InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Invitations to Trouble ❯ It All Started With A Kiss.. ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter Seventeen

After leaving Kenami by her bedroom, Kouga backtracked out of the caves and down to the river where she had been at earlier. 'The place where we first met.' he thought fondly. Quickly shucking the fur and armor from his body, he dove right into the turgid waters.

Reveling in the sensation of the cool water rushing against his heated skin, Kouga surfaced a short distance further down. As he stood up after reaching a shallow spot, droplets of water sluiced down his chiseled body in thin rivulets.

Coupled with the refreshing breeze that caressed him, it managed to bank some of the desire raging through his enflamed mind. Taking a deep breath before dunking his head back under, he resurfaced and pushed a majority of the water from his face with an easy grin.

'I definitely needed that.'

As he took a seat in one of the natural depressions formed by eddies in the current, Kouga tried to relax and calm his pounding heart.

He'd kissed her!

Absently licking his lips as though he could still taste a lingering sweetness there, he roughly pushed his hands deeply into his hair in frustration. The feeling of irritation doubled when a claw got tangled in the sodden mass. While those same hands quickly tugged on the leather band still binding the wet strands together, he wondered if he might have moved too fast?

Rubbing his hands over his chest and stomach, he frowned in thought. 'It isn't like we haven't done anything together before, it's just that ever since she told me what happened to her I'm not sure how to approach her anymore. Normally I would just say or do what I want without having to worry about it, but I don't want to hurt her.' Recalling the look of terror on Kenami's face when he'd asked to come inside with her, Kouga knew without a doubt that his usual tactics wouldn't work this time.

With a short curse, he shook his head sharply to remove most of the water from his hair before letting it settle down and spill over his broad shoulders. 'Damn, I wish I knew what happened to her back then.'

}

Waking up in a healer's bed several hours after the woman he'd taken as a mate nearly knocked him through a tree, Kouga immediately sent a number of wolves out after her. Knowing that she couldn't be tracked by scent alone, he gave a detailed description of what she looked like instead, making sure to stress the fact that she'd been marked as his.

Tsuki almost choked to death on the words he dare not say aloud over that bit of news.

"You did what sir?" Nearly growling, the large man glared down at his feet rather than his prince. "That woman trespassed on your lands, assaulted your pack and injured you. How could reward someone that disrespectful with the honor of being your mate?"

Unconcerned by the concealed heat in the question, Kouga scratched his arm and gave an order to some of the other pack members to round up the wolves and immediately bathe them. Having successfully accomplished one task, the prince turned to face Tsuki squarely.

"I took her as a mate exactly because she did all of those things!" Scanning the scowling man from head to toe, he motioned for him to take a seat. "We're fighters and hunters by nature, so battling other youkai is nothing new for us right?" Seated nearby, Mimo and Intu nodded in agreement but Tsuki continued staring at the floor without comment.

"This woman took on three guys who are some of the strongest ookami in the all of the Northern Lands and defeated you on her own! How could I not take her as a mate?"

Visibly bristling under the reminder of that humiliation while fingering the cast still wrapped around his broken arm, Tsuki cut off the snarl that threatened to escape from his lips.

"But sir, she's not even a wolf. She's a dog!"

Kouga crossed his arms confidently and gave a knowing smirk "I know. That's what makes having her as a mate even better. If I have her then that means no other fucking inu youkai can bed her. The pups she bears might be mixed, but they'll be one step closer to wolves than any dog could ever dream of being!" Giving a short laugh, Kouga nodded his head slowly. "Hell, if even half the ookami took inu youkai as mates, we could probably wipe out those dogs in no time."

Once again, Into and Mimo acquiesced with their prince's logic before making ready to leave in order to join in on the search. Tsuki left with them as well, but not without a few sour thoughts about the woman who would soon be his new pack mate.

For weeks after the order was issued, both the two and four-legged ookami prowled across the lands of the north, some even going so far as the outskirts of Yamatsu's territory in their efforts to find the missing girl. Once, Kouga got news of a woman staying alone in a cabin on the mountainside who matched the description he had given.

Racing there as quickly as possible to confirm the story, he was greatly disappointed when he arrived near there the following morning. The young woman who strolled out of the rustic structure had black hair instead of the white he'd been hoping for.

Understandably, he'd gone back to the den and pounded the bearer of the false tidings into the ground.

Strangely enough, it was the person who had spotted her in the first place that found the missing girl again.

Panting harshly as he ran into the den, Ginta went straight to his friend and babbled excitedly about a weird blood scent suddenly appearing at the foot of the mountains.

"Are you sure about this?" Recalling how the girl had seemed to have no smell at all, Kouga still went with Ginta since it was the first lead that had sprang up in some time.

The eager young ookami excitedly bobbed his head in a way that made the prince fear it would fly off. "Yeah! Hakkaku is down there now to make sure that whatever might be in the cave can't get away or something."

Astounded by the display of good sense hidden behind the open face, Kouga opted to follow his nose to Hakkaku rather than wait on the winded ookami beside him. With a parting grin to Ginta, he raced on ahead to where the other half of the duo was waiting. His sudden appearance nearly startled the inattentive youkai out of his wits.

"Geez Kouga! I almost bit my tongue off because of you!" Placing a hand over his chest, Hakkaku took a breath to calm himself. As fond as the prince was of the person he saw as a little brother, Kouga wasn't in the mood for games or niceties.

"Where the fuck is the blood scent coming from?" Blue eyes narrowing in exasperation, he glanced around the sparsely wooded area as though the answer would jump up and down just for him. Sensing that now was not the time to dawdle, the Mohawk-styled youkai crooked a finger past his shoulder.

"Before it vanished, the scent was coming from over there behind the shrub that marks the entrance to an old badger den." Whispering in a strangely conspiratorial tone, Hakkaku indicated a bush that looked as though it had been viciously attacked by rabid beavers.

"That's where the blood trail sometimes comes from." By this time, Ginta had finally caught up with his prince so he was right on time to get rapped on the head just like his best friend.

Scowling down at the two men, Kouga yelled in frustration. "You two dragged me all the way down here for a dead badger?! I ought to knock your heads in for wasting my time like this!" With a half-hearted snort, he approached the bush and easily ripped it out the ground. "At least we might get dinner out of this or something."

Mind made up as he shimmied into the opening, Kouga noted that the den became quite roomy past the entrance. 'Must have been a youkai.' he mused, 'No normal badger would need a den this big.' Sensitive nostrils flared sharply at the old smells and odors that were stirred up by his feet as he walked further in.

'I don't smell what those two idiots were going on about. It just reeks of badger farts down here.' About to leave and fulfill his threat of delivering cranial cave-ins, Kouga stopped when he heard a muffled noise.

'What the hell was that?' Opening his heightened senses to their max, he heard furtive shuffling noises coming from somewhere at the very rear of the burrow. Quietly moving towards the sound, he caught a faint whiff of something rank but it vanished before he could identify it clearly. 'That was not badger farts.'

Still mindful not to make any noise, Kouga crept around a shallow bend in the wall that passed for a corner in order to get a good look at whatever was back there. When he saw the person laying there, he rushed forward into the heart of the den and screamed for Ginta and Hakkaku to go get a healer.

