Their first steps into the kingdom were met with wary eyes. The citizens were looking at Karin and her indecent appearance, but only whispers were made. They were far too quiet for Kazune to hear and he was too bothered by the earlier events to want to understand these people. Kazune searched for a dark alley or mostly vacant room for them to fix their clothes back to normal. In a city this huge, it was proving to be as hard as he thought it would be.

"Kazune, there is a place over there." Karin announced.

Surely enough, she had spotted a tavern that hadn't opened yet. They swiftly advanced towards it and slipped in the unlocked door.

"You'd think that in a town this huge there'd be enough crime to need to lock doors." Kazune said with a disgusted tone. He didn't like these large, rich kingdoms, they would flaunt their wealth and prosperity in all sorts of ways. He began to change back to normal. He slipped on his tunic and untied his hair. He decided against replacing the pendants though, they might give him away. While he was making himself comfortable, Karin was staring at him impatiently. She wanted her hands untied and she wanted to fix her dress. She'd have to change it because Kazune went and ripped it.

"Ahem." she sounded.

"Oh yeah."

"Don't act like you almost forgot." She snapped. Kazune walked over and reached out and pulled on Karin's kimono and he let it fall to the floor.

"Wha?!" Karin stuttered as she stood naked before him. She did her best to cover herself with the crossing of her legs, but it only served to make her look cuter. She struggled against the ropes around her wrists and made her wrists red with irritation. Glancing back at Kazune she saw that his eyes had darkened. He was not smiling but she felt a strange aura drifting around him. He had soft lips when he spoke but the words he said pierced her as if he were stabbing her with needles.

"Those brutes were repulsive. They used their status to try to claim what I have held in up most infatuation. And such acts are enough to make my mind turn in on itself."

His voice was lowered to a hushed tone that sounded like a purr and yet those words harshly grated on Karin's ears. Kazune started circling around her as he spoke making her feel like a trapped animal waiting to be pounced on.

"Did you know I am jealous" he questioned. "that you'd let such deplorable humans even lay a hand on you?"

Karin was silent. She didn't know what to think of the situation and Kazune drew ever closer each time he circled around, till he was behind her speaking into her ear like the devil.

"Will you tell me what your true thoughts of me are?" Karin shivered at the warmth of his breath on her neck.

"Or do I have to continue holding my answer above your head?" he said as he leaned her face back to look at him.

Those starry blue eyes twinkled with the warm orange light of the afternoon sun peaking through the tavern's shutters. His black hair only deepened the sight of his eyes.

Karin's arms were lifted up behind her till she nearly yelped with the pain it caused her shoulders.

"Tell me your secret and I'll tell you my lie. I am sure that we are both agonizing over the same thoughts." he said as his free arm snaked around Karin's bare waist.

"R-release my arms first!" she managed to get out. It hurt, it really hurt and Kazune didn't seem to notice, or be bothered by her discomfort.

He let her arms droop with the warm tending of kisses to her aching shoulders. Karin's mind raced at the sensation of pain to comfort. His lie, her secret, were they the same?

"I want you all to myself." came the words that broke her. Twisting around to try to face him best she could while he held the ropes that bound her. Karin tried to tell him everything but all she could make the courage to say was:

"Please let me redress."

Then came the simple reply.

"No."

Kazune's pained eyes searched in Karin's for her answer. He could tell she wanted to say, but was purposely avoiding the words. He wanted to break first. Oh, how he wanted to tell her of the affection for her that had grown over the past few weeks. Kazune thought he'd cry if he couldn't tell her right now and his flame was dampened by the weight of these feelings. The need to burn was so much but not a single glow was rising from him. As Karin flushed and tried harder to speak, he found himself urging her to say the words.

"I, I, don't want to be broken." she forced out. "If I say such words, I don't want to break from the fall." She began to cry a bit. Her breathing got quivery.

"Do we have to do this now?!" She pleaded.

Kazune thought of her words and was hurt at the thought that he'd let her fall alone.

"You stupid woman." he whispered.

"You can't even realize the thoughts of someone so close to you." the words flowed out with every inch he moved towards her face.

Before she could protest his words she was lifted off the ground and held like a princess.

"If you're worried about falling, tell me now and if I don't agree, I'll drop you. You will have fallen already and I will help you stand up again."

"I don't want to be dropped." she said wide eyed.

"Then don't say the wrong thing." He said as he pressed his nose into her hair.

That tavern was silent for a while. Dust danced in the darkening light and the bustle of the outside world was nothing but white noise to their ears. Empty tables and chairs sat waiting for that world to come in. But for now, there were only two guests. The air was thick with the anticipation of both parties and before the silence passed, a bell rang out words that could have ceased the heavens from turning.

"If you will forgive me, I am very late."

"You will be forgiven"

"I have fallen so far to come to this point, the last 4 feet of my decent, I have fallen so deeply in love with the sapphire eyes that hold me and the fire that melts me. I never want to be parted from these now that I have arrived."

