Author's Note: This chapter was split into two, but I thought I'd give you guys a bigger chapter today :) Also, please go and check out a fabulous piece of art of Grace and Jake by StonecoldAphrodite on Deviantart called "Old West". It is amazing guys!

Anonguest: I'm glad you really like that interaction in the last chapter - it took me a couple of attempts to try and get that part to where I was happy with it. I wanted Dufayel to come across as threatening, but Rango had to remain in character, then I needed to make sure Jake wasn't losing any bad-ass-points... yeah, a lot. But I'm glad it all worked out. And I thought the whole aspect of modernising the west was a good twist in the movie, so I wanted to explore it with the old classic gold-digging of old western movies. Hope you like where I take this!

CROWPRINCESS: I know there are a couple of foxes now, but don't worry, after this chapter it will be easy to tell who's who. And this Emma Ai sounds interesting. We sure she wasn't Jake's student or something? LOL!

MMM: Yep. You can bet a thousand gallons he'll be back - just lacking a terminator accent!

Guest: Here is the next chapter ;)

Selling Your Soul to the Devil

"I'm not going nowhere

I can live all my prayers

cause I'm done playing nice, I'm done running for life

cause ya think that you got me scared…" Hayden Panettiere – 'Don't put dirt on my grave just yet'

"That wasn't exactly the smartest move…" Ramirez muttered from his saddle atop his roadrunner, picking at his teeth with a claw. Dufayel curled his lip at the uncivilised coyote, adjusting his suit and sweeping it of any minuscule dust that might have gotten onto the maroon fabric from the rattler's dirty scales.

"I'm well aware." He replied curtly, his accent thick with the mutter. "But it was necessary. I am not without my manners, dear friend. It would be ungentlemanly not to give them a way out now. Besides, I have planted the seed of doubt in their minds, and I have seen how far they are willing to go – not very."

"You should've taken some of my men with you, amigo. Would've saved that suit." Ramirez chuckled at his own joke as he watched Dufayel adjust his cufflinks.

"Yet you wouldn't have come yourself, eh?" The fox shot his companion a withering look, contempt in every feature. "Quite the cowardly dog, aren't you."

"I have no death wish for getting on the Reaper's bad side. You're loco." Ramirez retorted.

"I do not think Monsieur Rattlesnake will trouble us for long." Dufayel said as he climbed into the saddle of his own roadrunner, a pure white, pristine and docile girl that retained the same sophisticated air as her owner. "We have one more business call to make. Is everything ready?"

"The kid's been watching the farm all day."

"Ah, bien," Dufayel grinned. "Then we should not keep her waiting, oui?" And with that, they set out.

Rango briskly walked towards the town hall, nodding at his fellow Mud residents with a tip of his hat and an accented word here and there. To all outward appearances, he was the charming, courageous and fearless hero, even if inside, his stomach was knotting itself with nerves. But the actor in him would never allow him to slip out of the role, and so he continued on, as if he had not a care in the world.

But at that moment, he had a mission. Whilst the meeting with Dufayel had shaken him and the rest of the Mud-citizens up, Rango was adamant in his refusal. But he still needed to make sure that everything Dufayel said was true, even if there was only a single shred of truth to it. Role or not, the one thing that Rango had learned, was that it was his job now to obey the law, and if Dufayel was keeping to the law (though a shady side of it) then… he didn't know what he'd do.

Coming into the cool interior of the town hall, Rango made a quick turn and came to Angelique's office. But as he opened the door and stepping in, however, he saw the vixen was not alone. Chuck, her husband, was perched on the edge of her desk, grinning down at his wife roguishly, but his eyes betrayed him with their sparkle of pure adoration. He must've whispered something Rango didn't hear, because Angelique smiled as she fluttered her long lashes. The pair hadn't noticed the chameleon at all.

"Stop it Charles, I'm at work." Angelique tried to say sternly as she slapped her husband's arm, but that tiny smile on her face gave it away.

"And you know how good you look in that – I swear you do it on purpose just to tease me." Chuck grinned at her as he leaned closer.

Angelique chuckled. "Now I know you're digging for bones." She tried to push him off her desk and restack her neat piles of papers. "Now stop it, you're going to make a mess."

"Love it when you talk dirty." He waggled his eyebrows at her. Angelique giggled, and Rango was astonished – he never would've thought someone as un-childish and reserved as Angelique could giggle like a schoolgirl.

