AN: Full version can be found on my Tumblr. This one is edited for content, but not much. You're really not missing much, just the full smut.
Chapter Four: Hands
"I don't know where my road is going, but I know that I walk better when I hold your hand."
― Alfred de Musset
Sitting on her bed, Kagome waited for Inuyasha to return from the bathroom, washing up from their lovemaking. When Inuyasha spotted her, a grin split his face. "Fuck you look hot."
Kagome looked down, his shirt the only detail of herself she was certain of. "You mean a hot mess?"
Inuyasha bounced her on the bed when he flopped to it, digging his hands into her tangled locks. His ears flicked back and forth as he did, listening to how her heart sped up. "No, I mean sexy. Cause you look like sex, and I know it's cause of me."
He brushed wild strands out her face, and she looked him over for signs of their sex, finding none. "You look like you always do."
"Ouch. I'm offended."
"I'm the one offended."
"What? Why?"
She shook it off, but he persisted, pushing her around with his hands in her hair. "Is there something… wrong with me?" He cocked a brow and forced her to explain. "It's just… does coming inside me not feel good or something? Or do you not believe me when I tell you I'm on the pill?"
Inuyasha sighed loudly, "shit," like he didn't think she noticed, "I guess it's time to have that talk?" He turned, taking his hands off her to face her and look her in the eyes. "One of the laws of the pack is that we're not to have sex. At all. Until we mate."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, I don't really believe that everyone waited. The dates of some pups' birthdays don't add up…."
"Are you telling me that you and I are breaking the law?"
"A lot, baby."
Kagome nudged closer, always interested in the ways of the pack. "What does that have to do with where you come?"
Inuyasha sputtered, but she was serious, her eyes wide and curious on him. He smirked deviously and took her hands in his. "Because to mate, you trade all your fluids. Spit, sweat, blood, and cum. There can be no protection of any kind, not even birth control because your body," he said, pointing to her womb while still holding her hand, "has to accept everything I give it."
"So… what happens if you trade fluids but not mate?"
They had traded fluids lots of times. From when they used to make out as teens to their nightly lovemaking, plenty of fluids were accepted by her from Inuyasha. "Blood and semen are the important ones. Sweat and spit… they're unavoidable in a lot of cases. The blood and semen will scent us. We'll smell like our mate forever, and no one likes the smell of another coming from the one they're screwing."
Inuyasha was playing with her fingers, rubbing the insides of her pads with his claws. "I get how semen is traded, but blood?"
"The old tradition was to bite. Wolves used to sink their teeth into one another wherever they could and drink. Now, we slice palms and hold hands." That sounded way more romantic to Kagome. She couldn't imagine drinking someone's blood. "And it's all done simultaneously."
"Huh?"
Inuyasha chuckled at her, running a claw down the middle of one of Kagome's palms as he held it up to her face. "You slice your palms and hold hands while you fuck."
Either it was his words or the tickle of his claw, but Kagome shivered visibly. "If you're not supposed to, then why are we together?"
He pulled her hands until her arms were wrapped around his neck. Then he released her, grabbing her ass and lifting her into his lap. "I couldn't stay away from you when we were kids, and I still can't." Inuyasha dug into her neck, and she giggled, fisting his hair when the tickled turned to more. "It's really hard…."
He spoke against her neck, and she wiggled her hips, her legs straddling him, "yeah, I noticed."
Inuyasha pinched her side playfully, causing her to giggle some more. "Let me finish!"
"I want that more than anything!"
"Dammit, Kagome, I'm trying to tell you something!" He tossed her to the bed. She bounced from his play and her laughter. Inuyasha crawled over her, waiting for her to calm down to speak. "What I'm trying to say is… it's really hard not coming with you. I want to so bad, it hurts. So please… don't let it bother you, okay?"
The only thing bothering her now was his lack of asking. He wasn't asking her to be his mate like he had when they were teens. And he had seemed so sure then, but now things had changed. Inuyasha wanted to be with her, but not forever. "I promise to do my best."
