A/N: Random thought of the day! This is disturbing. Rather than blowing ourselves up, imagine the human race comes to an end because men cease to exist. Just men. The reason? The sex chromosomes. With XX chromosomes there are two, just like all the rest in our genome. If one gene on one X is bad then the other backup X chromosome is used and information is not lost. But in the Y chromosome there is only one. An X and a Y. The Y has no backup. When genes are lost they are really lost. There are a thousand individual genes on the X chromosomes. There are only like 80 on the Y. Originally, scientists believe, there were a thousand genes on both the X and the Y, but over the millions of years the Y has decreased dramatically. Some think at this rate the chromosome will be lost altogether, leaving only the X's. This makes me sad because I like men. :,( And also it would spell the end of us by sexual reproduction at least, if not the end of us permanently. I cry. But rejoice! There are men still today. We're not extinct just yet!

I had the single worst weekend I think of my life. Well, maybe. Why? I went home for the weekend. First within hours my sister came to me and interrogated me, making me swear on our grandmother's grave, about seeing my boyfriend, about what I have or have not done with him. Ugh. I'm an old woman, almost 21. Why can't my family respect my decisions?? And after that my father cheated me out of money. Originally we planned to share a final college payment half and half to spare my account. BUT he tried to change it out on me, making it sound like it was all my responsibility. I was stupid and asked my mom about it and that brought up huge tensions on their money troubles and a huge fight has since ensued and it gets no one anywhere.

As for Runaway…HOLY wah…the response! So many wrote in. It seemed like this story, only 6 chapters in, is more popular than I Miss You with all 31 of its chapters. Wow. Sheesh. I'm not sure what to think about that but it is interesting and I have enjoyed every review. So far most of you think Ginrei is okay, that's awesome...awesome...

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it

Bargaining

There was little discussion while they traveled. Sesshomaru was stiff, tight-lipped, and maintained a swift pace. To keep up Tsukiyume avoided thinking about anything if she could, focusing only on the movement of her feet, left and right, left and right.

A snowstorm had appeared out of the blue. Gray-white clouds floated inland, a wind picked up, nipping and bitter. Tsukiyume was grateful now for the kimono the maids had picked out for her that morning. It was a dark color, absorbing what little heat the light had to offer. The wind tugged at her hair and her ears caught snowflakes, which then melted and tried to freeze all over again. The delicate organs were soon numb, but Sesshomaru carried on as if he felt nothing. Not the wind, not the snowflakes hitting his face, not the numbing effect it had to have on his toes…

Tsukiyume wasn't sure she could hold out, but at last she saw signs of civilization. A larger path, trimmed hedges, signs of gardens. Humans scurried about, trying to work despite the horrible wintry conditions. They occasionally stopped to watch Sesshomaru and Tsukiyume pass, but if the lord showed them any attention they at once turned back to their duties with renewed vigor, a silent apology for having been caught gawking.

The trees were covered with frost and icicles and accumulated snow. The wind carved the drifts of it along the side of the road into beautiful formations. Tapered and shaped, as if by mortal hands for decoration. They allowed Tsuki to forget the pain and numbness of her limbs and the tip of her nose for a time, observing the drifts and wondering at the perfection of nature.

There was a palace ahead of them, across a small wooden bridge. Humans hurried around it, clearing the path of accumulated snow and watching Sesshomaru worried. At last, as they reached the bridge leading across the now mostly frozen lake, a bald man rushed forward and bowed low.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" he greeted the lord of the Western Lands. "We welcome you back to your palace…"

"Out of the way." Sesshomaru ordered tersely, and then stepped past the stricken little man. Tsukiyume scurried after him, feeling tiny like a mouse and very eager to get out of the flurrying snow. The bald man watched her with wide, interested eyes as she passed. He had a knowing expression, one that told her he understood that she was hanyou. He saw her dark hair topped by the white ears like whip cream, and he knew she was of a mixed union.

She felt a slow sense of foreboding steal over her. With a shudder, she hurried after Sesshomaru and into the palace.

