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CHAPTER 22

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After last week's debacle, Aizen had put the entire ranks on solitary confinement, even those who hadn't sullied their name by allowing themselves to be dragged into the mess. Everyone had been restricted to their towers and only allowed to come out per Aizen's specific order, which, unless it involved a mission, was unlikely to happen.

Ulquiorra had been unwilling to remain in the same space as the woman for such an extended period of time. He simply didn't have the patience for her, not with the trouble she'd caused, and most certainly not with the way he felt the need to bed her half the time he was around her.

He'd had nothing to do during confinement, which was unusual in itself, and so he had taken the initiative and secluded himself in a nearby tower for the duration of his detention. It was somewhere quiet and empty, full of that lulling nothingness he was so used to, but it was also close enough that he could keep an eye on the woman should anything happen.

She'd caused nothing but scandal. If half the palace wasn't gossiping about her, they were sneaking into the fourth tower to be around her, be it to hurt or humor her. Las Noches never used to be so chaotic, at least not a chaos of her nature. It had been a darker, colder place, with flourishes of violence now and again between the inhabitants. Now with the mere presence of a mortal girl, things had begun to change. She was somehow able to sniff out trouble with little effort. Arrancar got their fix off her; tormenting her, regaling her, making passes at her, or just pestering her for kicks. Some hated her, some simply couldn't get enough of her, others seemed to try a little too hard not to acknowledge her existence.

She was an ever present reminder that each and every one of them were dead. Perhaps it was because she displayed emotions that most of them had long since lost, she could feel things that they had abandoned in life. Perhaps it was just because her soul held that soft warmth that only living beings possessed…or maybe her idiotic idealism towards everything was actually able to get under their skin. In a place of violence, she was more like an indecipherable anomaly than a human girl.

Her pacifistic attitude toward everything had never really puzzled him, not like it had Grimmjow. Ulquiorra could read the woman quite well most of the time, at least in simpler matters. Once one saw the sentimentality of her nature, along with the spontaneity of her expressive moods, it was not hard to understand that her behavior stemmed from pure candidness and the plain inability to mask her own feelings. Her every word was heartfelt and mostly unfiltered. She was all passion and fancy, while he was quite literally dead inside.

Even that heart of hers, he could partly understand why she would desire to believe in it. The false comfort, the sense of superiority and self-righteousness it provided, the want to believe in a 'connection' with others in the face of desperation; all those things filled in the weakness that was the human condition. She just kept filling herself up more and more until she was overflowing. Ulquiorra, on the other hand, had an emptiness that could never be filled, not that he had a real desire to…least of all with falsities.

Understanding why and how, however, were two completely different things. How the woman was so strong, how she still prevailed even while believing in fantasies, and even just how she was the way she was; those were the things he had no answers to. He could read her like an open book and at the same time not understand a damn thing about her.

She made his mind work in a way no other had, and for that she was unique. Trying to decipher her was both annoying and interesting, something the woman was becoming alarmingly good at, and completely unintentionally.

He could still recall the puzzlement he'd felt last week when he'd found her in the hall, kneeling before the half dead form of Yammy's fraccion dog. She'd apparently come across it laying against the wall, each tiny breath fast and shallow as it fought for life. It looked limp and frail, its fur slightly mussed and ratty looking. The blood pooling from its nose spoke to the extent of the internal damage it had sustained. It wasn't an unusual sight, Yammy beat the thing senseless more often than not, and with the disaster Grimmjow and the woman had caused, he'd probably lost his temper and took his rage out on the defenseless animal for even being involved.

Ulquiorra had watched wordlessly as she approached it. Her hands had lingered over the unmoving creature's broken body, shaking in a strange combination of grief and anger.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to it, like it was her fault. "I know it hurts."

Instead of picking the animal up and causing it more pain, she gently placed a glowing hand over its form. The dog had whined and whimpered, as if it were crying out in anguish, and she carefully pulled it close to her chest in answer, holding it protectively over her heart. Even after it had been properly healed, it had continued to cry in pathetic heartbreak.

"I'll keep you safe," she uttered soothingly, petting it in long strokes. "Please don't be sad. I'm here."

Like something warm and inviting, she curled her reiatsu securely around it, cocooning it in everything that was her.

She hadn't known he'd been watching. She hadn't even known anyone had been in the hall with her.

Why had she even bothered? It was nothing more than a weak animal. Why had she seemed to feel the same pain that it had felt? If that was the power of her heart - to willingly absorb the anguish of others - then it all seemed rather trite.

What was the point of it all?

Were a heart and a soul one in the same?

Ulquiorra had merely looked away and let her be, telling himself he was uninterested in finding out. So long as she served her purpose, he really had no reason to care.

That was a week ago and Aizen's punitive sentencing had finally been suspended. He'd returned to the fourth tower the night before and had taken to his bed for the first time in seven days.

When his eyes slowly opened that morning, he could feel the warmth pressed against him like an iron.

She'd stolen into his room again…without his knowledge…without even alerting him to her presence. She'd slipped into his bed and even crept up against him. He could smell her hair, feel the softness of her skin, hear her shallow breaths and even taste her in the air. She smelled like everything from the living world, even after all her time in Hueco Mundo.

He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Her body was tucked up against his side, her face snuggled securely in his chest. At the foot of his bed, he could hear the quiet snores of Yammy's fraccion dog sleeping next to her legs.

…she'd brought an animal into his bed.

Ulquiorra frowned, beyond annoyed.

Just because Yammy had locked the beast out during his confinement it didn't mean she had to take the mutt under her wing. The weak creature would only return to Yammy once it realized it could, its loyalty utterly unwavering even in the face of such abuse.

When he felt something against his hand, Ulquiorra looked down to find her arm stretched across his chest, her fingertips drawing imaginary shapes over the upturned palm laying on the pillow opposite her. He watched the way her nails, cleanly manicured and their tips colored a soft natural white, traced over the lines of his palm.

His green eyes followed the lazy motion of her fingers, realizing that he could hardly feel the sensation at all. The calluses on his hands were old and harsh, preventing him from feeling the texture of her soft skin. He could detect the slight pressure of the movements, even the occasional brush of her nails, but the smooth silk of her flesh was lost to him in the sheer faintness of her touch.

She lifted her head to rest her chin on his shoulder. When she smiled up at him drowsily, the one thought he'd been trying to avoid came to mind; would she let him take her right now?

The moment the notion entered his head, Ulquiorra sat up and pulled away from her, leaving the bed altogether. He could feel her eyes on his back as he made his way to the shower, but he paid her no mind.

The woman was foolish for even being there, for even wanting to be in his bed, particularly after he'd spent an entire week deliberately avoiding her. Did she have no sense of self-preservation? Surely she realized she was being used. Had she already forgotten he nearly strangled her a week ago? And now he woke up to find her next to him again, seemingly without any fear of him at all.

The amount of trust was disgusting.

Nobody gave him that much trust. Not even Aizen.

Ulquiorra didn't even flinch at the freezing cold water that rained down on him from the showerhead. He'd need it after waking up with her flush against him like that. It was morning and it had been over a week. He was already half hard and just the smell of her was getting to him more than it really should have.

He tried to picture her beating heart in his hand, squeezing until the light went out of her eyes, but all that came to mind was the image of him pressing himself between her legs and releasing his frustration.

His fingers ran through his hair, saturating it in the frigid water and causing the black strands to cling to his face and neck, utterly contrasting against his pale skin.

He hadn't been in there for thirty seconds when he felt her presence at the door.

Ulquiorra frowned, staring steadfastly at the tiled wall in front of him when he sensed her eyes on his back. There was a moment's pause before he could hear her tiny footfalls creeping into the room, each nearly as silent as the last. From his periphery he could see her blurry, curvaceous figure behind the long glass wall, inching ever closer.

He could practically sense her nervousness and found it ironic that she should seem so uncertain. She'd done everything short of making an attempt on his life and he had been tolerant through nearly every trying obstacle with her…far more tolerant than he would have been with anyone else.

When he felt her fingers gently touch his back, his eyes shot to the side, watching as she slowly slipped into his line of vision. Quite unexpectedly, her hand was suddenly there, cupping his cheek and brushing the hair out of his eyes.

Pushing up onto her toes, she softly pressed her lips to his.

Her eyes met his as she leaned back, a small, shy smile lighting her face.

Just what did this woman think she was doing?

Like she could control his actions, he automatically bent down to recapture her lips. His hand locked around the side of her neck, pulling her closer as he watched her eyes close in bliss. Briefly withdrawing, his thumb brushed against her bottom lip, observing the way the pliable pink flesh yielded under his touch. She sighed and he could practically feel the heat of her breath caress the pad of his finger.

His mouth swept over hers again, soft and purposeful, and she pushed up onto the balls of her feet to wrap her arms around his neck. Her fingers delved into his hair as he pressed a single kiss to the corner of her mouth. His tongue soon followed, sliding into her mouth without any real force, as he already knew she'd let him in.

Lowering his head, Ulquiorra quickly deepened the kiss, tasting every inch he could reach. After a full week without it, the flavor of her suddenly seemed nearly irresistible.

She moaned into him and he immediately had her back against the wall. He leaned over her, his arm braced on the tiles above her head as he plundered her mouth.

Her fingers were like tiny, soft feathers as she reached up and touched his cheeks, only to slowly run them down the length of his neck and lower. He exhaled against her when she sucked his upper lip between her teeth, and then lightly kissed him in a moment of playful seduction that had his fist clenching on the wall above her. Her eyes were smiling at him, glittering in a way that tested his self control.

Slow and leisurely, she pressed kiss after kiss along his jaw, taking her time as she moved to his neck. Each touch was deliberate, and Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes as he watched her gradually smother silent trails down his chest. Her nails gently raked over his obliques as she slid down his body and dropped to her knees before him, her lips grazing his navel and causing a tight muscle in his abdomen to flex slightly. Her eyes lifted to his, large and dark and glossy in the light of the room.

