Wildwind - Crystal Ball . . .

"No, we don’t know each other, monsieur," Jenna said, her uncharacteristic nervousness making her screw up her fake "Gelina Soulis" Greek accent and use her Genavie Dumond fake French accent instead. "If you will excuse me please."

Scott did not let go of her. He leaned forward and whispered, "Save it, little thief. Do you really think I would ever forget those eyes of yours?" And she swore his whisper burned her like the sweetest fire there was.

She was so cool and collected, however, that Scott would never have had any idea of the lovely turmoil going on inside of her. "Sir, are you on ze medication? Or overindulging in ze spirits?" she asked, gesturing to a waiter passing by with a silver tray of wines and champagnes. "You make no sense to me," she said giving him a look of baffled innocence. "I must really insist zat you let go of me," she said. "I do not know you."

Scott’s date, Aurora, watched the interaction with curiosity. "Scott, are you shamelessly hitting on this girl?" she asked, smiling wickedly at him. "And you came here with me, no less. I don’t think I will ever recover from the insult," she said with a sigh.

Scott glanced back at her and grinned. "I’m sorry. I’m just .. .this is a friend of mine."

"No, I am no friend of yours. I ‘ave never zeen you before in my life!" Jenna insisted, thinking if he didn’t let go of her soon she was going to give into the hysterical urge to kiss him, snatch his date’s rare black pearl choker and then run away laughing into the freezing winter night.

Scott turned back to her, still holding onto her. "Oh, so you want to play that game, do you?" he said softly. "Well games can be fun, so I’ll play. As long as you realize that I know who you are, so the game’s outcome is predetermined," he said. "You got away once. It won’t happen again."

A sliver of panic went through her. How could he possibly know her just from her eyes? He was bluffing.

Scott saw the flash of panic in her eyes and knew for certain that she was exactly who he knew she was. "You know, the say confession is good for the soul," he said, his dark brown eyes holding hers quite captive. His voice grew softer, for her ears only. "And I do believe at the very least you owe me a bloody apology for the way you left me incapacitated in the woods the last time we ran into one another."

Ran into? What a selective memory he had, she thought. Why, he had leapt on her like some wild jungle cat! Well, there was no doubt anymore that he knew who she was, she realized. But she intended to keep right on denying it anyway.

"Monsieur, I tink you are mistaking me for zomeone else. And you are bozhering me. Now let me go," she said yanking her hand away from his and nearly ending up on her rear end for her efforts. Scott’s gasp on her arm saved her the embarrassment of a tumble at the extravagant ball, however.

She felt a rush of heat harass her as his eyes surveyed the alluring ruby-red dress she wore that fit her svelte body like a glove. She had to marvel at the boldness of his gaze as his dark lashes lowered, following the path of his eyes, assessing her from beautiful face all the way down to pretty, red-satin evening shoes.

"Very, very nice," he murmured and her heart enjoyed a most pleasing series of palpitations. "However, how exactly do you breathe in that thing?" he asked her. "And did you steal it by any chance?"

Jenna was annoyed to find herself feeling flattered and charmed like a hapless schoolgirl by his compliments, and then highly irritated by his references to her thievery. To infer she would steal a dress, of all things, the gorgeous, infuriating bloke! Did he take her for some common criminal? There was nothing common about her, she thought defensively. And she only stole jewels and occasionally objects d’art. Stealing a dress, indeed!

She slapped his face. "It is rude, senor, to look at me like that, non?" she insisted, wishing she could keep her damned accents straight! She had just done both Spanish and French and she could tell by the glint of amusement in his heavenly brown eyes that her mistakes did not go unnoticed by him.

Scott had a hold of the hand that slapped him. "Oh, but what could be ruder than what you did to me in the woods?" he said. "By the way, I do prefer that auburn hair of yours. I hope you’re not planning on wearing that ridiculous wig all night to cover it up."

She glared at him, finding it more and more difficult to keep up the pretense when he was so obviously convinced of her identity and not about to change his mind.

"I tell you, I do not know you or anyzing you are speaking about," she said coolly.

Aurora was laughing at whatever was going on between Scott and his "friend" who didn’t seem too friendly, and yet the chemistry between them was palpable.

"Scott, maybe you really are confusing her with someone else," Aurora offered helpfully, thinking the lovely dark haired girl with those attention-grabbing green eyes could use some assistance.

Jenna nodded vigorously. "Merci, mademoiselle. You will please keep ze leash on zis very aggressive, arrogant and delusional boyfriend of yours," she said, casting Scott another glare, her shapely lips twitching with the laughter she was trying to keep locked away. She was having so much fun insulting him that she failed to notice her accent had now gone into her natural soft, British dialect.

"I’m not overly fond of leashes and I’m no one’s boyfriend at the momemt, and you have a terrible French accent," Scott said, still holding onto her wrist. "Or is it Spanish? Or British?"

It was true. In her growing state of fluster at being found out, combined with her undeniable attraction to him, Jenna’s accent was all over the place, more noticeably odd than ever. She had to get away from him before she began slipping into German and Japanese!

"Well zis has been very entertaining, monsieur ," she said, keeping the French accent steady now. "But, If you will excuse me, I must meet my friends," Jenna said yanking her hand away from him once more.

Scott’s eyebrows rose sharply. "Your friends?" he said, thinking Bastian Reese might be among the guests as well, and he’d better alert Jax.

"Yes, there they are," Jenna lied pointing to a couple way across the room whom she had never seen before in her life. "Excusez moi," she said walking away as quickly as possible.

Scott stared after her making sure he had an idea of where she was in the room and then he turned to the thoroughly confused and amused Aurora.

"Scott, what is up?" she laughed. "Do you really know that girl, or is this your newest pick up routine? In which case it needs a lot of work."

Scott laughed and shook his head. "I do know her. I swear, I do. I’m not crazy or on the make. Listen, I have to find Jax, Aurora. Have you seen him yet?"

Aurora looked around. "No, not yet," she said.

By the elegant entrance hall of Wildwind, Ariel stood next to Dimitri, impatient with anticipation of Jax’s arrival. She had taken great care to look positively smashing this evening and she was determined to set Jax afire with both desire and jealousy. If things went her way tonight he would barely spare a glance for the young girl he had so impulsively wed.

Ariel smoothed her stunning silver silk gown which had cost her a fortune to have designed especially for her. She peeked down to make sure she had a goodly amount of cleavage showing as well, and admired her porcelain complexion which a week at the spa had made look just wonderful. Her blonde tresses were flowing about her shoulders, the way she knew Jax always used to like it, and she was wearing the perfume he loved too. That little Brenda would not stand a chance.

