Madame Masseuse
"A Little Touch of Truth"
Kagome clenched and unclenched her fist when the pins-and-needles sensation buzzed through her fingers. The numbness in her right arm had started up the day before, becoming a significant annoyance by the time her shift at Madame's had ended.
She woke up this morning with a slight ache in her right arm and hand, and she knew it would be best to call in sick to work. The last time she ignored a flare-up of her old work injury, she found herself with a swollen arm at the emergency clinic, thanks to her pinched nerves.
Kagome decided she'd take the day for some much needed couch respite, do her neck and shoulder stretches, and maybe even order in. Really splurge a little.
Thoughts or suggestions for tmrw?
Kagome nursed her water glass in her left hand—she didn't want to risk arm fatigue in her right—and responded to Inuyasha's text.
Think we can hold off on finalizing anything just yet? I'm home from work today and I'd rather not have to cancel any plans in case I'm not feeling up to it tmrw
What happened? R U OK?
Kagome exhaled a laugh, her features crinkling into an appreciative grin.
I'm fine, Inu—it's not serious. It's called thoracic outlet syndrome. It's a super common RMT repetitive strain injury—I went too hard a couple years ago and was first diagnosed with it. It's ultimately just a bunch of compressed nerves in the neck/shoulder. I've been working a lot lately so I'm actually not surprised about the flare-up. I just gotta take it easy the next couple of days so it doesn't get worse.
Do u need anything?
Kagome smiled. She could visualize him sitting at a desk, his brow all crunched with a worried frown.
Nothing my heating pad, cold compress, TV, and food deliveries can't fix. I'll keep you posted about tmrw, OK?
When he didn't respond, she reminded herself he was working, and then snuggled into the glorious nook on her couch where the cushion met the arm. She pulled her fleece blanket over her legs, snuggling down further. Her heating pad was on standby on the coffee table and she reached for a remote, eager to see what sort of daytime drama she could binge. Nothing like a good soap opera to herald a sick day.
When her phone vibrated two hours later, with a notification that she was being buzzed at the front door, she stared down at her device, puzzled.
Was someone calling the wrong unit? That's happened before.
She answered the call, putting her phone against her ear with a skeptical expression.
"Hello?"
"Hey—it's me."
"Inuyasha? What're you doing here?"
"I brought lunch—let me up."
"Wha—what? Why?"
"Just let me up already."
It took her a couple seconds to blink the stun away before she hit the button on her phone's keypad that would unlock the door.
Kagome quickly skimmed her apartment over the back of the couch, looking for anything needing tidying, while she waited for the knock on her door. She wasn't feeling self-conscious of her apartment exactly, but she started feeling jitters with the realization this would be Inuyasha's first time over.
A quick-fire triple knock resounded at her front door and Kagome emerged from her blanket. She opened her door to a rather casual-looking Inuyasha, for mid-day on a Thursday.
"Cute jammies," he said in greeting with an asinine smirk as he stepped through the door she held open for him. "I brought ramen since soup is a mandatory sick day staple. Where's your kitchen?"
Kagome looked down at her flannel cat pajama bottoms and baggy magenta t-shirt then snapped her head back up to Inuyasha. He wasted no time making himself at home by bringing the brown paper bags into her kitchen and placing them on the counter. Kagome was so distracted by the briskness of his arrival that she barely had a moment to feel insecure about her lazy clothes.
He was wearing jeans, which wasn't normal for him.
"Your kitchen looks far more used than mine," he called, looking around. He opened a cupboard to cups and quickly closed it.
What is he doing?
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" she half-asked, half-laughed as she stepped into the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb with crossed arms.
"It's homey," he answered, trying another cupboard. He drew his lips into a thin line when he was greeted by mixing bowls.
"Can I help you with something, Inuyasha?"
"Nope—I'll find your dishes eventually. Shouldn't you be on bedrest?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. "I'm not sick, Inuyasha. It's a sprain—a pinched nerve in my neck. I don't need bedrest—I just need to take it easy for a few days. The extra long weekend will help. How come you're here? Shouldn't you be at work?"
Having found her dishware, Inuyasha grabbed two bowls then turned to face her. He drew items from the to-go bags, poured the contents into the respective bowls, then interacted with Kagome's microwave while he spoke to her.
"I thought I'd take the rest of the day to hang out. Y'know, since you refused to commit on plans tomorrow."
"I didn't refuse," she argued. "I would have just felt badly if we made plans today and then I had to cancel tomorrow. You—" She paused, feeling a blush bloom up her neck and settle in her cheeks— "You shouldn't have bailed on work, Inuyasha. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself today."
"And you should be more accepting of help when it's offered," he replied, a sneer narrowing his eyes when he looked at her over his shoulder.
The microwave beeped and he was quick to swap the bowls.
"I appreciate that you're here, but I'll be fine. I don't need a nursemaid."
"Then I'll consider it a nice surprise I don't gotta play nursemaid, and we can just hang out instead."
Kagome pinched her lips together, feeling flustered. She scowled at him, her arms crossed, and he laughed, finding her pout charming.
"She's pretty reluctant to accept help, huh?"
"No, she's not," Kagome bickered as she approached her kitchen island and rested her fists on the cool granite top. "She's always happy to accept help. She's just feeling a little guilty for being the reason you're not working when I know things are busy for you at work."
Inuyasha snorted. "I have my own firm, Kagome. It's seriously not the end of the world if I only work a half-day now and then. If anyone needs me for somethin', they have my number. I can do my job remotely if I have to."
"So, you brought your work with you?"
"What? No! You're missin' the point. Why would I bring my work shit here if I was expectin' to play nursemaid?"
Kagome puffed out her cheeks with frustration, irritation winding in her chest. "I really don't need you to take care of me, Inuyasha."
He snorted at her, carrying both steaming bowls to her table and motioning with his chin for her to sit. "You sure it's not a head injury, Kagome? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I already said, like six times, that it's fine and we can just enjoy hangin' out today. Now, stop arguin' and—"
"But—"
"—Nope—shut up and come eat." He pointed a soup spoon at her threateningly. "You want me to spoon-feed you? 'Cause I can if it comes to that."
"Definitely not," she answered quickly, shaking her head, a mope embedded in her features as she pulled out one of her wooden chairs.
"I didn't think so," he snorted, putting the spoon down.
Kagome breathed in the heavenly aroma of the ramen and looked over her steaming bowl at Inuyasha, who had wasted no time digging into his with chopsticks.
She bit into the side of her cheek, her face feeling flushed. "Th—thank you for doing this, Inuyasha. I know I've been giving you a hard time instead of showing any appreciation so—"
"—It's fine." He waved her words away, not raising his head to look at her. "Friends take turns takin' care of each other, right?"
She smiled, angling her gaze down at her bowl. "Right," she mumbled with a nod. "But thank you, regardless."
"You're welcome—now eat."
Kagome snorted a laugh, mumbled a Yes, Mom, and then enjoyed her lunch.
Once they finished their meal, Kagome showed Inuyasha into her living room and he wasted no time at all making himself comfortable on her couch. Kagome couldn't help smirking at the way he gawked around at her things. She sat on the cushion next to him and scooped her blanket into her lap.
He cast her a sidelong expression then rolled his eyes at her in a chastising way. "You got a thing for cats, huh?" He accentuated the point by lowering his eyes to the hem of her pants, a black and white tuxedo cat visible around her blanket.
She flushed and covered her lap fully with the fleece.
Inuyasha laughed, noticing the pink on her cheeks and seeing how she rounded her shoulders with embarrassment. "It's fine, Kagome—I'm just teasin' you."
She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "I thought you're supposed to be nice to me today? You know, since I'm sick."
He snorted. "You're sick now, are ya? Coulda fooled me."
Kagome actually stuck her tongue out at him and Inuyasha laughed, leaning back into the plushness of her couch and resting an arm along its back.
