I Do Not Own InuYasha

Chapter 8

Sesshōmaru had barely left his bride when that scent hit him, the scent of a bitch in heat. Yōkai instincts had had him hunting the bitch down and he had found his mortal bride steeped in the mouthwatering scent.

The scent had been concealed to her underwear, wrapped beneath careful layers of her uchikake, and hidden by the heavy perfumes they had dosed his bride in. Now though, he was struggling as he loomed over his bride who was eyeing him warily over her shoulder, her hands fisted in the futon beneath her. Inhaling he scented her skin, tasting her natural flavor and the difference between her and the scent drenching her body through her under garments. The human was fertile, he could smell that, but her scent wasn't this…

This scent was a scent specific to drive a yōkai insane; and combined with Rin's already naturally appealing scent…

"My lord?" a small voice asked.

"What have you done mortal?" he growled as he gripped her futon and struggled not to lunge down and just take her. His claws were tearing the material, and he could feel his control suffering.

"Nani?" she whispered, there was still no fear in her voice, but he could hear her unease and her worry.

"This scent!" he growled, trying not to breath through his nose, focusing on breathing through his mouth. Which was not helping because he could all but taste the peaches and honey that seemed to be naturally infused with her scent. Would her skin taste like that? He didn't know, but he wanted to find out.

"My lord? They dressed me, I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered, and he felt her carefully turning beneath him, which did help a little. Though not a lot as his eyes raked over her face and he was struggling not to lunge at her. Sesshōmaru was not his father, he took no joy in just taking what he wanted. Any male could do that, he was not any male. He refused to do this… scent or not.

His bride was very still, and he was struggling not to just lean down and take what was driving him insane this moment.

"Your scent is that of a bitch in heat," he attempted to explain; though he was not certain how much of that came out intelligibly as he was fighting his inner yōkai and clenching his fangs so he didn't just react. He was not his father. This human was not a bitch to be claimed, she was an unwilling bride; he was not a mindless brute!

"What do you need me to do?" she asked calmly. He wanted to just take what he was scenting. Good Kami, he had not smelled anything this divine since the last mating season, she smelled so delectable, he wanted it. She was so small, her hips were wide though, and good Kami she looked like the perfect bitch, he wanted… no, no he was not his father! He refused to be like his father in this regard. He was more than his inner yōkai demanded.

"Move very slowly, go to the bathing hall, I will be there with clean cloths," he ordered carefully. "Do not run, for the love of kami do not run!" He hissed between clenched fangs as he attempted to remove himself from her. Rin carefully maneuvered herself out from under him, scooting off the futon and walked towards the fusuma that would have her escaping into the hall.

The moment she was gone he collapsed on the futon and groaned as he struggled to reorient himself. Now that he was alone, he lay on her futon gasping for air, and clawing at the quilt for that scent. Getting up he prowled around the room at her discarded robes. The outer most layers were not seeped in the scent, but the inner layers, they were drenched, it smelled like a yōkai bitch in heat, and more, herbs, Sesshōmaru frowned. Only way the humans would've known that was if a daiyōkai had informed them of this concoction.

Disposing of the robes before he did something as shameful as rutting with them; he went to his saddlebag and grabbed a spare yukata of his for the girl. If she were dressed in something, he knew wasn't tampered with then he wouldn't have difficulty controlling himself. Sesshōmaru followed the overly ripe scent, which was just begging for him to take her, and found the bathhouse. His bride had left her garments outside, which had him dissolving them in acid before walking into the bathhouse. Now the scent of overripe, fertile, bitch in heat was overwhelming and he just about lost it. She was naked and washing herself.

"Get out!" he barked. Her head snapped over to him as her wide doe eyes stared at him, and he could see the delicate female in all her glory.

Good Kami she was temptation… and this scent was not helping his control.

"Sesshōmaru-sama?" she whispered.

"Get out, move slow," he ordered in a harsh tone. Sesshōmaru kept his claws digging into his own palm as she moved slowly and climbed out of the water. For a human she was perfection, of that he had no doubt. Willowy figure, a bit too thin for his tastes, wide hips, thick thighs, strong calves, smooth toned stomach small breasts, delicate collar bones he could see. Good Kami, she was just the sort of perfection he enjoyed when he took a lover.

Slowly she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around her breasts, a move he was both sorely thankful for and disappointed for. When she came to stand before him he scented her unease as she assessed him. Grabbing her by the knees and shoulders he ran from the bath house, enveloping them in energy as he tore through the skies towards the hot springs untainted by the scents these humans were trying to dose this small human in.

If this human was not careful, she would find herself an irresistible aphrodisiac to him and he did not relish the thought of just taking her. Unceremoniously he dumped her in the hot spring which had her sputtering as she came back to the surface gasping for air.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" she roared as she moved her hair from her face.

"Bath," he ordered.

"I was! Before you dragged me naked to a hot spring!" she snapped.

"The humans who held you captive are attempting to turn you into an aphrodisiac," he snapped.

"Nani?" she sputtered.

"Specifically designed for me, now bathe," he ordered. Taking a seat at the knotted roots of a tree he released a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

Rin was stunned as she stared at her husband and attempted to figure him out while she washed her skin in the too hot water. Finally, she moved to get out of the water when his magenta lids snapped open to reveal his gold eyes.

"I…" she started.

"Wear this," he ordered producing some material. Getting out she reached for the material and was stunned to see a fine yukata. It was obviously his, she noted as she pulled it on, the material clung to her wet skin almost painfully as she arranged the garment to be comfortable. Twisting her long, wet mass of hair up and tying it in a knot, she picked up a smooth twig to stab it in place. Before her husband handed her an obi which she wrapped around her and tied in a simple knot.

