Midnight Sun-31
"Speak quickly and very quietly, and tell me what’s going on at the palace," Giselle said quietly to Charlotte Sutton who was visiting her at the sanitarium.
"Oh, you should see it! Everyone’s frantic!" Charlotte whispered with a laugh. "Brenda’s marriage to that drop dead gorgeous Australian billionaire has thrown your father’s plans right down the toilet. Queen Elizabeth is so embarassed by the whole thing that she's threatening to cut all ties with Monaco. And the Earl is furious, but supposedly he’s willing to give your father every opportunity to extract Brenda from this marriage. Apparently the Earl wants her . . *bad.*"
"Now there's a shocker," Giselle said dryly. "Is my daddy dearest flying to New York to brow beat her into coming back with him?"
"No, not yet. He sent Minister Of State Deschannel to do that. Oh, and your ex-lover Marco went along as well. And get *this*. The secret word is that your father promised Marco that *he* could marry Brenda if Marco would betray you and get you locked up in here. And that idiot actually believes the Prince meant to keep his word. But everyone knows that, for political reasons, the only man the Prince will accept Brenda being married to is the Earl of Edinborough."
Giselle laughed. "Marco was always rather stupid. Great in bed, but just a stupid boy fixated on one thing - - Brenda. He would do anything if he thought it meant having her."
"That girl is a meance to the species of men," Charlotte muttered bitterly, having her own personal reasons for wishing Brenda ill will. "But Marco's not ever going to have her. Your father is just using him to get Brenda back to Monaco. By the way, they plan to use me as well. They want to fly me out to New York to try and rekindle my childhood *friendship* with Brenda and encourage her to leave her husband and come back home."
Giselle snorted. "Who is the imbecile who thinks that you and Brenda were ever friends?"
Charlotte shrugged.
"Well, when you go there you make sure to do just the opposite of what they expect you to. You make sure to coo to Brenda about how lucky she is to have Jasper Jacks. I do not want you doing *anything* to rock that marriage."
Charlotte looked shocked and disappointed. "You don’t? But I thought . . ."
"Don’t *think*, Charlotte. Just don't. I have plans for Brenda. Plans that will be worse than anything she could have ever imagined - even worse than death. They are very serious, these plans of mine, and will take a fairly long time to play out. Years. But I am patient and I have nothing but time on my hands now. I must execute this perfectly, and I *must* ensure that she and her husband stay together for it to work."
Charlotte was baffled. "Why?"
Giselle smiled. "You really don’t want to know," she said in a eerie whisper, as she gazed over at a particular group of her fellow sanitarium inmates who were discussing something in hushed tones, but with animated fanaticism, in a corner.
Soon Giselle would befriend them as her plan progressed. Soon . . . .
+ + +
"Jax, what’s taking you so long?" Brenda asked as she hopped up and down in front of the igloo that Jax was inside of. Her hopping was a means of warding off the bitter cold February winds of the Yukon.
"Arranging fake skeletal remains takes a little bit of time, Brenda," Jax mentioned.
She laughed a little and then after a few minutes had passed, crouched down in front of the igloo opening.
"Jax, hurry up, they’re coming," she whispered to him.
"Okay," Jax said as he finished arranging the skeleton in a parka inside of the igloo they were in. "It sure took them long enough to get here," Jax murmured.
"I think she was surprised by how much and how deep the snow is out here, so she keeps stopping to complain, and Adrian has to wait until her rant of the moment is over before they continue on."
Jax looked at Brenda and grinned. "She’s ranting, is she? That’s a good sign, actaully. I’m telling you that woman is reaching her limit of tolerance for this family."
Brenda smiled and nodded. "Are you done?"
"Done."
"Let me see, let me see," Brenda said as she crawled into the igloo where he was.
"What do you think -- convincing?" Jax asked her as he watched her pretty brown eyes scan over his macabre handiwork.
"I’ll say," she said, with an impressed little raise of her eyebrows. "Hey, I like the frozen limbs and the ripped coat touch," she said.
Jax smiled. "Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool myself. Come on, let’s get out of here."
Brenda paused for a moment looking at him with the cutest look in her eyes.
"What?" Jax asked her.
