Injection

by Reid Wright

After totally destroying Vilikosto's training room, with the help of the person she most loved to hate, Demetra must venture out of Finland in search of new training grounds and new experiences. However, when she ends up walking into one of the coldest places on earth with the last person she wants to be with, only one question comes to mind; Which one of them would be walking out?

17. Chapter 17: Love Drunk

A/N: Eeeeee! YAY! I actually got this one out in a (I think) reasonably timely fashion! Heehe! :D Oh boy! I'm SO HAPPY to have finally gotten this one out, it was literally YEARS in the making let me tell you! lol. This one is something I've probably anticipated more than any other thing I've ever written, and I actually enjoy it so much! I worked so very hard on it, and did my best to make it a good balance of everything good. I really, REALLY hope you guys enjoy this one, and if you do, I'm pleading you; PLEASE let me know! What's your favorite part(s)? How did I do? Was it worth the wait?! LoL I'm just dying to know! So please, don't leave me hanging haha. Dearly hope you guys love this as much as I do, and hope this satisfies a little of the built-up anticipation a bit :P

So, without further adieu, as always, on with the show! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the awesome, fantastical characters of Beyblede. I DO howevr own this (hopefully) awesometastic story? lol jk... but seriously, it's mine. No touchy. .. X-D

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"Hey... wake up sleeping beauty."

Giving the dozing figure in his arms another gentle shake, Tala watched as Demetra's eyes slowly blinked open for the dozen time since they'd reentered the mansion. When she seemed to have - mostly - focused on him, he gestured ahead of them with his chin.

"Which way?"

Demetra stared at him for a moment, blinked once or twice, then yawned wide and snuggled back into his shoulder. A moment later, Tala heard her breathing change and knew she had once again drifted off to sleep, which made him groan wearily.

"Hey!" He exclaimed in frustration, giving her a firmer shake this time. "Wake up!"

Startling awake again, Demetra lifted her head, took a moment to focus again, then looked up into her carrier's face.

"What's wrong?" She asked sleepily.

"Which. Way. To. Your. Room." Tala growled slowly through clenched teeth. He watched as Demetra's face lit up again.

"Ooooo! You're coming too?" She asked with an air of excitement. "Does that mean I get the rest of my present?"

Tala felt like slapping his forehead, sure he would have if he had access to his hands.

"Which way?" He repeated irritably.

Turning her head to look around and apparently take in their surroundings, Demetra hummed thoughtfully.

"Mmmm... That way." She said, pointing them down the long hall to their right.

"Are you sure?" Tala asked wearily. Funnily enough, she gave him an offended look at that.

"Of course I'm sure." She almost pouted childishly. "I've been there before!"

Tala smirked in amusement.

"I sure as hell hope so." He replied teasingly.

Turning down the hall, he let the birthday girl left and right him several more times, narrowly avoiding getting caught nearly as many (much to Demetra's extreme amusement and Tala's extreme embarrassment - he absolutely did not want anyone to see either of them like this), until eventually Tala felt his frustration and irritation reaching its limit.

"Are we almost there?" He growled testily.

"Maybe." Demetra sang childishly. Tala growled, halted in his tracks and looked her in the eye with a dark expression.

"Demetra." He growled fiercely now. "Answer me. Are we almost there?"

Blinking up at him, Tala didn't miss the shiver that passed through her, and he couldn't help but wonder at it, particularly when he recalled her comment earlier about loving him calling her by name. Admittedly, the idea made a sense of satisfied pleasure spread through him.

"We're almost there..." She whispered soberly.

"Good." Tala said firmly. "Which way next?"

Turning her head again, his charge took an honest second or three to observe, as if he'd asked her a particularly tough math problem, until finally she pointed to the hall directly ahead of them.

"That way." She said confidently.

Tala furrowed his brows, suddenly recognizing the area. He'd been this way earlier, when he'd gone looking for her. His searching had taken him down this hall, he was sure it had, and he was equally as sure that it lead to a dead end.

"Are you sure?" He asked her again. This time Demetra huffed an annoyed sigh.

"Of course I'm sure! Do you want to see my room or not?"

Chewing his cheek, too weary to be amused this time, Tala decided to follow her instruction; not like he was familiar with the place anyway. Perhaps he was mistaken, surely this wasn't the only area in the gigantic mansion that resembled another.

So, following the direction he'd been given, Tala continued down the long hallway. However, the further they went, the more familiar their surroundings became, until eventually he was absolutely positive he'd been here before, and he was just as convinced he'd been correct about a dead end.

Sighing heavily in mounting frustration, Tala opened his mouth to grumble with his cargo again, but the sound of approaching voices cut him off. Cursing under his breath, he ducked into one of the many alcoves lining the hall, this one housing a handsome ancient suit of what appeared to be samurai armour.

"Geeze, this place is so spooky!" One of the voices said.

Peering out from the shadows, Tala made note of a pair of unfamiliar girls just entering the hall from an adjacent one, both of them holding themselves as they looked around, clearly extremely uneasy.

"Where did Keisha say that bathroom was..? It was here somewhere, right?"

Tala scoffed quietly in amusement at that.

"Wrong. You took a wrong turn. It's the next hall over on the left."

He knew this because he'd made the same mistake himself earlier, it was how he'd ended up in this hall to begin with.

"I know those voices." Demetra said suddenly "They're from-"

"Shhh!" Tala hissed forcefully, cutting her off. Tensing, his head jerked to the side to find the two girls had brought up solid.

"Uh... did you hear that?" One of them asked the other nervously.

"Um.. h-hello..? Anybody there?" The other called shakily.

"Over here! We're-"

"Demetra, shut up!" Tala hissed forcefully. He got a dirty look for that.

"Tala! They're from my school! And they're just-"

"I totally heard that!" Tala heard one of the girls say, followed by the sound of cautious steps as the pair crept towards them. "Hello..?"

"Behi-"

Cursing under his breath, Tala dipped his head down and sealed Demetra's lips shut in a forceful kiss. Admittedly, a flood of satisfaction washed over him when he felt her completely melt in his arms, followed by a contented purr which vibrated from her throat.

Deepening the forced kiss, Demetra pulled herself closer to her captor, but in the effort, her foot jarred the suit they were hiding behind, making it rattle with an ominous echo.

Tala heard the two girls shriek, and noted the footsteps abruptly halt.

"OMG! Did that armour just move?!" One voice screeched, voice several octaves higher.

"Let's get out of here! I totally don't need the bathroom anymore!"

Hearing their scurried departure, Tala pulled back from the brunette clinging to him, just enough to give her a heated, dangerous stare.

"Do that again and I'm taking back my present." He growled warningly. He'd lost count of how many times she'd almost gotten them caught, and he really wanted that to be the last.

Demetra stared at him unblinkingly as if in a trance.

"OK..." She whispered obediently. Her submission made Tala smirk.

"Good girl." He growled in a low teasing tone. Dipping down again, he gave her lips a playful nip. "Now take me to your room."

Stepping back out into the hall, Tala watched Demetra swallow hard, stare at him another minute, then turn her head toward the end of the long stretch. After staring down the end for a bit, she eventually looked back at him.

"We're already here."

Tala furrowed his brows, turned his head to look where she had, then looked back at her with a frown.

"There's a dead end this way." He stated, no longer one hundred percent, but wanting to gauge her reaction. He figured if she were lying or playing with him, he'd be able to tell.

As he expected, Tala watched a mischievous look cross Demetra's face.

"Is there?" She sang cryptically.

"Demetra..." He growled warningly. "I'm not in the mood for games..."

"That's too bad..." She purred, leaning up into his face. "Because I love playing with you..."

Unable to resist the shiver that ran down his spine, Tala forced another stern expression.

"You'd better not be playing with me right now, Princess." He growled threateningly now.

"Oh I am..." She replied with another mischievous grin. "But I promise I'm telling the truth... we're here."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Tala figured he had no choice other than to believe her. So, turning them, he lead them down the last stretch of the hall.

Unsurprisingly, just as he expected, Tala brought them to a halt when he noted that he'd been right; he had recognized the area, he had been there earlier, and there was a dead end.

"I knew it." He thought furiously, gritting his teeth.

"This is a dead end." He growled angrily, trying desperately to keep a lid on his temper.

"No it's not." Demetra replied shortly. Tala felt his temper flare.

"What do you mean, no it's not?!" He helplessly snapped. "I told you I'm not in the mood for games, Demetra! Tell me where your room is, or I swear to you; I'll drop you right here and leave your drunk ass for some random house staff to find in the morning!"

To his astonishment, Demetra giggled.

"Wanna know a secret?" She sang softly, a little sparkle in her eye. Tala felt like he was going to completely loose it.

"The next time you're this drunk, you'll be the girls' problem!" He thought with paramount irritated anger now. Thank God she wasn't this annoying all the time, or he'd be running for the hills every time he saw her coming.

Tilting his head back, Tala closed his eyes moment, took a few to take several long, deep calming breaths. When he felt sufficiently calm enough to handle the current situation - and the irritant he was in it with - he opened his eyes again, looked back to the brunette.

"Yes your royal pain in my ass." He seethed through clenched teeth. "I want to know your secret."

Demetra's coy smile widened before she leaned up into his face.

"What do I get if I tell you..?" She whispered, another gleam in her eye. "It's a pretty big secret."

Closing the distance between them, Tala brushed his lips against hers.

"More present than you can handle..." He whispered dangerously against her lips.

Pleased to feel another shiver tremble through her, Demetra playfully nipped his lips before replying.

"Closer..." She said softly, obviously not having picked up on his teasing joke. Tala quirked an amused brow at that.

"Can't get much closer than this, Princess." He teased softly. To his curiosity, Demetra smirked.

"To the wall."

Intrigued, Tala did as she asked and took a few steps closer to the wall until they were directly in front of it.

"Now what?" He asked with another smirk, admittedly extremely curious now.

Without replying, he watched with interest as Demetra lifted her hand towards the wall, her eyes never leaving his face, reached out to splay it across a painting hanging in front of them. Tala's eyes left hers to flick towards the wall, and to his surprise, he watched a vertical green beam roll down the frame from the top to bottom, seemingly scanning her hand. A moment later he heard a faint cracking sound before, to his astonishment, the wall opened up and swung inwards to reveal a hidden passageway, just like the scene in some cheesy old mystery movie.

"Impressed?" Demetra cooed, obviously having noted his expression, which clearly said as much. Tala decided to let her have it.

"Alright, I'll give it to you." He replied playfully. "It's a little impressive."

Glancing down at the figure in his arms, he noted the childlike pleasure on her face, obviously delighted to have impressed him. The look and sentiment was extremely endearing, and Tala felt it tug at his heartstrings.

Stepping into the hidden passage, Tala noted the sound of the wall creaking and glanced over his shoulder to watch it close them in. Turning forwards again, he looked down the long passage, made note of the four doors, two on either side of the corridor.

"Which one's yours?" He asked curiously, trying to guess before she answered. He figured hers was probably the ornate red and gold one on the far right.

"First door on the right." Demetra replied through a wide yawn.

Tala lifted a brow in surprise when he turned to face the one she'd pointed out. Although it was handsome to be sure; a dark wood of some sort with a stunning grain, it was considerably plainer than the other three. Moving towards the door in question, Tala balanced the figure in his arms long enough to turn the knob, then steadied her again as he pushed the door open with his boot.

When the heavy wood swung inwards, Tala stepped inside. He'd expected the room to be full to overflowing with rich-girl paraphernalia; girly trinkets and baubles and a bounty of objects he couldn't identify or had ever seen before. But looking around, he was surprised to find he'd been wrong once again. Demetra's home room looked pretty similar to her room at The Facility. Sure, there was more stuff, after all, she'd spent half a life time there. But it was considerably emptier than he'd expected, considerably much more modest.

His gaze sweeping around the roomy expanse, Tala made note of a large handsome mahogany desk, a likely roomy closet, tall chest of drawers. There was a fully-loaded floor-to-ceiling bookshelf against one wall, an identical one meeting it at a corner on the adjacent wall, this one filled with an array of objects, which was apparently where she kept most of her bey gear among other things. Across them there was a door to what appeared to be an en suite bathroom, beside that a large stone fireplace, and of course Demetra's admittedly massive bed. Other then these, there was nothing else in the huge room, which was able to accommodate much more than it held.

Having finished his observation, Tala felt a pang of shame and guilt tug at him, particularly when he remembered what she'd told him the night they'd been locked in together, all the things she'd ever told him, the things he'd learned and observed about her on his own, the way she'd kept her room in Russia. Not for the first time, he had wrongly assumed incorrectly about her, and he had to admit, if it had been months ago, he might have been excused. But with what he now knew about her, his recent assumptions hadn't been fair; he should have known better.

