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They woke up to a gray and misty morning in May, the cries of their children still echoed in the air. There was nothing unusual about the sounds or the dawn, they heard the roosters crowed and the early birds chirped and ignored it all. Only the two of them mattered at the moment, as time had erased most of the pain and had replaced it with passion instead.
The sensation of the wind on their skin was cool to the touch, as they gazed at each other from across the narrow expanse of space that separated them on the bed.
Nostalgic; the memory of their lovemaking, the longing those memories brought to the fore stained their eyes in deep desire. Arms outstretched he drew her body closer to him, molding her pliant flesh to the seams of his form.
He kissed her lips tenderly while she gazed at him lovingly, there was no reality only them, lips and tongues locked in a tango, warm breaths brushed against feverish skin, she arched into him further, feeling the turgid heat of his manhood. He hissed as her actions rolled back the foreskin of his member, rubbing the sensitive flared head.
Losing oneself in the heat of passion would be easy, they were a perfect fit. There was no pretense, and it felt oh so right. His mouth plundered hers and she sighed blissfully and closed her eyes, the yearning shook his hands as he held her more closely, splaying them across her back.
She moaned and opened her mouth wider; he delved right in and stroked its satiny depths. He shuddered as another of her moves snagged the head of his shaft. He groaned deeply with ecstasy but with incompletion as well, because as much as their dalliance felt great it was time for it to end, before they crossed a line that they could not return from.
His lips trailed from her mouth to her forehead where he pressed a long wet kiss.
"Kagome," he muttered, fighting the emotions of his heart and the desires of his flesh, "we shouldn't."
She shook her head. "I know."
He saw the sadness in her eyes that mirrored the sentiments of his own conscience and emotions. With a light pull he placed her head onto his chest while his fingers streamed through her hair.
He sighed quietly. "Tomorrow I will take my leave and I am unsure when I will be able to return." He inhaled deeply as he thought about the situation back home, and then he continued softly. "My wife I was informed has started to act suspiciously in my absence."
Her head came up and she regarded him thoughtfully. "What has she done now?"
He blinked and looked away as she gazed at him expectantly for an answer, it wasn't a pleasant picture and he was fearful of causing her any more anxious moments. But it was also time he decided, that she was made aware of some of the disturbing situations in the west. Now more than ever he had an inclination that to strike out against him, his wife might be foolish enough to lash out at Kagome in a misguided effort for revenge.
He turned into her direction once again and studied her silently for a brief period. He saw her vibrant blue eyes and flawless skin, the swell of her bosom above the night chemise and the smell of lactation that saturated her essence. He nodded somberly with a pinched expression, as these were the moments that he yearned for the most. He let a sigh of frustation escape him, Kagome eyes widened in alarm, but before she could ask him what the matter was he spoke up and silenced the thought.
"The princess has grown cold and is jealous of you and the children, and as I was informed of her distrustful acts, I am certain that she will use my absence to carry out her vendetta."
"Can you really blame her Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked reasonably.
"Not entirely, but I have been patient and tolerant of her childish ways because she was placed in the middle of a farce not of her making, if only she had learned to accept fate then she could have had a more pleasant life," Sesshomaru said frustratingly.
"I can understand how she must feel," Kagome stated," she is in a place that she is not wanted, and our children are just being children who will never accept her. As for me I gave up everything so that you would be free to marry her, so why is she threatened by me?"
It suddenly struck him that Kagome hadn't any idea that his wife knew of her, and that their children had informed the princess of her pregnancy when provoked. His body tensed slightly as he readied himself to tell her the grave news.
"The situation at home has escalated in the most undesirable of ways, and as such I am forced to guard against my enemies." He shook his head Kagome observed, as though he tried to will away the unpleasantness of his life. She saw too the heavy breath that he took as well before he spoke again.
"I am unable to fullfil her desires, my heart is yours and the affections that I do share with her are entirely physical which has injured her spirit, the pup's resentment of her has only added heat to the situation and now it has grown more volatile in nature," he sighed deeply and closed his eyes as she stared at him in surprise.
Kagome draped a friendly arm over his chest as her head came to rest on it again.
