Alice and Bella are in BIG trouble with the drug dealers, but are blissfully unaware of this fact at the moment. Back home, Edward is going to attempt to give Carlisle a 'venom experience', which should be fun and Alec is back on the scene again, which is definitely not fun.
Lemon alert on this chapter for anyone who gets offended!
Yep, I knew it, you're still here. Enjoy x
CHAPTER ELEVEN - Angst
Louis reached over his desk and pressed the loudspeaker on his telephone.
"I told you I didn't want to be disturbed."
"Sorry, Boss, but I thought you'd like to know that I've tracked down the Volvo and its occupants."
"Is that a fact? Are you expecting a reward; a fan-fare, a tickertape parade? That's what I fucking pay you for, Frank."
"Yes, Boss."
Louis shoved away the half-naked girl who was giving him oral satisfaction while he was sitting in his reclining office chair. The girl shrieked in pain as her head hit the edge of the desk as he roughly pulled himself from her mouth and zipped his pants up. He wasn't in the mood for that now and she wasn't much good anyway.
"Fuck off you bitch and don't come back," he spat at the frightened girl. She stood up quickly, grabbed her clothes then ran across the office and out through the side door, not looking back at the vile slob she had been paid to gratify. When she had gone, Louis turned his attention back to Frank who had been patiently waiting on the other end of the phone.
"Okay, Columbo; who and where are the bitches and what are you going to do about them?"
"They run a private detective agency in town. We questioned a kid who goes to the high school and he said that the PTA hired them to find out who we are and stop us."
"Bad move, bad move."
"What do you want me to do, Boss?"
"What do you think, you stupid asshole. Go after them and burn them, do you hear me? Burn them."
Edward was sitting next to his father watching his face intently.
"Can you feel anything?"
"Not yet. How long is it before it takes effect?"
"Minutes."
"How long has it been now?"
"Ten minutes."
"Do you think it only works if you've just blown your load?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know what to suggest."
"Well I could …"
"No dad, I'm sure mom wouldn't appreciate that at the moment. She's on the second season of Dynasty and doesn't like to be disturbed."
"I didn't mean that, I meant ….. you know?" Carlisle made an obscene gesture with his hand.
"Oh! Right; you mean a bit of self-loving? God, this conversation is so wrong!"
Carlisle chuckled at his son's embarrassment.
"Edward, top the syringe up with venom. I'll go off to the bathroom and let you know how I get on. I can quite easily inject myself in the neck again. Okay?"
Edward nodded in agreement then proceeded to allow some more of his venom to drip into the empty syringe until it was half full.
"I'm fresh out of Playboys; sorry dad."
"That's okay, son. I've got a great picture of your mother in a bikini that normally does the trick."
Edward groaned as he put his fingers in his ears, but not quick enough to avoid that comment.
"I so did not need to hear that," he mumbled as he shook his head in despair.
Carlisle went upstairs to do the deed, gaily humming the tune to 'My Ding-a-Ling', and Edward heard the bathroom door being locked from the inside. He had to get out of the house, as the thought of his father doing what he was doing was just too much to cope with and he needed to be distracted.
Bella was sitting outside on the deck watching the first stars appearing in the night sky. Without asking permission, he picked her up out of her chair, slung her over his shoulder and jumped onto the beach in one leap.
Bella squealed as Edward ran towards the sea. She was expecting to be dunked, but he stopped just short of the water and dropped down on his knees. He carefully rolled Bella off his shoulder so she was lying on the sand and he looked down into her golden eyes that were shining with excitement.
"I want you, Bella. I want to have you, right now."
"Here, on the beach? Won't your parents see us?"
"Mom's watching TV and Dad is… busy."
Bella looked up at Edward and she could see the earnest expression in his face. At this particular moment he was the epitome of male beauty. His thick and silky auburn hair was sexily ruffled like he had just got out of bed. His shirt was open so she could see his beautifully toned chest, and his lips were set in a soft pout, just begging to be kissed. His Adam's apple was bobbing up and down as he swallowed the venom that was pooling in his mouth, but it was his piercing almond eyes, surrounded by long dark lashes that spoke clearly of his desperate need to make love to her. They oozed a blatant desire to be sexually intimate and her body responded eagerly to his silent call.
