InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Forty-Seven: Freed ( Chapter 48 )

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha...sob...sniffle...sigh...

A/N: Whew! Finally done. Hard chapter to write, hope you like the result! A few thanks: Tsuki Yume for your startling email/review that opened my eyes and made me utterly change this lemon and where I was going with it, Vyncent for encouragement and editing (mucho huggos), Fairia13 for some awesome steely references and wonderful inspiration, and Kilala81 for Hentai Reconstruction...lol. Side note: Amy F's web site, animedefiance.com, has been reveamped and is now back online. Yay! Love it, Amy!

WARNING: LEMON SERVED! SOME LANGUAGE AND DARK IMAGERY! No one under 17 please!

Chapter Forty-Seven (Freed)

She was fast, damn fast.

He would have never thought she could be that damn fast.

It did make it easier, though.

Most of the ookami, especially the four-legged wolves who were caught up in the wild emotion of it all, would not be able to keep up with her. They would fall, enervated but unharmed, and slowly their blood would cool, eventually sleeping off their fatigue. Many of the two-legged brothers would fail as well, their ookami nature slowly ebbing under the return of their youkai control as the sparking call of her own scent diminished. The compulsion of their blood would drive them on until the ones who did not keep up with her or were wounded in snarling battles over position and proximity would fall over in exhaustion, to dream happy little wolfish dreams with dumb smiles on their stupid faces.

He growled to himself. What a damn inconvenience it all was. The pack was vulnerable right now. There was nothing that could disrupt a Gathering, once begun. They were all as mindless as the wolves they called to their side as companion and brother.

This would be too damn convenient a time for Naraku to attack...

He snarled. He had to maintain his distance, ignore the overwhelming call to his ookami blood for more than just the reason of making sure that cocky dog-turd Katashi didn't get Kagura. He owed her that, at least, and he owed his clan the ability of his strong determination to keep seperate, to keep his more primal nature leashed under the control of his youkai soul.

Katashi might be an ignorant bastard, not even thinking of his clan's safety in the face of his selfish desires to claim the kaze female who had dared to defy him.

*Stupid mongrel.*

Light blue eyes narrowed on the tell-tale signs of combat. Fur and blood streaked the thinning trees beyond. He spied the grey-furred youkai, one dropped from the fight, the other limping off after the others who had left them behind. Damn northerners with their damn hormones...

He picked up the pace. It had been a while since he had run unaided by the power of the Shikon shards jammed into his legs. He really didn't need them, he was strong enough on his own. He just wasn't one to waste an opportunity, and those damn shards had proven an invaluable aid in the past.

Katashi and his damn arrogant smirk. *Call ME a bastard, will he?*

He'd rearrange that damn wolf's face and take pleasure in seeing him howl out of the back of his black spiked head when he pushed his nose inside out with one fist.

Grinning at the thought, he sped up.

*~*~*~*~*

The blood pounded in her ears, and she felt as if her feet were no longer touching the ground. The Wind wrapped around her spirit and took her soaring away with it.

She was no longer Kagura, she was no longer contained by the fears and desperation that plagued her. She just was, and existed in the moment, the run, the freedom, the escape...

*None will tame me!*

I am the Wind...

*~*~*~*~*

Her scent was growing stronger.

*Damn.*

His eyes glanced across the trail of fallen ookami who lay spent in her wake. From the pattern, she had played with them. He almost smiled with pride for it. She would lead them a merry chase. She was a strong one, he had to give her that.

The wolf who did manage to claim her would have tested steel at his side, and be the better for it.

The spark of allure was threading through him, igniting his own blood. His ookami nature snarled with it, wanting to be freed to join in the hunt. He was the fastest, the strongest, the best, he could take her...

His youkai will was stronger, and embraced the ookami blood, tightening his control. He would not submit to that mindless compulsion. He was determined to remain unaffected by the primitive urges that would drive him into the challenge, the Gathering.

The scent was intensifying, the call to his blood racing through him.

He was getting too close.

*Damn it all.*

He had to maintain his control...or fall to it. He did not want that...

*Why not?*

Where the hell did that thought come from?

He growled softly to himself as his eyes caught the creeping movement of youkai in the trees dead ahead...

*~*~*~*~*

The Wind was in a playful mood. It dove and danced and wove among the ones who followed it, seeking after it. But the Wind could not be caught, could not be tamed, could not be touched. It was free. Free to dance, free to run, free to live...

