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Part 41

Age: 34 Years 7 Months

After kissing for several moments, they paused to gaze at one another. Caressing her cheek with his fingertips, Jack traced his thumb of her lips. Samantha ran her fingers through Jack's hair and studied his face, the handsome boy she'd loved had grown into a handsome man. Although it would take some getting used to reconciling how she saw her husband in her mind as a youth and the man who held her now.

Her husband, Samantha thought contentedly and then a small frown furrowed her brow. Was Jack still her husband? They had been married with a license secured with fake ID's and when she believed he was dead had remarried. While Jack had been the only husband she ever had in her heart, she wasn't sure he was her husband legally. Samantha dismissed her thoughts, her Jack was alive and that was all that mattered.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, concerned by her expression.

"Nothing important," she assured him.

Wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace, Jack told her, "I've missed so much time with you. Spending years longing to be with you, little nothings from when we were together were treasured memories that got me through." Tenderly he urged her, "Tell me."

"I was wondering if you were really my husband," Samantha confessed.

Teasing gently, Jack quipped, "I thought we'd already established that."

"Not that," she laughed. Then in a serious tone, she explained, "I meant whether you were legally my husband or not."

"Probably not," Jack replied and Samantha looked crestfallen. Pleased at her disappointment, he added, "But I intend to remedy that very soon. I want you to be mine in every way possible."

It was more of a command than a proposal, Samantha mused. However, she didn't mind, she was glad he still felt so passionately about her after all this time. All the years she'd been living on memories of the past he had too. After all they'd endured, semantics were unimportant, all that mattered was they would belong to one another and be married.

"So do I," Samantha agreed.

"I'll do things properly sometime when we aren't twenty feet away from a corpse," Jack promised her.

For a fleeting second the fact Jack had killed an hour before disturbed her and then dissipated. At that moment, Samantha knew it wasn't a matter of if she would kill one day, it was a matter of when and oddly that didn't bother her. Whether Jack would have embraced killing if they hadn't been separated she couldn't say, but somehow, Samantha suspected he still would have. Samantha could remember Jack telling her in the attic of the orphanage that power over life and death was the power of a god. Additionally she remembered him speaking of their omnipotence and she knew Jack would have convinced her to kill along with him. Now Samantha knew he would probably have little trouble convincing her.

"As long as we're together, nothing else matters," Samantha told him.

Staring into her eyes, Jack vowed, "Nothing and no one will ever come between us my Samantha. I will kill anyone who tries come between us or keep us apart."

"So will I," she promised.

Holding her tightly in his embrace, Jack sighed, "I love you my Samantha."

Leaning her forehead against his, Samantha's eyes glistened with tears of happiness as she said, "I just can't believe you're really here and you're holding me."

Jack lifted his mouth from Samantha's and asked shyly, "Will you be mine again Samantha?"

"I never stopped being yours Jack. You're the only man I've ever loved," Samantha vowed and drew his mouth back to hers.

Standing up several minutes later, Jack brought Samantha to her feet and kissed her again. Picking her up in his arms, Jack carried her towards the mock apartment. As Jack held her, Samantha sighed contentedly with her arms wrapped around his neck and her head against his chest, the sound of his heart, music to her ears. When he reached the apartment, Jack took her in to the bed and lowered her down gently.

Looking up into Jack's eyes, Samantha thought, God please if she was dreaming, never let her wake up. Her life had been over with his death and now looking up at him, she felt the happiest she had since she was twelve and they eloped. Her Jack, her Jack was Jack-Of-All-Trades and strangely she didn't mind. As Jack moved onto the bed, Samantha's mind flashed over the list of his victims and knew he had done it to show her he loved her.

Eagerly, Samantha ran her hands over Jack's shoulders as their mouths met and their tongues mated. Although she had been aroused by his touch when she thought he was Ed Boast and when she believed he was Jack-Of-All-Trades, the shadow of her first love prevented her from fully surrendering to the sensation. Now that she knew her Jack was in fact all three men, Samantha reveled in the feeling of his touch without guilt. This was right, this was where she belonged, Samantha realized.

