“Doctor Evans” his voice startled her, and she quickly turned around to see his hand in mid-air, almost touching her. She yelped and closed her eyes with a start.

“Jeez! Ambassador Campbell, please...you have to stop sneaking up on me like that” she pressed her palm to her chest, taking a deep breath.

It was cold, almost freezing and the cool air filled her lungs, it was almost too cold to breathe straight.

 

“How did you know I was here?”, He was standing in the shadows; still, she saw him, but not clearly. His bodyguard stood two feet away from him, scanning their surroundings with the eyes of a hawk. “Ever since what happened to you, I couldn’t risk your life again, so I placed a bodyguard outside your building, just to make sure none of them gets to you..” his voice was choked, but his reason made her angry, “I’m sorry, what? Are you keeping an eye on me? Mr. Campbell, this is the second time you’re showing up unannounced, scaring the life out of me, and now you’re telling me that I have a person who’s tracking my every move?” Marlena had no intention of snapping at him as she did, but that was too much, she will not be followed.

 

“I’m so sorry, Marlena” he stepped closer, and she was finally able to see his face in the dim streetlight. It looked like he has been crying. All of her anger flew out of the window when she noticed that, quickly she asked, “Edward, what is wrong?”

 

He was quiet for a second, took a deep breath, “you must have seen the news” he started, and she remembered her advice she gave him. Marlena nodded, her mind went back two weeks ago, the press was covering his announcement. It was all over the news, Ambassador Campbell was a sex addict, hooker lover and the list went on and on. He revealed everything, every dirty detail, telling the world about the group who was blackmailing him for State secrets, now it was out in the open, now they couldn't threaten him any more.

Marlena was proud of him, she knew how difficult that must have been.

 

Her eyes studiously scanned his face.

A minute passed.

Then another.

And another.

She started to panic, he wasn’t talking. What was going on?

“Edward?” she tried, no sound came out of the man’s mouth, he just nodded his head as a response but kept still.

Nearly ten minutes passed before a car came up the street, creeping to a stop at the far end of the pier. It was a black BMW, expensive, and new. The passenger door opened by his driver and it made her heart race. She looked at Edward’s face.

"Com’ on, Get in," he said. Marlena hesitated, wondering what was going on, but she won't know, not until she’d hear what he has to say. Sighing, she followed him and climbed into the car, her eyes kept examining his face and the inside of the vehicle.

"What is going on, Edward?" she asked finally when the door was shut behind her.

"I’m sorry, I had to make sure we were alone," he said, telling the driver to pull away.

"Can't trust people these days."

"Tell me about it," she mutter, trying to quell the anger flowing through her when she remembered what happened between her and John earlier that evening. How he just got into her bedroom, her bed. That man might be her fiance, but that didn’t make her a fair game.

 

Edward finally looked at her. "They took her"

"her?" she repeated.

"Ariel. My daughter."

"Who took her? why?" she looked at him, studying his worried expression. "Them. Because I exposed them, because they want to torture me...I’ve lost everything..." Anger brewed inside of him, she could hear it in his voice.

He continued, “They were there Marlena..the Nettik...at my house” he started, the gates to the horrific memories from tonight opened up, and everything was just pouring out of him, “she wasn't even supposed to be here. She was supposed to be back at her dorms, but she has decided to switch majors and stayed home for a few more days after winter break”. His closed fist went to rub his eye, “I’m always asking her to call me when she gets home, you know, the parenting thing to do. Her mother is outta town, we separated...but Ariel had decided to stay with me.”

“Yes, I understand” she replied quietly. “Edward, where is Ariel?” Marlena tried to keep him focused, he started rambling with nerves.

“I got home a little after midnight. Since the truth came out, I hate coming back home at normal hours, the paparazzi are always there, lurking... I hate that” he paused and poured himself a shot of scotch. It reminded her of John, and she wanted to take that small glass and throw it out of the car’s window, but she took a deep breath, refusing his polite offer to pour her a shot too.

 

“I went up to her room, It was a mess and... she wasn’t there. I called her friend, and she told me that Ariel has left her house over two hours ago. I...I got so worried, it’s not like her to just disappear without leaving a note...she’s a good girl...she's-”

“Edward” Marlena’s voice stopped him, and he took a deep breath and looked at her, straight in the eyes, “my cell phone rang...I could hear a woman crying, hysterically...she was saying something, a few words...I couldn’t really understand anything...but I’ve heard...smacks...and...a sound that sounded like a cloth being ripped to pieces. But then..I’ve heard a yell. It was loud and clear, she yelled ‘dad’”.

