I stretched languidly while laying on the floor, trying to ignore the aching in my muscles. We'd had so much sex in the past few hours that I could barely move. Unless Sesshomaru wanted to have sex again. I could probably move then. Yeah. Yeah, I could definitely move then. I looked around the large office, finding remnants of my clothing scattered in various places. Looking around again I noticed Sesshomaru wasn't in his office, either.

I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. How long had I been sleeping in there? I turned my head slightly to see out the large window, groaning a bit when I noticed the rising sun.

We'd spent the night here?

Well, I knew I had. Where on Earth was Sesshomaru?

I stood up slowly, curling my toes even as I wrapped a thick blanket around me that I'd been sleeping under.

I started walking toward the office doors, intent on finding my mate when I heard a large 'thunk' like noise from the window. I turned, completely startled, clutching the blanket to me tightly. What the hell had that been? A bird? My eyes scanned the window at a fast pace, expecting to see blood and feathers from a bird that had no doubt flown into the window. I didn't notice anything out of place.

It was probably just my imagination. I turned back around, placing a small hand on the doorknob.

THUNK THUNK

I jerked back around. What the fuck is that?

I should have just left the office and found Sesshomaru, even if I was only clad in a blanket. Not many people would have been at the office already, just Sesshomaru and his assistant. I shouldn't have gone to inspect the noise, I knew that. Intellectually, I knew that.

Unfortunately in my case, curiosity has always had the upper hand.

I might as well have been a cat.

I let go of the door handle, turning back around and marching up to the large window, determined to find the noise that had piqued my curiosity. I'd never heard it in here before, so it had to be new. After a few seconds of searching, I noticed a rather large splinter in the office window. A few, in fact. They were all around my eye height, only scattered by a few inches from each other. It was really peculiar, mostly because they looked kind of like bullet marks you see when people shoot at bullet proof glass. My eyes widened and I took a step back from the glass wall. Those couldn't be-

I lunged backward as I saw a bullet connect with the glass, causing all of the splinters to crack together and spread along the entire window. Someone was purposely trying to shoot out the window and by the looks of the massive crack spreading along the wall, they were pretty damn good at getting what they wanted. I turned and raced for the door, trying to ignore the giant shattering behind me or the cool breeze wafting throughout the air. I tripped over the long blanket, tumbling to the floor.

I had a flash of every single female victim from horror movies falling to the ground before being killed viciously because they were too stupid to stand and run away. I leapt back up, jerking the bottom of the blanket out of my way as I ran again.

Who the hell would do this? Why were they doing this? I had nearly made it through the door when I felt a bullet fly by my body, a burning sensation along the side of my neck. I dropped down as another spray of bullets lit into the door, where the bullets would have pearced my skin, killing me. Someone was trying to kill me!? Splinters of wood sailed from the wall and down all around me, mostly landing in my hair as I jerked back, terror consuming me.

I crouched down behind the only kind of shelter I could find, a large brown leather couch. Only hours ago I'd been making love with Sesshomaru on it, now I was counting on it to save my life. It wasn't going to offer me much protection, but I couldn't risk running for the door. With the spray of bullets that kept raining down throughout the room, I'd be killed for sure.

"Sesshomaru!" I yelled hoarsely, hand going to the ache in my neck. I looked down at my hand, not surprised to find blood. There were also a few trails of blood leaking down my body from my neck. I had to get the fuck out of there. Couldn't I go a month without holes riddling my body?! God, Sesshomaru would never let me out of his sight if I made it out of this alive. Speaking of.

"Sesshomaru!" I cried out again as bullets starting flying through the other end of the couch.

Debris exploded all around me even as I heard a nearby explosion and roar that happened almost simultaneously. I glanced up, catching sight of a giant white tail and instantly my fear dissipated. Sesshomaru wasn't going to let anything kill me and I wasn't about to get myself killed, so I was going to be fine. As soon as he ate whoever was shooting at me.

