InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Much Needed Healing ❯ Hello ( Chapter 22 )

Sesshomaru stood in his living room, impeccably dressed in a classic tuxedo, tapping his foot. Glancing down at his watch, he looked up at the hallway again, foot still beating out an anxious rhythm, waiting for the miko to make her appearance.

 

Tonight was the end. He tried to convince himself that it was of no significance, that she was of no significance, that once he had returned her to Inuyasha, his world would finally return to normalcy. There would be no one stealing his sheets during the night. He would not have a problem finding a particular shirt, as no one else would be wearing it. His books would no longer have dog-eared pages in them.

 

But, his soul argued, there would be no one to greet him when he got home. No one to listen to his troubles. No one to take his sarcasm and verbal jabs and send them back. No one to make him laugh. No one to make him smile.

 

And that was what it all came down to really. When all was said and done, it wasn't about the sex. Oh yes, the rutting had been some of the best of his very long life. But that wasn't the thing that had made his heart suddenly stop beating in cold fear. It was the realization that for the first time, ever, he, Sesshomaru, was fulfilled. The Inu no Taisho was happy; complete. In a centuries long quest for supreme power, he had suddenly and unexpectedly found something greater; he had found completion. His father's words came rushing back at him.

 

“Have you something to protect?”

 

And now he did. He had something very precious to protect. Something immeasurably powerful and fragile and beautiful. Something that he had found and raised up from the abyss and made whole and lovely.

 

And he was giving her away.

 

Tonight.

 

Sesshomaru stood immobile as the realization finally hit home with him. Tonight he was going to give her away. After tonight, he would be forced to see her with the hanyou. See them happy and together and in love, the way they had been so many years ago. And she would most likely hate him for not telling her about Inuyasha's being alive. Of course, she had never directly asked, but the miko was too smart to use a tactic like that on.

 

No matter what he did, she was going to be completely and utterly lost to him. His amber eyes darkened and his lids lowered as his gaze dropped to the hardwood floor. He stared at the cracks in between the boards, wishing that he could fall in between them.

 

“Sesshomaru?”

 

He scented her worry for him, and so he attempted to place a stoic look upon his face as he raised his eyes up to her. She was a vision before him, despite the look of concern written so plainly upon her face.

 

The dress he had chosen was still so much more than absolute perfection, the way it gently hugged her curves and shimmered against her creamy pale skin, bringing out her azure eyes. She had pulled her hair up into some intricate twist, showing off her back, since he had seemed to like that when they had been at the store. He had not wanted her to wear make-up, as the smell of it bothered youkai, and there would be many sensitive noses at the function, but they had compromised when she had picked out some simple hypo-allergenic and non-scented items. And so she wore only the basics; some foundation, a little eyeliner, some blush and some mascara. She had forgone any lipstick. She had learned that Sesshmaru was not a fan.

 

She had picked out strappy blue 4” heels, that Sesshomaru had at first deemed “excessive.” Until she had modeled them for him and he had seen how they made her legs look even longer and more toned. Her excuse was that she did not want to seem so much shorter than her escort and could use all the help she could get. Both of them knew that she was lying, but both were equally pleased with the results.

 

And so here she stood, beautiful beyond measure, the complete opposite of the alcoholic tramp that he had first found in some Kami forsaken bar.

 

“Come.” Sesshomaru told her gruffly, proffering his arm to her.

 

She flashed him a radiant smile, and stepped forward to intertwine her arm with his. She tipped her head to the side and flashed him a coy look from beneath impossibly long and thick lashes. Seeing the way her eyes sparkled, he could not help himself, and he smiled in a relaxed fashion.

 

As they walked, arm in arm, to the waiting car outside, he made a silent vow. These were his last moments with her, and he was going to enjoy them while he still could.

 

He was drawn from his thoughts as they reached the vehicle, sleek and dark, with tinted windows. He released his hold on the miko and stretched out one arm to open the door for her. He watched as she clamored in, and could only hope that her exit would be more gentile. With a barely noticeable smile and a slight snort, Sesshomaru elegantly stepped into the car and took a seat.