"What do you typically do on on a sick day?" he asked her.
"You mean other than be sick?"
"Obviously."
She huffed a laugh. "I think you're lookin' at it. There might be a cup of coffee or tea on the coffee table, but otherwise, it's comfy clothes, couch, TV, and trusty blanket."
Inuyasha's eyes dipped to her blanket then rose to her face, the corners of his lips curving into a smile. "Looks cozy."
"It is," she said, returning the smile. "If I could ignore the annoying numbness of my fingers, or the occasional shooting pain, it would be a great lazy day." She clenched and unclenched her fist, followed by shaking out her arm.
Inuyasha reached forward and grabbed her fingers in his large hand, massaging the digits between his. For some reason, the warmth of his grip surprised her.
"So, it's your hand that's givin' you issue, Kagome?" He turned over her palm as if he could see what was bothering her.
"No, it's here—" She used her other hand to rub the area between her neck and shoulder— "There's a group of nerves here called the brachial plexus; they're a collection of nerves that control muscle movements and feeling in the shoulder, arm, and hand. Most often, it's just a pins-and-needles sensation in my fingers, but there's been other times where my hand is so weak I can barely use it. The worst it ever was was a few years ago—it got pretty painful and there was some swelling that landed me at a clinic."
"Shit—and this is because of work?"
She nodded. "Yeah, it's really common for RMTs. I've seen a Physical Therapist for it before, and I have some stretches and stuff I can do to help work it out. Other times, it's just alternating heat and cold, and not aggravating the nerves as much as possible. Hot baths can help. In the past, when it was really bad, Sango worked out the muscles—it was painful but helpful."
"Massage helps?"
"It can."
"Is that weird for you?" he asked around a chuckle. "Being a masseuse and gettin' a massage?"
She laughed softly at his question. "It can be. I don't necessarily find it relaxing. Honestly, my brain is typically too preoccupied thinking about what's being done—the muscle they're working on, the technique they're using—that I don't really benefit from the massage like normal people do. It obviously still helps the muscles though."
Inuyasha seemed to take a second to look around at her space again before he turned to face her. He wore an expression that had Kagome's eyebrows furrowing despite her smile.
"Would you want one? A massage?"
Kagome's head tipped to the side as she met Inuyasha's eye. Was he...feeling bashful? Nervous?
Kagome's face broke into a beaming, pleased grin. "Why, Inuyasha Taisho, are you offering your former RMT a massage?"
He flushed at that—Yup, he's definitely feeling bashful! That's so cute!—and swallowed. "If it helps, yeah. I just thought—"
Kagome giggled, interrupting him. She looked down to where he still held her fingers, rubbing her hand between his, and her smile broadened. Kagome adjusted their hands so she was cupping his instead of him, hers.
"You could walk me through it, if you want," he continued, his gaze lingering on where she held him. "Just tell me what I gotta do."
The apples of Kagome's cheeks pillowed from how widely she smiled at him.
Would a massage actually be helpful with your TOS right now, or do you just want Inuyasha to touch you?
I mean—
Be honest! Don't just say yes because you want his hands on your body.
"So, for your touch to actually be helpful, I'll need to teach you a deep-tissue massage technique. Let me go change and I'll show you what I mean when I get back."
Guess that's a yes then!
Inuyasha nodded, then Kagome entered the closed door off the living room that opened to her bedroom.
In her walk-in closet, Kagome hoisted off her baggy t-shirt and changed into a strapless bra and a thin-strapped tank top. She drew her hair back into a high ponytail then returned to the living room. It looked like Inuyasha had barely moved in the time she was gone.
He gave her his usual once-over as she approached the couch. The side of her mouth tipped up at the way his eyes roamed her upper torso. He blatantly seemed to appreciate how the tank top revealed more of her to him.
"Okay," she said by way of greeting. "Are you more of a verbal learner or a tactile learner?"
Inuyasha looked up at her face and quirked an eyebrow in answer.
Kagome scoffed a laugh. "Can I just tell you what you need to do, or do you need me to show you?"
"You can probably just tell me, but do whatever's easiest for you."
"Okay, then." Kagome sat next to him and angled herself until her knees almost touched his. "So, you'll need to use firm pressure to break up muscle adhesions and previous scar tissue. In a case of TOS, like mine, you'll need to apply pressure to the affected muscle in the direction of the muscle fibers. And don't worry, I'll show you what I mean by that," she added with a laugh. "I think for a novice such as yourself, it might be easiest for me to just show you how to do petrissage."
"What the hell is that?"
Kagome laughed. "It's a form of deep-tissue massage that uses kneading movements that are more intense. Here, let me show you."
Kagome rounded the back of the couch to stand behind Inuyasha, placing her hands on his shoulders. She felt him stiffen beneath her which had her lifting her hands away from his broad muscles.
"Sorry, did I startle you?"
"No. I just don't think you should be demonstrating on me since you're injured."
Kagome smiled at him. "It's fine—I'm barely gonna do anything aggravating. I'm just showing you so you can properly help me."
"If you say so."
Kagome smirked. "Okay, then," she said with a nod of her head.
She started by collecting Inuyasha's hair between her hands in a sweeping motion, draping the mass of silver over his left shoulder. She watched his ears flick atop his head and she stifled a giggle.
"The area you'll want to focus, Inuyasha, is here." She ran her left hand down the right side of his neck to the end of his shoulder. His skin felt warm beneath her fingertips and she instantly felt nostalgic of having him under her palms at Madame's.
"You'll lift the skin, like this—" She applied the motion to the side of Inuyasha's neck— "and then you'll press down on the underlying muscles. You'll want to squeeze harder than I am, though. But, don't worry—I'll tell you if it hurts. Otherwise, don't worry about too much pressure because that's the whole idea behind this technique—there's meant to be a lot of it. So, then you'll roll your hands along with the lifted skin, like this—" She completed the motion against his neck— "and that's the whole movement! You'll start with shorter strokes and then follow that with successive longer and longer ones. The idea is that you're working out the adhesions in my muscles—got it?"
Inuyasha nodded. "Seems straight forward enough."
"Feeling ready to take the reigns, young Grasshopper?"
Inuyasha snorted and stood, the action forcing Kagome's hands to fall to the back of the couch.
"I don't wanna hurt you, Kagome, so you better speak up if somethin' doesn't feel good. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," she joked, smirking toothily at him as she rounded the couch to sit where he had been. Her smirk widened at the warmth that seeped into her legs from where he had sat.
"So, start at your neck, where you showed me, then work my way down to your shoulder?"
"You got it."
"Seems simple enough. I'm not gonna hurt you, am I?"
She giggled, lifting the strap of her tank top on her right side and slinking her arm out from underneath, baring her shoulder and upper back to him on the one side. "It's not supposed to be pleasant, but it's for long term benefit. Like I said, you just apply pressure and I'll let you know if it's too much. You're not gonna hurt me, Inuyasha. I'll be fine. I trust you."
Inuyasha snorted. "Don't I need oil or somethin' like that?"
Kagome giggled and pivoted on her couch to meet his eye. The slightest touch of rose in his cheeks was the most endearing thing she'd ever seen. Was it the sight of her bare skin doing that to him? The poor guy was flustered about this.
"Would you like me to get you some?"
"Do you want me to use it?"
She smirked up at him. "It's up to you."
"No, it's up to you."
She matched his impertinent stare for a few seconds before she watched his eyes shift away from hers, falling to her exposed collarbone and neck. The dark brown specks in his eyes looked abundant in this light, somehow making the motion of his eyes—where they traced the lines of her neck and shoulder—that much more obvious.
Kagome swallowed past a growing lump in her throat and turned back around, her chest feeling warm. "I'm fine without it, Inuyasha. Feel free to start my massage any time."
Inuyasha cleared his throat then rested his hands on her skin.
