he let go, he would’t stop. He would ravage her. His fists hung at his sides, and he whispered, “Doc, you took a huge risk for me, to save my life. I watched on the monitor as you allowed him to touch you. I can’t imagine how that felt…I can’t believe you would do that for me. I refuse to do something that could potentially cause you more harm emotionally.”

“You would never harm me, never, never…” she said with barely a sound as she pulled his lips back to hers. John stepped closer, into the open area between her spread legs, and breathed the scent of her breath. Marlena lifted his hands, placing them on her hips, and John’s cock bobbed in response. Her mouth tasted like coming home. He could no longer refuse her this moment, and he let go. Once the decision was made, he couldn’t turn back.

Marlena’s mouth moved to his neck. She bit, and sucked at his flesh, enjoying the flavor of him as he burst across her tongue. Marlena groaned. She’d missed him, and his taste. She licked him, moving back to bite at his lips. When his warm hands pushed her knees open wide, Marlena’s head fell back briefly, and she groaned long, and low, “Oh, G-d, yes.” 

John stared down at her pink swollen folds, and groaned as more blood surged to his cock. Tracing his index finger along her moist slit, he murmured, “Your pussy, is so fucking pretty, Doc. I swear I want to bury my face in it, and lick you until you come.” Marlena didn’t speak, but John smirked at her small squeak of want. She would allow him to do whatever he wanted to her.

The pads of John’s thumbs found her clit, brushing over her sensitive flesh. Her body jerked forward, and she cried softly, “John!”

He watched as she reacted to the sensations of his thumbs alternating over her sensitive nub. While his thumbs assaulted her, his palms pushed those gorgeous, creamy, thighs wider. Marlena’s body arched back, resting on her arms, and her head rolled to the side. John’s mouth sucked a nipple into his mouth with a growl, when her breasts pushed forward, and he continued to softly brush the pads of his thumbs over her clit repeatedly. He was determined that he was going to make her body sing.

“Oh, oh, oh…G-d, John—” she gasped as the pressure from his thumbs created a deeper friction bringing her to the edge of her first climax in under a minute. “Fuck…John, harder!”

“Come for me, Doc…I want to hear it…Please. I want to hear those soft little pants, and those mewling sounds you make.” His breathing was harsh against her mouth as he looked into her hazel eyes, “So many times, I have dreamt about your soft body writhing under mine, and fuck…Doc, the way you sound when you come.” He leaned down, lightly biting at her jaw, nipping his teeth along her skin, and then slowly licking over it. 

Glancing down at her body, John saw the bite marks on her breasts, remnants of Stefano, and he was determined to remove them. He dipped his head towards it, and latching his mouth over the bruise, he sucked deeply. She could feel the pull of his mouth on her skin, and the sting was a direct pull from her core. Marlena moaned loudly while her head rolled back, and her eyes closed. Her fingers threaded into his damp hair pulling it, and holding his mouth to her soft flesh, “Harder…John, oh, G-d! Harder!”

  He chose to intentionally mark her in a way she would remember with arousal, instead of fear. His mouth sucked over her breasts, and pulled at her nipples. His tongue flicking over them, before latching back on and sucking on them repeatedly. Long, deep pulls, that had Marlena’s arousal pooling on the countertop beneath her. She clawed at his shoulders, leaving red lines, and welts in the shape of her fingernails in her wake. 

His cock was so engorged, he was in near pain, and still he wouldn’t allow himself to slide into her. John reached his arm around her hips, pulling her towards him, and he slid two fingers into her. The glide made him groan, imagining how it would feel when his cock was finally seated deep in her pussy. Hooking them forward, John rubbed the pads of his fingers directly along her g-spot. Marlena was lost, all of the pent up tension exploded outward, and she screamed his name, and continued to gasp it repeatedly as she came on his hand.

Grabbing her hips with both hands to hold her steady, and pulling her forward, John slid his cock into her still quivering pussy, causing her to instantly orgasm again. She was lost in his eyes, a myriad of sensations washing over her body, and all she could do was cry out, “Fuck!

John almost passed out from the pleasure that rolled through him. Her warm, wet, heat, trembling, and rolling from her orgasm, enveloped his dick, and he didn’t have the patience to wait for her body to adjust to him. An animalistic sound roared from him as he pulled back, and slammed back into her, pulling her as close to him as he could. His teeth bit at the soft flesh of her shoulder, and Marlena’s arms wrapped tightly around his back. John, wanting to get as close to her as possible, reached under her body, lifting her to him, and turned to the nearest wall, shoving their bodies against it. He rested his forehead on hers for a brief moment, and then he started to relentlessly pound into her welcoming body, both of them gasping for air.  “Doc — fuck—I can’t…” he moaned incoherently.

“Let go…let it go, baby…” Marlena panted in his ear.

Hearing Marlena call him baby, remembering her passion, and being able to experience it again, after thinking for the last two years that he would never have her again…shoved John over the edge. As John’s climax took over, Marlena clawed at the nape of his neck, and pulled their foreheads together, “I’m coming too…” she whispered. “I coming again…oh, fuck, John!”

Chapter 9

John carried Marlena’s limp body into the bedroom, kissing her mouth languidly as he walked. She would be sleeping with him. There was no way he was letting her go. Not bothering with clothes, he watched Marlena climb in, and scoot to the far side, but when she reached for him, his heart felt near to exploding with love. Sliding in beside her, his body shivered when she rolled into him, resting her face on his shoulder. Her lips kissed his neck softly, and she whispered, “I meant what I said, John. I love you.”

“I need—I have to know, Doc…what does this mean?” he asked her. Marlena was quiet, and John said, “Because with Roman…”

“I was gone for nearly a month, you’ve been gone longer than that. The whole time, I worried about my children, and I worried about you. I—I couldn’t spare a thought for Roman, because I was consumed with you. Every night, when I lay in bed listening to the deafening silence…I thought about how hard I was fighting to save my marriage…” she said softly, “…but I had only vaguely wondered about the impact on my relationship with Roman. I don’t love him anymore, not the way I should anyway.” Her hand traced over John’s gaunt ribs, “I can’t let you go. I tried, but I can’t. What we went through together…I realized I don’t want to give you up. And maybe…maybe you don’t want to give me up either?”

“G-d, Doc,” John sighed softly. “I never wanted to give you up. I wanted to beg you to leave Roman. I would have been willing to watch your family destroyed to have you in my arms every night. Oh, how I wanted to beg you to leave him, and be with me.”

“Would you still want that?” she asked him softly. 

“More than anything in the world, Doc. More than anything,” he whispered. “I just—I worry about Sami.”

“Sami’s anger…its justified,” Marlena said. “It is, but I can’t live the rest of my life wishing I was with you, and forcing myself to ignore that. It will happen again.”

“What would happen again?” He asked her quietly.

“Another affair…I’d be drawn to you, unable to stay away, and something would happen. It always does, John. I have to accept it, and handle whatever happens, but I can’t let you go…and I really hope, that maybe…you don’t want to let me go either.”

John kissed the top of her head, whispering, “That makes me the luckiest, and the happiest man alive, Doc. If you tell me you want to commit to this, you and me, raising Belle and Brady together…I can handle anything. Anything at all, as long as I’m with you.”

Marlena sighed. The last month had been a constant feeling of impending doom, where all she could hope for…all she could pray for, was to get out of it alive, and with John. She wasn’t going to keep pushing him away, because life was fleeting, and she wanted to spend it with him. “I do,” she told him. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you…come what may, John.”

John tipped his head down, and kissed her softly, “Fuck, Doc. Do you know how happy that makes me?”

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

John was disoriented, and confused when he was pulled from his sleep by a sharp knock on the door half way through the night. It took him a moment to remember where he was, then a few seconds longer to figure out how he came to have Marlena’s beautiful naked body intwined with his. He smiled when his hand ran over the soft skin of her hip, and around her back, causing her to hum softly in her sleep, and press closer to his own naked body. She was so soft and warm, that he didn’t want to leave her. He’d felt perpetually cold for the last month, and being in bed with her was pure bliss. Glancing at the clock John noticed that it was only 3:35 am.  Carefully disengaging from Marlena, he rolled from the bed, slipping a pair of sweatpants on, and rushed to the door. 

Shane stood there, with a duffle bag in hand, and a sheepish look on his face. He said quietly, “John, I’m sorry to wake you, but you said you wanted to be updated on our progress with Stefano, and…well…”

John stepped to the side, ushering Shane in, and said immediately, “—Do you have any new information? Did he mention my past? Anything at all?”

“Well, no, actually…I’m here because, well… he’s dead…” Shane said, placing the duffle bag on the couch, and turning back to look at John. 

“He’s dead? Shane, how the fuck is the lousy bastard dead?” John whispered loudly. “He was fine two days ago!”

“Apparently the sedatives Celeste provided Marlena with were laced with a poison that would have killed her. But, as you and I both know, Marlena never took them. She instead, gave them to Stefano, and he never recovered consciousness. John…Stefano’s internal organ systems shut down, and he died last night,” Shane explained quickly. “Our doctors tried everything they could to revive him, but it was too much. After we got the results of the blood tests we did on him, and then questioned Celeste about the tranquilizers, she broke down in hysterics, and told us everything. Her intention was to kill Marlena. She wanted Marlena out of the picture, and she was angered over Stefano’s plans to take you and Marlena to his island…all of it. She’s on a suicide watch now, because she’s realized he’s dead because of her.”

“The night we got out of there, she came to my cell drunk. She was upset about Marlena then,” John said.

“She’s being watched now, and when she’s more stable, we can try and question her,” Shane told him. “Although I’m not sure how much she would know about Stefano’s operation.”

“She might know more than you think,” John said. “She’s been with him for years.”

“I’m sorry to barge in at this hour, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“And that’s it then…he fucking dies in his sleep, and I still don’t have a clue about who I am…” John said, frustratingly running his fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry, John. I wish I knew more. I really do. We’re planning to do an autopsy, but we’re fairly certain that Celeste’s version of events will line up in terms of how he died. I, uh, brought you some extra clothes,” Shane said with a smirk, gesturing to the duffle bag on the couch, and then looking back to John’s lone pair of sweatpants. “We had to guess at the sizes, but they should work for now.” Shane looked at the floor quickly, and continued, “Also, you should know, Roman came into town last night. Bo called him and told him about you and Marlena finding Hope at Maison Blanche. He’s insisting on helping Abe with the case. He’s also insisting on seeing Marlena…”

John stopped breathing for a second, and just stared at Shane with a look of horror. He wasn’t sure Marlena would be ready to handle Roman, not if his reactions were what they had been recently…judgement, and loathing. That was why Marlena requested that she and John stay in New Orleans for a few days. “Shit. What does he know Shane?”

“Not much. Abe, and I wanted to take your lead on this. Abe said things have been rocky for awhile,” Shane told him.

John sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair, “Rocky? That would be the understatement of the century. Roman has been downright abusive. I’ll talk to Marlena, and see what she wants to do…but not yet. I’m asking that you not tell him where we are, until I can speak with Doc. That’s why we didn’t go home to Salem when I was released from the hospital yesterday. Neither one of us are ready for that shit show. It’s too much for her right now. Emotionally, she’s very fragile. Find a way to stall him until I talk to her, okay?”

Shane walks to the door, “Sure, sure. I can do that. I’ll check in with you again later this afternoon.”

“Thanks for coming by, Shane,” John told him. “At least the bastards dead. I can be happy with that…for now,” John closed the door, briefly glancing at the duffle bag, and walked to the bedroom. Marlena slept soundly, her wheat colored hair spread in curls across her pillow. He pushed his sweatpants to the floor, climbing back into bed, and curled his naked body around Marlena’s. As his body came into contact with her, and he settled into the mattress, the tension he didn’t realize he was holding drained away. John sighed in happiness. He wanted this feeling to last forever.

Marlena opened her hazel eyes to look at him, and gave him a drowsy smile. “Hey, Sailor,” she said softly, running her fingers over his jaw. She scratched at the scruff of beard that was still covering his face, John’s body immediately begins to respond to her. His cock started lengthening, and he pulled her closer.

John groaned low in his throat, “Sailor?” Marlena’s fingers plying over his skin was driving him mad.

“I want you,” she said kissing his neck, and then biting at his ear. She rolled towards him, sliding her thigh over his, and reveling in the feel of his rough hair against her skin. Her fingers laced into his hair pulling his mouth to hers, as she murmured again, “I want you.”

John rolled her onto her back, pinning her arms above her head, and mumbled, “Fuck, yes.” His cock was weeping for her. He pushed his length into her hip, attempting to release some of the pressure. Being with Marlena without guilt, or shame, and having the ability to show her affection whenever the mood struck, brought a feeling of contentedness to his life. He hadn’t felt that way since they were married. He stretched the length of his body along hers, reveling in the feel of her skin as it rubbed along his, and his mouth devoured her. His tongue swept across hers while his lips sucked and pulled at her mouth.

