A/N: As always. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews! Every time I find a new review I smile from ear to ear for two days, heh. I'm probably changing the rating of the fic into 'M' just to be on the safe side… well… maybe this chapter ought to explain where I'm headed with this. Accidentally, I swear.

Btw, now that I KNOW Hannah, she might be here. But, it's still D/B fic, ok? That's NOT about to change. Ah, yes, they bicker. Hopefully that'll change soon. It's just the way my mind works, I cannot help it.

Chapter 6

It had taken less than five minutes for Bright to decide what to do.

Sure, at first his conscience had told him to abandon the thought right that minute for it was stupid and childish, but by telling himself he couldn't leave the girl there either, he somehow made it acceptable. Acceptable to drag the girl into Amy's car and drive, not towards her home, but his instead. There were at least ten different excuses he tried to make for himself, although none of them really were that convincing.

Oh come on, he couldn't return a half-conscious girl into her home looking like, well, this and stinking of alcohol! What the hell would he have told her father? That he found her lying on the ground wasted; being groped by some fucking moron who didn't know the difference between right and wrong? Oh yeah, Mr. Brown would've loved to hear that one. After that, he would've probably shot the messenger to his doorstep and the tale would've been told. The end.

It wasn't how he had pictured his life to go and so, there she was, lying on his bed, under the covers naturally and sleeping like a baby. She hadn't woken up during the trip at all, not even once if you didn't count her drunken sentences she let out every now and then. It had been rather difficult actually, to carry the unconscious girl all the way to his room without waking the whole house, but he had managed to do so. He liked to think it was the result of all the years he had done sports and the thought, for some reason, amused him. Of course it wasn't that. He had simply had a lot of practice on that department, although usually the ladies he had brought -and carried - home, had been awake. Most of the time, anyway.

Christ. Sometimes he wasn't sure if he still had the mental skills of a 16-year-old, but like usually, he didn't let that significant little detail ruin his mood.

He was brought back from his thoughts by a weird sound. She snored. It wasn't loud, annoying snore like Nicki's, but it was soft and sweet somehow. Just like the girl herself, he thought letting his eyes hover upon the sleeping figure. Suddenly she fidgeted in her sleep, moaning quietly and speaking aloud words that made absolutely no sense. Wow, he had never pictured her as a sleep-talker but man, the way she mumbled those words with that husky, sexy voice of hers... Yep, it surely did feel weird to associate the word sexy with sweet and innocent Delia Brown… but it was more than obvious they fitted perfectly.

For a moment he only stood there biting his bottom lip and watching her sleep. There was another moral issue to be solved, yep. What now? He could've gone to sleep on the sofa, but somehow that option felt irritatingly distant and obviously, not-likable. Then again, how would the girl react if she woke up in the morning not only finding herself in someone else's bed instead of her own, but with someone else on top of all? On top?

"You can be on top if you want."

It was the only thing he said before removing his clothes and carefully crawling under the covers. There was more than enough room for both of them, but he couldn't help, but draw the girl closer to his chest. Heck, he could always say in the morning that it had been her idea and that SHE had be the one to snuggle and cuddle and… ha, she would have no choice but to trust his word. She moved again, as if to adjust into his closeness and let out yet another moan bending her head so that it actually touched his front. "You know," he whispered pulling the blanket on top of her covering the girl completely - to keep her warm or to keep his eyes off her? Did it matter?

"If you keep on doing those noises," he continued with a deep voice, "I might need to take a cold shower. With you preferably."

It was already noon, not that she knew it, when Delia finally opened her eyes slowly. Very slowly.

The first thing she realized was that she was in a room she didn't recognize. That, however, didn't bother her half as much as the acknowledgement of someone's heavy arm pressed against her side. What the hell have I done? As so many times before, Delia quickly tried to recall yesterday's happenings but nothing real came to her mind, nothing that seemed important. There was a huge gap between the present moment and her latest memory of the party, which she couldn't refill.

No wait. She had met somebody last night, hadn't she?

Slowly but surely the picture was drawn to her mind. She couldn't remember his name, but she definitely remembered some strange boy coming to where she was standing, babbling insane stuff trying to impress her any way possible. He had talked a lot and hardly nothing he had said had actually made sense, but still, he had tried. He'd earn some extra cuteness points with the whole act and besides, he hadn't looked bad. In the end, she had given up and left the party with the 19 year old young man without even remembering his name. But the question was, what had happened after that?

The hand suddenly twitched slightly and she felt a warm breath against her neck. Now, wasn't this annoying. Why did the same thing always happen to her?

