Author's Note: Woo long hiatus... I actually had this one sitting on my hard drive for a long time and just didn't upload it. Forgive me. But I guess to celebrate April Fools' Day I have brought you this (rather wraunchy...cough) conclusion to the trilogy of one-shots I have written. Please enjoy (and a click to the button at the bottom would be nice too)!

Again, mature audiences only please.

A Future Within You

KRASH…

Please watch over your son on his journey home…

grroommm…

* * *

Long after the morning hours had passed when the eye of the storm was no longer watching, Lina stood cemented to the ground that kept her beloved husband warm. Her faded eyes peered through the shadowy veil that covered her face at the sight of her late husband's tombstone, newly engraved--a marker for the ages.

A disease had taken him—a plague that knew no cure. He and thousands like him fell ill to this merciless fate, and she was no miracle-wielding priest. She could do no more than support him in his last days of life.

KRASH…grrrrrooom…

With the thunder came drops of rain, and she heard them pelting down on top of her hat. Her fingers twitched around the umbrella she held in her hands, but she did not make use of it. It continued to hang at her side, swaying ever so slightly against her leg.

And then the thunder cried.

KRASH

"Lina-san."

Grrrooommm…

She felt his fingers pulling her hair back and stiffened. His hands were cool to the touch—refreshing after the storm of emotions had passed. She felt him twist her hair gently, then toss it lightly over her shoulder, revealing her slender, pale neck to him.

He slid his arms around her and pulled her into a gentle hug. "Did you miss me?"

She grimaced. "Hardly."

She could feel the droplets of rain landing on the back of her neck. Then her breath caught as his blew over the nape of her neck, causing all the hairs there to rise in both fear and excitement. She felt him smile, lips less than an inch from her supple skin, and she fought the urge to whirl around and punch him in the face. He'd like that, she concluded.

Then she felt the tip of his nose brushing across her neck, taking in the scent of her hair, of her perfumed skin, and then his hands were on her shoulders, massaging gently, loosening the tension built up there. She tried to focus on staying stern and unyielding, but her resilience was quickly faltering—no doubt he knew that. She could feel him chuckling through the vibrations in his fingers. He was surely enjoying this—she knew that much.

She'd nearly given herself over entirely when his voice brought her conscious swimming back up to the surface. "So Lina-san…are there still any hard feelings?" he asked in a low tone. She could see the bemused smirk on his face without ever turning around.

"Yes," she replied, though she sounded much less convincing than she had intended to be. He laughed, audibly this time, and Lina then realized that she was playing straight into his hands.

She nearly squeaked at the touch of his lips against her neck, which was already painfully sensitive from the sensations he had brought forth earlier with his fingers. When he pulled away, he asked again in a hushed whisper, "How about now?"

"Mm," she mumbled, not trusting her own voice lest it betray her. But then his fingers were at her lips, brushing lightly across them as they swiftly passed across her jawline and down her neck, stopping briefly to caress her collarbone. She bit her lip and grumbled some jumbled nonsense, eyes closing unintentionally.

Krash…

His other arm wrapped around her waist, and his body melded against hers. Her heart began to thump so loudly she could swear that he was able to hear it. Then, tactfully, he waited a moment before leaning in to her ear to whisper, "And now?"

She shuddered and gasped when his tongue ran over the curve of her ear, and in that very moment, all the heat burst out of her like a firework and coursed through the vessels of her body, channeling all the suppressed excitement to other areas that needed stimulation. She felt herself getting very hot as he licked down from her ear to the end of her neck, then kissed and nipped at the skin there. Just the way she liked it--just the way she always liked it from him, and no other.

He slipped his hand up and slid two fingers into her mouth, startling her. She muttered "Ughraghgh," through his fingers and her eyes popped open, but then they slid back down to half mast when she felt the hand around her waist beginning to massage her skin, moving skillfully up and down between her belly and her thighs. Then she moaned and spread her legs apart a little, widening her stance, providing an open invitation, knowing he would not take it—that he would continue to tease her, that he would—

And then Xelloss, defying all expectations, slid his hand into place and pressed hard against her, filling her with need. She was so shocked she fell to her knees and bent over, and he followed with her, never letting her escape from the heat of his body. Before she had time to think, she was already gasping, for he was probing quite aggressively at that tender spot in-between her legs.

Lina felt soiled—tainted—but not by the things he was doing to her. Nor was it because of her reactions; the hunger she had for him was so obvious. She felt dirty because she was doing this on top of her husband's grave—the husband she had just bid adieu to. She was doing this with his tombstone in clear view, her eyes passing over the finely chiseled print over and over again. And the worst part was that she could not deny the fact that she liked it. For as much love as she had for her husband, she had an equal amount of lust for Xelloss. No one else had ever been able to match him, and the thought never left her mind when she was in bed with another man.

There was, of course, the worry—the possibility—that someone else would see. But her reaction to that idea was somewhere beyond caring and hoping that Xelloss would have taken care of that already—whatever that meant.

Her hands pressed firmly into the freshly shoveled dirt as her back arched in response to the hand that had deftly slid beneath her skirt and panties. She could feel him—his breath passing over the curve of her neck in ragged passes. She hoped that she was making him feel that way, though it was rather egotistical of her to think so. This was Xelloss, after all.

