Late the following morning Kankuro happened to walk by Gaara's house on his way back from his morning duties. He didn't expect to see anything but his effort was rewarded when he saw Calixta sitting with Satu on the narrow little bench that stretched along the length of Gaara's porch.
As he approached, he could see she was spacing out and she didn't notice him. "Good day!" he greeted through the rain.
"Oh, hello! Want a break from the rain?" she offered, sitting up a little to make space for him.
He nodded and once he was up the steps, he shook off his umbrella and set it aside to dry. "What do you think of the festival so far?" he asked as he sat down.
She smiled warmly up at him and then looked back out at the rain, taking a drag off her cigarette. "It's beautiful," she awed as she exhaled. Satu gave a little bark of agreement.
Kankuro sniffed the smoke as it wafted near him, "That's not tobacco," he pointed out, playfully accusatory.
"Smart boy," she chided, ashing it over the railing.
"You should probably do that inside," he advised.
"Oh?" she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, if someone catches you, you could get in trouble," he advised. He didn't want her to have to leave over something so silly.
"But I got it at the festival last night," she pointed out after another drag.
"Yeah, well-" he tried to argue but she cut him off.
"I can see the headlines now, Gaara's Mysterious Mistress Caught Smoking Dope on His Porch," she giggled, "Where did she come from? Why does she like him so much?" she continued.
"Okay, okay, I get it," he relented. The pot wouldn't matter except it would give other people a reason to talk about them.
"Besides, with rain this heavy, you had to actually come up onto the porch to smell it," she pointed out playfully.
"I suppose," he agreed.
"Good," she nodded and tried to pass him the joint.
"What? Oh, I shouldn't," he tried to refuse.
She shrugged, "It's your call. I just figured that if you're not going to report me, that makes you my accomplice. Since you've already got that going for you, I thought you might want to enjoy it."
After her next drag, she offered it again and this time he accepted.
"It's been a while," he coughed but she didn't seem to mind. A few passes later, he spoke again. "C-Can I ask you something?"
She eyed him carefully, gauging his intoxication. Pleased that he was only mildly stoned, she agreed.
"Wh-When you and Gaara are together," he paused to look around, thinking his brother would viciously appear out of nowhere.
She laughed at his paranoia. "He left for the market shortly before you arrived."
Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief and gathered his thoughts again.
"What about when your brother and I are together?" she curiously pressed.
He felt pinned by her hazy stare. "I was…I was wondering…what's it like?" he managed, frustrated by his lack of eloquence.
She giggled again. "That's a weird question," she accused. "What do you mean? Surely you don't want me to tell you how good he is in bed," she winked.
Kankuro blushed, "Ah, no, not like that," he waved his arms in a gesture of innocence.
"Then what is it like?"
"I mean like…who's in charge?" he tried again.
"In charge?" she laughed.
"Yeah, I mean I know Gaara's a very dominant person but you've got more experience than he does," he reasoned.
She just shook her head and continued to laugh, "That's still a really weird question," she chided but when she saw that her teasing was starting to wound his pride, she placed a kind hand on his shoulder. "But since you decided to smoke with me, I'll humor you." She thought for a moment before actually answering, "There's really two answers to that question. Either the answer is neither of us, or both of us," she playfully told him.
"What's that mean?" he asked, feeling dazed.
"Well, either neither of us takes control, as you see it, or we both take turns leading," she answered seriously.
He wasn't expecting that. "Oh…"
"Why does that surprise you?" she curiously queried.
"Honestly…the idea that Gaara would want an equal relationship, I guess," he managed.
"He's still got a heart ya know," she added seriously.
"I never doubted it," he sighed. "Tell me about my brother," he quietly requested.
She giggled again, "I was just about to ask you the same thing…" She was about to try to answer him when Temari walked by.
"Kankuro?" she squinted through the rain and when she saw she was right, she hurried up on to the porch, happy to get out of the rain.
"Good afternoon," Calixta greeted and was pleased that this time her greeting wasn't cut off half way through.
"What are you doing?" the blonde asked suspiciously, eyeing the smoking object in her brother's hand.
"Enjoying the festival," Calixta merrily replied, Satu adding a happy little yap of her own.
The siblings stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Well, Kankuro-san, don't be so selfish," she motioned to the burning joint, "Share with your sister."
With a silly grin, the young man obliged, "Here, sis," he barely kept himself from bursting out laughing.
"You're both unbelievable," she rolled her eyes, snatching the little thing from her brother's hand.
"If you're gunna be mad, can I have that back?" Calixta asked, carefully reaching out to take it back. This time Satu took up a more defensive posture.
"If I'm not?" she asked curiously, examining her prize.
"Then take your drag and pass it along," she advised. "And have a seat, if you like."
"Where's Gaara?" Temari asked carefully.
She took a moment to clumsily explain, "He probably won't be much longer."
The blonde set down her umbrella but didn't sit down as she took her first drag. Kankuro giggled foolishly when she coughed and sputtered but that quickly stopped when he received a look of scolding from the young woman sitting next to him as well as a disappointed little whine from the dog half laying in her lap. "Uh, yeah, right…sorry," he managed as his sister passed it back to Calixta.
It only lasted another round but just as she threw the roach over the railing, Baki happened by. No one else would have bothered them about it. He picked it up, examined it, and stormed onto the porch.
"What the hell are you thinking? Are you even thinking?" he scolded.
