The kiss was at once tender and sweet, almost reverent, then demanding
and deep. Gentle in its beginnings and frantic at its end. Until
their breath and their taste and their scents and their souls seemed
to meld into one entity. One fevered passionate entity that took
her over…took him over. As it had once before.
Amazingly, they were able to part, her hands on his strong chest,
his framing her face. His eyes heavy lidded with the effect of her
nearness, hers wide with the emotion that filled her heart. Both
of them amazed that such a powerful reaction still surged between
them whenever they touched.
Wordlessly, he led her down the rose petal path to the car and helped
her inside. And there—as if by silent mutual agreement-- the
kiss that they had begun on the beach continued in the protective
darkness of the limousine. There in that private space, safe from
the public they were supposed to be fooling, the truth leapt between
them. This kiss was not about a pretense to avoid jail sentences
or a plan to save Alexis from the witness stand. It was about the
truth that lived within them: the wanting had never died.
It took a determined effort to separate a second time…to walk
hand in hand with a semblance of calm through the lobby, to the
elevator, and up to their suite. She imagined they made quite a
picture strolling together barefoot, their shoes dangling from their
free hands. The mob boss and his former lawyer, now simply a man
and his wife.
The silence between them was palpable, heavy. They understood almost
intuitively that words would only intrude on this moment and break
the spell. Words would bring back doubts, pain, misunderstandings
and loss, the tragedy and blame, the promises made and vows broken.
The thousand and one reasons why they shouldn’t indulge their
passion. Words brought walls. And so tonight there were none.
Behind the closed door of their suite, he simply took her in his
arms, his hands gripping her tiny waist almost desperately; he swayed
against her as if in a dance, relishing just the heat of her body
against his. His mouth took hers in a series of hot, deep kisses
that began at her lips and strayed to the graceful column of her
throat. He paid homage to the spot abpve her cleavage, which throbbed
madly with her heart’s pulse.
Her hands wound frantically in his curls dragging him upwards to
her mouth again where she drank deeply of him. Her tongue slipped
out to play sensually electric games with his. And she pressed herself
against him to unerringly find proof of his desire.
Alexis realized all at once that she was burning. That they were
both afire and that there was no way to douse the flame except to
dance into it.
His hands found the intricate straps of her gown and hers found
his jacket at the exact same moment. She managed to have him out
of the jacket and his shirt halfway unbuttoned before he’d
figured out even one of the gown’s formidable fastenings. He
half-groaned, half-laughed against her mouth, pulling away slightly
to ask her for help with his eyes. She smiled, reaching upwards
to assist and…
His cell phone rang. It rang and vibrated all over the coffee table
where he’d left it.
Sonny swore in two languages, sighing. “I—I’m sorry…I
thought I turned it off,” he muttered, his tone apologetic.
“Ignore it.”
Alexis’ head fell onto his shoulder, her lips brushing the
hot skin of his neck. “You know we can’t.”
“Lex, you remember what happened the last time we were away
together? The phone call that ruined everything?”
She looked up at him, her eyebrow raised quizzically. She had always
thought…hoped really…that they would make love that night
in Puerto Rico. But she hadn’t really imagined that he'd wanted
it, too.
“Let’s ignore the world for just tonight,” he implored.
“Let’s just be together again.”
The phone went to voicemail sending the room into a sudden silence.
Sonny stepped closer to her and leaned across to kiss her again.
And then the cell began ringing for a second time.
“Sonny, I—we--it could be about the case.”
He looked into her eyes. “I know.”
Reluctantly, he released her and turned to answer the cell phone.
“Hello? Justus, yeah what is it?”
As he listened, his face changed from a visage of annoyance to one
of anxiety in a matter of minutes. He shut his eyes and pinched
the bridge of his nose, turning his back to her. “Carly went
on television talking about this? What the hell does she think she’s
doing?”
His shoulders slumped as Justus spoke again, this time –Alexis
feared—with worse news. She waited impatiently for him to end
the call and turn to her. When he did, she pounced.
“What? What did he say?”
“It’s started, Lex,” he told her, his voice so quiet
she had to strain to hear. “Justus says they have a warrant
out for me. I have to go back tonight. He’s arranged for me
to turn myself in at the station house. Avoid the reporters that
way. Then he’s gonna work like hell to get me out on bond.
It may take several hours. Maybe more.”
Alexis’ heart sank. She knew how much it would cost him to
spend even a few hours in that hot, tiny cell. But if she’d
learned anything in her years as an attorney, it was that no one
at the PCPD was going to let Sonny walk tonight. They would draw
it out deliberately to make him suffer. And they would enjoy it.
Sonny knew that, too. He was just putting on a brave face for her.
He looked up and caught her eyes. “Can I—you know, we
never really talked about where we would live after the wedding.
Do you think I could stay at your place when I get out?”
Her heart softened in anguish for him. “Of course, Sonny. That’s
fine. Don’t even worry about that.”
She stepped towards him heedless of the fact that her heart was
in her eyes. She touched the line of his jaw with her fingertips,
stroked her forefinger across his mouth.
“Don’t worry about anything. I promised I’d be there
for you and I will be. All the way.”
He drew her into his arms again, his head falling against her shoulder
and a sigh issuing from his lips. “I don’t deserve that.
I’ve done so much to destroy us.”
“We both have,” she whispered. “But this…situation…has
made me look at things with new eyes.”
He pulled back so he could see her face as she spoke. “I always
thought…deep inside me…that someday we’d get past
our anger at each other,” she continued. “That someday
we’d stop the childish warfare we engage in. I thought I would
always have the time to regain the friend I used to have in you.
But this case came and the time almost ran out.”
She looked deeply into his eyes. “Sonny, what would we have
done if the time had run out and we hadn’t said the things
we needed to?”
He shook his head, his throat bobbing convulsively. “I don’t
know. But I’m glad we have a second chance.”
She nodded. “Me, too.”
But as they gathered their belongings to drive back to the airport,
each of them couldn’t help wonder if they had a prayer of overcoming
the mess that waited for them at home.
