Kokoro Kara

By Lady Callista

AN: See full notes at the beginning of the first chapter.

This fic is rated M, cause I know it's gonna have K&K lime and lemon goodness. If you are underage please go enjoy some of the other wonderful stories on this site.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin, or anything relating to it, and have the utmost respect for all the people who created these wonderful characters. The quotes at the beginning and end of each part were all found on the Internet, mostly listed as anonymous. The ones that are by famous people I've said who they're by.

And here's the lime you've all been waiting for…

LIME WARNING (it's a little shorter than my other parts, but it's pretty much a complete lime. You have been warned.)

Chapter 7: Aishiteru

OoOoOoOoO

"You can't ask for what you want unless you know what it is. A lot of people don't know what they want or they want much less than they deserve. First you have figure out what you want. Second, you have to decide that you deserve it. Third, you have to believe you can get it. And, fourth, you have to have the guts to ask for it."

–Barbara De Angelis

OoOoOoOoO

Kaoru brushed her lips over his gently, and felt his body tense before he relaxed again, and returned the kiss. Their first kiss had been only a brush of lips, almost over before it began, and although Kaoru had been slightly frustrated by that, she also didn't know what else to do. She brushed her lips over his again, and sighed against his mouth when his hand came up to cup her cheek, tilting her head and beginning to direct the kiss.

Kenshin tilted her head slightly, changing the slat of their lips, and felt her sigh with pleasure. He smiled inwardly as he continued to direct the kiss, his other hand moving to the side of her neck and beginning to rub gently. She gasped for him this time, and as her mouth opened he gently ran his tongue along her lips and proceeded to hear an even louder gasp.

Kaoru was already drowning in sensations. No one had ever touched her this way before, no one had ever kissed her other than him, and although his tongue on her lips had been shocking, it had also sent a spear of heat straight down to her toes. She hesitantly opened her mouth again, and he seemed to know what she wanted, for his tongue came out to play again, and then it was his turn to gasp in shock as her own tongue began to duel with his. Unclenching her fists from her own hakama, she reached out and rested them on his shoulders, reveling in the feel of hard muscles under her hands. Although she'd touched him before, that was usually when she was doctoring him, and she was usually so concerned over his injuries that she didn't spend much time staring at his body. Not that she didn't spend any, because it was impossible for her to see him and not stare a little, but she'd never had the chance to just caress muscles. She slid her hands slightly down his arms, loving the curve of the biceps under her hands.

It was all Kenshin could do to keep the kiss slow and gentle. The instant she'd begun touching him, he'd had to use all of his control to not ravish her. Both of their kenki's, already running high from fighting, soared even higher as their tongues dueled, and Kenshin let his hands release her face to slid down her sides. Gripping her waist firmly, he gave in to a tiny portion of his desire and pulled her closer to him, lifting her up and setting her on his lap as he continued to kiss her. Kaoru broke the kiss a second after he pulled her into his lap, and he started to open his mouth to apologize when both her hands went to his cheeks, staring into his eyes for a moment before leaning down to kiss him again.

Kaoru kissed him greedily, letting her hands slid back to untie his ponytail, running her hands through the soft, ruby strands as she'd always wanted to do. It had startled her for a moment when she looked into his eyes, when she saw amber flecks swirling in the purple, but she remembered him saying that his kenki changed over more than just bad things, and began to wonder if the eyes were like that as well. She doubted he was even aware of it.

Kenshin let his hands slid up her back, loving that he could touch her, worried that he would go too fast for her. But although she continued to gasp for him, she made no move to stop him, and seemed to be enjoying touching him just as much as he was enjoying touching her.

They finally stopped kissing long enough to catch their breaths, and Kaoru let her head drop to his shoulder as she panted, feeling more out of breath than if she had done an hour of training. She wrapped her arms around him, and felt him grip her just as tightly.

"I've wanted this for so long." Kaoru whispered when she could speak again, turning her head a little to kiss the side of his neck. His arms tightened for a moment before they loosened, and he pulled back enough to look at her.

"Gomen." Kenshin whispered as his hands cupped her face again.

"Don't be sorry." Kaoru replied, a twinkle coming into her eyes. "You'll just have to make it worth the wait."

Kenshin's eyes got huge and it was all he could do to not gape at her. Although she was often outspoken about many things, this was the first time he'd ever heard her make a comment like that.

Kaoru giggled at his nonverbal response, her hands coming up to caress his cheeks.

"I know what else you've been waiting for." There was a seriousness in Kenshin's voice underneath the teasing tone, and Kaoru cocked her head curiously.

And sitting on the floor with her in his lap, her face between his hands and her own hands on his shoulders, he whispered the one thing he never thought he'd get to say again. "Aishiteru. Aishiteru, Kaoru."

Her eyes got huge, and her face took on an awed expression even as her eyes started to tear up. "Aishiteru." She whispered back as a single tear slid down her cheek.

Kenshin wiped it away gently with the pad of his thumb. "Please don't cry."

"I'm just so happy." Kaoru whimpered as she threw her arms around him again, burying her head in his shoulder. His arms came around her, stroking her hair and back gently as he whispered it again and sent her into a fresh round of sobs. "I never want to move from this spot."

"We should move though, Kaoru." Kenshin said her name again without the honorific and almost had her crying again. "The others are most likely awake, and we will never hear the end of it if they walk in and see us like this."

"But I want you to kiss me again." Kaoru pouted like a small child and he chuckled as he leaned in and gave her a brief kiss, then stood with her still in his arms and set her gently on her feet.

"We have all the time in the world." Kenshin said softly as he picked up both their bokkens and put them back on the rack on the wall. "For now, would you like me to draw you a bath?"

Kaoru said something too softly for him to hear.

"Nani?" Kenshin turned back to her and noticed she had flushed bright red.

"Nothing." Kaoru replied as she moved to exit the dojo. "A bath would be lovely."

"Iie." Kenshin said as he caught up with her, catching her by the hand and pulling her flush against his body. "What did you say?"

Kaoru mutely shook her head.

"Kaoru, please." Kenshin made her look him in the eyes. "There is nothing you cannot say to me. I want you to say whatever you want to say, please."

"I said I'd like to take a bath with you." Kaoru mumbled.

His hands tightened on her arms, and he was forced to take a deep breath as desire hit him like a steamroller. His voice had gone husky when he replied, "I would like that as well, however there are too many people around. We will have to find time when we can, unless you want to tell them…"

"Iie, iie." Kaoru shook her head rapidly. "I want to keep this just between us for now. It's all so new…"

Kenshin smiled and kissed her before letting go of her arms. "We should go back to the house before the others come looking for us."

Kaoru nodded. "I would actually like that bath."

"I will draw it for you." Kenshin smiled before lowing his voice. "And sometime when we have more privacy, I promise to join you in one."

Kaoru's heart skipped a beat as they walked side by side back to the house.

OoOoOoOoO

"Love builds up the broken wall, and straightens the crooked path.
Love keeps the stars in the firmament, and imposes rhythm on the ocean tides
Each of us is created of it
And I suspect
Each of us was created for it"

-Maya Angelou

OoOoOoOoO

TBC...

Japanese/English Glossary (in order of appearance; if it's in the glossary of a previous part it will not be in here, as I trust my readers to have a good memory.)

Aishiteru: I love you

Iie: No