"I am so sorry for all the troubles that have visited us. Please be careful my love, you and I have been victims of women that have held you in contempt before," she said, her arms tightening around him.
Sesshomaru shook his head with a frown that she did not see. He drew her closer, kissed her inky head and responded.
"The last thing that I want to do is to cause you more pain, but it would be unwise if I were to remain silent on this. Kagome I believe my wife will try to harm you and the babies, that is why I must provide proper security for you."
She shifted in his hold, positioned herself on her side and watched him carefully. She saw how troubled he looked. Her pulse sped up, not again her memory chanted.
"Sesshomaru," she said; calmer now that she had taken the time before to pacify her emotions. "I know that you haven't told me everything because you are trying to spare my feelings, but I am not blind. I will do as you command, but I will not shy away from defending myself and my children."
He smiled looking oddly pleased by her statement. They exchanged a look, then nodded their understanding.
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"Have you seen my husband?" Princess Maemi barked at the maid serving tea.
"No my lady," the young girl replied, and then fearfully backed away from the angry woman.
She gave the tea tray an exasperated glare before she swept it aside savagely in vexation, smashing the expensive porcelain tea set into splinters as it crashed to the floor. Her cousins came running on hearing the ruckus.
"Princess what is the matter?" Heaven asked quickly while Jade kept quiet as her keen senses deduced her cousin's erratic behavior.
Heaven reached for her hand when she stood and stared dispassionately outside from the balcony. Maemi pulled her arm roughly away from her cousin's hold.
"We need to talk."
"Not now," Maemi protested
Heaven replied just as firmly. "We must it is very important," showing another side to her often times shy and demure personality.
"My mind is not clear right now for conversation," she argued.
Jade sighed and approached the two after having kept silent for too long, it was obvious that Maemi had grown increasingly frustrated and bitter because her husband refused to try and love her; and his absence from the palace for over six weeks to be with his children's mother has infuriated the problems and her.
As the lord of the region there was nothing that they could do about his actions. The situation between them was a capricious one; as a father it was understandable that his heart and impulses would guide him towards the mother of his children and his babies.
As a princess her cousin acted like a child, incensed with what she couldn't have instead of seeing the situation for what it was and acting accordingly.
Truthfully, she couldn't deny it anymore; the princess had fallen short of her resolve. First she said that she would marry the lord out of duty, then she falls in love with him, then she changed her mind again and says that she doesn't love him and will only satisfy the empire's obligation, and now she indulged in self pity and has become pathetic and displeasing to be around. She sighed with her thoughts. Her cousin was a spoiled and insufferable woman. How had she not noticed it before now?
Jade thought about their situation for a minute more before she decided to say anything, but just as she was about to speak, Maemi's mother barged in unannounced with a letter in hand that carried the royal seal.
The princess's eyes flared when she saw the parchment, she breathed deeply feeling relieved, it was almost two weeks that she had been sitting, waiting and pining for a response from her brother.
"Well open it," she ordered her mother.
She nodded and tore the seal, being careful not to destroy the written words. She cleared her throat and then began to read clearly:
"Dearest sister I am truly pleased to hear from you, however, it is with regret that I must say that I am sorry for the misfortunes that has afflicted you. I have taken into account all that you had to say, but I cannot agree with the position that you have taken, regardless, if you could state specifically some towns or cities, I would be more inclined to offer you my assistance. As the emperor I must act wisely, and putting a ban or restricting the movements of the holy ones without a cause will look suspicious and frowned upon. Your job as my eyes in the west is one that is held in high esteem. I will be in the west in one year's time when the dam is completed."
"Is that it?" she asked grumpily, when her mother remained quiet.
"Yes daughter that is it."
"But...I don't get it, did my brother refused to help me?" She asked in bewilderment.
Jade responded. "Cousin you have deciphered the emperor's words incorrectly. What he meant was that he could not decree a ban on all priestess's without solid cause to do so. However, he has asked for the name of the town or city that your enemy resides; limiting his actions to just a few places will look less suspicious."
"But I don't know where she lives," the whisper sounded halfhearted and scared.
"What?" Her mother jumped in. "You would come up with such a grand scheme and yet you are ill prepared, if I were you I would get the information before your husband gets back…Or maybe your backside is in need of another thrashing?"
