** chapter revised 4/16/2010 **

Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

A/N: I believe in giving credit where credit is due. Therefore, without further ado, my inspiration for this was from a video on YouTube called "Only One (Sesshoumaru x Kagome AMV)" by asurotenkatchi. This in almost no way follows the video story line, though.

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MY ONLY

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~ Chapter One ~

THE scent caught him unawares and caused him to stop immediately. Sesshoumaru sniffed the air again, sure that something had to be amiss, but no. It was there. His nose did not lie.

Straying from his intended destination, Sesshoumaru followed the trail of the odor and came to the clearing housing the well he knew that others of his…association…frequented. Their smell, that of his half-breed brother and the miko who traveled with him, was everywhere. Then, as if he'd summoned her presence, he felt a rush of ancient power and observed as two slender hands came out of the well. An instant later, his brother's miko was sitting on the well's edge.

Sesshoumaru stepped back into the tree line, out of her line of sight, and tasted of the air again. His senses had led him in this direction and only the miko was to be found here. Therefore, he concluded, the scent had to be coming from her, but why?

She had swung her legs over the side of the well and was standing. Sesshoumaru watched as she picked up the strange yellow sack she always carried with her and brushed leaves off of her foreign clothing. He thought back on the other times he'd been in her presence. This scent had not been there then. He would have known instantly. He would never have missed such a detail.

Growling to himself, he saw her tense. Had she heard him? No. Her eyes were darting around the clearing in a searching manner. If she had heard him, she would have turned to face him. Her miko abilities must have alerted her to the fact that all was not well around her. He could smell the rising fear in her. Her pulse was racing and her heartbeat sounded like a drum to his fey ears.

Able to resist no longer, Sesshoumaru stepped out of the tree line and she spun to face him, taking an involuntary step backwards. The smell of her fear spiked and he understood to reaction too well. Before he might have savored this reaction as she was nothing but a pathetic human, a means of getting his half-breed younger brother, but now something was different. Her wide frightened eyes annoyed him.

Taking a step forward, he breathed in deeply. The smell was near to intoxicating. "Explain," he demanded.

The human girl's eyes widened even more, if possible. She looked around her, wanting escape. Sesshoumaru could read her every thought. They were clearly visible in every movement she made. Her hands were shaking, but she'd clenched them into fists at her side. "Explain," he demanded again, his tone harsh. He did not repeat himself.

"Sess...Sesshoumaru," she stuttered, her fright near to robbing her of voice. "What do you want?"

He growled low, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. Had he not made himself perfectly clear? Moving with youkai speed, he slid forward until he was less than a step away from her. From this distance the odor was near to overpowering and he could feel himself reacting physically to it. Growling again, he grabbed hold of his instincts with an iron grip and focused instead on the human girl in front of him. She tried to move away from him, but the well was behind her. There was nowhere for her to go.

His hand shot out and wrapped around her slender wrist. If he wanted to, he could snap her fragile bones to nothing. She knew this. The smell of her fear nearly overpowered the other. Why did this bother him? He was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. She was human, beneath him, but yet there was the fragrance he'd never thought to ever smell. "Girl," he bit out, his voice low and even but obviously tinged with anger and something more. His control was slipping and that was a dangerous thing. "This Sesshoumaru is becoming irritated."

She gasped, the motion bringing notice to her throat. It was slender, soft, and vulnerable. How many times in the past had he tried to rip into that flesh? How many times had she somehow evaded him either by luck or because of the damn half breed? "I don't understand what you are talking about," she replied at last, her voice strengthening.

His hand squeezed her wrist tightly. Sesshoumaru could tell that it hurt her, her large blue eyes winced and a whimper slipped through her lips, but he did not care. He would have his answer.