She lifted her hands and buried them in his hair, then pulled his face to hers, kissing him passionately. As they broke the kiss and he drew away from her, his head and shoulders were silhouetted against the night sky and a halo of bright winter stars surrounded him. If she'd have met this man for the first time tonight, she wouldn't have been surprised to see wings sprouting from his back, as he looked as though he had just descended to earth straight from heaven.
"Kiss me like you did after the Prom, Edward. I want to feel again what I felt that night."
Edward brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her gently then he took her bottom lip in his mouth and sucked it. But before he went further, he fingered strands of her hair and gazed into her eyes as he recalled the events of that exquisite night over ten years ago.
"That night I lay awake for hours; just thinking about kissing you made me come. I wanted to drive back to your house, climb through your window and if you'd have let me, make love to you all night long. It was only respect for your father and duty to my family that stopped me. You brought me to life that night, Bella. If you hadn't taken my hand and pulled me into your house and made me feel and act like a man for the first time, I would have ended up like Anthony; a lonely scientist married to my research. You saved me, Bella."
"You awakened me to life too, Edward; we were meant to be together. Nobody came close to reigniting the flame that died when you left me that night. I've always loved you and my love for you grows stronger every day."
Edward placed his lips on hers, gently at first, as her words of love found a home in his soul. He could feel that he was rock hard, but Bella wanted to be kissed like their first time, so he put his hands on either side of her neck and held her head in his firm grip. Bella's lips opened slightly in anticipation of his assault and he covered her mouth with his, forcing her lips further apart with his tongue then plunging into her soft and welcoming mouth.
Their tongues fought a battle as the kiss became more passionate; both of them moaning as they became more and more aroused. Edward rolled onto his back, pulling Bella on top of him, not breaking the mouth to mouth contact as he held her head in a vice-like grip, becoming more frenzied as the battle continued. When he finally broke the kiss, he ripped her panties from under her dress and in one swift movement he flung her on her back again.
He sat up on his knees and undid his pants, pulling out his throbbing cock and stroking it sensually in front of her. But his face was distorted with anger as he thought about those lost ten years and the fact that Bella wasn't a virgin when he first had her in the janitor's cupboard and his frustration spilled out of his mouth as he thought about the men who had been with Bella before him.
"I should have driven back that night," he hissed furiously, "because I should have been your first, and you should have been mine. I can't bear to think of you with anyone else, Bella. It cuts me up that other men have had you. I want to kill them all. No-one else should be able to live with the knowledge of what it's like to be with you."
Bella ran her hands over his bare torso, willing him to calm down. His eyes were blazing and his chest was heaving, even though he wasn't taking in any air. His venom coated teeth were glistening in the moonlight and Bella knew that the Edward hovering over her was nothing like the Edward who had kissed her after the senior prom. This Edward was a furious vampire who wanted to cleanse the planet of anyone who had intimately touched her and she knew she had to placate him, because at this moment in time he was dangerous.
"Edward, they were just boys compared to you. You were the first man who ever truly made love to me, and that happened the third time we had sex, after our shower in my apartment. I didn't know there was a difference between having sex and making love until that night, so you were truly my first and you'll be my last; my one and only lover. Make love to me now, Edward; I want you so badly."
Edward's eyes bored into hers and as he held her earnest gaze and her reassurances were being absorbed into his over-heated brain, it seemed to him as though he was able to access her thoughts. But it wasn't actual words he was hearing, it was an aura of pure love and devotion that was radiating from her being, wrapping itself around him like a soft, protective cloak, convincing him that she meant every word she said and that in her heart he was her first and only lover. He hung his head; sad that his words had interrupted their special moment, but as she gently touched his face with her fingertips, soothing the beast within him, he knew he felt the same, as sex had been 'just sex' before Bella came back in his life and he had discovered for the first time what the term 'making love' truly meant.
He raised his head and as his eyes locked with hers again, she wrapped her legs around his hips and rubbed her hot centre against his cock. As he gently pushed into her, claiming her as his own, Bella sighed as he filled her and he knew then that what they had was true love that was deep and everlasting, and he had to stop himself crying out in gratitude for having Bella in his life. The madness that had enveloped him had disappeared as quickly as it came, and as he took control of her body, he was determined to show in his movements how much he really cared for her.
