On a Moonswept Moor A Sailor Moon Sekkushiaru Roman Story Author: Lady M. Harris Editor: Sun Princess Part Seven Usagi and Mamoru made love throughout the rest of Christmas Eve and into dawn's early light on Christmas Day. Sometime in those predawn hours, Mamoru carried Usagi to his bedroom. Only when the sun finally made its shining presence known to the city of Tokyo-revealing an eighteen-inch thick blanket of white, glistening snow-did Mamoru finally fall back from Usagi, both of them exhausted and satiated. Even though he had slaked his fill of her for the time being, he did not understand what continually drove him to want her, again and again. Even now, as tired as he was, he still wanted her, wanted to be deep within her sweet nectar. With others in the past, he had used them sorely for the purpose of sex, not that they weren't aware of that fact. Mamoru blatantly had no qualms of telling them that up front; he was not a man to play childish games with women's hearts. As far as he was concerned, if they fell in love with him, then that was their problem. The feeling was never returned, nor was it likely to in the future. Yet, Usagi was different. Why does she do this to me, his mind and body shouted to him, demanding an answer as he listened to her soft, contented sigh beside him. What was it about her that called to him like no other? For him to examine those deep and buried feelings within him of wanting to be the only one for her. Even now, unconsciously he felt himself softening as he pulled her sweet body closer to his. Mamoru smiled warily into the darkness of his room as he heard a soft snore escape from her lips. His eyelids drooped and he found himself unable to think coherently as the sandman began tapping urgently within him, beckoning him with landscapes of peaceful dreams. "Good morning, sleepy head," were the first words Usagi heard as she slowly awoke. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted briefly, teasingly, under her nose. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled sleepily. She saw that Mamoru sat on the edge of the bed, apparently just pulling on a pair of his pajama pants and holding out a mug of steaming, hot coffee to her. "And a good morning to you too, early riser." He smiled back as Usagi sat up slowly in the bed and accepted the cup of coffee. "Thank you," she murmured and took a sip, both of them watching each other. Mamoru's eyes gleamed warmly in the early morning light as his gaze traveled slowly over Usagi's disheveled array of curls that surrounded and framed her face and body. He watched as a lovely flush stained her cheeks and her bright, blue eyes lowered to her hands, where they cupped the coffee cup. He grinned roguishly and got up from the bed and opened the window curtains to let in the sun's rays. Usagi gasped with delight as her eyes settled on the scenery from where she sat. She set the coffee down and ran to the window, completely forgetting about her nudity. "Oh, it's so beautiful from here!" she breathed out as her eyes continued to scan the view before her. Everywhere she looked, thick, white snow covered everything it touched. It looked like a scene from a winter Christmas card. Mamoru looked down at her beside him, and grinned devilishly again. "That it is, but it's no comparison to the beauty standing beside me," he said, reaching out to pull her close to him, his eyes devouring her naked glory. "Ohhh!" Usagi gasped out in dismay, blushing as she realized that she forgot to grab a sheet. Never mind that he had explored every inch of her flesh just hours ago, and she the same. Her arms reached out to clutch him about the waist as he held her. Then putting her nudity aside, she asked, "Let's go outside, Mamoru. I haven't played in the snow since I was a child and this is the perfect place. It's so beautiful here!" Mamoru continued to grin down at her, fascinated by the play of emotions across her animated features. What is about it her that brings out a feeling of softness and protectiveness over him? When he didn't answer, Usagi asked again, still eager. "Oh, please, please!" she begged, sounding so much like she did the last time such an opportunity arose when she was a child, that they both started laughing. "Okay, okay. When you put it that way, how can I resist? Stay here and let me go and find some clothes for you." Mamoru smiled and left the room to return with two sets of clothing. "Here, these should fit you. They're a bit out dated as they belonged to my mother," he said, tossing a pair of blue jeans and a cotton shirt toward her. Usagi caught them and smiled her thanks as Mamoru turned away to open one of his drawers and pulled out a pair of old jeans. She briefly wondered about his mother and father, but refrained from asking. She wasn't sure where she stood with him, especially delving in about his parents and how he felt about them. "Ohh! It's so wonderful out here!" Usagi laughed as puffs of warm air came out of her mouth