Sorry I took such a long time uploading this, I just finished the school term and had been busy! T_T

So here it is! Lemon! Yay! Hahahaha for all of you, my beloved pervs, sorry, readers!

CHAPTER ELEVEN

HE did doubt her, then.

"I'm not modern enough for us to marry and live apart the way some royals do," he added decisively.

Ino rubbed her lingers against the plush rug. "If we married I wouldn't want to live apart."

"If we married," he said, repeating her words, revealing her own noncommittal words. "You haven't made up your mind."

She wanted to protest, but her mind stayed blank and she just looked at him, wondering how on earth someone got from here to there, how chasms were crossed, oceans traveled, mountains climbed. She didn't have the strength anymore. Didn't have the courage right now, either.

The sky looked so big. The stars so high. Ino had never felt so small. Helplessly she reached for him, touching the back of his hand, her fingers sliding over his, covering them. "I want to be with you."

"Just tonight, or forever?"

If she answered honestly, and said just tonight, there'd be no tonight. If she lied and said forever, there'd be tonight but no forever.

There was no way to win this one.

He lifted his hand, pressed his fingers up against hers, and she wrapped her fingers around him. "I'm scared of marriage. It terrifies me."

"Because of Jiro?"

Back to the game, the charade, the mask that Ino hated wearing. "I've just... never... wanted to be married." She couldn't be Hinata and herself any longer.

She could only be herself. She could only speak for herself. "I just never fantasized about getting married, having babies. That was more Sakura and—" She broke off, swallowed and tried again. "Then I grew up, and saw that the fairy tale belongs in books. Once married, your options are limited."

"And what are our options again?"

She marveled at his calm. "Once you marry, you give up your freedom to choose. You don't get to be with anyone else, you have no more partners, no more different paths—"

"But how many paths do you really have, laeela? As a Shinobi princess, your options are limited."

Maybe that's why she was frustrated. She didn't have the choice others had, couldn't just do what she pleased. Duly and obligation had hung over her head since birth.

"Besides," he continued. "I don't feel limited. When I was younger I enjoyed being a bachelor, but I'm midway through my thirties now. I know what I want."

"But it's not me you want. Not really."

"But I do. Really."

"Because of Konoha and the Mediterranean ports."

"Initially."

Her heart pounded, and yet she felt a disconnect from her body. "What about me do you want?"

"Everything."

"Because I'm a princess—"

"Because you're smart, spirited, independent, interesting."

Ino didn't know how to reply to that. What was she supposed to think...feel? "But you wouldn't marry me if I weren't a Shinobi."

"And you wouldn't marry me if I weren't a Kazuri."

She was getting nowhere. "I don't see how our marriage would work. We're both so strong and opinionated—"

"You think a marriage between a strong person and a weak person would be better? You think we're both better off with a spineless partner, one with frozen emotions?"

She searched his eyes. Did he mean it? Could he really accept her—hothead, stubborn streak, and all? She moved to withdraw her hand and yet he wouldn't let her fingers go. "What are you afraid of—and it's not sex. I know that much."

Ino glanced down at their hands, lingers linked. It was good like this, comforting touching like this, but the warmth and comfort of joined hands could quickly become a ball and chain. "Marriage traps a woman."

"No."

"You're a man, you don't know."

"I'm a man. And I'd never trap a woman."

Her nails dug into her palms. "It's not even a choice men make. It just happens. Marriage... motherhood... children. It changes a woman. Your priorities change... they must change."

The heat in his eyes burned her. He stared at her so intensely it made her almost dizzy. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"It is if you value your freedom."

"And your freedom is so valuable?"

Ino was finding it harder and harder to breathe. The air felt heavy, close, pressing in on them. He didn't understand, he hadn't seen what she'd seen—her mother's career ended, her incredible voice and talent hidden from the world, her energy devoted to supporting her father's efforts, and then Hinata, locked away in a chateau in The Tea Country, trapped. Ignored. Lied to. "It is to me."

She looked away, remembering the delicate gold birdcage she'd seen earlier in the day with the pretty orange and yellow birds inside. Her heart had gone out to the tiny songbirds. It'd kill her to become what Hinata had become. She'd rather die than be trampled by a person she'd trusted...

"You'd clip my wings." she whispered, feeling tears start to thicken her throat.

"I'd hate it." She swallowed the threat of tears. "And I'd hate you for it."

