Temptation:

The thing about mistakes was that sometimes even when you knew something was a mistake...you made it anyway.

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It only took a few seconds for Sam to register that three things were happening at too much of a rapid pace.

One was the icy feeling of fear trickling through her veins, churning her blood into ice water, due to the slight issue that her worst fears were suddenly coming to light. Her boss was here. In Amity Park. Looking for her.

Second was the realization that there was a very deep connection between her boss and the Fentons'. This wasn't just some piece of writing to help boost the sales production of their newspaper company. This was something personal and she was now right in the middle of this chaos.

The third was Danny shuffling off of her, his arms releasing her from his safe grip and his body moving hurriedly towards the door, anger spreading across his face and villainous intent swirling in the depths of those blue eyes. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were fading to white. Sam knew this wasn't going to end well, this was the pose of a man on a mission to beat the life out of someone.

It only took her a few minutes to readjust her clothes. Her shirt had risen up her abdomen, her hair was all mused and her makeup had smeared slightly in the process of their intense almost kiss. She swallowed the complicated mess of her life right now. Here she was, having tried to get away to protect this family and Danny had to screw everything up with his attractiveness. That and just that teeny issue that her boss was possibly psychotically insane. Over these few minutes it only took her a second to slide off of her bed and sprint after Danny, her fingertips hastily trying to grasp at the fabric of his shirt to hold him off from pounding her boss's face into the floor. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, her amethyst eyes landed on her boss.

She had never seen him in person before. He was always barking his orders to an assistant, his right hand man that expressed all his intentions and made sure the business was kept running smoothly. She could honestly tell herself that his appearance didn't do anything to reassure herself that his intentions were solely for the sake of a writer's passion to get to the bottom of this peculiar case. His hair was slicked back, curling upwards at the end. It was colored a dark grey, one long white streak over the top of his scalp. His eyes were narrowed, a menacing midnight blue. His lips were pulled back in a sinister, calculating smirk as though this situation was utterly fantastic.

"Ah! There is Daniel. Samantha," His eyes darkened to an unreal shade of black as he drank her in. Her lips trembled a bit but she bit back her terror defiantly, a sneer working its way across her mouth slowly. "I think we have some things to discuss, don't you agree? Why don't we go for a little stroll." Sam shifted from one foot to the other, ignoring the worried look sprawled across Jazz's face. Danny was simply seething where he stood, his shoulders were shaking with fury. It only took a second for the words to slip past her lips after her lingering gaze moved away from Danny back towards her boss.

"Of course, sir." She exhaled breathlessly, moving painstakingly slow past Danny whose gaze she could feel boring into her shoulder blades as she made her way towards the front door, slipping her goose bump covered arms into her familiar jacket. Jazz was still moving her eyes from the one to the other, horror plastered in her eyes. She looked frozen, as if she couldn't speak. Had lost the ability to articulate any words. Danny was the same, his anger blinding all his humanistic abilities. Sam decided she needed to rectify this situation and the best way was to speak with her boss in the meantime while he cooled down. Her boss wouldn't do anything. Maybe. Perhaps at the moment.

Closing the door behind her once the two had departed, she crossed her arms stiffly across her chest. Her boss was dressed crisply in a black suit, a speckled dark blue tie, and bundled himself into his heavy black jacket. His face seemed to be permanently glued with this self-satisfied gloating smirk. As if he had found the best present in the world and was ready to rip into it. He moved a few paces in front of her, and she had nothing to do but follow him, all the while glaring holes into the fabric of his jacket.

"Tell me something, Samantha." He crooned, his voice ladled with mocking curiosity. "What is so hard about gathering information about this family, hm? You have a simple task. It's a good thing I was alerted that you needed to be reaffirmed on the complications that might arise if you don't do as you're told."

Sam froze as he turned towards her on the deserted street they had found themselves on. Menace was prickling in the depths of his hues, his mouth quirked at the corner. His hands which she realized were gloved were clasped neatly together in front of him. Suddenly, his arms latched out and gripped her arms like a vice. She could feel his hands grasping her skin way too tightly, trying to apply bruises she knew would appear.

