A/N: I know I only just updated earlier today, but this next chapter came quickly pouring out of me, so I thought I'd might as well post it straight
away. Y'all are going to absolutely HATE me for this one's previews , that's for sure. :evil grin:
I continue to be blown away by all of your incredible feedback! Thank you so much!
Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Back chapters can be found in the archives here at RTN and at my fic board:
anna's fanfic board
EDITED TO ADD: D'oh! I realized right I after I hit "post" that I should have incorporated this update with my other one today. My apologies to all our lovely fanfic admins!
EDITED TO ADD AGAIN: Huma? Better to be a smelly dork than a drooly nerd. Hmph. I reiterate: Dorks RULE! Nerds DROOL!
"There's nothing like Kelly's chili on a cold night," Elizabeth said with a smile as she scraped the last bit of the spicy meat from her plate onto her fork.
Jason watched as she closed her eyes while taking the last bite, his own eyes twinkling with amusement at the look of sheer euphoria on Elizabeth's face.
He had, as usual, swallowed down his food quickly. But instead of leaving the table when he was done he, as always, sat back and watched as Elizabeth finished her meal and listened as she rambled on from topic to topic in between bites.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" she asked as she stood to gather up their dishes.
Jason gently brushed her hand aside with a grin and stood with his own dish, walking with her to the sink. "I've got paperwork to go over for Sonny. He might stop by later."
"Okay," she said as she began to rinse off their dishes. "I've got this painting I've started that I really want to get into tonight, so I'll be upstairs in the studio."
They did the rest of the dishes in comfortable silence, with Elizabeth raising one eyebrow up at Jason in mock indignation when he stepped back and crossed his arms, watching her carefully as she loaded them into the dishwasher and then poured the correct dishwashing detergent into the dispensers.
"You're not funny," Elizabeth said as she clicked the machine on.
"I didn't say anything!" Jason said with a laugh.
Elizabeth gave him another mock glare for a moment before laughing as well. "I'm heading up to paint."
Two hours after Elizabeth had gone upstairs to her studio, while Jason stayed downstairs doing paperwork at his desk, he threw his pencil down on the stack of papers he was looking over and cast a glance over his shoulder, his gaze falling on the staircase.
With a grin, he gathered up his papers and pencil in one hand, and his cup of coffee in the other and hurried up the stairs.
The door to the studio was left slightly ajar and he slowly nudged it open with his shoulder, stopping short at the sight that met his eyes.
Elizabeth was standing in front of a half-finished painting with her walkman on, shaking her hips and humming along with the music in between brush strokes.
Jason leaned one shoulder against the door jamb and crossed the arm holding the papers and pencil across his chest, a big grin stretching across his face as he watched her shake and shimmy to the music.
After just a few moments, Elizabeth let out a little shriek when she spotted Jason out of the corner of her eye, and spun around, flinging her hands as she did so, causing paint to go flying off of her brush and splatter against Jason's t-shirt and face.
"Oh my God!" she said, tossing her paintbrush down and shoving her walkman off of her ears. "I'm so sorry, Jason!" she gasped, rushing over to him and grabbing a hold of his arm, leading him further into the room. "I didn't mean to. It's just that you startled me!"
Jason stood there, paint dripping off of his face, fighting back a smile as Elizabeth quickly flitted around him, grabbing his papers and coffee cup and putting them aside before reaching for a jar of turpentine diluted with water that she had on one shelf.
"I thought you might like some company," Jason said, trying not to laugh.
She grabbed a clean rag and dipped it into the jar and then took Jason by the hand. "Come here, sit down," she said as she lead him to a stool she had near her canvas stand.
Jason let himself get led to the stool and sat down without a word, his mouth twitching with a held back smile.
"Oh God, Jason, I'm so sorry," she said again, moving so that she was standing in between his legs. "I hope this won't irritate your skin. It shouldn't, I diluted it with water. But even so, it might sting if your skin is sensitive. I can't believe I did that. I'm so-."
"Elizabeth," Jason said, bringing his hands up to grab a hold of her own flailing hands. When she came to a standstill and stood gazing down at him, he finally let the smile he had been holding back appear on his face. "It's alright. It was an accident."
They shared an intense gaze for a long beat, and then Elizabeth's mouth hitched up into a grin. "Lemme get that paint off of you."
Jason released her hands and kept his eyes locked on her face as she brought the damp rag up to blot at the paint splattered on his cheek and chin.
