Leave Me Breathless     by Hikari-chan

Disclaimer: To be quite honest, I´m kind of depressed right now. Either Sailormoon or Gundam Wing as presents would be nice.

AN: I don´t care if it´s past Christmas. Bah Humbug. I´m not in a great mood. Stressed. Tired. Lots of work Not enough sleep. Dreaded presentations. Unfinished ISPs. Personal issues. Need I go on?

Kagome-chan: I like Chinese lion performances. =P You´ll just have to keep reading to find out who´s with who, but other than Wufei and Ami, they´re all going to be tangled in some sort of polygon.

Serena Yuy: It would if it was done in public. Fortunately, Heero´s got a better hold on his temper than Rei. I think, at least.

WindRider-Damia: *hugs* I´m truly sorry, but trust me, if that´s the case, he wasn´t worth your time. For the plot´s sake, Usagi can´t do that to Duo. Maybe later in the storyline.

DarkKnight: There´s an evil called school I have to take care of, with this being my final year in high school and all. Actually, I´m not doing as well as I was last year. Anyways, I´m already updating faster than I have been doing in the past year. Just ask those who waited (or are still waiting) for me to get my act together and write SW. >.>

Chibi Shamps: *huggles* I´m sorry. ^^;;; I´m trying to update this one quickly.

Lilaclight: XD I totally cracked up at your suggestion. Well, Heero could always use it as compensation if he offends Usa. ^_~

the Desert Fox : I can´t win, can I? =P Actually, I just had Ami´s hair be naturally black, because blue hair doesn´t exist in real life. Heero and Relena´s "date" is probably the shortest in fanfiction history, as you´re about to see. ^^;;; As for the triangle, if I say Duo is a plot device, does that make things better?

Usagi Asia Maxwell: No, I didn´t email the last chapter to you. Was I supposed to? *is confused* I don´t email chapters to anyone unless I ask that person to pre-read, and that´s usually a spur of the moment thing.

LunaPrincess: I´m sorry. I can´t stop the triangle. If your concern is Usagi being indecisive, then you don´t have to be concerned at all. I can assure you that much. This fic won´t turn out like Usa-chan or D-chan´s popular ones where Usagi is stuck between multiple men and doesn´t know who she loves. As I told the Desert Fox up there, Duo´s role is just a plot device. I need him there to develop the main plot as well as one of the subplots. You´ll see what I mean by that. I just hope that puts your worries to rest.

Vixen: *dies laughing* Oh my god! Poor Duo! Everyone´s against him! XD I suppose this means I´ll have to embarrass him a lot later to make up for his current role. Well, I´m sure Heero has a couple things to say to that. I´ll see what I can do. ^_~

Heart Soul: I celebrate Chinese New Year too.

Minna-san: LOL! Lots of guessing we have going on. Writing this AN totally cheered me up, because I got to reread all your reviews. Speculations everywhere, it seems. The Makoto/Quatre relationship won´t be completely open until, at the very earliest, the next chapter, but this one does produce some insight. The triangle got a whole range of reactions from "Yes, triangle!" to "Oh god, no!". I´m trying to keep it Heero/Usa and interesting at the same time. I think, for those who hated it, you´ll see Duo´s use as this chapter progresses. As for who knows who, the best way not to confuse yourself is to assume that they don´t know each other unless stated otherwise. Anyways, thanks again for the wonderful comments. Enjoy the show!

Warnings: AU, OOC-ness galore, definite PG-13 scene nearing the end. (i.e. the infamous romance novel ravishing scene), a little language but not too bad.

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Chapter 7 - Jealousy

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Usagi stared at Duo, her bright eyes showing some confusion. Gathering her wits about her just in time to react, she quickly turned her face away just as Duo leaned forward. He kissed her cheek, and she mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

Laughing nervously, the braided man sat back in his chair. "My sense of balance is bad," he stated with a sheepish grin.