Sensing the mutual panic of the two teenage ninja, Calixta took matters into her own hands, mostly so her pup wouldn't start to bark defensively. "Damn. If it's really gunna be that big of a deal, you can have it," she reached into her blouse and pulled out a little bag, tossing it to the older man. "I was hoping to have a nice peaceful smoke and here everyone who stops to talk to me rags on me for it."
Baki caught the little package and shoved it into his pocket. Then, he took Calixta harshly by the arm, pulling her to her feet, enraged by her indignity and annoyed at the way her dog stumbled out of her lap. "You're coming with me. We're gunna have a little discussion," he informed her.
"Fine," she grumbled as she slipped her shoes on.
"As for the two of you," he thought for a moment. "You wait here until Gaara returns so you can tell him what happened."
"He should be back any minute now," Calixta interjected. "Why not wait for him?"
"Don't argue with me. You're in enough trouble as it is," he snapped. Then, he handed Calixta one of his student's umbrellas as he led her off the porch. She barely caught Satu to carry with her before stepping out into the rain.
They didn't speak as he led her away from Gaara's home and as much as he'd hoped that would intimidate her, she didn't seem to care. He led her to his office. "Sit down," he told her.
She shrugged and complied.
"Good." He pulled out the bag from his pants and let it drop onto the desk, watching as she flinched. At first, he thought it was because she was nervous but he quickly realized it was because she was hoping he wouldn't spill any. He asked her where she got it.
She answered that it was another young woman in a ladies' room the night before. Face, place, and time, however, were apparently beyond her memory. To her surprise, he didn't care very much about that omission, which meant he was fishing for something a little deeper.
"Have you shared it with Gaara?" he asked seriously.
"Nope," she smirked and when he breathed a sigh of relief, she continued. "He hasn't shown an interest yet. But after all this, I'm sure he'll be very curious about it," she added smartly.
Baki rolled his eyes, annoyed that Satu seemed to be laughing at him. "Do not let me catch you doing that with my students ever again," he warned.
Calixta's smirk grew. "Fair enough." She caught him staring down the little bag as though it was his enemy. "You wanna blaze?" she asked impishly.
"I think you've had enough," he scoffed.
She laughed. "You didn't say no," she chided, pulling a little package of rolling papers from her blouse.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded when she reached for the bag.
"I'm gunna leave you a little present, as a thanks for letting me off the hook so easy," she winked and started to roll him a joint.
"What makes you think you're off the hook?" he snapped.
"Oh, come now. We both know most of what happened out there was a show, a nice little show, but still just that. You're only annoyed that we got caught, and I can't blame you for that. You just want your students to think you're a hardass and that you took my bag as punishment. If you'd like I can tell them how lucky I was that you didn't have me sent away for being so blatantly offensive to your leadership," she feigned guilt, "But we both know that I'm not leaving without it because you want to show Gaara that you're not picking on me," she told him.
Baki frowned. "Don't do that!" he growled and when Satu barked at him for suddenly raising his voice, he turned to the little white dog, "Shut up!" he yelled at it, annoyed that it was far enough away that he couldn't kick it.
"I didn't use my abilities to figure that out. I'm just observant that way," she admitted.
His frown deepened as he watched her finish. "And what do you intend to do with that?" he motioned to the finished product.
"It's yours," she tossed it over to him, watching him fumble only a little to catch the thing without crushing it. "Do what you want," she told him, stuffing the rest back into her blouse and standing to leave. "If that's all, I'm gunna head back."
"There is one more thing. Let me ask you, for what purpose do you pursue Gaara?" He hoped that asking her while she was under the influence of drugs might earn him a little more honesty than he might get otherwise.
She was about to answer when her breath caught in her throat. "He wants me to return," she almost whispered as another little ripple of pleasure passed through her. He was doing it again and it seemed he was getting quite good at it, whatever it might be. This time, he even seemed to affect Satu, having her pull at Calixta's sandals in an effort to get her moving again. When she realized what was happening, she took a deep breath and steadied herself to answer. "I will only tell you this because you are his sensei, which probably makes you the most responsible adult in his life. Our purpose is love."
He laughed at her, receiving a little growl from her dog.. "Fine, if you say so…and here I thought you were going to be all serious. You really had me goin'," he teased.
"Why do you mock me?" she shot an almost dangerous look over her shoulder at the man still seated at his desk.
"Your little friend told me about you. Told me how you insisted that you couldn't love, at least not in the way the rest of the world sees it," he informed.
"You've been talking to Ebisu?" she almost gasped. She knew he was still bitter with her but she didn't think he would resort to talking behind her back. "It's true…or at least I thought it was. It probably still is but can you blame me for pursuing the only person who's ever made me feel close to love?"
Her candor caught him off guard, even if it was what he'd been hoping for and she left before he could speak, barely snatching up the borrowed umbrella as she walked out.
When she got close enough for Gaara to tell exactly where she was, he provided for her a path of raised sand so that she wouldn't have to worry about sinking into any puddles. She thought it was a sweet gesture until she saw that Kankuro and Temari were still on the porch.
"Is everything okay?" Temari asked almost fearfully.
"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. We worked it out. You two might be in a smidge of trouble for having gotten caught but I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Gaara inside?" she asked knowingly.
"Yeah, he wouldn't let us come in after we told him what happened," Kankuro informed.
Calixta just gave a casual nod. "Here's your umbrella back," she tossed it to Temari and went inside to find her lover impatiently waiting for her. "I'm sorry that took so long," she affectionately apologized.
Gaara glared at her. "What the hell?"
She blinked curiously and then frowned. "It wasn't my intention to upset you," she carefully drew closer.
