Only 5 chapters left ..:)

Rukia stared at the man before her, unsure of what to say. The strength of his muscles was evident by how the material of his clothing stretched tautly over his body. Blue, faintly damp hair hung shaggily over his forehead and there was the faintest curve to his nose as if it had been broken at one point. His mouth was firm and set in a straight, unyielding line. It was somewhat amazing that the man could look so gorgeous at first glance yet exude such a different aura.

Ichigo was strong yet caring, while Grimmjow was… dangerous? A part of her mind acknowledged that the rocky, uninviting atmosphere of the ravine seemed to suit him and Rukia found herself vaguely reassured to know that, by Riruka's admission, he was not the psycho rogue wolf that she'd been led to believe.

Still and all, he was an unknown quantity and needed to be treated with caution. Clearing her throat, she gave the lamest greeting possible. "Hi!" No response was given. Instead, the man's gaze seemed to be assessing her, taking in her appearance from head to toe. Rukia felt inexplicably self-conscious, aware that she was far from looking her best. Her clothes were dirty and torn, scratches and smeared blood stained her hands and probably her face as well. She resisted the urge to finger comb her hair and straighten her jacket, instead forcing herself to meet his gaze. Showing weakness was not an option, despite her extremely vulnerable position.

When he spoke, his voice was deep, similar to Ichigo's, but harder and lacking the caring quality that she had come to expect from her mate. "Did you kill her?"

"Kill who?" Rukia was startled. It wasn't what she'd been expecting him to say.

"Momo." He gestured with his head towards the dead woman's body. "Did you kill her?."

"No! Of course not! I was running and she was chasing me and then she jumped and we sort of rolled down and… " Rukia let her voice trail off as his blue eyes narrowed and a growl rumbled in his chest.

"I don't know if I should believe you or not. Momo was part of my pack and she wouldn't hurt anyone."

"It was all an accident!" She hastened to reassure him, while thinking that here was another person Momo had managed to fool. "I broke my leg during the fall … "

He leaned forward and touched her leg as if to check the truth of her claim. Wincing, she bit back a cry of pain. Immediately he withdrew his hand, but instead of moving away, came closer and sniffed her. A puzzled frown appeared. "Ichigo's?"

She nodded. "Ichigo is my mate."

A smirk appeared. "He works fast. He wasn't even seeing anyone when I left."

"We've only been together three weeks. It was an arranged mating. My father is Alpha of the territory to the west of here."

"I wondered if a political pairing would be needed on that front." He was silent for a moment, and then stuck out his hand. "I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaques."

"Rukia Kuch- Kurosaki." Her small hand was engulfed in his and comforting warmth came over her. It wasn't the same tingling awareness that she got from Ichigo, but still it was… nice.

"So, care to tell me what happened here?" He sat down and looked at her expectantly.

"I will, but could you possibly help me first?" Rukia wanted to get away before Riruka returned.

"No. Tell me your story and then I'll decide." Grimmjow folded his arms and seemed prepared to wait as long as necessary.

Rukia had no choice. She wanted to get away, but didn't dare push too much. He looked like he was used to getting his own way and right now Grimmjow was her only hope. Giving an exasperated huff, she launched into a much edited version of what was happening.

"Do you know about the oil company wanting the land and offering lots of money?" He nodded, so she continued. "Apparently, Riruka is trying to force Ichigo into selling out and she thinks if I'm out of the way, she'll be able to get Ichigo to listen to her." She paused to gauge his reaction.

Grimmjow snorted and shook his head. "Typical of the bitch."

Silently, Rukia agreed, but kept her comments to herself. "Well, Riruka and Momo were planning to kill me, so when I got a chance, I ran. Momo tackled me and we rolled down the ravine. She died, I think her neck was broken and now Riruka's gone off to get some stuff so that she can kill me by herself. I've been trying to get away, but, as you can see, I haven't made it very far." Rukia had carefully avoided mentioning how Riruka had been using Grimmjow as a scapegoat. Remembered that the man had been described as hot-headed and impulsive, she thought she'd avoid getting him all worked up.

"Momo was in on this plan?" He sounded sceptical.

"I was surprised too, but she had a gun pointed at me."

He snickered. "It's always the quiet ones you have to watch." Grimmjow rubbed his chin and appeared lost in thought. The silence stretched between them and Rukia began to wonder if Grimmjow even remembered she was there.

"Can I ask you a question?" He looked at her with raised brows. "Did you… I mean, a couple of weeks ago, were you over at Riruka's?" She almost shrank under his gaze, cursing herself for asking the question even as the words left her mouth. Hopefully, it wouldn't set him off.