"If you can fall off a four-legged chair, I wouldn´t use just ‘bad´ to describe your sense of balance," Usagi replied matter-of-factly, her cheeks still a little pink.

No matter how witty she could be, how many guys have been on the receiving end of her sarcastic and biting replies, she was still one of those girls who had never been kissed in her life. It wasn´t to say that no one had tried, but with Mamoru as one of her best friends, most men at home had learned not to give her unwanted attention. The overprotective brother role had extended to her, not just to Hotaru. Of course, the fact that her sister teased her endlessly about any guy in her life just about turned her off from high school and university romance. She had dated a couple of men, before she decided that none of them were interested in her as a person. Sometimes, she hated being classified as gorgeous. She never knew if men were interested in her personality, or her looks. Judging by Mr. Maxwell´s actions just minutes before, Usagi would bet her lifetime savings that he fell into the category of the "common man", forget the fact that he was a world famous actor.

And Mr. Yuy as well, she added to herself mentally. He was, after all, surrounded by beautiful women. He was probably dying to make her one of those bimbos who could only flutter her eyelashes at what he said.

Duo, who seemed to have noticed her sudden change in mood, decided to speak up. "I´m sorry, did I do something I wasn´t supposed to?" he asked.

Usagi bit back a wry smile. She could tell him that coming to dinner was a mistake on his part altogether, but that seemed just a little bit harsh. She decided on a different reply. "It was more the fact that you didn´t do something you´re supposed to," she murmured.

Duo´s eyes lit up. "I could kiss you again," he offered, thinking that she was upset because he had failed to deliver his charm.

Usagi rolled her eyes. "But would you let me stab you with a fork first?" she quipped.

Duo gave her his infamous puppy-eye look. "But I kiss well," he squeaked out.

"And I stab accurately," Usagi replied dryly. "What you didn´t do, Mr. Maxwell, was take my sister to the ladies´ room."

Duo frowned. "I wouldn´t be able to take her in without being slapped by various other women," he commented, obviously confused. "Or trapped by the girls."

Usagi gave him a smirk. "Exactly."

~*~*~*~*~

If the fancy tablecloths inside Shunshou were alive, this particular one under Tokyo´s most eligible bachelor´s tightening grip would either be dead or screaming in pain. Relena was browsing the menu and making pointless comments while he randomly grunted in response.

His eyes, meanwhile, were directed at a table a bit to the left and behind Relena while his menu laid unopened in front of him. His hands clenched and unclenched into fists around the tablecloth as he tried to keep his rage under control.

She had lied to him. She said that she was meeting her sister for dinner. Lo and behold, she was actually here on a date with a famous actor. He was not happy with this revelation. And he was put into even more of a foul mood by the fact that she seemed to be having a decent conversation with her date, somewhat smiling at a hopeful looking Duo Maxwell.

"Heero!" Relena suddenly called out, reaching across the table to shake him out of his thoughts.

"What?!" he snapped, momentarily turning his attention to her, his eyes a sea of fury.

"What´s wrong with you?" she hissed, looking around them quickly to see if anyone saw the uncharacteristic display between them.

"Nothing!" he retorted. "What do you want?"

Relena frowned, her eyes scrutinizing him before smoothing the unflattering facial expression into a small smile. "Is the food here still as good as I remember?" she asked casually. "I don´t come as often as you do. Of course, if you decide to take me out more often. . . ."

"It´s fine," Heero replied curtly, turning his attention back to the couple he was previously observing.

"Any suggestions?" Relena proceeded.

Heero rolled his eyes. "Yes," he answered. "The menu has a few."

Relena frowned again. Except for the man sitting across from her, this was far from her idea of an ideal date. "Heero, you´re not paying any attention to me!" she whined, glaring at him. "What´s so interesting anyways?"

She turned around and followed the direction of his gaze. A small smirk formed on her face when she saw Usagi sitting at the dinner table with Duo. She glanced back at Heero, then felt a strong surge of jealousy sweeping through her.

