Chapter Six

Lucky stumbled home, absently turning lights on as he went. He stumble-fell towards the couch, ready to drown more of his sorrow, not having the energy to get up, Lucky pulled the pill bottle out of his pocket and took three more, letting the bitter taste wash over him. A few short minutes later, he once again reached for the bottle, popped the top, and shook the bottle, when nothing happened; he looked inside and to his dismay found it was empty. He knew he would have to explain his quick departure from work, but after a good nights sleep, perhaps something would come to him. Seeing as how lying had become his second job.

Of course, he could find himself in deep water if Maxie all of a sudden decided to turn on him, if she decided to tell her father, things could get much worse. He was a little ashamed at how he had used her tonight, but really, what was the difference of this night and all the others.

Ric was the reason he had his job back, but no one really seemed happy that he was indeed back. He could tell everyone was just waiting for the other shoe to drop; it was almost like they wanted to see him fail. Unconsciousness stole over him, one minute he was awake and the next he was drooling on his shirt. His mind propelled him into the dark abyss of his subconscious, where more nightmare images filled his mind and heart.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Luke sat in his office of the new Haunted Star. He was looking for any escape from his wife. Ever since she had asked him to doctor Alan's will, she had been yelling at furniture, claiming Alan was sitting there, he understood that she missed her brother, but this was going over the top. Like the poor man did not have better things to do than haunt his sister. Wasn't one crazy wife enough, now he was faced with a wife who was seeing the dead, when did his life become a Hollywood movie.

Nevertheless, he was not seeking solitude just from Tracy; he was growing more and more worried about Lucky. He felt slightly guilty for pressuring Liz into remarrying him, at the time he really had thought it was something that would be best for Lucky, but somewhere along the line he had forgotten that Liz was just like a daughter to him, she had been for sometime, even before they were married. But the parental figure really was not his favorite job. If he were to admit it, he was not a great parent at all, but he did try, once in awhile. Did he not try to help Lucky when Liz was raped? And perhaps that does not count for much, because where was he when Lucky was kidnapped by Helena, being self absorb was his part in life, besides he was getting old, to late to change now, did they not say, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Or the other favorite among people his age, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

However, he had seen Lucky a few times since he and Liz had got back together and while the boy looked happy, Liz did not. He had never noticed before, but she smiled a certain way when she was trying to hide her feelings. Now when Luke looked at her, all he ever saw was this mask and he thought that it was slowly slipping.

He had mistakenly seen a conversation between Liz and Jason and for once in as long as he could remember, the mask was nowhere to be seen, she smiled and laughed, it was as if a large weighted had been removed from her shoulders. He remembered that she used to look at Lucky like that, like he had hung the moon just for her and now that look was being bestowed upon Jason Morgan.

Would Lucky end up blaming him for what was almost inevitable. Liz could only plaster that fake smile on for so long, before her inner strength that made her so appealing, would begin to crack and that too could be his fault. Would the fire that burned in her, sputter and die if it did not receive the proper attention.

Deciding he had no other choice, he went to see Lucky, perhaps it wasn't to late, maybe for once he could make a difference in one of his children's lives and fix something before it all came down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sam walked in the door; the place was dark and completely silent. Obviously, Jason wasn't here, but he should be. When she left that morning to go to work he had already been gone, she had assumed he had gone riding, he seemed to be doing more and more of that lately, constantly stuck in deep thoughts. They had hardly spoken since she had taken this job with Amelia, they had not made love or even had the time to kiss, and the job was starting to grate on her nerves.

All the P.R. was starting to get on her nerves, it was like her private life had all of a sudden taken a vacation, for every move she made, someone was watching her, and while they may not be with her right now, it felt like she was still on display.

Trying to dispel the overwhelming feeling of being watched, Sam raced upstairs, heading straight for the bathroom. A hot bath was just what she needed, with many bubbles and a good bottle of wine. Wine she thought to herself, which sounds perfect right about now.

She pinned her hair up and grabbed her robe, turned the water on and adjusted it to her desired temperature. Then she went back down to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine and having noticed the strawberries and whipped cream, she grabbed those as well.

Carefully arranging lilac scented candles here and there, to set the ambient mood, Sam lit them and then added lilac scented bubble bath to the rolling water. Shutting off the harsher brightness from the overhead lights, Sam slowly slipped into her bath, turning the taps to stop the flow; she slowly sat back and let the water encompass her, wishing she could wash away all the prying eyes of the day. Nothing else in the world could relax her like a nice hot bath, and after the day she just had, she was glad to be home and with any luck, Jason would not be too much longer and could then join her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Skye knocked repeatedly on the den door, not receiving and answer, she entered, knowing Lorenzo could have hurt himself or worse; she would not risk not entering his sanctioned room. When she had first moved into the house, Lorenzo had given her strict instructions, informing her to never enter this one room, this was where he did most of his dealings, where prying eyes and ears could not hear. She understood the request then, but now that he was unwell he needed to hand over the room, so she could take up the slack in the business, she had already placed herself and her child in grave danger, it was time that she took over entirely, at least until Lorenzo was well again.

