CHAPTER TEN
Back at the Neal's beach front villa, the simple task of opening the door to his place prove to be difficult for him, with Alex slung over one shoulder,
"Will you look at that...the great Neal Caffrey unable to open a simple door!" Alex said in mocked surprise. "You can put me down now." she chuckled.
Moments after Neal successfully opened the door, Alex ran inside, with Neal closely behind chasing after her. Alex managed to dodge him as he tried to grab her again. The chase continued for a while inside the house, until they reached the living room, where the sofa and table served as obstacles for Neal.
"Come here!" Neal ordered her.
"Ask me nicely." Alex told him.
"PLEASE come here." Neal replied, trying to grab her again. "So help me, Alex, when I do catch you...and I WILL catch you...oh the things I'll do to you!" he warned her as she managed to dodge his grasp again.
"PROMISE?" she asked cheekily, before fleeing from him yet again.
Neal swiftly ran after her till they reached the kitchen. He caught her while she tried to avoid the kitchen table, slowing her movements. He pulled her body close to his, allowing her no escape. He then kissed her fervently on the lips, his tongue probing her mouth, making her moan. His kisses later traveled lower, licking and kissing her neck, his beard gentle scratching her skin.
"Mmmm...that tickles!" Alex moaned, which only made Neal do it more.
She held him closer, her hands held the back of his head, her fingers half-pulling his hair, as his mouth continued its titillating exploration of her body. He pushed her gently, her back now leaned against the counter top, with him standing in between her legs. She then noticed the bottle of Lafite she gave Neal earlier, which he left on top of the counter.
"That's my gift." Alex mentioned.
"Hmmm? Yeah...I had to get it away from Mozzie, before he gets any ideas." Neal said, before he resumed kissing her.
"You haven't opened it yet." Alex pointed out.
"I'm saving it for a special occasion." Neal replied, in between kisses.
"No time like the present." Alex said, pulling away from him yet again, much to Neal's frustration. "It is YOUR birthday. What could be more special than that?" she added, as she went through the cupboard and got two wine glasses and a wine bottle opener.
"It's an $8,000 bottle of wine." Neal reminded her.
"Of which I have THREE more cases of back at my place." she revealed to him. "Don't tell Mozzie that though...the last thing I need is him breaking into my house and helping himself to my wine collection." she snickered. "Now, will you do the honors?" she handed him the wine bottle and the opener.
Neal obliged and opened the wine bottle. Alex then poured the wine on to the glasses. "So, to what should we toast to? You should make a wish." she told him.
"I already made a wish earlier when I blew the candle out on my birthday cake." Neal reminded her. "And no...I am not telling you what it is. It won't come true." he added.
"Come on, Caffrey...tell me. You never know...I could be a genie sent here to make your wishes become a reality." she teased him.
"Oh yeah? Where's your genie outfit? How am I supposed to believe you if you're not even dressed as the part?" Neal asked, the thought of Alex wearing a seductive genie costume playing inside his head.
"Neal..." she said his name in a singsong tone.
"I love the way you say my name." Neal said.
"Quit stalling." she told him. "What's your wish?" she demanded again.
"It's not important." Neal answered.
"It is to me." Alex said in a serious tone.
Neal studied her face, and saw that she was earnest and sincere. He stared deeply into her eyes before he replied. " I want a slower path." he paused briefly and sighed. "God, I never thought I'd hear myself say that out loud." he confessed.
"What do you mean?" Alex pressed.
Neal looked at her. "You're NOT the only one who's tired of running." he answered. "Most of my entire life has been fast paced. Blink and you'd have missed most of it." he told her. "Growing up chasing after the truth made my younger years a blur." he said cryptically. "My adult life was pretty much made of one con after another." he added. "And then there was Kate...pursuing her...loving her...God, everything went by so fast. Now, she's gone." he almost choked on the words. "And of course, there's Peter. Who would have thought that a stand up lawman like him could ever be friends with a criminal like me? Well, that didn't last long either, didn't it?." he recapped, his beautiful blue eyes almost welling up with tears.
