Kintsugi

Chapter 9

Walking into the pub, with Belle sleeping on his shoulder, John scanned the room looking for Marlena. The pub is busy for a Wednesday afternoon, the juke box playing music, with the sounds of conversations flowing around the room, interspersed with clanking dishes. Not finding Marlena, he approaches Caroline, adjusting Belle in his arms, and says quietly, "Do you mind if I take Belle back, and lay her down in the spare room?"

"Sure John. I have the portable crib set up in there already. Just settle her in there," Caroline told him, as she wiped the bar top.

"Have you seen Doc?" he asked her, looking around again for Marlena.

"She told Brady he could go with Shawn D and Bo to get some more fish bait, and then told me she was going to freshen up in the back. She should be in the house somewhere," Caroline said with a shrug.

"Thanks, Ma. I'm going to go lay Belle down," he said turning to go into the back where the house was located.

Caroline watched John walk away with Belle in his arms, her face in his neck, and her thumb in her mouth. John was such a good father. He always had been, and Caroline was so happy that he had Brady and Belle in his life, no matter how it had happened. She knew better than anyone not to cast stones over a love child resulting from an affair. Caroline worried about John as if he were her own son. He had been her son for seven years. It was hard to let go of that. She knew he was trying to be released from his vows of priesthood, and she also knew that he still loved Marlena. It was evident in the way he said her name, or the change in his facial expression when she walked into a room. It was also evident to Caroline, that Marlena felt the same way, and while they hadn't said anything to their family or friends, Caroline knew where the two of them would end up...together.

John walked down the hallway and turned the corner, running into Marlena. His face lit up at the sight of her, and he said, "Whoa, Doc, where you going in such a hurry?"

"To find you, Sailor," she said with a sly smile. She tipped her head up to study his face thinking that he was the most gorgeous man she had ever set eyes on. "You're my favorite person, you know."

"Am I? Well in that case, I'm going to lay Belle down in the spare room. Care to join me?" he asked her softly. His eyes were glancing from her eyes to her mouth, and back again, causing Marlena's center to clench with want. She stares at him for a moment longer, and silently nods her head in acquiescence, before following him further into the recesses of the house.

Placing Belle down gently into the portable crib, and covering her with a soft blanket, John turns to Marlena, grabbing her hand in his, and lacing their fingers together. He tugs her outside the room gently, taking the second baby monitor on the way out, and closes the door with a soft snick. Marlena, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, follows him, as he leads her down the hallway, and into another spare bedroom. Closing the door behind them, John leans back against the door, pulling her body into his, and threads his fingers through her flaxen hair. Marlena's hazel eyes flash with want, and she gasps, staring up into his eyes. "I swear to G-d woman, I want you all the time," he told her, before pulling her head forward, and slamming her lips into his.

Marlena moaned into John's mouth, as his hot tongue swept in over hers. She was desperate for him, her hands roughly pulling his shirt from the waistband of his jeans. She struggled with the buttons, frantic to get her hands on his skin. John shivered with want when the soft skin of her palms smoothed over his hips, and around to his lower back. When she dug her nails into his skin, raking them across him, and moaned into his mouth a second time, John released her hair, grabbing her hips, pulling her into his growing erection with a growl.

"Oh, G-d, John," she gasped. His lips moved from her lips to her neck, placing open mouthed kisses along her sensitive skin, and licking a line up behind her ear. "John, more..please, more..." she begged, trying to remain quiet, but losing her battle, because she struggled to get her breathing under control.