CHAPTER 15

The violent rain slapped against the heavy glass, cascading down the frame of the sliding glass door of J.D.'s bedroom.  It was a good soaking rain that had been falling for hours which was unusual for this time of year in Los Angeles.

Across the room from J.D. lay Victoria; snuggled in his bed.  She was dressed only in one of his sweatshirts which engulfed her like she was a small child wearing a much older brothers hand-me-downs.  She look so beautiful, he thought, as he watched her sleeping.  With her eyelashes resting on her cheeks and her lips parted slightly it gave her the appearance of being relaxed.

It took J.D. a long time to finally get Victoria to bed after she arrived on his doorstep a total mess.  She was soaked clear through from the rain and was shaking uncontrollably.  Her face was wet from a mixture of rain drops and tears created by the continuous crying.  He took her into his family room, made her change out of her wet clothes into one of his sweatshirts, and bundled her up in a blanket.

It had been quiet for at least an hour except for the storm. Then Victoria's crying had interrupted the sound of the rain on the roof and filled  J.D. with haunting thoughts of anger concerning Charles.  Eventually, when she finally calmed down a little, he was able to get the full story of that evenings happenings out of her.  It was really tough though because it seemed that her only real concern was how Ralph and Jake were doing.  She wouldn't hear of relaxing until she had found out about them.  J.D. got on the phone and reached one of his lawyers. He explained what had happened and told him he wanted Jake out of the police station as soon as possible.  He then told him to bring Jake back to his house.  Not being able to get any information from the hospital by phone, J.D. eventually had to send one of his employees down.  They had reported back that Ralph was suffering from a mild concussion, and would only be in the hospital overnight.

Victoria had finally stopped her worrying.  She said Ralph had looked so helpless laying at the bottom of the stairway and she had been afraid he was hurt seriously.  J.D. commented to her that since Ralph was a PI, he probably was use to getting knocked around.

After Jake had finally arrived, Victoria very quickly fell asleep on the couch.  She obviously was totally exhausted from the evening's ordeal.  J.D. managed to partially awaken her and tucked her into his bed.  He couldn't help thinking that if the circumstances were different that maybe he could be with her, but he felt it more appropriate to pull up one of the overstuffed chairs for himself for the night.

Seeing her slowly stir in her sleep and then start to kick and moan, he quickly jumped up from his chair, leaned over the bed, and held her in his arms.  Starting to pound on his chest with her clinched hands, she finally opened her eyes and as she looked into the kind, warm eyes of Jason. She relaxed into his arms.  He brought his legs up onto the bed and lay down holding her.  Feeling secure, she quickly drifted back to sleep.

J.D. laid there, holding Victoria, thinking about the whole messy situation.  He couldn't understand how They could have let all this happen.  Surely They knew what kind of person Charles was.  Why then would They have approved of Charles and Victoria working together.  The whole thing didn't make sense to him.  Wouldn't it have been better for Victoria and him to work together from the beginning.  The two of them were so much more suited for each other.  Or, it would have even been better if Victoria had worked alone rather than depending on a person like Charles.

Perhaps Charles had been all right to begin with, J.D. thought.  Then the old “power corrupts” adage came to mind and J.D. thought how easily one could become corrupted by all the money and power that They had supplied for Victoria and him.  How much worse it must have been for Charles, sitting on the outside and not able to really have that money and power.

As the rain continued to fall, he had another of his stirrings of memory.  He seemed to be standing on a porch looking out on a lot of trees with a fence made of barbed wire.  He could hear the raindrops falling on the trees and smell the sweet freshness of the rain.  There were cows lingering complacently on the other side of the fence and he could hear them rustling the leaves.  Someone slid their arms around his waist and lay their cheek against his back.  The whole episode lasted only a second.  Like a shooting star in the vastness of the heavens, appearing momentarily, and then disappearing as quickly as it appeared.  But, just because it was no longer visible didn't mean that it was gone, it was captured there in his mind, to live forever.  Like the shooting star, his fleeting recollections had an origin, but he had no idea what that origin might be.  He had gotten these memory flashes over the years.  He often wondered what his life had been like before They had become part of his life.  Now he also wondered about Victoria.  He knew that her life had begun like his, a few years before and that she had had a life prior to the work they were doing for Them.  Does she have memory flashes, too? he wondered.  This short time he had spent with Victoria had been wonderful and he wondered just how far they would be able to take it.  He wanted to know everything about her.  He wanted to share everything with her.  Knowing that there must have been a reason that Victoria and he weren't supposed to meet, he hoped that reason didn't apply anymore and that they would be able to work together now.  He decided that he was going to push their relationship to the limit, whatever that limit might be. He'd just have to leave that up to Them and Victoria to decide.

