InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Stealing Heaven ❯ Infliction of Harm ( Chapter 38 )

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

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Inflicting Harm

Kagome’s heart hammered against her ribcage as  the hand covering her mouth slipped away, but sooner than she could blink—let alone cry out for help—she  was turned by the arms holding her and shoved hard against one of the rough brick walls that lined the alley.  Gold eyes stared into hers as pained tears blurred her vision and she attempted, with clumsy, panicked fingers, to pry at the tight grip pinning her.

After only a moment she ceased struggling, knowing it to be pointless. His face gave away nothing, but the crimson veins threading and twisting through those metallic irises spoke volumes of how angry he was with her.  She forced a gulp down her throat, wondering just what that anger would cause him to do this time.

He seemed to be waiting for her to speak, but she hadn’t the faintest clue what to say.  Frowning darkly—a truly frightening expression when marring such a usually impassive face—he pressed her harder into the unyielding surface at her back.

She whimpered, the pain from that initial impact a moment ago flaring up instantly.  “Please stop,” Kagome whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to keep her voice steady, “you’re hurting me.”

The demon sneered, bringing his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath ghosting over her skin.  “You are mine to do with as I please; should I wish to cause you physical harm, then so be it.”

In that little disconnected corner of her mind that was always unaffected by her situation, always observing the scene, she found it odd that he would make the distinction as to the type of pain he was inflicting upon her.  “N-no, Nah Rah Ku, I’m not yours!”

His voice lowered dangerously as a cruel grin played on his lips. “You think not, little priestess?”


A gasp escaped her at the feel of her senses clouding over; the power suddenly rippling off of him was overwhelming.  That terrible ability of his to arouse his victim clawed and pulled at her, making her want him, even as she tried to force the feeling away.

Sensing her bitter reluctance, the demon chuckled; this, ignoring her emotions and reminding himself that all that mattered was his own wants, felt good.  The haze dimming those innocent blue eyes was quite delicious in its own way, as well.  

Innocent?  Hmph. He knew he likely appeared so calm to her, but in truth he was livid.  So very, deeply enraged he thought if he loosed his control just once he might crush her; grind the delicate bones he was clasping to dust in his hands.

Her act was no use, now.  She could no longer hide behind such perceived virtue; not from him.  Just how long had she been plotting behind his back? The Thief did not have all of the information.  It was a credit to this Sesshomaru, truly, that his host was managing to shield some of what the girl had revealed.  

But it was not enough.

He did not know when, precisely, she had become so full of her own abilities that she would think she could be a threat to him?  She was a terrible at telling falsehoods, so how had she kept these plans a secret all those times they’d been alone?  

Of course, he could ask her- he had her right here, with his power washing over her, arousal coursing through her so strongly that he could smell it on her.  But then, she’d proven her ability to be dishonest with him, he could not know that she would tell him anything worth believing.

Anger at her gripped the center of his chest, like clawed fingers sinking, painful and searing, into vulnerable flesh.  To think, he had allowed himself to believe that he felt something greater than desire for her—such utter foolishness.  Lyka all over again, but then Lyka had been deranged, had she not?  Unaware of how poisoned her thinking was?

The same could not be said now.  No, his little priestess was aware that she was . . . stringing him along, as the modern term would have it.  She had knowingly deceived him to lull him into a false sense of security; worse, into a sense of complacency, and he had allowed it to happen.

He was as angry with himself for this as he was with her.

She squirmed in his grasp, trying to push herself further into the wall behind her.  Not just to keep the pain coming in an effort to let her thoughts remain free of the riot his power was causing in her body, but also to shrink away from him as much as she could.

This poor attempt at retreat did not go unnoticed by him, rather he turned it to his advantage, pressing his hips against her until she could move back no further. He held her gaze, relishing the two, vastly conflicting, emotions he could read in her eyes—fear and desire—as he wedged his knee between her thighs.

She tried to stop the tears from welling up, but one escaped to roll down her cheek and it terrified her all the more that he seemed to enjoy the sight of it. “I’m a person, not a possession, you can’t own me,” she whispered finally, though her voice—trembling and small, just as her body was—lacked the conviction words such as those should have held.

Nah Rah Ku leaned down, dragging his teeth delicately along the side of her throat.  He laughed darkly at the small sound of shamed pleasure worked its way out of her throat.  “Can you think of a time since my rebirth when you were not mine to take whenever I wished?  Such is the meaning of ownership.”

“I don’t want this,” she said meekly, turning her face away from him, too ashamed, too embarrassed, of the way he was making her body betray her.

He grinned in triumph—perhaps she was innocent, after all . . . and more foolish than he to think that her machinations to be rid of him would work.  “You forget, little priestess,” he murmured, changing tactic instantly, he relinquished his grip on one of her arms to drag his fingertips gingerly along the side of her face, knowingly reminding her of how gentle he could be with her when he saw fit, “I can make you want me.”

In that moment something bright flickered on the edge of her consciousness.  And it gave her hope, helped her to distance her thoughts from the delicious little ache he’d created between her legs.  He couldn’t accept that she did not want him to force her like this, that forcing her to want something was not the same as wanting it herself.

He incapable of understanding such thinking, she was positive of that, now. But she felt she grasped the root of his anger, at last.

“Why do you have to keep hurting me?” she asked in a voice so tiny that she knew he only heard it because of his inhuman senses.

The demon froze entirely at this, for a moment there was nothing but the rushing of his breath before he pulled back just a little, meeting her gaze. “Because I know no other way,” he replied, his tone colored with an odd sort of awed realization.

Whether this was because she had not already come to understand this, or because he had never considered it before, she couldn’t tell.  There was every chance that it was a bit of both.

Part of her felt a twinge of guilt for distracting him.  Perhaps if he’d not been so set in his way, perhaps if he’d not looked down them all so much . . . she could have taught him what it was to be human.  

If only she’d had more time, but it was too late now.

Nah Rah Ku felt the presence at his back mere seconds before the little, aged mystic was suddenly beside him, blowing a strange, glittering powder into his face. He growled and turned on the withered and tiny creature, but as soon as he took a step, everything went black.


Kagome regained her wits the moment she saw him, the moment she saw Sesshomaru’s body, sinking to the ground.  She dropped quickly to her knees, catching him before he could hit his head and raised watery eyes to her mentor.

“I’m sorry your heart has to be made raw for this, Kagome,” he said, patting her shoulder gently.

Frowning, she looked to the face of the man she was holding—marking free at the moment—and gently brushed silver hairs away from his forehead.  “There was no other way.”

Because I know no other way, Nah Rah Ku’s words echoed in her head, his own confusion as he’d spoken them mocking her.

When she looked up at Myoga again, he shared her darkened expression.  “What’s wrong?”

The old man couldn’t help cracking a grin at their new predicament.  “I was wondering how you and I are going to manage to get him back to my apartment.”