"Mon amour… you're a northern pig." She chuckled as she grabbed hold of his jacket and pulled him a little closer, and Chuck chuckled huskily with her. "Now you'll have to stop before I – Sheriff!" Her eyes widened when she finally noticed Rango at the door.

"Oh, don't mind me!" Rango quickly held up his hands, his checks turning a furious red at having been caught staring. Angelique's expression was mortified, and he quickly began to back up. "I'll just leave you two to –"

"No Sheriff! Please, my husband was just leaving." Angelique hurriedly said.

"I was? – Ow!" Chuck yelped when his wife stamped on his foot.

"It's fine, I was just here for some records." Rango said as he came back in, though he now wanted to leave them alone as quickly as possible.

"What kind of records, Rango?" The vixen asked.

"I want a look at Mayor John's old files."

"Sure." Reaching into a file cabinet, Angelique pulled out a hefty folder and put it on the desk with a loud THUD. "Here."

"Mighty appreciated, Angelique." Rango murmured, though gulped at the sheer size of the thing – it would take forever to sort through!

"What is all this about?" She asked.

"Well, we might have found our culprit to our little problem."

"Really? Who?" Chuck raised his brows.

"Some rich guy, thinks he owns the town to dig it up for gold. I ran him out, of course." Rango added with his usual bravado. Angelique merely rolled her eyes as she picked up her glass of water for a drink. "But I just want to see if there's any money where his mouth is." The chameleon couldn't help but chuckle at his own joke.

"Who was he?" Said Chuck.

"Some French fox." Rango shrugged as he leafed through the first pieces of paper in the file. "Called himself 'Doof-eye-ell'."

Angelique dropped her glass of water to the floor, where it smashed with an almighty crash!

"Dufayel?!" She whispered, her face seeming to drain of colour, even through her fur.

"Yeah, why? You know him?"

"Sacré bleu!" The vixen gasped, her eyes wide, and Rango was astonished to see her trembling. He'd never seen her so out of composure before. Quickly picking herself up out from behind her desk, the woman quickly walked around them towards the door. "I-I have to go!"

"What?" Chuck blinked, clearly as startled by this as Rango. "Angelique?"

"Hold on a minute now, hold on!" Rango quickly stopped the woman, making her turn around to look at him as he eyed her with concern. "Angelique, what is going on here?"

"Sheriff Rango, everything Dufayel says is true!" She told him in a rush. "You'll find them in Tortoise John's business records, Dufayel legally owns all of the mayor's land ownings. But I didn't think he would–"

"Wait, do you know Dufayel?" Rango frowned.

"Yes… he is my uncle."

"What?" The Sheriff recoiled, shocked. "You knew about all this?"

"No!" Her eyes widened. "I swear, Sheriff, I had no idea! The last time I saw my uncle was when he and Mayor John started doing business together! And even then I did not speak with him. He has always remained in the cities, he prefers the money. A couple of weeks ago, though, he wrote me a letter."

"He what?"

"It simply offered me asylum, but I didn't know why he said such a thing at the time."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chuck asked as he came forward to stand beside his wife, holding her arms in his paws, watching her face with concern.

"I thought it was nothing, my uncle being his eccentric self!" Angelique whispered, her shaking only becoming worse. "If I had known…"

"Angelique, is there anything you can tell us that might help us?" Rango put in.

"Oh, Sheriff Rango! Please, do not get into this fight! Dufayel is a man you must not cross – it will be the end of you and this town!"

"He's already threatening our homes for a gold mine– Hey, where are you going?" He asked in slight panic when the woman once more made her way towards the door.

"I… I'm sorry Sheriff, but…" She hesitated, but closed her eyes and sighed in defeat. "I'm taking my children and leaving."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry!" She blurted, the guilt clearly torturing her face. "I love my home, this town, and I wish to stay, I want to help. But Dufayel is ruthless and powerful. He will not stop until he gets what he wants, even if he has to kill for just what is salvageable. If you refuse, he will turn this into war. I'm taking my children far away from this, I won't have them caught in this fight."

"Wait, Angelique, no!" Chuck grabbed onto her arm. "We can't abandon this place, it's our home."

"Charles, please," His wife begged him. "Come with me, we have to go!"

"We can't just abandon our friends and neighbours."

"Charles, I am afraid of the danger if we stay." She held onto his shirt in a white-knuckled grip, as if she feared he would disappear if he let go. "Please, I can't leave you here, but we have to go! If you love me… please…"

There was a very long silence, all the while Rango shifted from foot to foot, nervously watching the silent exchange between husband and wife. Surely they couldn't be considering this? Suddenly, Rango felt extremely alone. It was like he was back inside his glass box again, a vacuum that separated him from everyone else. It made him feel lonelier than ever. Chuck looked into his wife's imploring eyes, and Rango knew the decision he would make.

