Sadly, I own nothing!... Except for Ema.

Chapter 3

Ema squeaked, the muscles of her abdomen twitching, alerting him of her surprise. Tiago raised his eyes to her face, taking in her wide eyes. " Hello Emanuelle." He watched as the horrified expression on her face changed into one of aggravation.

" Don't "Hello" me! Insufferable man! How long have you Really been awake? Eh?" Ema tried to untangle herself from the half-naked man, pushing on his shoulders, but he would have none of it, her legs trapped underneath his upper arms, hands grabbing her hip bones, keeping her seated. " Calm down,my dear. I promise you, I only just woke up, and I am quite ignorant as to how we got in this comfortable position? Would you care to enlighten me? " He now looked perfectly amiable, genuinely confused.

" You mean you don't remember? When I came to check on you you had a fever, thrashing about on and pulling at the sheets like a madman, utterly delirious. I calmed you long enough to clean your stitches, which by some miracle were still intact!, but then you started thrashing again. You were about to roll off the bed and when I tried to prevent it you grabbed my waist and wouldn't let go. Hence." She gestured at their position. Tiago looked puzzled. " Did I say anything? In my delirium? " Ema thought she could detect a hint of worry, almost panic, in his voice, his shoulders tensing slightly under her hands.

" Nothing, or no clear words at least. Just random noises of pain and distress." She felt him relax and he rested his right cheek on her left thigh.

" Good." They sat in silence, for a minute or two, before Tiago looked up at her again. " By the way, why did you save me? I can't have looked that friendly, all bloody and messy." Ema laughed softly.

" Yeah you did look a little threatening, now that I think back on it, wearing only black. But I didn't think about it at the time. I guess I reasoned that if I left you then I might as well have killed you there and then myself. I have never killed anyone in my life and leaving a man to die would certainly break that streak. " Her voice had turned more serious as she spoke, eyes drifting. When she looked back at him he was frowning.

" It was an honourable thing to do, but foolish." His tone was deceptively light. " You had no idea who I was, you still don't, and yet even though you could easily tell that I could only mean trouble you took me in. " His fingers lightly stroked the skin of her back and he smirked slightly when he felt the shiver running down her spine. " I owe you, Emanuelle. " But she shook her head.

" There is no debt, Tiago. I merely did what I thought was right at the time. "

" And still, it is more than most would have done. Your strong sense of morale is impressive. " Ema huffed, for some reason it felt like he was belittling her. She didn't know why, maybe it was something in his tone.

" Yeah well, that's me. Now, it's quite late and neither of use have eaten in a long time. I'm hungry and intend to go and cook something." She bent her arms around her back, intent on removing his hands herself but he grabbed her wrists, bringing them up front. To Ema's astonishment he kissed both her wrists which looked dwarf-like in his giant hands, a deep red blush settling onto her cheeks at the intimate gesture. Then he moved off of her easily but carefully as he seemed to finally be feeling the pain of the bruises and the wounds. " Do you need any painkillers? " She could still see the strength behind his every move, this was a man in his prime.

" No thank you, I have dealt with worse. It is not necessary. " Ema moved towards the door, legs prickling as the circulation came back to them. She stretched, arching her back with her arms above her head.

" Okay, I'll go and find you something else to wear. I'm guessing those pants aren't exactly clean, judging by the state your shirt is in. " She held up said item, mud sticking to the dark cloth. Tiago chuckled. " That would be most welcome, thank you." Ema smiled.

" I'll try to wash this but I can't promise I'll be able to remove the blood." The answer was immediate.

" Let it soak in hot water, soap and some ammonia for a while and then scrub it lightly. " To him the subject seemed commonplace and he realized just how peculiar the answer seemed to Ema when he saw her expression. Her eyebrows looked like they would leave her forehead altogether. He smiled lightly at her shocked face but said nothing more.

" Uhh, right. Okay. I'll be back in a mo. " She hurried out the door, much to Tiago's amusement.

Throwing the dirty shirt on the floor by the washer Ema went to her closet in search for her ex boyfriend's clothes. He came to the cabin once to spend some time with her for a week or two but the relationship ended abruptly with Ema catching him talking to his "sister" on the phone on evening number 1. The ass tried to defend himself but who the hell talks dirty to their sister?! Yuk! Just-ugh! So, she had kicked him out in the middle of the night, wearing only a pair of pants, in the middle of december, throwing his wallet and car keys out after him. He never returned for his clothes.

