To Dance with the Devil
If there was anything Kagome learned it was that when one danced with the devil, they never won; even if the so-called devil was their husband, notorious and elite gangster, Takahashi Inuyasha. Too bad Kagome was stuck with him, till death do them part.
.xx.
To Banter with the Devil
Colours of red and orange painted the sky. Kagome was lying in her bedroom exhausted from the events of the last three days; it was a lot to travel to another country, get proposed to, and come back—but damn did it feel nice, regardless of how convenient the marriage was supposed to be (or, in her case, inconvenient).
Kagome was staring at her ring, unable to get over how beautiful it was. And the inscription!
The sun may set;
The stars may die…
Our love is eternal
I can see it in your eyes.
Her gut clenched upon reading the inscription over and over again. Inuyasha's grandfather, Muteki, was smitten over his wife and, from the story Kagome heard, was ready to die for her. She didn't know the depths of Inuyasha's desire to protect her, but she was pretty sure he would not give up his life for hers…
Such a love would probably never exist in her life.
Her shoulders sagged. She didn't know her future with Inuyasha; was she going to divorce him? Stay with him? Love him?
"Doubt it."
Kagome pushed herself off of her bed, intent on partaking in her nightly rituals: dance to one of her routines, take a bubble bath with aromatic incense, and curl up in bed with a cup of milk and a good book, eventually going to sleep. It was something she hadn't done in a while and was damn well looking forward to doing it.
She had barely tied her hair up when her phone began ringing.
Sexiest husband in the known universe calling
Kagome glowered at the caller ID name for a brief second. How does he manage to take my phone and make up such insufferable caller ID displays?!
Not wanting the call to go to her voicemail (but wanting it to go to voicemail at the same time), Kagome answered.
"Higurashi speaking."
"You need to get used to saying Takahashi speaking."
Kagome rolled her eyes in a more-than-necessary exaggerated fashion. She plopped down on her bed, putting a hold to her nightly ritual so she could engage in conversation with her now fiancé. It was an odd sensation, really; she wanted to speak to him because he was her fiancé and he was… kind of sweet, but at the same time she wanted to do what was her norm: dance, bathe, read book, sleep.
But, alas, she had to come to accept that Inuyasha was now her new norm.
"Whenever that should happen, I will start saying it. Until then I am a Higurashi, so deal with it."
His chuckle was low and sultry. "Fine, accepted. But in exchange you need to accept having dinner with me."
Kagome's eyes flickered to the wall clock in her room. It was half past ten at night.
"It's almost eleven, Takahashi."
"Inuyasha."
Kagome snorted. "Fine, let me repeat: it's almost eleven, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha was already driving his car to Kagome's while donning his usually impeccably tailored suit and hair pulled back in his signature impeccably perfect braid. He knew Kagome was not going to say no to him, no matter what time of night it was—but he'd be damned if she pulled another incident like when they went to Basil together. The woman had gall, if he did say so himself.
"I'm aware, Kagome." He turned a sharp left. "But your interest is piqued."
Kagome rolled onto her back and curled up into a tight little ball. "Whether it is piqued or not, Inuyasha, does not mean that I agree to having dinner with you at almost midnight. Besides, what were you up to earlier? Why now?"
With a quick right, Inuyasha was parked in front of Kagome's shrine. "I had business to attend to. Remember, we were recalled from vacation due to an emergency?"
Kagome made a sound similar to hmmm. "That's right. Big bad mob lord, gotchya. Well, sorry to burst you bubble, kingpin—"
"That's my favourite endearment, I must say."
Kagome ignored the fact that he blatantly interrupted her. "But I cannot agree to having dinner with you when I am beyond exhausted. We flew in from Egypt today, for love's sake!"
Before she could even complete her sentence, the sound of the shrine's doorbell reverberated throughout the interior. Eyes widening, Kagome scampered off of the bed and slid her bedroom door open; nobody in the house stirred (thankfully), and the doorbell did not sound again.
The sound of his chuckle echoed through her ear. "Aren't you going to open it, sweetheart?"
Scowling, Kagome quietly slid her door shut. "You are such a creep. Give me fifteen, I'll be down."
