And so, two weeks passed by without incident.

They seamlessly fell into a routine that would have seemed impossible given the circumstances of their initial meeting. Joseph came to visit her every day and when he'd leave for the night, he always found himself thinking of her as less and less of a Stand user. In fact, by the time the first week came to a close he couldn't view her as anything other than a regular woman. To be honest, he sometimes forgot about her Divine Bastet but of course she occasionally found sneaky little ways to remind him. Mariah was stubborn to a fault and still tried to catch him off guard with her Stand every other day or so, but an old man was never fooled twice. Every time he caught her in the act, always spotting the out of place electrical sockets before he could accidentally touch them as they were quite hard to miss, he'd pretend to scold her much to her chagrin. But it was never serious, not really. He wasn't entirely sure what she would do if he did happen to touch one by mistake but he wasn't going to let that happen and find out.

On one hand, it seemed like he was playing a very dangerous game with her but the little things she'd let slip, the small truths, convinced him that she was harmless to him now. Actually, he'd started to feel rather close to her over the last few days.

It was an odd routine indeed but she seemed happy with it so Joseph was content to let it continue. He certainly thought of her like a second daughter now but even through all the constant joking and fatherly instinct, there was still something else there. Something different. A feeling he couldn't quite place even though it was oddly familiar to him somehow and it left him baffled. He'd truly believed that paying for her medical bills would break him free of whatever had brought him here in the first place but it only seemed to make it worse.

Every morning, his first thought upon waking was her.

Each trip to the hospital had him giddy and the drive home felt oddly lonely for some inexplicable reason.

It was a strange back and forth that he didn't fully understand but he was in too deep now to turn back. Even if he'd wanted to go back to New York, Joseph was far too invested in Mariah's care to just wish her the best and hop on a plane. Besides, the longer he spent time with her the more obvious it became that she really didn't have anywhere else to go.

No one other than him ever came to visit. No family or friends. She never even received any mail. He'd asked her about it once, where her parents were, and she'd simply answered that she didn't have any. Joseph wasn't sure if that meant they were dead or something else, maybe disownment, but he never brought it up again. He'd learned quite quickly that Dio really had been her entire world and he couldn't help but find that quite sad. So he stayed, even when those confusing back-and-forth feelings grew stronger and stronger. Abandoning her was just simply out of the question now.

It was kind of funny, really. At some point he'd managed to completely convince himself that his strange feelings were indeed coming from a fatherly place but that illusion was promptly shattered when he startled awake one morning with an audible gasp.

Mariah's long, slender legs wrapped tight around his waist, her cinnamon colored skin flushed and sleek with sweat. Her hair tousled and messy, plump lips gleaming in the light as she leaned in to kiss him. A dainty hand slowly made its way down the length of his stomach. Inch by excruciating inch until …

Joseph sat in his bed for a long time, soaked in a cold sweat as those fleeting memories played on repeat in his mind over and over again. The images were burned into his brain and he wasn't sure how he would ever be able to look Mariah in the eye again. For the first time since returning to Cairo, he dreaded going to see her that day.

But he felt like he had a responsibility to be there for her now so Joseph put his big boy pants on and drove to the hospital with his thoughts racing a mile a minute.

Its funny how much clarity retrospect brings. He'd been so perplexed about – well, everything regarding her but now it was all crystal clear.

The reason he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her even when he and the others were finishing the final leg of their journey to Dio's mansion.

The reason he'd started thinking about her again weeks later when he was back home with his wife.

The reason why he'd felt so utterly compelled to track her down, fly back to Egypt and then do everything in his power just to get her to open up to him. All so he could stay with her and make sure she was alright?

The human mind was a dark, confusing place and Joseph couldn't come up with a reasonable answer as to why he'd immediately become so fixated on her and to such an extent at that. Of course Mariah was beautiful, that went without saying. But she'd also tried to kill him. Wasn't there a part of the brain dedicated to self preservation or something? How could he have possibly become so enamored with a woman who'd very nearly succeeded in ending his life? It was almost unthinkable, which was why the thought had never crossed his mind before.

