A New Battle

Chapter 10 - Captured

Over the next week or so things began to get back to normal and soon everyone got used to seeing Kenshin and Kaoru acting like a couple. They would play around, hold hands, cuddle during movies and other couple things, all the while ignoring the comments and jokes from the others whenever they tried to do anything cozy. Of course they had some private time to themselves and they would kiss and explore a little but no matter how far they went Kenshin always made sure to avoid her neck, fearful of repeating his prior mistake. One day Megumi, Sanosuke's sister, was having a party and everyone, except Kaoru, decided to go. After everyone left she took a bath and watched an old romance movie for about an hour or so before watching some cartoons. Eventually she became bored and laid down on the couch to take a nap. As she began to drift off she thought she felt someone in the room with her but dismissed it as being her imagination playing tricks on her. Then out of nowhere a warm mouth covered hers as strong hands grabbed her own when they flew up to fend off her attacker, their lips effectively muffling the shrill scream she let out from fright. She opened her eyes and her struggles ceased when she saw a familiar mop of red hair above her. Kaoru relaxed into him and kissed back, glaring playfully at him when he finally pulled away to look at her, "Kenshin, you jerk! You scared me half to death!"

He smiled, "I'm sorry." he said a little too simply.

"Sure you are! But any ways, what're you doing here, I thought you went to the party?"

"And be social? Not a chance, besides, I'd much rather spend the evening with you then a bunch of hyper, half-drunk kids."

Kaoru giggled and patted his shoulder, "I forgot, we're all kids to you, aren't we, grandpa?"

"Ha, ha, very funny."

Kenshin let her up and knelt in front of her as she rested her forehead on his, "I'm sorry, so what would you like to do?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Huh?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just close your eyes."

Kaoru arched an eyebrow at him, not sure whether to do it or not, but the soft smile on his face told her that everything would be fine so she did as he asked and shut her eyes then he took her hands and started to lead her out of the room. As she reached the hallway she tripped and she opened her eyes to look up at Kenshin as he caught her. Kenshin smiled and helped her stand before moving behind her, "You can't peak, Kaoru."

"Sorry, I tripped, my eyes are closed again."

Kaoru heard him chuckle then she felt his hand cover her eyes, getting her to laugh, "I'm not going to peak, Kenshin."

"No, but you might trip again."

Kaoru laughed softly to herself and let him lead her to wherever he was going. After a short walk they stopped and Kenshin whispered in her ear, "Alright, you can look now."

He moved his hand away from her eyes and she let out a gasp when she saw the room. Kenshin had made dinner for them, which was anything but unusual, but what got her was the numerous candles scattered elegantly across the room, giving it a very romantic feel. Kaoru turned around and hugged him, smiling up at her red-haired wanderer, "What is this?"

"I just felt like doing something nice for you, but I guess it's also an apology."

"An apology for what, Kenshin?"

"For last week when I... bit you."

"You still feel guilty about that?"

"Yes."

"Oh Kenshin, you're silly, I forgave you for that a long time ago."

"I know but I still feel horrible about it."

Kaoru giggled and kissed his throat, "Would you feel better if I bit you?"

Kenshin chuckled and kissed her forehead, "You're about a hundred years too late, beautiful, I've already been bitten enough for one lifetime."

"Are you sure? I think I can get you to like my 'biting.'"

Kenshin turned pink at the double meaning but hugged her all the same, "We'll discuss biting me later, let's go ahead and eat dinner."

"Alright."

After dinner Kaoru drug Kenshin into the den and they watched a movie before an idea suddenly popped into Kaoru's head, "Hey Kenshin, I've just thought of a good idea!"

"Oh no... I'm finished..." he muttered playfully to himself

"What!"

"Nothing, Kaoru, nothing! So what was your idea?"

Kaoru got up from the couch and bounded over to the stereo and turned it to the soft station, smiling happily a moment later when an old love song poured out of the speakers, "Oh I love this song! Dance with me, Kenshin!"

"Huh?"

"Dance with me."

"No, not a chance, girl, I'll do anything for you except dancing."

Kaoru huffed slightly and went up to him, tugging on his wrist, "Come on, just one dance?"

"No."

"Kenshin..." Kaoru kissed his lips lightly and gave him the big puppy dog eyes and her cute little pout, "please?"

Kenshin groaned, knowing he was defeated, he just couldn't stand it when she did that to him, "Alright! One dance."

"Thank you, come on!"

Kaoru drug him out to the middle of the room and Kenshin stopped, looking down at her with a slight flush, "Kaoru... I've never danced before."

"Never?"

"No, dancing wasn't one of the of the requirements needed to be an assassin."

Kaoru rolled her eyes and took his hands, putting them on her hips before placing her own on his shoulders, "Ok, now just follow my lead."

