Hi All,

Important bits first. This is set not too long after the Arrancar/Aizen war and has spoilers for the only death ever in Bleach. I don't see Matsumoto as particularly emotional but when a friend you were close to for so long dies.., it's tough on anyone. Also, I know there's no evidence to say that Isshin and Matsumoto ever met but she was there before Hitsugaya became captain so she must have known the previous captain and until they tell us that he wasn't 10th division captain, I say it's as good as cannon - to me at least!

This is my first shot at a lemon (and it is very lemony) and I thought I'd share it with you all because I know how much I love a good lemon and there can never be too many! I'll leave it up to you guys to decide whether it's any good or not so, good or bad, any feedback is welcome and if all you want is to read and not say a word that's fine too!

Disclaimer: Right... I do own bleach, let me just find the deeds to prove it... Where are they? I know they were here somewhere... Can't seem to find them, so, until I do I suppose I have to say it still belongs to Kubo Tite... Damn

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

...

Sensing the familar reiatsu approaching, Rangiku didn't react as the door to her rooms slid open. With her back to the door she waited, still as a statue. She knew this reiatsu, found comfort in its brash and powerful waves.

A few weeks ago she would have been delighted at its return, welcoming back the man it belonged to with a bright smile and enthusiasm but not now. Her best friend was gone - had given his life to protect her and the world she lived in and although she still loved this man as much as she had before, she felt empty now, broken as if her emotions were lost inside her, unable to find their way to the surface.

As she waited, one strong, firm hand made its way to her waist as it's partner gently brushed her hair to the side, its fingertips grazing along her neck in the barest whisper of a touch and as those fingers returned to caress her throat, a shiver ran down her spine, part pleasure, part terror. After all the brutality and horror of the Arrancar War, all the pain and suffering, would this unbearable tenderness finally break her?

In response to her shiver the hand brushed one final stroke down her neck then joined its partner at her waist as a warm, solid body gently pressed into her back, a comforting and reasuring presence holding her steady against the rush of emotion threatening to break through.

She knew the body of the man behind her better than her own, had loved and pleasured it countless times and had received the same in return. He was taller than her and she could feel his arousal in the small of her back but after all the self control it had taken to keep going in the days after Aizen's defeat, despite her body's own arousal at this mans presence, she couldn't relax into his embrace. If she did, she'd shatter. So instead, she stayed still and as his lips found the pulse in the side of her neck, she knew he'd understood. She wasnt turning him away, she never would but letting herself relax, let her guard down, was asking too much right now.

As her heart began to beat faster and her body began to struggle against her, longing for his embrace, his warmth, to react, those sinful fingers that had filled too many of her dreams, slid down the exposed skin of her forearms, stilling her hands which had begun to shake with the turmoil inside her..

"I-"

With his lips at her ear he cut her off.

"Tonight, this is about you. You've been through enough so let me look after you." He whispered, his teeth finding the lobe of her ear.

"Hai..." It was a moan. Only he could do this to her.

She let herself get lost in the sensation of his teeth, his lips as he began to suck on the sensitive skin of her neck and her body began to press itself against his.

Rangiku felt her kimono loosen as he undid the obi at her waist and trailed his hands up her arms to her shoulders. As he began to guide her kimono down she could feel his stubble scraping her shoulder and the familiar sensation sent a shiver of pleasure through her.

The whisper of her kimono hitting the floor was drowned out by her gasp as his hands, those wonderful hands, glided up her body to cup her breasts, the thumbs teasing her nipples in slow, tortuous caresses.

The warm hardness of his arousal grew further as she writhed and moaned against him in pleasure but his hands, and then his body pulled away.

Heaving in a breath Rangiku opened her eyes to see him standing in front of her. He looked the same as he always had. Twenty hears in the world of the living hadn't changed him at all. The same handsome face with its black hair and stubble, a broad, toned chest which hadn't gone soft although his shinigami powers had been gone so long, the same stance and, judging by the bulge in his hakama, the same reaction to her that he'd always had.

Kurosaki Taichou.

Kurosaki Isshin.

