Thy Thralldom Come

by The Monday Child

Two sisters of royal blood are captured by the enemy. Their kingdom is no more. A cruel prince has taken them both for his own, tempting them into depths unexplored by good girls. Their choice is clear: lose themselves or lose their lives.

10. Forever in a Sweet Unrest

Ten: Forever in a Sweet Unrest

"And we'll want those tapestries right there on the western wall. Flowering trees go in the mosaic pots, people! Yes, in the corner, perfect for a spontaneous romantic rendezvous… And vines studded with jasmine flowers hanging criss-cross over the ceiling. Oooh, that's what we'll hang the lanterns from!" Izayoi prattled on, heedless of her increasingly angry son.

"That seems like a possible fire hazard, my dear," Toga said indulgently.

"What the fuck is all this!?" Inuyasha finally burst out.

"Oh, you're here!" Izayoi clapped her hands, eyes shining with joy. "Perfect. Are these napkins too red?"

"Yes!" Inuyasha shoved the crimson cloth out of his face. "But that's not important. This better not be what I think it is."

Izayoi patted his cheek just as she did when he was a child, recognizing the tantrum brewing in him. "Oh, my sweet little puppy. I always knew you were never the brightest boy, but since you are a beautiful boy, I thanked the gods for the blessings they chose to bestow rather than lament what was held back. But surely even you can read."

The half-demon squinted at the banner a few workmen were in the process of raising.

Welcome, Royal Candidates for Princess of Inu.

"Oh, fuck no," he began, but his father cut him off.

"You are rapidly approaching the completion of your third decade," Toga said, voice grave and even a little concerned. "A man needs a wife or he is just a boy. How long do you plan on being a child, Inuyasha?"

"I am not a child!" he growled, but the way his parents glanced at each other and smiled before looking back at him made him feel like one. "This isn't right! You shouldn't force me to marry some foreign bitch hag!"

Izayoi sighed and handed the napkin to a passing servant. "Bring me a sample of a deeper shade. My darling puppy, you said all your life you don't care for the women of Inu. They were always too false or too manipulative or too calculating or too something. While you've made your tastes obvious, do you really plan on marrying a human servant or slave?"

The events of last night flashed in his head and he felt himself flush again as he thought of the woman that still lay in his bed. Sango made a small choked noise and he glanced at her, wondering if one of the busy servants had stepped on her foot or something.

"No!" he insisted. "But why can't I just find someone myself? Why do we have to have these fucking dances like I'm a girl in a dumbass peasant story?"

"You are picking someone yourself," Izayoi said, voice suddenly hard. "No one in your family has had that privilege. Not even I."

Toga looked at his queen apologetically and reached for her hand, brow uncreasing only when she grasped it.

"The point is that you must marry before a year and a day from your arrival have passed. This is my decree."

"But months have gone by already!" he groaned at Toga's words. "Just a few more months to pick the woman I'm stuck with for the rest of my life?"

"It's just a first wife, Inuyasha." Izayoi sounded annoyed now and obviously wanted to go back to planning the party and bossing the servants around. "And you do have the better part of a year left. Any of the women invited are suited to be your chief wife. After you have married her, then you can do whatever you want. Take official mistresses, take lesser wives, increase your harem, buy entire brothels… Hell, even fall in love. Men are free to do all that and more."

"But why!? Sesshomaru is married, so why do I－"

"Because he has not produced an heir. That is enough, Inuyasha. You've distracted your mother from her work for far too long already. If you are bored, I suggest annoying someone else."

Pissed off but knowing his efforts were futile, Inuyasha stomped off and left the grand dancing hall. The days were passing by far too quickly. Knowing that by this time next year he would be expected to not only have a wife but to have a son on the way made him feel sick. Hadn't he picked up enough of Sesshomaru's slack? He hadn't yet taken a look at the guest list, but he knew the type of woman his mother would invite. All of them rich little idiots who didn't have a care in the world other than securing power for themselves and their families. They didn't want it enough, though. None of those women really felt anything or understood what it was like to feel. They had never been in battle, not like him, and not like any of the lower-class women he preferred to spend his time with. They didn't know how to fight for something.

"My prince, are you truly so displeased at the idea of taking a wife?"

"What do you think?" he grumbled back at his shadow.

Sango quickened her steps to keep up with him and he slowed down a little, forcing himself to remember that even though she was an exceptional human, she was still only human.

"...Have you considered abdicating?"

He stopped in his tracks. "W-what?" The question was so shocking that he stuttered again like he was a child.

"Just abdicate!" Sango grew more excited with every word, large mahogany eyes glowing brighter and brighter. "We all know you're never going to rule. Heir and the spare, right? Sesshomaru would rule for a time, but then they'd skip right over you and go to your firstborn son. As long as you're a prince and a member of the royal family, you're tied down by their rules. But just think of it! If you renounced your family and removed yourself from the line of succession, you could truly do anything you want. Anything! Travel wherever, see the parts of the world that Inu hasn't conquered yet, openly be with whoever you want…"

It was obvious which reason she listed personally motivated her, but Inuyasha just crossed his arms and leaned against the stone wall.

"You know I can't," he said gently. "Well, won't. Inu is in my veins. Everything I've done, all I've fought for, is for her glory. Being a prince is just a minor detail. You know I don't give a fuck about running the kingdom. That's not what I'm in it for." He sighed at the crestfallen look on her face. "I could never not be my mother's son, Sango. Even if I have to take some dumb bitch for a wife just because Sesshomaru is a prude, I'll do it. For Inu, I'll do it."

His shadow said nothing for a moment, just staring at him with a look full of emotion that he did not want to see.

"If I were given a choice, I'd take it. As your shadow, I have pledged to follow you until death or dismissal. If you were to renounce your position, then I would go along with you. The both of us would be free."

"There is no such thing as freedom in this world."

Agitated now, he began the walk to his room, waving his hand to wordlessly dismiss Sango. She could use some time to cool off as well, he decided. It suddenly occurred to him he had no idea what she did when they were apart. He knew where her rooms were, close to his and close to the harem. But he had never bothered to really study how she had outfitted her own personal space, coming to her only when he desired her and focusing only on her. Did she read? Did she train? Did she have friends apart from him?

All those thoughts fled the moment he crossed the threshold into his own dwelling place. Jasmine and honey. He followed his nose and the humidity to the bath only to be blinded before he could truly take in the very pleasant sight.

"Get out!" Kagome cried, having thrown a wet towel at his face. "I'm in the middle of a bath."

Struggling against rolling his eyes, he swiped the towel to the floor and shucked off his shoes.

"You got a headache?"

She had sunk down as much as she could, her face obscured below her big beautiful eyes, giving her a veil of white bubbles. The nod was slight, but he saw it, and that was enough.

"I can fix that for you."

Inuyasha shrugged off his fire rat cape, heedless of the expensive material as it fell to the wet ground. His claws flicked open the buttons of his shirt and the slave jerked in the water when she figured out what he was going to do next.

"Remember, Kagome, if you leave the water, I see everything."

He could almost see the water begin to boil from the heat of her anger and he smiled. Somehow, he'd gotten quite the idiot on his hands. If only he could figure out what to do with her.

The slave averted her eyes from his naked form and closed them entirely when he slid into the sunken pool. Kagome's entire body tensed when he waded over to her and sat by her side. Gods, she could run, but she was still weak from the ordeal and the hot bath had her feeling a little woozy. Then there was the headache, pounding away like she'd fallen down or something. Also she had been really enjoying her first real bath befitting her true station since she had left Higurashi. The sponge baths from the servants during her illness had been refreshing, but this was on a whole other level.

"Don't touch me!" she growled, but it was already too late. His infernal hands were on her and－it was actually kind of nice.