Pulling out a long sleeved beige t-shirt, a pair of black khaki's and some underwear and socks she returned to the guest room where Tiago was just getting up, one hand against the wall beside the bed, getting his bearings.

" Here, I hope these will fit. " She put them on the bed.

" Thank you very much." he smiled at her again. She stood there and watched him for a moment.

" You smile a lot, you know that?" He smiled even bigger, this one slightly creepy with the moonlight behind him.

" Is it making you nervous?"

Ema stuttered, a small blush appearing on her cheeks, clearly nervous. Thank god for the darkness of the night! " W-well, no. It's just...unusual I guess... Never mind. If you want to take a shower the bathroom is to the right when you step out the door. You'll find towels and deodorant and stuff like that in the uh..cabinets. " She hurried out before he could say anything to further embarrass her.

Twenty minutes later Tiago emerged, fully dressed, fussing with the sleeves a bit. He had even shaved, probably found her stash of razors. His hair was slicked back but it still had some volume, she could see his whole face better , and it was first now that Ema realized just HOW handsome he really was. Swallowing she turned back to the stew on the stove, trying to focus on anything but the gorgeous man walking towards her.

" The clothes fit okay?"

" Perfectly, though the shirt is a little tight over the shoulders. Who did they belong to, if I may ask?" He looked truly curious. Ema shrugged with one shoulder.

" An ex-boyfriend."

" But if he is an ex, how come his clothes are not with him?" Ema snorted in rememberance.

" Because he was... abruptly thrown out. " Tiago chuckled as well.

" I see. And he did not return for them? "

" When you're thrown out in the middle of the night, in twenty degrees celsius below zero, clad only in your trousers and forced to drive in a cold car for five hours, I don't think you'd ever want to come back." At this Tiago laughed, a loud but warm sound, his head thrown slightly back. Ema was forced to laugh with him, it was simply contagious. Once he calmed down he had small tears in the corners of his eyes and was still chuckling softly.

" What a pathetic man. " At this Ema smiled big.

" Very pathetic indeed. Or as Audrey Hepburn would have said, " A super-rat!" " Tiago laughed again but soon calmed down, looking at her curiously.

" Whatever did he do to deserve such harsh treatment?" His tone was laced with fake scolding. Ema sobered a little, her smile now more bitter than amused.

" It was nothing really. " Tiago must have noticed the change in her demeanour for he went to stand beside her by the stove, leaning against the counter facing her, arms crossed over his broad chest.

" My dear, a woman doesn't throw her lover out the door in the freezing cold and leave him there without a reason. Now, the truth?" Ema bit her tongue, why was he so curious?

" Well, it was his first evening here visiting. We had some dinner and then uh...we had sex and afterwards, when he thought I was asleep, he went out into the hall and called his "sister"." She made air quotation marks. " I caught him talking dirty to her. So, I grabbed my baseball bat, made y presence known and threw him out on his ass. " She looked up at Tiago but his expression was unreadable, his eyes on the stew she was stirring but they were much harsher than before, having taken on a steel edge. He swore long and coldly in what Ema identified as Spanish before he looked at her.

" I'm very sorry Emanuelle. " Ema shrugged.

" It's in the past. And hey, at least I got his clothes! The coward didn't even dare to come back for them. He's probably still working up the courage." Tiago smirked, a thoughtful expression on his face.

" When was this? " She looked surprised at the question.

" Hm? Oh, about four months ago. " He nodded, storing the information for later use. " Why are you so interested anyway? You barely know me. " He smiled charmingly at her.

" I wish to know more about the one I owe my life to." Ema narrowed her eyes at him, he had a strange glint in his eye.

" But is that really all it is? Cheesy lines in all their rights but still? You seem like the kind of man to collect information in order to prepare for a later threat. Is that what you're doing? Taking precautions?" The silence was complete. Tiago no longer looked so amused, more like intrigued.

" You're an insightful lady aren't you? That mouth of yours could get you into a lot of trouble one day. " She arched an eyebrow.

" Is that a threat? Tiago? " It felt like a spaghetti western standoff, both ready to pull their guns and shoot the other to little pieces. He smiled, a broad dangerous smile that showed a predator at work. Despite herself Ema swallowed and the smile widened.

" No no, my dear. Merely a friendly warning. So, what's for dinner, darling? "

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