The Bounty

Part 4: Lovers at Sea

Heero watched the door to Relena's room close and click into place. With a heavy sigh, he sank down onto the large couch and stretched his body out, letting his head rest on the arm of the couch. He'd hoped that during their conversations earlier, the mysterious pieces of Relena's past would become clearer, but all those pieces simply grew foggier. He could understand her reasons for not telling him about her husband's death, but in some noble way, he'd hoped that he would be able to help her if he knew the truth.

"That's not your job," he reminded himself, staring up at the ceiling above. He was no lawyer. He was simply a former police officer who became disillusioned with his co-workers and left to do his own thing. Relena would have to use that money of hers to hire someone to defend her, should her brother turn her in.

A vibration in his pocket alerted him to a call coming through his cell phone. He retrieved the phone from his pocket. Duo's name was blinking on the display. Heero pressed the button to answer and held the phone to his ear without sitting up.

"Maxwell."

"Hey there buddy! How'd everything go?" Duo asked, his voice overly excited for the late hour.

"As planned," Heero replied.

"Was she pissed?"

"For a little while."

"Awesome. Make sure you call me when you make it back to New York. Hilde and I will only be here for a couple more days before we head back," Duo said.

"Sounds good," Heero replied, his mind wandering away from Duo's conversation.

"Hey man, what's going on? You're being more monosyllabic than usual." Heero pondered his answer. What could he say? That he had strong feelings for this girl? That he was feeling a compulsive need to protect her? That he wanted to turn the ship around and return to the islands and hide out there with Relena?

"Just feeling like the reasons I have for not taking on female targets are legitimate," Heero replied. He heard Duo let out a breath on the other side of the line.

"I hear ya, man," Duo said. "But you gotta finish the job. Don't disappear like Chang." Heero could hear the genuine concern in his friend's voice. It was an abnormal tone of voice for his otherwise outgoing and carefree friend. Heero nodded, though he knew Duo couldn't see. He wasn't only making the promise to Duo, but to himself as well.

"I'll finish the job," Heero said.

"Good man. I gotta go. Hilde is waiting for me. I'll talk to you soon," Duo said.

"Sure." The two men hung up the phones and Heero dropped his phone to the floor of the yacht beside the couch. Before Heero could change out of his shorts and t-shirt, his eyes slipped closed and he drifted off into sleep.

For the second day in a row, Relena woke up to the motion of the yacht cutting a wake through the waves in the ocean. It wasn't a feeling she was familiar with, as she was usually alone. This time, however, she had an attractive man taking the controls while she had what on the surface seemed like a leisurely cruise up the east coast of North America. Relena rolled off her bed and stood up. She took a moment to adjust to the movement of the yacht, then walked to the small closet in the corner where she'd managed to cram most of her clothes. She dressed, taking her time, putting on a bit of makeup and smoothing out her tangled hair. She finally turned away from her reflection in the mirror and left her small bedroom.

She noticed that the French press coffee maker was sitting on the counter in the kitchenette, half full of coffee. A quick touch to the side proved that the coffee was already cold. Relena was surprised that Heero had managed to figure out how to use the thing, until she noticed the creased instructional paper unfolded in the corner of the counter. A grin crossed her face. She turned away from the counter and walked up the steps to the dock. Heero was steering, the wind blowing his hair back away from his face. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, but his brow was still furrowed from the mid-morning sunlight glared off the water from the east. Relena stepped across the deck, the salty wind blasting through her recently combed hair. A spray brushed up against the side of the yacht, glistening Relena's skin with water. It was then that Heero glanced away from the horizon and met her gaze.

Relena flashed him a smile, then flipped her hair over her shoulder. Heero smirked. "Good morning!" Relena called, waving to him before crossing to the prow. She leaned against the metal railing, feeling the wind swirl past her, fluttering her clothes and hair behind her. They were speeding along, making good time from what Relena could tell. Along the western side of the yacht, Relena could see a faint line of the eastern coast of America.

As she watched the horizons around her, she could feel Heero's eyes on her back. She suddenly felt torn between continuing to flirt with this handsome man, send thousands of miles from his home just to find her, or to leave him alone and let him finish his job. She knew in the end she would have to say good bye to him anyway, and leave herself in her brother's hands to whatever fate he planned for her. Relena threw a glance over her shoulder and saw Heero quickly glance away. Relena sighed. She was too old to keep playing mind games with men.

Relena stepped away from the prow and crossed back towards Heero, her bare toes gripping against the textured surface behind her feet. As she neared him, Heero's gaze returned to her face, his expression barely readable behind the sunglasses.

"Heero," Relena murmured. Heero responded by pulling off his sunglasses and tucking them away in the pocket of his shorts.

"Relena," Heero replied. Relena reached out for Heero, her fingers brushing against his forearm. Heero glanced down at this gesture. He quirked an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"We have a couple of days before we make it back to New York..." Relena began. "And well... we did have that one night..." The rest of her words caught in her throat. Heero was still staring at Relena, but his gaze had softened.

"Are you asking...?"

"There's nothing wrong with two people stuck together on a boat to enjoy it!" Relena blurted out. Heero let out a low chuckle.

"No I suppose not," he replied.

Heero watched with mild amusement as a flush crept up on her neck and into her cheeks. Her blue eyes shone in the sunlight, tinged with embarrassment. It was... endearing. Heero's fingers itched to touch her, so he extended his hands towards her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. Her body relaxed against his chest and as they stood on the deck, they rocked together against the waves breaking under the speed of the yacht. Heero looked down at Relena and grinned, and in response, she pressed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him. The pair deepened the kiss against each other, and Heero reached out and brought the speed of the yacht down to a stop before they disappeared below.

A/N I apologize for falling off the face of the Earth there for a while. Been dealing with a lot of stuff lately, but things have settled back down, and I'm itching to finish this story up and bring you my next one. I promise the next chapter will be less fluffy and more exciting... unless.. you like it this way... :-) lol

-Scarlet Eve