A/N: Written for Renji's Birthday Challenge at the renjixrukia comm on LJ. Prompts used were: Rain and Hands. This is unbeta-ed, so please forgive and spelling/grammar mistakes, overusage of comas, and alliteration. Also, sorry if it reads like a cheesy romance novel towards the end. It's what I'm reading now, so I guess it managed to sneak in somehow.
She watched him as he smoked out on Urahara's Shop porch. She stood in the safety and shelter of the small building, while he stared out at the storm that surrounded them.
The steady tattoo of the rain hitting the roof created a calming rhythm, and the lightning would highlight his harsh features, making him all the more breathtaking.
He was leaning his shoulders on one of the porch posts, his lithe body tilted at an angle. And although she preferred to see him in his hakama, she liked him in his current outfit the best.
The jeans fit him perfectly, and the "Red Pineapple" shirt never failed to make her smile.
She watched him as he'd methodically bring the cigarette to his lips, inhale, and then exhale the smoke, the humidity making it hang around his head like a cancerous cloud.
She shook her head at the absurdity of the whole picture, and made her way over to him.
She wasn't surprised that he didn't jump as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He'd always known when she was around. It was like he had some kind of Rukia Radar. But she was surprised at how his body tensed as she put her arms around him.
It was as if all at once he couldn't decide whether to bolt, fight, or jump away. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him this jumpy, at least not around her, and she was beginning to wonder if this had been a mistake.
Renji recovered quickly, however, and she felt it as he forced his body to relax.
"You know, those things will kill you," she said quickly, trying to cover up the awkward moment.
He sniggered at her, as twin streams of smoke left his nostrils.
"I guess I should be used to it by now."
She smiled and leaned her head against the free side if his body.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked.
Thunder crashed, and bolt of lightning lit up the night sky. She felt him shrug. "Nothing much. Just watching the rain."
Rukia didn't say anything, but he felt her question all the same.
"I've always liked the rain," he continued. "The power of it, the energy, the peace that comes after it. The quiet it brings once everyone has scurried inside to get out of it, the ripples it makes as it hits the puddles, it's like it slows everything down as it charges it."
She chuckled at the end of his speech, making him tilt his head to see her better.
"What?"
"Nothing," Rukia said between giggles. "It just, when did you turn into a poet?"
She felt him tense once again, and immediately regretted her words. She watched his he took the final puff on his cigarette, haphazardly flicked it into a muddy puddle at the base of the porch steps, and had another one lit in what seemed to be one fluid movement. She could tell that the motion had become second nature to him, and assumed that he'd spent most of his nights here at the shop doing just this.
"What are you doing here Rukia?"
The chill in his voice made her wince, and she chose her next words very carefully.
"I…I knew that Urahara left you here alone to watch the shop, and I thought you might want some company."
She didn't think it was possible, but his body wound up even tighter, and she was afraid his muscles would snap if he didn't relax.
"That's very thoughtful of you, but you don't have to stay here for my sake. I'm used to being alone. Why don't you go and bug Ichigo for a while, huh?"
His coldness definitely shocked her, and she pulled away from him with wide eyes and a hammering heart.
"Because I…I…"
"You what, Rukia?" he asked as he turned around to stare her down. His face was a mask, and his eyes didn't give her a clue as to what he was thinking. She'd been able to read his face as well as her own at one time, but he was a mystery to her now.
She decided he'd been spending too much time with Byakuya.
"I'm here because I want to be," she said at last.
A harsh smile slashed across his face as he took another puff.
"Really? You're here 'cause you wanna be. Are you sure that's all you want little girl?" he asked as he advanced on her, backing her up against the sliding screen door.
Nervously, Rukia closed her eyes and looked down, clenching her fists. She both loved and hated that he was able to see through her. He knew why she was here, and he knew what she wanted, but he was trying to intimidate her, scare her out of it, and she wasn't going to stand for it anymore.
Looking up into his familiar face wearing an unfamiliar expression, she stood up a little straighter and did her best to look him square in the eyes.
"Yes, I want to be here, but no, that's not all I want." She inched closer, hoping he wouldn't notice her shaking legs and hands.
