Sea of Temptation ; Simon Riley.

Chapter 22.

Her eyes widened in realization and she moved away her gaze, digging her teeth deeper into her lower lip, torturing it.
She zoned out once again, this time her dilated pupils boring holes into the snow.

"No one else had the balls to do what I did for you, for all of you." She heard Shepherd snap, "Then do the right thing, General." Gaz replied with a frown.

She had no idea of what was going on and hadn't even realized that Ghost had walked behind her silently, "You good?" She flinched when she heard his deep voice next to her ear. Meridia turned her head to the side and met his eyes, his hazel irises glowing brighter under the sunlight.

Her eyebrows knitted in together, "Tsk." She scoffed and returned her attention to the current conversation.

Ghost narrowed his eyes at her sudden attitude, the urge to slip a hand into her silky hair to force her head towards him was huge, he had to control himself. It was since the mission had started that he couldn't keep his eyes off of her, she looked absolutely mesmerizing in that white uniform with her cheeks flushing a light red from the cold, he wanted her all for himself.

His desire for her wasn't pure like love and commitment – it was dark, intense, something that would've left her with a mark imprinted in her soul. A mark that would've reminded her of him for the rest of her life, not in a negative way.

He took a step closer to her, sneaking a hand out secretly to pat her small back. In response, she tensed up and sucked in a breath, turning her head to the side to shoot him a glare. He looked down on her as his hand slowly trailed down to her ass, taking in the delicate curve of it. "Ghost." She whispered-yelled at him, widening her eyes as a warning.

He leaned down to her ear, "Do I have to touch you to get you to talk to me?" He whispered roughly, his warm breath hitting her cold skin, making her shiver.
"Fuck you." She retorted harshly, making him smirk under his mask.

He adored her attitude and he would've loved to fix it as soon as they had some free time after the mission.

"You screw me on this, John.. and you'll be sorry you kept me alive." Shepherd's words echoed in the thick cold air, the General and the Captain were glaring at each other, a silent war between their eyes. Gaz and Soap grabbed him and dragged him towards the helo again.

Meridia watched as the scene unfolded, ignoring the wild thoughts filling her head. Ghost gave her a light tap on her rear before walking towards Price.

Her jaw hung low, she stared at his back in disbelief before storming to the helo while cursing to herself mentally for letting him do that again. Like an endless cycle, she couldn't get out of it.

*

Back at the base, the first thing she did as she got off the helo, was walking directly to her quarters. Even if the temperature had rose, she was still freezing.

She threw the gear and uniform on the ground, slipping under the warm blankets on her bed. Her body was shivering violently, her cheeks were burning, exhaustion was rising upon her slowly and soon she fell asleep.

Hours passed, John had noticed her missing presence, she disappeared like a ghost right after landing at the base and it worried him. For the whole flight she didn't look her best, she kept on zoning out and sniffing. He wanted to check on her badly but meetings, reports and missions came one after another, making it impossible for him to have some time to breathe.

So instead, he sent Soap to her quarters.

A loud knock on her door made her wake up abruptly from her sleep, her eyelids felt so damn heavy and her body ached in the worst way possible. Her throat was sore and she couldn't even humm in response.

"Scylla? Are you inside? I'm coming in." Soap's worried voice could be heard from behind the door, she snuggled against the blankets and covered her body completely, being only in underwear.

He turned the knob and entered the small place, his eyes instantly falling on her frail body buried under the blankets. "Scylla." He sighed and approached her slowly, kneeling by the side of her bed to take a better look at her.

He took in all her features to her reddened cheeks, with a concerned look, he placed a hand over her forehead. "Fuck, you're burning up." He muttered and got on his feet, "Do you have a thermometer? Medicines?"

"Mhm." She shook her head weakly, burying her face further into the pillow.

Heaving out a sigh, he headed out of the room and was surprised to meet Ghost right outside, "What were you doing here?" His expression was hidden beneath his usual balaclava, his tone cold.

"She has a high fever, I'm getting her a thermometer and med—"

"I'll handle her." Ghost cut him off abruptly, pushing slightly the door to peak his head inside. His gaze softened when it landed on her weakened body laying on the bed, covered with two layers of blankets.

"But Price sent me he–"

"I said I'll handle her."

Soap narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion, dazzled by his change of attitude towards her. In silence, he walked away, leaving Ghost to his things.

Ghost returned to her room with a paper bag with all the necessary. "God, Meridia. You always say you don't need anyone but now look at you." He grumbled roughly.

Only silence responded to him, her chest rose and fell quickly, her breaths coming out shaky everytime she exhaled. She couldn't even keep her eyes open, she just listened to his voice and quite enjoyed the simple presence.

In the meanwhile, Ghost went to her kitchenette to fill a glass of water so she could take the medicine. The image of her laying vulnerable and sick on the bed stuck in his mind, he never expected to find himself taking care of someone else, especially her.

But she seemed too weak to even fight him back or insult him like her usual self.

He approached her bed with the water and pill and sat on the edge, "Take this and drink up." He told her grumpily, earning only a whiney humm. She was never going to get up, so he had to do it for her.

He placed the things on the bedside table and with a sigh, he lifted her up in a sitting position. "No.." She mumbled sweetly with her eyes still closed, pulling the covers over her bare body and leaning her head against the headboard. His eyes scanned her whole face, from her long lashes, to the flushed cheeks and parted lips.

If only she wasn't sick..

Ghost shook away the thoughts and grabbed the glass of water again, forcing her lips apart with his thumb so she could drink up the water and pill.
"Come on, Meridia." He groaned lowly when she refused to do so, "Please." He whispered softly.

The sudden softness made her eyes flutter open a little, she had never heard him this soft. For a moment she stared at him under her lashes, analyzing his masked face.

Then, finally, she let him place the pill on her tongue and drank it down with the water, "That's my girl." He praised her gently and helped her lay down again, covering her to the best with all the blankets.

He watched her for a while, how her chest rose and fell as she slept, how her long hair fell over her pale face. He reached out a hand to brush away some strands, taking in all her beautiful facial features.

She was pure temptation and he was going to make sure he was the only one to touch her.

No one could lay a finger on his addiction, on his siren.