Sesshomaru listened to his brother and Kagome, even the other female, with half-an-ear, while he brought his raging emotions in check. The shock of Kagome's sexual comment to his secretary, he'd become so enraged that he reacted without thought. Masa should be lucky he had grabbed Kagome instead of him. Because, if he hadn't, his secretary would have been in pieces.
When he held Kagome in his arms, the disgusting scent of Inuyasha—the vile scent proclaiming she was his foolish brother's mate—only angered him further. And, again, he acted on instinct, letting his bestial nature take over.
The 'slap' he received for trespassing had been just enough for his rational side to resurface.
One thing was clear, though, he needed to get Inuyasha to withdraw his claim on her as soon as possible—Inuyasha and his mate. Until they did, he could not claim her as his own.
There was no sudden realization that he wanted Kagome as his mate. He'd always wanted her, desired her. There had been revulsion that he had such carnal desires for a human, but time had changed many things for him when she'd appeared. Rin being one of those reasons.
Before Rin and Kagome, he'd traveled the world. Every Inu roamed. He knew of the places Kagome spoke of, of the forests and deserts without a sign of humans ever having stepped foot on the land. He'd challenged and been challenged by many strong demons. But, he'd never experienced the things she had described.
He'd been a cocky youth. He'd been a Dai for nearly a hundred years at the time. Too strong to be attacked by weaker demons, and too powerful for other Dai's to want to take the chance in challenging him. Nothing he had experienced made him rethink his opinion on humans, and after his father's affair with Inuyasha's mother, his opinion on humans only got worse.
But, one day Kagome appeared and then Rin. In three short years his view on the fangless, clawless, short-lived, round-eared humans changed. Oh, he still found them annoying to many degrees, but he no longer hated them.
The Westernlands had many human villages, and he protected them as he would a demon village. He made sure they all knew who he was, and he made sure they knew what would happen if anyone decided to claim his land as their own. They had equal rights as long as they did not step out of line.
He hadn't noticed that he began doing this—treating humans with more care—, until after he became aware of the kindling of emotions he had for Kagome. But, he'd pushed all those feelings to the farthest corners of his mind.
She'd been in love with his brother. And, although his brother had an unholy love toward a walking abomination of a long-dead priestess, Inuyasha had also been in love with Kagome, too.
Despite the tragic love triangle, and how easy it would have been for him to steal Kagome's affection from Inuyasha, Sesshomaru would have never interfered. Because what was dead, was dead. The future was with the living, and, sooner or later, Inuyasha and Kagome would be together.
But, fate had different plans. The gods had decided that Inuyasha and Kagome would not be mates. So, there was no reason why he had to suppress his wants any longer.
"Yo, you gonna snap out of it or stare at Kagome all day?"
"You dare speak to lord Sesshomaru—"
"I can talk to my brother any way I fucking want. Are you related to Jaken?" Inuyasha said. "Like, his better-looking cousin or something?"
The demon sputtered in outrage.
"Where is Jaken?" Kagome said looking around.
"He was old when you met him, and Kappa do not have the same lifespan as other demons," Sesshomaru finally said. "He died a long time ago."
"Oh…" Kagome whispered.
"Come," Sesshomaru ordered, walking away. Shippo, the demons—newly awakened—, and Masa, followed quickly behind him. Kagome, the other female, and Inuyasha did not. He knew they would follow, so he allowed them to linger behind.
Kagome stared after Sesshomaru, her gaze sorrowful. She'd forgotten… She'd forgotten all about Jaken until Inuyasha said his name. She'd forgotten about the ones that had been under Sesshomaru's protection.
Rin.
Jaken.
She'd forgotten about them. Inuyasha had kept her memory of Sango, Miroku, and even Shippo alive by always talking about them. But, there had been no reason to talk about little Rin or Jaken. She couldn't even remember what any of them looked like. None of them.
Strange, though, she never forgot Sesshomaru.
And if Jaken was dead, then Rin…
"I swear, Kagome, you better not fuck my brother," Inuyasha hissed in her ear.
"What?!" Kagome gapped at Inuyasha, wondering what the hell was going on in that fool's brain. Behind him, Kagome heard Akinlana sigh.
"You fall for assholes like Sesshomaru," Inuyasha said.
"I do not—"
"Yes," Inuyasha interrupted, "you do. And I'm not talking about your last psychotic prick of a boyfriend. Thirty-two, Kagome. Thirty-fucking-two boyfriends, and all of your men have been what you called 'manly men'."
"I didn't sleep with all of them…" Kagome muttered. And even if she had, it was a speck of a number considering it's been a hundred or so years. After Inuyasha and she broke up, and before Akinlana, she'd caught him with his pants down dozens of times with strange women. Hell, she had to sit him down and give him 'the talk' about babies. It was a miracle he hadn't impregnated someone by now.
Inuyasha ignored her. "Powerful men who either wanted you for their mate, or they tried to kill you once they realized you were more powerful than they were."
Kagome couldn't really argue with that. All her ex-boyfriends had tried to kill her—even the ones that had proposed to her.
"It's not my fault they lacked the confidence to be in a relationship with a strong independent woman," Kagome said in her defense.
"No, it's not fair," Inuyasha agreed, surprising her. "Which is why I better not catch you in bed with my brother. You have a type, and Sesshomaru matches everything on your check list. He has the power, the confidence, and everything in-between."
"She does need to find comfort from someone," Akinlana said, finally entering the conversation. "You don't expect her to not have sex, right? Did you not say this island would be our home now? And, it would be better for her if she found someone to take care of her needs. Better for all of us."
The days of being embarrassed by talking about sex—who she was having sex with, wanted to sleep with, or what kind of kinky sex play she liked— had long passed. Plus, Akinlana was right. Back in the boat, it had been easy to not think about her carnal needs. They had so much to do just to keep from dying.
Being connected to Inuyasha and Akinlana didn't help matters, either. The couple's sex drive was outrageous and trickled down their bond to her. If Akinlana or Inuyasha went into heat… Well, it could be a fun time if she had a partner. But, if she didn't, it sucked bigtime. And dogs were always in heat.
Now, however, there was no boat. There were men around and she was beginning to feel an 'itch'. Becoming sexually frustrated was not an option for her. The more her body had a need for a mans touch, the more open she was to his influence.
And they had been on the boat for a very, very long time.
Kagome cast a quick glance at the demon who smelled really nice. The group was nearly out of sight.
"Then find someone." Inuyasha turned and walked away, then spun back around on his heels, pointing a finger in Kagome's face, he hissed, "Do. Not. Fuck. My. Brother."
Kagome rolled her eyes, unaware of the seed Inuyasha unintentionally planted with his warning.