I've never thought of myself as an angry person, or a violent one. At least not by nature. But the end of the world brings out things in you that you would never expect. Plus when you have the words I just heard them say in hushed, excited (terribly hushed) whispers echoing in your head… Well, anyone would be seeing red.

It had taken everything in me to turn my heel and walk away, and certainly not cross the room and slit their throats with the blade I had hidden up my sleeve. They would have deserved it but that wasn't the plan. And although I never entirely knew the angle we would be going with when we started I knew the outcome… What always was the outcome. But... That didn't stop me from shaking from anger, filled with disgust for them. How dare they?

How fucking dare they?!

I wish I could say that was all. But that was certainly not the case. So this was the angle we were going with to tear this Outpost apart? Really? I thought to myself. Well… That would have been nice to know five minutes ago.

I had to resist stomping up to the room of my shared suite like a child. But I didn't stop myself from ripping open the door, the sound of it smacking the stone echoing in the halls. I shoved myself in and slammed it shut, hearing the clap ringing even in the suite making my teeth rattle but it wasn't enough

Not enough to sate the angry monster I could feel in my veins. Oh no, only one thing could do that and the person that I wanted to do it to was in that fucking office… Doing another fucking interview with another slimy survivor who should have died during the goddamn Armageddon. I could scream at the thought, I hated every single one of them so much right now. I needed him here and those motherfuckers...

"This goddamn Outpost…" I hissed into the empty room.

Or I thought it was empty anyway…

"Really?" A voice teasingly lilted making me jump, my shaking stopped suddenly as though I had stepped into a hot bath. "Is that all?"

I swung around to feel my heart jump into my throat. What was the phrase?

Speak of the devil…?

He was sitting in the far left corner at the desk, the laptop open before him. Screen looking white from a distance making me think he was checking emails. Normally, I'd ask if he had gotten anything more from those idiots we had left at the Sanctuary. Maybe even tease him a little about one-day needing glasses with how often he was on that computer, but I really wasn't in the mood for it.

Not at all.

Nor was I in the mood for him to look so effortlessly beautiful. Dressed in black yet still blazing bright, his ginger blonde hair spilling effortlessly over his shoulders even as he leaned his jaw into his palm, watching me. There was a slight smirk growing on his face that made me think my outburst amused him as I was normally the quiet one between us. Normally I would be more than okay with that as I always knew that sexy smirk would lead to something more deeper and sensual than I could have imagined I could ever possibly get in my life. Much less at the end of the world.

But after just a few moments ago, I didn't want teasing, or playful. I wanted something harder, sharper, rougher and…I wanted something else I had never wanted to express. Until now. But I pushed that fear aside.

Oh, he was so going to get it one way or another.

"Oh sorry, am I bothering you... Michael?" I asked cooly.

Good, I thought and I'm sure he heard that clearly in my head. He was always in my head… Even when he wasn't reading my thoughts.

He quirked up an eyebrow for a moment, surprised at the sound of his name on my tongue. Cause you know what? Screw the little rule of going by last names, we were alone after all. But the surprise faded as his handsome face became impassive. Blank, almost like a marble statue. Yet he couldn't hide the storm in those too impossibly blue eyes.

"And what, pray tell, have they done now?" He asked smoothly.

I could hear the gears start to click into place. Michael was many many things and one of them was protective. I had seen how protective at the last Outpost. But this wasn't something he could just crack a few necks and tear a few hearts out to fix.

"They told me something so very interesting." I snapped. "Gallant in particular."

That made him pause for just a fraction of a second but then I thought I was imaging it.

"Oh?" Michael said with a tilt of his head.

"Apparently, you enjoy black latex, as much as he does." I snapped. "Funny… Cause you and I know you prefer leather if the marks on my ass have anything to say about that."

