InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Life ❯ Last Night, Last Chance ( Chapter 12 )

09/12/05

 

A/N: Thank-you all for your reviews and your constant support! I am so glad that you are all enjoying my story!

 

WARNING: This chapter contains some sexually explicit content.

 

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Chapter Twelve: Last Night, Last Chance

 

Two days later they left for the central region. Rin's final departure from the palace was a sad one. Her instructors and all of the servants had gathered to say a tearful good-bye. She would miss them all so much.

 

They traveled in silence for three days only stopping to rest in the evenings when the sun was setting and then rose early each morning to resume their trek east. Rin said next to nothing and only to Jaken when she had to speak. The thick lump in her throat and the stinging tears that threatened to fall if she had to address her stoic master were enough to keep her silent most of the day.

 

Lord Sesshoumaru disappeared into the darkness each night as usual and Rin was left alone with a crackling fire, Jaken's snores, and Ah-Un's rumbling but steady breathing. All these familiar and comforting sounds she had grown up with now taunted her. This would be the last time she traveled with them. She lay silently reminiscing about her life with Lord Sesshoumaru and how happy she had been for so many years. But now she was being forced to leave. Tears began to stream silently down her cheeks and she shook with the force of holding her cry of anguish. She sucked in her breath and rolled out of her bed roll, getting to her feet. She needed to move. She needed to find release for all of this pain.

 

She made her way into the forest, slowly at first, her eyes adjusting to the darkness and listening for any sounds that might reveal danger. When she reached the banks of the stream, she took off up stream in a dead run. She followed the winding stream ruthlessly, jumping over and ducking under each and every obstacle in her way. She ran until the tears that ran down her cheeks were nothing more than sticky damp trails on her cheeks. She ran as a steady roar began to build in her ears and the ache in her heart was finally overshadowed by other pains. She threw herself to the forest floor only after her legs began to tremble and her lungs burned as though they would burst. She lay in a patch of grass gasping for air, waiting for her heart beat to calm, and began to look around.

 

She found herself at the source of the river she had followed from her campsite. It began at a small pool with glassy clear water which was fed by a towering waterfall that spilled from a high cliff. The roar in her ears made sense now.

 

The full moon cast its pale light on the small clearing Rin stood in and she caught sight of a misty steam rising from a smaller pool at the far end of the glen.

 

A small gift from the cruel fates. She thought as she took in the sight of the inviting steam and began to feel the warmth as she moved closer to it.

 

She had found a hot spring. Such a leisurely thing seemed so out of place in her dismal trip.

 

I know I won't be able to sleep if I go back now.

 

Her tightening muscles made up her mind for her.

 

I may as well soak for a while.

 

She shed her sleeping robe and slipped into the hot water slowly, relishing the feel of her muscles loosening almost instantly. She leaned back and closed her eyes allowing her mind to wonder. She began to reminisce about her life with Lord Sesshoumaru. It had been a wonderful life and she felt homesick almost instantly.

 

My cozy little room.

 

The steady pounding of the waves upon the sea shore.

 

The feel of the breeze that blew over Ah-Un's grassy hillside.

 

Ah-Un's gentle nudges when they were hungry.

 

Master Jaken's annoying know-it-all boasting.

 

Lord Sesshoumaru's deep steady voice.

 

His sure stride.

 

His tall form.

 

His golden eyes.

 

His woodland scent.

 

She knew this feeling was more than homesickness.

 

Gods I love him so much! How am I going to bare parting with him?

 

I have to tell him before we part! He must know that I love him, even if he will hate me for it! I know that I am just a lowly human female, but my heart is his.

 

Images of the brief kiss she had taken from his lips flashed through her mind and she felt the blush creep into her cheeks.

 

His soft lips and strong hands.

 

Beginning to feel a little too warm, she pulled herself out of the water onto the rock side and wrapped her thin sleeping robe around herself, not bothering to close or tie it, and laid back closing her eyes.

 

He has to know that I love him and only him before I receive the Kiss from Lord Kazuo. I'll tell him tomorrow.

 

Images of Lord Sesshoumaru flooded her mind's eye. Her body reacted in ways she was embarrassed to feel, but she couldn't help it. His voice alone was enough to make her tremble with the desire for his touch.

 

Her breath quickened and her heart rate increased when she thought of the kiss again, and she let her fantasy take flight. What would have happened had she been a demoness rather than a mere mortal?