every time she took a breath. She ran forward and onto the grounds, leaving Mamoru behind. The snow crunched loudly underneath her borrowed boots as she giggled, looking back at Mamoru, who smiled indulgently. She continued to run forward, if somewhat clumsily in the knee high drifts, trying to decipher what the estate grounds looked like without all of the snow covering it. They had come out of the back of the house and Usagi could make out the tennis courts and the stables ahead of her. "Let's go to the stables, Usagi," Mamoru said when he caught up with her. "I'm sure the horses would appreciate us giving them some fresh hay and oats until the stable hands return," he said and grabbing her hand, they headed toward the stables. Inside the stables, down two long aisles, was a total of six horses. They neighed and stomped their hooves in greeting as Mamoru and Usagi entered. Usagi stood still, gazing at all of the horses in amazement and then offered a friendly greeting to each of them. Curious about what he was doing, she went back to Mamoru, who was busy filling leather bags with oats for the horses to eat. She watched Mamoru with wonderment as he called out to each of the horses softly, and they would neigh softly in response. Mamoru then went to the last stabled horse and instructed her to come forward. She watched, again with amazement, as he talked to and handled the horse with such gentleness and finesse. Usagi blushed slightly, reminded of the night before and how he had handled and coaxed responses out of her from his gentle and firm caresses. Mamoru handed her the bag of oats and instructed Usagi to come forward and greet the horse. With a slight feeling apprehension, but trusting his instincts, she did as she was told and greeted the horse as he instructed her to do so. The horse snorted quietly and accepted the bag, eating quietly. As she fed the horse, Mamoru grabbed a pitchfork and added some fresh hay to the horse's stall. It went that way until they got to the last two stalls, both of them working together in a comfortable silence. "And now here, is my fine lady, Purity. She's a pure Arabian, from her delicate snout right down to her prancing hooves." Mamoru smiled proudly at the white horse as he petted her snout. Purity neighed softly, pushing her snout against his hand gently in greeting. "She's due to give birth this spring," he said as Usagi looked over the stall at the delicate horse. "She's lovely, Mamoru. And I assume that stomping horse across the ways is the proud father?" Usagi pointed toward the stall across from Purity's with a smile. "And what is his name?" she asked, gazing at the large, muscular stallion, who watched her with the same amount of curiosity in return. "That my dear is, Nefarious." Mamoru chuckled at Usagi's wide eye gaze as the meanings of the horses' names dawned. He turned his face away slightly from Usagi and added, "Kind of like you and I," his lips slanting in a wicked smile. A giggle escaped from Usagi's lips. "I wouldn't go that far," she replied, the words left hanging. "And what do you mean by that?" Mamoru grinned lazily back at her as he started shoveling in some fresh hay into Nefarious's stall. "I'm not that pure," she stated, hands on her hips as she watched the muscles bunch enticingly underneath his now sweat-dampened shirt. He looked very rugged and raw at the moment with a blue cotton shirt clinging to his back, faded blue jeans hugging his hard thighs, snowboots covering his feet, and leather work gloves on his hands. He had long ago discarded his heavy coat, preferring to work around the horses with less constricting clothing. Mamoru looked up and chuckled deeply, commenting, "Ah, but I'm quite the wicked one as the word goes. Are you looking for a tumble in the hay, my sweet?" and laughed again as he watched the eager speculation come across her features. He dropped the fork, having done with the hay and took off after Usagi who sprinted out through the stable doors, laughing with glee. After pausing to quickly grab his coat, Mamoru immediately resumed the chase. When Mamoru emerged from the stables, he was greeted with a large, fast snowball. It hit him, smack, right in the middle of his chest, momentarily stunning him. His mouth dropped open in astonishment, having been caught unawares by a slight girl. Fits of hysterical laughter erupted from the other side of the stable and Mamoru caught sight of Usagi, bent over and holding her stomach in as she continued to laugh. "This is war!" Mamoru challenged and laughed at the same time, bending over to scoop up some snow into his hands and shaping it in a snowball. Fortunately for Usagi, she had hurriedly made a couple of extra snowballs before Mamoru came out of the stables. She hurled them at him with surprising speed and accuracy, all of the snowballs hitting their intended target, Mamoru. "This is definitely not working," Mamoru muttered underneath his breath as Usagi continued to laugh, still throwing far more