"She´s a child," Relena emphasized. "And it looks to me like she chose Mr. Maxwell."

Heero´s eyes were suddenly on her again, but instead of the sweet, mesmerizing gaze Relena had always imagined he´d give her one day, those Prussian blue depths were filled with a raging hatred.

He stood up abruptly from the table, deciding that he no longer wanted to be in Miss Relena Peacecraft´s company, and that he had seen enough. Coldly and calmly, he removed ten thousand yen from his black leather wallet and tossed it onto the table.

"Enjoy your evening, Miss Peacecraft," he mocked, spinning around on his feet to leave while Relena stared at his broad back in disbelief.

If he had bothered to look back, he might have seen Minako and Rei returning from the bathroom.

~*~*~*~*~

"Operation Matchmaking successful!" Minako declared loudly as she flopped herself down on the couch in the apartment.

"I knew it," Rei muttered. "Minako, can you not see that Usagi doesn´t even remotely like Mr. Maxwell?"

Minako shrugged. "She doesn´t warm very easily to men," she decided, snatching the remote control up from the coffee table and flipping through the channels.

"You´re lucky you´re setting up Usagi, and not me," Rei bit out dryly.

"I know," Minako replied with a grin. "Come on, Rei! Don´t you think they´d be perfect? She´s my sister and he´s one of my best friends. He´s funny and knows how to have fun, and she´s too serious. They´d be good for each other."

"No, really, they wouldn´t," Rei tried to reason. "He´s an idiot; she´s witty and smart. He doesn´t know the first thing about electronics; she could live her life doing computer work every waking hour. One of these days, he´ll drive her insane."

"You´re too negative, Rei," Minako waved off her protests. "If I don´t do something about my sister´s love life, she´ll be single till the day she turns eighty."

"Have you ever considered her feelings on the matter?" Rei demanded. "Maybe Usagi doesn´t want a boyfriend yet."

Minako grinned. "She´ll thank me later," she replied confidently, then turned her attention back to the television show.

Rei sighed, deciding to drop the subject with Minako and head to her room instead. There were a bit of paperwork she had decided to take home to do in order to be on time for dinner. Personally, she didn´t think Usagi was thankful for any of Minako´s matchmaking attempts. One day, Minako was going to regret this plan of hers.

~*~*~*~*~

"You can use this room," Quatre offered with a smile as he opened the door to the guest room in his spacious mansion.

The room was the size of Makoto´s living room in France, decorated with a beautiful and intricate design of clovers and leaves, bathing the room in a comforting green tone. A queen sized bed stood to one side of the room, its bedcovers a slightly darker shade of green than the rest of the furniture. A night table and dresser was next to it. On the other side of the room was a small coffee table and a couple of armchairs, as well as large windows that faced the garden. Makoto´s luggage was already set down next to the bed.

"This is nicer than any hotel I´ve ever lived in!" Makoto laughed.

Her shoulder length brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and her green eyes were as lively as Quatre remembered them. Wearing a tan-coloured sweater and dark blue jeans, she was still as stunning as she was when they were in high school.

"I see France hasn´t done anything to dampen your spirit," Quatre commented with another smile.

"No way!" Makoto agreed. She signaled for the man to join her at the coffee table and the two sat down. "If anything, Tokyo is dampening my mood," she continued. "Paris has the most beautiful sights. Then again, it´s good to be home."

"I´m glad," Quatre replied quietly. "I´m very surprised to hear from you so abruptly."

"Doesn´t seem like me, does it?" Makoto agreed solemnly. "It just didn´t occur to me to keep in touch. To be honest, I never thought I´d come back to this place again."

"They´re still at the same cemetery," Quatre answered. "There´s a park around it now, though. The government had it built when they realized they couldn´t put up commercial buildings around it."

