InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Penance & Prizes ❯ Penance & Prizes ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. I receive no compensation for my writing.

Penance & Prizes

“Kneel.”

I obeyed immediately. I dared to look into his eyes, usually so warm and lively, and found them cold as death, flickering between emerald and the yellow gaze of the predator within him. Anticipation tightened my gut.

“Did I give you permission to look at me?” He asked, his voice low and steady, his words dressed in iron.

I looked down at the floor but only to hide the small smile of excitement that started to work at the corner of my mouth. “No.” Again, that smirk threatened to leak into my words. I had to get it under control.

A hard, sinuous vine slithered under my chin, around my neck and tightened slightly. “No, what?”

When I swallowed, I could feel the presence of thorns against my throat. So, I thought, He wants to play rough tonight. “No, my Lord.”

“Hn.”

He loved it when I called him that.

He slid his hand into my hair, long digits separating the heavy locks before grabbing close to the scalp and slowly tilting my head upwards. I kept my eyes fastened on the floorboards, struggling to ignore how very naked he was. His body was always a distraction for me, my weakest point. My favorite part of him was near the delicate angles of his hip bones, which stood out sharply against his lower abdomen. To put my nose there and breathe in his scent, to kiss him there and feel the softness against all of the other hard lines and sharp angles was heaven.

My head was tilted farther back and I was lifted off my knees and into a crouch. I caught a glimpse of his member, still soft and close to his body. His self-control never ceases to amaze me. I was dying to touch, but I kept my hands locked behind my back until he told me otherwise.

“Priestess.” His voice hissed slightly at the end, relishing the title instead of my name. But that was his game, really. He loved the rush of not only dominating me physically but psychically as well…ah, but that part would come later.

I tried not to look up at him. I wanted to be good for him, to obey him, but he repeated again in a teasing, sing-song voice, “Priestess?” I took in a shaking breath, staring too hard at the plane of his lower stomach, scrutinizing the wiry hairs that followed the path down from his belly button. His voice became pleading, yearning. “Priestess.”

I couldn't help it. I turned my face up and met his gaze.

Smack!

I toppled to one side, startled, even though I knew I would be punished for daring to disobey him. I wanted to cry foul, that it wasn't fair for him to tease me like that and then punish me when I couldn't resist, but a darker part of me roused as I hunkered down, reorienting myself. There was part of me that not only wanted to disobey, but craved the retribution he would give when I did. He understood that deep within my soul, I craved not only to serve but also to resist.

“Did I tell you to look at me?” He repeated himself and growled, a deep reverberation in his chest that sent adrenaline racing through my veins.

“No, my Lord. I'm sorry, my Lord.” I ducked my head and crawled on hands and knees toward him, desperate for another chance to prove myself worthy of him. He offered his hand, almost as if he was going to help me stand, but I knew better. Instead, I kissed, licked, and nibbled the sensitive tip of each finger, traced the life line on his palm with my tongue, gently pressed the flesh between his thumb and forefinger in my teeth until his growl deepened and his fingernails sharpened into claws.

Slowly, he folded himself down until he balanced on the balls of his feet, his chin inches away from my line of sight. I could see that the deep red of his hair was now mostly silver; a sure sign that Lord Youko was in charge now. Again, that rush of adrenaline. Youko was the harsher master; his blows were harder, his demands higher, but his reward for excellent service was worth every drop of blood, sweat and tears.

I could see him smirking at me from the corner of my eye; one fang protruded haughtily. He knew how beautiful he was to me, how much I wanted to touch him and please him, and of course he used it against me. One long, slender claw reached out to trace my jawline. I trembled but did not look up.

“Your lesson has been learned, I see?”

I nodded. “Yes, my Lord.”

Youko chuckled, a deep sound full of menace. He grabbed my shoulders and flipped me around so my back was to his chest, and faced me towards one of the many mirrors he had set up around the room.

Narcissistic bastard, I couldn't help but think as I caught a glimpse of twelve Youkos in the reflections as he stood and moved back into the shadows.

