InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust ❯ Recollecting Grace (lemon) ( Chapter 18 )

Miroku's head nodded slowly, despite the cold wind on his face from his place on Kirara's back. The fire cat looked over her shoulder at him, and head toward the ground, guided by her sensitivity to the needs of her human companion. He started and caught himself before he slid off her back, and laughed slightly.

"Thanks Kirara….I was about to fall asleep."

She mewed softly and changed into her smaller, less threatening form as Miroku stretched out the aches in his back and legs and collected wood for a fire. Two days of swift flying had eaten up the distance between the castles of West and North, but it definitely was not good for his body. A gradually increasing well of nervousness had begun building in the pit of his stomach since he had crossed the border into the northern lands, and he was well aware that a lone human in unfamiliar youkai territory was easy pray. But the fire was warm, and he was tired, and he pushed his worries aside with an oft practiced mental shove, and ate a quick meal before bed. His eyes closed slowly, and he dreamed of water, that rushed silkily over his body and melted through his skin, take the place of the blood in his veins.

Sango lay exhausted across her bed, and passed a hand tiredly over her eyes. Rin was constantly asking about her Otousan, and she dragged around the castle without her usual laughter. It was only with Shippou's help that she was able to get Rin away from sitting in front of the door to Sesshomaru's bedchamber, still locked tightly shut. Sango had tried to keep the two of them away from that part of the castle, and the inevitable cries and groans, but she knew Shippou's far more sensitive ears could hear more than hers, and she caught him often staring into space and grinning.

He jumped into the room and onto her bed, and she sat up, noticing that he still had the same wide grin. In a short few minutes of disturbing conversation she discovered to her surprise and chagrin that he knew exactly what was going on, but he shrugged off the knowledge.

"Youkai are different than humans - we learn things earlier. Most of it is instincts, things we can't really control, especially with a mate in heat. `Tousan is…sort of like InuYasha was when he transformed - not really in control of himself. Something about her scent. I can smell it too, its heavier than it usually is…but it doesn't affect me, `cause she's my `Kaasan, and I'm too young. The only person it will really affect is `Tousan, because they're mates."

Sango felt a sudden fear for Kagome, and her eyes widened slightly as she tried to hide it from the kit.

"Like…InuYasha? But all InuYasha ever wanted when he transformed was to kill!"

"I said like InuYasha…its not the same thing. InuYasha wanted to kill, `Tousan wants to mate with her."

Sango's cheeks flushed hotly at the casualness in his tone, but she didn't have a choice - there were no other youkai for her to ask, and even if he was just a child, he seemed to know what he was talking about.

"Shippou, do you know how long this…heat…lasts for?"

He shrugged again.

"Depends on the youkai. Usually just a few days, or `til she's pupped."

"Pupped?"

"Yep. Youkai females can only get pregnant during their heat. Didn't `Tousan tell you?"

She shook her head.

"He said something about an heir, but…he didn't ask Kagome if she wanted children…pups."

Shippou looked at the distressed demon exterminator and bounced up to her shoulder.

"Course she wants pups….he's her mate, and its safe, and he'll protect her. `Tousan said he was going to train me and Rin, so we can help protect Okaasan!"

Sango forced a smile and took quick advantage of the change in topic to get him away from the subject of mating.

"What kind of training, Shippou?"

"'Tousan said I need to get stronger, so I can keep my illusions longer and make my foxfire more powerful. There's lots of things a kitsune can do….I don't know many of them though, my real Otousan didn't have time to…to teach me."

Sango lifted the kit from her shoulder to hold him against her chest, and she looked down at him worriedly.

"You have a new Otousan now Shippou, and I know he's bad at showing it, but he cares a lot for you."

Shippou looked back at her with a tear-stained face.

"But what about when he has his own pups…'Kaasan won't need another son then…will she still want me? And what about Rin?"

"Of course she will! You may not be able to inherit by law, but you will always be her eldest son. Never fear for that."

He nodded and snuggled against her chest.

"And Rin too?"

She smiled.

"Rin too."

"Let's find her and make her play! Should I tell her about `Tousan? I think she is sad because she doesn't understand about mating…I don't think she knows what mating is."

"I think you should tell her that Sesshomaru will be…available…in a day or so, and leave it up to him or Kagome to explain anything else. Remember Shippou, she is human."

He nodded.

"But we still have to find her and try to cheer her up!"

He tugged her by her hand down the stairs.

Kagome tightened her hands in Sesshomaru's hair, and her body convulsed under him. The room was a mess, silk torn and hanging, stained with blood. The scent of her heat was thick and clung to her skin like oil, and her skin was hot and pink, its normal ivory tones dispelled by the flooding rush in her body and the touch of his hands. His breathing was harsh in her ears, and he thrust deeply into her, repeating the cycle of days, holding her writhing body still under him. Her face was anguished in pleasure, and he welcomed her cries with low growls. Her claws raked his back, and opened older scratches but recently healed.

Sesshomaru growled and dragged his fangs across her oversensitive nipples, nipping just hard enough to taste blood and pulling away. He had teased her for hours this way, making her scream, and her screams shook his ears. He sank his fangs into his mark on her, and she tensed, and unexpectedly he felt her find her mark with her teeth. The same sharing as before overwhelmed his senses, and the results of his teasing burned its way across his body as he had burned it into hers. Her climax struck him, forced his own, and the waves of pleasure rippled between them. A haze of white light filled Kagome's awareness, but before it stole her consciousness her soul connected completely with Sesshomaru's, and both felt within her the spark of new life. She went limp in his arms, and he stared down at her with crimson eyes that slowly faded back to amber. He gathered her close to him and felt the exhaustion of the past few days overwhelm him, and he fell into an untroubled sleep.

