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in velvet he drowns

In addition to Ichigo's first day spent in the Sexta Espada's quarters, another three were added. Thus, today marked the fourth day he'd been kept in captivity.

Each day before, Grimmjow returned late and took all he could from the boy before they went to sleep. It had become their routine. Enjoyable for one, but conflicting and disorienting for the other.

Early each morning, Grimmjow left to hunt out past the kingdom, or meet with Aizen and the other Espada, or taunt the townspeople, kick a puppy, or do whatever the other things were that he did during the day. He'd return late in the evening and bathe for a while, on occasion, and at the end of the night, he nearly devoured Ichigo with his overly dominant, sexual tendencies.

It had gotten to the point where Ichigo wasn't as bothered with being forced into sex as he'd been on his first night, but he still thought it was still a repulsive act to engage in.

After his first arousal in the bathroom, he'd slowly began coming to terms with the fact that he found the cerulean-haired Espada attractive, even though it went against what he'd been taught as a Court Guard. They were pretty faithful to their holy book, and were instructed that people who deviated from the right path would find themselves in the deepest, darkest, most unbearable world in the afterlife.

The attractiveness Ichigo admitted Grimmjow had helped him along during intercourse, but being dominated in such a way was still sinful and demoralizing to him as a man. He was more than certain that the other man's soul would perish when he died, but as long as he fought the recurring pleasure, he assumed he'd be okay.

Currently, he was cleaning the Espada's quarters to the best of his abilities. Cleaning had never been a duty of his back home thanks to his meticulous little sister, Yuzu. But as best he could, he'd swept, mopped, made the bed, cleaned the massive bathroom, and even washed and folded the laundry.

What else did he have to do, right?

Being held captive was not the most entertaining thing that had ever befallen him, so he made good use of his time as he'd always been taught.

After most of the cleaning was done, Ichigo walked out to the courtyard and was able to observe the décor, actually taking note of it now that he wasn't avidly trying to escape this place. There were white desert flowers lining the lattice*, which stood just a few inches away from the stone walls, and the grass was actually cut and looked neat against the sidewalk. There was no way Grimmjow had commissioned or done any of this. It must have been Aizen's doing.

Off in the distance, quite a ways off from the kingdom, brisk movement caught Ichigo's attention and he spotted his captor dashing through the golden sand under the warm light of the sun. It was quite a scene really.

Grimmjow was in the midst of an intense battle with two brown scorpions that were much larger than any building he had ever seen before.

"The rumors about the creatures that live outside the kingdoms were true…" he commented under his breath.

All his life he'd heard that the size of the things that dwelled in the areas past the kingdoms were beyond comprehensible, but he'd never actually seen it for himself so he assumed they were just that: rumors.

With the report about the spider's attack, he assumed he'd be able to see at least one of their carcasses, but unfortunately, they had been disposed of before he arrived.

He sighed, "This is so… boring… There's nothing else to do around here but clean."

With a look of disinterest, the boy turned to go back inside.

More than anything, he wished that Grimmjow would just come back early so he wouldn't be so alone here. The panther the man kept as a pet didn't seem to be the most inviting, so he usually kept his distance from it. The feeling was apparently mutual because it didn't seem to be interested in being anywhere near him either.

A sudden red flare lighting the sky caught the boy's attention. He turned to see that Grimmjow had fired one of his Ceros through both of the scorpions at once, killing them instantaneously.

"Nice!" He said excitedly.

Immediately though, he shook his head to remind himself that the Espada didn't deserve any kind of praise. A variation of that Cero had been what he'd fired at Rukia and Renji, and that was the only reason he had defeated him.

"Cheating bastard… Next time, there won't be anyone for me to protect. I'll defeat him for sure and never lose anyone else again…!"

With that determined thought in mind, Ichigo left the courtyard and went back inside. Maybe he could find something else to do while waiting for some company.


For the majority of the day, and until late in the evening, Pantera stayed out on the terrace in solitude bathing in the sun's warm glow. He had no desire to be bothered with the captive human, and Grimmjow was still gone.

