Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/N: Hey hey, look at that. about 2000 more words than last chap. :) yay! im fairly happy, if not ecstatic, that im back to tha old me. YAY! took long enough. So... i hadn't realized just how much i missed checking my email and seeing FF Reviews for DH.. it made me very warm and tingly and happyish to see them there again. :) tanks you guys for being so loyal, even if i do suck after a long time of not writing and after the wait itself. im happy to see new readers too. if anybody's still a bit confused up to this point, just tell me and i won't mind PMing you a brief premise of the downlow and try to clear up any miscommunications. the story still has some revealing to do of its own soo... ANAWAY! i know, stop BLUBBERING! i done. READ ON MY DEAREST PLEBIANS!

Dancing Hearts

Chapter 26: Work of Heart

For days Inuyasha's palms had itched to touch her skin. For days he'd painfully inhaled her sweet, sweet scent from an unwanted distance, serving as an anesthetic to the need in his skin and lower abdomen. He missed the feel of her soft, feminine skin beneath his hands, rubbing against his so very opposing hard and masculine features. He was like the thorny stem holding her, the beautiful rosebud, in the air. Protecting her, lavishing her, sustaining her and she him.

It drove him insane how he could not approach her without fear of rejection or public refusal and embarrassment... on either person's account. He'd spoken to Sango and Miroku after his jubilant rejuvenation. Miroku was feeling loads better by the day and you couldn't stave the incessant smile from leaking across neither his nor Sango's face for the live of them since. However, as refreshing a feeling each visitation to the young couple was, Inuyasha pointedly remarked each time Kagome's uncanning ability to never be in sight when he decided to pay his friends their due as a visitant.

Their not so sly exchange of glances only enhanced his wanting to see her. She had to have spoken to them of her feelings for him, or something, anything even pertaining to his being. He had to hold on to the hope that there was someone worth prying through the tangle of brush for. She, more than any member of his family or group of close knit friends had to be the one. She'd touched, held, and confiscated a part of him that she still beheld, and both knew it. She wanted more, and so did he.

But she'd been there, at the hospital, nevertheless… when he was not. Small things always were left in her beautiful wake. Sango was always a tad more pleasant; little gifts for the both of them would be lying around, cherished and well thought of, such as homemade cooking, herbal medicines in label-less jars, treats and even missed schoolwork for Sango.

Even without her straightforward verbalism to his face, or her lack thereof taking note to his existence, for that matter, his resolve remained untarnished. He needed to see her, feel her, touch her and most importantly talk to her.

That's why, on that particularly difficult day for both Kagome and Inuyasha to pay any attention to their surroundings other than the presence of the other one, Inuyasha knew he had to have her in his arms. He was astonished by Kagome's mad dash from the room, but it did not deter him one bit.

Cornering her beneath the secluded staircase and finally being alone, and not to mention so very close to her, drove him crazy for the first moment.

"I'm sorry, okay?" was all he could think to say, was all she needed to hear right then. His lips touched her hair and it was like he'd been plugged to an electrical outlet; her touch stymied a raging storm in his body and tore it down to a guttural growl.

Kagome struggled for a moment's breath but only to wipe away the strands he'd disturbed with his breath.

He wanted to look at her, fully and completely, so he took a step back. His body howled at the distance between them, but he shunned it, and focused on the girl before him. Her eyes burned her thoughts to him like a lit trail of kerosene. She was the one to kiss him. His body pled for more. Her words, warning and menacing as they were, made him smile and lift her to his hips.

"Leave me again and I'll rip your head off."

"Deal." The kiss he placed on her lips was warm, loving, and so real. Inuyasha's skin lit aflame where she touched him. His feet directed them in a circle, much like that of the twirling dance of his heart, and just as equally, hers.

The infectious, viral way of their feelings for each other just grew and grew as if it had no dead end or intersection or cure, so to say. She'd become as vital to him as an organ. Without her, pain and emptiness welled and ground his stomach to a standstill, until eventually, he'd crumble to dust, nothingness.