He brought her hand to his mouth, kissed her curled fingers. "Hate is such a strong word."

She looked at him, her chest tightened, heart knotted. "Hate is such a strong feeling."

He released her hand and leaned back, letting the fire warm him. "You know hate, then?"

Her nerves were frayed. She'd said things she'd never intended to say. "I did love someone once," she said after a long moment's silence. "And it couldn't work. Denying the love was so hard. It did something to me. Broke something in me."

"Your heart," he supplied softly.

Ino shrugged uneasily. She didn't believe much in romance and Valentines, and no one had ever said life would be simple, but she'd never expected it to get so challenging so quickly, either. "Getting over Kiba took me years. Forgetting a love doesn't happen all at once. I had to work at it, over and over. There were days I didn't think I'd make it without picking up the phone and calling him."

"Did you pick up the phone?"

"No. But I wanted to." She closed her eyes. "Badly".

"What happened?"

"By the second year I'd learned to ride the pain out. And date like mad; I must have been out every night of the week." She had to make him understand, had to get him to see. "I'm not innocent anymore. I've lived enough to know the way the world works, how relationships evolve. Sooner or later you'd want me to be something, someone, other than I am."

"Maybe you did have a bad first marriage, but your parents— they were happy. Everyone knows they were extremely close."

Ino flexed her lingers. "Mom shouldn't have given up her career. It shouldn't have happened."

"It would have been difficult for her to tour, be with your father, and have a family."

"Exactly."She shook her head. "And you might not think it now, or know it now, but eventually I wouldn't be what you wanted. I wouldn't be what you needed. You'd try to change me. It happens all the time. People fall in love with one thing, but eventually its not enough—" She broke off.

Sai studied her for a long moment before getting to his feet, and tugged her up, too. "We need a change of scenery. Come."

The Citadel's Moorish doorways were horseshoe shaped, dramatic arches carved of wood and stone, ornate lattice work and elegant filigree. Each of the arches in the fortress was unique and when Sai led her through a doorway into a bedroom.

Ino froze.

Candles flickered on the low round table by the bed, in the sconces on the wall, in the niches tucked around the opulent bedroom.

"Where are we?" she asked, watching Sai deliberately close the thick dark wood doors, locking the latch.

"My bedroom."

He pressed her against the wall, his hands framing her face then sliding through her hair, his fingers threading between the long silky strands. "I want you." His voice sounded rough with desire. "And you can trust me, laeela. I won't let you down."

Ino swallowed, holding the tears back. He was talking about Jiro. He was referring to the horrible life Hinata had led in The Tea Country but he didn't understand that she wasn't that woman. Compared to Hinata. Ino had had it easy. Her life was uncomplicated.

But she couldn't hold back the rush of emotion. She loved the feel of his chest against hers, loved the strength of his ribs and hips. He was hard—nearly as hard as the wall—and she loved being caught like this, loved being covered like this, her body hidden from all, reserved for just him.

She lifted her lips, wanting to feel him take her mouth.

Wanting to feel him take her—finally.

She was such a strong person, so determined, and yet despite all her strength and drive, she yearned to feel a connection with another. And she felt that bond with him.

He kissed her, covering her mouth with his, and with his hands braced on either side of her head she felt his body brush hers, a slow, lazy contact that left her craving more. She pressed up against his long torso, bringing her hips to meet his, sighing with pleasure when she felt the hard ridge in his trousers.

Sai lifted his head, lips curving wryly. "Do all men feel this way about you?" he asked, even as his hand trailed down one loose tendril of hair, across her shoulder, over her collarbone, to the peak of her breast.

"Like how?"

"Like they can't live without you." His palm covered her right breast, her sensitive nipple hidden in the palm of his hand. "As if life wouldn't be worth anything if you weren't there."

Ino swallowed, trying to think when her body was melting, sending conflicting signals to her brain. Desire, hunger... so hard to stay focused on the practical and the plan. "I don't think that's the common response men have to me, no."

"What about the one you loved all those years ago? What was his name?" He was kneading her breast, fingers playing the soft tissue. She forced her fuzzy brain to clear. "Kiba?"

"Yes."

She tried not to gasp as he leaned into her, his knee parting her thighs and she felt his hard thigh press against the apex of her legs, heightening sensation not just there, but everywhere. She might as well have been naked. His skin was so warm against hers, she felt her temperature rise, hotter and holler and as his hand caressed the length of her, shaping from her breast to her waist, hip, and back again she thought she'd go up in flames any moment.