He smiled softly, lifting her hard to rip his shirt off her. "I have to go soon."
Another thing that bothered her, but with Inuyasha not asking her to be his forever, she could hardly ask him to stay the night. Kagome tried and failed to hide her pout, Inuyasha leaning over until their foreheads pressed together, among other things.
"Baby, don't give me that look, please? If I'm gone too long, it'll cause problems. As long as we're careful, I can keep seeing you every night like this." She nodded against his head, but that wasn't enough for him. "What if I… do an excellent job tonight?"
Kagome pushed on him, getting him to rise enough to look in his eyes. "I'd rather have you hold me all night than multiple orgasms."
"You sure about that?" When she nodded, entirely sure, Inuaysha folded. "I can't tonight. But maybe tomorrow?"
"Then do an excellent job tonight."
His grin returned, falling back over her and pressing it to her mouth. Her moans were cut off, his tongue sweeping around her mouth to taste them. She paid him back by licking his fangs.
Leaping back, he pulled everything but their hips apart. "Don't do that."
"Wha… why? Do you not like it?"
"I… I do. I like it a lot."
Kagome got it, and Inuyasha calmed back down, laying over her. White curtained them, hiding them in his locks. It made Kagome feel like they were in another world all alone. A land where no one could stop them from being together. Not that anyone was right now, the two of them more together than she had ever been with anyone. And more than Inuyasha had ever been with anyone. Any doubts she had of that were swept away with the new rules he'd told her. Inuyasha was constantly breaking the rules for her, and now, he had broken more -repeatedly. It was hard to believe Inuyasha would risk this for her, but he would never risk his status in his pack for anyone. Yet, he was risking it for her, rubbing his nose along the bridge of hers as they bucked together.
He had a shaky hand on her breast, strumming her nipple while he licked up the column of her neck. She was close but didn't want to come yet. Not yet.
"Are you close," he whispered huskily in her ear, "you wanna come?" She quickly shook her head side to side, and Inuyasha pressed harder into her clit with his hips. "Baby, I can't… take much more…."
She understood, and yet, she couldn't get over the hump, feeling like her orgasm had stalled. Inuyasha moved his hands from her, grabbing hers in his. He threaded their fingers together and pressed them into her pillows above their heads. His thumb brushed over her palm, dangerously close to cutting her with his claw. But he stopped, biting on the juncture of her neck instead. Now, his fangs were close to cutting, threatening her with a scar if she didn't come soon.
Inuyasha was still sucking on her skin when the first explosion of her orgasm hit, rocking her to her core. The build-up made it last longer, feeling like her brain was going to boil in her skull as she got red hot. She was almost done, but not yet, when Inuyasha pulled out, cursing as he came on her sheets. With their hands still threaded, he didn't have much choice.
Slowly, he looked up from the mess to her, a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry."
Kagome shrugged out of it. "S'ok."
Rolling off, he pulled her with him to rest on him instead of the wet spot. She snuggled in deep, close to falling asleep, when he started moving under her. "I have to go."
The whimper she released was involuntary, but her soul didn't want him to leave. Kagome faced the other way while he got dressed and ignored him when he sat back down on the bed, rubbing her back gently. But she was being childish and wanted to see him more than punish.
Rolling, she looked up at him and felt a tear streak down at the sight of his black hair. He had his beads back on already; his departure was imminent. Inuyasha fell to his knees, wrapped his hands around her head, and brushed her hair out of her face. He brushed his lips along her skin, too, kissing away her tears to appease her. Kagome let it go, her anger and sadness because this was all Inuyasha could give her, and it was far better than nothing.
When he pulled away, showing her a soft grin, Kagome knew her lips matched his. "Tomorrow. I'll stay longer starting tomorrow."
"Okay," she said weakly but with a smile.
It earned her a kiss, his mouth searing to hers for a few long heartbeats, but he pulled away completely. His back to her, Inuyasha paused, hesitating at his exit (her window). "Kagome… I love you."