"Do you remember the last time we were in an igloo together?" she asked him
He looked at her and nodded. "The time we were in the subarctic forest. You wanted to see if that igloo was real or if it was an ice sculpture."
"And you surprised me by having this amazing breakfast set up inside. And you told me all about Eskimos - or the Inuit as they’re correctly known as. And you told me how they manage to stay warm in these igloos. Remember that conversation?" she asked with a pretty laugh.
"Yeah, I do. I never saw you blush so much."
She laughed again. "But I’ll bet you didn’t know how turned on I actually was by that conversation," she said.
"Oh, I knew," he assured her with a slow smile.
Brenda looked at him skeptically. "You did not! You did? How?"
"Well, when I was telling you about it you had this look on your face."
"What look?"
"Well, you couldn’t take your eyes off of me for one thing. . ."
She laughed. "That’s only because I was so fascinated by your ahhh . . ceaseless knowledge," she insisted.
"My ceaseless knowledge, huh? No, I don’t think so, sweetheart. What I saw was plain, old fashioned lust coursing through those beautiful brown eyes of yours."
She laughed. "Yes, that too."
"It was like we were engaging in foreplay, to be honest," Jax said recalling the seductive conversation. "Verbal foreplay, but still . . . .I could tell you liked it as much as I did. And then you made that comment about how hot it was in the igloo, and it wasn’t hot at all," he reminded her with a wicked little grin. "So then I knew for *sure* that I had you going."
"Well, I knew I had you going, too. You should have seen the way *you* were looking at *me* when you were telling me. You were practically undressing me with your eyes," she told him.
"I can only imagine," he murmured, looking at her that way right now.
"Oh, yes, that’s the one," she whispered with a smile, touching his chin. "And you were looking at me as if you wanted to kiss me."
"I did want to kiss you. I always wanted to kiss you," he said softly, brushing his lips against hers thrillingly. "Come on, let’s get out of here before they get here."
They emerged from the igloo and saw Adrian and Ursula still a bit of a ways off as they tried to catch up to Jax and Brenda.
"How long do you really think it will take us to get rid of her?" Brenda asked, folding her arms.
Jax shrugged. "Honestly, I thought she’d be gone by now. She looked positively traumatized over breakfast this morning. And yet she’s still here."
"Well, Adrian is like the brass ring to her, Jax. She knows she’ll *never* get anyone even close to him. She’s going to hold on until her fingers fall off."
Jax nodded. "At this rate it may take us all week to get rid of her," he muttered.
"Oh, I don’t know about that. This frozen corpse is a pretty good idea. You know what might make it even more effective though? If we act like it was somebody we knew. We could say we recognize the coat or something."
Jax grinned. "I like that." Then he held her closer to him seeing that she was hopping around because of the cold. "I just want to get this done so that you and I can make tracks for Bora Bora and locate that cousin of yours," Jax added. "I kind of get the feeling that the longer we wait the harder it will be to find him."
"What if we can’t?" Brenda asked. "Find him, I mean?"
"Then your Father is out of luck," Jax said solemnly. "As far as I’m concerned, we’re doing him a favor, Brenda. His nephew is his only hope of continuing his lineage as far as running that country of his goes and kissing up to the British royals because I am taking *you* out as an option. And I'm going to make sure he knows that."
Brenda nodded. "And what about Eliot? Do you think we can convince him to come back with us?"
"Absolutely," Jax said with a nod. "I have the perfect bait to use. Both sides of his family seem to treat him as the outcast, and I’m going to give him the opportunity to stick it to all of them in a big way. It will be way too enticing an offer for him to turn down, I would think."
Adrian and Ursula were almost there now. Jax and Brenda moved further away from the igloo and waited.
"No offense, but you guys are kind of slow," Jax said to his cousin.
"Don’t worry," Adrian said. "She’s just not accustomed to our weekly treks. She’ll be better next time."
*Weekly* treks? *Next* time? Ursula looked as if she would scream bloody murder.
"You must be joking!" she hollered "This must be the coldest, most desolate place on earth and you people can’t *really* expect me to believe that you make these ridiculous jaunts through this barren wasteland of snow and bitter cold once a week?!"
