Kagura didn't want to open her eyes.

It was warm here, so comfortable, so soft. Like laying in the sun on a cool day. She knew she should get up, leave, go busy herself with some other nonsense. But as much as she hated his attitudes, she couldn't bring herself to. The fact that he had even stayed with her through the night was surprising. That now she awoke to the sound of his heart, the smell of him, the rise and fall of the firm chest she rested upon. Beneath the silk of his haori, she could feel the dull pounding of his heart against her palm, and she wondered if the placement had been purposeful on her part, or a mere coincidence. It didn't matter that all of it would be a short-lived happiness.

She expected him to nudge her or shove her off, realizing that she was awake. But nothing happened and she dared open an eye just a crack.

She had to hold back a gasp. He was asleep!

He looked so peaceful, his cheeks aglow with the morning sun. She absently wondered if this was the first time anyone had ever been allowed to see his sleeping face. He didn't seem like the trusting type, even of his retainers. But even if he was awake, his closed eyes wouldn't detect her staring.

And stare she did. The stripes that lined his cheeks were brighter than she had ever seen, almost a blood red in the morning light, as if someone had taken their claws to his face. The blue moon upon his forehead sparkled behind his fringe, more silver than it's usual dark tint. While his hair, that mass of silk that, honestly, she considered more beautiful and lush than her own, was almost white. It was this that caused her to move, to reach a hand to twirl a strand between her fingers, to determine whether it was indeed as soft as it looked. It was.

But the action hadn't gone unnoticed.

She froze as his chest rumbled with what sounded like a growl, it was not threatening, but the surprise of it caused her to drop the silver strands between her fingers and watch his face again, waiting for his eyes to open, or at the very least some sort of action.

In truth Sesshoumaru hadn't wanted to open his eyes either. It had been the first time in a long while that he had had a true deep sleep. The first time in years, most likely. And It was in all likelihood the only time in his adult life that he had actually slept with someone, the first time he had ever just lay next to someone and slept. He hadn't expected it to be so simple, something like that, that he could do it without a thought or even some caution.

Maybe it was that scent. The one that was now covering him, mingling with the usual scent of the room. The scent of ink and dust and steel, the muggy smell of heat that wafted from the private hot springs down the closed hall. Her scent was like a fresh breeze on a spring day. A foolish observation, he thought, comparing her to a breeze. Because that was exactly what she was.

But despite her true form, or any of the other things that made up her existence, she still had a physical body. And it was still capable of leaving a scorching hand print across his chest to play with his hair.

The growl was merely force of habit, a daiyoukai couldn't afford to have someone so near to him in sleep. And even though he knew that she would do nothing against him, the gut reaction still ripped it's way out of his throat. But the growl was not one that would have been leveled at an enemy or a threat, no, quite the opposite actually, and even if she hadn't realized it, his knowing it forced golden eyes open. His façade could barely contain the shocked stare he gave her.

Kagura jerked her hand back, crimson eyes wide as she waited for his response. She expected a scolding, a reprimand for touching him so while he slept.

Sesshoumaru, though, just watched her. Slightly widened eyes returning to normal and meeting her own.

"You are feeling better." He raised his chin at her.

She nodded, not really wanting to be reminded of yesterday.

"Good."

She was convinced he would leave then, would throw her out and slam the door in her face. She expected it as she squeezed her eyes shut against his chest.

But he didn't. He just closed his eyes again and remained still.

She felt him place his chin atop her head. It was too good to be true, she thought as she nuzzled into the collar of his haori. Whatever this was that she clung to, this far fetched hope.

He moved then, laying on his side so that he could pull her into his arms, til she was smothered against his chest, all she could see the white of his haori. Sesshoumaru buried his nose in the hair on her crown, inhaling that scent.

"Why do you act like this?"

This made him pause, but he did still did not push her away, in fact he didn't move at all. "I do not know what you mean."

"The hell you don't!" Kagura pulled away to look into his eyes, her hands flat against his chest. His head cocked to the side slightly as their eyes met. "You've always been a confusing one, Sesshoumaru, but the act gets a little old."

"Recall that you are the one who wished to stay last night." An argument he would not have made if he could even remotely explain himself to her.

"Don't give me that," she hissed, rolling onto her back and crossing her arms over her chest. "You wanted me to stay, so don't even." Crimson eyes glared at him over her shoulder.

Sesshoumaru was not a liar. "If you do not wish me to, merely say so."

"Tch, that's not what I meant, and you-"

A clawed hand had come to rest on her neck, causing her to flinch. Sesshoumaru kept his gaze steady with hers, gauging her reaction to the contact. Kagura's eyes widened, her chest began to rise and fall at a quicker pace. But she said nothing, made no move to remove the hand. To push away the claws that could easily pierce through her throat.

"Sesshoumaru, what are-" the hand moved, slid up to her jaw, long fingers resting at the base of her skull while a clawed thumb was placed upon her bottom lip. He felt her swallow, but still she said nothing. He felt the lump move against his fingers, the warm skin rise with the only true sign of her unease, the only one she controlled, anyway. He felt the blood pumping away underneath the thin layer of flesh, quicker than normal.

How easy would it be, to drive his claws into the tender flesh that protected something so vital to her form. She would not die, that much he knew, and even if she would, he might still be entertaining the idea. Another, feral, part of him wondered what it would be like, to have his claws drenched in her blood. To hear her cries as he sent his poison coursing through her veins, ripped her to shreds, devoured her. He wondered if her bones, when he snapped them, would be hollow, like a bird's. Until he reached the organ she so cherished, ripped it from her chest. The thought of just making her hurt, that he could do it, if he wanted, ignited in him a sort of sick pleasure. He could do it. He could.

