Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the very late update. I know it's been months, but summer is a busy time for me with work. I had a week in Kaua'i for work, which really helped me to heal from all the unrest and turmoil in my heart and in my life. And then in two weeks I leave for Moloka'i for work. I've just been diving a lot since summer is the best time to dive in Hawai'i, so it's our busiest season. I've had to host and plan a graduation party. I've just had a lot of things on my plate and not enough hours in the day or motivation to write.

That being said, here's the next chapter. Like some of you hinted at and probably want, things will start ramping up a bit. The Vegas concert is coming up soon which means a lot of action and drama will unfold, so hold onto your seat for that. I will try my best to keep up with the next chapter update, but since I leave in 2 weeks, not sure what my writing will look like. But with the increase in action and drama, maybe I'll write more. Anyway, hope you enjoy this one. Sorry if there's grammar mistakes. I really wanted to get this out soon, and it's a long one :) I liked writing this one, especially the ending since that scene has been on my mind for a while now :) Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Read at your own discretion- sex. *Lemon*

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R2R

susu-anon: Thank you for the birthday wish. And don't worry about it, though I appreciate your sympathy. I'm in a much better place now and had time to heal, thanks to my trip to Kaua'i. Haha- yes I like your take on Kagura, so true. She is the "Freak" in the club. And the whole Sai/Fujimoto working together thing, on top of Sessho trying to dig into Kag's past, yes that will be coming up. It's all part of the drama and angst lol. Gotta keep you guys on your seats. Thanks for your review. I hope you like this next one cuz I loved writing it :)

anime-geek: Thank you for your review and your sympathy and kind words. I appreciate it. I do love everyone's persistence in me updating because it reminds me that I'm needed, so I need to kick my butt into gear. But I am doing much better now. I'm glad you like all the women figures in Inu's life and in Kag's. Yes, they can be meddling, but that's how mothers and family can get sometimes. Inu/Kag will have a talk about a lot of these secrets, and we shall see how that goes. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!

hive-chan: LOL Your review made me laugh! Oh the power a woman has over a man, especially Kags. No one stands a chance. Even Inu is awestruck and smitten by her, as you'll see again in this chapter. Hope you enjoy this one!

MinxieXCX: LOL... yeah there'll probably be too many lemons for me to top. But the one in this chapter is one that I've been imaging for quite a while. I understand what you said about Sessho butting in on Inu/Kag's relationship and then digging into her past. The way I see it, he's being an overprotective brother-in-law, or like you said, pack brother. In their family as inu-youkai, they are a very protective and possessive species. Sessho is just trying to protect his brother but mostly trying to protect his sister-in-law since learning that a male abused her and that doesn't sit well with him. They have their own ways of loving and protecting what's theirs, even if it might be the wrong ways. To them, the most important thing is to protect what they love, no matter the cost. That's why Inu and Sessho are working together to find "him", even if Inu has to let Sessho in on a few things from Kag's past to help him find the guy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

inusitter: Awww thanks for your reviews. Sorry it's been so long. I hope the weather in Canada is treating you well and you're enjoying your summer. There's a little bit of dancing in this chapter, mostly scenes with our favorite man ;) But we're getting closer to Inu's bday and the concert so more dancing then. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter.

xsophiex: LoL wow. That was an interesting take you took on Genta. He definitely seems like that "father" figure, maybe with a family of his own and a daughter Kag's age. But no, not to take Kags as a trophy wife lol. I respect Genta because he's respectful and truthful to himself. He knows nothing will ever happen between him and Kags, but he also knows that she is a beautiful and attractive woman that he can't help but to woo and pamper. That's how I see him anyway ;) Not a sugar daddy because that has a stigma attached to it. But... that's just my perspective. Enjoy this chapter.

vanessa: Thanks for your review. I totally understand where you're coming from. There's things that still needs to be talked about between Inu/Kags and she's still unsure of whether or not she should share it with him. Kags still has a lot of insecurities and trauma that she's dealing with, maybe in an unhealthy way that could affect her relationship with Inu negatively, but she's still in new territory and don't really know what to do. Both Inu and Kags mention the secrets that they feel they need to bring up in this chapter, but it'll be an upcoming conversation. I hope you enjoy this one!

Rosie B: Sorry for the long wait. I'm curious to know what your playlist is for this story. I have a lot of songs too, but I try to let them speak to me in the moment or else every chapter would have a song, and that would be too much for me to incorporate into the story lol. But this chapter has a song, one of my faves. I hear what you're saying about Kag's "type". She does come from a "father-trauma" and now she has daddy-issues that manifests itself into many unhealthy relationships with men (Onigumo, Sai, clients, even with Inu). And I've been thinking about that pole dancing class with the group but I'm trying to figure out when and how to put it into the story. With so many things coming up soon, I will put that on the back burner for now. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

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The music was pounding through the building as Kikyo walked in. She made a face, wondering what was going on, and then spotted Inuyasha moving behind the spaces between the mirrors that they had setup in the middle of the warehouse. She looked around, seeing as to how everything was still in its place, except for the handful of mirrors that they had moved to the center of the warehouse in order to practice in front of. Inuyasha danced on the other side of the mirrors so she made her way towards the middle of the room, going to one end of the line of mirrors to see him.

He was wearing nothing but his black jogger pants. His hair was down, clinging to sweat on his body, as he remained focused on his dance and his reflection. Kikyo took note of every muscle definition, from his back to his abs. She licked her lips, appreciating the sight of his sweat-dripping body, aware that it was just the two of them.

He stopped when she hooked her thumbs into her Coach mini backpack she wore, admiring his male beauty. She smiled at him as he turned to look at her, placing his hands on his hips as the music kept playing.

"That was nice," she said, caught staring at him, not knowing what else to say. Plus, she wasn't sure if she meant his body or his dance was nice, or maybe both. She moved to stand in front of one of the mirrors, keeping her distance. She didn't want to be too close, lest she finds herself too tempted by him. Inuyasha would always have a special place in her heart, even if he was with someone.

"That was almost the second routine we have."

"Well, then you have twelve more to go," she said with a smile, laughing when he made a face at her.

Inuyasha took out the iPod in his pocket and shut the music off, leaving the entire space in eerie silence. "Thanks for meeting me," he said, walking to the mirrors to grab his hydroflask and towel on the ground. He stood and went to her, wiping the sweat off his face while breathing hard. He draped the towel over his shoulder and took a long drink of his water.

"Sure. But I only have an hour before Naraku and Akari are coming to get me. I have an interview after this." Her eyes roamed all over his body, noticing the way his sweat went down between his pecs, all the way down the hard board of his abs to his belly button, calling her attention to that perfect V at his hips. He was purely muscle, and she couldn't help but be jealous and envious of Kagome. 'I wonder if they had sex already,' she thought, but then answering the question herself with a 'yes'. If she was in Kagome's shoes, she would've bed the man the first night he wanted to officially be with her.

Inuyasha noticed Kikyo's stare as she looked at his body and not his eyes. He cleared his throat, catching the attention of her eyes. "What?"

She chuckled with a smirk. "Nothing you don't already know." She sighed heavily, not wanting to talk about how she was still so attracted to him, and still holding on to a possibility of 'them' again. "Come. Let's go sit."

Inuyasha obliged her and followed behind, wiping the sweat that kept appearing on his forehead. He got here early this morning after calling Kagome. It was hard waking up without her after having her over for three nights. Her scent was still strong in his bed, and he wasn't planning on washing his sheets anytime soon, especially since the smell of their sex still clung to his sheets. After he got off the phone with her and had his morning coffee and snack, he came straight to the warehouse. He needed to work, alone, and make the routines as quickly and efficiently as he could. But he also needed to get out of his home where everywhere reminded him of Kagome. In just three days, she filled his apartment with her presence. He had memories of her everywhere in his home, and it didn't feel right without her there anymore. So he had been here for the past two hours, grilling away on trying to come up with moves for the song he was working on.

"It's just you?" Kikyo asked as they got to the lounge area. She took her backpack off and put it on the couch as she sat down, sighing.

"Yeah." Inuyasha came to sit on one of the chair across the couch, sitting on the edge of the seat since he was still sweating. "I told Miroku to text the others to meet at the academy to practice the first song we made so far, without music. They should've met an hour ago," he thought, checking his watch to see it was only nine in the morning. "How did you get here?"

"Naraku dropped me off and had to go pick up Akari. They're going to grab some breakfast before coming back for me." Kikyo crossed her arms over her pink, floral dress. She wanted to dress cute for her interview, finishing the look with black boots and a pink headband. "So... what did you want to talk about?"

Inuyasha ran the towel down his face again and held it as he leaned his elbows on his knees. "Kikyo, I think that we need to rethink the lineup for the concert. I know I won't be able to come up with fourteen routines in just a month, let alone teaching it to the group, and making fillers and the transitions. It's just too much. I don't know what I was thinking in the beginning when I agreed to this, but it's not like you gave me much of a choice." She smiled at him, but he continued. "I think we need to incorporate more of the hits into the show. None of us can come up with new routines and learn them that fast. At least, not to my expectations and standards. And I'm not going to lower my standards just because of time. You know me. We just don't have the time to do it all the right way."

After a small silence, Kikyo nodded. "I agree."

Inuyasha's ears perked and he stared at her, dumbfounded. "You do?" He expected more pushback.

Kikyo nodded again, frowning. "I had a feeling that you guys wouldn't be able to pull it off. And I'm not saying I'm mad or that you guys aren't good enough. I know that the time I placed on you isn't fair and I wouldn't want you to make a dance that isn't up to your standard, or mine. I realized that this is going to be one of my defining concerts, and I don't want anything rushed and put together just because we ran out of time."

Inuyasha nodded. "Good. I know we talked about this a little before, but I wanted to push the issue this time. I think it's wise to use the older hits, songs that the fans know and love."

"Well, since you and I were sort of talking about this, I ended up talking to Naraku and the managers in Vegas about this. I wanted to get an idea from them of my time limit for the show, and we agreed that I would do my fourteen songs and have an encore song."

"So... fifteen songs," Inuyasha said in disbelief, now glad that they weren't doing all of her new songs. Kikyo was just piling up the workload for them.

"Yeah. Which means... I want to do nine of the old songs and six of the new ones," she suggested, watching his expression.

"Well, I made one so far, and the others are learning it right now. I'm almost done with number two. I might be able to start number three today and finish it tomorrow. So that's three songs by this weekend."

"And that leaves us with three more?" she asked, watching his nod. The two of them thought this over, thinking about the timeline and considering all the steps that went into making the show come together.

"I want to make all the new songs by the release next Thursday. Hopefully, I can do the last three songs next Monday through Wednesday. So the week after the release will be everyone learning the new routines and doing some tweaks. And then the week after that will be the fillers and transitions," he said, feeling overwhelmed the more he planned and said it out loud. It was getting real.

"So that's... three weeks? I think we leave after that," she said, taking her phone out of her backpack. She opened her phone to pull up her calendar, needing a visual of the timeline. "Yeah... we do. We leave for Vegas three Fridays from now and the fourth Friday is the first performance."

'A month?' Inuyasha thought, wondering if he and the team and Kikyo could get it all together in a month. It's not like they had a choice. "Yeah, I guess so. Is that all of October?" he asked her, watching her look at her phone and nod.

"Yeah. Three weeks puts us into the first week of November already. So then, that leaves me with maybe two weeks to learn my parts," she commented with a groan. She wasn't a dancer and she didn't learn as quickly as the professional dancers did, but she trusted Inuyasha to know her level of skill and to make it where she could learn it fast enough.

"Don't worry. The old songs are all the same for us and for you. It's only the six new ones that you'll have to learn. And I probably won't have you dancing too much because of time."

Kikyo nodded. "That's fine. I can spend more time with the crowd. It's Vegas, so it's the perfect venue to interact with the crowd." Inuyasha nodded his agreement as she placed her phone down in her lap.

She sighed heavily. "I knew that this was going to be a lot when I agreed to it. But I couldn't not agree to it, Inuyasha," she said, her eyes pleading with him to understand. She could feel the pressure he felt. He probably didn't even know the intense amount of pressure she felt having to be a young Asian artist performing in the United States, in one of the most famous places in the world. This would be the highlight of her career thus far, and it was a huge load she was carrying, on top of her album releasing in six days and hoping that made the charts.

Inuyasha nodded, looking down at the ground as he hung his head. She wasn't apologizing. She was stating a fact. And he couldn't blame her, even though he felt like he had been directing his anger and frustration towards her since the engagement party. It really wasn't Kikyo's fault. If she hadn't taken this offer, he would have been disappointed in her. He truly is proud of her and excited for her to do this concert, even with all the pressure he felt, and knew she must be feeling. "I get it."

"I know it's a lot on you guys. It's a lot on you. On the both of us. It's been... a lot. And Naraku is keeping me busy."