Sure those feelings he'd been experiencing in the preceding days had raised several personal questions but he'd never even humored the thought! It hadn't crossed his mind once and now this? It was almost like someone was playing a very sick joke on him.

But that dream left no room for doubts and now his real intentions in coming here were suddenly as clear as day. And the fact he'd tried to reason that away as fatherly instinct made him physically ill. How could he have been so blind to the truth? Especially when, looking back on it, the facts had been waving right in front of his face the entire time. It was so obvious now!

And thanks to that dream, he was now unable to wave it off or live in denial any longer. Because even though it was only a dream, it was more than enough proof that he'd made a mistake coming back to Egypt. Sure, Joseph hadn't even thought about kissing her let alone any of that but the dream itself wasn't so much the issue here. It was the fact he'd very much enjoyed it.

Truthfully, he'd enjoyed it a little too much.

And he felt guilty about that. He loved Suzie with every fiber of his being and he wasn't sure why he'd do something like this to threaten their relationship. He'd never purposely do anything to hurt her, especially not something like this, which just made him further question why he'd thought coming here would be a good idea. Or appropriate for that matter.

On his way to the hospital, Joseph tried over and over again to convince himself that he hadn't knowingly come to Egypt with the sole intention of starting a relationship with Mariah but the more he thought about it, reflected on his actions in the last two weeks, the more he realized that in a way he kind of had. Perhaps only subconsciously, but still. He'd wanted her and he'd traveled halfway across the globe to try and get her. Hadn't he already broken Suzie's trust in a way? Wasn't he already halfway to cheating?

And worse, did he really have it in himself to betray his wife like that?

Yet, despite the quickly mounting horror, there was still a part of him that couldn't stop thinking about Mariah. Since they'd gotten married all those years ago, Joseph hadn't been with any woman other than Suzie in that time and he hadn't exactly been a Casanova before meeting her. He'd only been with, what? Four or five women in his whole life? And he'd been content with that, up until recently apparently, but now he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to that dream. He wondered what Mariah's tight body would feel like pressed up against his own or how she'd sound moaning in pleasure underneath him. She was so beautiful and enticing, and flirty too. Mariah was practically the embodiment of sexy and he wanted to know what it would be like to sleep with a girl like that.

Maybe if its just one time … and Suzie would never have to find out …

No, no, no! This wasn't even up for debate! It was completely out of the question!

Struggling to keep his composure behind the wheel, Joseph has to force himself to remember his obligation as Mariah's sort-of caretaker. There was a job he had to do now and once he felt comfortable leaving her on her own, he'd hop back on a plane and never see her again. He just had to be strong enough to get through this and then he wouldn't have to deal with it ever again! If he just firmly sat all of this aside and focused on the end goal he'd be able to go back to living a peaceful life again.

If he was weak and gave in, he'd never be able to do that. Suzie would have his head served on a platter if she ever found out so it was really better if he just avoided it altogether.

Right?

Joseph had to force himself to remain calm as he makes his way down the hospital halls, very much on the verge of panic. He really wasn't looking forward to seeing Mariah today and he kept toying with the idea of just turning right back around and calling her from his hotel to explain his absence. But he'd dug this grave with his own two hands and he was obligated to see it through until the very end. He wasn't going to allow himself to run away from this problem, he'd face it head on and kick its ass!

He'd just act the same as always and no matter where his mind might wander, never let his resolve waver. He was stronger than his emotions andher magnetic pull, dammit! Just play it cool, just play it cool.

Steeling his resolve, Joseph walks through her door and stops dead in his tracks.

Mariah was sitting on the bed, as usual, but there was something missing. Something all too obvious.

One of her casts.

"Holy shit!" He blurts out, surprise making his eyes grow comically large. "When did they take the cast off your leg?"

She glances up at him and slowly brings her leg up into a bent position on the mattress as if to show it off. "This morning," She purrs with a sly smile.