"Yeah. I was there."

"Oh." Rukia answered in a small voice, averting her eyes. The man beside her had threatened and attacked Riruka. While she had no love for the woman, she wasn't comfortable around a man who would hit a female. What if she made him mad? Would he strike out at her too.

"And I hit her… once. I know that's what you want to ask." Grimmjow made the statement blandly as he scanned the woods around them. "Do you want to know why?"

"Well, I suppose. If you want to tell me, that is."

"Before the challenge, you know about that?" She nodded. "Well, that fucking bitch!"

Rukia cringed at his choice of words, he must have seen her reaction,for Grimmjow cleared his throat before speaking. "I mean, Riruka and I were… together. Originally, she was Ichigo's girl and around him she would put on this helpless female act, playing up to his need to be the protector, but when that idiot wasn't looking, she showed me her true colours. She was the 'bad' girl with a bit of an attitude and I found that appealing for some reason, Not to mention she was a good fuck so I worked hard to steal her away from him. I didn't feel guilty about it, since I knew she was playing him along and he'd never really be happy with her. In a way, I was rescuing him from his own blind stupidity. It was only later that I found out she was stringing me along, too.

"Riruka's a master manipulator and without even realising it, she had me eating out of her hand. She knew my weaknesses and played on them, got me to challenge Kurosaki because of some cock and bull story about him sabotaging Gin's truck." He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head in obvious self-disgust. "Anyway, long story short, that bastard won. I was embarrassed and left the area. Riruka refused to come with me, of course, and that was when I realised that, like Ichigo, I never really knew her. I'd only seen the image she wanted me to see. Before I left, I gave her all my photographs to sell with the promise that she'd forward the money to me."

"I've seen one of your pictures. You're quite talented." Rukia interjected.

Grimmjow gave her a half smile. "Thanks. I was going to use the proceeds to establish a new pack. Imagine my surprise when I called the Gallery and found that all but one of my works had been sold, even though, surprisingly enough, there was no money in my account. It turns out she'd kept it all. So I came back to town looking for my money and she laughed, saying she'd already spent it and there was no way I'd ever get it back from her. To top it all off, there was also this sports car that I owned, I only used it once in a while, and I'd left it with her to sell. Rather than taking it to a proper dealership where there'd be a fast turnover, she had it sitting at some little out of the way garage where it will probably never sell, because she wanted to still have use of it. All my money, my pride, even my status with the pack, she took it all from me. Everything I had was gone and she just laughed in my face. I grabbed her by the arms and shook her. She spit in my face and I lost it, I slapped her. It's not something I'm proud of, but I won't hide it either."

Rukia was quiet for a moment, then reached out her hand and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry she did that to you. If it makes you feel any better, you're not her only victim. She's driven a major wedge between Ichigo and me. I was foolish enough to listen to her too."

Grimmjow looked over at her and gave a smirk. "She's a real piece of work, isn't she?"

Nodding, Rukia gave a quick smile back. "And now she wants to kill me."

"Right. Not that I want you dead, but why didn't she just kill you when you first fell down here? What did she have to go and get?" She hadn't really wanted to tell Grimmjow that Riruka had basically been assassinating his character, but couldn't think of an alternative and she refused to lie any more.

"She went to get some of your clothes that you'd left behind. She's been using them so that your scent was at the scene of some of the bad stuff that's been going on around here."

Grimmjow stiffened. "What kind of bad stuff?"

"Well, oil purposely dumped in the water, traps have been set, Chad was shot… And now she wants you blamed for my death and probably Momo's too."

"Damn!" Grimmjow surged up from the spot he'd been sitting and began to angrily pace back and forth in front of her. "She is such a bitch! I imagine my name is mud within the pack and they're trying to hunt me down now, aren't they? Why the fuck is she doing this to me? What kind of twisted revenge does she want? Just because I lost the challenge, she dumps me and screws up my whole life! Wait until I get my hands on her… "

"Grimmjow, calm down!" Rukia snapped the order at him, hoping to keep him from flying off the handle. "If it's any help, she's not getting revenge on personally. She's trying to convince Ichigo it's too dangerous to stay here and that he needs to sell out. After that, she's planning on stealing the money from his bank account. You're just being used as a scapegoat to keep suspicion away from her."

Grimmjow growled and looked around, angry emotion blazing from his eyes. Rukia was worried that he'd just charge off and leave her. "Please, Grimmjow! I know you're mad but I need you to help me right now. I can't get back to the Alpha house on my own and I'd prefer not to be here when Riruka returns. I'll explain everything to Ichigo and then the two of you can go after her together."