"Why don't you tell him 'no'?" he asked, bringing his head up to stare at her.

She shrugged as she looked away, unable to look into his eyes. "He's my manager."

"He's not just your manager," he pointed out.

Kikyo looked back at him with a glare. "And you were not just my choreographer."

Inuyasha glared back at her. "I hate it when you compare me to him," he said, his voice low.

Kikyo's glare softened and she frowned. "I'm not."

"You just did. You're saying that he and I were your 'friends with benefits'. But we weren't the same to you, Kikyo. Naraku was more to you than I ever was."

"Wrong," she said softly.

Inuyasha shook his head and ran the towel over his face, exasperated. "I don't want to fight about this again." Maybe he had read the signs wrong. But she was the one who always ran back to Naraku, who had such long escapades with him. And he didn't have a problem with it because he made it clear to Kikyo that he wasn't looking for anything more. So he saw her form a deeper relationship with Naraku because she couldn't get it from him.

The silence between them stretched on as Kikyo tried to think of what to say without them getting into an argument. She knew his feelings for her, or lack thereof. But he never seemed to realize how much she felt for him, or even cared that she did. It was as if all those times that they were together meant nothing to him, and that's what she couldn't let go of.

"Just make sure that you remind Naraku of who his boss is," Inuyasha said, breaking the silence. His voice held no venom or anger. He was just tired of pointing out the fact. She let Naraku walk all over her sometimes. "If you need a break, take one. Don't let him boss you around and overwork you. Burnout is the worst for a singer like you."

Kikyo sighed. "I know."

Inuyasha looked at her, watching her demeanor and trying to gauge her response. "Are you two still fooling around?"

Kikyo stiffened and looked at him with a blank stare. "It's my life, Inuyasha."

He took a breath, trying to calm himself before he got angry. "It is your life, Kikyo. But you're still my friend." She flinched at the word, but he didn't seem to notice. "And Naraku is a dirty leech who has no respect for you. You deserve better than that, better than him."

Kikyo frowned and looked away, taking his words to heart. It was hard for her to come to terms with them being 'just friends'. But the more he spoke about their 'relationship', the more she realized and saw how little of a relationship they had. She and Inuyasha, they never were a thing. In her mind, she thought they were, but the reality was that they weren't. Even being 'friends with benefits' was an exaggeration. Still, she loved Inuyasha. Even though she knew there was no future for the two of them, she still loved him.

"Thanks..." It was all she could give him.

Inuyasha stared at her, sensing her mood. She looked deep in thought and refused to look at him. He sighed. "But you're right. It's your life. You can do whatever you want to do."

The door suddenly opened, snapping their attention, and Naraku looked around, noticing them in the corner. He walked in as Kikyo pulled herself together, grabbing her backpack and standing. Inuyasha stood, draping the towel around the back of his neck, looking at Naraku as he waved at the two of them.

"Hey," Naraku said, coming to stand at the end of the couch as he looked to Inuyasha. "How's the dances going?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's going."

Naraku smirked, nodding his head at the curt response. "What did you guys talk about?" he asked, looking at Kikyo to tell him.

Kikyo shrugged the backpack comfortably in its place. "We're changing the lineup of songs. We both agree that learning fourteen new routines in a month is too much. And I don't want anyone to forget and screw up a move during the performance. So we're going to do nine of the old songs and six of the new ones. I told him about the encore song, which is going to be an old one. He can probably finish three songs this weekend," she said, looking at Inuyasha with a grateful smile. "And then make the last three next week by Thursday."

Naraku nodded his understanding as he looked at Inuyasha to explain. "We talked about this 'Plan B'. The managers in Vegas told us that most of the time the performers will have an encore song especially for their weekend slots, which are the most popular and most expensive." He looked back at Kikyo. "I told you this would've been the best bet with the time that we had. Plus, people know you for your hit songs, and they don't know the new album's songs so no one will be able to sing along with you."

Kikyo nodded, rolling her eyes. "I know, I know. I just... was too ambitious, I guess."

Naraku nodded, turning to face the door. "Come on. Akari's in the car waiting." He gazed back at Inuyasha. "When can the group meet to go over all the logistics? Everything should be finalized some time next week."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Not Monday or Wednesday since me and Kagome have our class and then we have to practice." Naraku nodded his understanding and waved, walking towards the door. "I'll text you and we'll plan for one day."

Kikyo nodded and turned to smile at Inuyasha. "Catch you later?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go to RUSH tonight. You need a break."

Inuyasha snickered, watching Kikyo's back as she walked towards the door with Naraku. "I think I've had my share of dancing."

Kikyo laughed. "I hear you. Let me know if you change your mind," she said with a wave over her shoulder.

Inuyasha sighed, looking around at the empty warehouse. He went to his bag near the mirrors. He wanted to call Kagome, hear her voice and see how they were doing at the academy. Then he would have to get right back to work. He had a feeling that it would be him in this warehouse for the next five days, all day and night. He had no problem with no sleep or no food. He was a hanyou and have done it many times decades ago. The only problem he would have was when he needed to spend time with Kagome, that came first because she was his motivation and inspiration.

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"Call me when you're done. I'll come get you and we can grab lunch."

Kagome nodded. "Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you more." She hung up and turned to see Midoriko and Ayumi making their way towards her. The streets were busy as it was a Saturday morning with people going about their way, enjoying their weekend. Kagome waved as the two noticed her and made their way over towards her with smiles.

"Hey!" both said as they got to her. "Is it just you?" Midoriko asked, looking around.

Kagome shook her head. "Sango's coming. Miroku is dropping her off."

"Let's go inside and check in," Ayumi said, turning to lead the way. The two followed behind her, walking in and approaching the woman behind the check-in counter. The three of them made small talk with the woman, as they all knew one another well, and the woman told them to wait for another five minutes.

Kagome looked around at all the desks where there were all sorts of nail tools and accessories. Near the check-in counter, there were a few bookshelves next to the window where they displayed some of the different nail colors and designs that the shop could do. There were also mannequin heads with different colors of wigs, in different lengths and in different hairstyles to show off the shop's diverse talents. Kagome walked towards the shelf, checking out the nail designs to see if she wanted to get one of them. Ayumi came up next to her.

"So... this Sango... she's one of your friends, right?"

Kagome smiled, turning to Ayumi. "Yes. And you are one of my friends too."

Ayumi smiled at her. "I know that. It just seems like you're really close with all of your coworkers since you travel together and hangout outside of work. It's only natural for all of you to become close."

Kagome shrugged. "I guess. But the three of us do that too sometimes." She thought about Sango and how close their relationship was. She also felt especially closer to Sango than the other girls in the group because of her relationship with Miroku and Inuyasha, and the fact that Sango lives with Inuyasha. "I'm closer to Sango than to the others. That's why I only invited her today. She's dating Miroku and the two of them are best friends with Inuyasha."

"Oh... I see," Midoriko said, coming to stand on the other side of Kagome, all three of them facing the road. "So you're dating a triplet of best friends?"

Kagome giggled. "I guess you can see it like that. Sango and I are just good friends." She looked at the both of them. "Like the two of you are to me."

"Well, not really," Ayumi said with a smile, noticing a woman getting out of a black car straight in front of the shop. "We don't share our personal lives with one another. I'm quite sure you do it with Sango."

Kagome frowned, wondering why Ayumi kept making these comments on how special her friendship with Sango was compared to her friendship with her and Midoriko. She didn't want to say anything more as she saw Sango get out of Miroku's car and hurry into the salon, but Ayumi did have a point with their personal lives. She smiled as Sango walked in and immediately noticed the three of them standing next to the front window.

"Sango."

"Hey, sorry. Am I late?" she asked, looking around at the shop. There was no one else in the shop besides the three workers walking around, setting up their stations, which was odd on a Saturday morning.

"No, you're right on time." Kagome went to stand in between Sango and the other two, turning to introduce everyone. "Sango, these are my friends, Midoriko and Ayumi. Guys, this is Sango." She waited anxiously, feeling a bit apprehensive and excited at the same time. She was excited that these three women, who were the closest people she had as best friends, would finally meet and hangout together. It was rare for her to even hangout with Midoriko and Ayumi outside of work. But it was usual for her to hangout with Sango. In a sense, all of them were her coworkers. And in a sense, they all knew parts of her that the other may not know. It was unnerving, which was why she felt a little apprehensive.

Midoriko was the first to move, placing her hand up in a small wave. "It's nice to meet you, Sango. We've heard lots about you."

Sango gave Kagome a suspicious look. "You have?"

Ayumi smiled and nodded. "All good things, don't worry."

Sango blinked, taking in both woman's appearance. They were both gorgeous. Ayumi was the one who was the most unusual. She definitely did not look like a normal Japanese woman, but then again, neither did Midoriko or Kagome. Ayumi's eyes, though, those were what caught Sango's attention the most. Her irises were white while her pupils were black. It was like looking at a black pearl in the middle of a full moon. Her skin was so pale and beautifully smooth and her short, white hair stood out to match her eyes. She was gorgeous in a mysterious and unnatural way. But as she took in Midoriko, who was taller than Ayumi, she couldn't help but feel the same awe and curiosity at Midoriko's commanding presence and beauty. Midoriko's long green hair matched her rich green eyes that made her feel a sense of calm as opposed to Ayumi's piercing white eyes. There was also a tinge of demonic energy that she could feel from the both of them, which made sense with their unnatural looks.

"You... the both of you are very beautiful," she commented, needing to let them know. She felt a little self-conscious around these three. Kagome matched these women perfectly. Her blue hair matched her blue eyes, much like Ayumi and Midoriko did with their own, and Kagome had a body that made her stand out from society, much like these two. The three of them were strikingly beautiful, oddly unnatural, a deadly combination, and awkwardly different from society. By looks alone, she could understand why the three of them were friends.

"Thank you, Sango," Ayumi said with a hand to her chest. "You are very beautiful yourself."

Sango flushed and ran a hand over her hair. "Thanks."

Their conversation was cut as the woman who checked them in came up to let them know that they were ready for the four of them. The woman went to the door to flip the sign over, signaling that the salon was closed, and locked the door. She took the four of them behind the check-in desk where they left their belongings in cubbies, and then led the four of them to the back of the salon.

"What would you like to get done, miss?" the woman asked, turning to look over her shoulder at Sango.

Sango paused, not knowing what to say. "Ummm..."

Kagome smiled, sensing Sango's hesitancy. "Do you go to salons often, Sango?"

"Not that often," she said with a smile.

"What do you normally do?"

"Just nails."

"We do our nails, hair and get a massage. We usually do our waxing on another day since it's a lot for one session," she suggested, giving Sango all her options. "I usually get my hair done while they get a massage. They don't need to do their hair since it's natural for them," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, don't be jealous," Midoriko said with a snicker. "You wish you had this," she said, grabbing her long hair and flipping it over her shoulder in an exaggerated fashion. Ayumi laughed, elbowing Midoriko, and Sango smiled, relaxing a little more around the two.

"We usually spend three hours here," Ayumi said as the four of them were led past a red curtain and into a darker hallway with four red curtains, four rooms, two on either side. "We do one service for each hour so we usually get three services done in one session. So you can only choose three things that you want to do for today."

The woman turned around, facing the four of them. "Miss, would you like to get a massage too?"

Kagome smiled at Sango as she looked to her for support. "Why don't you get a massage first to loosen up? It'll help stretch your muscles with all the practicing we've been doing."

Sango groaned. "You're right. I think I'd like that."

"Ok." The woman bowed slightly and went into one of the rooms to prepare it for Sango.

"What are you going to do, Kagome?" Sango asked, noticing that Ayumi and Midoriko stepped away into their own rooms on opposite sides of each other, as if it was a routine for them.

"I'm going to get my hair done," Kagome said, pulling her hair over her shoulder, looking down at the blue that had faded. "I try to get my hair done every two months. The blue has faded and my roots are growing out," she pointed out as Sango looked her hair over. "I need to retouch and get a trim."

"You can still see the blue," Sango commented, but understanding. She could see Kagome's black hair growing out and blending lower than normal into the blue. She knew how blue her hair can be because Kagome always kept her hair a beautiful sapphire blue, an ombre look that went from black to sapphire. The blue had dulled and faded while her roots had also grown out longer than normal. Sango never really took notice until now, never really piecing together how often Kagome colored her hair. All she knew was that Kagome's hair was always blue with a hint of black to the untrained eye.

"Yeah, but you've seen my hair bluer before. I just need the color to pop again," Kagome said, smiling. "I'll be out here." She turned and pointed to the chairs with the hair sinks and the hair dryers that were in the back part of the salon, behind a wall of mirrors.

Sango looked from the front of the salon to the back and even these back rooms behind the curtains, noting how big this salon was. "Ok."

