InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Incomplete ❯ Chapter 21 ( Chapter 21 )

It was several days before she woke again.

Her eyelids felt heavy, as if there were individual lead weights attached to the end of each lash. Lifting her hands to her face she rubbed them a little which seemed to help and slowly opened them, squinting against the daylight.

Her vision was blurry, but as she blinked away the sleep the palate of colours all around her began to form into recognizable shapes.

It didn't take long to realize that the room and the bed were not her own.

Sesshomaru...

Wearing a hopeful expression she glanced around the room, half expecting to see him there, and felt a surprising pang of disappointment when he wasn't. Dropping her gaze to her lap she noticed for the first time the fresh linen bandages wound tightly around her arms. Though her memory was still hazy, snippets from the night before forced their way into her conscious mind.

She shut her eyes against the images of Yakata and his sword and felt her stomach churn as she remembered the way the blood had looked streaming down her arms. Her shoulders shook along with her head, but she refused to cry. She refused to ever be weak like that again!

It took several moments before her heart and lungs returned to a normal rhythm, but once she opened her eyes they were clear and determined. If she let this drag her down that meant that the bad guys had won, and she was too darn stubborn to admit defeat.

Uttering a heavy sigh, she pushed the covers off her body and shimmied to the edge of the bed where she sat and waited for the spots to fade from her eyes before trying to stand up. It took a few slow, deep breaths and a lot of patience before her vision returned and she was able to stand. Her legs felt wobbly and her knees shook with each careful step she took toward the wardrobe. When she reached its heavy wooden doors she pressed her body up against them for support while she caught her breath.

She felt weaker than a newborn kitten and utterly drained of her energy after barely ten steps. Just how long was I out for? she wondered before a second, darker question invaded her thoughts - How much blood did I lose?

She'd donated blood once before, when the Blue Cross had come to her high school. All her friends had signed up to get out of class, so she had too. Only, it turned out she wasn't so good with the whole seeing blood thing. All it took was walking into the room and seeing bags of blood everywhere for her to promptly collapse to the floor. They'd managed to revive her and she'd stubbornly insisted that she wanted to go through with it, so they'd reluctantly hooked her up to one of the machines. The actual process hadn't been all that bad, but afterward she'd had dizzy spells for days.

As she weakly brushed away the cold sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand she noted that this felt a lot like that other time.

Any normal person would've given up and gone back to bed under such circumstances, but not her. She wasn't normal and she was as stubborn as an ox (or so Inuyasha had liked to tell her). Refusing to give in to something as silly as severe blood loss, she threw on a light robe over of the thin cotton slip someone had dressed her in, and made her way (slowly) to the onsen. She figured a quick bath might help her feel more like herself again and give some of her energy back.

It took longer than expected to reach the small outdoor hut that housed the onsen. Leaning heavily against the door, she pushed it open and let it fall closed behind her. It took a moment to adjust to the dim light inside. The only light came through the small holes in the thatching of the room and a tiny window that'd been cut into the far wall. With a sigh of relief, her fingers went to the knot of her robe and she slowly worked at loosening it. The heat from the natural spring made the air inside the hut thick and musky with a heavy damp mist, but she didn't mind. The pungent aroma of lavender and roses was already clinging to her clothes and saturating her skin with their perfume.

Quickly divesting herself of the robes, she slipped naked into the hot water and let out a grateful sigh. The warmth soothed her aching muscles and cleansed her body of its sick feeling. As she combed out her hair, she caught sight of her bandages and noticed that her wounds had reopened. She tsked when she saw that the blood had already seeped through the linen and begun to trickle down her arm.

Damn! I really should be more careful or else I'll end up passing out in here! She slowly untied the water logged bandages, thinking it might be good if the cuts got some air. Once the bandages were off she instantly wished they were back on. Those weren't just cuts on her arm. Deep gouges had been cut out of her flesh and she instantly felt sick at the sight of them. Shuddering, she swallowed down the remnants of the small breakfast she'd nibbled on before leaving her room.