"I'm okay!" I shouted above the roaring and wind. "Someone is shooting at me!" I wasn't sure if he actually needed the reminder, but I think panic was guiding my actions. "I think it's coming from the left. The building about a quarter of a mile from here." I barely finished my sentence before I felt more than heard him take off into the dawn. The shooting continued for maybe a second more before it stopped. I sat crouched behind the couch, clutching the blanket to my neck to staunch the flow of blood. I just needed to wait for Sesshomaru to come back. He would be coming back. I knew it. It would take more than a few bullets to take him out, if anything could kill him.

Close to an hour came and went before Sesshomaru came back for me.

Or maybe it was five minutes. I didn't have a watch on and I was too freaked out to grab my cellphone and see. The point is, I knew he'd be back and he was.

"Rin. You're injured." Sesshomaru towered over me, grabbing my arm and gently pulling me up into a standing position. His eyes were as red as the blood on my blanket as he moved it aside to see my neck. His eyes narrowed dangerously before he glanced back up into my eyes.

"I'm fine. Well, I'm really fine now that you're back and no one is shooting at me anymore." His clawed hand cupped my cheek. "Did you find the person who was shooting at me?" I shivered, either from the newly opened window (ha) or from nerves. Twice in one month someone had tried to kill me. It was starting to feel more and more deliberate. Okay, it was definitely feeling deliberate. The creeps in the alley I could have chalked up to drunken idiocy, but someone shooting at me from a sniper's advantage? It wasn't a coincidence. Someone was trying to end my life. I needed to figure out why.

"Yes. He has been dealt with." He picked me up, blanket and all, and began walking toward the elevator out in the lobby.

"You know someone is trying to kill me, don't you?" His shoulders stiffened slightly as he continued to the front. "That's why you've been so distant lately, isn't it? You suspected those men in the alley weren't there by chance, right?"

"Yes," the word was barely above a whisper. He pressed the button, pausing for only a moment before the door pinged open, the new elevator assistant standing back to give him plenty of room. "Leave."

The dog demon was out of the elevator moments before the doors shut. Sesshomaru reached up with one hand, yanking down the security camera and smashing it in his hand. Setting me down gently, Sesshomaru turned to face me, finally giving me his full attention.

"Where were you when I woke up this morning anyway?" Curiosity got the best of me while I asked. Hadn't I learned my lesson for the day? Sometimes I shouldn't be so curious.

"I was handling a phone call. Clyde has been assisting me with your safety and he had learned something shortly before you were attacked."

"What did you find out?" Sesshomaru's shoulder lifted slightly before resuming it's stiff position. "Sesshomaru you have to tell me. It's not that I don't trust you to keep me safe, of course I do. I just need to know if someone is trying to kill me, that way I'm more prepared and aware of everything that's happening around me."

Sesshomaru's lips pursed. I placed a hand on his arm, silently urge him to speak up. He pressed the button on the elevator, having it come to a stop halfway to the bottom floor.

"Clyde found out last night that someone deposited a large sum of money into each of your assailant's bank accounts the night of your and Kagome's attack. We haven't been able to ascertain where the money originated, but Clyde assures me that he's been working on it. The assassin who just tried to shoot you was also human. He didn't have any form of identification and his prints were burned off from his fingers, so the odds of us being able to identify him from that will be unlikely. Clyde heeded my call before I returned to you and he will be dropping the body off at the morgue to have more tests run and most likely dental samples to find the assassin's identity."

"But you suspected someone was after me even before this incident? I don't get it, how did you know?" I shivered again, no doubt from the chill spreading throughout my body. Why would someone try to kill me? I thought back to that night weeks ago, when the human men beat Kagome and myself for being in line with demons.

"Kagome didn't recall seeing the men while you two had been out at the hospital and then at the restaurant. She found it peculiar the men knew you two had been consorting with demons since neither of you had mentioned mine nor Inuyasha's bloodline while you were out." Sesshomaru placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "I also admit I found it curious."

"You think someone is trying to kill me because I'm your mate?" The thought was unsettling. Why would anyone care that Sesshomaru was mated to a human?