 

He seemed outwardly to casually study the little woman as she relaxed into the leather seats and ran her hand along the shiny wood that paneled the door, while in reality he was meticulously memorizing every detail about her. They way she held her head tipped to the side, the soft sigh she made in comfort, the rhythm of her breaths, the tempo of her heartbeat. Every element of her was meticulously stored away.

 

She turned her face to him as the car began to move, and in a flash, her arms were around his neck and her lips pressed against his throat.

 

“A girl could get used to this luxury Sesshomaru” she whispered huskily to him, her breath stroking along his ear and making his heart rate increase.

 

“This Sesshomaru is glad that you enjoy his wealth, miko” he managed to bite out. Her lips were so soft on his neck, so close to the place where a mate would mark him….

 

“Oh, it's not the money,” she continued to trail soft kisses up his throat and over his jaw-line. “It's you. You're addictive.”

 

Sesshomaru tipped his head back and closed his eyes in pleasure. A light groan managed to escape his lips as she kissed the edge of his mouth, only to abandon it to kiss the other side of his jaw.

 

“This Sesshomaru has been called many things in his life-time, but never before has someone deemed me addictive.” It was getting very hard to maintain cohesive thoughts and verbally express them. He was slightly suspicious that the miko knew his current position all too well. She was, after all, somewhat devious.

 

“Maybe it's because you don't let people in” she told him. And then she nipped him, rather harshly, on the side of his neck. He hissed in pleasure at her slight scolding. “But,” she continued, “I suppose that's a good thing. If you did, I might not be the one you were spending all your money on….” She was only joking, and he understood that, but he could not take the teasing a moment longer.

 

Sesshomaru was a blur as he straddled the miko's legs. Grabbing her hands, he held them tightly within one of his own and forced her arms above her head, pinning her against the back of the car. He used his other hand to brace himself, and his lips were immediately beside her ear.

 

“So you think it amusing to tease this Sesshomaru, miko?” he whispered into her ear. He smirked as he felt her shiver beneath him. “Perhaps you do not understand the nature of the dangerous games you play?” He nipped at her full lower lip with his sharp fangs, and she moaned throatily.

 

“Or perhaps, miko, you do understand and are seeking some sort of punishment?” He licked her lip. “Some sort of retribution?” He nipped her again, harder. “Perhaps you desire absolution of some sort?” Here he brought his lips atop her own and gave her a scorching kiss. “Shall I condone this behaviour miko?” He asked her playfully. Pressing his body up tightly against her own and letting her feel the stiffness of his cock resting against her belly, he whispered lowly in her ear, “Should I give you what it is you seek?”

 

She was silent for a moment, before her azure eyes, formerly closed in passion, shot open. They met Sesshomaru's golden hued gaze, and she spoke.

 

“Perhaps, Sesshomaru, you are the one seeking something? Maybe it is I, who should be helping you.” Eyeing his already uncomfortable erection through his pants, she then flicked her gaze meaningfully back up to him. “After all, you seem in desperate need of relief.”

 

Sesshomaru growled, a deep and steady loud thrum. This woman continued to challenge him in ways that no other had ever done before her. It was highly arousing, and he felt his beast's appreciation. His eyes tinting red, his breath coming in ragged pants, he placed his fangs upon he slender throat and drug the sharp points across her collar bone. He felt his canines lengthen, and on some basic level understood his beast's intentions to mark the miko as his own. The whelp be damned; Inuyasha had missed his chance.

 

The car came to a short halt, and Sesshomaru's growl was cut short. Eyes and fangs returning to normal, his beast unhappily receding from the foreground, he looked down at the miko beneath him. A faint blush had begun to heat her cheeks and her lips were slightly swollen from his abuse of them. He desired nothing more than to take continue driving away from the party with her and making her his own. But it was not to be.

 

He swiftly removed himself from her lap and released her hands. Opening the door before she could say anything, he stepped out into the cool evening. He turned to offer her his hand, and she took it lightly within her own.

