It had been easier than she thought it would be, convincing her friends that they could trust Inuyasha. Because when he promised no more secrets, and when he promised to do everything he could to help, he committed.

Every question put forth to him, Inuyasha answered fully. He let himself be shouted at, threatened, and finally experimented on (Kagura promised to be gentle). When she and Kikyō suggested trying to make a yōki reservoir, Inuyasha gave them so much yōki that he nearly passed out before Kagome intervened.

Inuyasha was taking paying penance for his mistakes very seriously. Too seriously. Because one thing the many hours they spent talking (and Inuyasha spent answering Sango's interrogations) had made clear was that the moment he realized that his devices were dangerous, Inuyasha stopped. And that he would never open another portal if it meant the possibility of hurting someone, even if it meant that he would never return to the demon world, to his home.

But the specter of Onigumo hung over them.

Kagura and Kikyō had moved into Sango's place together. In part to protect the workshop, and in part to protect Kikyō (though she refused to acknowledge it). Sango had tried to convince Kagome how much fun crashing on her couch would be; Kagome had stayed only one night before realizing that she really really needed her own space.

She'd gotten out of plenty of jams, and Sango's forensic artist friend (a particularly fabulous artist named Jakotsu) had done an amazing job turning Inuyasha and Kagura's description of Onigumo into a real-life person (and damn did he look like Wormtongue). So, as she unlocked the door to her apartment and walked inside, she fingered the pepper spray that Sango had insisted she take, just in case.

For the first time, as Kagome looked around her apartment, she didn't feel safe. Sure, she'd had weirdos come to her door and her downstairs neighbor seemed to not take no for an answer, but inside her apartment was always her haven. Now, as she looked around, she saw all the places someone could hide, all the shadows that could be lurked in, all the ways someone could sneak through her door or window and take her as she slept.

It sent a shiver through her. She was alone in her house and there was a madman out there who was probably thinking of kidnapping her. But no. Kagome was fine. She was independent. She didn't need…

Kagome grasped the pepper spray harder in her hand and tiptoed into her bedroom. She checked her bathroom (nothing behind the curtains), then under the bed (nothing but shoes). Finally, she approached her bedroom window warily, moving her curtain just enough that she could see out, but someone could not see in.

When she opened her curtain a sliver, her breath stopped.

Someone was right outside her window, sitting, facing away from her. He had black hair. Long black hair. Straight long black hair. Hair that was familiar. And he was sitting almost… almost like he was guarding the window.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said, causing the man on the other side of the glass to flinch, then turn toward her sheepishly, his disguised eyes carrying a guilty twinkle. Kagome opened her window, summoning the human-disguised sentry in. "Were you planning on spending the entire night out there?"

"Keh." Inuyasha still was not looking at her, even as he gracefully slid through the small opening. "You're fucking stubborn and… well someone had to—"

"So you were going to sit on my fire escape all night just in case Wormtongue showed up?" Kagome lifted her eyebrow. "Yash…"

Kagome had barely known Inuyasha as Inuyasha for two days, and already, it was clear to her how special he was. He used words carefully, sparingly. Instead, he communicated volumes through his actions: through little things like opening doors and jumping up to help anyone, to the little touches he always seemed to be sharing with Kagome (her giving him permission to touch her had opened the floodgates, and the touch-starved demon had been glutting on touch...not that Kagome minded one bit). So, of course he would quietly sit outside her window all night long and watch for Onigumo, because that just was who Inuyasha was.

And even as they didn't say it out loud, there was something else there, beyond the delicious night of sex they'd had before she knew who he was, something special between them. Something Kagome sometimes thought she'd been searching for her entire life.

Inuyasha pressed his hand against his necklace and returned to normal. Kagome was still mesmerized by his demon form. The silver-hair on his head brought her a wave of warm nostalgia from the night ten years prior. And now that she had seen them, Kagome could not get enough of Inuyasha's ears, because he couldn't seem to train them not to give away how he was feeling; they were currently drooping.

"I… I don't want anything to happen to you. Not when—not when—this is all my fault," Inuyasha murmured, then plopped down on Kagome's bed.

"You were just trying to get home," Kagome joined him, bringing her hand up to rub one of his ears; he leaned into her touch. "And you didn't know that you were being used for something… worse. By your partner. And trust me, Sango would shoot first and ask questions later if Wormtongue showed up."

