Determinants of Demand

Ch. 4 – It's a Sin

First off, I'd like to thank ZoeKJ-Tazmina, Deenami, Ninekat, and silverdragon0315 for their reviews! Each one is important. :D

With that out of the way, here's chapter 4! Enjoy!

He grew increasingly agitated with each passing day. Everything she did, EVERYTHING, made his blood heat up and his heart pump faster. When he glanced over, there she was, bending over. When he awoke, there she was, thin tank-top and tiny shorts, repairing her equipment. He was growing damned tired of battling with himself.

After he'd followed the woman out of Underworld, she had done her best to get rid of him. "You don't have to follow me you know," she would say. He always replied with a grunt. "I don't own you. You can go wherever you want." Again, only a grunt. Her last attempt amused him slightly. She'd "accidentally" fallen over the side of a bridge and into an irradiated river. By the time he'd leapt down after her and dragged himself to shore, she was of the water and hauling ass, dodging and weaving through large boulders in some sort of terrible attempt to lose him. It hadn't taken long for his greater stamina, and much more lengthy strides, to help him catch up. By the time he reappeared behind her, she was exhausted, sweat dribbling down each limb of her body.

He'd chuckled, the vibrations rumbling through his chest as he growled, "I'm under contract. You won't lose me that easily."

She was trying his patience, though not intentionally. If she didn't realize what she did to him, then she really was naïve. Now, as they sat before the campfire, on opposite sides, she stared him down. He welcomed the challenge, his blue eyes cutting back through the orange flames dancing between them, and she turned her gaze to her hands. The little sawed-off that she was meticulously cleaning with a dirty bandana caught the light of the fire, a slight distraction. At that distance, and in what little light was given, it was safe for his eyes to wander a bit as she worked. So, he took the opportunity to study her.

Her face was still unbelievably white, even after being in the sun for the past week. At the moment, though, it was colored orange from the fire, setting her eyes in a darker gloom so that the grey pierced through to him. Unabashed, his eyes wandered further, over her shoulders and down to the swell of her chest, protected only by the thin vault suit. Unlike the extra she carried around, this suit was heavily armored.

He prepared to shut himself down again as thoughts wandered into his head. Thoughts of tearing straight through the flimsy blue material to get to her, of taking the shotgun from her because it was her only protection.

He couldn't dwell on the thought very long, as he heard a fumbled clicking sound, and he looked back up at her face. Her eyes weren't focused on him; rather, they were steadfast on the weapon as she tried to take it apart to clean the inside. He stared, unbelieving. She usually seemed so sure of her weapon, but she apparently didn't know shit about taking it apart. He watched her fumble with it for a few more agonizing moments before he cleared his throat and stood up. Her eyes flashed orange as she glanced back at him, and they followed his movement as he circled the campfire and dropped down heavily next to her.

Rose attempted to protest as the ghoul reached down and plucked the sawed-off from her grasp, but the look on his face made her stop. He was, as always, completely serious, but she could see the curling of his lips. He was amused. She glared at him, but he wasn't looking at her. With swift and steady hands, he dismantled the shotun in a matter of seconds. She gaped at the shotgun, at his hands, at him.

He glanced down to her, nearly letting a smug smirk cross his face.

"How did you do it so quickly?"

The innocent question caught him off guard. It was the first time she'd spoken to him since her last escape attempt. He took the bandana from her and set to work wiping grime from the parts as he contemplated the question, all the while aware of the faint, moist warmth of her breath against his shoulder as she watched. "It's easy," he murmured. "Once you learn, you practice and gain experience. Nothing more."

The parts were clean-well, as clean as they would get using a dirty bandana-so he reassembled the weapon just as easily as he'd taken it apart.

Before he had a chance to hand it to her, though, small hands moved into his line of vision and gently took it. He watched as the small woman lifted it to her face, turned it over in her hands, played her fingers over the grooves.

Her eyes met his. "Can you teach me?"

Again, just an innocent question, as though she was talking to another human rather than a hideous ghoul. The way her eyes didn't show disgust, fear, or even pity, but rather simple curiosity...

He sighed deeply, wanting nothing more than to get away from her, before he answered. "Pay attention."

When Charon awoke, his head was splitting with a vicious headache. That was the first thing he noticed. The second thing he noticed was his employer. The sight of her made his heart skip a beat anxiously. She was curled on her side against him, her head cradled on his stomach; in one hand, she held the bandana, and in the other, she held the completely intact shotgun.

In all his years as a ghoul, not once had a smoothskin dared to touch him. Most would've been unlikely to even allow him near them, and yet this little woman was actually touching him as though he wasn't a hideous monster. She was sleeping next to him with a calm, relaxed expression on her face.

The night before came back to him slowly. He had only demonstrated it once more before she took the gun and tried it herself. It had taken two close failures for her to do it perfectly. It had taken 5 minutes for her to get faster, and it wasn't long before she could do it almost without looking. He had to give it to the smoothskin: she was quite observant, and a fast learner. There was something in the simple joy she got from her new ability that had nearly made him smile. But the near-smile was erased as quickly as possible and replaced with a frown; he ran a hand over his scalp in irritation.

"Damn smoothskin."

He immediately regretted saying it out loud, because she stirred, eyebrows knitting slightly and tempo of breathing changing. He would've liked to get up, to get away from her, but he didn't want to wake her up. So, he continued to lie on his back, staring at her face as it relaxed once more. As he raked his eyes over the thick eyebrows, childish freckles, and slightly chapped lips, he came to a sudden realization: he wanted to hate her, but he couldn't. He wanted so desperately to hate her the way he hated Azrukhal, to have a reason to blow her away if the contract was ever voided, but he found it real damn hard to hate someone that treated him as at least SOMETHING of an equal. DAMN, but he wanted to hate and hate, and it made him angry that she hadn't given him reason to hate.

He suddenly realized that the growling he heard was coming from him, reverberating through his torso. Once again, his employer stirred. This time, those grey eyes fluttered open beneath the thick black lashes, and she immediately sat up to observe the area around the campsite. She still hadn't looked at him, so he shut his eyes and feigned sleep. She continued to move around, but carefully, as though she was aware of him and didn't want to bother his sleep. He could feel it when the girl turned and looked down at him, and inwardly he raged at the thought of what bigotry was probably running through her mind. 'DAMN, I wish I could hit her and get it over with.' Violence voided the contract, after all, and he began to contemplate ways that he could loophole through this stipulation to get her to hit him first, not only breaking the bond of the contract but giving him plenty of reason to beat the shit out of her.

It took every ounce of willpower he had not to jump when he felt her hand on his chest. "Charon…?" The quiet whisper amused him, and deciding that he wasn't quite ready to 'wake up' yet, he kept his eyes closed and his breathing steady. His employer made a small annoyed sound, but merely raised her voice a notch and called his name again. This was kind of…dare he say it, fun. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to control his facial muscles this well to keep a smirk off of his face.

Then, with both hands, she shook him as hard as she could.

"CHARON!"

Rose knew she was in trouble when Charon's hand lashed out, grabbing for the first thing he could get a hold of, which just so happened to be her upper arm. She remained frozen, eyes wide with fear as he pulled her close. His face was mere inches from her own, and she couldn't help but gulp when she saw the rage flaring in his eyes.

"Never. Do. That. Again."

She nodded once, slowly, and he shoved her away and stood up.

YEAH, left you hanging like a jackass! Lol, no, but I hope you like the story so far!

Please review!