Charlie held her breath as he went utterly still, the only movement the rise and fall of his chest. He kept his fingers tangled in her hair, staring down at her, his green eyes unreadable.

"What makes you think that?" he said, his voice low. "What makes you think I won't hurt you?"

She let out a slow sigh, and he stroked his thumb down the inside of her wrist again. Reminding her that his touch had only ever brought her pleasure, a sense of...if safety wasn't the right word, then protection.

He was the only significant male figure in her entire life who had never once hurt her.

"Because you never have," she whispered. "You swore you wouldn't."

"And you believe me?" There was just a hint of incredulity in his voice, so little as to not be there at all.

That, perhaps, more than anything spoke to the fact that maybe he was simply looking for someone who wouldn't flinch away from him.

"Yes." 

His actions at the club had scared her, there was no shame in admitting that. But they had scared her mostly because of what they had woken up inside of her. What had been lazily cracking open an eye ever since she had met him.

That dark creature purred at his touch, whispering for her to wrap herself around him. Not in surrender—never in surrender. But simply for the fact that he harbored a similar creature, and the one inside of her was curious about what they could make between them.

Charlie closed her eyes for a moment, shushing that darkness. She couldn't just give in. Not if they were going to go any further.

Her lips warmed under his breath a second before he claimed her mouth in a scorching kiss that made her knees wobble. She clung to him, her eyes opening as she kissed him back. Remi had his eyes closed, something like amazement etched across the lines of his face when she didn't push him away. Did it really matter to him so much, the fact that she wasn't afraid of him?

It almost made her regret the fact that she couldn't just melt into him.

Another moment passed, and she pulled away as gently as she could, not wanting to break whatever it was she had managed to give him. She stayed in the circle of his arms, his chest heaving against hers.

He blinked once, looking almost surprised. She supposed he probably was, given their track record.

Charlie searched his eyes, looking for a glimmer of...what? She didn't know what she wanted to see.

"Why," she whispered slowly, "did you break his hand?"

It was important. It was important because violent actions were not something that were difficult for him. 

What was difficult for him was acting on behalf of anyone else. He didn't particularly care about anyone else. He defended what was his with jealous passion, but not for the sake of the thing he was protecting.

So she needed to know why he had come so brutally to her defense. Why he had bothered with retribution at all. She had been unharmed. Scared and angry, sure, but in one piece.

So the question became did he break that man's hand for her sake, or for his?

He said it was because she wanted him to. Why did he care about what she wanted?

He was out a bouncer and had revealed that to touch her was to somehow rattle the beast's cage. Try as she might, she couldn't see how he had gained anything through those actions.

Remi's mouth tightened in displeasure and he pulled away from her. Charlie kept her expression carefully neutral, ignoring how a chill swept over her in the wake of his touch. Again, she watched as a thousand answers whirled behind his eyes.

Again, he settled on that grim truth she had seen just moments ago.

"Why don't you believe it was just because you wanted me to?" he finally said, sliding his hands into his pockets. His expression was as carefully neutral as hers.

"Because, Remi," she said, a hint of exasperation lacing her tone, "you don't just do things for other people. Not if you can help it."

Remi only shrugged in acknowledgment. His eyes traced along the length of her body, but he didn't move to touch her. Which was a good thing. She didn't know what she'd do if he tried to dodge the question by kissing her again.

Feeling suddenly exhausted, Charlie sat on the table and rubbed at her eyes. The wood was cool against her bare legs.

She heard what might have been a hiss and looked up to find Remi scowling at her. Maybe at the table. She sat up a little straighter, tilting her head. Not in invitation, exactly, regardless of the desire beginning to rampage through her body.

It shocked her when Remi didn't take so much as a step in her direction. 

Instead, he smiled, the expression grim. "What is it exactly that you want to hear, Charlie? What is it that you want me to say?"

She scoffed. That wasn't how this worked. She wasn't going to hand an out to him that easily. Leaning back on her hands, Charlie swung her legs back and forth a little. His gaze swept over her again, eyes burning. But he just gave her a sharp little grin, entirely aware of what she was doing.