Without a word the two raced off to do what their panicked friend had asked.

Back inside the earthy bubble, Kouga mourned silently at what he saw before him.

Partially sitting up in a pile of dirty straw and rags, the sickly creature glared back at him with fever-bright eyes. When Kouga tried to touch her, she lashed out with a dirt-crusted claw and growled weakly at him. Coiling up as far away from the ookami as she could get, the now found girl glared vehemently at him through the limp strands of her once pale hair. The movement dislodged a wad of the mud-streaked mass and revealed a badly healing wound on the curve of her neck.

Guilt shot through Kouga when he saw the festering hole.

'Oh shit, did I do that?' Because of the way his youki nature had taken over his body the night he'd marked the girl sitting before him, he honestly couldn't remember what he had actually done. The only proof that he'd even had of marking her was the taste of blood in his mouth when he had woken up the following morning.

"Come on koi. I won't hurt you." Wincing as his voice echoed oddly in the hovel despite how softly he whispered, Kouga inched slowly towards her. The growling intensified.

"Don't be like that. Come with me. Come on." Inch by inch, he got closer to her until another vicious swipe made him back up.

'Shit, this is not working.'

Scrabbling noises and the herb-laden tang to the sudden gust of air behind Kouga signaled that Ginta had returned with the healer. The person who came around the bend was an older man who appeared to just be reaching his prime. Small and wiry for his age, he wore a tawny pelt that marked him as one of the few remaining members of the golden wolf tribe.

Squatting down on his haunches a short distance from the pair, Hoken shook his head sadly.

"Demon's balls Kouga, you seriously fucked this up didn't you?" Brisk and practical, the slight ookami pulled a carefully bundled sack from his shoulder and opened it quickly. "If you wanted to kill her, why didn't you just bite the front of her neck so she could have bled out already? It would have been a lot kinder, trust me!"

Flushing guiltily, Kouga snarled low at the impudent youkai. "Look you idiot! Can you help her or not!?"

Pale gray eyes slid contemptuously towards the dark-haired youth as Hoken smirked. "Listen, if you think you can save her without me Kouga then be my guest. I have other patients to look after." Moving as though he was preparing to leave, Hoken fought not to grin when the prince growled in warning.

"How well do you think you can practice medicine without your arms Hoken?" Blue eyes flashed dangerously as the healer turned at the question, "Because I swear that if you try to leave without helping her, I will pull them off one at a time and beat you to death with them!"

For a moment, the healer was taken back by the passionate declaration. "Attached to her are we?" Now the youkai did smile as he pushed aside his mousy brown hair. "That's all I really wanted to know."

Alternately pulling sturdy clay jars and various pouches from the sack, Hoken ignored the confused look he was getting. "If you had only wanted me to heal her so you could interrogate a healthy prisoner, I'd have poisoned you myself and helped her escape." The gray eyes became flinty as they zeroed in on Kouga.

"After all, you are Gorotsuki's heir."

"I'm nothing like that asshole!" Too late, Kouga realized what he'd just said aloud. 'Shit. If he tells that bloated old fuck, I'll be lucky to survive.' Before he could think of something to cover his error, Hoken held up a restraining hand.

"Uh-uh. Don't worry about it. There's no love lost between me and your father so I won't say anything to him." Standing up, the healer walked towards the disheveled girl and unceremoniously tossed a handful of powder straight into her face. As a spastic coughing fit seized her, Kouga snatched Hoken's arm and shoved him roughly against the wall.

"What the fuck did you just do to her?!"

To his surprise, the smaller man laughed as though he'd just heard a really good joke. Infuriated, Kouga bared his fangs to signify that he wasn't amused in the least. Each word that fell from his lips backed up the mounting fury written across his face.

"What did you do to her?"

Hoken gave another laugh at the sight and patted the younger man affectionately on the head, garnering another guttural snarl. "Well, unless you wanted me to knock her the hell out in order to treat her, I thought a sleeping potion might be a more humane approach." Pointing at the now slumbering girl, the healer didn't bother suppressing his grin. "Don't you agree?"

Releasing his grip on the sallow fur, Kouga scowled at the man who somehow managed to make him feel like a pup. 'Smart-ass doctor.'

"Okay, so maybe it was a good idea." Still baring a fang at the other man, Kouga tried to re-establish his waning dominance in the situation by pointing a sharp finger at Hoken.

"Just don't expect me to get all grateful or nothing and next time tell me what you're going to do first!" Annoyed as he might be with the irksome man's superior attitude, Kouga had to admit that Hoken was an exceptional healer.

Right before the watchful blue eyes, nimble hands flew as the ookami checked on the grievous wound and muttered the mysterious names of herbs and plants needed to treat her under his breath. Kouga would not have dreamed of voicing a single objection to the waves of learned wisdom pouring off of Hoken a that moment, if not for one thing.

The healer tried to remove the girl's clothes.

}

Reclined and fully relaxed against the rocks behind him as the crisp water rushed over his body, Kouga scratched the back of his head.

"Okay. Maybe socking the hell out of him wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she was my woman! What did he expect?"

}

On the floor and spitting out a few loose teeth that would be re-grown within a few hours, the felled man took an opportunity to glare at his attacker who was jealously clutching the patient.

"Were you born stupid, or do you have to work extra hard everyday just to perfect that particular talent?!" Fingering his jaw with a wince, Hoken folded his arms as he yelled. "Why the hell did you hit me?"

"Hands off the clothes!"

Holding his mate tighter, Kouga knew that he was probably coming off as feral as some of the hated rogue ookami packs that regularly prowled through the lowlands, but he hadn't counted on the way that just being near the girl would make it hard for him to think clearly.

Alternately panting and growling warnings when Hoken ventured too close, Kouga couldn't seem to get his mind past the quagmire of its baser instincts.

'Let him do his job.'

'My mate. My woman. Mine!'

'She'll die if he doesn't treat her.'

'Mine! Mine! MINE!'

When his hand brushed against the swollen flesh near her neck, the object of his single minded obsession gave a plaintive mewl of pain. At the sound, Kouga felt the back of his eyes and throat prickle in warning.

'Let her go, let her go.' Chanting the phrase over and over, he slowly loosened his hold on the unresisting body while managing to choke out a plea.

"Take her. Now."

Sensing that his friend might not be acting with full control of himself, Hoken decided to approach the situation with a touch of the diplomacy and understanding that he had gleaned from years of helping others with pain and suffering.

Without a second thought, he tossed a handful of sleep dust right in Kouga's startled face.

}

Scrubbing his body and hair until both were cleaned to his satisfaction, Kouga climbed from the river and stretched out naked on the cool grass to dry. Remembering the smirking face that had greeted him back then when he had finally woken up, the young man muttered unhappily into his folded arms.

"Someday, I hope that Hoken runs into another golden wolf youkai and that it's a beautiful woman." Closing his eyes, he tacked an amendment onto the supposed blessing.

"Then I hope she castrates his ass."

}

"Kouga."

Groaning and clutching his head, Kouga tried to ignore the persistent voice calling his name. "Fuck off."

"I love you too, now get up."

