Chemistry.

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."

- Oscar Wilde.


"What else can you remember from your childhood?" Kagome blew on her hands in a feeble attempt to warm herself. The fireflies must have somehow decided that they were a boring duo and left them after a short while.

Sesshoumaru paused for a while as he thought hard, trying to dig into his chest of memories. Hazy images of various scenes of his childhood finally seem to flash past his eyes after a long period. He could see a young inu-youkai with shoulder-length silver hair hiding behind a small bush trying to ambush his mother. And another one of the same young youkai prancing around helplessly, trying to catch a rabbit. Then he saw himself again practising with his father, though he was much older and taller this time round. He did not know how, but he recognized his younger self and his parents instantly.

"I seem to remember my haha-ue. I spent a lot of time with her, alone," a pang of sadness suddenly rose from nowhere, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to think about them. He was sure that they were dead, and he did not want to spend too much of his time reminiscing over them. Afterall, nothing could bring the dead back to life.

Kagome nodded her head, he was regaining his memory fast, even though most of them seemed to be revolve around his youth. The ones that he could remember sounded a little sad and lonely to her, and she wondered what kind of childhood he had led. Was it happy? Was it sad? They must be precious to him...

"Ja... what about the rest of your family?"

He frowned a little, "I remember my chichi-ue too. Not very pleasant."

She nodded again, "sou ka... what about Inuyasha? And Tenseiga?"

"I don't have pleasant memories towards Inuyasha too. I only know that Tenseiga was a sword that chichi-ue left me."

Kagome sniffed, not certain whether she should continue with her next question.

"Ano... did you have a... girlfriend, before?"

"Girl.. friend?"

"Ah! Sumimasen, I meant.. lover," Kagome gulped, not sure whether she was probing too deep, though again she was not sure why she asked it.

Sesshoumaru frowned again, he seemed to remember an emotion, which was very similar to what he felt towards Kagome, but only ten times stronger. He concentrated, but try as he might, he just could not remember the woman's face, it was blank and featureless. It was as if he had almost forgotten about her, or purposefully erased her from his mind and memories. The accompanying feelings with the faceless woman were not good at all.

"Maybe," he pursed his lips a little.

"Maybe?" Kagome frowned at his answer. Now she was dying to know who that woman was. Even though the reason eluded her.

He quirked his eyebrow up at her sudden curiosity, "are you always so inquisitive?"

Kagome was stumped for a while, before she scowled, "nani o! I am merely trying to help you you know. Don't be so paranoid."

"The pot calling the kettle black," he said dryly.

"Humph! Fine, then don't say! It's not as if I'm interested in your past or your lover."

"Are you sure?" he grinned a little.

"I... mochiron! Your past has nothing got to do with now anyway," she pouted and stuck out her tongue at him, inwardly smirking that he could not see her.

"You talk too much, sometimes," Sesshoumaru silently agreed with her and raked his fingers through his long hair.

"You arrogant jerk! I shall not talk to you then, ja ne," she got up to her feet too hastily and lost her footing on the thick snow. Kagome swiftly cursed the slippery snow, cursed the enchanting fireflies, cursed her never-ending curiosity, and most of all, cursed her own clumsiness. Was she born with two left feet? Or right feet?

He could hear a soft plop and her angry muffled voice, and smirked to himself again. "Are you always this clumsy?"

Kagome pushed herself up from the freezing snow and glared at him, "oi! Who was the one who got us out from Byakuya's illusion?"

His smirk grew wider, "who was the one who carried you around, and who was the one who clung on to me like a crying baby from her nightmare? Do not bite off more than what you can chew miko."

And that was it. Her limit of patience had been stretched beyond what she could tolerate. Kagome affirmed to herself that he was a bigger bastard than Inuyasha, and that Inuyasha was a cute waggy puppy compared to the old acid-tongued dog in front of her.