"But you aren't staying with Sango," Inuyasha grumbled. "You are all by yourself in an easy-to-access fucking apartment."

Kagome made to retort, but stopped. She'd been afraid when she walked into her apartment. Afraid that she was not safe there anymore. Afraid to be alone.

But she wasn't alone. Inuyasha had been there. Sitting on her fire escape to protect her. Because he knew to come and he came. Even as he'd tried not to impose his presence on her. (But, like all the other times, she found that not only did she not mind, she wanted to be with him.)

"You're right," Kagome said, leaning close enough to Inuyasha she could feel the heat of his breath. "I was scared. But…" She leaned in closer to him, "I'm not anymore."

She wanted to kiss him again. Desperately. She had been wanting to since the moment he'd laid it all bare for her. But she hadn't kissed him again, even as they seemed to be touching any instant they were in the same space. She waited, desperate for some sign that their night together wasn't a fluke. That he felt the same desperate draw to be with her that she felt toward him.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered, letting his hand ghost over her jaw, "I will always protect you."

As he spoke the last word, Inuyasha answered her unasked question, closing the last distance between their lips, completing the kiss that Kagome had wanted since Yash left her bedroom. His lips were soft and giving, moving in perfect congress with hers. His hands came behind her head and his claws combed through Kagome's hair, sending thrills of anticipation cascading through her. Inuyasha then moved to deepen their kiss, letting his tongue taste the seam of Kagome's lips, asking her for more, and she obliged him.

The enthusiasm with which Inuyasha kissed and touched and pulled her to him, Kagome understood. He'd been waiting too. Hoping too. That what they found that night he pretended he was a human would continue when she knew he was a demon.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, not willing to relinquish his lips, but needing at least to get his attention. "Do you… do you still want me?"

Inuyasha pulled away, his molten gold eyes now wide, searching her for any sign that her question was insincere. She hadn't been able to help it. He was the silver-haired man, the one she'd dreamt of for ten years. And she hadn't quite been able to shake the worry that he'd slept with her and come to her because he needed her, not because he wanted her. His looks and his touches and his being there for her that night made her nearly fully believe, but… she needed to hear him say the words.

"Fuck, Kagome," he whispered, his clawed fingers still stroking her cheek, "I didn't…" Inuyasha's ears drooped again. "I didn't realize I hadn't—" Kagome had learned just to wait, to let Inuyasha find his words, "made my intentions clear. I just… I didn't want to make assumptions. To push given what I did… and that I'm a—a…"

"Silver-haired man?" Kagome offered, trying to suppress the smile that Inuyasha had elicited from nothing more than the longing in his eyes. She leaned in and kissed Inuyasha again. When she pulled away, she let the smile light her face. "You did what you did out of desperation." She brought her fingers back up to Inuyasha's ear, massaging the base and relishing in the feel of the smooth satiny fur. "And I want to be with you, the way you are. I want to be with Inuyasha, not Yash."

Inuyasha's lips crashed against Kagome at her declaration, his tongue begging for entry once more. These kisses were hungry, desperate.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, even as he continued to kiss her. "Kagome. I'm so, so sorry."

"Forgive yourself," Kagome whispered back, peppering his jaw with kisses, "for me. Forgive yourself, Inuyasha."

As Inuyasha tried to turn his guilt into kisses, Kagome put her hands on both of Inuyasha's cheeks, and pushed him away. His eyes were wide again, and haunted.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha whimpered, but he did not avert his gaze.

"Do you ever ask if there was a reason that you came through that portal?" Kagome asked him; she'd been thinking about this a lot. "That maybe, you're here in New York, with me right now, for a reason?"

Inuyasha paused, but the haunt in his eyes softened until it was completely replaced with—dare she say?—love. Inuyasha brought his hands up to meet Kagome's, then turned his head and gently brushed his lips against each one of her palms.

"Yes."

Inuyasha leaned back in, and kissed her. Even as the joy and relief were still present, it had lost its edge of despair. As if finally, Kagome had asked the right question. And she couldn't help but smile into the kiss, because he'd given her the right answer. They met for a reason.

