I have to say, I own this story to my crazy sister Storm, because she gave me the idea and she helped me with that bloody scoring system (she's more into snooker than I am so yeah). I hope you'll have fun with it ;).

Nikola Tesla was hardly the social type. So if one would have asked him what the hell he was doing in a men's club that night in London he would have probably had no answer to that. To be completely honest with himself, he had gone there because he could play billiards, and he had hoped that this would have helped him clear his mind after… events. Helen had just got engaged less than a week before with that Druitt bastard and he wasn't exactly happy about it. His soul was torn, because deep down he knew that dear old Johnny would do something to blow it up, but he also knew that this would make Helen suffer. She could have engaged a thousand men, none of them being him, and he would still not be angry at her. He loved her too much for that. Of course, she only had eyes for that idiot Druitt, but he didn't seem to care too much. Damn. He could have every girl in the world, and still the only one who he wanted was Helen Magnus. Granted, she was completely mesmerizing, with her love of science and her intelligence, not to mention probably the sexiest legs in all London, but he had probably lost her forever to that bastard. If only he had had the chance of telling her how he felt about her… But that was a story for another day. He arranged the balls on the snooker table, and prepared to take a shot, when he heard something at the entrance.

"I told you, I am here to see Nikola Tesla. I know he is here, let me in."

Nikola couldn't believe his ears. He would have recognized that voice anywhere, but what could she be doing here? A single woman, in a men's club, in that century, was hardly appropriate. Perhaps John was with her, but the idiot couldn't be heard.

"It's alright, George, the lady is with me." He called and the man at the door let her in.

Nikola was hardly able to maintain a smile as she went towards him on an angry pace, her dress rustling around her perfect figure, her face angry because of that stupid man. He could have sworn she got a little happier when she saw him, but that smile of hers faded so fast that he thought it was just a figment of his imagination.

"What are you doing here, Helen? You know, you shouldn't be here, not with me. You're engaged and…"

"Please, Nikola, not you too. I am sick and tired of everybody telling me what I can and what I can't do, keeping me from doing things only because I'm a woman and it's not appropriate to do them, or stupid things like that."

"OK, what happened? You had a fight with Druitt?"

"Yes. He appears to think that if we're engaged I have to behave like I am his wife or something like that. I love him and he loves me, but I can't understand how this means he has the right to complain I'm bossing him around about my projects, my research, about the Five. I founded our group; I think I have the right to be in command."

"Of course. Sure you can take advice from us, I mean from me and Nigel and even James, because frankly a barrister doesn't belong here…"

"I know, you've told me this a thousand times. Anyway, I don't see why me being a woman has to interfere with my leader abilities."

"Because dear old Druitt is a brainless ape."

"I love him, Nikola."

"For now. I still wait the day when you'll realize he's not good enough for you and you'll start searching for someone who really deserves you."

"You have someone in mind?"

"Does it matter at this moment, Helen? You wouldn't break your engagement if you found out that someone else is in love with you, would you?"

"I don't know. I guess it depends on the person. But anyway, I am not ready to give John up yet. He's a good guy. I think we will make it out."

"If you say so." Nikola sighed.

"You came here to play pool?" Helen asked, changing the subject. She didn't want to talk about John anymore, she just wanted to relax, to forget about everything, and Nikola seemed to be the man for the job. She loved him, not the way she loved John, but truth is there had been times when Nikola had been a lot more of a friend to her than anybody else. Mainly because he was one of the few that didn't care of the fact she was a woman and treated her like an equal.

"Snooker, actually. I guess you know how to play."

"I don't." Helen said, to Nikola's disappointment. "I have an idea about the rules, but I don't know exactly how to play."

"You want me to teach you?" he offered, praying that she would accept.

"Ah, the hell. Why not?" She replied after she gave the idea some thought.

"OK. I will explain you the rules later, but what you need to learn first is how to hit. Come here."

When she followed he placed the cue between her fingers, and she couldn't help startling a bit when their fingers entwined. His fingers were cold, but his touch was incredibly gentle, and there was something almost electric about his fingers on her skin, moving up and down her own, as he helped her grab the cue properly.

"That's perfect." He whispered but his breath stopped for a second. He had just realized that their bodies were almost glued to each other, him behind her, so close to her that he could feel her pulse, he could see the blood running through the veins on her neck, but what was the best part, he could feel her intoxicating smell take over his senses. Bergamot, cinnamon and roses.

"Is everything OK, Nikola?" she asked panting and he smiled knowing that he wasn't the only one who had focusing problems at the time.

"Yes, it is. Shall we carry on?"

"Of course."

"Alright, then pay attention. You lean over the table, you aim and you hit the ball with the cue. But be careful. The move has to be both fluid, and fast. And you'll probably need to touch the table because otherwise you could miss." Nikola said as he pressed her on the table, his body moving in perfect sync with hers. Their first victim was the white ball, which hit a red ball and potted it. However, she was too busy controlling her breath to be too happy for this victory. She could feel Nikola pressed to her, from head to toes, his lips millimeters away from her neck, and what was worse, she completely loved the sensation. She hadn't known exactly how fit Nikola was, but now his muscled chest pressed hard on her back, making a part of her want to unbutton that shirt and run her fingers over those pectorals, but she couldn't afford that. She didn't love him, even if he had moments when he was incredibly sexy, moments in which she lusted for him more than she ever did for John, but she had never been tempted to turn her fantasies into reality. Not until that night. She should have left, she should have stopped thinking those things about him, but she was most certain that the hard object that was brushing against her spine wasn't the cue, and her body reacted to this a lot more violent than she would have expected.

