renda decided her best course of action with Marco was to go to Marco and confront him about him finding those newspaper articles she had hidden in her desk. Once that was out in the open, they could move on from there. So with that in mind, she stormed over to the penthouse to demand answers. Marco was just coming out of the shower when she stormed into Sonny's bedroom. "What do you think you're doing here?" She rounded on him, ticked off at the sight of how comfortable he was making himself in Sonny's bedroom

"What does it look like?" Marco retorted, in no mood for anymore crap, especially from a woman. He'd frankly had his fill of women for the day. "I'm taking a shower." He added, as he wrapped the towel around his mid-section a little tighter. "Do you mind? I need to get dressed."

Brenda's temper raised a degree higher seeing Marco rummaging through Sonny's closet like the clothes in them belonged to him and not Sonny. But then that was the purpose of this exercise, wasn't it? To claim everything that belonged to Sonny as his own.

"I'm not in any mood for your smart mouth, Marco." Brenda snapped. "You are in no way prepared to try and assume Sonny's identity." She added. "And take your grubby paws off of Sonny's things."

"I beg to differ." Marco disagreed, completely ignoring her last statement. "I had no problem being Sonny Corinthos." He added. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to discover I'm better at being Sonny Corinthos than even he is." He finally addressed Brenda's last comments. "As for me keeping my grubby paws off his things, it's time you faced facts. He's gone and he isn't coming back. Everything that once belonged to him, belongs to me now."

"Really?" She asked with deep sarcasm. "Does that also include me?" She didn't wait to see what his answer to that was, as she launched a new attack against him. "And what do you call threatening to wipe out Sonny's best friend and his wife? Being the best Sonny you can be? Sonny would have never done that in a million years And everyone is going to know that. You blew it, Marco, big time!"

"If Jason Morgan is Sonny's best friend, I have news for him." Marco returned. "He needs to find himself a new one." He added. "That preachy little prick was getting on my nerves, so I put him in his place, like any person in a position of power would when a subservient was over-stepping his bounds. I did the same to that lightskirt Corinthos' is married to. That bitch had the nerve to threaten to kill me. She's lucky all I did was threaten to do the same to her in response." Then he asked slyly. "So how did your search go? Did you find a way to bring your lover back and to send me back to the nether regions where I belong?"

"No." Brenda lied. "Just the opposite, in fact. I found out how you two happened to switch places and I now know there's no way to undo what was done. You'll be happy to find out that I'm no closer to getting Sonny back now than I was before."

"I don't believe you." Marco accused. "There's something different about you from when I last saw you." He treated her to a penetrating stare. "Before there was an air of desperation about you. An almost hopeless quality, even though you were trying to believe with everything in you that the situation wasn't hopeless, after all. You looked like you were carrying the weight of the world around with you on your shoulders and that the least little thing would cause you to break down and cry. Now it's all gone. There seems to be a lightness of spirit and a hopefulness that wasn't there before." He guessed. "You've found a way to bring him back, haven't you and you're here expecting me to help you, aren't you?"

This was a subject Brenda had no intention of getting into. Not if she had any hope of getting Sonny back to where he belonged. "I know, Marco." Brenda decided a good defense was a good offense. "I know exactly why you've suddenly decided to lay claim to Sonny's life. I know you've seen the newspaper clippings. I know you know what fate awaits you if I succeed in sending you back to your own time."

"Yeah, I know." Marco spat. "And let me tell you something, sweetheart." The endearment that always sounded so loving and sexy when Sonny used to call Brenda by it almost sounded like a foul name on Marco's lips. "You're not sending me back there to die." Then he warned her. "You'd better start getting used to me as Sonny Corinthos, because I'm the only Sonny Corinthos you're going to have from now on. All I have to do is stay here for two more weeks and I will be the only Sonny Corinthos in this time realm or any other. So if you want Sonny Corinthos back in your bed on a permanent basis, then I'd suggest you'd drop any sort of plans you have to send me back. cause it aint gonna happen. Get used to it, sweetheart. The Sonny Corinthos you knew is gone, and if you want to be with him again, the person you'll have to settle for is me, because that's the closest you're ever going to be able to get to the real thing from now on."

"You're not Sonny." Brenda spat, so angered she lost her temper, forgetting all about her game plan. "And I'll never accept you as such." She poked him in the chest with her index finger. "Sonny is not going to die in your place. It's your destiny to die and you're going to go back there and face it."

