Shadow: Well, here it is, the promised redoing of His Aqua Lover. Only...this will be the only thing. I am leaving it a one-shot. I am a senior in high school with too many classes, and I have other story ideas I want to focus on. This will stand alone. So I hope you enjoy it!

Lover

Dartz always had known me better than anyone else. Even all those years ago, when I was just a naïve young boy, the man could read me like an open book. But that was okay, because I could read him just as well. Whenever Dartz was angry he would spend hours in his secret room, avoiding contact with everyone. When he was pleased he wore the smile that reminded me of the cat that ate the canary. His gold eye flashed when he was irritated, and when he was deep in thought his fingers combed through his hair slowly.

Yes, I would say I knew the man better than anyone. Of course, that hadn't always been the case. I had thought that way but it hadn't been true. I just wanted it to be true so much that I eventually believed that it was. However, I quickly learned otherwise. Those first years with the man, I was grateful. Grateful to him for giving me the strength needed to avenge my brother, the strength to eventually take on Gozuboro Kaiba and his son.

I was grateful for a home and for a distraction from my grief. Grateful for understanding from a man who seemed so kind, a man who seemed to know innately what I needed and was willing to give it. Those first years were spent in busy preparation of a coming future. Eventually the other two, Raphael and Varon, joined us. Dartz's attention never seemed to waver though. Whenever I needed him he was always right there to help. He was there as the novice duelist turned into an expert, and as the boy turned into a man.

And through all those years, I was still foolish enough to believe I knew the man. I thought all those looks sent my way when I brought back a victory, a new soul for the beast, were of pride. Thought all those touches, given just before I left on a new mission or when I was lost in memories of my brother, were done for encouragement. I thought all those private lessons were merely because I was his favorite pupil, because he knew I was stronger than the other two.

I didn't realize how wrong I was. I suppose the first warning should have come a few months before we made our move against Yugi and his friends. Raphael and Varon had gone out for their own reasons, ones I did not care to know, leaving Dartz and I alone inside the base. I didn't know where my leader was, and I was too restless to stay cooped inside. So I had walked outside to the gardens, where I had a perfect view of the sky. I didn't stargaze often, for it brought back painful memories. However, the activity was the perfect balm for my restless spirit at times like this.

I don't remember how long I stood there, just staring at the sky, before I heard footsteps approaching. I hadn't had to guess at whom they belonged to; I had known immediately. Only one person around here walked that silently.

"Such a pleasant evening," Dartz greeted me.

"Yes. If we were in a city I'm sure it wouldn't be so nice."

"Humans do manage to ruin such beautiful things, don't they Alister?" He looked at me then, and I met his gaze squarely.

"Of course, Master Dartz. They're jealous that they have no such beauty for themselves and so feel the need to destroy it."

"Such terrible creatures, humans. They are worse than animals, with their desire to taint anything pure and ruin all things beautiful. Don't you agree?" I didn't know when he had gotten so close to me, but I found myself having to look up a little to meet his gaze. There was something there I was unable to read, something that kept my eyes transfixed.

"Absolutely." His hand reached out, his fingertips gently touching my cheek with a touch so light I was barely able to feel it.

"Just as Gozuboro Kaiba tried to ruin you." I blinked, and opened my mouth to reply, when I heard Varon's distinct voice call out for our master. Before I could even get out the slightest sound he walked away.

After that night I had simply brushed it off as Dartz attempting to share his opinions with me, to open up to me in his own way. The thought made me happy and contented me, so I thought no farther. Even when I caught him staring more often, even when his hand found more contact with me, I didn't bother to rethink my hypothesis. I simply brushed it off as his concern. Raphael disagreed. I often found him sending me disapproving glances after Dartz had left the room, or after I had talked with our master. It made me angry, especially when I didn't know why he looked like that. I confronted him when I finally had enough.

I followed Raphael to his room after dinner, slamming my hand against the door so he couldn't close it on me. He turned that infamous calm gaze of his on me as I glared at him and crossed my arms.