"That´s nice to know, Quatre," Makoto responded.

After a brief moment of silence, she continued, "Come, don´t look so depressed. I´ve come to terms with my parents´ death, and you know I hate it when people pity me."

Quatre sighed. Yes, he had made that mistake before, and it had cost him. It had cost him a lot. "I know. I´ll have the driver take you there tomorrow," he decided. "You should get a good night´s sleep. I still have some work to finish."

He stood up abruptly to leave. He was happy she was back, that was for sure. On the ride back, they had talked like old friends, him asking endless questions about Paris, and she just as willing to recall stories of her escapades. But that was just on the surface. They had issues to resolve; both of them knew it, but it was late now, and they didn´t want to bring up memories just yet.

"Quatre," Makoto suddenly said, making him pause in his track. "For what it´s worth, I´m sorry for the way I acted."

He nodded briefly, not turning around, but aware that she was watching him. "Apology accepted," he murmured. "We should leave the past in the past, but I´m sorry too."

Makoto stood up and walked to stand in front of him. She was as tall as he was, so she had no problem looking into his turbulent blue-green eyes, which swirled with mixed emotions. "Let´s start over then," she stated firmly. Sticking out her hand, she continued, "Hi, I´m Makoto Kino, owner of the restaurant Lune Argent. I´m turning thirty in two months. My parents died during my last year of high school, but if you pity me, I´ll kick your butt so far into outer space that you´re going to be useful to NASA. Nice to meet you!"

Despite the somber mood just seconds earlier, Quatre burst into laughter. "Nice to meet you, but I´m not sure about becoming NASA´s first human satellite," he began. "I´m Quatre Winner, owner of Winner Studios. I´m thirty and own a house large enough to be used as a hotel."

The two shook hands and Makoto laughed some more. "We are definitely quite a pair," she commented.

~*~*~*~*~

Usagi made it to her desk with about thirty seconds to spare. Breathing heavily, she flopped down into her chair and tried to get some oxygen into her lungs.

"You look exhausted," a flat voice commented from behind her.

Without turning around, Usagi already knew who it was. Getting some of her air back, she replied with dripping sarcasm, "Alert the tabloids, a genius a born."

"Run from a very far place?" the cool voice stated rather than asked. "Was last night satisfactory?"

Usagi rolled her eyes. "Is there information that the great Heero Yuy need to ask in order to get? Now we really need to alert the tabloids," she responded.

Ignoring him, she reached over to turn on the computer and take the papers out of her bag. When she looked up again, he was standing right in front of her, blocking the view to her monitor, his large frame emitting an aura of anger, his Prussian blue eyes wild with a burning rage. Usagi almost let out a squeak. She hadn´t even heard him move.

Seeing his boldly piercing gaze wander leisurely down the length of her body, Usagi wondered at the wisdom of wearing the lavender ensemble, whose skirt was even shorter than yesterday´s. Then again, she couldn´t say that the fact Heero couldn´t seem to take his eyes off her was disturbing. It was. . .a little flattering. She sighed mentally. Her mind didn´t seem to function properly when it came to her boss. Yes, her boss, a fact that she had to keep reminding herself of. She pushed the rolling chair a little away from him. Maybe she really should wear that turtleneck and jeans to work.

"A picture would last longer," she commented dryly, notifying him that she knew he was staring.

"And be a whole lot less satisfying," he replied tonelessly, almost sardonically.

The fury remained in his eyes, and Usagi started to wonder what was wrong with him this morning. The day before, he had thought their bickering was hilarious. Today, he was not even mildly amused.

He walked past her and into the office, giving her a curt nod to indicate that she was to follow him. Frowning a little at his strange behaviour, Usagi decided to just do as he wanted. After all, her hope of working in the department she wanted laid within his hands. At the same time, she was beginning to understand Rei´s feelings for this man in front of her. He just. . .didn´t make much sense sometimes.

