The Prick of Memory

Notes 1:  Check it out, my first completed lemon in five years! 
I must say, my style certainly has changed.  Shinrei and Yuya do not
belong to me, alas.  They belong to Akimine Kamijyo, whom I worship
and would gladly bear his child even though I can\'t stand kids.  The
man is a genius, I tell you!


Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai Deeper Kyo. If anyone thinks I\'m making money off this story, then contact me. I\'ll tell you all about how I over drafted my checking account last week and don\'t have enough money to cover my bills this month, either.





Shinrei shifted and placed his hands behind his head as he gazed up at the
stone ceiling, his thoughts running in a chaotic swirl in his head. 
He desperately needed sleep so that he would be good and rested for the time
when Onime no Kyo would reach him inside the Mibu fortress.  For Shinrei
had no doubt that the demon eyed samurai in question would come for him. 
He had to in order to save the life of the young woman who stayed with him
regardless of what happened around her.

Shinrei frowned as that thought immediately brought Shiina Yuya\'s visage
to the fore front of his mind.  Which resulted in him remembering the
feel of her lips under his own as he invaded her being with his Water Dragon
attack.  He growled at the memory of how soft, warm and alive she
had felt before she had managed to slap herself away from him after he implanted
his attack.  Not for the first time he wondered just why he had chosen
that particular method to get his attack inside her body.  A simple
scratch on her arm would have achieved the same goal, but instead he had
opted to kiss her.  

He gave a ragged sigh and rubbed his face with his hands.  Maybe he
should just own up the fact that he wanted to kiss her, plain and simple,
and that the attack had been an excuse to do so.  He had no intention
of letting Yuya die, rather, he wanted to see what Onime no Kyo was made
of, and why Muramasa had been so adamant about taking him from Mibu lands
and forsaking the Mibu entirely.  He had every intention of lifting
his \"curse\" from the blond bounty huntress once he had seen what Muramasa
had claimed was the \"hope of the Mibu\".

With a grunt he rolled over and faced the wall, letting his eyes close.  
Between the questions he had raised with Taihaku about the Mibu Clan in general,
in particular; one Mibu Kyoshiro, whom he had never seen, and this problem
regarding his sudden desire to taste the woman that Onime no Kyo had all
but claimed as his own had given Shinrei a slight headache.  Closing
his eyes, he allowed his senses to shut down one by one, until the pain faded
into the recesses of his subconscious.




Shinrei sat and glared at the person whom he considered to be the current
source of his misery.  Said recipient of the glare returned it with
equal flame, clearly letting him know that she considered him to
be the cause of her own misery.  Shinrei glowered at her, and Yuya rolled
her eyes in return.

\"I did offer to let you share the blanket, you know,\" she said, exasperation
evident in her voice.  

Shinrei grunted in reply as he thought back to just how he had gotten stuck
in this ice box of a room with the blond bounty huntress.  He had been
successful in grabbing her away from Kyo and his small band of followers
as they argued amongst themselves, but what he hadn\'t counted on was for
the ice user, Akira, to lose his temper over something that was said to him
and unleash his elemental attack in such a way that it coated everything
with a sheath of ice several inches thick.  Luckily, he had found an
entrance to a hidden room inside the fortress walls, and had ducked inside,
dragging the kicking girl with him.  Unfortunately, the door had been
sealed off shortly thanks to Akira\'s temper tantrum, and Shinrei had removed
his hand from Yuya\'s mouth only to have his ears blasted by her angry tirade. 
Shoving her aside, he had explored the room and located a blanket folded
near an opening that was intended to house a nice, warm fire.  It was
a shame that his elemental powers were more for the control of water, and
for the first time he found himself wishing his half brother were there to
light up a nice blaze to either melt the ice or ward off the encroaching
chill in the air.  

He glanced at the blond bounty huntress as he picked up the blanket and shook
it out.  She had her arms folded across her chest and delicate shudders
raced across her slight form.  With a snort, he walked over and tossed
the blanket around her, before he settled down next to one of the walls. 
Yuya blinked at him in surprise as she wrapped the blanket around herself,
and said, \"But . . . Aren\'t you cold, too?\"

\"I\'m fine,\" he had snapped in return, which prompted an irritated huff from
the girl as she settled down against the wall across from him and proceeded
to glare her discomfort in his direction.  Even with the blanket around
her, it was obvious that she was still quite cold, and Shinrei swore he could
feel the temperature drop by the minute.   He folded his arms and
tried to look stoic while resisting the urge to rub his hands over his exposed
arms.  Natural ice was cold enough, but the ice that surrounded them
now had been created by a human, and because of this it was several degrees
colder than its natural counterpart.  

It was ironic, Shinrei mused, that an ice user had become so angry that he
had turned everything around him into a massive ice sculpture.  One
would have thought that an ice user would be the last person to have a hot
tempered nature.

His musings were interrupted by a soft touch on his arm, and he looked up
in surprise as Yuya sat down next to him and draped part of her blanket over
his shoulders.

