Title: Shukaku Love

Author: paws_bells

Beta-ed by: MelissaRose85

Characters/Pairing: Haruno Sakura and Sabaku no Gaara

Type: Continuous (InComplete)

Genre: Romance/Humor

Word Count: 6400

Rating: M (Contains content suitable for mature teens and older) Explicit content ahead!

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.

Summary: She should never have extended her help to him. It was supposed to be a simple healing but it was anything but. Now he was chasing her around the countryside in his bestial form and she still had no idea what she had done to merit his attention.

Chapter Last Revised on: 31/05/09

Chapter Twelve

It was the harsh light streaming through the windows that woke Sakura sometime around noon. The kunoichi tried her best to cling onto the last vestiges of sleep but to no avail. The temperature outside was nearing its zenith; she was beginning to overheat and—

Sakura groaned in discontent and cracked her eyes open reluctantly. She was immediately greeted by the blindingly bright atmosphere and quickly closed her eyes again. Why weren't the curtains drawn shut?

At the same time, the groggy female made a halfhearted attempt to wriggle away from the loose embrace of the man lying beside her. Dazedly, she was somewhat surprised that he was still here; he was normally gone by the time she woke up. Then, she remembered that his duties for the day were being taken care of by his siblings, leaving him free to do whatever he pleased.

And it appeared that he was quite content to remain as he was, lying in late and enjoying the fact that he didn't have to worry over every little village issue, if only for a little while.

Sleek, muscular biceps tensed instinctively as he prevented her from slipping away from him, and he was so near to her that she could feel the steady rhythm of his quiet breathing, the puffs of air that caressed the side of her neck each time he exhaled. Sakura was loathe to open her eyes again; she hummed a sound of lazy irritation at her failed attempt to separate from him in order to cool herself off and relaxed reluctantly when he ran his hands slowly over her slightly dampened, perspiration-slicked body. He really wasn't helping much; Gaara felt a lot warmer than she did, but the feel of his callused fingers rubbing against her bare skin made her arch into his talented hands and whimper with unconscious delight.

Damn, but he was ridiculously good at this, and her poor body had been feeling quite sore after continuously being kept in that living room for the past days.

A small, husky moan escaped her throat as his fingers dug deliciously into a set of particularly tight muscles, and she forgot promptly about trying to get away from him. She let out another low keen, slightly glazed emerald eyes opening, half-lidded, her vision clearing slowly to watch the intent expression of her mate as he worked his magic on her with his firm, steady hands. He noticed her attention immediately, and those impassive eyes of his slid over to meet hers. She was, belatedly, aware that she was clad in only her undergarments, but somehow, she could not bring herself to care about her attire too much. Instead, she chose to lean her head against his chest, and nuzzled the side of his neck in a show of thanks—and affection.

He paused for a brief moment, and when he started to move again it was to bend his head down to deliver a long, wet kiss on her bare shoulder. His action surprised her somewhat; he hadn't kissed her since they came to Suna, hadn't behaved inappropriately around her, hadn't even tried to force her into doing anything she wasn't ready for. He had been a perfect gentleman with her, but surprisingly enough, his current display of affection did not discomfort her at all. On the contrary; she remained at ease and relaxed even as his tongue flicked out to taste her better, and he worked his way languidly up the slender curve of her neck, nipping and licking her tender, sensitive skin with careful accuracy and successfully dragging out a quiet whimper from her.

Her lack of protests was his largest incentive to proceed.

His hands never stopped caressing her, and she soon found herself flat on her back as he hovered less than an inch above her, his mouth working busily on the curve of her chin, the side of her lips, but not claiming her right away. Despite herself, she was getting frustrated over his blatant neglect; though an afternoon romp with him in bed was certainly something she hadn't planned on having in the first place—but what the hell.

She had been on edge without even noticing it, and the way Gaara was touching her was only making her feel even more intense and urgent.

'Damn it!' Inner Sakura screeched. 'Why wasn't he kissing her? Just kiss him already!'

He was surprised by the small, impatient growl that came out from her throat, as well as the mildly annoyed light gleaming in her verdant eyes. Then she reached up, grabbed his head before he could react, and then pulled him towards her. Their lips met in an intense, open-mouthed kiss, and she quickly wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, automatically aligning her body to his as she tilted her face up and assaulted him with as much fervor as she could manage.

