John and Marlena (Finally) Get a Q!

Chapter 14: Where To From Here?

Marlena trembled and instinctively took a step backward. Her eyes snapped open to see John follow her. Registering the shock on her face, John released her hands and opened his mouth to speak. Seeing something he couldn't quite define in her eyes, he stopped short, looking at her fists.

"I feel like I should apologize Doc." He shook his head, choosing his words slowly and deliberately. "But I find I don't want to." He blew out a short breath and let a small sense of realization touch his lips. "I have wanted to do that for *so* long -" he stopped again, misreading the pain that flashed across her face. "Oh God, I'm sorry, I'm being selfish." His chest hurt as he saw the tears that she was trying to hold back. "I was thinking about what I wanted and that's not fair to you. I know you don't feel that way for me anymore."

"Don't -" Marlena blurted the word out. He looked at her questioningly as she gained some semblance of composure. She took a deep breath and continued, answering his unspoken query. "Don't apologize." She took a step toward him, looking him squarely in the eye. "I wanted it as much as you."

"You did?" John was trembling now too, as he looked and saw the evidence of what she told him in her eyes. Never breaking her gaze, he tentatively reached out to touch her cheek, as if he were checking that she was real, and not just a figment of his imagination.

As skin touched skin, he breathed, drawing in her scent and he let out a sound that was a strange half laugh and half sob. Marlena closed her eyes, as if trying to imprint the feeling of his touch in her memory forever. He traced the contour of her cheekbone and ran his fingers down the softness of her cheek. Reaching her jawline, he gently pulled her to him and brushed his lips against hers again. Marlena let out a gasp, feeling as though a jolt of electricity had just run through her. Moving closer to John, her lips searched until they captured his again. This time their kiss was more than just a soft touch.

After what seemed like minutes, they pulled apart, both feeling a little off-balance. Marlena, now running purely on instinct, took John's hand in hers.

"You're wrong you know," she whispered in his ear. John's skin seemed to burn at the mere suggestion of her touch.

"Wrong about what?" he breathed, not daring to move, lest he break this spell that they were both under. She pulled back so she could see his eyes and she laid her hand on his cheek.

"I love you, John Black."

She felt his body stiffen in surprise as he heard the words, he thought he would never hear from her again. His jaw fell slightly before he recovered and she smiled, knowing her face conveyed the truth as well as any words could. Still, she continued. "I always have. Oh God, I've never *stopped* loving you."

John reached out to brush away a tear that was clinging tenaciously to her lash. "You haven't?" His confusion was evident as he screwed up his face, trying to understand what she was saying. "You love me? Why didn't you tell me?" Marlena wanted to take him into her arms and smooth all of the pain out of the face she loved so. Instead, she faced him and took on his pain as she explained.

"Because I thought that *you* didn't love *me* anymore. And then it became impossible to tell you -" He smothered the rest of her sentence with a kiss that left her breathless. He slipped an arm around her waist and brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"*Never* doubt how I feel about you again Marlena Evans," he said, as he traced the outline of her mouth with his index finger. Catching the tip of it, she kissed it and then flashed him a brilliant smile that sent his heart soaring.

"Oh, I won't." She reached up and slid her hand around to the nape of his neck. With a gentle pull, she leaned forward into an exquisite kiss which left her whole body tingling and wanting to go back for more.