Nanashi kept close Jin the next few days, finding comfort in his presence. She picked up on the fact that he liked her, but she was unsure where to go with that. She more just wanted to her friends to found and figure out what to do after that. She did enjoy his company and working with him one on one with the foals. Two of the mothers would only let them care for their foals. The other stable hands were chased off.
This made it more difficult when one of the foals got ill and its mother would only let them treat her. Jin wanted it watched constantly, so she was willing to help. It gave her an excuse to avoid Jiro's hovering. After he told her about his update, he was hanging around her more while she felt like she needed a break from him.
While the others were away at dinner, her and Jin were trying to get the foal to take medicine. It kept baying while she tried to hold it still long enough for Jin to give it a shot to help it fight off its infection. Its mother was banging on the door to her own stable, trying to get to the foal. Jin stepped forward, kneeling down next to the foal as it squirmed. Jin watched it, unblinking. He plunged the shot into its neck, moving as quickly and carefully as possible. He pulled the needle out, setting out of reach.
"Keep hold of it," he instructed her. The foal kicked and bucked weakly in her arms, but she kept hold of it. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Didn't mess that up, I guess," he smirked.
She smirked back up at him shyly. "I guess that's true," she answered. She stayed in her seat in the empty stall.
He stepped over to her and the foal, putting a lead on the sick foal, bringing it back its mother. Nanashi heard the mother hiss and bay at him, rattling around her stall. He spoke soothingly to the creature as her slipped his way back out of the mother's stall.
Yet he did not simply return to her in her empty stall. Nanashi heard him rustling about. She rose up, leaving the stall to look for him. She did not see him anywhere on the ground level. She looked in on the sick foal and its mother. The mother cuddled her foal closely and protectively.
She felt dust and straw fall on her head. She huffed, shocked, and looking up to see where it came from. She brushed the debris out of her hair. She looked up and saw Jin up in the loft where straw, hay, and other things for the stable were stored. He cocked his head, nodding for her to come up and join her. She unfurled her wings, part jumping, part flying to the large loft.
"Could have taken the stairs, but no, an angel needs to jump," he teased.
She huffed a laugh. She noticed a blanket was slayed out on the ground behind Jin. A basket set next to the blanket. Lit candles sat on an overturned box nearby. "What's this?" she asked.
Jin stepped over to her, taking her hand, and leading her towards the blanket. "I figured since I made you miss dinner to help me with the ill foals, I would make it up to you with a picnic dinner I convinced off some of the kitchen workers."
She shook her head. "You didn't have to," she pointed out as she sat down on the blanket. "We could just go to dinner late with the others."
He gave her a playful look, "so? You can go on if you want. Sit at the royals' head table with your boyfriend, Jiro. Listen to him rattle on. Be the only half breed who gets that privilege. While I would be sitting in the back with the staff."
He sat down next to her, pulling the basket over to them. He pulled out plates, silverware and cups for the two of them. He pulled out containers of food and herbal tea, all still hot.
"No wine?" she asked, biting her lip.
"Not a big fan of the stuff," he answered. "Got a friend who likes it and drinks a good deal of it before a fight. I figured I shouldn't be serving wine to the angel though, it's improper."
"Don't call me that," she said tiredly. "I have a name." She was so tired of others calling her that rather than her name.
He served her food first and himself second. "Yes, my angel. If it please you, my angel. At once, my angel," he said imitating Jiro's voice.
She frowned over at him. "You should leave him be," she told him.
He began eating. Out of the corner of his mouth, he said, "he should leave you be. You don't like him very much."
She started to eat herself. "He's fine. He's not as bad as you make him out to be."
He gave her a studying look, but let the subject drop after that. He entertained her with questions about her own past growing up in the South. He was easy to talk to for her. Towards the end of the meal, he asked, "so before you ran off from your hometown, I bet the boys were at you like Jiro is now. Take a tumble with one or two of them?"
She helped him pack away their dirty dishes. She planned to take them herself back to the kitchens, since he was the one who fetched it. "No one likes a half demon that way," she joked. She reached passed him to grab the basket from him.
