The Lucky Ones

“Don’t
worry, Kaa-san is close. I’m taking you to her now,”
he replied.

Still
looking at Yukio, Inuyasha extended his other arm in invitation and Shippou
hopped into it, wrapping his legs around Inuyasha’s hip, then Kirara mewed and
jumped onto his shoulder.

“Where’s
Kagome?” Shippou asked as Inuyasha began to walk in the direction of Kagome.

class=GramE>“Washing her hands. She got Oni
nose guts on them,” he replied.

“class=SpellE>Oni nose guts?”

“The shard
was in the damn thing’s nose. I guess it didn’t have the brains to put it
anywhere else.”

“Was it
hard to kill?” the kit asked.

class=GramE>“Keh! Are you kidding? I didn’t
even draw Tessaiga.”

“I’m glad.
After that spider-youkai we fought last time, I’m
glad this one was easy.”

Shippou was
referring to their last shard hunt, which had them battling against a spider
demon very much like the one they had defeated two years ago. This one had
proven to be quite a challenge and both Kagome and Inuyasha had been injured.
Kagome, to Inuyasha’s horror, had been bitten on the leg. Thankfully, stabbing
herself with her own purifying arrow had prevented the poison from spreading.
After the demon was dead, Inuyasha had ripped open the wound and sucked the
poison out himself, then Kagome treated it with an
intensive infusion of herbs and her own modern anti-venom medicine.

Fear of
residual poison had caused her to not nurse Yukio for several days; something
the pup loudly protested even though he did fine on rice and fish, and when he
was finally allowed to nurse again, he’d almost torn her open with his teeth.
Kagome was trying to wean him, but had been unsuccessful so far. Inuyasha had
told her to just stop giving in when he threw his tantrums, but Kagome just
couldn’t stand to see her baby cry. In truth, he could understand the pup’s
reluctance to give up his teat, and he’d told Kagome so.

“You’re
warm, smell familiar, and the milk tastes good. He gets cuddled, petted and
loved when he feeds. Now you’re telling him he won’t have those things anymore.
I wouldn’t want to be weaned either,” he’d explained one afternoon when she was
bemoaning her problem.

She’d given
him a sly look and replied, “What makes you think you are?”

She, of
course, was referring to style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>his fondness for her breasts when
they were making love. He’d stammered, then blushed, then called her bluff and
tackled her. They didn’t discuss Yukio’s weaning problem for the rest of the
afternoon.

He cleared
the trees, carrying his precious cargo and Kagome turned to see them
approaching. Her eyes widened and then she covered her mouth to hold back a
laugh. He paused, confused and irritated.

“What?” he
demanded. ‘What’s that look for, wench?’

“I... I saw
you coming out of the woods carrying Yukio, Shippou and Kirara, and for a
moment you... you looked like Jizo,” she snickered.

“Eh?”

He took a
moment to consider his situation. In one arm he held his pup. In the other he
held the kitsune kit, balanced on his hip. The firecat
in her kitten form was clinging to his shoulder, her fur tickling the side of
his neck. He did look like Jizo.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘What the Hell? I’m going soft!’

Giggling,
Shippou jumped down, as did Kirara.

class=GramE>“Argh! Get off me!” he yelled as
he quickly shoved Yukio into his mother’s arms.

class=GramE>“Inuyasha as the patron saint of small children? I don’t
think so. He’s too small-minded of a guy,” Shippou teased.

class=GramE>“Oi!”

“Inuyasha,”
Kagome scolded gently, preventing him from thumping the kit on the head.

“You’re
making it sound like I’m some kind of sentimental wimp!” he complained.

She batted
her eyes at him and gave him the look that always made his heart beat faster
and his stomach flutter, and other parts of him grow hot and heavy. One finger
tickled his throat as she leaned close.

“But you
are sentimental...” she whispered in his ear, taking extra care to blow softly into
it.

He growled
under his breath, feeling frustrated because he knew there’d be no relief until
they got back to the village, and he’d already gone without for the three days
they’d been traveling. Kagome refused to make love with Kirara and Shippou present
so he hadn’t even bothered to ask, but he was really starting to style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>itch
and if he didn’t get style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>scratched soon…

She gave
him a wry smile and a hooded look.

