Eleven: What Cannot Be Said Will Be Wept
Kagome woke up before Inuyasha did. He had stayed in the same position in his sleep, turned over on his side with his arm over her, but she had since moved. She always was one for tossing and turning. She used the opportunity to study her captor while he was vulnerable, trying to think of any weaknesses and how to exploit them so she could get Kikyo and escape back to their kingdom. The only time he seemed distracted was when he was with her and touching her, and unfortunately that tended to distract her as well. In addition to that, she didn't even know where Kikyo was being held. Angry now, she glared down at him, wanting to flick his stupidly sensitive nose or something.
The more she stared at the prince of the dogs, the less she thought about anything other than her time with him. She hovered over him on her knees, her eyes tracing his thick black brows while her fingers itched to feel the softness of his mouth again. Something had changed on that night he had brought her that sweet wine. Things had shifted and he had told her he wanted to be friends. He said he was going to be nice. Nice, in her definition of the word, did not involve parading her about the castle halls on a leash, but she supposed the dogs did things differently. Still, she had access to this one dog, and maybe if she was very clever and very careful, she could bend him to her will. The thought brought curls of flaming feeling to her stomach and she shivered.
"I like this view," Inuyasha murmured with a smirk, eyes opened to mere slits. "You should be on top of me more often. We'd have a lot of fun that way."
Kagome straddled him, not missing how surprised and pleased he looked.
"I want two things," she told him.
"What?" He was focused not on their conversation but on her body. His hand was on her leg and he brought it up and up against her skin until he was cupping a breast.
Kagome sucked in a breath. She needed to keep her wits about her. Events had made it clear that she would not be able to run or fight her way out of here. She would have to be like Kikyo and use her head. Or that and a combination of other parts...
Grabbing his free hand, she placed it on her other breast. The dog made a noise that sounded like purring.
"Clothes," she said, her voice a velvety heat revealing things she didn't want him to know. Oh well, she supposed he could smell it, anyway. "And I want to see my sister."
"Hmmm." It came out more like a moan than a sound of consideration. His thumbs were circling her nipples. When he finally brushed against them, her hips jerked. "What about what I want?"
"...I can't give you that." No matter how much her body seemingly wanted to.
He flipped her over and the illusion that she had any power evaporated.
"More like you won't." His mouth came down on hers hard, his tongue parting her lips and exploring her mouth until her face was red and she was squirming beneath him. "You're lucky I'm a generous master."
"Another compromise?" she asked hopefully.
He smiled. "You read my mind."
"Please don't let it be like the last one." She made her eyes big and her lips pouty in a way that always worked on her nurses.
Inuyasha missed it completely, gaze back on her breasts. "If I don't get to fuck you, you don't get what you want, either."
His head lowered and he was sucking her nipple so vigorously it felt like he was mad at her. Kagome cried out in a mixture of protest and a kind of pleasure that made her sick to feel it.
"Two things to amend your two things." His breath was hot against her wet nipple and she shuddered. "I pick what you wear everyday. And you can't see her. I don't want you riling her up or plotting anything."
"But－"
Inuyasha cut her off by pinching both nipples. "No. I've given you too much already. More than anyone else. You don't get things the way you want them until you give me what I want."
"Please, Inuyasha. I… I'm all alone here." Tears came to her eyes. Kagome couldn't believe she was letting him see her like this, letting him hear her tell the deep truth like that. "If I can't talk to her, I won't survive."
He stopped. "Another compromise, then. I'll let you write her a letter after you play a game with me."
"A game?" She didn't like the sound of that.
"You can read and write, can't you?"
"Yes!" she scowled up at him. "What kind of game?"
He bent down for another kiss, this one fleeting, his mouth smiling all the while.
"One you're gonna hate."
O\o/O
When Sango showed up, Kagome nearly turned and fled. Of course she had known that she would have to see the woman again. She was the dog's personal guard after all. But after all the things she had done last night—things she had been forced to do, she reminded herself—it was just too much to face her. Anger at Inuyasha was kindled in her anew. What in all the hells had he given her that had made her act so wantonly? In all the action of the night before, she had temporarily forgotten about the application of jelly and her immediate reaction to it. At least she knew that it hadn't been her acting that way. Not purely her, anyway.
Sango did not seem to have the same problem looking at her as she did. Scowling, she dropped a bundle of rope to the floor and crossed her arms, glaring at the slave. The black eye gave her an increased air of menace.
"I hope for your slave's sake that I am merely an observer of this game and not a participant or even a referee, my prince."
"Kagome wants to send a letter to the harem," Inuyasha replied, ignoring her words. "And she wants clothes. Considering her behavior lately, the game is going to have to be extra hard for her to beat."
"What were you thinking? Suspension? Stocks? Whipping?"
Kagome flinched at each mentioned method of torture, which only made Sango continue even more enthusiastically.
"Ropes," Inuyasha broke in, fangs glinting in a salacious smirk.
His eyes raked over Kagome and the cruel light she saw in them made her regret ever trying to negotiate her way to a slightly more comfortable captivity. But the clothes would prevent her from feeling so very vulnerable, would remind her of who she really was and give her the strength to fight her peoples' enemy, to be the last and most unexpected Higurashi soldier. And communicating with Kikyo would feed her soul. If she could just tell her how sorry she was, as both a sister and a subject, everything would be better.
The princess squared her shoulders, unaware of the stubbornly dimpled set of her chin or just how much seeing her shift to pure determination made Inuyasha all the more eager to play the game and watch her fail.
"C'mere." He motioned to Kagome and she stomped over with a glare on her face. He was too busy staring at how nicely it made certain parts of her bounce to notice the venom aimed in his direction.
Holding out a hand in Sango's direction but keeping those unnervingly bright golden eyes on his slave, he accepted the red coils of rope from his shadow. They were still knotted from the last time he had played this particular game, but he knew this time would be nothing like anything that had come before.
"Go ahead and tie the rope across the room while I work on our little negotiator here."
Inuyasha started by yanking her hands behind her back and lacing them together. She cried out and he loosened the ties a bit. It wasn't so much the severity of the bonds that had made her react that way, but rather just how inhumanly fast he had moved to the point her eyes had not been able to track him. Being around him made it so easy to forget that he wasn't like her. It made it easy to forget that he was a monster, unnatural and evil and lusting for violence.
He kissed the back on her neck. "I'm sorry, Kagome. Got a little too excited. Sometimes I forget you're not like the others."
The gentleness of his words and hands after that paralyzed her as he knotted the scarlet rope all over her body. The more he worked, the tighter it became, and soon she was standing up straighter than she ever had.
"There we go," Inuyasha said in a self-congratulatory tone. He scanned her to make sure nothing was cutting off any circulation or would start to bruise her. Fuck, but she looked good like this. The almost obscene crimson criss-crossed her body and wrapped around her chest, drawing attention to her firm breasts and hard nipples. He was salivating.
"Are we done yet?" Kagome asked, voice flat.
He snorted. "Hardly. Feet on the ground, walk across the rope Sango strung up across the room and then we're done."
She quirked a brow. "That's it?" This was suspiciously easy. Kagome eyed the knotted length that ran from one side of the room to the other, tied to chairs on either ends.
"That's it. Just walk across the room to me."