Keeping her in place by the pressure he kept on her wrist, he leaned forward until his face was only inches from hers. He closed his eyes and let himself merge through his senses with that of the miko's. The sound of her blood rushing through her body filled his ears. A breeze blew through the clearing and her hair came forward to brush against him. It was soft, softer than he would have thought possible, and carried her scent. Leaning even closer, he lowered his head until his nose was at her throat. Sniffing, he let his tongue dart out and swipe against her vulnerable flesh. She visibly jumped at his touch and his grip on her wrist tightened in reprimand. Her taste was as intoxicating as her smell and Sesshoumaru forced himself to not lick again. Pulling back, he looked into her eyes once more. They were full of fear and confusion. She reeked of it.

Disgusted with the filthy human and with himself, Sesshoumaru released her wrist and her other hand immediately moved in to soothe the reddened flesh. He did not remove his hand from her person, though. Instead he traced upwards and enclosed his fingers next about her throat, pressing his claws dangerously against her flesh. "You will cease your fear," he ordered. "You will explain yourself to me, girl."

The fear in her eyes was quickly replaced with anger, outrage, just as he knew it would be. His brother's wench had always been quick to forget the danger she was in. He thought back to the time when she had removed his father's fang when neither he nor the half breed could. At one point Inuyasha had ordered her to stay out of the way. She'd angrily pointed the sword at the half breed, yelling words Sesshoumaru could not be bothered to recall, until she'd remembered that he was standing there before her. Then she'd turned his own great and terrible father's fang on him. It had both disgusted him and made him give her a grudging respect. No human had ever spoken to him that way before. "I don't know what you are talking about," she bit out at him, her voice no longer afraid.

Sesshoumaru could smell the truth. The female did not know what he was speaking of. How could this be? Could she not sense the same as he? Yes, she could, he told himself. He could see this in the way her eyes flashed and in the way her heart beat. She just did not understand what was happening. After all, she was no youkai. She was merely, he added with even more distaste, a human.

Another scent caught his nose. The half breed was coming. Snarling, Sesshoumaru lifted her easily off the ground. Her hands involuntarily reached up, gripping his arm in a failed maneuver to force his release of her. It was a foolish effort. She was weak, frail. He brought her close to him; so close that their breaths mingled. The anger in her eyes vanished, but he refused to let the fear come back. "We will speak again, miko," he hissed before releasing her.

She fell to the ground. Sesshoumaru stepped back before she landed on him. Her hand went to her throat and she looked up at him from her position on the ground and Sesshoumaru found himself strangely pleased by the positioning she was in. On her hands and knees, it was as if she were bowing before him. If he had been capable of the expression at the moment he would have smiled. Instead he took one last whiff of her fragrance, willing the scent to fill him. Then he was gone. He could not be bothered with the half breed right now.

He did not go far. He could not. The scent of her drew him and he knew immediately when his half brother barged into the clearing where he'd left the miko. Rage filled him as he sensed his bastard brother getting near the human girl, but he was Sesshoumaru. He was always in control of himself. Sitting down underneath the spread of a giant tree, he sat back and closed his eyes. He focused on the girl and following her scent. There would be another time when she would be alone.

Warmth unfurled within him as he remembered the feel of her skin, the taste of her.

***

Kagome walked around in a stunned daze, jumping at every sound she could not immediately identify. Despite her friends' assurances that there were no demonic presences near the village, she was sure he was there: watching and waiting. At night, in her dreams, she could almost feel his hand on her throat once more. Only during that time his eyes bled crimson and his sharpened claws dug deep into her tender flesh. Then she was no more, the toxins in his claws making short work of her body.

She'd wake from these dreams covered in sweat, her heartbeat racing. It was also then that she knew he was still there for she could acutely feel his satisfaction. He was pleased that she knew of his continued presence, knew what he was capable of. He was pleased that her mind would not let her think of anything or anyone else.

