Tempting Fate
Tempting Fate
Chapter one: Setting the Scene
Kagome crept softly up the front stone steps toward her apartment. Her purse was tucked casually under her arm, the slinky black dress she wore rode up her thighs to expose chilled flesh to the cold night air. Her shawl and her dress were little protection against the bitter October winds and Kagome cursed herself seven times a fool for not thinking to wear a jacket out tonight.
But it had been unusually warm lately, with the temperatures reaching a surprising high of 78 in mid-October. Kagome had begun to grow used to the sunny warm afternoons and the slightly nippy nights. So when her dear friend Eri had asked her out last minute to a formal dinner at a snazzy little restaurant that had only just recently opened, Kagome hadn’t even thought to bring a jacket. And why would she? But now she was indeed regretting her decision, and her apparent inability to watch the weather channel, and so when her fingers delved into the confines of her purse to pull out her keys- they trembled from the cold.
Damn.
Kagome bit down softly on her lower lip, sliding the key quietly into the lock on her front door. Her hands were shaking with the effort to remain quiet, jostling the keys to her car and her office slightly, while a frown formed on her delicate brow.
This was ridiculous.
It was 12 o’clock in the morning and here she was, a twenty three year old woman with a college degree and a damn fine job, tiptoeing up her porch and through the front doorway to her own house. It was like she was a teenager again- trying to sneak in after staying out way past curfew and being terrified that Mama was going to catch her.
But she wasn’t a teenager anymore, and her mother certainly didn’t live here with her in the city, so she should have no reason to sneak in her own godforsaken home when it wasn’t even that late out. Okay, so it was a little late- but compared to her wild and often reckless college party days- 12 o’clock in the morning was quite early for a Friday night.
Inuyasha, however, wouldn’t think so. She had no doubt he was sitting up waiting for her, lounging in one of her plush leather chairs in the living room- his feet propped up arrogantly on the coffee table. She could already see the black look he would send her way, with those piercing amber eyes that seemed almost unworldly. He had eyes that could look straight through a person; see them clearly to their very core and discover every secret that plagued their soul. Or maybe that was just her. It was unnerving that the man could read her like a book, as if he had known her all his life, when she had only met him a month ago.
Heat rushed to her cheeks as she remembered their very first encounter. It was a moment Kagome was sure she would never forget for the rest of her life.
Kagome had met Inuyasha a month ago at a seedy little bar in down town Tokyo called Deja vu. The bar was host to all sorts of patrons, from the scum that wandered the streets late at night, to top executives at several law firms and corporations. Gang members, librarians, young kids, and old men alike gathered at Déjà vu and everyone mingled in the homely environment. Despite the cracked and peeling paint on the walls and the scars that were embedded deep within the wood of the bar and tables, as well as the flickering bar lights that swung haphazardly over head, Déjà vu had a very comfortable atmosphere where everyone (well, mostly) were friends and there only to have a good time. Whatever you were looking for you could find it at club Déjà vu. The dingy little club boasted a dance floor that was far past its prime, karaoke (which Ami and Eri had desperately tried to get Kagome to try), pool tables that were worn down and reeked of cigarettes and cheap liquor, and a score of tables scattered randomly across the room. It was a popular spot where everyone met up to have a good time. Perhaps the best thing about Club Déjà vu was that when you walked through it’s thick oak doors and into the din and chaos- your identity was shucked off. You were just another face in a drunken crowd of friendly strangers.
So it was the place to be when you wanted to have a good time. And apparently, according to Ami and Eri, Kagome had been in desperate need of a night out on the town. She had just graduated college no more then two months ago with a degree in education. She was planning on becoming an elementary school teacher, and was hoping to get a job at a local school where she would be teaching a third grade class.
She had spent seven years in college, flopping back and forth between majors before finally settling upon teaching. First she had wanted to be a nurse, then an accountant, then a psychologist, and finally she had reached the conclusion that she was going to be a teacher. Kagome needed to be around children. She loved teaching the young valuable life lessons for the future, and her heart- which had been wounded quite brutally in the distant past- healed just a little bit more everyday when she was surrounded by innocent smiling faces.
