Wrapping the towel around her body, Marlena steeped out to the bathroom. Her mind was full, and her heart was heavy. John caught her with a deep kiss and pulled her close, rubbing his hands against her bareback.

“Are you ok?” he asked

“I’m more than okay now...”

He looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened a couple of nights ago...I wasn’t thinking” he murmured, “I love you,” against her lips and she said it back. It was so foreign saying that, but she did feel it. Love.

Breathless, she leaned against the shower door. “Can you go pick up James from Caroline now? It would really be nice if-.”

“I’ll definitely pick up my son...” he drew her lip into his mouth and squeezed her ass. “After I do this.”

 

She tried to dash away, but he pinned her to the wall and kissed her until her body went limp. Pulling away as she gasped for air, he lifted her leg around his waist—sliding his cock inside of her inch by inch. Her arms went around his neck as she tilted her hips up, as he gripped her sides and pulled her into him. “When we get back home tonight...” he whispered and skimmed a hand down her stomach and to her clit, swirling his thumb around it. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t take it anymore...” She groaned and dragged her nails across his skin.

“Ahhh...”

“Now that I’m living here again, I’m going to be inside of you every day...”

“John...” he felt her body tensing and lifted her other leg around his waist—pressing her back further into the wall. “Every.Day...”

Her pussy clutched his cock tighter and throbbed against him, so he held her taut and watched as she reached her climax— as she completely let go. Biting her bottom lip, he held her close to him as another orgasm made its way through her body.

“Stop fighting it...”

“I’m....I’m not...”

“Blondie...I can see you're holding back still..”

He looked into her eyes as he came seconds after her, and the two of them remained entwined for several seconds.

“I hate you sometimes...” she whispered, motioning for him to let go of her legs.

“I love you, too.” he gently set her down. She grabbed the towel and secured it around herself once again.

“So Blondie, are you still seeing Dr. Snow?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t need her anymore. I’m fine.”

“Oh, ok, I’m going there tomorrow.” She looked as if she was going to say something else, but she simply moaned as he pressed his hand against her thighs.

 

“Not now, not again," she said, grabbing the white towel, drying herself off.

“Let me—”

“No.”

He gripped her wrist and turned her to meet his eyes, his harsh touch around her skin made her shiver, he noticed that..

“C’ mon, what’s wrong?.”

“What?”

“I’ve lost my memory, not my sight. It's that Kit again, right?”

“John...” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m fine...I’m hardly having nightmares of-of him...”

“Kit.” he touched her face, she flinched.

“You can’t even utter the name”

She sighed. “John...”

“I need you to keep seeing her, Marlena” he looked into her eyes. “I don’t want you doing anything to stop the progress you were making.”

Nodding slowly

 

Their eyes met in the mirror as he smoothed her hair, and for a split second, he turned away and walked. “You know, it’s rude to just leave someone after sex without saying anything, at least say good bye” she muttered. “What?” His hand was on the doorknob. “Nothing.”

“What did you say?” He cocked his head to the side. “I’m not a mind reader.”

“I said it’s rude to just leave after you fuck me. You could at least say something before you leave”

“I don’t do pillow talk, Blondie”

“It’s not pillow talk.” she scoffed. “It’s part of being a gentleman.”

“I never said I was a gentleman.” she sighed and turned around. She waited to hear the door close, but his hands were suddenly on her waist and he was spinning her around to face him. “What am I supposed to say after I fuck you, Marlena?”

“You could ask if it was good for me or not...”

“I don’t believe in asking pointless questions.” He looked at his watch. “How long do you have until you leave for work?”

“Another hour or so.”

“Hmmm.” He was quiet. “Okay.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll take you to work whenever you’re ready and have someone deliver your car to the hospital later.” He planted a kiss on her forehead before heading to the door.

 

She stepped back and sat on the bed keeping her gaze locked on the window.

It was summer.

 

******

 

“Marlena”

She flinched at the sound of Sawyer's raspy voice. Her stomach whirled with anxiety. It was a different kind of anxiety. Worry yes, but also because she knew they had to work together. He wandered over and stopped behind her, his large body warming her back. He smelled like he was fresh out of the shower, a mixture of male musk and clean body wash. Her eyes flicker up his reflection in the window. He was wearing jeans and a gray round-neck t-shirt.

 

“What do you want, Sawyer?” She fumed once he stepped into her office. They never had the chance to talk about whatever happened between them last time they've met. But she was not in the mood. She was angry, she was hurt, and she wasn’t holding anything back.

“What do you want?”

“To talk.”