"Twice a week, actually," Brenda said, and when Ursula was not looking, Jax winked at her.
Ursula’s eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in disgust. "Twice a week?! Well, I’m sure that Adrian and I will not have to endure such masochistic madness, as we will most certainly *not* be living out here with the rest of you!"
"Oh, yes we will," Adrian was quick to correct her.
"Oh, no we will not!" Ursula raged. "I will *not* live in this awful no-man's land of a state called Alaska! We are going to live in England! I absolutely insist on it!"
"Well you can insist on it all you want, it won't change anything," Adrian said. "My Uncle John offered me a position at J&J Jacks out here. So this," he said, spinning around and pointing to the vast emptiness, "is where I'll be living. And if you're married to me, this is where you'll be living too."
"I’m sure you’ll get used to it, Ursula," Brenda said. "The moose are really perfectly harmless, and the wolves never usually come near the houses."
"Wolves?!" she shrieked.
"Hey, maybe if we go a little further north, we can see some," Jax offered. "We're pretty close to their habitat."
"I don’t want to see any damned wolves!" she screamed. "What is *wrong* with you people?! You actually think this is fun? I am freezing! I am exhausted! And I have to go to the bathroom! I HATE this and I think you are all demented if you actually *enjoy* this!" She spotted the igloo. "I refuse to take another step into this snow wilderness. Do you hear me? I refuse!"
Jax, Adrian, and Brenda all watched the irate woman as she stormed off and went inside of the igloo, presumably to get away from the icy winds and to rest.
"Here we go," Jax murmured.
Her screams pierced the quiet Alaska afternoon as she came stumbling and shrieking out of the igloo.
"What’s wrong?" Adrian and Jax asked simultaneously, pretending to be alarmed and concerned.
"There’s a . . someone is . . oh my god!!!" she yelled, visibly upset.
Jax went inside the igloo and then came back out with an "oh well" expression on his face. "Well, I guess we know why Calvin Harris hasn’t been seen around town," Jax sighed.
"Frozen to death?" Adrian asked casually.
Jax nodded. "His parka was torn to shreds too. Probably a wolf attack. Six or seven of them I’d guess."
"White wolves you think?" Brenda asked, just as casually.
"Probably gray. It looked like a more ferocious attack. Anyway, he’s just ice cubes and bones now -- what's left of him," Jax shrugged.
Adrian nodded. "Okay. Well, we’d better go. We’ve got a polar bear to catch! He must be halfway to the caves by now."
"No, I think he’s just over the ridge. We can still catch him," Brenda said as they all began to head in that direction while a stunned and horrified Ursula stood right where she was.
"What are you DOING?!?!" she screamed. "We just found a frozen corpse inside of this igloo, and you people talk about it as if it’s nothing, and then you just want to go on your merry way and hunt down some stupid polar bear? YOU ARE ALL INSANE!" she shouted in fury.
Jax looked at Adrian. "You didn’t tell us she was so high strung."
Adrian shrugged. "I’m sure she’ll get used to all the frozen bodies that get found out here, and then she won’t overreact so much." He turned to Ursula. "Once you've seen one frozen corpse, you've seen them all," he shrugged.
"We can bury him if it’ll make you feel better," Brenda suggested to Ursula.
"B..b...b...bury him?!!!!" she squaked incredulously. "I am not touching that filthy . . ." Then suddenly she let out a primal scream that Jax was worried might actually start an avalanche, and the fury in her eyes reached it’s peak. She walked over to Adrian, her eyes shooting fire. "I would not marry you, Adrian Lassiter, and inherit your twisted, no-class relatives, if you were the last man on the PLANET! Now, you take me to the airport right this minute! I’m getting out of here, and I never, EVER, want to see any of you again in my lifetime!" she said, her voice shaking with rage.
"I guess the honeymoon is over," Adrian said with a shrug. "Sorry you guys, I have to ship Ursula back off to jolly, old England. I’ll catch up with you after I drop her off at the airport, okay?" he added trying not to give into his urge to dance around in the snow with glee.
"Oh, we’ll have that bear sliced and iced by then," Jax said, giving Ursula a condescending smile.
