Chapter 55

The moment Reno walked through Aura's door she knew that his talk with Rufus Shinra had not gone smoothly. He held himself stiffly, and he was more silent than was normal for him. "Reno…" she said his name softly, almost warily and he cast her a slow glance followed by a slight nod. "Come and sit down…" she gestured at the couch and he did as she suggested while she headed into the kitchen to get a bottle of wine and some glasses.

Opening her cupboard, Aura scanned the few bottles of wine she had and then chose the strongest. She had a feeling that they were going to need it. She wrapped her fingers around the stems of two wineglasses and then headed back into the livingroom. Reno was sitting at one end of her couch, his back straight and his eyes on the television, which he had not turned on. Moving closer, Aura looked him over. His hands sat still on his knees and she wasn't even entirely sure that he was breathing. "Reno…"

His head turned toward her and she watched him draw a deep breath. "Aur."

"What happened?" she asked, moving toward the couch and sitting beside him. "With Rufus. Was it really that bad?" She set everything on the coffee table and opened the bottle before pouring two generous glasses. Handing one to Reno she watched him just hold it in his hand, his eyes returning, unfocused, to the television, which was still off.

Aura picked up her own glass and took a long sip. She would have to wait for him to talk. He wouldn't respond to pushing, and she didn't have the inclination to make him. Instead, she reached a hand out and gently placed it on his back. She rubbed him softly, lifting her glass for another sip. If he wasn't going to talk to her, then she would let him know that she was present for him in other ways. After a moment he raised his own glass and took a long drink. Aura watched the careful way he held the glass in his long fingers as he lowered it again, every action measured and deliberate. Leaning forward, she placed her glass on the table and turned her eyes back on him.

"What do you need?" she asked him softly. "Tell me…" Rubbing her hand over his back again, she watched as he drank again, now halfway through the wine she'd given him. "Hmm? What do you need?" Aura's fingers found Reno's hair and she combed her fingers carefully through it. "Tell me you're okay…" she breathed and he nodded after a moment. Her hand moved down his back and she leaned against him, her cheek pressed to his arm. She could feel the tension in him and she didn't know what to do to ease it. "Reno… They're all going to be okay, aren't they? Zena said they would be. They'll be fine…" She rubbed his back, "There's nothing more you can do…"

Aura felt strong fingers beneath her chin, turning her face up, before Reno's lips were on hers. She tightened her fingers around a handful of his shirt, hearing the sound of his glass being set on the table. His second hand briefly touched her cheek, and then he was on her. Reno pushed Aura back on the couch as he moved over her, kissing her hungrily as if he meant to devour her. He'd moved her far enough up the couch that her head lay on the cushion up the other end, and he'd slipped himself between her thighs so that he lay pinning her to the couch, pressed firmly against her. Aura couldn't move. Her left arm was pinned behind her back, trapped under her own weight, and his on top of her, and she couldn't shift it. She allowed Reno to deepen the kiss, sweeping her mouth with his tongue as both of his hands moved greedily down her body. She felt him fiddle with his pants with one hand while his other began pulling her dress up. A moment later she felt him hook a finger through her underwear as he pulled it aside, not even bothering to remove it, and then, with a heavy groan, he was inside her, thrusting with purpose.

Aura cried out, unprepared for what Reno was doing. Still unable to move, she bit her lip to try and keep quiet as her free hand moved over his back, unsure of what she should be doing as she listened to his hurried breathing and soft groaning. After a moment, Reno's strong hand had closed around her wrist and he pinned her hand to the cushion by her head as his lips hovered just over hers, ready to drink in any further sounds she made. His continued hard and fast thrusts drew involuntary gasping and groans from Aura, and she still couldn't get her left arm free from beneath herself. She felt his hot breath on her skin when he pressed his face into her neck, not letting up in his pace in the slightest, and she didn't know what he was doing. This was not the way that Reno behaved. She had never seen him like this before and she wasn't sure what she should do. There wasn't really anything she could do except lay there and take it.

