Alexis sighs deeply, staring out at the ocean waves. This was the life.
Sunning on a beach in Bali. Her lips twisted into a half sneer, and she
slowly sips her Mai Tai. Damn Luke Spencer. Damn him and his condescending
bullying tactics. And while she's at it, damn Ned Ashton. And Jasper Jacks.
And Jason Morgan. And Stefan Cassadine. Damn the whole lot of them. Alexis
rolls her eyes at herself. Mature Alexis. Why don't you just start calling
them up one by one with prank phone calls? The fact that she seriously
considered it for a moment was enough for Alexis. Standing quickly she
turns to get off the beach.

"Where are you off to in such a rush, pretty lady?" Alexis turns toward the
sound of the voice. She looks him up and down. Dark skin, hair and eyes. He
could be a local. The slight accent she heard in his voice could account
for it as well.

"Look, I'm sure most of the tourists finds your 'local native lounge
lizard' approach quite attractive, but I'm just not in the mood." She bends
down and begins packing up her towel, sunglasses, and the latest Steven
King novel she'd been reading.

The man's eyebrows raise slightly in something Alexis could almost swear to
be amusement. "I wasn't trying a come on. I was simply trying to make
polite conversation with the attractive woman sunning next to me."

"Well, lucky for both of us I was about to leave. We're not neighbors anymore."

"And I thought this was supposed to be a tropical island," he mutters under
his breath.

Alexis turns and narrows her eyes at him. "And what exactly is that
supposed to mean?"

The man shrugs his shoulders in a falsely casual manner. "Just that you
could make one hell of a margarita with the ice dripping off you."

