“What,” Kagome choked out, her cheeks flaring as she reeled, “what are you doing?!”

Hirokin cocked his head to one side, his lovely white-gold hair spooling down the exposed curve of his collar. “You seemed unsettled by your lack of clothing compared to mine. I sought to alleviate this discomfort.”

“That’s the opposite of what you’re doing!”

Steam seemed to pour from Kagome’s ears, her eyes straying involuntarily to where the toned vee of his torso dipped beneath the water’s surface. There was no question Hirokin was out-of-this-world attractive. From the strange subtle radiance that limned his ethereal form to the delicate sapphire scalloping of his brow mark and the glittering bits of scale that studded him here and there like inlaid jewels, he was quite possibly the most beautiful creature she’d ever seen. Even Sesshoumaru’s fine features and ornamentations would look coarse by comparison. But in terms of strength, there was no contest.

“For a daiyoukai, you’re not very strong,” she observed, contrasting Hirokin’s slenderness with her brother-in-law’s powerful build. “I could purify you without even breaking a sweat.”

Hirokin’s fetching smile remained in place, though the expression in his eyes darkened and chilled. Constrained though it was, his youki simmered, a shifting shadow within him. A shadow whose true form Kagome perceived with her transcendent sight—

The shape of a dragon.

“I am certain, Kagome-sama,” he said lowly, scrutinizing her in return, “that in many ways, I am of more use to you alive than dead.”

The slow appraising slide of those slitted eyes over her face made Kagome want to squirm. Was he actually propositioning her? Indignation and amazement roiled hot within her.

“I don’t think my brother-in-law would appreciate how you’re speaking to me,” she said, just as lowly.

The coy arch of his sculpted brow put her that much more on edge. “No doubt. But are you in the habit of sharing all of your confidences with Sesshoumaru-sama?” Despite Kagome’s forbidding look, he pressed on, “And he with you? Such trust in family ties is touching indeed.”

There was little Kagome could do to hide her resentment—and her bitter suspicion. Whatever exactly it was, this guy knew a hell of a lot more than he was letting on. Of that, the miko was darkly convinced.

“I will tell you something useful, Fair Priestess. Little of importance transpires in the immortal realm—and in this one—of which I am unaware,” Hirokin said as he turned haughtily from her, giving her a tantalizing glimpse of his taut, chiseled ass. From over his shoulder, something glinting flicked, sailing toward her through the air to land by her hip: a pure white cockle shell. “Should you wish to make further use of me, drop that token in a river or stream.”

Lightly, Kagome plucked it up, her brow furrowing in consternation as she watched him wade into the depths of the spring. “Why?” she couldn’t help but ask. “Why would a demon like you want to associate with a miko like me?”

Hirokin paused briefly in his descent, his backward glance shrewd. “Most youkai hate and fear you for what you are, this is true. But I see you for what you will be.”

“And what is that?” Kagome demanded.

But the river demon had already slipped beneath the surface.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi