He breathed out a relieved sigh that ended up being more of a sob than a laugh, reaching out with one hand to cup the back of her head and draw her against him.  Their lips met, his urgent, hers surprised but quickly recovering.  He plundered her mouth with the desperation of a husband after a long separation from his bride, her muted whimpers spurring him to continue.  He tangled one hand in her hair, placing the other at the small of her back and pulling her to him with barely contained restraint.  Pressing her against the railing, he tasted and explored without finesse, driven by his need to know she was his, deepening his assault on her mouth for every time he remembered that he’d thought she was in danger.  Releasing her abruptly to suck in much needed air, his eyes drifted regretfully over her bruised, swollen lips. 

She was his life; she was every beat of his heart, every thought in his mind, every moment of his days. 

“I love you,” he declared raggedly, tears misting his eyes at the intense emotion that flooded through him at his own confession.  After three years of holding it back, it felt so good to get it out in the open. 

“What?” she gasped in disbelief, her senses already reeling, this doing nothing to bring her back to earth.  She looked around in a dumbfounded, almost desperate, stupor.  “Is there a freezer I can stick my head in for a minute?” 

“What?”  It was his turn to question, his heart stopping at the startling realization that she might not return his feelings.  He had feared it for years, used it as an excuse so many times he’d lost count, but now that he was faced with it as reality, he wasn’t sure he could handle her rejection.  “I…I’m sorry… I didn’t realize…I’m sorry.” 

Finally focusing on the change in his demeanor, the stammering of his words, the anguished tension in his face, Sue reached out and grabbed the lapels of his tuxedo jacket when he started to walk away.  “Not so fast, Hudson,” she grinned.  “If you’re gonna sweep a girl off her feet like that, you can’t expect her to be coherent for at least a solid minute.  Maybe even longer.”  As she talked, she slowly drew him closer until their bodies brushed, her face tilted and her smile slowly breaking through the hastily built walls around his heart. 

His breathing grew strained as she hovered her lips near his, teasingly keeping him from making contact, her breath tickling his face, making him ache for her caress.  “I love you, too,” she whispered, finally closing the distance and kissing him tenderly as he moaned into her mouth.

Breaking the kiss, he swung her around by her waist, throwing his head back and whooping loudly, capturing her with another kiss just as dizzying as his spin.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her curves against his solid lines, their hearts beating as one, their lives finally on the same page as they lost themselves in each other for a few precious moments.

A lone figure watched from the shadows, eyes narrowing at the display of affection in front of him.  Their kisses, their soft sighs, their loving embrace, all reminding him of what he’d lost… and what he hoped to regain tonight.  Seeing a ghoulish figure appear on the porch, he drifted back into the darkness, not ready to be discovered, needing to keep himself hidden for now.  But they would know soon enough… He looked at the clock… almost 11.  Yes, all would be revealed in due time.  To everything there is, after all, a season.  A time to be born, a time to die.  A time to kill, and a time to heal.  A time to weep… A time to mourn…

“That’s weird,” Tara murmured, confused. “I know I heard someone crying in here.”

“Maybe there’s another way out,” Bobby suggested, walking around her to enter the room and exploring the walls with expert hands.

“Bobby…”

Tara’s gasp sent Bobby to her side, her gaze transfixed to a portrait hanging over the large stone fireplace. “Do you see what I see?” she whispered, an awed hush muting her words.

Bobby nodded silently, his mind trying to process the image before him. It looked so much like… but no, that couldn’t be her… That picture had to be at least 100 years old, but still… That was… “Sue.”

she shivered when Jack began lightly playing with her hair.  “Jack, stop,” she hissed on another shiver.  “I can’t concentrate when you’re playing with my hair.”

Jack leaned back so she could see him speak, his eyes narrowed in confusion.  “I’m not playing with your hair.  My hands are right here.”  He squeezed her hips to prove his point, Sue’s forehead furrowing in disbelief.

“But I felt…” She broke off as a cool breeze touched her arms, ruffled her hair.  “Never mind.  I guess it was just the wind.” 

Sue stiffened in his arms, pushing back slightly and trying to disengage herself from his grasp.  “Jack… I need to…”  She broke off in confusion, her breath catching in her throat as she met his concerned eyes.

“You need to what?”

