SANCTUARY

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Kigo fic written from Kim's point of view.
Disclaimer: KP does not belong to me.

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THE WORLD IS ON FIRE.
I can't see, but I can hear the flames leaping and sizzling and crackling all around me. There isn't any place I can go.
I'm lying on my side. I don't know where I'm injured, but it hurts everywhere. I can't even stand up. When the flames close in, the world will no longer have its savior--me. Ron is gone; I sent him back to Middleton because I didn't want him hurt. Now I'm going to burn alive and there is nothing I can do about it.
I hear footsteps. I must be hallucinating. Maybe I have a concussion.
Whoever it is bends down towards me. I feel someone's warm breath on my neck. "Hurt yourself, Kimmie?" A voice whispers.
It's Shego. I feel my heart start to pump harder, blood coursing faster through my veins. While Shego and I are fighting, this always happens...my pulse hammers, my adrenaline surges, and my sweat glands whip into overdrive. It never happens in any other fight, only with Shego. I used to think she was just a tough opponent; I had to try especially hard to beat her. But then, part of me would want to throw her to the ground and grind her ribs into dust, and part of me would want to pin her to the wall and press my lips to hers, and feel her tongue caress mine.
But Shego hates me, with as much passion as I feel the opposite way. I'm sure she's going to kill me. I just hope she does it quickly.
Her long, pointed nails glide gracefully down my backbone. I tremble with the warm rush that her touch brings.
"It's heating up, isn't it, Kimmie? I'd better get you out of here before you catch fire."
One of her arms slides beneath my knees, the other under my shoulders. My head lolls into her shoulder, and I breathe deeply, taking in her scent, like a flower-laden breeze.
"Not that you aren't already on fire," she whispers into my ear. "You're beautiful. Kimmie, I want you." Her voice is filled with deep-rooted desire, but she speaks gently, and I know she won't hurt me.
She is walking now, and I can't see where she is going--my head aches if I open my eyes--but the roaring heat of the fire dissipates. I can hear Shego's heart beating calmingly against my chest.
Shego carries me for a long time. I lose track of how long. I concentrate on how her breath flutters my hair, and how her one hand tightens on my shoulder, bringing me closer to her. I had no idea she felt the same way about me as I do about her, and I have no idea what she is going to do to me now, but as long as she doesn't kill me, I don't care what she does. There's nothing I can do, anyway; I can't move, and I don't even know if I'm capable of speech. Shego can do whatever she likes with me.
Suddenly, I'm jolted; Shego's walking up a flight of stairs. She halts at the top.
"Can you stand, Kimmie?" she asks me.
I rake the leaves out of my throat. "No." My voice is weak and raspy.
She nudges my head gently. "I'll carry you then."
I crack my eyes open. It hurts, but I want to see where Shego has taken me. We're in a dusty, shadowy warehouse that I'm sure no one has set foot in for a long time. What are we doing here?
Then I see. There is a mattress on the floor. But unlike the rest of this environment, it is clean, and it even has sheets; deep, lush, forest green, a perfect color for Shego and I to be surrounded by as we lie close to one another.
Shego sets me down gently on top of the mattress. She removes the glove from her right hand and bends down, smiling, to caress my cheek. I close my eyes and shiver contentedly.
Now she lies down next to me. Instead of pulling the sheets over my body, she pushes them away from me. She sits up and slowly, longingly, runs her eyes up and down my frame. "Mmmm," she sighs quietly, diving into me, her mouth against the skin of my neck. Her hands massage my sides, so tenderly it makes tears drip down my cheeks. I can feel her nipping gently at my throat. Then, her tongue slowly explores the hollow of my neck. My lips part and I moan involuntarily.
She leans back and smiles. I shiver. Her expression is wicked, voracious, licking her lips. I'm her prey. She knows she has power over me. But I want to be the one pressing her into the mattress, I want to hear her moaning. I grip her shoulders with both hands and try to push her onto her back, but I'm too weak, and I ache all over. I give up and bury my face in her chest.
She is in control and we both know it. I don't care, she has me snared and I don't want to escape.
"You're in pain." She whispers. It isn't a question.
"It hurts all over." I whimper. It's true; a dull ache pounds everywhere in my body.
"I can fix that. Just relax," she murmurs gently. I obey; I unclench my muscles and close my eyes. I feel her stroking my hair, my neck, my arms, my sides, my back...I let out a sigh. Wherever she touches me, the pain dissipates.
"Better?"
I nod. I can't manage much else.
Now I feel her sharp, steely nails kneading my neck. The rhythm of her claws gets faster, harder, a crescendo of needles of pain. I feel her breath on my face and her nails hurt so deep, so good. I lie still. The skin of my neck breaks, and I feel blood oozing from the wounds. I gasp, letting out the pain.
"Good girl, Kimmie," she whispers. "You didn't fight me." She kisses my throat tenderly, her tongue lapping up my blood.
She grips me hard. I open the collar of her jumpsuit and press my lips to her neck to calm myself down; the softness of her skin is soothing. But half of me whispers that Shego could rip my clothes off...if she wants to, and the other half tells me gently to relax and drift in whatever Shego has planned for me.
I feel her fingers cup my chin. She tips my head up so she can kiss me.
Her lips are surprisingly gentle; her hands are wild, squeezing my waist so hard. But I love the roughness, the wildness, and I don't complain when the pressure between our mouths deepens and her tongue glides over mine unbidden.
She lets me go, and I inhale deeply. I'd forgotten I needed to breathe. "You loved that, didn't you, Kimmie?"
"Shego, not so fast, please," I beg.
She laughs softly. "Guess I need more self-control. Sorry, Kimmie."
"Did I hear that right? You just said you were sorry?" I whisper bravely.
She says nothing, just clutches my hip with one hand, hard enough to hurt. I get the message.
I keep my face nestled into her neck as both her arms circle me, holding me tightly so I'm not cold. I wrap my own arms around her waist. She kisses my hair and massages my back. "Kimmie, you have the silkiest hair," she murmurs.
Shego sits up and I roll onto my back. She bends over me, reaching for my legs, her fingers shaking like she's holding back. She strokes my thighs and goosebumps pop up along my legs. I'm glad I'm wearing long pants and she can't see the tiny bumps becoming erect on my skin. "I never liked cheerleaders...except you, of course. But prancing around in that adorable little cheerleading outfit seems to have shaped you nicely." She sits back and gazes hungrily at me. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen." she proclaims, lying back down next to me and holding on to me firmly.
I lay a kiss on her cheek. "I'm flattered," I sigh with a smile. I reach for her and she pulls me closer. I slip my arms around her back. "Shego?"
"Yes?"
"How did you know I wanted you so bad?" I whisper.
She tilts my head back and traps me in her gaze. "We have to make eye contact when we're fighting, right?"
"Mm-hmm."
She steals a kiss. "I could tell it wasn't hate in your eyes."
"You covered your feelings pretty well."
"That doesn't mean I don't feel the same way about you as you feel about me, does it?"
"Well..." but she commandeers my mouth. When our lips separate, I ask a different question. "Why now? Why did you pick now to open up to me?"
"You needed it. You were dying and you needed someone to help you."
"Thank you."
"Any time, Kimmie."
Any time. I love the sound of that. When I'm in trouble, when I need someone to comfort me, I can see her taking me away and holding me until I'm ready to face the world again.
I know I'm in ferocious trouble for staying away from home this long, but I let myself drift towards sleep anyway. Shego is still now, letting me fall asleep; she'll wake me when I have to leave.
But for now, I'm content to stay.

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A/N: I will continue working on "Veils of Secrecy."