"I'll see you in an hour," Kagome said with a smile, hoping she would enjoy herself.

Sango nodded, smiling. "You sure you don't want a massage?" she asked, turning around to see the woman come out of the room and hold the curtain open for her with a smile.

Kagome smiled as she watched Sango go to the woman. "No thanks. I don't do well with people touching me." Sango placed her hand on the wall of the doorway, turning to look at Kagome with a frown. Kagome waved her off, smiling as she turned around. "Have a good massage, you three!"

"I will!" Midoriko said confidently.

Kagome shook her head and giggled. She smiled to herself as she went to her regular chair. A soft melody started to play in the entire salon, setting a relaxing mood for the four of them. The clerk came back out with a woman following behind her wearing a yellow blouse with black slacks, her black hair up in a bun.

"Good morning, Kagome."

"Good morning, Haruka," she said, looking at the woman's reflection. "You look very stylish today."

Haruka struck several quick poses behind her chair, giving Kagome snapshots of her left and right sides with kisses. Kagome giggled, loving the woman's spunk and youthfulness. Even though Haruka was older than her, the woman always seemed to be good at keeping up with the times and the current fads.

"So... I see you brought a friend today," she said in a hushed voice so that the other three couldn't hear them above the music. "Who's that?"

"She's one of my coworkers."

"With Kikyo?" Haruka asked, her eyes going wide. "Now that you mention it, I remember seeing her in some of the performances and the posters. She's a very good dancer." Kagome nodded her agreement as Haruka began to set her up. She grabbed the black gown to drape over Kagome's whole body like a poncho, tying the strings at her neck. The gown swallowed her whole, along with the chair, and Haruka began to pump the chair up to her desired height.

"Isn't she going out with that other dancer? Is his name Miroku?"

"Mmmhmm. They're engaged."

Haruka's eyes widened. "Good for them. They've been dating for a while, from what I read." Haruka walked to the mirrors in front of them to get her prepared cart with all of the tools that she would need. "So... tell me about your love life," she said, pulling the cart with her to the side of Kagome's chair. She gave Kagome a look, invested. "I want to know everything."

Kagome laughed. "I can't tell you everything in an hour."

"Try your best," she said with a look, grabbing a comb and a water spritzer in each hand as if she was ready for war.

Kagome sighed, thinking of what the last thing was that she had told Haruka. It was always nice and comfortable to talk about anything and everything in a salon. Usually, sitting in a chair for hours led to hours of talking about random things. Women and their chatter. Kagome talked about how things were going with the group and with the concert in Vegas, which led to a long conversation about Las Vegas and all the shops and the shows that Haruka wanted to see. By the time they finished talking about Vegas, Kagome had shared about her relationship with Inuyasha and how it was going. Haruka knew a lot about Onigumo's girls since this salon was owned by Onigumo. Plus Haruka always did her hair, which meant that Haruka knew quite a lot about her, or as much as she was willing to tell the woman. Haruka asked about their sex life and paid particular attention to her answers, which Kagome knew was because Haruka knew of her aversion towards men touching her. In the end, she seemed pleased and happy for her to be finally dating someone and for her to have fallen in love.

After an hour, the girls finally came out looking relaxed and content. Sango walked up to Kagome who was sitting on one of the big comfy chairs by herself, and saw that her hair was wrapped in a black towel in a plastic dome dryer.

"Did you finish your hair?" Sango asked, walking slowly since her muscles felt so relaxed.

Kagome smiled, taking in Sango's demeanor. "Well... you look like you had a good massage," she said, placing her magazine down on her lap as she watched Sango stretch her neck back and forth with a smile.

"That was the best massage I've had in a long time."

"I can see that." The other two went up to the front, following the three women who gave the massages. "I haven't rinsed off the dye yet. I've just been sitting in this dryer thing for a bit and reading about some tabloid drama."

Sango laughed, looking at the front of the salon. "Do the three of you do this a lot together?"

Kagome nodded and stood up from the comfy chair, stretching out her arms. "Yeah. Sometimes we come in bigger groups with our other coworkers but most of the time it's just the three of us." She turned to drop the magazine and walked towards the front with Sango following her. Midoriko and Ayumi sat at their stations while Haruka waited for Kagome with Sango's station next to hers. The four of them sat on the same side of the salon to get their manicures.

Sango looked around as she sat, noticing that the four workers and the four of them were the only ones here. "Are you guys closed for today?" she asked, remembering the clerk had put up the 'closed' sign. She thought it was strange that the woman had locked the door too, and she hadn't thought to ask about it until now, seeing as to how empty the place was.

"No. We close for our special clients," the woman informed her, grabbing her hands and smoothing them out, running her fingers on top of Sango's.

Sango turned to Kagome with a confused look and Kagome went on to explain while the women started on their nails. "We get special treatment because our boss owns this salon. We try to come in groups so that they don't have to close so much for us, but it's their orders while we get serviced."

Sango's eyes widened, wondering what kind of a boss Kagome had, and with what kind of power. Even if he did own this salon, it would put a pause on business every time they had to close for one of his workers, which meant money loss. But it seemed like it didn't affect him if he was willing to do it for all of his employees. "That's... strange..."

Kagome smiled, but quickly looked at what Haruka was doing, deciding not to say anything. If Sango wasn't going to ask, she wasn't going to say much more about it. Onigumo and Midnite were some things that couldn't be understood. There were a lot of people who looked down on working girls because of this stigma.

The rest of the hour was spent with the women getting their nails done and chatting with the soft music in the air. Midoriko and Ayumi wanted to know more about Kagome and Sango's trip to Vegas and what their plans were. Sango was more than eager to tell them of all the places she wanted to visit and shop at, while also thinking of all the possible omiyage she wanted to bring back home for family. Kagome shared the ideas that Haruka had pitched to her, while all the women also spoke up and shared their thoughts and dreams in visiting Las Vegas. The four of them laughed and shared jokes, talking about the men in Vegas and all the bars and strip clubs the group could go to.

"You guys should go to a strip club," Midoriko said with a twinkle in her eyes as she looked at Kagome. "It could be a learning experience for you."

Kagome shot Midoriko a glare, making the woman laugh out loud. "I have enough experience, thank you."

Ayumi giggled. "Who knows. You could come home teaching us new things."

Kagome knew what they were referring to, but Sango hadn't a clue. She brushed off their comments and changed the subject. "Anyway... Inuyasha's birthday is coming up." This sparked the women's interests and they eagerly changed the subject.

"How old is he going to be?" Ayumi asked, watching the worker place a few rhinestones on her acrylics.

"Guess," Kagome said with a smile. Sango remained quiet, wondering if Kagome had told them he was a hanyou or if they just knew on their own because they were demons too.

Midoriko pressed her lips together. "He's a hanyou, right? He still looks young... a hundred?"

Kagome smiled with a shake of her head. "He's going to be one-fifty."

Midoriko nodded her head approvingly. "He looks good for one-fifty. He's in his prime," she said with a seductive smirk, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

If her hands weren't currently being worked on, Kagome would've smacked Midoriko's shoulder.

"Leave her alone, Midoriko," Ayumi scolded. "Kagome would have your neck if you touched him."

"More than her neck," Kagome added. Midoriko just laughed.

Sango watched the three of them interact, realizing that they seemed very close and very comfortable with one another. They talked openly about intimate, sexual things and they were obviously very confident with their own bodies and beauty. She could see how the three of them were such good friends. They all held their own beauty and confidence in their own rights and they were all very bold and beautiful, especially now, together. Sango hadn't seen Kagome like this... so comfortable and full of confidence in herself. Kagome was usually quiet, watching and listening until she decided to speak. She thought it was Kagome being shy, but she realized that Kagome expressed herself differently based on the people she surrounded herself with. And with these two friends of hers, Sango could see Kagome come out of herself in a different way than she knew Kagome to be. She found it... refreshing. Sango wanted to hang out with the three of them more, not just to see how Kagome acts around them, but because Sango truly enjoyed their company. They brought out a different side in Kagome that she loved seeing and wanted to see more of. Their energy and aura was attracting and Sango felt like they would be so much fun at a girl's night out.

"What are you guys planning to do for Inuyasha?" Ayumi asked, her eyes falling on Sango across the tables. Sango caught her gaze and sat up with a mischievous smile.

"We're going to have a huge party for him. Well, his parents are throwing it at their home out in the country. I think they're just inviting close family and friends. Inuyasha's not that big into parties and stuff like that, especially if it's in his honor."

"How long have you two been friends?" Ayumi asked her.

"About five years. We met at his parents' charity event. All of us. Kikyo, Miroku, Inuyasha and myself. And that started our friendship that led into us starting a music career together."

"And now you and Miroku are engaged," Ayumi added. "Congratulations."

"Thank you. Yes, I'm very excited. It's been a long time coming."

The girls continued talking about anything and nothing at all. Kagome was finished with her nails early since she usually keeps it simple and natural while Midoriko and Ayumi likes acrylics with a bang. Once her nails were done, she went to the back with Haruka to finish getting the coloring out of her hair. Sango was left with Midoriko and Ayumi, and the three of them had great conversations about their likes and dislikes while also talking more about Sango's relationship with both Miroku and Inuyasha. Kagome had to remind them that she could still hear them when Midoriko tried to get some information from Sango about Inuyasha and Kagome's sex life. Sango quickly reported that their apartment had soundproof walls for Inuyasha's comfort, so she couldn't hear anything even if she tried. Midoriko just brushed it off, commenting how she would still put her ear against the door and try to listen in on them, making Ayumi laugh at the woman's candor.

After the three finished their nails, they went to sit on the pedicure chairs and got into talking more before Kagome joined them with her newly done hair. She posed for them, making them all cat-call her, and she walked down a short runway in front of them, whipping her hair side to side. Sango loved seeing Kagome like this, so comfortable, carefree and childlike. It was refreshing and something she wished to see more of from Kagome within their group of friends.

After another hour, the four got their pedicures done and their session for the day was finished. They went to the front to get their purses from the cubbies while the clerk came up to see them off. Kagome took her phone out and walked a few feet away from the others, calling Inuyasha. He picked up on the first ring.

"You done?"

"Yeah. We just finished."

"Okay. Miroku and I are a few blocks away shopping. We're gonna walk over and get you guys, and then you and I can go for lunch. I'm starving."

Kagome giggled, looking at the three as they chatted with the clerk about their experience today. "You're always hungry."

"I'm always hungry for you."

Kagome rolled her eyes and heard Miroku in the background telling Inuyasha to wait for him.

"Miroku's paying right now. We'll be there in a few minutes. We're only a couple blocks away."

"Okay. We'll be outside. I'll see you in a bit."

She hung up and walked back to the girls, noticing Sango giving her a look of irritation.

"Did you pay for me?"

Kagome smiled, waving her off, knowing that she gave the clerk instructions when they made the reservation that she would be bringing a friend and the cost would be on her. "This is on me, Sango. Think of it as one of your engagement gifts."

"Kagome..." she said, looking like she was about to fight her on this.

"It's my gift to you, Sango." She saw Sango take a breath and then smiled, giving up.

"Thank you, Kagome. I would hug you right now but I don't want to ruin your hair or our nails. But I really had a lot of fun today hanging out with all of you," Sango said, turning to look at Midoriko and Ayumi. "I enjoyed our talks. It was great getting to know you two."

Midoriko smiled. "Same here. I can see why Kagome really likes you. You seem like you're a good friend to her." Ayumi nodded her head, but kept her thoughts to herself. Kagome smiled, grateful that everything went well today and that her fears were laid to rest. She was glad that her friends from both of her worlds got along and really connected. She couldn't have wished for a better outcome.

The four of them thanked the employees and left so that they could get the shop ready to reopen again. As they walked out onto the busy streets, people passed by and the heat of the sun warmed their skin after spending three hours in the air condition. Kagome informed them that Inuyasha and Miroku were walking over from a store a few blocks away to get them. And just as she was saying that, Miroku called out to Sango and the four of them saw the two males just crossing the street to head towards them.

Midoriko elbowed Ayumi and the two smiled excitingly, paying special attention to Inuyasha. Kagome gave them a look to be on their best behavior before Inuyasha came straight to her. She smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, uncaring of the people around them.

"You colored your hair," he said as he pulled back, looking at her with a smile.

"You like it?"

"It's brighter and bolder." He kissed her cheek. "You look beautiful."

Kagome beamed at his compliment and gave him her mouth for another kiss, which he obliged her with a smile. She then moved out of his arms to turn to introduce her friends. She held his hand with both of hers as she looked at Midoriko and Ayumi. "Inuyasha, these are my friends, Ayumi and Midoriko," she said, motioning to each as she said their names.

