Yay! I got this up sooner than I thought I would! And it's longer! ^_^ Big thanks again to all my reviewers, favers, and alerters. I deeply, deeply appreciate it and if I could I would send you all Ichigo clones…is that creepy? I hope not…anyhoo, enjoy!! *__*
Disclaimer: Not my characters. 'Tis only Tite Kubo's.
No way.
Orihime sat up stick straight in her bed, gripping the bed sheets as she felt her face heat up to boiling point. How could she dream about that? She hadn't even…done it yet!
"I had a…a…s-s-s-s-s-s-" Okay, she couldn't even say it out loud. To herself. By herself. In a dark room. Much less…much less…
Her brow crinkled in consternation at her inappropriate yet not wholly unpleasant dream. Never had this happened to her before, and what's worse is it wasn't with the one she was supposed to be marrying in a few months.
Honestly, she should be labeling it as a nightmare, not a dream! She really should…
She closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip as guilt washed over her, but the wave was quickly apprehended by images of bright orange hovering over her, deep brown eyes gazing intensely into hers, a husky voice murmuring sweet words into her ears…
She squeezed her eyes shut even tighter and violently shook her head back and forth, attempting to send the images flying out of her ears. Suddenly her eyes popped open so big they threatened to pop right off her face entirely. She shoved her dainty finger in the air and cried, "Aha!"
Quickly she ran her fingers over her scalp and neck, frantically searching for an implant, a tiny drill hole, anything! After an exhausting search she let out a heavy sigh and plopped backwards onto her pillow. Nothing. There has to be though! It can't be her; it must be an outside influence. She already went through the heartbreaks, the separation, the recovery, and learning to…to love again. She's a veteran in this war! She punched her tiny fist into the air to emphasize the point to her treacherous subconscious.
She sighed and let her arm fall as the determined energy drained out of it. Sighing, she naively let her eyes slide shut again. She could almost feel his tongue against her skin, slowly making a fiery path down-"ACK!"
At that she bounded out of her room and rushed through getting ready for another day at Kurosaki Hospital, managing not to let another thought dwell on her boss until she answered the doorbell only to see her fiancé looming in front of her, a gavel ready to hammer her to her dooming sentence.
"R-r-r-r-r-r-rin! Ehehhehheh. What are you doing here?" She stammered as she avoided his gaze, sure that it was drenched in tell-tale guilt.
Rin raised his eyebrow and slightly shook his head at his fiancé's ever unpredictable antics, "Well I won't be able to walk you home after work today so I thought I'd pick you up. Will you be able to find an escort this evening?"
The concern in his voice should have lifted her heart. The subtle way he indicated that he wanted to see her today rather than just calling to inform her of the situation should have made her happy with young lover glee. The protective way he made sure she was safe going home should have filled her to the brim with love. None of this happened as the tidal wave of guilt overwhelmed her emotions. She turned away and thanked him for his concern, and yes someone would take her home.
She hurriedly slipped on her shoes and grabbed her bag as she practically ran out the door with her tall gavel in tow. Everything will be fine. I lo…Rin is the one I l…I'm doing the right thing, I have to be.
Finally arriving at the office she realized she'd have to face Ichigo a little earlier in the morning than she had hoped. Her overzealousness yesterday caused her to finish all the work at her desk, and she needed to retrieve more from his office. She could piddle around at her desk for a while, but really it's just putting off the inevitable. With that thought she marched over to his door and with a deep breath, distinctly knocked, grabbed the knob, twisted, and pushed.
:
Oh God. At the sound of her short little knocks Ichigo's heart slammed against his ribs so harshly that he pressed his hand against his chest fearing it would break through. He managed deep breaths as she walked in which at the sight of her began catching in his throat. If Orihime had had the courage to look at him she would have been sure he was on the verge of heart attack.
"Good morning, Kurosaki-sama!"
He didn't even have the presence of mind to wince at her formal address. After managing to grunt out some sort of greeting he quickly returned to the stacks of papers on his desk. His frown threatened to push his eyes to the back of his skull as he tried to focus on the work in front of him.
Focus. Focus. Focus. GAH! How can I focus when her riatsu is literally saturating the room…what the hell is that perfume she's wearing anyways? It's driving me crazy. He looked up to send a glare towards the unsuspecting girl. Bad idea. His jaw threatened to drop off his face entirely.
Orihime was over at the filing cabinets rummaging through a drawer. The bottom drawer. Not squatting like a normal person might, but…well…let's just say Ichigo could clearly see her lacy turquoise panties.