‘style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Wench knows it too. She knows what she does
to me,’ he thought dourly, then brightened a bit. ‘But she knows what I do to her and I intend to make her suffer... and
beg... and...’

His
thoughts of revenge did nothing to quell his arousal and he growled again.
Shippou gave him a knowing look and Yukio blinked his way.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Maybe I can steal her for a few minutes
when we make camp tonight... The cat can pup-sit for a
bit, right? I’ll bribe her with some nice fish...’

“Ah, class=SpellE>jeeze, are you two at it again?” Shippou teased. “There are
little kids present, you know.”

“class=SpellE>Keh!” he scoffed. ‘As if that’s ever stopped me. Kagome would blush to know how many times Yukio’s watched us when she
thought he was sleeping.’

He gave
Kagome a heated look and she flushed a little, dropping her eyes.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘That’s my Kagome. Wild class=SpellE>tennyo of lovemaking by night, but shy, blushing virgin by
day. Heh, she’d call me insatiable sex-fiend
by night and impossible letch by day, but I just can’t help it. She breathes in
my ear and I want her. Or the sunlight catches in her hair. Or she smiles at
me. Or she plays with Yukio and I hear her laugh. Everything.
Everything about her excites me. Is that normal? Is this how that letch monk
feels? No wonder he propositioned every girl in sight. Not that I’d ever be with
anyone who wasn’t Kagome. Kagome’s the only one for me. She’s the only one
who’s ever loved me for me. Not even Kikyou did that.’

class=GramE>Kikyou. No one had seen or heard anything of Kikyou for
months, and he often wondered where the undead miko
wacatecated. Not that he was eager to see his former love, but it was
worrisome.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘I hope nng hng has happened to her.
With Naraku dead, are there any enemies out there
powerful enough to hurt her?’

“class=SpellE>Kaa,” Yukio burbled, drawing his attention back to his
present company.

Kagome
nuzzled the pup and addressed him in words and in inu-youkai.
Her grasp of the demon language amazed him. In such a short time she had
learned most of the sounds she could make with her human throat, and understood
a good deal more than that.

“How’s my
little big dog?” she said, bouncing Yukio on her hip.

“class=SpellE>Kaa!” the pup enthused, eyes bright and happy, one hand
waving the headless bear.

Kagome saw
the decapitated toy, rolled her eyes and sighed. “Did it again, huh?”

He
shrugged. “I told you he would. You and your mother should just give up and do
as I say, and only get him toys made of stone and wood.”

“Oh like
the rocks you gave him to teethe on.”

He snorted.
“They worked didn’t they? And he didn’t break them like he did your n
cn
class=SpellE>plaass-taaccckkk teething things. How many did he eat? class=GramE>Six? Seven? They were a waste of
money. At least rocks and sticks are free.”

She gave
him a dour look but didn’t answer. Iad sad she turned her attention to Shippou.

“Did you
have any problems in your hiding place, Shippou?” she asked the kit.

“No. Not
until someone pulled the rock away without telling us who he was,”
Shippou replied, giving him an angry look. He glared back and huffed.

class=GramE>“Keh! Brat should have known it
was me!”

“How was I
supposed to know it was you when you stink of dead Oni?
Why don’t you take a bath?”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘I’d love to. Preferably
a warm one with Kagome. But then we wouldn’t get clean. At least not
right away. Damn, I have got to
bribe the cat…’

“Why you…!”
he growled.

“Inuyasha,”
Kagome warned and he cringed.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘At least she warns me now before
she sits me. I’m not getting sat nearly as much as I used to.’

It was
true. Kagome hadn’t used the s-word on him for almost a month. The last time
she had made him eat dirt was the day Miroku and Sango’s
daughter was born. He had been waiting outside the hut with the nervous class=SpellE>houshi, watching the man fret and pace while Kagome was in
with Kaede and Sango. The birth was taking a long
time and Miroku had been frightened. Human births were very dangerous, and both
women and pups died during it all the time, so the man had good reason to be
worried about the health and safety of his wife and unborn child. He’d decided
that day to make sure Kagome gave birth to their pups in her world where
medicine and doctors were much better, and women and pups didn’t die nearly as
often.

