Chapter ELEVEN
"I don't know what it is that you think you know EJ," began Nicole, desperate to talk her way out of this, "But you have to let me explain!"
"Do I now?" asked EJ coolly, "I'm rather thinking the time for explanations have passed somehow Nicole, don't you? I mean, didn't I give you ample opportunity to talk to me all this time? You could have come to me at any time to speak to me about anything you wanted to but instead you opted to lie and scheme."
"Don't talk to me about scheming!" said Nicole, still trying vainly to throw the blame onto Sami, "You have no idea what this woman did to me! She's been torturing me EJ!"
"I figured you owed me a little fun Nicole," said Sami with an unapologetic shrug.
"Actually we figured you owed us both a little fun Nicole," said EJ with a smile, moving closer to Sami and putting his arm around her and looking down at her lovingly.
"But... but how?" gasped Nicole, her heart breaking as she realised that EJ had betrayed her and had been working with Sami this whole time.
Nicole had never felt more devastated by such duplicity in all her life. Tears began to well up in her eyes even as she wracked her brain to work out how they had managed half the things that had been done to her.
"Magicians never reveal their tricks," said Sami with a cool smile, clearly enjoying Nicole's distress.
oooOOOOooo
"I think all this wedding preparation and being a new mother is just making you a little overwrought sweetheart," said EJ comfortingly, "That's why I've organised Stella and Johnny to spend the day with Caroline Brady as I've got some errands to run today and I'll be out for most of the day."
"You don't trust me alone with the children," Nicole accused him, her voice wavering wildly.
"It's not that Nicole," said EJ firmly, "You must stop taking everything so personally. Caroline is Johnny's grandmother and she wanted to spend some time with him. Stella doesn't have a grandmother on either side so I thought it would be nice for her to have a surrogate one in Caroline Brady. Caroline was more than happy to do that for our daughter which I think is very sweet of her."
Nicole ground her teeth together but said nothing. She was never going to be rid of the Brady's in her life it seemed.
"So I'll drop the children off now and pick them up later this afternoon," EJ informed her and then smiled down at her, "And I think you should take things a little easier today Nicole, get some rest."
"Sure," said Nicole quietly...
"Samantha!" EJ roared, throwing back his head as wave after wave of indescribable pleasure washed over him.
Sami's loved him in the throes of passion like this, loved his wild abandon when he made love to her. She'd already found her nirvana moments earlier and could enjoy watching EJ going through his. She reached up and kissed him even as he still surged inside of her, feeling him fill her to overflowing with his maleness.
"Oh god sweetheart," he gasped raggedly, collapsing on top of her utterly spent, "I can't get enough of you!"
"I can't get enough of you either," she said unevenly, her body still fluttering wildly from the after affects of his love making.
EJ went to withdraw from her but Sami put her arms around his neck, stalling him.
"Don't," she pleaded with him, unable to bear the thought of him leaving her body yet, "Not yet."
EJ groaned at her request, more than happy to stay exactly where he was. He rolled them over though so that Sami was on top of him so he didn't crush her with his much greater size and weight. Sami put her head down on EJ's sweaty chest, listening to the thunderous sound of his heartbeat as EJ gently ran his fingers up and down her spine, sucking in great lungfuls of air and trying to get his breathing back under control.
"You'll tell me if I'm being too rough with you won't you?" EJ asked her shakily, his hands going to Sami's hips now and massaging them gently, "I'm trying to be gentle with you only having given birth five weeks ago but I just lose my control around you sweetheart and I can't help myself."
"You're such a wonderful lover EJ," she reassured him throatily, lifting her head and looking down at him as her long blonde hair formed a curtain around both of their faces, "The best I've ever had and I never want you to stop making love to me."
"I think that can be arranged," said EJ, a slow smile spreading across his face.
"Somehow I knew you'd be up to the challenge," giggled Sami, rocking her hips back and forth on him and making EJ groan very loudly.
Sami quickly clamped her hand over his mouth.
"The children are sleeping," she reminded him quickly, looking back over her shoulder to the room adjoining theirs, "We don't want to wake them just yet. We've got another hour before you have to go back to what's her face and tell her the results of the DNA test. How you've just found out that Ali and Stella are half sisters and that must make you the father of both of them and now she'll just have to marry you quickly so that you can get custody of Ali."