She somehow managed to keep his gaze, meeting the intensity of the green orbs that delved into her own, though not without a horribly deep blush of red flushing her cheeks. Water dripped onto her face as his body shielded her from the freezing torrent, though her nightclothes had already been soaked clear through, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

There was nervousness in her eyes as her hands carefully ran down his belly and thighs. Pinned under his gaze, he could practically hear her heart begin to race faster than it probably ever should. It thrummed through her veins, fluttering like something tiny and intangible about to give out from the sheer exhaustion of beating so hard.

With trembling fingers, she lightly ran her hand down his length before wrapping around him completely. She watched, fascinated, as his chest began to rise and fall in a somewhat faster cadence.

Her hand was small, warm, and soft as it gave a tentative squeeze. With a certain level of question she tried to hide, her fist glided up and then back down.

The woman had no idea what she was doing…he could see it in her face. She had utterly no clue…and he could do little more than fight the urge to fall to his knees in desperation for her to just swallow him already. When she nuzzled her cheek against the rigid muscles of his stomach before dipping lower, he grit his teeth just to ward off the desire to force her mouth open and shove himself down her throat.

His fist clenched even harder against the wall, disgusted by the fact he'd been reduced to something so pathetic in the face of a sixteen year old human who had no damned clue how to pleasure a man.

Instilled with some confidence that hadn't been there before, she exhaled a slow trail across his hip, her lips like the faintest kiss of a ghost. She was attempting to tease him, pushing her boundaries as far as she pleased once she saw the dark spark in his dilated eyes. Her fingers grew more and more assured as she began slow, attentive strokes. The moment her tongue darted out to run teasingly from his base to tip, his hand completely buried itself in her hair, urging her forward.

He forgot about the cold water pouring down his back as she swirled the appendage around the head of his cock, his hard eyes glued to the motion. When she finally slid her mouth over him, his upper lip curled slightly to fight off the groan threatening to spill out of his chest, watching as her full, pink lips took him inside her. The heat of her covered him almost agonizingly slow, both soft and wet.

Her pulse thundered away under her skin, making her whole being ignite with a new kind of exhilaration. She stopped halfway down, and when she felt his hand in her hair silently guiding her back, leading her to pursue the suggestion of the motion, she eagerly followed, glad for the subtle hint. On her way back down, she devoured him slowly, taking what she could but wanting so much more. Her tongue would occasionally stroke him inside her mouth, circling him when she pulled back far enough, just for the sake of tasting him.

Her heart leapt when she glanced up at him, only to find him staring down at her with an intensity that caused heat to flush through her entire body. With him leaning over her, his forearm braced on the wall, he looked strangely beautiful. His form was lithe in its build and paleness, yet just as painfully attractive with the discreet cut of graceful muscle on his body. Every inch of him was lightly and perfectly defined, just like everything else about him; subtle but cast with an underlying, silent power.

Wanting to please him all the more, she brought her hand up and closed it around his shaft. Though her small fingers barely fit around him, she began stroking him with each mouthful she took.

Just the mere sound of his quiet grunt sent a jolt of pure pleasure rippling straight to her core. She squirmed slightly from her place on the floor to ease the ache, rubbing her knees together as she felt that burning fire light up inside her.

His hips started moving in time with her mouth, each thrust growing less gentle as she proved she could take more and more of him with each passing second.

When his hand slipped around to rest at the back of her head, she felt him cushion her as he pushed her further back against the wall, thrusting into her a little faster, a little more forceful.

Orihime's nails dug into his thigh, her pulse jumping as she watched the way his abs flexed with each curl of his hips.

Before long, Orihime's head was bumping the wall with every thrust as he held her against him. Though, instead of feeling the hard tiles rattling her brains, all she felt was the firm palm of his hand acting as a buffer. His breathing was ragged and his fingers were tightening in her hair, pulling her closer to him and encouraging her to take more of his length.

Orihime moaned and gasped as she eagerly met his pace, dragging her hand up to scrape her nails over his hip.

"Shit…" she heard him bite out under his breath just as he dropped his head to his forearm. His fist and jaw were clenched hard and his wet hair was hanging in his face, obstructing him from her view. For a moment Orihime wondered if she was doing something wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to stop. She wanted to taste him, to make him cum inside her mouth, to make him feel all the wonderful things he made her feel.

With desire burning through her own veins, Orihime rose slightly on her knees and took him clear to the hilt.

The long, subsequent groan that followed nearly made Orihime cum right then and there. She felt her walls clench in excitement, moisture oozing between her legs. In a moment of weakness, she almost stopped just to free up her tongue to beg him to take her. She longed for nothing more than to hear that sound again.

When she felt the way his entire length began to throb and grow tense, Orihime made it a point to take him deep into her throat. She completely abandoned the use of her fist on him, finding it only got in the way now.

Her nails raked desperately down his lower back, trying to keep him as close as mortally possible as she doubled her efforts. Her breasts were nearly pressed flush against his lean thighs, gluing herself to him as if she could mold herself to him completely. His thrusts grew weak and sporadic, his hand not even guiding her head anymore as he brought it up to brace his palm on the wall with his other arm. Every muscle in his body felt dangerously hard and tight, wound up like one big coil ready to snap. A few thrusts later, Orihime moaned around him and his knees almost gave. All the soft little vibrations it sent through his shaft…

Quite suddenly, his hand shot back down and gripped her hair hard, pulling her to him as he thrust roughly once, twice, and exploded in her mouth.

Orihime mewled wantonly as she sucked at his cock, feeling the thick seed fill her throat and coat her tongue. She didn't once mind the taste. She only cared to swallow as much as she could, even as some gushed past her lips and mixed with the water. It dripped from her chin and fell to her breasts, disappearing somewhere in her cleavage.

Heat was pooling in her loins, her body practically dripping with hunger. Just the sounds of his deep, heady groans were getting her unbearably hot. The mere thought that she'd been capable of bringing him such pleasure was driving her mad. Somewhere deep inside, she somehow knew no other person had ever seen him like this and that no one probably ever would.

Only she could do this to him.

The next thing Orihime knew, her body had been forced into the wall of the shower. Her face was pressed hard into the tiles, nearly causing her to sigh from the cool relief against her scorching flesh. Did he even know how much her skin was crawling with lust?

She felt her legs being spread wide and she frantically offered him her rear, more than ready for him. A couple impatient yanks and her underwear was around her knees. Her fingers clawed in slow agony against the slippery tiles as one of his arms slipped under her thigh from behind to hold her up and keep her spread open, pulling her ass back into him.

Just as suddenly, three fingers were plunged forcefully inside her.

Orihime cried out, curling her toes into his thigh as she struggled against the fullness. He rocked the digits into her deep, never really pulling back, just forcing her to take them, to stretch around them.

"Oh…god…" she exhaled hard, terrified her pussy was going to fall apart and explode all at once. It was just too much, too soon.

"That's it," he said roughly against her neck, his voice sounding huskier than usual.

How could his fingers possibly feel so deep?

"Just like that," he breathed harshly, feeling her body slowly loosening and accepting his knuckles.

Just as her walls began coiling around him, he drew back. Almost immediately, the thick head of his cock returned and began pressing into her. For a long, agonizingly blissful moment, his hips merely strained against hers, slowly sinking as deeply as possible. His hand was in her hair, pulling her head back and exposing her throat to him as her muscles began to expand at the intrusion.

When she felt him seat himself fully inside her, Orihime moaned and rolled her hips back, wanting more. He retreated, only to immediately drive forward again and again, thrusting into her willing body with hard, forceful snaps of his hips.

There was something a little violent about the way he fucked her, and Orihime groaned from the strange sensation of exhilaration it gave her. His hands held her prisoner, his body immobilized her to the wall and his arms felt like a steel trap, causing every part of her being to tingle and burn in delight. He lifted her thigh higher, opening her even more for easier entry.

The walls around them began to perspire, their skin coated in cold sweat from the shower beating down on them. Panting and sighs and moans filled the air between them, underlining the slick slide of flesh on flesh.

Orihime whimpered as she felt his teeth slowly rake down the length of her neck and then lower, moving past her shoulder to her back. She shivered at the sharp welts he left behind, half insane from the feel of his cool breath against her burning skin. His member filled her so completely, hitting that spot every time.

"Ulquiorra," she whined when he thrust forward, penetrating her deep enough that she just had to grind back into the feeling.

She could hear his breaths against her neck as he dropped his hand from her hair and grabbed her waist. He pulled her even further into him, holding himself inside her as he rocked.

"It's so good," she moaned brokenly, her head rolling back onto his shoulder. "Please, right there…it feels so good!"

Planting her palms onto the tiles, she used the wall as leverage and began pushing back against him, reveling in the satisfaction of having him so deep. His fingers tightened on her skin, holding her to him as they rocked, both of them grinding hard and drawing out the pleasure with each long motion. He gave utterly no comply and she fought against him just as ruthlessly, feeding off the thick, compressed tension.

Orihime buried her head into his neck, feeling that swelling, bubbling sensation again.

"Ulquiorra," she breathed against him, her lips searching out his. Her eyes clenched shut when she felt him lean down into her kiss, the mere touch of him stealing the life out of her. His tongue plunged into her mouth, dragging her down into a spiral that she couldn't pull out of.

She whimpered helplessly into his kiss as she felt her walls grow tighter and tighter.

Unexpectedly, his fingers slid between her legs and pressed into her clit, causing her hips to snap back with a deep, resonating groan catching in her throat. Her lips tore themselves from his as she turned her head away, her face contorting in torturous pleasure as everything closed in on her.

Her body contracted around him like a delicious and uncontrollable eruption of fire, every muscle in her being tensing up as her back arched against him. Her mind blanked out and her vision blurred into a blinding white light. Scorching hot pleasure poured into her, pumping through her blood like a drug.

