AN: Thank you so much for the amazingly positive reception last chapter! And now we get to learn all about the harsh reality of demon mating practices. 😅
Chapter 2: Breeding
Daylight, all right, I don't know, I don't know if it's real
Been a long night, and something ain't right
You won't show, you won't show how you feel
No time ever seems right, to talk about the reasons why you and I fight
It's high time to draw the line
Put an end to this game, before it's too late
Head games, it's you and me, baby
Head games, and I can't take it any more
Head games
I don't want to play the head games
I daydream, for hours it seems
I keep thinking of you, yeah thinking of you
These daydreams, what do they mean?
They keep haunting me, are they warning me
Daylight turns into night
We try and find the answer, but it's nowhere in sight
It's always the same, and you know who's to blame
You know what I'm saying, still we keep on playing
Head games, that's all I get from you
Head games, and I can't take it any more
Head games
Don't wanna play the head games
So near, so far away
We pass each other by 'cause we don't know what to say
It's so clear, I'm sorry to say
But if you want to win, you gotta learn how to play
– "Head Games" by Foreigner
Asuka Period, Taika Era, 6th Year (649 CE)
Inukimi struggled to keep her eyes open as the members of her court reported on the Western Province's affairs. This tiredness wasn't normal. Not that the droning of her courtiers wouldn't put anyone to sleep (even a demon), but she could usually at least listen and feign interest.
A new courtier appeared—one she had never seen before—so that roused her for a moment. He wore the guise of a short, squat old man with bushy eyebrows and two long, dangling wisps of mustache. A plain hat sat on his head with a veil trailing out the back. She gave a subtle sniff. Most assuredly not dog demon. He smelled of wind and feathers. Some sort of bird then. He must have come from the warfront, for there were no members of her court that were not of her clan.
"Greetings, my lady. My name is Soukyu, and I come with a report from our lord, the great Dog Demon General, about his current conquests." He unfurled a scroll. "My lord's armies have successfully crossed into the Hizen Province; however, the demon lord who controls this area, known as Kirinmaru of the East, has successfully defended against my lord's attacks. My lord has engaged frequently with this Kirinmaru…."
As Soukyu droned on and on, Inukimi's eyes grew heavy and her attention slipped. Honestly, she couldn't care less about Touga's wars. It was his hobby to collect territories. He never actually oversaw them, aside from keeping them clear of enemies. No, all the administrative work fell to her and her court. All she needed were the results, not the updates.
When Soukyu paused, then opened his mouth to continue, Inukimi held up a hand. "That is enough for today."
"Ah, but my lady, I have further updates, which I believe will be of great concern to you—"
"If you think you are the first courtier to tell me how vital it is that I hear your findings, you have a foolishly high opinion of yourself. I tire of this." She stood up and gestured to the table at her left. "Leave your report for me here, and I will peruse it later."
"But my lady, my news concerns Touga-sama himself," the bird demon protested.
Inukimi gritted her teeth, tiredness making the threshold of her patience plummet. "Is he hurt or dead?"
"No, but—"
"Then the news can wait. I am retiring for the day," she announced, leaving a room of curious courtiers. Soukyu pursed his lips in consternation as he watched her go. She returned to her quarters, and her maids rushed to disrobe her and let down her hair. Once she was clad in nothing but her juban, Inukimi slid into her futon and laid her head against her fur, using it as a pillow.
In moments, she was asleep.
Strange that the roar of ocean waves reached her though such dense, towering trees, yet she could smell neither the salty air nor the fresh scent of the pines surrounding her. As she walked through the moonlit grove, the trees thinned out, the area becoming brighter and brighter until she could finally glimpse the stone cliffs ahead dropping into the water.
Her husband stood on the edge of them, overlooking the ocean.
Her heart leapt. It had been so long since she'd seen him. She hadn't realized just how much she missed the way his bright smile lit up a room or how his booming laugh reverberated through the cavernous palace halls. She wished she were the type of demoness who knew how to make him laugh more, just so she could hear it. He was a beam of sunlight in an overcast sky.
She wondered if he missed her at all. Did she bring any sort of joy into his life?
Was that why he never came home? He had gotten the Western Province out of their marriage. That was all he'd wanted, wasn't it?
The doubt ate at her, causing her heart to pound. She hated this feeling.
In an attempt to squash it, she tried to move forward—to go to him and look in his eyes and see the truth of his feelings—but her feet wouldn't move.
Then he threw back his head, and that wonderful laugh cracked across the waves.