She needed Inuyasha. Not just to remake the memories of their first (absolutely fantastic, but ultimately problematic) night together, but because it had been taking up nearly all of her waking thoughts when he revealed that he was the silver-haired man (and the dreams, dear lord). The need spiked her heart rate every time Inuyasha's eyes lingered on her for that extra moment, or when he let his hand hover over the parts of her that he hesitated to touch after 'the reveal.' It heated her blood when his smile showed his fangs or his voice carried an extra growl.

Kagome let her fingers drift into Inuyasha's hair, relishing in the feeling of the silken strands caressing her skin. She sensed a pulse of his yōki undulate around her, finally releasing tendrils of her reiki to meet it. When the energies touched, a surge came through her of—of love. Kagome could feel Inuyasha's love for her through her reiki. A declaration down to her soul: that they were meant to be.

She was meant to meet Inuyasha. And Inuyasha was meant to meet her. And it was in finally letting their auras connect that she knew.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha stuttered, leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, burying his nose in her hair, "I… I want… I want…"

Kagome felt him tense, seemingly afraid to say the last word, afraid to so openly and outwardly express his desire, their shared desire. Because Kagome needed Inuyasha too. She needed his kisses and his touch; she needed to feel the soothe of his yōki caressing her. She needed to feel his skin on her skin and his weight pressing her into her mattress.

"Inuyasha," Kagome finally whimpered out, "me too."

It was enough. Inuyasha's earnest request and Kagome's unconditional acceptance. Inuyasha leaned back to look into Kagome's eyes one more time, as if he needed one final confirmation. At her smile, though, he leaned back in. And better, he let his hands free. They wandered her skin hungrily, sneaking underneath her shirt and just below the seam of her pants.

Well, there certainly are ways to fix the problem of too many clothes, Kagome grinned, not relinquishing the delicious taste of Inuyasha's tongue as it curled around hers. She began to tug at the hem of her shirt, and found she was quickly joined too by Inuyasha's enthusiastic hands. Next were her pants, which she unbuttoned and shimmied out of (also with the help of Inuyasha's enthusiastic hands). Soon, her hands were unzipping his hoodie and removing his t-shirt too, then unbuttoning and pulling off his pants.

Inuyasha was attractive as a human, but as himself, he was beautiful. It wasn't just the unearthly glow that radiated from his hair, or the subtle golden sheen of his skin, or even the way his amber eyes burned with some inexhaustible flame. It was the look in those eyes, of relief that he could be completely himself, that he would not be shooed away. It was the reverence with which those earnest eyes raked her body, and the way his fang pinched his bottom lip as he tried to keep composure.

She loved it. She loved—
But it was probably too soon to say such things out loud.

Kagome didn't speak; she simply gazed at Inuyasha. And as she did, she slid her hands behind her back and she unhooked her bra, letting the straps drop from her shoulders and the cups drop from her breasts. She smiled at Inuyasha's intake of breath, at the way he involuntarily licked his lips, and at the darkening of his golden eyes. Then, deliberately, she let her fingers hook through the loops of her underwear, sliding those off too.

Something seemingly snapped in Inuyasha's eyes, and he pulled her back to him, his mouth wild with want. But before Kagome let herself get too caught up in the moment, there was one last thing that needed to be taken care of.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered, then trailed her hand down his marble-cut abdominal muscles, to the elastic of his black boxer briefs.

It was strange, Kagome had seen Inuyasha's dick before, so the anticipation blooming in her chest should not be present. But tonight, it felt far more meaningful. Maybe it was because, as she slid his underwear and allowed his length to pop free, she could see that golden gleam that dusted even his most intimate skin. And maybe it was because the hair that crowned his erection was moonspun silver, instead of black. Special, beautiful, honest, as if Kagome was experiencing her first time with Inuyasha all over again.

"You—you're…" Inuyasha struggled to find words, though the twinkle in his eyes seemed to finish his sentence. "You're fucking beautiful, Kagome." As always though, Inuyasha's actions spoke louder than his words. He let his hands wander to Kagome's ass, and he pulled her into him, so his skin was flush with her skin. "I… I want to… I want to give you everything tonight." He gently kissed the soft skin of her ear as he whispered. "Can I? Can I… please you?"

