Hello, my readers! I can't seem to find the time to update! Work has gotten absurdly busy, and to be honest, I had a bit of a time with this one. I actually ended up turning it into two, so look for the next installment much more quickly.
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin, Aoshi and Kaoru do not belong to me.
The air between them positively shimmers, wavering like the red, red belly of the setting sun. He is more potent than the midday Tokyo sun in August. She feels scorched from the inside out and she is so aware of him that she can barely breathe.
She watches his pale skin, not as light as her own, darkening in the daylight. The scars stand out a little more prominently, and she is (not so secretly) thankful he has decided to remove his shirt as he practices outside. When he stops and turns to face her, she cannot explain the heat in his gaze, how icy blue eyes burn right through her. All she knows is that when he stares at her, like he is now, her pulse races, her face grows hot and she is distinctly uncomfortable in even her lightest yukata.
He knows the effect he has on her. He feels it too, the way his blood pumps fiercely through his veins when she smiles at him, the way his mouth goes dry suddenly when he catches her watching him. He feels her eyes on his body, can practically taste her need as he walks towards her. The responding desire burns so hot just beneath his skin he wonders how she can stand so, so close to him and not feel it.
Or maybe she wants to feel it.
The space between them sizzles with barely repressed emotion.
When he touches her, it is a supernova of love, lust and something indefinable. His fingers, with no more than a fleeting stroke, brand her flesh. The heat of his hand can warm her skin all day long. How is it possible that her skin is still so smooth and unmarred when everywhere he touches feels absolutely burned?
She is dizzy, breathless, and yearning. The passion is overwhelming. It is so intense she vaguely wonders why the paint hasn't blistered off the dojo walls yet. Unleashed desire so strong she thinks of the hottest summer afternoons, how the sun blazes relentlessly, how it sets her aflame.