Madame Masseuse
"Nothing Chafes Quite Like Regret"
"I must be out of my mind," she cursed under her breath. Kagome rubbed warmth into her triceps again for good measure. "This is a mistake. It's a mistake. What are you doing, Kagome?"
Puckering gooseflesh erupted down her arms and Kagome shivered, rubbing furiously at her biceps and forearms before pulling her cardigan together across her chest. The forecast had called for sun and cloud, but, surprise-surprise, those weather-people were wrong again. There was definitely no sun visible, and those were definitely dark, angry, gray swirls up there that looked like they were about to downpour any second while Kagome waited in front of Madame's for Inuyasha.
He had cancelled his Wednesday evening appointment—that fact alone should have meant she wasn't going to see him this week.
That it was now Friday and she may have put some effort into her appearance for this get-together...
Well, that fact was troubling.
After the awkwardness—what an understatement, that was—of how their last session ended, Kagome had thought she would mentally and literally wash her hands of Inuyasha The Client. The fact he had asked her to meet with him this Friday was beyond shocking, for more than one reason. Clients were never required to cite reasons for cancellation; however, he obviously had cancelled out of embarrassment, not wanting to face Kagome again after what happened.
Not that she wasn't the tiniest bit thankful that he had cancelled, if she was being honest with herself. Kagome hadn't exactly managed that situation to her best ability. Like all things related to Inuyasha, since he showed up in her life like a runaway train, Kagome was far from poised in how she handled herself. Which was the shock of the century given how adept Kagome was at being a professional.
When it came to Inuyasha, Kagome appeared to have gone rogue. He seemed to bring out a compulsive recklessness in her, because this new case of foot-in-mouth disease, as well as the serious affliction called acting without thinking, was certainly new to her.
Hojo most certainly hadn't brought out anything like this in her before.
If Kagome had been smart, she would have declined Inuyasha's offer to make it up to her this Friday. Madame's staff were not supposed to accept client propositions for anything outside of their service appointment, and Inuyasha was certainly not the first client to ask.
Yeah...Hojo's out-of-the-blue breakup must have fried her circuits or something, because not only did Kagome accept Inuyasha's offer without much pause to think about it, but she had accepted it saying she'd love to.
In her post-Hojo era, Kagome was breaking the rules and arguably thrilled about being a reprobate.
Inuyasha's wasn't the first erection to make an appearance on her massage table, but she had certainly behaved like it was. Kagome still couldn't believe her reaction to the whole erect dick scenario—talk about unprofessional. 'Oh my,' she had said, her eyes glued to the gravity well of tented allure that was Inuyasha's penis. Then she had gulped—audibly gulped—like the voracious, sex-deprived miscreant that she was.
Inuyasha's face had been a fun mix of emotions to her response, propped up on his elbows while his eyes pivoted between Kagome and his hard-on. She had never felt so self-conscious of her mouth, the way he was staring at it. She wondered if he had ever had a woman look so hungrily at his cock before...
It was such a mistake introducing that dog demon massage oil in the first place.
Kagome bit down on her lip and withheld a growl in her throat as another taxi drove by without an Inuyasha appearing from it.
"He didn't need to make anything up to me," she grumbled under her breath. Kagome stepped lightly, basically hopping from foot to foot, to try and keep both her sanity and her warmth. It was supposed to be warmer than this today—she should have brought an honest-to-goodness coat, not a thin, three-quarter length piece of cotton blend that had the audacity to call itself a cardigan. "We could have just parted ways, never to interact again. For him to call the front desk and ask to talk to me?" Kagome scoffed, trying to ignore the racing heartbeat that she felt in almost every corner of her anxious body.
It's company rules to not be familiar or intimate with clients. First names only. Client Card details only. Kagome was going against her company's Code of Conduct by being out here. Well, technically, she was just waiting outside the front doors after business hours, but still. She shouldn't have agreed to go for coffee with Inuyasha.
He got an erection. She reacted to it poorly. He flew from the table and then the room with a rushed apology and excuse of being late for something. And then radio silence, crickets, nadda, until Suki advised Kagome on Wednesday morning of his cancellation. Then he phoned Madame's on Thursday morning, asking to speak with Kagome, as if his embarrassment had had a change of heart.
They didn't have to see each other again after last Wednesday. They never needed to acknowledge that she had accidentally oiled up her breasts and got him hard over it. Yet, he actively sought her out, had the guts to say he felt badly about what happened—as if he actually had a conscious!—and wanted to make it up to her. Then she had the nerve to sound excited when she agreed.
Kagome was supposed to be in her man-hating-slash-avoiding phase after the whole Hojo-is-an-asshole-and-has-ruined-me-off-men-for-the-foreseeable-future fiasco. And then Inuyasha had the chutzpah to lay his attractive ass on her table twenty-four hours after said fiasco and get Kagome's battered and dejected heart all interested in not sitting this one out.
It was aggravating.
It was also such a mistake.
Because now they had this...arrangement and Kagome was feeling nervousness coil up inside of her like a goddamn Jack-in-a-Box waiting to spring.
She was eager to see him and that was problematic.
Inuyasha didn't owe her anything. Sure, getting the call from him was a nice surprise. Okay, fine, Kagome may have seat-danced on her drive home after work on Thursday because she had a date-that-wasn't-a-date with the gorgeous client she had a crush on. But she wasn't excited about it. She wasn't looking forward to it. Kagome had to draw the line somewhere. She was a freshly—did one month still count as fresh?—single woman with zero romantic prospects, and it wasn't smart for her to get close to one of her regulars.
Except for the fact he skipped his usual appointment time this week. Maybe he wasn't going to be a regular after all. Kagome tried not to feel anything—not upset, not regret, not disappointment—about the prospect of losing Inuyasha as a client.
She raised her eyebrows as a new thought came to her: she couldn't get in trouble for getting to know a client if said client was no longer a client.
