Bon and Rye were lounging around the pool, listening to a demo by an unsigned young rock band, Bon would be producing, called 'The Works.' They were four talented young twenty-something youths from the Jersey, Philly, N.Y. area and their music could be classified as straight ahead commercial rock, with a very definite Jersey sound.

Bon had been standing over at the edge of the terrace looking towards Alexandria's house.

Rye said, "How long you gonna stand there man staring over at your neighbor's?"

Bon didn't hear though because the music was quite loud. Rye noticing walked over to the large boom box sitting on an umbrella table.

Just then Bon could have sworn that he heard a scream coming from the direction of Alexandria's house, as Rye turned the sound down.

"Hey Bon!" Rye said, "Did you hear what I said?"

"Quiet!" Bon said, craning his ears. "Did you hear that?" he asked his guitarist.

"Hear what?" Rye asked looking puzzled.

"I could swear I heard a scream, coming from over there." Bon told him.

"I didn't hear anything but maybe one of us should go and check it out," Rye said.

Bon turned and walked over to the table and picked up a pair of binoculars that he had brought with him and then suddenly walking quickly, he covered the remainder of the terrace in seconds and then broke into a trot as he ran across the sloping lawn heading for the edge of the property.

Rye hesitated but then after a second followed. Bon reached the trees and crouching low he put the binoculars up and focused them on Alexandria's terrace which was very visible. He could see her standing there he told Rye, as the guitarist joined him and then Bon saw that there was a large tortoiseshell colored cat sitting staring up at her. Then the cat went inside through a small cat door and Bon saw another cat come out.

"Christ, I forgot she's a cat lover!" he told Rye. "I've seen two, wonder if there are others." Then he saw Alexis scoop up the white cat and go back into the house.

"You know man," Rye said, "People get arrested for this kind of thing. Stalking is a serious crime, and you could do a lot of jail time."

Bon put the binoculars down and turned to him, his expression cranky, and said, 'Thanks for the advice Ann Landers. I'm not stalking her, I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

Then he turned and walked back across the property heading for the terrace as Rye followed. Breaking into a run he caught up to Bon and as they walked he said, "You know, why don't you just go over and borrow a cup of sugar or something?"

Bon kept walking but turned his head and looked at him with an 'I don't believe the silly shit that comes out of your mouth look' and said, "Sugar? What am I? A baker suddenly? I mean that's original Rye!"

"Well fuck you then!" Rye said though he chuckled. "Just trying to help, man. So okay if not sugar, then something else."

"Such as?" Bon inquired of his friend.

"You need to borrow some"... Rye hesitated and then said, "I know.. You need to borrow a flashlight because the bulb is burned out in your basement and you need to replace the bulb!"

"Like I only have one bulb in my basement," Bon retorted sarcastically. "I mean c'mon Rye. This is a mansion, there would be bound to be other lights. Unless you think I should pretend that ALL of them are burned out!"

"Well I don't know, you could say it's your large walk-in closet then!" Rye said. "Or better, yet, the fuses blew in the whole entire house!" he finished, feeling proud of that one.

They had reached the terrace by then and Bon turned to him and said, "Where the hell do you get this stuff?" Rye shrugged and Bon said, "But ya know that might work, I'll think about it."

Just then Fran popped her blond head out and said, "Herr Johnson, ze meal weel be ready in fifteen minutes."

The men went inside to clean up then and twenty minutes later sat down and began to eat....

Alexis, was finished with the dozen chocolate chip cookies which had cooled now and she placed them on a serving tray covering it with plastic wrap, placing it on the kitchen's island.

She went upstairs to freshen up and changed her clothes into a white pair of shorts and a halter top and brushed her long dark hair putting it into a loose top knot on top of her head, securing it with a clamp. She added hoop earrings and put on some lip gloss. Finishing, she wondered again why her appearance stood out to her. It wasn't that she wasn't beautiful. Her career testified to that, but her face was just her face, a face she had lived with for 28 years. But now it was if her looks were enhanced somehow, her skin positively glowed, her eyes sparkled, lips were tinted naturally, her cheekbones had a slight flush to them and there were those violet specks in her eyes that she was not used to seeing. She closed her eyes then but when she opened them, the specks were still there. Alexis stood there wondering if she needed to have her eyes checked, as it could be an eyesight problem. She made a mental note to call her optometrist tomorrow just to be on the safe side.

[Thalia knew she definitely needed to contact Kronos tonight, hopefully while Alexis slept.]

