Dark Arrow Ch. 01-03

"Now," He said is a soft tone that made her shiver, though she couldn't decide if it was in trepidation or desire, "We answer a few questions that have already been asked. We ask a few more questions we want the answers to, then we answer those questions. After that we'll see where we are." He fell silent as he watched her face for her reaction. She met his gaze and for once those eyes seemed to have some uncertainty in them. She found that it shook her more when he wasn't his usual almost overconfident self. So she swallowed her nerves, and flashed him the best smile she could manage and nodded.

"Fine, then I'll go first. Who trained you, and how is the Advocacy involved," She asked, racking her brain for what else to ask him.

"Ah yes. Well you already know it was the military, but to be specific I was a marine. The advocacy became involved when the marines realized I was... how to put this... well suited for spec ops missions. I got several assignments, and then one night this man showed up on base. The base CO pulled me in to talk to him. They asked a bunch of questions about how I felt about the empire, the politics going on, stuff like that. I figured I'd done something to draw attention and that I was going to get drummed out, or wind up with a knife in my back."

He shook his head and his eyes took on a stormy look. "What I didn't expect," He growled, "was for the advocacy to show up and haul my ass off to their blacktops unit. With them that means assassinations, so basically I was trained by the advocacy to be the same thing you are little one. After a few years though I started to realize something about the work. We'd kill one dick wad who was supposed to be evil and another one would take his place. We'd back the new puppet for a few years and then someone would go in and kill him and he'd be replaced. It was a never ending revolving door. I got tired of it. So I left. You can guess that they don't exactly let you go willingly in this line of work. So I went AWOL, managed to slip aboard an outbound fast freighter and eventually made my way here."

He fell silent as she absorbed this information. Finally she nodded, but he let the silence stretch on for a few seconds. "So it seems it's my turn to ask a question," He drawled. She nodded again, and he smiled as she looked expectantly at him. "How long have you been hunting these woods, and who trained you?" She took a deep breath as she pondered his question.

"My father trained me," She began softly. "I've been hunting these woods for almost fifteen years now. I didn't exactly train to be an assassin; I trained to be a hunter. I'm by far the best in the outskirts, and when the need presented itself those skills let me kill someone and get away. From then on occasionally people would ask me to take someone out. It's not a lot of work, but I carved out a bit of a name for myself and the pay is extremely good. When I was over 15 kills and hadn't ever let a target escape people started to take notice. They started to recognize my signature, so I had to start switching things up a bit here and there. Mostly though I've stuck with the bow and arrow for the kill, because no one can dispute that it's my kill that way."

She fought the urge to fidget as she gathered her thoughts again. "That was last year. About a month ago I got approached by someone to take out Nathan Bicormish. It was a high profile job. One that could break me into the big leagues, but they wanted it done in public. With the way he was about security that meant it had to be on the street, so I asked for what I thought would be an outrageous price. 3 million creds for a mid-level mogul. It was outrageous, but they paid it. I couldn't believe it. They didn't even try to negotiate. They just paid it." She paused and looked over at him with a wry smile. "Of course now that I know what they were up to it makes a lot more sense." He nodded his head, slowly digesting what she'd told him.

She could almost feel the reassessing going on in his head as he tallied up strengths he didn't know she had against the fact he now knew for sure she'd fallen into her work by chance. He smiled at her after a second and his eyes roved over her in open appraisal. She shuddered at the flare of heat that look kicked off in her gut. He nodded as if coming to some conclusion and winked at her.

"Your turn for a new question I believe," He said softly. There was a husky tone to his voice his time, and it seemed that those soft words carried a hidden promise. A Promise she wasn't sure exactly what to make of, but she knew it had her fighting the urge to squeeze her legs to gather and start squirming. This man was oh so confident and oh so hazardous to her sanity. She couldn't think straight around him. That had to be the explanation why the simplest gesture and word from him had her aching in need.

"Why did you let me live? You promised me the full story when we were safe." She asked in a soft voice. He pursed his lips and sat a little straighter.