Kagome offered herself a private smirk over the cleverness of that notion. Once Inuyasha got here, she'd need to iron out his intentions, that is to say, if he wanted to remain her client or not. Because if he did, these little coffee things couldn't become a thing.
Kagome shouldn't even be entertaining this current coffee thing, yet here she was.
As disappointment ravished her stomach upon seeing another taxi cab that wasn't Inuyasha's, Kagome puckered her lips and tried to focus her mind on the fact that agreeing to see Inuyasha was not a good idea.
There was a good chance someone from her work could see them, could report Kagome to Madame, and then Kagome would be in a world of trouble.
It was her job not to know her clients.
Sure, some of the regulars talked to her. She knew Myoga just met his fourth grandchild. She knew Lyle did something with computers for a living. She knew things about them. But those details were mild, basically non-details that she wouldn't scribe to memory or bother to recall because they weren't intimacies she sought about them. Meeting Inuyasha, meeting with a client, was a first; Kagome had never interacted with her clients outside of Madame's. She never left the property with them in their company. She never went out for date-like beverages with them either.
Yep. This was a huge mistake.
But, dear God, Kagome couldn't stand the hysterical giddiness she felt over Inuyasha, which was just bizarre because, other than thinking he was hot, she didn't think she actually liked him. Hands-down, he was the most beautiful asshole she'd ever met, but he was one of the most annoying clients she'd ever had. He was rude, entitled, stubborn as all hell, and he ignited a probing fire in her veins that had spitfire retorts lacing her tongue as soon as he pushed her buttons. He unraveled her, and Kagome was not used to so easily being unraveled.
It was just so unfortunate that Inuyasha's pretty outside brought out all the warm and fuzzies of Kagome's insides. Because compared to Hojo—her safe, familiar, puerile ex, who put the boy in ex-boyfriend—Inuyasha was a masculine slab of muscly man.
And that masculine slab did things to Kagome. Or at least, she most certainly wouldn't complain if he did things to her with that erection of his the size of—
Whoa, girl! She cried, rushing a hand to cup her neck, silencing the trajectory of that thought as quickly as possible. Yes, that thing was impressive, but just...keep your shit together, Kagome.
"I can't want this one," she groaned on a flustered breath, drawing her lips between her teeth and biting down. "That would be a huge mistake."
Or would it? Because the sex would probably be fantastic.
Nope. No. It definitely would.
Be a mistake that is—it would definitely be a mistake. I didn't mean it would be good sex.
Although, with the way Inuyasha carried himself, and how he looked, he basically oozed good sex vibes.
Nope! her mind screamed. Stop it. We're focusing right now on him being a bad judgment call, not a good lover. No more putting Inuyasha and good sex vibes in the same sentence!
Oof, keeping her shit together when he finally got here was going to be hard. She was a tangled mess of hormones and conflicting desires.
Inuyasha wasn't the first attractive client Kagome had had, so why was he messing with her head so much? She had never had thoughts like this about a client before. Or acted so asinine and inappropriate with one before.
Maybe Hojo dumping her really just shook her foundation irreparably.
Maybe Inuyasha The Client was just a consolatory pity prize from the universe.
Sorry about your douchey ex-boyfriend, Kagome, who strung you along for six years. You want to take a short hiatus from men? Well, here ya go! Here's this six-foot-whatever, silver-haired, spicy stallion for you to enjoy putting your hands on, but not like that. Enjoy!
While Hojo had been acceptable sex—after years of training him to do what Kagome liked—sex had lost its edge and appeal early into the relationship. Sex with Hojo had typically felt more like quenching a thirst. Kagome couldn't remember the last time she had actively desired Hojo or ached for him. But maybe that was her bad for thinking that's what relationship sex should be like—Kagome probably just read too many steamy romance novels that put unrealistic expectations in her head.
Kagome enjoyed sex. She liked how versatile of an act it was. It could be fun, light-hearted, and silly, or it could be ravenous, all-consuming, and rough. It could even be the most intense form of intimacy when it was making love, rather than having sex or fucking.
Kagome began biting the inside of her cheek as she assured herself that Inuyasha was definitely a fucker. Someone as edgy, spicy, and petulant as Inuyasha didn't strike her as a maker of love. He definitely fucked, and those good sex vibes basically screamed it would be a ravishing to remember.
"Jesus Christ..." Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose before releasing it through her mouth.
How was the thought of this man so goddamn arousing?
Inuyasha The Client desperately needed to be off-limits.
It was stupid of Kagome to even contemplate a sexual relationship with him. After all, there wasn't a guarantee he even liked Kagome. Sure, the sight of her tits covered in dog demon massage oil had made him insta-hard, and yeah, okay, he requested her as his exclusive RMT, and asked her out for coffee. But it was apology coffee! It was a peace offering for making her uncomfortable.
Not that the sight of his dick made her uncomfortable. But, damn, had she been flustered, and maybe in his panic and embarrassment he hadn't been able to tell those two emotions apart.
Kagome had read many a steamy romance novel in her day, and it never failed that she'd roll her eyes at the ridiculousness of the 'seeing his cock for the first time and bashfully claiming it'll never fit' trope. Because, really...when in real life did that ever happen? It didn't. It was a stupid, smut-romance exclusive that love-starved bookworms gobbled up.
Well, it was a trope Kagome made fun of until she gulped at the size of Inuyasha's penis. His rigid, girthy, prominent, and rock-fucking-solid—
"Sweet Jesus, Kagome," she gasped, cupping her cheek. "That is more than enough of that."
Suffice to say, Inuyasha was huge. Kagome noticed. Kagome pondered the anatomical chemistry of the two of them upon laying eyes on his cock. And then Kagome may have absentmindedly allowed the thought to cross her mind that he could be too big to fit.
He looked all kinds of wide and thick, like...she'd need to be fingered with three digits in order to prep herself for it...
