Tuesday, May 17, 2005

   Chapter 59: Anything You Can Do...(Adult)
Kagome couldn’t put her finger on what exactly woke her.

It wasn’t a gradual awakening either. One minute she had been asleep and the next she was wide-awake and staring at a rock wall a few feet in front of her confused gaze. “I have GOT to stop doing this,” she grumbled at herself in irritation as she tried to figure out what had caused her sudden return to consciousness this time.

‘Was I dreaming?’ Kagome sat up slowly, gasping in alarm when a wave of dizziness made her vision swim. Startled, she pressed her hand over her heart as though that touch alone would calm it when she realized just how fast it was racing. Her palm connected with the soft fabric, and she grimaced at finding her kimono practically soaked through with sweat. Almost panting, she swept her gaze around the quiet chamber and tried to shake off the muggy disorientation clouding her thoughts.

She was absolutely sweltering, and in frustration, she tore at the ties of her clothing until she had opened her kimono and hakama enough to slide them off and toss them aside. Seeking some measure of relief from the building heat, she closed her eyes while her chest heaved, trying to focus on the cooler breeze from the outside as it washed over her sweat-dampened, naked flesh. Under that subtle caress, a shiver went down her spine and pulled a low moan from deep in her chest that stunned her almost as much as the sudden jolt of desire flaring undeniably to life in the pit of her stomach.

‘Wha-what the hell is wrong with me?’ she clamped her arms around her torso to prevent more of that breeze from sliding over her and blushing furiously at the intense ache gaining strength between her thighs.

Kagome whimpered when her heart lurched, the muscles over her abdomen contracting almost spasmodically as a sharp twinge of need shot through her. She gritted her teeth against the sensation, swearing darkly at the prick of fangs against her lips followed by the heavy throb and nearly euphoric rush of strength she now recognized as the youkai blood rushing to take dominance inside her body.

“Dammit, I’m not fighting and I’m not angry! What’s going on?!” she hissed, falling forward to catch herself with one hand while the other fisted and pressed into her stomach helplessly. The burning feeling inside her tripled, wrenching a cry from her throat that was a mix of excitement and discomfort while her body lurched and the human blood began to wane at a much greater speed.

Strong nails hardened into claws and bit deeply into her fisted palms, and she could feel her ears stretch as they slid up to the top of her head. She still wasn’t used to the feeling of her ears elongating and growing that velvet soft fur when they changed to mimic Inuyasha’s, and she lifted a hand to shakily touch one sensitive triangle as it flattened back with her emotions, ‘Why am I changing now?!’

Inuyasha shifted alongside her, growling in his sleep as he flung an arm over her hips and nuzzled against the curve of her waist. Kagome instinctively bared her teeth, eyes gleaming feverishly as she looked down at the source of yet another painful rush of desire and longing.

‘How dare he be asleep and looking so goddamn peaceful when I feel like I’m getting pulled apart!?’ she bristled, frustration and confusion making it easy enough for her to use anger to tamp both unwanted feelings down. Especially since she felt like any second her blood was going to set her skin on fire with the heat radiating through her.

“You bastard!” Kagome hissed, rocking up on her haunches to knock his hold loose and face her obliviously slumbering mate. “You’re supposed to take care of this kind of thing! Not let it get like this!” her hands fisted tight against her thighs as she braced herself for yet another pulsing throb.

Inuyasha’s nose twitched and he took a deep breath, murmuring her name in a nearly incoherent growl but showing absolutely no sign of waking anytime soon.

Kagome bit down on her lip hard to keep from screaming in frustration, but a helpless moan choked out of her when the sharp prick only made her recall the feel of Inuyasha’s own teeth nipping at her with perfect clarity. Even more confused at just why every little thing had suddenly taken on such undeniable sexual associations in her mind, and rapidly growing impatient with her tingling body, she lifted a hand to reflexively strike at Inuyasha for not being awake to make it go away. For looking so content… for, for… Hell, she just wanted to hit him for being the one to show her that she COULD feel things like this, and yet…

Her hand paused before she did more than imagine how satisfying it would have been to awaken him so rudely, but a much more interesting thought had struck. Quite effectively distracted by her own imagination, her eyes narrowed with a new gleam of predatory speculation.

Since her senses had heightened, she’d become quite proficient at identifying not only Inuyasha’s distinctive scent, but also the subtle shifts caused by the change in his often-volatile emotions. And at the moment, there was an enticing edge to it that she easily recognized from the times they mated before.

