Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Slumbering City ❯ Palm to Palm ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me. If it did, I'd open a nightclub with platforms for go-go dancers. Then instead of scantily clad women, I'd make the men of RK get up there and strut their stuff. Oooh, we could even have theme nights with different outfits! Like Pirate!Kenshin, Cowboy!Sano, Punk!Aoshi, or even The Village People - RK style!

AN: The rating has changed to M. You all know what this means…. Boo yah!
Elley very kindly helped me edit this.

The Slumbering City

By Indygodusk

Chapter 3: Palm to Palm

Fire licked just below her skin as his amber gaze devoured her body, moving slowly down the folds of her blue satin robe which rippled with each panting breath she took. The arms she had folded across her chest seemed a insubstantial barrier against his possessive stare. His blatant perusal extended down to her bare toes curling shyly into the carpet before moving even more slowly back up her jean-clad legs until he finally paused at her parted lips. Every inch of her skin felt sensitive, vulnerable, and desired.

For a moment Kaoru swayed forward. Then her stubbornness, independence, and anxiety kicked in and she took a step back. “Who are you?” she demanded shakily.

His heavy-lidded eyes were dilated black and ringed with a thin band of molten gold as he drank her in. “You know who I am, Kaoru,” he told her huskily as his eyes climbed up from her lips to meet her own. “You summoned me. You woke my fountain and healed my garden.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she protested. But she did, oh she did.

Slowly he stalked her around the edge of the glass coffee table. “You passed the test. Your blood and tears sealed the contract. As promised, I am yours and you - you are mine.”

Kaoru retreated another step, only to find her back pressed against the chilly glass of the window. “I think you have the wrong girl.” She didn't remember any test or contract. Whatever she may or may not have done had been an ignorant accident. No matter how her heart pounded at the thought of having this beautiful man as hers, this had to be a mistake. Besides, she didn't want to be owned. Do I?

“Did you think I wouldn't notice the door to the garden left open, left open in a wall that has had no door for over a hundred years? A garden that I personally made inaccessible? Of course I noticed.” He took a step forward, “Did you think I wouldn't find you?” His voice had deepened to almost a bass rumble by his last sentence.

Taking a deep breath, Kaoru ignored the small curious voice in the back of her mind that wondered just how old he really was, firmed her resolve, and pointed at the door imperiously. She would not be intimidated. “You've made a mistake. You can either leave now or I can force you to leave. Of course, you'll be bloody and unconscious with the second option, so I suggest you chose the first.”

His eyes flashed angrily at her words. Fire jumped and crackled beneath her skin. Kaoru was willing to back up her threat, but suddenly she doubted that she'd be successful. The worst part was that a traitorous part of her body didn't want her to be successful.

“Do not play games with me, Kaoru,” he practically growled. The curtains bracketing her body shivered at the power behind his words.

It frightened her, but this was a physical fear, one she could confront. Snatching up Megumi's antique crystal vase from the bookshelf next to the window, Kaoru cocked her arm back and narrowed her own eyes. “Don't-” she had to pause and swallow to moisten her mouth, “don't you dare threaten me.” The air felt heavy and she was finding it more and more difficult to breath. What breath she could take smelled like the sun, a blistering heat instead of gentle warmth.

This was magic. Kaoru didn't know how to deal with magic. The vase clutched in her fist shook slightly, but nevertheless she took a step away from the window and raised it threateningly. For a moment the fire in his eyes blazed brighter as wisps of his red hair began to dance in an unseen wind. She could feel the curtains behind her flailing in the breeze and her own hair slapping against her back.

Suddenly, he took a step back and closed his eyes. White-knuckled fists clenched at his sides as the wind disappeared along with the heavy feeling in the air. When he opened his eyes again, they were the lilac she had first seen him with. “I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you.” He let out a rueful laugh and rubbed his forehead. “This is not how I planned our first meeting.” Seeing her skeptical face and the sparkling vase still clutched in one hand, he continued his reassurances. “I would never hurt you.” His eyes flashed with some painful memory when he vowed, “Never intentionally, not if it is in my power to prevent, I swear it.”

With the sincerity pouring off of him in waves, Kaoru could not help but believe him. She was an optimist at heart. If given the choice, she always preferred to believe the best of people. Of course, Megumi swore it would get her killed one day.

