Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Negative Space ❯ Fight for Dominance ( Chapter 23 )

If there was one thing that hadn't changed over the centuries, it was the need for people in power to participate in mind numbing gatherings where they discussed 'important' things. It was the one thing that I hated. Meetings were boring and I really couldn't contribute, yet I was always asked to be present or forced to be the one hosting the discussions. Ugh.

Halibel, Nelliel and Grimmjow were sitting in the common room that his Numeros shared. It was the same room that I had 'fallen asleep' in after Grimmjow had made me return to his tower instead of allowing me to go back to my rock. I had thought that the room was too big to ever actually be filled, but I was wrong. Every single stinking fake was present, gathered around the three Espada like a herd of nosy children, listening in on the conversation and piping up when they felt like talking.

Well, they weren't just talking. They were 'strategizing'.

Their conversation had started around the loss of the moon and making some rather outrageous suggestions as to why it happened. After some crazy ass ideas, Grimmjow must have finally had enough and corrected their horribly wrong suspicions. He had explained everything I had told him about the darkness and the way the world changed, and even added in his suspicions on how Arnau was going to use it to his advantage. I'd listened to it all, wondering how he could repeat everything in such detail until his talking turned back into conversation and I'd lost all interest.

I hated strategizing. I wasn't good and it, which I had made very clear before I had bound myself to Grimmjow. And yet, he had all but ordered me to stick around when I had started to walk off. You'd think after the night we had spent together, he'd be a bit more receptive to my weaknesses.

Apparently not.

"Isa," Grimmjow called above the chatter, drawing my attention.

I was sitting as far away from the herd of fakes as I possibly could while still being in the massive room, which was on the ledge of one of the far windows. The ledge was barely wide enough to fit my butt, but I made it work so I could kick my feet up on the ledge and let a bit of my weight rest against the glass. I had a great view of the sands outside Los Noches, which was nice because I was able to completely ignore the babbling fakes as they made their fancy ass plans.

Well, until now.

"What?"

My tone was bored, which matched the thrumming of my fingers on my knee. Before coming to the common room, I had stopped by Grimmjow's room to put on some of my clothes so I wouldn't be so out of place around the fully clothed Espada. For me that had meant that I'd donned my shorts, tank top, sheath and jacket while only grabbing my socks so I could stuff them into my boots that were still in this room. I had rubbed off the blood that had dried on my skin with handfuls of sand, but the dark pigment had stuck to my skin making my skin look blotchy and uneven. I didn't mind too much. It matched the rat nest of hair that I had from sleeping on it then Grimmjow's abuse of my locks from when he'd shoved me up against the wall and, well, almost had his way with me.

I shook the mental image of our bodies together and let my temple rest against the cool glass. It was becoming harder and harder to get thoughts of him to stay out of my mind. It was almost becoming a problem, but the problem was that I enjoyed it too much.

"Why are you hiding over here?" He asked as he came up to my side. I didn't move to look at him. His vague reflection had appeared in the window when he stopped beside me, which was annoying enough because he was ruining the small distraction that I had made for myself.

"I'm not hiding. You told me to stick around so I'm waiting for you gobbling fakes to get your planning done so I can redirect my attention to something that I can actually contribute to."

"Good, then get your ass over here."

"No thanks," I said as I lifted my hand in a dismissive wave. "You finish your crappy little planning session, then come find me."

His gaze narrowed and I rolled my eyes at his reflection. I knew he saw it, but I didn't care. Even as he stepped closer and his hand rested on the window just in front of my nose, I didn't care. It was when his hand brushed my shoulder and continued up like he was going to cover the spine of my mask that I shifted and shied away him.

Most people would have taken the hint and stopped, but he didn't. He kept pushing, moving his hand into my hair even as I turned my back to the window to try and keep him from touching that part of me. It was a useless effort though, because he kept going until I was pinned against the window by his body and he was cradling my mask's spine in the palm of his hand. My hand came up and caught his forearm in a death grip as I tried to pull his touch away, but it was wasted effort.

"What is wrong?" He growled as his muscles flexed under my grip and he fought against my efforts. He forced me to lift my gaze to meet his and I glared at him like I wanted to murder him.

"I told you the day I agreed to serve you that I am the one who gets shit done, not the one who figures out how to make it happen. If you want someone to help you fakes figure out how to take them down, then ask Raacharg. I am not going to be useful."

"We don't need you to help us plan. We need you to tell us what you know about them. Nothing more."

"I'd rather share my memories with you than be involved in your discussions," I snapped.

"We don't have time for that," he said with a shake of his head. I knew what he meant. Looking into the past was relatively quick, so that wasn't why he was saying no. It was because he didn't have time to deal with me if I got lost.

"Why does it piss you off so badly?" He asked.

"I don't know," I said defensively. I frowned at myself and pointedly shifted my gaze to the side so I wouldn't have to look at him as I mumbled, "it just does."

"You're letting your emotions get the best of you," he murmured as his fingers flexed almost painfully into my skin.

I let out a sigh. I was being moody, which wasn't at all normal for me. I needed to figure out how to deal with these stupid emotions, but this wasn't the time. With the realization of just how stupid I was being, I swallowed my pride and stopped resisting his pull. I slid off the ledge, my feet finding the floor as he stepped back just enough to allow me to find my feet. He didn't let me go any further and instead pressed me back until the back of my thighs were firmly against the window ledge.

I stiffened again, though this time it was for a completely different reason. The last time we had been so close we had been… well… my gaze slowly trailed up his chest to his neck, enjoying the way his scar decorated his skin and his muscles defined his collarbone and the sinewy lines of his neck. It amazed me how he didn't have any stubble, leaving his jaw smooth but defined. My gaze finally stopped on his lips, the delectable fullness of them making me lick my own at the memory of what they felt like against mine. Hot tater tits, I had it bad for him.

"Sometimes I wish I could turn these stupid emotions you gave me off," I said softly as I enjoyed watching his lips quirk into a lopsided grin. He leaned in closer and I raised my face so I could meet his smug azure gaze.

