InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ Dog Ears? ( Chapter 16 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Kagome had nearly reached the God Tree when InuYasha caught up with her. It surprised her that he was able to do that. She'd had quite the head start. To her utter astonishment as well as late chagrin, however, he didn't stop as he closed in on her, either.  No, instead, he simply kept moving, catching her squarely in his arms, bearing her down to the ground. She grunted in pain as the air whooshed out of her body, and he rolled, dragging her with him. When they stopped, she was still under him; bodies tangled together, legs entwined. Her breathing was shallow, gasping, harsh.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" he growled.

She blinked back the injury-induced tears that filled her eyes. She was pretty sure her entire body was going to be black and blue in the morning. When he'd caught her, he had been running full-out. Something was unusual about his temper, though, but Kagome couldn't place what it could have been. Almost as though he thought she ought to know better than to have fled from him, the look with which he pinned her spoke volumes. "Get off of me," she demanded, pushing at his shoulders when she finally, mercifully, managed to catch her breath—well, sort of, considering he was still crushing her. He didn't budge.

"Tell me what spooked you back there, and I'll think about getting up," he challenged, his tone oddly soft despite the fierceness in his glower.

Kagome pushed at him again then groaned in frustration when he still wouldn't move. "It was stupid, I told you," she grumbled, giving up for the moment on freeing herself. She let her arms drop on the ground and concentrated instead on breathing since his position left her gasping for breath. He was a lot heavier than he looked, and being this close to him and in this intimate of a position was having a marked impact on her senses. Then it hit her. That's what was so odd. Angry? Yes. Frustrated? Certainly. Confused? Perhaps, but . . . "Why aren't you winded?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes on him.

InuYasha made a face, and judging from his expression, he was close to losing whatever control he had left. "You answer me first, bitch. Why'd you take off like hell's seven hounds were after you?"

She racked her addled brain as she tried to think of a way to avoid answering his question, but he was too heavy, too intimidating, too certain, and far, far too close. She could feel the heat of his body radiating off him straight to her, and she gulped for air again. The lack of air stemmed more from his proximity, his breath brushing over her cheek like a caress, than from his crushing weight. Sudden heat swirled in her belly. Every inch of his body felt as though it wanted to flow into her, to merge them together. The emotion shocked her, terrified her, and thrilled her at the same time.

"Answer me, or I swear I'm not fucking moving." To emphasize his point, InuYasha pressed against her more. Kagome gasped at the contact as she racked her brain for the cause of the entire situation. Then she remembered, and she groaned.

She stifled a panicked whimper. 'There is no help for it,' Kagome thought darkly. She had to tell him, as much as she didn't want to. It was stupid. It was infeasible. And when she'd blinked and looked again, it had to have been her imagination because they weren't there. "I thought you had dog ears on top of your head," she admitted, refusing to look him in the eye and unable to keep the irritation out of her voice that he'd managed to unsettle her enough to make her tell him anything. "Cute little white dog ears. I told you it was stupid. Are you happy now?"

He suddenly stopped moving. In fact, it seemed like he had suddenly stopped breathing, too, but he stared at her, his eyes willing her to understand his unstated words. Kagome swallowed hard. His gaze shifted down to the pulse in her throat.

'He's going to kiss me,' Kagome thought wildly. The look that entered his expression as he stared down at her was the same one that she had seen on his face in the forest, just before she'd yelled 'osuwari!' at him.

Trouble was, same as before, Kagome didn't think she'd mind at all, if he did kiss her. In fact, somewhere deep down, she had to admit that she wanted him to do it. Those secret dreams, those desires she was too frightened to voice—they shot to the fore with a delirious abandon, swirled around her center, calling out to him. She willed him to listen, to hear what her heart sang every fluctuation of her pulse. Creating a rhythm that lacked any structure, and all she could do was cling to his shoulders, willing him closer, closer, to kiss her, so she could touch the moon . . .

His head dipped lower, his lips poised just above hers. She could feel complete heat radiating from his mouth to her skin. Kagome couldn't even summon the resistance to push him back. Why did the idea of kissing this man feel so right?

Eyes fluttering closed, eyelashes brushing over his cheeks in a soft wave, Kagome opened her mouth to protest but the sound lodged in her parched throat. 'Stop fighting, Kagome . . . He wants this as badly as you do.' Lips almost touching, the end of his ponytail trailing over his shoulder, tickling the hollows of her throat . . .

"Kagome? Your mom said you were out here, and—"

Kagome gasped as the familiar voice cut through her bemusement. The moment shattered like glass, cutting into her soul with a vicious abandon. She groaned softly and renewed her struggle to escape the prison of InuYasha's body.

InuYasha took a moment longer to come to his senses. She didn't miss his frustrated sigh, nor did she fail to notice the flash of pain in his eyes. 'Pain? Why would he feel that?' she wondered. Her thoughts were cut short when he shot to his feet, dragging Kagome by the hands, he growled savagely but turned to face the intruder.

Kagome flinched and tried to hide behind InuYasha. It wasn't difficult. He pushed her behind his back and continued to growl low in his throat. Of all the people to find her in that position, why did it have to be Houjou? Kagome stifled a groan and covered her face in her hands.

"What's going on?" Houjou asked, slowly stalking toward the two. InuYasha turned, careful to keep Kagome behind him, as though she was in some sort of danger. His growl didn't stop.

"What do you want?" he countered.