‘Does that mean he can be aroused and asleep?’ Kagome blinked, focusing on her curiosity in an effort to ignore the gnawing ache inside her.

Her hand only shook a little as she reached down and plucked at the ties of his hakama and kimono. He’d undressed and stared at her plenty of times, so why the hell couldn’t she do it to? She could be just as strong as he was now that she could absorb, and if he could cast a goddamn collar without any remorse, then she should be allowed to take off his clothes if she wanted.

Despite her eagerness, Kagome was still new enough to intimacy with Inuyasha that she was completely unprepared for her own reaction to her audacity. When she eased his clothing aside to stare down at his naked body, the ache she’d been trying so hard to ignore sparked wildly and nearly doubled her over. She clamped her legs together hard, eyes wide in alarm as her muscles shook and to her absolute horror, her mouth watered in primal anticipation.

Kagome shot away from him with a yelp, sliding to a crouch at the opposite side of the cave on hands and knees as her eyes glowed and her chest heaved with her labored breathing. Flushed with both desire and embarrassment at her responses, she inched closer to him, the edges of her vision blurring slightly with a reddish haze, “Inu… Inuyasha… Gomen ne… I’m just so… so hot!”

Either by coincidence or unconscious reaction to the potent scent of Kagome’s own arousal, Inuyasha’s body was hard and ready despite his being dead to the world. Almost as though he was subconsciously taunting her to touch and explore as she whimpered and growled with confused longing.

Her legs carried her back to his side of their own accord, palms itching with the need to trail over the warm, soft flesh she loved so much. ‘Wait…’ Kagome’s brows snapped together as her mind tormented her with flashes of everything Inuyasha had ever done to her, the hanyou always starting each of their encounters on his own. Not just that, but he didn’t seem overly concerned with restraining any urges he had where she was concerned.

If he could do that, and never think twice about it, then why the hell was she hesitating?! Angry with herself for her insecurity after…well after everything he’d done to her, she gritted her teeth and reached out to press her palm on his stomach above the smooth, turgid erection.

Kagome’s eyes slid closed when a tingle spread up her arm in response to the contact, and before her mind even registered her body doing it, she was on her knees in between his strong thighs. Her muscles were strung taut; alert for anything that would indicate her hanyou was waking as her hand lowered to loosely circle the base of that thick shaft and squeeze.

Inuyasha inhaled sharply and let out a growling moan as he shifted restlessly against her hand, reflexively leaning into her stroke but still not rousing from his own deep sleep.

Kagome blinked several times in astonishment before a particularly iniquitous grin crossed her lips, ‘So he CAN be aroused in his sleep too.’

Unbeknownst to her, Kagome’s irises bled scarlet and began to glow softly in the dimming light, ‘He’s my mate, he’s insisted I remember that more than once, and somehow this just has to be his fault. I should be able to try whatever I want with him and he won’t be angry, right?’

Calmed by own perplexed logic even as she squirmed restlessly to give herself some measure of relief from the increasing ache, Kagome slid her legs back and lay down over his legs. Bracing one arm on his hip to hold herself up, she squeezed him again, but this time dipped her head and slid her tongue from the base of his shaft to the tip to learn the taste of him.

Inuyasha let out a loud sound somewhere between a snarl and a moan, his mouth falling open as his claws dug deep into the ground at his sides. His hips lifted, muscles bunching around her body and urging her to lap at him again while his ears twitched forward and flattened back more rapidly than she’d ever seen them move before. She could feel his heartbeat quicken through the tattoo as well as where her bare skin met his, his blood heating as the rhythm of his breathing changed from deep slumber to a slow pant.

Kagome frowned slightly, her own ears twitching forward to catch the change in the sound and the pace that his chest rose and fell. She was well aware from the alteration in the feel of him that he was waking up, and better to satisfy her curiosity before that happened. If he woke completely there was the possibility he would stop her from playing out the urges hammering inexorably through her blood.

With that thought in mind, Kagome forgot all about toying with him slowly and dipped her head quickly to scrape her fangs over the tip of his shaft once and then tilted her head to take the entire length deep in her mouth.

