Taciturn by mythicamagic

Chapter 1

AN: Another of my short tumblr prompt answers, since you guys don't seem to mind them x

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Things had gotten… awkward. And that had never happened between them before. They had their thing, and it was secret, hidden. Perhaps Inuyasha suspected because of the scents she couldn't entirely scrub away in the hot springs but he didn't call her out on it. Sesshoumaru had become someone unexpectedly important to her. He listened when she rambled, their bodies lulled in the afterglow, pressed close to try and preserve warmth in the chilled air of their cave. She, in turn, had tried to learn every quirk that gave him away. The slightly raised brow, curve of thin lips, frosty gaze. The drum of his claws on her bare thigh.

But now that intimate closeness was gone. It had been for two weeks now, and Kagome had reached her limit.

She set her shoulders, walking over to him as he left Kaede's hut, having finished his visit to see Rin. Sesshoumaru ignored her, head held high and proud. Catching his arm caused golden eyes to flash. They remained fixed on the horizon ahead.

She didn't let go.

"We need to talk."

Sesshoumaru's steady, unwavering attention was finally won, gaze sliding down to regard her cooly. He didn't budge.

She grit her teeth. Fine. So what if people stared? If didn't matter.

Kagome leaned up and pressed her lips to his, hearing his sharp inhale. Some of the villagers gasped and whispered as they paused in their work.

Slit pupils dilated a little, body becoming ridged. It was almost as if she'd frozen him in place, the demon unmoving as she pulled back and grit her teeth.

"You can't keep pretending that it didn't happen, cause guess what? It did!" She burst, cupping his cheek and feeling him start beneath her palm. "And I can give you my answer now, if you're done avoiding me," the hard tinge to her voice softened.

That ancient, infamous pride he was so well known for had demanded he'd put distance between them in the face of uncertainty. Kagome understood that. Surprises could render you speechless.

It had slipped out in the heat of the moment during their afterglow, but Sesshoumaru never said anything he didn't mean. Merely, he'd resented the vulnerability, reacted badly to her shocked silence.

She broke it now, smiling gently, nervously. Because this was frightening, new and different for her too. She swallowed and held his eyes, direct in an earnest, naked way that he'd always appreciated about her.

"I love you too," Kagome murmured, kissing the demon lord again. She curled shaking fingers in his collar, grip tight.

Those firm lips against hers immediately pressed hard and bruising, stong palms finding her waist and pulling her in, fingers bunching in the material of her dress. Sesshoumaru angled her head and forced his tongue in her mouth, making a low noise. It left her breathless in a way that had her thighs aching and her muscles sighing and her entire brain emptying into hazy contentment.

In the end their 'talk' had been very one-sided, but Kagome decided that was more than okay if it had yielded these kinds of results.

End