Winter Morning

Kaoru awoke slowly, letting her senses drowsily assess her surroundings.  She lay on her back, her head pillowed on something warm and firm.  Kenshin's arm, her mind supplied, and she felt her lips curve in a small, involuntary smile.  She opened eyes still heavy from sleep to find him curled around her as he lay on his side, her legs bent at the knee and draped comfortably atop his. He held her in a loose embrace, his free arm a light but welcome weight stretching across her stomach, his hand resting warm and gentle on the curve of her right hip, under her sleeping robe.  His hair cascaded over his shoulder and across his chest to pool near her throat.

Tilting her head slightly, she found that he still slept, his face peaceful and relaxed.  She'd once noted that he usually slept lightly, mind and reflexes wary even in repose, the smallest noise or motion stirring him to wakefulness.  Yet, with his arms wrapped securely about her, he slept deeply, her nearness having the same calming, reassuring effect on him that his embrace had on her.  Two months into their marriage, it still never failed to surprise and touch her -- this realization that her presence signified safety and security to his subconscious mind.

She sighed, utterly content except . . . except . . .

Her nose was cold.  She wrinkled it unhappily, and realized that her whole face was similarly afflicted.  Easing cautious fingers out from under the covers, she found that the temperature had dropped significantly during the night, winter arriving with a sudden vengeance.  She shivered a little at the thought of getting out of bed, and snuggled closer to Kenshin.  His light hold tightened in response, gathering her in, cuddling her against him.  Turning her head she buried her nose in his hair, finding the thick red strands to be soft as silk, warm from her skin, and sweet with their combined scents of jasmine and ginger.  She breathed in deeply, the motion stirring it to tickle her face ever-so-slightly.

She loved his hair.  Its color, its texture, the way the ends curled around her fingers with a will of their own . . . the feel of it gliding across her skin.  Fingers yearning to play, she drew back and stretched a hand to his shoulder, collecting a generous handful of his rich red mane.  She let the backs of her fingers drift caressingly down his chest as they returned with their prize, the light touch coaxing a sigh from his sleeping form.  Twining a lock around her fingers she brought it to her cheek, closing her eyes to savor the feeling as the strands slid easily against her skin.  Released from her grasp, it slowly fell from her hand in a loose coil, gradually relaxing to hang straight once more.  Experimenting, she found a second and third did the same, clinging gently to her fingers before reluctantly slipping away.

Kenshin's first waking sensation was the tantalizing brush of fingers across his chest, their brief contact evoking a contented sigh, rousing him.  Kaoru.  His body registered the light weight of her head resting on his arm, the welcome press of her legs atop his, and the softness of her skin under his hand.  Opening drowsy eyes, he focused on the woman nestled close against him, watching -- first surprised, then faintly amused -- as she toyed with his hair.  Seemingly fascinated, she wrapped the strands around her fingers only to release them again in a slow, sensuous slide, repeating the process several times.  Amusement began to change to something more when she brushed the ends lightly across her lips and down her throat, a path he was wont to follow.

Kaoru gradually became aware of Kenshin's hand stroking lightly along the curve of her hip, his thumb brushing slow circles on her skin.  She blushed, caught in the act of playing with his hair, and tilted her head to look up at him, letting the lock she held slip from her grasp.  Warm violet eyes watched her, conveying both amusement and banked desire, causing her blush to deepen.

"Ohayou," she whispered, her voice fainter than she had expected, her senses distracted by the stroking movements of the hand resting inside her robe.

He shifted, bringing his head level with hers and drawing his legs up closer against her.  Kaoru laughed breathlessly as he nuzzled the skin just behind and below her ear, his breath warm and moist on her skin, teasing her nerve endings.  His voice husky, tinged with the same emotions as his gaze, he whispered a greeting in turn, the sound trembling through her.  Safe, surrounded by him - his scent, his warmth, his touch - she let her eyes close, welcoming the sweet hunger building within her in answer to the yearning in his voice.  She arched her neck as he trailed soft kisses down its length, shivering slightly when the cool morning air found the damp spots left by his passing.  He nibbled leisurely along her collarbone, paused briefly to let his tongue dip teasingly into the hollow of her throat, and then slid his mouth up, over her chin, to meet hers.  With butterfly kisses and feather-light flickers of his tongue he courted her, her lips parting to allow him entry.

