Constant Craving

CONSTANT CRAVING CHAPTER ELEVEN (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather is super-luscious for putting up with my deluge of emails...She gets extra chocolate and muse kibble for being wonderful and beta-ing. Ted sent the dolphin, Kristen and Lucas away for the next day or so...I think he's up to something. InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are special and lovely and fanfreakingtastic for archiving. Muchos muse kissies to all of you. Vampyre, I think 2-D needs some air...let the man breathe! Readers/Reviewers: The ducks are storming the walls! The day old baguettes are falling like rocks and the brie is wreaking havoc on the sewer system of the commune! It's gunged it all up...Mount a counter attack! To arms! To arms!

Lance did not believe Jamie for one minute. The younger boy swore up, down, left, right and backwards that he was not "messing around" with Rahne but rather had been accosted by his girlfriend to get his opinion on perfume. The lipstick on the cheek? Well, that was because Rahne kissed him on the cheek when he told her she smelled nice. _Too simple...and he had flop sweat. He's lying. Jamie can't lie for shit. _ The others had been reluctant to believe him as well, but his steadfastness to the story made Scott, Kurt and even Remy sway to Jamie's side of things. Lance was the only one who snorted in derision, turning his back on the boy and returning his attention to the foosball table. Remy had joined him for another game as Kurt, Scott and Jamie drifted to the kitchen for a very late night snack. _Something's rotten in the state of Denmark.1 _
"Well, homme, dis ol' Cajun be headin' ta bed." Remy stifled a yawn as the game wound to a close, shaking his head in semi-embarrassment. "When I get so old?"
"It's almost four a.m....I'm tired, too." Lance yawned automatically, triggered by Remy's expression of tiredness. He chanced a peek at the kitchen and, seeing the other boys distracted, murmured to Remy,en den do we start?"
"In de matin, before breakfast..." Remy came around to stand next to Lance. "We be real smooth, eh? Dey never see it comin'..."
"Right..." Lance eyed the group in the kitchen once more and nodded to Remy. "Smooth. They'll never know what hit 'em."
Lance nodded again and gave Remy the universal male version of a hug-a hard slap on the back-before taking his leave. _Nip this avoidance crap in the bud...Amara's being a right bitch about everything and I'll show her who's fucking with who... _ Lance crossed the dark yard and entered the boathouse, pausing outside his room. Todd's buzz-saw snoring emanated from within and the older boy cringed. _Not ready to deal with drunken Toad snores... _ With an inner pang of self derision, Lance trudged back towards the mansion proper, feeling Amara pull him with unseen fingers. He reached the upstairs hall without incident and paused again. Amara's door beckoned him, seeming to loom invitingly down the hall, the dark wood throbbing with his heartbeat. _Man, I have got to lay off the Goldschlager2. _ Lance pressed his palm against the door and breathed deeply. _On the other side of this door is the woman who is driving me crazy...she's the only person who can bring me to my knees. I want to hate her for it but I love her too much...If I could just look at her, touch her...maybe this ache will go away...Fuck! I'm turning all mushy! _ Lance shook himself and opened her door slowly so as not to make a sound. The warm air of the room snaked out and teased his skin, drawing him into her chamber.
Amara was asleep on one side of the bed as if she expected him to come and lay next to her, one arm sprawled to accommodate a warm embrace. The scent of incense still lingered and Lance knew she had been burning an offering before she went to bed, but he was not sure to which deity. He had been trying to learn more about her ways from Nova Roma, watching her as she made offerings, trying to see which incense she burned to which god, how she worshipped, what offerings were made. He was drawing a blank with the heady floral aroma that lingered in the air, seeming to coat his senses with a warm, languid blanket. Lance felt like his movements were slowed down as he approached the bed, the only light in the room coming from the LCD readout of Amara's alarm clock. In the faint red light, Amara's brow was smooth and untroubled; she looked peaceful, something Lance rarely saw her express. He knelt by her bed, his mind registering that this was becoming a common occurrence for him. _You tease me and taunt me and make me hard to the point of pain, leave me high and dry...If you were any other girl, I'd have slapped you senseless. Or told Tabby to do it. But I'm not that person anymore. Fuck, what's happening to me? _ Lance sighed and let his head drop to rest against the side of her bed. He felt rather than heard her breathe long and slow, the scent of her bedclothes mingling with the scent of her skin to make Lance's groin tighten. "Princess," he murmured. She did not change positions but he detected a slight alteration in her breathing. "I love you."
Amara's hand stroked the top of his own where it was resting on the bed. Lance's head jerked up and he stared at his lover only to find her still asleep, just not as deeply as before. She lightly moved slow fingers over the ridge of his knuckles and a small smile played across her features. "Love you," she murmured thickly.
Lance felt his heart catch in his throat. _I am such a fucking pussy, _ he chided himself, trying to tamp down the insane swell of desire he was feeling. Amara's hand fell slack again and Lance sighed. _Bed time for me, too...I want to sleep here... _ He knew, though, that Amara would probably roast him alive if he crawled into bed with her. _Whatever game she's playing, avoiding me is part of it... _ Lance forced himself to his feet and trudged to the door. As he left, a niggling thought became an idea. _She said she missed Latin... _