"Better?" she asked.

"Fertile, but not tempting," he breathed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose and sat again. Rin nodded as she shivered a bit.

"What exactly happened, Sesshōmaru-sama?" she asked as she rubbed her arms a bit and walked over to stand before him. He cracked a gold eye open as he assessed her.

"What are you, mortal?"

"Until about seven days ago I was a healer and a farmer's daughter of no importance to the shōgun or the court," she said.

"A healer?"

"Hai, a healer, I learned herbs to aid my mother when she was ailing, the local physician and surgeon was my teacher, then the miko taught me, eventually I just became a healer," she admitted.

Her husband assessed her with interest then but didn't respond.

"What exactly did they do to me, Sesshōmaru-sama?" she asked.

"Every daiyōkai has a particular scent they prefer, natural or not, and someone informed the humans of mind and you had been doused in it," he said. "Combined with the fertile state you are in you scented of a daiyōkai bitch in extreme heat," he finished.

"What scent?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously on her.

"If I know what scent upset you so badly I can ensure that I do not get drenched in it again and we don't come running through the forest, with me naked to the nearest untainted water source you can think of or worse, have you actually rape me against both our wills," she explained. "As a healer I am well versed in plants so I can learn what to look out for or to avoid."

"It's a scent," he stated.

"Mmm, what scent?"

"You won't be able to avoid it," he stated firmly.

"Very well, then we will just have to figure out how to not turn me into a walking bitch in heat scent," she sighed. This was a very bizarre situation she found herself in, and to be honest she didn't know how to avoid it. There had been nothing unusual about what the women had given her for soaps, they were peach scented soaps, she happened to be particularly fond of that scent. She even made her own, though hers were honey and peach…

Rin paused at the thought and looked at her husband who was steadying his breaths and seemed to be in a meditative state.

"My lord?"

"Hm?"

"Are you particularly fond of the scent of peaches?" she asked carefully. A magenta lid opened slightly as a gold eye assessed her carefully before he moved to sit upright fully. "I see," she nodded.

He didn't respond as he arched a brow.

"Well, I can assure you that I will not be drenched in the scent as they had, but I do make my own soaps I can change the peach scent to something else if that will help," she offered.

"Nani?"

"Peaches are the only flower that they drenched me in, to be honest I thought it strange that there were so many peach blossoms or peach themed scents, Kagome-hime did not seem like a peach sort of onna, but I am never one to judge or speak to another's preferences. I did think that the amount though was a bit unusual, though I did not think to question it as I was captive and I so desperately wanted a bath," she admitted. "Sleeping in the mud after diving into a river does leave one grimy and gross. But if peaches are the problem scent then I will find a substitute for my soaps," she offered.

"That is unnecessary," he said levelly.

"I do not mind, my lord, if it will help us avoid another bizarre encounter," she promised. "I am just as fond of other scents, and I am certain that it is a relief if you do not have to worry about it as well."

"It is unnecessary because you will not be dumped in a vat of peaches again," he stated.

"Very well," she nodded. "Still, if you change your mind, tell me and I will be happy to make the change," she informed him.

"You are a strange mortal," he decided softly.

"Hai, I know, I get that a lot," she sighed. "Not usually the strange mortal but normally a strange onna," she waved her hand and closed her eyes. Strange, bizarre Rin, naturally she would find herself in the oddest of situations, and even married to a daiyōkai.

Sesshōmaru watched his wife as she drifted off to sleep and eventually slumped against his shoulder. He didn't mention that her natural fertile scent was still a temptation, but it wasn't as intense. Sesshōmaru wasn't going to harm the onna now. Slowly he stood as the moon drifted over them and picked her up. Returning to the shiro he was uncomfortable putting her in the rooms that had been her prison and decided to take her to where his quarters were. Once there he shut the humans out and looked at his bride on his futon.

It was still so tempting to just take the mortal, but he refused to become like his father, he refused to just take whatever he pleased from the mortal.

Sitting beside her, he pondered what he was supposed to do now, knowing the decete and their attempts to have him rape the mortal with knowledge only his pack would possess. Someone in his pack had arranged this, but why?

Sesshōmaru could foresee his father doing something like this, but it would also be easier just to order him to take his bride. InuYasha was utterly useless and he doubted the halfwit could even orchestrate something this elaborate. Sesshōmaru also did not think it could've been Iya or Kochi, as neither of them were aware of his predilection for peaches. The females he had rutted with or had affairs with were always quiet and discreet so no one in the pack could know. He sighed; most likely this was his father's doing; but why was something escaping Sesshōmaru.

Rin was is bride, so she was his responsibility and he did not harm or threaten those who were his responsibility. He was not his father.

Carefully he reached down and slid the twig out of her hair and untied the mass. Her hair was unbelievably thick and long for a human, it fell past her waist. She hummed a bit when his claws slid through her hair and he watched her shift a bit. Her natural submission pleased him when she bore her throat for him, a sign of trust, even in sleep, it pleased his inner alpha immensely to know he had her trust in such a manner. He was more pleased that she did not know her submission was not a sign of fear or weakness.

Surprisingly, all this day had shown him was that his mortal bride was anything but fearful or weak. It was immensely pleasing to know that he was at least with an onna of character and backbone rather than a spineless bitch always in heat.

Rin grumbled in her sleep as she rolled over and threw an arm over his waist and pressing her face into his hip as she molded her small body along his outstretched leg. He grimaced when her natural scent hit him with the yukata parting as her creamy leg wrapped around his own.

She did smell like she was in heat, and it was a delicious scent he wanted to bury himself in, but it was no longer overwhelming.