Disclaimer-I own nothing.
Warning-A very handsy Ichigo.
No Escape
Chapter 10
Rukia shifted uncomfortably in the bucket seat, trying not to abrade her raw back. It had taken two hours for the police to finish their questions and let them go, and she was barely holding herself upright against the heavy fatigue that weighed down on her.
Since he'd gotten in the car, Ichigo had been silent. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned bone white. Tension radiated from his body until she was sure the air around him was vibrating with it.
He wasn't just angry. He was furious.
Rukia had seen him like this only once before. On the night he'd killed Sosuke Aizen.
He navigated the nearly empty highway, putting all his focus on the road.
Ichigo pulled in behind Kon's car. The light in his room was off, so he was probably already asleep. At least he wouldn't miss the takeout that was now splattered somewhere on the restaurant's parking lot.
Rukia stifled a sigh. Kon had been working too hard lately, but until his SAT's were conquered, she didn't see any hope of him relaxing. Then again, until the police caught whoever was killing people in her life, she wasn't going to find much downtime, either.
Ichigo got out of the car without a word.
Rukia rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. Things were getting too big and heavy, and something was going to have to give. What she wouldn't have given for the time to take a vacation-get her and Kon away from everything for a while.
Ichigo opened her car door and stared down at her with a hard, almost fierce frown. He reached out and offered her his hand up.
Rukia took it, not because she needed the help, but because she thought it might make him feel better to give it.
As she moved, the skin on her back stretched and she barely hid a wince of pain.
They went in through the back door, and Ruki tossed her purse on the counter. Ichigo didn't seem to be in the mood for company or conversation, so she told him, "I'm going to check on Kon and hit the sack."
He gave her a silent nod and watched as she went up the stairs. She knocked lightly on Kon's door, and when he didn't answer, she peeked in. He was sprawled in bed, asleep with one long arm hanging off the side.
She had a sudden flashback to last night when she found him missing and stood there for a moment, watching him, thankful he was safe and sound.
His radio switched songs and started playing a new alternative rock song quietly in the background. A deep bass rhythm thrummed out of the speakers, but Kon didn't even shift.
Rukia never would have been able to sleep with the noise, but Kon said it helped him sleep, so she let it go. She figured he'd probably used the sound to mask the noise of his parents fighting when he was younger.
When she came back downstairs, Ichigo was waiting for her in the living room. The cut on his cheek had been taped closed by the paramedic, and a bruise was already starting to form around it. His feet were braced apart and he had the strangest look on his face-like he was preparing to do battle with her.
A sliver of worry wormed its way into her, because this was not right. This was not the Ichigo she knew.
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Ichigo watched as fear made Rukia's face go pale.
Guilt twisted inside him at the thought that he was scaring her, and he tried to say something reassuring, something light, but nothing came out. The frenetic rage that had threatened to engulf him since the moment he'd heard her pained cry tonight was still rampaging through him. It took every ounce of concentration he had just to appear civilized.
Not killing the bastard who'd touched her had burned off all of his reserves of willpower and goodwill, and there was simply none left in him.
He hadn't felt this way since the night he'd caught Aizen in her bed, holding her down as she fought against him. She'd been small for her age, weak. If Ichigo hadn't been trying to sneak out of the house that night, he never would have passed by her door and heard her muffled, panicked cries. He never would have seen Aizen on top of her and gone into a blinding rage that ended only when the last breath had been choked from that bastard's lungs.
Ichigo had always hoped the uncontrollable need for violence that had led him to kill Aizen that night had simply been a case of excess teenage hormones flooding his system. He'd killed since then out of duty or self-defense, but it had never once felt the same. It had never felt quite as personal. Or satisfying.
But after tonight, he knew teenage hormones weren't to blame. The sound of Rukia crying out in pain had brought all of that rage back, though he had no idea why.
He couldn't let anything happen to her. Not then, and certainly not now.
"Ichigo?" she said with more than a hint of worry in her voice.
He took a step forward, then jerked to a halt, knowing he couldn't touch her now, not while his instincts were running the show.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He stood rigid, nearly shaking with the force of keeping himself away from her. He wanted to hold her, reassure himself she was okay, but he didn't dare touch her until he was calmer. And he wouldn't be calmer until he saw for himself that she was safe.
"You're going to let me see," he told her in a thick, ragged voice.
Rukia's exotic eyes narrowed in confusion. "See what?"
"You." He swallowed hard, and his breathing slowed as he struggled to hold himself back. He wanted to strip her naked and check every smooth patch of skin for injury, and if he moved so much as an inch, his instincts would take over and that's exactly what he'd do. "I need to see you're safe," he tried to explain.
She closed the distance between them, apparently not realizing how close he was to the edge. She reached up and put her hand on his chest as if to calm him. "I'm perfectly safe."
Ichigo shuddered at her touch and closed his eyes in an effort to regain control.
"Show me." His voice shook, cracking with tension that made his whole body feel brittle.
"Are you talking about my back?"
Ichigo nodded.
"Okay." She slipped off her jacket and turned around, lifting up the hem of her shirt. "See. It's just a scrape."
Ichigo bent to look at her back. It was a hell of a lot worse than just a scrape. The skin was rubbed bloody over a patch the size of his hand, and she was already bruising.
That killing rage bubbled up inside him, and he had to take several deep breaths to keep from losing control. He'd already done that once tonight, and two young men were going to be hospitalized for a long time because of it.
Too bad he couldn't have made it three.
