AN: Okie dokie! So, this is where we begin to really get towards the ending chapters. Excuse the small time skip in this chapter, but it was necessary to get where I needed to be for this part of LAD. I hope you guys enjoy it!

The days and nights flew by. Kagome was kept busy with a schedule that included rising early in the mornings to take tea and breakfast with her mate before they parted ways until late in the evenings. Her lessons with Mitsue, visiting Shippo and Rin, going to see Akito as he continued to recover, it hardly left the miko a chance to breathe.

Her nights ended with her falling into bed exhausted. Many times waking groggily only long enough to cuddle into her mate's warm body, give him a kiss goodnight and promptly let sleep take her again.

Sesshoumaru kept later hours than she did. His days taken up completely with the preparations for her presentation ceremony on top of running the vast empire of Taisho castle and beyond.

Honestly, she didn't have any idea how he took it all in stride. Kagome was a little envious of the way youkai didn't need rest like a human did. Life would have been much easier if she had the stamina of a demon. Able to forego going to bed entirely so she could spend more hours with her tutor.

Kagome could hardly believe that it was only three days until the night of the banquet. She had just finished her final fitting of her junihitoe. Saki assuring her that it would be delivered to her quarters the day before the ceremony.

The priestess had invited the same group of women to get together while she stood on the stool and let them take a look at the finished picture she would make. The inu youkai circlet on her head even if her makeup and hair weren't done.

It had relieved her to hear that they all believed her to look the perfect mate to a Taiyoukai. The anxiety riding her for over the past week lessening minutely.

Rotating her shoulders as she walked with Teisa through the castle, Kagome was glad that all the aches and pains from her lessons had finally vanished. Her mating mark bruises now faded and the puncture holes gone. She was pleasantly surprised to see that no trace had been left from Sesshoumaru's bite. No sign of the dog demon having bit her marring the area around the crescent moon and swirls.

Not that she would have been too upset even if they had scarred.

Kagome loved Sesshoumaru to distraction and wouldn't begrudge him if he had left those new marks on her body. The only ones she didn't feel self-conscious about considering the ones mapping her from top to bottom.

Reaching her bedroom, she gave Teisa a friendly smile while opening the door. Pausing on the threshold to give her guard a pat on the wrist holding her glaive.

"Thanks, Teisa. I won't need you for the rest of the night." Pulling the chopsticks from her hair so that the heavy mass could fall about her shoulders and down her back, Kagome ran tense fingers through her bangs. "Akito will be taking over starting tomorrow now that he is fully recovered. Thank you so much for taking such good care of me."

She knew it surprised the female youkai when she impulsively embraced her. Teisa's hand hovering a moment before patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. A blush riding her cheekbones when the miko released her.

"Of course, My Lady. If you have need of me again do not hesitate to say so." Giving her mistress a small grin, she bowed deeply before heading down the hall to her bedroom.

Sighing heavily as she closed the door, Kagome padded into her room. Kicking off her shoes with careless abandon as they landed who knew where. Reaching into the front of her red hoody's front pocket, she withdrew the beautiful crown and placed it reverently on the table where Sesshoumaru's swords sat in their stand.

Stretching, she glanced about the candlelit room. Trying to figure out what to do now that she was back. Too wound up to possibly go to bed, even if she had had a busy day filled with one appointment after another.

Mitsue had informed her today that she had been taught everything at this point. That there was nothing more for her to do but practice each day before the banquet and she would be fine.

Kagome highly doubted the dark-haired youkai's assertions that she was ready, but then, she didn't think she ever would be.

Despite the reassurances of her teacher, mate, and friends, the miko was still a bundle of nerves. The band about her chest that had begun to ease earlier retightening as though she was being constricted by a large snake. Anxiety coursing through her veins until she couldn't stand there in her room by herself a minute longer.

The sudden desperate urge to see Sesshoumaru fixating in her mind until she set her chin and went to leave. Dismissing the idea of putting her shoes back on since it would take precious seconds to accomplish that could be used to find her mate.

She felt that if she could see his calm features. Listen to him tell her she was being a 'foolish woman' and everything would be okay, that it would let her emotions settle down. The bond they shared was filled with his influence through the mystical platinum tether, but it wasn't enough.

Leaving her hair down, Kagome wiped her damp hands on her jean-clad thighs as her attempt to grab the doorknob resulted in her losing her grip. Quitting the bedroom, she walked confidently down the hallway away from the royal family wing of the castle. Not bothering to go get Teisa since she knew where she was going. Having become well acquainted with the path to the Taiyoukai's study that he could typically be found in.

Nodding with a smile to each servant or soldier she passed, Kagome waved away the bows that they gave her. Not used to being catered to in such a way even though she had been the recipient of such behavior since becoming Sesshoumaru's mate.

Spying Kiro's tall frame standing outside the door to her mate's study, Kagome felt a huge smile curve her lips. Excitement and anticipation overriding her trepidation of the future as her steps hurried. Slipping a bit when she came to a halt beside the arctic kitsune so that she had to reach out and grab Kiro's arm to prevent herself from falling down. Quick youkai reflexes grasping her elbow as he gave her a concerned frown.

Laughing with a light blush, Kagome planted her socked feet before patting her mate's guard on the bicep. "Thanks, Kiro. I'm afraid I got a little overexuberant at the thought of seeing my Taiyoukai."

Releasing her once he was certain his mistress wasn't about to hit the floorboards, Kiro gave her a tiny smirk. His cobalt eyes warming slightly as he said, "You are welcome, My Lady. Do be careful in the future. I highly doubt Lord Sesshoumaru would like it if his Lady Mate obtained a broken limb from rushing through the castle to come and see him."

Waving a hand with a laugh, Kagome nodded towards the closed door. "Is he alone by any chance?"

"He is, My Lady." Glancing about the hallway he leaned down to whisper with a grin, "I can assure you a few hours of uninterrupted time if you so desire, My Lady."

"Kiro," Kagome's smile turned blinding as she gave him a quick hug. Letting the surprised kitsune go before he had time to fully process her actions. "You are the biggest sweetheart! Yes, that would be wonderful."

"Do you plan on standing out there all night taking up my guard's time, or are you planning on stepping inside at some point, you foolish woman?" Sesshoumaru's voice called through the door making her stick her tongue out at the piece of wood in response.

"Patience is a virtue, Sesshoumaru, darling!" She called back before giving Kiro a pat on the back of the clawed hand about his spear. "Thanks again, Kiro. I really appreciate it."

"No thanks needed, My Lady." He bowed as he opened the door for her. Closing it to take up his spot once more after she passed the threshold.

Kagome's heart skipped a beat as her shining blue-grey eyes met the mellow amber of Sesshoumaru's. The way the candlelight bathed his features softening the sharp angles of his face turning his pale skin golden.

An old married lady she may be, but the sight of her man still had her pulse racing in her chest.

"Is there something you needed, Kagome?" Tilting his head to the side, he arched a silver eyebrow.

The top of the low table he sat behind was covered with various pieces of paper and parchment. An open inkwell sitting off to the side, the quill in his hand pausing in the middle of signing whatever document needed his attention.

Rounding the table, Kagome was grateful that Shurin wasn't present. Not that she disliked the rain-child. She simply wanted to spend time with Sesshoumaru alone for a change. Ever since the day they had spent together he hadn't even made love to her again. A fact that irritated her on a number of levels. She had a suspicion his lack of sexual interest had nothing to do with him being too busy with the ceremony preparations and everything to do with his moral code.

That, despite telling her he was reconciled that Kagome wasn't upset over their time in the hot spring, he held himself accountable. Paired with how she had gotten her way that night by out maneuvering him into making love with her once more, and she was fairly certain her inu youkai was staying as late as possible here not only because he had work. But because it was the best way to return to their bedroom knowing she would already be too tired or asleep to do anything.

Sneaky Taiyoukai that he was.

Ambling towards the seated dog demon, Kagome shrugged negligently.

"Does your mate have to need something in order to come see you?" Kagome bent down to pick up one of the rolls of parchment spread out on his workspace. Pretending to read what looked to be a report on crop production, she cast him a furtive look beneath her lashes. "What are you up to?"

Amusement warmed his gaze as he carefully set aside the quill beside the inkwell. Turning so that he could rest his arm on the table while facing her. Placing his cheek on his fist as he eyed his mate.

"You came all this way down here to see what I was doing inside the office where I conduct business." It wasn't a question. Sweeping her form with interest, he paused when he spotted her socked feet. "That would explain what Kiro had meant when he told you to be careful. It is Fall, you foolish woman. Perhaps it would be prudent to not walk about a drafty palace with icy floors in nothing but thin material to cover your feet."

Raising the parchment so that it hid her blushing face, she acted as though she was engrossed in the tallies at the bottom. Kagome replying in a distracted tone, "Perhaps."

A few seconds of silence went by. Sesshoumaru frowning when she continued to read, ignoring his presence altogether.

Smirking, he unwound his tail to snake it around her ankle slowly so she wouldn't notice. The furry appendage inching loosely up her leg to her knee.

