Sorry for taking so long on that last chapter. I really had to think out how everything would work in regards to future chapters carefully, as to avoid another updating/corrections spree. If I keep that up, there will be four or five completely different stories in the pieces I cut out alone. Anyway, here's to hoping I can get back into the groove! I'm excited to be writing more mean boy chapters… Love love love!

Chapter 16: Convincing

As soon as Sesshomaru woke he was greeted by the soft scent of Kagome. He didn't bother to wait for her to wake, sensing she was still in a deep enough sleep to last another couple hours that he didn't have to laze around in bed. Even if it was pleasant. He sat up, pushing her lightly off his arm to free himself from her, waking her suddenly. She sat up, instantly alert although the sleep still weighed on her. She looked gorgeous, messy hair and his clothes, rubbing her eyes in the soft morning sun that poured through the windows. He cursed her insistence on denying him the pleasure of her body, finding himself filled with the desire to start his day by corrupting the sweet miko again. He wondered about the stability of her resolve now, deciding to test the waters while he had her in his bed.

"Good morning." He said smoothly, laying back down on one elbow, his head resting lazily on his knuckles as he watched her. She stopped rubbing her eyes to look at him, turning away as blush filled her cheeks.

"Good morning…" She muttered shyly, sitting on the unfamiliar soft sheets, trying to avoid looking at his chest. His body was like stone, not at all like Inuyasha. She shook her head lightly, hating herself for comparing the two at all. She was trying to stop, but it was difficult, having only chosen to go through with it because of their similarities, however few there may be.

"How do you feel?" He asked, seeing her once again warring with herself silently. She glanced back at him for only a second, feeling her soreness for the first time this morning. Her muscles ached, but for the most part, it wasn't too bad. She looked down at her wrists, remembering his little trick the night before. They each wore matching light bruises where they'd been tied, though she was sure it was from her struggling, not the tightness of the bindings. He sighed softly through his nose making her look up finally. "I apologise if it was a bit rough for you… I can get carried away." He muttered, looking at her bruised arms instead of her eyes, his brow furrowed in something close to regret.

She didn't know how to respond to that. She wanted to tell him it was okay, and it was actually very, very good for her, but she wasn't even ready to admit that to herself out loud, let alone him. She pulled down her sleeves to cover them instead. His eyes flicked back up to hers, waiting for some kind of acknowledgement of his apology but getting only silence. He sat up fully next to her slowly, looking a bit more concerned. "I didn't hurt you, I hope." He said quietly, looking her over quickly before staring back into her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it, only shaking her head as an answer.

"N-no… I feel fine." She said softly, a little flattered by his concern. It was unexpected, but not wholly unwelcome. He sighed, nodding.

"Good. I was worried." He said, matching her tone. He even smiled softly at her as he laid back on the pillow, one arm behind his head. Kagome was shocked at how casual he was being around her, though, now she supposed he didn't have much of a reason for keeping up his cold facade. It had failed to keep her at a comfortable distance, partly due to her insistence on getting closer just to spite him. She had even made the first move! Touching his arm like that… how could he not have taken that to mean...? She remembered the night before, how the marks had started everything, and was curious again.

"Sesshomaru… can I ask about something else?" She asked tentatively. She had gotten more than she'd bargained for when she asked about the tongue thing… a demonstration along with the answer. She waited for him to nod before continuing. "It was… when we were on the couch and I touched your…" She pointed to her own arm, not sure exactly what to call them.

"Marks." He offered. She nodded.

"Right, the marks… you seemed to react to that. Is… is that why you kissed me?"

"Ah." He said, understanding the full scope of her simple question. She was an intuitive little thing to have noticed a direct link between the marks and his behavior. Usually he would lie, but Kagome was already well aware of his demon heritage, so he didn't see the point. "The marks are… they have a special purpose." He said, seeing the interest on her features as she leaned in a bit to get a lesson on demon anatomy. He realized he was going to have to explain further to satisfy her curiosity. "You'll notice they're in areas that others usually wouldn't touch." He raised his arm, turning it to show the lines of purple and where they went. His inflection made it clear he was taking a jab at her, as she'd managed to come into contact with them on several occasions, and it'd barely been two weeks. Her touchiness was really her undoing. "It's a bit like an invitation, to touch them. They're sensitive." She blushed again, looking rather upset with herself. He shot her a small half grin at her emberassment, remembering how she'd practically groped him for Kami knows what reason. He scoffed lightly. "I know that's not what you meant by… whatever you were doing, but instinct takes over at a certain point."

