Chapter Five

"Are you sure we should leave without Inuyasha?"

Shippo was dripping with naivety. And sadness, because even though they fought like dogs, they were more like brothers. "It's been a week, Shippo. We can't just sit around doing nothing at Kaede's. We need to move on and find Naraku. It's what Inuyasha would want too."

Kagome was thankful for Miroku's clever answer but the truth was, it was her that wanted to leave him behind. And as more time passed, it was clearly a good choice as two weeks passed and still no Inuyasha.

They passed a village that had been ravaged by the dark priestess. The place was completely destroyed. It was hard to believe one person was responsible. Especially someone who was once a Priestess. It made Kagome shudder and feel sick. More than she already did with her burning marks. It also upset Sango a lot; reminding the slayer of her village that Naraku destroyed. In the end, there was nothing they could do. Everyone in the village was dead and the dark priestess was long gone. So they used it to fuel their journey on, vowing to stop Naraku and the dark priestess.

Making camp, they were still no closer to finding Naraku. They did find a few more Jewel shards; relying heavily on her spiritual powers and Miroku's wind tunnel to get them. At least they had learned they didn't need Inuyasha.

Kagome didn't need him for sure.

Her marks burned a little each day but she got used to it; ignoring them most of the time. Only when they stopped did Kagome really notice but that was because her mind thought of Inuyasha and his betrayal. The marks burned a little more every time she did so she tried her best not to think of him at all.

A fire before them, she used a long stick to poke the flames; watching the sparks fly up into the dark night like fireflies. Sango sat next to her -silent- until Shippo went to bed. "Are you alright, Kagome?"

"I'm fine." She said, poking the burning wood more violently.

Miroku plopped down on the other side of the fire from Kagome, looking right at her. "You're lucky you're not sick again."

She glared at Sango over her shoulder and the demon slayer gave in almost instantly. "I had to explain why Inuyasha left!"

"Oh? Then maybe you can explain it to me?!" Sango looked to the ground instead and Kagome had her answer. "He rejected me. I get it. So why am I the one suffering? Why are my marks burning? Shouldn't they just… disappear now?"

"He didn't reject you, Kagome…" Sango started, but Kagome stopped her.

"He took one look at my mark, got up, and left. He said nothing. Not to me, you, or even Shippo. He cared so little about us, about me, that he just left us to fend for ourselves."

"He cares about you, Kagome, and you know it." Miroku cried.

She did know it. Or at least, she thought she did. But what kind of person cares for someone only to leave them behind at the first sign of adversity? Who leaves his friends behind like that? "You're right. He probably left without a word because he's off with Kikyo begging her for forgiveness and didn't want to lie to us…"

"Kagome…"

"I wonder if the great Priestess knows how to break a Mate bond…"

"Kagome! Stop it. This isn't you! This is… dark."

Miroku was right, her thoughts were dark; ugly, and shameful. The thoughts of a dark priestess. But she couldn't help it. How many times had Inuyasha left them behind for Kikyo? Left her behind? She had seen them kiss before; what had she missed the two of them do together when she couldn't follow? Kagome couldn't shake the feeling that Inuyasha was remorseful for mating with her and she was sure it was because he intended to mate with Kikyo instead.

"Besides it's almost a new moon. Inuyasha won't be anywhere near Kikyo or anyone else for that matter." Sango added.

Kagome looked up at the sliver of moon that remained. Something struck her mind and it traveled down her spine. Like it was taking over her body but nothing scary. "I know where Inuyasha is. I'll go to him tomorrow."

Neither of them questioned it even when she spoke like a robot. Not that they knew what a robot was. Nor did they question it when she rose before dawn, packed up her things, and walked towards the sunrise. If they had asked, she wouldn't have been able to answer. It was as if her soul was in charge, making her go in a certain direction. She knew where she was going only due to knowing exactly where Inuyasha was. That didn't mean she knew how to get there. Somehow, her feet did, like a magnet drawn to metal.

So now she stood at the village Inuyasha's demon had brought her to and it was just as dilapidated as it had been then. She knew where to go and had no choice in it. The sun set just as she arrived, covering the town in darkness made thicker by the lack of moonlight. And yet, her feet guided her right up to the door.