Heading downstairs Alexis picked up the plate of cookies removing the plastic wrap and stepped out on the terrace, walking across her property heading towards her neighbor's estate..

Carefully balancing the plate, she gingerly made her way between the trees, and looked over at the terrace. The pool area was empty. She would just go up and knock on the door she thought.

Hurrying she gripped the plate of cookies in both hands as she sprinted over the large expanse of lawn, skirting various shrubbery and hedges. She was at the edge of the terrace then when she suddenly tripped over a small piece of tree root and was suddenly airborne as she flew through the air landing at the edge of a small rose bush. She sat up and felt pain in her arm, her ass, her back and her face, but miraculously she still held the plate in her hands. But gone were the cookies as they were laying helter skelter all over the terrace!

The men had been in the dining room eating and Bon who was sitting closest to the doors leading to the terrace, suddenly turned his head. He threw down his napkin and walked over to the door and opened it to see Alexis struggling to her feet.

Hearing a noise, she raised her head and saw a man in a white T shirt and jeans step out from the french doors adjoining the terrace.. She looked at him then, as her mouth dropped open and recognition dawned.

Alexis stood up, feeling as though she were dreaming. It was none other than the rock star Bon Vincent. I'm living next to that gorgeous hunk, not to mention the most available man in Rockdom? She was so surprised that if a herd of unicorns had passed by in front of her she wouldn't have batted an eyelash.

Bon stood there for a moment and she quickly found her voice and said "Hello."

"Hi," he said smiling, looking her up and down.

He walked over to her then as she said, "I'm your neighbor Alexis and I live over there," she turned and pointed to her house. "Well I thought I'd welcome my new neighbor to the area so"... she laughed shortly.."I baked some cookies," she finished lamely holding out the empty plate.

Bon took the plate as she looked around at the fallen cookies spread around the terrace.

Looking behind her, she laughed again, thoroughly embarrassed as she said, "I had a little accident."

He had been smiling but suddenly his smile faltered as he made an exclamation and said, "You're bleeding!" He was very close to her now, only inches away and setting the plate down upon the flagstone, he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket.

"Here tip your head back for me," he said, placing one hand behind her head, gently wiping away the streak of blood from her cheek with the other hand, as she stared at his handsome face. She looked at his gorgeous blue eyes and suddenly they stared into her own and she realized that his pictures in no way did him justice. He was much better looking in person.

Bon stared back at her, thinking her eyes were totally amazing. Green-blue with tiny flecks of violet. Her eyes seemed to change colors he had noticed when he viewed many of her photos spread around the Internet and in magazines. And that mouth, full, ripe and just asking to be kissed... He made an effort to tear his eyes from her mouth then and reached for her arm, raising it. He gently wiped the blood away.

He said, "You heal well, there's only a faint scratch, on your arm and your cheekbone. Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked in that soft husky voice.

"My back and my ass," she said frowning. Bon pursed his lips holding back a laugh at that and said, "Hold still." He gently removed a thorn from her hair and then taking her shoulders turned her around.

"Hmm, you have a couple of thorns in your back and in your very lovely bottom," he said and Alexis felt herself grow warm at his appreciation for her derriere.

"Can you pull them out, Bon?"

He had squatted behind her and said, "Oh, so you know who I am." Alexis laughed shortly even though her bottom hurt and asked, "Is there anyone who doesn't know who you are Mr. Vincent? Or should I call you Mr. Johnson?"

"Hold still," he ordered, not addressing her question and one by one he pulled several thorns out of her lower back and from the shorts clinging tightly to her bottom, as she winced each time. She turned then as he stood and said, "Bon will do. But you're Alexandria Grey, I recognized you as well."

Alexis felt flattered that he knew who she was especially in her less than ideal condition. She had lost her hair clamp when she fell and her hair was laying in tumbled waves down her back and shoulders.

Bon looked at her wildly gorgeous long dark hair, itching to run his fingers through it. He said, "You really need to have your wounds taken care of."

Her ass had stopped hurting and she said, 'I'm okay," and looking around she said, "Sorry about the mess on your terrace."

"It's no biggie," Bon said. "Certainly nothing my housekeeper can't handle."

Just then the french doors opened and a handsome man with chocolate brown eyes and shoulder length dark hair stepped onto the terrace. Alexis thought, will the surprises never end? It was Rye Sanders looking fit, tanned and handsome, in long baggy swim trunks, and no shirt.

