Prologue/Recap – end of Desire

After Rafe, Alison, Caleb, and Livvie escaped from Joshua’s cells, they did not fake Alison’s death - they did not work together at all. Instead, Rafe remembered that he had slayer powers and cloaked both his and Alison’s presence in Port Charles from Joshua and his minions. Livvie’s fangs were still poisoned by Joshua so she couldn’t turn Caleb. While Ian, Lucy and Alison worked together on strategy, Rafe, realizing that Joshua’s capture of Caleb’s ring protected him only from vampires, not from slayers, headed to the villa. Rafe, used his slayer powers to escape detection by the guards, took Joshua by surprise and drove a stake right through his heart. This in turn cured all the vampires that Joshua had turned - and those they had turned who hadn’t killed anyone.

Taking Joshua down was vital, but so was restoring Ian and Lucy to their full selves. After Joshua had been dealt with, Rafe quickly came up with a theory on how to cure both Ian and Lucy, but it required finding the new exit point of the hot springs - it still had to exit somewhere, just not under Caleb’s building after the explosion. Through a combination of research and legwork, they did find the new hot springs site.

Rafe’s theory was that since Lucy had gone in the water with Caleb, a full vampire, she had not only lost her slayer powers but become ill as well, that perhaps going in the water with a half-vampire, who had never bitten anyone, like Ian, would restore them. By the same token, perhaps Ian’s going in the water with Lucy could cure him as well, even though previous attempts had failed. Alison and Rafe promised to ensure their children were taken care of if anything should go awry, and at the same time assured them that they would never need to fulfill that promise because this would work, and Lucy and Ian could finally be with their children again.

It did work. Lucy regained both her health and her slayer powers, and Ian was cured of being a vampire. But there were still Livvie and Caleb to deal with. While Ian and Alison kept Caleb occupied and away from the hot springs, Rafe and Lucy cured a very reluctant Livvie the same way they had cured Caleb before her, Lucy making sure to stay out of the hot springs this time. This only left Joshua’s minions for Rafe and Lucy to take care of. They cured the ones they could get to the hot springs and slayed the ones they couldn’t, always offering them the first option of being cured. Finally, as Rafe had previously promised Ian, the last vampire standing had been slayed.

After the last vampire was gone, Rafe and Lucy discovered that Stephen Clay’s music had lost its previous effect on them. They also discovered that its subliminal message power went beyond even what they had previously been aware of, and it had the same effect that Caleb had desired during the Tempted arc - to make people sabotage their own romantic relationships. It, beyond the drug Livvie had injected him with, was why Kevin had treated Lucy the way he had. It was the reason why so many of Port Charles citizens had behaved so strangely. It was why Alison had been so easily swayed by Caleb’s and Joshua’s plot on what should have been her wedding day instead of trusting Rafe like she should have. Rafe had been able to see the truth because he was a slayer, so the music had affected him differently than Alison. But now the vampires and their vampire-spell on the music were gone.

While Port Charles’ citizens started to heal from all that Joshua and Caleb had inflicted upon them, Livvie and Caleb ran off to Transylvania, Rafe and Alison got back to building their gym, and Ian and Lucy got back to spending time with their children…

and that is where my fantasy scenes really begin…

Lucy crinkled her mouth as she held the hanger, staring at the dress questioningly, then turned to Alison “Are you sure you really want to wear this dress?” Lucy asked her. “It must hold some pretty creepy memories for you… and Rafe.”

Alison came over to take the dress from Lucy. They were at Alison and Rafe’s apartment above the gym, Lucy helping Alison prepare for the night ahead while Rafe was dealing with deliveries down below.

“But that’s exactly the point, Lucy. Believe me, I thought about this before I decided to wear it. I want to erase the power that darkness has had over this town for far too long. I want to replace the horrible memories this dress holds with wonderful ones of tonight.”