However, when a familiar, tasty scent reached the kingdom, the beast fought the urge to get up and break the seal on the doors to find his master.

He was approaching from the desert after his long day of hunting. The smell of scorched scorpion meat was getting thicker and thicker in the air. It filled his nose to the brim, nearly overriding his other senses in the process. The human may not have been able to smell the heavy scent, but mixed with Grimmjow's, it was all Pantera could do to bury his nose in his fur and curl up into a ball to resist it.

His avoiding of the overpowering smells didn't last too long, though.

Without any control over himself, the panther shot up and dashed through the room, past the now frightened captive, and out to the courtyard. He put his front paws on the railing and looked down through the city below. Under the streetlights lighting the roads, and through the crowds of townspeople, he spotted Grimmjow without effort. He was carrying the main body of one of the oversized desert scorpions, drawing quite a lot of attention to himself in the process.

This was certainly a treat.

Palace food from the maids was good for humans, but every once in a while, Pantera felt that it was nice to be an animal and eat freshly hunted meat.

Grimmjow must have been in a good mood to have brought something home, the animal noted.

Ichigo slowly walked out to the courtyard, but kept his distance from the menacing panther. He was curious about what made him sprint through the room the way he did. Upon looking over the railing, he saw what it was.

Grimmjow was entering the palace through the front gates with the main body of a scorpion on his back.

"At least he was smart enough to cut off the tail…"

Pantera got down, walked quickly past Ichigo back into the room, and waited patiently at the door. His tail swayed back and forth in anticipation of the delicacy he'd come to love.

The boy stared after the beast for a moment before following him.

He didn't want to seem eager to see the man, so he took a seat on the bed and picked up a book from the night stand and flipped to the third chapter of it. Might as well make it seem believable…

Grimmjow walked through the doors of his quarters and tossed the large carcass on the floor.

"There you go." He said, before closing the doors again and reinstating his Reiatsu barrier.

Pantera jumped onto the shell and broke through it, then he started pulling at the meat.

Ichigo stared at the two in disbelief.

"The hell are you staring at?" Grimmjow asked.

"You're not going to cook that for him?"

"No. I've brought him meat like this without COOKING IT hundreds of time and he's still alive and kicking."

After putting down the book he had feigned reading, Ichigo stood up and walked over to the stairs that led to the terrace. Cerulean eyes followed him as he made his way outside and picked up some of the firewood.

Ichigo started a fire after mumbling the incantation to Hado 31 and a tiny red flare caught onto the wood. He was far from beginner level when it came to Kido, but he usually did what he could with what he knew of the ones Rukia used.

He stood and walked back into the room then stopped in front of Pantera, who was being unbelievably overprotective of the meat.

"I just wanna help…" he said.

"Go ahead and let him cook it." Grimmjow said with indifference, before taking off his vest.

While Pantera pulled the uncooked meat up the stairs, Ichigo stared intently at the newly revealed hole in Grimmjow's lower abdomen. It brought such mystery to him. What was it? And what exactly was Grimmjow for that matter? He had the attributes of more than just a normal human…

When the man stepped out of his pants, Ichigo felt himself getting warm, particularly in the cheeks.

"The fuck are you staring at?" the Espada asked, "I'm not ready for you yet."

"Nothing…" the orange head responded irritably, and then followed the panther up the stairs.

Grimmjow kicked his clothes to a corner of the room, walked into the bathroom, and then closed the doors. He needed a bath to get all the damned sand out of his hair.

...

Ichigo watched the color of meat gradually change as it roasted over the intense, bright flames. As they danced on the firewood, he remembered the night he'd spent in Nelliel's company and all the things she had told him.

"I wonder if she even knows I'm still in the kingdom… Or where she is…" he said quietly.

Pantera eyed the boy from across the fire while eating the meat that had already been cooked. Something about this human was very peculiar. It could have been because he was the first male that Grimmjow had ever bedded, let alone kept around to keep bedding.

The Reiatsu this one had was strong, yet the traces of Grimmjow's were still intertwined with his. They hadn't weakened, they actually seemed to have grown stronger as the nights passed.

