More Than Darkness

See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer and Author's Notes

Chapter 5

The days blurred together as Salida waited quietly at the back of Tessa's mind. She needed to gather strength, having spent most of hers for a single night of freedom. And what a night it had been. When she wasn't paying attention to Tess, making sure that she had enough awareness of what was going on around her, Salida often replayed parts of that night, particularly the first part and the last. What had happened? She'd first thought Jeffrey had been a pansy, someone to amuse her, but ultimately inconsequential. But by the end of the evening she'd felt differently. [i]I love him,[/i] she often thought to herself, amazed by the discovery.

And it wasn't a blind love. She was very well aware that Jeffrey and his alter ego were both dangerous men, and as Jeffrey had pointed out, wanted for murder. They were dangerous, homicidal, psychotic, sociopathic, arrogant, conceited, and egotistical; they most likely had a superiority complex, not much value for human life, and god knew what else. Salida understood that very well. She simply didn't care. Why should she? As she'd told Jeffrey, she really didn't have any morals. What kept her from doing
things were the possible consequences to her, not the ones to anyone else. No one else gave a damn about her, so wasn't it fair to return the favor?

The truth of it was she was tired of being taken as an illness; a defect; a flaw. Something to be banished, and the quicker the better. But Jeffrey wanted [i]her.[/i] And that was one of the reasons she wanted [i]him[/i] so much; he made her feel better about herself. Not to mention he was sexy as hell and had enough stamina to match. She knew these weren't exactly healthy reasons to form a relationship, but again, she didn't give a damn. She wanted him, she wanted to be with him, and she was going to get it. Not to mention the fact that he understood her in a way that few could. [i]"˜"¦you and I are the same,'[/i] he'd said. [i]"˜Sure, there are differences, but we're more alike than not. Neither one of us truly exists. There are no Salida and Jeffrey in this world, only Tess and Sands. We weren't meant to ever exist. I understand that, and it fucking pisses me off. Why should they get the chance to live while we don't?'[/i] There was no reason. There was no reason other than their alter egos were stronger than they were.

[i]But that's all going to change,[/i] Salida vowed. [i]I want another night. And another after that. And another, and another, and another, until I've run out of days, and Tess has run out of days, and we both have to be planted in the ground.[/i]

She was going to find a way out.

***

The chance to be free came sooner than Salida had thought it would. She didn't know how long it was after her encounter with Jeffrey, and she didn't know what had precipitated it. All she knew was that she woke up one day to find that she was lying on the floor, and from the stiffness in her body, had most likely been doing so for some time.

Turning her head to get the crick out of her neck, she stood, and looked around, wondering what was going on. It was rare that she ever got out. It was almost unheard of that she did so during daylight hours.

Looking around, she tried to figure out what was wrong. For a moment she teetered on her feet, her equilibrium thrown off for some reason. [i]"˜What's wrong with me?'[/i] she asked herself before realizing that she was all she could hear. She couldn't even feel Tessa's presence anywhere.

"Teresa?" she called out loud, so confused that she was willing to find her other half by any means possible.

The only response she got was a nearly unnoticeable stirring in the back of her head, like a small child huddling into a tighter ball to escape notice.

Shaking her head, Salida looked around to find what had thrown Tess into such a tizzy. There had to have been something that had set her off.

It took some time, but eventually, she noticed the papers she was crushing underfoot. [i]That's odd. Tess is such a neat freak.[/i] Picking them up, Salida moved over to the bed, looking for the first page, or at least something that would tell her what this was all about.

Reading slowly, Salida figured out what was going on. The letter in her hands was a summons for Tess"¦from her family. And Tess was terrified of her family. They want you to come home?

She could hear the other woman muttering denials in a constant stream of words that barely made sense as she curled into an even tighter ball, tucking herself away in her own subconscious.

Her own subconscious.

Salida could hear Tess as she kept saying, [i]"˜Nonononononononononononono, won't go, can't go. Don't make me, please. I'll be good. Don't make me.'[/i]

Crowing with victory, Salida threw the papers into the air. This was it. Tess had completely snapped, leaving her in control. [i]In control.[/i] Trembling with the rush of adrenaline the thought sent shooting through her, Salida started making plans. "˜Don't worry,' she soothed the panicked half of her. "˜They'll [i]never[/i] find you. I guarantee.' There was a wicked smile on her face as she made this promise.

It was time to make Tess disappear.

***

" . . . and in further news, the hunt for a missing Harvard medical student is still underway. Teresa Adame, who was supposed to graduate from the college this week, is missing and presumed dead, after her car was found in a tributary of the Charles River. Police assume that the body was most likely dragged downstream by the current." A picture of Tess . . . of Salida . . . was shown next to a group of men dragging the river and a totaled car. "Detectives speculate that Adame lost control of the vehicle, breaking through a guardrail, and plunging into the water."

Sands had been watching the news for the last hour in hopes that he would see coverage of one of his latest"¦exploits, when Jeffrey suddenly seized control of him more violently than he ever had before, making Sands gasp. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sands asked, Jeffrey's hand turning up the volume of the hotel television set to nearly full blast.

"Shut the fuck up, Sands," Jeffrey muttered, his eyes glued to the screen. "No, it's not possible," he muttered, causing Sands to frown.

