Hymn:
Come Away to the Water featuring Rozzi Crane By: Maroon 5 (I know what you're thinking but this is NOT your typical Maroon 5 song…its dark and seductive and primal….)

~~Hymns of a Lost Soul~~

Previously:
. "What do you mean choice? What's going on? And why-" The look in his eyes stopped me. They were soft. There was no malice. No hatred. No anger. No pride. His eyes were filled with emotions I thought him truly incapable of. Pain, shame, and humility.

. "He does not deserve you."

Come away little lass come away to the water,
To the ones that are waiting only for you.
Come away little lass come away to the water,
Away from the light you that you always knew.
We are calling to you.

His last words broke me from my stupor

"How dare you! How dare you try to say what he's been going through! How dare you lie to me and tell me you know anything about him! You've never cared about InuYasha and you would say anything to ruin what little happiness he has been afforded!" Sesshomaru had treated me well since the battle. He had been kind and generous but I was beyond propriety. I let the frustrations, fears, doubts, and pain of this past year bleed into my words, "He loves me! And I love him! No matter what, we are mates and-"

"Wrong, Miko. He lied to you. He could never have mated you, as he had already mated another. I had thought this was understood between you two when you accepted his suit but apparently he never saw fit to be truthful with you."

"You lie!"

"No, Miko! I do not!" His tone frightened me far more than the fact that he now had me backed against a tree. "I wished to tell you but it was not my place. You seemed…"

Come away little light come away to the darkness,
In the shade of the night we'll come looking for you.
Come away little light come away to the darkness,
To the ones appointed to see it through.
We are coming for you. We are coming for you.

He paused and his voice caught in an almost resigned way on the next word, "Happy. I never understood. He treats you so poorly. He is always gone. How could he leave such an exquisite creature as you unguarded?" The thought truly seemed to confuse him as he lowered his nose to my neck and I tried to find purchase in the rapidly shifting moods. His languorous intake of breath tightened my whole body. "Had I such a gift, I would guard it in every moment. I would prize it, know its true value as far above rubies, or diamonds, or jade." A line of goose bumps bloomed along the track the tip of his nose carved against my jugular. "I would see that no harm ever came to it and I would never cause that harm myself." His breath curled like warm fingers against my neck, "When InuYasha threw you over his shoulder so roughly, so callously after you'd been injured last moon I could have easily killed him; I nearly did. A true Inu, a true male," Sesshomaru punctuated the words with a graze of his fangs against my neck, "would never treat a woman he called his mate so. I wanted to erase the stain of his existence from the earth!" His hands tightened slightly on my arms and my head spun. "You had just had a child inside of you. Your body was still mending and you'd broken a bone and he did not care. He could have injured you further and he did not care. He knows how very fragile you are! He-" The warm, wet sensations against my neck stopped.

Come away little lamb come away to the water,
Give yourself so we may live anew.

Slowly, Sesshomaru pulled back to look me in the eyes. I felt as though I should look away, wanted very much to be able to. His gaze was so intense, so frighteningly strong. But I couldn't. Something held me there. "He does not love you, Miko. Not like I love you." The absence of everything around me was so sudden it made me dizzy. I could no longer hear the crickets, feel the breeze, or see the stars. The only things I was aware of were Sesshomaru's breath on my lips and the echo in my mind, "I love you….I love you…." I don't know how long I stared at him, my mouth open and my heart beating far faster than could be safe. However, when I finally reacted, it was to try and hold tightly to the last shred of decency and space, literal and figurative, there was between us.

"Why…why do you only call me Miko?"

"Because I have not been given leave to use your true name." I felt the earth tilt and time stop. I had always assumed it was a sign of superiority that he refused to use my actual name. I had never considered that he was simply calling me by what was deemed appropriate since I had never told him otherwise. His respect for my honor, the honor of the poor, lowly Miko who had 'mated' his hated half-brother was incredible. Never had InuYasha made any considerations for my honor. Never had InuYasha shown me any respect, let alone the vast amount Sesshomaru had shown me. Never had InuYasha truly cared for my welfare, my safety. And I realized, just as he'd said.…never had InuYasha loved me. Not like Sesshomaru. And I felt everything slip. In this moment I was no longer Kagome, or Miko, or InuYasha's 'mate'. I was simply a female being in the arms of a very male being. I felt safe, I felt loved, and I felt so very warm. And there was something I instinctively needed that I knew only he would be able to provide me with. The tenderness, and affection, and love I'd been fruitlessly searching for in my relationship with InuYasha was being offered to me and I could not think to refuse it.

Come away little lamb come away to the slaughter,
To the ones appointed to see this through.
We are coming for you. We are coming for you.

The first moment his lips touched mine, fingers of electricity sped, curling around every nerve in my body. The kiss was anxious and somewhat impatient but not forceful. I knew immediately where the impatience I'd felt throughout the day had come from. Sesshomaru had planned to confront me. Logical thought again ceased when Sesshomaru's arms wrapped tightly around me and his lips moved to my jaw-line, my ear. A breathy whisper,

"You, Miko, are intelligent," he ran his tongue down my jugular, "strong," he nipped at my neck, "beautiful," he pressed a warm kiss to the same spot, "and I have waited far too long to show you just how perfect you are." He pulled me closer still, as if he felt he could not be close enough. His mouth returned to mine as he ran his claw tipped fingers through my hair, releasing it from its tie atop my head.

Come away little lamb come away to the water,
To the arms that are waiting only for you.