Marco had a game plan of his own and he was in total control of the situation. "I have the face of Sonny Corinthos." He whipped off his towel with a calculating air about him. "And the body, as well." He began to strut around the room in all his naked glory like a model strutting her stuff on the catwalk. "Come on, Brenda, look at me. Come on, tell me this isn't the body of your lover that you see before your eyes. My body, just like my face, looks exactly the same as your lovers, doesn't it?"

"Yes!" She hissed, unable to control the hunger that was beginning to overtake her at seeing him like this. It was taking everything in her to keep remembering this was not the man she loved standing before her eyes. It was taking every ounce of self-control she possessed not to touch him and beg him to make love to her right this moment. And the thing that made her loathe Marco with a white-hot passion, was she knew he knew how he was making her feel and he was loving every minute of it.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it." Marco moved in for the kill. He felt her whole body shudder with desire when he caressed her cheek. "It's been a long time since you've seen your lover's body like this. Since he's touched you with his hand like this. Since you've felt this body wrapped around your own as he laid buried deep inside your body giving you the pleasure you long to feel."

"You're not Sonny." There was an air of desperation in her voice, as she shoved him away from her. Even though her mind knew this wasn't Sonny standing before her, her heart and body were having a hard time remembering that fact. Damn Marco, he was right. It had been such a long time since she'd seen Sonny like this. Too long. She'd dreamed of him being like this with her those long years she'd spent with Alcazar. There were times she thought she could die happily if she could just have Sonny like this one last time. To have him touch her the way Marco was just touching her. To feel his body wrapped around hers and buried deeply inside of her own. But this wasn't Sonny, her mind screamed in rebellion. Making love with him wouldn't be like making love with Sonny. It would be no different then making love with Jax or Luis. There was no other man who could make her feel the way Sonny did when they made love. Only Sonny could make her feel that way

"Come on, Brenda." He stalked her like a lethal black panther stalking his prey. "Aren't you curious in what other ways I'm just like Sonny? My face and body look exactly like his, so wouldn't it make since that sex with me would be just like having sex with him, too. After all, I've got the exact same equipment he has, so shouldn't we perform in exactly the same manner." He added. "Except for that one little thing, you can finally have your Sonny back." He leaned his lips...Sonny's lips...near her ear and whispered seductively. "Take your clothes off, Brenda, and find out if I'm just like Sonny in that way, too. You know you want to. Just give into it and satisfy your curiosity in the only way you can."

Brenda almost recoiled and slapped him across the face. That one little thing Marco talked so glibly about was Sonny's soul. It was why she loved him beyond all reason and would go through the fires of hell to save him if necessary. But at the last moment she remembered her game plan. To get what she needed from Marco she would have to become lovers with him, so he would believe that she'd given up trying to get Sonny back. So instead of pushing the arrogant conceited beast away and stomping out of the room, she gave into him. With an air of surrender, her hands went down to the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it slowly off over her head. She let him believe she was completely under the seductive spell he'd tried to cast over her. as she kept her eyes locked with his, as her hands went down to the waistband of her jeans and unzipped them, the slowly slid them down her thighs. Marco had no idea what she was doing. That she was taking the control of the situation completely out of his hands and turning the tables on him. Brenda was no amateur at turning on men, and she was pleased to see the sexual excitement building in Marco's eyes and body as she slowly unsnapped her bra and peeled off her panties and stood before him as naked as he stood before her. Then they were standing not two inches from each other, the air thick around them with the smell of the sexual hunger between them.

Brenda broke the sexual stand-off between them by slowly sauntering over to the bed and laying down on it. "Time to put up or shut up, Marco." She taunted him. "You bragged you're as good as Sonny. "She reminded him, as she looked at his hard jutting cock. "Time to put your money where your mouth is."

Marco wasn't one to let anyone get the upperhand over him for long. "My mouth?" He teased, as he caressed himself. "But I thought this was what you wanted. Besides, how else will you be able to know if this is as good as Sonny's without having it deep inside of you."

"You know what I meant." Sexual frustration was deep in her voice, as she opened herself wide for him. "So are you going to stand there all day trying to show how in charge of this situation that you are, or are you going to give us what we both want?"

Marco needed no other invitation as he came down hard on top of her. Once he was seated deep inside of her, he looked down into her face. "So do you need me to caress and fondle you so you'll be ready?"

"Sonny never needed to." Brenda glared defiantly up at him. "Maybe you're not as good as you think."