"What's wrong? Why the fuck are you acting this way? Did you know the girl on the news?"

Jeffrey didn't answer, but roared in rage and pushed the television off of its stand, causing the screen to shatter and spray sparks at his feet. He then threw open the door and stalked out, hell bent on killing someone; anyone.

***

Jeffrey stalked down to the bar that was downstairs, scaring several elderly couples and making everyone else stay out of his way. He didn't give a damn. All that mattered, all he could think about, was the fact that the only woman he'd ever felt the smallest smidgen of respect for was dead.

Throwing himself in a barstool he sulkily ordered a drink, pulling out a cigarette with enough vengeance to make the bartender hop to. When the drink came, he threw it back with a grimace, and ordered another, simply staring into its depths as his mind went blank.

Cursing, he went into the bathroom, determined to get some sort of handle on himself.

Unfortunately, relief was not to be found in the restroom. What he did find, was a man goggling a newspaper with a smirk on his face. He briefly looked up at Jeffrey, then gestured at him with the paper. "Good reason for women not to drive, huh?" The headline on the front page was the same as what had just been on the news. "College student presumed dead" in big, bold, block letters, and a picture of Salida right next to it. "At least she didn't take anyone with her."

Jeffrey didn't have time to see red; his hands were already on the man's throat, squeezing the life out of him before he had time to be angry. The man's hands went up to his throat, attempting to loosen Jeffrey's grip, but it was no use. Jeffrey kept on squeezing and squeezing until the man's eyes bulged out of his head and his tongue hung, limp and swollen out of his gaping mouth. When the man was finally dead, Jeffrey simply let go and let him fall to the ground.

Another man chose that time to enter the bathroom, unawares. He only had time to gape at the dead body before Jeffrey had shot him in the chest. Sands was screaming at him to stop whatever it was he was doing, telling him that he would land both their asses in jail or end up dead, but he didn't care. He couldn't care. He felt nothing, and all he saw was death. Salida's death. He didn't bother replacing the gun in the holster at his belt underneath his jacket; he just walked forward into the bar, gun in hand, killing anyone who got in his way.

***

Sands looked around the airport warily. He'd finally managed to stop Jeffrey's rampage, although, not before a dozen or more people had died. As far as he could tell now, the other man had withdrawn totally, leaving Sands in control for the moment. And he planned to get as far away from Boston as he could in that time. What had started as an innocent holiday, had ended in a bloodbath. Not that he was really too concerned about that, other than the fact he'd been forced to leave his luggage and his car behind.

"I can't believe you got so worked up over a chick," he muttered, taking a sip of his coffee. Their plane left in fifteen minutes, and he planned to be on it. He got no response from Jeffrey. "You never did tell me what the whore did to get -" Before he could finish the statement, Jeffrey slammed their head into the wall, hard enough to make Sands see stars.

"Shut the fucking hell up, you bastard." Despite the wording, there was nothing but ice behind the words. "Trust me, I'm not that fucking far away from killing you, so fucking do me a favor, and keep your fucking opinions to yourself."

Sands sulkily did as Jeffrey requested, absolutely certain that Jeffrey wasn't bluffing. And he did have some sense of self-preservation.

The fifteen minutes passed, and Sands made his way to their gate, still looking out for police or airport security. While he was busy eyeing a security guard who was obviously on break, Jeffrey broke in, voluntarily speaking for the first time in hours. "Where the fucking hell are you taking us?"

Thinking back to the note that'd been left in their hotel room two weeks before, Sands said. "Las Vegas. It'll be easy to get lost there. Not to mention that it should be fun."

The irony wasn't lost on the man inside his head. "Fuck you." Then a door seemed to slam inside Sands' head, making him wince.

"Bastard," he muttered, showing his ticket to the employee at the terminal, then going to board the plane.

***

The club was familiar, even if Salida had never been inside this particular one. Everyone gave her strange looks as she came in wearing torn jeans and vulgar t-shirt. She just matched them look for look, smirking when they were always the ones who looked away first. She belonged here, if for no other reason than no one here had the guts - or the stupidity - to say otherwise.

She really wished she could get drunk, but that wasn't a smart idea. Her position as the dominant personality was still too weak for her to do anything more than sleep. But a single drink wouldn't hurt.

Sitting at the bar, nursing her gin and tonic, Salida probed at the source of her discomfort. She wasn't certain, but she was reasonably sure that several weeks had passed since her encounter with Jeffrey - and she hadn't heard a word from him since. [i]Not that I don't know why I'm surprised. He's a psychopath and they're not the most dependable people in the world. He could have easily changed his mind about wanting me.[/i] Yet, here she was in Las Vegas.

She was on the verge of ordering another drink, when she heard a voice from behind her. One that was relatively familiar, but just alien enough to make her doubt her memory. Then she heard the voice laugh, and the feeling of dejá vu, or whatever the hell it was, got stronger. Turning, she found the sound was coming from a table in the corner. It was shrouded in darkness, but she could see a man and a woman sitting in the booth. The woman was a blond, dressed in a low-cut, high-skirted black dress. The man had his back to Salida, but there was something about the way he held his body that was familiar. Then she saw the way he was holding his cigarette, and the contained force of the hand made the strangeness of the voice become recognizable.

