A/N: I'm so sorry that this chapter took me so long to get out. But, it is the end of the semester which means that my professors feel like hounding me last minute assignments. Sorry! But thank you to everyone that has reviewed! You guys have been sending me some of the most wonderful reviews that make writing this story worthwhile! Thanks for the support! You guys rock!
Also, there have been concerns to the plot of this sequel. The point to this story is ultimately about getting Sesshomaru to confess his affection for Kagome – and about how his pride/ego gets in the way of the process. Despite the lack of action compared to the last story, things will be happening – just not to the level of A First for Everything. Just remember, this is about their relationship, not the physical aspects.
The First Time Isn't Always Everything
Chapter 8
Back and forth. Slender, stiletto wearing feet walked straight, only to turn around and walk back along the same path, pacing so much that one would suspect that the carpet would begin to bare signs of constant treading. She had been pacing for the past fifteen minutes, twisting her shirt sleeves in her palms.
"That is enough, Kagome," Sesshomaru said from where he was sitting behind a large conference table. He had begun watching her patiently, but his growing annoyance was clear by the tapping of his fingers along the chair's armrest.
Kagome stopped in her tracks, turning her head to glance at the other man in the room. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes as she did so, attempting to calm herself down. "Aren't you nervous?" she muttered.
"I have no reason to be," he replied, his golden eyes tracing over her form. "This Kouga has no case, nor does he stand a chance of winning. If his lawyer is intelligent enough to understand that, then there is nothing to fear. Now sit."
A frown momentarily passed over her features before she opened her blue eyes. "That's not what I'm worried about," she said under her breath. She let out a sigh and walked around the table, plopping gracelessly into the chair beside Sesshomaru. Kagome reached out, covering one of Sesshomaru's hands with her own. While he did not encourage the movement, he did not pull away either.
"Then what are you worried about?" Sesshomaru asked, turning his elegant face slightly so that he could continue to watch her.
"What do you think?" she said exasperatedly. "I'm worried about how you two are going to behave. You two act like idiots when you are around each other." She let out another sigh. "I just don't want this to escalate anymore. I'm afraid that Kouga is going to argue and make this situation even worse."
Before she knew what was happening, Sesshomaru had shifted towards her and had used the hand that had been upon his to pull her into his lap. Her back was pressed against his chest as his arms slowly wrapped around her waist, holding her against him. She felt his breath as it fluttered through her hair and teased her skin. His lips ghosted across her skin, causing her to shudder. They stopped at her ear, his gentle breath causing havoc on her senses.
"Do not worry, Kagome. He cannot make the situation worse, nor will his idiotic behavior be tolerated. You have nothing to fear," he whispered before softly nipping at her sensitive flesh and then smoothing it down with his tongue.
"Are we interrupting something?" a humor-laced, male voice asked.
Kagome's head automatically shot up as she broke free of Sesshomaru's grasp. In turn, Sesshomaru growled softly, narrowing his eyes at the intruders: Miroku and Inuyasha.
"Kami, get a fucking room," Inuyasha muttered as he strode into the room and took a spot beside the blushing Kagome.
"And perhaps you should consider knocking before you enter a room, my insolent brother," Sesshomaru said coldly.
"It's a fucking public area. I didn't need to fucking knock," Inuyasha said.
"Inuyasha…"
"The door was wide open, Sesshomaru," Kagome interrupted, shooting a glare over to him that warned him not to fight.
His mouth curved into a frown. "Do not encourage him," Sesshomaru whispered for her to hear. Raising his voice, he continued. "What are you doing here, Inuyasha?"
"If I might answer for him, Mr. Tashio, sir," Miroku said from the side of the table, "I allowed him to come, seeing that he is Kagome's agent as well as being your brother." Miroku smirked and shrugged lightly. "Besides, I know that Inuyasha would have no problems with physically removing Kouga if need be."
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded. "Very well. He may stay."
"Geez. Thanks, asshole. You say that like I actually needed your permission," Inuyasha retorted, leaning over Kagome to scowl at his brother. "I would have been here anyway. Who knows if that fucking little prick needs…"
"Needs what?" a hard, masculine voice said.
