Archive of Our Own

Kagome made her way through the woods, irritated beyond belief that she'd initially fallen for the moth yokai's chicanery. She'd gotten herself separated from both InuYasha and Miroku in the process, but the illusion of being home with her mother cooking in the kitchen had been so real that she hadn't been able to stop herself from exploring the daydream further.

To her chagrin, it hadn't been her realization that it was all false that had freed her. At the moment she'd caught on, the yoki around her vanished, signaling that Miroku and InuYasha must have slayed the yokai while she'd been trapped in its thrall.

It had been so humiliating that she hadn't stayed to hear what either of her friends had said. 

Instead, furious with herself, she'd stormed off to reflect on what she'd done and try and cool herself down.

If only she'd sensed the truth sooner. If only she hadn't dwelled on the life she'd left behind, wondering for months if she'd made the wrong decision to return to InuYasha and her friends. If only her romantic relationship with InuYasha hadn't fallen apart years ago, though it had taken them some time to realize it. If only she hadn't wanted—

Sesshomaru?

Kagome stopped short as she took in the hot spring hidden within the forest—and the male languidly resting in the pool.

Sesshomaru.

Her feet rooted to the ground.

She should've turn and left the moment she realized he was naked and she was staring, but the thought merely flitted through her mind before being discarded. Her ire vanished between one breath and the next as she stared at him, absorbing every muscle, every strand of hair, as though it were the salve to her wounded ego.

He was beautiful.

He leaned back in the water, shifting so he was exposed past his abdomen and only a combination of the lowering sun and the steam from the hot water hid the most intimate part of him from her eyes.

She jolted as she realized that she'd been attempting to ogle his intimate person.

Kagome immediately turned to leave, hoping he wouldn't have noticed where she'd been staring as she moved to make her escape.

"Come now, Kagome," his voice rumbled behind her, amused. "Do not tell me you intend to simply leave after laying your eyes upon this one's glorious visage?"

She flushed despite herself. At her age now, in her late twenties, she wasn't shy of her own desires, but that didn't mean it was appropriate to ogle someone without their knowledge and consent, either. Sesshomaru might be the most beautiful man she'd ever seen, but that didn't give her the right to stare, either. "I didn't mean to—" she began, but he didn't allow her to finish.

"Did you not?" He quirked a brow. "The length of time you studied this one would imply otherwise."

He was smirking, so she decided then that he probably hadn't taken any offense. Knowing Sesshomaru, he was probably delighted by the ego rub that she'd been staring at him.

"Well?" He watched her. "Are you not hungered and tired, Kagome?"

It was only then that she noted the fire by the hot spring—she'd been far too busy staring at its sole occupant to notice it before—and the deer that had been skinned and prepared to roast slowly over it.

She tried to reconcile the roasting deer with what she knew of Sesshomaru. She'd never seen him even eat before, but somehow, she hadn't expected him to be the sort to hunt a deer, skin it, and then roast it in the middle of the woods.

He'd seemed far too patrician for that.

"I don't want to take your dinner from you," she said finally, deciding that one deer wouldn't be enough for a being whose true form was a large dog, especially not if Jaken and Ah-Un would be joining him for dinner.

Where were the imp and dragon, anyway?

Sesshomaru quirked a brow as her stomach rumbled. "It would seem," he responded, lips quirking, "that you require it more than you allow for, Kagome." 

"But one deer probably won't be enough," she began immediately, ready to argue the point if it came down to it, though her stomach's untimely rumbling seemed to have settled the idea that she would, in fact, be joining him for dinner.

At least she'd had the presence of mind to inform InuYasha and Miroku she'd be late returning to the village tonight.

"Then another can be procured." He ran his fingers through his wet hair, pulling it back from his face, as she stared, riveted. "It is a simple enough solution."

She eyed the deer longingly, thinking of the rice balls waiting for her back with InuYasha and Miroku, and then made up her mind. She'd been invited and it would be rude to refuse, right? "Okay," she said with a short nod. "Just let me go on a short walk while you finish up here."

