A/N: We're starting to wind down "Book 1" of this tale. As I stated before, I have planned a sequel. But this isn't over yet. You'll have another update this weekend. But for now...enjoy this little ditty.

Chapter 14

Slowly he moved inside her. Dawn was breaking and the candles had burned down to the metal tabs that held the wicks. A beautiful soft blue haze shone over her face and it softened her features even more. The stereo was playing a slow jazz tune and Jason's pace kept time with the music.

"Maxie, you feel so good." He whispered in her ear as he tenderly nipped at the lobe.

Her response was only to let out a contented sigh and squeeze tight her walls within her.

She had cum already since he pulled her into his bedroom from the back patio. About three am he took her out back and said he had a surprise for her. He had a portable boom box that he ran and got from the garage and played the music they danced to at the wedding that started their path to where they were now. He pulled her into his arms, him in low hanging sleep shorts that he haphazardly pulled on and her in his t-shirt and a fresh pair of boy shorts panties that were all pink lace. They slowly swayed to the music as she laid her head on his chest and he tilted his head to rest his cheek on top of her head.

Slowly the dancing led way to kissing and they were both ready for another round of lovemaking.

They'd been making up for lost time and abstinence for both of them. In the kitchen, he took her bent over the kitchen table and then true to his word, made himself a turkey sandwich. And one for her too. He ate his and half of hers then shoved the paper plates to the floor so she could ride him on their new couch. The floor got a turn and then she shower. Once again, needing to clean themselves up.

They'd made love on the pool table after that and then Jason pulled her out onto the patio to surprise her. Yet what surprised them both was that they still could not seem to get enough of each other. Every corner of the house except the boys rooms and the garage had been christened and now they were in Jason's bed.

They'd really explored each other in the past twelve hours so much so that the term 'making love' held new meaning for the both of them.

Jason was tender and loving and so attentive to Maxie's needs. Then he would become animalistic. He was rough and then gentle. He would spank her then place butterfly kisses along her neck. He would slam her into the wall or twist her into a pretzel to get deeper and then he would slow down and languidly move inside her with slow lazy thrusts, just to feel the friction between the two.

Maxie never imagined love like this. She never felt so special and loved and accepted for…everything.

At one point, on the couch actually, she tested him, trying to shock him and see if he'd pull back thinking her some kind of whore. She guided his throbbing cock to her ass and his eyes widened. But then to her surprise, he simply moved her hand, readied and stretched her with his fingers and then made love to her finally telling her he was so glad she trusted him to do that to her.

And it was incredible. A whole different kind of orgasm.

She felt like she could do anything with him.

Sexually, she'd always been creative and adventurous. It was how she landed and tried to keep hold of the men she'd bedded. Never being able to keep them simply because she was…well…Maxie. She always had to entice them with dirty promises of sexual acts that most of the men's pure little angels would never do. Lucky, Johnny, Logan…even men that no one knew about. Somehow always married or in a committed relationship. Why she always picked taken men was a mystery to her but she figured it was just her destructive nature. Destroy someone else's lives and family and relationships while she destroyed her own.

But Jason was treating her with respect and love. She may have gotten a raised eyebrow or two but he went with all of it, even when she used the sash to her robe to tie his hands to one of her bedposts. Of course once he wanted free he just used his strength to tear the silk sash and nearly cause her to fall off the bed when his arms surrounding her scared the hell out of her. He caught her easily but that just spurred him on for more wild lovemaking, biting, spanking and different positions.

But now he was back to showing his softer side. Tender caresses, gentle, loving words. Soft, slow, beautiful. And she was lapping it up like a kitten with a fresh bowl of cream.

Please don't let this end. She thought as he reached his crescendo, holding stiff inside her while he convulsed with his orgasm.

He laid there atop of her for a few moments, catching his breath while he kissed her. His lips brushing her forehead, eyes, cheeks, ears, neck and then settling on her lips. She barely heard him tell her he loved her but she didn't need to hear it. He had showed her in more ways than one how true and genuine his feelings for her were.