I saw the Rose Whip coming at me like a blur and fought with all my might to not flinch away. I felt the air hiss in front of my nose and the rose he had placed in my hair earlier lost three of its petals. I knew how talented he was with the Whip but it never ceased to amaze and terrify me exactly how good he could be.

The next blow followed quickly behind the first and this time I heard the tearing of fabric, felt the delicate sting of thorns, and watched as my shirt fell in shreds around my wrists. Genuine fear surfaced when I thought about how little it would take for him to maim, to murder and I let the feeling come, let it speed my heart and shorten my breath, let it sweeten my blood. It would draw him to me like a moth to flame.

I heard the soft pad of his feet as he approached, as I'd known he would. He could never resist for long. Youko's large hand grabbed the top of my head and pushed me down until my face was pressed against the floor. My eyes rolled in their sockets and caught a glimpse of us in one of the mirrors.

His image was so powerful that a shot of desire, hot and sweet, chased the fear away. He was kneeling behind me with his knees open to pen me between his legs, left arm tense as it forced me into the floor. His hair was entirely silver now and what little I could see of his glowing eyes showed a steady gold.

Fascinated, I watched as his right hand slowly hovered over my bare back. I could feel the heat radiating off of his body, could feel the tiny distance between our flesh and had to pretend I was made of stone to resist the urge to arch my back and close that gap.

One fingertip, capped in a vicious claw, descended and began to trace a pattern in the tiny pin-pricks left by his whip. He pressed harder until a thin welt was raised and without meaning to, I groaned. Immediately, the hand that had been holding me down was dragging me up until my spine was flat to his body and my head was pulled back at a sharp angle, leaving my neck terribly exposed.

Youko pressed me deep against his body, whispering, “Tut, tut, little Priestess. I did not tell you to make a sound.” His fangs traced my jugular vein and when I cried out, he laughed and cast me away from him.

The feeling of abandonment was so complete that I would have rather walked stark naked through the city than be so far away from him again. I lay where I fell and bit my lip to keep my teeth from chattering. A faint slithering sound reached my ears…looking up, I saw a multitude of vines creeping across the floor, reaching for me. They wound around my legs and dragged me back to my Lord, who stood with one finger on his lower lip, contemplating how he would use me next.

One vine separated and knotted through my hair, pulling my neck taut and lifting me up to his eye level. The other vines assembled to hold me in midair, spread-eagled and open to his scalding gaze. The fox demon circled slowly, looking at every inch of me like a butcher inspects a piece of meat.

He sent a spark of power down the length of each vine, hitting me with a zap of his demonic energy. Instinctively, my own holy powers flared to life and struck back; I could feel where it hit him, could feel the revitalizing surge from contact. That was what made this game so dangerous…we each craved each other in a physical as well as spiritual way. My holy powers drew him to me and he had to try to corrupt it with his own. He enjoyed the pain my purity caused him and, on some level, I also believe he feared it. That delicate balance of attraction and fear drove him to overpower my will with his own.

He stopped in front of me, in the exact spot where I could see him reflected a dozen times in mirrors, and could also see how helpless I looked, trussed up like an offering to the gods. Youko pulled a seed from the nape of his neck and transformed it into another whip. He sent it lashing towards my head, my breasts, my feet too quickly for me to anticipate and laughed when I couldn't help but struggle to get away. He wanted me to be afraid of him and needed me to want him.

Conversely, I also understood that he wanted me to disobey him, to flaunt my free will in his face, just so that he could hold me down and punish me. I knew that right now he wanted me to defy him just so he could make me bleed.

The whip flashed again, cutting through the thin material of my skirt and leaving a thin red line of blood behind. Simultaneously, I felt the vines shuffle and grow around me. Several branches split off and wound around my upper thighs, working up my waist and stopping near my breasts. His arm pulled back to strike again and the tips of the vines began to tease my exposed nipples. The whip tore away another piece of skirt, leaving a fresh welt on my inner thigh.

“Ah!” I exclaimed. “Please!” I hadn't meant to sound so desperate, but the vines around my legs were beginning to stroke across my underwear and I couldn't keep quiet any longer.

He came toward me like a storm and grabbed me by the throat, his fangs gnashing millimeters away from my lips, “What did you say?!”

