APRIL IN ROME
Chapter Four

Rated NC-17 for Content

Gangs of Yesterday – Scene 43

CAMERAS—LIGHTS—ACTION ON ONE!

Inside a garishly furnished burgundy and gold boudoir above a noisy tavern, Valor is still holding Cora near his heart and slams the door shut with a dusty well-worn boot. The room is dimly lit from a hurricane lamp and a huge elevated four poster sits majestically in the middle. The windows are open and the outside brisk night wind blows a sheer lacy curtain invitingly into their haven. This night’s street noise is subdued and the only discernable sound is the slight strains of music coming from the player piano below and the heavy breathing of two star-crossed lovers. Valor releases Cora’s knees causing her to slowly glide down the length of his tall, masculine frame. With her arms still locked around his neck, she tiptoes to place a visibly shaking hand on his heaving chest and to hesitantly entangle her slender fingers through his overly long blond hair at his nape.

Valor reaches for the ties of Cora’s flimsy ivory overdress and it easily slips off her creamy shoulders where his lips taste her velvety smooth skin. Cora releases the mass of thick copper hair held captive by tortoise shell hair combs causing it to cascade down her back and into his searching hands. Pushing her gently against the wall, Valor yanks his faded shirt over his head exposing a finely muscled chest tapering down to a flat taut stomach. Cora’s glittering eyes widen slightly as his work-roughened hands seize the delicate silk cord of the lace corset divesting her from its restraints. As it falls over her slender hips, he impatiently kicks it aside. Instantly, he reaches for her temptingly exposed collarbone and continues to trace a path downward to her shivering breasts.

The banked tremors begin anew in each of the lovers as their smoldering eyes interlocked with mutual need and understanding. Cora’s nipples visibly harden and Valor’s hands cup her full breasts to judge the reaction to his demanding touch. No longer able to stand on their own accord, her knees buckle and Cora emits a strangled breath. Valor’s nostrils flare as his limpid gaze devours every curve and inch of her youthful alluring body. He was on fire…and he couldn’t catch his ragged breath. He thought he might actually pass out at any second from the exhilaration of it all . She was so perfect, all his sexual fantasies were embodied in this beautiful creature that was now at his mercy. The experience of it was so heady, so unreal. It was impossible to try to decipher why he, Adam Valor, alias Jack Dawson, had been so luckily blessed. His chest was heaving and the tremors easily matched those of his partner. Capturing her moist, yielding lips, he slowly lowered their bodies to the oversized bed. An intense atmosphere of exultation, expectation, and fear permeated throughout the set.

Placing Cora on the rumpled cotton sheets he bent down to hurriedly divest himself of his abbreviated garb and turns to her expectant and nervous gaze. With his hands around the top of Cora’s under garments he tugs them down pulling silk stockings and all. Dropping them on the pine hardwood floor, Valor brings the sheet to his waist leaning down to place soft sensual kisses along Cora’s ear, neck, and breasts. They both moan together and he savagely ravages her willing mouth, slanting, twisting, exploring the honeyed depths with his tongue. Closing her impassioned eyes, Cora unevenly rasps, "Please…" while struggling hard to breath and relax.

It all happened so fast that the next thing the few select bystanders observed was voyeurism at its peak. A bloodcurdling scream and a strangled groan was heard simultaneously. In the next millisecond, Jack thickly grunted, "God damn!"

"CUT!"

Rose and Jack were jolted back to reality fighting hard to catch an even breath. Rose pushed against Jack’s weight in extreme agony, pain, and horror. My God, he had boldly taken her virginity in one swift move that tore the very breath from her soul. Although, he had not completed the act, he had partially rent her precious flesh and the damage had been done. Filled with self-disgust, she had literally been branded a whore. She was ruined, sullied, spoiled! And she knew without a doubt, this was all her fault. Her reckless, impulsive abandon had finally caught up with her and sealed her fate. She had stepped over the boundary of propriety for good this time and she would have to pay its tremendous cost.