After a few moments, he rolled over with a groan when he slipped out of her. He moved from the bed to the half bathroom off of his room to place the used condom in the waste basket. He used the same washcloth that was draped on his sink that he used after the pool table to clean himself up some then quietly tiptoed back into the bedroom and climbed under the covers with her.

He propped himself up on an elbow and head in hand stared at her as she lay with her eyes closed.

"I'm not asleep." She said to him, slowly peeking one eye, then the other open to see a grin spread across his face. "But I do NOT have enough energy for another round."

He laughed and dropped his fist from under his head to scoop her up in his arms. Peppering her with kisses as he did so. "It's cool. I'm going to have to go to the store anyway."

"Why?" she curled into his side, feeling the early morning chill across her naked back when she did.

"We're out of condoms….unless you have some." He said, his voice unsure of the question. He hated imagining she had some because he hated imagining her having sex with anyone else, suddenly territorial and possessive. He was the man and he took care of her, provided for them and as barbaric as it sounded, that included providing their condoms.

"No…I don't" she quickly lied. She saw his face change when he asked if she had any and was able to guess why it morphed and his voice took on the serious tone. He didn't want her to have any condoms for whatever reason his male pride afforded.

So she lied and felt guilty but reasoned with herself that it was only a little white lie and that she only said it to make him happy. And when he left for the store, she would destroy, flush or whatever, the two condoms in her purse and then it would no longer be a lie.

But Jason saw her face change and asked, "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing"

"Maxie"

"Nothing. I just was wondering why you looked like you would be pissed if I did have any condoms."

"So you do have some."

Jason pulled back and looked at her. He could tell she was lying. He knew when her eyes shifted that she wasn't telling him the truth. What he didn't know is why. Why would she start their relationship out lying to him?

He hated liars.

Suddenly his stomach clenched. "Why the fuck would you lie to me Maxie?" He growled and shook his head.

He jumped from the bed, grabbing the shorts he had been wearing before and pulling them on, sans boxers. He crossed the room quickly, opening a drawer and pulling out a shirt. He tugged it over his head miffed that in one fell swoop Maxie had just ruined their night, lied to him, reopened old trust issues he'd had with her and made him sick to his stomach realizing that he honestly believed that she had changed.

Maxie sat up in his bed, looking so small. The king size frame and the overstuffed down blanket and pillows surrounding her and swallowing her in the bed. She pulled the blanket to cover her naked body, eyes wildly looking around for a way out. Not so much out of the room but out of the situation.

Going with old instincts and patterns she argued, her voice high, shrill and loud. "I AM NOT LYING!"

"IT'S FUCKING CONDOMS MAXIE." He shouted back at her then drew in a breath while he drew back his hand to cup the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension that had suddenly appeared with his fingers. "WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU LIE TO ME ABOUT FUCKING CONDOMS!"

Tears sprang to her eyes and she scrambled to get out of the bed. She grabbed the oversized t-shirt, that she had been wearing of Jason's, and quickly pulled it over her head, forgetting about the underwear she'd left on his floor. Swiftly she yanked open the sliding glass door, choosing to go out back instead of running for her room where she wanted to go only because Jason was blocking the door that led to the house. She ran to the lounge chair that they always laid on and climbed on and curled into a tiny ball, her back to the house, and him.

Jason stood, watching her as the sun rose behind her. He stood at the door for what seemed like hours but truthfully was only probably fifteen minutes. His mind was racing. He struggled to control his anger toward her but struggled more trying to figure out why.

Why would she lie?

Why did he blow up at her?

Why was she laying on the lounge chair curled into a ball and shaking because she was cold when twenty minutes ago she was underneath him, warm and safe and loving him?

He ran though the scenario of the moment when it all fell to shit. I said I needed to go to the store to get condoms. She asked me why…no…wait…I just said I needed to go to the store and she asked me why. I said we were out of condoms and then…and then I said unless she had some. Again, he flinched at his own thoughts. Then suddenly, as if a light bulb had gone off, he slid open the door to the patio and turned behind him to grab his comforter.