"I've never given someone else a massage before," he admitted. "Just myself after training when I didn't want to bother with a servant. You'll have to tell me if I hurt you."

"No," she murmured, adjusting herself so as to give him better access to her shoulders. "It's okay."

"You told me to be nice to you last night, so I'm giving it a try. How is it so far?"

She tensed up again. Oh no. Ohhh no.

When she had woken up, she had immediately dismissed the fuzzy images of Inuyasha coming to her and giving her a sweet drink and everything that followed as just a really weird dream brought on by the lingering fever. After all, there was no way he would give her something to make her that vulnerable and then just leave. There were no marks on her body, no pain between her legs to make her think something had happened as it undoubtedly would have if the dream had been real. Just the slight headache.

Oh gods, but she had kissed him!

It was stupid for an engaged woman, in her opinion, to have gone her entire life without ever having been kissed. Hojo always shrank from her advances like a virgin maid, saying he didn't want to get into any trouble before the marriage was officially performed. She'd gotten a few pecks in there, but nothing beyond what a mischievous child would achieve. This was the first time she had ever kissed anyone but Hojo, and it had to be the dog, of all creatures. She'd certainly rather have it be a frog like in one of Kaede's stories.

"Why did you give me that drink?"

His movements faltered for a second but then were back to the rhythm he'd set. "I had plans. They didn't work out." His hands picked up the pace and it was a little too hard but somehow felt better. "You drank too damn much of it and I couldn't get anything done with you being a complete idiot like that."

"Sorry for kissing you," she blurted. Ugh, if she could drown herself in this tub, she would die happy knowing she'd never have to talk about this again. "I mean, I didn't want to. I wasn't thinking. It was gross. It was an accident."

He snorted. "You said I was cute. Like a puppy."

Oh, but she wanted to scream. Just run to her bed－his bed－and scream until the humiliation was over and done with.

"I was stupid drunk. I had never had the kind of wine you gave me. We don't have that in Higurashi, and what we did have I was only allowed a sip of on important holidays maybe three times a year," she rambled. "That wasn't me. That was something else."

"Did you wash your hair yet?"

Confused by the abrupt change in subject, she sputtered, "N-no."

He dunked her head down into the water and she came up gasping, about to shout at him, but then he was massaging her scalp and his claws were being so thorough with the tangles she'd accumulated as a result of having been bedridden whilst possessing fine hair. He was scratching itches she didn't even know she had, giving her a luxurious treatment better than even her servants had given her back home. Without realizing it, she leaned back against his chest little by little until they were nearly flush against one another.

It was difficult for Inuyasha not to take advantage of the moment and allow his hands to wander, to scoot his pelvis just a couple inches further. But she looked so peaceful, so content. So safe. Something in his solar plexus moved when her eyelashes fluttered across her cheeks and he grabbed a golden pitcher from the side of the tub, dipping it in the water and carefully rinsing her hair so no suds would get in her eyes.

"You're different," he said, voice almost in a whisper. "So I'm going to have to be different, too."

Kagome heard the words but they did not register. She was tired again, so all she did was give a vague hum of acknowledgement in response.

"You won't be going back to the dungeon," he told her again. "But I do want my room back."

Her eyes shot open. The harem. Would he send her there? Would she finally be with Kikyo again?

As if reading her mind, he chuckled and turned her around so she was facing him. "You're not getting away as easily as that. You're going to the room next to mine. They connect. That chamber is escape-proof and completely impenetrable. A previous prince of Inu had it made for his human mistress. There aren't even any windows, since he was apparently a pretty jealous guy and didn't want another man to even see her."

"That's insane!" Though that was hardly any different from how her own sister had treated her. She regretted that thought as soon as it was over. No, Kikyo was Queen and still loved her despite all her faults and failures. Being locked up until she was old enough to marry Hojo was hardly a punishment. She still didn't know why, but she had to trust that her sister knew best.

"I don't know," he said casually, though she didn't miss the way his eyes narrowed and darkened, slit pupils widening. "I'm beginning to understand it a little."

His hand reached out and played with a tendril of her wet hair, index finger tracing the shell of her ear. The differences between them and the smell of her and the subtle perfume in the water and her nearness were doing things to him.

The moment was over when Kagome shrugged her shoulder and pressed her ear to it, preventing him from fondling it further and giving him a glare. "You're acting weird. Did you have some of that drink before coming here?"

Fuck, but he was acting weird. This wasn't how he acted with slaves, not even after he had broken them in. He didn't talk to them just to talk, didn't bathe with them, and he sure as fuck didn't pamper them like this.

"I'm just being nice," he shot back. Yeah, that's all it was. Trying a different tactic. A different way to get what he wanted. It was all the same in the end. "I was thinking we could be friends."

"Friends!?" She barked out a laugh and scooted away from him. "You raped and murdered your way through my country and destroyed my life. You stole my sister and think you own us and you nearly killed me."

Inuyasha shrugged. "And you bit my dick. I figure we're even."

"Why'd you do it? Why did Inu break the treaty and attack us without warning or provocation?"

Normally, that question would have had him yelling at her and cursing every Higurashi citizen. No warning? No provocation? But the look on her face was so sad and so earnest and he was beginning to understand why people rescued kittens and brought them home and bottle fed them even if all they were going to do was piss in your shoes and claw up your cushions.

"The jewel." By the look on her face, she had no idea what he was talking about. "You've heard of the Shikon jewel, right? The jewel of Higurashi?"

That was just confusing. "I'm… I always heard that the jewel of Higurashi was the princess."

It was his turn to be confused. "What? No. Do they not teach you history over there?"

Kagome shrugged. Her lessons had been on how to make a good wife for Hojo.

He sighed. She might be the general's daughter, but a bastard daughter was still just a bastard daughter.

"Okay then, I'll tell you what I remember. This goes back hundreds of years, right to the start of your kingdom, when my old man was a new emperor. Back then, there were a lot of wars, more than now. Demons against humans, demons against demons, humans against humans. Even both allied against both.

"There was a demon king who fell in love with a human woman, a warrior who fought in the name of her goddess and guarded the humans of her village. He offered her his love first, and when she refused, his protection. She rejected that as well. Turns out she hated demons indiscriminately. The demon king was heartbroken. Demons are different from humans. When we love, we don't stop. Not ever. The rejection drove him insane and he left his kingdom and focused on protecting her tiny village, thinking he would eventually win her over.

"Needless to say, that didn't work. His weakened presence drew more demons to the village than before and all he managed to do was piss the woman off. One day, a whole army of demons came to defeat the demon king and claim his throne. They descended on the village. The demon king and the warrior woman fought side by side, but it was too much. In desperation, she cried out to her goddess, and secret knowledge was imparted to her.

"Her power was enhanced and she tore the demon king's heart out directly from his chest and ate it, right there on the battlefield. The other demons stopped their assault and just stared in shock. None of them were able to fell the demon king, but this human woman had killed him in one stroke. After that, she was able to turn demons to ash just by looking at them. Her soul and the soul of the demon king had fused into one and become the Shikon jewel, the jewel of four souls. Two loves, two hates. His love for her, her love for her people. His hatred towards her, and her hatred towards him and his kind. It's stronger than anything.

"The woman marched her people towards the kingdom of the demon who loved her, the demon whose heart she consumed. And she sat on the throne he left vacant and ruled, banishing demons from her kingdom. Her soul was no longer her own, instead locked in an eternal battle separate from her yet still inside her. All that was capable of compassion in her died with the demon king.

"Tsukiyomi was the first queen of Higurashi, right? That's how it happened."

Kagome had heard all about the triumphs and exploits of the first Queen, but never had she heard this version of events.