The one thing that he was sure about, was that they wouldn't be able to give up their work.  Even if it meant that they couldn't be together.  But he knew that They weren't cruel or unfeeling, otherwise, They wouldn't have Victoria and him doing this work.

Turning over on her side facing away from J.D., Victoria slipped out of his arms.  So he turned on his side behind her, cuddled close, and slid his arm around her.  In her sleep, she took his arm and brought it up across her soft warm breasts and held it tightly too her.  He thought to himself that at least he had her for now as he also drifted off to sleep.

Awakening, J.D. saw the sun's rays streaming through the window.  He looked down at Victoria and a feeling of love and joy filled his heart.  She had that soft glowing look of sensuousness that pervades a woman's face in the morning.  A feeling of desire awakened inside him but he quickly pushed that aside, knowing this was not the right time.  A few strands of her hair lay across her face so he reached over and stroking her cheek laid them back into place.

Victoria stretched and opened her eyes.  Seeing J.D. sitting there next to her, a broad smile came to her lips and she reached out her arms and held him tight.  As they came apart, they looked into each others eyes and then kissed a gentle and loving kiss.  Reluctantly, he allowed their lips to part and he smiled saying "Good morning."

"Good morning."  She said as her eyes sparkled.  It seemed that last night had vanished from her mind for a few moments.

"I can't think of a better way to wake up in the morning than to see that pretty smile of yours."  He said holding her face in his hands and peering deeply into her longing emerald green eyes.

"I would have to say the same thing."

They kissed again, holding each other like they might never see each other again.  Finally he held her back from himself and said. "I think we should take it easy for now. Don't you?"

"I don't really want to, but I guess we had better." She replied giving him another kiss but not quite so urgent.

"I guess we should talk about what we're going to do next.  I'm surprised They haven't gotten in touch with me yet to let me know what I'm supposed to do. Have they contacted you yet?"

Victoria averted her eyes as she said.  "No....no They haven't."

"Well, perhaps I should try and reach Them again.  You know I have tried to contact Them a number of times, as I'm sure you have too, but They don't seem to be answering me.  I even tried going out to Malibu myself, but then again, I've never had any luck that way unless they have first summoned me."

Jana thought to herself, Maybe that's why I couldn't get in when Ralph and I went out there.

J.D. continued, "I really don't understand why They didn't answer though.  It really has me worried because Their silence started shortly after we met for the first time.  I can't imagine that They could be upset about that though; because They are the ones that told me to check up on you.  Maybe Their unhappy because this whole mess has slowed our work down some and you know how urgent They feel it is and how touchy they are about our keeping on schedule."

As J.D. talked he hadn't notice that Victoria had pulled away from him, not physically but mentally and emotionally.  If he had been watching her more closely, he might have seen the stream of emotions passing across her face: love; confusion; and then fear.  The way he was talking, They sounded like the Mafia or something; or maybe it was the government, somebody like the CIA or FBI.  Whoever it was, she had to find out what this whole thing was about.  As her mind continued to speculate, she physically pulled away from him.  Getting up she said, "I've got some things I have to get done today."

He looked at her like she was crazy.  "Where do you think your going?"  He questioned, as he reached for her again.

"Well, I figured that now that the problem with Charles is out of the way, I would get back to work."  She said, as she dodged his grasp.  She didn't feel overly secure, dressed simply in Jason's oversized sweatshirt and she knew that it wouldn't be too difficult for him to convince her to stay, if she let him get his hands on her.  Literally speaking of course, she thought with a smile.

"What makes you think that the problem with Charles is over?  You know that he isn't going to give up that easily, don't you.  All he sees is the opportunity of getting all your money.  A greedy man can only see the money and the power that goes along with it, he doesn't see the danger."