"I don't," he answered. His mouth was only a breath away from mine and I had to fight myself to not rise up to meet him. "I rather like the hot mess you're becoming."

"Can you feel everything that I am feeling?" I asked, finally voicing the question I had been asking myself for days.

"When I focus on you, pretty much," he answered. I felt every word he spoke against my lips like a soft caress. I couldn't take it anymore, the urge was just too damn strong. I was going to let this Human body of mine have this small victory now or I would probably do something impulsive later that I would I regret.

I rose up, flexing my toes just enough to seal my lips over his. Our kiss never really had a moment where it started as something small and grew. No, it wasn't gentle and it sure as hell wasn't soft. It was one of those kisses that started where it had last stopped when I had interrupted it by flinching. His tongue plunged into my mouth like he was going to conquer it, and I fought back. My hands fisted in his jacket and I pulled him further down to me, using the leverage to take the upper hand. He let out a feral growl and shoved me back against the window ledge so hard that I felt my flesh bruising. It didn't matter though, I was too wrapped up in the sensation of him to care.

His hand that was covering my spine slid up into my hair and closed in my locks to control my head. I thought he was going to push me back further, lean me out of balance until I had to cling to him just to stay up right, but he didn't. Somehow our kiss slowed, going from a fevered battle of lips, teeth and tongue to something gentle and almost tender. I didn't know how my body allowed it, but as my hot skin cooled and my heart slowed to an easy thrum I found that I had calmed on the inside too. When our lips finally parted, it was like exchanging warm silk for the cool air of the night. I wanted to wrap back up in that silk, but it wasn't a need. It was a want that I could ignore instead of the heady desire that he had instilled just moments before.

"How is it that you can control me so well?" I asked, my voice slow with whatever magic he had worked to calm me. "You've only known the bond for a few weeks, and yet you're able to do so much to me that even I don't understand."

He laid a fleeting kiss on the corner of my mouth before his lips trailed over my cheek. He paused to lick at my skin and I felt for the first time the cut his mask must have made in my cheek. I healed it and soon as I noticed it, but he spent a moment more to lick my skin clean of the red fluid. My eyes fluttered closed as I found myself enjoying it, but not in a sexual sort of way. It was oddly comforting, like I was once more allowing him to care for me as I had been trusting him to do when I had crawled into bed with him.

"It's not control, its influence. I can't stop you from feeling emotions," he murmured once he was satisfied. He wiped my cheek with his thumb to caress away the wetness and drew his mouth back to mine to softly kiss me again. "-but I can make you feel other things, like sharing with you the one small peace I've ever known. The calm that comes before the storm. The ease that soothes even the heart of this beast."

"I don't understand," I whispered as I gave the barest shake of my head.

"You don't need to." He found my left hand where it was still gripping his jacket and shifted it up, guiding it to cover his mask with my palm. He pressed my palm to the teeth just hard enough to make me feel the points as they threatened to break my skin. "Destruction never finds peace, or I don't think I was ever supposed to. I am violence, rage and death. But you are nothingness. You wondered what you gave to me when I forged the bond with you. Well, this is it. The true calm that I was never able to achieve on my own. I didn't even know that I wanted it, but now that I have it-"

He stopped himself there and I opened my eyes to gaze up at him. He grinned down at me, exposing his teeth with the fierceness of it. "Well, I'm greedy."

"So, you have the lack of emotions that I lost?" I asked slowly, trying to make sure I understood him.

"No, just a quiet clarity," he said thoughtfully. His grip over my hand shifted and he held my hand tighter to his mask for a moment. The look he was giving was something that I didn't quite understand, but before I could really examine it his expression dropped and he released my hand. "Are you done being moody now?"

I opened my mouth to give him an automatic reply, but nothing came out. I blinked a few times and slowly let my hand fall. Was I done being moody? Yes, actually. Somehow, I was. Every ounce of fire that had been in my body was gone. Just like he had taken the passion out of our kiss and tamed it like a wild animal, he'd calmed the anger in my heart and turned the fire into merely a hot coal that was buried deep beneath an ocean of his influencing calm.

Or, was it my influencing calm?

"Yes," I finally answered with a small sigh. It felt like I was giving into him too easily, but it was the truth. Ugh.

"Good, because I need you."

He pulled away from me, leaving my skin to feel uncomfortably cold without his touch. It was the oddest sensation, like a mix of finding yourself cold under warm sheets and suddenly realizing that something important was missing. I rolled my shoulders like I was stretching to hide my discomfort, but the sensation didn't go away.

"What do you want?"

"We need you to tell us whatever you know about Arnau and his people that may help us fight him," he answered as he turned and headed back towards the waiting Espada.

I let out a sigh and followed him. I caught Raacharg's gaze from where he was perched on one of the couches as I moved and nodded for him to follow. He did as I silently asked and the clack of his claws followed close behind me as I approached the herd of fakes. That was when my gaze crossed over the one other Arrancar who wasn't a fake and I felt the calm Grimmjow had instilled me slip away ever so slightly.

Gantenbainne was standing behind the couch that Halibel was sitting on. I hadn't actually laid eyes on him when I had been at Halibel's tower, so I was surprised by the sight of him. He'd cut his hair back to his scalp leaving the defined lines of his face to be the most outstanding feature aside from his ridiculous outfit. He was still wearing the inflated ruffles that came with his Espada uniform, though he'd changed the style a bit to make it even more flashy. It was hard not to roll my eyes, but I managed it and instead redirected my attention to Grimmjow.

"I only know about him and the ones that I apparently didn't kill. Whatever it was that kept them alive and whatever occurred during the last thousand years is a mystery to me."

"It's better than what we know now," he answered as he passed the couch Halibel was lounging on and walked across the open space to the love seat beyond and plopped down in a very feline manner across the cushions.