"What the hell is your problem Raphael?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He sat on his bed, flipping through his deck as though I wasn't worth his time. I could tell he was paying attention though. It was obvious in the way his shoulders were tensed, in the way he didn't spend enough time looking at each card. Out of my two "teammates," he was the easiest to read.

"Bullshit. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Every time Master Dartz talks to me you look like you swallowed a bug. And then you look at me like I'm an idiot!"

"Do I?"

"Yes, you do, and I want to know why."

"Maybe it's because you are one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I walked inside as he looked up, putting aside all pretext of not caring. He looked angry as he stood to meet me and I have no idea why.

"It means your blind as a bat Alister. Don't you see how he's always looking at you, always touching you?"

"What of it?" I was starting to get a bad feeling.

"He wants you, you little fool." Now, I may have been sheltered but I wasn't that sheltered so I knew exactly what Raphael was talking about. And the words made me freeze.

"You're out of your mind."

"Am I? He doesn't look at Varon or me like that, Alister. It's only you. He doesn't touch us either. You're the only one he shows that attention to."

"You're wrong. He's just trying to-to encourage me. Why would someone like Master Dartz want someone like me?" His calm left him and he stared at me in shock. Well good. At least now I wasn't the only one frozen.

"'Why would-?' Are you really that blind?" And then he did something completely unexpected. He kissed me. If I was shocked before it was nothing compared to what I was like now. His lips moved harshly against mine, his hands pulling me close to his hard body. I was so stunned I couldn't do anything. But when I felt the obvious sign of his arousal against my stomach, disgust washed over me and I ripped myself away.

I hadn't stayed long enough to let him explain or make excuses. The minute I escaped his arms and lips I ran from the room and to my own, locking the door behind me. At the moment I hadn't trusted him. It wasn't like it had been the first time I'd been forced into a kiss. Many of Gozuboro's soldiers were willing to take a teenager to relieve their frustrations when they could find no one else to do so. I just hadn't expected someone I worked with, someone I trusted (however minutely) to do so.

From then on I avoided being anywhere alone with Raphael. Dartz appeared to sense my unease, for he never gave me assignments with him. I was either alone or partnered with Varon. From time to time I would see the tall blonde send hurt looks my way, but I couldn't bring myself to care. He had kissed me without my permission, without asking whether I had even wanted him to. He had broken what little trust I had in him, and for that he deserved to pay.

However, it was more than that. He needed to pay for placing doubts within my mind. For no matter how often I tried to forget his words, I could no longer content myself with thinking that Dartz meant only to encourage me. I began to see things in his gaze, feel things in his touch, that I wasn't entirely sure were there. My faith in my leader and surety in my ability to know him were shaken and it was all Raphael's fault. I wanted to hurt him. That's when I thought of the perfect way. It came to me during one of the times Dartz clasped my shoulder while Raphael was around. He had that look on his face, the one that made him look like he was in pain and disgusted. I realized then just how I could back at him for causing these doubts to surface, while at the same time investigating his claims.

From then on, whenever Dartz touched me, I would give him a small touch in return. It was nothing too much; just a small brush of my hand against his whenever he placed it on me, or the phantom slide of our bodies as we passed in a hallway, or standing just that much closer to him whenever we talked. Whenever Raphael caught me doing it, he sent me a glare that could rival Seto Kaiba's and left the room as quickly as he was able. It gave me satisfaction, to see him so worked up over such a small thing. But as I mentioned, Raphael was not my only goal. While I baited the tall blonde, I watched Dartz closely. I wanted to see how he reacted to my touches, whether he truly was affected by them or not. If he was, he never showed it, although a few times I could have sworn his eyes grew more intense, that his golden one blazed instead of burned.

This little "experiment" continued on for two months. I know, because I kept a journal of my observations like a true scientist. My parents would have been proud. In those two months, I saw nothing that could lead me to believe Raphael's claims. Dartz was as he always was; calm, cool, and collected. But as the time passed, I began noticing things about him. Like how soft his skin felt against mine, or how he didn't feel as bony as one would think (you feel a lot when you bump into someone, even if you don't touch completely). My eyes began straying to him whenever he entered a room, and they refused to leave, always trained right on him. And if he happened to looked back at me? I just held his gaze for as long as I could. At first I thought nothing of it. I shrugged it off as me taking extra care to look out for my leader's well-being.