Ino shivered as his hand returned to her breast, his lingers burning through her thin jellaba, her breast aching in his hand, the nipple hard and sensitive. Pressed as she was to the wall, his hips held her still so each caress of his lingers made her dance against him, shuddering with pleasure.

She could feel his heat and strength throughout her body. She'd become a dancing girl, trembling against him, arching helplessly, needing more than just his hands on her breasts, wanting his hands on naked skin—her belly, her hips, between her legs.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, drew him closer. "Blow out the candles," she begged in his ear. "Blow out the candles and let's just be together."

He stripped her in the dark, leisurely removing each item, not that they were difficult to take off. She was wearing only her thin cotton nightgown covered by the modest jellaba.

But in the dark, with Sai's hands slowly wandering over her. Ino felt as if she wore gold and silk threads, gossamer fabrics of great beauty.

She didn't speak. He didn't speak, and his touch was that of a man who had infinite time. His whole pleasure seemed centered on exploring her, hands lightly caressing the curves of her body. His lips followed his hands, his mouth brushing across her heated skin savoring her softness, her warmth, her texture.

When he knelt at her feet, she took a step backwards. "Not that," she protested. "Not yet."

He kissed the inside of her thigh. "I'm not doing that. Not yet."

She felt his smile against her thigh and it made her smile. She knew him so well already, could picture his silent amusement, the tolerant gleam in his eye. His confidence knew no end.

With him kneeling at her feet, his hands traced the line of her leg, from the curve of her buttock, to the indentation where cheek met thigh, and down the back of her thighs to her knees. His fingertips drew invisible patterns at the back of her knees and then inside her kneecaps, light dell strokes that made her feel so hollow on the inside, and then his hands were teasing down her shins, circling her ankles, finding her sensitive insteps and between her toes.

By the time he'd reached her toes she felt as if she were humming with energy. She felt deliciously awake, her senses alert. Eager.

Standing, Sai stripped off his clothes and reaching for Ino, pulled her into his arms, letting their warm naked bodies just touch, and Ino drew a small breath, responding to the brush of his body against hers, aware of things she might not have felt if the lights had been on. She fell the smooth hard plane of his chest, the way his hip bone pressed against her skin, the silky hair at the juncture of his legs.

He was so firm, and strong, and she loved the way she fit against him, loved how his arms wrapped around her.

When he lifted her into his arms and headed for the bed. Ino pressed her face to his neck and inhaled the spicy scent of the fragrance sill lingering on his warm skin. His biceps pressed against her soft breast, his hand clasped her naked bottom, and desire shot through her, sharp, intense, demanding.

He placed her in the middle of his enormous bed, but Ino didn't lie passively beneath him. She encircled his shoulders, drew him down to her, fell the rigid length of him nudge her thighs even as she offered him her mouth. His jaw scraped across her skin, the new growth of his beard making her own skin feel raw, and with the cool silk coverlet beneath her heated skin, she fell incredibly wanton.

In the dark, with her sight denied, all the other senses became highly tuned. She could smell the smoke of the fire in his hair, taste the mint of tea on his breath, feel the firm satin texture of his skin, and the dense, thick muscle.

He didn't even need to ask her to do anything. As his hard body touched hers, she opened her legs for him, wanting to be with him, thinking nothing had ever been more natural in her life.

He filled her slowly, entering her with remarkable control, ensuring she had plenty of time to adjust to his size. Ino hadn't realized he was so well endowed until the sense of fullness was almost overwhelming.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she wrapped her fingers around his upper arms trying to make this easier. Sai kissed her slowly. His tongue traced her lips, teasing the swollen lower lip, and as her body relaxed, he clasped her bottom, lifting her hips, allowing her to better accommodate him.

He moved slowly, his muscles sleek beneath her hands. He sank into her, deep, steady strokes, each thrust of his narrow hips powerful yet controlled. She loved the feel of him, relished his languid grace, the warmth of his skin, the satiny texture of his lower back and buttocks.

He already seemed to understand her body intimately, touching her with deft skill, taking his time in building the tension. She was grateful he didn't race to a conclusion, grateful that he, too, seemed to find their joining ultimately satisfying, and yet the friction of their bodies settled into a rhythm satisfying and yet not, because the pleasure demanded more. Each thrust into her made her need another.

