Chapter 15

The aftermath of September 11, 2001 sent shockwaves worldwide ... but even more so throughout the U.S. than anywhere else. There were almost immediate backlashes against Muslims ... even ones who'd been living in the country all of their lives! Various Islamic organizations in the U.S. denounced the tragedy as acts of violence perpetrated by evil-minded individuals, but that did little to ease everyone else's minds ... all Muslims were being perceived as evil-minded...

Nuri Madani and other young Middle Eastern males around L.A. were being stared at with open fear and hatred by a great number of people ... guilty simply because of their race and religion! Most of America was ready to forget that the U.S. Justice system was based on the premise "innocent until proven guilty" and that the forefathers had fled the country of their birth seeking freedom from persecution because of their religious beliefs. And we were still learning the hard way that everyone deserved to be "free" ... no matter what their race ... and free to express themselves ... no matter what their OPINION...

Nuri was forced a few times when confronted with someone who was succumbing irrationally to fear to use his "gift." He stared deeply into their eyes and watched as they calmed down...

This is just your fear talking ... you have nothing to fear from him ... He is not a threat to you or anyone else ... He does not know you but he knows there is goodness in your heart ... You do not want to harm him ... it is only fear that is clouding your mind ... Release your fear ... he is not your enemy...

Each one of them had frowned in confusion as they'd apologized for ranting at him. Then they'd thanked him before they'd walked away for understanding that they'd just been using him to vent their fears...

A few nights after 9/11, Nuri was out with Jasmine when three very angry men suddenly confronted them outside of a restaurant. Nuri very quickly looked into their hearts and saw that they were too consumed by anger and hatred ... his good intentions would mean nothing to them.

He moved Jasmine behind him to protect her as he said, "Get back inside ... and call for help!"

Jasmine saw the angry glares in the men's eyes. "No ... I'm not leaving you, Nuri!" She moved back around in front of him and glared up at a man in his late 40's who appeared to be the ringleader. "If these barbarians want to get to you, they'll have to go through me!"

The ringleader sneered nastily, "Well, well ... it appears the little cunt has a thing for this towelhead! It'll be my pleasure to go through you, girlie! I'll teach your bastard Muslim boyfriend how we treat enemies on our own soil and then I'll remind your little traitorous cunt how it feels to be fucked by an American!"

Nuri growled angrily and grasped Jasmine's upper arms to push her aside just as the older man lunged toward her. She screamed and threw her hands up and shoved them toward the attacking man's chest ... he gasped and collapsed down onto his knees, grasping at his chest and then fell over sideways. He died almost instantly...

Jasmine and Nuri stood still, shaking and looking down at their would-be attacker. Jasmine glanced apprehensively at her hands as she still had them poised defensively in front of her. They moved back when the man's two friends came rushing over and started trying to perform CPR while another bystander called 911 again.

The police arrived first, as an on-looker among the crowd that gathered had already called to report the trouble brewing. When an ambulance arrived, the paramedics determined that the man had died from a heart attack. Witnesses corroborated Jasmine and Nuri's story ... the man had approached menacingly and she had only attempted to defend herself.

Sergeant Rickie Estevez arrived as things were winding down when he'd heard the names of the victims of the attempted assault. He took Jasmine and Nuri aside and spoke to them quietly. "Are you sure this is the whole story? Jasmine ... honey ... I know you have the ability to heal. Is there any way you might have caused his death?"

Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head uncertainly. "I don't know, Uncle Rickie. I ... uh ... was afraid the man was going to hurt us and when he lunged at me, I just reacted! All I felt was fear for my life and Nuri's and I didn't know what to do! I could feel how evil his thoughts were and it scared me terribly ... I didn't mean to kill him if I am the reason he's dead! I swear ... I didn't mean to kill him!" she whispered desperately as tears ran down her cheeks.

Nuri pulled her against him and held her as she cried. Rickie patted her shoulder and soothed quietly, "I know you never would've intended that, Jasmine. But we may need to have your Mom and Dad look into this and see if it was possible. This is something that you need to know, sweetie ... something about yourself that you may need to learn how to control. You understand?" he asked gently and she nodded her head sadly.

"Oh God, Nuri ... WHY?!!! Why did that man have to die?!! I didn't mean to do it ... I don't even know HOW!!!" Jasmine cried as she wept uncontrollably in Nuri's arms later that night.

He tightened his hold as he soothed her. "Shhh, my love ... you can't blame yourself. We don't know that it WAS you! It may have been strictly natural causes. Let's not think the worst until there is proof otherwise. Besides, I don't want you ever putting yourself in danger again because of me. I swear, Jasmine ... I'll wring your neck if you ever do that again!" he grated teasingly as he put his hands around her neck and shook her gently.