Even as his voice was laden with desire, and the rough of his tongue was still sampling the skin of her ear, she couldn't help but giggle. Inuyasha had asked her the same question the last time they'd been together. When she thought of him as "Yash", as a good time, a one time. But this was Inuyasha, the man who'd come to her and shown her his true self, even at great risk. Who'd sat outside her window to make sure she was safe, and was prepared to sit his silent vigil there all night. The hesitation she'd felt with 'Yash' didn't exist with Inuyasha.

"Yes," Kagome said, letting the joy in her voice transmit to the beautiful demon whose ears wiggled when he was happy.

"Fuck, yes!" Inuyasha sounded almost like an excited schoolboy—almost—and nearly immediately leaned Kagome back on her bed, then he paused and looked into Kagome's eyes, hope laced with his enthusiasm. "Any place you don't want me to—uh—explore?"

"I trust you," Kagome answered, because she did; she wondered if he knew how wholly she meant it.

And when she caught the way that his eyes lit up, and the way his whole person seemed to smile, she knew that he had understood the entirety of her words. Inuyasha kissed Kagome's forehead, then gently, deliberately began to pepper kisses along her temple, then her cheek, then her jawline, then, finally, down her neck. They were light and teasing, eliciting little tingles as he went. Kagome whimpered at the contact, but let herself simply lay back and enjoy.

Soon Inuyasha's hands had joined his mouth, caressing Kagome's skin as he kissed his way across her body. Any time she looked up, she was always met with his eyes, studying, watching, learning. Soon though, Kagome realized that she needed to stop trying to look up, because Inuyasha was learning. Little by little, his lips and his hands found the places on her body that made her whimper and moan, that began stoking the fire burning in her core.

Then, Inuyasha used his teeth.

"Oh god!" Kagome couldn't help it; something about the sharp prick to her clavicle combined with the gentle pressure of Inuyasha's tongue was so exquisite that she could not hold back. The tremors of pleasure that had emanated from such a tiny space washed over her entire body, pooling so intensely in Kagome's center that it kickstarted the throbbing of want.

"You—you like that?" Inuyasha somehow sounded both sexy and adorable, his head popping up to double check he'd understood her.

"Y—yeah," Kagome breathed. And good god had she liked that.

Inuyasha dipped his head back down to continue his exploration, leading to an electric storm of sensation so intense that Kagome had a hard time containing herself. It was as if her body was made special to find joy in the way fangs felt—his fangs. Could that be possible? Because, if he kept going at that rate, Kagome was going to orgasm from nips alone.

"I'd like to…" Inuyasha's voice interrupted both his play, and Kagome's pleasure, "to… uh. Your breasts."

Kagome placed her hand gently on Inuyasha's face, then kissed his lips.

"Yes, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, combing her fingers through his hair, "to everything you want to do, yes."

She would tell him as many times as he needed to hear it that of course she wanted him to touch her there, and everywhere. She wanted to see his ears twitch when she accidentally squeaked due to some delectable little tweak to her skin. She wanted to see his golden eyes stalk her form. She wanted his fangs (his fangs) leaving little love bites up and down her flesh. And she definitely wanted him to feel unfettered joy as he explored her, because that was how she felt too.

Her demon protector, the silver-haired man. The man she was… destined to meet.

And thankfully, finally, Inuyasha let go of his reservations. He stuck his head directly between Kagome's breasts, letting his hands massage them both as he grinned into her breastbone. Kagome could hear Inuyasha's nose sniff as he went, could feel the rumbles from his body that he'd finally stopped trying to suppress. When Inuyasha finally dragged his fang against the sensitive tissue of her breast, Kagome grunted. It was a sensation so profound that it saturated Kagome's senses, leaving her helpless to move.

"You like that?" They were like night and day: Inuyasha's replies. As if he finally accepted that she wanted to sleep with him, all of him, and that the demonic features he possessed elevated it all.

"Yes," Kagome moaned, chancing a glance at Inuyasha's eyes, which now looked entirely like they were glowing with predatory glee at getting to consume his willing prey.

"Good." He grinned a fanged grin, and returned his mouth (and his teeth) to Kagome's breasts.

What followed was an explosion of color and light. Inuyasha was a man possessed, intent on finding every secret nook of Kagome that could potentially bring her pleasure. He flicked his tongue against her nipples, his fangs grazed the underside of her breasts, and all the while his hands ghosted across her stomach.

