Mating, and marriage, does not necessitate love. Back in the day (less so now, though it does happen), People married or were married for other reasons than mutual affection, love, or even common interests. They were joined to cement alliances, family mergers, political manipulations, and the increase of class standing or familial wealth. In most cases, at least one marriage candidate had no say in the match. Women were considered property even as late as the early 1900s. Their parents - read father - made the match, transferring ownership of the daughter in question to her new spouse. Go back a little farther and even sons were consider property to a certain point. Children existed solely as proof of their father's virility. If there weren't many it was blamed on the mother's lacking fertility.

You know, history can really make a girl hate men! Patriarchal societies are rather biased and exceedingly prone to belittling the abilities of women. Another reason Kagome's life turned out the way it did. Being a woman of power in a society that insists women require a man's direction to be happy, safe, etc. often find women who do just fine on their own suspect.

I do not own: 1) Inuyasha, the characters or world therefrom. Those belong to Rumiko Takahashi. 2) the original idea that spawn this specific plot. That was borrowed from the first chapter of Fortunesque's Hot Salsa found on Dokuga.

Warnings: Mature content throughout. Possible Trigger content throughout. I warned you!

Peaceful Recovery

It had taken more time than he had initially planned to retrieve the potion he desired for the miko's future benefit. The seller had harassed him in the traditional method all purveyors of the more arcane arts are wont to do regardless of his rank or his financial means. Had he not been certain to need the fool's services in the future, whether for his miko starring fantasies or not, Sesshoumaru would have melted the tiny, decrepit creature on the spot the minute he finally received what he'd come for. The inu had even received a bonus ointment at the rather impertinent insistence of the seller without fuss. The ointment would serve his miko well and see to it she was thoroughly primed and marginally protected for the beast he planned to bare against her.

The only problem with his visit and the time spent there, besides the annoying riddles, impertinent assumptions and other time-consuming habits of the wizened old crone, was the fact he was left with precious little time before sunset.

Sesshoumaru may well have been a consummate hunter with exceptional youkai powers, but even he needed some time to track down an animal to slaughter. Time that was also required to get from the potion seller's hut to Kagome's. And the sun waited for no youkai.

It set his teeth on edge to make concessions to anything so insignificant as time in any situation. Apparently it only exacerbated his mood that the meat he'd meant to hunt was for his miko. But there was nothing for it. Sesshoumaru was forced to purchase the meat he had originally planned to hunt for her because of the setting sun. He bought her enough meat and rice to last her until he had decided his next visit would be. It was the only thing that kept him from slaughtering the chickens allowed to roam around the market he stopped at.

Really, he would have preferred to kill something by that time, but massacring egg layers in public for no reason was too much like a childish tantrum. Should such behavior ever get back to any other youkai, particularly his mother, Sesshoumaru would never hear the end of it. Well, he would after he'd removed the wagging tongues of anyone who brought it up, but it would be such a waste of energy. Better to buy out the whole market than hunt peaceful chickens out in the open.

Truly, the mere idea was inane.

His transactions were quickly conducted once the greedy humans became greedy enough to overcome their fear and let him make his purchase.

Even so, he still arrived after dark had already fallen. A quick sniff of the area around the quiet, rickety hut proved the hanyou had not returned to harass Kagome before the sun abandoned the sky. And now, he would not until after daybreak tomorrow, Inuyasha's nightly plans were likely involved with trying to get his slayer mate in the mood to rut.

It was simply one more thing in which Sesshoumaru had eceeded the brat. Sesshoumaru had a female more than willing to allow him liberties that Inuyasha's marked and mated female was reluctant to. The very thought of how easily he could entice the miko to want for him, agitated his already frustrated state brought on by the last few days of the miko's illness.

With a mental growl, Sesshoumaru shoved aside the reed door covering to step inside the miko's dwelling and drop the heavy sacks of food on the floor with a negligent thud.

Not that Kagome noticed, unconscious as she was on her futon.

The fire had long died out, proof that she hadn't bothered to feed it when she'd entered after Sesshoumaru's departure and had slept nearly all of the time he'd been gone. The sleep, he was fairly certain would prove exceptionally beneficial towards her efforts to recover. That she hadn't felt the need to build up the fire at any point between then and now was probably a good sign. Maybe.

