"I said that I'm in love with you, Lina."
The words reverberated through her mind and brought chills to her spine. She felt her eyes tear up as she realized that she had been waiting and hoping to hear him say them. There was no way she could doubt the intensity of his feelings. It was almost frightening how deeply he felt, and how deeply it touched her. How had she gone this long without acknowledging the truth?
It was true that she had known that he cared. He had proclaimed himself her protector, after all, promised to follow her for the rest of her life. When Hellmaster had taken him, she had realized then that she cared for him as well, in a different way than she cared for the others. But when had she fallen in love with him? It certainly didn't just suddenly happen yesterday. No, that was when she had recognized the feeling. She wasn't sure how she would have reacted to this knowledge a year ago, or even a day ago, but today, his declaration seemed to fill a missing spot within her. Somehow, now, knowing the truth of his feelings made her feel complete.
She smiled at him and aimed a mock-punch at his shoulder. "Took you long enough, Jellyfish!"
Gourry easily blocked her with an open palm then wrapped his fingers gently around her fist. "Now I'm sure that you're really Lina," he said with a smile that answered hers.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She pulled her fist away with a huff.
Gourry shrugged one shoulder. "Well, it's strange enough that you would offer to wash my back. But everything else . . . I was beginning to wonder."
Lina knew he was teasing her. And she couldn't resist teasing back. "You're right, it isn't like me at all." She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "I guess I shouldn't do too many unexpected things in one day," she sighed theatrically as she leaned forward to stand up.
Before she could even get her feet on the floor, he had pulled her back down and loomed over her. "Oh, no you don't! You think I'm going to let you get away now that I've finally caught you?"
Lina let out a happy little sigh. "I love you, Gourry."
He didn't answer, but he didn't need to. She could see it in his eyes. The happiness she saw there mirrored what she felt in her heart. It wasn't just the knowledge of their feelings for each other. It was also the fact that they could still joke around, that they still felt comfortable together, and that nothing had really changed. Well, almost nothing.
"Now, where were we?" Lina asked, placing her hand on his chest and slowly dragging it down, past his ribs and over his abdomen.
He caught her hand in his before she could progress any further. "About here, I think." He lightly stroked her side, starting at her breast and moving down over her hip.
Lina felt chills rush up and down her body in response to his touch. Her last coherent thought was that something was definitely going to change. Then she surrendered to the sensations Gourry was evoking from her body.
His mouth and hands moved relentlessly over her, and she heard him start to breathe harder. Occasionally he would moan softly, and the sound would go right through her, making her heart clench up and her own breath come faster. She could feel a hard knot of pressure forming in her center, and the growing urge for something she couldn't quite name.
Although she said nothing, Gourry seemed to sense her need. His hand moved lower, gliding over her abdomen and just over her pelvis, stroking her thigh and slowly moving to the inside. Lina opened her legs to him without even thinking about it, and then gasped as his fingers stroked the sensitive skin between the juncture of her thigh and body. She felt a melting sensation between her thighs, and an ache that grew more pronounced.
At some point, Gourry had pressed his body up against hers, and she could feel his skin on hers all along her side. One of his legs was draped over hers, leaving her with absolutely no doubt about his physical state. She opened her legs wider, pressing up against him. His breathing sounded harsh, and she knew that as much as she needed something, he needed it more.
"Now," she murmured breathlessly. "Do it now."
Gourry's head shot up. "Are you sure?" He choked out.
If anything convinced her, it was the strangled quality of his voice. She nodded. "I'm sure." She reached over to tug on his shoulders. "Do it now."
Lina could tell that he was still hesitating a bit, so to encourage him, she caressed one of his nipples, rolling it gently between her thumb and forefinger. That seemed to decide him, and he rolled so that he was over her, supporting his weight on his knees and forearms. As he positioned himself to enter her, Lina prepared herself for the pain she knew was supposed to come with a girl's first time. If Gourry realized that he was hurting her, he might stop, and she had come too far to stop now.
As he pushed himself into her, Lina did her best to relax. Clenching up would just make it worse. To her surprise, she felt no pain as he slid in, just a bit of discomfort, as it felt very tight in there. Gourry sighed in pleasure, and holding his lower body very still, he raised his head and stared into her eyes.
"Did it hurt?"
Lina shook her head. He stared at her for a moment. While holding her eyes with his, he pulled back and then pushed back in. Lina gasped. The feeling of him moving inside of her was beyond anything she had ever imagined.
"If it hurts, tell me, and I'll stop," he said gravely.
Lina studied his face as intently. He was very tense, and his expression was rather strained. She could tell this was important to him. "Okay," she whispered.
"I mean it, Lina!" He was close to the breaking point.
She pulled his head down and kissed him intently. "I know," she said when they parted. "It doesn't hurt right now, but I promise to tell you if it starts to."
Gourry hesitated a moment more, and then with a groan, he began to move against her. At first it was slow, and Lina thrilled at the power she felt at holding him between her legs, as he thrust against her. She lightly traced her hands up and down his sides, and over his back. Then his movements shifted and he started to grind up against her, from side to side. Lina stopped thinking about the power she wielded over him at that point. Her hands involuntary clenched down on Gourry's skin as she gasped audibly. Somehow, the way he was moving hit a particular spot, and Lina couldn't believe how good it felt.
At her gasp, Gourry stopped again and looked up. "Did it hurt?"
Lina groaned. "No!" She would do anything to feel that sensation again. "Don't stop! Do it just the way you were!"
Gourry started moving against her again, and Lina forgot everything except the two of them right there at that moment: the feel of his body moving against hers; of his muscles tensing up beneath her hands; the sound of his breathing as it quickened; the growing sense of pressure centered just between her legs; the feeling that something was building; the anticipation of release.
