Promises of Loyalty

Chapter 6 – Feel the Frustration
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A pile of charred wood resting on the conference table to her right, a hole in her ceiling, broken glass and tables littering the bar above…and there she was, sprawled out on the couch in the AVALANCHE base making out with a SOLDIER she had been trying to forcibly remove from her establishment just moments before.

At first, Zack had been a bit shocked at her brazen approach; seconds earlier she was ready to snap his head off, and now she was running her hands up through his hair, pulling him down closer and nipping lightly at his lips as she demanded entrance into his mouth. Normally, SOLDIERs were taught to resist all forms of seduction when working with the enemy, and had this been any normal enemy Zack would have complied with that order completely. However, it was unheard of to have an enemy this hot and willing laid out beneath you. So, Zack forgot altogether what roles they played in this whole SOLDIER/terrorist game and returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm.

Suddenly, Tifa pushed him back so that he was suddenly the one laying on the couch as she hovered above. He gaped up at her in awe as she sat up and stripped off her shirt and bra in one fluid movement, letting her ample breasts bounce free right before his eyes. She shifted forward, hiking up her skirt so she could straddle his lap and lean back down to resume the kiss. His hands groped at her backside, squeezing it appreciatively as he sucked gently on her tongue, hands roaming down along her thighs until he paused and took stock of their situation.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he questioned.

Tifa’s lips caught the corner of his mouth and traced down along his jaw until she reached his neck. Pulling back for a second, she tugged his shirt off and brought one of his hands up to cup her breast, running his palm across her hardening nipple. “Just shut up and don’t make me think anymore…”

He swallowed hard, but then threw caution to the wind as he heard her words. His right hand joined the other at her breasts as he rolled his palms over their soft flesh, teasing her nipples into an almost painful hardness. She moaned slightly and pressed into his touch, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth as he bit her neck lightly. Her lips moved on to assault his collarbone and eventually moved to his neck, giving him a matching mark on his skin as well.

Fingers and a hand wandered down from her chest and over her stomach, then slipped down between her parted legs and ran delicately up her inner thigh until they reached their goal. Slipping her panties to the side, he pressed two fingers roughly into her entrance, bringing a startled gasp from her lips which were moments earlier nibbling at his earlobe. He worked his fingers in and out of her slick heat, his thumb brushing lightly against her clit as the other hand continued to pay attention to her swaying breasts. Tifa’s breath was coming in pants as he pushed her further to the edge, but before she could reach any sort of relief, she stopped him.

Pulling away from his touch, she slipped off the couch and tugged at his pants, swinging his legs over the edge and leaning him against the back. She knelt between his legs and unbuckled his uniform, sliding everything down to his knees and freeing his erection. Her hand wrapped around the base and squeezed gently before taking the tip into her mouth, sliding her tongue around it teasingly. Zack looked down through half-lidded eyes to see a picture of pure eroticism: an eager young girl with her lips wrapped delicately around his hard flesh. Being a SOLDIER had taught him a lot about self control, but years of training flew out the window with each stroke of her tongue.

She took him in as far as she could, using her hands to pay attention to the length her mouth was forced to neglect. Being a gentleman, Zack leaned an arm down to grope her breasts roughly, eliciting a moan from the voluptuous bartender below him. Her tongue danced along his hard flesh and the moan his rough groping caused vibrated along his shaft. His hand guided her head up and down for a moment before she pulled him free to run her tongue along the side, her fingernail tracing along his inner thigh lightly, eyes flicking upward to see his face.

Zack’s teeth were gritted in concentration, eyes nearly closed as he drew in short, shallow breaths, trying to hold back as much as he could against her passionate assault on his throbbing member. She couldn’t help but smirk as she watched his torment, knowing he was close thanks to her, but still trying to hold back. Drawing back so only the tip was still against her lips, she grazed her teeth along his length, one hand wrapped around the base, fondling him lightly as the other hand traced lazy circles on his thighs.

