A/N: A big thanks to RowdyJaner for editing this chapter. She added quite a bit too that I hadn't thought of like the 1st scene, but it's so good I left it. She blends her style so well with mine most of the time and this proves it. Go Jane!

Chapter 9:

Thirty-one days. Thirty-one long, aggravating days. He was furious at his father's edict, furious that he dared to interfere in any way with his human, furious that his baka half-brother could now order his human around. Not that the baka hanyou had ever treated her with any real respect. He had watched their tutoring sessions, impressed by her intellect, the quickness of her mind and her ability to curb his brother, like a dog brought to heel. His brother had never appreciated her intelligence, or her ability to teach even his dim mind.

It was for her intellect, he told himself, that he had decided to possess her, that, and her scent. That soft, pleasant fragrance: sweet, but not cloying; delicate, with a touch of spice; and the base: warm, musky female. Yes, her intelligence, quick mind and scent, these were reasons enough to make the human his.

He glanced at her as she exited the bathroom, dressed in the degrading French maid's uniform his father insisted she wear each day now that he was home. Every night one of the servants would bring a freshly laundered uniform to his room for his human to put on the next day. The damned attire emphasized her slender waist, round, firm breasts, pert backside and seemingly increased the length of her lovely legs to infinity. Had he been the only one to see her thus, he would have approved, but it gnawed at him that she must wear such clothing where his father and brother would see her. Furthermore, He could sense her shame at wearing the ensemble tainting her delectable scent, which made it even more difficult to allow her to leave his room. Nonetheless, he appreciated the dignity with which she wore the indecent attire. Indeed, he appreciated her dignity throughout this whole month of indignities. Another reason he had made her his property.

Fortunately, it would be only a few more days. Just a few more, then she would be his, alone. And he would never let another treat her with anything but respect.

But thirty-one days! Thirty-one hellish days!

CD

Her month was almost up. A month of the torture of being forced to listen to Inuyasha and obey. Kagome once again contemplated running away, but knew it was useless. After her televised capture there wasn't a person in all of Japan who didn't know who she was, and more importantly who she belonged to. Still, she liked to toy with the idea of fleeing again. Her one bright spot was that after Lord Genshu had dealt out his punishment, he promptly left to finish his business trip. He'd only been back in the manor for a few days now, and by the end of the week she'd be back to having only Sesshoumaru boss her around. She never would have thought that was anything to celebrate, but, it would be a relief just to have the other two off her back.

What was worse than being bossed around by three irritating males, which, in Inuyasha's case, meant having to do stupid, menial tasks that he demanded on only to annoy her, was also having to go back to school. It seemed that, for some incomprehensible reason, Sesshoumaru wanted her to complete her Japanese schooling. She wasn't sure why, though; she had already completed her schooling in Deutschland. All she had left was University, if Sesshoumaru intended to let her go. He hadn't mentioned the possibility, but, hell, he didn't mention anything. It seemed that he didn't care to interact with her while she was being forced to attend on the other two males. In other words, the Great and Powerful Crowned Heir of the Western Lands was sulking.

The fact that Sesshoumaru was sulking, however, didn't make her attendance at school any better. Her first day back had been the day after Lord Genshu issued their joint punishment. Sesshoumaru had ordered that she wear her hair up and her uniform shirt open enough so her mark was on display. She had never felt so humiliated in all her life. Nor did it help that her shame, indignation and fury at her predicament could be sensed by pretty much any youkai or hanyou with a sense of smell evolved enough to scent emotions.

The jeers and snickers of those around her echoed and whispered in her mind still. She had been forced to endure crude jokes about her 'duties' to the crowned heir and insults about her new status. The few who hadn't known about her situation from the news, which had been national, soon found out from schoolyard gossip.

Sango shot her many contempt-filled glares and Kagome suspected some of the more vicious gossip came from her. It was only weeks later that she found out that Sango's family had been struck from the list of host families by the exchange student association because of her disappearance from their home, thus suffering a tremendous loss of face, and a minor financial setback. But for all the taunting and harassment she had suffered, at least no one was willing to take on Sesshoumaru's wrath by physically touching her. The verbal daggers were painful enough, though she bore them well.

However, her difficulties had only been compounded when, at lunch, Inuyasha had sought her out. He had neglected to do his English homework and had ordered her, in his usual overly-loud voice, to do it for him, now. She couldn't refuse, no matter how much she wanted to. She was property and, for now, she had to answer to Inuyasha, and she didn't want to even speculate on the kind of punishments he would come up with.

Kagome sighed as she walked towards Lord Genshu's bedroom, as ordered. He demanded that she awaken him bright and early every morning. The old youkai couldn't use a damned alarm clock, no, why would he when he had her at his beck and call. She really didn't like him. The skin crawling sensation she'd experienced when she first met him had only gotten worse each time she was in his presence. He was surrounded by a dark, heavy air that got on her nerves: the feeling of a predator waiting to pounce on his prey. The looks he sent her when they were alone didn't help either. She wasn't naive; she knew lust when she saw it, though in this case she was trying to avoid it and him at all costs.