But it wasn't directed at her.
When he stepped aside and pointed to something beyond Inukimi's vision, a woman came into view beside him.
She was indistinct—like a black void except for her silver hair—but somehow Inukimi knew it was a demoness, and the way Touga's hand rested beneath the woman's exposed shoulder infuriated her.
How dare he! He pledged himself to me!
She stormed forward, ready to tear the woman in two. "Touga!" she shouted.
Her roar tore her out of her sleep, and her entire body jerked on her futon. It took several seconds to orient herself as her heart jabbed against her ribs. Her juban stuck to her, and the blankets suffocated her with heat and damp. She threw them off in disgust, sighing as the cool air rushed over her body.
She threw an arm over her forehead, revulsion washing through her as her clammy skin stuck together.
This was not normal.
Feeling tired was strange enough, but to be beset by a nightmare of all things? And about her husband straying, at that!
She glanced over to the empty side of the futon where Touga would rest after returning from his campaigns. She grabbed his pillow and turned over, burying her face in it and taking a deep sniff.
Yes, there. A trace of him still remained. He wasn't gone completely.
But why did her dream feel so foreboding?
When she finally lifted her head from her pillow, a new scent hit her nose, and she looked around herself, sniffing.
Is that…blood?
Suddenly, she wondered just how much of the wetness on her body was sweat.
She stood up, the back of her juban sticking to her legs, and stared at the spots of blood on the futon. Then she twisted her head around and grabbed the back of her undergarments, bringing them around to examine.
Blood between her legs.
She sighed in annoyance. Of course. She was going into heat again. No wonder she had been so tired.
The realization hit her then.
She was going into heat again, and Touga wasn't home.
He hadn't ever been home when she was in heat, and they'd already been married for a century. Surely their timing should have coincided by now?
Not that she was overly anxious to give him a child, but it was expected of them.
And it's something else I can do for him, besides share my land.
The memories of her dream rushed back to her, those doubts creeping in once again.
Were these her only uses to him: her land, her body, and the child she might give him? Was he out there even now carousing with some other woman on the warfront while she stayed home and managed the affairs of their realm? Did he even know how to take care of the provinces he conquered, or was he happy to just dump them on her lap as soon as he had taken over?
Inukimi summoned a servant then and snapped at her to clean up the bedding and draw her a bath. She needed to relax and get that stupid nightmare out of her head.
"Will you be calling Touga-sama home this time, my lady?" her handmaiden asked as she massaged Inukimi's scalp and shoulders with soap.
"Hardly," Inukimi retorted. She would not summon her husband home just to impregnate her. Her handmaiden said nothing, but the tension in the air was palpable. Inukimi glanced at her. "You disagree?"
"Forgive me, my lady, but…our lord is forever at war. Heavens forbid he one day meet a foe who can overpower him. After my lady took such care to secure a husband, the court worries that he will not fulfill his duty before…. The court worries that Touga-sama is more concerned with war than his family, my lady."
Inukimi said nothing. It was a valid argument. But this would not be the first time her court clucked in undue worry, nor would it be the last. It was not reason enough to sway her.
But of course, she couldn't hide her heat from them. As usual, the males were banished from the palace, for even though they knew she was taken and Inukimi knew she could defend herself, no one wished to take chances with a male's instincts around a female in heat.
With that conversation weighing on her, the bath had done little to ease her mood, so when she returned to her throne room and took a seat, she glared at the pile of scrolls her retainers left her. She was just about to pick one up when a voice spoke.
"Pardon me, my lady."
She glanced over at the shadows. "You are not supposed to be here."
The elderly Soukyu shuffled out from behind a pillar. "My apologies, my lady, but you need not worry. I am too old to lose my head at the first whiff of pheromones," he chuckled. Inukimi's deadpan look conveyed just how amusing she thought he was. He cleared his throat. "That said, I could not in good conscience leave before giving my report."
"I told you to leave it here. I will read it at my leisure."
"Yes, my lady, I left the official report…but there is also the unofficial one."
She cocked a brow. "How do you mean?"
Soukyu bowed his head. "It more of a…private matter. One I fear may concern you."
She cut him a dry look. "It can't have been that private if you were ready to share it in front of the whole court yesterday."
"I was planning to slip you a note, my lady."
"Well, out with it then."
Soukyu took a moment, chewing over his words. Finally, he said, "There are rumors going around Touga-sama's army, my lady. Rumors about the Dog Demon General himself."
