Part Four
Love Bites

Kagome had been having a perfectly lovely dream. She'd been floating on the clouds, cushioned in downy softness while being fed strawberries and cream by an ever-attentive, scantily-clad Sesshoumaru. That was before a damnable beam of sunlight wriggled its way through the one slit between the hanging drapes to shine right into her left eye. Brows furrowed in annoyance as she drifted toward consciousness, bemoaning the loss of her fantasy. And fantasy it was, for Sesshoumaru – loving though he could be – wasn't usually one to lower himself to serving others, even when that person was his own wife. Groaning, she rolled away from the offending light and glanced at the clock sitting on the table beside the bed.

'6:30… well damn… First day of vacation and I still get woken up like it's a school day.' Kagome grumbled to herself, and rolled back over, only to have that blasted ray of sunlight hit her in the face again.

"Ack!"

Wincing, she muttered a stream of expletives that would have made her brother-in-law proud as she reached up to tug the curtains closed again. For a brief moment, she wondered how they had come open in the first place. "Probably Mokomoko making my life miserable again!" she muttered irritably.

A frown creased her forehead when she looked over to the other side of the bed. Sesshoumaru lay with his back to her, ribs expanding with the slow, steady rhythm of deep sleep, completely oblivious to his wife's predicament. 'Lucky bastard,' she thought, sidling up against his bare skin, hoping his warmth would help her recapture the blissful sleep that had been so rudely interrupted. Unlike her snoozing spouse, Kagome had not had a night of restful slumber.

After the voyeuristic Mokomoko had been deposited in the adjoining room, the couple had resumed their amorous activities and while, Sesshoumaru had had no difficulty putting the encounter out of his mind and picking up where they'd left off, Kagome hadn't been as lucky, finding it difficult to focus on the task at hand. Sure, it had felt amazing, but worry that the fluff would reappear lingered in the back of her mind like an irritating hang nail and in the end, Kagome had been left – wanting – while Sesshoumaru had drifted off to sleep in post-coital bliss.

Kagome had fallen asleep much later, after exhaustion had finally overtaken sexual frustration. And then, sometime around 2:00am, she'd been awoken by Mokomoko slithering his way back into their room and into their bed, wedging himself between her and Sesshoumaru. She'd tried to coax the fluff out of the bed, made several attempts to wake her husband to make him remove his furry pet, but it was all in vain. Mokomoko would not budge.

Now, here she was awake… again! There was little doubt in her mind that Mokomoko was somehow to blame for this as well. Inhaling a deep, steadying breath, Kagome attempted to calm herself. Just the mere thought of Fluff Butt was sending her blood pressure into the stratosphere. It wouldn't do to get herself all worked up again. The thing wasn't going anywhere – Sesshoumaru was certainly not going to drive him all the way back home – and she would not let his presence interfere with her vacation any more than it already had.

Snuggling closer, she drew on Sesshoumaru's warmth and the calmness of his slumber to help sooth her. She was nearly asleep again when as annoying prickle caused her to reach down and scratch her leg before settling in once more. And there it was again – that itch – only this time it was more intense. She scratched it harder, thankful that her nails were slightly longer than usual and therefore more effective against the irritation. Sighing in relief, she moving her hand away but hadn't gotten more than a few inches from her leg when the itch returned full force, only this time, it burned.

"What the hell?" she cried, sitting up and throwing off the covers even as she scratched at her leg. The site that greeted her had her smacking Sesshoumaru. "Wake up!"

Sleepily, Sesshoumaru rolled over, golden eyes opened in sleepy, irritated slits. Lifting his head, he noted the time on the clock and frowned.

"Kagome, really, can't this… whatever it is… wait until it's at least 8:00."

"No! Look at this!" she growled continuing to scratch frantically at her leg.

Propping up on elbows, Sesshoumaru looked down at the leg that was now shoved under his nose. "You have a rash?"

"That's not rash, you little…" The last word was snarled out to the point of being incomprehensible. "Those are flea bites! Your damn mongrel has fleas!"

Sesshoumaru cocked a brow and looked at her like she was daft. "Don't be ridiculous, Kagome. Mokomoko is pure bred and, therefore, does not have fleas." Clearly intent on returning to sleep, Sesshoumaru rolled back onto his side, facing away from his wife.

"Oh no you don't," she growled, grasping his shoulder and rolling him back over "If I'm going to be awake and suffer through this, so will you."

Sesshoumaru sighed one of his patent, patronizing sighs, the kind he knew irritated the hell out of her. "Stop scratching, it will only make things worse."

She fixed him with a look that would have felled lesser men. "And what do you propose I do, All-Knowing One? They ITCH!'

He sat up, ignoring his wife's scathing tone and reached for the phone. "Let me call the front desk, see if they have anything."

While Sesshoumaru talked in quiet tones with the clerk and Kagome continued her furious scratching, the drapes parted and the bane of Kagome's vacation slithered its way back onto the bed from where he had apparently been basking in the morning light.

"I knew it!" she growled, narrowing her eyes, but Mokomoko simply ignored her in favor of curling up next to his master. Sesshoumaru hung up the phone, turning toward Kagome as he absently stroked his pet's silky coat, now warm from the sun.

"They don't have anything here, but there's a small pharmacy right up the street where you should be able to get something. The desk clerk said they would be open, even this early."

"Wait… you expect me to go?"

Leveling her with a flat, sleepy look, Sesshoumaru replied. "They are your legs, are they not? I believe they still function despite your rash."

Kagome's jaw dropped, momentarily rendered speechless by her husband's callous attitude toward the situation. A second later, it snapped shut again as her anger swelled. She was dangerously close to strangling him with his own fluff.

"I. Cannot. Believe. This!" The words were ground out from between clenched teeth even as she pulled on the jeans and t-shirt she'd been wearing the day before. Throwing her hair up into a messy bun, she grabbed her purse and turned back to where Sesshoumaru and Mokomoko had settled back into the bed together.

"You're really not going to come with me?" she asked, anger and hurt lacing her tone as crossed her arms over her chest.

"No," came the reply muffled by the layers of blanket and comforter Sesshoumaru had reburied himself under.

"Fine then," she huffed, stomping her way out the door, slamming it behind her. It wasn't she'd reached the corner that she had forgotten to ask exactly where the pharmacy was. Hell, she didn't even know the name of the damn place.

"Well that's just perfect," she muttered, reaching down to scratch at her leg through her jeans. She knew that Sesshoumaru was well aware that she'd forgotten to ask him where to go and she could just imagine the smug look on his face right now. Fishing around in her purse, she pulled out her phone, found her husband's number and hit "dial."

She didn't even hear the ring on the other end when Sesshoumaru's voice said, "Right at the corner. Three blocks down on the left. Persson's," before the line went dead again.

Kagome stared at the now-silent cell phone, eyes narrowed in irritation. "Cocky bastard." Dropping her phone back into her bag, she trudged off in the direction of the pharmacy, her mind sifting through the various ways she could exact retribution on the two dogs back in the hotel room.

AN: All portions of this little collection will be based on the prompts of the Damsel in Distress challenge at the LiveJournal community, Dokuga Contest. This part was inspired by the prompt, Damsel in Danger.

Thank you for reading and, as always, I'd love to know what you think.