Samantha tugged at Jack's gray shirt and pulled it off him. While she'd enjoyed seeing his body as Ed in that now ironically disastrous encounter in the Otis motel, now she drank in the sight of him without guilt or shame. His hands moved to cup her breasts as she traced the contoured planes of his chest. Slowly, Jack removed Samantha's top and kissed the swells of her breasts along the top of her bra. Anxious to feel his mouth on her flesh, Samantha unfastened her bra for him and slid it off her shoulders.

"So beautiful," Jack murmured, lowering his head and taking one of the rosy peaks in his mouth.

Samantha moaned as his mouth moved from one nipple to the other. Relishing the sensation of his mouth, she bent her head to Jack's ear and traced his earlobe with her tongue. Slowly Jack kissed his way up from her breasts to her throat and gently sucked on the tender skin over her carotid. In the back of her mind, Samantha knew Jack was deliberately marking her as his and the realization both amused and pleased her. Running her hands over his flat stomach, she moved to Jack's belt and he pulled away slightly and frowned.

Disappointed to have him pull away and concerned, she panted, "What's wrong?"

What's wrong? Jack thought. What was wrong was that he realized as he was touching her that she'd been with two other men since him and had a lot more experience than he did. How could he possibly please her when his experience was limited to the first month of their marriage and the thousands of fantasies he'd entertained about her over the past two decades. When he'd been disguised as Ed, he hadn't thought about the disparity of their experience because Ed was a role and it was fitting that he wasn't an expert on sex. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Jack lamented, feeling very inadequate.

"I can't do this."

"Jack what's wrong, have I done something?"

"No," he reassured her and kissed her lightly. Jack explained, "The problem isn't what you've done, the problem is what I haven't."

Sitting up, Samantha forced Jack to look at her and encouraged him to continue, "Tell me. This talking thing works both ways you know."

Laughing uneasily at her remark, Jack hesitated and Samantha entreated, "Please Jack, please tell me what's wrong."

"I can't because I won't be able to please you," he whispered miserably.

"What makes you think that?"

"You- you've been with men," Jack stammered and blushed.

"And?" Samantha prompted.

"And I haven't-" Jack trailed off in embarrassment.

"Jack, please tell me."

Closing his eyes, Jack confessed, "I haven't been with anybody but you. It's been a little over twenty years. There's no way that what little I knew at twelve can compete with your other lovers. How could I possibly please you?"

Oh God, he'd actually stayed faithful to her for more than two decades, Samantha realized with shock. It was the sweetest and most unbelievable thing she'd ever heard. As much as she already loved him, his confession made her love him more. Most men couldn't stay faithful to their wives when they could have sex with them, hers had stayed faithful for more than twenty years when he couldn't touch her. Guilt washed over her for having ever allowed Tom and Coop to touch her.

"Jack, would you look at me?" Samantha requested. When he continued to hang his head slightly and kept his eyes closed, she pulled his chin up and turned his face towards hers. Entreating again, "Please my Jack. Please look at me."

When he opened his eyes, he was blinking back embarrassed tears as he mumbled, "What?"

"I won't pretend I don't have experience, but I can honestly say, they weren't good experiences, " Samantha told him.

Jack regarded her with disbelief as she continued, "Whether Tom or Coop were any good in bed, I really can't judge fairly, because I've never been able to enjoy any man's touch but yours."

"Samantha, you don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not lying," she insisted.

"What do you mean?"

"When you were disguised as Ed Boast and touched me in Otis, that's the first time I've cum from any touch buy my own since we were separated," Samantha admitted. "The only man I've ever wanted is you. I love you and want you. You Jack. Whether you want to be called Jack or Jack-Of-All-Trades or Ed Boast, you're the only man I want to have in my bed."

Hesitantly Jack kissed her and promised, "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you my Samantha. Your wish is my command,"

Moving back on the bed, she said, "Good, then I command you to make love to me."

Slowly Jack moved to join her...