When Meredith leaned into him Jamie felt a brief sensation as if she had always been there, against him. Her touch felt as familiar as his own heart beat. Which was odd given not twenty four hours earlier they hadn't even known each others name let alone become familiar to such a degree. Shaking it off as simply a by-product of their gods forged bond the outlaw biker smiled back after she had finished the emotional purging of whatever thoughts her sleep had brought.

" Trust me lady five grand would be a small price if it bought me a couple of hours alone with ya." Jamie replied with a wicked smile and what could only be interpreted as a lascivious smile as Meredith commented on the fact her brother might need such an amount to give them the alone time they both obviously wanted. Jamie would in fact offer such a sum if only because the outlaw life was a profitable one, the Southside Demons had their hand in a lot of pies after all. Gun running, shares in Private Military Companies, even a large part of Alliant Techsystems. So money to him was something he'd never worried about, easy come, easy go as they say. Plus after looking around at the part of town they were in Jamie had no doubt a little cash wouldn't hurt.

Such thoughts were for a later time though and he followed the woman whom he'd had the luck to be tied to...At that thought came the feeling of the familiar again. Images of a blossom strewn forest and a woman who bore a exact resemblance to Meredith flashed before his eyes. Furthermore she was dressed in what could only be qipao, a item of clothing he'd certainly never seen Meredith in. But the feeling of joy and familiarity as she walked in front him, mischievous grin written large on her face was impossible to deny. Once more he shook the feeling out, thinking the short sleep of the night was beginning to affect him. It was a tough sell with his rational mind, he'd gone days without sleep in the desert and suffered no ill effects other then a caffeine addiction.

He raised an eyebrow though at the sheer amount food he saw upon the breakfast table though as the walked into the kitchen. And at the way she offered him a seat which he took. He really looked somewhat shocked at the speed at which the chosen of Apollo was making the food disappear. True he himself went through the groceries at an alarming rate but then again he was usually three times bigger then most people out there. Shrugging he himself tucked in with gusto after helping himself to a cup of coffee. Despite being engrossed in his food the former Abram gunner still didn't miss the glances his bonded threw between him and her brother. Jamie considered Ash and stuck by his former opinion on the fact he was a kid. The soldier in him could not forgive a man who wasn't capable of protecting those he loved for if he couldn't protect himself he wasn't fit to protect anyone.

He then considered Ash's place in Meredith's life compared to his. Jamie then realized whatever his opinion on the man he'd have to make peace for the sake of tranquillity. He wasn't going away, the gods saw to that and Ash being her brother meant he wasn't either. So when the chosen of Dawn made her less then subtle desire for privacy known the Vice President of the SouthSide Demons dug out his wallet and pulled out the cash within. Sliding all five thousand of it over the table towards Ash he spoke up.

" Buy yourself something nice kid, maybe a vest. I know a guy who'll sell you military grade armour if you'd like."

Meredith stared at the wad of cash, that Jamie casually put on the table, as though it was going to suddenly sprout legs and walk. She had never seen so much money in one place like that and it hit home then that her bonded clearly had a lot of money if he was happy to throw such money around. Money had never been something she had had a lot of and so she had so she had taught herself that money didn't matter. But that did not stop her wondering what it would be like not to worry about money and to choose where you lived and what you bought on preference rather than what you could afford.

Her brother wore an identical expression of awe, shock and disbelief and his eyes were so wide Meredith thought they might pop right out of his head. She would have laughed if she hadn't been equally as shocked, and also touched by the gesture as Jamie was clearly trying to get along with her brother for her sake. She thought the amount of money he offered, or that he offered money at all, was a little over the top but she was touched by the gesture. Ash reached out a hand and touched the money with a finger, as though doubting it was real, and stared at Jamie.

"I can't take this. It's too much." He said.

Meredith was inclined to agree but then she realised that to Jamie the amount was not an issue and he genuinely wanted to help her brother and right now the money was the way he could do that. She reached out and pushed the money into Ash's hand, nodding slowly.

"Take it Ash, it's okay."

Ash hesitated for a few more moments before slowly curling his fingers around the money and picking it up off the table. He nodded to Jamie his eyes filled with his gratitude.

"Thank you, I know I don't deserve this after...last night but thank you." He stood. "I will pay you back, every penny. I promise."
He had a look of fierce determination on his face and Meredith believed him even if it took him the rest of his life she knew he meant it. He looked at Meredith and grinned. "I'm going to go and look at apartments, this is enough for a deposit."

She grinned back at him realising he was right, it was enough to put a deposit down on an apartment and if they were careful they could afford a higher rent. They would finally be able to live in an area where they felt safe and would not have to risk their lives every time they left their home. She finished her breakfast and then said goodbye to Ash as he left, hugging him briefly.