She could tell by the way he kept going that he wasn't even remotely done with her.

Orihime really didn't mind in the least. It had been a full week since she'd seen him and she was more than ready to make up for lost time.


"Please?" Orihime was trying to be polite as she leaned over the counter in the tiny kitchen.

"Woman, I already told you no," he said calmly, completely unaffected by her large brown eyes staring at his back pleadingly.

"I'm just asking you to eat breakfast with me." She slumped a little at his rejection. It was for his own good that she was trying. He needed real food and not that plastic…stuff he kept in his kitchen.

"I have more important things to do than waste my time with such frivolous activities," he explained as he pulled his jacket on.

"It's not frivolous…" she said quietly. "I like eating with people I care about."

"You enjoy ingesting food with other people around you?" he stated more than asked, sounding like the concept wasn't exactly something that seemed all that amazing.

"Yes."

"Compared to ingesting it alone?" And the difference? was the unspoken words that lingered in the air.

"Well, then what about dinner? I'm sure you won't be as busy then, yes?"

"No."

"But-"

"Woman, cease your whining," he narrowed his eyes at her over his shoulder. "It is unpleasant."

Orihime wrinkled her nose and frowned.

She was not whining.

She knew he'd been avoiding her during that whole 'week of confinement', but really.

Aizen himself had been very…annoyed by the whole ordeal and had decided to take it out on everybody. She'd never seen the man so upset. The closest she could remember was the time she had mentioned Hinamori-san in front of him…and that hadn't exactly turned out very well, either. It had been rather terrifying, in fact. The suave ex-Captain who was seemingly incapable of having his feathers ruffled had been irked to see his silent, omnipresent control over Las Noches be disrupted by such a commotion. A commotion caused by his own prisoner and subordinates, no less. As if to make matters worse, two of which had been Espada.

Quite honestly, she was afraid Ulquiorra was still irritated with her. He hadn't said much after the incident, she had mostly gotten the silent treatment. He hadn't even stayed in his tower during the week, choosing instead to stay elsewhere. For Ulquiorra - the man who seemingly couldn't be bothered to be intimidated enough to run from anything - to literally separate himself from her, meant he must have needed the space.

It had infuriated her somewhat, considering she really wasn't the one responsible for the whole thing. She hadn't done anything wrong. Grimmjow had been the one to attack Wonderweiss, who in turn set Hooleer upon Las Noches. She had just been an innocent bystander, dragged into the chaos against her will.

Now that he'd returned, she really wanted to ask him to dinner, but he apparently had other plans - ones that didn't include her. While she may not have it in her to be very pushy, being around Ulquiorra and the rest of the Espada had brought out a slightly more assertive side of her, and she intended to put that assertiveness to use.

"Well, what if I get into trouble again while you're away?"

Ulquiorra's eyes darted back over to her, seeing through her words instantly.

Unperturbed by the look, she continued. "I think it would be bad if Lord Aizen got upset again." She blinked innocently and Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed further. "I don't think any of the others would enjoy another week of solitary confinement."

She smiled at him sweetly, trying to ignore the way his icy gaze was sending chills down her spine.

It was quiet for just a beat too long, making her wonder if she should start backpedaling.

"Fine," he said plainly, his voice holding no real indication to tell her whether he was annoyed or not. "Dinner then."

Orihime nearly jolted back at his simple answer. She really hadn't expected him to cave to her poor attempt at blackmail. He must have been able to tell she was just bluffing. Of course she'd never have followed through with her 'threat'. Perhaps his curiosity had been piqued?

"Just be ready when I return."

He left no further room for discussion as he exited, causing a red hot blush to slowly work itself onto her cheeks.

Reaching up, Orihime patted her face in disbelief.

Had Ulquiorra just agreed to dinner with her? Through extortion?


As Orihime walked through the halls on her way to the arena, she mentally ran over all the things she could possibly prepare for the night ahead of her.

Maybe he would like her red bean paste, or some butter drenched rice balls?

Or maybe she should just fix something bland and boring like most people like? After all, she still didn't know what types of foods he enjoyed, if any at all. She inwardly berated herself for forgetting to ask him that before he left that morning. She really wanted it to be perfect and the thought of her fixing something he disliked was a constant worry in the back of her mind.

He'd tried her food once before and hadn't said anything about it, so he surely must have a somewhat similar taste preference as her.

Orihime had to push the thoughts from her mind as she made her way into the brightly lit arena. She was on her way to meet Nnoitra and Harribel again. Even though she hadn't been allowed, she had secretly been sneaking out during the week of punishment to go train with Nnoitra. She was fairly certain Ulquiorra had known, but had simply not acted upon it. So long as she came back alive, she doubted he really cared. Harribel had remained in her tower for the duration, too loyal to Aizen to sneak out as Orihime had done. Nnoitra himself hadn't even left his own tower, but he also hadn't made any protests to her visits, either. More often than not, he'd pawn her off on Tesla, but when he did spend time with her he rarely let his blonde fraccion talk to her, usually monopolizing all of her time.

She had been glad they hadn't minded her visits, considering she had been growing incredibly stir crazy cooped up like that. Getting out to train with Nnoitra and Tesla had been one of the few saving graces during that extended period. As it was, she had realized after the first two days that she probably hadn't actually been under house arrest like the rest of them. In fact, she wasn't even punished at all. She was still allowed to go to the kitchen, explore the grounds and generally do as she pleased. Though, with everyone under lock, the place had been quite empty. She suspected the lack of reprimand in her case had something to do with the fact that she was technically already a prisoner, albeit one that basically had free reign over the place. That is, so long as she 'accepted' the fact there was literally no escape from Hueco Mundo or the man known as Aizen Sosuke. As long as he wanted her, she would belong to him.

In her heart, though, she was already free despite the figurative chains binding her to the palace.

There had been a couple times that she had tried to find Ulquiorra, as she was certain he hadn't secluded himself too far from her and the tower. After all, he always seemed to find her one way or another when she happened to wander too far for his liking. However, her efforts had proved fruitless. If Ulquiorra didn't want to be bothered, he knew how to not be found.

When Orihime finally reached the arena, a large smile spread across her face at the sight of not only Nnoitra and Tesla there, but Harribel as well.

It seemed they hadn't forgotten, after all. She had been half expecting to walk in and find no one there. She figured they'd either forget about her, or perhaps Nnoitra would lose interest now that he wasn't under confinement any longer, or that Harribel would simply have no desire to continue.

Now, just seeing them there made her strangely happy.

Running forward, Orihime joined the group, ignoring the scowl on Nnoitra's face and the anger in Harribel's eyes from the two having obviously gotten into another verbal disagreement. Tesla greeted her politely and Harribel nodded her head in a rare display of acknowledgement, Nnoitra giving her his usual vulgar comment.

Orihime smiled up at them warmly.

She was really glad they were helping her.


Orihime panted heavily as she got back to her feet for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her hair was clinging to her bare neck and arms as sweat beaded on her skin.

"You're getting faster, pet-sama." Nnoitra yawned, looking completely and utterly bored. "But you're still way too slow. Can't you do any better?" He scratched at the back of his head as if he were contemplating giving up on her.

She had to wonder how he was so strong. Like Ulquiorra, he was so much thinner than the rest of his brethren, but his strength alone was unbelievable. Not to mention, he was insanely fast. He hadn't even broken a sweat with her. Each of her attacks were easily deflected, only allowing her to land a select few blows, of which her punches and kicks barely made him bruise, let alone penetrated that maddeningly strong hierro of his.

Still, she had pierced his hierro once before…that meant she could do it again.

Orihime could tell just from the force of his counter attacks, as well as the speed with which he was forced to block her, that she had gradually been pushing him further and further since that first day they fought. His punches were getting harder and his defenses had to work faster against her. She was making him up his game, though not by much.

"I'm really doing my best," she sighed a bit in defeat.

"Yeah, well your best ain't good enough," he retorted.

"Nnoitra, enough." Harribel stopped him. "There is no sense in pushing her. She's already made a lot of progress."

Nnoitra scoffed. "You're kidding, right? Her punches haven't even changed in strength. The only thing she's improved on is her speed and endurance."

"She's a human, physical strength is out of her grasp at this point," Harribel explained this as if it were something he should have already known.

It was true, Orihime was just a human. She'd never measure up to their power. Sado-kun was incredibly strong, but he was much bigger than her. His El Directo also had a massive amount of reiatsu packed into it, unlike her attacks. She barely had enough to keep herself from passing out from Nnoitra's punches. She was just lucky she wasn't like every other average human, who would have died simply from standing in their presence.

"I'm sorry." Orihime clenched her hand against her heart. "I'm really trying. It's just a lot more exhausting than I thought it would be. I've never worked this hard in my life." It was a fact. Even when she was training with Tatsuki she'd never felt so exhausted. Trying to keep up with Espada was like chasing the sun; it just couldn't be done for a human like her. They could just keep going and going, while she needed to stop and take break after break.

They'd been going at it for hours and all she'd gotten out of it were aching muscles and more bruises.

"I feel like all the energy has been zapped from my body." Orihime smiled up at them. "You guys are really impossible to keep up with. It's really impressive!" she praised.

"Yeah, well suck it up," Nnoitra said, impervious to compliments and flowery words. "If you want to get stronger, you need to work for it…who gives two shits if you're tired? Unless you intend to go to Aizen and beg him to turn you into some hybrid freak, start getting serious."

"Yes, you're right." Orihime nodded and wiped at her brow, noticing yet again just how long her bangs had gotten. Her hairpins were barely holding them back anymore. "Shall we try again?"

"Yeah, yeah." Nnoitra waved offhandedly at her politeness. He didn't seem to get too fired up around her when she got like that; all sweet and unimposing. Quite honestly, she preferred it that way. Nnoitra was a difficult man to be around when he got angry or excited about something. He was usually worse than Grimmjow and his fits of rage were much, much crueler, though thankfully less frequent.

