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Knight in Rusty Armour {asylum and Alan23}

-Sav tugged the skirt down as she stepped from the car and followed him to the check in counter. She remained quiet, still wearing the faint look of slumber. There were faint bags under her eyes, she could feel them and knew that little more than some more sleep would help.

Walking along beside him as they made their way to the room, she stayed close and quietly curled her arm around his. Lending to the image still that they were nothing more than a couple stopping in for a room for the night. She peered up at him and offered a weary smile.-

"Thank you."

-she said softly. She knew she'd been giving him a bit of a hard time and that he certainly hadn't needed to do any of this. She was still scared, that was a given. She still worried about consequences should something go wrong and she end up back under her fathers thumb. She did trust him though and her closeness and willingness to allow him to take her away said as much.

She released his arm and slipped into the room with him behind her. She already had the suitcase open, rummaging through it for another shirt to sleep in actually when he'd told her she should continue her sleep. The mention of someone coming over however brought a tightness to her shoulders that surely he noticed.-

"Oh?"

-she questioned quietly, her back to him but the tone said enough. She was leery and curious. A woman? Though she didn't question him outright about it. Instantly her skin flushed as she heard her own tone. She drew in a breath and pulled another button down shirt. Simply, they were longer and more comfortable than the feminine clothes stuffed into the suitcase.

She peered into the bathroom, chewing on her lower lip. Slipping into the room, she closed the door most of the way, leaving it open just a crack so that she could hear him as he spoke, standing behind the door she slipped from the dress and got herself into the shirt. Folding the dress neatly, she stepped back out of the bathroom. Replacing the skirt from the space she'd taken the shirt.

Setting the suitcase onto the floor, she pulled the covers back. She had every intention of trying to get back to sleep, she really was a bit tired and he had said she didn't need to be awake for whatever he was getting ready to do....but...her mind had other plans.

Curling up under the blanket, she forced her eyes closed but sleep wasn't coming. Instead, she was indeed wondering about things she shouldn't be. Minutes later, when theoretically she should have easily fallen back into slumber, she instead tossed and turned the opposite way, still trying to force thoughts away and sleep to come.-
 
asylum said:
-Sav tugged the skirt down as she stepped from the car and followed him to the check in counter. She remained quiet, still wearing the faint look of slumber. There were faint bags under her eyes, she could feel them and knew that little more than some more sleep would help.

Walking along beside him as they made their way to the room, she stayed close and quietly curled her arm around his. Lending to the image still that they were nothing more than a couple stopping in for a room for the night. She peered up at him and offered a weary smile.-

"Thank you."

-she said softly. She knew she'd been giving him a bit of a hard time and that he certainly hadn't needed to do any of this. She was still scared, that was a given. She still worried about consequences should something go wrong and she end up back under her fathers thumb. She did trust him though and her closeness and willingness to allow him to take her away said as much.

She released his arm and slipped into the room with him behind her. She already had the suitcase open, rummaging through it for another shirt to sleep in actually when he'd told her she should continue her sleep. The mention of someone coming over however brought a tightness to her shoulders that surely he noticed.-

"Oh?"

-she questioned quietly, her back to him but the tone said enough. She was leery and curious. A woman? Though she didn't question him outright about it. Instantly her skin flushed as she heard her own tone. She drew in a breath and pulled another button down shirt. Simply, they were longer and more comfortable than the feminine clothes stuffed into the suitcase.

She peered into the bathroom, chewing on her lower lip. Slipping into the room, she closed the door most of the way, leaving it open just a crack so that she could hear him as he spoke, standing behind the door she slipped from the dress and got herself into the shirt. Folding the dress neatly, she stepped back out of the bathroom. Replacing the skirt from the space she'd taken the shirt.

Setting the suitcase onto the floor, she pulled the covers back. She had every intention of trying to get back to sleep, she really was a bit tired and he had said she didn't need to be awake for whatever he was getting ready to do....but...her mind had other plans.

Curling up under the blanket, she forced her eyes closed but sleep wasn't coming. Instead, she was indeed wondering about things she shouldn't be. Minutes later, when theoretically she should have easily fallen back into slumber, she instead tossed and turned the opposite way, still trying to force thoughts away and sleep to come.-
Click to expand...

Thinking her asleep, Rak crept very quietly to the door when the raven-haired girl knocked. He held a finger to his lips as he stood back allowing her to enter.