Marlena’s body arched up, wanting more from him, but her arms were restricted. “John, please…” she whimpered against his mouth. “My arms…”

“Oh, no, baby,” he said. “I like being in charge…and I think you like it too.” John wrapped his lips around her nipple, sucking deeply, causing a pleasurable ache to grow in her center. He continued to hold her body prone while his mouth made love to her breasts, nipping, and sucking on her sensitive flesh. “I swear, Doc, the taste of you, your mouth, your skin…it’s like coming home. You do things to me I can’t explain…you, only you…” he said using his knee to nudge her legs open, so he could lie in the cradle of her thighs. The tip of his cock brushed her clit, and she cried out as sensation coursed through her body. Marlena’s hips bucked up seeking more friction. 

John released her arms, and pushed her thighs wide, staring at her moist pussy, “Fucking gorgeous.” Leaning down, he licked over her softly rounded abdomen, and he said, “Baby, I’m about to devour you.”

John slid his hands under her hips, lifting her sex up to his mouth, and Marlena cried out, “John!” just as he began an assault on her clit that had her screaming out her pleasure. His tongue flicked her softly, his teeth bit at her tender flesh, and his tongue lapped up every ounce of moisture that dripped from her swollen folds. “G-d, Doc…you taste so fucking good,” he groaned, placing his mouth over her pussy and sucking at her again. 

“John!” she screamed. And then her legs began to quiver, and her muscles tensed, and Marlena was lost in ecstasy, as John slid into her warm, welcoming body. His arms wrapped around her back, reveling in the softness of her skin, and he held her close, while he buried his face in her neck and her hair.

“John, just you, only you…” she moaned as his hips ground into her, deeper with every thrust, until she fell over the precipice again, gasping his name over and over again.

Chapter 10

Marlena lay with her eyes closed, content to feel the caress of John’s palm over her skin, when she heard him murmur softly, “I haven’t used condoms, Doc.”

Her only response was a soft hum. She’d considered birth control once, briefly, when they were in the shower, and then she had pushed the thought out of her mind. 

John waited for a response, and when he got none, he said, “Doc?”

Marlena rolled herself to face him, and said, “I thought about it…and then I decided it didn’t matter.”

“Even though there’s a possibility that you could get pregnant again?”

“Would another baby with me be so bad?”

John traced his finger over her eyebrows, still fascinated by the fact that she was lying in the bed next to him. “I wouldn’t mind another child with you, Doc,” he told her in soft tones. “But you know, Belle is only eight months old.”

“It’s too early, I know,” she said, brushing her fingers over his chest. “It’s impulsive, and there’s so much to deal with when we get home. This would be the worst time for another baby, but I don’t care.”

“This doesn’t sound like you, Doc.”

“It doesn’t. You’re right,” she sighed. “And yet, it’s true. I don’t care anymore. I want you. I’ve decided that’s what matters to me. My family will have to accept that. I will do everything I can to help Sami heal, and adjust. I’ll give Roman the divorce he’s been haranguing me about since February, but I refuse to be unhappy without you—because you’re what I want, and John, I’m done pretending that you aren’t.”

“So, this new and improved, Marlena,” John said. “She says to hell with expectations, and goes after what she wants, huh?”

Marlena chuckled, snuggling closer to him, “Yes, something like that. It’s not how I normally do things, but this past month, it’s changed me.”

John kissed her lips softly, “I like this new you. It’s better to stop pretending. We can try to rebuild that relationship with Sami, but Doc, you’re right, we need to start on a foundation of honesty.”

“Honesty,” she said softly. “G-d, John, I’ve been lying to myself for so long.”

“We start here, Doc. You and I, we’re going to be honest with ourselves, our families, and our friends.”

“I love you,” she whispered. 

John wrapped his arms around her snugly, “I love you, too, baby.”

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

Roman entered the hotel suite where Bo was currently staying with the woman found at Maison Blanche, and he said, “So, this woman, is she Hope?”

Bo sighed, not feeling ready to deal with Roman’s brand of communication, “I think so. The ISA took her DNA sample two days ago, and Ma said the ISA sent someone to the house to do a blood draw on Shawn-D yesterday. Shane’s rushing the test, so we should know by the end of the week.”

Roman sat on the couch, resting his arm along the back, “So, how does Billie fit into this?”

“I have no idea,” Bo said, still standing awkwardly near the door. He felt lost. “I can’t even think about it until this test comes back.”

“Abe was saying she has amnesia.”

“She does…but she knows things, Roman. Things only Hope could know,” Bo told him, finally sitting on the other end of the couch. “She has dreams, and the things she’s dreaming…its memories.”

“So?”

“Roman! They’re memories, and that’s not all. There are paintings. Hundreds of them – all of me.”

“Could be, she’s not Hope, Bo. John had everyone fooled, didn’t he?”

“Fooled?” Bo asked incredulously. “He believed he was Roman Brady for six years. He wasn’t fooling anyone. He believed he was you!”

Roman exploded, sitting forward, “He stole my fucking life is what he did! Listen, all I’m saying is to be wary of this woman—”

“—Gina,” Bo told him. “She goes by Gina.”

“Bo, it’s probably another sick plot of Stefano’s. One last scheme before he died.”

Bo stood up from the couch, and walked towards the window overlooking the Mississippi River. He said softly, “I never understood how hard it must have been for Marlena when you came home…until now.”

“Hard for her?” Roman sneered.

Bo turned to face his brother, “Just hear me out, before you start yelling and blustering about how unfair your life is. When you came home, Marlena was in love with John—”

“—she thought he was me!”

Bo almost rolled his eyes, “But, then you came home, and she was forced to make a choice.”

“Yeah, what a fucking choice that was,” Roman said. “She cheated on me.”

“That’s just it, Roman! It’s not that simple! I love Billie, and until three days ago, I was ready to spend the rest of my life with her,” Bo said quietly, staring back out over the river.

“And now?”

“Now, I’m confused. Gina—she looks like Hope, she sounds like Hope—”

“—Bo! Don’t be fooled!” Roman told him, standing up, and walking over to face him.

“But what if she is Hope?” Bo asked. “Then I’m in the same position Marlena was three years ago.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

John sat on a bench in the small garden, enjoying the balmy summer air. The scent of plumeria mixed with bougainvillea. John took a deep breath, trying to calm himself after his latest nightmare. He’d woken in a cold sweat, barely able to get himself out of the bedroom before he had a panic attack. In the shower, he had washed the filth of the dream off of him, as well as the sweat that covered his body. The sun was just rising over the horizon, when John went out to the garden. As much as he wanted to forget Maison Blanche, that was a horror he would always fight. 

“He’s very weak,” Celeste said to Stefano. John was sliding in and out of consciousness as he hung from the ceiling of the dungeon by his arms. The stretch in his tendons, and ligaments was excruciating, and he felt as if he had been hanging there for hours. The air was dank, and musty, almost too thick to breathe. “Do you think he needs another injection?” Celeste asked.

“The weaker he is, the more susceptible he will be to the brainwashing,” Stefano replied. John groaned from the burning pain in his shoulders, and struggled to stay awake as he felt the darkness pulling at him again. “You know even caged, and chained like an animal, you still put up a good fight, don’t you?”

His voice barely more than a whisper John said, “I’m gonna fight you to my last breath…”

“All for nothing, because in a few days, when the brainwashing takes effect, you’ll be a nameless person. A blank slate in which I create whatever, whomever, I want you to be.” Stefano laughed as he continued, “Who’s going to help you? Marlena?”

“What have you done with her?” John mumbled. His fear for Marlena’s safety was why he hadn’t given up yet, because fighting, constantly fighting was wearing him down.

“Don’t you worry about her. I have my own plans for the lovely Dr. Evans.”

Marlena had woken to find John missing from bed. Slipping a terrycloth bathrobe on, that she found in the bathroom, she padded through the townhouse looking for John. The back veranda doors sat open, with a soft breeze blowing in from the garden, and Marlena smiled. Finding John outside was no surprise. She approached him slowly, feeling the wet grass on her bare feet. Trailing her fingers over his neck softly, she watched him shiver, “I woke and you were gone from bed.”

“Doc? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I-I had a dream and…” he said softly. Even now, his heart was still pounding, and his body’s fear reaction was in overdrive. Every muscle in his body held tension. He had to calm down, because they were safe now. His hand reached for her, guiding her around the bench to stand in front of him. Her hair was sleep tousled, and her eyes were bright in the early morning light. He wanted her again, “Do you have anything on under that robe, Doc?”

“As much as you likely have on under yours,” she said with a smile.

“C’mere,” he murmured, reaching for the belt.

Marlena held her breath. The cool air washed over her skin, and her breasts pebbled. She stared down into John’s deep blue eyes, as he ran one finger along the moist crease of her pussy. She was still wet, and musky from their earlier encounters, and for some reason it caused an almost primal groan to rise up from John’s chest. Just the thought of her standing in front of him, nude, and outside, with his seed still leaking from her body, drove him mad. He gently rubbed his finger over her clit, back and forth. His touch was soft, and firm bringing her so much pleasure that she felt her legs tremble.

She moaned out loud as he began to swirl the pad of his finger over her clit with more pressure. John took a deep breath. He couldn’t get enough of her, and he knew it was more than sex. It was almost spiritual the way his body, and his soul craved her. On a chemical level, he needed her like no other.

“Doc,” he whispered, his other hand gripping her soft hip. “I need you. I need you so much.” 

Marlena’s voice was husky, when she said, “Open your robe, John.” 

John stared up at her, pulling the lapels of his robe open. “Please,” he begged, as she climbed onto his lap, settling her heat on the length of his cock. He buried his face in her hair, and inhaled her scent. With trembling hands, his palms held her hips, pulling her up higher, causing them both to moan, as she slid along his length, “Fuck, Doc!” 

“Yes, G-d yes…John…” Marlena moaned, allowing her head to fall back for a moment. John watched with rapt fascination as the early morning light played in shadows over her skin, and her hair fell around her like a halo.

“Doc,” he said. “Doc…”

Lifting herself above him, Marlena could already feel her pussy walls fluttering, and contracting. John pushed up into her moist heat, and waves of pleasure washed over her as John held her against him tightly. His hips started to rock slowly, and heat radiated from his skin as the friction from his chest hair rubbed along her breasts, and his hot moist breath wafted over her neck. Marlena’s arms went up around John’s nape, pulling his mouth down to hers. “When we were married,” she whispered, “you used to do this…slide into my body in the early morning hours.”

Marlena’s forehead tipped down, and rested on John’s. He whispered, “When I’m with you, it’s like the world just stops.” The pace of their lovemaking remained slow, almost languid, until John began to feel the tingle at the base of his spine that signals his impending release. His lips slid over her neck, biting her softly, and Marlena started rocking her hips against him harder, searching for the friction against her clit. He kissed her lips, murmuring, “Are you close, Doc?” 

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes…”

John’s hand finds her clit nestled in the short curls at the apex of her thighs, and began to slowly circle it with the pad of his finger. Slow strokes, with increasing pressure, and Marlena felt her body climbing closer to the edge, but when his finger began flicking her clit roughly the way she liked it, she started to gasp as waves, and waves of pleasure overtook her. John pinched her clit, and she was lost. Her pussy began to convulse around him, and John cried out, “Awww, fuck! Doc!”

Marlena rested against him, covered in a fine sheen of sweat, breathing softly, and her fingers slowly stroked over his chest. With John’s face nestled in her soft hair, and his fingers entwined with hers. He whispered in her ear, “I won’t let you go this time, Doc. It might break me.”

“You won’t have to,” she replied. “I’m yours.”

Chapter 11

John sat on the veranda, looking at Marlena across the small table. The songs of nearby birds sounding in his ears, and the brush of the breeze over his skin calmed him. It had been five days since he and Marlena escaped Maison Blanche together, and John was still fascinated by the turn their lives had taken. He wasn’t sure how this thing between them would turn out, and he knew when they returned to Salem they would have a long road ahead of them, but he was honest when he’d told Marlena that he wouldn’t let her go. John placed a mug of coffee in front of her, and said to her softly, “When Shane told me Stefano was dead, I was so angry. All I could think was my final link to my past was gone, and I’d never know any of it.”

Marlena watched the sadness play over his features, and reached for John’s hand, grasping it tightly, “You know, just because Stefano is dead, we don’t have to give up.”

“We?” John could never explain the joy he felt in that one simple word. 

Her shy smile lit up her face as she responded, “Yeah. You don’t think I’m going to let you do this alone do you?”

“Doc, the way I feel…hearing you say, we,” he whispered. He felt the soft touch of Marlena’s fingers brushing over the top of his hand and he continued softly, “There were times, when I would be trying so hard to forget you, and focus on Kristen. Times when it became so difficult that it bordered on painful. I woke in the night once, and she was beside me in the bed…Doc it took everything in me, not to drive to your house and try to convince you to give me another chance. All I ever wanted was another chance.”

“I should have told you how I truly felt when we were in Mexico,” she whispered. 

John closed his eyes for a minute, remembering the pain and the words that remained unspoken that day. The only true hints to how they really felt, hidden in small gestures, and Marlena’s whispered, “I love you.”

John opened his eyes, “I sometimes wonder that, too. But, Doc…we knew. We both knew how the other felt, and we walked away anyway. I was feeling so much insecurity. I was about to lose my whole life…I hung onto Isabella with everything I had—”

“—and I felt so guilty about what happened to Roman,” she whispered. Looking into his eyes, she said, “I felt so guilty for believing you were him, for loving you…when he was with Stefano the whole time.” Tears filled her eyes, “I’m done feeling guilty for loving you.”