"I don't think Charles is a violent man.  Sure, he may get other people to do his dirty work, but I don't think he would risk even that now, after what has happened."

"I still don't like it.  And besides, I kind of figured that we could relax, at least for a little while."  He said, as he admired her golden legs which kept distracting his concentration; they were so long and so tantalizing.  Even dressed in his bulky garment, Victoria caused his imagination to race in the wonder of romantic speculation regarding the succulent charms she possessed.

"Ralph is suppose to be out of the hospital today; and he has other people working for him who can watch after me, “Too,"  She emphasized the word "too", because she noticed his eyes traveling over her form like a tourist on an extended vacation.  "I'll be just fine."

J.D. was hurt.  Why was she in such a hurry to get away from him?  What did he say or do that would have turned her against him so quickly?  He needed to know so he asked.  "Why do you want to leave me so soon?"

"I just have some unfinished business I have to attend to.  You yourself even have emphasized how important what we are doing is."  Seeing the look of rejection on his face she sat down next to him and continued.  "Please believe me, if I didn't have to take care of this, I would be happy to spend the rest of my life right here in your arms.  I love you and that isn't going to change but there are just some things  that have to be taken care of before we can be together.  You do understand, don't you?"

"Yes, I do understand and unfortunately I have to agree with you.  But I don't like it and I will worry about you all the time we're not together."

"Don't worry, They wouldn't let anything happen to me."  She said hoping that They were powerful enough to make the statement true.

"I guess you're right."  He replied.

They got up and walked over to the door.  Giving her one last passionate and urgent kiss J.D. opened the door and left Victoria to dress.  She then followed him into breakfast.

The table was already set for two and just as they sat down, Jason's butler, George entered the dining room.  "A Ralph Walker is here to see you, sir."  He announced stiffly. Jana almost laughed because of his serious stereotypical composure.  She had thought that butlers like that only existed in the movies.  Then she realized what he had said, and before Jason could say to show him in, she was up and dashed past George and into the next room to greet Ralph.  He had an official looking bandage on his forehead, but other than that he looked the same.  As they entered the dining room together, Jason first looked a little disapprovingly at them, but after deciding that Jana was only concerned about Ralph's well being he smiled and invited Ralph to join them.

J.D. motioned Ralph to sit down and said, "We're glad to see your okay.  How was your stay in the hospital?"  He jokingly asked.

"Just like everyone else," Ralph replied.  "I hate hospitals."  He turned to Victoria and said, "I was so relieved to find out that you were all right.  Luckily, I came to in the ambulance.  The paramedic tried to tell me a little bit of what happened.  What did happen?"

Jana told him the story, beginning with his falling down the stairs.  It was still so vivid in her mind, that she trembled, as she remembered how she felt while watching helplessly.  It was almost as though the whole thing were happening all over again.  She saw his look of astonishment, when she told him that Duke was dead and that Jake had been the one to save her.

A maid came in and J.D. told her to have Jake join them.  She then inquired if Ralph wanted anything to eat and he ordered a large meal.  "Have to keep my strength up." He said causing Jana and J.D. to smile.  "Well, now that Duke is out of the way.  What are we going to do about Charles?"

"I tried to have him arrested,"  Jana stated.  "But the police said that they couldn't charge him just because I said that Charles had hired Duke to kidnap me.  They needed more evidence."

J.D. turned to Jana and asked.  "By the way, Victoria, what was the damaging evidence that you had found out about Charles and Suzanne?  You sounded as if it would be enough to get rid of Charles."

"Oh, yes,"  Jana said.  "I found out that Charles and Suzanne had been roommates, when they were in college.

Ralph piped up with, "I knew that.  But just because they were old friends and probably working together, isn't enough ammunition to stop Charles."

"There's more."  She said looking straight at J.D.  "It seems that Charles and I were never married.  The whole wedding was a hoax arranged by the two of them to try and rob me. "

Ralph let out another of his famous low whistles.  "I wonder if he knows that you know.  It would mean that he would lose out if anything happened to you."

For an instant Ralph felt like an intruder in the room. He could see the soft pleasure that exchanged between J.D. and Victoria, as the realization hit J.D. that Victoria was a free woman.  Jake entering the room brought them back to reality.  Ralph continued with, "Well, that last bit of information would really work in favor of Charles then.  It would take away his primary motive for having you kidnapped."