Her head turned slightly hearing the door slide open but instead of facing him like an adult, she buried her face into her chest further. She had been freezing on the patio in the early fall morning for twenty minutes at least. She knew he was watching her because his reflection was bouncing off of the stainless steel grill. She had been watching his distorted figure stand at the door watching her while she froze to her death. All the while she became more enraged.

But not with him, with herself.

She was calling herself every name in the book. She should have never taken the leap with Jason if she was just going to revert to her old destructive ways. Twelve hours…a new record Maxie. She told herself.

But when he opened the door, she stiffened. What would he say to her? What if he had taken that time to realize he didn't want her? He was just lonely and wanted to know what sex was like with her while he relieved an urge. What if he was coming out to say they made a mistake?

"Maxie?"

"Don't say it" she defended, still unable to be adult and admit her mistake. She shouldn't have lied but the look on his face…she didn't think saying she didn't have condoms was a big deal.

But she should have known.

For an ex-mobster who used to kill people for a living, the guy was one of the most honest men she knew. Instead of lying he would simply close up and not say a word. She rolled her eyes thinking she should have taken a page from his book.

Suddenly she felt the comforter surround her body and though confused, she was grateful because her body was shaking and her teeth were chattering. Then she felt his fingers in her hair.

"You don't have to lie to me. Even if I give you reason to doubt I can handle the truth." He said softly.

He remembered saying similar words to Carly a lifetime ago when he thought he could make a go of it with her and Michael. Now, he'd learned that they would have never worked. In so many ways, he was a doormat for her to stomp all over. Sure, he called her on her games and in the end, she was one of the best, most trusted friends he had, but there could have never been a them because there was always a scheming, lying her.

And now here was Maxie, so much like Carly in so many ways. Yet different. So different in ways that were important to him. Carly was selfish, and so was Maxie, except where it came to those she loved the most. Then Carly was even more selfish and Maxie was the most giving of herself and raw and open. Carly made him crazy with her antics, Maxie amused him mostly. He liked the challenge that she afforded him, keeping him guessing and on his toes. And honestly, since they'd left Port Charles, it was an innocent crazy. Nothing that put him, his boys or her in danger.

Except for Robbie which he handled and he supposed she had to learn from, finally fully giving of herself, honestly and then being mistreated. Not so much a payback for the life she had led but more of an eye opener of what she never wanted again because she'd grown and matured and wanted more.

Then of course there was the girly stuff. The fashion and hair and nails and shopping and…well…everything that made Maxie…girly…was so much like Carly.

He didn't want to change her, he just wanted her to trust him enough to tell the truth. That was his sticking point. Now to convince her of it.

He wrapped the blanket around her balled up form and bent down and picked her up, straddling the lounge chair and laying back into it with her on top of him. "I don't give a shit about condoms Maxie. Whether you have some or not, I don't care and at this point, I don't even want to know. I just want you to know that even if you think I won't like what you have to say, I want you to always feel comfortable enough and to trust me enough to tell me the truth."

She was still curled up and stiff in his arms and as the moments ticked by without a word from her, he worried that she was thinking what a mistake she had made. He knew he hadn't read her wrong. He knew if he searched her room or her bathroom or her car or her purse he would find at least one condom and she would have known where he would be able to find it all along. It wouldn't be a surprise to her. But he'd blown up at her so quickly. He'd acted as if he'd caught her with another man or on drugs or beating the kids or something.

He held on to her, the blanket having surrounded her enough that there was no part of his skin touching hers. And he missed that warmth. But he still held on.

He reminded himself of what Bobbie had warned him about. She would make mistakes. She was young. She really wanted this…them…their family. She wanted to work hard but would falter many times along the way.

Smirking, he tightened his arms around her and whispered, "I love you Princess."

"OH THAT DID IT! I warned you." She sat straight up. Her hand came up to smack him and he easily caught it. "You are such an ass!"

"Oh I'M AN ASS?" He questioned.

"Yes, you are an assHOLE!"