Unable to help himself, he kissed her hard on the mouth. His hand played with her breasts as he tasted her response to his touch. Now she was the one who was all hot and bothered. Good.
The look he gave her when he walked away to sit in a plush velvet chair on the other side of the room heightened her feelings of skepticism. Kagome tried to push away the dread that was just beginning to rise in her stomach. This was going to be easy. He just wanted to watch her humiliated and helpless to appease his ego. This wasn't like before with the leash. No one else was here.
"One more thing," he said, unbuttoning the fly on his sleeping pants to free his already hardening member. "If you stop or fall, Sango will begin to flog you, and she will not stop until you're safe and sound in my lap."
Remembering how she had reacted to it the last time, Kagome felt that was hardly a punishment. Still, it wasn't exactly something she'd seek out, especially from Sango, so she was just going to get this over with as quickly as possible.
Her hubris immediately became evident once she stepped over to the rope. Pricking and scratching, it bothered her between her thighs and right at that most sensitive of places even when she stood on her highest tiptoes. Kagome gasped and tried to turn back, the planned trek across the room seeming much, much farther than it had before.
"Not so fast," Sango said, looking immensely pleased at how short a time it had taken her rival to want to escape. "You made a deal."
Kneeling at her feet, Sango looped some extra rope around Kagome's ankles just tight enough for her to take dainty little princess-like steps.
"This isn't fair!" Kagome said, hopping from one tiptoed foot to another as best she could in her effort to prevent the rope from irritating her. "It's not like I want something outlandish! Just some clothes and writing supplies."
"You are a slave," Inuyasha said in the most condescending tone she had ever heard. "A slave I didn't even want. A slave that's been nothing but fucking trouble from the first moment I laid eyes on you. It's outlandish that I didn't leave you to rot in the fucking dungeon, or left you to Yura and whatever the fuck she was going to do with you."
Tears came to her eyes and Kagome was shocked at her own weakness. Why had his cruel words cut her so deeply? It should have been expected. She knew what he was, what everyone in this kingdom was. Even if she had forgotten for a few minutes here and there, it shouldn't have been enough for her to let down her guard to this extent.
She was Princess Kagome of Higurashi. She was strong. She was going to fight her way through this and restore her sister to the throne and be reunited with her one true love⏤
"Hurry up before I tell Sango to whip you just because."
Closing her eyes, she pictured the forests that surrounded her home. Before this, she had only ever stared at them through her window. Her mad flight through them in an attempt to escape the very fate she now found herself in had been too brief to experience them properly. Someday, she was going to return to them, and she would explore them as a truly free woman.
She took a step, as on her toes as she could be.
Her mouth fell open in another gasp and she quickly closed it, biting her lip to keep it shut. The only way she was going to make it through this was if she kept as much of her pride intact as possible. She was a princess, not a slave, and she had to remember that. Kagome took her second step.
A princess, not a slave…
The rope scraped her uncomfortably again, the bulging knot dampened by her body's obscene reaction to it. Kagome couldn't believe those parts thought they liked this torture. How was she reacting to this nightmare the same way she reacted to the prince's educated kiss and wandering hands?
A princess, not a slave.
Her toes were hurting but that was nothing compared to how the length of rope firmly running between her legs was making her feel. Every step was a tiny little inch of movement. If she was this hot and bothered when the game had barely begun, what would she be like by the end?
A princess, not a slave.
Kagome made the mistake of opening her eyes. The prince was looking right back at her, the flaming suns behind half-closed lids striking her to her very core. His cock was out and she automatically fixated on the details she could see in the gaps between his furiously stroking fingers. Her mind conjured up an image of him on his bed doing the same thing, more for her pleasure than his own, his seed shooting up onto the muscles of his abdomen where her tongue would…
Her daydreaming caused her to stumble. She cried out in shock, pain, and frustration as her legs gave out right on top of one of the biggest knots.
"Whip her, Sango," Inuyasha said, voice more of a growl than anything else. "Drive her to me before I finish."
In the second she heard the whip come down it was already upon her. Kagome jumped at the shock of pain, running across the rope with her feet flat on the ground. It was all she could do to hold back her tears with her pussy being scraped sore and sopping. The flogger hit her shoulder, the tips of it extending all the way to smart at her breast, and then landed across her ass. More and more, unrelenting. By the time she got halfway through, Kagome had forgotten why she had been willing to do this in the first place. She couldn't even think at all, only feel. Her entire body was hot, the heat radiating from her pussy that throbbed from the friction and an arousal she knew would never be relieved.
It was an eternity wrapped in a moment.
One second, she was walking the rope course, and the next she was on Inuyasha's lap and he was kissing her and whispering things she couldn't hear over the sound of her gasping breaths, but he sounded pleased and so her heartbeat settled back down a little. He had her facing the rope and her face turned pure red when she could see how it glistened with her juices.
"Good job," Inuyasha purred as he kissed the shell of her ear. "That was a very sexy show, Kagome. You can get working on your letter as soon as we're done."
"Aren't we finished?" Her voice was faint, a ghost that trembled. "I did what you said. Let me write now."
"Tell me what it felt like."
She was going to tell him to go to hell, but his fingers found her nipples and then she was leaning back against him and arching her back.
"A-at first, it wasn't so bad," she said in that same barely there volume. "But the rope was so rough, Inuyasha. I don't think it was supposed to make me feel good, was it? But it did. No, wait, no, I don't know…"
A slight shift had his cock snuggled up against her hot pussy.
"Does this feel good?"
Kagome's hips were already working against it, seeking out more friction. She almost choked. Damn it all, but it did feel good. She wanted more.
Inuyasha chuckled against the side of her neck and the sound of it vibrated in his chest, sending tingles up her spine.
"You're giving me some very bad ideas by bouncing in my lap like that." His claws cut the ropes that still bound her hands. That small allowance of freedom should have had her scrambling to undo the rest of her bonds, but instead her fingers joined his in their exploration of her body. "You want this bad, huh, Kagome?"
His fingers brushed her slit and the shock of pleasure somehow brought her a small thread of sanity to hold onto.
"No," she moaned, all but lost.
His mouth slammed down on hers before she could protest more eloquently. Inuyasha was sick of how she was stubbornly clinging to her virginity. With everything going on in his life right now, from the stupid Higurashi resistance to the stupider forced marriage, he needed a satisfying fuck. Breaking Kagome in would be the perfect end to bachelorhood. At the rate this was going, he'd barely get to enjoy her before whatever bitch of a wife weaseled her way into his parents' approval cut him off from his harem for good.
Somehow, her mouth which was always so cruel tasted sweet and she was kissing him back, pushing her full breasts into his hands as he tugged on her hard nipples. Without him even prompting her, she put her feet up on the arms of the chair and held her legs closed, trapping his cock between her thighs and against her wet pussy. Kagome moved herself in a torturous rhythm, faster and faster. All she wanted to do was scratch that nagging itch that wasn't quite an itch.
Inuyasha released a savage growl and shot his seed in a spray that covered her thighs and went all the way up to her breasts. Desperately seeking more pleasure, Kagome continued to grind against him.
"Fuck," he hissed. "It's gonna take more than a quickie after the build-up you've been giving me. I want you on the bed, princess."
