Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe, but I sure do love playing with them. The rest is mine.


It came the day after the well closed.

She didn't see it then. Couldn't bring herself to get out of bed. Couldn't bring herself to do much of anything. She could still feel his lips on hers. Still see the darkness swirling around them.

She didn't see it the day after either. She was too lost in the memory of his eyes. Could still hear the laughter of their friends. Feel the heat of his hands on her thighs.

The day after, she finally drug herself out, spending her days under the great boughs of the sacred tree. She could still feel him with her that way. Feel connected to them all.

The day after, she had tried again. Her mother couldn't keep her from it. Her grandfather couldn't watch. Souta was too lost. She jumped. Again and again and again until she sprained her ankle. That's when she began to dig. Her fingers were left grimy and raw. Her nailbeds caked with dirt and blood. She leaned against the inside and sobbed until her eyes ran dry.

She didn't have the strength to pull herself out, and she slept there that night, longing to feel the warmth of fire rat around her shoulders.

When she finally pulled herself from the pit, her Grandfather boarded it up, despite her pleas.

It was for her own good, he had said.

Own good?

Own good?

What did he know?

What did any of them know…

She didn't leave her room again for a week, once that final board had been nailed into place.

When she finally emerged, eyes sunken - hollow - her mother handed it to her.

A simple envelope that had come in the mail for her days before. She handed it back to her, uncaring. Dismissive.

It had been a mistake.

One that had blessedly been quickly rectified.

Her mother opened it for her and read it herself before insisting that her daughter do the same.

Oh, how she wished that she had seen the letter sooner...It would have saved her so much pain. So much anguish.

She had lost so much...but in the thick, black, angular pen strokes on that piece of paper, she had found a spark of hope. Salvation.

He was alive.

He was here.

He was waiting for her.

"Finish your education," he had written. "When you're done...when you've found yourself, we will meet."

And so, she would wait. She would study. She would fulfill his request...Find herself...And when she was done, she would see him again.

Hope was what kept her going all those years.

Hope and anger. Why did she have to wait? Why couldn't she see him now? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right! Hadn't they both done enough waiting? Hadn't they both suffered enough? She didn't understand it, and it frustrated her...but still she clung to that hope.

She poured herself into her studies. Allowed them to distract her from the pain of her past. She wanted to excel. For herself...For her family...And for him. She laid awake at night, wondering what he would look like now. Wondering what he was doing.

She missed him. His friendship. His smile. The way he understood her better than she did herself at times. The way his eyes would light up the few precious times he would allow himself to laugh.

Her high school graduation came and went without preamble. The smiles were real, as were the well wishes...But when everything was said and done, she saw him. Just outside the schoolyard gates, staring at her and her family...a happy, wistful smile on his lips. He was older than she anticipated. He appeared to be thirty. He was no longer a young, scrappy boy who was her own age. He was a man.

His desire to wait made sense.

He had spent a lifetime waiting for her. Aged and grown and done things she couldn't even begin to imagine.

And there he stood. Red t-shirt. Black, leather motorcycle jacket. Jeans...But what surprised her the most - what she should have known was still there - were the beads. It was her affirmation that the man staring at her with taupe eyes and shoulder-length pitch-black hair was him. That her desperation and desire to see him again hadn't gotten the best of her.

It was Inuyasha.

She lifted a hand and waved at him. Her fingers slightly curled in as her wrist limply moved, but he saw it. She saw his face relax, and a certain longing enter his eyes.

He waved back.

And then he left.

She wanted to go to him. Chase him down. Hold him. Feel his arms around her small form. His lips on her hair. Her forehead. Her lips…

She couldn't do it though.

"Finish your education. When you've found yourself, we will meet."

His words were a blessing and a curse...and a request. A plea.

He wanted her to grow up, and the look he gave her...She knew he still felt the same way he had 500 years ago.

She kept her head down at University. She worked at a diner between her classes to help with the bills. She didn't love it, but the tips were good...Except...Sometimes the clientele could be creeps. Once, one of her patrons had grabbed her ass. He never came back again. She liked to think it was him.

Her silver-haired hanyou still looking out for her. She couldn't prove it though. The patron could have easily just...never come back. But it was so much easier to think Inuyasha was there. Watching over her from afar. Keeping his eye on her. Making sure that she was fine, in his own way.

She kept that image of him in her heart. Would think about him when she laid in bed at night. She didn't party quite like the rest of them. She maintained a social life, of course. Still went to parties.