Michael seemed to freeze as the weight of my words sunk in. Not sure what I was expecting by confronting him like this… Maybe an explanation? I mean I knew he hadn't actually fucked Gallant. Nor would he with how they disgusted him. Oh how he ranted about him- about all of them- behind these closed doors. But… I wasn't expecting him to sigh and roll his eyes, at this. Like he knew I was going to say that and was just dealing with it like I was some bratty child, as his hand fell away from his jaw. And that pissed me off even more. Cause if what they said was true then…

Then... That demon we summoned...

"What would you have me say?" Michael asked me, disappointment ringing in his words.

That strange disappointment puzzled me for a moment but shoved it aside.

"How about, 'I'm going to send the demon for Gallant's ass as part of cracking this Outpost apart'? Or was that too hard for our high and mighty Antichrist to say?" I asked him heatedly.

He fixed me with a hard stare as I continued.

"Do you have any idea how it was for me to hear about it from them when you're supposed to be my partner?"

I could see those beautiful lips of his tighten into a slight frown. Don't think of how they taste. Don't you do it! I all but screamed at myself hands curling into fists. Not right now.

"I don't recall having to answer to you when it comes to my plans." He gritted out.

"And I don't recall having you keeping them from me," I said pushing further.

"Because you would be amenable to this course of action if I told you?" Michael lilted sarcastically. "You're saying you are not jealous even though I didn't touch him in the least… Are you?"

I could feel my face burn as he all but pinned me to the wall with that look. Yes, I admit it, I was jealous. How could I not be? Gallant was downstairs telling that bratty little heiress about how good he felt when he slammed into that spot, how sexy his grunts were. How it felt to have the man pull his hair back, like a handle or a leash. Not knowing that there was no way it could have been my Michael Langdon. How did I know? Well...

The man had been wrapped up with me that night, after all. Bleeding with me in a chamber farther below. A hand at my throat, and another at my hip holding me close to, kissing at my shoulder gently. Even as he fucked me roughly from behind, each thrust hitting that spot that made me cry out. Bloody fingers that had drawn the inverse pentagram below, slowly tracking down lower and lower to my clit... And I couldn't tell Gallant that.

So, of course, I was jealous. But that wasn't the only reason. Oh no… There was another reason that this angered me.

"Do I have to remind you of the Outpost you found me in?" I said, glaring at him, wishing my face would cool down already.

An angry dark glint shown in his eyes for a moment. He had told me once that the Outpost he had found me in was the first he had visited and was the first that made him wonder if he should have destroyed every of these bunkers and be done with it. And that had been the first a few weeks after the bombs had dropped. Those weeks… Felt like a lifetime for me.

That bunker hadn't been ready when I was dragged into that dungeon and… I wonder if it should have ever been. I do know that person they had chosen to look after us never should have headed it. Not with the things they had made the survivors do...

What they were getting ready to make me do.

Neither of us had spoken of it since we had left it in the dust. I knew he hadn't forgotten, and nor could I… It haunted me still, and I knew it haunted him every time when walked into another bunker or another outpost looking for people to rebuild the world with. It had taken months for me to recover but I had with him by my side. Perhaps that's what was killing me the most about this, was watching him do this was like looking into a dark mirror.

"Do I also have to remind you about the mess that was Outpost 4?" I all but hissed.

At this he finally spoke.

"If I recall correctly," Michael spoke, trying to sound as even as he could."You didn't seem to mind the results then"

"Even though you hated every moment of it." I said. "Letting people think you were being used like that."

I know you do…

Cause I hated it too when I was read to do the same thing to just survive.

His jaw tightened, those ringed fingers curling into fists. I wanted to take them in my hands as I could tell it still bothered him, even now. He had said I was better than some plaything, some object. That had dragged me from falling deeper in to the depths. And, damn it, so was he.

Yet he spoke up.

"Why should I care what they think when what they did played the part so perfectly with what we needed? Why should you care anyway? You know the truth and that's all that matters."

My hands curled into fists. Damn it Michael, I thought. He couldn't see it but I did. The small signs I hated starting to show that this plan was getting to him, like the other times it had. He hated this. Hated pretending he was something other than what he was. Hated pretending that we weren't what we were. And I could see the small cracks in his armor. He already had the burden of a new world on his shoulders. He didn't need this shit on top of it.