"I-I'm so sorry. I had no clue…" She trailed off, dying of embarrassment.

"It's fine Kagome. Obviously I didn't mind." A little teasing smile played on his lips as he looked at her, forcing her to see the humor in the situation.

"I should have figured that out sooner… Every time I… and oh Kami, in the kitchen…" She suddenly understood his odd move of holding her by the wrist a little differently. She laid her face in her palm, covering her eyes in complete exasperation. She heard Sesshomaru chuckle, making her eyes shoot back up to him.

"Yes… that was a bit intense, wasn't it." He said, pushing his clawed hand through his shaggy hair. She thought it looked somehow perfect even though he'd just woken up. Did he ever look anything less than perfect?

"I thought you were going to kill me, not…" She trailed off, letting the implication speak for itself. He breathed sharply through his nose in something close to a laugh.

"That wasn't the only time." He muttered, earning him a surprised look from her. He smirked at her expression. Like she didn't already know. "Come now, Kagome. I'm sure you can guess." He quirked his brow at her, like a teacher waiting for a student to give a solution. She thought back.

"Do you mean… the well? Or maybe the office?" The office had been the right answer, but he raised a brow at her for reminding him of the well. Her proximity had indeed had an effect on him, but he'd almost forgotten. He hadn't wanted to tear her clothes off at that time, only get the hell away from her, but it was a little amusing to know she had perceived the moment as something more than it was. So this little fascination with her was not so one sided after all. He sat up with her again, pushing back to lean against the headboard.

"What makes you think of the well?" He asked, ignoring the other answer. He was far more interested in what she thought of this other occasion. She blushed a bit.

"Is that not it? Ah- well… It's just that you caught me… And I guess the way you yelled…" She only blushed harder at realizing she liked being yelled at. She reasoned that it was only because he was usually so calm, it was a little exciting to have him snap like that. She noticed he was still staring with strong interest and decided to continue, even though it was embarrassing. "We were standing really close, so I guess I just assumed… Am I wrong?" He furrowed his brow as he considered it for a moment.

"Not wrong… I had almost forgotten about the well. To tell the truth, I only remember wanting to get out at the time." He said wistfully. She looked a little dejected, much to his amusement. "...Because your scent was so strong." He added, making her look more conflicted.

"You don't like my scent?" She asked plainly. Her tone made it clear she didn't really care either way, only hoping to learn the truth for curiosities sake. He paused at the question, wondering if he should tell her.

"I like it too much." He said. She looked at him incredulously, as though he were only messing with her. It was the truth, however odd it sounded. Humans were strangely disconnected from their sense of smell, while most demons, especially dog demons, were at times overly sensitive. He passed hundreds of scents a day, and was more likely to forget a name than a scent. Every person's was unique, and not all good, but Kagome's was sweet. It was like candy, almost, with just a touch of bitterness. Very indicative of her personality.

"Really." He continued. "That's why I wanted to get away from it. At that time I was still trying to deny that I liked it as much as I did." He explained, keeping a close watch on how she was responding. She still wore a look of mild disbelief, but again, it was all the truth. She thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly.

"So you didn't plan this…" Her finder moved between them to show she meant their newly intimate relationship. "... from the start?" He scoffed a her.

"Of course not. I may have had a few indecent thoughts, especially when you're mad…" He trailed off to turn his alarm clock around and check the time. Still before noon. He still had time to waste with this girl, and he was enjoying wasting it. "...but I fully planned to deny myself that indulgence." He finished calmly, resting back on his headboard. She smiled like something he said was terribly funny. "What?"

"When I'm mad?" She asked, tilting her head and furrowing her brow. He cracked a small grin.

"Or afraid. Either works for me." He said teasingly, making her gape at his audacity.

"So- Is this why you pulled that crazy kabe-don move on me?" She asked, rising to her knees and putting her hands on her hips.

"It worked, didn't it?" He said, shooting her a glare. He wasn't mad, but she was getting there, which is something he wanted very much, as he'd only just told her. She realized that fact a little too late, blushing as she worked to calm herself down, sitting back on her feet.