Looking down at the brunette in his arms again with a lopsided smile, and the guilt he felt painted on his features, Tala meant to tease her about the contents of her room. But he quickly realized it was pointless, because with her head lolled to the side, mouth slightly agape, she was already peacefully snoozing once again. His smile softening into an affectionate one, Tala turned and silently made his way towards the bed instead.

With the gentleness one might use with a sleeping toddler, he deposited Demetra's motionless form onto her massive mattress. At this point, hearing her snoring softly and having gone completely limp in his arms, he figured it would be easy to simply tuck her in and just leave. However, once again, the tipsy birthday girl proved him wrong.

"I thought you said I'd get the rest of my present?" He heard her murmur sleepily as soon as he'd turned away from the bed. "Are you taking it back?"

Looking over his shoulder at her, Tala noted the tiny pout on her face, nestled among the stung expression there, and the look succeeded in plucking hard at his heartstrings. Turning back around, Tala moved to sit beside her.

"Trust me, Princess..." He replied quietly, reaching out to pick up her hand and brush his lips across her knuckles. "I couldn't take it back if I wanted to..."

"Sleep with me."

A hot rush crashed over him at the totally blunt request, and Tala swallowed hard to bite back the response he desperately wanted to give.

"That's not going to happen tonight, birthday girl..."

Demetra frowned deeply, another stung look coming to her face.

"Why not?" She asked insistently. "It doesn't matter if you don't have pyjamas does it? I thought boys slept in their underwear."

Tala sweat-dropped at the innocent statement this time.

"Of course that's what she meant.." He thought with weary amusement.

"I'm not wearing underwear." He lied bluntly. To his chagrin, the lie only made an excited gleam light the brunette's face.

"Really?" She asked mischievously. "Then why don't you sleep in your birthday suit? It's my birthday, so it would be very appropriate."

This time Tala released a snort of laughter in spite of himself.

"Where's a damn camera when you need one?" He muttered under his breath, knowing that if the brunette before him could see and hear herself like this when she was sober, she'd never come within fifty feet of anything remotely alcoholic again.

"That's definitely not going to happen." He insisted aloud firmly. "I mean it, go to sleep."

"Sleep with me." Demetra insisted with a pout. The hot flush returned with a vengeance as Tala stared down at her.

"God Almighty, stop saying that!" Tala pleaded in his head.

He was about to deny her again, to simply get up and leave whether she liked it or not, but when Demetra stuck out her bottom lip in a pouty gesture he'd never seen from her before, and was willing to bet he'd never see again, Tala heaved a heavy sigh of defeat.

"Just until you fall asleep." He caved. Instantly Demetra's face lit up again.

With a happy grin, she stretched her arms up invitingly towards him, and with another heavy sigh, Tala removed his jacket before dropping it over her tall bedpost. Hesitating a moment, he eventually moved to position himself beside her, then finally lowered himself into her waiting arms. Though it killed him to admit it, he couldn't deny that when Demetra folded him into her arms like it was the most natural thing in the world, when he allowed her to guide his head down to lay atop her chest, the totally euphoric feeling that enveloped him was the most indescribably blissful feeling he'd ever known. Slipping his arms around her, Tala felt his entire body relax and completely melt into the body below him. Releasing a deeply contented sigh, he couldn't help but nuzzle a tender, lazy kiss to the tops of her silky breasts before closing his eyes and deciding to allow himself the moment.

He'd nearly drifted off into a blissful sleep, when suddenly the feel of Demetra's body jolting beneath him made his eyes spring open again.

"Wait!" She exclaimed urgently.

Tala's head popped up to stare down at her wide-eyed.

"What? What's wrong?!" He demanded, a little out of it after having been so rudely shaken out of his doze.

"I can't sleep in my dress!" Demetra suddenly exclaimed.

Staring at her for a minute, it took Tala a bit for her statement to sink in, but he caught on rather quickly when she shimmied out of his embrace to sit up and reach for the back of her dress.

"Woah! What the hell are you doing?!" He reflexively demanded stupidly - it was clearly obvious what she was doing.

"What does it look like?" She replied bluntly. "I'm getting dressed for bed."

His mouth agape, Tala watched her struggle with her fancy dress for a while, obviously trying in vain to undo the back, until eventually she got fed up and reached for the hem of her skirt. To Tala's shock, he watched her pull it up her body, trying to pull it over her head, but the only thing that got her was exposing her lacy red underwear and tastefully toned stomach to him - beautiful despite the gruesome scar slashing down the length of it; he pointedly avoided looking at that.

"Why can't I-?! What did Tori-?! Ugh! Just. Come. Off!"

After sitting there frozen with his mouth agape, watching her struggle and shimmy for a while in an absolutely criminally teasing display, eventually Tala snapped out of it and reached out to grab the hem of her skirt, yanking it back into place again.

"For the love of beyblade, turn around!"

Heaving a frustrated snort, Demetra did as she was told, and Tala had to fight back a laugh as she crossed her arms in another childish pout. Shaking his head, he reached out, carefully tugged the bows of the ribbon holding her top up free, until it was finally loose enough for her to get out of.

"There." He said pointedly, placing a hand on her hip and encouraging her to turn around again. "Geeze, you're completely useless, you know that."

Having expected her arms to still be crossed, or that she would have at least had the sense to hold her top up, Tala's eyes bugged when Demetra turned back to him again, only for the top of her dress to slide down her body and pool at her hips.

His face inexplicably heating - either from his own fluster at the situation or second hand embarrassment, he wasn't sure, not like it was the first time he'd ever seen a girl in her underwear -Tala quickly averted his gaze.

"Come on, you can't be this out of it can you?!" He demanded in his head.

Not bothering to voice this thought, Tala reached out and gripped the front of her dress, strangely thankful he was able to do so without looking, then reached to grab one of her hands. Firmly placing her hand over her own breasts, hoping she'd take the hint, he then looked back at her again, giving her an exasperated look.

"Where are your pyjamas?" He demanded wearily.

For a moment, with the sight of her kneeling there before him, holding herself as she stared back at him, especially when a mischievous look crossed her face, Tala felt that familiar pressure deep down return again.

"Why, are you going to dress me?" She asked coyly.

"You're damn right I am." He answered in his head. If he didn't, short of getting up and walking out on her like he'd considered earlier, he knew there was no way he'd ever be able to keep denying her brazen advances.

"Pyjamas." He repeated bluntly.

Releasing a hand from herself, Demetra lifted it to point across the room to a chest of drawers. Resisting a sigh, Tala got up from the bed, made his way across the room, moved to open the top drawer on the left when he reached it. However he quickly slammed it shut again as soon as he realized that it happened to be her undergarment drawer. Feeling his face flush hotly, Tala sighed heavily this time, then reached for the second drawer, this time opening it much more slowly and cautiously. Thankfully, this one seemed to be the one he'd been looking for. With a flood of relief, he quickly selected a top and bottom combination - purposefully picking the least flattering ones he could find - then shut the drawer with a snap and turned back to the bed. However, he nearly dropped the articles when he took note of the brunette sitting atop it.

Demetra was sitting on her knees now, but she'd evidently decided it wasn't important to keep holding her top up, because it was once again pooled around her hips.

Throwing his head back, Tala took a long, deep breath to calm himself. Honestly, he was deeply impressed with himself for managing to keep it together for so long. Inhaling another deep breath through his nose, he eventually lowered his head again, forced himself to focus on Demetra's face, and painstakingly made his way back to the waiting figure on the bed.

"Honestly, I always thought the term second-hand embarrassment sounded so stupid..." He muttered as he stood before her again. "But suddenly it makes total sense..."

Before Demetra could question or comment, Tala reached out to yank the long-sleeved shirt down over her head. When she managed to pop her arms out through, he was once again floored when she sat back on her hands and wiggled her legs.

"And the legs." She said cheekily. "Can't forget those."

Tala sweat-dropped at her antics.

"Unbelievable..." He thought in disbelief.

Knowing exactly what she was hoping for, he gave her an unamused look before leaning down, thrusting her pants up over her legs, then reaching out to take her hands and pull her to her feet. Giving the dress a little tug either side made it drop to the floor.

"There." He said bluntly. "Now you're dressed for bed."

"Well that was no fun." Demetra replied half-playfully, half-genuinely disappointed.

"Fun is not one of my many talents." Tala shot back dryly.

Not really knowing what to expect from her next, Tala watched curiously as Demetra turned away from him and walked, admittedly a little straighter - though only just - than he expected towards the bathroom. For the briefest of moments, he thought this might be his chance to escape, but when she reached the bathroom door, she stopped to look back at him before entering.

"Well are you coming or not?"

"Not." Tala replied instantly, giving her an incredulous look. "I'm not following you to the bathroom, Demetra."

"Suit yourself." She replied bluntly, turning to enter said room. "I hope you won't feel guilty if I fall and bash my brains out on the bathtub."

Though he knew she was only joking, Tala sweat-dropped at the thought and considered for a minute. After a few, he heaved a heavy sigh of defeat.

"I'll wait by the door..." He mumbled.

Moving to do just that, Tala leaned against the wall outside the bathroom, crossed his arms and closed his eyes while he waited, doing his best to ignore Demetra going about her business inside. After hearing the toilet flush, soon followed by the running tap, he expected her to emerge soon after. However after several long minutes of silence, he began to worry. He was just about to ask if she was alright when he heard her release a strange sort of strangled cry, which of course made his eyes pop open and head jerk to the side to stare at the closed door.

"You OK in there?" He called after her.

When he received no response, a deep frown etched itself across his face. Straightening, he turned to face the door, gave it a light knock.

"Hey! Answer me!" He said firmly, a little louder. "Are you alright?"

There was another long silence, but eventually he got an answer.

"No..." He heard Demetra mutter, barely audible. The admission made the redhead furrow his brows. She didn't sound particularly distressed, but there was clearly something wrong.

"I'm coming in." He declared firmly. But despite the declaration, he still waited for a response. Though none came.

"Demetra!" He said loudly. "I said I'm coming in!"

Once again, there was another long silence, this one longer than the others, but eventually he heard her reply again, though it sounded extremely reluctant.

"Fine..."

Receiving the permission he wanted, Tala reached for the knob and pushed it open without a second thought. However, despite everything else he expected, never in a thousand lifetimes would he have guessed to find what he did.

Standing before her bathroom vanity mirror, Demetra's reflection lifted its gaze to level Tala with an adorably embarrassed pout. With her arms lifted over her head in a giant circle, somehow, she'd managed to get her sleeves snagged in the jewel-encrusted chain weaved through her hair, and in her poor efforts to free herself, she'd also managed to make a total birds nest out of her beautiful silky tresses.

As soon as he saw her, a snort of laughter exploded from Tala, which made the obviously already embarrassed brunette turn scarlet. Lifting a fist to his lips, he was unable to contain the mile-wide grin of amusement as he stared at her in disbelief.

"Shut up..." Demetra pouted, feigning an angry face. "Are you just going to stand there like an idiot, or are you going to help me?"

This made Tala chuckle again, because it was the first glimpse of her true self he had seen in a few hours.

"I think I'll just stand here." He replied, his grin widening. "This is the best entertainment I've had in a while."

Levelling a glare on him made the redhead laugh again. Deciding to take pity on the birthday girl, he finally moved forward to approach and stand behind her.

"Completely useless..." He teased affectionately, reaching up to her sleeves.

"Shut up..." She muttered again, her flush deepening as she averted her gaze from him.

Gently as he could, Tala unhitched her sleeves from the chain, and as soon as she was free, Demetra sighed gratefully as she lowered her arms. That done, he made work of freeing the chain snarled in her hair. It took some time, but eventually he managed to pull it out with minimal damage to chain or hair. Next task was untangling the birds nest. This took longer, but it didn't particularly bother the redhead; thankfully he had the patience for it. When at last he'd managed to remove all the ridiculous little trinkets and baubles, to untangle the knots and snarls she'd created, Tala reached for the brush sitting in a container on the vanity. Carefully as he could, he brushed through Demetra's long tresses, until all that remained were a thick mane of curls he could easily run his fingers through - which he did, letting the silky curls, and lengthy weight of it, glide fluidly through his fingers as he smoothed it down her back.

"Well, still not much to look at, but I'm pretty sure you'll live." He said teasingly, hoping she'd get the reminiscent joke. He wasn't sure if she did or not, but the look Demetra gave him tugged at his heart.

"Thank you..." She replied softly, looking him in the eye with a light of tenderness and still reddened cheeks.

"Don't mention it..." Tala replied softly, holding her gaze through the mirror.

Now finished with her hair, Tala placed his hands on Demetra's hips, encouraging her to turn around. When she was facing him, she gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing?"