It indicated that she didn't feel cold and as the weather was balmy for this time of year, this was probably a sign of her increasing good health. The fever was gone, finally broken after two days of plaguing her almost non-stop.

Regardless, Sesshoumaru set about rebuilding her fire. Just because Kagome was recovering didn't mean she was entirely well yet. As such, he would treat her as he had the past few days, with soft rice and herbal tea. With this understanding, he let her sleep as he went about executing the chores Sesshoumaru had grown accustomed to performing over the course of the last few days.

Sesshoumaru even stripped her of her clothes, even though they weren't in the slightest measure damp which had always been the reason for doing so before. He just liked the miko naked and saw no reason not to ensure she was now that she was on his time. He liked the feel of her soft skin against he own, even burning hot with fever as it had been before. Now it was slightly cool, but still as enjoyable as it was previously.

The arrangement between he and the miko did not offer much opportunity for such simple, easily obtained pleasures. Lovers were capable of basking in the presence of each other, the soft slide of skin resting against skin, the even melody of breath when the body was at rest.

Sesshoumaru had never been in a situation before where he could experience such realities. As an inu and a youkai of such power and standing, he was limited in his available lovers. There were too many females out to trap him into a mating, a relationship of such permanence as would truly leave him trapped. The repercussions of mating unwisely were severe and would come to nothing if instinct wasn't behind it.

Carefully, Sesshoumaru shook the miko awake to ply her with the tea.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome mumbled blearily.

"Hush miko, tea," Sesshoumaru placed the chipped cup to her chapped lips, his clawed hand propped firmly under her shoulders to keep her upright. "There is okayu to follow."

Kagome blinked as she sipped carefully at the steaming tea. "Than-" she attempted to thank him only to choke on the scalding tea he hadn't stopped pouring for her. The coughing fit that followed brought salty tears to sting at her eyes. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth and hopefully prevent the spray from striking the taiyoukai.

Unfortunately, her unexpected move caused the tea to slop over the side and over his pale hand. Patiently, Sesshoumaru set the tea down and shook the hot liquid off his hand with a sharp, sudden flick of his wrist. Then he recovered the tea and waited for the miko to resume a more sedate rhythm of breathing.

"Sorry," she muttered hoarsely, her hand clutched to her chest.

Sesshoumaru merely replaced the cup of tea without comment. He excused much because she was ill. He tolerated even more because it was her. He knew her intent had been to offer him sincere gratitude. He simply didn't want it and refused to give her opportunity to express it.

He had found the miko's expressions of appreciation for his continued abuse and use of her body displeased him. True, he wouldn't want her to make demands or take his attentions for granted. They were delivered by his whim at his discretion. Their encounters were directed by his pleasures. But it still felt wrong that the miko who fought and aided in the defeat of Naraku should feel the need to be grateful for his abuses. Even if they were at her request.

So, keeping in mind the miko's propensity to offer thanks at the earliest moment, he never paused in his efforts to pour the tea down her throat. And immediately upon exhausting the contents of her cup, he took up the bowl of okayu and plied her with that.

By the time he'd fed her as much as she could take, she was listing once more towards sleep. And it was he who was grateful for it. Gently he settled her back into the shabby blankets of her futon padded by the addition of his fur. Carefully he set aside the rest of the okayu still in the pot and the kettle he'd used for her tea. He would most likely press both upon her again before dawn.

In the meantime, the big weary inu slipped into the miko's bedding, molding her pliant body into his front in order to obtain maximum skin on skin contact while she slept. Before he, himself, sank into a restful sleep of his own.

Sesshoumaru seldom required sleep, but in the time since he'd first taken the miko carnally, he'd found he slept best after spending time in her presence and had thus begun to arrange his schedule so that he slept all but immediately after returning from the miko's place. As he had stayed a day longer than originally planned, he was weary enough to find true rest in her little hut, and he found it even more restful than what he normally found in his own den.

Had Sesshoumaru bothered to think about it, he might have acknowledged that this could be a problem, but he was too quickly asleep to care.

Sometime after midnight, Sesshoumaru came abruptly awake and momentarily could not figure out why. Then the scent and sounds hit him. The miko was aroused, the sweet, longed-for aroma pooled around him in a heady, cloying thickness that nearly sent his suddenly reddened eyes back into his head. Quiet whimpers punctuated the silence, nearly drawing an aroused whimper from his own throat. He was so overcome by the stimulation it took him a few minutes to realize the reason the little miko was reacting that way.