The ookami were jealous rivals for her affection. They snarled and fought among themselves when she drove them together, striving against each other to get closer to her.

Foolish ookami.

She would have played with them all. But they sought to chain her, and the Wind could not be controlled. IT was wild and free, soaring above the earth, the mightiest of force, and the softest of whispers.

She whirled and danced, laughing and calling to them, and when she tired of their company, she fled them with skipping steps, her mocking laugh a mere breath of sound pulling them after her...

Weak. They were weak. They bloodied themselves in battle over her, and part of her---the demon---delighted in the blood. It enlivened her, making her feel the strong, slow beat of her own determined heart...living, breathing, FREE.

Many fell, exhausted, as she left them behind. The wolves gave out first, and then their youkai brothers who were weakest. Slowly, their numbers dwindled, and she missed her playmates, slightly. But there were still so many to dance with, to twist out of reaching claws and smile softly at as she whirled away to prance on the air in the sheer joy of it all.

*Come!* She called them. *Follow!*

Laughing, she increased her speed, so that her feet barely touched the ground. Their desperate cries dwindled on the wind of her passage, and she treasured the feeling of being alone once more. Her playmates were pitiful, she would run, free and lonely, captivated by the Winds...

They surrounded her, filled her, drove her. She was of them, joined and balanced and embracing. The exquisite joy of it flared through her being, the blood thundering in her ears as her arms flung wide to take all of it in...

*Wind!*

The faintest sound came to her from the left, and she stared down in surprise as grasping claws caught the edge of her white sleeve, clutching it with fierce determination. The reddened eyes of the ookami youkai made her blink in astonishment.

What is this?

The youkai male closed his grip, seeking to capture her in his embrace.

Capture her? The Wind could not be caught by mere youkai...

Deep red eyes flashed in anger, the Winds howling their bristling rage across her soul. How dare he touch her? She was the Wind!

But the Wind was forgiving, and she knew he was not for her. She pitied him, poor youkai. He was trying so hard. One hand came up to caress his cheek, and the unknown red eyes widened as the Wind, laughing now, kissed her claws lightly, leaving only the merest scratch. She would not harm her brothers, but she would not be chained, either...

Claws grabbed for the fabric, and she slipped out of it, giggling as the ookami howled in desperation, holding her abandoned robes as he fell to his knees in the dirt, defeated. She danced away, and he was dismissed from her wandering mind...

She could sense them, their presence---once almost overwhelming in numbers, was on the wane. She called them on, wanting to play some more, but she was suddenly tired of the game. The Wind was capricious, it was forever changing. She spun around them, making the remaining youkai clutch together, snarling and fighting against each other, and then she drove through them, scattering them aside and laughing as she left them behind.

Pitifully weak, these earthbound creatures...

She would not be bound. She was free once more to dance, and she abandoned them to soar, her spirit seeking the sun.

She could barely feel the ground beneath her toes, and the long black wave of her hair was lifted off of her back with the breeze of her passage. The winds caressed her bare body, making it tingle and warm with the contact. She felt alive, and free, and untouchable...

Something dark moved alongside, and she smiled, her eyes glowing. A new playmate? He was stronger than the rest, more determined, perhaps, but still not her equal.

He snarled at her, and his claws extended to grasp her in them.

She danced away, her merry laughter making him roar with fury. Foolish youkai. He would anger her, she was not one to---

Sharp claws dug into her arms, and she screamed in outrage. How dare he lay hands on her! How dare he push her down and curl his claws around her throat? SHE WAS THE WIND!

Her blood thundered with rage, and she commanded, *Release me!*

His coarse laughter grated on her ears, and she bared her fangs at him, snarling. Blood! She wanted his blood on her claws, feel the warmth of his life as she took it from him...

Blood streaked across his cheek, re-opening earlier wounds. He roared furiously, and knocked her down with a powerful fist on her temple. She refused to give into the drowning nausea that tried to claim her from the blow. If she faltered, he would win...

NEVER!

Fangs attacked, and she left more blood on his shoulder. He growled, the yellow eyes blazing into the the red hunger of primal lust. "You are mine, kaze bitch!" He snarled at her, fist raised to strike her again.

Her knee came up, but he scissored her legs with his own powerful thighs. Her claws dug deep into his chest, trying to force him back and away from her, but he ignored the pain and his larger hands wrapped around her shoulders, pushing her down.

"I'll take you, bitch, now!"

His legs forced hers apart, and she cried out with the mindless rage of her blood in rejecting denial.

