Three

THREE

Chapter Six

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DISCLAIMER:

Kallipygia\'s List of Things I Don\'t Own:

1. Rurouni Kenshin
   
2. Any of the characters created by Nobuhiro Watsuki
   
3. A sakabatou
   
4. Saitou\'s fundoshi

Kallipygia\'s List of Things I Do Own:

1. An overactive imagination
   
2. An internet connection
   
3. A burning desire to see a fanfic featuring Sano, Saitou, and Megumi in a hot spring

...so if you\'re squeamish, don\'t read that one either!

* * * * * * *

Will Kenshin forgive me if I kiss Saitou?

Kenshin still stood beside them, his eyes wide, his clenched fists trembling slightly. He looked shocked, dismayed, nervous -- but strangely, he didn\'t seem angry.

Kenshin will forgive me, she decided. Probably.

Kaoru had never kissed anyone before Kenshin -- and since the first time that the rurouni had gently gathered her in his arms, Kaoru hadn\'t even considered the possibility that she might want to kiss someone else. Until now.

She was cradled in Saitou\'s lap, her bottom resting on the tops of his thighs, which felt warm and solid through the thin silk of her yukata. Her left arm was trapped, pressed between his muscular chest and the side of her body. Her hip... her left hip was pressed against his... And how would that feel inside me?

The thought sent a shiver through her, and Kaoru made the mistake of squirming again. Saitou shifted his grip on her waist, pulling her closer, making her even more aware of his... interest in her. \"Do that again,\" he murmured.

Kaoru swallowed carefully. The next question was... Will I be able to forgive myself if I don\'t kiss Saitou?

Probably not.

Just one kiss.

Kaoru reached up and laid her free hand against Saitou\'s bare shoulder, tugged gently. \"Saitou--\"

Saitou\'s lips remained just out of reach. \"You have to kiss me, Kaoru-chan.\" Saitou glanced up at Kenshin, then back to her. \"That way won\'t be any confusion later.\"

Saitou wants me to kiss him -- because he wants to be sure that it was my choice? Or he wants Kenshin to be sure? Is Saitou using me to torment Kenshin? The two men seemed to have given up on the idea of competing as swordsmen months ago, when Saitou had chosen not to accept Kenshin\'s challenge. Were they competing now in a different kind of contest -- with her body as the battleground?

Saitou chose that moment to move his hand from her chin and place it on the bare skin of her thigh. Kaoru heard herself whimper as the heat of his fingers pressed firmly into her flesh. She couldn\'t stop herself from wondering what he would taste like.

She was so close to finding out.

Kaoru closed her eyes and pushed herself up to meet Saitou\'s lips with her own. She was aware of Kenshin\'s gasp of surprise, the rush of her own blood in her ears as her heartbeat quickened, and a wayward strand of Saitou\'s hair tickling her cheek. Then Saitou lapped at her upper lip with the tip of his tongue, and everything disappeared except for the movement of his mouth on hers, the slow thrusting of his tongue against her own. She\'d expected him to be rough, aggressive: the steady, sensual rhythm of his kiss surprised her. A twinkling of dizziness at the edges of her awareness -- I\'m going to have to stop and breathe soon -- but then Saitou began to tease the skin of her inner thigh, the pad of his thumb moving back and forth, picking up the rhythm of his mouth. Kaoru slid her hand up to the back of Saitou\'s head, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

There was a faint choking sound somewhere off to her right. Kenshin. What\'s wrong with me? How could I forget that Kenshin is watching this? Kaoru tensed, and Saitou pulled back, nibbling at her lower lip one last time before breaking the kiss completely. She opened her eyes to find Saitou staring back at her intently. He licked his lips slowly, and the memory of how his tongue had felt in her mouth made Kaoru want to pull him down for another kiss.

Oh yeah, that\'s how.

There was a flash of movement -- Kenshin, looking away, turning to leave -- and instinctively Kaoru reached out, catching the hem of his hakama in her fingers. \"Wait.\"

\"Kaoru.\" Kenshin\'s voice was rough. \"Don\'t.\"

\"Saitou, let me up.\" Saitou slowly -- reluctantly? -- loosened his grip on Kaoru, and she clambered to her feet to face Kenshin.

\"You started this. You brought Saitou here. You had to know that I\'d figure it out.\" Kaoru glared at Kenshin and took a deep breath, resisting the urge to place one hand on each of his shoulders and shake him. \"Fine. If you want to be with Saitou, go ahead. If you want to spend the rest of your life wandering aimlessly around the world, I\'m not going to stop you. But you\'re not leaving this room until you decide.\"

\"Decide?\" Kenshin looked at her hopelessly, as if he was sure it was a trick question. \"Decide who I want to be with?\"

\"No, Kenshin. Decide who you\'re going to be.\"

He blinked. \"Kaoru... I was Battousai. Now I\'m a ru--\"

\"Battousai isn\'t real.\" Kaoru interrupted. \"Neither is the rurouni. They\'re both just masks you hide behind, so that you don\'t have to admit what you really want.\" She paused, gulped in another breath, afraid that what she would say next would be the wrong thing, that it would drive him away from her forever.