"Why don’t you just eat it alive!" she spat. "It seems like something you sick people would do! Savages of the arctic!" And then she stormed off shouting at Adrian to hurry up and telling him how much he and his family disgusted her as she quickly made haste to get out of there.
"Mission accomplished," Jax said, grinning at his cousin while Brenda laughed.
"Jax, I am *so* grateful to you for this. You too, Brenda. I mean, you guys saved my life by helping me get rid of her. Your hanky panky exploits last night had her on the edge already, but this skeleton in the igloo just tipped her over! I can never thank you guys enough for saving me from having to marry her. If there is anything, and I mean *anything,* I can ever do for you, all you have to do is ask, and I’ll do it," Adrian said with sincere gratitude.
"We’ll keep that in mind," Jax said, and then he gave his cousin a playful shove in the direction of Ursula. "Now I think you’d better get her to the airport ASAP, before she changes her mind and decides she wants to marry you after all."
Adrian looked sick at the prospect and began to follow after Ursula. He turned around once. "Will you be at the house when I get back?"
"Just for a little while," Jax said. "We really have to get going."
"Don’t leave before I get back, or I’ll break your bloody legs, Jax," Adrian said as he raced after the still stomping and muttering Ursula.
+ + +
"Oh, it’s been so delightful having you both here, and Jerry is due back tomorrow. Can’t you stay just one more day? He’ll be so annoyed to have missed you," Jane requested of her son and daughter in law, who were preparing to leave.
"If Jerry actually comes back tomorrow I’ll be amazed, " Jax said, knowing the jet- setting habits of his older brother. "And besides, Brenda and I really have to get going. We’re kind of racing the clock in finding her cousin. He’s got a penchant for just picking up and taking off, so I want us to get to him while we know exactly where he is."
Just then Jax’s cellular phone rang.
He flipped it open. "This is Jax."
"Hiya, Mr. Jacks. Lois here."
Ahh. Lois. The one who had let the cat out of the bag to Brenda about the casino. The one his stubborn little Brenda had demanded he dare not terminate.
"Hello, *Lois*," Jax said, putting the emphasis on her name which got Brenda’s attention immediately, as she looked at Jax to monitor his attitude towards Lois now that he knew it was she who had told her about the casino.
"I’m so sorry to be calling ya and interrupting your time with your family and all, Mr. Jacks, but I thought this was somethin' you *really* needed to know immediately."
"What is it?"
"Eliot Quartermaine isn’t in Bora Bora anymore. He hopped a flight to Montego Bay this morning."
"He’s in Jamaica?"
"Yep."
"How do you know this?"
"Well, I was uh. . . . sorta havin’ him followed for ya."
Jax smiled a little bit. "I never asked you to do that."
"I know. I hope ya can forgive my presumptions there, but this guy just seemed like the type you had to keep an eye on or he could slip through your fingers, ya know? I'm from Brooklyn, Mr. Jacks, I know how some of these player types operate, goin' from one tropical paradise to another, partying the days away. So, I just figured that it was in yours and Brenda’s best interests that I put one of our guys on his tail for ya. I hope you’re not mad at me about that."
Jax paused for a moment. "You seem to look out for Brenda’s and my interests quite a bit."
Brenda looked at Jax sharply, wishing she could hear Lois’ end of the conversation.
"Well, I hope you don’t mind that. Your wife has become a really good friend of mine, Mr. Jacks. I kinda feel like we’re sisters. And as for you . . .well I’ve always pretty much thought the world of you, more or less. Strictly platonically, of course."
Oh damn it. How in the hell could he ever be upset with her now? These women were just too damn clever sometimes.
"Thanks for the information, Lois." He paused and then added, "Umm…by the way, I don’t tell you this enough, but you are really quite invaluable to me. Presumptuousness and all. So, don’t change a thing. Bye."
Brenda’s eyes lit up in delight at what Jax had just said. She watched him hang up the phone, her face lit with a beautiful smile.
"Jax, that was so sweet!" she said.
Jax shrugged. "She really came through for me. She had one of the detectives on my payroll tracking Eliot, and apparently he’s not in Bora Bora anymore. He’s in Montego Bay, Jamaica now."
"So, that’s where you’re headed?" John said. "Well, there’s a five star hotel my friend, Harold Banning, owns. It’s called the Plantation Inn - gorgeous place. I can give him a call . . ."
