InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust ❯ Hunting Changes ( Chapter 2 )

The two walked all day, and Kagome refused to complain, either about her hunger, or the aches in her legs. The ache in her heart she kept even closer to herself, not knowing that Sesshomaru could see her every thought reflected in her eyes, if only he chose to look. Near sunset, she noticed steam rising gently in the distance, and though longingly of a bath in hot, mineral laced water. She was surprised when Sesshomaru stopped, wondering if he possessed some capability to read her mind - but reflected ruefully that if he did, he probably would not waste the talent on a human.

"Is everything alright, Sesshomaru?"

He stared at her impassively, his face a blank mask.

"Humans require sleep and food everyday, do they not? I have learned of this from my ward."

He blinked solemnly, and Kagome almost laughed at his extreme seriousness.

"Yes, we do need food and sleep, but is that not something humans share in common with youkai?"

"Youkai eat, but of different nature usually than human food. And we do not require as much sleep."

Kagome nodded, and dropped her bag, pulling her bathing things and fresh clothing out of it.

"There is a hot spring nearby Sesshomaru; do you mind if I bathe?"

"I do not care what you do Kagome, as long as you live long enough to lead me to my brother."

She flinched slightly at the coldness in his words, and began the short trek towards the hot spring. Sesshomaru called after her.

"While you bathe, I will hunt. I shall return in less than an hour - I advise you to do the same."

Kagome paused to acknowledge his words, and continued on. She came within sight of the bubbling water, and slipped out of her clothes and into the hot caress of spring water, emitting a small sigh of content. She lay back in the water for a few minutes, letting the heat soak the tension out of her back and legs, before she washed and rinsed her hair, and climbed out to get her clothes and wash them as well.

By the time she felt the approaching youkai, it was too late. An enormous bear youkai towered in front of her, eyes flashing red and hair matted with the blood of old kills. Her scream was sharp and piercing, as the bear reached for the jewel around her neck, growling its desire for the shikon and its power. But instead of calling for InuYasha as she had so often done, her soul cried out for Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru was hunting. More than protecting his lands or chasing after his brother, he enjoyed the hunt, though it be after dumb beasts. The way his blood thrilled in his veins to the chase, the way his claws dug deep into animal flesh and spurted thick sweet blood to his lips. He needed the chase to forget about the girl, needed the taste of other blood to forget the taste of Kagome's. His encounter with her had shaken him more than he was willing to admit even to himself, and he could sense her blood calling to him still, even closed in her veins. He caught the scent of bear, but dismissed it when he sensed the youkai in the scent - and then froze as a piercing scream of his name reached his sensitive ears.

*Kagome.*

He followed the youkai bear scent as fast as he was able, avoiding trees with lightening reflexes. He smelled her blood, the same scent as before, only now it enticed him to rage, clouding his senses with a mist of desire to rend and destroy. His poisoned claws shredded through the youkai's thick hide before it knew he was even coming. He stood panting, blood dripping from his claws, and he turned to stare with blood glazed eyes at Kagome's battered body.

She glistened unconscious with water and blood, naked and sprawling on the rocks around the hot spring where she had bathed. Sesshomaru dropped gracefully to his knees beside her still form, and sniffed her body, searching for wounds. He found claw marks across her breasts, and down her side, not deep enough to kill but more than enough to be very painful. From the way the injuries were placed, it looked like she had offered her body to the youkai so as to protect the jewel, which still glowed gently around blood spattered neck.

The part of his mind that was still his own reasoned that the wounds needed to be cleaned, but his youkai desired only the taste of her blood again, the blood from the human girl who tasted like a queen of demons. Slowly, so as not to wake her or cause her more pain, he ran his tongue along her neck, lapping at the droplets of blood that had flown upward from the wounds across her breasts. The scent stirred his lust, and he drew his tongue over each of the gashes, not drawing more blood from the wounds, but savoring the taste of what had already spilled.

Kagome stirred slightly at the first brush of his tongue across her breasts, and blinked her eyes slowly, aware of pain but separate from it, lost in twinges that assaulted her nerves from something that was gentle and rough, moisture that left shivers across her skin. It was when she looked down and saw Sesshomaru bending across her naked body that she tried to scramble away, but the pain and the look in his eyes kept her still, listening to the growls that escaped his lips. She felt his claws pressing lightly against her skin, and breathed a sigh of relief when the slow motion of his tongue across her breasts ceased, until she felt him again against the wounds in her side.

