There is a lemon coming soon, but it's not in this chapter. I need to work up the courage to write it. I keep scripting versions of it in my head, but they never turn out quite right. More than anything I want to avoid it turning into romance novel mush - the sort of thing that Faye in the web comic Questionable Content refers to so aptly as 'girl-porn.'

This chapter is me slowly getting my feet wet, so to speak - a.k.a. a lime. I agree that limes are not as good as lemons. For one thing, there are more cakes containing lemons. But I digress.

Google the lyrics to the Nightwish song 'She Is My Sin.' It's a dark and kind of sexy song - listen to it, and you'll see what I mean. Don't worry, the long-awaited lemon will be here soon. It would be far too cruel to poor Zuko to make him wait any longer.

Vivisection

Chapter 38 - She Is My Sin

The eyes of everyone in the room were fixed on the two of them.

Strangely, Zuko didn't feel self-conscious. If anything, the attention they were getting was gratifying. Everyone who was staring at him was also staring at the girl on his arm.

He had ordered the state dinner pushed back a day - originally it had been scheduled for Lisana's birthday, but these things tended to last well into the early hours of the morning. And Zuko would be otherwise occupied on that particular night.

He smiled to himself, glancing at Lisana. She looked up at him and smiled back, thankfully not guessing what he was thinking.

'My feet are killing me,' she whispered. 'How much longer do we have to be here?'

Zuko kissed her lightly on the cheek, a chaste kiss suitable for the public eye. 'Ten minutes at most, I promise. We have to go to bed early tonight, and to do that we'll have to leave soon.'

'Why are we going to bed early?' she asked, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smile. 'Is it because you're planning on keeping me awake all tomorrow night?'

'No, it's because we're going on a trip,' he said.

Lisana sighed, rolling her eyes. 'I know, I know. We're going on some big mysterious trip, which I only know about because I bugged you, and you won't tell me where it is we're going.'

'I'll make it five minutes, then,' Zuko replied, changing the subject. 'Five minutes and we leave.'

Lisana brightened. 'Deal.'

Zuko knew the real reason that Lisana was keen to leave. As a bodyguard, her position had been one of no concern to the court, and as such, they had left her alone except for the occasional flash of speculation.

But now she was the Fire Lord's significant other. All the noble families in the Fire Nation with daughters his age - as well as some considerably younger or older than him - had been trying to fill the spot Mai had left for two years. And Lisana was in that coveted spot, to their eyes seemingly without any effort at all.

Quite a few of the courtiers didn't like her. Although Lisana used the same turns of speech they did, said nothing to give away that she had no noble blood in her whatsoever and was in fact from another world, she wasn't one of them and never would be. Mai's father had long been in the political upper echelon of the Fire Nation, so the nobility had accepted her. But Lisana had been born a commoner, which was apparently something the nobility could tell just by looking down their noses at her.

If he was paying attention, Zuko occasionally caught glances directed first at Lisana and then at him, questioning glances, as if those who were looking at him were wondering what on earth had possessed him to choose her.

The typical political bootlicking was going on constantly. Every so often a well-dressed lady or married couple with high social and political standing in the Fire Nation would initiate conversation with Lisana. She tended to smile and nod, with a perpetually bewildered expression on her face, as if she was wondering why all these people were paying such close attention to her.

It was wearing down on Zuko too. Every puzzled gaze that his arm around Lisana's waist drew eroded away a little of his patience.

Zuko decided it wouldn't do to lose his temper in the middle of a room full of people, and leant down, whispering in Lisana's ear. 'Screw it,' he muttered. 'Fuck five minutes. We're going now.'

'Well said, good sir,' she agreed, moving her stride to match his as they politely excused themselves past small groups of people.

As soon as the door to the room was shut behind them Zuko let out a breath. 'Thank Agni for that,' he exclaimed.

'Is that what it's going to be like all the time?' Lisana looked depressed. 'All those people, staring at me and whispering behind their hands?'

'It won't be that way forever,' Zuko assured her. 'They'll get bored at some point and move on to something else. One of the ladies will get caught sleeping with her husband's captain of the guard.'

'God. It's like high school all over again. Here's hoping no one throws fruit at me.' Lisana breathed out.

'If you ask me, that's a good thing.'

Lisana elbowed him. 'What are you, braindead? In what universe is having apples thrown at my head by dickhead high-school boys a good thing?'

'If they were throwing apples at you, they weren't trying to have their way with you,' Zuko pointed out.

Lisana laughed and patted the top of his head. 'Aww, that's so cute. You talk like a sixty-year-old.'

'Thanks for comparing me to an old person,' Zuko complained.

Lisana hugged him. 'Let's go to bed, then. So I can be all refreshed and stuff for your big mystery trip. That's an old people thing, isn't it? Going to bed early?'

They walked up to Zuko's room, and Zuko shut the door. Lisana collapsed on his bed, arms spread out either side of her body.

'Gnngh,' she moaned. 'Feet hurt.'

'I can kiss them better if you'd like,' Zuko teased, sitting at the edge of the bed. He took one of her legs into his lap and slid off her shoe.

Lisana wriggled her bare toes at him. 'You know how you want to give me a foot massage?'

'Your wish is my command.' He lifted her other leg, holding it under the knee, and placed her foot in his lap. He moved his thumb in circles on the bottom of her right foot, and she sighed.