Suddenly, his restraint finally failed him. Years of training meant he could take her any day on the battle field, materia or not, but he had learned now that in the bedroom, that was another story. He slipped a hand behind her head and thrust deep into her waiting mouth, releasing wave after wave of his pleasure as he rode out his orgasm. She swallowed hard, the muscles in her mouth working him dry until she felt the tension in his body fade out. Her tongue danced along the softening flesh, cleaning off every trace of his essence until she released him from her mouth with an audible ‘pop’.

Looking up at him from the floor was a sight hot enough to already re-arouse his spent member. Tifa innocently ran her tongue along her lips, wiping away every trace of his seed from her mouth, before giving him a wicked grin, “Looks like I won this battle after all.”

Zack drew in a deep breath as his head lolled back onto the couch, “You think you won? This isn’t over…just give me a minute, I’ve got some strength left somewhere…”

She giggled and stood up defiantly, stripping off what was left of her attire and then attacking his boots. When she managed to get them undone, she pulled the rest of his clothing off and straddled his lap once more. She wrapped a hand around his slowly hardening shaft and began stroking it lightly as she leaned in to nip at his neck. Not wanting to let her take him by surprise again, his hand found hers and pulled it free to allow him to thrust fully into her waiting body. The startled expression on her face along with the low moan that accompanied it sent Zack’s mouth into a twisted grin as he withdrew just as quick and thrust back once more.

Not wanting him to keep the upper hand, she placed both hands on his shoulders and pulled back from him, thrusting forward and back as she rode him roughly. He kept up his movements as well, timing it just right so he was hitting her with as much force as he could without hurting her. Tempting him this whole time were her breasts, swaying back and forth before his face as she slid up and down on his throbbing erection. His hand captured one and brought the nipple to his lips, suckling lightly and teasing it with his teeth. She hissed in pleasure and bit down on his shoulder again, leaving yet another mark on his tanned skin.

He suddenly released his hold on her breast and gripped her hips, rolling her body on top of his in an effort to feel even deeper into her waiting body. She moaned his name, throwing her head back as her nails raked down his chest, leaving light red trails along his abs. Suddenly, she was lifted into the air as he never missed a beat, thrusting into her still as he maneuvered her to the undamaged side of the table and placed her down. Still pounding in and out of her slick entrance, he slammed her back into the rough wood with each thrust, most likely rubbing her soft skin raw. Tifa didn’t care at the time, as the slight pain brought with it even more pleasure as he dominated over her. She slid her hands up his forearms and gripped them tightly, wrapping her legs around his waist and crossing them at the ankles, pulling him in as far as he could go.

Before she could get used to this new position, he flipped her over, squishing her breasts against the textured surface and resuming his pace. His hands gripped her hips as he plunged himself deeper into her body, shoving her chest back and forth against the grain of the wood. It was creating a delicious friction and driving her mad as she writhed and moaned beneath his body. He hooked a hand under one of her knees and lifted her leg, hitting her at a new angle and creating a faster pace. With each thrust, the rough surface dug into her flesh, and with a sudden downward movement, it brushed against her clit causing her to come apart beneath him.

“Ugh, Zack…god!” she cried out, her muscles clenching around his invading member, pulsing and drawing him to his own climax. He jerked within her, spending himself deep within her body before pulling out and giving a few more lengthy strokes to tease her as she came down from her high. Catching her breath, she panted against the table, arms spread out before her as he let her leg back down to the ground to try and catch her faltering knees.

Not wanting to crush her with his weight, he pulled out and slipped his arms around her waist, coaxing her back toward the couch. He flopped down and pulled a boneless Tifa down on top of him, sliding her body into the crook of his arm between his side and the couch back. They lay like that for what seemed like hours, too exhausted to speak at first until Tifa finally made the first move.

“That was…” she mumbled, still trying to clear the euphoric haze from her mind.

“Wonderful, amazing, mind-blowing…yeah, I’ve heard them all before. I agree.” Zack snickered, running his hand through her hair.