Wow, I should really have masturbated before coming out to this, because my hormones are just—
The raised hand and beckoning voice of Inuyasha drew Kagome from her thoughts as he stepped from a taxi and slammed the door behind him.
Kagome's cheeks warmed at the sight of him as he approached. She had seen this man in nothing but a borrowed thong and bed sheet, and yet seeing him fully clothed was what made her stomach churn with arousing anxiety.
That's because it's work when he's undressed, but seeing him out and about this like...this is not work. This—
"—is a mistake," she hissed under her breath before Inuyasha was close enough to hear her.
Seeing Inuyasha's trench coat whipping around his body just served as a reminder of how under-dressed Kagome was for the weather. For their date-that-wasn't-a-date, Kagome had decided to sport a skin-tight, t-shirt bodycon dress and riding boots, and, of course the ridiculous cardigan that did nothing against this wind.
She could feel Inuyasha's eyes on her body as he drew closer.
She steeled her expression and allowed a lazy smile to coat her red-painted lips in greeting. "And here I thought you were gonna stand me up."
"I don't ghost people, Kagome. I'm more of a cancel-last-minute kinda guy." A lopsided, boyishly charming grin peeked from his lips as his eyes took her in. It was a swelling, head-to-toe examination that left her insides fluttering.
"Mm," she offered, narrowing her eyes playfully as she observed him observing her. "I noticed—seeing that Madame's wasn't graced with your presence on Wednesday."
She wondered if her comment would make him blush or get flustered, but he accepted her comment coolly, unfazed. He brushed his open trench coat aside and slid a hand into his pants pocket as he leaned his weight primarily on one foot, his hip jutting to the side. It was an alluring pose for an ordinary one.
"Disappointed?" He bore his teeth at her in a coltish grin.
"Not at all. The empty timeslot gave me a much needed rest after an otherwise busy day." She offered him an impish smile of her own. "So, maybe I should thank you."
"A busy day harassing other clients with demon breed-specific massage oils?"
"Wow." The word was elongated, arcing with an incredulous tone as it left her mouth around a laugh. "You're starting already, huh?"
"Feh—I'm not starting anything," he impugned haughtily. "If you got massage oil for dog demons, it's easy to assume you'd offer that kinda service to other demon clients."
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms against her chest to protect against another gust of wind. "You want me to say you're one of my clients who gets special treatment?"
"You don't have to—I already know you treat me special."
Kagome gasped a laugh. "Full of yourself, much?" She shot him a deprecating raised eyebrow.
He lifted a shoulder at her, his gaze dipping once more to complete a full sweep of her body. If he thought he was being subtle... "Deny it, then, Kagome," he challenged, his eyes meeting hers as he completed his inspection. "Tell me I'm wrong and I'll drop it."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes, forcing her gaze away from his. A lock of hair tickled across her cheek and she quickly tucked it behind a pierced ear. She saw Inuyasha in her peripherals, watching her every move. The golden sheen of his eyes was so bright she almost couldn't help but wonder if they glowed in the dark.
Kagome internally shook her head of the thought. There was no way she'd allow his measuring, intense stare to weaken her resolve.
"You're the spa's best client's brother. If there's anyone who Madame would want to receive exclusive treatment, other than Sesshoumaru, it would be you." Her lips curved into a sickly-sweet smile. "Consider it perks of association."
He quirked an eyebrow. That clearly wasn't what he was expecting her to say. "So, how many other of your clients do you treat with their own special product?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss my other clients," she replied, lifting her chin stubbornly.
"So, none then," he huffed. "I guess that means I am—"
"—As much as I love bickering with you, Inuyasha," she interrupted, fighting off another chill. "Do you think we could not have this conversation directly in front of my workplace?"
Inuyasha's eyes widened and he inspected the black and beige stone building behind Kagome. His face transformed into a facetious smirk. "Why? Worried one of your clients will overhear and get jealous of my special treatment?"
Kagome groaned loudly and made a show of walking around Inuyasha. She'd leave him at the front door of Madame's if necessary to get out of the cold. The heels of her boots clicked against the pavement with her steps. "You're incorrigible," she groaned, ignoring his smirk when she turned to face him from the sidewalk. "You said this little rendezvous would involve coffee so—" She gestured towards the sidewalk with her hands— "Shall we go get that coffee? Or have you changed your mind?"
A ripple of amusement ran off Inuyasha's shoulders and he turned abruptly to start walking without acknowledging her comment. Kagome took a few leaping steps to catch up to him. Once she was at his side, she, annoyingly, had to take intentionally larger steps than her average ones just to keep up with his pace.
Kagome only allowed silence to linger between them for a minute before she asked, "So, how come you had to cancel on Wednesday?"
Oh my god, that's none of my business; I should not be asking him that...
Inuyasha looked at her quickly before facing forward again. "I had an unexpected work thing."
"I see."
"Why'd you wanna know?"
She shrugged, hoping it appeared indifferent. "Just curious."
He leveled her with a knowing stare. "Funny—I thought staff weren't allowed to be curious about their clients?"
Kagome shot him a hoodwinked expression. His features converted into absolute smugness after his eyes lingered on her painted lips a bit longer than the rest of her face.
"And how would you have insider knowledge of my workplace policies?"
"Sesshoumaru," he answered simply. "He's the owner favourite, remember? He's aware of some business practices." Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "So," he accentuated, "if you're not supposed to get to know me, why'd you ask?"
She tried not to let him get under her skin. "Seemed like polite conversation."
"Was it you being polite that made you agree to have coffee with me, too?"
She tossed him an unimpressed scowl that made him chuckle low in his throat. It was a very pleasing sort of rumble.
The hell she'd let him know she liked it.
"What if I just have a debilitating caffeine addiction and can't say no to the substance regardless who asks me?"
He cast a quick glance at her over his shoulder—he walked at such a brisk pace he was ahead of her again. He half-smirked at her as she double-stepped to catch back up. "And for a sec I almost thought you agreed because you missed me."