He rolled his eyes. "I realize that. I'm still trying to decide if that makes me more or less annoyed with what happened," he grumbled.
With a little smirk of amusement she closed the distance between them and sat directly across from him at his little kitchen table. "You want some help?" she almost giggle.
Her boldness and confidence made him curious. "You think you could tell me what annoys me more?" he darkly surmised, leveling an even, speculative gaze on her.
"If you like…or I can let you figure it out by yourself," she teased invitingly as she reached a hand across the table toward him.
He snatched up her hand and laced their fingers together, giving her an expecting look. He was willing to let her try to figure him out but only because he could do the same thing to her at the same time. He was surprised to find, that in spite of her appearance, she was actually quite focused.
"You're not helping," she chided teasingly when she felt the warmth of his chakra ripple through her.
He chuckled but didn't relent until she frowned. "What is it?"
"You're not annoyed. You're disappointed," she answered regretfully.
His frown quickly joined hers.
"You really thought you were annoyed…" she nearly awed.
Gaara tried to jerk away but she wouldn't let him.
She smirked when she felt the flash of surprise at her sudden show of physical strength but quickly pushed that aside. "You feel like you missed out," she added suddenly.
He looked away, feeling foolish, but she used her other hand to raise his chin again.
"It's okay," she assured him once she could see his eyes again. Then, she reached into her blouse to reveal her prize. "See?" she held it out in front of him, practically forgetting about Baki's plaguing worry.
"They said he took it away from you," he informed.
"He did, but he never intended to keep it. He just wanted to scare your brother and sister," she dismissed.
"He kept you long enough," Gaara grumbled.
"He wanted to talk," she replied. "but he was being a jerk so I didn't really tell him anything," she impishly admitted before growing serious again, "He's really nervous about letting you have any of this…not that he can stop you."
"Why are you undermining him?" Gaara asked accusingly.
"I'm not undermining him as much as I am giving you to the option to do it yourself. But keep in mind, he's just worried that something…unpredictable might happen," she tried.
"What do you think I should do?" he looked up at her hopefully.
"You're not going to like my answer," she sighed. "But, here goes: I can't say what you should do."
He grumbled. "You're right. I don't like that." But he knew she wasn't just doing it to cover her ass in case something bad did happen. She actually wanted him to make his own decision.
Seeing that he wanted some time to consider his options and that he hadn't put away his groceries, she stood, letting go of his hand, and started putting things away.
He watched as she pulled an umbrella from one of the bags, "That's for you."
"It's very nice," she awed, setting it with her purse so she could use it when they went out. "From the looks of things I'll need it. How long does the rain last anyway?"
"Off and on for a few months," he distractedly replied. "What do you think would happen?" he held the bag up in front of his face to scrutinize the contents.
She shrugged. "We don't know. I mean, it's impossible to say, really." She watched him narrow his eyes and purse his lips as he studied the object in question. "You want to. What's holding you back?" she asked as she came back over to the table, this time sitting on the same side as him. "Are you worried about what others will think? It can be our little secret," she winked.
"It's not that," he sighed. "Did Kankuro and Temari know what they were doing?"
"They both told me how very much against the rules it was," she pointed out petulantly.
"That's not what I mean," he muttered
"Oh, I see. They seemed to have a fair handle on it but there really wasn't much for them to do. I already had things going before either of them arrived," she admitted.
He nodded. "Show me how," he pushed it over to her.
With a knowing smile, she obliged. "You really know how to turn my screws, ya know that?" she playfully nudged him. "But you know, we could both get in a great deal of trouble for this."
Gaara laughed. "Maybe you will."
His fearlessness made her giddy and she finished rolling their joint. He watched her very intently, especially when she licked the side to seal the paper. A slight twist later and she was lighting it.
"It's gunna make you cough," she warned after her first real drag.
"If that's all it does, I'm gunna be disappointed," he informed curtly.
She agreed but didn't feel the need to verbalize it. Instead, she took another deep drag before using her off hand to pull his face closer to hers. "Deep, even breath in, okay?" she barely said as she sealed their lips together, exhaling the smoke into Gaara's lungs.
Gaara exhaled a moment after their lips parted. He was coughing but because of her approach, it wasn't as harsh as it could have been. "Please tell me that's not what you did with Kankuro and Temari," he sputtered.
She giggled, "No, of course not. I just thought it might be a sweet way to start you off. Here," she handed it over to him.
He took it and tried it for himself, this time really coughing as his body rejected the smoke. She wanted to soothe him but he wouldn't have any of that, so she just took it back.
Three nearly silent passes later, she broke the silence, "What'd'ya think?"
He shrugged, still trying to make sure his bearings were where he thought they should be.
"You look kinda dazed," she pointed out, poking the end of his nose with her finger.
With that, he decided to simply accept that he was off kilter and that seemed to help steady him. However, he didn't verbally reply. He opted instead to continue exchanging smoky kisses with her until the joint was gone. Without thinking, they were stumbling to the bedroom.
"This doesn't seem to effect you the way other drugs do," he commented.
"That was one of the first things that was tried to help get me under control. I was still fairly young so they figured it would damage my psyche less to dope me up with whatever they could find to see what happened," she replied. "Just between you and me, this one was always my favorite."
"What else did you try?" he asked with morbid curiosity as he tossed her down onto her makeshift bed, which at this point resembled something more akin to a nest.
"Oh, I don't even remember anymore…sometimes they didn't even tell me," she dismissed listlessly.
"And nothing helped?" he assumed.
