Whisper My Name

Chapter 34

February 20, 1992

Niagara Falls, New York

I want your fire to burn just for me

Like the moon affects the tide and the sea

I want your world to turn just for me

~ I Want Your World to Turn ~ Heart ~

It had been a wonderful day. A day filled with long talks, soft touches, and laughter. They'd returned to the cottage with soggy hair, and damp clothes, shivering from the cold, but the smiles on their faces said it all. Marlena had spent the day marveling at the vastness of the falls, and the beauty of the world. Seeing it with John allowed her, for a few hours, to forget the danger they were actually in. Without admitting it aloud, she felt like she was on a honeymoon or a vacation. Occasionally she would be struck by guilt over what she was doing to Roman, but she pushed the thoughts away as quickly as they came. She allowed herself to believe that it was just her and John, in love, spending time together, and on vacation. But she knew that wasn't the case.

John watched Marlena enter the cottage, her damp hair hanging in soft curls around her face, and her eyes shining with joy. The bottom half of her jeans were wet, and he knew the clothing she wore under her thin plastic parka was damp, because his were.

Marlena turned to look at him, and he found himself thinking that being with her right then - no matter what the circumstances - getting the chance to love her again had changed the whole trajectory of his life. There would be no going back for John Black, not unless Marlena was by his side. Closing the door behind them softly, he reached for her hand, tugging her close. When he wrapped his arms around her to kiss her neck, she laughed, as her head rolled back, "John! Let me get this wet parka off!"

"Do you know how much I love you?" he asked her, pushing wet tendrils of hair back from her forehead. "Seriously, woman, do you have any idea?"

"When you look at me like you are now... with every emotion pouring from your eyes, I think I have a pretty fair idea," she told him, reaching out to touch his face. He'd stopped shaving in Colorado, partly because he'd been so worried about her recovery, and partly because it would help to make him less recognizable. Threading her fingers through the hair along his jaw, she whispered, "And I, love you so much my heart aches with it."

"Let's get the parka off, baby." John reached down, lifting the edge of it, helping her pull it over her head while being careful not to jostle her injured shoulder. Once it was off, he placed his hand on her sternum and gently backed her up against the wall with a dull thud, staring down at her with intense blue eyes. "You are so beautiful, Doc." Reaching for his own parka, he roughly tugged it off, dropping it onto the floor next to hers. "Let's get you out of these wet clothes."

They hadn't been in the house for three minutes, and already her body was starting to ache for him. Only John could do that to her. His softly whispered words telling her she was beautiful, and the way he stared at her, as if she were the most precious person in his life. Breathlessly she asked him, "What about you?"

"Not yet," he whispered, reaching for the buttons of her cardigan. "You first." His heart fluttered when she looked up at him silently, nodding her head once. Eyes shot with green and amber, streaks of blue and gray, the most amazing eyes staring up at him. They stole his soul. It belonged to her, and if she hadn't stolen it... he would have gladly given it to her, and begged her to take it, because without her, what was it worth? Gently, his fingers trailed over the cool damp skin at her collarbone, watching the way she shivered underneath his touch. He started releasing the buttons of her sweater one by one, agonizingly slow. Her reactions aroused him even further. The way Marlena's breath hitched, and her eyes took on a heavy look as she stared up at him, almost dazed with lust.