Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Rating: M

To Light a Hearth

[Nature of Love series]

Part 2

The very plush couch in their suite's common room was, Shinichi decided, very comfortable and obviously custom designed for cuddling on. Of course, since this was a honeymoon suite, that was probably only to be expected. Closing his eyes, the detective curled a little closer to his companion's side and rested his head on Kaito's shoulder, inhaling deeply as he allowed himself to truly relax for the first time in what felt like (and probably had been) weeks. Kaito's scent washed over him, making him feel warm, secure and content.

"Do you think Suzuki-chan will mind if we try out the hot tub out back sometime?" Kaito wondered aloud idly, the fingers of the hand he had looped around Shinichi's middle idly tracing circles on the detective's hip. After his shower, Shinichi had changed into a pair of loose, comfortable pants and one of Kaito's shirts (which he had a tendency to do whenever either stressed or approaching heat—something Kaito found both incredibly amusing and extremely endearing. And also very arousing—which Kaito strongly suspected but knew better than to suggest out loud was one reason Shinichi did it. Though the knowledge made the magician's inner alpha purr and lick his lips). The hand that Kaito had on Shinichi's hip slipped under the hem of the detective's overlarge shirt, and his fingertips traced the warm skin just above the waistband of Shinichi's pants.

"There's a Jacuzzi tub in our bathroom," the detective pointed out.

"I know. But imagine basking in a steaming pool, the winter wilderness spreading away into the distance. Sounds romantic, doesn't it?"

"Sounds kind of chilly to me."

Kaito laughed. "That's what the hot tub is for. It'd be even better with a real hot spring of course, but, if they built the place right, it ought to be quite grand."

"If you say so," the smaller boy said a touch dubiously. "I suppose we could try it if the weather is good. Sonoko gave us permission to use all the facilities," Shinichi continued with his eyes still closed. "She was in one of her generous moods."

Kaito chuckled. "Ever the romantic, that girl."

Shinichi made a face at that. "That's one way to put it."

"That reminds me, Aoko sends her congratulations."

"O—oh," Shinichi stuttered, cheeks turning faintly pink. "Did you…?"

Kaito laughed. "I didn't tell her what we were up to. She just—knew when I told her we'd be coming up early. I think all our friends did, to be honest. The nuisance looked most disturbed."

The evil glee in Kaito's voice made Shinichi roll his eyes (but fondly). He had long since gotten used to the animosity between his partner and his colleague. The two just didn't mix—although they didn't squabble the way Hakuba and Hattori did (those two had the peculiar ability to reduce one another to what Shinichi considered the mental capacity and temperament of five year olds). Shinichi had the feeling that Hakuba had believed that his fellow detective would surely come to his senses sooner or later and realize that the Kaitou KID not that the blonde could prove it() was not a good choice of partner for an intelligent and well respected detective.

"Ran seemed to think everyone at the station and the university thinks we're already mated," Shinichi mumbled, blush deepening at the thought.

Kaito put on a thoughtful look. "She might be right. People do like to gossip—especially about celebrities."

"About things that are none of their business," the detective sniffed.

Kaito laughed. "If you didn't want attention, you shouldn't have become famous. You only made yourself more interesting when you stated in that interview that you had no intention of finding a mate and didn't believe omegas needed to be mated to be happy."

"I didn't, and they don't," Shinichi replied firmly. "It's stupid to think you need to find a mate to find fulfillment in life just because you're born a certain way."

"I know, I know," Kaito said quickly. "I agree with you. But you know it's commonly thought otherwise. That's why everyone's curious about your love life. They want to know what kind of alpha could get you to lower those porcupine spines."

"Nosy busybodies," Shinichi grumbled.

The magician only chuckled. "Just be grateful that they've mostly been good about keeping their speculations discreet."

Shinichi did appreciate that, especially when he stopped to think about how rare such restraint could all too often be in modern society.

"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter what they're saying either way," he said philosophically. "The truth will be the truth either way, and stories will just be stories."

