Part III: Provocation

Kaoru sat up on the mattress, legs folded primly to her side while waiting for Kenshin, and peered through the crack of the shoji door. There was no sign of him returning just yet.

She leaned her weight on the heel of one palm and grinned impishly to herself. She would never have thought of doing something like this before, seducing Battousai to come out, willing him to take her. It seemed unthinkable enough that she would even make such advances.

In the three years she and Kenshin have been married, Kenshin almost always initiated the lovemaking, and when he did, he was always gentle, concerned about how it would make her feel, to the point of cautiousness on his part. When she did initiate, it was done unconsciously, never planned, never premeditated. So unlike how she had acted tonight.

In the past, there were times when sparks of savageness would tinge their intimacy, but it was always fleeting, and yes, she knew he fought it down. So slight was it that the voraciousness he had shown earlier was more than what he had ever shown before.

Oh, she had no complaints about…his performance. God knows, he had done so well by her that she had thought it was the only way to go, but she loves him beyond reason, and by that love, she has come to understand that Battousai wanted out. For him, she was willing to act as un-Kaoru like as possible. She was not afraid that she would drive him away, because she knew subtlety, contrary to what other people thought. She would employ means that would coax, not threaten. Kaoru could do that.

She could tell that he had already felt the effects of her out-of-character advances. The flash of gold in his eyes earlier had proved that. She has already drawn out enough of Battousai tonight to be confident that she would succeed, and by all means, Kenshin will let Battousai love her.

Their bout in the tub had been wonderful. With Kenshin so hot against her she almost heard a sizzle when her skin touched his. And the way he had wanted her…so unlike the customary tenderness he often displayed.

Kaoru had big plans for Kenshin tonight. She would do things to him that he had never ventured to teach her. Why, she could only surmise that it was his usual unselfish concerns for what she wants.

Kaoru felt a heat creeping up her body at the mere thought of what she was willing to do for him. She had already employed one tactic in the bathhouse. And goodness, she never thought touching herself could feel so good and be so arousing to him at the same time.

What he liked and the memory of it sent strange sensations coursing through her body.

She blew a breath slightly through her lips. Suddenly the room felt humid.

Kaoru loosened her robe a bit at the collar. She had thought that the bath at least would ease whatever this scorching temperature was.

Well, when Kenshin gets back, things are sure to heat up more. Hmm…Kenshin, I'm going to enjoy this.

She giggled a bit, then she frowned. What is wrong with this room?

Kaoru pulled at her sash and loosed her robe some more.

The faint wisp of the wind on the part of her skin liberated by the robe almost tickled. Suddenly, she felt oddly…uninhibited.

It was like prickles of perspiration have begun to condense between her breasts and she ran a tentative finger against it to find out if she wasn't imagining things.

A gasp escaped her lips when the pads of her fingers touched her skin.

The heat…it was searing.

Running a hand up her chest, she discovered that she liked this sensation.

She closed her eyes and her hand glided to her shoulder, pushing her robe slightly off.

Kaoru tilted her head to side and let her hand caress her neck, then her throat.

She breathed deeply. My goodness…I seem to have made myself…burn...

Eyes still closed, she let her fingers brush against her lips then slide slowly down her throat.

A slow and tiny smile formed on her lips before she took a deep breath to ease some of the near suffocating longing.

Her eyes cracked open and she gave a soft gasp at what she saw.

Kenshin stood at the threshold of the door, watching her in a stupor.

Pink suffused her cheeks, but not so much from embarrassment.

So, Kenshin had been watching her, had he? Well…he ain't seen nothing yet.

Her eyes already lidded with luscious desire, she found it in herself to kick her modesty aside and go with the flow.

Truth be told, luck had played its part. If she hadn't been so caught up in her own fantasies, Kenshin would not have seen her, and he wouldn't have such a covetous look on his face right now.

He wore a sleeping robe now, but Kaoru thought nothing of it. It comes off easily enough. His hair was down, which was a good thing. She loved those deep, red locks.

She traced random circles at the edge of her robe at her leg, pushing up the cloth to expose a bit more skin. "What took you?" She asked, mustering a slight pout.

Kenshin supposed that answering would be completely useless, but something in his being…Battousai…

No! He ordered himself. Battousai will not be permitted to…

"Kenshin?" She prompted him, the innocence in her eyes doing nothing to quell his inner conflict. Nay, it was fuelling it. Those blue depths were conveying things Battousai could only dream of.

