Warning: This chapter contains graphic depictions of sexual situations. Please do not read if you are under 18, or if such content is offensive to you.

Further warning: I am crap when it comes to writing smut, so I apologize if this ruins the mood of the story.

It took a few days for Kagome to recover from the shock she experienced at the Taisho house, but she did recover. It felt good to have at least one misunderstanding solved. To know that she had that many more people to believe and support her, even if she felt bad having to be the one who revealed that ugly truth about Kikyo to her mother.

Kagome returned to her part-time job with Sesshomaru the following Monday, and life continued in a pleasant monotony. To be perfectly honest, Kagome loved how "boring" everyday life was. She loved working and keeping her mind busy, and she loved that Sesshomaru was almost never more than a few feet away from her. Some people might consider that to be suffocating behavior, but after years of neglect and abandonment, Kagome almost relished the stifling attention. She loved coming home to a bouncy, angelically mischievous little girl, who called her "Mother". Most of all, Kagome loved that every night she slept, nightmare free, in Sesshomaru's room, surrounded by Him. Protected. Loved.

The weeks passed, and Kagome started to feel more and more that she BELONGED. The roomy penthouse felt like HER'S. This life felt like HER'S. Curled up at the head of Sesshomaru's bed, after having tucked Rin into bed, waiting for Sesshomaru to come back out of his closet, she spoke up.

"Sessh." She called over to him, using the nickname that she knew he hated but feeling too lazy to say his full name.

He sighed in mild playful annoyance as he stepped out of his closet, wearing his fuzzy blue pajama pants and nothing else. "Yes?"

"How long have I been here?"

He arched one regal brow at her. "You haven't been keeping track?"

She scowled at him briefly. "I was a little preoccupied the first couple weeks, and I didn't bother keeping track. I guess I didn't expect this to last as long as it has."

Sesshomaru's face softened. "I found you on March 31st. It's June 8th today. You slept for several days, then spent two more weeks recovering before you came here. You've been here for about 7 weeks I believe. A little under 2 months. Why do you ask?"

"Only two months..." Kagoma fell silent a moment.

"Longer than you thought?"

"Actually it's been shorter than I thought." She looked up and met her Mate's eyes. "It feels like I've known you and Rin for years already."

"Is... that a good thing?"

A lazy smile graced her features. "Yeah. It is."

Sesshomaru climbed onto his side of the bed pulling Kagome under the sheets with him. Kagome giggled and nestled herself into him, then looked up into his eyes "It's a very good thing." Sesshomaru nuzzled his nose against her in a sweet little Eskimo kiss before reaching over and turning out the lights. "I feel comfortable here Sesshomaru. Like I belong. You know?"

Sesshomaru nodded. "That's because we're your family. You do belong here."

As Kagome's eyes adjusted to the lack of light in the room, her hands found Sesshomaru's face and she kissed his lips. Pulling away she replied "I'm so glad you found me so that I could have this life with you and Rin. I know there is still a long road in front of us, but as long as I have you with me, I know I can handle it. I know I'm not alone anymore. You have no idea how much that means to me."

Sesshomaru rolled so his body was hovering over hers, and he bent down so their noses were touching again. "You think I don't know what it feels like to be alone?" His tone suddenly turned sad. "I spent over 1,000 years waiting for you." he said "Wandering the earth. Hiding my true self from humans. Do you know how long it has been since I was last in my true Inu form? My father grew distant after my mother died. I wouldn't see him for hundreds of years at a time. It wasn't until he met Izayoi that he finally began to come back to himself. Only then did I finally see him again. No one is meant to be alone, neither human nor demon. I think I can more than understand the relief of finally having someone to spend my life with after all of these years."

Kagome's eyes grew soft and her heart ached for the years of loneliness this man had endured. No wonder he had looked so hurt when she first met him. Her hands reached back up to his cheeks, caressing the smooth skin there. "I'm sorry if I was insensitive."

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "It's alright. You couldn't have known."

"But I should have asked," She said as she slid her hands further up to loop around his neck, keeping him there. "I've been so focused on myself. I didn't even think to ask about you."

