Chizuru pulled her hood farther down over her head covering her eyes from sight. The wind was brisk and the pale moon shone brightly above her. In front of her the fire crackled in the silence of the night. She listened and watched it quietly.

He had been hiding in the shadows now for over an hour. She had noticed him three miles back before she had decided to set up for the night. When night began to fall she had stopped and started making preparations for the night. He was keeping his distance, but he was still there none the less.

Chizuru remained still and calm keeping her eyes on the fire. She didn't want to alert him to her knowledge of him. She had remembered seeing his face once before in the market back in Edo. Just a quick glance was all she needed. His face wasn't one that was easily forgotten.

She had been appraising some fruit when she had glanced up and caught his eyes staring straight at her. It was just a brief moment, but she had known he had been staring. His face was handsome. Too handsome almost. He had high cheek bones and soft looking lips, but his eyes held danger.

And that danger was keeping her awake. She could only imagine her father had hired people to find her. He wouldn't have waited long. She had only run away a week ago now. But she thought she would have had a little more time. A little more time to get farther away.

'Just one more day and I would have reached the coast.' She growled out in her head.

Slowly she leaned back placing her travel pack behind her head as a pillow before closing her eyes. The soft popping of the fire would have sent her to sleep immediately if it wasn't for him. She could still sense him out in the woods. He had moved a little closer now, but he was still far away. About a hundred yards away now. She slowed her breathing to even it out.

About an hour had passed before she felt him move closer. He was only twenty yards away now. Her skin started to itch. He was so close. Quiet as a snake he crept closer to her 'sleeping' form. When she felt his heat next to her she clutched the knife at her side and grabbed the back of his head with the other and jerked his throat to her blade. His eyes flew open wide but he remained composed.

His breath fanned over her face and she felt a shiver crawl up her spine. She should kill him. She should be feeling fear at his presence. She should be downright scared. But all she felt…was desire. His tongue darted out quickly to wet his dry lips, and her eyes followed the movement. Quickly she darted her eyes back to his.

"Why are you following me?" she whispered out. A half grin slide out onto his face.

"Obviously you must know why seeing as you are so prepared. They didn't mention that," he whispered back. His voice…oh good Lord his voice. It was deep and husky and made another shiver go down her spine. She scowled and started pushing the blade into his throat causing him to start backing up so she could get her feet beneath her. Slowly they rose to their feet together, her blade still at his throat and his hands still out to the sides.

"There is much you don't know," she spoke again a little louder this time. Slowly she backed away from him still pointing the blade at him.

"Truly," was all he said. His eyes slowly took in her form. Her hood had fallen back revealing her long dark brown hair and crystal clear green eyes. The fire light illuminated her face revealing soft cheeks and full pouting lips. As his eyes slid back to meet her gaze, she shivered again. Unfortunately…he noticed this one.

"Do I make you nervous princess?" His voice held a light mocking tone and his eyes were practically dancing with mirth in the firelight. She gripped the blade tighter.

"Stop that! I should have killed you…" She scolded herself for not taking the chance when it was presented. Why did she not kill him actually? It would have been so easy. Just slit his throat and be done with it. Yes it would have been messy but such is life. Yet…she had spared him.

"Stop what princess?" he mocked taking a step forward.

"That!" she gestured with the knife towards him while taking a step back. Slowly…he began to circle her.

"And don't call me princess!" she growled out turning to keep him in front of her. He slowly dropped his hands and shrugged.

"Such a pretty price for such a pretty princess...hardly seems fitting though. I say they should have offered more…." He brought his hands up to rest them behind his head.

"Just stop it! I won't let you take me back there!" She was getting desperate. She had had the upper hand and now somehow she didn't. Was he simply playing with her?

"You know…I could always let you go….for a good price that is" he shrugged. She scoffed at him and took a step back only to bump into a tree. Startled she gasped and jerked her head to the side. In that moment he leapt forward and pinned her against the tree with her hands above her.

"Let go of me! I won't let you take me back!" She struggled against his strong grip. She tried bringing the knife down into his skull, but he squeezed her wrist hard enough to cause her to let it go clattering to the ground.

"Or I could have my way with your princess…" his breath fanned over her face again.

'He is so close…why is he so close!?' Her mind was going haywire and her stomach started doing flips. This is NOT the proper reaction to the current situation! He smirked again and cocked his head to the side.

"You want me…don't you princess?" She laughed in his face at the thought.

"You're crazy. And don't call me princess!" she yelled in his face. Taking both her wrists in one hand he used his free hand to grab her chin and forced her to look up at him.

'Why did his face have to be so close?' she screamed in her head. His scent was even driving her crazy.

"I can see it written all over your face princess", he chuckled. Letting go of her chin he trailed his fingers down her neck and over the far side of her breast, down her side coming to rest on her hip. Without permission her hips bucked slightly forward and small gasp escaped her throat. In embarrassment she pinned her head back against the tree and starred up into its branches. His deep, husky chuckle almost made her look back at him.