"I take it reading about how the harvest of kanashimi peppers is progressing provides entertainment for you. If that is the case, then I should set them aside to gift them to you later." His smirk grew when his comment caused her to finally lower the report to give him a glare.

"What kind of crappy gift is that?" Putting it down on the table, she placed a hand on her hip while pointing a finger at the inu youkai. "Women like gifts like flowers and chocolate, Sesshoumaru. Not a bunch of rolled up old paper describing rainfall to picking ratios."

"Do they?" He asked with feigned surprise. His tail now up to her waist to just below where her hand was placed.

Sighing in long suffering, Kagome shook her head with a sympathetic look. "My poor elderly mate. We really do need to do something about the way your mind is going. That can be the only explanation for thinking such a thing."

She let out a small cry of surprise when she suddenly found herself yanked forward. Landing in her mate's lap in a messy sprawl. His tail unwinding to drape over her legs as she used her hands to pull herself up so she could sit sideways on him. Grumbling the entire time about 'inconsiderate dog demons' and their penchant for 'yanking her about like a chew toy'.

Wiggling around, Kagome finally got her legs over his thigh with her bottom settled in the cradle of his lap. Fighting a grin even as she scowled up at her mate's handsome features. Masculine amusement dancing in his eyes. The quirk of his lips sardonic as he wrapped his arm along her back, placing his clawed hand on her side.

"That was rude." Poking him in the chest where the skin was exposed between the lapels of his haori, Kagome added, "You and that tail of yours are a menace, I swear."

"I have the distinct impression you do not mind my tail or the person it is attached to." Nuzzling her nose with his he asked, "So to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit from my mate?"

Melting under the affectionate caress, Kagome's lips upturned in a fond grin as she nuzzled him back. "Your mate missed you terribly and couldn't wait any longer to see you." Cradling his striped cheek, she pouted. "I feel like we haven't spent any time together in over a week."

"We take breakfast each morning together and I am fairly certain it is I who holds you at night in our bed." Leaning back to give her an arrogant look, Sesshoumaru eyed her. "I suppose those instances do not count as spending time with one another?"

"It's not enough," she groused with a frown while wrapping her arms around his neck to play with the hair at his nape. "In the mornings I only have you to myself for about an hour and at night I'm usually already asleep when you come back to our room."

"Ah." Nodding, he placed a kiss on the downward curve of her mouth. "So my undemanding mate has suddenly become demanding." Smirking he added, "As I knew she would, if given enough time."

Kagome was pleased to see the smirk leave his mouth to be replaced by a frown when she pulled his hair in retribution for his comment.

"I'm not a demanding mate!" Huffing in indignation, she let go of him to cross her arms over her chest. Turning her head away and putting her chin in the air. "Saying your mate wanting to spend time with you is demanding. Rude, I say!"

The hand about her middle tightened as he pulled her stiff form into him.

"Forgive my rudeness, Kagome. You barging in here to see me is not to demand attention" Sesshoumaru said sardonically as he lowered his head to place a line of kisses over her tense jaw and along her neck. Kagome shivering in awareness as desire came to life inside her.

It had been so long since she had enjoyed any type of physical attention that led to them both naked and satiated between their sheets. Just the barest brush of his lips ghosting over her earlobe was enough to make her nipples harden and her lower abdomen to clench.

Her earlier anxiety over the ceremony was obliterated beneath the onslaught of desire that crashed through her. Heartbeat thundering in her ears, a flush overtaking her skin as the miko's muscles relaxed. Kagome melting into his embrace as she clasped the sides of his face to pull his lips to hers for a deep passionate kiss.

They were both breathing hard when he pulled away. Amber irises glowing brightly, and cat-like pupils dilated.

Stroking the twin stripes on his cheek, Kagome said huskily, "Why don't you leave the rest of this for tomorrow and come back to our room with me? I can think of a much better way to pass the evening than signing documents or reading boring reports."

The molten metal of his eyes flared brightly before he lowered his eyelids. Masking his expression as he withdrew from his enticing mate. Giving her a soft kiss on her swollen lips then gently pulling away from her.

Kagome realized in disbelief, as Sesshoumaru rubbed gentle claws through her hair without meeting her gaze, that he was turning her down. The rejection piercing her sharply between the ribs as though someone had taken a knife to her heart.

She felt herself go hot then cold. The pain of having her mate brush her advances aside twisting her stomach and gripping the organ in her chest harshly.

"I would love to join you right now, kireina. But there are a number of important issues I cannot delay in handling right now. Some of the nobles begin arriving by tomorrow afternoon and everything must be ready." Cradling her face tenderly, he subtly cringed when he saw the hurt in her expression. His features hardening a second later as the warmth died from his gaze. "I am afraid I will not be back at our quarters until very late."

"So, in other words, don't wait up for you," she whispered. Swallowing thickly around the lump in her throat.

Kagome was bombarded with his regret along their bonds, but also the iron core of his resolution. Her inu youkai was sorry he hurt her but determined to stand by his decision never-the-less.

Feeling like an idiot and completely embarrassed, she kept tears from forming in her eyes with every ounce of will she possessed. Sliding free of his lap to stand without a word. Straightening her shirt with great care without looking at him. Knowing she couldn't stand to see whatever would be reflected in his beautiful eyes.

"I'll just leave you to it then!" The smile she forced felt brittle. As fragile and hollow as her heart that was breaking inside her. "Try not to work too hard. See you later, Sesshoumaru."

Unable to hold back the humiliated tears, Kagome turned to all but run to the door.

"Kireina…" His voice floated to her ears. The emotional undertone to them uncharacteristic for the dog demon, but she didn't care.

She didn't even give Kiro time to let her out. Grasping the wood tightly and yanking it open with forcefully before walking down the hall quickly. Ignoring Sesshoumaru's pleading call behind her.

Brushing a stray tear away angrily, Kagome made it back to their quarters in a blur. Thankful that every youkai she passed on her way simply bowed while casting their eyes aside. The keen senses they possessed alerting them to the fact that their mistress was in distress over something.

Slamming the door to their room shut, Kagome made it to the middle of the bedroom before she started sobbing in earnest. Covering her face with trembling hands, she let all of her emotions run free. The ones he was sending to her along the bond being violently pushed back in anger.

The miko grit her teeth around a loud sob as anger slowly began to replace the hurt of before.

Sniffling loudly, she went to her backpack and rummaged through it. Tossing items over her shoulder to land wherever until she found the small pack of Kleenex and ripped it open with more force than necessary.

Blowing her nose and wiping her eyes, tears continued to track her cheeks at a milder rate. Her ire aiding Kagome so that she was no longer bawling like a baby. She went and sat down on the edge of their bed. The sight of the indent where his head usually laid on the pillow making her so mad she yanked the offensive cushion off the mattress and chucked it at the study door. Petty pleasure spiking through her as it hit the door and slid to the ground.

Damn him! Damn him for his misguided chivalry where she was concerned.

And damn her for caring this much!

If she didn't love Sesshoumaru as deeply as she did then he wouldn't harbor the power to make her feel as though her insides were being raked with deadly claws.

Fuming, Kagome cried until she had no tears left. Eyes gritty, nose stuffed and her cheeks tender from the tracks of saline lining her skin, she finally released an uneven sigh and stood up. Taking the used tissues to toss them into the brazier in the corner afterwards. Hugging herself as she stood before the makeshift heater to absorb some of its heat since she felt chilled from her bones outward.

It wasn't so much the fact he had turned her down for sex. Yes, that had hurt, but that wasn't the root of it. What made her heart break was the proof she now had that he was avoiding her.

Purposely rearranging his behavior so he wouldn't have to be alone with her more than he absolutely had to. That more than anything cut the deepest. Leaving a gaping wound in her chest that bled freely.

As the days had racked up since he had touched her for more than a quick kiss, she had begun to be suspicious that the inu youkai was doing so on purpose. Had hoped she was wrong, and dreaded she was right.

Well if he thought he could just make decisions that affected the both of them and she would just sit quietly by and let him, then he had a rude awakening coming his way!

Kagome wasn't about to let him push her aside whenever his damn insecurities reared their ugly heads to plague him. They were a couple. A partnership. He had to learn real fast that she was never going to be the type of mate who let him decide their lives alone. She had meant it when she'd told him that she wished to be at his side, not following his back.

And she wasn't about to sit all alone in their bedroom and cry herself to sleep!

That would just play into whatever damn problem he had dreamed up in that arrogant head of his. In fact, the more Kagome thought about what had just happened, the angrier she got.

Her temper going from a low ember to an all-out inferno that had her clenching her fists and color riding high on her cheeks.

Just who did he think he was?!

This mate of hers who apparently didn't believe her when she told him not to hold back and promised he wouldn't.

Lip service! The very thing she had told him before that she would never say to him, he had been giving her.

Well fuck that!

Madder than she could ever remember being in her entire life, Kagome peeled off her clothing. Kicking her pants into the corner before pulling her hoody over her head to ball it up and throw it violently into their laundry pile. Wishing it had been a certain Taiyoukai's head she was chucking instead of the soft red material.