"BAKA!" Kagome threw a handful of loose snow at him, to which some of it splattered against his head and cheeks. Sesshoumaru raised both eyebrows up in surprise, feeling a little angry yet excited at her retaliation. Without a word, he compacted a ball of snow expertly with one hand and hurled it accurately at her face.

"Owww!" Kagome almost could not breathe from the sudden iciness that greeted her face; she had not expected the taiyoukai to return her 'favour'. She wiped the snow off her face and started to make small snowballs with her hands, "you idiot! I have never, ever lost a snowball fight with Souta, so don't you think that you can win me just because you are... bigger!"

Souta? Was that her otouto?

He felt it weird to be compared to a ningen. Was the comparison justifiable in the first place? And what did 'bigger' meant?

Snow soon got into his sensitive ear, and a frown crossed his face, he was behaving like an impertinent child with her, yet could not help but to feel ridiculously happy. It was as if he had returned to his youth, even though he could not remember who he had engaged himself with at this childish game. Another large snowball was flung straight onto her face in no time, and some of the ice dripped down her neck, causing her to shudder and tremble.

"You will not win me, you know," he grinned deviously, yet his tone was flat and honest.

"Ooohh!" Kagome felt incredibly cold and hot at the same time. If she had hated anything, it was snow in her face. "That baka did not even move from his position! I'm not going to lose to him!" She started to build a huge snowball furiously, ignoring the snow attacks that Sesshoumaru was pelting against her back, not caring whether her trench coat would be wet nor that she might catch a cold the next day.

"Doushite? Kowai ka?" his taunt only drove Kagome to the point of no return. When she did not respond, he decided that he had enough of this silly game and uncrossed his legs, preparing to get up when he suddenly heard her shuffling heavy footsteps. Before he could duck, Kagome had dumped her entire snowball, the size of a basketball right onto his head of silver hair.

Snow covered his entire head, and dripped down his forehead, nose and cheeks. Sesshoumaru thought that he had never encountered a more childish, persistent and crazy woman before. One who did not value her life too, apparently.

Kagome swept the snow off her hands and folded her arms smugly at the motionless taiyoukai, "doushite? Kowai ka? Samui ka?"

But he did not move nor spoke, and Kagome uncrossed her arms a little worriedly, "oi! Don't think that I will be tricked!" When he still did not respond, she went forward and gave his shoulders a light push. To her horror, he fell back onto the snow silently, his gleaming silver hair fanning out with the loose snow. Kagome rushed forward and fell to her knees beside him, worried that he had gone into a mild shock from her gigantic snowball and shook his shoulders hard.

"Sesshoumaru! Daijoubu-"

A blur of white flashed past her eyes and before she knew it, she was flipped over like a pancake in MacDonalds. Sesshoumaru was straddling her, his right hand pressing against her left shoulder firmly to prevent her from moving. It took a while before it registered in her mind that she had been tricked, a dirty low trick; and the snow was really, really cold.

"You!" she seethed in anger as she tried to struggle away from his iron grasp.

"That will teach you a lesson, to never do that again," he smirked victoriously.

"Hanashite!" Kagome wriggled and wriggled, but her legs were bound together tightly like a rubberband by his knees.

"Muda na, don't you like it?" Sesshoumaru then lowered his face and pressed the tip of his nose against hers, knowing that such an intimate gesture would irritate her to no end.

Kagome froze as she stared into his gauze-covered eyes. He was rubbing his nose against hers in the same way she had did in the cave when he was unconscious. She was angry, he was teasing her, taking advantage of her gender as a female. But at the same time she was entranced by the way he looked. His long silver hair shone brightly as they fell around his face, cascading down like a waterfall curtain around their heads. She could feel his warm breath on her mouth and his body heat was enveloping her like a comforter, as he continued to rub the tip of his sharp long nose sensually against hers. The maroon stripes on his chiselled masculine cheeks suddenly appeared particularly attractive to her and she trembled, not knowing whether it was from the snow or from the near proximity of his body.

Sesshoumaru could sense her shivering and frowned a little, "you are cold."

