Rule one.

Make him sleep in the guest room.

Rule two.

Make him sleep in the guest room.

Chun Li forgot rule three. But it didn't matter to Vega — nothing ever did. Her opinions, her words, and her protests meant nothing. He drained her resistance like a vampire preying on the meek and enjoyed the taste of her crumbling self-worth.

She wished (God, she fucking wished) that Vega could hypnotize her. Pull off the weight of responsibility from her shoulders that Chun Li was another willing notch in his long list of lovers. That the fighter could reasonably deny that her fingers hungered for his skin and muscles, just as she could reasonably deny that she knew his body by muscle memory.

Rule one.

Make him sleep in the guest room.

Rule two.

… What was rule two?

Chun Li can't remember. Vega slipped into her apartment again. Claimed rain or something flooded him out of going anywhere. Lies. All lies. It was barely drizzling. His hair was still so goddamn perfect.

Should have shot him. Should have, didn't. Now she was stuck with him and his kisses and his fucking Spanish. Chun Li should have learned the language so she could tell him to fuck off in his own native tongue.

God, don't say tongue now. Don't say tongue now.

"It's too dangerous to sleep alone," Vega said, his wicked hands sliding across her body, "Do you know how high the bounty on your head is? How many men would love to see your body draped across a coffin?"

Including him. Chun Li wasn't stupid.

"Go sleep in the guest room," she said, dropping her tone flat, "Go sleep somewhere else besides here."

"No, I don't think I will," he said, making his kisses along her neck grow deeper, "I don't think you'll make me either."

Fuck bad boys. They shagged like sex gods, but they weren't worth much else. They weren't reliable. They weren't happy endings. If anything, they were tragic backstories bound in a narcissistic gift wrap. Chun Li knew enough about psychopaths and criminals to have better sense.

Vega wasn't in a better sense. He was…

"I'm not doing this," Chun Li tried to push him away as she felt his hands around her silk nightgown, "You…"

"Say my name. I do adore it when you do."

Fucking worst. She pushed him away this time. Chun Li will take the claws, not the dick this time. It's less painful that way, especially come morning when the assassin is gone and there's no note explaining his absence.

Rule one.

Make him sleep in the guest room.

"Find another love hotel," Chun Li said through gritted teeth, "Find someone else. Anyone else."

"I don't want anyone else, mi amor."

"Bullshit."

Vega's smile was slanted, "Fine. I don't need anyone else."

Need. Need. Bastard was pulling at her heartstrings. What woman could resist a man that needed her? The best way to earn a woman's heart is to say that she was the change he needed, the desire he needed, the love he needed…

But what about Chun Li's needs?

Rule one.

Make him sleep in the guest room.

"You need to get out of here before I break that pretty face," Chun Li threatened with shaky words, trying to remain calm, "Again."

That did hurt Vega, probably more than her insistence that he sleep far, far away from her. He frowned, almost pouting, before plastering on another wicked smile. Chun Li felt her heart stop at the sight, resetting her system as he advanced towards her.

Damn, she should have shot him years ago.

"Tell me what you want," Vega said, extending his arms slightly towards her, "And you'll have."

"Kill Bison and bring his head," Chun Li countered.

"Mm. Try something less biblical, Salome."

"Are we negotiating? You're goddamn infuriating."

"So are you. You push me away and yet blame me for leaving."

"Oh, how very chivalrous. You're a dog who runs around and I'm the one who makes you that way. You can't blame women for how you treat them, Vega."

Vega chuckled, taking the opportunity to embrace her. Chun Li wanted to shove him into the wall and onto the street from a thirty story drop, but he smelled so wonderful. So beautiful. She hated him and she hated everything about him, but he was something else entirely.

Rule one.

"Come sleep in the guest room with me," Vega suggested, his kisses on her forehead too sincere to be true.

…Make him sleep in the guest room.

This counts. It counts, right?