"If you don't get your head out of the stars, I'll personally see to it that all of this will merely appear as a dream. Get back to work." His breath fanned out across her face, an acrid odor of musty cloves and a hint of whiskey. Seeing the trepidation work its' way onto her face he released her, departing with the last word. Not as though she had the strength to muster any response.

"Don't get too involved with Daniel. You're not worthy."

The reddish blush on her bare triceps was gleaming under the florescent lights of the bathroom. The color was blurred slightly due to the tears brimming in her eyes. Swallowing thickly her fingertips hesitantly traced the bruises that were surely going to show soon. She glanced at herself in the mirror, her pale skin, the dark purple etched beneath her eyes.

Her shirt lay on top of the sink counter, clad in her jeans and her lace black bra as she examined her soon to be dis-coloring of her skin. Her chest was heaving slowly as though she was out of breath and desperately trying to suffice for air. She would be lying if she didn't say that she was scared shitless. But even though his threats still lingered in her mind, she couldn't give up on this family.

Perhaps for now she would have to lay low for a bit, maybe try and formulate a plan but at the moment her thoughts were so dysfunctional and she was having a hard time trying to think coherently.

After their stimulating conversation he had departed with the warning he would be watching her every movement, and if she made one step out of line he would make sure that she wouldn't write again, and that he would personally finish this crazy whirlwind of a task.

When had all of this changed so drastically? Just a few hours ago she had been as ready as ever to leave but Danny had been so hell-bent on keeping her there. The remembrance of his warm hands gripping her skin, his lips almost just almost making that decent upon her own made her cheeks flush and she frowned. This was so silly of her. Getting herself so involved with a male who had so much going on in his life. Now there were the complications of deciding if this was all worth it. She groaned in frustration.

She was such a freaking mess.

Her hands moved shakily to thread through her hair, yanking slowly on the dark strands before her hands gripped the edges of the counter. Taking a second to inhaled deeply and collect her thoughts, she reached down to grab her shirt, pulling it back over her head just in time for the bathroom door to creak open slowly.

"Sam?" His hesitant voice broke her self loathing and her eyes rested on him as he stepped into the bathroom, glancing over her for any signs of distress.

When she had come back inside after her talk with her boss, she had taken one look at Danny's face - he had looked so livid but at the same time relieved that she had come back seemingly safe, unharmed. Jazz was thrilled and they both made movement from where they were reclined on the sofa towards her but she smiled wearily and muttered that she needed a few minutes to herself in the bathroom.

"Don't even have the decency to knock?" She quipped, her voice a bit raspy. She was exhausted. The smile that she threw in his direction didn't quite reach her eyes. Noticing the way his eyes darkened with unease he chuckled a bit uneasily, perhaps understanding that she wasn't quite ready to discuss what had happened. How her boss knew them all so in depth.

"Well you've been in here for a while. Wanted to make sure you were alright." As her violet eyes met with his own blue ones, her heart began to hammer inside of her chest and she felt as though someone had flicked a switch on inside of her. In a matter of seconds the atmosphere had changed at those words that slipped out. Her palms were starting to grow warm, her whole frame drenched with this sudden overwhelming and sweltering heat.

His eyes were smoldering, as though there were a million dirty thoughts etched into his mind. His gaze rested onto her lips which slightly parted and he took a few steps towards her. She backed up against the sink, her eyes widening a smidgen as one of his hands lifted to entangle itself into her hair, his fingertips twisting the thin strands between them.

He wouldn't take his eyes off of her, his body mere inches from being pressed up against her own. Up close she noticed he himself looked as though he was dead on his feet. The blue eyes of his seemed a bit washed out as though someone had taken an eraser and tried to do away with the striking depth of blue. Dark circles were prominent beneath his eyes, his lips were chapped a bit of dried blood on the corner of his mouth from biting down too hard. His chin had accumulated a fair amount of stubble.

His breath fanned across her face and the odor she had been attacked with earlier was erased with his scent; this calming mint and a mix of the aroma of coffee and for some reason kiwi. His other hand inched and rested on her hip, his fingertips sliding beneath her hip to press across the bare skin of her hip. Her breath hitched and she flung herself on him.