"What sorts of rumors?" Inukimi asked, already growing bored. Rumors abounded between the both of them. What was one more?
"As I mentioned yesterday, Touga-sama has engaged in frequent hostilities with Kirinmaru of the Dawn. And yet, the two appear to have developed a strange camaraderie. They battle each other as enemies and yet converse under the stars as friends. Kirinmaru's sister, Zero, has even joined in, and there are concerns that she and Touga-sama are growing…close."
Inukimi's eyes narrowed. "How close?"
"Close enough to stay out all night, under the stars…."
The vision of Touga and the demoness from her dream flashed in Inukimi's mind, and she gripped the tufted arm of her throne, her claws squealing against the silk.
It was as if her nightmare was coming to life. What were the chances?
"It can't be," she murmured.
"What can't be?" Soukyu asked.
Inukimi hid a wince. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "A coincidence, nothing more."
"A…coincidence?" the bird demon pried.
She waved him off. "I give no credence to figments of imagination."
Soukyu's brows furrowed in thought. "Are you per chance referring to dreams, my lady?" She threw him a sharp look, and he bowed his head. "Only, I heard that you retired yesterday and thought that might be the case. And it is not unheard of for one to have prophetic dreams."
Prophetic?
"Of course, prophecy is a tricky thing," he mused, his lips twitching towards a sly smile. "There are those that ignore it and find it come true, while others obsess over it and make it self-fulfilling."
"It sounds as if they are doomed either way then," Inukimi answered.
The old demon scratched his cheek. "Perhaps. But do you know what I think my lady? I think dreams are just our repressed concerns manifesting in strange ways. If I may be so bold, my lady," he said, bowing again, "you do not seem like the type of demoness to let something bother you. Nay, you get up and confront it head-on. That is why your subjects admire you, Inukimi-sama—and why the armies are so concerned about these recent rumors."
And normally, she would have written off the rumors as just that: rumors. Nothing to get riled up about.
But today, her inner balance was off, and her instincts screamed at her: she was in heat and her husband was off gallivanting with another demoness.
Soukyu was right. She would not stand for it.
Inukimi stood up then. "I have received your report. You are dismissed."
Soukyu grinned like a vulture and bowed. "Farewell, my lady." When he straightened, Inukimi noted that his hat had slipped. He readjusted it, but not before she noticed something odd.
It almost looked as if there was another eye on his forehead. Curious that he would keep it covered in a demon court.
She left the throne room and stormed down the steps of the palace. One of her handmaidens rushed after her.
"Where are you going, my lady?" she asked.
"I need to speak with my husband," Inukimi answered.
"But my lady, in this state, if you're not careful, you'll attract demons from all around!"
"Let them come. I need to tear something apart," Inukimi snarled, her pale face sprouting white fur and her lips peeling back into a ferocious grin. She leapt off the steps in a flash of light and morphed into her true form, soaring into the sky.
It took her two days to fly to the warfront—in part because of the distance and in part because all sorts of vermin sidled up to her in an attempt to rut. She tore into their flesh with relish, her poisonous saliva melting them in her grasp. She clawed out their eyes, ripped the horns from their heads, and left a storm of blood raining in her wake.
She was going to remind her husband exactly whom he had married.
As the horizon lightened into dawn on the third day, Inukimi passed into a rainstorm. Low-hanging clouds obscured her vision, and electricity charged the air. Her hackles rose as a heavy aura filled the atmosphere, and then a streak of lightning shot by her. Was it just the storm making her instincts uneasy? She continued flying, sure she was nearing Touga's camp. But with all this fog and darkness, she could neither sense nor smell just how far away it was.
Another strike of lightning lit up the cloud around her, illuminating a dark silhouette ahead. Red eyes with green irises glowed in the dark as the light faded, and Inukimi paused.
A long mane of curly, crimson hair swept away from the demon. Two forked horns jutted up from his brow. He watched her like a patient predator—anticipating the chase but sane enough to know that one false move would betray him.
She growled a warning to get out of her way. He would meet the same fate as every other demon that had dared lust after her if he approached.
"You're a magnificent demoness," he called out. "Your strength and mercilessness know no bounds. The fools who approached you should have known from a glance that they were not worthy to even touch you."
But you are?
Then she realized what his words implied: he had been watching her.
But how, and for how long? Had he been tailing her all this time? She snapped her jaws at him in warning, poison spittle flying off her teeth.
He merely grinned. "I'll be more than happy to go head-to-head with you, my lady, but perhaps we can keep this civil for a while longer? You are the Dog Demon General's wife, are you not?"