She started to gently sway back and forth to the soft music and Kenshin had to smile, "This isn't hard."

"See, it's easy, but relax a little, you're too tense."

"I can't relax, I'm afraid of stepping on you and..."

Kaoru silenced him with a tender kiss and soon thereafter she felt him relax into her and that was when she pulled away, "You relaxed now?"

Kenshin smiled, "More than..."

Kaoru sighed and laid her head against his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck when his encircled her waist to pull her closer to him. They continued to dance like that for quite sometime, just enjoying the closeness and the warmth of being in each others' arms. The song changed to one of the newer songs and Kenshin pulled back enough to look at her, using his fingers to lift her face up to his, "Kaoru..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For this."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers softly, in return Kaoru closed her eyes and stood up on her toes to reach him better, sighing happily into his mouth when his hand slid back to cradle her head for a deeper kiss. After what seemed like an eternity, yet only a few moments, Kenshin pulled away for air and gazed down at her with glazed over golden eyes. Kaoru kissed his chin and took his hands, leading him out of the den and down the hall to her room. Kenshin shut the door behind them and immediately took her into his arms for another passionate kiss.

Kaoru's hands seemed to develop a mind of their own and slid down his chest to the end of his shirt, pushing it up and over his head where he helped her by hastily tossing it behind him before returning to their kiss. This time it was Kaoru who had to pull away to breathe, gasping for some much needed air as his lips traveled over her face. She didn't know what had gotten into him, his kisses were passionate and almost overwhelming in their intensity, it felt as though he was trying to devour her, but she wasn't complaining, though, she actually enjoyed it. She felt his hands slide under her shirt to glide over her stomach, pushing the material up as he did so but Kaoru grasped his hands and pulled away slightly, "Wait Kenshin."

"What's wrong?"

"I... I've never... done this before..."

Kenshin's eyes went wide for a second before his handsome face took on a look of worry, "Do you want me to stop?"

"No but... will you go slow?"

"Of course but if you change your mind just let me know, alright?"

"I will."

Kenshin kissed her again, more gently this time as he continued his earlier task of removing her shirt and it was soon tossed aside to join his on the floor, forgotten by them both for the time being. His hands traveled over her back and waist, enjoying the feel of her soft skin against his sword calloused palms. Kaoru hugged his chest and her nails dug into his back when his rough hands found a particularly sensitive spot on the back of her neck. Kenshin smiled to himself at her reaction before bending down to scoop her up into his arms, never breaking their kiss as he carried her over to the bed and laid her gently across it. He moved to lay over her and let his hands slide up and down her arms before moving down to explore her flat stomach once more. The need to breathe forced him to pull away and his lips moved to kiss her cheeks and chin before moving downwards to her neck. Before he realized what he was doing he started to suckle on her pulse, greatly enjoying the feeling of her heart beating against his tongue. Kaoru shivered slightly and let out a whimper, unconsciously arching her body upwards into his, getting him to smile.

Kenshin continued his assault on her neck and she moaned his name, sending a jolt of desire coursing through him, then without realizing it he bit down lightly on her throat, getting her to cry out softly. His eyes immediately shot open with from shock and he pulled away to look into her deep blue eyes, "I'm... I'm sorry, Kaoru... I didn't mean to."

"What're you apologizing for?"

"I... bit you."

Kaoru smiled and shook her head, "There's a difference between a love bite and a feeding one, you didn't hurt me, I actually liked it."

"But..."

"No buts, Kenshin... I want you to give me the second bite."

Kenshin's eyes widened with shock at her request, had he heard her right?

"You... want me to... bite you?"

"Yes... I feel badly for making you feel guilty, I didn't mean to make you feel the way and I want to prove to you that you can never hurt me."

"But Kaoru... to let me..."

Kaoru shook her head and flushed slightly as she nuzzled his shoulder, "I want this, Kenshin, to prove to you that I trust you and... to make me yours..."

"Kaoru, I'm not sure..."

"Please Kenshin? Make me yours."

Kenshin smiled softly and closed his eyes in concentration for a moment before leaning down to kiss her lovingly, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Kaoru leaned her head back to allow him better access to her neck and he took the hint and leaned down to kiss her pulse, trying to get her to relax. A moment later Kaoru sighed and Kenshin opened his mouth, sinking his fangs into her throat at gently as he could as his fingers fumbled with the buttons on her jeans.

Kenshin awoke the next morning from a pleasant dream and looked down to see Kaoru still nestled safely in his arms. He smiled and ran a hand through her hair, enjoying the way it slid between his fingers and down his hand. He continued playing with her raven colored hair until sleep began to overtake him once again but a tap on the door made him fully awake and alert. He gently moved Kaoru off of him and quickly slipped into his jeans before he grabbed his dagger and opened the door, a feeling of relief washing over him when he saw who it was, "Gaiyo, it's early, what's wrong?"

