A Heated Valentines

The Burnt tower, long has it been a source of mystery. No one quite knowswhat burned it down, what caused that fateful fire that left so many devastatedand took the lives of many people.

But rumours abound, fair citizens, of ghosts that still haunt the charred,blackened ruins of the once-proud tower. It is said, that every valentines, aghost haunts the tower, intensely furious, violent and unreasonable, attemptingto attack all who enter the source of its agony.

And well, fair citizens? Tonight, after dark, this writer will enter the toweritself, and will reveal, once and for all, if a scorned ghost inhabits theburnt tower.

Wish me luck, Ecruteak!

The local paper ran the story, and the writer, one Ian Carver, twenty-four,orphan, newspaper reporter, true to his word, stood outside the ruins of theonce-proud tower, watching its gaping black entrance with something akin tofear, or trepidation. Saying that he was going to bravely enter the tower wasone thing, actually doing it was quite another.

But squaring his shoulders, he huffed once, and marched through the gapingfront door, unable to help but think as he did, how much it resembled a mouthof some giant demon waiting to consume him.

Inside the tower, it was, as the name stated, burnt, rife with wreckage of adecaying building, rubble littering the floors, and light sources few and farbetween. The bottom two floors were largely intact, and it was said the thirdfloor was where the fateful fire had started. But it was the lowest floor, abasement level, that Ian was interested in. Over the years, anyone who enteredthe tower on Valentine's Day reported an odd, spicy scent, and, if theylingered too long, a ghost that would chase them away. But only the malesreported this. Females reported a...presence of sorts. An odd, wistful presencethat followed them about, sapping their happiness, and making the trip insidethe tower a dreary experience.

Stepping lightly over a fallen beam that had once born the weight of the tower,he scanned about for a staircase leading downwards. It wasn't his first timeinside, but the previous excursions had all been merely for sightseeing. He'dnever actually tried to get to the lower floor before.

With slightly shaking hands, he drew out his torch and flicked it on, theslightly yellowed beam cutting a wash through the darkness, sending shadows dancingcrazily on the blackened walls. It wasn't that Ian was scared of the dark...hewas too old for that. He was much more concerned with what might be inthe dark. Wild Pokémon inhabited the ruins, and the last thing he wanted was toget beaten up by one of them.

He almost smiled as the beam of his torch picked out a staircase, and hequickly strode over to it, peering down the steps cautiously, starting to creepdown them slowly, not wanting to disturb the unnatural silence of this alienplace.

Dust motes drifted in front of his torches beam, and he swallowed once as heheard a faint sound from ahead, quickly clapping a hand over his light,breathing hard a moment, listening hard...but the sound never came again, andhe tentatively lifted his hand away from the light, letting it cut through theinky blackness again, frowning as he saw nothing...maybe the rumours of ghostswere true?

Swallowing whatever misgivings he had, he stalked further down the stairs,emerging onto the lower level. Down here it was rock, a basement hewn from theground itself, with an odd raised area ahead. Further back, a rockslide hadopened up a second, better-hidden basement area, long-disused.

But this was where the sightings were all reported. So this was where he wasstaying.

He stalked over to a low rock, and sat down on it, flicking his light off andpeering about in the perfect darkness, giving a faint smile. He was inside! Andnow, all he had to do was wait. People had seen him enter, and the 'No Ghost InBurnt Tower' story was already written, waiting on his laptop at his home. Allhe need do is wait a few hours for credibility purposes.

Barely ten minutes into his waiting, and a faint gust of air reached him,warmer than the cold, clammy air of an underground area, and scented with anodd cinnamon-esqu smell.

Instantly, he froze, and swallowed audibly...that was the first thing thatpeople reported, a strange scent in the air!

With hands shaking now in no small part due to fear, he lifted his torch, butleft it off, not wanting to reveal his presence to an angry ghost.