The ambassador lowered his eyes to his hands. Marlena realized what was going on, and closed her eyes. Her own demon started jumping around in her mind, yelling and howling.

“Oh god…” she blurted, “did you ...did you go to the police?” she tried to speak, the man nodded “no...I started calling out her name... but then I heard a voice, it was low and distorted, he said that I was going to pay for my announcement...that's it-” Edward stopped and looked at her, she seemed to frighten, “he didn’t even ask for ransom. Nothing! What do they want with my daughter, Marlena??!”

 

*****

 

She walked into the penthouse after 8 pm. Marlena used to leave early each and every morning, she didn't even see him before she left the house, she just wanted to get away. After what happened between them that night and the scary conversation with the ambassador, she needed some peace and quiet. She was happy the ambassador has decided to turn to the police. She promised him that Roman would take care of his situation and she promised to be available to him 24/7.

 

Organizing her paperwork on the vanity at the front of the staircase, John walked up behind her, stopping right against her, his hand settling on her hip as he pulled her back toward him.

She gasped.

It was the most he'd touched her in a while, since the day she asked him to get out of her bedroom. His other hand swept her hair out of the way, and Marlena shivered when she felt his breath on her neck. He kissed the skin as his hand on her hip drifted forward, beneath the red dress, slipping inside her panties.

“What are you doing?"

“I’m touching you because I think you’re sexy.” He kissed her up higher toward her neck, breathing in her perfume, it made him so hard.  Marlena closed her eyes and held her breath. “Why are you touching me? We said….” she said in a rush.

“I’m not touching, I’m kissing. There’s a difference.”

“Not to me,” she sighed, her voice a little too airy to suit her; she’d much rather have sounded firm and resolved. “So…if I do this,” he said against the nape of her neck and cupped her right breast, rubbing it lightly through her dress. “It’s just the same as this?” He kissed her neck. She could barely move or breathe. He sucked up all the oxygen around her.  

“Stop,” Marlena said, and this time she made it sound convincing. John rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger with just enough pressure to make her feel it in her belly.

“Please stop…John,” she said through gently gritted teeth.

 

He tweaked her nipples playfully. Marlena winced and tried to shrink away from his touch.  “Sensitive?” he whispered softly in her ear. When she didn’t respond, he pinched them a little harder, and a yelp broke past her lips.

“Answer,” he said coolly.  

“Yes,” she whined.

Her anger with him had grown as the minutes had passed. She’d convinced herself that when he came to get her again, she would really give him a piece of her mind. Of course, it was easy to be brave when the object of your dreams wasn’t holding your sore nipples hostage.  “Good, princess,” he said.

 

John placed his warm palms against her stiff peaks and pressed softly to massage them as he also kneaded her breasts. She moaned loudly. Her head rolled to the side as he touched her exactly the way she needed to be touched. She never wanted the feeling to end. His thigh pressed against her ass as he worked his hands lower, from her breasts to her ribs, to her surprisingly cooperative hips. He rubbed softly, and Marlena couldn’t help but moan and get lost in the surety of his hands and in the clean, masculine smell emanating from his body, which inevitably leaned toward her.

 

She couldn’t help herself. She whimpered at his touch. Marlena nearly lost it at the first graze of his fingertips. So gentle, so natural, his caress so attentive. It was like none of the past year had happened, as though he remembered how to touch her, and he seemed to forget she ever asked him to stay away from her.

 

Closing her eyes, she tried to forget, too. To forget that he was still oblivious to his past and their relationship. She felt the onset of an orgasm, her knees going weak, her breathing labored as she gripped the edge of the small vanity.

He rubbed, and rubbed, and rubbed some more, fumbling with his belt behind her, unbuckling his pants.

 

John’s hands roamed her slick body, cupping her ass and digging his fingers into her firm and pliable flesh. Reluctant to move on, but eager to enjoy the rest of her, he slid his hand up to her left breast, his thumb and index finger finding her pebbled nipple and rolling it as his hips gyrated. His cock, hard against her ass and John curved his body, seeking the warm cleft between her cheeks. “Oh. God,” Marlena moaned. She joined in John’s rhythm, loosening her arms, so her ass met John’s slippery cock. “Fuck!” John shouted, squeezing Marlena until she whimpered.

 

The voice in her head was telling her to stop this, to stop him, but she couldn't.

She won't.

Maybe she needed this just as much as him. Maybe she needed it more. Maybe, the other half of her screamed, she just needed him. He shoved her dress up, pushing her panties aside.