"Well then," He murmured, "straight to the hard question aye. Truth is little one I'm not entirely sure myself as I told you before. My training and everything I've ever done would say it was a thousand to one long shot. By all rights I should have just shoved you back into the street after I knocked you out and let the police have you."

He furrowed his brow for a second in thought and pulled his cap off to run his hand through his shock of black hair. "I suppose it's partly because I never held with the way they torture assassins here. It's supposed to make people not want to be an assassin, but that clearly isn't working since the number of assassinations is growing rather than diminishing. I could also be partly because I was raised to treat women with respect, and seeing a pretty little thing like you getting ripped apart wouldn't have sat right with me. Of course I could have gotten around both of those by simply hitting you with a dose of toxin while you were out. You'd have slipped away in your sleep and I could have dumped your body for the police to find." She suppressed a shudder as he coolly talked about how simple it would have been for her to never wake again after their fight, and he glanced over at her.

For a moment he held her gaze with an expression so serious it melted the confidence out of her, and it was all she could do to sit there without reaching for her weapon so lethal was his gaze. Then suddenly it softened and he leaned over to stroke a finger down her cheek. The sudden change in demeanor threw her, and she couldn't repress the shudder of pleasure than rolled through her from the touch or the soft sigh she gave. "I suppose that's what I said before wasn't entirely true," He rasped in a voice so husky with lust and emotion she had to bite back a whimper of desire. "I can't explain it, but, from the moment I laid eyes on you drawing that arrow on Bicormish the first time, I've felt this strange kinship with you. I was half way back to the safe house, congratulating myself a bit on saving him when I got this sudden chill. I remember thinking that if I were the one after him I'd be coming back to finish the job. So I turned around and came hurrying back to make sure you didn't, but by the time I made it to the street you were already making your move. I couldn't believe it. You were poetry in motion, even if you were fucking up my contract. When I caught sight of you in the crowd headed back for the alley I ducked into it thinking I'd take you by surprise, but then you turned into the same alley. I backed off, but I saw you retrieve your gear."

He smiled as he replayed the events of that night. "I thought for sure you'd seen me and were coming my way to finish me off. So I ducked up another alley and hid there. When you turned the corner I was sure that confirmed my suspicion that you were after me so I went after you full tilt. It wasn't until I knocked you out that I stopped to wonder what on earth was going on. It was clear you were not expecting me in the alley from the way you reacted to the attack, so I knew I'd made a mistake about you hunting me. Still, there you were, bow slung on your back, bloody, beaten, but still beautiful enough to stop me heart for a second. I don't know when the decision was made to save your life. I don't know if there was really even a question at all. I just know that one minute I was standing over you in the alley just staring at your face, and the next I'd hauled you back to my little crash pad and was in the process of shooting you full of nanos."

He smiled at her as he fell silent, and she fought the urge to reach over and squeeze his hand or worse climb into his lap and hug him. Finally her looked up again. "But I think what you're really asking is what I wanted to gain from helping you. In both our lives experience has taught us that people don't just help us. We distrust help as a force of habit because of that, so you're wondering what alterier motive I have for keeping you alive. The truth is I could make up a lie about wanting something or other for you or try and convince you that I didn't want anything, but neither of us would truly buy that. The real reason is that I did it because every fiber of my being told me I had to. That same gut feeling that has saved my life countless times telling me I needed to move positions, or look behind me. Well this time, the second I stopped and really looked at you, it started screaming at me that I had to save you. That saving you was more important that protecting myself."

He frowned as he considered his words. "I... I don't know why. I just know you're important to me. More than important, you're vital to me in a way I can't begin to understand." He looked up and gave her a lop sided grin. "If I was a romantic I'd say I fell in love with you at first sight, but I'm too practical for that. This is beyond that silly concept. Something in me, in my very soul, needs you like I need oxygen. I can't understand it, but I have realized over the past fourty eight hours that fighting the feeling and trying to reason my way around it isn't going to help. It's very real, and it doesn't care if I understand it or not."

She swallowed hard as he fell silent again. God this man spoke to her in ways she couldn't understand, and it scared her. She was so caught up in the maelstrom of emotions running through her that she didn't fully process it when he asked her a question, but simply answered it automatically.