He blinked rapidly as a faint glow started to coalesce somewhere in front ofhim, a warm, yellowish-red colour, like a roaring fire on a cold night.

Rubbing his eyes with his free hand, he closed them hard, and then opened themagain, starting to breathe faster as the glow grew stronger. Casting cautionaside, he flicked his light on and shone it directly into the rapidlycoalescing glow, his eyes widening and torch falling from his hand as a Flareoncame charging out of the glow and leaped at him, eyes narrowed fiercely, pawsaiming at him.

He tried to duck, but was too slow, and the surprisingly forceful hit of afull-fledged pouncing Flareon hit him, sending him flailing backwards to awinded landing on his back, panting hard up at the Pokémon, and watching as itturned glowing silver eyes on him.

Ian cried out and tried to cover his face with his hands, but found theywouldn't move! He was stuck!

There was something pinning him in place, something keeping him staring intothose silver eyes, and as the Flareon leaned closer, something odd happened. Arapid-fire flash of images rushed through his consciousness...

He was sitting on a rock, leaning against a human trainer, nuzzling his headagainst him lovingly, chest ballooning with sensations of love andaffection...and somewhere in the back of his mind, he realised that he wasreliving one of the ghost Flareon's memories...

"I've got to go and run errands for my grandfather." the trainer wassaying, turning his face down to the Flareon, and Ian realised that there was astartling similarity between himself and that trainer.

A faint disappointment tinged him at the words of the trainer, and he smiledand reached down, picking him up and laying a firm kiss against his lips,smiling and holding him close. A sense of utter contentment filled him at that,washing through him...this was perfection, completion, a moment in time that hewished would never end...

And then the trainer was leaning down to whisper huskily in his ear, "Iwant to be with you..." he murmured, and he felt a hand stroking lovinglydown his back, to his tail. "Wait for me here. I'll be back, andthen..." he seemed to get nervous a moment, "A-and then wecan...y'know." he said with a firm nod. "If you want to...?"

Ian was nodding enthusiastically, mouth opening and an almost begging'Flllllaaare' escaping his lips, leaning up to lap lovingly at the trainersjaws, chest swelling with eagerness, breath starting to pant, feelinghis body increase in temperature. "Flare-flare!"

The trainer smiled, and turned away, hugging him once more...before that visionfaded.

The next one was a lightning-fast blur of emotion, sensations of worry, faintdisappointment, wistfulness, eagerness, and frustration, which were slowingmorphing into sadness, hungriness, thirst, and...cold.

He wanted to eat, and drink...but the trainer had promised he'd be back! So hecouldn't leave! He had to wait. So they could be together!...

And then it was just cold. Cold and lonely. He was disappointed, andworried...the trainer wasn't back yet, he promised he would be. If he justwaited right here, everything would be okay...

And then there was nothing, and Ian was back to being himself, sucking in ahard breath of air and shuddering, convulsing once at the intense rush ofemotions. He'd felt everything that she had...and now, she was astride him,staring down at him!

As the ghost-Flareon leaned in closer to him, he realised with a start that shethought he was her trainer, returned! Oh how she must hate him, must loathehim for leaving her here to, what he could only assume was die, afterpromising to return. And now, she thought they were one and the same!

Again, he tried to cover his face, but he wasn't fast enough, soft,surprisingly warm lips pressing to his own, making him stiffen and go wide-eyedas he realised the Flareon was kissing him. Kissing him with a fieryintensity, breathing a hot wash of air against his own tongue as hers slippedforwards and sought to mingle with his, her eyes slowly closing and an eagerpurr leaving her form, her body quite amorously starting to rub over his.

He swallowed once, hard, and tried to think, tried not to give in to themind-meltingly awesome sensation of warm lips against his own, a hand liftingto push the Flareon off him, and succeeding only in burying in her scruff andstroking gently, his breathing increasing.

She wanted him, and as his hand contacted her side, he felt heremotions, her need, her eagerness, her ultimate satisfaction that he hadreturned.