"Nice shot." Nikola whispered over her skin, getting her mind out of the gutter for a moment. "You seem to be good. What do you say we play a match?"

"What prize?" she challenged him.

"I win, you kiss me. You win, I kiss you." Nikola said with a smirk. It was partly a joke, she wouldn't have possibly accepted that, but hey, what was wrong in trying?

"That is hardly fair." She pouted. "You get to kiss me anyway."

"Exactly. Win-win situation. What do you say?"

"I only kiss you if you win. If I don't… you can take your mind off it for good."

"Alright, but you kiss me on my terms."

"Which are…"

"You'll see if I win."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen. Now, tell me the rules."

He explained her the rules, and soon the two colleagues started playing. Nikola demanded to start, because he was more experimented, and she watched in a mixture of horror and amusement how he potted the black ball 6 times, hitting from impossible positions at times. Damn his vampiric senses. He had a total of 48 points when he hit a red on and finally the brown one, bringing his score to a total of 53. He smirked as he aimed for another red ball, but he missed it by a few millimeters, potting the white ball.

"Your turn." He muttered, passing the cue to Helen, his fingers lingering on her hand a few seconds more than it was necessary.

"Thank you."

"I will kiss you in less than half an hour, Helen." He warned but she only smiled.

"We'll see about that."

Red. Black. Red. Black. 7 perfect strikes in a row, and Nikola couldn't help wondering if she hadn't lied when she had said she didn't know how to play. She was grinning like hell when she potted the last red ball on the table. She was now 4 points ahead of him and even if it was a small victory she was going to relish it.

"Are you sure you don't want to lose, Helen?" he asked, leaning over the table just in front of the yellow ball Helen was going to shoot at, his tongue passing over his lips. Helen felt her heart skip a bit when she saw his luscious lips. They were wet and they were sparkling in the dim light of the saloon, as she couldn't help wondering how they tasted. But she wanted the victory more than she wanted to kiss him. So she aimed for the yellow ball, but then she saw his neck. Half exposed, with his sternocleidomastoid extremely pronounced, his Adam's apple moving up and down with each of his breaths, almost begging to be bitten. She got lost in the sight for just a second, but it was enough for her to pot the white ball. Great. Just great.

"This is cheating. You distracted me."

"Not my fault you can't take your eyes off me, Helen. Pass me the cue, if you are so kind."

"Oh please, Nikola. You are hardly that sexy."

"We'll see about that after I kiss you." He potted the yellow ball, the green one and the brown one, but he potted the white one afterwards intentionally. He didn't want to win too easily, because she could have got angry at him and he didn't want to miss the kiss.

"Don't let me win." She warned.

"I'm not. I know you want to lose."

"In your dreams, Nikola." Helen laughed, as she potted the blue and the pink one. "60 points, Nikola. I win. No kiss."

"You still have to pot the black one." Nikola pointed out as he stretched his arms, making sure Helen gets a good look at his back muscles. "I could charge you a massage too if you lose, you know. My back hurts like hell."

"Right. Well, I'm afraid it's no kiss and no massage for you tonight." Helen said with a smirk as she sent the white ball to the black ball. They both watched as it rolled on the table, missing its target by only a few millimeters. The two balls were now almost touching, but it wasn't enough. Helen had missed her turn.

"I think I'll want a French kiss. Most definitely a French one." Nikola smirked but his smile froze on his lips. Helen had just placed one of her legs on the chair in front of Nikola, and she pulled her stocking down her leg, tantalizingly slowly, as Nikola couldn't help watching. Her dress wasn't tight and for a second her leg was exposed up to her thigh, enough for his greedy looks to feast at the sight.

"You're cheating, Helen."

"I'm not. I just… got a little too warmed up, I hope you don't mind." She joked. Maybe she wasn't playing fair, but at least the victory was surely hers now. He couldn't possibly have won now, he was going to miss for sure, he…

"You have no idea what getting hot means, Helen. Not yet. But I will take care of that. 61-60, final score. "Nikola said with a huge smirk after the black ball had disappeared into one of the pockets. "Can I take my prize now, Miss Magnus?"

She stared a little at those lips that were curled in an insufferable smile as she couldn't help thinking that maybe losing was not that bad after all.

"I'm a woman of my word, Nikola. Go ahead. Make it short."

"That wasn't our deal, Helen."

She was panting long before their lips touched. His fingers caressed her neck, sending shivers of electricity through her body, as he sucked gently on her lower lip, nibbling from time to time. When she opened her mouth, allowing her tongue to meet his, he engaged into a tenderer kiss, caressing her tongue with his own, as his fingers stroke her scalp. She barely managed to break the kiss, desperately needing some air.

"That would be quite enough for one point, Nikola." She protested, but her hands were still around his waist.

"Are you sure about your engagement, Helen?" he asked on a low tone.

"I am not sure about anything at the moment, Nikola. I have to go." She got away from his arms and she headed fast to the exit. She had done a wrong thing, she knew that, her being engaged and all, but it felt so damn good that a part of her didn't regret a thing. She was completely sure she hadn't been kissed like that. Ever.

"I'll wait, Helen, I'll wait. You know that." Nikola called after her. He hadn't won her yet, but she couldn't trick him about the kiss they had just shared. She had enjoyed it a lot and if that saloon was a little less crowded… who knows what could have happened. But that was a story for another day. Right now, he was going to relish her taste on his lips, praying that they would kiss again. After all, he had an eternity to wait for her. Druitt on the other hand didn't, so things looked good for him. And next time he would make sure that she will be the one that kisses him, and willingly. But he needed adman good plan for that…