Chapter 34

A/N: I am SO SORRY it has taken me so long to write this chapter – I really hope you're not disappointed.


Kate insisted to Charlie that he go home, wherever than might be, and ran back to Richard's house. He was waiting for her in the kitchen; when she appeared he took a plate of pancakes out of the warming oven. She began to explain what had happened but he popped some food into her mouth and she completely lost her train of thought. She was so hungry. She moaned quietly; the pancakes were delicious. Richard chuckled. They still hadn't said anything.

When she had finished everything on the plate, Richard took it away to wash and Kate found a cloth to dry it with. She sat up on the counter and sighed.

"Sometimes I wish I could live like this with someone... No servants, no huge house, just the basics, him and me..."

Richard put his hand on her knee. "Who says that you can't?"

Kate put her head to one side. "I think you like the material things."

Richard put the plate down in the sink and dried his hands on the cloth that was still Kate's. "I like you more," he muttered, leaning into her. Kate wished she could dissolve into his kiss, but they had to talk first... She pushed him away gently; he stood a few inches away from her.

Kate relayed everything that had happened with Sally; Richard listened intently.

"...and I just... I don't trust her," Kate finished, not knowing whether she hoped Richard shared her suspicions or not. He nodded.

"I know what you mean. We still have to do it, though."

"Yes. We have to. It has to be over," Kate said firmly. "I've had enough of living in his shadow, being watched, living in fear..."

"You have to talk to Captain Montgomery?"

Kate thought it was adorable, how Richard used Roy's old military title. She nodded.

"Now, I think."

Richard sighed. "I'm coming, though. I'm not missing possibly my last night with you."

Kate put her hands on his shoulders. "This is not going to be our last night together."

Richard chuckled. "It had better not be. I assume you want to run?"

Kate smiled. "I hope you can keep up."

They reached the book shop a little after they heard the clock strike one. For once Kate didn't find the clock comforting... She felt as if it was counting down the hours they had until... Until something terrible. She was not the sort to be afraid. But now her gut was clenching, tugging at her old wound, and she was dreading what she would be doing in under 24 hours from now.

Roy listened to the whole story and at once agreed to accompany them the next night. Kate wished she could tell him not to come, wished she could protect him – he had fought enough... But she needed him. She hated using people, the phrase 'for the greater good' make her want to be sick, but... It had to be done. Roy, Sally, Charlie and his friends... They all wanted to help. But there was no way she could guarantee their safety, and she felt almost like the people she was fighting.

She went upstairs to talk to Lanie; Richard came with her. Lanie said she would help, too.

"You know that I can fight," she said to Kate. "It would be crazy not to take me. You need all the help you can get."

Again, Kate had to agree. Richard saw the turmoil she was in, but there wasn't much he could say to comfort her. He didn't like what they were having to do, either – but he was far more keen for help than she was. Though the other people mattered to him, he was in this for Kate, and only for Kate. It was selfish, it wasn't good – but it was how he felt. He needed Kate to get through this, he needed Bracken gone, even if this meant risking the lives of other good people.

It was love. Poets often liked to pretend that love was all roses, it softened the heart, it was good and gentle and kind. But they were talking about something which only existed in fairy tales. Richard was in love, truly in love, and he would do anything, anything for Kate, He would kill for her, he would send innocents to their deaths for her, he would lie for her, he would torture for her, he would maim and punish and...

Kate was looking at him with a strange expression. He forced himself back to the present moment.

"Your eyes..." she said slowly.

"What?" he asked softly.

"Your eyes were like fire, like..." And then her mouth was on his in a frenzy that he had never felt from her. Lanie had gone, they were alone in her bedroom. When she had finally kissed him enough to satisfy her for a moment, Kate pushed Richard back on her bad and straddled him.

"What were you thinking about?" she said. Richard was trying to work out where her clothes had disappeared to... His hands gripped her waist.

"I was thinking that I would kill for you, and that... That I would like it."

Kate ripped open his shirt and ran her fingers down his bare chest.

"Don't say that," she whispered.

"It's true," he said softly, afraid himself.

"I would kill for you too," Kate murmured. "But I hate myself for it."

