Author's note: Ode to my reviewers/readers: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...Love you all SO much! Quick notes: work is taking over, so I really do apologize for my limited response to all your fabulous reviews, I'm trying to respond with the time I have, but I figure you probably want the story more, so I'm doing that first, review responses second. But I still love you all immensely (immensely, immensely), so please forgive me :(? Also, I may be getting sick, *finger's crossed* not, so I apologize for any delays if they occur! Finally, there is a reason this story has the rating it does, so note carefully! And finally, because of that lovely thing called work, you get an early post again :)! Onto the story!

Disclaimer: It's almost Valentines Day. Anyone want to get me a present?

Skye quickly reached the ground and hurried after Lucas, who had already started walking away.

"Hello, Beauty." A voice hissed behind her, and a hand had grabbed onto her wrist. She was spun around, and saw David leering at her and she smacked the arm holding her wrist, pulling her hand away quickly. She looked at him in clinical bemusement. What was wrong with him? He was just a creep and a psychopath. She shuddered internally. "I didn't expect to see you out of that tree anytime soon." He leered at her. He looked her up and down, eyes lingering around her chest and legs.

She crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Not that that's any of your business - " She froze in shock, feeling an arm slide around her waist, her head shot up, gaze connecting with Lucas' quickly, and she watched as his gaze slid to David, quickly turning icy.

"Is there a problem here?" He asked softly, staring dangerously at David.

David gulped nervously, quickly unsettled by the taller man staring down at him. "No problem at all. Just talking." He shrugged innocently.

Lucas snapped his gaze back to Skye. "Good," he said softly. He leaned in closer to her, grazing his lips softly, lingering, across her cheekbone while she went rigid in shock, heart skipping a beat. He quickly switched his attention back to David, and saw the other man's expression thunderous with rage. Lucas smiled cockily at him. "We have to be going now. I believe Mira wants you. And if you're not careful, you won't be able to help anyone out soon, if you're not careful. Catch my drift?" He said lazily, flexing his fingers.

David gulped again nervously, eyes still glinting with rage, focused on Lucas' arm around Skye's waist. "Have a nice day," he said with a hint of a sneer, but still cautious about Lucas' veiled threat, and slowly backed away from them both.

Lucas leaned further in to Skye, pulling her closer in turn, and leaned his head slightly on top of hers. "How could we not?" He said lazily. He snapped his full attention back to Skye. "Let's go, Bucket." He withdrew his arm from her waist, leaving her feeling slightly cold, and caught her hand in his, slightly pulling her along with him, leaving David staring angrily after them.

Skye let him pull her out of the camp, waiting until they were out of sight and earshot, finally digging in her heels. "What was that?" She exploded.

Lucas stopped, feeling her tug at his hand, slipping out of his, and noticed she had scared a few birds away nearby with the volume of her voice. "What was what, Bucket?" He stared at her. He had never liked David. He knew what men did to women they could take advantage of, and he knew that David fit that mould exactly. He was a lecherous psychotic, son of a bitch, and if he had his way, he would have been kicked out of the camp a long time ago. And for reasons he didn't want to name, he didn't want to let David anywhere near Skye, and preferably, would never have been exposed to her. No one would harm her, least of all a little bastard like that.

"That, that!" She waved her hands around her trying to verbalize his actions and the kiss, but was unable to express herself coherently.

Lucas quickly thought of an excuse. "That was stopping that psycho from staring at you. I know you're not as naïve to what he's doing as you're pretending, and you know as much as I do that he'd like nothing more than to screw you." He said crudely, trying to get her to accept the truth. "Unless you'd like to go with him, be my guest." He gestured sarcastically back to the camp.

"You know, there are a lot of people who'd describe you as a psycho as well!" She snapped angrily. "And I know just what he wants, but at least I know what he wants, which there's absolutely no chance of him getting, and he's not screwing with my mind! And he's not making other people think that I'm in a relationship, or doing something with someone else, when I'm not!"