She paused, assessing him. If he knew who she was, why was he doing this?
"I admit that your husband is a formidable opponent. It only makes sense that his wife should be as well. But I must ask myself: why have you come all this way? As far as I know, you have never stood by his side on the battlefield. And yet…he always seems to be there."
Inukimi growled. This demon was digging too close to her innermost anxieties. It was almost as if he knew. But that was impossible—wasn't it?
"My lady, I heard that there was a time when you would take only the strongest demon in the land as your husband. I stand toe-to-toe with him. Perhaps you and I might come to…some sort of arrangement?"
She had heard enough. She was Touga's wife. No other male would touch her.
She swiped her claws at him, and he dodged, letting out a huff of laughter.
"I tried to be civil, my lady, but I see you're a purist. I don't mind the old-fashioned way myself." His eyes flashed red, and forest-green scales sprouted along his arms. Twin reptilian tails sprang out from behind him. His body grew and elongated until a giant kirin flew before her.
Then he lunged, his dragon-like snout aiming for her neck.
Inukimi batted his face aside, her claws gauging out some of his hardened scales. He nipped at her heels, and she kicked at him, but one of her feet caught on his horn, and she yelped as it left a deep gash against her snow-white fur.
The kirin grabbed her back with his front claws, trying to slither on top of her, but she bucked and chomped down on one of his long tails as it waved in front of her. The kirin roared as her poison ate through his natural armor, and she tried to rip the entire appendage off. But he bit her flank, and she dropped his tail in shock, backpedaling away from him.
As steaming blood ran down her body, Inukimi assessed this new threat. He was not like the others. His strength did indeed rival Touga's.
And after two days of flying and fighting as well as the toll her heat was taking on her…she started to fear that she wouldn't win this battle.
At that moment, she knew she was lost. Because she had broken the first rule of fighting: don't let doubt creep in. Because the second one doubted herself, she lost the will to fight.
So she did something she never thought she would do.
She fled.
Her heart pounded as she flew against the headwinds of the now-raging storm. She howled, hoping that she was close enough to Touga's camp that someone would hear her, but the wind blew her cries away. The kirin was right on her tail, nipping at it.
A bolt of lightning flashed right in front of Inukimi, and she startled. In that second, the kirin pounced on her back and gripped her neck in his jaws, trying to make her submit. They plummeted out of the clouds as Inukimi snarled and squirmed beneath him, trying to break free. His body slid over hers in a way she was all too familiar with now, and panic set in.
She could not let another demon enter her.
They crashed into a muddy field of rice paddies, tearing through the humans' neat rows of crop. Mortal screams pierced through the rain, but none of them approached the monsters writhing on the ground.
The kirin kept her pinned in his jaws, using his dexterous forearms to try to wrest her into a breeding position. She kept her tail pressed tightly against her backside.
Suddenly, a howl tore through the air, and the kirin was ripped off Inukimi's back, taking thin strips of flesh with it. She stumbled to her feet, her shoulders screaming in pain, and looked around to find Touga in his demon form wrestling with the kirin and biting at his neck and throat. The kirin tried to impale him with his horns and scraped Touga's side, making him let go and step back towards his wife. Touga barked and raised his voluminous tail like a shield in front of her while they both stared down the kirin.
Then Inukimi's vision blurred, and she collapsed, her body transforming in a burst of light. Touga was at her side in a second in his human form. He knelt beside her and glared at the kirin with red eyes.
"I did not take you for a savage, Kirinmaru."
The kirin transformed back into a man, albeit an aggravated one. He pulled out his sword. "I suppose it was inevitable that I would have to duel you for her hand as well."
In one swift move, Touga stood up; unsheathed his new sword, Tessaiga; and leapt towards Kirinmaru, slicing at him. Kirinmaru jumped, mirroring the move. But when they landed, the kirin's right horn and hand toppled to the ground. Blood streamed down his face and the stump of his arm.
Touga straightened up from his crouch and sheathed his sword. "If you dare touch my wife again, I won't stop until I take your head."
Kirinmaru stared at the lumps of flesh and bone lying in the grass. His fangs bit into his lip as his mouth contorted with pain. He growled but picked up his fallen limbs and fled.
Touga watched him go before running back to his wife and kneeling beside her on the muddy ground. "Inukimi, are you alright?" He cupped her face in his hands, brushing her wet bangs from her brow and cheeks, and Inukimi froze, the warmth of his hands a shock to her system.