A burst of heat flooded the room as Kazune's flame lit. He burned white flames short and strong. Reaching his lips up to kiss those pale pink rose petals Karin adorned as her mouth. Her hair was reflecting the brightness of the flames and the evergreen eyes were damp with tears that fizzed away on the white light. For so long he'd wanted to hear those words. His joy could not be restrained. He set Karin to the ground and leaned her backwards over a table, kissing her body, trailing red marks from her neck to belly button. One arm holding her shoulder down, and one hand squeezing at the thighs that so voluptuously sunk in to his grip. Karin's breathing was fevered like it had been once before but this time it was so much nicer. Her hands were still bound and lifted her hips off the table just enough to invite Kazune to kiss down the arch. He reached the crease between her hips and legs. So close to the entrance that dripped with his invitation. He licked at the crease earning a soft moan from the beautiful bell voice. He looked up with glazed over eyes to see Karin's chest heaving up and down. Her face was even more of a treat as Kazune drove his hips against hers.
"Please... don't..." Karin moaned out.

Kazune almost lost heart at those words but he had judged too quickly.

"Don't tease me." Came the words out of the lovely ice woman.

Sliding his tongue through her parted lips, he explored the mouth of his newly found lover. Her eyes closed and she whimpered down his throat. Karin's arms wriggled as she tried desperately to touch him.

Chuckling at her struggle, Kazune drew back and stared her in the eyes.

"I don't think I want that sex slave plan to work again." he said with a hushed tone.

"But right now, this is pretty nice, I admit." His fingers walked back down the curved body he had just explored. With a slip of his fingers he was inside her she let out a cry that sounded like music.

"Make that sound again." He pleaded her as he twirled his hand around to reach the spot that made her go wild.

Her voice rang out in a song he'd never heard and her body heated up more than he thought possible for a cool woman like her.

"No more!" she pleaded.

"And what would you prefer?" Kazune asked in a teasingly sweet voice.

"Please, no more teasing!"

"Is this teasing?" He questioned. "Should I give you more than this?"

She was quiet for a moment as she tried to catch her breath.

"M-more" she mustered. "Please, I need you this time or I'll burst!"

"Hmm, but what if you have a baby afterwards?" Kazune taunted.

"I won't... I can control it..."

"Hmm, that's interesting" Kazune said as he moved over top of her, still holding her shoulder down with one hand and undoing his belt with the other. Karin gazed up at him in suspended anticipation.

"Y-yeah... it is one of my biological things..."

"Guessed that, dummy." Kazune smiled as he let his hardened member burst free.

It wasn't their first time seeing each other in their entirety but it was still new. Light silhouetted their frames as they looked up and down at the other. The passion that had been there stood still.

"You really want me to take you?"

"Yes, you're worth it to me..." Karin said with tears streaming down her cheeks as she let out a soft smile.

"Even though I argue with you?" He joked.

"Because I can argue with you, you are my other soul."

Listening to her words Kazune let a tear fall. He leaned down to kiss her again, softly. He positioned himself at her entrance which had been long beckoning him. With a swift movement he slid into the warm walls that clamped down around his girth. Karin let out a pained moan, but she never let go of his lips. When Kazune drew back he could see she had turned a cute flush of pink. He moved his hips away and ground them back into her. Unable to stop it, a groan of pleasure escaped his mouth and set his passion off. He reached down to cup Karin's bouncing breasts and enjoyed the way they moved with every thrust. Karin's sounds were filling the room and she was beginning to sweat. Kazune was probably too, but he couldn't tell, he was to fixated on how hot she was getting. It burned to touch her. He burned brighter than he thought he could without trying. Her legs became draped over his shoulders causing him to go deeper. They were moving so heavily now, every movement sent waves of mindless bliss. He griped at her hips helping her move more rhythmically. Her eyes were clamped shut and she had switched to breathing in pants rather than breaths. Kazune's body was wracked with the feeling of his climax rising. He wanted to wait for her to reach her ecstasy too, but it would be too much to wait much longer. He caught Karin's eyes open wide and her moans ceased for a moment. She opened her mouth but all she said was his name.

"Kazune...!"

Violent contractions closed around him and caused him to cum anyway. Karin squirmed as she tried to ride out the orgasm but couldn't help but let a few cries. Kazune just continued to kneel above her, panting with his eyes open to their extent. He then remembered and burnt the ropes tying Karin's hands together. Her wrists broke free and immediately embraced him. He was pulled down onto her as she started to let more tears stream down her face.

Kazune became tired. He never expected sex to take so much out of him. He wanted to sleep but they couldn't sleep here, it would open in the evening. Against Karin's wishes, he pulled back from her arms and gathered her clothes from the floor. She sat up and was wrapped in her kimono, garnished with a kiss to the nose.

"Shall we find a place to spend the night?" He asked with a loving smile. "I want to hold you on a bed, not the ground." Kazune joked.

"Okay." Karin said, holding her wrists. They had been rubbed raw from the rope and began to sting. Kazune felt bad about it, but Karin told him not to worry about it.

The two of them walked a little ways to an inn. Karin couldn't walk any further, her legs had become too weak from Kazune's love, which boosted his ego a bit. When they entered the room, it was small and dark but none to less, they both fell into the bed and slept almost instantly. Tomorrow would be their first official day trying to get through the kingdom and the first time they would be more than a pair of travelers.