Standar disclaimer applies

Your Spell

by

dancingfingers

I Choose You

Cold fingertips traced a line, or two, down her spine, oddly leaving heat in their wake. She shivered and arched her back, thrusting her chest into the chilly night. Hot, warm lips nibbled teasingly on her red earlobe, and she was torn between giggling or moaning or just slapping him for always making their spare time into a more... productive time. She had never imagined him, ever since she met him the first time, to be such an insatiable and passionate lover. He always appeared so cold, stoic, and unapproachable to her and everyone else. Then she remembered that one time Lin met Madoka in the office. His eyes had lit up and the corner of his lips had tugged upward in a soft, small smile—just for her.

I don't know why he even has interest in me, she closed her eyes and winced at the ache burning in her chest, I mean... I'm so plain compared to Madoka-san. And he is so... and Madoka-san is so...

A tear slipped out from her right eye, falling quickly to her cheek. Lin's knuckle, which was caressing her cheek at that point, stopped as he lifted his head from her neck and looked down at her face. He frowned at the stricken and completely sad face of his girlfriend. He quickly recounted what had happened, wondering whether he'd mistaken the faint, pleased sigh from her lips when he started his ministrations on her body. He shook his head then, because Mai had been so responsive and loving as always whenever they made love.

"Mai?" he murmured, still looking down at her, "What's wrong?"

She stilled, but said nothing. Instead, she pulled his hands away and curled into a ball, looking so small and vulnerable that Lin just wanted to reach out and envelope her in his strong arms.

When she still said nothing after a few tense minutes, the Chinese man eventually reached out for her and pulled her in his embrace, spooning her. "Airen..." he gently called, eyes shone with concern for her, "What's wrong?"

At his endearment, Mai finally broke into a quite sob. Lin turned her around so that she would face him, and gently rocked her back and forth. Warm tears trickled down his chest, and his heart broke slightly at the sight of her crying face. He had no idea of what had triggered her into a miserable state, but he had every intention to be there for her, to be her pillar of strength and her haven whenever she needed someone. One of his hand buried into her light brown hair, while the other rubbed soothing circles on her back. Lin dropped a few feathery kisses on the top of her head, then on her creasing forehead, and her temples at last to soothe her. After that, he pulled her body tighter into his as he nuzzled her hair lovingly, saying nothing as her cries began to subside.

"Do you..." she paused and hiccuped, "Do you ever..."

He nuzzled her again, his chest sending quiet rumble to her as he spoke, "Ever what, Mai?"

She shrugged one stiff shoulder. "...you know, regret this?" Mai asked, her voice small and uncertain.

Lin stiffened and frowned down at her. "Why would you say that?" he retorted sharply.

"I—I don't know, it's just..."

"What brings this, Mai?"

Mai's lips turned downward as a tear escaped from her eye. Lin grabbed her chin and tugged her face upward, scowling inwardly as he stared at the uncertainty in her eyes. "Do you think me so honorless, Mai?" he inquired, voice hard from his frustration. Had he not showing her enough of his love for her? Had he once shown her any disloyalty towards her? The man could barely keep the snarl coming as his mind ran into any possibility that Mai was planning to leave him. Never, he vowed to himself. She would be mine entirely!

She shook her head, eyes widening at the implication. "No! Why would you think that?"

His dark eyes bored into hers. "Then why would you ask whether I regret over this or not?" Had she not learned every gesture of his, she would have never picked on his growing irritation beneath his bland respond. "Have I been any less than loyal to you? Have I been a liar or a cheater to you, Mai?"

Her face flamed in embarassment. She looked away from him, eyes filled with guilt. "No, Koujo," she answered softly.

"Then why?" he asked in softer voice, sighing as she buried her face into his chest. "Do you regret this, instead?" he continued, all the while swallowing the bile rising to his throat at the thought. He had seen, hell, he'd been there as the third wheel—or fourth, if one counted the late Gene as the third person (or spirit)—when Mai had her feelings for Naru painted clearly on her face, on the way her tongue caressed his name whenever they bantered back and forth, the jealousy in her eyes as Masako smugly circled her arm around Naru's, or the small, almost unseen smile on that boy's face as he sipped Mai's tea,and to think that now... now that he finally had her in his arms, he sometimes still wondered of what he had done in his past life to receive such greatness in his present, and hopefully, also his future.

Does she still...?

She jerked her head, astounded at his foolish question. Why would I—she stopped then, as she realized that she had questioned him the same. The psychic turned her caramel eyes and stared into his dark eyes, flinching when she saw the hurt flashing in the dark orbs. "Never, Koujo." She kissed the area above his heart in apology. "Never."

"Tell me," he simply replied. His hands were back into their prior place, while he nuzzled her again and again, slowly melting her.

Mai took several deep breaths as she recollected her thoughts and emotions back into their respective place. The young woman looked up at his eyes (always watching, always seeking, always, always there for her) and down to his chest, where his heart (always beating, always soothing, always, always reminding her of whom it belonged to) was. Her eyes welled up in tears again, but this time they filled with tears of utter happiness she felt whenever she was with him.

