CHAPTER 5
When Kagome woke up, she was lying underneath the covers in her room, and it looked to be late afternoon judging by the light coming thru the window. Kagome blinked sleepily and glanced around the room for her hanyou. Not seeing the familiar red shape leaned against any of the walls or the bed, she slowly worked her feet out from beneath her comforter. As Kagome prepared to leave her room, she grabbed a hair elastic and swept her hair up into a loose, high ponytail to let the cool summer breeze play on her nape. Swinging her door open, Kagome almost tripped over Inuyasha's fat, modern day nemesis – Buyo. Stumbling into the wall, her toe collided with her door frame. As Kagome drew in a quick breath and hunched over her foot, she made a slight hissing noise. Buyo arched his back and hissed back before dashing into Kagome's room and under her bed. Muttering about letting Inuyasha tease him to his heart's content, Kagome hobbled down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Inuyasha was sitting at the kitchen table with his ears twitched towards the door. "Buyo attacked, huh? Want me to get him back for ya?"
Hoisting her foot onto the chair next to Inuyasha, Kagome ignored him and leaned over her leg to look at her abused appendage. Grimacing at the bruise already burgeoning on the tip of her little toe, Kagome was unprepared for her vision to turn snowy as Inuyasha leaned over her foot, too. "Um Inuyasha, as much as I love your hair, I'm going to play with your ears if you don't get out of the way…"
Inuyasha swiftly turned and scooped her up into his arms and just as quickly deposited her in the chair her foot had just occupied. Before Kagome had a chance to get huffy, Inuyasha brought her foot up near his face, pressing Kagome into the chair back from the position.
Thanking the Kamis that she had bathed recently, Kagome tilted her head and watched Inuyasha as he peered at her toe. Wiggling her toes quickly at him in an attempt to startle him, she was the one who was shocked when his fingers lost their grip and his claws slid gently down the sole of her foot. Erupting into giggles, Kagome slid further down in her chair when Inuyasha gained a grip on her ankle. Eyeing her curiously, Inuyasha looked at Kagome's face and then back down to her foot. Kagome knew she was in trouble when she saw the playful glint light up his amber eyes. Quickly trying to draw her foot out of his unbreakable grip, Kagome began earnestly "Now, Inuyasha, you really don't want to do what you're thinking about…I mean, what did I do to deserve this?! Let go, let go, LEGGO!"
Inuyasha glanced up thru his bangs with a devilish smirk on his face. Kagome caught her breath at the utter masculinity of the pose, but quickly turned her focus back to her captured foot before the sly dog half-demon could become aware of her…awareness. Inuyasha arched an eyebrow and arched a powerful claw over the bottom of her foot. "How ya gonna stop me…wench." With that he dove at her foot and began scraping the bottom of her feet with his claws.
Kagome squealed and began to squirm in her chair. "Inu…yasha! I'm going to fall off my chair!" she gasped out as she clutched the sides of the chair desperately.
Inuyasha froze as the sound of her breathy appeal reached his ears. Images flashed thru his pervy doggy brain and he could imagine her whimpering his name in a totally different context. Taking a quick, shallow inhale, Inuyasha could smell a slight tang in Kagome's scent. Maintaining his hold on her ankle, he slowly slid his free hand up the outside of her leg until he could grab one of the hands wrapped around the edge of her seat. Inuyasha heard her quick intake of breath and the quick double-beat her heart pounded out in her chest. He also felt the way his heart was rushing at the chance he was taking. Inuyasha wrapped his hand around hers and gave a slight squeeze. He felt her draw in a deep breath and knew she was about to question him about his slight groping. In a rush, he let go of her hand and scooped his arm behind her back, while letting go of her ankle in order to thrust his hand under her knees. Hiking her up into his arms, he stood up and strode into the living room. He casually tossed her onto the sofa and plopped into the armchair across the room.
Between the trip from the kitchen to the living room, Kagome only had time to choke on the deep breath she had taken, and when that dumb mutt dropped her on the couch, the breath left her in one quick whoosh, making Kagome feel like she had just suffered from a 'drunk' hiccup. Warily eyeing the sneaky hanyou, she drew in another shallow breath. Her heart was still knocking in her chest and Kagome didn't know what to do. Her outer leg felt hot where his hand had casually brushed and the rest of her was bristling with cold chills. Feeling out of breath and a little chilled, Kagome grabbed a throw blanket off the back of the couch and slung it over her lap. Eyeing the hanyou sprawled in the chair, she remarked internally at how peaceful he looked. He used to be so uptight and nervous in her home, but now he was looking very similar to any bored teenage guy stuck indoors during the summer.