"I had some pretty ridiculous trips," she giggled, "but no, it never helped more than any other distraction could."
"Then why do it at all?"
"Because altered states are…occasionally amusing," she mused. "Can we talk about something else?" she asked hopefully.
Gaara sensed her disappointment and decided to let it go this time, at least for the time being.
After that they were naked together, no more words were necessary. They made love for almost two hours before they were both too spent to continue. As she dozed with him in her arms, fingers affectionately toying with his hair, she lightly hummed a tune whose words she couldn't remember.
He felt so peaceful that he fell asleep like that a few minutes later. Though, her rest didn't last long. She awoke, heart racing, when she heard a maniacal giggle coming from the one in her arms. Normally, his laugher never disturbed her but this time there was an unearthly edge to it that made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
The demon's name was on her lips but she didn't manage to speak it until he looked up at her, revealing his gold on ink eyes. "Shukaku…"she whispered.
"Smart girl," he cooed dangerously.
She barely suppressed the tremor his voice sent through her body. "How did you-?" she tried to ask but the feeling of sand gathering around her limbs, quickly immobilizing her, stole her words.
"What did you expect?" he taunted dangerously. "You went and got a fourteen-year-old insomniac higher than a kite and fucked his brains out. He passed the fuck out, genius."
She gave a grave nod and closed her eyes, praying that the demon wouldn't just suffocate her right then and there.
"Look at me," he demanded, slapping her hard on the cheek.
Even if he hadn't ordered her to, Calixta would have opened her eyes anyway, especially with a slap like that. The shock of the sudden attack forced her eyes open and the ripple of pain kept them locked on him to see if he gave any sort of reaction to it. He watched her wince outright while only the corner of his eye twitched empathetically.
Satu, who had been sleeping in the corning of the room, was roused by the sudden attack on her master and growled, hair standing on end as she lunged toward the attacker. She bit him on the forearm, much to his displeasure, and didn't seem inclined to let go. "Stupid mutt!" he took her by the scruff of the neck and yanked her away forcefully, receiving a wounded whine in response.
"Sato! No! Stay back!" Calixta tried but it was already too late.
"You really like this stupid little runt, don't you?" he scoffed.
"Please, let her go. She's not part of this!" she pleaded, this time actually fighting against his bindings, though it still did no good.
He sneered and threw Sato away, not caring that she hit the wall with a hard thump and landed with another series of wounded whines combined with her defensive, if fruitless, growling.
"Sato, run. Hide until I call for you," she ordered and the dog reluctantly left. She breathed a sigh of relief even though he was laughing at her.
To his surprise, she started laughing with him a moment later. "Why are you laughing?" he asked in a cruel little voice, as though she had nothing to laugh about.
"Because you are," she giggled, "Your laughter is quite contagious."
"You know what's also contagious?" he nearly purred as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Your pain…" He reached up with his other hand and roughly grabbed her breast, squeezing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes. He laughed again at the squeal she gave when he harshly twisted her swollen nipple. "Scream as loud as you like," he coaxed as he repeated the action, this time with even greater force. He still wasn't rewarded with the desired vocalization but the sound she did make was pleasing to his ears so he started tearing apart her clothes.
At the first sound of the tearing, she broke eye contact with him to see what he had done, rolling her eyes when she saw the nearly four inch rip in the blanket barely covering her chest. Apparently he intended to terrorize her bed sheet as well as her person. "Does Gaara know what's happening?" she managed to ask without stuttering.
"It's just you and me. The boy is sound asleep," he assured in a dark voice.
She nodded again and he continued tearing her sheets until it looked like she was wearing rags. Once her swollen breasts were revealed, they were swollen because Gaara didn't want any of her milk while they were smoking because he knew it would dampen his intoxication, he reeled back to slap them but the way she shifted made the little charm around her neck catch the light, first silver, then red, then silver again.
Distracted, he took the trinket between his fingers and used it to pull the chain taut.
"Please don't break it," she blurted out.
He dropped it to deliver a harsh slap across her chest, hissing with displeasure. "Don't tell me what to do!"
The force of the blow was enough to cause a brief spurt of milk and she finally screamed.
"That's right," he coaxed, continuing to slap her until his hand was almost dripping wet. About that time, he saw that tears were freely flowing down her cheeks as she shrieked and squealed. He traced the little trails with his tongue, savoring the way the salty fluid mixed with the sweetness of her skin. "Now, tell me more about the drugs they had you on…"
She took a moment to feel him out before answering. At first, she thought he was asking out of personal interest, perhaps something he could get Gaara addicted to that would allow him greater freedom. This was not the case; he wanted to drudge up bad memories. That level of psychological torment, she could handle. So, just as he was starting to grow impatient with her silence, she started to rattle off everything she could think of.
Shukaku blinked with surprise, her list included the legal as well as the illegal, everything from mild herbal therapy to hard drugs, and things he had never heard of.
"Please don't ask me to describe them…three years of my life I hardly remember," she mused sadly.
"What else did you try?" he pressed, provoked by the small pang of sadness he felt from her.
"After…after all the drug and electro-therapy and whatever else tests didn't work, the researchers who found me started to fight over me. When they realized what was happening, they sold me."
"Sold you?" he giggled with delight, "How much did you fetch?" he asked hopefully.
"I asked but they never told me," she bitterly answered. She wanted to change the subject but even this conversation was less painful than his physical wrath.
"Who bought you?" he eagerly pressed.