She snorted at him theatrically, making a show of tossing her loose hair from her half-updo over her shoulder. "As if. I think you asked me out for coffee because you missed me."
Stop egging him on, Kagome. You shouldn't be blatantly flirting with a client like this...
He lifted a shoulder at her lazily, not meeting her eye. His expression seemed to turn introspective. "Yeah, well, despite what you might think of me, I'm not an asshole who takes advantage of helpless women when they're just doing their jobs, alright? Besides, anything more than coffee seemed like..." He paused to shrug again, browsing his vocabulary for the right word. "I dunno...too date-ish."
"Okay, what?" She shot out a hand to grip his forearm, forcing him to stop. "First off, you may be an asshole, but you didn't take advantage of me." Kagome hissed the word, her eyes surveying the people around them with a faint pink on her cheeks.
He snorted. "What the hell would you call last week, then?"
She rolled her eyes. They were really going to talk around this, weren't they? "It was an accident. I got that reaction from you because of my own carelessness with my product. You didn't do anything that you need to legitimately feel sorry about."
"But you—"
"—And second," she interrupted, poking an accusing index finger at him. "How is going for coffee not date-ish? My ex and I used to go for coffee dates all the time."
Inuyasha chuffed a guttural laugh at Kagome's expense. "Explains why he's your ex, then."
"Okay, you know what—?"
Kagome was cut off by Inuyasha walking away from her. It was like he was completely unaffected by the heightened resentment coating her tone.
She eyed his back for a heartbeat before she jumped into step to reach him.
"Coffee can be date-ish," she bickered when she was finally at his side again. The cold wind lodged itself in her throat and made her feel out of breath. She fisted her cardigan across her collarbone.
"What's your point, Kagome?" He groused, not turning to look at her. "Are you trying to make this a date?"
"What?" Her words were hot on the coattails of his question. "Absolutely not!"
"Because if I wanted to take you out," he continued, ignoring the juvenile glare she cast up at him from his side, "it would not be for coffee."
"Then what would you—?"
"—Does it matter?" He stopped walking, sizing her up with a scrutinizing scan of his eyes.
Her cheeks lit up with a tinge of pink at the accusation in his tone.
Why did it matter? Why was she forcing this? Was it because she wanted to know what a date with Inuyasha would look like?
"No, just forget it," she snipped, taking off down the sidewalk again. She hoped to leave Inuyasha with enough space between them that he would have to be the one to take a few bounding steps to catch up. Much to her chagrin, however, he barely seemed to exude any effort to catch up in a matter of short footfalls.
"You wanna know what I think?"
"Not really, no."
"I think you want to be on a date with me, Kagome."
Oh my GOD...
She cast him her best are you fucking kidding me expression. "Can you drop it, please?"
He smirked, his eyes making the side of her face warm from his lingering stare. "Nah," he teased. "But, you wanna know why this isn't a date?"
She sighed the most dramatic, lung-shaking release of air she thought she could possibly muster. The drama of it brought an upturned, humourous lilt to Inuyasha's lips. "Because your little heart couldn't bear it if I didn't want to date you?"
He snorted a laugh. "I was gonna make a joke, but I think you just went and fuckin' ruined it." The humourous glint in his eye brought a scoff to Kagome's lips and she turned from him quickly.
All this bantering was making her heart race and she hated it.
A lazy cackle dying in his throat, Inuyasha slowed to a stop at the crosswalk. "But, in all seriousness, it's not a date 'cause I know you're not supposed to fraternize with your clients."
How uncharacteristically...decent of him...
"So, then, why ask me out for a non-date coffee?"
He scoffed at her wording. "Why'd you say yes?"
"Why'd you really cancel our Wednesday appointment?"
His eyes tapered skeptically. A shiver spider-walked down Kagome's spine and she straightened, widening her grip on her biceps so her crossed arms covered more of her arms. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as he followed her movements but he didn't say anything.
"You don't think I actually had a work thing?"
She shrugged in answer and followed the crowd in front of them to cross the street. The two of them were silent until they passed the intersection and the crowd started to disperse.
"Lemme guess," he guffawed, his tone teasing as their steps fell in sync. "You think it had something to do with last week, don't you?"
"I didn't say anything," she shrugged. "I just thought your initial answer was vague and that I'd give you another opportunity to come clean."
"Come clean," he echoed, mockery in his words and a ridiculing grin on his face. "Because you think I'm lying."
"I didn't say that."
"Why do you think I cancelled, Kagome? 'Cause I felt embarrassed?"
She could play this coy game all day.
"What is there to feel embarrassed about, Inuyasha?"
He released a slow snicker as he shook his head at her, incredulous. "You sneaky fuckin' thing," he extolled, his tone deepening to the point its huskiness made Kagome lick her lips. "You wanna talk about this, don't you? Alright fine—" He swiped his thumb across his bottom lip as he chuckled and Kagome couldn't help but observe the gesture thirstily. "What is it you want, Kagome? To have me explain why you got that reaction from me? You want me to apologize?"
Kagome coughed a lazy laugh then held up her index and middle finger in front of Inuyasha's face. "Two things. First, you're a guy—"
"No shit!"
"—and I know exactly what I looked like to cause that sort of...reaction from you." Her eyes dipped to the tightness of his tailored slacks to accentuate her point. Inuyasha scoffed a huff at the shameless flagrance of her gaze. "And two, if you feel like you owe me an apology, Inuyasha, I certainly won't stop you."
He snorted with good humour. "And what about my apology, Kagome?"
Was saying each other's name a thing now? Because the way he emphasized hers not only sounded delicious, but it was with a chiding tone that made her want to misbehave. Fine, she could keep that going too, if he was so adamant about it.
"Why do you feel you're entitled to an apology, Inuyasha?"
At the next crosswalk, he turned his body to face her directly.