"Why?" He lounged in the water effortlessly, as though seduction came easily to him. "Do you not wish to bathe before you dine?" He sniffed. "Otherwise, it would seem that you have taken a liking to yokai entrails as decorations."

She glanced down at herself for the first time since the battle and immediately winced. He had a point; she must have been standing too close to InuYasha and his sword when he'd freed her from the vision. "You have a point," she conceded wryly. "I'll bathe as soon as you're done, then."

He chuckled. "Coward."

She squared her shoulders. She was not a coward, even if sometimes she didn't always think things through. She approached the edge of the pool, reminding herself that nakedness meant nothing, anyway. It was just a body, even if he utilized his so seductively.

And she wasn't afraid of her own sensuality, either.

Sure, Sesshomaru probably wasn't interested in her and was likely just bored, but he was attractive and she could use the distraction.

So, she disrobed, neatly folding her clothes on the rocks besides his own before she slid into the hot water across from him. Without looking at him, she ducked her head under water, ensuring that any traces of grime or dirt was washed thoroughly from her body before she finally met his gaze again.

His eyes seemed to have a hint of crimson on the golden hues, reminding her of a brilliant firestorm. 

"So," Kagome began, wringing some of the water from her hair, "where are Jaken and Ah-Un?"

"They are both staying with Rin," he answered her, his voice almost absent as his gaze bore into hers. Quietly, he added, "Where they will remain if they know what is good for them."

She had to strain her ears, but she heard enough to bite back a small laugh. Clearly, Sesshomaru had wanted space from his retainers, which had her wondering if he regularly forswore opulence for the peace and quiet of more rustic surroundings. "It's nice to have some alone time," she commented before realizing that with her here, it wasn't exactly alone time. "Or, well, time to think, I mean."

"I did not come here to think." He seemed amused at the idea. 

"Oh, right. It was just a thought." She waved a hand as water splashed around her. "Never saw you as someone who'd go deer hunting, though."

"And why," he purred then, moving a little closer, "is that? Am I not inuyokai? Do mortal dogs not also hunt, Kagome?"

"Sure." She shrugged her shoulders, resolving to ignore the way her stomach fluttered at how close he seemed to be now. "But, well, you don't exactly seem the type to get his hands dirty."

"Hnn." He loomed over her now, one hand reaching for a lock of her hair to run through his fingers. "Yet you have yourself seen proof of the contrary, Kagome."

She swallowed, suspecting he was referring to his early attempts to obtain the sword from InuYasha. "That's different," she countered, lifting her chin. "It's one thing to challenge your brother for his inheritance. It's another thing altogether to hunt for your own food."

"If one does not hunt, how should one eat?" He smirked. "How would one hope to learn to prove himself to his pack, his clan, or to a prospective mate? A delicate little flower is undeserving of his wealth nor stature."

A delicate little flower? She gaped at him, stunned as the words left his lips. It certainly didn't sound like anything Sesshomaru might say. "You're seeking a mate?" she finally said, hoping to distract herself by settling on the most innocuous question possible. She wondered who he'd chosen, who he'd deemed worthy of him. He saw himself with such high esteem that she doubted any normal woman would ever do.

"Is that not the way of all animals?" He quirked a brow as he stood mere inches from her, his expression intense. "Is it not the season of spring, the season of mating, Kagome? Is it not a natural thing for a being to seek out a mate of his own? Tell me...do you not feel the same desires?"

A light flush bloomed across her cheeks as she swallowed. "Sesshomaru—"

"I have seen you watching me," he murmured then, one hand moving to pin her to the rock behind her, the other gently caressing her leg with his claws as she tried not to tremble from the desire she always had to repress around him.  "I have scented your desire. I can smell it now, tantalizing and tempting me beyond measure. I have hunted for you, displayed for you, shown you all the respect that my culture could afford a worthwhile mate. Are you not truly tempted, Kagome?"

He was scant inches from her lips, but she couldn't deny him—or herself. "I am," she managed on a whisper, her eyes unable to see anything but the golden amber of his own.

It all made sense now. The deer, the posturing, the seduction—

He wanted her.

And the gods knew how she wanted him, too.

A small shudder ran through him. "Say it," he urged her, his hand leaving the rock to tenderly cup her cheek. "Do you accept my courtship?"

