Chapter 19
On Friday morning at 09:00 Mac escorted Alex Bannion
into the courtroom so that he could begin his
testimony in the Anthony Moreno trial. The trial
started at 09:30 and the whole day was focused on
Bannion's testimony. Everyone on the prosecution's
team knew what an effort it was to get Bannion in the
courtroom today and it was a sweet victory for the
prosecution and the police to hear Bannion's testimony
in court. There was no doubt that Bannion's testimony,
in conjunction with Al Gwynn's earlier testimony,
would almost insure a conviction in Moreno's trial.
The court adjourned early on Friday at 4 p.m. and a
relieved Mac handed Bannion over the U.S. Federal
marshals so that Bannion could be placed in a witness
protection program. Dara joined Mac as he watched
Bannion being escorted from the courthouse.
Squeezing his arm she said, "We did it. He testified
and it's almost over."
"In celebration of both of us surviving the past week,
let me take you to Le Vieux Logis for dinner tonight,"
Mac suggested. He had missed Dara tremendously during
the past few days and he was looking forward to
spending a lot of time with her starting tonight.
"That sounds lovely Mac. And I have something special
that I want to give you after the dinner tonight."
"Oh really?" Mac asked as the most lascivious grin
spread broadly across his face. He joked, "Hey,
fasting for an evening shouldn't be so bad. Why don't
I just come straight to your apartment in an hour."
"Oh no you don't!" Dara laughed, with a mischievous
gleam in her eyes. "I'm very much looking forward to a
romantic dinner at Le Vieux Logis with you. Anyway,
you have no idea what I have in mind for you after the
dinner. But I promise to surprise you."
The next few hours couldn't pass quickly enough for
both Mac and Dara. At 7 p.m., Mac arrived at Dara's
apartment to take her to the restaurant. Upon Dara
opening the door, Mac stood speechless as he gazed at
Dara. Wearing her hair in a French roll with a few
wavy strands of hairs gently framing hair face, Dara
looked stunning in a two-piece blue and black silk
outfit. The wrap skirt had a mid-thigh length and hung
loosely around her hips. The top was gathered at the
shoulders and though no cleavage was shown the top did
reveal quite a bit of Dara's beautiful brown skin on
her chest and upper back. Reading Mac's expression,
Dara smiled and silently thought that seeing this look
on Mac's face was worth those almost daily trips to
the gym. Grabbing her coat, Dara left with Mac for a
romantic dinner at Le Vieux Logis.
Le Vieux Logis was an enchanting country inn located a
few miles outside of Port Charles that had a four star
restaurant that specialized in French cuisine. During
their meal at the restaurant, the couple spoke a bit
about the trial but in general they steered the
conversation to non-work related topics. Dining at the
French restaurant prompted Mac to tell Dara of a few
of his adventures in French-speaking countries such as
France, Switzerland, and Belgium before his arrival in
Port Charles. Dara mentioned that she had always
wanted to travel in Europe and Africa but as yet she
hadn't done much traveling. Silently they were both
thinking that they would share such travels in the
future. After enjoying a delicious 5-course meal and
lingering over 2 glasses of wine and coffee, they
finally left the restaurant and went back to Dara's
apartment. Refusing Dara's offer of something to
drink, Mac took her by the hand and led her to the
couch in her living room.
"We haven't had much of a chance to talk since I was
last here." Mac held Dara closely to him with her head
nestled under his chin.
"I know," sighed Dara. "Mac, where are we going with
this relationship? I know how I feel about you and I
think that I know how you feel about me." Nervously
biting her lip she continued, "But I can understand if
you don't want to get seriously involved with me right
now since your breakup with Felicia was so recent and
so painful." Dara had mentally prepared herself so
that she wouldn't be disappointed by Mac's response
but she still held her breath waiting for him to
answer. The few men that Dara had dated previously all
cringed at the word commitment. The Mac Scorpio who
had been her friend for several years normally
wouldn't have such feelings but after being treated so
badly by Felicia, Dara worried that he probably didn't
want to rush into a serious relationship with someone.
Cupping Dara's chin so that she was looking directly
into his green eyes which were darkening with passion,
Mac solemnly said, "Dara, it's too late to talk about
not wanting to get seriously involved because whether
you know it or not, I already am. I love you Dara."
Dara blinked back tears in her eyes as she watched
Mac's face as he said for the first time that he loved
her. As she gasped in surprise that he actually said
the words Mac covered her mouth with his and gave her
a passionate kiss.
Breaking the kiss Mac asked with concern in his
voice," You almost seem surprised that I love you. Is
it because you feel that it's happening too quickly?
Or is it something else?"
"No, it isn't too quickly Mac. Usually, in the past, I
would have feelings for someone and they didn't have
them for me or weren't ready to return them to me.
Knowing that you actually feel the same way about me
that I feel about you, it just makes me deliriously
happy."
Smiling, Mac said softly, "Is this a round about way
of you telling me that you love me too?"
"Yes. Yes. Yes. I love you Mac Scorpio. I love you
very much."
Feeling herself starting to be swept away by Mac's
passionate kiss Dara reluctantly pushed herself away
from Mac. "Wait Mac. I have something special I want
to do for you."
Pulling her to him once again in an attempt to capture
her lips again, Mac grinned lazily," Can't you tell
that you're doing something special for me right now?"