Everything about his gaze felt molten, amplified by the rich amber of his eyes, which Kagome knew were flecked with dark brown specks, even though she couldn't see them in this light. Inuyasha did have the annoying tendency to stare at her during his services, after all; it gave her plenty of opportunities to note the colour and appeal of his preternatural eyes.
The ends of his hair flapped around him like a silver cloud with every forceful gust that winded its way around the downtown core. The traffic signals allowed vehicles through one street at a time, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome waiting for a while longer as the crowd grew around them.
The increased presence of bodies made Kagome take a couple of shuffling steps closer to Inuyasha. His body pivoted as she approached him. He angled himself so his chest faced her, as if granting her his body heat. The proximity made her catch the heavenly musk that radiated from Inuyasha's skin like a sexual aura. The cologne he wore made her nasal passages feel warm and full after her inhalation. Damn all her womanly needs because she didn't remotely fight closing her eyes when she took a second, deep inhale of his scent. It was earthy, sensual, rich. The bottle could claim the cologne was a treat to the senses, and she would undoubtedly agree with that little marketing statement. She almost was tempted to ask him why he never wore cologne to his services when she suddenly remembered Madame's No Scent policy for clients.
Duh...
"Was what happened really an accident?"
She blinked up at him in response. He had lifted a taxed eyebrow at her in a dubious and evaluating leer. His words had been so quiet she almost could have thought he was talking to himself.
"The whole—" He gestured his hands in front of his chest— "incident with the dog demon lube?"
If Kagome had been drinking it would have shot out of her nose. "Excuse me? It is not lube!"
"It's made for dog demons, stupid," he laughed as he watched her eyes dip and cheeks flush. "Give me some fuckin' credit. I'd know what it is, especially when I've used it before."
No. NO fucking way...
"But—but that means..."
"That you've been rubbin' me down for weeks with lube meant to seduce me? Yep."
Oh. My. God.
"And I—"
And I had my tits covered in a substance meant to be sensual for him. Fucking Christ...no wonder he got hard...
"Well, shit," she flushed, bringing her palm to her forehead as she released a puff of air from her lips. "That's mildly mortifying."
Her eyes followed the tilt of his head while he beamed at her embarrassment. He completed another sweeping scan of her person before patting her shoulder in pseudo-affection. It was the first time he had touched her. His palm was warm and she instantly lamented the lack of body heat as soon as it was gone.
For someone who was like a cold fish on her massage table, Inuyasha seemed to have absolutely no qualms with ogling the shit out of her in the streets. Meeting his stare when his search concluded on her face, she offered him a playful expression despite the scorching heat of her face.
If he can eye-fuck her so shamelessly, two could play at that game.
Kagome blithely licked at her lips, letting her tongue linger along her top teeth as she visibly dipped her head, taking note of his brown leather shoes all the way up to his beautifully manicured eyebrows, a dark contrast to the vivid silver of his hair. He was dressed business-casual and it was appealing as all sin. A white, collared button up rippled above his taut pectorals with the motion of his torso. His black trench coat whipped against his legs as he leaned his weight into his one leg. Her eyes hugged and grazed every muscle her hands had mapped for weeks. Her fingers flexed involuntarily in memory of his silky hardness beneath her touch.
Yup, a find specimen of masculine slab if there ever was one...
Kagome's all-encompassing inspection of his body concluded on his white dog ears. They were angled and held close to his scalp as if they were sensitive to the cold breeze that ricocheted between the bodies at the crosswalk.
She smiled at him as their eyes met.
For the first time since meeting him, Kagome felt starved for information. She wanted to know this man with a ferocity she hadn't felt before.
Suddenly, Inuyasha was a library and Kagome was the zealous, grade-obsessed student ready to wreck herself with studying.
"If I were to look up subtle in the dictionary, guess whose face would not be there?"
His gibe had her redirect her attention to meet his eye and a laugh skirted between her teeth.
Cute—he thinks he's funny...
"Yours?"
He offered her a grin to show he wasn't impressed with her for sabotaging his joke. "Whatever."
Kagome humoured him with a curt chuckle as they began to finally cross the intersection. "I actually think you may be deserving of kudos, Inuyasha, instead of an apology."
He arched a single brow in response, encouraging her to elaborate.
Kagome tucked her cardigan into the nooks of her elbows as she crossed her arms, shrinking in on herself to preserve all the body heat she could. "That...product I had been using...it's supposed to get a rise out of you, right?"
"Aren't you clever," he snorted, holding back an eye roll. He could tell from her reaction that she was awfully proud of herself for the double entendre. "But, yeah. Something to do with being chemically formulated to be pleasing for dog demons based on scent."
"So it's like...catnip for dog demons?"
He leveled her with an indignant stare that made her giggle.
"Catnip does nothing for humans," she continued, ignoring his frown of distaste, "but it's super appealing to cats, right? Oh, just in case it's not clear," she added with a smile, pointing at him, "you're the cat in this analogy, Inuyasha." She paused to giggle at his expense. "It's kinda like that, right?"
Kagome exasperated Inuyasha so thoroughly he sighed heavily enough that he groaned.
"Your analogy is fucking stupid—" He snorted a laugh— "but yeah, I guess you can think of it that way."
She flung him a cheeky smile. "So, you're telling me, I was...giving you catnip at every service and you only reacted to it that one time last week? That's..." she laughed, "very iron-willed of you. I'd even argue a little impressive."
"Feh," Inuyasha scoffed and turned his face away from her. Kagome would be willing to bet her entire paycheque that he was blushing ever so slightly. "I wouldn't want to embarrass you further, Kagome, by exaggerating my admirable dog demon stamina."
Kagome laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Yes, yes, you're such a big person, Inuyasha."
Her eyes tapered as she offered him a smile, her cheeks warming before becoming red. Kagome tried to play it cool, like she hadn't just inadvertently made a dick joke. She heartily avoided Inuyasha's gaze while she played the intense mental game of thinking about Inuyasha's size without thinking about Inuyasha's size.
