Kagura's index finger traced the slim outline of her lips. She blinked – once, then twice. The speed of Saiga's car was sending her hair flipping haphazardly and she spit a piece out of her mouth. Saiga had chuckled to himself, but held his foot heavy on the gas pedal.

Lips are curious things, she thought quite suddenly as she watched Saiga's white knuckles gripping the steering wheel. Lips opened so that you could brush your teeth… lips opened when you had a nibble… and lips kissed.

Lips kissed other lips.

She scrunched her nose like a rabbit in thought – she had kissed a lot of men in her past, but none she remembered as vividly as the kiss she had shared with Saiga. His warm lips had jelled against her own, their tongues traveling to meet one another out of pure instinct. He had gasped in surprise, and she had breathed in his ragged breath and relished the aroma he produced against her in that short moment; flicked the tip of her tongue around his buds, a small tear trailing down her cheek.

She shook her head, the stream of air flowing through the window sobering her mind. That was the past, this is the present, she told herself sternly and shook her head. Even though she had never been kissed properly by someone she had taken the time to know and become attracted to, Saiga had been a pretty damn good alternative to the slurping old men she had grown accustomed to.

On that note… she thought, curiosity pulsing through her system as if she were the cat – "Saiga," she turned her head towards his, "What is it like to kiss someone?" Facing forward quickly after, a lump began growing in her slender esophagus. She heard him clear his throat.

"Why do you ask?"

His gravelly voice stood her hairs on end and she bit her lip absent mindedly. "Well," she began, playing with her new blue dress. "I've kissed people, but I've never really kissed people." She pursed her lips in unease. His wise eyes had a way of boring their way straight to her inner mind.

It was frightening.

She watched his long fingers loosen on the steering wheel as he took a winding road to the East. "It feels good, I guess." He mumbled, his eyes trained intensely on the road ahead of him – whether it was an excuse or otherwise she could not tell. "Feels like you're connecting to that other person in a way that no one else can."

She stayed still in her uncomfortable leather seat, eyes watching the landscape absently. "Is that how you feel when you take a picture of someone?" she played with the tassels on her brown knee-high boots. "Is that why your euphoric power is what it is?"

She dared a glance at the driver, but his eyes betrayed him nothing. "That's a little personal, don't you think, Kagura?" There was no hint of offence in his deep voice, but rather warning. "If you want to know what goes on down in my pants you could just ask."

Kagura's cheeks lit up like Christmas day, glowing hot and red. "It's not like that!" she stuttered, her hands gripping harder to her pressed frock. Her mind mulled over the thought of his manhood at attention, his crystal eyes dilating, his throat seizing up. She imagined listening to his heart beat – oh, how it raced. Did it race for her? Is that what had happened when she had leaned forward and captured the most personal experience he had to offer the night they had met?

She shook her head – she could hardly remember the wrenching feeling in her gut as the guards pulled her away from him. She remembered the tear, and she remembered licking spare saliva from her lips. And smiling… she had smiled.

"I'm just assuming, but you seem to know what you're doing… I mean, kissing-wise." She mumbled, her bangs fluttering. His jaw clenched, he seemed to be at an inner conflict with himself. Adulthood vs. manhood, it had always been a problem around her. He eased off the pedal and made a shoulder check, his eyes glancing at her pretty face as he went.

"I know you're a curious teenager," he started, his chest clenching, "But you're asking the wrong guy." He pursed his lips and his eyes flickered down to her bare legs, a sensation flowing over him that raised suspicions about his own self-control. "I'm an old guy."

"That's exactly why I'm asking you," she added quickly, staring directly at his bristling facial hair, his scruffy haircut, his dark eyes – and he could feel it like a hot iron. "I figure you've got to know what you're doing by now…" She felt a strange panting rising up from her lunges, it was now or never.

She had to know.

"You shouldn't distract the driver." He chuckled. Her determined gaze never left him and soon it filled him with unease. Sighing heavily, he turned to face her. "I've kissed plenty of women in my life, Kagura, but if you're asking me what happened the night we kissed – Kagura, I just don't know." He pulled the car to the left and onto a dirt road. The car bumped along like a chariot and Kagura, to her dismay, could not stop her mind from entertaining the idea of bumping on top of Saiga.

She stayed silent, her lips pursed, gut clenched. "Well then, maybe we should try it again."

