LOVE

TEN

Gwen Cooper woke up with a splitting headache, its existence heralded by sluggish, agonizing realization. The pain first coalesced incrementally, while slumber slowly melted away. As it dissipated blessed sleep was replaced by a searing torment just behind Gwen's temples.

"Och!" she moaned as she pressed her face into the… what? She suddenly recognized she had no idea where she was or how she got there. Last thing she remembered…

Gwen opened her eyes and squinted, trying heroically to ignore the drumming, the throbbing, the incessant pounding behind her forehead.

"Hello sweetheart. Welcome back."

She stiffened, her face guardedly going blank but her eyes clearly betraying her true emotions. Betraying her tangible terror…

"Easy there, sweetheart…" Betrayal indeed! "I don't want you to blow a gasket or anything."

Gwen closed her eyes and clenched her hands into tight, hard fists.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? You don't want to say hello to your old friend and admirer?"

There was a few seconds pause as she held her breath, waiting. Unfortunately what she was waiting for didn't take long at all to manifest.

From below her chin icy cold fingers grabbed her face. Her eyes flashed open.

"I really think you should say hello my dear."

"Gray!" she hissed.

"Not exactly the greeting I had in mind but I suppose it will have to do for now. Besides I am ever so grateful to you for what you've done for me. I'm more than happy to give you a little leeway here."

She attempted to sit up, found she wasn't restrained but Gray dropped his hand to her neck and pushed her back down into the soft bedding, his fingertips pressing against her carotid arteries. He wasn't choking her… not exactly… but his continued grip wasn't pleasant, either.

"What I've done…?" she managed to croak.

"Oh yes. What you've done. I had to work on you long and hard while you sat so alone and forlorn in that office of yours. Poor Gwen! It's lonely at the top, isn't it? You were a bit of a hard nut to crack, to be sure, but I had nothing but time. Nothing but patience. Nothing but resolve, because you, sweetheart are definitely worth waiting for. My big brother sure does know how to pick them, doesn't he?"

He brought his face close to hers, kissed her swiftly, delicately on the lips. She tried her best to turn her head away. His hand moved down lower… She grimaced as his fingers probed inside her shirt.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, desperately trying to keep anything that sounded remotely like entreaty out of her voice.

"Oh… from you? Nothing. There's nothing I want from you. Don't you see? I already have you, my sweet. You are totally mine, to do with as I see fit." He shrugged, took his hand from her breast and used it to stroke back her hair.

She clenched her teeth and uttered a low, feral growl.

Mockingly, Gray laughed. "And I do like my lovers feisty. In that way I'm very much like my big brother. Did you ever have him? Hmm? No, maybe not; the two of you would've danced around each other like moths around a flame. Pity… We both enjoy strong, demonstrative women like you who offer more than just perfunctory defiance." He leered at her.

"Not that you're not enjoyable as a mindless zombie. You know, I always suspected it but you really do like sex, don't you? You're insatiable. That attractive little husband of yours, he is a lucky man. Or should I say was a lucky man… I think from this point forward I'll be keeping you all to myself."

Her eyes went wide.

"Dear me, you don't remember do you?" he smirked. "Well, it breaks my heart to think you've already forgotten me and what we've had – what we shared together, but there'll be plenty of time for us to refresh your memory while we wait…"

"Wait…?"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Gods above! Not the old trying to get me to talk trick, is it? That is such a bore and we have far, far better things to do. Sweet Gwen, it has been such a long time since I had a female lover. I'd forgotten how soft and smooth you are. How good you smell. How warm and lasting your embrace is." Again he leaned over, brought his mouth to her ear and kissed it, only not so delicately this time.

"Why are you doing this?" there was outrage but also fear clearly evident in the sound of her voice.

"You're not going to shut up about it are you?" he murmured into her hair as he lowered himself down onto the bed. "Well, I could change you back into a sex toy but I'd much prefer to keep this intense fire of yours kindled. I find it exciting… I find you thrilling…" He kissed her neck. She tried to push him off but he only pressed down onto her harder. "The more you fight, the more I enjoy it. The more you resist me, the more I want you. That's like Jack, too, or didn't you know?"

"Jack…" she whispered without intending to.

"Yes, Captain Jack Harkness." His grasp, his voice turned hard, hot. "I do want you, sweetheart, but of course it's my brother who I really want; who I'm determined to have. And I'm sorry but you'll simply have to accept it: you're just the snare – a way for me to get to him. And to get what I want from him – to make my handsome and heroic big brother regret that he was ever born. But you're a damned delectable, desirable snare, and I don't think I'm going to get tired of partaking of you any time soon."

He raised his head and stared into her eyes. Although she wanted to look away, Gwen found that she couldn't. Although she wanted to resist, she found that she couldn't do that either. "And I can make sure," Gray said as he peered into the depths of her soul, "that you don't get tired of me."

-00-

"Hatred ever kills, love never dies."
Mohandas K. Gandhi