A direct continuation of "Hold me Closer Mr. Catman."

"I swear to god, if you do not stop biting me I will leave you like this."

In the darkness Chat Blanc moved again, contours shifting beneath her touch, but there was a carefulness, an unease in his movements. A muffled hiss escaped as he bared his stomach to her once more, and she was reminded that he was probably sitting on his kinked tail again.

"I can't help it, it's driving me insane." The gnash of his teeth could be heard even while he spoke. "There are fingers and twine, and fingers disappearing under or running over blankets, and string everywhere and I just... have... to."

Ladybug traced the line from the yo-yo over his belts and found it caught on one of the buckles. "Have a little self-control. My suit isn't tooth proof, unfortunately." She fingered the buckle, searching, mentally reminding her hands not to linger anywhere. "I found the place where the cord is snagged, just be warned, I'll have to tug on your belt a little."

"Kinky."

A blush threatened. "Oh shut up, don't make this any harder than it already is."

"Hah," he gave half a laugh, "with the way you're fondling me, trust me, it doesn't get any more—Aiiitttt!"

Ladybug yanked roughly on the twine, making him interrupt himself with a tortured yelp. "Ass," she shot, hoping to distract from the burning heat that now singed her cheeks. She couldn't take it. He went from being a stubborn ass to being a depraved one in a matter of seconds.

And apparently, he couldn't take a hint.

"Now you're thinking about my ass, Bug? Can't say I blame you. You got quite the handful earlier." The throaty purr was doing nothing to ease the fire in her nerves.

She managed to work the twine over his belt buckle and create some slack. "I was not referring to your ass," she retorted.

Not that he didn't have a fine ass, Ladybug begrudgingly admitted. It had been firm when he'd clenched his muscles, but soft and pliant when she'd first laid her hands on kinda wanted to grope his ass again, and wondered how far she could get as Marinette. He seemed to let her get much closer to him outside of the suit. No! Bad Marinette. You are not planning to feel up your akumatized partner.

"How in the world did you manage to get this tangled?!" she snapped in frustration. "Really!"

Another loop of the yo-yo twine came loose and they managed to set one of his hands free, only for him to take a swipe at her with those deadly claws when she tried to reel in the excess.

They barely missed making direct contact, but she still felt them graze her suit, tearing the material, and nicking her skin.

"You!" Ladybug struck his hand hard enough to make her own fingers sting.

He made a startled "grmf" and withdrew, curling said hand into his chest.

"You're a bad cat!"

She wasn't able to see his expression from the dark but had the suspicion he wasn't sporting a look of remorse the way a dog would. She imagined he was looking very indignant at the moment.

"Yes. I am an akuma," he reminded her haughtily, voice dipping into a rough timbre.

I don't need reminding. Ladybug shuddered, thinking about how often she told herself he was an akuma. Chastising every time his touch lingered or whenever he leaned too close. Berating her spiked heart rate when she felt his breath on her skin or the brush of his tail over her legs. Chat loved to do that to Marinette, dragging his tail against her whenever he moved passed. Whether or not he noticed the way it affected her she couldn't tell, because he chose not to acknowledge it.

Of course, she would scold herself whenever she responded in kind: teasing him, touching him, stroking his ears, and threading fingers through his hair. At times she swore she was flirting, something she used to only do with Chat Noir as Ladybug, and only under the pretense of camaraderie and friendship. At least, that's what she always convinced herself.

But it didn't seem to matter how often she told herself he was Akuma. When he'd kissed her a few weeks ago, she'd realized she didn't really care.

Ladybug slipped her hands over his body, tracing the line of the twine from one hip bone to one of his thighs, reeling in as she went. She barely noticed how Chat had fallen silent, so preoccupied with her own thoughts. When her fingers brushed his inner thigh his breath came out hard.

And Chat trembled.

"You okay?"

"F-fine,"

She took note of the rasp in his voice. "Is your tail hurting?" She made some slack in the twine for him, hoping it might alleviate some of the pressure.

