She didn't know what had woke her up.
Perhaps it was the chill she felt, even with the heavy duvet swathing her from head to toe. Or maybe the lack of her mate when she reached over to his side of the bed to find it empty. Hand seeking and patting his pillow before she opened her eyes to raise her head and peer blearily at where Sesshoumaru usually slept.
Whatever the case, Kagome was now fully with the living and anxious. Sitting up in bed while pushing her hair out of her face with a hand, she glanced about the empty chamber with a frown. The darkness enshrouding the room hiding the corners in shadows that were too thick for her feeble human eyes to penetrate.
Straining her ears, she tried to listen closely for any signs of movement. Puzzled as to the abject silence that permeated the castle. Not even the trill of crickets or the swoosh of wind passing through the trees detected, which was very abnormal.
Ill at ease, the miko moved the blanket from her legs and scooted to the edge of the large bed. Sitting for a moment with a shiver in the cool night air, frowning when she noticed that the brazier in the corner was dark. No scent of burning wood or soothing warmth to be had from the makeshift heater.
Yet another odd occurrence that made no sense.
Stepping down onto the icy floor, Kagome sucked in a breath with a hiss as she scurried to where her shoes were. Shoving her feet inside them without tying the laces before straightening to rub her arms vigorously. The thick material of her flannel pajamas with the ducks doing little to keep the chill from her skin as she searched the room once more for any sign of her mate.
She paused when she spotted the length of his silk robe lying at the foot of the bed. Its customary spot whenever Sesshoumaru was abed with her or had dressed and left for the day. Puzzled as to why it was here when he wasn't, especially considering that it was the middle of the night, Kagome walked over to it. Rubbing the hem between her fingers with a scowl as she glanced about the dark bedroom. The hair rising on the back of her neck causing her to freeze.
Heart hammering inside her chest, Kagome was overtaken with a sense of suffocating fear. Her lungs struggling to inhale and exhale smoothly. The sensation of being watched by malevolent eyes from places she couldn't discern making her swallow thickly around the lump in her throat.
Why was she drowning in terror in her own room in the middle of the night?
Why was her stomach tying itself in knots as she spun around with wild blue-grey eyes to sweep the empty chamber as though she was expecting to find someone or something there that meant to do her harm?
Clenching her jaw, Kagome forced herself to calm down. Irritated at her own behavior as she moved to her nightstand with determination. Shoving the illogical fear away violently as she grabbed a match with shaking hands and lit the candle that was next to her carafe of water and the matching glass which was always left for her by the servants.
She was being ridiculous! Just because she woke up alone that was grounds for becoming scared of the dark? How stupid could she be!
She'd faced demons head-on, for crying out loud! Stood toe-to-toe with Naraku without flinching while staring down the length of her arrows as she fired them at the hanyou. She was no shrinking violet. No weak-willed young girl who became frightened when left by herself because a man wasn't beside her!
So then why did giving herself this litany of pep-talks not seem to be working? Why was it not banishing the cold sweat from her body or the shivers wracking her frame that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room, and everything to do with her body's upheaval?
Sighing in aggravation at herself, Kagome tilted her chin at a defiant angle and walked about her bedroom. Lighting the candles as she went until the whole room was ablaze with illumination chasing the darkness away. The miko then going to the brazier to fill it with wood before relighting it with the flame in her hand. Standing there beside it as the fire overtook the dry tinder with a series of sharp crackles that sounded loudly in the silence.
Staring at the red and gold flames dancing over the timber greedily, she carefully closed the cast-iron door. Locking it in place securely before moving over to the armoire beside it. Gnawing at her lower lip once more, she stared at the stately piece of furniture in indecision before shrugging. Grasping the handle on one side, Kagome opened it to look inside, raising her candle so that it illuminated the interior shelves that held the clothing on its surfaces.
Everything looked as though it was there. Her clothing was in neat stacks in every row just as they always were. Feeling foolish for even checking, Kagome shook her head with a sheepish grin as she moved to open the other side to check her mate's. Figuring she had come this far in entertaining her idiocy she might as well go all the way.
No doubt Sesshoumaru had been called away by something and not awoken her. Letting her sleep after the presentation ceremony and the vigorous love making they had indulged in for a few hours after returning to their quarters. She didn't remember dressing afterwards, but then she had been very tired, and it wouldn't be the first time she hadn't slept the entire night nude beside her Taiyoukai. Sometimes when she would get up to use the Sengoku Jidai's idea of indoor plumbing, she would hurriedly dress before returning to snuggle into Sesshoumaru's warmth.
Blushing at the memory of carnal pleasure they had taken from one another, Kagome's lips curved in a smile as she pulled the second door open. Raising her candle once more as she ran the light slowly over the clothing inside. Tilting her head to the side, she eyed the various articles of colored silk. Pausing a moment over a set of haoris that she didn't recognize.
Ebony eyebrows forking down in a vee, Kagome traced the crimson material with a white pattern on them she couldn't make out from the way they were folded. The matching set of pants beside random underwear and sashes she didn't recall Sesshoumaru ever wearing either.
What the hell?
A sense of surrealism overtook her as she closed the armoire quietly. Pondering why she had even looked there in the first place and what it was she had been looking for. All of the clothing looked present, not as though her mate had dressed and then left even if they were different from his typical garb. No sign of the white silks he wore anywhere in the laundry pile she had in the corner or inside the ornately carved dresser.
Telling herself she needed to get a grip, Kagome glanced to where the study door lay. Pausing a moment before walking over to open it and peek inside. The office empty and cold with no sign of her mate. Not that she had expected there to be, but just as with all her other actions thus far, she hadn't seemed to be able to help herself in looking.
Kagome was surprised that she couldn't seem to get warm, however. She was still shivering with goosebumps lining her flesh even with the brazier burning and the soft light of many candles spread throughout the bedroom. Placing her candle in its holder on the low table, she glanced around the room once more. Unable to completely dispel the paranoia of being watched even with the shadows chased away.
Teeth nearly chattering from the ice that had overtaken her very bones to freeze her from the inside out, she went to the bed and slid on her mate's robe. Tying the sash tightly while kicking the hem behind her so she didn't trip on it. The length of the sleeves hanging over her hands enough so that she had to shake them a few times to get them free.
Wrapping her arms about herself, Kagome walked back over to the makeshift heater. Standing close to the cast-iron implement of warmth as she waited for her mate to return from wherever he had gone off to.
She idly debated on whether or not she should open her door and see if a guard was placed there, though she highly doubted it. Sesshoumaru had dismissed everyone for the evening knowing that she would desire as much privacy as possible when it came to them spending intimate time together. Her dog demon ever considerate to his shy mate's needs when it came to such things.
Giving up on that notion, Kagome sighed to herself as she remained facing the brazier to absorb its heat. Holding her hands out to it as she buried her nose into the collar of the robe. Inhaling the calming scent of her mate deeply into her lungs over and over. Allowing it to soothe her anxiety and worry. The emotions ebbing away with the cold of her skin the longer she did so while staying in front of the heater.
Yawning as fatigue began to pull at her the more she got warm, Kagome swayed a little as she let her body relax. Misgivings melting away with the passage of time so that she no longer felt as though she was being observed. Even the lack of noise was no longer concerning to her.
As she was yawning again, she heard the bedroom door open behind her. A small grin curving her lips as she continued to face away from the entryway. The soft tread of footsteps behind her unalarming since it would only be Sesshoumaru returning.
When his arm slid about her waist from behind to pull her back into his tall frame, she went so willingly with a happy sigh. Eyes sliding closed as she cuddled backwards into his warmth. Her hands going to his wrist to hold it to her tightly. Fingers tracing random lines over his skin as she listened to the steady beat of his heart. The rise and fall of his calm breathing pleasant and comforting.