"I really have to avoid the hotel scene, dad. I don’t want anyone to know that Brenda and I are there," Jax reminded him, just as the front door swung open, letting in a balst of cold air, and Adrian came back.
"Oh, you’re still here. Lucky for your legs," Adrian joked.
"Did you bid good riddance to the beanpole?" Jax asked him.
"You bet I did. I made sure she hauled her skinny carcass and bad attitude onto that plane, and I didn’t take my eyes off of it until it had ascended. The last thing she told me was that she wouldn’t marry me even if someone threatened to cut her arm off. So, I guess we made a lasting impression on her," Adrian snickered.
"Lucky for us," Jax said, then he suddenly remembered something. "Hey Adrian, didn’t you win a villa in Jamaica two years ago from some Belgian millionaire?"
Adrian nodded.
"Do you still have it?" Jax asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I need the keys," Jax said, knowing that Adrian traveled with the keys to all of the homes he’d won over the years.
Adrian reached into his pocket and handed Jax a set of keys without question. "Anything else?" he asked, and Brenda was so impressed by his lack of questions and his immediately just helping Jax. It was a trait everyone in the Jacks family seemed to possess. Family came before all else.
"Yeah, don’t tell anyone that Brenda and I are there," he said. "Do you have maids there or anything?"
"No, it’s empty. The alarm system code is 5773."
Jax nodded. "Did you and the beanpole fly down commercially?"
Adrian shook his head. "No, actually I took that black Lear Jet I won from that Italian movie producer six months ago. Need it?" Adrian asked, taking out the keys to that, too.
"Yeah, thanks," Jax nodded. "I came down in my jet so you can use that to get wherever you going. In fact," he said with a smile as he handed his cousin the keys. "Take it all over the place. I’m sure that Brenda’s father is tracking my plane, so wherever you are, he’ll think we are."
"And obviously you don’t want him to know where you really are," Adrian deduced, slightly confused.
"Right. My parents will fill you in. We really have to get going," Jax said. "By the way, if I find one scratch on my plane I’ll break *your* bloody legs."
Hugs and kisses were exchanged as Jax and Brenda took their leave. Just before they left Vivian whispered to Brenda, "Be careful, Brenda. Your father is a man used to getting what he wants. If he wants you to be princess, he will stop at nothing to make that happen. He can be the immovable force."
"There is no force that Jax can’t move," Brenda said with confidence.
Vivian shook her head. "Your faith in him is astounding. How do you do it?"
Brenda paused, thinking. "You know, I don't have to *do* anything, really. It's just there. This unshakeable trust, this faith that never diminishes. Think of it this way, Vivian. If Jax asked me to jump off of a mountain and not to worry because he would catch me, I would jump," Brenda said.
Vivian smiled. "And, of course, some how, some way, he would do whatever it took to catch you, wouldn't he?" she said.
Brenda nodded. "Yes, he would."
Vivian gave her another hug. "I think I'm really starting to realize what an extraordinary love you’ve found with him. I envy you such passion, devotion and such adoration between the two of you at your young ages. That is so very rare. You have a truly beautiful life, Brenda. The life I’ve always wanted for you."
Brenda smiled. "I know. I'm so lucky. I thank God every night for Jax, and every morning too. I *do* know how lucky I am, Vivian," Brenda assured her.
"He's changed you," Vivian noted quietly. "Or perhaps it's his love that has changed you. Gone is the selfish, rather self-centered, tantrum-throwing little teenaged princess who was horrified at the prospect of working for a living and sleeping on cotton sheets. Do you know that I honestly believe that I could stand here right now and swear on your mother’s grave that you and Jax will be together and happy fifty years from now? I’m *that* sure of the two of you. And goodness knows I had my doubts about this reckless marraige of yours. I had my doubts about your maturity - whether or not you could handle the potent combination of love and desire, the complexities of a marraige. I had my doubts about Jax, whether or not he really loved you and wouldn't just turn around and break your heart. But I don't have a single doubt now. Not one. The two of you are so obviously perfect for each other - that much is as clear as day." Vivian touched Brenda's cheek lovingly. "Well, I won’t hold you up any longer, I know the two of you have to get going. Good luck finding Eliot. And even *better* luck in making that lazy boy over into material fit to rule a country."