"Once, almost six years ago now," She whispered, then shook her head and stared at him in disbelief. "You did not just ask me if I'd had sex before." She hissed, heat flooding her face, but also her crotch at the audacity of the question.

"I hate to tell you this, but I'm afraid I did. More importantly you just answered me. Now this isn't exactly playing fair, but I'm going to ask you another question while you're still processing this. Was he your first kill too?" She was stunned. So much so that she was again doing her best impersonation of a fish.

"yes," She whispered softly after a second. "He was popular with the girls around where I lived because he had an amazing body. A few of them had been with him and they swore he was good in bed. So I..." Her voice broke, and she took a ragged breath.

"I threw myself at him. He knew I was one of the best hunters, and I guess he decided he was tired of living off scraps. He came on strong, talking about how the other girls before me paled in comparison. He claimed to love me, and because of that he, or so he claimed, he wanted to wait until we were married to have sex. I... I agreed. For eight months I hunted and fished and provided for him and any of his buddies he invited to crash with him. Then he finally scrapped together enough money and we were married. He invited a bunch of his buddies over which didn't sit well with me because after eight months of build up with him on top of eighteen years of hormones building up I was anxious to get to what I considered to be my sole perk of marrying him. He told me not to worry, that they'd get drunk and pass out, so we'd have plenty of time together." He held up a hand to stop her as tears started to fall unchecked from her eyes.

"He took you, and then he gave you to his friends, didn't he. You were the one they were looking at for the southridge murders. Jesus little one what were there eight of them if I remember correctly." She nodded grimly.

"They passed me around all weekend. I was so torn I bled for three days after it was all over with. When I gave up fighting because I was getting weak from the loss of blood and figured I'd die soon anyway they made a mistake. I guess they thought they'd broken my spirit or something because that night after they'd passed me around again they threw my bow and quiver at me and told me to go bring home some meat. I almost just ran. I think..." She stopped and shuddered as the memories washed over her.

"I think," She murmured, "If they had just been quiet and let me leave they'd still be alive, but could they do that? No, or course not, they had in try and demean me one more time. One of them called after me that I should bring back something that was as fresh as I used to be, and one of the others laughed and said 'yeah, but see if you can find some meat that tastes sweater than you do, bitch'." His teeth ground together so hard she actually paused to look at him. Hand's clenched so tight there was no blood flow to his fingers anymore he waited for her to go on.

"I think I just snapped," She muttered. "I don't remember much of it really. I remember turning around. I remember the anger boiling inside me as they just sat back and laughed. The next thing I remember three of them were dead with my arrows lodged in their bodies and the others were screaming and running. Two more were down before they got the door open. Another one I dropped before he made the alley way just up the street. I don't remember the seventh one," She frowned trying to remember the chase. Trying to recall how she'd ended that one life.

Finally she sighed and shrugged. "I do remember hunting my husband down. I remember him shaking and pleading for his life before I put an arrow in his heart. He'd run to his mistresses place of all things. I had my suspicions she was more than just a casual fling, but he barged into her place despite her telling him to stay out. He even tried to use her as a shield. I should have killed the bitch so she couldn't tell the cops it was me, but..." She choked back a sob. "I just remember thinking if I hadn't had my father train me to hunt I could have ended up just like her. So I kicked his shin so had I almost broke my toe. It shouldn't have, but somehow it worked. He lost his grip on her, and before he could get her again I was between them." She closed her eyes to hold back the tears. "He told me he was sorry. He begged like a child, and then... then I shot him. I just remember him saying how sorry he was and how he'd never hurt me again and then there was this thud. It wasn't until a second later that I realized I'd shot him."

She paused to shudder, and for a moment she fell silent. "That was my first and last experience with sex. I was cured of my curiosity, and I'd made my first kills. I ran to the woods, figuring I'd bleed out from the trauma they'd inflicted on me, but that at least I'd avoid being executed. Only I didn't bleed out. I spent six months hunting and fishing outside of town why I healed. By the time I came back I found out that I'd been declared dead along with my husband and that the police had given up looking for the killer. So I learned from what happened and then one day one of my friends came to me and asked me to kill someone for her. Someone who was blackmailing her husband to get to sleep with her, and..."

