Two updates in one day?! My goodness! I didn't want to leave you guys with a cliff hanger, obvi. BTW, I don't think anyone expected this turn of events (I didn't until I wrote it).

I hope you all enjoy the story and please be so kind as to leave a review!


"You can't just barge into my home." Rin said vehemently to the dog demon that was strutting around her home as if he owned it.

After working up the courage to leave the comfort of her office, Rin had decided to take a peek through the peephole in her front door. As the email had hinted, it was obviously Sesshomaru standing on the other side, waiting to be let in.

Rin hadn't let him inside. She had just stood on the other side of the door, holding her breath. She might have pinched herself, given the lack of sleep and countless hours of staring at a computer screen, because she knew without a doubt she was seeing someone who wasn't there. Surely she had been hallucinating, she had told herself.

No one in their right mind would just show up on someone else's doorstep in the middle of the night, especially when said owner of doorstep had never given out information such as; what the address was or what city/state she might live in. Yet that hadn't stopped Sesshomaru.

In fact, after a few minutes of her just staring frozenly through the peephole, Sesshomaru had decided to let himself in. Rin had jumped back when the doorknob had turned effortlessly in front of her, shocked by what was happening.

Yeah, nice going on forgetting to lock your own door. Dumbass.

She really needed to get a dog if she was going to continue to live out in the middle of nowhere. At the thought, Rin peeked her head up and cast a covert glance at the demon roaming about her living room. Well. She kind of had a dog.

"Are you going to say anything?" Rin scowled as Sesshomaru picked up a photo of Rin and a few friends from college. She hadn't seen them in quite sometime, but the affection she had for them had never diminished. Some bonds were just like that.

Speaking of bonds... Rin rubbed her shoulder before glaring at Sesshomaru's back. Ever since he had walked into her house, her shoulder had ached. More specifically, the two healed puncture wounds on her shoulder had ached.

Not a good sign, she thought to herself.

"Your house is very human." Sesshomaru answered after another round of investigating her living room.

"Thank you?" He continued to walk at a leisurely pace, his bags forgotten in her doorway. And yes, he had brought in bags. As in more than one. There were at least 4 that she could see. That might not have worried Rin had Sesshomaru taken a taxi, but he had apparently rented a car and driven here from the airport. There was no reason his things should be in her house and not in his SUV. She decided to glare at the suitcases instead of his back, hoping they would wilt under her vicious gaze.

No such luck.

"Why are your belongings in my house?" At that, Sesshomaru turned from his perusal, staring at Rin intensely before answering.

"I will be staying here." Her eyes widened to the point she became worried they would pop right out her head.

"Oh hell no. No. No way. You're joking. Yeah, you're joking." He studied her for a few more minutes. The silence stretched on between them, leaving nothing more than for them to speak through their looks.

Rin might have engaged him in a battle of wills, but for some strange reason, she couldn't do anything but think how good he looked. Sesshomaru looked as good as she remembered. His hair was long and seemed to have a life of its own, moving with him gracefully. He was just as tall and muscular than she remembered seeing him in her drunken state a few weeks back. In fact, she wondered if he would look as perfect naked while she was sober and with nothing to hamper her ability to remember. His skin was as ethereal as ever and the markings on his face were even more prominent in the dim lighting than she would have thought possible. Sesshomaru was in a suit, dark grey, with a white button up white shirt and lavender tie. The tie matched his stripes almost perfectly.

Almost too perfectly.

"Did your fiancé pick out that tie for you?" Rin was willing to bet yes. Her eyes narrowed on the offending material and she saw herself grabbing the fabric and yanking, choking Sesshomaru with it until his face was a nice shade of red.

The vivid image made her smile to herself. Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her and for a horrible second Rin thought he had somehow read that thought from her. She felt a subtle brush across her mind before it was gone an instant later. Rin shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her and taking a few cautious steps away from the demon in front of her. She felt invaded; in her mind, body and home. The past few weeks of living in oblivion had been perfect and now she had a strange feeling reality had come into her home when Sesshomaru had.

"Look, I'm not sure why you're here." Yes, you are. "Is there a reason why this couldn't wait until the morning? Or better yet, why this couldn't be done with a phone call?" And better yet, who looked so good that early in the morning? Rin didn't even want to look at herself in the mirror right then, certain she would look ghastly in comparison to him.

"You have not been well, Rin." The words were slow and drawn out. The way Sesshomaru said her name... Her eyelids nearly closed at the sound of her name on his lips.

"I'm fine, Sesshomaru." Although seeing him here in her room, Rin had to admit that she hadn't felt this alive in almost a month, maybe longer.

"I did not realize the full effects of the mating mark until I spoke with Father." Now it was her turn to raise an unruly eyebrow in his direction.

"So you did bite me." Rin forced out, turning away from him to pace back and forth across the rug in the center of her living room, careful to keep a respectable distance. She bit on her thumb, her brow furrowed with worry. When she looked up at him, Sesshomaru looked slightly chagrined, which didn't seem to fit with his personality. He didn't seem the type of person who conceded to any sort of mistake, nor one to look remorseful.