Alex brought her hand to caress his face, he kissed her palm gingerly. "It's my life, Alex. It's the way it's always been. It's at constant breakneck speed. People that I care about go away and I miss them. Loved ones die, and I can't prevent it. Even when they leave me, I love them more." he continued. "I just want a different path...a slower pace. A path where my mind isn't always racing a thousand thoughts a minute, to the point where my thoughts couldn't keep up with my feet. A path where I don't always have to run off in search of something or someone...or have to run away just to be free. A path where I can just take a deep breath, relax, and spend my days with out looking over my shoulders. That's what I wish for." he finished.
Alex looked at him and gave him a tender smile. She raised her glass to make a toast. "Here's to the slow path then." she said.
Neal smiled and raised his glass as well. "To the slow path." he repeated.
"Cheers." Alex toasted, their glasses clinking.
They sipped their wine in silence for a while. Then, Neal took her glass from her hand and sat it on the counter, along side his own. He pulled her closer and kissed her with wanton longing. "I want you." he told her, not mincing his words. He said it clearly, honestly and direct to the point.
"You have me." she replied, as she returned his kisses. "Do with me as you wish...whatever pleases you." she told him in between moans.
Without warning, Neal swept her off her feet and carried her off to his bedroom, where he undressed her and laid her gently into bed. He kissed her all over her body, made love to her deeply and passionately, once...twice...three times over, until sleep finally claimed the both of them.
Alex woke up in Neal's arms...in Neal's bed...with a huge, satisfied smile on her face. She stared at his face for a while. He looked a bit younger and more innocent while he slept. Her hand gently swept a strand of hair that strayed towards his eyes. He stirred gently, but didn't wake up. She admired his body, in all its naked glory, before her gaze traveled back to his beautiful face.
"Can I keep you? I'll take great care of you and do everything in my power to make you happy, I promise. Just let me keep you." she begged the sleeping figure in a barely audible whisper.
Alex continued to stare at Neal in admiration. She wanted him for so long, only their timing was always a bit off. Now, they found their way back to each other and they're finally at that point in their lives where they both want the same thing. Her only wish is to stay that way forever.
She sighed and slowly got out of Neal's bed. She cautiously pulled the sheets from the bed, careful not to wake Neal up, and wrapped it around her naked body. She silently sneaked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Last night's passionate encounter with Neal left her sated but thirsty.
On her way back to the bedroom, she passed by Neal's art studio a few rooms away. She went inside and was stunned to see the sculpture that was before her eyes. She stood there, speechless...words failed her at the time, as she stared at Neal's beautiful creation. She walked towards it, wanting to take a closer inspection. A statue of a winged young man in the act of giving a passionate kiss to his beautiful lover who had a pair of butterfly wings. She was fortunate enough to have seen the original, but this was much better...it had that special Neal Caffrey touch.
Caught up in reveling at the sight of the sculpture, she didn't notice Neal come up from behind her, without a stitch of clothing on. She was surprised when he wrapped his strong arms around her waist and nuzzled the curve on her neck, seductively kissing and licking it.
"You're out of bed. Why are you out of bed?" he asked her in protest.
Alex giggled, never taking her eyes off of the statue. "I got thirsty." she answered. "What are YOU doing out of bed?" she asked in return.
"I got lonely." he answered, he lips started to gently nibble on her neck.
She held his head closer, her fingers tangled on to his hair. She continued to stare at the statue. "This is beautiful, Neal!" she gasped.
Neal stopped kissing her, and rested his head on her shoulder. "You like it?" he asked her.
"I LOVE IT!" she exclaimed. "Honestly, Neal...this is even better than the original." she complimented.
"It's yours." he told her.
Alex turned to face him. "Neal, I can't accept this. A piece like this...it belongs to a gallery." she said.
"I made it, with you as my muse. It belongs to no one else but you." he insisted.
Alex looked at the statue, and then turned her gaze back to Neal. "I don't think I can thank you enough for this." she told him.
"Oh, I can think of a way that you could." Neal answered suggestively.