Given all the times she'd felt the heat of his palms on the nape of her neck, it felt different now. His touch was still intimate and brought a flurry of pleasure to her stomach, but it was sweeter, gentler somehow. She wasn't used to Inuyasha touching her so cautiously.
He started with a few gentle, sweeping motions of his hands before he pressed into her neck—hard. There wasn't any lead up or easing into it—it felt like he stabbed her with fingers and knuckles. Kagome flinched.
"That was a little ouch," she winced at the same time Inuyasha uttered, "Shit—sorry!"
Kagome giggled away his embarrassment. "It's fine. You just surprised me. This feels better though."
"Yeah? That pressure is okay?"
"Could be harder."
Inuyasha shaped his hands the way he felt Kagome demonstrate earlier and he pressed down on the skin of her neck. "Like that?"
"Harder."
"Okay. That better?"
"No—harder, Inuyasha."
"I gotta say, Kagome. I'm really likin' that word outta your mouth."
A smile wanted to carve itself out of her lips, but she snorted. "Good grief—where's your professional behaviour, Inuyasha?"
"Oh, I'm sorry—" He didn't sound sorry— "Am I supposed to be professional?"
Kagome tried to toss him a look over her shoulder but the authority of his hands wouldn't allow for it.
Inuyasha chuckled. "Remind me again of your professional behaviour, Kagome? Stabbin' me with hot stones? Low-cut tops? Dog demon lube?"
Kagome was resolute to turn around to offer Inuyasha her heartiest scowl, but he gripped her shoulders in his hands with a laugh.
"Stop movin'!"
"Stop teasing me, then!"
"You know I can't do that, Kagome."
He worked over a lump in her neck that loosened when he dragged the pressure of his fingers over it. Kagome made a noise in her throat that was half-moan, half-grimace. She could hear the forcefulness of his breaths with every press of his fists into her neck, dragging down to her shoulder.
"How's that? Hard enough."
Kagome arched forward with the compression of his fingers, her chin jutting out. "Yep," she cringed, holding her breath. "Yeah, that's actually great, Inuyasha."
"You sound like you're in pain."
"It's what I need—keep going. Follow that motion through to the shoulder. You should feel a tightness as you work your—yup, ouch. Good one." She swallowed down another wince. "After a few passes, you should feel this adhesion right here—" She slid her fingers between Inuyasha's above the area in question— "getting smaller and smaller. The goal is to go until you don't feel it anymore." She let her digits linger above his before she slowly dragged them away.
There was something undeniably intimate about touching him where he touched her, feeling his fingers work.
"I'm applyin' a lot of pressure."
She nodded as best she could. "Yeah." Her voice sounded hoarse as she spoke around the discomfort. "It feels good in a painful way."
"Wouldn't've taken you for a masochist, Kagome."
She chuckled in her throat, her body rocking with the motion of Inuyasha's hands.
His knuckles dug into something that made her feel uncomfortable and her shoulders bunched reflexively. She reached back with her hand to rest her palm on the back of Inuyasha's.
"Hey, can you focus right here for a sec? Something felt icky."
Inuyasha released a puff of a laugh through his nose and allowed Kagome to direct his hands where she wanted them. "Definitely don't want you feelin' icky under my touch."
She snorted a laugh and turned her head, wanting to smirk at him. She caught a glimpse of him in her peripherals, the sun reflecting off the gold of his irises. Inuyasha's eyes seemed to drink in the delicate white flesh of Kagome's bared upper shoulders and neck, his eyes roving the parts of her skin that flushed brightly from the scrutinizing attention of his hands.
He looked very serious about his work.
Kagome chuckled, the sound bringing him out of whatever he had been thinking.
"If you ever don't wanna be a trader anymore, I think you have the makings of a sufficient RMT, Inuyasha."
"You think so, huh?"
With her back to him again, Kagome could easily envision the bold arch of his lifted eyebrow.
She giggled. "I do—I bet many a-woman would pay good money to feel your hands on them like this."
Inuyasha chuckled low in his throat and it made Kagome's cheeks pinken. "Is that so? Is that a glowin' review from my first client?"
Kagome giggled again. "I'm your teacher, not a client."
"I'd argue you're more a test subject now."
"Oh, hush." She swatted him, hitting him in the wrist. "Just rub me and keep quiet back there."
Inuyasha's chuckle rumbled in his throat. "Yes, ma'am."
It was alluring—the way her body rocked under the attention of his hands.
Kagome angled her neck so Inuyasha could better work his knuckles into a knot. She felt something snap in response to his movements, and she hissed back a breath.
As if he felt badly for hurting her—again—Inuyasha paused his hands and leaned forward. He pressed a delicate, wet kiss to the reddened, assaulted skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
Her startled jump would have had her leaping off the couch if it weren't for Inuyasha's large hands pinning her down
"Inuyasha!" she gasped. Her voice was breathy, husky. He had surprised her and she had liked it. "You're not supposed to kiss the clientele." He could hear the blush in her words.
"Yeah, but I hurt you," he said around his mischievous smile, his voice low, gravelly. "I thought I'd try somethin' different to make it better."
Kagome reached over her left shoulder to grab onto the length of her ebony ponytail. She ran her hands down the length of her hair, biting her lip, keen for something to occupy her fingers.
"I—I see."
He kissed the same spot again. "Does it feel any better, Kagome?"
Kagome bit her lip again and Inuyasha could have groaned as the sweet, musky smell of her arousal reached his nostrils.
"It still hurts...a little."
He smirked. "Let me try again."
Inuyasha used his fingernails to clear away small hairs at the nape of her neck that weren't captured by her ponytail. Kagome shivered—she really liked feeling his fingernails graze her skin. He leaned forward until his breath coated her flesh, provoking another shiver that erupted down her centre, pebbling her nipples and clenching her Kegel muscles. Once he felt her goosebumps, he depressed his tongue into her skin—holy shit, the pressure he could apply with that thing—and drew the curve of her neck. He completed the gesture with a salvia-moistened kiss.
Kagome moaned deep in her throat and angled her head, wanting to give him better access. His hair tickled her cheek as she let her head drop until it rested on his shoulder—it made her realize he must have crouched when he started kissing her neck.
"What feels better?" he murmured into her neck. "My hands or my mouth?"
"Both," she answered, eliciting a throaty laugh from Inuyasha that rumbled in her ear. Kagome's voice was thick with desire. "Hey—come here."
Inuyasha smiled against the nape of her neck, placing another gentle, tongue-tipped kiss to her flesh. A shudder made her jolt, her back straightening, and Inuyasha hummed with pleasure, his smile growing. She liked feeling his teeth against her skin—she kinda wanted him to bite her.
Inuyasha apparently liked the autonomous response his mouth wrested from her, as if her body was speaking to him directly.
"I'm not done with your massage," he said, speaking into her skin. The heat of his words drifted like a compass in all directions, cooling against her flesh much too fast.
Holy shit, did she ever ache for this man.
"I could still feel—"
"—I don't care," she interrupted. "Come over here and kiss me, Inuyasha."
Kagome leaned forward and angled her upper torso to face him. Her cheeks were lusciously red and her eyes were glazed with arousal. She watched Inuyasha lick then bite his lower lip, his teeth flashing for the briefest moment as he let his eyes close for an even briefer moment. She could imagine he was smelling her lust right about now.
She needed his lips on hers immediately, like immediately immediately.
"That almost sounded a little like beggin', Kagome."
"I'm not begging, Inuyasha—I'm directing." Kagome grabbed his hand and tugged playfully. "Now, I said, come here."
Inuyasha laughed, adjusting their hands so he could stay attached to her as he walked around the couch. She looked up at him with a hunger in her eyes, and he slowly knelt to the ground in front her. He rested a hand on each of her knees.
The sight of this man on his knees while he touched her was planting dangerous thoughts in her brain.
"You're lucky you're unwell," Inuyasha teased, his voice almost a whisper.
