CH 16

"Boss, Mr. Lovett is here to see you" Max said entering the living room of the Corinthos compound with Ethan following.

"Thanks Max" Sonny replied as Max turned to leave. "Why aren't you with my daughter?"

"She's at home with her family. I think she's safe there. Don't you?"

Sonny took a sip of his scotch "That's yet to be determined."

"Wow" Ethan laughed "You really don't like Dr. Drake, huh?"

"It's not about liking him or not liking him. It's about making sure he's as committed to her as she is to him."

"Well, it seems like he is to me." Ethan shrugged.

"It's possible. She is a beautiful girl. Isn't she?" Sonny smirked.

Ethan looked down at the floor "Listen, I don't know exactly what you're expecting from me, Sonny, but I can tell you now that I do not plan on interfering in Sabrina's personal life. Yes, she is very beautiful. And very taken."

"The only thing permanent in life is change, Ethan. You would smart to remember that." Sonny replied.

"If you say so. Look, you asked me to keep her safe, and I will gladly do so. But I have no intentions of falling for someone that I can't have."

"Really? Because it seems to me like you already have." Sonny returned

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ethan diverted his eyes an in effort to hide how true Sonny's statement was.

"Yeah, ok" Sonny said taking a final sip of his scotch. "Listen, I need you at the courthouse tomorrow. That Dr. Westbourne, her trial starts tomorrow. Sabrina and Patrick are due to testify. Come prepared, if you know what I mean."

"I'll be there, but I can't take my gun into a federal building, Sonny."

Sonny laughed and placed his empty glass on the coffee table. "Oh Ethan. You are going to learn very soon that everyday rules don't apply to me."

"What on earth is all of this?" Sabrina said as she stepped into the house. The entire living room was lit by candles and garnished with Calla Lilies and Orchids. Her favorite flowers. She saw strawberries and whipped cream on the table next to a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice. "Patrick?" She called out.

"Well it's about time you got home" Patrick said as he entered the room. Before Sabrina could reply he pulled her into his arms and kissed her so passionately it damn near took her breath away.

"Wow" She sighed when he finally pulled his lips from hers "What was that for?"

"I need a reason to kiss you?" He replied arms still around her waist.

"No, but what about the rest of this?" She asked looking around the room.

"I just missed you all day." He said placing kisses along her neck "Hmm. You smell amazing."

Sabrina giggled at the feeling of Patrick's beard on her collar bone. "Patrick, as nice as this is, where is Emma?"

"Sleepover" He mumbled.

"Patrick" she laughed "Stop" Patrick did as she asked and took a step back. "Hey. Why did you stop?" She pouted.

"You told me to" He smiled.

"I didn't mean it. Come back here."

"No. Not yet. I want you to do something for me first."

"Anything"

"Take off your clothes." He said sternly.

"I beg your pardon?" She replied with a raised eyebrow.

"You heard me."

Sabrina folded her arms across her body and cocked her head to the side contemplating his demand. "No" She said plainly.

"No? Miss Santiago, I do believe the doctor just gave you an order. Are you disobeying me?"

"Not exactly. If you want me Dr. Drake, you take them off." She said seductively walking past him. The second her back was to him he reached for the zipper on her dress pulling it down to expose her bare back. With his right hand he reached inside her dress and around the front until his finger tips landed on her belly button. With his left hand he moved her hair to the side and began tracing a path along his favorite freckles on her neck with his lips. "Patrick…" She moaned.

Patrick spun her around so that they were face to face. He took the straps of her dress in each hand and dropped them from her shoulders. "God, you are beautiful." He stated as her dress hit the floor.

"And I'm all yours" She whispered. That declaration made Patrick's heart skip a beat. He lifted Sabrina up in his arms so that her legs were straddled around his waist. He carried her back to the couch and laid her down. They wouldn't make it to the bedroom on that night. The fire between them couldn't wait. He took an ice cube from the bucket holding the champagne and placed it between is lips. He started at her ankle and worked his way up the length of her body. Leaving a trail of damp skin in his path. Sabrina arched her back at the feeling of cold ice on her legs, stomach and neck. She had never experienced such pleasure and pain. When the ice had melted, Patrick sat up from his position atop of her and began pulling at the buttons on his shirt. Sabrina reached up and tore at his shirt sending the buttons flying in opposite directions. Patrick wasn't the only one who could be demanding.

"Make love to me." She pleaded.