Kagome lifted her face from her hands at the almost predatory sound of InuYasha's voice. She couldn't see his face. A flash of red raced through her mind. Crimson with a violent streak; a serrated silhouette on flesh. What? She was drawn out of her thoughts when InuYasha pushed her further behind him. She stumbled and caught herself on the back of his sweatshirt. He either didn't notice or didn't care.

"I came to see my woman," Houjou insisted as he tried to come closer again. InuYasha backed her up a bit more. "Kagome?"

"Don't talk to her," InuYasha growled. "Talk to me!"

Houjou stopped suddenly and stared at InuYasha as though it was the first time he had noticed that he stood between himself and Kagome. "You're that substitute teacher, aren't you?" he challenged. "Izayoi-sensei? Isn't it a breach of contract, for you to become involved with a student?"

Kagome gasped softly when InuYasha spoke again. A strange gruffness had entered his tone; a savage intensity that she'd never heard before yet was somehow familiar to her. "I don't give a damn about a fucking contract. Get out of here, Kouga, before I cut you up and leave you for the scavenging vermin."

Houjou stopped short, sidetracked by InuYasha's words. Kagome, herself, leaned to the side to better see his face. "Kouga?" Houjou echoed.

InuYasha blinked, like he was surprised, but only for a moment before his sneer returned. "My mistake. You're much weaker than that bastard ever was."

Deciding to ignore InuYasha in favor of seeing Kagome, Houjou leaned to the side to look at the girl in question. "Kagome, come on. I'm taking you to the movies."

Kagome bristled and tried to step around InuYasha. He caught her wrist in a surprisingly gentle grip and pulled her back again. She shot him an irritated look but remained silent otherwise. Figuring that InuYasha was the lesser of the two evils, Kagome stood on tip toe to glower over at Houjou. "I told you. I don't want to see you anymore, and I'm not your woman!"

Houjou shot her a 'You-don't-know-what-you're-saying' look. Kagome's glower darkened even more. When he took another step toward InuYasha, the silver-haired man's growl grew louder. He lifted a hand to reach for Kagome but must have thought better of it. Kagome craned her neck around to see what was going on. InuYasha's lips were drawn back in an odd grimace but the low rumbling growl that escaped him was what had stopped Houjou's hand.

"Come on, Kagome," Houjou said without taking his eyes off InuYasha.

Kagome opened her mouth to retort. InuYasha was faster. "You really need to listen to her, runt. You can't claim her. She's not yours."

That he said it in such a deadly quiet voice sent a shiver down Kagome's spine. Houjou retreated a step. "Kagome?"

She refused to come out from behind InuYasha. Actually, she highly doubted that he would allow her to, anyway. His hand was resting on her hip in silent warning to stay where she was, and Kagome was too apprehensive to disobey. "You need to leave, Houjou-kun," she said in a tired voice.

Houjou's temper flared, obviously believing that InuYasha was to blame. With remarkable speed, he shot forward and caught Kagome's wrist, dragging her away from InuYasha. InuYasha retaliated by wrapping an arm around her waist. Kagome grimaced as the men tugged at her, and she wondered if she would ever escape in one piece.

She whimpered softly. InuYasha either heard her or sensed that she was hurting and immediately relinquished his hold. Houjou caught her and steadied her against his chest. She jerked away from him and stepped back, directly into InuYasha's chest. Houjou stepped forward. Kagome squeaked as she realized that she was now sandwiched between the two and they looked as though they were about to rip one another to ribbons.

"Back off, bastard, or I'll have to shred you," InuYasha growled.

"I'd like to see you try! Kagome is my woman! I love her!"

"Nobody talks down to Kagome like that, with me around! How dare you humiliate her! She's not your property!"

Kagome had heard enough. With stubborn determination, she put a hand on each man's chest and shoved them apart. It was comical, the way the two stepped back and stared down at her as though they had both forgotten that she was there, in the first place. She pinned each of them with a glower. "Go home, Houjou-kun. I told you already that I don't want to see you anymore." Then she turned to face InuYasha. A bit of her irritation melted away as she stared up at him. He looked like he wanted to tear Houjou limb from limb yet there was something beneath that, too, an aching pain that haunted his eyes; a pain she wanted to take from him. She scowled at him just for a second then sighed in defeat.

At least Houjou finally left. Kagome heaved a sigh of relief as she watched him stomp out of the courtyard and down the shrine steps. She glanced at InuYasha quickly then narrowed her eyes at the hostility still evident in InuYasha's face.

"InuYasha?" she murmured softly, unsure if he was even paying attention to her or not. He didn't answer right away. Kagome took a step closer and hesitantly touched his arm. "InuYasha?"

He blinked quickly and finally glanced down into her face. "I could have torn him to pieces," he remarked angrily, his eyes snapping with an inner fire. "He talked to you like you were just a fucking toy, and you defended him! Why?"

Kagome drew her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why are you so upset?" she demanded.

"Keh!" he snorted as he turned away from her and cracked his knuckles. "I'm not upset."

He was lying, and she knew it. But she didn't remark on it, either. He'd acted like a jealous boyfriend. Her eyes widened in surprise. He had, hadn't he?

InuYasha sighed and drew back his shoulders as if to stretch. "Well, come on," he remarked with a sigh.

Kagome stared at his back for another long moment, a thoughtful frown marring her expression. With a sigh, she shook her head and followed him. She had to have been imagining things. Why on earth would InuYasha be jealous? More importantly, why would he have wanted to kiss her?