She cringed on the inside by her mother's scandalous words but did not respond to it, the truth was sometimes hard to swallow. Maemi looked around at her two cousins that gazed at her with supportive sympathy, and lowered her head when she realized that no one in the palace would furnish her with the information. To ask would cast more distrust upon herself.
It was way past time to move on, and she could only to do that by accepting reality, yet she could not let go of the hurt and humiliation that she felt to free herself. Her brother had thrown her a bone, all she had to do was to find out the location where the whorish priestess lived. But that task in itself although small was like a mountain that stood in front of her.
She felt the walls of despair closing in on both sides; her temples throbbed as the pressure forced her into submission, to let him get away with all the hurt that he'd visited upon her. A gasp of sound rasped pass her teeth with the hopeless thought; Jade squeezed her arm with empathy and thus drove the despair away.
"Maemi," her mother said, "I believe the best option to get the information that you require is from the person who informed you of your husband's woman in the first place."
"Hotaru," the princess whispered distractedly.
"I am sure that even you are cunning enough to deceive the demoness, all you have to do is to make her believe that you have had a change of heart." She laughed crudely, approached the lantern and lit it, then dropped the letter into the flames and watched as it burned.
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Maybe it was fate directing her path, she felt sure after awhile. On the same night after receiving the letter she was on her way to Hotaru's room with a copper candle holder in her hand, containing two lighted candle sticks.
She was fearful, one wrong move and all her well laid plans could go up into flames, and not only that, when Sesshomaru found out, and he would undoubtedly be made aware, it would be the end of her and her freedom.
Her feet moved easily over the carpet barefooted, she curled her toes into its softness and sighed. She heard talking as she approached her husband's study, someone was coming her way.
Quietly she turned the door handle and stepped inside; she blew the candles out quickly as she'd come to the realization that the glow would give her away. She forced her breathing and heartbeat to slow and remained still as a statue. The chatter approached closer.
"Jin has made a request on behalf of lord Sesshomaru for some soldiers to be dispatched to the eastern region."
She listened intently and could decipher the voice of the green youkai with the high pitched voice.
"When will he be back?" A female asked that sounded a lot like Hotaru, she couldn't be sure as the voices died away as the individuals walked past the door.
She crouched low and closed her eyes in the darkness, it wasn't much but she was certain that the woman she sought lived in the eastern hemisphere. That region was bigger than the west, her search would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But at least now she had somewhere to start looking.
She remained in a crouching position in the darkness for how long she couldn't remember, as the small reprieve clouded her judgment. Jaken had answered the female that he'd spoke with that the master would be back sometime tomorrow. She had little time left to steal away with another letter for the captain of her army who waited at her cottage.
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Sesshomaru left Kagome and his newborn pups early the next day reluctantly. Her eyes had brimmed with tears as he'd kissed her lips. And the babies had clung to him as if they knew he would be leaving them.
Their soft smiles and innocent faces as they'd touched his cheeks, and Kagome whimpering quietly tore at his heart. He was bereft, loss and broken, he was leaving his family behind without any commitment of when he would be back, left a prickling in his eyes.
His heart clenched with sadness as he'd flown away as he could still hear Kagome crying out his name. He closed his eyes and flew faster; he couldn't stand the pain of their separation. Guilt took a hold of him against the painful memory.
He clenched his jaw, swallowed back the pain clogging his throat; sucked up his sorrow. He wouldn't mourn; they still had a chance, all they needed was time. With deep inhalation he drove the acceptance of the circumstances into his brain, buried his emotions, took stock of the facts, and carried on with no regrets.
Home was quiet, too quiet for his liking, his children were happy to see him. Aiko as always showered him with affectionate kisses and hugs, it would seem that time away had lessened the angst in her heart and now they were back to being father and daughter.
He smiled through the countless hugs, at fourteen if you counted in human years, Aiko was wild, carefree and innocent. He had dinner with them that evening, and the heavens burst blessing them with its showers of purification. All his children wanted to talk about was the twins and their mother. He indulged them like he always does with quiet dignity.
The night had him resting in bed without thinking of his wife all day, though her scent wafting to him changed that state of being quickly. He grew angered because he was well aware of her secret movements. At this point in time he had little idea what the letter entailed that was sent to her brother.