Nothing could get pass Midoriko's keen vision as a neko-youkai and she noticed Inuyasha's eyes change the minute he took his eyes off Kagome. From the way those golden eyes changed from heated and loving when he looked at Kagome, to cool and wary when he looked at her. From the way Inuyasha's body language shifted when he held Kagome to now when he engaged in meeting them. He didn't even look or acknowledge any of them when he first got here, but instead he went straight to Kagome. Midoriko could tell by his subtle body language that Inuyasha had claimed her. His entire demonic energy, his body language and his eyes were clear signs of his love and claim of Kagome. It was all there. Any demon could see it. And she couldn't be happier and thrilled for Kagome. She was sure that Kagome didn't notice much of it since she was only human. Midoriko spared a glance at Ayumi and saw the woman's fascination and interest in Inuyasha as well. Ayumi felt her looking at her and gave her a glance, the two meeting in a knowing stare before Inuyasha called their attention.

"It's nice meeting you both."

Midoriko regarded him with a soft smile, nodding her head. "We've heard a lot about you."

Inuyasha knew immediately that Midoriko was a neko-youkai. He could smell her scent, much like that of a cat. And Ayumi, on the other hand, had a totally different scent, one that he had to take a moment to assess. By her scent, he knew that she was an owl hanyou with her unusual eyes that was too keen and bore straight into his soul when she looked at him. But what he couldn't place was her hair and eye color, which could only mean that she was an albino owl hanyou, which made her all the more rare and treasured in this day and age.

He turned to look at Kagome with a questioning look after assessing her friends' demonic blood. He figured that if they were her friends, and she seemed to trust them, then it would be better for Kagome's protection if they remained friends with her. Still, he knew nothing about them and would like to get to know them eventually.

"I wonder how much she's talked about me," he said, looking at Kagome with a questioning stare. Kagome shrugged as she looked up at him innocently.

Midoriko tried so hard to contain her childish smile that wanted to come out, watching the two of them interact, seeing it for herself how much Kagome was so in love with him, and him with her. Ayumi wrapped her hand around her wrist and squeezed. The two of them were witnessing something they never thought they would ever see. And they were thrilled.

"This is Miroku," Sango said, snapping the two out of their states. Midoriko and Ayumi both said their 'hellos' and the six of them talked a bit about their salon session and what they got done. They all showed the boys their nails and Sango talked about the amazing massage that she got and wanted to come back again from now on for massages.

Midoriko and Ayumi was the first to take their leave as they claimed they had somewhere to be. Kagome knew they were up to something, as the only thing she knew they had to do today was their salon appointment and then work tonight, but she decided not to say anything. She would see them tonight and ask them about what they thought about Sango and the boys. She was especially interested to hear their thoughts about Inuyasha since they seemed too fixated on him to even care about meeting Miroku. The two left the group and went on their way while the four of them ended up walking back to Miroku's and Inuyasha's cars left near the shopping mall.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

"Sooo..."

Kagome flipped her hair up as she stood up, seeing Midoriko looking at her in the reflection of her mirror. "So?"

Midoriko crossed her arms over her bra, giving Kagome the biggest smile. "I like him!"

"So do I!" Ayumi said, coming into their conversation holding her blue gown and draping it over the back of her chair. "He's a catch, Kagome."

Kagome giggled, shaking her head at them. Of course Inuyasha's looks wouldn't go unnoticed by them. All of the women noticed. "He's hot, yes, I know."

"Kagome... a lot of guys are hot," Midoriko pointed out. "Hell, we work in a club where we see very rich, very good-looking, very eligible bachelors come and go through our doors. I haven't seen you fall for any of them."

Kagome thought about it as she focused her attention on herself, finishing her high ponytail. "Sai's very good-looking." The mention of him brought a frown to her face. She wondered how he was. It had been a week since he had come in, and that was so unlike him. Ever since he became her client, he came to the club at least once a week, if not twice. But ever since last Friday when he told her his feelings for her, and she told him she didn't feel the same way back, she felt like she broke his heart. He left and hasn't been back since.

"Kagome," Ayumi said, calling her attention. "You know, as well as we do, that you have never fallen for any of the men here, no matter how attractive their looks or their wealth. I'm sure you've heard them make all sorts of promises to you, a promise of a better life, a promise to get you out of this kind of work, a promise that they can make you happy. We've all heard it," she said, waving it off.

"But that's not what I'm talking about," Midoriko interjected, knowing that Ayumi felt the same way as she did. The two of them couldn't stop talking about Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship for their whole train ride after their salon appointment. From what they witnessed earlier today in that short amount of time they saw the two together, they knew that the two were mates and they gushed over how well Inuyasha treated her.

"Midoriko's talking about your connection together," Ayumi said, grabbing her brush to start making her hair as she sat. Kagome looked between the two on either side of her, wondering what they were talking about.

"What do you mean?"

Midoriko sat, turning her chair so that they could have as much of an intimate conversation as they could in the noisy dressing room with the girls moving all around them. "I mean the way that Inuyasha is with you."

"How do you mean?"

"He's claimed you, Kagome."

She didn't understand what Midoriko meant by that. "Like... sexually? Because, yes, he has," she said with a giggle.

"No. He's claimed you in the way that a demon claims his mate."

'Mate?' There was that word again. Inuyasha had talked to her about it, claimed that she was his true mate, but she didn't know the significance of that word. Nor would she believe it even if he explained it to her.

Kagome turned to look at herself in the mirror again, moving to put on mascara and eyeliner. "I'm not a demon so that word doesn't mean much to me."

Midoriko nodded her understanding. "I know. That's why you don't see what me and Ayumi see. Kagome... when we saw you two together today... we could tell that Inuyasha has claimed you, even if you don't know it."

"Has he done the ritual with you?" Ayumi asked, wondering if Kagome knew what a mate was. "Has he talked to you about mating?"

Kagome blinked, checking her work in her reflection. "We haven't talked about it but he has mentioned it to me a few times. He told me that he knows that I'm his true mate. He once thought he found his mate a century ago, but he realized after she left him that she was never his true mate. Mates never leave one another."

"That's true," Ayumi confirmed. "A mate isn't a choice, like how humans choose to get married or divorced. For a demon, it's different. It's not like it's a choice for us. It's more like our soul meets the other half that completes our soul. It's not really a choice and it's not like we would ever choose to leave the other half of our soul."

"The other half of a soul?" Kagome felt her heart beat faster, and she wasn't sure if it was out of anger or pain, but she didn't want to talk about this anymore. She was getting triggered and she couldn't stop thinking about Koga's face. Her hands shook so she had to stop putting on her eyeliner and focus on controlling her emotions.

"It's different for every species," Midoriko tried to explain. "But the core principle is the same for all demons. Mates are two halves of the same whole, and no one can fit to any other half but their mate's."

"It's a special thing, Kagome," Ayumi said, turning to look at the woman. She immediately frowned when she saw Kagome's reaction. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

Midoriko noticed Kagome's shaking hands and looked at Ayumi, wondering what may have triggered her. "Kagome... do you think you two aren't mates?"

"I don't believe in mates, Midoriko," she said, her voice firm and hard. Midoriko blinked, at a loss, shocked by the sternness in Kagome's voice. "I've been there... and I won't go back to that."

Ayumi gasped softly. "Kagome... were you someone's mate?" she whispered as she leaned closer.

Kagome placed her hands down on her lap, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "No. But I was someone's whore when he already had a mate. He loved her and had babies with her while also..." She stopped, shaking her head from those memories. "I don't see how a mate could treat his mate that way. I don't see mating as this 'special thing' as you say, Ayumi. I've seen what it's like, and I don't want that for my life. I'm sorry. But I don't. And I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Kagome went back to putting on her eyeliner, much more focused and steady this time, tuning the two of them out. Midoriko gave Ayumi a look and decided to respect Kagome's wishes. They were always respectful of not prying into each other's past or privacy, it was their workplace's unspoken agreement. If she was not going to open up about it, then they weren't going to ask.

"Kagome..." Midoriko said, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I just want to say that I'm happy for you. Ayumi is happy for you. And seeing you happy with Inuyasha is all that we want." With that said, Midoriko turned her chair to face her mirror to get ready.

Kagome sighed, placing her makeup down to look at Midoriko. "Thank you." She turned to Ayumi to smile apologetically. "Thank you both."

Ayumi nodded with a smile, understanding. The three of them didn't say anything else as they got ready for the night, knowing that the elephant in the room would just have to remain there.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

"I'll see if I can get off," Kagome said, talking to Inuyasha on the phone while walking to work. "I usually don't finish work until one, two at the latest on our busier nights."

"You guys are busy on a Thursday night? What kind of a restaurant stays open that late?"

Kagome paused. Inuyasha still didn't know about Midnite, and she still wasn't sure why she hadn't told him or even if she wanted to. What would he think of her? Would he break up with her? Would he demand her to quit? He probably wouldn't get much of a fight from her anyway, since she was so fed up with Onigumo. At one point in her life, Onigumo was her world. He was her light after Koga. Onigumo had been her everything as she literally had nothing. But now that she has something, not only money and friends, but now that she has someone who means the world to her and she to him, Onigumo was nothing to her now. She sees that now, how much she has outgrown Onigumo, all thanks to his attitude and abuse that he's shown her in the past months. His jealousy of her job and of Inuyasha has gotten on her last nerves, and it was only her sheer loyalty to him that kept her at this job.

"Kagome?"

"Sorry... We're always busy, Inuyasha. Just more so on the weekend nights." There was a long pause at the other end and she wondered if he would drop it or was thinking of more questions to ask about her job. He only knew the bare minimum of her job and since she was only sleeping over on nights that she didn't work Midnite, she didn't have to come home around two in the morning and explain that to him. This way, living apart, it was easier to lie.

"Inuyasha... I have to go. I just got to work," she said, seeing the doors come up. "I'll ask my boss if I can leave a little early. But it might not be until after midnight. So don't wait for me if you guys leave."

"Well we'll probably be there after midnight, knowing Kikyo. Call me if you can get off. I reserved one of the lounge rooms upstairs since the gang is going and some of Kikyo's friends and her team. Everyone is already on the VIP list, so just go up to the bouncers. They'll know you."

"I will," she promised. She placed her hand on the door handle. "I gotta go. I'll call you if I get off."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you more."

She hung up and opened the door, immediately being welcome by Akitoki who was guarding the door. Being human, he still was muscular for his age, but that was to be expected since he taught kickboxing. He looked rugged and very masculine, with a strong jaw that always had scruff, giving him a bad-boy look, especially wearing a suit that all the bouncers have to wear.

"Kagome," Akitoki greeted as she closed the door.

"Hey, Akitoki. Did you have class today?"

"No. I took the day off to go on a date."

"Ooooo... a date? How did it go?" she asked, intrigued. He was very handsome, and people's personal lives were their own to keep. But she wondered now if he had someone significant in his life or if he was just dipping his feet in the pool.

"It went as well as it could have," he said with a smirk, crossing his arms. "We went for lunch at an Italian restaurant and then went for a walk in the park."

"I take it no connection?"

"Nah... but she was cute."

Kagome laughed, slapping the back of her hand on his bicep. "So long as she's cute... who's to say you still can't get to know one another."

Akitoki turned as Kagome walked past him, watching her. "You mean in bed?"

Kagome giggled. "I mean whatever you want." She turned to look over her shoulder. "Is Onigumo in his office?"

He nodded at her. "He should be."

"Thanks."

"Have a good night."

"You too." She walked away and headed up the stairs that led to Onigumo's office. She knocked and went in, noticing him look up at her at his desk.

"Kagome."

She smiled and walked in, closing the door behind her. "Hey. I wanted to ask you for a favor."

Onigumo's smile immediately disappeared and he gave her a dead stare. "What kind of a favor?"

She noticed his change in demeanor and decided to play her cards right, judging what she would say based on his comments. She knew him so well after these ten years. She just wondered where it seemed to have gone so wrong between them. Making her way to his desk, she felt like she didn't want to be there, like this wasn't her comfort zone anymore. At one time, this place was her lifeline. Onigumo was her lifeline. And being here, in Midnite, was her safe haven because here, she could be someone else, someone else who could control a man and who wouldn't allow a man to control her. Here, she had people who didn't prod and question her life and her past. Here, she had Onigumo who was like a father to her, taking care of her every need and giving her a fresh start. But now, she just felt like this place no longer was for her, it no longer suited her and it no longer was her safe haven. 'Inuyasha...' He was her safe haven. He was her home. He took care of her every need because he was her every need. She could be herself around him and he knew about her past with Koga yet he still loved her and wanted her. Midnite no longer served a purpose for her she realized. And that was a huge realization she had, there, standing in front of Onigumo's desk. It only made her sad.

"Kikyo is having a launch party for her album that released today. They're going to a club to celebrate tonight. I was wondering... if it gets slow after midnight... if I could leave early."

"Leave this club to go to another club?"

