Chapter 29

Heat

Hanako was having trouble sleeping.

She had tucked Rin in for the night and the little girl was fast asleep just on the other side of the thin wall. She had been in low spirits all day because she had not seen Lord Sesshomaru since yesterday morning, and she knew that he was off on important family business. She had curled up on her futon with a small sigh and a quiet goodnight. Normally Hanako would have comforted the girl, perhaps read her some poetry by the weak lamplight but something was off with her this particular evening.

She itched.

She felt too hot and flushed beneath the heavy layers of the fine Kimono she'd been wearing, and all she could think about was ripping it off at the end of the night and laying down on her futon with the covers off and the windows thrown wide open.

She had breathed a sigh of relief when her skin had first hit the air, but it was short lived. Even with the door to the balcony flung open it was still so hot. Her pale skin was flushed a deep pink, sweat glistening along her brow as she tossed and turned on the futon. Bits of candy floss hair stuck to her face and she was sure that it was mussed madly but she couldn't be bothered to tame it. She was dressed only in a thin white yukata with nothing beneath, but the oppressive humidity in the large room was still too much.

Moonlight poured in from the open windows and door, and though the breeze whispered past it did nothing to calm the stifling heat. It carried with it the scents of the night. Cherry blossom, from the gardens, the ambiguous scent of many mixed Yokai, and… pine.

She bolted straight up, heart pounding nervously against her ribs in a jittery rhythm. She would know that specific scent anywhere. It followed her into her dreams at night and wrapped her in a warm blanket of longing. Cold pine, like fresh fallen snow in the mountains and pure, alpha musk.

Sesshomaru.

The thought of him sent a delicious shiver rolling down her spine and she could practically feel her own pupils dilate as her lips parted with want. It seemed that the damned Daiyokai had been right… her heat had come, and it was consuming her.

She was powerless to stop it. All she could do was try and keep herself from doing anything foolish. her fingernails dug into her palm sharply as she clenched her fists and she pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

Calm.

She tried to breathe deeply and clear her mind, but she was assaulted by unwanted images.

Slanted eyes of molten gold, silver hair illuminated by the moon, his sharp jawline… the memory of the kiss they had shared.

It only served to make her flush harder. A strange feeling was tightening in her belly, something throbbing low and deep and she groaned out loud. She ached for his touch… longed to hear him whisper her name low and husky. It sounded so pretty when he said it. Special.

He was back in the palace… she could feel it. The thought alone was enough to drive her mad.

Hanako made a noise of frustration as she flung herself back onto the bed, her hands caressing her own body lewdly almost as if of their own volition. She desperately wanted it to be him who was touching her like that… making her moan and shake, but she was alone. Whispering his name hotly under her breath as her clumsy fingers drug along overly sensitive skin.

"Sesshomaru…"

Arriving back at his stronghold late in the night, initially the silver Inu Daiyokai had been too consumed with InuYasha's transformation to give anything else much thought but as soon as he had stepped foot in the palace, he had caught her scent. Heady and layered with desire it was impossible to ignore. Hanako's heat had begun and he had been a fool to forget because now... he would be incapable of stopping himself.

The three of them, He, InuYasha, and the Inu priestess Karitei were greeted by two servants, who seeing the red crest of royalty on his new robes and the fresh markings on InuYasha's face they bowed deeply before them.

"Have the young Lord's rooms cleaned and show him to the hot spring." Sesshomaru said to them dismissively, looking at InuYasha briefly before focusing his attention toward the part of the palace where he knew Hanako to be. His face was slack with shock, probably at having been called a lord but that was his title now, he would have to get accustomed to it. And Sesshomaru was no fool. He knew that InuYasha could smell the ripe scent of Hanako's heat just as well as he.

"Yes, my lord." The two kitsune servants spoke in unison, their auburn hair tied into identical knots. The color suited their fair, freckled skin and complimented the off white of their plain cotton kimonos. They rose to their feet and began to lead InuYasha away. He cast a look back over his shoulder, golden eyes narrowed in question at Sesshomaru but the Daiyokai only looked back blankly as he disappeared down a darkened hallway herded by the kitsune.

It was just him and Karitei left alone in the spacious foyer, lit dimly by lanterns in the wall. But the silver female Inu knew when she was not wanted, she could sense his demonic aura rising around him in response to the scent that permeated the air around them in a sensual perfume. She said a quiet parting, bowing before taking her leave back to her own den.