I squirmed, unable to control my body's demand that I try to get to safety. He grasped my jaw, forcing me to stare into his eyes. From this distance, I could see how the gold mingled with the yellow and an occasional flash of red. His lashes were so incredibly long that the outer edges touched the brow bone above.

“P-P--” I couldn't get the damn words around my fumbling tongue.

He tilted his head to one side questioningly and then moved closer, as if he would kiss me, “Please? Please what?”

His tongue began to trace my lower lip and I was finally able to say, “I want you.”

Youko's mood changed like a light switch. He pressed himself tight against me and began kissing and nipping my neck. Here and there, the sharp press of fangs made me cry out. He let go of some of his iron-clad control and I felt the solid heat of his member rub along my splayed thighs. We groaned as one when he grabbed my hips and rocked us together. Youko pressed us as close together as we could be and stared into my eyes. A tiny fleck of red gave me warning but I didn't have time to react before his palm struck my cheek once—twice—three times.

He backed away from me then, not even panting from the tension, and manipulated the vines so that I was now facing away from him, into the darkness of the room. I heard the strike before I felt it and knew this would be difficult for me to endure.

As he prepared to strike again, he warned me, “You don't get to tell me what you want! You—want—what—I—want!” With each word came another blow, in methodical lines beginning at the top of my shoulders and working down towards my buttocks.

“Yes, my Lord! Thank you, my Lord!” I cried out over and over; I kept repeating it in my head like a prayer so I could bear the force of the blows more easily. When he reached my backside, still covered by the skirt, he approached me. I could feel the heat and tension between us like an electrical storm; the holy energy innate to my soul began to pulse like an aura so that when he pressed his body against my back, I felt him shiver in response.

He arched his hips to play with mine, and whispered, “Is this what you want, Priestess?”

I was so overcome by the sensations that I couldn't answer.

He pressed himself against me hard, thrusting his hips deeply with my own. “Don't make me ask you again.”

Trembling, I shook my head. “I want what you want, my Lord.”

He grinned, fangs pressing into my neck. “Very good, little one. A good answer, indeed.”

Without warning, he shredded what was left of my skirt and underwear, claws gifting me with faint red marks and leaving me completely and utterly exposed.

“But, you never do learn your lesson the first time around, do you?”

I didn't think he wanted an answer, so I kept my mouth shut even though every limb was shaking with a mixture of fear, elation and shame for being so completely at his mercy.

“I think you need to have the lesson reinforced, to make sure you don't forget it again. What do you think?”

“Whatever pleases you, my Lord.”

“Good answer.”

The vines let go of me abruptly but of course he caught me. In one smooth motion, he had me bent over his thigh, baring my backside to the mirrors. Youko began to spank me slowly and I knew that as much as he liked using the Rose Whip, there was something about feeling my flesh in his hand that enticed him like nothing else could.

The slaps were gentle compared to the flogging but he was already building intensity. “Count.” He ordered and began to strike me harder, each slap stinging and hot.

“One.” Smack. “Two.” Smack. “Three!” Smack. “Ah! F-Four!”

Seemingly oblivious to my pain, he demanded, “Louder!”

SMACK.

“Five! Six! Ah—S-Seven! Eight! Ni—Oh!”

“Don't lose track now,” he warned but sped up so that there was no way I could possibly keep count.

I tried anyway, shouting numbers that sounded like the right order as fast as I could draw breath but he didn't relent. I wanted to do well, wanted to win his game, but I just couldn't remember the last words out of my mouth. My back and bottom were one large ache and it was distracting me from everything else. A tear leaked from the corner of one eye, followed by another. It was a combination of frustration, pain and a desire to please and be pleased that was almost as excruciating as the blows.

Youko's exceptional sense of smell warned him of my tears and the blows ceased immediately. He turned me over and cradled me in his long arms. “Do you want me to stop?” His words were kind but his tone was a warning.

Sniffing, I shook my head. “No.” His eyes narrowed and I corrected myself, “No, my Lord. Please don't stop.”