After staring at the head of hair on the boy, he couldn't tell why, but it seemed like it was on fire. They were practically the same color as the flames, but he was smart enough to tell that if that were the case, the human wouldn't be sitting in place calmly.

Once all the scorpion meat was cooked and ready for the panther, Ichigo stood up and sighed. The fire needed to be put out, so he walked back inside and filled a cup with water, then returned and poured it over the flames.

"I hope you enjoy that cooked instead of… Cero flavored…" he said to Pantera, and then went back inside.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, the bathroom doors flew open and a gust of steam flooded the room.

Ichigo stepped back and stared as Grimmjow walked out, still very naked, and stalked past him to his bed. The lights went out when he took a seat on it.

Awkwardly, Ichigo continued on his way over to the bed under the moonlight coming in through the terrace, and sat down with his back to the man.

For a few moments, it was quiet. Too quiet. The kind of quiet where breathing could be heard.

"Grimmjow… I was wondering something…" the orange head said, breaking the silence.

"What is it?" said man asked, and then fell onto his back. The velvet sheets caressed his bare skin, causing him to close his eyes.

Ichigo turned and looked at the Espada's illuminated form, "You're a prince, right?"

"Correction, soon to be king. Don't forget that. If you live long enough, you'll see me be crowned."

A king. Grimmjow a king.

That'd be a kingdom to see.

Based on that display with the beggar child in town a few days ago, he imagined there would be no subjects in such a kingdom. Or, the ones who stayed would probably be felons or outlaws or something.

Grimmjow's lack of interest for the two souls he had here in his quarters proved there would be nothing but solitude in his kingdom.

After thinking about things for a moment, he also realized that no one ever visited this Espada. No one cared, apparently. Even the palace maids left the food at the doors, barely even bothered to knock. But all of that could have been on account of his Reiatsu barrier they were unable to break.

Sympathetically, Ichigo looked Grimmjow's entire form over. For such a handsome fellow, he was quite alone here. And maybe that explained why he was always gone during the day.

The only reason he could sympathize with him was because while he was training under Urahara, he'd been left to fend for himself for a few days. No one had been allowed to visit or help him during that time. The loneliness was near unbearable. People need other people to survive.

"Maybe… Maybe I could be a little nicer to him… Maybe all he wants is someone to be waiting for him when he comes back at the end of the day. Although, attacking my friends and kidnapping me wasn't the best way to go about it…"

"Lose the clothes, Court Guard." The other's raspy voice commanded.

"Nope, he definitely doesn't deserve my sympathy."

When he didn't hear his order being carried out, Grimmjow sat up and leaned on his arm, "Did you not hear me?"

"I did. I'm just not in the mood for your bullshit, Espada. I'm ready for you to let me go. I've got people to I need to see back home, and you've got crimes to atone for. Primarily, for killing my friends."

"That shit again? Look, I'm tired; too tired to argue with you. So just get out of the damned clothes or I'll singe everything in the closet so you have to walk around naked from now on!"

After a brief stare down, Grimmjow angrily crawled across his large bed and forced Ichigo down with his hands pinned above his head.

"You never wanna do things the easy way, huh?"

The boy turned away and closed his eyes before his clothes were ripped from his body.

Blue eyes ran across the smaller man's naked form, caressed by the white moonlight. There was no way he could resist this tonight. Even sleep had to wait in line when it came to his need to enforce his strength onto another.

When two fingers jutted into his mouth, Ichigo opened his eyes and glanced up.

For just a moment, he made eye contact with Grimmjow. Those blue orbs of his were still barely visible even through the shadows the moonlight behind him created.

But he hadn't the time to be entranced now. There were two salty fingers in his mouth at the moment, and he wanted them to be removed immediately.

When they began probing around, he nearly bit them. But he knew that'd result in retaliation and, for the sadist he was, Grimmjow would probably do something unnecessarily drastic.

After about a minute, Ichigo felt them being pulled from his mouth. Slowly, he noted.