[i]Jeffrey![/i] She sat frozen in her seat, simply staring at his back, her heart going into overtime. For a moment, jealousy overtook her as she saw him with another woman, but again she heard the strangeness in his voice. Then she realized, It's Jeffrey's voice coming from another man. That must be his alter ego. Suddenly she wondered if Jeffrey had ever even gotten her note . . . but then she realized that he must have, if he were here. If they were here. So why hadn't he gotten a hold of her? A good question. I should go get an answer.

Getting up, Salida sauntered over to the table, preparing herself. She knew she had to remember that despite her familiarity with the body, she'd never met the man currently in control of it. And if he was a sociopath, then she'd best be on her guard. [i]Good thing I came prepared.[/i]

"Excuse me. Can we help you?"

Salida met the eyes of the blond woman, casually brushing off her haughty tone and demanding words. She then looked at Sands. He was observing her with the same look in his eye - commingled impatience and superiority. "Actually, I think I can help you." Leaning against a nearby wall, Salida continued with a disinterested but deadly serious voice, "I don't know what you see in this guy, Bambi, or Barbie, or whatever your name is, but let me assure you, you don't want to spend your evening with him." Ignoring the offended look on the other woman's face, she continued, "Well, actually I think I do know what you see in him, but he's a schizophrenic sociopath, whose other half is a homicidal psychotic pain in the ass." The blond was starting to look uncertain, as much as from Salida's words, as by the lack of denial coming from her date. "The sex would be great . . . really, [i]really[/i] great . . . but I doubt you'd live to see daylight. Why don't you go find a safer guy to spend your lust on, and leave this one to me?"

"Wacko bitch," the woman muttered, but she did gather her purse and take off as if someone had doused her cold water.

Salida just shook her head, and took the woman's seat, although making sure to maintain a safe distance between her and the man. Now that she could see his eyes and the lack of recognition there, she knew that she wasn't dealing with Jeffrey. Resting her arms along the back of the booth, she said, "I must admit, you're ever so much quieter than Jeffrey."

Sands looked over this woman who'd so coolly gotten rid of the woman he'd been planning to spend the night with, and who'd so serenely revealed that she knew more about him than was healthy for either of them. [i]The woman from the news.[/i] He was tempted to play with her a bit before truly killing her, for no other reason than he thought it'd throw Jeffrey over the edge once and for all. [i]She's going to have to die, but a bit of play first.[/i] To cover up this thought, he took his time in picturing the woman who had just left naked, whose name had been Candy, incidentally, knowing that Jeffrey wouldn't bother to stick his nose in. "So, you're her. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"I suppose I am. And yes, as far as the world's concerned, I'm dead." A horrible thought occurred to her and she paled slightly. "Don't tell me that Jeffrey thinks I'm dead?"

Sands winked at her. "You got that right, sugarbutt. He went on a nice little homicidal rampage after that, and has been sullen and withdrawn ever since."

Salida closed her eyes and winced. "How many?"

"At least a dozen before I was able to take over. We had to fucking flee Boston because of you. The cops are after us everywhere."

"Aww, poor baby. I hope you don't expect me to feel sorry for you. I don't even know you. Now let me talk to Jeffrey."

"What if I say no? I must say, you're not very polite. Or even smart if you like spending your time fucking insane men."

"What gives you that idea? I don't enjoy 'fucking insane men.' I enjoy fucking Jeffrey, a difference I'm sure you're well aware of. As to my stupidity, Jeffrey must have neglected to mention that I'm a schizo too. My alter ego just had a nervous breakdown, that's why I had to get rid of her. I can't have much fun if her family is forever trying to track her down." Salida leaned back in her seat and studied this man. "Are you going to let me talk to Jeffrey, or not?"

Sands grinned. "Well, I'll think about it. But first I think there's the matter of you driving away my date. I was hoping to actually get to get laid without interference tonight."

Salida knew what he was implying, and all she felt was slight disgust. "What's wrong? Jeffrey keep killing your sluts?" She eyed Sands out of lowered eyebrows as he slid closer to her. Inconspicuously reaching into her purse, she made sure both her .22 and her injection of experimental medication were both easy to access. If worse came to worse, she'd give it to him and hope Jeffrey would be able to take advantage.

Sands merely shrugged at her inference. "That or he tells them to leave. Apparently, he got rather attached to you." He reached out and brushed some of her hair out of her face. "Interesting shirt."

Salida looked down at the words on her shirt. "F_CK . . . ALL I'M MISSING IS U" Interesting would be one word. Ignoring him, she said, "Hold your horses, sport, unless you want to find yourself peeing through a catheter." She pulled out her gun and looked him in the eye. "Try to keep in mind that I'm just as crazy as you are, and apparently have no morals."

"A challenge then," he said with a smirk. Salida just rolled her eyes.

"You sound like Jeffrey." Salida said quietly.

Sands rolled his eyes at that. "Technically, he sounds like me. Although his fucking little sayings are annoyingly catchy."