"Lina-san…"

Her arms turned to mush at the sound of his voice whispering her name in that lustful voice; she barely managed to keep enough strength to support herself, and him on top of her, for that matter. She could feel him chuckle again as he slid his other hand down the spine of her back, probing around, testing all the spots that used to be sensitive years ago.

"This isn't fair," she muttered, though she was hardly protesting. It was nice to have a man…a mazoku who knew her body that well. His touch was unparalleled, and it would always be that way. She only wished she could do the same, if only to have a brief moment of triumph over him.

He slid a finger on up inside her, and she gasped. "You were saying?"

"Mm nevermind," she mumbled, rocking her hips in time. She thought she could feel the earth swaying along with her, and then she felt dizzy.

A familiar touch at the end of her spine reminded her that she had been lost in a passing fantasy. She mentally cursed having that spot there, but then she couldn't quite hate it because it prolonged the overall experience.

She held her breath in anticipation when he pulled his hand back to pull her bottoms down. She felt weird, knowing that her butt was fully exposed to the rest of the world, but that was a small price to pay for the service she was receiving. She heard him pull his own pants down and braced herself for what came next.

But of course, being who he was, Xelloss startled her by planting a kiss on her temple. Then he slid his hand around her chin and turned her face to him, taking her lips with his own. She nearly choked when his tongue invaded her territory.

She closed her eyes and felt him spin her body around by her waist, gently placing her down on a layer of young grass seedlings. She threw her arms around his neck, continuing to kiss him fervently, watching him through open eyes. It was unfair of him to be so gentle, and she felt the wetness spring to her eyes because of the constant reminder that this was all just a temporary illusion. Did he know that she felt most comfortable lying down like this?

A brief glance into his eyes did the trick. She confirmed her suspicions as she peered through that violet haze, digging through and attempting to salvage all the truth she could. She had a million questions: what was he thinking, what was he going to do, and why was he doing all this? There had to be some reason for his less-than-frequent visits.

But she had a hard time focusing on these questions when he penetrated her deeply first, then worked his way in again slowly, from the beginning. She gasped and moaned, body filled with sensations so old and familiar that they were almost endearing. He was always so strong in his deliverance—that is, when he decided to give it. That much hadn't changed.

As she felt herself being lifted off the ground, she predicted the touch that would send her falling back down. And it came, again and again, each time she almost came. But that was fine—she didn't want this to end.

"Xe-Xelloss!" she cried, and he hushed her. Her mind was swimming in a thick, noisy bog. She longed to be free of that prison, and yet, knew that company was not waiting for her outside.

He laughed. "If you aren't careful, the locals might hear," he warned playfully.

And then the weirdest thing happened. He suddenly dropped his head and inhaled sharply, as if overcome by a sudden surge of something. Lina didn't know what was going on, but his ear was right next to her mouth, so she lashed forward with her tongue, toying with his earlobe, and then took it into her mouth, sucking on it a bit, before sinking one of her pristine fangs into its flesh.

What occurred next happened in some sort of sonic speed blur. He suddenly lost composure and his pace quickened. It startled Lina so much that she squeaked and latched onto him, at first too shocked to feel anything. But then she felt it—those passionate thrusts sending her to the limits of ecstasy. And if that wasn't enough, he kissed her, tongue invading her mouth once more, and slid a finger down to tease that little nub above her sex.

When she climaxed, she felt herself bursting at the seams. And before she could come back down, she quickly felt herself rising up again for another one. But he wasn't done yet.

He flipped her over onto her stomach and pressed her head into the ground, grumbling as he nipped at her neck and kept the rhythm. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he nearly growled.

Her mind had barely registered the thought before an orgasm turned it to mush. She had successfully thrown a wrench into Xelloss's mastered skill of manipulation? Impossible. Almost certainly im—

She froze, eyes wide. Xelloss pulled away from her and lifted her up from the ground, tracing a line down the center of her chest with a finger. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered again in her ear.

She turned her head to him slowly. "Did you just--"

"Yes."

Her hand instinctively went to her abdomen and her throat began to tighten. How could this happen?

Lina's eyes grew wet with tears. As they began to fall, she cried out softly, "Why? Why are you here now? Why wouldn't you leave me alone?" She clenched her hands into fists in her lap. "Why!?"

His arms tightened around her, and her sobs momentarily stopped. "I would have," he answered. "If I could have. But your power is so…desirable." He licked his lips. "You see, we mazoku are not capable of returning everything to nothingness, and the ryuuzoku certainly are not going to do so."

Lina's chest grew heavy. She didn't want to hear what would come next.

"Hellmaster-sama already tried using you—and you certainly were a good candidate. But his plan fell short because we did not yet know Mother's nature."

He began to run his hand through Lina's hair, caressing her--calming her. And it worked like magic, and she was soothed like a baby. Then he continued, "So if the Giga Slave is not the solution, then we are going to need a more capable spell."

"And that's where I come in?" Lina questioned.

He shook his head. "No. Not directly, at least."

She eyed him suspiciously as his hand roamed downward, caressing her lower abdomen. And then it clicked, and he saw the knowledge come alight in her eyes, and he chuckled.

"As expected of you, Lina-san. I knew you would fulfill my expectations."