This is my 3rd attempt at the 3rd (and possibly final) book in The Damned series. I've been struggling with the plot of this one, as some of you may know. But, the previous two books received a lot of love and this has been my favorite thing to work on, so I don't want to give up on it. I've deleted my first two attempts and completely scrapped my other storylines to come up with something completely different and I hope it works out this time. Third time's a charm, right? Anyway, here it is. Thank you all for sticking with me.

Gaston's fate was to be determined the day after Hercules and Meg's wedding. Gaston knew Meg would draw it out as long as possible and he wouldn't see anyone other than his guard until that night.

Gaston hated being a prisoner on his own ship. He had been so close to getting away. Kida was gone; he could have gone back to living his own life. Of course being king had been appealing at the time of agreeing to marry Kida, which is why he agreed to the arrangement in the first place. But, the last few years had given him nothing.

Well. Not nothing. He did meet Meg. She was something else: so full of passion and fire. She wasn't delicate like the women he was used to being around in his life before Kida. Nor was she cruel like Kida. Except when she threatened to rape Gaston with a metal pole. She would have done it, too, had Hercules not stopped her. Of that, Gaston was certain.

Gaston leaned back against the cell wall. He imagined the hunting lodge he had in the woods just beyond his mother's kingdom. Greed caused him to leave, but now he wished he was back there. True, if he had never left, he never would have met Meg; but would that be so bad? She was married now and despised him. Nothing from the last few years was worth his arrangement with Kida. After everything, he wasn't even going to be king because he and Kida never married.

"Well, well… How the mighty have fallen." Meg's sultry and taunting voice cut through the silence of the brig.

Gaston got to his feet and walked over to his cell door. He didn't see his guard anywhere, though he was painfully aware of the metal pole leaning against the wall not two feet from Meg. She noticed it, as well. She picked up the pole and tapped it against her palm as she walked up to Gaston's cell.

Meg stopped in front of him and tapped the pole against the bars of his cell. Gaston flinched. She arched her eyebrow. "So, there is something the big, bad Gaston is afraid of."

"What do you want, Meg?"

Meg smirked at him. "I think you know what I want, Gaston." She tapped the pole against the cell door again, this time a little harder.

Gaston fought against his instinct to move away from her. She was simultaneously scaring him and turning him on and he didn't like this effect she was having on him.

Meg exhaled and dropped the pole onto the floor with a loud clang. "Alas, that is not why I'm here. I just couldn't resist." She winked at him. "No, I'm here to let you know you will not be tortured or killed tonight- or any other night." Gaston wished she would have at least tried to hide her disappointment. "Hercules has decided we're gonna let you go once we dock in Tortuga."

"You're letting me go?"

"Hercules is," Meg corrected. "I had other plans for you."

"I'm well aware of what you wanted to do to me."

Meg stepped closer to the cell. "Hercules doesn't think you don't pose a threat to us."

"Us as in you and Hercules?"

Meg narrowed her eyes at him. "Us as in the crew. There is absolutely nothing you could do to come between me and Hercules."

Gaston moved closer to Meg so now they were only a breath away from each other. "Are you sure about that?" he whispered. Meg didn't move away from him. He knew she wouldn't. She could rant all day about how Gaston had raped her and every other woman on the ship, but it wasn't true. At least not when it came to Meg. He would never do that to her. They had only been together once and she had wanted it just as much as he had, Gaston had no doubt about that. But, that had been before she fell for Hercules.

Gaston reached through the bars and pulled Meg into a hard kiss. She fought against him, but she was no match for his strength. He bit her lower lip, causing her to gasp. He slipped his tongue into her mouth. She stopped fighting him the moment their tongues touched. She gave in and kissed him back urgently, no doubt remembering all the things his tongue could do.

When Meg's kiss became more desperate, Gaston broke away and moved out of her reach. Meg stumbled back, tripping over the pole and sending it rolling across the floor. She leaned against the wall across from Gaston's cell to keep her balance. At first she looked dazed and Gaston knew he had gotten to her.

