Shared Expressions

AUTHOR\'S NOTE: This is my response to Merrow\'s fic challenge, issued via Mona on the Furuba Lemon Basket ML, to turn a scene from one of the chapters of the manga into a lemon. It\'s pretty obvious, I think, to those who keep current with Furuba chapters, especially those who have gotten up to volume 11 of the tankouban. Chapter 64 *hint, hint, hint*


DISCLAIMER: I claim no ownership over Fruits Basket, its storyline, or any of its characters. That right belongs to the creators of the original anime and manga series. I\'m merely borrowing them for my own entertainment purposes from which I make no profit and I feel sorry for anyone that may think I do. But none of you should think that, right? ^_^

*~*~*~*~*~*~*











\"-kun. Momiji-kun. Momiji-kun.\"

The soft voice calling his name along with the slight shaking of his body penetrated through the darkness that held his mind in its grips as he came awake with a startled gasis his heart racing madly from the remnants of the nightmare that had been squeezing him mercilessly with its terror. But as he stared into the worried features that were looking down at him as her now still hand rested on his shoulder, he realized that the dark place where he\'d been was only a dream and that this, being here with her, was real.

But, taking in the patch of gauze protecting the fresh wound on her cheek that mirrored his own, he knew that the threat of darkness loomed in reality as well.

\"Are you all right?\" Tohru asked worriedly, keeping her voice low so as not wake Kisa who still slumbered beside Momiji. \"You seemed to be having a pretty bad nightmare.\"

Momiji forced a smile. \"I\'m fine.\"

Tohru regarded his features a moment, the worry never leaving her own. Finally, she motioned with her head towards the door to the room. Their room now as Momiji had left the quarters of the Souma villa that he\'d been grouped in previously with the other Souma males and been allowed to share the room she\'d been occupying with Kisa considering the events of the night as they both took comfort in being close to each other after their shared experience with dark head of the family.

\"Do you want to go somewhere else to talk?\" Tohru asked softly.

Staring up into her compassionate face as she leaned over him, Momiji knew she didn\'t buy his forced cheer and reassurance. And, knowing her as well as he did, he also knew that worry for him would eat at her unless they talked. Since he wouldn\'t be able to go back to sleep while knowing that she was worried about him, he gave in.

\"Okay,\" he whispered. \"Where should we go?\"

\"The living room?\" she offered. \"Everyone should be asleep in their rooms by now so we can talk freely there.\"

He nodded his assent, carefully climbing out of bed so as not to wake Kisa as he followed Tohru to the door. Upon leaving though, he couldn\'t help but take note of the bedside clock that read 2:38 and winced.

He hadn\'t been asleep for very long.

Of course, neither had Tohru.

He had the feeling that she hadn\'t rested well either which must have been why she\'d been awake enough in order to be able to drag him from the nightmare that had possessed him until her voice had rescued him.

Why was she always saving him?

Why couldn\'t he be the one to save her like he wanted to?

But rabbits, he reasoned desolately, were never meant to be princes. While cuddly and cute, they had little in the defense department even when the one he wanted to protect was someone who mattered the most. And, as he took in the sight of her, he wanted badly to be the one who could rescue her from anything she needed saving from.

Tohru sighed when they were settled on the living room couch. She smiled at Momiji with a brightness that was visible even in the dim darkness of the night-shrouded room. He couldn\'t help but feel some disbelief. How could she smile so happily after what she\'d been through?

\"Today was exciting, wasn\'t it?\" mused Tohru. \"And tomorrow we get to do fireworks. I\'m really looking forward to that - it\'ll be fun with everyone here!\"

Staring into her glowing features, Momiji felt an ache in his heart and couldn\'t help but dampen the enthusiasm she was displaying by saying what he thought needed to be said. He had choked on the words earlier when they\'d been out in the night rain and she had comforted him when it should have been the other way around. But, now, he owed at least that much to her.