But earning that degree hadn’t been easy- especially with the amount of financial aid she had been getting from the school. Although Kagome had graduated top of her class in high school, and had just missed valedictorian for her college graduating class, they hadn’t given her much money to work with. So Kagome had taken on several part time jobs to help pay for her college education- not to mention taking out a few loans from the bank which she still had to pay off. Between work at the bookstore down the street from her apartment, and working as a receptionist in a local salon, not to mention the countless hours dedicated to both her classes and school work- Kagome had little time for sleep let alone wild parties and serious relationships.
So when she had finally graduated both Ami and Eri (who had often dragged her out of bed in the middle of the night during college) decided that the remedy Kagome needed from her boring stressful life was to go to Déjà vu get hammered drunk and pick up some studly men.
Kagome had laughed them off then. There had been no way that she could possibly ever pick up any man- let alone the studly kind. She had only been in two relationships in her life and had been way too busy with work and school to ever perfect the art of flirtation. She was clueless as to how to go about it. And thinking that nothing would come of the night but a good buzz and a bunch of laughs with her closest friends, Kagome had agreed to go.
Oh- if she had only known.
They had walked into the bar, the smell of cigarettes and beer wafting in the air, and the din of drunken voices and the crack of pool balls colliding encompassed Kagome and her friends. It seemed as if a small weight had lifted off her shoulders.
But then, no more then two seconds after she had walked through the door with both Ami and Eri by her side, she had felt the presence of a pair of smoldering eyes upon her. The hairs on the back of her neck had stood at attention, her body tingling faintly with awareness. Cautiously she had peered around the dimly lit room, but the gaze that penetrated her body- swept over her curves starting from the slight swell of her breasts all the way down to her toes and back up again- remained elusive.
She remembered shuddering slightly beneath that mysterious gaze, before being swept away both Eri and Ami and found herself being ushered toward the bar. It was three margaritas later (not to mention a couple of beers) when Ami was finally able to drag Kagome out on the dance floor. A dance floor which was, surprisingly, packed full of drunken swaying bodies- joyful shouts- and happy faces.
They had been dancing together to one of their favorite songs (a song which, to this day, Kagome couldn’t even remember) when Ami had been effectively whisked away by a rather handsome looking man dressed in all black. Long, jet black, hair had been swept back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck and his muscular body seemed to strain against the thin fabric of his black silk shirt. Breathless and wide eyed, Ami could do little to stop the man from separating her from Kagome.
And hell, Kagome couldn’t blame her.
So she had been left alone on the dance floor, swaying to the beat of a fast hip hop song, when that penetrating stare had returned. Her breath had caught in her chest and she had begun to make a somewhat hasty retreat from the dance floor when a muscular arm had wrapped itself firmly about her waist- pulling her back into an equally muscular body that was both hard and hot.
Sparks seemed to ignite at the touch, and a hiss of breath whistled past her ear and blew gently across the smooth expanse of her exposed neck. Instead of stiffening and drawing away from the obviously male body pressed against her backside, Kagome seemed to melt into the touch. A delicious heat raced up and down her spine. A lean yet muscular chest was pressed against her back and she could feel the heat of his body through her thin blouse that draped somewhat provocatively over her shoulders and chest. Lean hips grinded against the soft curve of her ass, and Kagome would have to be mentally defunct to miss the hard press of a rather large erection straining against the coarse fabric of the man’s jeans.
A whoosh of breath escaped past her lips, her pupil dilated and became wide and unfocused as her body seemed to ignite beneath the press of his body and the sway of his hips.
She sighed contentedly, pressing herself back against him, her hips swaying roughly against his own in a particularly sexual manner. That action merely caused a low rumbling growl, a sound that should have shocked Kagome at the time, to rise up from the man’s chest and escape past his throat. A large firm hand clamped itself at her waist, his touch searing her to the skin, and pulled her aggressively toward the large ridge grinding with mind numbing force against her backside. His arm that had been wrapped around her waist moved, trailing rough sure fingers up her torso to boldly cup her breast in his warm palm. His fingers trailed possessively over her skin, holding her to him and refusing to let go.