His erection had left very little to the imagination—he certainly was a big person.
If Inuyasha could sense her growing arousal, he was gracious enough to not show any indication of it.
Stopping at another intersection, Kagome openly shivered and rubbed at her biceps. "I guess it would have been too much to ask to pick a closer coffee shop, huh?"
Inuyasha smiled but kept his focus on the Do Not Walk indicator across the way. "An independent coffee shop I like is just a few more blocks; their flat whites are worth the walk, trust me." He turned to sneer at her with a teasing expression. "Think you'll be able to make it, Princess?"
Kagome's neck angled backwards to look him in the eye so she could pull a face at him. She felt like her head tipped back and back and back before her eyes locked onto his good-humoured ambers.
With him having been on her table, she never really took stock of just how much bigger than her he was. She wasn't puny at her five-foot-five. But he towered over her almost a good half-foot if not more. How did she not notice that before when he had basically chased her into the parking lot the night of the bachelor party? No wonder it had felt so nice when she stepped into his body heat at the previous intersection. He was like a heated wall of muscle.
"As long as you promise you won't go as far as offering me your jacket, I think I'll survive."
Inuyasha huffed as he slowed his stride so they could cross the street together. "Course not. Wouldn't want to overwhelm your senses with my scent."
Kagome blushed at having been caught sniffing him. She refused to cower from him as she narrowed her eyes at his blooming half-smirk. "Wouldn't want you to think this is a date. Besides," she stressed, squaring her shoulders, "I'm not that cold. I can easily last a few more blocks."
Inuyasha snorted untactfully. "Bullshit—I can see how cold you are, Kagome. I'm not blind."
"Okay, sure, I have goosebumps from the windchill. It's no big—"
"—Oh, I meant your nipples, but yeah, sure, let's talk about your goosebumps."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shriek-laughed, slapping him in the shoulder before crossing her arms over her chest. "Could you be any more shameless?"
Inuyasha laughed—like, really laughed. His chin tipped back and he roared into the sky with such pleasing, musical hilarity. That sound was so worth the indiscretion of his ogling her breasts. He came down from his bellow to offer her a devilish smile. His eyes lowered to survey her protective body language. Seeing his eyes linger on where her arms covered her breasts, Kagome's brace tightened.
"How cute—she's shy."
"She's not shy," Kagome countered. "She's cold and not going to condone your salacious behaviour."
"Feh—nothing I haven't seen before, Kagome," he taunted. "Don't forget they were on full, moistened display for me last week." His words brought a rush of heat low in her stomach. "Besides, it's not my fault your boobs are super conspicuous in that dress of yours."
"Keep going, Inuyasha, and you won't be able to see out of the hole you're digging for yourself." Despite the slant of her lips, Kagome shook her head at him with condemnation. His eyes dipped again to where her breasts hid from view and she tightened her arms against herself even more. Her blush cascaded down her neck and lingered in her chest.
"You're still staring."
He snorted. "You're not really giving me much to look at anymore."
"Oh, I'm sorry your view has been obstructed."
He grinned. "It's an easily rectifiable situation, Kagome."
She snorted. "Yeah, I bet you'd love that, wouldn't you?"
"Drop your arms and let's find out."
"Wow," she laughed, the word drawn out with her laugh. "You're something else, Inuyasha."
"Oh, yeah?" He cracked a smile.
"Yes," she emphasized. "You—you're saucy."
"And you're blushing. You must like it...saucy."
Kagome choked a laugh and lifted a hand to cup her neck. The tip of Inuyasha's tongue snaked against his lower lip as he heeded her movement. His reaction made her bite down on her bottom lip.
She liked this teasing way, way, too much.
"You're bad," she finally answered with a concluded laugh. "I think you're well on your way for being a bad client for me."
"You started it, Kagome," he badgered. "I was minding my own business until your nipples accosted me."
"Oh no—" She feigned a gasp, bringing her hand to her mouth— "Poor, monkey-brained, Inuyasha—defenseless in the presence of hardened nipples!"
He laughed, seemingly okay with being the butt of the joke. "Blame that little dress of yours—it draws the eye to certain assets."
She smirked at him and tucked a loose piece of hair off her cheek. "Yes, well," she sighed, "that's the point. But then again, no article of clothing can really diminish exceptional breasts, can it?"
"Full of yourself, much?"
Kagome smiled at his mirroring of her words from earlier. "I know what I look like, Inuyasha, and that includes my best assets. I don't need to feign ignorance or modesty."
Inuyasha's response was a rumble in his chest. Did that mean he approved of what she said? Whatever he meant by that intoxicating, vibrating echo in his chest, it was pleasurable.
Where was the little voice that was supposed to reside in Kagome's head, setting off alarms over Inuyasha The Client? Had she grown complacent? Ignorant? Ambivalent? Kagome had charged right into bad judgment territory along with Inuyasha, and caution was so far thrown into the wind Kagome could feel its breeze. The flirting and sexual tension between them was just too much.
She knew she shouldn't enjoy teasing him as much as she did. Yes, this walk felt like it was lasting forever, but she was having fun playing with him, flirting with him. And boy-oh-boy, did she ever get a rush of endorphins at his blatant attention to and appreciation of her breasts.
"It's just a few buildings down here, Kagome."
His words drew her from her thoughts and she nodded, not ignorant of the briskness he added to his pace as another shrill breeze caused their hair to billow behind them, tugging at their clothes.
"Damn, I'm so warm," Inuyasha mumbled after a lull in the conversation. Inuyasha glanced at Kagome with a heavily sarcastic side-eye. "Thank fuck for the luxury of this coat I brought with me."
Kagome scoffed and bumped his arm with her shoulder. He was on a roll—he seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of her. "You're an asshole, Inuyasha. A very thorough one."
He laughed at her words. "Shame I couldn't loan it to you, Kagome. Don't want to mislead you into thinking we're on a date."