Their love making was slow and gentle, but just as passionate as the times when they had exchanged venom. As he felt his climax approaching, he was aware that the tide was slowly creeping up the beach, and with every seventh wave the rushing water was touching their lower limbs before the pull of the ocean sucked it away from where they were lying on the sand. As he released into her body, he told her how much he loved her and as his body shook as his seed left him, she wrapped her legs and arms around him in an unbreakable embrace before she fell apart in his arms. Locked together on the wet sand, their bodies trembling and convulsing as they touched paradise, they didn't need to exchange venom to be content; their words of devotion had been enough to satisfy one another.
Afterwards, as they lay side by side on the sand, looking up at the millions of stars whose brilliance had swallowed the winter constellations, they both knew that whatever happened in the future, life and love didn't really get much better than this.
Edward bent over and scooped Bella up from the beach. Her legs and the bottom of her dress were soaking, as were his pants, but neither of them had been bothered by the freezing ocean as it washed over them. Bella was still blissed out from their love-making session, which was definitely in her top three intimate moments she had shared with Edward, and now he was carrying her back to the house in his arms while kissing her repeatedly on the forehead.
"Women's liberation can go to hell," she thought as he strode manfully across the beach. "I'm loving this 'me Tarzan, you Jane' scenario'!" She snuggled up to him until he reached the house then flung her arms around his neck as he leaped onto the deck. After kissing her tenderly on the lips, he lowered her to the ground then kissed her again.
"Are you okay?" he asked lovingly as he brushed some sand from her hair.
Bella nodded her head. "Wonderful, thanks but I'd better go and clean up."
"You look perfectly fine to me."
"I've got grains of sand in places where there shouldn't be grains of sand, Edward, so I'm going for a long, hot bath. You can come too if you like?"
"Much as I would love to 'come', I need to see my dad."
Edward grinned at her then bent over and kissed her on top of her head. He watched her as she made her way to the stairs, but as she put her foot on the bottom step she pulled her dress up to her waist, giving Edward a clear view of her naked butt that was now panty-less because he had torn the offending garment to shreds on the beach.
Edward felt his cock twitch and he was sorely tempted to fling her over his shoulder, run upstairs with her and shag her until she begged for mercy for blatantly tempting him, grains of sand be damned, but he resisted and wagged his finger at her. He reluctantly turned away from his Jezebel and disappeared into Carlisle's study, where he could hear his father tapping his keyboard.
"What happened then?"
"Absolutely nothing. Lucy in the Sky was definitely not showing me her Diamonds tonight. Are you sure it's the venom, Edward?"
"One hundred percent. I spoke to Jasper about it after I bit Bella for the first time. I was worried I might have killed her."
"Maybe I'm too old?"
"Vampires don't grow old, dad. I'm going to talk to Jasper; we must be doing something wrong."
Edward left the study and went into the laundry room to find some dry clothes. After changing into some sweat pants, he wandered into the conservatory where Esme was watching re-runs of Dynasty. He walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek then sat beside her, taking hold of her hand and bringing it up to his mouth for another kiss.
Esme was a startlingly beautiful woman for her age. She was in her late fifties, but the change had ironed out all the fine lines on her face, and her auburn hair, which had never gone grey, was now lusciously thick with deep waves, making her look like a young Rita Hayworth.
Esme turned to Edward and smiled as he laid her hand back on her lap.
"I remember this episode, Edward. I know what's going to happen next."
"Really, mom? That's amazing. It's must be thirty years since you've seen it."
"I'm sure it is, but you watch; Krystle is going to slap Alexis, any second now….. there you go."
Edward looked at his mother in astonishment; she was smiling triumphantly like she had just fitted the last piece in a jigsaw.
"I can remember a lot more now; I just wish I could remember you when you were a little boy."
"Don't worry mom; those memories will come back one day."
"What happened to me, Edward? Your father won't talk to me about it and I'm confused and frustrated."
"You were ill for a long time, mom. We never thought you were going to get better but we found a way to help you. When you're stronger we will tell you everything, but at the moment we just want you to keep improving."
"Alright, Edward, I'll be patient. But can you just explain one thing to me?"
"Sure, mom, what is it?"
"Why does no-one in this house eat or sleep anymore? I know my brain isn't working as it should, but something has happened to this family which isn't normal and I want to know what it is."
