I don't own these characters.
8: Ceasefire
Sesshomaru groaned as he was taken from his sleep because of some light movement against him. His mind wondered what his woman thought she was doing because she had to be the cause of the movement. She was probably an early-riser. He could tell she was not trying to adjust to get more comfortable. It seemed that she was getting up, so he opened his eyes to check on her.
"Kikyo, what are you doing?" he inquired. Did she not understand the weekend was for sleeping in?
"I'm sorry, Sessho. I didn't mean to wake you," Kikyo apologized. She understood he enjoyed his sleep and he looked so peaceful lying there.
"That doesn't explain what you're doing," he pointed out.
"I was going to get up and go home," she answered. She had to go home eventually.
He groaned, low and deep in his chest. "And how were you going to go about that?"
"I was going to walk."
There was another, longer groan from him. Who did she think he was? There was no way he would let his angel do something alone when he could help. "You're not walking home. I'll drive you. Why are you getting up so early, though?" He recalled she said her husband was not going to be in until the afternoon and it was the early morning at the moment. She did not need to leave just yet, so they did not need to be awake.
"I was going to clean the apartment," she replied.
Kikyo planned to get home early to erase or at least dull the evidence Sesshomaru had been in the apartment. While Naraku might not smell what they had done, he would sense Sesshomaru there. She was not sure how Naraku would react to the knowledge of a demon male being in the apartment and she would rather not find out.
She would have taken care of those things before, but she ended up spending the night at Sesshomaru's house. It had been quite a night and she doubted she would ever forget it. She would not mind having more such nights and he was in agreement with that thinking. She was not sure how that would be possible, though. It was not often Naraku left her for a few days to live her life.
"All right. I'll drive you home," Sesshomaru said, running his hand up and down her leg. He did not want to leave this spot, though.
Kikyo nodded, but she had little desire to leave the bed either. Her body throbbed as his fingers slid across her calf to her thigh. How did he have such an affect on her? She did not know, did not care, and merely wanted more.
They lay there for several long moments. She enjoyed listening to his heartbeat against her ear, feeling him breathe against her. This was peace. A rare and precious gift. What she would give to be able to wake up like this everyday, but life had taught her not to be greedy. She luxuriated in the moment, drank it all in, and then pushed away from Sesshomaru. He let out a low huff, but followed her lead.
The pair got out bed. They dressed silently, slowly and reluctantly. Kikyo went to the bathroom to put her clothes on and by the time she came out Sesshomaru was only halfway dressed. The walk down to the car involved more silence and took several minutes, but they remained close enough to touch, Kikyo leaning into Sesshomaru, who had his hand on the small of her back. Even in the car, they rested their hands on the middle console enough for their skin to touch without actually holding hands.
"Thank you," Kikyo said as they pulled up to her building.
Sesshomaru leveled her look, which said it all. He walked Kikyo to her apartment. She put a little distance between them until they stepped inside. He had no plans to linger, knowing she needed as much time as she could to prepare for her husband.
"This weekend was unforgettable," he told her and then he kissed her sweetly as a farewell.
She smiled a little. "Yes, it was."
"Be sure to call me whenever you have a spare moment," he instructed her. She agreed to that and was then alone again.
The petite woman sighed and looked around the apartment. She really did not want to be there. She wanted to go back to Sesshomaru's apartment and lie next to him for the rest of the day. She had never felt so comfortable with a man before. Even when Naraku was lying to her and acting like someone he was not, she was not nearly as at ease with him as she was with Sesshomaru. Being with the dog demon felt so right and she wanted to be with him as much as she could.
"But, how?" she wondered aloud. Her brain offered no solution to that problem.
Kikyo decided to stop thinking about it and she got to work on cleaning. The first thing she would have to do was wash the bed spread. Naraku did not often share the bed with her. She suspected he feared she might purify him in his sleep. It was not a completely outrageous assumption on his part considering how upset she sometimes got with him and he often made it a mission to send her to bed in a fury.