He was right; his mate, his little lioness, was fiercely aggressive when she wanted something.

And right now, she wanted him.

The savage flare of satisfaction that thrummed through his veins was simply unmistakable. She was not resistant to the notion of intimacy with him, and right now, he was more than happy to acquiesce to her forceful demands. He pulled away from her voracious lips slightly, at the same time his hands traveled down to her waist, gripping her firmly and holding her in place even as he settled himself over her. She accepted him with raw abandon, nipping his lips hard and daringly raising her hips to meet his.

A husky groan escaped his lips as he bore down upon her to keep her from wriggling around but she merely arched and pressed herself against him. A languorous look glinted in her eyes as she stared at him, and then she reached up slightly to kiss him again, pulling his bottom lip into her luscious mouth and sucking lightly against his flesh. Sakura was feeling gloriously bold, and that bemused, heated gaze of his only served to encourage her sudden wild streak.

She liked it when he looked at her with those intense jade eyes, when he gave her his full, undivided attention. It made her feel as if she had the power to accomplish anything…

Maybe even bring him to his knees.

The thought excited her; she wanted him to feel the same way she did, unleashed and aroused and so very possessive of him. And—

"You are mine." His low whisper made her spine tingle as he said it against her lips, and then those sinfully talented hands of his started to move across her aching body. She let him cup her breast through her bra, and watched his expression as he looked at her. He didn't seemed satisfied with the barrier that prevented him from caressing her silky flesh, and when he started to push her bra up to free the soft globes from their confines, she helped him. Unlocking her arms from around his neck, she reached behind her to unclasp the undergarment, allowing him to remove it from her torso and toss the delicate material to the side. It was quickly forgotten as he stared at her exposed breasts. She started to feel slightly self-conscious as he continued to look at her, but one glance at those glazed jade orbs instantly made her feel like the most desirable woman on earth.

She liked that feeling very much, and liked it even more because he was the one giving it to her.

He cupped her with both hands this time, the rough calluses on his palms making her gasp involuntarily as they brushed across her sensitive nipples. Her eyes darkened, and she watched as he weighed her carefully with those large hands of his, almost as if he was afraid of hurting her accidentally. The fact that he was being so ridiculously cautious with her endeared him to her further, but he had to know that she was a lot tougher than he thought.

Gaara's brows lifted in surprise when her hands came up and curled around his. Their eyes met, and then she guided his hands to squeeze her willing flesh, licking her succulent lips as she allowed him to push her breasts together enticingly and knead her a little harder than he would have.

"I'm not going to break, Gaara." Her voice was breathy. Then she made him release her, and he watched with hungry eyes as her pert breasts bounced back, apparently unharmed, her nipples peaked and pouting with arousal, ready for another go.

"Touch me like you mean it."

She was pushy when she didn't get what she wanted, but he was more than willing to fulfill her wishes.

Sakura almost regretted it when her deceptively mild-mannered and usually composed mate lunged for her suddenly, and she winced inwardly in surprise when he proceeded to fondle and touch her abruptly. He seemed to have an unusual fixation with her breasts, rolling her delicate pink nipples almost painfully between his roughened thumbs and making her toes curl while he was at it, massaging her rounded flesh and making her whimper with growing enjoyment.

Then he put his mouth to good use, and Sakura nearly went wild in his arms.

Enveloping a nipple completely in his mouth, he sucked and nipped her hard, eliciting loud gasps from her throat and making her clutch at him tightly. His fingers continued to play and tease her other breast, and then he released her darkened peak with a loud 'pop', nudging his nose against her sweet smelling, strawberry scented skin until he reached the underside of her full, heaving chest. He proceeded to lick the sensitive flesh, and when her breath hitched, he scraped his teeth lightly against her.

Sakura closed her eyes, and moaned helplessly. All the attention that he was piling on her breasts was making her womb throb and contract with increasing pressure. The kunoichi squeezed her thighs together in a vain effort to relief some of her sexual discomfort, but it was to no avail. The fact that Gaara appeared completely content to feast upon her pert chest and nowhere else was not helping matters at all, and the more he played with her breasts, the more urgent she felt.

Desperate.