"Such a selfless asshole," she gasped, sarcasm dripping from her teasing words.
A long line-up signaled to Kagome they had arrived, and she turned to inspect the facade of the building as Inuyasha joined the queue. Kagome peered into the windowed cafe that seemed full to capacity—and then some. This place was bumpin' for a Friday evening.
Once they had joined the queue, Kagome wasn't oblivious to how Inuyasha stepped towards her. His body almost hovered over hers as he angled himself to take the brunt of the draft from the street. Despite wanting to tease him about it, she did appreciate the gesture.
Ah, hell, why not? She should totally tease him about it.
"I saw that little maneuver there, Casanova," she gibed with a wink. "Trying to preserve my modesty in case I get cold again?"
"Anything to protect those nipples, Kagome."
She swatted him in the chest, eliciting a hearty laugh from his throat. "You're incorrigible, Inuyasha," she cursed on the breath of her laughter.
It felt melodramatic to say, but hitting Inuyasha just now? It was like smacking a wall, a wall covered in protective wrapping. He was all hard lines and broad muscles. It had been over one week and she already missed having him on her table. She needed to find another reason to touch him. Maybe it was the RMT in her, but she couldn't ignore the growing desire she felt to keep her hands on him, scrounge a little of his body heat for herself.
They were silent for a few minutes while they waited in line. To keep her thoughts occupied—and off of her incessant desire to touch Inuyasha again—she mapped the muscles in the part of his chest that she had previously touched.
Teres major...subscapularis...pectoralis major...
They were no closer to the front, let alone close to entering the building. They had shuffled a few steps closer to the entrance but that was about it.
Man, at this rate I'll need to touch him again just to keep my brain distracted with this new activity of reciting which of his muscles I'm touching...
"So, does your workplace have any rules against clients getting to know their RMT?"
Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with his random question. "No, the confidentiality is one way."
"Interesting," he muttered. "So, you're telling me, I could ask anything I wanted, but you couldn't reciprocate?"
"Well, I mean, I could, but I really shouldn't," she answered. "All I'm supposed to ever know about you is what I'm told on your Client Card. When I started my job, I had to sign a bunch of waivers related to confidentiality and conflict of interest—I could get fired if I have any sort of relationship with a client. But I'm already navigating a grey zone by being here with you so..." Her words tapered off into a shrug.
"That's fucked," Inuyasha said bluntly. "Like yeah, I get the place is elite and shit, but to control you like that?" He shook his head.
Kagome smiled at how seriously he was upset about this for her. "I can't say it's ever been an issue for me until now," she offered. "'Til you—" She bumped him with her shoulder. "But, if you want me to reciprocate your questions, there's an easy enough way for us to move forward with that."
"And what would that be?"
Kagome hugged her arms around herself as another gust undulated, forcing her hair into her face. She quickly climbed out of the tresses, hating the feeling of hair stuck to her lipstick. Inuyasha took a step towards her, the toe of his shoe bumping the toe of hers. Kagome's cheeks reddened as Inuyasha leaned into her to scoop a strand of hair out of the corner of her mouth with a finger. She could feel the electricity of his touch long after it was gone.
Holy cow, that felt...intimate.
"You couldn't be my client anymore," she finally answered.
"Which would be a real shame. You're good at what you do, Kagome." He took a step away from her to clear his throat.
She smirked at how flustered he seemed after delivering the compliment. "What do you like the idea of more? Me getting to ask you questions to get to know you or having my hands on you?"
Inuyasha grinned mischievously. "You don't have to be my masseuse to have your hands on me, Kagome."
"You're something else, Inuyasha," she laughed, echoing her comment from earlier. "I'd like to get to know you, I think."
He cocked an eyebrow at her as if to say Oh, really?
"And," she added, "I think you find me quite enjoyable." She couldn't withhold a laugh as her face sprouted in a smile from the look he gave her. "I think there's a good chance your next Wednesday appointment won't be with me."
"You think so, eh?"
"I do," she nodded.
"You turning away my business, Kagome?"
"Do you want me to?"
He shrugged. "I guess it would only be fair that, when I eventually ask you things like—oh, I dunno—why your ex broke up with you recently, you get to answer and then say 'what about you'? You know?"
Kagome exhaled a laugh. They were two customers away from the front door. Progress!
What an interesting way to ask about Hojo...
Alright, I can take the bait.
"We were together six years," she started saying before she knew any better not to. "High school sweethearts, which seems like such a stupid mistake in the aftermath of it. We weren't remotely the same people in the end that we were in the beginning. I don't know how I ever expected it to be endgame."
"But you did?"
She shrugged in answer. "I must have, because it fucking hurt to be caught off guard by him dumping me."
"That's rough, Kagome. I'm sorry."
She shrugged again, as if she truly were indifferent about it. "The part that gets me though? Is that he was the one who had the guts to end it because he needed to explore something new, something that wasn't me. Looking back on it now, I felt like I was in a rut for at least half of the relationship, and yet I stayed. What does that say about me?"
Holy faucet-mouth, Kagome. Reel it in!
"Sorry," Kagome snapped, bringing a tentative hand to her mouth. "That was...a lot to just word-vomit at you." She tried to laugh away her embarrassment.
Inuyasha smiled at her, reaching for the front door of the cafe to hold open for her with his forearm. She liked this position, tucked under his arm, protected.
"Six years is a long time regardless how you felt about him in the end," Inuyasha offered. His tone was surprisingly gentle given how into ribbing her he seemed to be. How was this the same Inuyasha The Client that Kagome had met those weeks ago? That had teased her about her nipples just minutes ago?
"What about you?" she asked, keen to turn the spotlight away from herself for a little while.
"What about me?"
"I think Miroku said her name was Kikyou?"
"Fucking Miroku," Inuyasha cursed under his breath, drawing a quiet giggle from Kagome that eventually teased a smile from the corner of Inuyasha's lips.
"What happened?"
"So, it's official then, huh?"