Edward could see the steely determination in his mother's eyes. She needed an answer from him and he was at a loss what to say. The truth was out of the question, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to his mother so he decided to give her half the story.
"Mom, you're right, something has happened to us. Dad was very sick; in fact he was dying. We found out about a treatment that might help him, but he would only try it if it helped you as well, so we gave you the treatment first. When you started to improve, dad took the treatment and it cured his illness too. Jasper and Alice had already been having the treatment for a while and they told us how good their life was; they were never sick and felt strong and healthy every day, so Bella and I decided to give it a go too. The side effects are that we don't sleep and can only have the red drink that you have."
Esme smiled at her son then took his hand, instinctively kissing his fingers one by one, like she used to do when he was a baby.
"I don't think you've told me the whole story, Edward, but I'll accept that for the moment. But I'm warning you that I might soon need an explanation as to why when I got out of my chair yesterday, I crossed the room in a split second, so you'd better start thinking of a plausible answer for that question."
Edward smiled at her, but he knew the time had come when his father had to come up with more than simplistic platitudes to satisfy his wife's curiosity, and it would have to be something a bit more inventive than a vitamin drink.
Jasper and Alice came in to the conservatory whilst Edward was sitting with his mother watching yet another episode of Dynasty. They had been to the cinema in town and were still buzzing about the movie. Edward let go of his mother's hand and stood up.
"Jasper, can I have a word? I've got a bit of a problem."
Alice dropped herself down next to Esme and said, excitedly, "Dynasty, my favourite. I just loved the fashions then, didn't you?"
Jasper followed Edward into the study where Carlisle was looking at boats again on his computer.
Edward took a deep breath and bit the bullet. This was going to be another embarrassing conversation in front of his father, but he needed to know where he was going wrong.
"Jasper, you know when vampires exchange venom after sex, they get that amazing feeling like their brain cells have been renewed?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Well, Bella and I thought if my mother experienced that, it might accelerate her recovery."
"Right, good thinking. What's the problem then?"
"I spoke to dad about it and he was a bit wary, so we tried it on him first?"
"What! You mean you had sex with your dad?"
Carlisle looked up from his computer and chuckled at the thought.
"No, Jasper. Jesus Christ! I decanted some of my venom into a syringe and injected dad with it, but he didn't feel anything at all."
Jasper's mouth dropped open as he gazed at the expectant faces of Edward and Carlisle, then he burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Edward hissed.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Jasper replied as he tried to control himself, but he doubled up at the thought of Edward sitting there, waiting for the fireworks to start exploding in Carlisle's brain.
When he stopped laughing, Jasper wiped his eyes even though there were no tears coming from them; it was just a natural human reaction. He sat down on a chair and gestured for Edward to sit down too. This would take a bit of explaining.
"Okay guys, here's the deal. The reason it didn't work was that you're both males. It only works male on female, female on male and only when you're sexually excited. It's probably something to do with the chemicals that are released in your brain when you orgasm that react when they mix with the venom."
"Oh shit, I never thought of that!" Edward exclaimed as he smacked his hand on his forehead.
"That's tough luck for any gay vampires out there," Carlisle commented sympathetically.
"Too right, it's tough; I have gay friends in New York who feel pretty aggrieved about it, but that's the way it is."
Now he had learned what the problem was, Edward knew that they would have to bide their time before his mother was ready to experiment in this way. But now he was thinking more about the implications of this piece of information, especially for the safety of Alice who was being stalked by Alec, and for Bella who may be caught in the crossfire if there was a battle.
"Is this part of the reason why you're convinced Alec will return to claim Alice?" he asked Jasper.
Jasper nodded in affirmation and a worried expression crossed his face.
"Can you imagine experiencing what we've experienced, then being denied access to the female who you believe is your soulmate? Alec's craving must be excruciating, knowing that the female vampire he desires is so close. The lure of Alice will consume him eventually, even though he accepts he may be risking his life. He will come for her one day. I'm actually surprised he's held back this long. I would suspect he's trying to round up some help but is not having much luck because he's universally hated in this part of the country."
Edward was still confused as to why Alec was pursuing Alice, when he was patently aware Alice wanted nothing to do with him.
"If somehow Alec did confront Alice in the future and overpowered her," he asked, "she's not going to bite him to give him pleasure, is she?"
