Disclaimer: Everyone wishes they owned Inuyasha. To bad none of us do.
Warning: This story contains explicit sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.
The one.
Chapter four: A Stormy Night
The private dining room was a comfortable space with a long mahogany table and plush, cushioned chairs. Seated around the table were Inutaisho and his wife, Izayoi, Inuyasha's half-brother, Sesshoumaru and Akito. There were two empty place settings across from one another. One beside Akito, the other beside Sesshoumaru. Kagome hurriedly sat next to her step-father - who was still wearing his grey suit - before she admired the room and place setting fully. It was a large room with a vaulted ceiling and floor to ceiling windows. The sky was stormy looking outside with fierce winds and tepid rains begging to ravage the small island. Kagome admired the details of her painted china plate, delicate and bold. She looked over the linen table cloth and then studied the faces of everyone at the table. Anything to keep her mind off the storm that was starting to pick up magnitude outside. She wasn't a child anymore and she knew it was ridiculous to be afraid of storms, but they made her nervous all the same.
"So Kagome," said Izayoi, a graceful woman who looked about the age of twenty but Kagome supposed to be much older. "What do you think of our little island?" Kagome smiled brightly, delighted to discuss a subject she was fast growing to love.
"Oh, I think it's absolutely exquisite! I've always been a fan of the older, American home style. I have to be honest in saying that the second I laid eyes on it I was in love. How old is the house? I suppose it'd quite old or someone else just has a taste that runs similar to mine." Kagome was genuinely curious about the house. She was pleased to see that her response had made both Izayoi and Inutaisho smile. At least they were getting along.
"The house is indeed very old." Inutaisho informed her. "In fact, it's over a hundred. I've had it restored and upgraded to meet modern standards. Do you think we've done justice to this poor old house?" She supposed he was teasing her but she thought she'd play along anyways.
"Well, as far as I've seen the house is impeccable. The only thing I haven't seen yet is a claw footed porcelain bath tub. It's been a bit of a fantasy of mine to have a bath in one. A bit odd, I know, but a dream all the same." She grinned as a soup starter was placed in front of her. She gently sipped at it and deduced that it was indeed clam chowder. A personal favorite. But how did they know? Her step-father perhaps. He was looking rather sulky.
"You won't have to dream much longer Kagome." Inutaisho informed her. "You see, Inuyasha has one of those very tubs in his bathroom. I dare say you could use it when ever you liked."
"Well, I know where I'll be spending my day tomorrow." Kagome joked. There was a small chuckle from most of the people at the table. Kagome smiled. She was quite enjoying herself. Everything was working out wonderfully as the soups were whisked away and then eventually replaced with the main course. Kagome was delighted when a plate of Fedichini Alfredo was gently placed in front of her. It was absolutely perfect. Nothing beat Italian.
Dinner was turning out to be a mostly quiet affair. Sesshoumaru said nothing and Akito only spoke when spoken directly to, not even answering in full sentences. Inuyasha was having a love affair with his food and Kagome was feeling increasingly nervous about the storm that was building up outside. That is, until half way through the chocolate cake she was way to fully to eat, a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning outside shook the mansion. Kagome screamed and some how managed to fling a forkful of her cake onto Sesshoumaru's face. Inuyasha got a bit of back splatter and absolutely everyone stared. There was silence as a completely embarrassed Kagome opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the right words of apology. Then, very suddenly, Inutaisho burst into a belly laugh. Kagome jumped again and Izayoi started tittering. Inutaisho tried to inhale only to get a glimpse of Sesshoumaru's face and then start laughing again. Inuyasha started to chuckle and then just plain laugh out loud. Even Akito shook with silent laughter in his seat. The only ones not laughing were Sesshoumaru and Kagome.
"I am so, so sorry. Sesshoumaru, please forgive me." Kagome begged, her eyes wide with embarrassment and remorse. She bit her lip as she watched Sesshoumaru wipe at his face and smear the chocolate. Inutaisho was now laughing so hard that he had doubled over in his seat, tears leaking from his eyes. He tried breathing again and broke off into insane sounding cackles. This was all a little much for Kagome.
Then the thunder cracked again and the lightening blazed. Kagome gave a little squeak of fright as she jumped in her seat again. She felt absolutely horrible. Guilty and embarrassed on behalf of Sesshoumaru who was taking it all in stride as he wiped his face clear of chocolaty goo. Inuyasha appeared at Kagome's elbow, an enormous grin on his face. He put his arm around her and guided her to her feet. She followed obediently.
"Excuse us," Inuyasha said over his father's cackling. "I think we'll retire now. We can make arrangements tomorrow can't we mother?" Izayoi nodded her head in response, a highly amused smile pulling back the corner of her graceful lips.
Inuyasha slowly led Kagome back to his room, pausing to comfort her when the thunder struck again.
"I am not afraid, Inuyasha." Kagome told him as she pulled away.
"Oh yeah?" He asked skeptically.
"No. And I am not sleeping with you. Especially seeing as I have no proper pajamas." She crossed her arms defiantly but when the thunder struck again she shrieked and found herself securely in Inuyasha's arms. She was panting a little and made a small noise of protest when he picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.