The next thing she knew, she was thrown over his shoulder, the scathing endearment and the change in position briefly bringing her some clarity. This wasn't right. She didn't want this. She couldn't. And she was about to tell him that when he slammed her down on the bed, but everything changed when he forced her knees apart and stuck his face right where the burning was the strongest.
His tongue, unnaturally long and curving demonically, should have disgusted her, but she barely had time to process what she was seeing before it was inside her, snaking along and massaging her innermost walls. Kagome cried out but even she could hear it was a sound of pleasure rather than fright. Everywhere the rope had scraped her was claimed by him, his tongue soothing her pain and kindling a different kind of fire, one that she felt roar deep in her stomach and travel everywhere throughout her body.
Kagome couldn't stop herself from moving, from reaching her hands down and touching her incredibly sensitive breasts on her way to tangle her fingers in his hair and massage the ears she was always telling herself not to touch. Inuyasha kissed her clit, her navel, between her breasts, and then her lips. Wrapping her legs around him, she returned his kiss eagerly, burning for more.
"What are you doing?" she asked, wanting him between her legs and eating her out like it was his job.
"Just the one word, Kagome," he said, voice warm and seductive. The purr of a cat. "Tell me yes, tell me you want me to fuck you, and I can show you fulfillment and madness for days."
She kissed him, mostly to shut him up but also because his lips were red and full and she wanted to. Inuyasha growled into the kiss and she could tell this was a growl of impatience rather than arousal. She mewled in response, arching her back and reveling in the feeling of their naked bodies pressed together with no gaps but for one very significant one.
"It's not gonna work, princess," he panted, breaking away from her. "You're not gonna make me give you something for nothing. I'm not gonna stop at licking your pussy. When you tell me yes, we will fuck. You will take all this," he grabbed her hand and wrapped her fingers around his erect cock, "in your pretty little hole and it's going to be the best fucking thing you've ever done. So let's stop fucking around and just fuck already."
He was so close and the room was so quiet that she could hear their muted breaths, feel his puff against her lips. It occurred to her that they were breathing the same air and the thought made her clench down below. Kagome realized he was waiting for something. The dog was waiting for her answer.
She rolled over, pressed her face into one of the many plush pillows on his bed, and screamed.
Inuyasha was stunned at this new development. Dazedly, he blinked at his cock, which now he alone was holding, and looked back at his slave, who was still screaming into her pillow like a teenage girl after embarrassing herself at a dance. He was torn between being annoyance, anger, and amusement. At least now he knew for sure she wasn't some superhuman mutant who could turn her arousal on and off as soon as she willed it. He wasn't going to be suffering alone.
In fact, he didn't have to suffer at all.
"Sango, get over here."
In all the tortured excitement of the past few moments, he had even forgotten she was there. But she was, ever his faithful shadow, there to the point her presence felt like an unshakeable fact similar to the rising of the sun rather than a service. Kagome peeked her tear-stained face out from the pillow and watched as Inuyasha stripped Sango and took her hair down from its customary high ponytail.
"I believe it would be wise to send your slave to the other room, my prince," Sango said. He could tell by the tick in her jaw that it meant she wasn't in the mood and she was still pissed off from all the other shit Kagome had done.
"No. She needs to be punished for trying to punish me."
Wearily, Sango sighed and arranged herself on the bed, spreading her legs and staring at the ceiling like she wished she could be anywhere else in the world. Inuyasha could practically feel Kagome losing interest, and that just wasn't going to do. Remembering the sounds Kagome had made when he had surprised her by tonguing her pussy, he explored Sango in the same way.
His shadow was louder than his slave, her pleasure expressed more gutturally. She knew not to clamp her knees shut around his head, knew not to tug on his hair. She avoided his ears completely. But her enjoyment was not a show, and any novice would be able to tell. When she was at the verge of coming, Inuyasha stopped and crawled over her, kissing her on the mouth. A small sound from his slave made his ears twitch and he glared at her.
Kagome was staring at the two of them like a starving orphan watching a happy family at a buffet. Inuyasha rolled his eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, princess. You're the one who chose to miss out."
When he eased inside Sango's familiar depths, he let out a happy groan. He was more turned on than ever these days and every fuck felt like the last one and the first one simulataneously. That was one positive aspect of his impending doom, the only one. Slowly, he rocked inside her, smiling down at his best friend gratefully. Sango's face was flushed pink and her eyes were glazed as she met his hips with her own, eagerly seeking out her own end.
Kagome laid on her side next to them, openly watching their coupling. His eyes caught her own and the raging lust he saw swirling inside the sapphire blue nearly undid him right there. Kagome's lips were parted and her breath was coming in little pants, her breasts drawing his eye as they rose and fell much quicker than normal. He could smell her, fuck, he could still taste her, and he was dying to have her.
His thrusts gained speed and force and soon he was shaking the bed, deaf to Sango's surprised but excited wails. Kagome had drawn him in and kept him there. They were speaking without words, having a whole conversation, their first honest one.
They were both pretending it was her underneath him rather than Sango.
On his last stab inside his shadow, he grabbed Kagome's hand, needing to feel her. She brought his hand to her heart and he felt how quickly it was beating, how she was covered in sweat and how it had mixed with his cum that she had never wiped off. Inuyasha wanted to taste it.
"I'm going to write my letter to Kikyo," Kagome said, delicately leaving the bed and going over to his desk. "Is it okay if I borrow your stationary?"
"You can have whatever you want," he rasped, separating from Sango and rolling over onto his back. The spot was still warm with Kagome's body heat. Inuyasha wondered if the bullshit ghost story he had told her would still be effective in keeping her in his bed.
The passage to their connecting rooms slammed shut and he had his answer.
"I am not a whore."
Inuyasha started. Fuck, he had forgotten Sango was there again. It took a second for her words to register, but once they did, he was angry.
"Of course you're not! Kagome is, but she can't even fucking do that right."
"I'm not a whore," she said again, voice stronger as she got dressed. "I am a warrior. And I refuse to help you fight this particular battle. Not like this, anyway."
"You never had a problem fucking in front of slaves before. What's changed?"
"Maybe you should ask yourself that," she hissed. "Next time, visit the harem when your purchase rejects you."
He grabbed her wrist. "I can't do this without you, Sango. You are the only one who knows everything about me. You are the only one who knows me. You know I have to break this last one before my life is over forever." He tugged her closer to him and she allowed it, just as she always did. "Just a little longer, Sango. We're almost there."
His shadow wept into his chest.
O\o/O
Kagome sat in her haunted room at the tiny desk that, though ancient, was far finer than anything she had ever possessed back when she was a princess. Her hands clenched into fists and then unclenched repeatedly, staring at the blank parchment before her. It was good that she was so far away from the dog and his whore that she couldn't hear them. Seeing them together had been...strange.
It wasn't like she didn't know. After all, they had been the ones to show her what the conjugal act really entailed right at the beginning of her capture. Maybe her brains had been fried by the fever, but for some reason she thought things had changed between her and Inuyasha. The prince had been, in his own barbaric way, nice to her. And he was always trying to get between her legs. Why would he bother with other women when he claimed to want her to the point of madness?
Ignoring her bruised ego, she tried to focus again on what she was going to write to Kikyo. She shivered. The room had no fire and she had no idea how to summon a servant to light her one. Clothes definitely would have helped in this situation. Kagome sighed and picked up the brush, dipping it into the ink.
