Author's Notes: Special thanks to Stormheller for the quick, efficient and Canadian beta. Thanks always to Mellison who will get up early on a Sunday morning to pull it all together.

"I'm as close to him as you're ever going to get, Detective. You realize that, right?"

Ray Vecchio raked a contemptuous glance over the almost ethereal creature standing in Frannie's bedroom. In the few days since she'd made her miraculous reappearance in Benny's life, she'd twisted the Mountie around until he was someone Ray barely recognized. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"I'm not blind. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you want to get into Ben's pants."

"My, my, my, Victoria," Ray said, propping himself against the doorframe. "You look like a lady, but you sure talk like a tramp. I'm betting Benny never hears that side of you."

A brittle bit of laughter broke from her. "I suppose that shows how well you know Ben. He understands exactly what I am and he wants me, loves me just the same." She flipped a stray dark curl over her shoulder. "You can't say the same though, can you?"

"Benny is my best friend."

"Mmmm," she said, moving toward him. "He's your best friend, but he wouldn't be if he saw how you look at him."

"You're full of it."

"I don't think so, Detective." She stopped inches from him, close enough for him to smell Benny's shampoo and soap on her. "I think you'd like nothing better than to bend him over and fuck him."

She reached out and gently caressed his suddenly hard dick. He wanted to hit her or, at the very least, back away but he found himself snake-charmed by her beautiful voice and the hideous, horrible, venom of truth falling from her lips.

"Yes, Detective Vecchio, you'd like to feel his mouth all over you, wouldn't you? I can tell you, his mouth is as hot and sweet as it looks. He's lovely, isn't he? So incredibly lovely and so incredibly intelligent." She leaned in to whisper warm against his cheek. "Lovely, smart and naive enough that he doesn't have a clue that his 'best friend' wants to push him down to his knees." She kneaded his erection knowingly. God help him, he let her. "Yes, his 'best friend' wants to feel those lips wrapped around his hard cock. Wants to put that hard cock in his mouth and pump it back and forth."

God, how could this fucking bitch know what he could barely admit to himself?

She expertly jacked him through the fine wool of his pants and the slippery silk of his boxers. It felt damn good and she smelled like Benny and through his half-closed eyes, the inky gloss of her hair even looked like Benny's. He'd wanted him for so long and waited for him for so long and, Christ, her hand felt hot through the fabric and so, so fucking good.

On a moan and gasp, he came.

She stepped back and smirked. "That's as close as you're ever going to get to him, Detective."

Anger and self loathing burned him. "Whore," he hissed.

"Perhaps, but Ben thinks I'm the answer to his prayers."

"So," he panted, indicating the wet splotch of semen on the front of his trousers, "what was this all about?"

"It's about reminding you that he's mine. Even if you found the guts to go for it, and I doubt you ever will, people like you don't get guys like him. He's out of your league."

"Maybe he is, but he could do a whole lot better than you."

"Not in his eyes. To him, I'm the most desirable of all women." Her voice grew hard. "Don't try to come between us. He's mine."

"We'll see."

"You'll have to kill me to separate us and I don't think he'd thank you for it, Detective." She smiled at him. "Now, be a graceful loser and go about your business. I'd like to lay down for a while. Jerking off cops always wears me out." She closed the door in his face.

Stunned, he went into his room to change; he knew he'd do whatever it took to keep Benny away from her.

Killing her was certainly not outside the realm of possibilities.