Alexis had never been very much of a Bon Vincent fan, she only liked a few songs here and there, had never been to a Bon Vincent concert even and was suddenly ashamed that she didn't own even one of their CD's. She was a fan of classic rock and pop through the ages. She preferred listening to old classics from such artists, as Bad Company, Foreigner, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. Although she used to listen to Van James, her ex-fiance's band.

But she'd always thought Bon was handsome and sexier than just about any man she could think of, even Jet. And Rye was no slouch either when it came to good looks. Both men had aged well for being men in their mid to late forties.

Bon said, "Have you met Rye?" Alexis smiled and shook her head no. Bon introduced him and Rye walked over to her and taking her hand kissed her fingertips as she blushed. He said, "What happened out here anyway?"

Bon said, "She brought us some cookies." He bent and picked up the plate handing it to Rye. Rye stared and said, "Where's the cookies? You asshole!" he said looking at Bon. "Don't tell me you scarfed them down already!"

Bon turned and bending over picked up one off the flagstone and tossed it to him and said, "Here you go, Rye!"

"Gee thanks," his guitarist muttered, flicking an ant off the cookie.

Alexis smiling slightly at this humorous exchange, explaining to him about her little mishap and then Rye said, "Jesus! Are you okay sweetie?" She assured him she was fine, saying she was a lot tougher than she looked.

Then she said, "Well I better get outta here, I think I've caused enough trouble for one day."

She turned to go as Bon said, "What's your hurry, Alex? Stay and visit for awhile."

She stared at him. No one had ever called her Alex before. But the way he said it, it sounded like music and she didn't feel the need to correct him.

[Thalia took a chance and released the thought, ...you know you want to stay...]

Alexis said, "Why not? Sure I'd like that." She flashed a brilliant smile then displaying white even teeth, and looking so damned beautiful that it nearly brought tough guy Bon to his knees.

As the three of them stepped inside the house, Alexis suddenly spotted the dining room table which was overflowing with various dishes.

"Oh I interrupted your dinner! I'll come back another time," she said, looking disconcerted.

"No, you won't," Bon said. "In fact my cook Fran has went overboard on our first dinner here and we would love it if you joined us."

As Alexis stared at awesome spread seeing and smelling the mouth watering roast beef, creamy mashed potatoes, garden salad, and the rest of several more appetizing dishes, she realized she was quite hungry and making a decision she said, "That would be lovely. Just need to call my own cook and let her know.

Bon walked over to the large hutch in the dining room and handed her his cell phone. While she was on the phone, he asked Fran to set another place at the table.

Closing the phone and thanking Bon, Alexis said she would like to use the restroom and freshen up first. He gave her directions to the nearest bathroom and a few minutes later she returned and joined them at the table. The housekeeper came in then with a placemat, plate and utensils, and smiling, setting them down in front of Alexis.

Bon introduced his cook to Alexis then and Fran said, "Hello miss," she said and then said to both men, "She is beautiful, ja?"

Bon smiled and said, "Very definitely," as Rye agreed and Alexis turned crimson and thanked the woman saying "Bon is lucky to have you!" Which made the woman blush then as she said softly, "Tack," and returned to the kitchen.

"Which in English means, thanks," Bon said. He explained then that he'd brought a translation book right after he'd hired Fran and had been brushing up on his Sweden for the last couple of weeks.

Alexis was very familiar with many of the common Swedish words and phrases Fran had spoken as after all she was a writer and her very first book, had a Swedish character named, Olga. But she remained silent letting Bon enjoy the feeling of being a bit more knowledgeable than she regarding linguistics.

Alexis smiled and looked at the food on the table. Her stomach was growling. "Everything looks wonderful," she commented helping herself to little of everything.

"Yes, Fran is an excellent cook," Bon replied. "Along with her native language and English she speaks German as well. She's been over here for the last ten years," he finished.

"This is marvelous," Alexis enthused as she tasted a bit of the beef.

Rye said, "Yeah, and the great thing is, she can cook just about anything, right Bon?"

Bon agreed saying Fran had skills in international cuisine as well as American, so he felt blessed that she was working for him.

The three of them then sat chatting as they finished the wonderful meal....

After dinner Bon showed Alexis around the house. The estate was just as awesome as she had suspected and after awhile, Alexis asked Bon if she could use the restroom. They were already upstairs so Bon took her to his bedroom, the only room she hadn't seen yet and as they walked in, Alexis took a look around thinking many women would kill to be where she was right now. Alone with the man himself inside his bedroom.

