A/N: It's been a while since I last updated and I'm sorry for that. It seems that the time between my updates are slowly growing longer and longer. I'll try to work on that. As for the chapter . . . I'm a little nervous about this one, and I'm definitely nervous about the next one since it'll probably be a lemon (I don't know if that's moving too fast). Rin and Sesshomaru's relationship is going to be more about sex than about love in the beginning, especially on Sesshomaru's end. And for the purposes of this story I put Sesshomaru at 500-700 years old. I also took what my dogs did when they were younger as inspiration for a small portion of the chapter (I'm sure you'll be able to tell which portion it is), just in case it seems OOC.

Well that's it. Thanks to all of you who review. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

I do not own Inuyasha.

Snow had fallen a few days earlier, creating a very scenic view outside. Sesshomaru, Jaken and Rin had made it back to the estate just before the first snow had fallen. Rin had come down with a small cold after arriving, but it had been nothing severe.

Despite the cold beauty outside, it was very tense inside the house. It was a well-known fact that Sesshomaru had been in a bad mood upon arriving, but unfortunately his bad mood had yet to disappear. As such, everyone had been tiptoeing around him. He had already fired two maids and almost strangled a male servant, all for no apparent reason. The servants had been hoping that Rin would be able to charm him out of his bad mood the way that she had been able to in the past, but even she wasn't having any luck with appeasing him. In fact, Sesshomaru seemed worse off after seeing Rin than he had been before.

While everyone quietly speculated on what could be the cause of their lord's foul disposition, Jaken sat back with a smug smile on his face. Of course he knew what was causing Lord Sesshomaru's bad mood: he needed a woman. By Jaken's calculations, it had been a little over thirty years since Lord Sesshomaru had last indulged his manly needs, and he quite clearly needed to indulge them again.

For once, Jaken was actually happy that there were other servants around, because whenever Lord Sesshomaru got to be like this . . . well it wasn't pretty. Last time his lord had stepped on him and broken his back at least three times, almost drowned him and just barely refrained from breaking Jaken's neck. All deliberate mind you. At least with all of these people around, Jaken wouldn't be the only one to experience pain at Lord Sesshomaru's hands.

At one point, the servant's speculations became so outrageous that Jaken had been sorely tempted to tell them what was really going on, but he had stopped at the last minute. Jaken was too fond of living to correct the servant's misguided notions.

Currently Sesshomaru was barricaded in his workroom and trying to concentrate on the scroll that was in front of him, but it was proving to be harder than he thought. Every time he looked at it an image of him deflowering Rin would pop into his mind. It was becoming very annoying, especially since it was all he could seem to think about. Why did he have to try to prevent her from falling? If he hadn't he would still be blissfully unaware of the fact that his little ward had developed breasts. Small breasts, but breasts all the same.

Sesshomaru gave himself a mental shake - he was doing it again. Sesshomaru sat up straighter and turned his attention to the scroll that was laid out in front of him. It was about a trade agreement with the south. Sesshomaru tapped his fingers on the table. The north had always had strong ties to the west and it was common knowledge that the demons of the north despised the demons of the south. If he endorsed to this agreement he would be putting his ties with the north a risk. Was it worth it?

Sesshomaru pulled out a blank scroll and set it up on the table. He didn't quite know what he was going to do yet, but he picked up the brush anyway. Sesshomaru pondered the pros and cons of the situation from both sides. If he agreed then he would lose the political and military support of the north, not that he particularly cared about those. However the north did hold some raw material that was useless to humans, but pure gold to demons. Sesshomaru wasn't sure he was ready to lose access to that material. Decision made, he dipped his brush into the ink and began writing. As he wrote his mind began to stray once more.

Rin was unusually tall for a woman, especially a human woman. Even with her extra height he still dwarfed her. Her head didn't even reach the top of his chest. But that wasn't important, because Sesshomaru was positive that she would complement him perfectly once they were horizontal . . .

The door to the workroom opened and Jaken entered carrying a large tray that was stacked with more scrolls. "These just arrived milord," said the imp setting the tray down next to the other scrolls.