*NO!*

The Wind screamed in her mind, and her instincts took over. She called on their power, seeking it as she had once before. Her eyes blazed white fury as her hands opened, claws freeing the power awakening and burgeoning inside her. The Winds tore across her spirit, grasping it within them as their howling rage focused on the youkai who would dare to snatch away her freedom.

*NEVER!*

The ookami howled as white fire lashed between them, and his body was blown back away from her by the force she unleashed. He fell back, limp and dazed, the red bloodied glow receding from his eyes as they blanked to yellow.

The Winds now ruled her, and she glowed with their rage. "DIE!" She screamed, her arms up and calling forth the force once more. Sanity had fled as the powerful Winds consumed her soul, eating away at it, seeking unity once more between them. She would be lost to it forever, but she would see that devil in Hell with her...

"KAGURA!"

She froze, the name meaning nothing, but the strength behind that single word rooting her to the spot. She burned with the Winds that encircled her, trapping her mind within them. She could not confine them, could not stop them, but part of her KNEW that He must not be harmed.

"Stay back!" She hissed, her voice an odd inflection of whispered breezes and roaring gales, a hint of what now held captive her soul.

His eyes were turning, the icy blue fire darkening as streaks of crimson bled across them. He must not lose control...he would be swallowed up as she was...

"Come to me." His voice was deep, commanding, and she shuddered, wanting to. But the Winds roared back, denying him. She would not be tamed! She would be free, and would remain free, even if she must die to do so...

"You cannot die." He growled at her. Had she spoken those thoughts aloud?

Even now, the Winds were whirling and tearing inside of her, seeking to be let free. All would die under their fury, she had no control over them...

"I will not let you die."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Why? Why would he not let the Winds take her? He did not care, he could not care for one such as she...the blood of his brothers, her brothers, on her hands...

~COME.~

His powerful voice echoed in her mind, and she fell beneath the command. *No...leave me...I am not...*

~COME.~

Her soul shuddered under the onslaught of his command, and she fell to her knees, gasping. Her claws dug into the dirt, and the Winds screamed back at her to go to him, to call them forth once more to blast him aside and release her soul to their keeping...they would be forever one...

*No!*

She could not kill him. He did not deserve it from her...

She fought the Winds and their beating force as they swirled and tore through her mind. *I am Kagura!* She told them and they hissed back at her, speaking with the whispered roar of their own strange voice.

:You are ours...:

*No!*

"Help...me..." She managed to say, breaking through their control.

He was there, suddenly, his strong hands hauling her up and pulling her against him. The Winds screamed in fury as his body wrapped around hers. She felt the warmth of him, the power he held leashed, even now. Her blood quickened and her heart raced, strange feelings growing inside. She had longed for this, desired to be held captured in his arms...

Captured? Never!

:You are ours...:

"I..." She shuddered, and his hold tightened, anchoring her to him. She let out a soft moan of anguish as the Winds demanded her soul, demanded she leave him behind and become one with them, free forever...

Fangs flashed and the blue eyes reddened with awareness. The ookami nature was unsealed within him, and she shivered in reaction. She did not want to be subdued, taken, used. She had suffered that foul claiming once before...

"Please..." She whispered, and the Winds roared their delight. She was theirs, she could be no other's...

"You are mine." The deep voice cut through the Winds' screaming insistence, and she clung to him, bowing to it.

"Yes..." She whispered against the powerful chords of his neck, her white body engulfed in his larger frame. He would protect her from the Winds that sought her soul. She would submit...

The red blood in his eyes deepened as they narrowed on her. A hard hand came up to sweep the whirling tangle of her black hair aside, exposing the white expanse of her curving neck where it met her shoulder. Her chest heaved as her heart fluttered wildly with fear. Would she be lost forever to his mastery?

She bowed to it, the Winds screeching their rage as her body trembled helplessly against his. The red rush of arousal, the frenzied madness of the mating call, was slowly circling inside of her. She had feared it, and fought it, and nearly lost herself to it. It would drown her...

:You are ours!:

"You are mine!" His mouth opened, and she braced herself. The feel of those fangs sliding into her neck made her stiffen and cry out in anguish...

*Lost...I am lost...*

~Come!~

His voice was now inside of her, awakening her blood and overwhelming the howl of the Winds. She shuddered, desire coursing through her body, rushing up to his embrace as her own life-giving blood welled up to his claiming. She felt the soft brush of his lips, the first touch of a hot tongue sucking up the blood bond with demand.

