Author's Note:

I am so sorry that it has taken me so, so, SO VERY FREAKING long to get back into this story. But I'm back. And I hope you all are as excited as I am. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review!

Chapter Twenty-five

This was becoming a habit of his, sneaking in through the window. Late night visits, stolen kisses and warm embraces in the dark. But even he had to say that he'd never been greeted like this. Not that he was complaining. He wished that Kagome would greet him more often like this...

Kouga reared his head back from the kiss when Kagome's dainty human teeth nipped his bottom lip. "Alright, you little she-wolf." He murmured, and then growled when Kagome leaned forward and bit him with those same dainty human teeth above his heart. Who did she think she was, biting him? He was the wolf, not her. And he liked biting.

He could feel her gathering her vocals cords to retort but he fisted his clawed hands in her long hair and tugged her head backwards before she could say anything, tilting her face up to his. He kissed her, silencing her before she could say anything. She melted against him, her soft body falling against his much harder one, eliciting another growl from him as he pulled her body flush up against his.

His hands moved over her growing body, settling on her rounded hips before sliding around and down until he was cupping her ass. Yes, she was putting weight on nicely. Good. Her body was made for his and for bearing his pups. He bared his fangs in a mock menace of a snarl when she nipped him again. "Do that again and I'm going to bite back, Kagome."

"And?" Kagome found herself saying, silently thrilled at the thought of him biting her. He did that a lot and she wasn't so sure that he was even aware of it. Every time he kissed her, his teeth would follow with burning little nips. His canines would graze along her neck, and she could always feel those small warning bites of sharp teeth.

She squeezed her thighs together. She liked her bitey Wolf.

Kouga's hands shifted down, cupping the back of her thighs and then she was being lifted. Three steps and her back was against the wall, her thighs hooked over his hips. And she could feel the length of his hard body pressing between her thighs. She swore the room got hotter.

"And?" Kouga mocked back softly. The little she-wolf was playing with him. "My bite is just as bad as my bark, Kagome." He could smell her, and his nostrils flared as he drew her in even more. He could feel the heat between her thighs burning through the layers of his own clothing. Had her body always been this heated? Had she always smelled so luscious? So ready? So willing?

"I'm not afraid of the big bad Wolf." Kagome murmured, sliding her palms upward over his half-bared chest until the tips of her fingers touched his hair.

"Is that so?" He could feel the alpha beast inside him brushing against his insides at the taunt. He wanted nothing more than to bring her to heel, to see her lower her eyes in submission to him.

He wanted to feel her body beneath his in submission, her neck and shoulder bared to him in submission. Then he could mark her as his. Then there would be no doubt. She could never leave him again. No other male would dare touch what was HIS.

Pregnancy pheromones. God help her, because that was the only thing Kagome could put it to. He was doing something to her without even realizing it. She wanted him in a way that she had never wanted anything or anyone in her life. Fever didn't describe it. She was hot from the inside out and so wet between her thighs that he would slide in without effort.

Ye Gods, what was Kagome doing to him? He hadn't come here for this. But more often than not as the days passed by, it was growing harder to keep his hands off her. She was making it harder to keep his hands off her. And from her scent, she didn't mind. "You should be afraid."

Kagome opened her lips, but Kouga choose that moment to roll his hips. No words came forth. Trapped between him and the wall, the slow roll of his hips had him grinding right up against her body. Afraid? Oh no. She was anything but afraid. Her thighs tightened over his hips. "Why? Because you'll bite me?" Kagome breathed out.

"Because I'll fuck you right here. Right now. Against this wall." Kouga spoke each word precisely.

Oh...my. Kagome's heart skipped a beat at the promise, and then began to pound. It was a promise. There was no threat, because she knew Kouga meant it. Right here. Right now. "...and?"

Kouga's nostrils flared, and he leaned in until their lips were nearly a breath away from each other. "I'll fuck you right here, Kagome. I won't stop, not even if you beg me to." She wouldn't be begging him to stop once he had had beneath him again. But he didn't think that Kagome was understanding what he was saying. The next time he took her, he was going to take her. He was going to make her his. His. Mate.