I quickly found out how wrong I was.

The dreams started soon after I noticed my increase in attentiveness to him. Contrary to popular belief about such things, they didn't start out innocent. They were erotic and sensual, showing a level of indecency I didn't know any part of me had. And Dartz was the star was every single one of them. In the dreams, he did things to my body that had me waking up in a sweat and desperately needing the bathroom before anyone came to find me. It scared me, that I would suddenly be dreaming these things. But what scared me more was the thought that Dartz might find out and be disgusted because by then I was one hundred percent sure Raphael had been lying.

I tried my best to stop the dreams, but as I soon found out, you can't help what you dream. Or what you want. And my subconscious was telling me that I wanted Dartz with every fiber of my being. I, however, denied it. From that point on I stopped my little experiment, and stayed away from the man I was lusting after. Even if the dreams didn't stop, at least he wouldn't find out. It was hard. My body craved to feel those light touches of his, just as my eyes wanted to see the way the moonlight lit an angel-like halo around his hair. Each day I stayed away, I felt as if I would scream from the torture. I had never been away from Dartz for so long, and it was killing me. But it was for the best. If I could never have him in the way I wanted (and yes, eventually I did admit to myself that I wanted him), the least I could do was make sure I would stay with him.

I should have known Dartz wouldn't have let me go that easily, no matter the circumstances. And it seemed he really didn't want to let me go.

I made my way down the familiar halls to the room I had only entered once before, when I was first brought here, wondering the entire time what Dartz could want. He had sent me a summons after dinner, requesting that I meet him in his quarters. That alone was enough to kick my imagination into overdrive, but I refused to let the images come forth. I needed to be composed when I entered the room. When I reached it I didn't even have to knock. Before I could even raise my hand I heard a muffled "Enter". I opened the door and walked inside, ignoring the way the object seemed to slam shut behind me.

The room hadn't changed much over the years. Silk still draped the bed, and the only light came from the dozens of candles lit around the room. Beautiful, expensive tapestries hung from the walls, depicting what was to come. And in the middle of all this splendor stood Dartz, dressed in a simple white robe, devoid of all jewelry save his Orichalcos pendant. Even without it, he looked stunning. I kneeled before him, a servant to a master, waiting for him to speak.

"Alister, why have you not been around so much?"

"I don't know what you mean Master Dartz." I was glad I wasn't looking up; I did not want to see the look I was sure he was giving me.

"I'm quite sure you do Alister. You have been gone much more often as of late, and I know I haven't assigned that many missions."

"Forgive me Master Dartz. I've been feeling restless lately." That was the truth if nothing else was.

"Look at me." Slowly I raised my head, wanting to and yet dreading meeting his eyes. When I finally did, it took all my self-control not to gasp. There was that blaze again, the blaze that threatened to consume me. Oh how I wanted it to. "Why do you feel the need to lie to me?" He strode forward, kneeling down before me and yet remaining higher than me.

"I…" Those damn hands of his reached out, cupping my cheeks, burning my skin with their touch and making me want more.

"Why are you running?" Those words, spoken softly and with a hint of cruelty, were the last I heard before his lips met mine and my world narrowed to the want that lay thickly between us. I had dreamed of those lips for so long, but dreaming couldn't compare to the real thing. They were soft, demanding, and like solid fire, searing me with their touch. They dominated me, moving against mine again and again until I just wanted to scream.

I almost did, when that devilish and cunning tongue of his slipped out and forced itself inside my mouth, never giving me a moment of thought. All that came out, though, was a moan I couldn't hold in, a moan that seemed to encourage him. He stood up, his hands sliding down my face to my arms, urging me to rise with him. I did so with no hesitation, not wanting to break the contact between us. As his tongue twined around mine, enticing it to play, his hands explored my body, touching in all the places he had never been able to before. I would have returned the favor but the only coherent thought in my mind was to stand up, and to do that I had to cling to the one solid pillar I had: the man standing before me.