The newcomer's body language was almost suggesting she expected an embrace, and she had to be quick, Rak noticed, to hide her disappointment when such a greeting was not forthcoming. She quickly covered her mistake, becoming businesslike and efficient again, though just for a second the hint of blush covered her face. Whether this was because of being in his presence, or at her mistake, even Rak (normally such an expert) could not be entirely sure.

"This her?" she asked, looking at the sleeping (as she imagined, at least, though Rak had his doubts) figure on the bed. This time, Rak could not fail to notice the scorn. Again, the dark-haired girl quickly covered her feelings. "Your client, I mean? The one who's scared of her dad?"

"That's Ms Moreaux, yes." Unlike the courier, he was not going to assume she was sleeping. "Did you bring - what we discussed?"

"Formal aren't we?" The girl bit her lip, pushed at her hair. Being about as coquettish as she could when working. She tugged at the hem of her short leather jacket. "Formal, tonight, aren't we?" she giggled, though it was a forced cheerfulness. "You're - ah, yes, I get it. A client. You have to keep your mind on the job. Frankly, those at my branch of the... the order thought it a bit strange you taking on a situation like this. Knowing what an enemy you'd make. Still, I guess when she found out what you had on your side, she would have snapped you up."

"Well, if it's any of the order's business," Rak snapped, barely keeping control, "I'm doing this one on a pro rata basis."

Her eyes widened. "Huh? Shit, Rakky. Why would - ah. I get it. Well, I never. Don't say Rak's fallen in love?" She glared ostentatiously at Savannah's form again. "But... but with that? A fucking middle-aged virgin?"

"You can tell them that's what happened, if it shuts them up," Rak replied, pouring coffee for them both. "I'll thank you not to insult Sav - my client, though, Nightbird. It's hardly her fault she's been kept under her father's thumb. You were a virgin, once."

She blushed again. "You should know," she replied. "I was hardly pushing thirty, or whatever she is, though. That's weird, Rakky. I... yeah, yeah, I know, don't insult you client." she handed him a briefcase, which he opened and checked.

"It's all there," she snapped. "All you need. Now I guess I'll be going. Let lover-girl drink that coffee. I guess you're gonna waken her with a kiss like in a fairy tale, right?"

"Are you jealous, Nightbird?" he chuckled.

"Of that?" The very vehemence of her denial showed that his shaft had well and truly hit home. "Some middle aged child?"

"Shhh. You'll wake her up,"

"Sorry," she replied, somewhat insincerely. The idea of the girl awakening actually intrigued her. Her duty forgotten, Nightbird would have been happy to pick an argument with the women she envied. The one travelling with Rak, sharing his bed. "Is she actually asleep, anyway? Hey, you? Virgin girl? You awake?"
 
-she settled into position and lay there. Unmoving. If one paid close enough attention to the actual rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed, it would no doubt lead to questioning whether she was actually asleep or not.

She shifted softly, tucking the blanket tighter against her torso, letting her arm fall against her belly.

She was still during the first few moments, even when she heard the voice of the other woman. It wasn't until she heard her question Rak, the tone. She was naive but not so much so she couldn't hear the shift in the womans tone. Taking a breath, her nostrils flaring she pretended to shift just a little bit before settling, still with her back to the pair.

Many nights she'd pretended to sleep when she was younger and her father told her she had to go to bed, he always bought it. So, why not, right? She didn't think they were paying that close of attention to her anyways.

Her brow did furrow though the more she listened, pretending to be cold, she shifted again and pulled the blanket up over her arm this time, tucking it around and under her chin. Quiet, not really trying to draw attention to herself. Though the scathing tone her "sleeping" form was receiving from Rak's friend, certainly made her want to curl up under the blanket. While the girl might not have noticed because she was too busy taking her shots at her, she was certain Rak noticed, the way he kept talking to the other woman.

Her lips pursed together as she fought to keep the tears at bay, even when she said it was weird that she was laying here, still a virgin. They didn't stay at bay however when she heard the venomous lash of tongue when the woman called her a middle aged child.

Only when she was directly called, harsh as it might have been, did she finally turn. Her stomach flipping as she swung her legs from the bed, feet falling to the floor. The tears that had been bubbling at her lids, shook and a single one fell even as she spit back at the woman across the room.-

"I was trying to sleep and I'm hardly a child. There's only one of those I see in this room."