"Some rich noble family. They had an old master who wanted to see if I was curable and, more importantly, useful. In the meantime, as he was a very inconsistent man, the rest of the family was inclined to take advantage of…well, me." Her breathing was ragged by the end but she managed not to stutter. "Why are you doing this? You don't give a good god damn about my past!"
"Of course I don't," he laughed but then something suddenly occurred to him. "Actually, there is one thing I've been wondering. You probably get it all the time so it shouldn't be that difficult to answer," he taunted. "Were you ever a whore?"
She scoffed. "That's one of the many things I've been called," she tried to misdirect but it didn't work.
"No," he slapped her again before taking a harsh hold on the nipple he had been teasing earlier, "I mean like bought and paid for, money for sex, fucking someone because they will pay you to do it kind of whore."
She sighed and looked away without thinking. "What difference does it make?"
"If you can't do the one thing I've asked, keeping your fucking eyes on me, then you don't get to look at me at all," he announced, using the sand that was keeping her stationary to turn her over until she was on her hands and knees facing away from him. "You give head like a whore," he commented casually just before he started spanking her ass, which was now positioned high in the air. He felt her stomach sink at his words and it encouraged him to hit her even harder.
"After that noble family…realized how distracted and…and unproductive…many of their members were becoming…and tracked down the source, they made me leave…not that I wanted to stay," she panted between spanks. "The next person to take pity on me was a Madam at a big city brothel…I had my sixteenth birthday there…after that, I wasn't allowed to just simply cook and clean…had to contribute like the others…it didn't have to be sex, even if that was the fastest way to get cash…but I had to have something to give back…"
"Why'd you quit? I bet you were very good at it," he taunted when he stopped to admire the red and white welts that were starting to rise on her skin. Just then, he experienced the most curious sensation and it took him a moment to realize that it was even coming from her because it wasn't overwhelming or pressing as the other impressions he got from her had been. But it was so subtly curious that he couldn't ignore it. "Answer the question!" he ordered, raking his fingernails across her lower back.
She made a variety of different sounds as he did so, the foremost of which was a groan of frustration. "I made enough money to strike out on my own…and things there were starting to get a little too complicated."
"You were too good at your job," he accused and felt the curious sensation again. "Tell me, did you just happen to give a little extra bang for their buck or did they have to pay extra for their time with you?"
Her mind clouded for a second and she felt as though she might black out. "What the hell do you care?" she slurred as she felt his chakra pressing in on her even harder, even further constricting her sand bindings and making it more difficult to breathe. "Damn it…Once the Madam realized what was going on, I had a special rate…the first time was practically free, but the price went up almost exponentially from there…"
He laughed cruelly, "She sold you like a drug."
She whimpered and nodded.
"What? Can't you even speak now? Do you realize now how out of your league you are?" he hissed dangerously, once again taking the charm dangling from her neck between his fingers.
"Is that what you want?...To overwhelm me? …To make me give up?" she snapped as harshly as she could manage.
"What if it is?" he pulled the chain tight.
"You could overwhelm me…we both know that…but if you want me to give up, you're going to have to kill me," she weakly managed as she felt the sand started to creep up her arms and around her throat.
"Ya know, Gaara believes you're insane, certifiably committable," he mused.
"I know that!" she snapped.
"But I had my doubts. Though, I am beginning to think he's right," he continued.
"Does it really matter either way?" she panted.
He shrugged, dropping the necklace. "Well, if you're just nuts then that in itself gives you motivation to do what you're trying to do. If you're not, then I want to know what your angle is," he explained bitterly.
She could feel him scowling at her when she didn't answer but it quickly turned into a smile because he realized that it wasn't out of impudence. So that he could get a better look at her face, he rolled her over onto her back. Her eyes were still open and her breathing was ragged but still fairly even. Her gaze was vacant and she offered no resistance to his motions.
"Hey!" he slapped her.
Calixta blinked a few times as she tried to focus but found herself incapable. She parted her lips to speak but all that came out was the sound of her breath, coming in short pants because she still felt constricted by his presence. When she did manage to speak, it was only three words, "I love Gaara."
He gave a low chuckle of delight and stood, letting the sand fall away around her. To her surprise, as he started for the door, she slowly rolled up onto her side. Pleased that she wasn't entirely checked out, he said to her as his hand turned the knob ,"You need a little time to think. I won't be gone long and if you try anything, I can promise you will be very, very sorry," he warned.
With a sigh, Calixta let herself fall onto her back once again with a sigh of resignation and then he was gone.
She felt a great relief once he was gone and she could breathe easily. Once her head cleared, she didn't feel like she was going to pass out but dared not move until she heard him exit the front door. She knew the ordeal wasn't over but she was glad for the break. He was testing her convictions, wanted to see if she would panic or if she would try to play it cool. He wanted to see if she would freak out and how.
First, she felt regretful that she had let it happen in the first place, thinking that she should have heeded Baki's warning about not letting the young demon host get too intoxicated. With this feeling came a guilty joy. She wanted to feel bad for letting him out but at the same time she felt even closer to Gaara than ever for having encountered the demon. She knew Gaara would be upset about it when he awoke and regained control but she worried about what sort of reaction he would give. He wouldn't want her to submit to the beast, that much she was sure of, but she knew certain sacrifices would have to be made.
Regardless of the demon, she still felt that warmth inside when she thought of Gaara. The idea that they could love one another was too much for her not to pursue so she decided to go for it, having decided that 'to go for it' meant commitment. He was the only person she'd ever felt compelled to make important sacrifices for, not that she hadn't made sacrifices for others but those had always been out of some sort of force or coercion.