Said hanyou was eyeing her back and subtly inhaling her spicy scent. Still catching the slight tang in her fragrance, Inuyasha felt his demon growl in the back of his mind. Touch her! She wants it! I know you can't be so stupid you don't notice?! Shut up, he hissed harshly. I know what her body wants, but what does she want. It's not just about wanting her body, I want her, I need her. Besides, we had an agreement before we came over here that we would do what it took to keep her as a friend and not even bring up mating! Promises, promises, his demon flippantly replied, go sit next to her at least, you foolish whelp! Imagining himself giving his demon half a one-fingered salute, Inuyasha got up to amble towards the kitchen. "Yo, wench. I was gonna get myself something to eat until you made your clumsy little entrance back there. Got any ramen in this place?"
Tossing a throw pillow from the couch at his head, Kagome mocked back, "Sure and while you're up, make me some too!"
Kagome snagged the remote off the coffee table and flipped the tv on. Scrolling thru the channels she attempted to find something to watch. Hearing the cabinets banging open and shut, Kagome began searching the stations for some cartoons. When she never heard the water start up, Kagome got up from the couch and shuffled into the kitchen. What she didn't realize is that Inuyasha was hiding around the corner waiting for her. As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her waist and began tickling her again. Soon she was gasping for breath and she figured her face was as red as her mother's favorite teapot. "Enough, enough. I can't take it anymore!"
"What'll ya do if I don't stop?"
"I'll make ramen for you if you'll stop!"
"How much"
"2?"
A quick tickle, "how 'bout 5?"
"5?! Seriously!"
Another brief attack and Kagome heaved out, "Fine!!! I'll make 5 cups of ramen!"
Inuyasha let go of her and made to walk back into the living room, but before he made his way fully out of the kitchen, he leaned into her cheek and licked her up the side of the face, a la puppy dog. With a quick laugh, he bounded into the living room.
"Inuyasha, gross! You know I'm going to si-"
Kagome broke off as Inuyasha appeared in the doorway holding Buyo. He arched an eyebrow at her again and held the cat against his chest.
"You wouldn't take poor, innocent Buyo down with me, now would you?" He eyed her with that arrogant gleam in his eyes that she couldn't help but love.
Deciding to pay him back for all of the teasing he'd been dishing out, Kagome lowered her eyes and bit her bottom lip. She gave it a slow swipe of her tongue and released it to let it pop back out. Watching Inuyasha's eyes glaze over, she gave an internal shout of victory. Gazing at him thru her bangs, she waited for him to float back to earth and as soon as she had re-established eye contact, she sauntered towards him, swinging her hips subtly. His eyes travelled down her body in a dominating fashion and Kagome could feel her control slipping. There was a heat in his eyes she had never seen before and Kagome began to wonder if she was pushing her luck. Buyo chose that moment to give an unrefined yowl as a reminder that he was being held captive. Inuyasha glanced down at Buyo and Kagome slipped in front of him gracefully. She reached her hands out and brushed the backs of her hands against Inuyasha's, which were wrapped around Buyo's middle. He involuntarily tightened his grip and Buyo snarled. He relaxed his hands and waited to see what the little minx would do next. Kagome next wrapped her dainty fingers around his wrist and squeezed as if measuring the width.
"I can't even wrap my fingers around it," she breathily teased, and she felt the muscles in his arms coil tightly. Inuyasha nearly dropped the damn cat when she said that and he could feel the pressure building in his loins. She slowly slid her hands up and down his wrists onto the backs of his hands again. Then she ran her fingers over his knuckles and all the way out to his claws, making sure she stroked the tops of his hands and inbetween his fingers. She lightly pressed her fingers around his digits and hummed lightly under her breath. Inuyasha's grip weakened even more on Buyo. Sensing her opportunity, Kagome stepped even closer to Inuyasha and caressed her palms up to his forearms. The bunched muscles jumped under her hands. With her arms on his biceps now, she leaned her chest into his, with poor Buyo sandwiched in between. The cat started squirming at the close contact, but Kagome made sure to lean in until Inuyasha's hands were brushing under her breasts. She felt his hands twitch like they wanted to grab something besides the armful of pissed off cat he was currently holding. Kagome quickly snatched Buyo, danced out of reach, and cheerfully twittered, "Sit!"
Depositing Buyo on the kitchen floor, Kagome headed over to the sink and filled the tea pot with water. Flicking a knob on the burner, she set the pot to boiling, still ignoring the sunken hanyou in the doorway. She noticed Inuyasha hadn't even pulled the ramen out of the cabinet. Silly boy probably just slammed the cabinet doors to draw me in here! Opening the right cabinet door, Kagome started stacking ramen cups on the counter. She stretched up to reach the back of the shelf, where the last cup of ramen was residing, not noticing her top rode up exposing a few inches of her stomach.