Very Hot, Very Steamy, [Becca/Maalik]

[Rebecca Byron]

"We really do." She leaned forward and did a sketchy sort of wash on her hair while Maalik's hand and the soft cloth moved over her back. She was trying not to concentrate too hard on the moments that his fingertips brushed her skin, difficult as that was. After the scene downstairs she wasn't sure her heart could take more evidence that she wasn't in control of her own desires. "But trying to find the time and the focus together is harder all the time."

[Maalik]

Maalik nodded. "William's problem is that he does not trust anyone else to handle this city but himself. Everything must go through him, or through you who is a connection to him. I do not understand why this is so, I simply know it is. Seregwen had people in charge of separate accounts here at the Horseman and she does the same at the Butterfly. All major decisions must be made by her and there is the appropriate paperwork to ensure that it is so. William is meeting personally with every small minded vampire who dares cross the border lines, and it might be good on a marketing level, but there is also the personal he is ignoring." Mallik's hand ran over her back in long slow movements as he spoke.

"William needs to free himself from this notion that he must be everywhere at once. He needs a second and even a third. But William does not trust easily. Not even his own fledgling will he trust. I hear that Diana needed to seek your approval before her little project could happen. He values your opinion above all others, and although it is adoring, it is not practical."

[Rebecca Byron]

She sighed, her head bent and her hair falling around her in wet ropes as she worked a light conditioner through it. "At first, he had to prove himself to everyone. Everyone, even people who shouldn't have had any right to question the Master felt they were entitled to doubt him because he was so young, and none of his people were really his--they were all Seregwen's and he'd just inherited them. But he's worked his way up out of that now, or should have. I just don't think he knows how to change the way things work right now. And if I step in and try to guide him to change it? It sort of defeats the purpose."

[Maalik]

"He will learn, or he will loose it all, and you. I do not think William wishes to loose you." Maalik leant forward and kissed her bare shoulder as his hand rinsed her back of soap. "I shall keep my ear to the ground and see what I hear, entice the right kind of vampires into town and build up his ranks. He is soft hearten, allowing many vampire in who others would turn away. He is gaining very little from his army. If this city came to war the best you could manage is to lock yourselves in the Horseman and allow the leopards to do the work." he kissed her shoulder again, a smile on his teasing lips. "And all the while William will not know better and he shall think he is simply making wise choices on his own."

[Rebecca Byron]

A subtle shiver, Becca's back arched slightly like she was chasing those light kisses. "Your army grows fiercer every month. You have taken the mess left to you by previous leaders and done something extraordinary with the pard." And, the closest she could come to accepting his offer and thanking him for it, "Many leaders would be blessed to have your skill with recruitment and training."

[Maalik]

"I do it for many reasons, and only one of those reasons is to ensure your safety. I must admit when it became obvious that William controlled my kind, it was frustrating. I feared her would take us by force, but he never had that intention and I feel sick for ever thinking he was that kind of man. It would make me feel better knowing I have your protection taken care of within these walls and outside of it." Maalik took her face in his hands and kissed her mouth lightly, sealing the mostly unspoken deal

[Rebecca Byron]

She slid damp fingers back into his hair, kissing him with love and heat and focus. It wasn't a lie, the way Becca kissed Maalik as though he was the only one, ever. As though he was the only thing in her world. Any time their lips met, he was.

When she finally pulled back it wasn't far, and she smiled at him with eyes gone heavy and warm with how good he was, in all ways. "We are lucky to have you. I am so very lucky to have you."

[Maalik]

Maalik chuckled casually. "There are many others that will not be so willing to agree with you and I do believe one of them is your husband. For all the good I do, I am a constant threat in his city and he torn between known loyalty from the time we were both at Seregwen's beck and call, and what it means to be master. We dance our dance and at times he values me like tonight. And there are other times when he simply wish I was no more." Maalik didn't seem upset by the knowledge. He knew he could be difficult to handle at times.

[Rebecca Byron]

She smiled at him, eyes still heavy with drowsy pleasure. "Right this moment? I don't care what many others agree with. I always want you here." Her thumb skimmed down his cheek and she made herself let go of him and stand up in the tub, streamers of the last remaining bubbles sliding down her skin as she stepped out onto the bath mat and reached for a towel.

[Maalik]

"You never did go with the sheep. You have always been a shepherd." Maalik praised her, stepping back and reaching for the towel, handing it to her although his eyes lingered on her soapy frame. Any other time he might had tried harder to entice her. Seducing Becca was one of his favorite past times. But tonight he allowed her to take the towel free from harassment.