This was one of his favorite parts of the game and the part that was the most challenging for me. I knew the slap would come but even so, being smacked across the face was harder for me to handle than being struck anywhere else on my body. It threatened to take me out of the place where this felt good and throw me into a darker moment, where fear eradicated my desire and I was cold and alone.

He struck again and the tears I knew he craved began to fall openly. It wasn't only because of the sting of his slaps but the release of emotion I held inside me at all times—except now. Now, I let him drag the sorrow out of me, force me to look it in the eye and defeat it. My tears were victorious because even as I felt one hand collide with my cheek, the other was holding me close, tight against his chest and I could feel his heart beating faster.

I was nearing the breaking point, the point when I would have to ask him to stop, when he suddenly did. He leaned over me, eyes thick with emotions I couldn't define, and watched me look up at him. A strand of hair fell over his shoulder, blood red now when it had been like spun silver moments before. He touched a claw to my cheek to catch a tear and slowly brought it to his lips. His tongue darted out and contorted around the digit, giving me a demonstration of his prowess.

Heat and pressure was building low in my stomach. I reached up to the nape of his neck and pulled him down to my lips. We kissed deeply, passionately, pressing against each other as if we wanted to merge bodies. When we finally separated, Youko's eyes were slowly returning to green, heralding the return of Kurama. While he still had control of their body, Youko bent down and nipped the end of my nose gently, a look of pride on his face. “You did very well, my Priestess.”

I smiled and kissed the edge of his jawbone, even while I could feel it softening to accommodate Kurama's human features. “So did you, my Lord.”

I stared up at him until he faded away completely, leaving me wrapped in Kurama's more delicate grasp.

Youko demanded all of my attention, all of my devotion; he craved my mind, my soul. Kurama was the more forgiving of the two although the less predictable. He wanted my devotion, yes, but what he truly desired were my imperfections. While Youko would push me mentally, Kurama would push me emotionally; sometimes I felt like he wanted to see me break just to find out if he could put me back together.

“Hello there,” He smirked at me, devilishly handsome but so very different from his counterpart. One hand stroked my hair while he shuffled me into a seated position on his lap. Still, we faced the mirrors.

Well, they share the same body…there's bound to be some crossover here and there… I let the laugh spill out this time, enjoying the playful light that entered Kurama's eyes in response.

He pulled me tighter down on his lap asking, “What's so funny, Priestess?”

My eyes widened at the name, which let me know the games were not over yet.

He laughed at my realization, a dangerous, low sound that warned me away and at the same time sped my heart. Vines crept out from around him, locking around my arms and legs to keep me immobile.

“Kurama?” I asked, unsure of what he wanted next.

He nibbled around my collarbone then bit down hard at the junction of my neck and shoulder. I cried out, unable to move but needing to release the tension.

“That is `Sir' to you.”

I nodded, eyes fluttering closed as more endorphins flooded my system and erased the aches and pains Youko had left me with. “Yes, Sir.”

I heard the smirk in his words when he spoke next. “Watch.”

My head lolled forward to observe the two of us in the mirrors. He knelt behind me and wordlessly moved the vines around my legs outward, slowly revealing my most private area for his full inspection. I couldn't help but struggle against the vines, thighs shaking as I tried to close my legs without success. Kurama buried his face in the nape of my neck, inhaling the scent of blood, tears, and arousal left over from Youko's visit.

He moved to sit in front of me and made a show of looking me over thoroughly. Where his gaze went, his hands soon followed. He stared at my mouth and said, “Open.”

I did and he slid one finger into my mouth, over my tongue.

“Suck.”

There was something thrilling about such a simple word and it warmed me to the core. I stared into his eyes while I did it; Kurama liked it when we watched each other. I rolled my tongue across his finger, sucking lightly, nipping the fleshy parts. He slid a second finger in and I bit hard on the tip of one just to see what he would do.

His eyes heated and he slowly retracted his fingers. He leaned in close, his mouth hesitating over mine. I strained forward only to find that a large vine was holding me in place. Our breath mingled for a few seconds before he said, “Two can play that game.” And he dropped his head to my chest and began to suck and nibble my breast, my nipple. Soon enough, I felt a sharp pain when he bit down on that sensitive area. I shrieked with pleasure.

