A/N: This chapter has MATURE content, so if adult situations bother you, please do NOT read! Thanks! ;0)

CH 2: More Than A Feeling

A streak of lightning cut across the pale October sky, Maggie dismally watching on from her hotel window before shaking her head and shutting the curtain.

Oh, why was she there? And better yet, why had she ended up listening to Willie's foolish ramblings about her alleged death?

'It's because a part of me was afraid unlike any other' Maggie realized, giving a shiver as the rain continued to pelt mercilessly overhead. 'If I'd have stayed, perhaps right now I'd be...'

"No!"

Clapping her hands over her ears as if to silence the thought, Maggie shook her head in denial of the

prospect of Willie's words actually coming true.

"They can't" she assured herself, "they can't!"

"They can, Maggie."

Screaming, the waitress whirled around in order to find the man of her innermost fears standing there before her, her voice strained with terror as she demanded, "H-how did you get in here!?"

"The door was unlocked" Willie explained, a sheepish smile coming to his lips as he shrugged his shoulders. "I ain't too proud a' myself, but I followed ya here, Maggie -- I had ta see that you were alright."

Completely flustered, Maggie placed a hand over her mouth before shaking her head. "You're sick in the head, aren't you? This was all just some rouse to get me to fall into your trap!"

Willie balked. "What? M-Maggie, no! I-I-I could never hurtcha, you know that!"

"No, Willie, I don't know that" Maggie stubbornly argued. "If what you said is true, you've seen that I'm safe and sound, so now you can leave!" Noting his hesitation, she wheedled, "Please! I don't want you here -- you frighten me!"

Maggie couldn't have hurt Willie more even if she'd just shot him directly in the heart with a cross bow. With weak, sad eyes, he asked, "Maggie, I...I frighten ya?"

"Yes, Willie, yes! Just leave me be!" she begged, genuine tears coming to her eyes as she took a step back. "I don't want you here...I never should've listened to you!"

To Willie's surprise, instead of feeling more sorrow, a bout of rage began to seep through his veins until the beast within nearly came free of its shackles. "So ya think I'm the bad guy, huh? That I'm the one who's tryin' a' trap ya?" When Maggie just stared at him, he seethed, "Goddammit, Maggie Evans, I'm the one who actually cares! Do ya think I woulda toldja all that mumbo jumbo if I didn't!?"

"Willie, you're scaring me..."

"Yeah? Well you should be scared! I'm tryin' ta protect ya, but you don't even seem to care!" Seizing Maggie by the arms, he sustained, "If you stay here for a while you're sure ta be safe, so will ya please just do that for me? Ya won't regret it, I swear!"

Maggie burst into tears upon hearing his heated string of words, her response dying on her tongue as she shook her head and wept. She couldn't do this...nothing was making any sense to her!

To Willie's chagrin, his heart gave an agonizing flip the moment he spotted her tears. "Aw, Maggie, no" he pleaded, "Maggie, don't cry -- I-I didn't mean ta upset ya, I just..."

'Am a complete ass' his mind taunted, the blue-gray of his eyes softening as he dared to touch the satiny curve of her cheek.

Placing his lips apologetically against Maggie's forehead, Willie found that he couldn't help himself from exploring the rest of her soft features. Cupping her chin with his hand, he allowed his mouth to ghost along her tear-stained cheek with a reverent sigh, a tingle of excitement bursting forth within him when he felt Maggie's arms wrap timidly about his waist.

"M-M-Maggie?" he asked, genuinely surprised by her reaction.

Maggie, however, found that she couldn't voice her thoughts, tears streaming down her cheeks as she continued to receive visions of herself during her kidnapping. Willie was there with her, and he was kind to her -- so kind that Maggie couldn't help but feel a strong surge of devotion toward the man in her arms. After all this time of having fragments of memories, she could finally put a face with the shadow who had held her hand during the darkest hour of her life. She would ask him later on what he knew about her disappearance, but for now...for now that could wait.

Rather than giving Willie a direct reply, Maggie chose to give him a quick kiss on the cheek to show her gratitude, her eyes averting in embarrassment when she felt him staring at her in wonder. "I-I'm sorry" she weakly apologized, "I shouldn't have...I mean..."

"Don't ever say sorry ta me" Willie urged, knowing damn well that he should be the one apologizing for all his sins. Unable to help himself, he nuzzled Maggie's cheek before dipping his head down and capturing her lips with his in a gentle kiss, his arms wrapping securely about her waist before pulling her close against his trembling form.

God, she tasted sweeter than sugar -- it was all so amazing that Willie wanted to cry, yet instead he fought against his instinct of propriety and slammed her viciously up against the wall. Gone was his timidity, and in its place was the animal that had longed to be with her ever since their first meeting.

With each strong stroke of his tongue, Maggie released a pitiful whine from the back of her throat, her fingers burrowing deep within his hair as she broke free of his kiss and panted against the warm satin of his lips.