I followed Grimmjow's path but stopped short of joining him on the loveseat and instead remained standing. If I sat down beside him, there was no way I could avoid touching him. The love seat wasn't exactly the biggest thing ever and with the way I was feeling right now, I probably wouldn't be able to resist reaching for him. I clenched my fists and turned so I could see the two female Espada and most of their people without having to turn my body and did my best to prepare myself to stay calm during their question and answer session.

"I wasn't listening to anything you've all been discussing thus far, so I'll need to get up to speed. What do you all know already?" I asked in a flat tone. Maybe it was a bit blunt, but I really didn't care.

"Not a damn thing," Grimmjow answered me.

I glanced back at him and gave him my best annoyed look. I had been expecting someone from the herd to answer me, not him. I sighed. Apparently I needed to give them a place to start. "Who are the people who are supporting him now?"

"We don't know," someone from the crowd answered. Well, that was better than Grimmjow answering me. Should I start giving out gold participation stars? Maybe I'd get other people to speak too.

"You don't know a single name?" I asked as I glanced in the speaker's general direction.

"Two, Bartolome and Meladria," Halibel answered me this time. If I could have given her a gold star for giving a helpful answer I would have, but she quickly ruined that thought when the next few words came out sounding rather accusatory. "Arnau has been the only one to speak, and the only time he mentioned names was when you were present."

I glanced over to her and gave her an unfriendly look. She stared back at me with steady teal eyes. Was she implying something? I had a feeling she was. "I caught him by surprise. Just like I thought I'd killed him, he didn't know that I was alive. I presented an opportunity until he realized that I was already bound to Grimmjow."

"And what exactly does that mean to you?"

My eye twitched and my unfriendly look turned into a glare as I lifted my eyes to meet the eyes of my former Fracciones. "Gantenbainne used to belong to me in the way that I now belong to Grimmjow. I raised him from an Adjuchas to the Arrancar that serves you today. He knows everything that you could even think to ask about. I will not share my knowledge and experiences with you. Grimmjow is my master. You can ask your Fracciones if you really want to know what it means. I will not be your teacher."

I may have been speaking to Halibel, but the meaning being my words was all for Gantenbainne. I really wanted to ask him how he was okay with leaving me trapped in the dungeon for all those years. I wanted to grab him by that stupid collar of his shirt and shake him until he gave me the answers I wanted to hear. I wanted to tear into him, rip is damn arms off and reattach them just to do it all over again. Of course I didn't do any of those things, but my eyes held all the hatred I felt for him.

"Arnau is like a black hole," I started, shifting my gaze back to Halibel. "He can make those who are weaker than him fall under his power with just with his spiritual pressure. Once he has them under his power, he feeds off them to grow his own power. The God Maker, my maker, controlled him with the bond. He forced him to limit the number of people he had bound to him because the more people he gets under his influence, the stronger he becomes. The God Maker knew that if he let Arnau run free, he would enslave the world."

"And he let him live? Why?" This came from another person in the herd.

"Why would you end the life of such a precious power? There are only so many souls who are capable of becoming as powerful as we are. So long as the God Maker could control them and keep them from executing upon their terrible desires, why would he kill them? Why would he waste such a life?"

"And your God Maker was able to control such a power as his?"

"Just as Grimmjow is able to control me, yes." I intentionally didn't elaborate, which seemed to irritate the blonde Espada.

"As a Privaron Espada, that's to be expected. Arnau isn't like you."

Anger sparked in my chest at her words. It was stronger than it had been before, and with it came the urge challenge the 'Ruler of Hueco Mundo' to a fight. I sensed Grimmjow's movement to get up before I actually saw it, but I only waved him off. I didn't need him to squash my emotions like he seemed to think I did. Before him I was nothingness. Just like when I was learning to handle the gifts of other bonds, I knew how to stop it. Before, I just hadn't realized when I was being so affected. I knew now. I closed my eyes as my head fell back,and I let out a long breath as I called on the part of me that was my darkness.

I didn't need to look at Grimmjow to know he hadn't listened to my gesture and stood, but he stayed there when I didn't move to strangle the fake blonde. Oh boy did I want to see her eyes bulge and her skin darken with hypoxia, but I kept myself in place as I channeled Amechania. The darkness that I was picturing inside me was eating away at the anger, consuming it like the emotion was candy melting on my tongue. It wasn't enough to make the rage go away, but it was enough to allow me to keep an outward appearance of calm.

See? An old as dirt dog can learn new tricks.

"Did Grimmjow tell you how I came to be in his service?" I asked, my voice soft. Only Grimmjow and Raacharg would know that I was seething on the inside. Until I had more practice squashing these damned emotions, keeping an outward appearance of calm was the best that I could do.

"You're bound-"

"That's not what I'm talking about," I interrupted her. I brought my head back down and found a spot on the floor to stare at so I wouldn't be tempted to bite off the head of any other person that I found annoying. "I may be just a Privaron Espada, but what you do not realize is that I achieved the title of Espada with my own power. I didn't have some Soul Reaper toy to boost my powers. I was the former 10th Espada because out of all those who were forced into submission by Aizen, I was the strongest in my true form."

"Grimmjow didn't force me to bow down to him because he was stronger than me. Sure, we fought, but you know what? I defeated him. Not the other way around. He didn't force me to be here, and instead earned my loyalty. If you think you can walk all over me because I wasn't granted power by a Soul Reaper's toy and I now serve one of you, you're very wrong. I'm not Gantenbainne. I will not bow down to you just because you are the person 'in charge'. You may be the Ruler of Hueco Mundo, but you've only been in power for a few decades. I was the Queen of Hueco Mundo for 600 years, ruling at the God Maker's side. If you want my goddamn respect, you'll earn it just like everyone else."

I let the room fall silent and it stayed that way for a while as the tension that had been growing in the air seemed to die away. Silence reign for a long, long moment before I finally broke it and tracked our conversation back to Arnau. I told them everything I knew about him, described his personality, the plans he had been making before I killed him, and the future I knew would come if I hadn't.

The future that was now becoming the present.

