Fast Forward In Time - Chapter 14

Early Sunday Afternoon, June 5th, 2007
Webber Home

Lucky was watching Elizabeth sleep when he saw her eyes flutter. He had been watching her for about an hour, waiting for her to wake up.

As Elizabeth opened her eyes she saw him staring at her. "I love you," they said simultaneously and then smiled.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked him.

Lucky never said anything. He reached up and stroked her face as he leaned in to kiss her. They kiss was slow at first. Almost teasing. As it grew more intense, he pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Elizabeth moved so that she was lying on top of him and put her hands in his hair. She became overwhelmed with the need to move her body against his and when she did he groaned and rolled them over. His mouth left hers and moved across her cheek to her ear. She pushed her head against the pillow and arched her back, raising her breasts high in the air. Lucky trailed kisses all the way down to the edge of her shirt. Elizabeth still had her hands in his hair and gently pushed his head down further. Lucky pulled back a little and watched her chest rise and fall as he brought his hand up to her neck. He slowly, softly moved his hand down her neck to her chest. Just before he reached her breast she closed her eyes. Lucky had never touched her there, and even though it was on the outside of her shirt, when he did a soft gasp escaped both their lips. He cupped them both in his hands and leaned down to kiss the exposed skin just above her shirt. She was moving beneath him as he kissed his way back up to her lips. The kiss was full of desire and love as they rolled back over so she was on top. She could feel his arousal as she pulled away from him. Their eyes never looked more intense from the need they both shared and their breathing was heavy and quick.

"Do you…..have any idea…..what you do to me?" Lucky asked her as they tried to catch their breath.

She smiled seductively, "I imagine…..it's the same thing…..you do to me."

He smiled back and rolled them over again. "I need to tell you something," he said after a few minutes.

"What is it?"

He got further up on his elbows and looked down at her face, "Before I read your journals, I wondered if maybe there had been someone else."

"Why?" she asked him, lifting her hand to touch his face.

"Because eight years is a long time, and you're so beautiful." His eyes glistened as the tears began to form. "I thought for sure someone would come along and replace me."

Elizabeth would have laughed if Lucky wasn't so serious. "I have never even kissed another man on the lips. No one could ever replace you, and my heart doesn't have any room left for anyone else."

Luckys' tears let go and fell on her face as he leaned in and kissed her softly.

>>>>>

Luke, Laura, Nicolas and Angela had a surprise for Lucky and Elizabeth that they couldn't wait to give them. They too had noticed that the newly reunited couple hadn't had barely any time alone so they had the cottage Nicolas built for him and Angela fully stocked and waiting for their arrival. All that was left was to tell them.

Lucky woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. They had fallen asleep again and Elizabeth was now on top of him. As he reached over to pick up the phone he woke her.

"Hello?" he said still half asleep.

"You're not still in bed are you?" Nicolas laughed as he asked.

Elizabeth rolled off him and sat up,"Who is it?"

"It's Nicolas," he told her. "What's up?"

"I'm on my way over there, so get up. I have something for you."

Lucky sat up and scratched his head, "What is it?"

"I'll tell you when I get there. Just get your ass out of bed!" Nicolas laughed and hung up the phone.

"What did he want?" she asked him as he put down the receiver.

"He's on his way here with something for us," he said as he kissed her and got up, heading for the bathroom. "He wouldn't say what."

>>>>>

They were sitting on the front step when Nicolas pulled up. He got out of his car and walked towards them, "Hey."

"Hey," they said together.

"I only have a few minutes so I'll make this quick. Pack some clothes, get in your car, and go to my cottage."

They looked at eachother and then back to him, "What?"

He started to turn to leave. "Just do as I say!" he tossed Lucky the keys. "No one wants to see your faces for a few days." He walked back to his car and drove off.

Lucky turned to Elizabeth, "Nicolas has a cottage?"

She nodded, "Yeah, and it's amazing! You're gonna love it! Come on." She jumped up and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. She took him upstairs and threw him a suitcase, "There's a Hot Tub so pack you're trunks!" she said excitedly.

Lucky was watching her smile and smiled back, "Okay."