Snapping back, J.D. frowned and said. "Your right.  We're going to have to get him on something else a little more substantial.  We might even have to set up an opportunity to let him hang himself."

Jana asked.  "Do you think he might hire someone else."

"I doubt it."  Ralph said.  "He would have realized by now that you won't be giving him anymore spending money."

"Yes.  But he could promise them something down the road."  She replied.

"The whole story is probably out to all the PI's by now." Ralph stated.  "I doubt that anyone would want to take the job."

"That may be true, but there are a lot of unsavory characters out there that would probably jump at the chance," Jake spoke up.

"Well then,"  J.D. said.  "I guess we had better start planning Charles' downfall.  Before he has a chance to plan his next move."

They talked and discussed throughout the morning, and into the afternoon.

Pedro, as sharp as usual, had started following Charles after the incident.  He had been really angry with what had happened to Ralph and he didn't intend to allow Charles to get away with it.  He had been keeping in contact with Ralph, indicating that Charles had retreated to his apartment and was currently shacked up with Suzanne.

The three of them figured that eventually Charles would go back to the penthouse and even if he didn't voluntarily, they could give him a little nudge to return.

The plan was that Victoria would confront Charles, and get him to admit that it was his idea to kidnap her, while the four of them listened in.  What could possibly go wrong with that since they would be close by.  J.D. didn't like the idea of Victoria being alone with Charles at any time, but it might be okay if they were close by....and she brought up the fact that since Charles and she weren't really married, he wouldn't have any reason to harm her.  Her logic escaped J.D., but he figured that between Ralph, Jake, Pedro, the police, and himself, Charles wouldn't stand a chance.  J.D. agreed although he still had a nagging feeling that regardless of how good all their intentions might be in trying to protect Victoria after putting her in a vulnerable situation, "The road to hell was paved with good intentions" and she could still be in a lot of danger.

They contacted Detective Brascher and let him know their plan.  He wasn't very happy either, about putting Victoria at risk, but agreed that if they were going to do it anyway he would be there.

Pedro called and said that Charles had entered the penthouse.

*      *      *

Victoria, J.D., Ralph, Jake and the detective rode up in the elevator in silence.  J.D. had hold of Victoria's hand and gave it a squeeze as the elevator opened it's doors.  They were relieved to find Charles wasn't in sight.  Spreading out silently they lined up along the wall on the other side of the fountain from the elevator door.  They had come up with a signal that when she saw Charles she would clap her hands slowly and say "Well, well, I see you have finally gotten up the courage to return."  This would alert them so they could come in closer to hear the conversation.

Slowly moving up the stairs she went to his room and then her's but Charles wasn't in either.  Returning down stairs, she went into the library.  She was shocked to find the safe opened but not wanting to give away the fact that the other four were listening, she tried calmly to clap her hands and say the words.  Charles didn't hear.  Feeling that the other's must be outside the room by now she entered the safe.

Charles had the metal cabinet open and was stuffing the jewels and coins into his pockets.

"Well, well,"  She said.  "I didn't think you knew about this safe."

A broad smile came to Charles' face as he said.  "Well, if it isn't the little wifey.  I thought you would be tucked away in some safe little place.  I didn't expect you to be back quite so soon."

"Yah, It sort of looks that way," she said, as she eyed some bags of loot sitting next to the safe door.  Jana, then, pressed him for information.  "I would imagine that if you had known about this safe, you would have cleaned it out a long time ago."

"I didn't know about it.  I came into the penthouse to pick up some things, since I figured you would be changing the locks soon, and funniest thing happened, I found this combination laying on the landing upstairs.  Poor thing, did you drop it in the struggle?"

"But, how did you find the safe?"  Jana was amazed that he could have found it so quickly.

"You know, you really must be more tidy.  After looking around in here for a bit I noticed that one of the books was sticking out a little.  You can imagine my surprise when I found a lever behind the book."  He said with a sneer on his face.

"You know your not going to get away with any of this." She said, hoping he would admit to something.

"No?  I think I already have."

At that moment, Charles rushed her, and gave her a push. She fell backwards, and hit her head against the wall collapsing in a crumpled heap, like a rag doll.