Elizabeth felt his eyes on her and she couldn't resist the pull of them. Her eyes met and held his as she gently stroked the rag against his face, removing every trace of paint. Her eyes dipped down briefly to the paint splattered on his shirt and she lowered the rag to wipe at the paint there and then brought her eyes up to meet with his once more.
Jason's eyes slowly moved down to lock on Elizabeth's lips, plump and red from her relentless chewing on her bottom lip while she painted.
Elizabeth's hand stilled on Jason's chest and her lips parted enough for the pink tip of her tongue to come out and sweep against her bottom lip.
Jason's eyes shot back up to hers, his heart pounding hard in his chest. Elizabeth's hand dropped from Jason's chest at the look in his eyes and the rag fell from her hand as Jason brought one hand up to grasp loosely at the back of her neck.
He lowered his gaze to her mouth again and leaned towards her as she leaned towards him, stretching his neck up slightly so he could brush his lips against hers.
Elizabeth's eyes drifted closed as a small gasp escaped her, her eyes shooting open again when she felt Jason pull back slightly.
She found his beautiful crystal blue eyes staring up at her, concern mixed with desire shining from their depths.
Elizabeth knew he was leaving the next move up to her, not wanting to frighten her, and she moved her hands to his arms, sliding them up until she had her own arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders. Stepping forward so that she was pressed against him, her eyes drifted shut again as she brought her mouth down to his.
Jason groaned deep in his throat and he moved his hands down to grab a hold of Elizabeth's hips as their lips came together again and again.
Wanting more, wanting to taste her, needing it, Jason let the tip of his tongue brush against the seam of her lips and he groaned again when she immediately parted them for him with a soft sigh.
The first taste of her was everything Jason imagined it would be and more, and he nudged her lips with his own, still wanting more.
Elizabeth let out a low moan of her own as Jason's tongue melded with hers, leading hers in a slow dance in and out of each other's mouths. She wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders and a delicious tremor ran through her body when Jason's arms wrapped themselves low around her waist and back.
They pulled apart when the need for air became too great and Elizabeth's forehead pressed against Jason's. "Wow," she said with a shaky breath.
Jason smiled as his hands ran slowly up and down Elizabeth's back. "Yeah," he said, "… wow."
Elizabeth pulled back to gaze at Jason with wide, wonder-filled eyes.
"Jason? Elizabeth? Anybody home?" they heard Sonny call from downstairs, bringing forth moans of frustration from the both of them.
"I … uh … I better go downstairs," he said.
"Right," Elizabeth nodded and moved back for Jason to stand. As Jason gathered up his papers, Elizabeth smiled nervously. "I'm gonna stay up here and keep painting. Tell Sonny I said hello."
"Alright," Jason said with a smile. He went to walk out the door and paused, bringing his free hand up to caress her cheek softly, smiling when she nuzzled her face against his palm.
He backed out of the studio, his eyes locked with Elizabeth's as she put the headphones of her walkman back on.
"Jason?" he heard Sonny call again.
"Yeah," Jason called back, turning to walk out of the studio after one last, long glance at Elizabeth. "Sorry about that," Jason said as he came down the stairs.
"S'alright," Sonny said and then frowned. "What's that on your shirt?"
Jason's head dipped down and another smile appeared on his face at the sight of the paint still smeared on his t-shirt. He raised his glance up to meet Sonny's curious one. "It's paint. Elizabeth says hello, by the way. She's working on a painting."
Sonny remained silent for a moment, a knowing grin slowly spreading across his face. "Is she now?" he asked.
Jason nodded his head, trying to wipe the smile off of his face. He shook his head, trying to clear it and held the papers out towards Sonny. "I was just working through these."
Sonny waved his hand, "Forget about that for a minute. We've got something more important to talk about first." When Jason gave him a questioning look, Sonny took a deep breath and continued. "It's about Elizabeth. Or more specifically, Elizabeth's grandmother."
Sonny's words managed to wipe the smile off of his face and he gestured to the couch.
Elizabeth turned to grab a new tube of paint and frowned when she saw Jason's coffee cup still sitting on one of the shelves. Pushing off her headphones, she grabbed the cup of coffee and headed out of the studio, going for the stairs. She stopped short at the curve at the top of the stairs when she heard Jason speak.
"What about Mrs. Hardy?" Jason asked after they had both sat down on the couch.