At the moment, her mate was avidly showing his appreciation for her beautiful breasts by planting love bites all over said area. She was just right for him. She was not overly voluptuous like her sensei, nor was she completely devoid of curves like some extremely…streamlined kunoichi he knew. Her breasts filled his palms to perfection, like a pair of ripe, juicy peaches, just for his enjoyment. And enjoy them he did.

It was becoming increasingly apparent to Sakura that her mate was definitely a 'breast' man.

However, as much as she enjoyed his enthusiasm over her chest, there were also other parts of her that were demanding his attention.

Sakura tried to cue him subtly at first; she shifted under him in an indication of discontent, though she tried her best not to look at what he was doing. There was something very erotic about the way Gaara looked whilst caressing and kissing her breasts, and just watching him made her feel more damp and excited than she already was, and so Sakura tried not to stare.

The fact that she could feel everything he did to her really wasn't helping that particular endeavor along. Still, Sakura kept her eyes firmly on the ceiling, and when it didn't seem like Gaara had cottoned on to her needs, she frowned slightly and started to rub herself against him, arching her hips to his and keening softly, trying to convince him to bring his attention further south.

Imagine her squeak of outrage when he actually put his hands on the curve of her hips to still her!

Sakura had enough of being subtle; did he need a glaring neon sign to point him downwards?!!

It was apparent that she had to do everything herself.

With an irritated sigh (but not that irritated), she reached down to where one of his hands was at the moment, grabbed him, pried him off her hip, and tugged his arm downwards to rest his fingers between her parted thighs, right upon her panties. He finally deigned to lift his face from her distracting, heaving chest to look at her.

His light green eyes were darkened to a shade nearly like hers, and she found herself licking her lips when their eyes met. He looked so hungry.

His hand was relaxed under her control, and she maneuvered his fingers just so that he touched her through the dampened lace. Her reaction was instantaneous. Her brilliant eyes lowered to a lazy half mast; she bit her lower lip in reaction to the slight pressure at the entrance of her sensitive core, and her hips bucked involuntarily into his hand. A low, throaty moan vibrated from her chest, and her face started to flush even more.

His gaze narrowed slightly as he watched her sensual reaction. The scent of her growing arousal was sharp and heady in his mind, and then she looked at him coyly from under long, dense lashes.

"Touch me here," she whispered huskily. "Please."

For a brief moment he just looked at her, looked at her with those beautiful eyes of his. Normally blanked and apathetic, they were now filled with so much desire, just for her. His intense gaze made her tremble with want and anticipation, and then he drew nearer, slowly eating up whatever space was left between them, his fingers still pressed against her most secret place. He was straddling her now, his knees by the sides of her hips, his hand starting to rub her there. Her eyes fluttered close, a whine escaped her, and she started to move instinctively against his palm. Her face was upturned to his, and he bent down, drinking lazily from her lips. She parted her mouth in response, inviting him generously into her honeyed depths. The kiss was slow, wet, languid. His free hand came up to claim her breast, and this time he only kneaded her flesh absentmindedly whilst she moaned into his mouth, her own hands drifting upwards to run restlessly across his back and into his dusty, red hair.

They were both perspiring. The temperature was outrageously high at this time in Suna, and their…activity wasn't helping in cooling them down whatsoever. It didn't seem to matter to the both of them, and they hardly noticed their sweat-slicked bodies. She let out a sudden sharp gasp when his fingers roved over to the edge of her panties, and then slipped deftly under it. The rough pad of his thumb found the little sensitive mass of nerves that gave her so much pleasure almost immediately, and she clenched her fingers helplessly into his hair as he probed his index finger carefully into her tight, slick depth.

Her approval was apparent. Her hips arched into his fingers before she could control herself, and she contracted around him in a manner that made him growl softly with lust. His thumb continued to exert an addictive pressure against her clitoris, and then he slowly dipped yet another finger into her, past the sensitive folds of her vulva, and into her muscular, damp passage, which he physically ached to be in.

She was panting by the time he had both fingers in her, and he, too, was breathing hard as he looked down upon her flushed, aroused features. Her sleek thighs were grasping him as best as she could, trying to hold him in place whereas her tight, hot channel squeezed his fingers hard, almost as if trying to milk this substitute dry. In reaction, her mate reached down for her and kissed her hard, and then he began to pull out of her slowly, only to slide his digits back in when she whined in protest.

He groaned softly as well; she was so sleek and wet and ready for him!