“Very well,” Kaoru sighed out before straightening assertively, “But I wasn't frightened.” Lying brazenly, she returned the delicate and expensive vase to its shelf. “I was just angry.” Turning back to him, she put one hand on her hip confidently and waited for his reply.

At first his lips seemed to be twitching with humor, but then his eyes darkened to a velvety purple and he licked his lips. “Why don't I make us some tea and then we'll talk.” As he disappeared into the kitchen she heard his voice drift out, “Jasmine is my favorite flower.”

“Wha-?” she asked in confusion at his non sequitur. Then she looked down and realized that the way she stood clearly exposed her black satin bra and its delicate embroidery of pale yellow Jasmine flowers. Gasping in embarrassment, she closed her robe and scrambled over to the corner of the living room where her luggage should be. Should be because it wasn't there. It had disappeared.

Vaguely remembering the tie to her robe dropping when Megumi had kissed her, she hurried over to that spot on the floor. Nothing was there. Dropping to her knees, she looked under the couch, table, and chairs, her unbound midnight hair tangling and pooling on the floor by her side.

“Koi, are you purposely trying to kill me?” purred the husky voice of her mysterious stranger from the kitchen doorway.

He can't be done already, he just went in there! I didn't even hear the teapot whistle! Kaoru thought frantically from her position down on Megumi's white carpet. Looking up at his face, smoldering with restrained passion, she had a brief flash of how she must look from his perspective - crouched on all fours with her sapphire blue robe falling on either side of her body, framing the milk-pale skin of her breasts where they practically fell out of her black bra.

Squeaking and launching herself up off the floor, she closed her robe. “Is the tea done already?”

A smirk curled his lips as he set the tea tray down on the table without so much as a click. It was Megumi's best china. He'd even managed to unearth a tea cozy from somewhere. “Yes, I-" a twist of his fingers and suddenly an orb of rose tinted light appeared in his hand and twirled around his fingers, then disappeared with a faint pop, “hurried things along. I hope you don't mind.”

Flustered, Kaoru sat down on the edge of the couch. “No, no I don't min- hey,” she looked up and scowled, “did you do something to my luggage?”

He only smiled mysteriously and repeated, “Jasmine is my favorite flower, koi.”

Kaoru irately jumped up from her seat, but made sure to keep her robe closed. “Did you just call me a carp!” she asked indignantly. “You did! You called me a fish!”

A surprised laugh escaped his lips. It was joyous and masculine and sent sparks racing through her veins. “There is more than one meaning to the word koi,” he told her affectionately. Pouring a stream of fragrant tea into a delicate teacup, he carefully handed it to her. “Such as love… or tender passion.”

Sinking back down onto the couch, Kaoru blushed. Not meeting his eyes, she took a sip of her golden yellow tea. It tasted of jasmine blossoms and moonlight. Megumi didn't have tea like this, so it must have been something this stranger had brought. Or conjured. The warm taste of the tea soothed her, and in a suddenly comfortable silence they both slowly drained their teacups.

A contented sigh escaped Kaoru's lips as she set her empty cup onto the coffee table and leaned back. Glancing over at her auburn-haired stranger, she repeated her first question, the question that had been bouncing back and forth in her mind since he'd appeared with his letter, the letter that now lay so innocently in the middle of the coffee table. Biting her lip, she forced her mouth to ask the question that she suspected she already knew the answer to. “Who are you?”

Setting his cup down noiselessly, he turned toward her and answered her with a question of his own. “Who do you think I am?” His face was serene, but his eyes were a lazy, contemplative yellow-gold, like a mountain lion she'd seen once while hiking. This man was far from tame, but for some reason he seemed to want her attention, want her - dare she think it - love?

“You-” she moistened her lips, “you're Lord Battousai.”

“Correct,” he praised gently. This man with his feline grace and long red hair was a far cry from her imagining of the Battousai's likeness in the museum tour van. “Now, who do you know I am?”

Confused, Kaoru felt her forehead wrinkle, “I- I don't understand.”

In the silence following her statement, his shadowed purple eyes scoured her face, looking for more answers that she didn't have to give. “Don't you?” he asked almost sadly. Standing up, he returned their used teacups to the tray and carried it into the kitchen. Anxiously, Kaoru stood up and half followed him until she had a clear view of what he was doing in there. He stood in the middle of the kitchen taking off his jacket, unbuttoning his cuffs, and rolling his white sleeves up his muscled forearms. Ignoring her hesitant form hovering in the doorway, he turned on the hot water and picked up the sponge.