Every lick, every kiss, every touch further concentrated Kagome's need. She was aching with desire for him, and every moment that his hands and mouth were not between her legs was torture. She needed… more.

"Inu—Inuyasha?" Kagome whimpered, half-surprised she could still find her words. At his answering gaze, she continued, "can—can you… can you taste me?"

"Yes," Inuyasha panted, then crawled up and then nuzzled Kagome's neck. "I… can't wait."

Inuyasha slid back down Kagome, pausing briefly to kiss each of her breasts, but then he continued on his journey, slowly, deliberately, until his face was between her thighs. Inuyasha closed his eyes and took a deep inhale; his hands then clasped Kagome's knees, and he opened her wide.

"You smell so fuckin' delicious, Kagome," Inuyasha growled, his eyes sparkled with an edge of feral glee. "But I wanna check one more time. Before I…"

"Yes!" Kagome exasperated, laughing at the wild, yet polite, demon whose fangs had ignited an entirely new dimension of desire for her, as he hovered so close—so tantalizingly close—to where she desperately wanted him to taste.

Finally, Inuyasha took the plunge, and it was all Kagome could do to hold on for the ride. Inuyasha seemed to be touching her everywhere and nowhere all at once: his clawed fingers combed through the hair that adorned her groin, and teased at the lips of her yoni; his fang dragged feather-light against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, and his tongue—his tongue. It lapped at her, spreading the slippery arousal that she couldn't contain over the entirety of her throbbing, wanting, sex.

The moment Inuyasha's tongue found its way to her overripe clit, Kagome could not contain the cry that broke from her. She was so close, so high, and every moment he played with her she surged farther into the stratosphere, experiencing pleasure so intense it was nearly painful, coiling uncontrollably inside of her. She could barely catch her breath as Inuyasha lapped and licked, building pressure that threatened to break her while concentrating his motions on that small button of nerves.

Had she ever felt this good? Had it ever been this good? Had the cusp of orgasm ever felt so unhinged and wild? Because even as she knew what was happening—Inuyasha's tongue played with her clit, his teeth teased her skin, his fingers stroked and raked at the mouth of her sex—still she could only close her eyes and experience. Loud, jubilant, excruciating pleasure. Building higher, higher, higher. Pulling tighter, tighter, tighter. Throbbing deeper, deeper, deeper. Until…

Until…

A flash of light behind her eyes was all the warning she had. Kagome's body exploded, as the exquisite tension broke over her in a single tidal wave. Her muscles spasmed and she convulsed as the orgasm Inuyasha had stoked flowed to every nerve, from the top of her head to the tips of her fingers, to the bottom of her feet. Inuyasha had composed the symphony, and in return, Kagome's body sang.

As she regained her bearings, Kagome felt something warm and solid against her back; Inuyasha had crawled up behind her, his nose in her hair and his arms roped around her torso.

"Was… was it good?" Inuyasha whispered, tickling at Kagome's still sensitive nerves, seemingly satisfied to hold her.

But that wasn't what Kagome wanted. Not when she could feel his magnificent dick pressed against her lower back, solid and tempting.

She hadn't forgotten the reverence with which he looked at her the night they were together the first time, or how he'd rebounded after his untimely release and given her some of the best sex of her life. She had not forgotten the way that Inuyasha felt inside of her. She hadn't forgotten…

...that she was the only woman he'd been with in the last ten years.
Maybe longer.
Maybe… ever.

It threw water on Kagome's high. She… she had to know.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered, her hands finding their way to Inuyasha's. "Am… am I your first?"

The flinch in the muscled warm (and excited) body behind her told her everything she needed to know. Kagome rolled herself over to face Inuyasha, whose face was now red and his eyes worried. Kagome used her hand to comb Inuyasha's silver bangs out of his eyes, and she waited.

"I—yes," Inuyasha stuttered, but to his credit he didn't look away. "I'm sorry." His voice had become so small Kagome had barely heard him.

Inuyasha promised to always tell the truth, even now, when it embarrassed and worried him.