-the last she murmured, her eyes shifting to Rak and then dropping away, fidgetting with the corner of the bed sheet.-
 
Nightbird's reaction to realizing that Savannah was awake was to spring forward as if to physically assault her, but Rak moved more quickly, and held her, preventing her from carrying out any intentions she might have harbored in this direction. She squirmed in his grip, as her jealousy of him fought propriety, and the latter finally won. She was on a job here, and personal feelings should not be allowed to intrude. She glowered daggers at Savannah, as Rak steered her from the room, and soon happy gigglings reached Savannah's ears from outside.

He returned a few minutes later, and sat on the bed, favoring her with a small smile. "She's a nice girl," he said, "but gets a bit... possessive of a guy she gets a thing for. I guess seeing a beautiful woman in a room with only a double bed set her off. "Look, don't be upset about what she said about you. Being a... lacking sexual experience... doesn't make you a child. It's hardly your fault your father was like he was."

He began spreading the things Nighgbird had brought out on the bed. Passports (with faked stamps,) driving licenses in both their names, various other papers that added to the picture of totally different histories than their real ones. "I decided not to choose a fake name for you," he said. "For someone not used to being on the run it's hard to remember to keep it up. Someone might try and trick you by calling your real name and seeing your reaction. The... the people I asked for help... supplied us with plenty of money, too, so there shouldn't be any problem there."
 
-when the other woman lunged in her direction, Savannah jerked. Her legs curling back up into the bed as she skittered back fearfully. Her lips falling open, eyes blinking rapidly at the other woman. What the hell had she done to this woman?

She took a deep breath, settling in the center of the bed. Her knees bent and pulled up against her chest, arms curled around her legs. She did lean forward, trying to see what the giggling was about but maybe she didn't want to know. Clearly this woman was something to Rak and the girl saw her, Savannah as a threat to that.

A heavy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach and her face buried against her knees. She swallowed heavily. Her face shifting lightly against her knees as she tried to discretely wipe the tears from her eyes when she heard him making his way back into the room. The small smile was returned with...nothing. She couldn't even bring herself to fake one. She did snort though when he mentioned she was a nice girl, softly as she buried her face once more into her knees. Her ears blushing, as were her cheeks, what he could see.-

"To you maybe...and clearly she still has a thing and so do you."

-the words were murmured, nearly a whisper actually. Whether he heard her and could make it out or not, she didn't know and didn't look to see if he did. She did glance over when he spread everything out, something to draw her mind away from what had happened and her reaction but she did not draw closer to him or the articles he spoke of. She stayed right where she was.-

"Won't people recognize me if my name is the same?"

-this was spoken a little louder, though uncertainly, than her jealous spite filled words of moments ago-
 
"Yeah, I guess she does have a thing about me," Rak admitted. He shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands. "She's young, she's looking for an identity, and she... for some weird reason she thinks of me as something exotic and rebellious, kinda thing. I never encouraged her, but... I guess you know how it is? Not so sure where you got the idea I have a thing for her, though?" He spoke the last casually, as if it were no import to him, and quickly changed the subject.

Rak was many things, but few had ever called him a fool. He had picked Savannah's attitude, which is why he had taken Nightbird out of the room. Had it come to a fight, the dark-haired girl would have made mincement of the girl he was attempting to protect, his... client?

Surely, his mind told him, she was more than that. He fought down the thought quickly.

"I think, Savvy, anyone who knew you would recognize you instantly anyway. A woman as beautiful as you tends to get noticed. And like I say, an alias is hard to keep up. You have to sort of reprogram your brain not to react in the slightest if someone says your real name. In any case, I'd planned to get us somewhere where you can't be hauled back into the United States anyway. And entering a country under false pretenses can get you a long time in jail. So, the plan is, if we do get caught, our story is I abducted you totally against your will for ransom purposes... and that'd never stick if you're under a fake name, will it?"

He sat down beside her on the bed. He knew that in his attempt to stay detached, he was sending... the right message? The wrong one? She was obviously upset, in a way even he hadn't predicted. Normally, a woman of her age would see little threat in a girl as young as Nightbird, and he'd more or less assumed this would be the case,

Now he felt like face palming himself. He'd totally forgotten that a woman in Savannah's unusual circumstances would not have the same armor of sophistication that would protect other women of her age in such a situation. Nightbird might have been much younger than her, but she had far more sexual experience, and he noticed she had not hesitated to use this as a way to humiliate Savannah. And it seemed to have worked.