She took a deep breath as she stripped the bed, trying not to think about what it witnessed a day ago. Her body tingled at the memory. She shook it off, gathered the rest of her laundry, and went to take care of that in the building's laundry. While the washing machine went, she returned upstairs to get to the rest of the apartment.
She pretty much cleaned everything and made sure that she used cleaning fluid with a powerful bleach smell. Naraku, like anyone with demon blood, had a stronger sense of smell than humans, but only certain kind of demons had extremely powerful senses of smell. So, she would be able to mask the scent of Sesshomaru to Naraku and everything should be fine… well, everything should be as it usually was anyway. It was never fine when the hanyou was involved.
By the time Naraku came in, Kikyo had the apartment in a presentable order. She planned to go to the bedroom to avoid him and do some sketching, but she realized Sesshomaru still had her book. She had nothing to distract her from her half-demon husband now. Part of her could not help thinking this was a punishment for not being able to spend more time with Sesshomaru, but he could not know how terrible her husband was.
"Kikyo," Naraku greeted her as he entered their home. He looked around as if he suspected something, she noted, but she figured it was really nothing. It was possible he was trying to make her nervous.
"Yes?" Kikyo replied from the sofa.
"Don't you want to know how my trip went?" he inquired.
"Not really," she answered. He wanted to boast about whatever foul thing he did and she did not have time for that.
Naraku frowned and he ground his teeth for a moment. She guessed his trip did not go as planned. If it had, he would have started going on about it as soon as he stepped through the door. It probably not been completely horrible, though, or he would have came in ranting, raving, and seething over it. She could not figure out how it went and she did not want to. But, she figured since she was home, he would tell her all about it because he liked having an audience, even if the audience was not listening.
"Do you know what these fools had the nerve to say? They didn't think my arguments were sound and they wanted to keep that dog bastard on the team. They want him to design a logo and they want us to come up with a decent ad. Together. They wouldn't listen to reason and they didn't care that mutt wasn't doing anything. They ordered — can you believe that? Ordered — we come up with something to show them within the week or they were going to take their account somewhere else," Naraku explained.
"Well, then, I suppose you two should get to work," she commented. The only reason he probably had not broken things in the apartment over the whole thing was because he knew it could have gone so much worse.
Naraku did not see any humor in that remark and growled. He stalked over to Kikyo and loomed over her, eyes ablaze. He was trying to intimidate her and she held in laughter. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her down into the sofa to make sure she could not get up. Her nerves itched, begging to get him off of her in a way that would teach him the best. But, she was not quite there yet.
They eyed each other. She dared him to do something with her cocoa gaze. He really wanted to take her up on that challenge, but held off. He was not as stupid as he sometimes acted.
"You should be a more supportive wife," he informed her, smirking as if he was in control of the situation.
"You should be a more supportive husband," she countered. Of course, she knew that would never happen.
"I am supportive. Aren't I the one bringing in the money?" he inquired with a cruel smirk.
Kikyo was tempted to slap him, if only for him to understand he could not walk all over her like he desired. She wanted so badly to go find work, but he had threatened to get her fired and that was not an idle threat. She could not chance him doing something that might keep her from gaining employment ever again. She was not sure what he might do, but she knew it would be sinister. Something she would not be able to come back from. So, she would wait, bide her time until she was certain his threat would be meaningless to her. She was patient if nothing else.
"Unhand me," Kikyo commanded her husband, steel in her voice, letting him understand she would not tell him a second time.
"Why? You should be more open to my touch," Naraku replied, trying to move a hand to touch her cheek. She moved her head and he missed.
"Don't touch me," she ordered him a calm, but deadly tone. After she had spent the weekend in Sesshomaru's arms, she would vomit if she felt Naraku touch her skin. Of course, she had not been much of a fan of her husband touching her ever since she found out what he was really like.
"A husband should be allowed to touch his wife," the hanyou commented, voice low with command.
"Do it and you shall pull back a blackened stump," she promised him.
