The Island and Beyond
By LashaLaura
Chapters 16-18
Chapter 16
Part 16: Laura and Stefan are just finishing dinner. Laura had just finished her last bite of dessert. It had been a wonderful meal, it was a pity that she hardly even tasted it. Due to the extreme nervousness that she had been afflicted with all night it was difficult for her to enjoy anything. As for Stefan, it was an internal struggle for him. At one point he even found himself watching her eat. Watching the fork being raised to her soft lips. Stefan was fighting so hard to keep himself in line. Yet he couldn't stop. Stefan tried to relax, he leaned back in his chair. He placed his elbow on the armrest and just sat there watching her. Laura finished her glass of wine and looked up to see Stefan watching her. He was so calm and composed. But then she looked deeper into his eyes. She could see through to his soul, at least that's how she felt. Laura, feeling a little too much anxiety rose from her chair. This action broke Stefan's demeanor. Laura rose and walked to a nearby window. "Stefan, the meal was delicious. You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble." It was all Laura could think to say. She had to ease into this discussion, not jump right into it! "Thank you Laura." Laura looked out the window then but she didn't see that exterior of the cottage. She saw Stefan's reflection in the window. Laura whirled around. "Stefan, we have to talk now. This can't go on." It had come, he knew it would. It was time for the truth but how was he going to handle it and its consequences?! "Let's sit on the couch and discuss this." "No, Stefan. This can't go on. Everything that has happened in the past two months especially.." Stefan knew to what incident she was referring. The moment when he had lost his control and kissed her. That memory hadn't left Stefan's mind since it happened. He had tried to push it back. On his trip he thought he would be so bogged down with work that it wouldn't matter. But that memory, of the way she felt in his arms. Of how her lips responded to his. The passion that he felt between them. It was something that he tried to forget but realized was unforgettable. "Laura, I went to far. What I did to you in the cellar all those weeks ago. I just I.." Stefan turns away from Laura, suddenly its too painful for him to look at her. He continues. "I just wanted you so much!" Laura was speechless. She couldn't think of a single word to say. All the speeches she had rehearsed for tonight were just gone. She couldn't think of a single thing. "I.. We.. its impossible! This thing between us, it can't happen. Whatever it is we must fight it!" As Laura was saying these very words Stefan knew she was right. What he was saying and thinking was something that could only be described in one word..forbidden. But then why couldn't he stop. Stefan turned to face her. "I can't fight this Laura. And I don't want to. Do you?" Stefan started to walk slowly toward her. A million thoughts raced through her head. She thought to run but as he came closer she found she couldn't move. Stefan didn't stop until he was standing extremely close to her. Yet they weren't touching. Both of their breathing became labored and then Stefan spoke. "Dance with me." He held out his hand but his eyes held a silent promise, one that only Laura could understand. It was more than she could withstand and she took his hand. To the soft strains of "Endless Summer Nights" by Richard Marx, Stefan slipped his hand around her waist and they started to dance. In that moment, the only two people who existed were the two of them. For Stefan the feeling of having Laura so close to him was heaven. They danced for what seemed like eternity. Neither of them wanted this moment to end. But as the song was coming to an end, so was Stefan's restraint. He pulled back from their and embrace and tipped Laura's chin up. He slid his lips lightly across hers. She became rigid. Laura's mind began to race. She knew that she should pull away from him. Maybe even slap him for attempting to do what he was doing. But Laura's insides turned to liquid that minute he touched her. Stefan felt her slight response and then he kissed her as he had never kissed a woman before, with his whole being. His lips slid across hers with a hot urgency. Urging her to part her lips for him. Laura did so with no hesitancy. Stefan and Laura were so enraptured in each other that they couldn't have noticed that there was a rustling outside one of the cottage windows. Their passionate embrace was being witnessed. But by whom? And will Stefan and Laura's feelings explode in a night of loving passion?! Chapter 17- In the cottage We last left Laura and Stefan in a passionate embrace but unknown to them, they are being watched! Laura felt as though her body was being absorbed into Stefan's. Her heart was pounding so loud she could hear it! Her hands, which had been at her side when he first reached for her had now found their way to the collar of his shirt. She felt this overwhelming need to hold onto him. She was completely unconscious of any of this for her senses were being overwhelmed by Stefan's passionate kiss. For Stefan, what had started out at least in his mind as a way to show Laura the way she responded to him was getting out of control. His arm tightened around Laura as his tongue began to explore the sweetness of her mouth. Laura heard a moan but didn't know it came from her. But unknown to Laura and Stefan they were being seen by someone in the shadows. "Well Stefan. You certainly have gotten yourself mixed up in something dangerous this time." The mystery man whispered. "Who knew that my visit to this island would be graced with such entertainment." Meanwhile, back in the cottage things were getting hot and heavy. Laura and Stefan were still locked together and neither of them could muster the strength to pull away. Stefan's mind started to play tricks on him. He started having much too erotic fantasies about where this was going. But did he really want to stop? The indecision going through Stefan's mind threatened to tear him apart. As for Laura, her mind had turned to mush so thinking had become impossible. It felt so good to be in his arms that thoughts of resisting the elemental needs that she felt never even crossed her mind. Stefan, who had never felt such emotions for any woman finally lost the battle he was fighting within himself. With Laura clinging to him as though she would never let him go. Stefan swung Laura into his arms and stumbled toward the stairs. Since passion had impaired Stefan's sense of balance, he took a fall on the stairs. But this didn't lessen his hold on Laura or his drugging kisses. In reality, his kiss