The next morning was blocked out by the thick blinds on her windows. The Kurgan had closed his eyes as he shared in her dreams and now saw that she was beginning to wake up. She moaned a little as her eye lids fluttered open and nuzzled her face against his chest, taking a deep inhale of his scent. She lazily lifted her head and looked at him with hazy eyes.
"Good morning pretty thing," he rumbled.
Suddenly she seemed to remember that she was had fallen asleep naked against him. Her eyes snapped open and she scrambled away from him as his deep laugh echoed in her bedroom. She wrapped the blankets around her body and then rubbed her eyes with that hand that wasn't holding the blankets closed. Kurgan liked how she looked in the morning; rumpled and easy to subdue.
He continued to lay where he was and put his hands behind his head, showing her his teeth with his lopsided grin, his hair framed his face. "Like what you see mistress?" He asked.
Arielle shook her head, "Hardly! I'm surprised you're still here Kurgan," she said, her voice scratchy and hoarse from sleep.
"Well you didn't send me away before you fell asleep and I didn't feel like leaving. So instead I touched you while you dreamed; there isn't a single spot on your body I don't know."
Her lips twisted in a disgusted sneer as he bellowed with laughter.
"You're sick Kurgan," she hissed.
His laughter slowly died, "Are you sure about that?" He leaned forward and stared at her, "You brought me here, so are you sure I'm the sick one? Why didn't you imagine up The Highlander if I'm too much for you?" His gaze was teasing her.
"Well now that you mention it," she said, skipping over the remark about him being too much for her, "The Highlander would be a nicer 'imaginary friend'."
The Kurgan grinned and he continued to stare at her from under his dark lashes, "He would lack the dominate man you love in me. Too much gentle, not enough man."
The woman across from him was furious! "How dare he talk about what I like in bed!?" She thought.
He chuckled and ran a finger up and down her bare shoulder, "I dare because I know woman," he growled as an answer. "I'm part of your head. I know you love a dominate man in bed. You already showed me last night. And! I decided to have a look at your past lovers and see what exactly you dealt with. They were completely in charge. As I said; you love the dominate man. The Highlander wouldn't be dominating enough for you."
"Oh please!" She scoffed and then straightened her back, "I could very easily banish you and make you into The Highlander."
The Kurgan's playful look disappeared and was replaced by a dark one Arielle shivered at. He quickly stood up and towered above her, "Fine," he growled. "Do it! Soon you'll be begging for The Kurgan to come back!" With that said he suddenly vanished.
Arielle glared at where he had been standing, "Oh so I need to Banish you you said?!" She shouted, angered that he left without her having to tell him to.
She promptly stood up and went to the shower. She was glad he was gone! Glad that the poking around in her head and trying to 'dominate her' was gone too.
"Ugh!" She said in the shower, "How gross. . ."
She took a shower without anyone interrupting her. She got dressed without that nasty man watching her every move. She embraced, and quite enjoyed, the silence that now followed The Kurgan's absence. She went to work and didn't feel self conscious that a beast of a man was following her. She chatted up a few other employees before spending a comfortable day in her office.
A few hours later she looked up from a design. Her day had gone by fine until she had sat down to draw and then. . .nothing. For some God damned reason she didn't know what to draw. She looked outside and watched the clouds in the sky, they were dark and ready to rain. The was a time when The Kurgan told her how he only liked dark clouds, and rain. Soft footsteps distracted her memory and sh elooked back in front of her to see a handsome man in a brown trench coat.
She smiled, "Hello MacLeod."
He grinned, "Hello Arielle."
"I know about The Kurgan and how he felt about you. I have much better self restraint than him rest assured." His smile was genuine and his bluntness surprised her. It was so different from The Kurgan's smirk.
Her head tilted to the side and smiled shyly, "Yeah huh? So you're a part of me too?"
He nodded, "Yes. I am. But I come as my own person like he did. We don't share anything that he did with you."
Arielle smiled and chuckled, she put one hand down on her failed design and the other ran through her hair.
"Well that's good to hear MacLeod. I like this arrangement a little better," she told him.
The Highlander knew more than she thought she was letting on. He grinned and saw how her smile didn't reach her eyes, she seemed tired, she almost seemed disappointed when she looked up to find him when he first appeared. "I can see that you and I will not be having the same relationship as you did with The Kurgan."
She looked at him and shook her head, "Oh y-you don't understand," she laughed nervously and waved her hands in front of her in her defense, "The Kurgan and I-"
He leaned forward with his hands on her desk, his smile still on his face, "Come on now, you should know better than that Arielle. You and I don't know why you have some low attraction to him. I certainly don't understand but I know you don't quite know either." He gazed at her gently as she gaped at him. "It's ok though."
That helped her to get over her inner disgust towards the other man and how she had reacted to him. She closed her mouth, "Well MacLeod I certainly didn't think you'd be so on top of everything."
He chuckled, "I could tell. But what I don't know is if you'll keep me or send for The Kurgan again."
Her response was a shake of her head, "I think I'll keep you around for a little while," she said.
He smiled and stepped around the desk to stand next to her and look at what she was trying to draw, "So what are you working on here?" He asked as he leaned down to look at her work.
She gladly told him about her latest commission and he nodded as she explained. As she worked she was happy for his input but realized that when The Kurgan was around she never needed help. It seemed to her that when the giant was around she didn't have trouble concentrating, which was funny because in her opinion he was always antagonizing her and she thought she never got any work done. She didn't bother glancing at the file of finished designs.
