Kagome stared after him, still reeling. Still throbbing. Around her, the natural darkness of the cave seemed almost light in comparison to the shadow of his presence. Collecting herself, she crawled over to her pack, dug out her old camp blanket. With it draped over her, she huddled to the cave wall, whispering reassurances to the baby as she hugged at her knees and wiped at her eyes.
The last thing she expected was for Sesshoumaru to return. When he did, she looked up at him in wary surprise. He seemed to have cooled off, quite literally. A sprinkling of snow clung to his hair, fur and clothes. Shaking himself off in the threshold, he peered down at her where she sat, hunched and shivering.
“Come here,” he said, taking his pelt down from his shoulder as he stepped toward her. When she shook her head and scooted away, he moved to hem her in. “I won’t press you.”
Kagome glared. “You’re pressing me now.”
Sesshoumaru stepped back from her, relenting. “Take this at least.”
He tossed the fur over her. Toasty warmth suffused her. As she sank into it, Sesshoumaru settled against the opposite wall. His golden eyes winked out as he closed them, like two candle flames snuffed suddenly in the dark. Now that she wasn’t so miserably cold, Kagome shifted against the craggy cave wall, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.
Giving up, she stood. With the train of his fur trailing after her, she padded over to where Sesshoumaru was sitting. Or to where she thought he was sitting. When his shining eyes flicked open to her, she realized she’d veered a good bit off course.
Retracing her steps, she stopped beside him, holding the fur to her chest. “You won’t try anything?” she asked him, squinting. “You mean it?”
“Yes.”
He took her wrist, guided her down to him in the darkness. She was leery at first, settling back into his lap. His silk-clad chest was about as hard as the cave wall, but level and warm at least. And to her relief, it was the only hardness against her she felt.
Kagome tucked her legs in toward her, being ginger with the injured one. Though strangely it didn’t seem to hurt so much anymore. She relaxed against him, letting her temple rest close to where his heart was beating its slow, uncanny rhythm. Almost at once, her eyelids started to droop.
“Sesshoumaru?” she asked him, curling her fingers into his fur.
He made a slight sound of acknowledgment.
“If I hadn’t blasted you off me, would you have stopped?”
A beat of silence. “Eventually.”
“Eventually?”
What was that supposed to mean? Kagome fidgeted against him.
“…Sesshoumaru?”
“Yes?”
“How long has it been since you um…you know…?”
There was a dull, leaden thunk that sounded suspiciously like his head hitting the wall. Audibly, Sesshoumaru drew in a breath.
“Kagome.”
“Yeah?”
“Go to sleep.”
“…Okay.”
She closed her eyes, feeling for the baby as she drifted off. There was a muted quality to his aura which made her think that he was sleeping, too.
Sweet dreams, little guy, she wished him in her mind.
In her own dreams that night, she was standing on top of a high hill. It was summer, and the rice fields below her stretched for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see. A shimmering patchwork of greens and blues, reflecting the skies above. Somehow she knew that there was no end to this horizon, that it went on forever.
She was by herself up there, and she was crying, whether from sadness or happiness she couldn’t say. Only that her heart ached so much it was brimming over. The clouds parted. The sun came out. She closed her eyes and felt the warmth of its touch on her hair, on her face. She felt the warmth of it within her heart, and her tears went away.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Revised 3/14/23
*The last time was with you…My mate* Sesshoumaru thinks as he brushes the hair and tears from her face because of her dream at the end keeping his warm hand there to transfer energy to keep her warm. 😉
Had to state what went through my mind there.
Aw <3 Thanks for sharing, Celes!!
Love love love this! Love these updates!
Yay so glad you’re enjoying them, mim! Thanks!! <3
Sesshoumaru is about as exasperated as I am apparently because only the lord knows what Kagome wants from day-to-day
Yeah she is kinda all over the place XD
Thanks for sharing, Blackberry!! <3
What Blackberry said! Poor Sesshoumaru must have a horrible case of blue balls. Where is Hirokin when we need him! Thanks for all of the lovely updates Char!!
“Where is Hirokin when we need him!” – XD his sass would go a long way here <3
Thanks so much, Siomarabelle!!
I’m sorry but Kagome is beginning to annoy me. I understand she is confused, but she’s toying with sesshomumaru’s emotions. As I read the flashbacks, it is to me insinuated that on some level, kagome has been aware of sesshoumaru’s feelings. She comes to him asking for a child then gets upset when he makes his feelings known to her. She tells him to stay away, but keeps seeking him out knowing fully well how he feels. I’m not excusing sesshoumaru either cause it’s hard to pin point what his true intentions are at times, like when he marked her knowing she doesn’t know anything about youki mating culture. Whew! Adultery is such as mess! I kinda wish sesshoumaru would just give her what she wants and go away completely, she can’t have her marriage and string sesshoumaru around when it’s convenient for her needs.🙄 she needs the time to sort through her feelings and obligations to figure out what she truly wants. Either way, the outcome is going to be ugly for everyone.
“Whew! Adultery is such as mess!” – yepp that’s for sure!! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Maya! Love hearing your take <3
I’ve been reading this story for some time now and these cliffhangers are killing me. I was hoping that Sesshoumaru would go beast mode and just ravage Kagome already, but it is also nice that he has enough control to not do that to her. It sure would have spiced up the story to me though because this is torturing me seeing how Kagome is just stringing him alone and Inuyasha. It is to the point where I wish Kagome would just gather all of her friends and Inuyasha and yell out loud what she did and how she ruined her marriage so everyone will know that the baby ain’t Inuyash’sa and she won’t have to be on the sneaky sneak anymore and just walk away from the village for good. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru will be lurking in the background as usual and find her as she attempts to go through the well and seal it and then they both confess their love to each other and Inuyasha comes barreling through the forest confronting Kagome and Sesshoumaru and wildly swinging his sword around and Sesshoumaru has to defend his pup, Kagome and himself from Inuyasha…
Yeah Kagome’s been walking a tight rope here, and poor Sesshoumaru is just along for the ride XD Can’t last forever though, that’s for sure…
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and hope you enjoy the rest of the story! <3