Falling Rain
Chapter 10
Takara hid her hands behind her face, peeking gently between her fingers at the scene in front of her. If her Lord knew what she was doing, he would surely punish her, possibly even cast her away. She had been warned after all.
Still, the image of Kagome sitting under the boughs of the cherry tree with her head buried in her hands was too much for her to pass up. They had grown so close these past months, their exploration of each other growing deeper, stronger with the escapades stolen in the cold peak of the nights.
But they had been careless.
Already she had given herself to the young priestess many times and tasted her just the same, sweet and succulent nectar, a drink from the Gods. It was never enough. And now they were forbade from seeing each other in such capacities by their Lord; a direct order that prohibited interaction other than that of a servant and her Lady by the one and only that could have protected them from the harsh realities of court.
She quickly covered her eyes again and giggled when she saw her friend's eyes staring at her. Several times more she removed her hands and placed them back, a ridiculous game of hide and I see you for no reason other than because they could, because they wanted to see each other when it was not allowed, more now than ever.
She noticed her Lords stare then, a squeak of surprise jolting from her chest, turning her around to run back into the house, an escape from his cold eyes, a demanding need to finish her chores and deny the truth of her games.
*FR*
"Focus, woman"
Kagome sighed, boredom warring against her sense of duty, and looked up from her hands to the imposing Lord at her side. She didn't want to focus.
"I am"
His soft growl made her pull back in thought, mind whirling around tepid lies, knowledge of his ability to know better, lips thinning with annoyance at his propensity for truth.
"Fine, what were we talking about?"
"You would know if you weren't so busy flirting with my servant"
Kagome's eyes shot open wide, indignation and embarrassment violently brewing in deep blue hues, a wild expression following her gasp.
"I was not flirting!"
His raised brow caused her to narrow her eyes at him, annoyance as clear as the knowledge that he was right. Admittance was not her strong suit.
"You will learn to control yourself, priestess."
"You said I couldn't have her. No one said anything about not looking at her"
"A petty distinction, even for you. Your actions are unbefitting of one in your station"
Indignity fled from her posture, confusion and wonder taking root in its place.
"I have a station?"
She didn't know she'd held any status other than being the broken priestess in a demon compound, the death keeper and bell ringer without a bell to ring and no real use for one anyway. At the very most, she was there as a guest to complete some training and take down his half-brother, right?
What station did that afford her?
"Indeed"
Kagome blinked and looked up at him, curiosity and intrigue grazing every fiber of her being. What did that mean?
"You are an honored guest in the citadel, a direct pack-mate of this Sesshoumaru. Do act as such"
Kagome scoffed and turned her head away; 'direct' was pushing it a bit. A small hand raised into the air, batting and nothing as though shooing bothersome things.
"I thought demons were all open minded and whatnot anyway, so what gives?"
"Not with those that lay with others of the same gender; certainly not those that flaunt it like harlots. Many do not receive the same courtesies you have. Heed such luxuries priestess; it will not happen again"
Kagome furrowed her brow, her mind rebelling against the thought of being told what to do, or in this case what not to do. She waved off the comment about harlots, knowing full well that he was entitled to that opinion since he was the one that had had to see and hear them all the time. He seemed a little edgy from it all, certainly in need of some type of outlet for his pent up aggression, the satire of listening to things better left unheard. At least she had enough foresight to keep it from him since that day he forbid them from seeing each other.
"I still can't believe that people are judgmental about that. It doesn't make any sense."
"Females cannot procreate together"
Kagome blinked and looked up to the Demon Lord next to her, allowing his words to sink in and take hold, the truth of it taking root easily. That actually made more sense than she wanted it to.
"One would think that it is a good thing that I find the female body so intriguing"
"No good could come of it"
Kagome scoffed, a derisive and defiant sound, and stared down to her books again, willing the conversation away as it only brought her irritation.
"I am human, a priestess no less…or have you forgotten? Demons don't want to mate with the likes of me. And humans refuse out of sheer idiocy. Maybe this is all I have left"
Her stomach turned in anger, foul and impossible to ignore, and she found herself unable to focus on the words in front of her. Deciding it was best to leave it be, she closed the book and laid her hand over it, a sigh falling heavy from her.