 

He noted with some small amount of pride that her emergence from the car could have rivaled his own in elegance as she regally steeped forth. She took a moment to look up at the towering building before them, and then looked over at him.

 

Her dark blue eyes caught the starlight and reflected it, sparkling like raw sapphires in the dusky twilight. Her ebony hair shone in the light escaping the windows of the tower, and her skin was luminescent in the moonlight. She was a being of beauty beyond measure, and Sesshomaru's breath was stolen.

 

As though she knew what he was thinking, she flashed him a shy little smile and took a gentle step forward without saying a word, lightly tugging on his hand. He resumed breathing, and moved swiftly to walk with her into the building.

 

The entrance was grand, as were most things in his life, and he did, after all, own this building. He led her to the elevators, and they stepped inside.

 

Sesshomaru reached one long arm out to push the button for the seventh floor, and then settled his back against wall, hands in his pockets, the perfect picture of relaxation.

 

He watched with slight amusement as the little miko studied herself in the mirrored walls, adjusting her dress her, tucking a hair back there. They locked eye in the mirror for a moment, and he saw the nervous energy in her eyes.

 

“You will be fine” he told her simply.

 

Never breaking their eye-contact, Kagome told him, “This is the first time I've been out since you found me. How would you know if I'll be fine or not?”

 

“You are mesmerizing.” He said it simple, with a regal shrug of his shoulders, but the statement's simplicity did not make it any less true or meaningful. She was going to be the most beautiful woman in the building, internally and externally.

 

She blushed faintly before tearing her eyes away from his.

 

The elevator gave a soft ping as they reached the seventh floor, and Sesshomaru stood, bringing himself up to his full height. Stepping up to the doors, he felt the miko's hand latch onto his own. He cast her a questioning look, but she wasn't looking at him. Her attentions were focused solely on the doors that were slowly parting to reveal a grand ballroom filled to capacity with elegant people.

 

“Oh Kami. I can't do this.” Sesshomaru heard her whisper when she caught sight of all the people milling about on the floor. Her hand was almost painfully squeezing his own.

 

“You are more than ready Kagome.” He folded his long fingers around her own and was about to say something more to reassure her when he heard a soft gasp from her.

 

He knew exactly what it was that she had spotted. There, beside the bar, hovering above the sea of heads, were two little white koinu ears.

 

Sesshomaru knew that this was a moment that would play out over and over again in his head for the remainder of his life, and suitable, time seemed to slow. He heard her soft whisper first.

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

Her voice was so soft, and yet he saw one little fuzzy ear rapidly swivel towards her call. The hanyou's head snapped around so fast that the people surrounding him heard the crack of the wind. Bright summer sun eyes widened almost comically.

 

Sesshomaru's youkai ears picked up the disbelieving response from all the way across the noisy room.

 

“Kagome?”

 

And then her hand, so small and fragile, was slipping out of his grasp. Her fingers slid from his own as she tore down the stairs toward the hanyou. Sesshomaru watched as a blur of black and red shoved through the crowd with an almost violent force. Finally, blue and red met as the people parted for them, and the miko was brought up into the strong arms of her protector from so many years before.

 

Inuyasha yelled her name in triumph as he picked her up off the floor and swung her around in a circle, as she laughed and tears leaked from her eyes. Seeing them, he set her lightly down and brought his large hands up to gently wipe them away. Cupping her face in his hands, he brought his face to hers, and their lips met in a heated kiss.

 

As they wrapped their arms around each other and continued to kiss and laugh, Sesshomaru felt his beast begin to rise. As his eyes began to bleed red, he suddenly felt a strong grip on his bicep. Snapping his head around, he met the blue eyes of the person brave enough, or stupid enough, to stop him.

 

“This is what you wanted Sesshomaru. All of this is of your own doing.” Kouga told him gently.

 

Sesshomaru stared blankly at the ookami, before ripping himself free of his grasp and stalking back to the elevators, a deep growl echoing through the hall as he left.

 

Kagome heard the growl and pulled to look up the stairs to where her saviour had been.

 

“Sesshomaru?” She barely had time to wonder before she was pulled back into the arms of an ecstatic hanyou.