*NOT MY FIC*

Ready to Fall

Part I: Unexpected Disaster

Distraction

1775

New York

Brice, again wrapped his arm around Aveline's waist, settled her in his embrace as if she were fragile – as a wolf would do to a beloved lamb – leaned in and pressed his mouth to her throat to lick away the remains of the wine that had been left behind after she had accidently spilled… And after a sharp intake of breath her head fell back and she sighed heavily while forcing a hand into his dark hair to grip at the short tresses. Oh, she was playing him. She had him in her web and she was ready to strike as soon as the opportunity presented itself. But for her to act in such a way, and to do so publicly, was beyond my comprehension.

The man lapping at her neck had completely fallen victim to her madness.

It wasn't entirely his fault. Aveline was… striking – more so than I remembered her to be. She was always pretty but tonight she was more than that. Tempting. Erotic. Enchanting. No… It was none of these. She was a vamp, a witch, a Hellcat. Nothing would ever change that. Brice was weak not to see her for what she really was, his enemy. The only thing he saw when he looked at her was a gorgeous woman, feisty, and willing to jump into his bed at the end of the night. Spirits, was he ever wrong. I doubted he would make it through the next few dances at the rate Aveline was playing. She had him eating out of the palm of her hand… It was unfortunate really. And, even though I was here, in New York, to bring him the same fate, at least I would not have humiliated him like this. He would no sooner get his trousers around his ankles before realizing what had hit him. The Hellcat would rip out his heart, cut his throat, and disappear into the night… She was downright lethal, really.

After Brice finally pulled his mouth away from Aveline's neck, he looked into her eyes and mouthed something I could not quite catch – given the distance between us – just before his hands slid around her delicate ribcage, and down her back to cup her but. I growled then, and decided it was best for me to stop watching them. This was a party, after all. I did not have to watch her toy with William Brice all night. My eyes scanned the surrounding crowd, every once in a while hesitating on the face of a familiar Templar. Other than Brice, there were at least twelve of them. Their gazes all fixed on Aveline who was currently being dragged towards the cobblestone courtyard for a dance. Her arms snaked around his neck just as he pushed that stubborn lock of hair behind her ear before assuming his position to lead her in the waltz – the backs of his knuckles accidently brushing the tops of her breasts as his hands made their way to her voluptuous hips. My eyes were glued on her now, along with every other randy male in the vicinity. In our youth, she certainly was curvy enough for me to recognize that she was a female but where on earth did she get those? Her breast, her waste, her hips, and those legs… I suddenly stood from my crouching point and stepped towards the edge of the roof, allowing a murderous temperament to rapidly course through my veins. Aveline was dancing, and not in the way a lady should dance with a gentleman… I knew it was all part of her plan but it didn't help that she was still a girl, a lamb, in the middle of a snarling pack of carnal wolves – some of them being Templars… Even those who were clearly spoken for by the women hanging from their arms stared at her with lustful intentions. She was a distraction to the men, the Templars, and on rare occasion, even to me…

1770

Davenport Manor

I limped my way up the stairs and rounded the banister with great effort. Even though Achilles had made a splint for my ankle and given me one of his older walking sticks to get around on while I my injury was healing, I still had difficulty. It had been three days since I had foolishly been goaded into retrieving that feather for the Hellcat. And after spending those three days avoiding Aveline for fear I would do something I would regret, and arguing with my mentor, I finally convinced him that I was ready to become an Assassin. It was not easy, but after six months of training under my belt, I could not afford to have it all ripped away from me over something as inane as a feather. He decided it was not fair of him to punish me in such a severe manner over something as juvenile as a sprained ankle and a silly bet… Although he, of course, could not let it go completely unpunished. On top of not being able to continue my physical training due to my injury, he told me I needed to prepare myself mentally for the upcoming challenges and fill my mind with the knowledge of the masters that served the Order before me. Then he shoved a stack of old, dusty, books into my arms –two of them being journals – the first of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad and the second was that of Ezio Auditore da Firenze… It did not appear to be punishment, since I had been studying works such as these for the last six months… That is, until Achilles told me to have these books read and that he expected a full report of each waiting on his desk by the end of the week. The end of the week being in two days, I should add. Although I suppose it was only fair for him to reward my redundancy in such a way, it did not set well with me when Aveline was hardly even scolded. Did she not play an equal part in our immature bet?

