Chapter Twenty-Two

The water was cold, like tiny shards of glass slicing at his skin.

He didn't feel it.

He couldn't feel anything but confusion over what he had done and how…justified he felt when he thought of Manny being dead. He had been lost at first, shocked at what he'd done. But when he had left the docks, driving home on his bike, he couldn't help but think of how Manny had threatened Elizabeth and how he had caused her accident and the pain she was going through. When he thought of that, he felt like it was right that he killed the man.

And that scared the hell out of him.

Was he really a killing machine? Did losing his memory not change who he really was?

Sonny's enforcer?

It wasn't the first time he killed someone since his memory loss. Killing the two men in the clinic when he first woke up was a shock to him. But after he had thought about it, he was disgusted with himself. Killing Manny was different.

Manny had threatened someone he loved.

Running his hand through his hair, Jason straightened from his position of leaning against the shower wall and turned the water off. Standing there all night wasn't going to change anything. It wasn't going to wipe away the murder of the night or change who he was.

He was a killer.

Stepping out of the shower, Jason wrapped a towel around his waist, not bothering to dry himself off. He thought he heard a soft knock at his door but ignored it until he heard another one.

He pulled on a pair of sweat pants, letting them ride low on his hips. "Who's there?"

"I know its late but—"

Not waiting for her to finish, or thinking about his lack of attire, Jason opened the door so fast that Elizabeth jumped when he appeared before her. "Elizabeth," he breathed, forgetting everything he was going through in that moment.

She gave him a small smile, lifting her hand. "Hi."

"What…" he cleared his throat, "What are you doing here?"

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as her fingers swept her bangs out of her face, "I needed to see you."

Nodding, Jason moved away from the entrance of his door, letting her pass. When she turned around after he closed the door, he was able to get a better look at her.

He didn't like what he saw.

Her eyes were red rimmed, tears still causing them to glisten. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… everything," she laughed without humor. He watched her pace, remaining silent because he knew she would speak when she needed to.

"Lucky's having an affair with Sam," she blurted out, snapping her head up quickly to look at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry;" she quickly added "I shouldn't have blurted that out like that."

"Lucky's sleeping with Sam?"

"I don't know if they still are, but they were."

She sighed, dropping her arms limply to her sides. Sitting down on the edge of his bed, she patted the spot next to her.

He sat down, waited.

"The night of my accident, Lucky admitted to me that he had slept with Sam. Of course I forgot, but earlier today Sam confronted me about you and it all kind of came back to me."

"Sam confronted you?" he asked, anger slowly building within him. It was one thing for Sam to bother him, but he hated that she was now going after Elizabeth. He needed to do something to stop her antics.

"It was nothing big," she rolled her eyes. "But it did cause me to remember why I left the house so late. I left because Lucky and I fought about it. I had left him that night."

It was a lot of information to take in but the one thing Jason latched onto was that she had left Lucky. There might be a chance that…

"And now?" he whispered.

"I just left him again," she said, her voice as soft as his. "Do you know what this means, Jason?"

He hoped he did.

"Sam's baby might not be yours."

His head jerked back slightly, his brow furrowed. With everything going on, he hadn't even thought about that. "She said she hadn't slept with anyone…" he let the statement go.

"But she did. Lucky." Sighing, Elizabeth ran her hands through her hair, turning on the bed to look at Jason more fully. Her leg was bent on the bed, her knee toughing his thigh. "The baby might be yours, but there is a chance that Sam was lying. She told Lucky that the two of you slept together right before you broke it off with her."

"We didn't," he cut in quickly, needing her to believe that. "Sam told me that we were together before I lost my memory."

"There could be a chance that Sam doesn't know who the father is and is saying it's yours because she wants you back. Or…" she shrugged her shoulders. "Or, she could be pregnant with Lucky's baby and knows it but is still saying it's… yours."

He remained silent, mulling over the possibilities.

"I don't want to write her off as the bad guy, trying to trap you with a baby, but something isn't right. She's lying to everyone to cover something."

"If the baby is really mine, I'll be there for it. But I need to find out."

"Of course."

Jason watched her wring her hands, her fingers intertwining, squeezing, loosening. She was fidgeting with her engagement ring, twirling the ring around her finger. He watched as she took it off and looked at it, then slid it in the pocket of her jeans.

He placed his hand over the both of hers. "You ok?"

"Yes and no," she sighed, lifting one hand from beneath his and swiping an unruly hair behind her ear. "For awhile now I've realized that something wasn't right between me and Lucky. We've been loosing touch with each other and it's like our love wasn't there anymore. His affair with Sam only pushed me to realize that it's over… it can't work."

His thumb swept back and forth over the back of her hand, her fingers moved to twine with his. When their hands locked, he felt a jolt rush through him.

"I just wish it didn't have to hurt so much."