Charlie gave him a lazy half smile in return.

He took a single, measured step forward. "What do you want me to say?" he repeated, voice little more than a purr.

"The truth," she said, throwing out something that might very well be impossible for him. 

He blinked once, then again, a muscle feathering in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. Charlie swallowed against a dry throat as he ran a hand through his hair, looking suddenly just as exhausted as she felt.

Maybe he would simply decide that this was his limit. This was all he wanted to give her. Maybe it was better that they find that out now—better late than never.

Charlie ignored the twinge in her chest that thought provoked.

"Why does it matter?" he finally asked, and Charlie scowled at him.

Was it really so impossible for him to just answer the question? Her scowl faded, replaced by something a little more grim. Maybe it was.

"Because this time, what you did involved me," she said quietly. "And I have the right to know why you did it."

It mattered, because if he had done it for her—for her sake—that changed things between them. Or it changed things for her. What those things were, she didn't know precisely, but they would still change.

"The right," he muttered to himself, turning his gaze away from her for the first time tonight. Remi stayed silent for a long time. Then: "Are you saying I didn't have the right to dole out whatever punishment I saw fit, just because it involved you too?"

"No," she said, voice a shade too cool. "You can do what you want, Remi."

He looked up, eyes narrowing at either her words or her tone. He nodded, more to himself than to her, then his gaze slid to the door. Like he was debating on leaving. 

Maybe this was as far as she could push him. Maybe he couldn't find it in him to give any more. Maybe there wasn't anything else to give.

Her temper hissed and spat like a pissed off snake and she said, "You walk out that door, do not come back."

A jolt ran through his body, eyes snapping back to hers. "You're not getting rid of me that easy, cher."

Charlie blinked in surprise, and he sighed in what might have been surrender. He ran a hand through his hair, tilting his head to the side as he studied her. As he looked at her like he was trying to decide if she was worth the truth.

A small puff of breath escaped her.

That's what she wanted, she realized with sudden clarity. She wanted to know if she was worth him telling the truth. If it was worth it to him to peel back the curtain just a little, letting her see not the wizard with his tricks, but the man who controlled the illusion.

Charlie leaned forward, not daring to even blink. She wasn't entirely sure she was breathing.

"I broke his hand," he said, "because I wanted to. Because it pissed me off to think of his hands on you." The words were ground out and rough, like they'd been dragged through broken glass before they made it past his teeth.

Charlie frowned at that. "Because you think I'm yours, or because you cared about how it scared me?" she said, pressing gently closer to the answer she wanted.

"Were you scared?" His eyes were nearly black beneath those devastating lashes.

"How it angered me," she corrected cautiously.

Remi regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. Then a laugh was huffed through his nose and he shook his head. "I don't think you're mine," he said. "I'm not stupid enough to think even I can afford you, Charlie."

She didn't want to admit how much that answer pleased her. Remi closed the distance between them, planting his hands on the table on either side of her hips. His body brushing the insides of her thighs made her shiver.

"So you broke his hand because you cared that I was angry?"

Remi sighed, his breath stirring the hair around her face. His mouth twisted into a frown, a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows. Charlie didn't say anything more, content to just watch the war wage itself behind his eyes.

"Does it bother you that that's how I solve my problems?" he asked slowly, pulling away from her a little. "Is that why this matters so much to you?"

She could understand why he would think that. Maybe he thought she was going to ask him to change how he did things. Maybe others had asked him to do just that and had left when he couldn't.

But she knew it wasn't people that changed—it was circumstance.

"No."

A flicker of surprise flashed over his face again before he quickly smoothed it away. He slowly brought his hand up, cupping her chin between his thumb and index finger.

"Then what is it?" he asked, his voice strained with frustration. The furrow between his eyebrows grew deeper. "Why does it matter? If you don't care how I do things, why does this bother you so much?"

Because it meant he maybe cared about her in a capacity beyond their working arrangement. And that, she had realized, was something she wanted. 

She wanted him. 