Dear Kikyo,
She stopped there.
It wasn't so much that she couldn't think of what to say as she had so many things to say and no idea how to say them in a way that could be understood. There was no doubt in her mind that the dog would read it, hoping to find some secrets as to the location of Higurashi's Queen. She thanked the Goddess he was too stupid to figure out that what was left of the royal family was right there under his nose.
I miss you so much!
She stopped again. What if Kikyo was mad at her? It was all her fault that they had ended up in this situation in the first place. If only she hadn't trusted Sara so blindly… But was that really her fault? She had never even been outside the castle before without her own personal guard!
I'm sorry for everything. For getting us in this mess. For being a bad sister.
A thought occurred to her and she nearly giggled aloud with glee.
Don't worry. I didn't tell the dog anything about our Queen. She is safe in Hekigan as they planned. I succumbed to one of the dog's terrible tortures to be able to send you this letter, but my debt to you is far greater than even this trial. More than anything, I want you to know that I love you and would do anything for you. If I am your jewel, then you are my sun. I will forever wait for your reply. Please forgive me, and keep up your earnest prayers for our Queen and kingdom as I do.
Love Eternally,
Kagome
In the minutes it took for the ink to dry, Kagome searched her beautiful prison for something, anything to wear. Nothing material but the bedding appeared, and so she wrapped a sheet around her, letting it drag behind her on the floor as she once imagined the cathedral train of her dress would at her horrid wedding to Hojo. Pressing a kiss to folded parchment, she tucked the letter in an envelope and tucked in the flap, knowing a seal was a waste of time as it would only be opened by the dog anyway.
She wasn't expecting the sight of the bastard who had destroyed her life and the woman who helped him do it in a tender embrace to take her breath away and make her stop in her tracks, but it did. Sango's face bore tear tracks, and somehow the sight made her feel sorry for her rather than joyous at her rival's⏤enemy's⏤suffering.
"I'm done with the letter," she announced, feeling a small bit of satisfaction at having interrupted their intimate moment. "Now fetch a servant to deliver it and bring me some clothes."
Sango made a sound between a sniff and a laugh. "No wonder you call her princess. She's as bad as InuKimi."
"Worse," Inuyasha replied. "Hold on, Kagome. I said you could write a letter to your sister. I never said I'd give it to her."
Her mouth dropped open and she went white, then pink, then red. Inuyasha thought she was going to pass out or scream or hit him. Instead, she laughed. Somehow, that was worse. Just when he was about to tell her it was only a joke, she stopped.
"Another game? Fine by me. Let's get this over with."
When she put the idea in his head like that and just handed him the opportunity, there was no way he could pass it up. So he didn't. Grinning, he went to her and grabbed her hand, walking her over to the bed at too fast a pace for someone of her short stature. Kagome stumbled over the ends of the sheet she wore, almost tripping.
"I want Sango to smile again," he said, shooting his shadow a glance. "And I really want you to stop talking. So let's put your mouth to good use and make my shadow feel better, deal?"
"And then you'll take my letter to my sister? And give me clothes?"
"You have my word."
She snorted. "The word of a dog is worth less than nothing."
"Either my word or actual nothing. Take your pick, princess."
Her lower lip trembled and he wanted to suck it into his mouth. Fuck, but what magic was this?
"Fine," she said. "What are the rules?"
"Use your mouth on Sango the way you want me to use my mouth on you."
Her knees would have buckled had she not been sitting on the bed.
"And?"
"And don't let her come. Bring her to the edge for the next half hour and keep her there."
"My prince!" Sango cut in, obviously not liking the idea.
"If you can do that, not only will I deliver your letter to your sister and have a wardrobe made for you, but I'll even leave you alone for a whole week."
A whole week without the dog? Plus clothes and getting to communicate with Kikyo. It was too good a deal to pass up, even if she did have to touch that nasty guard again. Slyly, she glanced at the prince who thought himself her master. A plan began to form in her mind. If he did read the letter and took off to Hekigan, she needed to get close to him, as close as she could bear, so that he would take her with him. From there, she'd find Hojo and she would be saved and Kikyo would return to her throne and she'd get married and they'd all live happily ever after.
Kagome dropped the sheet to the floor.
The dog sucked in a breath and she smiled internally, reclining and beckoning Sango with the weight of her gaze. The guard was still sour-faced but followed orders as always. Muttering curses under her breath, she shucked off her leather outfit in swift no-nonsense movements, all business. Kagome fought against the urge to roll her eyes. The least the bitch could do was put on a show and act like this wasn't the end of the world.
Impatient to get this nightmare over with, Kagome grabbed the other woman's hand and tugged. It surprised Sango enough that she fell on top of her with a small cry, barely having stopped herself from smacking straight into her. The two of them stared at each other for a moment. Kagome studied the guard like she was one of the many music sheets she had been forced to memorize. Her features were strong with a certain dash of elegance, she would admit. Large eyes and a lush mouth overshadowed the rather powerful jaw and crooked nose that had obviously been broken a time or two. With her brown hair down, she vaguely resembled Kikyo. Somehow, that made things a little easier.
The kiss wasn't a requirement for their deal, but Kagome felt it made things a little nicer. Her own body responded immediately to the contact, not caring what warm flesh was pressed up against her as long as it continued to make her feel good. Sango didn't kiss her back at first, delayed by confusion and then remembered resentment, but once the younger woman's hand found its way between her legs she was a little more responsive.
Kagome only flipped the slayer on her back when she felt herself grow wet between the legs. Too much more of what she had been doing and she would have forgotten what this was all about. Sneaking a discreet peek at her captor, she wasn't surprised to see him staring at the show, lost as he massaged himself over his loose cotton sleeping trousers. He had just put them on and soon they would be off, revealing the big, hungry cock that had been right there, right there against her...
She forced her focus back on her task.
It wasn't that she wasn't sure what to do. Okay, maybe it was a little bit of that. But she just couldn't seem to get started. Inuyasha had told her to just do what she wanted him to do to her, but her human tongue and small hands were not capable of the evils he so effortlessly bestowed upon her. She knew she had to act fast by the look on the guard's face. Already the haze of arousal was clearing and she was getting that old look of anger back in her eyes. Kagome had no doubt in her mind she'd make herself come just to spite her.
Leaning down, she took a lick at her rival's⏤enemy's⏤pussy. The flavor was nowhere near as strong as what the dog's was like. That alone made it preferable. Her licks grew bolder and she swiped her tongue across her clit, hearing the other woman moan. Drawing back, she ran her tongue over Sango's outer labia, sucking a lip into her mouth giving it a light nibble.
It became a pattern. Eat her out to the point of making her release some sort of sound, draw back and tease, begin again. The space between Kagome's own legs had flooded the bed and she knew the wet spot was visible. If she hadn't been so lost in her own fantasies of forcing the prince on his back and riding his face, she would have probably been embarrassed.
When he pressed his lips against her ear, she thought it was just another part of her daydream. Chills ran down her spine and she moaned aloud into Sango's pussy.
"You went for forty. Well done, Kagome. Now let me finish it."
The half-demon grabbed her by the hair and yanked her just hard enough to bring her back to the real world. Dazed, Kagome massaged her aching jaw. He noticed and smirked. She wanted to slap him, but she needed to keep up her game, so instead she merely smiled and threw her arms around his neck.
