Yup, another one. Needed to start a new chapter, I think, even though the last one was pretty short. Without further ado, here goes!

Disclaimer: TMM is not mine. If my life could be in any way compared to TMM at least in one of them the main characters have a chance at being happy.

Disclaimer WARNING: For those of you who don't like lemons or limes, well now is the time to stop reading this story. Remember this is a mature story, and now is when I live up to that rating. You have been warned.

Ryou's POV

My heart nearly stopped beating when I watched Ichigo be taken up into the sky by Kish. He just came out of no where and took her. When I watched her slip it did stop.

It wasn't until I watched her slowly being brought to the ground that it began to beat again.

It wasn't for very long that he kept her up there. A couple minutes at most. As soon as she touched back to the ground he let her go, and with an intense glare he muttered "I will hold you to that promise" before flying away just as suddenly as he had come.

As soon as she was back on the ground I took her hand and silently led her away from the staring faces, taking her back to our room. Once inside I locked the door and just reached out for her, unable to shake the need of holding her as close to me as I could possibly bring her. She didn't say anything but held me back, and slowly I was able to calm down my racing heart. When I could, I relaxed my grip on her and looked her in the eyes.

"What happened up there, Ichigo? I saw him take you up so high... and you slipped some. I thought you were going to fall... I wasn't able to protect you from him..." I let my head drop down onto her shoulder.

"We talked. He told me why he loved me, and that he doesn't think I'm the same person he envisioned me to be. I lost his trust and I didn't even know I had it. I think he came to ask us for help, It wasn't a hostile visit at all. It was scary, but he wasn't going to hurt me, I don't think."

I couldn't help but snort against her skin, and with a buckle of my knees I dropped to the ground, bringing Ichigo down with me. She landed on top of me, her legs straddling either side of me, and I let my face be buried into her chest.

"Wasn't going to hurt you... I might have believed that if my heart hadn't stopped when I thought he was going to drop you." I muttered. I knew she heard me, but she didn't respond. Instead she just held me back until Zakuro knocked on the door awhile later, letting us know it was almost time for dinner. Still with out speaking, we both stood and separated, her going to the bathroom and me to the balcony as we got ready for dinner. I would shower after she finished. Until then I used the time to look out at the sky, and tried to calm my racing heart.

I'm powerless against the sky.

Ichigo's POV

The water on my skin was a welcome relief to the cold I hadn't noticed until Ryou and I stood up. I hadn't noticed how chilled my skin was until his warmth had left it, but standing in my still damp t-shirt and suit had left me suddenly shivering.

I didn't stay under the water for very long, knowing Ryou was probably just as cold as I had been. When I came out I found him standing on the balcony just staring up at the sky. His ears perked up a bit when he heard me open the door, and he turned and looked at me, his blue eyes boring deep into mine. Without breaking the eye contact he came up to me, and with a soft caress he placed his hand upon my cheek, his thumb running over my lips. For a moment, he leaned down to me, his mouth hovering a hairs width away from my own before he straightened and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door after himself quickly.

What was that about?

Dinner this evening was no where near as elaborate as it had been the night before, and while formal wear wasn't the requirement for tonight, I saw many guests had put some on anyway, and my simple sun dress seemed even more out of place now. When I guessed Ryou about it, he just shrugged and said that some of the patrons had asked to have another ball in lieu of the previously canceled one. When he asked if I wanted to attend the little make shift dance too, I declined, wanting instead to spend the rest of the evening in the room away from prying eyes. Everywhere I went more of the guests were busy staring after me, some pointing and I heard some comments about the 'Alien' incident earlier.

I don't want to hear about that all night. I already told the girls about it and they agreed with me that if we are able to help, they want to as well. Lettuce's face lit up when I mentioned that we could be needed, and I knew she was thinking about Pai, and for her sake I hope he came back, too. And Pudding would love to see Tart again too, I'm sure.

My wish was granted when the last dessert plate was cleared and everyone stood up. Zakuro and Keiichiro were heading to the dance, and the others said they wanted to explore the ship. Ryou didn't say where he was going, but he had already left before anyone announced their plans, leaving before dessert had even been served.

The room was empty when I got back, and not knowing what else to do, I went into the bathroom and began filling the large tub with steaming hot water and one of the vanilla bubble baths I found under the sink. I had been soaking for thirty minutes when the bedroom door was heard opening and closing.

Thinking I had been in there long enough, I decided to rinse off and head back into the bedroom. When I opened the door I found Ryou had already gotten into bed, the lights off. He was facing the opposite wall.

