"This is too much Morticia! Too much!" he exclaimed making me jump slightly. "First you invite the man into our house without my consent, which normally I would not mind, but this is your old suitor! How could you think that I would not have any objections?"

"Like you said darling you normally don't mind," I tried to remain calm but as he stared at me icily from across his desk, I felt my resolve crumbling.

"Don't give me that Morticia! Especially not after what I just witnessed! You just spent an hour reminiscing old memories of the two of you when you were together, and then you offer to walk him to his room? Not only that but you allow him to kiss you? Tell me Morticia, is he the first, other man you've kissed since our marriage or have there been others?" My heart broke at his accusation but then fury began to rage within me. How dare he make such horrible accusations of me and make me feel so awful?! He's the one who is supposed to making me happy!

"Don't you dare say that Gomez! Don't you dare! You know that I have been nothing but faithful to you our entire marriage!"

"Do I, Morticia? Do I? I think you had better go."

"No, Gomez, I will not," I stated calmly. "Our number one rule is to never leave a room until the argument is settled. I'm not leaving."

"I don't know when this will be settled. Go, Morticia."

"No."

"LEAVE!" the way his voice resonated through the room frightened me to the point that I just had to leave. Never had I ever been afraid of my husband, but then, at that moment, I was terrified.

I shuffled to the door and slipped out of the room but not before whispering "I love you," as I shut the door, because no matter how terrified I was of him, he would always have my heart.

I leaned against the door to catch my breath. What had just happened? Finally an idea struck! I could go grab James and force him to tell Gomez that it was all a misunderstanding. That James had kissed me, not the other way around. I went as fast as I could to his door banging on it loudly and with an embarrassing amount of desperation.

When his door opened, it revealed him cockily smiling at me. "I knew you'd come back for more," he hissed as he lunged for me.

"NO! I most certainly did not!" I shouted as I moved out of his reach. "I came to ask you to tell my husband that you had molested me!"

"I haven't molested you… yet." My heart froze as my brain tried to catch up with what was just said. My lack of movement gave him the opportunity to grab me and force me to the ground as his hands ripped at my night gown.

"Gomez!" I screamed, hoping against hope that he would hear the terror in my voice. My heart froze with a gripping fear that I had never felt before…. ever, as the man I had once called a friend disrobed me most viciously. "Gomez, please! Help me!" A sickening crack filled the hallway as James's hand made contact with my left cheek, and my face burned with the sting.

"Be quiet, whore!"

"Don't you dare call my wife a whore." His voice was a mere growl and I had never been so happy to hear it in all my life. For reasons unknown, (I found out later that Gomez had a pistol trained right at his head.) James began to pull away from me and stand up with his hands raised above his head. I quickly took this advantage to jump off the ground. Then, realizing that I was completely naked, I hurried over to my husband's side. He wrapped his arm around me tightly and placed a sweet kiss to my temple. "Go to our room, Cara Mia. I will be there in a moment." Thrilled to hear him speak to me so gently, I did as I was asked and practically ran to our room, collapsing facedown onto our bed as the weight of the events of this evening hit me full on.

Thirty minutes later I heard the door open and then shut and I knew, just by the feel of the air, that Gomez had returned to me, body and soul. It was then that I felt the bed shift and his warm fingers trace over the marble skin of my back. Then his lips caressed a spot on the dip where my spine lay, before nuzzling his cheek on my back. I reveled in the feel of his familiar stubble scratching my skin. "I am so sorry, Cara Mia." I could not say anything as the pain of his accusations hit me again and tears threatened to spill from my eyes but I refused to let James have the satisfaction of me crying over what he had caused.

"No I am sorry Go-"

"No," his whispered word, as he flipped me over onto my back, made me silent instantly. "I am sorry. I know you would never cheat on me just seeing him kiss you-" I saw the anger flare up in his eyes as the picture reemerged in his head. I placed my hand to his cheek comfortingly to bring him back to me which caused him to turn his head and kiss my palm. "I couldn't deal with the pain of possibly loosing you so I was trying to let you go before you left." His hand caressed my jaw as his eyes wandered over my body and torn up clothes and then back to my eyes. "I'll be back," he whispered into my mouth as he placed a lingering kiss there. He walked into the bathroom and I heard the water in our tub start to run. A few minutes later my husband walked out of the bathroom completely naked. A groan of arousal rose in the back of my throat as I stared in appreciation of the body I knew so well. "Come my darling." He picked me up gently and carried me into the bathroom.

"Gomez! I am perfectly capable of handling myself! I can stand on my own."

"Yes but, Tish," he came to a stop in the bathroom but still held me in his arms, staring deep into my eyes, "You forget how well I know you. You are the other half of me. I can see when you are hurting and sometimes, Morticia, it's okay to let me be strong for you. You're always there for me. Let me do this."

