InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shrine Prostitute ❯ Intuition - Fight or Flight ( Chapter 3 )

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

Shrine Prostitute by FlameTwirler

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Chapter 3: Intuition – Fight or Flight
----- direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independentof any reasoning process; immediate apprehension.
----- pure, untaught, noninferential knowledge; instinctive knowledge or belief

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Inuyasha woke to the sound of the hinges on his door creaking open.

Though the Bacana Shrine’s designers had tried to keep more in theme with the feudal motif it was found that, for multiple reasons, the heavier material for the doors and walls was preferable. Namely – it allowed less sound to be carried. In a building with the purposes of this one that was quite an advantage. (Excepting the singular hall for those who leaned toward the exhibitionistic and voyeuristic; there the traditional rice paper doors led to each room.)

Of course, since Inuyasha had come to reside in this particular room the doors had been doubly insulated: one of the many ‘perks’ for the particular type of clientele he serviced here, in addition to such things as the bare trappings and the shackles on each post of the bed.

Grumbling as he raised his head, Inuyasha had just enough time to focus his eyes on the figure in the doorway. Features became clear and he realized the woman – Kagome – was raising a hand in an awkward farewell before she exited and closed the door behind her.

Shit, he thought, rubbing a hand tiredly across his face. “Shit!”

Rolling onto his back he groaned inwardly. He couldn’t believe he’d actually fallen asleep. He never fell asleep with women, but that damn girl had just made him so comfortable! So much so, in fact, he’d fallen into a deeper sleep than he had in ages; enough so that he hadn’t roused when she slunk out of his arms that morning.

He didn’t have the chance to thank her, or come as close as he could to thanking anybody. He didn’t get to ask her to come again one more time in her month here so that he’d get to try any of the delicious things that came to mind when thinking about her delectable body. He didn’t get to say, well, anything.

Growling, he glanced at the clock and saw it was only 9 a.m. Normally he’d just be going to bed, but since he’d slept so much during her first night… Inuyasha swore and threw his pillow at the clock.

He still had the rest of the day to stew in his stupidity.

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He was not in the best of moods when his shift started that evening. Not only was he still mad at himself, as well as with her for having the audacity to sneak out on him, but he was going to have to deal with whatever shitbag nutcase they saddled him with whenever his next appointment came up.

The food on his plate was getting cold as he mindlessly pushed it around with a single clawed finger.

At least he didn’t have an appointment set tonight. That was the one and only benefit of having to service the wackos: thankfully they weren’t as common. He would often go for a couple days or even a week without a customer.

Then of course fate would laugh at him and he’d get some twisted bitch on his back for five nights in a row. Still, at least he usually got a couple of days for recovery time until the next one showed up.

However, today seemed to be one of those days that he was a blow-up punching bag for one of the incredibly fickle kami. He tried not to snarl as he saw Kazuma barreling down on him, no doubt bearing wonderful news.

“Got a last minute addition for you, Inu.” Damn, but the man knew he hated that nickname.

Kazuma repressed a chuckle at the heated glare he got in return. “I think you’ll like this one though. She’s…perky.”

Perky? Inuyasha wondered. Who knew what that could mean when coming from someone the likes of Kazuma. “What time?” he groused.

“Oh, in about…” he glanced at his watch, “about 15 minutes.”

“Of course it is. Wouldn’t want to give me time to get ready now, would we?” Inuyasha didn’t wait for a reply as he chucked his tray into the cleaning line then stalked off toward his room.

Things were not looking up.

There hadn’t been anyone on his roster when he checked this morning, and most of his clientele made appointments in advance to make sure he was free. After all, if he wasn’t available then they had to go with someone else and couldn’t be guaranteed their usual amount of ‘fun’ since they’d have to hold back on any other Tetsudai to prevent any permanent damage.

As such, he’d spent his entire day sulking and hadn’t even bothered to change his sheets yet, let alone do any other kind of cleaning required. Still thrashing around his room, throwing open the closet door to grab a fresh change of bed clothes, he let loose a growl when he heard the knock on the door.

“Come in!” he snapped, yelling loud enough that the insulation didn’t matter and not really caring if he offended the person on the other side of the door.

Cursing his profession for the umpteenth time that week, he steeled himself against the humiliation of doing his own housekeeping in front of his new customer. Letting the sheet fall down in place and stuffing the dirty ones in the closet he turned to face the woman – at least, he hoped it was a woman –  he’d been so fastidiously ignoring.

He came to a halt mid-step and his jaw dropped when he saw who was standing there. “Ka- Kagome?” he asked, a combination of confusion and suspicion lacing his voice.

“Yeah, it’s me…uh, hi again.” She smiled brightly up at him, her embarrassment tingeing her cheeks ever so slightly. “I don’t know if this is normal at all or anything, but I figured last night was fine and I know you now – well, kind of – so I don’t have to get familiar with someone else all over again when I’m still not really used to doing this. I hope you don’t mind? I mean…”

Yup, this was definitely Kagome alright. Between the stupid notions she had about what the Tetsudai workers would mind and the way she babbled when she was nervous – or so he guessed since he didn’t think he’d ever been around her when she wasn’t nervous – there was no mistaking it, even only knowing her after a night.

Inuyasha smirked inwardly as he started to tune her out. He was sure she was just rambling the same inane stuff anyhow about those odd ideas she had; he wondered how long it would take for her to catch on to the way things worked around there. Part of him wanted to take pleasure in being the one to chase those ideas away, but even then he wondered if part of her would stay blissfully naive and innocent anyhow.

By now he’d finished cleaning and snapped back to attention since Kagome had finished her speech and he tried to look like he’d followed everything. Locking his eyes on her face he sat on his bed and patted the space next to him.

Kagome took a small step forward before she knew it. Only once she felt her foot touch down did she realize what she was doing, shaking herself from the trance Inuyasha’s gaze had put her in. Mentally, she groaned. He must think I want to get right down to it after only one time! Does he really think I’m that easy? Then she wondered, Is that even a bad thing in this place?