~Join!~

His command made her tremble. The Winds were receding, leaving the fire of her arising ardor in their midst. She was drowning in the ferocity of his passion, crying out. The Winds had sought to claim her soul, and now He did as well...

*Lost...*

~JOIN!~

Strong fingers were pulling at her mouth, forcing it open. One of her fangs pricked his finger and she jerked as a tiny trickle of livening blood seeped over her tongue. Her eyes widened in shock as the hot longing filled her.

*Blood!*

He pulled her to him, exposing his throat. She had to stand up on the tips of her toes to reach him. She did not understand the gesture, but she felt driven by the desire for more. Long black hair was swept aside from his neck by his own hand, and he held her head like a child's as he drew her mouth to the pulse-point that throbbed with the force of his own life-blood. She kissed the spot, tasting the sweat on his skin, the heat rising from their embrace.

Instinct took over, and her eyes flashed as her mouth opened. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him close as her fangs plunged down, seeking that life-blood for her own. The hot taste of it flooded her mouth, and she would have fallen from him with the sudden weakness of her body if he had not held her up in firm arms, supporting her against him.

She shuddered under the sensation of her awakening youkai blood. His heart thundered in her ears, joining hers in a single, strong rhythm that would unite them forever...

His body curled around hers, softening her fall to the earth. Passion raced through her, igniting her blood in a more primitive need. She could feel him, every inch of muscled strength holding her own figure delicately, as if she were precious and protected. She welcomed him, her small hands sliding up his curving spine to caress the long length of his silky hair. She released her mouth from his neck, though her lips nuzzled across the mark of her claiming.

His own mouth sought out the bitten mark on her neck, and she hissed in her breath as the desire washed through her anew. She felt swept away by the release of her blood, and her body opened for him, welcoming the claim of his embrace as her soul welcomed his into hers...

He was there, his awareness flooding hers, and she could not tell the difference between them. ~Come...~ He called to her, his hot mouth traveling up her neck, his hands pulling her own lips from his throat. She whimpered, wanting more from him. His tongue licked across her bloody lips, tasting his own essence before opening her mouth and inviting her to join him in a more primal expression of their claiming.

Hot fire flared across her soul, and it was she who tightened her hold on him, calling out with her mind to his. *Join with me...*

As limbs entwined and bodies surrendered, her heart pulsed in time with his, their souls joined and soaring together, freed...

*~*~*~*~*

She was there, in his mind. He was aware of the light touch of her thoughts across his, a soft caress, like a faint breeze whispering over him.

Light blue eyes stared at the woman held close in his arms, and he marveled at the hard steel and warm compassion hidden to the world behind her delicate beauty and the cold withdrawal of defense she had erected against the harsh realities of a cruel existence. Her soul, like a shy flower, had opened itself to him as their passion had taken hold, their mutual claiming thrusting the barriers aside to leave barren their doubts and passions, their thoughts and emotions.

She slept, exhausted, against him. The soft warmth of her breath against his chest was a wonder, he had not believed he could ever feel this surge of protective emotion that tightened across his heart. He lifted one hand to delicately trace the curve of her white cheek, smoothing his thumb over the soft skin. Never had he expected such intensity, such passion.

His wandering fingers touched across her hair, the tangled waves falling like spilled midnight across her back and over his left shoulder and arm that supported her smaller form against his. Her lashes fluttered, and she snuggled closer to him, as if seeking him even in her sleep.

"Kagura..." He said her name with some awe, the respect for her strength of spirit still amazing him. She had survived humiliation and pain like he had never dreamed, her strong will the only thing that kept her sanity intact.

*Hard steel...*

There was a stir from the brush some distance away, and he tensed, a growl rumbling through him. His eyes flashed red anger.

*Damn.*

That stupid dog-turd WOULD choose NOW to wake the hell up. *Damn him.*

Carefully pulling the sleeping kaze youkai from his embrace, he made certain that she was safely curled and hidden behind the concealment of undergrowth. She whimpered softly as his warmth left hers, and he could sense a hint of lonely desire whispering across his mind---her own thoughts tumbling through the connection of their souls.

His claws smoothed over her soft cheek and down one curling arm in a gentle caress. *I will return.* He reassured her. A small smile curved her soft mouth for a moment before disappearing, and she sighed in her sleep, pulling his abandoned furs that they lay on closer to her, inhaling his scent.