"Yes, but it's a different club, Onigumo," she said, trying not to sound sassy but he was almost patronizing her, and she didn't like it. "Plus Kikyo's dance group will be there and her team. It's a party to celebrate her success."

"And you want to leave work early to celebrate with your friends?"

"Yes." She noticed the way he said 'friends'. She bit her tongue and waited, hoping that he would let her go. His eyes roamed her body, taking her in, and she remained quiet and still, letting him think it over.

"You know, Kagome... ever since you got this job, you treat this one you've had for almost ten years as if it's only a past-time."

"That's not true!" she said, stunned that he would think that of her. Onigumo stood up and walked around his desk towards her. "I always come to work, Onigumo. I've only asked you for days off during Kikyo's performances."

"If I recall... you also asked for your boyfriend's birthday. That's another thing..." he said, stopping in front of her. Kagome took a step back but he reached out and grabbed a lock of her hair, running his fingers against the strands. "You've never asked for days off or to leave early before. Now... you seem to be doing it often and you're rarely here."

"That's not true either," she said, getting defensive. "Special occasions happen rarely and Kikyo doesn't perform all the time since it could be months between shows. You can't accuse me of never being here."

She saw anger flash through his eyes and he gripped her hair in his fist but didn't pull on it. "In all your years of working here, you've never asked to leave early or take a day off."

She frowned, her eyes going to the ground. "I've never had a reason to."

The silence stretched on between them. She didn't dare look up at him to see his anger in his eyes. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, he let go of her hair and moved away from her. She watched him as he moved back to half-sit on his desk, crossing his arms as he regarded her with irritation.

"And what about Sai? He hasn't been here in two weeks. You want to tell me what happened with him?"

The name gave her pause. She threaded her fingers together in front of her and recalled what happened the last time she saw him. "We got into a little... disagreement."

"What kind of disagreement?"

"He told me he loved me."

Onigumo took a deep breath. If Kagome had done something to jeopardize his business, then he would have to punish her. But if Sai was foolish enough to fall in love with one of his girls, then that was something that he would have to suffer for. It was written in their contract that his girls were not for sale nor were they to fall in love with any of them. It was foolish for his clients to think that they could provide his girls with promises of a better life and pay for them to leave Midnite. If Sai wanted to fall in love with Kagome, that was his heart he was breaking all on his own.

"Then I won't fault you for that," he said, watching as she slowly looked up at him hesitantly. "But Kagome... you know I don't like it when someone threatens my business." She nodded to him, acknowledging that she knew better. "If you in any way affect my business, there will be consequences."

"What kind?" she asks softly.

Onigumo shrugged, uncrossing his arms so that he could grab the edge of his desk on either side of him. "Whatever I want. Perhaps I might punish you with work or perhaps something else. But you know I don't do kindly to threats against my business... not even from you. So keep that in mind."

Kagome nodded, deciding not to push the subject. She knew Onigumo enough to know how much he valued his income. If anyone ever threatened to take away his girls he would bring hell down on that person. Onigumo was brutal when it came to protecting and keeping what was his.

After a long pause of thinking it over, Onigumo smirked. "You can leave at midnight the earliest only if we're slow tonight."

Kagome gasped and looked at him excitedly. "Really?"

He nodded with a gleam in his eyes. "It's Thursday so it's always a toss up. But let's see what our count is like at midnight, and then we can take it from there."

Kagome contained her excitement but felt so giddy. "Thank you, Onigumo."

He cocked his head to the side. "But this is the last time I'm doing any favors for you, Kagome. Is that clear?"

Kagome blinked, taken aback by his statement. She didn't understand why he had such a problem with her leaving early if they were slow, why he would make it such a big deal to never allow her to do it again. But she really wanted to leave early and if this was the last time he'll let her, then so be it. "Fine."

Onigumo looked to the door and cocked his head towards it, signaling for her to leave. She understood and turned to leave, closing the door behind her. He took a deep breath, feeling anger and anticipation boil up inside him. He walked over to his bar and made himself a drink, thinking about her. Kagome was his special gem. But at the same time, if she became a threat to his income, he would have to put her in her place to remind her who he was. He let her have her way for too long. At first, he had wanted her to go after her dream of being a professional dancer, thinking that it wouldn't affect her job here. But now that she fulfilled her dream and that dream now affects her job at Midnite more and more frequently, he wasn't in support of that. He wasn't going to put up with her thinking she could leave work or take off for performances, let alone for her boyfriend's birthday. No Kagome meant no money. Clients paid big to be with her. Even if her normal client wasn't coming consistently, like Sai, there were still many others who would pay the extra cash for an hour with her.

He placed the glass to his lips and took a sip of the amber liquid, closing his eyes as the burn slid down his throat. He turned around and went back to his desk, thinking that he finally got Kagome back to him, for good this time. This time, she would learn the hard way that she couldn't get everything she wanted. They made a deal and he would hold her to it.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

"Congratulations, Kikyo!"

Everyone cheered as they took a shot in Kikyo's honor, celebrating her new album release and the success of its launch. In almost twenty-four hours, her album flew to the Top 10 Albums on iTunes list. It apparently was wracking up sales and people were posting their reactions all over social media. Her music was going viral and people were loving it.

"Thanks, everyone!" Kikyo yelled over the blaring music, pounding base and flashing lights. The lounge room contained only Kikyo, her team and her dancers. "Thank you to Inuyasha for getting us this VIP lounge so that I can celebrate this night with just the people that I love and care about. I appreciate every single one of you here. You all helped to get me to where I'm at now. I know that I have a lot more to grow in, I have a lot more to do and to share and to sing. But if it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have gotten this far. I appreciate all of you. Thank you for always supporting me. Let's enjoy ourselves tonight!"

Everyone cheered as some poured themselves another shot to take together. They had a few ice buckets filled with bottles of all sorts on the tables to help with their thirst. And a worker was always discreetly checking on their bottles to replace any empty ones and to make sure they had everything they needed.

Sango leaned back into Miroku's side as he wrapped his arm over her, pulling her closer. "I'm going to be wasted by the end of the night."

Miroku chucked as she snuggled deeper against him, both of them lost in a haze. "Who's driving?"

Inuyasha sat on the arm of the chair next to Sango, taking another sip of his sake. "No one. Myoga's taking us home. And whoever else who needs a ride," he said, looking around at everyone. Some were standing up and moving to the beat of the music while drinking and talking amongst each other. Some were sitting on the chairs and couches, laughing and tossing back their drinks. But at least everyone was having fun and enjoying themselves. He liked seeing everyone relaxed and with their guards down. It was good to see them taking a much needed break from their grueling work demands.

Sango suddenly sat up as quick as she could, leaning over and onto Inuyasha's lap. He looked down at her as she raised her head to look up at him with glassy eyes. "Where's Kagome? Isn't she coming?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "She hasn't texted or called. But she said that if she could get off, it'll be after midnight."

"Dang... what the hell do they make her do at that restaurant?"

Even he had the same question. And more. He wanted to ask her a lot of questions about this job she had because a lot of it didn't make sense to him. Her hours was one of the puzzling things to him. He had been to Starlite before for business meetings, and he had never seen her there. But then again, he can't remember the last time he'd been there or if she had been working there when he went. Still, he couldn't see why Starlite, a five-star restaurant, would stay open so late and then have their workers stay even after midnight to cleanup or whatever they had to do.

Inuyasha took another sip of his sake, feeling the liquid burn its way down his throat. He wanted to ask her these things, and many more, but he needed a perfect time to ask. He had planned to do it soon, to know all of her secrets and for her to know the rest of his. He wanted to show her and ask her all in one night. 'The night of the new moon.'

"Ugh... that girl better get her butt here. She's missing out!"

Miroku chuckled and peeled Sango's hands off Inuyasha's lap, pulling her into him as they relaxed into the couch. "She'll get her if she can, Sango. Right now, you need some water or else I'm going to lose you before midnight and then you won't even notice Kagome's here."

Sango frowned, looking at Miroku. "I'm not that drunk."

He smiled and shook his head. "Not really and not yet. Let's not get to that point." He noticed the waitress making her way into the lounge and waved her over as their eyes met. He requested two bottles of water and then she excused herself, going around to check the ice buckets. Sango smiled and leaned up to kiss Miroku on the cheek, loving him all the more for always looking out for her.

Inuyasha looked at the two of them and smiled, shaking his head. He missed his mate.

-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-

Kagome looked around at the crowd, noticing by every hour how the numbers kept dwindling. Thursdays were always a shot in the dark when it came to attendance in the club. And she appreciated nights like these for this very reason, when she had somewhere else that she'd rather be than at work.

'Onigumo's right.' She never did request to leave work early or to have a day off. Work was her life and her escape from reality. And here she was, wishing that she was anywhere but here, back in her reality that she was loving more and more by the day.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Onigumo looking at her. "Come with me, Sapphire." He looked over at the three men at the table and nodded. "Excuse us."

Kagome stood and bowed to the men before taking her leave. Midoriko and Yuki were working on the table with her and she trusted they got it. She only had two clients tonight and they were only for an hour each since tomorrow was another work day. A lot of the men were sitting at the tables so it was easier for the girls to work together on a table instead of having individual clients.

Kagome followed behind Onigumo until they got to the bar, going to the end so that the two men at the bar didn't overhear them.

"You can leave," Onigumo said to her as he turned to face, taking in her appearance. Her smile grew as she realized what he was saying, so he held up his finger. "This is the last favor, Sapphire." He would keep his word.

Kagome nodded her head, too excited to think about what he meant by that. "Yes. Okay. Thank you, Onigumo." She went to walk past him and he hesitated, restraining himself from grabbing her. She went by, heading for the door near the stairs, and it took all of him not to bring her back. 'This is the last time...' he thought, adamant on not letting her go anymore.

Kagome smiled as she passed Manten who was guarding the door and the stairs up to Onigumo's office. He nodded at her as she opened the door, heading down the hall to the dressing room. The racks were empty and the room was quiet with all the women outside working on the floor. She had a huge smile on her face as she came to her workspace, looking at herself with excitement. She decided to keep her smoky eyes and pink lip gloss, retouching her lips for good measure. 'Inuyasha!' She was excited to see him and the others, to be able to hang out with them and celebrate Kikyo's success. As she darted around the room, undressing in quick fashion, she thought about everyone's success up until this point. They all had reason to celebrate because this was their celebration too as to how far they've come with Kikyo. The routines themselves weren't easy. It always seemed like Inuyasha tried to up the stakes and do new things to keep the audience entertained and in awe. It was hard on them to be practicing so much, learning so many new routines so quickly, that it was a testament to their talent and work ethic that got them to where they are now. Everyone had reason to celebrate.

Before she knew it, she was in the clothes she came to work in with her purse slung across her body, and making her way quickly down the hall. She felt a little underdressed for a club in her jean shorts with a black, long sleeve top. She only dressed to go to work and then home in the early morning. But she didn't have time to head home and change. She wanted to make it to the club before everyone left.

She opened the door and waved at Manten and headed for the door. When she reached to open the door, she noticed his outstretched arm beat her to it. She turned to look over her shoulder, smiling at him in thanks, then headed out into the cool, night air. The streets were still busy at midnight, considering this was one of the many red light districts in Tokyo. She quickly made her way to one of the taxi spots that were nearby. Many people caught a taxi here to hide their whereabouts from work or family. No one really wanted to be caught in a red light district, unless they had the power and the authority to do what they wanted. She waved at the first taxi she saw and the lights turned on, pulling up slowly to meet her. She jumped in and told him her destination.

When Kagome got to RUSH, she noticed that the line was still a block long, even after midnight. 'Kikyo...' It must be that everyone was here, waiting for their turn to go inside and meet Kikyo. Word must've spread that she was here, so everyone was hoping to try their luck and get in. It amazed her as to how people found out these things last minute and how fast social media can change someone's life in a few hours.

The taxi took her straight to the front door so she didn't have to walk past that long line. She paid with her phone and thanked the driver, heading out and up to the bouncer with his iPad at the door. The moment she got out, people began shouting her name as they recognized her, shocking her.

"Kagome! Kagome! Blue Lightning!"

She froze for a bit, taking it in that they knew her because of her fame with her dance partner. 'Inuyasha...' He was her reason for her fame, for her spreading like wildfire on social media, for all the attention that she once feared but now was slowly getting used to. It was a huge change for her, as she looked down the line at the many waves and camera flashes from the crowd, but a change that she had to accept. She played the part that she was taught, waving and smiling in thanks for their love and support of her and her partner. They all asked where Inuyasha was, wanting to see him. She shook her head as she looked to the bouncer who nodded at her, knowing who she was whether by his iPad or by the crowd acknowledging her fame. He turned to open the door for her and the music drowned out the crowd's cheers and questions.