Wondering why the voice sounded so familiar, Kouga cracked one eye open only to experience a moment of blind panic when he encountered darkness. 'Where am I?' Bolting upright, the prince smacked his head against a low-hanging root and fell back with a curse as dislodged dirt trickled up his nose. From off to the side of him, someone chuckled with evident relish as he sneezed fitfully.

Suddenly, everything fell into place.

Acting purely on instinct, his hands tried their best to wrap themselves around Hoken's throat in order to choke the laughter right out of the man. They fell short of their goal when an odd sense of lethargy pervaded the youth's limbs and made it nearly impossible to keep them aloft.

'What did he do to me? I feel weird.'

Another chuckle from the healer greeted the confused frown that must have been evident on his face. "Did you honestly think I would wake you up completely after the way you were behaving before I put you to sleep? Give me some credit Kouga."

"I'll give you a lot more than credit when I get my strength back…"

Still wearing that knowing smirk, Hoken squatted by Kouga's head. "If you sweet talked her that way then it's no wonder you had to bite her to keep her from getting away. What girl could possibly resist your smooth and manly charms?" The sarcasm was lost as his words brought back the rest of Kouga's memory as well.

"Where is she? Is she okay? Could you help her?" Two surprisingly strong arms restrained the eager youkai as he fought the last vestiges of the drug.

"Whoa!" Real concern shone from the smoky gray eyes watching Kouga. "She's fine for now, but I need you to help me tend to a few more things for her. Okay?"

Instantly compliant, Kouga stopped resisting and listened. His sight was finally coming back as the youki within him burned the last remaining traces of the foreign substance away. Glancing around the burrow he saw that his mate was still sleeping peacefully, but now she was resting on a bed of fresh straw.

However, she herself was still a bit dingy.

Scooting over to the resting girl's side on rubbery legs, Kouga touched her face gently. 'How long was I out if Hoken had time to do all of this?' he wondered as he noted that not only was the fetid straw gone, much of the musty smell within the confined space had been aired out as well.

'I guess it must have been a while.'

A calm voice behind him interrupted his thoughts, "I cleaned as much of her as I could without risking the loss of more dental work when you woke up kid. Scrubbing the rest of your princess is up to you."

Indicating a steaming bucket and some rags, Hoken packed up his herbs and slung the bag over his shoulder. "I'll be back tomorrow to check up on you both so she'll be completely in your hands tonight." The suggestive note that crept into those last words brought a bright flush to Kouga's face.

Walking slowly towards the entrance, Hoken continued to call out instructions. "My first order as her doctor is to scrub her down so that she doesn't accidentally re-infect that wound. My second order is for you to get off your lazy ass and hunt your mate down some food! I don't think she's eaten properly for a while." That humorous light came back to the smoke-gray eyes right before the healer departed.

"My third order is the easiest of all." After looking at the sleeping girl kindly for a moment, he speared Kouga with a hard look.

"Ask her what her name is idiot!"

}

Dried to his satisfaction, Kouga gathered his discarded clothes together and swore softly when he realized that he'd forgotten to bring a fresh set. 'I always did get a little forgetful around Kenami.' The knowledge made him smile at his own short-comings.

Seeing no help for it, Kouga loped up the slope towards the small cave that he'd told her about earlier.

'Well, if I want to use it for our den, I think I should test it out before I bring her to it.' Pleased with the logic, he ran through the darkened woods towards his goal while keeping an ear out for any intruders.

Coming to the small cave, Kouga slipped inside and made himself comfortable on the bed of straw he had secreted there in anticipation of Kenami's arrival. As he closed his eyes, he did concede to one thing.

"Hoken was right. I really should have gotten her name."

{}

Settling down for bed leagues away from her beloved, Kenami was musing upon that distant night as well. Properly fed and bathed, the little girl she'd rescued was currently tucked under her chin as though it was the most natural place in the world to be.

'Poor child. You never did tell me your name.' Kenami thought sadly. Indeed, through the better part of the night, the little girl had only watched her benefactor with huge brown eyes. The only time she had smiled was when the two-headed dragons got into a huffing match with one another about having to stop.

Kenami rolled her eyes as an occasional snort still rang through the night. 'Silly things.' Wrapping a comforting arm around the sleeping body, she reflected that stubbornness could work both ways.

}

The pain that had plagued Kenami for weeks was gone. Instead, a reasonably tolerable ache had been left behind in its place. Opening her eyes, Kenami recognized the burrow she'd been hiding in for weeks, but it seemed different somehow.

'There's no smell.' That was the first thing that made an impression upon her. Before the pain in her shoulder had become more than she could stand, Kenami had kept the small space quite tidy and neat. But as the days after she'd been bitten had passed, the wound had refused to close properly and the agony of moving around had slowly become too much to take.

After two weeks of crawling in and out of the abandoned den to forage for sustenance in the form of nuts and roots, both Kenami's health and appearance had taken visible turns for the worst.

A week past that, she'd been making due with scant mouthfuls of water sucked straight from the damp earth around her. Grubs here and there had provided some nourishment, but not enough to help her wasted body stave off a massive infection. Even in the most lucid moments of those fevered days, Kenami had believed in her heart that she was going to die.

Her only regret had been that she would never get to see her mother again.

Filthy, exhausted and so hungry that she could no longer recall the taste of food, Kenami had bid one last farewell to her distant parent before closing her eyes in surrender.

Then the bastard who'd bitten her showed up.

Not only showed up, he also brought a friend who had thrown some weird smelling powder in her face. Fighting off the effects of the dust as long as she could, the weakened Kenami had finally passed out. In a hazy world wavering between dreams and unconsciousness, she realized that the pain that had been such a large force in her life until then, was going away.

That's when she opened her eyes and saw her savior.

Kouga.

The one who'd kissed and bitten her that night so long ago and drove her to this wretched state was her rescuer? Irony had never seemed so apt as that moment.

'If he tries to kiss me again, I'll bite him in the neck and I won't let go until he's dead!' Despite the vehement thought, Kenami tried to figure out what he was going to do with that bucket beside him.

Her answer came sooner than she thought when without shame or hesitation, the ookami reached down and started to undress her!

It is amazing what a firm sense of propriety can drive one to do.

}

Smiling easily at the memory of Kouga wearing the bucket over his head, Kenami stifled a laugh so as not to awaken the little girl. 'He really should have ducked!'

}

"Eat."

"Not on your life."

"It's not my life that depends on it woman, now eat!!"

Ruby dark eyes glared up at her imposed nursemaid while Kenami made plans to escape just as soon as her legs could support her. The failed attempt at going to bathe herself had alerted the recovering girl to her own weakness.

"There is no way I am taking food from an insane man who runs around kissing and biting women for no reason!"

'Not to mention undressing them without their permission!' The bath had finally been achieved, but not without heated curses from both parties. 'Kissing fool, gnawing ninny and peeping tom! What endearing qualities youkai nobility instills in their children.'

Tipping her nose disdainfully in the air, Kenami tried to ignore the way her mouth watered at the sight of the lightly roasted haunch of deer meat.

'Go away so I can eat, you psycho!' Still pretending that the desperate gurgling noises coming from her stomach were in no way audible, Kenami resolutely laid down in bed and pretended to go to sleep.

After a moment, that cocky voice interrupted her farce.

