A/N Yet another apology, sorry for the horrendous delay, have had a lot on, difficult few weeks, but this story is into it's last few convolutions, and I hope it doesn't disappoint. Hoping to post very quickly to make it up, MZxxx

Chapter Fifty

Aaron woke with Julia still in his arms, their legs entwined, her hair spread over his shoulders, her face buried somewhere in his neck.

Bliss.

He thought back to the last few hours and couldn't believe all that had happened, finally....they'd got there. And there had been nothing in his life that felt as right at the moment he slid into her, the connection, the join, the union as they came, together. He couldn't remember anything as violent in it's pleasure as that time, in her, with her.

He ran a hand over his eyes and groaned, fucking unreal, he wanted to scream from the highest point, he wanted the world to know how happy he was, how perfect they were for each other. He could almost, almost, envisage himself telling his mother about her, and that would be hell in a handbag. Chuckling, he ran an arm over her arm, wrapped around him.

Glancing at his phone, he realised it was six thirty, he'd got back to the apartment at around three am, so there had literally been very little sleep. But it was Saturday, no reason to drag themselves out of bed until lunchtime. Tucking her in closer, he closed his eyes, hoping that he could sleep with her that close to him.

Julia felt as though she was drowning. Was it a dream? Was is real? For a moment there was no way for her to tell, but then as she opened her eyes, the soft light showed half of Aaron's room in front of her, the dogs rather reluctantly curled up on his armchair in the corner. And she wasn't drowning, but she did have a pair of arms wrapped around her, hands linking over her abdomen, and a large warm body spooning against her.

The panic that woke her was there for a moment, her heart was pounding, then she smelled that familiar scent and literally relaxed into him.

Aaron.

Shit, she almost gasped aloud, as the night, all that happened came flashing through her mind and that made her flush. Did that really happen? As if in reply, she suddenly became aware of Aaron's impressive erection, pressing against her spine. Yup, they REALLY did do that.

There was a moment when she wanted to run, to rush off and hide, lick her wounds. But that was the old Julia, Aaron had changed things for her, he'd changed her. His deep, rhythmical breathing, chest rising and falling, told her he was still asleep, so she used that knowledge to slip out of his arms.

There was a small window in the en-suite bathroom and enough light that she could make out the toilet, and then the sink to wash her hands...and face. She barely recognised herself when she looked in the mirror. Her air was wild, her eyes wide, and her cheeks were red, the product of Aaron's abrasive stubble. Not that she was complaining, in fact she would be more than happy to aggravate her skin further with more kisses.

As she reached the door that led her back to the bedroom, the realisation that she was naked washed over her, but she knew that even though it had been dark, Aaron had studied every inch of her body. There was no place for shyness, self consciousness, not now.

Aaron was in the same position, still lying on his side, facing her, but his eyes were open and he was watching her. Whilst she felt anxiety, she was more warmed by the look in his eyes, the desire was tinged with worry, but as she crossed the room to him, those eyes lit up with relief. By the time she lifted the duvet to slide under it, he'd rolled onto his back and opened his arms to her.

She flew into them and accepted his grateful kiss with an equal need.

"I thought you'd run off," he managed, words mumbled against her lips.

It made her smile against his, "thought about it for about two seconds."

"What changed your mind?"

She shrugged as he moved his head so that he could look into her eyes, "you. This." She smiled, taking a deep breath, "I'm not scared any more."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was music to his ears. His happiness was overflowing as he overpowered her, pressing into her the pillows, she wrapped her arms, and then legs tightly around him.

It was hours later that their rumbling guts dragged them from their love in. Aaron reluctantly pulled himself away from Julia, sitting up. He had a pair of shorts tossed across the open drawer of his dresser, that he reached for. Then standing he looked down at Julia, still curled up on the bed, looking edible. Her eyes were on him, devouring every inch of him, he never knew how wonderful it would feel to be ogled by a woman like her.

Opening another drawer, he pulled out an old gym t shirt and tossed it to her.

"Coffee?"

She snatched at the t-shirt, then made a meal of dragging over her delectable curves, in a way that she knew would fire him up. Groaning, he backed up towards the stairs, unable to take his eyes off her. But with the dogs charging past him, he had to finally turn away from her, either that or risk falling head first down a wrought iron staircase.

He'd filled the coffee machine and was whisking eggs when she appeared in the kitchen behind him. The dogs were eating, so they barely flinched, but he turned and devoured her all over again with his eyes.

