CotA: As a quick note before I begin the next chapter, I am looking for someone who is willing to help me with my writing by serving as an idea sounding-board. I do best if I can bounce ideas off someone and talk through the plot with them. If anyone is interested in helping me, either send me a message through fanfiction, or email me at childoftheancients (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Chapter Nine

The next morning, Kerima awoke next to Kuronue, both of them without a stitch of clothing on. She nearly panicked, realizing just what she had done. She had slept with the bat demon, placing her heart in his hands. The odds of him carelessly tossing her heart aside and going to another, more beautiful girl were high.

Kerima wasn't stupid. She knew what she looked like, and she was pretty at best. Her grandmother always said that she was beautiful, but her grandmother was blind. The rumors about Kuronue said that he went after the most beautiful, most exotic females he could find. Him sleeping with her was likely an anomaly that he would soon come to regret.

She needed to get out of bed, get dressed and leave. She needed to find some way to take her heart back and protect it from hurt again, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. In binding him so closely to her, she had bound herself to him as well. Kuronue was now the center of her world, for better or for worse.

Sitting up and licking her lips, Kerima watched Kuronue nervously as he started to wake up. She watched his muscles ripple as he stretched and moved against her, and her heartbeat sped up in response. He opened his eyes and turned his gaze to her, causing her breath to catch. She had always found him handsome before, but now with the binding in place, she found him captivating and impossible to resist.

Kuronue smiled at Kerima, enjoying her wide-eyed expression. It was obvious that the binding effects had surprised her a little, but he liked them. He especially enjoyed how they could feel the other's pleasure. It had made the sex absolutely amazing, all other experiences of his had paled in comparison. Never before had he been able to feel his partner's pleasure, and it had been such a unique experience.

There had been something else as well, likely because of the binding. During the sex he had felt his power, his very soul blend with hers, and it had been the most intimate, sensual thing he had ever felt before. He could not see himself going to any other female after last night, not after what he had experienced with Kerima.

He gently drew a finger down her forearm, admiring her skin and enjoying the distant sensation of pleasure he was receiving from her. He wished he had known about the sensation sharing sooner, although she had told him that it would become more intense after the binding.

Kuronue paused, realizing that they had shared sensations before, at least pain. And it stood to reason that they had shared pleasure as well. While he had never felt any pleasure from her, she had probably felt his.

The guilt slammed into him so hard he almost choked on it. He had slept with all those women, including women in her village, and she knew it. She had felt what he had done, and while he knew he hadn't technically done anything wrong, he still felt horrible.

Without knowing it, he had forced pleasure on her that she had not asked for. In addition to that, with the bond he now shared with her, he felt like he had betrayed her. Intellectually he knew that he hadn't betrayed Kerima; she had only been his healer who had saved his life… until last night. He had not been tied to her in a way to keep him from sleeping with other females. But still, with the bond connecting them so tightly, he felt awful for doing such a thing to her.

For a moment, he struggled with what to say or do. Kerima frowned at him in confusion.

"What is it?" she asked, worry in her gray eyes. She briefly bit her bottom lip as she glanced away. "You… don't regret it, do you?"

"Regret what?" For a moment he was confused about what she was talking about. Did she know what he had been thinking about? He gently took her chin in his hand and turned her head so she was looking at him.

Kerima scooted away from him, but he caught the sight of suspiciously wet eyes before she did. "Last night," she answered, refusing to look at him.

Kuronue sighed in relief and moved closer to her so he could wrap his arms tightly about her. She wiggled, attempted to escape him, but he held on tightly. He could not let her keep on thinking that he regretted making love to her.

"I don't regret that," he whispered in her ear, feeling her finally relax in his hold. "I could never regret that." He paused for a moment, just to enjoy the feel of her naked skin against his. She had such delightfully smooth skin.

"Then what is wrong?" she asked, snuggling against him. She just couldn't help herself, especially since she now knew that he didn't regret sleeping with her. She enjoyed having him close to her, and her bond to him hummed in pleasure at the closeness.

"I realized what I did to you beforehand by being with those other women," Kuronue told her, voice soft and sad. The guilt was starting to choke him again. Kami, he even felt a little sick to his stomach. "I didn't know what it was doing to you. I'm sorry, so sorry."