She was no biddable mate. No meek female who cried and reposed and bemoaned while sitting and doing nothing.

No, Kagome was a woman from a modern era where if your man pissed you off this bad he got a damn earful at the very least. That's if he didn't also get his ass kicked to the couch for a few nights!

His pillow against the study door caught her eye. The miko tensing before going to pick it up in a hard-knuckled grip. Entertaining the thought for a few seconds of ripping the thing open to coat the place in feathers. The irritation that would cause her taciturn mate making her grin evilly before sanity returned and she sighed heavily. Putting the cushion back onto their bed with a negligent flick of her wrist that had it bouncing once before falling on the floor on his side.

Shrugging, Kagome went to their armoire to look at the contents. Thoughts playing through her mind of varying ways she could pay her stubborn youkai back. The things she could do or say that would put him in his place. Some of the images making her laugh and others mumble with a dark scowl. Her features clouded in anger the entire time.

One of the more interesting scenarios was the random idea to put his robe on before parading around the damn castle. The picture in her mind of her waltzing about the palace with the lord of the manor's white and blue silk robe making her pause and put a hand to her chin to mull it over.

Smiling wickedly as she imagined the length of it trailing behind her like a bridal train. Her long hair loose and head held at a defiant angle as she walked by one servant or guard after another. Lips tilted blithely before continuing on. Acting as though it was completely normal to go about the place in hardly any clothes except a wrap and her undergarments.

Ah, if only she had the nerve…..

Nothing would incite his baser youkai instincts than the thought of his mate being exposed to other demons like that. But, in the end, she knew it wasn't a good idea to provoke that part of him either when he was still in the throes of their new mating bond.

Even she wasn't cruel enough to make Sesshoumaru lose control, possibly in front of his own men. The potential loss of respect and censure he would accrue over his human mate's actions completely detrimental to what she wanted.

Which was for him to trust her enough to be honest. Whether the definition behind what he did made her upset or not, Sesshoumaru needed to be truthful. To communicate whatever reservations or misgivings he had in regard to being mated to a human female and not a youkai one.

Grumbling to herself, Kagome decided to hell with it and shut the doors to the tall piece of furniture holding their clothes. Ignoring the way her skin blossomed with goosebumps the further away she got from the brazier.

Blowing out the candles as she went, she left only one burning on her nightstand. Unclasping her bra and shimmying out of her underwear and placing them on the small chair off to the side. Sliding under the blanket and moving her pillows about so she could use them to lean on when she settled back against the headboard.

Placing the blanket above her breasts, she held it in place with her arms and picked up her book sitting next to the carafe of water and glass beside her candle. Determined to become lost in the whimsy of the fantasy romance novel she hadn't been able to crack open in days.

Who cared if she was nude in bed?

Apparently not her mate! So she would just sit here reading her book and when he came in later ignore him.

It took quite a while, but eventually Kagome was able to become lost in the story. The rage she felt ebbing slowly as she read. Though, the side of her link on their mating bond remained closed to Sesshoumaru. His copious attempts to 'knock' and become receptive met with cool indifference.

She was probably being petty, but she didn't care. He could feel rejection for once and see how he liked it.

****************BBBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRR***************

Sesshoumaru knew his mate was displeased with him right now.

Scratch that.

The woman was angry as hell and hurting because he had denied her. Something that had made his own heart lurch in discomfort as it twisted inside his breast. He hated the look that had overcome her face when he had told her 'no'.

The distress and heartache transmitting to him through their bonds causing his stomach to revolt with a somersault. As though he had taken a hard blow to his solar plexus by a deadly youkai.

No injury he had incurred in battle had been as painful as seeing her leave the way she had. Not even the loss of his arm had made self-loathing assail him at being defeated by his brother over the Tessaiga. But failing his mate in some way did. The helpless emptiness of experiencing his Kagome closing him out with such ferocity that he couldn't touch her through the mating bond hard to bear.

Being the recipient of Kagome's anger and hurt was one of the hardest experiences in his long life and he found he had no caring for it.

When she had spontaneously come to visit him he had been happy to see her. Having missed spending time with his new mate as much as she did him. But the worry had remained that his control where she was concerned wasn't as ironclad as it should be. The ease with which she had gotten around him the last time stark in his mind.

Adding credence to the worry that he couldn't count on himself to keep his promise to not to be too demanding of a lover for his fragile human female. He wanted her too badly. Needed and craved the way she made him feel so that Sesshoumaru realized the only way he could go through an entire day without taking her to bed was to avoid her.

A ploy that had worked well until this evening.

He had been fine with holding Kagome in his arm. Nuzzling and kissing her as she melted sweetly into him without reservation. Enjoying the feel of her against him. The taste of her as she had kissed him nearly senseless.

It had only been when the sweet scent of her arousal had hit his nostrils that the steel chain around his baser instincts had broken instantly. The driving primal desire to possess the woman sitting atop him nearly more than he could contain.

Sesshoumaru had understood then he had made a grievous error.

By denying them both it had only made his hunger for her expand exponentially. So that the first sign of Kagome wanting him physically had all but undone him. She was a deep gnawing craving in his blood. A potent aphrodisiac he had ingested that swam through his system and ruined his ability to think clearly.

Keeping her at arm's length had merely intensified his appetite for her. Not abated it. Kagome had not caught on to the fact that his eyes had tinged red. The beastly nature living inside him rising to the surface all but bursting through his skin to get to her.

It had taken impossible effort to push her away when in reality Sesshoumaru had wanted to strip her naked and take her right there. To lay his mate across the table, shred the clothes from her body and feast on her until he couldn't stand it anymore and joined with her.

That alone had helped him to cool his ardor. So he didn't clasp her against him when she withdrew from their embrace. Both physically and emotionally.

The latter pained him far more than the former.

Emotionality was new for the Taiyoukai. For centuries he had bottled up anything he felt and kept it from escaping. All of his attention on thwarting his uncle and beating the other dog demon at his own game. Shoving away anything else besides deadly anger or cool cruelty.

Indifference had been his sword and shield in order to survive the training sessions he had endured from his relative. A frame of mind that had carried over into his adulthood that the inu youkai had willingly accepted.

What he had with Kagome, the mating bond and aura synchronization, amplified every emotion she brought forth from him. Throwing him into a baptism by fire in trying to understand and respond appropriately to everything.

The fact that the miko was infinitely patient and forgiving of his blunders thus far had amazed and humbled him.

Yet, judging by the way she was unreceptive to what he had been trying to send her for hours along the tether that bound them, he wasn't so certain her good will would extend to this.

But what could he do?

He could try and explain it to her. Perhaps bare his soul to the woman who already held his heart in her small human hands. It might appease her somewhat, but she would still be upset at how he had basically lied to her when he had said he wouldn't allow her humanity to curb his instincts.

What was it she had told him?

She would have all of him or none of him.

Sighing heavily, Sesshoumaru stood outside the door to their bedroom that connected it to his personal study. Shoulders tight and senses on high alert as he listened to see if he could hear her inside. To ascertain if he could tell she was awake or had cried herself to sleep as he had feared.

Detecting no movement, he squared his shoulders, smoothed his face of all expression, and went inside his bedroom. More uneasy about facing the displeasure of his mate than he had been whenever he had come across any foe. Including Aion when he was a pup.

He spotted her immediately in their bed. His heart clenching as his amber eyes softened while he silently traversed their room to go to her. Halting at the side of the bed to look down at his sleeping mate.

She was laying on her side facing towards him. The blankets drawn up to her neck and clenched in her hands. Even in repose he could tell her sleep wasn't restful. There was a scowl on her beautiful features and an unhappy curve to her full lips.

The lone candle on her nightstand gilded her pale skin to a honey gold that complimented her coloring well. The book she must have been reading forgotten on top of the comforter in danger of falling off the mattress as it teetered on the edge.

Taking the novel he placed it next to the carafe of water in easy reach. Blowing out the candle and observing his mate as moonlight filtered in from the high windows to trail over her. Amber orbs tracing the miko in his bed with sadness and longing. Her long black hair was in disarray behind her and he noted as he traced the lengthy locks that his pillow was absent from his side of the bed.

Arching a silver eyebrow, he made his way over and couldn't prevent an amused grin from gracing his lips when he found the cushion on the floor. Able to easily see in his mind's eye how Kagome had made certain her message was clear whenever he returned tonight.

Placing it back in its proper spot, he let his eyes take stock of everything in the bedroom. The grin growing into a true smile as he continued the recreation what she had done in her fit of temper.

The haphazard clothing strewn about. The random bits and pieces of what she usually kept in her pack were all over the place as though the bag had regurgitated its contents to spew them everywhere.

Daintily stepping over a package of ramen, he made sure not to accidentally step on anything as he made his way to the armoire. He would pick up everything tomorrow morning when he could be assured the noise of doing so wouldn't disturb her. The damn woman was terrible at getting enough sleep as it was. Sesshoumaru wasn't about to add to that problem.