She hesitated while her eyes flicked between Inuyasha’s hand and his face, then, closing the door behind her with a soft click, she took a single step forward. What would he think of her coming back like this? Kagome felt like she was breaching some unwritten protocol by being there and she grimaced slightly as she felt her face warm from her flush. Frustrated by how much she must be coming across as a frightened school girl, she pasted a smile on her face and looked in his direction, though she still refrained from making eye contact. She just knew her embarrassment would overload if she did that right now.

For his part, Inuyasha was having trouble believing that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. Since when did anybody not severely messed up in the head come to him a second night? Did she have any idea what it meant to have her standing in front of him again? It was the same as saying, ‘Hey, you were a really good lay, wanna go again?’ The thought of those words coming out of her mouth had the simultaneous reaction of making him want to laugh at the chance of that happening, and the sheer arousal that spread all through his body at the desire that it would. But since he knew what it meant, who was he to disappoint?

“Kagome.” Inuyasha’s voice broke the stillness in the room and seemed to knock Kagome from her fidgeting trance.

“Um, yeah, hi,” she repeated stupidly. Her right hand left her shirt hem to do a little mock wave. She caught what she was doing a bit too late and inwardly groaned. Act a little more childish, can we? This thought gave her the boost to finally look him in the face and address why she was there.

Catching his eyes she started off as forcefully as she could, “Okay, so I’m here a second night. I figured that since I already knew you and you already knew that I was a virgin until last night that it might be easier to just come back here. That makes sense, doesn’t it?” She nodded slightly at her own logic, not looking for a response from him. “So it’s fine that I came back here, right? I mean, I won’t break any rules or step on your toes or anything by being here a second night?”

Inuyasha chuckled. He’d never seen anyone so embarrassed, but damn if it didn’t make her even cuter. “Of course not. There’s nothing wrong with being here a second night,” he told her. “Nothing wrong with a third or fourth either…” he added under his breath.

Kagome slanted a suspicious glance at him. “What was that?”

“Keh, nothing,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. Damn woman wasn’t supposed to actually hear that, well not unless she was already planning on coming those consecutive nights… Inuyasha caught himself before his mind could trail after those thoughts. “The way I see it,” he continued, “the only thing wrong with this situation is that you’re over by the door, and wearing way too much.” To emphasize his point he lowered his crossed arms and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, yanking it over his head and depositing it at the foot of the bed. One hand swiping a few strands of hair from his face he used the other to pat the bed next to him. “Coming?” he queried.

Kagome flushed all over and she could actually feel the heat rising from her skin. She could only imagine how red she looked.

Wow, that’s quite the look you’re going for. Overripe tomato is it? Oh no dear, that would be scandalous indeed. This look is sun-ripened tomato. Much more distinguished, don’t you agree?

Kagome grimaced for what must be the third time in as many minutes. It didn’t matter what kind of tomato she was, neither was going to win her any awards for being attractive. Red skin tone is not something you typically see on a guy’s “want” list.

She mentally shook herself. What was she so worried about anyhow? She was a newbie at this; she’d be more shocked if she wasn’t embarrassed. He was the professional here. Therefore it was all his fault that she was discomfited because he should have had more tact, like he had the night before, instead of forcing her to essentially – in her mind at least – throw herself at him, and now he…he is currently staring at my breasts.

Inuyasha didn’t even notice where his gaze had wandered until he heard her instinctive gasp. He hadn’t meant to, it’s just when she got that fierce flush he found himself wondering how far it extended, whether it stopped at her neck or if it trailed down from there over her collarbone and…and that’s when his gaze got snagged. He could sense the heat radiating off her in waves and wondered what it’d be like to feel that flushed heat under his fingers…beneath his lips.

Kagome huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you staring at, you pervert?” She really wished she had something to throw at him, but she didn’t think that taking off the house shoes she’d brought and lobbing one at him would go over too well.

Inuyasha reeled defensive for all of two seconds before launching his counter attack. “What’s the problem with looking!? It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before.” This comment found him on the receiving end of a shoe.

One dumb-founded hanyou later, an exasperated Kagome was vehemently trying to not pull out all her hair. “What the hell did you do that for?” yelled an increasingly annoyed Inuyasha.

“That’s what you get for being a hentai!” Forgetting her nervousness in her anger, Kagome tramped toward him. “No one ever gave you permission to stare. It’s embarrassing!”

“Who said I needed rights? You’re the one who came here. Doesn’t that give me all the ‘permission’ I need?” Inuyasha smirked, feeling he’d gained the upper hand by effectively throwing all responsibility on her. He shouldn’t have to be yelled at about being appreciative, now should he?

What he hadn’t counted on, however, was doing his job too well. Kagome thrived on her inherent ‘fight or flight’ drive, and now that he’d just taken all the fight out of her she only had one option left. Therefore, before she could further impress him with her rave rendition of a gaping trout, she stalked up to him, grabbed her shoe from his hand, turned, and strode for the door. She managed to grunt out, “You jerk,” before pulling the door open.

Inuyasha winced and turned to face the wall. He didn’t want to see her walk out. And why was she leaving? Just because he was a stupid lout who couldn’t admit he was excited to see her. Yes, excited. After all, how often did he have gorgeous young women come to him with any other interests besides trying to get their jollies while simultaneously trying to rip his balls off? Fine, maybe a slight exaggeration, he conceded, but it sure felt like it sometimes. Or at the very least the others would try to bleed him dry.

Still, he’d hoped Kagome would show up tonight, knowing there was no possibility of it happening, and then it did! And what did he do? He made the brilliant move of opening his mouth! Damn, what he wouldn’t do to take it back and do it over again – not give her any time to argue, just sweep her up and lay her out on his bed and have his way with her, taking her breath so quickly she wouldn’t have any to spare for this senseless squabbling, making her into a boneless heap of sensation that left her brain incapable of registering any embarrassment.

