all characters belong to JKR, which isn't me

Chapter 12: Challenge:

His hand clutched the sash of her robe. Her hands trembled on his shoulders. He said once more, "Just kiss me and get it over with, please."

"Draco," she said as a warning.

"Kiss me," he said with an endearing smile.

"No," she said, almost in a whine.

"What do you want, Hermione?" he asked, because frankly, he was tired of trying to figure her out. He flipped the sash out of his hand, and walked around to the other side of the table. This woman was a mystery to him. He didn't believe she was being coy. He knew she wasn't playing hard to get. She had scruples, morals, hopes and dreams. In short, she was the antithesis of him, and she was a puzzle that he wanted to solve.

When she said his name, he caught the warning in her tone. He walked back toward her, close, but not touching. Then suddenly, his hand went to her wrist, and held tightly, his thumb pressing on her pulse. He could tell that she had a reaction at his nearness. He knew that she wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted her to kiss him. He could tell by her racing pulse that she wanted something.

But she couldn't let herself go. She couldn't trust him. That thought irked him to no end. He wouldn't expect someone like her to risk everything on a weekend fling, a mere tryst, a simple kiss. Was it just a kiss that he wanted? And in the end, was that what she wanted to know? Did she want assurances that it would be more, or did she want a promise that it would be less? He was determined to find out.

He glared at her, and could tell that her brain was at war as well. She was trying to figure him out. She was trying to uncover his motives. He wanted to tell her, 'good luck with that, and when you figure it out, let me know,' because he hadn't a clue as to his motives. Unlike her, he was ruled by his emotions, more than by his head.

They were in a mutual tug of war, a challenge of sorts, and a challenge fraught with turmoil and undoubtedly pain, somewhere along the way.

He walked around her once more, and stood behind her. "It must be hard."

"I hope that's an opening to a statement, and not some double entendre," she said with a smile.

"You're so witty," he said sincerely. He faced her once more and again pulled on her sash. "No, I mean it must be hard to constantly over-analyze every little thing everyone says. I just wanted a kiss."

"It's not that easy," she stated.

He threw his head back and laughed. He closed the space between them and said, "Kissing," he put his cheek next to hers, "is extremely," he brushed his nose down her jaw, "easy." His lips were next to hers. He was so close that she felt his breath in her mouth. "It's also enjoyable." He pushed against her, and she stumbled backwards.

He looked at the door, annoyed with her and with himself, and said, "When are they coming to get us for our baths?"

"Draco," she began, "What I mean is that it'll complicate things."

"Complicate, complicate, complicate! You're complicated," he snapped, "and furthermore, Malfoys don't beg, so I'm done with you. I don't even want to kiss you now." He was on the verge of becoming sincerely infuriated with her. He NEVER had to put this much effort into having a woman kiss him. He said, "I wonder…" but then he stopped.

"You wonder?" she asked.

He was going to say that he wondered why he found her such a challenge, but instead he said, "I wonder what you look like under that robe."

She shook her head and walked toward the door. She opened it and peeked outside. "Where are they? Were we supposed to follow them?" She turned back and said, "By the way, you're a liar."

"And your point in pointing that out is what?" he asked.

"You do still want to kiss me," she said.

"Piss on you, Granger dear," he said with a laugh, although she hit the nail on the head. "I'm offended."

She leaned against the door and said, "Can you go two hours without lying?"

He thought about it for a moment, and then said, oddly enough, quite truthfully, "I doubt it. Can you go two hours without pointing out my faults?"

"I doubt it," she said with a smile. "But at least I'm not a liar."

"No, you're just an arrogant, know-it-all, who thinks she's better than everyone else," he said simply.

"Ouch," she said, opening the door again, just as another woman came into the room with a clipboard in her hand. "My name is Erica, and we have your baths ready, Mr. and Mrs. Malone."

"Yes, Heather dear, my wife," Draco said, pushing on her back slightly as they walked down the hall after the woman, "They have our baths ready, Mrs. Malone, the anti-liar."

She turned and gave him a dirty look as they entered a large room with many different tubs and spas. "Mrs. Malone, you're scheduled for a milk bath," the young woman stated, as she pointed Hermione toward one of the large tubs. Hermione looked over the edge, and placed her hand in the milky-white water.

"What is a milk bath?" Hermione asked.

"It's a regular bath," the girl said, "with the addition of milk, honey, and lavender, as well as other essential oils. The benefits of these baths are that they dissolve the proteins that hold together dead, dry skin. It will soften and moisturize your skin, and it will relieve stress. We'll turn on the jets as well, so I think you'll enjoy it. When you're done, we'll have you rinse off over in the showers." She pointed toward a row of showers, which had curtains in front of them.

"Not much privacy in here, is there?" Hermione asked. She looked down at her robe. Draco was very interested in this fact as well.

"You can wear a swimsuit, if you'd rather," the girl stated. "Did you bring one?"

"Well, no," Hermione said.

Draco put his arm around her and said to the girl, "My wife here is bashful. Do you think someone could run to one of the boutiques and get her a suit?"

Hermione looked over at him and smiled, because he was being endearing, but then he said, "She has nothing to be ashamed of, well, except for that embarrassing mole with the hair coming out of it."

Hermione hit him upside the head.