He realised that he had to stop this, had to tell her that he wasn't hertrainer, that he was just a reporter for a small newspaper investigating herhaunting. One which he had presumed didn't actually exist!

But then she was kissing him with a feral hunger, silver eyes opening andpeering down at him, her expression needy, legs shifting to straddle his waist,rubbing the hottest part of her body against the growing bulge in his pants.

And a voice whispered faintly in the back of his mind; I could just gothrough with it...

The realising of it almost made him sick, and he tried to push the Flareon offhim, feeling disgusted with himself. Here this ghost was, needing hertrainer to fulfil what she had been waiting for, for so long, to give her completion,and he had even considered using that for his own gain? The realisationof it made him feel sick.

But then, he paused, hand automatically stroking through her fur as he ponderedon that thought a moment...she wanted him, needed him...She needed hertrainer to come back and be with her, so that she could be complete, could restin peace.

Or she could linger here and keep waiting for him.

The concepts swirled around his mind, and he almost made a sound of confusion.On one hand, he didn't want to use her...but on the other? If he pleased her,gave himself to her, she would be complete. She wouldn't need wait for hertrainer here in this blackened tower on every valentine. She could be at peace.

But she was already making up his mind for him, raking her claws eagerly acrosshis chest, shredding his shirt without even nicking the skin beneath, tearingthe ragged clothing from his form and lapping heatedly at his chest with herhot tongue, sensually drawing her soft, moist tongue across his skin.

Ian decided in that moment that he would just have to live with any pangs ofconscience he felt, so that he could lay her spirit to rest like she deserved.

With a soft purr up at him, the Flareon paused, and grinned, pointedly pressinga paw to the bulge in his pants, grinning up at him, silver eyes half-lidding,narrowing as she took the band of his pants in her paws and started to tug themdown slowly, letting her tongue slide along the receding line of protection,drawing oh-so-close to the now-hard, eager cock she was revealing.

Her tongue found his tip, and he gasped aloud, arching and giving a soft cry atthe sensation of warm and soft moistness that touched his sensitive flesh, atwitch of his legs following as she sensually rolled her hot tongue around hiscocktip, holding him steady with a paw on either side of the base of themeatstick, her nose rubbing against it slowly as her silver eyes gazedunblinkingly into his own.

As she licked, and toyed so lovingly with his flesh, he felt her emotions, almostas if his own, sensations of heat, lust, eagerness, loving his scent, histaste, his sounds, loving the fact that she was actually doing this! She neededto please him! This was what she had waited for, for so long!

Ian shuddered all over as the hot Flareon maw parted, and pressed down over histip, consuming it slowly, letting it rub along her tongue as it slid in, aheavenly sensation, one that made his eyes clench shut in delight and a faint,writhing convulsion to encompass his form, his hands automatically shifted tothe fire Pokémon's head, gripping her ears gently as she pressed her delightfulmaw further onto his cock, the heat and soft moistness making him cry out withlust.

She loved it, every second, every little twitch of his body, even the hot scentof his arousal, increasing rapidly as she worked, eyes closing to better enjoythe sensation, blinded by lust, and her desire to please her trainer.

The Flareon's forepaws lightly pressed to his thighs, and she lapped up thelength of the cock with her soft, hot tongue, her muzzle still around it,before she pressed her lips closed, and began to suck gently, just like she hadalways imagined doing, ears laying back and tailtip swirling rapidly againsthis ankles as she pleased him, breathing hotly against his stomach as sheworked.

Soft gasped and long shudders escaped Ian as he sought not to just orgasminstantly under the assault her tongue and maw were putting on his length, theindescribable heat and softness of her tongue against him was maddening, andquickly, he was stroking at her ears insistently, trying to get her to stop."S-stop! I-I can't h-hol-" the rest of his sentence drifted off asthe Flareon shifted and pressed deeper on him, consuming his entire length,pressing several inches into her very throat! Anything to please herbeloved.