The car hit a bump and his surprise threw him off. "Kagura," he faltered, "We can't. It's illegal." And he knew very well that that was the only thing standing in his way of the little girl beside him. No matter how much he tried to hide it around her, it was difficult to stay away from the subject of his dreams. The perfect subject…

"I don't care if it's illegal, Saiga…" She mumbled, her emotions getting a hold of her rational thinking. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about our kiss since it happened…" Her face turned a bright pink and she turned away from him, her nails making little holes in her gown. "I can't help myself…"

Saiga shivered and swallowed deeply, pulling the car over under a large tree, miles away from the main road. The sunset lit up the car with beautiful orange shadows, and he prayed this would be quick and easy. He felt the overwhelming impulse to kiss her – again – here and now – with her bright pink face and her little dress and the peachy incandescence that illuminated off her skin in the setting light; to do everything he had ever wanted to do for a woman right there. But he could not, and he knew that. He could risk losing everything… And so he kicked away his compassion with a punt from the rational side of his brain.

"I don't think of you that way, Kagura."

She turned to him, her eyes full of pain and confusion. She was shivering despite the summer heat, her breath auditable. "You're a liar." She bit, her eyes shaded. "You're a liar and I know it." Her eyes flicked downwards to his trousers and he almost died of shame. His tight black pants were only barely containing a large bulge.

Saiga could not think of a way out of this one. No matter what words he splattered around, smeared and shoved down her pretty little throat, there was no denying what was speaking out of his trousers. His duck was cooked. He cleared his throat and turned off the car. Kagura reached toward him, her knees shaking. She took his hand in hers and twined their fingers; his rough, warm skin sliding between her soft, milky digits.

"I thought you promised to stop lying to me." She whispered, her voice sounding reassured from the protruding erection that was in-between the two of them. He recoiled at her touch, the sensation electrifying him in every place imaginable. His mind wandered to his camera lens, looking at her naked shoulders through it… her naked back…

"Kagura…stop." he mumbled, a foggy look in his eyes. She brought her knees onto the seat and lowered her body weight on her forearms, one on the dash, and the other on his shoulder. "It's okay…" she mumbled, "be still." The last rays of light tickled her hair to a fiery red and she licked her lips… just as she had the first time…

He shook in his seat and never let go of the steering wheel. He had to stop it. This was wrong. The first time never should have happened, and by God the second time should be prevented. But he could feel the warmth of her breath on his face and it rendered him limp. Her forehead rested upon his gently and he gulped - his hands sweaty, leg bouncing up and down, and he heard her snort softly. "I thought you said you were good at this…"

He saw his life flash before his eyes. The battle fields, the death. It was thrilling. The way the camera lens glinted against the spray of bullets and the way the soldiers had taunted him for his arousal. It had been all part of the job. But this – this right now, with Kagura, this hadn't been part of the plan. This wasn't part of the job. He had been sent to photograph her in the club – get in, get out – but now, here he was, doing anything but his job…

Her fingers cupped his whiskery cheeks and she sighed into him, her eyes fluttering in the heat. "It excites me how old you are, you know." She mumbled. Her voice was not dripping with the sensuality; maybe, Ginza's would have, but rather with a nervous reality. It was driving him wild. Her face hovered inches from his but she only breathed him in, the Goddess was breathing him in.

He immediately resented himself for such thoughts, but he felt acutely special that the Goddess herself wanted him, and only him.

Inexperienced, he observed as she shook lightly, but fucking professional at turning me on. Is this really a kid I'm dealing with?

Being around her in the past had been the ultimate test of self-control, but only now did he understand why it had been so difficult before. Only now, with her sweet fragrance floating up into his face, drowning him in this feverish summer torridity, holding his head under water with this power that she could not begin to understand she had; and he understood the extent of what she held over him… he understood the consequences of letting a Goddess come so close.

It had only been a matter of time.

Saiga opened his eyes. His eyebrows glistened with sweat and his powerful jaw clenched with tension. The dying sun shimmered through his dark hair and right then – right then in that moment – she wished that she was the photographer. He was beautiful enough to eat.

Slinking past her into the backseat, he patted the leather there with a shifty glance and slouched in the corner of the car, pulling a cigarette out of his pants pocket. She felt self-conscious as she crawled into the back, her dress riding up dangerously high – and he had looked away. He had looked away for her. An uncontrollable the smile spread nervously across her demeanor.

She slid her back against the seat and watched a group of chitterling birds fly across the horizon. The sun was waving his last warm goodbyes and the moon waved her greeting. Kagura fixed her dress appropriately while he lit up. The glowing embers illuminated his strong features and she felt the heat rush to her neck and ears as he blew the soot out of his lungs.

His voice was careful and soft, "Why me?" She bit the inside of her cheeks and closed her eyes. "Why not ask a guy your age?" he pressed, another cloud of smog filling the cab of the blackening junker, "Someone not so… dangerous?"