Gaiyo opened his mouth to say something but then noticed Kenshin's half-clothed attire and peered past him to look into the room, a smile coming to his face when he saw Kaoru sleeping inside, "Am I interrupting anything important?"

"No, what did you need?"

"It's about Norihiko, he..."

"Hold that thought, Gaiyo, let me throw on a shirt and we'll go to the den."

"Why can't we talk here?"

"Because I don't want to wake Kaoru up."

Gaiyo nodded and waited patiently as Kenshin put on his shirt and tucked Kaoru back in before following the red-haired man to the den, "Now, what's going on, Gaiyo?"

"Norihiko knows you're here and he also knows about you and Kaoru."

"What! How!"

"I'm not sure, but we actually managed to speak to him last night and he said that he knows your weakness and he intends to use it."

"We've gotta find out where he is and stop him, did you send one of our trackers after him?"

"Yes but he's dead, Norihiko killed him."

"That's right and you're going to be next!"

They looked over and saw a young man with short blonde hair standing next to them, an angry look forming on Gaiyo's face as he addressed the stranger, "What do you want, Geki?"

"Do you know him, Gaiyo?" Kenshin asked

"Yes, he's one of Norihiko's henchmen."

Geki smiled, "So you remember me, I see, but my quarrel's not with you, Gaiyo... come to think of it... Himura's not really my target either."

"Then who are you after?" Kenshin asked impatiently

"I've come for the girl named Kaoru, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find her, would you, Himura?"

"You stay away from Kaoru! If you want to get to her you'll have to go through me!"

Geki smirked and reached for the sword at his side, "Have it your way, Himura."

MEANWHILE

Kaoru stretched and let out a yawn, reaching over for Kenshin only to find an empty bed, "Maybe he went to start breakfast or something..."

She rolled over and pulled the covers over her head to shield out the offending sunlight that had crept into the room. A few minutes she felt the covers move away from her then a warm pair of lips started caressing her neck. She sighed and stretched out her neck to give him better access and he took the offering without hesitation, nipping gently on the tender flesh revealed to him by her actions. A moment later she felt a rough hand rest on her waist just below her night shirt as a soft, gruff voice sounded in her ear, "Kaoru..."

When she didn't answer or turn around to look at him he dug his nails into her side, causing her to cry out in pain and spin around to face him, "Ow! Kenshin what're you doing, that..."

She paused in mid-sentence when she didn't see the familiar golden eyes that belonged to her Kenshin, instead she came face to face with an unusual but familiar silver gaze and a wicked smile, "Hello Kaoru."

"Norihiko! What're you..."

He abruptly cut her off by placing his hand roughly over her mouth, his eyes glowing faintly as he starred into hers, "Sleep Kaoru..."

A moment later her struggles ceased and she went limp as the spell took it's toll on her. Norihiko smiled and picked her up into his arms before sending a mental message to Geki, "I have what I came for, let's go."

He didn't wait for his accomplice as he hurriedly left the room and ran out of the yard, a sleeping Kaoru resting unaware in his arms as they disappeared over the dojo wall.

Geki had been fighting with Kenshin and Gaiyo and was surprisingly holding his own fairly well against the two legendary swordsmen. When he heard Norihiko in his mind he smirked and sheathed his sword, "It's been fun gentlemen, but I must be off, thanks for the girl, Himura, I'm sure we'll have fun with her."

Geki left without another word and Gaiyo glanced over at Kenshin, "What did he mean, 'thanks for the girl?'"

"Oh no! Kaoru!"

They ran off down the hall and entered her room, finding only a note on the bed where she was supposed to be. Kenshin quickly read the note before crushing it in his fist angrily, "Damn it! Geki was just a distraction! Norihiko has Kaoru!"

"What are you going to do now, Kenshin?"

"Simple, I'm going to find Norihiko, kill him and get Kaoru back!"

Kenshin started out the door but Gaiyo caught his arm and halted him, "Kenshin, it's been fifty years since you've killed someone and you're not as cruel as you used to be, do you really think you can beat him as you are now?"

Kenshin turned around and looked directly into Gaiyo's eyes, drawing a gasp of surprise from him when he saw the cold anger radiating from Kenshin's golden eyes, "Just watch me."

Kenshin twisted his arm free from his friends's grasp and ran out of the dojo, leaving a startled and confused Gaiyo behind him as he headed off to find his prey.

How's that for action? I know, I got behind again but it's almost over YEY! I'll have the next chapter up soon so be patient and stop sending threatening e-mails (looks at friend sitting on the couch :). Any ways, the next chapter should be fun because Kenshin finally gets to kick some butt, yey!