Find yourself.

His request was clear.

So she was. She was having her fun.

Once, during that first year, she saw him at a club. Tucked away in a corner, in the VIP area. A bottle of vodka on his table with a few shot glass next to it. Two men sat beside him. One, tan with piercing blue eyes and a devilish smile. The other was pale. Red hair. Cheeky grin.

Kouga. Shippo.

She stopped dancing. Couldn't move. Her friends giggled and called her love-struck when she saw him.

She couldn't deny them even if she wanted to. She was. Had always been. Seeing him there again after nearly a year of nothing...She wanted to believe that it meant that this was it. He was ready to talk to her face to face.

He didn't come to her, however. He sat there, his eyes slowly roaming over her body, taking every inch of her in. They heated, and she knew that he liked what he saw. The way her shirt clung to the swell of her breast. The way her pants fit her like a second skin.

He wanted her.

She wanted him.

He left.

She stood there, watching him make his way through the crowd. Her old friends followed in his wake, shooting her sympathetic glances.

Kagome couldn't wait. She didn't want to keep waiting.

She followed after them, ignoring her university friends as they asked her to stop.

She wouldn't. She couldn't. She shook them in the crowd of people, gyrating bodies and jerky movements slowing the dead weight of her college friends. They had never known that she could be this slippery before now. They hadn't known her then. Hadn't known her when she had been with him.

When they found her again, she was on her knees, sobbing.

They were gone. Inuyasha, Kouga, Shippo...They were all gone, and she couldn't find them, no matter how hard she tried.

It wasn't time yet.

She knew that this was what that meant...but...She missed him. All of them.

He was forcing her to live a life without him and she wanted to scream. Why was it ok for him to make all of the decisions? Why couldn't she have a say? Why couldn't she at least say hi to him? To any of them?

She rubbed at her eyes, her eyeliner smudging and her mascara streaking. She looked like a raccoon, but she didn't care. The alcohol in her system made the pain that much more potent. Accentuated the sting of his betrayal.

"Sit boy," she whispered, confusing her friends. She imagined him falling face-first into the ground, immobilized and trapped. She didn't know if the magic still worked, but it brought her some comfort. Eased a little of the pain she felt.

He could refuse to talk to her all he wanted, but he would hear her. He would feel her pain and her wrath at being denied her friends too. The little boy she had thought of as a son.

She pushed herself onto shaky legs and allowed her friends to lead her back to the dorms.

It was another year before she saw him again. It was a cold fall day. She was just about to open the door at a Starbucks - warm drink in hand - when there he was. He was just on the other side of the door, phone in pressed to his ear. He distractedly talked to whoever was on the other side, not noticing that she had spotted him. She couldn't begin to fathom who it could be. The conversation looked heated, however.

She opened the door, and quickly strode through the threshold, forcing herself to not think twice. She snatched the phone from his hand, yanking it away from him before she wrapped herself around him.

She pressed her lips firmly to his. Hungrily. Nearly wept at the feeling of him returning it with as much vigor as she put into it. She was sure the people around them were talking. She didn't care. Let them see. They didn't know that she had waited years for this.

That he had waited even longer.

She felt his hands fist her jacket, pulling her closer. Felt him lose himself. She could taste his own hunger. Feel his own desire. His need. It made her mind go blank. Stole the air from her lungs. Made her body burn despite the chill in the air.

And then, without warning, he pushed himself away from her.

"No," he panted, his eyes pinching themselves shut. "It's too soon…"

"According to who?" she demanded, holding his phone hostage.

He didn't answer her. Wouldn't.

Not at first.

"Who are you living your life for, Kagome?" he whispered softly, his eyes demanding she think long and hard before responding. "You need to live it for you."

"And living it for me means I can't have you in it?"

"I'm not the same boy you remember."

"I'm not the same girl you remember," she countered, and he smiled ruefully.

"Perhaps not…"

"Once a month. Give me dinner with you once a month, Inuyasha," she requested, and she saw his resolve begin to weaken. "You think I don't know about you keeping tabs on me? This isn't the first time I've caught you. Wouldn't this be easier than fighting the pull?" she reasoned gently.

He was going to give in. She could see it. Almost hear the words.

"I can't."

With that, he and his phone were gone.

She had gone back to her apartment numb, reliving the moment over and over again. Her chai cooled, going completely untouched as she sat at her table, their encounter on a loop in her mind.

