"Get your hands off me." Brenda spat as she pulled her arm out of his grasp.Then she picked up the nightgown Jax had sent her off the floor. "Did you really send this to me?" She still couldn't believe it.
"I saw it." Jax smiled. "And I knew you'd love it."
Brenda really couldn't believe him. "Jax, the only one I want buying me stuff like this is my husband."
He reached out and caressed her face. "Well." He smiled his Jax smile that made all the women swoon and that Brenda had once found very charming. "As soon as you leave Corinthos, we can get married and you will be my wife."
"I'm not leaving Sonny." She slapped his hand away from her. "Although after what you've done, I wouldn't be surprised if Sonny wasn't thinking about leaving me."
"What about what he's done to me." Jax whined. "Do you know how much money he's cost me by screwing up my takeovers of those companies?"
"I'd say you got off pretty easy." Brenda told him. "If you had pulled this crap on any other man you'd be picking your teeth up off the floor."
"I don't understand." And he really didn't. "When you came over here, I thuoght it was to let Corinthos have it for what he's done to me."
"And Sonny thought the same thing." Brenda sighed. "But the reason I came over was to tell you off."
"What!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "For what?"
"For telling my husband I'm in love with you." She spat. "Jax, I don't love you. I loved Sonny before you came to this town and that hasn't changed, and you know it. How many times have I left you because I love Sonny? When you first gave me your ultimatum to marry you or else, I never intended to marry you. I was going to leave town, instead of marrying you, but when I told Sonny goodbye he wouldn't let me go and told me he loved me. Then he learned Lily was pregnant and he couldn't go through with leaving her, and you found me in the rain devastated over losing Sonny. So I slept with you and when you pushed the marriage thing again I thought why not. I'd lost Sonny, so what did it matter."
"You let me think I had a chance with you." He reminded her in an accusatory manner, his voice getting angry.
"I lied to you, Jax." She confessed. "I used you. This town was breaking Sonny down and beating him into the ground and all the fight was going out of him. So I thought if he saw you trying to break up our marriage, it would put the fight back in him." She looked at the door Sonny had stormed out of. "And it has, only a little too well." She turned back to Jax. "Don't send me anymore presents, because you're wasting your time. You have no chance with me. You have no idea what it's taken me to get to this point where Sonny and I are married and we have a child together. I have no intention of leaving Sonny ever." With that she headed out of the same exit Sonny had and tried to figure out where he might have gone.
"What do you want, Carly?" Sonny asked as he downed his drink in one gulp, really not in the mood for this or her at the moment.
"I want a lot of things." She told him slyly. "You'll have to be more specific than that."
"All right." He turned and looked her in the eye. "What do you want from me." He already knew and maybe he wanted it, too.
She ran her hand around the rim of her glass. "You're a smart boy." She purred. "I'm sure you can figure that out."
"I'm married." He waved his wedding band in her face.
"So am I." She waved her wedding ring back in his face. "And I figure both of us are just about fed up with being married and we're both looking for a little action."
"Before the wedding you tried to slap me." He reminded her. "During the wedding you were ogling me. After the wedding you kissed me. And now at the reception you want to screw me?" Sonny added with a smile. "That's a little too fast even for me, sweetheart."
"Tell me something, Sonny." She leaned a little closer to him. "Why are we both sitting here, while everyone else is at the reception. I'll tell you why. We're both outsiders and we don't fit in with that crowd and we both know it. That's why we both ended up here sitting on barstools next to each other."
Sonny took a cheese curl sitting in a bowl sitting on the bar and munched on it. "I guess you missed my performance at the reception, since if you had seen it, you'd definitely know why I'm here."
"What did you do?" Carly asked eagerly.
"Told everyone off." He confessed. "Then I made a stunning exit that had everyone's mouth gaping open in surprise. If there's one thing I'm good at it's making a stunning exit."
"I'm sure your little bride didn't like that one bit." She commented. "She's one of them and likes fitting in with their crowd."
"I'm sure you're right." Sonny sighed. "In fact, I'm sure right now she's giving aid and comfort to Candy Boy as we speak."
"Candy Boy?" Carly repeated in puzzlement. "Who's that?"
"Jax." Sonny explained. "It's one of my many nicknames for him."
"Why Candy Boy?" Carly asked. "Because he's an all-day sucker?"
Sonny couldn't help himself. That just cracked him up. He threw back his head and laughed. Just at that moment Brenda walked into the Grille and stood staring at Sonny and Carly. It had been a long time since Brenda saw Sonny laugh like that and that he was laughing like that with Carly made her stomach drop to he knees.
Sonny had forgotten how funny Carly could be at times. They had had some good times together before things had gone so wrong between them.
"That's a good one." He told her. "And so true." Then he added, warming up to Carly. "So are you that rare female not enthralled by him?"
"He makes AJ look like a man." She took a sip of her drink. "And AJ is no man."
