Queen of Spades (House of Car...

A/N: Thanks and a chapter dedication go out to babywolfstar! The very mouth watering pic to the side is Malcolm at the club. Oh my.....

Also, song is Temptation by The Tea Party. Somehow it just worked with this chapter, I dunno, you tell me ;P

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When Alice took the step to kiss him first, it seemed to convince him that she was more than willing and his reservations flew out the window. Malcolm was almost growling with urgency, his kiss stealing her breath away. He attacked a scortched lin down her neck, a toe curling combination of nips and kisses.

They paused, almost gasping to catch lost breath and Alice was a little stunned to notice that they were laying on her bed, Malcolm stripped down to his boxer-briefs. "We should stop." "We need to slow down." They both said at the same time. Mal chuckled and moved off of her, laying along side of her. He passed her his discarded dress shirt and she pulled it on for a little bit of cover. Alice found it hard not to notice how very ready his body was despite his protestations. His lips lingered on hers for a moment, a second away from igniting into passion again when he groaned and rolled onto his back, arm flung over his eyes.

"You need to go put on more clothes than that or we will never stop this." he announced. Alice felt a smirk spread across her face as she realized how true that statement was. But instead of getting up, she unbuttoned the shirt he'd covered her with and pulled it on backwards, laying down on her stomach so her back was bared down to her shorts.

"Not yet. Since we're already like this, there's something I need you to do." her tone was serious and he frowned down at her after dropping his arm away. "Run your fingers along the tattoos on my back." she instructed. "Tell me what you feel." She had her head turned away and couldn't see his facial expressions. She expected to feel a little humiliated, but instead had to fight not to squirm as he ran his fingers over her tattoos, quickly picking up on the skin texture underneath.

"Burn scars." Malcolm said softly. "You told me about them." he sounded more angry than Alice expected, and she propped herself up on her elbows to turn and face him. Their eyes locked and she could see the potential for violence hint in his eyes. Not towards her, no, towards those that allowed her to be hurt. It should have scared her, but she was forced to remind herself that now was not the time to maul him.

"I thought they would repulse you." Alice confessed. "Most guys don't find rubber skin sexy feeling." she tried to make it a joke.

Instead of replying with words, Malcolm leaned over her and trailed kisses down her pitted skin, teeth and tongue occassionally shocking and teasing. A startled moan slipped out when Malcolm locked his jaw around some of the skin on her lower back, but then he let go and put space between them by standing up. Alice buried her head into the pillow, needing to stop looking at him to regain any hope of control. She heard him zip up his jeans and felt something get tossed over her. She slipped the shirt around and buttoned it up, also pulling on the sweat pants Malcolm had chucked in her direction.

"I'm covered." she announced and he finally turned around. She tried not to grin, seeing on of her t-shirts stretched over his broader shoulders. It was a simple white shirt and the tightness of it did nothing to detract from the body underneath, but Alice focused on just sitting still. She wrapped her comforter around herself, wanting the extra layer to keep her rooted to the spot.

"Obviously this is something we need to talk about." Malcolm stated with a nervous laugh. Alice felt a smile start to stretch across her face and ended up laughing with him. He settled onto the bed, sitting next to her. Their shoulders were touching but with the blanket between them, it wasn't intimate. "There's definitly an attraction between us." he stated, putting it out in the open.

Alice chewed the inside of her lip, realizing this wasn't going to be a conversation that ended in happily ever after. "Yes there is. And that's likely a problem." she said it first, hoping that if she acted like it didn't matter, then she wouldn't hurt so bad.

Malcolm stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Everything you said at the club was true. It's morally irresponsible of me to even consider it. You're seventeen and impressionable, I'd be abusing my position of authority. Besides that, doing this isn't fair to you or Shawna. I'm not the kind of guy to cheat on someone I care about." once he started, it seemed easier for him to keep going. The happy buzz in her blood was gone as Alice was realizing that this was the 'let's be friends' conversation.

"And it would probably be better if we pretended there was nothing between us. That we should just move past it and be friends." Alice sounded a little dull as she said it, not relishing the prospect. Malcolm was looking at her but she didn't turn to face him. She could tell he needed something from her but she had no clue what. So she lied to him. She smiled at him and said, "It's alright Mal. It's just a crush, it'll pass. We can be friends."

He frowned a little but nodded. "We can be just friends." he agreed. They sat side by side silently for a few minutes, neither one seeming too happy with their agreement.

"You want to go check on Monster and the gang?" Alice suddenly asked, needing the affection of the scarred puppy at the moment.

"Sure. But I think I need my shirt back before I go outside. I sort of look like a gigalo in this." Malcolm laughed, looking down at the shirt.

