A/N: I am so glad so many of you are excited about this fic. It's so much fun to write. Thanks to Ember Reverie, Boobie-Chan and Little25victor for leaving a review. It is so appreciated. Warning, some citrus ahead.

Part 4: Avarice: "Remember that time you let me die? Here's how you can make it up to me"

Turns out death was not at all as Kagura thought it was going to feel. She had not expected big pearly gates, but constricting chest pain, blinding light and nausea was definitely not what she had expected. She forced her eyes open and her sensitive orbs were assaulted by a streak of sun. The light exposure accentuated her dizziness. She sat up, too quickly, an action she immediately regretted, then leaned to the side so she could throw up. Lovely.

"Lovely indeed." A freezing cold voice echoed. She realized then that she had spoken out loud.

She blinked a couple times to clear her vision. To her shock she saw Sesshoumaru kneeling next to her, he was dripping wet, his long lustrous hair now plastered all over his face and he looked absolutely furious. Was it her lipstick shade staining his lips? She connected the dots: he must have jumped in to fish her out and had used mouth-to-mouth to revive her. That sure explained why her lips felt so warm and tingly.

"Do you not know how to swim?" Sesshoumaru growled. She had never seen him display so much emotion and would have mocked him for losing his trademark cool, but her momentum was stopped when she had to bend forward once again so she could retch all the water she had ingested.

"I didn't think." She finally managed to get out once her stomach settled a bit. "I just wanted to make sure Rin was okay." She panted. Her breathing was still irregular, and her heart was beating so fast that her chest hurt. At almost 34 years old she had just found out that she apparently had a phobia of water. She had no idea the river would be so cold and scary. The moment her body had hit the water she had lost it. She had never lived by the sea and getting a pool membership had never been on her to do list. She may have saved Rin, but she knew that had Sesshoumaru not shown up, she would be done for. It felt as if the water had tried to demonstrate its mastery on her wind powers by sucking her right to the bottom of the river. She had been completely powerless and if he hadn't pulled her out, she was sure she would have drowned.

"Miss Kagura." Rin cried. The little girl had big fat tears running down her cheeks. She launched herself at her nanny hugging her close. "Rin is so sorry, you told me to be careful, but I slipped."

"It's okay." Kagura wheezed. She ran a comforting hand down the girl's head. The last thing she wanted was to scare her even more. "Dry your tears. We're supposed to be celebrating." She used all her rebuilding strength to lift her fan, which thank goodness she still had clasped in her hand, to summon a warm breeze to blow the three of them dry.

Rin giggled happily as their hair flew all over the place and their clothes got plastered to them by warm blowing air. Kagura was glad that the child had apparently not been scarred by this ordeal. One who did not seem to enjoy her drying trick was Sesshoumaru. If she had not just gone through a near-death experience she might have been scared by his frozen glare. Right about now she was just happy to be back on firm ground, breathing on her own. She had to admit that despite his thundering look, he did look all kinds of hot with his silver tresses floating all around him. She did prolong her blowing winds long after they were all dried just so that she could enjoy the view of Sesshoumaru. If she could have gotten away with it, she would have unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. Could the man not give the people what they wanted and unveil some skin? His eyes turned to thin slits. It seemed like he really was not enjoying her blow dry, or maybe he could somehow read her lecherous thoughts. Either way Kagura decided to move things forward.

"Why don't we eat?" The wind sorceress asked as her winds died down. Eating was the last thing she could want as her stomach was full of river water and she was still feeling queasy, but she had promised Rin a picnic, and she fully intended to keep her promise.

"Rin is hungry." The child conceded her tears now forgotten. Rin dove for the basket. She had been so looking forward to eating all the food they had prepared for their special day. "Here Sesshoumaru-sama, have a sandwich." Her beaming smile attested to how happy she was that her guardian had come despite pretexting a busy schedule.

He took the offered food but did not unwrap the sandwich nor take a bite of it. Kagura forced herself to take the sandwich Rin offered to her. She managed to nibble on one corner of the toast before she gave up the fight. If she had one bite, she was sure she would puke again.

"Miss Kagura, it was so much fun when you pushed me in the air. You brought me so high in the sky I felt like I was flying. From up there I could see all the river under me. I didn't know the river was this big!" She paused to unwrap her own sandwich. "That's when Seshoumaru-sama jumped out of nowhere and grabbed me!" She took a bite before continuing her riveting tale. "I was crying so hard that I couldn't speak at first, but I pointed to the water and finally told Sesshoumaru-sama you didn't come out of the water yet. He said you would and we waited and we waited, but still you didn't come out. I said I would go back in the water to get you, but Sesshoumaru-sama said to wait. Then when I was about to go in the water, Sesshoumaru-sama jumped in the water and he got you out!" Rin was so enthusiast about her retelling of the event that she did not notice the growing irritation of her nanny.