"That is not my problem"
She stared out at the building in front of her, trailing the moss and ivy that crawled up and over the stone walls. It was magnificent really, the structure that was built with such care and purpose. It was a house, a home if he wanted it to be.
She wished she had one.
She looked down to her lap and fiddled with the ends of her haori sleeves, finding more interest in them than the books that she was supposed to be reading, willing her thoughts to return to the dark places from which they crept. Her words were quiet, a soft murmur reminiscent of fear but lacking all likeness, reproachful and somehow angry.
"Maybe I wish it were. May I be excused please?"
His grunt of acceptance was all she needed to gather her belongings and run for the house. She needed sanctuary; she needed her room.
*FR*
Sesshoumaru watched as she ran from him, her kimono trailing her on angry winds, whipping around her small body with the force of her need to be free of her thoughts. Her words played over in his mind again and again and he found that he could not disagree with her.
As a human, no demon would openly want to take her as a mate. As a priestess, a natural born enemy, none would dare look her way at all. And after the horror his little brother put her through, no human would accept her either.
Perhaps females were her only option. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't an option at all if she was looking for a life mate. No demoness, regardless of her preference, was stupid enough to settle with another female. It was a crime punishable by torture, exile, and as a last resort…death.
Her life might actually be quite lonely from this point forward, a mere echo of the dreams etched so loudly on her face, her soul, in the days of her youth.
While he knew that the trysts she had enjoyed with his servant had held her sanity together and helped her to heal somewhat, he knew that it had to stop. Already there was someone that had noticed and they had been courteous enough to offer warning rather than demand punishment. His house was filled with courtesans and servants at all hours. If one person, just one, had heard their activities, caught their glances…it could have ruined both of their lives for good.
They were fortunate none had found them out sooner and that the one that did had more respect for him than he did for the courts.
While he didn't necessarily care whether or not they were happy, he would not be a very pleasant demon if he was forced to punish them over something he found to be insignificant.
Your care for pack-mates is astoundingly weak.
Sesshoumaru snorted in derision of his beast's thoughts, of what he truly meant…knowledge and acceptance two very different concepts and far distances apart in this instance. He had learned the other day, quite to his annoyance, that his beast was still very capable of interrupting his thoughts.
Like now, for instance; his beast knew that he wasn't going to expend energy on her happiness; it wasn't his problem.
It should be. It's what she wants.
He didn't care what she wanted.
Even knowing that he did not care for her wants though, could not care less about her personal problems, he still found himself standing in front of her room several hours later, a thought of compassion burning behind his lips.
However, as he stood in front of her door, his eyes narrowed into thin slits of ire, sounds of sin and savor lighting the halls of the family wing for all who roamed close enough to hear. Knowing what he was hearing, knowing that they didn't heed his warning, his ire slipped into anger, piercing and hot in its presence.
He opened the door and walked inside, quickly shutting it behind him, careless of their state of undress or their licentious actions.
His eyes found hers and he shook his head. She remained where she was, pinned beneath her lover, uncaring if he saw them, defiance and daring dancing in her eyes.
"Maybe you just want to watch then"
A growl, deep and angry, poured from him in waves, tempting her to say something stupid again, to defy him again, to temp him further.
"You play a dangerous game, priestess"
"I don't play Sesshoumaru"
"You lack respect bitch. Are you so eager for the pleasures of the flesh that you would cast aside everything else for it?"
He watched from eyes tinged with the hues of red at the edges of his senses, well aware that his words were only half-truths, untruths when not fully understood. He was losing control with his lack of patience where she was concerned, this particular subject of interest because he knew why she did it, why she tempted the courts to find her out after her brush with them, to see her sin, to give her release.
"Your rules! Yours! Mine don't matter! But they will matter…I will make them!"
His servant quickly removed herself from the bed, her feet carrying her from the room entirely, fear and confusion poisoning the air around her. He heard her leave, but his eyes remained on the blasted woman that tempted his ire, her fate.
"Are your needs so great that you would take pleasure when it means death, priestess?"
"My needs are never met, demon!"
He reached down and ripped her from the bed, dainty wrists captured by large hands, unsure of the exact moment he had come so close to begin with. His body forced hers against the wall, the heat from her anger burning him, scalding against his energy with lithe passion.