I finally stopped when I had given every detail I could think of, staring at the floor the entire time. That I had managed to avoid looking at anyone was a damn miracle, but it was good that I had avoided meeting anyone's gazes. Raacharg was right when he said that I could explain things that I knew well. I just had to keep myself from getting distracted. I wasn't going to be cowed by the 'Ruler of the Hueco Mundo', but throwing that in her face more than once would just make things complicated.

"What about the rest of his people?" Nelliel asked. I blinked slowly and shifted my gaze to her. Her grey gaze was steady and calm, almost exactly like Halibel's but somehow lacking the challenge that had been in the blonde's eyes. Looking at her wasn't infuriating, so I let my gaze linger.

"I can only speak of those who I thought I had killed. Melandria and Bartolome, they are both five or six hundred years younger than Arnau. They were created by him, found as Adjuchas and raised to Arrancar. They are old, loyal and powerful. They will be Arnau's main source of fuel, and taking them out will weaken him, but doing that will be difficult."

"Bartolome's power isn't something dangerous, but rather he assists. He is able to glamour large groups of people, including their spiritual pressure. You were all wondering how they were able to enter Los Noches without anyone noticing them? Well, it was because of Bartolome and his resurreccion. If you don't know he and whatever he his hiding is there, you will not notice them. It's how he snuck up and hit me before I could do anything to stop him and how they left without anyone being able to follow them."

Looks passed between Nelliel and Halibel, but I ignored them as I continued on.

"Melandria is what you would call a sniper. She is probably the most dangerous of Arnau's people in the respect that she can hit you from a distance that you could barely see her at and that I cannot sense. You fakes with your heightened senses probably wouldn't have an issue, but she's still too far away to quick engage. Her resurreccion is Apollo, and with a single strike she can kill her target, but if they manage to live through the hit the poison on her arrow will physically weaken her target. I have never been hit by an arrow from her resurreccion, but I've seen the damage it can do. She is a glass cannon however, and if directly confronted will easily fall. Someone would just have to get to her before she could run. This weakness is most likely why Arnau has kept her from making an appearance."

"I'm not sure who else he would have with him. Without diving back into my memories, the names and events are hazy and I'm not willing to go back right now." I wasn't going to admit why, though I had a feeling the question was coming. Not just why, but how I had gone back in my memories. Instead of lingering to answer more questions I turned to the path between the seating arrangements and started walking off as I said, "I'm done here."

Grimmjow caught my arm as I passed him and I stopped instead of yanking free like I wanted to. I slowly drew my gaze up to meet his, but as soon as I realized he was trying to figure me out, I dropped his gaze. I was a prideful creature. Being an Espada and having to force my dominance down the throats of those around me made it hard to accept others as being more in charge than I was. Grimmjow was easy, but having to treat Halibel like she was my superior when I didn't recognize her as such was difficult. I wasn't great at pretending. She'd need to earn my respect before I would ever think of her as the Ruler of Hueco Mundo.

We didn't belong here. Sure, the old Los Noches that I had helped to build was a place where a creature like me belonged. This place wasn't like that though. It was filled with a new brand of Arrancar and they just didn't understand our way a life.

Or, maybe it was just my way of life now...

"I'm going home," I said to him as I pulled on my arm. He released me and I started walking away. My footsteps were utterly silent as I went, leaving only the sound of clacking claws to move with me as Raacharg ran up beside me. I glanced down to him and an amused grin turned my lips when I saw that he was carrying my boots in his mouth. I leaned down and took them from where he'd had them gently clasped in his teeth and hooked them under my arm.

"Thanks," I said to him as I flipped the boots around and pulled my socks out. I didn't care if anyone was watching as I jumped from foot to foot to put them on, quickly followed by my boots. I didn't stop my progress despite my hopping around, and after several more steps we were finally moving around a corner and out of their direct sight.

Thank the gods, I was done with that.

"They're going to have more questions," he said softly so his voice wouldn't carry.

"And they can ask Gantenbainne. I don't think I can handle dealing with those fakes in that capacity any more today."

"Why are you having issues today?" He asked as his head tilted so he could watch me with one yellow-gold eye.

"I just am," I answered. I let that sit in the air for a moment before I let out a sigh. "I'm moody as fuck and I don't know what to do about it. I think I just need a break from all this shit to reset myself and I'll be fine. It doesn't help that I think you were right and Arnau is targeting me, but I have no clue what I can do about it. On top of it all, those fakes don't seem to be worth a damn and are suspicious as fuck. It's ridiculous!"

I might have thrown my arms around a bit while I was venting. Maybe.

"They're concerned that you were working with Arnau."

"Fucking gopher tits, they can't really think that." I let out a frustrated groan and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Grimmjow doesn't, but the other two Espada don't know what to do with you. Gantenbainne had been here from the beginning. They knew who and what he was even before Aizen was defeated. They don't know you, and you are refusing to acknowledge them as the stronger beings."

"Well of course I am. They haven't proven to me that they are stronger."

The look Raacharg gave me said, 'really?'

I let out another groan. "We don't belong here, Raacharg. This place isn't the Los Noches I helped to build decades ago. I am never going to fit into their little culture of fakes, and I don't intend to try and force it. So long as I can fulfill my purpose, I'm fine with that. They don't have to like me, they don't even have to trust me, they just need to understand that my purpose is to serve Grimmjow. That's all."

"And how are they going to believe that's your intention if they don't like you and they don't trust you?"

"That's not my problem," I grumped. "Where is that stupid secret door? I want to leave without being seen."

Raacharg didn't respond to me, but instead trotted ahead until he apparently had found the door. He nudged the wall with his nose and the stone parted, grinding open like it was swinging on mysterious hinges. Once it was open far enough I moved to pass into Grimmjow's rooms, but paused when I caught movement out of the corner of my eyes.

Speaking of the damn devil.

Was he coming to stop me? I'd make him rethink his actions if he was. I needed a break from Los Noches and all the fakes that resided within. If it was just him then maybe I could fix myself, but it would never be just him. He had people bound to him, and even more people that would be seeking him out now that Arnau had started enacting his happy little plan. I just wanted to go back to being me for a day or two. Hell, I'd even take a few hours if it was all I could get.

