Kurosaki came awake to bright light filtering through the blinds and the sound of birds in the forest beyond the inn. He gave a small, cautious stretch, joyously conscious of the sleeping form tucked up against him, her head under his chin and her breath soft against his chest. He shifted a bit, then stilled as the slender arm she'd slid around his chest (after making its way under his shirt to rest against his skin) tightened a fraction before going limp once more in slumber.

He closed his eyes and just basked in the moment. He'd been in this situation before, of course, but under very different circumstances.

For one, she'd always woken up first.

He remembered being jolted out of sleep by her loudly apologizing to her brother for 'sleeping' with a man and having to explain how he'd ended up by her side for the whole night. The second time he'd been planning on sleeping on the floor of the hotel room they had to share, and had ended up stretched out on top of the covers, his hand clutched in hers. He'd woken up to a fully dressed, completely awake and blushing Teru as she let Riko into the room.

He'd also never fallen asleep first. He wondered if she'd watched him sleep like he had her. If she'd brushed the hair off of his face and wondered about his dreams. He'd even counted her eyelashes like a lovesick moron at one point.

But she probably wasn't that lame.

What she was was tiny. Make that slender, he amended as he ran a hand up and down her back.

And quintessentially female.

Every part of her was soft and delicate. Her long black hair felt like silk against his chin and where it draped over his arm. The arm she had slung over his side was a smooth and weightless warmth where her skin met his. And her legs… He took a deep, appreciative, calming breath when one of the silken limbs in question hitched higher where it lay over his hair-roughened one.

"Hmmm…".

Kurosaki stilled again as Teru burrowed closer to him in her sleep. When she settled once again he wrapped his free arm around her, his hand sliding under her hair until he could cup the back of her head in his hand.

He lay there, dazed in wonder and love at the welcoming murmur she gave even in her sleep, and realized that this was it. Neither of them would have to go to bed alone, be alone in the night, ever again. And the ultimate bonus, he thought as he curled around her even closer, he got to wake up to Teru, beside her, every. Single. Day.

"Mmm...Kurosaki?"

"Sorry," he whispered as he loosened his arms, her sleepy whisper making him wince in guilt even as his heart leapt at the sound of his name on her lips. He dropped a kiss to the the top of her head as she yawned. "Hi there."

Teru snuggled against his chest, smiling sleepily at the gravelly rumble of his voice under her cheek. "Time is it?"

He closed his eyes as her limbs contracted around him as she yawned once again. "Morning."

"Nghh" she groaned as she fought to wake up. But it was so hard, she mentally whined. She could feel the slight nip of the air outside the covers, but she was so nice and warm. Kurosaki's arms felt so good around her. And, she realized with a groan as her thoughts floated like dust motes through the air, he smelled sooo good. She could lay here forever. "Does it have to be morning?"

"Mm-hmm." He grinned as he brushed a wayward hair off her cheek. She still hadn't opened her eyes. He could tell she wasn't awake yet. And if she nuzzled him like this every morning he was going to be late to work every day for the rest of their lives. "'Fraid so."

"M-kay." She let go of him and rolled, her arms and legs sliding over his until she lay on her back, stretching her arms above her head and pointing her toes under the covers as she yawned.

He almost yanked her back against him, but the view was oh so very worth it. He propped his head up on his hand and watched as the cool air and her stretch made her nipples poke out against her tank top. His gaze dropped lower as the cover slid down to her waist and her shirt rose up as she stretched exposing the smooth expanse of her belly.

Teru opened her eyes with a sigh and crossed her arms over her head after her stretch. Becoming more awake by the second, she blushed. She had been twined around him like a furoshiki lunch wrap, she realized. Was that okay? Was he annoyed? Is that why he woke up first? And if it was okay, she wondered with a shiver, was she brave enough to do it on purpose now that she was awake.

"Kurosaki…", she turned her head to test the waters and trailed off as she found him intently staring at her...her eyes followed his and she blushed, realizing that her was staring at her exposed stomach with a serious expression. "Oh, oops!"

His beef with her exposing that particular feature was hilarious and prickly point between them, but only when she was trying to actively prod his temper. And she didn't want to upset him. Not today. She quickly moved to yank her shirt down. "Sorry, I...eep!"