That was the last words either exchanged and it set the tone for what was to follow. It was rough, wild and passionate and much to her own self-disgust, Brenda loved every moment of it. Brenda hadn't known what to expect, but she hadn't expected to be hit by the same jolt of passion that she'd only ever felt with Sonny. She had expected to derive some pleasure from having sex with Marco, she always did no matter who her partner was, but she hadn't expected Marco to make her burn the way only Sonny could. To her intense shock, it was just like having Sonny make love to her. but at the same time it wasn't.

After it was over she turned her back to Marco to try and analyze what she was feeling. Even though her body was sated, her heart and soul were left wanting. There was something missing from their love making, and that thing was Sonny. Marco could look like Sonny and he could make love to her like Sonny could, but her heart weeped bitterly at the knowledge that he just wasn't Sonny. She wondered as she drifted off to sleep if it was the same way between Sonny and Belinda Jerrold. Was the sex incredibly satisfying, but did he feel that there was also something missing from it?

elinda had been looking for a man to give her the passion she longed to experience, but wasn't getting in her sexual relationship with her husband. What she hadn't been looking for was to fall in love with the man, but that was what she was beginning to fear she'd gone and done. The more she was with Marco, the more abhorrent Jocelyn's love making became to her. In fact, her feeling of revulsion for it had reached the point that she had lied to him at dinner that she thought she might be coming down with influenza and thought it might be best if he didn't come to her bedchamber this evening, so he wouldn't be exposed to her illness. Touched by her concern for his continued good health, he sent her off to bed early and hoped she'd experience a renewal of her usual robust health by morning.

Once she was freed from the duty to remain in Jocelyn's company any longer that evening, she went to her bedchamber to prepare herself for Marco's arrival. But when he finally arrived, she shocked them both by the request she made of him. Marco was undressing and preparing to climb into bed next to her when she asked him something that had him freezing in his tracks.

"Marco." Belinda looked up at him with a strange expression in her eyes. "Would you mind if we didn't make love, tonight?"

"Do you want me to go?" He asked, fully prepared to get dressed and leave the way he came.

"No." Belinda shook her head adamantly. "I want you to stay, but I just want you to hold me instead of making love to me."

Both realized what Belinda really wanted. She wanted to take their relationship to a more intimate level. It was one thing for them to make love, but it was a much deeper level of intimacy for them to just lay in her bed holding each other and sleeping together like a normal married couple would.

Sonny realized as he climbed in bed next to Belinda and she wrapped her body around his that just making love was no longer enough for Belinda. To his shock, Sonny realized he felt the same way. God help him, Sonny feared he was starting to fall in love with her, and considering their current situation it was making an impossible situation even moreso. There could be no future together for them. She was married to the man who owned him and it would be years before he was finally free of his indentured servitude. Having a wife and children was something he'd given up when he'd signed that contract giving Jerrold ownership of him. Any children he had would be owned by Jerrold the same way he was. That thought lead to another that had the effect of being hit upside his head with a brick. He and Belinda had been going at it like a couple of oversexed bunny rabbits and that hadn't taken any precautions to avoid conception.

"What if you become pregnant." He suddenly asked Belinda.

She stiffened against him, obviously never entertaining that possibility. "The child will be yours." She answered.

"We don't know that." Sonny countered. "You're sleeping with me and Jerrold at the same time. If you become pregnant, either one of us could be the father."

"The child will be yours." She declared firmly. "Jocelyn has been trying to get me pregnant since we got married and that was almost ten years ago." She added. "I suspect he's sterile."

"There's still the chance we would never really know who the father was." Sonny insisted. "And even if we were both sure the child was mine, legally it would belong to Jerrold."

Belinda didn't want to talk about this subject any longer. It was making her too uncomfortable. "I was thinking you could pick out a new carriage for me to ride around in, tomorrow." She added. "You would, of course, drive me around in it." She went on to describe what she wanted. "I want something fancy and stylish to make everyone look at me when I drive by. While you're taking care of that, I'll be attending one of my ladies' meetings at St. Timothy's church. When you're done doing that you can come pick me up theren in the new carriage and drive me home."

"St. Timothy's Church?" Sonny repeated. For some reason the name bothered him and made him feel uneasy.

"What's the matter?" She could feel the sudden change in him. It felt just like that time he had called out the name Brenda. It scared her when he got like this. It made her feel she might lose him.

"It's nothing." Sonny shrugged the feeling off. "Since we're not going to make love together, maybe we should try getting some sleep."