 

She slowly pulled her hand across her firm breasts imagining it was her Sesshoumaru's lips that did the caressing. Her nipples tightened as he traced light kisses over them, and then he moved over her ribs with hot lips and wet tongue, across her flat stomach, and finally came to the dull ache that was forming between her thighs.

 

“Uhg…” She couldn't contain her moan of pleasure as a shiver ran through her body, but suddenly there was a noise, like a branch breaking and crashing to the ground, bringing her back to reality.

 

Rin shot up into a sitting position, clutching her robe closed and starring in the direction of the noise. Instantly the intruder appeared.

 

Lord Sesshoumaru seemed to jump down from the night sky. The silver moon cast a glowing light upon his silver locks as they flowed freely behind him. He landed effortlessly on the ground and crouched low on one knee, sword drawn and low to his side, blood red eyes boring into her. He was not wearing his armor and he was bare foot. His haori hung off his lean form unbound by his obi revealing his sculpted abs and pale, flawless skin. He looked positively breathtaking, but the anger that radiated off his form was the center of her attention.

 

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Sesshoumaru had been uncomfortably perched in the branches of a rather dull tree trying to rest but he felt irritable and still a little weak from his sickness. He longed to be sitting against the trunk of the tree near the campfire, soaking in a little warmth, but that would mean having to be near Rin, and that simply wasn't a good idea. His thoughts were on the girl almost obsessively lately and it angered him.

 

Now he thought of their departure. She had held her tears and said goodbye, leaving the palace bravely; honorably. He had felt…pride. Pride in that she had grown up so respectful, so strong willed, brave, honorable, and well loved by all whom knew her. But, the sadness in her eyes was oddly disturbing. He found himself battling the urge to pull her into his embrace and whisper words of comfort and anything else she wanted to hear just to see her smile again.

 

He growled in annoyance at his thoughts and shifted restlessly on the branch.

 

She filled his mind again instantly. Her long silky black waves of hair; Her large sparkling hazel eyes, so full of every emotion she experiences; Her full, moist, pink lips softly parted and ready to be kissed; Her sweet cherry blossom scent which he would know anywhere and which he could detect even now. She would not leave his mind.

 

She has bewitched me. He growled to himself stubbornly.

 

Thoughts of his palace, empty of all the life and laughter of Rin came to the front of his mind.

 

Enough! He commanded himself for the hundredth time. He firmly blocked out all thoughts of her, meditating and using focusing breathing techniques.

 

He was finally just dozing off when he caught her scent. It had changed positions in the air.

 

He made his way quickly back to camp and discovered that Rin was gone, but easily determined in which direction she had gone. He couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary, so she must not have been abducted. He came to a rather distasteful conclusion.

 

So, she means to flee from her fate then.

 

He headed after her into the forest, picking up her scent at the edge of the river and followed it in pursuit.

 

She will not dishonor the Dog Demon Clan of the West by breaking her vow.

 

Not long into his pursuit, he caught another scent. This scent was spicy and purely feminine and he had smelled it this strong only once before, when she had been dreaming.

 

She is aroused! Shock slapped him in the face and he picked up his pace, that sickening feeling in his stomach increasing ten fold. Jealousy instantly blinded him and took control of his rational mind.

 

Who dares touch her! Who dares touch what is mine! How dare she desire another!

 

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Rin watched as Lord Sesshoumaru scanned the tree line slowly and then his crimson gaze fell on her once more.

 

“Where is he?” He demanded in his low masculine voice, the usual calm seeming to quiver a little.

 

Anger filled him to the core as he tried to pick up on the scent of the despicable male who dared to come near Rin, but he could detect nothing.

 

“Master…there is no one…” She tried to reply to his odd question, a slight twinge of fear rippling through her.

 

“I can smell your desire. Where is your lover?” He barked abruptly, interrupting her.

 

“Master!” She was astonished and more than a little embarrassed.

 

Gods! He can smell that I was…pleasuring myself and now he thinks that I was with a man. At that moment she wanted to curl up into a ball and die.

 

“I assume it is that damned tiger. Where has he gone?” he asked, his tone turning to ice.

 

Rin stared, bewildered, at him. She didn't know what to say.

 

Who does he mean? Master Kane?

 

“You should know that there is a small human village not far north of here. Either you tell me where he is hiding or everyone in that village will die in his place.” He said coolly, his crimson gaze still on her.

 

She couldn't believe this was happening. What was she supposed to do? He was being very uncharacteristically irrational.

 

He has only had a few days of conscious recovery from the poison. He is not himself. He wouldn't possibly….