She then turned to Jamie and smiled, her eyes lit up with her happiness and gratitude. It never occurred to her to be suspicious of his motives, of why a almost complete stranger would held them in such a way. Perhaps with someone else she would have but for whatever strange reason she trusted him completely and had no doubt he did this to help her and for no other reason.

"So." She said mischievously. "How would like me to thank you?"

She slowly looked him up and down as she spoke, her eyes lingering and full of heat.

Jamie let his lips form a amused and wry grin at their reaction to his offering of the cash.If I knew they were going to be so shocked by this I might have done it sooner if only for the laughs. He thought with a small laugh at the thought. He then remembered his own days on the street when money was something he had rarely held. Those days when begging and theft were his sole source of income. When each penny meant the difference between starving and having enough food to eke out a ghost of an existence. What had happened to those days he wondered, now he considered the five grand he offered mere pocket change. His own accounts were fit to burst, he had investments in so many things it took the MC treasurer and three of his assistants to keep track of it all.

It's been a hell of a ride hasn't it skreb. Meredith's keeping it real though, reminding ya that life isn't the silver spoon ya used to now. Not that you haven't earned every red cent of your stash.

Jamie had to agree with his patron, Meredith was the living example of a life not as blessed as his had become. He did wondered at the cruelty of Apollo, why had the Sun God not lead his chosen to the same reward Ares had. He then considered his own past, the bloodshed, the scars, and the crucible of life lived on the cold and unforgiving streets. His life had been hard but he had found a family in the Southside Demons and had found the promised land of wealth and enough combat to keep his warrior's blood satisfied. His bonded seemed to have only found family in a Brother too stupid in his opinion for the right to live. But regardless the Berserker decided his was not the right to judge Meredith and Ash, her gift after all wasn't as easy to exploit as the gift Ares had given him.

Besides when the chosen of Apollo looked at him with those lingering eyes, full of heat the chosen of Ares forgot all about anything else.

" I've got an idea or three." He answered as he got up out of the chair he had been sitting in. The Vice President then bodily lifted his bonded out of hers. Supporting the to his mind non-existent weight he looked into her grey eyes with his own dark silver ones. Carrying her over to the counter he laid her in a sitting position on it. His hands thus freed he began to explore her body while slowly and thoroughly enjoying the feel of her lips against his.

The moonlight streamed into the open blackwood shutters of southern making, the silk curtains dancing in the warm breezes of summer. Silken skin moved underneath his hands and her grey eyes danced in an dance old as time. " Is that what they taught you while wearing the King's coat James." She whispered in his ear and at the same time kissing his neck. " Or when they knighted you.."

Once again another vision, at least the outlaw biker thought so. His name wasn't James nor had ever been knighted. Least to the best of his knowledge. Ignoring the sight in his mind's eye he moved his lips down to her neck, savouring each second he spent there. His hands impatient with the feel of mere cloth ripped Meredith's t-shirt off with the same ease a child might to a sheet of paper. Freed of that barrier they seemed to regain their patience, their finger seeming content to crawl their way up from her lower back to the catch on her bra.

" Here's hoping your Brother isn't about to interrupt us again."

Meredith gasped in surprise as Jamie lifted her out of her chair and carried her over to the kitchen counter, he set on the counter and moved so he stood in between her legs. His mouth found hers and she was swept up in a kiss of passion that left her breathless and wanting more. She leaned into him kissing him back as passionately as he did her, his hands moved to her shirt and in one swift motion he ripped if off her body. Somehow the violence of the movement only served to heighten her passion and she leaned into him more trying to touch as much of his body as she could. As his hands moved to the catch of her bra she slid her hands to his chest lifting his t shirt off his head exposing his broad muscled chest. She ran her hands over his bare back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She was struck then again by the feeling that she knew him, that she had been in this exact situation with him before and yet she could not remember when. Her mind told her that it wasn't possible, that they had only met the day before yet her body insisted that it knew him. That the feel of him was as familiar as that of her own body, powerless against the feelings of lust and familiarity she trembled in his arms needing him with a desperation that seemed out of context with how long she had known him. She pulled back slightly and smiled nervously at him.

"It's been a long time since I have done this." She said. "Hopefully its like riding a bike."

She kissed him again then and pressed herself closer to him, giving herself to him, letting him know with her body and her feelings that she was letting him lead.