Lucy smiled at Alison as she handed her the gown Joshua had forced Alison to wear when he had held her captive. “It is a beautiful dress. What do you know, Joshua actually had one positive thing about him—fashion sense. I’m just surprised you or Rafe didn’t burn it as soon as you escaped.”

“We probably would have, but we had more pressing priorities. I just threw it in the closet when I changed and kind of forgot about it.” The dress draped over her arm, Alison opened up the closet door she and Lucy were standing near so she could pick out some shoes to go with it.

“Okay, so I get why you want to wear it - I get that, but what about Rafe? Don’t you think it might upset him to see you in that dress again? I want you guys to have fun tonight! This is your night to finally just be together, to just be…”   “…like a normal couple?” Alison finished for her.

Lucy gave Alison one of her patented “I know a lot more than I let on sometimes” looks. “Rafe may have mentioned to me a time or two how much you want that.”

“I do, Lucy, I do. And believe me, I would never have worn this dress without talking to Rafe about it first.”
 
“Oh, so he knows what you’re wearing?” Lucy said, her voice somehow filled with excitement and disappointment at the same time.

Alison just shook her head and laughed, as she made her way to the bed, dress and shoes in hand. “First you’re worried about how Rafe’s going to react and now you don’t like it that he already knows.” She slipped the dress off the hanger and laid it out on the bed, then set the shoes down on the floor beside it.

“But Alison, see it’s normal when two people go out on a date for the guy to not know what the girl is going to be wearing on that date.”  “Even when the people going on the date live together?” Alison asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Okay you kinda gotta me there. But still…”

“Lucy believe me, it’s okay with Rafe. He wants to replace those dark memories with happiness just as much as I do. Plus, like I told him, it’s totally different in three ways,” Alison said as she went over to her dresser and started rifling through the drawers, picking out undergarments and jewelry to wear with the dress, and placing them on the bed. “One, I chose to wear this dress tonight; two, I’m wearing it for the man I love and three… I am most definitely not wearing the same things underneath it tonight.” Alison blushingly indicated the lingerie she had placed on the bed to Lucy.

“Uh-huh,” Lucy nodded with a smile. “Now I think I see why Rafe was all for this idea.”

Alison smiled, gathering up all the clothing, leaving the jewelry and shoes. “Well, these he hasn’t seen—I just bought them specifically for tonight.” As she headed for the bathroom to change, she added “Oh, make that four—the shoes are different too.”

A little while later, Alison was decked out in everything she had picked out, except for the jewelry. Lucy was helping her fix her hair, and then helping her with the finishing touches of her makeup. “I was wrong,” Lucy told her. “That dress is just okay on the hanger - it’s on you that it’s beautiful.”

Alison smiled her thanks for the compliment. “Lucy, I want to thank you so much for doing all this for Rafe and me.”  Lucy just shook her head and smiled lovingly as she coaxed a tendril of blonde hair into place. “You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t do anything.”

Alison turned around to face her. “Lucy, you’re watching the gym for us while we’re away. Not only that, you booked a reservation for us at the finest restaurant in the finest hotel in town—and then you booked us a deluxe suite in the hotel, helped me pack overnight bags for Rafe and myself, and even had them delivered there for us!”

“Okay, that’s true.” Lucy agreed, laughing. “But Alison, you and Rafe are family. And you have done so much for Ian and me too—and you already offered to look after Christina and Danny so Ian and I could have a night out too.”

Alison nodded. “Of course! Whenever you two are ready, I know you want to spend as much time as you can with your kids after so much time apart.”

“Speaking of which, Ian should be here with Christina and Danny and Rafe’s tux any minute. Then Ian will relieve Rafe downstairs. Oh no!” Lucy started waving her hands around furiously in classic Lucy fashion, her expression approaching semi-panic. “Rafe can’t change here—he knows the dress, but he hasn’t seen the full effect. We don’t want to spoil your dramatic entrance. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?” Lucy began to pace and chew on her lip.

