Aeris smiled at Zack as she led him into her bedroom, looking oddly uncertain.

"You...know I'm a virgin, right?"

"Yes." It was pretty obvious she'd been a virgin when she asked him to consider becoming her consort, and as her bodyguard he'd have noticed it if she found a lover after that, especially since he was trying to work out if he could love her. "I'm not, does that bother you?"

"No. You were a slave, you didn't have any choice." She lifted a hand to rest against his cheek, laughing lightly as she continued. "Besides, one of us needs to know what to do."

"I don't know about that my lady. I heard lots of kids have sex without any prior experience for either of them." Zack smiled at her to let her know he was only teasing.

"Sephiroth and Cloud were both virgins their first time too." She sounded oddly amused by that as she lay down on the bed. "But...I thought you should know, if things were different, if Sephiroth wasn't so devoted to Cloud, didn't love me as a sister, I wouldn't be a virgin. I don't know if you remember, or if you realised what was going on, but...that first full day you belonged to me, when I dismissed Isis? I offered to let Sephiroth take my virginity if he wanted to. I had to, because I'd promised that, after I hurt him by giving Tseng to Cloud."

Zack couldn't say anything at first; he couldn't quite believe what Aeris was saying, at least not the calm, matter-of-fact way she explained it, as if giving her virginity to her brother as an apology was something perfectly rational. But she was shifting uncomfortably on the bed, and he realised just how his silence might seem to her. He moved to lie beside her, without bothering to pull his boots off and gathered Aeris into his arms, hugging her against him.

"I don't understand. I thought Sephiroth liked Tseng, so why did you giving him to Cloud hurt him?" He kissed her temple before she had a chance to answer. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to; I'm just honoured that you'd give me such great gifts, your trust, as well as your virginity."

"He likes Tseng now, but...I didn't follow the proper forms when I gave Tseng to Cloud, it was as much a surprise to Sephiroth as it was to Cloud, so he saw it as a betrayal, and I couldn't blame him for that." She shut her eyes, shaking slightly in his arms. "I had to offer him some sort of reparations, and that was the best I could think of offering."

All Zack could do was hold Aeris, stroking her hair and back and whispering reassuring words into her ear. He couldn't think of anything else to make her feel better, no matter how much he wanted to. Eventually she stilled, and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his throat, making him freeze in surprise.

"We...should do something tonight. I don't want there to be any doubt..." Doubt? Zack wasn't sure what Aeris was getting at, but he could see she was still nervous, even if he wasn't certain why. He kissed her gently, waiting for her to open her mouth to him, and eventually when she did he carefully slid his tongue over her teeth, pulling away reluctantly when she seemed to relax a bit.

"Might I undress you?" He smiled at her, waiting for permission.

"Please, go ahead. I...show me what to do, make me feel good. Please?" It looked like that test of Cloud's was going to be closer to reality than Zack ever could have imagined and he pulled his boots off before he did anything else.

"I'll be gentle, I promise." He leaned forward to kiss her again, and she wrapped her arms around him, briefly, then pushed lightly at his chest.

"Wait...can you get undressed first?" She suddenly seemed uncertain, and Zack could tell that a slow striptease wouldn't help, so he simply peeled his clothes off as quickly as he could.

"Is this better my lady?" This time he made sure to lie down beside Aeris, instead of leaning over her.

"Yes, thank you."

"I'm glad." He reached out and turned her face towards him for a kiss, running his hand lightly down along her throat, and over the exposed top of her breasts. He left his hand there, just stroking her skin gently as he kissed her, until she seemed to relax a bit, then he sat up, pulling her to straddle his knees. "Is this position okay for you?"

"It's fine." Zack kissed Aeris again at that, distracting her from the way he worked at the buttons down her spine, unfastening them one by one. Then he pushed the bodice down to her waist, still kissing Aeris, enjoying the little noises of pleasure she made. He rested his hands on her waist as he finally pulled back to speak to her.

"Could you stand up please?" She giggled a bit as she obeyed, letting her dress fall to the floor, and Zack turned her so her back was to the bed as he stood up himself, hands at her narrow waist. "I want to taste you everywhere. Will that be a problem for you?" He skimmed his hands up along her ribs as he spoke, ending with one hand cupping her right breast, the other resting between her shoulder blades and kissed her throat in illustration.

"Please." Her voice sounded weak, and Zack decided that he'd asked enough for the moment; he had her consent and he wasn't going to do more than kiss and taste for now. He kissed his way down Aeris' throat as she tossed her head back and then down over the curve of the breast he was cradling, enjoying the fact that there wasn't a bra to get in the way. He suckled briefly at her nipple, enjoying the quiet sounds of pleasure that won him, then licked towards her breastbone before kissing her just over the heart. He let his left hand drop to Aeris' hip where he traced patterns over her skin with a light touch as he licked his way over to her left nipple, this time letting his teeth graze ever so lightly against her skin as he sucked carefully then kissed down the lower curve of her breast. He began sinking slowly to his knees, left hand trailing down Aeris' spine as he kissed his way down over her stomach, tasting her skin as he moved, then sliding his tongue into her navel when he reached it.

"Aaah!" Aeris moaned, and as he glanced up Zack could see she was clutching the sheets behind her for balance...he hadn't thought he was so close to overwhelming her senses.

"You can grab my shoulders, or my hair if you want." She didn't say anything, but he could feel her hands move to his shoulders while he kissed his way diagonally down to her left hip, then over it to the top of her thigh. He could smell her pleasure now, but as he helped her sit he left her panties where they were, kissing down the inside of her thigh to her knee, then shifting to the other leg and kissing his way back up. Finally he nuzzled against her damp green silk panties, licking her through them for a moment before glancing up at her, one hand at the waistband.

"Might I?"

"Hmmm...yesss." Pleasure thickened her voice, and glancing up Zack could see Aeris' eyes were half closed, a smile curving her lips. He pulled her panties down and tossed them aside then leaned forward and began to taste Aeris properly. He started with small, gentle licks, basing his further explorations on how she reacted, and avoiding her clitoris until she grabbed him by the hair and began showing him where to focus his attention. He didn't stop when she climaxed, hoping that he could...yes, he managed to push her over into another orgasm, but then she started to push him away from her.

"Up, now." Zack climbed onto the bed at Aeris' urging and let her push him down against the covers, enjoying the way she climbed on top of him and kissed him. He lay back, letting her do whatever she wanted, but making sure to give plenty of positive feedback in the form of moans of pleasure and pleas for more as she kissed her way down his body. When she reached his groin she hesitated, and Zack reminded himself not to get his hopes up just as she took him into her mouth.

She was a bit clumsy, her teeth scraping against his cock as she pulled back, but he didn't care; it was enough that she was bothering to do this for him and he couldn't help thrusting into her mouth as he crumpled the sheets in his fists. She almost choked then, pulling away from him, and Zack half sat up, reaching for her anxiously.

"I'm sorry..."

"No, don't be. Just lie back again." She was looking nervous again, and Zack obeyed rather than risk making her unhappy. Then she impaled herself on him, and started moving and he did his best to make sure she enjoyed what they were doing as well, lifting his hands to her breasts and running them over her sides, holding back until she climaxed for the third time. Finally she climbed off him and lay down beside him, letting him wrap her in his arms.