And as he thought these things, his claws still poised around her throat, she just watched him. Red eyes, too much like her sire's, just watched him.

Her lips parted slightly, and he could feel cool breaths wash against his thumb and wrist.

And he couldn't do it. Could never do it. The more controlled side of him, though no more rational, would never allow him to. He would probably kill himself in the process of killing her, if he ever tried. Never in his life had he not been able to kill someone. There were those who he simply never bothered to, but none who his body had rejected the action. The thought angered him and he moved his hand away from her throat, afraid that he might actually scratch her.

Kagura just didn't know how to react. The calloused hand upon her neck did nothing to her except burn her skin. But it terrified her all the same. The knot in her stomach wound too tight for her liking.

"You're a son of a bitch, you know that?" she muttered, suddenly sitting up.

"It is not considered an insult when it is fact."

She snorted, throwing her head over her shoulder to look at him. Those golden eyes were too impassive, no matter what he did, they rarely changed.

"Hn." She could play these games as well. She placed her palm upon his throat, surprised when he allowed her to, she began to trail the pad of her thumb against the vein. What sounded like another growl rumbled in his chest and she almost pulled away, but a hand reached up to wrap around her wrist, bringing her palm to his lips.

"There are very few that I allow to be so familiar." He muttered against the creases of her palm.

"Should I count myself lucky then? That the great Sesshoumaru-sama has deemed me fit to touch him?" she chuckled, lightly patting his cheek with her free fingers. "You're a hypocrite."

"Hn, I suppose I cannot be angry, as it is somewhat true." the hand at his side reached up to caress her cheek, a clawed finger tracing the point of her ear, the others imbedded in her hair. It was then that he decided to pull her forward once again, to bring their lips together, to have her body flush against his.

She did not struggle, in fact she seemed to welcome it, being pressed against him. She enjoyed the heat of him, that radiated through the thin layers of silk between them. The hand that had held her own traveled down to take hold of her hip, the claws biting into the thin fabric and sending a jolt through her spine, causing her to arch further into him, til she thought they could be no closer. She felt a light pinch, could taste the blood from where he had nipped her bottom lip with his fangs, a quick tongue making light work of the evidence.

These things came easily to him, being this way, lips and tongues moving against each other. He nipped her lip on purpose, mostly. He wanted to confirm it, to reassure himself that she was made the same way as he. With flesh and blood that tasted like any other blood, but still sent a painful shock through his system. It made him want more, made him crave it til even behind his lids he was seeing red.

"I have business to attend to." he said, breaking the connection between them. He kept hold of her, her forehead resting against his. But he kept his eyes closed, as he tried to hide the rasp in his voice. "Tonight, you will return?"

Kagura pulled away slightly, palms flat against his chest, she found it was hard to form the words while her heart pounded away and her breaths came too quickly. "Fu-n, will you be lonely without me?"

"Tch." He sat up quickly, throwing her off onto the futon beside him. He felt cold. "You will."

Red lips came forward into a pout and she rolled her eyes. "I'll take that as a yes." her breath still wavered slightly. She stood, stepping lightly over to the shoji screen, she turned in the doorway to look at him. Sliding it open with a clatter, she was engulfed by the quickly fading morning light. "I'll see what I can do, I'll try to fit you into my schedule, ne?" a smirk tugged at her lips, "I should be going anyway. See you."

Kagura stepped back, the smirk still wide across her cheeks, her form disappearing into the winds. The taste of her was still on his lips.

He fought back a chuckle. How quickly she could go from one mood to another. How quickly he could drive her to running away.

But, he supposed, she had already made it quite clear that that is what she intended from the start. The value she placed on her freedom was too great to stay in this place. There was nothing more to it, and he should not have expected such. But he would take what he could while it was still there.

Because he had underestimated it.

How much he wanted her.

The woman who he could not simply order to stay, because she would not. Who he could not bind to him, because she could so easily slip through his fingers, quite literally. Who made him weak by simply being near him. Made him want to cut her down and drink her up, in more ways than one.

A woman with bird bones, made up of tornados and gusts and breezes, with another man's mark upon her back.

And that was the worst of it.

Because even if she accepted him, how could he? How could he, the daiyoukai Sesshoumaru, soon to be Inu no Taishou, take her for his own, when she bore the mark of another man?

Despite how dead he had rendered the hanyou, the mark of a spider still scorched her back. It had not bothered him til now, mostly because the thought hadn't occurred to him. But now the thought of having to face it, threatened to make him sick.

And he hated himself for it.

Even if she agreed, she would never be his. She would always be the hanyou spawn, never a youkai in her own right, never anything more than a freed slave. He could never take her for his own.

Oh, how Naraku must be laughing in his grave.

~xXxXxXx~

Still making this shit up as I go along… . Sh!

Originally there was supposed to be more to this chapter but I got so caught up with writing just this part that it'll be next week. Sorry. :P

Has anyone ever heard the song Gallery Piece by Of Montreal? If you haven't, look it up, weird but good, and kinda channeled it during this chapter, except in a more violent way. Whoops.

I actually really enjoyed writing the first part. Especially considering that originally it was not even half of what it is now. I'm getting better at this, gaiz.

Plz R&R! :]