Changing quietly, he pushed his heavy mane of hair over his shoulder before climbing in beside her. Laying there with a foot between them. Watching the rise and fall of her duvet covered body as she breathed but not daring to touch her like he longed to. The only thing he allowed himself was to pick up a lock of her hair and rub it between his fingers.

Enjoying the silken texture of the black strands as they brushed against his skin.

"Is there a reason you're playing with my hair, Sesshoumaru?"

His mate's voice startled him enough that he dropped the pieces of hair he had been caressing. Amber eyes narrowing to study her face when she rolled over to face him.

Sesshoumaru knew she purposely kept the distance between them. Her blue-grey eyes challenging and bruised with emotion. Lips set in a thin line and her chin at a defiant angle even though she was lying in bed.

"I did not mean to wake you, Kagome." He placed his arm in the gap. The tips of his claws almost able to touch the mound of the blanket she was under.

"Yes, I know. Don't wait up for you, I seem to remember." Glaring at him darkly, Kagome bit out, "Well don't worry. I wasn't waiting up. I just have this habit of coming to whenever you get into bed."

He tried to read her exact mood and failing miserably since she was continuing to block their link and he wasn't touching her for the aura synchronization to work. Sesshoumaru paused a moment.

"I did not say you should not wait up for me," the Taiyoukai said cautiously. Taking note how the V of her eyebrows worsened at his words. "I simply stated that my duties would keep me until the late hours of the night."

"Keep you," she scoffed. Shifting about where she lay as though remaining still was more than she could bear. Fixing him with a heated glower, Kagome snapped, "I'd appreciate it in the future if you would just say what you mean instead of a bunch of double talk with hidden meanings."

"What?" Sesshoumaru felt truly puzzled by her statement. Not understanding what he had said earlier that would make her accuse him thusly. "I do not know what you are referring to."

Growling deep in her throat, Kagome shot up in bed. Uncaring of her nudity as she sat up to face her reclining mate.

Pointing a finger that shook at him as she whispered harshly, "Don't you dare act as though you have no damn idea what I'm talking about."

It took a second for the shock to wear off of seeing her naked body. His own immediately coming to attention as he hungrily took in the sight of her bare breasts and creamy shoulders. The severity of his sudden craving to pull her down on top of him and kiss her senseless being shoved away so he could think.

Mirroring her position, he gestured with his hand between them. "I am not acting, Kagome. I honestly am at a loss as to what you are referencing."

Tears burgeoned in her blue-grey eyes. Look turning wounded a second before she schooled her features back into hard lines. Blinking away the moisture that had gathered, preventing it from falling.

"You lied to me." The depth of pain behind her softly spoken sentence was a dagger to his heart. A hint of betrayal lacing about the sorrow in the eyes that locked with his. Kagome clenching her hand into a fist where it lay on the bedspread between them. "You promised me that day in the hot spring that you would not withhold yourself from me. That you would not hold my humanity against me in our relationship. But you lied. You sat right there with me in your arms and you deep inside my body and you lied!"

Eyebrows raising to his bangs, his ears rang a bit when she yelled the last part at him. Her body trembling with the force of her emotions as she faced him down. Her glorious hair trailing over her nude torso so that she resembled a bare breasted pagan goddess bent on slaying the creature before her.

The way her accusations were arrowing into his chest, Sesshoumaru wasn't so sure his description of her wasn't correct.

Reaching out to cup her face, Sesshoumaru was stunned when she slapped his hand away. Lips parting as that brief contact had stolen his breath with how great the heartbreak she felt went for what he had done.

Swallowing audibly, he raised his hand towards her again pleading, "Kireina, I am sorry. You do not understand."

At first he thought she was going to deny him again. Her eyes training on his proffered hand as though it were a poisonous snake set to bite her with its fangs and inject its deadly venom.

His relief when she exhaled harshly and slid stiff fingers into his palm was enough to choke him with emotion. The harmonization of their auras spiraling as it attempted to even them out but was unable to get a proper foothold since they were both in turmoil.

Grasping her hand tightly, he pulled her towards him. Tugging a couple of times when she resisted at first. Kagome giving him a threatening look from stormy eyes as she got on her knees to go over to her mate. Refusing to let him embrace her but letting the inu youkai keep in contact with her as she settled back on her heels.

Sesshoumaru knew it was inappropriate to be enamored of the sight of Kagome kneeling beside him naked, but he couldn't help it. His eyes couldn't focus on any one spot on her body. Roving over the valleys and planes, the slopes and mounds he knew so well and missed terribly.

Yes, he had royally fucked up when he had made the decision to not touch her all those days ago.

When she snapped her fingers in his face, he reared back in surprise. Her expression sardonic as she smiled grimly. "My eyes are up here, Sesshoumaru. You weren't interested, remember? For a guy who doesn't care to make love to his woman you can't seem to focus on my face."

Grinding his teeth, he bit out, "I have never said I do not desire you! It is not fair to claim otherwise."

"Well you have a damn funny way of showing it! How many nights have I fallen asleep hoping you would wake me up when you got back? That you wouldn't just give me a quick kiss on the forehead, cheek, or lips then hold me and fall asleep? That maybe, just maybe, my mate would come to our bed and show me how much he wants me. Reassuring me that I'm not the only one who finds it hard being apart all day so that we hardly see one another." Grabbing his chin in a hard grip, she put her face next to his, eyes blazing with fury, and growled out, "So don't you even think to give me that smoldering look now! Not when you humiliated me in that office hours ago."

Tears had brimmed in her eyes again at the end. Her sorrow, anger, and embarrassment crashing into him until he nearly drowned beneath the weight of it.

Releasing her hand, he cradled her face. Brushing away a stray tear that overflowed to slide down her cheek.

"I am sorry, Itoshi anata. It was not my intention to make you feel shame or to harm you in any way." Sighing, Sesshoumaru was thankful she didn't resist him this time when he urged her towards him.

The cool temperature of her skin made the Taiyoukai frown with concern as Kagome let him situate her in his lap. Drawing the blanket up to her shoulders once she was straddling his hips to face him. His knees coming up so she could rest against them as he pulled the ends of the blanket closed over her nudity before brushing another tear from her wan features.

"You are right. I have done both of us a disservice by my actions. You have given me nothing, but honesty and I have answered it with subterfuge. Fooling myself into believing it was what was best for you." Sesshoumaru leaned forward to place his forehead to hers. Staring deeply into her blue-grey eyes, becoming lost in their oceanic depths. "The truth is, I was scared. Of myself and my lack of control where you are concerned."

"But, I have told you already more than once, Sesshoumaru. I want all of you. No matter in what context, I want the person I am bound to for life to see me as an equal." Gnawing at her lower lip, Kagome continued in a quavering voice, "I hate that the fact that me being a human makes it so there is this division between us. I wish there were something I could do that would change what I am, but I can't."

Wrapping his hand around her nape, he separated from her to say with a fierce scowl, "Don't ever desire to be anything or anyone but who you truly are, Kagome. The woman I love is warm, kind, generous, loyal, intelligent, and fearless. It matters not the blood that flows in your veins. That is a realization I am just now reconciling with as we speak."

Sniffling, she brushed his bangs away from his brow in a familiar caress. The grin blooming on her lips containing sadness when he pushed into her palm and rubbed his head against her fingers in a searching motion.

"Sesshoumaru, I love you so much." Grimacing, she took her hand from him to clutch at the blanket covering her chest. "Do you know how it made me feel for you to turn away from me? Not just because I really wanted to make love with you, but because I knew right then the suspicions I've had all week were right."

Cursing with a snarl, he grabbed one of her hands and pressed it against the erection straining the silk fabric of his pants.

"Woman, does that feel as though I have no interest in claiming your body?" Letting go of her, he settled back against the headboard. Letting the coldness of the wood shock his system enough so he wasn't entirely focused on how her hand remained where he had placed it. "Kami, if anything I want you too damn much!"

"I—" she didn't get a chance to finish speaking as he charged on.

His voice low with an inhuman growl woven throughout. His eyes ringing red with the force of his emotions.

"I want you so bad that I find it hard to function throughout the day. You invade my thoughts every few seconds, and not just with visions of us locked in coital bliss. I wonder what you are doing. What things you are finding to occupy your time. If you are happy or in need of anything." Shaking his head with a hard bark of laughter that held no amusement, he went on to say, "You think that when you came to see me earlier I did not want to strip you naked right there? That it did not cross my mind to send Kiro away and spend the next three hours pleasuring my mate until she could no longer walk?"

Kagome blushed. Eyes wide and lips parted as she listened to what he was telling her. Naked emotion blanketing his features for the first time since she had known him making the miko sit there, frozen.

"I can hardly form a coherent thought right this second because all that is filtering through my muddled brain is how right now you are naked with but a blanket to cover you. That your hand is in my lap, your legs are straddling mine, and it would be so easy to tackle you to the bed and bury myself inside you." Sesshoumaru knew he was shocking his shy mate with what he was saying, but he was also aware that she was actively listening to what he said instead of brushing it aside. "My control is held in place by a rotted rope where you are concerned, Kagome. And it scares me to death that if I am unable to contain it the ferocity of my youkai desires may hurt you again."

