Chapter 8
Ballroom Pt. 2
Hitomi, true to her word, came to Van's table several times that night. Though on one particular occasion, she didn't have much of a choice. Her grandmother had told her she needed to start off the dancing. Hitomi had instinctively latched onto her father's arm at the notion, he would always be her crutch and she knew he was at least a good dancer, he could just guide her through it. However, Lorilae grinned and shook her head, her own dangling earrings touching her soft wrinkled cheeks as a small mischievous glint came to her eyes and passed the smallest of glances in Corilith's direction.
Hitomi had noticed the women she met in the garden sitting there, on the other side of the platform with what her father pointed out to be the Chain of 16, the group of mages that protect the crown that Griffin was taking about. The women being a mage only increased Hitomi's suspicion about that stone tablet in the garden. She made a pact to go check it out again. But that could be a bad idea. Corilith could maybe have psychic abilities or something. She furrowed her brows, thinking how much easier things would be on Earth.
"You have to dance with a young man. Someone your not related to." She added as Hitomi turned her gaze over to her little brother.
"But-" She started to protest, but her grandmother put a finger to her mouth, asking for silence.
"I'm sure any young man here would love to dance with you." Her eyes twinkled.
So Hitomi now found herself walking across the dancefloor over to Van's table, her hands clasped in front of her to keep from shaking. Everyone was staring at her! She resisted the urge to glare and stood patiently in front of their table. They all smiled up at her (with the exception of Allen who just looked putout), waiting for what they knew was coming. Van was watching her with a strange look on his face. She felt gooseflesh rise on her arms.
"Van..." She trailed off, suddenly conscious of how loud her voice was. The music changed as the small orchestra began to play a different tune. The melody was light, but not slow. Hitomi cursed that. She could handle something slow, but if she had to do some sort of complicated step she would die. "Would you dance with me?" Gods... she could just feel all the blood rising to her face. She brought out her hand, horrified to see that it was still trembling. She bit her lip.
Van stood, more graceful then than she had ever seen him, and took her hand with a perfect slowness that made her breath catch in her throat. His hands, though callused, his gloves disgarded long ago, still held a gentle softness as his thumb grazed over the back of her hand in one slow gesture. He wasn't smiling, but there was something in his gaze that showed happiness, and that other darkness that lay behind. The thing she didn't want to place. Something she had seen in other boys gazes back home. She never thought what it might look like in Van, but she found herself liking it. Her gaze never left his face as he lifted her hand to his lips.
She could feel his breath like a ghost on the back of her hand as his lips hovered, suspended there for what seemed the perfect amount of time, before bringing them down to place the smallest kiss on her knuckles. He lowered her hand, and led her onto the dance floor.
Hitomi forgot that everyone was watching them as he pulled her closer and she felt his hand on the small of her back, his other cupping hers gently. Her other hand lay on his back. She could feel the muscles flex as he moved to the music, and she followed him, not knowing the steps, but found she didn't need to. Van knew what he was doing, his eyes never once leaving her face. She wanted to pull herself closer, but he wouldn't allow it... it was if he was testing her, seeing how long it would take for her to crack. But she knew it wasn't true. Perhaps... he was keeping her a certain distance away; touching lightly at the waist and chest ever so often as they moved, for his own purposes. His own reasons.
And they were for his own purposes. Van was loosing control. All his senses were going insane. He could smell that same exotic perfume or bath smell that came off her, he could see every time she bit her lip unconsciously as she watched him, than her small tongue would darted out to touch the tender spot she had bitten. Her eyes sparkled with... curiousity it seemed. She couldn't be thinking the same thing could she? His heart was pounding, and, watching her carefully, so was hers. The vein in her slender perfect neck throbbing as they moved along the dance floor. He was hardly even conscious of his own steps as he held her, moving to the rhythem. He hadn't made a mistake yet, so he seemed to be doing ok.
That stone on her chest was distracting... the red gem kept catching the candlelight, trying to draw his attention down to her chest. He had gotten a glimpse of that this morning in her thin nightgown. Gods... she had lain next to him dressed in nearly nothing! He was glad he had been able to control himself than... if the same thing that was happening now had happened this morning things might be different between them right now.
Van licked his lips. Hitomi watched his tongue come out and trace his lips carefully. Oh... she wanted to kiss him senseless right there. She bit her lip, feeling the urge grow strong in her. If only he let her get closer. She would reach up and whisper in his ear...
People were joining them on the dance floor now, their 'spotlight' dance over with. Hitomi blinked herself away from her trance and looked around. Her grandmother was smiling at them from the platform before an older man came and asked her to dance.
She turned back to Van with a smile.
His heart sped up as she suddenly smiled at him. There were more people on the floor now, nobody would notice if... He leant down, moving her closer to him as he brought his mouth level with his ear. Her scent was intoxicating now, he felt lightheaded as he let his cheek brush against hers, and let his lips graze her earlobe. He felt her shiver. "Do you think they would miss you, if you slipped away tonight."
