Lucas awoke the following morning to a throbbing head. He remembered returning home with Gail after they had drank an inordinate amount of alcohol with their friends and being scolded by his old friend Abe upon their return; however, his recollection of events after that was hazy. When he rolled over and saw Gail asleep peacefully beside him, he knew things could not have been that bad and wrapped his arms around her.
It appeared Abe must have taken care of Luke last night, as the baby was not in the room with them now and he knew his friend had formed a strong bond with his son. This gave Lucas the opportunity to ponder over the situation he was currently in with Gail and he let out a long relaxed breath.
Of course Lucas was part of the reason that Walter Maine performed the fatal actions against his wife Betty, he had provided just enough jealousy in the man to prompt him to act accordingly; however, he would not take full responsibility for someone else's actions. It was not his fault people were so easily led, or that a suggestion here or there went a long way with certain residents in Trinity. Had Walter have kept to the terms of their deal and just paid up when required, none of this would have happened and Lucas did not see this as his fault, regardless of what Gail believed.
Gail felt Lucas' arms around her and woke up feeling smothered, with a dull ache in her head. She sensed Luke was not in the room with them; therefore, she shrugged off Lucas' arms and lay on her back, contemplating her next move.
She could not deny that at times Lucas made her skin crawl, her old distrust of him had started to resurface and she was struggling with her moral code on a daily basis. Part of her wanted to be rid of him once and for all, he had tainted her purity and she should never have allowed him in; however, a bigger part of her craved his darkness and that concerned her greatly.
Gail had thrown herself deep into the Walter Maine story and had been attempting to find something concrete against Lucas, to enable her to break his hold on her; however, so far he had covered his tracks well and the situation was beginning to frustrate her.
Lucas watched his love in silence, sensing she was using this quiet time to reflect as he was and choosing to allow her a moment with her thoughts. When he sensed her frustration, he instinctively moved beneath the sheets between her legs and gently pushed up her short silk nightdress. He smiled when she did not provide him with any resistance and licked her sweet spot teasingly. He loved taking her at this time in the day when everything was so simple.
Gail let out a low moan as his tongue teased her and just relaxed into the act, allowing her desire to take hold. She knew better than to resist and she had already made peace with the fact that she was damned; therefore, she might as well reap the benefits of her Adonis. When her desire became too strong, she reached down and pulled him up to her. She stared deep into his knowing eyes and pulled him close for a passionate kiss.
Lucas knew there was conflict within her and sensed her dark craving for him had won the battle a long time ago. It gave him a feeling of triumph knowing that no matter how much she disapproved of his actions, she was his and her good side could not unravel what they had become. The feeling of true desire surged through him and without hesitation, he thrust his hard manhood deep inside of her.
Gail hated his confidence; however, her body always betrayed her and she loved the feeling of him inside of her. She scraped her long nails down his back and smiled when he could not hold in his loud moans. She allowed him to take her slow, not wanting to aggravate the increasing pain in her head and kissed him passionately. She tangled her fingers in his hair and nipped at his ear, as he buried his head into her neck.
Lucas savoured the taste of her tongue in his mouth, before sucking and kissing her neck. He kept his thrusts slow and steady, wanting to enjoy every moment of their uncomplicated closeness before the day fully started and the game began again. Her distrust and pursuit of the truth kept him on his toes, he welcomed the challenge she imposed; however, he loved her stripped down like this and would not rush to allow her to get her guard up.
His slow relentless thrusts were becoming unbearable, the intense bursts of pleasure were flowing through her and she was finding it hard to control her volume. When she heard his hoarse breath and his movements began to quicken, she felt her climax building and knew he was in sync with her. She dug her nails into his back and felt them pierce his skin, then began to repeat his name over and over as the intense pleasure surged through her.
Lucas embraced the pain as her nails pierced his skin, then bit her shoulder hard and drew blood in retaliation. Their sexual encounters had started to become rough again of late, it always filled him with pride when he left a mark on her and he suspected it turned her on when she saw the claw marks she left on him. The thought of her displaying a scar from their intimate activities turned him on even more and he increased his pace, as his orgasm started to build. He sensed she was close, so began to pound in and out of her. He exploded within her when he heard her call his name, then brought his lips down on hers and kissed her forcefully.