"Stories have power," Kaito observed then sighed, shifting to tuck Shinichi's head under his chin. "You know, I've always wondered, was there a reason you were against finding a mate?"

"I wasn't against it," Shinichi objected. "I just…didn't think it was important. Certainly not as important as everyone else thought it was. I always knew I wanted to be a detective, and, when I started actually working cases, there was always so much to do. And, well…I guess I might also have disliked the idea of a mate because everyone expected me to want one after it was revealed that I was an omega."

"Teenage rebellion?"

Shinichi wrinkled his nose at that then laughed.

"Maybe just a little," he admitted. Since he had wanted to be a beta (expected it, even, considering sixty percent of the population were betas, and both his parents had been too), the revelation had come as an unwelcome annoyance. But it had also freed him from the struggle he'd been dealing with at the time regarding Ran. Beforehand, everyone from his mother on down had insisted that he had to be in love with Ran (for no real reason that he could discern other than that they had been friends growing up). Everyone's expectations had made him feel obligated to try and like Ran like they said he should, but he'd never quite been able to see her as something other than a sister. When he turned out to be an omega and Ran a beta, however, their family and friends had finally backed off. Granted, this reprieve did not come (as he'd have preferred) because they had finally come to their senses and realized that he and Ran had little to nothing in common (and that growing up together did not automatically equate compatibility as a couple), but it had still taken a weight off of Shinichi that he hadn't even realized was there even as it brought with it a whole new set of baseless assumptions. "Though I think it was more because I couldn't imagine, well, liking someone like that. I couldn't imagine wanting to either, so…" He lifted the shoulder not tucked against Kaito in a half shrug. Then, since this seemed to be the time for such disclosures, he added, "I never expected to meet someone like you."

Since he had his head down and eyes closed, he didn't see the goofy grin that his words elicited. But he did feel Kaito move to drop a kiss on the top of his head.

"I didn't expect to find someone like you either," the magician murmured. "But I thank all the powers that be that I did. I don't know what kind of person I'd be now if I hadn't met you. I've kept—keep—so many secrets. It isn't always easy to remember where the masks are supposed to end." He let out a breath that wasn't quite a sigh. "Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed being KID—still do. Probably always will. But somewhere along the way, it got too easy to look at people and see all the ways I could use them. Too much of that, and you start to think you're above everyone else. And I'll admit that it was thrilling at times, thinking that, but it was lonely too. But you kept on seeing through me, and I realized I wasn't really as alone in my world as I'd thought. Or rather that I didn't have to be. So I'm glad we met. And that we're here. You are and will always be the greatest treasure I have ever had the fortune to hold."

Shinichi blinked, somewhat taken aback by the declaration. Then the magician's words registered, and he blushed, embarrassed but also ridiculously pleased. The happiness bubbled inside him like sunlight and summer days.

"I'm glad too," he admitted. "To be honest, it doesn't feel real yet," he added with a wry smile up at his magician.

The indigo eyes that met his were soft with love but serious too. Searching. "You're sure you're ready?"

He knew well Shinichi's doubts—not about them. They were well past any uncertainty about their feelings for each other. But it had taken time (and many conversations) for Shinichi to get past his concerns about a true bond. After all, a bond once formed could not be broken even by death—and Shinichi was all too aware of the dangers he attracted on a daily basis. He hadn't wanted to burden anyone, let alone someone he loved, with that kind of risk.

While Kaito thought his detective's concerns were misplaced, he respected them. He had also spent considerable time and effort drilling it into Shinichi that he was not going anywhere, whatever the detective said, and he was fully prepared to wait however long it took for Shinichi to make up his mind.

Shinichi knew this, and he smiled softly at the magician, trying to convey both his appreciation and his certainty. "I'm sure."

