Chapter 31- Extended
There was a lot to be said for doing one's job well.
Arman peered up ahead to where his young charge sat in conversation with his employer. For fourteen years the Cassadine family had employed him. Twelve of those years had been spent as bodyguard to Stefan Cassadine's younger son Andresj'.
It was a wonderful job, despite its inherent dangers. Arman had traveled to areas of the world he never even knew existed. Mr. Cassadine compensated him handsomely for his services, and Master Andresj' was generally a joy to guard.
The young master was a happy, mischievous lad who had brought a much-needed spark of light to the Cassadine family. Andresj's bouts of mischief, while always corrected by his father, were looked upon with indulgence. Arman had several occasions to observe Stefan Cassadine's reactions upon being told of his son's latest exploits. The Cassadine Regent was quite often hard-pressed to maintain the stern demeanor that was his normal facial expression.
Arman did not think Mister Cassadine would be so lenient if he were aware of all the young master's deeds while at Swithern Academy. He had no proof that it was so, but on several occasions Master Andresj' had presented the headmasters at Swithern signed documents which allowed him to leave the campus on weekends and travel about Europe freely. The weekend jaunts were invariably to the home of Doctor Sabrina DeLane or to the home of his friend and roommate Javier Monteros.
Despite Master Andresj's sincere assurances that the documents were legitimate, Arman sometimes had his doubts. But on the random occasions when he challenged the young master, Andresj' had proven successfully the truth of his words.
Oh yes, he was a very fitting addition to the Cassadine family, Arman mused. It did not take much inspection to realize that Stefan and Nikolas Cassadine were the most influential factors in Andresj's life. Smart and handsome, educated and refined, the young master reflected well upon his father. And his brother Nikolas.
Arman's chest swelled with pride. Today they returned to Greece. Not only would he have a chance to see his family, but also they would have the chance to meet Andresj'. They would see face-to-face the young man he spoke of with such pride.
Why not?
The words echoed sarcastically in her mind. The only parking spot available in the whole place was at least eight doors down. Normally, Keesha wouldn't have given the walk a second thought, but the combination of the pelting rain and the morning's bad luck just pushed her over the line.
She sighed in resignation and carefully eased the metallic blue Camry to a stop between the white lines. The rain gave no sign of easing so she began to gather up her things, determined to carry everything inside in one trip. One arm clutched several items to her chest while the other held a brightly colored umbrella the size of a small flashlight. Keesha took a deep breath and threw open the car's door. The umbrella opened and she made a careful dash toward her apartment.
For what it was worth, Keesha realized that she could have left the umbrella unopened in the car. It barely slowed the steady barrage of raindrops that fell. It definitely did not stop them. As she reached her door, Keesha realized that her keys were in her pocket. With both hands occupied, something would have to give.
Arrgggh! The tiny yell of irritation escaped through gritted teeth. It was just another example of how the day had started. Keesha propped the open umbrella against the door and fumbled for her door key. She was in a hurry to escape the rain and her ability to unlock the door seemed suddenly nonexistent.
The key scraped repeatedly against the lock as she hastened to let herself in. Without the meager protection of the umbrella, the rain threatened to soak the neatly wrapped package she carried.
After much effort, she was finally able to open the door. Keesha gave a little shiver and began to shake the water from her hair. Somehow it seemed fitting that the weather add to her miserable morning.
Methodically Arman counted off his responsibilities for the Cassadines' impending stay in Greece. He knew them by heart because they did not vary much from trip to trip. But this was different. This was his home. His family's perception of his success or failure would be judged by this trip.
It did not matter that due to Mr. Cassadine's generous salary his brothers and sisters all lived comfortably on the money he regularly sent. There were those relatives who had frowned upon his decision to leave his job in the village as an enforcement officer in order to take a position among the Cassadine staff. Despite their lofty standing and royal bloodlines, a great deal of danger was involved with everyone bearing the Cassadine name.
His family had just begun to reconcile his decision when, two years later, Stefan Cassadine made him another offer - one to act as bodyguard to the young orphan fostered by the Cassadine Regent. The private outcry of Arman's brothers and sisters was fierce. Working for the Cassadine family was one thing. Placing himself directly in the line of fire was another.
Leonides, his elder brother, argued that it would be different if Stefan Cassadine had offered him the job of protecting Prince Nikolas, next ruler of the Cassadine Family. ‘ That would be a great honor,' Leonides railed, ‘to know that the future of an empire was entrusted into your hands. I could even see if you had chosen to protect a child of their blood. But to endanger your life for a foundling? Truly, you must be thick!' He tapped his forefinger against his younger brother's temple for emphasis.
Arman never forgot the words. He watched the blue waters of the Mediterranean flash past and smiled broadly. In mere hours Leonides would remember them as well.
She had set her alarm clock for daybreak in order to deliver a small gift the Ward House children had made for Andresj' Cassadine. He was scheduled to leave for Greece and Keesha had every intention of seeing the young man off. But when she had driven up to the private airstrip that Stefan Cassadine maintained at the Port Charles Airport, the guard promptly informed her that the jet had departed hours ago.