“You know Shane told me something else the other night…Roman’s here, in New Orleans. He wants to see you…but, I told Shane I had to talk to you first. You were my rock at Maison Blanche, and when I was hospitalized. When we came here a few days ago, you were so vulnerable. You were finally able to let your guard down. I’m sorry, I’ve known for a few days, and didn’t say anything.”

“John,” she said, stopping him. “I understand…you were right.”

“I was worried about you. I’m still worried about you.” John ran his fingers through his hair, and gazed back on her face, “I won’t react well if he comes at you the way he has been since February. You’ve been hurt too much in the past few weeks. You’ve been hurt too much in your life…and I know we made mistakes with our affair, we did. We went about dealing with our feelings all wrong, but he won’t treat you like a possession, he won’t abuse you, he won’t belittle you…Not in front of me.”

Marlena stared at him with tears in her eyes, and acknowledged the way he loved her, and took care of her. Even as he was still recovering from Stefano’s torture, he wanted to protect her. It was why she could never let him go. It was why she loved him still, because in her life, no one had ever loved her with the force that John Black loved her. He was the missing piece of her heart, and her soul. Marlena whispered, “Okay.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

John stood behind Marlena, one of his hands laced through with hers, and he watched as Roman entered the townhouse. Abe followed him in. Both men saw the way Roman’s eyes seemed to zone in on Marlena. He headed straight for her, hugging her to him tightly, and didn’t even seem to notice John’s presence nearby. Abe and John made eye contact, silently acknowledging, Roman’s behavior.

Roman stared into Marlena’s face and he said, “Doc! My G-d! I came as soon as I heard from Abe what was going on. Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” she said softly, glancing back at John. She refused to let go of his hand, and she felt John’s gentle squeeze of reassurance. She stared at Roman for a moment, remembering their wedding nearly eleven years earlier. Had Roman really changed that much? He was still loud, opinionated, and judgmental. He still loved passionately, and hated with every fiber of his being. She had changed. In the time he was gone with Stefano, in those seven years, she had changed.  Marlena whispered, “Why didn’t you look for me, Roman? Why didn’t you look for us?”

John was not expecting her to ask that, and Roman seemed just as startled, by her blunt, straight forward, question. He stumbled over his response, “Doc? What do you mean?”

“Roman, I was gone for three weeks with barely a word. I called you one time. One time. Why didn’t you look for me? Why didn’t anyone look for us?” Marlena finished on a whisper. There had been a short span of time, while she and John were imprisoned at Maison Blanche, when Marlena had convinced herself that Roman was looking for them. She felt like he had to be, because Roman knew her, and he knew she wouldn’t just abandon her family. He may not like John, but he knew that John wouldn’t abandon Brady. She’d counted on that. But Roman hadn’t been looking for her, and she had to hear him say it. She had to hear him say why he’d never looked for her.

Roman looked at John, then Abe, who looked sheepish, and finally back to Marlena. He did not want to have to explain himself in from of Abe, and especially not in front of John. He looked at Marlena, and said,  “Listen Doc, we can discuss all of this later. I’m just glad you’re safe. The kids were so worried, Ma and Pop too. When we get back to Salem, we can talk at the house—”

“—No,” she stated emphatically, “I’m going to my penthouse.” Marlena stepped away from Roman, and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked so sad, and lonely, as if she had no one in the world, and as much as John wanted to hold her, and reassure her, he waited. She needed the chance to handle this on her own terms. She needed to be given the opportunity to set boundaries with Roman and remember what a strong, capable person she was. After everything she had been through in her life, she needed this. 

Roman seemed taken aback. “I thought you wanted to work things out?” Roman asked in confusion. He glanced at John again, studying the mans face. He saw the way John was watching Marlena, with a soft look in his expression. John watched Marlena like a man in love. Roman suddenly had a dawning comprehension that John and Marlena’s relationship was something more. It was obvious by the way John stood near her, the way he watched her, the expression on his face. Hadn’t they been here alone for the last five days? Roman’s face changed from confusion to anger, as he turned back to Marlena. 

Marlena saw the immediate dawning of realization on Roman’s face, and she said, “We were, but after everything I’ve been through…Roman, I need you to say it…Why didn’t you look for me?”

“Doc, when you called, you said you were with John…I thought…” Roman trailed off, and looked at John again with hatred in his eyes. He should not have to explain his actions in front of John Black. 

“What about before that?” she asked him. “I didn’t call home for quite awhile, Roman. No one thought to look for me?”

“Carrie said, you went to meet John—”

“—you thought I abandoned my family? That I would leave my baby, and run off with John? That’s what you thought, right?” Marlena asked, with her voice rising slightly, as her hands shook with rage. She was hurt that he hadn’t bothered to look for her, simply out of spite, and she was hurt that he thought so little of her. But, she wasn’t surprised. She always expected more from Roman, and found herself disappointed when he didn’t meet those expectations. How she thought to fight for their marriage, when Roman valued her so little, left her slightly shell shocked. Did she value herself so little?

Abe cut in, trying to stop the train wreck he saw coming, “Marlena—”.

“—don’t!” she said, throwing up her hand to stop Abe from continuing, and looking at him with a glare. “No, Abe, no! No one looked for us, because Roman believed I had run off with John. Right? He told you that? That I had abandoned my baby, my children…to what? Be with my lover?” Marlena’s voice had steadily risen higher as she finished with a question. She was enraged, and grief stricken, and as she attempted to look into Abe’s eyes, he couldn’t look back.

“Doc! You gotta understand…you-you called, and you said—” Roman stammered.

“—I don’t care what I said, Roman!” Marlena was screaming at this point, “ I don’t care! You claim to know me, to even love me…but if you really knew me, you would know that I would never abandon the kids…and Belle? Roman, she’s a baby! John and I would never voluntarily leave our baby!” Roman inwardly cringed when he heard Marlena talk about Belle being her, and John’s baby, but it was true, and no amount of wishful thinking on his part would ever change that. “I gave you clues!” she cried.  “Sami isn’t even in an Algebra class!”

“How would I know that?” Roman said loudly, but he couldn’t defend himself. Sami had told him Marlena’s mistake on the phone was no accident, and he’d been too wounded in his pride to follow up. 

Marlena was crying, and wiped the tears away from her face with the back of her hand, as she stared coldly at Roman. John was worried about her. Her emotions had been pretty stable over the last few days, but he was still concerned that after everything she witnessed and experienced, she would get overwhelmed. John stepped up behind her, leaning towards her ear, and touched her shoulder gently. She visibly relaxed at his soft touch. He whispered to her softly, so Abe and Roman couldn’t hear, “Doc? Do you need him to go? You don’t need to deal with this right now if you don’t want to.” 

He was concerned with her emotional state, and hadn’t realized, that on top of her having to cope with her unwanted sexual experience with Stefano, she also seemed to be suffering from a profound sense of abandonment. Roman, a man who claimed to love her and know her so well, hadn’t even bothered to follow up on her abrupt disappearance.

Marlena glanced up at John with tears in her eyes, and responded softly, “I’m angry…weeks John! We were gone for weeks, and no one came. No one came.” She started crying, as a sob broke free, and barely managed to hold another one back. She turned to face John completely, throwing her arms around him, and burying her face in his neck. John wrapped his strong arms around her back, holding her close, and kissed the top of her head. She continued talking to John, as if Roman and Abe were no longer in the room, “He chained you up!” She pulled back slightly, and reached her hand up to stroke his lightly bearded face, running her fingers through the hair, “He drugged you, he beat you, and burned you!” Her anxiety was rising, and her fear returning, even though in her mind she knew they were safe. “I couldn’t stop him! I begged Stefano to stop. I begged him.” 

Marlena turned to Roman and Abe, crying, “I played hours of chess to keep that sick bastard from drugging, and beating John, and he did it anyway! I let him touch me, and paw at my skin, just to get the keys to save John’s life! I did that! Me! All because you let your anger, and your jealousy, stop you from looking for us!”

John gazed on her tear stained face, with pride, and smiled softly. She was amazing when she was angry. A force to be reckoned with. Reaching for her hand, and lacing his fingers back through hers, he tipped her tear stained face up to his, and he told her, “Doc, you kept me alive. What you did…I would never have asked that of you.” He used his fingers to push a stray piece of hair off of her forehead. “I owe you my life…I owe you everything…” he finished, running his fingers down her cheek, and around the nape of her neck, pulling her body close to his, as she continued sobbing uncontrollably.

John laid his eyes on Roman and Abe over Marlena’s head, and he said quietly, “No, Roman. She’s not going to your house. She’s going to her penthouse. The one I bought for her when you decided your marriage was over. That’s where she wants to go, and that’s what’s going to happen.”

Roman seethed with anger at the sight of Marlena sobbing in John’s arms. John spoke to her in gentle whispers, and his palms traced over her back like a man familiar with the intimate details of her body. Roman said roughly, “You’re fucking him again aren’t you, Doc? You really are a slut.” 

Abe stared at Roman as if he no longer recognized the man in front of him. How could he talk to her like that after everything she had been through? Abe touched Roman, getting his attention, “Roman, I don’t think you should talk to Marlena like—”

“—She’s been begging me to fix our marriage, Abe. Since February, she’s claimed to love me and begged me to give her another chance, but it’s obvious! Can’t you see that?” Roman roared. “She’s fucking John.”

John didn’t respond at first, but he felt Marlena’s body tense up. He refused to allow Roman to continue with the same verbally abusive rhetoric he had been spouting for months. He used two fingers to tip Marlena’s chin up, and he stared into her red-rimmed eyes, “Doc, I want you to go upstairs and wait in the bedroom for me, please. Now.” After a few seconds, she nodded her head slowly, and walked away. She didn’t even bother to look back. She didn’t have any energy to fight that battle, and she was willing to let John fight it for her.

John watched Marlena ascend the stairs slowly. When he was certain she was outside of earshot, he stepped towards Roman menacingly, whispering harshly, “You fucking, arrogant, bastard! You have no idea what she’s been through! None! And you come in here acting self-righteous, and moralistic? Get the fuck out, Roman. Don’t come back. Doc, is no longer someone you need to concern yourself with. Abe, get him out of this townhouse.”

Abe looks at John full of respect, and goes to grab Roman’s arm, but Roman pulls away. “You couldn’t wait could you, John? Any excuse to screw my wife! How long did it take you before she spread her legs again—”

John punched Roman so hard, the man stumbled backwards, nearly falling over the edge of the couch. He stared up at John in surprise.

“She may be your wife now, Roman, but I guarantee, within the year, she’ll be mine. What she and I went through at Maison Blanche, you will never understand. You don’t need to. I’m not even going to bother wasting my breath attempting to explain it. It would be lost on you. Doc and I will deal with what we experienced, on our own terms, and in our own time. I will take care of her…me! Leave, Roman. Now,” John said walking towards the front door, and opening it. “Don’t come back. You’re not welcome. Abe maybe you could call me, later this evening? I’m going to check on Doc, she’s upset—”

“—later, partner. I’ll get in touch with you later,” Abe said quietly, following Roman from the room.

As John closed the door behind Abe, he sighed deeply. He ran his fingers through his hair roughly. He needed to check on Marlena, he began to move his stiff, and exhausted body, making his way up the stairs to the bedroom. Slowly sliding the door open, John noted how small she looked lying curled up in the middle of the bed. She was wearing his pajama top, and her eyes were closed. Assuming she was asleep John stripped off his shirt, and jeans, climbing into bed in a pair of black boxer briefs, and wrapped himself around her. 

Chapter 12

John and Marlena lay on a blanket in the small courtyard garden. The sun was going down, casting an orange glow over them. She couldn’t imagine feeling any happier or more content, than she did then. She slid her hand under the lapel of his robe, allowing her hand to gently brush over the coarse hair on his chest, and she whispered, “We need to go home soon.”

“I was thinking that this morning,” he replied. “I was going to say something, but you distracted me.”

“I distracted you?” she laughed. “John Black, all I did was walk out of the bathroom in a bathrobe.”

“See?” he said, shivering at her touch. “A distraction.”

Marlena was quiet for a moment, and then she said, “You never told me you owned the penthouse. You said, you had a friend who cut you a deal on the rent.”

“I don’t own the penthouse, Doc…you do,” he told her.

“What?”

“I bought it for you and Belle. It’s in your name.”

“John! That must have cost…oh, my G-d!” she exclaimed, propping herself up to look at him. 

John smiled up at her, with a sexy smirk, “Rather presumptuous on my part, don’t you think?” His eyes glanced over her face, and trailed down her neck to where her robe gaped open slightly. 

Marlena stared at him, tracing her fingers over his beard, “What if I’d refused to live there?”

“I wasn’t going to let you refuse,” he said. “It was beautiful, something you would have picked for yourself if money was no object. I worked with an interior designer. Doc, every piece of furniture in that place was picked out because it somehow reminded me of you. I bought it when I found out you were pregnant.”

