Chapter 3

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When she exited the school he was waiting for her. He stood arrogantly against his limo, looking straight at her. A shiver ran down her spine but she turned away, trying to ignore him.

'You may be able to ignore him now, but how can you ignore dreams?' Serenity's mind teased. She mentally cursed herself as she noticed she had stopped and was looking at him. He was smirking down at her from across the distance, but made no effort towards her. Her body started moving towards him. She willed it to stop, but couldn't keep her legs from walking. Her body finally ceased about six feet away from him.

"... What did you do to me?" She asked, staring at him accusingly.

"If you've forgotten I can remind you." He smirked again and raised his brow provocatively. He shifted, getting ready to move closer when he froze. His face went from playful to almost angered. Serenity felt hands snake around her waist and pull her back against something. Finally shaken from her trance she looked up at Duke. She could hear a blood freezing growl escape Kaiba's lips and Duke glanced up at him.

"Heh, this one's mine Kaiba, back off." Duke smiled, provoking snort from the boy. Kaiba smirked down at Serenity. As much as it churned his stomach to think of her calling out another mans name the way she had called his, he knew the truth. She was his. Duke might be embracing her now- also distorting Kaiba's insides in the most unpleasing way- but there was no way Duke would ever have her the way he did.

Serenity didn't feel she belonged to Duke, or that she ever would. He was nice and he made her feel comforted, but she wouldn't pursue someone she didn't feel attracted to. Neither Duke, nor Tristan attracted her. Kaiba... He attracted her in the most dangerous way. It scared her how strong his pull on her was. And because of that fear, she lifted her hands to encourage Duke's. She hated baiting him like that, but she truly wanted Kaiba to leave her alone... didn't she?

Duke nestled into Serenity, appreciating her acceptance of him. She fought the urge to cringe as her eyes remained focused on the blue ones across from her. Duke shifted is attention off of the young CEO, and onto Serenity.

"Lets go sweetie, we have reservations." He said, keeping one arm around her and leading her away. Kaiba smirked. Duke was trying to taunt him. Grinning to himself, Kaiba decided to be a thorn in the boys side for the rest f the day. He got in his limo and instructed the driver to follow the silver Honda S2000. He watched through tinted glass as Serenity turned her head and looked back at the limo as Duke drove her away.

It was final. He had had her, and she was now his.

The large French restaurant was as stereotypical as every other part of the date. The waitstaff was snooty, the menu unreadable, the food decadent yet small sized... Duke even tried to order for her. Normally she would have objected, but she couldn't read a word from the menu and was unable to choose for herself.

Duke ordered their meals and smirked at her, trying to tell whether he was impressing her yet, but the smirk soon faded and Serenity turned to look at what had removed his smugness from him.

"I'm sorry sir, you need to make a reservation a day ahead of time." The host explained to Duke's personal thorn in the side. Kaiba opened his mouth to object but suddenly a manager stepped forward, pushing the host out of the way with a glare.

"But of course, for you Mr. Kaiba, we can make an exception!" The manager corrected, sending another venomous glare at the Host, who now realize his error. Kaiba bent over to the manager and whispered something Serenity couldn't quite hear and the manager nodded and led him into the dining area. They had barely passed the table when Duke grabbed Kaiba's arm.

"What the hell are you doing here you prick?" He hissed. Kaiba just glanced down to his arm, then at the boy who had the nerve to put his hands on him.

"Did it ever cross your mind that I eat here too?" He said simply. There was no emotion behind his voice, but when he shot a sideways glance at Serenity, he winked.

"Why you-!" Duke started, catching the wink. Serenity stood, grabbing the arm that still clasped Kaiba's.

"Duke, that's enough. Just let it go. We can still have a good time right?" She pleaded, hoping that it would all just come to an end. Duke regained his composure and straightened, releasing the boy. He ran a hand through his hair and locked eyes with his new rival.

"Oh, we'll have a great time. Just me and my girl." Duke placed the offending limb around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Kaiba twitched internally, but his frosty exterior wouldn't allow it to show. "So yeah, I'll let it go. You just enjoy your table for one." Duke laughed, seating Serenity and then himself.

The dinner went slowly, filled mostly with Duke's ever lasting admiration of himself and poorly made jokes about how much better he was than other people. He began to remind her of a Chuck Norris 'fact' booklet. As she drifted off, absently nodding to Dukes words, her gaze crossed the path of another. Sitting two tables behind Duke, Kaiba watched her with amusement. His table had a perfect view of theirs. She watched him bite his bottom lip slowly and couldn't stop herself from licking her own.

His mouth curved on one side as he smirked down at her. His eyes were no longer cold and icy. There was a sort of heat to them. The deep blue hues of his hard eyes froze her skin and sent tingling sensations all over, while the heat of the stare burned at her insides. Her stomach flip-flopped and she swallowed hard.

Duke glanced up, tearing his attention away from his own reflection in the spoon and towards the girl in front of him. She was pale and looked as if she had had trouble breathing.

"Hey, are you alright?" Duke asked, inquiring about her for the first time in the entire dinner.

"I..." Her eyes finally listened to her and ripped away from the fiery blue ones. "I don't really feel well Duke." She admitted, not entirely a lie. He stood, and helped her up. After paying, he escorted her out as a valet pulled the car around for him. It was starting to rain, and the valet had already put the convertibles top up.

"I guess this date was cut short huh?" Duke said as he neared her house.

"I'm sorry." She said, staring at her hands as she wrung them over and over again.