Alison grabbed Lucy’s hands, trying to calm her down. “Lucy, relax—Rafe already said he’d change in the office after Ian gets here.” Although the gym wasn’t ready to open yet, significant progress had finally been made on it. Most of the equipment was in place; there was a fully furnished and organized office. The deliveries Rafe had been kept busy with were the next to the last of them before the big opening.

Lucy actually did calm down a little bit. “Oh good. Okay, so you’re almost ready.” The sound of Ian’s voice carried up the stairs, followed by Rafe’s. Alison assured Lucy she could put her jewelry on unassisted and told her to go ahead and see Ian and the kids.

A short time later, Lucy reappeared in Alison and Rafe’s apartment, holding Danny in one arm and Christina by the hand with her other arm. Alison was now wearing a matching necklace and earrings that complimented the silver accents on her dress. On her wrist, she wore the bracelet that Rafe had given her on their should-have-been wedding day - another sad memory she was determined to improve upon.

“You look so beautiful, Alison” Lucy told her, tears of happiness for her cousin and the woman he loved glistening at her eyes.

“Yes, Alison, beautiful!” Christina quickly echoed that compliment, and even Danny’s enthusiastic little cry seemed to indicate agreement.”

Alison thanked them, and then half-jokingly warned Lucy, “Don’t start crying Lucy, you’ll make me cry too.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said, laughing and wiping at her eyes. “I’m just so happy for you and Rafe -for all of us- that things finally seem to be going right in this town. You and Rafe can finally go out on a date. Ian can finally be with Danny, I can finally be with Christina and Serena… if Serena weren‘t on a sleepover at a friend‘s tonight.”

Alison smiled. “I know. Me too. And I can wear the one thing that Rafe told me he specifically wanted me to wear when we finally had this date.”

Lucy looked at her quizzically. “Would that be those…items…” Lucy chose her words carefully because of the children “you mentioned earlier?”

Alison laughed. “No, this,” she said as she held up her left hand, her engagement ring the sole ring on that hand.

After Rafe emerged from changing into his tux, just as Alison had with Lucy, Rafe took a minute to thank Ian for everything that Lucy and Ian had done and were doing for them.

Ian placed his hands on Rafe’s shoulders, looked him straight in the eye and told him. “You found the way to give me my life back, to give me my son back, to give Lucy her life back - for that, I can never thank you enough. Helping out a little around here is nothing.”

Rafe looked right back at him, his head shaking to emphasize his point, “I made you a promise that I would take down the last vampire, and I was not going to let that be you. No way was I driving a stake into the heart of my best friend.”

Ian narrowed an eye at him “I thought Alison was your best friend?” Ian couldn’t resist teasing.

Rafe nodded. “Okay, my second-best friend. Either way, my motives were not entirely unselfish. I wanted you guys to have your lives back, and I didn’t want to lose my friend and my cousin.”

The two men embraced briefly, both grateful for everything each had done for the other and the women they both loved, and each other’s friendship. As they pulled away, Ian joked, “careful, now we can’t be mussing up your monkey suit before Alison sees you. “Speaking of which….”

Alison took a deep breath, not quite believing this night was finally here. No vampires left to slay. No dealing with Livvie’s latest plot against her. No more being separated from the man she loved for one horrible reason after another. Finally, they could just be together, and just focus on each other. Then she made her way down the stairs.

Rafe caught his breath at his first sight of her, as she descended the stairs. He had seen that dress before, of course, but now she wore it differently. She wore it lovingly, proudly, wanting to look beautiful…for him. She was right, that made all the difference in the world. Alison was equally thrilled with her first look at Rafe. He looked so incredibly handsome in his tuxedo. “You look amazing!” they both said to each other simultaneously.  The both laughed, said “So do you,” at the same time too, and laughed again.