Inuyasha came awake in layers, his mind in a thick haze as it tried to process several things at once. First, it was hot… almost unbearably so, but taking his attention well away from that was a steady, massaging pleasure rushing through him and making his breath catch in the back of his throat. When he finally managed to pull in a choppy, almost regular breath, struggling to open his eyes through the heavy cloud of sensation, his nose picked up Kagome’s scent. But as it filled his senses, he realized there was something different about it. Something off…

His eyes snapped open and he reared up when he felt a sharp edge graze him in a particularly sensitive area, his mind belatedly connecting just what was causing the heated, wet pull around his throbbing erection. A jolt of searing ecstasy rocked hard through his frame, completely knocking the breath from his lungs and freezing his arms when his eyes locked on the sight of Kagome’s head in his lap.

Inuyasha swore his heart stopped as his mind rather abruptly blanked to everything but the sight of her lips around him and the feel of her tongue making a slow, firm glide up and back down. The combination threw him viciously over the edge.

Kagome heard Inuyasha choke out her name in startled amazement and stubbornly wrapped her arms around his hips to pull him closer when he tensed beneath her, and a flood of hot, thick liquid filled her mouth.

Caught up in the throes of the strongest instincts she’d experienced yet with Inuyasha’s youkai blood, Kagome held back a grin and swallowed before proceeding to lap at him with a sultry laziness she hadn’t known she possessed.

The throbbing in her veins burned even hotter at such an undeniable display of how very much he’d enjoyed her attention, but this time she welcomed the discomfort. After all, there was definitely something satisfying in the way his stomach still contracted with smaller aftershocks, that his shoulders were still heaving with his wild panting, the way his thighs still twitched against her ribs, or even the stunned look on his sweat-streaked face.

Kagome was so proud of herself over his reaction, she was purring with absolute delight, lifting herself up to slide her tongue into his open mouth and along his. She couldn’t stop the bubbling giggle from escaping, however, when Inuyasha continued to pant against her lips, making an obvious effort to catch her tongue and bring her into a kiss, but failing miserably in his own disorientation. He was still trying to catch his breath, blinking furiously as his passion-glazed eyes cleared enough to bring her face into focus again.

His biceps were protesting loudly from holding his upper body up after that shattering orgasm, but he ignored them in favor of taking several deep breaths and trying to calm his racing heart before whispering in amazement, “Kagome? You… I…”

“You liked it,” she drawled, smirking as she turned her head to rub her cheek down the side of his neck and inhaling the telling scents of his sweat-dampened skin.

Inuyasha grunted in annoyance, “Fuck, don’t tell me you thought I wouldn’t!” He rubbed his chin over the top of her head to take the sting out of his words as his thoughts finally caught up to her actions and cleared, “You really should have known better than that, koi.”

Kagome’s eyes glittered dangerously from where she hid her face against his shoulder, her hands sliding up his chest and tensing as her lips pulled back off her fangs in a smile that held little humor, “Does that mean you’ll let me try anything I want with you?”

“You have to ask?” he blinked in surprise and shrugged. “I’ve been trying everything I want with you, why would I stop you from doing the same thing?”

Inuyasha found himself abruptly thrown hard onto his back, letting out a snarl of outrage when his head cracked smartly against the rock, “Bitch! What did you do that f-?!”

The sound died in his throat when Kagome came down on top of him, her knees pinning his arms at his sides as her eyes gleamed with promise, catching his shocked gaze with ease. “Nice to know you intend to be so generous, koishii,” she flashed him a triumphant smile, sliding a clawed hand down over his chest to watch the muscles twitch and jump.

‘Oh fuck,’ Inuyasha went stiff, his eyes jumping from her scarlet eyes to the rest of the features that would indicate her youkai blood was in control. His ears, his fangs, and- he shuddered at the feel of her hand, ‘And claws. Shit, that’s what changed in her smell.’

“Kagome,” his voice almost broke and he paused to clear his throat, trying to breathe through his mouth and stay calm. If he pulled in too much of the scent of her heat, the last thing on his mind would be getting her back under control, “Koi, you… need to calm down a little bit.”

“Why?” she chirped out a little too innocently, bending down to nibble on his ear.

“You’re having a youkai heat,” Inuyasha’s eyes closed and he tried to tuck his fisted hands beneath him as he fought to control the lurch in his own instincts. ‘Dammit, this is what I get for wanting to laugh at Sango for warning me…’

His mate was in heat, naked on top of him with the challenge clear in her eyes. Well, at least this answered his question about whether or not she would breed on a youkai cycle instead of a human one; although he wasn’t so sure Kagome losing herself in the driving need to mate would be a good thing for her.

