Kowloon Bay was gorgeous at sunset, with the oranges and the golds shimmering into the deep hues of purple and scarlet over a blanket of choppy blue waters. The air smelled of warm summer sea and the rhythmic sounds of water lapping against the hull lulled them into an easy silence as they gazed into the vast ocean beyond Hong Kong.
Nakia shivered, pulling her wrap tighter around her slim frame. Thane promptly pulled her closer, pressing a soft kiss into her hair. “You seem distracted,” he noted, resting his chin against her shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
Nakia’s gaze fixated into the waters, unable to find the words to tell him what had been pressing on her mind and heart over the last few months. Sensing her discomfort, Thane kissed the nape of her neck before whispering, “I married you for your secrets. All of them.”
A laugh burbled from her throat as some of the tension she’d been holding in, eased.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” she began, her voice shaking with uncertainty.
“You can tell me anything,” he soothed. “Anything at all.”
*~*
Thane startled awake, abruptly pulled from the dream that had haunted him for months. Nakia, on the verge of telling something he knew was important, something that had been holding her back. She had never finished what she had intended to say and within three days, she was dead.
Thane expelled a deep, shaky breath as he pulled his sweat soaked body from the bed. A quick shower before his date with Emily had led to a sudden nap, the towel still cinched firmly around his waist.
Emily.
His mouth curved into a small as he thought of the brunette doctor, their last date taking place near the beaches just outside of town. The day had started out warm and bright and quickly descended into a cold, clammy wind, followed by a downpour of rain. They’d packed up their picnic and had run shrieking to Thane’s vehicle where they had sat shivering and giggling while the heater filled the car with warm air.
*~*
Emily’s brown orbs shone as she squeezed drops of water from her now unruly hair. Her previously loose fitting top now clung to every curve and Thane watched, hypnotized as her ruby red lips arched into a happy, if resigned grin.
“Well, so much for the picnic,” she chuckled as she turned to the backseat, looking at the content they’d haphazardly thrown into the back of the car in their bid to not get completely drenched by the rain.
Thane reached behind him, grabbing a small container and opened it, finding a pile of seedless grapes and blackberries. “Ah hah!” he declared triumphantly. “We can still have a picnic.” He held the fruit out to Emily. He shrugged, “well, sort of. We’ll make it work.”
Emily snatched a few blackberries, relishing the juices as she glanced at the unrelenting rain, watching as a caravan filled with a small family and their dog slowly pull out of the parking lot onto the main highway, leaving their car alone in the now empty lot. Thane reached to the radio and flipped the dial until he found the local classic rock station and soon a Fleetwood Mac song began wafting through the speakers.
“Perfect,” Emily sighed as she settled back in her seat gazing out the windshield as the rain drummed madly against the glass.
Thane could only stare at the beauty before him. When he was with her, he thought of nothing else. Not Jack or Nakia or Jason Morgan. When he wasn’t with her, he longed to be, so much that his thirst for Jason’s blood seemed to diminish. He had loved Nakia with everything in him, everything he had before she’d been ripped away.
With Emily, it was different; a different kind of need consumed him, and thrummed against his chest as madly as the rain pounded the car they were nestled in. She turned to him, finding his eyes blazing with a hunger she’d not seen in any man before him.
Not Nikolas.
Not Sonny.
Not the few who had come and gone in the years of medical school and her return to Port Charles.
Her stomach rattled, a knowing sensation rushing through her veins and without prompt, she licked her lower lip. “Umm,” she stammered softly.
It took a full beat before Thane realized he’d spoken her name, his tone deep and reverential, and his want unmistakable.
“Emily.”
*~*
He had surprised himself, the eagerness with which he’d pulled her towards him as she drew his mouth to hers, his tongue tasting the sweetness of the blackberries, the thrill of her body pressed up against his as they fumbled like teenagers, their hands searching for any piece of exposed skin. They would have gotten much further had the uniformed officer not rapped impatiently on the driver window and with a frown, suggested they take themselves somewhere less public.
Thane had driven her home instead, and Emily had taken his hand, gently running her fingers along the back of his. It had taken a great deal of concentration on his part not to drive off the road.
Thane stood from the bed and ran his hand through his still wet hair.
He was in trouble. He knew it; he had known it for weeks.
“Thane?”
His head jerked towards the door, an insistent knock followed the call from the other side.
He hurried to the door, barely pulling it open before Emily barreled into the room. Confused, he glanced into the hallway, checking the surroundings as he always did. Satisfied it was empty; he shut the door and locked it. His gaze flicked to the clock. “You’re a bit early,” he began before she turned, unshed tears in her eyes, her face a storm of emotions. Instantly he was across the room, taking her in his arms as she brushed the clear pools away, letting out a gentle laugh of embarrassment.
“Look at me, I’m like a child sometimes,” she sighed, lifting her eyes to his. Keeping his arms around her, he studied her closely. “What’s going on? You seem upset.”
She placed hands against the smoothness of his chest and though he hadn’t meant to, he took in a sharp breath.
“I am upset,” she admitted, “but not with you.” She paused as she spoke her next few words more gently.
“Never with you.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” But the moment the words were out of his mouth, he knew the answer as Emily’s hands moved down to the towel that sat at his hips. He swallowed, his hands clutching to her denim clad waist, his thumbs hooking into the belt loops.
“Is the door locked?”
He nodded and her finger curled around the softness of the towel.
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
*~*
Although they had intended to speak first, the moment Gia had entered her home, she had locked onto Jason like a moth to a flame and they had connected first as lovers, crashing together with feverish need. Their worlds had turned on end and in the safety of Gia’s bed, they cocooned themselves with whispered words of love and devotion and reassurance. Only when they were spent and sated, did they speak their secrets.
“Emily knows about us.”
Jason winced ever so slightly but said nothing. People finding out were inevitable, but he had hoped that at the very least, they would be able to control who found out and when. But control on anything seemed to be slipping through his fingers again and again.
“She went to her new boyfriend’s place; I’m sure she’ll cool down and talk in a few days.”
Jason turned Gia’s face towards his. “There is a man in Port Charles. He is here to kill me.”
Gia’s eyes widened in horror and Jason tightened his arm around her in a reassuring squeeze, though it did little to quell her intense fear. Still, her gaze did not waver. She knew this day would come, she always knew. “What happened?” she asked, although both knew the real question she was asking.
What had he done?
Calm, aquamarine eyes rested on her worried expression. “The two scars, from when I was shot that night in Hong Kong.”
“The night you came to find me,” she said, reliving that awful night. The blood, the private doctor who’d pulled the slugs from Jason’s wounded body, the vigil she’d kept as he fought the infections that raged through his bloodstream.
Jason nodded. “I killed a woman that night. She was dangerous and I took her out.”
It was all so matter of fact. “And this man?”
“He was her husband. His name is Thane Bauer.”
Gia trembled with realization. “Jack Bauer’s brother? My brother’s best friend?” Her face crumpled, a sob escaping her. “Jason!”
Jason pressed a feathery kiss to her mouth. “Everything will be fine, nothing is going to happen to you or anyone we care about,” he soothed. He stroked her face. “I will keep you and everyone else safe.”
Gia quivered, despite the warmth and protection of his body molded and twined with hers. His words were a small comfort to the sharp reality both knew.
Darker days were not coming; they were here.
*~*
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