Ian shuddered hard, and a loud cry left him in the darkness as his cocktwitched in the hot maw, the Flareon quickly drawing back, and holding the verytip in her muzzle, suckling at it impossible hard, soft tongue laving againsthim wetly, his hands clawing at the ground beneath him as his aching lengthpulsed, and the first heavy ropes of his seed blasted from him.

Spurt after spurt of the gooey warm seed spilled from him, rapidly filling theFlareon's mouth, splashing over her tongue and the back of her mouth, hersilver eyes narrowing as she struggled and resisted the urge to swallow,grinning at him innocently as she let the sticky seed start to seep from theedges of her muzzle, dribbling delightfully from her mouth, before sheswallowed rapidly to take in the last of his lovely load, pulling back andlightly lapping at the tip of his still-throbbing length, purring and smilingat him.

He tried hard not to pass out then, reeling, head spinning at the intensesensations, twitching faintly, feeling the Flareon's happiness, herutter delight at having pleased him so, lightly lapping at him to clean him,and only serving in keeping him aroused with her soft fox tongue.

With a panting, breathless murmur, he whispered, "I want to return thefavour, hun..." in the most lustful tone he could muster, grinning at heras she nodded slowly, seeming to hesitate a moment, before crawling up to laybesides him, slowly turning about, and then blushing heavily in the darkness,lit by the sensual glow of the odd coalescing motes that danced nearby, leaningforwards slowly, and then shifting that long, fluffy tail into the air.

Ian's eyes widened, and then narrowed as that yellow tail lifted high, andsuddenly, her body was bared to him. Under that long tail, the red furcontinued, until it reached a sliver of pink, the outer lips swollen andglistening with faint moisture, obviously needy in the extreme...and yet shehad ignored it, just to please the one she wanted to be with.

A lump grew in his throat as he crawled closer to her, taking that bushy tailin his hand and shifting it out of the way a little bit, feeling his eyes mistover slightly...an odd longing started in him, to find someone like this. Tohave a love that was so intense that he could ignore his baser needsjust to please the object of his affections.

And his desire to reunite the Flareon and her trainer grew stronger,strengthened by these thoughts...for what, other than death, could keep someonefrom a love that strong? And if not death, then the trainer didn't deserve tofind his Flareon waiting when he came for her.

Soft fingertips found her tailbase, and held it out of the way, while he benthis head to her rear, his free hand holding her around the stomach, lightlysqueezing and caressing her fur as he inhaled her potent, intoxicating scent,cinnamon-esqu, spicy, hot.

"I want to be with you..." he murmured gently to her, and watched asher blush increased in intensity, her hips wiggling at him as droplets ofmoisture spilled from her heated sex, urging him to give her what he said hewould, and he laughed faintly. "I know love, I know." he murmured,bending down and pressing his lips to her without a moment of hesitation,making her back arch and tail curl above her back, muzzle parting and tonguelolling free.

He was determined to play his part to perfection, to put her at rest, to giveher the knowledge that her trainer did love her, the he had come back for her.It was his duty.

Her little body shuddered and she pressed back at him eagerly at the touch ofhis tongue, her taste exploding onto his senses, causing him to pant faintlyand give a soft gasp against her hot sex. It was like nothing he'd everexperiences. A hot mix of spicy and sweet tastes, with a delightfully strongtang to it that made his head spin with its heady, potent effects.

Ian's thumbs lightly held her open as he pressed his mouth to her, and firmlydug his tongue into her body, lapping at the exposed flesh, firmly rubbing histhumbs in little circles, to further the stimulation, feeling her liquidswelling up from inside her to spill against, and around his tongue, drippingslowly to the ground, just a fraction away from being uncomfortably hot.

The little Flareon's body started to quiver, and his eyes widened, realisingthat she was so close to her peak already, just from his tongue and thumbs onher, her hot liquids welling forth more readily as he lapped at her moreeagerly, firmly rolling his tongue over her exposed, slippery flesh.