Frowning, I passed through the door and made my way across the room. Weaving around the furniture that was between me and my destination I was aware that Raacharg was following me like I wanted him too, but so was Grimmjow. He moved silently so I couldn't hear him, but I could feel his proximity through the bond without even trying. I did my best to ignore him, but knowing he was behind me was like having an itch on the back of my neck that I was just refusing to scratch.

As I approached the balcony door I seriously considered turning around to face him, but for some inexplicable reason, I stopped.

Staring out the glass of the double doors, I tried to pretend like I didn't notice Grimmjow behind me. He was acting like he was my freaking shadow, silently looming without making any noise. My gaze shifted to peer down at Raacharg's reflection and I met his yellow-gold eyes. The look he was giving me was carefully neutral, but I knew what he wanted.

"We should stay," he said, voicing his wishes that were hidden behind his expression.

"It's been almost a week since we have stayed at my rock. It's home. The only reason I allowed us to remain here so long was because I had little choice in the matter."

"We were there yesterday and everything was untouched. You don't need to defend it."

"We have nothing here. Bound as I am, we still do not belong in Los Noches. We belong in my territory."

"You belong here," Grimmjow said, finally deciding to speak up.

I turned a glare at his reflection before I reached for the door handle. My fingers brushed the warm metal, but before I could secure my grip on it his hand was there, covering the back of mine. His spiritual pressure had risen with his quick movements to prickle along my exposed skin like static. I stifled a shudder and drew my hand back, but otherwise didn't move. We were so close that I could feel his hot breath ghosting across my neck.

Holy hell, I really needed to leave.

"If you go back to your rock and they find you, they will kill you before I can get there."

"I can defend myself. I'm not so weak that I can't kill-"

"No, you're not weak, but you can't kill all of them. You told me once that a dragon inside your Negative Space was still a dragon. That means that an army of Arrancar and Vasto Lordes is still an army, versus only you."

My mouth opened to fire off another retort, but before any sound left my mouth his words actually sank in. An army was still an army. He was right, but I couldn't admit it aloud. I wanted to go back to my home where I was comfortable, where I knew how to handle shit because things only happened if I allowed it. There were no fakes in my home. It was just me and Raacharg. It was everything that I actually understood and not fake politics and bullshit.

"They don't know where my home is," I said slowly, knowing I was making an excuse. "I've suppressed myself every time I've gone to or from it."

"And if they feel you as you sleep?" He asked, his voice dropping to a pur.

"They won't know where I am. The door into my rock is hidden." Ish… it was in plain sight if you were standing at the right angle. It was a bad argument, and I knew it.

"Stay," he murmured as he stepped closer. His hand slid along my back, caressing my skin as he circled my waist with his arm. His chest pressed to my back like a wall of heat that felt almost searing hot compared to my own cool skin.

"We don't belong here," I said, shaking my head.

"You are mine, that means that you belong with me, right?" His words were a growl in my ear that seemed to vibrate through me as his other arm circled over my chest, holding me securely against him.

"It means I serve you, not that I belong with you." Even as the words fell from my mouth I found myself relaxing into the heat of his body. I had been so tense that as my muscles eased it made my body ache with the loss of my rigid posture. How was it that he could have this effect on me? It was like I turned into freaking silly putty in his hands.

"Your Adjuchas has already made a place for himself within the ranks of my Numeros. He may only be an Adjuchas, but they treat him like you do. Like he's someone they want to protect. He's earned their trust, and you can to. You just have to let it happen."

"We still don't belong," I murmured in weak protest. My head tilted back until it was resting on his shoulder, allowing me to gaze up at him. His other hand ran up the front of my body until he found my neck and coaxed me to stretch up until our mouths almost met.

"Stay," he said again, his hot breath caressing my lips.

"Even if I did, I still need to go back to my rock," I said, not quite giving into him but clearly showing just how malleable I was in his arms. "I can't wear these same clothes forever, and I'm covered in dried blood."

"Then take them off," he growled. His chest vibrated with his words and I had to work to suppress my shudder. My gut tightened with the excitement his words caused low in my belly, and I couldn't stop the trembling sigh that escaped me. This Human body was a monster, and he was taunting it.

"If I do, what are you going to do? The last time I was naked around you, you saw fit to cover me like I was an old piece of furniture."

"This," was the only word he answered me with, leaving his actions to say the rest. His grip around me shifted, crushing my back into his chest while his mouth crashed into mine. My hand closed over his arm around my waist, leaving my other free to snake up into his hair. I could feel him, all of him, pressing into me like a damn molten, hard rock. Hard, being the prominent word.

The sound of Raacharg's clacking claws on the floor drew me out of my lust filled haze for just a moment and I turned my head away from Grimmjow to chase my Adjuchas with my eyes.

"Raacharg," I called after him, my voice coming out breathy. He stopped and glanced back at me from the passway that lead to Grimmjow's other room.

"I won't go far," he said. He'd never looked so utterly smug before, but he sure as hell did now. He held my gaze for a moment longer before he gave me a short nod and turned to leave again. Grimmjow didn't even wait for him to fully exit the room before he guided my mouth back to his and captured it once more. I didn't protest as his tongue slid past my lips, nor when his hand slid under my tank top to caress my skin.

It wasn't until his hand slid over my breast and started to undo the front zipper of my sports bra that I realized just what I was allowing him to do. A protesting growl bubbled up from my chest and I forced him to let me turn in his arms before pushing him back, putting almost an arm's distance between us.

"We can't," I said breathily.

"Can't what?" He asked. His voice was low and seductive, like he was trying to call me back to him with just the tone. Holy fucking balls, my body wanted to go to him and drown in the sensations I knew he could give me. It took everything I had to keep me from stepping into him. Goddamn...

"This can't happen," I said, gesturing between us. "Not when there are enemies at our door. I cannot weaken you like that."

