The other half of me

A/N: *giggles* ok, I had fun writing this chapter. Enjoy, review, flame me, whatever.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sesshomaru, nor any of the characters from Inuyasha. Kelani, however, is all mine. Mine!

Chapter 2


He tensed minutely as he felt her long nails brush his scalp. She was playing with his hair gently, occasionally removing a tangle here and there. Then, gathering a good fistful of it, she pulled his head completely back, dunking all of his hair in the water and exposing his throat at the same time.

She watched the alluring sight. He did not resist her at all, his golden eyes half open and passive, his body arched up and plainly visible beneath the small waves. She could smell his fear again and it excited her to no end. Trying but failing to lock up that part of her once more, she traced her nails up and down his throat, over his collar and then over the side of his face, towards a pointed ear. She could feel his quickened heartbeat in her chest.

She frowned at the collar – it was in her way. And then the realization caught up with her in a rush, time sped up again, and she felt as if her head just emerged from the water after diving in from a cliff. “Goddammit,” she thought. Forcing that part of her away yet again, she moved his head into an upright position, and applied soap to his hair. Washing it thoroughly, she again pulled his head back to rinse it off.

Her nails felt good brushing against his scalp, massaging it lightly. She was now standing fully behind him, both of her hands in his hair. While the sensation itself was entirely pleasant, Sesshomaru felt weary. There was something that had changed in her presence only moments ago, and even though it was now gone, he could not shake off the alarmed feeling it gave him. She may not have any holy powers, he thought, but he responded to her just the same. “My pretty,” she purred in his ear, making a small shiver run down his spine.

“I want you to wash yourself, then get out and put on a bath robe,” she finally told him.

Glad to be away from her, he avoided looking in her general direction, and began scrubbing himself clean from the sweat and dirt of the market.

Out of the water first, she dried herself off quickly and put her outfit back on. Sesshomaru stepped out of the water just as she picked up her last knife. Holding a fluffy white robe in one hand and twirling her dagger in the other, she lazily strolled over to him. His gaze was once more on the spot in front of her feet. She circled him like a hungry tigress, but then simply draped the robe around his shoulders and walked towards the exit. “Come, my pet,” she said simply, and walked off without turning around. Apparently, she wasn’t going to be using the chain.

Sesshomaru again followed her through the maze of corridors and passages, until they stopped in front of an oak door on one of the upper floors. It did not have a keyhole. She paused, staring at it intently for a second. He heard the lock mechanism working, and the door swung open slowly. It was much heavier than at first anticipated, and reinforced on the other side with a few iron panels.

They had walked into a study. Inside stood a desk and a few chairs. There were also many cases filled with books lining the walls, and a corner with comfortable furniture and a small coffee table. The walls were decorated with a diverse selection of weaponry, here and there appeared some art. The heavy drapes framing a large window stood open, letting warm sunlight flood in. He noticed the sun was setting. The door closed behind them by itself.

He followed her obediently through the only other door in the room, also without any visible lock. She stared in its direction, and it opened as well. This one at least was not reinforced from the other side (but still quite heavy), and had a door handle. They stepped into a small, square room which had a door in each of its walls. All of them had door handles, except for one opposite them. She took the right exit, the door swinging open without her touching the handle at all.

This room contained a large window leading out to a balcony, the curtains were open. There was a bed, a large dresser and a closet. A bookshelf stood in the corner. “This is where you sleep,” she stated simply. “You may move about freely, and do what you wish until morning.”

Almost at the door, she turned around again and raised an eyebrow: “If you have need of me, you can find me in the next room.” With that, she was gone.

Sesshomaru felt puzzled at her almost official sounding departure. Wasn’t she about to eat him alive down in the bath? Why had she changed her mind all of the sudden? Shaking his head, he began drying his still dripping hair on the robe, thankful for a little reprieve.

Kelani meanwhile was pacing back and forth in her office, irritated. What the hell was wrong with her? She was reacting like a 50-something without proper training. Apparently, her beast had decided that it wanted this gorgeous demon. Not that she could blame her, he was obviously something else. But he was completely helpless in his current situation, and that made her feel slightly protective, even from herself. She sat down behind her desk and shuffled some papers, preparing to finish the evening’s work.

But an hour into it, she was still getting nowhere. Her eyes kept drifting towards the peculiar pieces of parchment that signified her ownership over the demon. With an irritated flick of her wrist, she picked them up, reading through them again, absentmindedly picking on her long, black braid. It had come apart from its tight clip, and now simply hung loosely down her back, reaching past her butt.

