***

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh!

***

Author's Notes: Bex there is no fascination with me doing an R rated fic may I just say. It's there for a reason. Anyway, things are going to get from dark to darker. You've been warned. It's longer than my other chapters too. ^-^

Chapter Three: You're My Alcohol  

By the time she'd made it to the hotel, it was already nine o'clock. She couldn't have an excuse then. Guy would be mad at her, no, furious with her. A whole night's work and only coming home with…she paused at the door.

Think Mai, think. I got mugged on the way? No…Guy isn't stupid; he'll see right through that. I just didn't have a good night…that's all. She knew it was all she could do and apologize.

Just as she was about to go inside, the door opened. He was there, looking very annoyed with her for being so late.

"I'm sorry, I ended up further away from here than I'd expected." Mai said, stepping inside.

"How much did you get?" Guy asked, reaching his hand out for money. "This had better have been worth a whole nights work."

Mai slowly got her money out from her jacket and put it in his hand. He left it outstretched, expecting more. She only turned around and placed her jacket on the bed. She knew he'd be expecting a reason. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

"It was a slow night." She said, turning around to face him, only to receive a hard slap.

"You've been gone for a whole night and bring this home!" he spat at her, tossing the money in her face.

"Guy listen-"

He slapped her again, "This isn't what I expect!" He gave her another slap, "You've been gone for shorter and brought more home!" he shoved her backwards, "It's your job-" once again she received a cold slap, "-to give the money to me!" She fell onto the table.

As Mai regained herself, she looked up at the table. There was knife just in front of her. Ignoring his shouting and the pain in her cheeks and waist, she grabbed the knife and turned around to face him. She held up at him and he instantly froze looking at it. For one moment, Mai really thought she would stab him; at leas then she'd be free of him. But the truth was, she would never be free of him; he was constantly there, making her feel terrible. A reminder that he had shed her blood and therefore she had no free will of her own. And why was she still with him? She didn't love him, but she had nowhere else to go. She had no friends; she had no company…yet maybe…

"Here…" Mai said slowly, letting the knife drop into his hand.

She quickly turned around and undid her dress for him to see her bare back, "Go on then! Like you did before!"

***

I knew something was going to happen. He had a knife nearby, I couldn't run. I never hate knives, but a knife with this person…I didn't know why it felt so cold in the room. But I was young…I didn't know, did I? He suddenly pulled me down onto the bed and kissed me. His tongue was halfway down my throat. I hated it. I wanted him to get off me but the knife in his hand…I could only comply. I cried. He moved me in a rocking motion and used the knife to cut off my clothes. He cut my back too. I cried through the pain; I was going to die if he kept on doing it. After that, he got off me, his hands were shaking and he was. I buried my head in the pillow. The blood was hot, I felt so cold though. He apologized. He kept on repeating it. Sorry…sorry…I'm so sorry…I just couldn't talk. He healed the wounds and begged me to stay with him. I couldn't say no, I had nowhere else to go. I was scared of him…I still am.

***

He stared at her, and began to shout hysterically in some other language. Mai sighed when he stormed out of the room, closing the door with a loud bang. Pushing her blonde hair back, she let out a faint gasp at the realization that he might have killed her. That was too risky.

She took her clothes off, shakily dropping them to the ground as she entered the shower. The hot water steamed up the window straight away, it was scorching hot. Just the way she liked it. The bathroom door was locked so she was sure Guy couldn't invite himself in if he wanted some from her. Not that she'd give him any…but then again, it was like she was a robot; programmed to comply with what men wanted. That's how she ended up in bad situations. And she never usually paused to think of the consequences of her actions.   

When she went to have sex with someone, she usually remembered the condom, but in some cases, she actually forgot. And when that happened, she got so paranoid that she actually stole some of the men's wallets to take all of their money. Why? She had no idea. The chance of her getting an infection from one of the guys she slept with was high, but she never seemed to care. STI could easily be working her way through her right then and she didn't even care. Of course, it was obvious she hadn't caught an infection or she would have symptoms. She had none, she was all clear.

As Mai washed herself, she closed her eyes and lifted her head up to the shower head. The water splashed onto her face. She felt cleaner, like it was washing away all her dirty feelings inside of her. Sometimes, she went outside in the rain late at night, just to feel it cleanse her. She wanted to take her clothes off and just dance around in it. She never got that far though.

And then it happened. He came back into her mind. There he was, grinning at her, looking at her getting washed. And she didn't really give a flying fuck. In fact, she wished he was there, watching her. A smile spread across her face, as she wondered what she would do if he was there. Any man found it was cruel for a woman to play with herself in front of them. That was if they weren't gay. She grinned. Running her hands down her wet body, she massaged her waist. First she would work her hands there and slowly rub there working her way to her thighs. Then, she would run her hands back up to her breasts and-

"Mai!"

Snapped out of her erotic fantasy, she groaned and looked at the door, where the handle was being pushed up and down.

"What?!" She yelled, annoyed. "I'm not going to open the door until you tell me what you want!"

There was a brief pause before Guy answered, "I need the keys! I left them in there this morning."

Mai rolled her eyes and got out of the shower, not bothering to dry herself. She looked around for them and found them by the window. Now what were his keys doing there anyway? Grabbing them, she opened the door and shoved them in front of Guy. He just stared at her naked, wet body. Water dripped from the tips of her hair and he focused on one that slid down in between her breasts and to one side of her waist working its way down her thigh.

