Chapter 4: Wedding Night

"Byakuya?"

"Hmm," I mumble, half asleep.

"How in the world did you manage to get us this room?" Renji asks.

He's been moved to a private room in the healing center that is usually reserved for captains. It is furnished more like a normal bedroom than a hospital room and it has a bed big enough for the two of us. It is also the only room in the whole outpost that has a door that locks. It is perfect.

"I have my ways," I tell him, "I was determined that you and I were not going to spend this night apart. It is far too special a night."

"It is," he says, shifting so he can kiss me.

"Are you sure you should be moving around like that?" I ask softly.

He laughs softly.

"Actually, my body feels pretty good. If my reiatsu wasn't so low we could really enjoy ourselves."

It's my turn to laugh.

"It can wait, Renji. You need to get well, first." I tell him.

But I can't stop thinking about the last time his reiatsu was this low…how it almost seemed as though he was able to absorb mine. It makes me wonder.

"Renji, do you remember anything about when I collapsed?" I ask him.

He looks at me for a moment.

I don't know," he admits, "I was just lying there and all of a sudden, I felt…better. I saw you fall and I, surprisingly managed to get up and find help."

"Is that all you remember?" I ask.

"Yeah…it's strange how I just felt better like that. They said my reiatsu surged. What do you think happened, Byakuya?"

"You looked at me and you touched my chest, Renji," I tell him, "Then there was a flash of light and then I fell."

His eyes narrow.

"It sounds almost like the reiatsu burst came from you. Yours dropped and mine spiked. I wonder how it happened." He muses.

"I don't know," I admit, "but it helped to keep you alive longer, so I'm grateful. And I keep wondering if there's a way to do that again, so we can keep bolstering your reiatsu level until we figure out how to fix this."

He shakes his head.

"I don't want you endangering yourself by letting your reiatsu drop like that again."

I think for a moment.

"What if we attempt a more controlled flow…and we stop before I am too drained?"

"You think that's possible?" he asks.

"I don't know."

I turn so that I'm leaning over him and bring his palm to my chest. I look down into his eyes and slowly release some of my reiatsu, focusing on making it flow into him. A soft light flares around his hand and as the energy flows from me to him, his eyes widen.

"Byakuya, I think it's working. I am feeling stronger!"

I continue until I start to feel a little drained, then I slowly stop the flow and look down into Renji's eyes.

"How do you feel now?" I ask.

"I feel…great. Byakuya, I feel like there isn't anything wrong with me! How did you do that?"

"I don't know how you're able to absorb my reiatsu directly like that. They've tried giving you reiatsu injections, but they weren't working. But you can absorb mine. I think we can use this, Renji. I think we've found a way to stabilize your reiatsu until we can cure whatever is wrong."

"I don't know if I like draining your reiatsu like that, Byakuya."

"Mine regenerates. As long as we let it regenerate and we do the exchange slowly, we can keep this up."

"And you know what that means?" he asks, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

"What?"

He moves so that his body rests on mine.

"It means that we can really enjoy tonight, Byakuya."

"You're not up to that."

"I told you, my body feels fine, now. And right now, my reiatsu is higher. I feel fine, now."

He brings his mouth down on mine in a slow, passionate kiss. His tongue touches my lips very lightly and I open my mouth, deepening the kiss.

"Make love to me, Byakuya…" he whispers, still kissing me.

I find that I cannot refuse him.

He begins a slow exploration of my body with an enticing combination of hands and mouth, first sliding gentle hands down to lace his fingers into mine, then letting his lips play over my face, touching here and there and catching my lips, teasing my mouth open. While his mouth explores mine, his hands move to touch a warm palm to my cheek, then searching fingertips trace the curves of my face. His mouth releases mine for a moment.

"Byakuya…"

At the sound of his voice, I recapture his mouth and my body presses upward into his. It happens unbidden, without thought. This is the power he has over me. Fingers thread through my hair and hungry, red-brown eyes capture mine. Something fiery and compelling ignites between us.

Sensuous lips move to my ear and warm breath sends a shiver through me. A soft moan escapes my lips and he moves open mouthed to capture it, to consume it. His hips thrust forward into mine. My breath catches and I breathe his name.

"Renji…"

His hands take hold of my arms and his mouth falls onto my throat. I feel the brushing of his lips, the stroke of his tongue and the soft scraping of teeth that drives my hips upward into his, seeking contact with the heat I find there. My body trembles with need. He feels it and his hand drops to pull the tie at my waist. His hand slides the soft fabric away from my skin and the cool air touches my bare chest, sending another shiver of pleasure through me.