She broke off with a wave of her hand to indicate he knew the rest of the story. She shuddered again, and was surprised when he stood and walked over to her. He stooped and pulled her to her feet as well, moving behind her to wrap her in a hug while she shook with the memories.

"Ah little one," He breathed against her neck, which sent waves of tingling heat through her body. "You've had a hard road to get here, but stop and look at the view for a second. You are alive, and they aren't. You are feared, and they are dead. You have walked through fires that would have burned others to ash, yet here you stand. You are stronger than you know Erillia." They stood in silence for a few minutes with him holding her as she soaked in his words and the heat and smell of him for comfort. Finally she cleared her throat.

"You cheated," She said pointedly.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you asked me questions you knew I'd be reluctant to answer when I was distracted and you asked more than one question." She huffed in annoyance, and he chuckled deeply. The vibrations from his laughed washed through her. Oh lord she was melting again. He was holding her, and she was grateful for that, because if he laughed like that again she was pretty sure her knees weren't going to hold.

"I suppose I did at that," He murmured in her ear as he squeezed her with a hug. "What do you suppose would right such and injustice?" He nuzzled her ear as he asked that and a fully body shudder ran through her.

"I get to ask you two questions, and you don't get a choice if you answer them or not," She husked in a voice she almost didn't recognize as her own.

"Done," He whispered in her ear, then quickly took her earlobe between his teeth and gave it a tug. She moaned, and shook off his arms. She couldn't think straight with what he was doing to her, and she wanted a clear head to decide on what to ask him. She turned to face him, and instantly realized that was a mistake. She was lost in those damnable green eyes in an instant, and suddenly only two questions mattered.

"What are you going to do with me now? Am I still your prisoner? Are you going to force me to stay with you, or am I free to do as I see fit? She saw uncertainty flash across his eyes for a moment as he considered her. Finally he sighed and it seemed to her as if the weight of all that had happened in the last few days settled onto him in an instant.

"I won't lie to you Erillia, I want you with me. I can't explain it, and I know this is absolutely insane. All I can say is the thought of not being near you... it just tears at me inside. The thought that you might be hurt and I wouldn't be there to help or need someone and I wouldn't know it... it... all I can say is that it just feels... wrong." He stared into her eyes, and for the first time she saw pain in those green depths. "I won't keep you prisoner little one. You aren't my slave or my leverage. I told you that you'd be free to go, and I meant it. What you do from now on is your decision and yours alone." She nodded as he finished speaking unable to look away. Her mouth was suddenly as dry and the sands of the deserts she'd once read of.

"Are you going to fuck me," She finally managed to whisper. At first she thought he hadn't heard, but then there was a flash in those green eyes and she thought he was going to jump her right there. His hands came up to cup her face and he kissed her hard. She melted into his arms as he drew her in, and gladly welcomed his tongue as it searched hers out while she moaned into his mouth. Dear god she was burning. She'd heard of being burned alive, and of burning with lust, but she never imagined the two could be one in the same until that instant. Then he stopped. She stared at him in confusion as he slowly pulled away. It was clearly a struggle for him; she could see that in his body language and in his eyes. Yet despite his desire for her he pulled back.

"No," he finally said softly. "I can't deny that I want you, and I won't insult your intelligence by trying to." He clenched his hands at his sides and looked down for a moment. Then his head rose and he pinned her with his gaze. "I want you little one, but I've been paying attention over the last few days. You have a submissive streak in you, and right now you're vulnerable because of everything that has happened. If I played with you now I'd always regret it because I can't be sure if it's what you really want or if it's just a reaction to what we've been through." He stared at her, and she could clearly read the turmoil in his eyes as he rejected her. "I'm sorry." He whispered in a tone so broken it tore her heart to shreds. She just stared at him for a moment in shock, and then she couldn't contain her snort of derision any longer. Were all men idiots?