"No male will touch me! She's all I have Sesshoumaru! It isn't enough!"
He took a deep breath, rage calming little at the tempest seas of her eyes, the plea that bargained for attention, a siren's desperation. She was lost within herself, fighting to find answers and receiving none. He knew that.
He knew what she wanted and he seethed with anger for it.
His lips crashed down on her, tasting her, feeling her. Her body molded to him, already heated and wanting from her previous activities with Takara, her clothing nothing more than undergarments, her flesh bared to him.
"This is what you want, what you crave?"
Her leg, a sinewy length of power and urgency, wrapped around his waist, pulled him into her, closer to the edge, to the core of her, begging him to give in. Her lips danced against his, illicit passion burning against the truth, raging for appeasement, pulled him closer, deeper into her mouth.
His hand travelled down her arms above her, a soft and languorous touch that eased the fires, slowly coming to rest on her perky breast. His fingers held her, molded to her, felt her, and still he ached to hurt her, to break her skin, to hate her.
"It isn't enough"
Soft words whispered on the back of a whimper, begging, aching, crying for touch, for release. Her hands found purchase in his hair, twining through silk spun moon beams, pulling him closer still. She broke the kiss and threw her head back against the wall, her neck bared to him in supplication, in want, her ultimate feminine submission.
His body curved over her, bent down and held her there, breathing deeply the scent that belonged only to her, a low growl trembling from his lips against her naked flesh, anger and desire warring for dominance, a dangerous battle of heat and disdain. Capable hands tipped in poisonous claws wrapped around a small, firm waist, the slickness of it calling to his need to touch, to feel, to pull her into him and dominate all that she was.
"You want too much"
Cool air beat against him, swift and damning. He left her there to fall to the floor, weak with her want of his body. He heard her tears, her silent cries of anguish and it tore at him.
He should not care!
*FR*
Several days passed by after that and Kagome had still not spoken to him, avoided his eyes, his presence; she touched the places he meant to see her and left long before he thought to arrive, her practice and study now solitary. He well understood the mistake he made, the fault that fell to him for not resisting the siren's call, for touching her at all, but he could hardly take his actions back; he didn't want to.
As it stood, he still felt the memory of her heated skin, her body curving against him, moving with him, undulating freely and so perfectly. It made his blood surge and boil, an ache building and begging to be released.
He would not give in. He had gone too far already.
"Send me away"
Cold amber eyes turned up, his servant kneeling low on the ground before him making him burn with anger, hate her more.
"What nonsense do you speak?"
"My Lord, please, I beg you. Send me away. We were wrong and I cannot deny her. But I cannot stay here and listen to her cries for you any longer"
Her cries for him?
"Kagome, My Lord, she is broken and I cannot fix her this time. She cries for you and I cannot give her that. I was always a replacement for you...always. Please. Send me away from this temptation"
A bow of supplication, of submission, deeper this time, more demanding than even, her voice dying with the words that damned him so well. She would cost him more than his sanity, his reservation; she would cost him his most favored servant as well.
"You are my servant"
This is your home.
"I am"
"You will always be mine"
This will always be your home.
"Thank you My Lord!"
He watched in fascination as his head servant and most trusted staff member all but ran from his presence, the oppression of sorrow following in her wake. He had not felt such strong emotions from her since he met her on the eve of Naria's death.
A sigh fell from him then, sufferance deep and pitiful; he realized that he would need to find another servant for Kagome…and he would have to seek her out again. Rules and boundaries were imperative this time.
*FR*
Kagome sat with her head buried in her pillow, tears of loss weighing her down, comprehension fighting against denial; she had loved her in a way, wanted to keep her as long as possible. Too short, too fast, too nothing…she was gone.
Takara had left early that morning so she didn't even get to see which way she went. She had no idea where she had gone and no one was talking.
She squeezed her arms into her body tightly and willed herself to stop thinking about it. She had to get up. She had to train. She had things to do that didn't include her friend any longer.
The bed dipped next to her and she pulled back in confusion, sitting up to face the last person she wanted to see.
His amber eyes burned her, broke through her and fed her shame. She wanted to run away from him but couldn't seem to move more than her eyes. He was the reason, he was their reason, he was her reason. She loved him and hated him and wanted him, but she could not have him.