But he could not take her now.

Not yet.

That didn't mean she had to suffer just because of it, though. He would help her find fulfillment, even if he couldn't attain it himself from her body. She had turned to him for physical release; he would give it to her, and it would serve to strengthen their bond even further. A rather advantageous situation, either way he saw it.

There was a sense of growing urgency on her face as he continued his sensual ministrations on her body, her hips jerking in tandem with his hand as he pressed against her, stretching her carefully with his slightly spread fingers and eliciting a strangled whimper of pleasure from her. His thumb continued to draw firm circles around her stiff little bud, and slowly, he could feel her orgasm begin to build up within her body. The signs were all there; she was beginning to stiffen, her eyes were cloudy and glazed with lust, her delicate features were twisted in a most alluring display of passion, her fingers were clenched tight against his scalp and shoulder, and last but not least, her soft whimpers were escalating to full out, throaty moans as she rocked herself needily against him.

Sakura could hardly see the handsome redhead currently half lying on top of her. She was being bombarded by so many sensations—enjoyable, pleasurable sensations—that she could hardly think straight. Yet she was still dissatisfied, reaching blindly, instinctively, for an ultimate climax that her mate was attempting to give to her. The way Gaara was touching her made her yearn for more, yearn for him, and his talented fingers were only barely enough to satiate her wild cravings at the moment. Her body shook and strained as she tried to move with the rhythm of his fingers, and she bit her lips hard as the knot in her womb seemed to grow tighter and tighter.

Anytime soon.

He looked at her writhing form, reckless and in complete abandon, as she strove almost frantically for her release. She looked even more beautiful like this, desperate and frenzied, completely depending on him to bring her over the edge.

Now.

He bent down towards her and covered her mouth with his to swallow her sexy little cries, even as she became rigid and her thighs clamped down tightly upon his wrist. His hand was trapped between her legs, his fingers kept in place as her inner muscles began to ripple and convulse around him. Her face was flushed and tensed as her orgasm seemed to go on and on, and throughout the entire process her mate soothed and quieted her husky moans by planting small, calming kisses on her upturned lips and face. Eventually, her shudders began to lessen and her body started to relax as she slowly descended from her sexual high. She began to return Gaara's affection slowly, and with a soft sigh of complete contentment, her thighs automatically loosened their death grip on her lover's hand, finally allowing him to move his fingers out of her.

The hand that he had used to bring her to fulfillment was completely dampened by the release of her essence. He was fascinated and completely aroused by the sight of his fingers slipping out from her slick depths. Sated and now completely limp, Sakura watched with mild curiosity as her redheaded mate lifted his fingers towards his mouth and gave his index digit a casual lick.

She quickly turned bright red with embarrassment and a small, renewed burst of arousal caused her womb to contract instinctively when she watched, dry mouthed, as he continued to clean his fingers with his mouth and tongue, the act sensual and oddly captivating.

He noticed her looking at him with a now familiar glaze in her eyes, and he lowered his hand slowly, transferring his attention back to her, watching her with his unblinking jade eyes as she licked her lips, and then reached for him.

She rose from the bed to a half reclining position, and then she leaned towards him and kissed him. He responded to her immediately, and Sakura suppressed a wicked shiver as she tasted herself on his tongue. She pressed herself close to him, and he growled into her mouth when the soft globes of her breasts pushed themselves enticingly against his chest. At the same time, she tried to straddle him, only to shudder longingly when her hips met his. The proof of his arousal was blatant against her most secret place, hard and straining against her as if instinctively trying to seek out her softness.

She gave a soft whimper and arched into him willingly, even as he shuddered and his hands flew straight down to the curve of her hips, stilling her immediately. She pulled away from his kisses reluctantly, her lips reddened and kiss swollen, her eyes dark and questioning. Why did he stop?

"Don't you want-"

Her question ended abruptly in a low, breathless cry when he rocked his hips into hers, and then he held firm when she struggled against his hold to buck against him.

"We can't." His voice was hoarse, strained with unfulfilled desire and overpowering need. Their eyes met. "You are to remain untouched until after the wedding."

The brides of all the previous Kazekage were supposed to remain pure until the night of their wedding. Ninja or not, virginity was still highly prized by the noble clans, and Gaara's bloodline was as old as the day of Suna's creation, the ideals of his family and village council still steeped in tradition.

