With Love; Now & Forever (16 page)

The caress was soft, almost tentative, as it moved up her thigh and Ana released a soft sigh. Light pressure continued to move up her stomach underneath her nightshirt, drifting so slowly and lightly that it sent shivers of goose bumps along her flesh. She could see Rick’s face, looking down at her as he teased her body, she reached for him but he seemed to fade just out of her reach. His touch found her breasts and gently teased her nipples, eliciting a moan from her throat.

“Oh, Rick!” she moaned again. When she didn’t hear him respond, she slightly giggled, realizing she was dreaming of him as she had the morning after their first kiss. She settled down to enjoy the dream of being with Rick again when she consciously felt a hand on her breast. Without moving, she became instantly awake, frozen with terror and disbelief at what she was experiencing. For a minute she didn’t feel anything at all but then she unmistakably felt a hand brush over her nipple and move towards her belly. The fear was so strong that she was only able to move her eyes, looking towards the area being violated, seeing no hand, no arm and no body. As the ghost hand moved to towards her pubic area, she saw her sheets move also, the outline of a linen hand became apparent. Whipping the covers back, she prayed she was just experiencing pent-up jitters from the past few weeks. There was nothing there.

She gasped, wanting to scream for Rick but unable to draw in her breath. She twisted to get out of bed when she felt hands on her shoulders, shoving her back onto the bed and before she could catch her breath, there was a hard slap along her jaw. Tears welled up in her eyes as she felt hot pain shoot through her left breast. She dared to looked down and saw her nipple being viciously twisted and pulled by an invisible source.

Gathering all of her courage and strength, she belted out a bloodcurdling scream and just as Rick burst into her room, Ana’s head whipped violently to the side, her face flushing to an angry red with purple hues forming. When Rick heard the slap but didn’t see the hand, he understood immediately what was happening. He crossed the room in one stride and gathered Ana up in his arms, repeating the protection prayer.

Ana curled up into a tiny ball on Rick’s lap and clung desperately to him. Feeling her start to shake violently, Rick began rocking her soothingly.

Unable to utter a word, she started crying, numb to Rick’s caresses. She wasn’t sure how long she cried or how long Rick held her, all she could focus on was the violation of her body and the violent ending. How could Barry do this? He supposedly loved her, desired her. Why would he hurt her? As the numbness started to ebb away, agony seared into her cheek, shooting up to her temple and behind her eye. Tentatively she reached up and touched the side of her face and she winced at the affliction and heat that emanated from there, fear and confusion suddenly turning to rage.

“Come back here, you bastard!” She leapt to her feet, turning in every direction of her room, hands fisted at her sides. “Where the hell are you now? Why don’t you confront me now that I’m awake instead of molesting me in my sleep, you pervert. Come on Barry! Let’s end this now!”

She stormed around the room, throwing curtains back, searching for her invisible attacker but as the adrenaline left her body, so did her courage and she crumpled to the floor, whimpering and cursing softly. Rick knelt on the floor beside her, once again gathering her in his arms.

“I can’t do this much longer, Rick. I was such a strong, independent woman up until a couple months ago, now I jump at noises, I’m always in fear and I’m being molested by someone I can’t even defend myself against. I’m losing myself and I don’t recognize my life anymore.”

“You’re still you, Ana, wonderful, strong, independent and intelligent. I don’t know of any person who could deal with this as well as you have. You’re tired and this last violation is horrendous but just hang on a little longer, Ana. I promise, we will finish this in London.”

“I’m so tired, so tired.” She rested her head on his chest, all of the adrenaline that had surged through her body spent as quickly as it had come.

He felt her fear, her surrender and hated how crushed her spirit had grown. Her aura had been filled with bright blues, purples and greens and now was starting to fade into darker shades, almost blending together. He knew she was at the end of her rope but also knew she needed to stay strong, to fight this evil in order for them to be together but bringing up that argument wouldn’t‘ make her stronger right now, all it would do would weaken her already tired soul. He squeezed her tighter, hoping that some of his strength would seep into her body. “I know babe. I know.”

nce the limousine turned on to the private road, Ana felt peace and anxiety all at the same time. Peace at being with her new best

Jennifer stood just outside the front entryway, unable to contain the joy she felt for her friend’s return. Ana was out of the car and both women were hugging before the engine was turned off. Lissa got out of the limousine and cast a quizzical glance in Rick’s direction.

