~Chapter Twenty Five~

Claiming

*DISLCLAIMER* LEMON WARNING! Not recommended for those with heart conditions, those with a bed time and/or helicopter parents. And for the love of all that is holy, if 'the sex' is still 'yucky/gross/ew' to you, don't read this.

'Oh… balls…' his youkai whistled as Inuyasha stood there for a moment, jaw dropped slightly. The tee-shirt slipped from his slack fingertips as her freshly shower scent bombarded him like a freight train. He physically had to reach out and steady himself against the doorframe to keep from falling over.

Holy Seven Hells… he had nearly forgotten how exquisite she was, how perfectly proportioned. Long, shapely legs, perfectly round behind, narrow waist, full breasts. To put it blatantly modern, she was a knock out. The palms of his hands itched, literally, to reach out and touch all that soft, still-warm-from-the-shower skin.

'Sweet Kami… do it…' his youkai growled, demanding. Inuyasha resisted for half a second, before his baser instincts kicked in and he shot across the room like a bat out of hell, crowding her right into the closet, against the back wall among the clothes and shoes. He pressed his body against hers, bare flesh to bare flesh and dipped his face to nuzzle her neck and inhale her scent.

"You're purposely out to get me," he growled low in the back of his throat, hands skimming over the exposed skin of her hips and waist.

She dropped the towel to put on her pajamas, just as the door opened and Inuyasha walked in. She froze, her eyes going wide in surprise, and she dropped the pajamas instead of yanking them up to her chest.

She was about to grab them, blushing as dark as she can, but suddenly he was in front of her, touching her, pushing her back until her back hit the wall inside the closet, and she was surrounded by Inuyasha, by his sent, his touch, his taste.

The past few days had been a mounting of sexual tension between them, and when Inuyasha lost his control, so too did Kagome. She should have been really embarrassed that she was naked, but his hands were touching her, setting fire to her stomach, and so the tension in her body drained away and she molded herself to him, tilting her head back as a surprised moan slipped out.

Her fingers, hesitantly at first, slid up his bare arms, up to his shoulders and across his back. She clung to him, arching her back into him as she kissed his neck, just as he was kissing hers. She was blushing deeply because she was so inexperienced in this, she wanted it to be perfect with him. She knew he wasn't going to stop this time, and that only made her all the more heated.

"Inuyasha," she gasped, her fingernails digging into the skin of his shoulders. Her knees were turning to liquid at his touch, her skin warming, her breaths coming fast.

He couldn't stop. He didn't plan on this, but his better sense had slipped right out the door and crawled across the street as soon as he caught her scent. He knew better, intellectually, he knew that he should take her to the bed at least and do this right. Miroku had explained it all to him- much to Inuyasha's chagrin- that the first time was a little rough for females.

But his youkai, his blood, was singing a different tune and he was powerless to silence it. There had been far too much sexual tension between them, at night mostly, when they were tangled up in the same goddamned sheets and accidental touches had happened, kissing had occurred and whispered pleas went unspoken. It had been ratcheting up, tighter and tighter and it was bound to explode. It was just a matter of who exploded first.

Obviously, him.

Her hands were lighting him up despite the innocence of her touch. He was much more direct in his exploration, dragging his mouth over her skin, over her collarbone, down across the swell of her breast. It had been the work of a half a second to kick his jeans off, with a little growling when they got caught around his ankles. His breath came faster, his heart pumping hard in his chest as he explored flesh, nibbled with his fangs, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to make a statement. He was more mindful of his claws, of how easy it would be to cut her delicate skin.

With some resistance on his part, he tore his mouth away from her and snatched one of her hands from his shoulder and guided it down her stomach to the juncture of her legs, to her core where the scent of her arousal practically swept him up in a tide of insanity.

"You do it," he growled deep, demanding, his own hand holding hers there where he could feel the heat.

Kagome's breath rushed out, her heart stuttering in her chest when he took her hand and guided it down to her very core. Her breath caught in her throat when he pushed her fingers against her clit. Her knees almost buckled, and her other arm clung even tighter to his strong shoulders.

"Inu...yasha..." she said desperately, a deep flush spreading over her face. She didn't know if she could touch herself in front of him. She held herself still, his large hand holding hers in place.

Her eyes flashed up to his, molten brown with arousal, her expression a mixture of hot need and hesitation.

He saw the flash of hesitation in her eyes, but it was swamped by the arousal he could see reflected in her deep brown gaze. She wanted this as much as he did and be damned if he didn't give it to her.

"Do this..." he whispered, guiding her hand, rocking her fingers back and forth. She was so wet with need. He dropped his gaze to watch, riveted, the sight of her touching herself. It shouldn't have been as exciting as it was to watch, their hands intertwined, but it still shot fire through his bloodstream, into the pit of his stomach where it swirled and churned. In his head, his youkai was drooling.