“Is that what it is?” Kagome leaned up to meet his eyes again, her lashes lowering slightly as she caught her lower lip with a fang and slid one claw down his throat. “I’m so hot, Inuyasha… But you should fix it since it’s your fault, right?” she leaned over again and he could clearly hear her pounding heartbeat.

Slightly mesmerized by way her skin seemed to shine with the fine layer of sweat and the fast rise and fall of her chest, he swallowed and tried to hold in a growl, “That’s… that’s normal. Let me up, koi, and I’ll help you.”

One brow arched sharply at the demand and the look in her eyes changed rapidly to irritation as she brought her hands down to hold his biceps against the ground, “I don’t want to.”

‘Dammit, Kagome, don’t argue with me! Not when you’re like this!’ Inuyasha wanted to scream at her, but he already knew that would only set her instincts off in an even more belligerent direction.

If only his bitch wasn’t just as stubborn as he was, he might be able to get out of this without completely losing his head. But the edge she’d taken off his desire was fading fast, being replaced… With every breath that brought him her delicious scent and every challenge she shot at him with her words, eyes, and even her body language, he could feel his blood heat. She was setting off his need to dominate almost as badly as the scent and feel of her was restoring the painful arousal.

“Kagome,” he growled in warning, sucking in a breath and gritting his teeth when he felt his hard-won control slip a notch.

Kagome growled right back, her hands flexing to dig the tips of her claws into his skin, “You said I could try anything. I want to try this way.”

“Remind me in the future to be more specific,” Inuyasha’s own eyes started to gleam as a drop of sweat that slid down between her breasts caught his attention.

Kagome wrinkled her nose in irritation, “You sound like Miroku when you talk like that.” A particularly strong pulse caught her full attention and she hissed, arching her back and clamping her legs into his sides with bruising force as her head fell back. Her throat worked as her jaw clenched and she lifted one hand to press against her stomach, “Fuck! It’s… so hot!”

Inuyasha wrenched to the side, yanking his arms free when he sent her tumbling to the ground and rolling on top of her. He caught the hands that lifted to try and throw him off, slamming them down on either side of her head as he growled and gave her a quick flash of fangs, “Kagome, listen-!”

Kagome’s eyes glazed and she rammed her forehead against his, catching him so completely off-guard with the unanticipated action that it was a simple thing for her to reverse their positions. “My way this time, Inuyasha!” she snapped, nipping his throat hard and grinning at the rush that went through her. ‘This is almost better than absorbing!’ her eyes narrowed down at him with dark exhilaration.

Inuyasha shook his head once to clear it, swearing long and violently in his mind when he felt her teeth scrape over his neck. ‘What the hell is it about me and Kagome that we seem to know just what to do to make the other completely lose it?’ the thought went through his head even as he felt his blood lurch and heat with even more anger at her refusal to submit. Not to mention that she’d attacked to try and get him to be the submissive one. When she was the one in heat? Not a chance.

Kagome was smirking down at him, one hand resting on her hip and the other over his heart, absently stroking with the tips of her claws. Inuyasha held his instincts back by a thin thread, biting his lip hard as his eyes burned into her own in silent command.

His experience with youkai females going into heat was limited, but universally it seemed they liked to toss out taunting remarks at males they came in contact with, attempting to crack the control already strained by the scent of the female’s heat. Likely it was some twisted way to get the strongest mate they could, provided that mate was interested or too weak to fight his own response to their scent.

Kagome was human… or at least, she used to be, so he could only hope she wouldn’t do the same. That had been the only reason he hadn’t taken Sango’s very valid concern seriously, despite what he knew about youkai mating. He hadn’t really anticipated this kind of a fight with Kagome.

He closed his eyes and chanted in his head as she ground her lower body against his stomach, ‘Just don’t do or say anything stupid, Kagome. Don’t say something that-‘

“You know…you should listen to me more often, Inuyasha,” Kagome tilted her head and smiled, her hair sliding in a thick curtain over her shoulder and tickling his stomach. Her eyes darkened with acerbic defiance as she leaned down and whispered, “After all, I can always find someone else willing to be my mate.”

Inuyasha went perfectly still beneath her as that last thread snapped, ‘Fuck that idea.’

