Jen sighed quietly as she stared down at Hiei. It had been three days and he still hadn't regained consciousness. She carefully pulled off the bandages that wrapped around his shoulder and chest. She gently cleaned the wound with a cloth and warm water, noticing it was looking a lot better than it had before. The burnt flesh had turned a light pink and the gash was slowly beginning to shrink in size.

It would still be a good week or two before he was completely healed, but Kurama's plant knowledge had served very useful while her fire demon was unable to heal quickly on his own. Kurama entered the room silently, handing her the small bowl of paste he had made. His eyes flicked to the gash in Hiei's shoulder, regret alight in his eyes. "This isn't your fault, Fox-brother," Jen said quietly.

Kurama seemed to shake himself out of a deep thought he had been in before his eyes flicked back to her, a small smile gracing his lips. His eyes still held a glimmer of regret, but she knew better than to think Kurama would forgive himself for letting Hiei get hurt. Being a master strategist meant Kurama felt he would be able to avoid things like this happening.

Kurama nodded silently before turning to leave. He had been incredibly quiet ever since he and Hiei had returned from their mission. Jen sighed quietly before she pushed it out of her mind. She applied the paste to Hiei's wound and then sat him up carefully to wrap fresh bandages around his shoulder and chest.

When she finished and started to put him back on the bed, she was startled to find he wouldn't lie back down. She looked up at him to see his crimson eyes staring down at her. His eyes were sharp and alert but she could tell his confusion was mounting quickly. "Why can't I sense anything," he growled quietly.

Jen blew out a slow sigh. "You were hit by a godbolt. It zapped your energy and won't return until we can find where Sundrak stores the energy he steals and eliminate it.'

His eyes widened before narrowing into a glare. "That is not possible."

Jen sighed as he held his hand out to attempt to summon his energy. Nothing happened, as she suspected, and Hiei's frustration mounted. Jen lightly laid her hand on his forearm. "Hiei," she started but he never let her finish.

With a snarl, he shoved her away, causing her to fall off the side of the bed onto the ground. She barely rolled into a crouch and stared up at him carefully. This was going to be very difficult. He swung his arm out at her as she stood and moved towards the bed. "Don't touch me!"

This was quickly followed by a hiss of pain and Jen saw blood start to seep through the bandages. With a slight flinch, Jen sat back down on the edge of the bed as Hiei glared away from her and at the bed. Opting to say nothing on the subject, she just sat by him silently, knowing he would speak when he was ready.

"He wasn't supposed to have that kind of power," he said quietly.

Jen nodded slightly. "Blythe said he has been something of a leader for the delphyr and that he has been torturing and killing venatore for the last four or five years. They have been unable to trace him."

Hiei blew out a long sigh as he laid back against the headboard. "Something has changed with Sundrak. I should have killed him ten years ago when I had his throat under my sword. He was too pathetic at the time to even dirty my sword. I was too arrogant to think he would ever amount to anything more than a nuisance."

Jen nodded a little, resting her hand on his thigh. When he didn't push her away she relaxed and leaned against the headboard next to him. "We'll get him," she said quietly.

Hiei nodded but said nothing as he sighed. Jen began to idly stroke his thigh, not noticing her touch had moved further up his thigh. "Onna," he said carefully. "If you keep doing that, you are going to have to bandage my shoulder again."

Jen looked up at him curiously to see a slight smirk playing on his lips, before she glanced down and noticed her hand was very close to a certain appendage of Hiei's. Her throat went dry before she swallowed and looked up at him with her own smirk. "That just means we'll need to be more careful."

Hiei's eyes widened in surprise before he closed them and shook his head, his smirk still in place. Jen continued her small circles of strokes on his thigh. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said when we were at the lake," she started. Hiei cracked an eye open to watch her curiously, though remained silent. "I've decided that I do want you to take me."

Hiei nearly choked on his sharp inhale as her words sunk in. She wanted him to take her? Hiei shook his head. "I don't understand why."

Jen frowned at him. "Hiei, you know why. There is a reason I didn't give up hope and move on when you left and I didn't hear from you for over four months."

Hiei looked down at her face and into her golden eyes. He cupped her cheek lightly and kissed her, an array of implacable emotions running through him. Though he wouldn't actually admit it, he had missed Jen while he was after Sundrak. Her lips moved against his in an effortless dance, and he lost all ability to think as her lips parted, granting him access to her mouth.

You do not deserve this. A single thought shattered the moment. He knew it was true. Jen deserved someone much better than him. His life before he found his sister flashed before his eyes. He was a felon; A hybrid bandit who lived on the streets, and even plotted to take over human world at one point. He didn't deserve a queen as a mate.

With a sigh, he pulled away. Jen looked up at him questioningly as he got up from the bed, facing away from her. "Go find a different mate; One more suitable."