Alexis doesn't give herself a chance to think, doesn't give herself a
chance to consider the repercussions. She picks up the mai tai she'd been
sipping on and dumps the contents over his head. Smiling in satisfaction at
his shocked face, Alexis brushes her hands together. "Glad I could cool you
off in this heat." Alexis scoops up her remaining belongings and walks
briskly
back to the hotel.

~~~~~~~~

Alexis snaps her cell phone shut, once again cursing Luke Spencer.
Blackmail. He had to blackmail her to use her as a weapon against Stefan.
Her eyes close slowly as she remembers her last conversation with Ned. He
had been so angry. Her constant refusal to tell him what's wrong was
wearing on their relationship. She smacks her fist on the bar. Well that
had been
the deal, hadn't it? No questions. No need to explain themselves. a little
voice reminded her. Before Stefan had thrown her out and pronounced her to
be dead to him. She wasn't a gatekeeper anymore. And this is something she
should trust him with. And he seemed to sense that. Sighing, Alexis rubs
the bridge of her nose wearily. Who was she kidding. She was scared and
totally unprepared to trust anyone or anything. The only reason one other
living person knew her true identity was because he'd done extensive
research. Thoughts of Luke Spencer made her once again want to hit
something. Someone. AnyoneŠŠ

"Can I buy you a drink?" the voice comes from directly behind her. "That
is, anything but a Mai Tai."

Alexis closes her eyes, forcing herself not to groan out loud at her
extreme misfortune. She spins around on her stool and is faced with the
most intense pair of brown eyes she's ever seen. They were dark, and filled
with a deep sorrow she couldn't quite define. "Perhaps a margarita, then,"
she suggests dryly.

He gives her the treat of a smile and the sheer beauty of it threatens to
knock her off the stool. "You look like the strawberry margarita type," he
guesses accurately.

Alexis inclines her head in the affirmative by way of answer. He asks the
bartender for two, then takes the stool next to her. "I'd like to apologize
for dumping my drink on you earlier," she begins warily.

He shrugs his mouth. "I won't pretend it didn't tick me off. But I actually
laughed after I stopped fuming."

"Well, I'm afraid you got the brunt of an explosion that should've taken
out several other people," she says in way of an explanation.

"So I was nothing but an innocent casualty of war?" he inquires softly,
leaning in closer to her face.

Alexis swallows deeply. "Why do I get the feeling there's nothing innocent
about you?"

One shoulder shrugs. "Instincts?"

"I've been told mine are razor sharp." She gasps as his hand drops from the
bar to rest on her thigh. She looks down at it pointedly, then back to his
eyes.

"If you want me to move it, just tell me, and I will. OtherwiseŠ." He lets
the sentence trail off.

Alexis takes in a deep breath, steeling herself to give him the rejection
she knows she should. But somehow, the words refuse to pass her lips. "I
have several phone calls I need to make," she begins slowly, "but after
those have been taken care of, I'll be relegated to wasting away in my
hotel room for the rest of the night."

The man's eyebrows raise. "Is that supposed to sound that suggestive?"

Alexis chews on her lower lip. Oh god what was she doing?  She was
considering inviting this man - whose name she didn't even know! - up to
her room. ToŠ. What?  Well they sure as hell wouldn't be playing canasta.
One look in those smoldering eyes of his and all thoughts of playing games
left her mind. "Yes, I suppose it is," she answers finally.

"What's your room number?" he asks in a low voice.

"What's your name?" she counters, stalling for time, hoping the rational
side of her brain would kick in sometime soon.

"I don't think you really wanna know my name," he observes.

She raises her eyebrows at him. "Oh really?  And on what do you base this
astute observation?"

"It's your eyes," he murmurs, bringing his hand up to trace her cheek, her
jaw, her lips. "They're hungryŠ NeedyŠ. Lost." Each word grows softer and
rougher. He brings a bit of ice from the margarita and runs it over her
ower lip, slowly, back and forth, hypnotizing her with his eyes, his voice,
his touch.

Alexis opens her mouth once to speak and finds the effort futile. She closes
her mouth, swallows, and tries again. "I don't believe I want to give you my
room number," she manages to croak out.

His face reflects his amusement. "May I ask why?"

"Because I get the distinct impression that you're a very dangerous man,"
she replies huskily. Alexis' eyes narrow as she sees something behind his
eyes shift and darken.

He smiles a humorless smile, a cruel parody of the grin he'd graced her with
earlier. "I see. Forgive me for intruding. I should've known that the air of
danger would follow me wherever and whenever I went." He takes a last drink
of his margarita and hops off his stool. "If you'll excuse me, lovely lady,
I'm going to cool off with a walk along the beach."

Alexis watches him leave before turning back to the bar and gripping the
edge tightly, forcing herself to stay in her seat. She will not follow him.
She won't. Cursing softly under her breath, Alexis snatches her purse off
the bar and quickly hurries in the direction he'd just gone. She looks
around, but sees no one in the vicinity. Disheartened in spite of herself,
she starts to turn around and go back in the bar. And then she sees him.
He's dressed completely in white, a gauzy material that seemed at odds with
his personality. He's sitting in the sand, the tide just touching his feet.
Alexis sucks in a breath. God is this right? She closes her eyes and makes a
decision. Who the hell cares if it's right? It's what she wants. Needs.
Craves. She gives an involuntary shudder remembering his words to her at the
bar. She can still feel the sensation of the ice against her lips. Smiling
and utterly mischievous smile, Alexis scurries back to the bar quickly,
figuring if she's going to do this, she might as well go all the wayŠŠ

~~~~~~~~~

He turns and sees her coming. Her hips swing invitingly underneath that navy
blue gauzy material everyone here seemed to be wearing. He chuckles. She is
beautiful. Gorgeous. But not in the same way Brenda was. He closes his eyes
at the name. Brenda. She doesn't belong here now. Not with this womanŠ.
Alexis Davis. She probably had no clue he knew who she was. It didn't
matter. The only thing that mattered was that she had no clue who he was. He
turns back to the water, not wanting to detour her progress towards him.
Part of him had been worried she wouldn't work up the nerve to come. All of
him was glad she had. He feels her standing right behind him, waiting,
debating.

"You can stop pretending you don't know I'm here anytime now," she informs
him dryly.

He smiles and lays back against the sand, propping his head up on his folded
elbows. He looks up at her, a smile spreading across his face. "Oh, it's
you!" he exclaims, feigning shock at her presence. "I thought I was tooŠ
What did you say again? Dangerous! That's itŠ."

