Author's Note: It's about time and I'm glad that it's finally come to this last story, because Lita has been the character that has always been much more complex to write about then the other's. I hope you readers will enjoy this first chapter and come back for more.
Reflections of a Wish
Chapter 1
Monterey, California
Despite the warmth of the night, she huddled in the corner of her room, shivering with both fear and apprehension at the sounds coming from outside her room.
It was past midnight, with the cool breeze of Monterey whispering through her windows and brushing lightly at her freezing flesh. This was how she became when her mother came home the way she did. This was what happened to her when she heard and listened as her mother swept through their home, crashing into everything, with her latest lover right behind her.
She wondered quietly how long it would take her to overcome her fears and step out of her room and face her drunk mother. She wondered if that day would ever come for her.
It shamed her, that a girl, no, a woman, of seventeen could still be frightened of such things. As a child she had found hiding and not seeing could help her, but as the child had progressed into woman the habits of childhood had not changed. On nights when she was home and her mother came home heavily drunk with a different man on her arm, she hid in her room, the same corner she had always used, and covered her ears against the sounds her mother's moaning made, and the grunting of the man she had brought.
When will it ever change? When will I ever be able to stand against her, and show her I don't fear her?
The combined laughter was coming closer to her door. Her muscles tightened, her eyes locked on the door to her room. She listened as her mother told the man about her daughter, a seventeen year old teenager who was too wild for her own good. If only her mother knew that wildness was the only freedom she found outside this hell she lived in.
She jerked when the knob was turned, burrowed closer into the corner when the door opened and light from the hall spilled inside. She watched as her mother stepped into the room, still giggling and holding a bottle of whiskey in one hand, the man she had brought home right behind her.
This one was large in build, larger then the other's had been. And he didn't seem as if he was too drunk as she watched his eyes sweep the interior of her room. Amanda, her mother, was leaning against the door for support as he walked more fully into the room.
She didn't know what to do. This had never happened before. Her mother's partners had always come home as wasted as her, and they had always had more drinks in the living room before going to her room and having fast sex. The routine had been continuous and reliable for her.
His eyes landed on her in the corner finally and her mind raced with what to do. She could feel her palms dampen with sweat as he took a step toward her, could feel her blood freeze when he came closer and reached out a hand to roughly pull her up.
She didn't struggle, she didn't move. She wasn't sure what she should do, but merely kept her eyes locked on his and prayed with all her heart her mother would do the only good thing she could do and stop him.
"What are you doing?" Amanda's slurred request was quiet, but tinged with annoyance. "Come on, let's go to my room."
The man was still staring at her, and Lita could see his eyes had darkened to something she didn't want to recognize. "You go up. I'll join you in a minute."
Lita was sure her mother would listen, but was shocked herself when Amanda straightened from the door and focused in on them. "Hey, what are you doing? Let her go, she's a waste of time."
"I don't think she is." The hand on her arm tightened, and she remained still even when he leaned forward and stared more directly into her eyes. "This is one hell of a looker you got here Amanda."
"Yeah, well, the little bitch looks like I did at her age." Amanda sneered this, the envy in her voice obvious.
"It's too bad you don't look like this anymore." He hauled her up against him, causing Lita to gasp when his sour breath blasted into her face. "Want to get to know me better, sugar?"
She shook her head rapidly, her eyes darting to her mother. "No, please. Let me go."
"Let her go, come on. Let's go to my rooms." Obviously bored with the entire thing, Amanda went forward and took him by the arm. "She's just a fucking kid."
"Yeah, just a kid." His eyes raked her form, lingered on the small breasts heaving beneath her pajama top. "How about you go make us some drinks Amanda? I'll be right there."
Amanda shrugged, turning and stumbling from the room. "Don't take too long honey."
Lita was horrified. Her mother had just left her alone with this man who's obvious intentions were to rape her. As she met his eyes once again, she felt his free hand come up and cup her breast brutally.