\"I\'m not in love with Battousai, and I\'m not in love with the rurouni. I love you, Kenshin. When are you going to be brave enough to be yourself?\"

The next thing she knew, his arms were around her, his face buried in the crook of her neck, his breath hot against her collarbone. He was shivering -- he\'s afraid, too. He\'s afraid that once he says it, I\'ll refuse him.

Kenshin, how can you not know that I love you?

And then he did say it.

\"I want to stay. I don\'t deserve you, Kaoru, but I want to stay.\" Kenshin lifted his face to hers, kissed her so passionately, so deeply, that for a few moments she couldn\'t feel anything but the pressure of his lips and tentative movements of his hands along her back.

Kaoru relaxed, allowing her head to fall back and her body to mold itself to his. Kenshin took this as the encouragement she intended it to be, and his hands moved lower, kneading her hips, rubbing her buttocks. She could feel him growing hard against her, his erection restrained by his hakama and fundoshi. He broke the kiss and buried his face in her hair, which was still slightly damp from her bath. He was breathing so deeply that she wondered if he was trying to inhale her. \"Kaoru...\"

She heard Saitou move behind her, and she turned her head to see what he was doing. Getting dressed. \"Saitou?\"

When she said Saitou\'s name, Kenshin had looked up too, his expression a mixture of regret and relief, but he remained quiet.

Saitou shrugged, the corners of his mouth quirking upward so faintly that the resulting smile was almost imperceptible. A few days ago, she wouldn\'t have been able to tell that he was smiling at all. \"Himura made his choice.\"

\"Yes,\" Kaoru agreed. \"But I haven\'t made mine.\"

* * * * * * *

Two large hands, the fingers of one stroking circles around her navel while the other slipped down into the slickness between her thighs. Two smaller hands, almost too delicate to belong to a man, toyed with her nipples. Saitou behind her, clasping her against his body while his tongue and teeth teased goosebumps from the skin of her neck. Kenshin before her, his lips nudging hers apart to make room for the smoothness of his tongue.

Kaoru leaned back into the solidity that was Saitou, wove her fingers through the silken tousle of Kenshin\'s hair to draw him closer. Kenshin bent down. His mouth, tight and fierce, sucking and releasing one nipple, then moving on to the other. Kaoru\'s right earlobe found its way into Saitou\'s mouth, and he nibbled along the curve of her ear, just enough pressure to tickle. One of them moaned; Kaoru wasn\'t sure who the low, breathy sound had come from. Maybe me.

As if that were some sort of signal, both men stopped. Kaoru made a small sound of protest in the back of her throat.

Saitou chuckled. \"Don\'t worry, Kaoru-chan. We\'re just getting started.\" He untied her sash and dropped it to the floor. The silky fabric caressed Kaoru\'s breasts and belly as her yukata fell open, revealing her body. She felt the familiar burn sweep over the surface of her skin -- even now, she was still shy about undressing in front of Kenshin. And I never thought I\'d let Saitou see me naked.

Kenshin knelt, kissed her navel, then lower, pressing his tongue into her cleft. Kaoru\'s knees loosened; she would have fallen if Saitou hadn\'t been supporting her.

Kaoru reached back, clasping her hands behind Saitou\'s neck, tilting her head back to look at him. His eyes were half-shut. He dipped his head down to kiss her again. Saitou\'s tongue thrust in and out of her mouth in a slow, pulsing rhythm; Kenshin\'s tongue below, moving quickly, lightly. She couldn\'t stop the quivering in her thighs, the feeling of weakness that spread up through her belly. Kaoru moaned into Saitou\'s mouth and he responded by quickening the kiss. His hands snaked around to play with the tautness of her nipples, tugging gently at the tips, then circling around the aureoles, stained dark reddish brown with her arousal.

Her hips began to sway in time with Kenshin\'s tongue. He paused. No, don\'t stop! Kaoru wondered if she\'d screamed it, or if she\'d said it at all. There was a wet, sucking sound, and then Kenshin slid his fingers into her -- two? three? -- she was too excited to tell. She convulsed around Kenshin\'s fingers, and he wiggled them, as if to say hello.

Kaoru felt swollen, the pleasure pushing outward, stretching her skin from inside. She was going to burst -- Kaoru was sure she was splitting open, her overtight flesh peeling away to reveal the roil of desire within. It drove through her, pushing the air out of her lungs in short gasps as her body expanded, contracted, expanded again.

Then she was on the floor somehow, her hands and knees pushing against tightly-woven tatami. She heard the rustle of fabric behind her, and she looked back to see a flash of white -- Saitou\'s fundoshi being tossed atop his discarded uniform.

\"Saitou--\" Before she could finish the sentence, he\'d entered her. Saitou\'s hands closed around her hips, drawing her back toward him until the angular bones of his hips pushed into the soft curve of her bottom. It should have hurt, but it didn\'t. ,i>It feels amazing. \"Saitou--\" she whispered again, not sure what she wanted to say. \"Please...\"

Another rustling of fabric -- Kenshin, fumbling with the ties of his hakama. She smiled up at him as he shed hakama and fundoshi, then knelt before her, completely naked. He was hard, and his eyes were wild with confusion and need. Kaoru bent forward, took him in her mouth, feeling a surge of satisfaction when she heard the sudden hiss of his breath.

