I had meant what I had said the other day with Yugi, that I didn't know
what I would do without his friendship. Because of him, I have recovered my
Red Eyes Black Dragon from the thieves that had taken it from me. He took
on the Rare Hunter that had done so in a grueling duel, and he had won it
back in my honor. Due to this fact, I felt as though he deserved to hold on
to it until I finally defeated him in Battle City.
Somehow I had felt his presense when I had battled the psychic duelist, Esper Roba. It had taken me some time to figure out that he wasn't really a psychic, but had been helped out by four twin siblings watching him from above.
I could definitely relate to the issues he had about losing the duel, but after I had defended him from those that were teasing him, he handed over his locator card and rare card, a machine type effect monster called Jinzo.
With this card and others I had gotten to reorganize my deck, I planned to make a name for myself in this tournament and make my sister proud.
It bothered me to find out that my friend Tristen had spent yet another morning with my sister in the hospital, watching my duel with Roba over the internet. It made me begin to wonder what exactly what was going on between them, if she and Tristen were just friends or were becoming more than that. She told me that Seto had not come to visit her in the hospital, and that she missed him terribly.
Being a part of this family has always been a conflict for me, Joey thought, worrying about my studies, about Serenity, and about avoiding my father's wrath by not being home most of the time and dueling with my friends.
Again my father was not home to stop me from raiding his bedroom dresser and I was dealing with my anxieties in the best way I knew how. Being careful not to leave any evidence of my crime, I sighed as I inspected my deck, looking at all the new cards I had recently gotten.
My eyes widened as I heard the front door of our apartment open, realizing that my father had come home. I had done my best to hide what I had done, but there was still smoke in the room to incriminate me. Opening the window quickly and turning on my fan to help it along, I hold my breath, hoping my dad would go to his room and pass out as he always did.
"Joey! Get out here, you worthless boy! Come out here and make me something to eat!" Kentaro shouted.
Joey sighed and did as he was told, silently keeping his distance from his father. Pulling the items out of the refrigerator to make them some sandwiches, Joey stiffened as his father stumbled into the kitchen.
"Who told you that you could come in here, boy? I don't know how I raised such a stupid teen. You act like you have no damn sense, I swear." he told him.
Joey remained silent, knowing it did him no good to try to defend himself against his father's insults. This, however, only seemed to aggravate his father more.
"What's wrong with you? You too good to talk to your old man, or are you hiding something? You better not be hiding something from me, boy." his father said.
Before he could respond, Kentaro had grabbed Joey by the end of his hair and pulled him forcefully around to face him.
"You've been getting into my stash, haven't you, Joey? I can smell it all over you. You think I haven't noticed, but I have, you stupid little shit!" Kentaro shouted.
Joey flinched, knowing the hit was coming, but in his state, his reflexes weren't quick enough to dodge in time. His father's vicious slap sent him reeling to the floor, him moving quickly to avoid another attack.
"Come back here, boy. I'm not through with you yet. You're not getting off that easily. I'll teach you to steal from me, you little punk!" Kentaro shouted.
Joey, having gone through this drill too many times to count, grabbed his jacket from the couch and ran out of the house as quickly as he could, his father's screaming echoing behind him.
I hate living like this, Joey thought, his vision blurred by his tears. I want to live in a peaceful home away from my drunken father where I can be happy. Seeking refuge under a nearby bridge, he slumped down against one of the girders, buried his face in his hands and cried.
"Joey? Is that you?" a voice asked.
"Tristen?" Joey asked.
Joey looked up as his friend Tristen appeared from within the shadows.
"What happened to you, buddy? You look terrible." Tristen said.
"I didn't ask for your opinion. Go away." Joey said.
"Hey, it was obviously your father that did this to you, not me. Why are you lashing out at me?" Tristen asked.
"Because it's convenient! I have plenty to be angry at you for, starting with your friendship with my sister." Joey said.
"Serenity? You have a problem with me being friends with her?" Tristen asked.
"I don't as long as you only want to be friends with her. Damnit Tristen, she's only sixteen! She's too young to be seeing guys already. Between her seeing Seto and you spending some much time with her..." Joey began.
