Still bent over the bank, Kagome sank forward. Sesshoumaru’s absence was all she could feel. A yawning emptiness in the pit of her being. Turning her face into the grass, she wept—from her burning eyes, her ravaged core. Pain wracked through her right shoulder. Both were shaking as she brought her curled fists to her temples like a child. It was for the child in her that she wept. Not for the sick, wasted woman she had become.
The her of the past, where was that girl? She had been so full-hearted, so hopeful and pure. There was a man—a good man—who had fallen in love with that girl. Who loved her still. And she wept for him, too.
She wanted to be that girl again, wanted it more than anything. She wanted it even as she felt Sesshoumaru’s claws close around her, drawing her back into herself. Leaning with her against the bank, he held her to him as she cried and struggled, and bewildered at why he did. He could see what she was. He knew what she was.
And still, he was here.
Her sobs dwindled to a series of dry hiccups. As they did, he brought his palm to her lips. Cool stream water lay cupped in the center of it. Sulkily she drank from the sip that he offered her. Her tear tracks dried tacky and itchy on her cheeks. His wet thumb wiped the salty tracks away, moistened her still-parched lips as his hand descended to the hollow of her throat. Kagome couldn’t help but wonder, as his touch lingered there, if maybe he felt as empty as she.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
With the slightest pressure, his claws set against her. “For what?”
“For everything.”
“You cannot be sorry for everything.”
“Then,” she said, drawing in a bracing breath, “I’m sorry for this—for making you do this.”
His claws skimmed between the valley of her breasts. The heel of his hand grazed over her chafed, puckered flesh. The low note of challenge in his voice made her fine hairs rise.
“Tell me, Kagome, what have you made me do?”
She bristled, tensing, as his other hand sluiced water down her chest. “You know what I mean, Sesshoumaru.”
He said nothing to that. His fingers glided over her tender, soaked skin, cleaning away the film of her own wetness from her. She sat there brooding as he washed her, inhaling sharply each time his claws caught against her stiff, sensitive peaks. He could sheathe his claws. She had seen him do this before, felt him do this before when he was gaming to put them inside her. He was simply choosing not to now.
His hand eased down past her ribs. “When does Inuyasha return?”
She squirmed a little—as much from the question as from the direction he was traveling. “Tomorrow, I think.”
He made a brisk sound of acknowledgement. His hand eased lower still. When his claws touched to the softly suspended curls at her mound, she squirmed again in his hold. He combed and teased her with the tips of his nails. Her abdominal muscles jumped at the faintness of the caress.
“Please, don’t,” she whimpered anxiously as he spread her apart.
Her fingers clutched at his, desperate and tense. Tightening his hold across her chest, he forced her arms back. The V of his fingers slid through her open outer folds, clearing her of the combined residue of their fucking, soothing blissfully over her raw, heated flesh. Breathily, she sighed. Her head lolled aside. He pressed his cool cheek to hers then, his intentions no longer remotely disguised as he hooked his hand against her.
The point of a fang dented her skin. His ankle snared hers as he widened her legs around him. Slowly, he roamed between her parted thighs. His palm smoothed over the glazed inner planes before returning light and tortuous to her aching center. The pads of his fingers circled her hot, beleaguered entrance, coaxing his spent seed from her with the barest penetration. Moaning quietly, she ground against him, urging him further in. Instead, his touch retreated, ascending to the silky innermost lips of her sex, trailing over them like the whisper of his breath against the corner of her mouth as he said to her, “Once more.”
Unnecessarily, she nodded. Claws now sheathed, he raised the delicate hood straining to conceal her distended nub. The very tips of his fingers swept over that teeming, exposed bundle of nerves. Her insides cinched like hot coiled wire at the sensation. Gliding along the line of her jaw, his rough tongue traced back to the satiny lobe of her ear, skirting it in perfect time with the fleeting stroke of his fingers. Kagome’s spine went rigid as she realized what he meant to do—not to take her again like she’d thought he was going to, but to bring her off right here and now, in a final, one-sided act of release. It was a pattern she was beginning to recognize, baffling and distressing though it was.
“Sesshoumaru,” she begged, as her breathing grew ragged and weak, “please, stop this…please…”
“You wish for me to end this?”