September

Kagome mindlessly meandered down the crowded hall, all too thoughtful upon her answers she'd given for number four and eleven on her previous literature exam, B having really been C and the other one... who really knew? And then there was the essay that was a load of words that was really just a pile of confusion put together to form a proper paragraph. Kagome's mind buzzed with worry and fear of receiving lower than a B average for the next semester.

Inuyasha and Sango had constantly been attempting to sooth her apprehension with the fact that the end of the current semester was still a good bit away, but all of their consolations did not a thing.

Her brow creased in worry and she stopped in the middle of her amble. Too many things were going on in her head. There wasn't enough time to get all the grade marks she so desired. Ms Sana was sure to murder her if she found out Kagome was still without a partner and hadn't even begun to give enough thought to the official dance recital routine. Rin was starting to plan the wedding and begged Kagome, Sango and Ayame for assistant almost constantly. And not to mention, she had a very, very, very… eager boyfriend on her hands.

A boy brushed past her and muttered something between an apology and an annoyed rebuttal. Kagome snapped out of it and began walking again, feeling even worse. She hung her head in dismay. Sighing, she lifted her arm to check her wristwatch when arms snaked around her waist and tugged her from the mad rush of students and into a darkened room. Kagome stumbled backwards into the chest of her captor and watched his arm stretch out and shut the door to the deserted classroom. Spinning her, she finally came face to face with none other than Inuyasha, her oxymoron of a heroic captor.

She smiled inwardly and outwardly, wrapping her own arms around him. She leaned on her toes to kiss him but paused.

"What happened to your face?" she tilted her head to the side. His face was ashen and even the hair around his face was grayish and... singeing?

"Oh… that." He chuckled mischievously. "I blew up a sink in the chemistry lab."

Kagome blinked. "You WHAT?"

"Just a small mishap with some sodium hydroxide… nothing big. So hey, I was thinking, if you aren't busy-"

"You were just involved in an explosion and that's it? My god, what if-"

"Point is, I'm okay."

"Obviously. A little too okay, if I do say so myself," she muttered after his hands subtly moved from her hips down and around to her buttocks. "What about the chemistry lab? Did anyone get hurt?"

"It's fine, they're fine, it's all fine. Don't worry about it."

Kagome groaned and slapped her face.

"Anyway, back to what I was trying to get at earlier-"

"Before or after the minor blast to your past?"

Inuyasha chuckled. "I had hoped we could spend some quality alone time together tonight. You know… your place or my place-"

"You don't have a place."

"I was insinuating we rent a hotel room."

Kagome raised a brow. They weren't quite ready for that, well she wasn't, and he knew that. He kissed her softly and rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

"Nothing like that… jeez, aren't you the lecher."

Kagome's eyes widened. "Me?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I mean, I was just insinuating that we rent a room for the privacy. Your friends have a bad habit of interrupting us at the worst possible moments." His scowl made her lips crack upwards into a smile. "I just had a heavy make out session in mind. Plus I heard the food's really good at that one five blocks from your place…"

Kagome sighed. "No matter how tempting that sounds," she kissed his cheek, "I have to decline. I have work. My shift's not over until nine."

"I can work with that."

"I'm sure you can."

"Good, I'm glad you believe in me."

And so she would have even if he did not have to prove it. He arrived three hours early and sat at an empty, round little table in the corner of the café, distractedly opting himself as proof. Kagome had the most difficult time of concentrating on her customers with that steely gaze following her every flounce about the quaint but small, and seeming even smaller by the second, café.

It started to rain as night fell. With the city lights drenching his beautiful black hair, the rain falling down the window behind him like a scene from a movie, and those imploring eyes following her, Kagome finally caved in. She begged Sango with pleading eyes that she cover her table where a family of four, one of the few groups of customers actually occupying the deserted café, had just sat down and begun to settle in. Sango rolled her eyes and snatched the menus from the counter, walking away with a smirk in place.