And there would be no going back after that.

"I won't stop." He continued and gripped one side of her head again, his fingers twisting in the dark strands. "Because the next time I fuck you, you'll be mine." He tugged, forcing her head to the left, baring the place between shoulder and neck. "Are you listening, Kagome?" Kouga trailed a path of kisses alongside her neck, his tongue stroking her pounding pulse before following the vein lower.

He pressed an open-mouthed kiss between neck and shoulder. A tiny scrape of canines. A sting. A warning. "I'll fuck you; I'll take you, I'll mark you, I'll Mate you. The next time...will be the last time."

It would be the last time that she remained free. He wasn't taking her until she was ready, until she asked him to. Because the next time he took her he was going to Mate her.

It wasn't just sex for him. His Wolf was dying to claim what was rightfully his. Just like he knew that he didn't have the strength to let her go if he took her tonight. She had no idea how close he was to the edge. For both their sakes, he was giving her time. Because what he wanted, what he NEEDED, he knew she wasn't ready for that. Not yet. He knew the moment understanding dawned because she stiffened in his arms. It wasn't much, and it wasn't fear he felt, but unease and confusion.

Lust. Need. Want.

Kouga could feel his Wolf howling on the inside, because Kouga was pushing Him back down. Not yet. Not tonight. Wolf-like fury rose up inside him, but Kouga reigned it in as he forced Kagome to look up at him. He could see the understanding in her eyes, but it wasn't enough.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Kagome?"

Kagome opened her lips but couldn't force any words out. So, she nodded instead. She could see the restraint it took for him to hold himself back, and the physical and mental pain it caused. He could take her, he could force the claim on her. Why didn't he?

Why didn't she?

What was holding her back?

What was she afraid of?

She didn't have the answer to that.

"Answer me, Kagome. Do you understand?"

He wanted to hear her say it, she realized. She nodded again, her tongue sliding over suddenly dry lips. "Yes..."

"Do you?" Kouga brushed his lips over hers. "It's taking everything I have to not take you right now, Kagome." He was going to regret this later. His body was going to ache for days because he was holding himself back for her. He was holding his Wolf back for her. Not just his demon Wolf, but his fucking beast.

He shook his head. "Don't say it unless you mean it, Kagome." He felt her trying to gather the words, but he also scented the uncertainty in her body. Kagome was still human, and a human's lust could over-cloud the mind. He knew she finally understood him when a soft sigh came from her lips and then her arms were wrapping around his shoulders.

The warning was clear. He wouldn't hold back next time.

Moving away from the wall, he turned and crossed the small distance to the bed and untangled her legs from around his waist before lowering her gently to the surface. He followed her down, stripping off what remained of his armor. Someday there would be nothing but skin between them.

Soon...soon.

He tugged her against him, her body curling against his perfectly. Soon...Ye Gods, he prayed soon. Silence surrounded them in the semi darkness, the dense atmosphere slowly ebbing off. He wished his cock would follow, because it was still hard as a rock. "Do you want me to leave?" Kouga murmured.

Kagome shook her head. "No." She was getting used to this, going to sleep with the feel of his body around hers, his fingertips lazily stroking one arm until she fell asleep. He was always gone when she woke up. Poor Kouga if Sango ever found him sneaking around in her house in the middle of the night.

His other hand moved to slide over the slight rise of her stomach. She was still small, but Kouga didn't think anything was wrong with her or the pup. She was human, he had to remind himself. Their pup would be strong regardless. She was coming from a strong line of priest and priestesses as well as that of a strong Wolf Demon.

The first of their era.

Pride filled him at the thought.

He shifted them both on the bed until her back was against his chest, her ass cushioning his still hard cock. He sighed and then buried his face in her hair. "What all did you hear, you feisty little she-wolf?"