Buy some time. Summon control. "W-We left quite a mess, love," he explained, not realizing that he was gripping the sash of his robe tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. "Water all over the place…"

"That so?" she quipped, arching an eyebrow. "Is it fixed, Kenshin?" Her finger pushed the fabric of her robe a bit higher.

Gold. Blink now! He commanded himself. And he did. Kenshin managed to gain control. "Yes…ma'am…" he struggled to say.

Kaoru felt her heart beating thunderously through her chest. There was Battousai again! And that split second affected her very, very much, particularly where lavish attention was due…

"Well then, you must relax, Kenshin," she told him in a quiet voice. "You're always working, anata," she almost purred. "Come sit by me."

She patted the space beside her on the futon delicately, then she glided her hand down the soft mattress in a graceful sweep.

Wordlessly, Kenshin obeyed her gentle command, keeping his eyes locked with hers, almost as if he was wary of her yet at the same time expecting her to do something…he might like.

A smile crinkled on her lips. "My dear…why so tense…?" She asked in a whiling tone.

She reached out and cupped his face in her hand.

"This unwor--…"

"We won't have the 'unworthy one' tonight, Kenshin," she interrupted gently, hoping to instill a touch of double meaning in her words.

"I…"

That's better. She thought, rewarding him with a feather light touch of her lips on his.

He responded as tenderly, letting their lips brush a bit more with heartbeat separations, each kiss gaining heat. Then he drew in a deep, hissing breath.

Clamping a hand around her wrist, he pulled her to him, draping her arm over his shoulder while his tongue partook of hers in a deep, ardent kiss.

Kaoru sank against him in languor. The heat she had built up in herself earlier abounded in a blaze. He could have her with a kiss! The thought was so provocative that it was almost enough to make her insane!

Kenshin pulled at the sash of her robe then broke the kiss to transfer his attentions to her shoulder, which was already exposed. He rolled his tongue on the dips and hollows, eliciting a moan from her and a barely audible rumble from his throat.

Kaoru closed her eyes, wondering how in the world he could turn her into a boneless heap with such a tender touch. She felt her sash slip from her waist while his warm hands found its way at her hips.

Her lips sought his again, her tongue twining with his.

Breaking the kiss, he pulled her to him, his hand pressing on the small of her back so that she would straddle him.

A smile, coated with need, escaped her lips. She knew Kenshin was trying to be the gentle lover again. She knew he was hoping to win his inner battle by employing the slow and delicious climb to get her to her pinnacle.

For a moment, she almost let him when she felt his mouth cap one peak of her breast, his tongue molding to the mound of her flesh. She bit her lower lip to keep from crying out, but cry out she did, and it only encouraged him to bestow more attention on her.

It was so easy to just let him go on, make her his in the throes of a passion he controlled, but she willed herself to grasp that last thread of sanity in her. She must hold fast to what she needed to do. For both of them, she must cling to her resolve.

Placing her hands, fingers out-spread, at the sides of his head, she lifted his face so she can take his lips, lowering herself as she did so.

Kenshin let her, convinced that he could sway Battousai from any pursuit to emerge.

Kaoru slid her hands down to his chest, making it a point to put pressure every once in a while along the downward trail.

The catch of his breath every time her fingers pressed was proof of how it affected him.

Her hands found his sash, and she slid the knot free, opening his body to her exploration.

Pulling her lips away from his, she brought her mouth to his chest, swirling her tongue against his nipple. His groan told her everything, and she began to trace a path down his flat abdomen with her mouth, paying particular attention to the battle scars so prevalent on his body. It was a gesture brought more of love than passion. Almost as if she were kissing it to make it better, with an intent to relieve him of some of the guilt she knew he still harbored for his so-called sins of the past.

Kenshin ran his fingers through her hair, watching her with loving fascination and marveling at how very different, but utterly stimulating, their lovemaking was. Kaoru was never quite like this before, but by god, he was liking every second of it.

Kaoru continued to caress with her lips and tongue, hoping to keep him enamored enough to let her touch…

Kenshin gasped as he felt her hand taking gentle grasp of his manhood. It wasn't the first time she had ventured to hold him, but something about the charged atmosphere that blanketed the room made it seem more enticing this time.