\"Tohru,\" he said softly, stilling her bubbly words. As she looked at him curiously, he clasped his hands on his knees as he stared at the floor, feeling the weight of his helplessness bore down upon him as he apologized with heartfelt emotion. \"I\'m sorry.\"

At the warm hand that gently touched his own, he glanced at her to find her gazing at him with understanding. Her tone was as soothing as her touch.

\"There\'s nothing you need to apologize for,\" she told him.

He reached up, lightly touching the gauze patch on her cheek. \"Yes there is.\"

\"No.\" She said it firmly as her hand covered his as it rested on her face. \"This wasn\'t your fault.\"

\"It is,\" he insisted. \"If I had been stronger, stood up to him better than I had, tAkitAkito would never have done this to you.\"

\"You can\'t know that.\"

\"Maybe not. But that\'s how I feel.\"

\"And I appreciate that. Just as I appreciate what you did for me.\"

\"And what was that?\"

\"Akito-san. He came to see me, didn\'t he? But I saw what you did. You were trying to stop him.\"

\"But I didn\'t. I couldn\'t.\"

\"Well, that might be because I ran out when I saw the two of you. I interrupted.\"

Momiji shook his head. \"Even if you hadn\'t come out when you did, I don\'t think I could have stopped him from going to you.\"

\"Perhaps not.\" She gently squeezed his hand. \"But the important thing is that you tried. And don\'t ever, ever think that that\'s nothing because it\'s something that I\'ll never forget. I thought you were very brave.\"

\"Why? I ran away in the end.\"

\"To get help,\" Tohrupondponded immediately. \"You did something instead of nothing.\"

\"But it came too late.\" His tone was sad. \"Akito was already gone by the time I got back. I should have done something myself ind ofd of going for Shi-chan and Harii for help.\" He swallowed hard. \"Instead, I end up crying like a baby in the end.\"

Tohru sighed, leaning forward until her forehead met his. \"Tears are nothing to be ashamed of. And they were for me, weren\'t they - tears of relief that I was alright, tears of regret that you couldn\'t do more for me?\"

She felt his slight nod.

\"I figured as much. That\'s why I thought they were beautiful tears.\"

\"Beautiful?\" Puzzlement infused his tone.

\"Yes. I don\'t know that many people who have cried for me. But you did, and I was very touched.\"

\"But just crying isn\'t good enough, Tohru.\"

\"You did what you could, I know that. No,\" she said when he would have interrupted, \"listen to me, please. I can tell that you did as much as you could at the time. No one can ask for more than that. And to have you stand up as much as you did against him is more than I ever expected. What you did for me is good enough for now.\"

He was silent a moment before asking seriously, \"Someday, do you think I\'ll be able to do more?\"

\"What do you mean?\"

\"Someday, I want to be real prince. Just for you. Do you think I can?\"

Tohru smiled. \"That would be nice. But do you know what I really want?\"

\"What?\"

\"I want Momiji-kun to be Momiji-kun. That what I always like best of all.\"

He felt his heart thump faster at her softly spoken words. \"Even though I\'m weak?\"

\"Weak? I never think that when it comes to you.\"

\"You don\'t?\" he asked, surprised.

\"No.\" Her words were honest. \"Sometimes I think you\'re one of the strongest people that I know because you care so much about others and you\'re not afraid to express whatever it is you feel. Being so open about your emotions and acting upon them - that takes a lot of strength in my opinion. It\'s one of the qualities that I admire most about you.\"

\"Really?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"But, Tohru, you have that quality too.\"

She was quiet for a moment. \"I don\'t really think I do,\" she confessed softly, voice tinged with sadness. \"Sometimes, there are some things that I just can say, even to myse\"

\"

Things that Tohru couldn\'t say? Momiji wondered what those things were as the ache in her tone hinted at something she was hiding. He wished she would tell him what it was but, as she indicated that she had trouble with admitting whatever it was to herself, he didn\'t want to cause her pain by pushing the issue. Instead, he tried to comfort her.

