The Kiss -31 (NC-17 version)

        For the third time in thirty minutes, Stefan found himself on his back on the floor of the ballroom with the tip of Jax's metal foil pinned to his chest. They were very evenly matched opponents in this sport, but one would hardly know that this evening, as Jax was wiping the floor with his best friend.

        "You're in rare form tonight," Stefan said, breathing hard, as trying to evade Jax's perfect strikes and lunges before finally succumbing as Jax had skillfully knocked the foil out of his hand, left him winded.

        "I'm sure you know the reasons why," Jax said extending his hand to help Stefan to his feet.  "How could you invite that woman to stay in Port Charles?" Jax asked, removing his facemask and placing the foil on the table. "Not only that, but you give her a job too?  Why didn't you just invite her to move in with you while you were at it?" Jax muttered, leaning against the table he had lain the facemask and saber on and begin to undo his chest protector.

        "Well, I would have asked her, if I thought she would have responded in the affirmative," Stefan said, removing his gear as well.

        "I am seriously upset with you about this," Jax told him.

        Stefan nodded, still trying to catch his breath.  "I realize that, Jax.  I do want to apologize to you, but only for not saying anything to you about my intentions.  I'm not sorry that Laura is here. I'm only sorry that I did not tell you about it sooner."

        "You didn't mention she'd be here when you invited me and Brenda to dinner either," Jax said, blue-green eyes holding steady with Stefan's blue-gray ones.

        "I apologize for that as well.  But I knew you would have refused my invitation had you known.  Your stubbornness is all but legendary with me, my friend."

        "If you think you can somehow force me to like her  - - - -"

        "No, of course not," Stefan said, holding up his hand.  "I only thought to make you see other aspects of her, Jax.  She loves Brenda.  And she is truly sorry for anything she may have done to endanger her.  Brenda does not hold Laura responsible for anything, and I think for Brenda's sake you should consider forgiving Laura for the incident in New Orleans."

        Jax gazed at Stefan in silence for a few seconds and then turned to gaze outside at the lake lapping at the moors and the gathering storm clouds in the night sky.

        "Maybe," Jax agreed.  "For Brenda I would do that.  But forgiveness does not translate into forgetting. I won't ever forget."

        "That is fair," Stefan said, and Jax had to laugh upon seeing the prince still breathing hard.

        "Sorry if I was a little overaggressive," Jax said, slapping Stefan on the back.  "You look about to pass out.  Did I overwork your heart, old man?"

        "Old man?" Stefan objected.  "I am only two years your senior, Jasper. And

I can assure you that next time, it shall be you who is felled thrice in thirty minutes and has to spend the next thirty minutes recapturing his breath," Stefan said with a smile.  "Did I mention that married life seems to agree with you?  You look very happy."

        "I am.  I'm incredibly happy," Jax conceded.  "So much so, that I feel it is my obligation to now work on making you that happy as well.  And then Jerry next.  But you first," Jax said with a grin.  "We need to find you a woman, prince."

        Stefan rubbed his chin.  "I have already found one, Jax."

        Jax's eyes lit up with surprise.  "You have?  THE one?"

        "Yes.  The one that made lightning strike within me at the sight of her."

        "That sounds like the one all right," Jax murmured.  "That sounds like the real thing."

        "It is," Stefan said.  "I must warn you however, that you will not like it when I tell you who this person is."

        Jax gave Stefan a dubious look and then a knowing one. "Oh, don't tell me."

He shook his head.  "Not  - - - HER."

        "Yes. Her. Laura," Stefan said.  "It happened when I went to pick her and her mother up from the airport," he said.  "They were coming towards me and," he shook his head, "I felt jolted with life at the sight of her, Jax. It was the most incredible feeling."

        Jax was not happy about this, but he understood the feeling Stefan was talking about perfectly.  And if Stefan really felt this way about her, Jax had to respect that. And he had to support him and encourage him to pursue that kind of love.  Of course, the problem was that everything within him rebelled against smiling and encouraging Stefan in this pursuit of Laura

Webber.

