A/N: Right! So true to my word, here is an update…though I don't know when I will be able to commence with a follow up. Of course—reviews help the rapidity of chapters to come! Hehe.
Disclaimer: If Shigure was mine, I wouldn't have to write a lustful story to pacify my coveting persona.
Like An Open Book
Ch 4: Uncharacteristic Fondness
His hand glided with skilled precision over the smooth skin of her thigh. Tohru inhaled sharply only for it to be cut off by the shiver that arched her back into his gentle and welcoming caresses. Like fire…her senses and the tingling vibrations he created were as effective and as perilous as fire.
"Tohru," he moaned into her ear. Her skin was hot to the touch and his desire to be closer to her was igniting an unbearable passion inside of his pounding chest. He wanted to take her right there in his office, and he determined with the succumbing of each sigh, whimper of painful longing that she yielded—he could very well have what he wanted.
But something halted him from tugging the dress from her eagerly disposed body. There was a nagging sensation that pricked at the back of his neck like the surge of a wasp's sting and he discovered to his dismay that the feeling was merely psychological. Something more on the lines of guilt? He wasn't sure. Shigure was unaccustomed to caring what his actions or decisions might do to others. Just the week before, on top of the same desk, he'd taken some woman he had met briefly at a bar. She had been hot; there was no disputing that…but she hadn't an inkling of innocence that this girl possessed.
He bit down on Tohru's ear lobe and was rewarded with a pitchy breath of air. He wanted so much to kiss her, to taste her lips, the treasured flavor that lay therein, to consume her until he was drunk from the aroma of strawberries. But he couldn't.
Damnit. What the hell was wrong with him? Had he gone completely soft? On the contrary, his untimely accumulation of firmness in the lower regions was quite startling…even for him. Hadn't he always been able to mentally and physically detach himself when necessary for the sake of getting a piece of ass?
Shigure pulled away hastily, nearly knocking the unsteady girl from where she was perched on his desk. He ran an inflexible hand through his hair carelessly, his eyes rotating briskly to avoid her as she struggled to right herself. Tohru breathed heavily and the sound excited his desire all the more.
Disgruntled with his cursed body, he barked, "Damnit! Why'd you come here?"
Tohru blinked. Swallowed. Her brows creased slowly, knitting into a delicately confused expression. "What?"
"Why are you here? I mean, you didn't call—and you just show up out of nowhere…wearing that," he gestured to the clinging dress, straps careening seductively from her shoulders. Tohru glanced down, and flushed as she fixed them.
There was a low growl that came from the back of his throat as his grey eyes reflected nearly black and he regarded the area behind her. Everything she does. He thought. It drives me crazy. "If you don't get out of here now…I'm going to do something that you will regret." He warned, his voice chillingly apathetic.
Tohru laughed. A harsh sound that released like an angry hand to his face. "Are you threatening me?"
He didn't answer, only moved around the desk to erase the vision of her quizzical eyes, the evidence of their fiery union still obvious in the rapid rise and fall of her chest. He placed the forgotten cigarette to his lips, lighting it quickly and peered out of his twenty-two-story window.
"You are such a coward!" She screeched, jumping down and whirling to look at him. "I can't believe you just tried to seduce me and then told me to leave!"
Shigure silently accepted the wounding effect of her gaze on his back.
"Are you on medication? I mean—is your head broken or something?" She bawled her fists up at him as she yelled.
The writer spun around. "I am doing you a favor." He admonished with a crooked smile.
"A favor?" Tohru challenged. "There you go again. I'm not a child. I don't need saving, and I can take care of myself…especially against the likes of an egocentric womanizer like you."
His eyes closed in an attempt to right his aggravation, and he fastened them on her again with careful indifference. "You ARE a child." He announced severely. "And you wouldn't stand a chance against me. Not even if your life depended on it."
Tohru moved so quickly, he was caught off guard at first. She stood in front of him, her eyes glinting, and her hand flying.
Shigure caught her wrist just barely before it connected with his face. He stared at her with an ambiguous countenance, initiating a series of unspoken questions that lay stagnant in her chest.
And then he elicited another gesture that had a hazardous effect. Still grasping the hand, he raised and lowered it over his head until it rested on the back of his neck. Tohru tensed in resistance, but when he leaned down so that his lips parted an inch from her own, she felt the blood draining from her body and rushing to her face. She trembled as he clung to her waist, the masculine smell of him hitting her in an unexpected flurry.
"Is this what you want?" Shigure's tone had become sonorous and husky, his hunger now evidently struggling for deliverance. "Do you want me to take you right now?" He whispered. "Make you moan until you are so hoarse you will be unable to thank me afterwards?" His eyebrow arched when she gulped. "Tohru," he murmured, blowing softly on her neck as he did. "Do you really want me to be the best you've ever had only to never speak to you again?"