Kagome stuck her head into the steamy kitchen and alerted the chef, Ryu, that she was taking her break. He chuckled and smiled knowingly, his eyes pinpointing Inuyasha and his laugh growing at her instant blush. Slipping out of her black apron and folding it into a precarious pile on a stool, she grabbed the carton of fries Ryu had made for her and pressed her lips together as she walked through the divider and into the more private dining room. Two of the four walls were gray stone and the third completely made up of windows. The fourth consisted of a huge fireplace, cold and non-lit at the time, and a beautiful design of the black silhouettes of cherry blossom trees on a tan wall. Several Japanese words were written in beautiful, artistic brush stokes of Kanji, or symbols that stand for whole words.

Kagome loved this room for its radiating feeling of warmth and comfort and at the moment for its fabrication of the wanted privacy she, and most likely he too, desired. Inuyasha pushed aside the beads with a small rattle and without hesitancy walked to the table where Kagome sat, idly picking at her fries. Instead of sitting across from her as she'd intended, he maneuvered around the table and sat right next to her. His hands slipped around her waist, making her belly flop and he buried his nose and lips against her neck, making her lean into him and trap his lips there. He welcomed that and scooted closer.

"Inuyasha." He adored how she partially stammered and stumbled over his name in her weakened state. He sprawled his fingers across her belly and raised his other palm to her cheek where he ushered her lips to his. When she pulled away for breath, she troubled herself in her oxygen defied state to say, "My shift will be over soon and after we close, I'm all yours, I promise."

"What's that mean?"

"We can't here."

"Why not?"

"It's weird."

"Weird how? I don't find anything wrong about it." He hadn't removed his hands and he gave her a slight squeeze to reinforce his words.

"In an uncomfortable I-don't-wana-be-caught-doing-this-at-work weird."

His eyes went back and forth and searched her face before he kissed her again, disregarding her want for conduct. When his lips started trailing lower than her neck, she fisted his shirt. "Inu…" he did this odd thing where he kissed and licked her neck while his fingers stroked the back of her exposed neck. "Oye… you're intolerable."

"On the contrary, you seem to be quite tolerable of what I'd just been doing."

She frowned and traced his lower lip with her the padding of her thumb. He closed his eyes and laid his head in her hand's palm. She used her other hand to stroke his cheek and then the few strands of hair nearby. She brought his head to her lips and kissed his temple then his lips. She'd meant it to be chaste but he caught her by the back of her head, pressing her to him. His tongue gently licked the curve of her lower lip before slipping into her mouth. He lessened the pressure of his hand to her head and instead combed and twirled his fingers through the loose strands of hair. He let his hand fall limp on her neck and let it slid down her backbone. She arced her back and accidentally pressed herself closer to him at the chill provided by his sensual touch.

Minutes later that seemed more like seconds, Sango struck her head into the room and called, "Time's up, table of five at number fifteen," before disappearing.

Kagome pressed her forehead to Inuyasha's as she sighed ruefully.

"Just a little bit longer and I'm out of here."

Inuyasha groaned but willingly let go of her hands, following her to the doorway where he leaned and watched her retie her apron and dig for her pen and tablet. He laughed as she hastily tried to straighten and tuck parts of her shirt's hem back into place. With a haste shove of one hand's fingers across her hair to be sure it was all tucked into its bun, she cast him a furtive but playful scowl. He settled onto a plump stool at the bar this time, knowing he had a shorter wait this time, but a wait still, nonetheless.

Kagome was the one to keep her eyes on Inuyasha this time after a few minutes when a lone girl entered the café, and after tugging her raincoat's blue hood from her pretty hair and spotting Inuyasha, alone, at the bar, decided to join him.

Finally it was five minutes to close and the only customers left, exuding Inuyasha who wasn't really a customer, remained the pretty, youthful girl still chatting quite animatedly and rather flirtatiously with Inuyasha.