He chuckled. “Keep that in mind tonight, Priestess. What goes around comes around.”

An equally anticipatory smile spread across my face. “Yes, Sir.”

With a small gesture, Kurama manipulated the plants into a Y-shaped table structure, leaving me fully supported and lying on my back but keeping my legs spread. I watched him circle me, casually touching me here and there, inspecting Youko's handiwork.

The cut on my upper thigh still bled sluggishly. Kurama stared at me while he bent forward and slowly licked the slice from end to end. When my back bowed, vines responded immediately to pin me down again.

“No, no, no…I'll not have you moving around, Priestess.” He stopped between my legs, one hand cupping his chin while he contemplated me. “It seems like Youko did a real number on your back side…Let's see what we can do about the front, hm?”

I dared not speak but my heart was racing. I knew he heard it. He climbed up on the table smoothly, moving like a predator creeping upon its prey. He straddled my hips and let me stare down the length of his body to watch his member grow thick and heavy once more. I licked my lips, anxious and excited.

Kurama rolled his body over mine, casually thrusting forward to rub against my opening before laying the rest of his body on top of mine. “Let's play a game, shall we?”

I was still writhing from that thrust and couldn't focus my thoughts enough to speak, so I just nodded.

That was the way it was with Kurama, though. Youko gave me no choice but to submit and I rarely had the illusion that I could win his games, but Kurama would give me a chance to prove myself fair and square.

Finally, I thought, relieved to be able to feel like I was useful. I had been served a challenge and I was more than ready to take it on.

Merrily, he explained the rules of his game. “On the top of each mirror I've placed five targets.” I followed his gesture and saw the tiny circular shapes propped up on the edges of the various mirrors. “If you get me to miss one, you will be rewarded. If I hit them all, you will be punished. Understand?” His emerald gaze pierced me as intimately as any lovers' embrace. I couldn't tell if he was so intense because he wanted me to win or because he wanted me to fail.

He pushed me down to my knees, which put my face directly in front of his throbbing member. He brushed my bangs out of my face so he could watch me. “I'll even give you a little head start. Begin.”

I raked my fingers down his thighs, leaving deep red welts behind. At the same time, I took the head of him into my mouth and began to suck and lick. Using my lips, I pushed back the foreskin to reveal the glistening tip. I traced my tongue around the layer of protective skin and felt him pulse in response.

I reached behind him, digging my nails into his well-muscled buttock and set to work as fast as I could. Despite my best efforts, he was calmly counting down from ten. When he hit `One' the whip hadn't even appeared in his hand yet, but somehow the first target was already shattering to pieces. To keep it fair, he paused between swings, as he could easily take out all the targets in one swoop if he wanted to. He finished the targets on the first mirror and I may as well have been working on a wooden post for all he seemed to notice.

Earnestly, I added my hands to the process and worked him from base to tip, winding around the shaft and using my saliva to keep it slick. I was making a mess of myself but finally I could taste a slight shift in him; encouraged, I reached forward and massaged the tender pieces that hid behind his manhood. That got me a tiny grunt, a miniscule tightening of his muscles.

“Halfway through, Priestess…”

Damn! His voice didn't even waver!

I had to make him miss, I had to. Courage renewed, I ducked my head further down and began to suck and lick the tender division between the two balls while still maintaining my stroke on his shaft. His spare hand reached down to grip my hair.

Yes! I quickly licked my finger and used it to caress the soft, soft skin between his balls and anus.

Crack! The whip whistled through the air a moment out of rhythm but still dissolved the target.

“Two more mirrors, Priestess.”

That does it! I thought when I heard the arrogant tone sneak into his voice. I brought my mouth down over the head of his cock, pulling back the skin and focusing on the incredibly sensitive tip for just a few seconds. Feeling his stomach contract, I moved further down the shaft, letting him fill my mouth. A little bit more and I would choke. I resisted my gag reflex and, by sheer force of will, secured my mouth to the base of his member and sucked, letting all of the excess saliva pour out of my mouth, not caring about the mess I was making. Simultaneously, I toyed with that delicate line of space behind his balls and used my other hand to claw his buttocks so hard I was sure to draw blood.

