InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Windows on the West ❯ The Little Intimacies Part II ( Chapter 56 )

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

Disclaimer:  I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

~oOo~

Coming to a halt at the warmest of the hotsprings, Sesshoumaru turned to look at Kagome as she entered the small, rather private clearing, and glanced around, a pleased smile on her lips.   She was quite grateful that it was so secluded and surrounded by shrubs and trees – she was about to feel awkward enough getting naked with Sesshoumaru for the first time without having to worry about someone accidentally stumbling on them at an open onsen.

Slowly dropping the small cloth bag with their bathing items inside it near the edge of the onsen, Kagome forced herself to look up and smile at her betrothed, knowing that it was now or never.  She was an adult, one who was soon to be bonded to the inuyoukai before her for eternity, and it was time to put aside childish things such as embarrassment over nudity.

It wasn't, after all, as though she hadn't seen naked males before.  Where she was from, you were exposed to such things from an early age, and families here bathed together all the time.

Inhaling deeply, and then letting it out slowly, she smiled a bit shyly at Sesshoumaru, who was simply waiting patiently, watching her, and asked,  “May I assist you in disrobing, my Lord?”  softly.

He blinked languidly at her, then inclined his head and beckoned her forward.  “Aa.”  He waited to see what she would do first, and to his surprise, she slid his swords from his obi first, laying them gently down on a boulder near the edge of the water in case he needed to get to them in a hurry, then began untying his sash.  

She was thorough, completely taking one layer and folding it carefully before moving on to the next, and Sesshoumaru had to give it to her – even when she reached his final pieces of clothing, i.e. his hakama, and fundoshi, she didn't stop or pause or act in any way nervous.  The only visible reaction was her refusal to stare at certain body parts, and a slight blush.

However, despite the fact that she didn't stare, didn't mean she wasn't aware of what she'd just uncovered, as his fundoshi was also set aside with his clothing.  Kagome had decided to take on the mentality of a nurses assistant; such a person dealt with naked males and females every day, and it really did help – despite the fact that Sesshoumaru was now completely nude before her, she wasn't about to pass out.

It was close, though.  But that wasn't really because he was naked – it was more because he was perfect.  She'd known he would be, but the reality of it was overwhelming in a way – it made her nervous to undress herself in his presence, almost as though it was an insult for him to have to look upon her imperfections.

Cheeks a pale rose color, Kagome raised her eyes to his and determinedly held his gaze, refusing to give in to her own perceived inequality.  “If you would enter the water, I will join you in a moment,”  she murmured, her eyes desperately searching his for comfort in what she was about to do.

He studied her suddenly nervous demeanor, and the trace of shame in her scent, and knew her mind.  Normally, he would undress her, as she had him, but he would give her a little slack this time, and allow her to undress herself.  “Disrobe, Kagome,”  he said softly, entering the water and sighing slightly at how good the heat felt.  “There is no need for you to feel shame.”

Unable to really believe that, but resigned to the fact that he would most certainly be seeing her body up close and personal soon, anyway, she nodded and began to undress, though it took her much less time to get out of her clothes than it had to get him out of his.

Finally, cheeks tinted a deepening rose, Kagome stood before Sesshoumaru without anything to hide behind for the first time.

His breath hitched as he looked at her, but after a moment, he regained control of himself, and holding out his hand, he beckoned her to take it so that he could guide her into the water.

“Come, my Lady, step carefully, the stones here shift a bit,”  he said deeply, his voice dropping a notch with arousal that he felt no need to hide.  It was obvious that she needed reassurance that he desired her and he was more than willing to provide it, allowing his body to respond as it willed.

When she reached the center of the pool, he let go her hand and moved to sit on one of the smoother boulders, leaving himself covered by the heated water just to his waist.  

Kagome watched him for a moment, then shook herself and smiled shyly at him.  

“Give me a moment to gather the soap and things,”  she said, turning to open the small carrying cloth she'd brought with her.  She laid out the items in a precise pattern, then gathered the soap and a mid-sized sponge and set them aside near Sesshoumaru.  After a moment of eyeing his shining fall of hair, she sighed softly to herself as she picked up the small bottle of youkai-crafted shampoo and weighed it in her hand.  “I'm not sure this will be enough,”  she said wryly as she fingered a lock of silver moonlight with her other hand.  “There's so much of it, but it's so very beautiful.”  

Sesshoumaru chuckled slightly, the sound echoing deeply in his chest and sending a shiver up her spine.  “You will be surprised – as this is from a youkai soap-maker, very little is needed, even for the amount of hair that I have.”

“Really?”  she asked.  She'd used the shampoo herself, of course, but since they had never bathed together before, she hadn't realized that it was really any different than human-crafted shampoo in the amount needed.  “That will make things easier, then!”  she finished brightly as he took the small bottle from her and, pulling the stopper, waited for her to hold out her hand before pouring a small amount in the center of her palm.

“Get your other hand wet, then rub them both together.  It will lather up very quickly and thickly.  Then you can begin at my scalp and work your way down.  It works best that way,”  he said softly, smiling almost enigmatically at her as she nodded in acquiescence.  She had no idea that what she was about to do, most youkai females did not do for their mates – and vice-versa, for certain reasons to do with anatomy.  It had only just occurred to him that she could even do this for him when he'd looked at her delicate, elegant hands, and openly realized... she does not have claws, and so...

Moving around to sit just behind and slightly above her betrothed, she did as instructed, and sure enough, a thick, soapy lather soon began to spill from her hands, at which point she reached up and began massaging it into his scalp using her fingernails to scrub gently but firmly.

Sesshoumaru almost melted at the feel of her dull fingernails scratching against his scalp, and suddenly, he remembered something his father had once told him.