Self-loathing deprecation whispered past her lips on waves of animosity, wrath born deep from her failure to have, to acquire, to taste, to keep.
"Don't look at me"
"What nonsense do you rage over this time?"
She looked at him in confusion, not fully able to understand how he was able to still look at her without disgust or pity. Perhaps pity was too much for him, but she knew his disgust, had seen it many times in battle with him.
Thoughts fought for dominance, little of it important and all of it demanding. A decision, to tell him or not, was more than she could bear at that moment. Even she wasn't sure of the truth anymore; did she hate for the loss of her friend? Or burn for the hunger of him?
"I should never have done that. I shouldn't have kept her like that, or thrown a tantrum like that. I shouldn't have forced you to touch me!"
She turned her head away, shame stroking her skin in idle waves of wary truth. It was still difficult for her to grasp the fact that she had done that to him.
Attraction, deep and new and almost criminal, feelings that lacked understanding, reason, flickered across her consciousness, tempted her with truth but kept it from her all the same; she had never, never intended to take it that far no matter how much she truly wanted it. It was not her place to demand things of him.
She felt his hand brush through her hair, relief and curiosity entrenching her in the moment, and turned to face him again, the war of truth and attraction beginning anew at his uncharacteristic action.
"You cannot force my hand"
Did he mean that he chose to touch her? Did he not hate her for it?
She was so confused about everything that he had done, none of it likened to the being she had learned about, come to know through time and trial, suffering and healing, learning and teaching… everything he said a direct opposite of what she had thought he would say. He taught her things, trained her to be like him, to fight like him, to survive like him. And yet in all that, she had no idea why he was doing any of it, the motivation behind the man, the monster, a mystery to her as much as her own craving to damage herself further.
"My actions are my own. Your regret is unnecessary"
"But I-"
"My hands touched you because I wanted them to. My lips touched yours because I chose so. I would have done more if I had any less control."
Her lips dragged in a slow, shuddering breath, unable to break the air too much lest she tempt away everything he said, all the things he didn't admit. It was difficult to digest and confusing, so much more than when she blamed only herself.
"What am I supposed to do now? She's left me"
"You sound like one who's lost her mate"
It was the same thing; it wasn't the same at all. She had loved her as any friend could have, held her as any lover might have, had known her in ways she hadn't know were possible.
Kagome smiled and choked back a sob with her laugh.
"Sort of…not really. She was…I cared about her"
His hand had long since left her hair and she stared at it, wondering at the deadly toxicity of it, the thrumming pleasure of it, the comforting heat of it. He was a confusing demon.
"Takara cared for you too much"
Kagome dropped her head with a sigh and swallowed hard.
"That's why she left, isn't it? Because of me"
His hesitation answered for him, but then his nod disagreed with him; her curiosity peaked at his answer, knowing there was more to say but that he wasn't willing to share what he knew.
She crawled closer to him, ignored her nervous thoughts, the warning to stay away, to avoid the trouble it would bring because she needed this. Kagome laid her head in his lap, felt the smoothness of his clothing, the strength of his muscles, the way his body did not constrict with alarm at her touch, the pierce of her warning louder in her ears. Her eyes closed, bliss and sanctuary both tangible things when she felt his hand come to rest on her head again, the nature of his touch soothing.
"I'm sorry I'm such a burden"
Rubicon lips pulled up in amusement at his grunt and she snuggled closer to him, stealing the comfort he likely didn't realize he was giving to her.
"A new hand maiden will be assigned to you"
Anger and fear trapped the blue oceans of her eyes behind tightly shut lids, denial and rebellion casting showers of lava hot refusal through her lips.
"No, I don't want another"
She felt his claw tap the side of her head, strangely soft, a call for attention, and peeked one eye open to find him staring down at her, amber understanding gazing down in placation.
"Perhaps I should assign a male servant to see to you?"
Embarrassment, shrewd and bold colored her features; Kagome had the decency to blush and closed her eyes again, her head turning in decline of his...offer.
"I thought not. Tomorrow then, you will pick one…and this one you will not take to your bed"
She huffed against him, the heat of his torso dangerously close to her lips.
"Fine. Be that way."
*FR*
tee hee hee - more to come soon. Two in one night...because I can. Mwah!
See you soon.