A fire was raging in the middle of the hut and dark hair spilled out of the bedroll she had last shared with Inuyasha. "I knew you'd come."

Inuyasha's voice cracked as he spoke through the thick blanket covering him. Soon, she stood over him and peeled it back. It was always a bit of a shock, Inuyasha as a human with his eyes and hair dark. But she first noted his dilated eyes and pink cheeks.

"You have a fever?"

He wheezed as if suffering from a cold. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Dropping her bag, she dug in and got her first aid out immediately. Then she worked on getting him some water, placing a cooling pack on his forehead before leaving for the river behind the village. When she returned, Inuyasha was sitting up, the blankets spilling around his waist and his hair wild.

"You should lay down and rest."

He was rocking slightly, his muscles flexing all over his arms and back. "Do fevers hurt like this?"

"Yes." He kept his face lowered and she rolled her eyes, going to her first aid that he sat really close to now. "I have something that will help. Take it and lay down."

She handed him pills and he swallowed them without question. But then he didn't lay down. "You know why I'm sick?"

Now he looked at her? Asking that kind of question and now he pulls his dark orbs from the dirt floor to press into her?? "Yes. The same reason I was sick two weeks ago. You're rejecting the bond."

"No. I'm sick because you're rejecting the bond."

She shook her head and busied herself with packing her first aid back up. "That makes no sense at all!"

"The only reason I wasn't sick with you that night was because my demon blood kept me from it. But now that I'm human and you're still rejecting me…"

"I didn't reject you!" She screamed, glaring at him now. "You were the one that saw my mark, the mark you gave me, and left!"

"I had to leave…"

"Why?" He was silent and it made her marks burn to almost painful. "God, why did you have to give me so many of these things!!"

She grabbed a cooling pack out of the first aid and pressed it to the mark on the back of her neck, the one that hurt the most. "Feh, not sure. That was the demon. He probably felt insecure or some shit like that. The more marks a demon gives the less sure they are in a mate."

Huffing with loud sarcasm, Kagome did nothing to hide her disdain for the current topic. "Great. He's the one unsure of his choices and I'm the one punished for it. If he wasn't sure about me as his mate then he should have left me alone."

"He ain't unsure about you! You're unsure about him!"

She passed him a baleful glance before picking her bag up off the floor. "Which house is good enough to sleep in for the night?"

"Why?"

"You know why."

He was silent. Pouting at the floor and she was too tired for it. The whole day she traveled here just to see him and now she didn't know why she came.

"You know why you're here don't you?" He asked the floor but was clearly speaking to her. "Because you're my mate and I needed you."

"That's not…"

"Do you even know how you got here? I never showed you the way. Not from Kaede's or wherever it is you came from. And yet you found your way no problem. Keh, I bet you don't even know how to get back do you?"

He was looking amused. Fully pleased with himself and it only made her burn more. "Are you happy with yourself? Attaching me to you like a puppy?"

Her arm was in his hold in an instant and he tugged her the short distance to stand before him. Then he tugged her down to kneel before him. "Why not? I've been your puppy for years."

When he tried to pull her even closer, she ripped out of his hold and opened her mouth to tear him a new one. But he beat her to it.

"Take your clothes off."

"Wha..NO!"

He scooted back, making 'room' for her in the bedroll. "Come on Doctor. Take off your clothes and rejulate my temperature."

"It's regulate, you jerk, and like hell!!"

"You will because you're a good person and my Mate."

"Stop saying that."

"What? That you're a good person? Or that you're my Mate? Neither of 'em is a lie so I ain't gonna stop."

The staring contest they held ended when she couldn't stand it anymore and blinked. "FINE!"

She made sure to stomp and huff the entire time she stripped and folded her clothes. Now in her last bra and panties, she tried to quickly get under the covers to hide. But Inuyasha decided it'd be cute to play keep-away with them. She wrenched them from his hold and quickly rolled up in them. And because she hated sleeping in one (thanks to the mark), she carefully removed her bra and tossed it to the pile her robes laid in, keeping herself completely covered the entire time.