They slipped out of their shoes, as was custom, and were lead into the palace proper by a chubby, smiling maid. "We are pleased to see Lord Sesshomaru has returned so swiftly to us." She was saying, "Shall I take you to see Lord Daken?"

"Yes," Sesshomaru answered blandly, and then stepped aside slightly and gestured with his single hand at Tsukiyume, still shivering and standing just behind him, as if hiding. "This is Taikokajin Tsukiyume. You will escort her to meet with Ginrei."

The maid nodded and stepped forward. Tsukiyume responded as if the maid were a threat and backpedaled a little, glancing to Sesshomaru worriedly. "Lord Sesshomaru…" she started, but the powerful inuyoukai lord had already stepped further down the hall and disappeared.

Tsukiyume swallowed nervously and then turned to the maid, nodding that she would follow. She was led upstairs and into a small meeting room. The tatami mats had a stale smell, and something bothered Tsukiyume about the entire place. It was not within the Western Lands, but rather it was apart of the Isei. She had never really been to the Isei, but she knew she was sitting in stolen lands, in a stolen castle. This room had seen war, it had seen different owners, different women. She realized, looking around at it, that it was a pleasure palace, a place of relaxation and calm. It was also a place for lords to house their ladies, mistresses, daughters, and wives. Sesshomaru had taken her to this place, was she now being housed in this palace for owned women? What was Sesshomaru up to?

He said I would go home…

At that moment the maid reappeared and opened the sliding door, falling into a bow. "Lady Taikokajin Tsukiyume, please meet Lady Sesshomaru Ginrei."

Tsukiyume stared incredulously at the maid, her mouth fell open. Pieces were beginning to fall together now. Ginrei, whoever she was, would never be introduced with Sesshomaru's first unless she was his daughter or his wife. Tsukiyume tensed, preparing herself to meet Sesshomaru's secret wife.

A small woman entered the room, easily as small as Rin, but unlike Rin who could capture a room with her beauty; this inuyoukai didn't immediately startle Tsukiyume out of her wits. Ginrei sat slowly across from Tsukiyume, her eyes cast downward shyly. Tsukiyume studied her unabashedly, even rudely. Ginrei was pale skinned, but her coloring was off-white, not quite like porcelain, but rather like cream—if she had been healthier or happier. There was a slight grayish hue to her skin. Her hair was darker than Sesshomaru's more silver than white. Her eyes, when Tsuki saw brief flashes of them, were light blue—almost silver as well. The maids had painted her lips lightly, a soft pinkish color. Bright red would have contrasted with her otherwise intensely pale coloring.

It was odd, Tsukiyume realized, to be sitting across from such a pallid female. Rin was the only other woman Tsukiyume had grown close with beyond her mother, Taikokajin. Taikokajin had been an albino with pink eyes, and that pinkness had somehow kept the rest of the whiteness and pale pallor from being overwhelming. Ginrei, however, was overwhelming.

Ginrei slowly, cautiously, lifted her gaze to meet Tsukiyume's scrutiny. "You are Lady Taikokajin's daughter?" she asked.

There was something in Ginrei's tone that sent a shiver through Tsukiyume. There was a stillness, a coldness that set Tsukiyume on edge. She paused before at last answering, "Yes," and offering a small bow, "Lord Sesshomaru calls me Taikokajin Tsukiyume…" she paused uncertainly before at last asking, "You are Lord Sesshomaru's wife?"

Ginrei nodded, "Yes, I am." The silvered eyes turned away, staring at the wall just past Tsukiyume's head and losing focus. "Your brother is Lord Shimofuri?"

Tsukiyume hesitated, sensing the strangeness inside Ginrei's voice. "Yes, that's right."

With a deadly stillness, Ginrei absorbed this information and then spoke, "Then it was your brother that is responsible for killing my entire family."