As I crossed the upstairs hallway and hobbled my towards my bedroom, I glanced at her door… She had boarded herself away in her room for the last few days and neither I nor Achilles had seen or heard from her since we returned from that atrocious hunt. Not that I cared. After the events that transpired between us, I never wanted to see her again. It was her fault I had injured myself in the first place! And although Achilles would pin the blame on me, I still felt she had a large part to play in the spraining of my ankle. I had fallen victim to her madness and would be damned if I ever did again.

But being the Hellcat that was Aveline De Grandpre, she suddenly ripped her door open – the rusty hinges screamed after her in protest – as if she had read my thoughts and purposefully defied my wishes to never lay eyes on her again, she shot in front of me and blocked my path. The look of orneriness that had been plastered across her face was enough to tell me she had been waiting for me. She meant me harm. She was going to bring me to madness… Or death.

I frowned…

"You know, I was thinking." She started, placing her index finger to her chin before her eyes surfed my form from top to bottom. "We made a bet – one that you lost."

I shifted uneasily from my cane to my good ankle and set my jaw with anticipation. From the way her eyebrow raised with playful ambition, I knew that whatever it was she had planned for me, I would not enjoy it.

"In exchange for the feather I agreed to cook for an entire month, you failed to make good on your end of the bet."

"So?" I riled. "It was you who failed to name your terms if my end of the bargain was not fulfilled. It is too late for you to make them now."

I reached forward and shoved her out of my way before stomping towards my room.

"We shook on it…" She told me earnestly as I passed.

Though my back was to her, I could almost see that smirk on her face. She had me and she knew it. Somehow she knew my character after living in this house for only four days. "Fine." I could not go back on my word. A deal was a deal after all. "What do you want?" I asked before turning to her.

Aveline's lips curled with devious intent and the next thing I knew, I was standing with her at the foot of her four-poster bed, staring at the array of portraits and paintings that were scattered across her mattress. It was a puzzle… As it turned out, I was not the only one to be punished for our immaturity. Achilles had given her random paintings from the mansion walls and told her to find the one thing they all had in common. She too was told to do so by the end of the week Most of them were not even notable… Some of the art work I recognized and others I did not. An illustration of the death of Julius Cesar. A portrait of Anne Boleyn from the sixteenth century. And even something as random a farm covered in a fresh snowfall. The task seemed simple but it was far from it.

"This is nonsense!" I finally riled with my hands flying into the air. After spending a solid hour and a half of uncovering the hidden meaning behind these works, the remnants of my patients had been taken away, especially after being roped into helping Aveline with something as ridiculous as this when I had my own work to do…

"It's not." She countered. I turned my head and eyed her. It was clear she was just as dumb founded as I was but she still insisted that we continue until we found the solution. There was none! "Achilles isn't cruel. He wouldn't waste our time with a project he didn't think was applicable to our training."

She was right, of course, but it did not help that I was woefully behind on the work Achilles had given me… But since I had lost the bet between Aveline and myself, it was my duty to do as she asked. It was fair sportsmanship after all. I had to make time to help her finish this… this game. At least she was not forcing me to do her chore alone. It made things a little easier but it did not mask the fact that I still had to work with her.

Later That Week…

Davenport Manor

Achilles never expected us to finish those projects… Instead, as we discovered a few hours ago, he only gave us impossible busy work in order to keep Aveline and I away from one another. It had worked, at least for a little while. About two days worth of trying to help her solve the paintings and portraits puzzle, we had somehow gotten into a hellacious fight about the hidden meaning… I don't remember what was said, but I do recall her tackling me. I landed on my back with her straddling my waste and my wrists pinned above my head. At first I was completely shocked at how strong she was, with those narrow arms, but then again, I was caught off guard. Wrestling with a sprained ankle was torture but I was determined not to be bested by her. Not like that. So, as a result of her impulsive attack, I forced my legs up and wrapped the around her torso before pulling them back down, and her along with them. After regaining my balance, I culled her into my lap and wrapped my arms tightly around her waist. She struggled a bit but I tensed my muscles, making sure to hold fast as she writhed around.