Dear sweet baby Buddha. He tried to be a gentleman and not stare, he really did; but it was quite impossible. And so he sat gaping at a girl's panties like a foolish school boy. The way her perfectly round back would bobble around as she looked in the drawer was going to be the death of him. He closed his eyes in defeat…
Unable to take it anymore Ichigo gripped the arms of his chair and shoved it back. Standing, he slowly made his way over to the enticing lace covered rump. He hesitated as he stood a breath away from her, and then gently placed his hands on her skin, sliding his fingers under her skirt.
"K-kuro-?"
She started to stand but he placed a hand on the small of her back, gently forcing her to stay bent. She gasped as his hands moved, massaging her gently and rocking her against his already hardened bulge. Almost as if moving on their own, his fingers slid under her panties and began to teasingly move back and forth against her.
He watched, fascinated, as she put her hands flat against the cabinets to brace herself rather than pushing him away. Emboldened, he gently slid one finger deep inside her.
"Kurosaki-sama."
He frowned at her using formal terminology during such an act and opened his mouth to protest-
"Um, Kurosaki-sama? Are you okay?"
Okay? What the hell? He was more than okay!
"Kurosaki-sama!"
Ichigo blinked his eyes open to see Orihime leaning over his desk and staring intently at him.
Seeing his eyes finally open she shot him a huge smile. "There you are! I'm sorry, did you fall asleep? I hate to bother you, but I just need to ask you a couple of questions about-Kurosaki-sama? Are you sure you're okay? Your face is so red! You're not getting a fever are you?"
You've got to be shitting me. Sure enough, he had been fantasizing about her while the woman was still in the middle of his office. What the hell was that? He needed to get a grip on himself. He cleared his throat before attempting to at least try to give her some sort of intelligent answer.
"Ah, yeah I'm fine. Just, uh, hot flashes I guess." Hot flashes?? Idiot!
He watched as her stunned expression turned into a laughing one. Her laugh did nothing to help his already overheated body.
"Oh, Kurosaki-sama, you're so silly. So, uh, about this form, I was wondering-"
Ichigo braced himself and desperately tried to focus on her words and her face, and not her…not her…his eyes didn't listen to his brain and dropped down to her button down blouse that was conveniently gaping open as she leaned over his desk to point out her question on the…the…whatever the hell it was.
Figures. Lacy turquoise panties, of course she's wearing a matching turquoise and very lacy bra. Why not go ahead and push the man over the edge that you've brought him to?
Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut and didn't open them until he was sure they would be looking at the paper in front of him. He somehow caught the gist of her question and must have given a satisfactory answer because she nodded and quickly left the room.
As soon as the door shut behind her he let loose a groan and thrust his hands into his hair.
What was wrong with him? He never ogled girls! How many times had his friends accused of him being gay because of it? Well, of course there was that one time with Matsumoto that Rukia gave him a good smack upside the head about. But give him a break, he was a gentleman who valued women, he wasn't dead.
He had to stop thinking about this. Gripping the edges of his desk, he faced his work with a new determination. And promised himself that he would mutilate his father beyond recognition when he returned.
Later that day…
Okay. Okay. You can do this. A simple request. He offered to yesterday so you're just cashing in a rain check. Easy as pie. Silly phrase. I know very well that it is no easy task to make a pie. I mean the crust is hard to get just right and you have to find all the wonderful ingredients to throw into it and-
"Inoue?"
Startled, she looked up into a pair of the most gorgeous brown-
"What are you still doing here? Where's, uh, what's his face?"
"Oh he's busy tonight. I, uh..um-"
"Oh I see. Hey, I can walk you home, if you'd like."
She grinned in relief. She should have known she could rely on his kindness.
"I'd love it if you could walk me home if you're not too busy. Oh! If you are it's no big deal! The pediatrician said that he cou-"
"No, no! No trouble at all. I'd be glad to. It'll give us a chance to catch up in a less formal atmosphere."
"Okay! Thank you so much, Kurosaki-sama! Just let me grab my things really quick…"
Meanwhile…
Rin jumped when he heard her name mentioned.
"Really? Hime-chan's back in town? Wow, how long has it been?"
He looked up in the direction of the voices to see a tall, strangely tattooed man with equally ridiculous red hair and a very pretty and petite lady with coal black hair sitting at the table next to his. He tried not to let his eavesdropping seem obvious as the woman spoke again.
