Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Final Fantasy x-2.

A/N: Just how long has it been since I've last updated? No, don't tell me, I'll probably start screaming in shame. Look guys, I'm really really really sorry for the late delay! I've been so damned busy with school…EXAMS!

Nwaiz, forgive me!

Chapter Fifteen

I am at the end of my tether

"Rikku! You little runt!"

"I should have gone to the machina workrooms." She said, and he drew up a bit, for she didn't appear to be speaking to him.

"Yep." He said. "You probably should have."

"I'm so stupid."

He smiled and let his mind rest temporarily, very temporarily; on the idea that maybe she'd wanted him to find her. Then she said: "Go away!" In a strong, very certain voice and his own stupid notion disappeared in a flash.

"Make me." He strode toward her and she jumped to her feet, scurrying behind the bolts and metals until her back was pressed against the wall. Gippal stopped.

"Come on Rikku."

She shook her head, and her beautiful hair swirled about her pale face. "No." she said, her voice a small whisper. "No." she repeated, her voice stronger, more certain. She looked at the screwdriver on one of the tables and smiled pitifully. She met his eyes and moistened her lips.

"You hid here before, admit it! You are so damn stubborn."

"I am not stubborn."

"So you give me unstubborn disobedience."

She drew herself up. He was toying with her, baiting her. "I'm not giving you anything! I want you to leave me alone. I want you to leave Djose Temple and return to Luca."

"But you're not pregnant yet, Rikku." He said very softly.

"Not for want of your trying!" Her voice neared a shout, and Gippal quickly turned and closed the door.

"Listen, if you don't lower your voice, the workers will hear us. Is that what you want?"

"Go away!"

She saw him look thoughtfully at some strips of cloth on one of the tables, and she lowered her voice, repeating: "Please, just go away."

"Ah." He said. "So you can listen to someone apart from yourself. Come." He held out his hand toward her.

She didn't move a muscle. Her eyes were wide and frightened. That bothered him, he didn't want her to be afraid of him. "Come on Rikku."

"Make me, you insufferable idiot!"

"Watch and learn, my wife."

"I'd like to see you try." Knowing full well he had the power to do exactly that.

"Is that a challenge?" He questioned darkly, taking one step towards her, watching her withdraw a step back.

"You really enjoy this don't you? Playing this…game? Well guess what? I'm sick and tired of your silly little games!"

"Then why don't you just give up and come with me?"

Still she didn't move. Gippal walked slowly toward her. She tried to duck past him, but he was prepared this time, and jerked her against him. He felt her fists pounding against his chest, and he shook her until her head snapped back on her neck. "Stop it!" He tired to calm his frustration, but it was difficult. "Do you want me to spank you?"

She shook her head against his shoulder.

In one quick motion Gippal hoisted Rikku over his shoulder, and left the workroom. He took her to his bedroom.

She was shaking. With fear or with fury?

He said nothing more. Merely carried her to his bed. He dropped her onto her back.

"Rikku, I want you to take off your clothes." He said, staring down at her. "Now."

She hesitated, and he said softly: "You want this to end sooner, don't you?"

"Please." She said. "Can you…would you please turn the lights off?"

"I want to see you." He said shortly and backed away from her.

It was too much. Her low cut chemise barely covered her breasts. It was very nearly transparent and she saw his eyes roving over her. She grabbed her clothes over her, quickly switched the lights off, throwing the room into darkness, and made a dash toward the adjoining door.

He caught her in three strides. "Alright." He said, trying very hard to keep his impatience in check. "Let's do it your way."

Gippal pulled her back to the bed, held her with one arm, and quickly stripped off her clothing.

He had set himself a problem, he realized, his breathing coming quickly now. If he tried to turn the lights on, she'd probably try to escape him again. He shrugged. He pulled off his dressing gown, and came down over her.

Her smooth, very soft body beneath him made his mind go blank with desire. Her breasts were heaving, full and soft against his chest.

There was no hope for it, Rikku realized. She'd been an idiot. Did she really expect him to shrug and forget about her? An idiot, that's what she was. She said: "I'll lie still. Do whatever you want, just do it quickly."

She matched words to action.

She was limp beneath him, even had managed to slow her frantic breathing. "Fine then. But I won't hurt you." He promised, and jerked her legs apart.

He realized quickly enough that he couldn't enter her without hurting her. She deserved it, damn her! But he couldn't. He frowned in the darkness, trying to remember what he'd done with the damned jar of cream.

He rose and said very softly: "Don't move, Rikku."

She didn't.

When she felt his weight come onto the bed again, she forced herself to lie very quietly.

"Inside you this time." He said, and she felt him part her legs again. She lurched upward at the feel of his fingers, slick with cream, entering her. She heard him suck in his breath.

He slid his finger slowly, gently, in and out.

He heard her catch her breath in sharp gasps, felt her quiver, but not with desire.

He flinched, reared over her, and drove into her.