After a couple of seconds, Inuyasha dropped his hand away, bracing it on the wall beside her head. He licked the thumb of his other hand and caressed her breast, feathering said thumb over the nipple and flicking his gaze back and forth between what she was doing with her hand and what he was doing with his.

Emboldened by his action and the clear enjoyment that blazed from his golden eyes, Kagome kept touching herself, even when his hand moved away. Her breathing came is short, soft gasps as pleasure vibrated through her core with each movement of her finger.

Lightning laced the pleasure when his moist thumb flickered over her nipple, and Kagome let out a gasp, her head falling back and her eyes sliding closed. She'd never experience so much pleasure in her life. The heat of his body, the slick feel of his skin against hers, the friction of their touch, it was setting her on fire, spiraling her core tighter and tighter.

"Inuyasha..." she mewled, aching for more, aching for something... she wanted..."More... I want... more..." she moaned, her lips parted.

Her reactions, watching her as her breath pick up, as her head rolled back, the little mewling sounds coming from the back of her throat, was too much for him to take. Her beg, her plea, shot through him and he growled, reaching down to grab her leg behind her knee and lift it up. Then, before his better judgment could sneak up on him and steal away his bravado, he pressed himself against her core, slipped in like they had been made for each other. And he kissed her fiercely, swallowing any gasp she had gotten ready, swallowing his own.

He swore he saw light burst in front of his eyes behind his eyelids. It was the most satisfying and bizarre feeling he had ever experienced. It was a like a deep itch that only by moving his hips could he scratch and each movement ratcheted just a little tighter, a little higher.

"Holy fuck…" he swore, tearing his mouth away from hers and pressing her knee closer to her chest, pushing himself deeper into her, getting closer, surrounding himself with her.

"Inuyasha!" she half gasped, half whimpered and he felt her fingernails dig hard into the flesh of his shoulders.

It was the scent of her blood that cleared his head faster than a bucket of water and ice cubes could. He froze, panic nearly killing the moment.

"Shit, Kagome…" he made a little whining noise in the back of his throat as he very, very slowly released her leg until it was just level with his hips as opposed to up by her shoulder where he suddenly realized he had pushed it to.

"I'm sorry…" he told her, nuzzling her face with his as he inwardly cursed his youkai, who was also wincing inside, "I didn't mean… I- we can stop," he stammered slightly over his words as guilt settled heavy in his stomach. Goddamn it, he should have known better; he DID know better. He should have done it differently, softened it around the edges or something. Hell, he could've started with the bed, that was for sure.

Instead, he had her pressed up against the wall like a couple of trashy teenagers doing it in an alleyway.

'Classy…' his youkai muttered. Inuyasha flattened his ears against his skull and made that little whining noise in his throat again.

He stopped, but it still burned. As he lowered her leg, the position became easier for her. She opened her eyes to see the guilt and pain in his eyes, and her heart melted.

She took a breath, let it out, and tried to relax. She wasn't completely stupid in the realm of lovemaking...she knew that it was supposed to hurt the first time, and she knew that if she relaxed it might get better.

Her arousal and been shoved into a corner with her pain, but as the pain began to recede she could feel the heat, waiting there, drawn to Inuyasha. "No... I… don't want to stop… let's just go slower..." she suggested, meeting his gaze and offering him a little smile. She wanted this, she wanted him, and she preferred to have as little pain involved in something she wanted so much.

"I'm okay, really," she reassured him, as the pain was starting to fade away completely now they he wasn't moving. She was slowly becoming accustomed to his size. She hesitantly leaned forward to kiss his lips, nibbling on his lower lip. "Please..." she whispered against his mouth.

She kissed him and he groaned, kissing her back and trailing his hands down to her hips, "You are seriously stealing away my resolve, wench," he growled, gently rasping his claws against her skin, a tickle but not a scratch.

Now that he was in better control of himself, rather than some lusting lunatic, he hoisted her up by her bottom, her legs wrapping around his hips and carried her over to the bed. The process shifted their position and he dropped her on the bed, the mattress bouncing with her weight.

"We're gonna try this again," he informed her, crawling after her on the bed, over her, his long hair hanging over one shoulder. Almost against his will, his eyes raked over her body, from her legs to her hips, up over her breasts, lingering over her mouth before he met her eyes again.

He grabbed her leg behind her knee again, but this time, he was a little less demanding about it, just cocking it up a little. He leaned down and kissed her, pressing his hips forward, more slowly this time, tensing every couple of seconds like he was afraid that she was going to tell him to stop.