Gail could barely breath with the force of his lips on hers; however, she embraced the kiss and held him tight to her. When he finally released her lips, she took a deep breath and welcomed the cool air into her lungs. She allowed him to remain inside of her while she relaxed into the pillow, then smiled when he collapsed onto her and placed his head on her chest.
She allowed herself to fully relax for a short while, then stroked his cheek and sighed. 'I hope you've covered your tracks well' she warned. Part of her actually wanted her suspicions to be proven wrong.
Lucas did not open his eyes and just smiled. 'Let the game recommence' he mocked and pulling out of her when she pushed him off of her, then watched as she grabbed her robe and headed for the shower.
He was aware that Billy was going to honour his bet with Gail, after he had gotten beaten last night; however, he was confident Billy-boy could stall her, to allow him time to ensure all his bases were covered.
Caleb casually peddled to school on his bike, after figuring that Lucas and Gail were too indisposed to drive him. He hated Wednesdays at the best of times; however, today seemed worse somehow, after coming to the realisation that no-one in his family cared what he got up to these days.
Gail and Merlyn were busy with a story, Lucas was busy attempting to distract Gail from the story and he was left being babysat by Abe, who appeared more interested in the baby. Caleb was beginning to get frustrated with his life and welcomed the bicycle ride in the cool morning air, to clear his head. It was nice having the time to himself to put things into perspective, without outside influences and he was in no rush to get to class, especially as Miss Coombs was overly concerned with him after his cousin's warnings.
Caleb turned the corner and spotted Poppy Bowen walking further up the street, he would recognise that fiery red hair anywhere and subconsciously started peddling faster to catch up to her. Caleb had not seen Poppy for some time, as his sister did not reside with him and she had chosen to spend most of her free time with Doctor Matt. Poppy had been really nice to him previously and a warm feeling came over him when he closed the distance between them.
Poppy was rushing to catch the bus, to ensure she was not late for work. She was grateful for the opportunity to be trusted to open the Antique Store on her own and wanted to ensure Abraham did not regret employing her, although it was Gail who had convinced him to take her on.
Poppy had been finding it difficult to adjust to life after she had graduated high school, as she had ended up with a lot of spare time on her hands. The more alone time she had, the more she would think about her dead mother and the sins of her father. T J had attempted to distract her by taking her to nice places and dining out; however, she had spotted the way he had started looking at her and was not sure she had wanted that kind of attention from him. It had been a godsend when Gail Emory had sought her out and given her a job opportunity, she did not know what would have happened if she had not came along.
Poppy liked Gail, she spoke to her as though she was an adult and gave her a sense of purpose. Gail had explained to her that this job was just a way to get her out into the world and informed her to steer clear of the kind attention T J was attempting to provide, unless she wanted her life to be over before it started. Poppy was aware of the way boys looked at her and she understood fully what Gail was trying to warn her away from. She had no desire to be knocked up at the age of 17 and dependent on a boy. Her Momma had not raised her that way and she sure as hell would not let her down.
The sound of a bicycle racing towards her took her out of her thoughts and she smiled when she turned around to see Caleb Temple. 'Well hey there stranger! What brings you to this neck of the woods?'
Caleb blushed at her pretty smile and climbed off his bicycle. 'I was just ridin' and thinkin'...you looked like you were in a rush, where you headin'?' he asked, trying to act like he was not so taken by her beauty.
Poppy's smiled grew wider at the boys curiosity, she really liked Caleb and felt that he was one of the few people who understood what she was going through in life. 'I'm headin' to work, gotta be sure to be on time...' she shrugged, '...You off to school?'
Caleb sighed and nodded. 'I guess I am...unless you wanna hop on and I'll ride you to work?' he suggested nervously.
Poppy narrowed her eyes at him and laughed, then bit her lip in an attempt to control herself when she realised he was serious. 'You want me to get on that thing?' she asked in disbelief.
'Why not? I've rode Merl...' he started and corrected himself, '...M, I've rode M around on it before'
Poppy had been friends with M at one point and knew how close she was to Caleb. The pair had been inseparable at one time and Poppy did not doubt he was telling the truth. 'Do you even know how far it is? The Antique Store is close to town'
Caleb thought for a moment, then smiled cunningly. 'I got an idea, trust me' he said and signaled for her to get on the bike.