He grinned toothily at her. *Time enough for that soon enough.*

He just had to do one thing he had promised himself he could...

Turning his attention on the northern menace, he stalked across the clearing and to the bushes where the kaze youkai had thrown the unfortunate bastard. There was a tell-tale groan from the stirring brush, and he waited, arms crossed and ice-eyed, for the damn wolf to get the hell up.

Another rustle, and he could hear the unmistakable sounds of the fool losing his breakfast. Damn if that didn't sound good. Kagura had done some hard damage with her unleashed force of the Winds.

He grinned at the thought. She was a strong one, all right. She had refused to mate that arrogant dog, and even in the blood-driven oblivion of her consuming nature, she had rejected that conceited dog-turd's determined supremacy.

*Ha! Only got what he deserved!*

The damn youkai was taking too damn long, and he was getting impatient. There was no help for it. He'd have to go in and get him.

Striding forward, one hand snaked down and wrapped around the furred top of the northern leader's dusty armor. Katashi's head lolled for a moment before he reacted to the sudden pull that had him scrambling to his feet in the dirt.

Koga hauled him up, and grinned as those dog-pee eyes blinked and then narrowed with outrage.

"Koga!" Katashi even had the gall to snarl.

Koga's grin grew.

He held the stupid dog-turd up with one hand, his other curling into a nice, solid fist.

"If you ever dare to touch my woman again with your filthy claws, I will knock more than your face in." He growled, letting fly.

*~*~*~*~*

*He can read my mind!*

Her red eyes widened on him, as her thin brows came down in wariness. He flashed her a fanged grin.

"Of course I can."

*How...?*

He snorted, and lifted a single claw to trace the healing wound on her neck. She flinched at the contact, even as her body flared to sudden life and her heart sped up. There was an echo in her soul, as if it were humming...

*I do not understand this.* She felt raw and exposed. His blue eyes were glowing with hunger as they stared at her naked form. She had not realized until then that she was bare of clothing, and she recoiled, hating that look of lust and desire.

She had seen it before in the dark menacing eyes of her hanyou creator...

~I am not Naraku!~

The thought snapped out, slapping across hers even as his blue eyes glared with sudden anger.

*How is he speaking to me this way? I can feel him, his emotions, his desire...*

~Damn kaze witch...~

Fury kindled inside her. How dare he insult her! Stupid brute! Crass bast---

"Do not call me names, woman." He growled, his gaze darkening as his arms crossed over his bare chest. Red eyes widened as she realized he was as naked as she. Her pale cheeks flushed as she took in the evidence of her effect on him.

Even now, he desired her...

~I like your fire.~ His thought had turned caressing, coaxing. Velvety, almost. She distrusted it.

"I am not a bitch to be taken whenever you want it." She snarled at him, even as her heart softened under the brush of his thoughts. An image flashed through her mind, and she almost choked. It was an image of her, body sprawled and opened, eyes wide with passionate need, her mouth calling forth for him to claim her...

Hot fire shot down her nerves to pool warmth in her belly, bringing a strange yearning to her center. She wanted...

*No!* She flinched away from him, covering her bare breasts from his lusting gaze. Her throat tightened, and the sound of her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears. Her soul cried softly in longing...

"You are acting foolish, woman." He growled at her, deliberately stepping closer to her.

*I will not allow you to hurt me!* Her mind snapped out even as she whirled away, seeking freedom.

But he was there, dragging her to him. He would not be denied.

"You are mine." He growled in her ear, hauling her close to his hard chest. Her hands splayed across the defined muscles, and her breath quickened as his claws tightened their grip on her upper arms.

She had feared this, feared the ravishment, the mere taking of her flesh by one stronger. Had she not suffered enough? Had she not been forced to lie with---

~Do not think of him! That sick bastard has no place in this!~

How dare he command her? Who was he to---

~I am yours.~ He snarled in her mind, his blood heating. ~And you are mine...~

His mouth came down on hers, and she cringed, expecting the hard crush of his claim. But she shuddered in surprise at the soft caress, the gentle touch of his mouth on hers. He held her in an immovable grip, but his thumbs were circling over her arms, sending strange feelings across her skin.

*What is this...?*

~Desire...~ He answered her confusion, the faint tinge of arrogance on the edge of his words a smirk of knowledge that she wanted to snarl against. But his body was pressing against hers in a way that was distracting. Honey pooled low in her belly, and she flinched now from need, and not fear...