"Oh that," sighed EJ, sounding quite disinterested.
Sami sat up then, straddling EJ and looking down at him mischievously.
"But we've still got some time," she told him teasingly, adoring the fact that EJ would rather be here with her rather than anywhere near Nicole, "I'm not done with you yet mister."
"Thank god," said EJ sounding very heartfelt about that.
"I love that you've bought the children to be with us all day," she told him, looking down at EJ adoringly, "It means the world to me to have my babies around me."
"It was the simplest thing in the world darling," said EJ, stroking her thighs now as she sat atop him, "I simply told Nicole I was taking Johnny and Stella to be with Caroline and then asked Lucas if Ali could spend the day with her brother."
Sami's heart had been fit to burst when EJ had walked into the hotel room he'd gotten for the five of them and she'd seen all her children together. She'd cried for the first half hour, showering Ali in kisses at seeing her at last after all this time apart and then repeating it all with Johnny and Stella. EJ, Sami and the twins had spent a very happy couple of hours simply playing and just being together as a family. After lunch the children were all exhausted so their parent's put them to bed in the second bedroom which they'd asked for cots in especially. Once the children were settled EJ and Sami had found themselves becoming reacquainted yet again, falling into bed together, unable to keep their hands off one another. Sami loved EJ so much for doing this all for her without her even asking. EJ calling their daughter Stella though caused a pang of pain in her heart and he immediately saw the sudden change in her face.
"What is it sweetheart?" he asked her with a concerned look.
"I... I don't want our daughter to be called that anymore," she said softly, looking down at EJ worriedly, not sure how he'd take that, "I don't know who chose the name..."
"Nicole chose it," EJ interrupted her, "And I went along with it because I didn't mind it but of course we don't have to call her that anymore with all that has happened sweetheart. What name do you have in mind for her?"
Sami's face softened as she held EJ's curious gaze.
"I thought... I thought that seeing as you didn't have a say in naming Johnny that you might like to name our daughter?" said Sami quietly, "I'll go along with anything you chose EJ."
Sami watched as EJ's eyes filled up with tears, one escaping and streaking down his face and onto the bed sheets.
"Do you mean it?" asked EJ roughly, "Do you really want me to name our daughter Samantha?"
"More than anything," said Sami tremulously, leaning down and kissing his tears away.
She rested her body against his then, holding her head just above EJ's as he lay there.
"So do you have any ideas?" she asked him, smiling through her own emotional tears.
"I was thinking maybe Lucia?" he offered up after thinking about it for a minute, "It's Italian for light. Our daughter was my light in the darkness when I'd thought I'd lost you forever Samantha and she showed me the way back to you."
"Oh it's perfect," choked out Sami, her tears escaping now and running freely down her cheeks, so happy that they could share this special moment, "Lucia DiMera."
"Perhaps Lucia Colleen DiMera?" suggested EJ huskily, "A nod to both of our daughter's heritages. We could call her Lucy for short."
"I love it EJ," said Sami and really meant it, "I love both Johnny and Lucy having American and Italian names, it's just so right."
"Thank you," said EJ roughly, emotion choking his voice, "Thank you for giving me another precious baby to love Samantha. I love you so much I can't bear it."
"Show me," begged Sami, beginning to move on top of him now, just wanting to complete this perfect moment in the most intimate way possible with the father of her children and EJ more than willingly did just that.
oooOOOOooo
"So you've been working together in all this?" asked Nicole in distress, looking between them in disbelief, "What was the plan then, to drive me insane?!"
"Considering what you've done Nicole," said Sami flatly, "I'm thinking that train has already pulled away from the station."
"You have to understand EJ," said Nicole urgently, clutching at his arm, "I wasn't in my right mind after I lost our child, I didn't know what I was doing!"
"You knew enough of what you were doing to fake a pregnancy," observed EJ coldly, shaking her hand off his arm, "To attempt to murder two people and pass Samantha's baby off as your own. I think it's going to be pretty hard to convince a court that you were out of your mind when you were being so very calculated in all your actions don't you agree sweetheart?"