"Well isn't that rich from someone who just stepped in it with both feet for no reason. Princess"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT."

"WHY….PRINCESS"

"NEANDERTHAL"

"SPOILED ROTTEN BRAT"

"BEAST"

"HARPY"

"JERK"

"I could hear your heckling taunts from the front of the house. It's only seven thirty in the morning. Seems a bit premature in the day for you two to be fighting already."

Jason and Maxie froze. Spinelli's voice cut through them like a switchblade to the gut. And he was close. He was probably standing just at the gate. Their eyes froze and held onto each other. She was on top of him. He had her by the waist. Her panty-less center was sliding against his stomach where she had rubbed enough in their playful fight to make the t-shirt he was wearing ride up and her slickened nether-lips were wetting the curly blond hair that trailed from his belly button to his genitals.

Neither said a word, they just stayed still as if not moving would somehow make them invisible or make him go away.

"I've tried all of the modern methods of contact. The Dastardly Demon of the Department, Agent Raynor, gave me a week off. It just came to me in memo yesterday afternoon so I deemed it necessary to spend my holiday with my two favorite…"

Jason's breathing came in shallow pants and Maxie visibly cringed when it was apparent that he'd spotted them.

"Maximista?"

She turned her head to face him, biting her bottom lip. Jason remained frozen.

"Maximista…surely there is some explanation for which I cannot fathom as to why you would be straddling the Master…in…what looks eerily like a t-shirt that would have been made to better fit Stonecold's much larger, muscular frame."

"Spinelli…" she started but then Jason lifted her and wrapped the blanket around her securely so that nothing but her head stuck out. Then he straightened to his five foot eleven height and partially blocked Maxie from view as he faced his former roommate clad in sleeping shorts a tank top and nothing else.

"Stonecold?" Spinelli's eyes were watering and confused and he looked at Jason as if Jason would soon explain that what he saw, he imagined and all would be right with his world again.

But when Jason's shoulders slumped and he gave his telltale sign by taking a lone digit and scratching at his eyebrow. A nervous habit Spinelli had learned years ago. When Jason was avoiding a conversation or thinking to try to come up with an answer that he didn't necessarily want to give or like the topic, he would scratch at his eyebrow.

Suddenly the twenty-six year old computer hacker turned government agent was enraged.

"Jason" He practically growled. "What did I just walk in on?"

"Spinelli…uh…why don't we go inside and talk and Maxie can uh…go…uh…"

"Get dressed?" He stepped quickly across the wet grass from the morning dew to come face to face with Jason on the patio. He looked around Jason, who stood still, and gained Maxie's notice. "Is that the problem Maxie? You need to get dressed?"

"Well yes but…"

Suddenly the sound a fist connecting caused Maxie to gasp. She watched as if in slow motion as Jason's head was thrown to the right and Spinelli's fist, balled tight, came past his head in an upward swing.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOUFIEND?" Spinelli stood, rocking back and forth on the ball of his heels, both hands up to block his face in fists.

"Spinelli, this is not about…"

"Shut up. There is no excuse for this abomination. Prepare to battle."

"Spinelli, I'm not going to fight you." Jason said as he rubbed at his jaw. The kid packed quite a wallop. "You don't understand…"

"Perhaps you should enlighten me." Spinelli continued to dance and Jason watched wondering if it was possible that the computer geek had taken time over the past year to take martial arts or boxing lessons because his punch was strong and landed perfectly.

"There's nothing going on." Maxie spouted behind him and Jason quickly turned and shot her a look of anger mixed with fear, disbelief mixed with disappointment. "I mean…we…we weren't fighting in a bad way…we were…playing?"

The last of her statement her voice raised in question. She had no idea what to say and honestly had not ever thought about what this new development in hers and Jason's relationship would do to Spinelli, whom she knew still harbored deep rooted feelings for her.

"The picture is becoming quite clear." Spinelli sidestepped Jason, and grabbed at the comforter and pulled it to the side enough to see that her legs were bare and then his eyes squinted in fury when he watched her tug at the shirt to cover her from his gaze. "This was a land speed record Maxie. Is Jason another in the long line of men who's heart shall be stomped on in your treacherous wake? Me then the neighbors offspring then Mr. September then Jason? And that, of course is only since you landed in this sleepy hollow."

