I know I'm late, I am sorry. My 'lovely ex-mother in law' gave me the flu and I have been down fighting it while trying to get homework done as well as look after my son. Due to all this, I won't be doing a review corner at the end; I'm just not feeling up to it. Also, I just don't like how this chapter turned out, I might redo it once I'm better. Let me know what you think…
…}{…
Taisho sighed, looking at his watch. When he got Ayame's call telling him that Koga was finally awake, he hadn't wasted a second making his way over to the hospital to speak to him. Of course, he had tried to get ahold of Sesshomaru, but a servant had informed him that the lord and mistress had left shortly after breakfast to go shopping and would not be back until that evening.
Pleased that his son was willing to take her out, he had decided to see to Koga himself. Should the information lead to anything, he would call him. But right now, making sure Sesshomaru's mark fully formed was more important. It didn't matter how much an inner demon or the demon himself wanted its mate, if the connection never completely developed, it would cause all sorts of problems. With Naraku around, they couldn't afford any mistakes.
"Mr. Taisho?" Ayame called as he passed the waiting room.
He stopped, greeting her. "How is he doing?"
"He's alive, that's for sure." She sighed. "I just wish he would listen to the doctors more."
"Being stubborn, is he?"
"Stubborn isn't the right word, Mr. Taisho." She explained. "He is very agitated about speaking to you; which is why I called you. He has been tearing his wounds opens again trying to leave."
Taisho gave her an encouraging smile. "I'll speak with him, my dear." With that he, walked down the hall to the hospital room, wondering what could have Koga so on edge. As he neared the door, he could hear a doctor arguing with the wolf demon, threating to knock him out if he didn't stay in his bed.
"I'll kick your ass you come anywhere near me with a needle!"
Chuckling, he stepped forward. "You bleed out all over my carpet and you think you're recovered enough to kick a demon's ass?"
"Mr. Taisho!" Koga cried, struggling to get out of the bed only to be held back by the doctor and nurse. "I have to tell you…"
Taisho stepped forward, pushing him back. "You can tell me from that bed, pup."
"My files! They're the proof we need that Naraku is after Rin!" The wolf exclaimed, grabbing his arm. "I found a connection for the council to allow an intervention."
"What files?" Taisho demanded. "Where are they?"
…}{…
Sesshomaru sighed wondering if his father had much trouble with Rin when buying things for her. Since arriving at the department store, she had tried arguing over how much everything cost. It took him kissing her into a daze to send her off with the seamstress to try on a few dresses. Not that he minded much; besides enjoying how she melted into him, it also kept the sales lady off of him.
At the moment, he was sitting back, relaxing as he waited for Rin to come out and model when his cell phone started to ring; it was his father. Looking over at the dressing room, he swiped the screen and held it up to his ear. "What is it?"
"We may have Naraku, son!" His father explained.
"What do you mean?" Sesshomaru grounded out, standing.
"Koga, he's awake and he told me that he had files that could have the links we needed to stop Naraku."
"Where?"
"His office, I'm on my way there now."
"Sesshomaru?"
Shit! He wiped his face of emotions, turning to see Rin standing in the doorway to the dressing rooms. She was wearing a black, ankle-length dress with long sleeves. It was form fitting, but he didn't seem to think it was her. It made her paler than normal and her dark tresses dull.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, frowning at him.
He shook his head, "That won't do, Rin. Try another."
"This is the cheapest…"
He shook his head again, lowering the phone to lean down to her. "Price means nothing as long as you feel beautiful."
"But…"
"No arguing." He whispered, growling softly.
She understood he was showing his Alpha and returned to the dressing room. Once the door was shut, he returned to speaking to his father. "I can't get away right now."
"Son, don't worry about this." His father stated. "I'll get the files and get them over to the counsel to start the processes. You deal with Rin." His father chuckled. "I hope you have better luck than I did when buying her things. She can be so stubborn when not wanting to spend a lot of money."
"Father…" He paused as he sensed Rin coming out again. "Take care of it, Father."
"Will do, son."
Hanging up, he turned, to see the next dress only to stop as he felt as if the wind was knocked out of him. She was standing in front of him in an off the shoulder deep orange dress that seemed to mold to her body before flaring out slightly at her hips to fall around her ankles.
"Sesshomaru?"
Mentally shaking himself, he smiled, "Beautiful." He whispered, leaning in to kiss her.
"I couldn't possibly…" She started to argue, looking at the price tag.
He covered her hand, pulling it up to his lips. "Indulge me, Rin. As your mate, it would please me to shower you with gifts."
She blushed, "But…"
"Go change; we have more shops to visits." He instructed, giving the inside of her wrist a brush with his lips.
"Sesshomaru, I don't need all this fancy stuff." She assured him, fighting the shiver that ran down her spine. "I just want…I want to be the mate you deserve."
"You are already more than I deserve." He turned her around and guided her back towards the dressing room. "Now, go change so we can finish shopping." He leaned down to her ear. "Unless you wish for me to help you out of the dress?"
She gasped, blushing. "Sesshomaru! We're in public!"
"I wouldn't mind…" He licked the shell of her ear.
Quickly, she gathered the skirt and rushed back into the dressing room causing Sesshomaru to chuckle. Oh, yes, Rin was more than he deserved and he was going to love every minute of it.