She had asked him what he needed. The thought speared its way through Aura's mind, and she began to put it together. The events from today, and Reno's protectiveness. She knew that he would be blaming himself for what had happened in the recruitment centre, and stressing over what he could have done to avoid his friends being hurt. She would have put any amount of money on Rufus Shinra making that worse. The man definitely would have tried to get into Reno's head for whatever purpose. To push him into action, to motivate him, to punish him for failure… there were so many options. And Reno had come to her after it. He needed her.

"R-reno…" she gasped, trying to breathe and free her right hand from his bruising grip. "Reno… let my hand go…" He released his hold on her wrist almost instantly and his hand went instead to her throat, although not nearly as tightly. She groaned as he continued to move inside of her, still as determined and purposeful as when he began.

Softly, Aura lifted her now free hand to his cheek. "Reno…" she said gently, sliding her hand around the back of his neck and into his hair, "It's okay…" She would take the fear, the stress, and anything else that he presented, and she would return gentleness, kindness, and love. "It's okay…" She combed her fingers carefully through his hair, soothing as she went. Slowly, Reno's movements softened. His thrusting became smoother and his lips moved gently across her throat now. "It's alright…" she breathed, then shifted and tried to pull her left arm free once more. "Reno… I'm stuck…"

Wordlessly, he lifted her, allowing her to move her arm which she brought out to wrap around his shoulders, holding on to him as he continued to push into her, smooth and deep. Aura clung to him, her lips at his ear. "Everything is okay…" she breathed, "I love you…" wrapping her legs around his waist, Aura groaned again when both of Reno's hands came up to cup her face. His intense gaze locked onto hers and she realised that he wanted to watch her now. This had begun with a physical need, but that was no longer what it was.

"I didn't mean to hurt you…" The first sentence he had said since he'd arrived, and Aura could barely hear him over the ragged breathing belonging to them both.

"You didn't…" she curled her fingers into his hair. "I'm fine."

Reno nodded and Aura lifted her head to kiss him, feeling him sink down into her again. "Okay…" he murmured against her lips, "Okay…" He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it to the ground beside the cough. She felt his hands slide down to take hold of her hips before the he increased the force behind his steady thrusts once more. Her eye fluttered closed and she clung to Reno's shoulders as he moved. She could feel her blood pounding through her veins now, hear it in her ears. Every thud of her heart echoed through her body, and she wondered if Reno could feel it too.

Unable to help a low moan, Aura's hand tightened in Reno's hair and her back arched, forcing him into a new angle. Reno didn't stop what he was doing for a moment and Aura felt herself slipping into that sea of sensation. All that existed to her was the sound of her heartbeat, her blood rushing through her veins, Reno's hot breath on her neck and his hands on her hips. She could feel him hard and hot inside her and all that mattered was that he did not stop.

When he fucked her over that edge, Aura dragged her nails down his back, stifling her own scream by sinking her teeth into his shoulder. The pain seemed to pull Reno with her over that edge as he shuddered over her almost instantly, his mouth hot and wet on her skin as he did so. Aura felt him shift his weight, bracing himself on one of his arms so that his weight didn't fall on her when he lowered himself a moment later. She didn't let him go, however, keeping her arms wrapped around him, her hand moving slowly over his slick back as she sought to meet his eyes. When he lifted his gaze to meet hers, his eyes were slightly glazed and she smiled at him. Reno shifted a hand to slip behind Aura's head, bringing his forehead to hers. "I could never love anybody like I love you."

Aura tilted her head slightly to kiss him, smiling at the words.

"I know what you did… and I know you did it to pacify me…" his voice was soft, hesitant.

"It… was what you needed." Aura replied gently, "It was why you'd come here."

"I came here because I love you."

"Yes…" She pressed another kiss to his lips. "So I gave it back."

"I'm sorry." He murmured, "For how I was…"

Aura kissed him again. "It's okay." She tightened her arms around him. "You may have been a little insistent… but you didn't hurt me… It's fine…" She watched him nod slowly, felt his fingers brush her hair back from her face. "I could never love anybody like I love you." She told him, smiling widely.

Reno pulled her closer, settling her against himself. "I'm okay with that…"

Aura blinked, catching sight of his shoulder and her bitemark in his skin. She touched it gently. "… Sorry. I think that's going to leave a mark…"

"Then I'll wear it with pride." He told her and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe we should finish the wine…" he mused and she laughed softly.

"Probably…"