"Wear something appropriate, will you? I can't have my fiancée parading around town wearing vulgar attire." Inuyasha made reference to her ballsy move when he originally took her out to dinner not too long ago. Kagome's voice hiccupped indicating that she was trying to hold back her laughter.
That woman…
"Fine, I believe that's only fair since you did fly me to Egypt, proposed to me, and unexpectedly flew me back because you probably had to kill somebody." Although her voice dripped with sarcasm, she couldn't have been more right. But, as Inuyasha had promised in his proposal, he would never allow his world to coincide with hers; Kagome's life was her own and she would not be mixed up with the politics that came with running the underworld.
Never mind the fact that their marriage was the result of a deranged psycho that operated in Inuyasha's world…
But that, Kagome did not need to know.
"Quit your whining, woman. I'll give you a half hour, come down."
"Right, right. Bye. Ass."
Shaking his head, Inuyasha hung up the call and began his descent down the steps of the shrine. She was a character alright. She tries to keep up a strong front, but she seems to be a very sweet and caring woman underneath it all. And if Miroku's research told him anything it was when Kagome loved, she loved fiercely.
I promised Aunt Korari I'd always protect you. Inuyasha approached his car and leaned his back against the driver side door. And I know I gave you the option of leaving me but I won't let you—I can't let you.
Inuyasha fisted his hands and, subconsciously, slammed one of them back against the body of his vehicle. But I can't force you to stay… so that could only mean one thing…
He had to get her to want to stay. And the only way to do that?
Love her.
And be loved in return.
Fuck me hard.
.xx.
It surprised Inuyasha to no end when Kagome beautifully appeared beside him at the base of her shrine and greeted him with a peck on the lips. Not one to be caught off guard, Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a much deeper kiss. Once again he was pleasantly surprised when Kagome returned his advances.
"Ready to go?"
Inuyasha shook his head and ushered at her furry trench coat. "Too hot to be wearing that. Off."
Kagome blushed knowing why he was making her take off her jacket. But nope! "No way. It's a surprise."
Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. "Kagome…"
She waved her arm and snaked around him to get to the passenger side. "Will you trust me? Jeez, I'm your fiancée now, making you look stupid makes me look stupid."
Inuyasha got in just after she slammed the door of the passenger side shut. He regarded her with a wary look of despair and shook his head in impatience. "You do realize that if you were anybody else, your brains would've been all over my window?"
With a wink, Kagome pulled out her phone. "Yes, I do realize. But aren't I a lucky kitten for being your fiancée and not your enemy? You can't blow my brains out, now can you? By the way, can I change my Facebook status to enga—HEY!"
Inuyasha reached over and plucked her phone out of her hand. With no effort at all, Inuyasha snapped her phone in half and threw the remains onto his backseat. "There." And, as anticipated, he was greeted with Kagome's fiery glare.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"
"It's dangerous to keep an unencrypted phone, especially now that you're my fiancée."
"But did you have to—"
"Yes, I did. Your phone was already hacked."
"You can't know that!"
"I can know that. And I did know that. Miroku has an encrypted phone ready for you."
"BUT MY PICTURES!"
Inuyasha wanted to laugh but kept his composure. Seeing her in distress amused him, particularly because he knew that she had nothing to be distressed over. He brought his left hand over and covered her fisted hand. "Will you relax and trust me? I had Miroku hack your phone to see how safe it is, which it isn't because he's the worst hacker in my ring of gangsters as you like to call it." Inuyasha felt her hand relax slightly but she refused to look at him.
"We transferred your contacts and pictures onto your new phone. He'll be delivering it to us tonight."
"You can't hack my phone."
"Better me than my enemies."
"You could've asked."
"You would've said no."
"But you wouldn't have listened anyway."
He squeezed her hand. "No, I wouldn't have."
His response was met with silence, but Inuyasha was okay with that. He knew he was chipping at her slowly and despite having a rocky start, he knew that she was beginning to let him in. But the question that plagued his mind was would he be able to let her in?
.xx.