As they went up the steps that led into Wildwind, Jax held Brenda’s gloved hand and despite his annoyance about having to share her with staring men this evening, he got such a kick out of the excitement he saw glowing in her amber-brown eyes. She was expecting to have a magical evening and he intended to make sure she did. To that end he was trying to think of all sorts of ways to chill himself out over the jealousy and aggravation he knew he would feel as he watched the wolf pack setting their sights on her and conspiring to find ways to lure Jax away from her so that they could whisk her off into dance after dance.

And despite her excitement and anticipation about this evening, Brenda also felt a queasy nervousness. Ariel would be there. She would be there with Dimitri, and Brenda knew she would just die if Jax reacted with jealousy or looked at Ariel with the slightest bit of longing. Or what if they shared a dance? A long, slow, intimate dance – laughing together, their bodies swaying closely together, their fingers linked, their eyes exchanging intimate glances. Everyone knowing they were in love and that Brenda was just a temporary stop for Jax on his way to the altar with Ariel. Those thoughts made Brenda furious and worried and nauseous all at the same time, and her hand gripped tighter onto Jax’s.

He felt the increased pressure and glanced over at her. He noticed a dubious look, part scowl, part panic, on her beautiful face.

"What’s wrong?" he asked.

She seemed unsure of what to say to him. She finally looked up at him with a face so sweet and vulnerable he just wanted to take her into his arms and tell her that whatever was bothering her, he would make it go away.

"Jax," she said, "you will remember tonight that I’m your wife, won’t you?" She chewed on her lip as her eyes watched him, waiting.

"You actually think there’s one moment when I would ever want to forget that?" he asked her, and she felt that incredible melting sensation that Jax often stirred within her.

Oh, she wanted to believe him so badly! And he saw that she was struggling as to whether to do just that.

"You can trust me, Brenda," he said, brushing his hand against her face. "You can."

She gave him a tentative smile, and touched the hand that was brushing her face. She looked like she wanted to trust him more than anything in the world, but he could still see the resistance and little embers of doubt in her eyes – although it seemed the embers were much less than usual which he took as a positive sign. God, he loved her so much. He wanted her to love him more than he wanted anything else in the world, and he knew she was finding her way there little by little, but the walls would not come down completely. His desire for her was making it increasingly difficult to continue his patient waiting game, but he had to try. She was worth it. She was worth everything.

"Would you believe me if I promised you something right now?" he asked her.

She smiled up at him. "Maybe."

"I promise that this will be the most perfect night for you." And then he kissed her like she was the one most desirable thing in the world to him, and for her the night was perfect already.

They entered Wildwind which was decorated like some beautiful winter wonderland and already full of beautiful people dressed magnificently. The butler took their coats and gloves, and Brenda slid her hand back into Jax’s. As they walked in to the entryway where Dimitri and Edmund stood greeting their guests, Brenda tensed up as she saw Ariel there next to Dimitri, looking ravishing in a clingy silver gown, and full of confidence. But still cold, Brenda noticed. The woman’s blood must surely run cold, there was just not a glimmer of warmth or fire to her.

As they got closer to the trio Brenda’s grip on Jax tightened again and he realized she was somehow expecting the worst. He tried to reassure her that she had nothing to be nervous about by raising her hand to his lips and kissing it. And then Dimitri was there smiling brightly at them, especially at Brenda, although it looked much more like leering to Jax. But, then again, it looked like every blasted guy in the place was leering at her.

"Now Jax," Dimitri chided him, shaking his head. "Didn’t I specifically say in the invitation that there were no deities allowed? And here you’ve gone and brought along a young goddess," Dimitri flashed his pearly whites at Brenda as he kissed her hand. "You bring the very starlight into my home this evening, Brenda," he said, kissing her hand again and irritating Jax.

Ariel was standing there tightlipped her hand linked through Dimitri’s arm stiffly as she stared at Brenda who looked too beautiful for words. The girl was attractive, so Ariel had prepared herself for the fact that Brenda would look very nice this evening, but she had not been prepared for this – this vision of exquisite young beauty. And Ariel felt an icy cold rush of jealousy attack her at the way Jax was both looking at and holding onto Brenda, not to mention how obvious it was that Jax was ticked at Dimitri’s attentiveness to Brenda, but was not in the least bothered by Ariel being Dimitri’s date and playing hostess.

"Hello Jax," Ariel managed to say, plastering a smile on her face as she leaned forward and touched her lips to his cheek, intentionally brushing her breasts against his tuxedo jacket as she did so. Brenda stiffened at the kiss and the brief bodily contact, but she felt Jax’s arm slide around her waist pulling her closer to him.

"Hi Ariel," he said, giving her a smile, and then sliding his other arm around Brenda so that she was encircled in his arms. The warmth that flooded Brenda was like the feel of a Caribbean ocean running over her skin. She wanted to burst with excitement that Jax was apparently completely uninterested in Ariel’s being with Dimitri, but very interested in letting it be known that Brenda belonged to him.

"So this is the famous Brenda Jacks," Dimitri’s brother Edmund said, kissing Brenda’s hand. "Enchanted," he said, giving her a smile. "I’m Edmund, and in my opinion, it’s taken us way too long to meet considering that we’re neighbors, you know."

"Hi Edmund," she said, giving him a friendly smile. Jax saw Edmund’s besotted reaction to the sight of Brenda’s irresistible smile and he pulled her even closer to him, thankful for the way she nestled against him contentedly, her fingers stroking his hands which were wrapped around her waist. God, getting through this night and the antics of the men here was going to be a miracle.

"Jax keeps her all to himself," Dimitri said to his brother. "Not that one can blame him. I’m the only neighbor lucky enough to have come across her," he joked.

"Oh no, I’ve met Ned and Lois Ashton too," Brenda said. "Two days ago. Jax and I went to see Shakespeare In love, and they were there too."

Dimitri smiled. "Well unfortunately the Ashtons can't make it tonight. So how do you feel having a famous rock star for a neighbor?"

"It’s great," she laughed. "I really love Eddie Maine and the Idle Rich."

"Ah, you’d better beware, Jax," Dimitri said, clasping Jax’s shoulder. "Your intoxicating young bride may have set eyes on a man she finds more desirable than even you," Dimitri teased, although in the mood Jax was in upon taking a quick glance around and seeing far too many male eyes on his wife, he found zero humor in Dimitri's jesting and wished Dimitri would just shut the hell up already.

"Oh, there’s not a man alive I find more desirable than Jax," Brenda said matter of factly, and then she spotted Scott. "Jax, there’s Scott! Let’s go," she said turning her head to glance up at him and hitting him with a smile that made the whole world seem suddenly perfect to him.