"Years. I was planning on visiting her tonight while we're here, but wait till you hear this. You know how Ichigo had to take over his father's position for the summer? Well guess who's working for him as his private secretary."
"No flippin' way!"
"Yes flippin' way."
"That is so stinking hilarious. Wonder if they'll finally get together…"
Rin took a good long swig of his coffee, thinking that all of a sudden it could really use a few shots of whiskey.
"I certainly hope so! If that idiot would just realize how he felt about her. His density is legendary."
"But is she still in love with him? I mean, it's been a long time. What if she met someone else."
"No way. This is Orihime we're talking about. She would've died a hundred times and then some for him. Even if she did get herself stuck to someone else, as soon as she sees Kurosaki Ichigo, that guy is toast."
He'd heard enough. Not noticing the couple jump as his chair loudly scraped against the floor, he barged outside of the coffee shop letting the door slam behind him.
Ichigo. What the hell kind of sissy name is that. He paced up and down the streets, his meeting forgotten and his feet leading him to the nearest bar. He wanted to drown the words of those two mongrels. He wanted to drown a lot more than was morally acceptable.
An hour later he stumbled out of the bar and soon found himself across the street from Orihime's apartment. He stopped in his tracks when he saw two figures standing in front of her door.
His face contorted into an ugly scowl as he watched them talking and laughing. He snuck closer to hear what they were saying.
"Thanks again for walking me home, Kurosaki-s, er, kun."
He heard the bastard chuckle, "No problem, Inoue-skun."
She let out a tinkling giggle in response.
Why the hell did she find him so damn funny?
"See ya tomorrow. But let's get together and catch up like this again soon, okay?"
The only thing you'll be catching is my foot up your ass.
"Okay! That'd be great! Good night!"
"Night, Inoue!"
He watched as the orange-haired idiot practically leaped down the stairs and sauntered down the street. Suddenly the man paused and began to turn around and Rin quickly sunk deeper into the shadows. He watched as the conniving womanizer looked around, but after apparently finding nothing he continued on his way down the street.
Rin teetered and sank to the ground onto his rear. His anger running together with the alcohol was almost more than he could bear. She was his dammit! Nobody else could touch her. Nobody else could look at her!
Wait…no, she's not mine, not completely. Orihime had insisted on waiting till marriage at which he had been a little disappointed, but what hot-blooded man wouldn't wait an eternity to get that body into bed. How many months had he waited...how many fucking months. He hadn't done much with her yet because he knew once he got started he wouldn't be able to stop himself. With her married to him, even if she got scared there's isn't much she could do.
But now, that son of a bitch was about to ruin everything. Fine. No more fucking around. She's mine. I bought the damn ring that's on her damn finger and that means I've got a right to what I want!
He stood up less than gracefully and managed to stumble up the stairs to her door.
:
Orihime jumped at the banging on her door and rushed to look out the window to see who on earth…Rin?
He didn't look so good. Was he sick? She quickly unlatched the door and opened it to her fiancé.
"Rin! Are you okay? You look terrible! Your cheeks are so flush-"
She was interrupted as he slammed the door shut and his rough lips smashed into hers. What? What's going on?
She struggled against him and finally managed to wriggle away. "Rin! What's wrong? What are you doing?"
"Godammit Orihime, you're mine and nobody else's. And I'm takin' what's mine."
Orihime gasped at the violence in his voice, she'd never seen him like this before. She stepped back as he lunged for her. She winced at the sneer that spread across his face. "Rin, stop this. You've been drinking. Why? I thought you had a-"
"SHUT UP! You're just gonna stay quiet, understand?"
Her eyes widened in terror as the realization of what has about to happen struck her. He snatched her by the waist and gripped her leg. She cried out as he threw it around his waist and smashed her back against the wall. She gasped when she heard glass shattering as the picture behind her fell to the ground.
No, please God, no. This can't be happening.
She felt him weave a bit and start to lose his balance. Quickly, she seized her chance and slipped out of his temporarily loosened arms and began a mad dash for the door.
She yelped as she felt him grasp her hair and yank her back to the middle of the apartment. Desperately she looked back at the darkening sky outside her window. Surely someone will pass by. Surely, if I just yell loud enough...
"Help! Help me, somebody, ple-urgh." Her screams were muffled by his heavy hand clamping against her mouth from behind. She whipped her head around and her stomach turned at his wild look. She winced as he gripped her shoulder with his other hand and threw her to ground, pinning her down with his heavy legs.
