Chapter 32

Temptation

The day started out like all the others. Anna was the first up, and Seto followed her shortly. Anna met him in the bathroom for their daily shaving routine. She enjoyed giving him a shave; she always liked new experiences. And she was getting better at it. With practice, Seto wasn't as wary of her cutting him. She had only nicked him once, and it wasn't that bad. He completely trusted her, which was something that was hard for him to conceive, let alone admit to himself or anyone else. And more over, he allowed her to do it because it forced her to be close to him. During the process she would touch his face and neck, and she stood so close that he could feel her breath upon him. And considering he was only two inches taller than she was, they were face to face during the entire exercise. This particular morning he was facing her with his back to the mirror. In a ways he was almost trapped between her and the counter, but he didn't mind at all.

"You're spoiling me." Seto said as she finished the last cut. "From now on I'm going to expect you to be at my place every morning to do this."

"Sorry, but you're just going to have to learn to do things by yourself." Anna teased as she reached around him and put the straight edge on the counter.

"I still don't see why you find this so amusing." He cleaned off his face with the towel that was around his neck.

"It's one of those things that I don't get to experience." She pointed to a spot on his face he missed. "I guess there is still a lot of things I don't know about men."

Seto threw the towel on the counter. "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know, that's the point."

Seto put his hands on her hips and drew her into him. "I'm sure there's something I can teach you." He said in a seductive voice.

Anna slipped his hands off of her hips and took a step back. "I already know about that," she said with a tentative smile. "I better go make breakfast."

As she left the bathroom he wondered if he was pushing too hard. He had never made such a blatant physical move on her before, and she didn't seem to take it badly. Although she did walk out on him. But he couldn't help it. Every morning she tempted him. She was so close to him. He never denied his physical attraction to her, that was obvious from the first day they met. And he was certain she felt it too. But why was she always so distant? He never had gotten the whole story on this 'boyfriend'. He had no idea what their relationship consisted of. Were the just old friends? Were they intimate? Or perhaps he was completely made up? She never would give him details. Perhaps she was just trying to make him jealous? And if that were so, she was succeeding. She had him right where she wanted him, but she never took it to the next level. Was she trying to torture him? Was this some kind of game? Well if it was, then he was determined to win. And if his plan works, his victory would be tonight.

The aroma of sausage caught his attention as he neared the kitchen, and that's where he found her standing at the stove. He tried his best not to sneak up on her. He had found out in the past she didn't like that too much. Although today she wasn't doing anything as embarrassing as she was before.

"So..." Seto began. "What's on today's agenda?"

"Absolutely nothing. We only have three days left, I thought it would be best to just take some time off."

"So we have no plans for today?"

"None..." Anna turned around to look at him. "That is unless you had something in mind."

"Nothing in particular." Seto responded calmly. "It will be nice to have a break."

"Good, then I'll need to go to the market today and get something for diner."

"You've been cooking for two weeks, take the night off. I'll order something from one of the bistros and we can eat in."

"Wouldn't it be just as easy to eat at the bistro?" Anna asked suspiciously.

"You know how I don't like crowds." Seto pleaded his case. "The last time we went there I felt like people were staring at us."

"They were. Especially after you got mad at the waiter for putting sugar in your coffee."

"I said 'no sugar'." Seto argued and Anna laughed at him. "See just my point. If we eat here I can yell all I want and no one will care."

"I'd care."

"But you don't count."

That made Anna laugh harder.

"To quote a good friend of mine, 'oh come on, it'll be fun!'" Seto teased. "We can get dressed up and pretend we're in one of those fancy restaurants you like dragging me to."

"I don't know..."

"You can't tell me that you're not dying to see Mokuba wearing that suit you bought him."

Anna rolled her eyes around like she was debating the offer. Then a big smile crept onto her face. "Okay, you've got a deal. But I want desert."

"Desert it is."

"You better go wake up Mokuba, breakfast is almost ready."

Seto made his way to Mokuba's room. He smirked as he walked. Everything was working out just as he planned. Now to recruit a collaborator and move on to the next stage. He entered Mokuba's room and sat on the edge of his bed. He shook him a little and called his name. Mokuba rubbed his eyes and stretched, he was still half-asleep.

"Get up, it's time for breakfast." Seto nudged him.

"Breakfast?" Mokuba said lazily.

"Anna's making your favorite."

His eyes snapped open, "Pancakes and sausages?"

"Those are the ones."

Mokuba stirred in bed and stretched again. He noticed that Seto didn't move from his spot. Normally Seto would wake him and then immediately leave. And since he didn't that meant Seto wanted to tell him something.

"What's going on?" Mokuba threw Seto a suspicious look.

"I need you to do something for me and not ask any questions."

"Okay...what do you want?"