"I'm beginning to understand why he calls you the worse half." When he placed a hand on her thigh, she scooted away and jammed her gun into his ribcage. "I wasn't kidding, cowboy. I really don't mind causing a scene, and no matter what you may think, I'm not easy."

Sands looked down at the gun he'd overlooked. "Well, isn't this a dilemma. I believe you, yet I doubt you'd willingly kill someone you're so desperate to talk to."

"Who said anything about death?" Salida asked, a strange glint in her eye. "There's plenty of places I could shoot you and not kill you. And I know for a fact that Jeffrey finds pain a turn on." Despite the words coming out of her mouth, Salida was getting a tad bit worried. Jeffrey should have noticed what was going on by now.

Sands saw the spark of concern in her eyes, and marveled to himself that this woman actually seemed to care about his psychotic other half. "You really are insane, aren't you?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Making her decision, Salida once again reached into her purse, and removed the injection she'd hidden there. "Just tell me what you want, and then let's get it over with. I want to talk to Jeffrey."

Sands smirked as she lowered the gun and put it away. "I don't want too much. I just want to know what's so special about you that's got Jeffrey so upset by the thought of your death." [i]Not that he's seen anything yet.[/i]

Salida swallowed as the man leaned in to kiss her, but she didn't pull away. Now that she had both hands free to her, she primed the injection, and stabbed it into his leg just as his lips brushed against hers.

"Fuck, you bitch, that hurt!" Sands hissed, abandoning the attempted kiss before drawing a hand back and smacking her hard across the mouth, not caring that he was in a public club, and his action drew more than once shocked gasp from the people standing near enough to witness what had happened.

"Hey, tough guy! Why don't you try picking on someone your own size!" a man's voice shouted at him.

"And why don't you mind your own fucking business," Sands said coldly, sending the man a hard stare. "What the fuck did you do to me, you bitch?"

Blotting her mouth and smiling now that she'd discouraged any do-gooders from interfering, Salida simply murmured, "Just wait a minute or two, and you'll find out." [i]Com'on, Jeffrey. Take advantage of the opportunity I handed you.[/i]

"What the fuck are you talking abou---" Sands trailed off, wavering a bit in his seat. "What the fuck did you do to me?" his asked her, his voice beginning to slur a bit.

Salida watched him carefully, completely fascinated by what she saw before her. She had never actually seen the drug work on someone else before. She kept watching as Sands fell back in his seat, his eyes rolling up into the back of his head as he groaned. "Jeffrey?" she asked after a long minute, praying she had gotten the dosage right.

"Fucking hell"¦I feel like I got run over by a fucking truck," Jeffrey said, closing his eyes and running a hand over his face, not looking at her. Her voice must have registered somewhere within him, because his eyes snapped open and locked onto her. "Vixen? Is it really you?" he took her slightly bloodied face, the skin along her jaw beginning to change into a vibrant purple. "Are you really here? And what the fuck happened to your face?"

Salida nearly collapsed in relief. It'd worked. If Sands hadn't known she was nuts, he wouldn't have know her nickname. Again blotting gently on what felt like a split lip, she muttered, "Yes, I'm really here, and let's just say that Sands wasn't too happy to see me." She sighed. "The correct translation of that, is I think he wants to kill me -" She was cut off as she found herself trapped in a pair of extremely tight arms as a mouth fastened on hers with what felt like desperation and relief.

"I thought you were dead. And if you ever fucking do that to me again, I will kill you. Savvy?" Jeffrey said when he had finally pulled away.

Salida rolled her eyes. "How romantic," she said sarcastically, although here eyes were smiling.

"I've never claimed to be a romantic. Horny bastard, sure. But never romantic." He smirked at that and paused, as if trying to listen to someone. "What the fuck happened to Sands? I can feel him here," he tapped a temple in emphasis, "but it's like he's asleep or something." He looked at her shrewdly. "You had something to do with that, didn't you, my devilish little vixen?"

She shrugged. "He was getting on my nerves. So I sent him to sleep. I don't know for how long, but at least for eight hours."

This time she was the one to initiate the kiss. It lasted for several minutes, most likely shocking the very people who'd been prepared to rush to her rescue earlier. She could feel Jeffrey responding eagerly, his hands burying themselves in her hair as he pressed her backwards until they were nearly lying on the seat. Breaking away with a sigh and a slightly elevated breath rate, Salida murmured, "Save that for later, hot stuff."

Jeffrey cocked an eyebrow, his lips moving as he silently counted to three, and then he tried to kiss her again, more than willing to get down and dirty here in the bar. Salida evaded him though.

Sitting up, she watched him do the same, smothering a smile at the heated look in his eyes. Tucking some hair behind her ear, she decided to ask what she wanted while she could. "Why didn't you ever e-mail me? I left you the address. Not that I know exactly how much time has passed since our last night together, but I think you've had enough time to do that much."

Silently, she said, [i]That's great. Start bitching about how he 'never called'. Smooth.[/i]

Jeffrey quirked an eyebrow at that. "Is that the stereotypical female complaint over the fact that I "never called"?" he asked, smirking when he saw her blush briefly. "As for why I didn't, and this is going to sound really fucking pathetic, I'm sure, but I never knew what to say. Like, "hey vixen. It's me, the psychotic you fucked last night, I just thought I'd see if you'd managed to suppress your other half yet. Lots of love, Jeffrey." No fucking thanks."