Then Inuyasha scooted up to lay right behind her, his bare chest pressing against her back. She knew he was topless; sitting up in the bedroll to show her that much. But she didn't know he was completely naked, feeling his thighs press against the back of hers with nothing between. And his rod pressed into the small of her back and top of her butt.

"What are you doing??!!" She hissed.

He was undeterred, wrapping arms around her middle and pulling her closer. "You feel so good."

His body was hot, scorching, and yet, the longer he touched her, held her, the less he and her marks burned. When he nuzzled her neck, pushing her hair away with his nose to get to skin, she decided he was feeling much better.

"Okay, that's enough now." She said, pushing him and herself away from each other. "Now go to sleep."

"Are you rejecting me, Kagome?" Her marks flared with his words. "Because you're killing me…"

"I'm sure you'll get over it real quick…"

She was pulled back harshly, their bodies slapping together. His mouth was on top of her ear and he whispered, his hot breath making her shiver even under the hot blankets and warm summer night. "You dreamed of me, didn't you? Of us mating long before I ever came to you, didn't you?"

"How… how do you know that??" The demon half knew; not the Hanyou or the human.

"I know because you found me tonight. This isn't a normal mating, Kagome. You have as much say in it as I do."

Her heart dropped into her belly and her marks burned like fire. "You really know how to sweet-talk a girl don't you…"

"Yeah, I do, because I never had any other choice than to love you. Just like you never had a choice but to love me. The more you deny it, the more it's going to hurt us. And I don't just mean your marks or my fever."

"You… love me?"

Now he grabbed her face, turning it and the rest of her to face him. "Are you stupid? Of course, I do."

"Then why did you leave me when you saw my mark?"

There was a glistening in his eyes, the emotions of a human that Inuyasha considered a curse. For whatever reason, this topic hurt him greatly. "I had to… and I'm sorry but I can't explain more than that. Not yet anyway."

"What are you waiting for? When can I know?"

Tentatively, his means to answer her was to brush his lips across hers. Then he hesitated like he was waiting. Waiting for permission? She's already slept with him; kissing wasn't a huge deal. And with her hands on his chest, while he was a human, she could easily push him away if she wanted to.

When she didn't, he dug his hand deeper into her hair and his mouth deeper into hers. What started as sweet kneading quickly spiraled into hard sucking. She lacked the ability or desire to protest when he put her on her back and climbed on top of her.

With her legs around him, the only thing between them was her panties and he ground into her. Although thin, she was quickly irritated that they existed at all.

Pushing him back, neither of them hesitated to work together and get her panties off. When they laid back down, Inuyasha resumed his grinding, inching closer and closer to putting it in. "Kagome, look at me."

She'd been staring at his hips, watching as he got them closer together; closer to being fused. All while he'd been watching her face. When their eyes met, she felt his tip at her entrance, seconds away from ending their suffering and he stopped.

"You want me? You accept me? You love me?"

"Wha..yes. I've told you before!"

"You have to tell me. Not the demon or the Hanyou."

She didn't understand, neither the Hanyou nor the demon was needy. But the human had completely different needs and emotions so perhaps he needed the reassurance?

"Yes."

"You want me?"

"Yes."

"You accept me?"

"Yes!"

"You love me?"

"Yes, I love you!! Can you put it in now?!"

Her face melted with the release of words she never meant to say. Now hiding in her hands, she heard Inuyasha chuckle over her, getting closer. "Horny little mate, aren't we?"

"Oh my god, shut up!"

Now laying on her, he forced her hands away from her face and pinned them above her head again. Something Inuyasha liked to do no matter what form he was in. She suspected he had a few kinky fetishes that she would learn about later.

It forced her to watch his face as he slowly filled her, his eyes holding hers in a trance. Any lingering pain from her marks was traded for pleasure as he slowly pumped in and out of her. Soon, she couldn't take it anymore, and her head went back to moan. Inuyasha took it as an opportunity to attack her neck, nibbling on her skin as he went up and down the column.

