Chapter Thirteen

The heavy thud as Lex's boots bit the carpeted floor resounded around the room as he paced up and down the room, never once loosing his confident stride or the look of a predator. Even when in distress he would not allow himself to appear to be anything but a bad boy, thus turning what should have been the act of confusion into a hungry prowl.

As he moved he thought, he couldn't help it as try as he might he simply could not rid himself of the though of Ebony, everything from her booming yell to her kittenish whimpers was ingrained in his mind and he could not let himself rest until he knew why he had lost her. Why she had decided that he was no longer enough for her.

His fists clenched into balls as he thought of the way that she had humiliated him, his compassion momentarily lost giving him the anger that he needed to march over to the bed and announce, "We need to talk this out … now".

She ignored him, Ebony just could not face him at that moment, she couldn't bare to see the face of the man who had destroyed her every chance of happiness both in her relationship with him and with Slade.

In Ebony's mind none of it was her fault and it all fell onto Lex's shoulders, she hated him with all of her heart but what was yet worse was the fact that the tears simply would not stop spilling from her eyes reminding her that however much she hated him she loved him equally.

She had been stupid to think that she could be happy with Slade - or anyone for that matter - while Slade was a nice guy, made her feel special and was the perfect guy for her Lex had already made his mark on her.

Those eyes as dark as hell were her captures and there was no escape from what she felt for him. He was like a drug, highly addictive and even more dangerous.

Part of her wanted to turn over and give into him, to let herself feel everything that she wanted, to indulge herself in the primal lust of their courtship like the gluttonous animal that she was yet something stopped her. A shred of self respect which kept her from being entirely animalistic.

It held her back from what she wanted so much making her remember the way that people would look at her if she did this, not with respect, not with fear but as if she was nothing more than a common whore and while Ebony did not desire to be well like - or liked at all for that matter - she would never allow anyone to make a fool of her or to disrespect her.

She heard his order, his ruff voice sending shivers down her body while reminding her of how sweet and tender he could be, how if she would give in she could have everything that she craved yet it would betray everything that she stood for and so she could not, self respect was the one thing that he could not take from her.

That was why she stayed facing the other way even as he tried to talk to her, the tears never secede the constant trickle down her cheeks but he would never know and that was what was most important at that moment.

His clenched fists itched as he spoke to her back his voice slowly becoming more and more irritated, he wasn't used to being ignored and would not have it, finally, able to stand it no longer Lex reached out and grabbing Ebony's shoulder and rolled her onto her back so that she was looking straight up at him.

Lips parted he was ready to yell, to force the warrior queen to give him the answer that he desired but then he saw it. A tear rolling down her cheek, this wasn't his warrior Ebony, this was the woman that he had seen a few times when they made love.

His anger dissipated as he sat down on the side of the bed his dark eyes softening and without giving it another thought he gathered her up in his arms and held her close, rocking her slightly as his hand gently caressed the back of her trembling body.

Ebony didn't have time to struggle as she was forced onto her back exposing her to his eyes and anger, there was nothing to hide from and as she stared up at him she knew that he had seen the tears which wet her cheeks.

"He doesn't care about you, forget him. He doesn't care about you, forget him", a voice in her head repeated, encouraging her to harden her heart to him, not to let him hurt again but the voice was drowned out as she snuggled into Lex's warm embrace. All thoughts abandoned her as she was held tightly there for a second before she finally got the strength up to pull back.

Lex looked at her in confusion, "What's the matter he asked", filled with genuine concern for what seemed like the first time in his life.

"I …" Ebony started but trailed off upon realising that she didn't know what to say. Then after a moment continued, "I'm sorry Lex, but I can't do this. I can't let you near me again. I can't be with you".

She could not fathom why she should feel so guilty yet apologises continued to pour from her lips until she felt something feathery light upon them.

Lex kissed her sweetly as he heard her protestations, "Ebony", his deep voice rumbled, "I don't want to force you into anything, I just want to know why you left me in the first place".

The kiss was sweet and tender and his eyes warm yet upon seeing them Ebony did not feel comforted, on the contrary she was more furious than ever before.

"Oh you want to know why I left you do you?" She asked in a sweet voice which did little to hide her true spite, "Well I'm not sure. I guess that it must be because I am such a horrible person, wouldn't you say so Lex? Isn't that what you have been telling yourself all this time? It could not possibly be because you are a heartless bastard now could it?"

She was calm now as malice reigned over her allowing her to draw more strength from it yet as always it was closely linked the pain from her past, never completely allowing her to escape it.

This angered Lex, as far as he was concerned, yes, it was all her fault for leaving, just when he was about to pledge his heart to her she bugged off leaving him all alone and humiliating him in the process.

"Well no one could ever accuse you of being the caring type now could they Ebony, I mean it isn't like you have a heart of anything like that", he reported in spite, he was not going to let her get away with this.

"Shout. Scream. Hit. Anything but what you are about to do", Ebony's mind told her as Ebony's lower lip trembled, yet she pulled herself up tall.

Decorum and pride were shattered by Ebony's answer to his accusation, for in her despair she forgot all of the petty trifles which should have shackled her, in that moment all that matter was her own excruciating pain.

"I do have a heart Lex, I know because otherwise you could not have hurt me as much as you did. Everything in my life was going fine, I was evil but that you made me love you, you fucking bastard. I hate you. I want you to die just so that I can be rid of you for good but even if you did then you would be in my dreams because I can never escape you. Even when I was with a new guy, a nice guy the memories of seeing you and your bitch fucking haunted me to the point where you made me screw up my relationship with him", Ebony broke off her rant to breath deeply.

When she spoke again it was with the same pain but with less anger and more real sorrow, "Lex I loved you and I know that I still do, otherwise the memory of you and that other woman would not hurt me as much as it does but the fact is that I cannot be near you. I cannot see you every day knowing that I will never be able to stop thinking about you but never have you. You see the truth is Lex that I do have a heart and unfortunately it is a very fragile one, one that cannot take the fact that you cheated on me or the fact that I will never know if what you say to me is true".

Lex was shocked to hear all of this and dismayed to hear that the reason that he had lost Ebony had been his own stupidity, he had to stop her from leaving him once again, he simply had to. He opened his mouth to respond but was cut off.

"No Lex, do not talk. I cannot allow myself to hear you as I know how skilled you are, I know that your honeyed words have won many women's hearts and that there is no way to know if you are serious about your declarations or not and so I fear that this must be goodbye. I am going to go back to my cell, and hope that I get out of here tomorrow but even if I do not I will be content to know that things are resolved between us. Goodbye Lex", Ebony said as she stepped close to him and in slow motion raised her hand to caress his cheek.

A low moan escaped Lex's lips as he felt her flesh and looking down at her felt himself captivated once more by her beauty.

As one their eyes drifted shut as their lisp moved to close against the others in a final good bye kiss, neither could know what a mistake this was as their passion could never be expunged now so ignited.

This lips massaged, tongues explored, hands caressed, flesh grazed, temperatures soared as old lovers once more found the place where they belonged.