He watches her with great interest, unable to tear his eyes away especially when her hospital gown bunches up with the movement. The last time he'd seen so much of her thigh, Mariah had almost killed him and she'd also been wearing stockings at the time but now he could see the skin there was the same flawless bronze as the rest of her.

Forcing himself to look elsewhere, Joseph tries to remind himself of both Suzie and his objective here. He had to stand firm no matter what! His strength was greater than this temptation, he was sure of it.

"Thats good!" He says, forcing himself to use a neutral tone lest he arise any suspicions. If he started acting different she'd start asking questions and he had every intention of avoiding that if he could. She never needed to know about that dream. No one did.

Moving closer, he comes to stand next to her bed. Joseph gives her perfect legs another glance under the guise of simply looking only to realize the leg she'd just moved was the one that hadn't been in a cast when he'd first arrived in Cairo. The other one was laying straight out as if still restrained, in fact he hadn't noticed her moving it once since he got there.

"Hows it feel? Are you glad to have the cast off?"

Mariah pouts at that, shifting again so that her good leg was laying on the bed once more but bent at an angle that pulled her gown up even higher. Don't look, Joseph! Do not look! "Its all stiff and sore, I can't really move it a lot yet. They said it might take a while to get my full mobility back."

"I see."

She perks right back up though, sending Joseph another foxy smile. Unbeknownst to her, that expression makes his pulse quicken. "I know! Why don't you massage it for me?"

He jerks as if she'd sucker punched him. "What!"

"Oh, come on! I'm sure it'll help! Pleeeaase?" Mariah bats her eyelashes at him and he quickly turns his back on her, much to her surprise.

He had to come up with something fast, anything to get him out of this room. It was too dangerous to be alone with her. "I don't think thats a good idea. I'm not a doctor and I might do more harm than good," He says calmly even though his brain was going a mile a minute now. Thats good!Quick thinking! Now make an excuse to leave! "I'll go find a nurse who knows how to do it properly."

Positive that he'd made the perfect getaway for himself, Joseph takes a single step before she speaks again. "No, I want you to do it!"

He freezes and slowly glances over his shoulder, fearing the worst. Just as he'd expected, Mariah was looking up at him with an expression that could only be interpreted as 'come hither'. Or his fevered mind was perceiving it like that. Shit! Joseph wasn't even sure what was happening anymore.

He tries once more. "Your body is still healing, Mariah. If I hurt you again, I wouldn't -"

"I don't care about that!" She insists as her lips slowly curve into a smile. "You've taken such great care of me already and I know you wont disappoint me now ..."

Well, if she says it like that.

Fighting the internal desire to groan, Joseph hesitantly turns back around. All he'd do is massage her leg and nothing more. No matter what she said or did! He was a grown man and fully capable of saying no, he'd done it plenty of times in the past. This situation was no different, he just had to remain firm.

"Fine, but nothing else. Got it?" He grumbles, looking just about as grumpy as he sounded.

"But of course!" She giggles before shifting into a more comfortable position. "What else could there be?"

Joseph deigns not to respond to that and instead pulls a chair over to her bedside. Taking a seat, he takes a calming breath and regards her legs like a poisonous snake, curled and ready to strike. Her behavior seemed suspicious but he had himself so worked up at this point that couldn't tell if this was just her naturally flirty personality and he was just being paranoid about it. Either way, he'd simply have to focus on getting this done and over with as fast as possible so he could put some distance between them.

How the hell did he always get himself into these hairy situations?

Silently, Joseph reaches out and takes her right ankle in a delicate hold. He wasn't exactly a massage therapist any more than he was a doctor though, so he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. His first instinct was to gently roll the joint, carefully turning it this way and that to get the muscle loose. As he works his way up towards her calf, it became apparent that her muscles were indeed knotted and tender. Tiny little whimpers slipped passed her lips as he worked them, using his fingers to isolate the knots and kneed them out. The room was deathly silent while he worked and Joseph honestly wasn't sure if he would've preferred her to be running her mouth at that moment or not.