"I know you're not asleep woman, so quit being stubborn and eat the fucking food! If your stomach growls any louder, the whole damned wolf pack will come down here looking for the horde of demons that it sounds like!" Grabbing the un-bandaged shoulder in a firm but gentle grip, Kouga thrust a strip of meat in her startled face.

"Now eat!"

Seeing no other way out, she grudgingly took the offered food. As she fought not to gobble it all in one gulp, Kenami shot furtive glances at the smirking youkai. 'Smug, insufferable idiot.' Her initial assessment wasn't swayed by his next statement.

"That wasn't so hard now was it? If you just do what I say, you'll see that I can take care of you."

Kenami didn't bother gaping at him, mainly because that would have kept her mouth from chewing on another tasty piece of meat. But she did give him the incredulous look his statement warranted.

'He's kidding, right? Did he somehow miss the fact that I'm like this because he seems to develop an unhealthy oral fixation with strange women who happen to wander into his territory?' Swallowing the second piece quickly, she took a third before responding.

"So I should thank you for taking care of me after you put me here? If that's your idea of taking care of someone, I'd rather be your enemy." Mouthing her scathing reply around a fourth strip, Kenami continued her uninterrupted glaring.

"I bet they must all be as healthy as horses and living like kings."

Taken back a bit by the less than grateful words, Kouga gave a scowl of his own.

"Well if you would have just sat still it wouldn't have hurt!"

Disbelief was the look of the day for Kenami. "That other guy was right. You must have to work very hard to be this stupid." Absently touching the thick padding covering her shoulder, she fought a sudden fit of tears as her tail flicked angrily.

"What the hell makes you think getting bitten by a madman would have hurt any less if I'd have sat still like a good little doggie?!" Over the course of her tirade, Kouga had edged back a bit. Searching blindly across the floor near her bedding, Kenami located a rock and tossed it at him with dead-eye accuracy.

Letting loose a high yelp as he grabbed his head, Kouga heard his new mate say nastily, "You should have sat still Kouga. Then it wouldn't have hurt!"

}

One second from drifting off to sleep, the call of nature shook Kenami awake with a trumpet. Scooting away from her charge, she patted her mount to assure it that all was well as she tried to find a nice bush.

'At least this time I'm doing it on my own.'

}

Kenami guessed that two steady days of unbroken silence had to be a record for Kouga. The conclusion had been drawn mainly because he did it so poorly, keeping up a steady rumble of displeasure despite never saying actual words to her. Watching as the scowling youkai brought her another meal of roasted venison in stony silence, she wondered if an apology might be in order.

'Yeah right. I'll apologize when a troupe of monkeys perform the tea ceremony dressed like geishas.' Shivering under another chilly glance from those deep blue eyes, she seriously considered starting her own simian dance class.

'If he just wasn't so pig-headed, he'd actually be kind of cute.' Nibbling on a slice of meat, she saw that when Kouga crouched down to attend the small fire that provided warmth to the hollow, the furry edge of his wrap rose up dangerously. Food momentarily forgotten, she couldn't seem to stop her traitorous eyes from following the flexing line of his thighs up to what promised to be a memorable backside.

'If he leans forward a bit more, then I actually could see his…what the hell am I thinking?!'

Blushing furiously at the sight, Kenami averted her gaze and admitted that he might be cute enough on his own. 'He's still pig-headed though.' she thought while patting her heated cheeks. Unaware of the girl's musings, Kouga stood and went to the front of the burrow to get more meat. Tossing her a look that told her to stay put, he disappeared around the corner.

Kenami gave a sigh of relief.

'I shouldn't be looking at his butt, I should be trying to figure out a way to escape from this madman!' She knew that running was out of the question. Her legs still felt far too watery to depend on. 'And there is no chance that he'll let me wander off even if I could walk properly.'

Sighing as she worked on more plausible means of escape from her "mate", Kenami drank some of the mildly nutty tea that the healer had left for her. 'Hoken was his name I think. I hope he comes by soon. At least he knows how to have a civil conversation.'

Honestly, Kouga wasn't that difficult to talk to, back when he had actually been talking to her. If she ignored the grandiose claims of being a chosen mate, he sometimes let very intelligible things fall out of his mouth.

'Cute legs, cute mouth, cute rear end. How come he doesn't have a mate already?' Nibbling on another strip, Kenami tried to fathom the reasons for the ookami's apparent bachelorhood.

'He does have a nice face. Rugged without looking like a chunk of rock, boyish without looking immature. Actually quite handsome altogether.' Taking another sip of the tea, she still hadn't come up with a physical flaw.

'The blue eyes are a nice touch. Not dark enough to be mistaken for black or so pale that they would look odd. Blue as a secret lagoon that wants to draw you in and hold you captive with its untamed beauty.'

She blinked.

"No, no, no! Where on earth did that come from? Untamed beauty?" Shaking her head carefully so she wouldn't disturb the swath of bandages on her shoulder, Kenami gave herself a bolstering mental slap. 'He bit you! He kissed you for no reason other than a male one! He's not cute!!!' Trying to reaffirm that opinion, she racked her double-crossing and obviously exhausted mind for anything to discredit the wolf prince.

'He's a meat-eater.' Staring down at the roasted slice in her hand, she scratched that one. 'Um, he wears fur?' A silver tail brushed against her ankle so she tossed that one as well. 'He bit me?' Both the bandages and very attentive care that Kouga had showered upon her marked that he was well and truly apologetic about that.

'He's a wolf?'

She was a dog. Basically close enough in compatibility that she knew mating wouldn't be an problem.

'Who said anything about m-m-mating?' she wondered nervously. Obviously the thought must have been secreted away somewhere in the recesses of her mind if it popped up that easily!

'He's rude.'

Caring and funny if she paid attention to the way he acted around Ginta and Hakkaku, not to mention the fact that she was dying to let his hair down!! That last train of thought got squelched harder because it was true.

'He kissed me?' Was it her imagination, or did she sound a little desperate? When no refute came for the kiss, she assumed that her rebellious mind had finally run out of glowing praise for the wolf prince.

That was right before her overactive imagination decided to replay the kiss in question for her in graphically slow detail and remind her that not all of her shivering had been out of fear.

Mildly heated before, her face flamed like a bonfire.

It faded when she heard the angry padding sounds that signaled Kouga's return. He gave a knowing smirk that made her tack a nice smile onto the lengthening list of bonuses when he saw that she was exactly where he'd left her.

As a show of rebellion against both him and her own thoughts, Kenami stuck her tongue out at him over the rim of her cup. Those haunting blue eyes narrowed a bit, but he didn't bother to respond to the taunt. Instead, he sat down halfway between the entrance and her bed as he folded his arms in preparation to stand guard over her.

Sitting in their own spheres of silence, it was at that time that the two obstinate and willful people had their first breakthrough. After two days of replenishing meals and healing herbs, all of Kenami's biological fail-safes had disarmed themselves and felt that it was now safe to resume their normal bodily functions.

All bodily functions.

The sudden pressure nestled between her hips was all the more startling because of its long absence. Kenami locked her knees together and dropped the food.

"K-Kouga?"

Growling softly in irritation, the ookami leveled an icy blue glare at his unappreciative mate. The growl died at the obvious look of painful discomfort on her face. Once again, those protective instincts drove out any other concerns as he rushed over to her side.