"I'm so glad you're back," she whispered as she swayed against him gently. Turning her face into his shoulder to nuzzle it before leaving a fleeting kiss there. Eyes still closed as a welcoming smile curved her lips. "I was worried when I woke up and couldn't find you here."
Instead of answering her verbally, she felt him lean down to kiss the side of her neck below her ear. The heavy tail of his silver hair falling over her front as he let his mouth trail a seductive line down her throat that had desire spiraling through her.
Reaching a hand up to cup the back of his head, she was vaguely aware of her fingers coming up short in his bound locks. It wasn't too surprising, however, since he had worn the same hairdo earlier at her ceremony. No cause for concern for the miko as she obligingly moved her head to the side to give him better access.
Rubbing back against him suggestively, thrilling at the hard press of his erection sliding against her, Kagome moaned deeply when he nipped at the place where her neck and shoulder met. Breathing turning ragged and fingers clenching into his scalp as her body grew taut. Arousal causing her lower abdomen to clench, her nipples to harden and hot fluid to collect between her thighs.
Laughing unevenly, Kagome gasped out in a husky voice, "I suppose this means you missed me too." Biting her lower lip with a groan when he moved his hand to cup her breast, she moved against him restlessly. Crying out sharply as his deft fingers found her nipple through the layers of clothing to pluck at it. Her voice was a needy whimper when she said, "Sesshoumaru."
The lips and hands on her body stilled. The breathing of her mate's body turning harsh against her spine. A low growl issuing from his throat that had her squinting her eyes open with a puzzled frown to stare sightlessly at the armoire from where her head had been angled.
The hand about her breast tightened almost painfully before releasing it to grasp the neckline of the robe and shirt. Pulling them aside with a harsh yank that shocked her with its leashed violence as he exposed her mate mark. The scrape of fangs a deadly caress that was followed by the wet lave of his tongue.
Uncertainty tickled her senses. Dousing the maelstrom of her ardor as she opened her eyes fully. Unaccustomed to the ferocity driving his actions. The uncharacteristic way Sesshoumaru was acting making a slither of fear snake through her.
Wiggling into him restlessly, she pushed away how his attentions to her mating mark made her wet and needy for his attentions. When she tried to turn about in his embrace he growled again. This time a feral edge to the sound that had the hair on her nape standing on end. The barest shiver of trepidation making her squirm harder.
Grinding her teeth at how tight his hold was, the hand on her shoulder hard and punishing, Kagome bit out, "Sesshoumaru, what are you doing?"
She tried to turn her head to see his face but could only make out the heavy fall of his ponytail and the smallest hint of his ear. The thick swath of his mane obscuring his features as he continued to work at her neck.
Becoming angered, her temper sparking and driving away the desire flowing through her bloodstream, Kagome gave a growl of her own when he prevented her from moving away when she tried again.
"Sesshoumaru, what the hell are you doing? Let me go, damn it! You're hurting me!" she snarled. Completely taken aback by his lack of response and his actions.
What the hell was wrong with him?!
The hand she had in his hair found his ponytail. Wrapping about the base of it tightly and yanking harshly.
"I said let me go! Right now!" Fear had her voice quavering even as hurt made tears prickle in her eyes at the way he was treating her.
Sesshoumaru had never done anything like this before. Just hours ago he had made love to her so sweetly and slowly it had brought tears to her eyes. The loving way he worshipped her body into bliss showing her just how much her mate cared for and cherished her.
But this?
This was the exact opposite of that. This was animalistic and brutal. Not leashed passion as the times before when his baser instincts had been close to the surface as in the hot spring or in their bedroom. No, this was cold and unfeeling. Hard and dominating with a total lack of heartfelt emotion behind it.
Kagome's heart stuttered when she felt a hand come up to wrap around her throat from behind. Her disbelieving eyes widening impossibly in her pale face as she stared at the arm holding her shoulder while feeling another hand against her skin at the same time. The tightening of the fingers over her windpipe enough to bruise but not enough to cut off her air.
It took Kagome's mind a few moments to understand what was happening. What it meant. And when she did her heart stuttered in fear. Oxygen freezing in her lungs as she realized this wasn't her mate holding her against him.
This was not Sesshoumaru who was currently placing his lips over her mate mark to suck hard. The sharp stab of sexual desire that coursed through her body a betrayal in and of itself as Kagome tried to will herself not to feel it.
Yanking at the intruder's hair repetitively as she clawed at the hand on her throat, Kagome tried to kick back into his legs. Twisting and turning despite how it hurt in an attempt to get herself free. Trying to drag in a deep enough breath to scream and call for help. To alert the castle that someone had come into their midst and was accosting her.
Again her unknown assailant sucked hard. The prick of their teeth unwelcome even as it made arousal swim through her veins despite her best efforts to make it stop. Humiliated tears flooding her eyes, Kagome snarled angrily as she fought against him.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" Kagome bit out as she dug her fingernails deeply into the wrist attached to the hand around her throat.
The scream she went to let out died a quick death in her throat when the demon holding her suddenly let go of her mate mark to lift his head. Turning to face her, as though in slow motion, so that his features were finally visible.
Terror struck her heart like an arrow between her ribs when the aristocratic pale features of Sesshoumaru's uncle swam into view. The crescent moon marking on his brow and flowing reddish-amber of his eyes ringed in crimson as he moved his head closer to hers.
Almost hyperventilating, Kagome couldn't make herself move as she repeated to herself over and over that this couldn't be happening. That this wasn't real. That it wasn't possible.
Nuzzling into her stricken features in a caricature of the caress she was so fond of receiving from her mate, Aion paused with his forehead pressed into hers. The miko's vision filled with the dog demon's fiery gaze banked in sexual desire and malevolence.
Kagome felt the repulsive brush of his lips against hers when he said seductively, "I told you before. You will give me everything I desire and more."
He pushed the lower half of his body into hers. The hard length of him grinding into her. Bile rising in her throat as her stomach somersaulted. Nuzzling into her again, his hands tightened around her body. The deadly tips of his claws pricking her skin without drawing blood, though they were very close to it.
Stark terror at his meaning had Kagome bucking and writhing. Uncaring if it caused Aion to accidentally pierce her flesh with his claws. Better he rip out her throat and leave her a bleeding corpse than torture her slowly. Having her suffer unimaginable horrors from his twisted sadistic mind before he finally granted her the sweet relief of death.
Frantically, she reached inwardly for her miko powers. Realizing with growing despair that though they tried to connect with her, the same static wall wouldn't allow them to. The purifying essence surging against its prison as it undulated and boiled beneath the surface. All she accomplished in attempting to call it to her was frustration.
She gave a sharp cry of alarm when she found herself suddenly spun around. Her hands pushing into Aion's chest with all her might. Fingers tense and curved as she dug her less impressive nails into the pliant flesh over his heart. As though she might reach inside his chest cavity and rip the organ out by using brute force alone.
How she wished she possessed a fraction of the physical strength all youkai seemed to be blessed with. Even though she might not win such an altercation between herself and Sesshoumaru's uncle, the miko could have at least done enough damage to maim him a little. Possibly even break a bone here and there.
Leaning back in the circle of his arms as much as possible, Kagome glared up into his smirking features defiantly. Scared to death but determined to fight as long and hard as possible until the very end.
She wasn't about to go down without a fight, damn it!
Leering down at her, a long sharp fang flashing from the corner of his mouth in the candlelight, Aion's hold was ironclad as he grabbed her to him harshly with a quick motion. The breath knocked out of her lungs in a whoosh as he forcefully kept them connected from chest to thigh. The feel of his erection pressing into her stomach enough to make her gag in revulsion.
Pushing at him frantically, Kagome felt helpless tears flood her eyes as her struggles did absolutely nothing to remove him from her. The might of his heritage too strong for a single human woman to dislodge without the power of a priestess to call upon.