"The way Kaede always told it in lessons, Queen Tsukiyomi had taken pity on a demon tribal chief and given him shelter after he had lost a battle with some other demons. He told her he loved her and she agreed to be his wife, but really he sought to pillage her village. When she found out he had betrayed her, she slew him and established Higurashi, building her fortress on his grave. The goddess was so pleased with her courage and clear-headedness that she granted her the powers of a priestess, the first. She ruled fairly and free of emotion, as all true Queens do. I never heard anything about a jewel, not the way you're saying it."

Kaede. He instantly recognized the name. The general had either loved Kagome very much or had big plans for her if he'd sought to have her tutored by the chief priestess.

"Whatever the case, we know she was a racist ice queen."

"What does this have to do with you attacking Higurashi?" Kagome asked, miffed at the repeated insults to her ancestress.

"The jewel is the most powerful weapon in this world. It grants any wish so long as it is given blood in return. It craves chaos and violence and death. It's said that only the queens of Higurashi can wield it properly, but that hasn't stopped people from looking for it to serve their own ends. From mother to daughter, the jewel has been passed down through the generations. Most believe it to be myth, but my old man always gave it the benefit of the doubt.

"Eighteen years ago, the ambassador to Higurashi saw the jewel himself. The queen at that time was setting plans to bring Higurashi out of isolation, but she wanted to rid the world of demons entirely before she did so. We knew it would be a slow process, and if the jewel were going to be used against us, we had to strike first. So we've been expanding the empire ever since, gathering men and resources until we were ready to go up against the Shikon itself.

"But then," his fist clenched and he punched the water, splashing Kagome in her stunned face, "that whore queen of yours ran off and took the damn jewel with her. I don't know if her mother taught her how to use it before she died. I don't know what she's planning, if she's gathering her own army, or even where she took refuge. But once I find out, I'm going to make sure that her and her bitch sister will never see the light of day again."

Kagome yelped in shock when she rose to her knees and her mouth stretched open without permission, exposing her breasts to the damned dog.

"Ah, shit," Inuyasha cursed, actually looking a little sheepish. "I forgot about that. But since you're already up…" He grabbed her by the collar and yanked her towards him until she was kneeling over his lap, breasts pressed right against his face. "Perfect." The word sounded like a purr.

And then his mouth was on her nipple and everything－the jewel, her anger, her status－was knocked right out of her head.

The half-demon sucked at her hungrily, lustfully, and the muscles in her thighs trembled when a fang grazed against the hard nub. His tongue was wicked, she decided. It snaked over her skin, making what was already sensitive almost painfully so. When he moaned as though he were the one being pleasured and switched breasts, she swayed and nearly fainted. Not that he noticed. The dog was too intent on nibbling.

"Inuyasha," Kagome breathed in pleasure, not realizing that the enchantment that forced her in the position she was in had been up for a little while yet.

Her fingers tangled in his hair as she searched for what she wanted. There, his ears, fuzzy and warm and soft. At that first contact, he yanked her down hard against him and her pussy met with his hard cock, sliding against it in the water.

The two of them looked at one another, equally dazed. Inuyasha's eyes closed halfway and his face moved closer to her own, palm coming up to cup her cheek.

Kagome turned away before it could happen.

"I'm not giving in. Not ever."

He didn't say anything at first. But then he smirked.

"That's fine."

Her eyes rounded, incredulous. "'That's fine'?" For some reason, those words combined with the way he said them made her so very anxious. "What do you mean?"

He stroked her damp hair and his claws ran over the back of her neck, making her shiver despite the maintained warm temperature of the water.

"You don't have to give in. We can compromise." His hand dipped under the curtain of her hair and cupped the nape of her neck. Now she knew what an animal in a trap felt like. "I can touch you whenever I want. Do whatever I want. Up to a certain point, of course. I'll only go all the way and satisfy you when you give me the word."

"...What's in it for me?" She could barely retain her presence of thought enough to choke out those words.

Inuyasha stopped denying himself and pulled her in for a kiss, hard and closed-mouthed. The answer to her kiss from last night.

"Be a good girl and play with me and I won't take my frustrations out on your sister."

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled and he knew that somewhere, somehow, he had gone wrong.

"Fuck, Kagome, don't cry. I haven't even done anything to make you cry yet today!" She sobbed harder. "Do you want more chocolate? I'll bring you some right now."

A cough interrupted the frantic speech he was about to make and the two of them looked up and noticed Sango. Kagome's eyes immediately became cool and detached and she turned away from the both of them, continuing with her bathing routine.

The shadow made sure her prince noticed her eyeing their closeness and disapproving of the situation she had found them in. It did not befit a member of the Inu royal family to sputter like a virgin boy and attempt to soothe a slave like an idiot. Inuyasha flushed at having been caught behaving in such a manner.

"There has been a eunuch recommended by my father for harem use," Sango announced as she approached the sunken round tub, glancing at the flower blossoms floating inside and then glancing back at her prince. "When should I schedule his training?"

Inuyasha nodded, already distracted by Kagome's movements as she ran her fingers through her hair, applying an oil to her strands that smelled of vanilla and amber. Without noticing it, he drifted closer to her.

"Recommended by your father?" he repeated, barely listening. "Uh, why don't you train him yourself. You're the best, after all. Assign him to the rooms next to mine. He'll be Kagome's personal guard."

The sound of Hiraikotsu hitting the floor had both of them looking at Sango in astonishment.

"You're giving a slave the Room of Hidden Beauty!?" she cried in disbelief. "My prince, that is more of a museum than anything else. It's too good for a slave, especially that Higurashi slave."

Inuyasha was a second away from reprimanding his shadow when Kagome stood up. Normally, he would have taken the time to admire the water streaming down her pale skin and making it sparkle, but the blue hellfire in her eyes made sure he could only focus on her face.

Kagome chucked the glass bottle of hair oil at Sango and hit her right in the eye.

"I am the one that is too good for some dead whore's bedchamber," she said, and for a second, the authority in her voice made him believe it.

Sango didn't hear her, bent over in pain with both hands covering her wounded eye. The half-demon was worried for two reasons. One, no enemy on any battlefield had managed to land a hit like that on his shadow. Two, Sango was giving Kagome a look like she was going to drag her out of the tub by her hair and strangle her with her bare hands.

"You okay?" he asked, feeling ridiculous.

"Yes," she hissed, her uncovered eye glaring at the girl. "Give me a half a minute alone with that bitch and I'll be a lot better."

That was when his slave recovered her idiot nature and attempted to flee. Before she could even reach the edge of the tub, Inuyasha had his arms around her waist and flung her over the shoulder, leaping out of the water with ease. The slave knew enough not to struggle by now, but he could feel the rage radiating off her body and wished she was smart enough to realize he knew just how to turn that feeling into something else and channel that energy until it exploded into something they would both enjoy.

Marching through his rooms, he went to his personal favorite of the secret passageways that connected his to hers. The bookshelf was full of various titles on the subjugation of humans and their natural inferiority, perhaps what his predecessor had thought of as a joke. Once he pushed that aside, he hit the brick wall in just the right place so that it would turn, providing him an open doorway. From there it was just a short walk to the dainty little gold-painted door embellished with flowers. For now, it was unlocked, but the key was somewhere only he knew and he'd make sure to keep it locked up tight so the idiot girl wouldn't get away.

The room was dark but he could see just fine. A little thrill ran through him when he realized she couldn't and that was why her struggles had begun anew.

