Disclaimer: Oh as much as I wished I owned Avatar I don't. Damn it.
Chapter Three: Bonding
Amaria woke up, not slowly as most people do, but suddenly, fully awake the moment she opened her eyes. She wondered who was in her bed for a moment before noticing Zuko lying naked next to her. Her eyes glimmered in barely restrained anger as she remembered what had happened last night. Although she would give him credit, he had not been cruel or overly rough with her, and he was very good in bed (not that she was one to judge), being tied to a bed was not a way to win her favor. Looking at her husband's bare chest she quickly found the worst of the burns and taking a deep breath slapped it with all her might.
Zuko awoke to a sudden searing pain in his chest. He sat up abruptly, his stomach in knots, and screamed in agony. He looked around out of tear filled eyes to see Amaria looking at him curiously, a mixture of guilt and satisfaction gracing her lovely features. He then noticed the hand clutched to her chest, reddened and sore. He assumed it was from hitting him.
"What the fuck was that for?" he screamed at her, his chest still throbbing, and fighting a faint wave of nausea.
"For being an arrogant bastard!" she screamed right back, jabbing him in the chest with one long nail. She had leaned in very close when she jabbed him, and he couldn't help but notice that her very attractive figure was still naked. She noticed where he was looking and slapped him on the chest once more, although considerably softer this time, "Hentai." She grumbled getting out of the bed they had shared and pulling on the nearest article of clothing she could find, which happened to be the long sleeved grey shirt that he wore under his armor. Sighing she sat on the bed next to him, curling her long bare legs under her. She glanced at his chest, running her hand around the edges of some of the more major burns.
"I kicked your ass pretty bad didn't I?" He shuddered slightly as her soft hands examined the burns. "We'll have to clean these up and-YOU GOT BLOOD ON MY SHEETS!" she screamed indicating the blood stains, presumably from the scratches on his back, marring the cream colored sheets.
"Who's fault do you think that is?" he yelled back. Damn the girl could yell.
"Sure as hell ain't mine!" she glared at him, and for a moment he was reminded of a forest fire, angry and burning everything in its path. That happened a lot with her. Last night she had seemed a bonfire, roaring, happy, content.
"Who the fuck scratched me?"
"If you hadn't tied me to the bed!"
"Well, if you would just what you're told like a normal person!"
She hmphed at him, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring, "Hate to tell you buddy, but you left normal a long time ago." She sighed getting off the bed, and tugged on the sheets, indicating he should as well. He did and she threw his pants at him, and proceeded to remove the sheets.
"I'm going to get these cleaned. Sit back down." She threw the pile of dirty sheets in the hallway, then walked to a cabinet across the room. She pulled out some cloths and bandages and such stuff before walking back to the bed. She laid all her supplies on the bed and tugged on his hand, pulling him on the bed. She grabbed a cloth and got it wet, before proceeding to clean off the bloody scratches on his back.
"That hurts!" he yelled at her as she got the scalding water in his scratches, having a need to break the silence that had come between him.
"Some prince you are. Wuss." She reached around him for a bottle of something, leaning against his bare back to reach it. He shuddered, in part from the slight pain, in part from the pleasure of having her body so close to his. The bottle was filled with some kind of ointment which Amaria was currently massaging into his back. He grew drowsy as her strong hands kneaded his muscles, and he was almost asleep once more when she stopped.
"Huh…What?" He questioned Amaria, who was now sitting in front of him, and dipping a finger into the water.
"Whatever you may believe, I wasn't doing that solely for your pleasure. I was just rubbing the ointment into your scratches. Heat this up a little would you?" she handed him the bowl of water, now room temperature. Grumbling slightly he obliged, and she dipped another clean cloth in it, and before he could react, began cleaning the burns on his chest. With the very painful burning hot water. The only thing that prevented him from yelling out was the fact that Amaria was currently cleaning a burn that was located very very low on his stomach. Poor Amaria was possibly the deepest shade of red he had ever encountered in a human being until this point. He grinned. It was actually very adorable, her shyness. She was determinedly ignoring his grin, and junior slowly becoming more attentive to the situation. However he caught a veritable sigh of relief when she finished with the burn and moved to ones located higher up on his chest.
"You're not what I expected." She said suddenly reaching for some more of the magic ointment.
"Wha?"
"I went to school with your sister. I was a couple of years up. No offense, but she's kind of a bitch. After meeting her I expected you'd be the same way. A cruel, sadistic, bastard."
"I'm so glad I surpassed your expectations."
"Now who's feeling sarcastic."
"Does that make you the horny one this time around?"
"You're not that lucky." But the way his gaze became intense and shifted to her, the way one hand traced along the length of her thigh before resting at her knee, and the way his muscles just tensed up ever so slightly as he tried to retain some control over his hormones made her heart flutter faintly, and her hands falter for the briefest instant before resuming work on his burns.
He must have noticed because the hand that gripped her knee clenched slightly, and the other slid around her waist, pulling her closer, "Amaria…"
"Yes…?" He didn't answer, merely leaned in to kiss her lips. She tensed for the briefest moment before relaxing into his hold, and at the gentle prodding form his tongue let him into her mouth. He pulled her nearly into his lap, one hand gliding up her back to cup the back of her head. Amaria could fell the tension in the air, and knew that they both could go for a repeat of last night.
"Amaria?" They both jerked back, and Amaria stomped to the door to open it and find Talon. He took one look at his sister's flushed face and tousled hair before asking, "Am I interrupting?"
"YES! Go away!" Amaria slammed the door but both she and Zuko could hear him yell, "But breakfast is ready."
"Fuck damn shit ass bitch." Amaria stalked into a separate room where Zuko heard bathwater going. Smirking he followed her and not feeling the slightest bit guilty picked her up and dropped her in the tub.
"Argh! My shirts wet!"
"My shirt. You're just wearing it."
"Not my fault."
"Guess we'll have to fix it then." He slid into the tub before Amaria could protest and proceeded to remove his shirt before drawing her into another kiss.
"What about breakfast?" she managed to murmur.
"It can wait for an hour or so."
Yay for chapter three. I feel so productive. I hope you all like it. I have to say the "you got blood on my sheets" part is my favorite part of this story so far. Review!
