"Still haven’t heard anything yet?"

Brenda looked up from a stack of paperwork. "No – and frankly, it’s startin’ to freak me out."

"Nowwwwww…….." Dara pulled a chair up in front of Brenda’s desk and took a seat, leaning towards her. "Don’t go second-guessing yourself, Brenda. From what I’ve heard, you did a fantastic job yesterday afternoon, nailing Corinthos’ hide to the wall."

"Then why hasn’t the jury come back with a conviction yet?" She flipped an open file shut and then propped her elbow on her desk, her chin in her cupped hands. "I thought they always say that the more time a jury takes, the better it is for the defense," she mumbled disgustedly.

"Who knows?" Dara shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe there’s one holdout who doesn’t believe he’s guilty." She patted Brenda’s hands consolingly. "Or maybe they just decided to turn in early last night and get cracking at it early this morning when they were all fresh."

"Yeah ……" Brenda nodded slightly. "I guess that’s possible. It *was* pretty late by the time Judge Monahan got through ruling on all of Alexis’s petitions to throw out Liz Weber’s testimony." She sat back in her chair and sighed. "I was beginning to think I’d have to change into my jammies before he’d get around to giving his final instructions to the jury."

"You in your jammies in front of Judge Monahan – now *that* would have been a sight!!" Dara laughed. She licked her lips and narrowed one eye at Brenda. "Soooooo………I heard from the guard that you burned some midnight oil here yourself last night."

"Just some odds and ends……paperwork," Brenda quickly replied. When she realized that Dara wasn’t just making random conversation to pass the time, she tilted her head to the side. "Are you checking up on me now?"

"I don’t know." Dara wasn’t about to be backed into a corner. "Do you NEED checking up on?"

"You GAVE me two weeks, Dara," Brenda said firmly. Then she sighed in defeat. "If you *must* know every blessed detail, I was just doing a little more snooping around on the Net, trying to find something about the parent company for that linen shop that burned."

"And? DID you find anything?"

"No." Brenda sat back in her chair, exhaling loudly. "Every time I’d just about think I found something, I’d hit a brick wall." She frowned. "Kind of like Alice and the White Rabbit, you know? The one who keeps telling her she’s going to be late, and then just as she’s about to catch up to him, he just evaporates into thin air."

"Then maybe that should *tell* you something, Brenda," Dara said gently, leaning forward to pat the brunette’s hand. "Maybe you’ve taken this as far as you can and you should just give up and let the police……."

"NO!" Brenda pulled away abruptly. Her chin jutted forward with determination as she chose her words carefully. "Don’t worry – I’m NOT going to do anything stupid or dangerous, Dara." Her eyes sparkled. "But you gave me two weeks, and I’ll be d*mned before I admit defeat before my time’s up!"

"OK, OK……" Dara held up her hands, palms out, in concession. "I get the picture!" She glanced down at her watch and rose quickly from the chair. "I’ve got to get moving if I’m going to make it to that meeting with Mac Scorpio by 9:30."

"Give him my best, as always!" Brenda chuckled sarcastically as Dara turned to leave.

"Yeah – right – and YOU let me know as soon as you hear something on the Corinthos case, OK?" Dara pointed a finger at Brenda. "I’ll leave my pager on and keep my fingers crossed."

The smile on Brenda’s face left as soon as Dara did. She let out a long sigh, flexed her fingers in front of her, and then looked down at the file on her desk. She barely spent forty-five seconds reading its contents when she slammed it shut with a muttered expletive. Rising from her chair, she impatiently paced a small circle behind her desk. When she looked out her window, she could almost see the oppressive heat rising from the pavement. {Thank goodness I work in an air-conditioned building.} With a determined glint in her eye, she finally sat back down, only to have a small framed picture on the side of her desk catch her eye.

The smile that graced her face when she picked up the photo was breathtaking in its sincerity. Brenda traced two fingers over the faces lovingly, glanced up at the clock, and then chewed on her lip. Less than fifteen seconds of deliberation later, she was punching in a long series of numbers on her phone pad, holding the receiver to her ear and humming happily.

She was almost ready to hang up when somebody at the other end finally answered. "Hewwo?"

Her jaw dropped with pure delight. "Ethan? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Dis is Efan. Who is dis?"

"This is your Aunt Bwenda…..uh, Brenda!" She giggled more than her four-year-old nephew. "Is your mommy there?"