Zuko's eyes slid up her leg and over her body. She was wearing a tight-fitting red silk dress, not the same outfit she'd worn to the solstice dinner. The skirt hung loosely past her upper thighs, but drew attention to the shape of everything else. Zuko traced the outline of her breasts and hips with his eyes.

'I have to say,' he said, almost thinking out loud, 'I could get used to seeing you like this.'

'What?' Lisana opened her eyes, which had fluttered shut, and levered herself into a sitting position with one arm.

'Lying on my bed,' he replied.

And with that, Lisana giggled.

'What's so funny?' he demanded.

'Stop it, that tickles!' she squealed. Zuko looked down and noticed that his thumb was brushing the padded skin beneath her toes.

On a whim, he pressed his fingers into her instep, tickling her. Lisana giggled again, her leg jerking away from him. Zuko held onto her leg, grasping it just above the knee, reaching for her ribs with his other hand. He made contact, and started digging in his fingertips there.

Lisana shrieked and kicked her legs, her body propelling itself fully upright. She shoved Zuko off her, and he fell on his back onto the bed.

'Ha! I win!' she exclaimed.

That was when Zuko took the opportunity to grasp her by the waist, pulling her down on top of him. 'Or not,' he replied.

Most of his brain functions stopped working then. She had fallen clumsily on top of him after he'd grabbed her, her legs parting either side of him. Her hair had mostly fallen out of its careful arrangement by now, her breasts pressing warm and firm against his chest.

She looked down at him, a little surprised, and then smiled cheekily. 'Well, I could get used to this,' she replied.

'What?' Zuko asked, although he suspected he already knew the answer.

'Lying on top of you,' she replied, as if it was obvious.

Zuko pulled her head down and pressed his lips against hers. Lisana parted her lips almost instantly, and Zuko tasted the smooth velvet inside of her mouth. His hands went again to her hips, and with the absence of conscious thought slid up her ribs to cup her breasts.

Lisana lifted her head at that, and Zuko stopped, thinking he'd gone too far. But she smiled again, eyes focused on him. 'Mmm,' she said, pressing her hips down onto him. 'Keep doing that.'

Zuko was only too happy to oblige. The heavy roundness of her in his hands awoke a deep aching in him. The aching traversed his body, tightening his lower belly. One of his hands slid over her shoulder, fingers temporarily brushing against her neck, before trailing over her back and eventually down to her thigh. His fingertips traced circles on the back of her leg. The dress had helpfully slid up past her knees, giving him easier access.

Lisana lifted herself off him, holding herself up on her arms, and looked down at him thoughtfully. She took his left hand in hers, the one that was still paying careful attention to her breast. Zuko made a disappointed noise, and she laughed, dropping his hand and reaching her own behind her back.

He wasn't sure what she was doing until she muttered, 'Damn clasp,' and pulled a thin black strap down one shoulder.

'I approve of that,' Zuko said, slipping his hand past the strap. Before he could find what he was looking for, Lisana frowned.

'I'm not done yet,' she said, taking hold of the right hand that was resting on her thigh. Before Zuko could wonder what she was doing, his hand had been placed for him firmly between her legs, inside the silk skirt.

'Are you sure you want to -' he began, and she shook her head, the smile back on her lips.

'That's waiting until tomorrow night,' she said. 'I just want you to start where you left off when Azula started blowing up the palace.'

Zuko smiled, and pulled his left hand away from her shoulder. He placed on the small of her back while his right hand slipped inside her underwear.

He could tell when her eyes shut and she breathed in, a smile on her face, that her boyfriend, among his other failings, hadn't known how to pleasure a woman.

'I'm sorry,' he said, just in case. 'I haven't done this in a while.'

'That feels fucking amazing,' she whispered, eyes fluttering open.

Zuko's thumb applied gentle pressure to her clitoris, his other hand steadying her hips. She let out a little gasp, breathing faster now.

Zuko couldn't help but feel pleased with himself as she clasped his hips with her knees, small incoherent noises coming from her mouth. The fact that he now had a painful erection didn't even serve as a distraction. Part of him wanted very much to keep going, but the rest of him fired the muscle groups that pulled his hand away.

Her eyes opened again, and she glared at him.

Zuko kissed her on the lips before she could say anything. 'Have you ever had an orgasm before?' he asked her.

'What's that got to do with anything?' She looked irritated, and mostly pissed off.

'I just want to know.'

Lisana's face flushed. 'My boyfriend - when we were going out, that is - didn't really know how to -'

'You want to give me your virginity tomorrow night,' Zuko said, looking up at her. 'I'll give you this.' He slipped his hand in between her thighs, thumb finding her clitoris without too much trouble, doing just enough to induce a tensing in the muscles of her belly against his wrist. He pulled his hand away again, and she sighed in frustration. 'You're mean.'

Zuko lifted her off him, sitting up. Lisana stood up, straightening her dress. 'I guess I'd better go to sleep, then,' she said, looking at him. 'It's not like I have anything better to do.'

'Goodnight. I love you,' he said, as she opened the door to her room.

Lisana paused. 'I love you too,' she replied, shutting the door behind her.

Zuko lay down on his bed, wondering how he was supposed to sleep. He was just as frustrated as she was, if not more.

Thinking of tomorrow night didn't help diminish it, either. If anything, it made it worse.