Rafe offered Alison his hand and helped her down the last of the stairs. Lucy and Ian practically pushed them out the door, telling them not to worry about a thing, that they would look after everything there until they got back. Lucy also told them she had arranged some transportation for them. As Rafe and Alison stepped outside, arm in arm, they discovered a limo waiting for them.

On the way over, Rafe and Alison shared a toast to the night and each other with chilled champagne they discovered waiting for them in the back of the limo. When they arrived at the hotel, they checked in at the desk right away, to discover that Lucy had taken care of every single one of their bills in advance. They got their room key so they would have it for later and headed for the dining room. As they made their way through the hotel lobby to the restaurant, several heads turned at the sight of the formally attired beautiful blonde couple, but they were so lost in each other they were completely unaware of it.

They shared a wonderful meal, laughing and talking, and just enjoying each other’s company. Alison even managed to slip off her shoes under the table so she could play footsie with Rafe. After their main course was completed, they ordered a sumptuous chocolate dessert to share. As Rafe fed Alison her first bite of it, her face dissolved into a look of pure ecstasy. She savored it, making tiny moans of pleasure. A tremor of desire rolled through Rafe as he looked forward to putting that same look on Alison’s face and hearing similar sounds later on that evening. Moments later, the scenario repeated itself in reverse, as Alison fed Rafe his first bite. With great willpower, they managed to make it through the dessert without sending all the dishes flying off the table with a sweep of their hands and climbing on top of it.

Torn between wanting to rush Alison right upstairs to their suite, and wanting to make their evening last longer for her, Rafe decided the anticipation would make the night even sweeter when they did head upstairs. He could wait until after they’d had last one dance, at least… maybe. Alison accepted his invitation to dance, hesitating just long enough to put her shoes back on her feet under the table.

When they reached the dance floor, Rafe took Alison in his arms, one hand holding hers, one hand on her back. The low cut of the dress in the back meant his hand was touching Alison’s bare skin. They held each other close, both enjoying the sensation of her breasts pressed against his torso. Shivers ran through both of them.

As they danced, the lyrics of the song playing washed over them…

This is the night where we capture forever
And all our tomorrows begin
After tonight we will never be lonely again

Lift me up in your arms
If you told me that is where heaven is…
…well, you'd be right
Hold me close to your heart
I would go with you to the end of the Earth…
…and we'll fly
I've been waiting forever for this
This is the night

This was, indeed, their night. The whole rest of the world seemed to melt away. It was like it was just the two of them there. As a new song started, Alison expressed this feeling to Rafe, telling him she felt like Belle in the ballroom scene of Beauty and the Beast.

“Are you calling me a beast?” Rafe teased her, clearly joking.

Alison shook her head “No, I’m calling you my prince. My prince who lifted the evil spell off the castle of Port Charles.”

“If I recall correctly, it was actually Belle’s love for the beast that lifted the spell.”

“Rafe, if it weren’t for my doubts, there wouldn’t have been a spell to lift. If I had just listened to you when you told me everything was a setup, we never would have had to go to Capri, and my mother never would have turned Joshua trying to protect me.”

Rafe briefly took his hand from Alison’s back and captured Alison’s chin in between his thumb and index finger, tilting her head up slightly toward his. “Hey, don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself. The subliminal messages in that music were more powerful than any of us realized. We can play this game forever. If I hadn’t come back, then Caleb wouldn’t have come back… All that matters is we’re here, together, now, and we have our whole future in front of us.”

Alison nodded and smiled.

“Do you remember the first time we danced?” Rafe asked her as he returned his hand to her bare back and pulled her close once again.  Alison nodded, smiling. “Umm-hmmm. Of course. We were all dressed up then, too,” Alison answered as they glided across the floor.

“I so badly wanted to hold you this close that night,” Rafe told her. “To do this.” He ran his finger down her cheek to her jaw, tracing the lines of her face.  “And this.” He kissed her. “But I knew I couldn’t do any of that.”