And then it was just the Daiyokai alone with the obscenely enticing smell of the snowy female that had him rooted to the spot. Honeysuckle, ginger, and something else entirely unique to her. It woke something primal within him that he could not stifle. The need to sate her, knowing she was writhing in practical agony waiting to be claimed.

Even more tempting because he knew that she wanted him… Hanako would readily accept him into her bed but it was more than that, he knew.

If he took her now, tonight… they would be mated, and everything would change.

But… all of that seemed so trivial and far away to him at that moment.

He wanted her. Desired her body in ways he had never imagined before.

Flashing images of her… her lips, a pink little tongue darting out to wet them… they consumed him and before he consciously knew it, he was gliding towards her rooms. It felt like only an instant had passed and then he was outside her door, fingers trailing across the paper screen. He could feel her energy in there, spiking when she noticed him so close.

The two shadowed Inu's that guarded both Hanako and Rin at nearly all times were watching him steadily from their position at the end of the hall. They acknowledged him with a small nod of their dark heads but said nothing.

He could hear her panting… she whispered his name and the last shred of resolve he possessed dissipated completely. All the blood in his body rushed to his cock and he couldn't stop himself from opening the door and sliding inside the darkened room.

It slid shut behind him, and the first thing he noticed was just how hot the large open space was. The air was practically steamy, and he knew exactly where it was emanating from.

He turned around, slanted eyes zeroing in on the female who was stood by the foot of the bed with her fingers worrying the hem of her thin yukata, her white hair long and free, tumbling messily down her back. Desire coiled in his gut seeing so much of her smooth, creamy skin at once. He could almost see through that flimsy slip of hers, it did nothing to hide her luscious curves or the hardened peaks of her nipples from his sharp demonic eyes.

"Hanako…" His voice was rough with want as he said her name and she could have melted into the floor. His eyes raked over her body, a deep lust held there, and she wanted nothing more than his touch. She would plead for it… beg, pray, whatever he wanted…

"Please, Sesshomaru…" Her voice broke as she took a step towards him, cheeks flushed as she was hit with another hot flash that had her trembling. "I need you…" there was an ache deep inside of her that she had never felt before… It begged to be filled.

At her words he paused, going still as his eyes locked onto hers with a burning intensity that she could not shake. The moonlight dappled across his flawless skin and illuminated his sliver hair as it hung down his back. He took a step closer to her, his robes swishing as her breath hitched.

"Again… say that again."

She could have moaned as his voice brushed across her senses, rough and low and heady with lust.

"I need you, Sesshomaru… please." Hanako whispered, knowing he would hear. He took another step in her direction and she could feel his aura tease along her own almost playfully. His expression was open, and she could plainly see his emotions as they played across his face. Lust, but then restraint, and then the other again as his desire seemed to win.

Her instincts were screaming as he drifted ever closer until there was but a scant few inches between them, their faces close but not touching.

She desperately wished that she knew what he was thinking at that moment.

She wished he would just say something… anything… but having him so close was driving her mad. His heady, masculine scent overwhelmed her. She could feel warmth pooling at the center of the dip between her thighs, her chest heaving as her heart raced.

"Touch me…"

Hanako hadn't meant to say it out loud but the words spilled past her lips before she could stop them, her head swimming with pheromones as her instincts drove her. It came out as barely a whisper. Her eyes traveled up the smooth expanse of his throat, starting where it disappeared beneath the layers of fine silk and then up along the defined line of his jaw before finally locking onto his powerful eyes again.

Sesshomaru was a being that had previously prided himself on his discipline and restraint. But now, looking down into the sweet face of the snowy female that was just a hairsbreadth away he wasn't so certain about that. Her lavender eyes were exponentially lovely, even in the dim light of the moon that filtered in through the open windows. Large and framed in thick eyelashes that were tipped with white, batting up at him with a strangely enticing innocence that was impossible to ignore. It was that look that haunted him so. It flashed through his mind in the dead of night, infiltrated his most trivial thoughts and he thought that perhaps he could spend forever staring into those fields of lavender that sparkled and glittered like rare gems.

He knew that if he took her, dominated her, imprinted his lewd fantasies upon her delicate skin that it would only complicate things further. Becoming his mate would make Hanako the Lady of the West, and he doubted that she was ready for such a massive title weighing so heavily upon her young shoulders.