All her worries, her terrible fantasies about the implications of her actions withered as her hands slid along his neck to fist into his hair and she pressed her lips against his own. His mouth parts with anticipation and fireworks blow off inside of her. Like something finally erupted, her body being doused with fire, this force of arousal.

She groans eagerly, his hips pressing against her own, pushing her body roughly against the sink. His tongue flirts along her lower lip, dancing dangerously close to slipping into her mouth. He grunts roughly both his hands moving to slide beneath her shirt, pressing against the bare skin of her lower back. He's all force, his body against her own, his mouth moving against hers as thought she is water that he has been deprived of for days.

It's all too fast.

The way their breaths are mingling, the way her eyes are closing and her head is tilting backwards as his lips move downwards to plant chaste kisses along the skin. As her hands inch their way downwards to press against his back he takes that moment to pull away, his chest heaving, his cheeks slightly flushed, his eyes so heavily lidded with arousal and he whispers, "What are you doing to me, Sam?"

Hearing the words was like being doused with a bucket of frigid water. Sam shoves Danny off of her, suddenly feeling as thought she might throw up. Her fingers yank her shirt down and she bolts out of the bathroom leaving a stunned hormonal boy to wonder what the hell just happened.

She was such a fucking mess. Hearing him say that was like a slap to her face. What was she doing to him, indeed? She was supposed to be writing a story, not throwing away all abandon and letting her emotions get in the way. Oh. God. She couldn't do this to him. No, she couldn't. This was crazy. Why had she allowed it to progress like that? She wanted him. Too badly. She craved him, and she could tell by his movements that he craved her as well. Her self control was slipping.

Wiping her mouth and being overpowered with the overwhelming sense of wanting to cry she stumbled into her room, gasping at the small sob that worked its way out of her. Why did this have to happen to her? Sliding to the floor with a thump she buried her face in her hands.

He was going to be her downfall.

At that realization she sighed knowing that letting her emotions get the best of her wasn't going to help solve her problems. Trying to avoid him wasn't going to help either. As she stood, unstable, determined to speak with what had transpired she was interrupted by the meaning behind her problems standing in her doorway.

"Hear me out, Sam. Please. Just...come to my room, alright? Just to talk." His voice was filled with such a plea, that she sighed and nodded in response.

She might as well fight her inner demons, the only way to get past this was to realize that Daniel Fenton was one person who wasn't going to let her slip away from him.

Was that really such a bad thing? She was starting to doubt that it was.

His room was dark, that was the first thing that came to mind as she stepped inside. His walls were a morbid pale gray blue. The floors were a tiled box brown. His bed pressed against the wall across from the doorway, a pale gray blue bead spread plastered haphazardly against it. The two pillows were tilted at different angles. White sheets peeked from the bottom of his bed, almost touching the floor. An end table was on the left side of his bed, a black lamp and an alarm clock resting upon it.

A dresser was pressed against the end of his bed. An open window was next to his bed, with a windowsill where one could sit on it. Another window was on the other side of the bed, up higher and closed. An open closet was off to the right showing boxes and shoes lined along the bottom and a variety of clothes on all different kinds of hangers. A few posters were scattered on his walls. Above a desk on the left side of the small room of his was a two way connected shelf. The top was stuffed with tons of books, the bottom had a few trinkets. A trophy or two.

His desk was littered with open and closed textbooks, a printer towards the back side. His laptop was half-way closed, a screensaver bouncing around. A cup full of pens and highlighters of the sort was beside a stack of folders and binders. The drawers, some opened and some closed seemed to all be stuffed with things. A blue highlighter was resting on one of the open books.

Danny stepped into his room and plopped himself down on his bed. Sam sat at the very end as far away as she could from him and stared at him, trying not to remember the way he tasted against her lips. He seemed to be struggling with something as he sighed exasperatedly and ran his hand through his messy dark hair.

"I'm sorry if I said something to upset you, hell, I'm sorry I advanced on you like that, Sam. I..." He trailed off when she interrupted him.