Kagome let out a shriek of alarm when Inuyasha’s arms lashed out, breaking her hold on him with no more thought than he would give to Shippo or Myouga. Before she could tense or even take decent breath to scream at him, his hands locked on her waist and yanked her down hard while he thrust his hips upward and rolled with her.

In the blink of an eye, he’d freed himself from her hold, somehow entered her as deeply as physically possible, and still managed to reverse their positions yet again.

Kagome’s back arched as far as bone and tendon permitted, crushing her breasts against the wall of his chest as her eyes went wide from the exquisite feel of him filling her so abruptly, making the heat she was trying to soothe ignite into a full-on blaze. She started to lift her hands only to have Inuyasha’s snap up to catch her wrists and slam them down on either side of her head again.

His eyes were blazing scarlet while he towered over her, his expression feral with possessive fury as he growled down at her, “What the FUCK did you just say, Kagome?!”

Kagome ignored the violent snarl, already forgetting how she had goaded him with the much more important matter of attending to the smoldering craving in her blood riding her hard, “Inuyasha… please…”

Inuyasha snorted, forcing himself to remain unresponsive while he watched the flush on her face deepen and her wide eyes turn limpid, “I asked you a question, Kagome. You’re letting your blood make you reckless if you think I’ll let you so much as joke about something so goddamn stupid as that!”

Kagome shifted against him, grinding her hips upward to try and start the rhythm she needed, “I… please, it’s… it’s too much, Inuyasha!” When he shook his head at her again, she tugged hard against his hold and snapped at him, “But it’s your fault! I never knew it could feel like this before you! I never wanted… Damn you, for making me feel like this!”

Inuyasha leaned down, pressing her hips flat against the ground with his weight and stretching her arms up over her head to make it easier to transfer her wrists to one hand. Everything in him was dying to just pin her down and prove to her beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was her only one. That he was the dominant in their match, but still… He managed to bite back that feeling in favor of a nagging urge to understand the source of her actions. If not, would she go this crazy the next time she went into heat?

Their connection gave him a direct line to what she was feeling, but it was hard to distinguish individual emotions in that chaotic tangle and overwhelming arousal inside her. Kagome was beyond frustrated, but he could feel sparks of anger and confusion from time to time, and even a hint of pain. Was heat painful for a female? Was that why they fought so hard to find a mate? Experimentally, he slid out of her and then thrust back in, forcing his eyes to stay open on hers.

Kagome arched her neck and let out a growling moan, her legs wrapping around his hips as her irate hissing abruptly cut off. The tangle in his mind dissolved in an instant, giving him a smooth feeling of just what was making Kagome act the way she was. Unfortunately, or not, he mused, depending on how he chose to look at it, her intense emotions were unraveling his own until he was hard-pressed to ignore the demands of both their bodies.

Kagome sensed the shift even before she opened her eyes to see his previous rage smooth out into warm satisfaction, and when his fingers started to go slack, she yanked her arms free and moved her legs to roll him again to his back. He’d opened his mouth and was reaching for her again when she braced her legs on either side of his hips and rocked back as forcefully as she could.

The protest died in his throat, his hands squeezing her thighs as the vibrations from his low growl went through her everywhere their skin touched, “Kagome-“

“Shh,” Kagome’s thoughts smoothed out, however, every ounce of her being was focused on Inuyasha and the feel of him inside her. She lifted herself a little only to press back down gently this time, touching a shaky finger to his lips, “We can argue later, can’t we, Inuyasha? You…you feel so good.”

Later was starting to sound quite reasonable.

Inuyasha pressed upwards when she slid down again, his claws tensing on the smooth skin of her thighs. “Don’t think I’ll forget that you were misbehaving again, koi,” his eyes opened, catching hers as his hands slid up to her waist and lifted her easily, only to lower her back down on his shaft with a slowness that had her growling in renewed frustration. He moaned and pressed his head back, but kept his eyes open to look at her face when he added, “Or that you’re the one in control.”

Kagome’s back arched again when he slammed her down hard, her hands coming up to his wrists as her ears flattened back, “Inu…Inuyasha….”

Inuyasha sat up, smirking when her eyes went wide before he slid one hand up to the back of her head and pulled their mouths together in a devouring kiss, ‘I’ll never get tired of this.’ Especially not when Kagome melted so completely against him every time, each of her responses to whatever he chose to do so open and clear.