Chat sucked in a shuddering breath when her hands dragged over his thigh again. "Tail's fine. Really fine."

"Trying not to attack me again?"

He made an amused snort, "you could say that."

"I commend your mighty efforts," she leaned back a bit and patted his hip. "I need you to roll on your stomach again so I can start untangling your other hand, and tail."

Chat obliged, all his muscles shifting under her touch as he squirmed to lay on his belly, hips cocked up so she could reach under him while untangling.

Ladybug attempted to be subtle with her hands, familiarizing herself with his new position. Tracing the twine over a hip, finding the small of his back. She located where his other hand was pinned, and how badly it was tangled. Brushing farther down to orient herself with the base of his tail, a lingering moment fought the urge to explore, but she withdrew before she gave into the temptation.

Focus! There was a time and a place to feel up one's partner, and this was neither. But oh... if he hadn't been akumatized this could have been both.

There it was. The cracks beginning to form in her resolve about professionalism. The more she got to know him the harder it got to keep him at arm's length. It felt like she was holding her reasoning together with nothing more than a roll of scotch tape excuses.

But her reasons had been good. They still were. Hawk Moth could come after them, hurt their families. All it would take would be Chat Blanc piecing together that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person, and then Hawk Moth would know. Everyone she loved would be made a target. She was one person and she couldn't protect them all, at all times.

Getting close to Chat... it was dangerous.

And just like that, the nervous, yet excited fluttering in her stomach withered into a churning, sick feeling.

As Ladybug worked, she could feel the stiffness in her fingers, and the numbness setting in. The bite of chilled air against her nose had her puffing out hot breaths to warm it up.

This time when Chat's body trembled, it was accompanied by the distinct sound of teeth chatter. She was reminded of the snow around them, the dropping temperatures, and that Chat was actually still damp despite the good toweling she'd given him.

The faster she could untangle him, the sooner they could hunker down amongst the blankets and wait this out.

"I can't see in this dark. If I free your other hand, do you think you can untangle the rest of your body?"

There was an awkward pause where the only sound she heard was some shifting in the direction of his head, but then Chat muffled out a hasty, "yes."

She trailed hands back up his spine backtracking some of the string that trapped his elbow and mentally mapped the muscles along the way. They were taut and lean, hard and powerful. Some of them twitched beneath the careful brush of her fingers, and she tried not to linger despite her silent appreciation.

He really was a beautiful creature. Chat had always been tall and muscular before, with the body of a gymnast, but the akumas had done something to him, made him taller and more animalistic. Like they were trying to turn him into some kind of beast.

Ladybug absently ran her hands over his shoulder blades, and tried to suppress her own shudder when the muscles bunched like a crouching leopard. The low rumble that churned from his chest sounded very leopard-like as well.

"Oh," she snatched her hands back. "I was uhhh, checking to see if I'd missed any twine up here." She gave an awkward pat where she assumed his shoulder was. "We're all good."

"Please..." He was seething. "Stop torturing me and just free my other hand."

"Yes, of course," she hastily looped the twine off of his elbow. "...Sorry."

His breathy sigh was the only response.

Several tense minutes later, Ladybug managed to free his trapped arm and had just enough time to dive away before Chat began ripping ferally at the rest of the binds. He was a fiendish mass of claws, teeth and fur, made even more frightening because she couldn't see him, but could still detect his chaos through her other senses.

She took this time to blow warm air over her numbed fingers, and wiggle some fresh blood back into her toes.

It didn't take Chat long to free himself, probably because he could see in the dark, and had a much more intimate knowledge of his body than she did.

One moment he was thrashing around his side of the bed, and the next he was crawling over her, chilled breath kissing her skin as she instinctively leaned away from him. The yo-yo was dropped in her lap.

"Let's not repeat this again... ever." His tone was low and sinister, threatening.

She swallowed. "Gotcha."

Chat Blanc gave one last snort, flicking icy cold droplets from his damp hair before retreating and burrowing under a pile of blankets.

Ladybug contemplated staying on the bed. About huddling among the blankets next to the chilled akuma who was shuddering among them.

