Pairing: Kenshin x Kaoru
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU/AR/Romance/Drama

Notes: I realized there might still be a few drabbles on my LJ that I haven't included here so.. This story was originally posted on my LJ on the 13th of July 2009.

Enjoy!

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Forbidden

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Kaoru woke up with groan and for a moment she was only aware of the dryness of her mouth. Her long lashes fluttered against her cheek as she struggled to make them open while slowly, her senses seemed to creep up on her again.

Her skin was uncomfortably warm and sticky with dried sweat, while her limbs were heavy and haplessly entwined with…others?

Memories from last night came crashing back and she barely restrained a scream of frustration. Her eyes now wide open, she spared a glance at the man she knew she was currently using as a mattress and confirmed his identity with a tired sigh. The X shaped cross on his left cheek and the closed eyes she knew would be purple, maybe gold if he awoke with her in his arms. With them closed, however, he looked serene with his elegant features and she gathered he must be sleeping very hard due to the alcohol to look so relaxed. But his long red hair was a mess; sprawled out over the pillows underneath his head and multiple knots and tangles could already be seen. It would be a pain to brush it out, she was sure, and she really didn't want to think what her own hair looked like either.

I need to get out of here, she thought after having admired him for a few moments. Clenching her hand she startled when she realized it was on his naked chest, and promptly a blush covered her cheeks as she remembered exactly what they had been doing to end up in this state. Biting her lower lip, she felt a twinge of dull pain and realized it was probably still sore from his rather passionate kisses. And by the sticky, uncomfortable sensation between her legs she knew more than her lips would be sore for quite a while.

Carefully untangling herself from his fingers (buried in her nest of a hair, as she discovered rather painfully), arms and legs she found herself grateful for all the alcohol she had made sure he consumed, despite the feeling of guilt that was slowly building as her head cleared up more by the minute.

Somehow, she had known they would end up like this and she hadn't done a thing to stop it. Actually, she mused as she picked up her dress and stuffed her panties in her bag (they were ruined and beyond repair, she noted with a light blush), she had helped it along. It was so wrong, on so many levels, but she last night she hadn't…cared? Really, she hadn't spared the consequences a thought, much less the morals of her actions. Why? She didn't know. Alcohol would've been a great excuse, if she'd drunk enough to get beyond the sensible line of thought, but she hadn't. And it bothered her, a lot.

So she did the only thing she could think of, and erased any trace of her presence in his flat, while hoping he had been too drunk to remember…or pass it off as a dream.

If he asked what happened at the bar where he had decided to drown his sorrows, she would say she brought him home, gave him a kiss good night, and left. Simple, really. He would never know, and she was quite sure that whatever disagreement he and Tomoe had had yesterday would be solved within a day.

Slipping on her heels, Kaoru sent one last glance at the man sprawled across his king sized bed and sniffed. She didn't really have the right to cry, but he was hugging the pillow and the covers she had left behind and the want to go back was undeniable. But the picture on the wall behind him made her turn and bolt for the door.

The only thing she was leaving behind was a night of forbidden passion – of hot, wild sex with an 11 years older man already engaged.

She figured it was one of those closed chapters in life that would never be read.