Because he had warned Jason not to help her, so things would work out between Jason and Robin, Carly had gotten stuck with AJ. He'd never thought of the consequences for Carly and Michael when he'd done what he'd done. "How's your son doing?" Even though Sonny loved Michele to distraction, he couldn't forget about Michael or stop worrying about him.
"He's doing as best as can be expected." Carly sighed. "Living in the zoo he's living in."
"How's AJ as a father?" He continued to probe. He needed to know Michael was doing all right. He knew there was a price to pay for him being happy with Brenda and he didn't want Michael to be paying that price.
"Like a politician." Carly quipped. "You know the one that wants to be photographed kissing a baby during election time? Well, AJ carts Jamie out during his birthday and holidays to make a big show at being a Daddy, but otherwise he ignores him. Which may be for the best, since AJ's no prize orsomeone I want my son modeling himself after." She paused. "Why all the questions? Are you suddenly feeling guilty over what you sentenced my son to by telling Jason not to help me if I came to him?"
"You might say that." She had no clue at what he was feelings. He had practically raised Michael since he was a baby and considered him his son as much as Michele was his daughter. He still couldn't get used to the fact that Michael was no longer Michael, but Michael was now Jamie. But just because he had a different name, didn't change how Sonny still felt about him.
"Save the pity for yourself." She advised him. "You probably need it more than Jamie does."
"Why do you say that?" He wanted to know.
"You're life isn't going that well at the moment." She reminded him. "I hear the Q's gloating about it some times. You probably wouldn't be having as many problems as you're having if you had stuck to your own kind." She added. "I suppose the same could be said for myself."
"And just who is my own kind?" He threw back at her. "Someone like you, for instance?"
"We come from the same place." She told him. "I probably get you a hell of a lot better than that bride of yours does. For instance, if I had a real man like you, I wouldn't be playing around with a wuss like Jasper Jacks on the side." She added. "But he's one of her own kind, so I guess it's understandable. She probably longs to be with one of her own kind, the same way you long to be with one of your own. It would surely make her life more easy and whatever scene you caused at the reception probably wouldn't have happened if she were married to him instead of you."
"You're probably right." Sonny said thoughtfully. Nor would Brenda have had to give birth in the woods in the middle of a rainstorm thinking she was going to be killed at any second. Or any of the other things she'd had to endure because of him. As always when it came to Brenda, his guilt began to eat him alive. Her life would definitely be easier without him in it, but would it be better? Not according to Brenda it wouldn't be.
"If you know the truth." She leaned even closer to him. Any closer and she'd be sitting in his lap. "Then why don't you just give her up. Both your lives would be so much easier if you both would just stick with your own kind." She added. "Why don't you let the little rich girl go and go find yourself someone who comes from where you come from."
"Meaning you?" He asked.
"We could be good together." She leaned her face closer to his, as she slid her hand boldy between his thighs right in front of everyone in the bar. "I could give you what you want better than she can. I can give you what you need." She began to caress him, sending pleasure shooting through his bloodstream. He couldn't help himself. He arched himself into her touch and rubbed himself against her probing fingers.
Memories of the first time they had been together flashed through his mind, as she knew exactly instinctively how he liked to be touched there. The lust that had ripped through him the first time his lips had touched hers, ripped through him again. Not passion, but lust. Lust was far different from passion. At times it could be even more powerful than passion. It had nothing to do with love, and everything to do with sexual gratification. Sonny had drowned in sexual gratification that first night with her and had loved every minute of it. He'd loved the way their bodies had been wrapped around each other as he carried her upstairs to his bedroom. How they had broken furniture and ripped each other's clothes off in lieu of foreplay. Every violent action had just heightened his body's hunger for hers. When they finally came together they had been like a couple of mindless animals drowning in the sexual pleasure their bodies were giving each other. It had been incredible and he had loved every moment of it. He hadn't experienced anything before or since that could compare to the mindless pleasure he had felt that night and had wanted to experience again, but hadn't never let himself.
Afterwards, the Catholic guilt had gotten to him, added with the Jason factor, and it had never happened between them again like that. It had remained a guilty pleasure he'd longed to experience again but wouldn't allow himself the pleasure of experiencing. Then he and Carly fell in love and they were never able to go back to the place they had gone their first night together. Never again were they able to have wild animal sex, instead they made love with each other as people in love with each other were supposed to do. But they could go back there now, a voice tempted Sonny. He could have it like that one more time.
"There's plenty of rooms upstairs." She whispered in his ear, like the serpent tempting Eve to take a bite of the apple. "We could rent one and let our bodies do our talking for us." She gave him another rub between his thighs. "Wouldn't you like that, Sonny? Wouldn't you like a little down and dirty sex? The kind your pure little bride could never give you."
Brenda suddenly popped into his mind. If he went upstairs with Carly than that would be it for them. It would finally be over. He'd stop having to wait for Stone to show up and tell him it was time to go back to his real life. He'd stop being tortured with what could have been if he hadn't gotten scared and ran from Brenda thinking he was protecting her. In short, like Eve biting the apple, he would be casting himself out of his own private Garden of Eden with Brenda and have to go back to living his life without her again. Yeah, it was all pretty cut and dried. Screw Carly and it was over and this fantasy would come to an end and he'd go back to his real life. Only thing was he didn't want to go back to his real life and he never wanted this fantasy to end. He wanted to stay in this reality with Brenda forever.