The click of the door made him flatten his ears to his skull and cut off his line of thinking. There was no point in wasting time dreaming about things that wouldn’t happen…like glorious hours spent in bed, teaching her all the tricks he’d saved up for someone who would let him do as he wished, someone who would actually appreciate the endeavor…like pondering how he’d love to run his tongue up the taut line of her-

His train of thought came to an abrupt halt when he thought he heard a muffled shuffling sound coming from behind him. Immediately he froze and his ears perked as he trained them on the sound he hoped he wasn’t imagining, though he despaired at the idea. Was he actually hearing things? Please don’t let this be a trick. I’m already close enough to insanity as it is – no need to go throwing hallucinations into the mix. Please don’t let this be a trick. Keeping his face as calm and unassuming as possible he turned to face the door. And her.

She was looking everywhere but at him, her fingers turning pretzels around each other. He couldn’t do more than dumb-foundedly stare at her. She was really there? After what he’d said? Man, she must be stupid. Or desperate. Or the most selfless person he’d ever met.

“You’re here,” he managed to sputter out, once his mouth finally decided to obey his brain.

Kagome looked up at him sheepishly, stubbornly refusing to lose eye contact this time no matter how embarrassed she was or how bad he was with his mouth. At least while he’s talking… She had the grace to blush at her last thought.

“I’m already here, so I suppose I may as well stay. I had so much trouble picking someone the first time – I already told you so many of the guys here feel creepy to me. I don’t want to bother tonight trying to pick another when it’s already so late. Sleep is a good thing, you know?” She knew she was probably over-explaining herself, giving her words even more of a feel of an excuse, but she’d never had a good reign on her tongue. “Not,” she quickly amended, “that I plan on getting much sleep tonight, I guess,” Kagome eyed him warily, “but sleep is preferable to going through that enormous book again with photo after photo that doesn’t really tell me a thing about a guy.”

She groused inwardly as she saw a small smirk steal across the face of the still shirtless hanyou who was currently lounging quite contentedly across his bed. Her groan, however, quickly turned to fuming. Here she was, explaining her presence to a guy who’d all but chased her out of his room with his tactless assertions. She tried to leave only to be lured back, as she was sure he must think it, by his ‘amazing’ presence and abilities. Ugh! She could almost tear her hair out at her stupidity by playing to his ego. Not that he even needed it! By her way of thinking, all men had egos entirely too large for their heads. Maybe that’s why they had to have two – to make some extra room. Kagome quickly covered a snigger at the thought. Sure, two months ago the thought wouldn’t have popped into her head so easily but all the innuendo from her friends had managed to rub off on her and corrupt her mind just a bit.

Anyhow, two could play at this game. Maybe she could still salvage a scrap of her dignity. “After all, we got along well last night so I figure I can just go look at the book tomorrow and we can play nice tonight. As long as you don’t talk so much. Or stare.”

She sighed at her seeming love of giving account for herself and inability to just stay quiet. “Besides, I’ve already paid good money for tonight, and since I don’t plan on wasting it we may as well go ahead with…it.” Kagome gestured sweepingly in the direction of the bed, smiling demurely.

Her smile faltered though when she noticed Inuyasha wasn’t playing along with her compromise. She figured she’d make up some silly excuse for still being there, he’d pretend it wasn’t as stupid as it surely was, and things would pick up from where they’d left off at the beginning of the night. However, if the icy glare was anything to gauge by, she’d misjudged. Grossly.

“So it’s all about the money, eh? Keh, should’ve known.” Inuyasha eyed her contemptuously, raking his eyes over her as if looking at an entirely new person. “That’s always how it is. And so what? So you’ve paid for my ‘services.’ If you don’t want to be here you’re not fucking required to be. Unlike me, you can leave whenever the hell you want, so quit bellyaching about it. You already brought up your beloved book so I’m sure you’re familiar enough with it to have a head start on tonight. You might not get a full refund if you decide to switch to someone else at the last minute, but what should that matter to someone like you?”

Kagome stared at him, mouth agape, in absolute disbelief of what he’d just said. “That’s what you think this is about?” Hands clenched at her sides, her fists started to shake. “You think this is about money!? You honestly think I’m some spoilt little rich girl who came to ease her boredom by playing around here for a month?” Inuyasha’s silence revealed she’d nailed his new picture of her with perfection. “How in the world could you think that?!”

Judging by the angry red flush burning across Kagome’s face, Inuyasha was coming to realize he’d definitely said the wrong thing.

“If I was so fabulously wealthy, then why on earth would I come to a shrine to send my prayers to the goddess of wealth?”

Inuyasha was surprised. She actually took the worship part seriously? That was novel. Not many of the lovely people he met were here for such noble purposes. But then again, hadn’t she said the night before that she herself was from a small shrine of her own or something like that?

As if on cue, Kagome launched her tirade. “My family and I work hard to support ourselves, but even still our shrine is going under. The original plan was for me to come for a week when I turned 21, but we’re in a desperate enough state that it had to be pushed up to as soon as possible and also extended as long as possible.” It burned her to no end that his insult had been enough to even bypass her pride. She couldn’t believe she was actually telling him all about her family’s financial troubles! Still, she would show him how wrongly he’d judged. He deserved it, her family deserved it, and she deserved it.

“We all scrimped and saved to get me the money to be here, and I will not waste my family’s efforts just because I’m uncomfortable. And the fact you could really think that I’m playing around here…!”

She clenched her teeth together as she stifled a scream. “So what we talked about last night, and even tonight, doesn’t mean anything? Do you honestly think,” she uncharacteristically sneered at the thought, “that I would actually choose to lose my virginity to a complete stranger? I would much have preferred it to be with someone I loved and who loved me back, but that just never worked out and it’s not exactly something you can force. Besides, the longer I live the more I’m learning that romanticized notions don’t have much power in the ‘real’ world: there’s too much working against them. Things like supporting my family are more important – no matter how scant the hope might be of these prayers being heard.

“I may be crazy for even telling you this,” she continued, “but I am honestly the only person I know who wouldn’t jump at the chance to come here. Maybe that’s what you’re used to – but so what? That is not who I am and right now I don’t really care how weird you think I am for being like this.

“And after you knew how uncomfortable I was last night and even tonight – you still think that?” She screamed at him, “You pompous jerk!”

Kagome had been moving continually closer to him while venting her anger but was still an arm’s length away from him. She was disappointed she wasn’t close enough to slap him but didn’t care to get any closer to the idiot at the moment.