"All right, I apologize again. I didn't mean to insult your character--"

He chuckles, the sound rusty to his own ears. Jesus Corinthos, you need to
laugh moreŠ. Have a little more funŠ He glances up at Alexis' face, pinched,
waiting for him to say whatever it is he has to sayŠ Needed to sink inside a
beautiful woman more oftenŠ. "You didn't. You just brought up some things I
didn't need to be reminded of."

Alexis stares down at her feet for a moment. "I have a few things I don't
need to be reminded of, too." She looks into his eyes. "I'd like to just
forget. Just for tonight. ToŠ. Pretend like I'm not me, and since I don't
know who the hell you areŠ." She trails off and smiles at him.

Sonny feels his chest tighten. She didn't know who he was, but he knew who
she was. One of the enemies of his best friend. Sonny sighs internally. It
didn't matter. He'd always liked her. He used to watch her whenever they
were in the same room together. It happened so infrequently. Something about
herŠ. Fascinated him. But he'd never allowed himself to act on it, because
he'd been committed to Brenda. He wants to tell her about the times he used
to spot her inside restaurants, then quickly turn and go somewhere else so
he wouldn't be tempted to talk to her. Pathetic, he internally chides
himself. He forces down the impulse to tell her about how long he's desired
her. Instead he rolls over, rising to his knees to kneel before her. He lays
his head on her stomach gently and places a kiss there through her clothing.
One of her hands reaches up to clutch at his hair, the other staying by her
side. Curious as to what it was doing, he moves his head to see. Her left
hand was clutching a glass.

"What's that you've got in the glass?" he asks in a husky whisper.

Alexis smiles. "It's a Mai Tai," she says in a whisper.

He smiles and stands, taking her hand and giving it a tug. "C'mon. I wanna
show you something."

"Please tell me you're not luring me to some secluded location where no one
will ever find the body."

He chuckles. "You're not a very trusting person, are you?"

She shrugs a shoulder, walking along the beach with him. "Not by nature, no.
I was pre-disposed not to be."

She didn't say anything more, but he read a wealth of meaning into those
words. True, he might not have if he didn't know about her, know what it
must've been like for her to grow up in the Cassadine family being female.

"And, here we are," he pronounces, leading her through a dark cave to a
small cove on the beach. "This is somewhere I discovered my first day here.
I sleep out here at night sometimesŠ. Look up at the starsŠ.. it's very
peaceful."

Alexis looks up at him. "Something tells me you haven't had many peaceful
moments in your life," she says softly.

Sonny Corinthos' eyes bore into hers. He decides not to hide anything from
her tonight - anything beyond his name. "I guess you're pretty good at
reading people then," he says casually, bringing her hand to his lips and
brushing a kiss across her knuckles.

"Guess so," she whispers softly a moment before his lips cover hers. The
kiss begins soft and gentle, but soon turns into something darker, more
furious. Sonny moves his hand down her body to the hand that grips the Mai
Tai. He removes it from her shaking fingers and they sink down on their
knees to the soft white sand below, never breaking the kiss. He sets the
glass to the side, steadying it in the sand. Both his hands bury themselves
in her hair, holding her head so he can kiss her harder, deeper, his tongue
plunging in and out of her mouth, teasing her, tracing her lips. His hands
move down her ribs, his thumbs running over her nipples, then following her
curves to her hips.

Sonny pulls away from her for a moment and walks over to the cave. He brings
out two big blankets. One he spreads on the sand next to them, the other he
sets aside. He kneels down in front of her again then gently shoves her
shoulders until she's laying on the blanket. As he moves down to her Alexis
lays her hand on his shoulder, pushing him up. She smiles and sits up. Sonny
stares at her curiously, wondering what she was up toŠ

Alexis reaches next to her and picks up the Mai Tai. She needs to be in
control tonight. She's been out of control for far too long. And she needs
this to be on her terms, her time. She looks at him, her eyes begging him to
understand. He obviously does, for he switches places with her, laying on
his back. Alexis smiles into his dark eyes, thanking him. She leans over him
and with one hand unbuttons his soft shirt. She parts it and places a kiss
on his chest. She continues until his shirt is off his shoulders. She
motions for him to sit up, then pulls it off him and sets it aside. Her
hands trace down his arms and their fingers twine. She brings his hand to
her mouth and brushes a kiss across the knuckles. She sees the large ring he
wears, and makes a mental note to ask him about it later. Then he places his
mouth on her neck and she stops thinking, resolving only to feel.