Sesshomaru felt his temper rise. There was a never ending supply of scrolls that needed his attention. While this normally irritated him, today it sent him over the edge. The brush that Sesshomaru was holding snapped in two and his claws pierced his own flesh. When he looked up, it was to see Jaken slowly backing out the room while bowing repeatedly and apologizing.

Sesshomaru glared at Jaken until the door closed behind the imp. This was all Rin's fault. He normally never let his work pile up like this. And the stupid scroll that he had been looking at was the first one that he had pulled out that morning. Sesshomaru glanced out the window. It was completely dark outside. Wonderful. He had only gotten to one scroll today, and that didn't even count because he still hadn't finished replying to the contents within it. And he hadn't finished replying because he was too consumed with thoughts of deflowering his ward to concentrate on anything else.

Sesshomaru sighed. He needed to do something about this obsession and quickly.

A few days later Sesshomaru joined Rin and Jaken for dinner.

This was a very rare occurrence. Sesshomaru didn't have to eat as often as Rin and Jaken did, and whenever he was hungry he usually took his meals alone. Needless to say Rin was very nervous. Like everyone else, she had noticed Sesshomaru's mood and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It was strange that she wasn't able to soften him just a little bit. But then again . . .

Rin noticed that Sesshomaru's bad mood had begun after that incident at the camp site when he'd held her. Perhaps he was still angry at her indecent behavior, she thought. As Rin thought back to that afternoon, she felt a very hot blush working its way to her cheeks. It had felt so nice to be held like that by him.

"What's wrong with you, girl? Stop staring off into space and pour Lord Sesshomaru some water," Jaken said nervously.

Rin's face darkened even more when she glanced around to see Lord Sesshomaru looking at her with a slight frown on his face. His hands were clenched into fists on his lap. Rin reached for the water jug and poured some into the bowl that her lord was now holding out to her.

She couldn't let her mind wander like that again. She had to be focused enough to read what little she could from Lord Sesshomaru and make this rare occasion a pleasant one. With that in mind, Rin set out to be her most charming self. Maybe she could make up for her temporary lapse. Why, oh why did she have to suddenly develop romantic feelings towards him? Things would be so much easier if she hadn't.

Sesshomaru's thoughts were running along the same lines as Rin's, only his feelings towards her weren't romantic in the least. Far from it. It was all he could do not to rip Rin's clothes off and wench her senseless. Sesshomaru knew that Jaken's presence alone was the only thing preventing him from doing just that.

Ever since that incident at the camp site, Sesshomaru had avoided being alone with Rin. Jaken was essential to that end. Just being in a room with Rin was working on his senses. Suddenly he wished that Jaken had some backbone. If Sesshomaru truly wanted to be alone with her, he would just have to tell Jaken to leave, or better yet throw him out.

Even so, this was the closest that he would allow himself to get to Rin, because he simply didn't trust himself where she was concerned. Sesshomaru never reacted the way that he should whenever Rin was involved. And while it was true that he was no longer at the age where he humped everything in sight, he still didn't trust himself with Rin.

She looked really beautiful tonight. Her hair hung loosely down her back in thick, glossy sheets of the darkest black. Her creamy cheeks still held some color from her earlier blushes, which only enhanced the rich chocolaty depths of her eyes. Her lips . . . he wasn't even going to go there. Rin's eyes were sparkling as she laughed at something Jaken said. Sesshomaru didn't think that he had ever seen anything more beautiful.

What's wrong with me, Sesshomaru asked himself. The next thing you knew he would be waxing poetical about how she was the light of his soul or something like that. Sesshomaru turned back towards his food.

Rin was back in those elaborate kimonos that he bought for her. This both pleased and annoyed Sesshomaru. It pleased him because he would no longer be treated to glimpses of her form that the simple summer kimonos had provided, yet this was also the reason why it annoyed him. Those damn kimonos were part of the reason why it had taken Sesshomaru so long to realize that Rin wasn't a child anymore. They hid her form so effectively, that even with her mature scent - Sesshomaru still hadn't really put two and two together in his mind. If he could've at least seen proof that her growth wasn't just vertical then it wouldn't have thrown him through such a loop.