'Wait a minute...she's seeing Seto Kaiba? she never even mentioned him...I don't understand any of this! I don't understand why you have such a problem with me. We're supposed to be best friends!" Tristen shouted.
"That has nothing to do with anything. This is my sister we're talking about!" Joey said.
"I realize that, Joey, but goddamn it, I think I'm in love with her!" Tristen exclaimed.
Joey's eyes widened. "What did you say?" he asked.
Tristen sighed. "I said I'm think I'm in love with your sister, Joey." he said.
Joey sighed too, exhausted from crying and from arguing with his friend. He smiled weakly as he accepted Tristen's hand to help him to his feet.
"This is huge, Tristen, you have no idea...do you think that she shares your feelings?" Joey asked.
"I don't know...all I know is that now that I know she's been seeing Seto Kaiba, that changes everything." Tristen said.
"Mokuba! Hi sweetie!" Serenity said, as the small boy lunged into her arms for an embrace.
"Serenity! I'm so happy to see you!! Seto and I have missed you so much!" he told her.
"I've missed the two of you too...hello Seto." she said, smiling up at him.
Seto smiled at her. "Serenity..." he said.
It was finally the day for Serenity to leave the hospital,and she had called Seto and Mokuba to pick her up. They had been there within twenty minutes of her call, and the first thing she had heard was Mokuba calling out to her from the hallway, Seto following closely behind. the smaller boy had flung himself into her arms and she had returned his affection, stroking his long hair lovingly. As she stood to face Seto, she somehow knew from that moment she could not think of anything else but being with him.
She leaned into his touch as he reached over to brush his fingers across her bandaged eyes.
"I am so sorry you had to go through all of that to be able to see again." he told her.
"It will be fine, because I know I'll finally be able to see what you look like." she said.
She felt his fingers weave into her long red hair and his other hand to move across her waist.
"I have missed you so much, Serenity." he told her.
Mokuba beamed proudly at the couple as Seto leaned in to give Serenity a tender, passionate kiss. She moaned softly, losing herself in his embrace. He chuckled happily as he parted from her, smothering her with kisses.
"Serenity, would you come spend the evening with me in my home tonight?" he asked.
She was silent for a moment before embracing him and running her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. He closed his eyes to the sensation and kissed her behind her ear, tickling her.
"I would love to, Seto." she said.
I don't have a right to be mad at Serenity for not being honest with me, Tristen thought. I had just gotten caught up in the heat of the moment and had kissed my best friend's sister. We had been spending some time together the last couple days and I had developed feelings for her in spite of myself.
She couldn't have been very serious about him if she would allow me to kiss her, Tristen thought. There had been no hesitation on her part, she had been as into the kiss as I had been, it seemed. Tristen sighed, thinking of this. Her lips were so incredibly sift and warm, and so very hard to resist. He felt warm all over just thinking about her. I think I may be in love with this girl, and somehow I feel as though she has feelings for me too, even if she is seeing him.
All I know is that only time would tell exactly, if anything, what would happen between Serenity and I, Tristen thought with a sigh...
Serenity wanted so badly to rip her bandages from her eyes so she could see the splendor of Seto and Mokuba's mansion. As well as Seto described everything around them, she was sure her imagination couldn't even fathom the extragance of their lifestyle.
"Yes. I will admit that Mokuba and I live very well in our home, but we are very grateful for everything we have. We were not born into wealth, and have struggled over the years to make sure to keep the Kaiba name intact." Seto told her.
All she knew was that the three of them had ridden to the mansion in the back of Seto's limo to what sounded like a large iron gateway to a sprawling estate. Again he helped her with her door and with getting out of the car, leading her gently by the arm inside his home. From his description of the main living room, it and the foyer had to be the size of her brother's whole apartment.
"This is where Mokuba and I spend most of our time. He watches movies in here on the big screen television and I work in here on my laptop with him." Seto said.
"I'm sure you have very comfortable, elegant furniture." she said.
"Yes. I've always insisted on having large, comfortable couches with lots of huge throw pillows and built in track lightening. This room probably has the best lightening possible for getting my most important work done." he said.
He escorted her through the rest of the house, describing the many bathrooms with their sunk-in whirlpool bathtubs and the fully stocked kitchen where Mokuba insisted on serving Serenity something to drink.