\"What do you think you\'re doing?\" he growled at her.

\"Your shivering is making me colder than what I already am,\" Yuya answered
shortly, staring straight ahead and refusing to look at him.  \"So I
came over here to get warm.\"

He glared at her for a moment before he turned his glare to the wall. 
He wasn\'t going to admit that the blanker combined with Yuya\'s warmth felt
good; he would never give the girl the satisfaction of that knowledge. 
The slight shivers that had wracked his frame eased off, and he began to
relax slightly, hoping that it wouldn\'t be long before the ice thinned out
enough for him to break through with his own water powers, but for now, he
and the blond bounty huntress were stuck.  He felt Yuya shift slightly
closer to him in an effort to get warmer, and he scowled at the intrusion
upon his thoughts.

\"Stop fidgeting, you\'re making it colder,\" he grumbled.

\"Shut up, whose fault do you think this is, anyway?\" Yuya retorted, turning
to glare at him.

\"I don\'t think that question deserves an answer,\" Shinrei replied coolly.

\"And why not?\" Yuya demanded, temper tinting her cheeks pink.

\"Because it\'s obvious who\'s at fault here,\" Shinrei said with a sweep of
his hand, indicating the iced over windows and doors.

\"Akira-san is not the one who kidnapped me and pulled me into this
building only to be iced in!\"

\"That still doesn\'t change the fact that he\'s the one who trapped us here
in the first place.\"

\"How was he supposed to know that we were in here?  I highly doubt you
wanted to be seen while you were dragging me off.\"

\"An ice user should have stronger control over his emotions so that accidents
like this won\'t happen.\"

\"Stop blaming Akira-san for this!\" Yuya snapped, her green eyes narrowed
in anger.  \"It was your idea to drag me away from my friends in the
first place!  Why have you kidnapped me, anyway?\"

Shinrei smirked.  He had wondered how long it would take her to get
to that particular question.  From what he had seen of her interactions
with Kyo and his merry band of idiots, she had never been hesitant or shy
about asking or saying what was on her mind.

\"I intend to make Onime no Kyo careless,\" he answered easily, causing her
eyes to cloud in confusion as her brow furrowed.  

\"Make Kyo careless?\" she repeated slowly, as if tasting the words to decide
whether or not they were palatable.  

\"Yes.  Taking you will serve as incentive for him to go through the
gates that are guarded by the Goyousei at as fast a speed as possible due
to fear for your safety.  Because of this, his guard will be weaker
as he concentrates solely on attacks in an effort to get through the five
gates before my own and will not allow him time to rest between battles before
he faces me.\"

Yuya stared at him, her mouth open in shock before she managed to stutter,
\"Y-you mean you want to fight Kyo while he\'s exhausted and injured from the
previous battles?  What kind of fighter are you?!\"

\"I want to push Onime no Kyo to his breaking point and beyond when he fights
me,\" Shinrei said coldly.  \"I want to see this \'hope\' that Muramasa-sama
claims will save the Mibu.\"

\"That\'s so . . . dirty,\" Yuya cried, leaping to her feet in a move
that caused the blanket to pool on the ground behind her as Shinrei, startled
by her words, gazed up at her.  

\"Is this a fighter\'s pride?\" Yuya sneered.  \"Are the Mibu so lacking
in honor that they refuse to allow a fellow warrior the chance to rest a
bit between battles?\"

It was Shinrei\'s turn to leap to his feet, her words against his clan sparking
angry words of his own.

\"What do you know of the Mibu\'s honor?\" he sneered back at her, glaring down
into her furious face and felt a small tingle of admiration when she refused
to back down or cower beneath his glare.  \"You know nothing of our pride!\"

\"The pride of running people\'s lives from the shadows?\" Yuya hurled back.
 

\"The pride of being the most powerful clan of warriors in the world,\" Shinrie
stated.

\"So you think that power gives you the right to toy with people\'s lives like
they mean nothing?  I\'m an independent individual, and I decide my own
course, no one else!\"

\"Is that why you travel with a group of killers and treat their wounds after
every battle?\" he sneered.

\"It\'s better than being a lapdog for the Mibu!\" Yuya shot back, and Shinrei\'s
left eyebrow twitched as his own temper rose.

\"At least I don\'t have some half-assed desire to protect a man who\'s heart
feels nothing but the thrill of killing,\" Shinrei stated coldly.

\"Why you,\" Yuya snarled, and swung an enraged fist at his head.  Shinrei
caught the appendage easily, and quickly caught the other hand as well. 
Yuya struggled against his hold, and he quickly moved to shove her against
the wall in an effort to contain her.  She glared up at him, her eyes
snapping green sparks as she panted angrily through her lips.  She showed
no signs of fear as she continued to strain against her bonds, even though
it was obvious that he had her easily subdued.