She walked in and was immediately hit by the smell of sweat and alcohol. She was also hit, bumped into, because of the many bodies that were crammed in here tonight. There were people standing near the door since not everyone could fit deeper into the club and on the dance floor. She was amazed as to the amount of people as she squeezed and pushed by everyone. No one really noticed her, not with the many lights pulsing and the darkness that came over every once in a while. It was hard to hide who she was with her signature hair color, but she was grateful that people were lost to the music and to the alcohol. Kikyo's music, a song from one of her new albums, was playing, making her smile as everyone was finally able to hear and enjoy it. It was obvious that the club knew she was there, playing her songs and tailoring to her fans who were probably most of the people in here tonight.

The closer she got to the bar, the thicker it got. She had to literally rub herself past so many people. People danced with her as she was just another body in the many bodies dancing all around them. The smell of sweat was so heady and thick in the air. She was so close to the bar but it was busy with everyone waiting for their drink. She stood, moving side to side as it was impossible to stand still with everyone rubbing and moving against one another. One of the bartenders, however, noticed her after a few minutes. Thankfully, the woman pointed at her and gestured for her to go to her. So Kagome tried her best, taking a bit to get to the countertop, finally squeezed between two guys.

"Hey! You're Kagome aren't you?!" one of them asked, making the other one on her left take another glance at her.

"Damn! You are Kagome! You're Blue Lightning!"

The two of them were yelling over the music but she was right there, as close to them as she could possibly be. "Yes," she nodded, smiling but then focusing her attention on the bartender.

"I got you," the woman said, already at work on her drink.

'She knows my drink?' she thought, wondering how this club was managed. She knew that Inuyasha's family owned RUSH but she didn't know that the employees would know her well enough to know what she liked to drink. 'Did Inuyasha tell them?' As the bartender slid her glass across, Kagome noticed it was her favorite drink. Baileys. 'I guess he did tell them,' she thought with a smile, nodding at the bartender as she grabbed her drink.

"Everyone's upstairs! There's bottles up there too so you don't have to come back down!" the bartender yelled across and she nodded that she understood. The woman nodded her head and went to the next customer that eyes landed on.

"Dance with me," the guy on her right told her. She turned to look at him, noticing his young features and wondering how old he was. His hair was plastered to his face, obviously sweating with all the body heat from everyone touching one another. She felt his hand go around her waist and his body that already was against hers started to move to the beat, rubbing up on her.

"Ummm, I actually have to meet with the others," she said, grabbing his arm from around her, moving out from the bar and away from him and his crotch that he kept undulating against her.

"Awww, come on. Dance with us for a bit," the other one said, following behind her. He came up behind her and grabbed her waist, pulling her back against him as he moved his hips against her butt.

She froze for a moment, shocked really. She wasn't afraid of them or triggered by their touch. Instead, she was irritated and angry that they wouldn't let her leave and they were touching her. "I'm sorry, guys. But I really have to go." She pulled both of his hands off her waist and pushed her way through the crowd, not looking back. But one of the guys caught hold of her hand, forcing her to turn and look at him with growing irritation.

"Just one song, Kagome."

"Yeah, just one song, Kagome," the other said. She could tell that they both were drunk, swaying off beat and looking at her with that look she's seen many times at Midnite.

"No thanks." She pulled and twisted her wrist, hoping that he would let her go, and he did. She was grateful and wasted no time in getting away from them. She pushed through the crowd, squeezing past bumping bodies, trying to protect her drink while also trying to hurry away from those two. She noticed the right stairwell was empty with only a few men dressed in black, as if they were guarding the stairs. That had to be Kikyo's security so she made a bee line for it.

Once she finally got to the bottom of the stairs, she made her way up to the two guards and they quickly knew who she was, turning to let her through. She made her way up and the guards had to hold back the others who tried to follow, others who were calling her name. Now she could finally take a breath. She was grateful that she was wearing a long sleeve shirt because of all the bodies that had rubbed against her. It felt like she was in that sea of a crowd for forever and everyone's sweat was on her. She pushed the thought away as she straightened herself up, flipping her hair back over her shoulders, and finally she could take a sip of her drink without getting knocked around. She slowly walked up the stairs, seeing another set of security at the top, perhaps as back up in case the ones at the bottom lost control of the crowd. The two also let her through without a word and she finally got to the top to make her way into the lounge.

What she saw was an empty lounge with a few of the group members sitting around, drinking and having a good time. They didn't seem to notice her as she looked for Inuyasha but didn't see him. She figured he was out on the dance floor with most everyone else, dancing to Kikyo's song down below. She went to the railing and smiled to herself, looking around her at... nothing. It was so nice to have all this open space to herself, without any dancing bodies bumping into her.

There were so many people down on the floor, too many heads bobbing up and down, bodies swaying back and forth. It took her a minute to find him, but she did find him in the sea of bodies. She could find him anywhere. As her eyes took him in, her heart ached. She was so deeply in love with Inuyasha that she didn't know where he started and where she began. Whenever she was with him or around him, her world became about him. He was everything to her and she was slowly getting more and more captivated by him. The thought of being owned by a man like this, the thought of losing her independence like how she had before, it was so strange to go against all of her discipline and self-preservation after she was free of Koga. She had promised to herself that she would never fall in love with a man, never give herself to someone only to be treated like that again. Yet here she was. Inuyasha was showing her things about herself that she didn't know, things that she was too afraid to uncover, and he led her by the hand like he did when they danced together. He was her guide, her leader, and he showed her what it was like to be in a beautiful relationship. Yes, she knew theirs wasn't perfect. But she loved it in its imperfectness and wouldn't trade it for any other relationship.

He was so sexy as she couldn't take her eyes off him. The group were all dancing together, forming a circle as best they could and sometimes taking turns, one person going into the circle to do a little solo and then joining the perimeter to wait for someone else to enter the circle. The crowd was cheering for them and everyone was trying to get as close as they could to Kikyo and her dancers. There were no bodyguards on the floor, which she could understand why in that madness, but she was glad to see that people weren't rude or in Kikyo's space because of her fame. They were allowing her to dance and have fun but also trying to get their pictures of her.

Kagome noticed a couple women close to Inuyasha, dancing with him. Or more like, trying to get him to dance with them but he kept trying to ignore them. Both women's hands kept sliding their way all over his arms, up his back and to his shoulders. She felt her heart race and was instantly angry that those two women were touching her man. She watched them turn him, working together to overpower him when he kept trying to get them to leave him alone. Kagome gripped the railing, stopping herself from going down there and tearing their fingers off him. One woman turned him so he faced out of the group's circle and planted herself against his front, grinding on him. While the other woman went behind him, placing her back against his and rubbing her butt against his. She reached her arms up behind her to grab his neck while the one on his front kept her hands on his waist, holding him to her as she rubbed herself against him. Kagome could feel every fiber in her being pulsate with anger, jealousy and a feminine desire to claim what was hers. She had a need to grab those women by their hair and rip them from him. 'What the hell, Kagome?! Calm down!' But she couldn't while watching two women dance with her man.

But what calmed her down was the fact that he didn't engage or react to their obvious flirtations and aggressive behavior. In fact, they only had him in their hold for a couple of seconds before he quickly untangled the woman's fingers from his neck who was dancing behind him, and then twisted and turned his body away from them. She could see he told them something, and just like that, he rejoined the perimeter and went back to dancing with the group.

'Inuyasha...' She smiled to herself, her core clenching just watching him. She wanted him. She felt her body respond to him, to the need for him, to the desire and strong pull she felt towards him. She loved him and it was obvious that he respected her and loved her enough to not dance with other women. Her eyes watched him dance with desire and need, every fiber in her being calling out to him, as if she could call her to him just by her need. He danced in the center of the circle with everyone cheering him on. His body moved so fluidly, his feet quick and graceful as he took up all the space they could give him. He commanded attention when he danced and everyone couldn't help but to be drawn to his hot, sexy body moving on the dance floor.

The beat was changing as the DJ mixed Kikyo's song with the next song, changing the beats to blend together until her song ended and slowly transitioned into the next one. This one she loved, and as she swayed her body side to side, dancing against the railing, she closed her eyes and thought about Inuyasha.

'Dance with me under the diamonds

See me like breath in the cold

Sleep with me here in the silence

Come kiss me, silver and gold'

Kagome opened her eyes, smiling as she had pictured herself in Inuyasha's arms, dancing with him under the stars. When she looked back down, she noticed that he was looking directly up at her, and she froze. She was caught. Like a deer in a headlights, she couldn't move or blink. Even from that distance, he had her in his trap, his golden eyes piercing from so far away. All the other moving bodies around him didn't seem to notice that he had stopped moving because he had found her, and before she could think to wave at him, he suddenly broke their connection and was moving.

Inuyasha needed to get to her. He knew she was here. He could smell Kagome in the club but he wasn't sure if it was because of his imagination and his need for her that he was making up her scent, or if because she was truly there. So he ignored it. He had continued dancing with everyone, too buzzed from all the sake he drank to care, too high from all the fun everyone was having to notice anything around him. He did notice when hands came around him. He didn't like anyone touching him unless it was Kagome. And in the midst of all the moving bodies around him, he felt many arms come around him and he was suddenly turned around. He saw a woman in front of him, and he couldn't make out or care to notice what she was wearing or what she really looked like. He felt her arms go up his chest and grab onto his waist as she ground herself against him, seeking for a rise out of him. But what he wasn't expecting was for another set of hands come up to his neck as another woman behind him ground herself against him from the back. He immediately felt his body stiffen and without a second thought, he grabbed at their hands, untangling them from him, and shifting his body out of their trap. The quickest retreat was to get as far away from them as possible, and into their circle was the best option, so in he went.

There was something about dancing that always made him come alive and his blood sing. He just loved the way the music pulsed in his veins and how it made his body feel. He moved with quick and precise movements, his body knowing what to do and where to go of its own accord without thinking too much. He just let himself feel in the moment. By the time the song was transitioning into the next, he felt a strange pull, like something was here, someone was watching him. He could still smell her. He could smell her scent here in the club, and he looked around at their group but didn't see her face in the crowd around him. But he felt her. He could feel her as he moved closer to the edge of the circle, listening to the new song play out. Then, he felt her above him and looked up. He found her. His eyes devoured her as she swayed to Bieber's song. She stood alone against the railing, her beautiful blue hair and her sexy body moving to the beat. He took a deep breath, willing her to open her eyes. And she did. The minute she looked at him, all hope was lost. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, to be in her. She was here. And every cell and fiber in his being wanted to be closer to her, as close as he could be. After he snapped out of his initial shock at her beauty and the effect she had on him, he quickly left the others to get to her.

'You say that I won't lose you

But you can't predict the future

So, just hold on like you will never let go

Yeah, if you ever move on without me

I need to make sure you know that'

Inuyasha pushed his way through the crowd, hearing his name being called but uncaring of who it was. People were calling for him all around him, asking to take a photo with him, asking to dance with him, but with the loud music and the desire for his mate, he paid no attention to anyone. His only care was to get to Kagome. The crowd was thick, thicker than at the beginning of the night, and he cursed when he finally got to the bottom of the stairs. Once the bouncers saw him, they moved aside and he took to the stairs two at a time, resisting the urge to use his demonic strength and race towards her or bypass the entire stairs in one leap.

'You are the only one I'll ever love (I gotta tell ya, gotta tell ya)

Yeah, you, if it's not you it's not anyone (I gotta tell ya, gotta tell ya)

Looking back on my life

You're the only good I've ever done

Yeah, you, if it's not you, it's not anyone

Not anyone'

When he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed that she had moved back from the railing some. Kagome stood further inside the lounge, her eyes and whole attention was on him. He could smell her better now, the closer he got to her, the stronger her scent got. And it ignited a fire in him that wasn't there for the entire night. Not until now. When he saw her, he could think of nothing else but to be near her. And now that he was so close to her, he wanted nothing more but to be a part of her. She was his mate. No matter what anyone said, no matter if the ritual wasn't completed, he knew with his heart and soul that Kagome was his mate, and he belonged to her.

The longer he stood there, without moving a muscle to get closer to her, the more his body responded to her and his need for her grew more and more. And it was there in her eyes. He saw the way her body responded to his, even with the distance separating them. The way her blue eyes got heady, her lips parting as she took in shallow breaths. It was as if their bodies were so attuned to one another that they responded to the other's need.

He finally moved then, and noticed that she took a few steps back as he took more towards her. A slow smile crept across her face and he could smell her excitement, hear the way her heart beat faster, as if that was the only sound in this club that he could hear. When he got close enough to her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, crushing his lips to hers. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, tasting the Baileys, but something feral crept up his spine, putting every instinct he had on edge.