She walked into the office, half expecting him to already be sitting at his desk. Instead, the doors slammed shut behind her, making her jump and whirl around to see Heero´s hand push the bolt into place, effectively locking the door. She was trapped between him and the already shut doors.

Stepping back so that there was a little bit of space between them, Usagi managed to glare at him. "Rei was right," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

He raised a mocking eyebrow at her and closed the space that she had put between them, making her press her back against the doors. "And if I told you I don´t give a blessed damn?" he asked nonchalantly.

Usagi´s eyes widened. She could almost swear that the man she met yesterday was completely different from this man in front of her now. "What are you? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?" she retorted.

She uncrossed her arms, suddenly finding it hard to breathe in the small space Heero had allotted her. This proved to be a mistake, since he took the another step forward, and now, Usagi could literally feel her breasts pressed against his suit. Panic welled up within her, and desperately, she tried to forge some space between them by pushing her hands against him. What she didn´t realize was that she had to move her small hands slowly up his chest in order to do so. Before she had even accomplished what she set out to do, his eyes had darkened with the lust that, just by being so close to her, made his blood boil.

Grabbing her hands to stop their movements, he leaned in closer to her. Their faces were almost touching. Usagi could feel his warm breath on her face. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribcage. She didn´t even know what she wanted to happen, and she knew that no one would have a chance to disturb them this time around. He had made sure of that.

"Do you know what I really hate?" he murmured lowly, his voice bordering on menacing.

Usagi shook her head a little, unable to form a sensible pattern of speech at this proximity.

"I hate liars," he finished. "And I hate those who lie to me even more."

"What-?"

Her question was cut off when he forcefully pressed his lips against hers, his open mouth slanting fiercely back and forth above her own, his tongue shamelessly exploring the depths of her mouth. Usagi´s eyes widened as she tried to fight against him. He was acting like he wanted to devour her. The kiss was punishing, unforgiving, and it went on endlessly. The more she fought him, the more demanding his kiss became. She felt tears sting her eyes as she finally ceased her struggle. She wasn´t strong enough.

He released her hands and circled her small waist, and she went limp in his arms. He broke the assault on her mouth and let his lips leave a trail of fiery kisses along her jaw and down her neck. Somewhere in the back of her mind, her brain told her to stop him, but she felt too weak, her energy spent fighting when he had first started kissing her. Her eyes closed gently and the full effect of his sudden passion set in.

He flicked his tongue over her racing pulse as his hands moved expertly up and down her body, making her reach up and clutch the lapels of his shirt to keep from sinking to the ground.

"Are you enjoying this?" she heard him ask huskily. "Because I sure as hell am."

Usagi´s breathing was ragged and uneven as she tried to come up with a response, but Heero wasn´t expecting one, nor did he want one. He kissed her again with the same punishing force. One hand reached up to cup her breast while the other started to unbutton the front of her white blouse. Instantly, Usagi´s eyes snapped open.

"No!" she tried to shout against his bruising kiss, but he ignored her. "Oh, please don´t. What did I do?"

Heero remained ignorant of her pleas, and tears stung Usagi´s eyes, flowing freeing down her cheeks. Why was he doing this to her? Her shouts became cries; her cries became whispers as she realized she was powerless to stop him. Despite her constant struggling, he had already managed to open her blouse. Her sobs rang loudly in the otherwise silent room.

"Please don´t," she whimpered. "Heero, please stop."

He froze completely, and for the first time in the past twenty minutes, took a good look at the woman he had practically raped on the floor of his own office. Her clothing was wrinkled; her hair in disarray, strands of golden blond falling out of the ponytail; her cheeks were flushed and stained with tears; her lips bruised from his forceful kisses. But it was her eyes that got him to the most. They held tears, and fear, fear of him, and that alone made him realize what he had done to her.

He pulled her to him, tucking her head in the crook of his neck, and held her, trying to soothe her. He whispered incoherent words, hugging her body, which had gone stiff in his arms.