"No, but she would bite him to defend herself. The chemicals released during sex, or endorphins to give them their proper name, are the same as the ones that are released when you're attacked. They're part of a human's primeval defence mechanism commonly known as 'fight or flight', and this chemical is still present in vampires. For a male vampire, being bitten by a terrified female vampire is just as good as consensual sex. Not all vampires are rapists, but there are some who will attack a female vampire, not for sex, but just for the venom experience, which is why female vampires are so vulnerable."
Edward and Carlisle looked horrified. "It must be really tough being a single female vampire then," Carlisle said.
"Not just single vampires, Carlisle. Married ones or ones with long term partners also get attacked; that's why their partners stay so close. This is because there are very few single females around as most find their soulmate quickly; they're drawn to them."
"What do you mean?"
"Take me and Alice for instance. I often used to visit New York; I saw it grow from a small harbour town to the city it is today. Vampires have always been there; they were attracted to the area because of the thousands of immigrants coming over from Europe to settle as there were easy pickings to be had. No-one would miss a single man or woman who had just been allowed to enter the United States through Ellis Island."
"Good grief; they could've eaten Bob Hope!" Carlisle said with a grin.
Jasper laughed at that, but it was true. Even Einstein had come into America through Ellis Island, and maybe some other genius or entrepreneur had been caught either by him or another vampire before they had a chance to make their mark on American society.
"One day I was in the area we now call Brooklyn when I caught the scent of a female vampire. Her scent was so sweet that I was compelled to track her down. I didn't know it at the time but Alice had smelled my scent and was trying to track me down too. We found each other later that day as we were drawn together like powerful magnets; the attraction was unbelievably strong. I knew her and she knew me the moment our eyes met and within the hour we were exchanging venom. When I saw her for the first time I knew immediately that the only thing that would ever separate us would be death."
"Do you think Alec has the same feelings for Alice as you have?"
"I'm not sure. When we were arguing in Alaska he inferred he had the right to take her away which I didn't understand."
"Do you think he was the vampire who changed her?" Edward suggested.
"That did cross my mind. Alice has always said she didn't know who changed her as she was sedated in the psychiatric hospital when it happened. It is possible though."
"So Alec is probably suffering from a serious case of blue balls then?"
"Yes, and now he knows Alice is close, they're probably a deep shade of violet by now. When he eventually gets here he's going to be pumped up and ready to explode, which will be to our advantage."
"How do you make that out?"
"Because he'll be thinking with his balls not his brain, hopefully."
Edward left the study while Carlisle was showing a totally disinterested Jasper a picture of the yacht he was going to purchase shortly. Jasper hated the water; even crossing the Sound in Seattle to get from the city to Forks freaked him out. He wasn't certain where the fear sprung from; he just presumed there was a deep seated memory from when he was human that was embedded in his psyche. He preferred that his feet stayed on terra firma whenever possible.
Edward made his way upstairs to find Bella. He could hear her in their bedroom talking to her father on Skype again. He hung back and eavesdropped on the conversation and could tell that Bella's voice was wavering as she was explaining why she couldn't come back to Forks just yet. He knew she would run out of excuses one day and they would have to make the decision whether to cut all contact sooner rather than later and that was a day he was not looking forward to. As he leaned against the wall, waiting for the right opportunity to walk in the room, he heard Bella say goodbye to Charlie then run over to the bed where she threw herself down on it.
He pushed the door open and slowly walked across the room and lay on the bed next to her, gathering her up in his arms as she pummelled his chest in anguish.
"I'm breaking his heart, Edward. I don't know what to say to him anymore. He's my dad; I can't just stop being his daughter and I can't disappear; it would kill him. I didn't sign up for this."
"I know, Bella; I know."
"No you don't. Your life has hardly changed. You've still got your mom and dad, your job and your home. I've left everything I've ever known to be with you. You've no idea what I'm going through. I love you, Edward, but I love my dad too. We've got to work something out."
Edward held her until she calmed down. She was right; his life had hardly changed since he became a vampire and he understood the sense of injustice she was feeling. Even though he couldn't think how, he would have to think of a way she could see her father or he knew she would be bereft until the day Charlie died.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm really sad that you get upset every time you talk to your dad. We'll work something out, I promise."
