Finally, chapter 3. It's the end! I thought I'd write it faster but it turned out to be so long! I kept writing and writing and it became this little monster! ^^'

At least I was able to finish the story. I hope you like it. :)

Warning: Beware some real smut this time.

On a lighter note, I know x-mas is gone, but I decided to play Santa. After all, Byakuya is such a good boy and good boys get what they wished for, right? I think he definitely deserves it, so this is my birthday gift (his birthday is tomorrow! Yay, Happy Birthday Byakuya-sama!).

Anyways enjoy! ;)

P.S: this chapter is dedicated to katzemadchen-chan, who requested some more smut for this pairing. I second that!

.

..

The meals had been a sheer nightmare that day. It was impossible to look at Rukia and not remember his dream. Byakuya asked himself if he, were it possible, would blush. Not that he was ever capable of such a thing, but sometimes he honestly wished he was – it would give him a better sense of decency that apparently he lacked completely.

But no – he shamelessly stared at her mouth with each and every bite she took, wondering if those lips would feel as soft as he remembered. He would look at her Shinigami uniform and imagine her dancing outfit, even worse, without anything, remembering those forms he had memorized so well while watching her dance. Sometimes his gaze would be lost in her neck, considering how better it would look if it was covered with his hickeys. And then he would tense, truthfully hoping she didn't serve him the tea as she usually did, for the proximity was too hard to bear. At least they used to eat silently, so he could be lost in his own thoughts without disturbance.

He would eventually try to analyze why he was lusting after his adopted sister that much, why his dream had such an effect upon him. It was true that for the past fifty years he had denied himself the pleasures of the flesh, but then again, it had never worked that way for him… he had to be truly interested in the woman for that, it had to be special. And apparently the only woman who could have incited such thoughts was too covered under the title of his sister for him to consider it before. He sighed at his hopeless situation.

It was with the sole purpose of warning her about the danger of the elders seeing her, and the interpretation that they were bound to have that he headed to that same room, as he heard the hint of a familiar sound in the distance. Definitely for the last time.

****

It wasn't completely dark outside, but the lights were lit already. That was unfortunate for Byakuya, for as soon as he arrived to his destination, Rukia spotted him.

"Nii-sama! Did I disturb you?" she asked, turning around and lowering the volume of the song. Was she really unaware of how much alluring that outfit was? Byakuya felt bad about her blatant naiveté.

"No." He entered the barely lit room. "I just wanted to discuss this practice of yours."

"Oh. What about it?" She seated on a chair, waiting for him to sit on another one close to hers.

He did so and wondered how to start.

"How long have you been doing it?" He inquired emotionless.

"Hmm… since last year, when I spent some months in the living world. I was attending school there, and they would release me from physical education class if I did it on a gym instead. I thought it would be more productive."

"I see." He was not sure if she attending a human school was a necessity in the first place. He did not like the idea.

"I… found out I really enjoyed the dancing classes, though" she admitted timidly, with a spark in her eyes and a shy smile. She could be extremely cute when she really liked something, he noticed. He would feel bad for forbidding her to do so, but perhaps it would be for the best.

"What is the purpose of this outfit? Is it necessary?" He questioned further.

"Well, this is a belly dancing outfit, made especially for this dance. They were originated in the so-called 'middle east' of the living world, which is actually to the west for us. The dance is very ancient, and it is said to be not only a celebration, but also a way to prepare women for labor, that is what my teacher explained. It is good for women's health. The outfit was required for classes. It is not really necessary, but it helps to check if one is doing the movements correctly, and hmm… to feel it better."

He could see her embarrassment at trying to explain those things, to him of all people. However, it was also interesting to see the excitement she felt while talking about them. Had she not mentioned it, it was still quite obvious that she enjoyed the subject very much. Byakuya also noticed he was happy to see her happiness. When did he get so soft about her?