She had been so focused on the blazing energy of his face that she hadn't until this moment of repose noticed his clothing at all. His expertly tailored navy blue slacks and white dress shirt were only a civilized veneer that failed to completely conceal his aura of barely restrained wildness.

As he methodically washed the dishes in the kitchen sink, muscles rippled and flexed across his shoulders and back. Kaoru felt her breath catch in her throat. It was odd that even though he was wearing such clothes and doing such a mundane task, he still seemed to be the most dangerous and fascinating man she had ever met.

The rush of water was the only sound in the quiet apartment. Distantly, Kaoru thought about going into Megumi's room to find herself a shirt, but something held her back. Lord Battousai's eyes had been so sad and pleading that she could not bring herself to physically leave his presence, even though he wasn't looking directly at her anymore. It sounded ridiculous when put that way, but there it was.

As he washed, she felt her anger and anxiety subsiding beneath the slow boil of her curiosity. Why and how did he expect me to know his name? What was this law that allowed his house to claim me for itself? And what exactly had happened in that garden?

When the last porcelain teacup had been dried and put away and the mysterious tea cozy had disappeared into whatever cupboard it had come from, Lord Battousai padded back into the living room. He stopped only a few feet across from Kaoru, tilted his head, and looked deep into her eyes as if peering into her soul. “You aren't used to magic, are you?”

“No,” she answered with a small, sheepish smile and looked down, “they don't use it much where I come from.” Looking back up into his indigo eyes, she asked, “Is that why your eyes keep changing color?”

She had thought that her question would make him smile, but his face remained serious. “Yes, does it bother you?”

“No. I feel like it should, but for some strange reason it doesn't.” His lips twitched into an almost smile. “I'm sorry if that is too much honesty. Megumi says that sometimes I don't know how to edit very well. Since you don't even know me, I should probably try to be more polite.” Of course, a cynical voice whispered in the back of her head, if he hadn't burst into the apartment and tried to claim me like an object, I might have less trouble remembering my manners.

“There is no such thing as too much honesty between us,” he replied with an intensity of expression that stole Kaoru's breath away. He stepped closer. “Did you know that my city whispers your life in my ear? It sings to me, soft but sweet, of the tales your blood, sweat, saliva, and tears imbued into the earth and water. Of the magic of your spirit. Like a boy who has sat for years at his grandfather's knee, hearing tales of a goddess from above, so has your life story been to me these past hours. I know you, Kamiya Kaoru. I know you.” His courtly turn of phrase revealed his birth in a time far removed from her own.

Unnerved, Kaoru fell back on denials. “I am no goddess and I don't have any magic. I really do think you've made a mistake.”

This time, her denials were met with neither anger nor sadness, only determination. “Do you deny your presence in my garden?”

“I'll admit that I was there, and I'll even go so far as to say that there might have been… bodily fluids involved.” Kaoru knew she was stumbling over her thoughts, but his unblinking stare made her nervous. “However, whatever happened was unintentional. Any magic that occurred didn't happen because of me, it just… happened. Then I left.” Silhouetted against the night-blackened window, his face was unreadable. Kaoru continued in the hope of convincing him. “I'm sorry I left your door open, my mother taught me better manners than that. Please forgive me.”

“You admit that you have little experience with magic, yes?”

“Yes,” she cautiously replied, not sure where he was going with this.

“When you were in my garden, do you remember making a wish or voicing a hope to bring the fountain back to life, even if it was only in your mind?” His waited patiently for her, seemingly confident in her response. It made her nervous.

“Noo,” she drawled thoughtfully, “no I don't remember any-” Suddenly, her mind flashed back to the moment before she had bit her tongue and the fountain had come alive. What had she been doing?

Rolling over, she had placed her chin on her folded, grimy hands and stared at the fountain. I want you to work.

And then there had been the door appearing in the wall - the same wall she had already examined a hundred times. Collapsing against a pillar, she had whispered into the air, “Please, I'm tired. I'm late and I need to go.” After her words, she had received a rush of energy and the door had appeared.

Guiltily, she glanced at the floor. “Alright, I guess I did do something like that once or twice.”

“That was when you invoked your magic,” he explained.

