Contracting Love

A/N: Hey! It’s me. Sorry I’ve taken so long to update. I’ve been under a lot of stress what with the move and trying to find a job. But now that I have one, I think everything will be a bit better. Oh, did I mention that I was struck with the wild idea to move halfway across the country from Indiana to Virginia? So, yeah. This chapter is coming to you from my new apartment in Richmond, VA that I’ve been living in for about the past three weeks. I’ve been slowly making my way around the city. I get a little turned around sometimes with the streets and I’ve been lost once or twice. In the Midwest, all the streets are laid out in a grid pattern. Not so in the great state of Virginia.
I haven’t had a chance to speak with my beta about this chapter…seeing as how she’s now living in Florida and I’m in Virginia. (You jerk! ;-) love ya, chica) And I know it’s a short one, but I wanted to build a little suspense…not that it’s really needed much, judging from all of your responses. Anyway, I hope you like it…or at least don’t hate it. As always, reviews are welcomed, encouraged, and very much appreciated. …As long as they are constructive. ;-)
And…I need to apologize to the person who won the contest. See…I wrote the part with you in it…but I had to get rid of it because it just didn’t work. It didn’t do anything for the story. I’m sorry. PLEASE DON’T BE MAD AT ME!!! I LOVE YOU! Really, really sorry.

So…with no further ado…

These characters are not mine. I just use them for my own sadistic purposes…. hehehe

Chapter 13: Sinking

“Where are you off to?” Inuyasha watched as a rather run down-looking Miroku gather up his jacket and Sango’s. Her purse and shoes dangling in one hand, the blue-eyed man looked wearily at his friend.

He sighed heavily. “I finally convinced her to go to bed. I’m escorting her upstairs. Apparently, she rented a room earlier. And it’s a good thing, too, because I don’t think I’d be able to get her up to her apartment in her condition.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Well… I kinda helped her with that,” he said, guilty.

The golden-eyed man squinted. “Helped her how, exactly?”

“By having a new drink for her practically every time she turned around. I wanted to loosen her up a bit, you know, make it easier for me to slip out of her life once she’s fallen into a drunken slumber.”

“You’re gonna leave? Just like that? Without any explanation?”

“I have to, Yash. Look-” Miroku glanced quickly around the room and lowered his voice. “I care about Sango. A lot. The last thing I want to do is hurt her by taking advantage of her when she’s not in her right mind. It would be better for her if I just took my leave while she still has no regrets about the situation.” He sighed heavily. “I have to go. Sango’s waiting for me by the elevator.”

Inuyasha held out a hand to his best male friend of six years. Their hands met in a firm shake and they embraced briefly. “Take care of her, Bouzu.”

Miroku looked him in the eye. “I will. I swear.”

Inuyasha smiled as he watched Miroku walk away. He knew his friend very well. He knew Sango even better. As dense as he let people think he was most of the time, he wasn’t blind. He could see the sparks flying between those two. In his own silent way, he’d given his blessing to that union.

But Miroku wouldn’t know it until he put his hand in his pocket.

***

Sango waited patiently by the elevator for Miroku to join her. She watched the lights blink on and off above the doors, indicating which floor the elevator was passing. She swayed slightly on her feet.

**Stay upright,** she prayed. **Just stay standing until you get upstairs. Then you can just fall into bed and pass out. …Now, if only the room would stand still…**

A hand touched her back and she jumped in surprise. Miroku held her firm, wrapping his other arm around her for extra support. She smiled up at him and then rested her head on his shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, rubbing a hand gently up her spine.

She sighed. “Tired. And a little dizzy.”

He chuckled. “Just a little?”

“It’s your fault for giving me all those drinks.”

“Fair enough. Did you have a good time tonight?”

She arched her neck to look up at him, hoping that the look she gave him was the one she intended. “It was perfect. Thank you. For everything.”

Miroku’s smile was warm, though the sadness cut deep into his heart. “It was my pleasure, Sango.” His eyes shifted briefly and his smile turned into a wicked grin. “What do you say we end the evening with a bang?”

“What do you mean?” Butterflies flittered in her stomach.

“We seemed to have attracted the attentions of a rather unwelcome ex of yours. Shall we give him something to stew about until the next reunion?”

An entire swarm of butterflies had now taken up residence in her stomach, but the alcohol was doing an effective job of bringing down her defenses and an evil glint to match Miroku’s appeared in her eye. “Just what exactly did you have in mind?”

He handed her shoes and purse to her as well as the two jackets. Grabbing her firmly at the hips he pulled her toward him, pressing their lower bodies together tightly. “Just follow my lead.”