His mouth moved over hers, the pressure increasing minutely on her lower lip, and she wanted to gasp with the sharp stab of desire that pierced across her consciousness. She trembled, not knowing whether to cling or flee. He kept her helpless, imprisoned, and she feared that with all of her soul. But even as that fear crept in, his grip was loosening---slightly---and a warm tongue traced the bow of her lips, requesting, not demanding, entry.

*I do not understand...* She was dazed and confused, the heat of his own thoughts sliding in under her own and curling around her reverie like his hands curved over her arms. Strange images flashed across her mind, wispy half-dreams that made her cheeks flame with the shocking nature of them.

~Open your mouth to me...~

His thoughts had turned cajoling, he had instinctively kept the command from them. She would fear his demand, but she would give him his desire if he sought it.

"Why---" Her impulsive query was cut off by his lips covering hers and silencing her questions. His tongue surged into her mouth, claiming it. She trembled and tried to gasp, but their mouths were knit too closely together for her to even do so. The warmth in her belly grew by slow inches as he skillfully pulled the heat up from her core and gave her his own.

His kiss was soft, exploring, not what she had expected. She had anticipated his attack, not his offering. He explored her mouth, tongues dancing in a duel of growing desire, and invited her to share in it. His mouth opened wider, until his fangs were nibbling on her bottom lip and she almost jumped as a wave of pure hunger washed over her. His hands swept up from her shoulders to cradle her head in his strong palms, his claws tangling in the wavy tangles of black hair that spilled over her shoulders and far down the curve of her back.

He was molten fire to her senses, and she sought that flame, her body falling against his as the wonder of it consumed her soul. She felt as if she was climbing up on the air currents, soaring with the winds, and yet anchored by heated longing to his side. She leaned into him, wanting more. There were astonishing thrills created all over her body---unknown, strange sensations that she did not understand and should fear, but did not.

~Come...~ He invited, drawing her with him. His mouth left hers, and she whimpered, wanting it back. Those sensations...those feelings...the warmth...she needed, wanted...it was a hunger that was consuming her...

*No...* Her mind protested. Not again...no, she did not want to be consumed...

~Come!~ He demanded now, and she jerked upright.

*What am I doing? No! This is not what I want---*

But it was what he wanted, she could feel it like a flaring arrow across her mind, and she paled. His desire was raging in him, burning him up. He wanted to throw her down and take out his lust in fierce claiming---

*No!* She pulled away from him, her red eyes wide with terror.

"Kagura." His voice was low, menacing. Growling.

Flee! She must get away, must escape, or he would---

Powerful arms wrapped over her own, holding her immobile, and her mind whirled with the fear and the desire that rose up to leave her vulnerable, dazed and confused...

*I am not weak!*

She struggled, but he ignored it. She expected him to throw her down and ravish her, like she had seen in his thoughts, like the strong evidence of his desire pressed against her thigh told her he would. But he just held her tight, and pulled her closer. His mouth was trailing its way down her throat, and she thrashed her head, trying to dislodge the hot trail of wet kisses he left along the white column.

"Do not fight me." He growled into her neck, making her gasp as the wet heat of his breath traced across the flaring white symbol of his claim of her as mate.

*I do not understand! Why am I feeling this way?* She cried out, and his hold softened---the merest bit---as his tongue licked across the mating mark. She shuddered, as her mind scattered under the euphonious descant of her soul chiming in answer to that touch.

Her body went limp in reaction, and he pulled her to him, using his own anchored strength to hold her tight as he swept her up into his arm and then down into the soft furs he had abandoned in the heated madness of her youkai blood, when their more primal natures had been free and their minds were not tainted with her confusion and fear.

She shuddered under the drawing of her soul into passion, and the wonder of it made her want to cry out with need. She wanted...she desired...she craved...

His hands were like the softest touch of the winds against her skin, arising the tingling sensations that only the faint breeze had ever brought to her---but this was deeper, more immediate, than the gentle play of the wind whispering across her body. His fingers were calloused and rough, but he touched her white skin lightly, the merest brush sending goose-bumps arching across the top of her breasts. The rosy nipples budded with desire, and she gasped anew with wonder when his mouth found the first tip and lavished it with kisses.

She moaned and arched against him, her hands coming up to clasp his head to her, wanting more. He suckled and nipped by turns, coaxing her body slowly into ardent need. She sighed, losing herself in the unknown feelings that surged through her.

He slid down her white body, his mouth leaving a trail of soft, wet kisses upon her tingling flush. The warmth consumed her, glowing up from her center to engulf her soul.