"It is too showing for a noble lady to wear," he stated, trying to sound stern, driving his thoughts back to his original plan.

"Anoo… in my class it was not seen that way," she explained, then quickly amended. "But I apologize; nii-sama's concern is reasonable. Where it was created, except for the professional dancers, women dance it only for their husbands, or so I understood from my teacher. Human costumes are a little hard to comprehend sometimes." she confessed.

Hmm, so it was meant to be danced to a lover, he concluded. And a "training for labor?", he could see how it made sense. And it was getting more interesting by the minute…

He cursed himself, immediately reprimanding his thoughts. 'No'. He tried to put them back in perspective. 'That simply implied it was utterly inappropriate of me to see her like that, doing something supposedly intended to be seen by her future husband only' he concluded. Yet, he could not ignore, deep inside, a wishful feeling that he could be that husband.

"Rukia, this can become a problem if the elders find out. It will be considered inappropriate. I understand this is important to you and your training. However, I will reinforce it: make sure you are alone when you do it."

"Hai, Byakuya-nii-sama." She agreed meekly. "I understand. I will make sure I am not seen by anyone. That is why I chose this wing of the house, no one comes near here. The only one who ever saw me was… nii-sama"

Was she implying that it was ok for him to see her, since he was her brother?

Yet… he wished those words had not sounded so sweet in his ears. He wished he could be forever the only one to ever see her dance. He wished she could be forever his, and his only. Suddenly he was too aware of her, so close to him and he felt a terrible urge to look at her again in that outfit, but fought against his will. It would not do to have his eyes traveling through her body… no. No. He closed his eyes and turned elsewhere.

"As for my classes, it was only attended by women." Rukia explained. Byakuya felt relieved to know this piece of information. He would kill that orange-haired boy otherwise. He noticed Rukia standing up.

****

'Go on Rukia, you can do it'. She thought. She had to go on; she couldn't afford to be shy. It was now or never, this was the best opportunity she had. She saw the way he was looking at her, or trying not to…

They had started engaging in small conversations more frequently lately, ever since they came back from Hueco Mundo, so it wouldn't seem too weird, would it? Maybe a little… If things went wrong, she could simply pretend that it was just…

"And we all wore it, so the outfit really wasn't seen as anything scandalous there. There was nothing improper in my class, I see no need to worry. The teacher was a woman too… she would simply show us some basic steps, and then we would repeat them." She smiled as innocently as she could, but avoiding his eyes. 'Don't blush!'

"Like this one" she continued shyly, showing the movement. "It's called the 'eight', as we move the hip in this format, to the sides. It is the most basic step."

She boldly continued her explanation, as professionally as she could, never meeting his eyes. "Then this one, which is called 'the serpent'" she showed it briefly, moving her hip right and left, down then up , in a sinuous way. "Akemi-sensei would ask us to repeat them incessantly, for a long time, until we get it." "Then she showed us how to move arms and hands, like this" She showed the position of the hand, the middle finger almost touching the thumb, and the delicate movement of the arms. "There are many types of belly movements too; I have yet to learn them all correctly, though. It's really harder than is seems, to try it all at once, but I'm trying my best."

*****

Byakuya was having a hard time. Her little explanation, as professional as it sounded, seemed like a real torture to him. Images of his dream kept flashing to his mind, as much as he tried to suppress them. He could not believe his eyes… she was so attractive it was painful. How come it took so long for him to look at her this way?

He sighed, trying to look away. This was like a dream… or a nightmare, because, unlike in his dream, he could not act on it, he could not do what he wanted. He just had to stare at her petite body showing all those moves to him, and suffer silently, trying his best to avoid a response from his own body. A sweet, sweet torture. Why wouldn't he simply end it?

"But I am boring nii-sama. I apologize for taking your time" She said, sincerely and a little… sad?