My lungs were burning with the need to breathe as he slowly led me to the bed, but I ignored them in favor of the more interesting need being sent to my brain from elsewhere. I gasped as Dartz pushed me onto the bed, managing to separate us for the time being. The mattress was as soft as I remembered. I glanced up at my leader, who surveyed me with the eyes of a predator. My eyes never strayed from him as he crawled on the bed, nimbly maneuvering himself between my legs. His body brushed gently over mine and I felt the solidity of his desire. The surge of want the realization (He wants me, oh god he wants me) created around us made my breath catch in my throat.

"No more running," he whispered against my ear, his breath ghosting down my neck. "You're mine now." He reached between us, his hand grasping my sex in a grip that had me screaming my pleasure.

"AH! D-Dartz!"

"Say it Alister," he breathed into my ear, his skillful fingers working my hard flesh vigorously. "Say it."

"Y-Yours," I managed to say. "I'm…AH…I'm yours."

"Good boy." I gazed up at him, those burning mismatched eyes boring into mine and I lost any sense I had left. My hands came up and tangled in his hair, pulling his head towards mine so our lips would meet. This kiss was hard, brutal, and everything I wanted. I moaned against his mouth as I opened my own, begging for more. And more he gave. His hand abandoned my cock in order to remove my pants. They were leather, and tight, something I regretted. At least, until I lifted my hips up to help him with the removal and ended up grinding our arousal's together. The growl that escaped his mouth at the contact sent a thrill through me unlike anything I had felt before, so I rolled my hips up again, throwing my head back at the feeling.

Dartz took the opportunity to attach his lips to my neck, alternating between gentle suckles and sharp nips until I wanted to scream from frustration. My blood was humming with anticipation, and the feel of his hands on my thighs (I didn't know he had removed my pants) was only driving me further and further into insanity. But I wasn't going to be the only one undressing here. As his hands worked at the ties on my shirt, my own went to work on the robe he wore. I fumbled with the sash around his waist, my nervousness making the action harder than it should have been. But I managed, and when I pulled it away I slipped my hands inside, feeling the soft skin hidden beneath the cloth.

As I explored his body with my fingertips, his lips continued teasing mine, the task made easier by my now open shirt. They wrapped around my nipple, and I arched into him; it felt so good, and his mouth was so hot, I couldn't control it. My face was flushed, I'm sure, from the feelings, but it became even more so soon enough; I found out he hadn't worn anything under the robe, so when my hands traveled lower they met bare flesh. And gods if that didn't excite me more. The feel of him, hard and hot and ready in my hand was almost enough to send me over the edge.

Everything after that were actions that all melded into one unforgettable act that I couldn't begin to describe if I wanted to. Dartz had taken me that night, roughly and heatedly. Not just once, but many times. And I let him. I'd let him do it again, if I could, even now. The feeling of him buried deep inside me, filling me completely, is one I'm not likely to forget and one I long to feel again. I long to feel his nails raking against my scalp, his teeth nibbling my lobe as he thrust in and out of my body, his hand wrapped around me as he sought to pleasure me while he took his own from my body. But I never will. I know this, as I watch from my stone prison as he duels the Pharaoh and his brat. I know it, and it is enough for me. Because I had my time with him, and it was all I wanted.

Dartz had always known me better than anyone else. Right now, during this duel of all duels, I wish I could say I know him better than anyone else thanks to our experiences. But he turns, and those mismatched eyes I love so much look at my tablet and I hear words I thought him incapable of speaking.

I love you, Alister.

It would seem that, even now, I don't know him as well as I thought.

Shadow: -grins- I'm a bitch aren't I, for not giving you a lemon? But you see, this has been sitting on my computer for a month and I wasn't in the mood to write a lemon. Deal. Please review people! And if you would like to critique it, be my guest!