Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or its characters.

Doubled

Prologue

By Lixia42

She was his. After careful planning, careful trap setting, the prey had fallen unwittingly into the predator's lair...the angel's wings had been caught in the demon's claws... When she was unconscious, he had taken care to dress her appropriately, breathing hard to not take her unresisting body then and there. He trusted no other to view her bared body. Only he would have the privilege of that.

He had selected a large loose white nightgown. White for a virgin, white for an angel, white for her delicious slim body, for her dark hair to shine against and her large blue eyes to open wonderingly upon... Oh yes, he had waited for this moment for a long time. Agonizing over it, impatient as he forced his features into pleasantness, into blandness, for that imaginary fool Kenshin in her daily routine, thinking all the while, "Soon, soon..."

But now the wait was over. The past was done and the tempting present had finally arrived. He grinned, picturing her trapped in his gloomy large bedroom, unable to escape, the pure sky caught within the sweltering earth's unconquerable gravity...

He opened the door to his bedroom. There she was, standing next to the bed, slim white form illuminated by the moonlight, looking graceful and beautiful and tragic all at once...and he would have her before the night was over.

"Hello, Kaoru," he whispered huskily. She flinched at the sound of his voice but then stilled. He stepped closer to her. Still she did not move. Wanting to get a reaction from her, he grasped her roughly to him, kissing her fiercely with all the pent up passion he had harbored for so long. She cried out, voice muffled. struggling against him but his arms pinned hers down to her side.

He let her go suddenly and she stumbled back, sitting down abruptly behind her on the large bed in the room. He breathed deeply, calming himself down. He would play gently with her. He would be tender so she could see how sweet he could be.

"I can be kind," he whispered, "or I can be cruel. It's your choice."

She cried silently on the bed, tears shining on her face, alabaster white skin glowing against the black silk sheets. She looked so innocent, so caught, so trapped...The white billowing nightgown hung loose on her slim frame, not allowing her to hide from the blackness. She was the light, swallowed in darkness, the darkness of the soul of her captor...

"Give in to me," he breathed, invisible hands slipping around her waist, gently, commandingly in the dim shadows, showing his kindness. "Give in to me," he breathed, as he pushed her softly to fall back upon the bed, kissing away the silent tears coursing down her face.

"No," she cried out, softly, the black silk of her hair spilling out about her head like a halo. If only she could fight her captor! If he were a tangible opponent in a fighting match, then oh how quickly she would defeat him! She hated being reduced helplessness, hated feeling spiking fear down her spine...she didn't know that she was trembling.

Feathery kisses brushed her face as the voice chuckled playfully above her. "You afraid of me, pretty one? How adorable!" it purred. He nuzzled her neck gently, breathing in the delicious scent of her body. She suddenly felt a heavy weight on all of her body, gasped as his face materialized from the shadows, lust darkened eyes raking over her loveliness. "You should be," a dark voice growled, different from the amused one before. She gasped, stomach clenching in fear.

He could sense her fear, reveled in it. Just as suddenly he sat up, playful twinkle back in his eyes, determined to be kind as long as he could control himself. "I'm here, a tangible opponent as you wanted!" he said gleefully. "Care to fight me, Kaoru?"

She shuddered. "You're not Kenshin. Leave Kenshin alone, Battousai!"

The Battousai chuckled mirthlessly. "But I am Kenshin," he murmured, leaning in close to her. "I always was Kenshin," he said, brushing his lips against the sensitive skin of her wrist. "Why do you think Kenshin was so protective...no, possessive... of you yet was careful to stay away? I am Kenshin, that's why. It wasn't time to reveal myself before."

Kaoru shuddered, her silky hair rippling about her as she clutched herself. Battousai's breath caught in his throat as he watched her breathtaking loveliness, watched her fire reduced to helplessness before him. "Mine," he muttered, crawling over her, control nearly shot.

She tried to push him off, but he gently caught her wrists above her head with one hand and continued to lower himself down upon her. "I'll never let you leave me," he said, trailing kisses down her neck. He sucked gently, nipping with his teeth as she moaned involuntarily. She could smell the musky smell coming from him, feel his hard body unrelenting as it pushed hers deeper into the mattress...

"No!" she cried, tears reappearing. "Stop, please!" He simply started to unbutton her nightgown, trailing more kisses down to her breasts.

She screamed when he took out a knife but he shushed and soothed her gently as he carefully cut away the bindings on her breasts. He couldn't help but give a small nick on the way back up though, and his eyes gleamed with a red haze as his mouth descended upon the small cut at her neck. Her blood was like a sweet aphrodisiac to him...his restrictions were gone, all he felt was wild abandon...

She moaned instinctively, one hand behind his dark head lacing into his hair as a haze descended upon her. When he had stopped his ministrations, she gave a gasp at how she had been urging him on and tried to quickly struggle away. "Don't," he growled, and forced her to still again, though her heart was frantically hammering against her chest.

When he had cleaned her small wound he returned his attentions to her breasts. He watched them heave in her panic, large and firm and voluptuous, and with a groan cupped one in his roughly textured hands and kissed it. "I have waited a lifetime to catch you," he breathed, lolling his tongue over one breast, one hand at the small of her back forcing her to arch into his mouth, soft cries coming from her, "a lifetime to claim you as mine. Fight me, Kaoru. Do it, now."

Kaoru acquiesced, struggled wildly, trying to escape his grasp as he pinned her down more forcefully against the bed. "That's it," he groaned, rubbing his hardened manhood against her as her struggles increased. He was so strong, she couldn't escape the cage of his body, the cage of his indomitable will that had lasted him through terrible things.

Her hands pushed desperately at his chest, gasping as she felt the corded muscles of his stomach and chest press harder against her. She was sweating now, tendrils of hair clinging to her face as she tiredly pushed against his chest still, determined to resist until the last. Finally, she hung limp in his arms, panting, able to resist no longer. His eyes held triumph as he surveyed her. They were glittering maniacally now.

"I've won," the guttural dark voice said. She whimpered. He was done playing nice with her. Roughly her robe was ripped from her. She cried out as he captured her wrists together above her head with a rough hand.

Lying upon her with all of his weight, Battousai grinned as Kaoru struggled again, fighting to breathe. He groaned and took her mouth with his, his tongue delving past her lips to taste the honeyed heat of her mouth. She cried out, arms straining to get out of their bonds and push him away. His skin was so hot, it was burning her!

"So long," he breathed, rocking his hips against hers and earning soft little cries that greatly aroused him. "I've waited so long. For you, sweet lovely...for you, who has tempted me for so long..."

He inhaled from the crook of her neck, detecting that faint luscious aroma that seemed to belong to her alone... She was his light in the utter darkness of himself, the precarious sanity at which he clutched desperately, loving with his entire being to the point of self- destruction...destruction of his own salvation...

"My light, my love...perhaps it is you who shall save my soul?"