She couldn't fathom where the hell everyone was. She'd even managed to scream a couple of times during her newest struggles and expected at least Akito or Teisa to arrive. Even Sora who was on guard during the night at times. Perhaps her mate, which she couldn't reach through their bonds for some reason.
It was a fact she was only now realizing. That there was a total absence inside her of their mating bond. The aura synchronization not able to activate unless they were in contact, but it was typically still a low steady thrum she could become aware of if she concentrated long enough.
A new terror struck her in the chest. The possibility of why she couldn't detect the man she loved causing her to still in dawning horror. Blue-grey eyes wide as a tear trailed down her cheek, she pinned the smirking dog demon holding her captive with a desperate stare.
"Aion, where's Sesshoumaru? Where's my mate?" she asked frantically. Her hands no longer pushing him away, but instead wrapping around the lapels of the crimson silk with his waving emblem emblazoned over it that he wore.
Cat-like pupils dilating in pleasure, Aion's smile curved into an evil grin as he cupped the side of her face. Keeping one arm around her to make certain she couldn't back away from him.
"Darling girl," he purred at her softly as he watched her reactions avidly. "Worried for my nephew, are you? Tell me, where do you think Sesshoumaru is?"
Swallowing audibly, Kagome whispered brokenly, "What have you done to him?"
Diabolical glee lightened his glowing irises as he nuzzled her in a gross display of affection that held no true emotion behind it. "Perhaps if you please me, I'll tell you." He grinded into her suggestively as his head dove to nip her jaw hard enough to make her jump from the pain of it.
A sob escaping her throat, Kagome raised her hands to grab the sides of his face. Fingers digging harshly into his aristocratic features as sorrow assailed her at the continued lack of response along the mate-bond she shared with the Taiyoukai.
Kagome would not believe Sesshoumaru was dead!
It wasn't possible!
There was absolutely no way her strong, beautiful, intelligent mate would have fallen beneath the blade of such a dishonorable demon. No matter what underhanded tactics Aion may have utilized!
Gathering her rage around her like armor, Kagome's eyes dried of tears as she bared her teeth at him in an open sign of aggression. Leaning towards his surprised face, she growled low in her throat as her nails dug into his cheeks deep enough to break skin. The feel of his blood flowing in small rivulets over her fingertips giving her a sadistic type of pleasure.
"Fuck you, you fucking cur," she whispered dangerously.
Her words and actions caused the red to bleed further into his irises as his pupil began to shade robin's egg blue. Snarling, his fangs flashing dangerously close to her face, Kagome forcefully kept herself from flinching away from him. Recalling vividly the last time they had been alone in a bedroom and what had transpired.
Not again. Not this time. Never again.
"You forget yourself, miko," he growled out in a guttural voice that bordered on feral. "Be a good girl and I might give you a swift death in the end."
A caustic laugh left her throat as she scratched him harder, eliciting a deep growl from his chest that vibrated into her own. "Go fuck yourself, asshole."
Aion's nostrils flared as he buried his hand in her hair and yanked her head back with enough force it made her neck ache in protest. The long column of her throat was exposed to the inu youkai. The vulnerable position making her growl and squirm in his hold. Disregarding how it pulled strands of hair from her scalp. The steely clamp of his other arm crushing the air from her lungs, compressing her ribs.
Unable to offer more than a pained strangled cry, Kagome strained to see him clearly from her new vantage point. Eyes wild as she tried to breathe. Her hands falling away to push at his shoulders ineffectually.
Eying her with growing satisfaction, Aion let up the hold on her enough so she could gasp in a lungful of oxygen. Watching her cough a few times as she tried to breathe cleanly once more. Features turning sinister as he smiled down at her, the dog demon's hold in her hair turned caressive. His claws scraping into her scalp gently as he drew them down over her skull to cradle her nape in a firm grip.
Bringing her face close to his effortlessly, his tongue darted out to trace a wet trail from the corner of her mouth to the top of her cheekbone. Nipping her there before he copied the motion on the other side.
Luminescent eyes igniting with desire, Aion suddenly moved to grasp her lower lip between his teeth. Splitting the full rosy piece of flesh with a swipe of one fang. Sucking it into his mouth a moment later, swallowing the loud gasp of pain and shock she let out at what he had done. Pulling her blood into his mouth, he laved her lower lip once before leaning back so she could see him fully. The way he tilted his head as he rolled the sanguine liquid in his mouth and over his tongue making it hard for Kagome not to vomit all over him.
Lower lip throbbing from what he had done, she saw how he savored what he had taken from her with all the banked ecstasy of a sommelier tasting a rare vintage of wine. Swallowing the blood after a few seconds, she tried to ignore how it had stained his chiseled lips red.
"Ah, Kagome." Giving her a sensual look filled with dark promise, he brought her face close to his. Moving his head to bury it in her neck near her mate mark. The brush of his tongue making her quiver with a distressing mixture of repulsion and desire that had her hating herself. She could feel his grin when he traced a path up her throat to her ear. Whispering into it, "I will taste all of you. There will not be a place on your body I will not place my mark. And while you may curse and scream at me the entire time, I will taste your pleasure too because of your mate mark betraying you." Pulling away to search her terrified expression he ground out as crimson began to bleed into his irises, "Now, scream for me, Kagome. Scream for me, kireina."
And so she did.
************************* BBBBB BBBB RRRR RRR *******
Sesshoumaru felt a sense of déjà vu as the sound of his mate screaming all but split his eardrums. The woman he had been spooning while asleep letting out a terrified yell that made his ears ring painfully.
Sitting up with a curse, he untangled himself from the curtain of his unbound hair and the blanket. Struggling to remove the heavy cover as Kagome tossed and writhed in between the sounds of terror pouring from her throat. The depth of the horror laced within the noise making his heart ache.
He had no damn clue what the woman was seeing or experiencing in her nightmare, but whatever it was it had the power to make his strong brave mate's delectable scent turn acrid with fear. The bonds they shared fluctuating wildly from the strength of her emotions flooding them. His beastly nature snarling and shoving forcefully to be let loose. To seek out and tear into whatever had caused their mate such distress and pain.
He was unable to prevent his eyes from bleeding red as though they were hemorrhaging. Or the impatient growl lacing his throat as he at last came free from the bedding. Kneeling, he pulled the blanket from her as well. Using his tail and arm to wrap it around her flailing naked body. Seating himself against the headboard as he brought her into his lap and held her tightly. Grunting when her elbow made contact with his ribs in a brutal jab. One of her knees kicking him hard in the hip as she continued to fight him in her sleep.
Cursing again with a snarl, Sesshoumaru tightened the coil of his tail around her. Trying to cradle the side of her face without accidentally slicing her skin. The action impossible with the way she was tossing her head about. Her thick ebony mane a wild tangle that spilled over his bare chest and arm as he fought to maintain his hold on Kagome.
When she got him in the ribs again, Sesshoumaru moved her so that he could place her between his splayed legs. Using the new position to wrap his legs around hers to pin them against the bed. His tail moving in a furry rope to capture one of her arms so he could keep it at her side instead of sporadically waving about.
Grasping the side of her tearstained face, his muscles clenched as he used more force than he would have thought necessary to hold her in place.
"Kireina, wake up." Nuzzling into her face, he ignored how her free arm came up so she could push and slap at his shoulder. Her hand slipping away when it slid to the part of his body that was missing. Pushing as much calm and reassurance as he could through their bonds, he kept rubbing his face against hers. "Wake up, Kagome. You are having a nightmare."
Instead of her eyes popping open like he was hoping, she sobbed loudly while trying to get away from him again. "No, no! Get off of me! Get the fuck away from me, you bastard!"