Tsukiyume stiffened, feeling a jolt of alarm pass through her. "What?" when Ginrei did not speak immediately Tsukiyume stuttered, trying to explain herself helplessly. "My lady, I'm sorry—I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Lord Sesshomaru has kept me in his castle in the Western Lands as a hostage for several months. I know nothing of what shishi—my brother—has been doing. But you must believe me, it is not like my—Lord Shimofuri—to be cruel…" she shook her head frantically, "My brother is not a killer, my lady…"

"It was his war." Ginrei answered, her face stony, "His war and Lord Sasugainu's, that killed my family."

"I'm afraid I don't understand…" Tsukiyume's ears fell backward hopelessly. "No one has ever involved me in politics, great lady…"

"Lord Sesshomaru spared me from execution by marrying me." Ginrei said, sounding distant and cold, as if Sesshomaru had given her lessons, but underneath it, much easier than she could ever have detected on Sesshomaru, Tsukiyume could sense the anger within the inuyoukai woman. "The rest of my family was killed by Shimofuri and Sasugainu in their war."

Tsukiyume frowned, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about that, Lady Ginrei. I've been locked away by Lord Sesshomaru for months. But I do know that it wasn't my brother's war. He would have avoided it at all costs, my lady. He would have sought peace." Her mind worked frantically, picking out defenses for her half-brother. "And shishi-sama could never have won the war without help. The war was as much Lord Sesshomaru's war as it was shishi-sama's."

Now Ginrei looked at her directly, eyes wide so that the whites were prominent and wild, "What did you say?"

"Lord Sesshomaru gained more from the war than my brother did, by far." Tsukiyume swallowed hard, realizing that Sesshomaru could have her killed for what she was saying, though it was general knowledge by most, "The Isei province has been annexed to the Western Lands, this palace is now Lord Sesshomaru's, but it was Lord Nishiyori's before…"

Ginrei was silent, stiff, unmoving. She sat like a statue; hands folded in her lap and clasped hold of one another. Her fingers gripped her wrists so tightly that the tips turned white.

"I'm sorry, my lady," Tsukiyume stuttered. For a moment she tried to reach out to Ginrei but the inuyoukai woman noticed her movement and flinched away as if Tsukiyume had made a motion to slap her. Tsukiyume withdrew, sinking into herself and flattening her ears. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled again, helplessly.

Ginrei's eyes began to cloud with tears but she blinked at the fiercely and turned her face away. "I wish you to leave me." She murmured, quietly.

"Please, my lady, I'm sorry. Please, I don't understand what happened to you, I didn't know what I was saying. Honestly," she stumbled desperately over the words, trying to offer some sort of comfort to the stricken girl, Sesshomaru's wife. "No one tells me anything. Don't believe a word I say."

Ginrei made a small noise, a cross behind a snuffling laugh and a stifled sob. "I am the same way." Her fingers twitched a little in her lap, Tsukiyume noticed that the claws were very tiny and delicate. Ginrei was a born and bred lady of the court, true nobility. Tsukiyume's mother had had claws much like that. They were tiny and refined, but strong all within themselves. "My father hardly ever spoke to me. My male cousins were much the same way." She sighed, shoulders sagging. "They are all gone now."

"I'm sorry," Tsukiyume started, only to be interrupted as the door slid open again and the maid was there, announcing the arrival of Sesshomaru and Daken.

Tsukiyume fell into a bow at once, but Ginrei remained sitting up, defiantly. Daken spoke first as he sat, across from Tsukiyume. "It's good to see you ladies. Tsukiyume is it?" he asked, signaling the hanyou girl that it was time for her to sit up. Tsukiyume did so, taking in the old grizzled inuyoukai. Daken was a familiar face to her, but only just barely. She knew he was a contact of Sesshomaru's; she had never spoken with him before.

She nodded but did not speak to him. Her eyes traveled worriedly between Sesshomaru and Ginrei. Ginrei did not ever remove her eyes from Sesshomaru. Her expression was one of open anger, but her eyes displayed a hurt, a sense of betrayal. Tsukiyume stared at her hands in her lap, feeling like a moron. What have I done?

"Tsukiyume." Sesshomaru called her.

The hanyou girl looked up, startled, and blinking rapidly. "Yes, Lord Sesshomaru?"

