I, ASSASSIN

Chapter Four

Remy dumped his tote bag on the floor in the hall of the Boudreaux mansion. It was a lot more grand than the house he was used to. The carpets were expensive, plush and old. The marble tile floor in the hall was all original, ornate and beautiful. In fact, the rug upon which his boots were planted at that moment was probably decades older than Jean-Luc was. He'd never been exceptional at determining the age of fine furnishings but he was almost positive that there was nothing in this particular hallway dating before 1900. He wasn't sure if it'd be impolite to ask and didn't know if he even cared to do so.

Doesn't matter about how nice the house is, Remy, just watch for any knives they may put in your back, he told himself sternly.

He wished he could turn back, he wished he had a choice in this matter. He wished he hadn't gotten so mad with Jean-Luc and Henri. Why was it they both had that knack of riling his temper up to fierce heights? Henri had a tendency to pick at him when he drank and he regretted taking the drunken words to heart regardless of how true they may have been. Why had he not just admitted Henri was right? That he didn't have what it took to take a life?

If he could take back the entire argument he would have. Maybe I should beg Marius to take Henri instead. He really seemed to actually want to become one of them, not that I can blame him.

Remy wondered if it was possible to make a trade with his brother as his eyes travelled up the wainscotted walls, the damask wallpaper and the various oil paintings. No. Jean-Luc was right...Henri's temper would probably cause a war...he never can keep his mouth shut. He gets drunk and picks at people just like he did with me tonight, he'd say the wrong thing and next we'd all have our throats cut.

As much as he hated both his father and brother right now...he didn't want to see his brother put into this position and inadvertently cause a war. He didn't want to see anything happen to his family, regardless of past cross words and mistreatments, they were still the only family he would ever have.

"Somethin' wrong?" he heard a voice from somewhere above and he glanced up to the rail near the top of the stairs where Bella Donna was lingering in a tight white t-shirt ; behind the rails, he could see she was clad in a pair of shorts that could barely qualify as panties.

"Dunno," he confessed, trying to ignore the flare of anger he had as he looked at her, feeling the sting of her initiation. He glanced up to the ceiling, admiring the chandelier, the arch above the stairs, the entrance to a hallway possibly leading somewhere towards Bella Donna's bedroom. No man's land, he thought wryly. Most the boys in the parish would give their eye teeth to set foot in that boudoir.

Bella Donna leaned forward and down on the rail; Remy was almost positive this was so he could see that beneath the collar of the low cut t-shirt she wore nothing but her tan, which was set off so beautifully against the pristine white. Was it an even tan? He was sure he'd eventually find out, accidentally or otherwise. At least he hoped so.

"We expected you to be here tomorrow," Bella Donna confessed in a lazy but sweet honey drawl. "But tonight is fine," she curled her finger towards herself, beckoning him up the stairs.

Remy took a moment to drink in that image of her, beckoning him so seductively, urging him to come upstairs with her. The things that went through his head at that moment would have been enough to give her father cause to have him castrated.

"Surprised I was able to just walk in," Remy admitted, trying to put the thoughts aside as he picked up his bag. "I was gonna come over tomorrow like the plans said I should...I thought I'd get this stupid crap over with..." he shrugged and began up the stairs, "where's your daddy and your brother?"

"Daddy went chasin' after Julien...he's in a bad mood, you see after learnin' he's joinin' the Thieves he just took off. He's probably gone to get wasted."

I should have done the same thing, Remy thought irritably.

"They'll be back any time I reckon," Bella Donna flashed a stunning smile. "So don't be goin' gettin' any ideas."

"Oh, I wasn't," he assured as he met her at the top of the stairs, his eyes fell briefly on the branding on her wrist, it looked red and angry. He examined the design as quickly as he could before she moved her arm. It looked almost like a fleur de lis, except on a closer inspection, he suspected it may be some kind of dagger design. "Believe me, chere, if I was gettin' any ideas...you would know," he couldn't hide the strain in his voice.