This revelation helped to solidify her conviction before he returned. He hadn't actually gone anywhere. He pretended to leave so he could continue to observe her. To his surprise, she seemed to recover fairly quickly so he didn't have to wait too long before returning, though he wouldn't have waited for a full recovery anyway.
He parted his lips to speak a chiding prompt but she spoke before him, much to his annoyance.
"I love Gaara," she stated evenly.
He scoffed. "Stubborn."
"And I love you too," she added.
"And stupid."
"I don't expect you to understand. I'm not sure if you even can, demonic emotions are somewhat foreign to me. Even so, I know it's only a waste of time to lie to you," she added while he was still willing to let her speak.
His brow furrowed. "Why are you so insistent?" he asked with morbid curiosity.
She could feel the sands around and beneath her shifting but it seemed more like an idle habit than a reminder of what he could do to her. "Because I don't want you to hate me," she confessed.
"Well I certainly can't love a ridiculous weakling like you," he jabbed.
"I didn't know if demons could love at all," she muttered.
"They why try to win my affection?" he drew closer, noticing that she was almost the exact same position as when he left.
"I'm not out for your affection either, though if you offered it, I wouldn't refuse," she half-joked.
"Then what is it?" he pressed as he sat down on top of her, straddling her hips.
She tried to keep the hopefulness from her voice but largely failed. "I want you to accept me as a part of Gaara's and your life. I don't expect you to like me , even tolerating me would be fantastic," she half-joked.
He gave her a critical look. "And what makes you think you even deserve such kindness from me?"
"Name it," she offered challengingly.
His eyes lit up and he chuckled, amused by her audacity. "Dismember that weak nothing of a man that came here with you," he answered.
Calixta frowned. "I couldn't do that."
"I could help you, make sure he doesn't get away," he offered, eyes twinkling with homicidal mischief.
"Thank you," she politely declined, "but I couldn't let someone else suffer that much for what I want."
"That takes away all the fun," he complained.
"No matter what I want, I couldn't drag someone else into this," she reasoned halfheartedly.
"So you don't plan to tell anybody that I slapped the shit out of you and raped you into unconsciousness?" he cruelly proposed.
She grimaced at his diction. "I'd really rather you didn't finish what you started…" she grumbled. "But if taking advantage of me like that means you won't interfere otherwise, I'm yours," she replied resolutely.
He leaned forward until their noses were only centimeters apart, his body hovering over hers. "Is it because you think you love him? Do you think he will be pleased that we even met like this? Once he finds out what happened, he's not gunna wanna come within a thousand kilometers of you at the very least!"
"You don't think you could keep it from him," she accused and it earned her a slap on the cheek.
"By the time I'm done with you, there won't be any doubt," he vowed seriously.
She appeared pensive for a moment. "What do you want more than anything?"
"To cause as much suffering and destruction as possible," he giddily replied.
"Wrong," she countered and received another slap. "You want the freedom to cause as much suffering and destruction as possible."
He reeled back and eyed her dangerously through half-lidded eyes. "Something you cannot provide."
"You said yourself that I was primarily responsible for you getting out this time," she pointed out.
"You think you could do it again?" he accused. "After he wakes up, he'll never touch that stuff again. It doesn't matter what I do in the meantime so I might as well enjoy it."
"He might if you don't totally maim me this first time," she sarcastically proposed. "And I think that, over time, he might realize that it is for the best and you and I are at least on speaking terms."
He laughed at her. First it was a low chuckle but it soon bubbled up into a deep belly laugh. "You might not be crazy," he mused, mostly to himself. "But alas, you cannot guarantee such a repetition and so I am left with my original choice. Nice try though."
She felt the sand starting to wrap around her limbs and torso again, holding her tight. "I don't know if I can really love Gaara if you don't accept me. Please, you have to let me try. I can't stand to have such a huge part of him reject me so fully," she pleaded but then stopped herself when she felt her restraints tighten. "Oh, never mind…he probably won't even want to look at me after this no matter what you do," she sighed. "No matter what happens…he's gunna hate me," she finally admitted to herself. "I could be a bloody, mangled mess or have barely a scratch, it doesn't matter…" She squeezed her eyes shut to fight back the tears. She had been trying to hold out hope that somehow she and Gaara could hash things out and she reasoned that if she proved she could reason with the demon, he might be more easily persuaded.
He reveled in her anguish, feeling victorious because he had finally broken her spirit. But, when she actually started to cry, he could tell she wasn't completely broken. He could still feel a disgustingly warm throbbing beneath it all. He couldn't quell her love for his medium or, more disturbingly, how that seemed to also transfer to him. "He won't be able to stand to look at you," he affirmed and she actually started to sob.
"Just do what you want…I don't care anymore…" she muttered softly.
"Yes you do. You still care a great deal," he argued.
"All is lost, of course I care! …but I can't change what's going to happen so I'd rather just get it over with," she replied bitterly.
"I think I liked you better when I thought you were crazy," he mused, using his sand to force her to sit up with her arms crossed behind her back. He didn't like the glaze that was starting to form over her eyes due to her resignation.
She watched him stand and start to undo his fly. There were three words on her lips but when she opened her mouth to speak, he grabbed her tongue.
"Be a good whore and suck my cock while I consider what you've said," he ordered, holding his erection in front of her face.
