You Were Meant To Be Mine

CHAPTER TEN Morning Hungers

Sanzo woke when the morning sky was just light enough to allow him to see clearly inside the tent. He drifted, savoring the warmth of Layla in his arms in contrast to the chill morning air. Layla had turned over onto her side, cuddling close against Sanzo's chest so they were spooned together. Sanzo's cheek rested on the flung-out length of Layla's silken hair. The sweet curves of Layla's bottom nestled against his hips, pressing against the hard length of his arousal. Sanzo watched Layla sleep, pondering the strange feelings rising up inside him. He could get used to this, to waking up every morning to the sight of Layla's tumbled hair, flushed cheek, and the soft swell of her breasts beneath her nightgown. Better yet, no nightgown at all, just Layla in all her naked loveliness. A small smile tugged at his lips as he studied the precise color of her eyelashes, the shape of her lips, the texture of her skin.

Layla wanted him. She wanted not just his pretty face and the body that came with it. Her heart wanted him. Sanzo held onto Layla's words with even more determination than the arm he had wrapped around her waist. She had known his master, a greater Sanzo than he could ever be. That meant she was aware of his own limitations, of his imperfections, of his essential humanity. So many of the women and the men who wanted him saw nothing but the sutra, the crown, and the face of the man who now wore both. They understood nothing of his heart and cared even less. For them Sanzo was something to possess, to own and exploit however their stupid twisted desires demanded. But not Layla, she who had witnessed the glory of true enlightenment. She wanted him, Koryuu, now called Genjo Sanzo.

His fingertips traced the curve of her breast, exploring the tender underside of the roundness that filled his palm so well. The cloth of her nightgown was caught under her hip, leaving it drawn tight enough across her breasts to show Sanzo her nipples as they hardened. Layla sighed and stretched, arching her back and pushing her bottom against Sanzo's hips. Sanzo bit back a groan. He took advantage of her movement to give her breast a gentle squeeze. It roused a hunger in him, a need to kiss and lick at Layla's velvety skin before he closed his mouth over her nipple and suckled there. Layla turned over onto her back and opened her eyes, blinking up at Sanzo. She brushed her fingers through his shaggy bangs and down his cheek.

"Am I dreaming?"

Sanzo smiled, then pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Layla stroked his hair, holding him closer and answering his kiss. Temptation blazed inside Sanzo, igniting his blood and turning the ache at his groin to an urgent hunger. The delicious torture doubled when Layla began kissing Sanzo's neck, warm wet open-mouthed kisses that drove him insane with need.

"Layla...."

Sanzo sank his hand into her hair and pulled her head back, claiming her mouth in a kiss that left them both moaning and straining against each other.

"Stay here," he murmured. Before Layla could speak, he slid out from under the far side of the blankets and knelt beside Goku, laying one hand on the boy's shoulder and shaking him awake. "Goku! Wake up!"

Goku mumbled something and rolled away from Sanzo, hugging his pillow.

"Goku! Get up, you lazy ape." Sanzo leaned down to speak into Goku's ear, using his best persuasive tone. "You better get out there, Goku. Gojyo had morning watch, so he's going to be twice as hungry as usual. Are you going to let that kappa pervert eat all of your breakfast?"

Eyes still closed, Goku sat bolt upright, stuffed his feet into his boots, then struggled with the ties on the tent flaps until Sanzo reached past him to yank the knots free. Once the boy was gone, Sanzo secured the ties, then eased back under the blankets. The heat radiating from Layla's body was pure heaven. Sanzo kissed her forehead, then her cheek, then the tip of her nose.

Layla's eyes fluttered open. "Mmmm. Sanzo...."

Now it was Sanzo's turn to plant a trail of wet kisses down Layla's neck. The mother of pearl buttons on the front of her nightgown gave way beneath his agile fingers.

"What are you doing?" she whispered. "They'll hear us!"

Sanzo kissed her, his tongue thrusting into her mouth again and again. Layla moaned against his lips. Her thigh slid up along his. Sanzo pushed the thin cotton cloth off her shoulder and cupped his fingers around her breast, moving down to tease her nipple with soft little jabs of his tongue. Layla sucked in her breath. Before she could cry out, Sanzo captured her mouth with his. Eager to quicken the game and finish it before Goku barged in and ruined everything, Sanzo reached down and gathered the hem of Layla's nightgown into his fist, baring her legs to mid-thigh. Layla managed to break the kiss.

"What are you doing?"

Sanzo trailed his fingertips along the satiny skin of Layla's inner thigh. "I always pay my debts."

"Sanzo!"

The cluster of silky curls between her thighs was already wet with need. Sanzo's fingers glided up and down through the thick honey pooling there. Discovering the reality behind this mystery fascinated him. To push his cock into her slick, scalding heat.... He eased one finger into Layla. She stiffened, eyes wide.

"Does this hurt?" he asked softly.

Layla moved her head side to side. Sanzo pressed in a little further.

"Now?"

Another shake of the head. Sanzo pressed no farther in, content to rub his finger along the tight, slick walls inside Layla. His cock ached and throbbed, begging to sink into her, past every ring of muscle that would grip him, massage him, then tighten up around him and coax his seed deep into the sweetest depths of Layla's body....

Layla's breath hitched a certain way when Sanzo touched the tiny pink pearl hidden in her secret folds. That seemed to wring the loudest gasps from her. He kept to that one spot, moving now faster, now slower, pressing lightly, pressing harder, until Layla's restless, breathless writhing merged into one great tensing of every muscle in her body. Her nails dug into his shoulders. Sanzo held her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and pressing Layla's face into his bare chest. She obeyed, clinging to him, shuddering with the power of the pleasure spiraling upward inside her.

All at once Layla's hands slid down Sanzo's back, dipping under the waistband of his jeans, inside his boxers, gripping his buttocks and pressing the hard length of him against her thigh. Sanzo's eyes rolled back. He had to bite his own tongue to stifle a loud noise of pleasure. He twisted against Layla, trying to work his jeans down.

"Layla. My jeans. It hurts."

Her hands slid up to his waistband. Braced on his elbow, Sanzo lifted his weight just in time. Layla shoved the cloth down over his narrow hips, then held the naked heat of his erection trapped against her bare thigh. The passionate strength of her wild joy caught Sanzo up and carried him away with her. For one breathless moment their eyes locked, purple meeting blue. Then their hungry mouths met and devoured their shouts of release.

When Sanzo could think again, he lifted his head from Layla's shoulder and stared down at her, drinking in the sight of her sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks, her naked breasts rising and falling as her breathing slowed, and the rumpled tangle of her nightgown that bared more of her than it covered.

"Good morning," he murmured, brushing a kiss across Layla's lips.

"Sanzo-sama...." She touched one fingertip to his lips, tracing the shape of them. "Is it always like that?"

"That's only the beginning."

Wide-eyed, she tried to tug her nightgown back into its proper arrangement around her. "I can't imagine...."

"Can't you?" Sanzo caught her hand and moved it aside so he could plant one last kiss between her breasts. "I doubt I'll think of anything else all day." He stood up and hitched his jeans back into place. "Get dressed. We have to be on the road again soon."