The surprised sound escaped when Kurosaki moved with lightning swiftness, his hand snapping out to stop the descent of her top before she'd moved it an inch.

She gulped and, based on past experience, fought the urge to roll away in self-preservation. The last time she'd 'flashed' him he'd tickled her until she thought she'd throw up. Since her shirt was still in his grasp, she slid her hands down to cover her oh-so vulnerable tummy.

Kurosaki smiled at the move. He'd given her quite a bit of grief through the years about showing him her belly button. Now, he decided, was a good time to clue her in as to why.

Ready to beg him not to tickle her since she'd done it on accident, Teru bit back a yelp when he suddenly shifted, lying sideways so that he was he was laying half on and half off of her, pinning her legs down with his torso as he propped his elbows on either side of her hips.

"I don't...," she lost her words when he bent to drop a kiss to her hands. She wet her lips since her mouth had gone bone dry at the weight and the heat of him against her legs. "I don't think I should be penalized for doing it by accident."

"That's fair." He dropped down so that his chin rested on the hands that still covered her stomach. "Can I tell you something?" he asked, rubbing his bristly chin over the back of her hand.

Okay, she thought as her heart started to pick up speed, so maybe he wasn't going to tickle her. "Uh, of course."

He picked up one of her hands and kissed the palm, closing his eyes as he broke the kiss to rub the softness over his stubbly chin. He took his time, setting her hand on his shoulder and repeating the ritual with the other until her breathing was broken and her legs moved restlessly against him.

Breath none too steady himself, he raised his head and met her eyes. "Now, what did I want to tell you? Oh, yeah." He rested his chin on her now bared skin and had to resist the urge to bite when he felt the muscles there contract at the contact. "Have I ever told you why this," he dragged his chin lightly over her navel and felt her whole body shiver. "drove me nuts?"

"Um, I believe you used the words 'unladylike' more than once." Her hands clenched on his shoulders at the caress… and at the look in his eyes. "I didn't usually hear the rest because I was making a break for it."

"I remember. And now," He bent his head and inhaled the scent of her into his lungs. "I'd have the same reaction if we had company and you came out of your room in just a bra. Some things," he whispered, "should only be seen by the one who has the right to see everything." He dropped a kiss to her now whisker-burned skin and hummed his pleasure at her flinch. "Every time you were just being a little brat and flashed me a peek at this," he rubbed his chin directly over belly button again and fought not to groan when her nails dug into his shoulders. "I wanted to tear your shirt off the rest of the way and just rub my face all over that perfect skin that's hidden from the rest of the world," he nuzzled his cheek against the gentle curve of her stomach. "and do this."

A breathless, wordless cry escaped her as Kurosaki flicked his tongue over her skin, slowly, like he was savoring an ice cream cone. She moaned, her eyes squeezing shut and her torso jackknifing as he dipped his tongue into her navel. He just pressed her back without interrupting his treat.

It was a good thing that she'd been clueless, she thought hazily past her her panting breaths. She almost felt guilty for unknowingly teasing him, but the emotion and the thought stood no chance against the pleasure he now incited. She slid her hands up to his hair and hung on for dear life as he explored every inch of the space between her shirt and the top of the covers with his lips and tongue.

The taste of her, her hands in his hair, the sounds she made at his every little caress; they were making it nearly impossible to think. He could feel his own tightly-held control start to fray, so he fisted his hands in the futon on either side of her as he ran the tip of his nose along the edge of her ridden-up shirt.

"Teru?"

Her breath hitched. She knew what he was asking. She opened her eyes and met ones that held an irresistible mix of passion and tenderness...and nodded.

A groan and one last sucking kiss was his response before he raised himself on his elbows once more, letting go of the futon so that he could trace the with his fingers the edge where her shirt met skin.

She jerked when he wrapped one large hand around her waist and slowly slid it up, taking her shirt with it. Her hands slid from his hair to pluck gingerly at his shirt. "Can you...will you, too?" her voice shook with nerves and feeling.

He grinned, delighted with her. "Grab the back. Pull it off." He wanted to keep his hands on her as long as possible. He ducked his head and arched his back to help as she pulled the t-shirt past his shoulders. He took over then, lifting one hand to pull it over his head and down his arms until it lay in a pool by his elbow.