She leaned in to kiss him, tasting herself on his lips. He was a demon alone in an alien world terrified of what they would do to him if he was ever found out (that had crossed Kagome's mind too…), a demon who had not felt the touch of another human until the night Kagome took him home. A demon who… couldn't get home, maybe ever, and who was now giving everything to try to repent for poor decisions in associates. A demon with beautiful golden eyes and ethereal moonlit hair and… an enormous heart. A man truly deserving of being cherished.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, not letting Inuyasha break her gaze, "can… can I be your second too? Tonight? Right now?" At yet another look of surprised reverence that flashed across Inuyasha's face, Kagome chortled. "I like you like this. I want to be with you like this." Kagome kissed Inuyasha before he could say anything more, and reached for her night table. She opened the drawer and pulled out a condom. "Will you? Be with me?"

There was a new look in Inuyasha's eyes now: wonder. He crawled forward to capture Kagome's lips, his fingers laced through Kagome's hair. When he pulled back, Inuyasha nodded, seemingly having lost the capacity for words.

Kagome leaned her forehead against Inuyasha's, then brought her hand to his impressive dick. It twitched at the contact with her fingers, as she rolled the condom down his length. She let her hand linger, enjoying the way his body went limp against her and he groaned at her contact.

"You ready?" Kagome asked, her hand finding Inuyasha's.

"Y—yes," Inuyasha whispered, then lifted his head to look in Kagome's eyes.

The confused and shy look Kagome remembered so clearly from 'Yash' was back. But at least now she knew why: somehow, the gorgeous demon in front of her had not been with anyone before her.

"Here," Kagome said, and she took both of Inuyasha's hands, laying herself down on the bed then guiding him on top of her. "I want to look in your eyes while you… while you make love to me."

Kagome settled herself back onto the bed, legs open. Inuyasha had not let go of Kagome's hands, so she guided him exactly to where she wanted him. He settled over her, his flesh pressing flesh, his erection parting her lips, but not yet sheathed. The anticipation was setting her body alight, but it was Inuyasha's eyes that Kagome couldn't escape. She saw the nerves of his inexperience, his wonder at her willingly giving herself to him, the dark edge to his predatory desire, and longing. It was all there.

Inuyasha's eyes were all Kagome needed to see to know that he truly was about to make love to her.

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, ghosting his jaw with her hand then running her fingers through his hair. "Please."

Inuyasha smiled, and adjusted himself until the head of his cock pressed against the mouth of Kagome's sex. Finally, with a grunt, Inuyasha thrust forward, burying himself completely inside of her.

This Kagome remembered. The feeling utterly filled, stretched even, as if just by its presence, Inuyasha's dick could coax and stoke her pleasure. And as he started to move, the pulsations of tension began to break, gently at first, though building in intensity with every rock of his hips.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha's golden gaze had not broken from her, as if he were searching for the slightest sign of discomfort. Like he was worried that Kagome would suddenly realize that she was fucking a demon.

But Kagome knew that she was fucking a demon. Because she watched his luminous fur-lined ears twitch on congress with his motions. And she saw the way his fang pressed into his bottom lip as he concentrated on his movements, likely trying to restrain his own pleasure.

"You're beautiful." Kagome didn't know why in that moment, she just… she needed to say it to Inuyasha. Because it was true. Because she knew to her core that there was something different to being with him, beyond the fact that he was from another world.

"Kagome." Inuyasha's voice was strained, not with effort, but from emotion.

He let his clawed hand play with her hair, and swallowed heavily before he continued, even as he maintained the rhythm that was so effectively building her up toward her second orgasm of the night. But just before Kagome leaned up to give Inuyasha another kiss, she stopped. No man had ever looked at her the way Inuyasha was looking at her at that moment. As if she was the most precious thing in his world. As if he'd never been as happy as he was in that moment. As if she were the balm to the wounds inflicted on his soul by his decade of solitude.

She couldn't look away; she didn't want to look away. Not when her body was soaring from his invasion. Not when she could feel every one of his muscles flex as he fucked her into the bed. Not when… not when she saw the same look on her own face reflected in his golden eyes.

Was she really truly falling in love with him? Had it been preordained to happen since the moment they'd met in Central Park?

Because at that moment, surrounded by his warmth and desire, that was the only thing that Kagome could think about. Love.