Belatedly, she realized he had dropped the honorifics from her name.
He picked her up and flew to a nearby copse of trees, taking shelter beneath their canopy. His fur elongated, crawling up a trunk, and he laid her against it. She melted into the cloud-like softness, relishing that wet grass no longer prickled her skin and mud did not squelch beneath her clothes.
But when her husband pulled away, blood remained on his fingers.
"He hurt you," Touga growled.
Red bled through the back and side of her kimono where Kirinmaru had bitten her thigh. Her body was a study in scratches.
"I'll be fine after some rest," she murmured, her eyes already fluttering closed.
"Kimi, wait. Did he touch you?"
The sudden use of a nickname was not lost on her, but she was too exhausted to comment. As for his question—of course he had touched her, but she knew what he meant. She fought back a shiver at the memory of Kirinmaru's lanky form straddling her back, his leg pressing between hers….
She shook her head. "He tried." And nearly succeeded. She had underestimated Kirinmaru. Her quest to find a husband had taken so long, she was sure no other demon in the world could match her husband—and therefore her—in strength. But that demon had almost rutted her, and then she would have borne a bastard child and—
Her eyes burned, and she sucked in a deep breath. She couldn't cry. …But if she did, at least the rain would mask her tears.
He lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her temple. She was too much in shock for the action to surprise her as it should have. "Rest, wife. I will keep you safe."
She wanted to tell him she didn't need to be kept safe. She could handle herself.
But I can't always, can I? Hadn't this incident proven that?
It felt strange to rely on a man for her own protection.
And yet…she couldn't help but feel reassured as she fell asleep in her husband's arms, knowing she would wake up safe and sound.
It took her a complete day to convalesce. She was tempted to remain in the comfort of Touga's arms, which had never once unwrapped from her, but shame got the better of her. She sat up, and Touga shifted to accommodate her.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, cradling her jaw and tucking a few stray wisps of hair behind her ear.
"Recovered." Physically. Emotionally, she wasn't sure where she stood. Her pride had taken a beating along with her body, and the fact that she had almost succumbed to another demon's lusts both infuriated and humiliated her.
Would Touga find her weak?
"Thank the gods," Touga breathed, letting his head fall against her shoulder. "You scared the shit out of me, Inukimi."
She flinched at his crass words but stared wide-eyed, amazed at this sudden show of vulnerability.
He lifted his head and gave her a stern look. "What the hell were you thinking, barreling into a warzone while in heat? Gods damn it, did you even think? You flew across half the island flaunting your fertility, and you didn't expect something like this would happen?!"
She hadn't—not really. Yes, her handmaiden had warned her, but all her life, she had stayed mostly to her palace, where male staff and courtiers were sent away on mandatory leave when royal females went into heat. She knew why—in theory—but she had never actually had a male come onto her before while she was in heat. She hadn't realized just how potent those pheromones were.
"Kimi, talk to me," Touga snapped, gripping her chin and forcing her eyes to gaze into his. Hers widened upon hearing that nickname again, a flutter of…something bubbling in her chest. She tried to squash the titillating feeling. "I never know what's going on in that head of yours, so you have to tell me."
She pinched her lips together, ashamed of her ignorance and Touga's castigation. So she did all she knew how to do: pin the blame on him.
"I got tired of waiting for you to come home and do your duty, so I came to find you," she bit out.
"Do my duty?" Touga asked in a dangerous murmur. "You mean put a child in your belly?"
She nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
He huffed a laugh. "That's not a duty, my lady. That's an honor. One I've been waiting for." His hand slid down her neck and over her breasts, causing her nipples to jump to attention beneath the heavy silk fabrics. He palmed her stomach before snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her against him.
She placed her hands against his chest to give them some distance and glared up at him in consternation. "If you wanted a child that badly, why were you never home to see it done? I've gone through almost a dozen heat cycles since we married."
"You never told me you were ready."
"Of course I was ready. I know my duty. I've been prepared since you first claimed me."
Touga's nose scrunched up. "There's that word again: duty. Is that all I am to you, Inukimi-sama? A duty?"
Her heart thudded upon hearing the return of the honorific. Why did that bother her so? "Are you unsatisfied with my performance as your wife, General? Do I not let you rut me whenever you wish?"
"Let me?" he repeated, his grip tightening on her waist. "I see. So being with me is a chore to you." He let go of her and she fell back on her bottom. Her waist felt so much colder, and the knot of anticipation in her womb unraveled all at once.