Inuyasha eyed her flexing right hand and was suddenly glad for that same distance between them. He didn’t particularly want to get hit tonight if he could help it.

Kagome stilled and straightened. “I think, however, in this situation my family would be accepting of the loss, since I’m not only uncomfortable but also insulted. I’ll take your advice and go look for a replacement now.”

Inuyasha glared at her. If she wanted to talk insult then he’d had plenty also, but he’d had to bear it without complaining. Sure, maybe he’d stepped over the line – maybe, mind you – but at least she could still leave when the situation became too much for her. She wasn’t getting any sympathy from him.

“I’d like to say I’m sorry for wasting your time, but really I’m not; I wish more that you hadn’t wasted mine. But I’m sorry I came here tonight. I should have left well enough alone and stayed away after last night so that I could at least remember my first time as being with someone who, even though he appeared tough and rude, was surprisingly kind to me and careful when I was so nervous.”

Her expression turned sad and wistful. “I don’t know if you made up the stories you told me last night for my benefit or not, but thank you for last night.” Her face turned hard again, hurt and anger shining in her eyes. “But don’t ever insult me or my family and their sacrifice again you jerk. Goodbye,” she said, turning on her heel, “and I hope to never see you again.”

As she stormed toward the door Inuyasha tried to calm the whirlwind swirling in his head. So what if she took offense to what he said? It’s not like it wasn’t a valid question, what with the lot of people he normally dealt with. Just because it now seemed she didn’t happen to fall in that same category didn’t mean he should have known all of that up front. Besides, life wasn’t peaches and cream for anybody and everyone just had to learn how to deal with it. There was nothing to help shield any of the blows, unfortunately, even if Kagome – that girl, he corrected – was still naive enough to think people should still assume the best about each other instead of the worst.

One thing he did know though, she wouldn’t actually walk out of this room. If she couldn’t leave the first time, then why would she now? Any second now she’d pause and turn, looking up at him sheepishly with those large brown eyes…

Then he’d capitulate. He’d be disgusted that she’d clanged the symbol of hurt pride and then turned against it in order to save money or get a good lay, or whatever reason she used to justify her stay, but he’d keep that on the inside. No one could be in this profession long without learning to cover what you really thought of a patron. The ones he normally dealt with were below scum in his opinion, but he was careful to never show it. Can’t go upsetting any of the sadistic clients now can we? he spat contemptuously.

Apparently even ‘nice’ girls were the same. Give them power over someone and they’d lord it over him. He had as of yet to meet a single female in his life – aside from his mother – who knew the meaning of the word honor. To actually have and display honor was something he considered impossible for a female of any race and he was sure this one was about to prove him right. Again.

The doorknob clicked, and when he heard Kagome muttering something under her breath about annoying, white-haired jerks, he suddenly knew she was really was going to actually walk out and leave the room. Leave him. He moved before he could even think about it.

Kagome started when Inuyasha’s right hand slammed on the door in front of her face, pushing it closed with a ‘click’. Her gasp, however, was due much more to the arm that snaked around her waist, pulling her back against a hot, hard body, and the lips that simultaneously latched onto the sensitive skin of her neck.

“Who said I wanted you to leave?” he murmured, moving up to kiss behind her left ear.

Kagome remained stiff in his arms, not quite sure what was going on. “I thought you did. You insulted me well enough.”

“Well, you thought wrong,” he informed her. Just for good measure he added, “Keh, stupid woman.”

He moved down her neck to her shoulder, wet, open-mouthed kisses leaving Kagome trembling as she was still caught between confusion, anger, and desire, though his lips were quickly erasing the first two. With one hand on the door and the other wrapped around her stomach Inuyasha hadn’t been able to pull her hair out of his way, and as such errant strands were caught in his kisses, beneath his tongue, rasping against her newly sensitized skin. Making his way to her shoulder and pressing his lips as far as the material of her shirt would allow Inuyasha wanted to rectify the hair situation but something else had to be addressed first.

“I don’t want you to go,” he breathed against her wet skin, sending goose bumps snaking down her back. “Stay,” he said, the slightest lilt to the word indicating it was more a request than a command.

The kisses he’d been raining on her had more than changed her mind already about leaving. Even if her mind had been in the same angry state it had been earlier her body sure wasn’t; she was not quite sure her legs would even support her enough to walk out of the room if he wasn’t holding her up against him. “Yes,” she sighed out, smiling delightedly when she saw his hand snib the lock on the door before traveling to her right shoulder, and then felt him smirk against the curve of the other. “So how much do you care about this shirt?”

“Not much,” she replied honestly. Her mother had warned her before she came to not bother wearing any clothing she had any great deal of attachment to. She still wasn’t sure why but she knew she was about to find out.

“Good,” he growled, just as he slipped his right hand under the collar of her shirt and used one claw to rip it along the top edge to the point of her shoulder, leaving the hem of the sleeve intact to hold the shirt up. His left hand moved up from its position from her stomach to reach her shoulder, brushing her breast ever so slightly along the way, then grabbing the collar line he’d been licking at for the last minute in order to pull it away, as far off her left shoulder as he could without choking her. He leaned back for all of two seconds to marvel in the creamy perfection that was her skin. Mulling it over for a bit he decided to leave the bra strap – for now.

Going back to his mission of leaving her left shoulder and throat as full of bruises as possible, he growled happily when she leaned her head to the side and rested it on his shoulder, giving him all the access he could crave at the moment.

He already realized that after the tremendous performance he’d just succeeded in – almost chasing the poor girl from his room – there was no way she would be back the following night. In fact, she’d already told him as much. That didn’t mean, however, that he held a grudge against her. Just the opposite in fact. As such he decided he wanted to make sure that whatever bastard got the privilege of pleasuring her the following night had better do just that: pleasure her until there was no way she’d forget him – and he could always hope that the poor saps after him paled in comparison.

That’s where his brilliant plan with the bruising came in. He figured that if she was covered in dozens of love bites, whoever saw her the next night would feel he had to show up the previous Tetsudai and prove himself a better lover than a lowly hanyou – just some guaranteed insurance for the girl who was way too naive for her own good, especially in a place like this.

