Several hours later a clap of thunder loud enough that it seemed to vibrate everything woke her. Disoriented for a couple moments, she then remembered where she was and muttered, “Stupid rainy season.” Not feeling him behind her, she sat up, clutching the furs to her chest and looked around.
He was tossing some more wood on the fire when he heard her stir around then her pack unzip. Brushing his hands off, he sat down by her as she took a drink from a bottle of water. Giving her a kiss on the temple, one hand found her bare back and rubbed the still sleep-warmed flesh softly, “You OK?”
She nodded and screwed the lid back on the bottle, “I’m fine. The thunder woke me is all.”
Nuzzling her softly, he stood and slid the robe he was wearing off, and then once again got into bed behind her.
Flopping back down, she burrowed back under the furs and curled back up to his chest. Draping an arm over his side, she sighed contentedly.
Automatically, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer, kissing her on top of the head. “Do you like being held like this Kagome?”
Giving his side a squeeze, she smiled, “Yes, a lot.” She said, nuzzling his chest softly. “I love it when you hold me.”
Nuzzling her again, he sighed softly and shut his eyes. “I enjoy it as well.” Actually, enjoy was too mild a word for it. He loved holding her and her arms around him as much as she did. Within minutes, her breathing became deeper and more even, telling him she was once again headed towards sleep.
As she slid fully back to sleep he thought about the irony of the situation. It was odd that the only two beings in the world that seemed to take comfort in his touch were two human females; Rin and Kagome. They were also the only two beings that really had never feared him either. It was ironic that they were human, a species that was supposedly far inferior to youkai, and female, again supposedly inferior to males. Yet neither had ever shown any kind of fear of him. Hell, he head even tried to kill Kagome and she still stood up to him.
Smiling, a low rumble of appreciation started in his chest and he actually smiled when he thought about Kagome and how much she adored his touch. No, he wasn’t the affectionate type, not even with Rin, but something about the little miko brought that out in him. Sure, inus were naturally affectionate with their partners but that didn’t account for all of it. It was just <i>her</i> and something about her that made him want to touch, hold, and cuddle her.
Somewhere in her sleep-fogged mind she must have registered the contented rumble because she sighed and a soft smile crossed her lips. Giving him a bit of a squeeze she muttered a slurred, “I love you Sess’maru.”
“I love you as well Kagome.” He replied, stroking her hair. No, this wasn’t the first time she had said it, in fact she told him at least once a day, but it still elicited the same reaction each time; it sent warm, pleasant tingles down his spine and made his beast all but purr and jump around in happy circles chanting, “Ours!”
But then that smile slipped away as his thoughts turned to a darker topic: Inuyasha. Groaning, he shut his eyes as he contemplated what his reaction was going to be when they turned back up and Kagome was wearing his mark. There was going to be no way to hide the scent from the half-breed.
No, he wasn’t worried about what the fool might say or try with him; he was more than a match for anything the hanyou might toss his direction. But h was worried about Kagome. Yes, she gave it back to Inuyasha as good as he gave it and would ‘sit’ him into a crater if needed but none of that had actually put an end to behavior that could and should be termed abusive.
Sighing, he shut his eyes as his beast reminded him of some darker suspicions he had for a while now. As if he were trying to banish the thoughts and protect her from them, he nuzzled her softly. But as he did that, he slid the blanket off her shoulder. Opening his eyes, he looked at the puncture scars on her upper arm, knowing she had an identical set on the other arm. Tracing a finger over them he knew what they appeared to be -- the marks that would be left if someone grabbed you by the upper arms, maybe to shake or hold you, digging their claws in. He had seen enough claw marks to identify that they were canine-based youkai marks. Of course his first thought had been Inuyasha. Yes, she had scars from battle injuries but that didn’t explain all the scars she had.
That raised some serious questions about protecting her. Yes, he would be around most of the time, but there would be times he couldn’t be. He understood her obligation to the jewel and wouldn’t force her to give up the hunt just because he had to go do something. Sure, he could leave Jaken but he was pretty sure he would be next to useless and Kagome would end up beating the kappa with his own staff for irritating her. Not to mention what the others in the pack would end up doing to the irritating creature. He had a couple other ideas he would have to ponder over and see what he could come up with in the way of protection.
Feeling her shift around, he looked down at her and smiled. As complicated as she was going to make his life she would be well worth it! Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead. <i>His</i> Kagome! Just the thought of that made him grin. Burying his face in her hair, he let that wonderful vanilla smell from the soap she used surround him then shut his eyes and started to drift off to sleep.