But he was here. With her. She had called to him… and he could not keep resisting her. Within him there was a massive, almost endless well of surging power and strength, but when it came to her… he felt weak.

He looked deeply into those compelling violet eyes and he saw no hesitation, no fear… only longing when she looked back at him.

"Sesshomaru…"

Her voice was as soft as petals drifting on a summer breeze, his name falling from her perfect lips like a prayer.

In the next second they were falling into each other, one of his large hands coming up to cradle her delicate face as their lips met in a kiss that was surprisingly gentle. Sesshomaru poured all his emotion, all of his intent and everything he wanted to say into that kiss. Her little hands hand drifted up, gripping desperately at his shoulders while doing her best to get as close to him as possible, pressing her body flush against his own.

Her skin was like fire.

Everywhere she touched him she left a burning trail of heat in her wake, his lips becoming rough as she blossomed for him like a delicate flower. Their tongues brushed against each other hotly and she moaned sweetly into his mouth, her grip on his robes tightening. His other hand slid down to grip at her thigh, pulling her leg up to press against him more fully.

Hanako moaned again, a low keening sound that had his instincts roaring as she ground herself against him lewdly. The tips of his claws were pressing into her supple flesh, their lips locked in a passionate kiss. She couldn't think. Could hardly breathe because her head was clouded by a thick fog of pure instinct driven lust. Her body had chosen for her… she wanted Sesshomaru to be her mate, repercussions be damned.

Sharp teeth scarped along his bottom lip and the sharp tang of his own blood caused a growl to rumble out from deep in his throat. The hand that had been gently cupping her face now slid down to grip at her throat. Not squeezing, just a slight pressure. He pulled away, breaking their kiss to look her deeply in the eyes. They spoke a thousand words to her in an instant, those infinite pools of honeyed amber. He was asserting his dominance over her, his Inu instincts taking over and suddenly it was like her body knew what to do even though she herself was altogether clueless.

Without thinking she turned her head, closing her eyes as she exposed her neck to him fully in a display of submission, all of her most vulnerable parts bared before him.

Sesshomaru made a pleased sounding noise in the back of his throat, his grip loosening as his hand slid around to fist in her hair instead, drawing her face up to meet his eyes.

"I'm telling you now, Hanako… there will be no going back after this. You will be mine." His voice was a rough baritone that shook her down to her very core. The moonlight glinted wickedly off his fangs and she shivered in excitement at his words, heavy with promise.

Nothing sounded better.

She dreamt of him… she longed to truly know him. To know him in the spiritual sense as well as the physical. She wanted this.

Wanted him.

The killing perfection.

And yet… he was here beneath her fingertips, his skin as soft as fresh spun cotton.

"I know…" she whispered, eyes raking over his face, drinking in every inch of him that she could. "Nothing in this world would give me more pleasure than to be yours, Sesshomaru…"

Looking into her eyes he knew that she meant every word. They flowed easily from her lips, natural and genuine. She smiled sweetly up at him as if she had not just shifted his entire world with one truth. As far as he was concerned, Hanako held the entire cosmos in those delicate, lily-white hands of hers.

Sesshomaru would move mountains for her. Conquer foreign lands. Raise the dead. Anything to keep her smiling at him like that.

In the next second they were crashing against each other, their kisses fevered and lit with passion. His hands caressed every inch of her body over the short, thin little garment she still wore, sighing in pleasure against her full lips. She was so small and fit so nicely against him, so soft and smooth all over. Curved in all the right places… sweet and willing, practically begging for his touch.

Deftly, he started to drop his robes one by one. Hanako eagerly helped him around kisses, letting them fall heavily to the floor until he was bare chested, left only in his hakama with his Tenseiga sheathed at his side. He broke away from her lips briefly to set his sword on the floor propped up against the nearby wall, walking back over to her slowly with a look of intent on his face as his fingers worked at the ties of the garment that was still around his hips.

He drank her in for a moment, admiring how beautiful she looked with her long, wavy, white hair so mussed and her cheeks flushed bright pink. Standing there in front of him, seeming like the vison of femininity to his eyes with her rounded hips and curvaceous figure.

She didn't look nervous, but instead she looked eager, her hands were drifting down to the front of her yukata where it was tied in a messy knot. She parted the robe, exposing a sliver of pale skin down the length of her body but she did not shrug it from her shoulders as she waited for him to lead.

A fine layer of sweat had settled over her skin from the insufferable heat that permeated the room, her full lips parted slightly as she waited with bated breath for him to touch her again.