"I'm sorry, Sheriff," Chuck sighed quietly. He then steered his wife towards the door, and opened it for her. "Come on, let's go."

Rango stood there alone as the door swung shut behind them, the emptiness of the room reminding him of his vacuum once more.

"I know it's not much…" Grace said as she and Beans watched over the boars as they snorted happily at the trough, only a few of the females plump with offspring still in their bellies. "But those thieves got off with half of my girls. The ones I do have now, most aren't pregnant – wasn't their turn this year. So what you see is what you get, I'm afraid."

"If they're from you Grace, I know they're gonna be mighty fine." Beans said with a polite smile.

"Thanks." Grace smiled back. She liked this rapport she had with Beans, it was a professional relationship, one where both parties respected the other, and Grace could actually have a conversation without the stench of fear hanging in the air. There were times when the glossysnake thought with longing that perhaps she might have had a female friend, but Beans was all business and straight to the point. So she was content to keep things how they were. Shrugging off her thoughts she gestured with her head to her stock. "You got your eye on one?"

"Yeah… I think I might go for that one." Beans pointed to a young male that had only just matured, he'd filled out nicely in order to give himself plenty of bulk. Grace knew that one was energetic and had stamina, but was a docile and easy creature.

"Good choice." The glossysnake nodded. "Considering all your help with everything lately… I'll let you have him for half price."

"Only half price?" Beans cocked an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm letting you get first pick, aren't I?"

"Darn it, I thought you were gonna throw him in for free." The desert iguana smirked with slight amusement.

"I have to make some money, Miss Beans." Grace grinned back.

"As must we all, Mademoiselles."

Grace and Beans whirled around at the sound of the strange, accented voice, eyes widening slightly in surprise. A fox in a maroon suit stood smiling at them, looking extremely civilised and out of place with the desert stretching out like the cloak of death behind him. But both females gasped when they saw who was standing behind him.

Their eyes immediately caught on a snake, a large one, and Grace felt her insides quiver in fear when she realised that it was a Mojave Kingsnake. He seemed young, for he was only a centimetre or two longer then Grace, and his scales were unmarred by any form of scar or blemish, with a vivid white and black banded pattern that caught the eye. He wore a white hat and a gun holster around his middle, where a single silver revolver glinted in the sun. The snake was smirking at her, his eyes alight with interest and excitement.

But the one that caught Grace's attention most, was the familiar coyote behind the fox, his torn ear and belt of teeth and claws ringing in Grace's memory. Ramirez Arvenga: The Black Scourge. When he noticed that she'd seen him, the coyote grinned and gave her a wink. Grace felt her stomach tighten again in fear, but she felt anger course through her, knowing suddenly who she was dealing with. Grace was thankful that Teddy was out the back playing somewhere, and prayed that he would stay there.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked a little nervously.

"Good afternoon," The French fox smiled, showing off his pearly teeth as he gave an elegant bow. "I am Monsieur Dufayel. You must be the lovely ladies, Madam Beans and Madam Grace, I've heard so much about."

"What are you doing here on my property?" Grace asked tightly as she eyed the strangers.

"No need to be so cold, dear lady, I mean you no harm." Dufayel feigned offence, but kept up his smile.

"I'm in the middle of something, so I'd like you to leave my property." She shot a glare at the coyote. "All of you."

"We've only just arrived, Amiga…" Ramirez grinned with a condescending chuckle.

"I want you out."

"Ooh, this one's got bite. I like her." The kingsnake leered as he looked Grace up and down in a way that made her scales crawl.

"I think I'm a little old for you." She muttered dismissively as she cast him a glance.

"Only by a couple of years." He shrugged. "And I like the thought of an… experienced woman. Whatdoya say, sweetcheeks?"

"Enough, Henry." Dufayel scolded quietly, and the kingsnake rolled his eyes but fell silent. "Forgive my men, they have no civilised manners. It is so hard to find good help out here."

"I thought Grace told you to get on outta here. So get!" Beans barked with narrowed eyes.

"I will when I'm done." Dufayel's charming façade slipped for a moment with the impatient snap, though he quickly set it back in place. But when both females glared at him, he sighed and his smile vanished. "Very well, you are both straight to the point, I see. Fine. I am here to make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?" Grace narrowed her eyes.

