Author's Note: Thanks a bunch to my reviewers. Your input is really helpful and much appreciated. I noticed that I was spelling Philip's name with an extra "l" so I went back and changed it. Those things drive me nuts—I find it distracting. So if you read the earlier version, hopefully it didn't bug you too much and I'll try to be better from now on.

I had a little fun with Belle in this chapter. Think of her as getting in touch with her inner Cassie. And just a warning--there's a lot of switching from dialogue to thoughts and I tried to keep the confusion to a minimum--bear with me on that. For those of you distressed about Philip and Sami, Chapter 8 is in production.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Lucas was running out of options. Belle just wasn't buying any of his attempts to be a sensitive, chivalrous guy. He was trying his best to dodge her advances in the name of protecting her virtue--didn't she understand that? Of course she didn't, she's young and her hormones are all swirling around and out of control. Ahhh, he remembered those days. Ok, he was still in the midst of those days. The only difference is that now his hormones were unabashedly controlled by one woman.

'Who knew that little Belle Black could be so aggressive. Must of picked up a thing or two from Sami—the Queen of Push and Shove.' He really needed to get out of there and find Philip so they could figure out what was going on—and to make sure he was keeping his horny little paws off of his woman.

Finally, Lucas realized he was going to have to ditch this nice guy routine because Belle was getting a bit out of control. He kept trying to keep ample space between them but she just kept stalking him around the loft waiting for her opportunity to attack.

"You know what Belle? I think the best thing right now would be if I went out for a little while to get some air. I'm going to go for a walk and that way you can take some time and make sure this is what you really want." He didn't care if she whined and pouted until her head exploded—he was getting the Hell out of there.

"You're going for a walk...at this time of night? Philip it's really late. I know you're a big, bad Marine but I don't think that's a good idea." Again she closed the distance between them and slid her body against his. "Besides, why would you want to go out in the cold, dark night when I can keep you warm and safe right here, right now."

Lucas quickly pushed her away not wanting her to get any inkling of an idea that that they were going to hook up. "Don't worry about me, I'll be ok. I'll be extra careful out there." He went to go get a shirt and jacket from the chair in the corner.

"Well, where are you going? Can I come with you?" Belle asked with whiney panic rising in her voice. Man, Philip could have Belle all to himself--or he could duke it out with Shawn for her affections for all he cared. All he knew was that as stressful as being with Sami was at times, if he had to go home to that every night, he'd be begging to get back on base.

"I don't know where I'm going Belle. I'm just going to wander. Maybe I'll stop by Lucas' place—he's a night owl so he'll probably be up for a brotherly chat and you won't have to worry about me." Lucas tried to slip on his sneakers as fast as possible seeing his potential escape coming up over the horizon. 'Oh it'll be a nice little brotherly chat if I find you or your tongue--my tongue--anywhere near Sami.'

"And no, you can't come with me. The whole point is that I want to give you time to think things over. Don't worry, it will all work out." He stood up looking ready to bolt at the first opening. 'It'll just have to work itself out without me. I'm outta here.'

Belle felt Philip slipping away and knew she had to resort to drastic measures. She quickly ran over to him and grabbed him around the neck. "No Philip you can't go over to Lucas' place. He's probably with Sami right now." She used their nearness to snuggle against him. "They're probably having hot, sweaty sex to celebrate their engagement." For extra measure, she slowly began rubbing her body up and down his. "They've probably been at it since they left the Penthouse Grill."

She looked up at him and gave him her sexiest look. "I bet that Lucas is giving her exactly what she wants..." She stopped to kiss his cheek. "...over..." She kissed his other cheek. "...and over again." She then slapped a wet kiss on his lips in a desperate attempt to make him stay. 'That oughtta do the trick,' Belle thought with a smug grin.

Unbeknownst to Lucas, Belle's words (and actions) just made him madder and more agitated. "He better not be." Lucas ground out between clenched teeth.

"What did you say?" Belle asked. She couldn't have heard him right. She dismissed it and decided to give him one of her best pouts instead. "You know, I'm starting to get a hint that you're trying to get away from me."

