A Clash Of Heros
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fable. Lyrics below are from A Dangerous Mind by Within Temptation.
I fear that soon you'll reveal
Your dangerous mind
It's in your eyes, what's on your mind
I fear your smile and the promise inside
It's in your eyes, what's on your mind
I fear your presence, I'm frozen inside
In the second it took for Nix's mind to realize that if she didn't act quickly she'd be staring at the business end of a pistol, Reaver had already unceremoniously flung the woman off and sent her nude form flying with his right arm. Fortunately her body had a better reaction time. With all the strength and speed she could muster, she sprung up from the floor just as Reaver, his left arm a blur of movement, whipped his gun out and pointed it squarely at her face. The instantaneous sting she felt on her right cheek, preceded by a deafening explosion, sent a massive shot of adrenaline straight to her already fast paced heart and threw her instincts into overdrive. She doubted most people had the extreme luck of having a narrow miss with him.
"Are you mad!" The unseen Phillip shouted among the frightened screams of the women who now tried to scurry from the bed, unaware of the reason for their hosts sudden change in demeanor.
On her feet and Black Dragon in hand, she made to round the corner of the bed with the hopes that she'd been faster to rise only to have them dashed when just as the tip of her nose had barely peaked out, she heard the metallic clink of a pistols hammer. She jerked back in enough time to avoid another bullet, splinters of the wooden headboard bursting into the air in front of her face, causing her to momentarily choke and cough at the sawdust like particles flying around.
"What the devil?" She heard Reaver remark in a rather befuddled yet aggravated tone. Nix took full, swift advantage of the time he stood there to ponder how he of all people had missed his mark a second time and popped around the left side, pistol raised high. Time, in that funny way it sometimes did in epic life or death struggles, ground to a halt and in stunning clarity she noticed several things all at once.
From the four people, all in various states of undress, scrambling out the door in a blind panic, the slender wisp of smoke slowly unfurling from the barrel of Reavers pistol as it still pointed to where she had just been seconds ago, to the tiny almost undetectable flicker of his emerald gaze that were also focused on her previous position. In any other moment she would have never even noticed that he'd already locked on her merely with his peripheral vision.
The instant of clarity passed and time unfroze. In a shocking show of speed and control, Reaver, who didn't so much as turn his body or even look her way, took aim again and pulled the trigger. She would have been dead had she not appeared with her own weapon already drawn and at the ready, blown away by the speed in which he moved. The Black Dragon and the Dragonstomper .48 squared off in a thunderous roar of gunfire and a blazing flash of light set off by the strike of flint on gunpowder that, to her dark accustomed eyes, blinded. The two opposing forces collided with one another, the lead of the bullets melding together to become one pitted lump of ore that fell uselessly to the carpet.
Why in the bloody hell isn't she dead? Reaver thought irritatedly, noticing that the wretch who dared to invade his home and interrupt what had looked to be such a promising night of unscrupulous and uninhibited frivolity, did not slump down dead. Quite the opposite in fact, as she shoved her foot full force into the nightstand she stood behind. Surprised when the sturdy piece of furniture came flying towards him, he spun a counter clockwise 180 to dodge it but a corner still caught and tripped his left leg, sending him to the floor, the Dragonstomper clattering loudly on the tile where it landed and skidded to the wall.
Still seeing spots and ears ringing from the gunfire, Nix, heart hammering so hard it almost hurt, attempted to speed by the downed deviant, trying to give as wide as berth as possible.
It wasn't enough, not nearly enough.
His arm shot out and a strong hand clamped around her right ankle, yanking it out from underneath her weight. She crashed to the ground with a shreik that would have put the famed banshee's of Wraithmarsh to shame. Though she did manage to sheild her face with her arms before it could connect with the floor and shatter the fragile facial bone struckture, the breath was completely knocked from her lungs and she lay motionless, stunned.
Reaver cllimbed on top of the dazed intruder, and with the slender body between his knees grabbed the delicious curve of her hips, flipping her over to her back in one swift motion. He gazed down thoughtfully at the young woman, his eyes roaming over her body greedily, pausing for a moment at the cleavage revealed between the unbuttoned highwayman blouse before arriving at her face. Long dark hair was fanned out prettily around the beautiful, dazed face that looked up at him.
"Now, my dear, if you don't mind I think I'll be taking that." Leaning down, savoring the delightful feel of her body underneath his, he reached for the pistol gripped loosely high above her head.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she vaguely understood that he intended to shoot her with her own gun and that she should fight back, but as he'd stretched his long, hard, lean body atop her's she experienced the overwhelming urge to grind her hips against his and ease the sudden and disturbing desire that had sparked to life between her thighs. Reavers hand was almost to the Black Dragon and the hard wall of his chest brushing over her breasts through the thin material of her shirt was driving her mad. She knew she'd come to regret it later, but she couldn't stop.
