CHAPTER SIXTY

A New Beginning

It was a slow sweet awakening. The rain still drummed against the windows, but the main force of the storm had passed. Alexis smiled to herself in the pre-dawn darkness. She was curled on one side, facing the fireplace, and she opened her eyes to lazily gaze into the last of the flames still dancing in the fireplace filling the space with a warm and cozy glow. She could feel Sonny behind her, one arm thrown over her protectively. She felt his warm breath against her skin and the rhythmic beating of his heart. It seemed that hers beat in tandem with his.

She snuggled down contentedly in the enclosing warmth of Sonny's hold on her. She smiled to herself. Everything had gone even better than she'd planned. In the car with Kristina, she'd started off by making a few phone calls. The first had been to Jason. The second to Johnny.

"The question is..." she paused, searching for the words to ask what she wanted delicately. "Is there anything that requires Sonny's immediate attention?"

"You know I really can't answer that." Jason was instantly wary. "Why do you want to know, Alexis?"

Alexis took a deep breath and plunged ahead. "Sonny needs... he needs to get away."

"Why now?" Jason asked. "All he had planned this evening was dinner with Bobbie and Carly..." his voice trailed off. "Carly."

"Carly." Alexis agreed. There really wasn't need for any explanation after that.

"What do you need?" Miracles of miracles, did she actually sense approval in his voice?

"I'll meet you at the penthouse." And when she did and outlined the rest of her plan to both he and Johnny, she could tell she had the approval of both men.

"You're good for the boss." Johnny said when she was done explaining.

"I have to be." she'd answered simply.

------

And the rest, as they say, "...was history." Alexis whispered faintly.

At the sound of her voice, Sonny stirred in his sleep; unconsciously he drew her closer to him. Alexis gently turned over and settled herself so she could watch him as he slept. Still half-sleep herself...in a rare moment, she let her own guard down and let her thoughts wander where they would.

She always marveled at the sheer masculine beauty of the man; even when he was asleep the sheer power that was so much a part of him radiated from him like armor. But the ruthlessness that could preceded him like a shield was gone. Her eyes traveled across his now familiar and beloved features, from his strong jaw to the deep dark eyes now shadowed from her by the thick fringe of lashes. Alexis' lips curved in a reluctant smile; it was almost criminal that a man should possess eyelashes like that. Her eyes drifted downward to regard his mouth. It was indecent, the havoc just looking at his mouth could cause inside of her.

She marveled at the change in his appearance as he slept. When the stresses and cares of his life weren't etched upon his face, Sonny had an almost boyish expression. She could see the little boy he must have been once upon a time. Or what a little boy - or girl - of his might look like. Her heart melted a little at the thought and that realization sent a sudden shock through her. Alexis shook herself mentally. Really, Alexis, she thought to yourself. Enjoy yourself, but don't get carried away. Alexis realized what had triggered her thoughts; the wounded child in her recognized a kindred spirit.

She let her thoughts drift in another direction, recalling the events of the night before. After their initial love-making, she and Sonny had lain before the fire, content just to hold one another without speaking. I think we both realized how close we had come to losing one another. Alexis thought. We're too much alike, sometimes. It's not pride that kept us apart, just the desire not to be hurt anymore. We're both so tired of the hurt.

Without ever having to discuss it, deliberately the two of them had avoided any talk of serious things. Instead, Alexis had produced the dessert that she and Kristina had planned to take home, and she and Sonny had had an impromptu picnic right there in the midst of their cushions. Then Sonny had made love to her until the candles had burned themselves into utter extinction and they had fallen into the sleep of total satiation.

Alexis went back to studying his face, reflecting on the long history that had brought them to this point. History... His story. When he was asleep, the story of his life was barely visible. She was rarely able to watch him so totally at rest unnoticed. Now she couldn't get enough of the seeing. When she watched him like this, Alexis could imagine the man Sonny could have been if not for the choices life had forced him into. The faint lines in the corners of his eyes, softened now in sleep, the slight brush of silver at his temples, all of it bespoke of life lived under extreme - extraordinary - pressures.

But it was extraordinary pressure that creates diamonds, Alexis thought lazily. Extraordinary pressures that would have crushed many others into dust had instead created the incredibly complex man the man who lay beside her now. In the beginning, she'd hard it hard,if not impossible to reconcile the man who, of necessity had a certain ruthless side that at the same time seemed totally at odds with the man who had a gentle heart that very few people were allowed to see. Diamonds started out as merest lump of coal to create an exquisite unmatchable substance that endured forever. She thought of how much had Sonny had to endure, what incredible pressures had been brought to bear on his life beginning at such a young age, and here lying beside her was the result. Unpolished, perhaps, but a jewel, nonetheless.

The whimsical thought curved her lips into a soft smile and that was sight that greeted Sonny as he opened his eyes.

"Hey." His voice was sleep-filled, but still captivating.

"Hey, yourself."

"You were watching me sleep."

"Actually, I was simply enjoying the novelty of being with you without you having a single word to say." She lied. As she spoke, Alexis felt the warm pressure of Sonny's arm begin to move, smoothly, sensuously; Sonny's hand began to softly caress her skin. His fingertips danced softly along her spine, leaving a thrill of goose bumps wherever they touched her.