Kaito's lips quirked into a warm, affectionate smile as he caught Shinichi's hands and brought them to his lips. "Good." Then he leaned forward and kissed Shinichi full on the mouth. The kiss was slow and deep and full of the promise of long years yet to come. Shinichi kissed back eagerly, slipping his arms around Kaito's neck to pull him closer. The magician's arms dropped. One encircle his waist, to pull Shinichi sideways onto his lap. His free hand hooked under the waistband of Shinichi's pants and undergarments, stripping both right off him in the instant when Shinichi's weight shifted off the couch. Shinichi blushed at finding himself suddenly sitting on Kaito's lap bare from the waist down.

"Hey!" he protested without much heat. It was far from the first time he had found himself in such a position, and he wasn't really displeased to be in that position now. But he wasn't about to say so. "Some warning would have been nice."

He crossed his arms and shifted so that his back was resting against Kaito's chest—partly to hide the redness in his cheeks and partly to hide the effect that being half naked while in the clutches of his still fully clothed alpha was having on his body.

It was a futile gesture though, and they both knew it.

Kaito's strong, calloused hands were kneading his thighs, sending warm tingles of pleasure through Shinichi's body. The detective's arms loosened then dropped to his sides as his breath quickened. He spread his legs without really thinking about it. The magician's dexterous hands worked their way slowly inward then up towards the panting omega's most sensitive places. Soon, one hand closed around Shinichi's half-hard length and began teasing it to full arousal. The alpha's other hand made quick work of the buttons on Shinichi's borrowed shirt. It made a detour to pinch and tease Shinichi's nipples before sliding down to trace a finger around Shinichi's entrance. Kaito's lips curled into a satisfied smirk when he found that perfect little hole already wet. He ran his finger around the ring of twitching muscle again, testing, before pressing it inside.

Shinichi's head lolled back against Kaito's shoulder as a quiet moan escaped his lips, and he parted his legs even further, eager to give Kaito better access.

The alpha was more than ready to take the invitation.

One finger became two, pressing into Shinichi. The detective gasped, inner muscles tightening momentarily around the intrusion before relaxing again. Sensing that he was ready, the fingers began to move, in and out, in and out, probing a little deeper upon each thrust.

Then those fingers found that spot that always sent stars dancing across Shinichi's vision, and he cried out, hips bucking in instinctive desire for more.

There were three fingers inside him now, moving faster and more insistently than before. They thrust and twisted and crooked, and he writhed as though bound by their will.

He wanted more. And, he realized, it wasn't just his own desire searing through his veins.

He could sense Kaito's desire for him too, hot and fierce and ravenous, and it made his entire body shudder with want. His inner muscles twitched, yearning for his mate's cock. Yearning to feel that hot, hard length moving deep inside him.

He needed to feel the pleasure of being filled by his Kaito.

"Kai," he gasped as a sudden, intense surge of heat blossomed in his lower abdomen. It rolled through his body, making his every nerve tingle. It was accompanied by a rapidly growing ache deep inside him.

With a groan, he dislodged Kaito's hands so that he could turn around on his alpha's lap to straddle him. He slid his arms around Kaito's neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss that left them both breathless.

"Take me," he half begged, half demanded as he ground himself against Kaito's erection. "I want you inside me."

The next thing Shinichi knew, he was being scooped up and carried out of the living room and into the bedroom they had chosen for their own. He could feel a shift in Kaito's mood too from mere desire to an intensely focused, predatory hunger that sent a thrill of excitement through the omega's body along with another surge of arousal.

Kaito tossed Shinichi onto the bed before stripping quickly out of his own clothes. Shinichi barely had time to register the feel of the sheets beneath him before Kaito was on top of him. Throwing Shinichi's legs over his shoulders, Kaito moved into position.

Shinichi's breath hitched as he felt the head of his magician's cock pressing against his entrance then past it, prying him open. With one swift thrust, Kaito buried himself fully in his omega's slick, tight heat. Shinichi's head fell back and his eyes closed as a moan of pure desire escaped his lips. His alpha's cock was big and hot and hard, and it was inside him, filling him completely. He could feel it pulsing inside him, a promise and a dare. "You're mine now" it told him. The message was in the possessive way Kaito's calloused hands gripped his hips and the predatory glow in his alpha's indigo eyes.