Her wish was his command. They made their way from the couch to the floor and back again. Patrick lost all sense of time, space or reason when she was in arms reach. She WAS his and there was nothing that was going to change that. No tension between them over Sonny or Ethan or anything for that matter was greater than the love they had for each other. He was in love with this woman to the point that he felt physical pain every time they were apart for too long. He was a better person because of her. It was more than just how she made him and Emma better, a little less alone. He was better because he saw himself in Sabrina's eyes. He wanted nothing more in life than to make her happy, to make her proud and to make her feel loved. He made love to her that night in a way that would ensure she felt just that. She was loved. She was wanted. And she was safe. He made love to her to prove that he would always be the only man for her.

A few hours later they finally came up for air. "That was..." Sabrina said trying to catch her breath.

"Incredible" Patrick said completing her sentence.

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it."

"Oh, you have another description?" He questioned.

"Well, earth shattering comes to mind" She smiled.

Patrick laughed "I'll take that" he replied placing a kiss on top of her head.

"What on earth got into you, by the way? Not that I'm complaining" She giggled.

"What can I say, you bring out the animal in me" He said as he began to tickle her in the places he knew would make her squeal. And it did.

"Patrick! Stop. Be nice" She exclaimed moving away from his grasp on the floor of their living room.

"Aww I'm sorry. Come back" He begged tugging at her waist. He ran his fingers through her hair and placed a soft kiss on her cheek bone.

"That's more like it" she said resting her head back on his chest.

"Hey, I want to talk to you about something" He said in a serious tone.

"Is everything ok?" she asked curiously.

"No." He said sitting up against the couch to face her "I have been a complete jerk these last few weeks with the whole Sonny thing. That has not been fair to you. I haven't been considering your confliction with this, just my own. And I am truly sorry for that. I never want you to feel as though you can't talk to me or lean on me. I am always here for you. We hold each other up."

Sabrina smiled. She had been so worried that he was pulling away from her recently. She didn't want to tell him, but it scared her. "Patrick. I know this has been hard on you too. I don't blame you for your feelings."

"No, but the way I've been acting, you can blame me for that. It's been unacceptable. That's not the man I want to be for you. I don't want to be the guy that runs and hides when things get bumpy. I don't want to be the guy that you ever have to question 'Does he love me enough?' I need you to know that I do and that I always will. And I need to do a better job of proving that. Starting right now." Patrick looked over to his wedding band that was sitting on top of a book on the coffee table.

Sabrina's eyes followed his to the ring and then to his hand "Your ring… You took it off?" She asked.

"Yeah. It was time." He said solemnly. "I feel like it's been an unspoken barrier in our relationship for a while now. Truth is I would forget I was still wearing it sometimes. But I know you had to have noticed."

"Patrick I know how much you loved Robin. I didn't want to push" She replied

He took her hand into his "I know you didn't. Thank you for that. And you're right, I did love Robin. Very much and for a very long time. I didn't want to at first. That woman had the power to infuriate me like no other." He laughed "But she also had the power to make my worse day a little better. She taught me how to love. I feel like in her own way, she led me to you."

Sabrina tried to blink away the tears that were beginning to form "You mean with the DVD she made you?"

"No, more than that. I think Robin always felt as though she was living on borrowed time. And as much as she wanted to be with me and Emma, she knew there would come a day that she wouldn't be. I feel like she was preparing me for that, ya know? In little subtle ways that I didn't even notice. She was preparing me to continue on and be ok with giving my heart to someone else."

"Wow" was all Sabrina could say. Her heart was racing and her vision was blurred from her tears. She had been patiently waiting for his moment and here it was. It was all she could to keep her hands from shaking.

"And now" Patrick said cupping her face in his hand "Her work is finished, Sabrina. She accomplished what she set out to do. I can feel that now. And I can let her go. Not because she wasn't important in my life or because I've forgotten her, but because I've learned what I needed to from her. I was wearing my wedding ring to honor Robin's memory. But you, me and Emma being a family, there is no better way to honor her than that."

"I love you so much" Sabrina smiled.

"I love you more" He replied pulling her lips to his. Sabrina melted in his arms. She was on a cloud so high that it didn't have a number. She thought back to where they started on that September afternoon when they first met and where they were now. If she had to write a book on her fantasies of this man, it wouldn't come anywhere close to the reality. She had no doubts in her mind about his loyalty or commitment or his love. She was always his but now she truly felt that he was completely hers as well. As they lay on the floor immersed in each other, Sabrina silently signed over her heart to Patrick Drake for eternity. It was now his job not to break it.