        "So, now you see why it is so important to me that you like her," Stefan said quietly.  "I've never felt like this before, Jax.  I fully intend to marry her someday, if she'll have me.  And I would be greatly distressed if you, as my best man, were standing at the altar with me, glaring hostilities at my bride and trying to talk me out of marrying her."

        Jax let out a sigh.  "You just met her. I don't think you'll be sending out wedding invitations anytime soon, will you?" he asked, knowing he needed a lot of time to adjust to this and be able to be the kind of friend Stefan deserved, and be supportive and happy about this.

        "That would depend on Laura," Stefan responded.  "I know how I feel.  I am very certain of those feelings, and I have made them known to her."

        Jax closed his eyes and nodded.

        "All I am doing now is waiting, Jax.  Waiting to see if she will ever feel anything similar for me," Stefan finished.

        "She would be crazy not to," Jax said.  Yet still, he hoped that Laura took her time in coming around.  It was going to take a LOT for him to like this woman, but he wanted to like her. Both for Brenda's sake, as well as Stefan's.

        Back in the dining room, Laura was rapt with attention, listening to

Brenda tell her about the honeymoon.

        "Oh, Bren, that sounds so incredible!" Laura breathed.  "Jax actually sang to you?" she grinned.

        "Yes, and let me tell you the man is magnificent. But don't tell anyone about that singing thing.  Jax only did it for me, and I think he wants to keep his vocal talents as private as all of his other incredible talents," Brenda said with a provocative smile.

        Laura laughed, and she and Brenda exchanged a high-five.  "You know what?

Let's just clone, Jax. We could make billions.  Every woman would want to buy one.

So, I'll bet you guys didn't want to come back from your little deserted island paradise, did you?"

        "No, we didn't. It was absolute heaven," Brenda said, shooting her cousin a dazzling smile as the memories of the honeymoon filled her.  "You know what's funny, Laura?  I really don't think anyone can ever truly fathom how much Jax and I love each other.  Because, it's so far beyond anything you can even imagine," she said thoughtfully and then sighed happily.  And then her eyes narrowed deviously.  "So - - - - -tell me what's going on with

YOU. Specifically you and Stefan Cassadine," she said.

        "Going on?  Nothing's going on," Laura insisted.  "He just -- he's a really, really nice guy, and he offered a me a job - - - -"

        "Oh, come on, Laura!" Brenda scoffed. "He hasn't been able to take his eyes off you all night. I'm not blind, you know.  So, are you guys dating or what?" Brenda asked excitedly.

        "No," Laura said. "But he did tell me that he's in love with me."

        Brenda squealed.  "What?  Get out!  When?"

        "Shhh!" Laura laughed. "When we left the room to give you a chance to talk Jax into not hating me so much.  That's when Stefan told me that he loved me.  God, Brenda, I was NEVER expecting anything like that," Laura confessed.  "I didn't know what to say."

        "Well, what are you going to do?" Brenda asked.  "And look, you can NOT hurt him," she added.  "He is too sweet and wonderful, Laura, and he's Jax's best friend.  And a dear friend to me as well.  So if you have no feelings for him, please just tell him NOW and don't build up any false hopes in his heart."

        "I don't know what I feel," Laura said, looking confused.  "It's so soon, you know?  We hardly know one another and yet  - - - I'm definitely very attracted to him.  And I do feel like we're friends."

        "So you're basically saying you want to date him," Brenda said.  "And see how things go."

        Laura nodded.  "Yes."

        Brenda nodded, too.  "That should be cool.  I'm sure he wants to "court" you, as they say," she grinned.

        "How long did you and Jax date before getting married?" Laura asked.

        "Not long," Brenda confessed.  "A few months.  BUT, that was all accelerated by the fact that Carly made that announcement to Tracy about Jax and me getting engaged."