Remy caught Jubilee sneaking down the hall. "Where you goin'? It be late..."
Jubilee stiffened, turning slowly to face him with flaming cheeks. "To bed...where've you been?" She stepped closer and took a surreptitious whiff. _No perfume... _
Remy chuckled weakly "Been out wit de boys..." _She actin' all guilty... _ "What you been up to, gal?"
"Nothing!" she answered quickly. "So..." Her eyes were wide as she backed away, hands behind her back as if she were afraid that she would make a mad grab for him if left to her own devices. "I'm off then..."
"No good night kiss?"
Remy sounded so sad that Jubilee felt her knees melt. She went so far as to close the distance between them, coming into Remy's open arms, before reality slapped her in the face with an icy hand. "No."
"Chere, what you playin' at?" Remy had grabbed her before she could make a getaway and now held Jubilee close to his chest, her feet a good six inches from the floor. "Don' look so scared...jus' me, mon ange," he said softly before she could answer, her eyes wide with startlement.
"Remy, if I kiss you goodnight, I'll grab your ass. If I grab your ass, you'll cop a feel. If you cop a feel, I'll moan and go all Jello-y. If I do that, it's off to your bed in no time flat." Jubilee shook her head with the air of someone explaining a simple concept to a child who should know better.
"Dat be a bad ting, chere?" Remy's eyes searched her face hungrily. He was loathe to admit it, but even one night and day without her touch, her eager responses, her soft whispers of temptation, had made him feel so empty that he was sure his heart was missing. Remy knew that there was more to their love than sex, but that physical expression was so powerful between them that, without it, he felt actual pain. "You hurt me, cherie."
"Cajun..." Jubilee's eyes were suspiciously wet. She was new to having an actual relationship and a secret part of her feared that she would drive him away by going along with Kitty's plan. _Please don't leave me! _ "I'm so sorry..."
"Make it up to me, den..." He smiled with wicked slowness. "Come ta bed wit me..."
"I can't...Please...I want to, God how I want to..." Jubilee was practically shaking in his hands, lending credence to her words that he might otherwise have doubted. "But I can't Remy. Not until things get settled."
"What tings dat be, Jubilation?" Remy lowered her to the ground but did not release her arms. He kept her pulled close, feeling her small body tremble against him, pressing himself against her so that she would know her effect.
Jubilee gasped and ground against him involuntarily before she answered in a voice tense with longing. "Infighting," was all she managed.
_Merde. Dis be cause a de fightin' wit de odder X Men... _ Remy sighed harshly. He knew that she was not punishing him per se but doing something akin to being a conscience objector. "D'accord, ma belle...mais can I jus' have one little kiss?"
Jubilee licked her lips. "I guess so..." Bracing herself, she tipped her face to meet his and was instantly consumed in the fire of his touch. Remy's lips touched hers so lightly that she was not certain he had actually kissed her at first. Before she could increase the contact, Jubilee found her head cradled in strong hands and soft, hot lips pressing butterfly-light kisses down her chin and neck, ending just about the curve of her breast. She moaned unbidden and felt Remy's breath quicken as he traveled back up her neck to her mouth. He kissed her firmly then, parting her lips with his tongue, begging and demanding entrance. She readily complied, accepting him into her mouth like the eager lover she was, willing to forget about The Plan, willing to abandon all she was working towards so long as he kept making her feel just like he was doing then and there. All to soon, Remy pulled away. Jubilee felt a sharp pang in her chest and gasped aloud at the pain. "Remy..."
"Night, cherie..." He set her away firmly but gently, a tight smile on his face indicative of the discomfort he was in. "Lemme know when you done wit dis protest, eh?" With a decided lack of courtesy, he turned his back on her and marched into his room, slamming the door between them.
Jubilee bit her lip hard, willing herself not to cry. _Be strong, Jubes. Be strong. Kick Kitty's ass later but be strong now... _
In his room, Remy found what had made Jubilee skulk. A thick envelope lay on his bed, the brown sort used to mailing documents. "What be dis, den?" he murmured to himself, almost tossing it aside automatically. The faint whiff of Jubilee's scent wafting from it, not her perfume or incense but something recognized by Remy's back brain as something deeply more personal, made him pause. With quick fingers, he tore open the flap of envelope and dumped the content the the package onto the bed, a note fluttering out to land atop a small pile of fabric. "Oh my..." The note read: _Remy...I can't tell you everything but know that I'm not blowing you off for no good reason. In the meantime, these are just something to keep me fresh in your mind... _ With hands close to shaking, Remy picked up the two scraps of fabric, one a pair of Jubilee's ubiquitous thong underwear and one a flimsy bra, something he knew she had gotten out special just for this since she almost never wore one. Her scent came off of both, light but still present, making him groan aloud in agony. She had obviously worn them at least briefly and obviously during arousal before giving them to him. _Chere, _ he thought, _you gonna give dis ol' man a heart attack yet... _