He spoke softly and surely. It had Kagome floundering, her mouth opening with squeaks in shock. Inuyasha's back rolled with tension when she remained silent, but he didn't give her enough time to respond (rushing out soon after he got the words out), leaving her with them on repeat for the rest of the night. They rolled around in her head while she rolled around in sheets covered with everything needed to mate, save for blood.
oOo
If it weren't for the constant shadow she had from early evening into the night, Kagome would have thought everything was business as usual. She went to work, taking care of both animals and humans, and came home to the same apartment. The only real difference to Kagome's life was Inuyasha as he stood off to the side, leaning against this and that with his attention everywhere but on her.
It had been two weeks since she was attacked. Maybe it was hubris, but Kagome didn't see Naraku coming after her again anytime soon. His first attempt crashed and burned thanks to Inuyasha, so it would stand to reason that Naraku would have to regroup and plan. Or he came to his senses and realized Kagome wasn't worth it.
Her workday was coming to a close, and she neared the wolf pen. Inuyasha was somewhere behind her, stalking. "You can come help if you want, you know?"
Inuyasha was several feet away, but she spoke at an average tenor, knowing he would hear. And he did, huffing softly, but she still heard him. "Is that allowed?"
His volume matched hers, and yet, she heard him. It was nothing new; the only new thing was that she knew her acute hearing was thanks to her wolf blood. "It's the wolves. Aren't you a specialist?"
Inuyasha laughed and tried to cover it with a cough. He still caught the door when she swung it open, following closely behind as she entered the 'staff only' area. Once inside, the wolves jumped her, happy to see her. "Hi, guys!"
"So, what do you do?" Inuyasha asked after several moments of play done by her.
She shrugged, "Play and feed them."
"Oh, so that's why they like you so much?"
Kagome liked to think it was more than that, turning away from Inuyasha to get the wolves their dinner. When she returned, a pair of wolves were sniffing Inuyasha out. "Cu, Yasha, calm down; he's with me."
The two backed down while Inuyasha didn't even flinch. "Cu and Yasha?"
"They were born not long after I started working here, so I got to name them."
"And those are the names you chose?"
Food out and wolves happily occupied, Kagome faced Inuyasha as he continued to lean. She hated it because he looked ridiculously sexy, especially when he leaned. Arms across his chest all plump and built? Inuyasha was always beautiful; when they were teens, he was tall and lean with toned muscles. Now? He was a god made of chiseled marble. It had Kagome self-consciously flicking her thick braid off her shoulder to hide on her back, her stupid uniform polo and khakis not helping. It was worse than the school uniform that Inuyasha used to see her in all the time.
"They were the ones I wanted. They fit, so I used them. Got a problem with it?"
"Other than you naming mangy wolves after me?"
Her anger was flaring, insulted for her wolves that she raised herself. "The only mangy wolf here is you."
"This mangy wolf is protecting you. Can these beasts say the same?"
Suddenly, it was like a competition. Inuyasha was fighting for dominance over the wolves she cared for. It made her laugh, ignoring his question and getting back to work. Inuyasha spent the rest of the evening pouting while Kagome played with the wolves for a bit. When it had been silent for far too long, Kagome's questions returned. And with Inuyasha speaking to her, she hoped to get some answers.
"Inuyasha, can you tell me about my family?"
Looking his way, she caught his stare before he pointed it elsewhere. "It's your family, don't you know?"
"Are you purposely not telling me? Why am I not allowed to know?!"
"Because!" He growled, eyes glowing, but then softened as soon as he looked at her again, "you're not supposed to know anything about the pack world. It's what your father wanted."
"What about what I want?"
"That doesn't matter!"
"Why not?!"
"It's pack law!"
They had gotten into each other's faces at some point; it had Kagome craning her neck to yell into his face. He loomed over, bending into her. Even though they both noticed neither of them moved an inch; another show of dominance. "You're going to tell me that pack law prohibits me from knowing? This is important, Yash! Naraku is going to kill me over it, and I don't even know what I've done!"