He removed Carly's hand from between his thigh. "I'm sorry, Carly." He threw a wad of cash on the bar as he got to his feet. "I love my wife and I'm not going to do anything to make it end before it has to."
Brenda ducked out of sight before Sonny could see her and she watched him exit. Her first instinct was to go over and break Carly's fingers for touching Sonny where only she had a right to touch him, but Sonny was more important. So Brenda followed him out of The Grille and put all thoughts of Carly out of her mind.
As Sonny entered the penthouse, he wondered if Brenda was going to leave him because of what he'd done to Jax. He wondered if Michele was still upstairs asleep in her crib or if Brenda had taken her and moved in with Jax. He breathed a sigh of relief when he went to the nursery and she was laying peacefully asleep in her crib. He spent a long time just gazing down at her and wishing she were real. That he and Brenda really did have a child together. He finally managed to make himself leave the nursery and headed to his and Brenda's bedroom. He was shocked to find her waiting for him there.
They just stared at each other for a minute not knowing what to say to each other. "Are you planning to leave me." Then suddenly both blurted out at the same time. "Why would I leave you?" Sonny asked in shock. "I'm the one who went after Jax. I know how you've always felt about that and I did it anyway. You're the one who has the reason to leave me."
"I saw you with Carly in the bar." Brenda confessed. "For a second there I thought you were going to sleep with her. Not that I can blame you after the way I've been carrying on with Jax and throwing him in your face."
"I almost did." He admitted. "But I knew if I did, it would be the end of us, and I don't want it to end."
"Why would you think I'd leave you over Jax." Brenda asked.
"I saw you coming towards me when Jax and I were going at it." He replied. "I knew you were coming to let me have it for what I did to him."
"If you'd have just let me talk." She told him sternly. "You would have found out I was coming over there to support you, not attack you." She added with a sad smile. "That's the thing about you, Sonny. You always think the worse is about to happen and then you do something to make it happen."
"So, where do we go from here." Sonny sighed, as he sat down on the bed. "We can't go on the way we've been going."
"Maybe we could start with you explaining to me why you're attracted to Carly." Brenda sat down next to him. "I guess that's what bothers me the most. It's just so good between us sexually, how could you be attracted to another woman. Especially someone like Carly." She added. "I could understand it with Lily, because of the mob thing, but Carly Quartermaine?"
"Carly and I come from the same place." Sonny tried to explain. "It's mostly about sex. Wild mindless animal sex that creatures like Carly and I have together. The kind of sex where you don't care about the other person you're having sex with, you don't even want to know their name, all you want to do is wallow in the sexual pleasure you know this person can give you and you can give in return. All you want to do is slam someone against the wall in some dark alley and screw your brains out with them, then go on your way and never see them again." He added. "It's not like what we share. If I were married to Carly and I knew I could never have you in my life again, I would lie to myself so I could justify having one last taste of you. Afterwards I would claim I had only done what I did so I could find out if I'd still want Carly after tasting you, but it would be a lie. But if I were married to you, I would never need to taste another woman, because you're the only woman I want, need or desire. What we share is beautiful and special, and what Carly makes me feel is dark, base and carnal. It's not worth risking losing you over, no matter how tempted by her I might be." He sighed, as he laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "That's the best I can explain it to you. I can only add that as long as we're together, nothing will ever happen between Carly and I. I swear it on all I hold sacred."
Brenda smiled, feeling much better about things. This was something she could handle that didn't really threaten them or what they had. All she needed to show him was that she could give him the same thing Carly could and the problem would be over. "Oh, I think I get it." She crawled on top of Sonny and straddled his waist. "Some times you want to have rough and wild sex." She suddenly ripped open his shirt. "But don't you know, baby, I can give it to you anyway and every way you want it." She ran her fingernails down his chest sharp enough to cause pain but not sharp enough to draw blood. "You don't have to go looking for it in the gutter, you can have it right in your own bed."
He held her face in his hands and reached up to kiss her. "I love you so much." He let all his love for her show in his dark eyes. "I was so afraid I was going to lose you, but I couldn't stop myself from going after Jax."
"I was afraid of the same thing." She admitted, as she tenderly ran her fingers over his beloved face. "But we won't ever lose each other again." She added, as they began to make love. "And just for the record. I don't want Jax, and I told him to stop sending me presents because he has no chance with me. So there will no longer be any reason for you to go after him, again."
He suddenly rolled her on her back and came over her. "I love you, Mrs. Corinthos."
"I love you, too, Mr. Corinthos." She smiled happily at him.
As they made love, they felt all the stress and strain they'd been under since returning to Port Charles wash away from them. It was only them and their love left between them. It wasn't the solution to all their problems, but it was a good start.