Saitou began to thrust into her, and she let the momentum of his thrusting guide the rhythm of her mouth over Kenshin\'s shaft. Kenshin groaned, his hands tracing a path from her shoulders to her waist, and back up again. Kaoru was losing herself in cadence of their bodies, awareness of everything fading except for the sensation of fullness in her mouth and the desire to open herself more completely to the surge of heat that was forcing its way into the core of her body.

Kenshin groaned again, and she felt his hands in her hair, tugging gently. \"Wait... Kaoru... I can\'t... wait if you... keep moving like that.\" She released him, and Kenshin fell forward, his hair swinging down to cover his face, a few strands clinging to his neck and shoulders. His eyes were closed, his cheeks flushed a delicate pink that Kaoru guessed matched her own. Kenshin\'s cock twitched once, then again, as he fought to regain control of his body.

\"Battousai.\" Saitou withdrew, and the sudden loss of closeness was wrenching. Kaoru bit her lower lip to keep herself from wailing with disappointment. \"Turn her over.\"

Kenshin pushed her down on her back; Saitou supported her hips, lowering her gently to the floor. Then Kenshin was kneeling between her legs, penetrated her with an inarticulate cry. Saitou was behind Kenshin, one hand on the smaller man\'s stomach, fingers splayed, the other playing over one of Kenshin\'s nipples. Kaoru folded her legs around Kenshin\'s waist, and as she angled her pelvis upward to deepen her connection to Kenshin, her ankles brushed against Saitou\'s ribs.

Saitou bit Kenshin\'s shoulder savagely, and Kaoru was about to protest when she saw the ecstatic expression on Kenshin\'s face. She stared, fascinated. That had to hurt -- but when he\'d been bitten, Kenshin seemed to swell inside her slightly, as if the pain had excited him. I\'ll have to remember that.

Saitou met her gaze, and the smirk was back again. \"You\'ve never played rough with him, Kaoru-chan?\"

She shook her head dazedly, returned her attention to Kenshin. Saitou did something behind Kenshin -- a sudden jerking movement, she couldn\'t see what -- and Kenshin\'s eyes widened. \"Kenshin?\"

Kenshin made a strangled sound, lurched forward, managing to look humiliated and happy all at once. Kaoru laid her hand against his cheek, hiding the cross-shaped scar with the flat of her palm. For the first time since she\'d met Kenshin, she wondered how he would look if that scar finally healed. What would he be like if he was actually able to forgive himself?

Who would Kenshin be if he allowed himself to be happy?

There was nothing she wanted more than to learn the answer to that question.

Kenshin started to push into her again, first slowly, and then faster, with a smooth rocking motion. As Kenshin moved, Saitou moved with him. Kenshin\'s breathing was ragged, the pink of his cheeks had darkened to red, and his eyes were shiny with partially-formed tears.

Kaoru could feel the tension in Kenshin building, and her own body responding to him -- legs tensing, trying to pull him closer; her breasts, arching up towards him, aching with the need to be touched; her hands clasping his forearms, his shoulders; her nails eliciting shudder after shudder as they raked his pale skin.

Kenshin was sobbing now, the way Kaoru had sobbed when he\'d first left her for Kyoto. His movements were frenzied, and his tears sparkled brightly against the dull sheen of her breasts and stomach.

Kaoru yelped as the first waves of pleasure spasmed through her, her body clenching around Kenshin involuntarily. There was a growing light-headedness, and then she was floating, her body blissfully weightless as she dissolved again. \"Kenshin...\"

Suddenly Saitou pulled Kenshin back, bracing Kenshin against the front of his body. Grabbing a handful of Kenshin\'s hair, Saitou yanked the younger man\'s head back towards him and covered Kenshin\'s mouth with a ferocious kiss. Kaoru could feel Kenshin spilling himself into her, hot and sticky, and the jagged rhythm of Saitou thrusting into Kenshin. Then they stopped, Kenshin trembling all over, Saitou resting his forehead against the side of Kenshin\'s head, and Kaoru realized that Saitou had climaxed with Kenshin.

She wanted to sit up, to embrace them both, but her muscles refused to work, and all she could do was to lie there, watching limply as Saitou whispered something to Kenshin, as Kenshin nodded, his eyes still closed over tear-streaked cheeks. Kaoru sighed.

Whatever happens next, if Kenshin is happy, I can be happy.

* * * * * * *

Howdy!

Having survived two crazy months, one major transition at work, three severe head colds, two wonderful fiction-writing workshops, one job-hunting husband, a Demon Diary binge, and a midlife crisis -- I\'ve managed to finish the next chapter of \"Three.\" It\'s my first attempt at writing about a threesome, as well as my first attempt at anything even remotely yaoi, so if I\'ve made a huge blunder in there somewhere, my apologies.

Two more chapters to go... I promise a twist ending with a snicker...

Kalli