He didn't let that little misdeed worry him not for a second, he would strike when she least expect it, like a rabbit caught into a snare he had to set the trap for her to spring it. Shippo had informed him of the captain's leave of absence, the visit to the palace before he came home.
Princess Maemi grabbed for the door handle and opened it noisily, then closed it in the same manner. Her eyes flashed with hatred and disgust as she approached the bed. She tore the robe from her shoulders where it pooled at her feet, then she stepped out of the crumpled mess insolently.
She wanted to lash out at him for hurting and humiliating her with his mistress, but she wouldn't, nothing would be gained by it except maybe another beating, and she definitely did not relish that idea. She could still feel the burn of the lashes whenever she thought of it.
With all the hatred rolling off her and into him, she still desired him as he lies still, masculine and powerful with his head resting at an angle cushioned by the pillows. How easy it would be to go to him, frame his face in her palms and kiss him. How easy it would be to fall blindly into chaos from her conflicting emotions.
Do it, touch him, kiss him and beg him to love you. Her mind teased her.
Maemi clutched her hands into tight fists to fight off the mad impulses. No she can't, he wouldn't welcome the gesture; she fiercely reminded herself.
Embodying every ounce of emotional armor that she possessed she bit down hard onto her lips, her blood tasted tangy. She straightened up, and with all the will power that she could muster with her head held high, she slipped between the sheets next to him.
She wasn't going to trust what felt easy when it came to Sesshomaru. Not ever again. Revenge was what she had in mind, and the seed that he was to plant in her womb to unite the races as decreed by the emperor. Yes, that was exactly what she wanted.
He inhaled sharply and her fertile musk leaked inside his nostrils. He snorted with feelings of revulsion, but just as quickly as he remembered his purpose he rolled her beneath him, disdain evident in both their gazes.
He closed his eyes briefly, willing the strength that he needed to the fore of his thoughts to perform his husbandly duties, while her hands roamed over him greedily. He told himself that this was just an obligation, a mindless distraction and laved at her nipples.
He drove into her forcefully as the inside of her thighs rode his hips. He pounded into her, driving as hard as the pelting rain without care or thought. There was no gentleness in his actions. He cupped her buttocks into his hand, speared her harder than before, banging into her until she shook all over and her cries deafening to his ears.
Fearing she was going to slip she tightened her legs around his waist, his penis a searing sword of pleasure, so intense that the pain almost overshadowed the pleasure.
Lusty moans escaped from her lips even though she'd tried to contain them. Her husband wasn't trying to pleasure her she knew, and yet the violence and brutality brought her to the pinnacle of an earth shattering orgasm. She broke into a million pieces with the combusting flames. Her climax tore through her, rippling through her womb as the hot shot of his load flooded it.
He twisted away from her and her heart sank to have the contact back, she was a quivering mess and tired, she couldn't keep her eyes opened one moment longer. At last he had the opportunity to purify her womb. Much later sleep came to him as the woman at his side curled into him and snored softly into his chest.
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August came and it was the high time of summer, Arashi and Hina were crawling around following Kagome everywhere. Doctor Tanaka was a constant visitor, helping her in any way that he could. Tilling the soil and planting the vegetable, accompanying her to the school to help with the lessons, and visiting the factories that Kagome had helped Sesshomaru to establish in Edo several years ago.
A thick dark cloud covered the sky and he inhaled from further down the field with the dirt covered children, while Kagome was on her way back with a fruity beverage for him to drink.
He scented the air, a storm brewed, it was a skill passed down to him from his heritage as a half water demon. The lady gave him the drink and smiled, he nodded appreciatively.
"Lady Kagome let's take the children inside," he said quietly trying not to alarm her too much.
But she knew as much from her time with him that he was anxious. However, she did not question him; they both picked up a baby and proceeded to the house. When they were safely inside he spoke again.
"A storm is coming and it will be bad, let me assist you by boarding up the windows."
She nodded nervously and caught her lips between her teeth.
"Don't worry so much, I will keep close until it passes."
He saw the relieved breath that she took and smiled at her before he made his way to the shed in the yard.