Naraku laughed in that deep, wicked tone he probably had a patent on. Kikyo did not look amused and her lip curled with outright disgust as her husband leaned in. It seemed he was going to kiss her. She could not remember the last time he even tried, but there was no way he would succeed. She panicked on the inside and pushed him away from her. He was caught by surprise and fell back a couple of feet.
"I said don't touch me," Kikyo stated in a firm tone.
"You are full of energy," Naraku commented with a twinkle in his eyes as if he was amused by what happened.
"I'm going out," Kikyo declared. She needed to get away from him already. She did not know where she would go, but it had to be somewhere far from him. He seemed to want to push her buttons until she had to act against him and she did not want to do that.
"Really? You don't want to spend some time with your darling husband after I've come home from a long trip?" he asked in a mocking tone, rolling his eyes.
"I'm going out," she repeated and she stood up. She took a step toward the door, but he grabbed her by the arm. He pulled her to him.
He stared down at her, fire in his eyes. "We should spend time together, dear wife."
"Let go of me," she practically growled at him, as much as her voice could become a growl.
Naraku thought on the request for a moment and then flung her away from him. Kikyo nearly hit the front wall, but she caught her balance first. She glared at him and decided he was not even worth her time. She had better things to do and friendlier people to be around.
The pale woman exited the apartment and went out into the street. She started walking and pulled out her cell phone. Who should she call? It was a toss up between her big sister and Sesshomaru. Neither would be pleasant conversations because she was going to have to explain why she called more than likely. She called Sesshomaru.
"Yes, Kikyo?" he answered the call.
"Um… Sessho… do you suppose I could come back to your apartment for a little while?" Her voice was almost shy, unsure. She felt like she was intruding in his life, even though she had just been at his apartment that morning.
"All right," he easily agreed. He had been silently wishing she was with him ever since he dropped her off. "Where are you now? I'll come and pick you up."
"I'm walking toward your building right now," she answered. Internally, she sighed in relief, glad he did not seem to want to know her reasoning for wanting to come back.
"Oh," he groaned.
"Should I not be doing that?" she asked because of the noise.
"I'm not home at the moment. I decided to run a few errands after I dropped you off. How close are you to my home right now?"
"Well, I just left my apartment."
"All right. I can be at you in about two minutes. Just wait for me," he told her.
"All right."
Kikyo waited for him and the dog demon was true to his word; he was at her in under two minutes. He did want to know why she was returning to him so soon, not that he was complaining. It struck him as odd she would leave home not even an hour after her husband was supposed to be home. He could guess why she left. Who would want to be around that hanyou for long? He wanted to be sure her husband had not done more than annoyed her.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
"I just needed to get out," Kikyo said.
"Kikyo, if he hurt you, I want you to tell me," Sesshomaru stated. If that bastard hanyou did anything that even misplaced a hair on his angel's head, he would behead that crimson-eyed pest with his own claws and it would not keep him up at night.
Sesshomaru considered he might have been better off not knowing who Kikyo was married to. Now, he would look for any excuse to knock that silly bastard around, slam him through a wall, and maybe even end him. He was angry that a complete and utter ass like that moron half-breed managed to trick Kikyo into marrying him.
"He didn't hurt me. He was just being irksome, as he usually is," Kikyo assured the nobleman.
Sesshomaru nodded and decided to believe her words, even though that was too much for him, too. Now, just because he believed her did not mean he trusted her bastard husband. After all, he knew who she was married to and he was willing to bet that the hanyou was slimier than he could imagine. After experiencing the bastard at work, he could not fathom what he was like at home to a woman who did not want to be with him.
"Perhaps you could give me my sketchbook while we're there," Kikyo said.
"We shall see," he replied.
The couple went back to Sesshomaru's apartment and relaxed there. Kikyo waited for the sketchbook, but it eventually left her mind as they settled on the couch and discussed classical painting techniques. He had dinner delivered to them while they cuddled on the sofa and watched a movie. He returned Kikyo to her apartment close to midnight and she did not explain her whereabouts to her husband when he asked.