"I need you to play sick tonight and not come to diner."

Mokuba gave him a confused look.

"Can you do that?"

Mokuba nodded.

"Good!" Seto stood to walk out of the room.

"Are you planning something with Anna?" Mokuba asked.

"I told you not to ask questions."

"Is it something romantic?" Mokuba was smiling from ear to ear now.

"You're asking questions"

"Are you going to tell her you love her?"

"Questions!" Seto fussed as he left the room.

Mokuba fell back into the bed and giggled. He was so happy that Seto and Anna were finally going to get together. And all he could think was, 'Well it's about time!'

Seto heard Mokuba laughing. 'Little brothers can be so annoying!' He thought to himself. 'Why can't he be a little more mature? How dare he say that I'm in love with her. Love? What a ridiculous concept. More wars and death have been caused by that stupid four-letter word...Only idiots and children fall in love. And it won't happen to me.'

As the day wore on Anna decided to check on Mokuba. She was first alerted that there might be something wrong when he didn't eat much at breakfast. She thought that was strange because he never passed up pancakes and sausage. Then he didn't come out at all for lunch. This wasn't totally unusual for him to do at home. He would be glued to his video games for hours. But there were no games here to distract him. She knocked on the door to his room and was answered by a squeak of a voice. She opened the door and found him half-asleep in bed.

"Hey kiddo!" Anna said gently as she approached the bed. "Why are you in bed?"

"I'm not feeling good." He said weakly.

"What's wrong?" She sat on the bed next to where he lay.

"My stomach hurts."

"It's all that junk food you've been eating," Anna joked. Mokuba just groaned. "How long has it been hurting?"

"For a couple of days, but it's really bad today."

Anna used the back of her hand to test his forehead. He was slightly hot. "Do you want me to fix you something? Tea? Soup?"

Mokuba shook his head.

"I'll bring you some ice water if you get thirsty. You should try to get some rest."

Mokuba nodded sleepily.

Anna left him to find Seto. She caught him right as he was paying the delivery boy for the food he ordered from the restaurant. The boy thanked him in Italian, and Seto, not knowing what he said muttered something to the point of, "Yeah, whatever."

"Mokuba's not feeling well." Anna informed him as they walked to the kitchen.

"Is that right?"

"You don't sound too worried." Anna commented about his disconcert.

"I know him too well. I'm sure he's faking it so he doesn't have to get dressed for diner."

"He would do that?"

"He hates ties and he will do anything to avoid them."

"Really?"

"We can save him a plate. Ten to one after diner is over he'll be bouncing around the house again and hungry as a bear."

"Then maybe we should cancel the dressing up part and just do diner? That way he can eat with us instead of sitting alone in his room all night."

"No, we should do what we planned. We can't give in to him. He's got to learn he can't have everything he wants."

That made sense to Anna, and she didn't want to undermine Seto's authority over Mokuba. So she agreed. But she couldn't help but feel like something sneaky was going on between those two. She'd have to be on her guard tonight.

Seto offered to set up the table while Anna got ready. He joked that because she was a woman it would take her ten times as long to get dressed, and he needed something to do while she made him wait. She thought he was funny, but because he said it, she was going to take a little longer, just to make wait. And what he said was also partially true. She had no idea what she wanted to wear yet, so it would take her time to decide. She entered her room and was greeted by a box on her bed. She spotted a card under the ribbons that held it closed. She picked it up and read it. "Wear this tonight." Now Anna was certain she was being set up. She pulled the ribbons and opened the lid. She gasped as saw the contents of the box, a gorgeous black and white floor length gown. She lifted it from the box and held it up to her body. It was just the right size. 'Where did he get this?' She thought. 'I bet it was at my old shopping ground. That sweet and sneaky son of a...' Her delight over the dress quickly turned to fear. He shouldn't be buying her things. That's not a good sign. He's getting too attached to her and she was getting too attached to him. She had to put a stop to it; she had to tell him. And she had to do it tonight.

Seto busied himself by setting the table, selecting the proper music, lighting candles; everything prepared to set the right mood. He wanted this night to be a night to remember. He had planned it all out in his head, what he would say, what he would do to romance her. Everything worked out in perfect detail.

"I should have you pick out all my clothes." He heard her voice from behind him.

He turned to see her standing there in the dress he had selected. Suddenly all those perfect plans were completely erased. He didn't expect her to look that beautiful. "I thought I did."

"Then maybe you should keep doing it." She said as she approached him and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, I love it."

"It was worth it to see you wearing it."

"Have I ever told you, you look great in a suit?" Anna teased as she sat down and he pushed her chair in.

"Only every time I wear one."

"Then it must be true."