If Sesshomaru hadn't come when he did, I'd be dead right now. It was a sobering thought and not one she really wanted to dwell on but the quiet atmosphere of the onsen made her thoughtful.

I wonder what he thinks of me? she wondered quietly. Am I a burden?

Her brows knit together as she wrapped her arms around her legs, drawing them into her chest. Her chin rested atop knees while she stared thoughtfully at the door.

Without warning it suddenly burst open, flooding the dimly lit hut with blinding daylight. She squinted, shielding her eyes from the brightness while she tried to make out the face of the figure standing so audaciously in the doorway. Her shoulders relaxed when her eyes focused and recognition clicked over in her brain.

Oh. It's only him.

The unmistakable scent of her blood put his feet in motion.

The panic that suddenly tightened his chest forced him up from the table where he'd been conducting a strategy session with his advisers. Their confused shouts were ignored as the coppery tang grew stronger in his nose and made his stomach clench.

He didn't stop to notice how the scent on the air told him the blood loss was minimal. There was no halting pause when he realized that the unmistakable aura of death did not hang in the air. There were no significant, logical thoughts running through his mind at all when he ripped open the small wooden door to the onsen.

There was only blind action, and it left him looking like a fool.

He found her inside, harmlessly soaking inside the tub.

She stared up at him, with her arms wrapped modestly around her naked form. He took one look at the confusion in her dark eyes and felt the panic subside.

She was alone.

She was alive.

There was no second assassin. There was no pool of blood soaking into the floorboards. There was no reason to panic. No reason to overreact like he had.

He swallowed away the taste of bile in the back of his throat and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. It was a vain attempt to save face. Judging by the odd quirk of her eyebrow, it hadn't been successful.

He averted his eyes from her naked form and tactfully studied the vines bearing large pink flowers that'd crept through a hole in the ceiling. He could feel her eyes on him, her gaze patient and speculative. He wondered if she could hear his heart from where she sat, and the way it continued to thud loudly in his chest.

When her probing gaze didn't relent, he hazarded a glance in her direction, wondering how she'd managed to work her way so deeply into his thoughts with so little effort.

"So...," she hazarded, tilting her head curiously to the side. "What's up?"

She was giving him an out, he realized, offering him the chance to make up a reason for why he'd intruded on her bath only to sit there and not stare at her. She was more perceptive that he'd given her credit for. She was more puzzling too.

He studied her quietly in the cramped space of the onsen, ignoring the way the steam made the silk of his kimono cling to his skin. He answered her question, attempting to sound far more collected than he felt.

"You're doing well, I see."

She nodded and pushed the damp tendrils of hair that clung to her forehead back off her face. She was careful not to move her arm too much for fear of exposing her nakedness to him. Not that it wasn't anything he'd seen before. She was still proud about it though, not that he blamed her.

"I feel a lot better today. Thanks for asking."

She smiled at him, just a small, tight lipped smile, but it was enough to make the steely control he retained over his emotions start to come unhinged.

He shifted uncomfortably under her probing gaze and tried to block out the sound of the blood pounding in his ears. He might not ogle her the way his unrefined half-breed brother would have, but that didn't mean he was blind. He covertly admired her body, even while she tried to hide it from him. She was particularly appealing the way she sat now, looking so innocent with the water beading off of her naked skin. A vision of his tongue licking the water and sweat from the gentle curve of her shoulder suddenly invaded his thoughts and he hastily swallowed the tightness in his throat down.

The perfume of the blossoms in the air was heavy, he realized, and intoxicating. He felt drunk with it already.

It was his turn to speak, but lacking anything substantial to say he instead cleared his throat and offered her a towel. She accepted it with a grateful expression and he listened to the soft rustle of her wrapping it around her body once he'd turned his back. The water splashed quietly as she stepped fully out of the tub and he waited until she'd seated herself on the rim before he turned around once more.

“I never got a chance to thank you...for saving me,” she said softly.

He watched her fingers deftly untangle the knots from her hair as she spoke. Her gaze had become far off, thoughtful. He said nothing for a moment, then closed his eyes while his mind pictured her using those same nimble fingers to graze the length of his chest, then lower to...

