Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

AN:

Tlcatlady: You know when you're right you're right! And yeah- I realized that I used surprised in every other sentence for a paragraph or two and IDK what that was about- I apologize. My brain has been on overdrive! I'll probably go back and edit eventually! Thanks for reviewing!

Long chapter! I'm soooo bad! Oh and I just realized that Xochitl was kinda channeling Yumichika for a moment last chapter (had myself a giggle at work when I realized).

The next few lessons are all Don'ts! Haha And I threw in a special lesson in this chapter- this is my warning for SC.

Fulfillment

Lesson 8:

Don't Stand in My Way

"So…" The woman said, "You are the Captain of the Sixth Division… The noble Byakuya Kuchiki." Her blue eyes caught the starlight and gleamed coldly like gems.

He said nothing.

A smile curled on her lips as she considered him. The boy watched from a distance, the power he felt rolling off of them made him wary of standing too close.

"Why have you called me here?" She said, the smile disappearing to be consumed by the stern mask she used for business.

Byakuya did not quite roll his eyes as he spoke almost dryly, "I did not call you here. I sent the boy with my request- there was no need for you to trouble yourself in coming."

The woman laughed, shifting languidly on the stone bench in his garden. She leaned slightly on her hand at her side as she fixed him with a scheming glare, "Indeed. I suppose my curiosity got the better of me… To see a legend in the flesh…"

"I assume you have come with an answer to my request." He said stiffly, looking over her head at nothing in particular. She was lucky that her answer held so much weight to him.

"Oh yes," She breathed out. She had a seductive voice that matched her seductive smile, "Regarding my newest courtesan…" She gazed around her, looking over the garden with haughty disinterest.

The noble's fists curled at his sides, patience slowly cracking under the pressure of his anxiety.

"I'm afraid I must decline." She finally said, staring at the persea before she looked up at him, "I've already chosen her for another mission."

"You will send someone else." Cold, hard, his tone was not to be taken lightly.

Again that snake-like smile slid into place, "What makes you think she is not already deep into the assignment? That she is not right now pinned beneath the noble body of a man such as yourself as he-,"

"Do not speak such vulgarities to me." He said through his teeth, the flare in his reiatsu like a noose threatening to tighten around her neck, but she was no weakling. Realizing he was a hairsbreadth away from losing himself in the tide, he inhaled deeply through his nose. When he exhaled he was straight, and tall, and unshakable, "Besides. I do not think you are so naïve as to risk my displeasure."

She laughed again her eyes to the sky, "Really? And why would I simply assume that you would not want the girl to entertain other clients?"

"Do not play with me." His eyes narrowed and he gave her his profile to keep her from seeing the light of frustration in his eyes. But he stood so rigidly his agitation was obvious.

The woman sighed, "Yes. I'm aware that for a man such as yourself your interest is… uncharacteristic…I wonder. What does a man of your caliber really want from my Xochitl? Surely you already know she is to have and not to hold?" There was a hardness to her voice, a pressing of truth in her tone that forced him to look at her.

But he had gained control again and his voice was expressionless, he was Byakuya Kuchiki once more. "Do not stand in my way."

Her gaze darkened, her nose wrinkled slightly as she sneered at him. But she had just as much experience as he did at hiding her thoughts and the look of challenge quickly disappeared. She rose to her feet, her intricate robes folded about her perfectly, giving the impression of grace and stature. She was very comely, this woman, but her heart had hardened a long time ago, and thus the beauty of her face was marred by tight, vicious lines.

She moved toward the gate, but paused, "Lord Kuchiki, it is not I that will stand in your way… I am truly sentimental at heart." Lilith flashed a brief gloating smile before she continued, "It is yourself." Her face became stone as she moved beyond the gate. In time she will retreat from you. And you will not press the advantage.

"There were priests in the Rukon today… Monks. It was so strange. I've never seen the streets so quiet." She said. She leaned down to touch the petal of a tuberose and the scent of it mingled with her own.

"I thought you were not allowed out unless on… assignment." He cocked a brow at her. She smiled and it still astounded him.

She bit her lip to hide that impudent gesture and pretended not to have heard him.

It had been a week since the agreement between her mistress and this man, her noble tutor, had been arranged. Every night since then, she had walked these paths with him, sometimes in silence sometimes in easy conversation.

The change between them had been sudden, but oddly the transition between student and teacher, client and courtesan had come about smoothly. They were something new now… Just yet, they could not call themselves lovers, perhaps they never would, but the contract meant nothing. Surely Byakuya was being extorted by the girl's mistress, but he chose not to think about it. It did not matter to him that he paid for her company for he valued their… friendship?

He shook his head, "You should not so carelessly wander the Rukongai, Xochitl. Not only do you risk your mistress' wrath…" He paused his eyes narrowing as he wondered what sort of punishment a woman such as Lilith would dole out for disobedience. If he were a weaker man he might have shuddered.

He continued, "A young woman such as yourself should not walk about un-chaperoned."

She stopped in her wandering to look up at him with a frown, "Un-chaperoned? Why does it matter for a woman such as myself? I am only a who-,"

His hand against her mouth silenced her, as he gazed down at her, the moonlight reflected in his eyes, "That is an ugly word, Xochitl. Do not repeat it in my presence."