He growled into her ear, tugging its damp, tender lobe into his the sharpness of his mouth. A primal thrill of fright stole over her as she gasped in assent. His fangs bit into her as his fingers pressed down. A low keening cry smothered in her throat. Her release spiked through her like the flipping of a switch. Her whole body seized with the shock of it. And now his touch was slipping inside her, into the midst of her innermost trembling. Her feminine walls pulsed with their own much deeper aftershocks. Between their contractions and the persistent glide of his fingers, the last excess remnants of him were expelled from within her.
When she was steady enough again, he lifted her up and sat her on the grass at the bank. Hugging her arms around herself, she hunched over in crippling shame. She didn’t look up as he approached her. Her eyes stared blankly at his dark, dragon-hide boots instead. Only after they’d walked away did she begin to unfold herself. Her fingers were numb as she reached for her discarded underwear. Her panties were stiff and damp as she tugged them on. To her distant relief, her broken bra wasn’t nearly as ruined as she’d first thought it was. Re-bending the hooks and slipping them into the next available set of eyelets, she eased the straps over her shoulders and stood.
Every joint in her body felt creaky and stiff. But rising to her feet gave her enough momentum to keep moving ahead. She was just tying back her hair when Sesshoumaru’s pale form broke through the trees at the edge of the stream. His eyes followed the motions of her hands with preternatural intent. Uneasy, she stiffened, letting her damp locks tumble back down.
“The village is north from here,” he said, handing her the bow and quiver he’d recovered.
Kagome nodded. Not quite meeting his gaze, she accepted her returned possessions. When his claws brushed the heavy curtain of her hair back from her neck, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.
“Ten days,” she said tersely, as an ominous twinge seized the muscles of her lower stomach. “I’ll meet you there.”
His hand fell away from her at this dismissal. When she opened her eyes again, he was gone.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Revised 7/20/22
Well this was a nice early morning surprise. This chapter was a little harder to read but i really do love the complex emotions running through Kagome. This whole thing is killing me as much as its killing her.
Nicole, you can not keep beating me to the first comment lolol
Sorry!!! I think i was last and a few days late last time 🙂
Thanks Nicole! <3 yeah, I totally agree this chapter is a little on the rough side - wrote it in a rush of inspiration lol. I’ll work on polishing it up today or tomorrow!
Glad you enjoyed the update & thanks so much for the feedback!! 🙂
❤ i dont think i can say it enough! Thank you for your hard work and these great updates!
I second that notion!!
<3 <3 <3 my pleasure!! Wish I had more time in the day lol
If Kagome can’t get with it, I surely will. I have to confess that I’m freaking in love with this Sesshomaru.. dang nabbit. Lolol I am sick and tired or being sick and tired of Sesshomaru being disregarded. He’s very mature and caring and I know… I mean I hope that this is a Sess/Kag story. Haha. These stories are ruining my perception of reality. I’m literally in inception, 3 dreams in and I don’t think I can get out. As always I am a mess. Sesshomaru seems to take in all of her emotions and movements. And you know what… all this primal hotness is doing nothing for my mental and physical health. But then again I guess you can say you’re doing the best job!!! Loved this chapter.
Lolol so glad you like this Sesshoumaru!! If I’m being totally honest, this may be my favorite depiction of him that I’ve written so far…!
“Primal hotness” – love it!! 🙂 thanks so much for sharing, girl! Absolutely love hearing your take, as always 🙂 <3
Kagome, Kagome, Kagome. As much as you want to be the teenaged version of yourself wrapped up in rosy dreams of life with Inuyasha, you’re not really in love with him anymore.
I think she actually cares for Sesshomaru at this point but she cannot admit it yet. Why? Because doing so means acknowledging that her relationship with Inuyasha wasn’t enough for her and that her decision to live in the past may have been a big mistake.
She can’t jump in the well and run to her mother anymore. That option no longer exists. Hence her crackhead decision to have a baby with Sesshomaru. She never once thought that Inuyasha might realize the baby wasn’t his.
I don’t think she’s that gung ho about getting pregnant anymore. She now sees Sesshomaru as a lifeline of sorts. She is capitalizing on the fact that he likes her, perhaps even loves her.
