Chapter 4

Don't own Rorouni Kenshin

Kaoru cried out and closed her eyes, afraid of him. He cursed and pulled her into his arms. "Gods, Kaoru. I never meant to hurt you. I love you. I love you. I love you." He repeated that line over and over before she spoke.

"Kenshin. I love you too. Please hold me." She hugged him tightly. "I'm scared. I'm so scared." She whispered.

"I know. I know." He tried to hush her softly, looking in her eyes. It didn't work. She was just too beautiful. He pushed her back into the grass and kissed her gently, lovingly. She closed her eyes and kissed him back with all she had. They were the only people in the world at that moment.

They became frantic with each other's cloths, tearing items from the others bodies. When at last they were finally free of boundaries between them Kenshin set about showing her how much he did love her. He gently cleaned her face and lovingly caressed her.

Tenderness. Tenderness was what she had been looking for her entire life and she finally found it in his embrace. Tenderness was there. He caressed her breasts softly, almost teasingly until she cried out from the sheer pleasure of it.

When the time came he moved between thighs that caressed him so gently he moaned from it. A guttural sound from the back of his throat. He slid slowly into her tight protection from the nightmare of the outside world that he had just created. When he found the resistance that was her maidenhead he pushed through with one quick shove. She bit his shoulder to keep from crying out and he stroked her hair while whispering sweet nothings to her.

He waited for her to become accustomed to him and when she moved experimentally he lost it. He moved inside her, taking her to that place so far away. When they came it was soul shattering. "Oh, gods. I can feel you hugging me on the inside, Kao. I can feel you loving me there. Ah."

After that they lay satiated on the ground catching their breath. Many minutes passed before either of them gained enough voice or enough want of conversation to talk. "I love you, Kenshin." She turned her head in his direction with a smile and watched him. He turned his head her way with a smile on his face as well. When he looked upon her face already darkening with the bruises he put there his expression turned stony.

"Kenshin?" She asked hesitantly. She felt so unsure when he showed this part of himself.

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly knowing what he must do and knowing that this would be that last time he would be able to hold her in his arms this way. "I love you too, Kao. And that's why I have to leave you. I can't be with you. If I stay with you I'll hurt you the same way I have today. Please understand that it wasn't you."

He got up and got dressed, the whole time Kaoru clung to him, trying to get him to change his mind and stay with her. "Please, Kenshin, don't leave me. Not now that I've found you."

When he was finally dressed he knelt down next to her and told her, "It's Battousai now. No one can say my name the way you do and since I will not be with you no one will call me Kenshin. It will be Battousai. Know that I will always protect you. Even if this day I could not protect you from myself you will now be protected forever." He gave her a lingering, passionate, gentle kiss through Kaoru's wracking sobs. "I love you Kaoru."

And then he walked out of her life…