Hearing him say that broke her heart a little. If they’d known then, that Belle was his daughter, what choices might they have made? Marlena stared at him in awe, “You did?”

“I was hoping…” he said. “G-d, I was hoping so much that the baby was mine. That maybe, we’d get our chance…We didn’t. I kept it anyway, just in case, and I was glad it was ready when you needed it.”

Marlena stared at John with tears welling in her eyes, “You are such an amazing, wonderful, man.”

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

The room was dim, lit only by a couple lamps. Abe, Shane, Bo, and Roman had all gathered in Shane’s hotel room to discuss closing up the New Orlean’s portion of the case. Stefano was dead. Celeste was going to be receiving psychiatric care. Soon, Gina’s DNA results would be in. Abe handed Shane two files, and sat down at the round table where the other men were already seated, “I haven’t had a chance to look through them yet. They were only available an hour ago. The whole damn town, everything within twenty-five miles of Maison Blanche, is scared to death of Stefano DiMera. I’m still not sure they think he’s dead. No one was willing to say anything, except for this new doctor that recently came on staff. He made copies, and gave me these. ”

Shane laid John’s file down on the table, and he glanced through Marlena’s first, “It backs up what we saw on the videos from Stefano’s home, and the photos of the bruising and bite marks on her body corroborate that as well.”

“She let that fucking lecherous old man put his hands on her, so she could steal keys to free John?” Roman sneered, looking over the file. “Marlena hates Stefano. But, for John Black she’ll let him do this to her body?”

Abe took the photos from Roman. He didn’t want Roman looking them over, and judging Marlena for what she did. No one could ever know how they might react in any given situation, unless they were there. Abe said, “She despises Stefano, but Marlena would walk through hell for John. Roman, you missed a lot in those seven years you were gone. Marlena and John, they dealt with the KGB, Victor Kiriakis, the ISA, and Orpheus. I’ve watched you since you came back, and as much as I hate saying this…you’re stubbornness, and your refusal to acknowledge her relationship with John, it led to your marriage problems.”

“I don’t give a damn. After this morning, he can have her,” Roman said, finishing the mug of lukewarm coffee that sat in front of him. 

“What happened this morning?” Bo asked in confusion. He had been spending his days with Gina. Sometimes watching her paint, but other times, they discussed her dreams, or Bo told her stories about Shawn D. 

Roman snorted, “Marlena said, I should have known she was kidnapped. How the fuck would I have known that?”

“Sami told you Marlena gave you a clue! Roman! Me, Ma, and Pop, all told you…Marlena disappearing to run off with John, it just didn’t fit,” Bo told him. “You’re a cop. You’re trained to recognize patterns. We all knew that Marlena and John running off together and abandoning their children —that doesn’t fit any pattern! The fact is, your pride was hurt, you refused to search for them, and as a result they both could have died.”

Shane picked up John’s file and began to leaf through the photos. “My G-d!” he murmured. He is eyes scanned over cigar burns, cuts that were done with a small knife, cracked ribs, and bruising, as well as the fact that John’s body was so gaunt. But the photo that stood out, was the photo of John with haunted eyes. He stood staring into the camera with his arms raised, and his body told a story of torture and abuse. Shane knew immediately why Marlena would seduce Stefano to save John.

Roman took the file from Shane’s hand, glancing over the photos. Every cut, bruise, and burn on John’s body brought back his seven years with Stefano. John’s weight loss indicated that he either knew the food was drugged or he suspected it. Roman started to feel sorry for the man, but then he remembered Marlena wrapped in his arms that morning, and he slammed the file down on the table. “I’m going back to Salem tonight. Doc, made her choice.”

“Shane you said the DNA report for Gina should be in soon?” Bo asked, completely disregarding what he considered to be Roman’s bid for attention.

“I’m expecting it first thing in the morning,” Shane replied.

“I’ll wait on it,” Bo said. He couldn’t go back to Salem, and face Billie without answers. If Gina was Hope, that meant she was also his wife, and Shawn D’s mother. He couldn’t disregard that. Turning to Roman he said, “Tell Ma and Pop I’ll be home in a couple days.”

“Abe, you were planning to head to Salem this evening, as well, correct?” Shane wanted to know. 

“Yes,” Abe said. “John and Marlena are heading home tomorrow afternoon, and John asked that I speak with Shawn and Caroline in advance.”

“You don’t need to do that, Abe,” Roman interjected. “I can do it.”

Abe hesitated, and then he said, “Roman, you’re one of my best friends, but I told John I would, so, I will. I feel like your version of events…let’s just say, John asked me to do it, and I’m going to.”

“This is the shit that pisses me off!” Roman roared, standing up so quickly his chair fell to the floor behind him. “John is not family! Neither is Marlena! What could you possibly have to discuss with my parents about them? Why should they be expected to care?”

“John and Marlena will always be family!” Bo said, finally having enough of Roman’s one dimensional thinking. “Just as Shane will always be family, and Abe is family! Family is not always blood, Roman, and you need to learn that! Abe will explain what happened at Maison Blanche to Ma and Pop without the hate and vitriol that you add to everything that involves them. Then you can come home and spew your version of events just like you always do.”

Roman stared at Bo with his mouth slightly open, finally saying, “Fuck you, Bo!”

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

The air was rapidly cooling, and the sun had gone down completely. The night air was filled the sounds of the soft breeze, and the light chirp of a nearby frog. They had been out there for hours, and John snuggled into Marlena, wrapping his body around her. Marlena hummed in contentedness, and turned toward him, nuzzling her face into his neck, and licking behind his ear, murmuring, “We should really go inside.”

“Doc…” John groaned roughly. “I think I might want to stay right here for awhile longer.” His palm slid along the smooth skin of her thigh, pushing her robe back as he went. “I’ve been enjoying this time with you, and laying around in bathrobes all day is my idea of heaven.”

“I haven’t been this happy since we were married,” she told him softly. Her fingers traced over his features, pulling softly at his bottom lip. She smiled at him, and John was undone.

“Thank G-d this garden is private,” he mumbled against her mouth. They had made love so many times over the last five days, and John still wanted her almost constantly. 

“John…being in love with you, my best friend, it’s…it’s a feeling like no other” she said, biting his bottom lip. “I want you all the time. I crave your skin, your heat, the sound of your voice,” she finished, scraping her fingernails along the skin of his chest. “I crave your spirit.”

John’s head rolled back onto the soft blanket, and his palm slid up her long leg. Reaching her hip, his hand around to her ass, John groans out, “These robes. Knowing your so near, and the simple pull of a belt would reveal you to me…I’ve been half hard for hours just knowing your nakedness is so accessible. Woman, you’re killing me..” He flipped her onto her back quickly, pinning her to the blanket, and untied the belt at her waist. Rough hands spread the soft terrycloth wide, exposing her skin to the moonlight. He spread her thighs apart, baring her pussy to his eyes, and groaned again. “You’re so beautiful, Doc.”

Marlena blushed as he stared at her moist folds, open and already wet. John leaned closer, and she felt the cool air of his breath wafting over her inner thigh. She held her breath waiting for his next move. Looking up the length of her body, he said, “I’ve got to taste you” before leaning forward, and lapping over the length of her slit. Marlena arched her body, pushing her sex into his mouth with a groan, “John…John…yes.”

He latched his lips onto her clit, sucking at her gently, repeatedly, while occasionally licking over her so slowly she thought she might combust from desire. Then John would go back to repeat the process all over again. “You taste so…” he mumbled between licks, “…fucking good, baby…” 

Marlena’s hips buck up off the blanket causing John to brace her thighs open with his strong hands. “Oh, G-d—John! More…!” she cried out, rolling her head back, and forth. Her fists gripped his hair, and her fingernails dug into his scalp. All of it driving his desire higher.

John tore his mouth from her pussy, gasping for air, his mouth shiny with her wetness. Sitting back on his haunches, they both stare at each other for a moment, breathing hard, while John unties the belt on his robe. Marlena’s legs are still bent, thighs spread wide. His cock is throbbing so hard he’s in physical pain.Leaning forward, and pulling her arms above her head, he kisses her deeply. “I can’t wait, Doc. You do this to me…you always have…” he mutters as he bites at her jaw.

Marlena’s arousal heightened as she tasted her own musk on his lips. Her hips bucked up again searching for some relief. John smiled at her in a teasing manner, and said, “What do you want, Doc?” while he rubbed the length of himself through her wet, engorged lips. They both groaned loudly. “Fuck…I was going to tease you but…I just…—” and then, without warning, John slid into her, immediately pulling out, and slamming back in. He threaded his fingers through her hair, and swept his tongue into her mouth, kissing her with abandon while thrusting in, and out of her with long, almost uncoordinated, frantic, strokes. They both climax together in mere moments.

Marlena laid in the darkness of their bedroom later, listening to the sounds of John’s deep breathing, while running her fingers through the hair of his chest. She was transported back to the night Belle was conceived, and they laid together on the sofa in the plane. John had told her he loved her, and she had responded with, “You can’t love me.” Now her whole heart, her soul, and her body craved his love. She could never love anyone else. It consumed her. She smoothed her hand over his face, rubbing her nose along his neck, and whispered, “I love you…”

John spoke, his speech slurred with impending sleep, “Doc, I have always loved you.” He pulled her naked body closer, sliding his thigh between her legs, as she wrapped her leg around his. Marlena snuggled as close as she could, burying her face in his shoulder, and smiled to herself as they fell asleep. 

Chapter 13

The following day, Marlena and John decided it was time to go home. They boarded Victor’s aircraft, and Marlena stopped short, staring into the cabin. John rested his body behind hers, allowing her to feel his heat, and his fingers rested along her hips, “You okay, Doc?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I was just remembering…”

John’s lips touched the shell of her ear, and he said softly, “I felt like my heart was being torn from my body that night.”

“I know,” she replied, finally stepping inside, and making her way to the couch. “I can’t even explain or fully understand what was going through my mind on that night.” She sat down, running her palm over the soft leather, and she looked up at John, “I was so afraid you would leave. Everything in my life was so oppressive.”

“Oppressive?”

“I—I was dealing with the fallout from the kidnapping. Nightmares, anxiety, panic attacks…and Roman…he worked constantly, so I was alone, dealing with everything alone. He blamed me, you know…”

John sat beside her, pulling her close, “He blamed you? For your own kidnapping?”

“Roger had kissed me, a few weeks earlier, and although I had given the case over to another therapist, Stella was still…unstable.” Marlena was quiet for a moment, and she said quietly, “Roman and I had argued over the Lombard case the whole time. He felt as if I was too personally invested. Maybe I was…he was never home, and I felt so alone. Roger has such talent, and so much promise. I focused on helping him. Roger became too attached to me…and, maybe that was my fault.”

“Doc,” John said, stroking his fingers along the column of her neck. “It’s not hard to believe that someone might be attracted to you, but I don’t believe you would ever encourage that.”

“Of course not, but Stella thought I had, and Roman…Roman just liked to be right. He had been arguing that I shouldn’t be on the case, and Roger becoming infatuated with me…made Roman feel justified,” she told him. “And then, the night Stella kidnapped me, Roman and I had a horrible fight.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I never told you,” she said. “It was about you, and my attachment to you, my attachment to my job…he wanted everything to be the way it was before Stefano took him away. Roman’s wants…his agenda, he pushed it so aggressively, and I was dying inside. Leaving for that conference in Washington D.C.? That was me running from myself.”

“I’m confused, Doc. How were you running from yourself?”

Marlena looked up at him, “I was…feeling things for you, again. Things I had pushed down for so long, and I wasn’t ready to face them. We were on the balcony that night. Do you remember? The night of the art benefit, and I looked up at you, and my heart swelled with love. I knew I was lost.”

“I felt something, too,” John said. “You were beautiful. I had no intention of going to the art benefit that night, until you and Roman showed up at my loft. My feelings for you…it  was so soon after Isabella, it left me feeling confused and guilty. When we were in the pit, I realized that I had never stopped loving you. Isabella’s death…it hurt. It was a pain like no other, but I’ve had time to realize that my love for Isabella, as real as it was, it masked my love for you.”

“When I came to the plane that night, John…I intended to stop you from leaving. I didn’t have a plan, but I was desperate. I was feeling wild, and all I could think about was waking up the following morning and knowing you weren’t in Salem anymore. I couldn’t handle it. I remember driving home after I left your loft—”

“—you went to the loft?”

“John!” she cried softly, touching his freshly shaved face. “You were leaving me! I had to stop you. By the time I arrived at the airport I was certain you were gone…but you weren’t. My emotions…they kept going higher, my body was tight with tension, and then you kissed me…and I was lost.”

“Doc,” he said in a rough voice, staring into her eyes, “I was lost. I was so fucking lost in you that night.”

The cabin steward came through, interrupting their softly spoken conversation. “We’ll be taking off soon Mr. Black. We expect to arrive in Salem with two hours.”

“Thank you,” John said, watching as they walked away. John was quiet for a moment, and he said, “When you left me that night, my heart broke.”

Marlena fastened her seatbelt, and she said, “Mine did too. I shouldn’t have left. It’s so obvious to me that I shouldn’t have left. It was my wedding anniversary with Roman, and I didn’t even remember! I was so focused on you, and my feelings for you, that it completely slipped my mind.”