"Oi, Nnoitra," a loud, condescending voice called from the doorway, pulling their attention towards the interruption. "You picking fights with little girls now to get your rocks off?"

As if conjured from her thoughts, Grimmjow sauntered into the room confidently, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he grinned at them.

Nnoitra scowled at him, but remained calm regardless.

"Fuck off," he drawled a bit angrily, glaring at the man from the corner of his eye. "Thanks to your reckless ass, I had to spend a whole fucking week trapped in that goddamned tower."

"And I'm sure you'd just love to take it out on me." Grimmjow's smirk spread in a taunting manner. "Why don't you show me how pissed you are?"

Orihime couldn't believe it, he was trying to provoke another fight. She knew Grimmjow enjoyed violence more than she was even remotely comfortable with, but the destructive behavior she'd seen out of him lately was a little excessive, even for him. They'd all just been freshly released, it was the first day she'd seen him since that incident last week, yet already he was trying to cause more trouble.

"Keh, yeah right. Like you could take me." Nnoitra chuckled. "Besides, if you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy with pet-sama at the moment."

"Eh?" Grimmjow stopped to stare down at her. "You mean you're actually hanging around this asshole of your own free will?"

"Of course I am." Orihime beamed up at him. "Nnoitra-kun and Harribel-san are helping me. They're both really strong."

"Help?" Grimmjow lifted a brow, though the look in his eyes seemed to indicate he wasn't as interested as he let on.

"Yes, they're training me." Orihime offered him another big smile, feeling pride at the thought of having such strong people taking the time to assist her.

Grimmjow blinked down at her for a second, and then promptly burst out into uproarious laughter. "You can't be serious!"

Orihime's cheeks puffed out, only causing him to laugh harder.

"Yeah, that's the face of a true warrior," he mocked and reached out to poke one of her inflated cheeks. It promptly deflated unimpressively, a poof of air swooshing lamely past her pursed lips. Orihime's face flushed with color as he turned back to his fellow Espada. "Way to go," he drawled sarcastically to both Nnoitra and Harribel. "I can tell you're really toughening her up." He cackled. "She'll be breaking boulders before you know it!"

Nnoitra grinned wickedly, seemingly finding humor at her expense. "You're right," he agreed. "Perhaps we should try a different approach." He glanced at Harribel, half expecting her to offer up some sort of protest. When she merely continued to watch silently from the sidelines, making sure things didn't escalate too far for the weaker mortal female, he tittered darkly.

He really wanted to test just how far the girl had grown and he knew just the way.

"Why don't you fight her?" he suggested to Grimmjow, who abruptly stopped his laughing at the proposition.

"You fuckin' with me?" He narrowed his eyes at the tall man.

Nnoitra merely continued to grin at him, silently daring him to back away from the challenge. "You ain't scared of fighting a little girl, are you? Besides, just think about it…Cifer would be pretty pissed if you happened to break a bone or two on her."

Grimmjow's eyes suddenly widened, then turned to look at the girl from the corner of his eye. Slowly, his large, imposing smile returned to his face as he realized the opportunity this presented.

"Hey, princess, does that fucker know you're here?" he asked her.

"W-who?" She really wasn't sure who he was talking about. 'That fucker' could refer to a lot of people in Grimmjow-talk.

"Ulquiorra! Does Ulquiorra know you're here?" he clarified impatiently.

Orihime cocked her head, not understanding why he cared. "I…I don't know."

"Of course he knows where she's at," Nnoitra offered. "You think he'd let her out of ear range after that stunt you pulled last week?"

"Alright, princess, what do you say?" He leaned in close, practically intimidating her into submission with his massive presence. "Wanna fight me?"

Orihime swallowed quietly, feeling a little unsure. "I…I suppose it wouldn't hurt." She pressed a knuckle to her bottom lip and lowered her eyes to the side, contemplating the matter. She'd grown used to fighting Nnoitra and Tesla, but it would probably do her some good to try and take on different opponents with different styles of fighting.

With her decision made, she looked back up into his blue eyes and smiled. "Alright, I think it would be fun."

Grimmjow chuckled darkly.

"Yeah…fun."


Ulquiorra had a week's worth of catching up to do, but he wasn't fool enough to leave the woman so soon after all the trouble that had been rounded up by her and Grimmjow last week. He knew the quiet wouldn't last.

Most of the Espada had accepted the solitary confinement without much objection, even willingly in Starrk's case. Yammy had thrown a bit of a fit, but had eventually relented, while others like Harribel, Baraggan, Zommari and the like said nothing at all, only bowing to their Lord's commands. Szayel buried himself in his lab, as was the norm, and Nnoitra had filled his days with his harem, his time with the women only interrupted when the girl went to visit him, which Ulquiorra made sure to keep close tabs on even from the confines of his isolation.

Despite the bruises and the fluctuations in her reiatsu, he had never sensed a threat to her life and had thus never bothered to act upon her daily ventures. It wasn't hard to figure out what she'd been up to.

Grimmjow, on the other hand, had utterly rebelled against the penalty he'd received. Unlike the others, he cursed and fought tooth and nail in rebuttal. With Aizen slowly growing impatient with his rebellious behavior, he'd merely placed a kido barrier around the Sexta's tower and left it at that.

Grimmjow had literally been locked away.

Even Ulquiorra believed that to be an unwise decision. Grimmjow was unstable enough as it was when he didn't get the chance to pummel his frustrations into the face of some random victim. Now, with Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends actively moving through Hueco Mundo, taunting the blue haired man with their presence, he would surely do something brash and stupid once he got out.

It was always possible that was exactly what Aizen was gunning for. He knew all the strengths and weaknesses of every Espada under his command. He was beyond adept at playing to each of those attributes and manipulating them to his advantage. Even Ulquiorra himself was not immune to these games.

With Grimmjow, however, the man made it much too easy.

Ulquiorra stood in the deeply shadowed passage that opened up into the arena, watching as Grimmjow took up a position not far from the woman. He threw degrading insults and remarks her way, thinking it would get a rise out of her like it would with any other opponent. He should have known better than to even try, the woman clearly wasn't vicious enough to retort to his coarse language, she simply didn't have the spirit for that type of banter or violence.

He briefly debated with himself whether he should put a stop to the ridiculous match, the outcome was obvious. However, he was curious to see what the woman would do. After all, when he'd put her in the ring, she'd practically done everything in her power just to not fight, as it seemed everything he ordered her to do, she simply made it her point in life to go against it.

Still, it wasn't his job to be curious about her fighting abilities, it was his job to keep her safe and out of trouble, and he really wasn't in the mood to deal with yet another disturbance so soon after they'd been released from the consequences of the first.

Even so, he would wait.

He wanted to see how she would handle her inevitable failure…but he also knew once Grimmjow found out the woman wasn't quite as weak as he originally calculated, he would have to intervene. Once it hit that point, Ulquiorra knew the man would lose control. He'd just have to put a stop to it when the time came.

As it was now, the woman stood nervously before the grinning Espada, trying her best not to appear intimidated. Just then, before a start could be called, Grimmjow disappeared from sight. The moment he materialized in front of the girl, she cried out in wide eyed shock.

That incompetent fool, Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes when he noticed the speed Grimmjow was already using. Even Nnoitra held back with her.

Apparently Grimmjow wasn't going to be so gracious.

She barely got her shield called up in time to block his fist, and Ulquiorra noticed how much stronger her defense had become when it didn't immediately shatter under Grimmjow's strength. However, with her mind still in a state of shock, the glowing light flickered out, weakening in the face of the Espada's malicious gaze.

With just a little more pressure, Grimmjow pushed through her shield with ease.

Orihime shrieked and ducked away.

"G-Grimmjow-kun!" she stuttered. "Y-you're being too rough!"

Grimmjow only laughed and threw another punch at her, which she was scarcely able to dodge. "What's the matter, princess? Don't have what it takes? You know no one's going to go this easy on you out in the real world, right?"

Orihime screamed as she felt his fist in her hair, pulling her back as she tried to run away. "Stop it! You're not playing fair!"

"Don't give me that shit," he scoffed and tossed her to the floor. "Now stop running and get up and fight me! Strike back, do something, damn it!"

Orihime's eyes darkened as she pushed herself up on the palms of her hands, her brows furrowing as she glanced at him over her shoulder.

He really didn't have to be so mean.

Was he trying to make her feel weak?

Well, she'd prove that she wasn't!

"Oh," Grimmjow drawled teasingly. "Is the princess actually getting mad?"

Orihime could practically feel her fighting spirit inflate at his words. She wasn't mad, she just wanted him to play fair. She understood an opponent wouldn't be so forgiving in the field, but that didn't mean he had to fight dirty right now. It was obvious to everyone here who the stronger one was…he really didn't have to rub it in.

As she started to rise to her knees, Grimmjow came at her again, his eyes gleaming darkly. Frowning at the man, Orihime immediately called on her shield, blocking him fully.

Grimmjow cackled at her same old tricks and pulled his fist back to smash through her defense.

His hand came down and Orihime narrowed her eyes.

With a swipe of her arm, the shield dissipated just before he made contact. With nothing there to strike, his punch became over extended, throwing him forward towards her. Orihime raised her knee, slamming it firmly under his chin, only to immediately follow through by driving her elbow down onto the back of his neck, sending the stunned man crashing into the ground at her side.

Orihime hastily scurried away from him, putting as much distance between them as she could. She knew once he got up, he'd be upset with her…and she really didn't want to be within striking range when that happened.

Raising her arms, she prepared herself as she felt the reiatsu in the room grow heavy and destructive.

Planting a hand on the ground, Grimmjow slowly pushed himself up. When he suddenly turned to glare at her with that familiar, terrifying look, Orihime swallowed hard and tried to keep her nerves under lock. It wouldn't do her any good to lose her courage now.