"Weaken me?" His brow lifted and his lips quirked in a grin. "That sounds like an excuse."

"It's the truth. If we go down this path and I get overwhelmed, I will weaken you."

"You mean your Negative Space leaking out?"

I blinked. Shit. Did I show him that when I was lost?

That was a stupid question. Of course I did. I had been trying to get him to screw my brains out, so of course I would have shown him what the God Maker and I had been like. I could feel my cheeks heating up with my realization, and I quickly turned my face away to hide the color in my cheeks. Was I really blushing? Fuck me.

"Yes, that."

"Was the God Maker affected by it when you came?"

Came? What was that supposed to mean? The way it rolled from his mouth in a seductive pur told me it was something sexual in nature, but I wasn't familiar with the term. Maybe it was because I hadn't been with someone in several decades? Sexual endearments changed over the years, so maybe I was just too far removed from current society?

"No," I answered hesitantly.

"Then why would I be?" He asked. He moved toward me, closing that precious distance I had put between us. I held my ground, knowing that if I tried to back away I would set off his predatorial need to chase and I'd find myself a lot closer to him than I intended.

"He was the one who stopped my darkness from seeping into him. It's up to you to stop me, and I haven't shown you how to do that. If it were you who was bound to me I could simply pull my Negative Space back, but my bond is broken. I can't pull it back if it seeps into you."

"Your bond is broken, so how can your Negative Space get to me if it's not actually connected to me?"

"Your bond is though," I argued back. "If we do this and my power leaks into you, I have no way to pull it back."

Despite my clear warnings, he stepped to me. Was he even listening? His hand slid around my waist, sliding under my tank top again like it wasn't even there. My breath hitched in my throat when he yanked me the rest of the distance to him and held me against his body with his strength. My breasts were pressed so hard to his chest that I almost let out a pathetic sounding mewl of pleasure. Gods, I had it bad for him. I tried to squirm away, but it just made the sensations worse. I had to stop or risk really losing to the desires of my damned Human body.

His head dipped and I felt his lips move against the bone covering my ear as he purred, "I won't let it get to me, so quit worrying."

His teeth grazed the boney tip just before he lightly bit down and I lost it. The heat that had pooled low in my body surged and I had no choice but to give into the desires of my very Human body.

I turned my head and caught his mouth with my own as my body moved to satisfy the bone deep craving to have him. I had been doing my best to keep my body in check, but the last few days had only served to make it worse. Being in his presence was like being slowly corrupted. Inhaling his scent was fucking intoxicating, and tasting him? Hell, it was a goddamned addiction.

I barely even registered my body being lifted as my legs seemed to automatically wrap around his waist. I could feel the hardness of him pressed to my belly, and the sensation just made me flex my thighs even harder and growl. He clearly liked what I was doing because his hand slid down and gripped my ass, rocking my body harder against him as he moved.

"Fuck," he growled just before the sensation of falling made my stomach flip, only to be abruptly cut off as my back hit a soft surface. I laid there for a stunned moment with my hands resting on either side of my head, the backs of them on the cushions of his stupid lounger. I had thought I'd had a better grip on him than to just fall like that, but the thought left me when he moved and pushed my legs further apart as he knelt between my thighs.

Other than his legs keeping mine spread, he didn't touch me. Instead, his hands moved across his chest to drag off his Espada uniform jacket in a slow, almost languid movement. My mouth went dry and I licked my lips as I watched every movement like a hungry predator being teased by the sight of scampering bunnies. He wasn't a bunny though. He was the real predator here, and I was his prey.

Oh no, that simply wouldn't do.

I wouldn't be his willing prey, even if watching him expose his muscled upper body made me want to lay there and enjoy the show. I wouldn't let him have his way with me. He might be my master, but that didn't mean I had to give into him. No, if we were really going to do this then I needed to be in control. If I could control how this went, keeping myself from getting overwhelmed, then maybe I could get away with only enough pleasure to satisfy my body and not let my Negative Space out? It had been decades since I had allowed myself to be like this with someone. Maybe it was possible?

A very Human and mischievous grin turned my lips and I sat up slowly, discarding my jacket and sheath as I moved. The ensemble clattered on the floor when I flicked it away, and a look of amusement lit Grimmjow's face. It didn't last long however. When I had finally sat up all the way my mouth found the rippled skin of his lower abs and I bit down lightly. He sucked in a breath as his entire body went rigid. I shifted higher, finding another spot to sink my teeth into and rolled my eyes up so I could see the heat in his gaze. With our current position my chin was just above the belt line of his pants, leaving the long line of his scared chest between me and his gaze.

"You're playing with fire," he damn near purred. He started to move to do something, but I dropped lower and let my teeth graze over the line of skin just above his belt line. It froze him momentarily, and I took the opportunity to run my hands up his thighs and over the rather large bulge that was hidden under the fabric of his pants.

"No, not fire," I murmured as I dropped his gaze so I could nuzzle my nose into his flexed abs, threatening to go lower but not actually doing it. "I'm playing with a man- a talent I've had two thousand years to perfect."

"You've never been with someone like me."

His hand wove into my hair and I was sure he was going to force me lower. Instead his grip tightened painfully and he pulled me away. I wasn't ready for the motion and he easily took me back to the cushions. Looming over me he kept his hand tight in my hair while his other went to my chest. He tore off the tank top like it was nothing, making my body jerk with the force and his eyes drew down my body in a way that only a man could look at a woman. It was a possessive look that said more than any words could, 'mine'.

Without the tank top to keep the trigger of my sports bra zipper in place the small catch shifted with my heaving chest and slid down. With a small click, the zipper undid itself. Grimmjow's gaze was attracted to the movement and like he had never seen me naked before he explored my body with his one free hand, slowly peeling away the cups of the material to expose my breasts. I almost moaned from the sensation. My nipples were so damn hard it almost hurt, and I wanted him to touch them and make the ache become pleasure.

"I'm going to make you scream," he murmured as his finger trailed around the darker flesh of my breast but never actually caught the aching peak.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that," I challenged as I glared up at him. I should have known better than to challenge him though. Grimmjow was all about winning.