"Uhhhhh………" She heard a noisy clatter – obviously the phone hit the floor but didn’t connect with any body parts or furniture that suffered serious damage. "Mommy?" Ethan’s innocent shout brought another smile to her face. "Are you here?" Brenda covered her lips with her fingertips when she heard Julia’s muffled voice in the background. "Yeah," Ethan said into the receiver a few seconds later. "My mommy’s comin’. She was just doin’ somethin’ yucky."

"Ohhhhhh………" Brenda nodded, her expression as serious as she imagined Ethan’s to be. "Was she changing Roni’s diaper?"

"Nawwwww………she was kissin’ my daddy." Imparting that tidbit of information, Ethan dropped the phone again as Brenda heard him yell, "I gotta GO, mommy!! Tellitubbies is comin’ on!"

She held the receiver away from her ear when more clattering ensued. A few minutes of blessed silence later, someone picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Kissin’ that yucky husband of yours again, huh, Julia?" Brenda teased. She tried to stifle the laugh that threatened to erupt. "Should I expect another niece or nephew in nine months?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!" Julia’s voice rang with mock indignation. "Don’t you remember that promise I made you make when I was in labor last time, Bren? To force Alexei to have a vasectomy if he EVER so much as looked cross-eyed at me again?"

"Yeah, well that’s a little tough when I live four hundred miles away…."

"Yeah, well that’s why I told you NOT to move away from DC!" Brenda heard a long sigh from the other end of the telephone that matched her own. "God…….I miss you, Brenda!"

"I miss you too, Jules," she replied, using her older sister’s nickname. "So…….." She quickly blinked back the tears that had welled up in her eyes. "Tell me all about the kids. How’s Ethan doing?"

"Just peachy. He asks "why" at least three hundred seventy-five times a day and fed his baby sister a bug yesterday. You want him?"

"He fed Roni a bug and you’re ready to ship him off to Aunt Brenda prison? That’s all?" Despite her exasperation, Brenda knew Julia would no more part with her first-born son than her right arm. "I mean, YOU fed ME a bug when I was that age, and look how I turned out!"

"So that means Roni’s going to grow up to be a hot shot lawyer and finally put our country on the right track, too?" Brenda could almost hear her sister smile with pride through the telephone wires. "That’d be OK – but I think she’ll have to learn to talk first."

"Still not talking, huh?" Brenda stared dreamily at the corner where her office wall met the ceiling. "I thought she was babbling when I was there last Christmas."

"Leave it to my sister, the lawyer, to catch me in a technicality," Julia groaned. "Yes, counselor, your brilliant niece IS capable of saying single words – particularly NO!!!! But she’s a long way from speaking in sentences." Brenda heard the electronic beeping during a slight pause. "Sooooo…….why all this curiosity about the kids?"

"Geeeeeez, Jules – can’t I even *call* you to find out how my favorite niece and nephew are doing?"

"Of *course* you can, Brenda – I didn’t mean that." She instinctively knew that Julia was smiling slyly. "But your calls usually coincide with some major holiday, and since Labor Day is still quite a few weeks away and 4^th of July is over with……"

"So I had some time on my hands between cases and I decided to give you a call…….so SUE me!" Brenda countered defensively.

More electronic beeping noises punctuated the silence. "This sudden fascination with Roni and Ethan wouldn’t have anything to do with the company you’ve been keeping lately, would it?"

Brenda drew back and frowned. "Like murderers and con men?"

"Nooooo……..like multi-billionaire recluses who take you to their private island to wine and dine you."

"Oh." Brenda’s face fell. "You know about that?"

"Tiffany Hill has a very good friend who writes a syndicated gossip column that they carry in the DC papers, Bren." She chuckled softly. "Sooooo…..are you calling to tell me that there’s some godawful pale green taffeta bridesmaid dress with puffy sleeves in my future?"

"Julia……"

"Because you KNOW how awful I look in green."

"Jules……."

"Or, on the other hand, if you don’t decide on the billionaire, maybe should I tell Ethan that he’s going to have a new uncle who’s a superhero!"

Brenda’s eyes widened. "A what?"

"You know – you and your OTHER new best friend, Kismet……."

"STOP IT RIGHT THERE!!!"

"Whoops." Brenda knew from her tone that Julia was still smiling, barely chastised by her over-reaction. "Sounds like I hit a nerve."