"I know you want more princess," he whispered out. His tongue darted out and licked her exposed neck and she gasped again. Jerking her head forward she head-butted him causing him to fall backwards. In his moment of shock and pain Chizuru changed the roles as she fell on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Grabbing his wrists she squeezed them in between her legs pinning them to his sides. Using one hand to grab his throat she poised the other into a fist, cocked back to smash his nose in. When she looked at his face though, she caught him smiling.

"You are quite the feisty one aren't you? A princess who can handle her own in hand to hand? That's not very normal…" he trailed off. His eyes strayed from her face down to her now slightly open and exposed skin of her upper chest. He could see her collar bone rising and falling harshly from their scuffle. Why that excited him so much…he did not know.

"I am no princess. So stop calling me that!" She shouted at him. At her exclamation his eyes darted back to her face.

"What? They told me I would be looking for a princess…." His voice died off again in confusion.

"They told you to look for ME yes, but I am no princess."

"Then why?" His eyebrows furrowed deeper in confusion. She was taken aback by how handsome he was even when he looked so confused.

"Because….the real princess has died…and they want ME to replace her." Her grip slackened off a bit as she said this. She didn't want to be a princess. Not at all. She wanted to be free.

"Replace? What do you mean exactly?" His body relaxed under her weight. Slowly she loosened her grip on his throat and lowered her fist.

"I was the princess's body guard. She died last week of pneumonia." Her face grimaced for just a moment in pain at the thought of her charge dying. She had stayed by her side to the very end. Even though she was a princess, Sen had been her closest friend. And she regretted seeing her friend die in so much pain.

"In their own words…this land cannot go without a princess. So they decided it would be me." Her voice held both pain and anger. "But I will not. I refuse the position. And if you stand in the way of my freedom, I will kill you if I have to."

Beneath her the stranger seemed to understand her pain and her anger. His eyes softened for a moment and she was once again captivated by his handsome face. In that moment however, the stranger took advantage of her distracted state and Chizuru found herself on her back with him pinning her down. Her anger returned full force.

But before she could protest, his lips crashed down onto hers. Her eyes grew as wide as a deer's in surprise. With fervor he started kissing her harder and it was impossible for her to concentrate on her anger and the task of trying to escape. Slowly her eyes closed and she started kissing him back with equal passion.

'What am I doing? How in the world…' her thoughts were all over the place. All she could think about was how his lips were even softer than she had imagined. His tongue darted out past her bottom lip and a soft moan parted her lips. Taking the invitation he deepened the kiss. His hands let go of her wrists and her hands automatically found their way into his thick brown. It was soft as she gripped it tighter pulling his head closer to her. His left hand drifted to her hip where he squeezed deliberately. As expected her hips bucked up into his at the sensation. His chuckle glided out in between their lips as they broke for a moment of air.

Seeing the confusion on her face with her now swollen lips and bright pink blush made him shake his head and chuckle again.

"You are just so delicious looking…I couldn't help myself. And since you are no princess…" he paused for a moment and kissed her lips once more. "I see no reason why we should hold back."

"Perhaps I don't want it," she strangled out between her ragged breaths. She had never felt such heat before. It was taking her entire body over and it both confused and excited her. But she knew she needed to get away. Her freedom was her main goal….but this man was….delaying that.

He dipped his head low bringing his lips next to her ear where he whispered out, "But princess…you want it too." His breath tickled her ear and she jumped in surprise when she felt his teeth gently graze it. Instinctively she tightened her grip in his hair and pushed her hips up into his as she tilted her head to the side.

"Where are you running to princess? Where do you think it is that is safe enough to stay away from the ones who hired me?" One hand still on her hip and the other supporting himself by the side of her face, the stranger evaluated her expression. Slowly, as he stared down at her, Chizuru loosened her grip from his hair and slowly slid her hands down his neck to gently rest at his chest.

"Why should I tell you?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him. Shaking his head he let another wry grin escape.

"You have no reason to trust me. I understand that. But….", he shook his head again, "I don't know what it is…but I feel drawn to you. Watching you all day, I wanted nothing more than to walk by your side. To learn about you. To see what makes you tick and what makes you laugh."

Staring up at him, he could tell that she still wasn't convinced. Slowly he lowered himself to brush his lips against hers. Her eyes flutter shut and she gently responded in kind. Smiling he trailed kisses from her mouth to the bend of her neck and back to her lips.

Breathlessly she whispered out, "The Americas." Hearing her response he lifted himself back up and stared down at her again. Her cheeks were stained a light pink and the firelight was making her eyes dance. Her mouth was twisted like she tasted something sour.

"Why did I say that?! What is he gonna do now?" Her mind started to spiral in panic but it was quickly halted by another passion filled kiss from the stranger. There was so much passion between the two of them and it left them both reeling in its wake. It was almost as if they were meant for each other; even made for each other.

Their bodies moved in sync with each other as if they had known each other for years. She couldn't help but fall to his charm. Slowly, the stranger broke from their small passion fest and brought his hand up to gently cup her cheek. With a lopsided grin, the stranger finally spoke.

"What is your name princess?" His grin grew a tad wider at her small pout at being called princess again.

"Chizuru."

"Well Chizuru, my name is Souji, and I will give you the freedom that you want so much. I won't stand in your way. But I won't let you go either."