"Are you alright koi? Do I need to get Hoken?"

Surprised by the way her heart skipped a beat at the tangible concern in his voice, Kenami tried to keep her answer short since she felt that she didn't have much time.

"I have to leave, now!"

Dark brows dipped in a furious frown. "No! How many times do I have to tell you that you're not leaving?! You're too weak and you'll make yourself sick again, so quit asking!!"

"Kouga, I have to go…" Pressure was building phenomenally fast, placing an odd note to her words. "Come with me if you want to, but I have to go now!"

Blinking once, Kouga thought he heard her wrong. Was she offering him a place by her side away from his home? 'Is she being weird because she might like me, or is this a trick?' Guessing that a trick was the more plausible explanation, Kouga adamantly shook his head.

"You're not going anywhere woman."

"Damn it you thick-headed wolf! My name is Kenami and I have to-! Fuck…" The rest of her words trickled off in a defeated whimper.

Tilted blue eyes widened seconds before Kouga leapt away from the moisture creeping across the floor. Giving her an accusing look, he yelled down at the deeply embarrassed young woman.

"Why in the hell didn't you say you had to go!?"

Kenami was amazed by how many rocks she found that time.

{}

Laughing while he relaxed against the soft bedding, Kouga wondered if Kenami's arm was still as good as it had been. 'If I agreed with this stupid war, I'd set her at the front line with a huge pile of rocks beside her. Yamatsu's army wouldn't stand a chance."

}

After successfully sweeping away all the loose stones within ten feet of Kenami's hands, Kouga now found himself faced with two more tasks. Clearing the soiled bedding was easy.

He had Hakkaku and Ginta do it for him.

It was cleaning the soiled girl that was a bit more of a challenge.

"Come on Kenami. You have to get in the water to get clean."

"N-not if you're going to traipse around n-na…n-na…unclothed!" Beet-red and darkening by the minute, Kenami had both hands clapped tightly over her eyes as she sat faced away from the river where Kouga stood garbed only in his own skin.

The sight was a lot more than she was used to.

"Can't you put something on to cover y-yourself?" Not even willing to risk an accidental peek, she flailed her good arm admonishingly in his general direction while keeping the other pressed tightly against her face. "Has anyone ever told you that undressing before a young woman isn't proper behavior!"

Cocking his head to the side, Kouga cleaned one ear as he moved towards the shore. 'Is she seriously that shy or what?' When he touched the tense shoulder before him, Kenami let loose a shriek of complete panic and furiously swatted his hand away while studiously keeping her eyes covered.

Backing out of the range of that flailing limb, Kouga scratched his head in confusion. After all, he needed a bath as much as she did, so what was the problem?

'Shy doesn't begin to describe how weird this is. Could it be that she's never taken a bath with someone before?'

"Oi, Kenami! Have you ever had a temporary mate?"

At the brusque question, Kenami went from red to deep plum. "T-that's none of your business!"

"I'll take that as a no."

Hearing the smug laughter in that simple statement rubbed her the wrong way, bringing a shrill note to her voice. "All of you ookami are either rude or crazy to think that you can run around and treat people the way you do! Why in the world would two people need to take a bath together anyway?"

"To get clean woman, why else?" Reaching out to tug on her sleeve, he gave a stern growl. "Now take off those clothes so that you can get washed."

Plum dropped to a dark purple that was quite a sight against her ivory hair as she her voice trembled badly, "M-Me? G-get washed? By who?"

"By me, who else?!" Astounded because she hadn't seemed this dense earlier in the day, Kouga bent down with the full intention of dragging her ass into the river.

That's when he caught the underlying spike in her scent that had been masked by the much stronger odor of bodily waste. Forming a small O of shock, Kouga's mouth spread into a wicked grin as he looked down at the back of Kenami's bent head.

'Women who supposedly hate you shouldn't smell like that should they?' he thought smugly.

Switching tactics, he withdrew his hand from her arm, internally crowing in delight when she unconsciously swayed towards the fleeing digits. 'Oh, so little miss 'I'll kill you when I get a chance' wants me to touch her? Fine.'

Bending down easily, he scooped her into his arms and headed directly for the water, ignoring her screams of protest as he went. When he waded into a part that skimmed the tops of his thighs, he growled sharply at the shrieking girl.

"Be quiet or I'll drop you in the deepest part of this blasted stream!" Although he might have sounded serious, Kouga really just wanted her to quit making such a racket right next to his ear! "With only two days to heal, I seriously doubt that you'll be able to swim very far on that arm." Quieting instantly, crimson orbs glared balefully at him from within the frame of her pale face and hair, but every so often Kenami would shoot fearful looks towards the deeper water.

Seeing the obvious signs of her distress, Kouga's chest shook with a protective rumble that drew her gaze up to his face. He didn't know what she saw there, but the previously faded blush returned with a vengeance. Even turning her face away couldn't hide all of the rosy coloring.

Despite his earlier threat, Kouga shifted his grip on her body so that she wouldn't fall as he gently lowered himself into the water. At the touch of the cool liquid soaking through the layers of her kimono, Kenami shivered and instinctively pressed closer to him for warmth. That rumble took on a distinctly pleased quality as he sat down to fully immerse them both.

The mountain-chilled water had an instantaneous effect on the recalcitrant girl in his arms.

With a gasp that pressed her body tightly up against his, Kenami couldn't seem to control the sudden trembling that seized her. "C-cold!"

Cold? Hell, she was freezing! Tossing aside propriety, hate and any other petty beliefs she might have been concerned about, Kenami willingly sought refuge next to the closest source of warmth available.

Kouga.

"Um, Kenami?" Clearing his throat loudly, Kouga's hands moved to support her back and keep her steady as the trembling subsided. "I don't think you're strong enough for that either."

Not understanding what he meant, Kenami dragged her mind away from its all-consuming goal of finding heat long enough to see what Kouga was talking about. A look down explained everything.

'How did my legs get there?'

'There' was the narrow waist of the seated ookami where both of her pale thighs were wrapped tightly around it, each breast crushed against his chest as her good hand clutched his broad shoulder in a death-grip. She went red from her roots to her toes.

'Damn his eyes, he's enjoying this!' Indeed, Kouga was wearing a very pleased grin and not even trying to hide it.

Although Kenami wasn't the most experienced woman in the world, (that kiss when she was twelve counted right?) she had a distinct impression that the hard mound currently rubbing against her inner thigh should have been a lot softer.

The welcome heat she felt this time came directly from her own body!

"G-gomen ne…" Extracting her reluctant limbs from around the smirking youkai, Kenami wondered if she had any pride left to salvage? Strangely enough, Kouga carefully turned her around to sit in front him as though nothing at all had happened.

Producing a long, thin cloth from somewhere, he expectantly held it in front of her, "Here. Put this around you so that you can take off that kimono. I don't want to be responsible for killing all the plant life downstream."

Glad to be back on familiar ground, Kenami tossed out a retort, "It wasn't that much to begin with! If you hadn't been so dense, it wouldn't have happened at all." Pulling her robe off with just one good hand was slow going, but Kouga lent his assistance in that area as well.