Shinichi's inner omega purred in delight.

Kaito leaned down to capture his detective's lips in a searing kiss, tongue plunging past petal soft lips to plunder the cavern beyond. He relished the way Shinichi moaned and tightened around him, begging for more.

Pulling almost all the way out, Kaito thrust deep into Shinichi again, hard and fast, and was rewarded by a sharp cry as his omega bucked under him. Shinichi's inner muscles clenched instinctively around the invading length, and Kaito's breath hissed between his teeth.

Shinichi tossed his head back and moaned loudly as Kaito continued to move, stroking all the right places inside him.

If he had been able to think, he might have marveled at how he could feel Kaito's presence right down deep inside his very being—as though their minds were coming together just as their bodies were. He could feel Kaito's need for him and his pleasure in their joining, and those feelings echoed and resonated with his own so that they seemed to expand and consume him, doubling and redoubling in strength until they overcame all else. It was his natural empathy made stronger by his heat and, for once, unhindered by the medication meant to prevent bonding reaching out to his lover.

Shinichi was not, however, in any state to think about any of this.

All he could think about was the alpha on top of him, the strong hands he knew so well gripping his hips, and that delightfully demanding cock driving into him again and again, hard and fast. Each deep thrust sent another wave of heat and pleasure coursing through his veins.

Helpless in the face of the sheer intensity of the sensations gripping his body, Shinichi surrendered and lost himself in the pleasure.

When he came, he did so screaming Kaito's name. The magician made a noise that was half moan, half growl as Shinichi's already tight heat constricted around him like a velvet vice. He managed two more thrusts before he too came.

Shinichi gasped and moaned as he felt Kaito coming hard inside him, filling him with his thief's hot essence. His hips rocked instinctively, eager for every drop.

Leaning down, Kaito captured Shinichi's lips in another bruising kiss full of fire and a hunger yet un-satiated. Shinichi could only whimper and cling to his lover's strong shoulders as another wave of lust crashed through him, raw and primal in a way that would once have scared him. But he had long gotten past such fears.

Shinichi shuddered, and another moan forced itself from his lips. Kaito was still hard and still inside him. And Shinichi realized that he was just as aroused. He felt like a starving animal who had just gotten his first taste of food—a taste that had only served to remind him just how ravenous he was.

Threading his fingers through Kaito's mess of dark, spiky hair, he pulled the thief into a heated kiss that left them both dizzy with want and panting for breath.

"Kai," Shinichi breathed, flexing his inner muscles around the hard cock still lodged deep inside him, pleased when he heard his thief groan. Kaito's hips jerked once in instinctive response, eliciting a gasp from the omega under him.

Shinichi's eyes fluttered shut only to pop open again in confusion when Kaito pulled out of him. He let out an involuntary whine of protest that ended in a yelp as he found himself abruptly flipped over onto his stomach. The next thing he knew, there were calloused hands on his buttocks, spreading his cheeks, and a warm, wet tongue swiped across his stretched entrance.

Shinichi's yelp turned into an embarrassed squeak, and he tried to move away, but Kaito's grip was unyielding. Unable to escape, Shinichi could only bury his face in the pillows to muffle his moans and squirm in mortified pleasure as that devilish tongue lapped at his twitching hole as though he were some delicious treat, massaging and delving past the over stimulated ring of muscle in turn. He couldn't see his magician's face, but didn't have to in order to know that Kaito was smirking.

Unable to stop himself, Shinichi came again, his cries muffled in the pillow he was clutching like a lifeline. Then he went limp, gasping for breath.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," he grumbled between pants, glad that he could hide his embarrassed blush in the pillows.

He felt more than heard Kaito chuckle. "Now, now, we both know you don't mean that."

Sitting back, Kaito licked his lips. The taste of Shinichi's slick mixed with his own essence was strangely enticing. It made his already achingly hard member throb. It did so again as he raked his gaze over the detective sprawled beneath him. He brushed two fingers teasingly over his omega's wet entrance. Shinichi shuddered, and Kaito's smirk grew.

