Napoleon began to sense that he was being watched. He had been asleep, but the closer he came to wakefulness, the stronger the feeling that he was being watched became. He decided to pretend that he was still asleep, so that he could continue to gather information about his current situation.
Suddenly, he heard an amused, feminine chuckle. "Napoleon, Cherie, you are playing possum with me? I know you are awake. Did you forget that we got together last night?"
He opened his eyes to see a smiling, sated looking Angelique looking him over with appreciative eyes. "I admit, I did forget for a moment. Good morning, my pet. Thank you for not killing me in my sleep."
"I will make you laugh, mon chat. Do you remember my sometime partner, Robert? The man who bested your little beast of a partner?" *
"I do. Unfortunately."
"I was speaking with him the other day and I mentioned that I thought I might be spending some time with you. He told me that he thought that I love you."
Napoleon's eyes widened. "He thinks you love me?" He was astonished to see the THRUSH agent's face redden with embarrassment. "Angelique, is he right? Do you…love me?"
"I would not go that far, Napoleon. I will admit that I enjoy your company, that we are very compatible sexually and I don't give in to my urges to kill you though I know I should, but love you? That is a step too far."
"Be that as it may, I think Robert might have a point. I don't know if I would call it love, but you have some feelings toward me that preclude ending my life. Truth be told, I do feel something when it comes to you, though I'm not sure I would call it love. Call it a mutual respect, the way a cobra might respect a boa constrictor. I saw a film once where those two snakes got into an altercation and ended up killing each other; the cobra died of suffocation, but not before giving the boa a fatal bite."
"And in that metaphor, which one am I?"
"Does it matter? Angelique, you and I are both Masters in The Game. We win. We haven't, not yet, gone up against each other. I hope we never are ordered to do so. It would sadden me to have to kill you…"
"Assuming you could…"
He reached up and gently pulled her down to him. "My point is: The killer of the other would be left bereft. Do you agree?"
She settled down on his body and began to slowly move against him. "I do agree. No one matches me in bed like you do, Napoleon."
As his arousal built, he began to kiss along her jaw line. Before all thought left him, he said, "Maybe this is a kind of love, Angelique. I'm not sure I understand it; I know my partner doesn't understand it and swears it will be the death of me, but for what it's worth, there is love on my side for you."
Angelique molded herself to him. "Same here."