Love Conquers All

~ Chapter 15 ~

	Gillian was untying the last knot from her shirt when Ryan
returned. She heard him walk in, and could feel his eyes watching her,
but she made no move to turn around.  His presence made her nervous
and she couldn’t seem to get the knot undone, but she kept tugging
ineffectually at it.
	“Here, let me,” Ryan said.
	His hands over hers immediately stilled her motions. She
looked up at him briefly, then turned her eyes back to the knot, and
slowly walked over to the other side of the room. The only sound was
the birds outside, as Ryan untied the knot.  The tension was so thick a
child could’ve noticed it.
	Ryan turned around and handed Gillian her shirt.
	“Yours is on the cot”, she said, quietly.
	Walking over to the bed to retrieve it, he was reminded of what
had occurred there.  He quickly grabbed his shirt and moved back over
to the window, but neither one of them made a move to get dressed.
	“About what happened earlier....” Ryan said, looking in her
eyes. 
	“Listen, Ryan, you don’t have to explain.  We were just both
glad to be alive. That’s all,” Gillian said.
	“That’s all?” Ryan asked, skeptically.
	“Yes,” Gillian answered, “that’s all. If it had been any other
moment in time, it would’ve never happened.”
	“Like, say, right now?” Ryan questioned, looked at her
intensely. 
	He began sauntering towards her, and it reminded Gillian of a
lion stalking his prey. 
	“It would never happen right now?” Ryan asked, suspiciously.
	“No. Never,” Gillian said, nervously, knowing she was lying.
	They were only an arms length away now and, reaching out,
Ryan closed the gap. The shirt Gillian had been holding fell from her
hands and floated to the floor.  
	“So, if I were to do this” he asked, reaching up and brushing
the back of his hand across that spot on her cheek that he loved, “it
wouldn’t bother you?”
	Gillian drew in a deep breath.
	“It’s just a friendly gesture,” she said, trying to sound
convincing.
	“And this would have no effect on you?” he asked, slowly
tracing her lips with his finger.
	“None whatsoever,” she said, weakly, placing a hand on each
of his shoulders for support.
	“So, then, you would be completely immune to this,” Ryan
said amorously, sliding his hands up her arms and along the length of
her body to her waist. 
	Gillian sighed as he pulled her body against his. He moved
closer still, until there lips were just scarcely touching. 
	“Completely,” she whispered, against his lips.
	


	Ryan grabbed Gillian and pulled her into a passionate, stormy
kiss, taking from her as much as she would give, until it seemed as if
he could inhale her and make her a part of him.  The kiss grew deeper
and stronger, Ryan, nearing his breaking point, finally reached up and
slid her bra straps down her arms.  This time Gillian made no effort to
stop him. She slipped her fingers into his hair, grabbing handfuls, as he
reached around her back to undo the clasps.  
	At that moment, the door flew open.  Gillian and Ryan, who
were both stunned at this intrusion, jerked away from one another, and
in that spilt second her bikini top fell to the floor.  Reaching down she
grabbed her shirt and wrapped it around her body, to cover herself. 
Looking back up, she realized who had walked in:  Jake - along with
an entourage of, what appeared to be, a search party.

	