He turned her around to face him and pulled her body closer to his. His mouth took hers, and his tongue probe inside her depths. He pried her fingers that gripped the sheets which wrapped her body, only to let it fall to the ground. Gently, he lowered her body down to the floor, his lips never leaving hers. With an insatiable hunger for her, he claimed her body once again, as she laid there screaming his name in ecstacy over and over.
Basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking, they both lay bonelessly on the floor, fully sated. Neal pulled the sheets over to cover their naked bodies, while Alex rested her head on top of his chest, listening to his heart beat.
"Amazing!" she said breathlessly, staring at the Cupid and Psyche sculpture. Neal's precious gift to her.
"You're welcome...I aim to please." Neal boasted.
"I meant the statue...the sex wasn't half-bad either." she teased.
"Wasn't half bad?" he repeated. "Really? Fairly certain that your screams were a few decibels higher than normal!" he bragged.
"Fine...you were great, as always. A truly fantastic lover." she admitted. "You don't have to be so cocky about it." she told him.
"Right...have you met me?" he asked rhetorically. "I have always been 'cocky'. I take great pride at my 'cockiness'!" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Women have always admired me for my for it. Why else would you have fought Kate over me?" he kidded, his eyes twinkling.
Alex looked deeply into his eyes. "I have never fought Kate over you." she said with sadness and regret. I should have. she added silently to herself.
Neal noticed the sudden change in her mood, and mistook it for jealousy. "Alex, I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk about Kate when I'm holding you in my arms." he apologized.
"Don't be." Alex told him. "That was the first time in a long time that I've seen or heard you mention her name without sadness in you eyes." she said. "Happiness is a good look on you." she remarked, before she turned her gaze back to the statue.
Neal carefully studied the expression on her face as she stared at the statue. "What's on your mind?" he asked.
"It's just that no one has ever done anything like this for me." she answered. "Everything good and beautiful I've ever had in my life, I've either had to steal from someone else, or risk life and limb to recover it from the depths of the sea. This is the first time that someone has willingly given me something so priceless, without asking for anything in return." she confided in him.
"Priceless? Come on...it's not the Mona Lisa." he said.
"I'm serious, Neal. This means a lot to me. More than you'll ever know." she told him.
His fingers tilted her chin to face him again and kissed her softly on the lips. "You know, Mozzie said that this statue is the representation of you and I...me reviving you with my kiss." he informed her.
She laughed softly. "Oh really? So, that would make you my god of desire and erotic love, then? Talk about cocky..." she let her voice trail off.
"Which would make you my goddess of the soul." he pointed out.
"Nah...I am nowhere near as flawless as her." she shook her head and pulled away slightly from him.
Neal wouldn't let go of her though. "You're just as beautiful...maybe even more." he praised her.
"You flatter me, you silver-tongued DEVIL!" she smiled.
"GOD." he corrected her, motioning to the statue. "God of desire, remember?" he reminded her. He paused briefly. "While we're on the subject of flaws..." he lightly traced the thin scar in the middle of her thigh. "You ever gonna tell me about your scars?" he asked. "I mean, I know about the one on your shoulder, but the rest is still a mystery." he said.
She brought her hand to cover his. "That old thing? Met some bad Chinese while trying to procure the sword of Qin Shi Huang. Fight ensued...I got sliced." she answered nonchalantly.
Neal raised an eyebrow. "Qin Shi Huang? You got sliced by the sword of the first emperor of China?" Oddly enough, he was more impressed than concerned. "What about this one?" he asked, his fingers touching the scar on the base of her rib cage.
"Gardening accident." Alex replied flatly. She saw that Neal didn't believe her. "Fine! I don't wanna bore you, but it's a wound from another sword. Well...a dagger actually. I ran into a dagger. Well...I ran into some Russians who stabbed me with a dagger. A very priceless dagger. It was a gem-encrusted dagger presented to Mikhail Romanov by the Shah of Persia. " she confessed.
"Jesus, Alex!" Neal exclaimed.
"I was helping out a friend." she replied cryptically.
Alex said nothing more, so he let go of the subject. His fingers traveled upwards, stopping the scar right above her heart. "What about this scar?" he inquired.
