AFRAID TO LOVE

Okay, I know this is really short, but I didn’t want to make you wait any longer for an update. I’m having trouble with this middle part of the story. I think I have the climax figured out, I just need to get there. Even though it’s short, I hope you enjoy it. As always thanks for the great reviews.

Chapter 3

The rest of the day passed incredibly slowly, at least for Kurama. This gave him plenty of time to mull over his and Hiei’s on-again, off-again relationship. They had first become lovers during the dark tournament. Though their affair ended with the tournament, it had been briefly rekindled several times over the next few years. Then almost two years ago, Hiei had grown tired of Kurama’s fickle heart and ended their relationship altogether.

Only recently, since Kurama began his pursuit of Yusuke in earnest, had Hiei begun indulging the fox’s relentless advances and need to play. Now, for another brief moment in time, they would be lovers again. Kurama knew he shouldn’t allow the sexual side of their relationship to be reignited yet again, but for some reason he couldn’t seem to completely let go of Hiei. Refusing to analyze the reason too closely, Kurama turned his attention back to his friends.

It was getting late and the drinking games had started, but Kurama was careful not to overindulge. Knowing Hiei wasn’t much of a drinker, Kurama didn’t think he had to keep a close eye on his lover until he saw Yusuke challenging him. “Come on Hiei, this human whiskey is like Kool-Aid to us demons. Let’s have a few shots of the good stuff.”

Not wanting his plans for the night to be ruined, Kurama tried to step in. “Come on guys, let’s not let this little party get out of control.”

Surprisingly, Keiko came to their defense. “Oh Kurama, let them have fun. That’s what this party is for after all. No one has to drive tonight or work tomorrow for that matter. In fact, I’ve heard so much about your Makai whiskey, I think I’d like a shot of it myself.”

Concerned now for a different reason, Kurama turned his full attention to Keiko and Shizuru who were both holding out shot glasses. When Yusuke willingly offered to fill them, Kurama reached out and snatched the bottle. “That’s not such a good idea. Not only does Makai whiskey have a much higher alcohol content than human whiskey, it’s also blended with several ingredients that could be poisonous to humans.”

Holding out her glass, Botan giggled. “Good thing I’m not human anymore.”

Glad to have averted a potential disaster, Kurama smiled. “Ladies, why don’t you join me in the kitchen and I’ll make you something special. I’ll use some of my herbs to safely add a little kick to your drinks and they’ll taste a lot better than human or Makai whiskey.”

Before Kurama could lead the excited girls away, Hiei snatched the Makai whiskey back and whispered. “Don’t worry Fox, it’ll take a lot more than this to keep me from having you tonight.”

Shivering in anticipation, Kurama followed the girls to the kitchen. Little did he know that in the other room, Yusuke had other ideas. “Check this out Hiei, we’ll use it as chasers for our shots.”

Not recognizing the label, Hiei frowned. “What the hell is that Detective?”

Yusuke grinned. “I’m not sure, I found it in Raizen’s cellar. It’s really good shit.”

Thinking that nothing could be stronger than the really good Makai whiskey he poured in the shot glasses, Hiei willingly accepted a glass as Yusuke made a toast. “Here’s to Kurama.”

With a smirk, Hiei raised his glass in salute before downing the shot then drinking from the glass. As his mind registered that Yusuke was right, it really was good, Kuwabara downed a shot of human whiskey and slurred. “Why the hell are we toasting K‘rama?”

Grinning at Hiei, Yusuke answered honestly. “Because he’s hot Kuwabara.”

Mulling this over a moment, Kuwabara finally shrugged and reached for his beer. “Okay.”

Watching them all as he sipped a glass of wine from the sidelines, Koenma shook his head and sighed. “Poor Kurama.”

Almost an hour later, when Kurama came out of the kitchen with four very tipsy girls, Koenma was still sitting off to the side, however he now looked extremely amused. Kuwabara was passed out with a pillow under his ass. Yusuke swayed slightly as he looked up into the empty bottle of Makai whiskey.

Hiei however was the amusing sight. He was sitting on the floor with his legs spread out before him looking for all the world like he’d just fallen down and either hadn’t bothered or wasn’t able to get back up. He too had a bottle upturned and was peering inside. “Nope Yusuke, this one’s empty too.”