"I am in the middle of a great business venture. But there are a few pieces of the puzzle I am missing. Namely, what I am standing on."

"The dirt?"

"I want to buy your lands. Your farm, Miss Grace, and your ranch, Miss Beans. And I am willing to pay a lot of money in exchange."

"I didn't sell out to the mayor, what makes you think in hell I'd sell to you?!" Beans immediately became enraged.

"Because I already own the town, and I am willing to pay you both handsomely for both of your lands. You could be very rich women, if you help me."

"What is it you want?" Grace asked darkly as she glared at the fox.

"You know very well what I want. You saw it for yourself." He replied curtly.

"Wait, he's…" Beans trailed off as realisation hit her.

"Yeah." Grace finished for her.

"Why you…" The brunette was shaking with the force of her anger, before she suddenly pulled out a revolver from the back of her waistband. "You yellow-bellied, cock-eyed, ass-pullin', sonofa–"

"Oh no you don't." The kingsnake, Henry, suddenly lunged forward with unimaginable speed and wrapped himself around Beans in an instant, holding the woman firmly in his coils but not tight enough to choke her. Grace had heard of the deadly speed of kingsnakes, it was how they hunted other snakes, but it horrified her to a whole new level to see it herself.

"Beans!" She shrieked and immediately went to lunge forward to bite and free her friend. However, she was stopped in her tracks when she heard the click of a gun being armed, and saw the coyote aiming his guns at her face. She froze.

"Ah-Ah, do not move amiga, or I will add your teeth to my –"

"Enough!" Dufayel boomed, causing everyone to flinch back in surprise. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the fox spoke between gritted teeth. "I will have none of this ruffian behaviour. Ramirez, put away your gun."

"But amigo, I was just –"

"Vous êtes stupide!" The fox hissed in words Grace didn't understand. But Ramirez slowly put his guns away, casting a glare at Grace. Dufayel then turned to the kingsnake. "Now, Henry, release Miss Beans so that we can continue this in a civilised manner."

Henry immediately did as he was told, roughly dropping the iguana to the ground where she hurriedly but shakily got to her feet with a gasp. As he slithered his way back to Dufayel however, a leer came over his features. Without warning, he slithered his heavy coils over Grace's body, and it took all of her willpower not to shriek in surprise at the contact. He held himself over her, rubbing his neck against hers rather suggestively as he brought his head alongside hers. Grace clamped her jaws together to try and prevent herself from reacting in any way, though her body burned with outrage. But when Henry flicked his tongue out beside her ear, she couldn't help but snap at him, though her jaws closed around air as he dodged aside.

"Don't tempt me, sweetcheeks," He winked at her. "Ya never know, I might like it rough."

"Get. Off. Me." She hissed between clenched teeth. Despite Grace's absence with the opposite sex, and her secret longing for that kind of contact, this felt wrong. Henry was too forward in his approach, too hands-on (figuratively speaking), his scales too smooth for her liking, and his grip too tight. It felt wrong.

Henry leered. "But I'm mighty comfortable–"

"Henry!" Dufayel hissed. The kingsnake hid a sour and impatient expression, before slowly slinking off of Grace and returning to stand behind his boss. "Forgive–"

"I believe you already have our answer." Grace snapped at the fox, still trying to recover her dignity. "We ain't selling. Now get out."

"I would be careful, Mademoiselles." Dufayel glared at them coldly. "I am a patient man, but a man who will do anything to achieve my goals. I would hate to have to show you what I can do in order to convince you."

"What'cha gonna do, charm us to death?" Beans sneered.

"I could take what is most precious to you, should you not agree." Dufayel said in a voice so devoid of emotion, so black in its intent, so edged with malice, that Grace couldn't help a shiver run down her spine as her coils tightened to make her slightly smaller. "You Miss Beans, are all alone, so I'll enjoy finding out what makes you tick. You however, Miss Glossy, you do not have that luxury. So many little pieces of yourself that could–"

"Don't you even think about touching my boy!" Grace snarled, shooting forward until she brought herself only an inch from Dufayel's face. All her previous fear was gone, to be replaced by an old anger she thought she'd long since buried where no one should've ever seen it again. "You hurt one scale on his body, and I promise there won't be much left of you or your men!"

Both Ramirez and Henry aimed their guns at Grace when they saw their boss being threatened. But Beans then raised her gun also, unflinching.