The alpha leaned over Shinichi's prone form to press an open-mouthed kiss to the back of his shoulder as he let his teasing fingers slip past Shinichi's entrance and into the slick, tight heat beyond. The press of those fingers against his sensitive walls soon had Shinichi mewling into his pillow.

How he could be so aroused again already, Shinichi didn't know and, in his current state, didn't care.

"Kaito," Shinichi whined, well past worrying about his dignity at this point. If Kaito didn't stop what he was doing, Shinichi was going to come again, and the omega didn't want that. Not like this. Shinichi wanted to come with his alpha's cock inside him—wanted to feel his magician come with him, filling him with everything Kaito.

Understanding exactly what his detective wanted, Kaito withdrew. Shinichi could sense his alpha's pleasure and amusement as well as his lust.

Kaito walked his fingers up along Shinichi's sides under the shirt still draped loosely about him as he leaned over him, enjoying Shinichi's stifled giggles. In a moment, he had tugged the now extremely rumpled shirt the rest of the way off his mate and tossed it aside. His lips curved into a mischievous grin.

"H—hey, st—stop that!" Shinichi half squeaked, half gasped between fits of giggles as Kaito's long, dexterous fingers began dancing up and down his sides, tickling him mercilessly. Shinichi wiggled and flailed in an attempt to escape and failed miserably. By the time Kaito finally let up on his assault, the detective had been laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes.

Rolling over onto his back, Shinichi gave the magician grinning down at him a halfhearted glare that only made Kaito's grin widen. Groaning, Shinichi gave it up as a lost cause. Instead, he slid his arms around Kaito's neck.

"Kiss me already," he demanded.

Kaito chuckled but obliged. Their lips met and tongues tangled.

The kiss grew more heated as Kaito's hands raked down the length of Shinichi's body then moved to give his bottom a rough squeeze. Shinichi gasped and bucked, knees coming up on either side of Kaito's hips.

"Kai," he whimpered.

"I know," Kaito murmured against his lips.

Calloused hands moved to grip Shinichi's hips as Kaito shifted to press the tip of his arousal against his omega's still stretched entrance.

Shinichi closed his eyes.

Then Kaito was finally sliding into him again, and Shinichi moaned softly.

Their lovemaking this time was slow and tender. Shinichi could feel every inch of his alpha's cock as Kaito moved inside him. Each full, deep thrust sent a fresh wave of pleasure and heat dancing along his nerves, and his toes curled and his back arched as he pressed his head back into the pillows, lips parted in breathless little mewls of pleasure.

Kaito smirked against the soft skin of the crook of Shinichi's neck, relishing in the way his omega began moving so naturally with him, pure instinct and desire. Their bodies fit together perfectly, moving as one as they sought the completion they both craved.

"I—I can't…!" Shinichi whimpered, hands twisting desperately into the sheets beneath him.

"Hush," Kaito murmured, shifting to brush his lips over Shinichi's. "It's all right. Come for me."

And Shinichi obeyed, inner muscles tightening exponentially around Kaito's length as he did so.

With a growl, Kaito scraped a fang over the skin at the junction between Shinichi's neck and shoulder then bit him just hard enough to break the skin even as he buried himself fully inside Shinichi with one last thrust and came hard. Their hips continued to rock together as he pumped his seed into his omega's shuddering body. Shinichi's contented moan mingled with his own.

It was much, much later that the soft, comfortable silence was finally broken. They were still entwined both physically and mentally, and the emotions flowed gently between them in the silence like a soothing breeze and the taste of summer and the warmth of the now and of home.

It was a wonder and a joy even as it was a great release like a breath finally exhaled at the lifting of a heavy burden. It felt as though a place that they had only subconsciously realized was empty was now filled.

"I love you," Shinichi whispered into the stillness.

"I love you too," Kaito murmured back, and Shinichi could hear the smile in his voice.

-To Be Continued-