"You obviously can't be trusted to do much of anything right now, so I guess I'm obligated to help you out." He told her teasingly. Gently gripping her hips, he lifted her up to sit atop the vanity. "So? What's next? I'm sure you've got a bunch of other stuff you usually do before bed."

"I don't need to do much." She replied absently, reaching to open her medicine cabinet. "Just brush my teeth and wash my face. That's enough for tonight."

Truthfully, he figured she'd have to brush her teeth and swipe a cloth over her face to remove the makeup gunk, and that would be that; he didn't actually expect there to be a whole routine. Boy was he surprised when Demetra gave him the nightly laundry list.

"First I need these to get the makeup off." She informed him, taking a flat pack of something from the cabinet. "Then I need this. And this. And... Mmm, better use some of that too..."

After extracting the items she needed, and sizing up the contents of the cabinet another moment or two, she eventually reached out to shut the door again.

"That's good enough." She declared, seemingly to herself. "I'll do a better job in the morning..."

Tala lifted an eyebrow at the spread.

"What's all this?" He asked, intrigued.

"Something to clean my face." She told him as if it were supposed to be obvious.

"What, all of it?" Tala replied, surprised.

"Yes. All of it." Demetra answered, reaching for the flat package and opening it to pull out a white cloth. "First these to take the surface makeup off... I'll probably need half the pack tonight! Then the foaming cleanser and that little round brush to get the deep stuff. Then I need the toner to help sooth my skin... And a little moisturizer probably wouldn't hurt tonight either."

Now both Tala's brows shot up.

"Are you serious?" He asked incredulously. "Do you do this every night?"

"Of course not." Demetra replied, again as if it should be obvious. "Normally there's more, but I'm too tired to bother with it..."

Tala was floored, especially since she seemed ashamed with herself for apparently cutting the routine short. Already it was much more than he expected, certainly much more than simply swiping a cloth over her face. He thought of a time when he'd once wondered if Demetra did all the girly things to her face that other girls seemingly did, but considering now, he supposed it didn't really count as girly things, it was probably simply taking care of herself. Honestly, it was amazing what women so willingly and casually went through on a regular basis. Suddenly he had a new appreciation female kind.

"Did I get it all?" Demetra asked absently, looking at the filthy, once-white cloth in her hands.

Glancing back at her, Tala nearly choked on his laughter when he made note of the mess she'd made of her beautiful face.

"What?" She asked with a frown, turning to look in the mirror. When she saw herself, Tala watched her turn scarlet all over again.

Sure, she'd managed to get a lot of the makeup off, but she sure as hell didn't get it all either. Tala bit his cheek to contain his laugher as he looked her over; all streaks and black smudges and looking like the living dead.

"Gimme that." He said with a laugh, taking the package of cleaning cloths from her hand and laying it to the side. Reaching for the toothbrush and paste in the cup by the sink, Tala removed them both and loaded the former.

"Assuming you can at least handle brushing your own teeth, you take care of that, and I'll take care of this. Otherwise I'm going to be stuck here babysitting you all night."

Watching her flush deepen as she narrowed her eyes on him in a very characteristic way, Demetra popped her toothbrush in her mouth and silently began that task. Grinning in amusement, Tala tugged a few cloths from the pack and began the task of cleaning her up.

She'd been right; by the time Tala noted that the cloths he was using were finally coming away clean, he'd indeed gone through about half a pack - though to be honest, it had probably been unnecessary, what the hell did he know? After washing his hands free of some of the face gunk that had somehow ended up on him, Tala turned back to the birthday girl.

"What did you say was next?" He asked, throwing the last cloth in the trash beside him. "Something about toner?"

Demetra took the time to lean beside her and spit out her paste, picked up a rinse cup to rinse her mouth, then cleared the sink before eventually straightening to answer him.

"No. That's second to last. Next is this one."

Tala watched her pick up a bottle with a pump, as well as an odd looking brush with soft looking bristles and weird bumps on the back. Unable to stop his hormonal mind from wandering, he couldn't help but think it looked more like a grown woman's naughty toy than something you'd use for your face.

"I can't wait to see how you use that." He said with a smirk, unable to resist teasing her. To his disappointment, Demetra didn't get the joke this time either.

"It's not that interesting." She said simply.

Uncapping the pump bottle, Tala watched her squirt a heaping of foam onto the soft bristles before moving to put it to her face. To her obvious surprise though, Tala took the brush from her her.

"What are you doing?" She asked for a second time, giving him a confused look.

"I said I'd help." He told her simply. "Plus, after seeing the mess you just made, I realized it's faster to just help you from the start before you make more work for me."

Besides, he was more than just a little curious to find out how the weird little tool worked.

"Funny." Demetra said sarcastically, her cheeks reddening yet again as Tala placed the brush to her face. "Don't quit your day job."

Chuckling, Tala continued the task of cleaning her face. Though, after only a few strokes, Demetra expelled an annoyed sound.

"Not like that." She said shortly, reaching up to grip his hand and stop his motion. "You're not brushing a horse! In circles! Like this."

Using her hand to direct his own, Demetra corrected his awkward side to side strokes, showing him instead how to properly move in circular motions. For some reason the moment suddenly felt extremely intimate, which Tala thought was absolutely nuts considering the night they'd had so far, and as a result he felt the heat rise in his own cheeks this time.

"Right... sorry..." Tala muttered, unable to tear his eyes from her face.

Demetra's hand froze as he stared at her, their gazes locked, and Tala's breath halted in his throat while they watched each other for a few moments in silence. Eventually though, apparently snapping out of the trance first, Demetra blinked a few times before releasing his hand and his gaze when she averted her eyes to the side.

"Who's completely useless?" She muttered, obviously trying to be teasing.

"Guess that'd be me..." Tala muttered playfully in response, deciding to let her have it.

Swallowing hard, he forced his hand to move, finishing up the job he'd appointed himself to. A few minutes later, when he was fairly certain he'd gone over the whole of her face with the little brush, he placed it aside.

"I think that might be it..." He said softly.

Not bothering to look, Demetra turned towards the faucet again and ran the water. Watching while she splashed water over her face to rinse off the foam, Tala couldn't help but think of his friends, feeling suddenly extremely glad none of them could see him now; he knew they'd all have a fine laugh at his expense if they were there to pay witness to this cutesy little moment of weakness on his behalf.

Straightening, Demetra picked up another bottle and held it up, giving it a little shake at him with a half-amused, half-weary expression.

"Can I do this one on my own or can I not be trusted for that either?"

When Tala held up his hand, he grinned when she rolled her eyes and slapped the bottle onto his waiting palm. Truth be told, he was fairly convinced she probably could handle the rest herself, but for some reason he couldn't even explain to himself, he felt a nagging desire to do it for her. Perhaps it was his sudden new deep curiosity to learn all about this strange ritual, or perhaps it was the weird, warm swell of a feeling of a new intimacy that he found he liked more than he wanted to admit, but whatever it was, he really wanted to finish what he'd started.

"What do I do with this?"

Turning to another container on the counter, Tala watched her extract a few little round pads, douse one with a pleasant smelling liquid from a third fancy looking bottle, then hand the wet pad to him. Taking it curiously, he awaited further instruction.

"This stuff goes on like this." Demetra informed him, and Tala startled a little when she reached up to his own face with the dry pad still in her hand.

Feeling his face heat, Tala stared at her transfixed as she gently drew the soft pad across his face in particular, meticulous motions. After a few strokes, he lifted the pad in his own hand to copy her, and in the strangest moment of monkey-see-monkey-do, something that normally would have had him cringing with embarrassment, Tala mirrored Demetra's movements in one of the most unexpectedly intimate moments he would have never imagined himself being part of.

When finally Demetra lowered her hand, her eyes not leaving his, Tala once again copied her.

"This isn't so bad." He teased softly. "What's next?"

Demetra scoffed though her eyes didn't leave his.

"Try doing it every night..." She replied softly as well, obviously trying to be funny.

She then picked up the final bottle and gestured for Tala to hold up his hand. Obediently, he did as she'd silently requested and watched her this time squirt a small amount of another pleasant smelling creamy stuff onto the tips of his fingers. Looking up into her face again, he gave her another curiously questioning look.

"You just rub in it." She informed him, lifting her hand to briefly gesture by way of example.

"Any particular way?" He teased, receiving a bored look in response.

"No. Just smear it all over." She replied carelessly.

Tala chuckled at at that. He was sure there was probably a special way to do it, but seeing as he had no special instructions this time, he decided to wing it. Rubbing his hands together to spread the lotion between them, he placed his fingers to her face, gently smoothed them slowly across her forehead, her temples, down the bridge of her nose. When his fingers glided gently across the high apples of her cheeks, he watched Demetra close her eyes with a deep sigh of content, which made a measure of affection tug at his heart, and a matching smile spread across his face.

Moving on, he gently ran his fingers over the hollow of her cheeks, down the sides of her face, across her chin; which, watching her brows twitch and a light pink flush dust her face yet again, he stopped at. Staring for a moment, Tala couldn't help but think again that as absolutely ridiculously embarrassed as he thought he should be by this situation; by so willing taking part in something his friends would have laughed theirselves off their asses for; the only thing he found himself feeling, was a deeper sense of intimacy than he'd ever felt with anyone before the longer the minutes wore on.

Brushing his thumb delicately across Demetra's chin again, Tala felt another tug at his heart when he heard a tiny contented murmur from the brunette this time. Unable to stop himself, he leaned in, brushed his lips against the petal soft ones before him, which made Demetra's eyes pop open. After staring at him a moment, her eyes lidded heavily before she leaned into him. But Tala knew where that road would lead, and although he felt guilty for teasing her, he forced himself to pull away.

Obviously taking the hint, Demetra pulled back again, an awkward and somewhat embarrassed look coming to her face.

"That's it.." She muttered quietly. "I'm all done."

"Not quite." Tala retorted, to which he received another confused look.

"What are you talking about?" Demetra questioned him with knitted brows. "There's nothing left to do."

Not answering her this time, Tala gestured towards the faucet.

"Is this water drinkable?"

"Yes...?" Demetra questioned with cautious confusion, her brows furrowing deeper.

Reaching for the stack of paper cups beside the sink, Tala took one, turned the water on to let it run cold, then filled the cup and handed it to his ward.

"Then drink." He said bluntly.

Eyeing him with an odd look, Demetra took the cup, took a few sips and lowered it again.

"All of it." Tala commanded firmly.

Frowning, she tipped the cup up and drained it before moving to toss it in the trash. But Tala gripped her wrist and took the cup from her hand, moved to refill it. When it was once again full, he offered it to her a second time. Once again Demetra obliged him and drained the cup. Seeing as the cups were so small, Tala did this several more times until eventually Demetra pushed the cup away.

"Tala, I've had enough." She complained irritably. "I'm not thirsty!"

"I don't care." He shock back bluntly. "Drink it."

Grimacing, Demetra drained the cup yet again, but this time when she was finished, she tossed the cup in the trash, obviously thinking it was a clever move and that would be the end of it. To her dismay however, she watched Tala turn to grab another cup, repeat the process of filling it, then turned back to her. Lifting her hand he put the fresh cup in it.

"This one too."

"I don't want any more!" Demetra argued testily. "I've had enough!"

Lifting his hand to the bottom of the cup, Tala placed a finger beneath it to tip it back to her mouth.

"Drink."

Heaving a heavy sigh of frustration, Demetra opened her mouth, allowed the redhead to tip the contents into it, gave him a glare over the rim. When she'd finished this one too, she lowered the cup with a considerable amount of attitude.

"Am I done now, warden?" She asked sarcastically. Tala smirked at her sarcasm, pleased to see a peek of her real self coming through again

"Now you're done." He teased, making her roll her eyes.

"Why the hell was that necessary?" She demanded irritably.

This time Tala's expression softened, and without really meaning to, his hand reached up to gently brush his knuckles across her squeaky clean, silken cheek.

"Because I know you're an amateur." He said teasingly, his voice a soft tone. "And you know that since I'm such a nice guy, I couldn't bare to imagine you suffering in the morning for what I'm pretty positive is the first night of good, honest fun you've probably ever had."

He'd meant it to sound playful, teasing, like he was poking fun at her; figuring there was no way she'd pick up on the truth behind the answer, considering her total obliviousness for the past few hours. But wouldn't you know it, obviously she did see through him this time - if the tender look on her face was any indication; just when he didn't want her to read between the lines.

"Who says I had fun...?" She whispered, gazing up at him with a soft expression. "This might just have been the worst night of my life."

An amused smirk cocked up Tala's face at that.

"Knowing you... I'm almost inclined to believe that..." He teased softly.