Tohru peered at him in surprise, all thoughts of combative words ridden from her mouth. The alarming pace of her heart began to hurt and she pulled away from him in an effort to resume a normal pattern of breathing. The reality smacked her then with merciless candor, and she was suddenly overcome with shame. Would she have so easily given herself to him? Tohru suspected that she wouldn't have been so rash—but there was no doubt that she had wanted to. Suddenly, she was suffocated. The air was stale, stifling and she nearly tripped over the corner of the desk in a clamber to get out of the office…to get away from him.
"Wait a second," she heard him snap from behind her, but she hurled herself toward the door, turning the knob with the intent to leave.
Shigure used both hands to slam the door shut, an arm on either side of her trembling body. He spun her around forcefully and Tohru nearly shrieked at the dangerous look in his eyes.
He's so strong.
"I…apologize." He said gruffly.
Her voice shook. "Please—spare the pleasantries. Just let me lea—"
But she was cut off as his lips lowered toward hers. Tohru promptly turned her head to dodge the onset of yet another ravishment, and when he halted—there came the sound and caress of his warm breath, softly grazing her cheek.
"I shouldn't have come here," she said.
"Why didn't you call me back?" He demanded stridently.
She glared at him. "I'm not one of your whores, Shigure. I don't come when I am beckoned."
He watched her, an ominous expression. His lips had grown taut and the mask of complacent indifference was gone.
What is he thinking? Tohru was irritated to gather she had not been able to read any of his fleeting mood swings as of yet.
"I want to kiss you," he said matter-of-factly, startling her from her thoughts.
"Wha—?"
"Don't you want to kiss me?"
Tohru flushed, evading his gaze and the enticing undertone of his voice. The heat had resumed its crawl up her neck.
"Will you let me?"
She was afraid to open her mouth for fear of what might emerge. Instead she surrendered to unvoiced thoughts, her lids fluttering as her gaze shifted from his. But it was clear that he was not in a temperament to be denied and the waft of his cologne entered her senses with tempting proposal as he leaned, once more, to claim her lips. She felt the heat of his skin while he drew nearer and her eyes hesitantly shifted closed to accept his offering.
A buzzing sound filled the room at that moment.
Shigure froze, and the haziness that surrounded the feverish glare in his eyes slowly disappeared as realization hit. It was his cell phone.
"Shit." He looked at her. "I have a lunch date."
Tohru blanched, her expression twisting into a disapproving scowl. "Date?"
Shigure administered a sultry grin. "We'll just have to save this for dessert."
-
Hatori stared crassly at the woman, or rather—child, sitting across from him. What was his brother thinking? It appeared that they just kept getting younger and younger—although he was relieved to see that this one possessed at least a reasonable amount of intelligence. Also, her dress, though slightly revealing, was modest enough and so were the eyes that beheld him warmly as she courteously bowed to him.
Shigure was blatantly amused by Hatori's discomfort. "Where is Aya?" He asked innocently.
"I wouldn't know," was the curt response.
Tohru stood apprehensively. "Um—please excuse me for a moment. I'm—just—going to wash my hands."
The writer slanted toward her suggestively. "Would you like some assistance?"
Tohru frowned with embarrassment and could not hide the scolding as she inflected a vigorous, "No!"
The two men watched her leave. Hatori's concern was moderately alleviated at the girl's sensible response to his brother's perversion. At least she didn't encourage him. When Tohru was out of earshot, he sent him a seething glance. "How old is she?"
"Nearly twenty-two." He defended.
"When are you going to grow up?"
"When are you going to stop asking me that?"
Hatori groaned and was about to provide a distasteful reply when a voice filled the room, detonating as though it were accompanied by a microphone. "Ha'ri! Gure! So glad you waited for me to order!"
The two men peered up silently at their friend as he hustled over to them, catching nearly all the eyes of both men and women in the restaurant. It was a renowned fact that their best friend, Ayame, was indeed beautiful…for a man.
Shigure eagerly stood to wrap him in an affectionate embrace. "Darling Aya—my eyes are never granted so much pleasure as when they set gazes upon you!"
"Oh Gure! You rascal—stop! You know what your flattery does to me…but, alas, we mustn't in front of the children." Ayame glanced down at a toddler who was chewing on his finger, his solemn eyes fixed on them.
"Well—as I always say…educate them young!" The writer patted the child's head only to pull away quickly and slip into his seat at the scathing look educed by his mother.
Hatori hid his face in desperate need of coffee. Sometimes he really did miss his cigarettes.