He shook his head, frowning slightly, not understanding what she meant at the end. "Firstly, true, some people might call me psychotic. But then again, do you always listen to your critics? And a lot of people say I'm nice as well, pretty intelligent too." He winked sarcastically at her, and then rubbed his hand across his face in frustration. "I may be slightly insane, but at least I know that. He doesn't. When I want a woman, she knows it, and I don't have to force her, or creep her out or trick her into it. She comes to me of her own volition. If you want him, then be damn sure you do, because he doesn't know he's insane, and you will never forget that if you do start something!"

She looked at him slightly in shock, definitely not expecting that. He stared at her for a couple of seconds, shaking his head again, completely sure that he shouldn't have said anything remotely like that. "Come on," he muttered. "We're wasting time. The sooner we get back the better." He started walking, leaving Skye to trail behind him slightly, trying to make sense of just what had happened.

After about ten minutes, Skye heard the unmistakable sound of running water. Another five minutes passed of walking, when Lucas sighed in satisfaction, and pushed his way through some overgrown foliage, holding back the branches for Skye to enter. She walked ahead of him, and stopped dead, breath taken away. They were standing at the edge of a large lake, obviously down river of a large waterfall, and this pool was obviously at least a klick down, so the current wasn't too fast, but was still supplying fresh, clean water to the small lake.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Came Lucas' voice from behind her. She turned around to see him staring at the lake. "This was one of the main reasons that the camp is set where it is, although the other's haven't explored in this direction, they use the lake on the East."

"Why?"

Lucas smirked. "Because they know this is my area. Come on." He led their way to the edge of the lake, and started unbuttoning his pants.

Skye spluttered. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing, Bucket?" He asked patiently. "I have to get clean, I'm not staying in clothes that have my blood all over them. Besides, don't look." He said lazily, stepping out of his pants, and folding them up neatly with one hand, leaving them on a nearby rock. He tried to twist himself around slightly in order to undo his sling, but Skye had pinned it right in the center of his back, and he looked at her pointedly. "Mind helping?" He indicated to his back. He had decided to completely ignore what had happened before, it wouldn't do any good to dwell on it.

She huffed and stomped over to him, ignoring his smirk, yanked the pins free, and unwrapped it carefully, avoiding as much of his skin as possible, and keeping her eyes firmly just on his back, and no she did not see any of his blue underwear, damnit. He laughed lowly, "You can shut your eyes again," he said teasingly. He couldn't help it. Something about her just made him happier, he couldn't resist the urge to try and make her smile or be happy, as much as he tried not too. He ignored the little voice inside him screaming at him to resist her, to stop what he knew what destroy him again.

She closed her eyes hastily, only opening them when she heard little splashes, indicating that he was in the water. She fought an internal battle, knowing he was right. There was no point bathing in dirty clothes, they would never get clean that way. She weighed the costs, Lucas seeing her in her underwear, versus being clean. She hadn't had a shower in two days and still had the muck on her from lying in the ground after David had knocked her out, and her hair hung limp around her shoulders. She made up her mind. She opened her eyes, gaze falling directly on Lucas, who was staring straight at her, arms pulsating slightly in the water, keeping himself afloat. "Turn around." She ordered. He chuckled softly, and did as she ordered, pretending to hold his hands over his eyes so he wouldn't see anything. She unbuttoned her pants hastily, quickly chucking her shirt where her pants had fallen, so she was left in her bra and underwear, and entered the water quickly, trying to cover herself with the water.

"Can I open my eyes now?" Lucas called to her playfully.

She splashed water vigorously in his direction, laughing slightly when he spluttered, smiling despite herself. She hadn't swum in so long, and it was something that she had loved to do. She paddled through the water slightly, dunking under to the bottom and pulling her hands through her hair, trying to get rid of the knots. She kicked back of the bottom, swimming lazily to the surface, enjoying the peace under the water.

"Enjoying yourself?" Lucas said, laughing slightly at her. She stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed quickly. "I'll take that as a yes." He teased, the tension between them of the last few days falling away.