Upon entering the room, she could tell that no one resided inside. Slamming the door, Skye quickly walked to the phone, not knowing where Lorenzo was, was driving her nuts, in his condition he should not be taking off to do god knows what. When she was directed to leave a voice mail message or a call back number, Skye slammed the phone down, voicing her frustration to the empty room. Spinning on her heels, she grabbed her coat and hurried out to her car, there were a few places she was sure she could look and perhaps even find Lorenzo.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Liz could see the frustration in Jason's eyes, and knew that the same frustration must be mirrored in her own. When she had requested that they stop or even slow down, she had meant what she had said, but the amazing feeling of being in his arms and in such a seductive position, had her mind shutting down, her heart ready to take over at other slight hesitation. Even the heavy weight of other eyes watching what they were doing, could not dampen what was already set in motion.

Trying for a light tone, Jason playfully asked, "I thought you said the night of the blackout was the only night we could have, what changed your mind?"

"I guess The Powers That Be had different plans for us. Perhaps they knew something I didn't know." Liz said, trying to match his tone, the huskiness of desire, coloring her words.

Jason's hands slid slowly down her back, causing a shiver to run from head to toe, eliciting a passionate exhalation of breath. Unable to withstand the sexual tension, Liz grasped his face and drew his lips steadily closer until the two met. This kiss was one to rival all the kisses of time out of mind, for there was more passion, lust, desire, fire, and love put forth into that single kiss than all kisses before it, whatever hesitation was there before the kiss had now been banished.

Jason slowly lifted Liz off his lap, only to replace her upon the bed. They both slipped beneath the covers, even caught up in such a heated desire, they knew that the possibility of Ric watching was damn good. And while they could care less what he seen or heard to some degree, Jason now felt possessive of Liz, not wanting to share her with any other man, it wasn't something planned, but it was something his heart and mind screamed, when he thought of the possibility of Ric seeing her nude. Had he known that Ric was not alone and that Lorenzo was watching as well, he would have deemed his gut instinct as being precognitive. And while Liz felt the same way as Jason, having Ric looking at the gloriousness that is Jason, alighted an inner smile. For everything that Ric was or thought he was, was such an opposite of Jason, for where Ric was soft, Jason was hard, and one could discuss or compare the two for years, for there was not a single thing the two shared in common.

Who knew being kidnapped had such great advantages, and while she knew she should not be feeling this way, she could not help it, it finally felt like things were finally going to go their way. But the sad realization hit her; she had thought that a few times before and once just last night. They had been stuck in here for quite sometime now, and knowing that if she were alone, her fear would not have abated so easily, just having Jason close by helped to alleviate some, if not most of her terror. Her mind was exhausted, but her body was suddenly fully awake and demanding the pleasures that this man before her could provide.

Jason was as caught up in the moment as Liz; he had helped her remove her clothes, depositing them in a heap on the floor at the head of the bed. He looked at her as if he had never seen her before; at least to some extent he had not, for he had never seen her naked with child, it was a beautiful sight indeed. And after stripping down to his boxers while Liz lay beautifully naked under the sheet, he noticed how thin the sheet was, that covered her. It showed every curve of her body, and while she moved, just a little to get comfortable a good showing of thigh appeared, making Jason more so unhappy about the possibility of Ric seeing her. So Jason got up, grabbed his leather jacket, and hung it over the camera, it took a few tries to get the silly thing to stay, but in the end it worked out.

Ric would be able to hear what was said, and that alone grated on his nerves, but his desire to hold her and once again be with her outweighed the other thoughts, at least now they did not have the ability to see them.

Perhaps Ric had never meant for Jason to be here and more than likely had planned on chaining Liz to the wall, but for some reason he had not and for that, he was very glad. Because if he would have found Liz shackled to the wall, his rage would not have been tampered and this moment that was about to happen, probably would not have.

As soon as the leather jacket was placed over the camera, Liz slowly pulled down the sheet that covered her naked form. Slightly shy, knowing that Jason had never seen her naked and pregnant, she hesitated for just a moment, but a moment was all it was, because the sheer animalistic need that rested on his face was all the encouragement she needed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX