Chapter Nine…

She moved slowly. Oh so very, very slowly; sliding one foot forward, bracing for impact with closed eyes, and then moving the next foot forward after nothing happened. Sesshoumaru's face loomed large and dangerous. His nostrils twitched and flared making her destroyed shirt ripple from his breaths. Kagome held her own...waiting.

Nothing continued to happen.

As she eased her body past his head and stepped out into the night away from Sesshoumaru's protective circle, Kagome felt a burst of adrenaline rush through her and she shivered, both from that and from the chill she hadn't been aware of in the air beforehand. Still praying to the Kamis for safety, she began moving away from the sleeping daiyoukai.

They were in a large clearing with trees all around them. Not knowing where in the hell she was or for how long she'd be free, Kagome just kept moving in a straight line. It wasn't until she reached the treeline that she gave in and released a loud sigh. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw that Sesshoumaru remained blissfully unaware of her escape. She must have worn him out with all that playing.

Poor tired puppy...

Turning away from her previous problem (that was still actually a GIANT problem), Kagome surveyed her new one. It was dark. Really, really dark. The thick covering of trees blocked even the meager bit of moonlight shining down from the crescent body in the sky. Wishing for a flashlight like never before, she moved forward guiding herself from tree to tree with her hands. Trying to stop herself from screaming out every time she stepped wrong, tripped, or touched something not tree-like, she just kept pressing forward. "Inuyasha," she whispered to herself. "Where in the hell are you?"

*PA*

After having helped the others make camp for the evening, Inuyasha left to do just one more sweep. He moved steadily through the trees, his ears were twitching left and right and his nose was searching for even a trace scent of his stolen goods.

All he heard were the normal night sounds and he was starting to get a little worried. Where in the hell had Sesshoumaru gone?!

"Kagome!" he screamed out from the tallest tree he could find. "KAGOME!"

The only answer he received was a flight of startled birds taking off into the night.

*PA*

Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god….

The litany repeated itself over and over in her mind as she carefully picked her way from Sesshoumaru. She couldn't have made it very far, however, when the distinct sound of a woof came her way. A woof followed by a growl...that had to be made by a very large dog.

The jig is up, Kagome thought to herself as she tried to move faster through the forest even though she had no idea what was in front of her. She needn't have bothered trying, though. For within the blink of an eye a very real and humanoid Sesshoumaru was standing before her. She fell into him, actually, as she tripped over her dozenth tree root. Naturally, Sesshoumaru made no move to keep her from having the wind knocked out of her. He just stared down at her.

"What?" she asked when he continued to do nothing but look at her. Kagome took a large step backwards. "I needed a minute of privacy!"

He cocked his head to the side and then glanced around them. "Oh sure," Kagome continued, back to one sided conversation mode. "This might be a little farther than necessary, but you've a very sensitive nose, Sesshoumaru! I didn't want to offend."

Golden eyes narrowed slightly.

Without a word, Sesshoumaru took her by the arm and began leading her back towards the clearing. No amount of dragging her feet or flailing of her free arm stopped him and a short while later—too short actually, Kagome found herself back in the clearing and facing the hole once more.

*PA*

He might have broken her.

The miko was now staring at the hole whispering to herself over and over again, "It doesn't want to go into the hole. It doesn't want the lotion on its skin."

Sighing to himself because he had been in the midst of a very enjoyable dream, he gave the miko a push to help knock her brain back into place and to put her where she belonged. She flew forward, landing face first down in the hole. It took her a moment to rise to her hands and knees, spitting dirt out of her mouth. Then she turned furious blue eyes his way. "If you don't stop trying to bury me like a bone I'm gonna purify you!"

He raised an eyebrow at her bold statement, but remained mute. Really, why speak at all when a mere look could suffice. It was not as if the miko was caring of what he had to say. She stood, brushing dirt off her front, and then faced him with her hands on her hips—the exact opposite of how she should be standing when he raised a brow. "Bad dog! No more playing for you!"

Now that was a statement Sesshoumaru did not approve of.

Moving faster than she could see, he flew down into the hole with her. His eyes flashing crimson in warning. "You will cease and desist your defiance, girl."

"No."

That was also a statement he did not approve of.

Reaching forward to grab her again and maybe shake sense back into the miko, he was surprised when she stepped back. "I'm tired," she grated out, a slight waver to her voice. "I'm filthy. I stink. And I just can't do this any more. You are sick in the head, puppy! You want a toy? Fine. You can have a toy. But you're gonna find someone else to play with you!"

*PA*

Kagome was past caring any more. She pulled her shirt off, throwing it at the surprised daiyoukai. It hit him in the face and then slid down and caught on a spike in his armor.

"Want more?" she challenged, as she slid out of her skirt, too, and threw it at him as well.

"Ichigo likes to chew on shoes. Do you?" Kagome asked as she slipped off one of her shoes and made to throw it at him.

*PA*

Inuyasha was just about to give up for the night when something raised his hackles. Turning to the west, he made a quick sprint. He was about to chalk up his feelings as nothing when he heard a most beautiful sound. "Sit boy!"

Unfortunately, he sat.

As soon as the spell wore off, Inuyasha rose and dashed as fast as his feet could take him in the direction of Kagome's voice. He stumbled into a clearing and practically fell down the giant hole in the middle of it in his haste to reach her side. Raising his face up from the dirt, his mouth fell open at the sight in front of him.

Kagome, his Kagome, was laying in the middle of this hole in only her under thingies; her legs tangled up in the billowing pants of Sesshoumaru and her hands gripping his hair. Atop her, his hands pinning one of hers down while the other looked to be very comfortable on her breast, was his stick-in-the-ass half brother. Sesshoumaru's very dangerous fangs were resting against Kagome's throat as he quietly growled. Her clothing and one shoe littered the ground around them.

"What in the hell is this?!"

*PA*

to be continued...