"Good point," Salida muttered, sorry she'd even brought the topic up. With a sigh, she got up from the table. "Well, now that I've assured myself that you're alive and well, and you've assured yourself of the same thing, I suppose it's time for me to head for bed." Jeffrey eagerly stood at the mention of bed, and while she did intend for them to end up in the same bed, it was probably best not to give in too quickly. "Where are you going?"

He looked at her for a moment, unsure of what she was talking about. Then his eyes narrowed as he surveyed her with a measuring look. "What exactly did you have in mind for the evening, vixen?"

Salida put a finger to her chin as if she were thinking hard about her answer. "Well . . . I was [i]planning[/i] on going up to my room, changing into my pajamas, watching a bit of TV, then heading for bed. Alone. And that's what I'm still planning on doing, unless you care to convince me otherwise."

Jeffrey reclaimed his seat with a growl moving very close to Salida before speaking, his breath hot in her face, "Now you listen and you listen good, vixen. I thought you were fucking dead. I went on a fucking killing spree because of you that could have landed my ass in prison or gotten me killed. And if you even think you're going up to your room alone now that I know you're fucking alive you've got another fucking thing coming, savvy? Now, would you like to tell me what your plans are for the evening again, or are you going to continue to play games? Because I am [i]not[/i] in the mood for them right now," Jeffrey said, his eyes growing a bit cold in spite of the happiness he couldn't hide at seeing her again, alive and well.

Salida shivered at his words and tone. She truly was sorry that she'd upset him, but how was she supposed to have known that he was even still in town? "My plans for tonight . . ." she started slowly, noting that Jeffrey was watching her intently, ". . . include going to bed and getting plenty of rest, because I'll need it tomorrow. I certainly intend to collect on my one night out on the town. However, something tells me that before I can fall asleep, I'm going to have to work off some . . ." her eyes darted to his lips, ". . . some nervous energy." Swallowing and looking him back in the eyes, she asked, "Does that meet with your approval, or do I need to revise my plans again. You know how flexible I am, and how much I love to hear your input." With a wry smile, she whispered, "And a very nice [i]input[/i] it is."

Jeffrey smirked at her comment, but didn't rise to the bait, instead answering her question directly. "Well, that depends," Jeffrey said slowly, leaning in even more closely than he had been before.

"On what?" Salida asked, fighting to keep the breathiness out of her voice with little avail.

"On just how much"¦nervous energy you have to work off," he finished, moving in to kiss the left side of her neck slowly.

"You keep doing that, and I'll have enough nervous energy to keep a . . . oh" Jeffrey smirked at her small gasp, "enough to power a small nuclear power plant." Salida noticed that the light suction that had gotten her previous gasp had increased. "Stop. I want to be able to wear something low-cut tomorrow without worrying about . . . ah . . . concealer."

"Wear your hair down," Jeffrey murmured, not bothering to actually do as she asked.

"Cut it out, lover. I'm serious." Jeffrey simply rolled his eyes as her hands wound into his hair and cradled his head. "I, oh god, I'd like to at least make it to a bed. Something tells me you're going to be vigorous tonight."

"You can fucking count on that," Jeffrey assured her. "We'll have to go to your place though, because I have no fucking idea where Sands' hotel is. I was kind of"¦out of it when we got here," Jeffrey said sullenly, his entire posture a bit closed off at the mention of just how much she had affected him.

Salida froze for a moment, looking up at him out of wide eyes. "I assume that you've got a room key on you somewhere. That might have a name on it. Why don't you -" She stopped when Jeffrey placed a hand over her mouth.

"What's wrong, vixen?" Jeffrey was intrigued, and disgruntled to find that that fascination bordered on concern. He moved his hand to let her answer.

"I . . ." her voice trailed off, as she studied her hands.

"Yes?" Jeffrey pressed.

Taking a deep breath, Salida continued, "I wasn't joking when I said that Sands wouldn't mind killing me. And I'm sure he's doubly pissed now that I've gone and sedated him. He's bound to remember that."

Jeffrey closed his eyes with a groan and a curse. "I fucking knew you two would be at each other's fucking throats somehow. But I admit that I had hoped it wouldn't be this fucking soon." He sighed and ran a hand across his face wearily. "A room key, right," he said, patting down the pockets of his pants and light jacket. After a moment of searching, he finally pulled out a numbered key, looked at it briefly, and sighed again. "It doesn't say where it's from." He thought for a moment before speaking again, "Knowing Sands, it'll probably be the most expensive hotel in this fucking city, the snobbish bastard. As for which one that is, I suppose I could ask someone here." He looked over the nearby patrons of the club and was met with cold stares. "Or perhaps not."

"Sorry about that," Salida murmured. "I tried to keep my distance, but the bastard wouldn't let me." Sighing because she didn't really want to spend the next hour or two searching for where Sands and Jeffrey were staying, she gave in. "My place it is, I guess. This just means that you don't get to go to sleep any time soon."

"Oh I hadn't planned on that anyway, vixen," he said, rising to his feet, feeling the eyes of more than a few pairs of eyes follow him as he stood. "I wonder what the people think is happening between the two of us," he mused with a smirk.