His king bed had a black satin bedspread covering it, with many various colored toss pillows at the top near the carved oak headboard. A huge armoire was on one side of the room done in oak as well and a matching dresser on the other side of the room, while a large ornately carved oak mirror hung above. Directly across from the bed stood a large screen t.v.

Bon then pointed at a door at the end of the wall near the bed and Alexis entered his bath. It was just as fabulous. The tub was a spa tub which was raised with two steps surrounding it and across from that was a huge double vanity with marble bowels and brass fixtures. The shower stall was huge, all glass with various shower heads including rain shower. There was a short tiled wall sticking out and behind it was the commode.

Alexis walked over to the vanity mirror and looked at herself. She looked amazing.

[You look like a goddess..., Thalia thought.]

A goddess? Alexis laughed wondering where the hell that had come from and said out loud, "You need to work on the modesty thing a bit though Alexis!"

She chuckled. However her laughter stopped abruptly, as she peered closer and gently touched the area on her cheekbone which had been scratched. There was nothing there. Nothing at all. When she'd used the bathroom before, she could barely make out the wounds but now, they were virtually gone! She raised her arm and looked. It too was devoid of scratches. She quickly unzipped her shorts and pulled them down. Turning around, she looked back in the mirror and as she was wearing a g-string her full buttocks were in plain sight. There was not one mark on her creamy skin, and none further up on her back either.

Feeling mystified, Alexis pulled her shorts back up and then crossing her arms stood there deep in thought. How could she not still have some kind of marks from those thorns? Wounds did not disappear that quickly. She stood there for a moment thinking.

[Thalia decided to intervene. She sent the thought......Augustina...]

Alexis thought about her Grandmother then, Augustina La Roux. Her grandmother had possessed a special gift. It had been a secret between the both of them until the day Augustina had passed away. Actually beyond, for Alexis had never told it to anyone, with one exception. She had told Ronnie her best friend. Her Grandmother had a gift of healing.

Once when Alexis had been twelve she had been severely scratched by her Grandmother's cat, and Augustina had spread some salve over the marks and placed her hand over it for a moment. She covered it with a bandage then saying to leave it on for three days. The next day, Alexis, curious had peeled back the bandage to find the marks were very faint, almost imperceptible to the eye. Even at twelve she was quite bright and wondered why they were barely there instead of being red, with scabs. After other incidents in which her Augustina had performed her special gift, healing minor cuts and wounds, the older woman admitted to Alexis one night that she possessed a special ability to heal. Augustina also told her that once Alexandria was an adult, at some point she would become aware of a special gift as well, but would not tell Alexis what it was, saying it was better that she discovered it herself.

Could her Grandmother have been referring to the gift of healing, she wondered? Was she following in Augustina's footsteps?

Just then a soft tap on the door startled her out of her blast from the past and she heard Bon say, "Alex is everything alright?"

She said, "Yes, Bon, I'll be out in a moment." Then she went over to the commode and flushed it. She had to have some reason for being in here so long, she thought. She quickly splashed water on her face and dried it on a soft hand towel.

She opened the door to find Bon standing there staring at her. As he wasn't moving, she placed her hands against his chest smiling, to push him gently out of the way. He sucked in his breath at her touch.

She removed her hands then as they stood staring at each other only inches apart. Green-blue eyes stared into piercing blue ones and then her own traveled to his mouth. Her lips opened slightly as she wondered what it would be like to kiss him, to taste him, to have his tongue invade and pillage her mouth, mingling with her own. She felt warm and saw a slight smile appear on his mouth. Her eyes moved up to his again, and his blue eyes were twinkling now. His entire expression wore that famous smirk he was so well known for. Which if Alexis were to translate would mean: I'm here, I'm ready, I'm waiting... just for you baby.

She said, "Why do you call me Alex?"

"Does it bother you?" he asked softly.

Alexis said, moving then and stepping around him, "I didn't say that. It's just that no one has ever called me that before," she finished her voice husky.

Bon had turned and was facing her again and said, "Good. I never liked the name Alexis very much, and Alexandria is a mouthful. Besides Alex suits you more," he said as he placed his hands on both of her shoulders.

"Alex is a man's name," she said cooly.

"Nah," Bon said. "It's just short for Alexandria, isn't it?" He suddenly slid both hands around to her back and pulled her up against him. Alexis' mouth went dry. Their mouths were inches apart. Her mound was pressed up against his package and suddenly she felt a hardness there and flames burst through her body, as her legs went weak. It had been too long.