"That's never going to happen…."
"I deserve to know!"
He was silent, his mouth sewn shut before her. The wolves were starting to grow at them, so she stepped back. But Inuyasha grabbed her hand and held it firm. "So damn determined to break every rule we have."
Inuyasha's fingers were rubbing into her skin, gently pushing the meat in her hand around like a massage. It drew her back to him like a moth, handing him her other hand for him to do the same. If they weren't in public (the wolf house not enough to be safe from eyes), she would take his beads off. But she couldn't, so she had to deal with his black hair and human ears.
"I'm not trying to break laws; I'm trying to understand."
Inuyasha's gaze dropped to their hands, stopping his massage to squeeze them along with his eyes as he forced them shut. "You didn't see me anymore… because you left the country?"
"Yes. What did you think?"
"I thought… you wised up and ghosted me?"
"I wouldn't do that."
He opened his eyes and looked up at her slowly. "I know. I know that, but… you didn't tell me anything. You didn't even say goodbye…."
"After Gramps and Toga confronted us, I was forced to pack right away and shoved onto a plane. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, not even Souta."
"Damn. That old man really hated me." Inuyasha said with a sigh. "You didn't even come to his funeral; I thought you were doing all you could to avoid me…."
"My cousin had me and refused to let me go. I had no money, and they had all my papers. I had to get a lawyer to come back at all."
He tugged on her hands that he still held, "why did you come back? You should have stayed away!"
"I missed… everything here. This is my home."
Releasing a hand, Inuyasha wrapped a hand around the back of her neck. Similar to a few nights ago, he dug his fingers into her hair and pulled her closer. "Did you miss me?"
Inuyasha was still pulling her closer, and she was about to answer him with her lips on his as it appeared he wanted. It felt like he was distracting her, not that he genuinely wanted her like he used to. So with it free, she pressed her hand to his chest and broke the moment efficiently. "I missed a lot of things. Like how my parents used to be wolves, and no one told me?"
Inuyasha sighed ruefully but she knew she had won already, even as he squeezed his brow along with her palm. "As I said, they didn't want you to know. They wanted you to have a normal life."
"Regardless of what you tell me, a normal life isn't going to happen. Not anymore. You might as well tell me, so I know what to expect."
"Fine," he roared, releasing his face but not her hand, "but not here. Are you done?!"
"Yes."
Tugging her, Inuyasha pulled her from the building, stripping off his beads once they neared the back gate. His transformation was so smooth, stripping off his clothes to hand to Kagome and tossing her onto his back once he finished shifting. Once on her rooftop, he shook her off and shifted back, holding out a bashful hand for his clothes. But Kagome was too caught up in the beauty that was Inuyasha. His white fur, graceful form, and ease of control? They were things she could only dream of having and added to her lackings when comparing her to him. Kagome's self-worth was suffering again.
Dressed, he sat on the edge of the roof, arms crossed and one leg squared over the other. "What do you want to know?"
"First, what about Souta?"
"What about him?"
"He's a wolf too. And Naraku will be after him as well…."
"Souta is being watched from a distance. Naraku hasn't made any moves towards him but don't worry; we'll protect him if he ever does."
"If? Isn't it certain? We're the children from his dead pack, and he wants revenge."
Inuyasha's bright golds enveloped her as he looked her dead in the eyes. "Naraku is particularly interested in you, and we don't know why. Yet. But we will."
She thought it through for another second, having thought about one thing mostly the last several days. "I'm going to send Souta away. To my cousins in America."
"Good. Are you… going with him?"
There was a lift to his tone; Inuyasha wasn't sure of his feelings on the subject. "No."
She swore she saw relief on his face. "You should."
His words didn't match his face or his heart. A heart Kagome could hear clearly, and now she questioned that ability of hers. "How much wolf is in me?"
Inuyasha tried to show displeasure, but the truth was, he welcomed the change of subject. "I'm not sure. Your father was pure, but your mother wasn't. You're somewhere around fifty to sixty percent."