The cherishing strokes of her hand caused him to groan louder, his head rolling back at the wonderful sensations. "K-Kaoru…" he breathed, trying for a protest but failing at it miserably. This tease…it was exquisite in its inherent unlikely-ness. Not quite Kaoru, but ineffably her in its overpowering insistence to please.

"Hush…" she whispered, mischievously looking up to see just how far-gone he was from resisting.

Kenshin locked eyes with her, and he shook his head slightly, but his expression said otherwise.

With every intention of breaking his restraint, she circled her thumb over his tip.

Another groan escaped him, his eyes closing, only to fly open right after when he felt her taking him into her mouth, her tongue gliding against the smooth hardness.

"K-Kaoru!" He cried, his exclamation of surprise dissolving into a moan of surrender as he felt intense pleasure overcoming him.

He was powerless. He tried to tell himself that he shouldn't let her, that surely she would want attention as well, but his reasoning was clouding over, and his will found no purchase.

His breathing went heavy, and his mind almost shut down. His responses were akin only to her and nothing else. Never in his life had he imagined her capable of this, and yet, it was not far from his fantasies.

Her pressure and release was attuned to his rhythm, and he thought he would go mad.

Kenshin stood no chance of surviving…

The amber swam in his amethyst pools, Battousai warring with his "wanderer" personality. And with the incredible sensations Kaoru's ministrations were heaping on his body, the wanderer was most assuredly losing.

He grit his teeth, growling against the pleasure, fighting against the beast.

You will not win, Battousai…but who was he trying to convince?

He was panting now, awed at how she knew what he liked. Her hands, lips and tongue administering everything he needed.

Sweat broke out of his pores, adding to the heat, to the fire. There was no turning back. He could do nothing but succumb to the blaze.

It was futile to suppress his groans. Kaoru was very good at what she was doing, and all he could do was clutch at her head to keep from going completely out of his mind.

Too much! Kenshin thought with a gasp. Too much!

She took him deep and heard him hiss, excitement overtaking her as his fist tightened momentarily against the strands of her hair. What she was about to do caused her to give an inward smile.

Battousai, I hope you're ready for this. She thought with resolve.

Working her tongue, she pulled back against his length, then ever so slightly, she scraped her teeth against his tip.

It was his complete undoing. He cried out, his hips bucking at the sudden onslaught of his ecstasy. Groaning louder than ever, he had no choice but to give in.

Battousai's howl reverberated through his consciousness as Kaoru kept him in her, willingly taking his essence.

He did not know when the assault of pleasure ended. All he knew was that the gratification she had brought him was unbelievable, and Battousai was stronger than ever.

Battousai wanted to claim her; wanted to ravish her in the best way he knew how. Kenshin battled relentlessly amidst his haze.

Still not too late…can still keep the beast….Kenshin insisted, gasping for breath.

Kaoru finally released him and looked into his eyes. Violet and gold were flashing erratically in his pools. Never have they been more dynamic.

"Battousai…" Kaoru whispered, rising to plant kisses on Kenshin's jaw.

Kenshin almost jumped in astonishment amidst his turbulent emotions. She had called him by that name. His surprise brought more from the fact that it laced anticipation, not fear through his being.

"I suppose…" Kaoru continued in her provocative drawl. "You've come to claim that promise you so unfairly extracted from me earlier."

"Promise…" he said in a hoarse murmur.

She chuckled, pulling away from him to slink on the futon beside him. "That…" she went on, her robe falling open while she ran her hand against her abdomen sensually. "I would show you what I like…"

Gold. It settled on his gaze, feral to its depths. Lust, passion, love…too potent to be borne.

To desire her this way, to need her with such wild wantonness…something he should have allowed himself to feel before.

Amber…the fires of amber.

NOT YET OVER!!!!

Author's Note: Holy shamoley! Heat wave! Heat wave! Well, what are you waiting for?!?!?!?! Get to the next chapter, quick! Mou!!!!!!!

Standard disclaimers apply. "Rurouni Kenshin" (c) Watsuki Nobuhiro, Shuiesha, Shounen Jump, and Sony. I do not own RK, pray as I might, every night, it just wouldn't happen that way. No matter how many candles I light, no matter how many chickens I decapitate…