Grasping her chin as she had done to him earlier, he couldn't keep himself from leaning forward to nuzzle her cheek. Desperate for the physical contact. Rubbing his forehead against hers as he focused on absorbing the feel and scent of her. Breathing raggedly, he clenched his eyes shut and forced himself to calm. For the beast pacing within him to stop snarling and straining to claim his mate.

The tender warmth of her compassion filtered through their links as she cradled the sides of his face. Nuzzling him back softer than he had her. Placing a line of butterfly kisses along his cheek and over his nose. The soothing ministrations bringing temperance to his instincts with more efficiency than any of his methods had.

"Shhh, it's okay." Rubbing her cheek against his firmly, Kagome ran caressive fingers through his hair in long strokes. "It's okay, Sesshoumaru. I've got you. I'm right here."

Shuddering, muttering an oaf, Sesshoumaru's arm shot into the blanket to wrap about her bare waist and yank her into him. Burying his face in the shoulder that held the scars of the wolf on the opposite side of her mate mark. Inhaling and exhaling rapidly as he fought within himself as her gentle hands combed through his hair.

All but drowning under the torrential downpour of his instincts roaring through him. Eating away at cognitive thought. Chipping at the eroded fibers of the tether placed on the beast pacing near the surface that screamed at him to prove to his mate that his interest was only for her. That no other female in the world could garner his notice, turn his head, or tantalize him as Kagome did.

That she was irrevocably his! Erasing all doubt from her mind that he wanted her to the point where he could nearly taste it.

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Kagome cradled her struggling mate to her. Holding the back of his head while running her other hand though his hair. Laying her cheek against his skull as she felt the savagery of his nature tearing at him from the inside out through the mystical tether that bound them.

Their mating bond acting unpredictable and aggressive. Rough and untamed.

Kissing the place where her cheek had rested, she bent her head to whisper in his ear, "I didn't realize that this is what was happening to you. That you're fighting yourself so hard that it's tearing you apart."

His arm tightened and his clawed fingers dug deeply into the muscles of her spine in response. Not enough to prick her skin, but close.

She couldn't hold her anger when faced with the amount of inner turmoil he had placed himself in. All because of a random gallantry that she did not want, and he did not need.

Yes, she loved that he was protective. That he considered her needs before his own.

However, that did not mean Kagome wished their relationship to cause this kind of internal strife for her inu youkai. She wanted him to feel safe and secure enough that he could love her as freely as she did him.

Apparently she had misread him as he had her.

"My poor Taiyoukai." Cuddling him to her, Kagome rocked his taught frame gently. Offering him succor as she listened to the ragged pull of his lungs. "Honey, you can't keep fighting yourself like this."

"I do not have a choice." His voice was guttural. More canine growl than human words as he spoke into her shoulder. "I will not risk potentially harming you any more than I already have."

Grimacing, she stopped rocking to grab the sides of his face and pull him away from her. Having to use a considerable amount of force since her mate resisted being moved. Tilting his face up to hers, she felt compassion for Sesshoumaru soften her displeasure. The tortured expression on his face tugging on her heartstrings painfully.

Brushing her thumbs under his scrunched up eyes, she said, "Sesshoumaru, look at me?"

It took a moment, but his lids finally lifted minutely. The reddish amber of his eyes fiery in the darkness. Nearly hypnotizing Kagome with the raw beauty of the cat-like pupil that was outlined in robin's egg blue. The first time she had seen how he must of looked when he had taken her in the hot spring days ago.

Catching his wild gaze with her own, Kagome didn't even flinch when a snarl lifted the corner of his mouth displaying a large deadly fang in the moonlight.

"Please, Sesshoumaru, please don't hide from me." Tracing her fingertips along his temple slowly, Kagome kissed his marked brow in a fleeting caress. "I think you're beautiful. All of you. Crimson eyes, deadly fangs, overly protective instincts and all."

A low whimper left his twisted lips as his eyes flared open all the way. The red intermingling with the amber in his irises like a living sunset.

"Kagome…" He said her name and nothing else as he stared up at her with a kind of anguished hopefulness that tore at her heart.

"Yes. All of who you are." Smirking, she added playfully, "Including that snarling beast inside you who is currently deciding whether he wants to take a bite out of me or not along our mating bond."

"You can sense that?" It was clear that Sesshoumaru was shocked and in tad in awe that Kagome was able to do so.

Tilting her head to the side with a confused grin, she shrugged. "Well, yeah. Ever since I first encountered our mating bond I've always felt that there was almost a sentience to it. Of fangs and fur watching me with glowing eyes."

Frowning, he shook his head while looking at his mate in wonder. "I have never heard of such a thing. Not amongst youkai couples or mixed."

"Unless you go around asking people in relationships how they feel about and see one another, I doubt you would have heard about it." Eyeing him with amusement, she absently brushed her hair over a shoulder. Placing a hand over his racing heart after. Sitting back down on his lap instead of balancing herself on her knees like she had been while consoling him. "The bottom line is it doesn't scare me. I love everything about who my mate is. Not what he thinks I want him to be."

Groaning, Sesshoumaru buried his hand in her hair as he kissed her deeply. An untamed quality to the way he ravaged her mouth that made excitement and sexual desire flame to life inside her body.

Grabbing onto his shoulders, Kagome moaned deep in her throat while moving against him restlessly. Taught nipples brushing the hard planes of his chest. The hard length of him pushing into the apex of her thighs in a delicious friction that had moisture gathering there.

Tearing her mouth from his, she placed a hand over his lips when he went to immediately dive back down to kiss her. Staring earnestly into his feral eyes as his displeased growl flit over her fingers when he gave a small snarl.

"Don't keep kissing me unless you plan on making love to me." Clasping the sides of his face, Kagome nuzzled him in gentle entreaty. His fingers relaxing so that they were no longer pulling at her hair. The twist of his lips softening and his luminous eyes calming. "Make love to me, Sesshoumaru. Lay me down on this bed and take my body. Then give me your heart. Completely, this time."

Swallowing audibly at her requests, Sesshoumaru's hand held a fine tremor when he cupped her cheek. His skin flushed and feverish when he put his forehead to hers. Uncertainty mixed with desire undulating in the amber-red of his irises.

"I am afraid I may not be able to keep myself in check, kireina." Tracing the line of her eyebrow with a finger that held a longer sharper claw than normal, he swallowed with difficulty again. "You must help me." Kissing her deeply he whispered into her mouth, "Itoshi anata, help me gentle myself enough to make love to you."

Heart melting at his words, she kissed him slowly with long strokes of her tongue delving into the moist caverns of his mouth. Careful not to accidentally nick herself on the sharp points of his enlarged fangs. Keeping her touch smooth and firm as she ran her palms over his taught shoulders.

Kagome broke the caress, panting slightly as arousal spiraled through her body to settle between her thighs. A brutal ache of longing to have him fill her body almost painful in its intensity.

"My darling Sesshoumaru. I trust you to bring me nothing but pleasure. Now, make love to me."

She barely had time to finish the last word before the world spun and she found herself suddenly on her back. Sesshoumaru's body brushed over hers as he settled between her legs. His mouth nipping the side of her neck as his hand fisted in her hair again.

Arching into him, Kagome cried out sharply when he abruptly latched onto her breast. Sucking her nipple into his mouth to bite down hard enough that it was almost painful. Digging her heels into the mattress, she writhed into him while her hands dove into the heavy mass of his silver hair.

Laving her breast he traced a line over her sternum to its twin. Copying the action of what he had just done. Arousal turning the blood in her veins molten as she became consumed by the pleasure he was drawing forth from her body.

Wrapping her leg over his hip, Kagome pushed up into him. The way he rocked his pelvis against the cradle of her thighs making her fling her head back in ecstasy.

Tugging at him, she immediately locked her lips with his when he raised his head. The hand in her hair moving her into the exact position he needed to taste of her. The rhythm of his tongue mimicking the push of his hips driving her mindless with need.

Whimpering, she opened her eyes to find herself looking into the eerie crimson irises of her mate. The way his pupil was nearly lost to the blue reminding her that she had promised him she would not let him lose control. Kagome took that trust he had given her seriously and would not betray it knowingly.

Forcing her body to calm down, she began to change the intensity of their kiss. Sesshoumaru taking a few moments to follow her lead so that no longer did it feel as though he was devouring her from the mouth down. Instead, they took long sips of one another. Kagome nuzzling him affectionately as she ran her foot up and down the back of his leg slowly.

Soothing her mate so that the blue receded back into just an outline. Releasing a shaky breath, he rested his forehead against hers. His hair draping around them in an intimate curtain.

"You're so handsome." Giving him a smile filled with love, she traced the stripes on his cheek. The arch of his brow. The line of his lips. Glancing at him beneath her lashes, Kagome added with a mischievous grin, "I love your eyes, by the way. That new crimson thing definitely does something for me."