"You sound mad," Bella Donna maintained that same sugary tone and gestured for him to follow her down the hallway; he glanced briefly at the back of her her baby blue velour short-shorts: the words 'kiss my …' were dazzling him in all their sparkling rhinestone splendour upon her perfect posterior. At this moment in time, Remy wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss it or kick it.

"Do I have a reason to be?" Remy asked of her seriously as his eyes scanned the surroundings carefully. The Thief in him counted the doors, the number of locks, he mentally already had planned which lock picking tools he would need to use if ever he needed to bypass those doors.

"Do we really need to play this game, Remy LeBeau?" Bella Donna stopped and turned to him, she kept smiling ever so sweetly.

"Okay," he said as he grabbed her arm and swung her against the wall and made her stand there, holding her there by her right shoulder. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me you were gonna be initiated tonight?" he demanded of her. Truthfully, his anger wasn't directed at her, but he needed an excuse, and right now her teasing him wasn't really helping his anger regardless of who it was directed at.

Her eyes raised up to his, searching, her lips curled into a sweet smile, "oh, is that what this is about? Your little men's world is threatened by me bein' the first female Assassin to be initiated into the Guild. You don't like the idea of a woman bein' anythin' other than a helpless little thing, do you?" she teased.

"I'm serious!" he hissed, "I want an answer!" he smacked his free hand against the wall two inches next to her head, surprisingly she didn't even flinch. He wasn't sure why but her lack of response to this turned him on. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me? Did you think it was funny joining the Guild? You know what danger that would bring if we-"

Bella Donna let her hand rest upon his belt and tugged him a little closer, "I didn't know I was being initiated when I saw you today, chere" she replied softly, "I got home and there it was on the bed..." she explained.

He raised an eyebrow, slightly curious now.

"The robes...the uniform. All brand new. And I knew then. But that was after we had left your house earlier today..." she raised her right leg and hooked it around his left, "believe me, chere..." she buried her hand in his hair and brought him down to her level, she flicked her tongue against his bottom lip, "I was as surprised as you."

Her bare foot rubbed against his calf, this particular act was so highly erotic, it set every nerve in him on edge even more. "You coulda called," he stated, his voice trembled slightly. As turned on as he was by this, he was also incredibly aware of where they were. Did he really want to start messing around with the girl in her own house, where her murderous father lived? He could handle himself, yes, but Marius knew his way around many weapons and Remy didn't particularly relish the thought of what that man may do to him with a blade if he were caught defiling his virginal daughter in his own home. Remy rather liked being attached to all his appendages.

"I didn't have time. I was stressed out and nervous enough...I mean, do you know the pressure everyone here is putting me under? They were watchin' everythin' I do like a hawk..." Bella Donna explained, she stood on her tiptoes and her lips brushed against his jawline. He winced at this, she was too good at this teasing game, and as much as he liked being teased, he didn't appreciate it when he was wound up tighter than a spring. Every nerve in him seemed to be close to exploding with rage and he fought to control it, channel it into calm. It wasn't working as it usually did.

Her light slim fingers lingered on the waistband of his jeans and he was aware of how her index finger had snaked beneath. Her lips shifted, tracing his jaw to his chin. It was driving him insane.

He dipped his head and pushed his lips to hers in a hard kiss hoping it would burn away the fury churning deep in his gut and his loins. Bella Donna laughed softly into his mouth then sucked his tongue and little electric tingles of desire danced up and down his spine in pleasant pirouettes. He pushed the fingers of his free hand beneath her t-shirt to let them slide up and cup her supple left breast, her response was to pull herself up onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist causing him to bang into the wall behind and almost topple into the nearby potted palm. She ground against his groin hard and he moaned appreciatively into her mouth.

In the hall below, out of sight, the front door had opened with a loud, eerie warning creak and then closed with a dull thud and click.