“Are you sure they just met? They act like long-lost sisters or something.”
“Yep, they really did just meet a month ago. Hey, maybe you’ve stumbled onto something there, Lissa. Maybe they are soul sisters!” Rick joked.
“Oh honey, that’s nothing new. We’re all brothers and sisters in another world, it just takes some people longer to figure it out than others. The sooner people learn to let go of their egos, the sooner we just might achieve peace on the next level.”
“I hope I’m around to see that. Seems to me that people are becoming more aware, almost like they are awakening from a long sleep, maybe we are all closer than we think.”
“Looking at them and knowing their background, I believe you may be right, Rick, it gives me hope. Now introduce me to this beautiful young woman.”
Rick escorted Lissa up to the hugging and giggling women. It was only when he cleared his throat that Jennifer and Ana broke off their conversation and happily faced Rick and Lissa.
“Oh, Lissa! I am so sorry! You’ve come all this way to help me and off I go the minute I see Jennifer. Please, let me introduce you to Jennifer Troy.” Ana stepped aside and slid her arm through Jennifer’s. “Jennifer, this is Lissa Perry, she’s going to be helping us.”
“Mrs. Perry, it’s so nice to meet you! Thank you so much for helping Ana, she deserves some peace in her life.” Jennifer smiled warmly at Lissa while she squeezed Ana’s hand.
“Lissa, please. It’s so nice to meet you too and I have to agree with you, this young lady deserves some peace. Thank you for offering your home and your help, you seem to be a very warm and generous woman.”
Rick cut in, taking the opportunity to try and move the women inside. “They both are, as you’ll find out after we get settled.” he turned to Jennifer, “I’ll help Devon with the bags, do we have the same rooms?”
“I kind of left that up to you and Ana. I didn’t know if you each wanted your own rooms or if you wanted to share…” She cut herself off with her own embarrassment.
Ana sucked in her breath and felt her face flush while Lissa smiled at the three of them. “Well, I’ll just go get my bags as the three of you sort this out.”
When Lissa walked away, Rick took Jennifer’s hand with his right and grabbed Ana’s hand with his left. “You are so sweet, Jen! But Ana and I have decided to wait on making our relationship more intimate until we get her past resolve, this relationship is special enough to wait.”
Jennifer looked at Ana who nodded in agreement and felt her eyes start to fill with tears. “Oh you guys! I love you both so much! Okay, you both have your same rooms. Lissa’s room is right next door to yours Ana. Let’s get you settled in!”
An hour later, with everyone unpacked and acquainted with their rooms, the four of them were sipping coffee in the sitting room, Jennifer’s beautiful portrait gazing down over the group. Rick and Ana filled Jennifer in on what had been happening and Lissa recounted to Rick and Jennifer what happened in her room during Ana’s session.
Ana was amazed at how well Jennifer was dealing with the situation, after all, she was hearing horrible things about her father-in-law.
“So you think if we do a session with Georgia he will come and she can get him to cross over?” Jennifer asked, still slightly stunned at the overload of information she had just received.
Rick nodded, “She was Barry’s wife for twenty six years, she should know him and how to deal with him better than anyone else.”
“But how are you going to explain Ana’s presence? Are we just going to tell her everything, including what Barry did to Ana or tried to do to Ana all those years ago?” Jennifer’s instinct to protect her mother-in-law kicked in.
Ana cut in. “Jennifer’s right, I don’t want to cause Georgia any more pain than what she’s gone through. She and I may not have seen eye to eye but she’s still a human being and this could be devastating.”
“I hate to bring this up, everyone.” Lissa broke in, “but has it ever occurred to anyone that Georgia knows? A relationship between a married couple is very complicated and you tend to notice different behavior patterns with your spouse. I have a very hard time believing that if Barry acted on his impulses with Ana, that she was the only one.”
At this, Jennifer was shaking her head. “No, the eight years that Austin and I were together, Georgia and Barry were very happy together, he didn’t cheat on her then.”
“Not to be blunt, honey, but how can you be sure? Married couples can have an ‘understanding’ and I found that unless you are living with that couple and sometimes even then, you don’t truly understand or know about their relationship dynamics.”
No one said anything, allowing Lissa’s words sink in.
Jennifer was the one to break the silence. “Okay, I think that when we meet with Georgia tonight, we are upfront and honest that Barry is still here, that he hasn’t passed and he’s been visiting Ana. Maybe we can just pass it off as him feeling guilty about the way Ana and Austin were torn apart and wants peace.”