Her bed hair was wild, her face sleepy, and her long legs were still bare below the t-shirt.

"Eggs and bagels?"

Sliding on to a stool, he watched as she worked the t-shirt underneath her, and he knew that she was still naked beneath it, that gave him food for thought....or rather fuel for his fire.

Filling a mug with coffee, he handed it over, trying to fight the effects she was having on his libido....again!

When he placed the plate of food in front of her, Julia reached up to plant a grateful kiss on his lips, and that both surprised and pleased him. It was such a natural thing, but the last thing he expected from her.

"So do you have to rush back?"

Aaron chewed on his bagel for a moment before answering, "got another meeting with this terrier like detective on Monday, mid morning. So we've got a flight early morning."

"We've just got today?"

He laughed, "today is Saturday, so we have today, and tomorrow."

She grimaced, "not really, you're flight will be like the voice of doom, waiting to spoil the moment."

Liking the analogy, he reached out to place a hand over hers. "We have two days, I can sleep on the plane, OK?"

She nodded, biting her bottom lip, that nervous tell. "So what are we going to do?"

"All weekend?" He asked, giving her a wink.

She rolled her eyes, "seriously!"

That made him chuckle, "as much as I would want to spend the time in bed, I have a lot of catching up to do, on the dating front. So tonight...move? Dancing? Dinner? Or TV and a box set with a takeaway? The choice is yours."

She made a meal out of deliberating, so he moved around the breakfast bar and turned her on her stool, "tomorrow I thought we could go out of town, somewhere to walk the dogs, to let the wind blow away the cobwebs."

"Then let's go to the beach. We can relax today, in the sun, there's that lovely Spanish place a few blocks away for dinner, then we can walk the promenade when the sun is setting and it's cool enough for the two C's."

"Not the city? Not glamour?"

"Do you know me at all?"

The shy, sexually oppressed woman he'd known for months, was a million miles away from the woman who sat beside him in the car as he cut across the outskirts of the city to the beach apartment. She was wearing short denim shorts. VERY short, along with a tight strappy top. It was taking everything he had to concentrate on the road, then she'd pushed her chair back and kicked her feet up on the dashboard, those long smooth legs.

Before they'd travelled any distance, she was singing along to the radio—very seductively. That was all before her hand dropped nonchalantly to his thigh. It was as she was saying something, but he had no idea what day it was, let alone what she had just said to him, all he knew was the sensation of that hand on him.

How he didn't crash, he didn't know. But within two hours of leaving Brooklyn, they were lounging on adjacent towels on the hot sand of Long Beach. It was beautiful, luxurious and definitely what the doctor ordered. The dogs were asleep on the balcony, they wanted to lounge in the sun, but not run around. So it was just the two of them, an umbrella and a cool bag with a couple of cold beers.

And Julia.

In a bikini.

Hence him lying on his front.

And she knew exactly what she was doing. Asking him to rub sunscreen all over her, biting her lip, twirling her hair between her fingers. She was teasing him, dreadfully, and even if his face looked calm....his body wasn't.

"Will you stop teasing me, Miss Curtis?"

Julia rolled her eyes at that, "why, I don't know what you mean!"

Shaking his head, he lowered himself so he was flat on his front, and closed his eyes. He wanted to snap shot that moment and keep hold of it, because it was everything that he wanted, everything he never knew he craved.

"Let's take a dip!"

Aaron didn't remember falling asleep, but the jolt that woke him, told him he must have. His body ached from not moving, so he stretched as he yawned. By the time he dragged his body into a sitting position, she was knee deep in the water. He knew it would be cold, but the sun was still beating down, he needed to cool off.

Julia loved swimming, and she didn't get the chance anywhere near often enough. So she dived under an oncoming wave, then started to swim, long confident strokes taking her further away from the shore. The water was cold, but refreshingly so, but as she made distance, the water turned icy, she knew from previous experience that it was as far as she wanted to move, she didn't know how strong the currents were, she wasn't about to get caught out.

Before she could stop, a hand grabbed around her ankle and she let out an instinctive scream, but she knew that when she turned, succumbed to the pull on her leg, that she'd find herself in familiar arms.

Water clung to his eyelashes, she could notice them without his trademark glasses, and his dark hair was sleek with water, and it made her smile to see the tinge of pink to his cheeks.

"Mr Harding."