Why was he still pushing her away? He was alive. She was alive. She was growing up. It had been five years since that well closed. She was an adult. She was in her second year at university. She was figuring out her life!

Why couldn't she have him in it too? Just a little?

The hot tears on her cheeks weren't new. It wasn't the first time she had cried over him, nor would it be the last.

Weeks passed before she saw him again. He looked haggard. Like he had been fighting with something within himself. It was raining. Cold. Bitter. He was leaning against a street light on campus grounds, an umbrella just barely shielding him from the water cascading down around them.

She paused, her breath catching in her throat. Her heart beating so loudly in her ears that she could no longer hear it pounding against the thin fabric of her own umbrella. He was making it plainly obvious that he was here now. He wasn't following her. Wasn't trying to be sneaky.

He was here. Looking at her. Allowing her to approach.

She took a hesitant step towards him, almost as if she were afraid he was going to bolt if she moved, yet her need to touch him again was too strong to keep her away. When he made no move to dart away, she took another. Then another, and another and another until she could reach out and touch him, should she want to.

And she wanted to. So badly.

But if history had told her anything, it was that the second she did, he would disappear again.

So instead she just looked at him as the rain fell around them. It blocked out the world they were in, not that they needed much help. Nothing existed but them, and she wished she could see his golden eyes. See his silver hair. His puppy dog ears.

"Coffee," he breathed. "Come with me for coffee?"

"Coffee?" she murmured, swallowing hard. Her throat was dry.

"Just one cup," he nodded, as if he was struggling with himself. With some large, inner battle. She had seen that look on him before. Whenever he fought his demon. His instincts were asking him for more. Demanding that he do more than just this, but he thought it was wrong. The human in him was begging him for something else...and the human in him was strong.

She licked her lips, nervously biting them, and she watched as his eyes lowered. Watched her pink tongue slip out between them. Pulled her flesh between her teeth. Was he wondering what it felt like? What her tongue on his skin could feel like? How good her teeth grazing his body would feel? What it would be like to have her bite him?

She shivered at the thought, and she saw him grip the umbrella tighter, and it looked as if his resolve to stay away from her weakened for a moment.

Just one brief moment.

Then his guard was back up, and she nodded.

"Just one cup."

Only it wasn't one cup.

One cup had led to two as they sat in a secluded part of a favorite coffee shop, tucked away against a wall, far from prying eyes.

He had told her about Sango and Miroku's life. Their children's lives. Kaede's. Told her how he had lived throughout the years. How he and his brother no longer loathed each other - worked together. How his brother had hanyou twin daughters. He was a proud uncle. Shared photos of them and their husbands and their children.

He briefly touched on the wars and hardships he had seen. His own desperate howling at the sky when the well had closed. Told her that he had gone back once every three days for decades, just in case.

After the first century, he gave up. He knew there would be no shortcuts…

"But, it was worth it, to see you again," he had smiled longingly, reaching out to cup her cheek. She leaned into it, closing her eyes before he pulled away, a look of regret and remorse on his face.

It was like every little sign of affection he showed her, he instantly regretted. Their kiss. This.

Kagome didn't want to dwell on it, or the implications of why he was behaving that way.

"Why do you look so human," she pressed instead, and his fingers danced across the beads.

"Kitsune magic. We're all concealing ourselves with it. It was the only way to blend in…"

The beads were enchanted. He had figured since he could never take them off, he would never give himself away.

"I can remove them for you," she hinted. "We could go back to my place, and I-"

"-No!" he interrupted. "That's alright. There's no need. Perhaps one day," he gently reassured when he saw the hurt on her face, and she nodded, looking down into her lap.

"One day...That's a theme with you, isn't it, Inuyasha?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but she was becoming frustrated. She had already waited five years. How much longer did she need to wait?

And she asked him. Demanded he give her some sort of explanation! She had graduated from high school. She was in college now. She had found herself. She knew her career path. She wanted to travel. She had gotten so used to it in the feudal era...she wanted to do more of it. Wanted to go into sales, because Miroku had rubbed off on her. She could do it. Stand up in front of people and give pitches. See the world. When would she be done waiting?

He was unimpressed.

She was hurt.

She lashed out and grabbed her purse, ready to leave, when his hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her from leaving him.

"What do you see when you look at me, Kagome?" he had asked gently.

"I see my friend."

The love of my life.