\"I\'ll always listen to you,\" he told her. \"I want you to be able to talk about anything with me whenever you feel like it, though there not be much that I can do.\"

She laughed softly. \"It\'s a lot as it is. Thank you.\"

\"I just want to do whatever I can for you.\" His hand caressed her patched cheek. \"I want to protect you, if I can.\"

\"That\'s funny.\" The curve to her lips grew. \"I was thinking the same thing earlier.\"

He blinked. \"To protect me?\"

\"Yes.\"

He drew his head back to get a better look at her expression, his breath catching at the warm tenderness in her gaze directed towards him. tho thought it was dangerous, that gaze, because it inspired feelings that were better left buried in the recesses of his heart. But the echoes of her words lingered in his mind, taking possession of him and knocking common sense away, telling him to be himself and feel free to act on his emotions as his eyes couldn\'t seem to tear themselves away from the patch of gauze that stood out starkly in the darkness that cloaked them both.

\"Does it hurt?\" he inquired, voice low with concern.

She shook her head silently, eyes widening at the expression that crossed his face. Her eyes widened even more when he lowered his hand from her cheek, taking her own hand that still laid over his with it, and leaned in closer until he brushed a light kiss over the gauze. A blush suffused her skin as her heartbeat quickened at the kiss on her cheek, a familiar action that was made so much more intimate than usual by the darkened setting they found themselves in. Suddenly, he seemed different to her, older and more mature than the Momiji she was used to seeing - and she couldn\'t take her eyes off of him.

Momiji inhaled, taking in the delicate scent that clung to her in a mingling of strawberries, vanilla, rain, and a fragrance that was uniquely Tohru. The scent teased at him even when he drew back, catching the emotions that flickered through her wide-eyed gaze, which remained locked upon him. It caused his own emotions to rise, strengthening, making him bolder as he acted upon her words and let the quality she so admired have free reign as he allowed his feelings to take over and guide his movements.

Cupping her cheek lightly once more, he drew closer, slowly, allowing her plenty of time to protest or pull back if she so chose.

She didn\'t.

As the softness of his lips met hers, realization burst over him that no matter what he\'d read or heard from listening in on conversations between the older Jyunnishi, talk was quite different from experiencing this for himself. Oddly enough, he thought that he should have been more afraid than he was.

But he wasn\'t.

Maybe, that\'s because it was with her.

Perhaps this was wrong but the feeling of rightness that washed over him in this room that became a world for just the two of them held him in its sway, excluding all else until he could only think of kissing her.

Again.

And again.

The touch of lips and tongue that began as tentative forays turned deeper, longer, with every second that continued passing by as they lost themselves in the dancing glide of wet flesh that began urging more than just kissing.

Then she moved away before he could protest and unthinkingly settled back until she was leaning against the cushioned arm of the sofa. He pursued, also without thought, without wisdom, leaning one arm beside her to brace himself next to her body on the sofa as he bent over her, subconsciously careful not to get close in a way that would trigger an untimely transformation.

Unwilling to relinquish the sweetness of her kiss, enraptured by her taste as she was by his, but wanting more than the contact of mouth and tongue, he began to caress her. As one hand continued to brace himself, absorbing his body weight and keeping him from toppling upon her, he slid his free hand over her thinly clad body in soft, searching sweeps down her length. He savored suppleness of her flesh that he could feel beneath the cloth of her short button-down nightgown, enjoyed the round weight of her breast within his hand, and delighted most of all in the light, breathy moans drawn from her throat by him and no one else.

Passion built quietly, powerfully, until it was impossible to pull away. But, despite the urgings within him to continue, he overcame his hormones enough to pause, caring about her too much to take things too far and have her regret it later once common sense returned.

He paused as he looked down at her, thinking it was like gazing upon every sweet dream he cherished in his heart and that he\'d been suppressing for so long.

However, looking at her was a mistake, he found, as she seemed to unwittingly coax him back to her, not with words or touch but with her liquid eyes that appeared to shimmer with eloquent invitation. Though he couldn\'t be sure that what he saw in her features was truth or only the result of his fevered imaginings, his will shuddered and began to collapse along with his resolution. It caused torment to rise within him, the wanting, the shame - all twisting into a terrible knot of guilt that made him pause as he wished he could give her better as she deserved. It finally gave him the control to pull back.