Oh, well. Keesha continued to towel dry her damp hair. Her wet clothes had been dropped into the hamper and were now replaced with a comfortable pair of sweatpants and matching shirt. Plush white socks made a stark contrast to the faded black of the pants.
Keesha picked up Andresj's gift from the table near the door, intending to put it away until he returned. A blinking yellow light caught her eye and she depressed the incoming calls button of her caller i.d. box. The blurry digital display showed that she had received three calls that morning from the same unknown caller. During her cousin Justus' association with the underworld Keesha had grown accustomed to not answering calls from unidentified sources. Whoever it was would either call again or not.
With a shrug, she reset the box and moved into the kitchen. She had gotten out so early that breakfast had been sacrificed. Keesha decided to just grab a bowl of fruit. Since the rain didn't seem to be slacking up, she would sit by her window, watch the rain and relax. Perhaps the unexpected melancholy that gripped her would pass.
The sadness she felt as she watched raindrops race down her window confirmed for her that it was the rainy weather that caused her current mood. Keesha's mind flashed back unexpectedly to a rainy day several years earlier.
Like some giant tinted pane of glass, the dark waters of the lake reflected the overhead flock of birds. As far as the eye could see, there was no one else. It was as if she and Jason were the only people left on earth.
Keesha smiled at her handsome boyfriend as he maneuvered the boat through the water. Jason's blond hair was a spot of brightness against the overcast horizon. His strong arms guided the wheel with ease; forcing the boat to follow a path only he could see.
She watched as the muscles in his thighs flexed. It was his body's instinctive search for balance against the movement of the waves. At that moment, with his back to her and his legs spread and braced upon the deck, Jason looked like some ancient Nordic explorer setting forth for untamed lands.
Keesha lifted her face to the skies. A fine mist had begun to fall, so she rose from her place at the stern of the boat. With the mist had come a little breeze, which caused Keesha's gauzy white shirt to mold itself to her form. Silently she crossed the deck to where Jason stood and wrapped her arms about him. Keesha could sense his pleasure at her nearness. Jason's stance softened and he gave a deep sigh of contentment that Keesha felt all the way to her toes.
Suddenly Jason stepped away, and with a quick turn of the key cut the engine. He flipped a switch and watched the sonar image of the anchor being lowered. The gears created nothing more than a quiet metallic hum which soon ceased.
Then there was only nature. The soft sound of the water lapping against the sides of the boat, the strident cry of an overhead bird, and Jason's indrawn breath as he turned.
Keesha stood smiling in the misty downfall. As it grew stronger, the sheer gauzy shirt she wore clung to her body. It was blatantly obvious to Jason that the flaming red bikini she had worn beneath the shirt was no longer there. He swallowed at the sight of the smile she wore. It was a woman's smile, ages-old and filled with mystery and promise. Jason felt the familiar stirrings of arousal.
"What happened to your suit?" he asked thickly.
"We're all alone in the middle of nowhere. I thought it would be alright." Keesha hastened to tease, "I can put it back on."
"No! I mean, you don't have to." Jason extended his hand to her. It was an invitation to many things. "Let's go below." Images of laying Keesha gently on the bed and making love to her filled Jason's mind.
"Let's not."
Keesha reached down and grasped the hem of the gauzy material that was now a second skin. Jason's hand dropped slowly to his side as he watched her peel the garment up along her curvaceous body. With breathless wonder he savored each new inch of her that was revealed. He took in the gorgeous legs and triangle of dark curls, the shapely hips and narrow waist, the delicate navel and flat stomach, the full breasts and slender neck.
A very light rain now fell. Jason watched as it anointed Keesha's body from head to toe. Except for the gold chain around her neck, she stood bare before him. "This must be how Marc Antony felt in Queen Cleopatra's presence," he whispered, moving toward her.
Almost reverently Jason knelt at her feet. He held her about the waist and placed a tender kiss upon her trembling stomach. The feel of her dampened flesh beneath his lips was exquisite. Jason tilted his head back and gazed into Keesha's eyes. "I love you, Keesha Ward," he vowed.
"I love you, too, Jason Quartermaine."
His blue eyes grew dark with passion. Keesha felt his fingers tighten upon her waist just before his hands slid along her hips to caress her thighs. Up and down the smooth flesh his hands traveled. With each pass, Jason's fingers moved closer to their destination. Keesha could only hold her breath as he tenderly rubbed her inner thighs.
At last his fingers grazed her intimately. Keesha's body twitched and Jason smiled at the tiny movement she had not been able to prevent. "Open up for me, sweetheart," he urged, gently helping to spread her thighs. With a last look into her eyes, Jason bowed his head and began to adore her with his mouth.
The heat of his mouth as it closed upon her tender flesh was almost a shock to Keesha's system. Cooled by the falling rain, her skin felt the contrast in temperatures acutely. A sudden thrust of his tongue within her caused Keesha to cry out his name. "Jason!"