"Oh, yeah? Why's that?" Kagome scooted closer to him, her bum at the edge of the couch cushion, her knees almost bumping into his hips.
"'Cause you're bein' awfully demanding, Kagome."
Her eyes fixated on his mouth. "Oh no—am I stepping on your toes, Alpha?"
Inuyasha huffed a laugh. "Depends. You bein' demanding 'cause you want me?"
"I want your mouth on mine, yes."
Inuyasha squeezed her knees in his hands. "That wasn't the question—do you want me, Kagome?"
"I need your mouth," she corrected, her eyes tapering with lust as she stared into his.
"You need my mouth 'cause you want me. My mouth just happens to be the only part of me you'll allow yourself to have."
Kagome sighed and quirked an eyebrow at him. "Is that any talk for a friend?"
"And directing me to kiss you in that sexy li'l voice of yours, is?"
Kagome snorted in answer, placing her hands on his forearms. It took all of her willpower not to drag her palms or nails over the silky blonde hair and veins beneath her touch.
"Consider me your special friend," Inuyasha said with a devious curve to his lips.
"Are you?" she grinned. "My special friend, Inuyasha?"
He nodded. "I am. The friend with the lips you can't get enough of. With the tongue you wanna beg for."
"I don't beg, Inuyasha."
"Yet, Kagome. You don't beg, yet."
She snorted. "Are you ever going to kiss me?"
"Eventually," he teased through a tooth-bearing grin.
Kagome huffed an aggravated breath at him. "The moment is passing, Inuyasha."
"Is it?" He leaned forward, his breath warm and moist against her chin.
"Mm-hmm. If you don't kiss me soon, I'm going to be over it and will go—I dunno—make coffee or something."
"Maybe I'll kiss you while you make me coffee. Maybe I like bein' a distraction for you in the kitchen."
Kagome laughed and swatted him in the shoulder. "Is that your sly way of saying you'd like a coffee, Inuyasha?"
"I wouldn't say no."
Kagome snorted and looked at him chidingly. "You know, I can't exactly get up with you kneeling before me like this."
He grinned. "I'll move as soon as you admit you like seein' me this way."
"And what way would that be?"
"On my knees. Lookin' up at you like this. My mouth within reach to kiss you wherever I want."
"How unfortunate he doesn't seem willing to take advantage of his reach."
"I don't think you'd like me very much if I took advantage of my reach."
"And why's that?"
Inuyasha leveled her a blazing stare that made her heart lurch. "You do know what a man can do on his knees to a woman who reeks of arousal—like you do—don't you, Kagome?"
Kagome's eyes sparkled as a churning ache squeezed between her legs. The surge of moisture brought a real-time rumble to Inuyasha's throat.
She sucked a lip between her teeth. "I—I can't say anything's coming to mind, Inuyasha. Maybe you should enlighten me."
Inuyasha's returning smile was barbaric. "From how delicious you smell right now, I don't think you need me to enlighten you at all, Kagome."
She chuckled. "I suppose I don't mind the idea of this man kissing my mouth." Half of Kagome's lips lifted into a wicked smile.
Inuyasha squeezed Kagome's knees before he dragged his palms slowly up her legs, stopping mid-thigh and squeezing again. The pressure of his indenting fingers forced an aroused squeak from Kagome's throat—it was the first time he had ever touched her legs like this.
His grip tight on her thighs, Inuyasha leaned forward until his nose was in line with her chin. He looked up at her. She looked down at him. He licked his lips, his eyes on her mouth. She gulped, her eyes on his.
"Sweet, naive, Kagome." His voice had that destructively erotic timbre that she liked so much. "As much as I thoroughly enjoy your mouth—" He cupped her chin, his thumb tracing her lips with the allusion he would sink the digit into her mouth at any moment— "these aren't necessarily the lips I'm dyin' to kiss."
Then he laid a chaste kiss to the corner of her mouth and rose with a chuckle, disappearing into her kitchen.
Kagome sat, dumbstruck and lust-rattled, bringing a hand to her forehead as she blew out a heavily flustered breath. Her panties were uncomfortably wet. Her lips twinged in memory of his touch. Her heart was pounding like she'd never settle again.
She didn't know how they went from a massage to whatever that was. But sweet baby Jesus—she was aching.
Rising to meet Inuyasha in the kitchen to make them coffee, Kagome adjusted the right-side strap of her tank top.
Her mind—the betrayer—went round and around, monopolizing Inuyasha's words and his threat of a kiss—his talk of lips that weren't her mouth.
That was the first time she found herself questioning if she would have stopped him if he actually made a move.
Kagome took a sip of her dirty martini and pulled a face—she had no idea why she ordered another one, especially when she didn't need that last one. Watching Sango sip her new, untouched Manhattan, it dawned on Kagome that she only ordered another because Sango had.
The two women were dressed in provocative cocktail dresses, sitting with elbows close to their bodies on bar stools at a packed, bass-thumping club downtown.
Inuyasha had a date tonight, and Kagome wanted a distraction. Sango, thankfully, was free.
Getting dressed up, wasted, and eye-fucked by strangers sounded like a great way for Kagome to spend her Saturday night.
Inuyasha had had to cancel yesterday's fig—work had piled up and it was unavoidable. He had been apologetic about it to Kagome, and had even arranged to have lunch delivered to Madame's as an apology meal. Yet, the chicken stir-fry he bought and sent her had tasted dull and flavourless. She would have much rather seen Inuyasha that evening than had a free lunch.
Especially when Inuyasha said he wanted to be upfront that he had a date Saturday night.
Why he even needed to bother telling Kagome was beyond her.
"You look like you're sad drinking," Sango called over the music, a tiny black straw perched against her lip. "Are you still thinking about Inuyasha?"
"I'm not sad drinking," Kagome argued, making a face at her female friend. "I'm just drunk, and this is what my drunk face looks like."
Sango giggled. "Please tell me you'll call a cab."
"Sango, my dearest dear, I haven't gotten off this stool in at least an hour, and I've had way too many of these—" She held up her martini glass with a jerky movement— "I don't know if my legs can carry me outta here, let alone drive a car. There will most certainly be a cab in my future."
"Okay, good. But, you do look sad, Kagome. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Oh my god, Sango!" Kagome cried, tilting her head back so she yelled her friend's name at the ceiling. "We've talked about him all night! Can we please talk about something else?"
"I'll say it again, Kagome—you look really hot tonight. Why don't we make some rounds? Talk to some guys? Get a certain dog demon off your brain?"
I don't want to talk to some guys. There's only one guy I wanna talk to and I can't because he's pre-occupied with another vagina right now.
Fuck me—I really shouldn't be thinking about my friend that way.
I mean—I could think of him as my special friend, but that just makes it feel worse somehow...
Kagome snorted. "We're just friends, Sango—he's allowed to date."
"I thought we weren't talking about Inuyasha?"
Oh fuck—I was the one who was brain-talking to myself about Inuyasha. Whoops!
"Well, since you brought it up..." Sango grinned toothily. "Is he in the habit of telling you when he has a date with another woman?"
"Sometimes, yeah."
This would be the second time. The last time was what? A month ago? He's had a date since a month ago, right?
Pssht—like Inuyasha would remain celibate intentionally.
Fuck me—why are we staying celibate intentionally?
It's not intentional—it's because I'm a wuss. I'm horny as shit!
Yeah, another little voice taunted in a whiny, patronizing tone, for a certain dog demon's unmentionables.
Kagome groaned, grateful the sound flew under the radar thanks to the music—she really did not need this other gin martini.
Sango seemed resolute on not letting this go. "And given the type of dynamic you two have, you're really okay with him dating other women?"
Kagome silently mouthed 'Oh my god!' before responding. "There is no other women, Sango. Is this my tenth time saying it? 'Cause it feels like it! He dates women. I am a friend. Therefore, he is not dating other women because there are no women to other."
