Making Adjustments
2

Jason has some explaining to do and as usual, Sam makes him
realize that things work out better when they work together.

He tries not to be startled when the door quietly opens. He knows it's her. His love. His Sam. Coming home to him.

"Jason," she calls out softly into the darkened cabin. "Are you here?"

He lights a candle to be a beacon to her, showing her the way. As her soft footsteps get closer, his heart begins to beat louder and he's sure she can hear.

A few more long, endless moments and he sees her walk into the room. Or more like, limp. His heart plummets as he remembers that just barely a week ago, she was in the hospital being treated for both back surgery and a brain surgery.

"You're still hurt," he winces, rushing to her side. He bends down and swoops her up into his arms, carrying her over to the rose petal covered bed. He could practically kick himself for dragging her out of her sick bed. "You shouldn't be out like this."

She gives him a sweet smile before stopping his self flagellation with an even sweeter kiss that fills his heart with more love than he ever imagined possible.

"Hello to you too," she giggles, watching his ears turn red the way they do in the early stages of his arousal.

"Sam, you're . . ."

Again, she presses her lips to his to stop his flow of self blame for whatever he feels he needs to atone for. It's been too long and she doesn't want to spend what little time they have worrying about her health.

"I'm fine," she insists, nuzzling her in the crook of his neck. She presses kisses wherever she can reach. Kisses that send shivers of excitement all throughout his body. "I missed you. I missed this."

"I missed you too," he growls when her lips dampen a particularly sensitive spot. "So much, Sam. I thought I'd never hold you like this again. But you just got out of the hospital."

"True. And sadly, after the trip to get here, I'm not really up for much more than cuddling," she frowns in disappointment. "Are you all right with that? I just had to see you? And touch you. Have you hold me. That's all the medicine I need."

He reclines on the bed, getting her settled next to him. She immediately cuddles up to him, wincing when moving a certain way brings her some pain.

"Are you . . . "

"I told you I'm fine," she insists. "Just a twinge. It'll pass."

He wraps his arms around her, taking care not to aggravate any of her wounded areas. They both settle into the comfort of each others arms, each gently stroking wherever they can reach on the other's body. The light touching leads to kissing and Jason takes the opportunity to show her exactly how much he's missed her.

"You still okay?" he pants, trying desperately to calm his pounding heart. He gets so excited just touching her. More excited than he wants to let on since they can't do anything about it.

"I'm wonderful," she purrs, stretching catlike in his arms. "No pain or anything. I told you you're all the medicine I need."

The urge to nibble on her already swollen lips is too much to resist. He gives into his compulsion, his gentle bites soothed by his warm tonge. It makes her whimper.

"Jason," she whines when he stops, calming them both with a kiss on her forehead.

"You're too irresistible," he explains, the husky rasp is voice another sign of his arousal. "We need to calm down some. I just never thought I'd hold you like this. But now that you're here, I can barely control myself."

As their heart rates begin to settle to a more normal pace, she sits up and looks down at him with a worried look in her eyes.

"This isn't just a one time thing, is it? You're not going to get my hopes up just to leave me again, are you?"

"Sam," he sighs. "I left you because it was for the best."

"Your decision or Alexis'?"

"I . . ." he stutters, not knowing what to say. "I don't want to answer that. But you know me. You know nobody can make me do what I don't want to do."

"So you want to be separated from me?" she tries to clarify. "Because if you do, this certainly isn't the way to accomplish that."

"Sam, don't."

"Don't what?" she yells. "Don't be confused at what's going on here? Don't be mad that you let my mother talk you into leaving me? Don't expect to see you again after this? What, Jason? What are you trying to say?"

"I love you, Sam," he says, and her anger abates just a little. "But I also want you to be safe. My life is too dangerous for you."

"That sounds like something straight from Alexis' mouth. Is that what she told you? Did she make you feel guilty for me being in your life?"

"Your mom is worried about you, Sam. And with good reason. You got shot with a bullet meant for me. If you weren't out on that terrace with me, then this wouldn't be happening."

"Okay, I'm getting scared now. Because you're sounding exactly like her. What did she do, brainwash you or something?"

That brings a smile to his face, the idea being so ridiculous.

"Jason, since when do you listen to anything Alexis has to say? Why would you start now?"

"Because she's right. My life is dangerous. And apparently I can't keep you safe."

"Jason you've always kept me safe," she counters.

"Not when you got shot in my arms. With a bullet meant to kill me."

He slips from the bed and walks over to the window. The cabin sits on a remote mountain where no one could reach without him knowing. He made sure of that before letting her meet him there. They're safe there. But how can he guarantee her safety any other time?