She couldn't help but tremble slightly from his reiatsu, knowing her own powers simply didn't compare. His felt like a never ending flood that would just keep coming and coming…just like Ichigo's. Hers was just a small, steady stream that would eventually run out.

Still, maybe she could get in a good hit or two before he took her down.

"You wanna play, princess?" he growled as he stood up, never taking his sights off her. "Fine. Let's play."

Orihime shrieked and dropped low when she felt the pressure of his fist flying over her head.

He nearly decapitated her!

"G-Grimmjow-kun! Stop swinging so hard!" She tried to reason with him as she threw up another shield. She had given him what he wanted, hadn't she? She was fighting back, so why was he so worked up? "I can't keep up!"

"Too bad, now shut up and fight me!" He raised his foot and shoved it into her shield, causing it to utterly crumble under his force.

Orihime's eyes widened as she watched his boot come down on her. A million things went through her mind at that moment, first of which was the good sense to cry out for help. However, even her instincts knew there wouldn't be time for that. Survival kicked in and she crossed her arms in front of her, crying out as she felt the blow that literally forced the cement beneath her to crack. On one knee, she barely kept from crumbling under him, still trying to hold him off while he only kept adding more and more pressure.

"Grimmjow!" She raised her eyes to his, feeling something akin to anger spark through her. "Stop it, please!"

He only smiled.

Her fists clenched as the will to fight returned tenfold.

Orihime didn't want to get stronger just for the sake of fighting. She honestly didn't like it all that much. She'd only wanted to learn in order to protect herself and her friends, to be able to do something about the war. But these Espada were pushing her into an area where she wasn't comfortable. They apparently didn't understand the concept of restraint, of fighting for protection, and now they were trying to push her into that place of darkness where fighting only existed for the sake of violence.

Why couldn't they see? Things just didn't have to be that way. She could defend herself without using such horrible, brutal methods. Defensive could be just as strong as offensive. It didn't have to always be about power and bloodshed.

Tears stung her eyes as she felt her arms begin to ache under the pressure of his boot. It hurt so much…

Snapping her gaze back up to his, Orihime let out a tiny, feral growl as, for the first time in her life, she actually fought back with all her might.

Opening her arms, she deliberately let his foot fall. She dodged its path as it slammed into the floor, putting all her speed into lunging straight at him. Considering she didn't particularly enjoy using her fists, Orihime plunged her elbow hard into his chest. She grit her teeth and forced herself not to cry out from the pain of hitting his solid frame with her much weaker one, but soldiered on regardless.

He'd easily seen her attack coming and, although he didn't even need to brace his feet in the ground to absorb the brunt of it, he was surprised to see that wasn't all she had to offer.

Grimmjow's face froze in utter shock as he watched her knee come out of nowhere, aimed right at his head. When he felt the reiatsu she had building up behind that strike, his eyes widened in disbelief.

When did she…?

"What the fuck?!" he hissed, wondering how she even knew how to fight in hand to hand combat. All he'd ever seen her use were her shields and fairies.

Pure battle instinct took hold of him just then, causing his body to act without thought.

Raising his arm, his hand grabbed her thigh to stop her attack. Small as she was, his palm practically swallowed her leg up.

Still moving on impulse, Grimmjow swung her frail body around…and threw her straight into the nearest wall.

There wasn't even a scream, just utter, eerie silence.

Her body had made a tiny fracture in the cement, but with her simply not being built like the rest of them, most of the damage had been done to the girl, rather than the partition that had barely cracked under the impact.

His eyes were wide and alarmed as he stared down at her limp, unmoving form on the floor.

"Idiot!" Nnoitra hissed behind him. "Why didn't you do anything to stop him?!" He turned to Harribel, whose turquoise eyes were also slightly wide and frozen in shock.

"I…I wasn't expecting her to be that strong," Grimmjow breathed, never taking his eyes off the young woman. He realized with a sense of fright that she didn't really seem to be breathing. "I just reacted before thinking."

"No fuck!" Nnoitra stormed forward to glare down at her. Tesla was already rushing past him to kneel by her side. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…Ulquiorra is going to have a fit!"

"Don't move her!" Harribel snapped as she finally came back to her senses. She kept her calm as she strode up to stand behind Tesla, watching over his shoulder as he gently reached forward, but hesitated. "Is she alive?" she asked.

"I…I don't know." Tesla swallowed softly. "I'm almost afraid to touch her. I knew humans were frail, but she's just so…"

"Ohh, fuck me…" Nnoitra drawled slowly, running a hand over his scalp roughly as he began to pace back and forth. "Hell, what are we going to do?" he growled under his breath. "Aizen didn't know about all this training shit." He suddenly paused, his lone eye widening in realization. "Aizen is going to kill us if he finds out about this."

"Silence," Harribel barked.

"I say we get rid of her body," he went on, completely ignoring the woman.

"No one's getting rid of her," she said sternly. "We're going to take her to the infirmary. She's not so weak to die from something as simple as this." She spoke the words as if they were truth, but Grimmjow wasn't so sure.

He could hardly bring himself to say anything, let alone take his sights off the girl. The way she was laying slightly on her side, her upper torso mostly face down on the ground, was just too still. Her body was twisted in a strange way, one of her arms curled behind her back whilst one of her legs was angled a bit unnaturally. Her long red hair hung around her face, where several of the soft strands clung to moist trails of blood that dripped from her nose and mouth. The large pool of crimson coming from the back of her head, however, was causing the hole in his gut to twist uncomfortably.

What had he done?

"It'll be easier to feed her to the Adjuchas," Nnoitra said. "They won't leave a single trace behind. If we take her to the infirmary and she turns up dead, it'll just be more trouble."

Growing tired of his suggestions, Harribel turned to him sharply. "We are taking her to the infirmary," she stated with finality. "And if she is dead, which she isn't, then we will all face the consequences appropriately. She is the property of Lord Aizen, and should he see fit to punish us for this transgression, each of us shall readily obey."

"M-Master Nnoitra," Tesla called breathlessly, his eyes wide as he stared down at the girl. "I really don't think she's breathing."

"And what the fuck do you want me to do about it?!" Nnoitra shouted harshly. "It's not my fault!" His eye darted to Grimmjow in a fit of anger. "You! You did this to her! Even I had enough commonsense to hold back against the stupid woman! Now we're all going to be disposed of for this! I should kill you where you stand!"

"Are you that worried about punishment, Nnoitra?"

Everyone in the room froze at the sound of the smooth, calm voice.

Both Nnoitra and Grimmjow turned their narrowed eyes back to glare at the pale man standing behind them, angered to know he had gotten so close without them even realizing it.

"Ulquiorra," Nnoitra growled.

"You should know Lord Aizen wouldn't dispose of three Espada over a mere human." Ulquiorra stepped forward, his eyes dragging across the woman's motionless figure. It was faint, but he could sense her reiatsu still thrumming beneath the surface.

"This ain't what it looks like," Nnoitra said, trying not to lash out and take his fury out on him.

"Is that so?" Ulquiorra didn't even bother to look at him and instead directed his gaze at Grimmjow.

Blue eyes glared right back at him, not in the mood for his cryptic stares.

Before any of them could act, Ulquiorra was at Grimmjow's back and, with a swift, merciless kick, had him face down on the gritty floor of the arena. Taken completely off guard, Grimmjow struggled to get up, only to have a boot plant itself on the back of his head.

"This is what you wanted, was it not?" Ulquiorra said as he leaned in over the man. "To fight me?" His heel pressed deeper into the back of his skull and Grimmjow growled, refusing to give in so easily. "You wished to invoke my wrath…and now you have it, Grimmjow."

"Really?" Grimmjow strained just to scoff at him, but it only came out as a strangled choking sound. "I couldn't tell," he said sarcastically.

When Grimmjow tried to move one of his arms to grab the ankle of the foot holding him down, he was met with another hard soled boot slamming down on his wrist, pinning him in place.

"Perhaps it is time you were taught a lesson, Grimmjow." Ulquiorra's soft voice sounded above him, causing the man in question to bristle in rage. Crouching down, Ulquiorra removed a hand from his pocket and lightly lowered the tips of his fingers to the middle of Grimmjow's back, just above his Hollow hole. The cold touch was faint, almost gentle, causing a chill to run through Grimmjow at the eeriness of it. "I told you to stay away from the woman." With utterly no concern for the pain he was about to inflict, Ulquiorra began pressing down into the man's spine, putting an excruciating amount of force on the bones.

Grimmjow's fists clenched and his eyes widened as pain bolted up his back like electricity. His body strained against the sharp jolts that rocketed through his spine, piercing him in a way that was near unbearable. His nerve endings fired in a rapid cacophony of torture, screaming for relief.

"You fucking piece of shit!" he shouted, only to have his face shoved further into the dirt.

"Silence, trash." Ulquiorra added more pressure, pushing him to his breaking point.

The resulting bellow echoed off the walls like a shot…then, without warning, Grimmjow's howls of agony gradually began morphing into pure, mad laughter, eventually boiling over into nothing but maniacal cackling. The sound was near enough to rival Nnoitra's depraved heckles at his worst.

"Is that supposed to hurt?" he taunted, his voice still strained even as he continued to blister with laughter. "Come on, is that the best you've got?" His words were abruptly cut off when he felt something crack. "Feels…fucking…g-great," he managed to chuckle. "Just how I like it."

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes.

"I see," he uttered silently. "Since pain will not work, maybe I should take something more important from you…"

Easing up on the stress he was exerting, he slowly ran his hand to the man's left side, his fingers gradually drifting lower to his hip.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Grimmjow began, his eyes darting to the corners of their sockets to try and see what he was up to. When he felt Ulquiorra's fingers lightly close around the hilt of his Zanpakuto, fury exploded from every pore in his body. "Don't you fucking dare!" he roared, releasing his reiatsu in the hopes of throwing the man off him.