"Will I shift?"
"No, not with such a low blood percentage. You have to have at least seventy to shift."
"But I can hear heartbeats? And other things?"
"That's something all wolves have, no matter how much blood they have."
Kagome started to pace, thinking over all the new information to form her next question. "So, even if I joined the pack, I will never shift?"
"Joining the pack has nothing to do with shifting. It's a… family thing. We would take you in regardless of your bloodline. We're low on females."
"Wait, I can join your pack?"
Standing swiftly, Inuyasha shook his head hard. "That's not what I meant. You can't join my pack, and I won't let you join any other!"
"I'm sorry, you won't let me? You have no say on what I do, Inuyasha!"
Beads back on and ears out of his way, Inuyasha ran a pissed hand through the top of his locks. It made his bangs stick up funnily, but Kagome was pissed too. "It's not like that… it's… you join the pack your blood belongs to. The only time you switch packs is if you mate with someone in another pack. You would only be able to join your mother's, mine, or your father's, Naraku's."
"Unless I mated with someone in another pack."
A growl was her only warning. Kagome's back hit the rooftop hard; Inuyasha suddenly on top of her with red eyes and long fangs. "Do you even know what mating is?!"
"Marriage?" She answered calmly, having no fear.
"Yeah, and with marriage comes fucking. You gonna fuck your way into another pack? Become a pack whore?"
Kagome rolled her eyes hard at Inuyasha, and another growl billowed out of his chest. "Could you be any more sexist? Men use sex to get what they want all the time. Actually, sex is what most of them want, so they win in the end. If I use sex to get what I want, I'm not a whore; I'm a genius."
She didn't need her superhuman hearing to hear Inuyasha's claws cut into the cement of her roof. "Stop it."
His eyes were squeezed shut again, this time to calm down. Kagome reached up and took his face in her hands. She gasped when he pressed into them, rolling his head and rubbing against her palms. He pressed his lips to one and then slowly opened his eyes as if afraid, gaging her reaction to his affection. Kagome had to swallow something thick down her throat to speak again.
"Tell me everything you know about my parents."
She slowly lowered her hands but Inuyasha didn't move, not even his eyes as he pinned Kagome down with them as well. "Only if you tell me about yourself."
"About myself?"
"I haven't seen you in five years. Then you come back, kicking the shit out of some low-blooded but trained wolves? What the fuck did you do in England?!"
A grin twitched at the side of Inuyasha's mouth, and his eyes sparkled above her. She would tell him anything with him looking at her like that. "I took a lot of defense and martial arts classes in college."
"You did?"
"Yeah. I couldn't shake the feeling that I would need them."
"Oh yeah?" He asked, lowering to rest his head on a propped elbow. It made his face much closer to hers. "And just what was that feeling?"
Kagome shook her head, and his smirk fell. "Give and take, Yash."
"Your dad was in the same pack as Naraku."
When he didn't go on, Kagome slapped his back, "I know that already!"
Inuyasha chuckled and relented. "Naraku's pack was all violence and bloodshed. So all of its members either died in battle or left to avoid it."
"That makes sense," Kagome added and Inuyasha looked shocked, "my dad was a pacificist. He hated violence."
"He hated it after he met your mother. Your father was the Beta of that pack."
"What?!"
"The Alpha was an only child as most are. Your father was the Alpha's cousin. And next in line if the Alpha faltered or died."
"Then he should have stayed! Made changes, did something to stop the violent pack!"
"He did." Kagome's head tilted, and Inuyasha brushed a strand off her neck. "Your turn."
Leave it to Inuyasha to leave her hanging, running through all the facts about herself in her mind until she came on something that would satisfy. "I graduated with honors."
"Of course you did. Because you focused solely on studying and nothing else?"
Inuyasha had one brow lifted, and a frown on his face but Kagome didn't follow the question. "I had friends that I hung out with but other than that, yeah, I just studied."
"Did you… have any… boyfriends?"