Oh. Oh, boy. Whatever brain cells she had left after his earlier ministrations leaked out of her ears as a shirtless Kurosaki lay propped above her. She brought her hand back to his shoulder and nearly jerked it back at the heat that poured off of him.

He blew out a shaky breath at her touch, his muscles bunching under her fingertips. He grit his teeth and dipped his head to her torso once more, lavishing slow attention to each new wonder his hands uncovered as they inched her shirt slowly over her ribcage.

Why was he going so slow, she wondered feverishly. He seemed fascinated by every curve, every muscle, and he wouldn't be hurried, despite the fact that each tug of her hands on his shoulders or his hair made him groan and mutter against her skin. He hadn't even kissed her good morning, she realized.

Suddenly Teru wanted that more than she wanted to breathe. She tugged harder on the fistfuls of hair in her grasp. "Kiss me."

"I am kissing you." To demonstrate, he placed a wet, open-mouthed kiss on the smooth expanse of skin he'd just uncovered directly beneath her breast.

"Yes," she whispered, her head falling back against the pillow. "Wait," she shook her head, "No. Really kiss me. Please, Kurosaki."

The honest plea in her voice had him lifting his head. She uncurled her fingers from his blond strands and slid her hands to the side of his face. The look she gave him from her soft, slumberous eyes made his heart squeeze with that most painful, precious ache.

So he shifted, sliding up her body and sliding one arm under her back until he could cup his hand over her shoulder while the other brushed a strand of hair off of her face. He kept his weight off of her by resting on his elbows, but she drew him down, her eyelids fluttering shut at that first, simple, chaste press of lips.

She made a deeply contented sound as they drew apart and he wondered if she knew how completely and utterly she owned him.

So he sipped from her lips, taking small kisses from lips again and again until they were soft and puffy. Her mouth opened of her own accord after each one as she sought a longer, deeper kiss. Instead of giving it to her, he gently bit her lower lip, making her gasp and wrap her arms around his neck. "Kurosaki!"

The gentle complaint made him smile, even as the feel of her under him made him throb. "What? I'm kissing you." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and laughed as she all but growled. "Sorry, but you deserve it. I was this close to soft perfection and you stopped me." He hugged her closer, deliberately moving so that his chest hair dragged against her skin...and the taunt nipples that had so far evaded his attention. Smiling against her mouth at the way her breath caught, he whispered, "I think the least you can do to make it up to me is to call me Tasuku." He caught her lower lip in his teeth and let go when she whimpered. "You can do it," he whispered teasingly. "Say it, Teru."

"Tasuku," she sighed, no hesitation as she looked into his eyes. Daisy. Kurosaki. Tasuku. They were all hers. "Kiss me."

He could nothing else in that moment as she drew him down and opened her mouth under his. The following sumptuous, tongue-tangling kiss had both of them groaning and holding each other even tighter.

"Tasuku," she groaned in protest when he lifted his head. "What…" She opened her eyes when he unwound her arms from his neck and propped himself on his elbows once more, removing his weight. "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, he looked her in the eye and took a hold of the bottom of her tank top.

She couldn't speak, so she just nodded, squeezing her eyes shut as he drew it up and off. She braced herself for him to slide back down and pick up where he left off before the kiss, but instead she moaned, settled himself against her once more. Yesterday he'd held her tightly in his arms when her top had been off, and the sensation of his chest against hers had been electric. This, she realized as his weight pressed her breasts so firmly to his hard chest, was the last delicious element that she hadn't even known she'd been missing.

He watched her neck arch on a gasp as he deliberately, slowly, rubbed his torso against hers. Her eyes opened as his own groan reverberated through her small frame, making her nipples pinch even tighter at the sound. He settled one hand in her hair, holding her still as he they stared into each other's eyes. He didn't kiss her. Not yet. He wanted to see her face when he…

Teru couldn't help the small cry as he shifted to the side just enough so that his other hand could settle over her small breast. Her back arched on a gasp as his hand learned the heft of her small curves before his fingers deliberately plucked at the tight bud of her nipple.