"What are you doing?!" I roared, causing her to face me. Her nose brushed mine for a split second before she blushed, realizing how close we were. I suppose it was, cozy. I was sitting on the floor while forcibly holding a girl to my lap. Her thighs were wrapped around my hips, our faces were inches apart, and her chest was pressed against mine, but I was too angry to let it get to me. "I am trying to help you and you just attack me! Are you crazy?!"

"Let go!" She riled in retaliation.

"NO! I've had enough! You have been nothing but trouble ever since you came here! I demand to know-"

"You demand?!"

With that I pushed her onto her back, held her arms at her sides, and pinned her legs beneath my own. "Aveline! You are a Hellcat!" I yelled. "I want you out of this manor!"

"You can't do that! Achilles decides whostays and who goes!"

"Then we make another bet! The winner stays and continues training! The loser leaves!"

"Fine!"

"Fine…" I agreed.

"Fine." She mocked.

"You are a child…"

Just then a hard piece of wood jutted into my rib cage. The collision was so firm that it caused me to roll off of Aveline with a groan. By the time I landed on my back, I looked up to see Achilles hovering over us, completely fuming, switching the direction of his cane – which undoubtedly was what I was struck with - back in forth from me, to Aveline.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Aveline and I, both lying side by side, on our backs like a pair of rowdy pups who had just been scolded by the alpha of the pack, looked to one another before training our gazes back on our mentor. We were speechless…

"WELL?!" He growled. "… So help me, if one of you doesn't speak up, I'll throw you both out in the snow! For good!"

"Aveline started it! She attacked me-"

"That's not true! Connor is impossible!"

"Me?! You are the one who-"

"-you weren't even trying to-"

"- here I am helping you and you just-"

"- start losing my mind-"

"It is not my fault that you cannot-"

"ENOUGH!" Achilles boomed while slamming the butt of his walking stick to the small space of floor between our faces... "Aveline. Connor. I don't want to hear another peep out of you. If you feel your about to have at one another again, take it outside! And for the love of God there will be no more bets! Both of you will stay in this house until I say otherwise! At this rate it won't be too much longer!"

Then he turned and stomped away, mumbling something about making an old man with a bad leg walk all the way up stairs…

"See what you did?" Aveline whispered harshly once the coast was clear and proceeded to pull herself upright.

"I did? You started this…"

I started to rise in order to sit up but she quickly took the opportunity to shove me back to the floor before getting up to scurry out of the room. Probably to go straighten things out with Achilles before I could.

Hellcat…

Six Weeks Later…

Davenport Manor

My ankle was healed. I had resumed my physical training with full force. I was ready for the next phase of Achilles guidance. Yet, I was sitting in my bedroom, reading the stack of books that my mentor had given to me over six weeks ago by the dim spark of candlelight. I was not going to leave my room… She was always there. Always waiting. Always getting me into trouble. If we could – and sometimes we did – we would fight from dawn till dusk. And every skirmish between us was literally about nothing. They were senseless arguments that led nowhere but somehow always ended up basking in under the wrath of Achilles.

The last banter was nothing short of violent… As our training progressed, our relationship did not. She had gone too far last time. I was walking through the kitchen and had stabbed one of the apples with the knife I had owned since I was a child. She had seen the act and immediately remarked on how barbaric it looked before proceeding to call me a savage. I was not a wild animal but I certainly showed her I could be. It was only a few seconds later, she found herself pinned against the wall with that same knife buried into the doorframe next to her head. I did not intend to hurt her, only to scare her. As much as I despised her and her impudent mouth, she is still a part of my Order. Her eyes hardened as soon as I had slammed her into the wall and she glared at me with hatred. I returned that same look. Neither of us budged until we heard the steady thud of Achilles cane and it grew closer. I instantly dropped her back to the ground and backed away, retrieving the knife and the apple before disappearing upstairs.

