Teel held herself stiffly in Rogue's arms, knowing that she did not have the heart to harm a child, would never have the will to harm a child. Her threat was an empty one and Rogue was calling her on it. She did the only thing she could think of, relaxing her body in Rogue's arms praying for a moment of weakness.
The moment came nearly too late as Rogue responded to her relaxed posture by relaxing his hold on her arms, and it took Teel only a moment to slide out of his loosened grip and throw herself at the guard who was even then bringing the sword down in a swift arch towards Talia. There was a blur of movement wherein the guard tried to shake Teel off and the child attacked his legs. It was over in seconds with Teel's unconscious body on the floor and a crying Talia urging her to get up.
Rogue was powerless to stop the panic rising in his chest. Teel's pale cheeks and motionless body stabbed at the part of his heart that still cared deeply for her. His searching hand found a pulse, but it was weak and erratic. "Send for the physician," he instructed a servant off to his left.
He knew better than to show emotion in front of his people so he merely kneeled next to her unconscious body and prayed a silent prayer for her vibrancy to be returned to her. He sent Talia and her mother away. The blood thirst that had run through his veins earlier in the day had expired in light of this unfortunate turn. And the guard who was responsible for her current state had had enough presence of mind to remove himself before he found himself on the wrong end of a sword. Rogue ground his teeth together in impotent fury, having no outlet for his rage other than to exercise patience.
*********************
Teel jolted awake, not sure what had disturbed her sleep, only sure that something had. She lay motionless examining her environment with only the briefest flick of her eyes around the room. The bed she was in was unfamiliar, there was a pile of hand held weapons on the table next to her, and a stranger's weight depressing the bed on her left side.
Teel's arm silently slid towards the table and came back with a single bejeweled blade glinting in the moonlight. It would do. Her cold mind assimilated that pretty or not the blade would be sufficient for slicing a throat. Blending in with the quiet stillness of the night Teel flowed over the person next to her. He awoke only when she wanted him to. The tip of the knife pressing into his skin was warning enough that he should cooperate if he valued his life.
At last. Rogue felt a light laugh rumble through his chest, though he knew it contained no humor. The blade she had always promised to slide into his ribs was now resting against his throat. A fine end to their relationship, not that he intended to let this woman kill him.
"Is there a reason you have a knife against my throat?" he asked, managing to adopt a bored sort of pseudo-interested tone.
Teel pressed the blade in a little deeper, drawing a single drop of blood to let him know she meant business. "I will be asking the questions, not you sir."
Rogue couldn't help himself and failed to smother another laugh. Despite the seriousness of the situation, this one was filled with genuine amusement. She dared to call him 'sir' after all the intimacies they had shared?
"Stop laughing," Teel demanded in her coldest voice yet, "Or do you want my face to be the last thing you ever see?"
Rogue stopped laughing long enough to move with the animal quickness that had won him their first battle, taking the knife and bending her arm behind her back before she could even formulate how to counteract. Rogue settled his full weight on top of her leaving only one arm free.
"One would think after all this time you would remember how quick I am," he gently chided. "But I'm glad to see you've got your fighting spirit back. I must confess, the thought of making love to a semi-conscious woman held little appeal."
Teel struck out with her free hand at his provocative words landing a hard slap across his right cheek. "How dare you?"
That wiped the smile right off his face, but he made no move to capture her free hand. "If you hit me again, I will not be responsible for my actions."
Teel felt the hard edge of his arousal pressing against her and felt a tremor of fear go through her at what form his retaliation might take. She relaxed her free arm against the bed, not wanting to push him further, but her body remained tense against him.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
That brought the smile right back to his face. "Do you really need to ask? I would think the answer was obvious." He pressed his bulging arousal deeper into the cradle between her thighs.
Teel turned her face away from the warmth of his breath on her lips. She couldn't bear the intimacy and sought to shut him out. "Your vulgar displays of strength and humiliation do not answer my question. Who are you?"
Rogue felt his anger stir at her insolent tone. She should be thanking her God that he hadn't taken the knife from her hand and planted it in her heart. Instead she was speaking to him as though he were something disgusting she had scraped off her shoe.
"I'm surprised and a little shocked that you cannot remember your lover." Rogue was less than impressed by the little game she was insistent on playing, but if she wanted to play, then she would find that he was a more than capable opponent. As far as he was concerned this was just another one of her elaborate charades and he had been tricked one too many times to care about the web of lies she was spinning.
Her disbelieving, condemning eyes flew to his negating the lie. "Never."