At one
point he’d considered knocking the agitated man out just so he would stop
pacing and fussing. He was upsetting Yukio with his actions and the pup
wouldn’t settle down. Besides, pacing and worrying were useless. The pup and
Sango were in the hands of the women, and they were doing something women had
been helping other women do for centuries. In truth he wasn’t that worried
himself because he knew Kagome had brought some of her modern medicine to help
make sure both mother and pup would be okay after the birth, and he had
complete confidence in her and Kaede’s abilities.

Finally,
after a very long time, and after several disturbing cries from Sango and
shouts of encouragement from Kagome as she ‘coached’ Sango through the birth,
the noxious smell of blood mixed with something else hit his nose. It was
overwhelming and both he and Shippou had turned slightly green. Then the
unmistakable cry of a newborn had split the air, and Miroku’s
face had frozen in shock before he rushed up to the reed door. Kagome had met
him at the entrance, her face flushed and sweaty as if she had been the one
bringing a pup into the world. She had smiled at the new father and told him he
had a baby girl. Miroku had smiled the widest smile any of them had ever seen
on his face and ran in to see his wife and daughter. Kagome had given him and
Shippou looks that said it was okay for them to come in too.

He’d gone
in, still a little dizzy from the smell, but not wanting to seem unsupportive,
and taken in the sight of the exhausted but oddly beatific taijiya and her tiny
pup. Really, the pup wasn’t even half the size Yukio had been when the pup was
only two months old. It was this red-faced, squirming, bald thing about the
size of a boar piglet. He’d stared at it, scratching his head, and innocently
asked if all human pups were born looking like beet-faced piglets.

He hadn’t
even had time to realize what he’d said was wrong before his face hit the hut
floor and he was kicked out for being ‘an insensitive, stupid jerk.’ His only
vindication was that Shippou had whispered that he’d been secretly wondering
the same thing.

“At least
kitsune kits are born with hair,” the fox had said.

He’d
grunted in agreement but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Ever since,
Kagome had been spending most of her time helping Sango handle the
responsibilities of being a new, first-time mother. Human pups were much more
fragile than inu-youkai or hanyou pups, and every
little thing was a potential hazard. Seeing what went into keeping a human pup
alive, he wondered how any of them ever lived to adulthood; yet no one could
deny that humans were breeding like crazy, and he knew from his time in the
future that their ‘weak’ species had taken over the world.

He was
jealous of the time Kagome spent with the taijiya because it cut into the time
she normally spent with him, and he didn’t like sharing her to begin with. But
Kagome wouldn’t say no to Sango when the woman asked for help, so he had to
deal with her absence as best he could. Shard hunts were even more welcome than
usual because it meant they’d be getting out of the village. Even though
Shippou and Kirara came with them, and they had Yukio, it still meant that he
would have Kagome pretty much to himself until they returned. Because of that,
he didn’t care how much feeding and changing Yukio slowed them down when they
were traveling. It just meant that the trips would take longer and he was fine
with that.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Keh, I don’t even
mind ‘helping people’ if it drags out the trip some. And if I can get the cat
to pup and kit-sit, that’s even better.’

“class=SpellE>Feh, let’s make camp,” he said.

“But it’s
not even getting dark,” Shippou replied.

“This is
the only decent fishing stream within walking distance. If we stay here and
head for the village in the morning, we’ll be better off than heading home
tonight and having to camp somewhere where there’s no food or water.

Shippou
gave him a look that said, ‘You just want to be alone with Kagome.’ He shrugged
and sent back a look that replied, ‘Yeah. What of it?’ The kit dropped his gaze
and looked elsewhere. He smiled with victory.

Together
they made camp and prepared to settle in for the night. On his way to catch
that evening’s dinner, he motioned for Kirara to join him. The class=SpellE>firecat mewed and followed.

“Okay, if I
catch you a nice fish all your own, will you pup-sit for a while tonight?”

The cat
gave him a look that was all smug feline and mewed what amounted to ‘two fish.’

“Two?”

Kirara
nodded.

class=GramE>“Deal.”

He put out
his hand and Kirara placed her paw in it, sealing the pact.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Okay, now for the fish…’

He could be
a damn good hunter and fisher when sufficiently motivated, and the promise of
being alone with Kagome without the interruption of the pups was incentive
enough. He caught two mid-size carp for Kirara and presented them to her for inspection.
When she approved, he returned to the stream to catch dinner for the rest of
them and nabbed five more fish. Kagome seasoned them and put them on spits to
roast, and they ate it with rice and some legumes and berries that Shippou had
gathered.

