I do not own InuYasha or any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

Second Night

They were alone again for the second night of their new life. Somehow, the enormity of what it meant suddenly hit InuYasha.

He watched Kagome walk across the room, her black hair highlighted by the dim lamplight. The reality of her being here, of her returning to be with him was something he was still wrestling with, but that filled him with wonder and amazement. Watching her stirred him, but the part of him that had been lonely so long and expected to stay that way tried hard to dampen the truth of what he was watching. The quiet hung heavy on him. The only sounds he heard were the padding of her feet, the swish of the fabric of her clothes, the beating of his heart, but he could not yet break the silence.

Not looking at him, she unfastened the clothes that Sango had given her, first the blue and white wrap skirt with its bold print. Folding it, she placed it on the chest. As she unfastened the obi of her beige kosode, InuYasha stood up, his right ear twitching nervously, feeling uncertain and empowered at the same time and took his sword out of his belt. Rolling her shoulders first, Kagome slipped out of the dress. He padded up silently behind her, laid his sword down next to the chest, and then wrapped his arms around her.

The touch of her warm in his arms pushed him over some threshold. "Life is never going to be the same, is it?" he said, brushing her hair to one side, exposing her neck. Wrapped in her scent, he closed his eyes, letting his mouth graze her skin there, planting small kisses. Something in him surged, drowning out the apprehension.

She relaxed into his hold, tilting her neck to the side to give him better access. "No. Never." His hands slid over the soft fabric of her under kosode. She trembled lightly as he cupped her breasts through the thin cloth. "You think you can deal with it?" Her voice was low and sultry.

He pulled the neckline of her kosode open some to give his lips better access to the base of her throat, then slipped a hand beneath the white cloth. She gasped lightly as he ran the pad of his thumb across her nipple, as his hand wrapped around the soft, warm mound. "Suppose I can get used to it," he said. His breath teased as his tongue traced the outline of her ear. "Some parts of it are very good."

"You haven't eaten my cooking yet," she said, managing to pull away enough to turn around and face him. Her eyes were dark and heavy lidded, inviting.

His arms surrounded her, pulling her close. "Don't care," he said. "We'll eat Sango's cooking until you learn."

InuYasha's mouth found hers, hungry. Cupping the back of her head, he deepened this kiss, his tongue dancing with hers until her knees grew weak. She broke for air, and pulled back to move her hands to his chest, even as he whined a little at the separation. Smiling, she unfastened the ties to his suikan.

"Time to get undressed," she said.

Not taking his eyes off of her, he stepped back one step and hurriedly removed his suikan and kosode and dropped then on the chest. Smiling at him, she knelt down by the edge of the futon, and unfastened the obi to her under kosode, then slid it slowly over her shoulders, revealing creamy skin and soft curves.

"Woman," he groaned. He struggled with the knot to his hakama as he watched her fold her undergarment in the dim light. Her pale skin contrasted with the blackness of her hair cascading down her back. As she turned back to face him, he focused on one lock of hair that strayed curling across her shoulder, accentuating the line of her throat, coming to rest at the top of one of her breasts. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was trace that piece of hair with his finger, with his tongue. He watched it, unmoving, mesmerized.

She broke his chain of thought by moving to fold the covering back and sliding under it. Taking a deep breath, he finished undressing and slid into bed next to her. "Kagome," he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her, half leaning over her.

"Think you could get used to this?" she asked. Her arms circled his neck, losing themselves in the silver of his hair, pulling him nearer.

"Kami, yes," he said. His mouth found hers, demanding and needy, and she opened her lips to him in ready surrender. "And never get enough."

"Good," she said. And reaching up and over, she put out the lamp.