Kagome didn't even bother to deny it, though she was surprised that he had caught her ease dropping. Though, given that he was a Wolf Demon...not so surprised after all. "I am not feisty." Kagome gave a soft laugh, her voice low to keep from being heard beyond her room.

"I didn't mean to...I just..." She had felt him even though she couldn't see him. It wasn't just his Demonic energy she had sensed in the clearing; she had felt him. It was like a tug of war from the inside out and she knew it was him. She had sensed Reiko, but only the familiar aura of his own Wolf Demon. What she sensed in Kouga was a different thing entirely, something she only recognized in him. It was a muted sensation, but she had still felt it. Like something was missing.

"I could hear you, even if I couldn't see you. Just like when you asked if I could hear the others coming. I could...smell you." That far away in the field, it didn't make sense to her why she was sensing what she had.

"It's the pup." Kouga said, his palm cupping her stomach. Just like he had said before, the pup was enhancing her senses. The only question was, would those enhanced sense stay after she gave birth? He knew she could sense Demons regardless, but with those enhanced senses, he could almost imagine her as a Wolf Demon at his side. There was a huge difference between her humanity and that of a Wolf Demon. It didn't matter either way to him, she was his regardless. He would protect her with his life, whether she needed that protection or not.

He didn't mind protecting her. In fact, he would rather her stay out of trouble. Out of sight.

But Kagome stay out of trouble? He almost groaned. Yea, right.

"I don't like him, Kouga." Kagome didn't have to say his name for Kouga to know who she was talking about. Her words were an unspoken and unfinished warning. Reiko.

Ah, so she had caught onto that part of the conversation, too. Why couldn't she just make things easy? Because she was human, he had to remind himself again. There were certain dynamics that she had yet to understand. And Reiko being Alpha was one of them. The only problem was...Kagome was part of the pack.

Reiko was her Alpha as well. Something that Kagome would never accept.

Then again, Kouga doubted Kagome would ever accept that part of the Wolf linage. The Alpha, the Luna, demon history. Her mind worked differently than theirs did and she obviously already had a problem with authority. Damn woman. Slowly, Kouga reminded himself. They had to take things slowly. Kagome thought she knew Wolf Pack Mentality, but she didn't. She had no idea.

"I know you don't." He didn't either, but he kept those words to himself. The Alpha was Alpha. He had lost count of how many had disliked him when he'd been Alpha.

He didn't give a fuck.

"Just...give it time. Please, Kagome?" He hoped for both their sakes that Kagome and Reiko could find a middle ground somewhere. In all honesty, Reiko didn't have a problem with Kagome. It was Kagome who held the grudge. And the bastard found that amusing. Reiko was going to keep pushing. Kouga was going to push back.

"I don't want him there." Kagome stared at the darkness that the wall presented in front of her. Did Reiko really think that she would allow him there when she gave birth? He was out of his mind. She would kill him before she let him take her baby from her. Kouga kept telling her that that wasn't the case, but she wasn't so sure that she believed him.

Stubborn. That's what she was. The God's couldn't have let her miss that part of the conversation? The Alpha wasn't always there for a new pup's birth, but there were certain circumstances...

And if Reiko made this one of those circumstances?

This wasn't a birth just like any other. This was different. This was Kouga. This was Kagome. Kagome was a well-known and very powerful priestess.

Who was Kouga to stop him?

He was Kagome's Mate. And he would do whatever she asked him.

He didn't know how to answer that, even though her words weren't a question. They needed time. Time that they were running out of. His life was spiraling out of control, and it had the moment that he'd laid his hands on her all those years ago. Everything was falling apart...but it was also coming together.

"Give it time." He said again. What else could he say? They would deal with that matter when the time came. He sighed again and wrapped his arms tighter arounder her slender body as the silence finally grew between them. The tension was easing out of her body; he could sense her fatigue.

"Go to sleep, Kagome." He waited, the next words on his lips...he knew she knew. But he needed to say them anyways. And so he did. "I love you." She didn't move, but he knew she heard him. He didn't have to see her face to know her lips opened. He shook his head. "Go to sleep, Mate."

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