Besides, it was plenty of fun for him as well. He had all night again, and he didn’t plan to waste any of it napping like the previous night. Kagome had unintentionally gotten herself into the long haul.

Inuyasha slowly backed up, pulling Kagome with him, until they were standing in the middle of the room. Without her hand on the doorknob, she had nothing to lean on for balance save him, making her completely dependent on him in the moment since he could tell her legs were past giving out on her.

After lavishing greedy, wet, tortuously slow kisses to every bit of skin he could find on the top and back of her shoulder, he turned her around to face him and went to work on her collarbone, careful to keep an arm around her the whole time to keep her from toppling. But after just a moment working the front of her shoulder other, softer, parts of her body beckoned to him.

Catching her eye for any signs of disapproval, he cut down the middle of her cotton t-shirt, again stopping around her navel to ensure the shirt wouldn’t actually fall off her – just open to reveal portions of her glorious body to him. Curling his left arm around her back, he used his right to open the flap of her shirt and reveal the perfect mound of her breast, concealed only scantly by the lace of her bra. Wasting no time he dove right in, suckling her nipple right through the bra, abrading the skin with the rough material.

Kagome gasped, both hands spearing into his hair, holding his head to her as she arched into his touch. His mouth was so hot she felt as if he were lighting her on fire every time his tongue flicked across her skin. She couldn’t believe anything could feel so good until he pulled back from her with an audible smack, then looked directly at her with those hooded eyes and said, “I think we need the bed now, madam.” His smirk at the last word and all the implications that went with the phrase sent a wave of heat rushing through her, pooling somewhere much lower than her breasts, and her legs proceeded to completely, miserably, fail on her.

She fell to her knees, pulling Inuyasha with her, and had to fight the urge to pull his face to hers in a fierce kiss. Instead she pulled aside at the last second, scattering kisses all over his face until she reached his throat, licking from his collarbone to his jaw line, then turning around and giving him the same treatment he’d given her – only now that she was directly in front of him her kisses weren’t limited to only one side of his body and she took full advantage of having his full chest within her reach. She quickly discovered that his nipples were possibly as sensitive as hers when he whimpered at her ministrations, only to quickly come back to himself at the sound and decide he wanted to be the dominant one in this exchange.

He quickly and expertly removed her bra and once again took to feasting upon her and this time, without the material in the way, Kagome was flooded by the sensation and felt she would die if he continued. Instead she settled for leaning back as far as she could, sighing deeply when Inuyasha lowered her to the floor and settled over her.

She loved the feel of his weight across her legs and his hips were just close enough to hers for her to feel the barest brush of his arousal. Deciding she wanted much more than that Kagome lifted herself off the cold concrete and ground against him, drawing a guttural moan from the hanyou that reverberated through her chest where he still laved and suckled. A sharp pinch from his hand on her other nipple caused her spine to snap uncontrollably and she smacked her head against the floor.

She didn’t think anything of it in her condition but whimpered when Inuyasha stopped what he was doing to check on her. “Are you okay?” he inquired, and Kagome was surprised by the worry she saw in his eyes. When she didn’t reply quickly enough for his taste - although what could he expect considering she was thoroughly dazed at the moment - he bolted from his spot hovering over her to crouch behind her, pulling her up to a sitting position so he could examine her head.

Tentatively feeling for bumps, he winced when she made a slight noise as he encountered one. His fingers flitted over the bump to see if there were any others but he stilled when Kagome reached around to grab his hand in her own. Turning she gave him a gentle smile. “I’m fine,” she said.

“Doesn’t look like it,” he groused, scowling at his ineptitude.

Kagome scoffed at him. “It’s a tiny bump and it doesn’t hurt at all, especially when you’re doing things to me that would prevent me from thinking about it…” She blushed and looked away, surprised at her own audacity.

“Well then,” Inuyasha’s smirk returned, “I’ll just have to make sure to keep your mind thoroughly occupied, ne?” He scooped her up in his arms. “In the bed,” he emphasized as he lowered her onto the mattress, making sure to remind her that he’d already tried once to get them there but she’d caused him to detour.

“Why do you have a bed instead of a futon?” she asked as he knelt down next to her.

“Some here have beds, some futons. It depends on what suits their tastes and purposes.”

“And a bed better suits your tastes and purposes?” Kagome tilted her head to a curious angle.

“Keh, not my tastes, but it does suit the purpose better.” He almost spat out the word.

“What purpose would that be?”

Inuyasha nodded toward the manacles at the head of the bed. They blended in pretty well to the bed and the wall but she still couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed them last night, or even this night while they’d been arguing. Granted, she’d probably been more concerned with her own anxiety and nervousness, but still… Glancing around, she noticed a pair at the foot of the bed too.

Eyes widening in shock Kagome was almost afraid of the answer before she even asked the question. “What are those for?”

He frowned at the question. “You dense? What else would these be for? I told you last night I’m the whipping boy. These are here for the sadistic bastards who get their shits and giggles from using domination in a whole new sense of the word and get off from seeing pain and blood. They can’t bring their own because the wimpy ones made most places wouldn’t be enough to hold me. These had to be special made to withstand the strength of a hanyou without breaking or damaging the structural integrity of the wall and building.”

She stared at him, mouth agape. “You mean people actually use these?” He nodded. “On you?!” she shrieked incredulously. He nodded again. “Why you?! I mean, there has to be some guy out there who actually gets off on that stuff too, right? You obviously hate it, so why does it have to be you?!”

He was amazed to see sparkles in her eyes of what could be the beginning of angry tears, especially considering how at odds they’d been with each other only minutes before. “There are some guys who like it, but these clients take it to the extreme. The things they do would seriously maim or maybe even kill a human male so they’ve gotta choose someone who can take more and heal better, right? Plus the Shrine likes that the quicker I heal the more clients I can fit in, so there ya go. There ain’t many demons who stick around here for long, and when they do it’s either for just a bit of fun or because they’re looking for a possible mate. They’re almost never stuck here for the same reasons some humans are, what with being hard up for money, since a demon can get pretty much any manual labor position he could want, not to mention many other jobs.