"Kitchen's good for the evening. All you girls have to do is the tables and we can leave this joint for the night," Ryu said to Kagome and Sango. Yui was just finishing counting her drawer for the evening so her job as cashier was finished. Kagome was ready to go home, or anywhere—just so long as she could get Inuyasha away from Lady Talk A Lot. Kagome covered her half of the tables plus some of Sango's by the time she met up with Sango, already tugging her apron from her waist.

"Done?" Kagome asked.

"Done."

Kagome jumped on the inside.

"Alright, sorry folks but we're closing. You're gonna have to take this elsewhere," Ryu said to Inuyasha and the ever so talkative girl who'd finally taken a breath to stare at Ryu with big blue eyes. Not a second later she'd turned them back to Inuyasha.

"I've got a place down the road…" she slid from her stool and, Kagome in particular noticed, made herself a little too close to him for comfort. "if you… you know…"

Kagome's blood came to a boil and then some. She stomped up to the two of them and grabbed Inuyasha's sleeve, swiveling him around on his stool and before he could muster up a look of complete bafflement, smashed her lips to his. Her hands tangled in his shirt and his hands instantly found her hips.

Pulling away with a slight smile, Kagome said to the girl, "No, he doesn't know and doesn't want to, thanks."

The girl closed her mouth with a huff and brushed past Kagome, who still had her arms tangled around Inuyasha, and disappeared out the door with two rings of the bell overhead.

"Nice," Sango drawled with an overly excited smile and eyes tearing with withheld laughter. Ryu just chuckled and mumbled something about "kids these days" while flipping the switch to the kitchen lights. Walking out, Ryu locked up and wished the other three a pleasant night, warning them, especially Kagome and Inuyasha, already holding hands, to stay out of trouble.

"Don't forget to call me about Saturday, okay?" Sango said, already leaving them by walking away backwards.

"Saturday? Oh, the park dance Sesshomaru's been planning. Gotcha. Talk to you soon!"

"Most definitely! Be good you two, specially you Yasha!"

He winked as he wrapped his arms around Kagome from behind. They all waved and Inuyasha's lips finally caved in and started kissing her neck and then her jawbone.

"Where to?" Kagome asked in a breathy, near whisper.

He sighed against her skin before pulling away.

"Wana go for a walk?"

"Sure."

He slipped his fingers through hers and soon found it wasn't enough. He looped his arm across her back and his hand lay on her stomach, although it was a bit more awkward to walk at first, they adjusted and soon matched each other's steps, slow as it became to proceed. But they didn't mind. The rain had stopped before they'd closed the café, but fog misted up from hot blacktop and dew rested on the grass blades before itching their legs, as they lay curled together at a deserted place near the park.

Inuyasha's hand had slipped beneath Kagome's shirt and his hand gently stroked the warm, soft flesh of her stomach. He'd become mesmerized by the feel of her small ribs and indentures of her flesh, occasionally rising too much and resulting in an intake of breath from Kagome.

After a few moments of silence and Inuyasha's sweet stroking, Kagome swallowed and said, "Do you wish you could have gone with her?"

"Hmm?" Inuyasha hummed as though half asleep.

"Do you wish you could have gone with that girl, to her home, to- you know- sleep with her?"

"Why would I want that? I have you," he replied with a quiet delirious tone.

She flopped over, causing her shirt to twist and his hand to be at her back, giving her chills as more flesh was exposed.

"But am I enough?"

Inuyasha looked down at the girl in his arms.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you want… more?"

Inuyasha blinked before he connected the muddled tracks.

"Kagome," he sighed her name and kissed her hair. "I don't want or need anything more until you're ready, and even then I'll be sated with whatever I get."

"But-"

"Kagome, stop. I love you. That's all." She relaxed into his hold again.

She snuggled her cheek into his shirt. His jacket covered her nose and she became encompassed in his smell. It was so good.

"I love you too Inuyasha." She smiled.

He hugged her close, but it never seemed close enough. He sighed, sated for the time being… for the most part, with just having her that close. It was all he could ask, would ask, for now.

A/N: to be continued...

pweeeaaaseee review! much tanks :)

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