A/N are in my profile

I wrapped my arms around her slight figure. It's a pleasure I rarely allowed myself. There's too much between us, and too many people who would delight in knowing that she's my weakness.

"Inuyasha?" Her melodious voice reached my ears. I felt my left ear twitch slightly towards the sound of her voice. My right ear was still listening carefully to where Sango and Miroku were silently retrieving their weapons and giving us some time alone. I'll have to remember to thank them later.

I didn't answer her, and I felt her sigh and lean against me a little more. Now, our bodies touched most of the way and I was so aware of her form. She acted like a child, but in our time, she was old enough to be bedded. Her hips had a slight flare now as I could feel with my right arm. With a little pressure from my left arm, I could feel her breasts push against my chest.

I breathed in deeply, smelling the scent that was always and only Kagome. She bathed more than any woman in this time. Which was both a blessing and a curse. She never smelled dirty or sweaty, so her scent was easier on my nose. But, she also always had so many more smells than just her. I've learned to sort them out, and now I can pick out her scent underneath the cleaners of her time. Her scent that fluctuated with the time of the month, or with her emotions. This was the smell that I dreamed of at night. And, when she was in her own time, the smell I missed and longed for.

"Inuyasha?" She asked again. Her voice was both sharper and weaker. I could tell by her scent that she was fighting giving in to being here with me. I never can tell if she's acting on instinct or if she really cares for me. I could tell by her voice that she was thinking of panicking. Any time now she will try to pull away.

There. She tried to pull away. I press her tighter to my body. She has no idea how much I worry about her. From the moment I first saw her, when I opened my eyes against the spell that bound me to the tree, I worried about her. Yeah, ok, first it was because she was Kikyou. But, then, it was because she is Kagome. She is softer than any flower, and more fragile than a spider web. She found her way into my heart, and I am always afraid that she will leave and take it with her.

"Just one more moment," I whisper, so she can barely hear it. I can feel her body tremble when I talk, and for a moment I wonder what it must be like. I remembered leaning on my mother's chest when she told me stories. I could hear her talking, but I could also feel the way her body vibrated with her words. I wonder if Kagome can feel that when I talk and she's so close to me.

"Inuyasha," she said, calmly now, and I knew she was going to present me with something logical, some reason why I should let her go even though every thought in my mind, body and soul told me I needed to hold on to her. "Inuyasha, you are still bleeding," she continued calmly. "If you let me go, I'll go get some bandages so we can stop the bleeding."

"Feh," I said, and sighed. I released her, and instantly regretted that I didn't have her warmth any more. "It takes more than being impaled to hurt me." But, I knew that I was hurt. Now that I'm not holding her warmth to me, I could feel the blood cooling on the front of my jacket. I was aware of the trickle of blood running down my stomach and my back. And, I realized that I was whistling. But, it wasn't through my mouth, it was my lung. I looked up at Kagome, who suddenly realized the same thing. I could see her eyes get huge, and her skin go pale.

"You're hurt worse than I thought. I think the sword punctured your lung," Kagome started talking fast. She was scared and nervous, and everything about her scent and sound made that obvious. "Will you lay down here, Inuyasha? Don't move around much until I can bandage you up." She was near panic.

I grabbed her arm before I let her go get bandages. I used my other hand to force her face away from my wound to look at me. "Kagome, if I am this hurt, can you imagine what would have happened to you if I hadn't taken the hit?" In my mind, I could see the sword that ran through my gut and out my back going through her heart. I've got too vivid of an imagination, because as soon as the sword was pulled away, a fountain of blood followed it out and Kagome hit the ground. I shook my head to erase the image and spoke again. "You have to be more careful, Kagome. I need you with me." My voice was barely above a whisper, but that could be because I was only getting half my air.

I let her go and sat down on the blood soaked ground. She turned away from me and ran to go grab her huge bag. I was aware of Shippou coming up behind me. "Better watch it, Inuyasha." He said, quietly, sitting down next to me. "You keep that up, and she'll figure out that you like her."

"Feh," was all I could manage. I was too drained to even try to hit the runt. I lay back down on the ground to await my Kagome's return. "You don't know nothing, runt," I whispered and closed my eyes. Soon, this would all be over and she won't have to figure anything out, cause I could tell her. Although, I'm not sure exactly what I'm telling her. It doesn't matter though, cause she's my Kagome. Now and always.