His question caught Kagome off-guard because she offered him a confused expression that he thought looked adorable.
"You're asking me a question about myself. That must mean you're refusing to be my masseuse moving forward."
"Oh, right." She stared up at him, a strange plethora of emotions swirling in her stomach. "Well, you're the paying customer, Inuyasha. It's up to you if you want to stay mine or if you'd rather transfer to another RMT."
"Stay yours?" He offered her a cheeky, canine-bearing grin.
Kagome blushed. "Stay my client."
Inuyasha nodded at her before looking away for a few heartbeats. His gaze looked distant, distracted. Kagome stayed silent, hoping to give his thoughts the space to breath that they needed.
"Kikyou was—" Inuyasha paused to rub at the back of his neck, as if trying to prod words to his lips. "She was—"
"Yeah?"
Guess this is his way of acknowledging his decision, she thought. So long, Inuyasha The Client and hello, Inuyasha The...
Well, I guess, I could actually ask him his last name now.
"Fuck, this is hard," Inuyasha laughed, his tone sheepish, drawing Kagome from her thoughts. "I haven't really talked about her since she broke up with me." The warmth of his amber seemed to shift in the light to a muted gold with his frustration, punctuated underneath his furrowed brows.
"Take your time," Kagome smiled. "We probably have until tomorrow morning at the rate this line-up is taking."
A laugh snaked from his throat.
Inuyasha finally crossed the threshold of the cafe, the door removed from his charge to be held open by the couple standing behind them. Inuyasha's body was pushed into Kagome's by the large volume of customers occupying standing room. There were a lot of bodies for such a small space. Kagome could feel Inuyasha's breath on her forehead, on the crown of her head, warming her hair. It felt strangely...intimate. She wanted to reach for his hand to squeeze his fingers in a sign of comfort but thought better.
"It's hard for me to talk about her because..."
"Because?"
Inuyasha's sigh turned into a heated, rough strain of curse words, the tone at odds with the gentle frustration he just uttered. His eyes were wide and his attention fixated on something deeper in the cafe, behind her.
Kagome turned to look over her shoulder. She followed his line of sight to a table of three women seated in the furthest corner of the cafe. Kagome noticed Inuyasha's attention snagged on one pretty, black-haired female in particular.
"Do you know her, Inuyasha?"
"Yeah." His voice sounded dry, rough. "That's Kikyou."
On cue—because that's how the universe works—Kikyou's head lifted and her previously soft brown eyes hardened and narrowed as she returned Inuyasha's stare.
"Fuck me," Inuyasha hissed under his breath, averting his eyes.
Kagome knew that tone. He didn't want to be here. "Inuyasha?"
"Kagome, I-I'm so sorry. But, I...I gotta—"
"Inuyasha." Kagome gripped one of his hands between both of hers. Her tone calcified with a rush of bravery—or stupidity. The thought she just had could really go either way.
His eyes turned to meet hers with the repeat utterance of his name. He heard the stubbornness in her timbre. His name was a command, an instruction, not a gentle request.
"Do you trust me?"
His eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"Just—" Kagome sighed, her breath heavy with frustration. "Do you trust me?" she repeated. Her eyes lit with a ferocity he hadn't seen before.
"Not if you're armed with rocks of any kind, I don't."
Kagome dropped his hand like it attacked her. "God, it was one time." She tossed her head back and turned her gaze to the ceiling with heightened frustration. She relaxed her neck until she could level him with an unimpressed scowl.
Inuyasha wielded a smile at her like he wanted to burrow under her skin and cause her as much vexation as possible.
"I'm being serious."
"Yeah, so am I," he replied, his face contorting wickedly at her eyeroll.
"Inuyasha..."
He puffed an acquiescing exhale at her. His eyes roved her face, examining the resilience of her stubborn expression. Her eyes followed every back-and-forth motion of his.
Inuyasha seemed to contemplate her question for a few more heartbeats before he shrugged leisurely. "Sure? I guess?"
"You don't sound convincing."
He snorted. "Maybe that's 'cause I don't know what little antics you're up to, Kagome."
Kagome tried to slyly peer at Kikyou over her shoulder.
It didn't take Inuyasha long to realize who Kagome was peering at. "What does this have to do with Kik—?"
"Tell me you trust me," Kagome interrupted, whipping her head back around to face him.
She took a brazen step closer to him. They were almost chest-to-chest. If Kagome took a deep breath, her breasts would graze his shirt.
"Fine."
"Okay," she nodded back. "Then follow my lead."
Kagome lifted her arms until her palms rested on Inuyasha's chest. Her skin erupted in the glorious heat and solidity of him. Inuyasha's eyes widened with her bold touch, his eyebrows scraping the line of his bangs.
"Kagome," he choked, "what are you—?"
"—Just follow my lead," she repeated. Kagome clenched her palms into fists around the fabric of Inuyasha's dress shirt. There was a small part of her that almost felt badly for wrinkling the fine material.
Before a voice of reason or harbinger of lunacy could stop her, Kagome tugged on Inuyasha's shirt, pulling his body into movement until he was leaning over her, towards her, into her. Kagome pushed up onto her toes at the same time she pulled. She angled her head back to look up at Inuyasha just as his lips came within range of hers.
And then they were kissing.
What a turn of events—Inuyasha hadn't been her not-client for not even two minutes and Kagome already used that change in relationship as an opportunity to make a move.
Her fingers ached with the pressure she applied to Inuyasha's shirt. But if she let go, there was a chance his lips might leave hers.
It only took a couple of seconds for understanding to dawn on him, for Inuyasha to reciprocate the kiss.
Feeling him melt into her lips, against her mouth? Damn, this kiss was everything.
His hands circled the small of her back, leaving trails of ember behind them. Kagome moaned so deep in her throat it vibrated in her chest.
She became so lost in her kiss with Inuyasha that she completely forgot to check if Kikyou was watching and jealous.