\"I\'m sorry,\" he choked out.

Her gaze was questioning. \"What for?\"

\"What for?\" he repeated incredulously. \"Isn\'t that obvious? For kissing you, for pushing you, for,\" he floundered a moment before finally saying, \"everything.\"

She studied him quietly, oddly enough feeling comfortable and without embarrassment in his presence despite what they\'d been doing. Perhaps later she would have an attack of excruciating discomfort at such intimate lvemlvement but she couldn\'t muster any of it now as she took in the repentance written across his features as she wondered how, in that moment, he could seem both childlike and mature at the same time. But the still rapid beating of her heart, the flush in her cheeks, and the heat within her pooling down below whispered to her that he was definitely no child and very much a budding man who cared deeply enough about her to regret causing her discomfort and who had, just hours before, triedndinnding up for her against one of the most terrifying people she\'d ever met.

She remembered.

And she yearned.

She yearned to wipe away the uncertainty, doubt, and regret adorned on his features, yearned to satisfy the unspoken longing she sensed in him and within her, yearned for more of the sensations that he had made her feel. She let any thoughts of right or wrong, what should or shouldn\'t be, slip away as she flowed in the direction that her heart told her to take.

And that direction was him.

Guided by instinct and emotion, with one hand she gently cupped the back of his neck, experiencing a brief moment of tender amusement at his startled expression, and drew him back down, this time with her initiating the kiss. Though he was unresponsive for a short duration, the warmth and wetness of her mouth coaxed him from it until he threw himself into it just as eagerly.

With her unspoken assent lying between them, his hands moved of their own accord as they fumbled with the fastenings holding her knee-length nightgown closed until he finally slipped the last button free. Still kissing her, he slid the edges apart to either side until she lay bare but for the triangle of cloth between her legs. With no barrier of cloth to impede him, he renewed his touch on her breast and reveled in the slide of her silky flesh across his fingers as he cupped and kneaded, eliciting soft sounds from her that he enjoyed just as much.

But touch, as delightful as it was, wasn\'t enough.

He wanted to taste, too.

And so he followed his urgings as he left the lushness of her mouth, kissing a trail over the her delicate jawbone and the line of her neck and further down over the curve of her breast until he captured a pebbly nipple with his lips. He action was rewarded by low feminine moan and the pleasurable arching of her back, which succeeded in driving her deeper into his worshipping mouth.

As he suckled one breast, each tug of his lips making her hotter, its twin was paid homage to by his hand as it shaped the fullness of her, turning its peak into a hard nub of yearning with every caressing motion of his fingers. So pleasurable were the sensations he was sending through her body that, when he stopped, she wanted to cry out in protest. As it was, she couldn\'t help but give a low whimper of disappointment when he lifted up, sitting back a little as he stare penetrated hers right to the soul.

\"I want to see you.\"

Pierced by his words and the look in his eyes, she lay still. Trembling with desire and a sudden case of shyness as his gaze roved over her, taking in sight of the bare flesh he had felt but not seen from afar, she suddenly realized that he was still completely clothed. For a moment she wrestled internally with her bashful inhibition but desire won out as her voice, which came out husky, captured his attention.

\"I want to see you, too.\"

Holding her gaze with his, reading the expression in them, cause a small smile to tilt his lips in pleased embarrassment. But it faded into something more serious, intense, when her actions followed her words as, in a moment of rare boldness, she reached out. One by one, fastenings were released by her hands until she undid the last one and he shrugged off the material covering his torso and bared his flesh to her gaze.

It was nothing she hadn\'t seen before, some part of her noted at the back of her mind. But this time the situation was different and more intimate than seeing him revert back after transformation or while swimming with everyone else.

Now it was just the two of them.

Drawn by his exposed flesh, she touched him. Hesitantly at first, but with more surety and confidence when he made no motion of protest or displeasure. On the contrary, his breathing seemed to pick up just as hers had when he had touched her. And so shok pok pleasure in stroking her hand over him, enjoying the smoothness of his flesh which bore a surprising strength and firmness beneath the pale skin that she caressed.