Her voice was drenched in fear. The volume of it enough to make his ears ring again as she yelled in his face forcefully. He was puzzled when the subtle scent of her arousal filtered through the acidic coating of her panic. At a complete loss as to what the hell would have caused that in his mate when it was obvious she was fighting someone in her dreams.
It reminded him starkly of the night he had proclaimed his love to her. Of what had precipitated such a declaration and had awoken them in the first place. Bitterness made his heart ache. After all, the only reason she had even met the sadistic dog demon had been because of his ongoing feud with his nephew. Realizing what Kagome was suffering in her nightmare made Sesshoumaru curse Aion fervently.
Damn his fucking uncle! Damn him to the farthest reaches of hell!
Rage poured into him as he tried to calm Kagome and wake her at the same time. His claws and fangs lengthening with the force of his hatred as his inner demon paced and howled. Baying for the blood of the inu youkai who had managed to torment the woman he loved in a place he couldn't go. Infiltrating the sanctity of her dreams to torture the miko at his leisure with no one there to stop him.
Reigning in his fury, Sesshoumaru nuzzled her temple before placing a kiss on her sweaty brow. Eyes sliding closed as the way she shied away from him with a whimper made his stomach clench painfully at the rejection.
It wasn't him she was trying to get away from. He had to remind himself of that again and again as he attempted to call Kagome back to him. Not understanding just why the hell she wasn't responding and awakening. It was disconcerting a conundrum as the various flavors of her scent that were a mixture of terror and desire.
"Itoshi anata, please come back to me," he pleaded softly in a voice layered in an emotional growl. "He cannot harm you. He cannot reach you here. Aion is far away without any means to touch you ever again."
He was encouraged when her struggles began to slow. The hand shoving at his shoulder stilling so that her fingers falling lax against him instead of trying to claw his flesh. Running a soothing hand over the stiff muscles between her shoulder blades, the Taiyoukai kissed her tears away.
"I am right here, kireina. I will never let that bastard or anyone else harm you ever again." Sesshoumaru said the oath forcefully to the woman in his embrace. The legs tangled about hers no longer holding her down now that she had stopped flailing. His tail loosening enough to pool around her trim waist as he cuddled her nude body against his own. "Shhh, it is alright, my love. My beautiful mate. I have you."
Rocking them lightly, Sesshoumaru rubbed his cheek to Kagome's. Listening intently to the sound of her heartbeat beginning to slow from its speedy gallop. How the ragged quality of the miko's lungs started to level out into a healthier cadence.
He wondered what had caused her night terror. What had set it off when she hadn't had one since that night a few weeks prior. The only thing he could think of for a reason would be the extreme stress she had been under coupled with the lack sleep.
Honestly, he had no damn clue what had brought it on, but he was determined to bring her out of it sooner rather than later. Explanations could wait until Sesshoumaru reassured the woman in his arm.
With a shuddering breath Kagome opened tearstained eyes to blink up at him. Blue-grey orbs bruised in her too pale features. The trembling curve of her mouth vulnerable.
Crimson eyes flashing into her own, Sesshoumaru tried to quell a growl when she tried to pull away from him. Her expression becoming fearful and nervous. A shivering overtaking her body hard enough so that the rattle of her teeth chattering filled the air.
He was lost as to what was happening to Kagome. Alarmed at the way his mate's condition hadn't moved in a positive direction now that she was aware. Sesshoumaru catching her hand in his own when she went to push his face from her with a strangled whimper.
Clasping her fingers in a firm hold, he held their joined hands to his face as he said, "Easy, kireina. It is only me."
The sob that tore from her throat made him cringe. A snug band about his chest clamping down in a vicelike manner that had his heart throbbing painfully. It didn't help when Kagome took another look at him and did everything within her power to wiggle free from him.
Sesshoumaru increased his hold on her convulsively with his tail. Releasing her hand to place a steadying arm along her back when she almost toppled over sideways. Coming dangerously close to falling off their bed with her frantic movements.
At a complete loss since he couldn't seem to get through to Kagome, even though her eyes were open and staring at him fearfully, the dog demon clenched his jaw. Barely able to keep a hold on the struggling female as she twisted and squirmed.
Grasping her chin in a hard hold, he placed his face close to hers to say harshly, "Damn it, kireina, it is me! Look at me. See me." Breathing harshly himself at this point with the force of his emotions, he silently willed her to recognize the dog demon she was pressed against. To quit mistaking him for the bastard uncle who was a relation in name only. Staring down into her wide blue-grey eyes, he gentled his hold to cradle her face as his gave her a pained look. "I am not Aion, Kagome. I am your mate. The youkai who loves you with all his heart. Who cannot wait to spend the rest of his life with you. See me, itoshi anata. You know who I am."
Kagome went motionless as though encased in ice. The miko's body going taut as the breath stalled in her lungs a few seconds. She blinked up at him again, except this time recognition was slowly overtaking the blind fear in the eyes gazing into his. Her teeth were still chattering, and her body continued to convulse, but at least she stopped fighting him.
Finally.
Swallowing thickly, Sesshoumaru brushed the hair from her face tenderly. Smoothing the wild mane over her shoulders before leaning down to grab the edge of the blanket. Pulling it over her trembling form then cuddling her close to his chest. Hugging his mate he kissed her temple then placed his cheek there. Trying to make his irises return to their normal amber hue instead of being vermillion as they were now.
He shuddered himself when he felt her arms snake around his neck. Silently grateful that she was no longer trying to remove him from her as though he had leprosy. It helped to cool his ire. Soothing the frayed edges of the Taiyoukai's temper and the snarling rage of his beast as both reveled in their mate's acceptance. The razor-sharp edges of his inner self purr-growling and rubbing against his skin in a bid to get nearer to the woman they were bonded to in a primal level.
The feel of her tears dampening his shoulder where she buried her face were hard to bear. His legs drawing into a bend allowing him to maneuver to move his tail so it wasn't twisted in an uncomfortable angle anymore. The furry length of bone and cartilage sliding free of her body to lay in a heap off to the side under the blanket.
Rubbing his palm up and down the knotted muscles of Kagome's spine, Sesshoumaru sighed heavily as she continued to cry heartbrokenly. Helplessness seeping through his body like poison. Invading his own lithe form so he felt powerless to do anything that could help the woman he loved get through her trauma.
"Ah, itoshi anata." The sound of his mate's whimpering cries was killing Sesshoumaru. Her tears much deadlier than any blade or claws put to him in his long life. Ravaging his gut as though he had been eviscerated while savaging his heart. Nuzzling into her wild mane of hair, he clenched his eyes shut in impotent pain. "The sound of your sorrow slays me, little one. You break my heart, kireina."
"I-I'm so-sorry," she stuttered through tears and chattering teeth. Sniffling as she continued to cry with no sign of slowing down.
"Never apologize, Kagome. You have done nothing wrong," Sesshoumaru replied with a grimace as he breathed in her scent to quiet himself when all he wanted to do was pull his possibly deceased uncle from the fiery depths of hell he was occupying to torture him slowly. "If you need to cry then do so, kireina. I will be here for you, holding you, as long as you need me."
He scowled when his words made her cry harder. Baffled as to how she had taken what he said when he had meant to offer only comfort. Frustrated with his inability to help his mate, Sesshoumaru did his best to send the grieving woman as much love through their links as possible. Drenching the tethers binding them together with the same fervor Kagome was saturating his skin with her tears.
"I'm so-sorry I rui-ruined the evening, Ses-Sesshoumaru," Kagome said brokenly as the saline leaked from the corners of her closed eyes. The fingers on his shoulders clutching with enough force that half-moons from her nails became imprinted in the Taiyoukai's flesh. "I j-just can't se-seem to stop cry-crying or sh-shaking."