"Let me help."
Inuyasha stared at her in shock as she willingly ran her fingers over his clothed cock. She almost looked like she was enjoying it. His eyes fixated on how her lips parted, how her nipples hardened even further. He already felt drunk from having the scent of her arousal swirl around him for the better part of an hour. Watching her small hands take his hard penis out of his pants nearly undid him right there and he had to push her away. There was no need for any of them to see just how badly he wanted her.
"Are you ready, Sango?"
"Fucking gods, put it in me!"
He barked out a laugh at her response. He had wanted to punish Kagome and poor Sango had received a punishment as well. Easing inside her for the second time that day, he held his slave's eyes with his own as he found a rhythm that pleased him and his shadow both. Thoughts he didn't want to think found their way to the edge of his sex-hazed brain, all of them leading to one main question:
Why was Kagome suddenly being almost cooperative?
When they finished, the three of them lay in the bed, Inuyasha between both women. The prince hummed contentedly and pulled Kagome close for a kiss, tasting the heated juice that still remained on her lips. It took her a second to kiss him back, but when she did, he wished he hadn't already spent himself.
Inuyasha stood up and picked her letter off the floor. The penmanship looked like it belonged to someone still in lessons. Frankly, he was surprised a maid could write at all.
"See ya in a week."
Her blue eyes were unsure as she glanced at the letter and then him. "Are you really going to leave me alone for seven straight days?"
He shrugged. "Well, if I can't torture you, I have to take my urges out on someone else. And I do rather like your sister."
It was worth it when her face turned a shade of deep pink he had never seen before and her eyes bulged then narrowed in rage. On anyone else, it would have been ugly, but somehow he found it made him like her all the more. At least she wasn't boring.
"Go to your room," he said dismissively, forcing his voice to be cold and commanding, again the master that had bought her. He needed to talk to Sango.
"If you hurt her⏤" she choked out.
"You'll what? Force me to walk you through the halls again? Even someone from Higurashi should have noticed the pattern by now."
Kagome's eyes burned with the hottest fire he had ever seen, far surpassing the want he had witnessed earlier.
"If you harm her, I will kill you, even if it means I die as well."
The slave picked up her sheet and left.
It was a few seconds before he was able to find his train of thought, which had been knocked off-course by the hateful energy Kagome had just thrown his way. But this was important and couldn't wait.
"Kagome's been acting...different," he said as he carefully opened the letter.
"Different how?" Sango asked, eyes suddenly alert and no longer pleasantly tired.
"Ever since she got sick, she's been, well, more obedient. Not all the way, not submissive, but just not such a…" Inuyasha paused, not wanting to use the word that activated his slave's collar. "She's still a little more than spirited and a pain in my ass, but now she's playing with me, not against me."
"And this bothers you?"
"What bothers me is that I don't know why."
Sango didn't want to say it, especially when she already had to see it, but she had sworn to serve the prince, even if it came at such a heavy emotional price. She sighed and went to him, cupping his face and memorizing those almost childishly confused features.
"She is beginning to love you, my prince."
Inuyasha felt as though all the breath in his body had been stolen from him. Love? Kagome loved him? Even after everything?
"That's impossible." He scowled, trying to keep the corners of his mouth from turning upwards as they were so tempted to do. "She's still a little monster."
"Trust me, my prince. I know very well what she is feeling." After all, she had felt it herself since they were but fifteen.
His entire body was thrumming with what felt like the strongest pulse in the world and he was suddenly light-headed. Love. How could something like love happen now? The words on the letter refused to make sense to him and it took a moment for everything to register.
Inuyasha laughed, and the sound made the hair on the back of Sango's neck stand up.
"That fucking idiot knew where the queen was all along. Hekigan! Those fucking double-crossing bastards. I'll tell my father and we will prepare for a journey to that shitstain of an island. But first…" He smirked and went to his chest of drawers. An unactivated observation orb sat in the palm of his hand and he handed its twin to Sango. "First, I'm going to have some fun. Put this in Kagome's room for the week."
Obediently, she took the orb from him, savoring the way the small brush of his fingers against hers sparked a thousand little fires in her body. Who knew when the next time they could be together would be? Their journey might last another six months.
"Are you going to interrogate her sister, my prince?"
He snorted. "No point. Only thing they're good for now is what I bought them for."
Lost in thought, he waved the letter under his nose and she knew he was unconsciously scenting Kagome. She came to a sudden resolve: the sooner he deflowered the slave, the sooner her prince would be back to himself, and she was going to do everything in her power to make that happen.
O\o/O
The next day saw Inuyasha's return to his harem.
As always, he was greeted by the slaves who had chosen to stay. Women from all over the empire and its territories fawned over him, promising him pleasures he had already experienced at their talented hands. The only one missing was the one he came to see, and he shook off the clinging girls yearning for his touch, the only touch they were permitted aside from their own.
"Next time, ladies," he said generously. "Soon I'll be leaving on a journey and I'll make sure to organize a going away party with all of us participating."
"That's what you said when you came back," a kitsune woman with three tails pouted.
It took him a second to remember her name. "I'm sorry, Aiko, but shit happens."
Kagome happened. His heart rate sped up and he turned the corner.
The door to Kikyo's room was closed, which was unusual in the harem where the women swapped stories and shared tips on how best to pleasure him. No lamps were lit. The Higurashi woman was alone in the dark, sitting on her bed and staring at the wall. He wondered why she had bothered getting out of the dungeon. With a sigh, he turned on the observation orb and watched it float up to the ceiling, lighting up the room.
"I brought you something." No response, not even a spark of interest. "It's a letter from your sister. From Kagome."
He thought he heard the breath escape her nostrils a little faster than before.
"But you'll have to do something for me first," he continued. "Then I'll allow you to read it in privacy."
Her head inclined the slightest bit.
"Good."
The observation orb was dim and that was perfect for what he wanted. Their scents differed in so many ways, but the differences were slight. Like this, in the dark with his eyes closed, it would be easy to pretend.
Inuyasha considered it a kindness that he didn't kiss her. Some of the women preferred it that way at first, and it seemed like she was one of them. Anyway, her taste was all wrong compared to the girl who looked at him like she wanted to break all his bones but one.
"Very good," he murmured in the buzzing silence of the room. "You aren't like her. You don't have the brain of a child and the temper of a hellcat. I don't have to play games and overpower you just to get you to do the simplest things."
Kikyo spread her legs and he got the message. There would be no time to indulge in his fantasy with a woman as apathetic as this one. All the same, he went through the motions of preparing her. Even if she was dead set on not enjoying this, he at least wanted to make sure it wasn't going to be physically painful for her. It was in battle that he liked to see pain in the eyes of his partner, not in bed.
When he was fully sheathed inside her, she surprised him by talking.
"How is she?"
He was too preoccupied to stop the small genuine smile that found its way onto his face. "Read the letter and find out."
"I already know it won't tell me what I need. Have you spoiled her yet?"
"If you mean have I taken her," he interrupted himself with a grunt, wanting to distract the both of them from their conversation, "then no. But she's definitely being spoiled. Getting everything and not earning it…" All she had to do was look at him a certain way and he was completely without defense.
KIkyo was relieved but knew not to show it. The prince rarely visited the harem, contrary to what she had always been told, and she had not had any time (or energy) to attempt to manipulate him. But perhaps Kagome was doing that on her own.