Inuyasha moved his head back, breaking their kiss. Kagome was dazed, her eyes fluttering open as she tried to hang on to her drink in the other hand. He walked her back the several feet until he could press her against the wall, gripping her hair with his other hand. He could feel his demonic blood grow hot not only because of the smell of her arousal but also because of the threat. Kagome's heart beat sped up as he pinned her to the wall, tilting her head up when pulled her hair, exposing her neck to him.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered, but it was loud enough for him to hear. She sounded throaty, sexy, and so turned on that it turned him on even more. She was such an aphrodisiac.

'Forever's not enough time to

Love you the way that I want

'Cause every morning I find you

I fear the day that I don't'

He bent his head and took a long inhale, breathing in her scent. He moved further back to the nape of her neck, smelling the scents on her skin and in her hair.

"Why do I smell males all over you?" he asked as he brought his lips to her ear.

He felt her stiffen against him and the arm that he gripped reached up to grab his forearm. He brought his head back so that he could look at her, his jealousy and protectiveness getting the best of him. He could never hurt her, and his hold on her wasn't causing her pain, but it was enough to get his point across that he didn't like what he found. Now that she was here, after the entire night of wishing her to be here, now that he had her, he had her with many different male scents all over her. Some were the scents of women, and he could barely recognize two that seemed a little familiar to him. But he didn't stop to think of where he recognized those scents. It was the males' scents that stirred his demon's blood, that made him want to tear their throats out for touching her. Some scents were stronger than others, some was the smell of their sweat, and some was the smell of cologne. He didn't like finding his mate with so many scents on her, especially a male's.

Kagome felt her heart skip a beat as awareness and clarity came back to her. She hadn't taken a shower before coming, so she still had the smell of her clients at Midnite on her. But as she was thinking of what to tell him, and fast, she also remembered that the men downstairs were all on her recently too.

"There's a lot of people here tonight, Yasha." His hand gripped her arm tighter. "There were these two guys at the bar that was all over me, trying to get me to dance with them. Maybe you're smelling them or the other hundreds of people that were pushing against me." He pulled his head back to look down at her, a small, red glow burning in his eyes.

"It's more than that."

Kagome felt anger come on when he wouldn't drop it, and now tried to reverse the power play. "Like you're one to talk. I saw those women throw themselves at you. You can't tell me that you don't have the scents of many women all over you. Am I supposed to be okay with that?"

Inuyasha looked at her with hard eyes. She was all fire as she glared at him, matching his intensity. "If you saw them on me then you saw me take them off me."

"I did. But that doesn't mean that I liked it. I wanted to go down there and rip their fingers off you."

He smirked, relaxing his grip on her arm and hair. "You're jealous."

"Of course I'm jealous. Just like you." She brought her head towards his chest, now that he released his grip on her hair, and smelled his shirt. "You smell like perfume," she said, making a face.

Inuyasha chuckled. "I guess you don't like that I smell like other women. Now you know how it feels."

'You say that I won't lose you

But you can't predict the future

'Cause certain things are out of our control

Yeah, if you ever move on without me

I need to make sure you know that'

Kagome brought her hand up from his forearm and kissed him, silencing him as she brought her hand to the back of his head the same way he held hers. His grip on her hair tightened and his tongue dueled with hers. She moaned at his aggressiveness, the way his body pressed tighter against hers, pushing her back against the wall. The position was hot and her core clenched. She felt butterflies as desire for him flooded her veins. She wanted him then and there, in the sweat-filled room with the pulsating lights and the pounding music. She never knew that she would've responded to his aggression with building passion instead of fear.

Inuyasha growled and brought both hands to her hips, igniting that fire in her belly. He kissed her with such passion and intensity that she matched him. She forgot about everyone else and just lost herself in his touch and his kiss. The man could kiss. Every stroke of his tongue felt like he was using his tongue on her clit. She knew how good he was with his mouth and he was having his way with her mouth the same way he would with her body. That only intensified her need for him and she felt herself get wet the longer he kissed her and the more she rubbed herself against him.

Inuyasha pulled back with a hiss. "You want this here?" he asked, catching his breath and sensing her urgent need for him. He kissed her like a starving man and he needed her, he needed to be in her. But not here. This club had its memories for him. Times when he came here only to get what he needed from random women, and leaving them the same way they left him. He definitely didn't want to treat Kagome like that or taint her in this place that was only a place for him to get a blowjob.

"Yes," she said against his neck, licking his skin. "The things you do to me..." she said, bringing her hand down, under his shirt, to run her hand freely all along his abs. "You're so sexy. I want you like this. I want you rough."

"You're the one who's sexy, baby." He knew her weak spots, the places on her body that made her writhe with pleasure. He brought his head to her neck and licked her the same way she did him. That earned him a gasp with a moan as her hand went to his back to bring him closer against her. He moved his mouth up to her ear and heard her breath catch. "Do you have any idea what you do to me, Kagome?"

Kagome moaned as he pressed himself flush against hers so that she could feel his erection against her belly. He sucked on her earlobe and her entire body turned to mush, her panties wet by now. She felt her legs shake and his hands on her hips were the only things keeping her steady and standing, pressed against the wall. "I want you, Inuyasha. I need you in me. I'm so wet for you."

'You are the only one I'll ever love (I gotta tell ya, gotta tell ya)

Yeah, you, if it's not you it's not anyone (I gotta tell ya, gotta tell ya)

He moved without warning, grabbing the drink from her hand and bending to place it on the ground. She had to lean against the wall without his hands helping to steady her. Then, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. They left the lounge and the two bodyguards let them pass as he took them into the crowd on the second floor. His grip on her tightened and he made sure she walked close behind him so that they wouldn't get separated. She smiled in excitement and anticipation, sure that no one noticed or even wondered why she looked so excited. Her whole body was craving Inuyasha, and she wondered if he was taking her somewhere where they could indulge in each other's bodies. 'Exhibition?' She wondered if she could ever let people watch them have sex, or to let people watch Inuyasha, naked in all his glory. That was what she had a problem with the most is that people would see him in a way that only she was able to see him. That was hers and hers alone. She knew without a doubt that sex in public was not her thing.

'Looking back on my life

You're the only good I've ever done

Yeah, you, if it's not you, it's not anyone

It's not anyone, not anyone'

Inuyasha took her through the crowd and to the end of the second floor. She could see him leading them to what may be rooms because there were red lights lit up randomly along the black wall. People were lined up against the railings, looking down directly over the stage with the DJ playing down below. When they got closer, then she could see doorknobs but couldn't really make out the door frame since it was so well blended into the entire wall. He took them to a door that didn't have a red light over it and opened it, pulling her in front of him so that she could go in first and he shut the door behind them, locking it.

The dark red lights lit up right when she entered, making it a little easier to see since the room was so dark. After the pulsating lights outside, it took a second for her eyes to adjust to the change in light. She turned around when she heard Inuyasha close and lock the door. She felt confined now, trapped. He stood between her and the door, facing her with a look that probably matched her own. She was surprised that the both of them weren't on each other by now, but she was holding herself back as best as she could. She wanted to jump him. She wanted to prove to those women that he was hers, that she could bring him to his knees, that she could give him more pleasure than they ever could. He was always so vocal during sex and he always told her these things, how much pleasure she gave him and how much he loved her. He reminded her of how powerful she was, how much control she had over him without even knowing it.

"I need to tell you something."

His voice broke the silence. It was quiet in here, a little bit too quiet, which made her think that the walls were soundproof. But she could hear the music and the crowd coming through the door so she figured that the door wasn't soundproof like the walls.

"Okay." She remained still, bringing her hands to clasp behind her back. She wanted to touch him, but instead she played with her fingers to give her something else to do.

"I've been here before."

It took her a couple of seconds to understand what he was saying. "In this room?" She saw his nod in the dim light and looked around. The room was small from what she could tell, but big enough for three or four people to move around comfortably in. The walls looked black like the outside of the club. The light was a dark red that illuminated in the corners of where the walls met the ceiling. She could see on her left was a marble countertop that came out of the corner of the wall with a wastebasket and a white container underneath it. She turned to her right and didn't see anything else in the room.

He remained quiet, letting her take in her surroundings until she was ready to talk. "You've... had sex here?" Now was her turn to take a step back at the realization of what he was telling her. A knot formed in her stomach as doubt and insecurity crept in.

"No." His voice was hard, catching her attention. "Not sex. I told you I've never had sex with anyone before you besides Kiyomi."

"Then... what else?"

"Just oral. I came here whenever I needed a release. I mostly took care of myself but sometimes I needed that other body." He watched her as she listened and took in the information. She looked around again, suddenly very shy and unsure.

"Kagome..." He came towards her then, closing the distance. She didn't retreat from him, but she also didn't melt into him when he wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek on top of her head. "We don't have to be here. I only brought you here because you wanted me, and I want you too. We can go home if that's what you want."

She remained still in his arms, just allowing herself the moment to feel him. He felt so good around her, so strong and grounded. Inuyasha. He was her lifeline. If they weren't good, then she felt herself free-falling, unsure if she would ever hit the ground, unsure of who she was. This was what she feared. Being so heavily dependent on another being that she lost herself in the process. People could never be trusted. She could never trust her parents, the very ones who were supposed to love and protect her, so how could she trust a random being who she just met. She feared this exact thing, the whole reason why she always wanted to be alone and to never fall in love. She feared that if she was ever to lose that person, she would lose herself and not be able to find a way to live anymore. She would become just like her parents.

Kagome unclasped her hands angrily, feeling tears burn in her eyes. 'Why am I crying?' She didn't understand why she was crying when she was still so turned on, so confused and yet so angry. So many emotions were running through her when all she wanted was to simply be with him and feel him. She ran her hands up his sides under his shirt, feeling his body shiver at her touch.

"Kagome..."

She tilted her head up as he moved his head back. "Take me."

She saw his golden eyes intensify in the red glow of the room. He looked so ethereal, so handsome and purely erotic the way he looked at her. His nose flared and her hands went up his chest, rubbing along his pecs before they went to his back. She pressed herself against him as his hands went to her hair, cradling both sides of her head in his palms.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered, tempting him all the more as she brought her lips just barely touching his. "Tell me you love me," she said, giving his chin little butterfly kisses, down his jawline until she reached his neck.

"You know I do," he groaned out. His fingers tightened in her hair but he didn't pull her back or stop her.

"Why did you bring me here?" Her fingers danced along his back, feeling every muscle, every definition of his back beneath her fingers. He was so hard, so opposite of her that she loved it.

Inuyasha growled, pushing her backwards until she was pressed against the wall, trapped with his body. "You wanted me. Here I am."

She moaned at that truth. Yes, she wanted him. She still did with every fiber of her being. Her body wanted him in her, her body wanted the pleasure that only he could give her. "I do want you." She kissed his neck, down to where his shirt started, stopping her descent. "What's holding you back from taking me?" She heard her own voice, so dark and sultry. She sounded more like Sapphire than she did Kagome. In all honesty, there was no Kagome without Sapphire and vice versa. Her persona was nothing more than her inner heart's desires. She tempted him, she teased him, the same way she would her client. But this client of hers, this lover of hers, was so much more and could do so much more to her than any paid customer could.

Inuyasha felt her arms come around to his chest again and he found himself losing his control by every stroke of her fingers and every sexy word that came from her lips. She was undoing him by the second, and she was unleashing something within him that he was afraid she wouldn't be able to take.

He grabbed her arms to pull her hands out of his shirt, pinning her hands to the wall above her head. The position left her open and exposed, exciting her all the more at his aggressiveness. Her heart rate went up, excited and aroused at his lust. Her lust matched his own as she wrapped a leg around one of his, rubbing her body against his to add friction between them.

"Kagome... I need you to listen to me." The alertness of his tone made her come out of her lust haze enough to hear him. "I've had a few drinks and I have a buzz. I have a raging hard-on thanks to you and all I want to do is sink my cock inside of you." She moaned at his crude honesty and the thought of him filling her, stroking that penis inside of her. "But I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to scare you."

"You won't," she said, trying to calm his fears. He was always so aware of her, how he treated her and how she responded. Since he knew of her past, he always took extra precaution when it came to them having rough sex. He was very careful with her. "I always feel safe with you, Inuyasha. Even if you lost control..."

"I can't! Not with you." His voice was adamant about it and held no room for her to interject or dispel his fears. She tried to move her arms to hold him but he wouldn't let them go. "You will tell me if I get too rough."

She nodded. "Yes." Her desire for him was all that she felt, the dark, deep lust that he brought on in her. She was wet for him, her heart raced in the position he kept her in and the feeling of being subdued by him turned her on.

Inuyasha took one last look at her, probably measuring for himself if she was ready or not. And then he brought his lips down to hers, a soft, slow kiss. It was unlike what she expected and she moaned at his tenderness.

"I love you, Kagome. I love you more than you know."

