Chapter 54

They walked in to the shrine as if they were a couple from one of her historical novels. Though he wore his usual white shirt and black dress pants, he had actually broken out an old, golden cravat, diamond stickpin and beaver top hat from his travels in 19th Century Europe just to play along with her. They walked side by side with her hand in the crook of his arm and his other hand on top of hers.

On her feet were custom made robin's egg blue silk slippers with matching ribbons to tie on her slender ankles. The dress, sleeveless, corset-backed, with a bodice that was lower in the back and trimmed in gold ruffles, and a heavily crinolined skirt she wore with an additional short petticoat underneath, came to just below her knees, showing off her lovely calves for her escort. It was a robin's egg blue and burnished gold double damask, woven with actual gold thread, patterned in a typical ferny floral, with a flounce of fabric from waist to hips and a large, golden bow tied at the base of her spine, the long ends of the ribbon trailing down the back of her skirt. Curls were pinned up here and there with his mother's golden and enamel butterflies creating an elaborate coiffure.

Her family stared at the dashing couple arriving until the spell was broken by Kagome's crooked, beaming smile, curtsy and question of, "How do we look?"

Her grandfather was the first to recover and rushed up to her. "You look like a fairy princess, sweetheart!" He embraced his granddaughter and held her close. By then, the rest of the family had made it to the couple and was exchanging nods with Sesshoumaru and hugs with Kagome.

They were escorted over to the shrine and did the walk through of their modern ceremony. The mating ceremony would be done after the reception in front of the cave he had appointed so many years ago for exactly that purpose. After the brief ceremony, they would enter the cave and begin their Confinement, a kind of demon honeymoon, where they would not leave the cave for any reason and would spend every moment together for several days to several weeks.

He wanted to surprise Kagome, but he had not just agreed to the date because it was the first Saturday after their then hopeful defeat of Naraku. He had been tracking her fertile times for several months and she was scheduled to be so for their mating and confinement. After the mating, she would finally be able to take his knot and he would take full advantage of their seclusion to see his new mate pupped.

Per tradition, Kagome would change her clothes several times during the day tomorrow. He had urged her to take full advantage to build herself a formal trousseau, but she had chosen a conservative number, saying she would rather choose the right dress for the right occasion and she did not want to outshine him. Sesshoumaru would only be wearing one outfit: the one Kagome had painstakingly worked on for the last two months. She had made his traditional undergarments, inner and outer kimono, hakama and obi. She had assured him he would love it, mostly because Toga was so sure, and he looked forward to seeing her work.

She had been taking on more responsibilities in order to provide for him more and more. Jaken still did the lion's share of what was needed to run the home, but Kagome had taken control of the kitchen. She worked with Jaken to plan the meals, she was in charge of purchasing, and increasingly she was contributing in the kitchen despite her hectic training schedule, especially with sweets. She had discovered he had a weakness for almonds and coconut and they were featured on the menu often in some way.

When they finished the rehearsal, they piled into a limo and went to Hinokizaka, a very exclusive restaurant in the city that had been open for over 200 years. Reporters and paparazzi snapped photos of the couple outside the restaurant. They enjoyed a luxurious, 9-course kaiseki meal filled with delicacies, sashimi, grilled and steamed entrees, one with sauce, and a dessert that had Kagome written all over it: chocolate coconut ice cream with almond slivers as garnish. He didn't doubt she had spoken with the chef. Everyone sampled the modest portions, knowing tomorrow would be a big eating day. When they were done, it was voted to go home since everyone had to be up early tomorrow to begin the preparations.

After dropping off the Higurashis and Izayoi, who wanted to stay over with them to help first thing in the morning, they were taken home to Sesshoumaru's shrine. Everyone found their rooms, and Kagome practically skipped to hers, dignified daiyoukai with amused eyes in tow. He allowed her to pull on his arm, but he kept their pace sedate. He was definitely enjoying his soon-to-be mate's happiness and rampant frolicking now that they were home. It was such a change from the refined lady who had been in appearance since she slipped on her dress and he found the dichotomy of her personality immensely alluring.

She led the way into the bedroom, and let go of his hand and wandered with light steps into her closet and dressing room, but was stopped by Sesshoumaru grabbing the bow at the back of her dress and bringing her up short. "I don't want my butterflies to get hurt. I need to take them out prior to any ravishment," she protested with a pouty face.