Pathically, she gave in. Hips arching, they ground up against his in a vain attempt to extinquesh the building fire she felt, however she did succeed in finding evidence of his own arousal. Her shameful act elicited a low hiss of pleasure from between Reaver's teeth and he shot her a lecerhous, sidelong glance accomponied by an arrogant smirk. At least in the dim red light cast by the lanterns he couldn't see the blush stained across her cheeks.
"Its a little too late to be trying to flirt your way out, I'm afraid."
"Don't flatter yourself." She snapped, his voice breaking her out of the lustful stupor.
Nix wrenched herself upward with all her strength, despositing the surprised Reaver right onto his pompous rump, and hopped to her feet. Slowly she back away, gun trained on him. The anger on his face was swiftly replaced with a coy, teasing look and he held out his hand, beckoning to her.
"Of course, I could be persuaded to let you live if you'd bring that delectable body of yours back. We could solve this dilemma out between the sheets..."
He'd let her live? Ha, that was a big, fat definetly not.
"I don't think so. Not now, not ever." Reaching the hallway, she spun on her heel and ran for all she was worth, afraid of how quickly he'd retrieve his gun and give pursuit. So far she was in luck that he didn't know who she was, and if she made it out of this alive she'd make damn sure to keep it that way. The night she'd broken in with Page to save other members of the resistance, she had been wearing a fox mask that she was suddenly very grateful for.
She passed the first bedroom by, barely noticing that the candles had been lit and a roaring fire had been set in the hearth. Hearing the echo of footfalls behind as she was about to round the corner into the dining room, she chanced a glance over her shoulder. He wasn't behind her just yet but would be any minute.
"Master Reav-" A voice in front called out and her eyes whipped back around.
In her distraction she'd almost ran right smack into a blonde man who had been nervously milling about the doors, but at the last second caught herself by dodging off to the left around him, his pale blue eyes large and round as he staggered backwards.
Almost there. She could see outside to the stairs in the grand foyer, just a little bit further and...
"Out of the way, you fool!" She heard Reaver command as he roughly shoved the male servant from his path and took aim, a vicious yet victiorious smile forming his lips.
One last burst of gunfire rung through the halls of the Lake View manor, and Nix expected to feel a bullet tearing through some part of her body, but the pain never came. Instead, the door she was running with all her might for was slammed shut by the falling of a massive, solid gold candelabra, the door handles sheared right off by its weight.
She'd been so close that she didn't have time to stop the momentum from her run, and slammed into the doors so hard her teeth clacked together, belatedly realizing that he must have shot the leg out, causing it to fall and bar the way. The thought to turn and brandish her gun back at him arose, but her body didn't have time to respond to the mental command. A palm hit the door on the right side her face, and the feel of a cool metal barrel precisely placed at her left temple made the pounding organ inside her chest stutter and skip a beat.
"And so it seems you've no where left to run, my underhanded little minx. I really must applaud your efforts. Very clever, using your physical attributes to distract me, knowing full well that you'd just disrupted my soriėe." Reaver whispered softly into the delicate shell of her ear.
Though they weren't even touching, she could feel his prescense like a live electrical current charging the air around them. A shiver worked its way up her body, and she did her best to hide it. What the hell was wrong with her? Never in a million years could she ever be attracted to such a dispicable man, one whom was currently planning on planting a bullet in her brain. Was it the rush of adrenanline doing this to her?
"You made quite an impressive display, I begrudgingly admit I've never had someone survive so long that I fully intended to kill. So seeing as I'm such a magnanimous and gracious soul, I'll let you gaze into the face of perfection one last time before you die."
Nix gave a short, derisive snort. Vainglorious man...
"Stuff it, just get it over with already." She managed to say, it coming out a little too breathy for her liking. With on hand still curled around the Black Dragon, only her right was free to cast a spell. She could probably get off a Force Push, but she didn't doubt that he could kill her before being flung away. If it were to really end like this, his face was not the last image she wanted to part from this world with.
"My, aren't we anxious? Come come now, if not for you, then I would like to see better the face of someone whose given me one of the most amusing fights I've had in a while."
One hand banded around her right arm, spinning her about and shoving her back against the door while the other moved the pistol from her left temple to her right. He crowded her with his half naked body, almost touching but not quite, eyes like glinting hard dark emeralds staring down into her own fear/lust struck hues. Willing the later emotion to dissiapte and sticking her chin up defiantly, trying to look angry and hoping he wouldn't see past the facade she hastily plastered on.
A grim smile twisted Reavers lips as he allowed himself to drink in the woman's exquisite features. It was painfully obvious she came from good stock and possibly even noble birth, from the high, haughty cheekbones, radiant and unblemished skin ( save for the nick upon her right cheek that he himself had given her) right down to the lushacious lips that were parted slightly as she struggled to catch her breath. He could feel his bodys response to the intruder charms, the tightening of his already aroused member making him briefly consider bedding the wench first, then killing her. The petal pink blush that stained her cheeks was particularly lovely, as were those silver grey eyes that held such a wild look. Unusual eyes, bedroom eyes that heated his blood and made him think of what they would look like after he'd finished ravishing her. Familiar eyes...