“And then here I am, a filthy half-breed with no rights and nowhere else to go. What more could they ask for, eh?”

During his angry tirade Inuyasha had been glaring at the door, as if his stare could pierce any amount of unseen people who’d had a hand in his ending up at the Shrine or his maltreatment while there. As he glanced up at Kagome he immediately regretted the running of his mouth as he saw a single tear sliding down her cheek.

His anger immediately turned to resentment and embarrassment coupled with something else he didn’t quite understand and he lashed out. “Stop that!” he yelled, not sure how to handle her reaction. “Don’t you dare pity me! I’m making a life for myself and I’m surviving, which is much more than I can say for most other hanyou out there. I’m strong enough to deal with this or any other shit life throws my way, so you can just stop your crying!”

Kagome ignored his outburst and leaned forward to wrap her arms around him. He immediately stiffened at the touch that conveyed an entirely different kind of intimacy, but his squirming stilled when she pressed her lips to his forehead in a gentle kiss. She pulled back to look at him, saying “You have to be one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.” She kissed his temple, then his eye, then his nose, safely skipping over his mouth to kiss his chin. Nudging his head up with hers, she kissed the soft skin right underneath his chin and continued down his neck.

It didn’t take Inuyasha long to get back into the swing of things, and by the time she’d gotten down to the hollow at the base of his throat he had grabbed her by the upper arms and gently pushed her to the bed, exchanging their positions, and proceeded to pick up exactly where she’d left off. Starting at that delicious little hollow he kissed his way down her body, bypassing her breasts by only paying attention to the valley between them, carefully stopping at her navel. Again he wished she wasn’t such a newbie so he could continue on his descent without the fear of scaring her, but there were still plenty of other ways for him to fill their time tonight. He could still hope she came back one night later on during her four weeks, right? Hope was all he had anymore, so he’d cling to it for dear life until it, too, left him.

Laving around her belly button until she was restless and squirming, Inuyasha reached down to unbutton her jeans. Rising from her he made sure they were all the way undone before stepping off the edge of the bed, grasping the bottoms of her pant legs and yanking them off her in one smooth movement, staying off the bed just long enough to remove his own sweats before joining her again.

He lay partially on top of her, kissing the top of her breast just once before pausing, waiting until she looked down at him. Giving her a wide smile while looking up at her from between her breasts he slowly slid two fingers inside of her, not stopping at her gasp, not until the rest of his fingers and his hand were pressed up against her soft, wet flesh. He wiggled them inside her, messaging gently, loosening the tensed muscles. Despite the fact that he’d taken it slow last night and that he’d only had her once, he knew she had to be tender and maybe even a bit raw – it was just natural. But that didn’t mean he didn’t get to have fun and tease her about it. Consider it payback for almost leaving my room – twice!

He pushed up a bit harsher, gratified when she squirmed under him. “I see you’re sore,” he boasted to her and she wished she could wipe away the smug look that was all male ego. I swear, she thought, if he were a bird his feathers would be ruffled and plumed all over the place and he’d be prancing around. The image of Inuyasha as a peacock was almost too much for her and she had to work to keep from chortling.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The husky tone in her ear quickly made all other thoughts flee from Kagome’s mind and she was suddenly quite aware of herself again, naked on a bed with an equally naked Inuyasha pressed up against her. She felt herself tense up at the thought. Another hard thrust with his fingers and she squeaked as she grabbed onto the bed sheets.

“Shit,” he breathed, leaning up over her. “Are you just sore…or in pain?” Something flickered behind his eyes as he looked at her and Kagome thought she could almost imagine it was…concern. The realization distracted her, so she just shook her head to negate his doubts and hid her face against his shoulder.

“Stay still,” he commanded. “Relax. That’ll make it easier on you.” She realized he was right and she closed her eyes, taking in a few deep, settling breaths, focusing on the feeling of his fingers inside of her. Oddly enough, the feeling wasn’t arousing. It was bordering on it, but at the moment it felt more sensuous and almost…calming. Paying further attention to it, she was able to sense the tension that had ridden her abused muscles slowly fading under the expertise of his ministrations.

Inuyasha could literally see the relaxing of her muscles all through her body and once he was satisfied she was sufficiently prepared for him he leaned over to speak to her again. “I was easy on you last night, you know that, right?” She squirmed against him but he used his other hand to guide her face to his, forcing her to look at him, and waited her out. When she finally couldn’t take it any longer and ground out a, “yes,” he grinned at her. It was not a nice grin and Kagome didn’t like it. It was full of pride and arrogance and the promise of…something she wasn’t quite sure she trusted.

“Heh,” he chuckled, his fingers picking up pace and switching rhythm, changing from soothing and gentle to hard and burning. Kagome felt she might start to catch fire there if they weren’t careful. “You’re this sore after me being easy on you. In that case you might not even be able to stand tomorrow.”

Her eyes flashed to his, aghast at his insinuation, suddenly realizing that was the promise he’d held in his gaze.

“I consider it only fair, after all,” he continued. “Yesterday I gave you what you wanted, what you needed for your first time, and I held myself back on your account. After tonight I may never see you again,” he raised himself up, towering over her with his hands planted on either side of her head, “and I haven’t yet had my fill.”

His eyes were smoldering and on his last word he thrust himself inside of her, all veneer of gentility gone. He pounded into her, over and over, his teeth holding her lightly on the shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his back and held on for dear life. On one particularly hard thrust she dragged her nails down his spine all the way to his butt, embedding them in him as he arched against her.

Hands on her hips, he tilted her up against him so he could work his way deeper into her, bury himself inside her and forget everything else but her warmth, her scent. Kagome rocked against him, taking everything he was giving her and trying to keep up the delicious rhythm. She put her hands against the bed for just a second, long enough for her to miss the warmth of his body immensely, but just enough to push her up slightly from the sheets. She wrapped her arms behind his neck, burying her hands in his hair as she covered his neck with haphazard kisses. She wanted to mark him the way she was sure he’d marked her shoulder, and although she knew all indications of them would be gone by the next night, she wanted to be able to revel in them herself this night. At least one time she wanted him to come out bruised and have it be for his pleasure and not for his pain.