Kagome moaned at the sensation, wishing she could melt back into the man holding her so tightly against him. Her body was on fire! Her nerves seemed to be jumping all over the place, causing her breath to come in short, uneven, gasps. Her nipples puckered beneath his claiming touch, and a wetness pooled at the juncture of her thighs. Kagome swallowed audibly, her throat convulsing slightly at the sensations this man stirred in her.
She had never before felt an attraction so deep, an arousal so encompassing that it stole the very breath from her lungs, made her body ache and burn at the same time, and had her wanting to beg for more. Beg for naughty, dirty, things that good women don’t even think about. Let alone a third grade school teacher.
It was that thought that jarred her back to reality. A man had walked up behind her, pulled her into his arms and against the hot press of his body, and she had melted like butter beneath his sure hands. He had her left breast cupped firmly in one hand and his fingers were kneading her with confident strokes that bordered on the rough side.
And she was letting him.
“Oh.”
She tried to pull away from him, to distance herself from this stranger and the foreign feelings he was evoking within her, but his grip on her waist did not lessen in the slightest. Instead it only grew stronger, the press of his hips and the heat of his palm became only more insistent. Hot breath fanned gently across her neck, stirring the hairs on the back of her neck and causing gooseflesh to rise on her arms and the swell of her breasts. Sharp teeth captured the lobe of her ear, nibbling at the delicate flesh before satin lips brushed against the very shell of her ear- whispering words that brought a dark flush to Kagome’s skin. Suggestive words he had whispered in her ears. Words of promise, a promise of a passion so immense that she would be begging him to have mercy on her poor, weeping body.
His hips thrust boldly against her own.
“Mine.” He had whispered, his voice rough and aggressive- but in a purely alpha male way.
His hand left her hip to smooth down her ruffled skirt. A skirt that was fashionably short, yet not enough to garner unwanted attention from lustful men, yet not long enough to be called modest. She could feel the heat of his palm glide down her thigh before reaching the hem of her skirt. His lips brushed the back of her neck and, if she wasn’t mistaken, she felt them curve upwards into what she could only imagine to be an arrogant smirk.
Those fingers plucked at the fabric of her skirt before sliding sensually up and under it. Kagome gasped. The gasp was followed by a keening sound that came from the very back of her throat.
The sizzling heat of his bare hand slowly caressing her inner thigh caused her toes to curl, made her head loll back against his hard- sturdy shoulder. And her eyes, for the first time, fluttered upward to be met by the most beautiful and exotic pair of eyes she had ever seen in her life.
Molten gold. Like toasted honey they swallowed her up, consumed her until she could no longer try to tear her gaze away from them. His eyes were dark with lust and within their depths they smiled and beckoned. Promising the most sinful of pleasures, the most extreme of ecstasies, they captured her fully within their intense gaze.
“Mine.” He whispered again, his eyes flashing with possessiveness and raw- naked lust. Kagome didn’t need a mirror to know what look had passed over her face, because he had reacted immediately to it- groaning deep in his throat as his hip continued the smooth and steady grind against her sweet ass.
With a movement that had made her head spin, he had spun her around in his arms- so that her breasts were pressed flat against his chest, her pelvis pressed erotically against his own, and the heat of both their bodies setting of sparks that seemed to ignite raging infernos between the both of them.
It hadn’t taken him long to whisk her off of the floor, past the curious drunken onlookers, and out of the front door to Déjà vu. He had walked her over to the parking lot, gravel crunching underfoot, and pressed her trembling body against the side of the building.
The parking lot had been a mass of cars, all parked and vacated, leaving Kagome and the strange man all alone. No witnesses, no onlookers. Nothing stood between them and the task at hand.