“We can’t change any of it, Doc. I don’t want to spend any more time looking back,” he whispered, kissing her forehead, and stroking her face gently. “What do you want now?”

“Now? A home. A home with you, and Brady and Belle, maybe Sami and Eric, if I can get them to forgive me,” she whispered. 

John gave her that sexy smile she loved so much, “A home with me, huh? Any particular home?”

Marlena smiled back, feeling her stomach flutter like she was sixteen again, “When I first came back to Salem, after being gone all those years. I took Eric and Sami on a walk, down in the river district. The houses are beautiful, with detailed woodwork, and wrought iron fences. I fell in love with them.”

John knew the area. Marlena was right, it was beautiful. Victorian homes, overlooking the river, with large backyards, and enormous oak trees. He smiled, brushing the hair back from her face, and asked her softly, “Could you imagine living there with me?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Sami got so excited when she saw the only house in the neighborhood with a turret.” Marlena laughed remembering the moment, “She said if she lived there, she could be a princess, and she would paint the house purple with grey trim.”

“A purple house?” John laughed. “That sounds exactly like something Sami would say.”

“I could imagine living there with you. Making our life together in one of those houses would be  a dream,” she told him. She paused, and then she said, “I plan on contacting Mickey when I get home, to file for divorce.”

“I thought Roman was going to file?”

“He’s been threatening, but he hasn’t done it. I’ll do it. I’ve made my choice, so I’ll do it,” she told him.

“How soon can I ask you to marry me,” he wanted to know. He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers softly. Marlena had removed her wedding ring the first night they were free of Maison Blanche. John had noticed the following day, as he lay in his hospital bed that it was missing, but he hadn’t mentioned it until they were in the townhouse. “How soon can I put my ring on this finger? Because, I might have a ring already,” he whispered.

“A little presumptuous of you, don’t you think?”

“When I found out you were pregnant with Belle…I had a lot of hopes. I bought the penthouse, and I bought a ring. I wanted you to be mine, that hasn’t changed. Even as I was trying to move on with Kristen…I couldn’t get rid of the ring I’d bought. I still have it, and it’s as if it’s been waiting for you the whole time,” John whispered, kissing her gently.

“I love you, John. I love you so much, and it’s little gestures like that, that make me love you so much more. I was so torn when I found out I was pregnant, and you? You were wishing that I would choose you. You were wishing that it was your baby,” Marlena replied. “In my heart, I hurt so much for the pain you must have gone through.”

“Doc, I meant what I said the night Belle was born,” he said. “I wanted her to be my baby.”

“And now we know, she’s our baby,” Marlena whispered. “I should have known. When she was born, and I looked into her eyes, there was a flash of recognition, but I pushed it away. I felt so close to you that night. I was so vulnerable, and if we had known then, that she was yours…I feel like it would have changed everything.”

“There is no fucking way I would have let you go, then,” John said, kissing her again. “No way.”

Marlena kissed John slowly, allowing her tongue to sneak out, and lick at the corner of his mouth. She moaned into him, “I love you so.”

John cupped her face gently, “So when we get back…the living arrangements…”

Marlena rested her head on his shoulder, “I want you with me. I don’t want to wait. I’m done being proper, John.”

“You want to come to the loft, or do you want me at the penthouse?”

“I don’t care,” she whispered, kissing his neck softly. “I just know one thing, I want you with me.”

John shivered at the feel of her lips on his skin, “I’ll stay at the penthouse. Brady already has some things there, and it will be easier…oh, G-d, Doc your mouth…”

Marlena smiled, unbuckling her seatbelt. Standing before him she lifted the length of her dress, and climbed onto his lap, settling herself on him. She continued to kiss along his neck. Biting at his skin, she murmured, “So…about that marriage proposal…”

John’s head fell back against the cushion, and his eyes closed, when Marlena began to scratch her nails over the skin where his shirt opened. He groaned again, rolling his hips to seek out relief to the pressure building in him. “Doc, I’ve got a plan for that.” 

His fingers played over the skin of her thighs, smoothing over the soft flesh. He gazed on her with hooded eyes, allowing them to roam over her exposed shoulders. Her cream colored summer dress was dotted with small pink roses, and John nearly threw her onto her back when she started unbuttoning the buttons on the bodice. Her soft, blush skin, pink with arousal was slowly revealed to him. John’s hands gripped her hips, grinding his cock into her, and he groaned again.

Pulling one breast from her dress, she stared at him, and said, “Taste me.”

His mouth took her nipple with a long, hard pull, and Marlena’s body fell forward, bracing herself on his shoulders. “Doc,” John murmured. “Doc, G-d woman…” He gripped her hips, lifting her, and fumbled with his belt.

Smiling down at him, she whispered huskily, “You in a hurry, Sailor?”

Freeing his cock, John stroked himself with one hand, while his other roughly pulled the gusset of her panties to the side, and checked to see how wet she was. His fingers slid into her easily, “Fuck, Doc…I need you.”

Marlena leaned forward, whispering in his ear, “I need you.” She groaned deeply, when she felt his length begin to slowly enter her moist heat. “Oh, G-d, John…I need you so bad.”

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

Caroline met Marlena and John at the penthouse, with Belle and Brady. Marlena reached for Belle, and took a deep breath, breathing in that distinct baby smell. “Look at you, girl! Oh, my! Caroline, she’s gotten so big…” Marlena exclaimed as she began to cry, rubbing her hand over Belle’s baby-fine curls.

“Daddy!” Brady squealed, jumping from the couch, running to his father as fast as his two-year-old legs would carry him. John scooped him up, and hugged him fiercely. 

“How’s my slugger?” John asked him, as he leaned toward Marlena, and kissed Belle’s chubby face. Belle reached out for her father at the same moment Brady looked at Marlena, and yelled, “Mama!” while throwing himself in her direction. The small boy wrapped his arms tightly around Marlena’s neck, and Marlena and John traded children. Brady gave her an openmouthed kiss, full of drool, as his little lips slid across her face.

Marlena looked surprised, and glanced at John, saying, “Mama?” John shrugged, and continued making eyes at Belle. Marlena put her forehead to Brady’s telling him softly, “I would love to be your mama, Brady.”

His little hand touched her cheek as he smiled at her, and said, “Mama.” 

Caroline could tell that John and Marlena were close again, more than close, but she was happy for them. Roman had come home from New Orleans that morning, spouting anger, and vitriol about the two of them, but she’d already spoken to Abe the night before, and he had filled her and Shawn in on what had really happened at Maison Blanche. Caroline saw how gaunt John looked. He had obviously lost a lot of weight, and she knew that underneath his clothes, his body bore the marks of torture at the hands of Stefano DiMera. The fact that Marlena had managed to save them both was a miracle.

Caroline knew Roman was hurt, but John would always be her son, no matter what. He and Marlena had suffered entirely too much, so, if they found peace with each other, if they could find a deep undying love together…then they deserved it. Noting the fatigue still residing in his dark blue eyes, Caroline asked him, “Did you want me to keep the children one more night? You both look so tired…and I spoke with Abe yesterday. You’ve been through so much.”

Marlena watched as a drowsy Brady laid his head on her chest, “No, Caroline. We rested for about a week before we came home…we—we couldn’t…” Marlena trailed off, unsure of how to even express the trauma they had been through. 

“—we needed to process what had happened. Come to terms with some things,” John finished for her. He glanced over at Marlena as she lovingly smoothed her hand over Brady’s back, and then he smiled at Caroline, “We’ll be fine…” When Caroline turned to leave, John stopped her, “Ma-…Caroline,…thank you. For taking care of the children, for loving them…”

Caroline stepped up to John, touching his arm gently, “I love you too, you know.”

John hugged her tightly, and with emotion in his voice said, “Yeah, I know. Goodnight, Ma.”

Chapter 14

Marlena woke the next morning to feel John’s palm moving over the satin nightgown which covered her body. Up her waist, and down to her hip and thigh, and then back up to do it all over again. She sighed. It felt so good. This is how he used to wake her years ago, almost another lifetime ago, when they were married. Marlena rolled to face him, running her fingers over his jaw and then his lips, staring at him with love in her eyes, “This was one of my favorite parts about being married to you. Waking up in your arms, facing you, facing the day, facing our lives. We were so close.” She threaded their fingers together, staring at them. 

They had gotten off track making decisions based on the effects it could have for other people. Honestly, they’d probably made things worse. Had they been honest, maybe Sami wouldn’t be so angry…maybe Roman wouldn’t have been so nasty. Maybe Eric would have come home, because John knew it broke Marlena’s heart to have him so far away.

“You, and me, Doc…you, me, and the kids. All of the kids. Nothing, no one, will ever make me step back from you again,” John grabbed her, pulling her on top of him, kissing her soundly. “We’re going to get a house, and we’re going to do dance recitals, and baseball practice. I’m going to make pancakes, and you’re going to make really bad, bitter coffee!” He laughed when Marlena smacked at him.

She stared down at him, “I’m worried. It won’t be that easy, you know.”

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “But you won’t be alone.”

Marlena could feel the length of John’s cock between her legs, and she rolled her hips, chuckling softly, “You’re insatiable.”

John’s hand moved down her back, and between her legs, shifting her nightgown up to her waist, “Only with you, Doc…only with you.”

John stared as Marlena spread her legs wider to accommodate his rapidly growing erection. Watching her pussy settle on the silk fabric of his pants, had him growing even harder. He pulled her forward, and she moaned at the feel of his finger rubbing gently along the crease of her bottom. Her arousal grew as his fingertip brushed gently over her anus. “John,” she sighed. “Oh…John…”

“Oh,” he whispered huskily. “I know you like that, baby. I remember your body, and I can play it like an instrument.” His finger dipped down, gathering wetness from her core, and sliding back up, rubbing over her. He was creating the most delicious ache inside her. She could feel the deep throbbing.

Marlena moaned, and ground her hips against his erection, as his fingertip circled and pushed on her. The shoulder of her nightgown had fallen down, and John saw her dusky erect nipple peeking out. Sitting up with a growl, his mouth engulfed her nipple, partially covered by rose pink satin, and he sucked deeply. He felt as if he could never get enough of her. His tongue licked over her breast, and his warm breath cooled the wet satin, causing her nipples to harden even further. He wrapped his free arm around her waist, and ground his cock into her pussy. 

Marlena’s nightgown fell off of her shoulders, uncovering her breasts completely. It pooled at her waist. “Doc, you’re so fucking gorgeous,” he said, as he leaned forward to bite at her breasts, and lick over the spots to sooth the sting that followed. He continued to use his finger to circle, and press along her ass causing her to moan, and whimper. 

Marlena sat up, leaning back, placing her hands behind her on Johns thighs. This pushed his finger into her slightly, and she moaned deeply, “Oh, G-d! John…more.” He followed her, nipping and biting at her breasts, driving her high and higher. The wetness streaming from Marlena’s pussy had soaked the front of John’s silk pajama bottoms. She spread her legs further apart, separating her pussy lips, and rode his erection along the wet silk. The combination of his ass play, and the deep pulls of his mouth on her breast threw her over the edge, “Oh-oh, G-d! John…I’m—I’m…”

“Come for me, Doc…fuck that feels so good…” Marlena barely had time to come down from her climax, when John roughly shoved the front of his pajama pants down below his throbbing cock, and slammed into her body, exploding almost immediately from the wet moist heat of her. As his orgasm tore through him, he held her close to him, and sucked on the side of her breast, marking her and claiming her as his own. 

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

“So she’s okay? She’s alive?” Eric asked his father with apprehension in his voice.

“Yeah, Eric, your mother is fine. I found her with John. They weren’t even hiding the fact that they were together,” Roman said, with obvious anger in his voice, remembering the way Marlena clung to John when he saw them in New Orleans. He felt bitterness rise up inside him again.

“Dad, I know that must have hurt…but you said you wanted to divorce her. She wanted to work on it, and-and you refused. I mean, she can move on with her life…you should too,” Eric told his father. He honestly didn’t understand why Roman was so caught up in this anyway. His parents marriage was essentially over, his mother could do whatever made her happy. Eric remembered when his Mom was married to John. They were very happy. All of them were happy. That’s why their affair hadn’t come as a shock to him at all.

“Not with him, Eric! John destroyed our marriage!” Roman stated. “John destroyed my life…” Roman muttered.

Eric knew his Dad was wrong. Roman had played a very real part in the destruction of his marriage to his mother. His long work hours. His unbendable nature. His lack of empathy…all of it pushed Marlena further and further away. He remembered the nightmares his mother had after her kidnapping. She’d needed help. Help that he and Sami were too young to provide. He’d watched helplessly as Marlena sank deeper into depression. But, the way she lit up when she saw John, that was what she needed. Eric felt it was a natural progression that she had managed to go back to the man who made her feel safest. The man who made her feel the most loved in her life. Eric said, “Dad, she’s been hurt too much…I just—I want her to be happy. And when I talk to her, she always sounds so sad. When I was little she used to laugh all the time, when—”

“—when John was your Dad…right Eric?” Roman asked bitterly. Even his own kids were turning against him.