\"You bastard,\" she grated, twisting her hands futilely against his hands. 
\"Kyo\'s so much more than the mindless killing machine you Mibu have painted
him to be!  He may call those of us that travel with him his servants,
but we\'re all his friends and comrades.  He\'ll never admit it, but he
looks out for us, and he always made it apparent that we travel with him
of our own free will, well aware of the danger that we put ourselves in. 
Do you honestly think that Bontenmaru, Akira, Benitora, Sasuke, and myself
would be willing to walk into this place for someone we didn\'t care about? 
God, you\'re all so blind with your own power that you can\'t see the corruption
that Muramasa-sama saw, and that he entrusted Kyo to correct!\"

During her tirade, Yuya had thrust her chin out towards Shinrei in a show
of defiance, and her words became less audible to him as he focused on that
aspect of her anatomy that had fascinated him the first time he saw her. 
Her lips were full and lush, and he found himself suddenly wondering if they
were still as soft and warm now as they had been when he sent his water dragon
into her body to wrap around her heart.  Giving in, Yuya\'s tirade was
effectively silenced as he ducked his head and placed a hard kiss on her
mouth.

Shock froze her body, and she managed to squeak, \"What,\" before he kissed
her again, this time sliding his lips over hers in a sensual caress that
made her suck in her breath with shock.  He was close enough now that
her scent was starting to go to his head; a mixture of wildflowers, grass,
and that uniquely faint perfume that was pure Yuya, and he found his body
roaring to life as he began to crave more.

\"I . . .,\" again she was silenced as Shinrei settled his mouth firmly on
hers.

Shinrei delighted in the soft feel of her lips under his, and it was turning
out to be a very effective way of keeping her from blowing her top. 
He felt her flex her caged hands, and he maneuvered a bit so that both her
wrists were held against the wall by one of his hands, and he moved his free
hand down to stroke the side of her face with his fingertips.  He felt
her stiffen as he moved his lips against hers and brushed the seam of her
lips with his tongue.  At first, she didn\'t respond, so he brushed against
her again.  Her body seemed to suddenly relax as she let out her breath
with a sigh and opened to him.  Taking advantage, Shinrei slid his tongue
inside to claim her mouth.

This wasn\'t like the last time he had kissed her, when he had driven his
tongue into her mouth, forcing it past her teeth as he pried her jaw open
in order to send his water dragon into her body.  That time he had been
forceful and dominating, but this was a slow, sensuous slide of wet velvet
against wet velvet, light brushings giving away to deeper, harder rubbing
as he worked to coax Yuya into responding.

He fought to hold back a growl of triumph when he felt her brush tentatively
against him, and with gentle patience, he taught her how to mimic his movements
until he achieved his goal of coaxing her into an erotic dance that centered
on their fused mouths.

After a few moments, Shinrei lifted his mouth and ran a series of soft kisses
across her cheek to the area where her jaw met her neck.  He bit down
gently on the junction, then carefully took her earlobe in his mouth and
suckled gently.  Yuya made a soft squeaking noise, and tilted her head
back, giving access to her throat for his hungry lips.  He moved his
mouth slowly down her neck, stopping to scrap his teeth lightly across the
place where her pulse pounded beneath his lips.  He smiled slightly
against her neck before pulling back to gaze into her face.

Yuya\'s cheeks were flushed a faint pink and her eyes were closed.  She
drew in a deep breath a lifted her lids when he brushed his hand gently against
her cheek, reveling in the softness of her skin.  Her emerald eyes were
heavy with the passion that he had sparked inside her, but there was something
else visible for him to see, as well.  Confusion and denial were warring
against the passion, and he didn\'t have to think twice about the cause of
those emotions.  Yuya was extremely loyal, and her affections were firmly
with the red-eyed samurai that had come to destroy everything Shinrei knew. 
However, at this moment, Shinrei was the one who was in control, and he was
the one who was inspiring passion inside the blond bounty huntress. 
She may be fighting it, but she wanted him, and he was going to make her
scream before it was over.

Shinrei narrowed his eyes slightly at her, and then smiled.  Stretching
out with his powers, he pulled a tendril of water from the air, and wrapped
it around Yuya\'s wrists.  He then sent the tendril to the roof of the
building, where it wrapped around one of the exposed beams.  Concentrating,
he caused the water to take on the semblance of solidity, transforming it
into a shimmering, nearly transparent rope that allowed for some movement,
but not much.  Shinrei quickly moved the hand that had been occupied
with binding her wrists to the back of her head, and in a swift movement
that had Yuya gasping in surprise, jerked the ribbon from her hair, causing
it to spill over her shoulders in a shower of gold.

He plunged his hands into her hair, fascinated by the silky feel as he ran
his fingers through it.  Yuya\'s eyes had closed and she tilted her head
into his hands, apparently finding his ministrations relaxing.  Shinrei
smiled as he continued to stroke her hair with one hand and lightly ran his
fingertips over her face with the other.  Her breath brushed against
his calloused fingers as he softly touched her lips before he continued his
downward exploration.  He gently stroked her neck, then slipped his
hand under the edge of her kimono as he traced the shape of her collarbone,
stopping for a few moments to rub his thumb in the gentle hollow at the base
of her throat.  