Dumping her on the bed, he hovered over her, pinning her down so she couldn't jump up and run back to where they had come like she was desperately trying to do. Kagome was shaking from the darkness, blindly trying to throw him off so she could get back to where the light was. Even if she had to face that malicious woman, she didn't care. Getting hit by her was better than being trapped in a dark room. It took her awhile to realize, but eventually she noticed that the struggles of her damp body were making Inuyasha think she was trying something else.

His lips came down on hers and she went completely still.

In the bathing pool, when he had said the word and began to touch her, she had almost lost her mind entirely. That instantly ignited desire he had sent coursing through her had been a form of madness and it seemed like the easiest and most natural thing in the world to see the course and experience for herself that almost violent pleasure she had witnessed him give his female guard. But then he had sat her down in his lap and she had felt it and her mind had returned to her.

Kagome pushed him away again, but not too far, since he was the only thing she knew in the darkness.

"For fuck's sake," he groaned, sounding torn between amusement and pain. "Make this easy on yourself and either stop acting like you want it before pushing me away or just give into what we both want."

"What makes you think I want it?"

He growled and the sound made her stomach flip, made goosebumps rise all over her body, made her eyes flutter and her breath hitch. One of his fingers touched her throat above the collar and traveled in a straight line down to her navel and she shivered in his arms.

"That," he choked out. "That told me."

Her heart was beating fast from fear and the darkness was somehow contributing to her want for him. It was a shameful thing to want him, but it was natural, she told herself. The dog might be a dirty demon, but he was beautiful, too. His face, his arms, his chest… All perfect. Her hands explored what she couldn't see, longing for that small reassurance. When her fingers brushed over his thick brows she felt the small muscles there twitch like butterfly's wings.

He'd told her to play his game. For Kikyo's sake, he'd said. But what if she played one of her own?

Kagome's hands were already cupping his face and so it only required that one little idea of hers to give her permission to bring his face to hers for a kiss. Since it was dark, their noses met first, and she smiled when she finally found his mouth.

Inuyasha was slow to respond and she guessed he was stunned. She took the opportunity to lead the kiss, to explore him, not caring whether he enjoyed what she was doing or not, only wanting to have this contact. His lips were so soft she could scarcely believe the hard words that constantly left them. She tested it further by nibbling his lower lip, which was far too full and sweetly-shaped for a man, and darted her tongue out to soothe whatever sting he would insist he did not feel. His fangs were not quite as sharp as she'd feared and she flicked her tongue against the both of them, surprising herself when the warm feeling in her stomach and chest nearly doubled.

The half-demon reacted by switching from holding her down to winding his arms around her and pressing them closer together. Her breasts were smashed against his chest and she whimpered as he kissed and tongued her neck and shoulder, the small movements providing the tiniest bit of friction that stimulated her already aching hard nipples. That hard thing between his legs, the thing he had taught her was called a cock, was pressed against her thigh, warm and tempting. Her fingers sought out his ears again and his mouth was drawn back to hers almost magnetically, enticing, seducing, begging…

Of their own accord, her legs wrapped around his waist and her hips rose. Just like in the bath, her pussy was sliding along his cock, only this time she did it on purpose and she didn't stop, didn't want to stop.

"Fuck, please tell me that moron doctor had you drinking the tea."

Those words, said in such a strained and pleading voice, broke the moment and ruined it entirely.

"You can get off me now," Kagome said, shoving him away.

Inuyasha nearly tore his hair out and howled at the sudden loss of her body heat. What the fuck had gone wrong? One minute she was all over him and he was convinced she was going to pin him down and fuck him, and the next she was acting like a bitch little ice queen. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down, but then he smelled something he hated.

Fear.

She was scared of him.

No sooner did he think that and experience the perplexing accompanying pain like a punch to the gut did she grab his hand.

"Inuyasha, can you please turn on the lamp?"

The dark. Kagome was scared of the dark. Suddenly, he felt so relieved, so grateful that it wasn't him who had frightened her. Reaching over, he lit the lamp on the bedside table and illuminated the delicate and feminine little room that was now hers. Kagome immediately relaxed and he watched her, studied her.

The low light combined with the remaining dampness of her skin made her look glowing and ethereal. Naked but for her collar, she was on her back on the bed, legs still spread slightly. Inuyasha realized he had never really seen her clean before. Dirty, yes. After a sponge bath, yes. And he had wanted her even then. But now she was so fresh and he could really smell her, really see her. He wanted to touch her, wanted to run his hands all over her body and then do the same thing with his lips and tongue. Fuck, but he wished he could just plant himself right there between her legs and kiss her there before driving into her…

Belatedly, he realized her eyes were fixated on his cock, which had just twitched at the thought of fucking her. It twitched again when he noticed she was looking and she flinched back.

"Here," he said, not thinking as he grabbed her wrist. "Touch it. Feel it."

To his surprise and hers, Kagome allowed her hand to be guided to his cock. Remembering the violent stabbing motions he had made inside Sango had made her think of it as kind of scary, but that perception was at odds with how she had reacted to it. This wasn't like when he had forced her to do this before. She wasn't frightened. She was curious. It was soft and hard all at once and her mouth watered as she traced the most prominent vein. Gods, but why was she thinking about taking it in her mouth when she knew it wouldn't feel good or even taste good? In absentminded fascination, she rubbed the liquid that was dripping from the tip over the head of his cock, glancing at his face and taking pleasure in his glazed eyes, his parted lips.

Leaning up on one elbow, she kissed him.

"Your guard is watching us, and she's jealous," she whispered against his lips before pulling away from him and taking her slow and sweet hand back.

Brought back to earth, Inuyasha glanced at the doorway and cursed internally at the sight of an enraged Sango with a rapidly darkening black eye. Waving a hand, he dismissed her, but her footsteps only took her a few feet away down the passage.

"If you had given in," he said, voice hoarse, "I wasn't going to punish you for what you did to Sango. But now I have to."

Kagome vividly remembered the whipping. She wasn't exactly scared. The throbbing between her legs returned threefold.

Darting her tongue out to wet her lower lip, she met his eyes. "What are you going to do to me?"

That breathy voice hit Inuyasha and suddenly he couldn't think. "Fuck, you're… You're…" He couldn't finish the sentence. A thousand things ran through his head but none of them could be translated to words. All the blood that was supposed to be in his brain was somewhere else at the moment.

She laughed and he almost physically felt a shift in their power dynamic. It was enough to slap him back to sanity.

"You're staying in a haunted room," he said. "Anyone who has this room is cursed. That's why it's been empty until now."

"W-what!?"

"After the untimely death of the prince's mistress, he shut himself up in here with her body and went insane. His spirit is said to still linger in the palace searching for her, and he gets pretty mad when he realizes the one sleeping in his lover's bed isn't her."

"You're lying!" she said, but he could tell by the horrified look in her eyes that she believed every word.

He shrugged. "Believe it or not, it's your funeral. Anyway, I'll decide your punishment later. You're not going to get a warning. It'll be a complete surprise. I'll have some servants drop off some essentials later. That is, if you're still alive."

Snickering to himself, he let himself out and locked the door. Were all Higurashi citizens so stupid and superstitious or was it just her? The pampered bastard daughter of the general... Now that was an interesting subject that deserved more thought and investigation.

Based solely on the differences between the two sisters that had become apparent in the short time he'd owned them, he could see that they had lived drastically different lives. On every level, they were different. Their bodies, their personalities, their intelligence level. Kikyo had always been out fighting. Her body was covered in scars and she was stoic and serious. Her muscles were well-trained and defined, larger than a woman of leisure would have cultivated, though her time in the harem had already affected some delightful changes in her figure. Perhaps her father had been a soldier and she had followed in his footsteps.