Ulquiorra didn't even flinch in the face of the energy as he slowly pulled the sword from its scabbard. Still partially straddling the raging Espada with his feet, Ulquiorra stabbed the blade into the ground right in front of Grimmjow's face, making sure he would see exactly what he was about to do.

"You bastard! Get off me!" Grimmjow watched in a frenzy of hatred and bloodlust as Ulquiorra's pale hand gradually slid past the guard of Pantera and glided down to the middle of the blade with a soft, gentle touch. Indignant that someone was even touching what belonged to him, Grimmjow was literally seconds away from calling on his release in order to fight him off. "I swear to god, Ulquiorra, if you-!"

When Ulquiorra gripped the cold metal, Grimmjow felt something in his jaw crack from the force he clenched his own teeth with. He could feel the man's dead eyes boring into his face, watching each furious emotion that passed through him as he began to squeeze.

With each passing second, Ulquiorra added more and more pressure, and Grimmjow felt every bit of it deep in his chest, tearing and breaking at him. A trail of blood ran from Ulquiorra's palm, the blade cutting into him in its last ditch effort to keep from being crushed in his unforgiving hand.

"You fucking coward!" Grimmjow breathed harshly, staring helplessly as a tiny, imperceptible crack began to appear in the carefully polished steel. "I'll kill you…I'll fucking kill you…"

Ulquiorra leaned closer and Grimmjow couldn't even bring himself to flinch when he felt the fleeting brush of jet black hair graze his cheek. "Does it hurt yet?"

Nnoitra frowned from where he stood, taking a step back from the scene as a shudder of dread went down his spine. "Sick bastard," he spat under his breath. He didn't even seem to care about making Grimmjow beg for mercy, or making him plead for him to stop. It was nothing more than blatant torture.

Harribel clenched her fists against her crossed arms and narrowed her eyes, mentally struggling with herself over whether or not she should intervene. She and Ulquiorra had never clashed before, always keeping a respectable distance and only ever conversing when necessary. She did not wish to impede on that now when he was technically only doing his job and trying to keep the impulsive, blue haired brute away from the young, vulnerable girl.

Just as Grimmjow's body began to tremble, a faint whimper from their left pulled Ulquiorra's eyes away from the man beneath him, though his grip didn't once relent on the blade. He watched as Orihime's once limp form slowly began to come to life, her arms shaking tremendously as she attempted to lift her head up enough to look around.

Seeing her beginning to rouse, Ulquiorra instantly loosened his grip on Pantera.

The moment he did, a soft, slow chuckling drew his focus back down.

Not missing a thing, Grimmjow's low sniggering began to grow into something mocking.

"What's the matter, Ulquiorra?" he began, managing to turn his head enough to grin up at the pale man. "Lose your nerve? Afraid she'll cut you off when she figures out what a beast you really are?"

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes once more.

"You really think you're playing her good, don't you?" he taunted. "I bet you don't even realize it's the other way around. Just think about all that shit you let her get away with…all those darling kisses and fondling, and all that shit you've killed lesser creatures over. Even I don't kiss my bitches. You probably even let her cuddle with you after a nice fucking…what a sap!"

Ulquiorra twisted his heel slightly, digging his boot into the back of Grimmjow's head threateningly, though it didn't seem to get the reaction he was going for.

"Were you her first?" Grimmjow smirked. "You know, humans get all clingy with their firsts…they're really into that ridiculous shit. Though, probably not clingy enough to forgive you if she realized you were a heartless freak incapable of caring for another living soul."

The weight on his skull was starting to draw blood, matting his hair.

"I wonder if she knows she's sleeping with a monster stripped of any semblance of humanity."

Grimmjow could feel the thick, crimson fluid running down the nape of his neck, the pressure unrelenting.

"What are you going to do? Crush my brains into the floor? Break my Zanpakuto to teach me a lesson? Go ahead, I fucking dare you to do it in front of her," Grimmjow whispered darkly, knowing he had him.

Ulquiorra scowled down at him and promptly pulled Pantera from the ground, only to ram the butt of the sword into the back of Grimmjow's head, efficiently knocking him out cold with his own Zanpakuto.

"U-Ulquiorra?" a weak voice called, pulling his gaze over to the woman. She was staring at him with dazed eyes, looking as if she had no clue where she was at. "Wha…what's the matter? What happened to Grimmjow-kun?"

Carelessly dropping the sword onto the ground next to its owner, Ulquiorra stood up and began approaching her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as he stopped before her. "You seem upset."

"It's nothing," he answered flatly, his voice even more lacking than usual.

"Is Grimmjow-kun alright?" She tried to lean over enough to glance at the unconscious man behind him, but the movement only seemed to make her dizzy and she reached up to place a hand on her aching head.

"Can you stand?"

"I don't know. My leg hurts…I feel tired, Ulquiorra," she sighed, wanting very badly to just lay back down and close her eyes.

Tesla quickly backed away as Ulquiorra bent down to scoop the girl up in his arms. She whimpered slightly from the pain of being moved, but wrapped her arms around his neck regardless, feeling safer in his presence even though she really didn't remember why she was so injured in the first place.

"Oh, no…" She looked up at him when she suddenly remembered something. "We were supposed to have dinner tonight! I…I forgot!" Tears began to fill her eyes as she realized he had probably come looking for her when she hadn't been there. She was mortified to think she had stood him up. "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed into his shoulder, her brain not even working properly at the moment.

Behind him, Nnoitra snickered.

"She will be disappointed if you stop her from this training," Harribel said as Ulquiorra passed her on the way to the door.

Ulquiorra paused, watching the blonde woman from the corner of his eye.

"She wants to get stronger, injuries are to be expected." She knew how much this meant to the girl. If he took that away, she'd probably just try to do it anyways. Though the small human was in many ways extraordinarily gentle, Harribel could also see a strength inside of her that couldn't be doused. She suspected Ulquiorra could see it, too.

"I have no intention of stopping her," Ulquiorra said and then moved along without a backward glance. "From now on, she is only permitted to continue this activity with you and Nnoitra." The message was clear enough: keep Grimmjow away from her.

"I understand." Harribel closed her eyes, not offering any protest to his decision.

The moment he disappeared out of the room, Nnoitra burst out into riotous laughter. "Did you see the way he just dropped everything when pet-sama woke up?!" He gripped his side as he bent over, finding it too hilarious to ignore. "Can you believe that shit?!" He could hardly stand it! This was Ulquiorra; the cruelest, hardest, most heartless motherfucker he'd ever known…and he'd stopped his little torture session just to keep the girl from seeing the violence. "And that whole 'dinner' shit? What the fuck? Does she think she's playing house or something? It's too fucking good!"

Harribel frowned at him, not seeing the humor in it in the least. Hueco Mundo was a violent place. Ulquiorra knew perfectly well just how sensitive that girl was. He was more than aware that the more bloodshed she got exposed to, the less likely her cooperation would be. He probably thought in the beginning that having a human charge wouldn't be difficult. She was just a girl after all, but it seemed her will was more intense than first imagined. Even Harribel was impressed by her capability to adapt and survive.

Any other human would have cracked in a place like this.

The problem was, she was too kind for her own good.

"She's a human, Nnoitra," Harribel said. "She sees things differently than us and Ulquiorra knows that."

He only grinned in response, his visible eye dark shining with mirth.

"I'm surprised she's still alive," Tesla said as he stepped forward, his eyes glued to the doorway Ulquiorra had carried her through. "I truly thought she had been gravely injured."

Nnoitra scoffed at his fraccion's concern, seeing it as nothing but weak. He honestly couldn't have cared less whether the bitch had lived or died, save for the fact it would have been his ass on the line if anything had happened to her. "Who gives a fuck? The only thing she's good for is looking at." He sneered.

"If that's what you truly think of her, then why do you always hold your punches when training with her?" Harribel pinned him with her sharp eyes. "In all my years, I've never known you to restrain yourself with a woman."

Nnoitra's face twisted in anger, furious that she would dare to suggest such a thing. "You clever little cunt," he said derisively. "That make you feel better about yourself?"

"No," Harribel answered simply. "But I know a sexist pig such as yourself is incapable of any type of discernible care…until that girl came along. Even Nelliel couldn't reach you the way she has."

In the blink of an eye, Nnoitra's fist was planted in the ground where Harribel had once stood. She'd dodged his attack easily enough, reappearing by the door and breezing casually out of the room in order to avoid any further violence.

Nnoitra said nothing as he stared daggers into the broken, crumbling ground under his knuckles. His breathing was unusually hard as he tried to push her words out of his mind, knowing they weren't true.

By the time he straightened back up, Harribel was gone and his fraccion stood silently behind him at a respectable distance, patiently waiting for his temper to simmer down.

Without a word, he turned on his heel and went for the door, a dark aura hanging around his entire being.

"What should we do about him?" Tesla's eyes motioned towards the unconscious Grimmjow as his Master passed him by.

"Leave him," Nnoitra bit out quietly, not even glancing at either of them. "He'll wake up eventually."

"Yes, Master." Tesla bowed his head and dutifully followed Nnoitra's steps, knowing better than to say another word. He knew from experience that when his Master became this enraged, only one thing would satisfy him, and that was to beat someone to within an inch of their life…and usually he was the victim.


Ulquiorra placed the sleeping girl on his bed, careful of her bandaged head and leg. After taking her to the infirmary, he'd decided to keep her in his room where he could keep an eye on her and keep others away from her until she recovered.

At the movement, she stirred and cracked her eyes open to blink up at him blurrily.

"Ulquiorra?"

He said nothing as he stared down at her, annoyed by how much trouble she was.

"Are they done bandaging me up already?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Is Grimmjow-kun okay? I remember fighting him…" She bit her lip, her memory slowly coming back now that some time had passed. She didn't seem as scattered with her thoughts, either.