-*-(New day)-*-
Sesshomaru went to work that Monday and there was no outward change in his appearance to let anyone know how good he actually felt. He had never felt so… he was not even sure how to describe it. He felt lighter than air, as if there was a cloud inside of him. He felt great, even though he always thought he felt great since he was just that. His current feeling was different than usual and he hoped the feeling remained. It was like being inebriated, but in a light, clean manner.
He knew his weekend with Kikyo was the reason he felt the way he did. He did not try to rationalize that. The reasoning was not important. He looked forward to seeing her again, to being with her again, to keeping this light inside of him. If only he could keep her with him at all times, take her home every day, sleep next to her and with her whenever the urge overcame him, hold her in his arms whenever he wanted, and so many other things.
He already considered telling her to leave her husband. It was rather soon to tell her such a thing, but he felt it needed to be said already. They had not known each other for too long and he suspected she would not go for such a thing so soon. She was a cautious little creature. He would hold off for a while to let her see it was safe to be with him and she needed to get away from Naraku.
"We have work to do," the half-breed stated as he barged into the officer.
Speak of the devil, Sesshomaru thought. "Indeed we do," he concurred. He guessed the foolish half-demon did not have a great deal of success getting him taken off of the account. He did not think it would work. His work was above reproach typically. Most clients would give him the benefit of the doubt if they requested him on an account.
"Then I suggest a truce," Naraku said.
Sesshomaru did not even change his facial expression to the words. He desired to cut off Naraku's head and not because he dared to try to get Sesshomaru thrown off the account. How dare the detestable half-breed trick Kikyo into marrying him? How dare this bastard think he was worthy of Kikyo? Sesshomaru's inner demon raged and demanded Naraku's blood. He better never touch Kikyo, in pleasure or pain. If the half-breed tried anything with Kikyo, then Sesshomaru sate his inner demon and take the bastard's head.
"I suggest you do your part and I do mine," Sesshomaru stated, even though that had not worked for them yet. He wanted the half-demon out of his office before his inner demon took control. The demon noble was pretty much the embodiment of self-control, but he was willing to lose that for Kikyo.
Naraku conceded that, if only to get away from Sesshomaru. If they both did their parts and did it to the best of their ability, surely they could get the account out of the way and they would not have to bother with each other anymore. Naraku stormed out of the office, making noise, as if throwing a tantrum or somehow grandstanding for their coworkers. Whatever the case, Sesshomaru glad to be alone.
"He's not keeping her," Sesshomaru promised himself.
The dog demon could not possibly live with himself if he did not take his woman where she needed to be, namely with him. She did not deserve to be around some insane, manipulative, immature half-demon, who she did not even want to touch her. Naraku deserved her in any way, so he would not feel guilty when he finally got through to Kikyo. The challenge there would be to get Kikyo to understand it was not honorable to live in misery and suffering because of her word.
-8-8-8-8-
Kikyo reminded herself to act normal as she went to meet up with Midoriko. They were having lunch together. Kaede would not be joining them because she was back at school. Kikyo took calming breaths as she made her way to the café and she tried her best not to think of what she had done with Sesshomaru on Saturday. Sure, she had spent Sunday with him, too, but Saturday was not right for lack of a better phrase.
Saturday was not wild by the dog demon's standards, but for Kikyo, it was just about the wildest day she had ever had. She was not used to passion in general and yet, that night with Sesshomaru had been ridiculous as far as she was concerned. She had to make sure not to think about it or she might zone out on her sister or something worse. She had to make sure not to make her big sister suspicious because even though Midoriko hated Naraku, there was no way she would approve of Kikyo having an affair with Sesshomaru.
"Kikyo," Midoriko called and the middle sister waved from a few feet down the street.
"Hello, sister," Kikyo greeted her elder sibling as she took a seat with her at the table.
"It's good to see that you didn't forget about our lunch date considering your state this weekend," Midoriko remarked.
"I am truly sorry for that," the younger woman apologized and she bowed her head slightly.
Midoriko waved it off. "It's all right. I had just been so worried about you. It's not like you to say you'll see us and then you don't show up, especially without word. I was cursing that damned hanyou's name and plotting the worst sort of death for him and even that was too good for him."