Kagome, on the other hand, was a sheltered, spoiled brat. There wasn't a single physical flaw, just all unblemished soft flesh. Her sister was a bull bred for battle and she was veal. Her privilege was an obvious sign of favoritism. She was used to issuing commands and getting her way. Her tutor had been the chief warrior in the kingdom yet she was still dumb as rocks.

The thought occurred to him that if his father had not loved his mother so much and crowned her, then he would have been the same as Kagome. Just a bastard. If only her mother were different, that one factor, then she would have been a princess. The princess of Higurashi. Then maybe there wouldn't have had to be a war or even these fucking dances his mother was so set on. He smirked at the thought. Kagome would hate being chief wife and he himself would probably regret it the rest of her life, which would thankfully be much shorter than his, but wouldn't it be interesting while it lasted?

As soon as he was back in his chambers, Sango stomped over to him.

"What are you going to do with that little bitch?"

It took him a second to remember what she was talking about, but her black eye jogged his memory. "Uh, no idea. I'll figure it out."

She raised a brow. "That's it? You'll 'figure it out'?"

Something in her tone made him feel confrontational. "Yeah, and?"

"This isn't like you! You've become so different ever since this Higurashi slave was thrust on you. You even let her call you by your first name!"

"Just go and send word to your father to send the eunuch at once. Train him especially well. Nothing else regarding her concerns you."

Her lip trembled at his cold tone. "My prince, I didn't mean－"

"I don't care! I have enough going on with Mother's meddling and the fucking ball coming up. I don't need shit coming from you too."

"I'm sorry." She put her arms around him and kissed his closed mouth. "I'm sorry, my prince. Let me take care of at least this for you…"

"Your mouth," he said. "I want your mouth."

Something told him that if the one who had inspired his current state were the same one willing to relieve him of it, they would be on the bed right now. But if it wasn't her, he didn't want to spend the time. All he needed was to get rid of his desire so he could go on with his day.

O\o/O

The way the sun streamed down and brought out the hidden red in Rin's hair made Sesshomaru's heart clench. While he himself was sitting under a parasol and served chilled tea by a servant while being fanned by another, Rin had waved off all who approached her with similar intentions, preferring to sit in the grass in her fine clothes and allow her skin to be browned just the tiniest bit more. She was thoroughly unlike the women of Inu, especially the court women, and that was what made him love her. That love made him hate himself, but he was fairly used to that by the time she came along, so he didn't blame or resent her in the least.

Unable to bear the distance, even though the servants were watching, he crossed over to where she was and sat beside her. She glanced at him and smiled but seemed distracted.

"You have been avoiding the garden of late, Rin," he finally ventured to say.

Hearing the unasked question, she took a second before responding. "It is nothing, my lord. I simply tired of the breeze. It…it was too sharp and it bothered my eyes and made them water."

"Bring us a tent," Sesshomaru ordered the servants.

Rin noticed what he didn't care enough to see: the eyerolls, the mutterings, the glares in her direction. She knew what they would say before they'd even started. Why should someone like her, someone born to be lower than dirt, be treated like royalty? Even she did not have an answer for them. Her lord was simply too kind. So kind it defied all sense and logic. Could that be considered a fault? She was not sure.

"I am fine, my lord," she said. "Please do not go to such trouble for my sake."

"Nonsense. I said I would provide for you and I will."

"For how long, my lord?" She hadn't meant to say it. Gods knew she hadn't even known she was thinking such a thing. But that was it. It was out.

His eyes sharpened and focused in a way she was not used to seeing be directed at her. Like she was an opponent. "What do you mean?"

She had already come this far, she decided. "What is my place, my lord?"

"Rin…" The only time he allowed himself to show any emotion was when he said her name. "You are hurting."

"I am not a palace servant. I am not quite your ward. I am not a lady. My status is ambiguous, my lord. When they don't know what to think of me, they think of me as worse than nothing." Tears gathered in her eyes and she didn't want to let them fall, didn't want to show her lord how very much this had been bothering her, but she wasn't strong enough. Not like him. "My lord, would it not be better for me to be with other humans? Where I belong?"

"Rin." This time her name was a command. Cease and desist. "Your place is at my side."

She could no longer look in those eyes. "…I cannot go on like this, my lord."

"Am I not enough?"

The tears flowed faster now and she kept her eyes on the ground. "That was never the case. I simply do not want to continue to be the only blight on your reputation."

"That is nothing," he said dismissively. "What is it you want, Rin? I will give you anything. Only say the word."

"What I want…" she trailed off, searching inside her heart for the words. "What I want is something no one has the power to give me."

"You want to leave. Leave the palace, leave me." His hand grabbed her chin and he forced her to look at him, to show her everything that was written on her face. "You are in love. With whom? How did it happen?"

"My lord!" she sobbed, and whether it was a protest or an admission, not even she could tell. "I can't!"

For the first time, Rin ran from him. Since childhood, she had sworn to follow him always, to repay him in any way possible for what he had given her. But now she could no longer bear it. If things were as simple as just him and her, nothing could prevent her from being by his side in any capacity he wanted her. However, they didn't live in that world. She cried as she ran to the far end of the palace, not caring at the looks the servants gave her or the jeering taunts they said just loud enough for her to hear.

All she wanted was someone to talk to. Her lord had always been there for her, but sometimes she wanted to talk about him with others, just to share. A girl, someone like her, someone to confide in. A friend. Another human caught up in a demon's game.

The wind made her stop.

Years ago she had learned to differentiate between a true breeze and one manipulated by the wind witch. This one was beckoning her, playing with her hair. Rin sought refuge in a storage room that she guessed had last been used in the decade before her birth, but it didn't work. Wherever there was air, Kagura could find her. The wind went from a gentle invitation to a cutting bellow in an instant as soon as it recognized her rebellion.

Rin obeyed.

The wind led her to a part of the palace that she was not familiar with. It was not quite the dungeons, but close enough. Down and down and down the stairs she went until she wondered how deep in the cloud the palace rested on could she possibly go. Finally, the wind came to a stop in what appeared to be a cellar that contained old things that were too important to throw away. The previous emperor's saddle for his favorite dragon, a broken sword, ancient coronation robes… She wandered the stacks, wondering how much of her time Kagura would take today.

"Hello, rose bud."

Rin froze. She knew the voice, but she could not see him. The words seem to come from all around her, from everywhere there was darkness.

"L-Lord Naraku?"

"Smart girl. You remember."

"...Where is my lady? She called me here."

"Kagura called you on my behalf. I wanted to tell you some things."

"What things?" Her heart was beating in fright. Where was Kagura? What was going on?

"I am your ally, Rin. Your ally and every human's."

"I need to be going back to my lord now. He's looking for me."

"He is with his lady wife. Now sit down and listen, child."

A force compelled her to sit down and she yelped as she fell to the floor.

"Do you remember what your life was like before demons got involved?"

Slowly, she nodded. "My family. We were always together. And then the war happened. I don't remember what started it, and they all died."

"You were left alone."

"No! I had my lord!"

"Very well then. But allow me to tell you this, child. What happened to your kingdom, to your family, was mild compared to other places. Higurashi, for example. There is nothing left of the place. It was completely decimated, its people genocided."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"You, my dear, are a human in a demon's world. It has everything to do with you."

"It's not like I can stop it. I'm not even allowed to leave the palace."

"No. But you can go anywhere you want within it and no one thinks twice."

"Well, yes…"

"Sesshomaru has been kind to you, has he not?"

"Yes. The kindest."

"As emperor, don't you think he would be kind towards humans considering how greatly he values you?"

"Well, um," she shifted uncomfortably. "That won't be for a very long time yet, long after I'm gone. It's possible he won't remember me, at least not much."

"This world needs a new leader of Inu. A kind leader."

Something fell from the ceiling onto her lap. A vial of something dark, something liquid.