"Enjoy your evening," Edmund said.

"And do save me a dance," Dimitri added chuckling at the look of sheer annoyance Jax shot him as Brenda dragged him away.

"What corner of heaven did Jax find that angel in?" Edmund murmured to his brother as they gazed after Brenda while Ariel was so upset she thought steam might be coming out of her ears.

Scott headed straight for Jax and a waving Brenda the minute he caught sight of them.

"What happened," Jax said, "did Aurora have the good sense to not want to be seen with you?"

Scott laughed. "She’s right over there talking to Mrs. Scorpio," he said, nodding in the direction, and then gazing there a while longer as if looking for someone. "Jax, listen, don’t let Brenda out of your sight for a second tonight," he said.

Jax gazed at the numerous, covetous male eyes on Brenda and murmured sardonically, "I didn’t intend to." Then he glanced at Scott. "Why, is something up?"

"There’s a possibility that Bastian Reese is here," Scott said.

"Are you serious? How do you know that?" Jax asked, since neither he nor Scott knew exactly what Bastian looked like he had no idea how his partner could be sure the man was here.

Scott hesitated in his response. "Well . . .this might be a good place for him to strike, don’t you think? A well publicized party, wealthy guests, all these jewels," he murmured vaguely, gesturing to all the bejeweled women.

The orchestra struck up a rich melody and several guests took to the dance floor. Jenna was trying to make her way through the crowd to the front door to leave, while still avoiding Scott, when she halted, staring at a dazzling ruby and sapphire necklace being sported by a matronly woman who was talking too loud. Maybe she could just get her hands on that one lovely piece before leaving, Jenna thought. Just then she felt a hand at her elbow pivoting her in another direction. But she did not react the way she had when Scott touched her so she knew it was not him. It must be yet another one of these bothersome men who seemed to be roving the ballroom in a well-dressed pack, salivating over the women.

"Lovely piece, isn’t it?" the clipped German accent said into her ear.

Jenna spun around, her eyes wide. "Rolf?!"

"Hello darling," Rolf Ganzenmuller said smoothly, his cloudy blue eyes drinking her in. "Here alone? Or is my most worthy rival with you?"

"Bastian isn’t here," she said, shoving his large hands away from her. "And I’m surprised you are."

"Well I knew you would be," he said. "And I thought I should make it a point to show up in case you needed some assistance in this caper. I also came to ask you once again to marry me, of course," he added with a smile that made her nauseous.

"Well in the first place, I don’t need your help, and in the second place, your monthly marriage proposals bore me to death, so please stop asking. I'm never going to say yes, understand? N-e-v-e-r."

"Have a yen for that partner of yours, do you?" Rolf sneered, thinking of the far too attractive, young Sebastian Reese who walked through crowds and seemed to have women falling at his feet as he did so. Rumor was he could steal the jewels off of an heiress in broad daylight just by luring her into a state of hypnosis with his infamous gray eyes.

Jenna was finding Rolf even more obnoxious than usual. She knew he was incredibly jealous of Bastian not only because he held the title of master thief which Rolf and his partners so desperately wanted, but also because Bastian did have an extraordinary effect on most women. Jenna was not about to tell him that she was not one of them. She wasn’t about to enlighten him that Bastian was like an annoying brother to her, more than anything else. They even often used the fact that they shared the same hair color to pass as siblings in certain capers. She would let Rolf go right ahead and think she had this ‘yen’ for Bastian if it would get this giant of a man away from her.

"Yes, you’ve found me out," she said dramatically. "And listen, if you want to heist this party, go right ahead. It’s all yours," she said, patting his arm condescendingly and slipping through the dancing crowd, away from him, headed for the door. Between Scott being here and Rolf being here, this was not a good place for her to be at all. She grabbed another glass of champagne from a passing waiter on her way towards the door, oblivious to the fact that Scott stood talking to two people in close proximity to her. He spotted her instantly and excused himself from Jax and Brenda.

"Did your friends abandon you already, little thief?" he murmured, relieving her of her glass of champagne as a startled Jenna realized the best way to evade him now was to join in the dance. As it came to the point where everyone was changing partners in an eye-catching zig-zag formation, Jenna backed up into the line, her waist caught by an eager youth of about 18 who began to twirl her about and purr absurd compliments into her ear, only to lose her in the next few minutes as the changing line of partners began once more and the chorus of singers began to join in with the orchestra, truly bringing the song to life.

See the moon slink down in the sky darling
Every dream is a lie darling
They say life is cold and the game is old
Just see how dreaming repays you
You turn and someone betrays you
Betray him first, and the game’s reversed

For we all are caught in the middle
Of one sweet, dangerous riddle
Can I trust you? Should you trust me too?
And we’re all caught under this spell
And we all have secrets to tell
Will there come a day
our hearts give them all away?

Jenna glanced around anxiously to see where Scott had gone. And there he was about ten partners away from her, having followed her right into the dance. She saw Scott gazing down the line counting to see how many partners it would take him to reach her. To make matters worse, Rolf, seeing her in the dance, had joined in too. Eventually she would be partnered with both of them she realized, trying to think of a way to avoid that. Skirts swirled and laughter and gaiety lit up the crowd as the partner switch began once more. Jenna glanced up trying to see where the two she was trying to evade were, but she saw only the leering giant Rolf. She glanced about but did not see Scott anywhere and she felt a twinge of disappointment run through her. Would he really give up so easily?

Her hand absently slid into that of her next partner as she was looking around and to her shock, her body warmed and then shivered and she immediately knew who was holding her. She glanced up and saw him as they moved in a circle, mimicking the other couples. How had he gotten there so quickly? He had been at least ten partners away from her!

Here’s the one sweet lesson of history
Every soul is a mystery
Faces change, tempted hearts act strange
And we all have so many faces
The true self often erases
behind those lies dancing in our eyes

"I meant to mention to you before that escape is futile," he said conversationally.

"Monsieur, you are a mad man. I think I will have to complain to ze host about you," she said, her French accent once again faltering.

"Only ze host?" he asked mimicking her strange accent. "Why not complain to ze authorities?" Scott asked. "I understand ze FBI Director himself is here. Why don’t we just go over to him and tell him all about what a mad man I am, mademoiselle?"

He saw the shock register in her emerald eyes at the mention of the FBI Director being at the party. And with Scott there, and her undoubtedly knowing he was FBI as well, she must be wondering if the place was not crawling with feds just waiting to pounce on her and cart her off to prison. He felt her heart racing against him as her eyes scanned the room seeking an escape route, no doubt.