"I don't think that makes sense, but I get what you're saying," Sango laughed, sipping her drink and offering a coy smile to a handsome brunette in a sport coat who walked by. "What will you do if he takes this woman back to his place?"
"Then I hope she enjoys his California king bed."
"He has a California king? Damn."
"Right?"
"How do you know that?"
"I've jumped on it before to annoy him."
"I see you two have a healthy and mature relationship."
Kagome laughed. "But seriously, the guy's probably super frustrated in the sexual department—he deserves an outlet other than his hand."
Oof—that's a delicious visual.
Stop it, immediately!
"But, I still don't get it—why would he give you a heads up that he has a date with someone? Does he want you to know? Do you think he wants to get you jealous?"
Kagome growled at Sango, bringing a bright giggle from the brunette. "Why can't friends just tell friends when they've met someone they're gonna have a meal with and maybe bring home to fuck? Why does it have to be more than that?"
"Because you and Inuyasha don't have a normal friendship, Kagome. You both desperately want to fuck each other but refuse to do more than make-out—which, I mean, after two months, good on you guys for your restraint. I'll say it again, Kagome—I think you've fallen for him but you're just lying to everyone including yourself. Like, what will happen if he brings this person back to his place and has sex with her?"
"Then he has sex with her," Kagome echoed, cupping her cheeks in hopes of cooling down her flush.
"So, you'll have no problem continuing to kiss him, knowing that the way he kisses you, he's kissed someone else? What happens if he likes this person tonight? What happens if they start dating? What happens when—"
"I get your point, Sango!"
"—there's no more little make-out sessions with him, Kagome? Because he's moved on to someone else but you're still hung up on him and refusing to do anything about it?"
"I'm still supposed to be in mourning, Sango!"
"Mourning?" Sango mock-echoed with a snort. "Kagome...Hojo didn't die! He dumped you! And it's been almost two months. You're allowed to move on! You're allowed to like Inuyasha and not feel badly about that!"
"You sound way too sober for how many of those you've had."
Sango snorted and narrowed her eyes at Kagome's change of subject.
"But, I'm serious, Sango. I really don't want to talk about Inuyasha anymore."
"It hurts my heart to see you sad and in denial, Kagome."
Kagome heaved a shoulder-dropping sigh and plopped her heavily made-up cheek in her palm, her elbow on the bar. "The only thing I'm sad about, Sango, is that the longer I go on kissing him, the more I'm tempted to do more than kiss him."
"And you know you're an adult woman who can have sex with whomever she likes, right? If you want him, just sleep with him, Kagome. I think you'd make the guy's year."
Kagome chuffed a reluctant laugh. "But if I sleep with him, what happens to my crush? What happens if it ends badly? I enjoy having him in my life too much to risk losing him because my vagina thinks he's pretty."
"Have the two of you talked about your relationship parameters—" She made quotation marks in the air with her fingers— "since that French restaurant?"
Kagome shook her head. "No—we're both operating on status quo presumptions that sex is not in the cards because I'll end up in love with him if I sleep with him—and neither of us want to deal with complicated or heavy emotions after our break-ups."
Sango sighed and offered Kagome a supportive half-smile. "I think there's a chance you already are, so what's the harm in just going for it anyway?"
Kagome stuck her tongue out at Sango and the brunette laughed. "We're both damaged goods after our last relationships, Sango. Honestly, I'm probably way more damaged than him. I don't think I could survive the pain of giving him all of me and then whatever we're doing just fades into nothing because I caught feelings and scared him off. It's too soon for me to have feelings like that for someone after Hojo. I don't—I don't want to let another guy hurt me like Hojo did. And as twisted as it sounds, I like what I have with Inuyasha—I don't want to change anything and ruin it."
"Oh, Kagome," Sango sighed, patting her friend's hand. "Do you think it could be possible that he has feelings for you? I mean—do you really think a guy who was uninterested would stick around like Inuyasha has?"
"If he thought I'd eventually give in and he'd get what he wants out of me, yeah."
Sango sighed. "After all the time the two of you have spent together, do you honestly think Inuyasha would treat you that way? From what you've told me about him, I definitely don't think so."
Kagome snorted. "He's nice to me because he's a good guy and he wants to fuck me. There's never been any romantic behaviour that I've detected outside of those two things. But, honestly, things are always so hyper sexual between us it's hard to tell how he really feels. As far as I know, we're just friends who wanna fuck each other."
"I know you said you don't want anything to change, Kagome, but eventually, one of you will tire of this dynamic. Unrequited or unacted upon lust is exhausting."
"I know, Sango—I've thought about that. But, I'm scared to actually consider going for it, though, because—ugh, fine!" Kagome cried out with frustration after a pause. "You know what? Fuck it! Yes, yes I do like the bastard. I like him so fucking much and I wanna sleep with him, and I may have already caught feelings. But what the fuck am I gonna do about them, Sango? 'Cause he's probably already at home between some other chick's legs, and I just want to get super wasted so I don't have to think about how badly I wish it was me."
Kagome's chest was heaving and she squeezed her eyes, convinced she felt the threatening sting of tears. She opened her eyes soon after when a sudden rush of dizziness swirled behind her eyelids. Kagome pushed her unfinished martini away, deciding she'd had more than enough.
Her words were out there.
Her truth was out there.
Kagome had hoped she'd feel better; but, whether it was the booze, the honesty, or the knowledge of where Inuyasha was—what he was or may be doing—Kagome felt worse.
Sango leaned forward to wrap her arms around Kagome, offering her friend no words but a gesture of comfort.
Kagome patted Sango's arm and sighed heavily, leaning back. "I think I'm gonna go home, Sango. I need a shit-ton of water and to bury my head in the sand for a bit while I think over what I just word-vomited all over the bar."
"Kagome," Sango sighed, her eyes gentle and kind. "You need to tell him."
"I don't need to do shit, Sango, other than sober my ass up. I'm gonna visit the bathroom then call a cab. You'll be okay here if I take off?"
Sango nodded. "Yeah, I'm just going to finish this then head home, myself."
"Text me when you get home?"
"Yeah, for sure. You too."
"I will," Kagome nodded. "Thanks for tonight. Sorry I'm such a—"
"—Don't, Kagome," Sango smiled, rubbing Kagome's arm affectionately. "You never have to apologize for how you feel, especially to me. Take it easy, okay? I'll see you Tuesday."
Kagome nodded, gave Sango a kiss on the cheek, then dropped off the stool to land on shaky legs.
Kagome joined the line-up for the women's washroom. To kill time, she pulled her phone from her purse and opened up her text conversation with Inuyasha. She smiled as she re-read some of their earlier quips.
Her thumbs were flying before she knew any better.
Hey, it's me. I miss you.
Jesus, that's lame LOL my bad.
I didn't get to see you yesterday and now I think my whole weekend is off. Hope you got lots of work done OK though!
Oh shit—you're on a date! SORRY! Sorry sorry sorry!
Please don't check these messages until later—it's bad form to be texting another woman when you're on a date
Please, PLEASE use protection if you end up having sex—but don't tell me if you do have sex—I don't wanna know
Ok, Im going home now—call me later
Kagome stared down at the messages she sent Inuyasha and withheld a scream as she dropped her phone back in her purse.
What had she done? For fuck's sake, alcohol and texting Inuyasha was a terrible combination—especially after what Kagome had just upheaved to Sango at the bar!
Trying not to think about the messages she sent him, Kagome used the facilities then hailed a taxi in front of the bar.
Walking—the opposite of gracefully—up the flight of stairs to her apartment, Kagome let herself in and kicked off her heels. Her bare feet ached as she walked in the dark towards her couch. Her body plummeted into the cushions with a bounce. Resting the back of her head against the couch, she let out a frustrated moaning wail of a groan-type cry. It was supposed to be cathartic but she still felt terrible.