So there I sat, reading, trying to get my mind off of her. I started with the Journal of Master Assassin Altair, but it was dry as dust… Some parts were interesting but most of it was about something called the Templar Treasure. About half way through, I realized he was never going to truly explain what the treasure was. Perhaps fear of the book falling into the wrong hands, or maybe he did not actually know. Either way, it was a waste of my time.

I then tossed the book to the foot of the bed and grabbed the next one at the top of the stack. The journal of Ezio Auditore. Achilles spoke most often about him. Since I had nothing better to do, I thumbed through the cover and landed on the first page. Immediately the sentence caught my attention… and suddenly I closed the book and starred at the cover as if a title would appear. It was plain, black leather and worn. The spine had broken but the book was still intact and there were no sign of missing pages. I was surprise sense it was roughly three hundred years old. I could not say the same about Altair's.

Warily I opened the journal again as if the first sentence had changed but it did not. My eyes flew over it again and again.

Summer, 1476

Christina and I made love for the first time last night.

I gulped and flipped a few pages ahead. Everything was the same. This was not a journal kept on the works of Ezio Auditore rather than a journal kept for his pleasure… He recorded all of his conquests. Each and every time he had intercourse. From a girl named Christina in the year 1476 all the way up to his wife, a woman named Sofia in 1524. I rushed back to the first page and began reading again…

Christina and I had planned this for quite some time, now. She told me she would leave her bedroom window unlocked and would be impatiently waiting for my arrival. As soon as dusk had fallen over Florence I had snuck out of my father's house and started for her home. I do not believe my feet had ever carried me so fast. And at long last I was there, standing under her window. I could feel my erection growing from the thought of how her beautiful form would accommodate my body. What sort of delicious friction awaited? I climbed as fast as I could and carefully slid the window open before my feet hit the burgundy carpet on her floor. It was rather late and she was there but was fast asleep. She wore nothing but a pair of lacy under garments and a matching brazier. That of red and gold… I would never look at those the colors in the same light after all that happened between us. She was positioned on her back, her breast were pushed up, her legs slightly spread… The need in my trousers was suddenly very strong and I quickly shed my clothing and stepped forward, kneeling at the foot of her bed where I then proceeded to nibble at her ankle, from her knee, and then I began to ravish her creamy thighs with my tongue. She moaned… It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. It was a signal that she wasbegining to stir from her slumber. Her head rose slightly. Her raven hair was in loose curls that hung around her beautiful sculpted shoulders.

"Ezio." She whispered with a smile.

"Lie back, my love. You'll enjoy this."

Her head fell back and I leaned forward pressing my lips to her warm center and allowing my tongue to stab at her cli-

I slammed the book shut after erratic tapering collided with my door. I could not think, nor could I breathe. I did not want Achilles to see me like this: Red in the face and a decent tent forming through my deerskin trousers. I quickly jumped off the bed and shoved the journal under my mattress as best I could before running to the door. But before I could make it, the barrier had swung open and instead of Achilles, it was her. Her hands were folded in front of her and her face was tilted towards the ground in a sheepish manner.

"You?" I growled. Hoping she would not happen to look at the obvious erection I had after reading the first paragraph of that damned journal. "What do you want?" I flopped down onto my bed and tucked my legs in a criss-cross fashion beneath me and pitched forward hoping to hide my arousal.

Her eyes finally landed on mine and I wondered when they had gotten so pretty… Deep chocolate eyes with a hint of gold and green that were slightly glazed. Gorgeous. I shook my head back and forth trying to regain some sense. Surely it was my desire that spurred these thoughts. Yes, that had to be it. Aveline was not pretty. She was a Hellcat.

"Connor… I … I wanted to apologize for earlier. I realize I might have crossed the line. I don't think you're a savage. Or barbaric."

"Oh…" Suddenly her submissive behavior had bewitched me and I felt that ever present arousal returning with full force. I had to get her out of here. "Okay. Thanks. Goodnight…" Short and sweet.