Kagome's mind seemed to be clogged with certain actions and desires that she had never thought before, and she simply gulped when his warm breath tickled her nose.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, when he heard her swallowing. He realized that it was not only her body that was shaking, he could also hear her loud heartbeats pounding away in the silent night. Her breath, laced with her signature scent overwhelmed his olfactory senses, and she chose to squirm at that moment, resulting in her breasts grazing against his chest lightly.

Sesshoumaru tensed and his lips parted, as Kagome attempted again to wriggle her way out of the taiyoukai. Her struggling rubs aroused him, and he could feel heat rushing down to his groins as he thought of the kiss that he had shared with her a few days ago. He suddenly yearned to taste her lips again, to bury his tongue inside her warm moist cavern, and he slid his hand up to her cold neck slowly, rubbing his thumb against her jaw.

She felt as if her limbs had gone weak like melted cheese and closed her eyes when his big hand touched her neck. The rubbing actions that his finger was making made her heart beat harder and faster. The rational part of her was telling her to stop this, to run away. It was all wrong, she was not supposed to do this with him. But the irrational part of her was convincing her that she needed to explore this, whatever he was doing to her. Amidst the internal struggle, she could not help but to wonder why he was always so hot.

"Why are you always so warm?" she mumbled as he traced his finger up her jaw to her earlobe, then the soft shell of it and back to her lips. It was so soft, yet so cold, and her lips were trembling slightly, as if they were inviting him, luring him to close his mouth over them. Sesshoumaru did not know what got into him, but there was only one thought in his mind.

He placed his mouth near the ear that he had trailed, and whispered to her softly, "shiranani..."

His low, husky voice made her squirm, and she yearned for him to speak again, in that same hoarse sexy voice. When he placed a light kiss on the shell of her ear, she jumped a little. When his hot wet tongue trailed down to her earlobe, Kagome thought that she had melted like marshmallows on fire. Sesshoumaru relaxed the grip of his legs and caressed her shoulder, sucking on her earlobe gently and whispered to her again, "your scent intoxicates this Sesshoumaru..."

Kagome gasped at his words, it sent tingles up her spine and through each and every of her nerve, making her heart beat harder than the marathon she was forced to run for her school. With much effort, she finally raised her right hand and reached up for his neck, pulling him down slightly. Sesshoumaru could feel her feathery light touch and his mind was swamped with nothing other than her lips. Swiftly, he moved down from her earlobe and kissed her hard, as if he had been craving for it for decades. In the back of his mind, Sesshoumaru knew that he should not do this. They had not known each other for long, but he knew that she liked someone else. But the desires of the flesh overtook his willpower, and he could not hold back any longer. The gentle caress over his neck was the last straw, and he decided to act first, think later. Kagome had suddenly turned from 'someone interesting yet irritating' to 'someone very seductive and appealing'.

Her head was getting giddy from his hungry kiss; she felt scared, yet excited and desired at the same time. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck and fisted her hands in his thick mass of heavy silver locks, revelling in its silkiness and strength. It felt like liquid, if that was ever an appropriate description for hair. Sesshoumaru sucked on her lower lip hard, urging her to open her mouth, to which she gladly obliged. Then she could feel his hot slippery tongue darting into her mouth and around her teeth impatiently, and in return, she tried to suck on his lower lip, all the while knowing that it was not right, but she could not stop either.

She had never knew nor experienced anything like this before. So enticing, appealing, and unstoppable.

Both kissed passionately until he forced himself to pull away for air, "Kagome..."

She took in big gulps of icy air, which freshened her mind up a little. This must stop.
"Sesshoumaru... yame ro..."

But the taiyoukai could not hear her words, all he felt was her soft heaving chest underneath his chest. He bent down and licked under her jaw, kissing it alternatively while rubbing the other side of her neck with his long fingers. Her eyelids were half-shut as she frowned, she had to stop before both lost control of themselves. She struggled but the words would not come out from her mouth. The skin on her neck burned, her lips burned, his touches burned too. Sesshoumaru could feel himself getting hard, and he dipped his head down, unbuttoning her trenchcoat as he planted soft kisses down, inwardly cursing at the strange invention and the number of buttons her coat had.