He leaned forward and placed a quick series of open-mouthed kisses on her
mouth and alongside her cheekbone, flicking his tongue lightly against her,
enjoying the light taste of her skin.  Yuya moaned, the sound coming
out guttural as if she had been trying to hold it back, and he smiled as
he slid his hand inside her kimono and cupped her breast.  Yuya\'s reaction
was instant as she sucked in her breath and tried to jerk away from him,
her momentum causing her to swing a bit in his bindings.  She jerked
her head to the side and opened her mouth as she lunged forward with one
of her legs with the full intention of kicking Shinrei where it would hurt
the most.  Having expected such a move, Shinrei quickly blocked with
his own legs as he brought his mouth back down onto hers while he gripped
the back of her head with his unoccupied hand in order to keep her from jerking
away from him again.  He used his weight to pin her against the wall
as he slanted his mouth over hers again and again, his tongue plundering
her depths as he gently kneaded and stroked her breast.  He knew she
could feel his hardness against her, and her attempts to move away from him
was driving his desire up another notch, but he concentrated on pushing it
aside while he worked to stroke her passion again.

He could feel her body reacting to his touch as she began to once again respond
to his kiss, and he gently began to brush her nipple with his thumb, smiling
slightly when he felt it harden under his touch.  Yuya gasped and tore
her mouth from his, her body arching back and bringing her breast into fuller
contact with his hand.  Shinrei continued to play with her nipple, interweaving
light pinching with the gentler caress, and buried his mouth in the junction
of her neck, scraping his teeth across the sensitive area where it connected
with her shoulder as he plunged his other hand into her kimono so her other
breast received the same attention as its mate.

Yuya moaned again as her breathing grew harsher, and he could feel her shoulder
muscles bunching under his mouth as she pulled against his binding. 
He continued to nibble on her shoulder as he removed his hands from her chest
and slid them around her waist to begin working on undoing the knot in her
obi.  As he worked on the silk garment, he moved his head back and gazed
down at her face.  She was flushed, and her eyes were dark and heavy
lidded with passion, no trace of her earlier fight with her conscious evident. 
Unable to resist, he kissed her passion-swollen mouth, then bit down on her
lower lip.  He nearly groaned himself when he felt the tip of her tongue
touch his mouth, and he opened up and allowed her inside, feeling his own
knees grow slightly weak as she kissed him with all the passion that was
always just beneath the surface, waiting to be released.  He groaned
in satisfaction as he finally felt her obi give way to his pulling hands,
and he moved his body away from hers slightly so he could unwind it from
around her waist.

He casually dropped her obi on the ground once he finished pulling the cloth
free, and he gently parted the folds of her kimono, baring as much of her
as he could to his hungry eyes.  Yuya whimpered, but was prevented from
covering her breasts by his bindings, and Shinrei gazed at her full breasts
as they rose and fell with her harsh breathing.  His eyes traveled lower,
taking in her trim waist, flared hips, and smooth, unblemished skin, but
was prevented from seeing all of her by her fundoshi.  His eyes
rose and met hers, and he was startled to find that she was blushing to the
point that even the tops of her breasts were dyed faintly pink.  Moving
forward, and ignoring the way the sight of her body had caused his erection
to become almost painful with the need to plunge into her, he lightly kissed
her mouth then slid his lips along her cheek until they were next to her
ear.

\"Beautiful,\" he said, so softly that if it hasn\'t been for her quick intake
of breath, he would have figured she hadn\'t heard him.

He once again picked up his seductive dance, moving his lips along her jaw
line in a series of feather light kisses that continued down her neck and
across her collarbone, pausing to lightly scrape his teeth over the slight
bump near the center of her throat.  He then moved downward, placing
gentle biting kisses on the flesh just above her breast, before he slid his
lips further downward.  Yuya was straining towards him now, wordlessly
pleading for something she didn\'t quite understand yet.  He gently bit
the flesh of her breast, then gave in and began to lightly tongue her nipple. 
Her breath escaped her lungs in a high-pitched squeak as his tongue circled
her areola, and her back arched.  He slid his right arm around her waist
and helped support her while his left hand began to fondle her other breast
while he continued his light teasing of her nipple.  Shinrei finally
gave in and began to suckle while Yuya let out a moan that turned into a
gasp of pleasure when he suddenly nipped her nipple once, twice.  He
then lightly bit down and tongued the tip rapidly, causing her to writhe
against the wall and his bindings as her harsh gasps, punctuated by low moans,
filled the air between them.