At that, she forgot her words and tried to do as he asked. More than likely, he was just toying with her, seeing if he could get her hopes up only to dash them again, but she couldn't control the flash of hope that made her heart skip a beat. This renewed eagerness sparked the remainder of her stamina but it didn't help her dexterity, not that he seemed to mind weaving his fingers through her hair to forcefully guide her.
When he was on the verge of orgasm, she had no intention of pulling away but at the very last second, he did just that, giving a roar of sexual frustration from the self-induced denial. She whimpered and tensed at the sound. Had she and the demon been just a little closer spiritually, he might have been able to make her cum for him.
"Not so fast. There's more I want to do to you first," he smirked down at her.
"It's not fair," she barely said as he knelt down in front of her.
"What are you babbling about?" he demanded, spreading her legs using the sand before actually reaching between with his hand.
"I suppose I deserve this for tempting fate, for not being happy with what we had…" she mumbled. "I was so stupid…to think that something like this would bring us closer."
When his fingers found her wet slit, he gave a crude chuckle. "That's where you're wrong. This is far too close for his comfort. That will be why he will try to banish you from his existence. As soon as he wakes up, he'll know we were together and then he'll cut you off completely," he taunted.
Calixta's head dropped with shame. "I don't deserve either of you…"
When her sorrow suddenly intensified, he lightly slapped her clit. It caused her to gasp but she did lift her head again, if only out of surprise. Amused, he reached up with his other hand to roughly grope her swollen breasts. Even just the initial contact made her wince.
"They're all hard," he complained, childishly poking at her breast.
"They're full," she complained.
He took a moment to actually look at her breasts. They looked heavy and sore, her nipples dark and puffy. As an experiment, he ran one thumb lightly over her right nipple. That small attention brought it immediately to hardness. She whimpered again and felt the affections starting her let down reflex. A couple passes later and he watched as her breasts softened and lowered slightly, allowing her milk to flow freely from her nipples, slightly more freely from the one he was still teasing.
She knew he wouldn't drink more than a taste but even having just that little bit of pressure released was a great relief and she found her body yielding to his touches. The fluid did an excellent job of revitalizing Gaara and his chakra, something Shukaku did not want.
When her breasts started to leak little beads of milk on their own, he stopped playing with them in favor of slapping her between the legs again. She gave a little yelp of surprise and there was a small spurt from her breasts.
He giggled maniacally and kept doing it until his hand was wet and sticky and she too was on the verge of orgasm. Then, he suddenly pulled away to examine the fluid on his hand. She didn't notice. She was too busy wiggling and straining futilely against her firm bindings, her head spinning with near release as she instinctively tried to push her hips toward him.
He ignored her desperate little moans of denial and smelled her cum as it cooled on his fingers. Just the first whiff almost made his eyes roll and without thinking, he tasted it, finding that she was tangy and sweet and left a curious little tingle on his tongue.
"You're pathetic," he informed before leaning forward. He was still careful to make only minimal physical contact right up until he bit down on her shoulder. She almost screamed but it got caught in her throat and just turned into a series of whimpers. When he finally released her, he withdrew, licking little traces of her blood from his lips. "I should just eat you alive," he glowered. "You're practically made for it."
"You couldn't finish me in one sitting and the leftovers would be unsatisfying," she sniped.
The pragmatism of her comment struck him. Even if he could do it, he would only be able to do it once. However, if he kept her around, she could continue to entertain him. He stared down at her, licking his lips with contemplation.
The expression he gave as he sized Calixta up gave her a brief flashback to the time they described each others feelings to one another. One of the first things she said was that he looked hungry. Now she knew where that look came from. The memory made her breathe a shaky little sigh that broke his concentration.
"I'll make you a deal," he informed, reaching up with both hands to harshly pinch and twist her nipples.
She nodded vaguely in recognition as she tried to hold back the great whine of pain that tore through her.
"I'll be nice this time and if you can get me back out again, I'll try not to kill you," he bargained.
"Or?" she managed.
"Or the next time I do get out, I'll hunt you down and turn everything you've ever touched into confetti," he threatened seriously, but still amused by the idea.
"Okay," she hastily nodded. "How long do I have to prove to you that I can do it?"
He was pleased that she already agreed, though he didn't doubt she would. "A month? A week perhaps? Do you think you could do it in a day?" he taunted.
"I-I really don't know how long it'll take," she stammered. Part of her was glad that she couldn't pull away from him because it would only make the abuse to her nipples worse but she couldn't help instinctively trying to reel backward, something he seemed to enjoy. "You know if you don't give me enough time, I'm doomed to fail," she added.
"Yes, but if I give you too much time then it won't be a very suitable test of your loyalty to me," he teased as he used the sand to lay her back, arms still crossed behind her.
She swallowed hard but otherwise didn't respond.
"A year," he finally decided.
"A whole year?" she almost awed.
"Do you think I'm being too generous?" he taunted.
"Do I get some sort of recognition if I see you sooner than that?" she countered.
"We'll see," he shrugged. He knew it was a lot of time but he really thought she had a chance of convincing his young medium to let him out occasionally for some fun. Even if it was just to torment her, at least he wouldn't be concerned with mass destruction.
"Y-You're actually giving me a chance?" she stammered as he slowly pushed her legs, folded at the knees, up to her sides, completely exposing her to his prying eyes. "Oh, but it'll never work. He'll never want to see me again let alone let me see you again," she fretted.
"You already agreed," he pointed out. "It'd be a pity to make a deal only to give up on it before you even started. Besides, you have that kid wrapped around your little finger. He thinks about you all the fuckin' time," he griped as he ran his fingertips up and down her slit, smearing her cum around.