Uncertainly I climbed into the bed beside him, turning to my own wall. I had only just settled when he pulled me close to him beneath the covers, his face nuzzling my hair.

"You smell good..." he commented.

I smiled. "I helped myself to the bubble bath beneath the sink. I thought you were asleep."

He shook his head. "I was trying to relax."

I snuggled into his embrace, holding him, too. I didn't know how else to help.

We stayed like that for a little while, and again I thought he had fallen asleep, but as I had begun to drift off he whispered to me. "I thought I was going to lose you earlier. I have never felt so completely powerless."

The admission took me by surprise. "Kish wouldn't have let me fall."

"Neither would the Blue Knight. But I... I can't fly. I could do nothing to help you if I wanted to."

So that was still bothering him then. Softly I pulled away from his embrace and sat up to where I could kiss his forehead. My shirt was somewhat caught underneath him, and I felt the fabric slip down past my right breast. If it had been light in the room, I'm sure he could have seen, but it was pitch black and I decided not to worry about it.

I caressed his cheek as I kissed his face, softly sliding my lips from his forehead to each of his eye lids and over his cheeks. His own hand softly covered mine and he pulled it down to his lips, gently placing butterfly kisses over my knuckles.

With a soft tug, he pulled me on top of him, his lips finding mine and claiming them passionately. Once again I felt my naked breast on his bare chest, noticing now that he had changed into a pair of pajama pants, but left the shirt off. He could feel skin just as well as I could feel his, and arousal caused my nipples to harden against him, further accentuating that they were there and ready for him.

Ryou nibbled at my bottom lip, tugging it slightly with his teeth. His hands had gone down to resting on my hips, fingers splayed out along my backside, and his thumbs rubbing at the sensitive skin of my hip bone. His actions were causing me to grind against him ever so slightly, and I could feel his own arousal building beneath me.

His lips left mine and traveled to my ear, gently nibbling and kneading the sensitive lobe before traveling down along my chin and throat. His fingers slid up my sides as he came down, sliding easily beneath the shirt. They stroked up and down my sides, only his thumbs daring to glide over the sides of my breast. Softly They slid down again, and when they came up again I felt my shirt bunched into his grip, and as he brought his hands back up he brought the fabric over my head and threw it across the bed.

In the darkness I could feel his eyes on mine, waiting for me to protest. Instead I leaned down and kissed him again, wrapping my arms around his neck, and pushing our bodies together.

He groaned in response and flipped us over, resting his weight on his elbows as he kissed down my lips to the center of my chest, slowly tracing his hands up from my belly to cradling both breasts, teasing the tight nipples. A tingling began in my middle and seemed to stretch out to my toes and back up through my fingertips. The sensation was just this side of overwhelming, and when he began to replace one hand with his mouth, I couldn't stifle the moan. Last night he had touched me with his hands and sucked on my shoulders and neck. This was a new sensation that I instantly liked more.

His tongue circled my nipple easily, and with his teeth he gently nibbled the point to where it continued to tingle long after his mouth had turned to the matching peak. His hips softly rocked up and down beneath me, grinding himself into my core. I could feel a definite dampness growing between my legs and an uncomfortable longing building higher within me. Moaning, I started grinding against him too, slipping my hands up and down his chest, and lightly playing with his own nipples.

With each little touch I gave him Ryou would moan quietly into my skin. When I got brave and let my finders trail down the front of his pants, he groaned louder before catching my hand and placing it back on his shoulder. He leaned up and captured my mouth with his, keeping one hand behind my head, and the other on my rump, each pulling me hard against him.

He was so hard next to my center, and my need was building. I started begging.

"Please... Ryou, I need you..."

He shook his head against me. "I won't take that from you just yet."

"I don't care..." I moaned, reaching down the front of him again, "I need you. Please Ryou..."

Ryou shifted to where he grabbed both my hands and held both in one of his over my head. "Ichigo... I won't let you suffer, but I won't take that from you just yet. Do you trust me?"

It seemed such a strange question at the time, but I nodded, unable to do anything but answer him with a voice.

With a soft touch he kissed my lips in response, and trailed his lips down the center of my throat, across both peaks of my nipples, and down to my belly button. He brought his hands down a similar path before going to each side of my hips, and sliding my pants down, taking them and flinging them to where I was sure my shirt must have gone.