"Well, you could always tell them that you're a schizophrenic and that I like one half of you better than the other," Salida said with a small laugh, grabbing the hand Jeffrey offered to her and rising as well.

"Now there's a thought." Jeffrey turned to a young man who seemed to be hovering around the two of them, not knowing that he was the man who had tried to stop Sands earlier. "I'm fucking schizophrenic, ok? You got a problem with that, you can take it up with my fucking other half."

"Jeffrey! I didn't mean that literally!" Salida said, pulling him away from the young man and towards the door before he could create any more scenes. "Let's just get back to my hotel room. Do you think you can keep your mouth shut and behave for that long or do I have to gag you?"

"You shouldn't joke about things like that, vixen. And is that a threat, or an offer?" Jeffrey asked with a wink.

"God. If I didn't like kissing you so much, it'd be both, but at the moment it's a threat, so keep your mouth shut." Salida pulled Jeffrey outside, reveling in the heat of the Nevada night. It'd been cool inside the bar, and she was more than pleased to feel some heat.

She quickly hailed a cab, and told him where she was staying. "The Bellagio, please."

"And make it fast," Jeffrey added, his arm snaking around Salida's waist to pull her closer to him.

***

Jeffrey was surprised to find that Salida was staying in one of the more expensive rooms of the Bellagio. A brand new casino/hotel, all the rooms were nice, and while this one wasn't exactly the penthouse suite, it was far more expensive than he'd thought a college student would be able to afford.

Salida saw him looking around, surveying her room. With a quirk of her lips she said, "Tess may have been a college student, but she wasn't a poor one by any stretch of the imagination. I managed to get some money out of her bank accounts before making her disappear."

Jeffrey eyed her suspiciously. "How much is 'some?'"

She shrugged. "A few hundred thousand. Less than was available to her. Tessa's family is something like royalty down in Mexico, and she was a bit of a spend thrift. Not that I'm complaining. It's certainly come in handy at the moment."

"I'll bet," Jeffrey muttered offhand. He was almost interested in hearing more about Salida's other and her family; almost. He had more"¦pressing matters to attend to at the moment than worry about some other girl popping into his life, except"¦ "What happened to Tess? I assume some kind of change must have occurred for you to be here by yourself. Were you able to suppress her?"

Salida thought about how to answer that. Would he think less of her if the answer was 'no'? But she didn't want to lie exactly either.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure what happened. One day I was stuck in the back of her head, marshalling my strength and making plans, and then I woke up on the floor, and she was . . . gone. She was readily tucking herself away in her own subconscious, which left me in complete control. And that was some weeks ago. Two I think, but I'm not quite sure. All she wanted was to get away from her family and I obliged her." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "I was strong enough to take control otherwise. I've never been strong enough to be myself for this long. But since I don't have to fight her, I am. I'm sorry if this disappoints you, but it's the truth."

"Why would that fucking disappoint me? Halle-fucking-lujah the bitch is gone," Jeffrey said with a smirk, raising his hands in victory. "Well, not actually gone, per se, but close fucking enough for my tastes. Now," his voice changed into a slow drawl, "shall we begin working off some of that nervous energy? I for one can't fucking wait."

"You just want to get laid," Salida said with a roll of her eyes.

"You're damn fucking right about that," Jeffrey agreed, moving closer to her.

Salida watched him, slowly backing up as he advanced. As she ran her eyes over his rather delightfully slim body, she got a rather wicked idea. She planned on having her own way with Jeffrey tomorrow night because she didn't have what she needed tonight. But if she wanted control tomorrow, she had to let him have it tonight. Which could be fun, if they went about things the right way.

Jeffrey took another step towards her, and again she retreated.

"What's wrong, vixen? Afraid of the big bad wolf?"

Salida shook her head and answered in low voice, "You were mad at me, weren't you? When you thought I'd died. Sands told me you went on a killing spree. Why do I get the idea that was because you couldn't get your hands on me?" Jeffrey just cocked an eyebrow at her. "You wanted to punish me, didn't you? I saw the news, I saw the papers. You wanted to teach me a lesson about not being careless."

"You still want to teach me a lesson," she continued. "Don't you?"

"Don't try to psychoanalyse me, vixen. You won't like what you find. But fine, in answer to your question Miss Kitty, yes I wanted to fucking punish you. I wanted to make you pay for being so careless and getting yourself killed. But I didn't just go on a killing spree because of you. Sure, the first one might have been because some stupid fuck made some inane comment about you being a bad woman driver at the wrong fucking moment."

Salida let out a slow hiss at that, imagining Jeffrey's reaction all too well.

"Yeah. Needless to say, the bastard was dead before I had a chance to say boo to him. After that, things got a little"¦hazy," Jeffrey admitted with a frown.

"What do you mean, "˜hazy?'" Salida pressed.

Jeffrey grunted in irritation. "I mean, I don't really remember what happened. If Sands hadn't managed to take control I'd probably be either six feet under, in jail, or in some kind of fucking institution. As it is, the fucking cops in Boston are still after me, and I'd imagine they'll get some fucking outside help as well. Irish fucking cops aren't the type to give up easily."