"I’m sorry, Julia." She cradled her forehead in her hand while sighing into the receiver. Even without Julia to remind her, her dilemma – torn between Kismet and Jax – was never far from her attention. Every time she closed her eyes to imagine Jax’s crystal blue eyes and blonde hair, images of a mystery lover with dark eyes would blur the picture. And every time she caught herself fantasizing about Kismet sweeping her off to his lair for a romantic interlude, the tingly feeling that Jax’s kisses inspired intruded on the scenario. "I just never realized that my personal life would be broadcast to every major metropolitan area on the Eastern seaboard."

"I’m kinda glad it was." Julia’s voice trembled a little. "Alexei swears I used a whole bottle of hair dye to cover the gray after I read about your recent adventures with Port Charles’ criminal element."

"Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you, Julia." Brenda rubbed her face briskly with her hand. "Besides – that’s all over now. I’m not going to take any more foolish chances and put myself into situations where I have to be rescued……"

"That’s a shaaaaame…..." Julia drawled. "Cause from the way this reads, it sounds like he’s a REAL hunk!"

"He wears a MASK, Julia!" Brenda snapped with a grimace. "I have no IDEA what he looks like!" {Or if his hair is the color of spun gold …….} She suddenly shook her head to clear the disturbing images of Kismet sweeping her into his arms and cradling her against his chest, then Jax dancing the tango with her at Wyndemere and kissing her nearly senseless -- and wisely changed the subject. "So – how’s YOUR favorite superhero doing?"

"Alexei’s fine. He’s been really busy with some complicated stuff at the embassy lately. But he’s going to try to get a few days off next week so he can spend some time with me and the kids."

"That sounds great!!" Brenda chewed on her lower lip. "I hate to be a pest, but do you suppose…….well…….."

"If it’s something that will keep you from situations where men put knives to your throat, he’ll be glad to do it!" Julia crowed. "Ask away!"

Brenda shuffled the files on her desk, reaching for the one marked "BRIGHTON". "I’m running into a dead end on some stuff I’m researching for a case, and I was wondering if Alexei could use some of those fancy computers of his and see if he can find anything on Threads, Incorporated or Elanco, International."

"Got it." She could hear Julia scribbling on a note pad. "I’ll mention it to him when I meet him for lunch later today."

"Thanks, Jules. I really appreciate it." When the third line on her phone started to blink, Brenda’s heart skipped a beat. "Listen, sis, I’ve got to run! The jury’s back on a case I presented yesterday……"

"Say no more!!" Julia smiled again broadly. "I’ll call you if Alexei finds anything!"

Her sister’s words still rang in Brenda’s ears as she slipped on her suit jacket and grabbed for her briefcase on the way out the door. {Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe Alexei will find out who’s behind Threads and I’ll put Sonny Corinthos behind bars all in one day!!}

*~*~*~*

Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance as Brenda stepped off the elevator. When the doors closed behind her, she heaved a sigh of relief and shifted her briefcase to the other hand. She trudged wearily to her front door, momentarily distracted by the flash of lightning she saw in the hallway window. "Well, old girl," she muttered quietly to herself, "at least you made it home before it started to rain." Quietly contemplating which bath salts she would be using for a long, hot soak, she juggled her purse and was just searching for her keys when Lois’s door burst open.

Happy conviction to you, Happy conviction to you!!!!!

Brenda couldn’t stifle the broad smile her neighbor’s off-key serenade inspired. Wearing an old chenille robe over her customary Rocky and Bullwinkle sleepshirt and huge brush curlers in her hair, Lois walked dramatically towards her friend as she warbled the remainder of the song.

Happy con-vic-tion to the best bad@ss lawyer in the whole ci-ty……

Brenda rested her back against her door and almost slid to the floor in laughter as Lois finished the congratulatory hymn. "You’re CRAZY, Lois Marie!" she chuckled, wrapping her arms around the brunette’s neck to give her a hug. "But thanks anyway!!"

"Well, SOMEBODY should throw you a party or somethin’!" Lois exclaimed, waving her hands wildly for emphasis. She suddenly narrowed one eye and propped her hands on her hips. "So why do you look so down in the mouth, girlfriend? Shouldn’t you be on cloud nine after hearin’ that jury foreman say the magic "G" word?"

"Yeah, I know……." Brenda grimaced and shook her head. She had been elated when the jury came back with a unanimous guilty verdict against Sonny Corinthos, and even happier when the Mayor called personally to congratulate her on the conviction. But the telephone call she had been secretly waiting for all day from Julia, with information about Elanco or Threads, had never come through. "It’s just that it’s been a really long day, and then I couldn’t get a cab and I had to wait a long time out there in that steambath……"

"Ohhhh, yeah……." Lois rubbed the spot where her neck met her shoulder. "Nothin’ beats this New York heat and humidity……." She glanced at the window when thunder crackled again. "But it sounds like it’s gonna storm soon, so maybe we’ll get a break in the heat."

