Chapter 57

When Sesshoumaru had told her they would be living in a cave for awhile, she had expected to be roughing it. She definitely didn't expect what she saw. It was a very large cavern. There was a gigantic fireplace—a real fireplace, already lit and warming the room—though carved out of rock, with a large cord of wood against the wall beside it, a small mountain of furs and satins on the pallet that was almost as big as their bed in the shiro, a small, but lovely, low polished wood table with plush cushions, a small refrigerator next to a set of cabinets, a dresser with a wash basin and pitcher above it and what she recognized as a Bang and Olufsen speaker. She couldn't help but be curious about the acoustics in the cave.

As it turned out, she didn't have long to wait. Sesshoumaru withdrew his phone from his sleeve and scrolled through until he found just the right song. Pressing play, he put the phone down and approached his chosen.

She knew this song playing through the expensive speaker. It was one of her favorites. She had dreamt of what it would be like to have sex to this song. To…to make love to this song. But that sort of thing was only in the movies and romance novels, right? Besides, how could he have known? She'd never told anyone, not even Inuyasha.

When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears,

Her obi was untied, he reached inside her kimono and slid it off her shoulders. Her hands found his obi and pulled the knot apart.

It was easy to see you'd been crying.

Her underkimono fell to the floor. So did his.

Seems like everywhere you turn, catastrophe it reigns.

He stared with fascination at seeing her in his family colors, but now was not the time to stare. He grabbed at the hook and eye closures at the front of her corset and unhooked her as she undid the ties of his sashinuki hakama.

But who really profits from the dying?

He slipped off her stockings as his pants fell to the floor.

I could hold you in my arms.

Her hands were on his fundoshi, untying the undergarment.

I could hold you forever.

He slipped her out of her thong.

I could hold you in my arms.

She tried to kiss him but he merely picked her up and set her on the furs.

I could hold you forever.

He followed her to the bed and kissed her sweetly on the lips, pulling back when she tried to deepen the kiss.

When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions

He kissed her until she was breathless, sweet kisses that threatened to steal her soul. Every time she tried to increase the pace, he pulled back, reminding her who was alpha. She may not know she needed this, but he would give it to her anyway.

My worried mind that you quiet

His hands explored her firm breasts, teasing and caressing the tender flesh as he continued to kiss her. Her beautiful moans were wondrous to his ears.

Place your hands on my face

His fingers moved lower and found her slick and ready, he massaged her bundle of nerves before gently inserting a finger inside her tightness.

Close my eyes and say

His mouth moved to her neck and suckled her, kissing and licking her, making her hands move to his head to keep him there.

That love is a poor man's food. Don't prophesize.

He moved atop her and moved his knees between hers.

I could hold you in my arms.

He put his arms around her, lowering himself, and looked into her eyes, breathing her breath as he oh-so-slowly sheathed himself inside of her.

I could hold you forever.

Golden stared into cerulean and souls blended as he moved languidly inside her, making her feel every millimeter of him before lazily pulling back out.

I could hold you in my arms.

Realization and awe struck her face and tears flew from her eyes

I could hold you forever.

"I know you've never done this before, koi, but it is alright. You were saving yourself for this Sesshoumaru," he whispered in a sultry baritone. "I saved this for you and you saved this for me. We are fated. All of your pain, all of my searching, led us here. You are my one, my only, my mate," he continued through the instrumental break.

So now we see how it is

Their pleasure built as steadily as if he was pounding in to her.

This fist begets the spear

He kissed her tenderly as he moved inside her, another first.

Weapons of war

He held her body in his arms.

Symptoms of madness

Tears of gratitude continued to fall from her eyes, though they were closed.

Don't let your eyes refuse to see

Her legs wrapped around his, stroking him with their silken softness.

Don't let your ears refuse to hear

Her arms wrapped around his body, holding him close, loving the weight of him on her.

Or you ain't never gonna shake this sense of sadness

He broke the kiss and looked again into her eyes

He sang, "I could hold you in my arms."

She was so close. And he was singing to her. Sesshoumaru was actually singing to her. Fresh tears fell at the beauty of his voice, of this moment.

"I could hold on forever."

His voice nearly cracked as he got closer and closer. It would be any minute now, but he had to wait for her.

"I could hold you in my arms"

Her body tensed and she was there.