snowballs than he could; he was being distracted by his position as live target. "It's time to change tactics here!" he yelled toward her in warning, dropping his artillery at the same time and advancing toward her. Usagi managed to score another hit on his right shoulder. Usagi's eyes went wide and she yelped with surprise. "Nooooo fairrrrr!" she screamed in laughter as Mamoru leaped into the air and tackled her to the ground. She continued to screech with laughter as Mamoru pinned her solidly in the snow. "All right now, say 'Mamoru, you are the smartest man in the world,' " he commanded with an imperial, laughing tone as he looked down into her face. Usagi looked up at him, slightly serious for a moment and then burst out in laughter again. Mamoru chuckled with her, and then prodded her again, "Say, 'Mamoru you are the smartest, most handsome man in the world and I'm your slave' or else!" he threatened and commanded again in the same jovial tone, watching as Usagi continued to splutter with laughter. He reached under her coat and started tickling her mercilessly and Usagi was helpless but to answer him quickly. "Okay, okay-Mamoru, you are the smartest, most handsome man in the world, and I'm your slave!" Usagi giggled and laughed. "Stop tickling me-I can't breathe!" she gasped out between breaths of laughter as he continued to still tickle her sides mercilessly. "I'm going to pee in my pants if you don't stop!" she breathed out with more helpless laughter, her body trembling and shaking from the force. This time, it was Mamoru's turn to burst out laughing. He stopped torturing her with his tickling and said, still chuckling, "How about it if my slave gives her master a kiss then?" He grinned devilishly, and not waiting for a response swooped down and captured her still giggling lips for a sweet and enticing kiss. Breaking their kiss off, she said to him, "Hey! I thought I was supposed to kiss you first," a slightly affronted look on her face. "Oh really?" Mamoru asked, one black eyebrow arching slightly. Then falling back from her and lying on the snow with his arms spread out, he closed his eyes and said, "Well? I'm waiting." What he got was another snowball hitting him square in the chin. Again, laughter and outrage were written all over his features as a slightly shocked Mamoru slowly tried to get up from his prone position. Usagi laughed and jumped on top of him. She kissed him this time, meaning to soften the effect of the snowball. Then after a while, the laughter died down and instead, only the sounds of desire could be heard from the engrossed couple lying in the snow. Mamoru and Usagi returned to the house to finish what they had started outside in the snow. They spent the reminder of the morning to early afternoon back in bed. It was now mid-afternoon and they had just indulged in a late lunch. Mamoru absently caressed Usagi's soft flesh as she yawned sleepily. Her stomach was pleasantly full of cold-cut ham, cheese, and crackers. They had washed down their lunches with chilled, wine coolers. Soft jazz was playing on his stereo in the background as his hand made its way slowly down her stomach. His fingers lightly made a map around her belly button, and down to the silky curls of her mound. Having mapped his course, he leaned down and with his tongue, lightly traced the patterns where his fingers had been. She moaned softly, immediately responding to his touch. Usagi reached out blindly with her fingers to entwine them within his hair. Will it always be this way between us, she wondered with hazy desire, this heady desire and passion that seemed to engulf them within its tenacious hold? Or will he, she thought distantly, discard me after he has what he wants? She did not want to thoroughly analyze the way she was feeling at moment or dig too deeply on how she would feel if that is what exactly what Mamoru would do in the future. She only understood right now, and how this incredible man made her feel physically and emotionally. It was good enough for her at the moment. Again she wondered, as she lifted Mamoru's face in her hands for another deep kiss, would it be good enough for tomorrow when reality settles in? Reality decided to invade their little world for two a little earlier than anticipated. Just as Mamoru settled himself within Usagi's sweet, welcoming embrace, his cell phone rang shrilly on the nightstand, startling the two with its loud ring. He had turned it on earlier because the phone lines were still down. She giggled silently as he put his finger to her lips, indicating for her to be quiet. Of course, he didn't make it any easier for her either by answering the phone and thrusting deeply into her at the time. Usagi's shriek of desire was muffled swiftly by Mamoru as he covered her mouth with his hand. Her eyes went wide, a mischievous twinkle shining in her gaze as she realized that he was talking to Hiromi. She lifted her hips off the mattress in retaliation, further encasing him deeply within