Ayame fell into Shigure's lap with a rampant chuckle. "I can see our presence is as well received as always!" He encircled his arms around the novelist's neck and tilted his face up to him eagerly. "So—tell me about this new girl…what's she like?"
However, before an answer was given, the sound of one's throat being cleared interrupted the three gentlemen and they turned curious stares to see a blushing Tohru. She was watching Shigure and Ayame with a somewhat disturbed expression. But when the man with pale hair and startling yellow eyes shifted his quizzical gaze to study her, she realized his gender immediately and felt foolish. I could have sworn he was a woman. She thought. And why am I acting so jealous? That stupid, fool doesn't even belong to me.
She seated herself, unsure of how to take the newcomer and was slightly mortified to find that his attractiveness caused her to feel somewhat speechless.
A waiter came and everyone ordered tea, except for Hatori, who asked for black coffee.
Tohru attempted to relax in her seat, but was anxious under the golden-flecked eyes of the Shigure's handsome friend.
"Tohru is it?" His voice was as fluid as his refined manners. "Tell me about yourself. I must say that I am quite surprised. You are a bit different than the girls Gure usually brings home," he said nudging the novelist gaily with his elbow.
Tohru blushed.
Shigure coughed. "Aya…that might not be a good topi—"
"We aren't dating," she cut him off.
Hatori's eyebrow lifted as he leaned forward. "Did you say—?"
"We are not dating," she repeated. "Please excuse me if this comes across as rude, but Shigure is not the kind of person I would waste my time on."
Ayame released an infectious giggle of bewilderment and slapped the table with his hand. "Well—would you look at that, Ha'ri? Gure has found himself a gem as feisty as he is."
Hatori was not laughing, but there was a detection of hilarity that registered in his dark eyes. "She's right." He said quietly. "He is a waste of time, and anyhow—wouldn't you agree that she is too good for him, Ayame?"
The high pitched laughter came again, proof that Ayame was deliberately enjoying the unexpected turn of events.
Shigure sat back in his chair, a disgruntled expression on his pale face. "Uh—you know. I am sitting right here."
"Tohru?"
The voice came from someone not seated at the table, and four heads turned upward to receive the person seeking the girl's attention.
Tohru gasped. "Kyou?" Immediately, she stood and rushed over to the young man with strikingly orange hair. "Kyou—it's so good to see you!" She enclosed her arms around him in what appeared to be a familiar gesture, only to pull him away just a quickly to take a look at him.
The boy blushed at her forwardness and awkwardly glanced at the gentlemen who cast questioning eyes at him.
Tohru turned to them apologetically. "Oh! Forgive me—this is Kyou! We dated throughout high school and for most of college." She explained. She looked back at him, obviously pleased to see him.
Silently, Shigure shifted in his chair, a muscle twitching above his eye. Ayame noticed his expression without delay and suppressed a smile.
"This boy is a much more suitable match for you." Hatori spoke up, evidently trying to berate his brother.
Kyou caught the sarcasm and took that moment to study the three men closely. "Who are your…friends, Tohru?" He could not hide the suspicion from his tone at her having lunch with three older men.
"Oh! Well, we are all new acquaintances," she laughed.
Shigure observed her cheerful countenance with irritation. She had never carried on with such a bubbly air in his presence.
Tohru stepped closer to the table. "This is Ayame," She gestured toward him, relieved that she had picked up his name in their earlier conversation.
Ayame stood exuberantly and without preamble, pulled the startled boy into a hug as affectionate as Tohru had done. "Oh! No wonder you kept him to yourself for so long, dear Tohru. He's positively scrumptious!" He intoned.
Kyou struggled from Ayame's clutches, shooting Tohru a dubious glance. Who the hell is this guy?
She opened her mouth to speak but Ayame beat her to it. "I am a friend of a friend and only just met Tohru today…but I have a feeling we are going to be steadfast friends," he beamed, confident with his conviction.
Kyou looked doubtful.
"And this is Hatori Sohma," Tohru moved on, relieved when Ayame took his seat again. Hatori grunted in response. "Hatori is…"
"…A doctor," he provided when she faltered.
"Right. A doctor." With hesitation, she peered at Shigure, who now watched her impassively. "And…this is Hatori's brother, Shigure Sohma." Her voice had dropped cautiously. "He's…uh….um…."
"I'm her employer…" he said coolly. Shigure's eyes fastened on her then, and she found it difficult to challenge his statement as well as impossible to tear away from his gaze. She settled on a short nod, but Kyou vigilantly caught the exchange between the two much to his displeasure.
"Hmph. Well—uh, Tohru. It's been a while. Do you think we could catch up—maybe take a walk?" Kyou requested, his eyes never leaving Shigure.
"S—sure." She said, gathering her purse. "Uh—I'll be back in a bit. Order without me. I'm not very hungry." Why can't I look him in the eye?