"Yeah……" Brenda fumbled in her purse, muttering soft obscenities she was glad Lois’s mother wasn’t there to hear. "So now if I could just find my key, everything would be dandy……"

"You….uh……" Lois smiled secretively and nodded towards Brenda’s door. "You don’t need your key, girlfriend. It’s already open."

"Already open?" Brenda frowned. "But I *know* I remembered to lock it when I left this morning!"

"You did – and it *was* locked……" Lois clasped her hands behind her, rocking back and forth from heels to toes. "Until I used that spare key you gave me and opened it for the delivery guy."

"What delivery guy?" Brenda tentatively reached out to push her door open. When she stepped inside the dimly lit apartment, Lois heard her loud gasp. "Ohhhhhh……..my………..God……….."

Lois followed her in, giggling wholeheartedly. "Isn’t just AWESOME, Bren??!" she asked, waving an arm towards the dozens and dozens of roses that flanked the apartment’s walls. They represented every hue imaginable in the floral rainbow, and then some – luscious reds, delicate pinks, exotic whites and creams, vivid yellows, blazing oranges – and even rare hybrids of mixtures of traditional colors.

Their potent perfume drew Brenda like a magnet towards the nearest vase. "But when……..who…….." She cupped one blossom and inhaled its perfect fragrance.

"They started comin’ today around lunchtime!" Lois chuckled excitedly. "I told the first delivery guy he could leave ‘em with me, but then when more and more started comin’, I knew I wasn’t gonna have room for ‘em all in my apartment!" She pointed towards a white card nestled amidst a huge bouquet of blood red blooms. "So aren’t ‘cha gonna see who sent ‘em?"

"I think I already know." Her lips were thin with disapproval but they curved into a warm smile when she opened the modest greeting.

"They’re from that rich guy………" Lois’s blue eyes twinkled with girlish curiosity. "That Jax guy who brought the big fancy breakfast, aren’t they?"

"Yes…….." Brenda closed the card and tapped it gently against her lips as she stared into space. "They are."

"WoooooHOOOOOO!!!" Lois clapped her hands on top of her head and spun dizzily in the fragrant living room. "Does he like you or WHAT????!!!!"

"Oh, he *likes* me alright," Brenda replied softly. She held Lois’s gaze when the brunette finally stopped spinning and stared at her intently. "He told me yesterday that he loves me."

"And…….." Lois nodded, her eyes wide as saucers. "Do you love him back?" she asked gently.

"I…….." Brenda drew the word out, hesitant to go any further, then turned away from Lois and slid the card inside her purse. "I’m not sure, Lois. I mean, I like Jax a lot, and I might even *love* him, too, but then there’s……..there’s this other guy, too……..and I’m so confused………"

Lois walked over to place her arm around Brenda’s shoulders. "You wanna talk about it?"

"I’m not sure where to start." Brenda let out a long sigh. "I keep going round and round in my head, trying to figure out which guy I like better, but now I think the more I think about it, the more bewildered I get!!"

"Then don’t think about it at all!!" Lois squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "Just come over and have some tea ……" Her eyes lit up with enthusiasm. "And we can watch that old Shirley Jones movie! It’s on the Broadway Festival on the Classics Channel tonight! See, she couldn’t make up her mind between two guys either, and…….."

Lois was suddenly interrupted by a clap of thunder so loud that it shook the floor beneath them. The lights in Brenda’s apartment blinked twice before settling down to a distinct shade of "dim." "You just go on, Lois. I have a feeling I wouldn’t be very good company tonight," Brenda groaned, patting her friend’s hand as she removed it from her shoulder. "Besides, I’ve got some work I should finish before the power goes out completely."

"Are you sure?" Lois arched an eyebrow critically at Brenda. "You’ll be alright here by yourself?"

"I bought a bunch of candles after that bad storm last month," Brenda laughed. She made a small "x" on her chest. "I’ll be fine – cross my heart!"

"Well – I’ll be right across the hall if you need me!" Lois said, pointing a sharply-manicured finger at Brenda. "And don’t forget – all work and no play makes Brenda a dull prosecutor!!"