        "You could have had a long engagement," Laura said.  "Just because theengagement rumor was out there didn't mean you had to get MARRIED."

        "I know," Brenda said. "But I think the truth of the matter was that we both wanted to get married anyway.  Hey, did I tell you that Jax is going to give me one million dollars to start up my own business?"

        "Really?  How awesome. What kind of business?"

        "Well, don't say anything to Jax yet, because I haven't told him yet. I'm going to tell him tomorrow when Lois and Carly come over.  But I think what I want to do is start my own record company.  Me, Lois, and Carly.  It'll be small, but full functioning, you know?  We'll do A&R, marketing, publicity, promotions, videos.  We'll have a small staff, maybe just the three of us, and we'll let one of the majors distribute us.  And Jax can help me fine-tune all the business and finance aspects of it.  What do you think?"

        "I think that husband of yours is going to make every dream you ever had come true," Laura said sincerely.  "I would give anything to be loved by a man the way Jax loves you, Brenda," she said dreamily.

        "I think maybe you are loved that way," Brenda said with a giggle.  "By royalty, no less."

        Laura blushed and tossed her napkin at Brenda.  Could it be?  Could Stefan love her that way?  It hardly seemed possible.  And yet the mere possibility made her heart leap around with nervous excitement.  She barely knew Stefan Cassadine, and yet he was so sure she was the one for him. Could he be the one for her, too?

        "I hope Jax hasn't slain your possible future husband," Brenda joked.

"They've been in there a long time."

        "So Jax fences, too, huh?"

        "Oh, yeah," Brenda nodded.  "He's brilliant with that sword."

        Laura struggled not to laugh at Brenda's scandalous double entendre.

"Stefan is pretty amazing, too," Laura said, indicating that he could hold his own against Jax in a fencing duel.

        "I know," Brenda agreed.  "But Jax is also mad."

        Laura looked worried for a moment.  "They can't actually - - - hurt each other with those things, can they?"

        Brenda laughed.  "Well, I guess if they bashed each other repeatedly over the head with the foils, yes.  But the points are not sharp. I was just kidding about them hurting each other, Laura," she assured her.  "They're like brothers.  They would kill FOR each other, not kill each other."

        "Do you suppose Stefan might be telling Jax how he feels about me?" Laura wondered.

        "He might be."

        "Oh, great. Brenda, you KNOW Jax is going to do anything he can to talk Stefan out of having any kind of a relationship with for me," Laura said with a sigh of defeat.

        Brenda looked at her. "See, you really don't know Jax at all, Laura.  He loves Stefan.  He would never do anything to hurt him.  If Stefan has told Jax that he loves you, then that is major for Jax.  And he's not ever going to do anything to sabotage that."

        "But he won't be encouraging it either, will he?" Laura guessed.

        "He'll try," Brenda said.  "I know, Jax.  He'll try until you give him a reason not to try."

        "I won't ever give him a reason not to, "Laura vowed.  "I know I have a lot to prove to Jax, Brenda. And I'm going to do it."

        Brenda smiled.  "Yeah.  Everything's going to work out perfectly in the end,

I know it," she predicted optimistically.

        Outside, the gathering storm clouds finally broke, and harsh, pounding, cold rain began to fall outside the walls of the castle.

        When they were back at home a few hours later, Jax and Brenda went through the remaining messages and e-mails and then got ready for bed.  

        Jax was sitting up in the bed working on something on his lap top when Brenda came out of the bathroom looking delectable, her hair carrying the faint, alluring scent of rich raspberries.

        She climbed into the bed, giggling at the way his lowered eyes followed her every movement, although he was trying to give the appearance that he was concentrating on the computer screen.

        "Thank you for tonight," Brenda said, rolling over on top of him and kissing him.

        Jax shut off the computer and moved it to the bedside table. The he enfolded his arms around Brenda.

        "You're welcome," he said, instantly knowing that she was referring to his obvious efforts to move past his ill will toward Laura and get along with her.