"We do have servants, but they are mostly for work purposes, security and for transporting us wherever we need to go. My brother and I do not cook very often. We usually take our meals at whatever restaurant is affiliated with Kaiba Corp. that we want at that time." Seto said.
"So, what did you have planned for us tonight, Seto?" Serenity asked.
"I decided to leave that up to you, fair lady. Whatever you would like to do, I will make happen for you. Money is no object." he said.
"Big brother, I'm going to go upstairs for awhile, okay? I'll see you later." Mokuba said.
"Okay. I'll let you know if we decide to leave." Seto said.
He turned to look at Serenity, checking out her outfit. "Serenity, I know this probably sounds a little odd, but I have a closet full of clothes that once belonged to my late stepmother in one of the spare bedrooms. You are welcome to go in there and change into any of the clothes if you like." he said.
Serenity cocked her head at him. "Are you sure that they would be my size? I would like to change actually, and take a bath, if you wouldn't mind." she said.
"Wonderful! I'll have my servants prepare your bath for you." he said.
After running off some commands to his servants on Serenity's behalf, he took her by the hand and led her to the room where his stepmother's wardrobe was, telling her what all was there and leaving her to find something to wear with one of his female servants.
She took her time feeling about the closet, taking in the textures of everything with her fingers. Whoever this lady was, she had amazing taste in clothes. Everything was made of the finest materials, silk, satin, velvet and cotton, with leather for the shoes and belts. She blushed a little as she fingered the delicate lingerie, tempted to try some of it on. Instead she picked a burgundy velvet dress that had embroidered flowers on the neckline and flared out from the cinched in waist. It was a very nice dress, but not too dressy to be comfortable.
She lost herself in thoughts of Seto as his servants announced that her bath was ready. She bathed in silence, enjoying immensely the fragrant jasmine soaps and shampoos that had been provided for her. Jasmine reminded her of Seto; he always smelled like that when he was close to her, a clean, warm sweet scent. She sighed as she thought delicious thoughts of him, rinsing herself clean and drying off thoroughly. She changed into the dress she had picked out and walked carefully with his servants' help back out to greet Seto.
He had changed as well, into a short sleeve dark purple shirt, and tailored, comfortable black pants. His eyes widened as she walked into the room, him leaving the kitchen to walk over to greet her as well.
"Serenity...you look wonderful. That dress looks lovely on you." he told her, taking all of her in once.
Serenity blushed. "Thank you, Seto." she said.
"I took the liberty of ordering some fine French cuisine from one of Kaiba Corp's business partners. I hope that was alright." he said.
Serenity smiled. "Oh yes. I love French food. Thank you." she said.
The couple sat down at the dining table as the servants served them their dinner and a glass of aperitif to drink. Seto explained that it was a custom to drink wine with a fine meal, but she was welcome to have something else if she preferred. She accepted the wine, finding that it was very sweet and very pleasant. Their meal consisted of shrimp quenelles with sautéed cucumber julienne for him and coq au vin with etouffade de pommes de terres for her.
Once they finished their meal, he led her into the he living room where he put on some soothing jazz music on in the background and put his arm around her. She smiled and moved closer to him, twisting her neck around as he stroked her softly behind her neck.
"Your neck feels very tense, Serenity." he told her.
"Yes. The bed at the hospital wasn't all that comfortable. I am a little sore." she groaned.
"I can fix that for you if you like. I have a masseuse on staff, and also, I have to admit that I give a very good massage myself." he said.
"I would really like it if you gave me a massage, Seto." she said.
Seto nodded, taking her offered hand to lead her into his bedroom where they could have more privacy. Closing the door behind them, she sat on the bed as he sat down behind her and began to softly run her shoulders. She moaned softly and leaned back into his chest, completely relaxed. He sighed happily and smiled, continuing his massage. He loved the feeling of her skin under his fingers, he could touch her all day. Trying to avoid the thoughts that began to creep into his mind, he swept his fingers underneath her hair to rub her sore neck.
'That feels wonderful, Seto." she told him.
He barely heard her now, too lost in the feeling of her against him. Being so close to her brought out his most primal instinct towards her and he was afraid to do too much, afraid that he would lose control and scare her away.
"Seto, why did you stop? I was really enjoying that. Did your hands get tired?" she asked.