His lips continued down, and I realized then why he asked me to trust him. Feeling his breath on my most sensitive area, my secret area, my body was suddenly self conscious, and I could feel his eyes boring into mine. With a hand on either side of my hips, slowly he brought his tongue out, and licked the top bit of skin, just over the edge of my bottom lips.

A shudder ran through me. "Ryou..." I moaned.

Without answering he just licked again, this time going down the lip edges, before he pushed his mouth into the opening, his tongue flicking at the little bud he found there.

If it weren't for his hands keeping hold of my hips I would have bucked him very hard in the face. Digging deeper he ran his tongue all along my inner area, grazing his teeth on the bud of my desire and I realized why it was so nicknamed. I could feel that unusual sensation building even deeper within me and it seemed almost to the point that I would burst, and I softly began to whine at him to both stop and to never do so. My breath was catching, and each time he flicked that nub again a lurch would give in me and I began to need even more. When that knot suddenly broke within me I screamed out his name, feeling my body rock with the aftermath of my first orgasm. Even though I hadn't done anything I felt out of breath and completely exhausted, and lay panting for a good few minutes, my eyes locked on Ryou's. He had sat up some, pulling himself to where he rested his arms over my belly and was resting his chin just below his hands, leaving his lips hidden from my view.

When my breathing returned to normal he sat up, smirking at me. "Glad you liked it." He stood up and I could see he was just as hard as I had felt him to be. His pants front was strained, and I realized just what might have happened. Softly he kissed my forehead before heading to the bathroom.

"Ryou?" I asked, questioningly.

He turned and looked at me, a sad smile playing on his lips. "I just took advantage of you Ichigo. I can't take away everything from you. I'm sorry."

The door shut behind him, and I heard the lock click into place.

Ryou's POV

If it hadn't been for my hands holding her down Ichio almost bucked up so hard against me she might have bruised my chin. Instead I dug deeper into her, relishing in tasting this part of her. It was wrong, definitely, for me to be doing this, but I owe her release if nothing else for letting my desire get so far out of control.

She would moan out my name and I would lick deeper, grazing my teeth against the little nub I found between her lips, and knew from each new buck of her hips that it was where she liked it the most. When I felt her body jolt the last time my mouth filled with her sweet juices, and her breathing became harder as her body rode out the orgasm.

Enjoying the sight of her perky breasts bobbing as she breathed harshly I crossed my hands over her belly and looked up at her until she was breathing normally again. This woman was so beautiful, and I don't deserve her. I should never have done what I just did, but now that I had I didn't regret it. Unfortunately my own body was aching in a way I had to end soon, so I stood up, and knew that for the first time she was seeing just what she did to me, even though I remained fully clothed, and she, well, I loved the sight of her staring at me, completely naked on my large bed. I always want to see that sight, but its not something I should yearn for. Not just yet.

I started heading toward the bathroom. "Ryou?" she asked me questioningly. Her large red orbs staring intently after me.

I smiled sadly at her. "I just took advantage of you Ichigo. I can't take away everything from you. I'm sorry."

Without looking back I shut the bathroom door behind me, and locked it.

Damn these urges! I want her so badly, and she wouldn't have stopped me... but was that her talking or her passion? I don't trust myself, and I don't want to take away that most valuable thing from her before she knows the truth of everything, how much I love her and how I have always loved her, and I want to know she loves me too.

Walking stiffly to the shower I turned the water on, and quickly stripping out of my pajama pants my member easily stuck out in agony, needing release. Without much other choice, I stepped under the water, not caring that it was still warming up before I started stroking up and down my shaft, remembering her brief touches doing the same thing. I squeezed myself, enjoying the tightness of my grip and wishing it was her warm walls doing it and not my own dirty hand. I started stroking again and imagined thrusting it deep within her. My breathing caught and I stroked faster, knowing my own release would be soon. The faster I stroked and harder I squeezed myself, the more I saw myself doing it to Ichigo and realized as I came that I would never be able to last if this kept up. I want her too much, need her so badly that soon I 'm afraid I might give into the need and take away everything from her.

From here out I vow not to touch her, lest I break my own resolve and take her by force. I could never forgive myself of that. As my seed washed away down the drain I wished that more than anything else, this could be the one promise I kept.

I never realized that what I wanted to protect her from more than anything or anyone else was myself.

I love her.

And there is the first bit of passion between the two. Probably a little rough as I have little to no experience with one, and I'm not a boy so I don't really know what's its like to get off like that. If I offended anyone, I'm sorry, but hey to the rest of you willing and loving pervs or 'romantics' as we claim to be I hope you enjoyed this little lime!