\"Shinrei . . . ,\" she moaned, surprising him so that he stopped his ministrations
and glanced up at her.  Her head was thrown back and her golden hair
streamed down around her shoulders as her chest rose and fell with each harsh
breath.  She rolled her head to the side and looked down at him, her
passion heavy eyes glittering at him from beneath lowered lids.  They
stared at each other for a few heartbeats, him a hairsbreadth from her exposed
breast, she looking down on him from her bound place above him.  Then
she smiled at him, a slow, sensual curve of her lips that caused his stomach
to dissolve in a wave of heat as his heart made an uncomfortable lurch inside
his chest.  It felt as if something inside of him had shifted, and his
want changed to need.  He needed her, her passion, her loyalty,
her desire, her warmth; it all added up to equal Yuya, and
just her presence felt like it was filling a void he hadn\'t been aware of
inside of him.

He groaned and returned his attentions to her breast, wanting her, needing
her, but he couldn\'t take her.  Not yet, not when she wasn\'t ready. 
He knew that no one before him had touched her in such a way, and he was
determined, now more than ever before, to have her so far gone in her passion
that his claiming of her would be less traumatic than if he took her now.

Therefore, he kept his desire in check as he ran his hands over Yuya\'s body,
taking delight in the feel of the way her muscles quivered under his touch. 
He gently kneaded the muscles in her shoulders, then began to move his hands
downwards.  He continued to nip her left breast and gently flicked the
peak of her right with his fingers before he slid his palm down over her
stomach, feeling her muscles jump beneath his fingers.  As his hand
continued its downward journey, he slid his mouth up and decorated her skin
with damp patterns from his tongue.

He slid his fingers across the top of her fundoshi and brought his
mouth to hers once again.  He felt her draw in a surprised breath and
slanted his mouth over hers, taking advantage and plunged his tongue into
her mouth at the same time he plunged his hand beneath her fundoshi. 
He threaded his fingers through the small thatch of hair before slipping
his fingers lower.  Yuya\'s back stiffened as he stroked her, and Shinrei
let out a harsh groan when he felt her damp heat against his fingers. 
Yuya rose up onto her toes as he played her with his fingers, parting her
folds in order to tease her opening with the tip of his middle finger before
dragging it up to rub against the small bud there.

Yuya squeaked, pulling away from his mouth as her back arched, thrusting
her hips forward into his hand.  Shinrei didn\'t let up his movements
as he kept stroking her, flicking his fingers over that small bundle of nerves
while he reached behind her and began to work on removing her fundoshi. 
He pulled back when he finished removing the cloth and watched her face,
noting her flushed cheeks and red, kiss swollen lips and felt an unexpected
surge of satisfaction and possession.  

He continued to watch her face as his fingers stroked, teased and caressed
her.  Yuya bit her lower lip and Shinrei gave her a quick kiss, sucking
her abused lip into his mouth and lightly running his tongue over it.

\"I . . ,\" Yuya began, only to break off with a gasp when Shinrei eased a
single finger into her.  Her body clenched around the invasive member,
and he buried his face in her shoulder, stifling his groan at the feel of
her.  She was so hot and wet that it took all of his will power not
to hike her legs up around his waist and plunge into her right then and there. 
However, he knew that, despite what her body was saying, she wasn\'t completely
ready to accept him yet, so he drew his finger out, then gently thrust it
back into her.  Yuya\'s hips mimicked the movement, her body shuddering
as he began to send her senses into overdrive.  

He was so focused on his task that he jumped slightly when he felt her lips
brush his ear before her teeth closed down gently on the lobe.  The
feel of her teeth sent a shiver of pleasure racing down his spine, and he
groaned into her neck.

\"I want to touch you.\"  Her voice was so soft that if her lips hadn\'t
been right next to his ear, he would have missed them.  He drew back
and looked at her, meeting those brilliant green eyes head on as she gazed
back at him.  He didn\'t see any defiance or determination to kick his
ass in her gaze; rather, all he saw was the hazy smoke of desire.  He
slowly added another finger inside her, and her eyes widened before they
closed and her head fell back.  \"Please,\" she rasped out, her voice
between a whisper and a moan.

Shinrei hesitated for a moment, then slid his hands up her body, enjoying
the feel of her toned muscles under her smooth skin.  He paused and
massaged her breasts for a moment, eliciting another moan from the girl,
then continued until his hands rested on her shoulders.  He slipped
his fingers under the edges of her kimono, and shifted his concentration
slightly in order to release the water rope back into the air.  Yuya
brought her arms down with a soft sigh, and Shinrei slid the silky fabric
off her shoulders where it fell to the ground in a colorful puddle of silk.

Her passion-dazed eyes met his, and she reached out with both hands to lightly
touch his cheeks.  Shinrei found his eyes closing under the sensations
Yuya\'s light touch was rising in him.  Her fingertips skated over his
face, one hand smoothing over his lips as the other reached up to stroke
his hair.  Every nerve in his body seemed to be springing to life as
she left a faint sensation of cold fire in her fingertip\'s wake.

She lingered on his lips and one of his hands came up to capture her wrist,
his fingers easily encircling the fragile appendage.  Opening his eyes,
he slid two of her fingers into his mouth, watching as her jaw dropped while
her eyes widened when he began to lightly nibble on her fingers, sliding
them further into his mouth so he could swirl his tongue around them.