He looked at her, instantly setting her nerves on fire. “And I know you’re angry with me-”

“About what?”  her voice was stern

“What?” he baffled

“About what did you want to talk to me?”

“You and me, about us being friends again...Colleagues”

“Can we drop this?” she sounded like she was on the verge of tears because she was. “I don't want to talk about it.”

“I can't just leave this alone. I won't!” she glanced up at him anger in her eyes. His eyes were like green balls of fire.

“That will never happen. Is that all?”

 

“Marlena—”

“What brings you to the hospital, huh? Did you need to come back and harass some other doctor?”

“It’s actually starting to feel that way.”

She started to close the door, but he held it still with his hand. “I need to talk to you, Marlena...” he looked directly into her eyes. “I really do, and I’m...I’m sorry for what happened that night.”

“You should be.” Her voice was a whisper. “And if you really need to talk to me, you’ll make an appointment.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re nothing but a person that I used to know. Because the second I was vulnerable, or fragile, you took advantage of the situation and I’d rather cut my losses now before John ever finds out.” She wiped an angry tear from her eyes. “I was your only friend—I trusted you...Please leave.”

“Marlena, listen...”

“Is there super glue on my floor?” She pushed him out the door. “Is that why you’re still standing there?”

“Please, just—”

“You lied to me when we first met...Lie about one thing; lie about it all, right?” She pushed him again.

“Can you please calm down and let me talk about this with you inside?”

“I thought you hated shrinks.” She wanted to slam the door in his face.

 

“Please Marlena, you got a minute?” he asked.

“I don’t.”

“I figured...” He sighed. “Whatever happened that night—”

“Did you not hear what I said?” she spun around to face him, taken aback by how tired he looked up close. He was going through something. “I’m sorry for everything I put you through,” he said with a genuine look in his eyes.

“But the morgue called and we have some news about- about Jade...”

“Jade?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “The girl who was killed—”

“I know who Jade was.” she clenched her jaw. “But it was more than ‘killed,’ Sawyer. It was murder. And when the newspapers start to put the pieces together, they’ll know that too; they’ll know that-”

“You’re right...”

“And you said-.” she stopped the word vomit. “What did you say...”

“She was murdered. An overdose, a drug of some sort—”

“But how do you know that? How do-”

“They found a note in her clenched fingers.” he cut her off. “It was all wet, but they could have told me one thing...”

“What is it?”

“She was sending a warning of some sort...Well, do you know if she had any relatives outside of Salem?”

“What does it matter now?”

“Did she?”

She glared at him, and he sighed, looking down at the ground.

“No Sawyer, she didn’t...”

“Thank you for your honesty.” she scoffed.

“The note said ‘Derek, Miami.’”

“What’s in Miami?” She looked hurt, confused.

“Drugs, whores...Slavery, gambling, you name it.” he smiled, but it quickly faded. “Do you remember the tattoo the dead girl at Washington DC had? Jade had the same one. Cooper wants us on the case, we’re leaving tonight. I’ll pick you up at 8 pm, be ready.” he didn’t give her a chance to respond and left the office, leaving the door open behind him.

 

Her heart was clenching at the thought of leaving the kids and John again, at imagining all the pain Jade must’ve felt on her last day, so she shut her eyes—trying to block another dark memory from passing by.

 

​

*****

 

Miami, 2 nights later.

 

The night-club was dimly lit with colorful lights flashing periodically to add to the ambiance. It smelled of alcohol and perfume and cigarettes and was a little too crowded for Marlena's liking. She strode up to the bar and ordered a shot.

Her hazel smokey eyes, roam the club. She wasn't sure if they’ll even be there tonight, but she had to try. Taking the first glass shot the bartender laid before her, she drank it with a sharp head movement, thanking the bartender with a sexy “thank you, sugar,” just to make her appearance there seem as casual as she could.

 

All she knew was that the two guys were there almost every other night, she knew she was looking for a tall blonde guy and a muscular dark haired one. The alcohol burned her throat, she wasn't used to drinking, especially not alone and not tequila, but tonight she was on a mission, and she will prevail.

She needed to catch some bad guys, her soul needed that, her mind, actually her whole body harnessed itself to the task in hand. She was a predator on a hunt, and the most effective recipe for accomplishing her mission, involved alcohol and the touch of a man on her body, right before she broke his arm in two – she didn't really care which arm.  Tonight, she was the one who was calling the shots.

 

In the corner of her eye, she spotted Sawyer. He sat at a far corner of the bar, drinking a beer, watching the flat screen above the alcohol bottles, a soccer game or some sort. She didn’t really care for soccer, John was always more into baseball, Marlena never liked it, but she got used to hearing him talking about it, how she would love hearing his voice now.