Eric was quiet, and he finally said, “I never said that, Dad. But, if you haven’t seen how unhappy Mom has been over the past few years…maybe even before that, it’s possible you couldn’t give her what she needed.” Marlena hadn’t ever quite gotten back to the mother he remembered when she first came home, before Roman returned. For a brief moment in time, Eric felt his life was perfect. He had his mother and his father…and then he didn’t. Suddenly John wasn’t his father, and Roman was. To escape the pain of losing his father, and having him replaced by a stranger, Eric went to Colorado, and never came home. But, he thought, maybe now…maybe, now it was time to go home.

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

Sami listened against the door as Roman verbally bashed her mother to her grandfather, again. She was angry with her mother when she’d realized she was having an affair with John. Her home was a precarious house of cards, with the possibility that one, or both parents, could be ripped from her at any moment. It had always been that way. She remembered when Marlena went missing for five years. She remembered the last night John tucked her into bed. Sami knew love wasn’t permanent, it could be taken at any time, at the whim of a madman. 

In her desperation to keep her family intact, Sami knew she’d made mistakes. She continued to make them. But what she wanted, what she really wanted, was love. Unconditional love. She wanted her mother, and yet, she pushed her away with anger, and rage every single time she approached. She wanted her Daddy, her first Daddy. She wanted John, but he had left her too, and when he tried to reach out she lashed at him with her words, to beat him back. So, she pushed them both away, and she didn’t even know why she did it, or maybe, deep down, she did. Because, if you love someone with your whole heart, and you lose them, as Sami had done repeatedly, eventually you lost them forever, and it became necessary to push people away, before they could leave you. That was easier than the loss. 

“She said she wanted to work on us, and I was willing to try, Pop. I was going to work on our marriage, even after she betrayed me with that imposter. But I knew, I knew, that she was fucking him, almost as soon as I saw them in New Orleans!” Sami could hear her father pacing the room as his voice drew closer to the door, and then faded again. “He was hovering behind her, watching me, as if I was going to hurt her. I wouldn’t hurt her! They didn’t even try to pretend!” he raged. “That slut,” Roman ground out his words with bitterness. “And you know what she did…I told you about the tape Stefano made! She took her clothes off, and seduced that evil bastard, for what? To save John? She let that man put his hands on her body to save John?”

“Roman, I know yer upset, but maybe ye can talk to her?” Shawn asked him. “Sure, she wanted to work it out, but ye kept pushing her away Roman. Ye were brutal to her. There are other ways to hurt someone. It’s not always physical.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ye know what I mean, Roman. Don’t play dumb with yer Pop. Ye kept telling her it was over, and then she moved on. Now yer angry that she’s done that? Abe said what they both went through down in New Orleans was horrific. Absolutely horrific.”

“So that’s her excuse for having another affair? No. It’s done. I didn’t react well down there, and Pop, honestly,…John got angry, as you can tell,” Roman said gesturing to his bruised face. “He told me to stay away from her. Claims I’ve hurt her too much, and he’s not going to let me do it again. I’ve hurt her? She can’t seem to keep her legs closed with him, but I’m the problem?” Roman roared.

“That’s what I’m talking about, son! Ye claim to love Marlena, yet ye speak about her like she’s rubbish. I think…maybe it’s for the best, Roman. Let her, and John, be. They went through some hell down there. We might never know the whole of it, son. Stefano’s dead, and what they experienced, only the other will know. They might need each other now, more than we could ever understand,” Shawn finished.

Roman felt like Eric didn’t understand. His father didn’t understand, and now that Bo was on his way home with the women from Maison Blanche, he wouldn’t understand either. It was as if they all loved, and supported John and Marlena, without even caring what he was going through. Roman felt even angrier, if that was possible.

Sami’s grandfather’s words rang true. She had listened to the conversation, when Abe told Shawn about what happened at Maison Blanche. Even though she had been angry at her Mom, and John, for more than a year over the affair, her heart broke for what Stefano had done to them. Stefano had drugged John, even burned his skin, and chained him up in a dungeon. He had cuts, and bruises on his body, and he had been so thin. She’s heard it all, and cried silent tears as she’d listened. She still loved them, even when she said she hated them. In her mind, they were, and always would be, Mommy and Daddy.

Sami entered the pub, and saw her grandfather sitting at a small table alone. He seemed so sad, as he stared at his hands. “Grandpa?” She said quietly, approaching him gently.

“Sami, me girl,” he replied. “Don’t tell me, ye be listening to private conversation again. I told ye to stop that.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I feel like everyone treats me like a baby.”

“We be worried about ye,” he said. “I know ye growing up. Ye not a little girl anymore, but me and your Grandma…we worry.”

“I know,” she said softly, sitting across from him. “I was wondering if Grandma…if she said anything about Mom and John, after she came home yesterday?”

Shawn smiled, “Ye should call ye Mom.”

Sami looked down, “I can’t.”

“Ye can’t? Or ye won’t?” Shawn asked her, lifting her face so that her eyes met his. “Anger and resentment can destroy a man…a girl too, I imagine. Call yer mother.”

Sami was quiet for a moment, and then she said, “I’ll think about it…but, she’s okay, right?”

“Yer Grandma said, they both looked tired. John especially. He’s lost a lot of weight,” Shawn told her. “He’s going to need a bit of time to be okay again, but I bet they’d both be mighty happy if ye reached out.”

Chapter 15

“So they’re willing to accept my offer on the house?” John asked the realtor on the other end of the telephone line.

“They are. They felt that is was very generous,” the realtor replied. “They were planning to retire to Florida in a few years, but this offer of yours is too good to pass up. You do realize that you’re offering them twice the amount of the homes actual worth?”

“It wasn’t for sell. I really wanted it, so I had to make it worth their trouble,” John said. “Plus, I believe most of it’s been recently updated, which means I won’t have to fix much. How soon could we move in?”

“They said they need a month to pack, and make arrangements, then we can hand the property over. I will say, the offer in cash was a huge motivator.”

“That’s great,” John said with a smile. “I’ll be in touch to discuss the cash transfer.”

Marlena entered the bedroom, just as John was hanging up the telephone, “Hey, Sailor.”

He smiled at her as she approached where he sat on the bed, and he immediately reached for her, resting his palms on her hips, and staring up at her, “I bought you a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Yup.”

Marlena loved him so much. She played her fingers softly through his hair, and whispered, “What kind of surprise?”

“I bought you a house,” he told her. “A beautiful house in the River District. The only house with a turret.”

“John! You didn’t!” Marlena exclaimed. “How? It’s not for sale.”

“Anything is for sale, with the right motivation,” he said, rubbing his face against her abdomen, as he wrapped his arms snuggly around her waist.

Marlena was quiet, knowing that he had very likely paid an exorbitant amount for it. “John…you love me so well,” she whispered. “I think, I almost forgot what it felt like to be loved by you.”

“Doc…I will never let you forget what it feels like to be loved by me,” he told her, staring up at her with eyes shining with emotion. His palms cupped the backs of her thighs, and he growled with growing sexual tension, “I will remind you every chance I get.”

“Do you promise?” she asked. The doorbell rang, and Marlena sighed in frustration, “I was hoping for some alone time while the children napped.”

John laughed loudly, “I wouldn’t have said no, but now we have company.”

“Maybe a couple kisses on my mouth first,” she whispered, against his lips.

“Oh, I can always spare some kisses for you, pretty lady,” John said. He flipped her body onto the bed beside him, as Marlena let out a short screech. John’s lips took hers and Marlena moaned softly into him. 

Her fingers threaded into his hair, as his tongue swept along hers. The doorbell rang again, followed by a loud, banging, knock. John sighed, pulling away from her, “As much as I want to strip you naked, and have my way with you…someone’s at the door.”

The doorbell rang again, followed by another round of knocking. Marlena got to her feet, “Let’s go, before they wake Brady and Belle.”

Downstairs, John opened the door to see Roman standing there. Roman looked furious, “I need to speak with Doc.”

Marlena was just coming off the last step, and she came to stand near John, “Roman.”

“I need to speak to you…alone,” he said through gritted teeth.

Marlena looked up at John, and said softly, “I’ll speak with him in the hallway.”

“You’re not even going to let me in?” Roman asked accusingly.

“The children are napping, Roman, and you are agitated. So yes, I will speak with you in the hallway,” she replied.

John touched her arm gently, “If he starts name calling, or belittling you…the conversation should end. You are worth more than that.”

She smiled at him, “Thank you.”

Roman waited outside, and when the door closed he hissed, “You filed for divorce?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” Marlena asked him. “Isn’t that what you’ve been pushing for since February?”

“Yes…it was, but I was going to do it,” he told her.

“Roman, we aren’t children. Whether you file or I file, the end result is the same,” she said in growing frustration.

“You’re filing, stating irreconcilable differences? Really, Doc? You cheated on me! Twice! I think that falls under adultery!”

“I had an affair with John. Once. I admitted that, but what happened between John and I in New Orleans, that was not an affair. Roman, we are legally separated. Remember?” Marlena said. “Don’t come here spouting outrage, when you were the one who pushed for a legal separation, and honestly, it’s better that you did. I can see that now.”

“Can you?” Roman sneered.

“I spent a long time trying to make you happy. Trying to make up for those seven years that you were with Stefano. But, that’s not my job. That was never my job. Your unhappiness oozes out of you, and it infects everyone and everything. You need to look inside yourself, because, Roman, you’re not angry because you loved me, and lost me,” she told him. “You’re angry because you saw me as a prize. Another thing that you were able to take back from John…but you don’t love me. You did once, but not since you’ve been back. I’m a possession that you’ve lost. Your pride is hurt. But you don’t love me.”

Roman stared at her. He loved her. He did. She had no right to tell him how he felt. Just as he was about to speak, Marlena held up her hand, “Don’t, Roman. Just don’t. Because if you treat the people you love the way you have treated me since February, then you have a very convoluted idea of love. You wanted to control me. That’s not love. It’s not. So, please, sign the papers, and let’s be done with this.”

“Sign the fucking papers, so you can marry John?” Roman sneered.

Marlena said softly, staring up at him, “Yes. So, I can marry John.”

“Take me to court,” Roman roared. “I’m not signing these.”

Marlena was exasperated, “Roman, I’m giving you everything. The house, the furniture, the savings account! There is nothing to stop you from signing these divorce papers except pettiness.”

Roman held up the divorce papers, tore them in half, and dropped them at her feet, saying, “I’m not signing them.”

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

Marlena sat with John in Mickey’s office, and she sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Mickey looked at her, and said, “I know it’s not what you want to hear, but if he’s refusing to sign them, court would be the only option.”

“I know,” she said softly. “I had hoped, since he’d been pushing for the divorce, that he wouldn’t do this.”

“I think we also need to do a DNA test on Belle, to get confirmation that John is her father—”

“—Mickey! I am Belle’s father,” John said, sitting forward.

“I’ve no doubt that you are, but for the courts purposes, and to remove Roman’s name from her birth certificate, I feel like this is the way to go,” Mickey told them. “If Roman is refusing to sign the divorce papers, we can’t be sure of what he wants to do. With his name on Belle’s birth certificate, he could ask for custody—”

“—he wouldn’t!” Marlena exclaimed, but she wasn’t so sure.

John touched her arm gently, “Mickey’s right, Doc. The sooner we get it settled, and a legal name change done for Belle…the better off we’ll be.”

Marlena was quiet for a moment, and then she said, “Okay. I want to believe that Roman wouldn’t do something that petty, but I can’t be sure. Not after what he did this afternoon. I’ll set everything up for the test.”

John looked at Mickey, Can you file the paperwork for the name change?”

“I can get everything ready, and when the test results come in, I can file them for you,” Mickey replied.

John stood up, shaking Mickey’s hand, “We really appreciate this, Mickey.”

Mickey smiled at him, “I’ve known you a long time, John, and you’re a good man. We’ll get this figured out.”

“Thank you, Mickey,” Marlena said softly. 

Mickey watched as John reached for Marlena’s hand, and asked her softly, “You ready to go, Doc?” They left his office, and Mickey walked over to his filing cabinet, pulling out the appropriate forms for a legal name change, and he thought about John and Marlena. He’d known them when John first came to Salem. He was John Black then, too, before he became Roman Brady. There had been an obvious attraction between the two of them, even in the beginning. It was hidden under snark, irritation, and frustration, but it had been there. He and Maggie had discussed it a few times. 

When everything fell out with Roman’s return, Maggie had told him, “I’m not sure this is going to work.” And she was right. It didn’t. It was never meant to.

Outside Mickey’s office, John stopped near where he’d parked the Jeep, tugging Marlena close. He wrapped his arms around her, and he whispered into her ear, “You okay, baby?”

Her forehead fell forward, resting on his shoulder, and she whispered, “I don’t know what I was expecting. I knew it would be difficult, trying to fix my relationship with Sami, and Eric, but I really believed that Roman would simply sign the divorce papers.”

John tipped her face up to his, kissing her softly, “I know. I thought so, too, but remember what I said…you’re not alone, Doc. I’m with you, every step of the way.”