She was pleased to see her teasing comment had the effect of making him chuckle. The sharp points of his fangs discernable even in the darkness.

"My strange mate." Wonder was in his gaze as he shook his head. Brushing her temple with his knuckles. "Only you would not run screaming when faced with an aroused youkai with red eyes looming over you."

"Hey!" Giving him a look down her nose as she blushed, Kagome waved a hand airily before placing it back on his bicep. "I'll have you know that the only screaming I mean to do where you're concerned is when you drive me crazy when you're inside me."

His laughter echoed around them and made her heart soar. Happy that she was able to elicit such a response from Sesshoumaru when he had been in torment moments before.

"Ah, I forgot." Placing a kiss on the tip of her nose, he grinned. "My mate, so outspoken and brazen whenever she is in the cover of darkness. So brave she is."

"That's right! Your brave mate who is very glad that you finally realized she wants you for you," Kagome gently reprimanded. Kissing him on the chin before settling back on the bed. Arching an ebony eyebrow she tightened the leg around his hip and purposely undulated slowly. Exalting in the way it made his teeth clench as he hissed out a breath. "And your brave mate is anxious for you to get naked with her."

"Temptress," he choked out as she kept repeating the movement.

Watching the way the red bled back into his irises in fascination. Seeing the black of his cat-like pupils begin to get eaten up by the robin's egg blue. Sweat broke out over both of them as the temperature of his body skyrocketed. The skin beneath her hands hot enough that it made her feel as though she had caught a fever herself.

"Take these off," she whined as she reached down to tug plaintively at the waistband of his silken pants. Pouting up at him as she rotated her bottom half into his. "I want to feel you, not a piece of cloth rubbing against me."

Groaning, he rolled away from her long enough to shed the garment before retaking his place on top of her. Kagome eagerly wrapping her arms and legs around him as his weight settled into her.

Sighing happily, she hugged him to her tightly. Kissing a trail over his shoulder and along his collarbone as she spoke. "Finally! I've missed feeling your naked body against mine, you stubborn dog demon. Shame on you, for making your mate sexually frustrated for over a week!"

Smirking, Sesshoumaru rubbed the hard length of himself against the moist cleft of her body. "Consider me duly chastened, kireina. I will be more diligent in seeing to your needs in the future."

Gasping, it took her a second to be able to form a coherent thought and even longer to choke out unevenly, "See that you do."

She forgot everything else when he began trailing a path down her body. Her head falling back as she arched into his mouth when he suckled her breasts again. Breathing choppy and her mouth turning dry. Eyes sliding closed when she felt the erotic trace of his tongue dip into her navel. The sensual kiss he placed on her inner thigh.

He didn't even tease her like he usually did. One second she felt his lips on the inside of her leg and next his mouth had latched onto the most secret part of her. His tongue diving between her slick folds to curl deep inside her. Kagome giving a strangled moan of pleasure as her body bowed off the mattress. Her hands fisting into the silken sheets beneath her as she rode the pleasure of his mouth exploring her.

Just as with her nipples, the pressure Sesshoumaru used to suckle at the hard nub of her desire was a hairsbreadth from being painful. Those large sharp canines of his scraping her sensitive flesh lightly without harming her. The sound he made when she reached down between her legs to fist a hand in his hair making her spread them wider. Offering herself to him.

His elongated claws curved to travel down her body in the caricature of a deadly caress. Lightly brushing over her breast down to the outside of her thigh. Holding her in place when she would have moved against him again. The flick of his tongue increasing. Kagome's moans of pleasure growing louder as she felt herself build to a climax.

When she was at the precipice, he reached up suddenly to pinch her nipple tightly. The erotic interplay of pleasure spiced with just a hint of pain making her orgasm.

Sitting up, she buried her hands in his hair as her head fell back while she gave a long keening cry. Panting harshly afterwards as Kagome fell back onto the bed heavily. Whimpering when he gave her another long stroke of his tongue before moving to nip and lave his way back to her mouth.

Breathing ragged, she placed one hand along the side of his neck and the other on his cheek. Accepting the deep kiss he gave her. Uncaring that she could taste or smell herself on him. Her body overly sensitized and ceaseless in its movements against his.

His voice was an erotic whisper that made her lower abdomen clench when he said, "I love the way you smell and taste. I could feast on your forever, kireina."

Mewling, Kagome nuzzled his chin as she silently pleaded. The ache inside her making her feel swollen and empty at the same time. Her muscles tightening so much that it was becoming painful.

"Please, Sesshoumaru." Kissing him at the corner of his mouth, Kagome ran her nails down his front. His eyes flaring red as he ground his teeth when she found his nipple. "I need you inside me."

His own breathing becoming harsh, he captured her hand to lace her fingers with his. Placing them beside her head as he leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose. Each of her cheeks. The point of her chin.

"Itoshi anata." He captured her eyes with his own. Gaze turning untamed as he slowly began to push into her body. Clenching his jaw, a small snarl painted his lips as he at last buried himself to the hilt. His voice was the guttural growl of before as he gave her a pleading look. "I do not know if I am going to be able to do this, Kagome. You feel too good wrapped around me."

Undone by his words, Kagome reigned in her own ardor so she could soothe her mate. Kissing him over and over as she held very still. Allowing him time to acclimate so that he didn't lose himself to his instincts like he was terrified to do.

Rubbing his shoulders with a soothing hand, squeezing the one that was laced with her other, she spoke to him softly. The uneven inhale and exhale of his lungs slowing as he took in her words.

"Do you know what I love most about you?" Knowing he was listening even if he didn't say anything, Kagome added with a grin, "I love how loving you are. How you don't mind public displays of affection with me or seem embarrassed by the way I want to touch you all the time no matter who is around."

"I find that I actively attempt to create excuses just to put my hands on you as well, kireina." Swallowing thickly, he kissed her cheek. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Inside and out."

Giving him a radiant smile, Kagome blinked back tears of emotion. "Well then we must make quite the dashing pair when people see us in public."

Chuckling, his breathing fairly normal, he nipped his way along the side of her throat. Kagome tilting her head obligingly to give him better access when he scraped his enlarged fangs over her pulse.

Shivering in delight, Kagome moved her hips in a tiny rocking motion. Experimenting with how well he handled it as she froze right after to gage his reaction.

Placing his forehead against her shoulder, he squeezed her fingers tightly. "You drive me crazy when you do that with your hips."

Pasting an innocent expression on her face, Kagome asked while repeating the motion, "What? This?"

A growl was his answer. The sharp nip of his fangs meeting her collarbone making her jump and then laugh.

Turning her head, she nipped the top of his pointed ear. Moving her hips deliberately as she said, "I can't imagine what you mean, Sesshoumaru."

Muttering a savage curse, he grasped the side of her neck between his lips and sucked hard as he thrust into her. Kagome's head falling back when he did it again. Digging her heels into the bed she met his next thrust as she tilted her hips in a circular motion.

Sesshoumaru reared back so she could see his face. His eyes closed and a frown on his forehead. The twist of his lips highlighting the canines in his mouth as he pulled almost completely out of her before entering her swiftly.

Dazzled by the new sensations it was invoking, Kagome grabbed onto his shoulder with her free hand. Her other one still held captive in his firm grip. The fingers wrapped about her own rigid.

When she lifted her head to firmly bite the place where his neck met his shoulder a feral sound left his throat. Sesshoumaru moved to nuzzle the mate mark. Licking it hotly before drawing it into his mouth as he began to thrust into her rapidly. The strength behind the movements of his hips causing her whole body to move every time their bodies met.

Breathless at the pace he was setting and the pleasure she felt where his lips danced over the markings in her skin, Kagome wrapped her legs around him. Unable to keep up when his rhythm turned frantic. Her lower back protesting after a few minutes from the power in which he was entering her body. The inner muscles clasping him beginning to get sore to the point where it was overriding the pleasure.

Gritting her teeth, Kagome was unable to get him to release her hand when she tugged on it plaintively. So she reached down with the other and tugged on his hair a few times. Thankful when it had the desired effect of gaining his attention.

When his eyes met hers they were a dark red. None of the amber was present and his pupils had a thin sliver of black still left in the center of the blue. A growl leaving his curled lip as he voiced his displeasure at her interrupting him.

Tensing in a bid to alleviate some of her discomfort, Kagome grasped his chin firmly and brought his face close to hers.

Staring deeply into his wild eyes as she told him, "Sesshoumaru, you need to slow down just a little bit." Nuzzling his grimacing lips, Kagome pushed her own discomfort away as she attempted to ground her mate. Rubbing her cheek into his and then laying back down. Turning her head to kiss the back of the hand that held hers, she placed her cheek on it while gazing up at him. "Easy, honey. Easy. I'm getting a bit sore."

It took a moment but the force of his body entering hers began to ebb in ferocity. His strokes turning back to the measured rhythm that always drove her mindless with desire.

Seeing the amber returning to his eyes, Kagome smiled up at him softly. Trailing caressive fingers along the side of his face and through the waterfall of his hair surrounding them.