Ulquiorra looked away at the mention of the man's name, his words from earlier coming to mind. His pale hand clenched inside his pocket, a rare twinge of irritation flickering through him as he ruminated on what he'd said. It was nothing more than nonsense. Grimmjow believed he was going soft? Just the thought alone was a joke.

He should have snapped his sword in half and then left him to his opinion.

"Can you heal yourself?" he asked, changing the subject. Now that she was awake, there was no reason for her to lay around so heavily injured for the next two weeks. The last thing he needed was Aizen on his case again. Though the fools thought he and Aizen hadn't known of her efforts to get stronger, he still didn't want to deal with any more issues. He'd told Aizen about it from the first day, only allowing it to continue under Aizen's own approval, but even Aizen would cut off her training if he found out about this incident. Her injuries hadn't been small.

"Um…I think so…" she trailed off.

"You don't sound very confident, woman," he noted aloud.

"It's just…I don't usually heal myself, so I never really know if it'll work very well." She smiled up at him, blushing softly. "Most of the time I'm trying to help everyone else, so I normally just leave my wounds unattended. I try to save my energy in case my friends need me."

Orihime gasped as he leaned down directly in her face, the patience in his eyes seemingly gone.

"Your friends aren't here right now, are they?" he said slowly, his deep voice sharp and crisp. Orihime shook her head, her eyes wide. "Then I suggest you heal yourself this instant, lest you force me to drag your blonde pet in here and torture him in front of you until you do as you're told."

Orihime bit her lip as tears began to swell in her eyes, threatening to spill over her lashes as she felt her heart breaking in her chest.

"Wh…why would you say that?" Her chin quivered and Ulquiorra only narrowed his eyes, tired of her emotional ups and downs.

Her emotional frailty only proved Grimmjow was right about one thing…she'd never feel anything for him if she knew the real him. She'd certainly never share her bed with him, either.

Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed straight for the exit, ignoring the sound of her quiet sobs behind him. He didn't slam the door behind him, or even toss it open in a fit, but his fists remained tightly clenched in his pockets as he calmly left.

If she wanted to waste her time bawling over every little thing, then he had no desire to be around her whilst she wallowed in all the supposed feelings of that heart of hers.


Orihime had cried herself to sleep, her pillow utterly drenched with tears. It had taken several hours before exhaustion finally kicked in and she knocked out. She had tried to stay up, thinking that perhaps he would eventually come back and they could talk about whatever it was that 'fight' had been about.

He hadn't talked to her like that since she'd first arrived in Hueco Mundo.

It had been their first argument since their little affair began and it was terrifying, and equally confusing. The mere fact that he hadn't returned was driving her crazy, even though extended absences were nothing unusual for him.

The insecurity was painful and the heartache from his words cut like a knife.

Why did he have to be like that? She knew she wanted to get stronger to love him, but that didn't mean it was okay for him to talk to her like that. Being a strong woman didn't make it easier to have a man walk all over you…or walk away from you. Even Rangiku, who never showed any outward signs of distress over Gin's leaving, was not impervious. Orihime had seen the pain in her eyes, hidden behind her playful smiles and hazy, drunken stares.

Sometimes Orihime would hear her crying in her apartment when Toshiro was out and she thought no one was home…those were the times when she'd been cold, dead sober, not a drop of alcohol in her blood.

Orihime didn't want to turn out like Rangiku, with nothing but memories and regrets and lonely heartache to fill her days.

After so many hours of crying so hard, she'd been forced to heal her head. She tried to hold off on doing it for as long as possible, just for the principle of the matter and to rebel against his orders. But, with as deeply as she'd been sobbing, the pain in her head had become too much and her nose had started to bleed again. That hadn't been a good sign. She only healed the worst of her injuries, which were her head and leg, both of which didn't take long to heal at all.

It hurt to think that such a simple act of healing, which took all of one minute, was the source of all this nonsense. Gut instinct told her there was more to it, more to his unprovoked cruelty. Just the thought of it got under her skin, but with the sudden relief in her head, Orihime had drifted off to sleep faster than she could control.

The next thing she knew, she was stirred awake by the press of cool lips and wandering hands.

She couldn't help the gasp that left her as insistent fingers groped at her flesh and tugged at her shirt. She squirmed slightly at the feeling of someone pulling her closer to the edge of the bed, the disturbance slowly waking her, leaving her with blurred vision and her emotional mind still in a daze.

The graze of sharp teeth raked down her neck, shocking her into consciousness as she felt her legs being pulled apart and a body rocking firmly into hers.

The cold skin and dark hair told her who it was, but she pushed at him anyways, only to have him cover her nipple with his mouth. Nearly all thought abandoned her as she felt a tongue slowly swirl around the hardened bud. She mewled and writhed, her breath coming shorter as she tugged at his hair and mask, trying to get him away from her.

"Ul…Ulquiorra, no…" she whimpered, digging the heels of her feet into his side in an effort to get him off her. "Stop…"

His only answer was to pull her hips into him as he ground against her, making her feel just how hard he was.

Why was he doing this? He didn't want anything to do with her earlier. Where had he gone? Even though she waited, it was unusual for him to return so soon.

"No, stop… !" She pushed at him harder, growing more and more angry as she thought about it. With all her might, she managed to twist slightly out of his grasp, prompting him to lift his head. The moment he did, she lashed out and slapped him hard across the face.

Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was hard and her eyes were blazing as she stared up at him, his own expression hidden by his dark hair and the shadows of the room.

How dare he come in there and expect that of her after what he said!

"Say you're sorry." She whispered the words, but they were utterly laden with resolve and seriousness.

When he turned his head to pin her with his narrowed eyes, Orihime's heart leapt in her chest. Alarmed, she spun around and tried to dart to the other side of the bed. She knew it was futile to run when she felt his hand close around her calf and pull her back to the edge of the mattress, but she kicked at him regardless. She wouldn't be walked on, she wouldn't be like Rangiku.

Unperturbed by her useless flailing, he dragged her back slowly, bringing her in until her knees slipped over the side.

A faint kiss touched the middle of her back…and then her shoulder blade…her neck.

Orihime shuddered, clenching her fists into the sheets as she felt him lean over her.

"Woman," he breathed next to her ear, his arm sliding up to rest on the mattress over her head. She tried to hold back her whimper at the feel of his hand searching hers out and intertwining their fingers.

That jerk! she thought, tears pricking at her eyes when she realized what he was doing. He knew she wanted that intimacy with him, and he was using it against her.

He was really too cruel.

And she was just too weak.

How could she be strong if he kept doing this to her? How could she fight back?

Crumbling, she couldn't help but squeeze his hand back, knowing it was as close to an apology as he'd ever come.

She clenched her eyes shut and forced herself not to moan when he pressed down into her, rocking into the fleshy cushion of her backside. Despite her internal battle, her back arched, feeling the moisture already running down her thighs at his want for entrance.

She didn't want to give in so easily, but…she needed him right then, badly. Apparently, he needed her just as desperately, for whatever reason she couldn't fathom. Enough so that he'd actually put effort into placating her into submission.

His hand slowly slid under the waistband of her underwear, his palm chafing against her soft skin as he just as slowly slipped the fabric to her knees. Halfway down, the tiny garment dropped the rest of the way to her ankles.

The moment she felt his fingers on her, skimming up her inner thigh from behind, Orihime spread her legs and rolled her rear back into him, unable to fight it anymore. Experience had already taught her the more she accommodated him, the easier it would be for her to receive him, and the faster she could get him inside her.

His lips were teasing at her neck, leaving behind a smoldering trail of lazy kisses. She turned her head and he met her mouth head on, already knowing what she wanted. Heat soared inside her as their tongues almost immediately meshed in an intense, urgent fervor. The stiffness against her showed just how impatient he was and the wetness between her legs spoke to just how ready she was to take him.

She reached an arm back, bringing her free hand up to slip behind his neck and pull him closer. Her acceptance had him deepening the kiss as the hunger between them quickly escalated.

The fabric of his pants that separated them was soon gone and the thick, stretching feeling of the head of his cock pressing into her suddenly invaded her, causing her to release a quiet cry of sweet bliss.

"Ulquiorra," she whispered his name, her entire body throbbing as he began a deliberate, purposeful thrusting, each stroke bringing him further inside her. He moved in a steady rhythm, and she moved against him, her legs shaking from the strain as her toes curled over the floor.

His hand squeezed her hip, pulling her back into him with each gentle surge of his hips. When he was finally buried completely inside her, she thanked god that he didn't once slow down. Orihime's eyes slid closed in nothing but pure pleasure as he brought her closer to madness with each thrust. The feel of being stretched so wide, of having everything inside her stroked by his length, she could hardly stand it. Surely it wasn't normal to feel this much ecstasy every time he took her.

Her murmurs of approval rang louder and louder as he picked up his pace. The hand holding his clenched, digging her nails into his skin as she felt her walls slowly begin to wind tight around him. Her hips started pushing back into him, desperate to feel that release that only he could bring her.

A whine of disappointment shuddered passed her lips when he suddenly slowed down, keeping her from that rapturous peak she had been yearning for. Her foot came up off the floor in protest, curling and digging her toes into the back of his knee as she tried to urge him to ride her faster.

Her moans and pleads for more seemed to fall on deaf ears as he reached up and fisted a hand in her hair, forcing her deeper into the mattress. He merely continued at his slow pace, driving her utterly up the wall. He made her body burn hotter and hotter, working her until she was certain such heat wasn't natural.

"Ulquiorra…please," she panted into the sheets, trying to keep from sounding too desperate. "Oh god…please!" She could barely breathe for the ache building inside her body, pulsating like a fire between her thighs.

His hips gradually began taking her faster again, driving her to that peak within seconds, only to once more slow back down.

Orihime shuddered in agony, her orgasm ripped from her grasp.

Again and again he did this, forcing her into sobs and tears as she writhed beneath him.