[Rebecca Byron]

She laughed a little and wrapped the towel around her. "There are exactly two people in this world whose opinion truly influences mine. The rest can make do with lip service." She moved to the mirror and sprayed her hair down with a thin leave in conditioner and then ran a comb through it, the tangles falling away easily as she slicked her hair back and wound it into a fat coil at the base of her neck, skewering it into place with long double-pronged silver pins that served the dual purpose of being effective weapons if she got into a bad situation. Becca went nowhere unarmed any more, life simply didn't allow it.

Once she'd dried off and tossed the towel into the hamper, she headed naked to the bedroom and started confidently pulling out clothing. She knew very well that she'd need to be on her toes tonight, possibly including an interview with the press and/or authorities, so Becca dressed in black leather pants and very high black boots with a stretchy black lace tank top that showed very clearly that she wore no bra beneath. With her hair tied back and the dark makeup she applied it was a very hard, confident look, the sort of thing that would resonate with the vampires and shifters, especially when she clipped the holster onto her belt over one hip. However, she also grabbed a long blue velvet blazer that she could put over the top if she needed to speak to the human authorities.

Ten minutes from tub to complete, quick changes were a specialty. When she was dressed she turned to Maalik and smiled at him. "Do I look very competent?"

[Maalik]

Maalik watched her dress with a casual lust. He couldn't help it, but he could keep from acting on it. As she dressed, Maalik watched her, stripping the clothes away as the layers were added, feeling her flesh under claws as he carelessly ripped the details away that kept him from watching her named. He imagined the blood running down her flesh, the way it would hover on the edge of her breast before it fell was a moment of pure imagination and perfection.

But she she asked his opinion he just smiled, took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "You are many thing, and yes My Rebecca, competence is one of them." he reassured her. "What do you wish of me?" he asked

[Rebecca Byron]

Becca squeezed Maalik's fingers and stepped in toward him. "Kiss me very hard and then I'll go play psychological janitor and you can have your life back?"

[Maalik]

"As you wish it." he muttered as he lowered her lips to her face. Maalik's lips met hers and for a moment he felt the flash of the kiss in the club. Their meeting of lips had been clumsy then. The angle was wrong and the strokes from the rat king had brought her to and from his lips in the timing of his thrusts. But Maalik remembered the infections as he pressed his hungry lips to her mouth and forced her lips to part. His tongue did not tease of tempt. There was nothing slow or romantic in the kiss. It was hard and passionate, maybe bordering in close to painful as he thrusted his tongue into her mouth and brought noises from her.

His hands clutched her tightly, arms wrapped around her shoulders and restricted her movement, binding her arms to her side, useless from the elbow up, but she could have tucked her fingers into his belt as the kiss continued. Maalik spun her suddenly and her back was to a wall, and his weight would have restricted her breathing a little, the probing of his tongue down her throat would have been suffocating to a mortal. His hands shifted, the bones making an audible snap as bones popped in and out of place. He clutched to her tightly and it was oh so tempted to do as he had envisioned. To strip the layers of cloth from her body. to find her pale flesh and not stop there. To kiss her dying breath as his hands clawed at her. His hands flexed in preparation for the end, and just when it seemed he would not stop, he did. But this he did in stages, letting the kiss linger, although he always held her tightly in his embrace. His tongue slipped around hers, not hurting or imposing but playful and sweet, a complete contrast to what it had been doing moments ago. His lips stayed pressed to her mouth but there was room for breath, no longer the strong harsh bitter taste of suffocation.

And finally Maalik loosened his hold and the kiss ended, the slip of tired mouths, her lips bruised and almost bleeding in parts. Maalik ran that rough feline tongue over her broken lips before parting from her. "if you need my assistance, I shall be near." he told her, stroking her cheek softly before turning to leave her to work.

[Rebecca Byron]

When Maalik released her Becca was slumped against the wall, heart pounding and breathing fast, the air around her hot and scented with blood and arousal and the sweet fruit perfume she always wore. She couldn't even talk right away, just stared at the leopard with her eyes so dark with heat they were nearly black. If she were a shifter they'd have bled out to the animal, as it was they just watched Maalik with the intent focus that neatly bisected predator and prey. She never looked away as he stepped back, moved away, her gaze following him out the door and holding for several minutes before she made herself straighten up, apply a soft gloss to her lips to soothe over the splits and cracks instead of the hard red lipstick she'd had on earlier, and then head downstairs to finish cleaning up the mess.