It was an excellent opportunity to agree and leave. It would be rude, but some coldness would not kill her. It would definitely not be the first time she would get it from him. And it was certainly for the best of them both and for his own sanity. But his heart, so recently awaken, was a little torn, a little doubtful, making his mind a little hazy, and in his confused state he listened to himself ask her, surprising even himself:

"What about the veil?" He surely had lost his mind. He would have to check it later. He was actually engaging in her small talk?! And what was that little weird feeling inside him, something unknown and alien… would it be… hope? Wishing for what exactly?

She seemed pleased at his response. "Ah, there are many ways of using it! It is better shown than said" she turned the song's volume a little higher. "The purpose is to show and hide" She exemplified, hiding almost all of her body and face behind the veil, except her eyes - her beautiful violet eyes, he noted painfully - then slowly opening it and revealing her body, following the rhythm of the song. "It is like a dancing partner" She walked a bit across the room, one extremity on the veil on her hand behind her head, and the other swaying back and forth, accompanying the movement of her hips that marked her steps. She was so gracious, she looked like a princess. "I think it's really beautiful", she added, innocently.

It was killing him. He should be interrupting her, not encouraging her to explain more about the dance. His heart almost stopped as she continued:

"It is also used for… well, you are supposed to dance it for someone. So, let's say, if I was dancing for nii-sama," She passed her veil behind his back, like a silk embrace, and the shock at the déjà vu was too much for him. 'Oh no, no, no, stop…' he thought, desperately. He had spent the whole day frustrated by the fact that his dream would always be a dream, and now, suddenly... it seemed too much of a real possibility to be wasted…

'I like to dance for you too' he remembered her whisper in his ear and it kept echoing in his mind. Why did she have to do this? It was all going well… why did he have to ask her about the veil?

"They do it like this as a way to call for attention of a special someone," she continued seriously, barely moving to keep up with her demonstration. He noticed the wonderful sweet aroma coming from her veil surrounding him in an alluring embrace. Reality could be even better than his dream, it seemed… and way too hard to resist…

****

"The idea of it is… uh, a... playful teasing, I guess" she added, flustered.

'Oh my God what am I doing?' Rukia asked herself. 'I'm making a fool of myself! Of course he doesn't see me that way!' She concluded desperately, her body still shaking from all the bold actions she had dared to perform.

She was about to take the veil off him, ready to put as much distance between them as possible and pretend it was all a simple explanation, when she felt a hand grabbing her wrist, her eyes widening in shock. Rukia gasped at the sudden contact and froze completely. She looked at Byakuya and noticed his eyes were closed, his eyebrows furrowed deeply – he was clearly very angry at her. Fear took her over completely, making her feel sick.

'Now it is too late!' she concluded horrified. Rukia closed her eyes and waited for some seconds, expecting the lecturing that was about to come. Surely he had noticed what she was trying to do and she was about to live the most humiliating moment of her life.

Rukia felt, instead, a pull on her wrist, but with her eyes closed and caught by surprise, she lost her balance and couldn't help but fall over her brother, and the next thing she noticed were his soft lips over hers.

*****

He was kissing her. This was insanity. And he noticed that, despite her shock, she was not pushing him away. She was actually… kissing him back. Was he dreaming again? He licked her mouth, trying to deepen the kiss, and she kindly obliged, opening it for him. The kiss became hot and passionate, all the frustration finally released, and Byakuya could hardly believe when she returned it with equal fervor. Their erratic breathing was the only sound echoing in the room.

"Rukia,"- "why"-"are" -"you" -"doing"-"this", he asked between kisses. 'To me' he thought, leaving it unsaid. He couldn't stop the kissing; he feared it would all be spoiled if he broke it.

He felt her arms around his neck and his hands moved to her waist, rubbing her soft skin, holding her close to him. This was all too good, he couldn't let her go. After some moments, one of his hands moved to her hair, grabbing a handful, holding it between his fingers, deepening the kiss, then pulling her head to the side. His lips trailed to her neck, lured by the same fragrance he had felt on her veil.

