Inuyasha's hand brushed the soft edge of Kagome's cheek quickly with his thumb. It moved her dark hair out of her face; it opened her eyes wider, and cleared his path. He connected their foreheads and took a deep breath. The entire side of her face fit comfortably inside his hand. Her scent was on the tip of his tongue and under his skin, finding a way to soothe the blood in his veins and flutter his eyelids closed.
Kagome smiled, but he didn't see it. He felt her cheek move slightly underneath his palm, and it couldn't be a frown. There was no way either of them could be unhappy at the moment. Her fingers touched his throat and slid around his neck so slowly and he felt a shiver reach all the way to the tips of his ears.
"Three years, Kagome." He whispered. "Three years and most of this fucking day."
Kagome moved her head away from his and buried her face into his neck, her breath warming his skin. He skimmed his fingers upward to touch her browbone, trace the contour of her forehead, and sneak his clawtips behind her hairline.
He felt her chest rise and fall against his. She was warm.
"I…I missed—" He started to mumble, before Kagome leaned upward and lightly brushed her lips against his. It wasn't even a kiss. But he heard her heart beat faster anyway. Her small hands glided up into his hair as well, making a shiver travel down his spine.
Inuyasha grabbed her at the waist and moved her from her spot beside him on the branch of the sacred tree and into his lap. He squeezed her in a fierce embrace, and a breathy laugh spilled from her lips.
"Kagome," her hands cradled the nape of his neck and he decided to give her a true kiss. She didn't protest when their lips met and started to mesh together languidly. Inuyasha couldn't hear anything besides her quickly fluttering heartbeat at that point. The euphoria he felt in their kiss came to life in his stomach, butterflies wreaking havoc on his insides.
She opened her mouth and their kiss reached another level of passion, of longing. Their tongues experimentally explored each other's mouths, and when she sucked his lip into her mouth he felt a shock of arousal in his groin. Inuyasha was able to hear her moan then, and a deep rumble made its way from his chest. Kagome leaned into him heavily, and Inuyasha did his best to gather her completely against him in their precarious spot on the branch.
Instead of risking her fall, he stopped their fervor in favor of looking at her beautiful face. Her cheeks were rosy in the pale moonlight, and he couldn't help but grin. The next thing he said came out unintentionally, but he couldn't have meant it more in that moment.
"I love you."
Inuyasha watched her face go slack in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. Her happy confusion was brief, because a second after she gave him a wide smile that made his stomach flip in glee. That image will stay with him forever.
She answered his confession with another searing kiss.