 

In the next instant he was standing over her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to her feet, dragging her through the forest in the direction he had indicated the village to be in.

 

“Gods! M'lord please listen to me…” She tried to plead with him to listen to reason as she realized that though he may have still been slightly weakened, he meant to make good on his word.

 

“This Sesshoumaru has asked you a question. Do not presume to reason your way out of a response.” He hissed, not giving any indication of being interested in listening to what she had to say other than to answer his question.

 

“Master please!” She begged a little more desperately as she stumbled along after him.

 

He continued to drag her roughly though the darkness of the forest, saying nothing.

 

How can I get him to listen to me?

 

The sound of a baby crying came faintly though the night and Rin's heart leapt into her throat. They were very near the village now.

 

“Master…please…there was no one…” She tried again.

 

He stopped abruptly and turned to her.

 

“I can still smell your desire for him. Why else would you have left the safety of the campsite? You were fleeing with your lover…” He did not finish that remark.

 

“Do not lie to me.” He finished instead.

 

“No…I wasn't…I was upset…” He jerked her into a half run again as he continued towards the village.

 

“No! Master…it was you! IT WAS YOU!” She yelled as she began to smell the smoke from the village fires. She began to dig her feet in and tug on his arm with all of her strength, her loose robe forgotten.

 

He stopped in his tracks and pulled her to him roughly, his eyes glowing with a deep demonic light, but before he could say anything else she lowered her eyes.

 

At that moment, realization hit him full in the stomach, nearly knocking the air out of him. He slammed his usual calm expression firmly in place while he inwardly reeled with the truth of the situation.

 

She was...taking pleasure…in thoughts of…! His angry demon logic was suddenly battling pure masculine pride.

 

“It has always been you.” She whispered. Her throat was tight and she was fighting bitter tears.

 

He did not move or say a word. He could barely breath. His heart was surely going to burst into a hundred pieces any moment. Another realization hit him.

 

She has not been marked.

 

“I…I was going to tell you before we parted…I …” She swallowed, tears were streaming down her cheeks now.

 

Her heart is free to…

 

“M'lord, my heart is yours.” She looked up into his eyes again.

 

He stood there, unmoving, his grasp still tight around her wrist, holding her to him. But, his demonic gaze had faded and now golden eyes locked with hazel.

 

She does not know what she says...

 

“You know I have always loved you, but now…” She swallowed her human shame.

 

“I…I love you as a woman loves a man.” She confessed, her hazel eyes searching his for any response. She thought she saw the slightest flicker of something more heated, more passionate deep within his gaze, but it was gone before she even had time to decide that it was really there.

 

He let her go suddenly, as though his hands had been burned, backing away into the dim shadows and turning his back on her. His deep voice came to her from the darkness.

 

“Do not be foolish.”

 

She sucked in a painful breath and let it out slowly, closing her eyes for a moment. She had expected such a reaction.

 

“I'm sorry M'lord.” She whispered.

 

She turned and began to make her way back to the stream so that she might follow it back to the campsite. She could feel the lump in her throat and the painful throbbing in her skull from too much crying, but it seemed that she had still more tears to shed as she let out a heartbroken sob. She had known he would reject her, but his actual rejection was far more painful than anything she could have imagined. She continued blinded by her tears, through the darkened forest, stumbling over the roots and underbrush that seemed to reach out and snatch at her suddenly heavy feet. She finally saw the dim iridescent light of the moonlit glen up ahead and as she stepped out of the tree line she froze. Lord Sesshoumaru was standing beside the hot spring, his head turned towards it, his eyes seeing something far away. The steam of the hot spring made him seem almost as though he were a figment of a dream. His eyes rose to hers and she stopped breathing.

 

When he heard her step into the grassy glen, his heart skipped a beat. In the forest, he had turned in time to see her retreat back towards the direction of the stream and knew that it would be the last moment he would ever again have her alone and unmarked. His last argument, his constant inner turmoil, had dwindled to nothing as he watched the female who had occupied his life for 10 years walk away. Her mortality was suddenly nothing in comparison to her beauty, her loyalty, her friendship, her…love. When the salty scent of her tears hit him, he made his decision. He went after her.

 

It had taken him a mere moment to reach the glen, so he stood and waited, his mind racing.

 

What are you doing? Think about what this decision means! His rational mind was trying to reason with him.

 

His tortured heart had other plans. No one else will ever know what transpires here on this night.

 

But his mind went completely blank when she stepped into the glen and froze, her startled hazel gaze capturing him. She stood clutching her thin robe to her and shivering, crystal tear drops still rolling down her face.