Marlena stared up at him. He was so beautiful. Touching his face gently, she stroked her fingers over his mouth. The barest whisper of a touch, and she said, “You are the most amazing man. I love you.”

Kristen Blake DiMera watched them from several feet away. Her life had taken such a turn. She was married to Tony, and pining for John. John leaned forward, kissing Marlena softly, and Kristen had to admit they were beautiful together. The love was obvious, and it made her heart ache. She’d given him up, for her father. A man she had loved, trusted, and believed the best of, only to find out he was evil. The worst part, Tony had known the whole time. Now, she found herself pregnant, and stuck in a loveless marriage, as she watched John gently kiss Marlena’s lips. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she turned away quickly, and walked in the other direction. 

Chapter 16

By the end of the following month Marlena and John had the penthouse, and the loft packed. Marlena was excited. The house needed minimal work. It was built in 1910, and was a Queen Anne style Victorian home with a large backyard, and shade trees. Marlena wasn’t ready to return to work just yet, and she needed a distraction, something to pour her heart, and soul into. She decided that her home, and her family were going to be what she focused on. She wanted more than anything to repair her relationship with Sami, and bring Eric home from Colorado. Eric had never gotten over losing John, and he’d never fully accepted Roman, but she wanted him home with her. The twins were almost seventeen, but they would always be her babies. 

Marlena took a leave of absence from work to try, and focus on her family, and help John, who continued to have horrific nightmares. He woke almost every night in a cold sweat, sometimes mumbling incoherently, sometimes screaming her name. He had gained back some of the weight he had lost while at Maison Blanche, but the physical, and emotional scars would be permanent. His body was dotted with marks which had been made with knives and cigars. Every time she saw his back she was reminded the what he was put through. 

Deciding to make a go of their life together, had Marlena happier then she had been in years. She wasn’t going to be ashamed, or try to hide from her feelings any more. The moralistic attitude that Roman used to judge her, no longer caused her to feel guilty. She couldn’t change his perspective. She couldn’t change anyone’s perspective. Shawn and Caroline accepted her and John without question, and without much discussion. 

She had to focus on repairing her broken relationships with the twins. She continued to try and reach out to Sami daily, but her daughter had failed to call her back. Marlena was determined, so she would simply keep trying. 

Marlena sighed as she labeled the last box in the kitchen, and then poured herself some iced tea. Leaning back against the counter, she realized how tired she felt. She’d been tired for a few days. John found her there, lost in thought as she stared blankly at the microwave, and he was struck by her beauty. He stepped closer, whispering, “Hey, Doc.”

Smiling up at him, Marlena whispered back, “Hey, Sailor.”

John shivered. He wasn’t sure where the nickname came from, but it caused a visceral reaction in him. He stepped closer, “You okay?”

She ran her palm up his t-shirt covered chest, “I am. I was just thinking…I might be pregnant.”

John’s breath caught, and his heart rate picked up, “Really?”

“I had my period when we were at Maison Blanche. I would have been ovulating around the time we…got out of there, and then we were making love without protection.”

John kissed Marlena’s forehead, remembering all of the ways he had made love to her body in New Orleans. He gently placed his hand on her still-flat abdomen, “It would make me happy. To be with you, while my child grows within your body.”

“When we were at the townhouse in New Orleans…I knew this was a possibility. We both did,” she told him. “And even though I know it’s the worst timing, I hope, I am pregnant. I want another baby with you.”

John leaned forward, cupping her face in his large palms, and he whispered against her lips, “I want a few babies with you.”

“John, I’m forty-three! A few babies might be a bit much.”

“So, we got a late start,” he murmured against her lips, with a short shrug. 

Marlena sighed softly when John kissed her. His scent surrounded her, and she felt his t-shirt clenched in his hands. She moaned softly, “John…”

His lips played over hers. Softly at first, and then his tongue swept over hers. He could taste the lemon from the iced tea, and a flavor that was distinctly Marlena. They switched so quickly from soft kisses, to heat. John stared down at her, arousal causing his pupils to dilate,  “How long do we have before everyone arrives to help us move?”

Marlena glanced at the clock, and said softly, “About twenty five minutes.”

John began pushing her joggers, over her hips, “Twenty five minutes is all I need.”

Marlena kicked her pants to the side, and screeched when John lifted her to the countertop, spreading her legs wide, “John! We don’t have time for this—”

But it was too late, his mouth was on her skin, licking along her inner thigh, while he groaned, “We have time…” Marlena’s head rolled, and she leaned back, resting on her arms. The movement caused her breasts to jut out, and John rasped out, “Take the shirt off, baby.”

Pulling the shirt over her head, he stared up the length of her body, and then softly licked over her slit, his tongue giving her clit a hard flick at the end. Marlena was spread out for him on the kitchen counter like a feast. A feast in a white cotton bra with a small pink bow at the center. He felt his cock surge, and he groaned low. He started sucking at the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs, and Marlena reveled in the burn he created, knowing that he was going to leave marks on her skin. The fingers of one hand threaded into his hair, and Marlena whispered, “More…oh, G-d…more…”

“Fuck, Doc, I could lick your pussy all day,” he whispered, staring up at her while he licked slowly over her moist folds.

“Oh, G-d!” she cried. Her hips rising from where she sat, she pushed her sex into John’s mouth. She glanced at the clock, “We don’t have all day—oh!”

John stood up, pushing his sweatpants down below his cock, so they settled low on his hips. His large palms gripped under her thighs, pulling her body to the edge roughly, and he said, “This is going to be hard and fast, baby…so fucking hard…”

“Yes,” she hissed. “Oh, G-d, John…yes…”

He entered her body so fast, she cried out, her fingernails scraping across his forearms. She went limp, and John caught her as she started to fall back, “Wrap your arms around my neck, baby.” 

Marlena was desperate for release. Linking her arms at his nape, she pulled his mouth to hers, just as John pulled out of her hot depths, and then slid quickly back in. Her cry echoed through the room, and her breath wafted over John’s lips. Nipping at her lips, John’s tongue slid inside her mouth, while he started to slide in and out of her body. She dipped her tongue into the moist recesses of his mouth, tasting her own arousal on his lips, and she whispered, “Harder. Oh, John…please, I need it harder…”

He lifted her body against his, turning them, and pressed her body against the pantry door, slamming even deeper, hitting that spot inside her that made her see stars. John licked her ear, and bit her jaw, “Like that, baby?”

“Oh, John…yes, yes…just like that,” she panted. She knew her nails were digging into his flesh, but she was lost. He would have scratches later. They were both close, on the edge of their orgasms, and Marlena glanced at the clock. They were running out of time. She whispered, “I’m so close…”

He sat her on her feet, pulling his cock out of her, and reached for her bra straps, pulling them off of her shoulder, “Turn around and put you hands on the counter.”

Marlena was so aroused she felt her pussy clench, and moisture slide along her thighs. Turning around, she felt his hands unclasp her bra, and then a sharp smack sounded, as he hit her ass with the flat of his hand. He leaned over her back, so close she felt like he was a part of her, and he slid back into her moist heat. Both of them groaned. One of his hands pulled at her nipple, pulling and rolling it between his fingers, while the other played over her clit. John’s thrusts continued, and Marlena was lost to sensation, falling over the edge into orgasm when he bit her shoulder with a loan groan.

“John!” she screamed, coming so hard she thought her legs might collapse. The doorbell rang, but John continued to move within her, thrusting deeply.

With one final push, he roared his release. He rested along her back, catching his breath, and the doorbell rang again. He felt as if he couldn’t move, but they had to move. He kissed the dewy skin of her shoulder, and slid from her body, still holding her up with an arm around her waist. Turning her to face him he said, “I love you.”

Marlena stared up at him, with drowsy eyes, “I love you.”

He gathered her clothes, and handed them to her, “Go upstairs and I’ll get the door.” Marlena watched him in a daze as he righted his clothing. He took her hand, leading her to the foot of the stairs. John kissed her lips softly, running his palm over her naked hip, and he whispered, “Go. I’ll get the door.”

Marlena smiled, “I told you we didn’t have time.”

John smacked her ass again, “I made time, baby. Now go get dressed.”

Chapter 17

“Oh my G-d! Eric!” Sami screamed when she opened the door to her grandparents house, and saw her brother standing there with a large duffle bag, and a sheepish look on his face. She threw herself into him, causing him to drop the bag, and catch her before she fell. She was sobbing uncontrollably, and clinging to him as if he would disappear. She needed him, and there he was.

“Whoa! What’s wrong?” Eric asked, hugging her tightly. 

“Everything! Everything is wrong.” Sami sobbed. “And I’ve been trying to work it out in my head, but I can’t because Dad hates Mom, and Mom’s back with John…and I’m nothing but confused!”

“C’mon,” Eric mumbled, putting his arm around his sisters shoulder, and grabbing his bag from the ground. “We’ll talk about this inside the house.”

Placing his bag on the floor inside the door, Eric walked Sami towards the couch. It took him several moments to get his sister calm enough that she was able to hold a coherent conversation. What he gathered was that his father was enraged over their mother and John, and spent the majority of his time expressing that displeasure. In private, or as private as it could be with Sami around, and in front of Sami. In front of her it was more subtle, but if he thought he could speak freely, to his parents, Abe or Bo, he could be nasty. Roman would call Marlena all types of horrible things, or he would blame John for seducing Marlena away from him. It was hurting Sami, and her heart was breaking. 

Eric sighed, holding her close. His father was obviously still a loud, blustering fool. Of course Sami would know everything, Sami was always the one who was able to get the details when they were kids. She had honed her eavesdropping skills as a child. There were several times that John had caught her behind corners trying to listen to adult conversations not meant for little ears. 

Eric chuckled remembering, and said to a silent Sami, “Do you remember the time we wanted ice cream, and Dad…well, John, was talking to Grandma about your grade on your history test? You thought you were so slick with that glass up to the kitchen door, but dad snuck out the other door, and came up behind you.”

Sami smiled, and laughed, “Yeah, he leaned in behind me, and said, ‘Hear anything good?’ I screamed so loud, he laughed at me.” Her smile faded from her face. “I haven’t been to see them, Eric. I haven’t returned one call, and Mom calls every day,” Sami started to cry again, wiping her eyes in way that reminded Eric of their mother. “It’s been over a month, and I haven’t gone to see them. I won’t return mom’s calls…I want to… I do, but I won’t let myself. I’m so angry, but I don’t even know who I’m mad at anymore…Mom and Da—John…or Daddy.”

“We’ll go. You and me, sis. We’ll go over to the penthouse together, okay?” Eric told her gently. “You don’t have to pick sides, Sami. No one is asking you to do that.”

“I feel like Dad is. He tries to act like he isn’t, but the way he talks about them, and the faces he makes if someone else does…he’s happy that I haven’t called Mom.”

“It doesn’t matter. What do you want?”

“I want my Mom,” she whispered. “I want my Daddy back.”

“You mean John?”

She nodded her head, and tears started falling from her eyes again, “They moved though. About a week ago. Dad was really angry because Carrie, Austin, Abe, Lexie, Bo, and Hope helped them move, while Grandma and Grandpa watched Belle and Brady. He told Aunt Kayla on the phone, ‘That fucking home wrecker bought her some dump in the River District’…” Sami’s voice trailed off, and then picked back up a moment later, “But the house is beautiful Eric. Do you remember when Mom came home? She was trying to get to know us and spend time with us, and we walked down there? I saw this house, with a turret, and I said—”

“—‘If that was my house, I’d paint it purple with grey trim’…I remember,” Eric said with a laugh. “I also remember thinking a purple house was another crazy Sami idea.”

“G-d, Eric! I was seven! But that’s the house they bought…the beautiful one that looked like an old Victorian castle. The one I wanted to paint purple. I don’t know why you’re laughing at me, you were the one who said, you would make your bedroom in the turret so you could guard us!” Sami paused, and then looked at her brother, and asked him softly, “Will you go with me? To see Mom and Da—I mean, John?”

“Sami,” Eric said softly. “Look at me. He’s Dad. He’s always going to be Dad, and the more you fight your heart, the angrier you are going to get. You can love them both, you know. He was all we had for five years. He took care of us when we were sick, he coached our sports, he made sure we did our homework…John is Dad. You know that.” Eric reached for her, and pulled his sister close, “Roman is our Dad too, and we can love them both. We’re allowed to do that. What breaks my heart is that Mom was forced to choose, and she couldn’t, not really. She just did what everyone expected. Her husband was back from the dead, imprisoned and tortured for seven years. Dad…dad had Isabella, and she was pregnant. Did they really have a choice? Sami, you know…if Mom had really had a choice…”

“She would have picked John,” Sami said softly. “When did you get so insightful?”

“Therapy. Grandma and Grandpa put me in therapy,” Eric started laughing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Marlena had convinced John to have the house painted purple with grey trim. He knew it was for Sami. Marlena had been calling her daughter and leaving a message everyday since their return from Maison Blanche. Painting the house purple was an olive branch to Sami, should the girl ever see. He had to admit it looked amazing. As he stood in front of the stove making pancakes for lunch, Marlena wandered in looking ill. John was worried about her, and asked, “Did you make the doctors appointment, Doc?”