Kissing her brow softly, the press of his enlarged fangs digging into his lips, Sesshoumaru tenderly brushed the moisture away from the cheek that wasn't pressed into his chest. "You have ruined nothing. There is no cause to feel guilty for something that you have no control over, Kagome."
Kagome's answer was to burrow into him until he was convinced she would have crawled inside his body to hide if she had been able. The trembling of her thin frame and rattle of her teeth meeting abrasive to the dog demon's ears. As caustic to endure as the scent of Kagome's fear and sadness that made him want to howl in rage and desolation.
Feeling powerless was not something the Taiyoukai had entertained since his childhood when his uncle had given him his personal attention. Never had Sesshoumaru felt it whilst in regard to another person altogether. The fact that it was his mate whom he was experiencing it for the first time made an unbearable situation even worse.
Searching his mind desperately for a clue as to what he should do to ease the distraught woman, Sesshoumaru considered and tossed aside one idea after another. Frustration a large rock in his abdomen that grew with each spasm of her muscles.
Reaching back into his past, he sought out the only knowledge he held on how to comfort someone who was inconsolable. The vivid memory of his mother holding him as a pup presenting itself to the Taiyoukai.
Latching onto it in a steel-knuckled grip, Sesshoumaru replayed what his mother used to do when he had come to her in tears or fright. Analyzing the images closely as though he were strategizing for a battle. Resolute that he would copy whatever the previous Lady of the Western Lands had done while soothing her child with gentle words and loving hands.
Gathering Kagome close as possible, Sesshoumaru hooked his chin over her shoulder near her mate mark. Her cheek lying against his throat as she wrapped her arms around his neck almost desperately. As though by doing so he could take the pain she was experiencing into himself.
If only that were possible.
It took a few tries, the exact pattern and cadence of the tune his mother used to hum difficult to piece together at first. But finally Sesshoumaru found the exact rhythm of the song. The highs and lows of it humming in a deep rumble from his chest as he rocked her gently. Not precisely certain that it was the correct thing to do, yet willing to give it a try, nonetheless.
He had never done something like this before. Tried to use vocals and motions to relieve another being's suffering. There was an intimacy to it that went beyond even the physical joining of his body to his mate's. As much as they transmitted their love to one another through the emotional act of giving themselves to each other, doing something like this was much different.
There was nothing material to gain from humming some long forgotten melody to his distraught mate. For someone who used to weigh everything in the light of acquisition or loss, it was a new undertaking altogether.
What Sesshoumaru found more surprising was that it was no hardship to do this for Kagome. It didn't feel unnatural to bend from his stoic persona for his mate so she might find relief from what was disturbing her. He didn't care what others may think about how the Lord of the Western Lands, a deadly feared Taiyoukai of Japan, softened for the woman in his arm.
When it came to Kagome he literally didn't give a fuck what anyone else thought.
What was between his miko and him was private. Not meant for prying eyes with disapproving judgmental stares. Though he doubted anyone would have the nerve to do so to his face. Sometimes having a reputation such as his was its own kind of armor. One he exploited and cultivated as much as possible. Another weapon in his arsenal to vanquish a foe.
That mindset had no place here. In their bed with the woman he loved slowly beginning to calm in his embrace. Heartened that Kagome was at last responding positively to something he was doing, Sesshoumaru kept humming and nuzzling her. His own wayward emotions quieting along with hers as they fed one another through their bonds.
Sesshoumaru was grateful when the crimson bled from his eyes. Blinking a few times as the remaining vestiges of his demonic power fluctuating receded so it no longer felt as if his senses were sharpened. Going this long with them as such had worn on the Taiyoukai. The effort to reign himself in while his fangs and eyes changed was grating. His eyesight too refined. Sense of smell nearly overloading his system with its acuity.
Sesshoumaru had no idea how late it was. A cursory glance about the bedchamber still heavily shadowed as well as the lack of sound from the outdoors pointing to the fact that it must still be in the late hours of the night. Or early hours of the day, depending on how one looked at it.
Kagome must not have been asleep long after dozing off after their love making earlier. The lack of rest not taxing for a youkai but the continuous fast-paced schedule she had kept would make it difficult for a human to recover from. He had hoped that, now with the presentation ceremony out of the way, the woman would have finally listened to him for once and slept. Especially after he had done his best to exhaust her completely when they had returned to their rooms.
When she finally stopped crying and shaking, a random sniffle the only noise coming from her, Sesshoumaru fell silent and lay still against the headboard. Rubbing his palm over her supple spine in long deep strokes that he knew she preferred.
As she stirred against him, he slackened his hold. Removing his chin from over her shoulder when she pushed up and away. Settling in his lap while drawing the heavy comforter over her shoulders and holding it closed over her chest with one hand twisting in the thick fabric. Using the back of her free hand to wipe at her damp cheeks, Kagome kept her eyes carefully averted from his. As though hiding shyly or shamefully from what his reaction might be to her outburst.
Frowning, he reached out to gently rub at the dark smudge beneath her eyelid, as though he could remove the sign of fatigue by touch alone. Puzzled at the way she refused to look at him. A wan grin flitting over her lips briefly as those blue-grey orbs darted away from him quickly, Sesshoumaru locked his knees so she could lean back against them.
Pushing some of her thick mane behind an ear, he tried to catch her gaze with his. Frustration bubbling in his breast when Kagome kept turning her head. Inspecting and fussing with the blanket around her shoulders with a singlemindedness that could only be achieved by someone trying not to be obvious about dodging a person. Even when he purposely placed his fingers below her chin to raise her face, her eyes remained downcast.
Sighing heavily, feeling weary and inept, Sesshoumaru asked her softly, "Won't you look at me, itoshi anata?"
She drew her lower lip between her teeth as she leaned sideways to get a tissue from the dwindling pack on her nightstand. Blowing her noise, she tossed the used piece of paper over the side of the bed carelessly with a sigh of her own.
Sesshoumaru remained quiet. Waiting for her to speak. Knowing she would only do so when ready.
Whatever had transpired in the realm of her dreams had unnerved Kagome so badly that she acted as though she couldn't even face him. Shame coming off her in waves through their bonds abrasively like nettle beneath his skin. The near sentience of the mating bond bristling and growling at the unwanted emotion like a cat whose fur was being brushed backwards.
He arched a silver eyebrow when she gingerly moved off him to her side of the bed. All the while eyes averted and lips in a downward curve. The heavy ivory blanket sliding along with her to leave him partially exposed from the knees down. He watched the way Kagome devoted an extensive attention to detail in the way she enshrouded herself fully from the neck down. How she moved the fine white material about so she could fashion makeshift sleeves, wrapping it about her chest and the legs she folded under herself like a kimono. The paleness of her hands and face the only thing visible once she was finished. Settling in the center of their bed facing him after grabbing her pillow and hugging it to her chest like a shield.
Baffled, Sesshoumaru took the actions in with narrowed amber eyes. Tilting his head to the side as he obligingly picked up the rest of what was covering his nudity and placing it over her knees. Letting his hand stay there afterwards as he tried to figure out where he had erred to make her upset with him. Ill at ease to be in his presence.
He had thought he had done everything a normal person would do when in a loving relationship with someone who became sad. Giving his miko the attention and touch she craved to know he was there for her in any capacity she desired. That the words spoken had been genuine.
It felt like it took hours, yet was probably but minutes, before she finally spoke. His keen youkai hearing able to pick up the hoarse whisper of her voice easily in the dark. Eyes drawn to the way she tightened her arms about the cushion while she continued to stare at where his hand lay.
"I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru. It's not you. It's me." A pregnant pause took over the air between them as she began gnawing at her lower lip once more with an unhappy frown. The quicksilver flash of her bloodshot blue-grey eyes met his for a second but wouldn't hold it. "This nightmare was a really bad one, is all."
"Do you wish to talk about it?" he asked after another moment of silence.