"I think you do," he commented.
He brought his head down to hers, kissing her. She hesitated, not sure if this was a good idea, in spite of how good it felt. She liked him, trusted him even. It might be okay...
His hand came up to her face. He pulled his mouth away, but only slightly. He met her eyes, studying her carefully. She nodded silently. He brought his mouth back to hers, moving his open mouth against hers. Cautiously, she opened her mouth to him, allowing him to slip his tongue inside of her mouth. She felt a thrill surge through her veins. He pushed her down on her back without breaking the kiss.
She gasped against him as his cupped her face, stroking it. She felt a burning rising up in her blood, desiring him and the distraction he had to offer her. She felt his hand and whole body tremble over her.
When he pulled away from her, she asked, "what's wrong?"
He gave her a flirtatious grin. "Still haven't figured that out, have you?" He sat up on his knees. He reached down to the base of his shirt, pulling it off and over his head. He tossed towards the side of the blanket with a care.
He looked like a demigod in his own right. So strong, muscles in plain sight in a way she doubted an elf would look shirtless. Hiei had looked that way when he trained her, but that was before she had looked at him in a romantic way she was looking at Jin right now. Never in her wildest daydreams did she imagine sitting before someone like that and him wanting her. Looking at her the way Ruka had...
She sat up before him, nervously wanting to reach over and touch him. He moved forward towards her, reaching his hands around her neck, unhooking the collar of her shirt. She trembled herself when he pulled the collar and the sleeves of her shirt off of her. He also unhook her bra from around her neck and back. The bottom half of her shirt stayed on, but he tossed the bra over to his abandoned shirt. She covered her chest up shyly with one hand.
"Do you want to stop?" he asked her, lustful eyes trained on her chest.
She bit her lip, hesitating. She shook her head, dropping her arm down to her side nervously. She closed her eyes, hearing him gasp. He kissed her anew, pushing her down on her back. One hand came up to her right breast, stroking it roughly. His breathing deepened and quickened in time with her own. He pulled away from her lips and brought his legs around her middle. His hands came to her breasts, kneading them with unexpected force. She winced to herself.
"You like that?" he asked her in a husky voice. "A demon is rough lover by nature." His hands changed up, pinching her hard. She cried out, trying to hold her voice back. "You should know that in case you change your mind." His hands were relentless, making her feel hot and flushed all over. He practically dug his nails into her soft flesh. "So you've been with someone, right?" he asked her. She thought of Ruka, nodding. "Good. That way we can't get caught. If you want me, that is."
He let her breasts go, moving off of her to pull the rest of her shirt down off of her by her legs. He sat himself down on the blanket next to her, pulling her over and onto his lap. Her legs spread out around his torso. His hands came to her lower back, pressing her against him. She felt something hard press against her inner leg. She was caught between wanting to squirm away and wanting to press on. She thought back to what Ruka had done to her. She kissed at his neck, nuzzling softly. He hummed in her ear. His hands slipped down to her backside, gripping her hard. She pushed against his shoulders, getting him to lay down on his back before her.
"Getting rough with me now, are you?" He slapped her hard, making her jump.
She put her hands on his shoulders, trying to remember what Ruka had done to her. She ran her hands up and down his front and sides, dancing her fingers along him in a barely there touch. He closed his eyes, smiling to himself as she touched him softly.
"Gentle meets rough, eh?" he whispered up at her. His hands ran up and down her thighs firmly. He grabbed her hips and forced them to press down on his, making her wince aloud. She figured out what that was and noticed he was harder for her.
He rolled her unexpectedly onto her back, pinning her down by the shoulders. "You want it?" he growled down at her. His hands came down to her hips, holding them with a bruising force. He ground his hips against hers almost painfully. He bucked his hips back and forth against her, making her feel aflame.
She panted beneath him, unable to squirm away. He kept moving. She needed to find her voice again, somewhere, someway. She wanted him, beyond her own understanding now. Worse than the way she had wanted Ruka. She grabbed his wrists, trying to pull his hands off of her.