In the morning when Kagome opened her eyes, she found him already awake, staring down at her and smiling.

"Good morning, my mate."

She blushed violently and looked around her at the mostly destroyed room.

"Did…did I do all that?"

He laughed.

"I am not certain which of us did what, my mate, but it is to be expected."

"How often is that going to happen to me, Sess-chan?"

He brushed her bangs out of her eyes and kissed her until the worry faded from them.

"There are years between heat and head my mate, and for good reason."

She smiled brilliantly, and her hands covered his, resting gently on her waist.

"You'll have my pup, my mate."

She giggled.

"What is funny, Kagome?"

"I always thought that I'd have children one day, but I can't say I ever thought about pups."

He looked at her carefully.

"What is the difference?"

She kissed him and her eyes were soft pools of warm silver.

"There isn't any, any more."

She sat up slowly and shook out her hair, and it shone in a lustrous pile on the bed behind her, tempting him, and he did not resist but lifted the heavy, soft length and ran his claws through it, untangling the mussed strands. She growled low and softly, an Inu-purr, and relaxed into his gentleness.

"We should find Shippou and Rin my mate…they will need an explanation."

She giggled drowsily.

"The stork."

He looked at her quizzically.

"The stork?"

Her giggle opened into a laugh.

"A kind of bird. In my time, sometimes parents who don't know how to tell their child how they came to have a sibling will tell a story about a bird - the stork - bringing the new baby from the sky."

He nodded.

"Wise for human children, but I will be surprised if Shippou does not know most of this already, and Rin…Rin is old enough, I think, even for a human."

Kagome nodded and leaned farther back against his chest.

"Then I suppose we had best get dressed."

He stood and stretched, and she watched him dress lazily, engaging her eyes in watching the smooth interplay of muscles under his skin. He opened the wardrobe, and she padded over to stand behind him.

"Sess-chan?"

"Wear this, koi."

She gasped in surprise, and touched the soft silk he held out to her with the fingers of one hand.

"Its…beautiful. Why today, Sess-chan?"

He helped her dress in the deep blue silk of the kimono, and silver embroidery shimmered around a mosaic mother of pearl inu youkai, that lay in great dog form curled around the hem of the kimono as though around her feet. He tied it with a silver obi, and pulled aside the length of her hair, kissing the back of her neck.

"You are the mother of my pups. Every day will be like this for you now."

She touched the beautiful fabric with one hand, and looked at him sideways.

"Why now?"

"You were not properly the Lady of the West until you bore an heir…and that you will do now."

She smoothed the silk across her thighs, and looked up at him with shining eyes.

"We'll have to tell Miroku and Sango and -"

"Houshi-Miroku may not be here for some time, my mate. He is traveling to the Northern Lands in order to inform Lord Kinawai that the council must be summoned. Something must be done about those dragons, especially now that you're pupped."

She sighed deeply.

"I'd forgotten…what will the council do?"

"They must enforce their own laws, or lose all effectiveness, and that means the four lands must war together on the dragon clan. It will be a bloody battle, but brief, and one you will not participate in."

She glared at him.

"I -"

"You are carrying my pup. I will risk no harm to either of you. It is my job as your mate to protect you, Kagome…let me do what I am meant to do."

Her eyes softened, and she nodded.

"Let's go find Sango and the children…there is time yet before we need worry about this. Traveling with the fire-cat, Houshi-Miroku should reach the Northern Lands sometime today, and it will take time before summons to council can be sent out."

She nodded, and pushed her worry from her mind, but still her heart forewarned that there was a piece missing somewhere from this puzzle of dragon clan and royal inu youkai. The found Sango and Shippou in the library, and Sesshomaru promptly plucked the kit out of the air as he leapt to throw his arms around Kagome.

"You will be careful with your Okaasan, Shippou. She carries my pup now, and you will have to help me protect her until your sibling is born."

Shippou nodded as best he could suspended in the air, and Sesshomaru put him down carefully on the floor. Sango was not so easy to restrain, and she laughed and hugged her friend. Kagome giggled at the look on Sesshomaru's face.

"Don't worry Sess-chan, I'm not going to break…though I think you might. How are you going to live with another child, Sess-chan? Are you sure you won't go a little crazier?"

He slid his hands into the arms of his haori and glared at her.

"I have been `a little crazier' since I mated a particular miko, my Kagome. But it is not so bad."

"Hmph."

Sango and Shippou exchanged a glance and laughed, and the sound drew Rin, who ran in spilling several of her ever-present flowers onto the floor, and held tightly to Sesshomaru's legs.

"Otousan!"

The glimmer of tenderness reappeared in his eyes, and he reached down and awkwardly picked her up.

"Have you been good, Rin?"

She nodded frantically, and a beaming smiled planted itself on her face.

"Rin was very good, `Tousan!"

He chuckled and reached into his sash, and retrieved a small golden comb and handed it to her.

"This is for you, Rin, but you must be very careful with it. It belonged to my Okaasan."

Her eyes went wide, and she clutched the small comb happily.

"Rin will be very careful, `Tousan! Thank you!"

He looked over at Kagome and Sango, who were examining Kagome's new kimono.

"I have not had a family before."

Kagome smiled.

"And?"

"I think I might like it."

Sango smiled, happy for them, and walked over the balcony that looked over the gardens. The wind was slightly chill, but the sunset was beautiful, and she looked out over it with sad and longing eyes.

*Miroku…*

Short note cause the last one was long! Yay Miyumi and Orb! Yay for nonviolent stalkers! Please review!