She shook her head with a sigh as she ran tense fingers through her bangs. "I don't know. No. Yes. Maybe?" Kagome shrugged her shoulders helplessly before slouching in defeat. "I'm sorry. I'm not making much sense right now."
"You do not need to apologize, kireina. If you wish to speak of what troubles you then I will listen attentively." Sesshoumaru gave her knee a squeeze through the comforter. "If you desire to remain silent on the matter, I shall respect your wishes on that as well."
"See, that makes how I am behaving worse," Kagome said with a groan as she placed a palm over her face. "You being so understanding, and patient, makes me feel like I'm the worst type of mate imaginable."
Confused, Sesshoumaru tilted his head and replied, "I fail to see why. If I do not see you in such a way then it is foolish for you to do so."
"Yeah, well, you are constantly telling me what a foolish woman I am." A smile with no humor tilted her lips for a moment as she laughed derisvely. "I mean I can't even look you in the face right now!"
"Have I done something to offend you?" Sesshoumaru frowned as he searched his memory from the moment she woke him until now. Unable to pinpoint what he could have said or done in error.
Her hand grabbing his fingers tightly was followed by the vehement shaking of her head. "No! You've done nothing, Sesshoumaru. Like I said, it's me. Not you."
Heart aching at how lost Kagome's tone sounded, at the depth of sorrow and shame behind the words, Sesshoumaru's hand slid free of hers to cradle her cheek with infinite tenderness. "Kagome, obviously something is bothering you deeply. I am your mate and the youkai who loves you. When you are in pain it harms me as well. Just as if you are joyful my heart sings too. Itoshi anata, if you need to speak of what happened while held captive by Aion then do so. I will pass no judgement against you."
She froze at his words as though she had been turned to stone. The raggedness of her breathing, the acceleration of her heartbeat, sounding loudly in his ears. The only sign of life from the woman who had gone so still beneath his touch.
Hesitantly, she reached up to hold his hand to her face. Sesshoumaru releasing a breath he hadn't even been aware of holding when she leaned into him.
Swallowing as though it was difficult for her, he left his hand where it lay. Waiting to see what she would decide to do. Knowing this had to be her choice in the matter and not something the miko felt pushed into.
When it came to those suffering trauma it did not help the injured party to be pressured or badgered into confronting a terrible tragedy before they were ready. Doing so oftentimes did more harm than good, and Sesshoumaru would never purposely hurt his mate for anything.
"I think….I think the stress from the presentation ceremony and lack of sleep got to me. Perhaps event he way you wore your hair tonight. I think that's why I had a nightmare tonight when I haven't had one since you told me we were mated. But I also believe that I should at least tell you about my time spent with your uncle. You deserve to know why you're getting woken up randomly by your mate screaming your ears off." Her eyes finally met and held his resolutely as her attempt at humor fell flat.
The naked trepidation reflected in their shimmering depths made his heart contract painfully in his chest though he kept his expression free of any discomfort. Not wishing to possibly scare her back into the emotional retreat she had begun when she had broken contact with him earlier.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Kagome." Giving her a look filled with his love for her, he tried to send it to her through their bonds as much as possible. "As I said, if you do not wish to speak of it, I will not pressure you to. I am glad to abide by whatever choice you make in the matter."
"I know," she said with a soft grin filled with affection. "That's why I think I can actually talk to you about it. I would like to exorcise Aion from our lives and if speaking to someone will help then I'll do it."
"If you desire to speak with someone else, a female, I will not be offended, kireina," Sesshoumaru reassured her firmly. "I will understand."
Another shake of her head in the negative as she searched his expression. "No, I want to talk to you or no one." The hand about his tightened as she nuzzled into his palm. "I feel the safest with you and know you'll love me no matter what. I'd rather keep it between us and as private as possible."
He inclined his head as he shifted against the headboard into a more comfortable position. "That you will not have to worry over. Our privacy is assured in this chamber."
"I know." Kagome sighed heavily and eyed him with fatigue and worry. Picking at the edge of her pillow while she looked into his reassuring gaze. "Firstly you already know that I wasn't raped by your uncle."
Sesshoumaru kept his start of surprise at her sudden words hidden behind a mild expression of interest. Nodding in encouragement as he forced down the instant rage that came to life at just the thought of something like that happening to her.
Above all else he needed to push his own emotional upheaval aside and focus on Kagome. This wasn't about him or his desire to crush Aion's windpipe beneath his heel. It was about her and she shouldn't have to put up with a mate who would make talking about her experience more difficult than it blatantly already was for her.
So, while she haltingly told him what had transpired between her and the other dog demon Sesshoumaru kept himself in control. Forcing the shade of his eyes to remain amber. The claws on his hands and fangs in his mouth to keep from lengthening. Which was supremely arduous when she got to the part of being pinned to the bed and what the other youkai had done.
At that point he had withdrawn his hand from her knee to casually place it beneath the edge of the blanket. Hiding the deadly curve of his claws when his fingers twitched as the venom in his blood bloomed forth. The Taiyoukai's inner nature pacing and snarling just below the surface of his human façade. Anxious to be let loose to hunt down Aion and allowed the freedom to rend and tear in ruthless abandon.
Sesshoumaru had to veil his eyes at some point when the leash slipped further during her words about the other male licking her. Just imaging the vivid pictures she was painting were enough for his irises to bleed crimson and his cat-like pupils a robin's egg blue. He was thankful her eyesight wasn't that of a demon. Kagome couldn't tell that the protrusion of his fangs nearly overlapped his mouth or detect the bottlebrush bristle of the fur along his tail.
Instead, Sesshoumaru kept quiet. Only offering a noncommittal hum or nod of his head since that was all he could manage. He feared if he tried to talk his vocal chords would be twisted into a guttural growl. Effectively letting Kagome know that he wasn't as removed from the situation as he presented himself to be. That the dog demon's feral nature brushed under his skin, the poison in his blood rustling with potency, that it took everything he had not set them free.
He thought she would pause at some point. Or falter and take a brief break before continuing on. But she didn't. His mate was stronger than that.
Though she was facing her terror head-on with a courage that was humbling, a part of him wished she would stop. Because he didn't think he could hold it together with nearly the aplomb she was displaying as she began telling him about the two night terrors she'd had since her captivity.
Upon learning everything, including how she had come to ingest demon blood, Sesshoumaru gained a better understanding about what horrors stalked her sleep at night like a hungry beast scenting an injured animal.
It made his heart ache. All the trials and tribulations she had been through and still underwent as a result of Aion's perfidy and salacious advances. He understood now why her scent had been an odd mixture of fear and desire earlier. Why she had withdrawn from him physically to clothe herself demurely after they had been entwined in naked passion for a few hours prior.
That Kagome couldn't help herself in her reactions. Was held in thrall to them with the night terror so fresh in her memory.
The ache in his chest where his raging heart lay was nearly excruciating at the end of her story. The scent of her shame and guilt over the reaction she had in her dream in regard to his uncle touching her drowning Kagome as she sat there in her nest of bedding. Blue-grey eyes no longer meeting his to stare resolutely in the vicinity of where his striped wrist disappeared under the blanket.
Without even touching her Sesshoumaru could feel the soul deep humiliation that covered Kagome. All but able to taste it on his tongue in abject bitterness that had him grimacing despite his best efforts to do otherwise.
Catching sight of his expression, Kagome misinterpreted it. Pain flashing over her features before she placed her pillow aside and began scooting towards the edge of the bed with the comforter.
"Where are you going?" Sesshoumaru asked in a hoarse whisper he barely recognized as his own voice. The cost of holding in the growls and baying of unbridled fury straining his throat and affecting his speech.
"I'm sorry, I think I just need to be alone for a moment." Kagome's voice was tearful as she paused in moving off the mattress with her back to him.