“I need to…go…to the stables.”

“Why?”  Jack tilted his head, the hairs on his arms bristling without explanation.  “Did Mulligan say something?”

“No.”  Sue shook her head, her forehead crinkled in helpless consternation.

“Then why…?”

“I don’t know.”

He grinned fondly at her as she swiped at the tears that moistened her cheeks, and an overwhelming sense of affection for her flooded his heart. Disturbed at the intensity of these new feelings, he stood and paced away from the desk, needing to put some distance between them.

Hearing Sue’s startled cry, Jack leaped over the stall he was investigating and hurried to where he’d left her, only to find her crumpled in a heap on the floor, Mulligan standing over the still form.  “Sue!”  Jack cried, falling to his knees and cradling her head in his lap.  “What did you do to her?” he snapped accusingly at the other man, his eyes flashing as he glared up at Mulligan. 

“I didn’t do anything,” Mulligan protested, kneeling helplessly at Sue’s other side.  “I was coming to ask her a question, and she turned around, saw me, and passed out.”

“I’m sorry,” Sue voiced and signed, leaning up to brush a quivery kiss to his lips.  “Can you… can you just hold me for a minute?” she whispered, sighing in relief when his arms willingly closed around her.  She buried her face in his chest, breathing deeply of his scent and clasping her hands at the small of his back.  Pulling him closer, she trembled at his nearness, her lips grazing the pulse beating wildly at his throat.  He groaned, the vibrations tickling her chest as she pressed tightly against him, his finger tilting her chin to capture her lips with his. 

“I love you,” she murmured against his kiss, feeling his absence as he lifted his face to speak. 

Taking her hands, he placed one against his lips, the other lightly at his throat.  “I love you, too,” he whispered and signed, his tongue touching her fingertips on the second word.  She inhaled shakily, her eyes filling with tears as he repeated the sentiment, this time just speaking. 

Ducking away from the hand at his mouth, he pressed his lips to her forehead and said again, “I love you.”

He trailed kisses to her cheek, her hand trembling at his throat as he again whispered, “I love you.”

Moving his lips along her skin to her ear, he murmured, “I love you.”

He dragged his mouth down the slope of her neck, finding the hollow of her throat and nuzzling her pulse with his tongue.  Repeating the words she was learning to identify by the motion of his lips, the puff of breath as he spoke, the vibrations in his voice box, he told her again,  “I love you.”

“Jack,” she breathed, tugging his face to hers and covering his mouth with hers.  “Say it again,” she pleaded into the kiss, holding his head in her hands so he couldn’t pull away. 

“I love you,” he said against her lips, absorbing her shiver with his own at the intensity of the sensations that overwhelmed them both.  There was something about this place, he noted.  Something that made it impossible for them to conceal their feelings.  Something that lowered their inhibitions and magnified their emotions.  Almost as though this night was created for them…

Her eyes were wide, her cheeks flushed, her chest heaving as she sucked in air.  “Jack,” she warned, holding a hand to keep him at bay.  Taking her hand in his, he raised her fingers to his mouth, lightly drawing them between his lips and swirling his tongue over the tips.  Sue sagged against the wall, her breathing shallow, her eyes darkening.  “Jack,” she murmured on a soft moan.

“I love you,” he spoke, her fingers still held captive by his tongue.  She shivered at the words she was learning to recognize by feel, by sensation… sound unnecessary with the light in his eyes. 

“I love you, too,” she whispered huskily, drawing her free hand up to stroke his jaw. 

Releasing her hand, he found her lips again, the kiss turning almost desperate as he sought to communicate the depth of his desire for her.  The more he tasted, the more he craved.  She had become his addiction with one kiss, and he knew he would never recover.

Reaching a musty wooden door, he reached out and turned the cold knob, bracing himself for whatever lay on the other side.

“I’ll go in first,” Bobby whispered, but made no move to approach the door now visible behind the askew fireplace. The portrait of Suzette now tilted, the large stone hearth had swung open to reveal a yawning tunnel.

“I’ll let you,” Tara murmured back. Glancing over at him when he still took no steps, she nudged him with her elbow. “You know, in order to ‘go in first’, you have to actually go in.”