"No." Dufayel said, a slight smirk on his features as he held up a paw, signalling for his men to put away their firearms. "Come. We have done enough work here."

"I got a bead on you, fancy-man." Beans growled out fiercely as she trained her gun on him. "So you walk out real slow, 'less you wanna spend the rest of the afternoon puttin' your face back together!"

"As you wish." Dufayel sneered. He and his men began to walk away, Dufayel mounting onto their roadrunners, whilst Henry slithered through the dirt. Once in his saddle, the aristocratic fox cast the women one last look of contempt. "Remember what I've said, madams. I will be patient. But I won't wait forever."

And with that, they headed off into the desert, leaving the foreboding farewell ringing in Grace's ears.

Jake didn't return to the farm until much later that evening, when Grace and Teddy had already eaten. She supposed that it was because he was out either doing whatever the Sheriff was hunting, or had simply been out patrolling. Or just doing whatever the hell he wanted. Grace thought it was probably the latter.

The rattlesnake came into the house with an irritable grumble under his breath, closing the door behind him with his tail a little more forcefully then required. Grace restrained herself from snapping across the house for him to mind her property. As it was, she could hear Jake making his way towards the stairs, obviously not wanting to socialise, but damn it if she hadn't been slaving away at the stove and had left him a piece that it was going to go to waste now.

"You ain't even gonna eat?" She called out, and heard his movements stop.

There was a long silence, and she waited to see what he would do, silently cursing herself for her impulsive behaviour. Then, she heard the scraping of scales as he came back towards the dining room. With a single look over her shoulder, Grace told Teddy silently to stay in the kitchen and finish cleaning up, as was his chore. Wrapping her tail around the pot on the stove that had been kept warm, she lifted it and carried it through to the dining room.

Snakes don't need a table per se, but Grace's mother had been adamant on being civilised, and so her daddy had purchased a table to please her. Whilst there were no chairs, it was still enough to put a meal on it before a snake could devour said meal whole. Jake came into the room, eyeing Grace grouchily as she placed the pot on the table.

"It's roast roadrunner." Was all she said. Jake rolled his eyes but relented as he came and put himself at the table, and she saw his nostril twitch a second before his tongue came out to taste the air.

Jake was not an expressive person, only showing what he wanted others to see, but Grace somehow knew, just by that alone that he was pleased. It made her smile triumphantly as she left him to fish the meat out of the pot before working his jaws to swallow it. She'd only been in the kitchen ten minutes, when she heard Jake speak – he must've eaten quickly.

"The Sheriff's woman came into town," He said, and his voice was particularly unreadable, for Grace could detect no malice or other negative emotion, but neither was it void of it. She left Teddy in the kitchen again, a little nervous and wanting to be able to at least try to read Jake's face if not his voice. But even his eyes were devoid of meaning as he watched her. "She said ya had a little visitor. The damned fox."

"Yeah, he came by here." Grace replied evenly.

"What'd he want?"

"Wants me to sell my land to him – and Miss Beans, too."

"A highflautin', prissy, stuck-up bastard." Jake growled under his breath. Grace would've said something about such foul language when her son was within ear-shot, but then he was speaking again. "He came into town wantin' to scare them folks out. Practically confessed to everythang. Got people worked up – gave me a headache."

"Didn't the Sheriff stop him?" Grace frowned.

"That cowerd's too much of a boot-licker to do nothin'." The rattlesnake spat, before eyeing her. "I'm guessin' you told him 'no'. You got about as much sense as the rest o' these folks."

"I'm not giving up my home." She told him defiantly. "Not even if he comes in with his whole cavalry next time."

"Whatcha mean by that?" He looked over at her sharply.

"Well, he came here with his–"

"Who?" His slit pupils became as thin as paper, and Grace tried to push away the slight nerves she felt at his rising anger.

"Just a snake and the Coyote, Ramirez–"

Jake reared up until his black hat was almost brushing the ceiling. "Ya mean to tell me that ya had that piece of shit here and ya didn't think to call fer help? Are ya dense?!"

"Jake, you wouldn't've been able to do nothing even if I did." Grace defended. "And I had everything under control."

"I doubt that."

"I am not a damsel in distress, Jake. I don't need you saving me all the time."

"If you would stop being such a dumbass, I wouldn't have to!"

"Excuse me?" Her eyes went wide in outrage. "Alright then, what would you've done if you'd even been here to be the big macho-man, hmm?"