"I have brought you here by Lady Ginrei's request. You are to keep her company and offer her lessons in self-defense." Sesshomaru did not meet Tsukiyume's gaze directly, rather he pretended to look at her but really saw nothing. His manner was distant, his voice uncaring. Tsukiyume felt herself shuddering. How can he do this to Rin?

As if Sesshomaru had read her thoughts, he said, "You may only write to your brother while you are in this palace. After a year I will allow you to return to him."

Tsukiyume swallowed nervously. "A year?"

Sesshomaru didn't answer; he was staring directly at Ginrei now. His golden gaze narrowed dangerously. "Do you have something to add, Ginrei?"

Daken was smirking, as was his usual expression to every situation, but it was coupled with a look of nervousness, something Tsukiyume felt very acutely as well.

Ginrei said nothing, but she did not back down her glaring either. The tension in the room remained very high and with no relief in sight, Daken started to chuckle with nervousness. Had a modern human heard it he or she would have been reminded of a hyena giggling on the Serengeti. Tsukiyume stared at Daken as if he'd gone mad. Sesshomaru even glanced at the old inuyoukai with an expression that might have been a sneer. (A/N: I did this when my sister interrogated me. There was a pause and the tension inside me just snapped and I started laughing gleefully. Totally out of place. I kept waiting for her to smile and laugh with me…never happened.)

At last Sesshomaru said, "I will speak with Lady Ginrei alone."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Tsukiyume got to her feet, stumbling a little in her haste, and hurried out of the room. Daken walked just behind her, stiff and regal looking for once. Perhaps, she thought, he was trying to recover from the outburst of giggling laughter in such an inappropriate moment.

"You should meet with Jaken downstairs, Lady Tsukiyume." Daken suggested as they stepped out of the room. The maide slid the door behind them shut with a little clatter.

Tsukiyume blinked, "Lord Jaken is here?"

Daken coughed—a sound that was meant to disguise more nervous, tittering laughter. "Yes. He will act as a tutor to you and Lady Ginrei."

"A tutor?" she asked, incredulously.

Daken nodded, "But right now Jaken is a lonely little pest. He needs someone to babble with. He's outraged that Lord Sesshomaru married behind his back."

Tsukiyume turned her face away so that Daken would be unable to see the way she rolled her eyes and fought laughter of her own. "I'll go down and speak with him." inwardly she thought, what about Lady Rin? It is terrible that Sesshomaru married behind Jaken's back I suppose, but what about Lady Rin? How long has this gone on? She tried to remember Ginrei's scent but found that it was minute, barely noticeable. Sesshomaru's scent wasn't on her, which likely meant the marriage was new, and perhaps not consummated…

But what other reason would Sesshomaru keep this woman, the only survivor of her slaughtered family, unless it was for children? For heirs?

She held her questions and went down the stairs like a zombie. How will I tell Lady Rin…?

Alone with Ginrei, Sesshomaru asked, "What troubles you?"

"It was you." Ginrei sneered, "The hanyou told me."

Sesshomaru forced his face to remain impassive. There was no reason to jump to conclusions. "Explain."

Ginrei narrowed her eyes at him with new, fresh anger as she spoke. "She told me her brother is not a killer."

"All little sisters would say that to remain loyal to powerful older brothers. I'm sure you would say that none of your male kin were killers. They were warriors." He didn't like where this was going, but there were lots of cold, logical things to throw at her, to confuse her and make her think clearly again. That was the plan, anyway. Chances were that she would find out of his involvement one way or another. She would realize she was not just a spoil of war randomly passed out by Shimofuri and Sasugainu, but rather she had been planned. She had been asked for.

Ginrei did not hesitate still and her anger did not falter. "She told me that Shimofuri gained nothing from the war—you gained from it."

Sesshomaru hesitated before he spoke. Could he deny the truth? No, it was impossible. She deserved the truth. "Yes, I did gain much from the war."

"You took this palace, the entire Isei—my home…" Ginrei's eyes filled with tears of rage, "My family. It's because of you that they are all dead."