"An old friend," he smiled weakly. "I look like I could be one of your business professors. I've lived for five centuries. You've just barely reached adulthood. What you - we - want," he corrected, his shoulders slumping as he sighed. "I've waited 500 years for you. I need to wait for a few more. I need to give you a chance to experience some of life without me, the way I experienced life without you. I want us to be on equal footing. It's not right or appropriate otherwise."

"What kind of life am I supposed to experience, huh Inuyasha?" she demanded, her voice rising slightly, gaining the attention of a few patrons. "You're so vague!"

"Study abroad! Go out and have fun with your friends! Get your degree, get a job, go on some dates-"

"-You want me to date?"

He was silent - his eyes guilt-ridden.

"I have no right to ask you to go without any experience you might want to...enjoy while I could," he whispered, and it didn't take a genius to realize what he meant.

Sex. Intimacy.

She shouldn't have been surprised.

He had needs and desires too. It had been 500 years. Of course he had taken comfort in the arms of another woman. Of course he had slept around. As soon as the necklace had been enchanted, what would have stopped him?

Still it...it stung slightly. Of course she wanted him to have had some happiness! She didn't want him to be miserable and lonely for 500 years! But hearing about it...knowing that he had...It was like she was fifteen all over again...

She slumped back down into her seat, and he couldn't look at her. It was that same face she had seen a hundred times before. The guilty look he would get whenever he would go to see Kikyo. 500 years and it hadn't changed a bit. She really was fifteen again.

"How many…"

She didn't know why she asked. Morbid curiosity?

"Twenty-one," he whispered, still unable to meet her gaze. "Not for the first hundred years though."

Not while he still held out hope she could come back, he meant. While there could still be a chance for them to be together, he had remained faithful to her. Honestly...She was impressed. Still a little hurt...but...Also impressed.

Were they...serious?

"I was married twice," he nodded, still unable to meet her gaze. "Both were human."

Were.

As in they had long since passed.

Her purse dropped back down to the floor, and he nervously glanced back over at her, as if he were afraid she would tell him to go to hell.

"Tell me about them."

The sky blackened as he slowly told her his past. She learned the names of each woman. His first. His last. How he had met each wife. How they had changed him. How he had watched them slowly slip away to old age, passing away in his arms.

It made it that much harder for her to agree to his terms. They were wasting such precious time while he was waiting for her to "grow up". Time they could be sharing in before her bones became brittle and her eyesight began to fade as her hair greyed.

She would grow old long before he would...and one day, she would leave him just as the others before her.

When she told him her concerns, he reached out, taking her hands in his.

"You wouldn't," he insisted. "There is something we could do...but...I don't want to talk to you about it now. It's something we need to both choose...and it's too soon for you to choose it. Because I know you will say yes."

"And you didn't do this with them?" Kagome replied, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"My demon didn't want them the way it wants you. I never wanted them the same way - we shared a different kind of love. It wasn't even an option."

That's all he would give her. Another time, she decided.

Time, it would seem, could still be on their side.

When her stomach rumbled, they braved the rain and moved to a restaurant, continuing to catch up. A little ramen shop that he was fond of. It warmed her heart to know that it was still his favorite food.

The conversation became fluid. The hard things were already discussed. She knew his guiltiest secrets and she didn't turn him away. Had explained that she understood his desires better. But she also expressed that she couldn't just pretend he didn't exist still.

She knew now.

She wanted to at least keep in touch with him.

And as the ramen bowls were cleared away, he nervously agreed.

On the first Saturday of every month, they would meet up at that same coffee shop and talk. He would hug her once at the beginning...and once at the end, when he would cling to her. Breathe her in. Kiss the top of her head in a way that he thought was subtle, yet...she still knew. Otherwise, he kept a small distance between them.

She knew he wanted more, but now...she at least understood. He didn't want to interfere more than he already was.

He asked her about her love life only twice, and she could see him brace for the answer.

"I haven't yet," she confessed that second time, a little over a year later. It was winter now, and a fine layer of snow covered the ground. She had dated, but she could never bring a man back to her apartment. It had become a bone of contention in her last relationship, and they had ended the month prior.

"Why not?" he had pressed, and she circled her finger around the lip of her ceramic mug.

"You know why, Inuyasha," she smiled sadly, lowering her gaze from his. She couldn't bring herself to look at him right now. They both knew what she wanted. It didn't take a genius to figure it out.