Sesshomaru shook his head. "I don't blame you. What you went through is a lot for anybody to have to deal with. It would be selfish of me to begrudge your much-needed healing period." He nuzzled her forehead. "Now hush." he murmured with a slight smirk "You're spoiling the mood." then he dipped his head down to nuzzle the side of her neck, just under her ear.

Kagome sighed, then squeaked when he began kissing down her neck to her shoulder. "What mood?" She laughed a little. "You're the one who got all dark and angsty on me."

Sesshomaru lifted his head and kissed her deeply, nipping at her bottom lip and demanding her submission with his mouth. She responded eagerly, welcoming him into her mouth, and inviting his advance. When he finally pulled away, he replied; "This mood..." He whispered huskily before he went back to her mouth.

Kagome smiled into his kiss and chuckled a bit at her mate. "Well fine then." She mumbled. Closing her eyes, she surrendered to his strength. She was safe with this man. She slowly slid her hands up the back of his neck, and then proceded to run them through the silky softness of his hair. When he didn't object or stop her, she continued her exploration of him with her hands, as he moved and continued his exploration with his mouth. Her hands found his shoulders and ran down the muscles in his arms before they came back up and ran over the hard rippling planes of his chest and back. His body felt like strength and power. His mouth continued to explore her shoulder and down her collarbone, one of his hands deftly opening moving aside her button up nightshirt to grant him further access to his mate's body.

Kagome didn't even think when she opened her thighs to bring his body closer to her's, her skin flushed pink and heat spreading through her veins. All she knew was that she needed to feel more of him, and he was obviously more than willing to comply. His body lowered between her legs, his mouth finally finding one of her breasts, kissing the underside, and then her nipple and then moving to pay the same attention to the other. Kagome gasped, and her body arched up off of the bed, pushing her body flush against his own, bringing her now aching core to press against the hard muscles of his abdomen.

When his mouth traveled even farther down her body, kissing his way down her belly, Kagome let her head fall back against the pillows, her fingers threading themselves into his hair. "Please" She gasped, not even knowing what it was she was asking for. She arched her body again, rubbing herself against him, chasing a release that she didn't even know how to find in the first place.

His mouth came to the waistband of her cute little boyshorts underwear... and he stopped. He pressed his forehead against her lower belly, and he shut his eyes tight, forcing his beast, which was now roaring with sexual need, back down, and breathing hard.

Kagome propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at him. "Why'd you stop?" She asked breathlessly.

Sesshomaru continued to try and real in his breathing, and the drive and the instinct to mate, taking several more minutes before he answered. "If we go any further tonight, I'll mate and mark you."

Kagome gave a nervous laugh. "Is... Is that bad?"

"No." he looked back up at her with a gentle smile. "No, it's not, but this is neither the time nor place and Rin is just down the hall. I want... I need us to do this right." He said, crawling back up to hold her now that he was sure he had himself under control.

his words dumped a big 'ol bucket of ice water all over her mood. Kagome blushed, then frowned and lightly smacked his arm. "You may be right, but you started this mister!"

Sesshomaru smirked into her hair as they settled back into their normal spooning position to try and get some sleep.

"Your an ass. Good luck falling asleep." Kagome quipped, pushing herself back against his erection, just to prove her point, before deliberately closing her eyes and pretending to fall asleep.

Sesshomaru silently admitted to himself that he did, in fact, put himself in this position, and he would now have to deal with it. He desperately needed a cold shower, but he also really didn't want to get out of bed. "Are you mad?"

Kagome relaxed her tense muscles and heaved an exasperated sigh. "No. I'm not mad. Just frustrated."

"Sorry. I hadn't planned to take it quite so far."

Kagome smiled. "At least there's no doubts about us desiring one another."

Sesshomaru smirked once again. "That was never a concern for me, little mate. I wanted you before I even met you."

AN: I've never really actually written anything past a kiss into any story that I've published before. Please let me know if I should have just left it out or not. I apologize if it sucked. This chapter was pretty much just filler. I'll try and get more content on here soon, so please be patient with me.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story so far, I've really enjoyed writing it.

~Cassie