Crack!

The sound of the whip resonated, but there was no answering shatter of the target.

Yes! I did it! I celebrated silently, unwilling to risk losing my reward for being a sore winner. I was raising my head up when both of his hands slammed into the back of my head, forcing me to remain where I was, his cock deep in my throat. Panic set in as I realized I couldn't breathe around him—I tried to struggle but his grip could not be broken.

I rolled my gaze up to him and saw his jaw was slack with pleasure. He buried his hands in my hair and pulled hard, thrusting at the same time. I gagged, choking but he only let me pull away for a few seconds before plunging back in and holding me against himself before he finally released me.

I barely had time to wipe the spittle from my mouth before he was dragging me back to the Y-shaped table and tying me down, legs spread as far apart as they could stretch. Kurama raked his hands through his hair, regaining his composure slightly. When he looked at me, his expression was more than a little wild but he chuckled. “Well, then…I hope you're proud of yourself, little Priestess.” He stepped between my legs, lightly running his fingers down my thighs. “You made me miss. And now you get your reward…”

Excitement lit up my face but he wasn't done speaking yet, “…After you beg for it.”

“Beg?” I asked, “What would you have me say, Sir?”

He stroked his erect member unabashedly. "Convince me that you deserve this. Beg for me to hold you down and fuck you and perhaps I will.”

After all of that work, he still wouldn't give me my reward!? The fire in my belly had long since spread to my lower lips, which dripped with excitement and he was denying me?! A frustrated shout erupted from my mouth before I could stop it. I hated to beg. Hated it. It made me feel like what I had to offer wasn't good enough and that he was doing me a favor by bestowing himself upon me. But then I realized that no matter how much I hated to beg, I still wanted him more. The words fell out of my mouth as fast as I could breathe, at the top of my lungs, “Please! Please, Sir, please, I want you inside me! I need you, I worked so hard for you and Youko and I-I-I—” A tear of frustration fell from of one eye. “Please, I've been so good. I can pleasure you more, just please use me! Fuck me, use my body!”

He reached forward and squeezed both nipples hard. “Careful what words you beg with, Priestess. Some of that sounded like a demand.”

I couldn't bear it anymore. He was never going to reward me; all he wanted was to tease me to the point when I couldn't make sense of right or left or up or down any longer. “I'm sorry.” Another tear fell but this one he wiped away for me.

“An apology is good enough—this time.”

Without any further warning, he plunged his member into me as deep as he could go. A strangled shout escaped; after all of that buildup, my body was wound so tightly it was a wonder I didn't explode.

Standing between my spread legs, he drove into me over and over, his hands everywhere: holding my hips, grasping my breasts, wrapping around my neck. He never once slowed his bruising pace and I didn't want him to.

Kurama reached one hand down to my sex and began to work me slowly, eliciting moans from me. “Sir—I'm…I'm close!”

He slammed his hips into me so hard that the vines supporting me groaned in protest. “You don't come until I say, am I clear?”

I tried to nod but he picked up his pace, using his hips to create a circular motion, now brushing his member along my clit before slipping back inside. I screamed.

“Answer me, Priestess!” He was grinding his teeth; I wasn't the only one who was about to lose control.

“Sir, I will wait to come until you tell me!” I said the words but only half-believed them. The sensations were incredible, mind-numbing, back-breaking.

A few more strokes and I was almost there—“Sir! May I please come?”

“No.” He continued his blistering pace, now raising the angle of my legs to go even deeper.

“Please!” The word was ragged and I could hardly breathe around my arousal.

His hand shot out and gripped my throat sternly, forcing me to meet his gaze. “You will wait or any punishment Youko could give you will pale in comparison to what I will do to you.”

I understood that he wasn't bluffing so I ground my teeth together until my jaw popped, pulled so hard against the restraints that I knew I would have marks tomorrow. I tried to focus on something—anything else, but there was his hand again, reaching down to tease me toward climax.