"Yes."

I turned my head, ignoring the slight sting in my neck as I looked at my tarnished reflection. I had dark circles under my eyes, blood smeared along my neck and chest and there were wood splinters coating my hair. I even had small cuts along my arms and shoulders from the wood chips. I'd clearly seen better days.

"I don't understand why anyone would care enough to kill me over it. Especially someone who is human." Sesshomaru stepped closer to me, his body brushing mine until I was trapped in between him and the wall. "Sesshomaru?" His eyes still beamed red, claws digging into the metal wall behind me. He leaned in, sniffing the dried blood around my neck before growling low and deep in his throat. "Are you alright?" His body pressed into mine, his erection at the junction of my thighs. My mind blanked immediately as desired flooded me. Maybe it was due to nearly dying, I wasn't sure. But right now, I needed Sesshomaru inside of me.

"I need you. Rin." The words were guttural as they were whispered to me.

I grabbed his head, bringing his lips to mine in a fierce kiss. I dropped the blanket and leapt at him, my legs circling his waist even as I ripped at his shirt.

He needed me just as strongly as I needed him. It was quite a feeling.

"Twice in one month, Ms. Higurashi? Maybe we should get you a membership card." Dr. Charles joked with me as he cleaned the wound in my neck. Sesshomaru and I had changed into a fresh pair of clothes when we made it down to the lobby, no doubt brought in by Clyde.

I sat on a stool while he tidied up the blood.

"Well, doc,I doubt I even needed to come today. Nothing some Neosporin and a bandaid couldn't fix." Sesshomaru stood silently in the doorway, ignoring Clyde who lingered out in the hallway.

"I don't know if I'd be that sure of your bandaids, Ms. Higurashi. Ten stitches to your neck isn't usually a matter for bandaids." I ignored Sesshomaru's sudden growling as Dr. Charles used a small pair of scissors to cut the last stitch. The portly older gentleman straightened his back when he was finished, swabbing the area with a cotton ball doused in peroxide. "Now, no more visits to the ER this month. Or next month. Doctor's orders."

"Sounds good to me." I hopped off the stool, grabbing a few latex gloves from the wall on my way out. "See you next time, Doc."

"Not soon, I hope!"

I snickered as we left, stuffing the gloves into my Michael Kors purse.

"I have no idea why you're so interested in those things." Clyde glanced at my bag before following us down the hallway.

"I don't know. They feel nice on my hands. I have this weird obsession with them, I guess you could say."

Sesshomaru placed a warm hand along the small of my back, gently leading me through the maze of the hospital. Like I wouldn't know my way out by now. I was just there last week to have my cast looked at. I stared down at the menacing thing as we made our way to the parking lot.

"Hey, do you think they'd let me get this cast off a few days early? I mean, since we're here now, why bother coming back in a few days if we can just go ahead and get it taken care of?" I waved the clunky thing around as if he couldn't guess what I was talking about.

"I can have David bring the car around. Clyde pointed to the other dog demon waiting outside the hospital. He was standing next to the pillar, almost as still as the damn stone. He was about 5 hours new to the job, and frankly, kind of annoying. He didn't even acknowledge me, which was kind of rude. I mean, he was protecting me, after all. Shouldn't he have been paying attention?

Sesshomaru stilled.

"Please, Sesshomaru? David can get the car and you two can escort me back inside. It shouldn't take long one way or another." Sesshomaru agreed reluctantly even as Clyde tossed the keys to the new guy.

"Bring the car around front." The demon was gone in a flash. I didn't even see him move.

"Wow, do you all normally move around that fast and I've just never noticed before?"

"He's probably just showing off for the boss." Clyde grinned at me before leading the way into the hospital.

Sesshomaru and I turned to follow him. Sesshomaru's entire body flung itself into mine, causing me to smash into the concrete floor, a giant dog demon crowding my entire body..

"Hey, what the fu-"

The car exploding drowned out the rest of my sentence.