Despite the assurances that Sesshoumaru was nowhere near them, Kagome could not drag herself to go back anywhere near the Bone Eater's Well, her passage home. Her body still took to shaking when she recalled his molten eyes. They were so cold, so calculating. It had been some time since those eyes had been turned to her. Before, Kagome had feared them but she had controlled that fear. No matter how he seemed, Kagome knew that Sesshoumaru was honorable. If she offered no threat to him, no disrespect to him, he would not strike her down. That thought made her give a half hearted laugh. If that were the case, he should have struck her down some time ago. Still, this time something had seemed different. Even though he had appeared as glacial as ever before, something had not been right. Something had disturbed him and whatever that something was it involved her.

Rising from her sleep bag, she walked out of Kaede's hut into the morning. The sun was just rising and a light breeze caressed her face. Kagome lifted her head to enjoy the sun's offered warmth and could have sworn she heard a rumbling purr of satisfaction. Jerking out of her trance, she looked around her, stretching her senses, but there was no one there. She could not even feel his demonic aura and Sesshoumaru had a strong one. Looking up to where Inuyasha was perched in his tree standing guard, she gave a shake of her head. No. No one was here. It was her mind playing tricks on her. Inuyasha had a strong dislike of his brother. The only other who riled him up more was Kouga. If Sesshoumaru came anywhere near the village, Inuyasha would feel him.

Having regained some measure of confidence, Kagome went back inside and over to her pack. It had been too long since she had soaked in the nearby hot springs. While her daily sponge baths were adequate, they did nothing to take the soreness out of her muscles. With all the tension she had been placing herself under—needlessly she tried to tell herself—the heated waters were just what she needed.

Telling Inuyasha where she was going and receiving a gruff nod of his head, Kagome smiled to herself and headed over the hill towards the hot springs. If there was the slightest danger Inuyasha would sense it and come to save her. He always did.

***

Sesshoumaru felt the oddest sensation as his lips lifted slightly in the way of a smile. It had taken less time than he would have believed for her to seclude herself. Oh, yes. The fragrant female had separated herself and gone towards the hot springs.

Standing with fluid grace, he closed his eyes once more and stretched out his senses to follow her trek. It was easily done. Her smell was embedded and drove him to find her. One not as strong as he would have already reacted and struck, but Sesshoumaru was not so undisciplined. He was also not so eager to believe that it was true. 'A human,' he thought with disdain. 'How could this be?'

Determined to have his answers, not willing to wait any longer, he easily crossed the distance to the hot springs. Crouching motionless in the high branches of a nearby tree, he contained his growl of victory when the girl walked into the clearing. Use to feeling his nearness, he had not let his conscious leave her once since confronting her at the well, she took no notice of how truly close and strong his aura was and proceeded to disrobe. He watched as she walked into the water and released a quiet sigh of undisguised pleasure. Smiling to himself, Sesshoumaru looked over the scene. She was effectively trapped by her own design.

He alighted to the ground soundlessly, always the perfect predator. The girl was leaning back against a rock, her eyes closed and her soft, vulnerable throat bared for him to see. An appreciative rumble came from his chest when he saw her in this position. Still she did not seem to know he was there. "Very well," he thought, "I will watch her for a time. Perhaps that is the way to get the best answers. And also I may breath in that blessed scent a while longer before her fear indubitably hides it."

Keeping perfectly still, he allowed himself the small pleasure of watching her as she lay there in obvious bliss. Then she opened her eyes and saw him. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out. Her eyes widened and filled with the fear he knew would be there. Sesshoumaru gave a slight bow in her direction, throwing her guard off just as he'd planned. "Why are you so surprised to see me, miko?" he asked softly. He spoke quietly because he knew she could not help but want to listen to him and he wanted to see the proof of that. He was not disappointed. She leaned slightly forward, as he knew she would. "Did I not say we would continue our earlier words?"

Still she remained silent. At least she had closed her mouth. Moving closer until his booted feet stood at the edge of the hot springs, he almost scoffed as she made a poor attempt to cover herself from his eyes. Did she not realize that he already knew her inside and out? He had been with her for the past week, sharing every feeling and every heart beat. No, she would not know this. She was only a filthy human. She had no true concept of what it was to be a youkai. "You will speak to me, miko," he ordered, knowing that she would not be able to resist his demands.