Stunned, Jack couldn’t believe what had just transpired between them. His throbbing body refused to accept the fact that he, a supposedly professional actor, had practically committed pornography on a movie set! He had literally lost all control. He had in fact forgotten when he stopped acting the part and started living it! Rose had drugged him with her feminine sexuality—charmingly bewitched him with her heavenly body. Nothing even remotely similar to this had ever happened to Jack Dawson!

But beyond that revolting fact, he was completely bewildered and mortified that the girl he mistakenly believed was knowledgeable in the art of love, was actually a blasted virgin! He silently raged and savagely cursed. He had just committed an unforgivable cardinal sin and he would be made to atone for it in the worst possible way. Jack had coveted Rose from the first moment he had laid eyes on her and damn…he had assumed the worst. It was so much easier to believe that she was a willing and eager girl playing games with his libido! Yet tragically, he had been entirely off base. She was a maiden and he had never been with an innocent before…never wanted to be for that matter. They ensnared a man with their artless ardor and wiles. Although every man might secretly desire to be his soul mate’s one and only…but he, Jack Dawson, wasn’t in the market for a soul mate. He didn’t want to need anyone and the word love had never truthfully entered into his vocabulary. It frightened him that his worst possible fears were coming to pass. God, he had to break free or be hopelessly trapped.

Martin Stefano was lost in tumultuous thought. Once in a lifetime one saw the incredible magic of two entwined souls. Jack and Rose maybe didn’t realize it yet, but it was more than just inborn talent coming to the fore. These two young people were destined to be great. Rose DiStefano could be the next century’s icon. Jack Dawson was already at the brink, King of the Movie World, no less. Hell, he practically controlled his glorious future as it was. With Rose, she could carry them both over the top to perpetual stardom and fame. If they wanted it…if they nurtured it. God had given them such a precious gift and he heartily suspected they had no idea how fragile and delicate that was!

Shortly, Martin’s personal assistant rushed to the director’s chair brusquely exclaiming, "Boss, you know there’s no way in hell we can leave this scene in! Shit, it’ll give us at least a R and possibly a X rating! Sorry, Boss, I just don’t think there was too much acting going on here!"

"It stays, Mr. Bodine, and I don’t want to hear anything else about it! This scene will not wind up on the editing room floor! Is that in any way unclear?" Martin stoically commanded.

Reluctantly, shaking his shaggy bearded head, Lewis Bodine grumbled something incoherent under his breath and stalked away sulking.

Rose didn’t know how she got to her hotel suite at the Grand Hotel de Russie. Everything was such a blur, so surreal. She actually thought her body was in complete shock. Berating herself repeatedly had only thrown her deeper into utter despair. She let out a strangled gasp when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Did she appear different? Could anyone else guess what she had now done? What would her family say if they suspected? The image of her stricken father was too disturbing to imagine and she solemnly entered the spacious bathroom to sink into a warm tub of scented water to help sooth her troubled thoughts and tender body.

Finally, tears slipped from the corners of her translucent green pools to fall like gentle raindrops into the tepid water. Cupping the water into her hands, she tried to brace herself with the cool water to snap her out of her suffering reverie. She couldn’t continue like this…she had to accept what happened and make the most of it. Jack had wanted her and she knew it; she had wanted him and he knew it. They had known it from the very first; and the obvious had happened. It was just a matter of time. Yet, incredibly their time had come in a mere two days and on a movie set of all places! Rose had to face the inevitable; she couldn’t change fate. This had happened for a reason…but what would she do when she saw him again?

"God help me…" she pitifully pleaded.

Jack had been pacing furiously up and down the outside hallway of his rooms. Several husky bodyguards were solemnly posted at each end guarding their famous charge. They professionally averted their gazes but it was quite obvious their employer was in a tiff! Cursing himself for every foul deed he had ever done, Jack was harshly condemning himself for the fool that he was. He had stared trouble straight in the face. He had went looking for it and found it; throwing caution to the wind!