“God I want you.” The man had whispered, trapping her body against the hard stone wall of Déjà vu and the seemingly harder press of his body. He braced his arms on either side of her head and captured her lips in a fierce, claiming, kiss that made Kagome sizzle all the way down to her toes. Quite simply put, it felt as if someone had just punched her in the stomach, because that man had just knocked the wind out of her. His lips devoured hers. Nipping, searching, tasting. His hot, velvet, tongue swept across the seam of her lips, his free hand coming up to cradle her delicate jaw- pressing slightly and demanding entrance.
The man didn’t ask for what he wanted- he simply took it. His tongue slipped inside of her mouth, exploring, tasting and tangling with her own. He kissed her with such a fierce, unbridled passion, that Kagome had nearly forgotten to breathe. Her hands clutched helplessly at his shoulders, her body arching instinctively into his as if she couldn’t stand for there to be even the smallest distance between them.
He pulled away from the kiss, capturing her lip between his teeth and tugging gently on the sensitized flesh. His eyes looked utterly wicked; they gleamed in the dim light of the moon which was obscured by thick- billowing grey clouds.
“Oh god, I need to taste you. I need to have you.” He whispered the words against her collarbone, his teeth nibbling and nipping their way down her neck following the path of her v-neck blouse. Kagome moaned, pressing her breasts towards his hungrily feasting mouth and tongue, enjoying the sensations of his mouth claiming her with every fevered stroke of his tongue.
A low growl pricked at the outer edge of her conscious but the warning came too late. The noise of shredding fabric ripped through her mind, as did the feel of a cool night breeze against her flushed and heated skin. Skin that was aching to be touched, tasted, and relished. Her bra was the next thing to go, falling on the ground by the crumpled remains of her blouse.
“Anything that gets in my way…” The man mumbled, catching Kagome’s lust induced gaze.
His large, calloused, hands roughly palmed her ample breasts, teasing her nipples into sensitive peeks- causing her breasts to swell and strain against his hands. Dear God this man knew how to touch a woman, how to drive her crazy. He had strong, sure fingers. The fingers of a master, a commander, a warrior.
Kagome’s legs trembled beneath her as he dipped his head toward her breast, taking on aching rosy peak into his wickedly hot mouth. She cried out then, her fingers twining through his hair, cradling his head as he suckled her. His hands continued to knead her breast, plucking at her nipple as his tongue swirled around her areola before capturing the sensitive flesh between his teeth and tugging.
It was a mix of pleasure and pain, and her hips jerked reflexively against his own. A growl rose up in his throat, and his eyes turned upward toward her as he continued to suckle her with a savage ruthlessness.
Dear god she didn’t know how much more of this she could take! She felt wanton. Needy. There was a great ache inside of her and she was so wet, so ready, that all she wanted was for him to fill her. To take her to new heights. To make the sweet, blissful, torture come to an orgasmic end.
“P-Please,” she stammered breathlessly, eyes fluttering as he dragged another ragged moan from her lips. His mouth left her breast but his hands continued to knead her, shaping her to his palm. A smirk, that looked slightly pained, pulled at the corner of his lips.
“Please what?” He drawled, his voice was deep and low- laced with lust and seduction. It was a deadly mix, and one Kagome knew no way of avoiding.
Heat crawled up from her chest all the way to the very roots of her hair as her tongue tried to spew out the words she longed to say.
‘Fuck me. Take me hard. Give me everything you’ve got.’
But all that came out was a soft, pathetic whimper, and a tortured moan of delight.
“Tell me…what is it that you want?”
Kagome blinked up at him through the haze of lust that was clouding her vision, making her head feel thick and swimmy. His eyes flashed as he trailed a hand over her hip and down her thigh. His calloused fingertips again inched their way up and under her skirt- burning a blazing trail up the satin smooth skin of her inner thigh. This time though, they didn’t stop until he cupped her boldly with his palm.
“This, perhaps?”
Kagome cried out at the sweet friction, grinding her wet cunt against the heel of his hand.
“Oh god. O-Oh god yes.” She hissed between her teeth.
The smirk on his face became more strained and triumph flared in his eyes. “You may call me Inuyasha.”