I felt his pace falter briefly and then he redoubled his efforts, using every inch of his manhood to reach every possible angle inside of me. “On the count of three you can come,” He told me, his fingers flicking rapidly across my clit.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to wait, wait, wait…

“One.”

His thrust was harder and deeper, nearly reaching the end of me.

“Two.”

I felt his entire body shudder and shake with his own release.

“Three!”

I let go of the little control I had and let the orgasm wash me away, bright lights and echoes of words ringing through my head.

When I came back around, every movement was an effort. The dim light in the room still seemed blinding and for all I tried, I couldn't make my mouth move to call for Kurama.

But moments later, there he was, standing over me with a warmed towel and cup of tea. I smiled and stretched, trying to figure out which part of me would ache the most tomorrow. I still lay on the tall table but while he fussed with adjusting the lights, the vines re-ordered themselves to compose a lounge that let me sit halfway up without requiring any effort on my part.

When he was satisfied, he made room on the lounge for both of us and gently wrapped me in the warm towel. I tried to grasp the mug of tea but my hands were still shaking too much so he held it for me, slowly bringing it to my lips and helping me drink. After a few minutes, the aftershocks fell away and we sat quietly together, me tucked under the safety of his arm and cradled to his chest while he finger-combed my hair and caressed whatever exposed skin he could reach.

Out of the blue, he laughed and bent to kiss my ear.

“What's so funny?” I wanted to know.

“Youko is calling me names for letting you get away with that sad excuse for begging.”

“You know I hate to beg,”

He kissed the top of my head, “But you know how much I love it when you do…”

I sighed. “You're lucky I could focus enough to get any words out at all, let alone the order or how much they sounded like `proper' begging.”

“Mmm….Youko says that he will teach you a proper lesson in begging next time he comes out.”

I buried my face in my hands. “Oh, God…I should've kept my mouth shut.”

A chuckle that was not made with Kurama's voice made me raise my head to see Youko's dangerous yellow eyes staring at me from Kurama's face. “Little Priestess…you did well today but you know exactly what you can get away with when it's His turn. Soon, we will have a little chat and I will remind you not to take advantage of our hospitality.”

My heart accelerated, anxious that he would press to teach me the lesson now. As always, it was like he could hear my thoughts and he shook his head. “No, not today.” In an unusual display of overt affection, he gave me a soft kiss then nuzzled my cheek with his nose. “But soon, Priestess.”

His voice floated away and Kurama shook his head. “He's becoming very demanding of you.”

I tried to act haughty. “It's because he knows how talented I am.”

A possessive look crossed Kurama's expression. “We both understand exactly what you have to offer, Kagome.” He pulled me tighter against his body. “And even though it would be far too beneath him to ever say it, we both recognize how very special you are.” Our hands interlocked, his thumb tracing mindless circles across my skin.

“Thank you,” I sighed, relaxing fully against him. “I don't think I have to tell either of you, but I hope you know that I feel the same way. Just like you both need something from me, I need something from each of you. I'm just glad we're together. All of us.”

The delicate caresses changed into something with a more sensuous edge. I turned my head to see what he was up to but he was already moving away from our embrace.

“Where are you going?” I asked, not wanting him to leave my side so soon.

He knelt in front of me, dragging his palms over my stomach, down to the junction between my legs. “I think there's one more thing I want to give you before we call it a night.” He smoothly separated my thighs and just that simple motion made my breath catch.

“Sir?” I asked, unsure if we were going to play another game.

He shook his head. “It's just Kurama right now, Kagome.” He kissed the scratch that he had licked clean of blood. “Let me show you how much you mean to us.”

My head fell back, overcome by the vision of seeing his intense green eyes staring at me from between my legs, slowly kissing his way towards my center. “Kurama…”

He licked me gently, delicately. “Say it again.”

“Kurama!” It was a treat to say his name. I repeated it over and over, a new mantra, while my fingers thrilled to dig into his rich hair, to touch the silky locks and admire him from above.

And that's how it worked between the three of us…I accepted what believed I deserved from Youko and Kurama and in return, they helped me carry my many burdens. They were, in many ways, both my penance and my prize.