Four heads whipped up, three of them glaring angrily at the two people that stood by the door.
"I only see two pricks here," Kouga said with a growl, walking into the room and standing across from them. Placing his hands down onto the table, he leaned his weight onto them as he glared.
"Kouga, don't," Kikyou responded in smoothly. She gracefully sauntered beside him, elegantly sitting down beside him. "You'll make matters worse."
"Maybe you should listen to her, fuck face," Inuyasha said, leaning back in his chair and smirking, but gazing at the woman beside Kouga.
Kikyo's brown eyes wandered over Inuyasha's form before saying, "I believe that the same goes for you, Mr. …"
"Inuyasha Tashio, my brother and Miss Higuarshi's agent. I believe you already are aware of Miss Higurashi and Miroku, CEO and law consultant of Tokyo Productions," Sesshomaru said coldly. "May we begin or should we allow these two to banter even more?"
Kikyou's eyes wandered back over to Sesshomaru. She raised a sleek eyebrow at him. "Very well," she said. Kikyou turned to Kouga, narrowing her eyes slightly and nodding towards the chair.
With a scowl, the dark haired man plopped into the chair ungracefully, glaring at Inuyasha. "If this moron wasn't here, then there wouldn't be any bantering. It's not like this idiot," he said, jerking his thumb towards Inuyasha, "knows how to behave properly."
"Feh, fuck that!" Inuyasha snapped, leaning forward over the table. "You're the fucking moron here starting all the trouble. Maybe you just shouldn't speak anymore."
As the two began to yell at each other once more, Kagome closed her eyes and let out a large sigh. She breathed deeply, counting to ten in her head in hopes of keeping her composure. This was exactly what she had feared. As she counted, she felt a warm hand rest on her thigh, squeezing it in encouragement. She knew it was Sesshomaru. Turning towards him, she smiled at him softly, thanking him for knowing exactly what she needed. Still gazing into the golden eyes, she allowed her right hand to raise and fly out.
SMACK!
"Oww! What the hell did you do that for?" Inyasha yelled, holding the back of his head where he had just been smacked.
"Stop it, Inuyasha," Kagome said. "Let's just get this over with." Turning to the laughing Kouga, she glared at him as well. "You too. You're not helping either."
"Thank you," Kikyou said with a small smile. She turned to the notes that were in front of her on the table, glancing over them before raising her head. "We are here today because of Mr. Sesshomaru Tashio's assult on Mr. Kouga Yushima. While at the establishment, Mystic, Mr. Tashio…"
"Acted like an irrational asshole and fucking punched me," Kouga supplied.
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed as he growled in warning. His hand that was still upon Kagome's thigh tightened in his growing annoyance. Automatically, Kagome's hand rested upon his, lacing her fingers through his.
"Please, Kouga," Kikyou said calmly. "Allow me to gather details and listen to their counter argument. We will not be able to resolve this issue if you insist upon being irrational."
"But," Kouga whined.
"No," Kikyou replied.
Frowning, Sesshomaru let out a grunt of annoyance. Lifting a hand, he placed it on his temple, slowly rubbing to ease the tension caused by Kouga and the laughing Inuyasha. "Miroku," he muttered.
"Right," Miroku said with a smile as all attention turned to him. "In our defense, I would like to state that Mr. Tashio's action was provoked and for the protection of Miss Higurashi. Yumisho approached Tashio and Higurashi at the said establishment, verbally assaulting Tashio and claiming that his girlfriend, Higurashi, belonged to Yumisho. After asking Yumisho to leave, as well as refuting his claims on Higurashi, Tashio and Higurashi attempted to leave, wishing to avoid conflict. However, the verbal assult escalated and Yumisho grabbed Higurashi and attempted to take her from Tashio, an action in which she did not want, leading Tashio to physically remove Yumisho. Due to the fact that warnings were given and my client attempted to leave peacefully, I declare that Tashio was merely provoked, proving him innocent, and that the fault lies on Yumisho's ignorance and debatable sexual harassment on Higurashi."
"She is my woman!" Kouga exclaimed. However, all ignored his comment.