He runs his hands up her back, then slowly down to cup her against him. She
kneels on either side of his thighs and runs her hands through his almost
shoulder length hair. His hands run up her back to the tie at her neck. He
pulls on it and the front of her dress falls to her waist. He looks at her
with eyes she can't quite read. He moves forward and pulls a nipple into his
mouth, sucking until she moans. His mouth trails up between her breasts, to
her chin, then finally her mouth. She forces her hands between them and
pushes his chest until his back hits the blanket on the soft sand. She
reaches to the side and picks up the Mai Tai. She dips her fingers into it,
and pulls out some of the shaved ice she'd had the bartender add. She drops
it onto his chest, then trickles some down his stomach. He sucks in his
breath at the cold, gasping slightly. She leans over him, kissing down his
chest to his stomach, licking some of he ice away, and simply rubbing the
rest in and around, delighting in the inarticulate noises he was making.

"Enough Sweetheart," he says, gasping. He threads his fingers through her
hair and pulls her head up to his. "How much do you think a guy can take?"

Her smile threatens to take what was left of his breath away. Sonny's better
judgment tells him to be wary of that smile. The rest of him simply
anticipates its meaning. "You'll take whatever I can give," she replies
huskily, her hands already moving to the elastic waistband of his slacks.
She slides them down and his erection pops free. Alexis runs her hands over
his hips, his thighs down his legs as she pushes his pants off. She moves
her mouth up to his erection, hovering over him. He sucks his breath in,
fighting the urge to arch his hips up into her mouth. Then she did the
oddest thing. She turns and picks up the glass again, and takes a long drink
of the Mai Tai. Then she immediately takes him in her mouth. Sonny lets out
the most animalistic groan. She hadn't swallowed the ice in the glass, and
the sensation of her mouth all around him, and the ice rubbing and moving
over him almost made him come right then. But he holds off, wanting to take
her with him. His hands get lost in her hair then, tangling with the strands
until he finds a good hold. Then he pulls her up to him, kissing her deeply.
He tastes the Mai Tai still in her mouth and swallows some of it. Her hands
claw at his back, his own run up her legs, thighs until he reaches her hips.
He breaks the kiss and stares at her.

"You're not wearing underwear." It wasn't a question.

She shrugged one shoulder in response, her mouth quirking. "My cousin has
always taught me to be prepared," she murmurs, running her hands through his
hair again, pulling him closer to her.

Sonny smiles at her, the full watt smile he knows can get him any damn thing
he wants. But he isn't using it to get what he wants this time. He's using
it because he feels like it. Moving forward, he kisses her again. A deep,
hard, soul stealing kiss. He reaches under her thighs, lifts her up, and
slips inside her.

Alexis groans and buries her head in his shoulder, her hands running back up
to his head again, digging into his scalp, forcing his head to hers again so
she can kiss him. She feels him plundering her mouth and rejoices in the
feeling. His tongue mimics the movements of his lower body, pushing into
her, his hands holding her hips still so he can get just the right angle.
She feels him pin her body against his tighter, then roll so that she's
underneath him. She feels herself contract around him as the movement pushes
him deeper inside her and she lets out a little moan as he begins thrusting
faster. She can hear the ocean in her ears, feeling their bodies putting
imprints in the sand at her back. The blanket he'd laid out so nicely lay
forgotten at the side as their bodies convulse under the crescent moon. The
pleasure washes over Alexis and she cries out for God in lieu of his name.
She wants to call out his name. But she doesn't even know it. A moment later
she feels him sag on top of her, his breathing heavy, tiny pants of air
hitting her breast where his head lay. She forces her lifeless arms to move
and she wraps them around his back, drawing lazy circles with her fingertips
along his spine. He slowly raises up his head to stare down at her, his eyes
intense. Then the most remarkable thing happened. He smiles. One of those
thousand watters he'd given her earlier. Then he leans down and kisses her
closed eyelids, one at a time. She feels an emotion she'd rather not name
clog in her throat. Forcing past it, she quirks her lips at him.

