MEMORY 12

Ami's eyes twinkled as she watched Zoisite advanced the position of his rook. Tucking her hair at the back of her ear, she retreated her bishop, unwilling to let him took her bishop away. Five or four move the victory will be mine! Ami thought triumphantly. She had not expected playing against him would be hard. Really hard. They had been playing for nearly two hours and instead of getting bored, she felt challenging and it excited her.

Zoisite watched the beautiful petite in front him, playing with her hair while she was thinking. She looked so young and vulnerable and he almost thought she must be joking when she told him about everything that happened when they protected their queen. She also very pretty. With her huge blue eyes twinkled mischievously, to match her blue hair, she criticize every movement he made and he only smiled in amusement.

When Ami placed her queen in the position, Zoisite teased her. "Are you sure you are willing to risk your queen at that spot?" She raised her eyes, still unaware of his intention, and smiled wickedly. "A queen is willing to risk anything to protect her beloved husband."

"So do I," Zoisite agreed meaningfully. Ami snapped her head up. She thought she knew what exactly he was saying but she didn't really certain.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, I am willing to risk my knight to kill your beloved queen," he said and a smug grin that really annoying appeared on his attractive face. Ami immediately looked down and she absolutely surprise at the sudden attack. There's a knight in my queen's way? I'm sure a second ago, that knight wasn't there! Ami thought furiously.

"Why, you conceited bastard! If you wanted to cheat, you ought to learn more on how cheat more efficiently!" a pair of blazing and shinning blue eyes looked at him in absolute disgust and fury.

"Hey, you have to accept defeat. That's how the game works. One loses and the other wins!" he defended himself.

"The winner can only call himself a winner if he didn't cheat the other player!" Ami fired back. God, how she hated this arrogant bastard.

"Boy, you are really sensitif," he teased her, admiring her flushed face. This time Ami had enough. Zoisite had gone too far this time.

"FINE!!" she jumped up. "You can play that stupid game by yourself because I don't give a damn if you won that DAMN GAME!!" she ended her sentence shouting. It wasn't often Ami swore, but this time she was so angry, so furious that she hardly see straight. Zoisite stood up too.

"Chill out, will you," he said softly but it wasn't enough to cool her down. Ami pushed him aside and roughly snatched her swaeter from the chair.

"Ami!" when she didn't turn around or even stopped, he caught her hand, forbid her from leaving the room. She was stiffened by his gentle and tender touch. Pulling her to him, he cupped her face and feasted his eyes on her flawless face.

"God, you are lovely. So damn beautiful," he whispered as he ran his finger upward to her cheek. Ami drowned herself in his sedductive and sexy eyes, that she couldn't think of anything. Without warning, he touched his lips to hers, tasting the sweetness of her lips, gently but demanding. Ami went rigid at his unexpected action, but she didn't push him away nor she was responding to his touch.

Buried his hand in her thick hair at the nape, he ran his lips to her ear, nibbling it gently and then he whispered huskily. "Kiss me, Ami," he ordered. "I want to flavor your sweet lips..." her defense crumbled completely around her as she drew up her hands to his broad chest, crumpling his shirt and within a second, his lips locked to her. He kissed her gently and then hungrily, feeling the joy of being able to make this beautiful and angry woman kissed him back shyly and uncertain.

Deepened his kiss, he urged her to part his lips into two, so that he could taste her more. Being kissed by this demanding and experience man so thoroughly, made Ami shuddered with desire the ability to think left her. All she knew, she wanted to be in his arms forever, not wanting this moment to end. Never had a man kissed her so intimate and passionately. To her greatest disappointment, Ami felt his lips left hers.

Breathless from the long kiss, she leaned her forehead against his shoulder. The smell of the faint scent of his manly perfume and his long blond hair caressing softly her cheek, brought such a bliss to Ami. Zoisite's hand drew around her protectively and it somehow pleased her. She had never met a man who managed to make her so angry a second ago and full of desire after that.

Zoisite drew out a long breath. This shouldn't be happening. The main reason he was here was to made a peace between her, to tell her that he wasn't intended to hurt her for he was longer the Dark Kingdom general. Instead, he had been kissing her, holding her so close, when he knew he shouldn't. He couldn't control himself whenever she was close to him because a shot of desire and a powerful urge to press his lips to that delicious and inviting lips. Her last lover was obviously an idiot because he could tell she was totally unexperience with intimate things.

Suddenly, he knew that he had to be far from her because he couldn't risk her from his own desire to push her onto the florr and took her right away. She was right when she wanted to leave him just now. Quickly, he pushed her and wrapped her sweater around her, even though his mind told not to.