Nodding, Kikyou said, "I see. Yet, Mr. Yumisho claims that he received no warning before he was attacked, nor did he touch Miss Higurashi in any way that would offend her."
"I figured that much," Miroku said, winking at the female lawyer. "That's why I brought a witness." He looked over to Kagome. "Miss Higuarshi, will you please tell us what happened that evening?"
"That's a stupid fucking question!" Inuyasha interrupted, slamming his fist on the table. "We all know that moron wouldn't listen to anyone but himself. Why even ask?"
"I did not know that your name was Kagome, brother," Sesshomaru replied indifferently.
"Please, Inuyasha," Kagome said with an exasperated sigh. "Let me answer." She turned her blue eyes to Kouga, meeting his gaze. "It's all true. Mr. Yumisho was not listening when we told him to leave us alone. In matter of fact, I've both told Kouga on several other occasions that his advances were not welcome. It was only after he grabbed me, which, might I add, was in no way wanted or encouraged, that Mr. Tashio reacted in such a way. I think he was only trying to protect me."
Kikyou closed her eyes and sighed. This was turning out to be worse than she expected.
"I see," she said.
"Oh, come on!" Kouga yelled. "We all know that Kagome is my woman! She's just saying that because that prick," he said, pointing to Sesshomaru, "is her publisher. She couldn't agree with me because she would lose her job! He's blackmailing her!"
"That is enough," Sesshomaru growled, his amber eyes flashing in anger. He stood up leaning over the table. "Her contract clearly gives her enough freedom to find another publisher if I do not want her work, nor do I have any need to threaten her. But do you think that it is acceptable to touch Kagome against her will? Do you think that it is right to lay a claim on her that she did not agree to or did not want? Tell me, Kouga," he ground out, "do you think that it is tolerable to publicly announce an imaginary relationship and a false engagement?"
"Listen, asshole," Kouga yelled, rising out of his chair as well, "I didn't do anything that Kagome didn't want. She'll snap out of this little funk and come back to me…"
Letting out a frustrated growl of her own, Kagome slammed her hands down on the table and rose from her seat. "No, you listen, Kouga! I've told you time and time again that there is nothing going on between us. We broke up years ago. Why can't you get that through your head? I am not yours and I am not going to come back to you. It's time for you to move on! This whole situation is pointless and was caused by you. You're going to drop the charges, settle, and apologize, or I'll sue you for slander," she yelled. Glaring at him with heated, dancing eyes, she hissed, "What is your choice?"
Everyone in the room stared at her, shocked expressions frozen on their faces. They all knew that Kagome was serious. All knew to let her be – except for Sesshomaru. Instead, his face was hard and expressionless, his eyes blank. No one could tell what he was thinking, but by the tensing of his body, it could be assumed that he was not happy with the situation.
Falling into his seat, Kouga muttered, "Kami, Kagome. You could have just said that you weren't interested." He paused for a moment, his face twisting into anger before releasing into defeat. He shrugged. "Fine, I'll drop the charges, but if you ever realize that this asshole isn't good enough for you, then you let me know and I'll take care of you."
Straightening but remaining tense, Sesshomaru turned towards Kagome. He reached out, grasping her just below her elbow, tugging on her gently, silently telling her to follow him. He glanced back at Miroku and said tightly, "Take care of the details." Then he began to walk from the room, Kagome following by his side.
The pair exited the room. As soon as they were out, Sesshomaru closed the door, leaving the two alone in a large waiting room. Quickly, he used his grasp upon Kagome's arm to spin her around to face him, pulling her close and latching on to her upper arms.
"Sesshomaru?" she questioned with confusion etching into her face. She searched his hardened features, hoping that she could find any sign as to why he had drawn her away from the others. However, his features offered no help.
"You did not tell me that you dated Kouga," he said coldly.
Kagome frowned. "I didn't think that it was important. After all, you never told me how many people you have dated before me."
"But do you not think that this information would have been beneficial before hand?" he said, tightening his lips.
"Well, I'm sorry," she said tightly. "It was over five years ago. I didn't think that it would matter." She paused for a moment, turning her head to the side slightly and glaring at Sesshomaru. "Is that really what you're mad about?" she said.