As expected, outrage filled her body. She was still frightened and shocked by his appearance, yes, but she was also angry at him. Her eyes flashed dangerously and Sesshoumaru growled silently in appreciation. How many times in battle had he seen that exact look focused on him? Foolish girl.

Suddenly she did the unexpected and surprisingly caught him off guard. Throwing one of the towels she was using to wash herself with at him, she jumped out of the water and ran for it. Sesshoumaru caught the harmless wet piece of cloth easily and it crumbled to dust in his finger tips. His eyes followed the path she had taken and he stood in front of her an instant later. Unfortunately for the girl, she was not as aware of her surroundings as he was and she collided straight into his chest. Her body slammed into him and then crumbled backwards. Sesshoumaru almost smiled again, truly a feat as he had already smiled once this day, as he realized she was once more bowing before his superior self.

Leaning down, he grabbed a hold of her arm and lifted her to her feet. Pulling her naked body up against him because he knew it would disturb her, he was rewarded by the rapid escalation of her heartbeat and her frantic looks at any place other than him. "Look at me," he ordered.

Unable to not obey, his hand around her arm increasing pressure until she did so, she raised her head and looked into his eyes. "I did not tell you to run. I told you to speak with me."

Holding her firmly against himself but refraining from paying the slightest amount of attention to her state of undress, Sesshoumaru pulled her back to the hot springs. When they stood by her pile of clothing, he released her and picked up the robe she'd brought with her. Holding it out for her, Sesshoumaru watched as she took it from him and slipped it on. Once she was properly covered, he took a hold of her arm once more just in case she thought of fleeing from him again. "Now speak, miko."

Feeling a strong blush rise to her face, Kagome grabbed onto the only emotion she had that was anger. "How dare you order me around," she spat out, not caring what he thought of her tone. "How dare you watch me bathe!" she yelled next.

At the sound of her shrill yelling, Sesshoumaru's hand shot out and gripped her about the throat. His claws pressed against her skin and Kagome had a fleeting picture of her nightly dream cross her eyes. He did not kill her, though. Instead, he leaned forward until they were almost eye to eye. "I wanted words. Not screeching."

He was so pompous, so sure of himself. It was infuriating. Forgetting that this demon terrified her beyond anything else, Kagome snarled at him. "And I wanted to take a bath."

The next instant she found herself dumped back into the water. Coming up to the surface sputtering, swiping her hair out of her face, she glared back up at the youkai who'd tossed her in. He was smirking at her. "Now give me what I want."

"I wanted a bath...alone."

"We are alone."

"No. You are still here."

"I have always been with you, miko. Did you not feel my presence?"

Kagome stilled. She moved a step away from him, taking another and another until she was on the opposite side. He made no motion to follow her, but of course he wouldn't. Sesshoumaru moved with inhuman speed and could follow her wherever she tried to go. "What do you want?" she asked shakily, trying to push the sudden chill out of her voice.

Cocking his head slightly, his eyes settled on hers and he remained silent for a time. Then he straightened and looked off into their surroundings. Kagome sighed, thinking he would not answer her question. At the sound, his eyes were drawn back to hers. "I want," he said slowly, "To know why it is you."

"Why it is me what?" she asked, not bothering to hide her irritation now. Why was he always so cryptic?

She made to climb out of the water on the opposite side of the pool. As she pulled herself out, she gave a startled cry as her eyes met his legs. Then he was lifting her up once more, his hand a vice around her arm. While his face was expressionless, Kagome could tell that he was angry by his touch. Once she was standing on her own two feet again, he suddenly leaned forward once more and sniffed at her neck. Kagome forced herself to remain absolutely still and remained that way even after he had withdrawn himself. His piercing gaze found her eyes and the hold on her arm relaxed slightly. "Why do you, a human, smell that way?"