It took her a second but once the words settled in. Kagome laughed and rolled her eyes. "Your turn."
Inuyasha growled but continued. "Your father tried to turn the pack around, wanting to end all the wars they were constantly starting. Our numbers are low as it is; killing other wolves was counterproductive. The most he got to change was to allow others the choice, die or join. Once in, you were in for life. It's why he and your mother left completely instead of joining our pack. My father wanted them, but they refused."
"Why?"
"If they joined our pack, then your father's would have declared war on us. I still say we could have taken them, but your entire family left the pack and its lifestyle behind."
"wait," she interrupted, and Inuyasha flicked his eyes back to her, looking off in the distance with the memory, "if my father and mother were wolves, then my Gramps and even my cousins…."
"Uh-un, your turn!"
This time, Kagome growled, and Inuyasha chuckled. "I didn't have any boyfriends. Happy?"
He said nothing but his smile got wider. "Your entire family has wolf blood. But your father and Gramps had the most blood. Your cousins in England probably only have a drop since they all had partial blood parents."
"Then Gramps, dad, even my mom could shift?"
Inuyasha nodded, "but Gramps aged out years ago, and your mother would have lost the ability after having Souta. It's why most wolves only have one pup; women with partial blood lose the ability to shift with more than one birth."
"Was Gramps so against the pack because of my father?"
"Your Gramps was kicked out when he could no longer fight. It varies; what age you lose your shift, and Gramps lost it young in comparison. He was already pissed off at his pack, and then they killed his only son? I know he blamed my father for it too, for not properly protecting your family."
"And that's why he was so mad when you and I were together?"
Inuyasha's face softened, and he inched closer to her face. "Yeah, a Beta dating his granddaughter? It put him over the edge."
"We were dating?"Inuyasha nodded, and it made her wonder in return. "What about you?" He pressed back, looking at her with confusion. "I don't know anything about you anymore. How's pack life? Have you found a mate yet?"
His dark brows pinched together, and his eyes bled a little. "Pack life is the same as usual. My mom is the Alpha for now until she can't shift anymore. Then my brother will take over."
His tone revealed all. Inuyasha had spoken about his brother when they were kids but only that they were estranged emotionally. "I'm sure he only wants the best for you and the pack?"
"Why the fuck would I have a mate?"
Inuyasha yelled out of nowhere. It caught Kagome off guard, his anger mirroring when she spoke of getting a mate for herself. "Because you're the Beta. You need to set an example and continue the bloodline."
"Feh, you sound like Sess."
"I just… I thought you would have moved on? Dated others and met someone new?"
Inuyasha leaned in again, his breath hot on her lips as he spoke. "Wolves don't date."
"What?"
"We pick a mate, and that's it."
"But… how do you know if you like each other?"
He shrugged, his eyes dancing around her face. "It's a chemical thing. We smell it on each other."
"Smell what?"
Inuyasha's nose brushed hers, and she closed her eyes to the sensation. His touch sent tingles down her spine just as it had as kids. "Attraction. Similar and different genes and traits. Everything we want in a mate, for our pups."
"So you really are wolves." She murmured against his lips as they rubbed hers.
"Kagome… I…"
She couldn't take it anymore, pushing up to connect their mouths fully. Inuyasha responded by dropping the hand that held his head off her, pushing her fully to the roof. Then he dug his hands under her, pulling her off the ground to mush her to him hard. They had already been pressed together, what with Inuyasha laying on her the entire conversation. She didn't think they could get any closer, but she was wrong.
Her legs wrapped around him on instinct while her body writhed under him. They were out of practice from when they were teens, but it didn't seem to matter. Not that this was anything like the makeout sessions they'd had in the past. Those didn't involve tongue or grinding while this was all of that and more.
Inuyasha ripped back, pulling his mouth from hers only to rest his forehead on hers and pant in her face. "I thought… you left me… wanted nothing to do with me… anymore…."