"It was not my intention."

"Right. Well, I believe that, considering I haven't heard from you since I woke up without my clothes in your bed." She felt another small wave of hurt overcome her and from the tensing of Sesshomaru's body, she assumed he could smell it on her.

"Rin."

"I don't want to talk about that. I want to know why you're here."

"I received a message from Inuyasha. I was not sure if you would answer had I simply called."

"Okay... You still aren't answering my question."

"I am not attached to another. Only to you. I have not entertained the notion of another since I realized you were mine."

Rin rolled her eyes at his last sentence, although the rest of her nearly collapsed from the relief that settled somewhere suspiciously close the region of her heart. The lightness was heady.

"Well, thank you for letting me know that. See? You didn't need to pack a bunch of bags just for that. Now you can go about your life without worry about my feelings on this whole engagement nonsense." Now that she knew he wasn't with anyone else, Rin wanted him gone. How strange was that?

Sesshomaru set her on edge. He was too handsome. Too powerful. Too everything. It made her wary to be in his presence, as if she could never live up to him. As if she would become reliant on him and suffer worse when he inevitably decided she wasn't what he wanted.

Glancing down at her Under Armour sweats, tank top and bare feet, she had to admit that she wasn't even in the same category as Sesshomaru. Not to mention he didn't have a thing for humans and she didn't have much of a thing for him either. He worked for a no nonsense company and she was a romance author.

"You do not understand. I cannot simply leave."

Rin rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands before looking up at him. It was a bit of a difficult task as he was over a foot taller than her. "Why can't you go? Please explain it to me."

Sesshomaru stepped forward, reaching forward to place a hand on her shoulder before speaking. "Some mate bonds have difficulty forming with such little intimacy. Even with a bite, it is often after several months, even years before a strong bond is formed and that is created through close, prolonged contact. When we spent the evening together, I didn't fully bite into your skin." He rubbed the invisible marking and Rin moaned lowly before choking the rest of it down and pushing his arm away from her. "What I did not anticipate was the bond cementing with such little of a connection, physically or mentally."

"Why do you think it's formed? How can you tell?" Rin asked worriedly, although she already knew she had been suffering from some sort of withdrawal.

"It is often more stressful for the bearer of the mark than it is on the one who bestows it." Fantastic. "I can tell you have lost weight. Your lack of interest in food is due to my absence, as well as any sort of distress you might be feeling." He looked her up and down. "When was the last time you left this place?"

Rin straightened, running a hand through her messy hair and shooting him a glare. "I don't see how that's any of your business. And actually, I was out all day. With several men at a bar. Drinking it up." The lie rolled off her lips with ease and she smirked at him in triumph. He raised another brow at her, as if he could smell her bullshit.

"It is difficult to be deceptive to your mate."

"Ugh. Why are you so annoying?!" Rin turned from him and found herself in the kitchen, suddenly ravenous for anything she could get her hands on. Popping her refrigerator open, Rin stared glumly at the contents inside. All of the fruit and veggies were old. She pulled out the cheese inside, sighing when she read the expiration date. "I really need to go grocery shopping."

Cue her stomach growling embarrassingly. Sesshomaru cleared his throat from behind her. "Perhaps we should acquire some food?"

"What time is it?" She looked at her watch. 4:37am. She cast a sidelong glance at Sesshomaru, who looked as impeccable as ever. "If you drive, I'm fine with that."


Rin sighed happily as she sat in the passenger car of the SUV, a double cheeseburger from WhatABurger in her hand and in her mouth. It tasted wonderful. Rin chewed compassionately, moaning happily and savoring every single taste that crossed her tongue. She swallowed, reaching forward and grabbing the coke from the cup holder and taking a large gulp to wash down part of her burger.

She had felt self conscious at first. Eating a disgustingly greasy burger in front of Sesshomaru? No way that could be graceful. But as soon as she had the first bite in her mouth, Rin decided Sesshomaru could suck it. No way was she going to not enjoy the deliciousness in front of her. Granted, Sesshomaru was indeed delicious in his own right. Probably more delicious than her burger. With that, Rin's mouth watered for an entirely different reason.

She looked over at her chauffeur, swallowing harshly when she noticed the look in his eyes. Almost as if he wanted to devour her as completely as she was devouring her meal.

Rin dropped her burger into the bag, suddenly hungry for something entirely different than food. There eyes met again and Rin swore to herself that this was how some sort of prey felt right before it was consumed whole. You know, if the prey was about to enjoy vigorous bouts of sex.

Would you really mind if Sesshomaru consumed any part of you? She blushed and looked away, putting the fries into the bag as well and sitting straight in her seat, looking out the window.

Sesshomaru pulled from their parking spot, turning onto the highway and back to their home.