"Not much?!" Her heart skipped a beat from the warm breath tickling the fine hairs on the side of her neck as he leaned forward to help her with the knotted sash. Now undone and removed, he tossed the sopping garment onto the shore. "You nearly flooded the burrow woman."

"I d-did not!" The tickling moved as Kouga checked to make sure that her covered shoulder hadn't gotten wet. Making a noise of satisfaction, he threaded his hands into her hair and lifted it to the top of her head. For a second, Kenami panicked as she recalled the night he'd bitten her. At the touch of his fingers pouring the not-quite-so-cold water down the milky column, she relaxed.

"Sorry." Barely audible, Kenami wasn't sure she'd actually heard him say anything.

"What for?" The relaxation was spreading as his hands made soothing circles on her back. Holding the cloth tightly in front of her, she nearly dropped it at his next words.

"For scaring you and hurting you like I did. I shouldn't have done that." Reaching behind him, Kouga grabbed a small jar that had been sitting next to his discarded clothes. Kenami smelled something spicy a moment before she was shifted sideways and his hands buried themselves in her hair again.

Normally brimming with confidence, his voice was gruff and slightly unsure. "I really didn't mean to scare you that night. I-I just wanted you to stay."

Lost in the delicious sensation of clawed fingers lightly scouring her scalp, she couldn't seem to get the force behind her words that she wanted. "So asking me politely never crossed your mind?" Trusting him to hold onto her, she closed her eyes as he lowered her down so that he could rinse her hair clean. While he rung the excess water from the snowy strands, she teased him about his curious silence.

"What is it Kouga? Were you that afraid I'd say no?"

Strong fingers captured her chin and turned her face around to where serious blue eyes could hold hers in a hypnotic gaze. "Yes, I was." The blatant honesty in that short statement didn't leave her nearly as breathless as the kiss he gave her right after it.

Where the first kiss he'd given her had been dominating and possessive, this one was…how could she describe it? As Kouga gently suckled on her lower lip while cradling her with his arms, the answer came to her.

Sweet. Incredibly and achingly sweet.

Kenami went rigid for just a moment before melting within the circle of his arms, angling her head more to let him plumb the depths of her mouth. It was an invitation he accepted gladly.

On his side of the tender embrace, Kouga poured into the kiss every ounce of the longing and fear that he'd felt over the course of the agonizing month after he had awoken and couldn't find her, as well as the sheer joy that had become his very breath since she'd been found.

Each sweep of his mouth across hers was a tangible act of remorse for how she had suffered because of him and a promise that she would never know fear in his arms again.

Overwhelmed by the outpouring of his emotions, Kenami felt a liquid heat pool within her as her pulse quickened in response to him.

Leaving those honeyed lips behind, Kouga trailed heated kisses down the delicate lines of her jaw and neck until he reached the hollow of her throat. At the sound of her eager moans, he gingerly shifted her around in the water so that she was straddling him again.

Through it all, Kenami wanted to know how the water had gotten so hot?

"K-Kouga?" She didn't even recognize the sultry purr that had become her own voice.

His only response to the hesitant words was an encouraging whisper across her shoulder as he eagerly lapped the beaded moisture from her skin. When she squirmed under the touch, he smiled and occasionally drew the responsive flesh between his teeth to lightly nibble on it.

Instead of revulsion, the loving nips moved Kenami even as they made her hunger for more of his attentions because she knew that from now on she would never have to fear the touch of his teeth again. 'How could I ever have been afraid of you Kouga?' Speech was lost under the ardent ministrations, replaced with the consummate need that burned through her and reflexively tightened her thighs where they rested atop his own.

'Can I be your mate?' Another heated kiss was given and taken.

'Can I accept this life with you?' When Kenami felt those powerful but gentle hands slip around to cup and knead the ample flesh of her backside, she knew without a doubt that she could. Those same hands ran lightly through the fine hairs at the base of her tail, surprising them both with its sensitivity.

Both eyes widening at the blissful response to his simple touch, Kouga never dreamed that his mate could scream like that. Resuming his exploration of her body with a possessive smile, he decided that he wanted to hear that sound again and again.

Hidden away beneath the bandages, her wound pulsed in time with her mounting desire, flooding her body with more molten heat.

Breathless and feeling unbearably hot, Kenami feverishly tried to simultaneously touch every surface of the rock-hard body that she could reach. Small noises of frustration marked her efforts because only one of her hands could be used. But the need to feel him, to make him feel what he was doing to her overrode that petty problem.

Dragging her nails lightly down the smooth, sculpted lines of his chest elicited more pleasured rumblings from the ookami beneath her. Emboldened by the sound, she leaned forward and ran her tongue lazily around the curve of his ear before tugging on the lobe with her teeth. The rumbling intensified.

Kouga knew that he should be trying to stop himself, or at the very least slow things down a little. After all, Kenami was still injured and he didn't want to risk her getting sick again. Valiantly fighting his libido, he was in the process of halting the passionate affair when the woman in question locked her feet behind his back and innocently pressed herself against his growing erection.

Making a strangled noise in the back of his throat, Kouga nearly lost the fight with himself right there.

Only the memory of her telling blush when asked about a previous mate kept him from sinking straight into the quicksand of his youkai nature. While his heart was telling him to take his time with the woman in his arms, the wolf in his soul was screaming for him to throw her on the shore and take her now!

'No.' Focusing on keeping his caresses as gentle as before, he sought to still her thrashing hips that were threatening to undo his meager restraint. It was a task that proved impossible when he found he couldn't get a firm grip on her under the water.

"Koibito, you have no idea what you're doing to me." Despite the erotic torture his beloved was putting him through, Kouga adamantly refused to submit to the bestial call within himself.

'I gave into that once before and I saw what happened. I will not hurt her again!'

Above him, Kenami's scattered thoughts were running along slightly different lines.

'I know I shouldn't be doing this.' Leaving one lobe behind in order to tease the other with her flickering tongue, she purred.

'I know that I should be stopping myself.' She dug her claw into the rippling muscles dancing across Kouga's back and thrilled at the guttural snarl he gave her.

'If I know all of that, then I shouldn't be enjoying this so much should I?'

Although the argument seemed very reasonable in her head, Kenami knew damned well that she didn't want to pull herself away from the dizzying lips and hands that roamed avidly over her body and left trails of fire in their wake.

When one such hand moved down to explore the waiting folds at the apex of her thighs, Kenami head snapped back with cry as her body sought to get closer to the source of delight.

His ears pricked at the sounds issuing from her throat, letting Kouga know without a doubt that she desired this as much as he did. Every ragged pant and fractured moan she made urged him to explore each dip and swell of her being. The friction alone from their bodies rubbing against each other was steadily driving him to the breaking point, and the mindless way she was moving on top of his legs was wearing away the tenuous control he had left over himself.

'Slow down Kouga. You know you don't want to hurt her…oh god!' Unable to stifle it, he whimpered aloud when one of those frantic movements nearly buried the head of his aching shaft within her. The liquid heat that clung to his neglected member despite the rushing current made it clear to Kouga that his mate was almost ready to receive him.

With a growl aimed more at himself than her, he slipped a hand between their bodies to ease some of the frustration he knew she was feeling. Brushing the callused pad of his thumb against the swollen nub that begged for his touch, Kouga watched through lidded eyes as he started to bring his woman slowly to the heights of ecstasy.

