Lucas pulled up at Gail's parents old summer cabin, which they had visited once before when she was pursuing her parents deaths. He smiled as she stared at the cabin distrustfully and stroked her leg reassuringly, then waited for her to acknowledge him.
'What are we doing here?' she asked confused. Gail still had a lot of unanswered questions relating to her parents deaths and this place only reminded her of her previous suspicions.
'I was gonna wait until Christmas for this, but then remembered who we were' he smiled, getting out of the car and walking around to the passenger side to open her door.
Gail stared suspiciously as he held out his hand to her and shook her head. He was such a gentleman; however, she found it hard to trust him when he behaved like this, as it was like he was trying to hide something dark under all that charm. 'Who are we?' she asked feigning ignorance, as she took his hand and allowed him to assist her out of the car.
'Soul mates who don't believe in this time of year' he advised, then slowly led her towards the cabin and ignored her tenseness.
'Speak for yourself, I for one am looking forward to sitting on Santa's knee' she joked, trying to hide her discomfort at the situation.
Lucas stopped and turned towards her as they reached the weather beaten door, then cupped her chin gently in his hand and placed a soft kiss on her lips. 'Will you trust me?' he asked, wanting to put an end to her unease. It had taken a lot for him to open himself up like this and he did not appreciate her distrust.
Gail stared deep into his eyes and allowed herself to get lost in his stare, she could not hide her true feelings when he got like this. 'Always' she whispered and savoured the taste of his tongue in her mouth when he kissed her passionately.
Lucas felt himself getting distracted and gave himself a mental shake, before gently pushing her in front of him and signalling for her to take the lead.
Gail obediently stood in front of him and tried to open the door to the cabin. She had to give it a hard push as it was stiff and when it finally opened, the smell of the fourth of July hit her and she felt tears begin to form in her eyes when the vision of her Mother here flowed through her mind.
Lucas placed his hands on her hips and pulled her back into him, he nuzzled his head into her neck and kissed it softly to help her relax. He smiled to himself when she leaned back into him and let out a low moan. 'You're broken when it comes to your family, I don't want that rubbin' off on our boy' he whispered in her ear.
'So you brought me here to fix me?' she asked in disbelief.
'I bought a piece of your past to help you get closure. I also bought your old family home and the burnt out Trinity Guardian so you can do with them what you will' he shrugged, not understanding her scolding tone.
Gail let out a small laugh and shook her head. 'Why don't you just buy up the Cemetery my parents are buried in, then you'd own my whole life and would have full control of me' she said sarcastically.
'Don't be so so silly, I'll have your Mom moved to the family plot but Peter stays put' he advised and rubbed her shoulders softly.
Gail could not believe he was oblivious to his control issues and took a deep breath to calm herself. 'You can't just go around buying my past' she tried to reason.
'Why not? I own everythin' of my family and we're family now' he stated and pushed her gently into the cabin, sensing her stalling tactics.
Gail was about to protest to his supposed logic when she saw the mattress on the floor and candles lit around the room. She had no idea how he managed to set the atmosphere in such a romantic way when he had been with her for the past hour; however, she applauded his efforts. 'You're unbelievable' she said, taken aback by the set up.
'I'll take that as a compliment Mrs Buck' he smiled, then reached around to unbutton her cardigan and slowly removed it.
Gail inhaled deeply and let the familiar scent of her past engulf her, she remained obediently still while Lucas carefully pulled down her long skirt and removed her panties. When he began to run his lips and tongue slowly up the inside of her thigh, she let out a loud moan and allowed him to control the moment.
Lucas sensed her unwavering loyalty to him and pulled her down to the mattress. He stood up and undressed before her, then lay down and slowly ran his hands over her body. His desire for her was so strong that he could not stand to delay the inevitable any longer; therefore, he disregarded his usual foreplay, parted her legs and entered her fully. He kept his movements slow, ensuring he pushed as far as he could inside of her before he pulled back. Her satisfied moans turned him on even more and he forced himself to take her gently, wanting to feel every burst of pleasure when he moved inside of her.
Gail was so emotionally drained just being in this place that she had no fight left in her. She allowed him to take her tenderly, disregarding the suspicions that tried to take form in her mind about his involvement with her parents deaths and just focused on the feeling of him inside of her.
'Nothin' matters but us love, let it all go' he whispered in her ear, then let out a loud moan when he thrust deep inside of her.
Gail scraped her nails down his back and begged him not to stop. When their climax came together she called out his name and told him that she loved him. She bit her bottom lip and tensed as soon as the words left her mouth; however, the words were already out and she cursed herself for allowing herself to lose control.