“I did,” she said yawning. “But I’m fairly certain I’m pregnant. It’s been two weeks of fatigue, sore breasts, and now vomiting. I put it off because we were settling in, but I just missed my second period.”

“I want go with you. Can do it this afternoon? Ma is going to take Belle, Brady, and Shawn D to the zoo. It would be the perfect time.”

She yawned again, and said, “Yeah—okay, I’ll call after I feed Belle.”

Belle began to fuss from her highchair signaling that the food was not arriving fast enough, at the same time Brady ran into the kitchen screaming, “Pancakes for lunch!”

Marlena scooped him up, kissing his little face, and said, “That’s right little man, pancakes!” She grabbed the baby cereal, mixed it up for Belle, and started to sit in front of her impatient daughter, preparing to feed her. She was so happy with this life they had chosen.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dr. Bader walked into the room, and looked at John and Marlena, pronouncing, “It’s positive, Marlena. A little soon after Belle, since she’s only, what, nine months now? But that’s okay. Your blood pressure is fine. We’ll test for gestational diabetes in a couple months. I take it this is good news?”

Marlena was so happy. Tears flowed from her eyes, and she nodded. She realized that John would be there for this pregnancy. They were going to do this together. She smiled at him, and he had tears in his eyes too. Marlena said, “You’ll be with me this time.”

“I delivered Belle, Doc, so I was there last time too.”

“I know…but this is—”

“—it’s different,” he whispered, touching her face softly. “I know.”

“We still have some time, if you want…to get a quick ultrasound. I could get some measurements to determine how far along you are,” Dr. Bader continued passing Marlena a paper drape. “Go ahead, and remove your clothing from the waist down, and I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

After the door closed behind Dr. Bader, John tipped Marlena’s face up to his, and kissed her gently, “Another baby, Doc? We’re certainly going to have a full house, aren’t we?” 

“Are you happy, John? This time we can do it together. Oh, and Brady and Belle will have a baby brother, or sister! And Carrie, Eric, and Sami…” Marlena climbed up on the examining table, and became quiet. As happy as she was, Sami and Eric were her missing pieces. She’d spent her life, her profession, helping other people navigate their relationships, but she was unsure of how to reach out to Sami.

“Doc,” John said kissing her again, “Sami will come around. She will, and I swear. I know her heart, and she’ll come around.”

“I want her with us. My daughter should be with me.”

John softly brushed her hair back from her face, “She will be, Doc. I’ll go see her tomorrow, I’ll try to talk to her.”

After a quick rap on the door, Dr. Bader poked her head in, and asked if they were ready. Marlena was almost certain that this baby was conceived in New Orleans, which would put her near two months gestation. “I’m more than ready,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

A few moments later she got the shock of her life. Before Dr. Bader could even speak, Marlena knew. She looked at the screen, then Dr. Bader, then John, and she said loudly, “Two? I’m having twins, again?”

John’s mouth fell open, the shock written all over his face. Dr. Bader laughed at John’s reaction, and she confirmed what Marlena said, “Yes, looks like you and John are about to get two new little ones. I’d say from the measurements that you’re about two months along Marlena. You two are going to have some Valentine babies!”

John still had not spoken, and even now seemed at a loss for words. Marlena touched his face, “John?”

And then he burst to life, a huge smile splitting his face, “Two babies? I guess I wasn’t kidding when I said we’d have a full house, huh?”

They left the exam room, hand in hand, both of them with large smiles on their faces, and came face to face with Kristen and Tony. Tony looked between them, and then at their clasped hands, saying slowly, “I take it congratulations are in order?”

Marlena looked at John carefully. This was the first that either of them had seen Kristen since their return to Salem a month ago. John nodded his head once, and Marlena replied softly, “We’re having twins.”

“Twins!” Tony exclaimed. “Congratulations. Kristen and I are having our own in January.”

John looked at Tony and then Kristen, and he said softly, “I’m happy for you,” and, he meant it.

Kristen thought her heart was breaking for everyone to see. There was nothing she could do. There was nothing she could say to change her fate. She’d made her choice. She’d pushed John away, and she had to accept the turn her life had taken. Reaching for Tony’s hand, she laced her fingers with his, and she said, “Thank you.”

Chapter 18

All of the rage, and anger that Sami had been hanging onto for the last year and a half evaporated, when Eric parked the car in front of a purple house with grey trim. Sami started crying all over again, and Eric knew, in that moment, that life might be hard, but they were going to be okay. They were all going to be okay. 

Standing outside the car, they both looked up at the large home. Eric reached for his sisters hand, “Are you ready to do this?”

“I am,” Sami said quietly. “I’m so tired of being angry. I just want to be happy again. I want us all to be happy again.”

“You know that’s going to take time, but what did I tell you?”

Sami smiled at her brother, “Therapy works.”

“That’s right,” he said. “Trust the process.”

They walked towards the steps, and climbed towards the house. John answered the door to find Sami, red-faced, with tear filled eyes, and a young man he hadn’t seen in years. Eric looked at him with a sheepish grin, and said, “Hi, Dad. We’re home.” 

“John, honey, who’s at the—” Marlena asked, as she came around the corner.

As soon as Sami’s eyes landed on her mother, she was lost to another round of tears, as she cried, “—it’s purple!” Sami sobbed uncontrollably, throwing herself into her mothers arms. Marlena started crying too, because that’s really all Sami needed to say. She knew why Marlena had painted the house purple. She remembered. That’s all that mattered. Marlena cried with joy at having her daughter in her arms again, and then she cried harder when she heard Eric say, “Hi, Mom. I missed you,” and he wrapped his arms around them both. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roman left town almost as soon as Marlena’s pregnancy was announced, choosing to leave, and go on an ISA mission rather than stay. Even as he left town, he still refused to sign the divorce papers, and Mickey had to push the divorce was through the courts in his absence. Roman’s bruised pride caused Sami, Eric, and Carrie to lose their father all over again, and John had naturally fallen back into the role. As a family they came together, with John and Marlena being the glue that held them all together.

Sami and Eric had chosen to move into the purple Queen Anne with their mother and John, rather than stay living with their grandparents. Eric took the room in the turret, secretly pleased that he’d gotten the room he’d dreamed of as a small boy. Sami took a room on the second floor, in the rear of the house. It overlooked the yard, and she would sit in her window for hours, staring off into the trees. 

Marlena was happy that Sami was willing to go back into therapy, and they sometimes attended with her as a family. It was hard. It was painful. There were tears, and shouting, but there was also hugs, and promises. Promises to always be there for each other, no matter what. Marlena wanted her daughter to know that even though Sami had made mistakes, and gone about things in the wrong way, she loved her completely. John loved her too. And while Sami faltered at times, her family would always be there to love her, and support her. Always.

Marlena and John loved the chaos of a full house, although, with two teenagers, and two children under the age of five, they didn’t get a lot of alone time. They were both happier than they had ever been. Marlena found herself waking some mornings and remembering where she was, who she was with, and that her children were in rooms around her, and she would cry from joy. John found himself reflecting daily on the turn their life had taken after Maison Blanche. The horror that they had experienced, and the blessings that had come after it, seemed at odds with each other. While Maison Blanche had served them with nightmares and trauma…what they had as a family, helped them all heal.

Marlena was still half asleep when she heard John’s husky voice in her ear, “Doc, you are so fucking sexy.” She felt his rough palm run up over her hip, and around her very swollen belly. His fingers dipped into her pussy finding her wet already, and brought them up to his mouth to taste her. “I swear I can’t get enough of you…” he told her, rolling his hips into her.

“John, I’m huge…” she mumbled, but then immediately followed with, “—oh, yes, right there…” as his fingers found their way back to her pussy, and began circling her clit. She felt his cock pressing against her buttocks, and she moaned again. It felt delicious, and her whole body was responding to him.

“When I look at you, your belly rounded with our babies…you’re the sexiest thing around.” John rolled her onto her back, and began sucking on her swollen breasts. Marlena knew she was beginning to leak breast milk, but that seemed to turn John on more. His mouth sucked at her voraciously. “You taste so good…” he rasped out as his hips jutted forward, pushing his turgid cock into her hip. His hand pinched her nipple, and pulled at her breast roughly. “You look amazing…and I love you so fucking much, baby.”

“Oh, G-d, John…” Marlena moaned, as he rolled her to face away from him, and pulled her back, holding her solidly against his frame. The coarse hair of his chest, rubbed against the soft skin of her back, and she shivered in anticipation. Marlena remembered back to New Orleans when John had made love to her this way, how deep he went, and how frantic they were to get closer. Nothing had changed. Even almost nine months later, they still made love as if it was their first time, as if it would be their last time.

John slid his cock into her wet heat, and groaned at the sensation. “This is going to be hard, and fast, Doc…I can’t hold back…”

“I’m almost there already—oh!” John began pistoning his hips at frenetic pace, pushing deeper into her body which each thrust. One of his palms held her hip tightly, while his other arm anchored his body with her shoulders. John sucked at her neck, and Marlena felt her orgasm building almost instantly as his cock brushed her g-spot, and pushed into her cervix. A jolt of pain, followed by pleasure so intense she thought she might pass out.

She shook, and trembled violently, and as her orgasm began. Her pussy started grasping, and pulling at John, and he couldn’t hold back anymore. John started coming, “G-d, Doc, I love you!”

Moments later, Marlena lay in his arms, both of them sweaty, and breathing hard. John’s cock was still buried deep within her body when they both felt it…a pop, and rush of liquid. Marlena cried out, “Oh! Uh, John…I think we…”

John jumps out of their bed, grabbing some clothes haphazardly, and threw them on. “I’ll get the bag, and let the kids know we’re going to the hospital,” he said, rushing from the room. Marlena heard him run down the hall, throw open Sami’s door, and tell her they were leaving for the hospital.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Marlena was in her hospital room recovering after a c-section holding her babies to her chest with an exhausted smile on her face. “Seven children…John…we literally have seven children,” she mumbled, as she smiled.

“I know. Isn’t it great? The best part is that Sami, Eric, and Carrie are old enough to babysit!” John said laughing. He reached over, and brushed his hand over his daughters dark curls. He found it amazing that all of their children had blonde hair…except this little one. He kissed his sons blonde head, and then kissed Marlena. “Doc, I’m so happy.”

“Are you still okay with the names we chose…now that we’ve met these two, and before we introduce them to the family?”

“Absolutely,” he said, staring at her in adoration.

“Okay, well then,” she said with a smile, “…let them all in. It’s time to introduce them to the newest family members.”

The room was filled with the happiness of family and friends, as they filed into the room. John and Marlena had decided months earlier that they wanted everyone to learn the names, and genders, of the twins together. 

“Oh my G-d, mom, they’re beautiful,” Sami gushed, as she touched one of their little hands.

John looked around the room, and it was obvious to everyone there that he was the proudest father that ever was. Brady decided to yell in that moment, “My babies!” and was immediately followed with Belle saying, “Babies!” John’s grin got even bigger. He was in love with Marlena, and he was in love with his family. His heart swelled with pride.

Marlena looked at John, and said softly to the people they loved most, “We wanted you all here to introduce you to the newest members of this very large, extended family. We’d like you to meet Alais Caroline and Abraham Thomas Black.”

Epilogue

The whole Brady clan had gathered at the hospital to await the arrival of the newest family member. Shawn D looked at Marlena, and asked her, “How long does it take to have a baby anyway, because I feel like my Mom has been in there for hours.”

“Some babies come quickly, and some don’t, but your Mom has done this before, and her body knows what to do,” Marlena said softly, rocking Alais against her chest. The girl was teething and incredibly uncomfortable. She looked over to see Sami checking on Thomas as he slept in his carrier.

“But my Mom had me seven years ago…so maybe her body forgot what to do?” Shawn D said. “Could that happen, ‘cause it’s been a long, long time.”

The door opened, and Bo came into the waiting area with a huge smile on his face, “It’s a girl!”

The whole family roared, and Caroline asked, “How is Hope?”

“She’s fine. She’s tired, but she’s fine. We want…we want everyone to come meet our daughter, and then Shawn D will have the honor of telling you her name,” Bo told them. 

Sami laughed, looking at her cousin, “How did you manage not to tell that secret?”

Shawn D leaned close to her, and whispered, “”Cause I keep forgettin’ it.”

John started laughing and scooped the boy up, “Let’s go meet your sister.”

Inside Hope’s hospital room, they all gazed upon the most beautiful baby girl. A girl with deep blue eyes, and dark brown curls. Marlena stepped close, still cradling Alais, and she said softly, “She’s beautiful, Hope. Absolutely beautiful.”

Shawn said loudly, “So? What be the name of this wee one?”

Shawn D looked at his Dad, and said, “I forgot again.” Bo leaned forward, whispering in his sons ear, and Shawn D smiled, saying, “Oh, yeah!” 

Eric laughed, “Well, tell us brat.”

“My new sisters name is Marly Victoria Brady, ‘cause of Aunt Marlena and my Grandpa Victor.”

Marlena felt the tears start, as she whispered, “Marly?” It was as if her life had come full circle. She remembered her childhood with Samantha, and how her sister called her Marly, and she looked at the baby in Hope’s arms, whispering, “Marly…oh, you beautiful baby girl!”