He reached out to slide the yukata off her petite frame, and she could only sigh in relief, leaning into him as his cool fingers drug along her overly sensitive skin. It fell to the floor and for a moment she felt a brief sense of respite from the stifling humidity as she was bared completely. But that faded in almost an instant as she was overcome with passion again.

Sesshomaru growled low and primal, practically tearing the hakama from his own waist as his eyes flashed red, fangs lengthening dangerously.

His body was all hard panes of muscle and smooth skin, carved like a marble statue in his absolute perfection. His markings stood out harshly against his pale skin, the magenta color looking so beautiful and unique to her eyes. Shyly, she couldn't help but lower her gaze down to the straining length that was poised between his legs, doing her best not to show her surprise. but before she could blush too hard, he was grabbing her and spinning her around, pressing her back flush against him, his large and ravenous hands roaming her heated skin.

He wanted to ravish her, to undo her completely and put her back together again with his touch, to taste every inch of her skin but now was not the time for slow and tender. That would come later. Now, his instincts were screaming for him to complete the ancient dance that was as old as the first Inu pair. The ritual that would be completed through blood, sex, and magic, binding the two together and making them as one.

Sesshomaru would show her true pleasure. He would hear the palace walls rattle with her moans and feast upon her sweetness… they would have all the time in the world once she wore his mark. His hands palmed her breasts roughly before traveling down her body, straight down between her legs to test her readiness. He groaned aloud at just how wet she was, it was dripping down her thighs and she mewled pitifully as his fingers brushed over her clit teasingly, bucking her hips against his hand. The sound was hot and breathy as it ghosted over the shell of her ear, sending a shiver of pleasure straight down to her core.

She was consumed by the feelings he was stirring inside her, his fingers gentle even as his other hand gripped at her breast almost roughly, working her for a moment until she was a dripping, moaning mess of putty against his broad chest.

The tempo between them was building, his heart pounding to the beat of an ancient and mighty drum as power thrummed around them both, their auras mixing and beginning to blend as one. He guided her roughly down to the futon, spreading a large hand over the small of her back. He pushed her top half down while the other hand was at her hip raising her plump bottom to meet his hardness, pausing for a moment. She looked back at him, her pupils dilated, and her long candy floss hair spread out to the side while her small hands gripped at the blankets that were strewn beneath them. Her eyes were narrowed and heady with lust, her teeth tugging sensuously on her bottom lip as she seemed to relax into him. She lowered her gaze, raising her hips as if she were offering herself up to him and the message was clear. She was submitting to him fully, trusting her alpha to claim her in every way and he showed his appreciation with a low growl of satisfaction that rumbled out deep from his chest.

Moonlight cast her body in a pale glow. He was transfixed by the sight of her for a moment. There, completely naked with her most enticing parts in full display. He could see the slit between her legs that glistened with her own wetness and he groaned, gripping tighter at her plump hips. He pulled her closer, just so that the tip of his length brushed against her folds but he forced himself to stop there. They both moaned in unison at the contact, he could see her fisting her hands in the blankets as she wriggled and panted in his grasp, searching for friction that she didn't even know she wanted.

For as long as he lived, whether it be just a hundred more years or even a millennia, Sesshomaru never wanted to forget the way she looked right now.

But she was ready.

He could smell her pheromones on the heady air, could feel her heat against his hardness and he knew that as the ancient power flowed through him that he could stall no longer.

With one quick thrust he had sheathed himself completely inside of her. He couldn't hold back the low moan that tore from his throat at just how wet and tight she was. He could feel her hot insides wrapping around him like a glove, convulsing as Hanako moaned pitifully beneath him. It wasn't a sound of pain, but through the fog that clouded his mind he knew that it could be uncomfortable for some females upon their first mating. With everything in him he wanted to be gentle, take his time with her, and love her slow into the early morning but his Inu instincts would not allow it in this crazed state.

He could only manage to still himself inside her for only a moment, letting her adjust to him for as long as he could before the dam within him broke.

He watched his cock slide slowly out of her dripping slit, covered in her own juices, relishing in ever moan, mewl, and gasp that fell from her lips. The sight was so erotic he could feel himself harden even further inside her.

Hanako's moans filled the room, his own name falling from her lips sensually as he thrust up against every stroke of his cock. He could feel her aura, soft and sweet teasing along his own, much more powerful one but as the momentum between them built the two began to fuse together, an essential step in the ritual.