"Jason," she sighs, walking up behind him. She wraps her arms around his waist and rests her cheek on his back. "You saved me. When I got shot, you took me to safety and let the doctors treat me. When I needed surgery, you let them do it, no matter what stunts Alexis tried to pull to stop you. You refused to let me die."

"And now, I'm refusing to let you get hurt again. I can't stand to see you hurt because of me."

"Even though that's what you're doing now by staying away from me?"

"But at least you'll live. At least you won't have to deal with getting caught in the crossfire of bullets meant for me."

"Says who?" she challenges.

"What?"

"Who says that bullet was meant for you? I mean, besides my mother, of course," she says, rolling her eyes.

"Who'd want to kill you? It makes sense they were shooting for me."

"Then why didn't they? Shoot you, that is?" she wonders, trying to make him think. "Come on, Jason. You could have been dead several times over while you were out on that balcony. Why would the shooter wait until you picked me up and spun me around to shoot at you?"

"Maybe the shooter wasn't ready until then," he supposes.

She gives him a knowing glare, letting him know she doesn't believe that. And she feels a glimmer of hope when she sees that he has some doubts himself.

"Think about it, Jason. You've done this yourself. What do you do when you're set to take someone out."

He cringes, uncomfortable with discussing this with her. But she seems determined not to let it go, so he goes along with her.

"I find my mark. Make sure I know where he's going to be and set up and wait for him."

"My shooter was set up across from the Metro Court. Jason, you were in jail that day. And you hardly ever go to the Metro Court. Why would the shooter be waiting for you there?"

"Maybe he knew you'd be there and assumed I'd show up, too," he says with a shrug, not quite believing what he's saying either.

"Okay, even though that's a big assumption, let's just go with that reasoning."

She steps away from him and walks across the room, by the door. Then she opens the door and takes a few more steps down the hall.

"Let's just say I was here that night and you were there. Turn the timer on your watch."

He gives her a confused look, but does what she asks anyway.

"Now pretend to write me a note."

Again, he's not sure where she's going, but again he follows her instructions.

"Okay, I get the note. I read the note. I look up and spot you and walk towards you."

She walks into the room and over to Jason, stopping just in front of him.

"Okay, tell me how much time has passed and tell me what you've been doing that whole time."

He looks at his watch and smiles, finally understanding her line of thinking.

"It's been almost 2 minutes. Add to that the time it took for me to first find you inside the party and then track down a waitress to send you the note. All that time, I was just standing there, an easy target for anyone trying to shoot me."

"Exactly," she says, returning his smile. "The shooter probably had from five to ten minutes he could have shot you, but he didn't."

"Because he wasn't aiming for me," Jason realizes. "You were the target all along."

He stumbles over to the bed and falls on it, not sure how to process what they just figured out.

"Somebody's trying to kill you, Sam," he says slowly as all the pieces begin to click into place. "That shooter was aiming for you."

"Now all we have to do is figure out why, then we'll probably figure out who'd want to kill me."

"Well, it can't be that long of a list."

"You'd be surprised," she confesses. "I've made a few dangerous enemies myself, Jason. Before I even stepped foot into Port Charles."

"Someone who'd want to kill you?"

"Possibly," she shrugs, sitting down next to him. "So I guess I need you now more than ever. Whoever shot me has to know that I'm not dead. What if they try again? You're the only one I trust to protect me."

She throws an arm across his shoulder and kisses his cheek.

"No one else is big enough. Strong enough. Sexy enough," she whispers into his ear, grabbing the lobe with her teeth and laving the gentle bites with her tongue.

"Sexy?" he asks, embarrassed when his voice squeaks like a 15 year old.

"Oh yeah," she practically purrs, pressing a line of kisses down his neck. She pushes him back onto the bed and crawls over him, her knees landing on either side of his hips. "My big, bad, and oh so very sexy protector."

She finally stops the teasing kisses that land everywhere but his lips and allows him to capture her mouth in an almost violently crushing way.

"You should make a list . . . of who'd want to kill you . . . and give it to Mac," he says, between kisses. "They're looking for someone who'd be after me."

"We can do that later. Much later," she grins seductively. "Right now, I'm ready to have my way with you."

With strength he never imagined she had, she rolls them over, with him landing on top of her. His hips fall into the cradle of her parted thighs and the move brings a growl from him that neither of them had ever heard before. Her eyes stretch wide open at the feral look on his face.

"Later," he repeats her declaration from earlier. "First, I'm going to have my way with you."

She can only close her eyes and moan as he lowers his lips to her neck, all other thoughts racing from her mind. They can figure out later who's trying to kill her. Hopefully much much later.

To be continued . . .