Seeing her husband laid out on the floor, Yukina rushed to his side. Shaking her head, Shizuru chuckled and headed off to bed. Seeing all of this, Keiko knew who was at fault. “Yusuke… hic… I said have a good time, not kill anyone! Oh my… hee hee hee… you didn’t give him that Makai whiskey, did you?”

Before Yusuke could answer, Hiei spoke up. “Look Woman, the fool did that to himself with human whiskey.”

There was a slight pause as Hiei grinned. “Though the little sip of this he took might have helped.”

As Hiei and Yusuke both doubled over laughing, Kurama swiped the bottle from the fire demon’s hand. After glancing at the label, and taking a sniff, Kurama sighed. “Relax Keiko, it’s not poisonous, though the alcohol in here rivals if not exceeds what’s in our whiskey. When he wakes up, he’ll have one heck of a hangover.”

Keiko gave Yusuke a shove. “This is still your fault Yus… hic… uke, so help us get him to bed.”

As Yusuke and the girls carried Kuwabara off to bed, Botan giggled. “Ewww, bed. Are we taking Yusuke to bed again? Pleeease!”

Turning, Kurama saw that Botan was curled up in Koenma’s lap and his eyebrow rose. Casually, Koenma shrugged. “What? Did you think only a demon could satisfy Yusuke’s desire? You weren’t the only one with a desire to bed the boy. Botan and I have had our eyes on him for years. When you let Hiei screw things up for you, we stepped in and made him a better offer. I didn’t see a down side to me fucking him to my hearts content while my little fairy princess here had her fantasies about him taking her fulfilled. Damn that was hot, watching him make her… scream.”

From the floor, Hiei chuckled. “That’s priceless. The legendary Yoko Kurama, out foxed by the toddler and the twit.”

Glaring as Koenma smiled, Kurama growled. “Shut up Hiei!”

Leaving Hiei on the floor, Kurama turned and left the room. Koenma couldn’t help but grin when a very drunk Hiei held a finger up to his lips as if to ‘shhh’ him. “Oops. Guess that was a touchy subject. Better go find Kurama and see if I’m still getting laid.”

Koenma nearly dropped Botan as he laughed at Hiei’s attempts to get up off the floor. After several failed attempts, Hiei finally shrugged and rolled over on his side. “I’ll go do that right after I take a little nap.”

When he regained his composure, Koenma stood with Botan in his arms. At the movement she stirred. “Are we taking Yusuke to bed now K’wenma? I’m horny.”

As he carried her to bed, Koenma chuckled. “I told you it was just that once Princess. You’ll have to settle for me tonight.”

Botan shivered. “Will you do that delicious thing you do with your tongue Koi. You do that so much better than Yusuke.”

Kicking the bedroom door shut behind him, Koenma nibbled her ear as he whispered. “Before I’m done with you Princess, you’ll remember that I do everything better than Yusuke.”

*****

After leaving his friends, Kurama had intended to go to his room. Hearing the commotion down the hall as Yusuke and the girls attempted to get Kuwabara to bed, Kurama decided to take a walk instead. Just as he got to the door however, he heard Yusuke call out to him. “Hey Kurama, wait up.”

Suppressing a sigh, Kurama kept walking, almost hoping Yusuke wouldn’t follow. Of course he did, and a moment later the two men were walking in the moonlight. When Kurama didn’t say a word or even look at him, Yusuke got nervous. “Look Kurama, if you’re upset about what happened with Kuwabara, we…”

Holding a hand up, Kurama sighed. “Kuwabara’s going to be fine Yusuke.”

Yusuke nodded. “Oh. Then this must be about Hiei. I don’t know why I wanted to get him smashed. I guess…”

Kurama chuckled. “Hiei was so cute, wasn’t he? He must have been having a good time because he can be one mean drunk.”

When Yusuke frowned confused, Kurama stopped to look at him. “Yusuke, are you under the impression that I’m upset with you about something?”

Looking away, Yusuke shrugged. “Well, you’ve never just walked away from me before. Especially not since we’ve been… well, you know… flirting.”

There was a pause before Kurama answered as he remembered what Koenma had said. “I’m not upset with you Yusuke, but I did just learn something that I wanted a chance to think about before we spoke.”