Kagura realized then that she had indeed propelled Rin out of the water as she had hoped but had actually not quite brought her safely to the riverbanks. That had been Sesshoumaru's doing. Another major fact, her employer was an asshole who almost let her die. She sent him a nasty look. He may have saved her, but apparently only after Rin had suggested she would do it herself.

"A youkai who cannot save themselves from a fall in a river is quite an oddity." He may be right in his assumption, but it did not mean that Kagura was not hurt.

"I'm a wind youkai, not a water sprite." She retorted. "Besides I'm pretty sure there's a water creature in there who tried to grab me because my powers got all nullified."

"Not an appropriate justification for weakness."

Sesshoumaru's words made Kagura see red. Weak? Had he just called her weak?

"Miss Kagura, are you okay? Your wind is going everywhere."

Rin's query snapped Kagura out of her building rage. The kid was right, as her anger swelled a gust of wind had manifested itself and was starting to scatter around the contents of their picnic.

Kagura decided to calm down. Why did she care that Sesshoumaru thought her weak anyways? He was a jerk and his opinion did not matter. Besides she had too much poise and decorum to fight in front of Rin, so she decided to change the topic to safer territory. The faster then got done with this little picnic, the faster she could get home and the hell away from that damn river. She still feared that the water creature would come and try to grab her.

"You said you wanted to tell me about something Kohaku and Shippou did at school yesterday." Kagura reminded Rin.

The little girl chatted enthusiastically about some innocent shenanigan her friend Kohaku and cousin Shippou had gotten her involved in during recess. Kagura nodded appropriately as she barely attempted to keep track. The one thing she did remember was that Shippou was Inuyasha's adopted kitsune son and Kohaku the brother of one of Kagome's friend.

Once Rin finished with her convoluted story Kagura chuckled heartily as she knew this is what Rin expected and she also knew laughing out loud was something Sesshoumaru would not do. She was surprised he had even shown up at the picnic as he usually spent Saturday afternoon at the office. As she pondered about him, she chanced a glance his way and noticed he was staring at her and not at Rin as she had expected. Their eyes met. Kagura's heart pounded faster and it was not the aftereffects of her almost drowning. Despite her near-death experience and his lack of chivalry by almost letting her drown, she realized then that she quite liked it when he looked at her. Was it wrong that she regretted not being conscious during their mouth-to-mouth? She would have liked to get a taste of his lips. That's when it hit her. Crap, she had a crush on the jerk. Great, as if her life was not already complicated enough.

"MCL Scotch. I told myself I would try it once before I left this earth, and I think you owe me a bottle after you almost let me drown. One bottle and I will forgive you."

"You should have been able to get out of the water by yourself."

"I am a kaze youkai. Wind is my element, not water." She felt as if the reminder was once again necessary. So, what if she couldn't swim? She could manipulate the wind and raise the dead!

Kagura had sulked for a few days, preferring to dine earlier with Rin and let Sesshoumaru alone with his own company while he ate dinner. If he had noticed her cold shoulder, he had not commented on it. She did still keep him a plate, which Jaken heat up for him. She was angry with the inu youkai, but she would not wish the kappa's nasty food on her worst enemy. A week after the incident in the park, she was done being mad at Sesshoumaru. She would not admit it aloud, but she did miss their dinners together. Besides, he might have taken his sweet time, but he had rescued her and had even performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, so she could not stay indefinitely mad at him. He did kind of save her life after all.

Sesshoumaru did not bother retorting, instead opting to have his last bite of rice then stand up and leave the kitchen table as if the two of them had not been in the middle of a conversation. Cursing herself for trying to extend an olive branch, Kagura put his plate in the sink and headed for her second favorite room in the house: the TV room. She got settled on the couch and started channel surfing. Maybe she'd order an expensive pay-per-view movie just to jack up the ice block's monthly bill.

"Here."

She almost jumped off the couch when she felt something brush against her shoulder. How in the hell did the man move without her hearing him?

She turned around and noticed to her pleasure that Sesshoumaru was holding a bottle of MCL with two glasses.

"You had one of these?" She gasped in shock. She had seen a TV report on the alcoholic brand and had sworn to herself she would one day taste one of their drinks. She knew the bottle Sesshoumaru had handed her was worth at least the same price as the luxury SUV she had borrowed. In other words, way more than she could have ever afforded in this lifetime.

"I hide the really good stuff from prying hands." He retorted. In a few strides he was sitting next to her on the couch. He broke the seal on the bottle and served them both some of the amber liquid.