Kurosaki wanted to slide down and feast on the perfection in his hand, but he couldn't look away from her face. She was flushed a bewitching pink and her skin was now glistening with perspiration as she panted out her pleasure, her hands once again on his shoulders or in his hair. Her legs, free of his weight, shifted restlessly beneath the covers. He switched his attentions to the other small mound and found himself echoing her full-body shiver. It was every man's dream to have a woman who loved your touch, and her untutored responses beat every hopeful wish he'd ever imagined in his fevered fantasies.

"I love you so much."

Teru forced her eyes open at the guttural words and moaned afresh at the intense look on Kurosaki's face. She raised a hand and traced the slash of red at his cheekbone. "Me, too. I love you, too," she whispered. "So much."

He let go of her breast and brought his hand up to her face where he traced all the curves and angles of her features until her breathing had calmed and she was nuzzling kisses into his palm. He lowered his head once again and kissed her softly, the tension he'd aroused smoothing out until she was soft as wax beneath him. He smoothed both hands over her hair as she sighed.

"Are we stopping?" She asked shyly, tipping her to the side as he feathered kisses along her jaw up to her ear.

"Mm hmm." He raised his head and smiled lovingly down at her. "And that's your fault."

She wanted to drag him down by his ears and convince him without words that he didn't need to stop. Instead, still feeling shy despite being shirtless and pressed against him so casually, she ran her fingertips along his stubbled jaw. "How so?"

"Because you," he turned his head to nibble playfully at her fingertips, making her giggle, "filled out the breakfast form for room service."

She frowned, her fingers stilling on his face. "How does that stop…," her eyes went wide and wheeled around the room, looking for a clock. She remembered now that she'd checked the box for 'come in after knocking'. "Oh. Oh crap!" She pushed at his shoulders. "What time is it? They're probably coming in like 2 minutes! Let me up!"

He didn't budge, but instead enjoyed the visual and physical results of the effort she made to get out from under him. "Well, you were the last one into bed last night. You should have closed the shoji screen. Tsk tsk, Teru."

"That's not funny!" She finally escaped and sat up on her knees, hands on her hips, to glare down at him.

He turned to his side and propped his head on his hand as he enjoyed the view. He'd bet an external harddrive that she'd forgotten she was topless. "I know it's not funny." He reached out and drew a finger from the dip of her collarbone to the upper slope of her bared breast, making her suck in a breath as she remembered. He dropped his hand and laughed as she lunged for her top. "I had...plans for this morning and you screwed them up with your need for a prompt and proper breakfast."

Teru grinned even as she blushed. She smoothed a hand over her now-clad top and shot him a coy look from under her lashes. "I...I think I could survive without breakfast for a few days."

Kurosaki looked surprised for a moment, then gave her a slow, wicked smile that somehow had all the muscles in her thighs going loose. Suddenly self-conscious, she crossed her arms over her chest as she looked around the room, or more specifically, at everything but him. "Um, wow! This room is even better in the daylight."

Snickering, he let her get away with it for maybe five seconds before he sat up yanked her forward by her tanktop into a quick but fervent kiss. When he pulled back she looked so dazed and soft that he had to stop himself from what would surely be a wanton act of exhibitionism in another minute or two. "Good morning. " He drew his knuckles down her cheek and kissed her forehead. "Again."

That made her laugh. "Good morn...eek!" She jumped at the knock on the door and almost bashed him in the nose as she rushed to stand up. "They're here! Where's my robe?" Kurosaki's shirt was unceremoniously tossed in his face before Teru ran into the other room. "Put your shirt on! Do I look o..oh! Um, good morning!"

Kurosaki chuckled and tugged his shirt on as he listened to Teru interact with the annoyingly cheerful and timely maid who'd brought them breakfast. Tonight, he vowed silently as he stood up with a stretch, he'd be the one to fill out the menu card. He'd also, he decided with a deep breath, utilize that handy 'Do Not Disturb' sign they'd so graciously provided.

He walked into the front room to find Teru bent head to head with the maid over what seemed like way too much food. She looked up at him with such a welcoming, shy, and lovingly intimate smile that he wanted to boot the nice kimono-dressed maid out on her ass.

He thanked her instead and sat across from Teru as they had their entire breakfast explained to them like they were morons. She frowned at him to get him to stop scowling, but she still wiggled her toes against his leg and took his hand.

Definitely no breakfast tomorrow.