Warning: Just a little bit of lemon.
Ichigo placed her gently on the bed and stood over her, slowly removing his shirt. He hadn't turned on the lights, but the illumination from the moon was streaming in, playing over the skin that he was revealing to her. If she hadn't already been aroused from their kisses by the fire, the image of her mate's body would certainly have done the trick.
Rukia drank in the sight of his powerful arms and chest, his taut stomach, the scar running down his side… She couldn't imagine how much such a wound would have hurt and was filled with the need to comfort him, even though the pain was long gone. Rising to her knees, she reached out and traced the faint pink line with her fingertips. At her touch, Ichigo's hands stilled on the waistband of his pants and she looked up at him. His eyes were hooded and burning with desire.
Daringly, she brushed his hands away and undid his button and zipper so that his pants hung loosely on his hips. Then she leaned forwards and ran her lips along the length of the scar from his ribs to where it disappeared underneath his clothing. Nudging the material aside, she worked her way down to the end of the scar, which was just below his hipbone, then slid around to his stomach, teasing his navel with her tongue.
Ichigo shuddered and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her up and kissing her hot and hard. With one hand on the back of her head, he slid the other one up her shirt, caressing her skin and unclasping her bra. Rukia pulled away, gasping for breath and Ichigo took the opportunity to shuck his pants and briefs before reaching for the edge of her T-shirt and tugging it over her head.
Pushing her back on the bed, he made quick work of removing her pants and underwear, then crawled on top of her and resumed their kiss. His tongue battled with hers, while he used his hands to tweak her nipples and stroke her belly. Gently raking her nails over his scalp, Rukia moaned in approval when he moved lower and suckled at her breast. Each tug of his mouth was met with a corresponding one inside of her and she guided his head from one breast to the other, closing her eyes to concentrate on sensation alone.
A whimper escaped her lips when he left off his ministrations to move lower, but was soon replaced by sighs of delight as he invaded her core with his tongue and fingers. Knowing the exquisite feelings he could create, she willingly spread her legs allowing him access to her most intimate parts. Ichigo nuzzled the juncture of her thigh, inhaling her scent. A rumble of approval rose from deep in his chest as he sensed her growing arousal. She knew she was being unbelievably wanton, but despite the fact she watched him pleasure her and found that it was one of the most erotic things she had ever seen. In no time at all, her body reached its peak and she shuddered as the orgasm washed over her, leaving her breathless.
"That," she panted, "was great."
"Worth leaving the marshmallows and the bonfire for?" He teased as he slid up to lay beside her. Gently, he brushed her hair from her forehead, and then ran calming hands over her body.
"Oh, yeah." Her heart was still pounding and she was having difficulty getting her words out between her rapid breaths. "But you didn't… ?"
"Not yet." He moved his hips slightly and Rukia felt his hot erection pressing against her hip. "But never fear, that was only round one."
She rolled her head to the side and stared at him in surprise. "You mean I get to do that again?"
"that's my plan." He nuzzled her ear and then sucked her lobe into his mouth. A shiver ran through her. "Unless, of course, you didn't enjoy yourself… "
"I think I can force myself to suffer through it one more time, just for you. It wouldn't be fair to leave you in such an uncomfortable state." She teased him back and he smiled at her in delighted surprise. Leaning over her, he began the task of arousing her once again.
At some time during the night, Rukia awoke to the sound of faint ringing. Beside her, Ichigo grumbled and kissed her cheek apologetically before rolling out of bed. Fumbling around on the floor, he searched for his pants and the cell phone that he'd left in his pocket. Through her bleary eyes, she watched him check the number, then pad into the sitting room and partially close the door.
Rukia wondered who would be calling in the middle of the night and hoped it wasn't another pack emergency like last night. Straining her ears, she listened to Ichigo's voice as he answered the phone.
"Riruka? No, no, of course you're not interrupting anything …Shh … Don't cry. What's wrong? … No, don't hang up!…You could never be a bother. You know you can call me anytime … "
The door to the sitting room clicked shut, effectively blocking out the rest of the conversation. Chewing on her lip, Rukia wondered what could be so important, that Riruka had to call in the middle of the night. And Ichigo hadn't sounded at all put out. Hmm… What exactly was Ichigo's relationship with the woman?
Rukia tried to stay awake until Ichigo returned to bed, but the hands on the clock kept moving and moving without him reappearing. Soon the ticking of the clock and the indistinct murmur of his voice began to lull her to sleep. Pulling the bed sheets up around her neck, she curled into a ball and closed her eyes, wondering when her mate would return to her.
