I do not own Inuyasha or its characters. A thanks to me editer and friend Azaleea for her wonderful skills...

Lime warning...

Silhouette...

He watched in silence as their bodies appeared in shadow, the thin walls of the inn doing little to hide their figures from his lecherous gaze. The candle light behind them touched their feminine figures in heated caresses flickering beneath some unfelt wisp of movement. His precious Sango, and his best friend Kagome, who would both certainly rid him of the right to call himself male,if they were to find out about his presence, stood,bathed in candle light, and he found himself nearly helpless to look away.

His hand twitched in spasmodic rhythms that had his glance falling from the vision he'd been entertaining himself with. Silently he debated whether he should be out here at all, but found that he had been here long before their outlines highlighted the darkness of the night.

These women, these feminine creatures who fought at his side were the only respite he found when his mind ultimately wondered to the wind tunnel in his palm. It would claim him, eventually. Naraku had yet to be found, his aura having disappeared completely. They had had very few leads as to his whereabouts, but it was the ever growing worry that his wind tunnel would take him long before Naraku's defeat that had sent him into the depths of the darkness to begin with.

Feminine giggling brought him from his thoughts to again admire the figures that moved softly beneath his view. He wondered briefly what could have them so carefree, but pushed the thought aside . If they could find a moments peace in the world they lived in, then he'd be happy to share it with them-silent, and hidden in the shadows, but there just the same.

He wondered for a moment where Inuyasha had found himself this night as he had disappeared shortly after dinner, and had yet to return.

He jerked back to reality when Sango reached up pulling the slayers' uniform from her body, and silently he realized that they were in the bath house.

He watched as her body was released from its bindings, hardly noticing as Kagome too undressed herself and both stepped momentarily from his view.

A stirring in the underbrush behind him had him turning instantly his mind already aware that Inuyasha had found him.

"What are..."he growled before Kagome's form reappeared behind the thin wall in front of him. His treacherous eyes betrayed him as they settled longingly on her body and he watched in stunned silence her movements within the bath house.

Sango stood shortly after, her shadow dancing alongside Kagome's. He focused on Kagome, her body poised perfectly behind the wall. Thin frame, graceful, curvaceous hips, and the shadow of tantalizing breasts had his full attention as he felt the monk grabbing hold of him to tug his unmoving form closer to the ground.

"They'll see you."he murmured, his gaze once again worshipping Sango.

Long into the night they silently venerated the beauty that graced their vision, until eventually the ritual of long, heated baths subsided and both women disappeared with the flames of the candle light that had illuminated their loveliness. Neither man or hanyou said a word as they each made their way to the rooms they had been assigned. Miroku had requested separate rooms for them all.

Miroku made his way to his room, his mind losing itself within thoughts of his wind tunnel and all the things he stood to miss out on should he lose his ever shortening battle with time...and Naraku.

Would he ever be able to marry? Would he ever be able to grant his heart its desire to love freely, without the constant worry of leaving his bride a widow in the end? Would he ever feel the first movements of his child as it grew within the womb of his beloved, or hold its tiny body close to his heart on the day of its birth? And would he ever know the feeling of having innocent eyes staring into his trustingly, or know the sound of his child calling him ' Father'?

He slid into his room, his eyes missing the shadow of a woman sitting upon his bed. With a sigh he pulled his robe from his body. Laying his staff beside his bed he nearly jumped out of his skin when her soft voice whispered past his ears.

"Are you okay Miroku?"

"Sango?"he choked as he tried, in vain, to find his discarded robes. He could only thank the heavens that he had waited before removing his pants.

"Are you okay?"She murmured again not moving from her place atop his bed.

She knew deep in her heart that he was troubled. And she also knew he wouldn't speak with their friends about what was bothering him. He was too worried that his problems might compound their own. But didn't he realize that she knew...that she cared?