Because Inuyasha was still on a date and now Kagome was home and had nothing to distract her about it.
Remembering Kagome had to text that she had arrived home safely, she pulled her phone out of her purse and sent off a message.
Home now—thanks for everything tonight. Sorry about that bullshit I vented in the end about Inuyasha—you're a good friend. Now I just need some water and ibuprofen and a good night's sleep lol. See you Tuesday!
Kagome sat in silence for only a few minutes before her phone rang. Not bothering to check who it was, she slid the call to 'Accept' and held the device to her head.
"Hello?"
"So...you're a fun drunk."
"Inuyasha! You're on a date! Put your phone away!"
"How come you're home already? It's only ten-PM."
"How come you're calling me? You're supposed to be on a date."
"Holy, you're really slurrin', Kagome," he laughed. Was he talking to her on speakerphone in his car? Holy fuck—was his date there? "How much did you drink?"
"Too many dirty gin martinis," she giggled. "Why haven't you answered my question about your date?"
"Because I'm not on a date anymore. It ended early."
Why? Why would his date be over already? It's not even that late!
"You sure you're home, Kagome?"
Kagome looked around from her couch. "Uh, yup. Pretty sure," she laughed. "Why?"
"Your lights aren't on. What're you sittin' in the dark for, ya weirdo? You that drunk you can't operate a lamp?"
Kagome rushed to her feet and stood at the window of her corner unit, a palm raised to the glass. "Oh my god, Inuyasha! Are you outside my apartment? What a little creeper, you are!"
Inuyasha laughed. "Can I come up? If you're not in the mood for company I can head—"
"—No, yeah, yes, of course you can! I'll get the front door—hold on."
"See you in a bit." Then Inuyasha ended the call so Kagome could buzz open the main entrance for him.
Kagome stood in the dark and clenched the back of her couch with aching fingers. Giving herself a moment to catch her breath, she quickly dashed around, closing her curtains and turning on a few floor and salt lamps.
A quick-fire triple knock sounded at the front door and Kagome almost tripped over her purse on the way to open it. Flustered, she took a deep breath, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and opened the door.
Inuyasha's head dipped as he took in Kagome's ensemble from her bare feet to the low-cut black cocktail dress she wore.
"Is this what you wore out tonight?"
Kagome looked down at herself then back up at him. "Uh—yeah, why?"
Inuyasha bit his lips then brushed past Kagome to enter her apartment. She turned to look at him over her shoulder as she shut the door.
"Do you not like my dress or something?"
"No, I like it," he said, his voice sounding a bit rough. "Probably a bit too much, if I'm bein' honest." He cleared his throat.
Kagome stood in front of Inuyasha with her hands on her hips and she smiled at him brightly. "Wanna know a fun fact about this dress, Inuyasha?"
"What's that?" His eyes settled on her breasts for a few heartbeats before he returned her gaze.
"I don't have to wear a bra with it."
Yikes—we can thank our good friend Gin for that one.
Inuyasha bit his lip again and Kagome felt his gaze on her breasts once more, as if that fun fact changed what he saw when he looked at her. Her nipples hardened in response to the look he wore and she suddenly ached to feel his hands on her body.
"I'm glad to see you, Inuyasha," Kagome said with a small smile, "but I'm really surprised that you're here at all. Your date only lasted—" She looked at her bare wrist, as if consulting a watch— "like two and a half hours? Was she not the one?"
Inuyasha snorted then sat on Kagome's couch, resting an ankle on the opposite knee. "Not even close. This chick ordered the most expensive thing on every menu—drinks, entree, dessert. She saw my car when I picked her up, assumed I had money, and apparently decided she was gonna spend all of it. Then she basically begged me to take her back to my place." Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah, no thanks. I called her a cab and that was that."
"How come I haven't seen your car?" Kagome collapsed heavily next to Inuyasha. She propped her elbow on his shoulder and rested her cheek in her palm. "But, that's really shitty, Inuyasha. I'm sorry it wasn't a good date."
"Yeah, well, I can just add it to the collection of—"
"—I pinky promise there are women out there who will love you for who you are." She giggled. "Especially those cute little doggy ears of yours."
His expression oozed amusement. "Oh, yeah?" Inuyasha's eyes skated down to inspect Kagome's elbow on his shoulder before he met her eye with a toothy grin. "And where exactly are these women, Kagome?"
"Around," she answered with a lazy shrug. "Somewhere."
Inuyasha exhaled a slow laugh.
"But, how did you end up here?" she asked.
"Ah," he said, fishing his phone from his back pocket. He proceeded to dangle it in front of her face. "See, someone sent me a bunch of drunk texts sayin' they miss me and that their whole weekend's gonna be ruined if they don't see me."
Kagome gasped and hid her face in her palms, groaning as Inuyasha laughed. "My fingers got away from me," she cried, muffled, into the heels of her hands. "I'm sorry!"
"Don't be," he grinned, "I was about to drive home when I saw your wall of messages. Then you said you were goin' home and I thought what the hell, the night is still early, right?"
"So, you just loitered in my visitors parking until I got home?"
Inuyasha laughed and gently knocked Kagome on top of the head with his fist. "No, dummy, I was just about to pull onto your street before you text me—when I think you meant to text Sango—that you were home."
"Um—what?"
Inuyasha laughed at Kagome's squawking response. "Yeah—I won't lie, Kagome, I'm dying to know what this bullshit was that you vented about me to Sango."
Oh for fuck's sake, Kagome. You are never allowed to drink and operate a mobile phone ever again.
"Oh, it was really nothing. Just griping about being sexually frustrated." She laughed nervously as she stood up, waving her hand at him. She cleared her throat. "Hey, I'll be right back, I'm gonna go change."
Inuyasha didn't say anything, but his eyes were predatory as he watched her head into her bedroom. He quirked an eyebrow when she didn't close the door behind her.
Kagome was in her walk-in closet, debating what to wear with a pensive finger to her chin, when Inuyasha walked into her bedroom.
"Sexually frustrated? You gotta give me more than that, Kagome."
Kagome held back most of a scream with the surprise of Inuyasha showing up in her bedroom. He leaned against the doorjamb of her walk-in closet and crossed his arms, looking around at the colourful array of Kagome's garments.
Kagome held her palm to her chest and breathed a few deep breaths before a nervous laugh snuck out between her teeth. "It's really nothing," she said, turning away from Inuyasha to grab for a pair of track pants and a tank top. "I guess it just hit me that it's been months since I've had sex and hearing about you being on the prowl tonight just made me question why I'm not doing anything about my situation."
Inuyasha laughed. "Okay, first, I wasn't on the prowl, Kagome. This date was a set-up that Miroku organized for me—against my will—'cause he thinks only makin' out with you is a shitty excuse for a sex life—"
"I mean, I kinda agree, because there's no sex happening here."
"—and you could be doin' something about your situation. With me."
Kagome turned to look at him, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink. Her heart kicked up a notch at seeing how tightly his dress shirt hugged his biceps. Her eyes traced his collarbones, visible in the few undone buttons at his neck. God, she wanted her mouth and teeth on that neck.
"I thought we have—"
"—What were you really talkin' to Sango about, Kagome?" he interrupted.
"Just—" She twirled her wrist in the air— "the usual."
Inuyasha smirked. "Ah, yes, the usual. And what does that entail, exactly?"
"Just...that I think you're hot and I wish I could sleep with you but I can't because my heart is a piece of shit and, voila, you're up to speed!" Her words were long-winded on a single breath. "Can you please leave the room or at least turn around so I can change?"
Inuyasha snorted and crossed his arms, stepping out of her walk-in closet and turning his back to her.
Kagome dropped her clothes on a nearby shelf and reached around her back for the zipper of her dress. Two things dawned on Kagome—Sango had zipped her into it, and Kagome couldn't reach the zipper.