Completely moved by my husband's statement I allowed him complete control, something I had never given anyone. He lowered me to the floor and kissed my lips as one hand held my chin and the other rested itself on my hip. His fingers softly and nimbly undressed me and I was shocked by his unusual gentleness. His lips grazed the crevice of my neck and I smiled at the tenderness in the caress. He then led me to the bath and held my hand as I stepped into the warm water. Letting the water seep into my pores I smiled and leaned back into my husband, who had slipped into the water behind me. He tried to shift me forward so as to run the washcloth over my body but I persisted and snuggled further into his chest. Forcefully, I grabbed his wrists and wrapped his arms around my middle. "You said you wanted to be strong for me. I need you to just hold me right now." And that was all I had to say. His arms tightened around me in an almost vice-like grip.

"Cara mia, I can see you are troubled, but more so by something rather than the events of this evening."

I was caught, what was I to say to him? I could not tell the truth. I couldn't tell him that I was just relieved for him to be holding me in his arms. For his naked body to be pressed to mine once more. That tonight had brought back the memories of years ago when no one had been gracious enough to stop my attacker. Memories of the depression I seeped into, of the time when I felt worthless, as everyone told me I was. Then that one day when my savior came in the form of a dark Sicilian I met at a funeral I just so happened to stop by. The man had drawn me in with his charm. He worshiped me, adored my every quirk, but most of all, he loved me. He loved me with every ounce of his being and the capacity of his love had made me tear up on more than one occasion, only by myself of course. He taught me how to love and made me feel as if I was actually worth something in the world. While most people perceive that I have no emotions, that I am a cold wretched woman, they couldn't be farther from the truth. I love completely. Gomez has taught me that. How to love unconditionally. I just have trouble with showing it. But he's working with me on that too, we're working on it together, and maybe one day I'll be as normal as an Addams can be.

I felt soft lips caress my temple and I'm pulled out of my reverie. "Gomez?" I whisper into the dim candle lit air that surrounds us.

"Yes, cara mia?" he dips his head and places a kiss to my shoulder.

"Make love to me?" my voice is barely a whisper and yet he freezes at the unfamiliar request. Sure we have sex all the time, but that's just it….. it's just sex, mainly for pleasure, and usually, that's enough. It isn't tonight though. Tonight I need to feel him. To feel our love resonating between our two bodies as we lay entwined together. I need him to whisper words of love in my ear, not dirt. But most of all, tonight I need the gentle, tender feeling of his hands as he worships my body as he did so many years ago. I need to feel his love. "Gomez?" his silence had me concerned.

"Of course, my darling," he kissed my jaw once before helping us both out of the tub. He gingerly dried every nook and crevice of my body kissing tenderly as he went. "My darling," he whispered against my skin. Gliding his fingers down my body he bent to pick me up and carry me into our room. Much different from our normal and unmentionably vicious escapades, he sat me gently onto the bed and climbed above me slowly. Bending down, he kissed my cheek and ran his nose along it as I felt his soft tears land upon it. "I am so sorry Morticia. So sorry to have ever doubted you. It is all my fault, he would not have dared to touch you had I not sent you away from me."

"Gomez," I purred softly into his ear, running my hands over the skin of his back. "Stop blaming yourself and make love to me."

His mustache tickled my collarbone as he placed hot, slow, sexy, open-mouthed kisses along it. I flattened my hands against his back and maneuvered my body upward in an attempt to get closer to him. Just needing affirmation that he really was here and that he really was kissing me so softly and beginning to make love to me. His hands travelled all over my body, leaving a glorious warmth in their wake. He awakened my body with the tender caresses of his hands and lips until at last he positioned himself at my entrance and with a very slow, very sensual kiss, he slid into me, completing me body and soul in a way that could only be achieved through this act.

We moved in unison, slowly at first and then picking up speed as our desire got the best of us. I saw stars as I screamed his name, and he mine before he collapsed on top of me. I wrapped my arms around him to keep him right where he was. Kissing his shoulder I cried at the sheer beauty of what we had just done. Our bodies had mingled in the same space at the same time, giving and taking, much as our entire relationship was. "Darling," a kiss to the curve of the top of my breast, "I am going to crush you if I stay here much longer."

"Crush me then, for I don't want to move." He chuckled but I was serious. I did not want him to move and disjoin himself from me.

He moved to pull out of me but my hand flew to his. Wrapping my fingers around the wrist of his hand I looked into his eyes and there was no need for words as my eyes and the slight tinge of pink rising on my cheeks at my embarrassment of such a request said it all.

No, please stay.

"Very well then," he whispered, placing a long sweet kiss to my forehead before flipping us over to where I lay on top of his chest. Snuggling into his chest, I placed light kisses to it to thank him for granting my request… well requests. "There is nothing to feel ashamed about cara mia, I feel much more relaxed in this position too." He ran his fingers through my hair, as I ran mine up and down his sides.

When I felt I could withstand being removed from our very intimate position I moved off of him, but curled my body directly against his side, my hand and cheek resting on his hard chest. With his fingers methodically running through my hair and his soft humming I fell asleep in the arms of the man I love, knowing full and well how close I had come that day to losing him.