Warm hands, callused and rough, grasped smaller, more delicate hands in an embrace of sorts. Wrapping around them, protecting them from the cold air, if only for a moment. Blue eyes found crimson as a giggle escaped from lush pink lips.

"I guess this means you do care, ne, Hiei?" Kagome asked, leaning in closer to him. He blushed lightly, dropping her hands and taking to a nearby tree to watch her from up high. She smiled.

It was always like this, he'd make some small gesture of affection every so often, and she'd ask that question. He had yet to answer her with words, simply because of an earlier question that came to mind.

Do you love me, Hiei?

As if he would know about such stupid human emotions! His heart didn't even beat like humans did, and the emotions supposedly were tied with the heart, right? He had a heart, it was just a demonic heart that had a much slower rate and so didn't particularly 'beat'. In fact, it was just enough to keep blood circulating. That's all.

He watched as she began to move again, walking down the sidewalk. He followed her through the trees and sometimes over the roof tops, just staying within her line of sight yet trying to keep out of other's sights. Why he wanted her to know he was still there he didn't know.

I love you, Hiei.

Ah, that may have caused it. It was the turning point in their relationship. Yes, relationship. He had started following her, at first, because of that ki she radiated, only to find she was a miko. He had...feared her to an extent, he reluctantly admitted to himself, but with that fear came the need to know her. One always had to know one's enemies.

Of course things went haywire when she turned to his tree one day and snapped at him that she was tired of him following her all the time. He had been so startled that she had known he was there that he nearly fell from his perch.

I will follow you if I want, miko.

He had seen her smile then, unknowingly reminding her of her teenage years of running across feudal japan with a hanyou, monk, demon slayer, fire neko, and her kit.

Yes, her kit. Even now, after he had gone and found the damned brat for her, the kitsune called her mother. The brat of a fox was an annoyance he wished he had kept out of their lives, but it made her happy to see her 'son'. To hug her son. To kiss the damned fox's cheek.

You don't got to be jealous, you know, she's just being my mom.

Oh he knew that. He knew the boy would never be more than her son to her, but damn it all up until then he had only seen her hug other ningen. And she never, ever, kissed anyone else! Well, she hadn't kissed him yet at that point, but still.

And how amazing their first kiss was, now that he thought back on it. He had been watching her for nearly three years then, talking to her even. He had allowed her to touch him, which was no small feat by any means, but not only that, he allowed her to hug him. If only within the privacy of her room.

PDA didn't sit well with him.

But, on that night, he had whisked her away from her home within the city, out into the countryside so they could be somewhere he enjoyed for once. Of course, she loved it, still did when he decided to take a trip and bring her along. However, that night was different.

He swore he could still remember every single star from that night. She was star gazing, pointing out this or that about constellations that he knew nothing about. She even talked about how stars were used in fortune telling sometimes.

Oh, look at that, Hiei! A shooting star!

Sure enough, when he looked up there one was, streaking across the night sky as he lazily lounged on the wet grass near her. It was then she leaned over and looked at him with brightly shining eyes.

Hiei, if I do something right now, do you promise not to get mad or weirded out?

After a bit of a verbal battle he had promised her. The moment the words came from his mouth her lips were covering his own. It didn't take long for him to take the kiss over, rolling her under him in that dew covered grass to kiss her deeply. He was surprised when her mouth had easily opened for him, allowing him to taste her freely.

And did she ever taste good. She always did, every time. It was because of her he had developed a taste for sweets, seeing as she had a sweet tooth herself she tended to taste of sugar. He made it into a game to try to taste her after various sweets she had eaten, not that she minded at all.

It was when she tasted of chocolate mint truffles that he felt an almost overwhelming need to ravish her. That day had gone by slowly, he knew she had some new treat that morning and hadn't been able to get her alone. She had happily saved two for that night, one for him to taste himself and one for him to taste on her.

We...We can...if you want to.

She was so nervous, having felt his need pressed up against her thigh as they kissed. She was so...passionate, so responsive he had almost thought her virginity had been something of his imagination.

She was so sore in the morning he had felt bad.

However, as time passed she became used to their nightly romps, whether it be in her bed or out somewhere in the wilderness. And he found he couldn't get enough of her. He had become slightly miffed when he found out she was taking pills to prevent pregnancy, but she was a miko after all.