After a moments thought, Yusuke shifted nervously. “Something about me.”

Hearing that Yusuke’s comment wasn’t a question, Kurama grinned. “Botan can’t keep a secret sober, what makes you think she’d keep one drunk.”

Chocolate eyes suddenly widened. “She didn’t say anything in front of Keiko did she?”

Amused, Kurama considered his options a moment before letting his friend off the hook. “No Yusuke, Keiko wasn’t there. Just Hiei, Koenma and myself.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Yusuke nodded. “So, you know what happened. Are you mad that it wasn’t you?”

Glazing up at the stars, Kurama shook his head. “Disappointed maybe, but not mad. Let me ask you, was it what you wanted?”

Yusuke shrugged. “Yes and no. I wanted you Kurama. What happened with them was fucking awesome though.”

Kurama chuckled. “I imagine it was. You might not have believed this a few weeks ago, but Koenma’s reputation in Reikai nearly rivals my reputation as Makai’s greatest lover. Put that sexy godling behind you, and the voluptuous Botan beneath you, and I don’t doubt that night was one you’ll ever forget.”

Shivering at the memory, Yusuke let out a moan. “Fuck Kurama, the things they did to me. The things they made me do. I never imagined one man could experience that much pleasure without dying from it.”

Glancing at his friend, Kurama gave him a sad smile. “Even if it wasn’t me that gave you that pleasure, I’m happy for you.”

Not liking the idea that he had disappointed the beautiful redhead, Yusuke slipped an arm around his waist. “I’m not married yet Kurama. Everyone is probably passed out by now. No one would miss us if we slipped away for a while.”

For a fraction of a second, Kurama considered the idea. “Yusuke, we’re here with your bride-to-be and all of our friends to prepare for your wedding. Us having an affair now would be in poor taste to say the least. Not to mention, we could easily get caught.”

Removing his arm, Yusuke gave Kurama a strange look. “Kurama, are you worried that Keiko would catch us, or Hiei?”

Surprised by the Toushin’s insight, Kurama smirked. “I did kind of promise Hiei that I’d give up on you.”

More than a little disappointed himself now, Yusuke sighed. “So you and Hiei are officially together now.”

Startled by the assumption, Kurama shook his head. “No, not exactly. Hiei considered it dishonorable of me to pursue you right under Keiko’s nose, so we agreed on a temporary exclusive relationship, until just after the wedding.”

Turning, Yusuke gave Kurama a look of disbelief. “So once again, you chose Hiei over me. Do you love him that much?”

Annoyed by the word that he hated so much, Kurama almost growled. “I do not love him! I don’t believe in love. Hiei is just.. special to me. He’s incredibly sexy, and a passionate lover. That’s all.”

Before Yusuke could respond, Kurama gave an impatient sigh. “It’s late Yusuke. You should go check on Keiko, she had quite a lot to drink. As for me, I’m going to find my sexy fire demon and take him to bed.”

Without waiting for Yusuke’s reply, Kurama turned and walked back to the main house. As expected he found Hiei still on the floor where he’d left him. Smiling at how cute the deadly demon looked curled up on his side, fast asleep, Kurama knelt on one knee beside him. Reaching out to brush Hiei’s hair out of his eyes, Kurama shook his head. “This is all your fault Hiei. I said no to him for you, and you’re out cold. Where the hell does that leave me tonight?”

When Kurama reached down to scoop Hiei up, the fire demon’s arms seemed to instinctively wrap around his neck. As Hiei’s face settled against his cheek, he whispered in his sleep. “K’rama.”

With a sigh, Kurama stood and headed down the hall. Walking past the room that had been assigned to Hiei, went straight to his own room. Gently kicking the door shut, Kurama set Hiei on the bed. In only a few deft moves, Kurama stripped Hiei naked and had him tucked under the covers.

With one last longing glance at Hiei, Kurama stripped and joined him in bed. Even though he knew sex was out of the questions, the lure of holding the sexy demon’s naked body was too much and Kurama pulled Hiei into his arms. Even unconscious, Hiei snuggled against him with a sigh. “My Fox.”

With a smile, Kurama kissed his temple and whispered. “Good night my Dragon.”

The sleepy whisper he got in return, robbed Kurama of sleep for most of the night. “Love you K’rama.”