"This is not," he was kissing her neck and her nap now, reveling at how smooth her skin was. "appropriate." he tried to remind her, for he certainly had no strength left to stop it himself. He felt her delicate lips touching his neck as well. She did not seem to be listening to him as she loosened his scarf to have better access to his neck. He couldn't help but remember how close to his dream this all was.

Dropping his scarf on the floor, Rukia resumed the kissing, from his nape to the opening of his kimono, to his chest, then back on his neck, while her hands would travel from his shoulders to his back, almost squeezing his muscles. He felt a tentative lick among the kisses on his neck, and a new wave of desire exploded on him. He was sure she was able to feel it, pressed against him so much as she was. No, this was much better than his dream, he corrected.

On a very improper observation (but what was proper in any of this?), he briefly noticed she seemed much more interested in this than Hisana ever was in their five years together. It had never felt this good, this passionate. Even with their physical resemblance – which was certainly astounding- , they were as different as it could be - and he decided he liked the difference. Her obvious desire only fueled his more and more.

He was brought out of his reverie as she bit his earlobe lightly.

"I was" - another bite - "under the impression"- she licked his earlobe – "that it was what you wanted" she answered his question, that was almost forgotten. She kept teasing him, kissing his neck, touching his body, never meeting his eyes. She paused it all, and whispered, her face hidden in his neck. "Was I wrong?" She finished, touching her lips on his skin, lingering there, waiting for his answer.

He quickly took off his gloves that were impeding him from feeling her better, and started to explore her all over desperately. His thumbs rubbed her tummy then his hands started moving upwards, to her stomach, then further until he got to her bra, brushing the side of her breasts. Suddenly, he pulled her so that he could kiss her neck and go down to her cleavage and soon they were stumbling to the floor, without stopping the kisses.

He rolled on top of her, one hand on her hip, the other holding her back possessively, and he kissed her thoroughly, as if he wanted to express with that kiss all that was hidden inside his heart, all about that flame, recently awaken, burning his body, his sanity, and the thousand thoughts that he was trying to avoid for the sake of that one perfect moment.

"No, you were right." He answered, kissing her again, then biting her lip. "I have wanted this for quite some time" he completed, resuming their kiss while teasing her nipple with his thumb. She seemed a little startled at the contact, but then she moaned and her little moans sounded exactly like in his dream – they were driving him insane. He opened her bra with the hand on her back, but he doubted she noticed it. He proceeded to kiss her chest then, making her gasp, as his lips and his tongue touched her rosy buds. After giving them attention, he moved to kiss her tummy, then her hip, then he moved down to her thighs, just above her knees, and from there he started making his way up, kissing and licking her inner thighs while he pulled her skirt up, excruciatingly slowly.

Rukia's moans were getting a little louder, and he could tell she was growing tenser with every centimeter up. As he licked just by the border of her panties, he heard her gasp.

"Byakuya-nii—ughnn" she stopped, probably realizing her mistake. Would she keep calling him that even when they are doing this?

Rukia pulled him for a kiss – and Byakuya pondered her actions. Maybe she wasn't expecting things to get this far? Maybe she was shy? Maybe she had never done this before?

Byakuya felt her hands untying his obi, and then loosening his kimono. Soon they were wandering underneath it, touching his abdomen, his back, exploring his whole body, massaging his skin. She took the kimono off him, then pulled him against her, and, just like in his dream, the feeling of her skin against his felt absolutely amazing. So maybe she didn't want him to stop after all, he concluded.

She reached for his kenseikan and he helped her take them off, glad to be free of them as they had started to get uncomfortable with all the struggling. Dropping them aside, Rukia passed her hands through his hair and pulled him for another longing kiss. Byakuya noticed her hand moving closer to his member, which was now pressed right against her, and she reached for the buttons of his pants. He helped her on that task too, then removed her bra completely, going back to licking and kissing and sucking on her breasts until she couldn't take it any longer.

