A/N: Don't own Yu-gi-oh...what a sad statement...

Chapter 10

Seto Kaiba stood in front of the window. He kept looking out every few minutes in the hopes the car would pull in. How long ago had he placed the call to Roland giving the location to pick them up? He looked at the clock on the dresser and then at the small figure that slept on the bed. Damn she was annoying. How come every thought seemed to return him to her? That kiss last night was out of curiosity, the one this morning was something more. He shook his head and returned to hisstance at the window. The car finally arrived.

He stepped outside and waited for Roland to pull up to the room.

Serenity's eyes opened when the door shut. It had been easy to lay there with her eyes closed. Kaiba thought she was asleep and that was by far better than if he knew the truth. She couldn't risk falling into his arms again like she had this morning. He was way too appealing and she was afraid she was in way over her head.

She softly chastised herself when she remembered the day in the park when she had wanted to gain his attention. Now she had it and was scared to death. The man had a hold of her and she wasn't sure she could resist him for very long. She had to get away, that was for sure.

Serenity went to the window and peeked out. She watched him talk to the driver of the car. He was so amazing to look at, that soft brown hair, those blue eyes that she could see even at this distance. He was so tall and built, he had carried her half the day and still showed no sign of tiring. She didn't even want to think about the way he kissed or else she might loose her nerve.

Despite what he had told her earlier about taking care of everything she decided it would be in her best interest to solve this problem herself. She would hide in the woods and wait for Kaiba to leave. He would get annoyed that she was gone. She was sure he would look for her, but that he would give up quickly. He would probably spend two or three minutes in the search, then leave without her. At that point, she would go back to the main office and call Joey. Slowly she stood up and went to the bathroom. The window was small, but she managed to fit through it.

Her shoes were more hindrance than help but she managed to make her way around the back of the building and then down into the trees. She walked faster to get into the denser foliage. Unfortunately she couldn't see every little obstacle and still keep up her pace. Only a little way more and then she would be safe from a quick search. She thought she heard someone behind her; she turned to see if she was beingfollowed. That was all it took.

She tripped over a rotting log and fell head first down a deep ravine. She managed to protect her head and turn to her side before she hit the ground. The landing was hard and drew the breath right out of her lungs. Once she was able to inhale again she uttered a curse. She had lost a shoe, not that it was doing her much good anyway. Finally, she managed to sit up. She was a sorry sight. Her hair was littered with dead leaves and she was covered in dirt.

Kaiba stood, just out of her field of vision and waited. She was so ridiculous, she could have broken her neck. He could hear the language coming from her so he knew she was ok, just furious. She was shouting loud enough that he would have been able to hear her if he hadn't seen her slip off. Did she honestly think she could get away from him?

He had known she was pretending to be asleep on the bed for the last 20 minutes before the car had arrived. Her breathing was too shallow for it to be sleep and, because he kept looking at her, he saw her eyes open at one point as well. He had no idea why she was pretending, but guessed their kissing had her a bit nervous. He let her keep up the game but when he saw her run into the woods he realized she had been plotting her escape. He wanted to know why she was running from him.

She was so naive and innocent. When she kissed him last night it was so tender and pure. She had no idea who she was toying with. He smirked when he thought of the kissing this morning. It was hungry and demanding. She was afraid of her own reaction to him, and he was a bit amazed at his to her. She was transparent and delicate as well.

He chuckled evilly as he heard her delicate mouth spew strings of the foulest language. None of it made any sense. Her temper tantrum was short-lived. She placed a hand over her mouth in shock of hat she had just done. She looked around and then apologized to the very air around her.

She went to stand up, but as soon as she put weight on her left foot pain shot up through her calf. Serenity let out a small cry of pain and then fell back to the ground. She sat there a minute getting very upset. How would she get out of this mess? Seto Kaiba wouldn't look for her, the woman at the hotel would assume she had left and here she would rot. It all seemed so dismal.

Kaiba started towards her as soon as he heard her whimpering at the pain in her foot. She needed him and that's the way he liked things. He liked being in charge. He also liked having people in his debt and she was quite indebted to him already...

Serenity called for help, and Kaiba was at her side instantly. She didn't notice how it took no time for him to reach her. She was in quite a deal of pain. He had her shoe in his hand, he dropped it into her lap and he knelt beside her.

"If you yell at me right now I swear I'll scream," she thought he looked exasperated.

"You already are yelling," he pointed out the obvious.