Something inside told her that if she didn't stop pushing him like this, she would steer whatever they had between them off a cliff.
"I suppose that's why you've always preferred rutting as dogs. Easier to let a male slake off his lusts when he's an animal, is that it?" Touga continued.
Inukimi gritted her teeth. That wasn't entirely the case, but she didn't know what to say.
"I suppose it was naïve of me to think you might come to enjoy my company as I do yours. After all, you made it quite clear from the start that I was only ever to be your stud." Touga expelled a deep breath and looked away from her. "Very well. If a simple rut is what you want, I will give that to you. Only a fool husband would not take what his wife offers."
Inukimi's heart twisted as disappointment etched itself onto Touga's face. Her thoughts came spilling out before she could stop them. "I don't understand. Why are you so upset? Have I hurt your pride?"
Touga's face hardened. "Contrary to what you might believe, my lady, not all males are satisfied just by taking their own pleasure. So, coming to learn my wife has not been enjoying herself as I have? Yes, you could say you've hurt my pride."
"When did I say I haven't been enjoying myself?" True, she didn't quite see what others found so compelling about intercourse, but she couldn't deny missing that certain, full sensation that came from feeling her husband's cock within her.
Now it was his turn to look puzzled. "Then why don't you let me see you?"
She should have known he would want to mate in their human forms. She had expected this conversation for decades, and yet….
Inukimi ducked her head, staring down her shoulder. "Forgive me, husband, but given how often you are away from home, you are still a virtual stranger to me." Aside from her handmaidens, who had helped her since she was young, she had never let anyone see her body.
That and she couldn't imagine staring into his eyes as he took her. She was afraid of what he would—or wouldn't see—in her face as he took her.
And maybe she was afraid of seeing the same lack of feeling in his.
In any case, though her neck often bore the imprints of his teeth, her lips never bore the brunt of his.
His shoulders relaxed, and a peculiar look came over his face. "Could it be my wife is actually shy?"
"How ridiculous," she bit out. But his chuckle told her he didn't buy her lie.
Touga plucked a silken pigtail from her shoulder and stroked it. His nearness made every hair on her body prickle with awareness. "I'm sorry, my dear. I should have realized sooner."
"I'm not shy," she protested again, flicking her pigtail out of his grasp.
He laughed. "If you say so."
I'll show you so.
Before she could overthink it, she grabbed hold of the spikes on the front of his armor and yanked him down, crushing their lips together. His shock was evident at first in the way his lips remained pursed, but he quickly relaxed and worked his mouth over hers. He licked the seam of her mouth, prompting her to open it just the slightest bit.
But when he slid his tongue into her mouth, she gasped in shock and pulled away. "You scoundrel!"
He laughed. "Did you think pressing lips together was all there was to kissing?" When she scowled in embarrassment, he grinned and kissed the crescent moon on her forehead. "To think, a century later, and you're still my blushing bride."
"And where did you learn such things?" Inukimi scoffed before she could think better of it. "From another demoness? From Zero?"
"Zero? What are you talking about?" The complete bafflement that painted his features told Inukimi all she needed to know in that moment.
The rumors were just rumors. He wasn't having an affair.
Unfortunately, she had doused their fire and ignited the flames of a new argument. "Where did you hear about Zero?" Touga asked.
"You should be careful with whom you spend your time, husband," Inukimi replied. "Rumors are circulating your armies that you and Zero are…courting."
He sighed, leaning against the tree. "I thought you were better than to believe such rumors, Inukimi-sama."
"You've made no secret how…experienced you are in these matters, so isn't it natural for me to have doubts?" If there were others before me, could there not be others after?
He frowned and grabbed her hand, holding it between them. "Inukimi-sama, in our marriage vows, I promised you my loyalty. Do you take me for someone who makes such promises lightly?"
"No, but…." She shut her mouth.
"But what?"
Dare she say it?
"Tell me," he urged.
"Do you even want me?" she blurted out. Her cheeks burned as the words of her deepest insecurity lingered in the air.
"How can you even ask such a question?"
"Well…just look at you! For the last three days, I've been beset by demons overcome by a rutting frenzy, and yet you sit here even now, composed as ever."
His face tightened, and he gripped her upper arms. She froze in startlement. "Do you think it's been easy staying this composed? I've held my wife in my arms for an entire day, the scent of her heat fogging my head, and yet the only thing that has stopped me from taking you right here and now is the knowledge that you were assaulted and hurt. And then the thought that you might not enjoy it? …I am not going to force myself on you, Kimi."