"Please," she panted out, wanting to get him off of her at the same time wanting him to keep going.
He stopped moving his hips, smiling down at her victoriously. He sat up, bringing himself up on his knees. His hands shook her hands off. He reached his hands down to the hem of his own pants, undoing the front of them. He pulled his cock out, holding it in his hands proudly.
"Sit up," he told her. She did as was bid, sitting before him. This was different from Ruka now. She was unsure what she should do next, even though she wanted to. "You can touch it," he permitted. "Hand or mouth, do as you please."
She brought her hands up to her mouth nervously. She took a steeling breath and then reached her right hand out tentatively. She did not look at... it... while she ran her hand gently up and down the length of... it.
Jin's hand covered hers. "If you're too gentle, it won't be hard enough for you later," he whispered in her ear.
He pressed her hand down around his cock, making her rub it harder and faster. He let her hand go as she moved her hand the way he showed her. His hands came around her jaw line, tilting her head up to his. He kissed her roughly.
"I want your mouth next time," he informed her. She bit her lip, unable to look away from him. She nodded, thinking that was what he wanted her to do. He gave her a lusty smile. "Keep your hand moving," he told her.
She nodded again, following his instructions. His hands let her head go. Her hand started to feel tired, but she kept it up, thinking he wanted that. When she felt like her hand could hardly keep up the pace he wanted, he took her hand off of him. He shoved her to her back, catching her by surprise.
"So how do you prefer it?" he asked her, hands come to the hem of her pants. He brought his hand down to her center, digging his palm into her as he rubbed it up and down. She brought a fist to her mouth, biting her knuckle to help mute the moan that escaped her lips. "Hand for hand?" he suggested. He did not do anything. She felt herself begin to shake from all his teasing. "At least nod or something," he implored her.
"I... I.. I," she stuttered. Unable to speak, she managed to nod. He hand shifted smoothly from being over top of her pant to being under them. He repeated the action to get himself under her panties. "Ah... ha," she panted in shock and desire as she felt two of his thick fingers enter her. she recalled Ruka telling her the first time someone did this, they had better have earned it. She closed her eyes, telling herself he did.
"You like that?" he asked her. She nodded, knowing he would want some semblance of an answer. He laughed down at her. "Do you like this as well?" he preempted before he came down and bit her breast.
She cried out in surprise and the feelings overwhelming her. He bit her. It hurt, but made her tighten against his fingers, which felt amazing. He kept biting and sucking on her in turn with his fingers moving relentlessly inside of her. She moaned again and again. His free hand came up and clamped down on her mouth. She screamed into it as she felt pleasure rip through her.
He pulled away from her, grinning down at her more like a predator than a lover. "We doing this?" he asked down at her, hand around his cock.
'The first has to earn it, the first has to earn it,' she told herself. He wanted her and she wanted him. He did tell her no one would know. He was desirable to her. He did understand better than the others in the castle. He did want her. "Yes," she exhaled.
He was on his own back in an instant, stripping himself down. He was on her in the next instant, making her as bare as himself. He straddled her, bringing her legs up over his hips. She panicked at this for a moment, almost thinking to change her mind. He shoved his way inside of her, making her scream. His mouth claimed hers, deafening the rest of her screams as he took her hard and fast.
It hurt, like she was being stretched and forced beyond capacity. She griped his upper arms, nails digging into his flesh. Still, he kept going hard against her, stretching her out relentlessly. Her screams petered out into whimpers as heat started to overtake the pain. She blinked away at the tear pricking the corners of her eyes. She wanted him, so she had to handle it. He took his mouth off of her, bringing it down to rest against her neck as he surged on.
"You're so fucking tight," he panted against her neck. He pulled one of her legs over his shoulder, pounding down on her over and over again. "I'll pull out," he promised her. "We won't be caught, we won't be caught." He sounded almost nervous.
She shook beneath him, internal heat threatened to overtake her once more. She moaned loudly against it, not sure how much more she could handle anymore.
"You can't scream," he told her, hand coming back over her mouth. "I love the sound of it, but we can't be overheard."