"All but you." he answered her, blandly. "I have spared you and given you this palace. You are in a position of individual power now that you never would have had before." To Sesshomaru this sounded like a good tradeoff. Unfortunately he was not female and he had never had to love, and then lose, an extended family.

Ginrei curled her lips, exposing her canines, letting them gleam in the dull light from the braziers in the corners of the room. "You. Are. A. Monster." She enunciated each word; her small hands were fists in her lap. "I should kill you."

Sesshomaru cocked his head to one side, allowing amusement to course through him. "I am your husband."

"Against my will!" she hissed, and then, shaking, she looked away, fighting a new bout of tears. "You are a monster."

This time her words reached him more emotionally. Sesshomaru thought of Rin, of their lost pups. He thought of how lonely she would be alone by herself, without Tsukiyume now. He considered Shimofuri, alone and unwed in his mother's old castle, haunted by her and without the half sister he loved so dearly. All the creatures he had harmed in his long years, even the half-brother that he could not truly care about…

Ginrei was by far the most wounded of his victims. She had lost her entire family to a war he had ensured her side of the clan would lose. She was alive herself only because he had asked for someone unrelated to him and she was the first they had found.

She had every right to be furious with him, but it would not suit Sesshomaru to allow his wife to kill him. In fact, it would not even suit for her to be angry with him and glaring at him as she was. He picked his brain for a peace offering. What could replace her dead family…?

"Lady Ginrei." He began carefully and with respect, he did not look her directly in the eye, allowing her instead to stare at him openly while he spoke, "Perhaps I might suggest a compromise."

Her face rippled with a mixture of confusion and new, fresh anger. "A compromise?"

"Yes," he ducked his head once in a very small nod, "I have said that as my wife I expect you to provide me with a son. I will take your first son as my heir, and then you will be free. With this freedom I will give you the Isei province to rule. You may marry again if you wish and produce your own heirs. You may make a new branch of the inuyoukai clan, one bearing your own name, or Nishiyori's, or Seiyo's."

Ginrei was shaking, though exactly with what emotion was impossible even for her to say with certainty. She had not been raised to crave power or to seek it out, but it was apart of her blood anyway. Nishiyori had lived a long time, and through all of it he had sought to make a name for himself, to be rich and powerful. Seiyo, the younger half-brother who had fathered Ginrei, was much the same way, though perhaps more bookish. Ginrei's mother was learned, a gentle and tender beauty. Ginrei herself would have happily followed in he rmother's footsteps, demure and calm.

But now she was offered power as if she were a troublesome male, an upstart giving Sesshomaru trouble. He was offering her a sort of bribe. Serve me loyally and without trouble and you will be rewarded.

A thought came to her, brought on the wings of her anger over her dead family, over the unbearable loss of it…if I am powerful, if the Isei becomes my own, I could rival Sesshomaru, or I could take Shimofuri's land, Sasugainu's…

She thought of Taikokajin, the female ruler of the Middle Lands. As a child, Ginrei had heard the other women speak with awe of her: "A woman ruling the Middle Lands." None of them could believe it. Taikokajin was like a dream to each of them. Tucked inside Nishiyori's castle, they would never see this legendary female in her position of power, but they turned her into a legendary figure.

Ginrei tried to imagine herself fulfilling a similar legendary rule and could not. She felt weak in the face of it. She had never managed anything, only her studies. She was educated, but she felt it gave her no power, only appeal because she was intelligent. Beginning Nishiyori's clan again…it seemed an impossible, a task of god-like proportions.

For a moment she studied Sesshomaru, seeing his features, wondering if she could even trust him with such a bargain. He wanted an heir, not a wife. He might wait for her to birth a healthy son and then have her executed.

But no matter what she choose, and whether or not Sesshomaru held true to his side of the bargain, Ginrei would have no way out. She would have to sleep with her "husband" and bear his pups. She would still have to serve the man responsible for destroying her family…

Forcing her face to appear cold and stony, Ginrei bowed. "I accept your proposal, Lord Sesshomaru."