She thought her heart might rupture in her chest for an instant.

"As you wish, my lord." She murmured, her breath warm, her lips brushing his palm. He moved his hand to her cheek for a brief moment and then turned to begin walking again. She fell in beside him.

A companionable silence took over for a time.

"The priests are from the southern provinces, where traditional temples still hold much influence. They come every few years to burn offerings at the abandoned temple in the Seiretei." Byakuya informed her.

"Abandoned temple?" She asked, the subtle excitement in her tone nearly made him smile.

"Yes, there are ruins of a temple once built by those southern priests in the far eastern corner of the Seiretei. No one worships there anymore… It is a different age." He sounded the slightest bit wistful. He heard her sigh and he turned to see that she had stopped a few steps behind.

"The girls tell me that the south is very different…" She gazed into the sky. Byakuya had the strong desire to kiss her at that moment, but he would not do so in the open.

"Come." He said and she instantly turned and reached for his hand, allowing him to lead her toward the guesthouse.

One week glided into the next and while the territory being explored was new it seemed all too natural. It became a routine that oddly enough did not grow old or wearisome, it simply was.

Lesson 8: Don't Stand in My Way

Special Lesson:

Don't Make Me Wait

One late night/early morning, rain pelted the roof of the guest quarters and the lightning flashed and lit up each corner of the room for a brief moment.

Byakuya sighed and rose to his feet- reasoning that he could not expect her to venture out in such weather. He was pleasantly startled when he heard splashing outside, the sound of hurried footsteps dashing in puddles. He looked up as Xochitl pushed back the shoji.

A ruined umbrella was in her one hand, her geta in the other. Her kimono was predictably soaked and clinging. Her lips were parted as she was still trying to catch her breath and her cheeks were warm.

She pushed back the hood of her cloak and spoke between breaths, "Forgive me my lateness, my lord… I did not mean to squander your time." She glanced over her shoulder as thunder shook the Seiretei, completely distracted by the raging storm she had braved. She looked back at him remembering herself suddenly. Bowing she said again, "Forgive me."

But forgiveness was not to be had. A captain of the Gotei Thirteen had precious little time to indulge in meetings that held no significance to his job. He could not afford to be forgiving.

Byakuya pulled her into the room and threw the shoji shut. She slipped in her wet socks and fell forward to the floor. But before she could right herself he was behind her, pulling her up to her knees and pushing at the wet shoulders of her kimono as he kneeled behind he.

As he stripped her of her clothes without hesitation he put his mouth to her neck his tongue of cold velvet lathing her skin as he loved to do.

He paused and she could feel his teeth threatening against her neck just below her jaw, "You should never make a man wait."

She gasped, flushing instantly as he cupped her sex, his arm around her waist.

"I- thought- I-I- you said the wait was half the battle." She could barely get the words out. She could feel him hard and straining against her back.

"It is." He replied and then bit down as he slid his middle finger inside of her, waiting for her to cry out before he continued, "What I meant was: You should never make me wait." He nibbled at her earlobe as she undulated against his hand, the movement causing her to rub her rounded buttocks against his erection.

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. The demon, not so much tame as he was more patient, prowled at the edge of his mind. Byakuya smiled. He had decided some time ago that letting the beast free every once and a while was better than keeping him confined.

If it were not for the storm, her cries surely would have brought the servants running and Byakuya was both grateful and disappointed. A completely childish and rash part of him wouldn't have minded if they'd been caught.

He made short work of her, but even as he emptied himself within her, the scent of her drove that inner devil to madness and solidness once again. He pushed her down onto her back, the distance between them brief as he repositioned himself. The sound she made when he thrust inside her again insured that their time would pass in total abandon. His need was too great to tame in only an hour or even two. He wanted her voice to reach pitches even the storm could not drown out.

As he sweated over her, giving her no reprieve from his piercing thrusts or his gaze, he asked himself why she had not changed in his eyes so much despite her new enthusiasm. Of course he saw her differently than he had upon their first meeting and even on their second… When was it that he had stopped viewing her as a courtesan and started seeing her as a potential…

She wrapped her legs around him and he pulled her up, her ankles crossed behind his back and his arms circled her waist. Rolling her hips forward against him she put her arms around his neck and looked down into his eyes. Her long hair fell over them both; he could never get enough of the tickling sensation of it.

She moaned as he met her, thrusting up as she ground herself against him. He had broken her of that silly little habit of keeping still and silent, but the innocence of her face had not changed. The fact that she enjoyed his touch, that she writhed happily when he was deep inside her, only enflamed him and somehow gentled him at the same time. He was quite fond of this girl.

The thought made his stomach clench slightly and it wasn't simply because he was coming hot liquid magma inside of her. When she dropped her face to his shoulder and he listened to her breathe, he wanted to apologize to her.

For what, he did not know.

When she reached the shoji the apology died on his lips and he said instead, "Do not make me wait again."

She looked back at him. Her eyes were bottomless pits and he could feel himself on the edge of them. Those lips he had been kissing so vehemently, parted as though she were about to speak and he had to use all his restraint to keep from snatching her away from the door and back into their damning little world of sin and lust.

What she said next nearly broke him, "I will not make you wait."

If not for the hour, he would have taken her again.

Special Lesson: Don't Make Me Wait

AN: Thanks!