She whimpered in quiet protest. It was true that she was a virgin; working feverishly hard on improving her skills as a kunoichi and medic-nin, as well as holding on to the hope of retrieving a lost teammate, hadn't helped her love life much, and the men who had indicated interest in her hadn't impressed her at all. Until now, when a certain arrogant, infuriatingly obstinate redhead had forced his way into her life like an unstoppable typhoon, pushing her to wake up and look to the future instead of wallowing in the past.

"I tore my hymen accidentally during training, a long time ago," she told him flat out. "It would make no difference."

But it did. The principle of the matter remained—he was not to consummate their union until after the sacred vows of marriage were spoken, and he would follow it to the letter.

The stubborn look in his glazed eyes told her that he would not budge, no matter how obvious it was that he wanted her just as badly as she did him.

She slumped against his hold eventually, giving up on that particular endeavor. "You are such a boring, stoic man," she muttered grudgingly. To her surprise, her mate continued to hold her to him, and he let out a shaky breath in answer. Sakura thought that he was somewhat amused by her remark, but could not help but feel guilty all the same. She had started something he could not finish, and she really didn't think that he was feeling very comfortable at the moment, with a raging hard-on and no way to satisfy himself.

She bit her lips, even as she nuzzled the side of his neck apologetically. Then, an idea struck her, and she glanced askance at him to gauge his reaction. He was still looking tense, but at the same time, he was calm and slowly but surely bringing himself back under control. Sakura quickly made her decision, and shifting slightly so that she could have better access to him, she reached down quickly between them before he could figure out what she was trying to do and started to stroke him boldly through his pants.

To say that Gaara was surprised would be an understatement. The redhead hissed in shock when he felt her touch his erection delicately, shyly, before becoming bolder and rubbing him through the fabric of his sleeping pants. He clenched his jaw and suppressed a grunt when she caressed him from tip to root, and quickly reacted before she could do more damage to his already badly dented control. His hands slipped from her hips to her hand, stalling her mid-stroke and forcing her attention back to him.

"What are you doing?" His tone was rough, almost ragged. She merely gave him a small smile that made his jade gaze darken, and then she shook away his hands and resumed her tender ministration on his body, leaning forwards and kissing him to shut him up while at the same time slipping her hand through the waistband of his trousers and palming him gently. A strangled groan escaped from his lips and he kissed her hard to keep from reacting to the way her fingers were playing up and down his sensitive length. She responded eagerly, allowing him to ravage her mouth with his deep, drugging kisses, even as she brought him out to look at him.

Sakura was no stranger to the anatomy of a man. She had seen many a naked nin during the course of her career as a medic, and therefore, it hardly fazed her to look at her mate's proudly erect form. He was a magnificent specimen, rigid and heavily veined, pulsing excitedly in her hand as she continued to stroke him. She wanted to see him properly, though, so she pulled herself reluctantly away from his mouth and slid off him to sit by his side instead.

He allowed her to separate from him, and chose to watch her intently as she touched him with her soft hands, as she licked her lips and stared at his rigid phallus with a light of lust and excitement in those beautiful eyes of hers. Then she curled her fingers carefully around him and started the mind numbing process of slowly tugging and rubbing up and down his heavy length, mimicking the intimate act that his body craved, and he could only grit his teeth and enjoy the sinfully decadent pleasure that she was giving him.

The way his eyes glazed over as he settled down and took delight in her sensual attention made her realize, quickly, that she enjoyed bringing him pleasure. Watching him as he was now, literally in the palm of her hand and breathing hard in an effort to curb himself from arching into her, Sakura came to the conclusion that she genuinely wanted him to come undone. She wanted to see him when he lost control, and she wanted to be there for him when it was all over.

There was no hesitation from her as she bent over him and gave him a tentative lick. Gaara stiffened in disbelief as his bold little mate got onto her knees and shyly teased him with her tongue, swirling the rough, wet appendage over his sensitive slit and tasting his essence even as her hand continued to pump up and down his length. His stomach clenched hard in reaction, and before he could gather the will to drag her back up, she took him into her mouth.

He saw nothing but white.

"Sakura."