Jason, Ralph, and the police detective (Jake had stayed by the elevator as a contingency plan), not hearing any more conservation, rushed into the room, just in time to see Charles spinning the combination mechanism and saying, "Hell will probably freeze over before they find you in here and I'll be long gone."

Charles spun around when he heard them entering the room and J.D. grabbed him, and held him up close to his face.  "Victoria, you've locked Victoria in the safe."  He started to hit on Charles, but the others pulled him off.

"Take it easy,"  Ralph said.  "We need him coherent to help us get Victoria out of the safe."

"Okay, Mr. Davenport."  The detective said.  "What's the combination to the safe."

The color drained out of Charles' face, as he realized that he didn't know.  He had laid the slip of paper down in the safe after he had entered.  "I don't know,"  he said.  "I left the combination in the safe."

J.D. grabbed him again.  "Well, you can remember it can't you?"

Try as he may, Charles couldn't remember the combination.

Just as things seemed to be getting desperate Jake walked in saying, "Look what I found trying to sneak out, without even so much as saying good-bye." He pulled in his hand which had a firm grasp on that of Suzanne. Suzanne half stumbled and half flew in the door after the comparatively giant form of Jake.

They turned to Jake and asked if he had any idea who else might have the number, but Jake said he didn't even know that the safe was there.  He figured that no one else did either.

As all eyes landed on Suzanne, she shook her head in defiance saying, “Don’t look at me, I’m always the last to know anything around here”.

They then tried knocking on the door with something metallic but received no response.

Turning to Charles, Ralph grabbed him and asked why Victoria wasn't answering.  Charles didn't want to admit that she was knocked out, but after Ralph turned him over to Jake they finally got it out of him, while the detective was off looking for a place where the combination could be written down.

After tying up Charles to make sure that he didn't go anywhere, they powwowed momentarily to try and figure out what to do.  J.D. didn't want to leave but he knew if Victoria came to, in the safe, he would be able to get the combination from her through the electronic mail.  Before he left, he asked Jake if there were any other computers in the penthouse but Jake said he hadn't seen any.

As J.D. left, the detective was already on the phone trying to contact a safecracker.  After settling the receiver back in its cradle, the men all looked at each other, they knew that all they could do now was wait.  But Ralph wasn't satisfied that easily, he jumped up and said, “Maybe the combination is in her bedroom”. He then headed upstairs to search her room.

*      *      *

Jana stirred.  She felt a stabbing pain in the back of her head.  As she reached up to rub it, she opened her eyes and realized that she couldn't see a thing.  Panic set in as she thought that she was blind.  But then she saw a shimmering glow in front of her and as she looked closely she saw a figure standing in front of her.  "Do not be afraid," They said. "No harm will come to you." And then it was gone.

At first Jana thought she was dreaming, but as she tried to move the pain reminded her that she was awake.  Reaching out to pull herself up, she remembered the confrontation with Charles and realized that she was still in the safe.  She figured that was why she couldn't see.  Walking over toward the door, the light came on as she reached it.  She pushed on the door but it wouldn't open.  Then she banged on the door yelling but no answer came.

Figuring she needed to keep the light on she pulled down some of the files and placed them on the plate that turned it on.  Then she went down to the far end of the safe and sat down.  Her head was pounding and she held it; she was having a hard time thinking.

Knowing that the guys had been listening in, they probably knew that she was in the safe.  Thinking that they probably also caught Charles, who had the combination, she wondered why then, they hadn't opened it by now.  She figured that if they hadn't opened it by now, they either didn't know that she was in the safe or they couldn't get the combination out of Charles.

Getting up, she looked for something to knock on the door with.  As she was looking around she noticed a familiar piece of paper, the combination.  Great, here she was locked in the safe with the combination.  Somehow, she was going to have to let them know what it was.

She pulled out one of the metal drawers that was in the metal cabinet and tapped on the safe door.  A few moments later she was gratified to hear a tapping coming from the other side.  She didn't know Morse code or anything like that so she gave that up and remembering the computer headed for it, she would be able to send the combination to Jason over the electronic mail.

For the first time horror really grabbed her, as she turned on the computer and realized that it wouldn't come on. Looking down at the plug she realized that Charles had pulled out all the wiring; he had wanted to make sure she stayed inside.