Despite her best effort she could not look toward his eyes… those hypnotic, capturing eyes... She felt her emotions quite clearly, but putting them into words was an entirely different task. "I mean," he chuckled hollowly, "I mean I'm like the goddamn Big Bad Wolf. What's a lamb like you doing around me?"

Then she laughed. Those birds were chirping again… "I never looked at you as an age, Saiga." She watched his expression soften. It made her feel better. "I look at you as a person." Her arms folded across her stomach. "I like you as a person."

He nodded, his lips tightening into a line and his eyebrows rose. "Touché…" he mumbled and took another puff. She smiled despite herself for this triumph.

"That's all I see when I look at you." He admitted, flicking ash to the car floor. "I see a scared little teenager…hey, you know," he cut himself off, "I used to be just like you once, though." Then he took a glance at himself in the rearview mirror and laughed. "Keyword, used to."

Kagura glanced toward him and noticed that his eyes no longer had that exciting feral thirst in them. He was genuinely smiling at her, but with his eyes, the hints of age in his skin amplifying his gorgeousness. And even though she had read magazine articles time in time again against cigarette smoke, she breathed in deeply and bridged the gap between them, her head resting on his rock-hard chest.

He sucked in an involuntary breath and coughed against the smoke, but managed to keep his stature relaxed, his arm falling limply around her shoulders. "You're a funny kid, you know that?" he asked tensely and rolled down the window for her to breathe clean air. Her fingers trailed circles in the material of his button up shirt, "And you're awkward."

"Well… what do you want to know, anyway?" His libido was too carefree to be normal as he absently rubbed her arm. She blinked her eyes slowly. "Know what?" she asked. "You know, uh," he looked out the window, "what do you want me to teach you." She flinched at how crude the question came off and as she sat upright, was shocked to see his cheeks a glowing red, his eyes anywhere but hers.

Kagura pursed her lips and pushed her bangs off of her sudoric forehead, the heat getting to her. "I don't know how to make it… feel good." She admitted, her mind trailing venomously to her past – many disgusting men lapping at her face in such a way a bloodhound would be proud. She shivered, and he seemed to understand.

He sat silent for a long while, taking five or six drags at his biri in a leisurely fashion. "Come closer." He finally mumbled, his profile as still as a statue against the black-green sky. She scooted closer to him, her protector, but her nerves screamed at their proximity. "W-what do I do?" she asked foolishly.

He chuckled briefly, towering over her with his cigarette in one hand. The smoke swirled close to her face as he took her cheeks in his hands. "Be calm, Kagura." He whispered, his hot breath flirting with her – controlling her. She let his thumbs caress her temples and closed her eyes, willing the supremacy to sway in his favor.

"Follow me…"

The two leaned toward each other simultaneously; the giddy jumping beans within Kagura's stomach were enough to make her scream. She felt the flesh of his upper lip touch hers… and she timidly pushed him back a millimeter. "Saiga," she panted, her heart pounding like a war drum in the night, "W-where do my hands go?"

By a hair of his chinny-chin-chin, Saiga contained a chortle – was she serious?

He patiently took her wrists and placed them around his neck, ignoring the burning joy that was bubbling through his system. Their faces stayed perfectly still as he maneuvered around his cigarette. "There's just fine." He murmured. She nodded quickly and bumped noses with him by accident. He stayed still against her face, the heat outside becoming bearable with the absence of the sun. "Phase one," he spoke, excitement leaking into his tone. She closed her eyes tightly and leaned toward him, inch by inch…

His bottom lip was sticky with saliva and perspiration, and stuck to her bone dry lips perfectly. Perhaps, too perfectly – she pulled back for another kiss when they peeled apart abstractly. She felt her cheeks flush and quickly licked her lips, "Sorry…the heat…"

This time he laughed openly. "Relax…" he muttered and closed the gap. He felt the pulse in his veins warming up for the races. He had to beat down his eagerness with a figurative stick. Kagura focused on the scent of his musky, smoky body. His mouth tasted like coal and chocolate-wood, an odd mixture, but he tasted like Saiga, and she felt a swelling in her chest at the thought.

His hands moved to her back, and strategically he put his cigarette out on the leather seat without much damage. I'm not breaking this kiss for that; he mused and threw the butt out the car window. She opened her lips against his and he sighed into her wet delta, finally letting go. He knew it was wrong, but then again so was kidnap, and so was murdering people with your camera. He figured there was a lesser evil at work and surrendered to his will.