"K-Kouga!" Helpless to do much more than whisper his name in a heated gasp, her hand splayed wide over his chest where she could feel his heart pounding in a cadence echoed by her own.

Sliding his fingers along the line of her sex brought a choked "Please Kouga!" from her that made his blood roar in answer to it.

"Not yet koibito, not yet..." he said soothingly in a voice made thick and husky with his own pent-up yearning.

A trickle of crimson seeped from the corner of her mouth. The coppery tang of it excited him, making him tug her forward so that his lips brushed up against the shell of her ear.

"Don't you dare hold anything in koi." Her pinked lip slid from between milky canines at the fervent demand, trembling petulantly with desire that he fueled with every caress.

"I want to hear you Kenami." Suckling on the pearly lobe before him, Kouga's voice dropped lower as she gave another ragged cry.

"I want to hear it all!"

Thrusting his hand in and out of the white-hot lips that clamped hard around his questing fingers, he always stopped shy of breaching the thin veil he could feel inside of her. Ocean blue eyes flashed red as he personally promised to take his time in claiming that right.

Capturing the sensitive bundle between his finger and thumb, Kouga gave it a slight squeeze.

Kenami thought she would die if something didn't happen soon. That unnamed feeling inside of her was winding tighter with each stroke of the fingers inside of her, promising something glorious if she would just hold on a little longer.

Only she doubted if she could. If it wasn't for the supportive hand pressed against her undulating spine, Kenami was certain she would have drowned in the turgid waters long ago.

Like a predator scenting his prey, Kouga knew that she was getting closer to her release. The thrashing had grown more insistent and the wonderful little half-mews spilling out of her were testing the absolute limits of his control as they came faster.

He wanted to throw caution to the wind and bury every inch of himself in the exquisite heat within her.

He wanted to hear her scream his name as he took her to a place where neither one of them would be able to tell where one ended and the other began.

Another ragged gasp tore out of her as he teased and coaxed her closer to completion.

Gods yes, but he wanted to give her this first!

Nearly blind with the sensations shooting through her, Kenami was dimly aware of her hand falling down and wrapping around the silken shaft that was nestled against her stomach. Mimicking her lover's motions, she stroked and squeezed the throbbing member in perfect harmony with the pleasure he was giving her as well.

If the youkai within Kouga had been screaming before, it raged anew at that naïve caress. This time, it was his back that arched as he reared up in response, bucking mindlessly as his hands began to shake as he tried not to accidentally cut her with his claws.

Abandoning the leisurely motions he had been using, the buried fingers took up a pounding pace that quickened as he felt her begin to crest the peak.

Moving the hand resting in the small of her back up to the nape of her neck, Kouga fisted it into her hair, needing to see her eyes as he sent finally her over the edge.

"Kenami, look at me!"

Unable to deny him anything, she lifted impossibly heavy lids and watched in fascination as those beautiful eyes wavered between aqueous blue and scarlet. That was the last thing she saw for a while.

Stars exploded across her field of vision as a jolt of searing ecstasy lanced through her, completely knocking out what little breath remained in her starving lungs. Shifting from his erection to his hip, her hand clenched and dug into the molded flesh as she desperately clung to him.

Kenami was unaware that her eyes were glowing just as brightly as Kouga's, which widened to drink in the sight of her.

Patting her clitoris with a finger as his hand slid against her inner walls, Kouga hummed as her body tried to curl into itself, prevented from doing so by the hand at her neck.

Once again, the bite ached and throbbed in time with her shattering release, bringing an incoherent shout that ripped from her throat and rang out over the water.

It was swallowed greedily as Kouga moved his mouth back up to cover hers, every fiber of his being radiating the longing he felt. Moist and hot as they played across one another, his tongue danced with hers in movements as old as time. Drawing his hand from inside of her, he felt Kenami shiver as cool water rushed into the void left behind and mourned that it would wash the taste of her away.

Whimpering weakly following that mind-numbing orgasm, Kenami let her head fall to the side to deepen the kiss further. Using a last reserve of strength, her hand skimmed up past his chest in order to tangle the fingers into the thick, jet-black hair that felt as silky as it had looked back in the cave.

A limp tug quickly freed the heavy mass so that it flowed down her arm in a inky cascade. The image of that same hair spread out across the alabaster flesh of her thighs flashed through her mind and excited Kenami even more than she already was, restoring her waning energy to its previous levels.

Low before, the rumbling deep within his chest rose to a ravenous pitch that shook Kenami straight to the core of her being.

Between the restless movement of her body and his hands, the thin cloth that protected her modesty had long since fallen away. Personally, Kenami couldn't care less. Panting heavily against his mouth as she returned the fierce kiss, all she wanted at that moment was to be as close to Kouga as she could get.

'I should have given in sooner.'

Without any hesitation, she bent down and locked her teeth onto the corded neck before her, drawing beads of salty blood that she licked up fervently. Kouga stiffen at the touch of those small fangs piercing his skin, before tossing back his head and letting loose a howl of triumph at the sign of her acceptance.

"Yes, koibito! You are mine!"

Upon hearing that feral sound, the mark he had laid upon her pulsed harder than ever before, seeming to ignite her very bones. Irritated by the chaffing bandages, Kenami ripped the padding away and sighed in pleasure as the crisp air brushed over the enflamed skin.

As her hands fell to her sides, Kouga's eyes widened at the sight of Kenami.

Gone was the frightened creature he'd seen two days ago. Even the spiteful woman who'd assaulted him just that morning seemed like a distant memory. Blazing red eyes watched him keenly from behind the curtain of moon bright hair that fell down her shoulders and into the valley of her breasts.

Marred by neither defiance or meekness, her face was a made exquisite through her carnal need. Tracing his lips with her fingers, she asked him in a voice that made his breath catch in his throat.

"Are you mine?"

"Yes koishii." Darkened with desire, the blue eyes staring up her seemed fathomless. "I am only yours."

Capturing that fleeting hand in his own, Kouga pressed a kiss into the smooth palm before wrapping his arms around her and drawing her mouth back to his.

Yes, the wild and passionate beauty that stirred his blood like no one else ever had, was his mate.

Placing a hand between her shoulder blades, he guided her a short space away so that he could run his tongue along the edges of the healing flesh at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. No whimper of fear or discomfort escaped her as he completely probed the mark, only a shiver of anticipation. The newly formed flesh pulsed oddly beneath his lips, bringing a tingle as he placed a layer of saliva on top of it.

Not understanding why he'd just done that, Kouga started to wash it away when Kenami mewled in sudden delight. Glancing up at her face while the joyous little noises bubbled in her throat, he saw the glistening coating on her shoulder was disappearing as the skin beneath it knitted rapidly until only a faint redness was all that remained.

'Why didn't Hoken tell me I could do that?' Any anger Kouga might have felt for the absent healer faded when the woman on top of him rained butterfly kisses over the bite on his neck, bringing another pleased rumble as well as an explanation.

'Because we weren't true mates yet.'

Moving his other hand from where it spanned her waist, he brought it up to cup the soft mound of her breast. Stroking and teasing the hardened nipple with his fingers, he dropped his head in order to claim the pebbled peak with his mouth.