"There you are." Leading him down she gave him a slow kiss. Her muscles beginning to relax again instead of feeling as though they were fighting his. Kagome kissed each corner of his mouth and then his nose with a soft grin. "There's my handsome Taiyoukai. I knew you were in there somewhere."

Grimacing with regret, he stopped what he was doing to gaze down at her. His breathing still harsh and uneven. His brow sweaty when he placed it upon her own.

"I am sorry, Kagome." He squeezed her hand as he apologized.

Giving him a stern look, Kagome smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Well don't stop now!" She gave Sesshoumaru a playful leer as she pushed her hips into his. "Such a tease, my mate is. Always have to drive me insane with wanting you and then stopping. You're going to end up killing me one day, Sesshoumaru."

Instead of answering her, he kissed her deeply as he began moving once more.

This time she was better prepared to recognize the signs that his control was fraying. Kagome shifting her body as she began to figure out how to compensate for her inu youkai's passionate behavior in bed.

She didn't want to bridle him. To make it so he had to constantly think of how careful he had to be otherwise he would never be able to let go and enjoy their love making fully.

At least, she didn't think he would.

Kagome found out that if she shifted just so whenever he pressed forward it took care of the ache in her spine. The soreness inside her was a little more difficult to puzzle out. Not that Sesshoumaru was as 'enthusiastic' as he had been before. But it still was a bit uncomfortable each time he entered her.

She forgot all about any soreness, however, when he suckled on her mating mark softer than he had previously. This time when he latched onto it the pleasure she experienced overshadowed everything else. Including the ability to think.

No longer did she find the way he moved inside her even the slightest abrasive. The tempo of his hips quickening as they had last time except Kagome felt no pain of any sort. Only an erotic ecstasy that cancelled out any thought of monitoring her mate to make sure he wasn't in danger of losing himself to his instincts.

The growl he let loose against her skin was a sensual thrum that traveled from the mate mark between his lips to her wet core where he pounded into her. Kagome moaning in time to every thrust. Panting. Skin slick with sweat and sticking to his each time he moved within her.

When she felt the nip of his fangs against her mark, clarity cleared the fog of her desire for a second. Enough for her to cradle the back of his head and hold it against her. Pushing her shoulder into him with a groan. Knowing what he wanted to do and wanting to give that to him without any reservations.

Tilting her head down, she grabbed his earlobe between her teeth in a short nip.

Her body moving in time to his thrusts as she panted out breathlessly, "It's okay, Sesshoumaru. Bite me."

When he went to pull away from her, she tightened her hold on his skull. Preventing the inu youkai from retreating. Trailing the tip of her tongue over the delicate shell of his pointed ear and relishing the way it made him shudder against her.

Hoping to distract him so he would let go and be what he truly was, Kagome began talking to him in a sensual whisper.

"I love the way you feel inside me. How wonderful your mouth and tongue feel against my mark." Raking her nails through his hair in a motion she knew turned him on, Kagome was heartened by how he was no longer fighting to leave.

Instead going back to licking and suckling at the sensitive spot on her body that drove her wild.

Eyes sliding closed, Kagome was finding it harder to concentrate as her body began to wind up tightly. The familiar building in her lower abdomen towards climax had her placing her lips on his neck and shoulder. Licking and nipping anything she could get her mouth on as she pleaded with him. Knowing he was as close to fulfillment as her and determined that he would join her fully as he had done before in the hot spring.

"Please, baby. Please. Give yourself to me. Don't hold back, Sesshoumaru. I want you. All of you." Panting, she wasn't even certain what she was saying anymore. Driven by her own primal need as she teetered on the edge of orgasming. "I'm yours. I'll always be yours. Claim me, baby. Bite me."

A sharp cry left her throat when Sesshoumaru growled deeply as he bit down hard. Kagome reaching out to sink her own teeth into his shoulder as the initial pain from the punctures faded almost instantly. The deep draw of his mouth as his hips pumped in and out of her in frenzied speed had her experiencing the most powerful climax she had ever had.

Dark spots floated in her vision as her eyes flew open. Unable to prevent herself from biting down as hard as she could while running her nails deeply down his back. The hand holding hers on top of the bed gripping him as hard as she could.

The loud moan of her release was muffled by the flesh between her teeth. Muscles stiffening as the pulsating waves of pleasure consumed her. Sesshoumaru's last few thrusts intensifying every sensation so that she was only vaguely aware of the guttural sound tearing from his throat as he climaxed as well.

She lay panting beneath him. Trying valiantly to find her equilibrium. Failing miserably as she continued to quiver around him in tiny aftershocks of pleasure.

Instead of laying on top of her Sesshoumaru repositioned them. Kagome all but a boneless heap when he let go of her hand to slide his arm under her sweaty back. Kneeling as he pulled her up with him so that they were back to the position they had been in when this had all started.

His back against the headboard, her legs straddling his. Except this time he was firmly latched onto her mark. Had not let go or lessened the strength of his bite once. A stray low rumble from his chest vibrating through her every so often.

Exhausted, Kagome lightly stroke a hand through his hair. The one with the scars aching after being held in his tight grip for so long. Her intimate muscles had begun to ache when he had lifted her from the bed with them still connected. The soreness she'd forgotten in the heat of the moment returning full force. Making her grimace as she shifted in his lap.

An annoyed growl meeting her ears had Kagome biting back a tired grin.

Turning her head, she kissed his ear before nuzzling the part of his face she could see. Continuously finger combing his tangled silvery locks as she waited for him to calm down.

"Okay, okay. I understand, you grumpy dog demon." Another fleeting caress of her lips to his ear. Kagome laying her cheek against his skull with a yawn she didn't bother to cover as her eyes went half-mast. "I'm so proud of myself. I bit you too just like I said I was going to. Now everyone will know you're mine just like they know I'm yours."

Feeling particularly smug at the thought, she yawned again. Dozing with her head against his as her youkai kept the hold on her with his mouth. Startling awake when she finally felt his large fangs remove from her shoulder. Wincing a bit but otherwise offering no complaint.

This time when he began to remove the blood from the area it didn't give her one qualm.

Kagome was determined to accept her new mate no matter what the case. She knew that the overzealous way he had made love to her tonight wasn't how they typically enjoyed one another. That his lack of control had to do with any number of other things but was not tied specifically to one issue more blatantly than another.

But, if every once in a while their love making turned untamed and heated, then she could handle it without a problem.

Exhaling heavily and then yawning while shaking her head a little, Kagome hugged him to her. Grateful that she had managed to make Sesshoumaru finally let go and live in the heat of the moment without holding back.

"Thank you," she whispered before placing a kiss on his head.

When he moved back, she let him go. Leaning on his updrawn knees and ignoring the slight twinge in between her thighs. His eyes and fangs were back to normal. The claws on his hand as Sesshoumaru cradled her cheek their typical length once more.

"Itoshi anata, what are you thanking me for?" His features twisted in regret as he glanced down at her mating mark. "I was too rough with you again."

Poking him the chest with her nail, Kagome swayed a bit as she yawned widely. Moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes from the strength of it.

"Do I look like I'm upset?" She jabbed him twice more for good measure. Narrowing drowsy blue-grey eyes on him. "Don't even start with that again!"

Tilting his head, he frowned at her. His hand sliding down her throat and along the delicate line of her collarbone. Stopping to draw a circle with his fingertip around the area he had bitten.

"But I bit you. Again." The expression on his face spoke of how much that bothered him. His finger continuously tracing the perimeter of the mate mark. "And I know that you had to reign me in a few times while we were making love."

"Yare, yare. If I recall correctly I was asking you to bite me, Sesshoumaru." Placing a hand on her hip, Kagome shook a finger in his face, her nail almost getting him on the nose. "Now you listen here you damn stubborn Taiyoukai! I worked really hard to get you to toss away those reservations so I could get you naked and inside me. I'm not about to go through another whole week of your ignoring me while throwing yourself a pity party in that pretty head of yours."

"Pity party?" Arching a silver eyebrow, his lips twitched as Sesshoumaru tried not to grin. His eyes beginning to lose their self-recrimination to be replaced with tentative hope. "Woman, I do not throw pity parties!"

"Ha!" Kagome scoffed while folding her arms over her chest. "I don't know what else you would call it. Over there thinking up things and worrying over stuff that isn't even true. As I've said before. Being ancient is getting to you, you grumpy old dog demon."

She laughed when he pretended to bite at her with a growl. The scowl on his features fabricated and at odds with the warmth in his eyes.

"Foolish woman, this Sesshoumaru does not imagine things," he said disdainfully. Sounding like the inu youkai she had known years ago when they had first met.

"Yeah, well, I'm serious. As I have told you every time before, I enjoy having sex with my mate and happen to look forward to it. So don't go turning me down because of some misguided chivalry I have already addressed tonight." Spying the indent her teeth had left behind on his pale skin, Kagome preened where she sat while purring at him, "Arrogant Taiyoukai, I have marked you. Now everyone will know you are this Kagome's mate."

