InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust ❯ Precious Poison ( Chapter 3 )

Kagome fisted her hands tightly around a double handful of Sesshomaru's haori, her hair plastered against her forehead with small droplets of sweat. Sesshomaru looked down at her fevered form, and adjusted his one armed hold on the sleeping miko.

They had traveled for nearly six hours when she collapsed, and he was barely by her side in time to keep her still bruised body from hitting the ground. He could tell the moment he touched her that her temperature was higher than it should be, and she seemed to get hotter even as he held her. He sniffed her over gently, and sensed no trace of sickness. Her wounds had begun to heal well, and were not festering - he made a note to change the bandages. It was then that he stiffened and rushed back towards the spring where the carcass of the dead youkai lay, as fast as he could travel with the unconscious Kagome cradled in his arm against his body.

*Poison….*

Kagome dreamt.

**InuYasha smashed through Naraku's barrier with tetsusaiga, but could not manage to strike him with the same blow. Naraku smirked and drew back his hand to let a blast of power strike InuYasha. But he was too concentrated on destroying who he thought was his only opponent, and did not sense Kagome moving up behind him. She placed her hands directly on the skin of back, and he instantly whipped around - but by then it was too late. Kagome sent her purifying miko energy through his body, and watched it dissolve in the violet light and projected from her palms. From where he had been standing, a violent flash of pink radiance exploded outwards, leaving in its wake the completed shikon no tama, resting gently in the palm of her hand. She turned, a bright smile on her face, that faded when she saw InuYasha standing beside Kikyou.

"Inu..InuYasha?"

She was afraid of his smile, and the words that came out of his mouth twisted her heart.

"Give me the jewel, Kagome. You promised it to me."

"Are you going to wish to be full demon, InuYasha? Please don't…you won't be yourself anymore, won't be the hanyou that I…that I love."

InuYasha's cruel smile spread.

"You just never got it, Kagome. I love Kikyou. You are just a flawed copy…and with that jewel, I will wish for her soul to be returned to her, and the copy will go away."

Kagome was too shocked even for tears, and she backed slowly away from him. He cleared the increasing distance between them with a leap, holding out his hand. It was then, when he looked up at her, that she saw the red in his eyes when he spoke those deadly words.

"I don't care if you live or die, bitch…"**

She saw a flash of red eyes, and awoke suddenly and screaming, to find glowing gold eyes peering down at her, instead of the red eyes she had expected to see. There was pain in her side and across her chest, worse than it had been when she awoke that morning. Fire spread from her breathing outwards, and she gasped, pressing her head against Sesshomaru's chest. He looked down at her again, with a note almost of concern in his voice.

"I believe the claws of that youkai may have been poisoned, Kagome. The wounds have not festered, nor are you ill. It is the only explanation."

She nodded and tried to calm her breathing, but her breath came faster despite her efforts, in short sharp gasps. Sesshomaru felt tears hot against his skin through the silk of his haori. His brow furrowed, somewhere between concern and concentration, and he pressed his thumb gently against a point on her neck, and watched as she fell at once into a deep sleep.

*Save the girl some pain.*

He shook his head and growled at himself.

*Better than having her tears on me…*

But his heart for once spoke louder than his cold rationale, and he shifted Kagome so she lay more comfortably against his chest. When he reached the hot spring minutes later, he lay her gently on the ground, and nearly flinched at her pained moan. He felt his youkai begin to rise again, at the sight of the dead bear that had dared to harm his Kagome. He ripped one of its claws out, and watched with a grim satisfaction as a viscous black liquid dripped to the ground and vanished with a hiss. He wrapped the claw in a fragment of cloth, and set off once more - this time for the Castle of the Western Lands.

When Kagome awoke a second time, the fiery pain had mostly subsided, though it was still difficult to move. She could not identify where she was, and thought that perhaps it had all been a dream, until she saw Sesshomaru, sprawled across a futon across the room from where she lay.

Painfully, she sat up, and piled her pillows behind her so she could lean back on them. Sesshomaru awoke at the noise, and looked over at Kagome, noting the expression of pain on her face, but also the absence of fever.

"Is the pain gone?"

She felt gingerly around her fresh bandages, and noticed in one place a slowly widening spot of blood that widened her eyes in near-terror.

"The pain is…there, but bearable. But I think the bandages must be changed, Lord Sesshomaru."

He detected both the change in her scent and the change in her manner, and spoke stiffly, his tone losing even the hint of warmth it had held before.

"They do not need to be changed for several hours, Kagome. I did so as soon as the poison was neutralized."

"Sesshomaru…they are bleeding through."

Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, and awareness hit him hard. He nodded once, quickly, and retrieved new bandages from by her bedside. He slowly and carefully unwrapped the bandages around her chest, and was instantly struck by waves of her scent. His hand shook slightly, and Kagome clutched the edge of her blanket, begging the Gods silently to let him keep control. When he looked up, his eyes were streaked with red, but Kagome saw with relief that they were mostly clear. He motioned for her to sit up, and proceeded to wrap the bandage around her, and tie it off. But Kagome noticed his difficulty with the one handed knot, and placed her hands over his to tie it herself.