"That's not what happened!" Maxie stomped. It was not lost on her that he called her by her real name. And Jason for that matter.

"So Jason assaulted you? Forced you to his lair and had his dastardly way with you?" Spinelli feigned to believe this and turned to Jason. "You are a scoundrel, sir, undeserving of the reflection of the Fair Maximista's glow. And you have made a mockery of our friendship and brotherhood."

"Spinelli" Jason finally spoke up again. He had no idea what to say or whether it should be him or Maxie or both of them to talk to him about their new romance.

"I see words escape you. Mayhaps you should leave, attempt to reclaim the title of gentleman and leave us to speak. For it seems the Bad Blond One and I have much to discuss."

~%~%~%~%~%~%~

Maxie took a deep breath and walked out of her bedroom an hour later. When Spinelli suggested Jason leave so he could talk with 'the bad blond one' Jason became intense, possessive, angry at Spinelli for intentionally saying things to hurt Maxie. He turned around and looked at Maxie, pulling the blanket closed again around her then turned her toward the door. He instructed her to go inside, take a shower, get dressed and be ready to go out to breakfast. When Spinelli protested, Jason turned on him quickly yelling at him to 'shut up'. He then nodded at Maxie who was scared and her face showed it and winked at her and gave a barely perceptible nod that everything would be okay.

When she entered the living room, Jason wasn't there. Spinelli was sitting in the glider and looking out the window. She looked toward Jason's bedroom and the door was closed and she had a sudden desire to retreat back to her bedroom until he could be heard.

"You don't have to leave." Spinelli announced.

"What? I…no…I just forgot my…my…PDA. You know I cannot go anywhere without my PDA."

"Your PDA is on the counter in the kitchen. And you set it to silent which is why you never received my call."

His voice was so sullen but his words and manner of speech was so…unSpinelli-like that it sent a shutter of nausea through her.

"Oh" was all she allowed to leave her lips.

"When did you know?" He asked turning the glider to face her fully.

She moved over to the couch and sat down, placing her elbows on her knees. She fiddled with the half dozen sterling silver bangle bracelets she put on with her dark blue wrap around blouse and dark gray corduroy low waisted boot cut pants. The bangles matched her silver snakeskin heels and matching clutch perfectly.

"When did you know?" He asked again sitting up and mimicking her seated position.

"It just happened." She breathed, her shoulders slumping and her physical appearance a sign of remorse.

"So just today? Or last night? Or was it last week or last month or last year? Tell me, were you setting your sights on him when you were still sleeping with me?"

"Didn't Jason talk to you?" Maxie asked looking up at Spinelli but then quickly looking away when she saw the anger in his green eyes.

"Yes but I want to hear it from you. Hear what sort of lies you'll come up with."

"Oh because I'm always a liar right?"

She couldn't help it, she took offense. He would have never caught them had she not lied to Jason. So for him to rub it in her face when just two hours ago she stood to lose Jason because of her carelessness where it comes to lying, just pissed her off.

"You must admit it seems to be your MO."

"Well I'm not lying about this. We didn't expect it nor did we plan it…its just…we've been together for two years now."

"WHAT?"

"No…not together together…that really did just happen…like…last night just happen. I meant that…well its just been me and Jason…and the boys of course but just me and Jason for two years and…"

"He's your essential person."

"You are too" she protested but even to her it sounded weak.

"No…no I'm not. You told me and I've known it for quite some time. Actually, I was coming this week not only to spend time with my best friend, my mentor and the two greatest kids that ever lived but also to talk to you and Jason. To confess a romantic interlude of my own. And to test the 'distance makes the heart grows fonder' theory for…"

"Spinelli are you telling me you have a girlfriend?"

"Uh…yes."