"Is…" he swallowed hard, feeling incapable of stringing a thought together to make a sentence, "Is this better?" he asked in a half-growl, half-groan. He could feel that tightening, winding sensation again. All he could see, smell, taste was Kagome, all around him and it was taking every ounce of self-control he possessed to keep from pressing deeper, crawling inside her and wrapping himself up in her.

"Th… that's good...very...very good..." she managed to gasp, opening her eyes to look up at him, her gaze half-lidded from the pleasure. She was flushed from arousal and need. She could see his desire, his need to be inside her. She reached up to him, touching his chest, running her hand over his taunt nipples. She bit her lip, then leaned up to suck on one, like he'd done to her before. Her other hand gripped his hand as he moved inside her.

"Faster..." she whispered against his chest, nibbling a little on his skin and on his nipple.

Sesshoumaru – during one of their more awkward conversations that usually left Inuyasha's face heated and pulsing with his heartbeat – had told him it was natural, the urge to bite.

"It's usually the shoulder," the taiyoukai had commented, almost idly, "But it's personal preference as well. The blood exchange is a necessary component of the mating. Ensures an identical lifespan and also warns other single youkai that you're mated and therefore unavailable. Humans sense it too, because somewhere in their underdeveloped senses they still have something primal that warns them away."

Her mouth and hands on his skin were doing wonderful yet dangerous things to him. Such a small touch was unlocking some deep baser instinct in him that wanted to dominate her, consume her. It was hard to ignore, the whispering and before he could rein it in, he had her flipped over onto her stomach, hips in the air, shoulders down, stretched out like some long, languid cat. One of his hands supported her hip while the other he dragged his claws gently over her back, along her spine, raising goosebumps over her flesh until he was able to turn her face to the side, lean over her and kiss her, long, drugging. His hips pressed into her, a fast rhythm meant to leave them both breathless.

He dragged his mouth away from hers and pressed his lips to her shoulder. He wasn't sure if he had ever explained it to her, the parting of the mating that involved a blood exchange. He could feel his teeth tingle, his youkai goading him on. There would be no time to trade information, not when he was running the tip of his tongue along the hollow of her shoulder, the taste of her skin teasing his senses. He thought maybe he had stuttered out her name, a warning, a plea, an unspoken entreaty for her to forgive him before he sank his fangs into her skin.

It was as if fireworks had erupted throughout his body, shaking away his good reason. Inuyasha growled low, deep in his throat, an unbridled warning, untamed, his body trapping her between him and the mattress. He rocked his hips more insistently against her, silently pleading, begging her to come.

Kagome let out a sound of surprise when she was flipped over, but her hesitation, her embarrassment of such a position, quickly tied when he pushed deeper into her, moving in such a rhythm that he eyes almost went cross eyed with how good it felt.

His nails of her skin tantalized her. Her blood spiked, her muscles clenched. She liked it... a lot. Her fingers curled around the headboard, holding on as he pounded into her. She felt like she was on the edge of something huge... something that would change her life.

His lips on hers made her moan as she thrust back at him, moving with him, desperate for more, desperate to reach that... something. His lips left hers and she whimpered with need. He growled something she didn't understand as he nuzzled her neck, her shoulder.

Then he did something completely unexpected. He bit her. His fangs sliced through her skin, and instead of pain, white hot lightning, pleasure beyond her imagination, shot through her body, and she climaxed. Her body arched, she threw back her head, and cried out his name as her world exploded.

It felt like it went on forever, and then her world slowly spun back to reality, panting. "Inu…yasha..." she gasped, her head falling forward. He was still latched onto her shoulder, and her head was spinning.

He felt her climax and his head spun from it, from her scent enveloping him like the steam after a warm summer rain. He could have joined her in that moment, but he held back, waited, his breathing ragged. He flipped her over again, this time, pulling her on top of him. The position was a little different, a little tighter and he let out a hissing sound from between his teeth as she adjusted.

"Come 'ere," he growled, reaching up and grasping her from behind her neck and pulling her down to him. Without so much as a warning, he sliced his wrist open with his teeth and forced it to her lips.

"Drink," he insisted, watching her lazily through half-hooded eyes. With his free hand, he trailed it down her back to her hips, where he guided her to rock against him.

Kagome didn't have time to resist before the flavor of the blood hit her tongue, and suddenly her world shifted. The feeling of him inside her, with her on top, made her body trembled from the friction, the pleasure. But when he forced his cut wrist to her lips, and when his blood slid down her throat, she suddenly felt on the verge of climaxing again.

Here eyes widened, locking with his, as she ground herself against him, rocking and moving in a new rhythm as his blood fed new life into her veins. She felt stronger, could see more, hear more... feel more.

