"Where are we?" Nanami breathed in wonder.

The Land God and fox familiar were standing atop a bluff, kimonos fluttering in a breeze that carried the pleasant smell of the sea. Beyond them a field exploded with colour. Shibazakura stained the ground a deep pink, whilst wisteria trees added blue and white to the fringes of their vision. Behind this vibrant open plane grew a forrest, solid and reassuring, in shades of deep green.

Taking a tentative step forward Nanami's eyes fell upon The House. She gasped.

"Is that..."

"That is my home." He explained. Coming to stand beside her he corrected himself "...was my home before I came to live at the Mikage Shrine."

"Your home?"

"Yes, my den. I was born here. It's a sort of a... family inheritance if you will." The familiar answered, taking her gently by the hand and leading down the path towards the house.

Nanami was overcome with awe.

Tomoe's 'den' was, in truth, more of a tree-house than it was a home. Except tree-houses were customarily built above ground, nestled between branches that reached for the skies, or so Nanami had always thought.

This particular tree-house had not been built up high. Instead it appeared to have been carved deep into the roots of a gigantic oak.

As they approached Nanami began to reevaluate what it was she saw. On closer inspection she realised the house had not been carved into the tree as she had first suspected.

It doesn't look like it was purposefully built... not with hammers and nails in any case. She marvelled. This house looks like it... grew into existence! More a fruit of this oak than anything else.

So it had.

Arriving at the front door, it was hard to tell where Tomoe's home ended and the handsome tree building's very support beams were woven into the bark of the immense trunk. The curved roof, which protruded to shelter the threshold, was not covered in tiles as Nanami had originally thought, but covered in living, breathing wood.

As it grew the tree had buckled, dipped and twisted in a perfect imitation of traditional architecture.

Nanami was so overcome she froze in place, her neck bent to take it all in.

"Nanami?" Tomoe called. The girl tore her eyes away from the miracle that was this organic construction to stare at Tomoe mouth slightly open.

Tomoe was overcome with the urge to close that gaping mouth with his own. He wanted to bite down on those red lips... reminding the girl it was rude to stare so.

Barely managing to restrain himself he cleared his throat to prompt her.

"What are we doing here?" Nanami asked.

Tomoe blushed, and coughed.

"We couldn't stay back at the shrine Nanami. Not in the state that it was. The other's will put it to rights in a couple of days but at the moment my main concern is seeing to your wellbeing. You are wounded, dirty and in desperate need of a hot meal and a bed. Truly you look quite pathetic. So if you will allow me..." He stepped inside and reached a hand out to her "I would like to care for you here. Where I know you will be safe."

"Oh." Nanami blinked and took the open hand, allowing him to guide her across the threshold.

Nanami wondered if by bringing here Tomoe was granting her intimacy to parts of his life she had hungrily wanted access too.

"Thank you." She whispered and entered with a smile.

Nanami's feet had barely touched the floor when a thousand tiny fires appeared, out of nowhere. They swarmed about her ankles then lifted clean off the floor. Nanami giggled as the little orbs drifted upwards to float about her arms and hands, they were pleasantly warm. Their touch tickled slightly.

"What are these?" She said with a laugh.

"Hm... Fire sprites." Tomoe answered for the most part ignoring them. "Nothing more than magic dust balls. This house has been in my family for many thousands of years. The yokai who lived here shed demonic power, which eventually accumulates in this form." He said, sweeping his arm to gesture at the bouncing balls of light.

Nanami nodded. On closer inspection the sprites did, indeed, look like miniature fox fires. Except there were hundreds of them, in shades of blue, green, pink, yellow and red, all swirling and hovering about the two new comers.

They looked like floating candle flames that had somehow managed to get loose from the wick and wax which was their conventional form of sustenance.

"They're adorable!" She exclaimed.

Delighted the little fires rushed forwards to press about the human who praised them. Tomoe made a disgruntled noise.

"They are not entirely useless I suppose... They do take care of this place in my absence." His eyes narrowed. "Would you stop making such a fuss over her. You would think you never saw a human girl before."

"Well have they?"

"What?"

"Seen a human girl before?"

Tomoe started then sighed.