"Just give me a second to change and you can have yours back." Alice agreed, putting a smile on her face. Malcolm walked out of the bedroom and Alice got out of the bed, brushing a stray tear off of her face and taking his shirt off. She pulled on one of her huge, baggy sweaters. It was soft and brown and tended to fall off of one shoulder and she traded her sweats for some soft leggings. She stepped out into the hall and handed Malcolm his dress shirt back. He pulled it on over the tshirt, and Alice let out a sigh of relief. Seeing his body again after agreeing that she wasn't allowed to touch, would have just sucked.

They were quiet but not uncomfortable as they drove over to the shop. As head volunteer, Malcolm had his own set of keys and they let themselves in. Stepping inside the store, breathing in the scents of animals, Alice didn't find it regunant like others would have. It wasn't pleasant but none of these animals smelled sick or afraid. They were curious, friendly and asleep at the moment. Though as she walked further in, there was a familiar thump from Monster's cage. He came to the pen door and sat down, watching her with tail wagging but quiet. Unlike the other puppies they held, he was quiet and watchful.They'd been training him to be a vicious fighting dog but he'd been rescued and seemed to be socializing well. Both Salali and Malcolm had noticed that he had a special kinship with Alice, both of them seeming to communicate with the other in a unique way. Several of the more timid, abused animals responded to Alice's quiet care of them. They all seemed to realize that she was like them, damaged but adapting.

Ace opened the door to Monster's cage and he came out, sniffing her feet and standing up, trying to get closer to her face. With a soft laugh, Alice picked the growing puppy up, teasingly asking if he'd been eating other puppies to get so heavy. Monster was snuffling her hair, trying to lick her ear.

"You're really good with him." Malcolm noted, keeping his voice soft to avoid waking the other animals.

Alice gave him an amused look, a sparkle returning to her eyes with Monster in her arms. "I guess I'm just good at handeling the wild things." she retorted, letting him inference the double entendre.

Malcolm smirked a little, catching it. "That you are." he agreed. "You realize that no one is going to be able to own him now though right? He really is your dog." he stated.

Alice looked thoughtful for a moment, setting Monster down when he got a little fussy. The puppy finally shuffled over to Malcolm to sniff him out. "You're right, of course. I think Salali has already realized that, thus why she let me name him. Sneaky sneaky Sal." Alice sounded amused and awed. It'd been Sal's suggestion from the start that Alice try to draw the scarred puppy out. And it'd worked on both of them.

They stayed quiet after that, wandering around the pet store in the middle of the night. There was a feeling of security in there, of a communal sanctuary. It affected the humans as much as the animals, and by the time they both agreed to leave, it had helped distance them from the issues around them a little. Alice didn't feel so hollow and Malcolm didn't look so torn.

But that night the nightmares stalked Alice's sleep again. Even with Malcolm asleep on the couch in the living room, Ace's psyche paraded her through hell. It opened with the last time Stuart had attacked her. The vicious beating and her trip down the stairs. Only in the nightmare, she hadn;t been knocked unconscious. Instead she was aware as he descended the stairs. And this time he wasn't alone. Alice found herself caught by the men and boys who had come in to watch her dance as a stripper. They pulled at her, lifted her above their heads and took her to the bed. Their gnarled fingers tore her clothes away and held her still, not allowing her to fight as Stuart vented his lust.

Someone was shaking her and she struck without thinking, her awkward punch connecting and sending a shock of pain up her arm. Whomever had tried to rouse her stumbled back with a muffled curse. Then the light clicked on and she blinked to adjust, seeing Malcolm holding his face. "That's the same eye you hit earlier." he cursed softly. "You were yelling in your sleep. Sorry but I figured anything making you that upset was worth waking you up from." he explained.

Alice rubbed at her face, embarassed to find tears leaking down her cheeks. Great, now he knew she was a head case. "Sorry about that." she apologized, not able to look at him. "It was a nightmare."

"I figured that much out by the screaming and crying." Malcolm pointed out softly. Alice stiffened up, about to tell him off when he settled of the edge of the bed. "It's alright, I think you've earned a bad dream or two." he stated, making Alice fall quiet. "Do you want me to stay here until you drift off again? Or do you want to come out and watch movies for a little?" he suggested.

"I think it might be safest if we go out to the couch." Alice pointed out, remembering their deal to not be inappropriate with each other.

"You come out when you're ready, I'll go get it set up." Malcolm agreed, patting her hand and heading back out.

Alice stared down at the depression his body had made in the bed, already filling in. She could do this, she reminded herself. She had enough control to be falling for this man and never let him know. He was too good for her, and should have someone that made his life better, not more complicated.