her. His face twisted with startled passion and sweat beaded on his forehead as a silent grunt escaped, and he answered with a winded, "Yes, Ojii-san," into the earpiece. When Mamoru hung up the phone, he half laughed and half growled out to her, "You're going to regret that, you little minx!" and proceeded to finish what he had started as he rolled her on top of him. "Ohhhh! Mamoru . . . !" It was much later when the cell phone rang again. They were still in bed with the sheets barely covering their bodies, as they cuddled close to each other. Usagi frowned slightly as she listened to Mamoru speak to the person on the other side of the line. "You too . . ." he said into the phone, "The phone lines and cells have been down. . . . No, I've been busy." She continued to frown at him as Usagi had her arms wrapped around Mamoru's chest. He looked down into her face and smiled softly back at her. "Look, Beryl . . . we need to talk. . . . Yes . . . there is . . ." he stated, feeling Usagi suddenly become still beside him. "Tomorrow would be fine . . . yes . . . that's fine . . . all right. Bye," he finished and pressed the 'end' button on his cell phone to hang it up. He looked down into her golden-white hair and sighed, knowing that she would start asking questions about Beryl. After a brief silence, "Are you still seeing Beryl?" she ventured bravely into his chest. "Hmmm. For the moment," he started, as his hand reached up to caress her hair. "But I haven't been her with since our 'engagement'. I quit seeing Melissa a couple of weeks ago and hadn't gotten around to breaking it off with Beryl." Mamoru looked up at the ceiling, staring at nothing in particular. "I'll be honest with you, Usako. I've never been one to play with women's hearts. I tell them exactly what I want up front and then, if they want to continue dating me, that's up to them. I've never hidden the fact that I dated one, two, sometimes three women at the same time and they were always aware of this," he said, taking her face into his hands and he looked down into her face. Mamoru started as he gazed into her shimmering, blue eyes, filled with large, unshed tears. "What about me? Am I part of that category now?" she whispered, her voice breaking with the pain that was filling her chest. Could this be love, she thought with sudden despair, this feeling of being hurt? The pain was almost mind-boggling and she didn't want to hear what he was going to say, so she shut her eyes, waiting for the despairing feeling to swallow her up and take into that black void of pain. But his words surprised her, and she had a feeling of hope and something else. "I don't know, Usako . . . I don't know. You're not like the others and-I . . . don't know," Mamoru stated slowly, almost to himself, his hand reaching up to run through his hair in agitation. Usagi leaned on her elbows and smiled softly at him. "That's okay . . . Mamoru." "Let's just take this one day at a time, okay?" he asked, his finger reaching up to touch her delicate, upturned nose, smiling back at her. "That's all I can promise at the moment . . . Usako." "I'll take that for now . . ." she said quietly, and laid her head back down on his chest, her eyes closing as she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Mamoru watched his grandfather in furious silence as he got out of the limousine. He had told Usagi that his grandfather would be arriving sometime that evening. His grandfather had made a couple of phone calls and got some of the roads to Mamoru's estate cleared so that he could spend the rest of Christmas day with his grandson. Right now, Usagi was still upstairs, putting on the finishing touches with her hair. He had gone downstairs into the receiving room and retrieved the newspaper to pass some time, even though the newspaper was a couple of days old. What he didn't expect to find on the second page-along with other important Tokyo elite residents-was an official wedding announcement between Usagi and him. Mamoru had known that the little charade at the house had been arranged by his grandfather and he hadn't really minded that. But his grandfather had gone too far meddling in his personal affairs now. He waited silently, still clutching the newspaper in his hand, as he watched Tetsuo and Katsumi-Tetsuo's wife-enter behind his grandfather. Mamoru pondered silently, wondering what his grandfather was up to now. "Ah . . . Mamoru, it's so good to be home," Hiromi stated when he caught sight of his grandson leaning casually against the receiving room doorway. "Is it really?" Mamoru drawled sarcastically. "What's with the attitude, grandson?" Hiromi chuckled deeply as he stared past Mamoru to the sight of Usagi coming down the stairway. She was dressed again, in Mamoru's mother's clothing. This time, in an oversized, cream colored, cashmere sweater and silk, lounging pants that-for an outdated outfit-covered her in elegance. Hiromi strode past Mamoru with a knowing smile and saying, "Finally, I get to