Long moments later he drew back, his hair shifting to form a loose curtain about them, and smiled as his violet gaze took in her lightly flushed cheeks and rosy mouth.  She raised heavy lids to look at him, revealing limpid blue eyes, dark with the same need reflected in his.  Mine.  The thought came to him unbidden, equal parts possession and amazement.  Winsome, angelic, infinitely precious . . . she was his.  His next breath trembled slightly as his throat tightened with emotion.  Seeking, his gaze met hers and read there recognition and pleased acceptance.  Yours.  He closed his eyes as her slender fingers came to tenderly traced the line of his brow, the shape of his mouth.  Threading them through his hair she tugging slightly to pull him to her, her lips skimming his ear as her sweet voice entreated, "Kenshin . . . love me."

Kenshin shivered in reaction, every nerve ending leaping in answer to her request.  His voice was barely audible as he gave the only reply he could.  "Always."

Kaoru smiled as she felt, more than heard, his whispered response.  Red strands sliding from her grasp, she wrapped her arms around his neck as his mouth returned for a timeless space to cherish hers.  She felt his hand slowly withdraw from her robe, his deft fingers finding and untying the belt at her waist.  As it came loose he moved, unwinding himself from around her and relinquishing her mouth.  Rising above her he parted the folds to reveal her creamy flesh beneath, and paused, breathless, to let his gaze linger lovingly over her.  With showered kisses and coaxing hands, he then brushed the robe away from her shoulders and down her arms, setting it aside with a faint rustle.  Free of the robe's constraints, but also its warmth, she shivered in the winter-touched air.  Another rustle, and then Kenshin's arms closed around her once again, warming her as he settled gently against her.  Her own arms found their way around his waist, her palms pressed flat against the muscles of his back.

Sighing in delight at the feel of his skin next to hers, she tilted her face up to his, like a flower turning toward the sun.  Laughing at her silent demand, he nevertheless obliged, his tongue sliding sweetly between her parted lips to dance briefly with hers.  Releasing her mouth, he pressed a moist kiss into the curve of her neck and shoulder, his lips drifting purposefully down over the slope of her breast to close around one rosy crest, grazing her lightly with his teeth before suckling gently.  Kaoru moaned softly, arching into him as his tongue laved her nipple, the heat of his mouth in direct contrast to the unwitting caress of his hair, sliding cool and satin-smooth over the other peak.  Her hands tightened reflexively on his back, her nails grazing him lightly, as he switched his lavish attention from one aching point to the other, prompting another faint moan.  The sound rippled through him, equal parts pleasure and need, and in response one hand touched delicately at the core of her.

Yearning, empty, Kaoru cried out at the first light brush of his fingers, his thumb stroking all too briefly over her heightened nerve endings.  Another fleeting caress and she whimpered his name, her fingers sliding over his back to clench on his shoulders.  His palm shifting to curve over her, he raised his head to gaze at her sweet, beloved face.  Flushed, her small white teeth biting into her lower lip, she arched into his hand.  Only for him, this response.  "Ken . . . shin . . ." she pleaded again, needing more than the cupping warmth of his palm.  Bending his head he traced kisses along her jawbone, breathing wordless encouragement as his fingers nuzzled gently against her.

Clinging to him, Kaoru followed where his careful coaxing led, mewling softly as his stroking fingers pushed her closer and closer to the ecstacy for which she strived.  So tender, the way he touched her, and yet so insistent.  He swaddled her in sensation, until every part of her was trembling with it, and took pleasure in pleasing her.  Yet she wanted -- needed -- to share this heady longing wih him, to know that he was with her when the shattering completion arrived.  Hovering on the brink, she shook her head, fighting it. Come with me, she thought, too breathless to speak, together, not alone.  Her eyes sought his, needing him to understand.  Beseeching blue met violet, before another brush of his fingers caused her to arch, her eyes closing again as she moaned his name.  A moment later his fingers withdrew and he slid gently into her, giving her what she wanted, what she'd asked for without words.  She sighed as he filled her, her arms and legs wrapping around him, holding him tightly as he moved, taking them both over the edge.

Cradled securely in Kenshin's arms, Kaoru floated slowly down from the peak.  She trailed kisses along his shoulder and neck, her hands stroking lightly, dreamily over his back.  Titling her head she brushed his lips with hers, once, twice...  and then his tongue delved inside to share something more, rich and sweet with emotion.  When it ended, he shifted to his side, curling around her once again.

"We should get up," he whispered, but made no move to release her, reaching instead to pull the covers more tightly around them, her closer against him.

"Mmmm . . ." she responded, seeking to snuggle closer still, "in a little while.  It's too cold to get up yet."

"Aa."  Sleepy violet eyes fluttered open to gaze lovingly at her, and then drifted shut again.  "Just a little while."

Kaoru murmured again in quiet assent, the still, lulling peace of early morning wrapping around them.  Content, the couple slept.


Komagata Yumi
yumi@sekihara.dreamhost.com
October 21, 1998