 

Unwittingly, she undulated beneath John’s hands, her body telling him what she couldn’t possibly say out loud. Marlena needed him to make her cum.

She sighed audibly, and he knew she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.  She fought off the memory of what he’d told her she belonged to him. It reminded her of how Kit used to talk to her. Marlena recoiled at the memory and tears stung behind her eyes. She was thankful he stood behind her. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure she wanted him touching her anymore. Her heart sank heavily in her chest for reasons she didn’t want to acknowledge. Marlena had thought her confession should make some kind of a difference.  She was lost in her self-pitying thoughts when he pulled her back into reality by running his finger along the seam of her inflamed center. Marlena jerked in her bonds.

“Sensitive here, too?” he inquired darkly and began his practiced assault on her clit.

She groaned sadly in response and nodded. “Aww, poor princess. Would you like me to let you cum now?” Tears leaked from her eyes to the sound of that name and rolled off her cheeks. She nodded. His voice had taken on a sinister edge – he was enjoying this, and she was in a strange sort of misery. He shifted his position, as he stroked her at an easier angle.  “I want to hear you beg me,” he said and pulled her chin backward to press her back against his chest. She rotated her jaw, trying to get it to feel normal again and finding it difficult. “Beg me,” he commanded.

Marlena’s heart raced at his steady touch, the tingling heat of impending orgasm spreading through her body. If he stopped this, she would die. She was sure of it.  “I’m…I’m begging you,” she whispered. Her voice was alien to her ears as she failed to keep her emotions out of her voice.

The orgasm tore through her with a violence John didn’t think was expecting. She screamed at the top of her lungs, and her body arched as much as it could in his stronghold. Every part of her tingled, throbbed and burned with release. Her thighs quivered, and her heart beat savagely in her chest, ears, and clit.  It washed over her in waves. As soon as the orgasm rocked her, he bent her over just enough to push into her from behind. Marlena cried out as he filled her. It has been so long. Too long.

 

He was not brutal, he wasn't playing a game, but there was an urgency to his thrusts as he pounded into her from behind. An arm encircled her waist, the other hand finding a home at the base of her throat, the same way Kit used to hold her while he raped her. The hold said 'you're mine; you belong to me; you always will.' Her body will forever forget this touch.

It hurt.

It hurt.

Oh God, it fucking hurt.

Not physically.

The wound was deeper, an emotional scar she thought won't ever heal, no matter how much time she'd give it. He touched her body, but he tore at her soul, ripping pieces out of her that were now his and his alone. He didn't take long before she felt his muscles tense. The last few thrusts were deep, agonizing, as he groaned into her hair and let loose inside of her. When he finally stilled his movements, his body sagged against hers, heavy and satiated, his breathing labored. She was quivering, her body trembling from head to toe. Tears stung her eyes when he pulled out. Marlena hoped he thought it was from pleasure, and not because she was trying desperately not to cry in front of him.

 

"You okay, baby girl?" he asked, fixing his pants as she leaned against the vanity, shielding her face. She didn't look back at him as she nodded. She was okay, or she will be, she thought. He leaned over her, kissing her neck once more as he tugged her dress back down before he stepped back. The tears fell as soon as he left the living room. It took her a good twenty minutes to pull herself together. Marlena wiped her eyes and fixed her clothes, careful as she headed toward the balcony. He was sitting at the table, his head down on top of his newspaper.

 

Carefully, she set about adjusting her dress and slipping her breast back into it. She couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting, and with every movement, it became obvious she was pondering her next actions. Then, with her gorgeous tits no longer in view and her racy dress smoothed down to reflect a more demure appearance, she spoke. “I want to ask you a few questions, John, and I need for you to be completely honest with me. Can you do that?” She looked toward him with her sad hazel eyes. John couldn’t really deny her. She had him in a precarious position, and he was willing to do whatever it would take to be able to fuck her again in the future.

“Ask me anything you really want to know. But only if you think you can handle the answer.” he couldn’t stress that point enough. Marlena couldn’t ask him for honesty and then hate him for following the rules. Well, she could—but it’s a shitty thing to do to a guy.

 

“Okay,” she said firmly. “You eat, and I’ll ask my questions.”

In the pit of her stomach, her anxiety churned and threatened to ruin her evening. “Okay, now that you’re finally home at a decent hour and you’re finally all mine... Ask me anything you’re prepared to hear.” From the corner of his eye, he could see a worried expression at the corners of Marlena’s eyes.