Kikyo only nodded once because she should have guessed that would happen. She had been too busy with Sesshomaru to think of much beyond him, though. She felt a bit guilty for forsaking her sisters to lie underneath Sesshomaru Friday night and practically all of Saturday. She suspected her elder sister would be extremely upset with her if she ever found out, not just about the lustful behavior, but the affair altogether. Midoriko had the same sense of honor as she did.
"How goes the job search?" Midoriko inquired.
Kikyo exhaled slowly. She did not want to tell her big sister what Naraku threatened to do if she ever did find a job considering the elder female would probably pump him so full of spiritual energy that she would burn herself out. If only it was not considered murder nowadays, she would do it herself. Of course, if it were not considered murder today, she probably would have slain Naraku long ago.
"I haven't really been looking," the middle sister admitted.
"You've been getting distracted by all of the art museums, I'll bet. I know a gentleman who is a doctor and he has a small practice. I'm sure he would like the help," Midoriko informed Kikyo.
"No, you don't need to find me work. I am an adult now. I shouldn't depend on you for every little thing," Kikyo objected. The last thing she needed was for Naraku to embarrass her at an office with someone her sister knew. She did not want to upset Midoriko's reputation.
Midoriko blew out a breath. "Nonsense. I am your older sister. I should look out for you if I can."
"No, it's fine. I can do it on my own," Kikyo insisted.
Midoriko decided to drop the debate for a moment. She studied her sister for a second and noticed something about the younger female. Kikyo seemed to be glowing. It was the first time she had ever witnessed such a thing. It was beyond the typical happiness Kikyo used to express before she had gotten married to that scum-sucking hanyou.
Now, Kikyo had never been one those people who was outwardly happy or unhappy. Every now and then, she could be caught smiling or laughing like any other person, but a great deal of the time, she looked like she was containing herself. At the moment, it looked like she was trying to maintain control of that ability remain aloof and contained.
"Is something wrong, big sister?" Kikyo inquired as she noticed Midoriko studying her. Her stomach flipped a little, nervous as to why her sister found her so fascinating.
"No, there's nothing wrong. There's just something different about you," Midoriko answered, squinting a bit as she regarded Kikyo.
Kikyo arched an eyebrow. "Something different about me?"
"Yes."
Kikyo wondered if she had slipped up. She had not even thought about Sesshomaru, though. How could she have allowed anything to slip when she had been paying her sister her total attention? It did not make any sense.
"It's good to see you happy," Midoriko commented and Kikyo was taken aback by that.
Kikyo did not have a way to respond, but she did not need one. Her sister changed the subject and did not bring up Kikyo's obvious mood or ask the reason behind it. That was a relief.
-*-(New day)-*-
Sesshomaru sat on his sofa, massaging his temples. He really needed an idea of some kind for the account to get Naraku out of his life. He had not been able to come up with a single good logo for their clients or visual advertisement of any kind. None of his graphics worked for anything, but it was hard to match graphics when he did not know what that damned half-demon was doing. He worked through lunch since Kikyo had been hanging out with her elder sister, so his day was full of Naraku until he could make it home.
Naraku was not assisting matters by not coming up with anything to help. The half-breed actually wanted things to be over as badly as the demon prince, which they had agreed on earlier. The easiest and fastest way to never have to see each other again was to come up with something for the account and then insist the clients never bother them again with that teamwork nonsense. If they wanted to work with a team, they would play sports, they both agreed.
Sesshomaru hated to think how many lunch hours he might have to share with Naraku, even if the hanyou was not in the area. They both agreed to work until they had this done. So far, Sesshomaru lost on four lunches.
Sesshomaru just wanted one good idea to get rid Naraku and to give him back his lunch hour, so he could be with his angel. He was pleased she at least called him every day they did not see each other. She assured him she was fine, which he always wanted to know. He would feel better if he could confirm she was fine since she shared a home with that half-demon bastard. Kikyo would simply endure whatever Naraku wanted to put her through without saying anything to avoid troubling Sesshomaru.
