Another's Name, But My Heart
By Lady of the Ink
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but you knew that. I hope. But I do own this plot and all the twists that it takes.
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Chapter Four
And Then He Kissed Mex
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Inuyasha stared in stunned disbelief at the unconscious girl draped over his arm. Married not more than thirty seconds, and she had passed out. Why did he have the sinking feeling that this was a bad sign?
When he looked up, he noticed that the old woman with the eye patch had made her way past his men. She waited with an uncertain expression on her face, as though not sure she had enough bravery to do what she was about to do.
Not in the mood to play a waiting game, Inuyasha growled, "What?"
The old woman jumped a little, but quickly collected herself. "I'll take her so that you can get on with your business . . ." She trailed off at the appraising look he shot her.
"And who are you?"
"I am Lady Kaede, Lady Kikyo's aunt."
Arching an eyebrow, Inuyasha glanced quickly between the girl over his arm and Kaede. "There isn't much of a family resemblance, is there?" Watching her as closely as he was, he would almost swear that she flinched when he said that.
"My niece should be put to bed as soon as possible. If you will?"
Inuyasha's mind raced. As much as he wanted to be rid of the girl, he couldn't allow the weakness that obeying the crone's subtle order would imply. That left only one option. Motioning to one of his men, Inuyasha then turned back to Kaede as his subordinate disappeared out the door. Smirking, he finally responded. "Lead on."
A distressed look crossed her face at that. "But you can't mean to . . ."
"Oh, but I can. She's my wife, after all. It just wouldn't seem right to abandon her so soon after the ceremony. So, will you lead, or shall I?"
Giving a sigh of resignation, Kaede started down the aisle with Inuyasha close behind her. As they neared the door, he called out loudly to the gaping villagers. "You can all go home now. Nothing more to see here today."
The walk to the castle was slow enough to cause him to grind his teeth. It seemed to take forever just to reach the castle, and twice that long to make it up the stairs to the floor with the bedchambers. When they reached the door to what he assumed was Kikyo's room, he knew that her aunt expected him to drop the girl and leave. He, however, had other plans.
"You can go."
Her jaw dropped open at his stern announcement. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
Turning his back deliberately, Inuyasha crossed to the bed. Balancing his new wife's slight weight with one arm, he pulled back the thick coverlet with the other. As he slid her into the bed, he heard slow, scraping steps as Kaede reluctantly obeyed him. She left the door open behind her, a circumstance that he quickly remedied. He could almost picture the look on her face when she heard the sound of the lock being clicked.
Crossing to the window, he watched with satisfaction as the man that he had sent off at the church returned, leading the rest of his men through the gates. If they followed his orders, and they would, there would soon be a demon patrolling and memorizing every rock, tree, and house in the village. The townspeople would have to get used to it, and Inuyasha was of the mind that there was no time like the present for accomplishing things.
A soft sigh caught his attention as Kikyo moved in her sleep. Giving in to his curiosity now that no one was around to see, he took a seat on the side of bed. He looked at his bride, her veil still obscuring the features of her face. With just the tips of his fingers, he peeled it away to reveal what lay beneath.
His first thought was that she was younger than he had expected. Her features had a softness about them that spoke of youth and innocence. Inky black bangs lined her forehead, making the skin beneath seem even paler. Her eyelashes were dark fans resting under her eyes. The only other color on her face came from her lips with their rosy hue.
As he looked at her, she seemed to feel his perusal. A frown flashed across her features and she turned her head, snuggling more deeply into her pillow. After a moment, her expression smoothed, and her breathing slowed even more than before.
Knowing that she was in a deep sleep, Inuyasha took the free moment to reflect on the morning's events. Although there had been more problems than he had been expecting, none of them had proved insurmountable. And now, just before noon, everything seemed to be successfully resolved. He sighed, feeling almost disappointed that things had been accomplished so easily. He could have used a good battle to settle himself down. After all, the possibility of fighting had been the one thing he had been looking forward to in this whole mess.
Raking a hand through his long hair, Inuyasha rose from the bedside and paced almost angrily across the floor. His mind was going over all the things that had combined to bring about that day.
Although this village lay directly on the boundary to the Western Lands, no demons had ever settled or even traveled through it openly. It had long been rumored that the ruling family had a history of strong powers, perhaps even great enough to defeat the ruling Lord of the Western Lands. Whatever the reasons were, the humans kept to their side, and the demons did the same.
Until now. Inuyasha had always known that his brother would follow his father as the next Lord. He had also known that his brother wasn't overly fond of him. When he was younger, neither of these things had bothered him overmuch. But now that he was older, Inuyasha found himself chafing under that knowledge. Fights with his brother had become more frequent and more violent. Finally, his father had been forced to set down an ultimatum.