But he was too worried about slipping up and saying something inappropriate if he tried to start a conversation so he didn't even try.

By the time he got up to her knee, he was actually feeling pretty good about his massage skills. It seemed like he'd actually succeeded in smoothing out the muscles in her leg rather well and his hands start to slow, ready to call it a wrap. But then she suddenly breaks the silence, startling him. "Higher."

Joseph glances up, looking at her suspiciously but she calmly returns his gaze with a blank expression. He sighs again and resumes the task before him, moving above her knee to massage the lower portion of her thigh.

"Higher." She repeats after a few minutes had passed.

He hesitates but complies, moving up to the mid thigh. Mariah's skin was firm but soft and he stared at it as though hypnotized while he worked at the muscles underneath. This was far too dangerous of a situation to let it continue. He had to find a way out of here before -

"Higher."

Joseph stops his ministrations, brows furrowing with a gradually increasing irritation. He remained silent for so long that Mariah actually blinks down at him, trying to prop her upper half up so she can get a better look.

"Whats wrong? Scared?" Her tone was teasing, unabashedly prodding him. Damn, she was doing this on purpose.

"I have a wife." He says at last.

Mariah makes a soft 'ooh' sound and relaxes back against the pillows. "Good, maybe she taught you a trick or two. Keep going."

Growling under his breath, Joseph starts back up again and his fingers slip under the hem of her gown. He knew that if he didn't stop soon he'd be past the point of no return but he couldn't. Or wouldn't. He was completely under her spell now, unable to do anything other than follow her directions like a mindless slave. His pulse raced as he rubbed around the circumference of her thigh, fully aware that any higher and he'd reach her hip but at the same time hoping for the chance. Shit, this was exactly what he'd been worried about. He'd gone too far and now he felt like he was trapped in her sultry tones, as unwilling to put an end to it as he was unable. He wanted it too bad. He should have been adamant about not doing this but now it was too late and -

"Higher."

Meeting her cool gaze with his own, Joseph doesn't hesitate to comply this time and his hands slide right up along her smooth skin.

His fingers running along the outside of her leg slide up and under the curve of her ass and the one on the inside presses firmly into the joint of her hip. She jumps slightly, looking honestly surprised, but his own expression remains neutral. Her labia were warm against his knuckles and he could feel the tickle of hair, which struck him as slightly odd. Mariah seemed like the type to shave it all off but, then again, she has been in the hospital for over two months now. It was probably hard to maintain a smooth pussy with casts covering the majority of your body.

Still not breaking eye contact, he starts to massage both areas. Her ass was ridiculously soft and it molded to the shape of his hand almost seamlessly, just enough give to make it the perfect mix of plump and firm. The inside of her thigh was slightly less fun to play with but her pussy more than made up for that with her soft labia brushing against his knuckles with every single movement. The heat coming off her was ridiculous and he made a point to move his hand so his index knuckle just barely ran along her moist lips.

Mariah twitched slightly every now and again but refused to break his gaze, staring him down in a way that almost seemed to suggest that she was just daring him to keep it up.

So he did.

All of his concerns from that morning were long gone by now and he takes his hand off her inner thigh, slowly running the back of his knuckles up along the length of vagina. She shudders at that, her eyes fluttering for a split second before locking back onto his a second later. The amount of fluid he found here made it obvious that she was enjoying this just as much as he was, and that knowledge somehow empowered him. He'd never even thought about fingering a girl half his age before but here they were, and she seemed to be enjoying it.

He couldn't turn back now.

Joseph leans a little closer and slips a finger between the folds of her labia, finding that she was indeed soaking wet just as he'd thought. Her skin was ridiculously soft here and he takes a moment to trace the length of her vagina from the top to the bottom, just admiring the feeling, before settling on her clit. Mariah tenses, biting down on her lip to stop herself from moaning as he lazily flicks the pad of his finger against it. Up and down, up and down then side to side. She trembles under his attention and tries to spread her legs further apart for him.