Jen huffed and got up from the bed. "I don't want a different mate. The only one suitable for me is you. Don't you get that?"

Hiei refused to face her, even as she approached him. "I do not understand why," he said.

In his eyes, Hiei felt unworthy of something of this caliber. What Jen was offering him should go to someone better than he was; Someone of royal birth. Jen growled as she grabbed his arm. "Because, damn it, Hiei, I love you."

They both froze as soon as the words left her mouth. Love? Me? Does she really mean it? No one had ever said those words to him. Even Mukuro knew she didn't have the capacity to truly love him. It was too much for his mind to comprehend. Between his desire for her and his inability to comprehend her emotions, it was nearly too much to bear. With a growl, he spun and pinned her against the wall.

He quickly decided that pinning her against the wall with his body was a bad idea as a hot spike of desire shot through him, but there was no turning back now. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to focus. "That is not possible," he forced out.

Jen's eyes softened as she reached up and gently stroked his cheek. "It is Hiei, and believe it or not, it is true. You have been through a lot. Let me love you tonight."

He growled as he pushed away from her. That was about as much as he could handle. "I don't need your pity," he spat, turning away from her once again.

Jen sighed quietly as she laid a hand against his shoulder blade. "It isn't pity, Hiei. I have never pitied you. You know that."

Her hand seemed to radiate heat through him. Deep down, he wanted so badly to give in; To bury everything he had been through and find peace with her. "You deserve this, Hiei. Let me love you, even if it is just for tonight."

Something that was holding him back finally snapped as Jen's other hand laced with his. He couldn't think straight as she turned him towards her. He reached up, resting his hand along her jaw line. "If we do this, it will be for more than just tonight."

Her eyes widened for a moment before warmth glowed in her eyes and she nodded. Shortly after that, everything in his mind went blank as his lips crashed into hers. The kiss was uninhibited and desperate. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer as his tongue brushed against her lower lip. He explored her entire mouth, committing every detail to memory as his hand slid up to cup her breast.

Hiei pushed her back towards the bed, pulling her shirt off before pushing her onto the bed. She shivered slightly from the cool air but he covered her body with his own quickly. A twinge of pain shot through his shoulder, but he quickly adjusted, making a mental note to not put his weight on that arm. He lowered his lips to hers once again, tracing her lips with his tongue.

Then, her world spiraled out of control as Hiei spent hours tasting and exploring her body before finally taking her, both of them losing themselves in passion and desire.

Jen felt his muscles ripple and shudder under her hands as he collapsed on top of her. Both laid there in silence, trying to catch their breath. Hiei lifted himself up on his elbow, pushing a piece of hair away from her forehead. "You didn't have to do that for me, you know," he said quietly.

Jen smiled softly. "I know, but I wanted to. I wanted to give you something no one had ever given you before; Something that was uniquely yours."

"Hn. A 'thank you' card would have sufficed."

Jen frowned. "A what?"

"No one has ever given me a thank you card before either. It would have accomplished the same thing."

Jen smirked. "Maybe, but do you really think it would have been this much fun?"

Hiei returned the smirk and kissed her before he rolled off of her, sprawling onto his back with a deep, contented sigh. Jen curled up into his side and rested her head on his uninjured shoulder. His arm wrapped around her shoulders as she draped her arm over his stomach and her leg over his. Slowly, they both drifted off into sleep.

Jen awoke to a light knocking on the door. She yawned as Hiei pulled the sheet over them. "Enter," she mumbled once they were both covered.

Salvatore nudged the door open. "Well I see you are definitely feeling better, Hiei," he said, amusement shining in his eyes.

Hiei and Jen both blushed before Jen spoke up. "Is there a reason you are here, brother?"

Salvatore nodded. "We are drawing out plans to go after Sundrak."

Jen nodded. "We will be out in a minute."

Salvatore nodded and closed the door, leaving them to get dressed. They dressed in silence, and Jen assumed Hiei was thinking the same things she was thinking. They were going to try to exclude Hiei from going after Sundrak. As much as Jen wanted Hiei to stay safe, she knew that wasn't going to happen. Besides, she was his mate now. They may not have been bound, but she was still his. She needed to stand by him and support his decisions, even if it put him directly in the line of danger when he had no demon energy.

She sighed as she finished dressing and looked up to see him grabbing a shirt out of his closet, pulling it over his head carefully. They locked eyes and he frowned slightly. "Not being able to read your mind right now is annoying."

Jen smiled slightly as she walked towards him, lacing her fingers with his. He looked down at their hands curiously, lifting her hand as he held it in his palm. "Welcome to my world," she mumbled quietly. "I never get to read your mind."

He smirked slightly. "I'm thinking about how fragile your hand is."