Kaoru looked up in frustration, “But I think and say things like that all of the time! And nothing magical has ever happened because of it!”

Patiently he explained, “That's because my house is built in the center of, for lack of a better explanation, a well of magic. You had more to draw from and it was easier for your talent to,” he paused for a moment as if grasping at words, “quickly pull up the bucket full of power.”

Kaoru's chin remained tilted stubbornly. She didn't want this to be happening and she didn't understand it. For those reasons, and several others, it wasn't going to happen. End of story.

Taking another step closer, he continued his argument. “When you made your first wish, the magic asked something of you and offered something in return.”

She remembered, rising to her knees, she crawled forward. Something was prompting her to crawl into the fountain. It promised that it would make the fountain work again, it would make her life work again.

“You agreed,” and now his voice was inexorable, “and you sealed the contract. That not only the fountain but also the surrounding garden now lives and thrives is proof of that.”

Each word he spoke was a hammer strike against the shell of her convictions, breaking her certainty that she could forget the events of the day and continue on with her normal life, cracking her confidence that there would be an escape.

“I swore to heal this city,” he told her, his voice swelling with emotion. “I wrote into law my claim to every woman not bound who can so much as touch the magic grid that maintains this city. Over the years my estate has claimed many women, but even the most powerful could do no more than mend a crack in the sidewalk. But you, you, my magnificent one, restored my fountain and the entire garden.”

“So that's it? I'm to be claimed like all of those other countless women? I'm not even from this city. And what are you doing here,” Kaoru lashed out, not sure why she felt a sting from his explanation, only knowing that she had to keep yelling or else acknowledge the pricking feeling wanting to make itself known in the corner of her eyes. “Shouldn't some minion from your estate be here claiming me instead? Or should I be honored that you took time out of your busy schedule to come and collect little ol' me?”

A frustrated snarl ripped out of his throat, but Kaoru, fool that she was, counted on his earlier promise not to hurt her to keep her safe. Besides, she was too angry to back down now.

When he finally calmed down enough to speak intelligibly, Lord Battousai bit out, “You are the first, and will be the last, woman I will ever claim for myself. I know you, Kaoru, you resonate inside my soul, and no matter how stubborn you try to be, you know that if you look deep enough you will find me and my magic staring back at you. The contract has been made! Before the ink of night has dried into dawn we will finalize this bond.”

“What do I know of magic and contracts?” Kaoru said quietly as she felt herself drowning under his conviction. “I am a stranger to such things. I am a stranger to you.”

Swallowing harshly, his voice gentled and turned pleading. “That garden was my sanctuary - the only place of peace for a damned soul like me. When I gave up hope, so many years ago, the garden and fountain died. I've done my duty since then and protected this city, but I've been barren inside. You brought me back to life. I can taste your magic, your character, your blood in my very soul. When you bound yourself to my garden you bound yourself to me. I won't let you go, koi. I can't.”

“You don't have me,” Kaoru whispered in despair, one hand wrapped around her middle to keep her robe in place and the other held out pleadingly. She was so lost. Her hand dropped to her side.

“If you can't trust me,” his gaze had once again gone inscrutable, “do you trust yourself?”

A montage of the many instances where her mind or body had betrayed her flashed through her mind, but at the bottom of it all rested a solid base of discipline and honor that she had forged throughout her life. “Yes, I do,” Kaoru answered steadily.

“Then take my hand,” he requested intently, extending it toward her with his palm facing up. “Feel my magic, my aura, and then tell me true if I am still a stranger, if you still don't know me.” His eyes were deep wells of need slowly sucking her in, yet still she hesitated.

“Only let me touch your hand,” he bargained, “and if you call me stranger still I will leave you in peace.”

Still lost in his eyes, she saw something dark and desperate flash that made her doubt his assertion. Nevertheless, she slowly stretched out her hand and, nibbling nervously on her lower lip, fused her palm against his.

Not even a split-second passed between the kiss of their hands and the noiseless surge of lightning that flared through the room and blew out the lights in a tinkling rain of glass and firefly sparks. In the darkness, she felt her mouth fill with the sweetness of sunlight. A wind like soft fur brushed against her skin and she could smell sun-warmed grasses.