She loved the way he snuck looks at her when he thought she wasn't looking.
She loved how he was shy and predatory at the same time.
She loved that he would never demand anything from her, but would give everything of himself to her.
She loved the honesty he came to her with, desperate to make things right.

She loved Inuyasha. And she was meant to be with Inuyasha.

It was too soon. Absurd even. Falling in love took longer than a few weeks (let alone a few days), but every time her brain tried to rebuff the feeling, her soul rebelled. Repeating for her over and over the image of him running away from her in Central Park, scared and alone.

Not alone anymore.
Inuyasha was not alone anymore.
Because Inuyasha had her.

It brought an unfettered glee to her heart, and all she could do was watch the way Inuyasha's emotions danced in his luminous eyes as they made love: letting the pleasure build, letting her joy build, for having found this wondrous and beautiful demon, as much as he'd found her.

So she laid back and matched his thrusts, giggling and grunting and moaning along with him. Concentrating on the coiled tension inside of her, and how if she bent her hips just so, she could accelerate her rise. Inuyasha caught on quickly, repositioning one of her legs over his shoulder, and he plunged his magnificent cock deeper inside of her.

It wouldn't be long now. Not when he looked at her like that, or fucked her like that, or looked like that. Not when love was on the table and for the first time, it didn't scare Kagome. So, she let herself rise, and let herself moan his name, and finally, finally, as she stood once again at the edge of the precipice, she let a spindle of her reiki out to grasp onto his yōki, just enough so their auras were connected as they braced together, ready to take the plunge.

Almost there. Almost…
Then suddenly, just as Inuyasha's own thrusts grew animated and uneven, she burst again. Losing herself over to the vibrative spasms of her second orgasm of the night, only barely aware that Inuyasha was cumming with her, stroke for stroke and spasm for spasm.

"Kagome… Kagome…"
Had her name ever sounded so beautiful before?

"Inuyasha…" Kagome answered, her heart swelling for the beautiful and lonely demon who'd now collapsed on top of her.

The demon who had intended to quietly guard her unseen from her balcony.
The demon that she loved.
The demon she had been waiting for… since…

"I… think I wrote Demons Among Us! to find you." The words had escaped her before she could stop them, even before she could fully process them. "Ten years. I needed to find you so badly that I published a book, because… I just… hoped that you were real."

"Kagome…" Inuyasha inhaled; he had buried his nose in her hair once again. "Fuck, Kagome."

Before she could reassure him, say anything, confess anything more, she heard him whimper, then sniffle. And even without looking in his eyes, she knew that they were laden with tears.

"There's only one thing I haven't told you," Inuyasha whispered, his breathing rapid; he was scared of whatever it was he needed to tell her. It shot Kagome's eyes open. "I—I'm not a full demon. I'm… I'm only half."

The shame that laced Inuyasha's voice was worse than it had been when he was admitting that he had disguised himself as human and set off portal devices, as if being a half-demon was somehow more shameful than disguising himself.

But, that didn't make sense. Demons were in the demon realm and humans were in the human realm; that was one of the foundations of the dual-world theory. It would mean that…

"Inuyasha?" Kagome didn't want to interrupt; she needed Inuyasha to continue.

"My mom is human," Inuyasha admitted. It sent Kagome's mind into overdrive. His mother was human? He was half-demon? How was that possible? Had his mother been forced through a portal? But even as she wanted to open her mouth, her heart told her not to. "She came through a portal to our side, nearly landed on my dad. Because…" Inuyasha paused, then swallowed. "Because she was supposed to meet him. She'd had a shit life on your side, and meeting my dad was… she says that her soul just sorta knew."

Inuyasha sighed, burying his nose even deeper in Kagome's hair; it occurred to her that he was doing it to soothe himself.

"Do you think—" Kagome asked, but she stopped herself.

"Yeah." Inuyasha said, and Kagome felt him tremble as he said it, as if he too was afraid to finish the thought. "Ten years…"

Ten years of loneliness and longing, and now demons threatening the world and a madman on the loose, to fulfill that destiny and finally meet. And without saying another word, Kagome understood. It was her destiny to meet Inuyasha: her destiny to love Inuyasha. It just took ten extra years to get there.

It was equal parts devastating and illuminating.

"Her soul sorta knew huh?" Kagome asked, letting the realization flow through her. "I… think I can relate to that."