Richard rolled them over and looked down at Kate. "Don't," he said simply. She shuddered as his hands found their way to her breasts, then were replaced with his mouth. And while what he had said, and her similar feelings, still bothered her, with his mouth doing what it was doing, she found it all too easy to comply with his edict. She undid the top of his pants and sighed as she felt his erection, guiding him inside her and feeling... complete.

He gave her a moment to adjust before starting to gently move his hips; she felt a twinge of pain in her back but ignored it, her fingers tracing patterns on Richard's shoulder blades as they rose higher and higher together. Kate moaned as Richard sucked on her neck; she had been far readier than she realised. She shattered around him, crying out, her brain still feeling like treacle. To her annoyance, Richard pulled out before he came. The change brought Kate to her senses enough for her to move down and put her mouth over Richard's arousal. He tasted so strongly of her it was almost strange, bit his hands wound themselves in her hair and she steadied his hips as he poured into her mouth.

She swallowed, and slid slowly off him with a pop. He lay back on the bed, pulling her down to lie on top of him. She kissed his lips, letting him taste them. His hand stroked down her back and she winced with pain again. He opened his eyes.

"What..? You alright?"

Kate blinked. "Fine," she said, settling against Richard. She couldn't feel anything now. But he wouldn't let up. He shifted, moving to look at her back.

"Jesus, Kate!"

Her head flopped down onto the bed as he moved from underneath her.

"What?" she mumbled. "Come back, want to sleep..."

But he had gone. She vaguely heard his footsteps, he was gone for so long she was almost asleep when he got back. She was too pleasured and tired to wonder what he was doing. When she heard him back in the room, she slowly turned her head to face him. He just had his pants on.

"Come back to bed? Please?"

He put something on the bedside table and sat on the bed beside her.

"I hurt you," he said. To her horror, he looked close to tears.

"What? No you didn't..." she said confused.

"I did," he said in a strangled tone. "Earlier, in the forest..."

Kate hummed with pleasure at the memory. Richard was pulling her to her feet, though. She sighed in complaint, but he led her over to the glass and forced her to look at her back.

It was covered with scratches and friction burns. She was confused. And so sleepy.

"It's fine," she said, stumbling back to the bed. "Sleep."

"We have to clean it," Richard said. He sounded so worried.

"Fine," Kate said, flopping back down on her front. "Clean. Then bed."

She heard the sound of a cloth being wrung out in water.

"This will sting," Richard said.

"Just get on with it," Kate mumbled. She had been feeling so good, she was annoyed with him for ruining it.

To her embarrassment and frustration, she couldn't hold in a squeak of pain when the water touched her cuts. Richard felt the pain as much as she did, maybe even more... She could feel how tense he was even though he barely touched her. She was was wide awake when he had finished, and sat up, knowing full well her breasts were practically in his face. He sighed.

"I thought you were tired."

"Changed my mind," she said, taking his head in his hands and pulling him into a kiss.

"It's late..."

"We don't have anything on until dusk," Kate said. She could feel her worry creeping back, she just needed Richard to get rid of it for her, and she needed him to hurry up and work that out for himself, because she could not be weak in front of him, not now, especially when he thought he'd hurt her too. He was kissing back, at least. Deciding showing was okay, she tipped herself back so his mouth slipped lower. He got off the bed to kneel in front of her. She had a feeling he saw this as an apology, but she was past caring.

When he finally got back into bed, it was already light outside. Kate wished she would hurry up and fall asleep before she could think too much about what they were going to do later. She was on her front again; she knew Richard was looking at her back with a pained expression. She gave him a shove.

"What?"

"Stop it. I'm fine, it was amazing. Probably one of our best. Definitely worth a few scratches. You being a baby about it is far worse."

Richard chuckled. "After today... you really think you can call me a baby?"

"You're being a baby now," she mumbled, snuggling into him. He was finally relaxing; she sighed, relieved, and began to drift off to sleep.

Richard listened to her breathing slow. He wished he could stop her, he wished she didn't have to fight anyone, he wanted to wrap her up safe and warm and never let her out anywhere dangerous... As the day passed on and the night loomed closer, he found himself unable to sleep. He simply watched her, taking everything about her in. Whatever happened, he would not let anyone touch her.

They would have to kill him first.


A/N: It's sort of a filler - maybe call it our make up sex? Review! If I get lots I will update FAST! xx