"No… never…"
His fears cleared away, Inuyasha grabbed her lips with his again, parting them with his tongue to play inside. The moan that released came from somewhere deep inside, and she had no control over it. It only fueled Inuyasha more, his hips grinding against her. It was easy to feel his rigidness with her legs around him as it rubbed against her core through their layers.
Straying from her mouth, Kagome caught her breath while Inuyasha caught the rest of her on fire. His tongue lapped at her neck as he sucked on her skin. Still grinding, her temperature continued to rise, feeling like she would soon burst into flames. Hooking her fingers around it, Kagome tugged off Inuyasha's beads, breaking the strand without giving a damn. His white hair fluttered around them, covering her with it and when Inuyasha didn't stop even for a second, she knew he didn't care either. Now she could feel his fangs and claws scratch her skin, marking her more thoroughly than his human features could.
All through college and what remained of high school, Kagome never thought of another man. There were plenty that were interested, but none made her feel like this. One look from Inuyasha and Kagome felt her heart fly. His touch made her body tingle, and his kiss had her soul begging for more. It was why, when he left her neck and returned to her mouth, she met him hungrily, missing his tongue in her mouth already.
She wasn't sure how long their makeout went on, but it wasn't nearly long enough. Neither seemed sure how long the cell phone had been ringing in Inuyasha's pocket because, even with their acute hearing, neither of them heard it.
Without looking at it, his eyes locked on Kagome's; Inuyasha pulled their mouths apart and held himself over her an inch. "I have to go."
He punctuated his words with another thick peck to her top lip before crawling off her and her roof. She was left in a haze -shivering from the loss of heat- above her home. Still out of it, she sat up and looked in the direction Inuyasha left. She tried to see him in the distance, but he was gone. It all left her struggling to get to her feet, pulling her phone out, and making a call that she had no choice in.
"Souta, we need to talk."
oOo
She tried to fight the smile on her face at the sight of him, Inuyasha leaning against the wall a few feet from her school's gate. When that failed, she gave in completely, hastening to his side. "Yash!"
He pressed off the wall as if surprised, even though he'd had his eyes on her since she left the school's grounds. With him standing straight, it made it easy to wrap her arms around his middle and hug him.
"You came to see me?"
"Clearly," he said gruffly, looking around at any who watched them with a flush on his cheeks.
"It's been so long! I was starting to think you'd moved on or something?"
Looking down at her, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Moved on?"
"Yeah, you never seemed like you liked me that much?"
"If I don't like you, then why would I come see you in the first place?"
His hands slid down until they rested on her back instead, returning her hug. "I figured Toga sent you to check up on me all this time…."
"Dad doesn't know I'm here. If he did, he'd be pissed."
"Oh…" her mouth made a perfect O, and she quickly shut it, "did you want to do something together?"
"Like what?"
He had started to pull her, angling her to walk at his side. "Dunno. Go to a park? Get coffee?"
"Like a date?"
Kagome scrunched her nose at that. Not because she didn't want to date Inuyasha, she just figured he didn't and therefore never considered it. "No, like two friends catching up!"
"Still sounds like a date to me," Inuyasha said with a strange frown on his face. Kagome swore she heard a peculiar beating coming from him too, like a heartbeat. But that made no sense.
"Whatever. I'm just happy to spend time with you."
"Yeah… me too."
Feeling particularly gleeful and childish, Kagome pushed out of Inuyasha's hold. "Race ya!"
"Keh, ain't we too old for that shit?"
"Hmm," Kagome purred, a finger on her chin as she walked backward, "sounds like someone's scared."
"I ain't scared! Who'd be scared of little chicken legs like you?!"
"Chicken legs?"
"Yeah, you need to thicken up; get some muscles if you wanna keep up with me!"
With that, Kagome spun and started to run. "Let's see you keep up!"
"CHEATER!"
Inuyasha screamed behind her, but she could tell he was already catching up. "Call it a handicap… for chicken legs!"