She wanted him as more than just someone she was working for. Even as more than someone she was just sleeping with. She wanted every nasty, wicked, jagged edge of him, because he had never flinched from her own sharp corners and terrible thoughts.

Not daring to say that, she bit her lip and shrugged. Remi snarled his impatience.

"It doesn't bother me," she whispered. "And that...bothers me."

True enough. It did bother her that, despite what she knew of him, she still wanted him anyway. That's why his answer was so important. She needed to know if he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Remi's expression softened, his thumb tracing over the edge of her jaw. "You don't have to like what you have to do to survive, Charlie, you just have to be able to do it."

"Do you like it?" she asked, the double meaning in her voice so heavy she nearly flinched. Maybe a sideways answer would be easier for him to give than a straight one.

Remi gave her another thoughtful, reserved look, like he understood exactly what she was doing. "Sometimes," he said, voice little more than a midnight caress. The answer she had been looking for was glimmering in his eyes.

He'd broken that man's hand because of her. For her. And ultimately she shouldn't have wanted that answer, but she did anyway, and Remi was the only person in the world who wouldn't think any less of her for that.

She nodded slowly, acknowledging what he hadn't said. "And for the times you don't?"

He let out a tired laugh, his fingers drifting up to touch the shadows under her eyes. "You learn how to sleep at night."

"Is it easier with company?" she hardly dared to whisper. She didn't want him to misunderstand.

It wasn't an invitation to kiss and make up. It was simply an opportunity to be un-alone. For them to begin exploring the idea that there was more than simply physical attraction between them.

"Sometimes," he said again, his gaze like a weight on her skin.

Charlie nodded once, a bare dip of her chin, and swallowed her nerves before she gently pushed at his chest. He gave her just enough room to slide off the table. Not looking at him, she laced her fingers through his and pulled him after her, shocked when he didn't resist.

Maybe she wasn't the only one who thought there was more to this thing between them.

Remi let her lead him to the stairs, with her turning the lights off as they went. He loomed at her back, the sensation of him following her giving her goosebumps. His fingers were warm and rough around hers.

She very nearly hesitated when they got to the bedroom door. Instead, she let go of his hand and padded quietly around the bed, slipping under the covers before she dared to meet his eyes.

The expression on his face was strange enough that she wondered if she had made a mistake, and was going to wake up to cold sheets and a big helping of regret.

But he just pulled his shirt over his head, then bent to unlace the old work boots he was wearing. He toed them off and stood straight, his head cocked in consideration. Charlie didn't let her gaze dip any lower than his eyes.

Heat flushed through her when he unbuttoned his jeans, leaving them with the boots and the shirt on the floor. Charlie twisted around and turned off the lamp beside the bed, plunging them into darkness so he couldn't see the blush tainting her cheeks.

The mattress creaked quietly, the shushing sound of the blankets too loud in the stillness as he slid in beside her. He didn't move to touch her, instead just shifting into a more comfortable position on his back, one arm behind his head.

Charlie swallowed hard, then turned before she could chicken out and kissed him. His lips parted automatically, his hand coming up to the side of her face, but she pulled away when he traced his fingers over her shoulder and down to her waist.

She shook her head, wondering if he was going to do as she asked. To her surprise, he nodded, pillowing his head on his hand again.

He didn't touch her when she leaned in to kiss him a second time.

This one wasn't a surprise to either of them. It was slow and controlled and sent heat racing through her blood. She set the pace, and Remi didn't try to change it.

She only pulled away when she was certain her heart was seconds away from beating its way out of her chest. His eyes glittered in the low light coming from the window, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

Charlie lay down, rolling onto her side so she wouldn't have to stare at him. She wondered if he would be here in the morning, or if she had just shown her hand and let him play her like a fool.

Either way, her cards were on the table, and so were some of his.

That beast inside of her purred its contentment as she closed her eyes.

Fun Fact: More like a fun apology :P I do try to limit the number of rewrites I'm forced to do, for the sake of my sanity and yours, but I'm also human and here were are :)

I greatly appreciate your continued patience with me and support for this story. It means more than I can say without this being longer than the actual chapter.

Anyway, I like this version much more, and hope you do as well!