She turned around to face him, concerned about his silence. She reached out to touch his shoulders and he responded quickly, grabbing her arms.
"Serenity..." he said.
"Seto...are you okay?" she asked him.
He reached out to place his hand at the back of her head. "I have never been so okay in my life." he said.
She gasped as he lowered his lips onto hers, giving her a long, deep, sensual kiss. Her arms wound around his neck as he pulled her against him, taking his time to fully explore the sweetness of her willing mouth. He groaned to himself as she allowed him to continue to kiss her, moving down her neck slowly to her chest. She too was panting from their kisses and she arched her back towards him as she felt his fingers slip her dress straps from her shoulders.
"Seto..." she whispered, as he lowered her down onto the mattress.
The anxious couple laid with their legs entwined around each other on the bed, sharing the most intense, passionate kisses she's ever experienced. Seto gasped as he felt the material of her dress loosen, almost revealing herself to him. He wanted so badly to push it down further to taste even more of her, but he knew it was too soon. His mind grew weak with thoughts of exploring her most private places with his mouth and hands, and he knew he had to stop now before he lost control.
"Serenity, I want you to know that I desire you very much, but I respect you too much to make this move this soon." he told her.
"I feel the same way, Seto, but you do make me feel so wonderful, it's hard not to want to." she said.
He kissed her again, savoring all the pent up need he could feel she felt towards him. He was completely spellbound by her, her immense body heat and the softness of her thighs pressing up against the material of his pants.
"Serenity, I have something important to ask you. I have managed to arrange a weekend for us alone at my time share in Las Vegas. I would really like for you to spend that time with me there." he said.
"Oh Seto...I don't know what to say. This is such a huge decision to make...will you give me some time to think about it?" she asked.
"Of course I will. Thank you for tonight, Serenity. I will arrange a ride home for you now if you like." he told her.
"Yes. Thank you, Seto." she said.
He gave her a quick kiss before leaving the room to speak to his servants. Listening to him leave and recalling the moment they had just shared, Serenity realized that she had quite a lot to think about. It was obvious that Seto had wanted to be intimate with her tonight, and she had wanted it as much as he had.
I do need time to think about this, Serenity thought, time to figure out exactly what I want to do, considering that somewhere in her mind, she felt as though there was more than just her and Seto involved in her decision...
Somehow I had felt his presense when I had battled the psychic duelist, Esper Roba. It had taken me some time to figure out that he wasn't really a psychic, but had been helped out by four twin siblings watching him from above.
I could definitely relate to the issues he had about losing the duel, but after I had defended him from those that were teasing him, he handed over his locator card and rare card, a machine type effect monster called Jinzo.
With this card and others I had gotten to reorganize my deck, I planned to make a name for myself in this tournament and make my sister proud.
It bothered me to find out that my friend Tristen had spent yet another morning with my sister in the hospital, watching my duel with Roba over the internet. It made me begin to wonder what exactly what was going on between them, if she and Tristen were just friends or were becoming more than that. She told me that Seto had not come to visit her in the hospital, and that she missed him terribly.
Being a part of this family has always been a conflict for me, Joey thought, worrying about my studies, about Serenity, and about avoiding my father's wrath by not being home most of the time and dueling with my friends.
Again my father was not home to stop me from raiding his bedroom dresser and I was dealing with my anxieties in the best way I knew how. Being careful not to leave any evidence of my crime, I sighed as I inspected my deck, looking at all the new cards I had recently gotten.
My eyes widened as I heard the front door of our apartment open, realizing that my father had come home. I had done my best to hide what I had done, but there was still smoke in the room to incriminate me. Opening the window quickly and turning on my fan to help it along, I hold my breath, hoping my dad would go to his room and pass out as he always did.
"Joey! Get out here, you worthless boy! Come out here and make me something to eat!" Kentaro shouted.
Joey sighed and did as he was told, silently keeping his distance from his father. Pulling the items out of the refrigerator to make them some sandwiches, Joey stiffened as his father stumbled into the kitchen.
"Who told you that you could come in here, boy? I don't know how I raised such a stupid teen. You act like you have no damn sense, I swear." he told him.
Joey remained silent, knowing it did him no good to try to defend himself against his father's insults. This, however, only seemed to aggravate his father more.