Alex went silent for a while. She looked at Neal, took his hand on hers, and kissed it. "A little hard to talk about that one." she said.
"You can tell me anything...I won't judge." he assured her.
"It's a gun shot wound." she replied after a long pause.
"Really? Doesn't seem like one." he remarked.
"It's an exit wound..." she said, as she took his hand and brought it behind her. "This is the entry wound." she added. Neal felt it...a tiny dip close to the base of her spine. Neal closed his eyes as he realized...someone had shot Alex in the back. "Bullet entered there...zig-zagged inside my insides a few times...and then exited right above my heart." her voice quaked a little as she spoke. She looked at Neal and saw him paled a little. She smiled weakly. "Took me a while to recover, but I survived. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger." she declared.
"Who did it?" he asked.
"I don't know...that part is still a mystery to me." she answered.
Neal shook his head, she was shot in the back and she didn't even know who did it. With luck like that, no wonder Alex retired early from that life. "You could have come to me, you know? I would've watched your back and made sure that nothing bad happened to you." he said.
"I couldn't...you were in prison at the time." she replied. "Look, can we not talk about this anymore? No need to rehash painful memories." she told him.
Neal nodded in agreement. He held her body tightly in his arms and made a vow to himself. He silently swore to never let her go.
As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, Neal and Alex were inseparable. They did most things together. They spent some time helping out at the new Children's Village. Neal found out how much he enjoyed teaching arts to little kids. He also took great delight in watching Alex play with the children. Alex finally took him scuba diving. They even went to Tulamben, the place where Alex's parents died, to pay their respects. Neal no longer grew bored of of paradise. They explored the islands, with Alex as his guide. They made great memories to cancel out the bad ones from their past.
During the nights...well, the nights were even better and more exciting. Neal spent most of his nights in bed with Alex. They either stayed at her place over the water or at his villa by the beach...either way, their nights were filled with passion. They made love to their heart's delight and then fall asleep with their bodies tangled up in each other. They enjoyed each others' company and made every moment count. It had been a while since either of them experienced this kind of happiness. And they were indeed very happy.
One lazy afternoon, Neal held Alex tightly in his arms, as they lay in a hammock outside the balcony on her over water bungalow. They had an amazing view of the sunset. It was a great location to just let yourself get lost at nature's beauty, and ponder the world and your place in it.
Neal was deep in thought, when he heard Alex's voice. "What do you want in life, Neal?" she asked him.
"What do I want in life?" he repeated.
"Yes, what does Neal Caffrey want in life? Have you figured it all out? I mean, you must have had dreams when you where younger." she pressed.
"I wanted everything." he answered.
"Everything?" she asked.
"Yes. I wanted to have everything...see everything...be everything...experience everything...know everything...do everything. I wanted everything." he replied.
"But you can't HAVE everything." she reminded him. "And even if you can...you don't get to KEEP everything. No one is ever allowed to have it all." she pointed out.
"That was the 'old' me." he told her.
"And what does the 'new' you want?" she asked again.
Neal looked her right in the eyes. "I want 10,000 more moments like this. Holding you this close. Touching you like this. Kissing you all over. What I want in life, I already have at this moment. I'm right here...I'm with you. And I will NEVER, EVER be too far away to feel you." he answered sincerely, at true romantic at heart.
Alex looked at him, with slight terror in her eyes. "Never say 'never ever', Neal!" she told him.
Neal smiled and held her tighter. "Nothing bad is going to happen." he assured her.
Alex melted into his embrace. She tried to shake that feeling off...the feeling of worry and concern. Her heart and her brain both have failed her in the past, but her gut never did. And her gut was telling her that something was about to go wrong. There was something in the air...something foreboding. A disturbance was coming, she could feel it.
"There's a storm approaching." she said in a very soft whisper. She closed her eyes and shivered.
~END OF CHAPTER TEN~
FOOTNOTES :
*Alright...this chapter was a bit longer. The reviews from the previous chapters inspired me to go on. Again, many thanks for the continued support.
*My version of how Alex got her scars...I figured, she wasn't as smooth operator as Neal was.
*There's a storm approaching...any guesses?