"You’re not going anywhere," he assured her. "So are you finally going to drop the act now?" he asked her.

She felt an odd and heady breathless sensation as he maneuvered her expertly into the complicated moves of the dance, and then to her consternation she realized that he had somehow managed to get her as a partner at the point in the dance where they would stop changing partners for several minutes. They moved through the lines of dancers, an eye-catching duo, as Rolf stared angrily at them having instant dislike for this dark haired man who seemed to have the unshakable Jenna Robertson, nicknamed the "Ice Girl" among jewel thieves for her absolute coolness under all circumstances, uncharacteristically flustered.

Jenna was appalled to feel her knees seeming to give way like some lovestruck idiot as Scott slid her closer into his arms for a series of thrilling dips and twirls. 'It must be the cologne,' she told herself. Certain men's colognes did have that affect on her.

And we all are caught in the middle
Of one sweet, dangerous riddle
Can I trust you? Should you trust me too?
We’re all caught under this spell
And we all have secrets to tell
Will there come a day
our hearts give them all away

As Jax gazed at Scott wondering who that girl was he seemed so captivated by, an excited Brenda realized that she knew this dance. It was one of the complicated ones Scott had taught her.

"Jax, dance with me!" she said, tugging on his hand excitedly.

Jax glanced at the dancers and then shook his head. "Not to this, Brenda," he said. "This is a complicated European dance."

"I know. I also know how to dance to this, Jax," she told him with a confident, flash of dimples.

Jax looked skeptical. Did she really? Well, even if she did, he wanted to decline dancing to this. This was one of those multi-partner group dancers. And he knew that once Brenda was a part of the dance, all the men who were acting like wall flowers would suddenly flock to the dance floor in droves knowing that with this type of dance they would eventually get a turn with her.

"We just got here, Bren. Let’s mingle," Jax suggested. "I know, let’s go find the Scorpios."

Brenda had a silly grin on her face at his having called her ‘Bren.’ He’d never done that before, and it sounded so intimate and like they had been a part of each other forever, not just for a few months.

"Jax, please. Please dance with me. Come on!" she said with a laugh, not giving him a chance to refuse her again as she literally pulled him into the dance while a seething Ariel watched them. But then, realizing it was the type of dance where partners were exchanged often, Ariel quickly grabbed Dimitri.

"I want to dance!" she said.

Dimitri withdrew her hands from him. "I still have guests to greet, Ariel. If you’re longing to wind up in your ex’s arms again, then simply join the dance. It’s not the kind of dance you necessarily need a partner for."

Ariel shot him a scowl of annoyance and grabbed Edmund instead. "This has nothing to do with Jax. I simply wish to dance. You’ll do, Edmund," she said, dragging him into the dance with her.

As Jax had known would happen, the moment he and Brenda became a part of the dance the men who had been chatting over champagne in little groups, and others who’d just seemingly been holding up the walls, descended into the dance in droves. Jax was only dancing with Brenda for two minutes and marvleing at how excellent she was, when it was time to change partners and a dark haired man Jax recognized as the lecherous Timothy Townsend swooped Brenda into a merry twirl, his eyes devouring her. Jax had to count to ten. Hell he had to count to a hundred as he tried to be as calm as he could be, watching Brenda change partners again and again and seeing the salivating glances and eager glowing of their eyes once they had her. Meanwhile Jax was ignoring every woman who ended up in his arms; spinning, dipping and circling them automatically with no thought, his eyes never connecting with them as he was not about to let Brenda out of his sight.

"Jax, you dance so divinely! Although you do appear to be somewhat in a coma," Millicent Adams commented to him in an attempt to be the first to tear his eyes away from his wife. But she failed, as did all the others, as Jax did not even acknowledge that she had spoken to him.

Edmund found himself extremely dizzy and aggravated as Ariel refused to let him lead, swirling him madly in her efforts to move up the line fast and be partnered with Jax.

As she smiled while pretending to care about the complimentary prattle of her brown haired dancing partner, Brenda sought out Jax and saw him watching her. She also saw that Ariel was swirling like a madwoman, plowing down everyone in her path in an attempt to end up in Jax’s arms.

"I don't think so!" Brenda said out loud, spurred into immediate action, as the partner exchanges weres going way too slow for her taste.

"Pardon me, my dear?" her partner asked, gazing wolfishly down at her. At that moment the consecutive partner switch began again. And Brenda fled out of her partner's hold and then proceeded to skip over four men in the line so that she could get to Jax before the swirling mass of silver silk could. Jax saw Brenda cutting off partners left and right and only grabbing the hands of men who were relatively near him and realized she was trying to get back to him. He grinned and followed her lead, skipping women, leaving them with scowls of disappointment and occasional angry outbursts at not getting a chance at him, as he finally had the prize he sought captured in his arms and she too had her prize as she laughed with relief to be with him again, her arms sliding around his neck.

"Whew. Don’t let me go," she said softly, somewhat breathless, still laughing and delighting in being with him again -- where she belonged -- as he spun her about the room. His arms were like her own private heaven.

His kiss against her cheek heated her entire body like some heavenly fire. "Never," he responded.

A foiled Ariel, who had been only two partners away from getting to Jax herself, stomped on Edmund’s foot in anger. It was all his fault, he was so slow and always whining about wanting to lead! Edmund cursed her and hobbled off the dance floor.

Meanwhile Jenna found herself in the arms of Rolf who pressed her up against him to her disgust.

"Excuse me, but, you’re crushing me, you mutant ogre. Please stop it!" she said, pushing against his chest to try and break his crushing embrace.

"Oh, but my sweet, you didn’t seem to mind when that dark haired man had you plastered to him like a second skin!" Rolf snapped jealousy. "Who was he, Jenna? Eh? Who was he! Bastian’s latest recruit? Your latest love slave! I will kill him if he has had you!"

"Kindly, go to the devil, Rolf," Jenna said, shoving the brute away from her as the partner switch began once more and she found herself actually seeking out Scott. Although she knew he would find her, which he did. He was a bit caught off guard by the relief he saw in her eyes when they were together again. Relief? How exactly does a criminal feel relieved to be captured in the arms of an enforcer of the law?

Can I run to you, will you be true to me?
I’ll do unto you, as you do to me
As we slowly turn, feelings start to burn
I want you, and you want me but....

A Judas once loved a Jesus
But oh betrayal will seize us
And only fools, follow golden rules
We all are caught in the middle
Of one sweet, dangerous riddle
of who’ll trust who
Maybe I’ll trust you
But can you trust me?
Wait and see

The song ended to laughing applause and many winded dancers who needed to take a break.