"What's wrong with you? You too good to talk to your old man, or are you hiding something? You better not be hiding something from me, boy." his father said.
Before he could respond, Kentaro had grabbed Joey by the end of his hair and pulled him forcefully around to face him.
"You've been getting into my stash, haven't you, Joey? I can smell it all over you. You think I haven't noticed, but I have, you stupid little shit!" Kentaro shouted.
Joey flinched, knowing the hit was coming, but in his state, his reflexes weren't quick enough to dodge in time. His father's vicious slap sent him reeling to the floor, him moving quickly to avoid another attack.
"Come back here, boy. I'm not through with you yet. You're not getting off that easily. I'll teach you to steal from me, you little punk!" Kentaro shouted.
Joey, having gone through this drill too many times to count, grabbed his jacket from the couch and ran out of the house as quickly as he could, his father's screaming echoing behind him.
I hate living like this, Joey thought, his vision blurred by his tears. I want to live in a peaceful home away from my drunken father where I can be happy. Seeking refuge under a nearby bridge, he slumped down against one of the girders, buried his face in his hands and cried.
"Joey? Is that you?" a voice asked.
"Tristen?" Joey asked.
Joey looked up as his friend Tristen appeared from within the shadows.
"What happened to you, buddy? You look terrible." Tristen said.
"I didn't ask for your opinion. Go away." Joey said.
"Hey, it was obviously your father that did this to you, not me. Why are you lashing out at me?" Tristen asked.
"Because it's convenient! I have plenty to be angry at you for, starting with your friendship with my sister." Joey said.
"Serenity? You have a problem with me being friends with her?" Tristen asked.
"I don't as long as you only want to be friends with her. Damnit Tristen, she's only sixteen! She's too young to be seeing guys already. Between her seeing Seto and you spending some much time with her..." Joey began.
'Wait a minute...she's seeing Seto Kaiba? she never even mentioned him...I don't understand any of this! I don't understand why you have such a problem with me. We're supposed to be best friends!" Tristen shouted.
"That has nothing to do with anything. This is my sister we're talking about!" Joey said.
"I realize that, Joey, but goddamn it, I think I'm in love with her!" Tristen exclaimed.
Joey's eyes widened. "What did you say?" he asked.
Tristen sighed. "I said I'm think I'm in love with your sister, Joey." he said.
Joey sighed too, exhausted from crying and from arguing with his friend. He smiled weakly as he accepted Tristen's hand to help him to his feet.
"This is huge, Tristen, you have no idea...do you think that she shares your feelings?" Joey asked.
"I don't know...all I know is that now that I know she's been seeing Seto Kaiba, that changes everything." Tristen said.
"Mokuba! Hi sweetie!" Serenity said, as the small boy lunged into her arms for an embrace.
"Serenity! I'm so happy to see you!! Seto and I have missed you so much!" he told her.
"I've missed the two of you too...hello Seto." she said, smiling up at him.
Seto smiled at her. "Serenity..." he said.
It was finally the day for Serenity to leave the hospital,and she had called Seto and Mokuba to pick her up. They had been there within twenty minutes of her call, and the first thing she had heard was Mokuba calling out to her from the hallway, Seto following closely behind. the smaller boy had flung himself into her arms and she had returned his affection, stroking his long hair lovingly. As she stood to face Seto, she somehow knew from that moment she could not think of anything else but being with him.
She leaned into his touch as he reached over to brush his fingers across her bandaged eyes.
"I am so sorry you had to go through all of that to be able to see again." he told her.
"It will be fine, because I know I'll finally be able to see what you look like." she said.
She felt his fingers weave into her long red hair and his other hand to move across her waist.
"I have missed you so much, Serenity." he told her.
Mokuba beamed proudly at the couple as Seto leaned in to give Serenity a tender, passionate kiss. She moaned softly, losing herself in his embrace. He chuckled happily as he parted from her, smothering her with kisses.
"Serenity, would you come spend the evening with me in my home tonight?" he asked.
She was silent for a moment before embracing him and running her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. He closed his eyes to the sensation and kissed her behind her ear, tickling her.
"I would love to, Seto." she said.