For a moment, there was no sound and no movement between them, and with the look she was giving him now, Tala felt the heat in him rising again, which made his throat inexplicably suddenly very dry. Swallowing hard for what felt like the countless time that night, Tala stared at the stunning brunette before him in a trance. In that trance, he found himself unable to resist when she reached out, snagged the front of his shirt, tugged him forward to stand between her legs. Then those long, tantalizingly toned legs lifted to wrap around him, the hand gripping his shirt tugging him down to her. For a moment, Tala was totally under her spell, was unable to resist leaning in to relinquish what she was after. But when their lips brushed again, and a tiny electrical jolt sparked between them, Tala suddenly halted the advance. Sighing lightly, he instead rested his forehead against hers, closed his eyes for a minute as he took a long, deep, dissatisfied breath. When he opened his eyes again, he forced a small smile that didn't really have his heart in it.

"Time for bed, Sleeping Beauty..." He whispered softly.

Forcing himself to step back, he took her hands, gave them a little encouraging tug. Although a look of deep disappointment crossed her face, she obviously got the hint, because Demetra gripped his hands tightly before sliding carefully off the vanity back to the floor. However, she wasn't ready to let him go just yet, and still holding his hands, she tugged his this time towards the door, and Tala decided to leet her have that too.

Exiting the bathroom, Tala let his super attractive guide lead him back to her room, back to the bed. There he watched her mount it on her knees, watched her turn back to him. Still holding his hands, she looked him steady in the eye while she moved slowly backwards, giving him a suggestive tug. Again unable to deny her, Tala followed her onto the bed, let her lead him across it until they'd reached the head. Fully ready to pick up the previous battle where they'd left off, he was mildly surprised when she released one of his hands to lay down innocently among the fluffy pillows, to look up at him expectantly and give the hand she was still holding another little tug.

Debating a moment, once again Tala eventually caved and moved to lay beside her. To his relief, this time there was no fight, no resistance, to temptation; this time she simply released his hand, moved to place her head and hands against his chest with a contented sigh.

Figuring the fiasco was finally over, Tala relaxed, ready to settle in and hopefully entice her to finally sleep. Unfortunately, no such luck.

"Now what?" He groaned in exasperation when she pulled away from him and got to her knees again.

"These pyjamas are too warm." She said pointedly, moving to grip the hem of her shirt. "They're winter pyjamas, idiot."

Feeling his previous fluster return tenfold, the deep pressure that hadn't really fully dissipated since the garden, now mounted with a vengeance when Demetra yanked her shirt back over her head - in an impressively quick, smooth fluid motion considering her drunken tendencies as of late. This time, vibrant polar blues were unable to tear away from her as Tala shamelessly watched her shed her clothing for a second time; first her shirt, quickly followed by her pants, which she shimmied effortlessly down her hips. But when she reached behind her for the clasp of her bra, Tala finally came to his senses.

"Stop!" His voice cracked forcefully.

Comically, Tala watched her freeze on command, lift her head to blink at him in confusion.

"What's wrong?" She asked innocently.

"What's wrong is that you're driving me completely damn insane..." He thought with a tortured expression.

For a moment, Tala's gaze trailed shameless over her, observed the way she was once again kneeling before him in nothing but her criminally sexy lacy underwear; he figured it was enough to keep his fantasies supplied for a good long while. Finally swallowing hard, he eventually lifted his hand, made a twirling motion in the air with a finger.

"Turn around." He commanded her huskily.

Arching a manicured brow, Demetra gave him another coy look.

"Well this just got interesting really quickly."

Knowing exactly what she thought of the request, Tala didn't bother to correct her. Instead he waited for her to do as she was told, though he didn't expect her to do it so very well.

Biting his lip, Tala watched with a growing sense of crazed desire as Demetra turned around and placed her hands on the wall behind the bed, arched her back to form the most delicious curve that just begged him to run his hands down, then looked over her shoulder at him like a seasoned model posing in one of Bryan's naughty magazines he didn't know Tala knew about.

"There is a God..." Tala thought longingly, his hands twitching at his sides with the overwhelming urge to reach out and run them down that perfect curve. "And He's clearly punishing me..."

Moving a little closer, Tala reached out with as much control as he could muster, slowly unclasped her bra. For a second or two, he felt a pang of disappointment that it was strapless, if only for the reason it meant he was denied the pleasure of slipping them from her shoulders. Settling instead for what he had, Tala watched the item drop from Demetra's body. Now with an uninhibited view of the perfect curve of her back, he was unable to resist the temptation to slowly trail a hand down the length of it. Having reached her lower back, he lifted his second hand, placing it beside the other, ran both back up along her spine again, then across her shoulders before retracing their path once more.

"Why the hell did you have to drink so much tonight..?" Tala silently begged the brunette longingly. "Why couldn't this be happening when you're sober... why couldn't you be sober right now...?"

Then again, he knew it was a catch twenty-two situation; the current situation was only happening because she'd drank so much, if she hadn't drank so much it wouldn't be happening.

Unable to resist a longing sigh this time, Tala leaned down, pressed a tender kiss between Demetra's shoulder blades, which made a contented purr seep from her lips. The sound causing a tug to his heartstrings, Tala slowly, methodically, kissed his way across her shoulders, closing his eyes to resist the temptation to peer over them for the lovely view of her front.

After trailing a string of kisses across both shoulders, Tala slowly pulled back, opened his eyes as he placed his hands on her hips, brushed his thumbs along the sensitive muscles of her lower back. Once again, his touch earned him a sweet purr of approval, making him bite his lip again. Leaning down he buried a deep, tender kiss to her lower back, just above her tail bone, and this time he was rewarded with a blissfully beautiful little murmur of pleasure, accompanied by the sound of his name on her lips.

"You're killing me, Princess..." He thought painstakingly. "And you're not even trying..."

His hands sliding slowly, firmly back up her sides, Tala began to trail delicate kisses up her spine, which erupted a spread of goosebumps across her flesh, and once again earned him another sweet sound of approval. As he kissed his way up, Tala's hands at her sides gently encouraged her off the wall, encouraged her backwards against him. Fitted intimately against her by the time he'd reached the top, Tala dropped another kiss at the base of her neck. The hands at her sides had reached their destination too, and stopped now just under her breasts.

His breath caught in his throat when Demetra's head tipped back against his shoulder, tipped her face upwards to give him a needy, pleading look. Unable to deny her when she was looking at him like that (not that he wanted to), one of Tala's hands slid back down to splay across her belly, pressing her back tightly against him, while the other reached up to cup the side of her face, tilt it to the side to allow him perfect access to lean down and kiss her deeply, longingly.

A deeply contented sigh vibrated through Demetra's lips, making Tala melt all over again. He kissed her for as long as he dared; long enough to make sure they were both satisfied without letting either of them get too worked up over it. Pulling slowly away, Tala leaned back away from her, watching her watch him hotly over her shoulder as he moved to unbutton his shirt.

It was impossible to miss the flash of hunger that appeared on her face, and as such, it took everything Tala had left in him to follow through with his intention, instead of dropping the shirt to the floor and pressing himself tightly against her again. Instead he forced himself to slip the shirt from his shoulders, to reach out and drape it across hers. Instantly a look of confusion clouded the brunette's face, deepening when he moved to thread her arms through the sleeves. Slipping his hands behind her neck, he gently slid her hair outside the shirt, watched it tumble down her back, before placing his hands back to her hips and encouraging her to turn around.

It was all Tala could do to force himself to focus on her face long enough to fasten the top few buttons across her otherwise now bare chest. Having done so, he decided it was alright to risk a glance, so Tala allowed his gaze to drop, watching the healthy expanse of her chest become swallowed up by the material as he continued to fasten the confining plastic pieces in place. When he'd reached the last one, Tala paused, stared with a sharp pang to his heart at the vicious scar still visible. Outwardly wincing at the sight, he couldn't help but lean down and press a lingering, tender kiss to the mangled, bleached flesh before it disappeared beneath the pristine white cloth.

His task complete, polar blues finally lifted again to lock onto entrancing silver, which still held a generous amount of confusion, though this time her expression was also tinged with a touch of hurt, both of which broke Tala's heart; mainly because he knew that whatever she was thinking, it was the farthest thing from the truth; there was nothing he wanted more than to give her exactly what she expected, and what they both so dearly and desperately wanted.

"Don't look like at me like that, there's more where that came from..." He replied playfully, leaning down to brush her lips. "...Later."

"How late is later..?" She whispered against him, making him chuckle.

"When your drunk ass is sober enough not to regret it.." Tala whispered back teasingly.

Watching a hot flush flood her face was extremely endearing, as well as being somewhat of a comfort; at least he could be sure she was beginning to sober up enough to at least feel a little shame now.

"Sweet dreams, sleeping beauty..." He whispered affectionately, gently nipping her lips with his own before slowly drawing back from her.

Before he could escape, Demetra snagged Tala's hand, and the pleading look she gave him nearly undid him all over again.

"Don't go..." She begged in a pleading whisper. Tala's expression softened.

"Demetra..." He replied softly, somewhat scoldingly. His tone made her bite her lip while she gave him the biggest, dewiest, baby-doll eyes he'd ever seen.

"Please... I'll behave... promise.." She gave his hand an encouraging tug. "Just sleep with me..."

Feeling the same hot wave flood him again at the suggestive request he knew full well wasn't meant to sound the way it did, Tala felt himself cave yet again. Sighing heavily, he leaned in, kissed her delicately, following her as he gently laid her back on the bed. Then he slowly drew back from her again to lay beside her.

Realizing now he wasn't going anywhere, Tala felt Demetra's body relax beside him, sucked in a sharp breath when she rolled over to tangle herself around him, to bury her face into he crook of his neck and nuzzle a few sweet, delicate kisses there. But to his combined surprise, relief and twinge of disappointment, she kept her promise; behaved, and instead snuggled into him until she was comfortable, before eventually releasing another deep sigh of content.

Tipping his face a little, Tala looked down into Demetra's, noted her deeply satisfied smile. The sight made his own soft smile spread across his face, and when he heard her breathing change mere moments later, realizing she'd dropped off to sleep as quick as that, he felt a tug of affection wash over him as well.

Setting his head straight again, Tala buried a kiss into Demetra's silken strands before tipping his face to place his head over the spot. Closing his eyes, it was his turn to release a deep sigh of content as he folded his arms around the beautiful creature in them, let himself finally fully relax, and soon enough, drifted off into a peaceful, for once completely dreamless, sleep.

-;-

Tired eyes slowly blinking open, it took Tala a while to realize where he was. Looking down at the still sleeping figure in his arms, his heart swelled with affection. Turning his head, he glanced at the old-school alarm clock beside the bed and noted that by now, they'd entered the wee hours of the morning, and he'd probably already been snoozing for a few hours. Looking back down at Demetra, Tala debated on settling in again, on closing his eyes and allowing himself to enjoy the moment. But eventually he admitted that he really should take the opportunity to finally make his escape; mainly because he didn't really know how she was going to react when she woke up, and he wasn't particularly inclined to find out.

So, with a heavy longing sigh, Tala slowly untangled himself from the embrace of the brunette in question; first gently removing one hand from his neck, then moving to - reluctantly - carefully slide her leg off him, and finally to ease himself away from her and eventually off the bed. Getting to his feet, Tala debated momentarily on leaning down to leave her with a final kiss goodbye, but he quickly thought better of it, afraid he'd wake her and they'd be right back to square one; that or he'd find out immediately what her wake-up reaction to their night would be. Instead, Tala gave the snoozing brunette one last longing look, then finally forced himself to turn away and make his way to the door, convincing himself to open it and step through.

With one last longing look, Tala sighed softly before managing to talk himself into silently closing the door, and finally putting it between him and the lovely figure sleeping peacefully inside.

"Well hell-lo! What do we have here?"

Freezing with his hand still on the doorknob, Tala felt a cold sweat run down the length of his back at the sound of a familiar airy voice. Turning stiffly around, he made note of the brunette who'd spoken, standing some feet away with a grin on her face, resembling the cat who ate the canary. To further his instant distress, his gaze swept over the half-dozen people in attendance with a growing sense of dread. Accompanying Villikosto's mouthpiece was, unsurprisingly, her Italian boyfriend, along with the other two members of their team and their dates. Briefly he made note of the fact that they'd swapped their party clothes for wet-wear, and judging by their flushed faces, he figured it was a safe bet to assume they were all returning from a dip in the hot tub - talk about awful timing on his part!

"Not Tala Ivanov sneaking out of dear ol' Demi's room in the wee hours of the morning." Victoria sang cheekily with an air of supreme satisfaction.

"So this is where you two have been all night." Max teased with a playful grin.

"My man!" Enrique propped playfully, giving the the redhead a wink of camaraderie. "Can't hold a seasoned wolf back for long, am I right?"

To Tala's mortification, the latter blonde's teasing came complete with a wolffish howl.