The sun was just lightening the sky from deepest black to a very faint eggplant shade when Lance found what he was looking for online. Quickly, he printed it out and scrambled to find paper that wasn't written on or crumpled, finally finding it in the back of one of his notebooks. _I hate using lined paper for this, but it'll have to do... _ In his best handwriting, Lance copied down what he needed to and folded the short missive over to make a smooth rectangle, sealing it with a piece of tape and writing *_ Princess _* on one side with bold strokes. _I am so whipped... _ Ignoring Todd's continued snoring save to wonder if there was any way that sound could be medically healthy, Lance crept out of the room out into the yard, retracing his earlier route. He did not pause this time as he walked down the hall towards Amara's room. He had his hand on the doorknob, ready to tediously push the door open so slowly and carefully that it would have made his teeth ache, when it swung open. He did well not to shout in surprise, managing a hiss of shock before he realized it was Amara before him, clad in a yellow sateen robe and gown, staring at him with undisguised curiosity.
"What are you doing?" she asked in low tones, looking rather suspicious herself, her hands deep in her robe pockets.
Lance straightened visibly. "Nothing. You?"
With eyebrows raised, she replied "I was coming out of _my room _ while you, apparently, were entering it. Can I help you?" _Stay cool...stay cool...think of the plan you came up with, you and Jubilee...It's just fortune that he was sneaking in here and you didn't have to sneak into his room. _
"Actually," Lance held out the letter, "here." He turned to flee but she stopped him.
"Here." She all but flung a packet at him, drawn from her pocket, and quickly backed into her room, shutting the door between them. With only mild trembling, she opened the packet to see Lance's tight, neat handwriting spilling down the page.
*Cruiciamentum3 *
_Erim vestra venustas numquam lasesco
Enim vestra pectus numquam labo
Cum diligo quas charisma ego tribuo te
Libertas, Pax Pacis, Incolumitas
Oblivio increpito mei venustas
Etsi vestra venustas careo
Mediocris femina ego somnium quantum
Libertas, Pax Pacis, Incolumitas
Oblivio increpito mei subrideo
Oblivio increpito mei oculus
Numquam contemno
Libertas, Pax Pac Inc Incolumitas
Dignus etsi vestra diligo favio
Festino ascisco
Compleo mei patientia cum
Libertas, Pax Pacis, Incolumitas
--K Kelly _

_Princess...I can't write poetry in English much less Latin but I found this and it seems a lot like how I think of us...
I love you. There. I wrote it. Now you can hold it against me if you want to and make fun of me if you're fucking with me after all, if that's what this ignoring me crap is about. But I love you. _
Amara did something that she had not done for a while. She collapsed into a small heap and cried.

Lance did not open his package until he reached the boathouse. Far from sleepy, he flung himself into an armchair in the small den area and opened the thin paper, three photos spilling onto his lap. The first was Amara, clothed in the yellow gown he had seen her in earlier, the light so that he could see the outline of her thighs and nipples even in the photo. His groin tightened and his eyes widened. _How...Oh... _ In her hand, he could see the cord leading to the automatic timer on the old camera she must have liberated from the upstairs study. _Sneaky, aren't you? _ The next picture made his mouth go dry. Amara had let the top of the gown fall, exposing her bare breasts, olive skin dark against the silky material, nipples darker still and obviously aroused. _Fuck...I'm afraid of the third one... _ With shaking hands, Lance held up the last picture. Amara, naked, legs spread slightly and propped on her elbows on her bed. Across the bottom of the picture, she had scrawled with silver pen, _Wish you were here. _
"Me too, Princess. 1 L 1 Lance knows Hamlet. Who knew? The boy is just full of surprises...
2 All pretty and sparkley...Responsible for many a forgotten weekend for frat boys everywhere.

3 The translation is:
Torture
Truly your beauty never grows weary
For your heart at no time begins to fall
While singled out what gift do I deserve you
Freedom, peace, safety
Empty eternity denies me your attraction
I know that but your beauty lost.
Ordinary women I cannot daydream so much as
Freedom, peace, safety
Oblivion Portests my smile
Forgetfulness denies my eyes
A heart that pays no head to scorn
Freedom, peace safety
Worthy but singled out as support
Hurrying to assume
Occupying space to perfect my suffering on each occasion
Freedom peace safety
Just freedom peace safety
K Kelly
(Modern latin poetry...ain't it great?)