"I think that we've seriously underestimated her," Sonny said. "Our person inside the PCPD called Justus a little while ago and informed him that Elizabeth's grandmother had a meeting with Baldwin today about what legal action she could take to get your marriage to Elizabeth annulled. And apparently, it's not the first meeting she's had with him."
Jason's mouth dropped open at Sonny's revelation, but before he could speak, Sonny went on.
"There's more. Francis was in the room when Justus called and he told me that on the docks the other day, Mrs. Hardy was pressing the annulment issue to Elizabeth. Elizabeth flat out told her no, of course." Sonny couldn't help but notice Jason's shoulders go slack with relief and he bit back a smile. "Francis also said that Carly overheard Mrs. Hardy talking about an annulment and she made some threatening comments to Elizabeth about going to Baldwin herself to see if she could help."
Jason's mouth dropped open further.
"I take it Elizabeth didn't mention any of this to you?" Sonny asked.
"No," Jason said with a slow shake of his head. "But she probably didn't think her grandmother was serious. Hell, neither one of US were taking her seriously."
Sonny nodded his head. "She's bound and determined to get Elizabeth away from you."
"Can she even do what she's threatening to do?" Jason asked.
"Justus said that since she's no longer Elizabeth's guardian, it would have to take some slick legal maneuvering to do it, but …" Sonny trailed off.
"But Baldwin isn't above bending the law to get me locked up," Jason finished for him.
Elizabeth closed her eyes where she was standing at the top of the stairs. "Oh gram," she said under her breath.
"So what do we do?" Jason asked.
"I hate to ask this," Sonny said, hesitantly. "But … have you and Elizabeth … uh … consummated the marriage yet?"
Jason scowled. "That's nobody's business but ours."
"I know," Sonny said quickly. "And like I said, I hate to ask, but considering the circumstances, I have to ask, Jason." He looked at Jason questioningly and Jason took a deep breath.
"No. We haven't," Jason said shortly.
"Do you … uh … do you not want to-."
"Jesus," Jason spat out, getting up and rubbing one hand roughly over his face.
Elizabeth's eyes were huge as she held her breath, waiting for Jason's answer.
"Jason, I'm … I'm sorry, man, but …" Sonny trailed off.
"I know. You have to ask," Jason said with another scowl. He turned to face Sonny with another deep sigh. "Of course I want to. Being with Elizabeth … like that … it's something I want, yes," Jason said, feeling his ears burn as they reddened.
Elizabeth's shoulders slumped with relief and she chewed on her bottom lip as Sonny asked Jason another question.
"So … why haven't you?"
Jason turned angry eyes towards Sonny. "What do you expect me to do? Demand that Elizabeth sleep with me? I couldn't do that to her. I wouldn't do that to her. IF it ever happens between us, then it has to be her decision, not mine."
"Of course," Sonny nodded his head. "I understand."
Elizabeth took a deep, shaky breath and turned and tip toed her way back to the studio. She sat down heavily on the couch, her mind racing at the conversation she just overheard.
"Besides," Jason went on, "There are other grounds for annulment that Mrs. Hardy could use other than it not being consummated. Aren't there?"
Sonny nodded his head again. "Justus gave me the whole rundown." Sonny held out his hand and began to tick down. "If one of you is under the age of consent, if one of you is forced or coerced into the marriage, if one of you wasn't of sound mind when the marriage took place, if one of you is already married to someone else, if there's some form of incest involved - like cousins or whatever," Sonny finished with a look of disgust.
"None of those apply to us," Jason said.
"Justus said that Mrs. Hardy could try to say that Elizabeth was forced into the marriage," Sonny said.
"And we could argue that Elizabeth and I had already been dating before got married," Jason quickly replied.
"Or she could say that Elizabeth wasn't of sound mind," Sonny said.
"Which is ridiculous and we could get anyone to testify on Elizabeth's behalf that she is perfectly sane," Jason quipped quickly once more.
"And that covers everything. Except for the non-consummation, of course," Sonny said.
Jason let out an aggravated sigh. "How could they even prove it, anyway?"
Sonny shrugged his shoulders. "They can't. But I wouldn't put anything passed Baldwin." Sonny eyed Jason steadily as he paced back and forth, an irritated look on his face. "Look, I don't think anything will happen any time soon. Baldwin's gotta twist the laws but good to even get Audrey Hardy to be able to file for annulment on Elizabeth's behalf, Justus said. So I think we're okay for now. I just wanted to let you know that her grandmother could be more of a problem than we anticipated."
"And there's nothing we can do?" Jason asked.