"I was in shock," said Nicole weakly, "I was traumatised."
"I know the feeling," said Sami unsympathetically, "I recently had the baby I'd just given birth to minutes ago wrenched out of my arms and then I was almost drowned. I can relate to being traumatised."
"I can't believe you did this," said Nicole shakily, looking up at EJ in despair.
"I more than did this Nicole," said EJ with a cruel smile, "I enjoyed it."
oooOOOOooo
"There is someone in the wardrobe?" asked EJ with a frown, looking over at the innocuous piece of furniture in disbelief.
EJ stood up and started to walk determinedly towards the wardrobe.
"NO!" cried out Nicole in a panicked voice.
EJ ignored her though, opening the wardrobe door and looking in. He turned his head, leaning right into the large wardrobe and saw Sami standing off to one side in amongst all of Nicole's hanging clothes. She was drying her hair with one of Nicole's cashmere sweaters casually and EJ grinned to see it. Their eyes met and he winked at her mischievously, mouthing 'I love you' to her and she did the same. This little trick hadn't been discussed between them before like the others that they'd been playing on Nicole together for the last three days but it didn't matter to EJ. Obviously Sami had seen an opportunity and run with it. That was fine by EJ, there was something about seeing her devious mind in full flight that just did unmentionable things to him.
Even though they hadn't discussed this particular 'haunting' EJ knew that Sami needed him to get Nicole out of the room so she could get out of the wardrobe, seeing as the hidden passage way entrance into the bedroom was on the other side of the room and she had no other way out of the wardrobe. EJ adored how confident Sami was in him that he'd follow up her play without needing any prior heads up. People may argue that this was a kind of sick partnership they had going on but to EJ it just meant that whatever life's challenges were from that point on he was confident that he and Sami would handle them as a team.
Sami looked so pleased with herself for this latest little haunting that EJ had an almost uncontrollable urge to lean into the wardrobe even further and just kiss her. He was pretty certain that if he started though that he wouldn't be able to stop. EJ quickly composed himself and turned around, looking down at Nicole who was still cowering on the ground, feeling absolutely no sympathy for her. Perhaps it was a character flaw on his behalf but he couldn't summon one ounce of compassion for a woman he'd tried too hard to fall in love with. She'd bought this all on herself and now Nicole was truly going to understand what it was to cross EJ DiMera and Sami Brady. He addressed Nicole, forcing himself not to burst into laughter at the pathetic sight she made
"Sweetheart," he said, being sure to put a healthy amount of gentle concern in his voice,, "There is no one there."
"But... but there has to be," said Nicole weakly, "I saw..."
Nicole gave EJ a stricken look that EJ couldn't help but enjoy. If he was ever tempted to feel any sympathy for the woman all he had to do was picture her ripping Stella out of Sami's arms and then trying to drown her. It made any thought of softening towards Nicole certainly leave EJ's head.
"I saw someone," she finished off lamely, "Standing there."
"Darling there is only clothes in that wardrobe, nothing else," EJ reassured her, keeping his voice determinedly steady, walking over to where she was on the floor, backed up against her bed, "Here..."
EJ offered Nicole his hand to help her to her feet and she shakily took it, not taking her eyes off the wardrobe.
"I'm telling you EJ, there was someone in there!" she said, her voice full of emotion.
"Well there is no one there now," said EJ comfortingly, "I just think you are a bit overwrought with all this wedding business. Come downstairs with me and I'll make you a nice warm milk to settle your nerves eh?"
"But..." Nicole went to protest but EJ was already leading her away as she threw one last worried look over her shoulder at the wardrobe.
EJ just wanted to get Nicole out of there so Sami could make good her escape. He'd settle her down and then send Nicole back to her room so that he and Sami could have some much needed alone time. The last three days they'd spent the days with the children at the hotel and at night Sami had been in his bed. As much as EJ felt this revenge on Nicole was necessary and there was a sexy element to sneaking around together all he really wanted to do was be utterly free to be with Sami in every way. They were almost done with Nicole now and this time tomorrow he could have Sami all to himself and get their relationship back on track properly and EJ couldn't wait.