"Neither do we," Salida commented, still playing cat and mouse. Except she wasn't sure who was the mouse and who was the cat.

"Tell me, when you get your hands on me, are you going to cherish me or are you going to teach me a lesson?"

Jeffrey narrowed his eyes at that. "You know, from the way you're acting, it's almost as if you want me to punish you. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours, vixen? Not that I won't punish you in due course, I'd just like to know where I'm standing before you bring the roof down on my head, savvy?"

Salida actually laughed. "No, no roofs. We don't have much luck with them." Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "You really want to know what I'm up to?"

"Humor me."

Still making Jeffrey trail her around the suite and making sure to stay away from the hallway that led to the bedroom, Salida said, "I thought I'd let you get rid of any . . . aggression . . . you might be holding onto still, and let you have your night to be in absolute control, because [i]tomorrow[/i] night, I plan on having time to play, and I was hoping that you'd be more likely to go along with that if you had the next few hours to do whatever your dirty little mind wanted."

""˜Whatever my dirty little mind wanted,' huh? I hope you're aware of what you're offering me," Jeffrey stated, pulling back to look at her.

"I'm aware. I'm not a fool, Jeffrey. I'm also not a coward, although I may act like one occasionally."

"I don't think you're a coward. You're still here, aren't you? Knowing what kind of man I am? Knowing that I've got over two dozen murders under my belt?" he made the last statement a question, unsure of whether or not Salida had known just how many people he had killed.

She stared at him for a moment, unsure of why he was telling her this. "What's your point? I didn't meet any of those people, and I was well aware of your homicidal tendencies before you popped my cherry." For a moment she paused, unsure of why she'd said that. "God, being around you makes me so crude," she complained. "Anyway, not only do I know you've killed people, but I know you could have killed me, not only last time, but even tonight. I'm not worried about you. Sands, well, he's another story, but not one we have to worry about now. I know what I've gotten myself into, Jeffrey, and I know what I'm going to continue getting myself into . . . besides your pants."

Jeffrey laughed at that and pulled her in close, her arms trapped between the two of them up on her chest. "I love it when you talk dirty, vixen," he said with a smirk before capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss that left them both a bit breathless. Before she had time to react he had pushed her down onto the large bed, straddling her prone body and kissing her thoroughly once more. He pulled off of her suddenly, leaning over to whisper in her ear, "You're mine, vixen. You've returned to me, so I guess this means I don't have to hunt you down and kill you, now does it?"

"Are you sure you're my Jeffrey? You look like him, you sound for the most part"¦like him, and you certainly"¦kiss like him," Salida said with a breathy tone to her voice as Jeffrey attacked the side of her neck in hard kisses.

"Yeah, what's your point?" he growled softly into her ear.

"My point is, the Jeffrey I know isn't the type to make literary references," Salida said, referring to the quote Jeffrey had paraphrased. ""˜If you love something, let it go. If it doesn't return, hunt it down and kill it.' Is that it?"

"It appealed to me, what can I say? Now enough talk, my studious little vixen," he said before kissing her again on the mouth nearly hard enough to bruise.

Salida wasn't quite sure how she'd been corralled down the hall and into her room, but she wasn't going to argue about it now. She had enough one her hands just keeping up with Jeffrey at the moment. Her mind insisted on shutting down as his hands roamed possessively over her body, but she refused to let it. She could turn into a puddle of aroused babbling goo later, right now she wanted to match the passion he was expanding on her.

With that goal in mind, she parted her lips, biting down on Jeffrey's tongue as he tried to take over her mouth. He growled, one hand coming up to her jaw to get her to open up, and she did, yelping as his fingers dug into sore flesh. Jeffrey ignored her sound of protest, never easing up on the kiss, although the once punishing hand did stroke the bruise on her jaw, feathering over it. She accepted the apology as she tried to lever her back off the mattress, anything to get closer to him, but Jeffrey was having none of it. All he did was rip her t-shirt up and over her head, pushing her back down once he had it off her, his mouth leaving hers for only the split second that was absolutely necessary to get the shirt off.

Jeffrey didn't really want to hurt her and her bruised jaw through his unrelenting kisses, but he found he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't seem to get enough of her mouth; kissing her as if the very action was the only thing left keeping him alive. Salida seemed to have picked up on some of this emotion, and was matching his passion, action for action. He also couldn't stop one of his hands from reaching underneath her and unhooking her bra in a deft movement. Once he had gotten it off of her with a little assistance, he turned his deft fingers to her chest, his other arm propping his body up as he hovered above her. He remembered what she has said about her breasts being sensitive, and he planned to take full advantage of that fact. He was slightly mollified of his anger at making him think she was dead when she gasped around his lips, arching a bit under his insistent touch. It was only then that he moved his mouth away from hers and latched on to her right nipple, rolling it around in his mouth with his tongue. He smirked again as he felt her hand snake its way though his hair, both pulling him away and pushing him closer to her chest in a single movement.

Salida knew she was gasping like a fish out of water, but she couldn't help it. No matter how much air she inhaled, it wasn't enough to keep her head from spinning or her muscles from aching. Jeffrey was too talented with his mouth for her own good. Except it was for her good, because what other word could describe how she was feeling? It was a drastic understatement, but then so was every other word that she could think of at the moment . . . not that there were a lot of words in her vocabulary at the moment.