In the dark, Inuyasha's bedroom looked like something out of a horror movie. The bed was enormous and immaculately made, the windows were shuttered and all the furniture was big and dark. Kagome was grateful when Inuyasha turned the light on. She examined his enormous and oddly comfortable looking bed. The duvet cover looked exceptionally soft and the pillows fuller and fluffier than the ones she'd slept on the night before. Everything on the bed was either red or cream and even though red wasn't her favorite colour, she had to admit that on the bed it looked incredibly inviting.
"You can put me down now." Kagome said in a monotone. She felt a little weird being held by him.
"Yeah, yeah." He said teasingly as he complied. "Go put your pajamas on."
"I can't." Kagome said stubbornly. "First of all, I refuse to sleep with you... Secondly I don't have any pajama pants." Inuyasha looked at her for a moment with a raised eyebrow. A smirk slowly crept across his face as he looked at her.
"Well, you can borrow my boxers if you want." He offered and shrugged when she gave him a look.
"I'll be fine if you just let me go back to where I was before." She was determined.
"Come on Kagome, I don't bite." He said, pleading slightly. When he could see she was going to object he cut her off. "We won't have sex or even kiss if you don't want to. Just sleep in the same bed." Kagome hesitated. She wasn't sure if she trusted him. Even though she felt safe and warm in his arms and even just being in his presence was relaxing, Kagome didn't know if she could trust herself. Then she made the mistake of looking up and meeting his puppy eyes.
With a sigh, Kagome relented. "Okay, but you had better not touch me or I'm leaving." Inuyasha smiled as he looked at her, the warning clear in her eyes. He would have made her stay anyways, but he preferred that it would be of her own choice. Humans were tricky ones to have as mates. They didn't always understand that in order for the mating to take effect, you had to actually mate. Consummate your togetherness as it were. He would have to woo her.
Kagome shut herself in the closet again to change and he resigned himself to do the same. He unbuttoned his shirt carefully and threw it over the back of a chair and then stepped out of his pants. He stretched and then lounged back on his bed in his boxers to await Kagome. A minute passed and Inuyasha grew impatient. He had chased her and claimed her – sort of - and the least she could do would be to hurry up.
"Oi, what are you doing in there? Painting the Mona Lisa?" He frowned as he looked at the closet, his ears twitching as he waiting for a response.
"No I am not!" Was her muffled and indignant reply. "If you'll just be patient... Urh... I'll be out..." and the closet door opened. Inuyasha nearly died of pleasure when he saw her. She was wearing a semi-loose fitted grey t-shirt that looked old and worn and a pair of boy-short panties. He grinned as he admired her long creamy legs and the gentle curvy of her hip that her loose and long t-shirt hinted at. When he looked at her face he noticed she was blushing and shifting weight from foot to foot uncomfortably.
"Well, c'mere. I need my beauty sleep too you know." His voice was husky and Kagome had to fight for a moment to control her reaction to him before turning out the closet light and wandering over to the side of the bed he wasn't currently occupying. She carefully pulled back the covers and crawled under. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt in her life. The bed was soundless as it softly conformed to her body. The pillow gently sank in the middle to give her head support but not keep it high in the air. And the sheets - the glorious sheets. They were so soft and warm and the quilt on top of her gently pressed down, making her feel surrounded and protected.
Inuyasha crawled under the sheets behind her and Kagome felt her heart rate pick up speed. Gee, Kagome thought to herself, with him around who needs cardio? It was a thought that caused to corners of her lips to turn up gently. She heard Inuyasha shifting around a bit and then it went dark. Kagome nearly shrieked. Inuyasha gently wrapped his arm around her waist and snuggled in, nuzzling her neck as he did so. He inhaled deeply a couple times before softly kissing her mark. Her heart beat picked up again and there was a fluttering in the pit of her stomach.
"G'night Kagome." He whispered sweetly.
It took Kagome what felt like forever before she finally relaxed. Inuyasha was breathing softly against her neck and the thunder outside was only a small din in the background. Kagome shifted a little and then opened her eyes to stare at the dark nothingness in front of her. She thought about her home and started missing it so she changed directions and started wondering why her father was acting so strangely. Was he mad because she had found a mate? Or maybe it was because that mate was Inuyasha. But why should that make him angry? It was quite a confusing predicament. It wasn't like Inuyasha was a bad guy or anything; not like he'd done something wrong... had he? Then Kagome realized that she really didn't know Inuyasha at all. He was just a horny male body that happened to have a strange connection to hers. Suddenly Kagome missed her book. She missed reading about the beautiful heroine and the devastatingly handsome hero. It was a classic romance story and for some reason Kagome was gripped by the sudden need to finish it. How inconvenient. Kagome wondered for the next ten minutes what arrangements would be made the previous day before she got bored of her own thoughts. She wished and listened to the silence for all of ten seconds before she simply couldn't stand it any longer.
"Inuyasha? Are you asleep?" Kagome whispered.