"Don’t you think you should be getting back to your girlfriend now?" Jenna suggested to Scott who had to laugh at her still keeping up the ridiculous facade of being a French woman.

"Don’t you think you should go directly to jail now?" he countered.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully and looked at him, sure he had to be bluffing. He didn’t really want he to go to jail. She could feel several things he wanted, but for her to go to jail was not one of them. It would only be a last resort for him, she was sure.

"What would you arrest me for?" she asked innocently. "I haven’t done anyzing wrong."

"But the night is still young. So much time for so much crime," Scott sighed. "And I can always have you arrested for trespassing on the safe house property and assaulting an FBI agent -- namely me. Once we have you in custody I’m sure we can find a way to get you to confess to your crime spree and help us in finding your annoyingly elusive partner in crime," Scott said. "He's the one we really want, you know."

Rolf’s eyes blazed as he watched Jenna once again in the presence of the dark haired man, once again seeming to be flirting with him.

"You talk in riddles, monsieur," she said with a laugh. "And you talk such nonsense," she chided, trying to ignore the exasperated amusement in his eyes at her refusal to give up the charade. "If you insist on harassing me, I would prefer zat you dance with me more and talk to me less," she said, pressing her fingers against his lips in a gesture for him to be quiet as the song changed to a sexy tango for two.

Brenda and Jax were going to get some refreshment when Jax heard the song. The sensual strum of the Spanish guitar, the rhythmic click of the castanets. The occasional dramatic swell of the violins and distant ehcoes of the conga drums.

"Do you think they have cranberry juice?" Brenda asked, looking around at the huge bar.

But Jax began to lead her away from the refreshment bar. "We have to dance to this," he told her.

"We have to?" she echoed with a giggle. "Is this some crazy Virginia law, or something?"

He grinned at her and impulsively kissed her. "I dreamed about you to this song, Brenda," he revealed. "It was while we were back at the safe house -- and it was the first dream I ever had about you," he said.

Her eyes softened with feeling. "Really?" she whispered. Then her eyes narrowed a bit. "It wasn't a nightmare, was it?"

His enticing laughter made her long to be kissed by him. "Not the part about you," he assured her as he took her in his arms to the sexy tango. The tango was such a sensual, expressive dance that not everyone was willing to give it a go. So most of the guests stepped back to watch those daring to take on the expressive dance. About twelve couples remained on the dance floor as the rest of the guests watched in fascination, although certain guests, like Rolf and Ariel were watching with envious fury.

Jax held Brenda’s hands as he circled her in a semi circle, his eyes riveted to her, silently speaking of a passion he felt for her that was deeper than anything she could ever imagine. Oh, but she could imagine it, he thought, as they exchanged a secretive little smile.

Echoes will die
But whispers return
Fevers will break
But a memory will burn
Drunk on a dream we were
In those warm cafe’s
We were aroused
In our separate ways

I was the wind
whipping your heels
You were my desire
Sweet, enchanting, ideal
How could we know our hearts
In those restless days?
How could we go
Our separate ways?

It was captivating to watch the body language between the couples as the lure of the music even had the onlookers swaying and feeling the erotic fire in the air. Some of the partners used the entire floor, swirling and spinning and doing the tango march along it’s length. Other couples were barely ever separated, using very little of the floor space and so enraptured and attuned to one another it was like watching something intrinsically private.

Jax and Brenda were perhaps the epitome of category #2 as they seemed completely unaware even of the eyes on them as they moved together in an intimate and fun choreography that had love, desire and a devil-may-care attitude written all over it.

We were caught in a wave you and I
How we rode the tide
Oh we were alive, you and I
Must the dream now die?

No one was surprised when Jax’s lips touched down onto his wife’s capturing her in a searing kiss. Intensely passionate and completely captivating to watch. The kiss dashed the hopes of the eager Romeos plotting to sweep Brenda off of her feet, and the equally anxious Juliets who were hoping that Jax’s sudden marriage was not based on entirely on love and they could cleverly entice him away from the young beauty. The kiss silenced all such foolish notions, as anyone with functioning eyes could see that there was no separating those two by hook or by crook. Their passion for each other was potent and fiery, and the air swirling about them tingled with the molecular energy of a deep and secret love.

Come back again
Think what we have
Freedom and fire
And sweet passion gone mad
I see that fire move
through your trembling gaze
We’ll never go
Our separate ways

Director Scorpio and his wife Anna were among those watching Jasper and Brenda Jacks, transfixed by the sensual beauty of their dance and the uninhibited passion of their kiss.

Anna sighed and leaned her head against Robert’s shoulder. "Do you remember when we were so carefree and wild about our passion like that?" she asked him with a smile. "We were just this unstoppable force of love that no one could slow down, remember?" she laughed. "And now I see it in them."

Robert nodded. "There’s no doubt that it’s love, is there?" he asked her, kissing the top of her head.

"None whatsoever," she told him. "So whatever doubts you had about the reasons behind that marriage, you can chuck them, honey."

He laughed. "Consider them chucked. I just had to be sure," he explained to her.

"The only thing I think isn’t so true," Anna said, glancing over at the livid Ariel, "is Jax’s claim that his ex-fiancee was fine with his decision. Look at her, Robert. She’s halfway apoplectic," Anna observed.

Robert gazed at Ariel and indeed the woman had taken on the appearance of a jealous loon. "That part of it is between Jax and her," he said with a shrug. "It’s no concern of mine although I do think he’s well rid of her."

"And who is that beautiful girt that seems to have your other agent so enthralled?" Anna asked, gazing curiously over at Scott and Jenna. Robert Scorpio followed his wife’s gaze . . .

"Look, if you help us set up Bastian, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you," Scott whispered to her as he dipped her over his knee.

She rose up gracefully from the dip, her arms around his neck, and gave into her desire to run her fingers through the rich dark waves of his hair which seemed to annoy and delight him at the same time. The first time she did it, he moved her hands away. But when she did it again a few moments later, he didn't stop her.

"Who iz thiz Bastian?" she asked, her fingers playing idly in the back of his hair as she gave him a smile.

Scott did not know whether to admire her obstinate refusal to cry uncle, or to strangle her for persisting in the inane deception, and deliberately distracting flirtation.

Jax took Brenda to one of the enclosed balconies in Wildwind and he turned her around so she was facing the windows. "You can see our house from here," he said pointing it out to her.

She looked in the direction Jax was pointing to. "That's our house? Wow, it looks so far away. Like it’s in another town, not just down the street."

"There’s a lot of land separating the homes," Jax concurred. "You know how you're always making jokes about how far our driveway is from the actual street? Well, all of the houses are like that here."