Kagura tightened her arms around his neck and held on for dear life – her hormones were howling at her and her mind was wailing – and somewhere in the silence of their lips molding together hotly and her world yelling at her from all angles, she felt her womanhood shiver. Her eyes shot open as the sensation sent waves of tingles through her butt and hips. Her eyelashes tickled his cheeks upon opening and he cracked an eye open in response. He felt her breathing uneven in her arms and he made an educated guess.

She dove back into him with renewed courage, desperate to feel that pulsing once more. His strong arms guided her backward, their lips moving together in a capstone manner, and laid her down on her back. She unlocked her arms around his neck and dug her fingers in the thick bracken of his hair, and he arched his back in response. Opening his mouth wider, tongue quivering in anticipation, he waited for her.

Kagura broke away from him in that moment and stared into the dizzy darkness. "I don't know what to do with my tongue…" she wheezed delicately. His senses were racing cruelly against his willpower and he shifted, parting her legs, careful of her dress, and slipping his torso on top of hers, resting his forearms on either side of her head. She squeaked.

"Shh," he cooed lovingly, "I'll show you."

Their mouths recaptured one other and he took the first dive. His tongue was moist and skilled, and instantly drove her to the brink of never-never-land. She moved hers timidly to meet, and was shocked to hear herself moan into his mouth before she could think. He reacted to her sounds with a response of more pressure. Their slippery muscles lapped at each other and she felt her heart burn rapidly on fire. And then it happened– he made a sound like none other her virgin ears had heard before. He groaned into her – but it was not simply a groan – it was the groan of a pride of lions in heat – it was the sound of every male on earth being cruelly taunted by Xochiquetzal herself – and he bucked his stiff erection against her bare leg.

She felt the radiating heat of his arousal on her skin and gripped his hair tighter, her vagina pulsing intensely in response. "Don't stop," she choked, her body grinding forward in search of his. His hips lifted in submission and then pressed against her once more, dragging along her legs and catching the hem of her sun-dress.

She had never felt so alive in her whole life.

"See," she gasped, "This is why I asked you." Her womanhood was leaking against her underwear and she had no greater desire than to be rid them. The silk was caging her against him, and in response, she was left in. Her hands traveled down her slim body and slipped underneath her dress – but his hands were instantly at her wrists, bounding them.

"No." he heaved.

She pinched her eyebrows lightly, "Why?" and asked faintly. He nuzzled her neck and placed gentle pecks there, never letting go, "Because I care too much about you, Kagura."

She was too intoxicated with sensation to question him, and allowed him the continuation to manipulate her limbs. "I'm not here to use you," he bucked into her once more, "I'm simply here to teach you, Kagura." She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned into his shoulder, her nails making their way back to his head, raking his thick hair.

"Faster."

And he complied.

The tip of his erection rubbed her leg once more and she bit her lip harshly, impulse throwing sense, "Rub me." Her voice was near begging, "Rub it against me." He froze in the night and she opened her eyes a fraction. His voice was thick with lust, "What?"

She had no room left for bashfulness, her body wanted his as a drought-laden land wanted water. Needed water. Her hands traveled down his neck, past his shoulders, and across his iron torso. She felt her fingers ablaze as they traveled lower still, slowly, timidly… and then she felt him - his throbbing, blood-engulfed arousal in her hands. He involuntarily pressed against her palm, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. She guided him gently toward her body until she felt him… all of him… hit her vulva.

He immediately went to work for her, pumping his hips in time with their ragged breath against her silk panties feverishly. She hissed into his ear and he buried his face in the crook of her neck; and she rasped against the pleasure, recoiled with the pleasure, "Take it out." She begged sweetly, "I want to feel it."

It took him mere seconds to open his fly and boxers, and then she felt a hot, thick rod running slickly across her lacy underwear. She used her arms to capture his lower back and grind their pelvises together – he was simply not fast enough, not hard enough, it never would be enough – with an unrivaled animalism. He jerked in heavy response and, in the heat of the moment, whined against her.

Her lips smashed against his in heated fever, but she felt his left hand move downwards toward his erection. He took hold if his member and abruptly poked her in the lower center of her mound – her entrance. She cried out into the night with carelessness as he rocked back and forth, his member attempting to push straight through the fabric of her underwear and into her tunnels.

And in that moment Kagura finally understood the euphoria factor that everyone had talked about – that everyone had raved on about, spend millions on, and had died for; because in this one moment – this one unforgettable moment – as she withered beneath Saiga with careless abandon, she understood the lesson he was trying to teach her, and she understood why God had made Man for Woman, and Woman for Man.

She gave into him freely, and he gave himself freely for her.

She couldn't have asked for a better teacher.