The confidence had not been sought, nor appreciated at the time, but nonetheless, in this moment he couldn't help but remember it...

“You have no idea, Sesshoumaru, of the differences between females of our own kind, and human females.  There are things that they can do for their males that no youkai female could ever do – or probably would ever do, if it came to that.  They are just different, my son... and in so many ways, better.  I cannot say why I am so enamored of the way a human female is... perhaps it is just in the blood, that I would prefer living with and loving one that is not my race.”  His sire had sighed, then, and looked almost haunted.  “But they are so soft and giving and loving – in a way females of our race could never be.  I can only thank the kami for what you call this 'weakness' that I carry.”

He'd scoffed at his father and called him soft and had never spoken of anything even remotely personal with his sire again... but now he was beginning to understand – even in something so small as bathing, there was something that Kagome could do, that a youkai female could not.

When bathing with each other, most youkai mates washed their own hair, and never really scrubbed at their scalp – because it was too easy, with the fearsome claws they had, to tear the scalp up when trying to do what Kagome was doing. Their claws were just not meant for such things.  Using her blunt nails, however, cleansed and gave great pleasure while increasing the blood flow to his scalp – he could feel it, and it felt so good.

He began to wonder what else his human female could do for him that a youkai female could not.

Golden eyes filled with speculation fell closed as she scrubbed, and he began rumbling in his chest – the inu equivalent of purring.  He almost wanted to pout when she finally moved on to the rest of his hair.

Kagome, meanwhile, was beginning to understand why grooming – and especially bathing - was considered such an intimate thing between partners.  There was just something about taking care of your partner in such a way that made you feel so much closer.  It felt so good to be able to show him how much she loved him by the care she took of his body.  And for an inu male to reciprocate said care, Satori had said, was soothing, and the perfect way to show their female that they did, indeed, love them.

Most youkai were not very vocal about their feelings – instead, they showed it in their actions and the care they took of their partners.  Bathing was the most intimate form of that next to actual sex, and Kagome could feel the warmth wrapping around her heart from Sesshoumaru's contentment at her care of him.  

She had no doubt that he would be highly demonstrative in the way he returned the favor.  Her whole body shivered at that thought.

Finally reaching the ends of his hair, she carefully rubbed the remaining soap into the strands, then smiled, nudging her purring inuyoukai with her shoulder.  “Time to rinse, Sesshoumaru,”  she breathed softly, not wanting to interrupt the magic forming between them with loud noises.

With the soft purring he was doing, the gentle night noises around them, and the mist and steam, it was almost as though they were in their own little world, and that nothing existed there except they, themselves.

It was so relaxing... Kagome hadn't felt this good in as long as she could remember, and almost wished it never had to end.  In her world, very few ever found  a way to relax even half so well.

Her breath caught as her inu surged back up out of the water slowly, now facing her, and she watched, spellbound, as he flicked his hair behind him, his bangs dripping water onto his lashes where they beaded up and then flicked away as he blinked.

He's so beautiful, she thought, her eyes drawn helplessly down just as the water was.  Pale, pale skin that on most would be considered sickly looked healthy and right on Sesshoumaru – as though were he to have any other coloring, it would be wrong.  He glowed with health and vitality.

Flicking her eyes up to meet his, she reached behind her without even having to look, and grabbed the soap and sponge.  She could hardly wait to run her hands along his flesh, molding the skin of her hands to his body as she cleansed him.

Rubbing the sponge along the soap until it foamed, she set the soap down and turned back to the male sitting so contentedly while awaiting her touch, and smiled a bit, almost uncertain of where to start.  Eyeing his impressive chest and abs, along with his perfectly formed shoulders and arms, she sighed, a dreamy expression taking over her face that increased Sesshoumaru's satisfaction, had she but known it.

He tensed, waiting for her first tentative touch on his body, and shivered with need and arousal when it finally came as she applied the soapy sponge to his neck and collarbone, massaging firmly.  That deep thrumming once more erupted from his chest as she turned that smile up to look at him tenderly, not once stopping her motions as she moved down first one arm, and then the other, making sure he was covered in a nice layer of lather.

His breath caught as she finally moved down to his chest, his need rising as her gentle hands first soaped him, and then smoothed behind the sponge.  Her touch was so gentle, and her face showed nothing but reverent awe as she touched him, making him clench inwardly with the desire to pounce her and take her here and now, instead of waiting.
Barely holding himself back as she moved lower along his abdomen, he clenched his jaw tight and forced himself to think through the redness bleeding over his vision.  He hadn't realized just how difficult this would be – he was so hard that it hurt, and he knew she could see quite clearly his desire for her – the top of his manhood was out of the water and twitching with need.  

Perhaps he should have waited for this depth of intimacy until after he'd already mated her and had no need to hold back – because he was most abruptly aware that this kind of activity would always lead to another, even more intimate and mutually pleasurable one.

I never thought I would follow in my father's footsteps so thoroughly – but Kami, there is nothing I want more than this one, tiny human woman...

I do not think there ever will be, either.  Never have I ever been so impatient...

But I cannot deny that she is worth every bit of the wait, though I despise that wait with every part of myself.

Soon, Kagome, I promise you...

Soon.

~oOo~

A/N:  Sorta Cliffie!  This was just getting wayyy too long, so I had to split it up.  Next chapter coming in a few, so don't anyone worry – I'm not gonna leave you all hanging for too long.  I'm actually trying to get this story finished so that I can concentrate more on my coming Inupapa/Kagome, and perhaps some new Sess/Kags... not to mention the last chapter of Ever the Lotus.  ~blushes guiltily~  I know it's been a while since I posted on that one, but I'm just not getting any good brainstorms on how to finish it out.

Amber






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