"Justus said you need to keep doing what you're doing. Keep going out, looking like a happily married newlywed couple who can't keep their hands off of each other. The more people who see you two together and believe that you two are happy, in love, … making love, the less people Mrs. Hardy and Baldwin can call on to testify against you," Sonny said.
Jason nodded his head and sat down heavily on the couch.
Sonny cleared his throat and couldn't resist pressing the issu. "I assume it won't be a problem for the two of you to step it up a notch when you're out in public?"
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"You know, a little more than hand-holding needs to happen," Sonny said with a suggestive grin. "You think you two can pull it off?"
Jason thought back to the delicious kiss he and Elizabeth had shared just moments earlier and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I think so," he said.
"Alright then. Let's get to that paperwork," Sonny said with a smile of his own.
A couple of hours later, Elizabeth was still sitting on the couch, her mind still racing, when she heard Jason letting Sonny out, quickly followed by his footsteps on the stairs.
She shot up off the couch and grabbed her headphones, throwing them on and grabbing a paintbrush just as Jason pushed open the door to the studio.
She turned to face him with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey," he said. "How's the panting going?"
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders as she pushed her headphones off. "It's going slow. I haven't been able to concentrate," she said with a blush spreading across her cheeks.
Jason dipped his head down, grinning, and he leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Sorry about that," he said, his grin turning sheepish.
Elizabeth shrugged again with a shy smile. "I think I'm going to keep working for a little while."
"Okay," Jason said, shoving himself off of the doorjamb. "I'm going to head to bed."
"I don't think I'll be too late," she said.
"I'll wait up for you," Jason replied.
Their eyes met and held across the room for a long moment and then Jason nodded once before turning and heading for their bedroom.
Elizabeth waited until she heard the bedroom door close and she sat back down on the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest as her teeth once again began to worry her bottom lip.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she finally stood and squared her shoulders, nodding determinedly before heading towards the bedroom.
Jason was just starting to drift off to sleep when he heard the bedroom door creak open. His eyes shot open in the dim room, lit only by the lamp on his night stand, and he smiled as he watched Elizabeth tip toe inside, closing the door slowly behind her before tip toeing her way to the bathroom.
Jason brought his hands up to rest underneath his head on the pillow and fought back a yawn as he waited for Elizabeth to emerge from the bathroom. He frowned as the time ticked by, thinking she was taking an especially long time that evening.
Just as he was about to get up and go to the bathroom to see if she was alright, the bathroom door opened and Elizabeth emerged, wearing her terry cloth robe that hung in the bathroom.
She paused, standing at her side of the bed and fiddled nervously with the sash of her robe. "Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," he replied with a smile.
"You waited up," she said.
"I said I would," he shrugged.
"Oh," Elizabeth said, fidgeting nervously. "Right."
"You okay?" he asked, his brows coming down in concern.
"Mmhm," she nodded her head perkily. "There's just … there's just something I think I need to do. We need to do, actually."
"Okay," Jason said, moving to push himself up into a sitting position.
"No!" Elizabeth said quickly, holding her hand out, making Jason freeze. "Just … stay as you are, alright?"
"O-kay," Jason said slowly, a look of confusion coming over his face again.
Elizabeth continued to fidget and Jason watched as she took a deep, bracing breath. "Could you," she began and he grew even more confused as a blush deep enough for him to see in the dimly lit room spread over her cheeks. "Could you turn out the light, Jason?"
"Why?" he asked.
"Please?" she said, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
Jason stretched one arm out and clicked the lamp off. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, hearing a rustling sound coming from where Elizabeth was standing.
His eyes grew huge when they finally focused and he realized that the rustling he heard was Elizabeth dropping her robe, leaving herself standing by the bed, completely naked.
He couldn't help but let his eyes wander down her perfect, naked form and he swallowed hard when she pulled the covers back and slid underneath them, quickly shifting over until her bare body was pressed against the side of his.
He had hardened instantly at the sight of her naked, and his cock throbbed painfully when she slid one palm down his chest, over his taught stomach, stopping when she reached the drawstrings of his sweatpants.
Using rapidly fading self-control, Jason lowered one hand to grasp hers as it began to untie his sweatpants. "What are you … what are you doing?"
"What we're doing," Elizabeth corrected him in a shaky voice, dipping her head down to press shaking lips against his jaw.
"Elizabeth," Jason rasped out, pulling his head back to look at her, his eyes still wide with shock.
Elizabeth took another deep, bracing breath. "We're going to consummate this marriage, Jason. Tonight."