Slamming the hotel door, he furiously picked up the phone and dialed his mother, the most calming force in this life.

"Dammit, she’s not there? No…sorry, just tell her Jack called and I’ll get back to her some other time!" Nothing was going right! Damn, damn, double damn, and hell. Oh great, just wait till the tabloids get wind of this! I’ll never hear the end of it; never live it down. Shit! They just won’t find out, that’s all! If I have to…oh hell, Dawson, face it! You wanted her, you took her, you claimed her...did you satisfy that curiosity? Your sexual cravings! Hell no! He had to get a grip on himself for he couldn’t think straight. He was literally answering his own questions like a madman.

Then out of nowhere, he began to realize just how young she possibly might be. Twenty? He had a sickening feeling that the answer to that loaded question was considerably younger. A flower in her youth and at its peak and HE had plucked the Rose, literally. Damn, he felt like a depraved pedophile!

Making up his overwrought mind, he came to the conclusion that he had to try and make amends somehow. Try to alleviate some of the gnawing guilt invading his every thought! Placing his slightly shaking hand on the door, he knew he had to see her again at least one last time.

Eventually, Rose left the sanctuary of her bath and dressed for bed. Donning a scarlet jacquard silk chemise and robe, she strode across the room combing her long copper tresses into some order. Suddenly a soft rap sounded at her hotel door.

"It’s me, Jack. Can I talk to you a second, Rose, please?" Jack anxiously awaited her response. Would she be furious as he suspected and send him away after a well-deserved slap and a cursing for the horrendous crime he had violated against her? All he could do was wait and hold his breath.

The door slowly opened and Rose stepped aside letting him enter. Jack’s heart soared yet the uncertainty of the situation overshadowed all hope. She didn’t look like she would attack him. But one never knew with Rose. She was so unpredictable most of the time; the next moment was like a gamble…he suddenly realized he was extremely nervous. If he didn’t play these next cards right…

Rose guiltily raised troubled green pools expectantly into Jack’s tortured visage. Before he lost his nerve in an earnest, sincere tone, he rushed, "I’ve come to apologize…to seek your forgiveness if you will…I lost control…I’m so sorry, Rose! I know words are inadequate but please give me a chance!"

Clearing her throat, Rose softly asked, "Are you really sorry, Jack?"

"Of course!" Jack emphatically replied practically begging with his haunted eyes for some sign of forgiveness and solace.

"Do you truly regret what happened between us today; what’s happened before?" she calmly questioned. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. Pleading with him for something that he didn’t want to admit to her, at least right then.

And suddenly, it became as clear as a picture to him. NO, he wasn’t sorry. His half-hearted apology was just an inane excuse to see her again…a moral obligation of principle to try to correct the terrible wrong he had committed against a young, vulnerable innocent. He wanted to ease his guilty conscience, that’s all. But was he sorry? No, not really if he was totally honest with them both. He was glad it had happened. There was no possible way he possessed the will power to stop what had occurred. He wasn’t that strong-willed and he wasn’t a martyr by a long shot. He should be regretful, he concurred, but he understood at that precise moment that Rose didn’t want him to be!

Taking a deep halting breath, he brushed her finely boned cheek with his fingertips and rasped, "No, Rose, I have no regrets."

"Then finish what you started. I want you to be my first, my second…and my last!" Rose seductively murmured.

It was like someone had thrown ice cold water in this face. He somehow gained some sense of the precarious dilemma they were now in and accepted that he had to take charge of the perilous situation once and for all. He was the mature, older person in this volatile malady. Someone had to abort what was surely about to happen! It was up to him.

"Your Only, Rose? You have no idea what you’re saying. Shit, how old are you anyway? You can’t possibly know what you’re asking!"