Muttering a harsh curse with a snarl that had her flinching, Sesshoumaru pushed himself up on his knees. Reaching out to grab Kagome swathed in the duvet with his arm and tail. Pulling her stiff body into his as he sat flat in the middle of the bed, bracketing her form with his long legs as he used his tail to keep her from leaving when she began to struggle a little.
Rubbing his cheek against hers, Sesshoumaru's arm was a steel band about his mate as she finally stopped trying to move away. The miko's hair hiding her features as he nuzzled into her affectionately in the cage of his embrace.
"You misunderstood my expression, kireina." Sesshoumaru's voice was a rumbling growl from his chest as he continued pushing his face against hers. The extended claws on his fingers digging into the thick blanket enough to leave holes. His large fangs making it difficult to form words smoothly. The magenta stripes on his wrist vibrant in response to the deadly venom circulating through his system. "I am not upset or disgusted by you, Kagome. I am angry and appalled for you."
Though she didn't answer him, he felt the minute softening of her body into his. The slackening of taut muscles over her spine when she relaxed into him. Grabbing one of her hands in his own in a firm grip, he laced their fingers and held them up before her shielded features.
"Feel what I am feeling, kireina. Search and separate the emotional tangle of our mating bond and see that I am telling you the truth. That I hold no ill regard toward you in any way," Sesshoumaru demanded as his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared from the impotent wrath riding through him.
He no longer tried to hold back his reaction to what she had spoken of. Did not attempt to keep Kagome from witnessing how the rage he felt towards his uncle was a deep crimson river. Incendiary and hot as lava as it poured through his veins and circled in his stomach without an outlet.
When she started in surprise as she did what he told her to, Sesshoumaru did not hide the altered qualities of his physical appearance. The feral sharpness to his features. The deadly points of his fangs or the sparking vermillion and blue of his half-lidded eyes that searched her own disbelieving ones.
"Look at me, kireina. I am barely holding onto what little semblance of control I have left after hearing what happened to you." Clenching his jaw with enough force he was surprised it didn't crack, the dog demon nuzzled against his mate's face tenderly despite the severity of his expression. "I want to find my bastard uncle and kill him for what he has done. To retrieve Aion from the fiery pits of hell just so I can make him scream for hours in agony. Bathe in his blood as I tear him apart slowly with my bare hands just to resurrect him with Tensaiga and start all over again."
Kagome swallowed audibly as her lips parted wordlessly. Unable to utter a word to the inu youkai's vehement brutal words wreathed in violence.
Fingers clenching into a fist around the blanket that covered her, Sesshoumaru ground out with feeling, "I want to track Aion down, shred him with my claws and taste his blood between my fangs as they sink into his fucking throat." Eyes flaring wildly, the crimson in his eyes brightened as a shimmer overtook his face. As though preparing to shift to the Taiyoukai's true form. Placing his heated forehead to her own, he whispered brokenly, "And I want to take my own poison whip to myself for letting it happen to you. Allowing my pride and stupidity to blind me to how important you are to me. Placing you in danger so that Aion could get to you in the first place."
Clutching at her in a hold that was almost punishing, Sesshoumaru buried his face against her shoulder with the mate mark. Inhaling her scent deeply into his lungs in a bid for calm when the tattered thread holding his sanity together was beginning to unravel further.
"Kireina, I am so very sorry for everything. For my failure to tell you how I felt sooner. For not placing your wellbeing above my own foolish revenge in the twisted game my uncle and I played," Sesshoumaru was shocked to feel a hot line of moisture settle on the bottom lids of his eyes, but he pushed on anyway. The muscles of his body held so rigid that he was now trembling every so often just as she had in fear. Except his had everything to do with the storm of his own guilt and fury and nothing to do with fright. "It is my most fervent regret and shame that I placed the woman I love, the female who holds my heart and will bear my children, secondary to vengeance against a youkai who doesn't even matter."
She turned in his lap with a soft sound of protest. Sesshoumaru's grip loosening as he clenched his eyes shut and hung his head with a snarl painting his lips. Clutching his tortured features in gentle hands as she impatiently wiggled out of the blanket to kick it carelessly off the edge of the mattress. Straddling his lap without hesitation or a modicum of the modesty the miko had held moments before as she plastered herself against his chest. Neither of them feeling an ounce of sexual desire as they worked to soothe the other.
He felt the feathery caress of her lips brushing his marked wrinkled brow where his scowl lay. The tightly shut corners of his eyes that were damp. Each of his striped cheeks traced with her mouth until she at last pressed her own to his in a soft forgiving kiss.
Lungs compressed and heart aching, Sesshoumaru clutched at her like he was a drowning man and she the last few moments of air afforded him. His tail wrapping about her waist and his claws twining through the strands of her hair on the back of her head.
"I don't blame you for anything that happened, Sesshoumaru," Kagome whispered with a small exasperated sigh as she stroked the sides of his face lovingly. "Hell, I thought you would be grossed out about what I had dreamt. Not become enraged by what I told you."
Scoffing harshly, Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open to stare into his mate's with a glower. "Foolish woman, how could you ever believe for a second that I would find fault with you in any of this?"
Shrugging helplessly, she shook her head with a glower of her own. "I don't know, I just did. I can't help how I feel, you know, you arrogant Taiyoukai!"
With a feral growl, his vermillion eyes blazed into her own as he bit out, "I am not telling you how to feel, woman! I am conveying my own emotions on the matter clearly and concisely! I cannot help how you react to them."
Giving Sesshoumaru an affronted look, Kagome leant back to scowl at him, crossing her arms over her breasts as she settled against his thighs. After a few seconds, her lips began to twitch at the corners. His arched silver eyebrow at the way she was trying not to smile making her give in and start laughing while placing her palms against the tense slope of his shoulders.
Shaking her head, Kagome's lips curved in a wry grin as her laughter slowed to a chuckle. "Sesshoumaru, we are the only couple I know that could be upset at not being able to feel guilty more than the other. Do you realize how ridiculous we probably sound right now?"
Grimacing, he tilted his head to the side while stating flatly, "I do not see the same humor in the situation as you do, Kagome."
"Apparently," she said with a bemused grin. Rolling her blue-grey eyes before reaching up to grab the corners of his mouth with her fingers and push upward with a smirk. "See? Now you're smiling! This is the part where you start laughing," Kagome added in a stage whisper knowledgably. Careful not to prick herself on the sharp points of the fangs overlapping his bottom lip.
Sesshoumaru tried to hold onto his anger and self-recrimination. He really did. But just seeing his mate smiling again. Feeling her relief, forgiveness, and empathy transmitting through their bonds caused it to melt away. As he had said before, this wasn't about him. It was about her.
So if Kagome wanted to be playful and deal with it that way, he would gladly oblige her.
Schooling his features into icy indifference, he knew it would take a while for his eyes, claws, and fangs to go back to normal, but figured he could still give stoicism a try.
"Foolish woman, I do not laugh simply to please your random whims." Talking around the fingers she kept at his mouth, he arched a silver eyebrow at her pouting expression. "Perhaps if you were to actually say something funny. That would help immensely."
"Oh, you jerk!" Kagome cried indignantly. Pushing the corners of his mouth up further comically. Smirking, she said with a batting of her lashes coquettishly, "My what a handsome youkai I am mated to! Just look at that fetching smile. Deadly fangs and snarling lips! Stand back ladies, he's all mine."
Fighting to hold back a smirk of amusement at her antics, Sesshoumaru remained outwardly unaffected as the hot fury in his blood began to cool. His inner nature basking in the miko's attentions and gentle emotions flowing to him along the silvery tether binding them together.
"It is about time you realized how fortunate you are to have such a mate," Sesshoumaru said prosaically. Delighting in the way it made her ebony eyebrows fork down in a vee of displeasure. "There may be hope for you yet, kireina."