Spasms of delight started in her body, and her back arched hard, her headthrowing back and ears lying back flat as her tail quivered and then wenttense, inner muscles clenching and convulsing around a non-existent object ashot liquids spilled back against his mouth and tongue.

Ian found himself drinking them down eagerly, enjoying her heady taste and theslippery texture of her essence, loving the primeval delights of her body.

With a long shudder, she relaxed, slowly lowering herself to the ground, limbssplayed, rear moist with her own liquids, the spicy scent of her sweat andsexual fluid filling the air as she tried to get back her breath.

With a soft smile down at her, he rolled her slowly over, onto her back, andkissed her nose lovingly. "I love you...Ember." he murmured gently,blinking at himself that he had known her name somehow, brow furrowing, beforehe smiled and lapped once at her muzzle, kissing her eagerly. "I want tobe with you..." he murmured softly, and felt her shudder against him asshe nodded vigorously, pressing up to him, eyes widening as she felt his eagertip pressing against her, spreading her hot, slick entrance around its tip.

Purring up at him, she gripped his sides with her paws, pulling him closer, which,in turn, slid the first inch into her hot body. A soft, lustful growl escapedher parted muzzle, and she pressed her lips to his eagerly, kissing him with afiery passion, sharing the mingled taste of their own liquids back and forth ina primal, wild expression of their love.

Soft shudders passed over the Flareon as he slid himself deep inside her wildlygripping, hot insides, Ian giving a loud moan as her hot depths quiveredreflexively around the intrusion, tightly coiling around his cock in a delightfullyheated, soft embrace.

Gasping faintly, he started to shift into her, holding her close, pressing hischeek to hers and whispering words of love into her ears on instinct, feelingher hot cunt rippling around him, tailtip swishing against his thighs as shemoaned and cried out with delight.

His body fell into an eager, firm rhythm, pressing deep into her body,holding himself there, and then drawing back, only to press it back into hereagerly accepting body, feeling an odd sense of completion flowingthrough him...that had to be her, finally getting what she wanted.

A lustful snarl left her, and she bared her teeth, muzzle screwing up and earslaying back, body arching, quivering as her hot, gripping folds tighteningaround him, constricting and massaging all at once, a splash of her liquidsonly making his movements easier as he started to pant into her muzzle.

Their coupling grew more passionate, bodies meshing and coiling as he droveinto her rapidly, sweat mingling on their forms as her body grew hotter andhotter, approaching her final, cataclysmic orgasm as Ian started to pant hotlyinto her mouth, breath coming hard and fast, spilling pre rapidly into hertight depths.

Her ears folded back further, and her teeth bared fully as she snarled,surprisingly fiercely, at the roof, body arching and convulsing under him, herform gripping tight around him, squeezing, milking, coaxing, and with a roar ofpleasure, Ian drove into her and spilled his hot load deep into her heatedbody.

Ember shuddered hard and squealed aloud as she felt the warm spurts of gooey,sticky warmth splashing deep into her eager body, flooding her, finallygiving her what she needed. She was complete, now, one with her beloved.

Ian wasn't aware of having fallen asleep, but when he jerked away, he was nolonger on top of the Flareon. Rather, she was standing beside him, staring athim with a tilted head, tailtip lightly swishing, smiling, observing his form,her eyes no longer that odd silver, but a shining, vibrant blue, and herealised quite suddenly that she knew...she knew that he wasn'ther trainer.

The worst possible eventuality for his little 'plan'.

"I-I'm sorry!" he gasped, quickly rolling into a sitting position andbacking away. "I thought I could help you!"

The Flareon sauntered closer, and lightly nuzzled her cheek against his, and asshe did, he felt her emotions...she was content, completed. He had come backfor her.

