A Valentine's Day Proposal

Steph couldn't quite see what was going on. It was all a blur. One minute she had been in the middle of the most amazing sex she'd ever had in her life and the next she was standing against the wall praying for her life as the sounds of fists on flesh pummeled the darkness of the room. Feeling along the wall she managed to locate the light switch. When she managed to get the lights on Jack was the only one still standing. His wings were broken, his skirt was askew, and he was wiping blood from a split lip with the back of a hand as he looked down on three of Rob's men.

Steph was shocked, but suddenly feeling very safe. She ran over to him and wrapped her arm around him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "That's three down."

"Rob went after my father. And he said he would kill my sisters if I didn't cooperate with him," tears started as she spoke. It was almost as though the intense pleasure she had felt with Jack only made the pain of what was going on worse in contrast now that it was over. Steph found herself tempted to try and talk him into round two, but knew there wasn't time.

"Hey," he said softly and wiped the tear off her cheek. He couldn't help smiling at her disheveled appearance. Her hair was wrecked, her makeup was smeared and her dress was only half on. "Straighten up and we'll go see if we can find them, now that we're not being followed."

Jack pulled himself together as best he could. There was no way to hide the fact that he had been in a fist fight. The way the both looked they were just going to have to avoid the major party areas.

***

Rob sat across from Edward at a large desk in the man's study. He was smiling triumphantly. Edward was staring at a spot on the desk. He didn't know what he should do. If he exposed Rob, then his own career would be ruined and there was a chance that Rob would do something to hurt his family even more than he already had. But if he went along with it all then Rob would suck his bank account dry and for Steph into a perverted marriage. That idea had Edward's mind skirting around his own marriage. The thought of how many times he had made love to Valerie had his brain going into shut down. I've been fucking my own daughter, he thought.

Rob was getting annoyed. It was pretty obvious that Edward was losing it. His responses were getting increasingly more despondent. "You know Ed. I would have liked to have seen you give Steph away at our marriage. But if I don't get some kind of agreement from you in a timely fashion then I'm afraid I may have to arrange for you to miss the blessed event.

Edward was incapable of response. All he could think about was the last time he had slept with Valerie. What if she's pregnant? Oh God, she's my daughter.

"Shit," Rob glared. "You can't seriously be this demented already. Fuck, I bet your damn will divides the money between those three bitch daughters of yours." Rob looked around the study, wondering if there was a copy of his will anywhere around. He wanted to get a look at it to see if there was anything he could do about getting all the money given to Steph before killing daddy off.

The door swinging open caught his attention. Rob looked over to see Valerie walking in. "Good," he said, standing up. "See if you can bring daddy back to us while I look around for the will." Rob walked around the desk and shoved Edward out of the way so that he could get access to the computer on the desk. "He may have an electronic copy or something. Maybe there's a safe around here," he mused to himself.

Valerie walked over to Edward. She put her hand on his cheek and guided his eyes to her face. He had a horrified expression. "Think about how I felt," she said softly. "I knew all along."

Rob looked up from the keyboard with an annoyed glare at his sister, only to find himself facing the barrel of a handgun. "Valerie," he said with disgust, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Something I should have done a long time ago," she answered through tears. "How could you have made me do all this Rob? I don't understand."

"Stupid bitch. I've explained this before. I'm not going through it again. Now put the gun down before I decide that you're on the wrong side again. You know what happens when-"

The doors to the study slammed open again and Rob took advantage of Valerie's lapse in attention to knock the gun out of her hand and back hand her hard enough to send her into the nearby wall. Benny and Rick came barreling into the room. "Jack took off with Steph," Benny said, even before Rob could ask what was going on.

Now Rob was really pissed. He looked down on Valerie, slumped against the wall. "What is Jack doing here?" Valerie didn't answer him. "I'm losing patience. Fine, Benny, Rick, help me search for a safe or something that might hold a will. I'll deal with Jack and Steph after I get this straightened out. If they think they can run from me they're wrong." The three men began trashing the room, searching the bookshelves and walls for something that might have a will in it. Edward didn't even seem to notice and Valerie was being watched too closely to move.

***

Jack and Steph had to go back through the party in order to get to the area of the house that her father should have been in when Rob had gone to look for him. As they passed through the crowd avoiding gladiators, they neglected to keep an eye out for the other dangerous people at the party. Sue appeared out of nowhere in their way, an obvious chip on her shoulder. "Where have you been Steph? What happened to you," she asked as her eyes shifted from Jack to Steph and back again. "I don't appreciate having to cover for you. And what is Cupid still doing here with you? I don't' think daddy or Rob will like that."