"It's not what you think..." Tala grumbled, feeling his neck and face burn hotly.

"Mm-hm... We can see that." Victoria cooed sarcastically.

Noting the brunette was staring at his neck, Tala belated recalled the tell-tale marks the birthday girl had gifted him with, and immediately the heat intensified. Reflexively, he slapped a hand over the most prominent mark she'd given him, but the action only succeeded in making the group's amusement much more evident.

"Uh-uh, big boy! It's a little late for that!" Victoria drawled, her already mile-wide grin threatening to crack her face. Lifting a hand, she delicately flicked a finger up and down to gesture to his neck. "Looks like someone enjoyed himself."

"Omigosh! Did Demi do that?!" Keisha exclaimed with way-too-much excitement. It was quickly punctuated with a loud gasp. "Did you kiss her?! Did she kiss you?! Did you guys finally kiss?!"

When Tala's face suddenly heated so intensely he was sure he'd spontaneously combust at any moment, the petite redhead released an excited squeal that made him want to sink into a crack in the wall.

"Omigosh you did! She did! You finally kissed! Eeeee! I'm so happy I could cry!"

Funny, because Tala was so mortified he thought he could die.

"Its not what you think!" He insisted desperately, though he knew it was pointless.

"So should we be ready to defend our dear big sissy's honour, or give you props for finally manning up?"

"Come on, Tori, nobody's blind! Cut the guy some slack, it's pretty obvious he got back plenty of whatever he might of given!"

Dear God, they were merciless! For the first time in his life, Tala considered the fact that more than the most revered and savage beasts of the earth, without a doubt woman-kind was undoubtably the most terrifyingly dangerous.

"Alright, alright! Come on girls, that's enough." Max said with a way-too-amused chuckle. "Geeze, can't you see the poor guy's about to melt into the floor!"

"Hey, nothin' to be ashamed of, man!" Enrique piped up with a grin of his own. "We're all healthy, mature young people here!"

"Well, most of us anyway." Victoria tease, playfully hip-checking her Italian beau.

Thinking he couldn't possibly handle any more, Tala noted a flicker of movement in his peripherals and turned his head to the right. Noting Villikosto's silent blader speaking, he tensed all over again, while the knot in his stomach twisted sickeningly with anticipation of whatever she had to say on the matter. When she was finished, Lee spoke up from beside her to translate.

"She wants to know if Demetra's alright." The Chinese blader informed him. "The last time anyone saw her she was, uh... setting herself up for a rough night."

Relaxing in relief at the considerably tamer question in comparison to her friends, Tala's expression softened.

"She's fine." He assured the ravenette. As an after thought he tacked on; "I promise."

Watching the girl in question visibly relax as well, Kage gave him a grateful nod and small smile.

"Is she though?" Keisha asked playfully. "I mean, how can we be sure? You're kinda asking us for a whole lot of trust you haven't really earned buddy."

Despite knowing she was teasing him again, Tala heaved a heavy sigh of irritation before reaching behind him to grasp Demetra's doorknob and turn it. Not looking back, he pushed the door open with a dull expression. Moving to peer around him, the three girls peeked into the room and noted their Captain inside on the bed, indeed appearing to be just fine as she snoozed peacefully away with a contented expression on her face.

"Aweee... she's sleeping like a baby!" Keisha cooed dreamily. "Looks perfectly A-OK to me!"

"I told you." Tala replied with satisfaction. He watched then as Victoria tipped her head to one side, studying her Captain.

"Hang on." She said bluntly. "Is she wearing your shirt?"

Suddenly Keisha's bright emerald eyes went saucer-wide before releasing a second loud gasp.

"Is she wearing only your shirt?!'

"Mmmm... I wonder how that might have happened." Victoria sang cheekily.

His face flaring up all over again, Tala jerked the door shut again with a terse, light thud.

"It's not what it looks like!" He insisted a third time through clenched teeth.

"Come to think of it, I think you're missing a snazzy blue blazer too, am I right Mr. Wolf?"

"Oh man, better get that back first chance you get!" Enrique inserted, only half teasing this time. "I duno what it is about girls and guys stuff, but if they get their hands on your clothes, you might as well kiss it good bye! Especially sweaters and jackets!"

Beside him, his girlfriend gave him a weary-affectionate look.

"You're right, you really don't know about girls, you oblivious sexy beast."

"I don't think he's got to worry much about Demi claiming his jacket." Keisha said with a weary smile.

"Alright you two, seriously! I think you've both had enough fun for one night." Max said, giving his petite girlfriend a gentle poke to the belly. "Especially at poor Tala's expense! It's time to go!"

Enrique slipped his arms around Victoria's waist and tugged her against him.

"Yea, I wanna see you in just my shirt.." The Italian blonde purred, leaning down to playfully nibble her ear.

"Oh be still my poor overactive imagination..." Victoria muttered playfully, hooking her finger in the collar of said shirt and tugging him down for a heated kiss.

Ignoring the two over-enthusiastic lovers beside them, Keisha gave her own blonde beau an innocent confused expression.

"You mean you're ready for bed?" She asked, tipping her head to one side in an adorable gesture of confusion. "I thought you said you wanted to stay up a little longer?"

With a Cheshire Cat grin, the American blonde leaned down to whisper something into the petite redhead's ear, and whatever he said made her flush a thousand shades of red.

"Maxie!" Keisha exclaimed in shock. "Geeze and people think you're the innocent one!"

Chuckling in response, Max took his girlfriend's hand and gave it an encouraging tug. As he led her away, he looked over his shoulder at the Russian redhead still standing rod-straight before Demetra's door.

"Night Tala." He said, giving said Russian a cheeky wink then. "Congrats, man."

Tala felt a vein throb in his forehead as he felt the heat rise in his a face yet again.

"Yea. Night." He replied tersely.

"Night guys!" Keisha waved over her her shoulder with her free hand. And with that the first pair was gone.

"Well, this is where we take our leave too, compadre!" Enrique added, lifting a hand to give him a mock two-fingered salute and a wink. "You're a brave man, my man! Good luck!"

"Remember, we've got our eye on you big boy!" Victoria added playfully with her own wink. "Bow wow!"

Tala threw his head back in exasperation as the two turned and disappeared. Heaving a heavy sigh, he took a moment to calm himself, glad it was finally over. However, when he noted someone clearing their throat, he lowered his head to look at Kage, nearly groaning to see her saying something; admittedly he'd nearly forgotten her and her partner were there.

"She wants to know are you sure she's alright?" Lee filled him in again. "And should we check on her later?"

Still supremely annoyed and embarrassed, Tala sighed heavily. Bust seeing as it was an honest, innocent question this time, it was easy to reply civilly.

"Yea, I'm sure." He assured the two calmly. "And I mean, it's up to you what you do, but I'm pretty sure she'll be fine for the night on her own."

Seeing Kage visibly relax gave Tala a tug of affection at his heart; these girls really were each other's world, and thinking of the tight bond he had with his own friends, Tala found he couldn't help but feel a deep respect for them all.

"Thank you." Kage said, giving him a gentle, grateful smile.

"She said-"

"Yea, I know what that means." Tala said, cutting the Chinese blader off this time. His voice was soft when he spoke again. "You're welcome."

Giving him one last smile, Kage turned towards her bedroom - evidently the ornate red and gold one Tala had thought was Demetra's earlier - and led her boyfriend by their conjoined hands behind her.

"Night Tala." Lee said over his shoulder as he allowed himself to be led away.

"Night." Tala said absently, turning to finally leave as well.

He'd made it to the entrance of the secret passage he'd entered with Demetra, and moved to trip the switch on the wall, when the sound of Lee's voice stopped him.

"Hey Tala, one more thing man."

Stopping with another exasperated sigh, Tala turned to give the Chinese teen an irritated look.

"What?" He asked testily.

To his irritation, there was a mischievous look on Lee's face as the ravenette looked back at him from Kage's doorway.

"I'm not one to tell anybody what to do, but you might be interested to know that Breal usually passes by here around this time on his way back from business... and he's usually pretty grouchy about this time."

This new information made Tala's blood run cold, and apparently it was written on his face because Lee chuckled.

"Like I said, it's up to you what you do with that information, but looking like that, well..." The ravenette gave him a toothy grin as he trailed off. "It's your funeral, ya know?"

"Right..." Tala said morbidly, feeling a cold sweat run down his spine. "..Thanks."

Giving him a knowing grin, Lee jerked his chin toward the opposite end of the passageway.

"That way gets ya out too. Night man."

And with that, the ravenette finally disappeared behind the ornate door. Tala stood still, considering for a few long moments, but after a short consideration, he immediately stalked across the passage way and flipped the switch on that end instead.

---

Laying atop the expensive satin sheets of his borrowed bed, Tala stared at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He wanted so desperately to sleep, he was so tired his eyes stung with the overwhelming desire for it. But no matter how badly he wanted it, sleep would not come to him. Running relentlessly through the forefront of his mind, was every memory and moment he'd collected that night; the recollection of each and every sweet, fantastically surreal word and touch he'd shared with a certain stunning brunette, the one who'd long ago completely captivated him heart, body and soul. Thinking back and considering how the night had started, how it had progressed, and ultimately, how it had ended, not for the first time, he couldn't help but pine for how differently it could have gone had the brunette in question been just a little more sober.

OK, a lot more sober.

Heaving a heavy heart-sick sigh, knowing sleep would not be coming to him any time soon, Tala sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, leaned over to rest his elbows on his knees and run his hands down over his face. Sliding his hands back to hook behind his neck, he stared at the floor for some time, wondering just what the hell he was supposed to do now; in this strange place so far from everything familiar to him, left completely and utterly alone, again, with the person haunting his thoughts.

Well, for starters, he could get up and finally get dressed for bed.

Deciding to do just that, Tala hoisted his leaden body up off the bed and shuffled towards his duffel bag sitting atop the dresser across the room. Unzipping it, he extracted a pair of pyjama bottoms and dropped them onto the dresser top. He'd just reached to the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head when the sound of his door softly opening and closing made him freeze.

Head jerking up, Tala's heart went up into his throat when he focused on the figure leaning back-on to his door with hands behind their back. Gaze locking on the super-familiar, gorgeous silver dollars, Tala stared unmoving as his shockingly unexpected guest pushed off the door, as he heard the soft click of the lock turning, watched her silently approach him like a skillful tigress slowly stalking towards her prey, moving in for the kill.

When she'd reached him, Demetra's hands reached out, causing Tala to suck in a sharp breath when her long beautiful digits splayed across his bare lower abdomen, slid tantalizingly up his bare chest, across his shoulders, down his arms, until the shirt Tala had forgotten had been still clinging to his arms, dropped silently to the floor.

A tortured expression overtaking his face at the feel of her pressing herself tight to him, Tala felt like whining at the total unfairness of it all, feeling like she was purposefully torturing him, like he was being punished all at once for all the wrong he'd ever done in life; because surely, nothing he could think of was more painful than wanting this searingly stunning creature so damn badly it made him sick, of having her all but throw herself at him, and knowing in his heart of hearts that to accept her persistent advances right now, would make him a much bigger monster than he was sure half the people in his life were convinced he was.

As if to prove him right, in the most completely heart-wrenching sort of torture, Demetra slid her hands back up his arms, back across his shoulders, hooked them behind his neck, pulled him down until he could taste her breath on his lips. With a measure of pain, Tala forced himself to pull back from her - though with the feel of her hands around the back of his neck, with her pressed so heart-throbbingly close to him (still wearing, he quickly remembered, his own shirt), he couldn't bring himself to go far.

"No." He said with as much conviction as he could muster, though the strain in his voice was clearly evident, even to him.

Ignoring his refusal, Demetra leaned into him again, but again he leaned back from her with a deeply troubled frown, one that perfectly matched the turmoil in his heart just then.

"Damn it, I said no!" He insisted in a way he thought sounded much more convincing then he felt.

A third time, those tantalizing lips tried to capture his, and this time Tala's teeth clenched and ground as he placed his hands on Demetra's shoulders, forcing himself to put her at arms length.

Then Tala did something he hadn't done in years, and never for this reason.

"Please..." He begged desperately with a trembling tone. "...Don't."

Demetra looked up at him, studied him for a minute, until eventually she reached up to remove his hands from her shoulders, placing them instead around her waist, before slipping her own around his neck and pressing herself as close as their bodies would allow.

"It's my birthday, Tala..." She whispered heatedly. "Remember?.. If you didn't want me to enjoy my present, you shouldn't have offered it to me."

Unable to deny her another time, a tiny defeated whimper vibrated from Tala's throat when she leaned up yet again, this time managing to at last claim what she was so determined to have. Knowing she wasn't going to allow him to push her away again, any more than he wanted to, Tala felt himself finally cave. Before he could think better of it, could manage to talk himself out of something he knew not-so-deep-down that he should, Tala had already leaned down, had gripped under her thighs, hoisted her up into his arms.