*      *      *

 Jake hearing the buzzer from downstairs, stepped over to the intercom.  Hearing that it was J.D., he buzzed him up.  As he entered the room, they all knew that the news was bad. His face looked strained and drawn and the color had not returned.

Knowing that J.D. would be relieved to know, Jake told him that Victoria had responded to their tapping.

"The computer system inside the safe must be down."  He said.  "I couldn't reach her.  What are we going to do now?"

"I've sent for a locksmith,"  the Detective said, "but they told me that the only one who could crack this particular kind of safe, was in Florida.  So we'll have to wait until he gets here."

J.D. plopped down hard on the couch; he was drained.  After he had tried to reach Victoria; he tried to get the information from headquarters.  But They still refused to answer his communiqués.  For the first time since he had started working for Them, he felt let down by Them.

Time passed slowly and he was really getting worried.  For the first time since he had awakened five years ago, he had felt love.  All the other women had seemed so petty compared to the work he was doing, and his interest in them had always faded quickly.  But Victoria had shown him so much more than simply the importance of his work, with the love that she offered so unselfishly.  He couldn't lose her now. Surly, They wouldn't let anything happen to her.  He felt confident that They wouldn't let anything happen to her, but he was only human and he couldn't help the fear he felt.

They tapped on the safe back and forth periodically to make sure that she was all right.  Then one time she made a scraping sound on the door, like she was pulling the object from one side of the door to the other.  Then she started tapping.  Then she stopped.  J.D. tapped back.  Then she did the same thing again but then tapped longer.  He tapped back, again.

Ralph jumped up and ran over to the safe, "She's giving us the combination."  He said excitedly.

They tapped again in different places on the door hoping that she would know to start over and the detective wrote as she scraped from left to right and then tapped four times. She then scraped twice from right to left and tapped twenty- three times.  Finally, she scraped from left to right again and tapped nineteen times.  Then the tapping stopped.

Since the safe was similar to J.D.'s at home he attacked the combination with the sureness of familiarity.  As the safe opened Jana rushed into his arms and held him tight.  She had tears of appreciation and love streaming down her cheeks.  Jason was kissing away the tear drops, as the ridged voice of the police detective smashed its way through the intense emotion of the moment, like the deafening echo of a battering ram.

"I really hate to hinder this reunion, but I really need to get my prisoners to headquarters.  I will need all of you down there, within the next twenty-four hours, to press charges and give me your statements."

With a questioning glance at the rest of them, J.D. asked, "How about tomorrow at four o'clock?"  They all agreed.

 Jana instructed Jake to help the officer escort Charles and Suzanne to his car, and then bring the limousine around to pick up J.D.  She thanked both the detective and Jake for their help, as they boarded the elevator.

"I guess we won't need you until tomorrow, at the police station, Ralph."  J.D. said, and then added, " We'll have a little talk about a bonus and maybe a retainer for your future services back at my place, afterwards.  That is, if it's okay with you."

Ralph smiled and said. "Sure thing."  As he climbed on the elevator, he thought to himself, it sure is nice, for a change, to work for someone that gives you a little respect.

"I'll bet your as hungry as I am!"  J.D. said to Victoria.  "And, I have the perfect solution."

"And what might that be?"  Victoria asked, with a loving smile.

"Well, you come with me to my place and I'll call ahead so our dinner can be waiting for us when we get there."

J.D. held his breath momentarily, while he waited for Victoria's decision.  He knew that she must be tired but he just couldn't bring himself to leave her.  Then, with a flood of warmth and anticipation, he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Hoping, with all her heart, that Jason wouldn't feel that she was being too forward, she shyly answered, "Well I am famished.  But, I'm too tired to freshen up, make that trip over to your place, have dinner and come all the way back here.  So, if you don't mind, I can take a change of clothes and my toothbrush with me and stay at your place tonight.  We can have Jake pick us up at three tomorrow afternoon, there."

The candle light flickered and reflected playfully off of the champagne glasses, as Jason waited for Victoria to join him in the dining room.  As soon as they had arrived, she had disappeared into the guest room, saying that she would join him in the dining room in about twenty minutes.