 ~ Chapter 16 ~

	“Jake!” Gillian said, her voice panicked. “You, you saved us!”
	“This place has been abandoned for years, ”one of the
searchers, a police officer, said. “How did you end up here?”	
	“It’s a long story,” Ryan said.
	“I like long stories,” Jake said, icily. “You can start with what
happened to your clothes.”
	Ryan, who didn’t seem at all bothered by the situation, bent
down and picked up his shirt, which had fallen at Gillian’s feet. 
 	“I was in town, on vacation,” he said, putting on the shirt.  “I
had an aunt who used to live here,” he added, as an afterthought. “I’d
heard about the bad weather, like everyone else, so I decided to head
back to my hotel.  That’s when I saw Gilly.”
	While Ryan was talking, Gillian had managed to turn around
and, as discreetly as possible, slip into her shirt.  
	“I was shopping, remember?” she said, turning to Jake. “I was
heading back, too, but the car wouldn’t start. And then, Ryan was
driving by, and he saw me, and offered me a ride. And it just so
happened that we’re both staying at the resort, which made it really
simply,” she said, talking on excitably. “Except we got caught in
traffic and were out in the middle of the storm. And there was a big
tree in the road, and we had to swerve to miss it.  But, we hit another
tree.  And then, an even bigger tree fell on the car.  And, I tried to use
my cell phone to call for help, but it fell in a puddle. So we had to run
up here to get out of the storm,” she said, finally taking the time to
stop and breathe.
	Jake cleared his throat and looked slowly from Ryan to Gillian. 
	“So, what happened to your clothes?” he said.
	“Well,” Gillian said, “there was a tornado, and the whole cabin
was swaying, and we had to hide. But, then the windows starting
blowing open. So we had to use our shirts to tie them shut. And we
weren’t quite sure when it was going to be over, so we left them there
and just fell asleep on the bed.”
	“I see,” Jake said.
	Ryan glanced over at Gillian.  If she was trying to talk her way
out of this, she was only succeeding in making them look more guilty -
if that was possible.
	“I didn’t know what we were going to do,” Gillian said to Jake.
“But, now you came and saved us, ” she said.
	“Oh, I don’t know,” Jake said, dryly. “It looks like Ryan had
things pretty much under control.”
	“Well, “ one of the officers said, trying to defuse a potentially
bad situation, “I guess everyone’s all right then. It’s a good thing we
saw the car. It lead us right to you.”
	Gillian looked over at Ryan, for the first time. She hadn’t dared
to before, for fear of what someone, most of all Ryan, might be able to
read in her eyes.
	Jake, on the other hand, hadn’t taken his eyes off Ryan.  And
he hadn’t missed what just passed between the two of them.
	“Gillian, why don’t you go with the officers. They’ll take you
back to the car. I just want to have a few words with Ryan,” Jake said.
	“I....um,” Gillian said slowly, looking back and forth between
Jake and Ryan, not knowing what to do.
	“Go ahead,” Ryan said to her. “It’s all right.”
	Gillian looked at Ryan one last time, silently begging him not
to fill in the rest of the story, before finally leaving with the officers. 



~ Chapter 17 ~

	“So, Ryan, it’s kind of weird that we’d all be vacationing in the
same town - as a matter of fact, in the same hotel - wouldn’t you say
so?” Jake asked.
	“I guess it’s just one of those things,” Ryan replied.
	“And, how convenient that you’d show up just in time to play
hero,” Jake continued.
	“I’m always there for Gillian when she needs me,” Ryan said,
flatly.
	“Let’s cut the small talk,” Jake said.
	“Fine with me.”
	“Okay, then why don’t you start by telling me what really went
down here.”
	Ryan looked over at Jake, with a growing animosity towards
the man who’d been there with Gillian all those times that he wasn’t.
	“I don’t kiss and tell,” he said. 
	“You know, Ryan, I’ve tried to be cool about this. I’ve always
told Gillian I thought you were a pretty decent guy. But that stops now.
Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing? You just stay the hell
away from her,” Jake said.
	Ryan laughed.	
	“Is that supposed to be a threat?  Well, what if she doesn’t
want me to stay away? Or is that what you’re afraid of?”
	Jake didn’t answer.
	
	“Because, before, I thought Gillian was better off without me. 
I told myself, she’d be better off with someone like you.  But now I
know that’s not true. She belongs with me.  We belong together. And
you better damn well believe that I’m gonna do everything I can to win
her back,” Ryan said.
	Jake scowled at Ryan. “So, I guess we understand each other
then,” he said.
	“I guess so,” Ryan said, starting to leave.	
	“But,” Jake said, stopping him at the door, “she’s going home
with me.”
	“That remains to be seen.”