Delia didn't know. It was her fate, wasn't it? To wake up in strange beds without no memories of what had happened. Wasn't this exactly what she had wanted to run away from to begin with? Although, she had to admit this room looked to be a lot different from the rooms she usually found herself in the morning. This was… decent. Normal. Maybe a bit neutral, like someone's guest room, but nevertheless normal. At least there was one pleasant surprise. Pleasant… What a joke.

Taking a deep breath she noticed the scent in her nostrils felt strangely familiar. Why? Should she turn around to face the situation as it was rather than be a coward? She thought about it for a second and decided against it. No, she definitely should not. Facing the situation was the last thing she wanted to do and as weird as it was, she almost enjoyed the sensation the chest against her T-shirt's back caused. No, wait, something was wrong with that one… it wasn't her T-shirt. Nuh huh. It was someone else's T-shirt which meant someone else, other than her that was, had put it on her.. which then again meant something had definitely happened.

Fuck. The moan escaped her lips involuntarily and instantly, the arm on her side seemed to tighten it's grip.

The next thing she felt was… OH MY GOD… A tongue, yes, a tongue tracing down her shoulder all the way to the nape of her neck and back sending electric shocks through her body. This time the moaning sound was caused by pure pleasure, although it was as involuntarily as the previous one had been.

"I told you already," husky voice whispered, "If you keep on doing that noise, I'll… fucking bath you myself."

Hold on … What the… Bright? It took not more than a half of a second for her to jump up - or, rather, to try and jump up from the bed onto the floor. The minute he felt she moved, he cursed quietly while grabbing her by the waist and pulled her back down refusing to let her get up. Delia smacked against the mattress -and his chest- with force and suddenly, one of his arm went around her neck holding her hands at bay whereas the other one was still wrapped around her waist.

That… that… arrogant, annoying, irritating, stupid, goddamn… damn… asshole! "You son of a bitch!" She shrieked spitting hair out of her mouth and trying to struggle herself free from his arms which turned out to be the weakest struggle she had ever put up. Partly, because the minute she had spoken a wave of migraine had hit her forehead as if to remind her of what she had been doing last night and partly, because her body felt absolutely exhausted… weak… and there was a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach informing her that something was about to come up. Yes, well, there was only one person she could blame for her own hangover.

That jerk! The guy who had offered her a drink, obviously. Bastard.

When she felt him exhale against her skin, her thoughts returned back to the current situation. God, didn't this suck?

"I thought you were sleeping."

Delia blinked not believing her own ears. He what? He had thought she was sleeping? So fucking what? Was that some kind of rational excuse or did he just imagine it was? The hell it wasn't! What a typical male.

She tried to shove him away with her back, but Bright's grip stayed. "You thought I was sleeping? Does that give you the rights to molest me?"

She felt him chuckle against her back. "I wasn't…" A pause. "Well maybe I was. Just a little." A little? If she had been able, she would've turned around and smacked him. Hard. "But, Delia, you were the one moaning."

I was not! Fine, okay, maybe she had. But. "I was asleep, idiot."

He chuckled, again. Of course he understood why she was being so annoying at the moment - he had been prepared for this kind of behavior ever since he had wrapped her into his T-shirt, but now that it was happening, it felt both irritating and amusing. Delia had a temper, yeah, and that surely was amusing, but Jesus… he had honestly thought his natural charm would melt it away in an instant. Strangely, it hadn't.

"Funny, that's what I thought. You made it very clear that you, in fact, weren't."

His voice was like… she whined aloud without even noticing… it was like honey, damnit. Delia acknowledged it with a racing heart, but refused to let it have any greater effect on her. Geez, she wasn't a child anymore! She was an adult and more than capable of controlling her own… whatever. "I didn't know it was you," she tried although the logic of her own sentence was unfamiliar even to herself. "Now let go of me!"

Bright's eyebrow rose and funnily enough, his voice got a sharper edge. Was that twinge of jealousy he felt kicking in or was he just imagining it? "Should I be insulted? You moan when someone touches you even when you don't know who it is, but when you find out it's me, you go ballistic?" Really, why did he feel offended? Bright didn't give himself time to figure it out, but instead, joked his way out of the difficult question. "I don't get your logic." At the moment, he didn't get his own either so…

Sighing out of frustration, she once again tried to move farther away from him. "You're not supposed to." I don't get it either, jerk. "Let go." She waited a minute, but nothing happened. "Let go, Bright, now or I'll… " Bright could almost hear her mind trying to come up with the right kind of word to give the needed spunk. Finally, it came; "I'll scream."