Two and a half hours later, Brenda was almost ready to agree with Lois. She had foregone the "long bath" idea when the lightning and thunder continued almost nonstop, reluctant to finally give way to the rain that hung in thick clouds on the Port Charles horizon. After changing into her favorite sleep outfit – matching red satin tap pants and a spaghetti-strap crop top – she had settled herself at her desk in her bedroom with a stack of files and a ready supply of candles.

Make up your mind, make up your mind, Laurie, Laurie, dear………

She paused mid-petition and smiled when she heard the ethereal waltz refrain coming from across the hall. Apparently Lois was taking advantage of the fact that the electricity hadn’t gone out yet, turning the volume of the old movie up full blast. When a strong gust of wind ominously rattled the old-fashioned, center-closing windows in her bedroom, Brenda rose and went to make sure they were still locked. She found herself inadvertently humming along as she stared out into the turbulent night sky.

Old Pharaoh’s daughter won’t tell you, What to do………

Kismet could see her – standing at the windows, her scantily-clad form backlit through the sheer curtains. His fingers itched to touch her; the ache in his heart to possess her spread through his body like liquid fire. As the first drops of rain kissed his shoulders, he sprinted towards her building, drawn by a power higher than himself towards his destiny.

The sweet smell of the roses had permeated every nook and cranny of Brenda’s apartment. As she clutched the curtains and closed her eyes with exhaustion, a pair of crystal blue eyes haunted her consciousness. She could imagine Jax, smiling at her, his dimples winking with a delighted "you-told-me-so-but-I-knew-all-along-you-could-do-it" expression. The growl of distant thunder suddenly brought dark clouds drifting over his bright, handsome face. Dark clouds – dark eyes – a dark lover……..

Out of my dreams and into the hush of falling shadows,

His control was no longer tenuous – his determination made him strong. Invisibility flowed over him like a warm blanket, shielding him from the watchman’s eyes as he made his way into the building. The other lone passenger in the elevator never saw him join her; never saw the button for Brenda’s floor light under his veiled touch, as if by magic. When he reached his destination, he slid out of the elevator and down the hallway silently……..purposefully. The lock on her door posed only a temporary problem, easily remedied by a small, microfine steel probe in his back pocket.

Won’t have to make up any more stories, you’ll be there……

"Get a *grip* on yourself, girl!" Brenda’s eyes flew open and she shook her head, muttering disgustedly to herself when a particularly bright flash of lightning made her jump. The accompanying peal of thunder and the swishing sound of heavy rain came only a split second later, finally making good on the storm’s four hours of threats.

Then, with a sharp pop that drew a gasp from Brenda’s throat, the lights went out, leaving her in complete darkness.

"Candles…….candles……..don’t panic…….light candles…….." She fumbled her way back towards her desk, letting out a small cry of relief when she felt the thick, waxy forms and the book of matches. She scolded herself to stay calm as she struck a match, yet still her hands trembled as thunder once again made the items on her desk rattle. The flame was slow to take to the wick – the candle was brand new – but finally it did, dancing as she let out a long, slow breath to calm herself. She held another candle to the first one’s flame to light it, but as she turned to carry it across the room towards the door to her darkened living room, she felt it.

She wasn’t alone in the room.

"Who’s…….." Her voice shook and she held the candle higher, squinting against the gloom that prevented her from seeing the presence she knew instinctively was there. "Who’s there?" she asked again.

A flash of lightning answered her question. He stood by her open bedroom door, watching her. The fire in his eyes rivaled the flickering flame she held in her hands. Her masked destiny – her mysterious soul-mate – her Kismet.

"It’s you…….." She murmured his name, yet wasn’t altogether shocked to see him. Part of her almost believed that she had conjured him out of the night and her secret, subconscious yearnings. "What are you doing here?" Brenda finally asked, gripping the candle so tightly her fingernails made crescents in the soft wax. She tossed her head, pretending nonchalance. "No murderers or rapists on the streets tonight?"

"Haven’t you heard?" Kismet’s husky whisper sent a shiver down her spine as he slowly walked towards her. Being in her darkened bedroom with such a potently masculine enigma sent a rush of liquid heat towards her center. "Crime rates drop dramatically in bad weather." He stopped in front of her, running a gloved finger down the side of her arm. "The only one who needs me tonight – is YOU."

"Me?" She laughed nervously, ducking to skirt her way around him towards the desk – and more candles. "I don’t need you."