Pulling her closer to his body, Sesshomaru dipped his head down so that his lips were next to her ear. She shuddered as his breath fanned against her for the second time that day. Kagome was unable to deny her body's reaction to him. Slowly, his lips edged closer until they were resting against the shell.
"I do not appreciate, Kagome," he whispered, "that you settled a problem that was my own."
Immediately, Kagome's gentle quaking stopped. Twisting her own head so that her lips ran across his ear, she responded, "I think you forgot that I was involved as well."
"Did you feel that I would not be able to stop his claims?" he said heatedly. "Did you think that I would not be able to protect you? Do you doubt my abilities?"
Kagome let out a gasp, her large eyes widening. As they softened, she broke his grasp on her arm only to wrap them around his neck to pull him even closer. "I'm sorry, Sesshomaru. I… I never thought of it like that." She placed a soft kiss on his neck. "I never doubted you for a minute. I was just angry and… well, I just wanted it to end. Honestly, I really wasn't thinking. Can you forgive me?"
He grunted in response, pulling back slightly to look at her face. Her soft, pink lips were pulled into a pout and her large eyes were begging him to understand. Sesshomaru let out a sigh. He could tell that she did not mean to do so, but, still, he could not have her taking his place.
"I assume that I could overlook this once," he said, raising an eyebrow. He then leaned down, coming within inches of her lips. "But do not doubt me again. You speak of trust. It is time for you to show it. Trust me to settle these matters from now on," he finished, caressing her lips with his own.
In response, Kagome's lips parted, accepting his silent invitation. "I will," she whispered, shifting her gaze from his lips, to his golden eyes, and then back down to his lips.
He did not answer. Instead, he took her lips within his, kissing her hungrily. Kagome moaned into his mouth, responding to his touch eagerly. His arms wrapped around her waist and back, pushing her breasts against his chest. Sesshomaru growled at the contact. Seeking to deepen the kiss, Kagome tilted her head slightly and opened her mouth more, allowing her tongue to brush against his. He growled in approval at her advance, letting his own tongue sweep in and taste her fully.
The opening of a door, however, interrupted the pair. Kagome ripped her head away from Sesshomaru despite his moan of disapproval. His head lifted, after gazing at her swollen lips for a moment, and looked at the intruder. Golden orbs immediately narrowed but he did not let Kagome go. "Yumisho," he seethed.
Kagome stiffened in Sesshomaru's arms, closing her eyes and burying her face into his chest, hoping that Kouga would walk away peacefully.
"Tashio," Kouga responded with equal vengeance. He glared at the scene before him, his face tightening in anger. "Don't you think that is a little inappropriate for public?"
"This is my property, Yumisho. I can do as I please," Sesshomaru responded icily. Angrily, Kouga turned from the pair with a growl. As he was leaving, Sesshomaru called out, "Yumisho, it would be wise if you deter any association with my fiancé from now on."
Kagome immediately gasped against Sesshomaru's chest, her eyes nearly bulging from their socket in shock. She began to quiver against him and her eyes began to water. Could it be true? Was he serious? Did he really love her? "Sesshomaru," she whispered.
Kouga, though, growled threateningly, his eyes hard as he glanced back at the pair. "You know, Tashio," he said, "you shouldn't be such an ass to a person that got Kagome to even talk to you," and walked away.
Yet, Sesshomaru's features stayed hardened and cold, and his arms fell away from Kagome before Sesshomaru himself walked away without saying a word.
Shocked and with a wildly beating heart, Kagome whirled around, glancing at the retreating back of Sesshomaru. She froze, not understanding just what had happened in the short span of time and not knowing why Sesshomaru had walked away after he had just claimed that she was his fiancé.
"Sesshomaru!" she called out. "Wait!" When kept walking instead of responding, Kagome swore and took off after him.
TBC…
A/N: Well, what do you think? And I know, the settlement was strange, but I know nothing about settlements and it was purely fictional. I have no idea how those things really work – I'm not a lawyer, and, honestly, I was too lazy to do any research. So I made it up! But, otherwise, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! More will be happening soon, and I will explain why Sesshomaru is made about Kouga's words in the next chapter. Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thanks for reading!