"We shouldn't" she whispered, closing her eyes when Willie grasped at her bottom. "Really, we...I..." Gasping, Maggie fought off a small moan when he rocked his hips forward and pressed his desire needily against her belly, her eyes locking with his before he crashed his mouth forcefully against her own and hurriedly unfastened the front of her blouse.

"Don't" Maggie pleaded, her mind reeling amidst her impassioned haze, "Please...y-you should stop."

"I can't" Willie panted, "I swear, I can't..."

Gasping for breath, Maggie met with Willie's lips again and again as both inadvertently battled for dominance, both lovers giving a resigned moan the moment their hips molded snugly together amidst their frantic efforts to get closer.

Willie knew why he was losing control at the rate he was, but Maggie? Maggie was completely unsure of herself. Everything about their situation was new and exciting to her, yet despite her hodge podge of memories, she hadn't expected to react so strongly toward her alleged savior. The fires Willie's touch incited within her core frightened her to no end, but she found that it was all disturbingly thrilling, as well.

Running the fire of his tongue along Maggie's lips, Willie stripped her open blouse from her body and lifted her into his arms with a deep and needy desperation. Propping her back against the wall, Willie groaned when she melded her warm mouth to his and began to undress him, his hands shaking as he reached around behind her and unfastened her bra.

A guttural clap of thunder shook the dingy hotel at the base, but the couple paid it little mind, Maggie gasping when Willie lifted her into his arms and staggered with her petite form over toward the bed. Landing a top the scratchy sheets with a subtle bounce, Maggie pulled Willie in for yet another bruising kiss before reaching for his belt. With trembling fingers, she undid the clasp and managed to push his pants down to his knees, the servant eagerly kicking them off as he reached beneath her skirt and grasped at the hem of her pantyhose.

Maggie's lower extremities tingled with the excitement of him being so close to her aching point, her eyes closing once he rolled down the stockings and feverishly kissed his way up her inner thigh. Next came her skirt, and unintentionally with it her panties, Willie's form giving an involuntary shudder at the very sight of her. God, she was beautiful, and painfully so -- he'd never even dreamed that Maggie would've consented to his touch, but now that she was...

Willie closed his eyes. He was almost afraid to open them in case Maggie would disappear, but the moment he felt her soft, feather-light touch he relaxed.

Kissing along the expanse of Willie's chest, Maggie helped him out of his final article of clothing so that they were now embracing in the nude, Maggie's eyes fluttering closed once she felt him press needily against her welcoming body.

Gasping his name, Maggie breathlessly arched up against Willie when she felt him take one hardened nipple into the warm cavern of his mouth, her nails scouring his back as she inwardly pleaded for more.

Despite the searing pain from Maggie's administrations, Willie eagerly kissed down the smooth plane of her stomach and upper thigh, his arousal so great that he truly felt as if he could weep. He wanted to taste her, but by God, the desire to be granted release was currently overriding every other carnal need.

Maggie seemed to sense Willie's anguish and allowed her thighs to part in sweet surrender, her soft body gradually sinking down onto his shaft to the point she where she knew there was no turning back. Biting back a scream of pleasure-pain, Maggie forced herself down to the hilt, a soft gasp escaping her lips as Willie nuzzled her neck and moaned against the heated flesh of her shoulder.

'By God' he thought, 'She was a... She'd never done...'

Easing back up his length, Maggie gave a pleasure-filled shudder before managing to create a delectable rhythm between them, her lips meeting with his in a demanding kiss as their tongues battled for dominance.

Grunting, Willie forced Maggie down onto her back so that she was pinned helplessly beneath him, his hands fisting the sheets as he drove his hips forward and moaned wantonly in her ear. "Oh, God, Maggie" he gasped, "Oh, God..."

Cutting him off with a slow and drugging kiss, the waitress forced them to roll over before Willie righted them back to their original position, his eyes squeezing shut as he grasped her by the hips and came in a rush of liquid fire. Echoing his lustful shout, Maggie wound her legs about his hips as she began to drift down from the post-coital bliss, her forehead gently touching his as they both continued to pant heavily.

Willie wanted to say something -- hell, he felt like he needed to after all that had just transpired, yet somehow all words completely failed him. When Maggie looked at him in that special way with her eyes, he found that he couldn't think straight...couldn't function...

'God, I could never hurt 'er, no matter what Barnabas says' Willie realized, a soft smile coming to his lips

when Maggie snuggled up against him. 'Dammit, I never wanted ta grow soft over a woman, but I genuinely...'

Wait.

Shaking his head, Willie banished the thought from his mind nearly as soon as it had come. He couldn't be, he'd never...well perhaps he did, but he couldn't! Not when Barnabas constantly controlled his way of life!

His bottom lip quivering, Willie watched Maggie's sleeping face with almost pleading eyes. At that very moment he wanted nothing more than to hate her; he wanted desperately for her spirit to be ugly to him, but he knew this to be absolutely impossible. He could never hate Maggie Evans.

Ever.

Cursing under his breath, Willie clutched Maggie possessively within his embrace and tried his best to go to sleep. This proved to be exceedingly difficult, for all he could think about was the beautiful angel in his arms -- the woman he'd truly grown to...

Dammit.