He would feel better and be able to think more clearly if he could see Kikyo was all right. After all, how could he focus on work if his woman might not be as fine as she claimed to be? He managed to hold off for a while, but he decided to call her again, if only to relieve his stress. He made it home by the time he gave into this impulse.
Now, he knew it was not a good idea for a male to phone a married female. There was always a chance her husband might answer the phone, but he would take that chance for the simple fact that Kikyo told him she never let her husband touch her cell phone. So, he grabbed his home phone and called her.
"Hello," Kikyo said.
"Can you come over?" Sesshomaru inquired. She was the only person that he requested things of. He supposed it should be all right for her to come over with it being a weekend afternoon. The only thing that could possibly hold her back was the fact that she was probably with her sisters.
"Not right now," she answered.
"When?" he asked.
"In an hour."
"It'll do."
"All right," she said and she disconnected the call.
An hour later, Kikyo showed up as promised. He greeted her with a passionate kiss, giving her an idea how much she was missed, even though he would never admit to such a thing out loud. There were a lot of things about Kikyo he would not confess to out loud.
"How did you get here?" Sesshomaru inquired, hand on her cheek, reveling in her softness.
"I took the bus," she answered.
"You know you should call me," he stated. He never wanted her on the bus or train again. Anything could happen on public transportation.
"I would have, but I was already outside and you were here. I don't mind taking the bus, Sessho," she informed him. It was how she got around all the time.
"I would prefer you not doing that, though."
She tilted her head slightly. "Why?"
Sesshomaru acted as if he did not hear the question. He could not explain to her that he worried about her, especially when it came to her being outside on her own. He did not trust public transportation in the slightest, between the fact that any and everyone could be there to the crowds to the unpredictable nature of it. He did not even let his little sister ride such things unless she assured him that she was in a group.
"How was your week, Sessho?" Kikyo asked, changing the subject. She could tell he was concerned without him having to say it and she did not want him to stress.
"Hell," he admitted, putting his arm around her waist and leading her to the sofa.
She slid onto the couch and pressed herself against his steady form. She could feel the tension in his body. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"
Sesshomaru only smirked and began another kiss. He almost sighed in relief in being able to hold her, touch her, and kiss her. Not only was she all right, but he could finally relax. He did not have to worry about something happening to her or that fool hanyou hurting her. All was right in the world as far as he was concerned.
"What would you like for dinner?" Sesshomaru inquired after Kikyo had been in the apartment for a couple of hours.
She thought on it. "How about I cook you dinner?" she offered.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yes. Do you have something here for me to prepare or do I have to go shopping?"
"I should have something. On occasion, I do cook," he answered.
"Well, then, allow me," she proposed. She had a feeling he would appreciate this, unlike her husband.
Before Sesshomaru could say anything, Kikyo picked herself up and went to the kitchen. He watched her work. It was not the first time that a woman cooked for him, but it certainly was the first time he was flattered by the move. It seemed like everything Kikyo did, he enjoyed, even if someone else had done it before and he had not cared. Kikyo was special.
Sesshomaru silently admitted to himself Kikyo gave him some strange feeling he had never experienced before. He did not know what the feeling was, but he knew it made him concerned for her and it made him feel content when she was around. He wished she could stay forever, especially when he tasted the meal that she prepared.
"This is amazing," he said after a forkful of dinner.
Kikyo smiled and shrugged, happy he was pleased. She was actually a great cook. She did not have much practice at it anymore, but she used to do it most of the time when she lived with her sisters. She was glad to do it for Sesshomaru for some reason she did not bother with considering at the moment. She was happy to sit with him and enjoy a meal.
Sesshomaru was pleased with getting to spend the day with Kikyo and he would have preferred she could stay the night at least, but he knew it would be best to get her home as the night drew on. He drove her back to her apartment and then went back home. The second he set foot in his apartment, he had a brilliant idea for the account. He knew spending time with Kikyo would be helpful.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: Sesshomaru and Kikyo actually go on vacation together.