She sniffed loudly and stared at him sadly. "Maybe I should be destroyed before I kill again. But I don't think that would work," she said softly, frowning worriedly as her eyes grew distant. "I think my instinctual fear for my life would kick in and I might not be able to control what happens..." She looked up into Nuri's concerned dark brown eyes. "What if fear turns me into some kind of ... killing machine?!!"

Nuri could see that she was deathly afraid at the prospect that her "gift" could be a "curse" as well. He cupped her face in his hands as he asked gently, "Would you ever be afraid of me, Jasmine?" Tears leaked from her eyes and she slowly shook her head. He lowered his lips to hers as he murmured, "And you need never be afraid when you're WITH me, either. I'd die before I'd let anything happen to you."

Jasmine whimpered as he kissed her softly, her fears suddenly clarifying. When he lifted his head again, she whispered hoarsely, "That's what I'm most afraid of, Nuri ... I can't bear the thought of losing you! I was more afraid of that man killing you than anything he could've done to me! I think I killed him to protect you! What am I going to do, Nuri? I don't know if I can live with this!!!" she cried sickly.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bed, grating forcefully, "Stop this, Jasmine!!! We don't know that you killed that man! And even if you did, it was an accident!!! You said yourself that you didn't mean to!!! Let it go ... and just love me, Jasmine!" he whispered as he pushed her dress up and slid her panties off of her legs.

He stood beside the bed, staring down at her as he removed his slacks and shorts, saying, "I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, either! And if I had to kill to protect you, I would!!! So, you see ... I'm no better than you. We're the same ... we belong together..." he whispered as he crawled over top of her.

"Marry me, Jasmine ... say you'll marry me," he groaned as he slid his cock inside her, watching the sad frown on her face fade into an expression of passion and pleasure as he continued thrusting. "Say it, my habibah..." he whispered against her lips.

"Yessss..." she hissed quietly. "I'll marry..." the rest was swallowed up by his mouth parting her lips and thrusting his tongue in rhythm with their bodies. They came together quickly, both of them needing to feel the life-affirming sensation of climaxing together after facing the ugly stark reality of death...

Doctors Charlie and Lily Richards were granted permission to observe the autopsy performed by the L.A. County Medical Examiner. It was noted that the man's heart tissue showed signs of weakness and he was suffering from overall poor cardiovascular health. But the M.E. was a little surprised at the amount of damage inside the heart and wondered aloud how it was that it looked like the internal tissues of the heart had literally "exploded" and what could possibly have caused it to happen...

Charlie and Lily glanced at each other and frowned grimly ... They realized it was very likely that Jasmine had the ability to exploit a person's poor health as well as heal them. Her instinctual fear caused her body to react by turning her "gift" around to protect herself and Nuri. But would she be able to learn how to control that aspect?

Jasmine was terrified at the prospect of trying to answer that question ... but she felt a little stronger to face it when she and Nuri were married at City Hall a few days later. Charlie and Lily served as witnesses for their daughter and Nuri and helped to move her things from their house to Nuri's apartment.

Jonathan, Tommy and J.J. weren't upset to have her living with them on a permanent basis. She'd spent many nights there before and usually fixed dinner for them ... and her cooking was way better than theirs!

Tommy's girlfriend Kira was becoming great friends with Jasmine and Sophia, who was secretly engaged to J.J. The three young women noticed that Jonathan stopped bringing girls home with him. More often than not, he'd get caught sneaking in the next morning after spending the night somewhere else ... His friends all shook their heads and wondered sadly if he'd ever settle down...

Soon after 9/11, the United States was forced to face the fact that, even though the country had grown and prospered on the bases of democracy and capitalism, it was by no means perfect. There was a growing number of the population living at or below the poverty level with no means to pay for things like health care, much less support themselves. But there was more opportunity here for anyone to improve their life if they weren't happy with it than anywhere else, but too many people couldn't seem to see a way out of poverty ... or they just didn't want to try.

But the problems of poverty and health care were forgotten for a while as everyone cried out for the need to feel safe again ... our national security had been breached. And the government's only answer to that was to tighten security ... which meant infringing on everyone's rights when it came to air travel!

A week after regular airline flights resumed in the U.S., Megan, Barbie and Didi flew to Washington to spend a little time with their husbands, who were working overtime for the FBI. The three women had managed to get another room in the hotel where their husbands had been residing, so for a few nights, the couples all had rooms to themselves.