She threw off the covers and padded out to the couch, still wearing her oversized sweater. She had on the booty shorts underneath and was using it as a night gown. The mammoth thing came down to just above her knees, so it was more cover than most of the girl's skirts. She settled into the couch, burying under the blankets Malcolm had been sleeping in. It wasn't until she caught the amused look in Malcolm's eyes that she realized they'd just traded her normal bed for the pull out couch, it wasn't any safer out here. But she was still too shook up from the nightmare to feel any sexual tension right now. He picked up on that and put in movies that would distract her from it. They sat stiffly apart and watched as Jake Gyllenhal and Dennis Quad dealt with the effects of global warming. While they relaxed and watched David Duchovany use shampoo to defeat aliens, Alice ended up falling asleep in the couch bed with Malcolm. She woke a little when he held her to him, asleep himself, but quickly drifted under again.

Alice was smiling when she woke up, still tucked into Malcolm's arms. He'd frozen when she woken up, caught in the act. Ace had woken up because Malcolm had kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder, left bare by the baggy sweater. She twisted to look at him, eyes darting from his to his lips and back and he leaned forward to capture her lips with him. All the logical reasoning from last night was discarded as Alice ended up straddling him, feeding at his mouth as his hands buried in her hair, refusing to let her go. They pressed together, holding on as the chemistry between them flared to life, not satisfied at being acknowledged then rejected. He knew her darkest secrets and she accepted his darker aspects. Neither one could honestly say they would have put a stop to things before they went too far, and it was only the alarm on Malcolm's phone going off that stopped them. His hands were under the layer of her shorts, cupping her butt and both her sweater and his button down shirt had gone missing. Alice groaned and rested her head against his shoulder, chasing after her thoughts and breath. Malcolm slid his hands to a safer location, gently rubbing her back.

"Sorry about that." Malcolm muttered. Alice frowned at him, not understanding until she looked down and caught sight of several hickeys trailing down her shoulder and chest. Her flamed red as she saw one that could be hidden by her bra, memory providing acute detail to how it'd felt.

Alice let out an uneasy chuckle. "I'm not complaining. Besides, I got the feeling that you've wanted to do that for a while." she teased.

Malcolm smirked at her. "Hey, you gave me a black eye. I had to mark you somehow." he retorted and Alice's mouth went dry. The way he was talking... The alarm rang out again, insistent that it receive attention. Alice slid off of his lap and reached over for her sweater while Malcolm chased his phone down.

She could feel the good cheer leave the room as he looked at his phone, realization on his face. "What is it?" Alice asked, climbing off the pull out couch.

Malcolm lookd away from her eyes, back down to the phone. "I need to go. I promised Shawna that we'd have brunch with her co workers today." he stated, and Alice tried not to look like she'd been punched. Of course he was still with Shawna, their little interlude hadn't changed that. She knew this but it still caught her off guarrd, stealing a heart beat away as the muscle skipped a pulse. But he seemed to know anyways. Malcolm climbed off the couch and came around it to Alice. He didn't touch her but only because she looked ready to bolt. "I'm going to talk to her. Tell her... I don't know actually." he laughed, running a hand through his short hair. "What do I tell her?" he asked, looking at Ace seriously. "What do we do?"

Alice tried to put on a brave front and smile at him. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be with you." she finally said. "But I think it's about what you're willing to risk." she added in, knowing that it was a lot to ask of him. To risk his job, his reputation and potentially jail time to be with her. If he was interested in her enough to pursue a relationship. If.

Malcolm's hand trailed softly against her cheek and this time Alice leaned into the touch, closing her eyes. She was waiting for him to say goodbye, to decide that she wasn't worth the risk. What his said though was, "A very smart woman once told me that to find balance I had to take a risk and feed the beast. To really live." he stated, making Alice open her eyes as she recognized her words from the other night. "I'd be lying if I didn't say that I know exaclty what both sides of me wants." He kissed her softly after that, a sweet kiss that wasn't rushed. "I'll be back for you." he stated, grabbing his shirt from the couch.

"Take your time. I'm supposed to go out with the friends today. If we're going to do this, there's no rush. Take the time to do it right. I'm not going anywere." Alice replied. He smiled and nodded, agreeing to do it her way. She watched him walk out, needing to hang onto the couch to keep from collapsing as it really occured to her that Malcolm Vega, the hot, boyscout but dangerous english teacher wanted her.

This was going to be an interesting school year that's for sure. One task at a time, she reminded herself and wandered to the bathroom, finally getting her shower in. Somehow hanging out with her friends was a little anticlimatic to Alice, though she enjoyed their company. Kim kept giving her knowing smirks and a wink, especially when they noticed one of the hickey's on Alice's neck. But she remained tight lipped on it, letting them pester her until Kim took pity and distracted them all with talks over ording in pizza.

Alice made it home before 10 pm and found Salali asleep on the couch, a container of chineese food spilled onto the couch next to her. As quietly as possible, Alice cleaned up and settled a blanket around her Native guardian, hoping that the day with Honon's family had helped her start to heal from his sudden death. It had been a long week, and an even longer weekend and Alice crawled into bed, knowing that the nightmares were coming back and wondering how she was going to face the upcoming school day. Especially seeing Malcolm in class. Interesting school year for sure.