"you have my word!" the doctor was adamant. he'd seen caleb covered in blood, knew it was arterial, perhaps even knew what caleb had done. he didn't doubt the doctors' sincerity. while the doctor stared into his wife's tear-filled eyes, caleb glimpsed the depth of their love for one another. they would live together or they would die together, but either way, they would do anything to protect each other.

it was a strange thing to witness. it was an even stranger thing to feel envious of his hostages. no one had ever looked at him that way, as if life were insignificant without him and he'd never valued anyone more than he valued himself. whatever love was, it was a concept he could not grasp.

on his way back to kitten, he spied the linen closet and grabbed a set of fresh sheets for the bed. the air felt different once he entered the room again. the bathroom door was slightly open, steam drifting into the bedroom. caleb placed the clothes and sheets on the bed and went inside.

she had found the mirror. every bathroom had one and he hadn't thought to cover it in his haste to get away from livvie and her emotionally charged questions. he stood watching her, trying to discern his next action.

"they really did a number on me didn't they." she winced as she poked at the large bruise covering most of her cheek and eye.

"it'll fade." caleb said, trying to imitate her nonchalant tone. they both knew there was nothing casual about the situation, but he was willing to pretend if she was.

"will i still be pretty enough for demitri?" she said. this time her voice was cold and hard as he'd never heard it. she had meant the words to cut him and with great surprise, caleb accepted that they had.

"in a few weeks," he said just as harshly and regretted it instantly when he saw sadness break through her facade of calm. she was strange to be around at the moment. a bomb waiting to explode. he couldn't possibly predict any of her actions and it made them both erratic.

she turned, facing him fully nude. her body may have been marred with bruises, but she was still beautiful. still...the girl he wanted. there was something in her demeanor that made him want to take a step back, but he fought against that instinct. he would never back down from anyone, especially not her.

she was...stalking him. like a panther or a lioness and it was odd to think in that moment that he had given her such an appropriate moniker. though, she was not truly a kitten at the moment. kittens didn't approach you with their eyes fixed and their heads lowered in such a manner to evoke images of a huntress eyeing a meal.

she stopped just short of caleb's chest and so close he could almost feel her ni**les brush against him. he shouldn't want her, not when she looked like this. but he did. perhaps he even wanted her more. she had been beaten and bruised, but she had survived! she had looked those sons of whores in their eyes and she had drawn the first blood. there was a fighter and a killer in there somewhere. and there was just something sexy about that. he'd thought so even while she had pointed his gun at him.

"caleb," she whispered. caleb could only make a non-committal sound and stare at her. "so much has happened. i've been so powerless."

bullshit, caleb thought.

"if i could just...have one thing for myself." caleb's urge to step back was nearly overwhelming, but he held his ground and nodded.

livvie looked up at him with pleading and hungry eyes. "make love to me," she said, so softly caleb thought he'd only said it in his mind. then he realized her small hand had slipped under his shirt. "i want to choose this one thing for myself. i'll do what you ask of me. i won't try to run away, but i want this one thing, this one choice...to be mine."

caleb wanted to say something, anything, but his every thought revolved around being inside her. there was an easy answer for why she might try this. if she's not a virgin.... he didn't care. he just didn't f**king care. he'd deal with it later. so instead of 'no', he simply said, "i don't want to hurt you."

"you won't. i know you won't."

he couldn't stop himself from leaning down and putting his lips to hers. she shook slightly, more like the kitten he remembered. his heart raced and his c**k swelled and pulsed. her tongue darted out shyly and he opened his mouth to her, letting her take things where she wanted them to go.

he didn't trust himself to touch her quite yet, so strong was the urgency he felt, so he finally took that step back and rest his hands against the door jam while she pressed forward and kissed him more assuredly and aggressively.

her mouth tasted of mint, which he figured was toothpaste and salt which he knew were her tears. he didn't want her to cry. not right now, not for any reason. he pulled away slowly, "stop." she stared up at him with a startled and vulnerable look on her face.

"did i do something wrong?" she said and the words lanced something deep inside him.

"god, no. you're perfect. i just...i don't want to hurt you. and the way i feel right now..." if he ever blushed in his life, he might have blushed right then. "i know i'll hurt you."

he nearly groaned when she blushed, smiled, and looked away. "so, what then?"

"so come with me." he took her hand, careful of which hand it was and led her to the bed. slowly, he guided her onto it. she was far more timid now than she had been a few moments ago, but she didn't hesitate. he kissed her lips softly as he lay next to her and coaxed her legs slightly apart. in a maneuver he had practiced with her many times, he kissed his way down her neck, chest, br**sts, and stomach.

"oh!" she whimpered as soon as his lips touched the soft, damp, hair between her thighs. he hadn't even licked her yet and he could feel her coiled tension. he kissed the top of her pu**y in the hopes of soothing some of her fear. this wasn't going to hurt one, little, bit. he was going to make her feel good. he was going to make her feel the way she deserved to feel.

when he felt her thighs slowly open, giving him room to move, he dipped his head and let the tip of his tongue slide from the very bottom of her slit to the hard pebble of her clit in one slow, steady motion that had her mewling and opening for him further. "do you want me to stop?" he whispered against her wet lips and with no intention of doing any such thing.

"fuck no. i'd kill you." she said with such sincerity that caleb couldn't help but chuckle against her thigh.

"where'd you learn to talk like that?" he mocked gently. she responded by rocking her hips up slightly. she winced a little and they both remembered how hurt she was. he didn't want to make her ask again. he caressed her leg and delved his tongue a little deeper, probing, sucking her deep, pink folds into his mouth.

unconsciously, she attempted to pull away from his mouth. not because she wasn't enjoying it he knew, but because the sensation of being licked and sucked simultaneously was nearly too much sensation to bear. his mind entertained a fantasy of his c**k being sucked into her mouth, the tip licked by her soft tongue and he groaned against her. his hips rocked hard into the bed, but he remained focused on her pleasure. he let up a little, allowing her to adjust and then he pulled her in tight and did it again.

she gasped and moaned and rocked her little pu**y on the tip of his eager tongue and this time there was no thought of pain. there was only pleasure.

his fingers found her and spread her open. within her wet folds he found the tiny opening to her body. he licked it and she shivered. he slicked the tip his finger against her clit, loving the way she whimpered and writhed. she moaned. "caleb," and then her hands were in the way, pressing his fingers to her flesh in a plea for something she didn't fully understand yet. her hand clutched at his, "it feels...oh god. i think..." and the rest went unsaid as he moved his hand against her clit and his mouth sucked her fingers.

he felt her pu**y pulse beneath his hand and he wished he could see it, those tiny muscles contracting. her pu**y leaking wetness onto the bed. he'd lick that up too. but this wasn't about him.

for a long time, he rested his cheek against her thigh, panting and breathless, even as she was also panting and breathless. her hand moved slowly and he nearly sighed when she ran her fingers through his hair. despite the fact his dick felt like it had been punched in the eye, he wished this moment could last for a very long time. he couldn't be certain of her motives for trying to have sex with him, especially after all that had transpired between them and in the hours before he was able to reach her, but he could not deny that it had changed something in him, irrevocably. he had underestimated her in some way and she had found a way to affect him. at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to care, but soon, it would matter very much.

"what about you?" the words were sluggish and he suspected she was only being polite and had no real intention of moving, let alone helping him finish.

he smiled. "don't worry about me. i'm not prone to acts of selflessness, so let's just both enjoy this moment." he looked up in time to see her smile to herself and then she gently nodded off to sleep.