The corners of Sesshomaru's lips twitched, perhaps fighting a smile. "We will drink on it." he told her and then turned, calling out to the maids near the door. They scurried about and only a few minutes later sake was brought in and set before the stony, stiff couple. Ginrei drank hers remembering their awkward, disastrous wedding. This time her stomach was like a rock, she held the alcohol well enough and, when Sesshomaru dismissed her, she rose to her feet and exited the room for her bedroom.

Alone inside she sat beside her futon, considering her "wifely duties." Sesshomaru was perfectly attractive, but Ginrei could only see him as her captor and the monster that had destroyed her family. She calmed herself by thinking of the bargain they had struck. Sesshomaru had shared sake with her on the deal, making it a serious matter. Perhaps he would hold true to it and give her the Isei province as soon as she bore him a son, an heir.

Gritting her teeth, she sat on the futon and composed herself, burying her emotions, her fear, her uncertainty, her anger. She vowed to become a mindless vessel with one purpose this night. She would pray that it would only take this single night.

Ginrei called to the maids, asking them to send word to her husband that she desired to see him. The message was sent out and in a few minutes Sesshomaru arrived, moving a little more stiffly than usual. The maid slid the door open for him but did not announce him as he entered. Ginrei had doused the lights inside her room, making it hard for her to see Sesshomaru's face. She knew that the light from the hallway would make her own face visible to him.

"Ginrei?" he asked, sounding—at least for him—distinctly uncomfortable.

"Lord Sesshomaru." She answered, trying to sound gentle but cold, not terrified and shaking with remnants of rage. She addressed the maid next, "You may leave my husband and I alone."

The maid bowed and scooted away on her knees, sliding the door shut behind her. Ginrei listened as the maid's footsteps receded down the hall a good ways and then proceeded down the stairs.

Without the light from the hallway anymore, Ginrei could only make out Sesshomaru's white hair, flowing richly down his body. His skin was dark against it; his mouth when he opened it to speak was even darker. A black hole of space and treachery. "Why have you called me here, Ginrei?"

She bowed on the futon. "I am to give you an heir." She swallowed thickly. She'd had a detailed plan of seduction laid out inside her mind. In the plan she announced her intentions and took her clothes off to arouse him. The talk amongst her female kin had been that males were so husky that the sight of any female disrobed would send them into a frenzy. Beware bathing! If a man sees you it will be the end of you!

She wondered if it would work on Sesshomaru, so distant and cold as he was. Perhaps he was impervious to the sexual frenzy that her female kin spoke of. Then she wondered with a rush of fear: Can I even go through with it?

Ginrei touched the obi around her kimono tentatively. Her fingers and hands shook, feeling weak, but they found the ties in the back and released them allowing the obi to come unwrapped and fall free. Until the war had ransacked her home, Ginrei had worn the bowtie obi, a sign of her virginity and status as an unwed female. Now, since marrying Sesshomaru, her obis were easier to untie and remove, a sign of her change in status. She was now supposed to be non-virginal, the sexual toy of her husband.

"What are you doing?" Sesshomaru asked, though from the sudden intake of breath and the increased heart rate, she knew he understood what she was proposing.

Ginrei pushed the obi away from her body and bowed low on the futon again. "Lord Sesshomaru." She muttered against the blankets. "I am ready to give you an heir…" her words choked themselves off; she stumbled over them like a clumsy child. She tucked her hands underneath her legs, hoping Sesshomaru could not make out the way they shook.

"You understand," he began, tightly, "That our agreement is not subject to time."

"There is little reason to put it off. I am—" she stopped, choking again, "…your wife."

There was a long, tense pause. Then Sesshomaru announced, "You are not ready." He turned his back on her and took a step for the door.

Ginrei rose from her bow and called out to him, "No! Lord Sesshomaru, please. I am ready."

He turned round and stared at her through the darkness. Ginrei felt like cringing, but she didn't want to reveal any weakness. The moment went on and on, but when she did not say anything else and did not flinch away from his searching gaze, Sesshomaru at last strode forward. Ginrei tensed and resisted the urge to look away from him as he approached. Instead she allowed her eyes to lose focus. Her heart took off; her palms grew sticky and moist with sweat as he came and sat down at the edge of her futon.