I just want to have kids after I get married, Hiei.

Married. She wanted to get married. It was only a few days after that that she asked the question.

Do you love me, Hiei?

He didn't know. He wished he knew so he could tell her without feeling like he was lying. He knew he cared, deeply, for her. He got jealous when other males were around, he looked forward to seeing her, to rutting with her, he even wanted to mark her as his.

Oh he could see how well that would work out. His dominant half was fire, and they branded their mates with their names down the woman's spine. He'd been told it'd hurt. There was no way he'd hurt the woman, and even if he came to marking her he could just hear her.

'You want to BURN me?!' Yup. That was something she'd say. He shook his head as she stopped to buy some funnel cakes from a vendor. Sitting down on a bench she began to eat, not even flinching when he appeared beside her in a blur. She'd become accustom to his fast movements, almost to the point that her human eyes could keep up with him. As she finished up, licking stray sugary bits from her fingers, her eyes turned to him with that happy shine in them.

He picked her up and they were suddenly up on a tree branch, hidden from prying eyes as his mouth covered hers. He felt her press up against him and chuckled against her lips. She was feeling adventurous today. One of his hands found itself sliding up her long skirt, happy she had given up on even buying those annoying undergarments she called panties.

Though, those bras she had she had strictly forbidden him to destroy. Her argument had been convincing, telling him she'd rather only he be the one to notice if her nipples decided to take minds of their own. Oh, damn she was slick with need already. Screw the foreplay, then.

Quickly unbuckling his pants, he lifted her up and impaled her swiftly, hissing with pleasure as he entered her. Carefully, he lay her back down on the branch, balancing her as he pulled her knees up over his shoulders and roughly began to take her.

"Oh....god...oh god...I love you...Hiei..." Her words, broken by pants, came out in a hushed whisper as she tried not to give away their where abouts to any random passersby.

I love you, Hiei.

He smirked down at her and his fingers played with her hidden jewel, giving her an early orgasm. Oh, but he was far from done with her. It'd take more than that to make him lose himself.

Not that she couldn't make him lose himself if she really wanted, that had already been proven, but for right now she was enjoying just the feel of him.

It took almost an hour for him to spill his seed, and that was only because he was worried about the bark that was biting into her back. Pulling her back into a sitting position in his lap, he found he didn't want to pull out just yet, and so he didn't. Instead he picked her up and stood.

Sometimes it was great to be a demon.

Within seconds he had run from the city street to the empty woods he had claimed as his, smirking. He knew that from his movements she was more than ready for another round. He began thrusting as he walked, carrying her to their little cave, littered with furniture to make her happy and comfortable should they stay the night.

It looked like it was going to be one of those nights.

Do you love me, Hiei?

When morning came, the question still lingered in his mind. He looked down at the woman laying on his chest without a care in the world. She was slowly waking, mumbling about how it was too bright.

"Onna." His voice came out softer than it normally was, it was a tone he reserved for her. Her head slowly lifted and her eyes met his.

"Ne, Hiei?" She murmured, her hands distractedly tracing his abs.

He smirked, confidently lifting his chin lightly. "Yes."

"Yes what, Hiei?" She asked with a yawn, dropping her forehead to his shoulder and nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck. "Mmm, you smell good."

He chuckled, running his hand quickly up her spine with an icy aura pouring from their tips. She squealed and hit his chest. "That was mean! Now, tell me what you meant!" She growled out, sitting up and straddling him. His hands ran up her sides slowly.

"You're smart, onna, you asked me a question and I never answered." Hiei said and she froze, looking down at him, eyes shining with hope.

"You really love me?" She asked and of course he rolled his eyes.

"Baka onna, what other question did you need an answer too?" He said, his cheeks starting to redden.

Kagome smiled before asking one of the most shocking questions. "Well, are you going to mark me or not?"

He blinked once. Twice. Three times before he rolled them over, looking hard at her. "Do you know what that would entail from me, onna?"

"Sango made sure I knew just about everything about elemental youkai after some fire youkai kidnapped me to become a sacrifice for their leader." Kagome explained and Hiei sighed.

"It'd hurt. A lot."

"And it'd be like marrying you, only in a demonic way." Kagome added with a smile. "Then I could stop the pills and we can start that family you've been wanting."

