The cold from the wall tingled through Tea's back, spreading through her body. Far worse, however, was the cold in the pit of her stomach, the icy fear clenching tight as she stared into Bakura's eyes. They were dark, filled with animalistic lust. But that was not what disturbed Tea most. It was the all-too-human cruelty in their depths, the sadism restrained by steely will, that set her limbs to trembling.

He bared his teeth in what might have been a smile, but there was not the slightest hint of merriment in it, only menace. Tea closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. This was all just a bad dream, she told herself. Any moment now, she would wake up and find she was safe in her own bed, with an ordinary Saturday morning dawning above her.

"Open your eyes." The savage growl reverberated through the core of her being. When Tea didn't immediately comply, a sharp pain ripped down her arm. Tea's eyes snapped open. Silver glinted from Bakura's fingertips—or rather talons. "Vicious Claws," he told her, as if reading her thoughts. The card dangling from his other hand still faintly glowed the deep purple of shadow magic.

Tea glanced down at her throbbing arm. An angry red line ran down it, drops of blood welling at its heart. She turned stricken eyes to Bakura. "I'm bleeding," she gasped. Somehow, she hadn't quite believed that Bakura would really harm her.

But a cruel smile curved his lips. "I know," he murmured. "Isn't it beautiful?" He dipped his head and lapped at the blood. Tea tried to pull her arm away, but Bakura grabbed it—with his clawed hand. Tea screamed as the metal talons dug into her forearm. Bakura ignored her cries, jerking her arm above her head. He pressed into her as he ran his tongue along the long, thin wound. Tea could scarcely breathe, Bakura's chest hard and unforgiving against her breasts. Although she longed to escape into the recesses of her mind, she didn't dare close her eyes again. Instead, she stared over his shoulder at a fixed point on the opposite wall, trying to ignore the crushing weight of his body, the sharp pain shuddering through her arm, and the wet warmth of Bakura's teasing tongue on her flesh.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but they leaked from the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. They dribbled down her chin and splashed on Bakura's broad shoulders. He didn't seem to notice. He was intent on her arm, licking up her blood, savoring her pain.

At last, he drew back, wiping his mouth with evident satisfaction. "Have you learned your lesson now?" he asked, looking at her face. He frowned to see the tear-trails still damp on her cheeks. "What, crying?" He roughly wiped away the evidence with his thumb. "I hadn't expected that from you."

Tea didn't respond. She felt numb, a fly caught in a web of pain. Anything she said or did would only enmesh her further. Perhaps if she did nothing at all, the spider would lose interest in her.

But, as it turned out, it only made the spider angrier.

Bakura raised his right hand—his clawed hand—to her face. The cold metal whispered against her skin. Tea flinched and tried to pull away, but he pressed the claws closer. Pinpricks of pain told her that he had broken skin, if only barely. A vision swept through her mind of what he could do with just a swipe of his wrist. Deep shudders racked her at the picture of her mutilated face.

"Don't." Bakura grabbed her chin with his free hand. His eyes bore into hers, dark brown as hard as steel. With effort, Tea forced herself to go still. Inside, though, she was still shaking. Was this what he had planned the whole time? She knew he was attracted to her, but how sick were his tastes?

"Better," Bakura commented. He raked the tips of the claws across her cheek. His touch was too light to even scrape her skin, but still Tea flinched as terror clenched in her gut. Bakura scowled. "If you keep doing that, you will get hurt."

"Like you care," Tea shot back. But she stilled herself nevertheless.

Bakura lowered his clawed hand to her shoulder. The sharp tips still pricked at at her flesh through her thin undershirt, but the blind panic receded. She hauled in a shaky breath. Bakura tipped up her chin with his long fingers. "I don't want to disfigure you," he said curtly.

"Well, isn't that a relief. You'll kidnap, threaten, cut, and rape me, but I'm safe from disfigurement! What do you want, an award? Sorry, I'm all out of cookies."

Bakura laughed. "Now this is what I like about you, Gardner. Suits you much better than tears." His fingers loosened their grip on her chin and trailed along the underside of her jaw. He leaned in close and his eyes twinkled. "But, you know, I haven't said anything about rape." He chuckled. "Guess we know what's on your mind." He smirked. "Don't worry, my sweet. When I take you, you will be more than willing."

Tea closed her eyes. "I will never be willing." She opened them and looked him straight in the eyes. "Not for you."

Bakura smiled, obviously not bothered in the least by her protestations. "Never say never, my dear." His fingers found the hollow beneath her earlobe. "In the end, you will beg for me."

Tea shook her head. "No," she said simply.

"Enough." The word was more of growl. Bakura brushed his lips over the curve of her cheek. "As scintillating as your wit is when you chose to exercise it, I tire of trading words."

Any quip Tea had started to form died as his eyes met hers. The expression in them was pure desire: raw, primal, possessive. She trembled all over and she was shocked to realize that fear was not the reason why. Oh, there was fear, but it was only the edge on the thrill, the crest on the wave. The wave itself was something quite different, something new and yet completely familiar. She swallowed hard as Bakura cupped the back the of her head and brought their faces together. "I told you that you would beg," he murmured just before claiming her lips.

The wave crashed and she was swept out to sea. Her surrender was not total; even as her resistance crumbled under the onslaught, some part of it hardened, became a kernel of pure defiance, but it was a kernel adrift in the ocean. The rest of her was lost. The waves had not claimed her—she was the waves, rising and crashing, tossing, churning, wild and aimless, yet driven by a relentless rhythm.

It felt like an eternity before Bakura lifted his lips from hers. The sea gentled, but the cadence of the tides still thrummed in her blood. Tea stared up at him, dazed. Bakura grinned and the keep pain of metal tearing into flesh brought her back to her senses. Tears sprung to her eyes and she looked down to see his clawed hand digging into her shoulder. Bakura wiped them away with his thumb. "None of that," he said brusquely.

"You're hurting me," Tea gritted out. She tried to pull away, but his body kept her pinned against the wall.

"The pain helps heighten the pleasure," Bakura explained. His mouth twisted. "For me."

His unclawed hand slipped from her face down the long column of her neck, fingertips silky against the sensitive skin. As seductive as the sensations were, however, there was always the stinging counterpart in her shoulder to ground her firmly in reality. Tea grimaced. She was almost grateful for the pain. She didn't want to lose herself to Bakura. Not again. If he wanted her, he was going to have to take her fighting.

But as he stroked her skin, touching and tasting and taking his everlasting sweet time, she could feel the hairline fractures running through her strength of will. For the moment, she could keep it together, present a strong, solid front. It might even fool him for a little while. But not long—he was much too perceptive for that. Then he would see the cobweb of tiny cracks and he would put his finger to the very heart of it and deliver that blow. It would not even have to be a hard blow, just precise. It could be as simple as a touch, as soft as a whisper. Just the slightest push.

And she would shatter.

A/N: Kind of a short chapter today, but I had a supermassivenova chapter and I've had to chunk it up as best I can. Next chapter, we catch up with Ryou, and then, um, the rating is probably going up, so last chance to weigh in on that, if you want to. Shout out to all my amazing reviewers! You guys keep me going!