I don't have a right to be mad at Serenity for not being honest with me, Tristen thought. I had just gotten caught up in the heat of the moment and had kissed my best friend's sister. We had been spending some time together the last couple days and I had developed feelings for her in spite of myself.
She couldn't have been very serious about him if she would allow me to kiss her, Tristen thought. There had been no hesitation on her part, she had been as into the kiss as I had been, it seemed. Tristen sighed, thinking of this. Her lips were so incredibly sift and warm, and so very hard to resist. He felt warm all over just thinking about her. I think I may be in love with this girl, and somehow I feel as though she has feelings for me too, even if she is seeing him.
All I know is that only time would tell exactly, if anything, what would happen between Serenity and I, Tristen thought with a sigh...
Serenity wanted so badly to rip her bandages from her eyes so she could see the splendor of Seto and Mokuba's mansion. As well as Seto described everything around them, she was sure her imagination couldn't even fathom the extragance of their lifestyle.
"Yes. I will admit that Mokuba and I live very well in our home, but we are very grateful for everything we have. We were not born into wealth, and have struggled over the years to make sure to keep the Kaiba name intact." Seto told her.
All she knew was that the three of them had ridden to the mansion in the back of Seto's limo to what sounded like a large iron gateway to a sprawling estate. Again he helped her with her door and with getting out of the car, leading her gently by the arm inside his home. From his description of the main living room, it and the foyer had to be the size of her brother's whole apartment.
"This is where Mokuba and I spend most of our time. He watches movies in here on the big screen television and I work in here on my laptop with him." Seto said.
"I'm sure you have very comfortable, elegant furniture." she said.
"Yes. I've always insisted on having large, comfortable couches with lots of huge throw pillows and built in track lightening. This room probably has the best lightening possible for getting my most important work done." he said.
He escorted her through the rest of the house, describing the many bathrooms with their sunk-in whirlpool bathtubs and the fully stocked kitchen where Mokuba insisted on serving Serenity something to drink.
"We do have servants, but they are mostly for work purposes, security and for transporting us wherever we need to go. My brother and I do not cook very often. We usually take our meals at whatever restaurant is affiliated with Kaiba Corp. that we want at that time." Seto said.
"So, what did you have planned for us tonight, Seto?" Serenity asked.
"I decided to leave that up to you, fair lady. Whatever you would like to do, I will make happen for you. Money is no object." he said.
"Big brother, I'm going to go upstairs for awhile, okay? I'll see you later." Mokuba said.
"Okay. I'll let you know if we decide to leave." Seto said.
He turned to look at Serenity, checking out her outfit. "Serenity, I know this probably sounds a little odd, but I have a closet full of clothes that once belonged to my late stepmother in one of the spare bedrooms. You are welcome to go in there and change into any of the clothes if you like." he said.
Serenity cocked her head at him. "Are you sure that they would be my size? I would like to change actually, and take a bath, if you wouldn't mind." she said.
"Wonderful! I'll have my servants prepare your bath for you." he said.
After running off some commands to his servants on Serenity's behalf, he took her by the hand and led her to the room where his stepmother's wardrobe was, telling her what all was there and leaving her to find something to wear with one of his female servants.
She took her time feeling about the closet, taking in the textures of everything with her fingers. Whoever this lady was, she had amazing taste in clothes. Everything was made of the finest materials, silk, satin, velvet and cotton, with leather for the shoes and belts. She blushed a little as she fingered the delicate lingerie, tempted to try some of it on. Instead she picked a burgundy velvet dress that had embroidered flowers on the neckline and flared out from the cinched in waist. It was a very nice dress, but not too dressy to be comfortable.
She lost herself in thoughts of Seto as his servants announced that her bath was ready. She bathed in silence, enjoying immensely the fragrant jasmine soaps and shampoos that had been provided for her. Jasmine reminded her of Seto; he always smelled like that when he was close to her, a clean, warm sweet scent. She sighed as she thought delicious thoughts of him, rinsing herself clean and drying off thoroughly. She changed into the dress she had picked out and walked carefully with his servants' help back out to greet Seto.
He had changed as well, into a short sleeve dark purple shirt, and tailored, comfortable black pants. His eyes widened as she walked into the room, him leaving the kitchen to walk over to greet her as well.