It had been these thoughts that had brought her here. She ignored the implications that could arise should she be found here at this hour, just as she disregarded the possibility of his taking her presence to be one of a lecherous nature. And of course there were his hands to consider, but all these things paled when she caught the look in his eyes. She saw worry etched upon his face, and she saw fear and a deep sadness.
She decided then and there that he wouldn't go through this alone. He wouldn't face his future alone. And he wouldn't go on thinking that he had to carry all this torment inside of him...alone.

"You shouldn't be here Sango. What will the others think?" he whispered sitting upon the bed, his back turned toward her. He rested his elbows upon his knees before allowing his face to fall within the shelter his hands provided.

He felt her shift behind him, but was shocked when her arms folded around his shoulders and her body slid up behind his. She was soft and warm. She was all the things he desired in a woman. And yet she was something that might forever remain out of his grasp. But he would be damned if he didn't admit to himself how very completely he loved her.

"You can't go on thinking that you have to do this alone. We are all here for you. I am here for you." she whispered.

"Ah, my dear Sango. I will be fine. It has just been a long journey. With a good nights rest all will be well again. Don't worr..." he was caught of guard when she shifted her weight backwards until her back lay resting against the wall, and he was cradled against her chest, his head resting softly upon the curve of her shoulder.

"Don't hide from me Miroku. Please. I am here. I am not going anywhere, and neither are you. We'll beat this thing. Together. But please...don't hide from me." she pleaded.

She tried to hide her face from his view but the moonlight betrayed her. A soft blush highlighted her beauty. Her hair fell unbound around her, and in his mind he compared her to his guardian angel-his saving grace as she held his broken soul within her arms and tried to shield him from his pain.

"If you won't hide from me." he whispered as his hand came up to cup her cheek.

" Will I ever get to call you my own? Will I ever know what it is like to create life with you beside me?" A tear fell from his eye then making its silent trail down his face and
her heart shattered.
"Will I ever hear a child call me 'Father' Sango?" he choked then, his words failing to form as she tucked him further into her embrace.

"I am already yours Miroku...can't you feel that? And one day I will bear you more than one child to call you ' Father ' We WILL be together Miroku. You can't doubt in that. You can't lose faith in that because to lose that faith means Naraku is winning. I WON'T let him have you Miroku. I WON'T!"

She reached to tip his head up, her eyes searching his. "I love you Miroku. With or without a ceremony I am already YOURS...heart and soul."

And with no further doubt she leaned forward, her lips brushing against his gently. Her fingers raised to wipe the tears from his face as their kiss became more frantic, more passionate. But with a steadying breath he eased away from her.

"I love you my dear Sango, more than this life itself." he whispered as he moved to lay them both upon his bed.

"Stay with me?"he murmured against her lips. " Not intimately, just stay with me. I just need to feel you beside me."

"Yes." came her soft reply. In that moment in time she wasn't concerned with what would come in the morning. Truth be told she didn't care. Kagome wouldn't judge her, and Inuyasha, well, he was Inuyasha. Most likely he'd ignore the situation all together anyway.

Curling into his chest she listened to his heartbeat. She listened till his breaths evened out and his body relaxed. And once certain he had found the rest he needed, she closed her eyes as well allowing his warmth and his heartbeat to lull her into heaven.

Xx

Kagome lay awake. She couldn't sleep. Her hanyou wasn't close enough and she didn't feel at peace as she did when he was near. He was in the next room, his shadow against the thin wall confirming it as she watched him pull his kimono and yukata from his body.

Standing slowly she made her way to his outline. Her finger reached to trace the shadow that danced seductively upon the thin paper of the room dividers. Distantly her mind warned her that he would hear her touch upon its surface but she didn't care.

Shippo had moved into Sango's room to sleep beside Kirara. And the thought of being without Inuyasha bothered her.