Previews: Will they or won't they?
I continue to be blown away by all of your incredible feedback! Thank you so much!
Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Back chapters can be found in the archives here at RTN and at my fic board:
anna's fanfic board
EDITED TO ADD: D'oh! I realized right I after I hit "post" that I should have incorporated this update with my other one today. My apologies to all our lovely fanfic admins!
EDITED TO ADD AGAIN: Huma? Better to be a smelly dork than a drooly nerd. Hmph. I reiterate: Dorks RULE! Nerds DROOL!
"There's nothing like Kelly's chili on a cold night," Elizabeth said with a smile as she scraped the last bit of the spicy meat from her plate onto her fork.
Jason watched as she closed her eyes while taking the last bite, his own eyes twinkling with amusement at the look of sheer euphoria on Elizabeth's face.
He had, as usual, swallowed down his food quickly. But instead of leaving the table when he was done he, as always, sat back and watched as Elizabeth finished her meal and listened as she rambled on from topic to topic in between bites.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" she asked as she stood to gather up their dishes.
Jason gently brushed her hand aside with a grin and stood with his own dish, walking with her to the sink. "I've got paperwork to go over for Sonny. He might stop by later."
"Okay," she said as she began to rinse off their dishes. "I've got this painting I've started that I really want to get into tonight, so I'll be upstairs in the studio."
They did the rest of the dishes in comfortable silence, with Elizabeth raising one eyebrow up at Jason in mock indignation when he stepped back and crossed his arms, watching her carefully as she loaded them into the dishwasher and then poured the correct dishwashing detergent into the dispensers.
"You're not funny," Elizabeth said as she clicked the machine on.
"I didn't say anything!" Jason said with a laugh.
Elizabeth gave him another mock glare for a moment before laughing as well. "I'm heading up to paint."
Two hours after Elizabeth had gone upstairs to her studio, while Jason stayed downstairs doing paperwork at his desk, he threw his pencil down on the stack of papers he was looking over and cast a glance over his shoulder, his gaze falling on the staircase.
With a grin, he gathered up his papers and pencil in one hand, and his cup of coffee in the other and hurried up the stairs.
The door to the studio was left slightly ajar and he slowly nudged it open with his shoulder, stopping short at the sight that met his eyes.
Elizabeth was standing in front of a half-finished painting with her walkman on, shaking her hips and humming along with the music in between brush strokes.
Jason leaned one shoulder against the door jamb and crossed the arm holding the papers and pencil across his chest, a big grin stretching across his face as he watched her shake and shimmy to the music.
After just a few moments, Elizabeth let out a little shriek when she spotted Jason out of the corner of her eye, and spun around, flinging her hands as she did so, causing paint to go flying off of her brush and splatter against Jason's t-shirt and face.
"Oh my God!" she said, tossing her paintbrush down and shoving her walkman off of her ears. "I'm so sorry, Jason!" she gasped, rushing over to him and grabbing a hold of his arm, leading him further into the room. "I didn't mean to. It's just that you startled me!"
Jason stood there, paint dripping off of his face, fighting back a smile as Elizabeth quickly flitted around him, grabbing his papers and coffee cup and putting them aside before reaching for a jar of turpentine diluted with water that she had on one shelf.
"I thought you might like some company," Jason said, trying not to laugh.
She grabbed a clean rag and dipped it into the jar and then took Jason by the hand. "Come here, sit down," she said as she lead him to a stool she had near her canvas stand.
Jason let himself get led to the stool and sat down without a word, his mouth twitching with a held back smile.
"Oh God, Jason, I'm so sorry," she said again, moving so that she was standing in between his legs. "I hope this won't irritate your skin. It shouldn't, I diluted it with water. But even so, it might sting if your skin is sensitive. I can't believe I did that. I'm so-."
"Elizabeth," Jason said, bringing his hands up to grab a hold of her own flailing hands. When she came to a standstill and stood gazing down at him, he finally let the smile he had been holding back appear on his face. "It's alright. It was an accident."
They shared an intense gaze for a long beat, and then Elizabeth's mouth hitched up into a grin. "Lemme get that paint off of you."
Jason released her hands and kept his eyes locked on her face as she brought the damp rag up to blot at the paint splattered on his cheek and chin.
Elizabeth felt his eyes on her and she couldn't resist the pull of them. Her eyes met and held his as she gently stroked the rag against his face, removing every trace of paint. Her eyes dipped down briefly to the paint splattered on his shirt and she lowered the rag to wipe at the paint there and then brought her eyes up to meet with his once more.