"I love you," she said in a surprisingly steady voice.

He tightened his embrace in reply. "That doesn't answer my question."

Mai giggled. "No, of course not," she agreed. "I think it is just my conscience telling me that it has been a wonderful dream and I'd soon wake up and find you not in my arms but... another's." Her voice had lowered in volume as she spoke and fallen into a faint whisper as she finished.

Lin stopped combing her hair.

Mai held her breath in trepidation.

For several moments, all Mai could hear was silence. Even the rhythmic tick-tock of the clock above the fireplace was muted, as if Lin had cast a silence spell on their surrounding like any other time when he needed to meditate. Or the steady pounding of his heart near her ears that was always there to assure her that he was alive. Or—

Suddenly, he broke the silence with a laugh.

Not a quiet chuckle like he did in amusement or when she said something funny, but a true laugh that made his whole body trembled and his belly spasmed with the force of his laugh.

Mai gaped, her brain shut down at the rare sight and sound. Then she promptly smacked him over his chest. "Why you—!"

He held her hand in his, still laughing in earnest. "Mai," he wheezed. "What kind of question is that?" He smiled when his eyes caught the protest in hers and silenced her with a kiss on her forehead. "You... you think I would choose another, like... Madoka, for example?"

His girlfriend nodded, a sad pout adorning her lips. "Yes."

His gaze softened when Mai added, "I mean, I'm not smart like Madoka, or beautiful like her, or as—as cheerful—" she glared at the disbelief snort from Lin, "—as her, or as useful in research like her. I mean, I have to sleep to gather information for our cases and it will further annoy Naru because he always thinks I only want to slack off, and the others would tease me for that, and then I—I will be left with more puzzles because Gene thinks I'm so intelligent or genius like him and his brother to solve the case! How the heck am I supposed to do that! I never know any single thing about ghost hunting before in my entire life and just like that, they expect me to do the same? I was only a schoolgirl at the time! I only had focus on my education, on taking which part-time jobs to pay for my bills, on which boy I want to date, or—or—anyway, that was not fair! I—I—do you know how frustrated I got the entire time? I was... am useless, although the Great and Mighty Oliver Davis has declared me a laten psychic but didn't bother giving me at least a training or one or two books about it!"

Mai smiled bitterly. Somehow, she had not only told Lin about her insecurities of another woman but also of herself. She sighed heavily and pulled away from his hold, fully expecting him to see the real Taniyama Mai and disgusted to have her as his girlfriend.

To her surprise, he suddenly rolled their bodies so that he loomed over her. His eyes, dark and dangerous, glared down at her angrily. She averted her gaze to the side, but his fingers grabbed her chin and tugged her face forward. She could feel the hot breath puffing out of his mouth and the body heat radiating from his skin and the pleasurable tingle she felt in their close proximity.

"I'll show you how you worth." His voice deepened and roughened. She shivered. "I'll show you how foolish you are all this time. I'll show you..." He intertwined his hands with hers and settled himself comfortably between her legs, his member nudging at her inner thigh. "...why I choose you, Taniyama Mai."

That night, he showed her over and over again; of his feelings, of his thoughts, of his own insecurities, of his love, of his vow to her, and more importantly...

Of why he had chosen her among all the other women in the world.

Mai eventually got her sleep at dawn, snuggling at Lin's warm body, and chuckled as he gently asked her, "Do you see now?"

"Yes." She kissed him on his jaw. "Crystal clear."

Hey. It's been a long time. It surprises me to see e-mails from FFN whenever someone follow or favorite this story, I mean, it has probably been buried amongst the other, better stories in GH fandom! (To think that I never ask my beta to edit this particular story for you to read and YEAH IF YOU SEE ANY MISTAKES, I'M SORRY. I might edit 'em later in the future. It's embarassing to ask someone beta a lemon, you know, LOL. My betas would probably laugh and dismiss it, but it will still make me almost blush bashfully, if I have the capability of blushing, that is.) THANK YOU VERY MUCH EVERYONE!

Please excuse for the lame ending, or the lack of lime/lemon. I think it is high time for those two to clear any doubts about each other's feelings and whatnot. Besides, I can't possibly torture Lin forever for my own amusement... no matter how good it feels afterwards *grins*

Thank you for reading, and see you later in another one-shot!

-dee

Airen (爱人): spouse, sweetheart, husband, wife, one's beloved. From a little research I've done, I think Chinese people use any kind of endearment/pet names to their loved ones, and I decided to use this for Lin to Mai. Mai, however... since Japanese prefer to show their affection in action than words, I decided not to give Lin any, or else I'm going to call him Koujo-chan which I am sure Lin would curse me to hell regardless he is a fictional character or not. WHEN they get married, however... *giggles madly* I've always been fond of the word anata, wife's way to call their husband.

Please forgive the lack of my understanding of another culture.