"Kagome, I…" he began hesitantly, running his fingers through his short black locks. Every time she saw him, it was still a shock to her system to see him this way. She wished she could look into his golden eyes. See those ears…

"I know. You won't. But...Inuyasha...I want to," she confessed softly. "Couldn't we? Just once? The first time?"

He sucked in a deep breath, shifting his gaze to the side.

"Just the first," she tried again. "I always imagined it would be you…"

"I...I need to go for a smoke," he replied, refusing to look at her. His leather jacket was around his shoulders in seconds and he was halfway to the door before she could even begin to follow him.

When she found him outside, he was shakily removing a cigarette from a carton, lighting it between trembling fingers. She watched him take one long drag before she slowly approached, smoke slipping from his lips in a large white plume.

"Inuyasha?" she questioned lightly, and he turned around to face her, pulling the yellow butt from between his lips.

"You can't ask that of me, Kagome," he explained, running his hand through his hair.

Good. He wasn't going to pretend that her request had never happened...because she wasn't going to let it go.

"Why not? You didn't have a choice...but...wouldn't you have rather experienced your first time with me too?"

"You know I would have," he breathed. "But...I'm not strong enough to let you go after, Kagome. If I gave you everything you asked for, I couldn't hold back. You'd be mine, through and through. No more waiting. It would be an end to everything."

"And that's bad?"

"You're still in school!" he nearly shouted in exasperation, gaining the attention of a few onlookers. He ignored them though, as did she. "Kagome...I don't want to take your life from you and bind you to me when you're still so young. It's not right. It's not fair to you. I'm trying to do what's right."

"I'm almost done," she reasoned. "I've dated. I'm doing that study abroad in the spring. I've done everything you've asked of me, Inuyasha. Can't I make a request of you too?"

He pinched his eyes shut, and she could see his resolve wavering.

"I couldn't give you everything…"

She thought that she had imagined it at first. His words were so quiet. A whisper, really.

"What could you give me?" she pressed, and his cheeks lit up as he looked away, taking another long drag from the cigarette between his fingers.

"When did you start smoking?"

"50s," he smiled wanly. "Back when they were still good for you."

"I see," she replied, watching him toss it to the ground and toe the light out in the muddy snow before catching her eyes.

"Guess I should try and quit. It's not good for you to be around it."

"It's not," she agreed, her gaze never leaving his. "What did you-"

"-I could give you a taste. I couldn't...We couldn't go all the way, but I could give you a taste. I draw the line at penetration," he winced, as if he were embarrassed to discuss it aloud in the streets like this.

"Ok," she nodded before he could change his mind.

"Think about it for a month. Until next time."

"I don't need to think about it."

"I want you to anyway," he insisted. "It's a big decision...and...God, I hope I'm strong enough," he laughed bitterly. "He's already yelling at me for this."

"Your demon?"

He nodded his head, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"He wants more. I'm worried I won't be able to stop, and you'll walk away from this as mine."

"And that would be bad," she smiled weakly. "It's not the right time," she continued before he could open his mouth.

"No. It's not," he murmured, a rueful smirk across his lips.

Doing it when he was human wasn't an option for either of them. He might look like one, but he wasn't. And she wanted him the way she knew him...and he wanted to savor this. Use all of his senses. She felt a shiver of excitement at the thought run up her spine.

"One month?" she pressed, and he gave her his word.

She would think about it for one month, and he would bend a little more for her. She could always get him to bend. They had come so far in the last few years, ever since the well closed. It shouldn't have surprised her, and she had to constantly remind herself of that.

A month came and went, and the next time she saw him at the coffee shop, he was stiff. Afraid of her answer.

She decided to put him out of his misery.

"I want it."

It hadn't helped, but he agreed.

A week later, he was at her apartment. Taking her to dinner. Showing her a hidden glimpse at the demon "underground". Walking her back to her place. When they reached her door, he was nervous.

"It's not too late to back out," he reassured her.

"I don't want to."

Her door opened, and she watched him inhale deeply.

He had always liked her scent. She wondered what he was thinking now. How much he liked it here.

"Can I offer you a drink?" she asked as she slipped her shoes off, slipping on her slippers.

"No. Thank you," he replied, finding the pair she had for him. She had found them online. Little white dog ones with his ears in - what she assumed to be - his size. "Cute," he smirked, glancing down at the slippers.

"Since I can't see you," she reasoned, and she watched his fingers come up to tenderly graze the beads.