The terror was real this time, the horror was something she couldn't block with her hands as she had for years anymore. The reality of what was happening, what would happen, came crashing down upon her and she cried out with fear when he shoved her back against her bed.
His heavy form landed on hers, his lips crushing hers, nearly bruising hers as his hands tore the pajamas from her struggling body. He was stronger then she had first realized, bigger then she had first thought. She kicked and bucked and tore at him, clawing with all her might, but he merely laughed and caught her wrists in a viselike grip, preventing her from pushing at him or being able to hurt him as she wished.
The stark terror that was coating her throat was nearly choking her, the tears that gathered and burned from her eyes spilling forth to soak her temples. His lips finally left hers and she gasped for air, struggled for it, before his free hand suddenly clamped over her mouth and cut off any screams she could have uttered for help.
She felt his mouth at her bared breast, felt something hard and huge pressing against the inside of her thigh. Her eyes were wide with horror, her throat contracting with the small pleas for help she was trying to shout out loud. She felt him shoving her thighs apart and struggled again, managing to land one good kick to his shin.
His grunt of pain was like music to her ears, but when he leaned back, she was terrified at the fury darkening his features. "Stupid bitch." His fist connected with her temple, pain exploding like a thousand needles inside her head, and she lay motionless beneath him.
Her mind drifted for a moment, seemed to rise away from what was happening to her as the pain overtook her, and her thoughts centered on her two best friends, Serena and Amy. How would she ever be able to face them after this? How would she ever be able to look them in the eye after what had been done to her? Two women so beautiful and pure, where she was not. How could she ever deserve to have them after this?
She saw their faces, saw them laughing together and teasing one another as they always did, and something suddenly broke inside. The hold her mother had always had over her seemed to shatter, the fear seemed to break, until her heart burst with strength and determination that she would not allow this to be her fate.
The rage that had festered in her heart poured forth and gave her immense strength finally. Managing to tear one of her hands from his grasp, she quickly groped for her bed side lamp, taking it in her grip and bringing it smashing down upon his head.
He simply slumped on her, his large form going slack. She struggled to shove him off, pushing his remote body off her bed and to the floor, leaping from where she had been and racing from the room.
Her pajamas were torn, but she held them together, running through her home and toward the front doors. She caught a quick glimpse of her mother in the living room, drinking from the whiskey bottle and laughing uproariously at the television, before she sped out of her home.
She raced barefoot down the road, panting, her lungs burning for her to stop and rest, but she refused. She couldn't stop now, couldn't stop ever. She needed to get away from where she came from, and from the horror that was even now still inside her home.
She didn't realize where she was going, didn't realize where she was taking herself, until she was at the gates to Amy's home. She ran straight through them, up the long drive, and pounded madly on the door, her sobs growing louder and louder as she cried for her friend.
It seemed an eternity until the lights flashed on, when it was only seconds. The door was thrown open, and Thomas and Anna Stanford stood there, both dressed in their nightclothes, their eyes widening at the sight of her.
"Oh my God….,"Anna whispered it, her hand covering her mouth.
"Lita?" Thomas breathed her name in shock.
Lita was panting, unable to speak, tears streaking her cheeks, when she saw behind them Amy and Darien racing down the stairs.
At the sight of Amy she smiled finally, the shadows lifting from her eyes. "Just thought I'd stop by." And with that said, fainted neatly into Thomas' arms.
She drifted for a time, dreamed of her childhood and the regular beatings her mother had given her. She remembered vaguely her father, a loving man who had adored her and given her piggy back rides, only to find he could no longer abide her mother and had left them both one mysterious night.
She remembered her first meeting with Amy and Serena, remembered thinking she would have no friends when she had been enrolled in school and attended her first day of first grade. The memory of their acceptance, of their friendship to her when she didn't deserve it, brought on a wave of both sorrow and joy. No other children had ever accepted her, until them.