Rick concurred. “We can start out that way and hope that it’s that simple but I have to warn everyone, as hostile as Barry’s been the past few days, I’m not confident that it will go that smoothly.”
He looked at the women and noticed that Ana was quiet and pale. “Honey, are you okay?”
“All I wanted to do was get on with my life and now that I’ve released my burden and talked about it, it’s become the monster I feared and hurting those I love.”
“It’s not your fault, honey. You need to remember who is responsible for this and it’s not you, it’s Barry.”
If the words had come from anyone else but Jennifer, Ana could have blown them off and dismissed them but coming from Jennifer, they hit home and had substance. “You really believe that, Jen?” Without even asking the question, Ana saw the truth in her eyes and she nodded at her own question. “Okay, we’ll do this.” Attempting to lighten the mood, she changed the subject.
“I’ve been missing the presence of a dark and brooding young man. Where’s Stavros?”
Jennifer’s face lit up and Ana wondered if their relationship had moved forward. “He’s at the gallery. When he found out you were all coming, he offered to handle the affairs today so I could be here to meet you. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without him the past few months, he’s been amazing!”
As Jennifer recounted all of the help Stavros had been offering, Ana looked at Rick and gave a happy, knowing wink, which resulted in a curious smile from Rick. Believing he was missing something and not wanting to be left in the dark, Rick started questioning Stavros’s intentions. “Since I’m a surrogate brother, so to speak, he hasn’t been milking you for an outrageous raise has he?”
Giggling at the protective questioning, Jennifer slapped her hand to her thigh in response. “No! That’s the crazy thing! He’s actually spending more time at the gallery and here at the house but has asked me to hold his salary until I’m back on my feet, which is crazy because Austin had a considerable life insurance policy and the manor was paid in full by the insurance we had on the mortgage if one of us passed away.”
Jennifer’s eyes clouded at the last statement and Ana knew it was still too soon for Jennifer to see Stavros’s intentions. Hoping that Rick would just let the subject die, she quickly cut in. “But it seems like you have a true friend. So, do you think Georgia will be agreeable to this meeting? Honestly, the thought of being in the same room with her makes me feel like that nervous sixteen year old girl again!”
“Listening to you, it sounds like this Georgia is straight out of a Walt Disney villain’s episode, with all due respect, Jennifer, I haven’t forgotten she is your mother-in-law, but knowing the kind of woman she is, the way she was in her marriage can help us too.” Lissa stated.
“How do you mean?” Ana asked.
“Well, if she was demeaning or dominating in the marriage, that could have made Barry feel threatened as a man. He might have wanted to seek softer, feminine attention outside of the marriage, or, if she was too submissive or agreeable, he might seek out a stronger female with whom he can feel respect, communicate and bond.”
Jennifer and Ana both blurted out, “She is the first one!” Looking at each other, they burst out laughing.
“She’s pretty… opinionated and what she says, goes. Austin loved her to death but there was a reason he didn’t have her move in with us here at the manor and it wasn’t because we didn’t have enough room.” Jennifer sighed.
“Well if you all will excuse me, I’m going to retire to my room to rest and prepare for tonight. Thank you again for your hospitality, Jennifer.” Lissa rose and crossed the room, pausing at the door. “Because he has such a strong attachment to you, Ana, I would recommend some preparation for you also.” She focused her attention on Rick. “You’ll help her prepare?”
Rick nodded, “Of course. We will see you in a few hours, thank you, Lissa.”
Lissa nodded and left the room.
Jennifer waited until she no longer heard Lissa’s fading footsteps before commenting. “She’s very nice, although a little serious and direct.”
“She does take her work very seriously, she knows that if she doesn’t focus and prepare, people could get hurt.” Rick explained.
Ana nodded, “When all the lights exploded in her room, I know it freaked me out pretty bad. She was so calm and collected that I just assumed she was used to this kind of thing.”
“It’s actually not normal. The majority of spirits that we deal with just want closure, to comfort their loved ones. Malicious spirits throw us off, they’re not filled with the contentment and love that most spirits feel after passing.”