The sharp slice of his claws into the flesh of his palm quickly brought those thoughts under control. He hesitated between her and the door, not trusting himself to stay, but not wanting to leave, either.

"You have no need to thank me," he managed. He was completely undeserving of her gratitude.

She stared up at him, mute, no doubt wondering why he was suddenly acting cold and aloof. Things were moving too fast. Every moment he was with her he felt like he was fighting not to lose control. What had she done to him?

“Sesshomaru?” her voice was quiet and pleading. It caught his attention and he fixed his gaze on her, trying not to notice the beads of water that'd been missed by the towel and still clung temptingly to her clavicle.

“Can you help me with my bandages? They came loose in the tub and now...”

She held out an arm to him and he noticed the faint trickle of blood running down the length of her wrist.

Of course. The blood.

His eyes narrowed at the offending gash that sliced lengthwise up the pale skin of her arm and he momentarily silenced the feelings of guilt that he'd begun to associate with her wounds. Words like 'duty', 'failure' and 'consequences' had become his constant companion.

He took a step toward her and that was all it took to bring him within touching distance. The hut wasn't very large at all - far too small, in fact. He was careful to watch his claws against her skin as he pulled her arm closer for inspection. The red gaping wound was ugly and deep, but it would heal cleanly without infection. There would be a scar though, a very noticeable scar, and the knowledge didn't sit well with his pride.

Without much else to use for bandages, he sliced two large strips from her discarded yukata with his teeth and began to wrap the first arm she held out to him. He moved efficiently, quickly considering he only had one arm to work with, but it wasn't nearly fast enough. He could feel her eyes on him, watching him intently.

“I shouldn't have let Yakata go this far,” he muttered, deftly tying the first knot to hold the bandage in place. “I underestimated him.”

A voice inside his head reminded him that even his incompetent half-breed brother had taken better care of her than this. He no longer had any right to think himself superior.

He did his best not to breathe the scent of her in while he worked. The perfume of the flowers was still intoxicating and now that she was out of the water her scent mingled with it. His head was swimming by the time he used his teeth to tie the final knot on her second bandage. He glanced up then, with his hand still around her arm and dared to meet her gaze.

The irresistible pull he felt when her eyes met his caught him off guard. The heated started in the pit of his stomach, small at first, and gradually spread through him in a thunderous rush of fire. It was too strong to fight off with willpower or stubbornness or pride. It held him hostage and drew him in; three hundred years of self denial finally catching up with him.

Her mouth was warm and pliant beneath his and suddenly the details and the voices in his head telling him every way this was wrong didn't matter anymore.

What mattered was the way her damp fingers clawed weakly at the silk of his kimono, wrinkling it beyond repair and the faint, pleasurable gasp that escaped from the back of her throat.

What mattered was the way her body seemed to rise up to melt against him while her tongue wrapped around his, hungry, eager, and far from innocent.

For the moment he could think of nothing but the sweet taste of her mouth, faintly reminiscent of honey and the cup of green tea she'd drunk earlier.

Uttering a soft groan, he sunk his claws deep into her damp hair and levied his thumb beneath her jaw. He gently tilted her head back, exposing the creamy, smooth skin of the underside of her jaw. Giving in to desire, he dragged his tongue across her pale skin, capturing the beads of sweet tasting onsen water he found there.

She smelled of roses from the bath, and faintly, still, of blood.

Blood.

Mortal.

Human.

And that right there was the crux, wasn't it?

With a snarl he pulled away sharply, ignoring the soft whine of protest that left her lips. He noticed the dark, wounded look in her eyes and how they were glazed over with lust. She opened her mouth to speak, no doubt to ask him what was wrong and why he'd stopped. He didn't have an answer, not one to his liking or one she'd want to hear, so he didn't give her the chance.

He was out the door before she could make a sound.

Author's Note: I'm glad you guys are liking these chapters! Things are starting to get steamy :) Please let me know what you think! Your reviews have been amazing as always.