"I do." There was never any other possibility. She didn't ask him if he was certain. She didn't need to. The only thing she needed right then was his kiss and it was the one thing he seemed determined to deny her as he stood there, watching her.

So she'd take what she wanted. What they both wanted.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, feeling his momentary surprise before he kissed her back, deepening the kiss as his claws lightly sank into the skin of her neck and thigh. She could feel his desire now, pressing against her, and it fueled her own. She moved her hands to wrap around his waist, pulling him closer before giving his rear a daring squeeze. It was rather firm and she appreciated how nice it felt to touch.

She heard his growl a moment before he lifted her in his arms, pressing her back against the boulder she'd been lounging against. His eyes were tinged red and she suspected then that her boldness had encouraged him to relinquish his hold on his instincts.

The thought made her shudder as she wrapped her legs around his waist at his urging, pressing herself against him. She couldn't stop herself from rocking against him, teasing them both, as his hands moved to tease her breasts.

It was going to be fast, she thought, dazed. The urgency was too strong to be teased and tempted along.

Even the pull of his fingers on her nipples almost seemed too much and when he bent his head to kiss and suckle one, she nearly screamed from the sensitivity of it. It was as though her whole body was urging her forward, imploring her to take all that he'd offered.

"Too much," she panted, shaking her head as he made his way over to her other breast. "Sesshomaru, it's too much."

"It is not enough," he growled against her breast, sending a wave of pleasure to her core. "I sought out to seduce you, Kagome."

But despite his words, his own hips began rolling against her own, rubbing along her sensitive slit and nub.

She shook her head. "I am seduced," she protested, but he didn't quite seem to hear her.

"So wet." He closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them, they were more ruby than amber. "So wet for me, Kagome."

"Yes." She dug her fingers into his back as she arched against him. "Hurry up, Sesshomaru."

Kneading her breast, he gave up any pretense of foreplay as one hand moved to angle her hips for his penetration. He thrust into her, his progress impeded by his girth. Her walls were slow to accept him, slow to let him pass, but when he finally fully slid in, she felt stretched and yet more aroused than she had been before.

Still, she needed more.

"Don't stop," she pleaded when he didn't immediately move.

He growled, his head falling into her neck as he snapped his hips. His thrusts were fevered, as though he were as desperate for her as she was for him, and his mouth moved, searching for her shoulder before he bit down. Not hard enough to bleed, but enough that the sting of it raced through her core.

She was desperate for it now, moving her hips to meet his thrusts.

She could tell he was close, could feel her own pleasure racing towards her. She wanted to say something, but no words came to mind as she clung to him. 

One of his hands moved then, leaving her breast to expose her clit and tease it.

She shattered around him, clenching so hard she swore she blacked out for a moment.

He snarled against her neck, spurting into her as the base of his cock slowly swelled, locking him inside of her. 

For a moment, she couldn't think of anything to say as she ran her hands up and down his back. It was a soothing gesture as much for him as it was for her. 

Finally, though, as her breath returned to her, she managed, "That was...intense."

He huffed against her, lifting his head though his cock remained lodged within her. "It was all your doing," he accused, a smirk at his lips. "I had sought out to tempt and seduce you slowly to my side, to woo you with all the courtship you desire."

She shrugged, not the least repentant. "It was fantastic." She clenched around him, more to adjust to the feeling than anything else, and heard his sharp inhalation. The very notion that she could do that, that she could tempt him, had her wanting him again. "How soon can we...?"

"Tempting minx," he said without any real heat. "You would rather have this over courtship?"

"You can woo me later," she told him, clenching around him again and delighting in his shudder. "Right now, all I want is for you to take me again. After all," she added with a tiny smirk, "you're yokai, aren't you? You should be able to recover quickly."

He huffed quietly, taking that as a point of pride as she knew he would. "When you cannot walk later," he growled, reaching to lift her legs, "I do not want to hear any complaints, mate."

"You won't," she assured him as he shifted them so he could begin to thrust shallowly as his thick cock allowed. 

It was heaven.

It was everything she needed then. There would be time enough later for the rest.