Rak placed his arm gently around her, pulling her head onto his shoulder.

"You wouldn't believe the bloody questions she was asking," he chuckled, more as a way to make conversation than anything. "Where we met, why we were on the run. The sort of thing a courier like her has no right to ask." He began to mimic Nightbird's slightly breathless, squeaky voice. "Your in love with that goddam li'l virgin, aintchya?" she said. I told her I was fast falling that way, but that you wouldn't have me in a blue fit. That seemed to calm her down a bit." Nightbird had also made what attempts she could to pour scorn on Savannah's appearance, the way she'd cried so easily, and how any girl could be such a weakling as to take orders from her father at her age, but, wisely, he did not mention these things. He stroked Savannah's hair.

"Now, if we do encounter her again, I'm going to have trouble keeping the pair of you apart. Listen, whatever happens, don't get into a fight with her. She's been on the streets, and I don't want you getting hurt. Got that, pretty Savvy?"
 
-his words caused her to blush an even deeper red. Her shoulders shrugged, her chin settling against her knees again. Eyes having drawn away from Rak as the incredible warmth of embarrassment washed over her. Her nostrils flared softly as she drew in a long, deep breath. Uncertainty reigning heavily against her. She really couldn't understand why the girl had been so utterly angry with her. She didn't know the girl until that second, didn't even know her name. And he was right, she hadn't seen anything that would actually lead her to believe that he did have a thing for the other girl. She was just as embarrassed that it bothered her as much as it did because he didn't seem to have a thing for her either. Or, she was just confused. She was, she didn't know what to make of any of it.

She hated being so uncultured in such matters. She was jealous perhaps of the other girls certainty of herself, along with the whole thing with Rak.-

"What about...disguises? How can they tell it's me if....I don't look like me? And....that plan sucks."

-she said it just that bluntly, though quietly. If they got caught and that was the story they gave, she knew he would get in trouble. Alot....of trouble and she couldn't bring herself to do that to him. This hadn't been his choice any more than it had been her choice to be stuck under her fathers control for so long. She had wanted this, she had asked him to take her away...like the white knight coming to save the princess on his steed.

When she felt his arm slide around her shoulders, she tensed a little. A small gasp escaping her as he drew her close but she tried to cover it in a soft sniffle.-

"W...why was she asking? What....what if she says something to my father?"

-she asked, her tone worried and maybe with good reason. What if the dark haired girl simply did so out of spite. She leaned against him but her hands stayed close to her own body. One curling around her midsection, the other tucking lightly against her chin, teeth rubbing gently against the underside of her thumbnail as she sat quietly for a minute before speaking again-

"Why would you want me when you have someone like her?"

-the question was raw and curious, honestly curious. Her head nodded beneath his hand as he stroked her hair.-

"I don't like her very much, so staying away won't be a problem."

-it wasn't Savannah that he would have to worry about clearly. She'd been ready to escape out the window if she'd had needed to just to get away from the girl. Savannah didn't know how to fight to save her life, she wouldn't be aching any time soon to come face to face with the other girl, much less go head to head with her.-
 
"Wow. Questions, Questions." Rak lit a small cigar, and pulled her closer to him. "How can they tell it's you? Listen sweet one, I've been waddling about in disguises much of my life. And dealing with others pulling the same stunt. They always work perfectly in Sherlock Holmes movies, not so well in real life. False beards - not that I'd try that one with you, sweetie - and stuff like that aren't enough. Everyone has a distinctive way of walking, breathing, tics, voices... and the very act of being in disguise gives away you have something to hide. Customs officials notice shit like that. Police do. I'm good at it, and I've nearly tripped up a few times. We'll do it if we have to, but... I'm thinking there's a better way.

"And yeah, the plan sucks. But the trouble is, you're the client and I'm the operative. Which means if anyone goes down, it has to be me. So, here's the deal. You agree to that, or I consider myself sacked. Then I call your father and tell him where to pick you up. And no, pretty one, no discussion will be entered into.

"And Nightbird, yeah... well... I'm not too sure where you got the idea I 'have someone like her.' Sure, it's pretty obvious I could. But I said no to her before we even met, so..." he shrugged, "You can stop thinking of her and I as an item. She's too young, too feral, and too blood stupid for my taste. OK, I admit she's pretty, and good in bed, and we have... certain philosophical ideas in common. That doesn;t mean I'd want her round my neck for too long. A bit of her goes a long way with me.