Her breathing changed, and she moved her head slightly to the side, placing her head on Van's shoulder well at the same time looking around the room. Nobody seemed to be paying much attention anymore. Her friends were, she noticed. Amano and Yukari were dancing together, at the same time looking at her and Van, well Allen and Selena watched them from the table. Allen didn't look very happy. Hitomi turned her head so it was facing Van's neck.
"I don't know." She whispered into his shirt colour, taking her hand from Van's and grasping at the front of his shirt. He was kissing her neck, doing it in such a way that it wasn't too obvious to anyone that looked. "What-" She gasped slightly. Van had breathed into her ear and nibbled slightly at the earlobe. She felt gooseflesh spring to life down her arms and a chill go down her back. She gathered her own courage and stood a light straighter, placing her mouth by his ear, standing on tiptoe to do it. She let her breath, still uneven, tickle his ear, and her lips gently graze his cheek and earlobe in turn. "What do you have in mind."
It was Van's turn to shiver. She could feel it and hear it as his breath suddenly hitched. His grip at the small of her back tightened, pulling her closer still.Than she realized why he had kept her at a distance. She could feel his arousal. She burrowed her head into his neck, trying to swallow back the nervousness that had washed over her.
This was weird... Last time she saw Van, when she left Gaea, he had given her an innocent hug... She had seen such things from boys at school, and seen it in movies. And well, she did have dreams about this. Doing things with Van... She didn't even think about it really until Yukari had told her about how far she had gone with Amano. She couldn't help but wonder what it would be like. Even then, she had seen it as more loving than sexual... it felt weird to picture Van doing anything remotely... dirty to her. But she always liked the notion.
He suddenly pulled away, then, grasping her hand in his led her through the crowd of people, bowing ever so often to people as they acknowleded him, Hitomi doing the same. They walked past Millerna and Dryden who were chatting with some other rich couple, than past Merle and Griffin who were talking happily to each other at Van's table. She didn't know where Allen and Selena went off to.
The night air was humid as the entered onto the balcony . Several couples and guests were out there, sipping from fragile winegrasses and admiring the garden that stretched below them and the night's sky. Hitomi looked up as Van led her along the wall of the balcony. The sky was perfectly clear, not blanketed with anything to cover the mulititude of stars. It wasn't like this back home. She felt herself smiling, but found herself back to reality when Van led her down stone steps to the garden below.
Her feet touched cool grass as the blades brushed against her sandled feet, he was leading her around the balcony so that if the unlookers looked down they wouldn't be able to see them, stepped in right under the lip of the balcony. Van looked up, possitioning himself carefully, than turned looked back down at Hitomi, gently pulling her close to him so she too was out of site.
"Van..." She trailed off, not sure what she was going to say. He brushed hair away from her face and kissed her slowly, taking her upper lip in his, then her bottom, punctured with small kisses inbetween. Hitomi brought her hands up to his neck, letting her fingers twine into his messy hair. His hair was smoother than it looked. He twisted a strand of her hair playfully in his fingers, pulling back to smile sweetly at her before kissing her again.
They turned so that Hitomi's back was pressed against the stone of the building, and Van stepped closer, holding her there. His kisses moved from her mouth to her ear to her neck and than shoulders, tracing his fingers up and down her arm as he placed small kisses on her collar bone, than nipped slightly at the sensitive skin. Hitomi took a shuddering breath and ran hands over Van's chest and back. His mouth came to hers again, and his tongue traced her lips, wanting enterance which she granted.
When he pulled away, moved over to her ears so he could whisper, his breath tickling her face as it came out uneven and heavy. She moved her head to the side so he could get to it better. He placed both hands on the wall on either side of her head. "I need to have you." His voice was stressed, urgent. He began to kiss her neck again.
"But..." Hitomi closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation greatly. "Not here, Van..." She pushed against his chest slightly and he made a small groan of protest.
Taking a few steps back, he surveyed her, than nodded. "Your right."
A knot which seems to have formed in her chest seemed to loosen then. "We should-" She found, with annoyance that her voice was quivering. She swallowed. "We should get back up there."
He was silent for what seemed like an eternity, just watching her, before he stepped away and turned away from her, staring off seemingly into the garden.
When they got back up to the ball, Hitomi found something that surprised her. Josceline was sitting at Van's table with Griffin and Merle. Except he was joining in on their conversation. Instead, her bodyguard was deep in conversation with Selena. She watched in surprise as the platinum haired girl laughed at something Josceline had said, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth.
Van ushered Hitomi, (a bit ackwardly, Hitomi noticed) into a chair at the table and sat down next to her. Josceline noticed her sitting there, and turned towards her with a smile. His eyes were really... shiny.
She leaned towards her bodyguard. "Josceline, having you been drinking?"
He smirked and cocked his head slightly. "I'm allowed to, when I don't need to watch you." He motioned lazily to a man dressed in white talking with a group of women. "Protection is on the house tonight." He laughed slightly.
Hitomi sat back in her chair again and looked at Van, raising an eyebrow. He simply shrugged.