After a few moments she pulled her hand from his and reached around his neck. 
He felt a light tug and blinked in surprise when his hair came free of its
binding.

\"It\'s only fair,\" she smiled at him, then reached for the hidden fastenings
in his Chinese style tunic.

She had the top open after a few tugs, and she slid her hands inside to flatten
against the planes of his chest.  Shinrei was barely able to suppress
a groan as she slid her palms up his chest to his shoulders and down his
arms.  She then returned her hands to his chest, her green eyes taking
in every ridge and plane bared to them.  Her fingertips danced lightly
over the barely healed scars Muramasa\'s Mizuchi had left on his body, then
she scraped her fingernails down the muscles of his abdomen, causing them
to jump.

Her touch was driving him out of his mind as hot and cold chills chased themselves
up and down his spine.  His hands had clenched in an effort to keep
from grabbing her and pressing her to him.  His lower body throbbed
with the need to plunge into her, but he instinctly knew that it was still
too soon for her.  Though, if she kept going the way she was then .
. .

Shinrei\'s thoughts broke off when Yuya\'s warm lips closed over one of his
flat nipples, and before he could stop himself he had reached out and dragged
her to him, groaning when he felt her breasts flatten against his chest as
he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the juncture of her
neck.  He felt her stiffen slightly when his hardness came into contact
with her naked body, but she didn\'t attempt to pull away.  Instead,
he felt her strong, slender arms slide around his waist as her heart pounded
in tempo against his chest.  He had no doubt that she could feel the
racing of his own pulse, and he nuzzled the skin below her ear in an effort
to reign in his emotions.

He felt Yuya sigh against him and her hands began to stroke over his back,
her touch for once more comforting instead of arousing, and he felt some
of the nervous tension leave his body.  Which surprised him, because
up until that moment he hadn\'t realized that his tenseness was coming from
more than simple desire, and he was even more surprised by the fact that
her touch had been enough to sooth the hidden apprehensions.  

He wasn\'t given a chance to explore those strange feelings because Yuya raked
her nails lightly down his back, making his muscles bunch under her touch. 
Shinrei didn\'t know if it had been deliberate or unintentional, but that
small move seemed to loosen the hold he had held on his desire.

He groaned, opened his mouth and scraped his teeth across the sensitive skin
of her shoulder, then pulled back so he could blow softly against the damp
patch, eliciting a slight whimper from the girl he held in his arms. 
He was dimly aware of Yuya\'s hands moving to remove the rest of his tunic,
and then he was clad only in his hakama and tabi.

His blood began to roar in his ears, and he glanced over Yuya\'s shoulder
to see the discarded blanket on the ground behind her.  He moved one
of his hands down her back and slipped it around her buttocks and between
her legs.  He gave a soft groan when his fingers encountered her damp
heat, and he slid them through her petals in order to touch her.  Yuya
arched her back and gave out a slight wail as her knees seemed to give out
from under her and she began to sag in his arms.  He drew away from
her slightly and gently guided her down onto the blanket, making sure that
her back was protected from the cold stone before he lowered himself beside
her.

He leaned over her and nibbled his way down her neck, lifting one hand to
gently knead and stroke her breast, distracting her from the fact that he
was removing his hakama with his free hand.  He slid his lips from her
neck to the peak of her unoccupied breast, where he again alternated between
a gentle suckling motion and light nipping while he gently teased the nipple
of her other breast with his fingers.  Yuya responded by arching up
into him while her hands slid into his hair, the pounding of her heart just
barely audible.

Shinrei sighed softly when he finally removed himself from his hakama, and
he slowly slid one of his legs between hers and settled his full length against
her.  Yuya stiffened suddenly as his hardness came into full contact
with her without a barrier between them, and he froze, wondering if he had
moved too fast for her.

Then she shifted slightly and her lower body came into contact with the muscles
of his thigh, and he shuddered at the feel of her damp heat against his skin. 
His body was screaming at him, demanding that he plunge into her, claim her,
but he continued to hold back as he placed a kiss in the center of her chest
and moved downwards.  He nipped at the soft skin of her stomach, smiling
when her muscles jumped beneath his lips.  He continued to move slowly
downwards, pausing occasionally to nip lightly at her skin, and then sooth
the slight wound with his tongue.

\"Shinrei.\"  Yuya\'s voice was barely above a whisper as her hands fisted
and then relaxed in his hair, holding his head against her skin as he kept
moving ever downwards.  He glanced at her face once, feeling another
rush of satisfaction at the flush that was upon her cheeks.  Her eyes
were closed and her neck arched slightly, spreading glorious gold silk across
the blanket.  

He reached her abdomen and kissed it softly, then moved lower, bestowing
a gentle kiss on the blond hair at the apex of her thighs.  Her fingers
twisted in his hair, and he looked up to find her staring at him, her startled
green eyes taking up most of her face.  He smiled back at her, and bent
his head again, ignoring the protesting twist of her fingers as she tried
to pull him back up her body.