Her eyes closed suddenly as her head went back and her lips parted and then his soft lips were on her own, but as she felt his tongue, feeling scorching flames of fire, she quickly pulled back. She pulled away from him, standing there, face turned away.

Bon said, after a brief silence, "So is there someone in your life right now? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?"

"No," she said, "I haven't been with anyone since"... she trailed off.

"Sorry," Bon said. "I didn't mean to pry."

She turned to him saying, "No, it's okay. I'm sure you probably read about my breakup with Jetrick Van James. It was in all the rag papers."

Bon had read about it and at the time had personally thought she was better off without that egocentric, puffed up, no talent asshole. The real talent in the band was the guitarist Jimmy Angelo. Bon knew the man, and thought he was a decent fellow and an awesome talent. Though of course not as awesome as his own guitarist.

He watched her, as she stood there lost in thought her face looking rather forlorn.

He walked closer to her and put his arms around her and said, "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."

Alexis smiled slightly and said, "I'll remember that Bon." He bent his head as if to kiss her again, but she pulled away.

"Am I moving too fast for you?" he asked.

"Maybe just a bit," she replied. "After all I just met you not more than an hour and a half ago."

"Has it been less than two hours?" he answered. "Okay, this is gonna sound corny but I feel like I've known you for a long time."

She said, "If it were any other man who said that, I might agree with you. But somehow, it sounds sincere when you say it. What's even stranger is I feel the same. You're very easy to talk to, has anyone ever told you that?" she asked her eyes wandering from his eyes to his sexy mouth.

He didn't answer, just smiled. God but he wanted her. The crush he'd had before, was nothing to the host of feelings he felt when he stared at her now. His eyes raked her body, taking in her full breasts, her long tanned legs, beautifully sculpted abs.

She was a little unnerved at his perusal of her body, feeling herself trembling slightly. Her own eyes made a trip down his gorgeous body. She wondered what he would look like completely naked as she'd never saw one picture of him that way.

Bon continued his appraisal of her finally focusing on her face again. He desperately longed to get her naked. He knew he was way overdue for sex and he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather have sex with other than her. But it wasn't just her body. He needed to possess all of her, mind, body and soul.

"I need to go," she said, bringing him out of his fantasies. 'I have stuff to do back at my house."

She saw Bon's brief look of disappointment at that, but recovering quickly he said, smiling, "I'll walk you back, if that's okay."

She said it was fine. As they left his bedroom he said, "By the way, how're your wounds doing? I can't even see the one on your face!" he said, staring at her cheekbone. She assured him that makeup works wonders, and the other wounds were healing nicely. No way was she going to tell him what she'd found. He'd think she was a freak and then she'd lose the interest of this most amazing man. A man who had made her feel alive again, both romantically and sexually.

Unfortunately though, he was a musician and she'd swore to Ronnie after she'd broke it off with Jet she'd never get involved with a musician again. And here she was, body betraying her. She knew she wanted to see him again and was sure he felt the same. When Ronnie found out she was going to rub it in good.

They walked downstairs and headed into the kitchen to find Rye having a conversation with Fran.

As they entered, he was standing by the housekeeper as she loaded the dishwasher and he said, "So what does Swedish babes like yourself do for fun in merry old Sweden?"

Fran, her back to the other two said, "Fooking, just like you Americans!"

Rye stared at her and then roared as Bon and Alexis joined in which caused Fran to spin around and seeing her employer, her face flamed as she cast her eyes down. She mumbled, something in Swedish, which Bon didn't recognize but suspected it was more than likely some form of apology.

Bon said, "Isn't Sweden where 'fooking' originated from?" The woman looked up then seeing Bon's broad grin and blushed even further, though her mouth wore a tiny trace of a smile. Not answering, she quickly busied herself at the sink while Alexis said goodbye to Rye.

He put his arm around her and kissed her on her cheek saying he was sure they'd see each other again before he returned to Los Angeles.

Alexis said goodbye then to the housekeeper and praised her for her fabulous meal, to which the woman turned smiling and replied, "Tack miss!'

Bon took Alexis' arm then as they both walked outside and started across the property.

When they reached the tree line Alexis said he didn't need to walk her all the way but he insisted. Privately she was pleased as she was wishing that this moment could last a lot longer...

Bon was thinking the exact same thing and he had a definite feeling that he was going to be seeing a lot more of Alex and he vowed that nothing was gonna stand in his way to prevent that from happening.

Absolutely nothing.