He grinned, pulling her into his arms, as he confidently stayed afloat, treading water expertly. Reciprocating, she slid her arms around his shoulder, loving the feel of his bare, wet skin against hers. The beach was busy, but no one could see them, and it felt so wrong, yet so right too.

Pressing her lips against his, she loved the taste of salt on his skin. It was obviously reciprocated, because within moments, he was devouring her, hungrily, like they hadn't spent to much time together, doing just that the last few days.

"Mmm," he murmured against her lips, "could get used to this."

She nodded, "could almost pretend that you're not heading East tomorrow night."

"Monday, early. Don't wish our time away."

Rolling her eyes, she managed to evade him arms, then dive under the water to confuse him. It worked, when she popped up a few metres away, he had his back to her. Wrapping her arms around him, she did the same with her legs, pressing her body into his spine, hands linked over his pecs, her legs wrapped around his waist.

"You will be the death of me, Julia Curtis."

She chuckled as she nibbled at his ear, "that makes me smile, Aaron Harding."

Later in the evening, they were showered, changed an heading out to the Tapas bar that she remembered a block away. Her week of living in the apartment when she tried to deal with her past, seemed so far away, so long ago, but then so much had happened.

As they sat at a table out on the street, Aaron ordered some red wine whilst she perused the menu.

They'd just ordered a few dishes, when his phone rang. Aaron pulled it from his pocket, looked at the screen, then groaned. Snatching it to his ear, he snarled, "this better be good."

Within seconds his face had paled and after an apologetic glance, he stepped away, crossing the road into what she presumed was a quieter spot. He was animated, angry, as he spoke and she watched him intently...until her own phone rang.

Her mother.

She'd put off this conversation SO many times, was she strong enough to do it now?

"Mother."

It was as formal as a parent's name could be, and was greeted with a sigh.

"I am so glad to FINALLY speak to you, Julia. We were about to fly out and try to find you if you didn't answer another call."

"I know why you're calling, and I have nothing to say."

Again her mother sighed, "darling, this is a lot of money, you can't ignore it. You have to accept it."

"As payment?"

She threw the words quite harshly, but she really felt that was what she needed to do, MAKE her mother realise what all this meant.

"Of course not, darling. But I mean he should have compensated you...."

Deep breaths didn't steady her, "don't you realise, mother..." she spat the words out, "that is exactly what accepting that money would be, payment, guilt money....justification. It would make me feel..." Emotion clogged her throat, but she had to tell her, had to get this off her chest. "Accepting a penny from him, this guilt money...it would make me feel like a prostitute, mother. Is that what you want?"

Her mother floundered along the phone line for a moment, "that's not how it is."

"Well how is it then? You tell me."

She leaned back in her seat, phone at her ear, and her eyes flitted to Aaron across the road arguing his own phone battle. How ironic.

"Julia, he was family, I know what happened was despicable. But as a family we deserve that, we deserve it more than anyone else."

Instead of fury, Julia was amazed at how calm she felt, "what happened was despicable? What do you mean? The court case? The shame? The humiliation and family strife? Or the fact that your brother raped me, abused me, hurt me? You make it sound like an accidental set of circumstances, and I can assure you that every moment of it was planned...by him."

She knew people were staring, but for the first time she didn't care. "And as I recall, he left ME the money, not 'the family', so I'm sorry, mother, if you have already spent the money in your head, because whatever I do, you will not see a penny of it."

"Julia!" She was shocked, sad.

Burt Julia didn't care, "even NOW, today. Even after everything you act as though the whole thing was a distasteful episode you'd like to erase from your memory. You fail to see that I can't. He's ingrained in my brain, what he did...it's there when I close my eyes, and you mother. YOU, you failed to believe, support or help me. And I can't forgive you for that."

Her mother's tears became sobs, and then her father was on the phone shouting, asking why she was upsetting her mother.

And she did the only thing she could.

Hang up.

Aaron hung up on Tom, there was no way he was cutting into his weekend to go back to Seattle, no matter how urgent the detective they were dealing with insisted. Tom as a husband and father, should be more insistent than him. But he had the audacity to disturb paradise. AS he hung up, furious, he caught sight of Julia, in the seat he'd left her in. She too, glued to her phone. But unlike his anger, she was calm...too calm, and it worried him more than anything else. With adrenaline hitting his throat with nausea, he jogged back towards her , unsure what worried him more, telling her he had to leave, or that look on her face.