“I never thought about your work as being dangerous, Rick.” There was alarm in Jennifer’s eyes as she began to realize that he did thousands of readings, all over the world. a world filled with unhappy and disgruntled people who could die at any moment and even after death could be weighted down with their distress.
“As I said, this is not the norm. People are usually very rational and don’t want to inflict harm on others, they just want to find peace, so no worries, ladies. Jen, could you call Georgia? Have her come over right after supper. We’ll do some meditation work and prayers to prepare for Barry, then we’ll get started.” He got up and strode over to where Ana was sitting. “I need you to get some rest too, you didn’t sleep a wink on the plane and I need you to be alert and prepared.” He leaned down and gave her a soft, lingering kiss. “Promise, fifteen more minutes and then you’ll go get some rest?” he asked as he pulled away.
“I promise, although with kisses like that, it may be hard to focus on peace and tranquility, Mr. Montgomery.”
“Just one more night, Ms. Cassadine, have patience and I promise I’ll make it worth the wait.” With that, he strode out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the hall.
“Whoa! There was so much heat and chemistry between the two of you that I thought
I
was going to combust!” Jennifer observed.
Ana felt her face flush and the heat in her body quickly change from desire to embarrassment at Jennifer’s teasing as she shifted her eyes to the floor.
Seeing Ana’s discomfort, she quickly added, “Just ignore me, honey. It’s been so long since I’ve had a handsome man flirt with me and make me feel sexy! It’s just the envy talking so disregard my comment, I’m truly happy to see the two of you together!”
Ana smiled and relaxed again, feeling silly at being embarrassed with Jennifer. Without moving her head, Ana glanced at Jennifer out of the corner of her eye. “And no one has been flirting with you? No one at all?”
“No, is someone supposed to be? Did Rick tell you something that he didn’t tell me? Anastasia Cassadine, are you holding out on me?” She eyed her warily.
“No! No, Rick hasn’t said anything, I just figure, a beautiful young woman, single, it wouldn’t be long before someone would start paying attention.”
“You’re sweet but it’s only been two months since Austin’s been gone. My mind and heart hasn’t let him go yet, although my body sometimes tends to disagree with my heart.”
Jennifer leaned forward on the sofa, looking around the room before focusing her attention on Ana. “Can you keep a secret?”
It took a moment for Jennifer to realize what she had just asked Ana, who had kept a traumatic secret for over twelve years, then they both burst into laughter. When Jennifer finally got herself under control, she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Okay, stupid question, I’ll rephrase. Can I tell you something and you promise not to tell Rick?”
When Ana snickered and nodded yes, Jennifer continued. “I’ve been having dreams. Sexy, erotic dreams.”
Ana stop snickering and became instantly attentive and sober. “Erotic dreams? Of whom?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s too embarrassing.”
“Oh, come on Jennifer, it’s me! I’ve told you more embarrassing things about me than I’ve told to anyone else in my life! Plus you shouldn‘t be embarrassed, it‘s normal to have sexual thoughts, especially when you have lost a loved one. I read somewhere that it‘s the way the mind deals with death, it focuses on the things that make you want to feel alive, sex is one of those great things.”
“Okay, but if you laugh or say anything weird…”
“I promise! Now who? You wouldn’t be this secretive about someone I
don’t
know!”
“Okay, they started last week, very vivid, very…real, about Stavros.”
“Have you told him? About these dreams?”
“Are you crazy? Of course I haven’t told him! He would think I had gone insane and then quit, I can’t lose him too!”
“Lose him too? Wow, you sound like he means more to you than just a member of the staff, are your dreams getting to you, Jennifer?” Ana gently goaded.
“Absolutely not! I don’t think, well, maybe.”
“Wow! That was a full scale of contradictions in one sentence!”
“I know, I know! It’s just that, before these dreams, I never thought about Stavros in that way, he was just the guru of the art appraisal world that Austin hired, who turned out to be my friend, nothing more. Then these dreams started happening and now when he is around, I get all flushed because I would
remember
what he did to me in the dreams and they were
so real
. I started noticing how soft and gentle he is with me, he treats me different than he does other associates and even other women, which would make me wonder what it would be like to
really
be with him. Would reality be as good as the dream?”
“Have you flirted with him? Let him know you were interested?”
“God no! What if he got offended or thought I was insane? Plus I just