>>>>>

Elizabeth and Lucky had been driving for almost an hour when they pulled onto the road leading towards the docks.

When Lucky saw the boats he turned to Elizabeth, "We have to go in a boat?"

"Yep," she said as she stopped the car. "Nicolas wanted something really private for him and Angela. We can rent one over there," She pointed to the lodge.

Lucky got the bags out of the back of her car and walked beside her to the lodge. "Are we hiring someone to steer this boat also?"

Elizabeth smiled at him, "No. Every time I came up here alone I always took the boat myself."

Lucky was surprised, "You did?"

Elizabeth nodded and smiled again, "If you would feel more comfortable with someone else driving it then..."

Lucky cut her off, "No, I trust you." They stopped walking and he kissed her, "I'm impressed. I didn't know you could drive a boat."

Elizabeth smiled seductively and brought her lips teasingly close to his. Without kissing him she softly said, "There's a lot you don't know about me. Yet." She turned and walked into the lodge.

Lucky swallowed hard and took a deep breath, "Can't wait," he said to himself.

>>>>>

Lucky was watching Elizabeth steer the boat into the private dock of the cottage and was amazed. When she had expertly docked the boat and tied it off she hopped out. She smiled and reached her hand out to him. "Can I assist you in vacating this vehicle my lord?" she said with her best english accent.

Lucky laughed and threw the bags on the docks. He took her hand and when he was on the dock he pulled her close to him, "I would think that in any situation you were the lord and I was the servant."

With that she pulled away from him and started walking towards the path at the end of the dock. "Then grab the bags," she shouted back to him in the accent, "And hurry or it will be off with your head!"

Lucky laughed again and followed her. All he could see in front of him were trees, but as they walked further up the path it opened to a large clearing. Elizabeth had stopped and waited for him to catch up with her. She watched as he looked around him taking it in.

"What do you think?" She said, turning to look around.

Lucky was speechless. There were red and yellow rose bushes on either side of the stone path all the way up to the front door of the cottage. It was white, two stories high and it had a large front porch with a swing. There were two trees on the left side with a hammock hanging between them and on the other side there was a large stream that ran into the lake. It was nothing like he expected.

"It's amazing," he said after a minute. "You said that Nicolas had this built for Angela?"

They started up the path slowly, "Yeah," she said, "I came up with the design." They stopped walking and looked at eachother before she continued. "He asked me for some ideas and I told him what I thought she would like. I also thought of what you would like." He smiled. "And from the look on your face I was right," she smiled back at him.

"You were right." He dropped the bags and pulled her in for a soft kiss, "You were so right."

She bent over and grabbed her bag, "Come on, I'll show you around."

>>>>>

It was early evening when they finished their dinner and Elizabeth noticed the sun was getting ready to set. She took Luckys' hand in hers and led him outside to the hammock.

"What's going on?" Lucky asked her when they stopped walking.

Elizabeth sat on the hammock, "I want you to lay here with me and watch the sunset. Will you?"

Without saying a word, Lucky carefully got on the hammock and pulled her down beside him. They were both facing the sun as it was starting to set and they watched in silence. The beams of purple and gold were dancing across the cloudless sky until they bowed behind a mountain that was off in the distance.

Lucky felt Elizabeth take a shaky breath and pulled her closer to him. "What's wrong?" he asked her softly, knowing without looking at her that she was crying.

She carefully turned in the hammock so that she was facing him. "Every time I came up here I would watch the sunset, right here, alone, and wish that you were with me. It was always beautiful," Lucky wiped a tear from her cheek, "but just now, God," she took another shaky breath, "just now it was incredible."

Lucky had starting crying with her. "That was the first real sunset I've seen in years. I would watch them through the window in my ‘cell' at first, but as time went by it got to be so painful without you that I had to stop. I'd forgotten how amazing they are until right now. Thank-you for reminding me."

Elizabeth took both his hands in her own, "Promise me that we'll always watch the sunset together. I don't ever want to watch another one without you."

Lucky pulled their hands to his lips and kissed her palms, "I promise," he kissed them again, " I promise."