Everything inside her was pounding, screaming in her blood to the point that she was certain that whatever this was, it was clearly just shy of torture. Every muscle, every tendon, every inch of flesh and nerve she had was strung like a rope about to snap. She'd do anything if he would just let her cum. Did he know that? She'd already begged him, her mind pushed into delirium. The pressure between her hips was wound so tight that she had to wonder how he even fit inside her. With the way her muscles were coiled like a tense spring, it felt like she was about to break. Her lungs were burning and flames were licking up the insides of her legs, scorching her core and making her feel as if it may combust.

"Oh god…oh god…I'm…I'm gonna…" She could feel her vaginal muscles twitching around him, despite the fact he was still going painfully slow. She was going to cum, regardless. Even if he pulled out of her and left her painfully empty, it was going to happen. Her body simply couldn't take it anymore. His fingers tightened in her hair, no doubt feeling her closing in around him.

Her back arched and her legs shook as he continued with his excruciatingly unhurried movements. His hips pulled back again, and as he rolled them forward in one prolonged motion, Orihime's eyes rolled back into her head.

His name left her throat in a sobbing cry, her walls coming down on him so hard it almost hurt. Her abdomen spasmed and her thighs tried to squeeze shut, all the tendons in her lower torso feeling as if they were on overload.

"Oh, god!" she screamed when he began a quick, shallow thrusting, suddenly upping her sensitivity. Her tight body clung to him mercilessly through her orgasm, and he filled her so completely she could hardly bear it. "It feels so big!" Her hand shot back to his hip, torn between pushing him away when his girth almost became too much inside her tightening sex. "I can't! It's too…big…ah! "

His body only forced her further down into the sheets, pushing her to suffer through each agonizingly sweet sensation. He continued to draw out her orgasm with every stroke, showing no signs of relenting. When a hand slid between her legs to find her clit, all of Orihime's breath left her hard.

"No!" she barely managed to sob, needing some kind of mercy. "Too much…"

Her entire body convulsed, a silent scream stuck in the back of her throat as he swirled the tiny bud with the pad of his middle finger. For a moment, Orihime went dead silent against the onslaught, too overwhelmed to even breathe properly. Each slow swipe caused her hips to jolt back, pushing him against her cervix and simultaneously forcing each clench of her walls that much tighter with the manipulation. The sounds he pulled out of her were bordering on vulgar, obscene even, and it felt as if she couldn't do a damn thing about it. He controlled her so thoroughly it was near frightening.

He knew how to kiss her there or whisper here if he wanted her turned a certain way. He knew how to make her cum after only seconds of stimulation, or to draw it out and make her suffer for hours. He knew how to bend and break her, and he knew how to build her back up again. He knew how to so effortlessly work her into a hot fit. He breathed life into her body like no other man, like she never knew was possible.

It was sordid, and at the same time the most wonderful thing she'd ever known.

His hips surged against her and her own body seemed to try to do everything to pull him further into her. He felt thick and heavy inside her as he began thrusting harder, more fully. The friction it created between them lit another spark deep within her belly, and just like that she knew she was going to cum again, that he was going to make her cum again.

It was one long, steady stream of pleasure that just kept growing higher and higher, coiling ever tighter.

When he grabbed her hip with a firm hand, stilling her movements and allowing him to thrust into her almost harshly, she knew he was about to cum. His body rose up over hers with one of his forearms still braced over her head, allowing him to move faster and more powerfully into her.

One particularly deep thrust and she was thrown unceremoniously over the edge.

She thought she might have heard him curse, which was strange and rare in itself, but she could hardly see or hear anything that didn't have to do with the way her pussy was clamping down on him in a mad frenzy.

His hips suddenly stilled against hers, pressing into her so hard she felt her body jolt and contort beneath him. She basked in the way he ground heavily against her, groaning and panting against her neck as he filled her. She could feel his muscles straining and his jaw clenching, making her whimper for him in delight. Writhing herself against him, she prayed for more of the torture he'd just put her through, hoping to tempt him further. She'd long since forgotten about their argument, considering him thoroughly forgiven for whatever horrible things he'd said.

Her body wasn't even done milking him when she felt his hand close around her throat, pulling her back into him as he promptly began thrusting into her again. She really didn't know how he was able to keep going, and she really didn't care. Instead, she mewled out encouragements and brokenly whispered, 'yes!'s. Orihime wasn't even sure how long she could keep up with him like this, but she thought the aching muscles, wobbly legs and stinging ribs would be worth it tomorrow. She already knew it wouldn't be long before she came again, as the more she came, the more sensitive her body became, making the time between her orgasms that much shorter, but somehow all the more amazing. Each one would come sooner than the last and she could already feel her third creeping closer.

The way he was taking her was harder, his thrusts more abrupt and violent, causing everything to seem unusually impatient. His grip became harsher, his touch less gentle, making her feel like he was suddenly taking some type of frustration out on her. His hands closed around her tiny waist, fingers digging into her ribs as he held her down and mounted her roughly.

With her hands clawing at the sheets, she managed to turn her head enough to glance at him over her shoulder.

Orihime shuddered and whimpered at the intensity of the look in his eyes, their green depths instantly locking with hers. The moment she met his gaze, he plunged himself into her in one unforgiving push and held himself there, forcing her to feel, and take, all of him.

Orihime cried out loudly, the sound coming from deep within her chest. With her eyes watering, her legs frantically climbed up the mattress to spread her knees on the bed, allowing her to open herself up wider and ease the deep, stretching feeling that swelled in her abdomen. His hands pulled her back to him as he ground into her brutally, not letting her escape so easily.

He leaned over her, whispering something in her ear that she was too wrapped up in him to hear.

She sighed and blindly whispered back a yes, just because she was sure no matter what he said, the answer would always be yes. Her face rolled into the crook of his neck, pressing kiss after kiss along his jaw in the hopes of appeasing whatever aggravation he was working out of his system.

When her large, glossy eyes blinked up at him lovingly, whatever frustration that had been inside him seemed to diminish. He groaned as he dropped his head to her shoulder, holding himself against her as he suddenly came, muscles trembling. He rolled her hips up, keeping her open as his own hips pumped against her in shallow thrusts.

It was unusual for him to get there before her, but just the thought alone and the feel of him releasing inside her pulled her along with him, undoing them both. His breath shuddered against her skin, making her shiver and sigh as their bodies throbbed and rocked together.

It wasn't until afterwards that she felt how much harder his hands were gripping her than usual, leaving behind large bruises on her hips and ribs.

As he pulled out of her, Orihime somehow knew that she'd have to act fast, else he'd leave. She could just sense it.

"Ulquiorra?" she called quietly as he released his death grip on her waist. He hovered above her, his arms braced on the bed and his slowly calming breath still tickling the back of her neck. There was a long moment of silence where he didn't move, making her wonder if something really was bothering him. Those comments he made towards her hardly seemed worth it. Whatever it was, it must have been bad for it to get under Ulquiorra's skin. Nothing ever got to him. The man was practically impervious.

Turning on her shaking knees, she reached out as he began to retract from her. Her hands gently cupped his face, making him pause. Unable to meet his eyes for her nerves, she leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

He felt very still against her, but she didn't dare open her eyes to see his expression.

Ever so slowly, she began retreating back into the bed, her hands lightly tugging him back with her. His lips were soft against hers as she kissed him with a slow sweetness, his taste familiar. It didn't take much and she didn't feel any resistance as he began to follow her deeper into the sheets.

Her legs made sure to encircle him as his body covered hers, wrapping around his waist to keep him locked to her as she laid back onto the pillows.

Her fingers caressed his cheeks and hair, welcoming him closer to her warm body. She sighed into his mouth when he suddenly began to demand entrance with his tongue, his arm slipping around her back.

"I like it better when you stay," she whispered timidly into his ear, a mad blush rising to her cheeks.

Ulquiorra grunted against her neck in response as she felt him slowly push himself inside her again.

"You'll stay tonight, won't you?"

"Yes," he breathed in reply, blindly agreeing as his hands ran down her back to firmly grasp her rear.

"Promise you won't leave?"

Another grunt rumbled in his chest as he began pushing her down into the mattress with his hips, rocking into her again and again.

"Stay 'til morning?"

"Yes." His fingers squeezed her rear, kneading the plump flesh that filled his palms.

The bed creaked quietly beneath them with each steady thrust, a cadence to the rhythm of his hips striving to get deeper. They'd never had sex in this position before, but she already liked the closeness of it.

"I'm sorry for being mad," she uttered meaningfully and tightened her arms around his neck, her knees closing in on his ribs and her ankles locking over the middle of his back. "I didn't mean it."

When he abruptly stopped, she felt his every muscle go rigid, as if he just snapped out of a daze he had not wanted to be in. His fingers slowly dug into her backside, causing her to gasp at the slight sting.

"Ulquiorra?" she whispered, only receiving his nails biting into her in answer.

For a very real moment, she sensed he was about to pull away and leave, even after he'd promised he wouldn't.

"Please don't stop." One of her hands lightly traced down the back of his mask as she nuzzled her face into his hair. Her hips began to move against his, rolling up into him in an easy, seductive persuasion. She pressed close, holding him inside her as her fingers trailed softly down his back. Her warm body wrapped around him so completely, only wanting him closer.

Orihime gasped quietly as she felt her muscles contract over him, her skin tingling and her back arching at the smooth, gentle release that washed over her, so different from the sharp, overpowering orgasms that usually rocked her senseless. The sound of him groaning into her shoulder and the feel of him pressing his weight down into her grounded her to the moment. His hands hauled her as near as their bodies would allow, grinding into her hard and slow as the suction of her walls tightened around him again and again.

His arms surrounded her as he rolled them onto their sides, supporting her as he buried his fingers into her hair and thrust into her as deep as she would let him.

"Please don't stop," she repeated on a quivering breath. "Please don't ever stop."

Orihime truly prayed that he wouldn't, for she knew if he ever left or fought with her like that again, her heart would surely shatter into a million pieces.

..

TBC

..