She traced his ears, failing to notice as they moved closer to the divider that kept her from touching his skin. She moved to place both hands upon his outline, her fingers grazing his shoulders , his arms. She moved her hand back to the top, the other falling helplessly beside her.
Spreading her fingers she placed her palm against the wall suppressing a gasp when she felt the sizzle of a clawed finger trace the side of her fingers, and the outside of her hand, before laying flat against her palm.

She heard the scrape of wood against the floor, felt as the paper wall moved beneath their hands until her skin met his and his clawed fingers curled around her own. Golden eyes met brown when he pushed the remaining wall from between them, and yet no words were needed. Somewhere deep down he had felt her loneliness, and his heart demanded he answer her call.

He heard her first, the hesitant caress of her fingers against the pathetic divider used for walls and he had followed the sounds to find her scent. He knew she was awake. He had planned on going to her room once she had gone to bed as he simply refused to be without her.

The others didn't need to know of their need for each other. And come morning light he would make his way back into the room he had been assigned, but right now, he needed her.

With a tug of his hand he pulled her close enjoying the feel of her free hand sliding up his chest to curl around his neck.

They'd been meeting in secret since she had told him she loved him during their fight with Kaguya, though he had yet to mark her as his own or to make love to her as he and she both so desperately wanted. Being a part of almost constant battles, and an ever present Shippo, interruptions had always managed to keep them from taking this to the next level, though both were happy with just needing each other.

"I missed you." she whispered against his neck, enjoying the shivers she could feel racing over his skin. "I thought the runt would never leave." he growled before bending to take her lips in a fierce kiss. Releasing her hand he bent to pick her up, nearly moaning in pleasure at the feel of her legs wrapping themselves securely around his waist.

"I can't sleep without you near me" she breathed as he fell to his knees before her bed before carefully laying her back upon it, his body covering hers in a heated caress.
"Good" he murmured as he nuzzled her neck, his mouth opening, his fangs grazing over the tender spot at the junction of her shoulder.

She hissed in pleasure, body arching, and he nearly buried his fangs into her at the feel of her body pressed so tightly against his own. Closing his eyes he rested is forehead upon her collarbone. "I want to mark you so badly Kagome. I want to make you my own, in every sense of the word." he growled.
" I don't think I can wait much longer Inuyasha. I don't want to wait anymore. I want to be yours."she said softly.

But they had both decided that until Naraku was defeated it was best if no one knew of their feelings. He couldn't mark her because her scent would blend with his alerting other demons that she was mated to him. And they couldn't risk telling the others of their relationship for fear that it would be used against them as leverage by the enemy. But this was fast becoming torture: to have her legs wrapped around him as they traveled; to sleep so near each other and yet not be able to touch until they were certain no one as around to see them...

This had to be enough. At least for awhile longer.

"You are MINE." he growled as he took her lips in another kiss. He pulled away from her slowly knowing that if they touched much more they'd risk losing control all together. Moving to lay beside her he pulled her close, his arms wrapping around her lovingly until nearly every part of their bodies touched.

"I am yours Inuyasha. Only yours." she whispered.
They lay together in silence, each struggling with their desire to touch and love the other.

"I love you Kagome."he whispered into the night.
"I love you more."she whispered back before each finally found peace from their hearts in sleep.
At least until morning.
Then they'd have to return to their usual bickering. But one day-one day they'd be together. It was just a matter of time.

And until then they would have the memory of their silhouettes to hold when they couldn't hold each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I hope you all like this...I am considering adding to this, and to some of my other more popylar one-shots. If you all want to be notified in case I do decide to continue, please don't hesitate to put it on alert as I can't say exactly when i will be updating...Only that I am considering adding to this and some of the other one-shots I have posted. If any of the others are some you would like to see more of, please put them on alert as well, just in case it ends up being one that I update...But please be patient with me...I have tons going right now, and I will update only the oneshots I have a continuing idea for. I can't promise they will become more than just a twoshot, but with me I guess you can never know for sure..It just depends on the rambling in my head and which story and direction it takes me in...Neisha