There was that endearment again. This time, it made her shiver in obvious pleasure.
And if he wasn't going to make a move, she needed to show him just how pleased she was.
She cupped his jaw and kissed him again. Still, she wasn't brave enough to shove her tongue in his mouth as he had. She pulled back, meeting his gaze and trying to portray her desire. His golden eyes flared with heat, and he dove back in for her lips, prying at the entrance to her mouth. But she turned away and kissed his jaw instead.
He yanked her head back by a pigtail, and she gasped in delight, the feral action igniting something in her blood. He nipped at her lips, whispering against them, "Don't be shy with me, Kimi."
When he kissed her again, she pressed her tongue to the crevice of his lips. He opened immediately, and when she slid inside, his tongue coaxed hers into a dance. She mewled, and in that moment, he threw her back down onto his fur so fast, the wind was knocked out of her. His eyes bled red as he untied the sash around his waist and shucked off his armor. It clanked somewhere beyond them as he tossed it aside without care and ground his body into hers. He gripped her pigtail, yanking her head aside, and trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck.
How had she lived so many years without this sort of attention? With just licks and nuzzles in their demon forms? They couldn't compare with the passion he exuded now.
"Let me have you like this," he begged against her jugular.
"You'll have to find a way to keep me on my back then," she purred, pretending to roll over to see what he'd do.
He shoved her shoulder back into his fur and grabbed his discarded sash with the other hand. He slung it around the tree trunk behind them and then forced Inukimi's hands above her head.
"This is my favorite sash, so don't rip it," he warned, tying her wrists together.
A pleasant hint of nervousness rippled through her body. Tying her up was new. She could rip through the sash with ease, but…she was willing to let him have his way to see where this went.
After all, she wasn't used to touching him during sex. She wasn't sure what she would do with her hands anyway.
As he straddled her body, his crimson eyes roved over her, a general mapping out his attack plan. Then, with deliberate slowness, he plucked loose the string keeping her obi in place. He dug his fingers beneath the folded fabric and wrenched it free, peeling back each layer of her kimono as if he were unwrapping a gift. With each layer he shed, her skin pebbled more and more. Her nipples were taut peaks when he finally bared them, and the cool, damp air caressed her core. She pressed her legs together and tried to cover herself, forgetting about the sash until it stopped her.
"None of that now," Touga murmured, spreading her legs. Then his eyes flicked up to her chest, zeroing in on her breasts. He latched his mouth to one.
Inukimi gasped as he sucked on her tit, crying out when he bit it. Why had she denied herself this pleasure all these years?
He laid harsh kisses all across her breast, leaving red marks as he traveled from one to the other and gave it the same treatment. Then he reached down to her core and pressed his fingers to her slit, his talons gently teasing her as he slid his fingers through her slick.
"Did you always get this wet so easily?" he asked, plunging a finger inside her. She whimpered and squirmed, her arms pulling forward reflexively to urge him or stop him—she didn't know—but the sash jerked them back.
"Now I know that isn't nearly enough for you to come. Not when you've fit a dog demon's giant cock in your body." He wriggled another thick finger inside, and she tried to spread her legs to accommodate him, but his knees had them pinned between his legs.
Suddenly, he skated over a spot so sensitive, she screamed.
"There it is," he growled, a self-satisfied smirk peeling back his lips. He quickened the pace of his fingers—which was easy enough when she was absolutely drenched—and as her womb twisted with need, he introduced a third finger.
"Argh!" Inukimi groaned, the stretch just a shade away from painful.
"You can take it, my bitch," Touga growled. "You're going to take it."
Inukimi's core fluttered, on the precipice of flight. She needed something to push her over the edge….
"Bite me!" she snapped.
He didn't need telling twice. Touga shimmied down and nipped her clit.
The precipice exploded beneath her, sending her tumbling into a welcoming abyss. She roared as she fell.
It was only the scratchy echo in her throat that made her realize such a guttural sound had come from her.
She thought she had found a hint of pleasure in sex before. It was only now that she understood the appeal.
Her head lolled to the side as she came down from her high, and she caught sight of a large owl hidden in the shadows of the trees some ways away, watching them. It blinked its four red eyes at her and then flew away into the canopy.
Four eyes on a bird. Why did that seem familiar…?
A caress on her inner thigh wiped all thought of the creature from her mind, and she turned back to face her husband. Chest still heaving, she glanced down her body at Touga's hunched form. The blunt head of his cock strained against the front of his hakama, ready to tear through.