"I guess you just owe me a make up date then, huh Serenity?" Serenity looked up at him. She didn't want to date Duke. She didn't want to hurt him either. Sighing, she decided the best thing to do would be to tell the truth. She didn't like him like that and it wasn't fair for her to do that to him. He deserved someone who cared about him in the same way he did her.

"Duke, You're so sweet and nice..." He nodded as if she was stating fact and waited for her to get to the point. "But I just don't feel that way about you. I wanted to try to get to know you better today and see if that changed, but... I just think you deserve more." She finished, hoping she didn't hurt his feelings too much. He pulled over the car and hung his head low. "Are... Are you-"

"Are you kidding me? After all the things I bought you? After the dinner and everything?" He sounded angry and Serenity jumped at that. She didn't know what to say, but it was true. He had surrounded her with the most expensive gifts and luxuries.

"I can pay you back. It might take some time, but-" Duke cut her off with a loud laugh.

"What would I need money for?" He sneered. Serenity didn't have time to react as he grabbed a fist full of her dress, yanking her toward him. "What does it take to get a little pussy?" He said, his face barely an inch from her. Serenity was in shock. He had been so sweet just a few minutes ago. Arrogant and self centered, but sweet. Her resistance fell in vain as he smashed his mouth into hers.

She tried to cry out but his tongue fought it's way in. muffling her. He turned briefly to pull the emergency break and crawled over her. That gave her enough time to react. Serenity slammed her hand into his face as he was turning back to her. She twisted her body around to reach the door handle, but found the door locked. She gave an exasperated cry as she attempted to find the locking mechanism, but Duke was on her again. He grabbed her legs, sliding her towards him and raising the skirt of her dress while he did it.

The car was small, so she could still reach the lock when she found it. The door clicked, letting her know it was ready to be opened. She turned and kicked Duke hard to free her legs, She didn't know if she struck stomach or … below that, but she didn't care. She needed to get out. The door popped open and Serenity crawled out, desperate to get away from him. She quickly scampered against the pavement, turning to face her assailant and backed herself against the building they had parked in front of.

He pulled himself from the car, still clutching his midsection and crouched before her.

"You are going to pay for that." He spat. Serenity could see the fury in his eyes. She began to tremble. Inside the car the space had been limited and her strategy of struggling and flailing about had been effective, but outside there was more space to dodge and block, and he was much stronger and faster than her. He began to close the distance between them when someone walked casually between them, halting as he blocked Duke's view of her. "You again? What the fuck? Are you stalking me?" Duke snarled.

Kaiba glanced down at Serenity. Her dress was torn just above her shoulder and all the way from her hip down to it's hem just above her knees ran a large slit. Her hair, previously a neat up do, was now a tumbling mess, not so gracefully framing her face. It was a disgrace to her beauty, and it sickened him that Duke had done that to her.

"Maybe a little." Kaiba said, dead serious. He was no longer in the mood to play games.

"I will have her first, Kaiba. If you want her after that, then you can have her for all I care, But I called her innocence." Serenity gasped at his words. Now out of the fray, she had been able to start thinking again. Duke had only ever wanted sex. The entire time. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged her knees to her. Was that all she was good for? She knew that's what Kaiba had wanted, but Duke? And what about Tristan? Was he just being sweet for that too? She could feel herself being crushed by all these emotions. She felt completely worthless.

Kaiba glanced at her. She was sobbing quietly into her legs. A frown crossed his face.

"You..." Dukes eyes flashed between the two of them. "You already took her... You son of a bitch!" Serenity's head jerked up as Duke ran towards Kaiba. He barely got two feet away when Kaiba whipped around, grabbing the boy, tripping him to his knees and wrenching one arm up behind his back. Duke glared down at Serenity, who he was now facing. "You little slut. Of course you would fuck Kaiba. What, was my wallet not big enough for you?" Serenity tried to form a glare at the boy, but even though he was restrained, she was still terrified of him. "We'll see how your brother takes the news that his little sister's a whore!" Duke grinned down at the horrified girl.

"Devlin, he's never going to hear anything about it." Kaiba said to him. "Unless you want to face rape charges." Dukes eyes widened. "Now, you're going to get in your car, and you're going to drive away, and this night will have never happened. But if you speak one word of any of this, I will personally testify against you." Kaiba threw the boy back into the car. Duke scrambled up, scowling and took off, tires peeling against the cement.

Kaiba flipped his phone open and muttered something into it, then snapped it shut. Kaiba walked over to her and knelt beside her.

"Where do you live?" He asked, waiting for her to look at him. She only buried her head more as she answered.

"I cant go home... Not like this... not like this..." She finally raised her head to look at herself in disgust.

"Fine." he said, standing. So that was it. He would leave and she would crawl into an ally and hopefully die before anything else could touch her. Suddenly she was lifted by two strong arms. Her eyes shot open and she looked at Kaiba who had picked her up and held her bridal style. He placed her in the limo then seated himself across from her. Serenity didn't know what to say, but thought of something when the limo turned abruptly.

"Where... Where are we going?" She asked, looking out the window back towards where her house was.

"You're going to get washed up and a change of clothes. Then I'll take you home." Kaiba said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the leather seat. He had only meant to follow them to bother Duke... and maybe to strike up another conversation with Serenity about... His eyes snapped open as he felt something on his neck. A kiss. Soft. Sensual. And chased by more. They were unsteady and unsure, and wonderful.

He looked at her, now kneeling next to him, forcing her to pull back. He gave her a questioning glance.

"This... is what you wanted, right?" He swallowed hard, and nodded.

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Hey guys, Just here as usual reminding you that Reviewing is good for the soul, and writing review is a great source of fiber. Just letting you know... Because I care about you and your health... Ok, well thanks for reading.

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