"Oh God, chibi-chan," he murmured. "What have I done?"

"I rest my case, Dr. Jekyll," she retorted, pulling away from him and instantly falling to the floor, her own legs still too weak to hold her up.

He kneeled down next to her, and she glared at him.

"Get away from me!" she snapped, shuffling as fast as she could away from what she now decided was a crazy man.

Heero stood up and headed for the sink. He wet a handkerchief with some warm water, then walked back to where she sat, still regarding him with suspicion in her eyes, not that he could blame her.

"I won´t hurt you," he stated softly, getting down next to her and gently wiping the tears from her porcelain cheeks.

"Physically, emotionally, or spiritually?" Usagi bit out. She snatched the handkerchief from him and cleaned her own face.

Heero managed to chuckle at her behaviour. He reached for her, and she moved further away from him.

"Whatever you´re going to do, I can do it by myself," Usagi said firmly.

"Then may I suggest you button up your blouse?" Heero asked with a faint twinge of amusement. "Because if you don´t, I´m going to be tempted to finish what I started."

Usagi threw the handkerchief at his face, then tried to do as he suggested, only to find that her fingers shook as she tried to put the small buttons into the buttonhole. Heero watched the completely alluring picture she made for a full minute before deciding he should probably help her, since she had only managed to button one of the six in the time he had knelt there, watching her.

He moved closer and gently took her hands away. Usagi´s eyes snapped up in fear, but Heero refused to meet them. He didn´t want to see her looking at him like that. Quickly, he buttoned up the rest of her blouse.

"I´m sorry," he muttered as he reached up to stroke her cheek.

Usagi quickly shrank back. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "Do you experiment with magic potions? What did you have for breakfast this morning?"

Heero smiled wryly. "No, and I had buttered toast with black coffee," he answered.

"I´ll be sure to avoid that combination of food in the future," Usagi replied, trying to stand up on her own, but failing to do so.

Heero felt his heart wrench a little painfully. He had done this to her. He had let his anger and lust control his actions. He didn´t know what was wrong with him. She had looked so tempting when she walked into the office this morning, her eyes bright with new energy, her cheeks flushed with happiness, and to think that another man might have made her so content drove him mad. Even now, he could remember the pleasant smell of strawberries in her hair and the exquisite feel of her soft body against his.

Sighing, he helped her to her feet and led her to his desk, where he sat down in the comfortable revolving chair and pulled her into his lap. Usagi tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Don´t do that," Heero warned her.

"Why not? Because you can´t stand the fact that there´s one woman in the world who can resist your touch?" Usagi retorted.

"I thank you for your high regard of my capabilities," Heero replied dryly.

"You should thank me for the high regard I have of your ego," Usagi bit back.

"I´ve yet to be proven wrong," Heero answered with a shrug.

"I rest my case," Usagi responded, rolling her eyes.

Heero gave her a mocking smirk. "Can you honestly tell me, chibi-chan, that you didn´t react to my kisses?" he asked. "You practically melted over there."

Usagi settled for glaring at him. This had to be the most infuriating man she had ever met in her life. He was downright irritating, and he was more so when he was remotely right. Gritting her teeth, she decoded to retort. "I reacted by asking you to stop, Mr. Yuy, which you didn´t."

"So formal?" he teased her.

"I don´t recall ever being on familiar terms," she replied. "Now, if you will please inform me why I´m sitting in your lap?"

Heero studied for a brief moment. She really didn´t seem to recall using his first name, which was the reason he had snapped out of his angry state in the first place. He decided to drop it. He wasn´t exactly thrilled about reminding her of her near-rape experience anyway. Internally, he winced at the thought.

"I want to know," he started, "why you told me you were dining with your sister last night."

Usagi raised an eyebrow at him. "I think your combination of breakfast food not only causes you to lose your sanity, but damages your brain as well," she answered flatly. "I told you I was eating with my sister because, guess what, I was eating with my sister."