When she awoke finally the sun was streaming through a window, and she blinked against it. She focused in on her surroundings and realized she was in Amy's room, lying on her bed. Just as she took in where she was, she felt the soreness in her arms and legs, felt the roaring throb in her head. Cringing at the pain, she finally focused in on her two friends sitting at the foot of the bed. She watched Amy's soft blue eyes immediately fill with tears at the sight of her, not realizing there was a dark bruise coloring part of her left eye and temple, while Serena's remained steadily on hers.
"Hey." Her throat was raw, and the sound came out in a near croak. "Sorry about last night."
"Don't apologize." Serena's voice was like a whip and normally Lita would have snapped back, but was too tired to this time. "There's no reason too."
"Ok." she struggled to sit up, winced at the sore muscles and pounding in her head. "Jesus Christ. It feels like I ran a marathon."
"I think you did." Serena had placed a supportive arm around Amy, who was crying quietly. "You ran from you're home to here, didn't you?"
Lita knew she could keep what had happened to herself, deny to telling them anything, but these two women were the only family she felt she had. "Yeah, I did."
"Lita, what happened?"
"Don't push her Serena."
"No, it's fine." Lita waved Amy's concern off. She didn't want sympathy or concern. She was afraid she would fall apart if they were given to her. "My Mom brought home some guy and he got some ideas." She shrugged carelessly, but the gesture cost her. "He almost raped me."
Amy's gasp of horror made her flinch, but when she looked up and saw the fury in Serena's eyes, she couldn't prevent the smile. "You going to go kick his ass, blondie?"
"It would be like you to make a joke of this." Serena bit out, her temper boiling to the surface. "How could you're mother allow something like that?"
Lita snorted. "My mother doesn't give a shit about me. Why would she? I'm just a burden, something she hopes to get rid of."
Amy was shaking her head. "I can't stand it Lita. You'll have to stay here with me from now on, or at least until you leave to college. I don't want you there with her."
Lita softened toward her friend. "I can take care of myself." She had never believed she could, until last night.
"But you shouldn't be in an environment like that!" Serena was fuming. "I'm telling my Dad, he won't allow this to-,"
Lita reached out and took hold of Serena's arm. "No!" the shout surprised all of them, and she struggled to calm herself down. "No, please. I don't want anyone to know about this, just you guys. I—I'll handle things for myself."
"Handle things? You mean handle a guy almost raping you? Handle a mother who enjoys getting drunk and beating you?" Serena was trembling with fury.
Lita's green eyes locked with hers, and the warning in them was clear. "I said I'll fucking handle it. You guys have to believe me on this one."
Serena met the warning there, and saw finally a rage that had never been there before. She could see determination, and also courage to stand up to what she had always run from.
She let out a long sigh, reaching out and taking Lita's hand in hers. "If you need us, if you need anything, you know you only have to ask."
Amy nodded, gripping firmly onto Lita's other hand. "We'll always be here for you Lita."
Lita studied them both, and wondered yet again how it was she had been blessed with these sisters when she would never deserve them. "I know guys. Now come on, one of you be a pal and get me the strongest pain killers you've got."
Mazatlan, Mexico
Twelve Years Later
The tropical weather of Mazatlan was what drew her. She didn't think she would ever get enough of a city where the native's were so entrenched in their own culture and the beach itself was the most beautiful she had ever seen.
The heat itself was another welcome. She despised winter, hated the months when snow would come or rain would pour steadily from the sky. Being able to wear a bikini was something she loved to do, especially in a place where the men were gorgeous at every turn.
She was on the beach this afternoon, relaxing after having spent the past weeks researching and taking photographs of every historical monument the city held. She had been sent here on assignment with her team, and even though she had not allowed them a moment of vacational rest for the first three weeks, she felt in their last days they deserved to relax.
The Golden Zone, they called it, and with good reason. The beach's were gorgeous, with pure, white sand and crystal clear waters. She couldn't imagine having ever seen a more beautiful place.
The afternoon stretched into night and she packed her things, taking them back up with her to the hotel she was staying at. One thing she had always promised Serena was to remain at Carroway Hotels, no matter where in the world her travels took her. It wasn't such a hardship, with the hotels being the best in both luxury and style.