She could tell he had no intention of sticking his fingers in her and tried not to whimper too much at the slight touches. "No, I wouldn't do it that way!" she argued. "I couldn't!"
"You couldn't or you wouldn't?" he interjected, flicking her clit for emphasis.
Calixta yelped again and her body jerked. "I don't know if I could if I wanted to. I can't do it because I don't want to and Gaara won't want it either. We're connected. He'll know. He always knows when I'm using my chakra and when I'm not," she argued. "I would feel as though I was deceiving him and he would feel it too. You know that," she almost spat. She would have spit at him but his face was nowhere near hers anymore.
He leaned down so that his lips were centimeters from her wet heat. "So you have to do it the hard way then…" he whispered, letting his breath tease her instead of his hands. For it he earned a heated gasp and another, almost as violent, jerk.
"It doesn't matter which way is hard or easy, ya know," she insisted. "If it's gunna happen, that's how it'll be. I can't do it any other way."
He shrugged. More than anything now, he was interested to watch the events of the next few days to a year unfolded. Without another word, he leaned down even further and started to nibble the thick muscle of her inner thigh. Knowing that tasting her blood again would send him over the edge, he opted to leave countless bruises, of varying sizes, up and down the inside of her legs instead. He could almost feel her scent as it filled his nostrils, and moved his hand back to continue rubbing her, this time with purpose.
Calixta's stomach sank hard when she realized what he was after. He was trying to wet her back entrance with the lubrication from the front. It was a start, but she knew it wouldn't be enough to keep her from experiencing the stinging friction in addition to the pain of being so suddenly stretched. She shuddered the first time he actually ran his fingers around the tight ring of muscle. Had she seen the way his eyes lit up at the way it twitched for him, she might have moaned. Then, when he started to apply a steady even pressure with two fingers, she whimpered.
"If you don't relax a little I'm going to hurt you even more than I intend to," he pointed out almost hopefully.
She bit her lip and nodded. It was something she already knew but couldn't manage. "Eeegh…" she winced when he forced his fingers inside as far as they would go, knowing that he wasn't doing it to prepare her as much as it was to watch her squirm.
He reveled in the way her body tried to thrash about in a futile effort to expel the intruder. "Ya know, I kinda expected you to be used to this. Didn't any of your Johns wanna fuck you in the ass?" he taunted as he scissored his fingers as far apart as he could.
"It's been a while…" she grumbled.
He giggled with delight. "Good, 'cause I don't like second-hand merchandise unless it's in really good condition."
She almost laughed with him. "Second, third, fourth, I never bothered counting," she muttered. She had been called damaged goods for as long as she could remember. Apparently, it took a trapped demon to think otherwise.
Instead of replying, he withdrew his fingers and started to position himself at her back entrance.
She gave a little whine as he started to press into her. "Please! Please, let me suck you off some more or something, anything for more lubrication," she pleaded shamelessly.
He smirked and actually considered her words for a moment. He might have let her suck his cock a little more if he wasn't already so close to bursting. "Don't worry, with as hot and tight as you are, this won't take too long," he pretended to soothe as he continued to push into her. "But you can struggle all you want. You know I love it."
When the head of his cock first pushed through her tight ring of muscle, she screamed and futilely tried to get away. She howled with every thrust at the searing pain. Luckily, he was right about one thing. After all that, he didn't last more than a few minutes before coming violently inside her with a loud grunt.
She had hoped that his orgasm would signal the release of some of his other kinds of control but she was left wanting as she continued to lay immobilized beneath him while he caught his breath. A few pants later, he leaned up and licked the rest of the tears off her face, making a satisfied sound at the taste.
Then, he moved much lower, finally pulling out of her in the process to notice that he had made her bleed. The scent of her blood mixed with their sex made him growl and he leaned down to clean that area with his tongue as well. She whimpered and weakly bucked at the sensation of his tongue on her abused flesh as he lapped up her blood as it mixed with the cum that leaked out of her.
"You were a very good girl," he noted as he finished cleaning her.
All she could manage at first was a tired little groan. "I'm glad you approve," she sarcastically managed after a few moments.
"Did you cum?" he asked curiously.
She gave a quiet little laugh. "You know the answer to that already."
He frowned slightly and she could feel his disappointment. "Were you trying not to?" he accused.
"I-It just didn't happen…" she tried.
"There was too much pain for you," he scoffed. "But don't worry, if you manage to keep our deal, I will teach you to relish that pain as much as any pleasure you've ever received," he bragged.
She rolled her eyes in exasperation but it was lost due to the fact that her eyes were nearly closed. Then, he did something that truly surprised her. He leaned down between her legs again and started licking her exposed sex. He snickered at the heated moan she gave in response.
He continued to sloppily lick her until she was on the verge of orgasm. Then, just as she was about to cum from that, he harshly nipped at her clitoris, swollen from his previous abuse, pushing her over the edge. It was unbelievably painful but she was already so close that she couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to. A loud pleasured squeal later, she was practically unconscious and he was finally letting her go.
"If you're gunna play with me, you gotta work on your endurance," he taunted as he took her in, enjoying how thoroughly used up she looked as she faded in and out of consciousness.
She gave a vague nod. "C-Can I have Gaara back now?" she mumbled, almost unaware of what she was saying.
He laughed at her and started lapping up the stray drops of breast milk that had splattered all over her chest and torso during their encounter. After he was sure he had all that, he started to nurse from her, knowing that would push him back into the young man's mind and allow the sleeping teen's personality to emerge.