She squirmed against his hand, not liking it on her. He slid her leg off his shoulder. He brought his mouth down over hers, holding it there as he focused on his own mounting pleasure. Her hips ached and everything felt on fire. She trembled against him, resisting the urge to pull her mouth away from his. Her hands scrambled against his back for purchase. Her legs tightened around his torso involuntarily. She wanted to scream out, unable to take much more of him. She wretched her mouth away, throwing her head back. He swore at her. Her lower back arched beneath him. His mouth covered hers. She screamed against it desperately. The heat she had felt building released inside in painful, blissful ecstasy.
He moaned against her mouth in turn. She could feel him start to tremble as her body relaxed against his. He kept going against her, driving inside of her to the point where it started to hurt her again. She whimpered against him, starting to want him to stop.
"Almost there," he whispered against her mouth. He brought his mouth back down to the crook of her neck. "I was nearly there when you tried to scream," he panted out. "Almost, almost there," he kept repeating. She started to tremble, exhaustion creeping over her. "Almost there, oh please, don't try to scream," he begged her. His hand raised up, shoving at her legs locked around his torso. "Let go," he rushed. She loosened her legs best she could, feeling him shift his whole body weight forward. He pinned her down, pressing himself against her. She jumped as she felt a rush of something warm, wet, and sticky between the two of them.
She laid still, feeling raw and sore beneath him. He kissed in a series of quick pecks. "Don't tell anyone," he told her. "Not a soul." He was smiling down at her, but at the same time seemed to be a bundle of nerves.
"I won't," she whispered up to him.
"Let's get cleaned up," he smiled down at her. He rolled himself off of her and reached over to the basket for a hand cloth. He rolled back over to her, stopping and staring down at her torso abruptly. "You weren't bleeding earlier," he observed.
She looked, noticing blood both on her and him. "What happened?" she whimpered. He cleaned her stomach off before wiping himself down first. He seemed almost angry with her. He was not looking at her, which made her feel suddenly exposed. He flared his nostrils, throwing her her clothes and not making eye contact. "What's wrong?" she asked apprehensively. She started to get dressed herself, wincing as her center ached.
He was standing up, busily putting on his own pants. "What's wrong?" he asked. "What's wrong is that you lied to me," he answered quietly. He was busy putting his shirt back on. "You told me you had been with someone else."
"I have been," she said, putting her shirt on.
"Who? What was his name?" he demanded. He held the ruined cloth in his hand, not sure what to do with it. He shoved it in the pocket of his pants.
She felt herself shrink. She had started putting her pants back on. "Ruka," she confessed.
"A woman?" he said, eyes going wide. He shook his head, unsure how to respond to her. "That doesn't count in this context," he growled. "The way I took you, no one should ever take a virgin. I wouldn't have even touched you had I known."
She finished putting her pants. She reached over to grabbed her socks and shoes, but could not bring herself to put them on. She brought her knees up and rested her forearms and head on them. She shrank into herself, not wanting to make eye contact with him.
He knelt down before her, but she stayed stock still. She felt him grab the end of one of her braids and swear. "Your hair... and wings have gotten darker."
She groaned, raising her head up without looking at him. She looked at her hair and brought a wing up into her peripheral vision. They were a dull, light silver color. She brought her head back down over her arms.
He pulled her over to him limply, bringing his arms around her. She hated how she had hurt him unintentionally. "Do not tell anyone, please," he insisted. "I thought you were experienced, otherwise I would never have touched you. Gossip from the kitchens says you're to be betrothed to Jiro after your friends are rescued. I just wanted you a few times before that," he confessed.
She leaned her weight against him, feeling numb over all that he had just done and told her. "I won't," she promised. "We still can," she answered hopefully.
His hand snaked up to her hair, stroking the disheveled braid. "You need to explain the new color," he said, sitting her up. His hands unraveled the braid and began twisting it back up anew unevenly. "If anyone asks, tell people we had an awful fight and you said and did some things you regret. Keep it vague and keep it veiled. Act ashamed." His hands move to her other braid as he redid it.