Disclaimer: see a previous chapter.

Dragon's Desire

Chapter 12

Ran cursed his stupidity as he walked along the road, waiting for Yohji to show up and drive him home. When he walked out of Ken's apartment, he wasn't thinking that Wufei had driven. He had enough problems without having Yohji pick him up. He's not going to keep his mouth shut and I'm going to have to kill him.

A horn sounded in the distance and Ran looked up to see Yohji's car speeding his way.

"Hey there, beautiful. Going my way?"

"Just shut up and drive."

"Dominatrix type, huh? I like it rough too."

Ran turned to glare at his fellow assassin, ready to scream and throw a fist if necessary to get him to shut up but he lost his conviction when he looked into the jade eyes. He's not teasing me. He's just trying to help in his own way.

"Thanks for picking me up, but I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Ok. But you know where to find me when you're ready."

They reached the Koneko twenty minutes later and Ran headed straight for his room. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to banish Wufei from his mind. I did the right thing. I did the right thing. I did the right thing.

After laying there and getting no sense of calmness from his mantra, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, his hands covering his face. I had to, Wufei. Sooner or later you would have realized that I'm not enough. I can't love you the way you deserve to be loved.

Ran sat there, listening to the silence of the house. He normally found the silence comforting. It was a welcome respite from the annoying fangirls and the cries of the dead that fell under his katana. But now the silence taunted him, daring him to recall Wufei's words and still keep his resolve to turn away from the man he'd grown to care for very much.

Let me love you

What works for them won't work for us

Ran, all I want is you.

What are you so scared of?

Let me love you

You'll regret it. I swear to you, you'll regret it.

A panic suddenly gripped his heart and Ran jumped up, racing out of his room, down the stairs and into his car. Please don't let me be too late.….

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Ran didn't see Wufei's car when he pulled up to the apartment building, but he checked the apartment just to be sure. Damn it! Ran got back in his car and sped off. He wasn't going back to the Koneko. He didn't need to. He'd made the drive enough times to know exactly where he was going.

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Wufei poured the last of the wine into his glass. After arguing with Ran he had come home and proceeded to drink. He didn't like being drunk in public and he wanted to be drunk so he pulled out two bottles of wine and set about numbing his mind and heart and he was well on his way having just finished the first bottle.

He sat there in the large window seat listening to the rain drumming against the glass. His head swam with alcohol and the steady sound of the rain was beginning to lull him to sleep. His eyelids were falling and he was thinking of Ran and that terrified look on his face after he told him he loved him. What is he so afraid of? Of me? Of my feelings? Of his own feelings?

A loud pounding brought Wufei's eyes completely open and his mind was clear enough to realize someone was pounding on his front door. However, his mind wasn't clear enough for him to check and see who was at his door before he opened it in nothing but his pants.

There stood Ran, soaking wet and breathing heavy. Wufei couldn't say anything. He was too stunned and wasn't entirely sure he wasn't imagining the whole scene.

"I…My car….it's stuck in the mud."

Wufei's eyes roamed over the man in front of him. His clothes were plastered to his body and he was trembling. How far away did his car breakdown? The driveway was about a quarter-mile and in the pouring rain it wouldn't have taken him long to get soaked.

"Ran….what are you doing here?"

This question brought some color to Ran's pale cheeks. He ran his fingers through his hair and then closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath. When he opened his eyes again, they spoke more than the words spilling forth.

"I shouldn't have pushed you away. I'm…scared. I'm scared to love you and….I'm scared to let you love me. But…but when I was lying there, alone…it was so quiet and dark and….I realized I'm even more scared to lose you. So I got in my car and I drove here hoping that you would forgive me. That you would still…..want me and love me and let me try….to love you."

"No. No, I won't let you try to love me, Ran. You either love me or you don't." Wufei saw the panic in the amethyst eyes and it broke his heart. As much as he wanted the redhead in his arms right now, he wouldn't allow them to fool themselves into a relationship like Duo and Heero.

Ran wasn't sure how he was managing to still stand on his own. He could feel his entire body trembling. Not just from the rain, but from the impact of every word coming from Wufei's lips. He honestly didn't know what to expect once he got here. He was in such a panic to get here and just see Wufei again, he hadn't given much thought to what he would say, much less what Wufei would say in return.

"Ran."

The redhead blinked a few times at the mention of his name.

"Do you love me?"

Wufei waited, holding his breath, watching the turmoil within the amethyst eyes.

Ran reached out a cold, trembling hand and let his fingertips brush against Wufei's warm cheek, causing the man to shiver. He gazed at the shiny ebony tresses that fell around the beautiful face that haunted his dreams every night. He took a step towards Wufei, marveling in the bottomless pools of black that threatened to pull him in and never let him go. But that's what I want. I want to drown in those eyes. Ran took another step towards Wufei, bringing them to within inches of each other. He swallowed hard and rasped out the response he'd been so afraid to utter.

"Yes. I love you, Wufei."

The words barely came out but Wufei heard them clearly enough. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were in each other's arms, kissing desperately. Wufei had pulled Ran inside and began striping the wet cold clothes from his body, his lips never losing contact with the shivering redhead. It didn't matter if he was kissing his lips, his neck, his chest, just as long as his lips tasted Ran.

Wufei quickly dispensed with Ran's t-shirt and began to work on his belt as Ran slipped his shoes off and kicked them to the side. As Wufei unfastened Ran's pants and slipped his hand in, the redhead moaned into the deep kiss they were sharing. He was clutching at Wufei and knew that he wasn't going to be able to control himself much longer. He'd kept everything bottled up for too long and now it was threatening to explode.

Wufei felt the intense strain of Ran's erection against his hand so he wrapped his warm hand around it and began to quickly stroke it as he whispered between kisses.

"Go ahead…..Ran….Let…..go."

Wufei's fist gripped tighter and Ran cried out as he threw his head back against the door. Wufei smiled against Ran's neck as his tongue traced small trails up and down the slender expanse of flesh. He let his lips come to rest on Ran's jugular and delighted in the throbbing vein.

Using his hand that was buried in Ran's pants, he led the man back into his bedroom. Ran allowed himself to be led by Wufei and even though his heart was racing and he felt a jolt of panic, he knew as soon as Wufei's lips touched his own, everything would be ok. He was still scared, but he wasn't going to let it stop him from getting what he wanted. Wufei….

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He wasn't sure if it was going to last forever. His mind couldn't think like that anymore. He closed his eyes and just let his mind go blank of all thought. All he wanted to do right now was feel. He let his hand roam languidly over Wufei's chest, abdomen, thighs, sides, anywhere he could reach. He felt cool fingertips on his cheek and he smiled.

"We'll never get any sleep at this rate."

Wufei moaned as Ran's fingers teased him.

"Sleep is overrated."

"Indeed."

Wufei rolled over with a growl and pinned Ran under him, capturing the assassin's lips. Ran's hands continued to roam over Wufei's body, eliciting moans from his lover. The thought suddenly jolted Ran from his non-thinking, pleasurable state and his mind came alive again. Lover? How can we be lovers? We don't even live in the same city? This isn't going to work.

Ran felt the panic and dread in his heart again, just as he always did whenever he and Wufei were becoming intimate.

Wufei felt Ran tense up and he pulled back to see panic in the amethyst eyes. He smiled and stroked the red hair lovingly.

"Hey, I don't know how this is going to work either. But I know I love you and we'll find a way, ok? You can't keep worrying, Ran. We'll figure it out together."

"How did--?"

"Now that you'veopened your heart to me, Ran, I can read you like a book."

Epilogue to follow….