*Koga...*

She had never dreamt there existed such feelings, such all-consuming want and need. She could lie here forever, treasuring the golden warmth of that honeyed calling. Her eyes closed as she breathed in the wonder of it, the muscles of her stomach quivering under the skilled caress of his tongue.

Her eyes flew open and she cried out as, suddenly, he was there, at the very center, plucking the strings of her soul with the touch of that wet mouth on her most secret identity. She gasped, her body shuddering under the new onslaught. His wide shoulders pushed her legs apart, his claws curling around her hips to keep her still while his mouth deftly drew the notes from her soul.

"K...Koga!" She gasped and tried to lurch up, the warm glow having whirled into the flames of ardent longing. *What is he doing to me?*

~Lie still.~ He told her, the growl in his mind echoed against her most intimate opening, his heated breath driving her to new heights of inexperienced passion.

*I...* She whimpered, trying to escape the fire he pulled from her, but his hold on her hips firmed, and if anything, he was forcing her thighs to open wider, so that he could expose more of her to his skilled manipulation.

~Let go...~ He growled over her, a single claw sliding across the burning bud of her desire.

*How can I?* Part of her wailed, even while another, deeper part of her whispered that this was what she truly desired...this loss of control over herself, this helpless standing in the middle of a whirling storm of utter pathos. She had never known such deep and driving intensity, had never understood how the emotions she had scorned in others could be so utterly compelling and filling, could whisk her up and away to soar on the heights of rapture.

*I...want...* She did not know how to speak of it, how to say the words that would explain this passionate need to be fulfilled, to understand, to feel and know and share.

The ookami youkai's blue eyes glinted over the white planes of her body, and he opened her further, demanding she come to his call. The fear of losing control was swirling away on the demands of his passion, and he called again and again to her, building up the pain of longing until she could not stand it, her heart clenching in her heaving breast as the breath was torn from her in shaking gasps of awakened pleasure.

*I am lost...* She cried softly to him, and then was jerked away on the wings of passion as he gathered her soul up and threw her over the edge. White lightening blazed across her soul, and Kagura called out to it, losing herself to the shattering, whirling fire of it all. *Consumed...*

~As am I...~ His mind touched hers, cradling it as his body moved across her smaller form. Her skin quivered with sudden awareness, and she was brought again to shuddering life. He lay between her legs, his manhood heavy on her trembling thigh, and she stiffened, her crimson eyes widening as new sensations and needs claimed her soul.

His mouth found her softened lips, his tongue delving in to tangle with hers, distracting her as his legs thrust hers further apart, his hips nestling against the dark heat of her moist opening. She moaned into his mouth, and he drank up her soul as his hips arched, seeking her entrance.

*Koga...*

~Open for me...~ His mind pulled at hers, calling forth her surrender. Claws traced over her inner thigh, seeking her heat. She shivered at the first probe of his manhood against her opening, and she cried out into his wet mouth as his hand left there to join its brother and clutch her waist in a fierce grip.

~Kagura...~ Her name was a growl of possession as he thrust forward, driving home into her heat and sheathing himself to the hilt.

She lurched up against him, her body unprepared for the depth of his invasion. Her channel tightened around him, and he growled into the white curve of her neck, his narrowed gaze filled with the emblazoned white fire of his seal on her soul. Fangs flashed as he pulled her heat closer to him, immersing himself into her aching depths. She whimpered against him, her small hands curling around his braced arms, and he bent his head, nuzzling her mark with hot kisses.

She arched against him as the tips of his fangs grazed her skin, and she shuddered as his tongue flicked out to trace the white lines. ~Join me.~ He ordered, his voice overwhelming her senses even as his body slid slowly out of hers.

Her heart nearly stopped at the feel of his fangs sinking into her skin...the simultaneous sensation of his manhood sliding back into her body taking her breath away. The doubled invasion, slow and deepening, made her soul quiver in reaction, and when his shaft was buried deep inside her, and his teeth had parted her skin, the white hot pleasure boiled up to consume her as her blood welled up in response to his seeking.

She cried out her fulfillment to the heavens, his mouth drawing her blood as his body drove the flight of her passion higher and higher, until she spiraled out of control and the white winds of attained desire roared through her. Ruby eyes flashed, and her mouth opened, her fangs seeking him as his had sought her, and she plunged deep, drawing him after her into the whirling chaos of climactic release.