Poppy shook her head in mock exasperation, then climbed on the bike. 'Alright Caleb Temple, if you drop me there'll be hell to pay' she laughed and held on tight as Caleb began peddling with her on the back.
Gail sat on her porch step with Matt and smiled as he stared suspiciously at Gideon, who was sat protectively in front of Luke's pram. Gideon followed her wherever she went with Luke, her trusted companion was very protective of her new born baby and it amused her that Matt was trying to figure out how the dog managed to be there all the time.
'I just don't get where he came from. He showed up when I was first let out of Juniper and now he appears everywhere you go, doesn't that strike you as odd?' Matt asked, watching the dog carefully.
'If Gideon was the only odd thing around me, my life would be perfect' Gail laughed.
Matt turned his attention to his friend and noticed the dark circles under her eyes, which she had failed to cover with makeup. 'That bad huh? You want to share what's keeping you up at night? Apart from your sociopathic lover and your new born that is' he asked and linked his arm around hers.
Gail shrugged, then leaned her head on his shoulder. She had found herself getting closer to Matt these days, he had accepted her decision to be with Lucas and he remained the one constant in her life that she could count on, apart from Gideon. 'This Walter Maine thing is driving me crazy...I mean who just kills their wife like that? Not to mention let's their son drown in the process' she spat out, then let out a long sigh.
'A very unstable individual' Matt answered and shook his head at the thought of the events that had transpired. He also had a hard time believing a man could just snap like that and he knew first hand what influences in this town could provoke such a reaction.
'Why don't you just come out and say it?' Gail asked, reading his mind.
Matt pondered for a moment, then looked down at her head resting on his shoulder. She clearly had her suspicions, he knew she was not stupid and she was not naive enough to deny the obvious; however, he understood she was in a tough predicament and did not want to make things harder for her. 'All I'm thinking is that it would take a lot of suggestion to drive a man to act in such a way, especially with his children around'
Gail lifted up her head and stared at Luke, who was asleep peacefully in his pram. 'The question is, at what point does suggestion turn to encouragement? and if one man was to encourage another man to do such a thing, would that be a crime?' she pondered.
'It would if it was a respected law official using his power to manipulate others' Matt answered honestly.
Gail turned towards Matt and sighed, he was not wrong and she admired his honesty regardless of whether she liked the answer. 'Do you think I'd cover for him?' she asked, curious of her friends opinion of her.
Matt thought for a moment, then smiled. 'I think you're honest and if you found any hard evidence against him, you'd do the right thing'
Gail let out a long sigh, then forced a smile. It was nice to know someone had faith in her goodness, as she was beginning to doubt what was right these days. 'Well let's hope our suspicions are unfounded and there's no evidence to find' she laughed and squeezed his knee affectionately.
Matt was about to comment, when he heard a bicycle break and looked towards the street to see Caleb helping Poppy Bowen off his bike. 'What the hell?' he asked confused.
Gail following Matt's confused stare, then stood up and approached her cousin. 'Shouldn't you be in school?' she asked disapprovingly.
'Shouldn't you have driven me?' he replied rudely.
Gail took a deep breath and folded her arms over her chest, she had noticed a slight change in her cousins attitude of late and she did not appreciate it being aimed at her. 'I'm not your Mother Caleb and I'm certainly not the only adult you live with' she scolded.
Caleb stood his ground for a moment, after thinking his comment would have guilted her out of being mad at him and then relaxed. 'Miss Coombs is weird these days and I wanted a break...' he answered honestly, '...besides, I ran into Poppy and was gonna ride her to work. I couldn't leave her on her own, it's not gentleman like'
Gail glanced at Matt when he came to stand beside her and he just smiled. Gail looked at Poppy, who stood nervously next to Caleb and shook her head in irritation. 'You know Lucas has already left to take Abe to the Store right?' she asked Caleb.
'I know they'll end up stoppin' off at the diner and gab away for ages before heading to work...I also know your Mustang's faster than his Crown Vic' Caleb smiled cunningly, knowing how much his cousin loves her car.
Gail rolled her eyes, then laughed at the compliment. 'Alright, I'll drop you both off at where you're supposed to be and I expect you to stay in school all day Caleb' she warned, then turned away and headed to Luke.
Caleb shot Poppy a knowing wink, before leading her to Gail's car. He had known he could convince Gail to help and now he had an excuse to talk more to Poppy.
-To be continued-