She met his driving hips, lifting up to meet him, push against him and the tension built.

"Slow." she whispered, fingers kneading his shoulders. "Slow, I don't want this to—"

She broke off, closed her eyes, trying to stop the first tremor, not wanting to reach orgasm yet, not wanting anything about this amazing night to end, but her muscles were wound too tight, the nerves stretched, and his deep thrusting pushed her ever closer to the brink of no return.

Ino kissed Sai with near desperation. She wished she could tell him how right this felt, how as crazy as it sounded, everything about them made sense to her. She'd never felt so right with anyone before. But it was impossible to speak. Words were impossible. He was claiming her, his body demanding her. He buried himself in her, harder, faster, a silent possession which sent Ino over the edge, shattering, one intense contraction after another.

Sai came even as she did, and she fell his hard body surge and shudder in her arms, his jaw clenched as he struggled to contain his passion. Tears came to her eyes as she held him lightly, wrapping her arms more closely around his shoulders, listening to the fierce pounding of his heart beneath her ear. His body still throbbed inside hers, making her own body pulse in small aftershocks of pleasure.

It was such simple lovemaking, she thought, kissing his chest, right above his heart, and yet it was the most satisfying experience she'd ever known.

Sai shifted, turning them both so she lay cradled against his chest. They lay like that for long minutes, utterly quiet.

Sai's royal bedchamber was dark and yet in the dark Ino saw colors she'd never seen before. Making love with him had been everything she'd ever wanted, and more. She'd never felt this close to anyone, nor so loved. When he was in her, part of her, she truly felt as if they were one.

With her cheek resting on his chest, she let the steady beat of his heart sink into every bone and muscle, and the peace stayed with her. The minutes stretched. She exhaled slowly, inhaled, exhaled again, and she thought just maybe everything was going to work out.

Ino fell like talking, really talking. Usually after sex she just wanted to get up, shower and put her clothes on. It wasn't that sex had ever been bad, but afterward, she hadn't felt comfortable with the intimacy part. But that was different now. She wanted to know everything he thought. Wanted to feel what he felt.

"Was that okay?" she whispered tentatively.

She felt a rumble in his chest. "Yes." he answered. "Was it okay for you?"

She sighed and smiled in the dark. "I thought it was amazing. I've never felt anything like that before."

"I'm glad it gave you pleasure." He stretched a little. Their bodies were still damp and her long hair fell in a tangled heap across his chest.

Ino pushed up on one elbow, looked down at Sai and even though it was dark she wanted to face him, feel his breath, be close to him. "It wasn't just pleasure, it was... more. You gave me..." She didn't even know how to explain it, but what they did, what they were together was perfect. Nothing had ever felt more right in her life.

"Yes?"

But she couldn't find the words. Instead she bent her head, found his mouth, kissed him tenderly, and as her lips leased his, she touched his cheek, feeling the sharp bristles of his beard along his jawbone.

"You're beautiful," she whispered wonderingly, letting her hand slide down his jaw, to his chest, her nails dragging lightly across his nipple and the unyielding muscle.

"I'm not."

"You are."

"My nose is too big," he complained, palming the fullness of her breasts, playing her nipples until they pebbled in his hands.

he felt her womb clench, flooding her body with warmth. "It's not," she whispered, trying to ignore the electric current running through her, the dampness between her legs, the fierce desire building all over again.

"My mouth's too wide," he added, cupping her bottom in his hands and pulling her back on top of him.

She shuddered at the rigid feel of him. He'd recovered already and his erection pressed between her thighs, the thick lip already sliding against her warm slick flesh. "The best lips I've ever kissed." she murmured hoarsely.

"And the last lips you'll kiss," he answered, wrapping his hands around her thighs, and parting her wide.

Even in the dark Ino gasped. Gripping his shoulders, her thighs spread wide in his hands, she could do nothing to stop him from enjoying her his way. He was so naturally sensual, so comfortable with bodies and the physical, that as he rubbed her naked, sensitized flesh against his rigid shaft she felt as if there was a whole world of love-making she knew nothing about. His touch demanded trust. His skill was far beyond anything she'd ever known before.