Towards the
middle of the meal, he sidled up to Kagome and blew a soft puff of air against
the nape of her neck and nuzzled her left earlobe. It was his little gesture
that meant he wanted her and asked for her attentions. She could respond one of
three ways: leaning back into his warmth which meant ‘Yes.’ and he could expect
her to join him shortly; leaning back into his warmth but with a touch on his
wrist which meant ‘Yes, but later.’ and he would have to wait until she was
ready; or she could not lean back at all which meant ‘No, not tonight.’

In all the
times he had asked to make love, she’d told him ‘later’ only a handful of times
and she’d never said no. Tonight she looked in askance at him.

“class=SpellE>Kirara’s gonna pup-sit for us,” he whispered, answering her
unspoken question.

“Ah, so style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>that’s
why she has two fish and looks like a cat that got into the cream,” she
answered, leaning back into him. “Good. You’ve been getting cranky.”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘saidsaid yes. Oh yeah, she said
yes…’ Her hand touched his wrist and his elation dimmed a little. style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Yes but later. Damn. Well, I suppose it is
a bit early…’

“I have to
feed Yukio, and change him, and get him ready for the night. Then we can go
have our time. I know it’s been three days for you, but just wait a little
longer. Okay?” she explained.

He sighed.
“Okay.”

She gave
him a kiss that held a good deal of promise and he contented himself with that
for the time being.

class=GramE>:Leader-male.: “’Toutoddling over to him and plopping down into his lap.

“class=SpellE>Whaddya want, pup?” he asked, settling his son on his knee.

The pup
smiled widely at him and opened armsarms, letting his little body fall against
his father’s chest, big eyes sparkling up at him. He smiled back and rubbed
Yukio’s back.

“’class=SpellE>Tou.” :Leader-male, new den?:

He shook
his head. :No. Pack rests then moves.:

class=GramE>:Where pack?: the pup asked, causing Inuyasha to smile.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘He knows some pack members are
missing.’

class=GramE>:Home at den.:

class=GramE>:We home too?:

class=GramE>:When light comes, pack moves.:

Yukio
nodded and looked around the camp from his place in his father’s lap, big eyes
casting about. He caught sight of Shippou and grinned.

class=GramE>“Ip-po.”

Shippou,
hearing Yukio’s name for him, came over and sat on
Inuyasha’s other knee.

class=GramE>“Hey Yukio.”

Yukio
gurgled and pushed himself towards the kit, half falling into class=SpellE>Shippou’s arms.

“class=SpellE>Ip-po.” :Pack-brother.:

The kitsune
hugged the pup and the adult hanyou put loose arms around them both. Shippou
had become the closest thing to a brother the pup had and he took his
responsibility of proing ing Yukio very seriously.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘He didn’t hesitate to blast me with
fox fire today. If I’d been an enemy, he’d have bought Kirara enough time to
transform and attack.’

It helped
that Yukio recognized and adored the fox kit. Actually, Yukio loved just about
everyone. He was the most open and affectionate pup Inuyasha had ever known.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘class=SpellE>Heh, that’s your mother’s influence there, pup.’

Yukio was
hugs, kisses, nuzzles and little growls of welcome. He was rarely cranky or
moody unless you woke him up or interrupted him while he was eating. Mostly he
was a well-fed, happy, bubbly pup who brightened the mood of anyone he was
around.

Inuyasha
patted the heads of both pups in his lap and smiled at Shippou.

“You did class=GramE>good today, Shippou,” he said, praising the kit. “If I had been
a real enemy, you would have given Kirara enough time to get out and fight.”

Shippou
blinked in surprise then smiled. It didn’t take a genius to know that the kit
saw him and Kagome as his adoptive family. He’d been with them even before
Miroku and Sango had joined the group, and even though they loved to mutually
torment each other, he and the kit were also fiercely protective of each other
as well.