They hugged, Brenda waved at her, and then went to join the waiting Jax.
+ + +
Brenda sat next to Jax in the cockpit of Adrian’s black Lear jet as he began his descent into Montego Bay.
"How long have you known how to fly?" she asked him, as he adjusted his headset to better hear the air traffic controllers who were giving him permission to land.
"Since I was seventeen," he told her.
"I think you should teach me how to fly, Jax," she decided.
"I will if you really want me to. I think you’d love it."
She smiled. "So do I. Of course, I wouldn’t love it as much as I love *you.*"
He grinned. "You could never love anything as much as you love me," he teased her as he landed the plane and began to taxi to a hangar.
She gazed at him about to make a smart remark, but instead she said. "That’s absolutely true."
The plane came to a stop, and he pulled the headset off. "Is it?"
She unbuckled her seat belt. "Oh yes," she said kissing him. "Do you know what Vivian told me? She said that fifty years from now you and I will still be together, and we’ll be as happy as we are right now."
"She’s right," Jax said, tugging on a loose tendril of her beautiful dark hair and giving her a smile that melted her heart.
"I know," Brenda smiled, kissing him again, and getting immense pleasure out of Jax’s response to her kiss. And then she put her lips to his ear and sang softly while sifting her fingers provocatively through his golden blonde hair, "You’re still the one I’ll run to, the one that I’ll belong to, you’re still the one I’ll want, for life. You’re still the one that I’ll love, the only one I’ll dream of, you’re still the one I’ll kiss goodnight."
They both shared soft laughter and then a passionate kiss. "We’d better cut this out before we get inducted into the mile high club, even though the plane is on the ground," Jax said as he undid his own seat belt and then helped her off the plane.
"The mile high club? What’s that?" Brenda asked, sliding her hand into his as they headed up the corridor that would lead into the airport terminal.
Jax grinned. " You don’t know?"
"No. What is it?"
"I’ll show you one day," Jax promised her. "One day very soon." And then he gave her a kiss that she would not soon forget. In fact she still had his kiss on her mind and the feel of it on her lips when they reached the villa in Montego Bay.
"Okay, I think we should get started looking for Eliot right away," Jax said to Brenda, who was in the shower. "Lois said he likes to frequent the club scene, so let’s start there. Do you want to get something to eat first?"
Preoccupied with nothing but that last kiss Jax had given her, Brenda had other things in mind besides dinner and searching for Eliot.
"Bren? Do you want to get something to eat first?" Jax repeated as he opened the shower door to see if she had heard him.
Brenda’s response was to pull him into the water with her, her lips finding his, her unclothed, wet, body pressed against his fully clothed, body. The passionate ambush excited Jax who responded with ardor to her shower-wet kisses and the heady fragrance of the exotic, tropical shampoo she had been using. His heart was racing like the wind in a storm. She tasted like honey, she looked like a dream. There was no resisting this. He was so crazy about her. . . .
I go crazy, crazy, baby I go crazy
You turn it on and you drive me, yes you drive me
Crazy, crazy, crazy for you baby
"Guess you’re not hungry, huh?" Jax said, breathing hard as the shower water rained down softly on his body and her kisses rained down urgently on his lips.
Soft laughter escaped her lips as she ripped his shirt open, sending the buttons flying as her desire to touch him and feel him against her without all those clothes in the way, grew wilder by the second. Her hands slid over his wet chest and snaked behind his neck, drawing her husband even deeper into the hot, scorching kiss they were engaged in.
I go crazy, crazy, baby I go crazy
You turn it on and you drive me, yes, you drive me
Crazy, crazy, crazy for you baby
Their passion grew wilder, their kisses more scintillating. Brenda began to be overwhelmed by the passion he generated in her and she whispered to him, "Jax, . . .do you have any idea what you do to me?"
Her breathless, whispered question nearly undid him. If what he did to her was anything remotely like what she did to him, then he knew exactly what she was feeling right at this second - - on the verge of a pleasure that was almost insane. Standing on the precipice of heaven, just about to fall over and let it engulf you in a sensual beauty beyond the imagination.