"Who is she? She better not be that horrid Winnifred." Maxie suddenly became his best friend again, his selfish, needy, demanding, whiny, wonderful best friend who only saw Spinelli as good and anyone near him as bad. The girl that he'd love for the rest of his life but had known for some time that she would never be his for the taking.

Now the tribulation is whether he and Jason's friendship would survive.

~%~%~%~%~%~

Jason was stewing in his bedroom. He wasn't even remorseful anymore. Oh he had been. He'd felt horrible for the fact that Spinelli found out about his and Maxie's relationship in an abrupt manner. He felt bad for his longtime friend and confidante that he hadn't treated him as a man and spoken to him about the situation previously. He should have been a man and spoken to him back in late September after the wedding. If he had he would have saved himself a lot of headache and time apart from the woman who had wormed her way into his life and his thoughts and mostly, his heart.

But after talking to Spinelli for twenty minutes, he realized that Spinelli was fine with Maxie's moving on. Just not with him.

He went so far as to say that though he held Jason in 'the highest esteem' he would never be good enough for Maxie. He was too old, too brooding, too hard on people. And those were the good points. He was a killer, his temper was explosive in the right situations and he was not forgiving. Then likening all of his wonderful qualities to life with Maxie, the younger man nearly had Jason believing them himself.

Until Spinelli slipped up and reminded him that he too had slept with Maxie and that a wild and free spirit like Maxie would be stifled and caged by him and the boys. That trapping her into his world would stop her from realizing all of her fantasies and dreams. Dreams that she would be able to pursue sooner than three years because the WSB agent, Maxie's biological father, was inside the Russian Mafia's innermost circle now and had reported that he had manufactured proof that Maxie was killed in a fire at the hospital in late March and nothing had been mentioned from the Russians with regard to her since.

So she was very close to being free to go although she wouldn't be able to return to Port Charles, she was no longer in the danger she was so she could go anywhere in the world and live her life how she wanted to.

And looking through the vertical blinds of the sliding glass doors he could see past the pool table and see Maxie and Spinelli talking. He was probably telling her now.

And if she wanted to leave, he'd never honestly hold her back no matter what he told himself about how he had changed too and would fight for her. He'd already done that. He'd already put his heart out there and let her stomp on it a while so she could get past being mad at him and then he kept pushing until she opened her eyes to him standing before her.

And finally last night it came out. All the love they had for each other came out in words and actions and emotion. But less than twelve hours into it, they fought. Over something stupid.

But they made up.

But now she was being told there was no more danger.

What if that was truly what kept her here. Because she thought she had to stay another three years.

Three years from now he would feel more secure. Three years from now, she would have a harder time walking away from him and the boys. Three years from now they would have been established as a couple.

He needed those three years.

Suddenly there was a knock at his door. He turned and realized he had been lost in thought and Maxie was no longer sitting in the living room on the couch.

"Come in" he noticed his voice cracked.

"Hey"

"Hey"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

She noticed he kept his gaze fixed on the glass door that led to the outside. He hadn't looked at her once.

"Spinelli told me about Frisco and the Russians."

He let out the breath he'd been holding. He closed his eyes and lowered his chin to his chest. He wanted to say so many things...

There's still danger...but that was a lie. At least as far as he knew and he'd never been led astray from Spinelli's information. He knew Spinelli would never say Maxie was safe to leave his protection if there was even a one percent chance there was danger lurking.

He could tell her that she couldn't leave now because of something with the boutique. Some law that didn't allow change of ownership within the first two years....but that was a horrible lie and he'd just argued with her about how they didn't need lies between them.

He could use the boys...she loved the boys. He could tell her that they would be heartbroken if she left and after losing their mother almost two years ago, it would set them back to a place they may not be able to recover from without her. But he'd never use his boys like that and he'd never manipulate her because she loved them.

He could just drop to his knees, swallow his pride and beg her not to go.

"I brought you something."

He opened his eyes and they instantly fell on the two red packages in front of him.

Condoms.

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight as his crystal blue eyes finally let the tears he had been holding at bay fall.

She wasn't leaving.

Admitting she had lied was his proof.

She was here to stay.