"Don't be sorry." She mustered the courage to speak. "I was just...caught a bit off guard. Danny, I'm just scared. Alright? I don't want know what the hell this is anymore!" She snapped, everything falling down around her. She hated that he was trying to attack the walls she had so carefully constructed around herself.

"Sam." She glanced up at him as he moved towards her, pausing when she shook her head and he smiled just a little. "I'm not going to touch you, I promise."

"That's the problem. I want you to. But you can't. Because this isn't just some silly thing where this is just a catfight with another woman, my career is on the line here, Fenton. My life is on the line. Your lives are in the process of being flipped all out of order and I just can't do this with you. It's not fair. Atleast not to you right now. Please. I need to get this all under control because I'm going freaking insane and I don't know how to handle this. I'm scared and I just wish that all this would go away!" She hissed.

"Sam. Wait. Did Vlad threaten you? Why are you so scared, what did he say to you, Sam?" Danny's voice was painted with that familiar air of fury, his eyes were so determined as she glanced up at him and sighed, relaying everything that had been expressed to her.

"I can handle this, Danny. Please. Don't get involved. I just need to stay away from you for right now, alright?"

"No."

"Yes. This is only going to get worse if you try to keep pushing your way into whatever the hell this is turning out to be."

"Sam. Don't you get it? I don't care about the threats he's making. We can handle this. My family can handle all of this, we can take care of you. I care about you. Why won't you let anyone near you?"

She could feel her heart tightening again inside of her chest, her breaths constricting making it painfully hard to breathe as she tried to process everything he was saying. His presence there beside her was making it extremely difficult for her to get her thoughts together.

"I-" Before she could finish, the familiar chime of Maddie's voice rang through the house announcing that dinner was ready. Sam wasn't more grateful for the opportunity to escape then right then. She needed some time to herself, to think.

Dinner had been quiet.

Sam hadn't talked much at all. Danny was busy steaming over his thoughts and what Sam assumed was his aggravation at not being able to ever finish a conversation or anything with her.

Jazz was absentmindedly pushing around her food, her eyes lidded with the clouding of her thoughts. Maddie, oblivious to everything that had happened was cheerfully chewing her steak. Jack as well was shoveling food into his mouth and trying to make conversations but letting it go to just continue eating as he noticed nobody was making much effort.

When it was over, Sam had rushed to place her dishes in the sink and stepped outside into the frigid cold night. The air swirled around her and she found herself walking towards the backyard where she had first encountered Danny and his annoying attitude. Sighing and shivering in her tee shirt she slumped down onto the ground, her eyes staring up at the sky.

The sound of footsteps didn't faze her as she felt someone plop themselves down beside her.

Danny.

She felt him place his coat around her shoulders and his hand pressed against the grass that was inches away from her thigh. He was sitting beside her, too close for comfort but she didn't make any comment as they both sat there in silence and just watched the dark sky, the stars trying to shine.

"This isn't going to go away, Sam." He muttered, breaking her out of her half-asleep staring contest with the sky. She turned slightly towards him and saw his eyes imploring, that spark of determination dancing in his hues. "I told you I wasn't going to let any harm come to you."

Sam was utterly confused and she frowned as she tried to understand what he was talking about. Noticing that she was too tired to understand, he pulled the jacket off her shoulders and his fingertips prodded the bruises that had appeared on her skin. Oh. Crap, she realized as he leaned closer towards her, his hair tickling beneath her nose.

"It's fine, relax, Danny." She whispered.

"No. I'm going to do something about this."

And with that, Sam knew that her life was about to get way more out of control then she had planned. It was going to be a lot more difficult trying to keep Danny away from her. It was going to be a lot more difficult trying to protect his family all on her own.

It was going to be a lot more difficult to push down her feelings for him.

I've missed this story. So much.

Hopefully this chapter made up for it's absence, somewhat.

Things are slowly clicking into place, hopefully the plot will thicken even more.

I hope you enjoyed.

I don't own Danny Phantom.

/- Ink Kissed.