"I've fallen and I think I broke my ankle." She whimpered, but refused to cry.

"Just what were you doing out here Wheeler? As if I didn't know."

"I think I should go at this alone. I've caused you too much trouble already. If you just get me back to the hotel I'll call my brother and then I'll set everything back to normal." She hoped he would see that this was the logical way of doing things and that he'd agree.

"I don't think so. You pulled me into this and now I'll get us out." He smirked at her, "Besides, you're in my debt and I do intend to collect." His gaze lingered on her lips and she subconsciously licked her lips. She felt herself blush and had the strongest urge to smack him.

He leaned forward to assess the damage to her ankle, before he touched her she cried out in pain.

"The usual way it's done it to feel the pain before you complain about it," he explained.

"I was just preparing myself Kaiba, I know you'll inflict more pain so I decided to get a head start." She glared at him in defiance.

He had already figured out that it wasn't broken. It hadn't swelled up and she could move her toes without crying out. Mokuba had sprained things many times and he was sure that's all she had done.

She, naturally, didn't believe him. He wasn't a doctor. She leaned forward and placed a hand on his arm for balance to see if her ankle was, in fact, all right. Her face was just inches from his. She looked at her foot while he lookedat her.

"It looks broken," she admonished.

"It isn't."

"Well it looks broken," she argued.

"But it's not."

She eyed him suspiciously and with a bit of anger. "You know, you should learn about sympathy Kaiba. This is a horrible thing that happened to me. I'm hurt and you're not being the least bit comforting!"

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been stupid enough to try to run away from me." He reminded her.

"I wasn't running away. I was just making myself scarce. I figured you would get in the car and drive away before you even missed me." She looked right at him when she told that lie. That was a mistake because only then did she realized how close he was. Neither said a word as their eyes locked. She couldn't seem to catch her breath. Those eyes of his seemed to make her heart skip beats.

She noticed a piece of his hair was looming dangerously close to his eyes and she reached out and brushed it away. He acted as thought she had just smacked him. He jerked back, looking quite annoyed. She was so embarrassed by his reaction that she turned her face away from him.

"You're a very hard person to understand Kaiba. I've been around you for a bit now and I've decided that you're a grump with a bad temper. You have so much and yet you're so ill mannered."

He smiled at the authority in her voice, "What else have you noticed?"

"That you don't like me." She stated that so simply.

She waited for him to tell her that she was wrong, but when a denial didn't come she continued, "You think I'm a nuisance."

"Yes, I do."

She took exception to his honesty. "I could learn to hate you Seto Kaiba."

"No you couldn't," the look he gave her made her stomach quiver. "I may be unpleasant, but you're very sweet natured. I don't think you know how to hate."

"Are you waiting for me to beg you for help?" She asked, very aggravated with him.

With that he scooped her up in his arms. She smiled despite herself, but hid it against his neck. She loved being carried in his arms yesterday and now here she was again. She whispered a thank you against his ear and felt his arms tighten around her.

What the hell was he supposed to do with her? He had no idea. She goaded his temper, but also made his pulse race. She was easing herself into his life and he didn't have a weapon to stop her. Damn it, his life was all about order and patterns he had no need of this girl. She was screwing everything up! He liked order, discipline and routines. He had no time for this. He was content without her.

Wasn't he?

He tried to put her out of his thought, which was hard seeing how warm and soft she felt in his arms. He couldn't stop thinking about the kisses they shared this morning, hell, he wanted to kiss her again. There went his 'ignore her' theory.

She was still a nuisance. She argued with him the whole way to the car. He thought about gagging her just to get a few minutes peace. He absently wondered if he could find a way to insist they sleep in the same bed at his home and smiled like a demon...

He arrived a half-hour after they left. He saw numerous tire tracks in the mud. He asked the woman who ran the rag tag place if she had seen either person he possessed pictures of. She had said no, but he didn't believe her. He would have pressed her further if two men hadn't entered. He left and walked back out into the parking lot. He looked at the road, one way led to Domino, he didn't think they would be heading back to town that would be stupid. The other direction led to parts unknown.

He made a few phone calls while he sat in his car. He was going to take the road north and see where it brought him. He was going to find them, even if he had to bring in help he would make sure she was silenced and he was permanently out of the way.

A/N: Oh well...the trials and tribulations of love... Hope you all enjoyed, please read and review and let me know how this is going. Thanks!