His strong arms lifted my thighs around his waist, placing my back firmly against the tree behind me. My hands wandered the silk covered expanse of Sesshomaru's back freely as I locked my ankles behind him, pulling him in further. I released a breathy moan I found impossible to contain when Sesshomaru returned to my neck; alternating brushes and nips of his sharp fangs with sultry brushes of his tongue and lips. I could not stop myself. Nor did it seem, could he. I'd never seen him so undone before. I could literally feel the strings of his control snapping as he tried to not so much to stop himself, but simply to slow himself. I tried, with what little space I had, to move my hips to relieve some of the immense pressure I was feeling. Immediately, Sesshomaru made a noise that made it very obvious he was in no way human. The sound sent an excited shiver down my back as Sesshomaru grasped my thighs tighter. He quickly pulled us away from the tree and moved to set me down but paused. More quickly than my human eyes could process, Sesshomaru pulled a thick mass of what looked like down filled silk from a large knapsack and placed it on the ground close to the fire. Mere moments later, a tent made of a similar silk stood over the first piece of silk, the large open front facing the fire. I looked to him and in a deep timbre he responded,

"Please know, I had no expectations about tonight, only hope. And if my hope – rather if you were to...consent to anything I would not take you like an animal. I needed to be sure you could be honored thoroughly like the queen you are; worshipped fully, like the goddess you are." My hands shook. The small amount of air I had received allowed me enough clarity to understand what he was saying. He had planned for this and while that thought should have made me irate, it made my heart ache with the thought that this wouldn't be just about him. With InuYasha, it was always about him. I had never enjoyed sex with InuYasha. I simply saw it as a duty that a loving wife performed. But Sesshomaru…Sesshomaru made it sound less like a duty and more like an experience. He had made sure that even if we had to be away from civilization, away from prying eyes, I would be comfortable, I would be sheltered, I would enjoy it. I dragged my heat filled eyes across the whole of Sesshomaru's body and then the tent. I then answered a question that hadn't been asked and didn't need to be,

"Yes," I breathed, "but, under the stars." A heated, fanged smile filled Sesshomaru's face before he moved the tent but a few yards from the silken futon. "You will welcome it's cover…after." He let the suggestion hang sensuously in the air. Impatiently, but with as much grace as I could muster, I sauntered over to the futon. I sat with my hip and knee against the silk, using one arm to support myself and the other to caress the space next to me. My eyes met his and I saw my hunger mirrored in his eyes, primal and heavy. He kneeled next to me and his lips met mine. My arms snaked around his neck as I tried to push him backwards. He understood what I was attempting and aided me by lying flat, allowing me to climb atop his hips. My legs straddled his.

Come away little lamb come away to the slaughter,
To the one appointed to see it through.
We are coming for you.

I felt his desire and it fueled my boldness. I placed my hands on the iron muscles above his hips and slowly slid my hands up towards his chest. Sesshomaru made the same animalistic sound and I had to stop momentarily to catch my breath. Most likely fearing the noise had scared me, Sesshomaru wrapped his fingers around my wrists and followed the path of my arms up to my shoulders and then my neck where he began massaging tiny soothing circles into the heated skin there. I shivered and continued my path toward his shoulders; my hands lingering on his chest when I saw the look of pleasure it caused. I slipped the Hoari, whose belt had loosened with all the movement, off his shoulders and down his arms, to lay pinned and forgotten beneath him. Sesshomaru lifted his head to press a slow, loving kiss to my shoulder before I could sit up. His hands followed the same path on my body that mine had on his before he slipped my outer Kimono down my arms. The cool night air sent yet another shiver down my spine. The movement of my body tensed every muscle in Sesshomarus and I decided to try what I could not earlier when I had been pinned so securely against the tree. I balanced myself, my hands against his chest and moved my hips forward and back only once. The noise Sesshomaru released removed all thought of any torture I had been planning. I had to hear that noise again, as soon as possible. I began a slow rhythm too delicious to stop. As I continued, the rhythm picked up speed and the moans became more frequent. Two clawed hands reached behind me, coaxing me further, grabbing at my hips. I was working toward a sweet something I had never felt before when the hands behind me halted my progress. I looked to Sesshomaru's almost pained face.

"Not…yet," he managed to grunt out. Realizing what he'd meant snapped me back in to reality. What we'd been doing…it imitated something very real, something I was only supposed to do with the man I promised forever to. What was I doing!? This was Sesshomaru! This was InuYasha's brother Sesshomaru! Sesshomaru, who couldn't ever seem to truly care about anything! My head spun and I momentarily lost my purchase against Sesshomaru's chest, my hand slipping into the front of his Juban. The tip of my finger caught against what felt like a chain. When I went to pull my hand back out, the sight of what was wrapped around my finger nearly stopped my heart;

He was wearing the necklace I'd given him.

Our breath mixed in heavy pants and my satisfied, heavy eyes fought to stay open. I saw my last glimpse of the stars above us before the ceiling of the tent obscured my view. The fire's light, now somewhat obscured, warmed the tent as it danced brokenly across the silken folds swaying in the slight breeze. Sooner than I thought possible, sleep began to win, aided by the slow massage of circles against my back and rumbles from the very sculpted chest I lay against. I decided not to fight it and let my eyes slip close. In the mere moments before the peaceful protection of sleep could claim me, I heard a strong, but almost silent, voice whisper,

"I love you."

We are coming for you.
We are coming for you.
We are coming for you.

A/N: This is BY FAR not all the drama left in this story. The next chapter should prove to be quite interesting when Kagome wakes up next to someone she shouldn't be…..
I wish any form of drawing skills as seeing a physical representation of this scene—Kagome trapped against a tree, Sesshomaru's "persuading" her as she looks anywhere but him would make a nice accompaniment to this chapter (Oh well, we can't all be artists….). Please, please review as I would desperately love to know how you felt about this chapter.