Suddenly she couldn’t take it anymore. “Inuyasha, I…I’m…” He growled against her and with a slight tilt in the angle of her hips she came violently against him, writhing against him as she held him to her as if he were her anchor in this world. She had expected a short respite in order to recover, but no, he kept on going, prolonging her climax agonizingly until he finally came inside her, and both, completely spent, collapsed together on the bed and knew nothing more than the sweet bliss of unconsciousness and the comfort of the other’s arms.

~ ~ ~

Kagome woke a short time later to the feel of herself being dragged. Suddenly aware of where she was, and not quite awake enough to comprehend, Kagome worried she had overspent her hour and was being dragged from the room to be thrown outside stark naked. As such, she immediately began to and panic.

Sitting up and flailing her limbs she felt her fist come into contact with something hard. And warm. And breathing. “Oi, wench, what are you doing?! Do you always wake up like that? Almost makes me glad I woke up after you yesterday,” he groused, rubbing his arm in mock pain.

She knew that gruff voice. “Inu…Inuyasha?” she tried.

“Course it’s me! Do you make a habit of allowing strange guys into your room while you’re naked and letting them drag you around on a bed?”

Blushing at his statement, Kagome was glad it was dark. But why was it so dark? It hadn’t been when they’d fallen asleep. “When did you turn the lights out?”

Inuyasha snickered. She didn’t like the sound of that. “The lights are still on.” Every room in the shrine came equipped with a dimmer switch, thankfully, so while the lights could be on to see where the small buttons on a dress were, it wasn’t necessarily so much that it would make most women skittish. “You just have your eyes closed.”

Kagome’s eyes sprang open just in time to catch Inuyasha’s leering gaze and she hid her embarrassed groan behind a hand as she realized he was right. “I guessed earlier that your flush would go all the way down to your stomach.” He stared at her breasts pointedly. “Looks like I was right.”

Stupid pervert, she thought. If he hadn’t been rubbing my stomach like that then I would have noticed my eyes weren’t opened. That means it’s all his fault, right? Yes, of course, his fault.

She openly glared at him, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to do much to deter him, especially when he began pulling her toward the edge of the bed again, causing her to flop – ungracefully – onto her back when he yanked on her leg. Pushing up on elbows she willed her eyes to whither him with sheer mental capacity. Sadly, said event wasn’t happening.

“Ow, what’d you do that for?” Kagome mock pouted, wondering if it could somehow make him a bit gentler. Wrong again.

“So that I could do this.” In all of the commotion with lights and legs and dragging and eyes, Kagome had forgotten to take into account they were both still very, very naked. That was something Inuyasha obviously had not overlooked, as he had her hips in hand on the very edge of the bed, and in one quick thrust, filled her.

Kagome glanced at him, eyes wide with surprise. She hadn’t expected that at all. Granted, she wasn’t calling it bad by any means, but she’d only experienced this twice before and this was rather different – I mean, I had expected a little foreplay at least, but...  He moved inside her... Oh my. Well, I guess it’s not all that bad to get right to it...

He pulled out slowly, pausing for a fraction of a second before sliding back into her, hard. She was still staring at him, at that annoyingly smug little smirk of his, watching the play of muscles beneath the skin of his chest and abdomen, finally moving her gaze down to watch as he pulled out a second time and forcefully thrust into her again…oh heck, nevermind...

She had just decided to abandon herself to the delicious feeling, no matter how strange it seemed, throwing her head back and closing her eyes, when Inuyasha stopped, fully inside her, and answered her unspoken question. “I couldn’t waste any time. Not with you. Not tonight.”

Inuyasha’s seriousness caught her off guard and she blinked at him. “So you mean to say that sleeping next to me was a waste of time?”

He stuttered, trying to find an answer that wouldn’t offend her. “N- no, I mean…” He glanced up and saw her trying her hardest to fight a smile. Damn it, this little girl thought she could toy with him. She still had a few years to catch up with him though.

“Of course I’m not saying it’s a waste. I only thought that you, like everyone else here, would prefer to spend your time in a more active manner. Perhaps I was mistaken. Let’s just go to sleep then, ne?” Slowly he pulled out of her, watching her shell-shocked face. Inuyasha swore he could literally see the wheels grinding in the girl’s head, she was trying so hard to find a come back. Not easy to do when all you wanna do is fuck, he commiserated lightly.

He was completely out of her and started to move away, disappointed that she hadn’t stopped him and miserably wondering if he’d gone too far and she’d be too shy to insist on continuing the fun, when her legs suddenly wrapped around him, pulling him close. Kagome mewled slightly when she discovered that since he’d already pulled out, bringing him closer didn’t give her quite the sensation she’d desired. Inuyasha looked down at her and chuckled. Brushing a strand of hair away from her face he guessed, “Want to continue then?”

His heart jumped at her exuberant nod. Damn but her excitement was contagious. One hand on the bed bracing his weight, he used his other hand to guide his way into her, groaning slightly at the achingly sweet feel of her heat on his tip when he’d already given up, thinking he was going to have to nurse a hard on the rest of the night.

Catching his breath Inuyasha warned her, “You teased me, Kagome, so now it’s your fault. I’m gonna take you hard.”

“Good.” Then to both their surprise Kagome bucked up her hips to join them completely. They stared at each other and after the initial shock was over Inuyasha buried himself the rest of the way then proceeded to pound into her, hard as he could let himself with someone so fragile and untried, until they both laid spent and sated, curled together on the mattress, with the light still on.

~ ~ ~

Kagome woke in the morning, smiling at the feeling of a heavy, warm arm wrapped around her stomach. This is something I could definitely get used t-

Sitting up suddenly she abruptly cut off that thought, knowing it was the last thing she should be thinking, especially with a prostitute. It was just the warmth, yeah, that’s it. And the comfort of having someone in bed. That’s all. It just felt good to have a man, any man – well, hanyou – there.