Confusion hit him then, and his brows furrowed, blinking at her once."I...I'm not your trainer." he admitted, swallowing thickly a moment."I'm sorry..."

The Flareon shook her head slowly, and lifted his head with a paw under hischin, so that he was forced to peer into her eyes.

The ghostly Flareon's eyes glowed a moment, and Ian reeled backwards with a cryas images flashed across his vision again.

He was walking home, carrying a package from his grandfather, some kind of newinvention, when someone stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Give over the goods, kid, and you'll have no trouble." the man said,tossing a pokeball in one hand, before releasing a Scyther in a flare of redlight.

"It's not yours!" he said defiantly, and tried to step past the man,only to be blocked firmly. "I'm taking it anyhow." he said, andreached for the package.

He stepped back, dropped the package, and then swung a heavy fist at theman...The Scyther was faster though.

Reacting on instinct, it slashed forwards, aiming with its scythes, and therewas a flash of pain, his brows furrowing, uncomprehendingly, as he saw theScyther's blade protruding from his chest.

He fell backwards hard into the ground, and Ember's pokeball went rolling awayfrom him, just out of arms reach. His fingertips reached for it, and he gave asigh. If only Ember had been with him...he never kept her in her ball, that wascruel.

If only she had been with him...

Ian held his head in his hand, fingertips clawing at his scalp as he tried todistance himself from the memories, reeling from the presence of two differentconsciousness's in his head.

"E-ember?" he asked, eyes opening and raising to her. He remembered.He remembered everything. It was a shocking realisation. He wasn'tIan...he was, but before that, he was Nick. Nick Asyl, and he had been keptfrom his love minutes before they were to be one.

He died there, on the ground, his lifeblood slowly oozing from his body,Ember's name on his lips as he'd given up life, and then, he was somewhereelse. Somewhere nice, somewhere happy.

Somehow, he could sense Ember, waiting for him, and it hurt him so deeply tonot be able to be with her, to break his promise to her.

And it still hurt, years afterwards, when she waited for him so faithfully,defying even the grips of death to stay for him.

And so, he had come back for her, the only way he could.

"I-I'm sorry Ember." he murmured, dragging her into his arms andholding her close, feeling tears splash down his cheeks. "Please forgiveme for making you wait so long...?"

The Flareon smiled and nuzzled against his cheek lovingly, their emotionsmingling again. She was happy he had come back...he had kept his promise, therewas nothing else.

"Ember..." he murmured gently, stroking at her sides. "I...gaveup whatever it was that I had. I had to come back for you." he said,wiping his eyes with his arm a moment.

"I'm sorry. But...you have to keep waiting for me. We can't be togetheragain just yet. I...have to live." he said, choking on the words."Wait for me, Ember?"

The Flareon smiled and licked his cheek, her expression slightly sad.

He had come back for her, and that was all that mattered. She would wait alleternity for him. Even if it meant they could be together for only a momentmore.

Ian...Nick smiled at her a moment, and kissed her cheek, trying not to cryagain as he felt her form starting to grow more liquid in his grip, less solid."I love you, Ember..." he murmured, and kissed her nose one lasttime.

The faint scent of cinnamon lingered in the air as the glow dissipated, and inthe darkness, Nick felt Ember's presence slip away to wherever it was she wouldgo.

The local paper ran a small story, about the Valentines ghost;

The Valentines Ghost

No ghost exists in the burnt tower, as our reporter found. Only memories ofloss and pain. But this reporter learnt an important lesson in the darknessthere:

Time means nothing if you know that the ones you love wait for you at the endof it all.

No one quite understood what the newspaper meant, but it was clear to them thatsomething had happened down there in the burnt tower's basement. Ian went in,and Ian came out. But he was changed, somehow.

Where once, he was a quiet fellow, now, he was quiet, and reserved. Heconstantly sat in his chair, as though waiting for someone to turn up for him,waiting endlessly.

But time meant nothing to him, knowing that Ember was waiting for him at theend of it all.