His eyelids drooped as his stare focused on her mouth. She was leaning towards him, her head tilted back, just enough access for him to lean down and kiss her. "Would you ever go back to him?"

"No," her answer was immediate as she leaned closer to him. "I've lost my trust for him and I don't think I could ever get it back. It just… hurts."

He wanted so badly to kiss her in that moment, to lean forward, closing the gap between them and taste her. But she didn't need that right now, she needed him to comfort her.

Not take advantage of her.

Letting go of her hand, Jason slid it behind her back, pulling her close to him as he held her. "It's going to be ok."

Her arm slid around his back, causing a chill to run up his spine as her cold hand grazed him. Her other hand spread out against his chest and stomach, her fingers dancing across her skin. She probably had no idea what she was doing to him. "Are you ok?" she asked.

Not with her touching him like that.

"I'm fine," he crocked out, clearing his throat to push past the sudden lump that formed there.

She lifted her head from his shoulder, keeping her arm around him, her hand still flat against his stomach. "You looked kind of upset when I got her. I'm sure me dumping all of this about Sam and the baby couldn't help. Are you ok?"

"I'm better now that you're here."

Her face softened, a slight smile upon her lips. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't." He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "But I'm ok. You being here helps."

"I'm glad." Her gaze dropped to his lips and Jason did everything her could to suppress the groan he needed to release. "Different events and tragedies have a funny way of putting things into perspective," she spoke softly, seductively.

His voice matched hers, "Yeah… they do."

Their eyes connected, blue locking on blue. Hers seemed to soften even more. As if reading each others minds, knowing exactly what the other wanted, their heads moved closer together, their lips grazing slightly.

The slight touch of her soft, alluring lips was enough to do him in. Moving closer to her, Jason tightened his hold around her waist, bringing his other hand to her hair, grasping it in his fist. She met him just as hard, wrapping her arms around his neck, crushing her mouth to his.

The kiss was bruising, not at all like their kiss downstairs.

He heard her moan, fueling his lust.

Elizabeth's hands alternated between running through his hair, down his chest, and across his back. It was like she couldn't get enough of him like he couldn't get enough of her.

He deepened the kiss, running his tongue along the seam of her lips, sighing and groaning when her lips flowered under his and allowed him entry.

Their tongues dueled in a hot dance as their bodies seemed to fuse together.

Needing air, Jason lifted his lips from hers only long enough to allow the both of them to take a breath in. Then he was on her again, his tongue sweeping in her mouth as he hugged her tight, lowering her to the bed.

They inched their way up the bed until her head hit his pillow, their bodies completely on the bed. Her legs opened, cradling him between her thighs.

He wanted to taste every inch of her, knowing she would taste just as sweet as he imagined.

She moved against him, bringing her center into contact with his painful erection. He followed her movements, loving the feel, loving when she moaned.

His lips trailed down her throat, kissing along her jaw to the other side of her graceful neck. She tasted so damn good.

He breathed her in, continuing to trail his lips against her throat and to her ear. He nibbled her there, ginning when she jolted against him, moaning.

Her hips rose as she continued to move against him, he pushed forward, grinding against her.

"Jason…" she half gasped, half moaned.

He returned his lips to hers, close to breaking, not wanting to stop. His head began to ache slightly, a dull throb behind his eyes. But he didn't stop, couldn't stop.

He couldn't break away even when a memory caused bright lights to flash against his lids. His body slowed down against hers, but his lips still kissed hers as he focused on the memory.

It was dark. They were in some type of art studio and he was kissing her, his hands pulling her shirt up as he walked backward towards a couch. He could feel himself fall against it as she landed on top of him. Their mouths were fused together in the same fiery passion as they were at that moment in Jakes.

In his memory, his hands continued to lift her shirt higher and when he was close to relieving her off it, she jumped off of him.

"

"Ok," he said calmly even though a fire was raging inside of him, needing her to help him relieve it. .

"'Ok'? That's it? Just 'ok'?" she asked in disbelief, titling her head to the side, a frown scrunching her forehead.

"

The pain in his head became so excruciating that he couldn't think anymore, couldn't concentrate.

Gasping, Jason removed his lips from Elizabeth's, moving off of her as his hands pressed against his head, trying in vain to relieve the throbbing pain.

He fell back against the bed, his body still hot from their kiss, slowly cooling off as it tried to curl into itself. The heels of his palms rubbed against his eyes, the blinding pain never easing.

Elizabeth spoke beside him. "Jason… wow, I-I, yeah …we should stop," she breathed. He felt the bed shift and then her hands were grasping his wrists.

"Jason?" her voice was panicked. "Jason, what's wrong?"

He couldn't answer her, couldn't form a single breath. He hissed as another sharp stab made his ears ring. "Oh my god, Jason…" he felt the bed shift again as Elizabeth got up.

The last thing he focused on was her gentle hand running through his head as she whispered. "Please be ok."

And then the world around him went black.