"Jeffrey!" she cried out, halfway between a gasp and a mewl. For some reason, he'd just hummed or moaned and the vibrations the sound had caused had sent a jolt of heat directly to her belly. Her hips twisting in jeans that were now welcome tight, she tried to relieve some of the pressure building up inside her like steam in a boiler.

"You called, vixen? Was there something you wanted?" Jeffrey asked innocently, looking up from her chest to meet her eyes.

For a moment she just stared at him out of wide and desire fogged eyes, her mind vehemently cursing at him, but her mouth to dry to form any sounds. Since this was the case, she simply dropped her head back on the pillow that'd somehow appeared under it and arched her back, trying to convey what she wanted. She wanted them both naked, wanted him on top of her, and wanted him to put out the fire tormenting her, damnit.

"You didn't answer my question, vixen," Jeffrey said, dutifully ignoring her arching body for the moment. He was surely tempted to rip all clothes that separated them to pieces and fuck her into oblivion, but he was still pissed off and she deserved to be punished. Especially if she was planning on"¦having her way with him tomorrow night. Not that the image was totally unappealing; the last time had certainly been enjoyable all told, but he still found his proverbial fucking feathers ruffled at even the thought of giving up his tight control over to her. He couldn't live without that control. It was what kept Sands' equally dominant personality from burying him in his subconscious forever without a second thought. "I'm still waiting, vixen," he reminded her, forcing himself into the present.

"Bastard," she hissed, unwilling to surrender quite yet. Her head tossing on the pillow, she bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her pleas for more from spilling out of her mouth without rhythm or reason.

"Well, since I wasn't so much born as created, then yeah. I suppose you could call me a bastard," Jeffrey mused with a grin. Salida just rolled his eyes. "But this is growing tedious, vixen. You still haven't answered my question," he said, leaning down once more to lay feather-light kisses along her shoulders and collar bone, enjoying her writing reactions under his lips.

"What was . . . the . . . ah, the question?" Salida had honestly forgotten.

"Was there anything you wanted?" Jeffrey smirked against her skin.

Yes. She wanted a lot. But she had to phrase it in a way that wouldn't sound submissive or as if she were begging. "I want to . . . to be trapped . . . oh god . . . under you as . . ." her voice trailed off as his hands cupped her breasts and his mouth kept working on her neck. ". . . as you . . . you . . ." She couldn't keep the words in her head long enough to get them to her lips. Instead, she moaned in defeat, hoping she'd said enough to get his creative juices flowing. "I want you to . . . do what I did . . . to you," she gasped.

"You want me to make you vulnerable to my every will and whim, is that it vixen? I just want to make sure we're clear before the games begin," he said with a smirk, knowing that he was being an asshole with his questions, but having too much fun to care. He emphasized his question by running his tongue around one of her nipples, delighting in the gasp he drew from her. "I still have our bag of...toys, you know," he said, pulling away from her chest to gauge her reaction at that comment.

Her reaction was to stare blankly at him for a moment, trying to process what he'd said. When the information clicked, the look on her face almost turned predatory and she threw herself at him, pressing her body and her lips against his. For a moment he was too stunned to do anything more than respond to her rather energetic advances, but then he scraped together his thoughts and his will-power. Moving quickly he pinned her to the bed, straddling her waist and holding her wrists against the bed.

"Was that a yes?"

In answer, she nipped at his chin which was just inches from her. He pulled away, amazed at how quickly the haze of near delirium in her eyes had turned into eager playfulness.

"I'll take that as a yes," Jeffrey said, amused at her actions. "It's too bad I don't have the bag with me though...it would definitely make things more...interesting. But there's always tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it should be at the hotel I'm staying at. I've been making Sands fucking carry it around wherever he goes. I don't think he's had the balls to look at what's inside of it yet though," Jeffrey said with a smirk. "Now," he said, giving Salida his full attention once more, "what shall I use to restrain my voracious little vixen?" he mused aloud to himself, scanning his eyes around the room. It wasn't as lavish as the suite had been, but it would most certainly do. "I suppose the sheet will have to do."

"The sheet? Jeffrey, what are you talking about? This is a hotel--" Salida's voice was cut off by the sound of tearing fabric.

"There, that should work nicely," Jeffrey said, holding up the two long strips of the bed sheet he had cut with the long, sharp knife at his belt. He moved his grip back to her wrists and began tying them gently, but securely.

Salida didn't struggle, knowing that would come later, but she did say, "You're going to pay for that later, lover."

"Really, I thought you were the one doing the 'payments' at the moment."

"You know what I meant," she pointed out, shivering a bit as he got up from the bed, looking around the room for who knew what. "Can I help you?"

"Oh I'm sure you will in a minute, vixen. Right now, I'm looking for something. Just stay put," he said absently.

Salida pulled a bit at her restrained wrists and rolled her eyes. [i]As if I could do anything else.[/i] "What are you looking for?"

"Oh nothing much, only this," Jeffrey said, coming back to the bed with what looked like the ice bucket in his hands.

TBC