Lucas called out her name and smiled at her declaration, he was amazed that he had finally managed to get her to lose control enough to admit her true feelings and kissed her passionately without a saying a word. He rested on her chest whilst he remained inside of her, allowing the words to sink in. He knew better than to bring attention to her slip of the tongue and waited patiently for her relax, he was not finished with her yet and the declaration only added to his desire.
Gail closed her eyes and waited for some smug comment about the illusion of free will or something similar; however, nothing came and she allowed herself to relax. She knew they were not done yet and he was clearly waited for her to regain her composure, so she rolled him over and straddled him, then began to ride him slowly. 'See now lover, as I'm not a control freak, I can't keep this slow pace' she smiled, then began to ride him hard and fast.
Lucas let out a satisfied laugh and slapped her behind playfully, before gripping his hips tight. 'I guess we better hurry before our boys burn the house down with Billy in it' he joked, then sat up and began sucking her breasts teasingly.
Gail laughed and let out a loud moan, then sped up her movements. This was a nice break from their stressful lives; however, they were required to return back to reality at some point and it was not fair to expect Billy to have the children overnight.
Caleb stood on a ladder in the Foyer, attempting to hang the star decoration on the top of the large Christmas tree Gail had bought. He had left Billy decorating the Study while watching Luke and had decided to take ownership of the main entrance of the house. He had made his Father proud today and he was hoping to continue doing so by this gesture.
Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew the ladder and Caleb let out a loud yell as he began to fall. Before he hit the hard marble floor, he felt strong arms catch him and looked up at Lucas thankfully.
'Did no one teach you that you never climb a ladder without a spotter?' Lucas snapped, concerned for what might have happened to his son.
'Who was around to teach him anything?' Gail asked abruptly, then stroked Caleb's cheek softly and smiled at him warmly when Lucas placed him in a standing position.
'I didn't mean to do anythin' bad...' Caleb started, shaken by the fall and the reaction of his Father.
'And you didn't, we both appreciate you helping with the decorating' Gail interrupted, sensing his upset and placed her arm around his shoulder.
'Next time don't do go up there on your own son' Lucas ordered, then ruffled his hair and smiled reassuringly at him.
Caleb smiled back at Lucas, then gave Gail a hug before running upstairs to get changed into his pyjamas.
'Do you have to be so abrupt with him?' she asked Lucas, not understanding how he can allow Caleb to assist in the apprehension of a robber but scold him for climbing a ladder on his own.
'He was with me the whole time for that' he said defensively, reading her mind. 'Had he have fallen and cracked his skull open on the marble floor, who would be at fault?'
'You for dragging me away from my duties' she scolded sarcastically, then slapped his behind playfully and went to find Luke.
Lucas shook his head and began to pace the Foyer curiously, there were no windows open and they had already closed the door before the strange wind knocked the ladder. He sensed Gail approaching with Billy and Luke; therefore, he brushed off his suspicions so not to worry her and went to help her with his youngest.
Gail sensed the change in Lucas and stared at him suspiciously, wondering what he was hiding. When he just smiled back at her and placed a soft kiss on her lips, she shook her head in mock disapproval and left them while she got ready for bed.
Caleb awoke in the middle of the night with sweat dripping off of him. He had been having the strangest dream about a dark figure following him and was struggling to escape. He had been running through a wooded area which seemed familiar; however, it had not taken long for the figure to catch up to him and when it grabbed his arm, he felt a burning sensation on his skin which caused him to wake up.
It had been a long while since he had suffered from bad dreams and he wondered if this was due to the excitement of arresting a man. He let out a long breath, then inhaled deeply in an attempt to slow his heart rate and glanced around his bedroom aimlessly while he calmed down. His heart skipped a beat when his eyes stopped on a dark shadow in the corner of the room and he stared at it for a moment. He was not fully awake; however, he could have sworn that the shadow just moved.
The bedroom door creaked open slowly and low growls came from Gideon as he skulked into the room. The dog jumped up onto Caleb's bed and lay down protectively at his feet, watching the corner of the room.
Caleb felt a wave of ease flow through him when Gideon lay on his feet and cursed himself for allowing his imagination to play tricks on him. He lay back down on his pillow and drifted back off to sleep, knowing his cousins protector was on hand if required.
When he sensed the boy had drifted back off to sleep, Gideon jumped off the bed and walked slowly towards the corner, then barred his teeth in warning at the dark figure staring back at him.
-To be continued-