He could feel the wild, almost mindless edge to her desire calming with each stroke of his tongue along hers. The hands she’d wrapped around his wrists relaxing and sliding down his arms in a slow caress before they stroked up over his chest and lifted around his neck. She moved her legs for better leverage, rocking against him impatiently while her hands tangled in his hair and she tilted her head to make the heated kiss more aggressive.

Inuyasha trailed his claws down her spine, cupping her backside in his hands while he shifted to roll them yet again. When she narrowed her eyes, he lifted one hand to press a finger to her lips, “We’ll do it your way later, Kagome, but right now, I’m going to make sure no one else ever makes a mistake about who you belong to. Especially you.”

Kagome’s eyes widened when she felt his claws drag down to her knees, his hands hooking underneath them to lift her legs higher. She was about to protest when Inuyasha rocked forward forcefully, dragging a ragged moan from her throat at the feel of him so very deep inside her. She arched her head back, baring the line of her throat as her arms fell away from him to fist against the floor beneath them, “Inuyasha!”

“That’s the only name you’re ever going to say like this, little girl,” he held himself away to stare down at her flushed face, fighting the urge to sink his teeth into the tendon starkly outlined with every convulsive swallow.

Kagome had succumbed to her instincts again. The feelings brought on by having a heat just too much for her to handle or control when her previous experiences had all been felt through human emotions. Heightened emotions most definitely, but still human. Her first heat had turned her inside out and it wasn’t until he was gratifying that desire for her that her thoughts had become coherent. It was completely unacceptable, even dangerous for her to get that caught up in her arousal, the youkai drive to mate that was easily more violently intense than any other emotion she’d felt before. It was even possible, with as much pain and confusion that had been clouding her mind, had he not been close she wouldn’t even have cared who filled that need. And he was going to make damn certain that it never happened again.

Last time he’d been guessing…

This time, he wasn’t stopping until he was sure.

Inuyasha’s own gaze sparked scarlet as he finally let out the fierce growl that had been building in his chest. Dropping his head to sink his teeth into her throat, he gave into the instinct to press down and hold her body still. He had an odd moment of almost split thinking, feeling his youkai blood humming through him with crystal clarity as it rocked through him. That side of him was reveling in pure sensation, but still completely focused as it drove him into her hard and deep, climbing towards the peak that would fill Kagome with everything he had. He’d already positioned her with care, wanting to be certain that she would be satisfied as well as readied.

He wanted everything to be perfect this time.

Kagome was straining against his hold, her claws digging into his hips as she ground herself against him, “Inuyasha, please!”

Inuyasha released the hold on her neck, wanting to watch her face when it happened. His shoulders were heaving, sweat rolling down his cheeks as he leaned over her, feeling the muscles deep inside her start to clench around him. When her eyes started to drift closed, he growled warningly and dug his fingers into her flesh, “Don’t close your eyes, Kagome. Look at me.”

It obviously took a supreme act of will for Kagome to open her eyes, and even then it was only halfway. Her eyes were glassy and glowing through the shield of her lashes while she gasped and trembled from the feeling winding tighter inside her. It was nothing like it had been the previous times, and considering how a great many of those had knocked her cataleptic from pure sensation, she was certain Inuyasha was about to shatter her soul into a million pieces.

Her mouth opened to try and force out his name again when he slid one of his hand inward enough to rake two of his claws along the over-sensitized flesh. Kagome’s eyes snapped wide open as her back arched, her legs wrapping around his torso and clenching so hard that Inuyasha could feel his ribs groan in protest. But when her claws dug into his back and raked downward, he lurched forward over her, just barely keeping his eyes open as he let out a short, wordless exclamation.

Inuyasha felt his entire body clench, hips twisting forward involuntarily as he shifted his hands to hold her pinned up high against him. He bared his teeth involuntarily when her internal muscles spasmed and clenched impossibly tight, sending him spiraling over the edge with a flood of liquid heat.

Kagome’s mouth had fallen open, the muscles in her neck standing out starkly and giving every impression that if it were possible for her to find her voice she would have made both their ears ring for days.

It felt like forever, but Kagome finally relaxed her crushing hold on him. Bit by agonizing bit until she was slumped exhausted and panting on the ground, looking up at him through heavy lidded eyes that slowly faded back to sedate azure. He kept both hands on her legs as he eased her down into a more comfortable position without breaking their physical connection.

“What… WAS that? …Is… is that what it was like… for you?” she whispered in awe, her voice almost slurring as she fought the urge to go right back into the thick, fathomless sleep she’d woken from so unexpectedly. “For youkai?”