Her cheeks reddened slightly. She had made it a habit to grab drinks from the minibar in his home office and was sure that except from him no one knew the contents of his marvelous collection better than her. She did not give his attack any mind preferring instead to accept the drink he offered.

"Cheers." She toasted him before finally taking a sip. Her moan of pleasure earned her an arched eyebrow from Sesshoumaru. "It is delicious." She took another taste. Ok, this was indeed worth a near-drowning. Sesshoumaru was all forgiven.

"So, I've been meaning to ask, how did you get to raise Rin?"

She figured that she was entitled to ask. After all she had now been in his employ for almost two months and they were sharing the most expensive drink she knew.

He sipped some of his MCL and thought long and hard before answering. "She is my responsibility. My father stipulated in his will that I should look after her."

Responsibility? Well that was vague. She had come this far, time to dig deeper. "Why did your old man do that?"

"She is his daughter with his mistress."

"Rin is your sister?" Of all the things this is not what Kagura had expected. In the scenario she had built in her mind Rin was the daughter of Seshsoumaru's deceased secretary or a baby someone had dropped on his doorstep or such nonsense.

"Half-sister." Sesshoumaru growled. "We have a different mother. As does Inuyasha."

"So your dad was married to your mom, but cheated with some human woman, which resulted in Inuyasha, then cheated again with another woman, which resulted in Rin." Damn this was getting juicy. "Wow your father sure got around."

She expected him to be annoyed by her comment, but he surprised her.

"Indeed, he sure did."

"What happened to you mom? How long ago did your dad die? How long ago did Rin's mom die? How come you're raising Rin and not your brother?" He arched an eyebrow. "Nope forget I've asked, don't answer that. I've met Inuyasha, Rin is indeed better off with you."

"Mother is still alive and well. She lives in her Sky Castle. Father died when Rin was three years old. Rin lost her mother five years ago, which is when she came to live with me full-time."

Kagura topped off their glasses and turned to her side so she could face him directly. She had sooo many questions about the Sky Castle, but she refused to get sidetracked. One line of questioning at a time.

"Ok, something I don't understand, your father was obviously an inu youkai, so how come Rin is human, I don't get it."

"She is a rare breed of hanyou. Her youkai traits are dormant until the night of the full moon when they manifest themselves."

"Like some sort of werewolf?" Kagura gasped. "I had no idea this was even possible. I heard about the night of weakness for hanyou, but not the other way around." Kagura now realized that Sesshoumaru had conveniently taken Rin on a 'trip' right before the full moon both times since she had been in his employ. She hadn't given much thought to these occurrences as it allowed her to have free reign of the house.

He grimaced at her werewolf analogy but did not reject it. "They are rare, and historically they seldom made it to adulthood. Hanyous are not readily accepted in youkai families. The ones who cannot even defend themselves are particularly at risk. Their own family members are usually the ones to end their lives so as to clean the stain of mixed blood from their family tree."

Thinking of an angry older inu youkai attacking Rin was enough to make Kagura shiver. They'd have to get through her beforehand.

"Nothing will happen to her, I guarantee it." The growl in his voice reassured her. She was certain that he would keep their Rin safe.

"Your dad might have been a horndog, but he knew what he was doing by putting Rin in your care." She smirked. "Even if he hadn't put it in his will, something tells me you would have taken in Rin anyways. You're a good big brother."

He was a good man. An ice block at times and a jerk all too often, but Kagura had to admit that he was a good man. A good man she was crazy attracted to. Before she realized what she was doing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Oh shit, she had just kissed her employer. Maybe she could blame it on the alcohol? She broke contact and leaned back, but to her surprise instead of pushing her away, he leaned towards her. Oh shit, Sesshoumaru was kissing her. She responded to his invitation and opened her mouth to deepen their kiss. It felt so good.

"Last week you almost let me drown to death and now you're kissing me." She breathed out when they finally broke their long kiss.

"You kissed me first."

She ignored his truthful statement and decided to get more comfortable by climbing on his lap and straddling him. She looped her arms around his neck. "I haven't quite forgiven you for almost letting me die, but I'm thinking of some ways you can make it up to me."

In the next breath their mouths were fused in another deep kiss. She did not know how they had made it to this point, but she intended to take full advantage. She ran her hands through his beautiful hair, caressed the marks on his cheeks and kissed him as deeply as she could.

"Kagura." He whispered against the skin of her cheek. She shivered in pleasure. This was the first time she had ever heard him speak her first name. She vowed to make him say it a couple more times before the end of the night.