Rikku felt him deep inside her. It didn't hurt. It felt very tight, and she could feel her body stretching to accommodate him, but there was no pain. She lay perfectly still. He would finish with her soon. The few times he'd done this to her, he had finished with her in minutes.

She heard his harsh breathing, felt him plunging deep, pulling away, then plunging again. Then he moaned, deep in his throat, and froze over her. Suddenly he began driving furiously in her. She felt the wetness of his seed bursting deep inside of her.

Gippal rolled off her immediately and onto his back. His lust gone. He felt nothing.

Rikku nearly leaped from the bed, and he heard her quick footsteps as she raced toward the adjoining door. The door sliding cleaning behind her.

"Why?" He said aloud to the dark room. Ah, Amalie, I'm an idiotic rutting bastard.

He felt guilty. He didn't like it, and it made him feel very uncomfortable, it made him question himself and his actions. He raged silently. It was sorta her fault too. She'd lied to him, pretended, played him like a fool. But deep down, deep in his gut he knew that it was more his fault than hers.

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Rikku scrubbed herself until she felt raw. She pulled a night gown over her head and crept into her bed.

I should've kept wearing my glasses, my ugly caps, my shapeless clothes. Then, at least, he'd have felt honor-bound to continue his kindness to me. Kindness of a strange sort, kindness tempered with overconfidence, disgust and boredom.

She drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her soft pillow. He hadn't touched her, not the actual her. She was safe from him. If he wanted to make love with her there was nothing she could do about it. She'd been an idiot to try to flee from him. She should have accepted him as she'd done the other few times. She realized well enough that her behavior had made him pissed off, and she supposed, reasonably, that what he had done was expected. He hadn't hurt her, after all. He'd gotten the cream. She shuddered at that, drawing her legs even closer to her chest. He'd put his finger inside her. Why had he done that? To humiliate her for trying to run from him?

Rikku shook her head against the pillow. She'd deal with him, oh yes she would. She even managed a small, smug laugh. She said aloud to her pillow: "I'll see you in the Farplane before I let you to touch me." Her eyes narrowed. "Never." She said softly. "Never will you touch me."

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Gippal came to an abrupt halt when he entered the breakfast room the following morning. Rikku was seated at the table, calmly eating her breakfast, perusing the newspaper.

She looked quite lovely, he thought. Eyeing her objectively. She was wearing what appeared to be the gunner outfit with a matching blue headband. What had he expected? The return of the beast? No, he thought, frowning a bit, he supposed he really expected that she'd hide from him, avoid him at all costs. He felt an appalling surge of lust for her, and was furious with himself.

"Why, good morning, Mr. Gippal." Rikku said, smiling at him as she folded the paper.

Smiling as if she hadn't a bloody care in the whole of Spira! His eyes narrowed on her guileless face. What game was she playing with him now?

"Morning, Rikku." He said, and seated himself at the head of the table. Carruthers and one other worker were also there, both nodding to him before quietly continuing eating and finishing up quickly.

Gippal watched Carruthers and the other worker pull back their seats and remove themselves from the room. It occurred to him then that Rikku's very warm, wifely behavior was due to their presence. He soon was disabused of that notion.

"The food nice, sir?"

Yevon, she sounded so damned cheerful! "I haven't even taken bite, so I wouldn't know."

"Ah, then I'll shut up." She picked up the newspaper again and buried herself behind it.

"What're you reading that interests you so much?" He asked after some minutes of grating silence.

She started a moment at that. Actually, she wasn't reading anything, nothing at all. She was determined to keep her cheerful indifference to him. She'd rather have chosen to throw her plate at his head.

She laughed, a charming soft laugh. "I'm reading all the…um…" Her eyes quickly scanned the page in front of her nose and she saw ads containing women modeling for panties and bras.

No way! Just make it up Rikku. Make it up.

"Well, I'm reading all the…er…gossip around Spira of course! It says here that a Lady H was seen chatting in Kilika with Lord R, and Lady H's husband was just a short distant away! So very interesting, isn't it?"

He ground his teeth. "I don't know any Lady H." He said.

Rikku didn't either. She'd just made-up the entire tale. "So you know everyone in Spira, do you, Mr. Gippal?"

Gippal set his fork down very slowly and carefully. "Rikku." He said. "Can you stop calling me 'mister' or 'sir'? My name's Gippal."

"Okay." She said, and shrugged. She set down the paper, glanced at the clock on the sideboard, and exclaimed: "Oh Shoopuf! Will you look at the time! I gotta go!"

"Where're you going?"

"Gee, there're so many things to do. The Machine Faction doesn't run by itself, you know." With that, she was gone.

He noticed as he left the breakfast room a few minutes later that she hadn't eaten much of her breakfast.

Gippal found himself at loose ends. He was here, so he had to continue with the Faction's business. He strode to the estate room, saw that the door was open, and stepped inside. He came to a sudden stop.

There was Rikku again, seated at his desk, with Carruthers seated beside her.