Brenda turned from the window and looked up at him, something like happy merriment dancing in her eyes.

"I really do feel like it's my house too now," she told him.

"I'm glad," he said. "I've always wanted you to feel that way. Everything that's mine is yours."

Hmmm, a strange thing to say for somone who she had been so sure was worried about her getting her hands on his fortune, she thought.

Her brown eyes gazed at him thoughtfully, and he wondered what she was thinking.

"Thank you for keeping your promise," she said, pulling him out of his own thoughts.

"Which one?" he asked with a boysih smile that sent her heart reeling happily.

"The one you made tonight. The one where you said you’d give me a perfect night."

He smiled at her. "Is it perfect then?"

She nodded. "Too perfect for words, so far. And I realized something tonight, Jax," she said looking as if she would suddenly burst with some kind of emotion – glee, he thought. "You don’t love Ariel anymore!" she said, giddy with happiness. And then she sobered for a moment, not wanting to set herself up to be the ultimate fool again. "Do you?" she added.

"What do you think?" he asked, wanting her to trust what she saw.

"I think from what I've seen, no, you don’t love her anymore. Am I right?"

"No," he said, running the back of his hand up and down her throat in a very sensual stroking pattern that had her fidgeting with stirring feelings despite her horror over his negative response. "But if you drop the word ‘anymore’ then you are absolutely, 100 percent correct."

The giddiness returned as she held onto his arms and did a happy little dance with her feet. "I knew it, Jax! I knew it because of how you were with me tonight. You kissed me in front of everybody, even her! I know you, and I know you would have never done that if you loved her. You didn’t even mind that she was with another man. It didn’t bother you one bit," Brenda said, still amazed by that fact. "But you did seem to mind when other men were dancing with me, right?"

He laughed. "I think that was fairly obvious, don’t you?" he brushed warm lips against hers and held her face in his hands. "Have you realized anything else tonight?" he asked her. "Like maybe how I feel about you? Or, maybe, how you feel about me?"

Suddenly the lights in Wildwind went out and the estate was in darkness save for a few flickering candles.

"What the hell is going on?" Jax wondered taking a protective hold on Brenda’s hand and going back inside.

The moment Wildwind was plunged into virtual darkness Jenna knew that it was Rolf’s doing. He was undoubtedly making his move to gather up his booty of jewelry now. Well, good for him, the insufferable cyborg. She would just use the opportunity to vacate the premises although she was reluctant to leave her bantering flirtations with a certain incredibly attractive, dark-haired FBI agent, but alas he was the enemy. She had to remember that he was trying to get her partner arrested, and he could easily decide she belonged in jail as well. She had to go. In the very faint, wavering candlelight she could see Scott who was looking for her and undoubtedly figured that she was somehow responsible for this. Some idiotic women were screaming for no reason as if afraid of the dark, and Dimitri Marick was imploring them to be silent and asking for calm, insisting that it was just a blown fuse and his household help was seeing to it.

Jenna decided she would run up to Scott, brush her lips against his cheek, whisper good-bye and leave him with the memory of her lips touching him and her triumphant laughter as she escaped. As she made her way towards him she gasped as she saw Rolf stalking angrily, purposefully over to Scott who had no idea the giant cyborg was behind him, obviously intent on doing Scott serious bodily harm.

Jenna grabbed a solid brass candlestick and quickly maneuvered her way behind both men and then brought the butt of the candlestick down on Rolf’s bald head with a thunk. He made a grunting sound and slumped to the ground and Scott spun around just missing having someone who strangely resembled the Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator fall down on top of him. He saw Jenna standing behind the hulk of a man and Jenna quickly slipped the brass candlestick behind her and gazed down at Rolf curiously.

"Big guy, huh?" she said, completely forgetting her French accent and once again slipping into her natural British. "I guess he fainted. He must be afraid of the dark like those screaming women. Or maybe he saw a mouse," she whispered with a wink and the cutest smile Scott had ever seen.

Scott willed himself not to laugh at the image of this big hulk of a guy swooning into a dead faint at the sight of a mouse. He saw that the big guy was carrying a blunt object which he had obviously intended on bashing into someone’s skull. Scott had a feeling the skull in question was his. He glanced at Jenna who was trying to keep something hidden behind her back and he stepped forward, thinking the engaging little jewel heist expert looked truly enchanting in this dimmest of candlelight, although he longed to see that ravishing auburn hair.

Jenna stepped back. "What are you doing?" she asked, the on again/off again French accent returning, he noticed.

He stepped forward again and reached behind her, yanking the candlestick from her. "Most women just carry a purse," he murmured.

She laughed and then bit her lip to stop.

"It looks like I owe you a thank you," he said.

"For what?" she asked. "I didn’t do anything," she insisted, accent off.

"Who is he?" Scott asked her.

"I have no idea."

Scott sighed. "It’s been fun," Scott said, "but I think the games need to be over now," he added as he reached back and tugged off the black wig, then pulled her real hair out of the tight bun it was in to keep the wig in place. He watched as a cascade of tall, silky auburn curls fell in slow motion down past her shoulders, framing that exquisite face, those stunning eyes, the very faint dash of freckles across the bridge of her perfect nose. Of all the women on the entire earth that he had to feel this magnetic pull for, why the hell did it have to be this damned little thief?

"Hello again, Madison Kennedy," he said. "And if you deny it now I just may have to strangle you." For some reason Jenna could not stand to have him call her by the alias.

"Jenna," she said softly. "My name is Jenna. And I hope you don’t think I’m going to just stand here and allow you to arrest me."

"Jenna," he repeated. "Well Jenna, I hope you don’t think I’m going to just let you walk out of here," he countered.

"You should!" she insisted. "I saved your life, Scott" she said, her eyes lighting with triumph at his shock that she knew him by name. "That fallen giant on the floor over there was going to beat you within an inch of your life."

"So, you do know who he is," Scott said. "Who?"

"I’m not saying," she told him. "What I’m going to do is leave."

He reached out and held her wrist. "I can’t let you do that."

"And I can’t let you stop me," she said.

"Then it would appear we are at an impasse. Which is the same thing as saying, you lose and I win," Scott told her, holding her in such a way that she could not attempt her kick-in-the-groin-and-flee tactics as she had done the first time they had encountered one another. He made sure to have her backed up against a wall so she had no escape from the rear either.