His voice was hoarse, almost raw as she enveloped him into the hot, wet pressure of her mouth. It wasn't much, just his mushroomed tip and maybe a little bit more, but it was nearly enough to make him forget his own name. Then, she started to move, her raspy tongue rubbing along the underside of his shaft as she moved her head down and tried to take in as much of him as she could, her lips wrapping around him with mind blowing tightness even as she started to suck hard at him and pull back slowly.

He growled, a sound so loud and guttural that it excited her just listening to it. The pink-haired female ran her tongue around his erection as she raised and lowered herself rhythmically over his length, careful not to choke herself and occasionally scraping her teeth against his sensitive flesh, earning a strangled groan from him every time she did so. The fact that he was allowing her to maneuver him into such a helpless position made her feel strangely powerful and in control, and Sakura was drunk off this sensation, off the fact that she affected him just as badly as he did her. Never had she thought that she would be pleasuring him like this; in the past, just the mere thought of the act itself had always felt so unnatural and wrong to her, but with him it was as if it hardly mattered. The fact that he didn't taste bad at all—musky and slightly bitter—had helped in cementing her opinion that performing a blowjob on her stoic mate was certainly something that deserved a repeat in the near future.

Emboldened by her success, Sakura decided to try a few tricks that she had overheard from the other medic-nin when they had been excitedly discussing their sex-life over break time a few months ago. Sakura had remembered turning bright red as the older kunoichi had unabashedly gossiped and exchanged tips with one another in the hospital break room, and who would have thought that medic-nin were the biggest bunch of perverts around, that they had no qualms using the tools of their trade to increase the sexual pleasure of their respective partners?

The pink-haired kunoichi had been completely embarrassed then, stuck in the room and forced to listen to the sexual pursuits of various colleagues. But now, she was grateful that she had listened to what the more experienced women had to say, and her only thought was how it was going to affect Gaara, and how very naughty she was, to feel so sinfully excited over the notion of causing pleasure to her mate.

Sakura took a deep breath, and then with her luscious lips fastened snugly around him, she took him as far as she could into her mouth again, holding him there as she moaned deeply, the long, sonorous vibration of the sexy, stimulating sound wrapped completely around him as she teasingly massaged the rest of his thick length with her hands. Gaara grunted; it was all he could do not to push into her mouth, and the evidence of his overwhelming control showed in the way his hands were fisted tightly into the silken bed sheets, in the way his sleek muscles bunched and tightened to stop himself from arching into her.

It was apparent that his feisty and bold little lioness was doing all she could to unravel that ironclad will of his, and that he was just as determined not to give in to her…extremely persuasive methods. He was getting dangerously close to completion, hanging by a thread, but he had no intention whatsoever of spending himself within his mate's enticing mouth. Shakily, the lust-hazed Kazekage made himself release his hold on the sheets. Then he lifted his hand, placed it on Sakura's scalp, and drove his fingers quickly into her exotic pink hair.

His intention was to drag her up and away from his erection before she made him climax, but he made the mistake of looking at her. There was something very, very arousing about the way she looked right now—wild and sexual and all his—and instead of nudging her away from him like he had planned, his fingers clenched into her tousled hair instinctively. Unfortunately for him, Sakura was not quite done yet.

A delicate hand quested further south while its sibling continued administering firm, quick, push-pull motions across his ridged length. Gaara could feel his abdomen beginning to tense with the rapid onset of orgasm, and his hand fisted among silky strands of pink, almost as if readying himself to disengage from her—

Then she found him, and wasted no time wrapping her fingers around the twin globes at the base of his phallus, squeezing him lightly, and making him moan huskily in reaction. Still, her mate held onto his iron wrought control with raw tenacity. But Sakura had one last trick up her sleeve.

Her hand started to glow green with healing chakra, and she proceeded to push her carefully constructed energy into him. Her lover was immediately stunned by the utterly exquisite sensation of her warm, powerful energy flooding one of the most sensitive areas of his body, and combined with the wet, sucking pressure of her hot mouth and talented hands, the overwhelmed Kazekage was unable to hold it in any longer.

With a loud grunt that echoed within the huge bedroom, the powerful redhead could only grab on to his little minx of a mate as his testes contracted in a violent orgasm, as he arched helplessly into her mouth and came hard. His body was rigid and straining against his control as he fought not to hurt her accidentally, and to her credit, she remained perfectly still and took everything that he had to give, stroking his thighs in a comforting fashion as she waited for him to finish.