Just when she thought he was going to bite her (mark her again) he flipped them over. Still inside her, she now laid on top of him. She didn't want to stop but the only way for her to continue creating friction Kagome would have to sit up.

Pushing up as little as possible, she twerked her hips on top of him. It wasn't enough but she was too embarrassed to do more until Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. "I want to see you, watch you."

Yeah, he definitely had a kinky side to him.

Her hands covering her face, she slowly started to bounce. With Inuyasha's hands on her hips to guide her, it wasn't long until her embarrassment was the last thing on her mind. Grabbing his wrists, she pulled Inuyasha's hands off her hips and to her bouncing breasts. He took them into his grasp without complaint. She was close, his member never failed to fit her perfectly and hit all the right spots.

Like they were made for each other.

Whether Inuyasha knew she was about to come or just wanted to change positions, she didn't know but now he sat up with her. His hands on her ass, he squeezed her cheeks hard and pushed her so he was deeper inside her.

Beyond her control, her head went back as she had another mind-twisting orgasm. Her walls were squeezing him so Inuyasha came with her. His tip throbbed, poking her womb as he filled her up completely.

This time, she felt the sharp sting of his mark, sucking on her skin and giving her a love bite instead of a real bite like the demon had. It was far less painful as he licked, sucked, and nibbled on her chest just below her apple.

He didn't stop until they were both fully finished but he still held her tight to him. As if she wasn't allowed to be parted from him just yet. When he twitched inside her, she realized it was because he wanted more.

"Inuyasha…"

At the sound of his name, he twitched harder and threw her to the bedroll, putting her back where they started. He said nothing, staring her in the eyes until he couldn't anymore; kissing her hard while he stretched her around his cock again. When she whimpered against his mouth, he released her; whispering against her lips. "I missed you so much, Mate."

It was hard. Hard to think or speak while being humped slow and hard, his shaft rubbing every inch of her walls and kissing her womb with his tip. But there was one thing on her mind that she had to get out.

"Then don't leave me again."

oOo

It was a first, waking up before her lover or mate. Which she assumed she had since he was snoring and in the same position they fell asleep in. This meant she had to carefully lift the arm he had wrapped around her ribs off of her while pulling her hair out from under the arm he had under her head.

Back to his original Hanyou self, his white hair billowed around both of them. It even mixed with her ebony; creating a yin and yang.

His face was slack with sleep but she knew -once he woke- he would be back to his usual self. The only difference was he had been his human self, not the demon. He would remember everything. This was proof to her that he was more kin to humans than demons since his only defense was not being able to handle the human emotions he had once a month.

With all her careful movements, she knew even a small ruffle of clothes would wake the Hanyou and his sensitive hearing. So she grabbed her clothes and pressed them tight to her front, sneaking out the front door. She didn't slow until she reached the creek, quickly washing and dressing.

The last thing her heart could handle was Inuyasha when he woke. For he would surely blame his emotional human half for his actions last night.

She knew it. From the moment he pulled her to him that anything he said or did was a mixture of his fever and his humanity. And yet, she went along with it because (in the end) she was his puppy. Helplessly in love with him. It was only made worse by his demon and human taking her as his mate. Something she was still sure the Hanyou would never be okay with.

Leaving Inuyasha behind in their sex mused bed caused her marks to burn again. Marks that were now doubled as if human Inuyasha was competing with the demon. She hadn't been sure (at the time) if his hickies counted as marks but since they now burned just as much as her bites, she knew they were there to stay.

The one on her hip was the worst at the moment as her Priestess robes rubbed against it with the stiff fabric. She kept trying to reposition it so it would stop but all it did was distract her.

It was why she didn't notice when she stopped being alone. "I heard a rumor…" Kagome squealed and the strange child before her smirked, "that Inuyasha had taken a Mate. I'm pleased to see that they were true."

The boy looked her up and down, making her feel as if her marks were on display. "Who… who are you??!"

"I am Hakudoshi….your death, Kagome."

The strange boy knew her name? He was so white, he could be clear. And he was only a distraction, sharp pain stinging the back of her head before everything went black.