But no...

Nothing was easy about Aveline De Grandpre. She smiled and bounded into my room before landing on my bed next to me, just staring. I felt self conscious… Why was she staring? Did she know? I felt as if I had been caught red handed doing something dirty. And in a way, I did. But what was the harm in a little light reading?

"What are you doing?" She asked suspiciously.

My eyes shot to the floorboards and I replied, "What do you mean?"

"Your face is red…" She said as she her hand came up. Her index finger lightly poked my cheek and I blinked. She had never touched me before. Usually she slapped, kicked, bit, or even punched but never touched.

"The colonists call my people red men."

She rolled her eyes. "And they call mine Negros but that doesn't mean my face turns black."

"It's nothing."

With a humph she replied. "Right. What is that journal about?"

"What journal?!" I nearly yelled, my face turning an even deeper shade of crimson.

"What is that matter with you?" She snipped before pointing to the journal that I had thrown at the foot of the bed, Altair's. "Thatone – Just never mind. I'm going to bed."

I sighed with relief and watched her as she strode across my room. She placed her hand on the knob and turned back. I would never know if she was going to wish me sweet dreams, perhaps taunt me, it did not matter. Her eyes darted down and landed on the space between my mattress and my box spring. I followed her gaze and was horrified when I saw the dark corner of Ezio's journal poking out from between the layers. My eyes flashed back to her. Maybe she would not think anything of it. Maybe she would not think there was an entire book filled with sex stories hidden beneath my mattress. But before I could finish the thought, she was there, reaching for the black leather tip, projecting from its hiding place. Her fingers gripped the corner and before she could slide it out, I grabbed her wrist.

"Uh… That is… There is not anything in there… It is just a… It is mine and-" I stuttered.

"Why are you hiding it?"

"I am not hiding anything."

"Yes you are."

"No…"

"Then let go."

"No!"

"Why can't I see it?"

"Because."

"Just let me see."

"There is not anything written-"

"Then there should be no reason to get your knickers in a twist."

"Knickers? What the hell are knick-"

"Don't change the subject."

I jumped up and grabbed her by the shirt collar before quickly hauling her out of my bedroom, ignoring her protests. She could not see such writings, let alone know I was actually reading them.

"Connor! Connor wait-"

I proceeded and shoved her into her room, which was directly across the hall from mine, and slammed her door shut, not failing to hold the knob firmly in place so she could not just rush back out and restart the whole process.

"Connor! Let me out now! I'll find what you're hiding!"

I stood there for a good half hour before she gave up. The silence on the other side of the door was promising but it was not sure. I cracked the door open to see her laying on her bed, fast asleep. My mind immediately flashed back to Ezio's writing. Aveline was lying in the exact same position Christina had been that night.

She was positioned on her back, her breast were pushed up, her legs slightly spread…

The thought send my blood to travel south and I snapped the door shut and hurried back to my room, not caring as to whether or not I had woken her up. I just knew I needed sleep if I ever wanted to require my sanity. I would have to remember to hide that journal a little better if I did not want Aveline to find it.

AUTHORS NOTE:

I LOVE reviews. So if you could, I would like to know what you thought of this chapter in your review that I hope you post… I really like when my followers private message me and review my stuff. Connecting with you guys just makes me feel so good! And it's not just because I like the praise! I think it's fun. I like all of you and enjoy getting to know people! Haha… okay I'll stop being so outgoing now.

OKAY! And I figured out how to post Polls on my profile! So, I put up a poll about this story! Go ahead and check that out! I plan to close my poll March 1st. Be sure to vote! =]

Also if you have any suggestions for this story, please let me know! I would have a blast incorporating your ideas as long as if flows with the rest of what I've written and plan on writing. Okay, NOW I'll stop being so outgoing…

I just realized that the stories I've posted on ff. net all start with "R"… just sayin'…

I added a couple songs to my playlist!

Ships in the Night – Mat Kearney

Down –Jason Walker

Did I mention how much I love reviews? I love knowing what you guys think!