Heero frowned. "You were at dinner with Duo Maxwell, and your sister was nowhere in sight," he told her. "I saw you yesterday at Shunshou."

Usagi blinked. "Minako brought him with her to dinner," she explained. Thoughtfully, she added, "But Rei and Minako only left me alone with him when they went to the bathroom for a bit after dessert. . . ."

Her voice trailed off as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"Wait a second!" she cried out, looking up into his eyes. "You thought I lied to you about going to dinner with my sister. You thought I went out with Mr. Maxwell, and that´s why you almost raped me?!"

With surprising force, she pulled herself out of his grasp and now standing steadily, she glared full force at him. "Even if I was on a date with Mr. Maxwell, what right do you have to do what you did?" she demanded.

"Would it help if I let you punch and kick me?" Heero asked instead. He knew she was right. He had never thought he could be wrong about what he saw. But even if he had been correct in his assumption, he still had no right to do what he had. Still, it was better that she was angry with him than afraid of him. That look in her eyes when she had begged him to stop would haunt him forever.

"It would help if you gave me a bow and arrows," Usagi retorted. "Or better yet, a gun!"

"If you had any kind of projectile weapon, chibi-chan, I would not care to be within your range," Heero told her.

"I have remarkable accuracy, despite what you may think," she replied.

"Which is why I wouldn´t care to be within your range," he answered dryly.

"You´re the most annoying man I´ve met in my life," Usagi stated, turning to leave.

"Which hasn´t been very long," he commented, smirking.

Quickly, he stood up, walked over to her, and pulled her into his embrace. Gently, he tipped her chin up and searched her eyes. There was still a little bit of wariness, but at least she wasn´t afraid anymore. Along with his other hand, he carefully cupped her face. Usagi opened her mouth to say something, but Heero smothered her voice when he pressed his lips to hers. She stiffened instantly, but this time, he was gentle, moving his mouth slowly over hers. Her eyes fluttered close as she relaxed. This kiss didn´t hurt; it didn´t make her feel helpless. It was sweet and warm. Heero drank from her slowly, treating her soft lips with indescribable tenderness, nibbling on her bottom lip and silently asking her to let him in. Surprisingly, she complied, and tightened her hold on him. He groaned as he pulled her closer to him in response. Usagi let out a kittenish whimper, feeling a warm sense of security in his arms this time. He broke their kiss a moment later, watching as her eyes slowly opened again.

"I rest my case," he mocked lightly.

Usagi scowled, pulling away from him and stomping to the door. She couldn´t believe she had just stood there and let him kiss her like that. And to think that this was her very first kiss. . . .

"I hate you," she threw over her shoulder before walking out and slamming the door shut behind her.

For reasons unknown to him, that simple little sentence hurt him more than anything else she could have said. He sighed out loud. It hadn´t been his intention to scare her, or to make her angry, both of which he had effortlessly pulled off. Then what exactly had he been trying to prove? That he could control her? That she might want him just as badly as he wanted her? He wasn´t sure, but whatever it had been, he cursed it now for driving her away. At least he knew that she wasn´t out on a date with the Maxwell actor, which made some part of his mind smile in satisfaction.

Sitting back down at his desk, he suddenly felt guilty, both for taking out his anger on her the way he had, and for taking advantage of her just now with that last kiss. He stared at the phone sitting on his desk. He knew of one way that he could somewhat make it up to her. He picked up the phone and punched in a familiar extension.

"Research department, Miyuki Fujisaki speaking," came the female voice.

"This is Yuy," he stated in his famous monotone. "I want to talk to Barton."

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End of Chapter 7.

Reference: Heero´s line about not wanting to be within Usagi´s range is from Judith McNaught´s novel, "Whitney, My Love".

AN: I have to so something about my biology ISP. Hope you enjoyed. Review please. ^^