She showered and changed in her room, slipping into a skirt and backless shirt that was tied from behind with a simple strap. Leaving her thick, brown hair loose, she walked into the lobby and joined her crew in the club the hotel offered to the guests.
It was past nine, and most of them were already buzzed from the alcohol they had consumed. They had three days left in Mazatlan, and each of them was determined to make the most of it before they returned.
"Lita!" they called out to her, motioning her over and ordering her a drink from the bartender already. "You look fabulous!" Lucy, one of her photographers, spoke with pure envy, letting out a little sigh.
Lita laughed, aware that several male eyes were trained on her. "Thanks Lucy, you look pretty good too." She took the shot of whiskey handed to her, and tossed it back in one motion while her crew cheered her on.
They talked and laughed, danced and drank, and laughed some more when one of the men in her crew hit on her and she refused. They had worked together for years, and even though they were almost like family, the men had never stopped trying to gain her attentions.
The night went on, the music pumping from the DJ on the platform next to the bar, the dance floor overcrowding with bodies as they pushed and bumped together. Lita shook her head when a man asked her to dance, remaining with Lucy and another woman in her crew, Kate, the three of them eyeing the men in the club.
"I see you're type Lita." Kate shouted to her, motioning to a man on the other side, watching them. He looked tall and dangerous, with dark good looks that Lita preferred. "You going to go hook up with him?"
"Yeah, he's pretty hot." Lita took a sip from her tropical drink, enjoying the sharp taste of the alcohol. "I'll let him come over here."
"Why don't you try for a different type Lita?" Lucy asked her, her eyes landing on the figure of a tall, gorgeous man who had just walked into the club alone. He was dressed in khaki shorts and a polo, his hands tucked into his pockets as he headed for the bar. "Like that guy right there."
Lita's eyes cut through the crowd of moving people and landed on him. She felt an immediate desire, admiring the tall, muscular form in the simple clothes. His hair was a darkened bronze beneath the club's flickering lights, his eyes a deep, rich gold topped by slashing, dark brows. His nose was thin and sharp, his lips firmed together as he leaned over the bar some feet away from them and spoke with the bartender. His arms came up to rest on the bar and she watched the muscles bunch together, her gaze raking over the thick arms that were a deep tan. His shoulders were broad, built with strength, tapering down to a slim waist that she imagined held a perfect six pack. She couldn't remember having seen a more handsome, good looking man in her life.
But her assessment of him was just as quick. He was a rich boy, pampered and probably used to sleek blonde's beneath his arm. She imagined he had inherited daddy's company and made millions by lifting a phone and doing nothing.
His type bothered her and she turned away from him before she realized he had looked up and seen her as well. She spoke to Kate and Lucy even as he stared intently at her. "He's not my type. I don't go for guys like him."
Kate watched him straighten from the bar, watched him begin to pick his way through the crowd toward them. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah, why?""
"Because here he comes."
Lita glanced over and saw Kate was right. Deciding a little fun never hurt, especially when she had three days left before she returned home, she spoke lightly. "Ok, why not? Who thinks I make a good Vanessa?"
Lucy chuckled and shook her head. "Lita, you're terrible."
"Damn right I am." She angled herself toward him just as he stepped before her. Good God, the man was even more gorgeous up close. "How's it going cutie?"
He inclined his head to her, extending a hand and taking hers in his. "Much better now. I'm Ken." He lifted her hand, brushing a soft kiss across it.
Lita could hear Kate and Lucy's sighs, but didn't even feel a small flutter in her own heart. It would take much more then corny efforts to do that. "Vanessa. Nice to meet you Ken."
"Likewise. Can I buy you a drink?" neither of them noticed when Kate and Lucy disappeared into the crowd of dancing people.
She lifted hers, studying him curiously. "Already have one, but thanks for the offer." She ran her tongue along her teeth when he leaned comfortably on the bar next to her. He smelled fabulous. "Just Ken?"
He cocked a dark brow, and she had to take a moment to make sure she didn't drool right before him. "Curious to know my full name already?"