 

He caught her eyes and said nothing as he turned and took long, sure strides towards her, closing the space between them. When he reached her he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him and lifting her almost off the ground, and crushed his lips fiercely to hers.

 

She wrapped her arms around his neck instantly, pressing her body into him, holding him as close as possible, as she returned his fiery kiss. There was no hesitation, no instance of surprise or confusion. She was his and that was all she knew at that moment.

 

Sesshoumaru hungrily kissed her, forcing her lips apart and plunging his tongue deep into her hot mouth. Her tongue eagerly met his as he devoured her. He was sure there could be nothing sweeter in all of the lands or heavens. His Rin. His sweet Rin.

 

He wanted more.

 

He lowered her feet gently back to the ground, still kissing her, a little more tenderly now and let his hands begin to roam. First down over her firm backside, then back up to her small waist, up over her back, and then around to her ribs. When he reached the hem of her robes he broke the kiss, tearing his lips from hers so that he could see what he was about to reveal. Slowly he opened her robe and let it fall off of her shoulders into a pile at her feet. She stood before him now, nude and perfect, her creamy skin glowing in the moonlight. He had imagined that she would be beautiful, but she was more than that. She was… awe inspiring.

 

He began to trail kisses down her throat as he lightly cupped a small round breast in the palm of one hand, feeling the nipple grow hard at the contact. Her body spoke to his, awakening it from a its slumber. He growled low in his chest as he felt his arousal beginning to grow.

 

Rin was on fire. Her heart was in her throat as he touched her and she felt as though she were melting.

 

She wanted more.

 

She let her head fall back as he kissed her throat and caressed her aching breasts. His touch felt so good, but it only seemed to worsen the continually growing ache she felt in the pit of her stomach and lower. She gasped when she felt his hot lips replaced his hands on her breasts. Shivers ran up and down her spine when his large hands held her firmly to him as he lightly bite and sucked on each of her lovely mounds.

 

Exquisite.

 

That's what she was. He couldn't seem to quench the thirst that was building in him. The more he took of her, the more he wanted. Feverishly, he ripped off his robe, spread it across the grass, and then lowered her down onto her back, her ebony hair flaring out across the white fabric. She instinctively parted her smooth sleek legs and he settled himself between them, bringing his lips to hers once more. She rocked her hips against him bringing a moan from deep inside of him. He suddenly wished he had removed his pants too.

 

His weight on her was so exciting. Never had she felt so feminine and alive. She ran her hands up and down his strong muscular back as they shared a passionate kiss and instinctively rocked her hips upward to meet his. She burned with such a painful desire that she cried out when he thrust his own hips downward and she felt his thick arousal pressed against her through his pants.

 

“Ugh…Master!”

 

He relished the sound of her passion filled voice as he kissed and caressed her. She responded so innocently, so wonderfully to his touch, but if he had just this one night to get him by without her for the rest of his life, he wanted her screaming in ecstasy over and over. He wanted her to remember, even after the marks were all firmly in place.

 

Greedily, he began moving down her body, kissing and caressing, teasing and licking. Her skin smelled of sweet cherry blossoms and was as velvety smooth as the flower petals themselves. When he reach the folds of her womanhood he spread the delicate lips and thrust his tongue into her, hungrily lapping at her and enjoying the shuddering gasp she let out.

 

Within moments her entire world was spinning. She was drowning. She was being tortured so excruciatingly. She was in pure nirvana. She wanted this aching need, this building desire to reach its final destination and she wanted it to never end all at once. She could feel her body quivering as his tongue circled over the bead of sensitive nerves lightly and then firmly, slowly and then quickly. She was sure she was going to die when wave after wave of pure bliss suddenly washed over her. Bright light filled her mind as she went flying off the edge of oblivion and crying out.

 

“SESSHOUMARU!”

 

At that instant, there was a terrifying roar. Everything happened so fast, Rin barely had time to blink, let alone register what was happening.

 

Somehow, Lord Sesshoumaru had her in a sitting position, he was in a low fighting stance in front of her, his claws extended, his right hand glowing green and ready to strike. In the next instant she heard someone yelling.

 

“SHE IS MINE!”

 

There was a sickening sound of flesh being torn and then she saw a blur of burnt orange go flying through the air and into the hot spring.

 

She gasped, clutching Lord Sesshoumaru's robe to her and staring in astonishment at the form sputtering in the water.

 

Master Kane stood up in the waist high water, blood dripping from his sword arm, and turned his blazing emerald gaze on her.