She hadn't gotten far when hands grabbed her hips, pushing her to the side and out of Inuyasha's way. As he passed, Kagome caught one of his hands and held tight. It kept him from going too fast and dragging her but also helped her keep up her pace when he pulled her along. They didn't stop until they reached a grassy knoll in the middle of a park. A tall oak stood off to the side of them, shading them and making it feel as if they were all alone in the metropolis.
Letting him go, Kagome planned to sit against the tree's trunk. Instead, she tripped on a branch and fell headfirst into it. Inuyasha caught her before she face-planted into he hard, rough bark but not before the tender flesh of her palm met it.
He had her in his lap, cradling her as if she had a massive injury. She hissed at the sting in her palm but tried to keep a brave look on her face. Kagome never wanted to look weak in front of Inuyasha. Grabbing her wrist, he twisted her hand for him to see. Blood was beginning to pool, and it looked worse than it was. "It's okay. No big deal."
"No big deal?!" Inuyasha turned to look at her face for a second, angry for some reason. "You got hurt because of me!"
"No, I didn't; I tripped on my own!"
"Because we were goofing around!"
"We ran to have fun, sure, but the race was over already. Sorry, but you can't take credit for my clumsiness, Yash."
"I should have caught you…."
"You did; you saved my face," Kagome pointed to her face for emphasis.
Inuyasha calmed with that, turning back to her palm. "You're still bleeding."
"Do wolves not bleed?"
"We do, just like a wolf or a human. I just… I never want to see you hurt, Kagome."
The air around them grew still, and Inuyasha bent over her hand. She could feel his tongue's rough strokes to her palm as he licked the blood away. She should have been grossed out; here was Inuyasha, licking her blood. But she wasn't. She only found it… endearing.
"There. That's better."
Inuyasha stared at her hard and Kagome struggled to breathe. There was a dewy look to Inuyasha's eyes and a small smile on his lips; it made it hard to notice anything else like the pain of her scrape and the nearness of their faces.
"I should… take you home," Inuyasha said, suddenly turning away and pulling her out of his lap.
"But, we didn't get to catch up or…."
"I'll be back tomorrow."
"You will? Really?!"
Her excitement was showing, and she really didn't care, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him again.
oOo
Kagome held her hand open, running her thumb along the jagged scar in the middle of it. After a few moments, she switched to the other palm and did the same, going between the two while she sat on their bed and waited. The door swung open, and she snapped to attention as Inuyasha strolled in. "Still awake?"
She nodded, "I need to talk to you."
He paused in his undressing to point a finger at her. "If this is about benching you…."
"It's not." Inuyasha pulled his shirt off and removed his shoes before flopping to the bed before her. He ran his hands over her naked legs while propped over them. "Got something to tell me, mate?"
The wolfish grin he pressed up to her was more than enough to reveal himself. "You know, don't you?!"
"Yep."
"You benched me because of it?!"
"Sure did."
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
She shoved him, but he came back harder, grabbing her hips and gently resting his face on her belly. "It's just something that happens with wolves. Everyone else always knows before the mother because she can't hear the pup's heartbeat from inside herself."
"You still could have told me! I've been freaking out all day, taking the stupid test and worrying what you would say or think!"
Sitting up, Inuyasha still wore a goofy look on his face. "Why would you worry about that? I'm not going to say or do anything stupid."
"We mated a year ago…."
"Yeah, but we fuck like rabbits."
She slapped him, and he grabbed her hand, turning it and pressing a hard kiss to the scar. Inuyasha was constantly doing that like he felt guilty for giving her the mark on her skin. He crawled over her, pulling at the thin tank she wore to get to the teeth marks on her shoulder, licking them. He continued up, and she arched to give him full access to her skin. He stopped at her jaw, going to her ear and pressing his lips to the shell.
"I'm so fucking happy, baby. I can't stand it."
"Then…" she spoke through her sniffles, "you should have… said something… sooner…."
"I wanted to, so bad, but I didn't want to take this moment away from you. The moment you told me we were going to be parents."
Kagome broke with that, crumbing into him with happy tears that he kissed away until he kissed her for other reasons and only took away her clothes.