But then, feeling the tension within him mount and some instinct telling him to move on, he stilled her stroking hands with one of his own while his other slid up her leg to her hip, stopping at one of the ties knotted into a bow that held her panties together. He let his hand rest there as he looked at her in inquiry, nervousness peeking through his gaze.

\"Can I take them off?\" His tone was hushed.

She hesitated again, unaccountably overcome with a fit of shyness.

\"It\'s okay,\" he said reassuringly to her silence as he began to draw his hand away. \"We don\'t have to.\"

But she halted him, his thoughtful words giving her courage as she herself undid the ties on either side of her hip. However, that was as far as her boldness extended as she laid her hands aside, sending him tiny smile that bespoke of her awkwardness as well as the need that rode them both.

Sucking in a breath at the clutching in the pit of his stomach as he was attacked with his own case of nerves, he slowly brushed aside the pink cloth covering her crotch as what lay beneath it was revealed to him. His temperature spiked at the vision his eyes beheld that no book or magazine could properly prepare him for the reality of. Just looking wasn\'t enough though as the scent of her arousal fueled his own and drove him onwards as he broke from his stillness to sample once again the flesh that he coveted as he bent back to her breasts. He stroked her and she trembled, he tasted her and made her arch for more.

And when he dragged his tongue across the rosy pebble that tipped that pale mound, she made as soft whimpery sound that had nothing to do with distress as she drove her fingers into his hair and clenched tight, urging him on with each moaning breath. Encouraged by the noises she was making, he continued tugging with lips and teeth, laving her soft skin generously with his tongue as he reveled in the feel of her.

She smelled good. She tasted good. So soft, so warm.

These impressions compelled him more than anything in his life to know her fully, to touch her, to please her. And because he wanted to please her so, he controlled himself as best he could despite his raging hormones as bits and pieces of conversations with a certain doctor whispered for him to hold back.

She was shivering when he lifted up, her eyes closed as he moved up to kiss her, her lips parting for him sweetly. And while he kissed her, delving into the recesses of her mouth with passion and care, he adored her with his touch, creating a quivering beneath it. His hand eased down along the contour of one thigh and her leg dropped open, falling off the edge of the sofa of its own accord as if inviting him to that heated apex, that mysterious place that he\'d read and heard about but never experience the feel of for himself.

Until now.

When he touched her there, her body shuddered. He started to withdraw but her hips lifted, pressing against his hand as if in silent plea for more so he thought perhaps it was all right. He moved his palm against her, somewhat surprised by the feeling of heat, of moisture, that he came into contact with as it glided across his skin.

With his first touch down there, her breathing had altered into funny little hitches that increased in tempo with the prolonged feel of his flesh against hers. Then he delved into the soft folds of her femininity, exploring gently, and the breath exploded from her lungs in a rush of unbearable delight only to become a quick panting. Her agitation lured him, the untried rhythmic rock of her movements instructing him in the ways that pleased her best in a manner that no book learning could cover.

It seemed that the more he learned of her, her wants and what she enjoyed, the more unfamiliar his own body became to him; so hard, so full, all taut and desperately throbbing. He didn\'t dare brush up against her, afraid that the fierce tension building within him would override his increasingly tentative control.

But Tohru had no such worry.

Other than the faint voice in her mind that reminded her to avoid embracing him, her control was gone.

Her movements expressed her desire, led by impulses and instincts that were evolving quite naturally on their own. His touch freed them and encouraged them to expand as they willed, beyond her wildest imaginings. She felt sensation build and heat pool, and she knew she was close, so close, to discovering that unknown place her body was crying for.

Then he pushed his fingers inside her.

She cried out, stiffened. She couldn\'t help it. The shock of it, the delicious thrill of it that she\'d never felt before was just too much.

And he jerked back, going completely still in worry that he\'d done something wrong.

\"No,\" she whispered, voice taut with aching need. \"Please don\'t stop. Not now!\"

Her whole being vibrated with throbbing anticipation so intense that she couldn\'t even seem to catch her breath. And then she felt his hand trail down her belly, his touch cautious then, at the sound of her whispery cry of expectation, sure and swift - as swift as her sudden eruption of response.