The maid fuku she was forced to wear didn't endear him to her either.

Oh, yes, she, Kagome Higurashi, was forced to wear a maid fuku. Not a kimono but a Goddamned maid fuku. That was by order of 'dear' Lord Genshu. Unlike real maids, who wore bland, serviceable uniforms the world over, she had to wear something that only the Japanese would come up with: a French maid's outfit with ruffles from hell. She didn't like ruffles, unless they were in the form of a potato snack, much less being forced to wear them. And let's not forget how short the damn thing was, bending over revealed to the world exactly what color her undies of the day were.

Sick, old, hentai bastard.

She felt like she was trapped in some stupid anime or working at a maid cafe. It pissed her off to no end and it took all of her will power, which was coming in shorter supply these days, to refrain from attempted purification. She wasn't sure, but she was pretty certain that purifying your master's father for being a hentai was illegal. Then again, lots of things she thought were illegal were perfectly fine in Japan, at least for youkai. Still, she was not ready to test that out just yet. Hopefully, being owned by Lord Sesshoumaru was better than sitting in a jail somewhere for murder. At least, for now it was.

Arriving at his door, she steeled herself for his morning wakeup call. Taking a deep breath, while praying for strength, she opened the door quietly and entered the darkened room. A glance at the bed showed her a mass of silver hair spread out around a blanket-covered lump. She realized that it was probably oxymoronic to be entering the room like a thief in the night when her job was to awaken the youkai within. Still, her instincts screamed in her mind, willing her to be quiet, insisting there was a dangerous predator nearby and she should flee while she had the chance. Her powers arose, simmering under her skin, as they had done every morning she had to perform this task.

Leaving the hall door halfway open so she could see, she tip-toed across the room to the window. Her steps were barely a whisper on the floor. The light rustle of the drape blocking the morning sun was the only sound as she pulled the heavy fabric away from the window and secured it to the braces. The bright golden sunlight flooded the room with every tug of the drape, illuminating the dark recesses. The cheerful light, however, felt false to Kagome, artificial, though it couldn't be more natural.

Turning towards the bed, she observed Lord Genshu in slumber for a moment. He looked near angelic in repose. His thick mane glimmered in the sunlight like finely spun silver. His blue markings were dark dashes across sunlit ivory skin. But his looks meant nothing to her; she could sense the wicked intent within him. For all she wished to blend into the remaining shadows, she knew she had to cross the floor to his bed. She tugged at the hem of the annoying maid fuku as she stepped out of the shadows.

Why wasn't he awake by now? Surely no youkai would sleep so well in the presence of someone they didn't trust? Should he not have been awakened by her silent entry? Or the sun filled room? Shouldn't her mere presence in his chamber rouse him?

Kagome inched her way on silent feet across the room until she stood a mere foot from the bed. Clearing her throat delicately, she chirped, "Good morning, Lord Genshu, it's time to rise." She was rather proud of her false cheer.

A lone golden eye cracked open and she noticed for the first time that, unlike Sesshoumaru, Lord Genshu didn't have the thick bands marking his lids. He was more like Inuyasha in appearance, same rugged looks and rounded facial features. When he made no move to rise, she realized that his eye hadn't wavered in its gaze. Kagome was trying her best not to shift her feet nervously under his stare.

It dawned on her with a sickening lurch of her stomach - he was staring at her legs! Had he done this every morning when she awakened him? God…she hoped not. Kagome stood there silently, barely breathing as she processed this. Her skirt almost covered her rear. The edge of the mattress came to around her knees. This gave the disgusting, old hentai several inches of unblemished, silken flesh to enjoy first thing each morning.

She was outraged! She wanted to scream. She wanted to lash out with her magic to drown him in a sea of cool waves until the fire of his aura was extinguished for all eternity. She wanted to hit him with her fists, to revel in the feel of flesh striking flesh. However, she did none of that. She was the property of his son. She was already on punishment for causing a disturbance in a public place because she was unwilling to submit to her new role in Japanese society, she didn't wish to find out if he could make her life worse.

Kagome, far more calmly than she felt, turned on her heel to walk out. Her mark was itching, which only increased her longing to leave. This wasn't the first time her mark had itched in his presence and she was pretty sure it was a nervous response to an already stressful situation. Her desire to rip the flesh from her neck and claw the mark off of her skin had simply manifested itself into an irritating itch.

Unexpectedly, a large, sleep-warmed hand wrapped painfully around her wrist, jerking her to a stop. She stumbled from her forward momentum suddenly being redirected. Fear twisted in her gut. Before she could turn her head a sharp wrench on her arm sent a painful jolt through her shoulder and tumbled her onto the soft sheets covering the bed. Kagome squeaked as she landed.