Grimmjow ran his wet fingers along the tender lips of the boy beneath him a few times before sending them to where they needed to be. Without warning, he stuck them into Ichigo's rear end and moved them in and out, feeling himself getting aroused from the feeling doing this caused.

The orange head endured what he could, having closed his eyes tight from the surprising pleasure this was bringing him, before he felt himself growing stiff downstairs. This was so wrong, but…

The removal of the wet fingers and insertion of the larger man's penis cut him short from any thoughts he could have had.

The first few times the man slid in and out of him were a bit uncomfortable, but it grew more bearable in mere seconds.

"Ah… Yeah…" the Espada moaned, and then braced himself by putting his hands on either side of the boy beneath him.

As they carried on, Ichigo didn't know why, but the want and need to be close to Grimmjow arose. Closer than they were right now, that was. So he tightly wrapped his thighs around the man's waist and let his arms climb up and around his neck.

Forcefully, he pulled Grimmjow closer to him.

Grimmjow was surprised by this, but went along with it nonetheless. He buried his face in the pillows behind the boy's head and sped up his pace. This was admittedly better than any sex he'd had before and that was simply because this Court Guard was no concubine. He was strong. And that was what made him want to keep him around.

Ichigo turned his head and buried his nose in the soft blue hair behind Grimmjow's ear, inhaling his powerful smell.

This felt so… good… Being close like this with someone. Someone so appealing to look at, yet someone so lethal and dangerous at the same time.

Perhaps he was being aroused by the fact that Grimmjow could very well kill him, but he instead chose to keep him alive for his sexual desires. The danger of this situation, yes. That's what was getting him going.

Allowing himself the pleasure he'd previously been avoiding, Ichigo brought his right hand down and forced it between himself and the panting man above him to stroke himself. The other one gripped the dark, soft sheets tightly as he was pounded into. He was nearing his end and he knew it.

Any man in this situation, this close to climax, would give in. That was how he rationalized his actions.

When he heard Grimmjow begin to moan again and speed up, Ichigo lost himself all over their stomachs.

This caught the bluenette's attention as soon as he felt the warm liquid hit him.

He kept his pace, but closed the space between them again when the boy's intrusive hand left the scene. There was something enjoyable about having the cream between them, acting as a sort of temporary adhesive.

"Have you given in to me, Kurosaki…?" he asked, unaware that he had called the boy by his name.

"*Huff* Don't flatter yourself, Espada… *Huff*I still want you to pay for everything you've done…" Ichigo replied as he felt the last of his ejaculation leave him.

The feeling of the boy clenching around him, and the unexpected pleasure of his sperm between their stomachs, is what sent the Espada over the edge. He quickly pulled out and threw his head back as he came, letting himself shoot all over the other.

"Shit…" he moaned, and fell forward.

This was becoming more than he'd expected it to be. And although Kurosaki had come too, his follow-up comment was enough to allow him to be kept alive.

But, he was getting too comfortable with the idea of being dominated. That much had become clear. This wasn't for his pleasure. He was supposed to be dying from shame and humiliation, but unable to do anything about it. Not fucking coming.

After rolling off of the boy, Grimmjow crawled to the other side of the bed and pulled the heavy sheets over himself.

"I'll have to find a way to make this more uncomfortable for him. Can't have him enjoying this, now can I?" He thought before closing his blue eyes.

Ichigo lay in place, breathing heavily and still surprised from his own climax. He looked over and stared at the covered backside of the bluenette, and then he looked down to his wet stomach.

"What should I do about this mess?" he thought, already knowing what the answer to that was.

Once the deed was done, he too pulled the velvet sheets over himself. But he went a step further than the other had and brought them up to his nose. They smelled unmistakably like the sinful act he and Grimmjow had just engaged in, and he couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

"Guess we'll both burn together…" he lamented.

It couldn't have been as bad as he'd first perceived it to be though, because he fell asleep comfortably with the sheets just beneath his nose, clenched tightly in his hands, and his body facing in the direction of the isolated Espada's.


*Lattice – a structure consisting of strips of wood or metal crossed and fastened together with square or diamond-shaped spaces left between.