Sakura quickly found herself pulled away from her lover the moment he could think straight again, and before she could react, she found herself flat on her back with her breath knocked out of her as he settled firmly over her, his mouth covering hers before she could voice a single protest, his tongue pushing for entrance past her parted lips as he kissed her hard, sharing in his essence and enjoying the heady taste of herself mixed with him. Sakura responded with equal fervor, wrapping herself around his taut torso and basking under his intimate attention as she writhed under him and tried her best to return his long, wet kisses.

Then he pulled away from her heaving form abruptly to give her a hard, inscrutable look, much to her surprise.

"Who taught to you to do all this?"

His voice was low, still husky from their sexual encounter, but the agitation she sensed behind his slightly frigid tone astounded her further. It was such a sudden question. Was he—

"Are you jealous?"

She sounded completely bewildered over the absurd notion.

Gaara was not. He had every right to be angry; she was his mate, and although she was still untouched, she was far from inexperienced. As much as common sense dictated that it was ridiculous for him to want to attack the man responsible for teaching her such acts of intimacy even before he could claim her as mate, just the very notion of his laughing, feisty female engaged in the same acts that they had just committed moments ago with another man made his eyes turn cold.

Forget about common sense and fairness. He would hunt the man down like an animal and rip him apart, limb from limb for laying his hands on his woman.

"Who is he?" His tone was almost arctic.

Sakura could only gape at him. And everything had started so well too, though the fact that he was being jealous and possessive of her warmed her heart reluctantly. She could not help herself; a small smile started to form on her face, much to his increasing agitation.

A part of her wanted to tease him a little more, but judging by his forbidding expression, Sakura decided not to rile him further. He was almost frothing at the mouth, at least internally, and Sakura had never seen any joy in toying around with the emotions of others before.

Still, she privately agreed with Inner Sakura that her mate was rather adorable when he was jealous.

The pink-haired female raised her head slightly to press an affectionate kiss on the side of his frowning lips. Her hand came up in an effort to tame his messy, dusty red hair. He caught her easily.

"Sakura…" he spoke warningly.

"A group of medic-nin taught me in the hospital break room during break time," she admitted to her aggravated mate at last, much to his confusion. "They were gossiping about how to best pleasure their boyfriends, and I was stuck in the middle of it all." She shrugged innocently at him. "Guess I picked up some things."

He hadn't expected for her answer to be so simple. She smiled at him again, though this time, it was more of a mischievous, impish smirk.

"Are you still going to be jealous?"

He merely narrowed his eyes at her, completely unamused. "I don't get jealous," he said at last, blatantly ignoring the way she rolled her eyes at him. "You are mine, and I don't share."

He half expected her to puff up in anger over his possessive words. To his surprise, she nodded in agreement.

"Fine," she agreed shortly, even as her eyes met his straight on. "That means you are mine as well, and I won't share you either." She paused, and then gave him a dangerous stare. "I will gladly tear apart any hussy shameless enough to come near you."

Her declaration was surprisingly fierce and ended in a small growl as she thought of her mate's legions of fangirls. Sakura had tried her best to ignore the lovesick females clamoring after Gaara at first, but now that she had a personal, vested interest in the redhead, there was simply no way in hell she was going to watch docilely as women tried to overwhelm her strong, powerful, albeit still somewhat socially inept, mate.

Her mate.

The raw burst of possessiveness surprised even her, and she appeared slightly disconcerted by it. She shook it off just as quickly, though, and instead focused her attention on Gaara to gauge his reaction.

He was smiling faintly at her. It was only the tiniest tilt of his lips, but the fact that it was a genuine expression made it even more precious to her. It was apparent that he approved of her possessiveness, had expected it even.

"Good." His tone was mild, but she could see that he was pleased.

"Good." She echoed him with an additional prod to his shoulder. "Now that interrogation time is over, can you get off me now? I want to take a shower." She blushed. "It's so hot in here."

::tsuzuku::

Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:

Finally! The irresponsible authoress has an update for Shukaku Love!

At least, I can almost hear some of you saying just that. Once again, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates, as well as to reassure the curious masses that Shukaku Love is not being discontinued. I have no intention of abandoning this fic, so please don't worry about that.

Hope you people will enjoy this chapter for what it's worth—roughly thirteen pages of smut!

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

--paws