Kenami bucked sharply at the new wave of pleasure the simple act brought and rocked her hips instinctively against his to seek relief from the exquisite tightness building inside of her again.

Grabbing her thighs in an almost bruising grip, the water sloshed angrily away from him as Kouga thrust his body up against hers, mere seconds away from completely claiming his mate.

"Kenami? Are you sure?"

Now that she had the use of both limbs, she fisted her hands in his hair and dragged his face back up to hers, taking full control of the passionate kiss this time. Surprised, but not in the least put out, Kouga took that as a yes. This time when she moved against him, he angled her hips so that he could meet her next thrust with his own.

In the distance, he heard a sound that severed his ardor like a deadly blade.

Swollen and ready, Kenami was just committing herself to the idea of staying in that river for the rest of her natural life when Kouga inexplicably broke it off.

Sucking in a shuddery breath as he scanned her desire-flushed face, he cupped her chin and slowly ran the roughened pad of his thumb over her swollen lips.

"It's getting late koi. We should go."

Nearly begging, she could only mouth her question. "Now?" Uncaring how she sounded, Kenami felt the imperceptible swaying of her body as it sought to be joined with him. Her fevered attempt to kiss and rekindle the flagging heat within him was met with a hand across her lips.

"Yes, now." Something about the dismissive way he whispered the short words made her heart drop.

"Kouga?" Without the emboldening desire behind her, her voice took on a fearful note. "D-don't you w-want me?"

Helping her out of the river, Kouga snatched up his clothes as his senses were focused on whatever danger he was sensing. What she said hit him like a physical blow, instantly gaining his undivided attention.

Brushing away the moisture gathering at the corners of her eyes, he gave her a kiss that made how he felt about her crystal clear. "Of course I do koi. Just please do as I ask."

Kenami wondered which one was more disorienting; his kisses or that orgasm?

Grabbing her when she began to wobble, Kouga smirked down at her dazed expression. "Go to the burrow koi, and do not come out until I come get you."

Heartened by the endearment, she felt her rage simmer at whatever wanted to separate her from her mate. "But Kouga. I can fight and you know it! Let me stay!"

"NO!"

The fear that shone in his eyes made her heart ache to see it. 'He's not afraid of what's out there, just of me getting hurt.' That decided her. If her mate thought he could handle it alone, then she would do what he asked. Pressing a kiss against his lips, she turned and flitted away into the dense woods.

Watching to make sure that she had left, Kouga turned just in time to see the last person he wanted to lay eyes on come through the trees.

"So my boy. Tsuki says that you've found a mate."

}

The pleasant memory was soured by the recollection of his lord's arrival. Reaching down beside the bedding, Kouga dragged up a thin, lemon-yellow kimono. Touching one of the many pastel green leaves embroidered all over it, he held it and let the familiar scent banish the horror of the rest of that day from his mind as he finally drifted off to sleep.

}

}

}

A spot light appears next to a microphone stand and a cute young woman with black hair and bright blue eyes walks forward to tap it.

"Ahem. Hello? Is this thing on?" Satisfied that all is in order, she flashes a bright smile to the reader.

"Hi! My name is Kuroi, but you might already know that. Anyway, I'm going to be your post-chapter today hostess since Mistress Bakani Banana is feeling a bit under the weather."

"She passed the fuck out Cuckoo." Just outside the circle of light, a boyishly handsome man sits on the floor. He has both hands shoved up the sleeves of his red haori as he stares at Kuroi with amber eyes. On top of his head, a pair of puppy ears twitch in exasperation. "Get it right."

"I'm trying to be polite baka boy!" Mindful of the readers, Kuroi tacks on the sunny smile again. "Well, I'm sure she'll be feeling better by the end of the next chapter. This one was just a bit much for her to write."

"Shit. What kind of woman is she if she can't write a fucking lemon without blushing so hard she faints?" Scratching the side of his neck with a clawed hand, the boy slides a dirty look at the young woman by the mike.

"I thought she was married with kids? Come on Kuroi, you can't tell me she hasn't experienced at least one decent fu-!" Anything else the young man might have said is cut off by a fist to his face.

"Shut the hell up Inuyasha!!!" Shaking her knuckles as she levels a glare down at her friend, Kuroi snatches him back up to eye level with the other hand. "I agreed to let you come out here with me while I made a simple announcement, so sit still or I'll pound your head in!!"

Blinking up at the enraged girl, Inuyasha give a rude snort. "No need to get testy woman."

"Baka…" Letting him go, Kuroi turns to address the readers once more. "Where was I?"

"Bakani hit the dirt like a virgin in a whorehouse?" he supplied helpfully.

"Damn it Koinu!!" On the verge of pummeling her best friend into the ground, Kuroi stopped short when someone piped up from the shadows.

"Is he bothering you again Kuroi?" The new voice had the magical ability to quiet the hanyou and turn him into an obedient statue. Smirking, Kuroi called out cheerfully, "Not anymore Kagome."

Taking a place behind her husband, the pretty and heavily pregnant girl glared daggers at him. "Good."

Kuroi fought the urge to laugh at the look on Inuyasha's face, managing to speak past a fit of giggles. "Okay. As I was saying, Mistress Banana will be back for the next chapter. She apologizes for the length of this one but she felt that Kouga-kun deserved it." Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Kuroi sighed. "If I wasn't already hopelessly in love with Sessy-pooh, this chapter might make me look at the ookami in a new light."

"You called me Sessy-pooh little flower." A silky voice glided in moments before its owner made his presence known. "In public no less!" Frowning down at the flushed Kuroi, Sesshomaru gave her a kiss that banished all thoughts of anyone else but him from her mind. Watching her face with a touch of satisfaction, he tenderly caressed her cheek before gliding away again.

"Next time I hear that name I'll expect the same payment, but in double."

Pale blue eyes followed him intently. "Kagome?"

Waving a dismissing hand at the smiling young woman, Kagome sighed indulgently. "Go on Kuroi. I'll finish this."

Racing after her gorgeous mate, the girl called out happily, "I owe you one! Sessy-pooh! Sessy-pooh! Sessy-pooh!!!"

"And I thought Miroku was a hentai." grumbling softly, Inuyasha pulled his mate down across his lap. "Although she does have a good idea."

"Inuyasha!" Shocked and a bit embarrassed, Kagome squirmed in his grip to no avail. "People are reading this. Plus, I have to finish this part."

"No you don't." Taking her hand in his own, Inuyasha announced quickly. "The Banana will return in the next one and so will Sessy-" A growl sounded through the air, making him reconsider his words.

"Um. Sesshomaru. Keep your eyes peeled and if she's smart, Bakani will blow Kouga off the face of the planet."

"Inuyasha!!" Scandalized, Kagome wondered if she should sit him.

"What?" Following after his scowling mate, the hanyou disappears past the edge of the light. Off in the distance, a loud thump and a yelp ring through the air.

From out of nowhere, a small red-haired youkai waves his hands in the air.

"Hi. It's me, Shippo! Auntie Kuroi forgot to say thank you to Miroke for her update requests and Sexy_Capricorn for the nice review. See you later!" Bounding off, the little guy disappears as well.

After a moment of silence, the spot light goes out.