Rin nearly smacked herself in the face, right there in front of him. It wasn't THEIR home. It was HER home. HERS. He wasn't even going to be staying with her long. Except; Rin wasn't sure when she had decided to let him stay with her. She didn't think Sesshomaru was usually refused of anything he wanted, but she wasn't above being the first to deny him something, especially the right to become her roommate.

Sure, he said it was for her health and wellbeing, but did Rin really believe that. She put a hand onto her stomach. She did feel more happy and better about life than she had in several weeks.

And did she really want to go back to disliking food? She stared forlornly at her bag of food, already feeling hungry again for actual food and not anything sexual, thank God.

Sesshomaru chose that moment to smirk at her and she cast him a confused glare, bag of burgers clutched possessively in her hands.

"What exactly are signs of a formed mate bond?" She had a sinking suspicion she knew of one in particular that at least Sesshomaru seemed to have. Besides, she still remembered most of what she had read prior to his visit. Rin just wanted her suspicion confirmed.

"There are various abilities that form over time, dependent upon the mates."

"Do any of these happen to be some sort of mind reading?"

He shifted in his seat, in what Rin could only assume was his way of showing discomfort. Just a subtle movement that otherwise would go unnoticed. In fact, Rin would have brushed off the slight movement, but Sesshomaru wasn't the type of demon who moved unless it was with purpose.

"It is possible. Some of the stronger mate bonds have this gift." Stronger mate bonds? That didn't sound good, especially if Rin was determined to resist/break the mate bond.

"Yeah, okay. A gift. Sure. And how exactly would this gift develop?" Better yet, how would one destroy said gift before it developed further?

"Generally each gift is developed gradually. However, in some instances, when the connection is extremely powerful, at least on one side of the bond, telepathy is formed almost instantly."

That would explain why Rin didn't sense anything from him. And yet, if her suspicions were correct with Sesshomaru, that meant that he felt something profound for Rin, who was hugging a bag of burgers tightly to her chest and sporting a lovely mustard stain on her from her earlier devouring of goods.

Rin cleared her throat as they pulled off the highway and entered her neighborhood. Each house had several acres of land, giving each owner their fair share of privacy. It might even allow for a demon to transform without an audience. Not that Rin cared.

The silence stretched between them as they pulled into her driveway, his SUV parked in front of her garage before he turned off the engine and stepped from the vehicle.

Sesshomaru walked to Rin's side of the vehicle, opening her door and reaching inside for her bag. Rin snatched it back from him with a small shout. "Hey! This is my food. MINE."

"You ordered four burgers and nothing was for me?" He looked almost hurt.

"You should have spoken up if you wanted something. Besides, I didn't think demons ate cheeseburgers."

"What do you assume we eat?"

The souls of human children probably, Rin thought bitterly as she stepped from the SUV and covered her eyes from the dawning sun as she looked up at Sesshomaru.

Who was trying to not smile, as his lips twitched for a few seconds before returning to their normal pout. He looked positively frightening.

"Oh my God! You can read my mind!" He merely escorted her into her house as she ranted. "No, that is not fair, Sesshomaru. Not fair! Knock it off!"

"I assure you, this isn't something that I can switch off at will."

"Well try, " Rin bit out in aggravation. She stomped into the kitchen, opening the bag and setting the food out onto the counter. She gave herself the half eaten burger and fries, handing over the rest of the contents to Sesshomaru. "I wasn't serious about your eating human souls." Not completely serious.

And with that, they ate in companionable silence.

Once their meal was finished, Rin decided to ask the question that had been most pressing on her mind since she left Kagome's wedding weekend.

"Why are you here now? I mean, I understand that you wanted to let me know about that article being a lie, but why haven't you tried to get ahold of me sooner?"

"I sensed your reluctance to face me the morning after we spent the evening together." Sesshomaru stood from his chair, tossing his food wrappers into the trash before speaking again. "I did not wish to come on too strongly. Perhaps you would have adjusted to the thought of a bond with me on your own time."

Before Rin could speak up, Sesshomaru continued. "I did not want to frighten you away, as I know I did not make a proper first impression, as your humans say. However, there is no longer time to be separated. Another prolonged separation could have more disastrous side effects than what you have already encountered. I do not wish that to happen."

Like death. Some mates who suffered without the other ended their own lives. It usually only occurred when the other mate had died, yet Rin had read a few articles of mates who purposely separated from those they had bitten out of spite. The results were almost always death, unless the bond was slight enough to fade on its own.

Rin didn't think that would work for her and Sesshomaru. Not if he could read her mind and not if the thought of him leaving already made Rin's chest ache painfully.

Rin sighed. "Alright, how long do you plan on staying?"

"Forever." He replied without missing a beat. Rin rolled her eyes even as another obnoxious part of herself squealed in delight.

"Okay, Romeo. How about we give it a few days? We can see how it goes. Oh and do not even think we are sharing a room. You can have the guest bed. It's even got it's own bathroom attached."

And with that, Rin turned to show him to his room, leaving her empty plate behind.