…}{…
Rin was positive; Sesshomaru was worse than Mr. Taisho when it came to prices. Yes, he was her mate and had every right, but it was still too much. After buying the dress; along with some jewelry, shoes, and a shawl to match; they had made their way down the street to another store. He was intent on buying her enough clothes to cover a third world country and there was no room for arguing.
Rin would barely open her mouth before his would descend upon hers; taking what strength she had to refuse any more things. If by chance, she was able to hold herself together, it never lasted long after he would make a suggestion of helping her in the dressing room. Not that she minded what he made her feel, but they were in public and…
She shook her head, brandishing the lewd thoughts and pulled her shirt over her head. She was thankful this was the last store. He had said they were going to grab some lunch next. She wondered where they were going; she hadn't eaten out since Mr. Taisho. He was a simple man; enjoying small diners as well as the high-end restaurants. Rin didn't think Sesshomaru was a diner sort of man, though.
Grabbing her bag and the clothes, Sesshomaru had approved, she left the dressing room almost running into someone.
"Hey, watch where you're going!"
Rin looked up, recognizing her as the other woman from yesterday; "Sara, I think."
"So it's you again?" Sara sniffed, looking down at the clothes in her arms. "What are you doing here; trying to fit into our world?"
Rin looked down, "I'm just shopping; with Sesshomaru."
"Sesshomaru?" Sara gasped. "He brought you out in public? Well, I guess he didn't really have much of a choice, had to make sure you got the proper clothes inside of just buying slutty outfits."
"I wouldn't…"
"I can't even begin to think how he's feeling having you as his mate." Sara sneered, uncaring what Rin had to say. "Let alone being seen in public with you."
Rin sighed, knowing it wouldn't matter what she said, Sara wasn't going to listen. "It was nice to see you again." Gripping the strap to her purse tighter, she went to walk past her, only for Sara to grab her arm, spinning her around. Rin gasped, dropping the clothes as the half demon glared down at her.
"You think I'm finished with you?" She hissed. "You have no respect for your betters, imprudent human. I'll just have to teach you…" Her grip tightened around Rin's arm, digging her claw in.
Rin closed her eyes, fighting down a cry of pain out of reflex. Just as sudden as it happened, the pain vanished. Slowing opening her eyes, Rin stared, wide-eyed as Sesshomaru held the half demon around the neck against the wall uncaring she was gasping for air and clawing at his arm. "Sesshomaru…?"
"Another thing mates can do for each other is calm them." Kagome stated. "This comes in handy when the inner beast takes over because the mate is in danger; it can get ugly, even more so if both demon and beast are in sync with each other. Of course, the only person not in danger is the mate, so they are able to calm them."
"How do you calm them?" Rin asked.
"It's different for everyone, but as time goes on and your connection with Sesshomaru grows stronger, you'll just know what to do."
Kagome's lesson drifted through her mind. She never did explain what to do until the connection was stronger. As if in a dream, she slowly walked over to him, "Sesshomaru?"
He growled causing her to pause. When he didn't even look at her, she pushed on, coming up beside him.
"Sesshomaru…" His eyes had turned blood red, startling her. Knowing she had to do something, she reached out, gripping his arm. "Sesshomaru, I'm fine now. You can stop."
Slowly, his grip loosened, dropping Sara to the floor. Her body seemed to move on its own; knowing just what to do and say. Still holding his arm, Rin moved to stand between them lifting a hand to his cheek. "I'm fine…"
He stood still; frozen in place as his eyes returned to normal. Rin smiled as he nuzzled her hand, lifting his own hand to press into it. "Rin…"
"I'm right here."
With a soft growl, he took her into his arms, taking in her scent to calm him even more. When the scent of Rin's blood had reached him, he had gone to see if she was hurt. At the sight of Sara digging her claws into her arm he had lost it, his inner beast taking control to swiftly remove her by seizing her throat. He wanted to slice through her, making sure she never touched Rin again.
And he would have if Rin hadn't called out to him. Her voice slipped in, calming his beast enough to regain control again. Not wanting her to see him killing someone, he let Sara go, fighting against his beast to tear her apart. As he held her, he could still smell the blood from Rin's arm, stirring his beast again.
Looking down at Sara, he growled. "Stay away or I will finish it." He warned before sweeping Rin up into his arms and left the store. He headed straight for the car, placing her on the hood to take a look at her wound. It wasn't deep.
"Sesshomaru?"
He looked into her eyes, seeing she was concerned. "Hmm. Are you alright?"
She nodded. "Are you okay?"
"Hmmm." He answered. "I shouldn't have allowed this to happen." He explained, stroking his thumb across her smooth skin.
She shook her head. "It's fine…it's not bad." She looked down at it.
Sesshomaru took her arm, licking the crimson drops away as well as healing the wound. "There."
Rin stared in astonishment. "How…"
"Dog demon's saliva is able to heal wounds." He explained. "We should head home…"
"I thought we were going to lunch…" She asked.
"You were just attacked, Rin." He explained.
"But I'm fine…" She pouted. "I'm enjoying our time together…"
He sighed, fighting a smile. She was too much. "We can spend time back at home."
She frowned, "I know, but it's been nice getting out; with you."
He couldn't seem to take the dejected look on her face. Even though she had just been attacked, she still wanted to continue their outing. He had a feeling it had to with her trying to prove herself as his mate as well as wanting to spend the time with him. Sighing, he helped her down. "We'll see how you feel after lunch."
…}{…