As her legs threatened to give way, Keesha threaded her fingers within her lover's hair. Each invasion of Jason's tongue sent runners of electric fire throughout her taut body. It was all she could do not to pull too vigorously against the blond locks wrapped around her fingers.
Jason felt the tremors begin. Keesha was close. He knew it. How could he love her and not know it? Every action and reaction of Keesha's body was as familiar to him as his own. He continued to lick and suck the aroused flesh and gladly endured the way her fingers tightened in his hair.
There it was, the muffled sound she made in her throat when her release came. His strong hands supported her shaking thighs, silently urging Keesha to give herself over fully to the moment. With Jason's help, Keesha allowed her body to slide down along his. She still felt the flutter of tremors within, and leaned her forehead wearily against his neck. Jason lifted her face to his for a tender kiss and Keesha could taste herself on his tongue. How she loved this man!
Jason felt the sudden pull of Keesha's mouth against his tongue. He stiffened as her hands moved down his back and slid beneath the waistband of his shorts. Her fingers squeezed the firm muscles of his backside before sliding around to grasp his hardness. So slowly did her cool hands stroke him that Jason had to break the kiss and gasp for breath. "Keesha!" Her name exploded from his lips.
Her fingers released him and Jason moaned in disappointment. But as he felt Keesha tug at the sodden shorts he wore, Jason pulled the wet material down his thighs and maneuvered out of them.
"Lie down," Keesha directed him. Jason complied, never noticing the cold deck beneath him. His attention was focused on the beautiful woman who now straddled him. Keesha leaned over and began to blaze a trail of kisses down his torso. The wet strands of her hair brushed against his skin like microscopic fingers.
Lower and lower she moved. Jason could not prevent the way his eyes fluttered shut when Keesha's tongue began to swirl around the sensitive flesh of his navel. It was torture of the most delicious kind.
Jason tensed as he felt Keesha's mouth leave his body. His manhood, freed from the confines of the shorts, ached for attention. It throbbed in anticipation of her next move. And still he was unprepared for the bolt of lightning that seemed to strike him as Keesha's warm mouth closed around him. As his body seized, Jason desperately began to recite medical jargon in his mind in order to prevent premature release.
Totally focused on bringing Jason the same pleasure she had received, Keesha did not hear his unusual utterances. Her hands stroked him in time to the rhythmic suction of her mouth.
Any measure of self-control Jason had regained was lost the moment he opened his eyes and saw Keesha swirl her tongue around the smooth head of his erect manhood. With a hoarse cry, he buried his hands within her hair and pulled her up along his body. He held Keesha tight as he rolled them over and reversed their positions.
Greedily, Jason tasted her mouth. He raised his hips and reached between them to position himself. With a strangled groan, Jason drove slowly into Keesha. "You feel so good," he moaned. "So hot . . . so wet." His hips began to move. With each stroke his manhood grew slicker and the sensations keener. Jason grunted with each effort to totally bury himself inside the woman beneath him.
"Oh, Jason!"
Keesha had no trouble finding her lover's rhythm. Her body moved with his in a sensual dance of give and take.
"Yes, baby, yes ... "
His pace grew more urgent. The power of his thrusts propelled them imperceptibly along the rain-soaked deck.
"I need..."
The fingers of one hand clawed desperately against the solid surface of the deck. What had begun as an effort to halt their movement was now Keesha's silent scream for release.
"Tell me, Keesha!"
Jason slowed his movements until the cords in his neck stood out like tightly pulled ropes. Each time, he withdrew fully - only to pause and bury himself again.
"Now, Jason!"
Keesha's body cried out for satisfaction and completion. She tightened her legs around him in an attempt to prevent his torturous movements. The action drove Jason deep within her.
"Yessss ... "
He pulled back and then slammed against her. The air became filled with the sounds of their passion; the slap of flesh against flesh, mutual cries of pleasure. Frantically, they clung to one another. Release was upon them both.
A few more strokes and Jason felt his world explode. His body stiffened as a wave of spasms overtook him. He jerked helplessly atop Keesha as his body strained to empty inside her.
Keesha buried her face in Jason's neck and screamed silently. His release had triggered her own. So intense were the sensations that it was all she could do not to score his back with her nails.
The memory was lost as Keesha felt a sudden pain. She winced and looked down at fists she had closed so tight that the nails had cut into her palms.
A pain equally real beset her heart. She was forced to curl up just to escape its grip. Keesha struggled against the tears that threatened to spill from the corners of her tightly closed eyelids. She had promised herself long ago that she would never shed another tear for Jason Quartermaine - or the love that they lost. Yet there she was, aching for what she knew could never be again.
"Enough! " she chided herself. "Four years of grieving is enough! I have to move on."
On the heel of that thought, a mental image of Andresj' Cassadine crossed Keesha's mind.
*General Hospital and its characters are not mine. I make no profit from this. The characters Andresj' Cassadine, and Diane Jennings are my creation.*