He kept one hand on her hips, holding her immobile against him and bracing himself up with the other to give her a warm, leisurely kiss, “It’s even better with you feeling it too and giving it back to me. That was your first taste of a youkai cycle, koishii… What did you think?”

Kagome smiled, taking a deep breath in an effort to soothe her burning lungs and stretching languidly. Her hand came up to stroke the nearest ear, her touch light and absent as she answered, “It was… intense… Is it over?”

Inuyasha lightly brushed his lips on her forehead, “I doubt it. Even as a human you had at least a week.”

She let out a heartfelt groan and let her hand fall back to the ground, “You’re going to kill me, Inuyasha.”

He chuckled richly, feeling her lose her hold on awareness more with each passing moment, “You might need a little rest, but I don’t intend to kill you anytime soon, Kagome.”

Kagome’s eyes gleamed as she yawned, turning her head to brush her lips over his cheek, “It’d be a nice way to die though. I’d be smiling...”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes when she made a face at him, leaning up to nip at her drooping ear, “Rest, Kagome. You’re morbid when you’re exhausted.”

She giggled softly and nodded, her eyes sliding closed, “You’d be amazed at the kinds of things that go through my head lately, Inuyasha.”

Recalling the remarkably pleasant way she’d woken him earlier, he couldn’t keep the rather arrogant smirk off his face, stroking his hand over her cheek, “Try me.”

Kagome wrinkled her nose and pouted, “I am exactly two minutes away from totally passing out. There’s no way in hell I have the energy to do anything more than growl at you if you try getting cute with me, baka.” She paused and seemed to think about what she’d said and then sighed with regret, lazily turning her head from side to side, “Maybe not even that.”

“I know, koi, I know,” Inuyasha stroked her hair soothingly with one hand, the other lightly massaging where it rested on her hip and palming the tattoo with exaggerated care. “Sleep.”

She sighed one more time, leaning into his hand, “I love you, Inuyasha.”

His smile came quick and easy, brilliant with arrogant pleasure as he kissed her again, “I know that too.”

“One of these times you’ll get that right,” Kagome grumbled in annoyance, her voice trailing off as she slipped back into deep, dreamless slumber.

Inuyasha smirked down at her peaceful expression, a faint smile playing at the corners of her mouth and making her look even more vulnerable. Even better than seeing that smile, was knowing that he had been the one to put it there, he thought smugly. His claws trailed down the side of her face to her throat and then down farther to pause over her calming heart, “Maybe…”

He shook off his wandering thoughts, purposefully turning his attention lower. Taking a deep, bracing breath, his hand slid over her body until he was pressing down gently but firmly on her stomach, his brows furrowed in concentration. He’d been careful… more than careful really, and now that she was asleep he could take his time to examine the results of his efforts. His palm flexed, moving gently from side to side as his eyes closed and he focused through their connection, ‘Let me hear you, Kagome…’

The two heartbeats he was so used to sensing were there, beating in perfect synch, his leading hers as it had since she’d nearly died fighting Kikyou. The frown deepened and he pressed harder, growling slightly when he felt the faintest hint of protective resistance hindering his search, “Don’t be stubborn, Kagome. Don’t hide it from me.”

There.

Inuyasha’s eyes went wide and he reared up, sucking in a sharp breath when the barriers inside her moved reluctantly aside. His heart started to race as his mind made the connection, lips pulling back in a wide, triumphant grin that probably would have blinded Kagome if she were awake to see it.

A low, delighted chuckle bubbled up out of him despite his best attempt to smother it for Kagome’s sake as he leaned down, sliding his arms around her with painstaking care and cradling her close. He inhaled deeply, tucking his face into the curve of her neck and rolling just enough to curl his body possessively around as much of her as he could. His hands slid down to press curiously on her stomach, smirking when she let out a faint growl and tucked herself tighter against his chest.

He rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes and letting the last of his previous tension melt out of him. Now there wouldn’t be any mistaking, not from that idiot Kouga, his asshole brother, or even Kagome herself. Any youkai would be able to tell just whom it was she belonged to, and just who would be ripping their hearts out if they came near her.

Beneath the normal feeling of their heartbeats inside her, there had been a very faint, almost unnoticeable fluttering.

Weak… new… and utterly unmistakable.

Kagome was breeding.


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