His hand abruptly covered my left breast and he caught the stiff peak between his thumb and the side of his hand. He squeezed down and rolled my flesh, making my breath leave me in a wave of pleasure so strong that I was momentarily lost in it. I didn't even realize I was making small sounds until his hand left my breast and trailed down. I cut off the noise as soon as I could think enough to do so, but my silence was short lived as his hand slid between my parted thighs to press against my sex and a short gasp passed my lips. I should have worn jeans when I came here. The skin tight shorts weren't thick enough to stop him from caressing me through the material.

"You're fucking soaked," he growled. "I could always smell your desire, but this… fucking hell."

"Goddamn fake and your stupid senses," I cursed at him. Remembering I had hands, I brought them up and slid my fingers into his hair. I pulled him down to me and he didn't resist me when our mouths met and I forced my tongue into his mouth, claiming it as mine. If I couldn't be the first one to act, at the very least I could dominate him in other ways.

I felt the fabric of my shorts pull tight before the sound of ripping fabric hit my ears and the cooler air of the room ran over my sex. It made an involuntary shiver run through me, but it was short lived because his hand replaced the air and covered me. My mouth stopped moving as my attention was completely drawn to the sensation of his fingers sliding through my wetness. Holy fucking baby Jesus, it had been way too long since I'd been touched like that. I hadn't forgotten what it felt like, but my need made his touch seem like molten pleasure as he stroked across my sensitive flesh.

"Grimm-" I couldn't get the rest of his name out as my entire body jerked when his finger ran over the sensitive nub hidden in my folds.

"I told you," he growled as one long finger slid inside me. "I'm going to make you scream."

"Fuck you," I snapped, but it lacked any ferocity because it came out breathy. Another finger joined the first and I felt him flex his fingers inside me as his thumb found that stupidly sensitive nub and flicked over it. I jerked with the sensation, but he did it again as his fingers inside me moved and that jerk turned into a shudder.

"Oh, yes you are."

I had a moment to register his feral grin before he slid down. His hand stayed fisted in my hair, forcing me to keep my back flat on the lounger while his mouth nipped a line down my neck and his other hand kept working my core. He bit down hard on my collar bone and I couldn't help myself as I cried out. The scent of my blood hit my nose and something deep inside me snarled. Amechania, the part of me that was once a harpy, liked his rough play. He licked at the wound he had made as his thumb continued to rub against that damned nub and his fingers worked inside me.

I liked it even more when his mouth trailed down and covered the peak of my breast. He bit down lightly on the over sensitized peak, but it was like a damn button. My orgasm rocked over me, stealing my breath and any control I thought I had. It wasn't just a one and done though. He kept going, his thumb stroking, fingers curling inside of me, and his mouth sucking and biting down on my breast. It was too much. I had a single thought to try and hold myself together, but after another stroke I lost it. I didn't know if I was writhing under his touch, screaming like he'd said he'd make me, or holding him to me as my body spasmed. I was so consumed by the sensations that the world just fizzled away into a dark abyss of pleasure.

"I guess I will have to try harder," Grimmjow mused once my body had quieted. My mind slowly surfaced from the haze of my own pleasure and I blinked up at the vine covered ceiling. Gods, it had taken him such little effort to overwhelm me so completely. It wasn't even right that he could do such a thing.

"What?" I asked, my voice slow and languid with the ease that had come over my body.

He shifted, coming into my line of sight without me moving. His hand had relaxed in my hair, but he was still cradling my head as he looked down at me with a smug grin. He leaned down and nuzzled my cheek to the side so he could bring his mouth to my ear and murmured, "you did just about everything, but scream."

"My Negative Space?" I asked. Just asking the question made the rest of the soft haze of my orgasm fade away. I hadn't meant to let myself go like that. It had just been so long and he had me so enthralled-

"It tickled," he answered before his teeth closed on the tip of my ear and scraped down its edge.

"I'm serious Grimm-"

"I told you not to worry about it," he interrupted me. "You're not the only one who knows how to slam doors in other people's faces."

I started to open my mouth to reply, but he chose that moment to withdraw his fingers from inside me and a small moan slipped from my mouth. Fucking hell, that felt good. If that was just his fingers, what would the rest of him feel like?

I watched as he lifted himself up and he brought the fingers that had been inside me to his mouth. They were dripping with my wetness. Like it was honey and he a bear, he stuck his fingers in his mouth and licked them clean. Gods… that was just fucking criminal.

I pushed his hand away from his mouth and rose up to replace it with my mouth. The taste of blood and my own juices was strong on his tongue, and I growled as I pushed at him and forced him to roll over. He didn't resist me as I followed him until I was straddling his waist. I spared only a moment to give him a look that said stay before I shifted down his body. My breasts brushed across his skin as I moved, making me shudder at the memory of his teeth as he'd bitten down.

When I got to the edge of his pants I paused only for a brief moment as anticipation welled low in me. He may have already pleased this body of mine, but I wasn't satisfied. There was a deeper burning within me that wouldn't be pacified until I'd had all of him. I had given into Grimmjow and now I didn't just want more, I needed it. I didn't have the damn patience to play with him.

Later, I would show him just what I sort of magic I could work on his body. But now…

I pulled down on the edge of his pants, sliding the fabric down until his blunt shaft sprang free.

Hello…

He was a lot more than I was expecting. I wasn't even sure I'd been with someone so well endowed. He'd fit inside me, I was so wet that it wouldn't be an issue, but I couldn't just slam myself down on him. Hell, I wasn't even sure If I could fit my mouth around more than a few inches of it.

My gaze flicked up to see him watching me, waiting to see what I was going to do. He clearly knew how he compared to other men. I could tell just by the confidence in the way he gazed right at me. His shaft twitched, and my attention was drawn to it.