"Uaarng." It was mostly a groan.
"Inuyasha... I can't sleep."
"I know."
"Oh... okay. Sweet dreams."
"Mmmhmmnumug."
"... Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha sighed heavily and whimpered a little, rubbing his face against her shoulder. "Don't you sleep?" He asked irritably.
"Of course I sleep. I just can't sleep tonight. I think it's your fault."
As his response, Inuyasha groaned.
"Why do you think my father is upset with me? And what plans are we going to make tomorrow with your mother? Does Sesshoumaru have a mate? What are we going to do once this whole ceremony mahooy is over? Are you even listening to me?"
"Mmhmm."
"Okay, good, because I've been thinking that I don't really know you that well so I think we should start getting to know each other. You know, if I have to live the rest of my life with you I want to know you at least a little. Common courtesy and all that sort of thing. What's your favorite colour?"
"Red."
"I guess I probably should have guessed that seeing as your bed is entirely red and I noticed too that a lot of your clothes are red. Did you like my red tank top? It's brand new you know. I went shopping before I came. I was having a pretty good time until Kouga showed up. He's like... some kind of crazy stalker or something. He always stares at me and it's weird. He's asked me out everyday since I've known him. You're a demon, tell me, it that common for a wolf demon? Anyways I made a great escape with only a little trouble from Hojou. Why do I seem to attract men who are practically stalkers? Please tell me you're not like that."
"Did you drink coffee at dinner?" He sounded exhausted.
"No, coffee makes me tired. I mean, for most people they seem to wake up and become all perky and such but I just get all drowsy. Come to think of it my dad has been kind of moody ever since we left. He made me take a gravol in the car and then I slept all the way here which made us late. Except in Miroku's car. He seems like a really nice guy. Except why did he grab me like that? Is it just a male thing, because you did it too and Kouga tried it. Come to think of it, Hojou is the only one who hasn't. Maybe I should run away with him. To bad I don't like him. He seems pretty perfect."
Inuyasha started growling loudly and Kagome quieted down to listen. "Kagome, if you add one more name to my hit list I'm going to scream." Kagome was quiet for a while and was beginning to drift off until Inuyasha's hand moved and she remembered it was there.
"Do you know what time is? I bet it's only like... ten. I probably won't be tired until about two in the morning. I usually stay up that late and read. I miss my book; it was just getting to a good part... Inuyasha?"
"Mmh?"
"Do you believe in true love? Like, not the kind of love that's just there, but the kind of undying love of, like, Romeo and Juliet. Do you think it could be real?" She asked wistfully, a dreamy expression falling over her face.
He sat up a little, his amber eyes reflecting the small lightening flashes that still flickered outside in the stormy sky. "Kagome," he said softly, looking into her eyes. "Kagome, that's what I have for you." Kagome's eyes were shining as she looked as deeply as she could into his own, the darkness impairing her. "I might not know you very well yet and you might be driving me insane but that's the kind of attraction I feel for you."
It was true that he hadn't said the word 'love', but Kagome found an odd truth in his word. There was something between them and what ever it was, it was there for her too. She smiled a little at him. Inuyasha's eye became half lidded and she watched, transfixed, as he leaned down on her and gently swept his lips over hers. It was like a spark suddenly coming in contact with a vat of gasoline. Kagome gasped a little against his lips and he pressed another, more urgent kiss to her mouth. Kagome closed her eyes and tentatively kissed him back. She had only kissed a boy once or twice before and didn't really have any idea what she was doing. Slowly, he opened his mouth over hers. He licked her bottom lip. She gasped a little again and he took to opportunity to sweep his tongue into her mouth. He gently nibbled at her bottom lip and she could feel him panting. Or was that her? Her hands had wound their way into his hair and he slowly ran his hands up the inside of her shirt. She was completely oblivious to this until she felt his hands firmly cup her breasts. With a gasp and a jerk she pulled away from him and would have fallen off the end of the bed if he hadn't caught her around her rib cage. They were both panting heavily and fully aroused.
"Kagome... I want you." He told her as he looked into her eyes, his own blazing.
"But, Inuyasha, We don't know each other..."
"Kagome..." He gave her an intense look. "I need you." He took her and placed it over his throbbing erection. Kagome gasped and nearly fell off the bed again.
"Inuyasha... I..." She felt horrible for making him this way but feeling the size of him was enough to ignite the small flame of fear in her stomach into a blazing inferno. "Inuyasha... can we - I mean - I want to... wait."
He looked down on her as she stuttered helplessly. The demon inside him was screaming for a release compliments of it's mate but the hanyou wouldn't lower himself to a rapists standards. He could smell her fear and indecision and... guilt? He sighed. She was sweet and obviously a very innocent girl. He could wait until she trusted him.
"It's okay." He reassured her with a heated kiss. "Do you think you can sleep now?" Kagome nodded and he sighed, settling them back to the middle of the bed in the same position they were in before.
"Inuyasha?"
"Mmhm?"
"Will you be... Will it...?"
"It's fine Kagome, go to sleep."
"But-"
"Just go to sleep."
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