Once Upon a Time Chapter 5: Takes a Licking, Keeps on Ticking by Aisuru aisuru_chan@yahoo.com

Author's Notes: I would love to thank Aurelia Lothlorien for putting that dreadful spork away. Getting poked by a spork is almost as bad as being pinched by chopsticks! Oh, no, I've just given reviewers an idea, haven't I?

Actually, I am feeling great elation right now. I only posted Chapter 4 maybe six hours ago, and I already have over 20 reviews for that chapter! I have never had so many loyal readers before! Most people wanted me to get on with Inuyasha's reassuring Kagome, so I'll just have to see what I can do! (You can get a lot of sexual tension in a story without character nakedness. Has anyone read my Sailor Moon story, "It's In His Kiss"? Of course, Kagome has already been naked in this story, hasn't she?)

Well, the last chapter ended with Kagome sitting on Inuyasha's lap, her naked under his red fire-rat fur kimono jacket, his fangs holding onto the back of her neck, while she continued telling the story of Snow White. Talk about a feat of concentration!

***

Inuyasha felt Kagome stiffen once again, and he set to work at making her relax. He didn't respond to Shippou's words at all! No fits of embarrassed fury, no justifying his actions or explaining how he owed Kikyou something because he was supposed to have died with her -- nothing. His lack of response was more unsettling to the members of the shard- hunting party than if he had attacked Shippou! Instead, all of Inuyasha's attention was focused on Kagome, a definite sign that he was not in his usual frame of mind.

Kagome, of course, had reacted to Shippou's not-so-veiled reminder of Kikyou, the reanimated clay-and-bone form of her preincarnation, powered with a slip of Kagome's own soul and the stolen souls of deceased girls. Inuyasha had chosen Kikyou over her time and time again, and quite frankly the reminder physically hurt.

According to Inuyasha's view at the moment, the only things worth considering were within this cave, and the only thing worthy of his mindfulness was the living human girl from the future that he had trapped within his arms, and she was upset without reason. Removing his teeth from her neck but keeping one arm tight around Kagome's chest, still pinning her arms to her sides, Inuyasha used his other arm to grasp her inner thigh just below the hem of the red fire-rat fur kimono jacket. Kagome's attention was pulled away from Kikyou thoughts as he used this hand-hold to lift Kagome and settle her body back into his own, her rear-end pressing against his pelvis. He unfolded his legs, stretching them under her own bent legs, before trapping her ankles under his. At the end of his adjustments, Kagome was sitting on Inuyasha's lap, his legs wound around hers, his hand still nestled on the curve of her inner thigh, holding her in place.

Thus situated, Inuyasha reintroduced his fangs to Kagome's neck, holding her in place as he removed the arm that had pinning her arms to her sides and ran his clawed fingers through her hair, which still hung over her face. The locks were dry at the ends, but still a bit damp at the roots. He swept her hair back out of her face, stroking it as if he were petting a cat, and released his teeth from her neck once again to sniff at the locks. Soon he would be able to leave the circle of heat by the fire and warm Kagome in his own way.

Inuyasha was making the only sounds in the cave if one ignored the storm outside and the crackling of the fire. *sniff* contented growl *sniff* suspicious slurping sound as he gave her neck another lick *sniff*

"Prince Charming kissed Snow White and she woke up," Kagome blurted out, her voice shaky and a little too loud, echoing off the walls of the cave. There was a surprised silence, during which Inuyasha nuzzled Kagome's neck a little more aggressively, since she still seemed tense. She needed a lot of reassurances. contented growl *sniff* suspicious slurping sound as he gave her neck another lick

The sounds, muted to the humans, screamed to the two youkai, who unfortunately could also see what was going on quite plainly. Kouga was as happy to break up the sound with speech as Kagome had been. He cleared his throat. "So," he began, "the prince's name was Charming?"

"Who cares about that?" Sango wanted to know. "He kissed a corpse and she reanimated! Was he a sorcerer, Kagome?"

"Could she still bare children?" Miroku wanted to know.

Kagome was happy to focus on their questions rather than the strange feelings Inuyasha's ministrations were starting to cause in her. "Well, yes, his name was Prince Charming in the story, but that isn't a real name in my time. I think it was made up for the story. And no, he wasn't a sorcerer. He was just able to break the spell with true love's first kiss."

*sniff* contented growl *sniff* suspicious slurping sound as he gave her neck another lick *sniff*

"True love?" Sango asked. "But he hadn't even spoken to her! All he did was see her, lying in a coffin, and he fell in love with her?"

There was a shuffling of fabric as Miroku, who had his singed outer robe on again, scooted towards Sango. "Sometimes that is all it takes," he said. Kagome heard a slap, and Miroku yelped.

*sniff* contented growl *sniff* suspicious slurping sound as he gave her neck another lick *sniff*

"Um, Miroku, what was your question again?" Kagome asked. "Oh, wait, I remember. Well, the story never says specifically that they have children, but it does say that they live happily ever after, so most likely they did."

*sniff* contented growl *sniff* suspicious slurping sound as he gave her neck another lick *sniff*

Kagome shuddered despite herself. Very hesitantly, Kagome took advantage of Inuyasha's distraction and moved her arms from her sides, where they had been pinned for some time. When he continued running his fingers through her hair and nuzzling against her, she grew bolder and attempted to pull the hem of her garment a little lower on her legs. She squirmed a little, trying to free some of the fabric that had ridden up when Inuyasha adjusted their positions.

In response to her wiggling, Inuyasha clutched at her thigh in a convulsive movement before pulling her much tighter against his lap, again in an attempt to reassure her of their relationship to each other. Kagome couldn't prevent the gasp that escaped her when she felt *something* there that she hadn't noticed before. His hand had slipped even higher up her leg, and his fingers varied their pressure in teasing patterns. She squeezed her eyes shut.

On the other side of the fire, Kouga also closed his eyes. Enough was enough! He knew he had to make a choice: steal Kagome back from Inuyasha before the dog-face claimed her fully as his mate, or leave before the smell of sexual tension drove him crazy. His hand throbbed in pain.

Kouga left the cave. Kagome never noticed.



***

Author's Notes: I hope none of you are mad about Inuyasha's total disregard for Shippou's comments. I know, I set it up like it was going to be a really big thing, but it would seem sort of out of character (for my inu- youkai) if he all of a sudden started paying attention to the other people in the group. So far he has only reacted to things Kagome has done/said and to comments/actions of others that directly threaten his relationship with Kagome. When Shippou said his comments, Inuyasha had his arms and lap full of sweet-smelling Kagome. Why should he let a weak little kitsune- youkai distract him from that? (Think about it; if you have Inuyasha in your grasp and you are petting his fuzzy little ears, will you even notice Shippou? Yeah, I didn't think so. Now, if he turned into a pink bubble and started gnawing on your head, that might be an entirely different story.)

Have any of you wondered about this: Why did Inuyasha lose control of his youkai blood? The flea had described this transformation to a crazed inu- youkai as a survival mechanism that only kicked when Inuyasha was threatened and helpless! True, Inuyasha wasn't holding his sword, which bound up his youkai blood, but did this situation that required survival mechanisms? He wasn't injured (unless wounded pride counted, as she had refused to take off Miroku's jacket). He wasn't under attack (unless you counted the extensive verbal battle he had been engaged in with Kouga and the little punch Kouga had thrown in his direction). So why would he feel threatened?