“I wanted you to do all that, too” Alison admitted. “And I wanted to do it myself, but I knew we couldn’t too… but now… we don’t have to hold back anymore. We can do whatever we like…well, not quite… but if we went upstairs…”

The two of them headed off the dance floor hand-in-hand…and then practically ran for the elevators.

Alone in their suite, Rafe took a moment to just gaze in awe at Alison. “Have I told you lately how incredibly beautiful you are, and how much I love you?”  Alison smiled, her face filled with love. “I love you so much too - and you’re not bad on the eyes yourself,” she teased.

They kissed and caressed each other, Alison undoing the buttons of Rafe’s tuxedo jacket and sliding it off his shoulders, then tossing it out of their way. She then quickly took care of his tie and cummerbund. She undid the buttons of his shirt, revealing both his bare skin and the fleur-de-lis he always wore that had been concealed underneath it. She parted the shirt as she went, kissing each newly exposed area of his chest as she went, finally pulling it free of his slacks, slipping it off his shoulders, and tossing it in the same general area as his jacket. She pulled him close to her by his chain and claimed his lips with hers, just as she had done the first time they made love.

Now it was Rafe’s turn to return the favor. He slipped his hands into Alison’s hair and removed the pins holding it in place, freeing it so that it fell down to her shoulders, running his hands through it as he did so. His hands continued to roam through her hair as they kissed each other’s lips. He kissed his way down her neck to her throat, then her collarbone, and then slipped one dress strap off her shoulder and kissed the bare skin where it had been. The silver accents on her dress weren’t just decorations, but clasps, and as he undid the one on the strap he had just moved, the dress half-fell away from her. As he undid the other side, it fell off her completely, and Alison stepped out of the pool of it at her feet.

Rafe gazed at her equally with love and lust. The lingerie she had picked out just for him was white satin and frilly lace, somehow sweet-and-innocent and incredibly sexy all at the same time.  “My angel,” Rafe breathed, unable to take his eyes off her.

“Well, actually Victoria’s Secret Angels line,” Alison informed him, laughing. “I couldn’t resist.”  “And I’m so glad you couldn’t - but it’s still coming right off. Cause I can’t resist you.”

“I was hoping you would say that.”

Rafe proceeded to demonstrate that he meant what he had just said, first removing her bra, caressing and then kissing each of her breasts in turn, tracing a path down her stomach with his kisses. They made their way over to the bed, still kissing and caressing each other every step along the way.  Finally, they removed the last of each other’s clothing. Alison was still wearing her jewelry, just as Rafe was still wearing his chain. Now it was Rafe’s turn to pull Alison close to him using the same technique she had earlier used on him. They continued to caress and kiss each other as they climbed into bed, their hands and lips tracing every inch of each other. Finally, neither of them could wait any longer.  They brought each other to complete fulfillment, expressing their love for one another as they did.  Basking in the afterglow of lovemaking, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next morning, Rafe was awakened by the sound of the radio playing as Alison still slept in his arms. The clock radio’s alarm had been set by the previous guest, and resetting it had been overlooked by the hotel staff. Of course, Rafe and Alison had never noticed anything but each other the night before, so it had gone undetected by them as well. Or maybe his dad had had something to do with it, Rafe thought, as this song so perfectly fit what he was feeling this morning…

Well for me, it’s waking up beside you
To watch the sun rise on your face
To know that I can say I love you
At any given time or place
It’s the little things that only I know
Those are the things that make you mine
And it’s like flying without wings
‘Cause you’re my special thing
I’m flying without wings

Alison woke up then too, and while she wished Rafe a sleepy good morning, the song came to its conclusion.

You’re the place my life begins
And you’ll be where it ends
I’m flying without wings
And it’s the joy you bring
I’m flying without wings

________________________

 

Karen Whitney

Next week don’t miss my exclusive interview with Brian Gaskill.

 

...until we muse again Port Charles Fans









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