"Ah…Renji…"

His mouth slowly traces my collarbone, then slides down to capture one already erect nipple in his seething mouth, while his fingers trace the other, the touch light, but enough to tear another moan from my throat.

The sound makes him smile.

A warm hand slides slowly down to my thighs, sinking down between them, tantalizingly close to the part of me that most desires his touch. He teases them slowly apart, then moves in between them. His mouth fastens on mine, the contact suddenly more intense as he gradually enters me with slow teasing motions until his full length is buried inside me.

His mouth releases mine and moves to my throat again, sinking his teeth into the pale flesh and sucking gently as his hips begin a gentle rhythmic thrusting.

"Ah…kami…Ren…"

My hips rise up against his, desperate for deeper contact and his body responds with increasingly heavier, deeper thrusts. My body strains against his now, aching for him to reach that place inside that waits to send me reeling with waves of pleasure. He shifts slightly and thrusts deeply again and again until my breath is suddenly taken away and I grab hold of him as tightly as I can, releasing with a deep passionate cry. He calls my name in a clipped ragged breath and releases into me, his weight falling down to rest against me, his chest heaving softly. His warmth flows through both of us as we stare into each other's eyes, sated and breathless, unable to move or speak.

Even then his hands move back to touch my face, and he plants soft kisses on my forehead, cheek, lips and throat. I can feel that he is smiling.

"I love you, Byakuya."

"I love you, too, Renji."

Gentle brown eyes watch until I fall asleep, then his head comes to rest on my shoulder and he surrenders to sleep as well with a deep, contented sigh.

XXXXXXXXXX

I awake before dawn and watch Renji sleep, his head on my chest, his lips almost smiling, his breathing deep and filled with contentment. I find myself coming face to face with the pleasing reality of what we've done, of the fact that he and I are joined for the rest of our days. I never knew I'd feel happiness like this again. I kiss the top of his head and he shifts softly, nuzzling closer and breathing my name.

I am relieved to think that I can keep him alive, now, that I don't have to sit helplessly and watch him fade away. We have a future together. We are joined for life. And soon…we will have our own child. Yoruichi returned to the living world last night with everything Urahara asked for and we should know within a few weeks if the procedure is a success. If everything goes the way we hope, Renji and I will have a child who is part of each of us…each of us and…no! I wonder inwardly what we'll do if our child is a shape shifter like Yoruichi.

As the dark sky brightens, I find I cannot relax back into sleep. I gently pull free of a soundly sleeping Renji and step across the room to slip back into my clothes. As I dress, I feel a shiver pass through me and I get a vaguely unsettling feeling like I am being watched. I move to the window and push back the curtains. Looking out the window, I can see the barrier in the distance, the safety net between us and whatever has been attacking.

Today, a group of us will leave that safety. We will travel one more time into the desert to try to discover the fate of the missing soul reaper, Kenta. It is a promise I made to Rikichi. I want to be sure we give Kenta every chance of being found…even if my heart tells me that he is dead.

I sigh and lean my face against the windowpane and I feel it cooling my cheek. I long for this all to be over. I want it to be over and I want to return home. This desert haunts me. But before we can go home, we must solve the puzzle of what has happened to Renji, why his spiritual pressure cannot be maintained.

"Hey, who said you could get up?"

I smile back at Renji.

"I am the captain. No one tells the captain what to do."

He climbs out of bed completely naked and stalks toward me with mischief in his eyes.

"We're married now…life partners," he says, approaching until he has me backed up against the wall, "and that means, Byakuya, that out there you are the captain. In here, we are on equal ground."

"Hmph…equal ground, huh?" I huff, "I don't think so."

"Do we need to do battle to decide who leads?" he growls playfully.

"No…" I hiss softly in return, "because, Renji, you have yet to surpass me. When you do that, you can give me orders."

"How's this for an order?"

His body pins mine against the wall and his hands grip my wrists forcing them back against the wall. His mouth attacks mine ferociously, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth and teasing mine into submission. He holds me there until my legs weaken from lack of air, then releases me, grinning madly. He catches me as I start to slide down the wall, sweeping me up into his arms and carrying me back to bed. He peels away my clothing, letting everything drop carelessly to the floor, then slides into bed with me, leaning over me with a commanding glare.

"I let you win," I say casually as he runs kisses down my throat.

He laughs into my shoulder.

"Sure you did…"

His kisses blaze a trail down my torso. I wait until his tongue slides into my navel, then turn suddenly, catching him off balance and throwing him down onto his back. Smiling, I restrain him with kido. He looks surprised…and a bit sheepish.

"Yes," I say, "I did let you win."

"Good move, Captain," he smiles.