Kagome gasped again, whatever he was doing to her was doing incredible things to both her mind and her body. She could feel a hard bulge pressing against her privates, and it both frightened and excited her to no end. Her belly quivered as she felt the sinful pleasures from the friction below, and before she knew it, a blast of cold air rushed by her chest. Her eyes flew open in realization and horror that he had cut away her sweater with his claws, "Sess-"

She was effectively silenced when she felt his mouth closing over her right nipple, sucking on it torturously while his hand was caressing the other mound, squeezing it firmly every now and then. Kagome did not know why, but arched her body up as she groaned. It felt so good, as if electricity was travelling up and down, and she really did not want him to stop. She never knew that foreplay was so good and her mind could only concentrate on the actions that his long hot tongue was doing to her hardened nipple.

Sesshoumaru buried his nose in the valley of her chest and inhaled deeply. The scent was stronger, tinged with a light heady musk. He rubbed his nose and lips against both nipples, marvelling at how soft yet firm they felt in his mouth. He circled her areola with his tongue while giving it a light squeeze, before letting his hand move down to her stomach, rubbing over her flat planes sensually. The hardness in his groin was getting a little too uncomfortable, and he wanted nothing other than Kagome to take away the ache.

"Kagome... are you still cold?" he nuzzled his cheek against her soft chest, wondering how she looked like if he could see. She could only grunt and shook her head a little in response to his question. She could feel an uncomfortable wetness between her legs, and rubbed her thighs together, hoping to relieve the ache. Sesshoumaru seemed to take the cue and moved his hand lazily down her stomach to her abdomen, then applied a gentle pressure against her core. Even through the thick denim material that she wore, he could feel the heat and increased the pressure, inwardly wondering how it would feel if he was buried deep within her.

She bucked, when he pressed against her, there. It seemed to relieve the ache, but made it worse as his hand left there. Sesshoumaru enclosed his warm mouth over her nipples again, making loud sucking noises as he guided her limp hand over his hard member, his erection was getting too hard and uncomfortable for him now. She gasped as she felt the steel-hard bulge underneath her fingers. Kagome was stunned, yet curious to know how it felt. She shakily caressed the hot rod up and down with her fingers, and elicited a soft moan from him. He bucked against her fingers, memories of the sensations of hot wet friction slid into his mind. Oh how he wished he could thrust into her, hard and fast; violently and deeply.

"Kagome... I..." he pulled his lips away from her swollen nipples and panted hard as he leaned his forehead against her ribcage. He was not sure whether he could continue on with his administrations, as he tried to imagine the unearthly pleasure that he would derive from her suspected virginal core.

"Iie..." she finally got the word out from her mouth. Kagome pulled her hand away from the pulsing bulge and cupped his cheek, pressing his face against her bare heaving chest. "Dame..."

Sesshoumaru had never felt so disappointed in his life, but he did not want to push her, not force her. He swiftly got up and kissed her hard, before flipping over onto the snow and pulling her with him, "you shouldn't lie on the snow for so long."

The sudden change in position jolted her out from the trance and she breathed hard, as she stared at his face. Even with his eyes bandaged, she still could not resist his charm. His lips were slightly swollen, although she could not see whether they were as red as hers. Her naked breasts were pressing against his firm lean chest while she laid on top of him, feeling every inch of his long hard member.

"Sesshoumaru... what happened?"

He did not reply, but pulled her down and pressed her face against his chest. She could hear his thunderous heart-beats, they seemed to be beating as hard and fast as hers; and they synchronized perfectly, to her bewilderment and amazement. Sesshoumaru did not know what had gotten into him, all he knew was that he wanted Kagome, more and more of her until she had asked him to stop.