"Is that a fact?" Sonny asked and laughed aloud, a rich happy sound that made Alexis' heart to leap in her chest in unconscious response . "Well, I was pretty speechless last night. You, on the other hand, were pretty darn vocal." He laughed at the soft blush that crept up on her cheeks. "Not that I'm complaining." His hand moved up, fingers caressing her flushed cheeks and playing with the edges of her hair, tangling the silken tresses between his fingers.

His voice dropped to a loving murmur. "Do you have any idea how desirable you look right now?" Before she could answer, his hand had slipped deeper into the mass of her hair, cupping her head and pulling her towards him into a thoroughly indecent morning kiss, one that started slow and sweet and gentle, but deepened into an intimacy that left Alexis breathless..

Sonny ended the kiss reluctantly, Then he smiled and a spark of amusement lit up his eyes. "No, I'm not complaining at all." he said. "But you, Lex, have some explaining to do."

"I do?"

"Like how you managed all of this?" He waved his hand around the room. "This was absolutely magical."

"You like?"

"I like. A lot."

"You're not the only one who can work a little magic when you need to." Alexis said with a smile of her own.

"And you knew just what I needed?" His eyes held hers gazing into hers with such intensity that Alexis couldn't speak for a moment. Sonny answered his own question. "Of course you did. Even when I don't know what's best for me, you do, and you fight for that - you fight for me."

"It's nothing that you wouldn't do for me, right?" Alexis cupped his cheek with one hand, then let her fingers trail along his shoulders, her fingers slipped a little lower and Sonny jerked in response. "Ticklish, Mr. Corinthos?" She experimented with a second flicker of questing fingers and Sonny snatched at her wrist. Alexis squirmed out of his grasp and went at him again, this time with both hands. "The things you find out when you're not expecting it." she said with an teasing laugh.

Sonny reached for a pillow to swing at her, but opened himself up to a frontal attack that Alexis took full advantage of. She dove at him with both hands, and Sonny roared in helpless laughter as she found just the right areas to torture him. He finally managed to swat at her with a pillow, then pounced on her in retaliation, his hands searching out Alexis' own vulnerable spots. He found one particularly sensitive point just under her ribs and laughed in triumph as Alexis squealed in protest.

They spent the next few minutes in a loving tussle there among the velvets and silks, laughing and giggling like two kids. Sonny might have been the stronger physically, but Alexis had the more nimble fingers. And it turned out Sonny was much more ticklish than she was. She was winning until Sonny maneuvered himself in a position where he could capture her mouth with his. He knew how to kiss her in such a way that Alexis forgot to struggle, forgot to breathe, until her arms reached up to hold him close and Sonny too forgot everything else but the taste of her mouth and the feel of her body against his.

"That was so not fair, you know." Alexis said when she was finally able to speak again. Sonny's only response was to lift one lazy eyebrow at her.

"When have I ever promised to play fair, Alexis?"

"You have a point." she conceded with a tiny grin.

"Since you agreed so nicely, I will be the gracious loser. Whatever you command, I will obey."

To Alexis' immediate embarrassment, her stomach spoke for her. Loudly.

"Her majesty has spoken." Sonny said with a chuckle. "What shall it be?."

Alexis sighed. No sense in pretending it didn't happen. "To tell the truth, I was hoping for some of your croissants and coffee."

Sonny cocked his head towards the window, where the raindrops still danced in the wake of the storm. "That might take awhile. It's a long way from my kitchen."

"You don't have to go that far." It was Alexis' turn to laugh. "Check the kitchen, Sonny."

"Why Counselor," Sonny leered at her, eyes aglow with such a light of mischief that Alexis was reminded of her earlier thoughts of Sonny as a boy. "Is that an invitation?" he asked.

What a handful any child of his would be she couldn't help but think. Those dimples would get you every time. He deserves a daughter - someone who could match him dimple for dimple. Why was she thinking so silly? she asked herself. It must be lack of sustenance.

Meanwhile, Sonny's expression made it clear that he was deliberately misreading her words. Alexis tried for a frown, failed miserably, and he laughed aloud at the attempt.

"Not the kind you think... the kitchen, Sonny." She pointed the way. "Where you cook."

"I can cook where ever I am, Lex. Thought I proved that already." Sonny leaned in for another kiss, but Alexis' stomach growled again in protest. "Uh oh, I think that was a warning sign." He snatched up his pajama bottoms then his robe and stood. "I'd better see what I can find. From the way someone's stomach is talking, things could get real ugly otherwise." He looked down at her. "You always did get cranky without your morning coffee."

"Do not." Alexis said, just before she flung a pillow in his general direction.

"What do you call this attack?"

"I call it - never mind what I call it. Shouldn't you be in the kitchen now?"

"I hear and obey." Sonny sketched an elaborate bow in her direction and walked away into the kitchen.

As she heard the sounds of cabinets opening, Alexis took a moment to rebuild the fire with a few fresh logs, then snuggled down contentedly into the cushions, wrapping a coverlet around her. She looked around to see Sonny standing in the kitchen doorway.

"I found my private blend in your cabinet, Alexis. And a coffee grinder that looks suspiciously like mine's. I see your plan now... this was all a scheme for you to get your regular breakfast delivered by yours truly. I had no idea you were so devious."

"Well, as an officer of the court, I won't sit here and perjure myself by saying I didn't miss your cooking."Alexis said. "Just remember the lengths to which I'll go to get what I want."

"Oh, trust me, I won't forget anytime soon." The warmth in his smile told her it was more than just the coffee that they were discussing. Alexis smiled back with perfect understanding.