Jack was afraid for the first time in his life. He was afraid of claiming her, afraid of not claiming her! He didn’t know what he wanted; what he should want. He waited her next response with abated breath.

"I’m seventeen, Jack. Is that relevant? Do I look like a child? You said that you had no regrets…were you lying just now? Will you have regrets if you walk out that door?" Rose was not finished just yet. Taking his hand in hers, she moved it to her aching breast and softly implored, "Put your hands on me, Jack."

Throwing his head back and closing his smoldering smoky eyes for a heartrending moment, he loudly exhaled and then all restraints and barriers came crashing down around them. Rose untied her robe and let it whisper to the floor. The thin straps holding the chemise to her body slowly fell down her arms exposing herself for his starved perusal.

"God damn it all to hell!" Jack savagely pushed her to the bed practically tearing every piece of clothing that separated their love-starved bodies. He quickly moved above her and came down before he could change his mind. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a warning bell rang but he chose not to hear it because there was no turning back now.

Rose took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes tightly and pressed her face against the base of Jack’s neck as she dug her fingers into his shoulders. She ignored the initial unendurable pain and concentrated on the budding pleasure. Jack held himself absolutely still. His lips sought hers and played provocatively until she began to answer his devouring mouth and cavorting tongue. Although not altogether unpleasant, the tempered panic subsided somewhat and Rose felt Jack’s heartbeat inside her body. Shortly, she caught the incredible building magic and let him take her with him to the stars. They clung there for heart-stopping moments and flung themselves over the edge in unrestrained ecstasy.

Jack cried out and she joined his cry. He had given her his best and poured his life within her. They had never known anything on earth to compare with this melding, becoming one flesh. They clung together, savoring these precious moments of lying naked together. Each knew nothing would ever be the same again. Rose sighed to her very soul. She had never felt more safe, more secure, or loved in her whole life.

Rose smiled dreamily across the pillow into Jack’s flaming azure eyes, suddenly sure in the knowledge that she had found her one true soul mate. Closing her eyes, she almost immediately fell into a deep peaceful slumber. Jack knew he had just possessed someone very rare. Here was a girl, now a woman, to cherish and savor.

Totally sated for the moment, Jack pressed a gentle kiss upon her brow and got up to light a cigarette. Red drops of blood were scattered across the white sateen sheet like rubies. The effect upon him was instant and marked. As he leaned against the window alcove overlooking the Roman skyline, he pensively watched her sleep.

God, she was so angelic in repose, so ethereal and so…very young. He had been with many beautiful women but had always had enough sense to break it off after a few interludes. And he had never regretted it. Could he do it now? The others before Rose were never innocents; far from it! Yet this one…not even a high priced call girl could have done what she had accomplished in such a short time. Damn, he was as helpless as a kitten…he honestly wasn’t so sure he could turn away…could he ever give her up? Could he endure this gnawing and growing passion she was igniting, not only in his body but in his heart as well? This overwhelming desire was quickly becoming a downright obsession.

Rebelliously, Jack’s subconscious began to war with his heart. I’m just infatuated with a different, wonderful, astounding girl—now a woman. Put a dozen of the most gorgeous red roses and one simple white lily in a bunch and which draws more attention and awe? Still trying to convince himself otherwise, he inwardly reflected. She’s just a lily among the roses! As he argued with himself and tried to justify his tumultuous feelings, Rose opened her dazzling jade pools and stared. They caressingly bore into his scorching turquoise gaze and interlocked. Jack’s breathing halted, his heart began painfully throbbing, and he felt his body harden.

"Is it ladylike, Mr. Dawson, to ask if you’d take me to the stars again?" Rose shyly whispered.

Jack was trapped in a fantasy of pure magic. His lips curved into a roguish slant and trancelike, he returned to make love one more time before the sun rose to welcome the two lovers into a new day. Both would never be the same. They would both carry the scars of this April night in Rome for a lifetime.

Chapter Five
Stories