meet the one who has captured my grandson's heart!" "Chiba-sama," Usagi acknowledged with a smile, bowing respectfully. "Ahh, Tsukino-san. We will have none of that, especially since we will soon be family," Hiromi grinned, also bowing toward her. "You can call me, Hiromi, if you please." "And the same for me, Hiromi-san. Usagi will do," Usagi replied warmly. "It is an honor to meet you," she added. She was amazed at how alike Mamoru and Hiromi appeared to be. "My Ojii-san has so graciously arranged for our wedding announcement, Usagi," Mamoru said dryly, as he came up to her. Usagi looked up at him slightly confused, at a loss for words as to what he meant. "Come now, someone must have put the announcement in the papers. Although, I did think that you were being very remiss of your manners by not informing me of your plans, grandson," Hiromi replied, still smiling at Usagi, who looked slightly startled by the news. "There must be some mistake . . ." Usagi began nervously as she continued to stare at Mamoru. His mouth seemed pinched and hard; a tick suddenly appeared on the side of his cheek. She knew very well, having witnessed a past experience at the hospital, that he was furious. "There is no mistake, my dear," Hiromi stated meaningfully, still smiling as he watched the emotional turmoil taking place between the two lovers. Oh, but he did like this girl very much! She would do much for his grandson's broken heart. She is everything his mother had not been, Hiromi thought within an inward, satisfied smirk. Hiromi wanted to shudder just thinking about Mamoru's mother. A hundred times over, he questioned and cursed himself as to where he had gone wrong with his own son. Mamoru hadn't had very much love in his life, except for what he could give himself, but he knew that hadn't been enough. Mamoru had needed a real mother in his life, not the superficial one he had been born to. It had broken his heart every time he remembered the loving gaze young Mamoru would display for his mother, never to be returned by that despicable bitch his son had married. Children should never want for love, especially from their own mother, yet that had been the case for his grandson. Hiromi mentally grimaced, thinking of his own son, Sugita. He had been nothing more than a weakling, a materialistic fool looking only for money and superficial beauty. He had been drawn to Mamoru's mother-Akane's cool, classical beauty. Only after he married her, did he find out exactly what type of woman she turned out to be. She apparently had married just for the money. Mamoru had been an 'accident' as she had proudly proclaimed to her very own son and himself the night her and Sugita were killed in the car accident. It had torn his old heart into two as he witnessed the sharp, haunting pain that had crossed Mamoru's young face at the time. That night had been a turning point for all of them. Akane had revealed her true colors to all of them. She had never wanted to get pregnant in the first place, and had already barred Sugita from her own bedroom. Rumor had it that Akane was still having an affair with an old flame at the time of her pregnancy and being pregnant ended their hot affair. Yet, Hiromi had no doubt about Mamoru's lineage because Mamoru was the exact image of himself and his father at that age. He would at least give Akane credit for never lying about who Mamoru's father was. It had been almost a relief when he heard about the accident. Sure, it had broken his heart that he had lost his son, but he gained a grandson too, a grandson who needed much love and a caring hand. Hiromi would never forget the lost, almost haunted look on Mamoru's face when he arrived at the house, and knew that the damage was very deep indeed. It would take a very loving and patient woman to heal all the hurt buried deep within Mamoru's heart. As Hiromi continued to gaze at Usagi, he knew immediately that she is the one who can change all of that for Mamoru. Hiromi would make it up to his grandson, that much he promised himself long ago. He had failed his own son somehow, but he would not do the same thing to Mamoru. And he would start by making sure that this lovely girl before him would be the one for his grandson. She, from the looks of tenderness that passed between the two, was very much in love with Mamoru. "If you don't mind, my dear, but Mamoru and I have some serious matters that need to be addressed right away," Hiromi asked. "Oh no, go right ahead. And since the roads have been cleared somewhat, I'll go back upstairs and get my stuff together," Usagi said, bowing slightly to Hiromi. She looked up at Mamoru smiling awkwardly. He perceptively nodded his head toward her, his gaze almost cool. "You know where, grandson," Hiromi stated after Usagi left them to return upstairs, his voice suddenly hard. "Of course. After you," Mamoru replied with the same iciness, barely nodding his head in the direction of the library. Please stay tuned for part 8 . . . Lady M. Harris