The next morning, Rukia woke to the feel of Ichigo sliding his hands up and down her stomach. For a few moments, she pretended to be sleeping. Memories of the previous night drifted through her mind, and she couldn't keep a smile from appearing on her lips. Never had she imagined that her body was capable of such feelings. Mating with Ichigo Kurosaki was definitely a special experience. She stretched and sighed happily, then snuggled in closer to him, inhaling the male scent of him.
"I know you're awake." Ichigo's voice was gravelly, revealing that he hadn't been awake that long either.
"No, I'm not." She kept her eyes closed, wanting to prolong this moment.
"I beg to differ."
"Well, you're wrong. I'm sleeping and I'm in the middle of a very pleasant dream, so don't bother me."
"I could make reality even more pleasant." He allowed his hand drifted upward and cupped her breast, gently kneading the soft flesh.
"Mmm…Maybe I am awake." Rukia opened her eyes, her lashes brushing against Ichigo's cheek as he nuzzled her neck.
"Good morning." His breath feathered over her ear and she giggled in response.
"That tickles."
"Really? How about this?" He ran his fingers lightly up and down her sides and she bubbled with laughter, squirming away from him.
"Hey! I'm just waking up. No fair!"
"Who said I play fair?" He reached out and pulled her closer, tickling her one more time.
"You're the Alpha, you're supposed to set a good example." Rukia pressed her hands to his chest, involuntarily caressing the muscled surface as she tried to move away, but he was too strong for her.
"True, but no one's here to see except you."
"And I don't count?" She tried to look affronted.
"You…" he leaned in to kiss her forehead, "count very much." He kissed the tip of her nose, then pulled her close and tucked her under his chin. "You're my mate."
Rukia smiled at the possessive way he said that. It was strange, but even after such a short time together, she found herself comfortable with the idea of belonging to him. Maybe it was some ancient, instinctual thing that made her feel connected to the male who first mated her. She supposed in the old days such a bond would have been nature's way of ensuring that two wolves stayed together to raise their young…Oh well, analysing it wouldn't affect how she felt, and at this moment she was happy to be with Ichigo, in his bed, knowing that he was happy with her.
Suddenly a memory from last night popped into her head. "Ichigo, in the middle of the night the phone rang, didn't it?"
"Did that wake you? Sorry. I tried to be quiet."
For some reason, she didn't want him to know that she'd overheard him talking. She wanted him to tell her himself. "Was it an emergency?"
He sighed. "Kind of. It was Riruka."
She inwardly smiled. He had told her the truth. That must mean he wasn't harbouring any secret feelings for the woman.
"I met her yesterday, twice in fact."
Ichigo shifted beside her and his voice subtly changed from one of teasing to a quieter, serious Alpha tone. "Well, that's one of the things she called about. Apparently, you were rather rude to her yesterday morning."
"What?" Rukia sat up and stared down at Ichigo, incredulous. "I was rude to her?"
"Riruka said that you took whatever she said right out of context and were very aggressive towards her. Now—" He raised his eyebrows when Rukia opened her mouth to protest and she subsided. "I realise that yesterday was your first full day, and you might have been stressed, wondering where you fit in, but asserting your authority as my mate in that manner won't win you many friends."
Totally flabbergasted, she just stared at him. What exactly had Riruka said to him? Ichigo continued before she had a chance to enquire.
"Then at the mall, when she tried to approach you, you wouldn't even talk to her, but just fell in with Yuki who, I will be speaking to later on."
"I didn't say anything inappropriate to Riruka!" Rukia started to protest.
"Possibly not. She was bit unclear about that part, but you were aggressive towards her,weren't you?"
"Maybe just a little bit at breakfast, but I was only standing up to her—"
Ichigo interrupted her again, "And at the mall, you didn't try to stop Yuki's verbal attack, did you?"
"Well no, but Ayumi and Momo… "
"Yes, I know they were there too. Frankly, I'm surprised at you ladies, you're behaving like a bunch of nasty school girls. Riruka's had a hard time of it lately and really needs a friend."
"Well, she sure has a strange way of showing it," Rukia muttered.
