Hi fans. I figure that since you've stuck with me this long you must really like this story. There's more Botan/Hiei-ness in this session. Please Review.

Chapter 6

Botan's hands shook as she took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. The cool liquid soothed her parched throat but did nothing to quell the heated aftershocks of her dream. It had seemed so real, so lifelike. She could still feel the tingling in the pit of her stomach at the way his hands and mouth had caressed her.

Just thinking about it caused the flush to return to her face. She had never once had such a surreal experience in her life. (AN: Or is it unlife?) Her dream-Hiei had been physically similar to reality Hiei. However, he had been infinitely tender with her, a word none who knew him would normally associate with the caustic koorime. But still, the delightful things he'd made her feel… She could still taste his kisses if she tried hard enough.

Just thinking about those sensations brought the fever rushing back, yet again. In her aroused reverie, Botan squeezed the glass she was holding too tightly and it shattered, sending water and shards flying everywhere, several of which embedded themselves in her hand.

The Grim Reaper yelped and immediately stuck her hand under the cool running water so she wouldn't bleed all over Genkai's floor. Already the crimson fluid was flowing down her fingers in thin rivulets.

Yes, Hiei was feeling pretty damned smug indeed. He had been unable to sleep himself, restless as he was from being indoors for too long, and decided to amuse himself by seeing what was going on in the mind of his slumbering care-giver. Botan's dreams had been relatively easy to penetrate. She was a naturally open creature and that part of her personality carried over to her mental defenses. He simply nudged her a little by projecting an image of himself, and to his surprise she had immediately abandoned her previous dream and moved on to one featuring him. Hiei had simply taken it from there. Perhaps he had gone a little too far, but her guilelessness, her innocence—was intoxicating. He had wanted her. Badly. And to his delight and chagrin both, she had responded more passionately than he could have possibly hoped for. She had been willing to give herself to him, even if it was in a dream.

It was just as well she had awakened when she had. Had they gone any further, Hiei didn't know if he could have kept from waking her and finishing in the real world, with her real body.

Yet another reason he was glad they had stopped was the fact that she aroused feelings inside of him that he wasn't at all comfortable with. Mating and emotion had never crossed each other's paths for him. He had never given a damn about any of his previous partners and vice versa.

His sensitive ears picked up a distant yelp. The voice was immediately recognizable and Hiei frowned. "Ferry woman?" he called, not particularly concerned with whether he woke anyone else up. It was also two o'clock in the morning, so technically their agreed upon period of rest was over.

Hiei left the bed and exited the room in only his hakama. He crept down the stairs to the kitchen entrance, where the object of his lust (for he refused to admit any affection just yet) was holding her hand under running water. He smelled something he didn't like and which made him call out sharply in concern.

"Ferry woman,"

Botan jumped a foot, barely containing another cry, and turned around to face him. Bad idea. A rush of memories saturated her mind and she could only stare dumbly, helpless to keep her blush from reappearing.

"You're bleeding," he stated flatly.

Only then did she remember the slivers in her hand. "Yeah I, um, had a bad dream so I came down to get a drink." She lied shamelessly, very unwilling to alert the demon to her true motives for needing to cool down. "I must have squeezed the glass too hard."

"A nightmare? I didn't feel you thrashing around" Hiei carefully kept any trace of amusement from his face and voice. It was imperative that she not suspect anything, but he couldn't resist flustering her a bit.

"Oh, well I… It wasn't really that kind of a nightmare. It was more like a…" What? Hot, steamy scene from a porno and I wish I had never woke up? "A bad dream," she finished lamely.

Botan was a terrible liar, Hiei decided. Since he had a clear take on her real thoughts from their connection in the dream, and he had smelled the spike in her scent when she saw him, he knew she was lying through her teeth. However, even if he hadn't been a telepathic demon, he would have known she was making a false statement. Some people simply couldn't bluff convincingly. His ferry girl just happened to be one of them.

"I see," he glibly replied. "Let me look at your hand," he ordered.

"Why?" she asked blankly.

"So I can see about the slivers,"

"Oh. You don't have to-"

"Let me see"

Reluctantly, Botan let him take her hand. He stared intently at the many cuts, and prodded the tender flesh, extracting the glass fragments. His touch was excruciatingly gentle and hypnotic, and soon she forgot all about the slight pain and instead concentrated on his countenance.

When he was done, he lifted his face and caught her staring at him with that indefinable emotion. He continued to stroke her palm rhythmically, letting his eyes communicate in lieu of words.

She melted. She couldn't help it. The combination of the erotic dream, his clever hands, and his intense gaze boring into her would have been too much for even the most experienced female to ignore, let alone poor Botan.

"Hiei…" she whispered with a faint note of whine. Some inexplicable force seemed to be pulling her forward and she was helpless to resist.