"What is this?" she asked, afraid to touch it.

"Liquid miasma. When you are ready, put a drop of it in the emperor's evening tea. No more, no less. Just a drop."

"You want me to poison the emperor!?" Rin asked in horror. She threw the vial across the room. "I could never do that! No!"

The force pressed her down even harder than before and she was facedown on the floor, gasping for breath. The vial rolled back towards her.

"When you are ready, Rin, you will do as I say. Because you are a smart girl, and you know that no one will take your word over mine. There are many I could have chosen for this task, but I chose you. One of those many might receive word that the crown prince should be poisoned instead. I know you think him to be a god, but let's look at the facts. He has lived comfortably in the palace since his half-breed brother took his arm. Many think even a human could best him as he is now. He doesn't stand a chance, Rin."

"My lord…" she whimpered, the agony squeezing her heart greater than the gravity squeezing the breath from her lungs.

"I will give you time. Time to get used to this idea. If you begin to take too long, I will let you know. But know you are doing a great thing, Rin. You are going to be the savior of the world, of the human race. They will write songs of your bravery. Your place will be higher than the stars in the sky."

Rin choked on more tears, wondering if that place above the stars would cost the favor of her lord.

O\o/O

"Oh. It's you."

Miroku thrilled at the voice of his lady in leather almost as much as he thrilled at the sight of how she bent over to set down her weapon. The black eye she sported was different, but he guessed that was part and parcel of being a guard to the warrior prince. He decided its bluish-purple coloring was more beautiful a shade than that belonging to the fruit of passion they would share on their honeymoon.

"My dearest, I have fought my way through the rigorous training of your people and ascended to the skies themselves to once again be reunited with－"

"Shut up. This is yours." She tossed a spear at him point-first and he caught it with a shrill scream. "Are you sure you're the eunuch my father recommended?"

"Of course, queen of my heart! Nothing could keep me from from your side. Not wolves, not dragons, not bloodthirsty, violent, raging－"

"The prince has decided that you are not to be guarding the harem as a whole but rather one of his slaves in particular." She walked past him and he trotted obediently behind her.

Miroku visibly deflated before perking up again. "I guess that means she is the woman dearest to him. She must be a great beauty."

"More like a great pain in the ass."

"You don't like her?"

"She's a manipulative little bitch who has taken advantage of the prince's present internal chaos to weasel herself into a preferential position."

"Smart and beautiful. Human as well, correct? It's said that the prince prefers human women."

"The dungeon guards were convinced she was a bakeneko in disguise."

"...Are you quite sure that just one guard is sufficient?"

Sango laughed and his heart skipped a beat at the sound. "Just don't let her surprise you. She nearly castrated the prince, but obviously that wouldn't be a problem for you."

They arrived in a richly decorated hall that held no doors and the shadow stopped in the middle of it. Pushing aside a tapestry of a fair young maiden with a gigantic dog demon completely revealed in his true form sleeping peacefully with his head in her lap, she gave the stone wall a mighty push and he saw the woman he was to guard for the first time.

She was exceedingly beautiful and entirely naked.

Kagome screamed at the sudden intrusion and held a sheet up to cover her nude form. A second later, a wild-eyed silver-haired demon burst from the door behind her.

"What!? What happened? What's wrong? Talk to me, Kagome. Are you okay?"

"It's just us, my prince."

The half-demon relaxed when he noticed Sango, but eyed Miroku warily, putting himself between his slave and the two of them.

"This is the eunuch?"

"Yes, my prince. I was going to introduce him to his charge but it appears as though your slave has grown rather used to prancing about without clothes."

"I don't even have clothes!" Kagome cried. "And I didn't know you were coming or even that there was a door there."

"Well, he met her. Nothing more to see here." Inuyasha was glaring at Miroku and the human man wondered if Sango noticed him trembling.

"M-my name is Miroku, Lady Kagome," he managed. "I will be your guard from this point forward. Worry not, your beauty struck me blind with its radiance at first glance and your form is too much perfection for my simple mind to contain."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Sango said, grabbing Miroku by the tail of his hair and tugging him away, "that he will be professional and forget what he saw. Good day, my prince."

"My dearest Lady Sango," Miroku said as they made their way out the door. "Do not ever think I would prefer that girl, shining beauty though she is, to your noble and bodacious－"

Slap! "Don't touch me there, pervert!"

And they were gone.

"What's a eunuch?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha sighed. "A eunuch is someone we don't have to worry about employing as a guard because he doesn't have the equipment to fuck you."

"When am I getting my clothes?"

He looked her up and down and was pleased when she didn't cringe or shy away and instead met his gaze head-on.

"I like your hair up. Your neck looks delicious. You'll be getting all your girly stuff after your punishment."

Kagome blanched. "Right now?"

"Might as well. Sit on the bed."

She thought about rebelling and glanced at the secret doorway Sango and Miroku had gone through.

Inuyasha pushed down on her shoulders until she was sitting just as he'd demanded. "You're not getting out. That door can only be opened from the outside. Impenetrable, Kagome. Remember that."

"What are you going to do to me?" She was already on the bed. Was he going to spread her out and take the whip to her again? Or would he spank her as he had in the carriage? That wasn't so bad.

Inuyasha was going through the drawers of the vanity. "I thought I left some in here just in case… Ah, there we go." He brought out a jar and knelt in front of her, right between her spread legs. "This is a topical aphrodisiac. Hold still."

He opened the jar and the smell of cinnamon filled the room. "What's that do?"

Inuyasha ignored her and took a dollop of the jelly-like substance, applying it to her left nipple. Kagome gasped at the cold and then hot sensation. Another dollop was rubbed on her right nipple.

"This might be overkill, but what you did to Sango was out of line."

Jelly-covered fingers circled her clit and rubbed it furiously until she felt like she was going to explode. Just when she was beginning to moan his name, he removed his hand and stuck it back in the jar only to put two fingers inside her pussy, jamming them as far as they could go. It hurt a little but she had to bite her lip to keep from begging for more. When her eager pussy had squeezed and absorbed most of the aphrodisiac, he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked on them, making sure she held his eyes as he did so.

Wicked eyes, wicked tongue, wicked hands.

Kagome moaned in disgusted defeat at the sight and dragged him to her by his forelocks for a kiss. Her lips and tongue tingled with the remnant jelly and she felt herself grow more frantic. What was going on? Her entire body was humming and singing and begging. Her thighs were sticky with her own juices and she wanted to rub her breasts and pinch her nipples while the stupid dog put his fingers inside her again.

Inuyasha broke away and gave her a look that was not quite a glare but held a similar angry intensity. "You wanna get fucked or you wanna get punished?"

She smiled at him, unaware of how dopey and drunk she looked. Just like she had on that night. Her hands cupped his face, and when he wouldn't allow her to pull him back under her spell for another kiss, she traced his cheekbones, his jaw, his lips. Small beads of sweat dotted her brow.

"I will never give you permission."

"Punishment it is."

She yelped when something bit at her breasts and looked down to see a clamp on each nipple with a chain in between. Another chain trailed down her stomach and she shivered at the cool ticklish feeling. Inuyasha spread her pussy lips apart and she cursed herself for opening her legs wider, turning her hips up just for a small sliver of hope that his tongue would descend and make her feel good. When he put a third clamp on her clit, she cried out.

"For how long are you going to leave me in this?" she asked. She wasn't sure how long she could stand it. Her nipples were already pulsing angrily and she felt that any brush against her clit would send her out of her mind.

Again, he ignored her question.