Seto sat down at the other chair. She noted that he wasn't sitting on the opposite side of the table, he was sitting adjacent to her. Given, it was a small table, nothing like the monstrous one in his apartment, but there was enough room for him to spread out. That made her nervous, he did have plans for tonight. Too bad she was going to have to cancel them.

Anna pointed to the yellow and white roses in a vase on the table. "Friendship and loyalty?"

"I think that about sums us up." Anna was content with that answer. "I'd like to tell you that I bought them from fancy flower shop, but I didn't. I stole them from the garden."

"Oh, so you're just a common thief?" Anna smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll bill me for them.

Anna laughed a little. He could be so charming when he wanted to be. They made light conversation during the meal. Anna played along with his plan. She knew it was wrong, but she got caught up in the magic. And she always wanted this. Was it so wrong to ask for a little romance in her life? Even if she knew it couldn't be, she still needed to feel like it was possible. She had to believe that there was such a thing as Prince Charming, and that she would find him. But the fantasy wouldn't last, it couldn't. No matter what she played at here, she had a stark reality waiting for her at home.

"I think if I eat anymore I'm going to have to get a bigger dress size." Anna joked as she put down her fork and leaned back in her chair.

"We haven't even gotten to desert yet."

"We might have to save that for tomorrow."

"You just have to work off some calories to make room."

"Considering how hard it is to kick box in this dress, how do you suggest I do that?"

Seto looked at her with those bright blue eyes. "Dance with me."

A smile crept across her face. He took that as a 'yes' so he took her hand and led her to a clear spot in the room.

"Are you ever going to tell me where you learned to dance?" Anna asked.

"I believe the deal was that I would tell you where I learned to dance for the location of your tattoo."

"I was hoping you had forgotten about that tattoo thing by now."

"It's kind of hard to forget." Seto smiled at her. "If I guess correctly will you tell that I'm right?"

"I don't know...It's in a weird place."

"Let's see..." He twirled her around slowly. "It's not on your shoulders or your back. And I've seen you in skirts, so I know it's not on your legs."

"That's enough of that." Anna cut him off. "I don't tell people because it's private. Something that's just for me, and I don't want other people knowing about it. Even you."

Seto was undaunted, "I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other?"

"Oh come on. You can't tell me that you've never kept something from me." Anna was hoping to prove him wrong. If not, she would be the only one guilty.

"I've told you everything. Even things I've never told Mokuba." Anna was completely flabbergasted. "I trust you."

Anna was in utter shock. Her heart was racing a mile a minute and she was certain he could tell. She couldn't believe he said that. No one has ever said that to her, and the way he said it, she knew he meant it. Overwhelmed, she put her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist. They still moved like they were dancing, but really neither of them wanted to budge an inch.

Anna sighed.

"What was that for?" Seto said as he buried his face into her hair, smelling the sweet fragrance of her ebony locks.

"It's perfect."

"What is?" He said softly.

"This trip. This day. This moment. I just want to freeze time right here. That way I can stay in this perfect moment forever."

"What if I told you things could get better? That we can have this and more?"

"Nothing could be better than this. It won't be better."

Seto was confused by her comment. How could she be so certain?

"I have something to tell you." Anna said as she released her hold on him and put a little more distance between them. "There are some stipulations to my father's will. Some things that I have to do, that aren't exactly fair to me or other people." Seto looked at her with curiosity. "You have to understand that my father prized things that he didn't have in his youth. One of those was money. That's why has determined to build his fortune, and he was very proud that he was a self-made man." Anna struggled to find the words she wanted. "But there were some things he learned that he couldn't buy...like respect and a good family name. He wanted to give me something he couldn't get himself. He just wanted to make sure I was provided for." Seto wasn't sure where she was going, but he had a feeling in the end it wasn't going to be good. "He..." She started but stopped. She couldn't even look at him now. She didn't want to see the disappointment on his face when he found out. "He arranged..."

They were interrupted by the sound of the hall floor squeaking and a 'thump'. They both looked at the entrance to the hallway, half expecting a certain peeping tom. Then there came a weak cry, "Seto." They hurried to the hall and found Mokuba sitting against the wall. He looked pale and sweat was pouring down his brow. They rushed to him.

"He's burning up." Anna said as she touched his face.

Seto scooped him up and carried him back to his bed. Anna walked ahead of them and opened his bedroom door and turned on the lights.

'I'm sorry I messed up dinner." Mokuba squeaked.

"Don't worry about that." Seto insisted as he stroked Mokuba's hair. "Just concentrate on getting better."

"He said he's stomach been hurting for a couple of days." Anna informed Seto.

"Food poisoning?"

"Then we would all have it."

"Some kind of virus he picked up? Maybe from one of those kids he was playing with the other day?"

"I want to go home." Mokuba said in a sickly winning voice.