His heavy breathing filled her nostrils with the foul stench of alcohol, "I thought I said be quiet!" He took his hand off her shoulder and grabbed her hands that were struggling against him and slammed them against the floor above her head. He moved his other hand off her mouth to grab her shirt, ripping off half the buttons in one swift tug. Numbness swept over her body as the terror set in.
No, I can't let this happen to me. I can't!
Tears threatened to spill as she heard the last of her buttons being ripped off and fly across the room.
No, no, no "No! No! Stop! KUROSAKI-KUN!!"
She watched in horror as a maniacal fury flared in his eyes and he gripped her face roughly to bring it in for another lip smashing.
Bang
They both started at the sound and turned to see an out of breath and furious Ichigo in her doorway.
"You son of a bitch!" Ichigo roared as he lunged at Rin, grabbed him up by the collar, and let his fist crash into the man's jaw, sending him over the couch and crashing into the coffee table.
"Get out. Get out before I rip you apart you piece of shit!"
Rin looked as if he was about to protest, but saw something in Ichigo's eyes that gave him pause. Ichigo watched as he struggled to get up and finally stumbled and staggered out the door, knocking down a chair in his wake.
Ichigo stood there staring at the open door struggling to hold in his fury and not go after the guy and rip him apart anyway. A sob broke him out of the blinding red clouding his eyes and he whirled around to see Orihime with tears streaming down her cheeks, clutching at her ripped blouse.
"Inoue," his voice had considerably softened and he cautiously took a step towards her. She closed the distance as she flung herself at him with another sob. He wrapped his arms around her, comforting her, stroking her back, wanting to take it all away.
He held her as she continued to cry and soon felt her hands fiddling against his stomach. He looked down to see her pulling at her finger. Is she trying to take her ring off?
"It won't. Come. Off." She emphasized each word with a yank at her finger and looked up at him helplessly. He frowned in confusion. Why would she want to-
"Wait. Inoue, that was your…fiancé?" He spat out the word in horror hoping it wasn't true only to feel a new surge of raw fury race through him as he watched her slowly nod her head. No fucking way. He squeezed his eyes shut to will the renewed rage away and looked back down at her shaken and helpless expression.
"Inoue," he took her hand gently and gave the ring a gentle tug, but it still wouldn't budge. Without thinking he took her decorated finger, lifted it to his lips and took it in his mouth.
Orihime felt a shiver go up her spine as his tongue moved against her finger.
When he slipped her finger out the ring was gone.
She watched wide eyed as he spat out the foul piece of metal and then turned her gaze back to the newly empty finger. Why did it feel like such a relief to be free of it?
"Inoue, Inoue. I'm so sorry." He cupped her cheek in one hand as his other stroked her hair. "I'm so, so sorry."
New tears spilled as he stroked his calloused thumb gently against her cheek.
These were not because she'd almost lost her virginity in the worst possible way; but because the man standing before her, caressing her face, was finally touching her how she had longed to be touched by him. How she had never stopped longing to be touched by him.
He slowly leaned in. He ached to heal her as easily as her big heart has healed so many others.
His lips pressed against her hairline. "I'm so sorry." He kissed her salty cheek. "Inoue." He gently brushed her closed eyelid with his lips. "Inoue." He ran his thumbs against her skin to dry her tears and looked in her eyes.
I love her.
It wasn't a sudden revelation, but a calm understanding of something that he now knew he had felt for many, many years. All the feelings became clear. All those years he had missed her exponentially more than anyone else and didn't know why. I love you. Looking into her deep, stormy eyes he finally knew why his chest had felt empty since that day he had watched her leave at the airport. He marveled at how such a small person could leave behind such a huge gap in his life.
I love you.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward and again he slowly leaned in…
"Hime-chan? What happened?!"
The couple turned to see Rukia standing with her hands on her hips, worry crinkling her face as she surveyed the damage and Orihime's red-rimmed eyes. Her face fell as Orihime's bottom lip trembled and Rukia quickly ran to her dear friend.
:
:
:
Don't you hate Rukia right now? Hehehe. Don't hate her, she's a good friend. Hate me for making her appear at the worst possible moment…but the next chapter will come soon so hang tight, dear readers! *dodges rotten vegetables*
I hope you liked this chapter and your reviews are very dear to me whether they are good or bad (excluding silly flames of course) so thank you ahead of time for them! Peace, loves!