Her heart was too full, her body too empty, her mind too confused with all the emotions he made her feel. She closed the gap he made between them and kissed him with all the love and lust she felt for him. He responded by running his hands up her arms until he linked their fingers together and squeezed, pressing the back of her palms against the wall.

"Tell me you want me," he said, kissing his way down to her neck, holding her at his mercy.

"I want you, Inuyasha."

"Mmmm..." He used his teeth, scraping against her sensitive skin, causing her to shiver with goosebumps. She moaned at his exploration, trapped by his desire. He brought his body up against hers, rubbing his erection against her thigh, teasing her. She moaned again, wanting him inside of her.

Inuyasha growled, tightening his grip on her hands. "I hate that you smell like other men." He used his tongue to lick from the front of her throat all the way to the back of her ear, as if he was licking off their scents from her skin. She didn't think that she would have their scent on her so much. At least not on her skin. Her clients weren't allowed to touch her unless given permission, and she didn't allow her clients tonight to touch her, especially not on her neck. But Inuyasha's sense of smell was something that she underestimated. Much like Koga's. She just hadn't been thinking about that before she got here. All she thought about was to get to the club, get to Inuyasha.

"Then make me smell like you," she said, arching her breast up into him as he brought his head up.

"I will." A dark promise. He released her hands and she immediately let them fall, wanting to hold him, but he quickly pinned her arms back against the wall. "Leave them there."

"But I want to touch you."

"No. Not when you smell like other men."

He was punishing her. She frowned, wondering if he was really mad at her. She didn't understand if this was a game or if he truly was punishing her, but he had warned her, told her to tell him if he got too rough. So she would take it. She would take him until she couldn't take him no more.

Inuyasha released her arms again, keeping his eyes on hers to make sure that she got the message to keep her hands against the wall above her head. She obeyed. He smiled at her, pleased. Looking down, he unclipped her purse strap from around her body and dropped it on the ground. He grabbed the bottom of her top and pulled it up and over her head, stopping to roll it into itself so that it remained at her elbows like a band. Now he could finally see her skin. That long-sleeve top was hiding her skin underneath and he was deadly curious to see if her skin smelled like other men. His demon raged at the thought of it.

He bent his head down to her cleavage while his hands went to her waist and his fingers splayed out on her smooth skin. He took a sniff against her chest, smelling his way over each breast, then licking his way back to her cleavage. Her skin had no trace of a male's scent, much to his relief. She only had their scents in her hair and on her clothes, but that was to be expected in a crowded club. He couldn't get mad at her for that. But the thought of another man with her, touching her, rubbing himself on her like those two guys she said from early did. Maybe those were the stronger scents he could smell. He knew that he would be dangerous to anyone who would make a move on her. She was his.

"Inuyasha..." she moaned.

She felt his tongue on her chest, traveling to her right breast, and then he was sucking on her breast. The suction and pull made her moan, her core tightening from his skillful mouth. She wished he took off her bra so that he could suck her nipple like that, but his hands went down, not up. She gave herself over to the feelings he gave her, the pleasure he was giving her body. He made sucking noises, so loud and greedy, that it turned her on as to how animalistic he could be with her. He was unabashedly loud and vocal when it came to sex. He was very vocal when it came to his moans, especially with his crude, dirty sex talk that turned her on so much. Whatever he was doing to her and with her, he didn't care if anyone heard them. He was always in their own world when he was with her, enjoying her body, and that was what she loved about him. He always lost himself in her, forgetting the world as if it was only the two of them.

She felt his fingers unbutton her shorts and with a simple move, he took off her shorts and panty, letting them fall to her feet. She stepped out of them, widening her stance a bit, and that gave him his opportunity to place his palm against her clit, startling her.

Kagome gasped at the sudden surprise, pleasure rippling through her with anticipation. He switched to her left breast, giving it the same attention he gave the other one, and she was sure he was giving her a hickey by how hard he sucked on her. His mouth felt so good. His fingers... She arched her back when he used one finger to circle her clit, drawing a loud moan from her. He tested her, rubbing his finger into her folds back and forth.

"Mmmm..." he growled out, nipping at her breast, causing her to jump. "You're so wet, Kagome." He pressed a finger into her, stretching her open.

"Ah... Inuyasha..."

"Are you wet because of those guys at the bar?" he asked, pumping his finger into her slowly at first. "Or are you wet because of me?"

"You. Only you," she whimpered, clasping her hands together to dig her elbows into the wall. She tried so hard to keep her hands where he wanted them, so hard not to touch him. Her knees trembled and she had to spread her legs a little wider when he fingered her a little faster. He brought his head up and captured her lips, plunging his tongue into her mouth with the same intensity as his finger into her sex. It felt so good that she cried out, breaking the kiss when he withdrew his finger out of her.

"I'm going to give us what we both need, Kagome," he said, taking off his shirt and discarding it next to her purse. He unbuttoned his pants and pulled it down below his butt, just enough to release his cock from his boxer-briefs. "You will come when I tell you to come. Is that understood?"

She swallowed, trying to get her throat to work. Her mouth felt so dry but her sex was so wet for him.

"Kagome..."

"Yes," she breathed out, frustrated at all the talking. "Inuyasha... hurry."

He smiled at her, kissing her passionately. "Remember... when I say." He grabbed under her butt and lifted her, sliding his hands down her legs so that she wrapped them around his waist. His erection rested in between her butt cheeks, exciting her more. He held under her butt with one hand and wrapped his other around her waist, moving them over to the corner where she'd seen the countertop.

He lifted her a little higher so that she was eye level with him. "Reach up and grab onto the pole."

'The pole?' She hadn't seen any poles up above but she trusted him, too excited now to care. Without looking up, she reached up and her hand bumped into something cold and solid. She grabbed onto the pole with both hands since they were still trapped from her top. The position thrusted her chest out and she looked down at herself, feeling so powerful even though she was the one at his mercy. Inuyasha looked at her with such intensity and then suddenly released some of his hold from her so that she had to hold most of her weight up with her hands.

Inuyasha supported her with one hand on her butt while his other went to his cock, stroking himself back and forth between her lips. "Mmmm... do you know what you do to me, Kagome?" He kept stroking himself, trying to contain his need to be rough, his need to take her in the way he wanted to. He was excited to be having sex with her here, in a public place, in a place that he had been in many times but never like this. He needed a moment to reign in his demon, a moment to regain control.

"No... Inuyasha... I'm burning up, baby."

"Shhh... I know." He kissed her and then positioned himself at her entrance. He slowly entered, just enough to part her lips and stretch her open. They both moaned at the ecstasy of their connection. He brought his hands to her hips and in one move thrusted up deep into her.

Kagome gasped and cried out at the pain of his invasion. He was so big and he filled her in one swift move, holding himself still inside of her, letting her body adjust to him. She tightened her legs around him, shaking at the pain and pleasure.

"Inuyasha..." She panted hard, trying to catch her breath.

And then he started to move. Slowly at first, as if he was enjoying the first few strokes of his cock in her, the first tight suctions of her muscles clamping around him, trying to get used to his invasion. As her body softened more, her moans got louder and his tempo picked up. He needed her. He needed her rough and quick.

"When I say..." he reminded her, and then he was pounding into her like a man who lost his mind. Kagome let her head fall back as she moaned out in pleasure, uncaring as to how loud she was. She let herself go, moaning at the top of her lungs, her body receiving so much pleasure from his relentless drives. The position was indescribable. Because she had to hold herself up, the weightless feeling along with Inuyasha's cock and thrusts into her body was nothing like she had ever felt before. She was at his mercy with his powerful drives and his hands on her hips, pushing and pulling her onto him. She felt like she was floating in pure sensation.

"You good?" he asked, grunting out, watching the way her breasts moved from his wild thrusts while still confined in her bra.

"Yes. Yes." She could hear the slap of his balls against her butt cheeks, almost in time with the music that came seeping in from outside. But their tempo was their own. They were lost in the music of their own bodies.

Inuyasha leaned forward to suck on her neck, needing to mark her, to have his scent all over her. His hips moved on its own accord, feeling every suck and pull of her tight muscles milking his cock. "Ah... you feel so damn good..." Her head was lolled back so kissed his way down her neck, her chest, down to her breasts to bite, lick and suck. He wanted to leave his mark everywhere on her. She just made him insane with the need to dominate her, to own her, to claim her and mark her, every time they had sex. It was an instinctual need that he's never felt before, an overwhelming need he's never had before.

"Mmmm... Inuyasha..." Her arms shook at the intensity of his thrusts, but also because her palms were getting clammy. She felt sweat break out on her forehead as she brought her head back up. She saw his red eyes, much like the color of the room around them, so focused on her. The sight of him in his demon form always made her so hot, so aroused, and closer to orgasm than she thought she'd be. He kissed her, their tongues dueling as their bodies spoke to one another in a loud conversation. All they could hear was their moans, their skin against one another and their heavy breathing as they both raced to their climax.

"Inuyasha..." she moaned, trembling as she tried to continue to hold herself up.

He could feel she was close. Her legs were tight around his waist, her body angled away from the countertop so that he could hold her up by her butt, at the right angle and distance he wanted her. He went as deep as he could, taking everything and giving her everything. She felt so good that he lost his mind in her, feeling his balls tighten at the feel of her muscles tightening around him in pulses. She was close.

"Inuyasha!"

"I feel you, baby..." he breathed out, grunting with each thrust.

"Please..." He spread her cheeks wider, opening his legs a bit, and thrusted his hips up at an angle, hitting her sweet spot. "Ah! I'm going to come!"

He immediately withdrew when he felt that first shudder go through her. She cried out at the sudden loss of him and her hands slipped from the pole. But instead of falling back and hitting her head against the wall, he leaned back so that she fell forward onto him with her arms going around his head. His chest was slick with sweat against hers. He bent his head so that he could maneuver his head out from her arms and lifted her, urging her to put her feet on the ground. She complied on shaky feet and he quickly turned her around.

"Hang onto the counter." She didn't have time before he was back in her, making her cry out at the pleasure of having him in her again. She gripped the edge of the counter and spread her legs wider, feeling his hands grip her hips as he pulled her back in time with his thrusts. She let him have her body his way because he knew exactly what to do. This lover of hers knew her body so well. And he was winding her up again.

"Inuyasha... I can't... stop..." He slowed his pace, running a hand up her spine, up to the nape of her neck to grab her hair and push it to the side. He draped himself over her while still pumping slowly into her. She didn't know what was worse: the deep, fast thrusts or the slow, exquisite torture. Both were cruel.

"Had enough?" he asked, his voice sexy as sin. He kissed his way up her back, bringing one hand slowly around to cup her mound. She moaned and gasped as she felt his finger play with her clit, slowly rubbing circles with his slow thrusts.

"How do you want me?" he whispered in her ear, sucking on her earlobe and earning him a squeeze on his cock, her muscles tightening on him. He moaned into her ear, containing himself until she answered him.

"Fast. Hard. Deep," she said between breaths. She was so high, so close, and she couldn't catch her breath. But she wanted him the same way he started. So wild and rough, so uninhibited.

"Come for me." He stood to his height and gave her what she wanted. He quickened his pace, his balls slapping against his hand as he kept playing with her clit, heightening her swift orgasm.

"Oh... Inuyasha... baby!"

"Ah!" he groaned, feeling her sheath clamp around him like a vice. She moaned out his name over and over, his cock filling her and his finger giving her a brutal orgasm that made her see stars behind her eyes as she squeezed her eyes shut at the intensity of the orgasm. She felt like one went into another as he kept going. He was like an oiled machine that was made for sex. He was always in control of their orgasms, especially now when he held himself back. He enjoyed feeling her orgasm around him, knew that it pleased him that he pleased her so well. She heard his breaths come out roughly, his other hand on her hip tighten, his moans grow louder. And she knew that he was finally letting himself go.

"Ah... Kagome... I'm coming, baby." She moaned as he came, feeling his release deep inside of her. She loved hearing him come, the way his face looked when that pain-pleasure just enveloped him and took him over the edge. He was beautiful and his orgasm always turned her on while making her feel a sense of feminine pride that she gave that to him.

She slumped onto her elbows, leaning onto the countertop, breathing heavily. Her body felt sated yet acutely aware of every touch on her skin. She felt him move then, reaching under her to pull her up against his chest. She moaned at the feel of him, his hands moving over her stomach and under her bra.

He brought his head over her shoulder and she turned hers to kiss him, leisurely exploring his mouth with her tongue. He was still in her, still hard, amazingly. He withdrew from her just as he broke the kiss, kissing her nose lovingly and then smiling at her.

"I want to take you home and make love to you again."

Kagome smiled, turning around to run her hands up his sweaty chest. "That can be arranged."


I hope you liked this lemon ending. I certainly did and have been waiting to write it. Let me know what you think so far. Things are about to heat up :)