"But as for staying away from her... pretty one, we have a long road ahead of us. We're going to have to call on backup again, and it's my bet it's her they'll send. I'd contact them and demand someone else, but... well, to be fair, she's good at her job, and the... the group I refer to aren't exactly flush with operatives." He looked at her and smiled. "So, tell me honestly, because this is important. Why does she make you so insecure?"

He knew the question was a challenge. He wondered if she dared rise to it.
 
-she tentatively let her arm come to rest against his mid-section as he pulled her closer. Her head tilting slightly to look up at him as he explained the intricacies of disquise wearing. Her nose wrinkling at the thought of her in a false beard, though her eyes dropped to the shadow of one growing against his jawline.-

"I suppose it wouldn't be a good idea then."

-she nodded softly and let her gaze return to him directly again-

"What's a better way though?"

-she asked curiously. She knew he planned on getting them to a place that they couldn't drag them back but her brow furrowed deeply when he moved on to talking about the plan if they did get caught. She drew in a deep breath, her cheeks holding a soft pink color as she shook her head and adamantly proclaimed.-

"No....no no, I can't...I don't want to go back to daddy. I just.....I can't."

-the words came out quickly, desperately. For a brief moment, her grip around his mid-section tightened as if she were clinging in fear before it loosened again. Her lips pursing softly against themselves.-

"She...."

-she didn't even finish the sentence. It was obvious that the girl thought there was something with Rak and the dark haired girl had made it a point to make Savannah feel that weight. It still lingered, even through his protesting that there wasn't anything there between the two of them. She was still insecure when it came to "Nightbird" as he called her. She never asked the girls real name. When he mentioned the girl was good in bed, her arm pulled back, leaving the place it had been with a bit of a chill rather than the warmth it had provided. There was perhaps his answer at least in part to his question about why she felt so insecure.-

"Why is it so important? It doesn't really matter why....does it?"

-she questioned his question as she fidgeted. The truth was, the girl was plain and simple....more worldly than Savannah could ever be. It was clear she knew how to fight and Savannah clearly shied away from such. The girl was good at her job according to Rak and....what was Savannah good at? The girl was good in bed and clearly....Savannah was inexperienced to say the very least.

Her bottom lip sucked between her teeth and she sat up further, her smaller frame pulling away and then turning away from him as she settled her feet on the floor.

Her head lowered as she watched her fingers intertwining with each other as she fidgeted with her nails. She drew in a long slow breath before she spoke again. Her voice low.-

"I'm just...baggage."

-her skin flushed at the admission to how she saw even herself at this point.-

"Even my father tries to pawn me off to people he thinks can handle......me."
 
"So you don't want to go back, eh?" Rak grinned. "Can't say I blame you. I mean, who would want a life of privilege, with the best of everything, when you can hang around with an ugly guy like me and live in such one-star luxury as this? Eat the very best of gourmet Chinese takeaway and swan around town in the a car so old the rust has to hold hands to stop it falling apart on the bends? Yeah, great call.

"Yeah, it does matter, though." He stared at the wall. "See, lovely one, life's a funny thing. You can want something like shit, and work like crazy for it, and it never happens. Then, what you want is offered up on a plate, and all you have to do is ask, and you can't. Seen it happen scores of times." He puffed on his cigar. "I dunno if this applies to you or not, of course. probably not. I guess once we get free and clear, you'll walk away and forget I existed, and find some rich, handsome guy and never look back. It's what I'd do in your position."

And then, she broke down. Allowed what she'd no doubt been hearing all her life to take hold. To believe as true the lies she'd been told.

"Nah," he said, matter-of-factly. "No-one's baggage. Certainly not you." He chuckled. "The irony is, a woman as lovely as you could be baggage if she wanted, useless for anything, and she could still justify being alive just by the pleasure you give to those who look at you. But in your case, you're far too intelligent to be that." He stroked her hair again, then let his fingers drop to her neck, where he ran them along, on the most sensitive part of it. "It's hardly your fault you've had a weird... erm, an unusual upbringing, is it? Some people just aren't much good at defying their parents, is all. Don't let Nightbird's shit get to you. Anyone can get around, screw a few people... it's not some great achievement."

He thought for a second. Should he ask his next question or not?