From where their hands touched, a violent spark shot up Sesshomaru's spine, and he growled softly, the red in his eyes taking over as he clutched Kagome's hands in his. The same shock flushed through Kagome's body, and she felt the same arousal as before, the same feeling of wanton desire. Sesshomaru looked into her eyes, and saw the blood streaked gaze of a demoness in heat. He growled softly, and felt his arousal become painful when he heard her answering growl, thick with desire. He unwrapped the bandages around her side, and ran his claws gently over the unmarred flesh beneath her wounds, and down her thigh, drawing his tongue over the wounds themselves.

Kagome felt pure lust rolling through her body to his tongue and his claws, and undulated gently, parting her thighs in hopeful suggestion. She shocked herself with her growl, that matched Sesshomaru's. She could feel every beat of her heart, her pulse pounding behind her eyes. She groaned out loud when his tongue followed the path of his claws, and looked down at him, unaware of the youkai in her eyes. Her mind was still her own, possessed of reason she refused to use, but she could not make her body obey. Sesshomaru caught her eyes with his, and pulled the breath from her body with the sheer power of his gaze.

An amber gaze.

He nipped gently at the tender skin at the top of her thigh, and pulled away to wrap the new bandages around the wound, panting. Kagome reached blindly for him when he pulled away, out of control and needing sensation.

"Why…why did you do that, Sesshomaru?"

Her voice was husky and deep, and sent pleasant ripples through his body.

"Because I wanted to."

Confusion returned her eyes to their normal coloring, and she could not speak.

"Get dressed, Kagome. We must talk. There are some things I must explain to you."

As he turned and left, she nodded blankly, and stumbled out of bed looking for clothes. She could not find her bag, or the clothes she had been wearing, and opened the wardrobe that stood across from her makeshift bed. She stared at row upon row of beautifully made silk kimono, and ran her hand along the edge of one. She picked one that shimmered a deep blood red, a single silver vine winding up from hem to neckline and down one sleeve. She could not find a tie for her hair, so she left it down, delighting in the contrast between the black of her long, long hair, and the red of the kimono, and opened the door of the room.

She found herself in a long hallway, made of stone and hung with tapestries depicting scenes of battle between fearsome youkai. One that she stopped before held an image of a great white InuYoukai roaring triumph over the body of a wolf demon of similar size and ferocity.

"That was my father, Lord InuTaisho."

Kagome turned around, and looked up at Sesshomaru, who stood behind her with an odd, disconnected expression on his face.

"He fought the Lord of the South in personal combat in order to prevent a war between the two lands."

Kagome nodded, and pressed his hand gently.

"Your father sounds like he was a noble and wise youkai."

"He was, in most ways. But come - we will go to my library. I have something to explain to you, and I doubt you will accept it without proof."

She cocked her head to the side, and wrapped her small fingers around his larger hand.

"I trust you. But as you wish."

He looked down at their entwined hands, and felt a sudden, unexplainable flush of warmth that lit his eyes. He tugged her along behind him gently, almost teasing, and stopped in front of an enormous set of doors. When he opened them, Kagome looked around in awe. Hundreds of shelves lined with scrolls and strange artifacts filled nearly the entire room, wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Part of the room to the right of the door was filled with scattered chairs and a small table. He took her hand again, and led her to one of the chairs, sitting down across from her.

"Kagome, you are aware of how your blood affects me - even the scent of you with your blood still locked in your veins requires effort to ignore. I was intent upon solving that mystery, and I believe I have done so. This will be much for you to take in, but I believe it would be easier for me simply to tell you quickly."

She nodded, and he continued.

"Kagome…somehow, you are youkai. Not human, but youkai. The only way your demon strengths and demon senses could be hidden from you are through a very powerful pair of spells, the spells of blood and fire. Only a miko-youkai may use these spells, and because such beings are rare, the spells are not well known. They involve the locking of youkai blood within the youkai's miko energy, and they may only be released by one other youkai in the miko's life. Part of the reason the spells are so rare even among those who may use them is this reason - the chances of finding the one youkai who can release the spell are intimidating."

Kagome stared at him open-mouthed, but she did not refuse to accept it. He would not make such a claim without good reason, but…

"How…did you come to this conclusion, Sesshomaru?"

He drew a claw down the uninjured side of her body, and watched her draw a ragged breath, continuing the motion and watching closely until the red returned to her eyes. He reached for a mirror that lay on the table and held it up for her to look in. Kagome saw the red in her eyes, and watched as they cleared. She looked up at Sesshomaru, and when she spoke it was so softly that even he could barely hear her.

"You are my one demon, aren't you, Sesshomaru? Can you undo the spell?"

He blinked, surprised that she was not angry, that she believed him, that she did not wish to stay human…and admitted to himself that he could not predict her actions at all.

"I can, if that is truly what you want."

She looked at him, and caught for the first time a touch of something warm in his normally expressionless face. She screwed up her courage, and reached for his hand again.

"What do you want, Sesshomaru?"

He turned his golden eyes at her, and kissed the center of her palm. She saw a flicker in his eyes she could not explain.

"To keep you…" he whispered, and brushed a claw against her lips.

*What is she doing to me? Kagome…*