Chapter 2
Kagome lay across Sesshomaru's chest, familiarizing herself with his beautiful sharp chin. Her index finger traced the lines of his jaw and then down to his sculpted chest. There were so many lines to follow there that she just gave up, staring at him in unveiled awe.
"How did I get so lucky?" she marveled to herself. Sesshomaru came alive beneath her, running his hand down her back and holding her hand on his chest. His lids opened and Kagome felt herself falling deep into the warm liquid amber of his eyes as he kissed the top of her head.
"Precisely what I was going to ask myself." He responded to her empty question. Kagome looked at him with a skeptical expression.
"Sesshomaru, please. You had me before the thought was even in your head."
His brow furrowed adorably, "On the contrary, love. I most certainly thought about it. I was thinking about this," he gestured to the bed and she blushed, "the very moment I saw you. And you, dearest Kagome, were hell bent on killing me."
Her eyes sparked, "Speaking of this," she motioned far less gallantly to their current position, "was this what you were trying to do all along?"
Get me back in bed?"
Sesshomaru frowned and shook his head, "Absolutely not." He replied firmly. The miko blinked, surprised. He pulled her closer. "Kagome, I love you too much for the words I love you to come anywhere near covering it anymore. I would never try to coerce you into our bed if you didn't want to. It was just a moment, I swear to you."
Unable to do anything else, she blinked again. For some reason, it seemed to really bother him that she thought even for a second that he'd manipulated her to get her to do anything. She wondered why, but she wasn't going to pressure him into any answers. If it upset him, she didn't want to stress her out over anything so little.
"Well, what was the necklace for?" she asked blankly. Instinctively, her hand came to her chest and her fingers closed around the pendant that felt as though it was already branded to her skin. The demon lord smiled his own, secret smile that she really didn't like.
"Because today is special." He responded. She was confused. As far as she could remember, nothing was going on. What could he be talking about? Did he have something planned for them?
"Special how?" she asked. "What makes today special?"
There was that smile again. It made her feel uneasy to see it. "It just is." He shrugged it off as if it was nothing and though she was confused, she left it alone. She figured she would be better off not knowing.
"Whatever." She sighed and he was surprised that she'd given up so easily. No matter, he preferred to wait a while and let her figure it out. Though she probably wouldn't all day and it would kill him to do so, he was willing to reign in his impatience for a bit. She laid her head on his chest and he could hear her breathing evening out. She was exhausted, which she should be. This stubborn girl never went to bed when she was supposed to and she was always tired. Maybe now she'd get a chance to sleep.
Sesshomaru ran his fingers through her hair, starting at her scalp to help ease her into much needed rest. Her blinks grew longer and longer until she was struggling to keep her eyes open.
"I love you." She murmured once more.
"I love you too." He responded kissing her forehead just as she fell asleep. He held her in his arms while she slept, feeling every shift, every movement, every breath. Her warmth was so reassuring to him that he never, ever wanted to let her go. The second she got up, it would feel like she left him empty, incomplete. He'd been half a person for over five hundred years. He couldn't bear to feel that way for even a second more. Without kagome, he would be completely and utterly lost.
Two hours later, a well rested, freshly bathed and dressed Kagome sat at the vanity, brushing the snarls out of her hair. She didn't quite understand it, but everything she'd ever wanted with her hair was beginning to happen. Now, she wasn't complaining, it was nice to have hair that did exactly what she wanted it to. She just thought it was a little strange that after all those twenty years of struggling with it, now it finally decides to be nice to her. Maybe Sesshomaru had something to do with it. Not that she would ever ask him; just a thought.
Speaking of Sesshomaru, he'd been losing his mind since Kagome woke up. He hadn't been able to keep his hands off her. Normally, that wouldn't bother her much, except she couldn't get anything done with him around. Every time she tried to move something or lift a box from her closet, there he was. He'd always been like that but for some reason, it seemed really irritating now. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she'd sent him off on some pointless errand just to get a few minutes of peace. It would take him no more than fifteen minutes even though she'd practically ran him to the other side of the earth but just fifteen minutes was enough for her at the moment.
Kagome couldn't fathom why he'd suddenly become so weird. She hadn't done anything to scare him lately, except that she almost fell out the window maybe half an hour ago. Ever since then, he'd been supper mega overprotective.
He reminded her of her mother.
The brush now glided through the miko's hair but she was so caught up in her thoughts, she just kept stoking it rhythmically. Maybe they needed a little time apart. She'd been there for practically a year, and she'd been away from all her other friends for eight whole months. Kagome could bet that Sango, Shippo, Miroku, and Inuyasha missed her a lot, even if that stupid idiot refused to admit it. They had no idea what had become of her; the last time she was there, she was packing up her stuff and saying she was leaving. They probably thought that meant that she was leaving for home, not leaving to be with Sesshomaru. She could only imagine the chaos that knowledge would cause.
Maybe she would go spend some time with them. Even though she belonged to Sesshomaru, they would welcome her. Or at least some of them would.
Or maybe she should go home for a little while.
Kagome worried her lower lip with her teeth, trying to figure out what to do. The last thing she wanted was to be away from Sesshomaru for any length of time but he seemed to be becoming dependent on her. Of course, with anyone else, that would be what she wanted and it was what she wanted with him too, but he was the Sesshomaru. For what he did, for who he was, he couldn't afford to depend on anyone else. Everyone was after him at one point or another. Kagome didn't want to be the cause of him weakening. Maybe if she left for a couple of days, he would toughen up a little. It would be good for him.
Now she just had to grit her teeth and force herself to suffer through the endless hours of the day and waking up alone in a cold bed in the darkness of the night.
Kagome shut her eyes and tried to imagine it but just the thought was so painful, so agonizing that she actually struggled to remember how to breathe for a moment. When her eyes opened and she dragged a bit of stale air into her previously starved lungs, she'd come to a decision.
She would leave him for a couple of days. Go say hi to the rest of her friends and then go home to spend some time with her family. But only so she could say goodbye. Because when she left them, there would be no coming back. She would stay here, in feudal Japan.
With Sesshomaru. Forever.
"I find it quite humorous that every flower you requested was neither in my garden, nor anywhere within my realm. In fact, they seemed to be rather far spread." Sesshomaru entered the room with a small group of different flowers that she'd asked for. He was very subtly pointing out to her he knew that she'd been very careful in her selection.
Kagome turned to face him and smiled absently and the demon lord knew right away that something was bothering her. He walked up and spread the small bouquet over the vanity in front of her, and then he bent down and put his arms around her. She sighed and put down the brush, slipping her arms around his.
Maybe it had bothered her before, but right now, he was exactly what she needed.
"Sesshomaru," she began hesitantly, "I love you and I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that, right?"
The demon lord got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach but he went along with the girl, "Yes miko, I know. As do I."
"And you know that if I ever did anything, it would be because I love you. So even if it seems like I'm doing something strange, it's because I care about you so much."
Sesshomaru released her and instead knelt in front of her and held her head in his two hands. "Kagome." he started an amused smile on his face. He wasn't amused in the least though. Oh, no. he was very, very scared. But he didn't dare show her that. "Kagome, what is it? Please just tell me."
The miko stared into his eyes, a very strange expression in her own. Then, she looked away and took his hands squeezing ever so slightly. She took a steadying breath before raising her eyes to his once more.
"Sesshomaru." This was her last chance to act like nothing was wrong, nothing was happening. She probably should but she knew already that she wouldn't, that her decision was final. She stared into the love of her life's eyes and prayed for him not to take this the wrong way.
"I want to go home." She murmured.