A lean, hard body covered hers, pinning her to the soft bedding. She panted in fear as she stared wide-eyed at the half-naked inu youkai above her. She could feel the shifting of the muscles in his chest against her maid fuku as he sought to cover more of her with his body. His long legs twined around her bare ones, silk brushing against skin. The amber eyes boring into hers were the same shade as her master's, but the gleam of lust in them made her want to find the darkest hole possible to hide in and then retch.

Bringing her hands up, she pushed at his naked shoulders trying to dislodge him as he laughed huskily at her helplessness. Kagome was unable to stop the whimpers of desperation from escaping her panic-tightened throat. Balling her fists she slammed them into the youkai. The itching of her mark was getting progressively worse, destroying her concentration as her tender flesh burned. It didn't hurt quite as much as when Sesshoumaru marked her, but it was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

The feel of a smooth hand gliding up the outside of her thigh made her screech, "Stop! Let me go!" She wasn't sure where her voice had been up to that point, but she was thankful it had returned. Perhaps someone would hear and interfere? She prayed so. As he started peppering her neck with kisses, Kagome's magic flared to life, spreading coolness around her, channeling through her fists to slam like a tidal wave into the youkai holding her down. A dull grunt of resistance met her as Lord Genshu was lifted partially off of her body. Kicking her feet and twisting herself, she attempted to wiggle out from under him.

"I don't think so," he growled in a low tone. Kagome could feel his magic rising to battle hers. It licked at hers, attempting to burn it off; it seemed weaker than Sesshoumaru's, but she didn't know if that was deliberate or not. She was fighting with everything she had, balling her hands into fists, she slammed her knuckles into his nose with enough force to bloody it. Thick streams of red poured down over his lips and off of his chin, dripping onto her maid fuku.

Kagome winced and grimaced with every crimson drop splattering on her. Lord Genhsu's growl of anger vibrated through her chest, rattling her frame. Her powers still flowed into her hands as he battled to contain them. Steel-like hands wrapped securely around her wrists, wrenching them above her head, stretching her out painfully on his large bed. Kagome wasn't capable of thinking anymore, as she bucked, kicked and bit at her captor. Her magic was flailing as wildly as she was. Her neck burned fiercely, making her nearly insane with the need to douse it with ice or peel the flesh off to save the rest of her. Her blue eyes were wide and glazed over with fear, pain and panic.

She screamed as her legs were forced apart by his knees and muscular thighs took position against her tender flesh. Her wrists were transferred into the grasp of one hand. She twisted her hips, desperately trying to unseat the youkai dominating her body. His answer to her struggles was a deep laugh as his free hand grasped the front of the fuku and tore downward; ripping it away, along with her bra, then cupped her breast, caressing it in a parody of a lover's touch. A part of her mind vaguely noticed she was still screaming, though she couldn't remember when she had started.

Abruptly, the hot, heavy weight crushing her into the mattress was gone. A low feral growl echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls and vibrating in her ears. Kagome stopped screaming, but was panting heavily from her exertion and terror. Other than the growl, it was silent.

Her mark still burned, but it was more bearable. Her wrists ached as she pulled them against her naked breasts. She curled into herself on the large bed and couldn't help the sob that tore from her throat. Her shocked mind was blissfully blank at the moment. She wasn't capable of thinking of what had nearly happened.

"You will not touch what belongs to this Sesshoumaru again, Father." The voice was bestial, difficult to understand; comprehension coming from a more primitive part of the brain than the one used for linguistics. The threat, the warning, was understood on a basic level.

"Come now, Sesshoumaru, it hardly matters. She serves me until the end of the month. What I choose to do with her until then is none of your concern." Lord Genshu stared into the crimson-tinted eyes of his eldest. The hand around his throat tightened in response.

"She belongs to this Sesshoumaru. I have not given you permission to touch her. Your punishment is void as of now." Turning his head slightly to the half-naked, whimpering woman on the bed, but never taking his eyes off of his father, Sesshoumaru addressed her, "Kagome, cover yourself, and go to my room and await me."

Gingerly, she uncurled from her fetal position at her master's command. Working on autopilot she got to her feet and bolted out of the room like a frightened deer through the brush, clutching her torn shirt around her to hide her disgrace. Down the stairs and through the halls, she dodged past startled servants until she reached the room she shared with Sesshoumaru. Nearly slamming into the farthest corner of the room she collapsed into a huddled knot, her legs pulled into her chest as she stared apprehensively at the closed door, her body rocking gently.

CD

A/N: Okay, so that was Chapter 9! This IS a romance despite what some reviewers think. I don't believe in just tossing people into bed calling it 'love'. It hasn't happened in my stories yet and it won't outside of a parody or me making a point about stupidity. I have no respect for people who bed hop and my heroines won't unless as I stated I'm making a point about stupidity. Originally I wanted to write a Dark Romance but I couldn't think of a realistic way to get Sesshoumaru and Kagome together for it, so this is my compromise. He's not supposed to be nice so far, people, it'll come though…eventually. This isn't truly a DARK story but it does have elements of it at times. But, don't worry it'll have a happy ending or an ambiguous ending I'm known for. I don't do tragedies after all so you're safe on that front.