\"What,\" she began, then broke off on a faint wail when he brought his mouth
into full contact with her.  Her hips convulsed against his mouth as
he dragged his tongue through her folds to the sensitive bundle of nerves
that was partially hidden by them.  He knew that he had it right when
her hips began to jerk in rhythm with his movements, and he continued to
work her into a higher frenzy by occasionally scraping his teeth against
the hidden nub, and once he took it fully into his mouth and suckled, causing
her back to arch so violently he vaguely wondered how she managed to keep
from snapping in two.  Her hands were no longer trying to push him away
but were clutching him to her, her voice a high, raw keening sound that made
his own blood rush in response.

He brought one his hands down and slowly slid two fingers inside her while
he continued to torment her with his mouth.  Moving them slowly in and
out, he established a steady rhythm that he knew was sending her over the
edge as the muscles in her legs began to give involuntary jerks, causing
her to arch up fully into his mouth.  He felt her start to tense up
and her fingers fisted fully in his hair, causing him to look up the length
of her body and he met her stunned gaze.  Then she seemed to explode
around him as her body tensed and went strangely still, her neck arching
back as a soft scream came from her mouth.  She pulsed around his fingers,
and he quickly withdrew and moved up her body until his hips were settled
between her open thighs.  

He had every intention of entering her quickly in an effort to minimize her
pain, but he froze as soon as the tip of his shaft was enveloped by her damp
warmth, and he closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her.  Slowly, slowly
he sank into her, letting out a groan as her heat surrounded him inch by
inch while her muscles stretched to accommodate him.  He suddenly butted
up against her barrier, and he stopped as he opened his eyes and stared at
her.

Her eyes were wide and fixed on his face, and to his horror a single tear
slipped out as she bit her lip.  At a loss as to how to comfort her,
and hating that he was the cause of her pain, he leaned down and gently kissed
the tear away, before moving to lightly nip at her lips.  He ran his
tongue over her lower lip, soothing the self-inflicted injury before he slanted
his head and kissed her fully on the mouth.  At first she didn\'t respond,
but then her lips softened and her tongue touched his as she began to tentatively
return his kiss.

Shinrei had to fight to keep himself under control while his body trembled
with the effort to keep his hips from surging forward as Yuya responded to
his kiss.  Breaking the kiss apart, he took a ragged breath and asked,
\"Yuya?\"  He wanted to give her the chance to back away, though he wasn\'t
too sure he could pull away from her at this point.

Her brilliant green eyes searched his face for a heart stopping moment, and
then she reached up and touched his cheek while she whispered, \"It\'s all
right.\"

He didn\'t need any further encouragement and his hips bucked forward, sending
him through her barrier, which gave with a rip that was more sensation than
sound, until he was completely enveloped by her body.  Yuya hadn\'t let
out a sound as he thrust forward, but he could feel minute trembling in both
her leg muscles and the muscles that now sheathed his shaft.

Shinrei held himself still to allow her time to adjust to the feel of him
inside her, and he met her eyes.  He felt his heart constrict almost
painfully when he saw the pain that she was trying so hard to mask. 
Another tear escaped her eye and rolled down her skin, where it vanished
in her hair, leaving a small, silvery trail in its wake.  Shinrei leaned
his face down and rested his forehead against hers as he struggled with the
need to move inside her body, and the desire to give her time to recover
from his invasion.

Seconds dragged by as Shinrei concentrated on just breathing, and then Yuya\'s
arms curved around his back and her fingers dug lightly into the muscles
that bunched there.  Shinrei\'s hips shifted involuntarily, and he froze
when he heard Yuya groan.  He pulled his head back and searched her
face for any signs of pain, but all he saw was a return of passion to her
face.  Experimentally, he drew his hips backwards and then thrust forward
slowly.  Yuya\'s neck arched as her fingers clenched, her low moan of
pleasure all the encouragement Shinrei needed.

Slowly, Shinrei began to move inside her, flexing his hips just enough to
cause a slight friction against her inner walls, but not enough to frighten
her with the overwhelming sensation of him thrusting into her the way he
longed to; wild, abandoned, and without restraint.   

He continued with his gentle ministrations, drawing further out of her body
before thrusting into her fully as her body continued to relax against him. 
He leaned down and crushed her mouth with his, his tongue slipping in and
out in mimicry of the movements of his lower body.  Yuya moaned and
arched into his lower body as her hips began to try and match the rhythm
that he set.  

Shinrei seduced her mouth as he increased his pace, drawing his hips back
and forth with short, sharp movements, heat curling in his stomach and down
his spine as Yuya\'s body clamped down on him.  He pulled his lips away
from hers, drawing a gasp from them both as they drew much needed air into
their lungs before he buried his lips at the juncture where her neck and
shoulder met.  Yuya tilted her head to the side, and he responded by
nipping the sensitive skin, causing her short nails to dig into the muscles
of his back as her fingers clenched.  That slight pain was enough to
snap the final ragged thread that had held his control together.