One of his long, elegantly clawed hands was massaging the tender flesh of her exposed breast, the cooler air sending goose pimples marching over her glowing skin and pebbling the dusky nipple. It was the other hand, however, that was most likely responsible for the bulk of Kagome's aroused discomfort.

Sometime in the night, Sesshoumaru's hand had shifted from its possessive placement about her waist to where it was now, currently buried between the miko's relaxed legs and rubbing firmly at that bundle of nerves he enjoyed manipulating. The female's breath came in irregular pants as her body involuntarily bucked under his firm stimulation.

Leaning forward, Sesshoumaru clasped his fangs over the flesh of her shoulder and his gaze languorously spilled over her shoulder to watch her hips shift against his hand and the firming cock rubbing at the tender skin sheltered beyond the cleft he regularly exploited for his pleasures. Slowly, so sinfully slowly, his fingers and sex were stained with the proof of her growing desire.

"Sesshoumar-"His name was choked off on a gasp as two of his fingers slid into the sheath he had no intention of tainting in any other way this night. His plans for their next interlude required her taste be as purely her own as possible.

That didn't mean he couldn't find his pleasure another way and in order to do that, he intended to force her to climax first.

He was well aware the miko wouldn't have the stamina this night to match one of their marathon sessions, she would pass out long before he'd ridden her as much as he'd originally planned. Despite that, he intended to get at least something out of this visit besides a greater knowledge of how to nurse a sick human.

It didn't take much as the miko had been well on her way to orgasm prior to waking him up and he put the flood of her cream to good use, coating his engorged length. Sliding back a moment to help him properly line up for the initial thrust, Sesshoumaru swiftly entered the miko from behind, diving deep into her rump, causing the miko to cry out in pain before his now unoccupied fingers returned to their previous efforts to render the miko completely mindless under the onslaught of provoked arousal.

His initial entrance had possibly caused her damage, but two nights lying beside the female, skin to skin had robbed him of his patience to the point where he just couldn't bring himself to care about the minor damages. His questing fingers and thrusting cock soon brought the miko to a second peak, after which she promptly passed out leaving Sesshoumaru to find his end without her.

The inu didn't bother to release her after expelling his seed, remaining buried in her body and pressed firmly against her back. He simply couldn't bring himself to disengage after waiting so long to gain purchase in her body. Instead he continued to play with her body, digging his stained claws deep into her cunt to collect her cream on his fingers. Then those same fingers found themselves buried in his mouth where he relished in licking them clean before repeating the action over and over again.

As a youkai, he wasn't required to eat much or often, but he couldn't seem to get his fill of her taste on his tongue. As soon as his claws began to come up with less of his treat than he desired, Sesshoumaru shifted, withdrawing in a smooth motion, as he slid down to gain direct access to her honey. The strokes of his rough tongue were long, slow and deliberately aimed to collect the greatest amount of her taste on each pass. It was a struggle to refrain from diving right in, but he managed to keep his efforts from breaching the surface by reminding himself of the greater prize to be had on his next visit.

If Sesshoumaru was anything, he was a planner, and a plan adopted and put into motion was a plan gifted with his undying dedication to see it realized the way he conceived it. Eventually, the increasing struggle to adhere to his own plan required the inu leave off his treat lest his control break and ruin all. In compromise, for relinquishing one delight, his mouth, fangs and tongue resorted to torturing his favorite breast in the way he imagined the miko's pups would have, had she ever been allowed such a gift.

In a detached corner of his hazed brain, a yearning was born, a possible answer to her missed calling, but it went ignored, unknown and dismissed while he was busy suckling Kagome's rouged nipple, drawing the blood to darken the surface skin more and more. Occasionally the miko moaned as she continued to sleep, affected by his constant attention but too wearied by the sickness she'd been fighting for days to actively participate.

The fire burned down while he ignored it. It was unnecessary with how warm he was keeping the miko, and her tea and okayu could be consumed cold as easily as hot. It wouldn't hurt her, and as such failed to be significant enough to draw him away from the physical delights he was currently enjoying.

Thus it was easy to detect when the light outside began to grow with the approach of the sun. In fact, Sesshoumaru snarled petulantly at it, for it marked the closing of his time with the female wrapped in his pelt and arms, stained with his scent inside and over top of her skin. It was not dawn yet, but it was close.