"Serenity...you look wonderful. That dress looks lovely on you." he told her, taking all of her in once.
Serenity blushed. "Thank you, Seto." she said.
"I took the liberty of ordering some fine French cuisine from one of Kaiba Corp's business partners. I hope that was alright." he said.
Serenity smiled. "Oh yes. I love French food. Thank you." she said.
The couple sat down at the dining table as the servants served them their dinner and a glass of aperitif to drink. Seto explained that it was a custom to drink wine with a fine meal, but she was welcome to have something else if she preferred. She accepted the wine, finding that it was very sweet and very pleasant. Their meal consisted of shrimp quenelles with sautéed cucumber julienne for him and coq au vin with etouffade de pommes de terres for her.
Once they finished their meal, he led her into the he living room where he put on some soothing jazz music on in the background and put his arm around her. She smiled and moved closer to him, twisting her neck around as he stroked her softly behind her neck.
"Your neck feels very tense, Serenity." he told her.
"Yes. The bed at the hospital wasn't all that comfortable. I am a little sore." she groaned.
"I can fix that for you if you like. I have a masseuse on staff, and also, I have to admit that I give a very good massage myself." he said.
"I would really like it if you gave me a massage, Seto." she said.
Seto nodded, taking her offered hand to lead her into his bedroom where they could have more privacy. Closing the door behind them, she sat on the bed as he sat down behind her and began to softly run her shoulders. She moaned softly and leaned back into his chest, completely relaxed. He sighed happily and smiled, continuing his massage. He loved the feeling of her skin under his fingers, he could touch her all day. Trying to avoid the thoughts that began to creep into his mind, he swept his fingers underneath her hair to rub her sore neck.
'That feels wonderful, Seto." she told him.
He barely heard her now, too lost in the feeling of her against him. Being so close to her brought out his most primal instinct towards her and he was afraid to do too much, afraid that he would lose control and scare her away.
"Seto, why did you stop? I was really enjoying that. Did your hands get tired?" she asked.
She turned around to face him, concerned about his silence. She reached out to touch his shoulders and he responded quickly, grabbing her arms.
"Serenity..." he said.
"Seto...are you okay?" she asked him.
He reached out to place his hand at the back of her head. "I have never been so okay in my life." he said.
She gasped as he lowered his lips onto hers, giving her a long, deep, sensual kiss. Her arms wound around his neck as he pulled her against him, taking his time to fully explore the sweetness of her willing mouth. He groaned to himself as she allowed him to continue to kiss her, moving down her neck slowly to her chest. She too was panting from their kisses and she arched her back towards him as she felt his fingers slip her dress straps from her shoulders.
"Seto..." she whispered, as he lowered her down onto the mattress.
The anxious couple laid with their legs entwined around each other on the bed, sharing the most intense, passionate kisses she's ever experienced. Seto gasped as he felt the material of her dress loosen, almost revealing herself to him. He wanted so badly to push it down further to taste even more of her, but he knew it was too soon. His mind grew weak with thoughts of exploring her most private places with his mouth and hands, and he knew he had to stop now before he lost control.
"Serenity, I want you to know that I desire you very much, but I respect you too much to make this move this soon." he told her.
"I feel the same way, Seto, but you do make me feel so wonderful, it's hard not to want to." she said.
He kissed her again, savoring all the pent up need he could feel she felt towards him. He was completely spellbound by her, her immense body heat and the softness of her thighs pressing up against the material of his pants.
"Serenity, I have something important to ask you. I have managed to arrange a weekend for us alone at my time share in Las Vegas. I would really like for you to spend that time with me there." he said.
"Oh Seto...I don't know what to say. This is such a huge decision to make...will you give me some time to think about it?" she asked.
"Of course I will. Thank you for tonight, Serenity. I will arrange a ride home for you now if you like." he told her.
"Yes. Thank you, Seto." she said.
He gave her a quick kiss before leaving the room to speak to his servants. Listening to him leave and recalling the moment they had just shared, Serenity realized that she had quite a lot to think about. It was obvious that Seto had wanted to be intimate with her tonight, and she had wanted it as much as he had.
I do need time to think about this, Serenity thought, time to figure out exactly what I want to do, considering that somewhere in her mind, she felt as though there was more than just her and Seto involved in her decision...