Roman and Taylor were preparing for another undercover job. They had been working on this case for weeks, and he was hoping to bust it wide open. The problem was that he had been unable to get an inside track on this drug ring. They knew it was running out of a club on the seedier side of town, but none of the people who worked there were willing to talk. As he sat at his desk running over possible options in his head, Bo comes in leading a woman in handcuffs.
Roman runs his eyes over her. She's a hot, sexy, little number. Roman can't help but notice that. He hasn't had sex in months, and if he had a type, this one would be it. She's not wearing much in the way of clothing, and her eye make-up is dark and smoky. Roman has a quick flash of pushing her against a wall, before he shakes his head quickly to clear it. She stares it him for a moment, pushes her dark, curly, hair out of her face, and says loudly to Bo, while chewing her gum, "What the fuck man! Why ya pulling at me so hard?" She tries to jerk away from him, but he only holds her arm tighter.
"Just sit down, and be quiet for a moment," Bo says taking off her handcuffs, and turning to Roman. "I got this one down off of West 2nd Street, pretty sure she's peddling for Rico, but she's not talking...she might be a dancer at his club too..."
Roman leans closer to the girl, breathing in her spicy perfume, so different from his wife's floral scent. He says to her, "Selling drugs, huh? That will get you some hard time."
"Fuck off ya pig! I ain't sayin' nothin'. I want a lawyer."
"You haven't been charged with anything...Ms..." he was hoping she'd continue, and fill her name...she didn't.
She just stared at him for a brief moment, before turning, and looking at Bo. Then to Roman's complete, and absolute shock, she took off her wig, and started laughing. Bo was in hysterics, watching the shock that took over Roman's face, and smacking her on the shoulder, "Shit McCall, he didn't even know! This might actually work!"
"What the actual fuck, Bo!" Roman shouted...but he knew. This would work. They had an 'in' now. He felt himself get excited about something for the first time in months. He used to use disguises all of the time in his police work, and ISA cases. This would take some practice to get their roles right, but this would work.
~ ~ ~ ~
She hadn't called John in over a week and it was slowly breaking her. She missed him so badly. One thing she knew for certain, she should not be outside of John's door. She shouldn't be here at all. After their last phone call, Marlena knew she had to stop. Every boundary she had spent the last year and half building, had been utterly destroyed in a matter of minutes, and yet here she stood, prepared to knock on the door to John's loft. A very bad idea...but she knocked anyway.
When John slid the door to his loft open, Marlena was instantly relieved. Just to see him brought relief to her. She knew she was in deep. She still loved him, she ached for him. Staring up into his face, she said, "Hi..."
"Doc...come on in," he said.
"I came by to see if you had talked to Carrie about that check," Marlena asked.
John had cornered Billie earlier, and tricked her into admitting that she was the one who stole his check, and forged it, so he told Marlena, "Yes...she's covering for somebody."
"Austin?"
"No, not Austin..."
"Billie?" she asked. John doesn't answer her, but his look tells her what she needs to know. "I should have guessed it was Billie. Of course, it was Billie. She was so protective of her when we found out Billie was taking drugs again," Marlena said, while putting down her coat, and her purse. She turned back to John, and asked him, "Why would she do that? Why would she risk making us unhappy to protect Billie?"
"I didn't say it was Billie."
"But it's obvious. I know that's true," Marlena tells him.
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about Carrie doing drugs. I mean, in this day, and age, that's something to be very grateful for."
"Uh huh, and all in all, she's a very good girl."
"So we must have done something right," John told her.
Marlena stared at John, remembering their past, and all of the times they had parented Carrie together. She missed those days. What they had been helping her with over the last couple of weeks felt very similar, almost domestic. Marlena considered telling Roman now, especially since it was essentially resolved, and they knew that Carrie had not stolen the money, but she found herself resisting. Keeping things from Roman, having secrets was generally not in her nature, but Marlena knew that if she told Roman two things would happen: 1) He would be angry that he was kept out of the loop for so long, and 2) she would no longer have an excuse to randomly show up at John's loft, and spend time with him. Both of those reasons were horrible excuses. She knew that. She did. Right?
John can't get over how beautiful Marlena is. Even standing in his apartment discussing the most mundane topics, he finds her beauty to be something that consumes him. He shouldn't have brought up their past together. It just happens to be on his mind a lot recently. He misses her, and he wants her...but she's not his. In order to keep this from becoming awkward, John says, "I mean—"
"I know what you meant. We did both have a hand in raising her, you know," she said softly. "We can't ignore that." Marlena was staring, and she knew she was staring. She felt her eyes dart to his mouth, and her lips parted slightly. Stop this. She gasped slightly, and suddenly turned away from John, because she wanted him. She wanted him so badly, she felt her core clench.
John stepped up behind her, so close she could feel the heat of his body rolling onto her back. He leaned closer to her ear, and reached around her, touching the bracelet at her wrist lightly. "I see you're still wearing the gift I gave you," he said, his breath wafting over her ear. Marlena struggled to control her responses, but she couldn't. Her body trembled with need as his fingers ran over her wrist, and the gold chain around it.
"I love it..." she said without turning to face him. They were crossing so many lines, and she couldn't find the willpower within herself to stop.
"I just hope Roman doesn't mind," he says softly, still holding her wrist, and running his thumb over her pulse. He could feel her heart racing, and he stepped closer, pressing against her back.
"Why would he mind?" she whispered. She was trapped in this moment. The deep resonance of his voice vibrating through her. The seduction of the scene, weaving a spell around her.
John pulled her hair aside, and ran the tip of his nose up the side of her neck, nuzzling behind her ear. "Just something that Carrie said," he replied.
Marlena gasped quietly, and asked him, "Hmm, what was that?"
"She's worried about the two of you," John says sliding his strong arm around her waist, and pulling her body closer. So close, she can feel the edge of his erection pushing against her hip.
She reaches her hand back, and grips the front of John's thigh, while he licks behind her ear gently, causing her to gasp. She hasn't felt emotions this strong in years...not since before she 'died' and returned. She felt her knees buckle, but he held her firm.
John's moan surprised himself. He knew his cock was hard, he was throbbing, and he'd barely touched her. His body's desire to ease the pressure, had him involuntarily pushing his cock against her backside. She squeezed his thigh harder, digging her nails into the dark fabric of his jeans, before she abruptly pushes his arm away, and steps away from him, breaking their connection.
Marlena turns to him, and looks up, frantically telling him, "We can't do this...we can't."
John says in a low tone, "Then you might need to leave, Doc, because I don't think I can stop." Marlena looks around like an entrapped animal, grabs her coat, and her purse, and leaves the loft.