Ichigo reached out with trembling hands and lifted the back of her shirt higher. Slight bruises marred her skin all the way up to her bra. With a light touch, he ran his fingertip over the marks.
Rukia tensed and froze in place.
"Did I hurt you?"
"Uh, no." Her voice held a strange, reedy quality that Ichigo had never heard before.
The scrapes disappeared below the waistband of her jeans, so without thinking how she'd react, only needing to see the damage for himself, Ichigo reached around her and unfastened her jeans.
"Ichigo?!" she squeaked. "I don't really think you should-"
"I won't hurt you," he reassured her as he eased the top of her jeans down two inches, where her injury stopped.
"I know you're not going to hurt me."
The way she'd said it simply, as if stating a fact, helped ease the tension that stretched his control thin. If she could trust him, then he couldn't be some kind of monster.
Ichigo ran his finger along her smooth skin, being careful to avoid the abraded area. She was so soft and warm, so smooth and sweetly curved. He hadn't intended to turn himself on by inspecting her injuries, but a low hum of arousal buzzed along his spine as his fingers soaked up her heat.
He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss over one of the bruises.
Rukia let out a soft whoosh of air. Ichigo wasn't sure if the noise was due to shock, dismay, or pleasure, but he couldn't stop himself from finding another spot he needed to kiss.
Beneath the warm woman scent of her skin was the faint smell of flowers. He wasn't sure what kind, but it hardly mattered. She didn't need any additional perfume to entice him. Everything about her tugged at his senses, making him want more.
He wanted to see the smooth curve of her shoulder, the gentle swell of her hips, and the sleek length of her legs. He wanted to run his hands over her skin, and learn where she liked to be touched. But most of all, he was dying to know what she tasted like and how she'd sound if he was ever given the chance to push her over the edge of no return.
Ichigo closed his eyes and breathed her in, trying to memorize her scent. His lips slid away from her wound, down to where her lovely bottom started to flare into maddening curves.
Rukia swayed a little, but Ichigo held her steady as his mouth opened and his tongue met her skin. Salt and woman, such an intoxicating flavor, but never before had it gone to his head quite like it did with Rukia.
Feeling her under his hands, tasting her on his tongue, helped to calm his anger, but it was replaced by something just as intense. He wanted her. Needed her.
His erection hardened, straining uncomfortably against the front of his jeans, but he ignored it. He didn't want anything distracting him from this moment, from this chance to touch and taste Rukia and know for a fact that she was going to be okay.
He allowed himself one more kiss, one more taste, before letting her go.
Ichigo cleared his throat and stood, but couldn't find the strength to step back. He peered down at her glossy black hair, trying to pull himself together. Against his will, his hands reached around her and found the zipper of her jeans. Leaving them open was too much of a temptation.
Rukia sucked in a breath and covered his hands with hers. "I can do it."
Ichigo slid his hands up to her bare waist. They fit perfectly in the womanly hollow above her hips, and felt even better. He rubbed his thumbs over her skin, just under the hem of her shirt.
Rukia hadn't moved to refasten her jeans, but her breathing had sped up. He could feel the quick expansion of her ribs under his thumbs and itched to slide his hands up to see if her heart was pounding faster, as well.
He knew women. Well. He knew the signs of arousal, and Rukia was showing too many for him to ignore.
Even though the air was cool, a fine sweat had broken out over her skin, or maybe that was his own palms going hot at the chance to touch her. He was careful not to press his body against her sore back, but he was close enough to feel the heat coming from her.
She still hadn't moved, and he wasn't sure if it was because she wanted him to make the next move, or because she didn't. He didn't want to push her, but he also didn't want to miss an oppurtunity to see how far she'd let things go, either. If she wanted him, he was more than happy to oblige. To hell with the consequences.
Maybe it made him an ass, but he was dying to touch more of her. Taste more of her. He wanted to feel her body moving under his hands, make her feel good to make up for the injury he'd allowed to happen to her tonight.
"Would you like me to help you clean up that scrape?" he asked, testing the waters.
"I think I can get it. I'll jump in the shower."
Ichigo rubbed his cheek against her silky hair. A short growth of stubble caught and held the fine strands. "You sure?"
She stood there for so long, he almost wondered if she'd heard his question. "Yeah."
Disappointment made him sluggish, but he took the hint and released her.
Rukia turned around, still holding the front of her jeans closed. Her eyes were smoky, her long eyelashes lowered, and her cheeks were stained with the blush of arousal.
She wanted him. Ichigo was certain. What he didn't understand was why she turned him down.
Of course, women were complicated. He loved that about them when he wasn't cursing the trait. And he didn't have to understand a refusal to respect it.
"You'll call if you change your mind?" he asked.
Rukia nodded but stood there as if she wanted to say something else.
Ichigo waited, hoping she'd change her mind and invite him into her room, but when she looked down at the carpet, he knew it wasn't to be.
"Thanks for being there tonight," she said.
"It's why I'm here."
"Will I see you in the morning before I leave for work?"
"We'll have breakfast together, you, me, and Kon," he promised.
"Sounds nice." She left, and Ichigo watched her walk away a little unsteadily.
Nice. Breakfast would be nice, but getting there was not going to be any fun at all, not with the erection he had now.
Ichigo briefly considered hopping in his car and finding some willing woman in a bar. It would have been easy enough to do, but it wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Rukia.
The knowledge shocked him. One willing and eager woman was always as good as another, as far as he was concerned. What was different now?
Maybe he just didn't want to leave Rukia and Kon vulnerable. That was probably it. Nothing else made any sense.
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