The ball was winding down fast. The fire dancers, acrobats and other entertainers were excellent. It seemed like magic, as Hitomi watched them, feeling sleepy from the wine she had taken in and the exhaustion of the day. As she began to fall asleep, she leaned into Van's side, having chosen to stay at her friends tables. Amano and Yukari went to bed early, claiming they were tired due to the drastic time change. Hitomi let them go, knowing they were probably feeling as out of place as she felt when she first came to Gaea.
Her mind was numb when everyone was leaving. Using her father as a support, she told her gratitude to the guests as they left, most staying out of the palace and in great inns in the city near the bay.
She was waking up, however, when Van told her he was going to bed after that. They had stood in silence, looking at each other for a few minutes, before he sighed, gave her a small kiss on the forehead and a forced smile, and left the room.
ooooooooooooo
When she finally returned to her room, she changed into her nighty and promptly began to pace the room, feeling as if she were standing still in the dim room. Her mind seemed to be racing a million miles per second, her heart pounding at her ribcage. She wanted to be with Van. But she was terrified of what that would intale. Yukari told her that it hurts the first time... and she wasn't sure if she was up for that right now.
But on the other hand... there was no way around it if she wanted to stay with Van. She knew she would do it eventually. And earlier that night, on the dance floor, she had wanted to. She knew it now. It was hard to ignore the urges than, and now she was struggling to.
She groaned in annoyance and plopped herself down on the bed, running a hand through her hair, than putting her forehead into her hands, leaning over with her head in her knees. Her foot tapping impatiently on the floor before she stood up violently.
Ignoring her housecoat, she left her room and quickly followed the same path she took the night before to the guest courters of the castle. Her heart was pounding high in her chest, but she ignored it. She reached the guest hall and banged on the door she had come to last night. She stepped back as the door opened. Only to blink in surprise at who was standing in the doorway.
"Griffin?" She furrowed her brows and eyed the cat boy with suspicion. He seemed to be nude except for the blanket wrapped around him. His black hair was all tossled and he looked slightly embarrased. "What are you doing in Van's..." She trailed off. "Wait, this is Merle's room!" She grinned at the catboy who pointed with a blush to the next door over before closing the door.
Still grinning, Hitomi went to the next door and knocked once more. It took Van a bit longer to get to the door. When he opened it, he looked surprised to see her there, but he recovered quickly and looked away.
"What is it?" His voice was gentle and Hitomi felt a strong need to hug him. His hair was soaking wet and he was shirtless. "You can stay here again if you want." He turned to look at her again, and Hitomi was hit with a strong feeling of guilt.
"I'm sorry Van... I shouldn't have done that..." She shook her head, trailing off, blushing feriously. Memories of the kisses coming back to her. Her body felt hot, her breath was coming out uneven again. Her heart was racing and she felt the gooseflesh reappear. "Screw it." She entered into the room and threw herself into Van's arms, kissing him senseless just as she always wanted to. He stepped back in shock, than slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. His skin and hair was cold.
As if reading her throughts, he brought his mouth away from hers. She could feel him smiling beneath her lips as he talked. "I just had a cold shower, you couldn't have changed you mind sooner?"
She laughed and kissed him harder, more desperate. He grabbed both her legs and dragged her up, placing his arms under her butt to hold her off the ground. Her kisses moved from his mouth to his neck as she nibbled and bit at his shoulders, and the straps of her dress were pulled down with Van's free hand as he held her up with the other. His hot kisses travelling along her shoulder with the strap. He walked her to the bed and placed her gently down on the side, kneeling down so he could continue to kiss her well his hand peeled her dress off and explored her body with new hands. They trembled slightly, Hitomi noticed as he moved them back up to her face, a hand on each side as he kissed her with such intensity she felt as if he would steal her soul.
He leaned away breifly so he could look into her eyes. His eyes were more intense than she had ever seen them. They were a brighter burgandy than usual. He looked hungry... but his eyes danced with something else. She got her answer after he placed three small, slow kisses on her mouth. "I love you, Hitomi."
She smiled, leaning forward so her lips could graze hers again. She couldn't get enough of those lips it seems. She, at the moment, couldn't figure out why she didn't kiss him sooner. "I love you too."
Van smiled, a true smile that he seemed to only save for her, than gently pushed her more onto the bed so he could join her.
oooooooooooooooooooooo
AN: See... I don't go too far. -sigh- I always did when I was younger, but I don't want to be too tactless do I? -grin-
anyway, hope you all liked it. Yes...and I did write this in one day...O.O I tried to stop..watched tv and such, but every commercial break I went on and worked on it. -sigh-
I have a question also.
Do you want this to be a mystery type story... or action/adventure. It's rated general along with romance right now. But I can keep it simply general. Than the story won't go as long is all (I can do sequels and such as well, don't worry)
Choose either mystery or action/adventure and I will work the story more into that. So far it's going towards mystery, but I can change that in an instant with a back up idea.
So I need your opinions please! Oh and just plain "I love van and hitomi" gush gush stuff is good too I love hearing stuff like that.
Keep the comments coming! -kisses- and I love you all my little dumplings!