"Oh, hold on," Kagome grunted around a laugh, bringing a smile to Inuyasha's face. "She might not be able to—yup. Alright. Help will be needed with the zipper, please!"
Kagome stepped up to Inuyasha and offered him a wide, closed-eye grin as she cupped her breasts and spun to offer her back to him.
"I gotta say, Kagome," Inuyasha chuckled in his throat—Shit, was that ever an alluring sound. "Maybe I should get you drunk more often. You're pretty carefree about askin' me to undress you."
"I'm not asking you to undress me, Inuyasha. I just need help with my dress."
"You need my help gettin' out of your dress."
"Yes." Kagome wiggled impatiently with her back to him. "I don't feel your fingers working any zippers, Inuyasha..." Her voice was a sing-song taunt.
Inuyasha chuckled again and rested his hand on Kagome's bare shoulder. She turned her face towards him and jumped when she saw how close he had leaned towards her.
"Can you do me a favour before you officially ditch this skimpy excuse for a cocktail dress?"
Kagome smirked. "Depends. What's the favour?"
"I want you to kiss me in it."
"Oh, I can do that." She scoffed, as if his request was nothing, pushing up onto her toes as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know, Inuyasha," she said, her lips almost on his as she toyed with his hair, "you could have just kissed me."
He leaned his head in towards her, nuzzling the spot where her chin, jaw, and neck intercepted, and he closed his eyes with a deep, seconds-lasting inhalation, a pleased sound rumbling in his chest. The pulling draw of his sniff stole the thoughts from Kagome's brain and left a breathy moan on her lips.
She reached for his face, her palms cupping his cheeks, forcing his gaze to meet hers. "Wow, um, okay. Wh—what was that for?"
His cheeks coloured slightly and he pulled his head out of her grip. "Sorry, I just—there's somethin' about your scent right now that's just really doin' it for me."
"Oh, yeah?" She teased, wrapping her arms around his neck again. "You like it when I smell like a bottle of gin?"
Inuyasha guffawed, his hands slinking to rest on her hips. "No, it's more than just gin, it's—" he paused to sniff at her neck again and Kagome tilted her head back, her tongue snaking out of her mouth to lick at her lips. "It's your shampoo, it's your lotion, it's your perfume, it's the booze, it's your lust. It's just this fuckin' incredible concoction of things in your skin that are all just...you."
That may have been the sexiest thing he's ever said to her.
"You like how I smell, Inuyasha?"
"I fuckin' love how you smell, Kagome."
Kagome slowly slid her palm across the taut line of Inuyasha's shoulder and then up and over to rest it against his shoulder blade. "If we're admitting truths to each other right now, then I have no shame in saying that I really like how you smell, too, Inuyasha. There's something about the smell of your skin that just—" She concluded her words with a shrug— "I like it, like...a lot a lot."
Inuyasha smirked at her and ran his palm up and down the length of her bare arm where it rested over his shoulder. "I don't recall you havin' much access to my skin, Kagome. Would this have happened when you were my masseuse?"
Kagome grinned then pitched her eyes away from his. "Maybe," she giggled. "I may also have enjoyed smelling you those few times you've let me kiss your neck."
Inuyasha snorted. "You say that like you need permission."
Kagome laughed. "I feel like I do—I never really get free reign to kiss you where I'd like to. You're usually too...territorial."
Inuyasha drew back from her so he could fully look her in the eye. "And where would you like to kiss me, Kagome?"
How about we start with your huge cock in my mouth, your balls on my chin?
Oh for the love of—Really, Kagome?
Kagome's eyes widened, then she drew her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down, a heavy exhale leaving her nose. Inuyasha's senses were overwhelmed with her arousal and he groaned, a crude, guttural sound, then crashed his forehead against hers.
"For fuck's sake, what were you just thinkin' about?"
"Why?"
"Because whatever it was, it made you horny as shit and the smell of it just—" Inuyasha closed his eyes and shook his head. His words just trailed off like his mouth forgot how to speak.
Kagome blushed. "So you really do get real-time updates on my horniness level, huh?" Her voice had an amused lilt but her cheeks were wickedly red. "That's mildly embarrassing."
"I like it," he said, leaning in so he could brush his lips against her cheek. "I like the immediate confirmation that you want me. 'Cause I'll be honest, Kagome—it pleases me more than you know that you are wet and wanting every time I see you."
Kagome palmed his shoulders and pushed herself away from him slightly. She wore an expression like her brain was spinning, like she caught herself after realizing she had let herself go.
"Inuyasha—I...I really don't think we should be talking to each other like this."
He clasped his fingers around her waist so she couldn't fully detach from him. Kagome leaned into his hands so she could gaze up at his face. She liked this position, despite the panicked feeling that she was toeing the line.
"Why can't we? We're two friendly adults discussing our mutual attraction."
Then he pulled her so she was flush against his chest, her palms resting on his pecs. He buried his face in the spot where her shoulder met her neck—that spot where he had massaged her just last week. He really seemed to enjoy speaking his words directly into her skin.
"Because you are attracted to me, aren't you, Kagome? You do want me."
"I do," she nodded, her chin bumping into his head. He flicked an ear and it tickled her jaw, bringing a gleeful smile to her face. "I want you very much."
"And you know that I want you."
"I know you want me very, very much."
"And I know you're currently wet for me."
"I'm usually wet for you," she answered, sighing as she rested her cheek against the top of his head.
"And I'm hard as fuck for you, Kagome."
"I know—you're probably going to leave a bruise against my thigh."
Inuyasha separated himself from Kagome quite quickly after that and she brought a hand to her mouth as she giggled.
"You're cute, Inuyasha," she smirked at him. "It doesn't happen that often, but I like when I leave you flustered."
He snorted at her and pulled at the hem of his shirt. "I'm not flustered."
"You're not?"
"No."
She pouted, her eyes skimming his face for a few heartbeats before a sneaky expression snuck across her features.
"Well, what if I were to—?" She pushed his chest. He didn't gasp, but he made a noise of surprise that stole her words.
His thighs hit the footboard of her bed and Inuyasha fell back into a seated position on her bed. He angled his head at her with an amused yet distrustful expression.
Kagome purred a pleased sound in her throat and beamed at him. "And then if I do this—" She lifted the hem of her dress just above her mid-thigh so she had enough space in her tight dress to climb on top of his lap.
"Kagome! Wh—what are you—?"
"—And you're telling me, Inuyasha, that me having you like this—" She ignored his words, her fingers a wide star across his chest as she forced him to descend on his elbows until he fully laid on her bed. "Positioning myself so I'm like this—" She propped herself on all fours above him, her hair a black sheet beside his face— "You're saying you don't feel even the tiniest bit flustered?"
Maybe it was the booze that had her vision blurring, but Kagome felt the limbs on her left side give out and then she was spinning and flipping until she landed with a oomph on her back, Inuyasha above her. His arms were like pillars on either side of her head. His hair cascaded over his shoulder and around their bodies like a privacy screen.
"Now this is better," he said, leaning down to kiss her chin and then drag his lips up her jaw towards her ear.
"You didn't like me on top?"
"I did—a little too much," he answered. The hot breath of his words in her ear caused a moan to curdle from her throat and her hips to rock unconsciously.
Inuyasha's head crashed into her shoulder with a frustrated groan. "You and those goddamn fuckin' hips, Kagome!"
"What did I do?" her eyes were wide with panic, her hands on his chest.
"You need to stop doin' that!"
"I'm not doing anything!" she cried. "You're the one on top of me!"
"No—I mean you need to stop tryin' to grind your hips against me."
"O—oh..." she turned her face away from him so her cheek was pressed into the duvet. Her hair was a mess of black waves underneath them and a sultry contrast to the pale pink of her floral sheets. "I can't help it sometimes," she admitted in a small voice. "Sometimes I just want—" She paused.