Acknowledging it was already too late to stop himself now, Tala wrapped Demetra's stunning legs around him, resisted a heavy groan when she squeezed him between her thighs again, instantly reached up to burry her fingers in his hair, pulled him tight to her, deepened the kiss like a starving, deprived lover. Giving her legs a sensual squeeze, Tala turned to make his way across the room.

Once upon a time, it would have been reflexive, natural for his character, to toss the object of his absolute torturous pinning desire onto his bed, to crawl over her and ravish her the way he knew she was practically begging him for.

But that part of him was tiny and insignificant now, and as Tala's knees made contact with the gigantic bed, as he lifted one of those knees onto the mattress before slowly, gently lowering the precious cargo in his arms onto it, it was all too easy to quash that savage part of him. In fact, after pinning so desperately for this beautiful creature for so long, after all the fantasies and all the times he'd longed sickeningly for this very moment, the only intention in Tala's mind was to take this as achingly slow and sensually as his own starving body would allow.

Of course, just under the surface, there were also those terrible, guilt-ridden flashes of the last time they'd been in a very similar situation; a time when he'd scared and scarred her so deeply he'd been terrified he'd driven her out of his reach forever. Although Demetra was an excellent actress and superb at masking her emotions, he knew he'd wounded her deeply back then, knew he'd given her reason to detest his touch, to be repulsed by him. He never wanted to see that look on her face again, never wanted to make her feel that way again. This time, he wanted her to feel everything he'd ever imagined making her feel, wanted to let her know all the things he knew he'd never be able to say aloud. This time he intended to show her how serious he was about trying to earn the right to make her exclusively his. And he intended to take his sweet damn time doing it, no matter if it took all night, no matter if it killed him.

Following the body he laid out on his bed, Tala crawled across the mattress until he was hovering over the brunette beneath him. The hunger in her eyes as she gazed expectantly up at him was searing, and it made Tala's heart ache. He knew what she was expecting, what she probably wanted - if their little display in the garden earlier were any indication - it was clearly mirrored in her beautiful silver eyes. As expected, when Tala leaned down, Demetra was already leaning up to meet him, hands hooking around his neck and pulling him down to her.

Halting in his descent, Tala caught her hands, moving them to pin them over her head. When she tried to lean up further to capture his lips again, Tala threaded the fingers of one hand through hers, pinning them both, while the other reached down to snatch her cheeks between his thumb and forefinger.

"If you really do want this..." He heard himself whisper huskily in the sweet silence. "Then you're going to let me do it my way."

He leaned down until his mouth was brushing hers.

"Understand?" He muttered against her lips.

Feeling a shiver tremble through the body so agonizingly close to him, Tala felt a seductive smile spread across the lips a mere breath away from his own.

"Whatever you say, Big Bad Wolf..." Demetra purred against him.

Satisfied, a hot wave washed over Tala at the combination of it all, namely her tone, and the sweet nick that had begun to grow on him. Unable to restrain himself from her any longer, Tala finally leaned down and sealed her mouth with a burning kiss; deep and hungry and sensual, and nothing remotely close to any sort of kiss he'd ever given anyone before, including her.

A long, satisfied groan of pleasure vibrated from the birthday girl through Tala's lips, and the feel of her all but melting into the mattress made an intense wave of affection and endeared longing wash over him. He liked all the fiery kisses they'd shared that night, but this one was totally inexplicably better; this kiss was the sort of emotionally, heart-felt kiss he'd for so long dreamed of giving her, her reaction to him was so much better than he'd ever dared hope for. If tonight was his only chance, if this was the only shot he got to convince her how serious he was about her, this had to be a good start. And he intended it to be the start of the best damn effort he'd ever given anything as long as he'd lived.

Eventually, Tala managed to pull himself away from the addictive kiss. The hand still gripping Demetra's cheeks moved down her neck, his lips following it. Though his breathing was already laborious, though his heart was already throbbing achingly in his chest, the kisses he trailed down the (nearly) flawless flesh were deep and sensual and almost painfully slow - so very slow. Each and every one was deliberately, intentionally placed just right, buried so deeply and tenderly into her soft skin it was as if he was trying to seal every single one there permanently.

Reaching the bottom of her neck and the top of her cleavage, Tala's hands went to the top button of Demetra's shirt - his shirt. While he buried a deep, tender kiss between her breasts, he slowly slipped the tiny plastic piece through the hole binding it. One nuzzling kiss was followed by another, then a third as Tala's practiced hands gently popped open the proceeding two buttons.

Already, Demetra's chest was heaving, her pulse fluttering wildly beneath his lips, and it tugged hard at his heartstrings. Again, he knew what she was expecting, and a knot of dread twisted in his gut, hoping desperately she wouldn't be disappointed, while fully intending to do whatever he damn well could to make sure she wouldn't be.

Leaving the button just below her breasts in tact, the only one preventing the freedom of the otherwise bare, perfect fleshy swells, Tala delicately nosed aside the shirt, proceed to bury deep, nuzzling kisses across the tops of her breasts, across her shoulders. Admittedly, a main portion of the reason for his painfully slow administrations, was his desperate desire to erase the previous damage he'd done, to replace the ugly memory she no doubt had of his touch with searingly sweet and beautiful intimate ones instead, to show her how he'd intended this deeply intimate moment to have gone from the start. He wanted her to know he wasn't all ice and steel, that what he really wanted from her wasn't just hurried lust and forceful demands. What he really wanted was for her to fully enjoy what he had to offer her, for her to allow him to slowly build her pleasure up for her, over as long a period of time as she could stand. Honestly, it would be his greatest desire fulfilled to spend hours building her up to that height, if she'd only allow him to.

Having reached the blade of her left shoulder, the sudden disturbance of otherwise perfectly flawless flesh made Tala furrow his brows. Pulling back ever so slightly, he stared down at the body beneath him through the muted colors of the super early hours. The bright white, mangled flesh he'd felt beneath his lips stood out like glowing embers in the fading darkness, and the sight of it brought a sudden rush of unexpected tears to Tala's eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with me..?" He thought with bitter regret choking him. "I can't believe I did that to her! Her body is damn perfection aside from those revolting scars! God, I really am a monster!"

"What's wrong..?" Demetra breathed breathlessly, obviously having noted his sudden pause.

Forcing a hard swallow he couldn't quite manage, Tala blinked away the wetness and leaned down again, pressing this time slightly trembling lips to her shoulder again - pointedly avoiding the criminal savagery he'd cursed her with.

"Nothing's wrong, Princess..." He whispered against her skin, wincing to hear the choked strain in his tone.

But if Demetra noticed, she didn't comment or seem to care. Resisting a sigh of combined relief and heartache, Tala continued his treatment.

Making his way back across her shoulders, her chest, Tala once again buried tender kisses between her cleavage, nuzzling his way down between them until he reached the bottom. There, he once again gently nosed aside the shirt to press deep, tender kisses just below her breasts, trailing hot lava across her skin, until he reached her side. Taking his time to make his way down her ribs, he stopped when he reached her hip, paused to burry several deep, sensual kisses there. When he gave the sharp crease there a slow, sensual lick, gave her hip a gentle little nibble, the deep-bellied, pleasured murmur he was rewarded with caused a mighty wave of euphoria to wash over him.

Hands on her hips now, Talas thumbs delicately traced along those sharp creases, his mouth coaxing tiny pleasured murmurs from her as he spread little mini licks, nips and nuzzling kisses across her lower belly, along the sharp edges of her lower body, until eventually the brunette was breathing laboriously and writhing in his arms.

"You're torturing me, Tala..." Demetra breathed, reaching down to comb her fingers through his hair. "Is this payback for earlier..?"

Looking up at her under his lashes, Tala buried another deep kiss into her hip.

"Do you like it?" He muttered softly against her skin.

In the perfect silence of the night, Tala heard her swallow hard, watched a deep crimson stain her already flushed silhouette.

"Yes..." She whispered a moment later, barely audible. Tala felt a pleasant swelling in his chest at the admission.

Lowering his eyes again, he nuzzled her belly, buried a kiss there, before giving her another, this time long, deliberate lick.

"Then it's not payback..." He muttered softly against her.

The action made her suck in a sharp breath, and once again, a hot wave washed over Tala. He was supremely glad to know she was enjoying his treatment so much, because truth be told, he was enjoying treating her much more than he cared to admit. Every little murmur, every shiver and shudder he earned from her, was like a little hit of some potent drug, and the more he got from her, the more he desperately wanted.

He'd always been extremely observant anyway, but that skill came very much in handy now as Tala continued to offer of himself in a way he never had before, in a way he'd never desired to before. Every time Demetra squirmed, made a pleasured sound, flexed the fingers she had buried in his hair, Tala made a mental note. By the time he'd made himself completely familiar with the majority of her upper half, he was confident he already had an accurate list of her preferences, and favourites. With the way she'd all but devoured him in the garden earlier, Tala had been sure she was the rough and fast type, which would have been alright with him, he'd obviously enjoyed himself, and he knew himself well enough to know he personally preferred a lover who wasn't afraid to take control. But after time spent exploring her and taking note of her reactions, he'd quickly realized the truth; while Demetra had seemed to enjoy herself earlier too, it was obvious she'd had much more fun playing with him than what she'd taken for herself, much the same as he was currently. But when it came to her own pleasure, it quickly became all too obvious that her preference was the slow and sensual type. To think Demetra might prefer a slow lover put Tala over the moon, because he had little trouble imagining himself happily dedicating countless hours to loving her slowly.

"Come here..." Tala heard her whisper, flexing her hands across his scalp.

"Uh uh..." He muttered against her skin.

"Come up..." Demetra insisted, moving her hands to place on the sides of his face.

"No." Tala refused in a whisper, turning his head to nuzzle a kiss into her palm. He heard her release a tiny, frustrated sigh then.

"Come." She demanded more firmly this time, giving him an encouraging tug.

"No." Tala refused again, in the same firm tone she'd used this time.

He then caught her finger between his lips, gave the pad of her fingertip a nibble, tilted his head a little to gently suckle the webbing between her fingers. To his utter delight, he tiny action erupted another round of goosebumps across her, as well as earned him another pleased little murmur.

"I want to touch you..." She whispered, slipping her hand away from his mouth and cupping his face again.

Tipping his face again, Tala pressed another kiss to her palm, moved to delicately brush his lips across the tender underside of her wrist.

"You've taken more than your share from me tonight, your highness." Tala rasped, attempting to sound teasing. "And you've given me plenty... believe me, I'm satisfied..."

Lifting himself to hover over her again, Tala slowly trailed a line of delicate kisses up her inner arm, his body sliding over her as he went.

"That's not fair..." Demetra complained, her own voice strained now as Tala made his way up her arm.

Lifting his face from the crook of her elbow after sealing another deep, sensual kiss there, Tala gave the brunette under him an intense look.

"Neither is what you're doing to me right now..."

An expression of stunned confusion spread across Demetra's features at that as she stared up at the redhead.

"What do you mean...?"

Tala was quiet for a few moments, but eventually he spoke again, though he didn't answer her question.

"I know you want more..." He told her, his voice raw and over-loaded with emotion.

"And I sure as hell wanna give it to you..." He added painfully to himself.

"But I already gave you way more than I should have tonight..."

When a deeply wounded look creased Demetra's face, Tala knew she'd taken the statement the wrong way. Feeling a tug at his heart, he forced a half-smile for her before attempting to make her understand.

"If you're still here in the morning, Princess, I swear to you, I'll give you whatever your pretty little heart desires..."

Just to add a little extra incentive, a little more convincing, he leaned down to nose aside the shirt again, to press a firm, lingering kiss over said thundering heart, which earned him a tiny, endearing little gasp.

Staring up at him for a moment, Demetra reached up to wrap her hands around Tala's arms.

"Don't think I won't hold you to that, Wolf..." She whispered. Tala leaned down to brush a delicate kiss to her lips.

"I hope you do..." He whispered against her mouth.

Demetra pressed another, firmer kiss to his lips, and Tala sighed in happy content, closing his eyes as he allowed her to deepen it. He was just getting into it, when suddenly, Demetra pulled away.

"Are you cold?" She asked him with a confused expression, running her hands along his biceps. "You're shivering."

Unable to resist a chuckle, Tala felt another affectionate tug at his heart as he was suddenly reminded just how innocent and inexperienced she really was. He supposed he should consider himself lucky it had taken her this long to notice, for certainly the tremble had been there a while.

"Idiot..." He whispered affectionately, voice cracking. "No, I'm not cold... and it's not a shiver..."

