I Remember Love

It wasn't until much later that evening that Cage had a chance to talk to Rayven about her behaviour at the club that day.

When he arrived at the cabin she had just gotten out of the shower. Her hair was damp, and she was standing by bed in nothing but a t-shirt, through the lighting in the room it was all too easy to see every little curve of her body, she was sitting on the bed applying lotion to skin her damp hair clinging to her face and neck.

Cage groaned inwardly.

Of all the times and all the places he had to catch her, it was like this? Flushing slightly he turned his head away and cleared his throat. "Would it hurt you put some f*cking clothes on?" He barked at her.

Rayven rolled her eyes and tugged on a pair of boxers before tying her hair back. "Coast is clear, Saint Cage, you can look now." was her response before standing up and moving to the fridge and reaching for something to drink. "Never thought you would be one to be embarrassed so easily" she smirked before taking a large drink of coke.

"Yeah well it's not every day you walk in on your boss's girl practically naked" Cage growled back. Suddenly, he found himself missing Luke. Luke was a smart ass but at least he was a guy, he didn't have to worry about his boss tearing his face off for flirting or catching almost naked.

"Seriously? If a t-shirt makes me practically naked I would hate to see what you would do if you caught me in a bra or worse" She laughed crossing one leg over the other as she smiled up at him. He couldn't help but think that she resembled the cat who caught the canary, she was clearly enjoying his reaction and probably a little too much.

He cleared his throat again before speaking. "Care to tell me what that was about today?" He looked at her really pointed before pulling up a chair. "Are you trying to get me killed? I damn near had my ass handed to me?"

Rayven looked back at him rather innocently and thought for a moment. "...You mean -that-? Geeze it's not like I kissed you or something. Who knew you were such a prude!" She sputtered trying to hold back a laugh.

"It isn't me you need to worry about..." Cage muttered.

"Oh come on, all I did was put my chin on your shoulder! It's not like we were making out!"

"Not the point Rayven. How did you think he would react? You're just lucky it wasn't you he called into the office…"

Rayven blinked. At first she had thought he was referring to Charlie, but the minute he mentioned the office she felt her stomach do a summersault. She hadn't even thought about that.

Rayven rubbed her eyes as though she was tired and looked at Cage rather pointedly.

"Look, I know he cares about me. But at this point it's not practical. Not for him, not for Charlie. I will not put a target on either of their backs. The farther I stay away from them, the better they are…"

Cage narrowed his eyes. She had a point, but he still wasn't going to let her off that easily.

"...So it's ok to paint a target on mine?" He arched his brow at her waiting patiently for an explanation. Bloody hell, he got that she didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to Hunter or even Charlie, but what he didn't understand was why choose him? of all the people on this earth, what the hell was she thinking?

She smirked. "You are the only person who makes sense. You've already been assigned as my babysitter, you're practically my bodyguard and let's face it the other guys don't measure up. They aren't up to my standard, not physically, not in skill, not at all. This way you can keep your tabs and alert anyone who needs to be alerted of my comings and goings."

Cage was listening to her, and in reality, he couldn't argue with her. A master assassin such as she was supposed to be wouldn't waste her time with small fish. When she had initiated into the club as Luke she had been already lethal enough. Thanks to his and Anna's training she was even more so. He raked his hand through his hair and stared at her.

"Do you have any idea of the kind of trouble this will bring me if I don't tell Hunter?"

"You can't. It won't look real. Even if he plays along, it's too risky. I know this isn't going to be rough and he is going to hate us both for a while, but look, if it goes south I will take the responsibility. I will be the bad guy, but you can not, absolutely can not - ever, tell him."

She was right. He hated to admit, but once again, she had no way to dissuade her. He could tell her mind had clearly been made up.

"Look, all we need to do is set down guidelines. That's all. We act cozy in and around the club, and then after that we go our separate ways. It's not like we're going to ..you know…"

This time, it was Cage's turn to laugh. Not moments ago she had been taunting him in every way possible and now she was and she couldn't even say the word? It was too funny. Fine, he thought, we'll play. But payback is a bitch, and he was going to settle the score.

Cage looked at her, a grin teasing his lips. "Actually, you know I don't know. Maybe you could clarify it for me?" He smirked, she instantly began to flush to the roots of her skin and glared back at him.

"You know exactly what I mean!" She muttered under her breath, in fact she had done it so quietly he had only just caught it and couldn't help but tease back.

"What? You mean sex?" He said, looking at her rather innocently.

"Ass" she said, rising and pitching a pillow at his head.

Cage dodged and started to laugh.

"Relax kid, I'm not into little girls like you" he said as he got up and prepared to leave, throwing back over his shoulder as he did, "I'm in, I'll pick you up tomorrow."

Rayven threw another pillow at the door glaring at the empty space where he once stood.

"Jerk. Who are you calling a little kid."

Fine, she thought, if he wanted to think of her as a little kid, she had no choice but to change his mind.