He roared his surrender against the blazing mark of fire on her throat, his body convulsing and spilling his seed deep inside of her as they soared out of control on the swirling winds of passion, souls entwined and hearts thundering as one...

Koga's awareness returned slowly, the fire slowly dissolving from the glowing light of his blue eyes, and he slid out of her spent body, a whispered kiss sealing the opened mating mark on her neck. Laying beside her limp frame, Koga curled her into his arms, sharing his strength with her, holding her and caressing the dampened tendrils of midnight hair that clung to cheek and forehead. Her eyes were wide and starred with the tears of her passion, like glittering rubies of the deepest color. He could not keep the arrogant smile from his mouth, or the thought of smug knowledge from his mind.

She floated back to reality slowly, on a gentle breeze of quiet peace and glowing warmth that seemed to cover her soul in beautiful music. She stirred slightly, her lashes fluttering closed as she tried to keep that glow within her, treasuring it.

His claws traced the curve of her cheek to soften across the line of her swollen mouth. Her eyes flew open as he touched his own lips to hers, and she looked upon him with dazed wonder.

*I never knew...*

His mouth left hers, and his blue eyes glinted, an arrogant smile creasing his expression. "I know."

Her own eyes flashed, the irritation returning. Why did he have to ruin the moment by acting the ass? Damn him---

~Keep your thoughts to yourself, woman!~ He glared at her in return.

"How can I, you fool?" She hissed, angry at him for stealing the beauty of her awakening with his arrogant conceit. "You marked me!"

"And you marked me as well." He growled. "Do you think I am pleased by that? I never expected that I---" He cut himself off abruptly, pulling away from her.

Her breath hissed in with a rush of fury. His unspoken thoughts were seared across her seething mind. *Wind witch!*

His back was toward her, his gaze brooding. A swirling image crossed over from his mind to hers, and she sat up, her fists clenching in jealousy as the white mark of their mating burned in white fire against her neck.

*Kagome!*

Would that miko never stop plaguing her?

She snarled.

*He would mate HER, a ningen? And deny ME?*

Her kaze nature rose up, the fury fueling the whirling winds of her blood. *Never!* Mindless with the red haze of her blood, she threw herself on his unprotected back, her claws curling out to strike.

He sensed her movement, and turned at the last second, his own hard hands coming out to grip hers at the wrist. She tried to pull away from his hold, snarling, her eyes flashing crimson fire.

~Gods, she's beautiful when riled...~

She froze at that thought. He thought her beautiful?

He grinned at her, fangs flashing. Gods, he was a smug bastard! Maybe, at one time, she had been beautiful. But now her face had been slashed by the ugly scar of Naraku's poison, and it would forever mar her. He was toying with her, thinking she would be one to be eased by mere flattery---

"Will you shut the hell up?" He growled at her. He pulled her wrists together in one firm clasp, freeing his other hand to come and sweep the fall of her wavy black hair aside. She jerked her head back, growling, her eyes glittering at him.

"Don't touch me!" She snarled.

*Not there...*

"Stupid witch..." He scowled back, his fingers pulling her chin forward. She hissed at him, her own fangs revealed, but he just growled her into silence. His thumb, the edged claw held carefully away, smoothed over the angry, purple-black welt of Naraku's anger.

She froze under the touch, unable to stop the trembling of her traitorous body or the stilling of her breath as the calloused pad of his finger swept over the mark of her shame.

~She is strong to have survived that.~

Strong? Her? He WAS a fool, if he thought that she was---

He growled at her. "Don't lie, even to yourself."

She closed her eyes tightly, unknown and indescribable feelings washing over her. Something was tickling her nose, and she felt a surge of choking emotion washing up from the small part of her soul she had always kept hidden away in the deepest recesses of her troubled soul.

A single tear jeweled in the corner of her eye and fell down her cheek, sliding across the white skin and along the jagged scar of her pain to nestle like a tiny diamond on the edge of his thumb.

He freed her chin to brush his claws across her hair, and she bowed her head, humiliated that he would see her tears. *I am not weak!* She said fiercely. *I refuse to cry...*

Refuse to show him her weakness, her pain and sadness...

He released her wrists from his hard clasp, and his strong arms came up to haul her against him. ~Damn it all. Stupid kaze female! Let it go, damn it! You are not alone any longer!*

The voice in her mind was firm, and she clung to it as she clung to him, burying her head against his hard chest, the tears falling quicker now, her will unable to stop the flow of releasing pain that he had freed from within her.

*Damn him...*