I rose up from my crouch and moved over him, stopping only once I was positioned above him. I noticed then for the first time that be hadn't just ripped my shorts off earlier, he'd only ripped out the crotch leaving the stretchy fabric still clinging to my body. I growled in annoyance and tore away the rest of it, leaving me naked. Except, apparently, for my boots.

Whatever.

I took hold of him and pressed the tip of him against my entrance, taking only a moment to realize that my fingers didn't even touch as I gripped him. Making him fit inside me would be interesting.

"Impatient," Grimmjow commented.

I didn't think he was making fun of me though, because he gripped my hips and practically purred before he abruptly forced me half way down his shaft. I gasped and my body spasmed around his invasion. It hurt, but it was more of an uncomfortable pain from my body suddenly stretching to fit him. My hands went to his chest and I pushed against him like I was trying to lift myself back up. He held me still despite my clear desire to move. I wanted to tell him to release me, but I was too busy panting with the sensation of him inside me to form words.

Just when I thought I might be okay enough to move and work the rest of him inside me, his fingers dug into my skin and he lifted me up ever so slowly until he was just barely inside me. I cried out with the sensation of his blunt shaft moving inside me and my fingers curled, digging my nails into his skin. The friction was amazing, and damn near unlike anything I had felt before. Or, it was until he slammed me down again and my body met his.

Oh, I screamed for him then.

He'd hit the end of me and then some, making both pain and pleasure zing through my body like electricity. Even without coherent thought I knew the part of me that was Amechania was absolutely smitten with the man beneath me. She liked things rough, and I had to admit that at the moment, it was all I wanted too. My body just had to adjust to the length and girth of him, and it wasn't happening fast enough for my liking.

My nails dug harder into his skin as I called on my healing. The wave of it pulsed through me, easing away the pain and healing the punctures from his teeth on my collar bone. He must have felt what I was doing because he flexed beneath me, moving inside me. I opened my eyes and met his intense azure gaze. I didn't know when I had closed my eyes, but I was glad I'd opened them. I flashed him a grin and took hold of the bond in my mind. I flinched when I found my broken one, but I quickly switched to his and opened it wide to share with him what I was feeling.

It was his turn to shudder and his eyes rolled up before they closed. He snarled, baring his teeth as his body flexed with the sensation. I couldn't feel what he alone was experiencing, but I didn't expect to. He hadn't learned-

The bond roared through me as he somehow pushed his own pleasure into me. I cried out with the flood of it, feeling it rock through my entire body. I felt so good around him. I was so tight, like I was sucking him in deeper and refusing to let go. When my body spasmed around him, it was like I was begging for him to bury himself deeper inside me and when I made those little noises of pleasure he wanted to roll me over and take my mouth just like he had taken my body. He wanted to fuck me, to feel himself slide in and out of my hot body and to bury himself so deep inside me that I would never be able to get him out.

I almost lost myself to another orgasm right then and there. His experience was so intense that I couldn't even form words and had to resort to moans and heavy panting to communicate my pleasure. We should have fucked sooner, before it would have been so intense. But instead we had tried to ignore the attraction and when that failed we'd tried to resist it.

If I had known it was going to be like this… well, I might not have stopped myself when I'd come back from being Isabellia. It would have been worth it. I mean, shit.

Sucking in a deep breath, I finally moved on my own. I rose up slowly and slammed myself back down, then did it again and again until I was moving in a hard rhythm. I shifted my hips, angling him inside me just the way I wanted so he hit just the right spot. His hands left my hips and he found my breasts, tweaking my nipples hard enough to make me cry out and lean forward so he could have easier access to them. He grinned and shifted his hips, forcing me to lean further forward so he could rise up and catch the peak of one breast in his mouth.

Gods, I wasn't going to last long at all at this rate.

And that was when he started thrusting up to meet me.

I lasted all of about ten seconds before my orgasm swept the world away. All that remained was the pleasure radiating from my core as he kept thrusting into me and my body clenched around him. I was vaguely aware of being flipped over, but it didn't matter. He never stopped jackhammering his shaft into me. One orgasm rolled into the next and it all kept going as he pounded away. It might have lasted all of a minute or an hour, I really wasn't sure, but I knew when it stopped. He thrust into me so hard that I saw stars and he kept himself pressed tightly to me as he finally found his own release.

After several moments his body relaxed and he let himself almost collapse on top of me. I barely recognized his weight as I worked through my own issues. Mostly, I was still writhing from the aftershocks of my orgasm and I couldn't seem to care about anything. I was in some sort of magical, blissful place that I hadn't been to in ages and I really didn't want to leave.

It probably took me a good five minutes to come back to myself. My arms languidly wrapped around Grimmjow's frame and I pushed him off me. Feeling him slide from my body made the aftershocks start all over again and I moaned, "fuck."

"That's sums it up nicely," he retorted, his own voice smooth and velvety.

I threw my hand at him to slap his chest. "Shut up."

Apparently he didn't like me telling him what do to because he grabbed me and dragged me into his arms. I made a noise of protest, but it was lost as he rolled me onto my back and his mouth covered mine. I shuddered beneath him and fell into the kiss. It wasn't as fevered as it had been before, but he still used his tongue like he was trying to show me just what he still had on his mind.

"Grimmjow," I murmured as I shifted against him. I wasn't sure if I was squirming to get away or to get closer to him. It just made my breasts slide along his skin and his body press closer to mine.

"You're staying with me, Isa. I won't let you go out there alone, especially when I know you're not completely satisfied yet. I can feel it in the bond." His mouth trailed down and with it his body moved. He didn't even bother to hesitate before his mouth closed over my breast again and he sucked hard on it. I managed to keep myself from making any noise, but my back arched and my body trembled as the intense sensation.

"Grimm," I didn't finish his name as he slid lower, nipping a trail down my stomach that had anticipation welling deliciously inside me. Was he really planning on...?

"I rather like it when you're incoherent," he said as he lifted my lower body, positioning me just how he wanted so he had complete access to my sex. "I think I'm gonna keep you this way until you pass out from exhaustion."

His mouth lowered and I threw my head back. It was going to be a long, long day.