But, then a look of fury crossed her purple eyes. She pressed the back of her hand against her lips, trying to wipe away the kiss and desire. "I never want to see you again."

Her words stung and there was a dull pain in his chest as he watched her flee up the stairs, but ultimately it didn't matter. Gaston knew he wouldn't see her again after they docked in Tortuga, so he figured he may as well get one more kiss before it was all over. It had been worth it.

X X X

Meg paced the deck. She kissed him back! How could she have let herself be so weak? How could she let him get to her? How could she kiss Gaston; the person she hated the most in the world?

But, why do you hate him, Meg? The question invaded her thoughts and she stopped pacing. Why do you hate him? What did he do to you? He's never mistreated you or hurt you in any way. So, why do you hate him so much?

"Because he's an ass," Meg replied, out loud.

"Who is?"

John startled Meg. She had no idea he had been standing behind her. She turned to look up at him. "No one."

John shrugged. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked her, walking over to the edge of the ship.

"No." Meg joined him. She leaned against the edge and looked out at the water.

"Me either."

"Trouble in paradise?" Meg guessed.

"Well… Not exactly." John pushed his hands through his hair. "Jim said some things the other day that I ignored at the time but are kinda wearing on me now."

"I'm all ears if you want to talk," Meg offered. She was stalling; she'd do anything to avoid going back to bed with Hercules right now. One look at her and Hercules would see her guilt in an instant.

"The night before your wedding, Jim had been insecure and paranoid about having Sinbad on the ship," John began. "He was worried that maybe Sinbad planned to join our crew all along just to get close to me."

Meg shook her head. "I don't…" She started to tell him she didn't think Sinbad would do that, but stopped herself. She knew Sinbad and that was exactly the type of underhanded thing he would do. "Maybe you should avoid being alone with Sinbad for a while." Lest he grab you and kiss you, and make you feel things that are completely forbidden…

"Meg, are you all right? You look pale."

Meg nodded. "I think I just need to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning, John."

"Good night, Meg."

Meg couldn't keep this secret from Hercules. It would eat her up and only get worse the more time passed.

Hercules was awake when Meg returned to the captain's quarters. He was sitting on the bed, but got to his feet when Meg walked in.

"Where were you?" Hercules asked. "I woke up and you were gone. Is everything all right?"

Meg's heart was hammering against her chest and she wondered if it was as loud to Hercules as it was to her. She took a deep breath to calm herself, but it didn't help. "No, it's not," she finally said. "Gaston kissed me."

Anger clouded Hercules' face. "I'll kill him." He made his way to the door, but Meg grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"No. Wait. That's not all." Hercules looked down at her with those clear blue eyes and Meg almost chickened out. But, he had to know the truth. "Gaston kissed me and… I kissed him back."

For a moment a look of pure betrayal crossed Hercules' face. Meg had never seen him look so hurt. But, then the anger returned. He grabbed his sword and stormed out of the room.

"Hercules, wait!" Meg called after him.

Meg chased after Hercules, but he was faster than she was. She didn't catch up to him until she reached the brig. Hercules was standing in front of Gaston's cell, with the door wide open.

Hercules turned on her when he saw her. "What the hell happened down here, Meg?" he demanded. "Why is his cell empty? Did you let him go?"

"What? Of course not! He was still locked up when I left."

"You expect me to believe that? You tell me the two of you were making out down here and now all of sudden he's been set free and I'm supposed to believe you had nothing to do with it?"

"I didn't! I don't know how he got out, but I had nothing to do with it!" They were both shouting now and Meg was surprised none of the crew had come down to find out what was going on.

Hercules shoved Meg out of the way as he headed back up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

Hercules spun around to face her. "We're in the middle of the goddamn ocean, Meg; he couldn't have gotten far. He's still on this ship somewhere and I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him. I'll deal with you later."

A/N: So far in this series, Meg and Hercules haven't had any real conflict between them. I've been too easy on them, so I wanted to throw a little drama their way. Everything can't always be smooth sailing...