She was melting. She could feel his thick length stretching her, filling her completely and even though there had been a brief moment of discomfort, now, as he filled her with long, deep stokes she was little more than a writhing puddle of sensation. Nothing in her whole life had ever felt so good.

His sharp claws pricked at her while he bounced her back against his cock, but she couldn't have cared less. Droplets of blood ran down her pale skin, glistening in the moonlight but the scent only heightened her arousal. And his too; she could tell because the instant that unmistakable copper perfume hit the air, he let a deep growl loose from his throat, his thrusts becoming harder and less forgiving. She was like a ragdoll, held there by his massive hands as he bounced her against him. He was so deep, his thick length hitting this one spot inside that made her eyes roll back into her head.

She didn't even know what sound she was making anymore. His name, a prayer, random mumblings and messy moans. She didn't think it was supposed to feel this good. Every nerve and every cell in her body was alight with a fire that burned hot and bright like the sun. He was everything she hadn't known that she'd needed, and it felt like she was smoldering.

He built up to a vicious rhythm, pounding in and out of her animalisticly while he grabbed at her ass and pulled roughly on that thick mane of white hair. She could only gasp, riding the wave of sensations that were pulsing deep within her with every stroke.

Sesshomaru could feel his own demonic aura rising, whipping around them both viciously as his body subconsciously prepared itself for what he was about to do. The final step, and then they would be one, eternally. In this life and the next.

He could feel his release fast approaching, her hot insides squeezing him deliciously in ways that he had never felt. Her slim but curvaceous body arched and and willingly taking every merciless stroke.

As the crest of that great pleasure broke within him he tugged on her long candy-floss hair, yanking her body flush against his own and sinking his fangs into the soft, supple flesh of her lily-white neck. With a roar that was muffled by her skin he broke, filling her completely with his seed, forcing her to take every last drop as she could only whimper, held there by his impossibly strong arms.

She fell over the edge with him, his name tumbling from her sweet lips like a prayer spoken with awed reverence. The power that had swelled around them finally rose to a head, their auras melting together as his mark appeared on her fair skin. His mouth was filled with her sweet blood and he could not help but to swallow a few greedy mouthfuls before slowly pulling away.

They were both panting, his hard cock still impaling her and he was at loathe to withdraw from her delicious wetness, their mixed juices spilling out and down her thighs. He could feel her blood dripping from his lips but he made no move to wipe it away, finding that he enjoyed the sensation of it.

Hanako could only shudder, overcome with a bevy of emotions as the fog over her mind slowly lifted. The act was done. The instincts that had driven her to this had fled now that she was marked.

His

The thought brought a smile to her face, even as he slowly withdrew from her body, guiding her to lie beside him on the futon. A blush colored her cheeks, her eyes shyly avoiding his though she knew it was foolish. He had seen every part of her, been inside her and marked her as his mate. The time for shyness was over, but still, she could not meet his gaze. He pulled her against his hard body, her head resting gently on his marble chest. The relief from the pulsating heat was overwhelming, almost instant as soon as his sharp fangs had plunged into her flesh, and now all she could feel was intense happiness that seemed to bloom outwards from her chest, so powerful that she knew he could feel it to.

"Hanako," His voice was uncharacteristically soft, his hand coming up to cover her own much smaller one where it rested on the hard panes of his chest. "look at me."

It was a command she could not ignore.

Molten gold met lavender and all at once she knew what it was like to feel undyingly loyal to someone, to feel like you were the only one that mattered in that moment.

"You are mine." He said in a low growl that made her heart flutter. "Forever."

He punctuated his words with a searing kiss that took her breath away.

"Yes, Sesshomaru. It has always been you."

He would never tire of her saying his name. Over the course of his long life he had never had someone treat him with such tenderness. And he knew for the rest of his life he would replay those words in his head over and over again, his love for her would never end. He would die to protect her, would slay a thousand men if she so much as wished it.

In a thousand years he had never dreamed that he would someday have a mate of his own, he had often thought it foolish to wish for such things. But with her delicate form cradled there against his body, and her eyes shining up at him with pure love reflected in them, he knew now that this is what he had long been missing. That in his many years on his earth that he had only been waiting for her. That she was the one he would die beside and find again in his next life, because the kami's themselves had created them just for each other.

A/N: I was going to make this its own story but I decided it fit much better here. Let me know what you think!