J.D. had told George to inform the rest of the staff that they could take off early, and had retired to his room to dress for dinner.

J.D. was standing in the dining room, thinking how he might be able to further improve the, already perfect, atmosphere when Victoria came walking slowly into the room. She was wearing a soft, flowing, off the shoulder dress.  The dress clung to her every curve, as she walked and the soft pastel color accentuated the rosy glow of her cheeks.  Her hair, gleaming with its red highlights in the flickering candle light, was spread seductively about her bare shoulders.  She smelled of lilacs, a smell which reminded him of something from his past, a memory of beauty and longing, hidden so deeply that he failed in his quest for its origin.  She looked like an angel.  She seemed to have floated into his life from nowhere.  He wanted her, with a passion so strong, that regardless of how hard he tried to resist, or how forcefully he was forbidden to accept the inevitability of their love, he would be destined to be a slave to that love for eternity.  They fell into a short embrace, not wanting to rush the evening.  The first to speak was Jason.  "You look ravishing, Victoria.  I've always thought that you were beautiful, but you've outdone yourself tonight."

"I'm sure that it's just a combination of the atmosphere, my being a single woman again, and the present company."  Victoria said.  Inside, she wished that she could ask him to just call her Jana, but she knew the time wasn't right to let him know her real name.

They had a relaxing dinner, savoring each others company.  Jason had soft music playing in the background and after their third glass of champagne, asked Victoria to dance.  She stood and was swept into his arms.  Her knees became a little weak as she felt every inch of his muscular body pulsating against hers.  They danced for a few minutes, but their passion for each other was so strong that their lips met almost automatically, in a long sensuous kiss.  Their dancing turned into a stationary embrace, but before Jason could get any further ideas, Victoria slipped from his arms, and said, "I'll meet you in your bedroom in a few minutes."  She glided out of the room, leaving him gazing emotionally after her.

Jason went to his room, spruced himself up a little and sat down in a big easy chair. He was letting his mind drift over the strange happenings that had been going on when the door opened.  Victoria was breathtaking.  She was wearing a black negligee that even in the dim light revealed most of her feminine charms.

As Jason viewed Victoria's luscious curves, he felt the immediate arousal of his need to posses this mysterious ravenous beauty.  She walked silently over to his chair, knelt before him, and started removing his shoes.  He reached down first caressing her hair and then took her hand.  He kissed her fingers and joined her on the floor.  Holding her face in his hands, he looked deeply into her precious eyes and professed his love for her.  She was almost in tears of joy from his words, as she started unbuttoning his shirt.  He kissed her, delicately at first, directly on the lips, then his arms engulfed her and his kisses became hot and filled with his raging need for her love. As her hands slipped to his belt, he stood and with a burst of strength scooped her from the floor and placed her gently on the satin comforter of his bed. She lay there almost out of breath as he watched, with an enticing fascination, her breasts rise and fall.  The shear material of her garment protruded with her erect nipples.

She wanted him as much as he wanted her.  Her hand slid beneath the fabric of his shorts, as she felt the hardness of his desire for her.  He raised the negligee to allow an unobstructed path for his lips.  Victoria let out a little gasp and then a soft moan of approval, as she felt the pressure of his warm mouth and tongue on her pink tipped breasts.

She cradled him to her with one arm, as she removed his remaining garments with her free hand.  He slipped free of her and slid her negligee off over her head.  Her beauty was beyond compare and so was his desire.  As her tiny hands petted and stroked his manhood, his fingers grasped the narrow elastic waistband of her panties.  They seemed to slip off like magic beneath his touch, revealing even more of her beauty.  Her tender thighs spread yielding to his delicate caress.  He mounted her with an unexpected gentleness, and he took her with the ease of a bee taking pollen from a rare flower.  Almost immediately upon his entering her, she felt the pinnacle of ecstasy. She shuttered in climax after climax, and just when she thought her fragile body could take no more, she heard Jason moan and with a mighty thrust, she felt his pulsating ejaculation deep within her.  They remained joined together for a while, just kissing and holding each other, relishing the moments as they passed.  They both wondered in silence, what was to happen now that they were together.  Although, they knew that they had found their destiny.

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Beginning     Chapter 16

Copyright 1990 by Anita and David Mathews