        "You never know," Brenda whispered, kissing him again.  "One day you might wake up and realize that you actually like her a little bit."

        Jax smiled at her. "Don't push it, angel," he said, tapping the bridge of her nose gently with one finger.  

        "Did Stefan tell you?" Brenda asked.

        "That he loves her?  Yes, he told me."

        "So, what do you think?"

        "I think he means it," Jax sighed.

        "That is so exciting!" Brenda said, laughing.

        Her excitement was infectious, and Jax felt his already normally intense attraction to her growing even deeper.

        "I know you're not as excited about this as me though," Brenda admitted, giving him a little smile.  "So, tell me the truth.  Are you hoping he'll fall out of love with her?" she asked, playing with his hair.

        "Whatever I'm hoping is irrelevant.  He's not going to fall out of love with her anymore than I'm going to fall out of love with you," Jax said "So what I hope is that they both get what they need to make them happy. If that turns out to be each other, then so be it."

        Brenda's eyes gazed at him and shone with love. She kissed his chest and then rested her chin there.  "Life is so unpredictable," she said, a far-away look in her eyes.  "I mean, if anyone would have told me that one day I would meet you, and fall in love with you, and marry you, and be happier than I ever dreamed I could be, I would have told them to put down the crack pipe."

        Jax laughed softly. "You do have such a colorful way with words, my love," he said with a roll of his eyes.

        "Well, you know me, Jax.  That IS what I would have said," she laughed.

"And who would have thought that we'd be gone for two weeks, come back and find out that your best friend is in love with my cousin?"

        "Who would have thought," Jax agreed, feeling ambivalent about it.  Which was actually a step up from feeling ill about it, which was what he had been battling ever since he'd heard the news.  Hopefully, he'd go from ambivalence to acceptance soon. And perhaps, with any luck, to actual happiness on his friend's behalf.

        "Life is so funny like that," Brenda said, walking her fingers along the muscles of his arm and resting her head sideways on his chest.  "Always full of unexpected things."

        He should tell her now, he thought.  He should tell her that her Uncle

Travis could be her father.

        Jax's silence caused Brenda to lift her head and look at him curiously.

She saw the shadow cross over his extraordinary eyes and thought that her comment about life being full of unexpected things may have triggered an unhappy memory for him -- like her going over that embankment the day before their wedding.

        "I didn't meant that in any kind of a negative way whatsoever," she told him soothingly. Then she held his face between her soft, small hands so that their eyes were locked on each other.  "I didn't mean unexpected as in something bad happening to you or to me.  I meant that life is full of wonderful surprises," she clarified, her eyes sparkling with love.

"Especially my life with you," she said with a smile that went straight to his heart.

        He had to smile at how sweet she was. Undoubtedly, she had seen the seriousness in his eyes as he pondered how to tell her about her uncle, and she had assumed he was thinking of something sad.  And she, of course, was determined to chase any sadness that dared darken the light in his eyes.

        "You are my happiness," she told him, touching her lips to his in a kiss sweeter than anything there ever was.

        "And you're mine," Jax echoed, taking the sweet kiss and turning up the flame to a seductive, heated simmer.

        "What are you doing tomorrow?" Brenda asked him as she sat up on him and began to very slowly unbutton the short, silk nightshirt she was wearing.

        "I have to interview for a new assistant for most of the morning," he responded, "until I can con Addie into coming back to me and beg her forgiveness for whatever Jerry's done now.  Then I have to meet Ned later in the afternoon."

        "Can you do your interviewing from here?" she asked.

        "Sure.  Why?"

        "Because I want to have a meeting with you," she said with a flash of dimples.

        "Business?"

        "Mmm hmm.  Me, you, Lois, and Carly."

        "Oh. YOUR business," he grinned, his hands helping her unbutton her shirt.

He began unbuttoning it from the bottom, working his way up, as she continued unbuttoning it from the top, working her way down.  "So do you think you can tell me what this business venture of yours is now?" he requested.