"Sumanai," he spoke into the cold midnight air.

Kagome closed her eyes, she was so confused and troubled that a headache was slowly creeping up. Her mind tried to handle the barrage of thoughts that were crashing against the doors of her sanity, and to comprehend why she had given in to him so easily. She felt dirty, like a slut when she thought of her so-called loyalty and affection for Inuyasha. Wherever had he gone in her mind when she was making out with Sesshoumaru? Was she a mindless animal that succumb to the desires of her body without sparing a thought for others? She buried her face into his warm firm chest and sobbed.

To say that he was alarmed was an understatement when he smelt her salty tears and heard her soft muffled cries. Had he hurt Kagome? Was she angry or upset? Did she felt forced? Questions sped through his already-perplexed brain and he smoothed her wet tussled hair, "Kagome?"

When she did not respond and continued sobbing, a strange emotion entwined itself around his heart and he almost choked from it. He suddenly felt weak, that he could not console her; vulnerable, that he did not understand why she cried; worried, that he did not know what would happen to their 'not-ally-not-enemy' relationship.

He sat up immediately and brought her up with him, not knowing what to do other than to wrap his right arm around her shoulders tightly, "please, don't cry Kagome..." He hoped that she would stop crying as soon as possible, it was driving him crazy. He suddenly felt guilty, she was a virgin, and probably did not know much about such matters. And he had almost took it away, almost, if she had not stopped him in time.

Sesshoumaru frowned hard, since when had he degenerated into such a beast? Was he like that before he lost his memory?

Kagome pulled away, looked up into his face and gasped softly. His face was so apologetic, with his deep frown and the grim line of his thin lips. Is he blaming himself? She never knew this side of him, and she felt herself traitorously pulled towards him like a magnet, unable to turn her gaze away until he apologized again.

"This will not happen again, I give you my word," Sesshoumaru did not want her to hate him, nor leave him. He needed her, in many ways, though some were not yet known nor made clear to him. But it was not the time to think through such matters, she was more important, though he asked himself again why it was so.

Kagome closed her eyes and leaned against his chest, earning a surprised look from him. She felt tired, weary and worn out. She could not understand how their relationship had progressed to such a state within a short span of seven days. It seemed that everything happened much faster when she was with Sesshoumaru, while it was the opposite with Inuyasha. Was it merely sexual attraction, or something else? Kagome could not decide, there was something intangible in the odd relationship that she had with Sesshoumaru that she could not put a finger to. Had she started straying away from Inuyasha so fast? Had the embers of her love for him died out so soon? Or was it merely her, trying to hold onto whatever she could? To preserve her first love as long as possible?

She opened her eyes and stared at his bright yellow obi. She wondered if Sesshoumaru liked her, or merely using her to satisfy his carnal desires. Kagome was not sure at all, her common sense told her that he was a dignified taiyoukai, the Prince to the Western Lands, and would not lower himself with a ningen, let alone to like one. But somewhere a voice told her that she was wrong, even though it could supply no proof nor evidence. And she could not get angry with him, no matter how she tried. She wanted him, as much he had wanted her, she thought.

"Can we go back? I'm tired," her voice was listless and weak. Sesshoumaru was not sure whether she had forgiven him, nor taken his promise. But he knew that she needed rest, and he would not devoid her of it. He slipped his hand under her butt and stood up, carrying her like a child as she drifted off to sleep against his chest.

"Aa," he closed his eyes in regret and retraced the route back to their camp
.


A/N: Ahh... here is the big big lime. Enjoy, since there wouldn't be any to come in the near future (at least I think so)...

nani o - what! (frustrated in this case)
mochiron - of course
ja ne - bye/see you
doushite - why
kowai ka - scared/frightened?
samui ka - cold?
daijoubu - alright
hanashite - let me go
muda na - no use
shiranai - I don't know
yame ro - stop
dame - no/don't/no good
sumanai - sorry (masculine)
aa - yes