Jason's eyes slowly moved down to lock on Elizabeth's lips, plump and red from her relentless chewing on her bottom lip while she painted.
Elizabeth's hand stilled on Jason's chest and her lips parted enough for the pink tip of her tongue to come out and sweep against her bottom lip.
Jason's eyes shot back up to hers, his heart pounding hard in his chest. Elizabeth's hand dropped from Jason's chest at the look in his eyes and the rag fell from her hand as Jason brought one hand up to grasp loosely at the back of her neck.
He lowered his gaze to her mouth again and leaned towards her as she leaned towards him, stretching his neck up slightly so he could brush his lips against hers.
Elizabeth's eyes drifted closed as a small gasp escaped her, her eyes shooting open again when she felt Jason pull back slightly.
She found his beautiful crystal blue eyes staring up at her, concern mixed with desire shining from their depths.
Elizabeth knew he was leaving the next move up to her, not wanting to frighten her, and she moved her hands to his arms, sliding them up until she had her own arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders. Stepping forward so that she was pressed against him, her eyes drifted shut again as she brought her mouth down to his.
Jason groaned deep in his throat and he moved his hands down to grab a hold of Elizabeth's hips as their lips came together again and again.
Wanting more, wanting to taste her, needing it, Jason let the tip of his tongue brush against the seam of her lips and he groaned again when she immediately parted them for him with a soft sigh.
The first taste of her was everything Jason imagined it would be and more, and he nudged her lips with his own, still wanting more.
Elizabeth let out a low moan of her own as Jason's tongue melded with hers, leading hers in a slow dance in and out of each other's mouths. She wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders and a delicious tremor ran through her body when Jason's arms wrapped themselves low around her waist and back.
They pulled apart when the need for air became too great and Elizabeth's forehead pressed against Jason's. "Wow," she said with a shaky breath.
Jason smiled as his hands ran slowly up and down Elizabeth's back. "Yeah," he said, "… wow."
Elizabeth pulled back to gaze at Jason with wide, wonder-filled eyes.
"Jason? Elizabeth? Anybody home?" they heard Sonny call from downstairs, bringing forth moans of frustration from the both of them.
"I … uh … I better go downstairs," he said.
"Right," Elizabeth nodded and moved back for Jason to stand. As Jason gathered up his papers, Elizabeth smiled nervously. "I'm gonna stay up here and keep painting. Tell Sonny I said hello."
"Alright," Jason said with a smile. He went to walk out the door and paused, bringing his free hand up to caress her cheek softly, smiling when she nuzzled her face against his palm.
He backed out of the studio, his eyes locked with Elizabeth's as she put the headphones of her walkman back on.
"Jason?" he heard Sonny call again.
"Yeah," Jason called back, turning to walk out of the studio after one last, long glance at Elizabeth. "Sorry about that," Jason said as he came down the stairs.
"S'alright," Sonny said and then frowned. "What's that on your shirt?"
Jason's head dipped down and another smile appeared on his face at the sight of the paint still smeared on his t-shirt. He raised his glance up to meet Sonny's curious one. "It's paint. Elizabeth says hello, by the way. She's working on a painting."
Sonny remained silent for a moment, a knowing grin slowly spreading across his face. "Is she now?" he asked.
Jason nodded his head, trying to wipe the smile off of his face. He shook his head, trying to clear it and held the papers out towards Sonny. "I was just working through these."
Sonny waved his hand, "Forget about that for a minute. We've got something more important to talk about first." When Jason gave him a questioning look, Sonny took a deep breath and continued. "It's about Elizabeth. Or more specifically, Elizabeth's grandmother."
Sonny's words managed to wipe the smile off of his face and he gestured to the couch.
Elizabeth turned to grab a new tube of paint and frowned when she saw Jason's coffee cup still sitting on one of the shelves. Pushing off her headphones, she grabbed the cup of coffee and headed out of the studio, going for the stairs. She stopped short at the curve at the top of the stairs when she heard Jason speak.
"What about Mrs. Hardy?" Jason asked after they had both sat down on the couch.
"I think that we've seriously underestimated her," Sonny said. "Our person inside the PCPD called Justus a little while ago and informed him that Elizabeth's grandmother had a meeting with Baldwin today about what legal action she could take to get your marriage to Elizabeth annulled. And apparently, it's not the first meeting she's had with him."