'You're just now getting the hint? Where the Hell have you been for the last 15 minutes when I've been pushing you away and running as far away from you as I can get.' Lucas had a lifetime's worth of trouble messing around with two sisters. If Sami had even the slimmest of suspicions that he had taken advantage of her sister, no matter how ludicrous the situation, she would cut him up in little pieces, put his body parts in plastic Ziploc bags—the gallon sized ones—and for good measure she'd FedEx his remains to his mother's doorstep with a pretty red bow. There was no way he was going down that road again.

"No Belle, it's not that at all. I just, uh...I need to think about umm...stuff. You do too."

"Well, are you coming back?" Belle asked quietly looking as if she was going to break down crying any minute. 'She sure knows how to switch gears in a hurry. It's a good thing I have so much practice with Sami.' Lucas felt bad for her but it was all about self-preservation right now. He had to look out for number one.

Lucas made sure to strategically back away towards to door so he could make a clean getaway. "Oh Belle, sure I'm coming back and when I get back, if you still want to, you know, uh, make love then we'll get right to it. Don't you worry." Lucas fumbled around trying to place his hands on the door handle.

'Hell no I'm not coming back. I'm going to go over the your sister's apartment, find out what's going on with my body and wring your boyfriend's little neck if he has so much as breathed on my woman. As for you, you seriously need to rush upstairs and take a cold shower, pronto, missy.'

Lucas was opening the door and was almost home free. That is until Belle bounced over to him. 'Just run Roberts! Push her down and get out now!' But of course he wasn't going to do that. "What is it now?"

"I need to show you something before you go. I only need a minute. Please, Philip? Just one minute and then I'll let you go on your walk. I just want to give you something to think about too while you're gone." Belle then turned around and ran up the stairs to her room.

"Now's your chance Roberts! Get out now!" Lucas tried to weigh the pros and cons of the situation not wanting to hurt Belle's feelings or ruin Philip's chances with her. But at the same time, if he had to spend another moment playing horny, teenage dodgeball he was going to go ballistic. His decision made, he was just about to slide the door open when Belle came running down the stairs again. He let out an audible groan and walked back over to the couch.

Belle heard Philip groan when she came back downstairs which confirmed what she already knew. Philip was breaking down and she had the perfect thing to convince him to stay and be with her.

"Philip, I know you're trying to protect me and after this, if you want to go for your walk and think about things then I won't stop you. But I need to give you this so you'll know how serious I am." With that said, she dropped her robe and stood in front of him completely naked wearing only a very lecherous smile on her face. She saw Philip's eyes look like they were going to pop out of his head and she knew that she had gotten the desired effect.

Lucas felt his eyes bug out of their sockets and could do nothing but curse himself for being the slowest, most unlucky bastard on the face of the Earth as he watched Belle strip down for him. 'Now I know I'm being punished.' Not that looking at Belle naked was exactly punishment--quite the opposite in fact. That was the problem.

His shock at her boldness was replaced by complete trauma and the slight feeling that he was going to Hell for what he had just witnessed. He did the first thing he could think of to restore the sanity and decency to his mind—he covered his eyes and hid behind the couch.

Belle, for her part, only stood there puzzled at Philip's reaction. 'I got naked for him and all he can do is cover his eyes and hide?' She knew she was inexperienced with this seduction stuff but she was no dog. Any other guy would kill to have her standing naked in front of them. Who wouldn't want a young, hot girl to strip down for them—even older guys like Philip's brother Lucas. She grinned as she recalled what people had told her about his reputation with the ladies. Even though Lucas loved her sister and wanted to marry her, she knew that even he wouldn't be able to resist her hot, young, naked body. 'I know he's playing hard to get but this is just ridiculous. Now I'm really going to have to re-double my efforts.'

"Oh, Phiiillliiip," she sang out. "Come out, come out wherever you are. I didn't know we were playing reverse hide-and-go-seek."

Since both Lucas and Belle were currently focused on other pursuits—Belle on Philip and Lucas on any possible miracle that could get him out of this torturous situation—they didn't notice the return of the mysterious shimmering cloud over their heads.