Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Guardian ❯ Dream ( Chapter 16 )

Guardian, Chapter 16
Dream

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Give me your lips for just a moment,
And my imagination will make that moment live.
Give me what you alone can give,
A kiss to build a dream on.

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At the first contact of my lips against his, he flinched as though I'd hit him, the circle of his arms shuddering convulsively as his whole body tensed -- but then almost instantly the shocked resistance vanished as though it had never been, his adamantine control tangibly snapping like a dam stressed beyond its limits by heavy spring rain. He crushed me against him hard enough to restrict breath, the kiss rapidly dissolving into nothing but sheer sensation. My world condensed to

the taste of sake on his lips,

the soft rain on my upturned face,

the wet silk of his hair threading through my fingers,

the burning heat of his skin,

and the scent suffusing my senses that was just uniquely his.

My heart was pounding; I'd never before been so bold as to make the first move and risk rejection. But I wanted this, wanted it so much that I had no other option, knowing he would never permit himself to take such liberty.

And now it was as though I'd tripped a switch, opening a circuit that sent a fierce current raging through him, an electric vibrancy shining through his heated gaze that was vividly alive and plainly skirting the fine edge of losing all control. His unshaven cheek tickled the underside of my jaw as he lowered his head to my neck, devouring the sensitive skin mercilessly, biting with a hint of something primal and possessive. His hands were insistent as they roved, their grip firm, though the touch was gentle. I melted under the onslaught, capitulating willingly, letting him mold me like clay and knowing a fierce joy that at last he was letting himself go, finally giving in to his own desires. Sublimely happy just to know he loved and wanted me as much as I did him.

And then suddenly, the switch was off and he was Auron the Guardian again, all silent dignity and the paragon of restraint, if one whose breath still came too fast. He held my hands firmly away from him, malleable as steel, though his gaze still fixated on my lips. Disappointment formed a cold knot in my belly as he said, "No, Serra--"

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Dead or alive, a man can only take so much, and I am no saint. She tasted like light and life, a heady elixir that stole all reason and rationality. My hands slid easily under cloth to memorize the feel of her skin, running down the slope of her back to settle at her waist, tugging her close. She was sweetly pliant under my exploring touch, surrendering eagerly as though she wanted me to know every inch. She unfastened my breastplate with surprising dexterity and ran her hands over my chest, trailing light fingers with intolerable slowness down the plane of my stomach. My addled senses finally noticed that her other knee had come round my waist, settling us into a position that could only be called unchaste, at best. The play of muscle in her thighs was very nearly my undoing, and belatedly alarmed, I tried to swim back to shore and sanity. Only, I couldn't quite remember where that was, and right here the water was really so very pleasant...she lightly bit my lower lip and I almost groaned aloud. I gathered my emotions back to myself by sheer force of will, scrabbling for a scintilla of control. I fixed the image in my mind of her tearful regret on the morrow, and restraint was suddenly easy. I would not let her have any cause for remorse.

I pulled away slowly, neither one of us breathing evenly. "No, Serra. Not like this." I held her hands firmly but gently away from me. "I want you to be sure."

"I am sure," she said, in a breathy voice that sounded slightly hurt. She sighed. "But I think that you need to be sure of me." She smiled easily at me. "Misplaced chivalry perhaps; not wanting to take advantage of a lonely widow. Or maybe you still don't quite believe my feelings are genuine."

I could say nothing. She read me far too well -- someday she would see too much. For deep down, I did remain unconvinced that such a beautiful, winsome creature could truly want this tenebrous, undead former Guardian, irrevocably scarred inside and out. The pretty face admired by women and the source of no little vanity in my youth was long gone. They certainly hadn't been attracted to my pompous arrogance and somber demeanor.

She turned her hands in mine until she was the one grasping me, and tugged me to my feet. "All right then, Auron, will you at least come down with me?" she asked with a lightness belied by the emotion her eyes could not hide, darkening into a rich violet of nervousness and want. "Sleep next to me tonight."

I should have said no, but Yevon help me, I could not deny her, nor did I want to. "If it is what you want."

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He did not resist as I led him by the hand through the darkened house, the two of us creeping silently like teenagers sneaking out from under their parents' noses to make out surreptitiously after hours. Truth be told, it would have been far better to let him lead, who knew how to make his way safely in the dark, as I realized when I bumped painfully into the corner of an end table. I swore and he grunted in what could almost have been a low chuckle. But it was fun to drag him along, being the aggressor I never had been with Jecht, reveling in the knowledge that he willingly followed.

I pulled him into the room and shut the door softly behind us. The rain had stopped, and moonlight poured brightly through the unshuttered windows, washing everything into shades of silver, blue, and midnight. He stood leaning back against the door in an almost casual pose I might have believed had not his pulse thrummed visibly in his throat. I tentatively slipped the wet coat from my shoulders and stepped over it, suddenly uncertain. The irritated glance he spared the untidy heap of red wool I had made of his favored jacket made me laugh unexpectedly, and the tension vanished.

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Serra peeled off the clinging shirt that already hid nothing, soaking wet as it was, and let it drop to join the coat. This time he paid no notice. She stood silently under his observation, waiting for him to step closer, her skin turned to pale, flawless marble in the low light.

She was slight, but well-proportioned, the lines of her form generously curved and different in every way from the willowy, patrician, high priest's daughter who had tried to seduce him into marriage all those years ago. Her hair was almost black in the near-darkness, but wetly shining, a random lacework pattern that clung to breast, shoulder and back. He drank in the sight of her long enough for a roseate blush to rise in her pale skin, but she made no move to cover up.

At last he joined her, looking down silently. She began to remove his own thoroughly drenched shirt, and though he didn't resist, he didn't cooperate, either. She smacked him lightly. "Come on, you can't sleep in that." He slowly started taking it off himself, and she turned to the dresser to find dry clothes for them to sleep in. He did not look as she shed the rest of her clothing. She tossed a folded pair of soft trousers at him. "Go change in the bathroom, if you must," she teased him. He didn't move, and the reason for his reluctance finally became obvious to her. She sobered, and said, "It's all right, Auron. He doesn't need them anymore."

Well, that was true enough, he thought.

She crooked an eyebrow at him. "That is, unless you want to sleep naked," she purred in a mock-seductive tone. He grunted and left to change.

He returned and climbed into bed without comment, though his breathing paused when she curled up against him, nudging his arm until he lifted it around her. "Your innocence is safe with me," she jabbed, unable to resist poking fun at him.

Yes, Serra, but are you safe with me?

But he only stroked her still-wet hair, falling asleep with the soft warmth of her breath against his neck, his arm wrapped as comfortably around her waist as though it had always been there.

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End Chapter 16

Wow, two whole chapters in less than a week! I promise to keep going, but I have to give my other piece(s) some attention first ;)

And, yay for new artwork! Say thanks to Mimi for this pic of Auron on the roof.
http://www.sangochan.com/images/auron_roof.jpg

Song quote from "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" by Louis Armstrong.