His eyes never leaving hers, he flicked the cigarette away and grinned wolfishly at her.
"So what is it you want, Rukia?" he all but purred her name.
She took a deep breath, and told herself it was now or never.
"This," she said as she leapt up and threw her arms around his shoulders, pressing her lips to his.
He tasted slightly bitter at first, but she was soon able to taste beyond the smoke, and down to the heady maleness that was all Renji.
It was shock more than anything else that made him impassive, but after a few seconds of Rukia's playful nibbling, he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, and opened his lips to her.
Mouths melded and tongues clashed and time seemed to stand still.
But Renji was shaking his head as he pulled away for air.
"We can't do this" he said through gasps. "I told myself that this wouldn't happen, not until I beat Captain Kuchiki."
Rukia let out an exasperated sigh, and grasped his ponytail with one hand, pulling his head back so he could clearly see her face.
"Renji, do you want to sleep with my brother?"
Shocked, he almost shouted his answer, "NO!"
"Good, then shut up and kiss me."
His eyes darted to her mouth, then her eyes, then back down to her mouth again.
Rukia held her breath, waiting for him to either pull away, or finish the game she'd started. She could practically see the battle going on in his head, his face an open book to her now.
And she smiled with elation as he growled, "To hell with it," and crushed his lips to hers with unbridled desperation.
She kissed him back enthusiastically, her tongue exploring his hot mouth, shivering from the energy that was flowing between them.
And his hands, his wonderful hands that she'd fantasized so often about, were everywhere. Framing her face, roaming her back, and kneading the soft flesh of her thighs.
She left a trail of kisses along his jaw and down to his neck, nipping at his tattoos. He groaned and shuddered under her ministrations, and she knew he was enjoying this as much as she was.
"I've always wanted to know," she said between bites, "just how far down your body these tattoos go."
Renji sucked one of her earlobes between his teeth as he answered.
"I'll just have to show you then won't I?"
He quickly turned around backed into the odd shop, still carrying Rukia as he stumbled into the room that was temporarily serving as his.
As soon as the door slid home, Rukia's small hands began to impatiently tug on his shirt, anxious to feel his skin.
He carefully set her down on the floor, and laughed as she struggled and stood on her toes, trying to get his shirt off; an impossible task for someone as small as she was. Winking, he bent over slightly and let her pull it free of his arms.
He was back on her in a second, slanting his mouth over hers and pulling her close.
His hands were a stark contrast to his mouth. Where his lips were eager and hungry, his hands were slow and smooth. He gently began to pull up the hem of her dress as he feasted on her lips, her neck, any and everything he could taste.
She shivered as inch, by delicious inch, her skin was exposed to the cool night air, the storm outside nearly as powerful as the one between the two of them.
Renji molded her small breasts in his hands, and Rukia ran her trembling fingers over the hard lines of his body.
Unable to wait any longer, he fell to his mattress on the floor and pulled her down so that she landed on top of him. His mouth sought hers again as his clever fingers reached up and began to play with the tender flesh of her feminine folds.
She moaned into his mouth as her hand snaked between them and ran it down the length of his quivering shaft.
"Please Renji," she whispered.
He growled in response, and before Rukia could complain about the absence of pressure between her legs, he thrust into her in one swift stroke.
She cried out as he stretched her, and filled her so perfectly. So completely.
Each rock of his hips was punctuated as he moaned her name into the soft skin of her neck.
"Rukia…Rukia…"
And when at last they lay together sated, panting, sweating, and stripped of all clothing, excuses, and pretenses, Rukia turned to face her lover, her rock, her best friend, and lazily whispered, "Happy Birthday, Renji."
She felt his chest rumble as he laughed, "Go to sleep."
"You know," she said as she yawned, "I never did get to see just how far down your tattoos go."
Renji pulled her closer and she snuggled into his warmth, his breath tickling her ear as he answered.
"Then we'll just have to try this again in the morning, won't we."
If you're a readin', please be reviewin'. But please be kind. I really, really, hate writing smut, but I figured I'd give it a shot for Renji's birthday.
Much love,
FemmePhantom