First, Last and Always

He feels the pressure build behind his eyes even as Anna massages his aching muscles. She knows how much this is weighing on his mind and she wishes she could take the pain from him.

"You don't have to do this today Robert. I can see how much this is hurting you even when you tell me you are just fine. I know you are not fine. You do not have to hide it from me. You have a headache don't you?"

Anna knows by his silence that she is getting warmer so she thumbs her finger across his eyelids and then kisses them. "You should be resting. How can you even think when you are hurting this much?"

"It's not going to go away until I deal with this. You know that."

"I just…I don't want to add any more pressure to what I know is very hard for you to cope with."

She pauses shortly as she brushes her palm against his cheek. "I want you to feel like you are making the decision that is right for you. I do not ever want to be an obligation to you Robert. I love you too much for that."

Robert's fingers caress her collarbone as he looks into her expressive brown eyes. He hates that he ever has to see pain or doubt in them because of him.

"My Annie," he whispers. "I don't ever want you to think that I could ever not love you. Even in those years when we were apart, I never quite figured out how not to ache for you. I still do."

"Are you sure," She asks, as her delicate fingers cup his face in her hands. "I know that you love me Robert but…"

"I choose you Anna…Of course I choose you…How can you not know that? When I woke up after the explosion and they told me you were dead…Anna, I felt like I lost a limb. You are just as much a part of me as one of my arms or my legs. I choose you. In a thousand different ways…in a thousand different lifetimes. It does not matter Luv. I will always find you and choose you."

"I love you Robert," she cries, as he wraps his arms around her. "I love you so much. I told myself I would be okay if you wanted to go back to your life with her because just knowing that you were alive was enough for me but…Robert the thought of having to see you and not be able to touch you…"

"I know baby…I know."

His lips were warm and eager as they skimmed over hers. Years may have passed but he still remembered how she tasted when his tongue was in her mouth and the need for air was nonexistent.

"I want you Anna," he gasped, as her hand slipped under his shirt.

She was breathing heavily now as she locks her arms around his neck. "I want you so much Robert."

He reaches for her then, carefully lifting her into his arms as he stands up. It was almost feral the way her hands ripped open his shirt and her lips were trailing up his chest. "You smell so good," she whispers. "I've missed this. Missed you."

"I've missed you too Luv. I want to be near you," he murmurs, her own shirt soon joining his on the floor. In seconds, they were naked and he was at the foot of the bed…kissing her toes and making his way up her body with his lips.

"I want you to feel how much I love you…I want you to know that there will never be another for me. "

"You were my first and you will be my last," she pants.

No more words are spoken as they make love first with a desperate urgency neither of them has felt with anyone else and then with a loving sweetness that would forever be burned into their souls. When Anna was asleep against his chest, he kisses her forehead and carefully disentangles himself from her arms.

"Get some sleep Luv. Only happy dreams from now on.

"Robert," Holly gasped.

One look in her eyes told him that her shock was not sincere. She already knew he was alive.

"How long were you planning on running from me Holly? Did you think I would forget that you did not sign the divorce papers?"

"I thought you were dead," she says in defense.

"And now you know I am not."

"So that's why you are here is it? I find out you are alive and the first thing you want to know is when I will sign the divorce papers. Isn't that a little cold."

"Holly, our marriage has been over for a long time. I am not going to change my mind."

"How do you know when you have not even tried. "

"Because in my heart, I am married to another woman. I love you Holly…I do…But I love Anna more. I am in love with Anna. Please do not do this. If you ever loved me, then sign the papers. Let us stop hurting each other. Let us move on."

Holly pauses as she looks between the papers and Robert. "I will sign them if you can answer me one thing honestly."

"Okay."

"In all those years that we were married and you slept on Anna's couch…Did you have sex with her?"

"Holly, for God's sake…"

"I know…I know that it is the reason that we got really bad in the end…"

"You mean the reason you had Luke's son…"

"I'm sorry. I know that I hurt you. I just need to know. "

"No Holly, I never had sex with her. I told you that already."

"You said a lot of things."

"What do you want me to do…Sign it in blood? I did not cheat on you Holly. "

"Did you want to?"

"Are you going to sign the papers or do I take you to court?"

"I think I got my answer," Holly states. She takes out a pen and signs the papers. Before she hands them back to him, she looks at him. "You did cheat on me Robert…not by something as simple as having an affair. It was emotional. You were emotionally unfaithful. That is so much worse than what I did."

"It doesn't matter anymore does it?"

"I guess not. I hope she makes you happy."

"She does. I am sorry for my part in the destruction of our marriage but I'm not…I will never be sorry for loving her."

He takes the papers from her hand and just as he is about to leave, he turns back one more time.

"I forgive you Holly. Believe it or not, I hope one day you find someone to love you as much as I love Anna…who makes you even half as happy as she makes me. You deserve it."

"I wish it had been you."

"I know...but we both know I was never going to be your forever. I already had my forever."

Holly sighs because she knows what he is trying to say is true. Maybe if he had met her first...never met Anna...but he did Meet Anna...he did love Anna first...and because of that, Holly would never be Robert's first choice. He was Anna's long before he met her. It was time to accept that.

When Robert returns to the hotel room, Anna is in the shower. Robert smiles as he strips off his clothes and walks to the bathroom.

"You got any room in there for me," he questions.

"I always have room for you," she replies, pulling him with her under the faucet. "How did it go with Holly?"

"Let's not talk about Holly in the shower," he quips.

Anna laughs as he kisses her deeply.

"Are you already feeling Frisky Scorpio?

"Do you have to ask?"

She nuzzles his neck as he pulls her closer and they make love under the faucet.

"She signed the papers," Anna declared excitedly. "Oh my God, she signed the papers."

"I love you Anna. We should have still been married when we were in that explosion. Now we can right that wrong."

"Is that a proposal Scorpio? I don't hear a question on that?"

"I was getting to it Devane."

She smiles when Robert drops to his knee and takes her hands in his. "You are the love of my Life Anna Devane…My Soulmate. We have spent way too much time trying to deny how we feel about each other. We have had outside forces conspire against us. Not even death could separate us. Will you marry me again…this time forever? "

"Oh Robert…You know I will. You are my first, my last and my forever."

She kisses him deeply as he lifts her up off the ground. They would go shopping for a ring tomorrow. Today, he just wanted to spend the day making love to her.

THE END