She couldn't help it. Her mouth opened in shock. "What?" she asked with disbelief.

A low irritated growl came from his throat. His hold tightened painfully. Kagome could see sparks of his aura lighting around him. "Do not deny it, miko," he said, his voice even more monotone than usual, a dangerous sign that.

"Since I have no idea what you are talking about," she replied in a voice as calm as his, trying to get through to him, "I can deny nothing, Lord Sesshoumaru." Kagome hoped adding the title to his name would rub him the right way. She was not disappointed when he straightened and the hold of her arm eased once more. There was sure to be a bruise there tomorrow after the way he had been dragging her around. "Please tell me what you are asking me about and I will try my best to answer you," she continued in the same calm voice.

Sesshoumaru stared at the girl standing before him. He hadn't realized it before, but not once had he sensed fear from her since his initial entrance. And he had wanted to startle her then, he admitted. Now she was talking to him softly, calmly, respectfully. Her early ear piercing screeches were gone and her eyes did not show anger. What an entertaining surprise she was turning out to be! Even after inhabiting her essence for over a week, he had not expected her to try and win him in this fashion. He had expected her usual uncontrolled ranting. He grudging admitted that conversing with her in this manner was not entirely unpleasant. He, Sesshoumaru, was always in control and shunned most overly emotional beings. Deciding that he would reward her new tactics, Sesshoumaru answered her question.

For a moment she did not believe that Sesshoumaru would answer her. He just stared at her, occasionally sniffing the air around her. Then he surprised her by saying, "Your scent has changed."

Her scent? Giving herself an experimental sniff, she didn't notice anything different about herself. Kagome looked questionably back up at the fierce youkai lord standing before her. "I can't smell anything different."

"Of course you would not," he bit out, his voice sharp. "You have an inferior nose."

Inferior?! Kagome forced herself to keep the calm in her tone. As much as she wanted to rant and rage at the too full-of-himself lord, she knew that such an action would get her nowhere with him. "Fine," she forced herself to say. "I admit that my sense of smell is not as keen as yours. Therefore, please explain to me how exactly my scent has changed."

Sesshoumaru raised himself up to his fully impressive height. He locked his eyes with hers, knowing she would not be able to escape his gaze. This was what he had been waiting for; to tell her exactly what her future would be. What would she do? How would she react? He could feel another one of those smiles trying to break forth.

His mokomoko-sama had secreted around her and was slowly wrapping up her body. With her eyes locked onto his, she did not struggle at all. It was almost as if she wasn't aware of what was happening. "You, miko, are ready to have your future decided," he said smugly, knowing it would irritate her and knowing she was trying desperately not to show that emotion with him.

"My future?" she repeated, her voice still soft but with a hint of a shudder. His mokomoko-sama was slowly sliding across her chest and coming to rest around her neck, flicking back and forth across the soft skin, much like a cat's tail.

"Yes, miko. You are ready to mate with this Sesshoumaru."

He wasn't sure what he expected to happen next, but the girl fainting was not one of them. She had gasped, softly, and then had fallen to the ground. Mokomoko-sama was cradling her and so kept her from completely landing. Sesshoumaru smiled, coldly, as he watched her. He leaned in, sniffing the skin at her neck. The sweet aroma of she filled him once more and he almost caught himself sighing. "Yes, girl," he said to her even though she was not conscious. "You are more than ready to mate with this Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru let his eyes wander freely over her body. She was his and he could do as he pleased. In unconscious sleep she seemed so young, so new, and so fresh. Her lips were slightly parted, as if waiting for his kiss, but Sesshoumaru had something else in mind. He lifted her limp arm, smelling of her wrist, letting his tongue take a taste of her. Taking one claw, he pressed it into the tender skin of her wrist until her blood blossomed around it. Then he raised his own wrist to his mouth, using his fang to do the same to himself. He placed his wrist next to hers and felt a rush as their blood mingled. By the time he found the strength to pull away her wound had already healed.

The process had begun.

***