"I could hold on forever."

He met her in rapture, holding her close, before plunging his fangs into her neck, her climax negating the momentary pain as he drank of her and pressed his youki into her bloodstream, making them one.

….

He rolled them on their sides facing each other, him still buried inside his mate, her leg thrown over his. 'My mate…finally.' She was holding on to him like she thought he would get up and leave her and he was insightful enough to realize that's exactly what she was fighting in her mind. She loved him and was confident in his love for her, but you don't just erase 32.5 years of getting your heart broken and he had just given her something that made her feel more vulnerable than she had probably ever felt. He had made love to her.

He knew he was the first one to have ever done that with her. A girl couldn't be as damaged as she was if she had ever been shown that kind of tenderness. Hell, he couldn't leave her even for a drink of water if he wanted to. They were tied together by his knot and would be for quite awhile yet. This was a first for him as well. In all of his trysts over the years, he had never allowed himself to tie with a female and not just because chances for conception increased exponentially. There were other dog demons that did it because of how it felt, no matter the consequences, before they were mated. He had to admit, it felt amazing. Beyond amazing. It was tantric. And he could feel that she just kept coming from the stimulation, making it even better. Neither had he ever truly made love before, choosing to be in love before he did so. He had wanted to save it for his one, to have something special that was only theirs.

As he buried his nose in her neck, kissing her and licking his mark, he noticed that he smelled oranges over her honeysuckle scent. He took a deep inhale and realized the scent of oranges had replaced her earthy scent of humanity. Was this the reaction the goddess had told her about? He moved his head back so he could see her face. She opened her eyes and he gasped.

Crimson swirled gently in her blue within blue eyes; she blinked and it was gone. "Sesshoumaru? I feel…I don't know. Maybe I'm going crazy but I could swear I hear a voice in my head," she said breathlessly.

He huffed in amusement. "And what is this voice telling you, miko?" he murmured.

"Umm…that we've had our turn and it's beasty time next." It was hard for her to think let alone speak with everything her body was feeling at the moment.

He raised a brow. "Is that so? It would seem that you're going demon, koi."

"Well, you know what they say, 'Once you go demon, you'll think you're dreamin'.'"

"Is that what you think, Ka-go-me?"

"Mm-hmm. For awhile, now, handsome. And this new toy of yours…gods, are you really still coming?"

"From all those wonderful convulsions this Sesshoumaru is feeling and that breathy tone of yours, you are, too," he accused.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Hn."

"How did you know? You know…that I'd never…I mean, I haven't been a virgin since I was three and as an adult, I've been far from celibate. I could have…"

"No, you could not have. Kagome, I knew not long after meeting you. No one can hurt as you have and have ever been truly loved in that way." He kissed her gently. "You liked it?" He knew the answer, but needed her to admit it.

"Gods, Sesshoumaru….we climaxed in the space of a single song…and what has to be 20 minutes later, we're still doing it. I wouldn't have thought it was possible. I didn't…I mean, even with you…I just thought…I thought it was something made up to put in songs and stories. This is the single most beautiful moment of my life, sharing this with you."

He just nuzzled her cheek in answer and squeezed her tightly.

"Wait…the song…how did you pick it?"

"This Sesshoumaru knew you liked the artist and he does as well. I was familiar with the song and after hearing it again recently, realized the lyrics told our story, everything from your nightmares to you pushing me away to the battle with Naraku. I saw it as the perfect chance to give you something I knew you needed desperately on our mating night to help banish the past and show you what our future will be like."

"I don't understand how I deserve you, but I'm never letting you go, just so you understand. I'm talking a grip like a koala, claws and all."

He huffed in amusement again against the sensitive skin of her ear. "This Sesshoumaru would have it no other way, miko" he murmured, giving her delicious thrills of sensation on top of what was already coursing through her body.

…..

A/N: "Hold You In My Arms" is a song by Ray La Montagne. This song was the inspiration for this entire story because it spoke to me: our favorite demon loving a broken woman who couldn't let go of the past and who desperately needed to be loved. There are some that think this song is about unrequited love, and maybe it is, but my hopeful heart just doesn't choose to see it that way and the music absolutely doesn't fit that. 124,787 words later, I finally got to write the scene in my head that started it all.

Thank you to everyone who's followed me so far. Your encouragement has helped immeasurably.

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