Jax carried his wet bride out of the shower and into the bedroom. He lay her down and removed his remaining clothing quickly, knowing that she must be aching the same way he was for them to be together. He kissed the tips of Brenda’s lush, wet lashes, he kissed her forehead. He murmured his love for her and then set fire to her lips with his own. And then he set fire to her body with his body. The fire swept through them, more tantalizing than the sweetest of nectars; wild desire rushed at them like the oncoming tide; and love enveloped them in it’s warm embrace, as they allowed themselves to fall deeper and deeper into the sensual heaven they both knew so well. They stayed there for quite some time, swept away in the haze of thrilling love, reveling in the mind-numbing physical pleasure, thinking it was over only to have it begin all over again - like sensuous aftershocks, arousing encores, sumptuous seconds and tantalizing thirds. Indescribable by any words in the English language.
Their passion spent, they lay on the bed, limbs entangled, hearts still racing, love flooding through every cell in their bodies.
"God, I do so love you," Brenda purred, taking his hand and sliding it around her waist.
Jax had the other hand in her still wet, shampooed hair, his fingers sliding through the glossy, wavy darkness. "I do so love you, too," he said, kissing the back of her neck, the warmth of his lips lingering against her skin.
"You know something, Jax? Even when I was a little girl and I would daydream about love and fantasize about what it would be like to be in love - - I never *dreamed* it would be like this. I never dreamed it would *feel* like this. I guess I just never dreamed of anything so wonderful as this -- as you."
"Reality can be better than any dream, Brenda. Most people would dispute that, but I’ve always believed that. I've lived that. And having you in my life just proves it."
She toyed with his "Jasper" ID bracelet -the one he never took off, as he had promised her when she gave it to him that he never would. "It must have been fate," Brenda said, her fingers entwined in his. "Fate that made my sister find out about me and forced me to have to run away and to go to Alaska and to do so around the holidays, the very time that *you* were there. . . .I mean, suppose I had never had to leave at all? I may have ended up married to Marco or the Earl. Or suppose I still did have to run away, but I had come along in the summertime? You would have still been in New York, and I would probably have never met you," her voice was soft and low, as she couldn’t even imagine never having met Jax. "Or maybe by the time I would have met you, Donatella would have convinced you to marry her somehow, and you would have been lost to me forever."
"No, I would have met you somehow," Jax insisted, touched by the wistfulness in her voice. "I would have married *you* no matter who else drifted in and out of my life or yours because you’re the one, Brenda. You are my destiny. I really do believe that, you know. Nothing could have altered this."
She snuggled closer to him, love radiating within her. His head was resting against her back and she felt the sweet tickle of his eyelashes on her skin.
"Yeah, I really do believe that, too," she told him. "And I can’t wait until this is all over, so that our lives will belong to *us* again. We won’t have to worry about Eliot, or my father, or the politics of Monaco or anything. Just each other." She kissed his hand. "The way it should be."
"That’s going to happen soon, sweetie, I promise," Jax murmured into her hair. "I promise."
+ + +
Charlotte Sutton arrived in New York where she was greeted by a smiling Marco and a detached Pierre.
"Good to see you again, Charlotte," Marco said, kissing both of her cheeks. "Now, you do know what you’re here to do, correct? You’re Brenda’s friend, and you’re to make her see the error of her ways in rushing into this insane marriage to this corporate raider. You’re going to help us convince her to end this marriage and come back to Monaco where she belongs. Understand?"
"I understand. I’ll do my best," Charlotte said with a smile. Of course she intended to do just the opposite as Giselle had instructed of her. For whatever bizarre reasons, Giselle *wanted* Brenda and Jax to remain married and as head over heels in love and as fiercely devoted to one another as they appeared to be now. It was unfathomable to Charlotte why Giselle would want the sister she loathed beyond all else to continue to enjoy such a happy, idyllic life with the catch of a lifetime - Jasper Jacks, but Giselle was very clear that this was what she wanted. For whatever mysterious and ominous reasons, Giselle Grimaldi *wanted* her the half-sister she hated to be happily unaware of the wicked storm that was looming ominously somewhere in her future.