LVII

Semper Primus

Kouga lowers himself into the hot water of the spring slowly, his eyes on Kagome's face the whole while. Has he ever seen a female turn so red before? He doesn't think so. Kagome's flush is a charming thing, an innocence he will enjoy for as long as it lasts...but that won't be very long, not if he has his way.

He can only take her acceptance of this moment in one way, the way she wants him to take it –

The sight of desire naked on her face is almost too much for him. Kouga distracts himself with the steaming water, with counting the steam-damp curls that cling to her neck and shoulders, with following the drops of water that condense on her throat and slide down her skin until they meld with the water of the spring that hides her body from him with ripples and steam.

He licks his lips, then stands and cross through the water to stand before her. He reaches out and touches her face with one hand, draws his thumb across her cheek and looks at her with a serious expression.

"Will you let me look at you, Kagome?"

She is terrified in the instant of his question, feels like she can count her imperfections without even having to look down at the skin she's in. Compared to him, compared to anything youkai – what is she? Just a human, just a teenager...but then, there's no such thing as teenager in the sengoku jidai.

She looks up at Kouga and it takes all her courage to nod; is the gleaming smile she receives in return worth it? Maybe.

Kouga reaches down and takes her by the waits, lifts her with one smooth motion and sets her on the edge of the spring. Her body is flushed red by the heat of the water already, and she is spared her embarrassment showing. Despite herself, Kagome finds her eyes tracking Kouga, looking where he is looking, waiting for some word, some reaction -

She feels heat skim her skin where his gaze touches her – her breasts, her nipples, the shivering skin of her belly and her parted thighs, warmth between them...

She takes a deep breath and drags her eyes away from the thickness of his erection, meets his gaze and the blue that smoulders there, raw fire that shows her a gateway into the essence of his being, everything that he wants of her, everything he will give to her.

His fingers, calloused and clawed, reach out for her ankles, draw up the back of her calves, and then he starts and steps back from her and speaks in a voice that is low and heavy with desires she is just beginning to understand.

"Kagome...beautiful, the most beautiful – Kagome -"

Her fear evaporates. She remembers that she need not worry about him taking her, remembers that until she tells him she will be his forever all he will do to her is whatever she allows. Kagome feels a shiver at the weight of that thought, the power it gives her. Her nipples grow tight and tingling; there is wetness between her thighs that comes not from the water.

"You can – you can touch me, Kouga."

His hands reach out and rest lightly on legs, something hesitant in the motion, and Kagome reaches out and takes his face between her hands, pulls him close and kisses him, speaks against his lips.

"Please touch me, Kouga."

Heat of her breath on his lips, heat of her words in his ears – like a dream, a dream he has dreamed many times, now dragged into reality. Kouga pulls Kagome close to him, crushes her against his body, then leans back in the next instant, teases her lips open with his tongue and kisses her the way he knows makes her wanton.

Kouga takes Kagome's permission, her desire, and lets it lead his fingers where they want to go, strokes the length of her legs, lifts the soft weight of her breasts in his hands, toys with her nipples and sets her rocking against him, seeking surcease for a terrible internal heat. The scent of her desire is thick around them. He feels dampness on his thigh, pressed between her legs, and the throbbing of his own arousal in response.

"I want to do more than please you. I want to always be first – first to touch you, first to tease you...first to please you. Do I please you, Kagome?"

"You know – you know you do -"

Kouga licks her lips, not a kiss but something more teasing. For the first time, he slips his fingers into the soft wetness of her sex and strokes her, teases the opening of her body and the hard, tiny pearl above it. He draws cries from her, this new pleasure so intense, so all-consuming. The sight of her, eyes closing, limbs trembling, the points of her nipples tight peaks, her legs spread wide to give him access to her body – it's so beautiful it's painful.

"Do I please you now, Kagome?"

His fangs make dents in the skin of her throat, and his answer is a moan, her hands reaching out to hold him.

"Yes – yes –"

"I want to give you more, Kagome."

"More..."

She draws out the word, blinks at him, wonders if more is even possible – but he has taken her repetition as agreement, and now he is on his knees in the hot water at the edge of the spring, looking up at her.

"K-Kouga?"

He reaches out with careful fingers and spreads her sex open to his gaze, pink petals slick with sweetness; he wants it. It isn't until his tongue touches her that she knows what it is he's doing. Rough warmth – pleasure that sets her gasping almost from the first moment. His tongue is eager, greedy, and she feels the heat of it penetrate her and then sweep upwards again, focusing where his fingers had touched her before.

She isn't ready for these feelings, the heat of so many delicious sensations, the flood of pleasure that tingles across her nerves, rising like a swift tide from her toes to the place where Kouga's tongue touches her body. She clutches his shoulders, slides her fingers into his hair and holds him still between her thighs, slips higher and higher on the flickering of his tongue.

The crash comes over her in a tsunami of sensation, all things blended together – white fire behind her eyelids, and the blue fire of Kouga's gaze on her when she can see – fire between her thighs, pulsing in nerves she had no awareness of before this moment –

Everything is fire, for which the heat of the water as she slides down into Kouga's arms is no relief. He murmurs soothing words she hears only as a faint buzz of sound, slides his fingers across her back, her shoulders, kisses her, gentle now, every motion restrained. There's a ledge at the side of the spring, and he lets her sink down to sit on it beside him.

After a moment she blinks at him, then smiles. Her movements feel lazy.

"Kouga – Kouga you..."

"I please you."

It isn't a question this time, and his voice is still rough and husky. The thickness of his erection presses heavy against her and without thinking Kagome reaches for it, for him, feels silk over steel, hears him groan and tighten his grasp on her, then lean back.

"Kagome."

He pulls himself up to the side of the spring, lets his thighs fall apart and shivers as she explores his skin with her fingers, strokes awkwardly at first and then with a rhythm that his groans tell her he finds pleasing. He says her name, over and over, a shudder in his voice. The muscles in his thighs twitch and tighten, and her breath grows heavy and fast.

Kagome licks her lips, and then, because she wants to, because the taste of his skin beckons her, because she knows his mouth on her was a gorgeous sensation, she leans forward and licks the head of his straining erection, dark above her fist.

Thickness throbs in her hand. She licks again, and then again – he tastes like water and autumn and salt and then bitterness, white, sweet bitterness that streams across her tongue, across her fingers, as Kouga's hands tighten in her hair and a long, groaning growl spills out of his throat.

For a moment, there is only heavy breathing, Kouga's pants and Kagome's breathless desire. He slips down into the water beside her again, washes her hands clean in the spring and pulls her close to his side.

Kagome.

Kouga presses his lips against the top of her head, and feels her yawn, breath moving over his skin. The water is soothing, and Kouga leans his head back and looks up at the sky, bright stars overhead that flicker and glow through the steam.

He wraps an arm around Kagome, feels her head against his chest.

How long before she is his forever?

How long until she says yes?

Let it be soon, Kagome.

A/N: Still not quite back to daily updates, but perhaps this will help salve your Kouga/Kagome cravings! A bit smutty, I know...but remember what Hakkaku said - anything besides the actual mating act is fair game. Bwaha. This chapter's title, "Semper Primus", translates to "always first" - Kouga's desire, of course! Next chapter, some surprising things...or not so surprising to those who have paid attention to the hint of the previous chapters!

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