"No. They haven't. I haver never brought a woman here before." He replied, voice heavy.

Tomoe couldn't bring himself to tell her that the only other human woman he would have brought here, wouldn't have been able to come. His first love had not been a God such as Nanami was. Thus she wouldn't have been able to enter this plane, let alone his den, which belonged more to the world of yokai than it did to the mortal realm.

"They will take you now to the hot spring to bathe." Tomoe instructed, his voice sad. "If there is anything you need, just ask them."

Without looking at Nanami and turned and headed down the corridor leaving behind the Land God who was worried she had upset him by saying the wrong thing.

True to his word, the fire sprites had seen to Nanami's every need.

They danced and hovered around the things they wanted to draw her attention too: a fresh robe, towels, sweet smelling lotions Nanami assumed was soap, even outdoor slippers.

After using buckets of warm water to wash off the worst of the grime that coated her skin and once done rinsing the shampoo from her hair Nanami climbed gratefully into the bath. The hot water performed miracles on her tired and aching muscles.

She had closed her eyes and was about to drift off to sleep when the sprites brought her food. Fifty of them clustered to support a bouncing tray from underneath. Another twenty brought in a mug of steaming hot tea. She ate and drank greedily.

When she was done eating she made the difficult to choice to stand and carefully exit the bath. She worried that now more than ever, after her appetite was sated and hurts were soothed, she was running the risk of drowning in her sleep.

The fire sprites led her, a chain of shimmering light that reminded her of summer fireflies, through to a bedroom where a large futon had been made ready.

Once inside an ivory comb zoomed towards her. Grateful she thanked the little flames and began to untangle her hair as she studied her surroundings, turning slowly on the spot. Her gaze fell upon a long looking glass and her heart skipped a beat.

While she had washed the changes to her body did not go unnoticed. It was impossible to ignore the new swell of her breasts or the manner in which her thighs had rounded, filling out along with her hips. But she had yet to fully take in the damage that had been done to her in the cage spinners trap.

The only way to do so would be to study her new physique in a mirror.

Nanami approached the glass with trepidation. As she looked into the first thought to cross her mind was: There I wasn't.

It was a surreal experience to stare into a mirror and see completely new body. She wasn't ugly, on the contrary, a part of her recognised she looked pretty, even beautiful. A woman grown.

However, there was no denying that years had been stolen from her. The shock brought tears and Nanami clenched the comb tighter and tighter in her hands. The ivory handle bit into her injured palm and she dropped it with a cry. Drops of blood splattered down as the wound reopened.

The shoji slammed open.

"Nanami!" Tomoe cried as he leaped into the room. "What's wrong? Why are you bleeding?"

Still not over the stress of recent events Tomoe, unable to unwind, had remained tense and incredibly high strung. Worry was etched across his face as he hurtled into the room expecting the worst.

Nanami, shame at her nakedness temporarily suspended, did not look up. Her wide eyes continued to examine her reflection.

"Tomoe... I just... This body!" She cried.

Tomoe knelt beside her, his attention fixed on her injured hand. He withdrew a silk handkerchief and wrapped it gently around the cut.

"What is wrong?"

"This body! It can't be like this. I don't recognise it."

The fox rose slowly to stand behind her. His eyes met hers in the glass.

"There is nothing wrong with your body..." He whispered. His eyes flicked down to study every inch of her that was reflected before him. Nanami felt a blush begin to spread against over her cheeks, but shock gripped her too tightly to allow modesty a hold.

"I feel like it doesn't belong to me..."

The fox frowned. His ears going flat, his tail whipped once.

His unexpected anger snapped Nanami out of her self pity and she dropped her gaze, arms rising to cover her breasts.

"No..." Tomoe whispered. "Don't be ashamed. Not here. Not with me."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. Unable to defeat her rising embarrassment Nanami buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

Tomoe was momentarily distracted by the mirror which was now reflecting Nanami's naked back.

His gaze moved down the long length of her hair, past her the small of her back, to her rounded hips and below where he paused to study the pert flesh of her bottom, still pink from the heat of the bath. He blinked and dropped his gaze further, moving down to study the gentle swell of her thighs and small curves of her calves.

Desire roared within the fox.