"You must forgive me, as I am a bit of a social butterfly, and the names of all the flowers I've come to know escape me, but have we met before? Something about you..."He trailed off, his gaze drawn to the gentle path he traced with the barrel of the Dragonstomper from her temple, down her cheek and tender flesh of her neck to the full, heaving breasts, more cleavage having become exposed as a few extra buttons had come undone in their tussle.
"No." She said quickly. Too quickly, she realized and tried to bluster her way through the mistake.
"Of course not, as I don't make it a habit of hanging about the perverse side of society." She was beginning to get a touch light headed, and with the passionate fear thrumming through her veins and the feel of the cold metal that now lightly touched the upper half of her pale white mounds, it was getting hard to concentrate.
He looked as if he were about to make some witty remark when she noticed his gaze sharpen drastically, and pushed a portion of her shirt over with the tip of the pistol. Her eyes traveled down to see what had caught his attention so, and was quite bemused when she saw a small, light purple splotch on the white material. His hand clasped her jaw almost painfully, his touch making her skin sing with pleasure. Tilting her chin up, staring so piercingly into her eyes that it kind of seemed intimate as he leaned in closer.
With those lips, sensual yet edged with cruelty, nearing hers, she wondered numbly if he was going to kiss her. He stopped when the tips of their noses almost touched, and continued to hold her gaze for what seemed a small eternity. His finely arched brows furrowed together and the aristocratic arch of his nostrils flared slightly as he inhaled. The expression of twisted glee that followed was completely unnerving.
"What?" She huffed, trying to come off as more cross than afraid. Devilish mirth danced in the shadowy recesses of his eyes, the corners of his lips twitching upward, as if he were trying to contain his amusement.
"I see you've helped yourself to the food in my kitchen." He said nonchalantly, his free hand dropping from her chin to toy with the edge of her shirt.
How did they go from something as important as her final moments to something as trivial as a stolen snack?
"No, I haven't." she said defensivly, wondering why it even mattered. When in doubt, lie your head off.
"Ah, well then if that is the case it seems I have no use for you." He took a step back and the Dragonstomper was in between her eyes faster than she could blink.
Click...
"Wait! I may have had a single fruit. I didn't think it would be such a big deal, everyone thought you abandoned this place."
"Was it purple?" He inquired, not interested in her excuses and seeming to be heavily anticipating her answer. She bobbed her head warily, not liking where this line of interrogation was going
"Hatch, get over here!" He barked the order over his shoulder, eyes never leaving her face. The blonde man she'd nearly collided with eariler skampered over quickly from the threshold that lead to the bedrooms where he'd been hiding. As he got closer, Nix could see gauzy bandages covering the right portion of his face, his hair combed over in an attempt to conceal it. Suddenly she remembered who he was, the man who'd helped Reaver trick her and Page into playing the wheel of misfortune. She was more than a little surprised to see that he had somehow managed to survive that balverine attack that night.
"Do be a dear and hand over the gun."
Wordlessly she complied, slowly placing it in the valet's expectant hands, desperately trying to understand what he was up to. Why in the world could it possibly matter to him if she'd eaten just that one fruit or everything in the whole damned pantry.
"And the gauntlets, can't have you blowing anything up, now can we?"
Gasping, her eyes flew wide. He knew?
"Since when did you...?"
Chuckling to himself like it were some kind of joke, he said as she stripped the gauntlets from her arms and handed them over. " Did you honestly think it would take long for a connoisseur of beauty of my calibur to recollect where I'd seen such striking eyes before? Either you doubt my abilities, or you're own appearance, both of which are foolish mistakes."
The pink blush across her cheeks deepened to a shade of crimson, he thought she was beautiful? Wait, the man has a gun pointed at me, I shouldn't care!
"What are you planning on doing to me?" Nix asked in a low, edgy tone as her tongue darted out to moiston her lips nervously. She had a bad feeling about this.
His gaze dipped and fastened on her mouth, drawn by the small unconscious act. When he dragged his eyes back to lock with hers, a smile, dark and promising, spread on his handsome face, and she didn't understand it. But she did fear it.
"Nothing you woudln't want done yourself.
He paused for a moment to laugh. Breath caught in her throat, she waited for him to continue.
"You see, my sweet Princess Phoenix, when you partook of that divinely delicious fruit, you hung the proverbial noose around that slender neck of yours. With little rope to spare, I might add. It was one of the many wonders I brought back from a recent expedition to foreign lands. Roughly translated its name means "Tears of Venus"."
"Simply put, it's the most powerful aphrodisiac the world has ever known."
Author's Note: Oh no! It looks like theres trouble ahead for our Hero, how will she pull through? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out, won't you? Sorry it took so long to get this out, caught a bit of a cold so it was hard to let my Muse out. So hopefully you enjoyed this devilish chapter, as most of us all have a little bit of our own Reaver inside us (or atleast I wish I did! XD ) Now, my prettys, review. Im dying to know your likes and dislikes, I'm trying to improve myself and I have to know what you want ^_~