"The blanket was somewhat worthless, wasn't it?" she asks, casting a pointed
glance to the right.

His smile turns mischievous. "You minded?"

"I didn't say that, stop misquoting me--" He cuts her off by kissing her,
then wrapping his arms underneath her body, rolling with her again until she
felt the blanket against her back. His arm snakes around quickly, and the
other blanket is pulled on top of them. He breaks the kiss and grins at her.

"Better?" he asks, nuzzling her jaw softly.

Alexis smiles again, her arms wrapping around his neck. "Much." She lays her
head on his shoulder, running her fingernails up and down his hand gently.
"This is a lovely ring," she says, her earlier train of thought coming back
to her.

She feels him stiffen slightly, then relax again. "Yea," he murmurs
non-commitally.

"I'll take that as a 'back off'." She releases his hand turns her face up to
his. She watches the indecision play over his face. Whether to trust her
with a part of himself or not.

"It belonged to someone I loved very much who died," he says softly. Alexis
nods slowly, not liking the feeling of jealousy she experienced, wondering
if it was this woman who died who'd put the pain she'd sensed and seen
behind his eyes.

"I'm sorry--"

"Don't be." He shrugs his shoulders. "It happened, and now I'd like to move
on. This ring is just something I wearŠŠ. To remember. As if I could ever
forget," he adds under his breath. Before she can comment on his last
cryptic comment, he places a soft kiss on her mouth. "Get some sleep. It'll
be morning before you know it."

Alexis resists the urge to ask him if he'll be here when she wakes up. She
knows he won't.

~~~~~~~~~

Alexis rolls in her sleep, her face coming in contact with something hot.
She takes a breath and begins coughing, instantly awake as she gets sand in
her mouth. She jerks upwards, looking around quickly, trying to get her
bearings. Looking down at her own naked body covered by a blanket, realizing
she was on the beach, all of last night comes back to her. She takes a deep
breath, remembering. Looking around again, she notices that she is, in fact,
alone. Quickly putting the slight pang of disappointment she felt aside, she
begins looking for her dress. And freezes. A note. She warily picks up the
paper, and begins reading. She feels her chest tighten at the lazy scrawl.

Hey Pretty Lady,

Sorry I won't be there to watch you wake up. I'm sure it would've been one
hell of a sight. If certain elements in my life weren't what they are, I'd
probably take you out to dinner tonight, maybe even decide to move back home
to wherever you're going. But things aren't different, and I had to leave
you as you slept. Do me a favor?--

Her eyebrows raise as she imagines his voice, taking on a teasing tone
asking the question.

--Just lie here for the rest of the day. I left you some food and water-

She looks to her left and sees the provisions.

--As well as a couple of books-

There they are, the Steven King she was reading, and a romance novel.

--Just lie here and wait for the sunset. Enjoy this day as one of the true,
pure moments in life. Remember what we felt together last night, what I hope
we meant to one another. You aren't just a diversion for a night. I swear.
Maybe one day I'll get to prove it to you. In the meantime, a token to
remember me by is sitting in the envelope by this note-

Not taking her eyes from the paper, she begins feeling around for the
envelope. She finds it, and brings it up to her face. She looks inside it
and her breath catches. She pulls out the large black ring she'd questioned
him about.

--Don't wear it when you get home. Don't wear it until the next time I see
you. And I'm sure now that I'll see you again. Because I promised myself I'd
always have that ring. I promised a dear friend that.

Find peace in yourself

Me-

She smiles at the signature, tracing over it softly, reverently. Was she in
love with a man she'd spent one night with, and whose name she didn't even
know? She wasn't sure. But Alexis Davis read two books, ate some fresh
fruit, drank a bottle of wine and watched the sunset on a small beach that
day, wrapped inside a blanket that smelled like the man she's spent the
night with.