The text was not very informative on the whole, she thought. It stated that he was magically bound by his collar to obey her and her family members. Apparently, the collar would punish him if he disobeyed or tried to hurt her. She could also use the word to deal out punishment if she saw fit. It looked like a weird hieroglyph, but was spelled out on the bottom of the page. ‘Shimeru,’ she read silently, wondering on its meaning. She decided she was going to get to the bottom of this now.

--

Sesshomaru was sitting on the balcony, watching the city that expanded before him. He discovered that he was sharing the balcony with the next room, which he was guessing was her bedroom, but he could not glimpse inside, as the heavy curtains were still drawn over the window. It did not appear that she was out here very often, her scent did not linger here like it did in the office. Deciding he was safe for the moment, he settled himself down, dressed in simple pants and a shirt that he found in his room.

He made himself comfortable and watched as the sun set and lights went on below him. Several soldiers were manning the walls, checking on people entering the fortress. Many smells hung in the rapidly cooling air. He watched the city for a while, then decided to head back inside just as he heard the soft click of the door.

She walked into his room quietly, but he seemed to have heard her nonetheless. Pleased at his good hearing, she walked up to the kneeling demon. She glanced over at the chair standing behind him. It looked like he had been enjoying her balcony, something that she rarely had the chance to do. His hair had mostly dried already, and he put on some clothes that she had previously instructed to be brought up for him. Sometimes, she thought, being telepathic was pretty handy.

Kelani bent down and ran her fingers through his hair. It was so much softer, and shimmered in the faint light. Deciding to brush it for him, she went over to his dresser and pulled out the appropriate utensil.

“Sit down on the chair, Sesshomaru.” He did as she instructed, and faced the city again, this time far less relaxed.

But she did nothing more threatening than gently remove the tangles from his long silver hair. She kept on brushing him long after it was necessary, enjoying the feel of the soft, silver strands on her hands. Finally she set the brush down and walked around to face him, leaning on the railing.

“Sesshomaru,” she stated simply.

“Yes mistress?” came the soft reply. What did she want of him? She obviously liked his hair, as evidenced by her surprising gentleness, but she seemed to be waiting for something.

“I want you to look me in the eyes.”

He had been dreading this. Slowly, he raised his head and let his eyes follow her body up, noting that her braid was now hanging loosely over her shoulder. He wondered idly if she still had her multitude of sharp things on her when his eyes locked with hers.

She was still a hawk, watching him, and behind the icy blue something entirely different was circling. He could not quite put his finger on it, but it made the tiny hairs at the back of his neck stand. She smiled at him.

“Why is my demon so afraid of an ordinary human?”

He swallowed hard, willing himself not to look away. The hunger in those eyes intensified, and he felt very trapped. She raised an elegant eyebrow, obviously expecting an answer to her rhetorical question.

“You seem… different,” he managed to whisper.

“Different how?” She was enjoying this, she had to admit.

“I’m not sure, mistress.” Something warm was stirring in his stomach from staring at her eyes.

“Well then, allow me to show you.” Her smile widened, and he watched in slight fascination as her eyes shifted color. It was as if several little mosaic pieces all the sudden decided to flip over, and from one moment to the next her eyes were slightly glowing, and most definitely yellow. Her pupils stretched, now definitely giving her cat’s eyes.

What gave him cause to be alarmed however is when his eyes flipped to her still smiling mouth, now showing two long, pointed fangs. She closed the distance between them. He could not look away from her face if he tried now. Moving his hands out of his lap, she straddled him, and brought his arms behind his back, holding on to them with one arm. She ran through his hair with her other free arm, smiling at him rather mischievously.

Fisting her hand in his hair much like she did in the baths, she pulled back, fully exposing his neck. Trembling slightly, he felt her breasts brush against his chest gently, but did not resist. If she was going to kill him, she would be doing him a favor and releasing him.

He felt her lips, then her teeth drag over his pulse. And then she bit him, hitting one of the veins in his neck.

She breathed in his delicious smell as her fangs brushed over the sensitive skin, grateful that the collar was at least not too thick, even though it was an annoying obstruction. Deciding she had teased him enough, she sank her teeth in his flesh. His heart was beating rapidly in her ears, and soon after the images started to rush forth along with his blood.