"Nosy is more like it." She tossed her hair back, slid a slow, sultry smile at him. "Are you going to keep me in suspense?"
He lifted his hand and touched her bare arm lightly, just a single touch with his finger. The simple gesture had her shivering. "I couldn't do that to you. Kennedy Steele." His eyes lifted to hers, held and studied the deep green that shimmered beneath the club lights.
Lita had to take a moment, had to make sure she kept her expression carefully amused. Kennedy Steele. Executive VP to Carroway Hotels and old friend to her family. How in the hell was it that luck would have her finally meet the one man that had always seemed to elude her in a club in Mazatlan?
She knew what Serena would call it. Fate, she would say, giving a long, dramatic sigh. That fate had brought them together in such a place.
Lita wasn't one to believe in fate. She lived her own life, planned what she would do with herself, not what something or someone would do for her. She had been in control of herself for years, and refused to allow to have that control taken from her hands.
To have that happen would be too much like what her life had been before that night twelve years before.
She wasn't sure how she should react to this, what she should do now. She remembered a phone call between them several years before, when Serena and Darien had been separated by Serena's stubbornness, and remembered well the click she had felt with him. A simple phone conversation had done that and she wondered what seeing him and knowing him in person could do to her.
"Kennedy……that's a nice name." she knew she sounded like an idiot, but she couldn't grasp what to say to him now. The man was absolutely gorgeous, more so then both Serena and Amy had made him out to sound. Such men with looks like these and bankrolls like his could never be trusted.
"Thanks." Curious by her sudden change in mood, he continued to lightly brush his finger against her arm, pleased with the quivering reaction he was causing. "Something wrong?"
"No." this would be something she would regret, of that she was sure. But even she had rules for herself. "It's a little late now. I think I'll just head up and turn in."
"So soon?" he angled his large body to neatly block hers, caging her in between him and the bar. "I was hoping we could dance."
He was a smooth one, that much she could tell already. But she'd had her fair share of smooth, slick talkers and knew how to handle them. "Maybe some other time cutie, but for now I'm heading up." She inserted her hand between their bodies, bit back the roaring desire when she felt his chest, hard as iron beneath her palm, and scooted around him to disappear into the crowd.
The moment she was in the lobby she stopped and took a moment to blow out a breath. That had been the hardest man she'd ever had to turn down. The pure, primal instinct to know him was there, but she wouldn't allow her own hormones to get in the way. She wasn't an animal, after all.
She rubbed at her neck, and began to walk forward when her arm was gripped and she was whirled around to face him. "How about a walk on the beach?" he asked it quietly, those golden eyes locked on hers.
Her wrist was tingling where he was holding her, and the fact that he could do that to her set off her short temper. "Don't you understand the concept of 'no' Ken?"
Intrigued by the temper that was darkening her already vibrant green eyes, he kept his grip on her wrist even when she tugged sharply. "I understand it when a woman means it." He spoke again, cutting off the snarling answer she had been about to lash at him. "You're not afraid to take a walk with me, are you?"
He wouldn't know it, but the simple statement was enough to have her strapping in temper and logic. She had never been one to be called a coward. "Afraid? Are you serious? You give yourself too much credit pal." She took his hand and pulled him from the lobby, through the outside pool area, and down the steps that led to the relatively deserted beach.
He struggled not to laugh at her. He imagined she might turn on him and level a good solid punch to the gut if he did. Instead he laced his fingers with hers, bringing her to stand next to him. "You were made for nights, Vanessa." He admired her beneath the moon's light, the emerald green eyes that even now still held a bit of annoyance, the lancing cheekbones, the full lips that, to his amusement, were shaped in a slight pout. Her skin was a golden hue, a deep tan he knew she must have acquired while she was here. Seeing her in the club, so beautifully erotic, had set off a ferocious arousal such as he'd never felt before.
And having found her so suddenly, he wasn't about to let her walk away from him that easily.