        "Well, sure, I could do that," she said easily.  "But I'd MUCH rather be

doing this," she said, as their hands finally met in their path of unbuttoning, and Brenda's shirt slid off.

        "You drive such a hard bargain," Jax said with a mock sigh of defeat, his eyes, very dark and very blue, burning along her beautiful, sun-kissed body as he grabbed her and pulled her down onto him, muffling her laughter with kisses of sensual fire.

        As the driving rain fell heavily outside, they began their lovemaking with slow, sensual foreplay.  Jax's kisses became more demanding, more enticing, as he rolled over halfway on the bed with her, Brenda's arms encircling his neck and giving herself completely to the stunning sensuality of his passion. His hands moved up her body, so close to her aroused breasts, but not touching them, fueling her desire. Just when she thought she would die from the need he drove a sensuous tongue into her mouth, and at the same time, his hands took possession of her breasts, stroking, teasing, brushing back and forth over erect nipples.

Brenda's increasing melody of moans was like music for Jax alone - a song no one but the two of them could hear and understand.  

        Her body arched towards his adoringly and longingly, and she ran her hands feverishly through his hair and then down the muscles of his arms.  He slowly pulled his mouth from hers, and she groaned in protest at the loss of his kisses, then shivered with ecstatic delights as he kissed her ear, sliding his lips down her neck, then over her breasts, until they closed sensuously on the hardened peaks. His mouth did its magic there while his hands played her body like a virtuoso until she was writhing with escalating pleasures beneath him as he shifted on top of her and poised himself above her.  The veins in his muscular arms stood out as he held himself above her, slowly entering her inch by inch, prolonging the ecstasy, feeling the unmatchable sweetness of his wife's sensual surrender.  Jax intended a slow, sensual lovemaking, and he might have been able to continue moving slowly and steadily inside of her, but Brenda was more impatient than he was. The touch of her hands on his body and in his hair was making him a little crazy.  Her touch was like the touch of no other.

The things she could do to him with just that touch were astonishing. She softly whispered, "Please, Jax," letting him know the deliciously slow, steady rhythm was driving her out of her mind, and she needed all of him and wanted all of him now.  That combined with the arousing shift of her body as she lifted her hips, reaching for him, was what did him in.  He dove into her, plunging deeply again and again as her fingers sank into his shoulders and her soft words encouraged their fervor-- their movements both wild and wanting, reaching for their sensual heaven together, finding it at the same moment, exploding together, and then shattering.  Limbs entwined, skin on fire, hearts thundering, breathing wild and uneven, bodies absolutely blissful.  Joy spread through them like liquid warmth as they shifted once more, Brenda atop Jax now, and held each other, closing their eyes and just feeling a powerful love radiating between them, filling the room from end to end.  

        Jax closed his eyes, savoring this moment, as he always did -- filled with reverence for all the things she was, and for all the things she made him want to be.  He didn't think any man ever born could love a woman more than he loved Brenda.

        He heard her breathing grow even and steady, and her soft hair brushed against his chest as her head took its favored position, gently lying over his beating heart.

        "I love you," he heard her whisper sleepily.  And then she was seduced by the beckoning of slumber.

        "I love you, Brenda." he said, kissing the top of her hair.  And yet love did not seem to come anywhere close to all of the powerful things that he felt for her.  He knew he would not sleep for several minutes.  He would gaze at her endlessly until sleep finally claimed him.  It was his routine whenever she fell asleep before him. And his feeling was always the same - as if he were beholding an angel sleeping in his arms.  So much like an angel did she look that he always expected translucent wings to spring forth from her shoulders. He wondered, when they had kids would their little girls look just like her? How perfect that would be, he thought with a smile touching his lips.

        As Jax finally began to feel slumber beckoning him to join his wife in its sleepy embrace, he realized he had still not told her about her uncle possibly being her father.  Tomorrow, he promised himself as his eyes fluttered closed.  Tomorrow he would tell her before they went to bed.