The confusion in her expression growing, Tala knew she was about to question him on it. Not giving her the chance, he leaned down and sealed her mouth shut in an intense kiss. He didn't want to explain that what she'd mistaken for a shiver, was actually a tremor caused by his barely contained desperate desire for her.

Thankfully taking the bait, Demetra placed her hands on Tala's chest, and deciding to let her have it, just like he'd already let her away with so much that night, he allowed her to push him over, roll him onto his back and climb atop him. He was alright with her blanketing herself over him. And he was alright with her slipping her hands behind his shoulders, digging her fingertips into the tense muscle there in a mind-numbing sensation of pleasure. He was even alright with her encouraging him to open his mouth, to coax him into letting her in. But when her hands left his shoulders to graze her nails down his chest, made their way to his hips where they slipped thumbs teasingly beneath the band of his jeans, a whimper of protest vibrated from Tala's lips, before grabbing her hands and breaking the kiss to look up at her with a tortured expression.

"Demetra, please... I'm begging you..." He pleaded with a strained voice, hoping his expression didn't look as desperately pathetic as he felt. "Don't. You can't imagine how damn hard this is on me already..."

Swallowing hard, he released her hands to instead reach up and burry his in her hair, to tangle his fingers in her long silken strands.

"Don't leave..." He pleaded her hoarsely, looking deep into her eyes, searching, studying her face. "Stay with me... If your face is the first thing I see in the morning, when I know your head and heart are on the same page... Then I swear to God, you'll never hear me deny you another damn thing so long as I live..."

Clearly surprised, Tala watched a barrage of emotions flash across Demetra's face, and it made his heart pound painfully in his chest. But after a few, her eyes lidded heavily before pressing herself close to him again.

"I hope you know what you're in for when the sun floods this room Big Bad Wolf..." She rasped against his lips.

The statement made a molten tremor vibrate through him, made his own eyes lid feverishly.

"You'll never learn, will you, Princess..." He growled against her. "One day, teasing wild animals is gonna get you in trouble..."

The force with which he crushed their lips together made Demetra gasp, but it was almost immediately followed by her own molten flood, one that Tala very clearly felt wash over her with her pressed so tightly to him.

Pulling his hands from her hair to grip her hips tightly, Tala flipped them over again, pressing himself into her and giving her a ravishing kiss until he'd eventually forced her to pull away to breathe. While Demetra fought for breath below him, Tala was already making his way back down her body.

Down her neck, her chest, down the opposite side he'd trailed earlier, Tala eventually reached her hips. However this time he merely spared her a single sensual trail before continuing downward, his hands leading the way. Streaking lava down the tops of her thighs, across her knees, down her lower legs, Tala pressed a kiss to her ankle before making his way back up. His hands still guiding his mouth, they slowly slid firmly up the inside of her legs, gently parting them while his lips kept close behind.

When he made it to her knees, Tala slipped his hands under them, gently lifting her stunning legs to box him in as he lowered himself to lay between them. Turning his face, Tala pressed a sensual kiss to the side of her knee, turned to mirror the treatment to the other knee.

She'd been rewarding him with delightful sounds of pleasure from the start, some so blissfully pleasing Tala himself had to bite back a groan of pleasure here and there. But it wasn't until he tilted her knee a little to the side to allow him access, gave the sensitive area a hot lick, that Tala received the most blissful sound yet.

Admittedly, during their hot little moment in the garden earlier, Tala had briefly wondered if maybe she hadn't lied, if she really was as inexperienced as she'd let on. But those doubts were long dispelled by now, because her reactions to his every little touch now made it all-too agonizingly obvious that he was the first to ever have done so.

"God, she's so damn sensitive!" Tala thought, resisting a groan of pleasure at the thought with great effort.

Turning his face the other way, Tala gave the underside of her opposite knee similar attention, though this time deciding to dig his tongue in a little, attach his lips against the soft flesh and gently suck.

This latest reaction was by far the sweetest yet, and it made the familiar, intense pressure deep down, the one she'd been exciting in him for hours, throb painfully. It was positively thrilling to realize she was so sensitive - so very sensitive!

But looking up at her from under his lashes, Tala realized something else as he watched the brunette biting down on her knuckle, watched the clouds of pleasure streaking across her face. The sight admittedly irritated him.

"Stop that." He growled, giving her thighs a squeeze that made her gasp.

"Un-! St-stop what?" She asked in a sobbed whimper.

"Trying to silence yourself!" Tala growled back, giving her inner thigh a lick this time. He was pleased to hear another sobbed gasp helplessly escape her lips. "You've been doing it all night! If I wanted you silent I'd gag you!"

Attaching his lips just above the side of her knee, he gently tongued and sucked until he earned himself another reward.

"I know damn well these walls are soundproof, Princess. And there's a reason you don't hear any music ... your voice is the only background noise I wanna hear. And I damn well wanna hear it."

Squirming under his touch, Tala watched Demetra's face flush again as another scorching wave rolled over her, and it was deeply satisfying.

"You'll be the death of me, Tala..." She gasped, voice breaking. Tala smirked at the sound, turning to attach his lips to her legs again.

"Would it be such a bad way to die?" He mumbled against her searing flesh.

Moving inward, Tala made his way up her inner thigh, gently nibbling and suckling along the way while running his hands along her scorching skin. Eventually he reached the crease of her upper thigh, leaned in to attach his lips just below the edge of her underwear. Slipping his thumbs beneath the lacy material, Tala gently pushed it up just enough to expose the tender, super sensitive creases topping her fleshy thighs.

A pang of guilt yanked hard at his heart when he heard Demetra suck in a sharp breath, knowing it was a reaction of anticipation, knowing what she was expecting. He so desperately wanted to meet that expectation, but deep down, he knew he had to force himself to resist the overwhelming temptation, knew he'd already taken her much too far already. So instead, he forced himself to keep on track, to dip his face down and attach his lips to the creases he'd exposed and convince himself to be satisfied with that much for now.

He'd already discovered that she was overly sensitive and extremely receptive to him, but it wasn't until he gave her a good, long and deliberate lick that he realized just how hyper sensitive she really was. A violent shiver chased down Tala's spine when he heard Demetra cry out, making a sound almost like a purr vibrate from his lips. His thumbs beginning to gently press and massage the tender flesh beneath them, he continued to deliver nuzzling kisses, hot licks and sucks to the evidently hyper sensitive area before him, only pulling away to occasionally switch sides.

After only a few minutes of this treatment, a powerful tremor began to vibrate through Demetra's body, and Tala noted a vicious heat begin to rise in her, rolling off her in waves. If that wasn't enough, the sound of her hoarse voice, the way she was now squirming and writhing in his arms, was so intense, Tala was sure the combination of it was going to tip him off the edge.

When his tongue dug deeply along the length of one of those creases, the mind-blowing reaction he got this time was the straw that finally broke the camels back. A powerful shudder rocking her, Demetra cried out with a loud strained sob, one fist shooting up to jam into her mouth while the other shot down to tangle itself into Tala's hair. Simultaneously, she hooked her knees over his shoulders, sandwiching his head between her thighs. The feel of her muscled legs against his cheeks, squeezing him between her, was absolutely more then he could take, and it took everything in Tala not to cry out himself.

Reflexively, Tala bit down on his cheek so hard he tasted blood, and it made him finally realize he'd yet again taken things much too far, and as always, he was paying dearly for it.

Another whimper shuddering out of his mouth, Tala pulled back just a little, this time to press trembling lips to Demetra's inner thigh again, now in a much more wholesome touch.

"That's enough for tonight..." He forced himself to say, inwardly cringing to hear the strangled rasp of his own voice.

"What..?" He heard Demetra ask with a hoarse sob, unable to miss the mild panic in her voice. "Was it something-... did I do something wrong..?"

The innocent question made Tala heart wrench painfully.

"No, Demetra, you didn't do anything wrong." He reflexively assured her, giving her leg one more tender kiss. "You're perfect. You're too damn perfect..."

Funny really, Tala was pretty damn sure he was probably the only person on earth who would consider Demetra Nakamura perfect. No doubt there were a thousand and one people with a list a mile long containing reasons she was anything but. But for him, she absolutely was; she was everything he ever wanted, and far more than he'd ever dared to dream for himself. Honestly, he was still waiting for the shoe to drop, for the illusion to come crashing around him, for him to wake up from the blissful fantasy, because damn it, the feel of her in his arms, the knowledge that she'd put herself there, was surely far too good a notion and feeling to be real.

"Why did you stop...?" Demetra whispered breathlessly, staring down at him. "I can take more..."

A small chuckle bubbled up Tala's throat at that. Sliding back up her body, he moved to prop himself up beside her, reached out to place a hand to the side of her face, gently traced his thumb along her lips.

"I know you can, Princess." He whispered back hoarsely. "But I'm pretty damn sure I can't... I'm not in the habit of taking back gifts, but if you want yours to survive..."

He chuckled again before taking his thumb away and leaning in to replace it with his his lips.

"You're gonna have to give it a break..."

Tala watched her expression relax, watched a somewhat sheepish and totally alien shy one replace it, obviously having realized he wasn't turning her away. The look so completely charmed and endeared him, it made him melt all over again.

"I certainly do want it to last through the night..." She breathlessly whispered back playfully. "Longer if I can help it... I'll grant you til morning then Big Bad Wolf..."

Tala grinned at her playful comment.

"Thanks for the charity." He teased back. He then slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, leaned down to bury his nose in her silken locks. "I'll be right here when the sun floods the room..."

Catching his teasing mocking joke, Demetra smiled as she leaned her face against his chest.

"Good." She said through a sudden wide yawn. "And you'd better be ready to pick up where we left off."

Tala sucked in a sharp breath when she nuzzled a delicate kiss to his chest before wrapping herself around him and getting comfortable.

"Whatever your pretty little heart desires..." He mumbled into her hair.

All he got in response was a quiet hum of approval. Threading his fingers through her hair, he began letting the silky strands slide fluidly through them as he thought, and in moments, he heard Demetra's breathing change, assuring him she'd finally dropped off into a deep sleep.

A small affectionate smile tugging at his lips, Tala turned his head to stare up at the ceiling while his thoughts once again ran away with him. Soon enough, his mile-long train of thought began to race so fast, began to take so many unexpected, sharp turns, that the inevitable outcome could only be a train wreck. What if he closed his eyes, allowed himself to believe that the night had been the beginning of something fantastical and dream-worthy, only to open them again in the morning and find she wasn't there? What if she regretted their night together? What if she separated herself from him forever, was so ashamed of what she'd let him do to her, of what he'd let himself do to her, that she cut him off completely, never wanted to see him, speak to him, look at him again.

A self-depreciating scoff echoed around the room as Tala's thoughts bombarded him without mercy. He supposed that settled it then; he really must have it bad for this stunningly infuriating, amazing girl, because for the first time, instead of hoping someone was gone when he woke up, he found himself hoping desperately she'd still be there. Aside from that, he noted the fact that, never had he ever been so insistent to stop a girl he was interested in from coming onto him, especially one he wanted so damn badly, and especially when she'd all but thrown herself at him.

"Damn it , Tala... you are so screwed..." He thought morbidly as he stared absently into the considerably rapidly brightening room.

Finally faced with the now undeniable truth, Tala's stomach knotted so sickeningly he thought it might actually betray him; he was absolutely unfortunately, stupidly, humiliatingly, head-over-rear in love with the beautiful creature in his arms, and it was indisputably the most gut-wrenchingly terrifying feeling he'd ever known.

---

...::: Several Hours Later :::...

---

Thick and heavy and stifling; ironically, as Tala cut his way through the barely-transparent fog of the bathroom, the steam reminded him a disturbing amount of how the darkness clenching his heart felt right then. Reaching the vanity, he reached out to swipe a hand across the fogged glass of the mirror, took a second to study the face he saw staring back at him. But try as he might, he couldn't seem to recognize the haunted, the tortured and broken expression on the face of the stranger before him.

Even what was supposed to be a long and deep cleansing breath, which instead came out shaky and forced, did him little except to make the boulder crushing him sink a little deeper, the tension in his chest a little tighter. Outwardly wincing at both the stranger in the mirror, and the effort the later intent had caused, Tala placed his hands on the counter, while his head dropped heavily, eyes closed under brows heavily knitted in pain.

As he attempted again for what he was hoping would be a cleansing breath, Tala thought back to just recently, when his tired eyes had finally blinked themselves open to greet the morning. Waking up had never caused him so much anxiety. Although his heart had been so desperately hoping his body would still be enveloped in the pleasant warmth of another, deep down, his head had forewarned him against the dangerous hope, had warned him he'd be waking up alone. That didn't stop both though from being thoroughly devastated when he realized the latter had been right.