“I’m all yours?” she asked. He looked in her direction. “Are you serious? That’s your first question? This might be easier than I thought. Yes, Marlena, you are mine.” he winked at her. Her stomach tumbled his choice of words.

“Have you talked to your therapist this week?” Her tone hinted at her unease. John suddenly knew where this conversation was going to go. However, he’d promised to answer her honestly, and as part of reinventing himself, he wanted to keep his promise. “I didn’t want to go,”

“When was the last time that you were there?” she accused. John rolled his eyes. “Over two weeks ago.”

Marlena was quiet for a while, but he couldn’t really gauge her thoughts.

 

“Okay,” she said firmly. “Why didn’t you tell me you stopped going?”

“I did.” he smiled again, she couldn’t be sure it was genuine." oh wait...I didn't...don't worry your pretty little head with my appointments, baby girl". He didn’t like answering questions, especially ones that sound like a trap. “If we are already being honest, I have a question of my own; how long have you and Sawyer been fucking each other?” The tone in his voice was less than friendly.

“John!,” she barked

“Marlena.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

She snapped her head toward him, and he could see she was more than a little angry. It irritated her more than she understood at the time, taking a deep breath, she realized there's no talking to him, not when he's being this impossible.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she spoke, “This isn’t going the way I hoped, John. You’re obviously thinking the worst of me for some reason. Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m going away for a few days.” she felt a pang in her chest as she spoke. She didn’t want to leave, at least not like that. But she couldn’t take much more cat and mouse. It was just not who she was, and she didn’t even know who he was anymore. “If that’s what you want, then I think you better.” he was definitely angry too.

“No. It’s not what I want. I wouldn’t have gone through all the damn trouble to get you back if that’s what I wanted. Please be rational.”

“You be rational, doll face. You show up out of the fucking blue after you keep ignoring me and just expect me to remember all of our life together? No! Not until I know what the hell you’ve been up to for the last year. Not until I know what you’re doing with that sleazy agent.” Okay, that made sense. She knew it did, he had no idea what she has been through, and she wasn't going to tell him either.

Her entire life had changed. She’d lost everything she knew, and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it.

“I don’t expect you to remember,” she spoke calmly. “But it would be nice if you’d made an effort.” he glanced in her direction.

 

Marlena glared at him “I don’t know what you expected, John. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I guess I just want to have my fiance back. I know I can’t erase our past, and you can’t promise me you’ll ever know who I am, I get that... I’m a mess John,  in ways most people can’t possibly understand, but I care about you. ”Marlena kept her eyes on the table and swallowed hard.

He sighed. “Prove that, tell me what's going on, why are you going away?” She was silent for a minute. When he spoke, there were tears in her eyes. “You're having an affair.” He might as well have slapped her. Maybe punched her in the stomach for good measure.

“What?” she shrieked.

“You and that Brad Sawyer. I came to visit you today at the hospital”

“You were? I-”

“I’ve seen the way he was looking at you...he wants you, he had-.”

“He had nothing! John, Sawyer and I are simply friends. I was not unfaithful to you.”

She whispered the last words, shocked that he even suggested that. She looked out the balcony and watched the street. She wasn't sure where she went mentally, but she kept looking at the same skyscraper.

“I heard something else” he spoke quietly and she turned her head to look at him again

“Oh”

“Yes. the nurses said something about you and a character called, Kit, who apparently fucked you too, or something... So, what is it going to be, princess? Do you have a plan to fuck every man in town, only not me?” her mouth opened up as shock and disgust took over, deciding to not go into details of her past at the moment she stopped him, “I don’t want to hear that monster's name in my house. You have no idea what I’ve been through, nothing. Please stop talking” her voice trembled. Marlena stood up and wiped the tears on her cheeks with one swing of a finger.

"I would stop talking when you stop opening your legs to every passing man", her hand came hard across his cheek, as she slapped his face so forcefully, his head spun.

Rubbing his hand on his red cheek, John stood up, quickly grabbing her forearms, his eyes shooting daggers.

"Let go of me" she hissed and glared at him, seeing how he was trying to fight that primal urge in him. Taking a deep breath, he opened up his fingers and she shifted to the back, putting distance between them.

Caressing the place his rough hands held her, she spoke; “And here I was, hoping that you’re working on yourself, working on getting your memories back but all you do is pout and accuse me of being with other men.”

“Don’t hope for that. In fact, don’t hope for anything.”

Marlena tuned into the house, “I’m going upstairs to pack a bag for my trip. I expect you to be gone by the time I'm back from DC”.