"You've got my favorite kind of pussy," he said slowly, the tip of his index finger running up and down her slit. "Nice and pink and needy. You wanna come but you're not willing to do what it takes. I know I'm giving you a hard time, and it's gonna get a whole lot fucking worse, but I'll tell you now that I like it. Keep it going, Kagome. Drive yourself and myself crazy. Then I won't have to think about what happens in a few months…" Absentmindedly, he plucked at her clit and rubbed the little red bump of it that wasn't trapped by the clamp.

"W-what happens in a f-few m-m-months?"

"Bite the chain, bitch."

Kagome fell on her knees to the floor and put the chain in her mouth, biting it like he commanded. Her breasts were lifted by the nipples and she whined at the slight pain. Her clit was being tugged upward too and the madness rushed over her, made her want to rub herself over the carpet for the friction, throw herself at the dog's feet and beg him to show her what it would be like to be one of his whores.

"We're going on a walk, bitch. Hands and knees, a dog and her master."

She wanted to protest, wanted to tell him hell no and fight him tooth and nail, but she couldn't even move her jaw. Against her will, she put her palms on the ground. At least this position gave her burning nipples and clit some relief.

Inuyasha patted her on the head like a pet. "Good girl. The spell will wear off soon, but you're going to keep that chain in your mouth and your face to the floor like a good bitch. Know why? Because every show of disobedience you give me during this punishment earns your lovely sister ten lashes."

Tears stung her eyes and she nodded to show she understood.

"Stop acting like that," he grumbled, fixing a leather leash to her collar and pulling her along. "This isn't even that bad."

He should be the one on the leash, she thought. He should be the one enslaved.

When she got back to Higurashi, that was exactly what she'd do.

Inuyasha led her through his room and out the door and she saw the halls of the palace for the first time. Everything looked like it had been made by the god of craft for the goddess herself. Since every peek cost her a sharp pain to her breasts and pussy, she kept her eyes down after the first few minutes. It was better this way. This way she didn't have to look at the people they encountered, if demons could even be called people.

"My prince," a woman curtsied. Her shoes were made of gold cloth. Kagome had once had a pair like those, though not as fine and not with high heels. She'd only ever owned delicate slippers…

"My lady," Inuyasha stopped to chat. "How is your mother?"

"Very well, my prince. The new properties granted us by your father have been quite profitable and she is back in high spirits."

"Nothing is too much for the widow of one of Inu's finest."

"Is that a new slave? You already have so many, my prince. Whatever shall your future princess think?"

"Do princesses think?" The two of them laughed. "Yes. This slut is fresh out of Higurashi.'

"Oh gods. Well, that explains the smell."

The chain ground between her teeth.

Inuyasha chuckled. "I think you're upsetting my pretty pet."

"She can understand us? How marvelous. Have you taught her any other tricks?"

Kagome was about to spring at the woman in the gold shoes, but Inuyasha put a hand on her head and stroked her hair, idly toying with her high ponytail. That's right. Kikyo. She had to stay quiet and act like a slave for Kikyo. She'd already let her down so much and so often. This punishment was light compared to what she really deserved.

"Do you have any slaves of your own, my lady?"

"None for pleasure, not at the moment. But when you tire of this one, let me know. She's the only Higurashi woman I've seen that lives up to the legend of their beauty."

"If that happens, you'll be the first on my list."

The conversation continued for another agonizing few minutes before they said their goodbyes and the walk continued.

"I'm not giving you away," he said once they turned a corner. "So don't try and turn those eyes on anyone else hoping they'll make a bid for you and take you from me. It won't work. You're mine." A tug on her leash emphasized his words.

Every time he encountered someone in the hall, he stopped to have a conversation. She'd never been out with him before, but something told her this was the exact opposite of his normal behavior. To her surprise, she felt far less humiliation than she suspected she would. None of the palace inhabitants were people she respected. They could not shame her, not much. Many of them commented on her beauty, and the men always brought up her heated scent.

"Prince Inuyasha, you scoundrel! With a slave girl who smells that hot for you, how do you resist it?"

"Practice."

That one detail made things hard to bear. The nudity, the chains, the leash: all could be borne in relative ease when she thought of what she owed her sister. But having people smell that she craved to be touched? That was too much.

Kagome turned inward. When she was back in Higurashi, she would rebuild the castle, this time a hundred thousand times stronger than it had been before. She'd gather a few trusted warriors and sneak into the Inu palace and kidnap the prince. They'd take him back to Higurashi, the place he despised most, and she'd find a priestess to subdue him. Then he would be her slave. Her dog. Her bitch. And she'd walk him through her halls, just like this…

"What are you thinking about that's making you this horny? Quit it or you're gonna summon every fucking demon in this place."

"My puppy! What brings you out today? Oh, and a pretty new slave. How sweet."

"Hey, Mom."

Kagome froze. The tiny feet in elaborately carved ebony sandals belonged to his mother?

"What's her name? Introduce us."

"Say hi to my mother, bitch. And don't drop the chain."

The curse resounded through her body from the leather collar she wore and she rose to her knees. The immediate tug on her nipples and clit only worsened when Inuyasha tipped her head back and forced her to look his mother in her violet eyes.

"Oh my. Very pretty indeed. Of Higurashi extraction, correct?"

"Yup. Her name's Kagome. She's…difficult."

"I can see that. The fire in her eyes is the same as yours, my puppy." Izayoi came closer and peered into her face. Kagome lowered her gaze and felt her cheeks flush. It was one thing to be paraded about and another entirely to be studied up close. She almost jumped when she noticed Izayoi held a leash attached to a demon male, his tail wagging and his cock bobbing as he wordlessly begged for his queen's attention. Like mother, like son.

Izayoi finally looked back at Inuyasha. "I don't think you're going to break this one, my sweet baby boy. But she'll be a nice project for you to take your frustrations out on before your bride is chosen. Oh, the candidates are arriving next week, by the way. We'll have as many balls as it takes and narrow down the pool every time. Oh, it's so romantic!"

"Keh, I can think of a few other words that would describe it better." He tugged on her leash. "We're going back the way we came, Kagome. Hurry up."

Inuyasha walked so fast that her collar began to choke her and she had to scramble to keep up. Her erratic movements made the chain tug and she felt herself reach a new level of agony. The juices were streaming down her thighs and the fast pace Inuyasha was maintaining made the friction that much worse. When they finally returned back to her room, she began to sob and hyperventilate. It was too much. She was feeling so much.

"Shit," Inuyasha hissed, immediately removing the chains. "It's over, okay, Kagome? It's all over. You're all right."

Gasping, she threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. He said more soothing things to her that she couldn't listen to in her current state and kissed her everywhere his lips could reach.

She had liked it.

Kagome had expected to suffer heroically, to be a martyr of sorts for her Queen like in the stories, but she had liked the feel of the clamps and the chains. She had liked being shown off to strangers. She had liked it when demons whose faces she couldn't see told her she was pretty and that they wanted her. She had liked it.

"I'm sorry, Kagome, I swear I won't do it again, okay? It's over, it's all over."

"I-It's over?" she choked out.

"That's right. Now we can－"

Kagome punched him in the face.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for!?"

"For everything!" she shrieked. "Now get out and have someone bring me something to wear."

"You can't just fucking dismiss me like that! I'm not a goddamn servant. You're my slave, and you need to start understanding that. Now you're getting a different punishment."

"What?" she gaped at him. "But you said it was over!"

"My prince, I have stationed the eunuch outside the room for now. I will continue his training in the morning."

"Perfect timing, Sango. Shut the door and strip."

The shadow obeyed but had a dubious look on her face. "What is this about? Does she need another lesson? So soon?"

"Kagome never learns," he said, eyes still on the slave. "If I were human, she would have broken my fucking nose. I'm surprised she didn't bust her stupid fucking hand."