She wasn't exactly sure Ichigo would believe her, but she'd cross that bridge when she got there. Finally, Grimmjow stopped his pacing and took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself. He clenched and loosened his fists several times before finally turning to face her. The rage he was feeling was evident in the stormy blue of his eyes, and she forced herself to swallow the fear that rose up inside her. Grimmjow wasn't mad at her, she reminded herself.

"All right. I'll take you to the Alpha house, but then I'm coming back here to find her, regardless of what Ichigo says."

Carefully, Grimmjow eased his arms under her and picked her up bridal style trying not to her leg more than necessary. Each step he took made her wince however and she sought a way to keep her mind off the pain. Picking a question that had been floating around in her mind, she began a conversation.

"So, if you weren't planning on ever coming back, why are you here today?"

"I was trying to track down Riruka one last time in an attempt to get my money back. If she wouldn't give it to me, I was going to tell her that I'd approach the gallery and complain. They wouldn't likely give me any money either, but I was hoping the threat of losing her job would make her cough up some of the cash she owes me. She hasn't been back to her apartment in days, so I figured she was staying here. I caught her scent by the road and was following it when I found you."

As she listened, Rukia placed an arm around his shoulder to help steady herself. She could feel the muscles rippling underneath his shirt and his breath came in soft puffs, dancing across her face. Slowly the warmth of his body was seeping into hers, blocking out the chill and she relaxed in his arms. The male scent of him was almost like Ichigo's. It wrapped itself around her and she laid her head against his body, the faint sound of his heart beating barely distinguishable, yet still comforting.

She wished Ichigo were here. He and Grimmjow were alike, being gorgeous and hot the difference being that dangerous aura Grimmjow carried. Rukia imagine it was Ichigo carrying her. A wave of warmth washed over her and she felt an aching need building inside of her. She brushed her nose against Grimmjow's neck and rubbed his back before allowing her fingers to wander up to his neck, playing with the strands of hair that tumbled over his collar. Mmm…

Grimmjow's pace faltered and then he came to a stop. He sniffed at her and his whole body stiffened. Looking down, he quirked a brow. "Rukia? Are you… ?"

Suddenly, Rukia snapped out of the desire induced haze she'd fallen into. Mortified, she pushed herself away from him, totally forgetting that he was holding her some five feet off the ground. Nearly dropping her as she struggled, Grimmjow tightened his grip and Rukia cried out as pain shot through her body from where his fingers had squeezed her broken limb.

A deep growl suddenly reverberated through the trees, causing them both to freeze as a large golden brown wolf came into sight.

"Ichigo!" Rukia ceased her struggles against Grimmjow and stared at her mate. He snarled and lowered his head, lips drawn back to reveal an impressive set of teeth. Slowly he stalked towards them, the fur on his back rising. With surprise, she realised that the door to his mind had been opened to her and she had some idea of what he was thinking and feeling. Unfortunately, it was still a bit hard to interpret, but she knew he was incredibly angry. She hastened to offer reassurance, trying to project her thoughts while speaking. "I'm all right. Grimmjow was just carrying me because of my leg. He accidentally squeezed it, but didn't mean me any harm."

Her efforts had some effect, since Ichigo stopped in his tracks, but he still didn't back down. Grimmjow kept his eyes locked on Ichigo and a low rumble emitted from his chest. Rukia felt his muscles tensing around her and her head snapped to look at the man holding her. What was he doing? Was it an instinctive reaction to the threat Ichigo posed?

Deliberately, Grimmjow sniffed her, then let her slowly slide out of his arms, her body brushing against the length of his. Her bottom brushed against his body, and she gave a quick inhale as her mind registered the fact that he was definitely at half-mast. She tried to move away but he put his arm around her waist and held her in place, even pulling her back a bit so she had the full effect of his erection pressing between her butt cheeks.

And he pushed.

"Grimmjow!" Rukia gasped at his audacity, her face flushing at the suggestiveness of Grimmjow's move. Well, wasn't this just great! Apparently, her close proximity during her stupid heat cycle was no doubt affecting him, but really, they didn't have time for this right now!

Anxious to move away from Grimmjow in order to keep the peace, she tried to step back as soon as her feet touched the ground, while still sending good thoughts Ichigo's way.

Unfortunately, she discovered she wasn't that good at doing two things at once. Forgetting to balance her weight on one leg, her injured limb gave way. With a cry, she automatically grabbed onto the nearest object that could provide some stability. Unfortunately, it was Grimmjow's arm and that was just enough to send Ichigo over the edge.

Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I want this chapter to focused on Grimmjow's innocence and sexiness and dangerousness and hottiness .. :D

lol, I'm totally in love with him, am I?