Tomoe fought a hard battle to do the right thing by Nanami and not sink his teeth into her flesh, much as the Muse predicted earlier.

"Nanami look at me." He demanded.

Nanami did so hesitantly, tears leaking down her cheeks.

"I can not take back what was done to you in that trap. No one can."

Nanami nodded and tried to look away again. A clawed hand grasped her firmly by the chin.

"But it if you allow it, I can show you that this body does belong to you and no one else. I can make you feel at peace."

The Land God's moth open slightly. The sight of her red lips and wet tongue sent a pulse to his member which hardened instantly.

She nodded, once. Tomoe growled.

"You have to say it. You have to say what you want. You have to be sure."

Nanami swallowed.

"Yes." She exhaled. "Show me Tomoe. Please."

As predicted they crashed into one another.

His hand slipped from her chin, tugging a fistful of hair so her face tilted up towards him. Lavender eyes glazed with desire as Tomoe brought his mouth to hers, softly first then harder. Increasing the pressure, his tongue slipping in to taste her properly. His tail whipped around, the tip of it stroking the small of her back and sensitive skin of her bottom.

Tomoe was pleasantly surprised when Nanami's teeth nipped playfully at his lips.

"Oh is that the way it is?" He growled appreciatively. Nanami laughed, relaxing fully in his embrace.

"Yes." She replied and lifted her hands to cup his beautiful face. "Now show me... show me everything."

Tomoe didn't even need the divine command to drive him.

The fox scooped her into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. Carrying her back to the futon her laid her down with care, one hand sweeping her dark her out from under her so it wouldn't be trapped beneath them. The fox marvelled as he stared down at the Land God.

"You are beautiful Nanami. Now and always."

"Oh." Nanami gasped, trying to rise to a sitting position. "I want..." She reached out to open his obi, desperate to look upon his flesh in turn.

"No... not yet." He pushed her back down, but then obliged her by stripping and revealing his naked chest. The smooth flesh was chiseled in delicate perfection.

Nanami groaned with want, suddenly very conscious of how wet she had become.

"You can look if that is what you desire but not touch. Not yet. First I am going to do things to you. Do things to your body that will force your mind to acknowledge the woman you have become."

Nanami's mouth went dry.

Tomoe trailed his fingers down the space between her breasts. His nails circled her belly button lazily before moving back up, the pad of his thumb thrumming a nipple that hardened instantly. Nanami gave the slightest of nods which was all the permission Tomoe needed.

His mouth crushed onto hers alternating between soft kisses and firmer nips.

His long nails were traced the delicate pink of her areola, moving in concentric circles until he eventually palmed her entire breast.

Relinquishing his plunder of her mouth, he moved his lips down to gently graze her the hardened buds of her nipples.

When Tomoe replaced the soft touch of his lips with a fiercer bite Nanami jumped, overcome with pleasure. When the fox took her breasts into his hot, wet mouth, tongue stroking, swirling, back and forth, up and down, Nanami melted beneath him. Instinctively her legs spread open.

Tomoe chuckled and trailed butterfly kisses down from navel to her belly button, stopping just shy of the thick hair that grew beneath her legs.

Drifting his hands to knees, driving her wild as he avoided her sex entirely, he began to move upwards, mouth trailing his fingers. Arriving in between her legs at last he inhaled the deep rich sent of her desire.

Unseen by Nanami, Tomoe's testes tensed and drops of pre-cum rose to moisten the tip of his penis, dampening the silk of his inner robes. Shaking his head he refocused his attention.

Gently, with the lightest pressure, he used his knuckles to stroke her outer lips. Pleased to note how wet his fingers had become.

Nanami moaned, hips buckling slightly, inviting him to quest further. Quest deeper.

"Not yet my lady..." He whispered. Speaking in part to himself. He was half desperate to part those silky lips with his fingers, to use his tongue to lap every inch of her. "Not yet... I have more to show you."

A strong arm raised her into a kneeling position, spinning her carefully so that she now had her back to him.

Tomoe's clever hands ran through her long hair, taking care to graze his nails against her scalp, teasing all the sensitive nerves he could find. Nanami shivered appreciatively.