She gasped in surprise as hard shocks of exquisite feeling rolled through her from that one pulsing center, surging upward, outward, until every extremity was flushed and tingled with an elusive vibrancy. She clutched at the sofa, hanging on to it as she shuddered against him until the wild tremors shaking her body eased to a fitful trembling and her harsh breathing gentled. Then it was a relief to just sag back into the cushions and rest, relishing the glorious aftershocks that shivered through her system.

When the daze of pleasure lifted, she opened her eyes to find him staring down at her in wonder and something else that brought a fresh surge of heat within her. She smiled faintly and raised an unsteady hand to his cheek.

\"Oh, my,\" she whispered with a marveling euphoria. \"I had no idea.\"

Neither had he.

Experiencing it for himself, watching her as she tumbled over the edge, this was better than any dream or imagining he\'d ever had. And as he kissed her sated mouth, her warm cheeks, the fluttering of her eyelids, he suddenly felt very powerful, pleased, and also humbled.

But there was another part of him that remained unsatisfied.

\"What about you?\" she asked in hushed tone as she managed to address the subject that was bothering him.

Despite his own ache, he gave her a strained smile. \"I\'m fine.\"

\"But you didn\'t-\"

\"I don\'t have to.\" His expression gentled. \"We don\'t have to do anymore.\"

She frowned up at him, hearing the tightness in his voice that signaled that all was not well. Innocent and na•ve she might be, but she wasn\'t completely stupid and ignorant about such things thanks to friends who boldly talked to her about subjects that made her blush. She knew enough to understand that she didn\'t want it to be over until she was able to give him the same wonderful sensations that he had brought to her.

Her hand slipped down from his warm face, down the hard curve of his ribs, reaching for the band of his boxers. Eyes wide, he intercepted, curling her fingers into his palm, holding them there.

\"Tohru?\"

She smiled shyly. \"It\'s not fair if it\'s only me.\"

\"You don\'t have to if you don\'t want-\"

\"I want to,\" she interrupted him softly. \"I do. Please?\"

He couldn\'t resist he pleading and he tilted his head in assent.

A small sigh of relief escaped her before her lips curved. \"Then can I touch you?\" she asked, almost timidly. \"Like you\'ve touched me?\"

Excited, embarrassed, he couldn\'t answer with words. Instead, he took her hand, pulling it down and fitting it over the ridge within his boxers.

\"Oh, my,\" she whispered breathlessly, eyes wide.

It was torture of the worst kind as her hand began to move with a curious adoration. Eyes squeezed tight against the pleasure, his hands grasped onto the sofa in an effort to keep from reaching for her as she explored with gentle touch. Then he felt the surprising coolness of air upon hot flesh and his eyes popped wide to find her looking with amazed wonder at the flesh she\'d exposed to her gaze. The light brush of her fingertips made him moan, sending sensation burning through him like fire. But when her head began bending towards the tip of the flesh she held in her hands, he halted her.

He placed a hand on her head, stilling her. \"Stop. Please.\"

\"Why?\" Her eyes looked at him imploringly.

He swallowed hard as he replied, \"I don\'t think I can take much more.\"

\"But you\'re still-\"

\"I know. But there\'s something else I want.\" His expression turned uncertain. \"If you\'re okay with it, that is.\"

\"To be inside of me?\"

Both blushed furiously, disbelieving that she\'d said those words. But she stood by them, holding his gaze steadily despite the heat flushing her face as a different heat lower down urged her to overcome her lingering inhibitions and go after what she wanted.

And her body was clamoring for him.

She took his hand as she slowly rose from the sofa, causing him to rise with her as the bits of cloth that stubbornly clung to her fell away to pool at her feet and left her standing nude before him. Then she leaned in, kissing him in a wet tangling of tongues before she drew away.

\"This is what I want,\" she whispered.