But Jenna had another way of stunning him. And it was as unexpected as that kick had been last month. He had her hands pinned behind her, so she was not able to encircle her arms around him, but she was near enough that if she just stood up on her toes a tiny bit she could reach his lips and initiate an ambush kiss which was exactly what she did. The hot rush of pleasure shock had the effect Jenna had hoped it would, rendering Scott stunned for a moment. She could snatch her lips from his and run right now and he would never catch her. But she had not anticipated wanting this kiss so much, and being unable to stop it once she had begun it. Their lips connected in a tantalizing urgency, and he freed her imprisoned hands allowing her to slip them behind his neck and pull them both deeper into the spontaneous moment of passion, while his hands slid into the luxurious softness of her hair angling her perfect lips to deepen the kiss and throw kerosene on the fire she had started. His lips glided along the velvet heat of her skin as his mind asked him: ‘excuse me but, what the hell are you doing?!!’ while his body said to him: ‘have you ever felt anything more perfect that this?’

When the lights came on, everyone had grown so accustomed to the dark that the lights were blinding, causing momentary confusion, and allowing Jenna, although dizzy with passion and a desire that was screaming to be fulfilled, to give Scott the slip and vanish from the premises, leaving him with nothing but the sound of her triumphant laughter and the burning memory of her kisses. She was not the only one gone, so was the big hulk of a man that had wanted to beat Scott senseless for some reason, he noticed, gazing at the ground where the giant had fallen.

Scott looked all over for Jenna, but he knew he would not find her.

"Damn," he muttered. She had done it to him again.

Across the room, Jax saw Scott. Leaving Brenda safely in the hands of Director Scorpio, Jax crossed the ballroom until he got to Scott.

"Did that blackout have anything to do with your hunch that Bastian Reese was here?" Jax asked, urgently. "I mean, I’ve had Brenda looking all night and she didn’t see him."

Scott shook his head. "I don’t think he was here after all. I have no idea what caused that blackout," he admitted.

Jax nodded. "Yeah well maybe Dimitri needs to pay his damned electric bill," Jax said. And Scott laughed at Jax’s remark. "Hey who was that girl you were with all night?" Jax asked curiously. "You know Aurora is going to kill you for neglecting her so shamelessly."

Scott just glanced up at Jax and smiled tentatively, thinking he didn’t want to lie to him so it was better to just not say anything at all. Then Scott saw Ariel approaching Brenda.

"Hey Jax, you might want to go play interference over there," he suggested, nodding in the direction of the women.

Ariel exchanged some meaningless chit chat with the Scorpios before asking to speak to Brenda alone. Brenda, feeling a zillion times more optimistic about her own future with Jax, was obliging to his ex and moved just a few feet away from the Scorpios to talk to Ariel.

"What is it?" Brenda asked.

"I hope you’re happy," Ariel said, her blue eyes lit with hostility. "You have taken from me the one thing that I love more than anything in the world. You stole from me my future! The man that I was going to marry and live with for the rest of my life and be happy with and have children with! Have you no shame?! You just seduce my fiancee and get him to dump me so he can fulfill his lust for you or whatever it is! Don’t you care about how much Jax and I love each other? Don’t you have a heart at all?!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Brenda said. "You are not seriously trying to paint me as the villain in all of this, are you?"

"No, you wait a minute! You ruined my future, do you comprehend that little girl? You waltzed into my fiancé’s life and bat your eyelashes at him and charged him up with so much lust to the point where he had to have you at the expense of everything else. Including his beautiful, perfectly planned out future with me!"

"Beautiful?" Brenda muttered sarcastically. "Perfect?"

"You have no place in his life! And if you were a real woman you would have enough dignity and human decency to get the hell out of his life so he could come to his senses and come back to me where he belongs, where he has always belonged. I’ll have you know that I knew I was going to marry Jax from the time we were both ten years old! I have loved him all my life. I love his family and they love me. And most importantly, I LOVE JAX. He is my life and my future. You need to get out of this picture, do you understand that? Do the right thing, Brenda."

Brenda rose an eyebrow. "And the right thing would be for me to leave my husband so that he could do . . what? Be alone? He’s not going to marry you Ariel. Whether I’m in his life or not, he’s not going to marry you. Jax cares about you, I know that. But he doesn’t love you."

Ariel’s eyes glinted with blue fury. "And you don’t love him!" she shot back.

Brenda folded her arms. "Excuse me but, who the hell are you to think you know what I feel? You don’t know me. You think that you have exclusive rights to loving Jax? Well get over that delusion Ariel, because I love him. I love him more than you will ever know; more than you’re probably even capable of comprehending in that cold shell of yours. Jax is everything to me. He’s the most important thing in my life, and he’s who I love the most in this world. You will get him over my dead body, sister."

"Everything all right here?" Jax asked, smoothly inserting himself between them and instantly feeling the cold hostility bouncing back and forth.

Ariel plastered another fake smile on her face for Jax’s benefit and Brenda was surprised the woman’s face did not crack open.

"Everything is fine, Jax!" Ariel insisted cheerily. "I was just telling your wife that I look forward to a wonderful Christmas dinner at your house." Then she turned sweetly to Brenda. "Would you like me to bring anything?" she asked.

"Oh, no thank you," Brenda said just as sweetly. "I’m sure you’ll be bogged down enough carrying around those two faces."

Ariel gasped.

"Just a little joke," Brenda said, smiling at her. "I can’t wait to see you on Christmas, Ariel."

Ariel looked as if she would choke the life out of Brenda. She turned to Jax, managed to smile stiffly and then stalked over to the refreshment bar.

When they were alone, Jax turned to Brenda. "So…you want to tell me what that was all about?"

She considered it and then shook her head. "It was nothing major," she decided, leaning against him and watching Ariel down two rum and cokes and then proceed to fling herself at every man in the room.

Nothing major? Jax thought, his heart racing with a shivering exhilaration inside of him. You think that admitting to someone that you're in love with me is nothing major?

Ravenswood - Great Falla, Virginia...

It was one o’clock in the morning when Jax and Brenda got back home. Brenda was still on cloud 9 from the magical evening she had just spent with him and the glorious revelation that he was not in love with anyone. She felt that they were closer than ever and had real optimism that she could really have him forever if she put all of her efforts into it. Then that annoying voice of pessimism leapt into her head: ‘Just because he’s not in love with Ariel doesn’t mean that he’s not still just using you and playing games with you. You saw the way his eyes lit up tonight when Scott thought Bastian Reese might be at the party somewhere. He knows you are his key to finding this man.’

'His eyes did light up at the mention of Bastian Reese, yes’ her heart confessed, ‘but he loves his job, he loves the challenges of doing the impossible, like tracking down this elusive master thief. But surely you noticed that as much as his eyes lit up at the mention of Bastian Resse, that they lit up one hundred times more and with an intensity unmatched, whenever he hapened to look at you.