Plan or fucking not.

"Oh forgive me for thinking of your well being," I said snidely, my arms crossing in front of my chest.

Michael scoffed.

"If I wanted your thoughts, I would be sure to ask you for them, my lady. Now if you are quite done -." He said turning back to the laptop.

Oh no you don't! I thought as I stalked across the room. You're not going to just shut me out like this, Michael.

I don't know what possessed me to do it. I was never like this even during those desperate times, but...Michael had a way of dragging things out of me I never expected.

I slammed the laptop shut, the click probably a bit more violent than I should've, but damn it did I want his attention and you know what? Fuck the Cooperative and the rest of them. He turned to me, blue eyes blazing. I could see he was about to snap at me when he must have seen something on my face as I leaned forward. I could see those soft full lip slowly slide closed.

"Let me make something rather clear, my lord..." I told him cooly, in a way I had learned from him.

Before he could move I jerked a hand forward, my fingers instantly tangling in the strands of his silky hair. I tried not to think of how good it felt- I had run my hands through his hair so many times during those rare tender and those not so tender moments- it was almost distracting.

Almost.

I pulled him back in his chair, forcing him away from that fucking laptop before I straddled his lap, my other hand pushing against his chest, forcing him to stay at a distance. Unable to move closer to me unless I wanted. He hissed, but he said nothing.

Good boy.

I leaned closer as though to kiss him but I drew back at the last moment. He hadn't earned that just yet after all. I could see his blue eye flash black for one brief moment as if he realized what I was doing. How does your own medicine taste, Michael? Bet it's bitter, isn't it? I thought and I could see the fire in those cool eyes of his making it clear to me he certainly had heard that. I was tempted to push further but now was not the time.

Not yet.

"... You want to send a demon to fuck someone? Fine. But you better damn well tell me first. I'm supposed to be your esteemed college aren't I?"

I gave him a bit of a look at those two words, trying not to smile. I knew why he insisted on playing it this way, it was safer for me then for him to say fiancee. And after the last Outpost and he didn't want to take chances. But what was the point when the fucking plan hurt him like this?

"And what will you do if I don't tell you?" Michael challenged voice strained.

I felt a smirk cross my face and I pulled a bit harder at his hair this time, forcing him to lean back, baring his neck to me. I could see him swallowing hard, his throat working to keep the bubble of a moan from leaving those full lips. I could see a fire started to blaze in his darkening blue eyes.

I glanced down and almost whimpered as I could see that telltale bulge starting to grow in his slacks. I was tempted to grind into him but it was then I just noticed the start of a smile on his face that disappeared when I caught it.

Suddenly… Something clicked into place. The amusement when I walked in, the disappointment when I snapped at him. This was his real reason for not telling me. He wanted to push me… Make me jealous, tease that protective streak I had. Bring this out of me. Something that had niggled in the back of my mind since I first saw him, something that had scared me then as I feared I was like them but now… Now... I knew better. He had chosen me, and...

I had played right into his hands.

You overdramatic ass, I thought, you could have just asked.

But then again…

This was starting to get fun…

I leaned forward, gently running my lips across the corner of his jaw. Moving my hand in his hair to get a bit of a better grip cause seeing him trying to fight back the groan was intoxicating.

"You may own me but..." I whispered slowly, letting my breath tickle across his skin.

I could feel Michael shiver under me. Hands curled into fists yet not touching me although I could tell from how his knuckles were turning white he wanted to but I hadn't given him permission yet…

Just like the many time he had done the same to me.

"...Only as long as I own you…"

This time a smile crossed my face. The hand on his chest starting to slide down. Teasing the buttons of his shirt as my fingers went down lower, and lower, and lower. Stopping to tease the belt on his pants, just skimming the top of the bulge below it, feeling his burning body heat become almost scorching.

Watching his blue eyes become black as I saw a little glimpse of the demon that lurked under the surface. The demon I knew I had on a leash as I tugged his hair just a little more.

"...And I think you need a reminder of who you belong to."