Seto looked over at Anna. He didn't have to ask, she knew the question. She nodded to tell him it was okay for them to leave early.

"Even if I call now, the jet won't be able to leave until morning. Do you think you can wait that long?"

Mokuba nodded with half-sleepy eyes.

"All right. I'll make the arrangements."

Seto left Mokuba in Anna's capable hands as he called the airport to prep the plane and started packing. Meanwhile Anna nursed Mokuba as best she could with aspirin, a cold wash cloth, and gentle words. She eventually lulled him to sleep. She crept out of the room and headed to her bedroom. She would have to pack as well, and Seto would want to leave first thing in the morning. She was so intent on Mokuba that she had completely forgotten that she was still wearing Seto's gift. She decided it was best to remove it before she packed her things. But there was a problem.

Seto had finished tearing down the electrical equipment and was starting on his clothes when there came a light rap on the door. He assumed it was Anna and signaled for her to enter. He became a little panicky, she was supposed to be with Mokuba. He was afraid something was wrong.

Anna saw the look on his face, "He's asleep."

Seto let out a sigh of relief.

Anna walked a little closer to him. "I need your help."

Seto didn't answer; he was just waiting to see what she wanted.

"My zipper is stuck." Anna pointed to her back.

Seto might have considered that to be a come on, but once inspecting the zipper, he found she was telling the truth. Some of the fabric from the seam was caught in the zipper and to free it he had to place his hands inside her dress. His hands brushed against her bare skin and her back arched in response to his touch. He freed the zipper and undid it all the way down to its end where it gave him a tantalizing view of her black lace under ware. She didn't move, so he continued his exploration by lightly running his fingers up her bare back. The experience made her gasp for breath. His hand came to rest on the base of her neck where he gently massaged it. His other hand pulled the pins from her hair, releasing the flowing strands onto her shoulders and back. His touch was so relaxing that she leaned her head back in pleasure. He then slowly slid his hand down her neck onto her shoulder. He slipped his finger under the strap of her dress and pulled it down her arm. She could feel the warmth of his body as he pressed it against her back. Then the heat from his breath as he brushed the locks of hair from her shoulder and bent down to kiss it.

She pulled away from him, grabbing the front of her dress so it won't fall off. "I think I can take it from here. Thank you." She stuttered and she bolted for the door.

She ran to her room and quickly closed the door. She was shaking as she slid down the door onto the floor. 'Oh God!' Her mind screamed. 'Why are you doing this to me? Don't I have enough temptations in my life?'

Seto continued packing hoping that it would distract him. But it was no use. Every time he heard a noise from the next room he would be reminded of the sweet smell of her hair, or the curve of her neck. It was driving him crazy. He never believed that a woman could have this much control over him, but she did. It was bad enough before when he thought about her every second she wasn't near him, now he had the vision of her soft skin under his fingertips to haunt him. He wanted...no, he needed to taste her lips and hold her against him. He was determined now, more than ever, he was going to have her.

Things became very quiet in the next room; they had been for nearly twenty minutes. Seto crept into the hallway and stared at her door. Should he dare go in? He silently paced the floor between the two rooms. Scenarios running through his head. What he could say, or not say, what she would do or not do. A million possible combinations. He had to find the perfect one. The more he thought the more afraid he became. What if she rejected him? She seemed almost scared earlier. Like something was stopping her. And if he did walk through that door, what would that mean to their friendship? If he tried to force himself upon her and she rejected, surely she would leave and never return. He couldn't handle that. He wanted her in his life, even if that meant only as a friend. But there was a perfect solution, the only one that would get him what he wanted. He had to make her come to him. He had to make her want him more than anything. Then no 'boyfriend' would stand in his way.

Anna sat on her bed with her knees pulled up against her chest. She sat there silently watching the shadow from the hall under the slit in her door. It walked back and forth, sometimes stopping, but only to start pacing again. She knew he was out there, that he was trying to decide. She watched for nearly an hour as the shadow came closer and closer to her door. Then it stopped right in front of it. She held her breath and prayed that he didn't turn the knob, that he didn't come in. What would she do if he did? Could she tell him the truth? Could she tell him 'no'? She freely admitted that she was attracted to him. She knew that from the first moment they met. That's one of the reasons she tracked him down and challenged him. Her innocent flirting was now backfiring on her. It was wrong for her to have led him on earlier at dinner. And then in his room. She went too far. Her desires were in charge of her body and if her mind hadn't taken control...If she hadn't left when she did, she knew she would stayed with him. She concentrated her stare onto the shadow. Trying to mentally push it away. 'Go away. Please don't come in here. Please Seto, I'm begging you.' She didn't know if he actually heard her, but the shadow did move away and didn't come back. Tears rolled down her face. 'This isn't fair.'