For a few moments he'd allowed himself a second dangerous hope; the thought that maybe she'd simply woken up first and was answering natures call, that she'd be rejoining him any minute, and he could go about fulfilling a promise he'd never expected to have the chance to make, never mind deliver on. But looking to the open bathroom door across the room, waiting several long, achingly torturous minutes for someone to emerge from inside, Tala was eventually forced to admit the truth.

A heavy, heart-sick sigh echoed through the steam as Tala tried in vain, as so many times in the past handful of months, to drive the bane of his heartache from his thoughts, a task and effort that had nearly become second nature to him by now. Lifting his head again, glazed polar blues stared at the mirror for a moment, staring at the once again fogged glass. This time when he lifted his hand to swipe across it, he wasn't entirely surprised to see what was reflected there now.

Just beside him over his shoulder, Tala deftly made note of the terribly beautiful profile of the person he'd just been thinking about, and his mind instantly took him back to a certain fever-induced moment that felt like a lifetime ago. Just like back then, Demetra was standing there, looking more like the embodiment of one of his deepest fantasies than an actual material being, and the sight made his heart ache all the more.

For what felt like an eternity, Tala stared into those brilliant silver dollars, trying to will her to be real this time, trying to will her to feel what was now buried under a toxic heaping of heartache, to will her to come to him and let him show her what he'd intended her to know when she woke up in his arms that morning, instead of him waking up alone. In fact, he stared until he couldn't any more, until the mirror once again fogged over, obscuring her from view at last.

His face screwing up with another bout of tortured pain, Tala's head once again dropped heavily, the hands on the counter clenched into tight fists. For the briefest of moments his brain and heart were on the same page when together they began to toy with the idea of regret; regret that he'd ever allowed himself to become so attached to her, regrets at having let her so far into his stronghold, and regrets that he'd ever met her at all. But just as quickly, those regrets dissipated, near instantly replaced by another regret; the regret that he'd let himself fall asleep in the first place; perhaps if he'd been awake when her eyes opened that morning, she never would have gotten the chance to leave, because he would have made sure to give her plenty of reason to stay.

Lost in his thoughts, Tala admittedly startled a bit when he felt the lightest of touches at his back, very much resembling the light brush of a butterfly's wings. It started at his shoulder - the tip of his largest, most recent scar - and trailed delicately down the length of if, of his back, to stop at his tailbone, where the scar in question ended. The touch was so realistic, so blissfully desirable, that it rose goosebumps across his flesh. And when he felt the touch retrace its path upwards again, ever-so-slightly firmer this time, it made a hiss of pleasure seethe past his lips.

Leaning into the fanciful touch was a reflex, and Tala nearly wept at the pure and raw pleasure of it when the touch solidified, when delicate fingertips became a full splayed hand between his shoulder blades. Had the touch been real, he might have been embarrassed at the guttural sound of pleasure that rumbled from him, at the way his body all but dissolved into a puddle of goo, when those hands slid around to his front and splayed themselves across his abdomen. He might have felt humiliated on behalf of his manly pride, at the way his body completely betrayed him when a deliciously soft figure pressed itself firmly to his back. In fact, pride be damned, when Tala allowed himself to register the feel of that body against him, to really take note of every soft curve, he thought the feel of this hyper-realistic vision might actually make him weep like a baby.

It wasn't until he reached up with the intention of linking his fingers with the ones pressed so intimately against him, figuring this would be the tell-all, the moment when the vision cruelly faded away, just like last time, that Tala finally allowed himself to believe that maybe, just maybe this might be real after all. Fully expecting his fingers to slip through intangible air as they had before, his chest clenched painfully inside him, breath halted in desperate fearful hope, when instead his fingers threaded through very tangible, very real digits, more so when those beautiful digits sensually slid through his, when to his shock, they actually squeezed back.

Lifting his free hand, Tala swiped it across the mirror a third time, and this time his heart nearly stopped in his chest, to see the heated molten silver gaze staring intensely back at him over his shoulder. When the lips he'd so often dreamed about came forward to press a hot, lingering kiss to said shoulder, Tala felt his resolve weaken.

His throat suddenly tightening with a swell of overwhelming emotions, Tala turned around in the arms circling him, gaze instantly locking with the molten silver one the mirror really hadn't done justice. Just to be sure, he lifted his hands to place against the sides of the stunning face those eyes were nestled in. His emotions suddenly choking him, he finally allowed himself to admit that this time, she was in fact real.

With a terrible tremble in them now, Tala's hands slid from Demetra's face, down her neck, shoulders, arms, where they grazed across to her front. Trying to swallow against the emotions choking him, Tala sucked in a sharp breath as he gently parted the robe she was wearing. Admittedly, a pang of disappointment tugged tat him when he made note of the bikini underneath, but that feeling was quickly quashed at the realization that she wasn't pulling away, that she was letting his hands roam. Taking that realization as permission, he decided to run with it.

So delicately, Tala traced his fingers over the vicious scar he'd all but avoided like the plague the night before. The sight of it caused him a great deal of pain, but the feel of the mangled flesh beneath his fingertips was oh so much worse.

He wasn't sure if his knees buckling was a reflex, or a conscious action, but whatever the case, Tala soon felt his body lowering itself until he was on said knees before her. Reaching up to grip tantalizingly shapely hips, he leaned forward, pressed a deep and lingering tender kiss to her stomach - the very tip of the bottom of the gruesome mementos he'd given her, given her at a time when he'd never dared to imagine he'd ever be alone with her without her trying to burn him alive, never mind to be on his knees before her like this.

This time, the feel of the mangled led flesh under his sensitive lips was more than Tala could bare, and instantly his eyes humiliatingly flooded. But he refused to allow himself to close them to block it out. It was his fault the ugly, criminal mark was there in the first place, as far as he was concerned, he didn't deserve the pleasure of blocking it out.

For several minutes, Tala's body was tense with the expectation of her pulling away from him, of her pushing him away from her, as he buried deep and sensual kisses along and up the length of scar he could reach - almost as if trying to convince himself that if he could spread enough affection and regret over it, it would erase the hateful mistake. There was a prick to his nerves when she placed her hands on his shoulders, expecting that to be the inevitable moment, but when Demetra's silken hands instead glided over his shoulders, around the back of his neck, and eventually ended up burying themselves in his hair, Tala felt the tension finally drain out of him.

The hands on Demetra's hips gripped a little firmer, the lips on her stomach began a slow journey upwards as Tala nuzzled tender, lingering kisses up her body, along the length of the bleached monstrosity before his eyes. His emotions choked him harder the longer the minutes ticked away, though he did feel a sense of ecstatic, blissful relief and satisfaction when Demetra gave no resistance to him gently pulling her down to him. In fact, when she'd reached his level, allowed him to lower her into his lap, when Tala had nearly trailed his lips the length of her torso, his heart swelled to threat of bursting in his chest when she folded her legs around his hips all on her own.

"Look at me..."

It might have been a combination of shame, guilt and humiliation at his own weakness, he wasn't sure, but whatever the reason, Tala was unable to obey her whispered, heavy-toned request. Instead, he leaned forward to bury another kiss between the silky swell of her breasts, ran his hands along her stunning legs; firmly massaging and splaying fingers across the firm tautness of her amazingly tonged thighs.

The sound of a pleased murmur gave him some modicum of relief, of pleasure. Again, Tala pressed another kiss between her breasts, burying this one a little deeper, lingering there a little longer. For a moment, when he felt her hand under his chin, felt her gently forcing his head off her chest to tilt away from her, Tala felt a pang of panic thinking this was finally the inevitable moment he'd been dreading. However, to his relieved pleasure, instead of pushing him away, forcing to him stop, Demetra simply held his face in place for a moment, tilted it back a little as she obviously studied him with a fully-loaded expression, an expression clouded with emotions he could only haphazardly guess at.

Eventually, apparently finding whatever she'd been looking for, Demetra slid the hand cupping his chin up to splay it tenderly along his face. The other still buried in his hair, she tipped his head back a little further before dipping her head down and sealing his lips with a deep, searing kiss that stole whatever breath Tala had been able to regain since her arrival.

Had it been any other time, Tala might have been completely mortified at his reaction to her seemingly heartfelt kiss, but at that moment, it felt way too damn good to have her so freely and willingly offering herself up to him, that he really couldn't be bothered about the pathetic whimper that seeped out of him.

Squeezing her tightly, Tala's hands still on her hips pressed her as close to him as physically possible. Just like the night before, he felt himself willingly submitting himself to her, letting her take whatever the hell she wanted from him, and offering up what she didn't ask for. Unlike the previous night, this time there was no tang of alcohol on her breath, no hint of a foreign, strange and alien entity inside her; this time the person in his arms was familiar and alert and oh so heart-throbbingly aware of exactly what was going on. While there was never a guarantee there wouldn't be room for regret in the future, this time there could be no mistake that whatever she was offering him now, was of a good, strong, very willing and sound mind.

Desperate to taste her, to taste her real feelings for him, to taste what she really wanted from him without the influence of the foreign poison, Tala leaned into her, gave of himself in a way he'd never given to anyone before, a way he swore he never would. For the first time ever, all his defences were down, all his fear and insecurities were laid out before this terrifyingly desirable person, and for the first time, Tala offered a piece of himself to someone without any other expectation other than to receive just a shard of the same gift in return.

Just then, the most awful sound Tala had ever heard pierced the otherwise peaceful, serene quiet of the moment like a dart through a latex balloon. Jerking back from the brunette in startled surprise, it took a moment for the irritating sound to register. Blinking once, he watched as the hand Demetra had previously buried in his hair, removed itself to instead slip into the pocket of her robe. When she extracted her cell phone, Tala's face screwed up. Removing one of his own hands from her, he reached out to place it over the device, preventing her from lifting it to read the screen.

"I'm not making that mistake again..." He heard himself rasp in a strained voice.

Instead of responding, Demetra leaned forward to kiss him again, which made Tala relax. Moving in to deepen the kiss, the hand on her's relaxed as well. But instead of picking up where they left off, Demetra took the opportunity to free herself, and her infuriatingly interrupting device from his grip.

Tala felt a prick to his heart when Demetra pulled back from him again, lifted her cell to read the screen after all. He watched with a clouded expression and deep frown, as she moved her fingers for a quick reply to what was obviously a text message. Expecting her to replace the cell and turn her attention back to him when she was finished, Tala felt a sudden pulse of panic and longing when she began to untangle herself from him.

Reflexively clinging to her, Tala stared into Demetra's face with an expression he dearly hoped wasn't as pathetically vulnerable as he felt just then.

"Stay..." He heard himself beg her, his tone sounding even more pathetic than he'd feared.

Placing a hand to the side of his face, Demetra leaned in to press another soft kiss to his lips. Tala closed his eyes and sighed heavily, but before he could return her offering, Demetra pulled back from him again. His heart clenched painfully in his chest as he helplessly watched her get to her feet.

When she was standing over him, Demetra reached down to take his face gently between both of her hands. So very desperate for her not to leave, Tala tipped his face to the side, pressed a kiss into her palm, then another, and a third. Nuzzling and nipping his way across her hand, he gave her fingertips a few tiny licks, slipped his tongue between her fingers to gently lick and suckle the webbing between her fingers, much akin to the way he had the night before, which had earned him such a blissful reaction then. Shifting his gaze upwards, polar blues looked up under his lashes as he drew her index finger into his mouth to seductively suckle. To his delighted pleasure, Tala's heart leapt hopefully to see the hungry desire successfully cloud the brunette's features. His breath caught in his throat when Demetra slowly slid her finger from his mouth, when she leaned back down until he could once again taste her breath on his lips.

Eyes lidding heavily in expectant anticipation, Tala leaned into her. But instead of kissing him again, Demetra gave his lips a teasingly little nip.

"I suppose this means I've finally tamed the savage beast..." She whispered against his lips in a sultry, seductive tone. "That was some birthday gift, Big Bad Wolf... I hope you can still blade without it."

Pulling back and straightening, Demetra observed him for a minute before tipping her head slightly to one side.

"Rakas kesy susi..." She muttered softly, a strange look in her eye.

The feeling when she turned and walked away from him was like nothing Tala had ever felt before. It was the sort of devastation usually reserved for deeply tragic situations, and for a moment Tala felt foolish for feeling it. But it didn't dissipate the feeling all the same.

Barely able to breathe past the crippling, tense agony in his chest, Tala's expression twisted painfully as he called after her, just as she'd reached the door and opened it.

"Demetra..." He croaked, his voice strained and cracking.

Stopping, she looked over her shoulder at him with an expression that seemed so much calmer and at peace than he was right then, and it tore him apart.

"What does it mean...?" He heard himself croak. "Raka-... whatever you just said."

For several long moments, she simply stared silently at him, until eventually, a barely-there smile tugged at the corners of her lips. And that was the only answer he got before she turned forward again and finally left him.