They started kissing softly, and without thinking Lucky went to move on top of her. The subtle movement caused the hammock to flip and they landed on the ground with Elizabeth on top.

"Are you okay?" Lucky asked her concerned. Elizabeth erupted into laughter putting him at ease and making him laugh with her.

Elizabeth stopped suddenly. "You look so good when you laugh. Your face lights up, and your eyes twinkle like stars," she said running her hand down his cheek.

"I'm gonna let you in on a secret, my eyes only twinkle when you're around," he said.

Elizabeth remembered when he had said that to her almost nine years ago. They had been sitting on a blanket in the yard of her house discussing things about him that she was attracted to.

"You know, since I got you back watching you has once again become my all-consuming hobby?" she said as she leaned in to kiss him.

"Well it seems we have something else in common because watching you is my all-consuming hobby." They smiled at eachother before she closed the distance between them completely. They were kissing passionately when Lucky rolled them over.

"OUCH!" Elizabeth screamed.

Lucky pulled back immediately, "What's wrong?"

Elizabeth reached her hand behind her and pulled a rock from beneath her back, holding it up for him to see.

Lucky smiled and got up, pulling her up with him, "Let's go inside."

Elizabeth threw the rock away, "Okay, it's cooling off anyway."

When they got inside they sat on the cozy couch across from the fireplace. "Why don't I make a fire for us," Lucky said moving to get up again.

"NO!" Elizabeth said pulling him back down with a little more force then she had intended. Lucky was startled and turned towards her. She was looking at him with wide eyes. "Why?" he asked softly.

She bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath. "Ever since that night, the night of the fire, I can't be around it." She looked down and then back up at his eyes, "I haven't lit a candle either."

Lucky turned his body so that he was facing her completely. "But you love candles. As a matter of fact you were the one who gave me the candles I had..." He stopped realizing what he had said.

"I blamed myself for the fire. Did you know that?" she asked him as she touched his face.

"Elizabeth,..." He was going to tell her that it wasn't her fault, but she put her fingers on his lips stopping him.

"I know it wasn't my fault now, but for a while I couldn't help it." She tucked some stray hair from her ponytail behind her ears, "Candles were always a symbol of beauty and peace to me. But after that night I hated them. They were part of the reason you were no longer with me. I mean, I knew you were still alive, but the fact that you were gone and that a fire from those candles was a big part of it made me hate them."

Lucky reached over and cupped her face in his hands, "I'm so sorry for all the pain you went through because of me." Tears escaped from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, "I stayed with Faison to make sure you stayed safe, but by doing that I still managed to hurt you so badly. I am so sorry."

"I love you Lucky. No matter what had happened, that never would have changed." She kissed him softly and put her forehead against his, "You weren't hurting me, you were helping me. Every time I got lonely, I would feel you there loving me. You loved me so much that I could feel it right through to my soul. That was what kept me from going crazy."

Lucky pulled her in for a tight embrace while they both cried. He moved over on the couch so they could lye down. He got the blanket that was hung over the back of it and pulled it over them. After a few seconds he said, "I never stopped thinking of you or loving you, not for a second. You say that I'm the reason you stayed sane, well, you are the reason I never gave up and killed myself."

Elizabeth moved from his arms and looked at him. "What?" she asked him softly.

Lucky took a deep breath. "There were times when I thought that if I died Faison would have nothing to hold over my family, or you. He always referred to me as his ‘trump card' if my father got out of line in their business deals, so, I figured that if I wasn't in the picture he wouldn't have anything." He saw her tears and regretted saying anything.

"Lucky! If you had done that..." she said with passion and anger.

"I'm not a coward. There was no way I would have done it. But there were times when I didn't know how much more isolation, or loneliness I could stand. So my mind would wander, but my thoughts would always come back to you." He stroked her face with his thumb, wiping her tears, "The thought of seeing you, holding you, and kissing you brought me hope and courage. I knew that if I ever wanted those things, those incredible things, that I had to hang in there. I had to survive."

She kissed him softly and put her head on his chest, "I love you Lucky."

Lucky kissed the top of her head and pulled the blanket tighter around them, "I love you too Elizabeth."