Sesshoumaru observes his mate late at night and forgets something he should know better than to disregard...


Some little habits were strange.

He watched her, her lithe, sex-flushed body surrounded by the lurid glow of the refrigerator light. He didn't say anything. Didn't waste his breath. Centuries had made her as bold as the sun, worries of other's thoughts and impressions—his at times included—nothing more than specks of dust to be brushed from her sleeve when she wanted something. And he knew her well enough to know not to come between her and a snack, especially not after fucking her.

Not ever after fucking her.

Sesshoumaru cocked his head to the side. His mate was strange but not unpleasing. Pink, painted toes shown orange in that yellow light as she stood on their tips, oblivious to his presence as she reached up into the freezer to root around in the cold and ice. The cool mist swirled over her breasts, pebbling the peaks of the soft, heavy flesh as midnight shadows skipped over her hips and disappeared into more forbidden territory.

He shifted a bit. Perhaps throwing on pants hadn't been the wisest of choices…

A delicate little hum pulled him away from his plight, and he looked up to find the tip of a spoon between her lips as she gave a happy wiggle.

The smell of chocolate reached his nose.

It was then that he noticed the slickness still coating the inside of her thigh, and he narrowed his eyes, his look darkening. She better have washed her hands.

"I know what you're thinking. And, yes, they're clean."

Not quite able to hide his surprise, his head snapped up. Her blue eyes looked more of a muddied green in the dark, but the amusement twinkling behind them was the same as it always was.

"You were easier to live with before you were a nurse," she mumbled around her spoon.

Whether it was the dark or his fatigue that made him do it, he didn't know, but he pulled a face at her, deciding that after centuries he had earned the right to a bit of snark if he so pleased.

"Real cute."

She said it with a smile, and he found himself smiling back as he moved into the kitchen.

"Why are you out here?" He plucked the spoon from her grasp, stealing a bite of the ice cream she had dug out.

"I'm out here"—Kagome stole the spoon back—"because I'm hungry." Swallowing another bite, she fixed him with a look. "Someone made me burn up too much energy."

"Made you?"

With a smirk, she dug back into the carton. "Maybe I should say 'enticed me.'" He reached for her spoon again, and she pulled her hand back. "What's it worth to you?"

Arching a brow, he reached around her into the fridge and brought out a can of whipped cream. "What is it worth to you?"

He held in his self-satisfied smile as her eyes widened. The spoon froze in her mouth, shocked blue darkening with something they had shared mere minutes before as they burned slowly over his form.

She cleared her throat and pretended to casually dig out another bite. "Is that for the ice cream?"

"What do you think?"

Her lips twitched, and Sesshoumaru's eyes fixated on that laughing, mocking mouth as another spoonful of ice cream disappeared between them. She took her time sliding it out, eyes never leaving his.

"You're wearing pants."

He smirked. "I do not have to be."

She grinned and handed him the ice cream. "Hold that."

Sesshoumaru did as she asked, noting with no small amount of amusement how her hands immediately settled at his waist, pulling lightly at the waistband of his pajamas.

"You know," she said lightly, easing the material down over his hips, "you interrupted my snack." A dangerous glint flashed in her eye as the soft flannel fell to the kitchen floor.

Instinct said run, and he eyed her warily. "Kagome—"

An icy hand slapped over his ass and held on, and he shouted.

Kagome laughed.