The familiar braided her hair in the quickest of movements, placing the braid over her shoulders and out of his way. With his mouth on her ear lobe, his hands rose from behind to pinch her nipples and cup her breasts, massaging them as began to work his tongue down her spine.

Without thinking about it Nanami lifted to her knees, allowing Tomoe to maintain his greedy hold on her breasts as his tongue slipped lower and lower to investigate the crevice between her buttocks.

One of his hands relinquished it's hold of her chest and moved downwards. His knuckles rubbing lightly against her sex once more, spreading the runny, silky wetness to and fro.

Nanami moaned and begged him for more. He obliged.

His forefingers began to drag downwards, tangling in her pubic hair, consciously increasing the blood flow the stimulated area. He tortured her like this for a while, letting the urge build within his Land God.

Once satisfied, he scissored his fingers, parting away the folds that shielded the entry to her sex. The pad of his two forefingers found the hardened bud of her clitoris and began to to swirl there, moving round and around.

Tomoe's fingers were soon slick in her wetness.

"More... Please Tomoe. Show me more." Nanami begged. The fox was happy to oblige.

Placing firm hands on her hips, Tomoe beckoned her to turn around and face him once more. When the familiar's fingers lifted from her throbbing clit she groaned in anguish.

"Don't..." She pleaded when she faced him. "Please don't stop."

"Hush." The Fox instructed and moved to close his mouth over the abandoned mound, feeling her clit throb with her lust against his lips.

Nanami gasped. Her hands moving to stroke his ears in the same rhythm in which he now licked her. Her nails trailed along the tender folds, which sent shivers down his spine, awakening a rhythmic throbbing of his own.

Pressing his mouth deeper into her crotch, his tongue darted out separating her labia allowing him to lick the sweet juice straight from the source. Nanami writhed against him coating his face in her arousal.

He removed his mouth and replaced it with two probing fingers. Greedy, Nanami surged forwards to kiss and lick his moistened lips. Following her lead Tomoe withdrew dripping fingers and raised them to her face.

Nanami didn't hesitate. She sucked down on the fingers, marvelling at the taste, very aware of Tomoe's hardened penis pressing firmly against her flat belly. The thick cloth of his undergarments not enough to disguise how badly he desired her.

Nanami moved to touch his sex, but he withdrew from her.

"Not now. Later." He said with a smile, laying her back down. "Now is for you. Only."

He lay beside her once more, greedy mouth moving from her lips, to her chin, to her breasts then back up. Slipping inside her again, Tomoe enjoyed the way her pristine womanhood clamped hungrily around his finger. The muscles contracted fervently. He began to pump, moving his hand in and out, curling his long digit, which drove Nanami to the edge of her sanity.

"More." She begged, cheeks flushed and eyes brimming with tears. "Please give me more."

He slipped a second finger inside of her. His thumb never ceasing to circle her clit.

When she spasmed, the fox new she was on the brink of orgasm. Crushing his mouth to hers he began to finger her more powerfully. His free hand pinched her nipples, the pain a perfect counter point to her overflowing pleasure.

Nanami grabbed at the hand that was now buried deep inside of her. In some corner of her mind she gloried at the strength at which he drove into her. She wondered what it would feel like when claimed her fully. What it would be like when his manhood would slam into her, making them one.

A damn broke.

A wave roared through Nanami's body and she released.

Fighting the urge to close her eyes she seized Tomoe by the face crushing her mouth to his as the orgasm rolled through her.

After a minute Tomoe withdrew his fingers and cupped her now dripping pussy, thumb working gently up and down her soaked outer lips.

"Tomoe..." She panted, cheeks flushed. He leaned in closer to hear, studying her face and assure himself she was alright.

She smiled up at him and smiled back.

"You were wrong..."

"What?" The fox cried in alarm.

The woman beneath him giggled.

"You were wrong when you said my body belonged to me alone... If you do that again I may end up belonging to you more than I ever did to myself."

Tomoe smiled wirily and kissed her eye lids closed. Nanami sighed and slithered down to press her face against his naked chest.

He held her, letting her drift in his arms. When he was sure she was asleep he replied, careful not to wake her.

"Oh but I am nowhere near done with you. We shall see who belongs to whom by the end of the night..."