"How about I ask you again," he said, at length. "What is it about Nightbird that worries you so much? Sure, she's tougher than you, and got more experience of life, but I'm sure you meet a lot of people in that position?"
 
"Yes because it's all just glittering gold."

-she murmured softly, tossing a tentative glance at him. A rosey cheek pressing against her shoulder as she did. Her eyes pinning him quietly as tendrils of caramel colored hair fluttered from the opposite shoulder, framing her face as she blinked at him.-

"You're not ugly either."

-she continued to fidget, the blush growing deeper once she'd spoken those words. She turned back to face forward, listening as he spoke. Her head shaking softly.-

"Why? Wouldn't that be living just like I am now, with my father? At least now..."

-she paused, probably a little longer than usual. Taking a deep breath before she continued. A hand lifting to nervously tuck her hair behind her ears, only for it to slowly fall back forward to frame her face as she stared down at her hands.-

"...with you....I have options. I'm not told what I have to do...I mean...except for some things but I understand those things."

-her hands flipped, first one way and then the other as she spoke. Falling into her lap only when she fell silent. She didn't pull away when she felt his hand against her hair, though he would feel the soft shudder that travelled along her back from the touch of his fingers against sensitive flesh of her neck.-

"Nothing I've done is any great achievement either. I do what daddy tells me...I get kidnapped...and can't save myself. And that's not even touching on....anything else."

-she replied, sniffling softly. Her shoulders lowered when he asked again. It was all of that that unsettled her about the other girl, it was also the giggle she'd heard out the hallway, it was the confident way the other woman presented herself because she'd been with him.

She drew in a deep breath, shaking her head softly-

"No, I don't. Daddy keeps me pretty closed in, remember?"

-not to mention, everyone that she might have met like that....were just as controlling and intimidating as her father....or like Nightbird had been toward her.-
 
He pulled her even closer, so that her head was on his shoulder. His right hand was close to her breast, not quite touching - as, by now, it might have been on a more experienced girl, but close enough - and he could smell her hair. Holding her was something like holding a small, frightened animal.

"Well, no-one could expect you to save yourself if you got kidnapped," he laughed. "Shit, pretty one, it's not exactly a common skill, is it? I doubt there's too many girls would do as well as you have. OK, maybe I'm a bit biased there, since I'm starting to fa - since I have a pretty high regard for you, but I think most people with any experience of such things would say the same. Most girls would be a total mess by this time, after what happened to you. I have to say, I've done this kind of thing with other victims before, and most of them have had a lot more experience of life than you, and most of them didn't stay as calm as you did.

"And I reckon you did well dealing with Nightbird, too. She was as jealous as shit of you, you being so pretty, and I doubt she failed to notice the one bed in this room is a double, and she was trying to humiliate you. A lot of girls would have burst into tears when she started slagging off at you lack of experience in... in certain walks of life... but you didn't. Not quite. I was really proud of you, Savvy."

He leaned in and kissed her neck, gently.

"Yeah, I reckon this assignment was a real bonus for me. Getting to meet you."

He leaned back against the headboard of the bed, deliberately not looking at her. He knew how hard it had been for her, having to face the self-analysis she had. And with such an uncertain future ahead of her, that no girl of her limited experience could be expected to deal with. Her outburst, about how useless she was was true in part, but hardly her fault. She'd been ruined by her father.

"Not touching on anything else, eh?" he repeated. "So, tell me about this... is there some other nasty secret you haven't told me, beautiful one?"
 
-she drew in a deep, slow breath as he pulled her closer. She let her head rest against his shoulder, though barely at first. As if she feared getting so close, she'd done that once and he'd pulled away. She honestly didn't know if she could handle him doing so again, especially in the middle of her melt down so to speak.

When he mentioned his high regards for her, her lips couldn't help but curl softly at the corners and she blushed, deeply she blushed. Her face pressing shyly against his shoulder. He'd feel the heat of the blush as her cheek pressed against him, even through the material of his shirt.-

"If I wasn't who I am...I probably wouldn't have been kidnapped in the first place though."

-she said simply, quietly. Clearly, praise wasn't something she was used to. Not in the form he was giving it to her at the moment anyways. Her shoulders rolled softly against his arm. She wasn't so sure she'd held up so well against the other woman's verbal assaults. It still stung and had perhaps set her back from the girl that had actually worked up the nerve to kiss her white knight earlier.