"Let me see it," she commanded.
"Gladly," he rasped, his teeth unnaturally long in his mouth. He ripped off the ties to his hakama, and the flap of the pants dropped, unveiling his red erection. He leaned over, lining himself up against her.
"Not yet," she snapped. She wanted that head, certainly, though she felt too sensitive for it at the moment. "Take everything off."
With a smirk, he stood up, letting his hakama puddle at his feet. He kicked them off and then pulled off his hankimono. Lastly, he pulled his hair free of its tie.
Inukimi ran her eyes over him from his taloned toes to the top of his silver crown. She had seen his bare chest before, but this was the first time she had seen his entire bronze body on display. Something about all those rippling muscles had her mouth watering.
She affected her most imperious tone. "Now get down here and let me lick your chest." If he could do it, so could she.
His eyes flashed. "Only you could give orders while prone and bound before your alpha."
"Are you going to disobey?"
"What will happen if I do?"
Holding his gaze, she crossed her legs, clamping her sex shut. She smirked. "I dare you to try to open them without the key."
"And the key is my obedience?"
"I'm glad you understand. But my patience grows thin, husband."
His heated gaze took on a calculating stare. Honestly, she was surprised he didn't just rip her legs apart. He probably could, and if he was as addled with lust as he claimed, she was probably taunting a bull. But he knelt submissively over her and kissed the inside of her wrist, his pecs hovering right over her face. She snagged his nipple with her teeth, and he hissed. She let go, afraid she wasn't doing this right.
"Don't stop now," he growled.
So she licked his nipple and took it once more in her mouth, sucking on it. Did it feel to him as it did to her? Then she got distracted by all the dips and curves of his muscles, and she tore her mouth away, licking a trail down the cleft of his breast. He shifted his body up, allowing her to continue her path downward through the canyon of his abs, until suddenly the tip of his cock nudged the underside of her jaw, and she pulled back.
"Oh no, you're not stopping now," Touga growled. He nudged his phallus against her lips, and she gasped in shock.
"No, that belongs somewhere else," she said, finally opening her legs. Of all the filthy things—he expected her to take his organ into her mouth? She was born a princess—not some backwoods mongrel of poor breeding.
Touga slammed a hand down by her head to steady himself and then grabbed her jaw, digging into the hinge of her muscles and forcing her lips apart. "Open wider." He prodded her mouth with his head, making her kiss the bead of come on his cock. It left a strangely metallic, bitter taste on her tongue.
She stared up at him hard. Through gritted teeth she said, "You really want your precious manhood near my fangs?"
"You'll use your tongue if you want that child you came so far to get," he retorted. He squeezed her jaw harder, his talons drawing beads of blood, and she finally relented. He shoved the bulbous head of his cock in her mouth, and a muffled grunt escaped her. Her tongue swiped over the foreign invader.
"Yes," Touga hissed, releasing her jaw and gripping the base of her pigtail instead. "More." He pulled back just enough to let her take a shallow breath before sliding in further, and she almost choked. He lifted her head, angling her better, which caused his cock to drive in further. Inukimi felt like her jaw was going to pop off.
Then he began to fuck her face in earnest. As she struggled to wrap her lips around his girth and simultaneously breathe, her cheeks hollowed and puffed, and he growled in ecstasy. Her eyes watered from the onslaught to her mouth and throat, and while she wasn't turned on by the fact that his member was in her mouth, his steely grip on her hair and the confidence with which he went after exactly what he wanted made her womb roil in anticipation.
A small grunt was her only warning before a hot rush of seed billowed into her throat, and she coughed, struggling to swallow. It leaked out the edges of her lips, and when Touga finally pulled out of her and let go of her hair, her head collapsed back against the ground. His come dripped from the corners of her mouth, over her cheeks and down to the grass.
Then his thumb was there, scooping up the trail of seed and pressing it between her lips. Red eyes with warm, golden irises regarded her with approval. "You did well, my wife." He kissed the crescent moon on her forehead. "And soon," he murmured, trailing his hand down the line of her body until it rested over her stomach, "I will reward you with what you desire."
They spent the next week fornicating in the woods, reveling in the sheer pleasure of their bodies and the joy of finally getting to know one another. Touga ignored his war. Inukimi ignored her court.
When the haze of her heat disappeared, they parted once more, though Touga promised to come home as soon as possible.
"I hope to return to good news," he said, stroking her belly. which even now felt heavy with seed and the memory of his throbbing member.
And—hopefully soon—heavy with the heir they awaited.