The intensity of Meredith's response was both unexpected and as familiar as the heart beating in the chest covered in the tattoos and scars that were the story of his life. Each of touch of her fingers evoking memories that had his rational mind been in charge would have alarmed him. But there was no rational thought, no logic, no reasoning with the passion running free and loose in the warriors blood that was his birthright and curse. That Berserker was as lost in the taste of the chosen of Apollo's lips and the feel of her body against his as it had been in the battles those scars spoke of. Jamie couldn't have stopped now if he wanted to, not that he wanted to in the least.

As his hands worked with Meredith's bra the chosen of Ares felt her lift his shirt and with that the patience of Jamie's lusts seemed to ramp up a notch or ten. At here words the former Abram's gunner left his lips part company with that particular bit of her neck he was kissing. Resting his forehead against hers the outlaw biker smiled , drinking in the sight of his reflection in her grey eyes.

" Well practice makes prefect as they say. We just need a lot of it is all." He replied with a voice heavy and full of the promise of what he wanted to do.

Lifting his bonded off the counter Jamie carried over to the bedroom door not stopping in the slightest in his ministrations of Meredith's body. Shifting to a one handed grip of the woman who seemed both stranger and familiar lover he opened the door to her bedroom. Closing the door with a swift backwards kick he strode his prize in hand. Lying her atop the mattress he looked over the woman who the Gods saw fit to tie him to.

" Do you James Chisholm take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold in Sickness and health, for richer or poorer until death do you part?"

" I do for all of eternity itself." Was the man whom tried not to show his disappoint in the priest's fallacy in thinking death would separate him from the love whom he'd left behind the ashes of a life lived after Yorktown. Not so long ago the lack of his knighthood would have stung but the life of nobility was now behind him.

A vision that was swiftly rejected as he clambered atop Meredith. It's enigmatic appeal as the vision centred on a woman who looked like his bonded held no sway with the Southside Demon as he worked to remove the jeans that she still wore. Reaching down with his mouth he once more kissed her with a violence and desperation of a man separated from his lover for years uncounted. Every taste seemed to remind him of something Jamie had been missing for far too long. Each touch only reminded it had been too long since he had last seen her. Why that feeling of the familiar didn't bother him was a tale the scarred and tattooed street fighter had about as much interest in as the reason why the sun rose and set. It was just there it mattered little to those not interested in philosophy and reason. Logic mattered not in the face that Meredith was here and his alone at the moment.

" I should be thanking the Gods, all things aside this isn't so bad..." Jamie spoke as he tore his lips from hers. His hands done with the catch on her bra he savoured the sight of Meredith clad in only her underwear, mere fabric that wouldn't stand a chance against the blood running hot and free in his veins. Removing that final barrier between him and his desire the Vice President of the Southside Demons Motorcycle Club let his passion spend itself throughout the night.

" So Sir Chisholm I wonder if they'll hang us or shoot us after this battle." A fresh faced youngster spoke, little more then a child in uniform his shoulders bore the rank of second lieutenant. He was the favoured child of a Marquee doing his part to raise the social status of his family by becoming a war hero. Despite his age the child solider had acquitted himself well, showing a steadiness that put shame to men twice his age. The closely shorn blonde haired man the child solider spoke to felt it a shame this absolute cock up of a war would likely be the last this promising youngster would ever fight.

" You think these American dogs will spare us, you've seen what their capable of lieutenant. Savages that could teach the red skinned ones a thing or two." Was the Knight's sneering reply, a brave façade to hide the fact his own company of Dragoons was scarcely any better. There was no honour in this war, neither side held any heroes. The Americans failing to realise how much their desire for an independent state would cost the common people of England, had deep the cost in blood had already been. The King and Country he fought for failing to realise their once loyal subjects needed a semblance of pride and yes a little independence. Not the overbearing demands of a colonial power fighting a war with the world itself.

" 5th company, forward." The cry rang out over the screams of fighting men, the roar of cannon fire and muskets.

" Up and at them lads, Nemo me impune lacessit." The Knight cried as his orders rang across the battlefield. Kicking his spurs into the mount he rode the leader of the 5th Dragoons rode across the battlefield, followed by his men. The thundering of his heart drowned out the horses hooves as he cut through the enemy with sabre and pistol. The feel of that razor sharp blade cutting through human necks sickening and exhilarating at the same time. He was in his element, the flames of war were everything made sense and nothing else mattered but victory.

So much so that he rode too deep into the enemy, his Dragoons doing their best with the suddenly overwhelming odds. Coming to his senses the Knight ordered a retreat. But before the words had left his lips a cannon shot landed beside him, the shrapnel cutting down his mount and lacerating his left side. Falling to the ground he came up swinging catching a militiaman in the upper chest. Wrenching his blade free he ripped the musket out of the dying man's hands. Bringing the Kentucky long rifle to bear he emptied into an other militiaman.