"I don't know, Carruthers." Rikku said, her brow furrowed in thought. "I agree with you that Delaney's idea might work here, but the Gil involved in clearing the timber away—

"What timber?" Gippal said sharply.

Rikku froze, but just for an instant. She raised a guilelessly smiling face to her husband. "Hello." She said kindly. "Carruthers and I are talking about the fencing, and the cost for the lumber is so very high right now, you know, and we do have a wooded area just to the east of us, but—

"I don't want any trees to be cut."

"But since you don't want the trees cut." Rikku continued calmly. "Of course they're not gonna be cut. Now, Carruthers, if that's all, I've got other stuff to do."

Carruthers hadn't uttered a word. He wasn't blind. He wished he could escape with Lady Rikku. He watched her walk past her husband, toss him a sweet, totally false smile, and leave the estate room. Leave him alone. He tugged at his collar, adjusted some papers on the desk and endeavored to look busy.

To his utter relief, Gippal said curtly: "I'll talk about this matter with you this afternoon, okay?" And was gone. He stiffened again in some alarm when he heard Gippal's voice outside, shouting: "Rikku!"

Rikku wasn't to be found. Gippal discovered Otis in the nether regions of the kitchen.

"Mr. Gippal." Otis said smiling. The workers came to immediate, wary attention.

"G'morning Oti. How you goin?"

"I'm fine, thank you. If there anything you want?" He inquired, watching him closely.

"There is. First I'd like to know why there're so many Shoopuffs outside the temple. Problems at the Moonflow?"

"That's correct. We haven't been informed of what the problem is yet, but the Hypellos and their Shoopuffs have to stay here while the Moonflow's problem is fixed."

"Alrighty."

"And it is mating season for the Shoopuffs, so all the male workers in the temple must help the Hypellos with that task."

Gippal's expression didn't change. Otis half expected him to shout out in horror, or at least hit something, but to his immense surprise he merely grinned, rubbing a hand warily over his eyes. "Now wouldn't that be a bit of fun? Helping a Shoopuff to mate? Maybe I could Rikku into this?"

"Gippal! You know a lady can't—

"Calm down Otis!" He laughed at seeing the alarm on the butlers face. "Speaking of which, do you have any idea where my dear wife is?"

"At the machina workroom. She's always there at this time. Works too hard, she does, but—

"She's what!"

"At the workroom, Gippal" Otis repeated patiently. "With Belvis. She spends every morning there, sometimes into the afternoons. As I said, Gippal—

"The runt!" He said, but under his breath. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to have Rikku's very pretty neck between his hands. What had she done now?

"Thanks Otis. I'll see you later." He strode from the room, leaving Otis to gawk after him. He galloped down the front steps of the hall and headed for the workroom office. It was beginning to rain, and he thought, very stupidly, that Rikku should take care. She might become sick again.

"Rikku!"

His roar brought forth four workers as if they'd been shot from a cannon.

"T'oui kioc ghuf frana Rikku ec?" (D'you guys know where Rikku is?)

Severin, the eldest, said in Al Bhed: "Secc Rikku ec er dra dacderk nuus fedr Belvis, Secdan Gippal." (Miss Rikku is in the testing room with Belvis, Mister Gippal.)

The testing area was away from the workroom, near the fork to the moonflow and the temple. It had begun to rain in earnest, and Gippal felt water trickling down his neck by the time he gained shelter.

The door was ajar, and he strode in. The comforting smell of burning, oil and various unguents assailed his nostrils.

"Belvis! Oui'na rana! Ed'c kniyd du caa oui ykyeh, syh. Fa haat oui'na dymahd rana, oui ghuf." (Belvis! You're here! It's great to see you again, man. We need you're talent here, you know)

The moment of reckoning, Rikku thought, trying to hide her nervousness. She should have told him, perhaps over breakfast, when he had sirloin in his mouth.

"Hello, mister." She said in a ridiculous attempt to stem the tide. "D-did you want something?"

Gippal looked at Belvis. He was a short, very wiry little man, balding in the out-of-doors. He looked younger than Gippal remembered.

"Yes, Rikku." Gippal said, his voice now well-controlled. He even smiled. "I'd like to see you, if you please. Alone."

"E cruimt ku drah, E cibbuca. E'mm cbayg fedr oui mydan, Myto Rikku." (I should go then, I suppose. I'll speak with you later, Lady Rikku.)

Don't go!

"Alrighty. I'll see ya soon."

After Belvis left, Gippal pointed to an old chair. "Sit." He said curtly.

Rikku sat.

"Now, ma'am, tell me what the hell's going on." His legs were planted apart, his arms crossed over his chest. He was, she realized, spoiling for a fight.

"Yes, Rikku?" He said, his voice silky.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I still feel more then a little guilty for delaying this chappie for a long time. I'm really really sorry! And I'll apologize just in case, because I think the next chappie will also take a little longer to upload then usual. I'll say sorry in advance. Please forgive and forget!