"If she is such a bother, you could set her free." He came to a complete stop and she continued talking, moving her hips against him as casually as a trained whore. "I would become the perfect slave in her stead. I alone will be enough for both of us and you will never even miss her."
For a second, he looked almost angry, but then he smirked. "I don't want the perfect slave. I want your sister just as she is, only not afraid to allow herself to fucking give in and ride me."
He fucked her in earnest then, remembering the day before and how Kagome had crawled into his lap and slid her dripping wet pussy against his cock. It was the most difficult thing in the world not to do away with his promises altogether and just fuck her like she obviously wanted.
Kikyo saw the change in his expression, noticed how his eyes looked not at her but at the headboard instead. In horror, she realized what had happened in the time she and her sister had been apart. In the name of the goddess, what had Kagome done? This was so, so much worse than just giving in and playing whore instead of clinging to being royalty. These were ties that bound and chafed far worse than chains.
Somehow, Kagome had gotten the prince to fall in love with her, and there was no love like that of a violent, obsessed demon.
Kikyo's cry of mourning for her sister came out like a moan of pleasure. Tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her temples into her hair. All she could think was Kagome's name, repeating it over and over in her mind like a prayer. This was all for her, everything she did was for her, it was all because she loved her, the only thing she had left to love.
"Kagome!" she cried out when the unwanted pleasure took over her body and her climax shook her limbs.
Inuyasha shot his seed inside her, laughing in surprise.
"Fuck," he said, rolling to her side. "I never would have guessed we were both thinking of her. You're one nasty little whore, Kikyo." He absently thumbed her nipple before rising. "You were worth the money after all."
Kikyo stared at the light of the observation orb until it eclipsed everything else, blinding her. She clutched her sister's letter in her hands until the fine parchment nearly tore. Now she was able to feel again.
The prince of the dogs would die before he seduced her sister.
O\o/O
The week of torture was anything but torturous. In fact, he mostly forgot about her after that first time. After what he had learned, he was too busy making preparations for his journey to Hekigan. That the inbred island of idiots had managed to outsmart him and shelter what had become his number one enemies had him fuming, and it was never a good idea to leave him like that with no way to work out his anger upon the ones who had crossed him. For some reason, he was affected that week more than usual.
"My prince, I am more than happy to spar with you," Sango said in a voice that was almost timid. He guessed the knives stuck in the wall separating his and Kagome's rooms must have weirded her out.
He grunted in the negative and threw another knife in the wall.
Coming up behind him with slow movements, she put her hands on his shoulders, carefully feeling his tension.
"You have barely done anything but get the necessary documents together for our journey. Are you worried about the impending war with Hekigan and the Human Alliance?"
Fuck, but he hadn't even thought of that. Inuyasha had intended to sail to Hekigan, sniff out those royal cunts, and bring them back. What this situation implied for their already strained international relations had never come close to crossing his mind.
He grunted in the negative again, eyes glancing at the calendar and then the clock. Would it have to be a week exactly? Would she even notice? Why the fuck hadn't she come out? Couldn't she hear the knives?
"Did she get her clothes?" He almost regretted the deal. No more looking at every bit of her whenever he wanted.
It took her a second to respond. "The seamstresses ran themselves ragged coming up with a fine wardrobe in such a short amount of time and on such short notice. I heard the apprentices haven't eaten or slept since they got the order."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Is it done? Does she like it?"
"I have no idea, my prince. Your slave and I don't keep company unless you command it."
His leg bounced up and down with impatience and he crossed his arms, glancing at the clock again.
A defeated sigh. "It will be a week exactly in seven more minutes, my prince."
His ears stood straight up. Seven minutes!? After seven whole days, that was more than doable. But then he remembered what Sango had told him and he hesitated to throw the next knife.
Kagome loved him.
It wasn't like this was the first time a woman had fallen for him. It happened constantly. Slaves, servants, peasants, nobles, courtiers. But this was the first time that a woman loved him and hadn't immediately told him and spent all her energy trying to get in his good graces. What was different? Was it Higurashi? Was it the woman? Or was it him?
In any case, he reminded himself as he made the trek to Kagome's room, he had to be especially considerate of her feelings. After all, this slave had led an unusually sheltered life in her home country and he was almost certainly the first man she had ever developed feelings for. The first one she loved, the first one she kissed, the first one ever. Inuyasha would have to tread carefully so⏤
Kagome threw a priceless vase older than her kingdom at him.
"How dare you!"
He dodged the flying porcelain and slammed the door shut. "What's your fucking problem now? I waited a week! Exactly a week, like I said."
He eyed the observation orb's twin sitting on the desk and cringed. She had seen him with her sister.
"Look, Kagome, that was part of the deal, too. And Kikyo enjoyed it. You saw!"
"What are you talking about?" Her fury was momentarily muted by her confusion, but he didn't have long to wait before it was back. "You left me alone all week shut up here by myself! No one came to see me except for that pervert guard and all he did was drop off these clothes which are obviously castoffs from one of your whores."
"Hey! I had the best dressmakers in the court working twenty-four fuckin' seven for those!"
Now that he had the time to study the workmanship, he could see that they had outdone themselves. Kagome was resplendent in a sheer gold floor-length gown that was draped in gauzy layers, tiny suns and daisies embroidered on the hem and ends of her pleated sleeves.
"I look ridiculous! This is like something an actress wears to bed." She said the word like a court lady would have said "pig farmer".
Inuyasha laughed. "You're mad about that and not about Kikyo?"
"About that…" She glanced down at the floor shyly, eyelashes fluttering and cheeks pinkening before she looked up at him again. He almost reached out to pull her to him. "Thank you for not seeing my sister. And thank you for letting me see her, even if she can't see me."
And then she stepped forward and embraced him.
It was such a shock that he did not even put his arms around her and hold her before she pulled away again. He couldn't even think of anything to say. All he knew was that he certainly wasn't going to correct her if she was going to be like this.
"Uh, you're uh, you're welcome."
She smiled and it made something in his gut twist in a way that hurt but also felt good.
"I know our countries are at war, and I also know you've been a far better captor than a Higurashi man or priestess. It's like you said, this is the best place we could have ended up."
This was all so sudden. Why was she being so nice to him? Inuyasha began to feel suspicious, but then she smiled and took his hand and he forgot everything prior to that moment.
"I wanna show you something," he said.
Kagome kept smiling and allowed herself to be led out of her room and down the halls. It was working. Just a small attitude adjustment with a dash of playing the fool had the dog taking her through the palace for the first time without a leash. This was perfect! Eventually, he would trust her enough that he would give her the opportunity to grab Kikyo and get out. Or maybe even want her enough that he would take her with him outside the palace.
"My prince! Wait just a minute!"
Sango had caught up to them and she had brought that stupid personal guard with her again. Kagome scowled at them.
"What do you want?" she asked.
The shadow ignored her. "My prince, please let me speak with you for a moment. Miroku will watch the slave and make sure she does not run off."
Inuyasha glared at the wimpy-looking eunuch that had seen Kagome naked. The man looked like a nervous rabbit even with the fierce spear he held.
"Don't touch her," he growled. "The only thing saving you is that someone else already ripped your balls off."
The half-demon followed Sango back into his room, where they would not be overheard.