Kerima stared at him in shock for a moment, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. He was apologizing for that? She had never imagined him doing such a thing, not Kuronue the playboy. She gently touched his cheek with her fingertips, marveling at the apology and what it stood for. Perhaps he wouldn't crush her heart beneath his feet in a few days or weeks time.

"The past is past. Only what you do now matters." She smiled brilliantly at him and then kissed him gently on the lips. Maybe, just maybe, Kuronue was no longer a playboy. She would trust him and hope for the best, and if he did hurt her, she would at the very least enjoy the time she had with him.

Kuronue licked his lips and then smiled back at her, enjoying the taste of her on his lips. Being bound to her really wasn't that bad. It was turning out to be an emotional roller coaster so far, but he had to admit the sex at the very least was worth it. Plus, his little healer was cute and much more forgiving than many women would be. He couldn't imagine anyone else forgiving him for what he had done to her. She truly was something.

"My dear, sweet little healer, I plan to spend the rest of our lives making it up to you," he told her, nuzzling her neck. He faintly felt her pleasure from that, so he began to gently touch her. He ran a hand down one of her arms, along her side, to draw circles on her hip.

Kerima arched against him, her head thrown back as she moaned. It felt good, so good to have him pay attention to her. It was hard to resist, but she knew that she had work that she needed to finish. Much had to be done before winter set in.

With much reluctance she gently pushed him away. "This will have to wait until night. While it is still day, I have herbs I need to gather for medicine. We will need them later this year, for when people take sick or become injured."

Kuronue sighed, giving her his most pitiful look. "Can't we just stay here, little one? Maybe make love a few more times?" he asked, still gently touching her.

"No." Kerima stood up and began pulling on her clothes. When all he did was lay there, she took pity on him. "Later, perhaps. But for now I have work to do." She quickly finger-combed her hair.

The bat demon sighed dramatically, but he rose as well, pulling on his own clothes. "Very well, if you must work, I will go with you." He couldn't stand the thought of her going out by herself and leaving him in the small hut by himself. "After all, you might get into trouble and need me."

She laughed, eyes sparkling with good humor. "I'm pretty sure you're the biggest, baddest demon for miles. What trouble could I possibly get into?"

Suddenly Kuronue became very serious as he stroked her cheek, concern in his eyes. "Your very family poses a threat, and I will not let them hurt you again. Just because you did what they wanted you to, doesn't mean they will leave you alone now. More than likely, they'll become even more demanding."

Kerima turned her head, looking away from him. "They're my family, and this is the only life I've ever known."

"Outside this village, healers are treated differently. They are so rare, so important, that to harm one brings punishment by death from the three kings," he said, watching her face carefully. Surprise flitted through her eyes before her expression closed down. "If you left this village, you would actually be safer."

For a moment the idea tempted her. She allowed herself to daydream for a moment, to imagine what it would be like to run away with Kuronue and leave her entire family and host of problems behind. She could almost taste the freedom on her tongue before reality came rushing back in.

She couldn't leave her grandmother here by herself, not to the mercy of the rest of her family. She couldn't stomach the thought of someone needing a healer and her not being here. While her village had other healers, none were as knowledgeable or powerful as her. It wasn't her pride talking; it was just a simple truth.

"It is tempting," Kerima admitted to him. "But I cannot leave. There's my grandmother, and I could not bear the thought of harm coming to her simply because I left."

"I would not mind taking her with us," Kuronue offered. While he would prefer to have Kerima all to himself, he wanted her to be happy. If that meant bringing her grandmother along, he would gladly do that. "We could all three escape, leave this village far behind."

She hung her head, shaking it slowly. "I have duties to attend to, and I just cannot leave knowing that people might become sick and die if I left," she told him, regret thick in her voice.

"Kerima..." Kuronue began.

"No more." She cut him off by placing a finger over his lips. "For now we'll collect herbs, and I'll think on what you've said." She picked up a basket and moved to the door. "Let's go."

Kuronue followed her, his mind whirling as he thought up plans on how to convince her to leave. Still, he was sure that even if he couldn't come up with anything, eventually her family would push her too far. They would push her right out of the village, and she would never look back.