She swallowed heavily, drawing in a hitching breath when she felt the kiss against her neck. The blush crept so far as to dust over her ears and along the slender column of her neck where his lips had been even, barely, if at all hidden by the caramel of her hair.

She gasped lightly when she tipped unexpectedly, following him as he leaned back against the headboard. After a moment, she shifted, lifting herself on her palms to peer down at him. Her brow furrowing lightly.-

"I was just meaning what she knows and what I don't....and No. No nasty secrets..."

-she bit her bottom lip lightly and the way she danced around saying it, clearly she meant the more...intimate knowledge that she lacked.-

"Is it....is it really a bonus?"

-the question came quietly, tentatively. Her eyes holding a fear that he would say no, her skin holding a flush that she'd even asked the question.-
 
He reached up, gently touching her cheek, and smiling. With his long experience of women, Rak knew that sometimes an unexpected compliment can faze a girl, especially one with such limited experience of life as her. Her blush was an obvious indication as to how flustered she was. Once again, the thought struck him that she was, in some ways, a sixteen year old in a much more mature woman's body. And one that had just been humiliated (for, whatever spin he'd put on it, it was obvious Nightbird had had the best of their exchange) at that.

"No, obviously kidnappers wouldn't have bothered with a nobody," he agreed. "Sure, your father's money was a factor... there wouldn't be much point asking someone who was penniless to pay a ransom, would there? But I think there's more than that. I think they were banking on you being an easy mark, someone too scared to stand up for herself, that they could manipulate how they liked. Someone who would be a total liability to anyone sent to get her out, so that the rescue attempt would fail. But you stayed calm, and made my job so much easier. What that shows is you have a lot of class as well as just being beautiful.

"And yeah, sure, a total bonus. If there's one rule about doing rescue jobs, it's that you should never get emotionally involved. You get in, do the job, hand over the victim, collect your money and get out. And most definitely do NOT allow yourself to start developing feelings for them." He smiled, ruefully. "Well, I got the first two right, I guess, I got in and I rescued you. And then I went off the rails, didn't I? I won't be collecting my fee from your father, and we're not out of it. Not yet, anyway."

He didn't elaborate - that he'd also failed to stop himself developing feelings for her - guessing she had enough of an emotional load to cope with already.

"I mean, just think," he continued, "you could have been some ugly, whining little slag, with a face covered in warts and bad body odour, and thick ankles. They usually are. I bet anyone who's never done this kind of work thinks it's always a gorgeous supermodel that needs rescuing, but they usually aren't. You're a most worthy and notable exception. If I'd have known you were this pretty, I'd have done the job anyway.

"But it's so hard to get my head around, you;re the age you are, and have never been kissed. Or have you?"
 
-her head tipped slightly toward his hand, the action bashful really as his fingers swept against the warmth of her blushing cheek. Her eyes fluttered lightly as she shook her head, listening to what he was saying. She'd felt like she was anything but calm and she'd given him one hell of a time really, in the beginning anyways. That was, once she'd come out of whatever drug induced state the kidnappers had had her in.-

"Yeah....I wouldn't call me calm."

-she blushed but chuckled, again shaking her head lightly. She'd actually been rather bitchy, demanding to talk to her father. Questioning the man that had saved her nearly every time he turned around. Demanding better rooms, better treatment. Sure, she'd calmed down after a little bit, when she knew no matter how hard she bucked against him, he wasn't going to relent. In that knowledge at first, he'd reminded her of her father, though he had softened and she'd be lying if she said he hadn't.-

"Will we ever be out of it? Like...truly out of it?"

-she questioned curiously, not quite catching on to everything he was saying. Though he'd pushed her away earlier, had apologized as if he'd done something wrong and had mostly kept a little bit of a distance since then, so she didn't think to much on it anyways, plus he was onto his next words before she had the chance to process and think about what he might have said.

His description of his usual "jobs" had her releasing a small laugh.-

"Oh surely it's not that bad?"

-his comment that he'd have done the job anyways, had he known she was so pretty. The blush began to return. A pink began to dust over her cheeks. However, his question heated her flesh even more and the faint pink began to turn a brighter color blush. She drew in a deep breath, her head lowering as she shook her head, shamefully really.-

"No...other than earlier."

-her words were barely above a whisper as she admitted that she'd never in fact been kissed before. Not before him at any rate.-
 
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