Jen arched a brow. "I am surprised you actually responded. To be honest, I've been thinking about the fact that I am yours officially now. How I always thought I would have been bothered by the concept of belonging to someone and yet, I am not bothered by it with you."

Hiei nodded slightly before jerking his head toward the door. "We should get going before they get any stupid ideas."

Jen nodded and followed him out of the room and to the main meeting hall. The main leaders of each group were there. Ace and his daughter Lilith from the cat demons, her pack of wolves, Salvatore, Stenton and Blythe from the venatore, Nykairren and Selene from Pontifex Mortis, Minerva, Malachai and Bubba were still there and even Koenma was seated at the table, with a woman beside him. Her eyes were bright and pink, matching her equally bright demeanor and her hair was tied back in a pony tail. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Genkai were also present.

Blythe nodded and sighed. "So, here is what we have. Between Selene and Malachai, we have been able to track Sundrak. He is currently hiding out in his headquarters, which is in the Northwest. A team of us will head out shortly to find him. We believe his source that he stores the stolen energy in is in this hide out as well."

Hiei stood. "We need to move quickly. Sundrak is always moving."

Blythe nodded. "All due respect, but I think it would be best if you stayed here, Hiei."

Hiei snarled. "Like you can stop me."

Blythe arched a brow. "Right now, I can."

Hiei growled again and Jen cleared her throat, pulling their attention to her. "I think Hiei should go."

An uproar started, but Jen held up her hand, silencing them. "This is his fight. Sundrak is after him. He may be drained of demon energy, but he is far from incapable. He is still an expert swordsman. I suggest a group, including Hiei, go. One section will be focused on finding the source of Sundrak's stolen power, while the other focuses on finding Sundrak himself and keeping him busy. I will not negotiate on Hiei coming with us."

Blythe nodded slightly and sighed. "Alright. Then Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, you, Hiei and myself will go. Malachai, Minerva, Bubba; I would like you three to be ready to move in case we need back up."

Everyone nodded and stood to depart. "We will leave in an hour. With any luck, we will be back in time to start the plans for the winter festival," Jen said, with a sigh, realizing she had a lot on her plate.

Not to mention the wolf demons would be able to smell that she was no longer pure and that Hiei had claimed her, which meant holding out hope that she would "come to her senses and find a prince to mate with" was out the window; With a big, thundering crash.

With a sigh, she headed for her room to shower, startled when she found Hiei following behind her, stopping her from closing the bathroom door. "Hiei," she started but he cut her off.

"Don't start, Onna. We have little time and we both need to shower," he said, though his smirk let on to his ulterior motives.

Jen scoffed but said nothing as she bent down to turn on the water. "I'm going to go grab our clothes. Feel free to adjust the temp and get in."

Hiei said nothing as she pushed past him to grab clean clothes for both of them out of the closet. When she reentered the bathroom, Hiei had already discarded his clothes on the ground.

Jen glanced around the bathroom as she closed the door and pulled off her clothes. There's quite a bit of steam in here..

Jen shrugged it off and pulled open the door, stepping into the water, immediately retracting her leg with a yelp. "HIEI! ARE YOU CRAZY?! THAT IS HOT ENOUGH TO BURN MY SKIN OFF!"

He stared at her wide-eyed before turning away from her with a smirk. He backed into the hot water, letting it crash over his shoulders. "Hn. You told me to adjust the temperature." She watched as the water cascaded down his body and, wait- What did he just say?

She glared at him, reaching for the temperature gauge and turned it all the way over to the cold. Hiei let out a hiss as the cold water hit his shoulders and he cut a glare over at her. She crossed her arms and smirked in triumph as he growled at her.

Without warning an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into the shower. She screamed as she struggled against his hold to get away. "What's the matter, Onna," he mocked. "You wanted this temperature."

The cold water crashed down on her body, causing her to thrash around more. Hiei lost his balance on the slippery shower floor and they both tumbled to the ground. With a grunt, he hit the ground hard on his back, with Jen crashing down on top of him and the water pelting her in the back of the head.

She dropped her head in relief that neither of them were hurt too badly, only to hear Hiei sputter and growl under her. She lifted her head back up to find that her head had blocked the water from his face, and when she moved her head out of the way, the water had hit him square in the face.

"Sorry," she mumbled biting back a laugh as Hiei glared up at her, water dripping from his face.

With a small nervous laugh, she got up, careful to continue to shield Hiei's face from more water as she reached back and turned the water to a safe medium. He got up and lifted her chin to kiss her, his hand running down her wet arm. "You will pay for that tonight."

A shiver of excitement ran over her, but knowing Hiei, she would have to endure torture before he finally gave her what she wanted. Bring it on.

A/N~ Yayyy~...Okay, so for those of you who want the uncut version, the link is on my profile, just go down to chapter 21 and poof~! Nomminess :)

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Much love ~Jessa