"…Is that all?" She asked, knowing he was obviously focused on her body rather than her. Dropping the keys on the ground, she was about to shut the door, when he stopped it with his hand. "What else do you want?" She sighed.

One word. "You."

When Guy was hungry for lust, the look in his eyes was so seductive. She had experienced it before and was trying to teach herself not to fall under his charm. So far, she wasn't doing well. He kissed her gently, making Mai sigh in pleasure. His hands caressed her back softly as he began to move her away from the bathroom. She pulled back, smiling at him.

"Shouldn't I get dried first?" She asked her forehead leant against his.

"I'll do that." He whispered back mischievously, grinning.

He licked his way down her neck; Mai leaned back her head and moaned. She didn't have sex last night, that's why she wanted this. Fuck she didn't care if the shower was still on or if it was Guy she was going to have sex with, she just needed it. So with that thought she got onto the bed, and let him work his way around her.

"STOP!" She suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, causing him to jump off her.

"Jesus Christ, Mai!!" He yelled when he noticed nothing was wrong with her. She sat up, breathing heavily, and pushed her hair back.

"…I-I don't know what just happened…" She said slowly, after a few moments.

Mai watched him shrug and leave the building, obviously knowing he wasn't going to get any sexual pleasure from her after that outburst. She lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Her eyes began to sting with tears. She knew exactly why she'd screamed. She was scared. Scared he was going to hurt her, scared he was going to whip out a knife, and scared he was going to…she couldn't think of the word. But she was frightened of him, nevertheless. He was someone who was unpredictable. Someone who could be deadly if driven to extremes. Driving him to violent extremes was just digging your own grave. She was shaking from the coldness, goose bumps covering her body. Guy just left her, left her when he knew she wasn't going to…she cried. Couldn't he at least of tried to talk to her?! Damn bastard. She thought while making her back to the shower, rubbing her cheeks. And this life she was damned to? Brilliant. It made her want to runaway again.

Oh yes, Mai Valentine had run away before. Only he found her. He knew she wouldn't get far with no passport, so he had taken it away from her when he found her. She was at the airport and she tried to tell the people that her passport had been lost. They didn't believe her. Then she was screwed. Guy just took her home and told her never to do something like that again. She had tried runaway to live in another hotel in the city, but his "men" came to find her. How many men did he have patrolling the fucking city?

She just decided to live with it. She'd die soon enough anyway. Hopefully he'd die before her and she could make the most of her last months or years. Or even days, if it was the case.

So much for her childhood dreams of being a married woman to a loving husband and living in a little cottage with her three children. She cried more. That was the way she used to believe life was for most people. But it wasn't. There was so much pain, so much isolation and so many cold hearted people out there. There wasn't even such thing as "true love". So when people went on about it, they were lying to cover up the truth. The truth was it was a cold world and you were going to freeze unless you found somewhere that was warm. Even if it meant living with someone abusive. Like Guy.

***

Joey was actually feeling sober, which was a massive surprise to him. He could actually go one hour without drinking. And he wasn't even asleep.

"Set. New record for Wheeler!" he said going out to the balcony.

But in fact he knew his reason for not drinking. He was out of beer and money, but the main reason was because it was enough to just think about that luscious blonde woman last night.

"Is that with a "y" or an "i"?

"It's M-A-I."

What a woman. She was amazing. Well, the fact he didn't know whether she was good in bed, still hung over his head. It was like she was his alcohol and he needed to drink her. He had an attraction to her, an indescribable feeling. It felt like…the first time he met his wife. Only better.

"Love," he thought aloud, while putting his arms on the railing. "LOVE!" He shouted, through the street, causing passer bys to stare at him. Joey grinned seductively at the schoolgirls before they ran off, giggling.

Then he saw someone. It was her. He laughed, as he watched her leave someone's house. She noticed him as she looked up from across the road to the balcony. He didn't live especially high, which she thought was quite strange. The floor he lived on was deserted because no one wanted just a plain old view; they wanted a whole view of Las Vegas.

"Hey there!" Joey yelled, to her. She just smiled and walked to the side of road, away from him. "Wait up Mai!" He shouted, climbing over the railing.

"Joey, are you mental?!" Mai shouted, laughing a little as he stumbled. He gripped onto the side of the balcony and looked down warily. Mai just shook her head and turned to walk away, ignoring his shouts.

"A little help?" He called out into the air, before he fell onto the ground with a hard crash.

Mai had heard the noise and out of curiosity, decided to see what had happened to him. No doubt he'd fallen onto his ass and hurt himself. She just stood there, laughing her head off. No one had ever decided to jump off a balcony for her. And in a strange way, it was quite flattering. But was no big deal…was it?

"That's what you get for being an ass, you ass!" Mai shouted to him, as he stumbled back upwards. God dammit, he needed some help.

Joey shook his head and grinned at her, "Hey Mai, up for round two?"

"We didn't even have a round one, and besides, I don't do second rounds." She said rolling her eyes, and walking away from him.

Joey just blinked twice before turning to go to wherever the hell his feet would take him. But it led in the direction of where Mai was heading.

Why not? He thought wryly, continuing for her direction.

***

Author's Notes: I think I'll end it there. ^-^ This chapter is a little longer; hopefully you're satisfied with it. And I assure you, it's going to get a lot more…darker. In a way, maybe even a little, tiny, speck of fluffiness may show itself. But only the tiniest. I wish someone would jump off a balcony for me.