Ha, the best one so far. Bright couldn't see her defiant face, but he could definitely imagine it. For that, he almost wanted to turn the girl around just to see if the pouting look on her face looked as seducing now in the morning as it had looked the last time… "Not like my parents have never heard a girl screaming in my room before… and you know, I don't think they can ground me for that one anymore."

To that she said nothing. There was nothing to say. If he had been stupid once, unable to carry out a verbal fight, he sure as hell wasn't that anymore and that annoyed her. When had he grown up, huh?

"Why are you doing this?" She whined, "Why are you torturing me?" Oh gods, even the way she spoke… that seducing, honey-filled and extremely sexy tone of hers that she used, it made Bright's insides twist into these very uncomfortable knots that he could not untie no matter what he tried to think. There was no image gross enough to get his senses to cool down. Not even naked old women. That was bad, alright?

Very bad.

"Why?" He shrugged, pulling the girl even closer, "I don't know. I like you."

She snorted, not bothering to struggle anymore… it wasn't like it was doing any good, now was it? All it did was make her even more aware of just how he liked her… but seriously. Liked her? No way. She was in misery and he was obviously… Enjoying himself? At least that's what the bulge against her back said. What an ass.

"You like me? That's why you decided I need to quit my job and stay in Everwood for the rest of my life?" The honey-filled voice had now turned into mocking and that was something he did not appreciate. She could feel the weight against her backside growing bigger, but refused to admit she had noticed anything to begin with. Damn him to hell for making her go through this kind of crap! "Yes… I can see how much you like me." She hadn't meant to say it, but the words had simply found their way out…

He chuckled to her words as he understood the double meaning he was sure she had meant. Why was she being so difficult? What bad had he done, honestly? He had saved the girl from a mad-lunatic rapist, for crying out loud, and here she was acting as if he was the one that had been taking advantage of unconscious girl! He hadn't! He wasn't! Much. Oh shut up!

The point was, he saw a solution Delia didn't even knew existed…

"You don't have to stay in Everwood."

She didn't? He stopped to wonder his own words, but only for a short moment as he came to the conclusion that it could work. Totally. She'd get her wish and he'd get to see her more… that was the only reason, obviously. Not because he wanted to see her but because, well, he wanted to keep his eyes on her to, umm… to make sure she didn't do anything as stupid as strip in some dirty clubs, right? Of course. That way Ephram would have no reason to kill him when he'd find out just what Delia had been doing… sure, he had promised not to tell Ephram or his father about Delia's little secret life, but he had no intentions on keeping the promise… unless Delia kept her part of the bargain. But somehow, he was sure she wouldn't and then there was the fact he wanted to know what it was that Delia had done... It wasn't in Delia's nature to give in and let someone else control her life like that, so of course, she'd fight. Was that maybe one of the reasons why he had come to like her so much… even without realizing it? No one walked over Delia Brown, not even he and he liked that.

Maybe he was being insane. Yeah, he had not seen the girl - scratch that - young woman for years and now he was already… well, not dreaming of white fences and kids, but definitely ready to… play with her. To see where it was going… to have fun. No, he only wanted to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, damnit!

Quit lying to yourself, man.

"Oh, with what money am I leaving then?" Delia's sour question cleared his thoughts and brought him back to the moment. "That's why I need the job, you idiot."

So, should he just tell her now or later? His eyebrow rose. Well, he had never been one to dance around subjects so he figured, better to get it over and done now that he had her in a position where she couldn't run away or smack him. "You could always come work for me."

Delia, unlike he had expected, actually gave a loud, sarcastic laugh as if it had been the best joke ever. "Oh yeah, as a personal sex slave. How much is the salary?"

Jesus Christ, really, when had little Delia become this… cynical? Sarcastic? Tough? He didn't exactly complain; the girl had learnt to defend herself… but something had made her this way. And he was somewhat sure he wasn't going to like it, whatever it was. Don't worry D, I'm gonna find out sooner or later.

"Not quite what I meant but that could definitely work."

He felt her shoulders chuckle against his chest - it tickled, among other things. Damn, she really needed to stop moving like that… he groaned. Delia wasn't even trying to pull apart from him anymore, just shifted her weight every other second, and it only add to his pleasure. All males had a hunter in them, so of course he felt joy when his precious little prey gave in… Bright, what would your mother say, huh? He had once thought he could respect women, that he was man enough to do it. Later, he had become familiar with the fact that there was nothing to respect… not a single woman so far had been worth his respect for they all wanted the same… So, it was only fair he did the same. Surely this one would be no different?