"Belle!" called Marius Boudreaux. He had apparently just entered the house. Remy felt the immediate alarm run his blood cold and he broke his lips from hers, turning to gape towards the passage to the stairs.

Bella Donna hastily dropped from the embrace, and pushed Remy back with one hand while simultaneously she smoothed down her t-shirt. Sniffing, composing herself, she hiked her shorts up a little, "uh huh?" she called out innocently.

"Just heard from Jean-Luc that the LeBeau boy is on his way here," responded Marius from below, there was some shifting sounds as if he were hanging up a coat.

"He's already here, daddy," Belle rushed back to the stairway to lean over the rail to speak to her father.

"I guess this is his bag lyin' here in the middle of the floor?"

"I'd reckon so," said Bella Donna sounding ever so sweet and innocent.

"Did you show him to his room?" asked Marius.

"I'm about to," she assured, Remy glanced down the hall towards her perfect backside as she leaned forward on the rail, giving him an excellent view of the glimmering rhinestones. 'Kiss my …' had never been a more tempting offer.

"Mind that's all you show him," grumbled Marius from down below.

"Oh, daddy," Bella Donna gave a light tinkling laugh that reminded Remy of a perfectly tuned piano. "I am always a perfect lady in the company of young gentlemen," she assured, she shifted, her backside arching, pointed right at him. Remy was quite aware she knew he was looking, she even swayed her backside back and forth as if she were trying to beckon him to it.

Perfect is pretty much accurate, Remy thought as he leaned against the wall, admiring her round posterior and wistfully thinking how wonderful it'd be to get both hands on it. Regardless of her initiation into the Assassins, he wanted her. He wondered perhaps if his own initiation would permit him allowance to see her romantically. He supposed if it was allowed though, the relationship wouldn't be

Bella Donna smirked, and came back to Remy in the hallway, "here's the guest room, she placed her hand on the doorknob in a strangely suggestive way as her eyes locked with his.

Oh god, she's trying to drive me insane. She's deliberately trying to put me on edge, he thought, wincing inwardly as her fingers grazed along the doorknob, which was far too obnoxiously shaped for this gesture to be innocent.

Bella Donna pushed the door and gestured inside, chewing her lip and standing almost coyly at him, her eyes never leaving his.

"After you," he nodded towards the bedroom and his eyes followed her as she entered the room, swaying slowly as she walked and went place to place in the room turning on each small lamp. He stepped in, examining the room in detail. The king-sized bed was a chunky dark oak antique, carved beautifully and glossy with varnish; expensive looking bedlinen and a thick mattress seemed to give the promise of a great nights sleep. The furniture was antique, but nothing overly fancy; old and slightly worn at corners but beautiful all the same.

Despite he should have been more focused on the fact he was alone in a bedroom with the girl he'd been wanting to be with for quite some time, his eyes still darted towards the door to check the inside for locks; there was an old-fashioned lever tumbler lock and the old bitted key was brass, and had an exquisite filigree design that stood out against the painted white of the wood. He also noted at the top of the door, there was a sliding latch just for added security.

"Can't help yourself, can you?" Bella Donna folded her arms and glanced at him disapprovingly. She didn't seem impressed that he was more interested at that moment about his own safety in the room than having her alone there.

"It's the Thief in me," He held the door open but tried the key in the door lock to make sure it worked. "Checkin' the security of a room is pretty much standard. Don't take it personally."

"You're perfectly safe here, Remy," Bella Donna rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah...but..." he cleared his throat, "all the same, I think I'll maybe sleep with one eye open."

"Why, Remy LeBeau," sighed Bella Donna, "alone in a bedroom with lil' old me and a king sized bed...and all you wanna do is check locks?"

Remy tried the lock on the door again, it had rarely ever been used, and thus, gritted hard against the mechanism, taking a fair bit of effort to turn the key. "It's a little stiff..." he remarked.