"Byakuya…-sama… please" she asked, her eyes closed, her hands scratching the floor, lost in pleasure and need. He briefly contemplated how beautiful she was, flushed with desire, almost naked, in the frail light of the room.

He pulled her flimsy skirt and her panties off, and resumed his position between her legs, marveling at the contact of her body, so tiny, against him, underneath him. He couldn't wait any longer, his arousal was getting painful, and it was hard to breathe. She pulled him by his hair, reinforcing her urgency, and parted her legs for him. He held her arms by the wrist on the floor, beside her head, then held her hands in his, finally entering her.

She was tight, tight, tight, so tight it was impossible to think, and it was really hard to control himself; he just wanted to push further and further, deeper and deeper. He felt her gasp and tense with his invasion, but she never retreated; soon she was meeting his trusts instead, helping him to go further, deeper inside her, her hands moving to his back to pull him to her. He groaned at her reaction, and their whispered moans were the only sounds in that quiet evening. Soon he saw her trying to suppress a scream and her walls clamped on him, pushing him to his orgasm as well.

****

They stood there hugging each other for countless minutes, not wanting to disengage from their embrace and face reality. Rukia was the first to do so. She abruptly stood up and moved to dress her yukata. His eyes narrowed - he noticed she was bleeding, a thin trail of blood on her inner thigh.

He quickly put his kimono, as soon as he noticed her rush in gathering the pieces of her dancing outfit from the floor and before she could storm out of the room, he pulled her arm.

"Rukia, where are you going?"

"I… I'm" she looked at him in the eye, and hers were full of fear. No word came out. She looked away.

'What can I possibly say? That I didn't want it? It would be a lie. I teased him on purpose. This is entirely my fault. He is an honorable man, but he is just a man, with his weakness, and I abused his trust and the proximity I was allowed. I wanted him to notice me. I just didn't expect it to go this far, oh my God what have I done?!' Rukia was unable to meet his eyes.

"I-I am deeply sorry" she turned her back to him. "I know what I did was unthinkable, inappropriate, wrong. I am willing to accept whatever punishment you see fit. I shall never dance again, I… I understand if you don't want me in your house anymore."

Byakuya had his eyes on her small figure that seemed now even smaller, recoiled and afraid. He felt like hugging her. 'She thinks she is to blame for this?' The idea was utterly absurd.

It had been her first time, he knew, why did she give to him something so special like this? It surprised him, but he couldn't help feeling glad too, deep inside… But what did it mean to her? Why did she… was it possible that she had feelings for him?

He wondered about her words. Never dance again? Out of his house? No, that was definitely not what he wanted at all. 'On contrary', he thought, looking at her fragile form… he just wished he could hug her, and protect her, and see her dancing happily to him every day, and hopefully make love to her every night of his life. How come it took him so long to realize that?

"That is far from what I want," he answered her.

"I would like for you to stop using the Kuchiki name as my sister, indeed" he continued. "If you are willing to use it as my wife instead," he completed. Rukia turned back to him, surprise showing in her eyes.

He knew he was acting impulsively, something so rare that he remembered exactly the last time it occurred – when he proposed to Hisana. He also remembered never regretting it for a single second in his life.

*****

Their marriage happened a month later, and the surprise of its announcement was definitely not as great as they expected. Rukia remembered the reaction from Ukitake-taichou in their visit to invite him – she was almost sure he suppressed a "about time".

They would be surprised, however, if they knew that she had used the Kuchiki gate to the living world so soon, in the second day of their honeymoon already. But, alas, some new outfits were in order.

*****

THE END

Ha! Finally! What a long chapter! It is unbeated and I'm sure it has some mistakes since I finished it about 6 in the morning. But it's finished, woot! Please be kind and tell me if you liked it (or if you spotted anything wrong maybe?). Now I'll go back to the other fics.

Ja ne!

Wynn