A chill wracked her body and the urge to curl up and cuddle her Chat threatened to overwhelm her. Part of her knew she would have if she wasn't in the suit. She'd slept next to him before, and it would have been so easy. She could rub warmth back into those freezing ears, and reduce him to a mess of rumbly purring jello. So easy...

Another minute passed and she slipped off the bed, dragging a blanket and pillow along with her.

The floor was fine. It would be just fine.

A long agonizing hour later, Chat Blanc bolted up from the blankets. He must have dozed off while they awaited rescue from their icy prison.

An exhale sent a cloud of vapor over his frozen nose. Keen vision detected the glistening particles of frost crawling up the walls. The ice akumas frigid influence continued to encroach upon their pathetic prison. His hair, which had been damp was now feeling stiff, and the length of his tail was alarmingly numb despite having tucked it beneath his legs.

At this rate, he was risking frostbite.

Magenta eyes flickered to the other side of the bed, and was surprised to find it empty.

Ladybug.

A well of panic churned for half a moment. He scented the air, but couldn't pick up much due to a wet nose.

"Bug?" She wouldn't have left him. He wasn't alone. She was...

He poked his head over the edge of the bed.

Right there.

A shudder of relief, that had nothing to do with the low temperatures.

Eerie glowing eyes studied the spotted heroine cocooned in a single blanket and clutching a pillow to her chest. She was shivering, that much was plain to see. The floor sapping away her body heat despite the cloth barrier and her super suit.

Long fingers of frost crept along the floor, reaching out from the walls. Every few minutes that passed they inched a little further. Another hour or two and they might have reached her; he shuddered to think what they might do. she couldn't possibly see them in this dark.

Foolish woman.

A heaviness settled within his chest, painful and longing, sad and wretched. A feeling he hated. Absolutely loathed the way it controlled him. And yet...

Two sets of claws reached down, scooping her off the floor, pulling her up to cradle her small frame against his chest. So cold, She felt like a corpse in his arms.

"...Chat?"

"Hmmm." He shifted on the bed, maneuvering them both to the middle.

"What are you doing?"

"Hush," he turned her word against at her. There was a brief moment, hesitance. Something about her scent curling his senses, but a haze kept him from identifying it as anything other than 'Ladybug'.

He dropped her onto the mattress quite suddenly, pitching a fistful of blankets over her shivering form.

"What about y—" Ladybug started, but was cut off when he flopped down upon the bed next to her.

Chat wriggled beneath the layers, much like a feline, and had to fight the urge to make a circle... or two. Choosing instead to draw close once more until he could feel the brush of her suit against his own.

"I deign to grace you with my warmth. So be grateful."

Ladybug snorted and placed a palm against his chest. "You're freezing."

"As are you," he growled back, moving her hand away from his left pec before she noticed anything through the leather. "Promise to keep your wandering hands to yourself, and I won't gut you." He emphasized his point by pricking the back of her hand with his claws.

Chat started when, despite his warning, she snuggled right up to him; curling into his chest like she belonged there. "You know, if you weren't akumatized I might have gotten the wrong idea here."

"If I weren't akumatized this wouldn't be happening," he rumbled. Resigning himself to this fate, he shifted to get comfortable next to her.

A poignant silence settled over the hero and her former partner. Heavy and suffocating, until Chat sighed into a pillow, and curled his tail over her legs. A weighty arm coming down to rest over her side.

Ladybug hid a sad wistful smile and buried her head against his shoulder. She noted the way his scent filled her nose, delicious leather undertones nearly overpowered by wet cat. There was something comforting about his embrace, akuma or not, and for the first time in hours, she started to feel warmth creep back into cold aching bones.

"A grave injustice," she breathed, not for him and no more than a murmur.

But a single floofy ear twitched.

Both this chapter and the previous chapter were written for Eden Daphne, who challenged me to tackle the tropes: bed sharing, snowed in, and must snuggle for warmth.

Thank you Eden for the delightful prompts. And your support for this series.