"I would gladly break my hand to break your stupid fucking face," Kagome shot back.

"Just get on the bed, Sango."

While Sango began the process of taking off her leather suit, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's chin. She didn't even flinch. That one thing made him lose the speech he had prepared to give her and all he could do was kiss her. He was pissed off and wanted to fuck her. She smelled so fucking good… Kagome kissed him back with the same kind of hunger and rage. Oh fuck, but taking her out like that had been a mistake. Now everyone would know about her. Everyone would want her.

At his signal, Sango tugged Kagome on the bed next to her.

"The two of you need to learn to get along," he announced, undressing himself.

Inuyasha didn't mean to, but he found himself on top of Kagome, mouth glued to hers. He had wanted to go to Sango first, in apology as well as to humble the slave a little bit, but Kagome's pussy was just so ready for a fucking and it drew him to her like a moth to a flame. Her legs went around him instantly and it took everything he had not to just plunge inside her and stop the fucking game they were playing.

Sango's gentle touch to his back cleared his mind.

With a gasp, he tore himself away from her mouth and moved down her body. Her nipples were hard and bruised and he touched his tongue to one, hearing her hiss.

"Do they hurt?" he murmured.

"Yes." Her voice was breathy. Her voice was sex. "Suck them hard, Inuyasha. I want to feel your fangs."

Her breast muffled his groan and Inuyasha attacked her savagely, kissing and sucking and licking and even biting her tender nipples until Kagome was openly crying his name and rubbing her pussy up and down his thigh. More. She wanted more, was screaming for more…

Another touch to his back.

Inuyasha withdrew, shaking his head to clear it. His cock was angrily swollen, pulsing with need for the girl who was spread out beneath him, dark sapphire eyes half-lidded, breasts heaving.

He stroked himself to the sight of her, wanting to see his cum paint her body, coat her insides, spill out of her pulsing cunt and onto the sheets.

"Do you want this?" he asked, unaware of how intense his eyes were and how much his lustful gaze could look like hatred.

Their eyes locked for a timeless moment and then she crossed her legs, wordlessly refusing him.

Pissed off anew, Inuyasha grabbed Sango by the ankles and dragged her half on top of Kagome. In a second, he was inside her, eyes rolling back in his head at the sweet relief of a pussy clutching his cock. He could still smell her, smell the slave everywhere in the air. He opened his mouth in a groan. He could taste her on his tongue. He wanted more.

Plunging his fingers inside, he ignored her shocked squeak of protest and fingered her until her head was thrown back and she was bucking against his hand. Then he removed the pleasure from her, smirking at the distressed face she made at the loss. Inuyasha smeared Kagome's arousal all over Sango's breasts just like he had earlier applied the aphrodisiac to his slave's.

"Play nice," he said, and shoved Kagome's face onto Sango's left breast.

Sango grunted in distaste and Kagome tried to move away but he held her there. It took longer than he would have liked, but the aphrodisiac gel was still lingering and Kagome lost herself.

It wasn't like she wanted to do it, she knew that. Sango was mean and she didn't like her. And she was covered in scars and smelled like dead cow. But her skin was soft and warm and the more she felt the nipple poke against her lips, the more she wondered what it would be like to take it in her mouth. This was for Kikyo, she reminded herself. She had to do what he said most of the time. Compromise. He said this was a compromise.

Kagome took her first taste of tit since she was a baby. Her own nipples were burning and she wanted Inuyasha to suck on them again, but he'd made it clear that this was as close as she was going to get. Something tangy and sweet filled her mouth and she recognized the flavor of her pussy. It made her hungrier for contact and she switched breasts, moaning in pleasure as she licked the other one clean.

Inuyasha watched his slave go wild on his shadow and his hips lost their rhythm as they continued to plunge into Sango. The look on his shadow's face was pure bliss and he knew she had completely forgotten who exactly it was that was nibbling on her nipples just the way she liked. Seeing Kagome's sweet face covered in her own pussy juice and saliva as she sucked on Sango's tits completely undid him and he barely had enough time to stick his fingers in his mouth and taste his slave as he came. His shadow's hips rose and she followed him into bliss with a wail.

Uncaring that her partners had finished, Kagome continued in her task. Her sucking noises were keeping him hard and Inuyasha pulled her off of Sango, kissing her on her dazed mouth.

"Good job, Kagome. You too, Sango."

"Do you need me for anything else, my prince?"

He thought about it. "Nah. You can bathe in Kagome's bathroom. I'll take her back to my bed."

She froze. "You're taking her…to your bed?"

Inuyasha pretended it was normal. "Yeah, so? This one needs to be cleaned and she's already slept in there anyway." His sheets still smelled of her. Everything smelled of her.

"I…" She glanced between the stone faced half-demon and the almost concussed-looking slave girl. "Fine. Do it your way."

Inuyasha tugged Kagome to her feet and pulled her after him, holding her close when she stumbled. Leaving the door open for Sango, he grabbed a couple towels and dipped them in the bathing pool. When she made no move to take the towel he offered her, he cleaned her himself, gently and thoroughly. Maybe a little too thoroughly. By the time he was done, her knees were shaking.

He slapped her ass, and the dumb look on her face disappeared. "Get in bed."

"Don't tell me what to do!" she scowled, but crawled in all the same.

Inuyasha got in next to her. "Lamp stays on, right?"

"...I don't care."

He smiled and moved to kiss her, but she turned away. Ugh, what the fuck was wrong with her now?

"You never told me you were getting married."

Well. That came out of nowhere.

"What do you care?"

"I don't!" she said, more emphatically than when she had insisted that she did not need a nightlight. "It's just… What happens then? When you get a wife, do I get my freedom?"

She sounded more anxious than excited. Inuyasha cupped her face and this time she let him kiss her lightly on the lips. He lingered and kissed her again and again.

"I don't want that," he whispered. "Do you want that?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Inuyasha smirked. "You're smart enough to know most lies can't get past this nose. Okay, then. Let's be honest. Just this once. Just because we've both been through a lot today."

"Okay," she nodded.

"I like you." It wasn't the first time he had said it. Not really. He had been telling her that in all sorts of ways ever since he had first seen her. "I like you more than the others. I meant it when I said that I think we can even be friends."

"How can I be friends with someone who is constantly trying to rape me and thinks they own me?"

"Fine. Be that way. Sorry for fucking trying."

Kagome knew she shouldn't feel bad for being honest. Heck, he had even told her to be honest! This was the man who had destroyed her country, taken everything from her and her people, enslaved her and her sister, the revered Queen of Higurashi. He had hurt her, hit her, humiliated her. He constantly attempted to defile her. But when he got that angry-pouty look on his face and turned over, all she wanted to do was climb over him on the bed and make him look at her and never stop.

"Today was…" she whispered to his back. "Today was… It wasn't terrible." His ears twitched and she moved closer to him. "It was different and scary. While it was happening, I thought I hated it. But what made me cry when I got back was me realizing that I didn't. I didn't exactly hate it, I mean."

Kagome poked him between his shoulder blades seven times before he turned over.

"What!?" he barked.

She kissed him on the nose. "I like you too, Inuyasha."

Then she turned over and closed her eyes.

It took a few moments, but Inuyasha inched his way over until finally he was draped over her in a spooning position. Just before she fell asleep, she felt him kiss the place where her neck and shoulder met.

Kagome fell into a dream with a smile on her face.

Note: Everyone thank Heartrush for this chapter because she is an unending inspiration and just the baddest bitch, okay? And please tell her to update Ache because it is beautiful and magical and we need so much more of it like instantly.

Thanks for reading, you guys! And please review and tell me what you think. Besitos for all my homies.