He nodded, before turning around to lock the door. When he turned back around to face her, she took his hand, leading her further into her apartment. He didn't want anything. But she still felt he was owed a small tour. Not that there was much to see. Her kitchen was in her living room. There was a small bathroom. An equally small bedroom. He could take most of it in without trying, but she could feel his nerves and her own. When she opened the door to her bedroom, it was like the energy had completely changed. They both knew that they would be spending the rest of the night here.

They were both nervous.

Both for different reasons.

"Are you sure you don't want something to drink?" she pressed, and he nodded, his nose twitching.

"I'm fine Kagome...Are you?"

"Yes," she reassured, her hands nervously clenching and unclenching. She didn't know where all of this nervous energy had come from!

"Kagome," he murmured softly, hooking a finger under her chin, making her look up at him. "We don't have to do this."

"I want to," she whispered, reaching up to run her fingers along the beads. They absently traced a fang, and he looked down, watching her every movement.

She was surprised when he released her chin, grabbing her hands and placing them on the beads. Her fingers flattened against them and his chest, and she looked back up into his taupe eyes.

"Inuyasha?" she questioned quietly.

He wanted her to remove them. He didn't need to speak the words. They both knew it.

He gave her a reassuring nod, and her fingers curled around them, slowly lifting them up. He bowed his head as she slipped off his neck for the first time in five centuries...and with it...his mask of humanity.

Silver hair shimmered in the dimly lit room. Pointed dog ears twitched, taking in her small gasp of surprise...and when he lifted his head to look at her again...Golden eyes looked back at her.

"Inuyasha," she breathed.

She knew it was him. Had always known it was him. But...It was like something snapped in her. The beads fell to the floor, completely forgotten as her arms wrapped around his neck. She buried her face in his shoulder, breathing him in as his arms held her to his body. The tears fell freely from her eyes as everything seemed to really snap into place. The boy that had been ripped from her was the man she held now.

And she didn't want to waste another second with him. So much had already been stolen. She wanted to claim what was hers.

She kissed his neck. His jawline. Pressed wet kissed all across his face - tasted his own tears. When he could take no more, he claimed her lips with his. Soft at first, then slowly, it became more desperate. Bruising in force and nature. He picked her up, and her legs wrapped around his waist. She clung to him as he laid her down on the bed, and her hands slid into his hair. She held him in place, needing to tell him everything she could with her actions instead of words. Needing to tell him just how much he meant to her. Would always mean to her. How much she needed him.

She tasted his passion. His thinly veiled restraint.

When his tongue slipped into her mouth, she gasped, and she felt him pull back into her hands. She wouldn't let him move. She wanted him to keep going, and he quickly realized that. He stayed where she wanted him, stoking the burning in the burning in her blood. The tingling in her limbs. He pulled away to allow her the chance to breathe, pressing kisses to her neck.

She returned the favor by taking his ears between her fingers and rubbing them until his hips were thrusting into hers.

"Kagome," he begged, his voice a keening whimper.

She released them, suddenly understanding all too well why he used to hate it when she touched his ears. It allowed him to move away from her, and he took her hand, rubbing her knuckles.

"We can stop at any time," he reassured, but she had no desire for that.

She sat up and pulled the shirt over the top of her head, her deep, blood red, lace bra making him whimper.

"I don't want to."

He was back on her in seconds with renewed passion, his lips pouring all of his desire into their kiss. It made her dizzy, and she couldn't focus on anything other than this. Couldn't think about anything other than him. When he gently laid his hand on her ribs - his fingers splaying across her pale flesh - she arched into his touch encouraging him to continue, and he did.

He worshiped every inch of her body. Touched her in ways she could have never imagined. When he placed his head between her thighs, she was nervous yet excited and screaming his name in mere minutes. When she came down from the best high she had ever experienced, she sat up in bed and removed his clothing, exploding every inch of his body.

She lightly traced the scar above his heart. The lines of his body. Delighted in the way she could make his body tremble and his fangs dig into his lip as she touched him. Learned how to bring him as much pleasure as he had brought her.

When he cried his release, she laid down beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.

That night, she fell asleep with his arms holding her tightly and their limbs entwined. She hadn't felt that happy in years.

The next day when he left, he kissed her deeply, and she felt at peace when he walked out the door.

This wasn't the right time...And tomorrow wouldn't be either.

But it was coming.

She could see it in the lines of his face and the tender timbre of his voice...And she knew that she wouldn't have to wait much longer for it to finally be the right time.


A/N: Happy birthday Lavendertwilight!