Sesshoumaru was not the kind of man to let himself be led, but still she was surprised when he suddenly stood up and started walking, taking her along. She instinctively tightened her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She had expected them to make out a bit on the couch, but clearly, he had something else in mind. She was a bit nervous but excited. He must have felt her change in body language because he paused in the middle of the corridor that led to his living quarters. He slipped a clawed finger under her chin to force her to look deep into his eyes. She might have had an attack of nerves, but there was no hesitation. This is what she wanted. Satisfied, he kept on moving.

In a matter of seconds she found herself thrown on his bed. She did not even have time to have a good look at his bedroom décor. Not that she would have paid much attention, not with the view in front of her. Sesshoumaru stayed standing, and slowly, methodically removed his clothing. A part of her wanted to be the one to unveil him but a larger part was enjoying the show. She was glad she had good vision because her only source of light was the sliver of light filtering through the blinds coming from the shining crescent moon outside. Despite the darkness, she could see all she wanted and more.

Once fully nude, Sesshoumaru worked on divesting her of all her clothing. If she had known seduction was on the menu for the evening, she would have worn something sexier than an old T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She currently could not even recall if she was wearing a set of matching bra and panties. One who clearly did not care was her lover as he had her bared to his gaze in record time. Her train of worried thought was completely lost when he opened her thighs wide and got to work. The man might not talk much, but he sure knew how to use his mouth. His every kiss and swipe of his tongue left her in a quivering mess. Once he inserted a wiggling digit inside her, she was lost.

"Sesshoumaru!" She fell apart with his name on her lips.

Still panting she did not object when he flipped her over on all fours. Not her favorite position, but she guessed that came with the territory of sleeping with a dog demon. She expected him to slam into her and take her in a frenzied and fast coupling, but he seemed to be in no hurry. He reached for her feather pin and undid her bun, causing her dark hair to cascade down her back. He buried his nose in the mass of curls, breathing in her scent then pressed feather light kisses from the back of her neck all the way down her spine. She was so turned on she feared she might combust spontaneously.

He felt her need and decided to finally give her what she wanted. He positioned himself behind her, making sure to cradle her hips in his hands so that he could control their joining and sunk slowly and deeply into Kagura's welcoming body. He left her a few instants to get used to his intrusion then tenderly started his leisurely thrusting.

"More." She finally pleaded after long frustrating minutes, tears of need welling in her eyes. She was close once again, but his current maddening slow pace would not get her there. He rewarded her by reaching a hand to tweak one of her nipples, making her excitement grow even more. The release of one of her hips allowed her a greater range of motion and she started to thrust back into him, but despite the added simulation she knew she would still not be able to reach her crest. Long desperate moans born more from her increased frustration than the exquisite pleasure he was giving her escaped her throat.

After long achingly slow rolls of his hips, he finally gave her what she needed. She felt a sudden change in his aura. Oh yes, he was going all youkai. His movements sped up steadily and all she could do was fist the bedsheets and try to hold on for the ride.

He snuck his talented fingers from her breast to where they were joined and gently rubbed her hidden pearl. The effect was immediate. As pleasure coursed through her entire body, she fell forward in a boneless heap face first on the bed. Her arms did not even have the ability to hold her up anymore. Unperturbed, Sesshoumaru turned her around, covered her body with his and before she had recovered sheathed himself back deep. She was still hypersensitive, so it only took a few deep thrusts to send her over the edge once again. This time around he let himself go and they reached their peak together, their bodies intertwined.

Sesshoumaru was a fantastic lover. In fact, the best she had ever had. She was no nun. She had dated throughout the years. Even had a pretty serious boyfriend, a human surgeon named Suikotsu. Things had turned sour when she had noticed he had a tendency to disappear for days at a time. Much needed money also had a tendency to disappear from her wallet whenever he was around. She had kicked him to the curb and turned out once again her hunch had been right. A few months later she had seen on the news that he had been arrested for killing a patient by operating while high. The only good thing to come out of that relationship was that Haku had gotten his yearn to become a surgeon following a long overtly detailed discussion between her brother and ex-boyfriend about human tissue dissection.

She shuddered in disgust at the memory and reached her hand towards the other end of the bed. It was empty, but warm. She had expected it. It was Sunday, her one day off during the week. Usually Sesshoumaru and Rin took off early in the morning and only came back in the evening. She had not cared to ask what they did on that particular day, preferring instead to go visit one of the twins if one of them was free or going to do some shopping. Her usual Sunday routine could wait. She burrowed her back deeper in Sesshoumaru's pillows. She deserved to sleep in after the major workout he had put her through. Just recalling it made her entire body tingle.

Lots of orgasms and a bottle of MCL she might have a penchant towards avarice, but even she could forgive Sesshoumaru for almost letting her die after all this.

A/N: A near death experience but a new romance? What is next in store for our favorite nanny? Find out tomorrow.