“Unless you want to go first,” Bobby turned toward Tara, not hiding his uncomfortable swallow. She gave him a deadpan stare, her expression more than clear that his latest idea did not appeal to her in the least. “Okay,” he amended with a nervous clearing of his throat. “I’ll go.”

“No more talk of darkness,” Jack uttered, barely above a whisper, when Sue managed to tear her gaze from his smoky eyes to focus on his lips. He spoke the words, knowing that Sue couldn’t read his lips if he sang, his simple consideration making it even more romantic as far as Sue was concerned. “Forget those wide-eyed fears. I’m here, nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears. I’m here with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you.”

He rested his cheek against her hair as Christine’s part played, imagining a future with the beautiful woman who had so completely captured his heart. Feeling her tears soaking through his shirt, he lifted his face to gaze into her damp eyes, bending slightly to brush his lips across hers.

“Let me be your shelter. Let me be your light,” he continued in a hushed voice. “You’re safe; No one will find you. Your fears are far behind you.” He kissed her tenderly again, tasting the salt of her tears through her smile. “Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime.” His voice choked on his last two words, his own eyes filling with moisture as he let his gaze caress her face. Pulling her closer, he hovered his lips just far enough away for her to read him, stealing more kisses between words, his heart pounding furiously at the intensity of his love for her. “Let me lead you from your solitude. Say you need me with you here, beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go too.”

His hand trembled as he stroked her cheek. “Share each day with me, each night, each morning… Love me, that’s all I ask of you.”

By the time he was finished, Sue was openly crying, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging tightly to him. He smoothed her hair, kissing the slope of her neck, inhaling deeply, and running his hand down her spine then back up to tangle his fingers in the soft blonde locks. They continued to move to the music only they could hear, the orchestral sounds from inside fading into empty air. The crunching of footsteps on the leaves along the path raised the hairs on Jack’s arms, his eyes locking with Mulligan’s steely gaze over Sue’s shoulder.

“She was pregnant…” I lied, knowing the second I saw his reaction that they had not been intimate.  At least that gave me some comfort… He had not known her the way a husband knows a wife.  We were still evenly matched, and there was no need for me to add to my deception by naming a father.  All that mattered to Jacques was that it wasn’t him.

His hesitation as he debated the possibility of the truth of my words gave me the opportunity I needed.  One well-placed shove, and he joined his beloved in death.  Fitting, I suppose some would say.  Romantic, in the most tragic sense.

“He may have pushed you over the cliff, but you killed him.”

Before Jack could react, Mulligan had Sue in his arms, a switchblade to her throat.  “You know what they say,” he whispered menacingly.  “History has a way of repeating itself.”

He stepped closer to the cliff, his eyes turning wild, a trickle of blood dripping down Sue’s neck as the knife clipped her skin.  Jack’s jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his side, his control threatening to snap.  Regaining some restraint, he took a step toward the pair, halting instantly when Sue winced, her body pinned tightly against Mulligan, the slight cut beginning to sting as the blade continued to press against her neck. 

Pulling Sue into the haven of his arms, Jack held her tightly against his chest

Mulligan let out a blood-curdling scream, partly from fear, partly from anger, and partly because he knew it would echo in the agent’s dreams for many days.

“You could keep it on,” Jack suggested, shrugging casually, his lips puckering as he tried to act nonchalant.  He stroked her hand in his grip, raising vulnerable eyes to hers when he felt the slight tremble.  His breath leaving him in a rush, he struggled to speak, to finish the thought that hadn’t been far from his mind for the past three years.  “At least…at least until I can replace it with one that we pick out together.”

Sue inhaled sharply, her eyes welling with tears as his words registered.  “Jack…”

“Or… maybe ‘If found, please return to Sue’.” 

“So is that a yes?”  Jack’s eyes lit up, tears misting his vision of the deliriously happy woman before him. 

“That’s a yes.”  She had barely finished speaking when his mouth captured hers in a passionate kiss, their hands tangling together, their soft moans mingling with their tears.  A cold breeze blew around them, swirling Sue’s dress in a swishing motion at her ankles and ruffling Jack’s jacket, almost embracing them with its soft caress.  Neither of them noticed, the warmth generated between them making them immune to anything except the sensations they were evoking in each other.  This was love… this was the lifetime they wanted to live.

~THE END~