Or was he just lying to himself again? For a moment, he was confused. What was it that he wanted from her again?

"You're unbelievable," she sighed. He couldn't prevent the smile - if only had she known what he was thinking… then again, she most likely had but was stubborn enough to keep it to herself. She was trying to hard to keep up with the game. Why? Didn't she know he always won?

"I know. Don't you just love that about me?"

"No," she spat immediately - a little too quickly if you asked him - and continued; "Where are my clothes?"

At first he felt disappointed; she wanted to get out after all, but suddenly he understood what it meant. She'd have to get up… from the bed… which was a idea he partly didn't like, but partly excited him. Ah, the fun was only beginning. Bright lifted his arm up freeing the girl and pointed the chair next to the bed. Actually, during one sad second he actually felt guilty for acting the way he did, but then, after a little while, he felt all ok again. He had had a whole night to think… and he had come to the conclusion there was something indeed he wanted from her. He just wasn't sure what it was. He wanted to keep her safe… but he didn't. There was no other reason good enough for him to make. It was all about the fact he had seen what Delia had to offer… there was nothing more into it.

"There," he said. Her gaze followed his finger to the chair. There they were, her clothes. Delia could feel her cheeks flush… a fact was, she hadn't even paid attention to the fact she wasn't wearing her own clothes. There was only one thing that could mean. Someone had stripped her and she happened to know just who that someone was.

As far as she knew, she had three choices. She could get up from the bed with the blanket around her… but she was pretty sure if she treid that, he'd pull the blanket back. It was his after all. That left her with two other options. She could try get the clothes and embarrass herself trying to put them on under the blanket… or she could face the devil, get up, get dressed and leave. That would at least show the guy she wasn't someone to play with. Besides, the stupid ass had obviously seen her naked already. She made a mental note to kick his ass later for that one.

So, she did the only thing that she could do to shake him up a bit. She pushed his arms aside and sat up ignoring the drumming pain in the back of her head, letting the blanket fall down and thanking heaven for the fact he had had the decency to at least put a T-shirt on her.

"I'm off," she yawned, stretched her arms and body and stood up. With her back towards him, she ripped the shirt off to quickly replace it with her own top. After that was done, she pulled on rest of her clothes and turned around with a wicked smile on her lips.

Dude, Bright's mind was yelling, this cannot be Delia Brown. The pain between his legs was getting annoyingly bearable. Damn her.

"Hope you enjoyed the show, Bright," she barked. The smile was still there on her lips, but what he saw in her eyes, was a death glare. All he could think was that when he'd find out just who it was that had taught to his innocent Delia Brown the way of the game, he'd beat him to a hospital. Wait. Had he just thought of Delia as his?

He was screwed. For one, if she ever fond out, she'd rip his balls out. Somehow, he got the feeling Delia was never to be called someone's - the lady owned herself and was damn proud of it. Then, there was the fact Ephram would pretty much do the same to him if he found out. So no matter what way he went, things were bad.

If you're smart, Bright, you'll let her go and never see her again.

Yes. But was he? "I did," he said, finally, letting that trademark smirk of his decorate his face, "as much as any normal seeing male would." Smart; Bright? Only when it fitted his plans. This time, it really didn't.

"Good, my job is done then," her reply came through gritted teeth. Although she tried to hide her annoyance, he could almost smell it. It was good to know he wasn't the only one being affected here. "That's all you're going to see and now, if you excuse me, I'm leaving," she stated coldly and turned around again. She wasn't sure why she was so annoyed, but she knew that if she didn't get out of his bedroom; out of his house and out of his life right this minute, she might have ended up doing something she'd regret… kick his ass or something else. And she wasn't ready to find out what. Delia tried to remind herself, over and over again that Bright was just playing with her; he made it seem like he wanted her, but he really didn't. How could he? She was a kid through his eyes… He just wanted to win his little challenge and get her give up and quit. Asshole! He was trying to lure her into giving up the job, wasn't he?

Hell would freeze first.

Bright watched her walk to the door in silence and only when her fingers touched the door knob, she heard his snarling voice. "What if I don't?"

Huh? Then, before she even had the time to turn around, her front slammed against the door and she found herself pinned.

Okay. Someone had definitely got up from the bed with a wrong foot…

A/N: Review and you'll get the next chapter faster. I can't help the fact every review makes me want to write… more… and more. So, I'll keep updating if you keep reviewing, ok? Just because the reviews feed my muse, really!