The girl laughed, not believing him, and said, "Mr. Malone, we have you slated for the tub next to your wife, and you'll be having the sulfur bath. It's a thermal bath, and the warmth of the water is beneficial in pain killing, and acts as an anti-inflammatory. It uses hydrogen sulphide."

"It smells horrible," Draco said, leaning down to take a big whiff. "Why can't I have the milk bath?"

"You can, but it would take a while to get it ready, and this is what the joint package calls for, milk bath for the wife, and sulfur bath for the husband."

Draco said, "Seems a bit unfair. She gets to smell all sweet, like honey and flowers, and I'll smell like burnt rubber."

Hermione laughed and said, "Get in the tub, Darren."

"David," he corrected.

The woman looked at the clipboard and said, "It says here it's Derek."

Hermione and Draco looked at each other and laughed. He threw off his robe, without any embarrassment, and he eased into the tub. Hermione didn't look away once. If he was going to flaunt his assets, she was going to enjoy them. He had a nice body, of course she had already thought as much. The young girl turned on some of the jets in his tub, and he leaned back and said, "This is the life."

Hermione waited until he shut his eyes, turned her back to him, and slipped off her robe. He opened one eye slowly. He saw her naked backside, and her back, as she eased down into the tub. Damn her modesty. The girl turned on her jets in her tub, and then left them.

Hermione said, "Do you think you lie so much because you're afraid of the truth?"

"I'm relieving my stress here, Granger, and your voice, full of condescending pride, is stressful to me, so shut up," he said. His eyes were still closed.

"I'm the one relieving stress with my milk," she corrected. "You're anti-inflaming, something or other. No, the reason I asked was because I wondered if you were up for a challenge."

He opened one eye again. Then the other. He was interested. He said, "You have my attention, commence."

He thought she looked a bit devious herself, even though he could only see her from the chin up. She put her hair up out of the milk, and draped it over the side of the tub. She said, "Let's have a contest of sorts. You have to tell everyone, including me, the absolute truth for the rest of the day, no more pretending to be married, no more deception of our fateful blind date, no more pretenses. No more lies as to whether or not you want to kiss me or why. If you make it to the end of the day, without lying, you win. If you don't, I win."

"What do I win?" he asked slowly. He cocked one eyebrow and sat upright. "Do I win you? Are you on the table?"

"I'm not on the table, I'm in a tub," she said metaphorically.

"Yes, yes, you're witty, I already established that," he said quickly. "Seriously, do I win you?"

"You win your kiss," she said, as she shut her eyes and tilted her head up toward the ceiling.

He rose up slightly, to see if he could see in her tub. He could only see the gentle swell of the tops of her breasts. He said, "I need more than that, we need to sweeten the pot a bit, besides," he stopped talking for a moment to shut the jets in his pool off so she could hear every word he was about to say. "I hate to burst your nice little bubble, but I could tell you that I'm telling the truth, and still lie. You wouldn't know, and I'm enough of a gentleman to point that humble piece of news out to you, my Granger."

He turned the jets back on and leaned back.

She leaned up. He was still watching her. She put her hands in front of her chest and leaned toward the side of her tub. She said, "I have assurances, or a safeguard, if you decide to my challenge."

"What? Unless you have truth serum in your pockets, you would only have my word, and I hate to tell you this, but my word isn't worth much." He rose up slightly again and said, "Do you even have pockets?" He started to stand up and said, "I better check."

She screamed and backed down into the white, milky, water and held up one hand and said, "Sit back down! I don't need pockets. I have a truth spell I'll use on you." She had a wide smile.

He sat back down and frowned. He was slightly worried. He had backed down from challenges before, so it wasn't like his pride would be wounded if he told her that he wouldn't agree, but he really didn't think he could go a whole day without lying! He said, "I've never heard of such a spell before. What is this truth spell? Are you lying about a truth spell, Granger? Shame."

"I made it up myself, and I've tested it on Ron and Harry before, so I know it works without a doubt," she said. "If you lie while under the spell, you'll get terrible stomach cramps, and the more you lie, the more it will hurt, so you will have every incentive to tell the truth." She smiled. "And sure, I'll sweeten the deal a bit, after all, you have a wonderful date planned, as well as something nice for my birthday tomorrow, I hope, so you deserve more than a kiss," she declared, satisfied that he would agree to her terms.

"What's your idea of sweet?" he asked. "I like more than milk and honey," he said. He put his hand over in her tub and touched the milky water.

She was slightly worried that his mind would go there. "You don't think I mean sex, do you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, seemingly shocked by her question. He hated that she was once again calling him out on something, so he was quick to add, "Anyway, I know you didn't mean sex." He was even lying now. He said, "Fine, truthfulness will be my new creed, for the rest of the day, and all I want is another date, after we get back to the real world." In his mind, he ended that sentence with, 'and it ends in sex.' "Yes, a date that extends beyond the confines of this resort, that's what I want."

She looked troubled, which troubled him. "You want to see me after we get home?"

"Apparently."

"You want us to, what, date or something?" she asked.

He said, "I don't want a commitment, here. I want a date." He was being truthful, dammit!

That was what she really wanted too, but was afraid to admit as much. She asked, "Just one date?"

"For now, so do we have a deal?" he asked. He held out his hand to her. He would accept her challenge, now would she accept his?


A/N: If you are all extremely nice to me, I might be persuaded to post the next chapter tomorrow!