Following Kyou, she left the restaurant and entered the humid air, welcoming the change of scenery. But before she could relax her muscles, her wrist was captured in Kyou's hand roughly. "What was that back there?" he accused.
"Huh?" She feigned innocence.
"That guy…Shigu—whatever. Are you sleeping with him?"
"What!" Tohru's mood turned sour. "Are you crazy? No!"
"Well it sure as hell looked like that to me—the way he watched you…and how you blushed and stammered. I'm not an idiot, Tohru. I know you better than you do yourself."
Tohru swallowed. He was right. Kyou did know her very well, even more than she gave him credit for.
She shut her eyes, despising the resurfacing of guilt that afflicted her still. Tohru's feelings for him were complex and occasionally she regretted her ultimate decision to break up with him. It seemed like such a long time ago…her mother dying in the car accident during her third year of college. What followed after was nothing short of depressing. She became unresponsive to virtually everything until she ignored her life completely. She almost had to drop out of school; she lost her part time job—and with it, the will to care about anything and everyone. Saki and Kyou had been perfect friends, but she pushed them away…Kyou more harshly than Saki—until they broke up. It was her verdict, and although Kyou gave in, he had made it clear that it was not what he wanted. And for several months after, he reiterated how much he cared for her—but Tohru had been determined to move on with her life alone…without her mother. A relationship would have only complicated things further.
She hadn't dated anyone seriously since; there was no denying that it was much easier to distance herself.
"After all, it's merely a defense mechanism." Tohru's stomach contracted as she remembered Shigure's words. "A mechanism that steers you away from the dangers of men when you are uncertain if you can keep away on strength of character alone."
"Tohru—is everything okay?" Kyou asked cautiously. "You look pale."
"I'm fine," she snapped at little more harshly than she intended. Why does he keep popping up in my thoughts? It's so irritating!
Kyou's face reddened. "Well fine then! See if I care who the hell you spend your time with! That lousy pervert prob—"
"Stop worrying. We are not together—and he is not even really my employer yet. I lost my job at the bookstore so I might work for him until I find something suitable." She reasoned.
This did nothing to calm his temper. "Are you kidding me? After the way he looked at you? That's insane!"
She groaned. "What do you mean by that? You keep mentioning the way he looked at me."
"It was possessive. He likes you, stupid!" Kyou spat.
Tohru rolled her eyes and snorted. "He just wants to do crude things with me."
"You are so clueless! I can't believe how dense you are sometimes. Does Hanajima know about him?" He asked quickly.
"She is the one responsible for us meeting in the first place."
He frowned. "Why am I not surprised? Just stay away from him, will ya?"
Tohru laughed. "He's not dangerous…and besides I need a job."
Kyou stared at her unblinkingly until he threw up his hands in exasperation.
From the doorway of the restaurant a solitary figure watched the argument with discontent. The frown on his mouth was so very unlike the carefree livelihood he upheld on a day to day basis that he was finding his behavior increasingly tiresome. The figure turned away a second later, the weight of his mood continuing to linger in the entryway even after he retreated back to his table.
Shigure took his seat just as their meal was delivered. He fumbled with his chopsticks, his mind visibly focused on other things. Ayame watched him with adept interpretation.
There was little exchange between the men until Tohru reappeared, announcing a quick apology for her earlier exit. Ayame promptly had another menu brought despite her protests and when she had finally conceded to miso soup, he relaxed, watching her with a bemused grin.
"What?" She asked.
"Do you still care about that boy?" Ayame leaned carelessly on his hand as he waited for her to answer.
"Kyou's…well…it's complicated—" She noticed Shigure watching her closely and looked down at the table.
"You don't hate him as much as you seem to claim, you know."
Tohru glanced up quickly. "Kyou? Of course I don't hate him." She laughed awkwardly.
"I wasn't referring to your ex lover." Ayame admitted, and instead of elaborating, he concentrated on his food, delighting in the baffled expression he knew she bore.
From across the table, Hatori silently agreed; although it was the uncharacteristic fondness he read in his brother's eyes that troubled him even more...
A/N: How do you guys feel about the Kyou insert? I'm not sure if Yuki will make an appearance. I guess it depends solely on the matter of persuasion...
To come:
>Kureno is charmed by a certain antagonist of the yankee variety.
>Akito makes an astonishing entrance—but will he be a man or a woman?
>And Saki cannot be left without the pleasure of falling in love. Hmmmm…can anyone guess who will bite?
Special Thanks: Hae-jang Lee, miyabita, Dokusha-chan and lexirose for your incredibly kind reviews. If it wasn't for you guys I would feel less than inclined to continue. Thanks to everyone else who has read and/or reviewed!
LinBean