The Lord of the West isn’t into emotional displays but him saying he would have protected her from hundreds of assailants is akin to Inuyasha saying he will protect/care for her. Let’s face it. Nobody can make Sesshomaru do anything he doesn’t want to do.
Why would he stay, comfort her and clean her up if all he was doing was repaying a debt? I think he felt torn during the initial encounter that’s why he said she shamed Inuyasha and him or something like that. I can’t recall the exact words he used.
To me, he was giving her an out at that moment. But she chose to stay.
Interesting that after all her crying and wallowing in guilt after hooking up, she tells him she would meet him 10 days later. She wants that demon. She wants him bad.
Is the mark he gave her a mating mark? Because that would account for him following her and trying to screw her as often as he can. I’m sure he doesn’t consider human marriages legit in his world. I know honor means a great deal to him, but Kagome was the one who approached him and who insisted on this pact. Perhaps he thought initially that he was repaying her for helping Rin, then again there is that flashback that hinted he already liked her before she married Inuyasha.
Love and lust make people and demons do strange things.
I like Inuyasha. I really do but between him and his brother, I would pick Sesshomaru. I mean who doesn’t want to be ravished by him? At least Kagome was being honest when she told him to screw her. I was yelling, ” Go girl! Get a piece of that demon ass!”
*slurps straw loudly** *clears throat* that’s a nice hypothesis there Doug. She needs to get with it! Haha 😆
“Nobody can make Sesshomaru do anything he doesn’t want to do.” – damn straight!!
OMG, Doug – your comments are da bomb. Seriously. I was laughing so hard at you cheering Kagome on there at the end XD Also, I’m with you on Inuyasha vs Sesshoumaru…I love our fav hanyou too, but there’s really no comparison lol
Thank you for taking the time to share such awesome feedback! Keen insights, as always 🙂 Love ya! 🙂 <3
honest to god, i thought that the mark thing was just that -a lil mark. and accident that has a strong symbolic value. i still think so; if there were mating marks, i somehow think that kagome would know by now – the group met a lot of demons, traveled half the world; if in this universe mating marks were a thing, i think kagome would have suspected by now.
but! if they WERE a thing, the fact that kagome, who only married (human tradition) inuyasha, and, apparently, didnt go through an hypothetical youkai ritual… that shit has to mean something. that she doesnt totally belong to inuyasha yet, that sesshomaru still has a chance, that this whole pact, even if dishonest, it aint breaking a mating. because sesshomaru, even if “he does what he pleases”, i think he still has a very honorable (and personal) way of acting. and i think that part of kagome’s appeal is her heart, if she isnt mated, she still hasnt given herself to inuyasha.
but i still think its just a mark, lol. guess ill have to stay tuned to check my theory 😉
as always, great updates. i really should be studying, lol, so i cant elaborate more, but these series are everything <3
Aw thank you for taking the time to share, Junot!! Good luck with your studies! 🙂
Love your musings on the mark’s significance and Sesshoumaru’s feelings 🙂 I like to think he has his own code of honor and standards that may or may not align with our own haha
Thanks again!! <3
oh,i forgot about the four hundred men comment. honestly, one of the most beautiful lines ive read around here, ever. it touched my heart, the subtext has me melting.
Waah! So glad you liked that line <3 <3
Thank you! 🙂
I am loving these updates!!! This is hands down my favorite story and my favorite portrayal of Sesshoumaru. I know it’s naive, but I’m still holding out hope that this ends somewhat satisfactorily for our favorite couple. Can’t wait to read more! YAYYYYYY!!!!! <3
Thanks so much, Nelys!! <3 so glad you’re enjoying the updates & I’m honored to hear that this is your favorite Sess portrayal!! 🙂 (blushes)
All I can say is, anything’s possible in the world of SessKag 😉 thanks again!! <3
It pains me to know just how much this disastrous marriage changed Kagome. Once she was a vibrant girl, now this bitter woman she is becoming makes my heart ache. I hope one day, Sesshoumaru is able to help her bring back that girl, or at least he can make her happy again.
