Hand-in-hand, she walked with him through the twilit woods. The air was an inky, brooding violet. A soft carpet of leaves blanketed the forest floor, whispering clandestinely at their approach. Skeins of mist chilled and wet the insides of her thighs, as though he had already kissed them there. Kagome moistened her lips in turn,

Kagome recoiled at the phrase, the Beast’s words haunting her through it. “You…” she said lowly, sweeping his fur clear of her as she backed away. “Don’t be so cheeky.” Heatedly, Sesshoumaru held her gaze. “Then compose yourself.” The miko grit her teeth. Her hands fisted at her sides as she glared. “If you didn’t

Red light scorched behind her shuttered eyes. Kagome groaned, shifting in the softness that enveloped her. As her stiff limbs wakened, she curled her hands into the fine texture beneath her, something strange and alien in it startling her to full wakefulness. Her breath stilted, her fingers clenching. Exhaling forcefully, she pushed herself upright, coils

Even before Kagome’s eyes shot open, her bow was armed and in her hands. Rapidly she breathed through the lingering fog of her unconsciousness, her miko instincts firing at the foreign, near-undetectable youki feathering at the edges of her senses. Reiki flamed down the drawn shaft of her arrow, its light fit to blind as

The word left her as little more than a whisper, but its effect was immediate. A fearsome roar reverberated through the wilderness, Kagome’s hair whipping back as the Beast’s massive bulk crashed to the earth below. Dust and youki rose in a storm, the miko shielding herself as best she could against it. With stinging