She doesn't get very far but its enough to give him more room and he reaches further up her gown, pressing his finger more firmly against her clit now. He rubs it in a circle excruciatingly slowly and the rock hard erection straining against his pants gives a twitch when she finally lets out the smallest of moans.

The sound seems to pierce his very brain, shooting right into his skull and setting off every single alert possible. This was just too much, he couldn't take it. Even now in the heat of the moment he was fully aware of what he was doing and he also knew it was wrong but Joseph was too worked up to care. He had to have her, he had to.

Suddenly standing, he grabs her legs with both hands and pulls them further apart before flipping up her hospital gown and diving underneath. Mariah jumps hard at that but the remaining casts leave her more or less immobile in this position, all she can do is squirm when he presses his face right up against her pussy. His beard felt rough against her skin but somehow it wasn't an unpleasant feeling and she tries to push down against his face with a small whimper.

Joseph had a firm hold on both of her thighs and he helps her slide further down, taking a deep breath as he does so. She smelled amazing to him, a fragrant mixture of sweet and salty, natural musk and the scented soaps the hospital supplied. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts but none of them had to do with the fact he was cheating on his wife.

No, the only thought racing through his mind at that moment was that he had to have her.

He needed her.

Climbing up halfway onto the bed, Joseph shoves his entire face right against her vagina and starts to hungrily lap at her clit with an urgency he'd never felt before. Mariah finally loses some of her composure and freely moans, awkwardly reaching down with her casts to grab at his hair. She curses under her breath and squirms harder, faster, bucking against his face desperately.

It doesn't take long for her thighs to start trembling but Joseph is relentless, pressing his tongue tight against her clit and moving it up and down forcefully. She hisses, trying to arch her back but the cast around her middle prevents that. She was breathing heavily now and he pushes on, lapping her up like his life depended on it. He was practically devouring her, his mind and body alike a frenzied mess.

Minutes pass then something deep inside her finally snaps so hard that even he can feel it and she lets out a single, barely restrained scream before clamping her teeth down on her bottom lip as she rides out her orgasm. Her body twitches wildly underneath him, every muscle contracting erratically against his face as he continues to assault her clit with his tongue. It was only when Mariah started to whimper and feebly try to push at him that he stops and rises up to look at her.

Her face was flushed and coated in the finest sheen of sweat, her golden eyes staring down at him in a daze like some kind of ethereal, satisfied goddess.

And in that moment, it hit him.

The weight of the situation rocks him to his very core and he hastily climbs off the bed. She makes a confused sound but he ignores her, making a quick bee line for the bathroom in her room. Joseph can't even look at himself in the mirror as he turns on the cold water and viciously scrubs his face in an attempt to get rid of the evidence. Her taste, her smell. God, what has he done?

After a few minutes had passed, he finally steps out of the bathroom with every intention of bolting for the door but she calls out to him from the bed, stopping him.

"Joseph? What are you doing?"

He was halfway to the door and he could practically hear the sounds of freedom calling his name. So close but yet so far. "I'm leaving." He answers simply, refusing to look back at her.

"Don't you want me to take care of you now?" Mariah sounded confused but he couldn't bear to stay in the room any longer. He had to get out of there.

"No. I'm going back to the hotel." And before she could say another word, he briskly makes his escape.

Internal guilt made him self conscious of every single person he passed in the halls and even though no one gave him so much as a second glance, he couldn't help but think they were judging him. They had every right to though, he was a cheater. He'd betrayed Suzie, their relationship, the very sanctity of their marriage. How was he so weak? How had he let the situation escalate like that? Especially when he'd come here today with the explicit intention of not giving in to the temptation?

Damn! He really was a fool after all.

Two chapters updated at once!? Madness!

No, I just already had both of these posted on AO3 and suddenly realized I hadn't updated the story here so I figured I'd just post both. Thanks for reading and, as always, I appreciate comments!