She quickly bobbed back under the water, repeating the same motions as before, and kicked back off the bottom after a few seconds. She kicked slowly back up to the surface, and smacked right into Lucas' chin. "OW!" They both groaned. Skye rubbed her head in pain and started to sink under the water forgetting to kick in her pain, and he grabbed her around the waist quickly, grunting as it pulled his stitches, while trying to rub his chin with his other hand.

"I know why your Mother calls you Bucket now," he groaned. "Your head has the density of one."

Skye glared at him, still rubbing the offended area. "What about your chin! Your chin could break rocks!"

Both of them suddenly became hyper-aware of their positions. His arms were wrapped around her waist, feet kicking gently to keep them afloat, and she was leaning on him, chests flush against each other, breathing in and out in sync, and they were staring right into each other's eyes.

"Skye," he murmured softly, unable to resist her. He knew that this was dangerous. Knew what she could, had done, and yet he just couldn't resist her. The stories her Mother had told him about her daughter had left him entranced by the girl who was so in awe of her Father. But when he actually met her, she had literally shaken his whole world. He was enamoured with this girl who fearlessly fought her way through the jungle to save her Mother, and tried so desperately to help everyone around her, while still maintaining a veneer of innocence of the harsh world around her. She had been the key to his success, and the result of what could have been his final failure. And yet he still couldn't tear himself away, knowing what she could do.

She was hypnotized by his gaze, leaning slightly closer into him, feeling the pounding of his heart against her chest, the water lapping lazily around them. He brought his head down slightly, angling it left, leaning closer to her. "Bucket," he murmured, leaning further in, gazing into her eyes, trying to seek the answer to the question in his. She closed her eyes, closed the distance between them, leaving an inch between their faces, and he ended their separation, bringing his head down letting his lips softly graze across hers, stubble on his face lightly tickling, scratching hers. She drew in a quick breath, breathing shakily as he did it again, slowly wrapping her legs around his hips, and looping her arms around the back of his neck, carefully avoiding his bullet wounds, somehow needing to get as close to him as she could.

He grazed his lips across hers again, and as she took in a shuddering breath, he tilted his head, peppering kisses down her jawline, sucking slightly right at the edge of her jaw, sending shooting tingles directly to her center. He knew it was dangerous, she knew it was dangerous, and yet neither of them could find it within themselves to push the other away.

She moaned again, unable to control her actions, pressing herself closer to him, craving the feel of his body against hers, desperately needing something solid to hold onto, to ground her. Her hands ran through his hair, clutching, trying to pull his head back so that she could kiss him, unable to stop herself. He leaned back slightly for a second, gazing deeply into her eyes, and then swooped forward, capturing her lips with his, and on her soft moan, his tongue pushed past her open lips, swooping inside her mouth, dominating, claiming, tasting her thoroughly, and she gave back as good as she got, hands sliding down to grasp at his back, nails clutching, trying to express her need, but for what, she didn't know. His hands moved down from her waist, grabbing her ass with both hands, pulling her even more firmly towards him, placing her aching center directly over his hardness, chest to chest, his head craning down over hers, lips sweeping across hers, trying to dominate each other in a battle of wills.

And just as quickly, they were knocked underwater by a slight wave, breaking apart from each other in shock. Lucas grabbed her hand, and pulled her back up with him to the surface. A silence settled over both of them, staring at each other. Lucas quickly broke the gaze and dropped her hand. "Come on," he jerked his head indicating the shoreline, and started swimming over slowly. She followed behind him, pressing her shaking fingertips to her swollen lips, her mind replaying the events, feeling his lips over hers, and the mastery she had felt him exert over her body, but more than that, the safety, the warmth, the desire. And she hadn't stopped or pushed him away, and instead had pulled him closer, desperately trying to hold onto him for reasons she didn't, couldn't, explore.

This chapter was a toughie. It was also one of the first one's I had to start writing on my iPhone since I couldn't wait to get home and start writing! As always, I love all your reviews :)!