Author's Note: And here I offer a third helping of this series. It's all mindless drivel, but definitely has its share of Taiora goodness. I'm making up for the lack of which in the last installment. Enjoy!

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Summer Lovin'
by dreamcruiser

3: Remember to Forget the Sunscreen

Taichi was starting to regret taking that trip to the beach with everyone. Granted, he got to see his girlfriend in a brand new bikini ("Mimi said that I had to get it.") but the painful sunburn he had was like the punishment for the privilege of seeing her gorgeous self.

He milled about the apartment shirtless, in too much pain to sit down, lest the skin on his back touch something. Oh well. At least he still had the memory of her and those shapely legs, that flat stomach, the very lovely curves of her che...

A sharp knocking at the door wrenched him from his daydreaming. Disgruntled, having to be pulled away from Sora, albeit an imaginary one, he opened the door with a sharp "What?" only to met by the real thing. His anger (and scowl) immediately dissipated at the sight of her. She wasn't wearing a bikini, but in a simple shirt-and-shorts outfit she still looked pretty damn good to him.

"I thought you could use some of this right about now," she said holding up a tube of lotion.

His eyes widened. "Ooh... kinky," he teased.

She rolled her eyes and slapped him on the arm, ignoring the cry of pain her actions drew from him. "It's aloe vera lotion, you idiot. I didn't have actual aloe vera gel, so this is what I brought. I mean, after you didn't listen to me when I told you to put some sunscreen on yesterday, I figured you'd be totally burnt by now. This is for your back and stuff." She eyed his skin, a scalding red, just as she imagined.

He reached for the tube. "Oh... Sora, always oh-so thoughtful!" he swooned.

She pulled it away in feigned anger. "Don't make me feel stupid for doing this for you!"

"Aw, come on Sora. You know I appreciate this, really." And to accentuate his point, he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Come on in."

She looked about the apartment. TV off. Kitchen counter clear of food. Very suspicious. "So what have you been doing all day?"

"Well..." He thought back to the delightful daydreaming he had been doing prior to her arrival. Daydreams that were on their way to borderline indecent until her knocking had interrupted. He blushed. "N-Nothing much. Just hanging out."

"Hah. Doesn't sound like n-nothing much," she laughed.

He shrugged it off, hoping she'd drop it. "Do you want something to drink?" He started moving towards the kitchen.

"Actually," she grabbed his hand to prevent him from walking any further, "do you think we can we go to your room?"

"So it is kinky!"

Sora just chuckled and pulled him into his bedroom. "Now just lay down on the bed, and leave everything to me."

Her words left him wondering what she was up to, but he did as he was told, despite the burning sensation the contact on his comforter gave him.

"No, on your stomach."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure this isn't kinky?"

But he turned over, as per her instructions. He heard her pop open the cap of the tube of lotion. Oh. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. But not too disappointed; not when he knew his girlfriend was about to give him a rub down. And especially not when he felt her get onto the bed and straddle him from behind and begin to let her hands do their work on him. Definitely no disappointment there.

"This might hurt a little, but just relax."

It hurt, stinging a bit, but it was the good kind of hurt. The kind that came with a degree of relief along with the pain. The relief came from the sensation of the cool lotion, her hands moving in smooth circles across his skin.

She started up at near his shoulders. Slowly, she made her way down his back, feeling his muscles tense every time she came across one of the more painful spots. Once in a while she would even hear him hiss in pain. She'd stop but he'd urge her on. Once she finished off with his lower back, she moved to sit next to him.

"Okay, now turn over and sit up."

"But I'm not sunburned anywhere else. Not badly, anyway," he said upon shifting to the requested position and inspecting his arms.

"I am," she stated, placing her legs in his lap. She handed him the lotion and smirked. "Your turn."

He countered with a grin of his own and squirted out a bit of lotion onto his hand. He began to apply the soothing liquid to her calves. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me, Sora Takenouchi."

"And if you did know better, what would you say I was doing, Taichi Kamiya?"

"Well..." Tai searched his head for a reasonable answer. One that didn't end with her punching him in the jaw and leaving his apartment in a huff. "Spending quality time with your loving boyfriend?"

She paused and looked at him for a moment. His hands, currently working on her thighs, froze from their job. "I suppose that'll do. For now."

Tai let out an audible sigh of relief.

"I was thinking I was doing something more along the lines of... Oh, I don't know." She leaned forward to give him a kiss on the spot on his neck right below his ear. "Trying to get into your pants?"

It was his turn to pause and look at her for a moment, eyebrows raised, a bit of hope in his stare. "Are you serious?" The images of his daydreams came flooding back into his head.

"Absolutely not!"

And evaporated. "God, I hate it when you tease me like that!"

She giggled hopped off the bed. "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Yeah, whatever." Slightly bereft, he moved to sit at the edge of his bed, feet touching the floor.

She turned to look at him seriously, traces of laughter gone from her face. "You know I want it as much as you do. I'm just not ready for that, not right now."

"Of course. I would never..." He didn't have to say it because he knew she didn't need the reassurance. "I'd wait forever for you, you know."

She pealed into fits of laughter. "You can be so corny!" The conversation lifted once again, taking a sharp u-turn and staving off the direction into dire seriousness. "Honestly, you can be kind of embarrassing sometimes."

"You know you like it." The trademark Tai smirk graced his features.

"Fine, I admit it. A hopeless romantic, am I." She glided towards him to stand in front of him between his knees. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him. "And for the record, just because sex is out of the question doesn't mean making out is." She leaned down, touching her lips to his. He encircled her waist with his arms and smiled into her kiss, the image of the bikini lingering in his head.

--

"I'm back!" Kari announced as she entered the apartment.

Sora had been long gone and Tai was relaxing on the couch, but he couldn't find it in himself to stop his incessant grinning.

"What have you been doing all day?" She looked around the apartment. TV off. Kitchen counter clear of food. Shirtless Tai. Kari's expression turned curious, suspicious even. "And why are you all... smiley?"

"No reason."

He answered that just a little too quickly. She narrowed her eyes, looking at him more closely.

"Actually Kar, I was just wondering, do you think we'll take another trip to the beach anytime soon?" He'd take sunburns for Sora any day.

"I guess that all depends."

"On what?"

"When everyone recovers from their sunburns!" She laughed while he grumbled. "Actually, do you know if we have any aloe vera in the house? I heard it helps."

"We have some aloe vera lotion. It's on my desk."

Kari temporarily disappeared before returning to the living room, tube in hand and a new outfit: a shirt-and-shorts combo, shorts that happened to be dangerously short. "I'm just going to be borrowing your lotion for a while." She headed towards the door. "I'm going to be at TK's. I'll be back in a couple of hours!" she called out as she shut the door behind her.

It took Tai a moment for his mind to rewind exactly what his sister's words were.

It took a few more moments for him to piece together exactly what she was planning to do at TK's.

But it only took a split second after that for him to go running out the door screaming her name.

End.

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End Notes: I don't normally write physical scenes, so this one has me kind of bashful... and nervous. I find it difficult to couple the emotional with the physical. I think I still need a lot of practice. I'm not really sure if it was any good. And I hope it isn't too short or feels like it cuts off. (It actually came out longer than I had thought it would.) I'm very uncertain about this one. But I suppose I could have done worse. I need all the advice I can get.

I also hope you guys enjoyed the little Kamiya sibling scene at the end there. I think Taichi in big brother mode can be quite amusing at times. I also have a hormone driven Taichi, also amusing.

Please review and tell me what you thought! Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.