Later on that evening Sesshomaru was prowling the estate feeling very satisfied with himself. He had knocked out a huge chunk of work once dinner was over and hadn't thought of Rin since he'd left her. Now he was taking a much needed break. Sesshomaru had come to the conclusion a while ago that he needed a woman. The problem was that it couldn't be just any woman. Enter his mother. She kept so many "friend-of-a-friends" at her house that it would be a simple matter to find one suitable for his needs. He had already decided that he would visit her in three days. He needed to drop some things off there anyway. It would be like killing two birds with one stone.

Sesshomaru was strolling through the servant's section of the house near the kitchens – it was the fastest way to reach his rooms. He was thinking about retiring for the night when he turned a corner and came to an abrupt stop. Rin was close by. No sooner had that sunk in than he heard a door open and saw her coming out of a room. The kitchen, he vaguely realized. What the hell was she doing here? It was so late that even the servants had retired for the night.

Rin turned down the hallway and stopped. Lord Sesshomaru was standing at the far end of the hallway staring at her. Rin blushed as her heart sped up. What was he doing here, she wondered.

Rin had had trouble sleeping and so had come down to the kitchen to fix a remedy that Kaede taught her that helped with insomnia. The last person she had been expecting to run into was Lord Sesshomaru. She wondered briefly what to do.

The hallway that they were standing in was narrow. She could make it past without touching him if she pressed her back to wall once she reached him. It was either that or turn in the opposite direction and spend an extra five minutes getting to her room. Rin looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing her heaviest robe and she was already freezing. There was no way she was going to wander the halls and get even colder just because she was a little nervous. Besides it wasn't like she could just go back into the kitchen. Even though he hadn't said anything she knew that he saw her.

Rin took a deep breath before taking a tentative step forward. "Lord Sesshomaru," she said. He didn't say anything, not that she had been expecting him to. Rin took another step forward more sure of herself.

Sesshomaru watched Rin take another step towards him before he began moving. He was not going to let his feelings for a human girl rule him. He could be alone with Rin and be just fine, especially since they were just passing each other.

As they walked past each other the backs of their hands brushed up against one another.

Rin suddenly found herself pressed against the wall with Lord Sesshomaru's lips hard on hers. Her eyes were wide as she felt him pull back and begin to lightly nip at her lower lip, until she parted her lips and he surged inside. Rin's eyes closed as her arms wrapped themselves around Sesshomaru's neck. He pressed his body closer to hers and she felt her knees go out.

Sesshomaru pushed Rin's head back as he tilted his own to deepen the kiss. Once his tongue had explored every inch of her mouth, he concentrated on getting her own tongue to explore. When it had ventured past his lips, Sesshomaru gently sucked on it drawing her deeper into the kiss.

Rin was dimly aware that one of her hands had found its way to Sesshomaru's hair and was gripping a handful of it very tightly while pulling him closer to her. His kisses became more urgent and she felt his hands on her waist. Sesshomaru ran one hand up her back, tracing the line of her spine and effectively pinning her to him. Then both hands came down on her derriere and hoisted her up, so that her loins were pressed tightly against his.

Rin's legs wrapped around Sesshomaru's waist instinctively, and a shiver shook her body. He kissed his way down her neck, across her collar bone and back up the other side. Then Sesshomaru planted kisses along her cheek until her reached her mouth once more.

Sesshomaru pressed her lower half flat against the wall, and set his hands on her waist to hold her there. Then he began to rock himself against her. Rin's fingers dug into his back, her toes curled, then a moan forced its way out of her mouth.

That little sound was all it took to snap Sesshomaru back to his senses. He was down the hall and out the door before Rin realized what was going on.

Rin's bottom hit the floor with a loud thump. She was breathing heavily and her robe had fallen off one shoulder. While she wasn't sure what just happened, she wasn't going deny that she had enjoyed every minute of it.

Sesshomaru leaned his forehead against a tree and closed his eyes in shame. It was freezing outside, but that suited him just fine. He needed to cool off. Sesshomaru couldn't believe that he had run away from her. If anyone should be running away it should be her.

He straightened and pressed a hand to the tree. It fell over with a satisfying crash.

This ends now.