Of course, Ichigo heard what she said, "Rukia, Riruka isn't like you, and she willingly admits it. She's more comfortable around men and has trouble getting along with her own sex, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't want friends." Ichigo reached for her hand and laced his fingers with hers, his tone becoming gentler. "You managed to make friends with several of the pack within just one day of being here. Riruka's just like you. She wants to fit in, but the difference is, she doesn't know how. Over the years, she's been pretty good about it, never complaining about how the females treat her, but it's been hard on her always feeling like she's on the outside. Did you know that she was the next thing to engaged to Grimmjow? When he left, she was devastated and she's still trying to come to grips with the loss. She doesn't have the energy right now to deal with women being bad to her."
He put a finger under her chin and tipped her head so that she was looking him in the eye. "I'd really appreciate it, if you'd cut her some slack. Maybe even try to befriend her. If the others see that you like her, they might be willing to reach out to her as well."
"Me? Befriend Riruka?" Rukia knew her voice betrayed her shock.
"It won't be so bad. Once you get to know her, you'll see." Ichigo squeezed her hand gently and gave her a tender kiss. "Please? As a favour to me? Knowing that someone is watching out for her would really ease my mind, and it would be one less thing to I have to worry about."
Rukia sighed heavily, knowing she was already defeated. "All right. I'll give it a try."
"Good. She's coming over for lunch today." Ichigo stood and started to walk towards the bathroom.
"Lunch today? But I'm meeting Tatsuki for lunch!"
Not seeing the look on her face, and apparently not noticing her tone of voice, Ichigo casually answered her over his shoulder. "Well, that's perfect. Riruka can go with you." With that, he shut the bathroom door.
Huffing indignantly, Rukia got up and began picking up last night's discarded clothing from the floor. Great. Now she had to spend time with a woman who most likely wanted to steal her mate. All of her happiness from her early morning cuddle with Ichigo rapidly disappeared at the prospect of the coming day.
She should start by telling Ichigo her side of the story. How Riruka had insinuated that she knew Ichigo sexually and that Rukia wouldn't be able to handle him. Oh, that would be a fun conversation! Her face burned in anticipated embarrassment as she pictured that talk going in all sorts of uncomfortable directions. By the time Ichigo exited the bathroom, Rukia was still trying to sort things out. His hair was slicked to his head and little drops of water decorated his back where the towel hadn't reached. Licking her lips, Rukia boldly decided to start a conversation about Riruka and see where it went.
As he walked past her to the closet, he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "I'm done in the bathroom, if you want to use it."
Nodding, she took a deep breath. Gathering her resolve, she decided to explain her side of what happened with the other woman. Then Ichigo would understand why she didn't want to spend time with her and he'd realise that Riruka had twisted everything around to her own advantage.
"Ichigo"
"Hmm?" His voice drifted out of the closet, where he was gathering a shirt and pants.
"I wanted to explain to you—"
Just then the phone rang. Ichigo tossed a smile her way, raised a finger to indicate she should just wait a minute, and answered the phone. "Ichigo here… Yes?… Uh, huh…I see … Well, if you feel that's necessary … All right …I'll meet you there in about half an hour … Right, I'll see you then." He hung up and stood pinching the bridge of his nose, stress radiating from his very pores.
"Ichigo? What's wrong?" Rukia stepped closer and laid her hand on his arm.
"What?" He looked at her as if he'd forgotten she was even there. " That was the lab that tested our water after the oil want to take another sample and also do testing on the surrounding soil for possible contaminants. If it leached very deep into the ground, we'll have to major clean up that would involve digging down deep enough until we reach 'clean' dirt, removing all the contaminated soil and taking it to a toxic waste facility, then replacing the soil and plants…It would be a massive undertaking and extremely costly, not to mention having people traipsing all over our land." Ichigo rubbed his hands over his face. "This is not the news I wanted to hear this morning." He sighed heavily and then looked at her. "You wanted to tell me something?"
"Nothing important." Rukia decided her problem with Riruka was insignificant in comparison to what Ichigo already had on his plate. She squeezed his arm and kissed his shoulder. "I'll just go take a shower. I hope your day doesn't go too badly."
"Thanks, and thanks for helping out with Riruka, too. I really do appreciate it."
Rukia just smiled and headed for the shower.
Your thoughts really astounds me readers! I mean wow..the way you guys express your feeling about the story leaves me speechless in amazement.. :D
Ichigo has his reasons for being protective at Riruka, and you can start guessing what. :)
I miss Isshin too, but Ichi's an orphan here , so there's no Isshin screaming babies here LOL!