"What do you want?"
"To—to feel you," she answered, her small voice even breathier.
"What do you want to feel, exactly?"
Kagome blushed. "This is embarrassing, Inuyasha."
"Kagome," Inuyasha said sternly. "Look at me a sec."
She did as he asked.
"You never need to feel embarrassed with me, got it? No emotion, no action, nothin' you could do would make me think less of you, or judge you. So just tell me the truth."
Kagome sighed and focused her gaze on his mouth. "So, you know how you can smell when I'm aroused?"
Inuyasha nodded, his eyes hooded and glossy with lust.
"Sometimes I just feel like I'm at a disadvantage, like I don't get to experience anything to confirm the real-time effect I have on you. And, I mean—at our last massage appointment, where the sight of my breasts got you hard—" Shit, was that the first time she phrased it like that to him? Because the visceral response and groan her words evoked from him was delicious— "I just thought that if I could feel you, feel the evidence of how I make you feel that it would," she shrugged, "I dunno, level the playing field."
Inuyasha closed his eyes and huffed a breathy laugh. "Kagome, are you literally sayin' you wanna touch my cock?"
Her eyes widened to the point her eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity, way to go, Kagome! Fuck!
The shriek of his name that she emitted had Inuyasha falling off of her with a laugh. Inuyasha lay on his side and propped his head up in his palm, his elbow sinking into her duvet.
"You cannot say that, Inuyasha!" Kagome spluttered, getting to her feet and standing beside the bed.
"Me?" He laughed. "You were the one who basically said it, Kagome! You were just dancin' around the word where I actually said it."
The sight of Inuyasha laying like this on her bed was doing all sorts of naughty things to her head and Kagome felt dizzy.
"Oh my fucking god—what has gotten into me? I'm sorry, Inuyasha—I should not have—" Her words died out as an exasperated breath blew through her lips, flapping them.
He chuckled. "I gotta say, Kagome, I kinda like seein' you all flustered like this, knowin' you wanna feel my erection."
Kagome groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Can you—" she groaned again— "Can you just please unzip me? I really don't think it's a good idea for us to loiter so close to my bed anymore. Actually, I think this room needs to be fully off-limits."
Inuyasha was on his feet and in front of her with a speed she hadn't seen before. It had her taking a hesitant step backwards and bumping into the door of her walk-in closet.
"The problem with that logic, Kagome—" Inuyasha sighed, closing the distance between their bodies— "is that I don't feel intimidated by your bed or your bedroom 'cause I don't trust myself around you near any surface."
"Inuyasha..." Kagome closed her eyes and took a breath to steady her nerves. She took another step backwards, away from him. "I'm sorry. This—I think this has been too much. I think I drank too much, and I was happy to see you, and I let things get a little carried away. I've probably given you so many mixed signals—been all hot and cold—and I'm so sorry about that! I won't—"
Inuyasha closed the space between them to the point her back was against her bedroom wall. Kagome gasped when Inuyasha pinned her hips with his. He reached for her chin with his fingers, angling her head and leaning himself over her so their mouths were barely a hair's width apart.
"Will you ever want more than my mouth, Kagome? I don't know if I can take much more of this."
Kagome's eyes bounced between his, an ache developing in her chest to ridicule the soaking state of her panties. "I always want more than your mouth, Inuyasha," she answered honestly. "I just don't trust my heart with you."
His eyes continued to jump between hers, like he wanted to say something, but instead he pressed a soft kiss to her lips and said, "Turn around."
Inuyasha rested a hand on her shoulder while he unzipped her dress with the other. Kagome was so aroused, the only sounds she could make out were her thunderous heartbeat, her erratic breaths, and the hiss of the zipper as Inuyasha drew it slowly down her back. With every inch of her pale back that emerged between the zipper's teeth, Inuyasha caressed the flesh with his fingers. She could feel the throb of his erection where he leaned into her buttocks.
"If this is the most of your body you'll ever let me see, then let me remember this, Kagome. Let me map every inch of your spine. Let me count every mole and freckle." His touch was so gentle it almost tickled.
Kagome bit down on her lips as she closed her eyes, feeling more wetness pool; her panties were beyond saturated that her arousal started to dampen the inside of her thighs. The zipper stopped at her coccyx and Inuyasha ran his palm down the full, unobstructed length of her spine. A moaning hiss escaped Kagome's lips.
Dear God, the feel of his palm on her bare skin...
"Inuyasha, I—"
Inuyasha spun Kagome so fast she gasped as her naked back crashed into the wall of her bedroom. His lips were on hers hungrily. She fumbled her way into the heat of his kiss, one drunken part of her brain worried about keeping her dress held up over her breasts, while the other part of her relished the taste of him.
She'd never get tired of how he tasted. Never.
The passion of their tongues, and teeth, and lips was over before Kagome had the opportunity to satisfy her craving.
"I should go," he whispered hoarsely against her lips. "I don't trust myself to stay."
"Inuyasha, don't—"
"—I'm gonna go," he insisted, kissing her mouth once more.
Kagome bit down on his lip, sucking his flesh between her teeth as she wrapped an arm around his neck. "I don't want you to," she said into his mouth, her tongue wanting more of him. "I don't want you to go. Stay and kiss me."
"Kagome," he sighed, breaking off their kiss with a smack and resting his forehead against hers. He cupped the side of her head and stroked her hair, his forehead heavy against hers. "If I stay, I'm not gonna be able to respect your boundaries. If I stay, we'll do more than kiss."
"But—"
"—Do you want to fuck me, Kagome?"
Her eyes were wild, lustrous discs of polished chocolate, and the arousal and hunger with which she looked at him had Inuyasha straining even more against the zipper of his slacks.
"Inuyasha, I—"
"Because if you don't want to fuck me, you need to let me leave."
"Inuyasha, please, I—"
"It's a yes or no question, Kagome," he said against her lips.
Apparently she couldn't stay away from his mouth—she was back on the tips of her toes, her tongue tracing his lips with a desperation like she'd never taste him again. She moaned when his tongue caressed her invading organ, but he grabbed onto her shoulders, pulling their lips apart.
"If I stay, I'm gonna fuck you, 'cause I want you so fuckin' bad, Kagome, I can't stand it. Do you want me to stay?"
Kagome felt a tear trickle down her cheek and Inuyasha caught it with a kiss. It was enough of a jolt to her system that she clenched her fist around the material of her dress atop her breasts.
"As much I don't want to see you go, I—you're right. I think you should go. We—" She licked her lips, an emotion she couldn't name but felt awful wrenched in her stomach— "We went too far tonight. I'm so sorry, Inuyasha."
Inuyasha looked at her in a way he hadn't before. What was that behind his eyes? Was that disappointment? Anguish? Hurt?
"As much as I love the way you tease me, Kagome, the way you respond to my touch, the way you melt in my mouth, I dunno how much longer I'll survive this—survive the way you dangle yourself in front of me only to rip yourself away at the last minute." His voice was hoarse in a way she'd never heard before. His tone made her heart hurt.
She rested her forehead against his chest, a sob lingering in her throat as an additional few tears fell down her cheeks, soaking into the fibres of his shirt.
"I know. I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I'm sorry."
Inuyasha sighed, then leaned forward. He lifted her gaze with his fingers to her chin, then pressed his moist lips to her cheek. She could feel his reluctance as he stepped away from her. He cast her one final look that made even more tears threaten behind her eyes.
"Goodnight, Kagome."
She didn't move—she couldn't. Even after she heard her front door close.
Standing in her bedroom, the smell of Inuyasha's cologne lingering on her bed and on her skin, Kagome felt a parade of tears plummet her cheeks.
Was it just like Inuyasha had told her before? Was she making a problem where there wasn't one?
She collapsed onto her bed and stared at her ceiling, allowing the tears to freefall uninterrupted.
Why did wanting him have to be so hard?