Startled, she saw a glow emanating from their clasped fingers. The glow was white, but not. Behind her eyes she saw the white light for what it truly was - the entire spectrum of discrete colors reflected and melded into a single whole. In this dim light she could faintly make out his face, stripped raw of pretenses and burning with emotion, with power. Soon the sunlight flavor had sound, like the tinkling of wind-blown aspens, and its tang faded from her mouth.

A beat as she marveled, and then her mouth flooded with the spiciness of gingersnaps. The taste reminded her of childhood, how after an afternoon of practicing in the dojo with her father, she would come inside to find her mother waiting with a tall glass of milk and a plate of gingersnap cookies fresh from the oven. It reminded her of how she had taken for granted the feelings of absolute love and security she had felt when both of her parents had still been alive. Gingersnaps were the taste of coming home.

Kaoru felt giddy, joyous, and complete. Magic fizzed in her veins. And she knew him. She knew this man standing with her palm-to-palm. He was fire and steel and passion and comfort. He was- “Kenshin,” she whispered.

“What,” he asked in an unsteady voice both exultant and fearful, “what did you say?”

“You,” Kaoru said wonderingly, “your name is Kenshin.”

Throwing his free arm around her waist, Kenshin let out a triumphant laugh and began spinning Kaoru around the living room. Unable to help herself, she found her elated laughter joining his as they twirled around the room. Her still tingling hand was cradled against Kenshin's heart, and she could feel the heat of his skin burning through the thin white shirt. Their mad revolutions slowing, Kaoru found herself smiling helplessly up into his exultant eyes.

When they swayed to a stop, it seemed only natural to lift herself up those few remaining inches and seal her lips against his in a kiss, her movement trapping their still glowing hands between their bodies.

Kenshin's lips were softer than she expected and slightly moist. Their lips touched and clung together. Kaoru felt like every cell in her body was setting off sparklers in radiant showers of stars.

Then the hand he had clasped around her waist during their impromptu dance began tracing slowly up the bumps of her spine, pausing a second to outline her bra strap thoughtfully through the satin of her bathrobe before continuing its meandering journey. His talented fingers reached their destination and massaged the nape of her neck, sending tingles of delight across her hypersensitive skin. Kaoru tilted her head back against his hand and smiled against his lips. His calloused fingers tunneled through her thick hair, rubbing the strands between his fingers lovingly.

Unwilling to be a passive participant, Kaoru's free hand worked its way up his firm arm and caressingly across the muscled shoulders that she'd so admired earlier when he'd been washing the dishes. Opening her mouth, she sucked his lower lip into her mouth and nibbled. A groan of masculine desire escaped his throat and vibrated against her teeth and though the hand clasped against his chest. Her body shivered in response.

Opening his mouth wider, Kenshin tightened his grip in her hair and tilted her head back, dominating the kiss. His tongue swept through her mouth hungrily.

Kaoru felt the back of his hand trapped between their chests begin rubbing back and forth against the peaks of her breasts. Her robe parted and the feel of his skin sliding from satin to skin to satin felt magnified. Each brush of his knuckles against her curves made the throbbing at her core more insistent, pushing her closer and closer to combustion.

Twisting against him in a flame of desire, Kaoru moaned. His kiss was perfect - hard and sizzling and hungry and possessive.

She had never known a kiss could be like this, had never wanted a kiss to be like this.

Raking her fingers down Kenshin's spine, Kaoru grasped the edge of his shirt and yanked. Finding an opening, she inserted her fingers up underneath the cloth. His skin felt like silken sheets warmed by the noonday sun. Purring into his mouth, she splayed her fingers against the smooth skin between his shoulder blades. His lips left her mouth and trailed kisses across her face and down her arched throat. Kaoru felt herself melting into his hard body as she became consumed by his golden fire.

TO BE CONTINUED

Dictionary:

Koi - Depending on the kanji used it can mean: carp - a fish found in ornamental ponds; love, tender passion (and a bunch of other things that aren't used here… yet.)

AN: Did my chapter title remind anyone of Romeo and Juliet? Oh well. I will put a synopsis of my actual dream at the end of the next chapter for your edification. Rereading this chapter, I realize that Kenshin has a Jareth from The Labyrinth moment. Oh well. What can I say? The Labyrinth is fun, and the latest chapter of “The End of Days” by dansemacabre is so sizzling that I had to take a cold shower just to regain my composure.

Thank you so much for commenting! I absolutely adore reading your comments!