"Not the only thing," Bella Donna noted, biting her lip, she reached for him and he shifted out of her touch faster than she could lay a hand on him. Having to move out of her reach pained him terribly. He'd longed for these kind of opportunities for so long, but now it was tainted with risk. The risk was certainly a turn on and he certainly loved an element of danger after all, but he didn't know this place, how sound carried, or her father's routines and likelihood of stumbling upon them to take any chances.

I'd have to be stupid to take that chance right now, he reminded himself. "Now ain't the time."

Bella Donna's eyes moved to his groin, she bit her bottom lip then asked softly, "you sure about that?"

"I'm sure."

"Somehow I very much doubt that," she mused. She put her hand on his waistband again, finger trailing down the seam of the zip on his jeans. He steeled himself against it. An almost impossible task but self control was going to be vital to his survival here, he realised.

"Look...last thing I need is for your daddy to catch me handlin' you like that. Far too risky."

"Maybe I like a lil' risk," Bella Donna teased, she went to tug on his zip.

"Don't..." he sighed, he moved away out of her touch and moved towards the window to look outside, it seemed quiet out there. Marius had stepped out to smoke, he was standing just outside of the back porch, he paced a little casually, cigarette dangling from his fingers. Remy wondered what was racing through the man's mind at that moment.

If I'd been Marius, I'd have been standing at the end of the hall tryin' to eavesdrop on this conversation, Remy decided. He supposed he should give the man some credit for trusting him enough to be alone in a room with his teenaged daughter without taking the opportunity to ravage her. Or perhaps this was just a test. Maybe the man expected it, and was giving it a few moments to try and catch them out?

"You aren't afraid, are you?" Bella Donna dared to ask, almost mocking him, her laugh so light, so airy.

Remy sniffed defiantly, "I ain't afraid. Look, you know me, I don't shy away from risk, I love a little danger. But right now, tonight, ain't the time or the place."

"Seems as good an opportunity as any," Bella Donna reasoned.

"What's the rush?" he turned to look at her, and forced a smile. He didn't feel like smiling right now, he felt like breaking something, or punching something. Sex would have been a welcome activity to burn off that excess energy and the anxiety of what was happening right now...but not here, and certainly not with the daughter of a master Assassin. Besides, he was still a little angry with her for her initiation. He felt she'd had far more warning than she was letting on, and that she could have at least given him a little heads up beforehand.

"There ain't no rush," Bella Donna admitted, she leaned against the door frame, arm snaking up to rest there, fingers dangling near her blonde hair. "But...I've waited years to get you alone like this...and I'd just...really...really..." she smirked, "like to get my hands on you," she confessed, her voice low, sweet, like thick sticky honey. God, Remy hoped her father couldn't hear this conversation.

"Ain't nothin' I'd like better, chere," Remy confessed. Oh the thought of it, of her hands, of her lips, of her tight and untouched little body being under his. It made him ache. "But we gotta be patient. A little while longer ain't gonna hurt. Some things are worth waitin' for."

Bella Donna chewed her lip seductively, her eyes dropped to the floor, her cheeks seemed to flush. His own body flushed too, flushed with hot, dirty thoughts.

"Lets wait a while," he suggested, although the suggestion pained him more than anything else had tonight. "Besides, I ain't one of you yet, chere."

"Soon," Bella Donna pushed the door shut and she leaned up to gently brush her lips against his and with that she left him in the room alone. Remy had the distinct feeling that when she'd said soon, she wasn't talking about his full initiation into the guild.

At least he hoped she wasn't.

End of Chapter Four

A short but hopefully seductively sweet chapter. Thanks to those who took the time to give reviews on the last few chapters. I'm glad to see some people are reading it (and finding it a nice welcome change from the usual Romy I write, which can sort of get a little predictable given the general circling that tends to follow their relationship).

Am hoping to have a few more chapters up soon which should have Remy's training truly beginning ;)