became even more sensual. Laura started to giggle, the fall had caused laughter to cut through her passionate haze. Stefan started to giggle as well. Somewhere in his mind he knew that he had never laughed while kissing a woman. But then again there was no woman like Laura. He managed to regain his balance enough to pick Laura up his arms and try the stairs again. While this was going on Laura was working on Stefan's collar buttons. Somehow Stefan found his voice, "Laura, are you sure?" he said breathlessly as he fingers began on the zipper of her gown. "Yes, oh God yes!" As Stefan carried Laura up the stairs for a night they would never forget, outside the mystery man whispered, "Stefan, I will let you have this night with your Laura. But as for tomorrow.. well, we shall see." The man chuckled and re-emerged from the shadows long enough to see that it was Cesar Faison! With that he turned on his heel and walked back into the darkness. Part 18: The morning after... The sun was creeping up into the sky as Stefan slowly awoke. After a moment of disorientation it all came back to him in vivid detail. He slowly turned his head to find Laura asleep next to him. Her hair was spread out like a fan on the pillow beneath her head. It felt so right to have her so close to him. Last night had fulfilled every fantasy Stefan had buried deep inside his unconscious. In that same part of his mind, Stefan knew that by letting his passion for Laura explode he had put them both in grave danger. As Stefan was sitting there watching her, Laura was in that state between awake and asleep. She was having a dream... it was slowly turning into a nightmare. She was standing in a white room with no windows but one door. She turned to it, feeling the need to escape from this place. But the door opened and she was faced with Stavros. "Lasha, you have betrayed me. You and my brother will both pay for your deceit!!" Stavros came closer and closer but she couldn't scream. She was paralyzed. But before he could strike, another person appeared. This time it was Luke! "Laura. how could you? How could you...with a Cassadine??" Luke had the most disappointed look on his face and it scarred Laura's soul. "I'm...sorry. I.." Laura started to sob. She looked up to see Stavros gone and Luke remained. "How could you?" he kept repeating it. Every time it stabbed Laura in the heart. She couldn't breathe, the guilt was gnawing at her. But what made it worse was it wasn't at the act itself but at the fact that she had enjoyed it. "NO!!!!!!" Laura awoke screaming. Stefan almost jumped off the bed. At first he thought there was an intruder he wasn't aware of but once he realized there wasn't he turned his attention to comforting Laura from whatever it was that had caused her to cry out. Laura was shaking from head to toe! She wasn't thinking coherently, all she kept hearing were Luke's words. Stefan moved over to her side of the bed and held her close to calm her down. But that was the last thing Laura could deal with right now. Instead she bounded off the bed frantically searching for her clothes. Stefan grabbed his pants and was out of the bed and by her side in an instant. He had to calm her down. They had to talk this out. Did she have regrets? Second thoughts? All these thoughts and more came cascading through Stefan's mind. Maybe she was worried that he was having second thoughts. "Where... clothes.." Laura stammered. She couldn't even form a coherent sentence. "Laura, its okay. They are right here." Stefan leaned down and found her dress. Laura took it from him with shaky fingers. "I can't go back to the house like this." Laura looked all disheveled. Her hair was going every which way and her face was turning bright red. Yet to Stefan, she never looked more beautiful. She had this aura about her that took his breath away. Even after last night, his desire for her had not diminished. "I have to go." Laura said after she had managed to get her dress on. "Laura, stay. We have to talk. I..." Stefan reached for her but she couldn't deal with it. In that moment, her mind began to recollect every event of the previous image in vivid detail. His hands, his lips, his... Laura had to shake her head quite vehemently to get the images to desist. The thought of what his touch could do to her made her afraid. She looked up at Stefan's deep grey eyes. "This was a mistake. I...I...was lonely." Laura regretted the words the minute they left her lips. They were a lie, but she felt so guilty for her actions that she had no choice, at least in her mind. Stefan knew that Laura was lying he could see it in her eyes and the way her lips trembled. He reached for her hand. "No Laura it wasn't a mistake. We both know it. Last night was the most extraordinary night of my life. Laura...I lov..." "I can't…" Laura pulled her hand away. She could bear to hear his declaration, but more she couldn't bear what her lips were aching to give as an answer. She choked the words down and they were swallowed by her guilt. She HAD to get out of there. Wordlessly, Laura ran out the room, down the stairs and out of the front door. Stefan ran to catch her but he made it to the stairs before he stopped. He had to let her deal with this. Then he would go to her and pour out his heart to her. She was obviously upset, why else would she have said such a lie. "It was a mistake." The words echoed in his mind. They were the most horrid words he had ever heard. Last night was anything but a mistake, it was paradise. And after the way she responded to him, he knew that she felt that same rush that he had felt. She needed time. But what was he going to do about Stavros. He could never find out. How was he going to get Laura away from his brother and back into his arms, where she belonged. Stefan walked back into the bedroom and was bombarded with her scent. It filled the room. He closed his eyes and just stood there. He hadn't even noticed a presence in the room. "Well, Stefan you have gotten yourself in a fix this time." Stefan's eyes snapped open. He knew that voice. "Faison." "Hello old friend, I would have made my appearance know earlier but you were shall we say...indisposed." "What do you want?" "Oh Stefan, why do I have to want something? "You always have an agenda." "Well, that's true. But this time its something that I think you mind find important given your current situation with Mrs. Spencer." "You stay away from Laura, you come within two inches of her and..." Stefan was so incensed that he hadn't heard the import in Faision's voice. "Don't worry Stefan, I have no interest in YOUR Laura. Not my type. I just thought that you might to know that the marriage isn't legal." "What?" "You see Stefan, Luke Spencer is ALIVE!" 