"Zoisite..." her eyes were full with confusion and hurt when she knew he wanted her to leave.

"It's for the best," he strangled out the words which made it barely audible. Snapping her eyes up to meet his, her eyes were once again blazing.

"If you think you can kiss me, caressing me whenever you like and then push me away, you are sadly mistaken!" she walked backwards. Zoisite quickly looked away, feeling angry and regrets. "I'm not like any other women that you can easily play with!" Ami flung the door opened and slammed it close, leaving Zoisite looked at the door with his pain and relief eyes.

* * * * * *

Lita was walking throught the jungle, carrying some wood for their dinner. After fleeing away from him like a scared rabbit, she felt utterly foolish, so she decided to ge back. Maxfield was neither teased her nor he was angry. To be specific, he gave her a look that somewhere between angry, amused and proud. It made her totally uncomfotable.

As soon as she reached at theirspot, she saw him putting down a dead rabbit. She wondered how did he manage to catch a rabbit so fast. After putting down the woods, she hesitatedly approached him and sat down next to him.

"Let me do with rabbit. You can arranged those woods over there," she said nervously. Smiling at her, he handed her the knife Lita had accidently brought with. She smiled at the thought when Nephrite had laughed when he heard her excuse why did she bring the knife. It was a rich and sweet-melody laugh.

They worked silently and after a few minutes, the rabbit was nicely on the fire. Wind blew softly as if trying to break the ice around them.

"What were you thinking?" Nephrite finally spoke up. Her gaze flew from the fire to the familiar handsome face of his.

"Nothing," she answered shortly.

"You know what am I thinking?" he asked her. Lita shook her head. "I was thinking about Vanessa," he told her. Immediately, her face was clouded as jealousy began to strangle her. Returning her gaze back to the fire, she tried to look as if it didn't matter.

"You missed her?" she asked him curiously, still reluctant to look at him. Nephrite didn't miss an unmistakable tone of jealousy when she asked him and he felt pleased.

"Soft of," he answered. Glancing at her, he continued,"I missed her breathy laugh, her sedductive voice, her narrowed eyes..."

"Oh, stop it!" she burst out suddenly. Nephrite looked at her startled at first by her sudden outburst, and then smiled understandably and now he was positive she was jealous. His heart soared happily.

"Why?" he goaded her silently.

"Our rabbit is ready," Lita said instead, refused to answer his question. How can she explained to himwhile she didn't even know why she burst out like that. Clumsily she removed the meat away from the fire and put it on a large leaf.

"You still haven't answer my question," Nephrite pointed out after a while.

"Which one?" Lita sincerely hope it wasn't why she acted like a dumb jealous fool. She sliced a small part of the meat and handed to him.

"Not until you answer my question and you know exactly which one," he persisted. He loved the way she was blushing or laughing or angry when she was so dazed with passion he had offered to her. Right now, her face was bright red and Nephrite smiled amusedly.

"You made me remembered my home," she blurted out the lamest and stupidest reason and she almost cursed for her stupid answer. Nephrite was laughing now. So hard that he couldn't stopped and the laughter was so contagious that Lita was nearly smiled.

] "Now, you've heard my explaination and you certainly have a good time laughing at me, would you take it," Lita handed him the meat again. Unexpectedly, he caught her hand, guiding it to his mouth and took it from her fingers. Then, he kissed each of her fingers, his eyes never left her and then slided his lips down to kiss her palm. A surge of tenderness surrounded him, demanding him to draw her close and kissed her until she was clinging to him. Then, she would never wanted to run away from him again. Reluctantly, he put her hand down and smiled at her startled face.

"You certainly made a delicious dinner," his gently voice brought her to reality.

"Why did you do that?" she whispered, still surprised by his action.

"Because you are..." his words stopped there. Lita looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Never mind that. Let's enjoy our dinner," he said at last, shrugging off her question. Lita was a drug and he was addicted to her. Why, did everytime he look at her, her beautiful face, a surge of uncontrollably and intense desire shot through his body. He wanted to make love with her, to somehow own her, carving his property onto her so that no one would dare to touch her. But yet, his mind was reluctant to do that. He respected her and he didn't want to hurt her unnecessarily.

He was a businessman and everything about him, sooner or later the public will know. He could handle the pressure but he didn't think Lita can. But he'll be damn if he let Lita go. No matter what, Lita would be his. Owning Lita was an obsessive and Nephrite knew why. He was absolutely, irrevocably and desperately in love with Lita Kino.