"Yes, you do, Brenda – the same way that I need YOU." Kismet caught her by the arm, drawing her back towards him until her unbound breasts pressed the broad, chiseled plane of his chest. "You’re my weakness – my Achilles heel," he growled, lowering his face to trace the side of her neck with the softness of his lips. When he reached her ear, he nibbled on the lobe, drawing a soft whimper from her when he sank his tongue into the shell. "I can’t concentrate on anything but you…….I ache for you, BURN for you………." She barely realized when he took the candle from her, placing it on the shelf next to her bed. "I can’t go on like this……"

"But we can’t………I can’t………" Brenda gasped for breath when his free hand slipped under her crop top and found tender game. His thumb circled slowly……. rubbed gently………circled again……….while his long, strong fingers stroked the side of her fullness. "We………." She clutched at his shoulders, taking deep breaths and trying to maintain some grip on reality. "We need more light," she finally choked when lightning crackled again, followed by the boom of thunder.

Kismet pulled away, staring so intently at her that she almost thought she saw something familiar in his eyes. "No light," he murmured, slipping her top completely over her head and casting it towards the side of the room. As she took a breath to protest, a strong gust of wind blew the windows open, snuffing out the candle and plunging the room into darkness. "Tonight – the only thing we need – is EACH OTHER!"

He swept her up into his arms, whirling unerringly in the gloom to carry her to her bed after ridding her of her tap pants. Brenda’s head spun from vertigo, then from an entirely different reason when his mouth closed over the aching flesh he had been touching moments before. Sensations bombarded her from all directions – the smooth satin of the bedsheets beneath her back, the hot, sleek velvet of his tongue, passing over and around her puckered flesh, the rough silk of his shirt when she clutched his shoulders for an anchor in passion’s storm.

She moaned aloud when he pulled away from her, then sighed her pleasure when she felt his warm, unclothed skin against hers. A light furring of hair on his chest made her smile – he *was* real. As if there had been any doubt before. She wondered what color it really was – and when she felt a thick coating of hair on his bare legs, her mind turned fanciful, trying to imagine his appearance.

Brenda reached down towards him – at least, in the direction where she *thought* he was – only to come up empty-handed in the darkness again. Her silent frown disappeared only instants later when he sucked one of her toes into the moist heat of his mouth. Her eyelids fluttered; her hands flailed aimlessly on the sheets. Jagged lightning painted the sky outside as his warm, clever hands slid up her legs to draw out responses to his lovemaking she hadn’t known she was capable of. When he ran his seeking tongue along the length of her leg from ankle to thigh, she nearly fainted from the highly unexpected pleasure. And when his invading mouth closed hungrily over the aching center of her desire, her cries blended with the roar of the thunderstorm.

"Please……… kiss me………." She reached for him, fingers stretching in the darkness. "Please ……… I need you," Brenda murmured huskily, wrapping her legs around his hips. When she finally managed to grip his shoulders and slide her hands up towards his face, she realized that he had removed his mask. She felt him center his body over hers, making them one with a lightning strike that rocked her to her core.

The storm raged without and within as he brought her closer and closer to the apex. She felt his arms, like muscular columns on either side of her, bracing his weight. He pushed her higher and higher, inching her towards ecstasy with each stroke. Suddenly, there was another flash of lightning, illuminating the room in an eerie wash of pale blue. Her eyes widened and he swallowed her gasp, catching her lips with his, sinking his tongue into her mouth as the world exploded around them.

*~*~*~*

The pounding thunder was only an echo in the distance when her heated skin finally cooled with the rain-chilled breeze from the open window. Brenda opened her eyes and tried to stretch, only to find her lover spooning her protectively from behind. She pushed her sweat-damped hair off her shoulder and glanced over at him, then abruptly rolled out of his arms. She reached out on the nightstand and was rewarded with a dim glow when she flipped the switch on the lamp. The power was back on.

She heard him take a breath behind her, but before he could say a word, she spun back to face him. "YOU…………YOU…………." Brenda gathered the sheet around her naked body and rolled as far to her side of the bed as she could, but not before landing a fierce one-handed punch to his shoulder. "YOU BIG DUMB JERK!!!!!!!!!" She frowned, blew on her aching knuckles, and then reached over to punch him once more, just for good measure. "WHEN THE H*LL WERE YOU PLANNING TO TELL ME THE TRUTH?????!!!!!!!!!!"

To be continued…………….

Music credit: "Out Of My Dreams," from the musical "Oklahoma," music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 2^nd