"No, really. Why don't you start the fire in the
fireplace? I'll have everything ready in fifteen
minutes."
For the moment, Mac's curiosity exceeded his passion
and he started the fire in the fireplace as Dara
requested. Sitting patiently on the living room couch,
he became intrigued as he watched her place a mat a
few feet in front of the fireplace and cover the mat
with a bed sheet. She next placed several candles
throughout the living room and, after dimming the
living room electric lights, lighted the candles. A
sandalwood scent emanated from the lighted candles.
Dara hurried to the kitchen and placed a jar in the
microwave before heading to her bedroom. When the
microwave oven timer expired, Mac hesitated for a few
minutes but then he walked into the kitchen and opened
the microwave oven. Carefully taking the jar from the
microwave he gently sniffed and determine that Dara
heated some type of almond-scented oil.
A voice directly behind him said, "I'll take that from
you and you can take this from me." Not hearing her
when she entered the kitchen Mac whirled around to
face Dara. Mac could not keep the shocked expression
from his face as he saw Dara dressed in only a low
square neckline Chantilly lace bustier and matching
panties. She was holding a white cotton bath towel in
her hand. Mac could swear that his heart stopped
beating for the first few seconds that he saw Dara.
Dara worked mightily to suppress a broad smile as she
watched Mac gape open-mouthed at her. She had never
seen Mac so taken aback in her life and for a few
seconds she wondered if she should continue with her
plans for the evening. After a brief reflection she
decided to continue and make this evening all about
Mac and show him how much she cared for him. "I guess
I really did surprise you. But get ready, your
surprise is just starting," she promised. Taking the
scented oil from him Dara placed the bath towel in his
hand. Seeing the puzzled look on his face she said, "I
want you to wear it, and nothing else." Dara turned
around and left a speechless Mac in the kitchen with
his outstretch hand still holding the bath towel.
Snapping out his trance, Mac started to undress as
Dara's image in that bustier stayed in his mind. She
was absolutely gorgeous in it and it perfectly
accentuated her toned, petite body. Mac had no idea
what Dara had planned for him but it was going to take
all the willpower he possessed not to take the
initiative and start to make love to her. This evening
was obviously something she very much wanted to do for
him and he wanted to let her do it. But ..." Wearing
the bath towel around his waist, Mac went into the
living room to find Dara kneeling at the mat.
Positioning Mac to lie down on his stomach on the mat,
Dara started to speak.
"When I went to Northwestern for college I took some
additional courses away from the university. You know,
something that I would really like to learn as perhaps
a hobby and to take my mind off of the schoolwork.
These courses were taught by various small businesses
located on the north side of Chicago. I took a car
maintenance class. And I took a bread baking class.
But my favorite subject was a series of massage
classes I took taught by a local chiropractor." After
taking the oil and rubbing it in her hand, Dara
started to slowly massage Mac's left foot, rotating
and stroking the left foot and ankle. Next she
repeated the motion with his right foot. Mac marveled
at how adept Dara was in giving this massage; he was
starting to relax after a few minutes. This was
something he originally believed to be impossible
after seeing her in that bustier and those panties.
Dara continued the massage using her hands and arms to
stroke and knead the back of Mac's legs, his back,
neck, and arms. It pleased Dara to initially touch a
tense muscle on Mac's body and using her knowledge and
skill was able to relieve him of the tenseness. She
could tell by his breathing and sighs that he was
really enjoying the massage. Now it was time to move
to part two of the evening. "I took three massage
classes. The first two courses focused on therapeutic
massage techniques. The last course gave some
information on how to give a sensual massage. Turn
over on your back for me please." Mac had had his eyes
closed for most of the massage in order to focus on
the pleasure he was receiving. When turning over onto
his back he saw Dara again in the bustier and panties
and all of the feelings he previously experienced in
the kitchen returned. Her arms, legs, and chest were
glistening with the massage oil and her chocolate
colored skin looked incredibly beautiful. As she
kneeled beside him preparing to start a chest massage
he placed his hand behind her head and pulled Dara's
mouth to his. They kissed for several seconds but
finally Dara broke the kiss and catching her breath
she said in a ragged voice, "We ...we....aren't
finished yet. Don't you want the rest of your
massage?"
"Uh mmm," purred Mac. "But we don't have to do it all
in one night, do we?" he said as he rolled on the
floor with Dara and had her on her back as he started
to place kisses on her neck and stroked his right hand
along her inner thigh.
"No....I guess not." Dara knew that the battle was
lost and she didn't care one bit. She couldn't wait
any longer to be with Mac and she wanted him as much
as he wanted her. Earlier she had to really force
herself to continue to focus and give Mac a
therapeutic massage but now her plans did not seem
quite as important as the matter at hand.
Gazing lovingly into her eyes and pulling the pins
from her hair so that the twist in her hair was
removed, Mac placed his hands behind her head and
rested on his forearms as he spoke. "I love how you
wanted to make me feel so special. Thank you." Kissing
her lightly on her face, neck, and chest he continued.
"You're going to give me an inferiority complex
because you do so many things so well." Mac expertly
removed the bustier from Dara's body and caught his
breath, his eyes taking in the sight of her body.
Slowly lowering his body to hers he suggested, "Let's
concentrate now on some things that we do well
together...."