While her head continued to quarrel with her heart, Brenda slipped off her shoes and ran a bath, foregoing bubbles and instead pouring in peach bathsalts.

Jax knocked on the bathroom door. "Brenda? I need to talk to you," he said.

"Sure. I’ll be out in a little bit okay? I’m just taking a bath," she said.

"Okay," he said, turning to leave, and then he stopped. No, it wasn’t okay. If she couldn’t see how much he loved her after tonight, then she was never going to see it. Not even if he gave her all the time in the world. He loved her. He adored her. He would walk through fire for her and he wanted to tell her that. He also didn’t want them to (and quite frankly didn’t think he had the willpower to) spend one more night in separate beds in this house and he thought he could act on that now because he knew she loved him. She had said so and he had heard every word of it, and he couldn’t believe she would deny it if he told her he’d overheard her. She would probably be relieved that he knew and be overjoyed when he told her that he felt the same way.

"Actually, no, this can’t wait," he said walking into the huge bathroom. The soft, pleasing scent of peaches filled the air and Brenda stood in front of the mirror pulling the gold and silver ribbons from her hair and undoing the French braid so that her dark hair fell loose, settling alluringly about her shoulders. She was barefoot but still had on that sensational dress. She turned around and smiled at him when he entered, and her smile had the same pleasantly paralyzing effect on him that it had ever since he had met her. She was everything he ever wanted and the desire to take her into his arms to make slow, sweet love to her was turning him into a madman. He couldn't even recall the last decent night's sleep he had gotten. Oh yes, it was just the other night, when she had fallen asleep on the couch in front of the fire and he had taken her into his arms and subsequently fallen asleep too. The difference betwen sleeping with her and without her was ming boggling. It was like exisiting on two completley differnet planes; one that you wanted to escape from and one that you never wanted to leave.

He was half-dressed. He still had on his pants, but his jacket was off and his white shirt was open tormenting her with the mouthwatering vision of his bare, muscled chest. Secret yearnings she had been plagued with ever since meeting him, ran rampant through her once again and she had to shift her eyes away from him, somewhat embarrassed at the thought of him seeing the wildness of her desire.

Jax sat down on the edge of the champagne-colored marble tub, thinking there was no point in trying to build up to this, he should just come out and say ‘I love you. I want you. Forever.'

Before he could say one world, however, she spoke first and her voice was breathless as if she could barely contain the feelings inside her, her words tumbling out. "Jax, if you’re here because you have this wild, burning desire to make love to me and you feel like -- like -- you’ll just die if we're not together like that soon" she said echoing her own feelings, "then I just want you to know that’s what I want too. I’m ready, Jax. I'm so ready. I am. And I want you so much," she blurted out. And he half expected her to jump on him next, a thought that was highly arousing indeed. His eyes burned a path over her body and to his shock her eyes were doing the very same to him.

"Come here," Jax said. His voice made her feel as if she had just been audibly caressed. She hoped her damned knees wouldn’t shake the whole way over to him. She walked over to him wondering if she should be taking her dress off or let him do it? She stood in front of Jax, her heart racing, her desires a glorious tempest inside of her. He didn't get up, but reached forward and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. Her hands immediatley went to his hair, her fingers sliding through the deep gold. He closed his eyes, and then she swore she saw some kind of a wickedly playful smile flash across his lips and realizing her error a second too late to back away from him, she screamed with laughter as he grabbed her and pulled her down into his lap as they both fell, fully clothed into the tub of warm, peach scented water. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub and Brenda heard Jax’s soft laughter mingling with her own.

"You’ve ruined my dress," Brenda gasped, splashing around in the water to wet him as much as possible in retaliation.

Jax shrugged. "I’ve ruined others," he reminded her with a wicked grin. He cupped the sides of her face and made her look at him. "Brenda, I heard what you said to Ariel at the Crystal Ball," he told her. "You told her that I was the most important person in your life. You told her that you loved me," he said, stroking her hair as he said the words reverently, as if they were worth more than anything on earth to him.

Brenda felt caught off guard and terrifyingly exposed emotionally, and she tried to think of a way to feel safe again and in control. "Oh, you heard that, huh? Well, I. . ." she stammered finding it difficult to lie about this. "You must heave heard her arguing with me then, right? So you know I. . .ummm . . ..I just said that for her benefit, you know. I just . . ." her voice trailed off as she struggled with what to say.

Jax was amazed and stunned. He had been so sure she would not deny it. But she was. She was denying it. And so what was he supposed to do now? He had come too far to let her go, to let this go. To let all of his dreams vanish on the wings of one very suspiciously unconvincing denial from her.

Over time I’ve been building my castle of love
Just for two, though you never knew you were my reason
I’ve gone much too far, for you now to say
That I’ve got to throw my castle away
Over dreams I have picked out a perfect come true
Though you never knew it was of you I’ve been dreaming
The sandman has come from too far away
For you to say come back some other day
And though you don’t believe that they do
They do come true
For did my dreams come true when I looked at you
And maybe too if you’d just believe
You too would be overjoyed, over love, over me

Brenda glanced down at the water, unable to continue the stupid lie and ready to recant and just admit her feelings and trust him. Jax took her face and forced their eyes to meet.

"Well, I love you, Brenda," he said.

Her eyes filled with tears. Of what, he wondered. Shock? Why was she shocked? He didn’t understand this. What more could he have done to make it any more obvious that she was the most important thing in the world to him? That he loved her beyond all reason and could not even bloody well conceive of a life that did not include her in it?

Over hearts I had painfully turned every stone
And by mere chance I have found what I’ve searched for forever
I’ve come much too far for me now to find
The love that I sought can never be mine
And though you don’t believe that they do
Dreams do come true
For did my dreams come true when I looked at you
And maybe too if you’d just believe
You too would be overjoyed, over love, over me

"I love you," he repeated in a low whisper as he felt the frantic racing of her heart against him and felt her hands gripping his arms as if to make sure that he was real. "And I thought that you loved me too. Tonight, I thought that," he continued. A single tear slid down Brenda’s face. Jax wiped the tear away. "But I can’t speak for you, Brenda. And I can’t play these games anymore either," he told her. "I can’t do this anymore; it’s . . it's going to make me crazy," he murmured, lowering his head for a moment. And he felt her hand brush first against his wet chest and then softly, tenderly against his face. "So . . . . this has to be the moment for us. Right here, right now." He glanced up at her again, his eyes very serious. "Tell me you love me, Brenda," his eyes held hers in a steady gaze, "or tell me goodbye," he whispered.

(Song Credits: "The Riddle" and "Separate Ways" from The Scarlet Pimpernell album and "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder.)