Granted, it is her crazy idea that leads to this predicament. However, how can we blame her? One can only take so much until she breaks. Inuyasha is not blameless. He doesn’t do anything to solve their problems. If their marriage is not so doomed, none of this would happen. And unlike Sesshoumaru, he is not there for her.
As for Sesshoumaru, he wouldn’t agree to this pact if he is unwilling. Like Sesshoumaru said, Kagome really shouldn’t blame herself for everything.
Miserable she may be, but ever since the pact started, she has something to distract her from the mundane boring life. Her thoughts constantly revolve around Sesshoumaru, wanting to understand him better. In a way, I think he gives her a new purpose, an outlet even.
To me, Sesshoumaru bathing her and brushing her hair is more intimate. Ah, he asks when Inuyasha will return, I almost laugh about that. I LIKE it because that’s something cheaters often say. lol
It surprises me when Kagome says she will meet Sess in ten days. It seems she still wants to keep this pretense. Even though we all know she wants him.
So far we have not seen Miroku, Sango or Shippo. Surely they had tried to help with Kagome and Inuyasha’s problems? Will they make an appearance in later chapters?
I wish I could review more often. Hopefully, with the project I’m working on near its completion, I will have more time next week. 🙂
thanks so much, Doris! <3 really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to leave me such awesome feedback!!
as always, you make the best observations - just absolutely love reading your take! 🙂 nothing is sadder to me than an unhappy marriage...sadly there are many people in these types of situations. :/
so glad you asked about Sango & the others - they will be making more of an appearance in the story soon! 🙂 beyond thrilled you're enjoying The Pact - wish I had the time to update this fic more often!
anyway! - thanks so much again for sharing & have a wonderful weekend!! <3
I find it interesting that Sesshoumaru has grown very bold in regards to the mark. He continues to always touch it, and when he watches Kagome putting up her hair exposing her neck to him he can’t keep his eyes off her hands and neck. She notices his stare and it “frightens” her, and she drops her hair, but he moves her hair away from her neck so he can continue to see it. I think Kagome is in denial about the importance of the mark even if she doesn’t really know what it means, I feel she is in denial of it’s importance.
LOVE that you pointed out the tying up of her hair bit <3 – and the rest of your theories surrounding the mark as well!! awesome stuff 🙂
thanks so much for sharing! <3
She definitely knows, if only subconsciously, the importance of it. I’m surprised that no one else has said anything though.
Ha! An open comment section! Finally. 😥
So many things to say~ Where to start…
Poor Sesshomaru, having to watch her marry his brother, then for her to have to gall to ask him to help her have a baby FOR his brother. The brother she can’t even get along with. The brother who doesn’t understand that Kagome is a modern woman, despite going to the future numerous times and seeing how the world and womens’ roles in it had changed. Who would bring a baby into something so verbally abusive? And so desperately…
It’s beyond wrong for Kagome to have realized that Sesshomaru had feelings for her and still continue this. It was unethical for her to approach her husband’s brother, though it could be rationalized away given the lack of technology. It’s morally reprehensible for her to knowingly take advantage of a man who she knows has feelings for her. She is beyond becoming like her father. She has moved beyond the excuse of doing this so there’s a child to supposedly mend her always-broken relationship with Inuyasha. She is selfish. This is highlighted by the fact that she SHOULD know when women are most likely to get pregnant, but she has sex all throughout the month instead of the week before she’s most fertile (easily nosed out by Inuyasha and Sesshomaru).
As much as I don’t blame Sesshomaru for this, and I feel badly for Inuyasha I can’t wait until he finds out. Because then, a choice will be made regardless.
I am wondering where Shippo is or if Sango and Miroku and their kids will have more of a role in this story.
Yikes, sorry!! I had no idea wordpress was automatically closing out my comments sections after 28 days! Fixed that… (sweatdrop) Looks like i’ve still got stuff to learn about running a blog haha
Anyway! Absolutely love hearing your thoughts on the story thus far!! <3 Kagome's got a lot of nerve that's for sure...really enjoyed your take on her! And yeah...poor Sesshoumaru, and poor, poor, Inuyasha...even though he's a fictional character my conscience pangs me to write some of this stuff :/
Thanks again!! 🙂