Jason's mouth dropped open at Sonny's revelation, but before he could speak, Sonny went on.
"There's more. Francis was in the room when Justus called and he told me that on the docks the other day, Mrs. Hardy was pressing the annulment issue to Elizabeth. Elizabeth flat out told her no, of course." Sonny couldn't help but notice Jason's shoulders go slack with relief and he bit back a smile. "Francis also said that Carly overheard Mrs. Hardy talking about an annulment and she made some threatening comments to Elizabeth about going to Baldwin herself to see if she could help."
Jason's mouth dropped open further.
"I take it Elizabeth didn't mention any of this to you?" Sonny asked.
"No," Jason said with a slow shake of his head. "But she probably didn't think her grandmother was serious. Hell, neither one of US were taking her seriously."
Sonny nodded his head. "She's bound and determined to get Elizabeth away from you."
"Can she even do what she's threatening to do?" Jason asked.
"Justus said that since she's no longer Elizabeth's guardian, it would have to take some slick legal maneuvering to do it, but …" Sonny trailed off.
"But Baldwin isn't above bending the law to get me locked up," Jason finished for him.
Elizabeth closed her eyes where she was standing at the top of the stairs. "Oh gram," she said under her breath.
"So what do we do?" Jason asked.
"I hate to ask this," Sonny said, hesitantly. "But … have you and Elizabeth … uh … consummated the marriage yet?"
Jason scowled. "That's nobody's business but ours."
"I know," Sonny said quickly. "And like I said, I hate to ask, but considering the circumstances, I have to ask, Jason." He looked at Jason questioningly and Jason took a deep breath.
"No. We haven't," Jason said shortly.
"Do you … uh … do you not want to-."
"Jesus," Jason spat out, getting up and rubbing one hand roughly over his face.
Elizabeth's eyes were huge as she held her breath, waiting for Jason's answer.
"Jason, I'm … I'm sorry, man, but …" Sonny trailed off.
"I know. You have to ask," Jason said with another scowl. He turned to face Sonny with another deep sigh. "Of course I want to. Being with Elizabeth … like that … it's something I want, yes," Jason said, feeling his ears burn as they reddened.
Elizabeth's shoulders slumped with relief and she chewed on her bottom lip as Sonny asked Jason another question.
"So … why haven't you?"
Jason turned angry eyes towards Sonny. "What do you expect me to do? Demand that Elizabeth sleep with me? I couldn't do that to her. I wouldn't do that to her. IF it ever happens between us, then it has to be her decision, not mine."
"Of course," Sonny nodded his head. "I understand."
Elizabeth took a deep, shaky breath and turned and tip toed her way back to the studio. She sat down heavily on the couch, her mind racing at the conversation she just overheard.
"Besides," Jason went on, "There are other grounds for annulment that Mrs. Hardy could use other than it not being consummated. Aren't there?"
Sonny nodded his head again. "Justus gave me the whole rundown." Sonny held out his hand and began to tick down. "If one of you is under the age of consent, if one of you is forced or coerced into the marriage, if one of you wasn't of sound mind when the marriage took place, if one of you is already married to someone else, if there's some form of incest involved - like cousins or whatever," Sonny finished with a look of disgust.
"None of those apply to us," Jason said.
"Justus said that Mrs. Hardy could try to say that Elizabeth was forced into the marriage," Sonny said.
"And we could argue that Elizabeth and I had already been dating before got married," Jason quickly replied.
"Or she could say that Elizabeth wasn't of sound mind," Sonny said.
"Which is ridiculous and we could get anyone to testify on Elizabeth's behalf that she is perfectly sane," Jason quipped quickly once more.
"And that covers everything. Except for the non-consummation, of course," Sonny said.
Jason let out an aggravated sigh. "How could they even prove it, anyway?"
Sonny shrugged his shoulders. "They can't. But I wouldn't put anything passed Baldwin." Sonny eyed Jason steadily as he paced back and forth, an irritated look on his face. "Look, I don't think anything will happen any time soon. Baldwin's gotta twist the laws but good to even get Audrey Hardy to be able to file for annulment on Elizabeth's behalf, Justus said. So I think we're okay for now. I just wanted to let you know that her grandmother could be more of a problem than we anticipated."
"And there's nothing we can do?" Jason asked.
"Justus said you need to keep doing what you're doing. Keep going out, looking like a happily married newlywed couple who can't keep their hands off of each other. The more people who see you two together and believe that you two are happy, in love, … making love, the less people Mrs. Hardy and Baldwin can call on to testify against you," Sonny said.