Again he let his erection slide across her wetness, and she closed her eyes, seeing bright sparks, the pleasure and sensation so intense. She could feel the straining lip, the warm silken head running along her cleft, and she squirmed, trying to take him, wanting to take him. Once, twice, his swollen shaft slid across her opening, teasing her where she was so moist and pliant.

But he wouldn't enter her. His lips brushed her bare shoulder. His fingers kneaded her thighs, parting her wider and wider until she thought she'd break.

"What are you doing to me?" she demanded, panting.

"I was just remembering a conversation." he said, one hand leaving her thigh to reach between their bodies. He found the damp heat of her. Slowly he slid one finger into her core, which fell as if it had come alive, pulsing around his finger. Yet the slow thrust of his finger gave no relief. The slow, tantalizing touch only crazed her senses.

"Do you remember our conversation about men, women and sex?" he continued, turning his linger slightly, stirring every possible nerve ending.

Ino bucked against his hand. She needed more. Kami! She needed more. "No."

"You were saying that in your experience—"

"I can't talk," she interrupted hoarsely, as he slid his finger out of her warm body, and she felt utterly lost, completely bereft. "I can't even think."

He lifted her up by the rib cage, holding her torso above him, and his lips found her navel, and he licked his way from her belly button to her sternum, completely avoiding her breasts. "I'll help you then. You were telling me, I believe," he said, letting the air cool her damp hot skin, "that most men have no idea how to touch a woman."

Ino squeezed her eyes shut. Oh dear Kami, not this, not now. Not that conversation. He arched her backward, bending her back at the waist and as he did so, his hard shaft thrust against her exposed flesh, the delicate bud so ripe it hurt.

"You were saying men had no idea what women wanted—"

"Sai!"

He stroked the rigid length of him against her tender flesh over and over. "Now help me, Princess." he said stunningly conversational. "Just where is this clitoris?"

My God. He was going to melt her brain. She was losing it. She burned and throbbed everywhere. Her skin felt hot and she fell desperate. "I eat my words." she choked."Please."

And then the tip of his finger found her, right at the sweet spot between her legs.

"Am I getting close?"

"Stop talking," she gasped, breathing shallowly in great gulps of air. His touch was exquisite. That delicious play of his finger. He stopped touching her. "I'm afraid I don't know what to do—"

She leaned over him, covered his mouth in a desperate kiss. "You do know, you're doing it, please Sai, please, you're making me mad."

He kissed her back, drawing the tip of her tongue into his mouth, and sucking on the tip, tight hard rhythmic sucks that had her swinging her hips. And then catching her hips, he plunged into her, hard, deep, burying himself in her light sheath and she cried out, and he pulled her against him, so that her nipples rubbed against the crisp hair of his chest and his hard abdomen pressed to her naked belly and the heat was intense, the heat inside her an inferno. She was so hot, so wet she was melting inside. She gave up, gave her body to him, gave the rest of her resistance, too.

He'd captured her whole—heart, mind, body and soul—and the orgasm was spectacular, but nothing like the release of control.

She'd found love. She'd found the other half of her soul. Ino didn't remember falling asleep after they'd made love the second time. She didn't remember anything but the joy and comfort of being in Sai's arms.

But when she woke, dawn was breaking, a pale blue skin beyond the shuttered window. She stirred sleepily and Sai kissed the top of her head.

"You're mine now," he said, his deep voice gruff. "You're only mine."

"Mmmm," she agreed, snuggling closer. "I know."

He stroked her hip beneath the light silk coverlet. "No more maybe about the wedding."

"No." And then it was like a massive stone fortress breaking. Ino saw light, way down at the end of the tunnel. There was no reason not to marry Sai. She should just do it. It was the right thing for everyone—Konoha, the country's economy, her family. "I'm glad we're getting married in six days." She curled against him, "It's just six days, isn't it?"

"Five now."

"Sounds good." She lifted her face, brushed her mouth across his chin and sighed when he found her lips, kissed her deeply. "It'll be nice to get it over with."

"You're sure?"

"Yes." And wrapped in his arms. Ino pictured the ceremony they'd have in Atiq. She'd wear one of the new gowns made for her, and Sai would look gorgeous no matter what he wore and the whole picture felt right.

Except for one little but crucial detail. Kaori.

"I want Kaori here," Ino said, clasping Sai's arm, needing to feel his strength. "She has to be here."

"She will be."

"Her grandparents, the Hamazakis, might not let her—"

"They will." He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry, laeela. I'll take care of everything."