 

After three shots, she was feeling loose enough to start scattering the crowded place; an upbeat song started playing in the background. (River by Bishop Briggs ).

A tall, husky, blonde guy was eyeing her from the other end of the room, was he the one she was looking for? Where was his partner?

Meanwhile, a dark-hair dude made his way toward Marlena, picking up a shot he just ordered and crept up slowly toward her. She met his eyes with a look that clearly told him she was interested, and the man offered a smile, leaning his elbow against the bar right next to her.

"Hey baby, you-” his eyes roamed her body when paused to lick his lips,  “-you must be the sexiest creature I've ever seen in this club."

 

~~~~

 

John had to jump through some serious hoops to find out where Marlena and Sawyer were; Cooper was uncooperative at best. He did manage to get the information needed to track them down, and he was none too happy about this undercover job she was on.

He slipped into the bar unnoticed and sat in a dark corner, hoping to stay hidden, knowing they were on a mission, he decided to put on a dark hat. Luckily, his beard wasn't shaved, which gave him a rough look. He looked around the dimly lit room, it wasn’t a dive, but he could tell that the upper crust didn’t frequent the place. The long mahogany bar was well worn and had under lighting that put off an eerie blue glow. Tonight seemed pretty crowded, but he wasn't worried, he could find his lady everywhere. He had spotted her as soon as he walked in, she was dressed in a black silk slip dress. The front was cut low, her ample cleavage spilling forward, the thin straps crisscross at the back.

 

The dress dipped very low, exposing her entire back, the hem was quite high, probably hitting her mid-thigh. She was seated at the bar, drinking alone but he knew that she wouldn’t be for long, men flocked to her like moths to a flame.

 

As if on cue the dark haired guy approached her, placing a drink in front of her and winking at a bulky man seated at the other end of the bar. John averted his eyes so as the meathead approached Marlena. He couldn’t make out what was he saying to her, but he watched closely for any sign of trouble.

 

~~~~

 

After her shot his lame opening line, she could feel his hand going immediately to her back,

“Hey beautiful, you sure class up the place. I’m Derek; what’s your name, doll face?”

She tried not to roll her eyes at the transparent line. He was right tough; she was never aware of how beautiful she really was. She was the hottest woman there, and he clearly wanted one thing. Her smile beamed back. "Marlena. Thanks for the shot" taking the tall glass in her hand, she slammed the shot and smiled sweetly at Derek.

 

The bartender approached with another drink and placed it in front of her, pointing at another guy who had started walking toward them.

“Derek, who is this sweet chica?”

“Marlena, this ugly dude is Bruce,” he smirked and punched the guy’s biceps, a low chuckle escaped the new guy’s throat,

“Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hi Bruce,” she said, holding out her hand to shake his. Bruce took her hand and gently kissed it, sending her a naughty smile as he sat on the stool next to her. Ordering three more drinks.

 

“So,” Derek started, “what a sexy girl like yourself, is doing here all alone tonight?”

“I’m celebrating.” she smiled seductively.

“What are we celebrating, baby?” Bruce asked, putting his index finger under her chin, turning her head so she could look at him. His touch was repulsive, but she wouldn’t let him see that it affected her.

“I’m celebrating my independence, I just got out of a long relationship... too long.” for some reason, lying came easy to her, or it wasn't really lying, the psychiatrist in her read them like an open book, knowing exactly what they wanted to hear.

Derek leaned in closer; she could feel his breath on her cheek, he smiled “Any man who would let a fine ass babe like you walk away, is an idiot.”

“Well thank you. I thought so too.” she teased

“I like this one” the dark hair man giggled to his friend, “yeah” his eyes were on her now, staring shamelessly into her cleavage “I like her… a lot”

Derek licked his lips, his hand never leaving her skin. She could feel him trailing his fingers to her lower back. The dress ended right above her behind, and whenever he moved his hand, she didn’t know if he was going to keep going further down, or not.

 

They were at a nightclub; it was crowded; there was no way he would do that in front of all these people.

 

Would he?
 

~~~~
 

One of the men placed his hand on her lower back and brushed his thumb across her delicate flesh; John thought he would lose his mind. “Chill man,” he chided himself, “you can’t show your hand too soon.”

 

She turned toward the other man and slapped her hand against his chest, her eyes lit up, and she let out an enchanting laugh. The other guy motioned to the bartender for another round. He noticed as the man pulled something from his jeans pocket and moved his hand over Marlena’s drink before pushing it toward her.

Fuck.