"Well…" She started, keeping an even tone to her voice. "Now that I know, I'll try to control my emotions around you." He hummed an amused note, looking at her skeptically. She glared up at him, hating that he wasn't taking her seriously on this one very important point. "What? You and I both agreed this is a one time thing! Since it isn't happening again, I won't do anything to invite it." She huffed, using his earlier choice of words to add a little sting. When his expression didn't change she reminded herself to calm down and waited for him to explain the condescending look.

"Kagome…" He said softly, laying his head back on the headboard. She hated when he said her name that way! Why was he only mean when she wanted him to be nice, and nice when she needed him to be mean? "Why would you want this to only happen once? You didn't enjoy yourself?" He asked. She made a little shocked schoff, crossing her arms.

"No." She started, finding it harder and harder to stay even-tempered. "I… I think you know I did…" She blushed hard at admitting that, seeing a little twitch of his brow. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks again as she realized he only wanted to hear her say it. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to knock him down a peg. "But it won't happen again! Because it's wrong- and Because I- I don't love you!" She said angrily. She felt a little bad for yelling something like that, especially because it wasn't exactly true. She did love him a little. As a friend, or a relative, but not in the way she thought she should love somebody she was sleeping with. Not the way she loved Inuyasha. He only smiled softly.

"Who said anything about love?" He asked, as though love and sex had nothing to do with one another. Although she didn't exactly agree, she blinked, looking down to think about that question. "You don't have to love me to enjoy my company." He said, making her feel a little naive for thinking that way. Lost of people had sex without loving each other, but she never thought of herself as that kind of person.

"If it's not a big deal that I don't love you, It still matters who I do love. Inuyasha-"

"Is dead." He finished her sentence a little sternly, but quickly corrected his tone, seeing a flash of hurt in her eyes. "You have another two years before you can go back to him, so why not enjoy that time?" She was blown away by how nonchalant he was about all this. Like he didn't care at all what happened, but only wanted to sleep with her because he could. She tried to avoid getting angry again, taking a moment before speaking to settle herself. It was a moment too long, as it gave her time to consider his proposal. Was she really thinking about going along with this? It was only that she felt so much better this morning. Like she'd been living under water for a year, unable to get a deep breath until he gave her that release. And Kami, he was so good at giving it. She shook her head resolutely.

"I can't do this knowing… He's waiting for me." She muttered, still looking away from his eyes. He sighed, leaving the bed to go to his dresser, stretching along the way. Kagome watched his back flex with the action, thinking again how much he looked like chiseled stone.

"He still will be, whether we continue this or not." He stated plainly, not letting any emotion show in his words. He pulled open a drawer and began rummaging through. She watched him carefully, wondering what his point was. He stayed facing away as he continued. "You're in a very unique position, Kagome. You can do whatever you want for now, explore, sate whatever curiosities you may have, and you will still have the guarantee of your true love waiting for you, just on the other side of two short years." He said 'true love' in the same way one might say 'easter bunny,' as though it were a silly fairy tale, making her smirk. He retrieved a dark shirt and another pair of sleeping pants with a drawstring before walking over to the bed, tossing the clothing before her. "What I'm saying is, nobody is asking you to choose between us." She looked up at him with wide innocent eyes, struck by what he'd just said, as he picked up the shirt from the bed and pulled it over his shoulders, adjusting the sleeves on his arms to leave his marks exposed for the first time. He looked down to the pants he had pulled from the dresser. "Wear those if you want, I'm making breakfast. Join me when you're ready." He said, returning to his usual emotionless tone and catching her eyes with a slight nod that showed it was a command, not a request. With that he turned to go, leaving her alone in a state of complete conflict.

She didn't have to choose? She was so used to Inuyasha's crazy jealousy that it was almost refreshing to hear someone not care about not loving them, and treating sex like something so trivial. He made it seem so normal to think about sleeping with someone just for the fun of it. Was she really that type of girl? If she started, would she stop here? What if she accidentally fell in love with him? Then what would happen in the past when they met again? Most importantly, is it worth it?

Without any answers she pulled on the too-long pants and tightened the drawstring to keep them on her hips, following him to the kitchen.