Chapter 9: Behind Closed Doors
Sesshoumaru stood over the water basin, splashing his face in cold water. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the vision of her dance out of his head. It had been mesmerizing and beautiful. He remembered his training very well. It was in fact the same way his father taught him to use the light whip. He mastered it in only a few days, but he never found himself dancing as his father spoke to him. He always bound his emotions in the tight prison of his mind, not allowing himself enjoyment or anything creative. He never allowed himself anything but emptiness or a vague feeling of triumph at defeating an enemy. Behind the stoic mask of his face, he never allowed himself any feeling what so ever. It had been so long since he allowed himself anything more than that.
He felt a mist of confusion cover his mind with thoughts of her. He'd perfected this mask, not allowing any emotion to penetrate its hard clay, and yet this woman was tearing it down so easily. This woman who at the time possessed no battle field skill or the power to do anything but give Jaken large contusions and bruises on his head. When he'd stopped her, it had been difficult to keep the ever present bored look on his face, but he couldn't hide the husky, seductive tone in his voice. Afterwards, he'd said it was enough today that she'd managed to manifest it the first time and if he worked her too much she would be too tired to do anything the next day. He promptly left, trying to conserve his pride. He knew he'd already let too much slip through, and he wasn't about to let it take hold of him. He left his room and walked down his vast corridors. As he walked, his thoughts constantly returned to Kagome.
"I should have been more alert," He confided to himself, "She still managed to weave her seduction spell around me." He nodded his head, happy with his decision. He couldn't have been that enthralled by her mere show of sex appeal. He was Lord of the Western Lands, and the son of his own father, the greatest Inu-youkai of all time. He couldn't be taken by a woman who had been a human.
He entered the hot spring bath and found himself thinking about his father. His father was a great man. He leapt into battle, whether it was diplomatic or blood shed, with an air about him. He never lost and cared for him and his mother dearly. Or so he thought, until he found out his father was keeping a human mistress. Being a dog demon, bound by loyalty, it enraged him to find out not only that he'd been rutting a human wench, but had spilled his royal seed into her body and she was heavy with his child. His father had stopped him from killing Izayoi and her unborn child. He began to wonder.
"If father fell in love with a human," He thought as he stripped his clothes and descended into the bath, "does that mean I'm doomed to make the same mistake?" He thought on this hard for a few moments as he dipped into the spring and wet his hair. He shook the thought from his head as he shook the loose water from his hair. He sat back in the bath and tried to relax. No matter how hard he tried, he could shake the scent of Kagome from his nose. It seemed as though it permeated his skin. He wanted to wretch, wanted to feel ill by the thought of her smell on him, but no matter how hard he tried, he felt more aroused by the idea than sick. With that he grabbed a square of cloth and started to wash.
xXx
Kagome sat in her room, feeling flushed and a little excited. She ate her rice in silence as she thought about the previous events. She felt terribly embarrassed by what had happened. The strangest thing was she had never felt more alive. For a brief moment, she had tuned in to her demonic power and let it fill her. She not only felt an incredible oneness with herself, but excited, not by her power, but by Sesshoumaru. She knew the moment he'd grabbed her hand, that he'd been watching her the whole time. He kept the bored look on his face as always, but there was no mistaking was she saw in his eyes and heard in his voice.
She knew it was wrong to feel this way not even a month after Inuyasha had died, but the way he looked at her, even seemingly uninterested, she couldn't help but feel this way. She set her empty bowl to the side and let out a satisfied sigh.
"I need to relax." She thought, "I think I'm going to go take a bath and see if I can't sort these feelings out." She nodded her head and got up from the cushion. As she headed down the hall, she could smell a different scent down the hall. She breathed in deep, wondering whose it was. The scent was musky, almost like a dog in heat. She still hadn't figured out how to diversify different scents but there was always a way to learn. She followed the scent through the corridors. She found a couple of maids and butlers here and there but none of them smelled even close to this one that she was following. A few minutes later she found herself in front of the bath door. She cocked an eyebrow, wondering who it was behind this closed door.
"Maybe I'll just take a peek…" she thought, amused that she had tracked down the person behind the scent.
She slide the door open just enough that she could peek through. A little ways away from her, was a tall man, with silver hair, washing himself. Her eyes widened as she saw the magenta marks down his arms. She backed away from the door, breathing heavily. This scent, the one that smelled of arousal, was Sesshoumaru's.
"I can't believe I'm spying on Sesshoumaru." She could feel a wild blush creeping across her face, "Maybe if I close the door quietly, he'll never notice that I'm here." She crept back up to the door, and without thinking she found her self gazing through it. She stared at him as he slowly washed himself in front of her. His muscles were gleaming with wetness as he continued his labor. Some of his hair clung sexily to his back and some of it floated freely. She backed away from the door, getting angry at herself.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" She thought, almost stamping her foot before thinking better of it, "I just lost Inuyasha not even a month ago. I can't be sitting here staring at him like a love sick puppy." With that she closed the door, and walked back to her room to brood the rest of the day.
Authors note: sigh Sorry this one took so long. I feel as though I'm coming down with writers block. It's coming to me little by little, but hopefully I'll get over it so you guys can enjoy more chapters to come! Until next chapter!