Stepping into him, one hand on his chest, the other pulling his head down, she kissed him. It was desperate and passionate, all reservations gone upon seeing his face. He wasn't just a figment of her tired and hurting emotions.

Pushing her hand under his kimono she found the hard plains of his chest, rippling with muscle as he pulled her harder against him.

Breaking away from his lips - another frequent appearance in her dreams, she made her way down his chest with her lips, pushing his kimono open to lavish each nipple with attention before undoing his hakama and continuing down...

With a groan Isshin's hands went to her shoulders and pushed her away.

"Damn woman, this was supposed to be about you. How do you expect me to concentrate when you're doing things like that?" It was barely more than a growl and the vibrations from his chest seemed to flow straight to the heat between her legs.

She didn't resist as he stepped out of his hakama that had pooled on the floor and pushed her back against the wall, dropping his mouth to one desperate nipple.

No one else could ever do this to her, make her so desperate and hot as quickly as Isshin.

Her vision went black for an instant as his hand found its way between her legs and began to rub against her sensitive bud of nerves. Then her hakama were gone and he was sliding his fingers inside her as his tongue swirled around her nipple.

Sanity was a distant memory as she began to beg for more, her hands which had found their way to his hair, caught in a battle trying to pull him impossibly closer while trying to... push him down? Pull him up? She wasn't sure what she wanted him to do but she wanted more of it.

As her knees began to give way, Isshin drew back, a teasing smile on his face. Taking her mouth in a fierce kiss he pulled her away from the wall, leading her towards her bedroom. She wanted to open her eyes, to drink in the sight of this Adonis before her but she was too drunk on the pleasure he was giving her and she just couldn't get the motivation to distract herself from his delicious lips. Lips like his should be banned, she thought: they were soft and maleable against hers and perfect for biting, the kind that distracted you from enormous piles of paperwork and had your captain shouting at you. She was glad they weren't banned...

Laying down on the futon, Isshin pulled her down on top of him, straddling him with his arousal nudging its way into her entrance. Rolling her hips she began to take him in, the pleasure indescribable, only for his hands to grab hold of her hips and pull her up his body.

A small whine escaped her - stupid men with their stupid plans. Every fibre in her body was screaming for him to be inside her, to ride him until they both found their release. Rangiku was about to complain about this when she felt him urging her further up his body and her eyes became locked on his mouth as he licked his lips in a slow, sensuous way that made his intentions more than clear enough to persuade.

Letting him guide her she positioned herself above his face, moaning as he tasted her, pushing his tongue deep into her then stroking it across her clit, huming in satisfaction as she started to writhe above him.

She felt the waves of pleasure begin to overwhelm her, growing stronger and stronger as he sucked and licked her. Moaning with abandon she didn't think she could enjoy this anymore, then she felt the barest graze of teeth and the world shattered around her as an orgasm overcame her. Still he didn't stop, drawing out her orgasm until she collapsed on top of him.

With not a little help she climbed of him and collapsed on to the bed where he reclaimed her mouth with his as he climbed on top of her. Once again his arousal was nudging against her entrance, teasing her until her own arousal was at a fever pitch once more.

The feeling of him finally pushing into her was enough to draw a scream from her. It was the most exquisite pleasure.

Despite Rangiku's urges Isshin set a slow pace, pulling out inch by slow inch and pushing back in equally slowly. As he continued his slow, drawn out torture she could feel a second orgasm building and tried to urge him to go faster, clenching her inner muscles around him each time he pushed into her liquid heat.

She couldn't hold on any longer, her body was on fire and she finally admitted defeat, allowing him to set the pace. Feeling her give in to him he began to increase the pace, faster and harder until they were both approaching their climax.

As he pushed into her once more her orgasm tore through her with a scream, the waves of pleasure melting her bones, leaving her limp and sated. With a grunt he continued to push into her until, seconds later, he came too, filling her with his seed. He rode her until their orgasms had subsided then collapsed on top of her, both of them shaking.

"I've missed you." Rangiku whispered into his shoulder, finally feeling that the emotions that had threatened her so much before were now far enough at bay to admit at least a few of them.

"And I've missed you."

Twenty years was, after all, a long time.