"It's not just dad I miss, Edward. I miss Angela and Rosalie too. I miss Seattle. I miss being a scientist. I miss coffee and donuts. I miss waking up in the morning. I miss going to parties. In fact I miss everything about my former life, but most of all I miss being around people, especially the people I love."
"You know we didn't have a choice, Bella. Neither of us wanted to be vampires; it was that or death. We have to make the most of what we have got."
"I know but what I haven't got now was such a fundamental part of my life."
Edward held her close, kissing her on the top of her head occasionally, until he felt her body relax in his arms. He put his hand gently under her chin and lifted her face so he could kiss her on her lips.
"I'm sorry, Edward, I was just having a moment there; I'll be okay."
"You're entitled to have 'moments', Bella. I've had the odd few."
"Really? So what has changed in your life?" Bella responded, mildly sarcastically.
"Compared to you, not much, but there is something I'll never have now."
"What's that?"
"A son or a daughter."
"Oh!"
"I know it's the same for you, but I've always wanted kids, but that's never going to happen for us now."
"That really sucks, doesn't it."
"Bella, I love you and I know that you love me. We'll find a way to make this work; I can't bear to see you unhappy."
"I know we will, Edward, but somehow I've got to find a way to see my dad."
It was almost dawn when Alec's head appeared above the water and for a while he watched the comings and goings inside the beach house from his vantage point in the sea. He counted five cars on the drive so he knew they were all at home, but he had no intention of striking just yet, even if only one or two cars had been there.
Life for the Whitlocks and the Masens was falling into a pattern. Alice and the other young female would leave in the morning in either the Volvo or the yellow Porsche, always followed by Jasper in the Cherokee, and they would be gone for most of the day. The other young male would come and go at odd times, but he would almost always drive the red Porsche; very rarely would he take the Volvo. Most of the time the older couple would be in the house on their own and would go for walks along the beach or would sit out on the deck holding hands. In all the time he had been watching them, he had never seen the older female stray far from the house and she was never left alone.
He had done his homework and had found out that the house was owned by the Masens of Masen's Research, which was probably where the younger male headed to every day. He guessed this young vampire was Edward Masen and was astounded that one of their kind was able to hold down a high-powered job without being discovered. The older couple were probably his parents, which was another surprise, as very few blood-related families existed in the vampire world.
As he watched Alice walking through the conservatory, then bend over to kiss Jasper on the forehead, he said aloud to himself, "Be patient, Alec. Just a little longer to wait then Alice will be yours forever." He took a last look at his soulmate for the night then disappeared under the waves and didn't surface again until he spotted the lights of a small fishing boat glimmering on the surface of the water about a mile out to sea.
Only a few minutes later the crew of the boat were frantically searching for their shipmate who had inexplicably fallen overboard and had already disappeared beneath the waves even though he was wearing a life jacket. But their search was futile, as his complete body would never be seen again. Alec had already drained his blood and ripped him to shreds, leaving his remains to be picked over by some interested sharks that had been alerted by the thrashing noises of the helpless fisherman and the scent of what little blood lingered in his body parts.
No doubt some time the next day, when parts of the dismembered fisherman were washed up on the beach, irrefutable evidence of yet another tragic victim of a shark attack would be reported to the shocked community via the local TV station. Then life would go back to normal on this part of the coast and the understandably ignorant humans who lived and worked in this privileged part of the United States, would continue to be blissfully unaware that it was vampires, not sharks, who were the most dangerous predators lurking in their seas and oceans.
As Alec swam away from the scene of carnage, heading for the place where he had arranged to meet up with his coven, he was counting in hours rather than days to the time when he would be ready to make his move. Now his coven was back to full strength, he was confident that in less than 48 hours he would be in possession of Alice and he would be experiencing the bliss of her venom, whether it was willingly or unwillingly given. He had searched the continent for the past three years for this female and if his carefully thought out plan worked, she would turn her back on Jasper Whitlock and walk away from her husband and into his waiting arms from where there would be no escape.
What the heck has he cooked up to make her want to do that? Alice always has Jasper with her, but maybe Alec can see the future as well and knows when Alice is going to be left unguarded. Or maybe he's got another dastardly plan up his sleeve. You'll soon find out.
The next chapter, I assure you, will be explosive!
Joan xx