"Sue, though you normally don't know what you're talking about, this time you are in serious danger of topping even your most ignorant mistake." Steph looked back at Jack. "There really is only one solution here. Will your sister be in a lot of danger if Rob is exposed?"

Jack flinched. His face fell and his eyes glazed at the thought. With a tone of regret that soaked into Steph he finally responded. "She's already dead." But Steph had felt the answer in the way his demeanor had changed before he even said it.

She forced herself to keep calm and remain strong. "Then the only thing left to worry about is daddy's reputation and my family. God I hope he can forgive me for this," she said more to herself than anyone else. Sue was looking completely confused and was listening at this point in the hopes of someone saying something that would clear up the situation. Steph's eyes focused on Sue again. In the older sister authoritative tone that never worked Steph continued. "Will you be a dear and go get a police officer or two of some kind? Preferably one who is real and not just in costume. Then come find us? Rob needs to be arrested for murder."

Uncertainty flooded Sue's features, but she could tell that Steph wasn't joking. For once the tone in Steph's voice was enough to prompt a reaction. Sue backed away and then began filtering quickly through the crowd for one of the officials who had been invited to the party. Both Jack and Steph prayed that she'd find enough people and make enough of a scene that Rob wouldn't be able to pull strings on this situation.

"Now we have a time limit. We need to hurry." There was a resolute determined look to Steph as she took Jack's hand and pulled him toward the doors Rob had gone through.

There were a few obvious places to check. Steph led the way through the halls she had known as a child and threw open doors as they came to them. An empty den, an empty library, the study. Pushing the doors open just enough to slip through into the study and close the doors behind themselves, Steph and Jack found themselves faced with one of Rob's more vicious glares. Edward was seated at his desk, defeat creasing his lost features. Benny and Rick were there as well, looking every part the brute force as they stood with crossed arms waiting for Rob's orders.

Rob growled angrily. "I guess it's not a terrible thing you've interrupted. It'll save me the time of finding you." Rob eyed Jack momentarily and flashed him an amused superior look. He never doubted for a moment that he was in complete control of the situation. "There seem to be some issues here. Daddy doesn't appear to want to cooperate." Now that everyone's attention had shifted to Jack and Steph Valerie began moving toward the gun on the floor.

Rob turned his attention back to Edward, causing Valerie to stop and attempt to look innocent when his gaze was too near her to miss movement. "Your children's futures are at stake here, Ed. All of your children. One way or another you're going to regret the choices you've made. Now I would prefer that you stick around a while so that you have a chance to repent and beg me to forgive you for what you've done. But I'll settle for what I can get. If I have to kill you and every person in your will I can, until I am the only one left. I suggest you come to and start cooperating."

Jack started walking across the room toward Rob. The gladiators attention went back to Cupid and Valerie again had a chance to move toward the gun. Rob backhanded Edward in frustration when the man didn't answer. In the commotion Valerie grabbed the gun and pointed it directly at Rob, tears streaming down her face. Rick shouted a warning, seconds too late. A gunshot exploded through the room. Valerie dropped the weapon to the ground and crawled over to Rob's fallen form, where he was crumbled on the carpet.

His shocked eyes stared up at her as blood poured from a gaping wound in his chest and dribbled from the corners of his mouth. "Why," he choked out.

"If you aren't going to protect me Rob, I have to protect myself," she said softly, holding him.

Benny and Rick charged after Valerie, only to find themselves intercepted. Jack kicked Rick in the middle of the chest, sending him into a bookshelf that fell forward onto him. Benny managed to punch Jack in the back, ripping one broken wing off completely and knocking Jack to the floor. Jack rolled to the side as Benny tried to kick him and then jumped to his feet.

The two men were squaring off for another volley as the doors to the library swung open and two police officers, one dressed as the pink panther and the other dressed in a suit of armor charged in, followed by a frantic Cinderella. They found themselves staring at a surreal scene. Zeus looked on as Aphrodite cried over the dying body of a gladiator, while another warrior lay beneath a bookshelf, and Cupid grappled with a third as Psyche cowered against the far wall.

Benny took one look at the situation, decided that he was outnumbered, and jumped out a nearby window to try and escape. Steph stumbled toward Jack, wrapped her arms around him and began crying against his chest. Jack tried to catch his breath. He wrapped his arms around Steph and held her tightly. "It's gonna be alright now," he said as he stared down at Valerie and Rob.