"Make it quick. I've got to continue preparing for our sail to Hekigan."
"And what does she have to do with that?"
"That's none of your concern. Now what did you drag me in here for?"
Sango crossed her arms. "The only reason she wasn't trying to bite your cock off again was because I didn't give her the observation orb until the following day. And then I kept you busy with the Hekigan business."
"Do you want a fuckin' medal?" he scoffed. "Really, Sango, thanks and all, but I've got stuff to do."
She grabbed his sleeve to stop him from leaving. "Remember who has been by your side this whole time. She will cross you the moment she is given the opportunity. I will help you conquer her, but you need to remember who you are and what she is."
"She's a slave. I'm not likely to forget that when I paid out the ass for her. I wanted to make her feel pain and crush that spark of pride." That all too familiar spark. "But I'm glad you stopped her from seeing me with her sister. Inu women would come running to me after seeing me pleasure another woman, but she's not of Inu. I really do have to treat her differently from the others. Thanks for the reminder."
He wasn't surprised to find both the slave and the guard with their ears pressed up against the door when he exited. Only the eunuch had the presence of mind to look guilty, however. Kagome just stood with her hands on her hips.
"You were talking about me, weren't you?"
Taking advantage of her crooked elbow, he led her down the hall and walked with her like any lord with his lady. But for the absence of jewelry, that's exactly what she looked like. Some wealthy noblewoman of exotic beauty and mercurial temperament.
"Where are we going?" she demanded. "Are you taking me to Kikyo?"
He felt a little bad that he had unknowingly gotten her hopes up. "You're a long way away from the harem, princess. Setting foot inside legally makes you my property in a much more defined way than you are now. That would be giving me the power to do whatever I want to you whenever I want."
It was hard to keep her voice from trembling⏤and her knees. "Then what's the occasion?"
They turned a corner and he nodded at the passing courtiers, quickening his step so he would not have to stop and chat with any of them. After his last mistake of taking Kagome out, she had become the talk of the court. He had been presented with no less than seventy offers to buy her. The sooner he got between her legs and got her in the harem the better. Then no one else could touch her.
"There's a custom in Inu before the men go to war," he explained. "We like to take our women with us."
Kagome's heart was singing. This was it. The idiot dog was going to take her to Hekigan!
"We're not officially at war with the country I'm going to, and there's also no way I'm letting you out of the palace. Still, there's another way to have a part of you with me."
They came to a set of double doors and he motioned at their guards to stay outside. Still reeling from finding out he had no intentions to take her outside, Kagome's heart stopped when she saw who she was in the room.
Ayumi stood there in the traditional apron of the sculptress, and she recognized her too.
Kagome had to lean on Inuyasha for support when her legs gave out. Ayumi gasped and tears fell from her eyes. She tried to take a step but it was too much. The prince was supporting her completely, shaking her.
"Kagome? Kagome!" His voice was laced first with concern and then fear. "Gods, you're sheet white. What's wrong?"
"I-it is you!" Ayumi said in a whisper. "Goddess, it's not possible!"
Before the girl could say anything else, Kagome ran to her, thankful that she somehow remembered her name.
"Oh, Ayumi! My greatest friend. How can this be?"
She had only met her a few times and never really spoken with her. They were the same: powerless women from the strongest priestess lines in Higurashi. Ayumi had talent, was good at something and allowed to do it. Kagome, however, didn't even have that.
Inuyasha put his arm around her waist. "The two of you know each other? Maybe you can keep my slave company when I leave. If she behaves."
The look of loathing Ayumi shot at the two of them made Kagome shove him away. Now that she was confronted with one of her sister's subjects, she felt ashamed. Here she was, dressed like an expensive whore on the arm of the man who had killed their people, their families, her father. All these games and schemes were beneath her. Had Kikyo not fought so hard to save her life, she would have ended it long ago to escape such indignity. That's what her ancestors in the Hall of Princesses would have done. Anything to save the Queen. Not a sexual awakening and experimentation with the demon bastard that could never be hers but only hers to kill.
And here was Ayumi, the most celebrated artist in Higurashi despite her lack of power. She was haggard, eyes haunted, when once she was pretty and plump. A full plate of food sat long untouched on the table in what she guessed must be her private chambers. It wasn't that she wasn't being cared for, it was that she refused it. Ayumi was a far better servant to the Queen than she was.
"You are a dog's whore!"
"No! I swear it. I am completely untouched, Ayumi. I am as loyal to H⏤to the man I was to marry as I was on the day I swore to be his wife. The dog is nothing to me."
Inuyasha felt like he'd had the wind knocked out of him. Kagome was promised to another. Not only that, but she had pushed him away, not wanting his touch. Nothing? And he'd brought her here like an idiot, wanting to have a piece of her to take with him on his journey in case he didn't make it back.
She whirled on him. "Give us a minute. You talked about me behind me back, now I'm doing the same."
He didn't know what made him turn around and go, but he did what she said. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he was upset that the palace doors were enchanted so no eavesdropping could occur or if he was glad. What she had said in front of him had him in a daze far worse than any blow to the head. Sango took one look at him and sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. It was as intimate as they could be in public.
"You said she loved me."
She nodded. "I can see it clear as anything, my prince."
"She is promised to another and told her friend I was nothing."
The guard cleared his throat and Sango rolled her eyes. "Yes, Miroku, you may speak."
"If I may, your highness, I have some expertise in this area."
"What could a eunuch possibly tell me about dealing with a crazy woman?"
"My expertise is in rejection."
That one hurt. He physically winced. "Go on."
"Is her friend one she made in the castle, or one from before her life as your paramour?"
"Another bitch I saved from the rubble of Higurashi."
"Then it seems to me that the issue is one of pride, not one of her favor. Especially if this friend of hers knew her betrothed. The lady Kagome would not want to appear to have switched sides so quickly. And who knows who the Inu have righteously sent to the beyond that these two were acquainted with? Of course she would want to downplay your relationship."
Inuyasha sighed. The eunuch's words did make him feel a little better. Kagome was kind of a brat, and he was sure that no matter what changes in her behavior had occurred, she would want to keep up appearances of rebellion.
If only these doors weren't fucking soundproof.
Meanwhile, Kagome was awkwardly trying to pry Ayumi off of her new dress. The sculptor was on her knees kissing the hem of her sheer garment.
"Goddess be praised! You are alive and have not allowed even your body to be conquered. It is true what they said before I was taken. You will lead us now!"
"Please rise!" It was going to take some remembering for her to get used to being a princess again, even in this palace with a sole subject. Bitterly, she recalled how kneeling was overkill since as a powerless woman of a priestess line her station was lower than the bottom. "Ayumi, please behave normally. My identity must be kept a secret."
She didn't trust her enough to tell her that Kikyo was still living. After all, she had been set up with a room of her own, and Inuyasha rarely did that without being compensated with some sort of sexual favor. Her eyes narrowed.
"Kaede told us true. You will lead us to victory and your power will eclipse even that of the old Queens."
Kagome was so shocked at her casual blasphemy that she almost missed the mention of her old protector.
"Is Kaede alive? Was she wounded? What is the situation in Higurashi?"
Ayumi sighed and got to her feet. "I am sorry, but the prince took me away soon after the fall. I know about as much as you."