Events were evading his control again. Hiei didn't even know what in the seven hells he was doing. Enma knew he hadn't the least experience when it came to the art of seduction. His previous couplings had been quick and almost brutal with their lack of intimacy. Necessary but heartless encounters that gave nothing but physical release and cost him nothing of his soul.

This would be different, he already knew. With Botan it would be more than a mere mating of bodies. It was that unshakable belief, more than anything else, which caused him the most doubt. He was uncertain that he was ready to let himself go in that way. Pain wasn't something he particularly relished, especially when it came to his heart.

So it was with a twinge of regret, he released the ferry girl's hand, preparing to draw back. Said ferry girl, however, had different ideas. Sensing his imminent withdrawal, she quickly closed the diagonal gap between them, thus commencing with the first kiss she had ever initiated on her own.

This, the koorime had not expected. Their awkward position was a minor irritant; however, he soon disposed of that particular problem. He backed her up until her knees hit one of the chairs and she collapsed into it. Now it was he leaning over her, but he didn't mind. He braced his powerful arms on the table on each side of her, nudging her knees apart to slip between them and get even closer. In kind, Botan hooked her arm around his neck making certain he couldn't pull away.

He'd meant to, he honestly had meant to put distance between them. But fuck, how was he supposed to resist her when she went and did something like kiss him for all she was worth? She tasted like innocence, like life, like warmth. How was he, a jaded, cynical, bastard of a demon who had been shunned his entire existence and had never possessed any of these qualities supposed to resist such a combination?

He did the only thing he could. He devoured her ravenously, trying to take in everything he could of her by taste and touch. She consumed in equal measure. His quick hands were everywhere on her at once, leaving not a single inch he could reach unattended. They sneaked under her shirt, rising upward to graze the undersides of her breasts. His mouth left hers to place soft exploratory kisses all over her face, even on her closed eyelids. Much more slowly than his nimble fingers, which were currently grazing her nipples lightly through her 'bra' thing, he kissed his way down to her collar bone, gratified by the way her head lolled back and her mouth opened on a silent exclamation. He whispered in her ear, "Touch me,"

Unable to deny him, Botan let her hands fall from his shoulders to shyly explore his chest, he stiffened when her fingers grazed his nipples the way he had hers and rewarded her by dipping into the cup of her bra for a firmer pressure. She gasped, and emboldened, leaned forward to lightly run her tongue over where her hand had just been. His approving growl preceded a bruising kiss, in which he barely let them breathe, let alone separate. Unable to continue holding her hands up, she placed them on his hips and hooked her thumbs into his hakama.

"Botan," he forced her name harshly from deep in his lungs.

"What?" she panted, a bit miffed that he had stopped.

"I need to have you. Now," he growled.

"Okay," she was delighted that he obviously wanted her so badly. But beyond that, she needed him so badly it almost hurt.

"You have to be absolutely certain, because if you're not I have to stop now." He wasn't even certain he could stop then. He didn't even know why he had asked her when she was so obviously as aroused as he.

"Hiei…" he thought he saw doubt flicker in her amethyst irises and resigned to pull himself under control. To his bewilderment she leaned up and kissed him before looking at him like he was a child who had misbehaved. "If you stop, I'll kill you,"

"Well, Hiei, it looks as if that's a resounding affirmative,"

Their heads snapped around to encounter a pair of laughing green eyes.

Botan yelped for the third or fourth time that night and tried to push the fire demon away. He wouldn't budge. So much for killing him if he stopped, Hiei thought as he glared with as much venom as he could project at the amused fox demon.

"Why are you up, Kurama?" he snapped, fighting to bring his temper and raging hormones under control. Botan had finally stopped struggling and now could only bury her face at his shoulder in mortification.

"I merely wanted something to quench my thirst. It looks as if you two had the same idea, except with a different kind of… thirst." He observed that Hiei's hands were still in a very obvious position under the ferry woman's shirt, and he seemed content to leave them there. Naughty Hiei.

"Leave," the koorime snarled. He'd throttle the insouciant son of a bitch. Kitsunes were bakas. Every last one.

"Don't be cross, Hiei, I was merely teasing. I suppose I'll have to return to bed without a drink," Kurama remarked slyly, returning to whatever rock it was he had crawled from under.

"I am so embarrassed." Botan muttered into his shoulder.

"I don't suppose you want to continue?" he asked in a rather disappointed way.

"Oh, no my little koorime. Something like a teeny tiny interruption from a nosy fox isn't gonna stop this," She hooked her thumbs in his waist-band again and pulled him to her. Her tone was just as sly as the kitsune's had been, only hers made his blood boil with lust instead of fury. "Let's go up to my room" she whispered huskily.

Hiei had never moved so fast in his life, not even while he was in danger.

He, he, limish, eh? Did you like it? Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, but I have been extremely busy. Ciao, and remember to review!