Jason nodded his head and sat down heavily on the couch.
Sonny cleared his throat and couldn't resist pressing the issu. "I assume it won't be a problem for the two of you to step it up a notch when you're out in public?"
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"You know, a little more than hand-holding needs to happen," Sonny said with a suggestive grin. "You think you two can pull it off?"
Jason thought back to the delicious kiss he and Elizabeth had shared just moments earlier and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I think so," he said.
"Alright then. Let's get to that paperwork," Sonny said with a smile of his own.
A couple of hours later, Elizabeth was still sitting on the couch, her mind still racing, when she heard Jason letting Sonny out, quickly followed by his footsteps on the stairs.
She shot up off the couch and grabbed her headphones, throwing them on and grabbing a paintbrush just as Jason pushed open the door to the studio.
She turned to face him with a bright smile on her face.
"Hey," he said. "How's the panting going?"
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders as she pushed her headphones off. "It's going slow. I haven't been able to concentrate," she said with a blush spreading across her cheeks.
Jason dipped his head down, grinning, and he leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Sorry about that," he said, his grin turning sheepish.
Elizabeth shrugged again with a shy smile. "I think I'm going to keep working for a little while."
"Okay," Jason said, shoving himself off of the doorjamb. "I'm going to head to bed."
"I don't think I'll be too late," she said.
"I'll wait up for you," Jason replied.
Their eyes met and held across the room for a long moment and then Jason nodded once before turning and heading for their bedroom.
Elizabeth waited until she heard the bedroom door close and she sat back down on the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest as her teeth once again began to worry her bottom lip.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she finally stood and squared her shoulders, nodding determinedly before heading towards the bedroom.
Jason was just starting to drift off to sleep when he heard the bedroom door creak open. His eyes shot open in the dim room, lit only by the lamp on his night stand, and he smiled as he watched Elizabeth tip toe inside, closing the door slowly behind her before tip toeing her way to the bathroom.
Jason brought his hands up to rest underneath his head on the pillow and fought back a yawn as he waited for Elizabeth to emerge from the bathroom. He frowned as the time ticked by, thinking she was taking an especially long time that evening.
Just as he was about to get up and go to the bathroom to see if she was alright, the bathroom door opened and Elizabeth emerged, wearing her terry cloth robe that hung in the bathroom.
She paused, standing at her side of the bed and fiddled nervously with the sash of her robe. "Hey," she said softly.
"Hey," he replied with a smile.
"You waited up," she said.
"I said I would," he shrugged.
"Oh," Elizabeth said, fidgeting nervously. "Right."
"You okay?" he asked, his brows coming down in concern.
"Mmhm," she nodded her head perkily. "There's just … there's just something I think I need to do. We need to do, actually."
"Okay," Jason said, moving to push himself up into a sitting position.
"No!" Elizabeth said quickly, holding her hand out, making Jason freeze. "Just … stay as you are, alright?"
"O-kay," Jason said slowly, a look of confusion coming over his face again.
Elizabeth continued to fidget and Jason watched as she took a deep, bracing breath. "Could you," she began and he grew even more confused as a blush deep enough for him to see in the dimly lit room spread over her cheeks. "Could you turn out the light, Jason?"
"Why?" he asked.
"Please?" she said, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
Jason stretched one arm out and clicked the lamp off. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, hearing a rustling sound coming from where Elizabeth was standing.
His eyes grew huge when they finally focused and he realized that the rustling he heard was Elizabeth dropping her robe, leaving herself standing by the bed, completely naked.
He couldn't help but let his eyes wander down her perfect, naked form and he swallowed hard when she pulled the covers back and slid underneath them, quickly shifting over until her bare body was pressed against the side of his.
He had hardened instantly at the sight of her naked, and his cock throbbed painfully when she slid one palm down his chest, over his taught stomach, stopping when she reached the drawstrings of his sweatpants.
Using rapidly fading self-control, Jason lowered one hand to grasp hers as it began to untie his sweatpants. "What are you … what are you doing?"
"What we're doing," Elizabeth corrected him in a shaky voice, dipping her head down to press shaking lips against his jaw.
"Elizabeth," Jason rasped out, pulling his head back to look at her, his eyes still wide with shock.
Elizabeth took another deep, bracing breath. "We're going to consummate this marriage, Jason. Tonight."
Previews: Will they or won't they?