" Get them out of here lieutenant." The commander of the 5th Dragoons ordered as he dodged underneath the bayonet thrust of his attackers. The fresh faced child soldier saluted with his sabre as he whirled his horse around, the 5th Dragoons, the elite vanguard of the British Army for the first time in all of recorded history retreated from an enemy force to regroup with the struggling regular infantry.

The Knight danced around the American musket fire, the thrusts of their bayonets and felt a ball tear into his flesh. Dropping to the ground the tall soldier held onto a kneeling position only by virtue of thrusting his sabre into the ground and using it as a support. Blood flowed freely down the left half of his body, his red coat splattered with the mud and blood of combat. Grabbing his third and last pistol off his belt the Dragoon emptied it into a American wearing the blue coat of a regular. His breathing a harsh uneven rhythm the thoughts that consumed him at the moment where nothing of war or the last stand that the poets seemed to love to glorify. No for him the thoughts that raced through him as he watched death come for him held only the images of a woman who he had loved in his youth when he was in King George's personal guard.

" I am not the most holy of men God but please if it be in your plan let me see her one more time, and I'll never ask anything else." The wounded Knight prayed with earnest fervour as he watched American troops stride towards him, confident in their kill their steps held no urgency. The stopped several feet away, out of reach of the sabre that kept him from collapsing on all fours. Their blue coats insultingly clean and free of the stains of combat they lined up in a firing line, their rifles bayonet's gleaming in the afternoon sun.

" There's been enough dying for one day men, lower those rifles. " A gravelly sounding voice spoke, revealed to a grey haired man who wore the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel. The knight thanked his lord and creator before blacking out.

The dreams he dreamt as he slept beside Meredith his lust utterly spent for the moment seemed both fact and fiction. Jamie couldn't tell if they were memories or visions induced by the bond. But why would the Gods care to show him the life of an eighteenth century British officer. It made no sense to this former soldier, for his military training and grasp of history revealed he was dreaming about Yorktown, the battle that gave birth to a nation. But every swing of the sword, every pull of the trigger felt like his own, as if he was simply recalling a battle once fought and lost. A feeling the chosen of Ares held very little experience in, he always won. Defeat was not part of his creed.

The man seated behind the oak desk looked at the young woman stood before him, his hands rested lightly on the polished wood making him seem at ease. But Katherine knew that he was angry, infuriated to be more accurate, and inwardly she cringed from it. But on the outside she stood tall and firm, she had learned from the best after all and would not show how much his anger frightened her. The Duke, a prince and fourth in line to the throne, was not known for his gentle nature and was not above striking his daughter when she defied him. As much as she feared those punishments she held his gaze determined that she would not be the one to give in, not when the outcome of this battle of wills was for her very future.

"I will not marry him father. I understand it is my duty to marry well but I cannot marry a man I do not love. Please do not make me do this."

"You are the daughter of a prince Katherine and this marriage will greatly benefit this family. The Duke of Wakefield is a powerful man in his own right. We can ill afford to lose this alliance and I will not have it happen because my foolish daughter believes herself in love." His voice was angry and scornful.

"James and I love each other." She said firmly."I know that to you that seems impossible but it is the truth. Besides he is of noble birth, his father is a Viscount after all."

"Do you think I would allow you to marry the son of a mere Viscount when a Duke wants you." Her father rose and stalked towards her. "You girl are a commodity, owned by me, and you will do as I say!"

"I am not a horse to be bought!" Katherine flared.

Her father stopped in front of her and before she had time to react he backhanded her across the face, she fell sideways landing in a heap on the floor the blow harder than any she had experienced before. She stared up at him in shock, he had struck her before but never so violently. He knelt down beside her and spoke softly but his tone was hard and cold.

"You are mine to do with as I please and if you WILL marry whom I say, if you do not I will make things very unpleasant for you indeed."

His hand rose again to strike her...

Meredith sat up with a small cry, she looked around wildly forgetting for a moment where she was before recognising the familiarity of her bedroom. Beside her Jamie slept though it did not seem restful if his mutterings were anything to go by, she wondered if he were having as strange dreams as she. In her dream the woman had been wearing a dress, in dark green, and it had clearly been historical. The whole dream had seemed to be from the 1800's and she had no idea why she would be dreaming about something like that.

She touched a hand to her cheek and shivered, her skin was smooth and unmarked but she could still the man's hand against her skin. She half expected there to be a red handprint on her cheek, which of course was impossible considering it had been a dream. She wrapped her arms about herself and stared at the walls, frustration prevented her from going back to sleep. It frustrated her that the incredible, passionate time she had spent with her chosen, their arms and bodies entwined around each other was ruined by strange dreams that she did not understand.