Touched that she cared so much for what had been his mother's, he said, "Here. Let me." He steered her to her vanity chair and carefully removed each clip before replacing them in their box. When he was done, he methodically pulled the remaining pins from her hair, massaging her scalp with the pads of his fingers and lightly scratching it with his claws, her eyes half-lidded with pleasure. He kneeled, untying each slipper before lifting a foot and pulling off one at a time, setting them aside. Standing her up, he began the work of unlacing the corset of her dress, smiling when his chosen took a deep breath for what had to be the first time in hours. She stood there in a lovely, gold, satin brocade strapless bra and matching panties. He smiled with pleasure. Since her shopping expedition, all of her undergarments were done in their colors: blues and black for her, gold, silver, white and magenta for him. He adored seeing his colors on her. Now if only he could get her to wear his family colors of white and red. Perhaps she would surprise him.

She followed suit after picking up her fine dress and hanging it over the vanity chair. She removed his precious stickpin then her eyes turned steamy as she loosened and untied his carefully done cravat. She brought the silk fabric to her face and rubbed it while she looked into his eyes. She folded it neatly and laid it aside before slipping her hands up his chest to meet at the collar of his shirt. As she undressed him piece by piece, always taking care with his clothing as she removed it so it wasn't ruined when Jaken came to collect it, the tightness in his groin grew exponentially. This wasn't the first time she had undressed him, but it would be her last as a single woman. That thought made him wild inside, knowing that after tonight she would be his in every way possible and no one could ever take her from him.

His little minx did the oddest thing once he was fully divested of clothing. She grabbed his cravat and retied it around his neck before leading him by it as a leash on a dog. The image was not lost on him, but he was too turned on to let it bother him. When she reached the bed, she let go, turning her back on him before slipping her hands behind her back and undoing the clasps of her bra, letting it fall to the floor. She peeked over her shoulder at him and winked before slipping her thumbs under the waistband of her golden thong and squirming her hips as she slid the fabric off her body.

Crawling up on the bed, she lay on her back, stretching sensuously with her hands above her head before entwining them together and leaving them there. She watched him watching her as she arched her back and rubbed her legs together before inviting, "C'mere, puppy."

His mind finally free after that comment, he raised a brow at her. She threw her head back and moaned, raising a knee to rub her thighs together; he could tell they were slick already from the high scent of her arousal in the air. He knew what she wanted, but he always enjoyed giving her something else, reminding her he was alpha and his will ruled. Producing a blue obi from his night stand, he tied an end around her left ankle before lifting her leg and pressing it against her shoulder, taking one of her clasped hands and wrapping it around her leg. "Stay," he ordered. He climbed on the bed and moved to her other side. Lifting her head, he pulled the obi under her neck, taking the opportunity to pull her curls out from under her and fan them out on the pillow how he liked them. He grabbed her other ankle and situated her similarly so she was now bent in half before securing her ankle with the obi.

Now that she was as he wanted, he took a moment to just look at her. She was so lovely, his chosen. She was scarred and the skin of her tummy was loose after losing so much weight, but her skin and hair shone with health and her magnificent legs were on display for him perfectly framing her generous breasts and lovely, pink orchid of femininity. He moved to taste her, enjoying the sweet flavor of her essence. Her aria of sighs and moans were delicious to him and he did everything in his power to bring them to a crescendo, playing with both holes and her button of pleasure.

As she slowly returned to earth, he lubed up his cock with oil and lined himself up with her inviting pucker. She was so well prepared that he was able to enter in one stiff thrust, their moans meeting in the quiet of the room. He rode her hard and fast, pumping in and out of her, fondling her breasts and nipples as they chased the wave of ecstasy, finally feeling the rush of it before being carried slowly back to the shore on smaller waves of pleasure.

He untied her ankles and let her legs fall to wrap around him, her hands moving up to his face and the back of his neck, leading him down for a soft kiss before sleep overtook her.

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A/N: Curious? The inspiration for Kagome's rehearsal dress came from here: htt8p :/ gothic4weddings8 .blogspot.8 com /2011/04/beautiful-blue-and-gold-jacquard .html (without the spaces or 8s.)

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