"You say the prince 'took' you. Did he really? Have you warmed his bed?"
Ayumi looked horrified enough that it answered her question. "Hells no! He wants me to sculpt the Queen and princess from memory to help him find them."
"And how far have you gotten in this project?"
She smiled. "They're nearly done. They look as unlike you as possible. Generic country folk. Even if he does bother to leave the palace and look, there will be far too many that resemble my work to bother. I've been playing the vacant peasant this whole time. They believe I can't even draw, let alone hold a pencil."
Kagome laughed. Ayumi was a celebrity among their people. Even Hojo prized her talents and had commissioned a portrait of Kagome that hung in his private rooms in Hekigan.
"Good work, Ayumi. I'll go collect the dog. When he's around, just keep acting like we're long lost best friends."
She nodded. "But are you truly still loyal to Hojo of Hekigan, princess? You and the dog seemed quite...smitten." Her face colored as she said it.
"It's not like that! It's just something I have to do to stay safe. As soon as I can, I'm going to Hekigan with him and from there I'll find Hojo and take back our kingdom."
Ayumi smiled but it was brief. "If you say so. Just remember, princess, it's permanent when Higurashi women take men to their bed. Especially for someone like you."
"That's never going to happen."
Inuyasha burst through the doors. "Enough girl talk. TIme to get what I came here for."
"Knock first!" Kagome stomped her foot. He was so rude!
The half-demon growled and grabbed her chin, tilting her face up and forcing her to look him in the eyes.
"Don't. Tell. Me what. To do."
The words were said gently, hardly a breath, and Kagome's lips parted and trembled. Lightly, he pushed her a step back and turned to the artist. Something about how he seemed to be ignoring her made her push him back.
"No. Now get out and go back to what you were doing. I'm not finished."
When he looked at her then, she immediately saw her mistake. He had been controlling himself ever since he had first left the room, and now whatever threads had been holding his temper in check had burst into flames.
He tangled his fingers in her hair and held it in a bunch close to her scalp, making her gasp with pain. Claws ran over her dress and the material rubbed against her skin in a way that made her shiver. The material was so sheer that she feared not only would her rosy hard nipples be even more visible but a wet spot would appear between her legs.
"Does your betrothed still live?" It was so quiet she almost didn't hear him. "What's his name? Maybe I killed him. I want to kill him."
"H-he lives."
His claws stopped teasing and ripped through the brand new dress. The fine material pooled around her ankles in shreds. Kagome tried to move, tried to run, but she was still held fast by the grip he had on her hair. Her eyes watered and she was glad. Bad enough that Ayumi was seeing her degraded like this, but she didn't want to watch how her face would change from worship and hope to disgust and despair.
Inuyasha's hand, roughened by a lifetime of sword training, cupped her breast and he pinched her nipple. She supposed it was meant to be cruel, but it only made her cross her legs so her excitement would not be visible. His nostrils flared and his cock was hard in his trousers. She knew that meant he smelled it.
"Did he see you like this, Kagome? Did he see as much of you as I have? As the whole world will?" Turning to Ayumi, he barked out, "Get to work! I want her every inch copied in stone. I brought you the marble and tools you asked for. Start earning your fucking keep!"
Ayumi was crying. Kagome could tell she was going to refuse. Perhaps she was even so offended as to reveal her true identity. Before anything could happen, Kagome twisted as best as she could and grabbed Inuyasha by his firerat cape.
"I said those things and sent you away because I wanted to talk about how I am not suffering as your slave and how grateful I am a-and these feelings that I don't understand. I didn't want you to think me weak or inflate your ego. And it was a shock to see my friend again. It made me remember…" She didn't have to fake her tears. The stranglehold on her hair slackened and then he was embracing her, letting her cry into his chest.
"Don't cry, Kagome," he murmured. "Fuck, you smell so good." Clearing his throat, he looked back at Ayumi. "I know you have weird customs. You sculpt from memory if you do not have the subject in front of you. We'll stay for a little longer and then I have plans. Since you're friends, you can probably remember her face well enough. Just concentrate on her breasts and her sex. I want her eyes and lips exactly the same as well. No artistic license, just her."
"Why are you having this done?" Kagome asked in a small voice. Damn, but if she had to sit for hours and hours like when Hojo had commissioned that portrait, she was going to go insane.
He smiled at her and took off his cape, wrapping her in the warm garment. "A gift for my mother's museum. Those sculptures of beautiful women were all destroyed when that whore of a queen blew up the castle, and you're the closest thing I've got." Glancing back at the artist, he continued, "I also want a small one for me to take on my journey."
Ayumi's hands were shaking. "You are out of your mind! My loyalty remains to my homeland. I will not see my people and our customs, our traditions and beliefs, degraded. Especially not Kagome!"
He bared his fangs and stalked towards her. "Have you forgotten what I saved you from, you damned cunt? Would you rather be starving back in your precious homeland, raped by my soldiers?"
"I would endure that fate a hundred times over to spare Kagome something like this!"
"Then I'll grant your wish. No sculpture. I'll make a brief detour on my way to Hekigan and personally drop you off at that steaming pile of⏤"
Kagome dropped to her knees in front of Inuyasha, just as Ayumi had done to her mere moments ago.
"Please," she begged. "Please don't send my only friend away. I can't bear to lose her after only just having found her again."
Inuyasha glared down at her. "Do you really think we are close enough that you have any power over me? You still need to pay for keeping that secret from me all this time."
Something in her expression shifted. Those blue eyes were blazing with determination and a little bit of something else, something else that made him wish they were alone.
"I'll give you what you want."
Inuyasha couldn't breathe.
"Get the fuck out," he snapped at Ayumi. She scurried, no longer such a loyal friend when confronted with the current of feeling that ran between master and slave.
Inuyasha lifted Kagome to her feet, not even waiting for her to find her footing before he kissed her fiercely, his hands roaming all over her body. Kagome kissed him back with the same kind of madness, one leg wrapped around his waist and wet pussy pressed up against his crotch, separated from his cock only by the pants he was in the process of tugging off. She was finally willing and participating, not pushing him away but pulling him closer. Finally, she was giving into her desire for him.
Her hand was on his cock, eagerly exploring.
"Princess," he said in one shuddering breath. "Kagome," he corrected, and the sound was sweeter than any other. "Touch me."
"I...I don't know how."
He smiled and caressed her face. "I'll teach you. You already have an unfair advantage over everyone who came before you. I'm pretty sure you could undo me with a kiss."
She smiled back at him and pressed her lips to his and something did change. His heart was racing, his stomach was flipping, and he was lightheaded. What were those symptoms of? It was like he had gotten stabbed, knocked over the head, and was bleeding out in a ditch somewhere.
Inuyasha pulled away cross-eyed. He shook his head. "Fuck, Kagome. I think I⏤" He stopped, ears standing straight up.
"Is that what I think it is?" she whispered, eyes going big and scared.
He put her behind him, glad she was in his firerat cape.
There was a battle going on in the palace.
Note: Bum bum bummm... Anyhoo, I'm back! Massive thanks to Heartrush, my muse and feedback-giver and superduper coolass friendo. Let me know what you think! Also let me know your theories! Anything as long as you're not bitching about SessRin when they're gonna get several arcs of their own and basically take over soon (if you don't annoy me into changing it). Yay!