The Exchange Variation

Chapter LX - Cross-Check

John!

His eyes snap open and he struggles for breath for a moment. His senses return in a rush, and he realizes that she is still touching him. With a sharp jolt, he grabs her hand, and searches her eyes for any hint of what he thinks just occurred.

She looks as if she could devour him whole.

A shudder runs through him as he realizes what he was so close to doing. The very same thing he had sworn to her the night before that he would never do. Give in to her. And give up on Marlena.

He releases her hand as though it is red hot and stumbles backwards with a stricken expression on his face. Marlena, please forgive me. For I know not what to do...

"Stay away from me!" His voice reaches a rasping crescendo as he holds his hands out in front of him. But mere digits and limbs can't protect him from the turmoil inside. All the control he had maintained the night before quickly dissolves when faced with the threat of his own weakening resolve. "Don't! Don't touch me again! I'm warning you..."

"Or what, John?" She laughs but the sound is brittle, underlain with anger and scorn. "You'll hurt me? You'll kill me? That would make it rather hard to bring back your precious Doc, don't you think?"

"Stop!" He snarls furiously as his hands curl into large fists. "Stop baiting me. Stop playing so many fucking games. I'm sick of your bullshit and it's going to stop. Now!"

"Says you and who's army?" Grace raises one lazy eyebrow. "You really think you have what it takes to scare me, John? I do what I want when I want." She takes a step toward him and crosses her arms in front of her body. She's fully aware that the vee of her blouse reveals her more than ample cleavage and since she suspects that John is weakening, this might be just the thing that puts him over the edge. "I do what I want, and I do who I want. And John, I intend to do you. One way or another. So," the corner of her mouth curls up as she sees his eyes drop and then flick back up to meet hers, "you can fight me, and then I can have you, or you can just give in and find out what you've been missing..."

"I know what I'm missing," John feels the muscles tightening beneath his skin, and he tries to fight the growing murmurs that crackle inside his skull. "I'm missing my wife." He sucks in a deep breath through his nose as his jaw sets and he musters all the determination he can. "You can't compare to Marlena. You're a mere shadow of her."

"Didn't seem to bother Craig when he fucked me in your bed," Grace says cruelly. Her anger has blossomed into a rage that is not tempered with any kind of need for control. She has one objective and that is to strip John raw. "Craig didn't seem to know or care about the difference between me and your sainted Doc. He was too busy enjoying himself as I fucked him senseless, right under your nose."

Her words deal John an excruciating body blow. He finds himself gasping for air as the pain inside his chest explodes and the humming in his head mushrooms into deafening shrieks.

<<Your wife has been screwing my husband...>>

Grace feels a thrill of satisfaction as John's eyes betray his agony. You asked for it, John. And you more than deserve it. Ruthlessly, she zeroes in for the kill.

"I had him over and over again, honey. I rode him until he screamed Marlena's name. Isn't that ironic?" She chuckles. "He wanted to leave Nancy for me, but by then I'd moved on." She narrows her eyes. "And there were others, John. You want names and places?" Her speech slows and she enunciates the words, driving her point home. "Do you want every little, hot, sticky detail?"

"No!" John bellows, the sound akin to a large beast in pain. "Enough! You've made your point!"