Honekui no Ido, Kagome should've known. It was Midoriko's restaurant, the very same where she was Inuyasha's plus one and was (surprisingly, but not at all) introduced as his fiancée. It should've been a surprise that the restaurant was open so late, but Kagome could make a very educated guess that Inuyasha pulled some strings and was able to gain access to the vicinity after hours.
Her suspicions were confirmed: "Midoriko did me a favour and allowed me entrance after closing."
Kagome nodded. "I thought so. At least this time it isn't a lie that I'm your fiancée."
The rumble from his chest warmed Kagome to her core. Fine, she wasn't afraid to admit that the man had a beautiful laugh and even more beautiful voice. His tactics in life, however, were something to question. Perhaps a small lesson in tact would help him with any future endeavours he chose to embark upon…
Or maybe he sucks at real life but is super good at gangster-warlord-kingpin-mob-king-killer life?
Perhaps.
"Did Kouga or Miroku call you today?"
The question came out of the blue as Inuyasha unbuckled his seatbelt. Kagome copied him, also unfastening her belt.
"I got a missed call from Miroku but when I tried calling back, the line was busy?"
Inuyasha nodded, knowing full well that she called him right as he dropped his phone in a sink and totally fried it. It happened right in front of him, actually, and the mob lord was on his knees laughing like he'd never laughed before. Miroku wasn't a believer in backing up phones and whatnot and, unfortunately for him, the phone was declared written off. Poor Miroku had to start his black book of contacts from scratch.
"Told you to back that shit up, idiot." Kouga had scoffed which caused Inuyasha to, involuntarily, laugh even harder.
"No matter, we can discuss it tonight."
Kagome began to push the passenger door open but halted when Inuyasha called for her to stop. She watched as he approached her side of the vehicle, and pulled the door open. "My lady."
"Chivalry isn't dead, I see?"
He winked and extended his hand out to her. Without hesitation, Kagome took it.
"It is dead, I just treat my woman with class."
"How many women?"
He brought her fingers up to his lips. "Just you."
"Your attempt at seducing me is failing, Takahashi."
"Ahh, but I'm not trying to seduce you." Inuyasha wrapped an arm around her waist and threw his keys at the waiting valet. "I am simply expressing my feelings towards my to-be wife."
Kagome rolled her eyes. "To-be because you kept stalking me, pressuring me to say yes."
"I wasn't stalking." He rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion. "Besides, it doesn't mean I can't woo you."
"Which is akin to seducing."
"Not even close."
Kagome bit her lip trying to prevent herself from laughing. She had to admit that ever since she loosened up, bantering with Inuyasha was quite entertaining. He kept her on her toes (as she did him, she liked to believe) and it never ceased to amuse her. Not that she liked it, she didn't want to like it but deep down inside she knew she did.
Inuyasha could hold a conversation, and that was a very important trait for her to have in a mate.
Inuyasha guided them to a couple's place setting not too far from where they sat during the grand opening of the restaurant. Kagome spotted a few bodyguards situated around the circumference of the room as well as some waiters. Protection, she mused before looking away from Inuyasha's men.
Her fiancé held her chair out for her and graciously offered for her to sit with a sweep of his hand and a small bow. Smirking, Kagome began to tug at the ties of her coat. Her movement caught Inuyasha's attention—was she wearing a vulgar outfit, or one that required him to peel off of her perfectly milky skin?
His breath caught in his throat when she revealed a floor length ruby red dress. The neckline was deep, brushing past the bulge of her breasts and landing just at her naval while the back left nothing to the imagination; it was completely open. The silky material hugged every curve of her body, only flaring out just past her knees. A long slit ran from her left leg up to the thigh, showing off her endless legs and black pumps.
"Kagome…" His voice was raspy and gravelly with desire. Without warning he leaned forward and caught her lips viciously with his, running his tongue over her plumpness to gain access into her mouth. Kagome tilted her head back but allowed him no access; he had to work to get what he wanted.
Inuyasha, however, was clearly not impressed with her antics. "Dammit, woman! You kissed me earlier!"
"And now I'm not." She winked at him, a dangerous feat, and sat upon the seat he so graciously offered her. "What's for dinner?"
You little… I'll show you… two can play this game.
.xx.
Aaaaannnnnd?