Her head rested on his chest for a moment longer, listening to the slowing beat of his heart when suddenly, Tifa snapped up. “Oh shit…”

Zack tilted his head to the side and looked up at her in confusion. “Barret and the others are gonna come back and freak out. How am I going to explain this giant hole in the ceiling…er, floor…” she cursed and jumped off the couch, recovering her strewn clothing and dressing as quickly as she could. He propped himself on an elbow and watched her sudden turn of emotion with an amused smirk.

“Why not just tell them the truth? A ShinRa SOLDIER came in, trashed the place, but you beat him,” he mumbled, stifling a yawn as he stretched out on the couch.

“Because if I tell them a member of SOLDIER is still stalking me, I’m going to become a liability. Plus I didn’t exactly beat you…” she trailed off as she began discarding the charred ceiling chunks into a nearby garbage bin.

He chuckled, “I don’t think I could gather the strength to take on a ten-year-old right now, let alone you…mmm, that was wild. I’d say you won this time.”

A glare in his direction was enough to rouse that missing strength into his limbs, allowing him to hoist himself from the couch, put his boxers and pants back on, and assist her with the downstairs cleanup. As they worked, Tifa began trying to devise a good excuse for the damaged conditions her bar and their headquarters were now in.

“Remember, I said I’d help fix all this, y’know.” Zack offered, sweeping up the last of the soot from the burnt wood.

“And just how do I explain to them that I talked the enemy into helping me repair the bar?” she questioned.

“Tell them the truth. He was sorry at first for causing the mess, and was even more eager to stick around and help her out after the great lay thereafter…” he snickered, barely avoiding the punch she sent toward his shoulder.

“Barret and the others can’t know about this…I’ll get them to move to another safe house while we repair this place. I’ll think of some kind of excuse…but right now, you need to get out of here. They could come back any time, and the last thing I need now is to have to explain this whole mess.”

Zack nodded and sat back down, lacing up his boots and pulling his shirt on before standing once more. Leaning in, he kissed her softly, “I’ll be back in two days to help fix things. Get things settled with them while I’m gone. And don’t miss me too much.” He winked and pinched her rear playfully as he walked over to the lift under the pinball machine and took it to the floor above. Tifa flopped down on the couch and held her head in her hands in exasperation as she heard the sound of his sword being lifted from the ground and the back door slamming shut shortly thereafter.

Returning to the top level to clean up the broken glass, Tifa noticed his materia bracelet lying forgotten in the corner of the room. She picked it up and examined it, each small marble glowing dimly with its own light. Four green and a yellow…each having some sort of significance unknown to her. She clipped it onto her own wrist and continued cleaning, figuring she would give it back when he returned. It was then that she realized she had just accepted a SOLDIER into her life, and that alone was going to cause some big problems with her current side-profession, as well as the closest thing she had left to family. Her mind was already overloaded from that night with the various revelations and confusion, and having yet to recover from the previous issues, it merely filed this new problem in the “we’ll deal with it when it arises” category and let her body continue on its cleaning journey.

Zack entered back into the barracks of ShinRa headquarters that night with an extra spring in his step. Not only had he been able to finally get back in contact with the brunette vixen that had captivated him back in Nibelheim, but somehow he had managed to capture her attention as well. He did feel a little guilty at having to destroy her happy memories of her childhood infatuation, but not knowing the fate of her lost love as well, he figured it was better he convince her to live for what was there for her now, which was him at that point. Kicking his boots off and flopping down on his bed, he reached up to his wrist to activate his Cure materia and heal the few little scars and marks from their battle and the more fulfilling activities thereafter. However, his hand met skin where it should have met metal and he cursed when he remembered that the bracelet had been snatched away during their battle.

“All the more reason to visit her again anyway…” he chuckled, letting sleep claim him. The small circular bruises on his neck and the red scars down his torso were remnants of a battle he wouldn’t mind keeping a few days longer.
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To be continued in Chapter 7 – Getting Away With Murder