When the release came, Gourry experienced it first. The way he called her name and stiffened with a groan, holding still for just a moment, and then relaxing totally, it brought her a great deal of satisfaction, but not the same kind he had experienced. Lina wondered if that was it, and she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.
After a moment, Gourry kissed her, and then rolled over to her side. Compared to how tense he had been before, he seemed remarkably relaxed now, and that made her feel surprisingly happy. She smiled at him, and gently pushed back a lock of hair that had stuck to his sweat-sheened face. "It looks like you need another bath," she commented absently.
"Hmm, not just yet," he replied, propping his head up. "Maybe later."
"You mean there's more?" She asked in surprise.
Gourry regarded her quizzically for a moment, as if deciding how to answer. Finally, he smiled, but there was nothing gentle about it. It was a feral smile, the smile of a hunter. "Oh, there's more," he murmured.
He kissed her again, and it was different from before. The first time he had kissed her, it had been with an underlying sense of urgency. The last time he had kissed her, it had been gentle, very relaxed and undemanding. This time, his kiss was slow. His lips moved against hers, and his mouth opened slowly. It was a simple act, but somehow, the deliberate way his mouth moved against hers made her tense up, and she could feel her breath hitch in the back of her throat. This kiss was a promise of things to come, and she found herself anxiously awaiting the fulfillment of that pledge.
There was more to it than a simple difference in his kiss, however. She could feel it in the way his hands were stroking her body. Before, his every touch had been for her, but also for him, as he heeded the demands of his own body. Now, she could feel his entire focus on her. In some ways, it made her feel a bit uncomfortable, to be under such intent scrutiny. But mostly she reveled in it, in the sensations.
All his caresses seemed to be angling to one point, and she could feel the intense pressure gathering once again in the center of her pelvis. His hand paused at her abdomen, making slow circles, his fingers just barely touching her skin, as his mouth found her nipple. At first, he just flicked it with the tip of his tongue, then he paused briefly before flicking it again. Each time his tongue touched her it was a jolt that intensified the pressure. She found herself holding her breath, waiting for the next touch, and then gasping when she felt it. Finally, she could take this torture no longer, and she pulled his head down firmly to her breast with a ragged groan. It stopped the repeated jolting, but the feel of his mouth and tongue, and, oh gods, the suction, transformed the pressure into a full-fledged ache.
She didn't even realize that she was thrashing her head from side to side, or that her breaths were coming as gasps. All her awareness was focused on the feeling of his mouth on her breast.
The hand that had paused at her abdomen resumed its downward journey, and abruptly, Lina's attention focused on it. She held her breath when Gourry placed his hand over the hair that grew between her legs. She continued to hold her breath when Gourry lifted his head from her breast. He stared into her open eyes, and she felt suspended between moments in time. The feeling shattered when he slipped his fingers inside of her, and his thumb found that spot. She had thought it felt good when he had been grinding against her. It was nothing compared to what she felt now. It was as if there was a direct connection between the place he touched with his thumb and the aching pressure within.
Lina felt as if she were expanding, growing larger. Or maybe it was the pleasure that she was feeling that was expanding, moving beyond a body too small to contain it. At the same time that she was expanding, she was also focusing down to one point, a point that was growing more taut with every passing moment. She raised her hips instinctively, moving against Gourry's hand and feeling that she was at the edge of a very deep chasm. Only one more push, just a thrust in the right spot, and she was falling off the edge into the abyss.
How long she fell, Lina had no idea. When awareness returned, she found that her legs were clenched almost painfully tight around Gourry's hand. Somehow, she forced herself to relax, and she took a long shuddering breath as she rolled onto her side, facing away from Gourry. Now that she was no longer falling, Lina felt as if she were floating. It was like she had become insubstantial and no longer needed to breathe. And then, even that feeling passed, and she was just Lina again.
Lina opened her eyes and stared at the wall. "That was incredible," she said breathlessly.
Gourry didn't respond right away. "Yeah, for me too." He snuggled up close to her so that their hips were touching, and he stroked his fingers gently over her side.
Lina hummed in pleasure. Somehow, his touch seemed to complete her.
After a moment he stopped. "Your hair is tickling me," he said plaintively.
Lina giggled at his tone of voice. She reached back and bunched her hair into a crude knot. "How's that?"
"Mmm, better . . ."
"Well, how about this?" Lina lifted her hair so that it spread out over the pillow above her head.
"Perfect," Gourry replied with a contented sigh. His hand reached around her to cup her breast and his body relaxed against her. There, in the circle of Gourry's arms, Lina felt warm and safe. She also felt loved, and closer to him than she had ever felt with anyone.
"Gourry?" She asked after a moment.
"Hmm?"
"Remember when we first met?"
"What about it?"
"Well," Lina hesitated a moment. "I wasn't glad then, when we met and you thought I was some kid. You kept going on about how I wasn't the gorgeous stacked babe you were hoping for."
"I did?" Gourry sounded surprised.
"Yes, you did," Lina replied with some heat.
"Hmm. Maybe if you didn't wear that yellow thingy, I wouldn't have mistaken you for a skinny kid." His thumb moved against the side of her breast as if to emphasize his words.
Whether it was deliberate or just a quirk, Gourry had said the right thing to deflect Lina's ire. For a moment, she forgot what she was saying. Then she remembered. "Well, anyways, I'm glad now. That we met."
Gourry's hand tightened for a moment, and then it relaxed. "I'm glad, too," he whispered. "I'm glad, too."