"I wouldn't be standing round talking, that's fer sure!" He growled with a flash of his folded fangs behind his lips. He then spoke with a dark satisfaction that made Grace's scales shiver with fear: "I'm brought in when people need to leave this world for good. His soul I would've gladly taken down to hell. Nothin' gets rid of a problem like a bullet between the eyes."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not having that lawlessness on my property, Jake!" Grace snapped with all the anger she could muster. "This is my house, and we will respect the law–"

"Goddamnit! Yer worse than the Sheriff! Neither of ya have got a spine to do what needs doin'!" Jake yelled in irritation.

"But I got plenty of dignity to do what's right."

"I'd watch that goody-goody attitude of yers, woman. It could cost ya yer life." He growled in a scolding manner.

Instead of feeling angry, Grace averted her eyes, suddenly quite ashamed. Her cheeks blushed ever so slightly, and she clamped her jaw shut to keep herself from snapping. She could feel Jake's stare over her face, and tried to shrug off the shiver she felt.

"You gotta stop being this reckless."

"What?" She snapped her head back to face him. "You can't order me around!"

"I can, and I will. Damn-it, woman!" He snapped at her, and once again Grace was extremely surprised to see something aside from anger in his eyes. It was easier to spot this time, but she saw clearly a look of ever-so-slight worry in his eyes, which was where his anger stemmed from. And as she stared, she noticed that upon Jake's left bottom eye-lid, was an extremely faint scar from a previous battle. How could she have not noticed this before? But then he brought her attention back to the present. "It ain't been too long since ya nearly drowned. If yer so desperate to pass on to the next world, tell me when and I'll send ya there. But on my watch, you ain't gonna be so stupid."

"Jake –" She tried to say softly, but he spoke over her.

"I ain't finished." He growled. "Yer gonna do as yer told and be more careful. I ain't gonna let you get killed 'cause you gotta play hero again. I'll–"

"Jake…" Grace quickly but gently placed her tail over his, pushing it down as her tail wrapped around the cold metal and touched his flesh. Instantly, he stilled, looking down at their touching tails in what she could only assume was shock, his eyes wide and his body rigid. She hoped she hadn't offended him. "Thank you," her soft voice brought his attention back to her face briefly. "I appreciate your concern…"

Normally, Jake would've made a snappy retort about how unconcerned he really was. But his mind couldn't untangle itself from the mess it had become at her touch. He looked back down at how her tail was light placed over his, he could feel the brush of her smooth scales against his rough ones and the weight of her on the metal of his gun. He was stunned by her willingness to touch him, something everyone else was too afraid to do voluntarily. But what surprised him more… was how soft and how good even that brief little touch felt. It lit a tiny fire inside his lower belly, one he couldn't quite be sure of in its existence, let alone what to name it. It disturbed him.

Grace awaited his answer as the heavy silence grew around them, making her feel slightly nervous with each passing second. Then without warning, Jake wrapped his thick and muscular coils around her, making her gasp in surprise as she felt his hard and rough scales press around her. He being the bigger snake, he quickly wrapped her into submission, and she could feel the strength in his body as he held her, his face coming to loom above her own with that same unreadable stare.

Grace suddenly found herself short of breath, and she didn't know why. Despite how frightening her situation probably was, she strangely couldn't help her mind from analysing how Jake held her. She felt the strength in his every fibre, that he could crush her if he wanted, and yet his hold was not unpleasant. He exacted the right amount of force to restrain her, putting her at his mercy and making her feel bare to his hellfire eyes. But at the same time he was gentle enough not to hurt her. There was something possessive, yet tender in his embrace that made her stomach quiver with anticipation, but for what, she didn't know. His smoother underbelly was at her back, and she could feel the beat of his steady and strong heart, soothing yet making her own quicken just a little. And then she couldn't help but think of how Henry had held her earlier today. Where Henry had made her scales crawl, she couldn't resist realising how right Jake's touch felt in comparison. She stared up at him with wide brown eyes as he brought his hard and unreadable mask closer to hers.

"Promise me." He ordered in a voice that was quiet, but firm, brokering no argument. "You gotta promise me yer gonna call for help next time."

Grace felt helpless to say anything other than: "I promise."

A/N: I hope you guys liked the chapter! :D I certainly loved it! Here's something some of you might like to know: After some discussion with KaijuDirector007, we've decided on the voices for Grace and Dufayel. For Grace - Scarlett Johanson. And for Dufayel - Mads Mikkelsen. :)

Also, the character of Henry is an OC created by KaijuDirector007 and is based off of Frank from "Once Upon A Time In The West"

Until next time!