Walking her fingers over his chest, she laughed at the puzzled expression on his face. Taking a fingernail and drawing a circle around the bite mark she'd left, Kagome smiled proudly.

Looking down, she saw his eyebrows raise into his bangs in surprise. Tilting his head to study the mark on his skin before turning to give her a smirk.

"You do realize that it will fade and be gone within a day at the most."

Kagome pouted for a few seconds. Mulling over his words and then giving him a wicked smile.

"Well then I guess that means no more abstinence for us! Got to keep staking my claim where you're concerned otherwise who knows what demon hussy will come along and try to steal you away." She leaned over to kiss the bite mark she had given him. "Besides, I told you that I was going to bite you back, so you'd feel less guilty."

"That you did." He nodded in agreement.

He let his head fall back against the headboard as he placed his hand on the indent of her waist. His thumb stroking over the scar left from where the shikon had been torn from her body years ago.

Shivering from the chill in the air, Kagome gave him a flat stare and stated plainly, "I'm cold. And I'm tired."

He arched an eyebrow at her as she simply sat there and looked at him expectantly. "I assume that means you want me to do something about that?"

"That is the general idea." Nodding seriously, Kagome pointed at him. "This is the part where you tell me how much you love me and how you can't live without me. And that I'm always right and you're always wrong and from now on you'll always listen to me."

Rolling his eyes, he smirked at her. "How very opinionated my mate is. I do not know how I dare even dress myself or walk alone considering she is not there to make those decisions for me."

Her body covered in goosebumps, she grabbed onto his shoulders and gave him a glare as she began to raise up so he could slide free. "Yeah, well, since you aren't going to behave like a good mate, I guess I'll just have to take care of myself."

Giving her a look, he helped to move her off him as gently as possible. A grimace painting his lips when she hissed in pain before promptly diving to grab the blanket from the foot of the bed and pull it over them. Burrowing under his arm and into his side with a happy sigh as she stole some of his body heat.

With just her head sticking out of her warm cocoon, Kagome placed her hand over his heart and threw a leg over his own. Tilting her head back to look up at him, she poked the inu youkai in the side, making him grunt.

Grinning, completely unrepentant, she ordered, "Give me a kiss, you stubborn Taiyoukai! Your mate is in desperate need of one."

"Demanding," he muttered in amusement as he lowered his head with a grin.

Dutifully kissing his mate softly. Sesshoumaru running his claws through the damp hair by her temple as she yawned again and placed her cheek on his shoulder. Both of them content as they sat a few minutes in companionable silence before he broke it.

"I love you, you foolish woman. Only you would have such a generous heart with the infinite capacity to forgive your mate his transgressions and enfold the youkai nature of him close to you." Glancing down, his eyes pinned her with love and devotion shining from their amber irises. "You were right. I was wrong. I couldn't possibly live without you." Pausing a moment, he smirked and added dryly, "Though I do not think it is wise to say I will always listen to you when you so rarely offer me the same courtesy. By your own admission, I might add."

"Semantics." Waving her hand lazily, Kagome pulled his head down for a quick kiss. "I love you too, Sesshoumaru. No more putting a barrier between us. If something is bothering you or you are worried about something then talk to me. That's what couples do and the kind of relationship I aim to have with my mate. One with love, honesty, and communication."

"I can honestly say that when I give you my vow this time that it will be followed, Itoshi anata." Kissing her unmarked brow he cuddled her close. "If, for whatever reason, I begin to fall into old habits I am certain you will remind me I have erred."

"Damn right!" Kagome said enthusiastically with a happy smile.

Stroking her fingers back and forth near his clavicle, thoughts of her presentation ceremony resurfaced. The same anxieties and worries circling about in her mind so that it began to pull her from the sleepy contentment she had been in.

"What is bothering you, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru rested his cheek against his mate's head as he held her nude body to his own. "I can feel it along our bonds that something troubles you deeply."

"The presentation ceremony," she answered without hesitation. Sighing heavily as she drew abstract designs over his skin. "I don't think I'm going to feel any better about it until it's over."

"That is understandable." Kissing her temple, he squeezed her in reassurance. "Just remember that I will be at your side the entire evening. And do not think I will not hesitate to put an early end to the banquet if I feel as though it has become too much for you."

Grinning, she rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

Patting his chest a few times as she said, "My mate. So overly protective he is." Dropping a kiss on his chest, she snuggled into him. "Thank you for reassuring me. It was one of the main reasons I randomly decided to come see you this evening. Not only have I missed spending time with my Taiyoukai but being around you always calms me down and makes me feel better."

"Ah." She felt him nod against her head before he placed a kiss in her hair. His voice a pleasant low rumble in her ear when he said quietly, "I apologize again for causing you to leave so abruptly earlier. However, I am more than happy to give you the reassurance you desire so that it helps you find some serenity in regard to your ceremony in a few nights."

Groaning, Kagome shifted about so her back was against his side. Pulling his arm over her shoulder so she could play with his clawed fingers while staring off into the darkness of their room.

"It's so close, Sesshoumaru. I really hope I don't mess this up somehow." Pressing her finger pads into the tips of his claws one after the other, she grumbled, "I just know some of those damn nobles are going to be looking down on me or laughing behind my back because I'm human."

"Something they would not dare do whilst in the presence of myself or any of our guards or servants," he said fiercely while resting his chin on her shoulder to watch what she was doing to his hand. "I do not believe it will be the disaster you are prophesizing, kireina. No matter their personal opinion, the house of Taisho holds enough clout behind it to demand nothing but respect from even other Taiyoukai."

"I suppose….," Kagome trailed off doubtfully as she frowned. Flattening his hand so she could measure hers against it palm to palm.

Resting her head against his shoulder, she leaned her cheek to his as they observed her turning her wrist one way and then the other. The miko eying the difference in their skin tone and size with a calculating look.

"You know, I thought I was pale, but you're even whiter than I am." Smirking as she rubbed her face against his, Kagome tried to lighten the mood. Bolstering her flagging spirits as she held his comforting words close to her heart.

"Are you saying you do not find the shade of my skin appealing?" Sesshoumaru closed his hand to trip her fingers. Smirking when she grumbled and tried to pull free but was unable to. "Such a judgmental female you are. I suppose you will be criticizing my hair and markings next."

"Oh you know I think you're gorgeous!" Letting him lace his fingers with hers, Kagome relaxed into him. "The Great Lord Sesshoumaru, Ruler of the Western Lands, and his fragile ego. Who knew."

"Fragile ego indeed," he scoffed with mock indignation. Nipping her chin playfully in reproach before placing a kiss there. "It is a wonder I can manage to look in the mirror with the way you disparage me constantly, Kagome. Inconsiderate woman. Mitsue should have schooled you on the proper way to treat your mate. Especially at my old age."

Thankful that her Taiyoukai was trying to engage her in play to get her mind off the ceremony, Kagome jabbed him with an elbow. Snickering when she hit a rib and caused him to flinch with an 'oomph'.

"Don't worry, Sesshoumaru, darling, I promise to take care of you even when you lose all your teeth and forget where you're at." Waving their joined hands back and forth in front of her, Kagome turned to kiss his cheek consolingly. "But that better mean I get to inherit all your stuff when you die. I'm not changing your diapers and mushing up your food for nothing!"

"My, but the picture you paint of our future sounds divine." Laughing, he added, "Mercenary witch! Now I know why you pulled me from that well all those weeks ago. It was part of your master plan to take over my lands."

His chuckles had warmth twining about her heart. Toes curling into the silk of the sheets as she reveled in the fact that she was the only person in the world who could bring forth these types of reactions with the taciturn dog demon.

No one would believe her if she told them how Sesshoumaru actually had a sense of humor and enjoyed teasing his mate just to see her blush. They would all look at her as if she were the senile one and then promptly pack her off to deposit in some cave somewhere. Well rid of the crazy human mate who had found herself bound to their master.

"Damn, you're always figuring out all my nefarious plots." Sighing in mock resignation, she shrugged. "I guess there is nothing for it but to just wait and see how everything plays out. See if my evil machinations bear any fruit in the years to come."

Yawning, Kagome let their hands fall to her stomach. Clasping them tightly to her abdomen as she closed her eyes and wiggled a few times to get comfortable.

"In the meantime we should probably get some sleep." Kagome returned the kiss he pressed to her lips. An impish curve to her mouth as she looked up at him. "I want to make sure I get enough rest so that tomorrow night we can do this again!"

"Insatiable wanton woman," he growled with a grin of his own. Kissing her deeply before sliding down so he could spoon his body around hers. His tail moving to drape over her naked frame under the blanket. "Go to bed before I think of another use for that impudent mouth of yours."

"Promises, promises," she said around a yawn.

Letting her eyes close. Her breathing evening out as she listened to the sound of his lungs inhaling and exhaling. The steady brush of his chest against her back soothing her into slumber.

All of her fears, worries, and anxieties falling silent as Kagome let the peace of their bonds flow into her. Grasping them in a stranglehold to keep against her breast. Secure in the knowledge that she and her mate were bound closer now than ever before after tonight.

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