He reached out for her, taking her chin gently in his fingers and turning her face so that she was staring at him more directly through the dark. When she blinked her eyes adjusted and she found herself staring at him. Her night vision grew acute in that instant and she saw the honeyed color of his eyes, felt the warmth of his skin and entire body next to hers. His scent was also rich, provoking a reaction from within her that she had not anticipated. She fought the urge to shiver, both with fear and an excitement that she couldn't understand.

"Are you certain?" he asked, gently.

Ginrei nodded, jerking her face away from his grasp as she did so. She risked raising one hand to her shoulder, praying that it would at least appear steady, and pulled at her kimono, trying to take it off. He only had one arm; he was likely to have enough trouble getting out of his own clothes.

The robes, inner and outer, slipped free of her shoulders easily enough, exposing her breasts, her arms, some of her stomach. She stiffened up against the chilly evening air, focusing on the long term goal of her actions. She forced herself to stare in Sesshomaru's direction, but she allowed her eyes again to lose their focus so that detail slipped away. Before her eyes lost focus, she did manage to see Sesshomaru's honeyed gaze taking her in, judging this specimen that would mother his heir.

Without warning he moved toward her, pressing his face close to her, inside her personal space. Ginrei gasped at the suddenness of his action and stumbled back somewhat, but she regained her control enough so that she didn't try to flee from him. She remained where she was, stiff, her breath picking up with nervousness. Sesshomaru pressed his nose and lips to the crook of her neck. Ginrei heard him inhale sharply, taking in her scent.

With each breath she was doing the same, and feeling a strange warmth spreading instinctually through her own body. The wilder side of her, the animal side, recognized that Sesshomaru was powerful and strong, an excellent male to father offspring. Her body's gut reaction was desire, but her mind didn't follow suit, it found near-panic. Only the higher goal forced her to stay put.

He moved his lips over her shoulder, leaving a tiny moisture trail behind, tasting her faintly. He moved inward, tickling her chin and her ear with his lips in this manner. In spite of herself Ginrei felt her body beginning to relax, but her mind was rushing, fighting to stay distant and in control. Her brain felt like a bird caught inside a house, fluttering from one wall to the next, frantically seeking an escape that didn't exist.

At last Sesshomaru stopped, breathing hotly into her hair. "You are not ready."

"I am." She answered; her voice was thick, throaty, but shaking with fear as well.

"Your body is ready. You are not." He withdrew from her slightly, enough so that he could search her face critically. Ginrei stared back at him, breathing in deeply, trying to steady her mind enough to lie convincingly, to gain the upper hand again. Before she did, however, Sesshomaru moved in without warning once more and kissed her, fiercely, vigorously.

At first Ginrei's body responded with warmth, making her stay, but her mind reacted secondarily with shock and outrage. She pulled away, backing up, messing the blankets on the futon. She breathed roughly and stared at him with wild eyes.

"It is as I said. You aren't ready." He turned his back on her, facing the door now. "Dress, Ginrei. There will be another time when you are ready."

Hotness swept over Ginrei's face. She pulled feebly at her kimono and then pawed around the futon for her obi. "What does it matter?" she snarled quietly, half to herself.

Sesshomaru answered her, much to her surprise. "Do not assume that I am low enough to force myself on you." he rose from the futon and strode to the door, slid it open, and exited.

Alone once more, Ginrei let out a long, deep breath. Her hands shook and her mind was no better. She had sweat quite a lot in her nervousness and now felt damp and sticky. Fear had vanished, leaving frustration in its wake with anger not far behind. She had counted on Sesshomaru being mindless and prone, like all males supposedly were, to sexual frenzy. Unfortunately he had surprised her. She would need to overcome her fear before he would accept that she was, in fact, ready.

Tears attacked her then and Ginrei sighed, giving into them. She tucked herself below her blankets and hid her face from the empty, darkened room, and prayed for courage. She would need it if she was to right the wrongs committed to her family…

Oi, what did you think about that eh? Hehe...