And so saying, she let her desire guide her as her hands stroked down his sides, catching the material that still clung to his lower body and drawing them all the way down until he was as bare as she. Then, staring into her eyes gone dark with want, he followed her down to the floor, his heart kicking painfully in his chest when she splayed her legs open wide as she sent him a look of shy invitation.

\"Please,\" she begged.

He couldn\'t refuse.

She welcomed his form as he moved over her though she couldn\'t help stiffening a bit in nervousness and surprise when she felt the weight of his staff when it wedged hard and full between them. But that, too, was pleasurable and she relaxed, hips arching and urging more.

Then she was caught as he began kissing her, deeply, absorbingly, wetly, and a shudder of helpless abandon shook her. She sounded a low moan of expectation when his hand curved around the outer swell of her breast and she shifted so that his palm captured it completely while she gave herself up to his tender handling. The feelings within her were compounded as he moved atop her, rubbing against her in an insistently arousing manner that made her intensely aware of him as a male. And the knowledge was very exciting to her senses.

Her hands clutched at his upper arms, kneading them in anxious spasms as she felt him begin slowly pressing his fullness within her. She gave another low moan at the stretching sensation that she instinctively sought more of.

Then he pushed.

They were nose to nose so he immediately caught the pain that flashed across her face and he stilled, looking down into her face with worry. But as the brief moment of pain faded, she smiled reassuringly at his apprehensive dread.

\"I\'m okay.\"

\"Are you sure?\" he asked in concern as his desire abated a little.

In answer, she gave an experimental roll of her hips, causing them both to suck in their breaths sharply at the exquisite sensation that washed over them.

\"I\'m very sure,\" she panted.

He couldn\'t help but give a little chuckle, unintentionally sending vibrations racing through her core.

\"Ohhh!\" she expelled in a gusty rush, involuntarily arching for more of the tingling sensation.

Her movements had his eyes widening, triggering his own reaction as he began thrusting within her. The sweet sighs of satisfaction she made drove ecstatic shivers to his soul with each cry.

Then she reached up with an eager mouth, taking him with a wide-open, tongue-thrusting taste that expressed the intensity of blissful joy surging through her. She moved beneath him, rocking motions of hip guided by instinctual desire that stroked him with liquid fire at each sliding motion. She teased and coaxed him with every small movement until he was dazed by the strength of pleasure that gripped him. He closed his eyes, letting the fiery sensations wash over him, flooding him with shocking degrees of ecstasy he had never imagined possible.

He moaned softly, amazed at it all.

But there came a point when slow, careful tempo was no longer enough as their bodies let them know with aching demand. The sensations multiplying within them pushed at them, clamoring to be released, riding them as hips thrust with increasing speed.

She relished every second as each push and pull intensified the building rush of readiness pooling within her. She loved everything about it - the quivering tension bunching low in her belly, the restlessness that had her legs twining and stroking his, the feel of his body above hers in all of its hot maleness. Even the rough, quick sound of his breathing was a stimulant, as was the light pant of it against her neck. She turned her face to his and his mouth scattered distracted, hungry kisses all over in the dark.

Then his breathing changed drastically, becoming thick and raspy as he tucked his head into the cove of her shoulder and she, possessed by the heat he was infusing within her, drove her fingers into his hair and held him in place in as close as she could come to an embrace. Her name was torn from his throat in a low, raw-sounding groan as the tight muscles of his body began to shake from the strain.

Suddenly, he thrust extra hard, pushing over that boundary of pleasure as he came in a long, drawn-out rush that sent her over the edge as well as her body dissolved in a series of clutching tremors. Within that blinding delight that overtook her and rendered her senseless, she felt his hard rhythmic shudders pulse through her, swallowing the last of her subsiding shivers with a possessing force.

He collapsed weakly to the side, the room filled with their panting as they recovered from the aftershocks. And as their breathing slowed and the quivering of their flesh lessened, in the dark quiet of the room that surrounded them, he glanced at her with a tender gaze.

\"I love you,\" Momiji told her softly.

And Tohru smiled warmly at him as she responded with all that needed to be said for the moment, the words that crossed her lips feeling right.

\"I love you, too.\"











~ owari ~