He reared back onto his elbows so that he had more leverage and began to
thrust his hips at a faster pace, sharp mewling gasps emerging from Yuya\'s
mouth every time his pelvis hit hers with a sound of damp flesh striking
damp flesh.  Keeping up his almost frantic pace, Shinrei shifted his
weight to his left elbow and braced himself above her.  He slid his
right hand down her side and grasped her thigh, gritting his teeth as his
calloused palms rasped lightly against her smooth skin.

Maneuvering his hand further down her leg, he gripped her knee and 
lifted her leg, groaning when she caught on to what he wanted and lifted
both of her ankles in order to hook them around his waist.  This shifted
her pelvis just enough to enable him to sheath himself in her to the hilt,
bringing a gasp of pleasure from her and a harsh groan from him.  Yuya\'s
heels dug into his backside as she tightened her legs around him, and he
slid his hand up her arm to her hand, entwined their fingers together and
bore her hand to rest on their makeshift futon just above her head.

His hips were nearly a blur of movement now and he ducked his head down as
he felt the rising tension within Yuya\'s body.  Sweat dripped off the
end of his nose onto Yuya\'s face, and her knees were starting to slide a
bit against his body due to their combined perspiration.  Shinrei released
Yuya\'s hand and reached between their bodies to touch her, stroking her folds
as his length continued to slide in and out of her passageway before he moved
higher and flicked the bundle of nerves that was located at her center.

Yuya came apart underneath him, her body arching backwards so violently that
if she hadn\'t been holding onto him with her legs he might have actually
been thrown off her body.  Her bowed throat convulsed as her vocal cords
emitted a harsh cry and her body began to throb around him.  She remained
suspended for brief moment, muscles quivering, before collapsing beneath
him in a seemingly boneless heap, her body still giving an occasional muscle
twitch of satisfaction.

Shinrei ground his teeth as he continued his pace, his own release rushing
towards him.  He felt Yuya\'s arms curve around his chest as she clutched
him to her, and he opened his clenched eyes to gaze down into her face, her
skin rosy from their exertions and her eyes dark and dreamy from shared passion. 
He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss just as his own release crashed
down over his head.




Shinrei was jerked awake when his thrashing sent him careening off the raised
dais his futon was situated on.  His back arched as his released roared
through him, and his teeth clenched against a harsh shout.  His body
remained tense for several moments before it shuddered and relaxed.   
He pressed his face into the cold stone floor, his harsh breathing the only
sound that broke the quietness of his room.

He groaned and rolled onto his back as unbidden images from his dream rose
behind his eyes.  Why the HELL had he just dreamed about making love
to the woman who was traveling with the Mibu\'s sworn enemy?  The only
thing she meant to him was as a means to lure Onime no Kyo to his death on
Mibu lands.  He determinedly ignored the sudden sharp memory of wide
verdant eyes and warm, soft lips parted in shock beneath his own.

Shinrei pushed himself to his feet with a grunt and surveyed the tangled
covers of his futon with disgust.  A knock on his door interrupted his
brooding, and he checked himself to ensure that the evidence of the contents
of his dream remained hidden beneath his sleeping yukata before bidding the
knocker to enter.

He regarded Saisei calmly as she entered his room, his countenance giving
no hint to his thoughts as she related that Kyo and his group had been spotted
entering Mibu lands, and that the rest of the Goyousei were meeting to determine
the order in which they were going to meet the group in.  Shinrei thanked
her, and turned to gather up his clothing as Saisei left his room. 
He tossed his soiled fundoshi into a corner with a snarl, and rapidly put
on his usual attire.  He picked up the hilts of his Water Dancers, and
with a final disgusted look aimed at his futon, he slipped out of the room
and headed towards the Goyousei Meeting Room, his mind focusing on the upcoming
battle and resolutely turning away from the feeling of a soft, pliant body
against his own.




Owari!

Notes 2:  Observant manga readers will notice a certain aspect of Yuya\'s
physical appearance that I omitted to help ensure that readers know this
is Shinrei\'s dream and not reality, because he doesn\'t know about this particular
flaw.  Tell me what it is and I\'ll send you cyber cookies!

The incident with Shinrei kissing Yuya as a means to get his specialized
attack inside her body happens in volume 12 of the manga.

Muramasa hitting Shinrei with a Mizuchi attack also happens in volume 12
of the manga.

Fundoshi - Japanese underwear.  It\'s what sumo wrestlers wear,
for lack of a better explanation.

Saisei is a character who\'s introduced briefly in volume 13 of the manga
(she\'s extremely important later on).

If you really don\'t think that someone would be capable to snatching Yuya
out from under the guys noses while they argue amongst each other, just wait
until volume 14, when it actually happens.  Not by Shinrei, unfortunately,
but by someone else.  Best collective \"DOH!\" moment in the entire series.