"Either act in a way that proves to me that you can handle life here when your brother takes over these lands, or find lands of your own." And that simple sentence had begun it all. This village, being as close and minutely populated as it was, had seemed the perfect location. Little had he known all the strings that would come attached.
Not that he was complaining, really. It could have been worse. He could have had to marry Kaede instead of Kikyo. Just thinking about that made him shudder. Yes, it could have been worse.
Again he found himself drawn to the girl in the bed. There was something about her, something in her face, in her scent, that called to him. It was the hint of something greater; something he couldn't clearly make out but knew was there. He found himself quite curious as to what it was. It came to him that since she was his wife, he would have a long time to find out.
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Kagome sighed, shifting deeper into the warm softness that seemed to encompass her from head to toe. Her mind was slightly fuzzy as she drifted in that space between sleeping and awareness. Some subtle voice kept whispering to her to wake up, that there was something she had to remember, but she ignored it as best she could, content for the moment to linger where she was.
There was the vague sense of time passing. Though her location hadn't seemed to change, Kagome no longer felt the same peace she had before. Some niggling worry was coming closer to the surface, and she could no longer disregard it. Groaning quietly, she forced her tired eyes open, accepting defeat.
The first thing she saw was a pair of golden eyes staring back at her from just inches away. Stifling a scream, she jerked upright, throwing herself backward to put some distance between herself and those eyes. Her back hit something hard, and she focused enough on her surroundings to realize she was in a bed, now propped against the headboard. Sitting by her side was a silver haired young man with strange ears that sat perched on the top of his head.
That one instant of shock was enough to send everything that had happened crashing back into her mind. Meeting Kikyo, the outrageous plan, the threat against her family, the walk to the church, repeating her vows, a feeling of heaviness invading her limbs . . .
Her brain ground to a stop, one thought remaining clear. The man beside her was Inuyasha, and he was her husband.
No, she corrected herself; he was Kikyo's husband. But not really that either. Feeling a headache coming on, she dropped her gaze to her hands, folded tightly around each other in her lap. She knew that she needed to clear her head so that she didn't say the wrong thing. But how was she supposed to do that when her demon not-quite-husband was staring at her with an intensity usually reserved for warriors and their prisoners?
Before she could dwell too long on that thought, the source of her uneasiness spoke. "Are you feeling better now?" His tone was serious, but not unkind.
She nodded. Summoning her courage, she managed a quick look at his face. Or it was supposed to be a quick look. When she raised her head, golden eyes caught brown ones and held. His head was tilted just a bit to one side as he studied her, a small frown pulling at one side of his lips. He sighed, the sound enough to startle her into jumping a little.
"You're not what I was expecting," he announced, then immediately seemed disconcerted, as though he hadn't meant to speak that thought out loud.
Feeling a bit braver now that it seemed unlikely he was going to call her out on her lie or attack her just because he could, Kagome shot back an answer. "You're not exactly what I was expecting, either."
He looked a little surprised, then grinned. At the sight of gleaming white fangs, Kagome couldn't help but flinch a little and draw back.
Seeing her reaction, Inuyasha grunted in disgust. "If I was going to kill you, I would have done it before going through all this wedding stuff."
"Sorry," she mumbled, hoping he wouldn't be too angry with her for her slip. She made a mental note to try and stifle her involuntary, fearful reactions. Hastening to explain, she spoke again. "It's just that I've never even seen a demon before, and now I'm . . .married to one." She stumbled over the word "married" as her mind quickly threw the invalidity of the union back in her face.
Inuyasha apparently took it another way. His features slackened and his eyes narrowed slightly as he replied in a steely voice. "Well, that's not something likely to change any time soon, so you'd better get used to it. In fact, maybe there are a few things you ought to get used to."
That said, he leaned forward quickly and, before she could object, pressed his lips to hers.
As he kissed her, three words came to mind. Soft, smooth, and sweet; that was the only way to describe it. Moving closer, he raised a hand to her shoulder, tangling his fingers gently in her hair as he deepened the kiss.
Kagome felt her mind stutter to a stop at the first touch of his mouth on hers. The feeling was as gentle and warm as it was alien to her. As she sat there, she no longer thought, she only felt. Felt the warmth of his breath, felt the heat of his body as he leaned close, felt his fingers sliding through her hair . . .
Gasping, she abruptly pulled away. Though she couldn't remember exactly why at the moment, she knew she shouldn't be doing that. Not with him, even though it felt so nice . . .
'Get a hold of yourself. You can't just let him do things like that. Remember why you're here, and keep your wits about you, for goodness sake!'
Even as her inner voice was giving vent to it's tirade, Inuyasha was leaning close again. It was very clear what he was about to do, and Kagome knew that she couldn't allow it to happen again. Without thought, she did the first thing that popped into her head.
She slapped him.