Fully awake this time, she shuddered in guilty pleasure, knowing he would regret what he had done, but unable to stop him even if she had wanted to try. Kagome felt a gathering, tightening heat in her belly, and her breath came in soft, uneven pants. She knew what was happening, though she could not think of why, and her entire body flushed. Sesshomaru sensed dimly through a haze of sensation what was about to happen, smelled her arousal more thick in the air than the scent of her blood, and heard, through the white-noise rush in his head the soft panting of her breath. Abruptly he jumped way from her, pushing his youkai deep into his soul, and stare at the woman in front of him with hot golden eyes, finally free of red. He could feel his own heat, the need to take her hard and uncomfortable, restricted in the silk of his hakama. He backed away from her slowly, unsure of his control, and noted with shock the traces of red bleeding into Kagome's eyes as they slowly closed.

*I was right. She cannot be human. But how then does she not know, and why does she have this affect on me? I have tasted youkai blood before, and it did not call to me as hers does.*

He could not answer his thoughts, and growled in disgust at his lack of control. Carefully he searched through the enormous yellow bag he had always seen her with, poking through unfamiliar articles for bandages. They were of a material that was unfamiliar to him, but he wrapped them around her wounds, careful to avoid breathing the scent of her too deeply, and bent to look in her eyes. What he saw almost made him laugh. Kagome was asleep. He carried her gently to where they had planned to make camp, and lay her on her sleeping bag, and covered her with a blanket.

He thought carefully for a moment, then placed a barrier of his youkai around her, and went back to his hunt. More quickly, now that he had exhausted his youkai, sated his bloodlust, he brought back a deer, skinned and cleaned for a meal when she awoke. he was beginning to feel the same small pleasure at taking care of this not-so-human girl as he did for Rin, but the thought did not disturb him as much as he had expected. Kagome was different, thought he did not yet know how, and he composed himself warily to meditate on the strange familiarity he felt for the questions he kept asking. He sat across the fire from the peacefully sleeping Kagome, and the tiniest of smiles, unsure of its place, crept across Sesshomaru's lips, and he fell into a shallow trance, her name in his thoughts and her taste on his tongue.

Kagome awoke in the middle of the next afternoon, to the smell and sound of meat roasting, and became quickly aware of the ache across her chest and side. She remembered the day before in a flash, first fear, then embarrassment coloring her scent to the youkai who sat tending the meat over the fire. She felt the bandages across her breasts and side, tied somewhat clumsily, and knew Sesshomaru had done it for her, though she could not imagine why. If he had not hated her utterly before, he must hate her now, after she caused so much trouble, after exposing him again to the scent of her blood. But she could not help feeling a tingle of warmth when she remembered the feeling of his tongue, though she could not explain why it should affect her that way, or affect her any way at all.

"Kagome."

She started guiltily, sure he knew what she was thinking, but looked up instead to see him holding out a plate of meat for her.

"I…thank you, Sesshomaru. I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble yesterday…"

He sat gracefully beside her, far enough away to ensure they were not touching, but closer than he had before.

"I was not aware you asked the bear youkai to come and attack you."

Kagome was shocked. An attempt at humor from Lord Sesshomaru, Mr. Set me on fire, and I'll freeze it for you? Apparently there was much more to him than she had thought.

"No…that is not what I meant. I should have remembered that the shikon no tama attracts youkai after power….I should have been more watchful."

Sesshomaru watched her painfully sit up, and wrap her blanket more tightly around her body, before she began to eat. He realized then that she must still be unclothed, as he had not been able to figure out how to dress her in her strange garments with only his one arm. He stood, and walked away, standing with his back to her. She looked up when he moved, and understood when she saw him standing away from her. She dressed quickly, ignoring the twinges of pain for the sake of speed, and sat back down to finish eating. he returned, and sat next to her again in the same spot as before, selecting a portion of the meat for himself, and looked up when she giggled slightly.

"What is funny, Kagome?"

She blushed slightly, and looked away and down at her plate.

"Only that I just thought that was probably very silly to you. It wasn't like there's anything you haven't already seen."

Sesshomaru nodded, and returned to his meal, fully aware that he had turned away not so much as to preserve her already destroyed modesty, but for his own control. He considered how best to approach her with the results of his night of meditation. He knew the subject would not only be difficult for her to comprehend, but more difficult to accept…but still they remained only solution to the mystery of her. The spells of blood and fire.