Lita tried to ignore the small nagging of guilt at his use of her fake name. It would have been different if he wasn't somehow connected to her family. She had always used different names when she was on vacation and met a man. It added to the amusement of her crew and to her own.
"All right then. Let's walk here." Disturbed by the intense look he was giving her, she walked forward, forcing him to follow.
"A walk on the beach isn't supposed to be looked at as a hardship." He wasn't sure what had brought on her rapid change of mood inside, but he wasn't going to let her sudden bad temper get in his way. "For me it isn't. Not when the woman I'm walking with is so beautiful."
The sand was warm beneath her bare feet, the sound of the waves crashing against the surf reminding her of home. Relaxing inch by inch, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Ok, fine. So a walk isn't so bad."
"I'm glad you agree." He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off her. "Are you on vacation, Vanessa?"
"I am now." It wasn't a lie, she told herself. "What about you?"
"Business brought me here, but I think pleasure will keep me." He raised their joined hands, kissing hers lightly. "Where are you from Vanessa?"
"Australia." It was where she had been born and raised for the first four years of her life, before her parents had brought her to Monterey. "And you?"
"Monterey. It's amazing how two people from such far away places could meet together, isn't it?" his gaze slid over her slim form, taking pleasure in her graceful, sloping back.
"You have no idea." She muttered it beneath her breath.
"What was that?"
"I said I hope you're not going to bring fate into this." She watched the moon's beams reflect off the water. "Because I don't believe in it."
"Really? And I thought everyone believed in fate." He stopped walking, tugging her up against him, enjoying the feel of her pressed intimately to him. "What do you believe in then?"
Normally she enjoyed a small flirtation like this, but at the moment she couldn't bring herself to completely relax with him. "I believe in living your own life, in making what you want to happen, happen." She tilted her face to his, a little irritated that she barely reached his chin. "I believe that everyone has the power to do what they want and what they choose, not some stupid concept like fate."
"An interesting way of putting it. By saying that I find you're a woman who's completely free-willed and dependent of only herself. Am I right?"
"Yeah, you're right. Does that bother you, a woman who doesn't need a man to lean on?" she was deliberately challenging him.
The chuckle rumbled from deep within his chest. "Oh no, not at all. I'll admit that every man hopes to have a woman who will look to them for help and also to lean on. But," he added when her eyes narrowed, "for me personally, a woman who is independent and self reliant is much more arousing."
"You don't feel intimidated by independent women?"
His smile was slow to come, and she watched in fascination as those lips curved for her. "No. On the contrary, I feel intrigued by independent women. Which is why I find you intrigue me Vanessa. I don't think I'll be allowing you out of my sight anytime soon."
She could feel his arms inching around her, could feel those hands sliding along her waist and drawing her more firmly to him. Pressed against his warm, hard chest, she had to take a moment to remember what they were talking about. "Why do I get the impression that you're warning me?"
He lowered his head to hers, kept his lips hovering just above hers. "Perhaps I am."
She couldn't help it as her hands came to rest on his shoulders, sliding along the strength and rippling muscles of his back. "I don't take well to warnings." She didn't realize that she was waiting, holding her breath for him to initiate the kiss she desired so much.
His warm breath tickled her face when he laughed softly. "Neither do I." and stopped any further conversation by covering her lips with his.
Soft. Warm. And oh so deep. She hadn't imagined any man could kiss this way. His lips weren't pushing, weren't demanding, simply moving gently over hers, absorbing her taste and warmth into him. She didn't realize she was clinging to him, her hands biting into his broad shoulders, her lips opening for his and straining for the passion he had awakened so quickly inside of her.
The moan that was torn from deep inside came out, trembling from her and into him, her tongue tangling with his. As the heat and desire rose to more then she could take, she tore her lips from his and struggled for both sanity and breath.
She pressed her face into his chest, catching her breath back as she listened to his own panting struggle as well. One of his hands was holding her tightly to him, the other had tangled in her hair during their heated kiss. She was amazed and shocked she hadn't realized that.