Look becoming sly, she let go of his mouth to place her fingers on his chin beneath his lower lip. The Taiyoukai she was seated upon giving her a mildly puzzled look as the curve of her lips turned mischievous.
Moving his mouth in time to the words she spoke, Kagome deepened her voice and said, "I have the most beautiful mate in the world! She is so even tempered and mild mannered. Graceful and elegant in all that she does. I am truly the most blessed man in existence to be granted such a treasure. There is not another woman in the world who can compare!"
Smirking despite himself, Sesshoumaru eyed her speculatively as he listened to what she was pretending to make him say. "I do not recall ever meeting this paragon of feminine virtue you speak of. Perhaps you would be so kind as to make an introduction? She sounds very appealing indeed."
Scoffing, Kagome rolled her eyes again before saying in the same timbre as she made him talk , "This Sesshoumaru is crazy about his mate and would never betray her by pretending to consort with every floozy that bats her lashes at him."
A short laugh burst from his chest as a true smile curved his lips. The dog demon playfully growling at her as he nipped at her hand. Kagome laughing as she leant back deftly while withdrawing her hand from biting range without any fear.
Shaking a finger in his face, she said sternly, "Behave, you stubborn dog demon. Don't make me tie your tail in a knot to prove a point."
Rolling his own eyes at her paltry threat, he scoffed at her openly. "We really must do something about your love of descriptive language and my person, kireina. It leaves much to be desired."
Preening with a proud grin, Kagome waved a hand airily. "You're just jealous you can't ever think of such witty remarks." Patting him on the top of his head she gave him a consoling look of sympathy. "Poor Sesshoumaru. Getting so old and unable to think of a good comeback. So sad."
Grabbing her about the waist as he unwound his tail, he rolled them a few times over the bed with a growl. The sound of her happy laughter making his own bruised heart ease as he reveled in her joy. Coming to a stop to loom over her with his hair all about them and his face close to her smiling one. Her hands on his biceps and legs tangled about his own.
"Ungrateful woman! So disrespectful to her perfect mate. It is a pity Mitsue did not drill proper manners into that beautiful head of yours." Nipping the tip of her nose playfully, he gave her a haughty look. "It is a good thing I deigned to bond with you. No other youkai would have been so brave."
"Oh yes, you're right, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said sarcastically with a grin that reached her eyes. "I should be thanking my lucky stars every single day that the Great Lord of the Western Lands is so self-sacrificing for the betterment of youkai everywhere."
Nodding sedately, he gave her a wicked look from his crimson eyes. "You are finally beginning to understand and appreciate the right of things, kireina."
Slapping his upper arm with a growl, Kagome nipped his collarbone in retribution for his words. "You arrogant Taiyoukai! Everyone knows it is I who gave up everything just so you wouldn't be a lonely old man!"
"Lonely old man indeed!" he growled back as he nipped her jaw carefully with his fangs. Mindful not to mar her alabaster skin as he played with her in a way that he never had or would with anyone else. "Foolish woman."
"Arrogant Taiyoukai," she quipped with a smirk. Her teeth briefly finding the side of his throat to give him her own love-bite.
Arching a silver eyebrow, Sesshoumaru returned the gesture. "Gullible girl."
She hissed out a breath between her teeth as the brief caress had arousal coursing through her system, the legs about his own tightening and her fingers digging into his shoulders.
Kagome gave him her best threatening glare as she bit his chin. "Stubborn dog demon."
"Seductive temptress." His own body readily responding to the enticing scent of Kagome's desire, he lowered his voice to a purr as he nuzzled her cheek before nipping her earlobe in a way he knew his mate loved.
The way her entire body tensed a moment as her heartbeat and respirations increased fueled his own carnal interest. The slide of her leg over his thigh, the way her foot traced a path over the back of his calf distracting him from their game for a moment.
"Handsome man," she said breathlessly as she trailed her hand over his ribs lightly downward to move her palm over his lower abdomen. Her lips curving knowingly as she gripped his hip with her leg and pushed upwards into him suggestively. Eyeing him innocently, she asked, "What's the matter, Sesshoumaru? You seem distracted."
Clenching his jaw, Sesshoumaru growled down at her before tracing his tongue down the side of her throat. Burying his face in a nuzzle against the valley between her breasts as he inhaled the tantalizing aroma of her desire.
"Wicked woman, you do drive me to distraction over most things." Holding his body rigid, he placed a kiss on the side of each breast before nuzzling his way back up again. Vermillion eyes smoldering as he placed a quick kiss on her parted lips. "Why should this be any different?"
He was pleased to see it took her a moment to form a coherent thought. After all, it was only fair considering he was having the same dilemma when it came to thinking clearly.
"How sexy you are. I love that I'm able to distract you." Undulating into him with a small moan, Kagome panted lightly as she stroked a line across his stomach from hipbone to hipbone. The back of her hand brushing against his erection in fleeting caresses that had his own breathing turn ragged. Licking her lips, she raised up to nuzzle her mate's throat. "Make love to me, Sesshoumaru. I need you. I need to feel you inside me. A part of me."
When she wrapped her hand around the stiff length of him, Sesshoumaru pushed into her grasp with a deep groan. His forehead finding hers as he panted lightly while staring deeply into her eyes.
"I will gladly make love to you, itoshi anata." Placing a tender kiss against her lips, he broke away from the caress to add gently, "But only if you truly believe that I do not blame you or think less of you for anything. You must promise me this. I will not have my mate erroneously thinking that I see her with anything other than love and the most fervent of affection."
Releasing him, Kagome grabbed the sides of his face as she looked up at him solemnly. "I do." Kissing him deeply, she added, "At first I was worried about what you might think of me. But not anymore. I can feel the truth of your emotions through our bonds. And am humbled by it."
Groaning, Sesshoumaru nuzzled her scarred palm and placed a kiss there while staring into her eyes with anguish twisting his features. Leaning into her hand he said raggedly, "Do not say such things, kireina. It is I who am humbled by the breadth of your forgiveness. By your ability to allow me into your heart when I am so unworthy to reside there. You break my own when I hear you talk this way."
Blinking back tears of emotion, Kagome brought his head down to kiss him passionately. Only moving apart when they both needed air. Tracing the lines of his stripes along his cheekbones, she gave him a watery smile from trembling lips.
"As I said, we make quite the pair." Swallowing thickly around the knot in her throat, she placed her free palm against his heart while keeping the other on his face. "How about we agree that we both love one another completely and that neither one of us is to blame for the actions of a sadistic asshole? It isn't our shame or responsibility to bear, Sesshoumaru, and I don't want Aion causing us further upheaval than he already has. He doesn't deserve it."
He knew she spoke the truth. That there was validity behind her words and the fierceness of her blue-grey eyes as she silently willed him to agree with her. Yes, he knew she would probably have further nightmares in regard to the other dog demon, and that during such times they might face a temporary setback.
Of her withdrawing emotionally or physically until she was comfortable again. Of him angry and bitter at himself for his own foolishness. But they would both heal over time. It wasn't something that would happen in one single night. The scars left from his uncle ran too deep. Were still healing in a number of ways from the freshness of the wounds. Yet someday they would both be able to live their lives freely without the shadow of Aion anywhere present.
For that, he could find all the patience and understanding in the world. The woman who held his heart, as he did hers, meant more to him and deserved nothing less.
"It will be as you say, itoshi anata," he agreed firmly before kissing her ardently.
Determined that he would hold himself to it. Adamant that if Aion hadn't perished under Kagome's miko energy onslaught that he would finish the deed with relish. No matter what the future, Sesshoumaru would do everything within his considerable power to make the life he had with Kagome nothing but warmth and happiness. Of love and contentment. Of peace and affection.
And Sesshoumaru rarely failed in anything he resolved to do.
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