"Hn. Maybe if I give you a brat that fox will go away." Hiei teased and Kagome giggled.

"Nope, he'd just have a new dad and sibling!" She said and his nose wrinkled in distaste.

"He's not my brat, and he won't ever be. You can have Kurama be the damned fox's new father, I refuse." Hiei said as he flipped her onto her stomach. She snorted.

"Kurama's not the one I'm mating, now is he? Ewe, even the thought is creepy! He's like a cousin or some kind of family member now, you know!" Kagome whined as his hands rubbed up and down her still unmarred back.

"Hn. So if I mate you the fox comes with the package?" He asked and she nodded. He smirked. "Then I don't know if I want to, you I can handle, I wont have a fox calling me father."

"He'll call you whatever the hell I want him to call you, and you will mate me or you can find some other girl's bed to lay in." She growled at him, annoyed that he hadn't started yet. He placed one hand directly in front of her mouth.

"Onna, bite down on my hand, this is going to hurt." Hiei said and she hesitated only a moment before she complied.

By the time his name was written his blood was flowing down her chin and throat, pooling between her breasts. He painfully drew upon the healing ice powers that lay within him, healing her back and peeling away dead, burned skin. When she sat up and faced him, that blood was one of the most erotic things he had ever seen on her.

"Onna.." He murmured before beginning to lap his blood from her throat. "Gods..."

It would take them four days to leave the cave, though Hiei had to leave a few times to get food and water for his new mate, and it only took two days for Kurama to find them afterwards. Apparently Souta had been looking for his sister and sent Kurama to sniff them out. He could have interrupted them during those special mate bonding days, but decided it was better not to.

"So, Kagome, I'm assuming you wont be needing the pills your brother picked up for you." Kurama had snickered as the three made their way towards the shrine. Kagome and Hiei both flushed bright red before she began to giggle.

"No, actually, though I do think I'll have to find something for morning sickness soon." She grinned as Hiei blushed further. "Awe, Hiei, you can't be so embarrassed in public, you will have to be claiming your kids since I don't have a ring and all."

"..." He growled lightly before blurring away. Kagome and Kurama both chuckled, figuring the forbidden one was deeply embarrassed by the entire situation at the moment. They were headed up the steps when he reappeared, taking her hand and shoving a silver band on her finger, still slightly warm from being personally made by himself.

Hiei was soon trapped in a hug and a kiss, in public no less, though he struggled a bit to try to get away.

"Onna, get off!"

"Nope, I'm your wife slash mate now so get use to it!" She said, grabbing his hand. "Besides we've got to tell my family the news, and you've got to tell any guy that comes on to me that I'm taken!"

"And why can't you do that by yourself? Or even Kurama jump to the defense of my mate?" He asked and both of the two laughed. Kagome winked.

"It gives you an excuse to possibly hurt some ningen men, Hiei, didn't think you'd want to pass that up!" Kagome said, causing a positively evil smirk to fall onto his features.

"Hn."

Kurama chuckled, placing a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "It's too bad, and here I was thinking about trying to steal you away from him." He said playfully, earning a loud growl from Hiei. Kagome watched as Hiei lunged at the kitsune avatar, both of them landing on the top of the steps gracefully.

"What was that, fox?" Hiei snarled and Kurama laughed.

"Now I am positive you'll get as much attention in public as you want, Kagome, I say one thing and he's ready to kill me!" Kurama said before taking off towards the house and the safety Kagome's family provided. Hiei's growl echoed through the air before she latched onto his arm and giggled at him.

"Hiei, come on get ahold of yourself, you want to show my family you're the perfect mate, right?" She said as she pressed closer, grinning from ear to ear. "The sooner we get through the excitement, the sooner we can go to bed."

Hiei's scowl fell away and a devilish smirk came into place as he leaned closer. "Oh really?"

"I may even let you destroy a bra tonight..."

"Hn...."

"And we can bring out the chocolate mint truffles..."

"...onna shut up before I decide to take you right here."

"Okay, right, lets not mention the new outfit I bought a couple months ago..." She said, tearing away from him and running towards the house after Kurama.

"ONNA!" Hiei snarled, chasing after her, very very happy he had developed a certain amount of control over certain parts of his body since meeting her.