His lips touched hers, making her head swim in a way that had nothing to do at all with the alcohol and everything to do with the man holding her. Every touch of his hands sent fire surging through her body. The kiss deepened as she leaned into him, a small moan escaping her throat.

A bell sounded and suddenly he pulled away. Sango stumbled as Miroku dragged her into the elevator. He turned her so that she stood facing the lobby. She barley had enough time to register the look of stunned hatred on Naraku’s face before Miroku’s mouth began its onslaught on her neck. His hands, which had held her waist to keep her on her feet, moved down the outside of her thighs before slipping through either slit in the red dress and began caressing the black lace of her underwear.

Miroku’s blood began to boil as he traced the delicate patterns of her undergarments. He sucked gently on the soft flesh of her neck. Lifting his head just enough to see the glare coming from the man they’d tried so hard to turn green-eyed with envy, he smiled wickedly at him. He turned his attention back to the woman pressed against him, running his fingers down the line that separated the rough material from her soft thighs. Sango reached her hand up to cradle the back of his head, urging him on with a soft moan.

The elevator door closed just as he slipped one finger under the lacy barrier and began stroking the heated flesh between her legs.

“What floor are you on, Sango?” he whispered in her ear.

Sango shivered, the hot wind from his breath making goose bumps dance across her skin. His fingers made long, languid strokes, making her voice quiver when she finally was able to answer. “Ten.”

One hand temporarily stopped its explorations in order to press the button for the tenth floor. Once the elevator began to move he spun her around, pressing her back against the cold wall. Their lips battled for dominance while his hands continued teasing her beneath the red dress. Sango threw her arms around his neck, pressing him to her, as she lifted one leg. Miroku grabbed her leg, grinding his hips into her, fitting their bodies more perfectly together.

“What room?” he fairly growled.

“Seventeen,” she said, arching her back as his fingers teased a particularly sensitive spot. “Ten Seventeen.”

A second later the doors opened. He took her wrist and fairly ran down the hallway, not slowing his pace until they reached the door to her room. Sango fumbled with her purse, her hands shaking from excitement or trepidation, she didn’t know which. All she knew that if she didn’t hurry up and find that damn key-card she was going to explode.

Of course, it had found its way to the bottom of her purse. She held it triumphantly as Miroku’s lips descended on hers again. Taking it from her, he slipped it into the door and unlocked it. Impatiently throwing the door open he pulled her inside, pressing her all too willing body against the wall as the door closed behind them.

Finally dropping the items in her hands she pushed at his shoulders. He leaned back, panting, and grabbed at her hands as she started to undo the top buttons of his dress shirt.

“Sango…” His voice sounded pained, even to him. They were both breathing heavily, their lower bodies still pressed together, his erection becoming more painful as he watched her breasts rise and fall. “Sango, please, I can’t…”

Her world shattered. She’d never felt such utter hopelessness in all her life, not even after Naraku had dumped her. After all of the teasing, the soft kisses and burning caresses… after everything…

He didn’t want her.

It really was just an act.

“Oh,” she said, her voice barely audible. She slid out from against the wall and stood in front of the bed, her back to him as she hugged herself. Her eyes stung with unshed tears, but her voice remained steady, if soft. “I see.”

Miroku watched her, bewildered at her reaction. Some feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that, despite the apparent calm in her voice, she didn’t understand at all. “Sango…?”

She straightened her back and blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall any moment. She turned, smiling her best fake smile, the one she used at the office when Max called her away from her work to do something demeaning, like bring him a cup of coffee. “I thank you for your services, Mr. Misuteri. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m rather tired and I’d like to turn in for the night. Please show yourself out.”

She turned her back to him. It was meant as a dismissive gesture, but in reality Sango couldn’t bear to watch him go. Little by little her heart broke as she waited and listened for the door to open and close.

Miroku was astonished. He’d been dismissed! It was clear she thought he was rejecting her, clear that she was wounded by it. But even so, she stood tall and had told him, rather politely, actually, to leave because she wanted to sleep. In all his life, he’d never knew a woman to be as strong as his Sango was. Even in the face of heart break, she was holding on, determined not to let him see her pain.

He wanted to reassure her. He wanted to throw her down on the bed and show her just how wrong she was, to show her just how bad he wanted her. He wanted to love her so thoroughly she’d never doubt his attraction to or his feelings for her again.

But he had to leave. He’d planned to all along. And now she was asking him to.

**Farewell, my beautiful, brave Lady. I’ll never forget you.**

Bewildered, and a little heartbroken himself, Miroku shoved a hand in his pocket and turned the door handle.

***