He
remembered a night in a time that seemed so very long ago. It had been shortly
after Shippou had joined them, and he had teased the kit mercilessly about when
he was ‘going to go home.’ Kagome had gotten angry at his taunts and sat him a
couple of times, shutting him up. Lthatthat night, however, he was awakened by class=SpellE>Shippou’s whimpering cries and he realized that the kit was
having a nightmare. He’d heard the words ‘Otou’ and ‘class=SpellE>Hiten’ and little sobbing pleas of fear and grief. He’d
crept over to where the kit had curled up on top of Kagome’s ‘sleeping bag’ and
gently woke him. When the kit opened his eyes, he’d taken Shippou into his lap
and soothed him.

“class=SpellE>Manten and Hiten. I dreamed…”
Shippou had sniffled, clutching his haori in his
fists.

“They’re
dead now,” he’d assured him. “They can’t hurt you ever again.”

“You killed
them. Thank you. You avenged my father. I… I was too small and weak.”

“class=SpellE>Feh, you did what you could, but you’re just a pup. Someday
you’ll be bigger and you’ll be able to protect yourself.”

Shippou had
nodded. “But until then I’m alone and I have nowhere to go.”

“What do
you mean?” he’d asked. “You’re with us now.”

“I can stay
with you? But I thought…”

class=GramE>“Keh! It will never be said that I
left a child helpless and abandoned. Besides, Kagome can use someone other than
me around. I’m not much company for her most days.”

The kit had
nodded. “You are a meanie most of the time,” he’d
commented, but he’d said it with a smile.

“So your
job is to make Kagome happy, okay?”

“Okay.”

From that
night on, no more was said about Shippou ‘going home’ and it was tacitly agreed
upon that he was now part of their group. He’d done his job well,
regaling Kagome with stories and kitsune magic, and the girl had loved him. In
time, Inuyasha had come to love him as well, and ever since Yukio had come into
their lives, his paternal feelings had bled over to the kit even more. He
didn’t see Shippou as his own son, but he did see the kitsune as a pack pup class=GramE>who needed protection and guidance. Now the kit was
returning the favor by looking after Yukio when his father had to fight.

Yukio
giggled as Shippou used one of his kitsune tricks to mimic fireflies, causing
tiny blinking lights to flash all around the pup’s head. Yukio watched the
flashing lights, smiling, and tried to catch them in his pudgy hands. Every
time he managed to grab one it would disappear with a little ‘pop’ and a shower
of sparks. The display even made him laugh as he watched the two youngsters’
antics.

“Okay
little man, it’s time for your dinner,” Kagome said, picking up Yukio.

“class=SpellE>Kaa,” he burbled.

class=GramE>:Hungry?: she asked. It was a rhetorical question most of
the time.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Keh, pup
would rather nurse than sleep or breathe,’ he thought with amusement.

class=GramE>“Ya! Kaa!
Oood.” :Hungry! class=GramE>Mother-female. Food!:

Kagome
laughed at his baby talk and nuzzled him. Inuyasha took the opportunity to
drape his haori over her shoulders. She didn’t really
need or use it anymore, but it was their little ritual and it kept the garment
smelling of her. She pulled it over the top of her breasts as she gave the pup
his nipple and cuddled him while he nursed.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be weaned if it
meant I’d lose that either,’ he mused, watching Kagome rock and sing softly
to her son while he fed.

Of course
he knew that weaning the pup wouldn’t mean he would lose the cuddles or the
songs or the lullabies or any of the other things Kagome did, but Yukio didn’t
understand that. And to be honest, nothing would ever replace the emotional
satisfaction a baby got from nursing, from knowing his mother fed and cared for
him.

When he was
finished nursing, she fed him his solid food of cooked fish, rice and
vegetables. It wasn’t all that different from the grueey hey had first fed him
except that it didn’t have to be as soft. Inuyasha had started giving him meat
in small pieces as well when it was available. As a result of Yukio eating so
much solid food, Kagome had begun to make less and less milk and nursed him
less frequently.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘I almost feel bad for whelwhelp,
but he has to be weaned sometime. He can’t suckle forever. I’d give it another
three months before he’s off the teat completely.’

He waited
while Kagome finished feeding and changing Yukio then they sat together by the
fire. Kirara transformed into her full firecat form
and acted as a comfortable, purring pillow for both the pup and the kitsune
kit, and not long after snuggling into her soft fur both of them were sound
asleep. Kagome covered them with a blanket and tucked her scarf in next to
Yukio so he would have her scent close by. Then she gave him a come hither look
and offered him her hand. He responded with a grin that soon turned into a sexy
smile, and took her offering, standing up and pulling her to him.