The women spent their days wandering around D.C. trying to remember everything that was still good about the country. If their husbands managed to get away from HQ early enough, they all went out to dinner together. And the rest of the night, the couples spent as much time as they could making love, reminding each other how deep their love and commitment were to each other...

Megan and Jonnie North held each other tightly as they stroked together deeply and tenderly. They cried softly afterward as they wished their son would be lucky enough to finally find someone to love the way they'd always loved each other...

Barbie and Brad Seldon made love hotly and desperately. They were still amazed at the coincidences surrounding their son's soul mate and the fact that all of their lives could've turned out so differently ... some of them would not have existed at all!

Didi and Jay Hanson went at each other as wildly and passionately as they always had! They were wondering how long it would be until J.J. admitted that he and Sophia Estevez were having sex. They'd known the two had been crazy for each other since they were kids and they were amazed their son had been able to hold back as long as he did!

The men drove their wives to the airport the day they were scheduled to return to L.A. They had to arrive over an hour before the scheduled departure in order to have time to comply with all the new security requirements.

They flashed their FBI badges at the security checkpoint so they were allowed to accompany their wives to the departure gate. The three couples found a nearby quiet corner and spent the last fifteen minutes before the women boarded the plane making out like they were teenagers again!

The men growled in frustration as they realized their wives were going to have to leave them with raging hard-ons and the women weren't very happy about that, either! Jonnie, Brad and Jay returned to FBI headquarters and tried to take their minds off the lingering tingles in their groins ... but a quick image from the past few nights with their wives would have them, once again, erect in seconds! That night, they were relegated to sharing phone sex with their wives so they could get back to concentrating on the most important investigation ever...

Back in L.A., Megan had everyone over for dinner so she and Barbie and Didi could tell about their trip to Washington. Jonathan stayed near his mother all evening as he could sense how much she already missed his father again and that his parents were both worried about him. After everyone else left, he stayed a while longer to keep her company.

They ended up passing out as he held her on the couch after they'd cried together about their fears over the fate of the world after they'd finished a bottle of wine. The dark forces wasted no time in taking advantage of their clouded minds through their dreams...

Megan was in Jonnie's arms again ... where she dreamed of being every night. She snuggled into him as he groaned and wrapped his strong arms even tighter around her. She didn't like that she couldn't rub her cheek against his skin, so she brought her hand up and unbuttoned his shirt. He sighed contentedly when she pushed his shirt open and laid her head on his firm chest as he slid his hands around her back and held her tighter.

He was so warm and she wanted to feel the warmth of their bodies pressed together. Megan pulled back just far enough to unzip her workout jacket and shrug it from her shoulders. Then she groaned softly when she felt Jonnie's hands on her bra, unfastening the hooks and pulling it from her body. They both sighed as they rolled toward each other, plastering the front of their torsos together.

Megan moaned deeply when she felt Jonnie force his thigh between hers and rubbed firmly against her crotch. Her hips undulated on his thigh as her pussy flooded with wetness and throbbed with need. Her hormones lately had been making her feel as horny as she'd been when they were teenagers! And spending so much time away from him lately had made her need him even more...

And apparently, he needed her just as badly! She gasped and groaned when she felt his hard cock rubbing against her lower abdomen. She slid her hand from his back to his ass, pulling his body against hers as she groaned, "I need you, Jonnie! Oh God ... how I've needed you!!!"

Jonathan couldn't remember where he'd fallen asleep. He'd been sleeping with so many different women lately that he'd lost count. He'd been chiding himself derisively that he was "single-handedly" keeping the condom industry in business! He couldn't help it that women kept throwing themselves at him...

And he wasn't using his "gift!" Women just seemed to pick up on the fact that he was a "good guy" who also happened to enjoy being "bad!" And when he was "bad" he was "very, verrrry good!" Or so he'd been told by dozens of women! They'd all been delighted that he was so nice, good looking, well hung ... and he knew what to do with it!

He'd also been up front with every woman who came on to him that he was not looking for a relationship. He knew his soul mate was far away and that he'd have to search for her because she was unable to come to him. He'd first have to learn how to fight for her ... he would literally have to rescue her from certain death. And Nuri would have to help him...

And, here he was ... again losing himself in the arms of another "needy" woman ... another older woman from the feel of her full hanging breast as he cupped one gently. He grinned sexily ... older women were such hot and generous lovers! And he could tell this woman was desperate for him...

Jonathan dropped his head to kiss the woman's neck, inhaling her familiar scent ... he must've been with her before. He liked it ... it was so ... comforting and inviting at the same time. She moaned as he dragged his lips across her left shoulder and then down to her breast. His cock throbbed with need when she hissed and arched against him as he sucked her nipple into his mouth.