Sue went to her father, who was sitting mute at his desk. The pink panther took off out the window to try and chase down Benny, while the knight in shining armor called for an ambulance to deal with the dying man in Valerie's arms.

***

The guests were difficult to get rid of. Everyone at the party wanted to know who had been rushed off in the ambulance and why. The rumors were outrageous and ranged from Edward killing a man who had been having an affair with his young wife, to one of the sisters killing a man who had been cheating on her with one of the other sisters. There was also a rumor about the mess having been a botched robbery. That was the most generous of the rumors and had been offered by close friends of the family. By the time all the guests were gone and the cops questions had been answered it was nearing midnight.

Valerie had been taken away by the police. Steph promised her that she'd find the best lawyer she could. Edward had been taken to the hospital in a different ambulance. Stacy and Sue had gone with him. But Steph had been kept behind by the cops to finish answering questions. Relief flooded Steph's body as she watched Brent escort the last of the police from her father's home.

"Jack," Steph called gently. He was sitting with his head in his hands. At the sound of her voice, he looked up. "Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"

He sighed and sat back, feeling his broken wings crunch against the couch. "I'll figure something out," he said, standing up.

Steph wasn't about to let him leave. Her father was virtually catatonic and currently being fussed over by her sisters, who still didn't have the entire story. Her entire life had been turned upside down. All she wanted right now was to forget it all. "I don't want to be alone tonight Jack."

It didn't register what she was suggesting at first. Jack's eyes bored into Steph's, trying to find her intent. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Steph."

Before he could say anything else Steph stepped up to Jack, put her hands on the sides of his neck and face, drew him down to her and kissed him. The room spun. Jack let his arms wrap around Steph and his mind go blank. Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.

When they parted, Jack allowed Steph to lead him upstairs to her room. Insistent hands and fevered kisses drew Jack deeper into a mindless bliss as they worked their way through the blackness in the room to Steph's bed. Their costumes were wrestled off in the dark. Jack pushed Steph down on the bed. His lips moved from hers, along her jaw, and neck, down her chest and triggered a moan as his tongue circled her nipple before his mouth closed over the firm flesh and drew it into the hot wet.

Touching became frantic and needy. Steph ground her mound against his hip as he mauled her breasts. "I need you inside me Jack," she begged, "please."

Jack released her nipple from his lips and bit her neck gently, before moving back. Kneeling between her legs he felt her hands come out of the darkness, wrap around his cock and pull him to her. She guided him into her sopping cunt. Jack moaned as he slid into her tight heat. Steph lifted her hips to meet him as he moved against her, inside of her. Needy whimpers were forced from Steph's lips as Jack thrust into her over and over again.

They surrendered to the passion and kept it up as long as their exhausted bodies could handle it. When they finally lay still in the dark neither of them was able to sleep.

"So this is Valentine's Day," Steph said softly. "For the rest of my life it gets to be the worst day in my existence. Would you think I'm a terrible demanding bitch if I told you to do something to make it all better Jack?"

He nuzzled his face into the back of her hair. "I thought I already tried to do that," he teased half-heartedly. "Give me a minute and I can try to do better."

The smile that Jack caused was accompanied by tears. "That's not what I meant," she whimpered.

"I'd do anything you want, Steph. If it's in my power. Just tell me."

"I don't know," she cried softly. Steph trembled in Jack's arms. She turned around, her lips searching for his, hoping to prompt another round of love making. That seemed to be the only way of driving the day's images and thoughts from her mind.

Jack kissed her gently and then pushed her back. He looked over at the clock. "There's still a few minutes left of Valentine's Day," he said.

"God, who cares," Steph sobbed.

Jack's hand felt for hers. When he finally located it, he searched for the right finger. Finding a large diamond ring, Jack pulled it off Steph's finger and tossed it into the darkness somewhere. "Oops, I lost another one," he said. Then he drew the finger to his mouth and kissed the tip.

Steph laughed through the sobs. "We're going to have to look for that in the morning."

"Either I'm about to make today worse or do exactly what you asked me to do," he said seriously.

Steph felt her heart lodge in her throat. Jack pulled the ring he had given Leesha off his pinky finger, where he had put it when Valerie had given it to him. "It's not a diamond," he said as he slid it on her finger. "But if you ask me about it tomorrow I'll tell you where it came from and maybe that'll make it good enough," he said. "Does this help fix it," he asked, his voice edged with uncertainty.

The tears on Steph's cheeks grew more insistent. "The worst and most incredible Valentine's Day of my life," she said softly.

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secretme