His heart
pounded in his chest as he kissed her passionately, his senses going into
overload at the feel, smell and taste of her. Then he picked her up, gave
Kirara a grateful nod and carried his lover bridal-style off to a more private
location.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Thanks, cat! I think this is the
beginning of a beautiful arrangement.’

Morning
found him one very happy and sated hanyou, and he once again thanked Kirara for
her cooperation. The firecat gave him an agreeing
mew. From her perspective it was probably easy work. She got extra fish and all
she had to do was watch two sleeping youngsters for a couple of hours. She got
something she wanted, style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>he got something he really wanted, the
pup and kit were supervised and protected, and everyone was happy- mainly him.
From his point of view, it was perfect.

They ate
breakfast, broke camp and headed for home as fast as Inuyasha could go. He
wasn’t really in a terrible hurry to get back to the village, but he just loved
the rush of using his power and after his night with Kagome he was feeling very
dominant. That and he loved how his seemingly reckless jumps made Kagome cling
to him. Her secret places would brush up against his back and he could excite
her if he arched his spine in just the right way. He often wondered if she knew
he was doing it deliberately, but if she did she never said anything. However,
she would be a very eager and willing partner after one of those style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>rides.

class=GramE>“Ooof!cried as he leaped to the crown of another tree.

“What? I
thought you wanted to get back to the village to ‘swim in the river and spend
the rest of the time in the den’?” he answered.

“I want to
get there in one piece!”

Yukio
giggled at the wind in his ears from his place in the carrier on Kagome’s back.

class=GramE>“Heh! Pup loves it! Don’t be so
nervous. I’ve never dropped you, have I?”

“N...
no...” she stammered and gripped him more tightly.

He hitched
his arms further under her thighs and pulled her tighter onto his back, loving
the feel of her legs wrapped around his h

“Do you
want to ride up here on Kirara with me Kagome?” Shippou asked as the firecat flew alongside them.

Inuyasha
scowled and went faster. “Keh!
You think I’ll let her go whelp!?”

“class=SpellE>Inu-ya-ah-sh-a-a-a!” she cried.

He just
laughed and jumped into the open air.

They
stopped for lunch and a rest. When it was time to leave, Kagome refused to ride
him if he was going to run wild again so he promised to go a little slower. In
truth, he had a particular destination in mind that he wanted to get to before
niall:all: a lovely little spot near a hot spring, and his mad dash in the
morning had brought them within walking distance, so he was happy to take it
easy. Besides, he needed to take care of the evening’s dinner and water supply
because the hot spring had no fishing stream nearby.

bath?” he asked her as they traveled at a sedate pace. In a way he was glad
they had slowed down because the summer sun had made it another hot, sweltering
day.

“A bath?”
she asked, and he could hear her interest.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘You and your hot baths,’ he thought
fondly. ‘But I fully plan to get in there
with you so…’

“Yeah,
remember that hot spring we passed on the way out here?”

“We’re going
there?” she asked eagerly.

She slid
her arms around his shoulders and hugged him, making her breasts press against
his back, and kissed his cheek happily.

“You are so
sweet and wonderful. I love you.”

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘I never get tired of hearing you
say that.’

His body
shivered in reaction to her closeness and in anticipation of taking a bath with
her.

“class=SpellE>Keh, as well you should,” he teased. “I’m far better to you
than any other man has ever been.”

She hummed
an agreement and hitched her legs higher on his hips, pressing her soft spot
right against his spine.

“Yes, and
I’m better to you than any other woman has ever been,” she whispered huskily.

Desire
flooded through him, making his vision cloud for a moment, and he had to stop
for a few seconds to get his body under control before he embarrassed himself.

“That goes
without saying,” he answered breathlessly.

Her small
chuckle tickled the back of his neck and she rubbed her secret place against
his back deliberately. The scent of her arousal hit his nose mixed with thcentcent of her heat.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘Shit. She’s coming into heat.’