His growing displeasure with the terms of their standing agreement had never been quite so blatant prior to this. True, after the first encounter the rising of the sun had always been viewed with resentment. At first it was merely displeasure that something outside of his control had the ability to determine the end of his activities. Which only really meant that he enjoyed his time with the miko enough to desire its continuance both in each episode and its serial occurrences. Perhaps it was time to reexamine and renegotiate the terms of this arrangement.

For now though, there was no help for it. Sesshoumaru was a meticulously thorough creature, and as such he wouldn't open negotiations until he had studied the problem from all angles and decided what he really wanted from the miko and what he was willing to do to get it.

Besides, the miko wasn't awake to negotiate with in any case.

Sesshoumaru slipped from the fur lined futon to don his many layered clothing, wrapping the fabric about his waist, a sudden whim made him pause. He wished to see the miko wrapped in his clothing and colors. If she ever wore the fine garb he'd gifted to her, he would certainly see the miko dressed in his colors, but that simply didn't seem enough to appease his newly birthed yearning.

The inu wanted to see her drowning in his clothing, wrapped in his scent so thick it was almost an extra barrier between his miko and the world. Sesshoumaru shook the inane thought from his head. Darkness was the realm of whimsy, and the big inu had better things to do with his daylight than waste it on such silly thoughts. It might be something worth pondering when he addressed the negotiations, though. It was random instances of such thought that were directing him to reassess the situation after all.

Sesshoumaru stopped his efforts to redress before pulling on his armor. He needed to wake the miko to leave instructions for the supplies he'd left her and there was no way he intended to risk her injury on the harsh spikes. Not even his pelt would protect her from accidental stabbing with how prone to injury Kagome often was.

The last thing she needed right now was to hurt herself when she was already ill.

"Miko, awake," his deep voice rumbled through the air, a clawed hand shook her shoulder.

"mmm," the miko slowly answered his summons to consciousness. "Sesshoumaru-sama?" her sleepy mumble was strangely pleasing in his ear though he could not pinpoint what about it pleased him or even how it did. Which hardly mattered when the miko sat up and stretched her arms up over her head before she slouched forward wearily. Naturally, with nothing to support it, the threadbare blankets and soft fur slid down from her front exposing a breathtaking view.

If Sesshoumaru were a lesser male, his mouth might have gone dry. He could have been distracted to the point of forgetting his purpose in waking her. But Sesshoumaru was made of sterner material than that.

"Miko," Sesshoumaru called for her attention, drawing up her hand to place his prizes in it. "Full moon after next, you will apply this," he indicated the ointment with his pointer claw, "to any skin that may come in contact with this Sesshoumaru's toxins. You will undress, and prop yourself upon either that chest," he directed her attention to the sturdy wooden box she kept her treasures in before turning to the other piece of furniture in the room, "or that rack before you consume the entirety of this." He tapped the same claw against the container of the potion.

"Sesshoumaru?" she blinked at him blankly for a moment before closing her hand around the psuedo-gifts.

"Until then, you will regain your health," Sesshoumaru declared as he walked away to retrieve the dried meat and rice to deposit both next to the miko by the dying fire with a solid thump that caused her to jump.

"What-"

"You will eat properly to that end. This Sesshoumaru will not be pleased to have his pleasure curtailed by your lacking stamina." Having said his piece, Sesshoumaru turned to don his armor carefully placing each piece precisely as it was designed to go until all he needed was the fur still wrapped around his miko. The big inu turned to retrieve it, only to find Kagome standing unsteadily with her threadbare blankets clasped to her front with one arm stretched toward him offering up his pelt. How he could have missed her efforts to separate the white fur from the tangle of blankets escaped him as the view should have been arresting no matter what he was doing.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I apologize for being ill when you came," Kagome declared quietly.

"It is no matter, miko," Sesshoumaru dismissed her concern. He hadn't really been so truly inconvenienced by her sickness. Tending her was strangely more relaxing than he would have expected given his original intentions. He had no further cause to stay with the sun coming up and his fur retrieved from the miko and properly draped about his person. To linger further would serve no purpose, "Recover well miko and remember your instructions," were his final words to the miko before he turned and strode proudly from the hovel the miko Kagome was restricted to live in. He would see her again at the designated time.