She glanced down at her companion, glad to see he’d slept through her recriminating thoughts. I swear, the guy acts like he can read my face or something! Well, at least when he’s not determined to misunderstand me. Huffily she threw the arm off her and lifted her hands over her head to stretch, only to wince half-way up at the soreness of her left shoulder. Remembering what had caused at least some of that tenderness she flushed slightly. I wonder how bad it looks.

That’s the problem with things on your back – or in this case, shoulder, she groused. I can’t actually see how bad it looks, at least not while looking ridiculous while trying.

That didn’t stop her though. She sat up as straight as she could, pulled her hair over her right shoulder, then put her right hand on her left shoulder to pull it as far forward as she could. Craning her neck while simultaneously trying to not lose her balance and tip over proved to be a harder feat than she’d imagined, but she was just beginning to see a few splotches of purple and red when she felt Inuyasha kiss her hand.

“Yaaaaaaahhah!” she screamed, turning around quickly enough to entangle her in the sheets. Placing one hand over her heart she willed the beating to slow to a normal pace, one less likely to send her into cardiac arrest.

“Why is it you seem to keep forgetting I’m here?” Inuyasha’s ploy to play wounded didn’t work very well when Kagome felt she was the one closer to ending up in a hospital bed.

“I- I didn’t forget,” she said, catching her breath. “I just thought you were still asleep.”

“You sound disappointed,” he pointed out to her, slightly relieved when her gaze snapped back up from the bed clothes to his eyes, showing her shock at his question. He worried that he should have feigned sleep, allowing her to slip out the door like yesterday - no real goodbyes, no seeing the other person as anything more than a sex object. Since it was her last night with him it only made sense.

“No, not at all!” She waved her hand in front of her, the one not still clutching at her heart. “Well, I mean, not really…” she trailed off, knowing herself how pathetic that sounded. “Fine! I didn’t want you to see me trying to look at my back. I’m sure I looked utterly ridiculous and I can do quite well without adding more embarrassing moments to my life.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest with a, “hmph,” and turned up her nose at him.

Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to kiss her nose then wipe her pout away with his own lips. Shaking his head slightly to dislocate the disturbing thought he got a better idea, one that was surer to leave a lingering ‘goodbye’ for her to remember him by.

Moving forward he took hold of her wrists, slowly uncrossing her arms until she was bare to him again. To her surprise, instead of ogling her breasts, as he was so wont to do, his gaze honed in on the front of her shoulder - her already bruised left shoulder.

“Since you can’t see what I did to the back of your shoulder, I’ll just have to do the same thing to a place you can see. That’s only fair, right?”

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but only a squeak came out as he was already latching on to the skin there. She moaned and lay back, hands coming to entangle in his hair as he licked, laved and sucked her skin in a languid rhythm she was sure was going to drive her mad. Only when he nipped her a bit too hard, quickly remedying the pain by applying the cooling pleasure of his tongue, did her eyes snap open and she noticed the clock on his wall.

“Inu-” She gasped for breath, wanting nothing so much as to lose herself in his touch. “Inuyasha,” she tried again, pushing feebly against him. She heard his whine, but he slowly acquiesced and pulled himself away from her.

The hurt in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed, despite his attempt to hide it, though it confused her. Does he really just want to get laid that badly? Does he think I hate him now or something for giving me more hickeys?

Placing one hand on his jaw line she leaned up and gently kissed his cheek. “We don’t have any more time,” she said, emphasizing her point by flicking her eyes toward the clock and he had to concede when he saw that, yes, the Shrine was getting ready to close for the day.

She got out of the bed and stretched fully, feeling Inuyasha’s eyes on her the entire time, searing her skin. Rummaging around she found her clothes, holding her tattered shirt by one corner and eyeing it disdainfully. “We can pick up where we left off tonight, right?”

“We- we can?” The sharp intake of breath and shocked voice surprised her. Lifting her eyes from the scrap of cloth in her hand she was even more surprised to see his rigid stance and hands fisting into the sheets.

Dang it, did I say something wrong? Am I breaking some unwritten rule? Heck, even written rule for all I know! Gah!

Her gaze turned shy as she turned around and started dressing. “Yes. I mean, that is, unless you don’t want to. Or if I’m being too pushy. Or am I breaking some rule? Oh shoot, I knew it-”

“No!”

She turned to him confused. Did that mean ‘no’ he didn’t want to or ‘no’ she wasn’t breaking a rule?

“No, I mean you should – you should come back tonight.”

If Kagome didn’t know any better she’d have sworn that was a blush she saw creeping up his cheeks. Then she rubbed her eyes and he was off the bed, rummaging through his closet, and she was sure she’d only been seeing things in the dim lighting. She continued to watch, mystified, as Inuyasha threw shirt after shirt out of the small space onto the floor.

“Here.” He held one out to her. “This should work.”

She took it from him, grateful to notice it was just about her size. “Why do you have this?”

He shrugged. “Shrine gives ‘em to all the workers. Not like this is the first time someone’s clothing has gotten ripped up here.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and she felt herself color. Dang it, I’m going to have to work on that.

What he didn’t say was that he had purposely found one as close to her size as possible, not to mention he steered clear away from the ones that had the Bacana name emblazoned across the front. Those shirts had become something of a keepsake or collector’s item, bragging rights for those who had been to the Shrine and had an extra good time. Somehow he knew she’d want to draw as little attention as she could from the ordeal.

Glancing back over he cursed himself when he saw she’d already put the shirt on. Turning, she bowed slightly to him, then with a smile grabbed up her purse and opened the door.

“See you tonight Inuyasha!” She waved cheerily with one hand, far too chipper for someone who had to be awake at this time of day.

“Yeah, see ya,” he mumbled, barely flicking his hand in response. As soon as the door clicked shut he was lost in thought, completely forgetting about the alarm clock that chose that exact moment to go off – although while cursing the device Inuyasha conveniently chose to forget the fact that he’d been the one to set it.

He jumped at the sound, yelling and threatening the device until he was finally able to turn it off. Swinging back toward the door he glared at it. Damn, what have I gotten myself into?  

~ ~ ~

Original posting: November 1, 2006