Sesshomaru’s world went white. Ripples of pleasure shot up and down his spine, and he trembled slightly in her arms. His claws extended and the stripes on his face and wrists lengthened. He was drowning in her, and never wanted her to stop. He groaned slightly as he felt her nails rake through his hair again. He longed to hold her to himself, to run his own claws down her back, but she held his hands trapped. He struggled against her grip a little, and his collar constricted painfully around his neck, giving him a warning, but he did not even seem to feel the pain through the blinding pleasure.

And then it was all over. The world around him reappeared, and he felt her tongue lapping gently on his wound. She was no longer holding him, but simply rested her hands on his shoulders. Sesshomaru blinked, recalling the sensations. This was certainly the opposite of what he had expected.

She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up at her, her yellow eyes showing the vestiges of concern. “Are you alright?” she asked, with her brow furrowed.

He looked up at her dazedly. “Yes mistress,” he answered slightly confused.

She examined his collar for a moment. “This.. thing, it seemed to move..”

“Yes mistress, it was punishing me,” he stated.

“I did not expect you to be able to move,” she said after a moment, looking at him thoughtfully. Her face was now returning to normal, her fangs retracting and her eyes reverting to the usual piercing blue. She blinked slightly, as if remembering something.

“You should get some rest, my pet.” She got off of his lap and walked around him. He heard the soft click of the door, and she was gone.

Utterly bewildered, he looked behind him, to make sure that she really had left. He was understanding her less and less… She had such a strange expression on her face. Well, perhaps his blood did not appeal to her. That would be a shame, he caught himself thinking. It surely was an incredible sensation.

He touched the spot where she bit him, examining his wound. It was gone. The skin still felt a little tingly at his touch, but it was unbroken. He stepped in front of a small mirror in his room. Nope, he could still see puncture wounds, but they had faded, as if the injury was days old.

--

Kelani meanwhile had taken refuge in her room. It was decorated in dark colors, mostly greens and blacks, with heavy drapes on the windows and around the large bed that stood in the center. The walls and ceiling had paintings of deep green vines all around, twisting together in intricate patterns. There was a large fireplace on one side and a cupboard on the other. The floor was covered in thick green carpet, so that you had the impression of stepping on moss. A door in the corner lead to her closet. Small shelves all around displayed a large collection of natural stones and crystals of different colors. There was of course a plethora of weaponry stacked against the walls and scattered around the room. On a stand by the window stood a slightly curved, black short sword.

This was her private sanctuary, and she wanted its calm atmosphere to sort out her thoughts. The soft carpet felt good against her bare feet as she stepped to her favorite spot near the fireplace and sat down. There was of course no fire in the middle of summer. She rid herself of most of the metal on her body, only twirling one of her daggers absentmindedly through her fingers.

The memories that flooded her mind when she tasted his blood were more than she expected. She allowed the images to replay themselves slowly, forcing herself to look at it objectively, rather than shudder at the feeling.

She saw a woman standing in front of him, with a sadistic smile on her lips. Her mouth had formed the word ‘Shimeru’, and his mind seemed to explode in pain. She felt his collar constrict, and thousands of little, white hot needles run down the nerves of his body, causing him wave after wave of pain. He could not breathe, and was tasting his own blood. The woman above him chuckled, watching him roll into a ball.

“This is what you get for being such a bad little puppy.” The collar twisted tighter, if that was at all possible, snaking around his neck. He clawed at it, but to no avail. It now felt as if he had a hook in his spine, and something was trying to pull it out of his body, with his ribcage still attached. His lungs cried for air. He was starting to pass out, but was denied the release as a sharp stab of her miko energy entered him, forcing him back into consciousness.

The image changed, and she watched him being woken up by the word in the morning. Then used again as the miko screamed her orgasm on top of him. The sadistic woman seemed to have incorporated it into her daily vocabulary.

He kneeled naked in a small cage, begging his mistress to let him pleasure her. “You would like that very much, wouldn’t you, my dirty little puppy.” Her eyes showed satisfaction. She bent down and put the back of her hand up against the cage. He began licking it devotedly, his eyes looking empty and dull.

Well, Kelani thought to herself, she had been wanting to know what the collar did. She touched her own neck absentmindedly, the beast stirring inside her again slightly.

She sat there for a long time, thinking about the brief glimpses of his mind that she received during the bite. Looking up from her musings, she focused on the newly forged link between them. He was sleeping.

Deciding that she had better go and check on the patrols outside, she slipped out of her rooms silently and walked barefoot through the quiet corridors of the castle, still twirling one of her knives, now in her other hand, and not making a sound.