One hand curled around his wrist, holding him to her lips as she sucked on his blood, knowing she should be disgusted by this, that she should feel some type of revulsion, but she didn't. Her pleasure mounted with each drop of his blood. Her other hand gripped his shoulder, holding on for dear life as her world exploded again.

She ripped her mouth away from his wrist, throwing her head back as she cried out, climaxing at a whole new level. Her womb clenched, she tightened around him, her body tensed, and she trembled with the force of the pleasure that coursed through her. "Inuyasha!" she cried out, her nails digging into his shoulder even more.

He couldn't contain the growl of pleasure, of possessiveness at her body's reaction to taking in his blood. It was slightly vampiric, slightly masochistic, but it was wholly satisfying to watch, to feel.

He pulled his wrist away from her lips, curled his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her down to him, to kiss her, tasting his blood on her lips. It was heady, coppery, the taste of himself on her, the blending of two sensations. Her body tightened around him, milking him, drawing out his own climax. He guided her hips, just a little harder, a little deeper and that growl turned into a deep-throated whine.

After the fireworks had stopped, after his blood stopped churning around in his stomach, in his head, after his vision cleared and his heart stopped running a marathon in his chest, he pulled her close and traced idle circles on her shoulder blade with his claw. A little bruise was appearing on her shoulder where he had bit her and he traced his thumb over it gently.

"You alright?" he asked lazily, his voice a bit deeper than it normally was.

She snuggled into him, waiting for her breathing to even out. When she could finally speak, was finally calm enough to open her eyes and look up at him, she smiled and blushed.

"Yeah... I'm more than alright..." she told him in a quiet voice. She smiled embarrassment and hid her face against his shoulder, curling her fingers around his arms. He was warm and real and... hers.

She could feel it in her blood. They were connected now. What they did had joined them together in a way that went beyond marriage, beyond anything she'd known.

She was different, too. Her hearing was better, her eyesight was better, her taste and smell. Not terribly, but it was noticeable.

"The... biting...?" she asked quietly, peeking up at him from under her thick black hair.

He glanced at her, smirked and then focused back on her shoulder, his claw going around and around the bite mark.

"It, uh, I guess it's supposed to like, bond our life expectancy..." he frowned slightly, his eyebrows scrunching in the middle as he contemplated what Sesshoumaru had told him and how he could put it to Kagome, "So, I guess it means that you are gonna live as long as me..." he shrugged, "And you won't get human illnesses anymore and everyone will know that you are my mate," he flushed a little at saying that word.

He sniffed pointedly at her, "Probably gonna have to do it a couple more times though," he commented lightly.

She raised her eyebrow at him, "A couple more times?"

He smirked, "Are you opposed, wench?" his hand skated down her back and gave her a good grope.

She squealed and slapped his hand away just as his cell phone rang. Inuyasha growled low and leaned over to answer it. He checked the caller ID and his growl deepened to one of loathing. He felt Kagome lean over and peek over his shoulder.

"What do you want, you jackass?" he growled into the mouthpiece, "I'm busy."

"Oh, I'm well aware, little brother," Sesshoumaru's voice drawled.

Despite the fact that there was no one to see it, Inuyasha's face beamed like a taillight, "Cut to the chase, jerk." He grumbled.

"I have an assignment for you…" there was a pause on the line and Inuyasha's sharp hearing picked up squeals of joy and some flustered bantering. By then, Kagome was leaned all the way over him and had her own ear pressed to the other side of the cell phone so she could hear as well. After a few moments, Sesshoumaru came back, "Also, Rin would like to extend her congratulations to you…"

A shriek from the background that may have sounded like "YAY!" that could only be her.

"… and she wants Kagome to come over to discuss wedding options, as that is human custom."

Kagome drew back from Inuyasha and rolled out of the other side of the bed. She heard him baulk and turned her head to see him giving her an uneasy look. She interpreted that as him wondering what she was thinking on that particular subject.

And she was thinking… why not? Sure, it felt a little impulsive, a little out of her character maybe, but what else was left for them? They lived together, loved each other, had staked claim on each other. All that was there to finish it off was marriage and babies. That was everything she ever wanted anyways. It wasn't like they had to rush through it either.

She swirled her fingers over the raised mark on her shoulder from his bite and a giddy feeling swept through her every time.

"Probably gonna have to do it a couple more times…"

A couple more times? Her whole body tightened just thinking about it. She was so not opposed to that whatsoever.

As Inuyasha talked business, she pulled some clothes on, brushed out her still damp hair, brushed her teeth and went downstairs to call her mother to announce that she was, officially by youkai standards, engaged.

A/N:

Inuyasha and Co belong to Rumiko Takahashi. The script is mine.

Credits:

Kagome, Sango: Goldensomething

Inuyasha, Miroku, Koga: Jesachi

Sub-characters: Combined effort