She felt him tip her head back, looked up at him and drifted when he brushed his lips gently across hers. Her eyes grew heavy as his tongue lightly traced her lips, as he pressed his mouth to hers once again and slid them both past reason and their systems straight into chaos.
She shoved back from him, but he was fast and didn't allow her to retreat from the tight hold of his arms. Her own hands came up to rest on his forearms, and the low pulse of desire at the feel of his tightening muscles was a sensation she didn't care for. Struggling to find her way through the lust clouding her mind, she shut her eyes tight a moment before focusing them sharply on him.
He was staring down at her, his golden eyes moving in a gentle caress over her face. The sight of his incredibly handsome face bathed in shadows was more then she could bear.
"Let me go." She hissed it between clenched teeth. Her anger at the situation was caused by her helplessness in it.
"Why?" he toyed with the ends of her hair, enjoying how the silky, wild mass blew about her shoulders.
"Because I said so." She sucked in a sharp breath when he bent and kissed her temple, simmering with rage when she felt his soft chuckle.
"Something wrong Vanessa?" he murmured it against her cheek, brushing his lips across her eyes, down to the corner of her lips. The taste of her was addicting, and he pleased himself with slowly bringing his tongue to lightly touch hers.
The tremor that quaked through her was foreign, and had her straightening her back against his wandering hand. "I told you to let me go and you're not. What the hell do you think is wrong?"
"I don't think you want me to let you go. Do you?" he parted her lips with his tongue, cupped the back of her neck and began a slow, intimate massage just as he dipped inside and melded her mouth to his once again.
The taste was unlike anything he'd ever had before. He didn't think he could get enough of her, would ever get enough of this dark, forbidden temptation that she produced. He opened his eyes just a bit, watched the cloudy green of hers drift closed and felt her body literally melt into his. He molded her to him, kept one hand at the back of her neck, the other splayed across her bare back and slowly moved it up and down, causing her to nearly purr with contentment against his lips.
He retreated slowly, kept the massage against her neck consistent even when he gazed down at her and found she stood with her eyes still closed, her breathing irregular. Fascinated by the erotic beauty she held, he pressed a searing kiss to her cheek, prompting her to open her eyes.
They were drowsy, misted over and a mossy green like the damp earth in the early morning. With the ocean's dark waves at her back and the moon's soft reflection slanting over her sultry features, he wondered at the luck of his own fate that had brought her to him.
"God, you're so beautiful." He whispered it, his golden eyes roving over her face.
She couldn't think. Her vision was blurred with desire, her mind blank. "Uh." She couldn't manage anything intelligent beyond that.
Wisely, he swallowed the chuckle, instead running a hand through her cascading hair, admiring the thick, wild mass of it. "Want me to kiss you again?"
The amusement in his eyes had her snapping back into the present time. "No. I want you to let me go."
"But darling, where's the fun in that?"
Snarling at him, she managed to finally shove back from him, taking a moment to steady herself once out of his arms. "You're an arrogant bastard! I don't remember giving you permission to kiss me!"
He cocked his head at her, smiled despite the fury taking over her features. "You didn't have to tell me, I could see it clearly in your eyes." He tucked his thumbs into his front pockets. "How about I show you my rooms?"
"You can take your rooms and stuff them." She sneered this. "You better hope we don't meet again buster." She turned and strode back down the beach toward the hotel, her back rigid toward him.
Rocking back on his heels, he grinned and ran his tongue along his teeth as he admired her slim form from behind. "Oh no darling, we'll definitely be meeting again."
Last Notes: I promised I would get out the first chapter as soon as I could and here it is. I actually finished it a lot faster then I had first thought I would, but once inspiration hit, I couldn't stop.
I wanted the way Lita and Ken would finally meet to be different then how Serena and Amy had met their men. It's going to be interesting watching how things turn out from here. Also, in the next chapter I'll be mentioning how Amy and Serena are doing in their own lives with their husbands and families.
I will be adding, I think, to The Dark King next since I have the next chapter almost done. Please leave me a review telling me what you guys thought of this first chapter too, the feedback is always welcome. ~SailorP