This was
both a good thing and a bad thing. It was a good thing in that her heat cycle
increased her desire for him. Her body- ripe for a pup- made her class=GramE>want him and she would be much more likely to initiate
lovemaking. In fact, her sexual desire during her heats was almost enough to
wear him
out, and some of their wildest joinings had happened
when she was in heat. She was also coming into it more regularly as she nursed
Yukio less and less, her body slowly returning to normal from its switch to
lactating female.

Even though
she got the ‘thin’ ones, the things still pinched and reduced the sensations he
felt. Still, wearing them was better than not being able to have her at all,
and if the reduced sensation caused him to last longer then that could be very
pleasurable as well. He found that he could hold back through her climaxes, and
then be able to make her build again without climaxing himself and having to
pull out. It made for some very long love making sessions where he would bring
her to her peak repeatedly and keep going after she’d stopped shuddering. The
only trouble with them was that sometimes her natural wetness would dry up, but
she had stuff from her world that could replace it until her body replenished
itself.

style='mso-tab-count:1'> ‘But did she bring the stuff with
us?’

If there
were no sheaths, they couldn’t make love and he didn’t like the thought of
that.

“Do we have
those sheaths with us?” he asked softly, not wanting Shippou to hear them.

“The
condoms?” she answered just as softly.

class=GramE>“Yeah, those things.”

“Am Iclass=GramE>?...”

He nodded. class=GramE>“Yeah.”

“I think we
have a package in my bag.”

He
practically sighed with relief. ‘Oh
good…’

“Good.”

She
giggled. “Why? Do you have plans that involve using them?”

“You keep
rubbing against me and I’ll use them right here under these trees, and I won’t
care if we have an audience.”

class=GramE>“Horny dog, and after last night too.”

“class=SpellE>Keh, you think one night will sate me after not having you
for three days?”

“You’re
never sated.”

class=GramE>“Heh, your fault.”

She
snuggled into his shoulder. “I know.”

Smiling to
himself, he picked up the pace a little. He took them to a place he hoped was
full of small game. It was a clearing in the forest covered in tall grass and
it looked like a perfect plao huo hunt rabbits and ground birds. He put Kagome
and Yukio down and told her to fill up their water containers in a nearby
stream, then he, Kirara and Shippou hunted in the
meadow.

They caught
four rabbits and two ground birds, and Shippou found a patch of flavorful
mushrooms. Kagome could mix the meat and mushrooms with some of her instant
food and make a nice stew. It could cook on the fire that evening while Kagome
was taking her bath.

Dinner
secured, Kagome got onto his back again and they headed for the hot
springs. They arrived at dusk with plenty of time to
set up camp and for Kagome to start dinner before it became full dark. Once the
camp was ready, Kagome excused herself to bathe.

“And where
do you think you’re going?” he asked Shippou when the kit moved to follow
Kagome to the spring.

“I’m gonna
go take a bath with Kagome,” the kitsune answered.

“No you’re
not. I’m
going to go take a bath with Kagome. You can go in after I come back.”

Shippou gave
him a knowing look. “You’re not going there to take a bath.”

Without
Kagome there to stop him, he bopped the kit on the head. “class=SpellE>Oi. Mind your own business.”

class=GramE>“Whaah! I’m telling Kagome!”

“Fine, go
ahead. After I get back from the bath. In the meantime, watch Yukio
and the stew.”

“You take
too long and I’ll eat it all without you and not save you any!” Shippou
threatened.

He snorted
and followed Kagome. He found her already naked and in the water, her hair put
up in a messy bun on her head. Smiling, he stripped and slipped in, embracing
her from behind and kissing her neck.

class=GramE>“Mmmm. I think I’ve caught a water
tennyo. Legends say a man who catches a water class=SpellE>tennyo is granted his every wish,” he purred in her ear.

“class=SpellE>Mmmm-hmmmm,” she sighed, turning in his embrace and
straddling him. “And what is your wish?”

He pulled
her closer, growling softly. “You know what I wish.”

“Well,
since you’ve caught me, your wish is my command,” she replied coyly.

He stroked
her sides and licked the hollow of her throat. “Ooo,
I like the sound of that.”

She laughed
softly. “I’m sure you do.”

“Where’s
that damn sheath?”

“Over
there,” she replied, pointing in the direction of her bathing supplies. A
familiar little packet lay beside them. “But we don’t need it right now, do we?”

He picked
her up and laid her down on the bank of the spring, his hips between her legs
as he leaned over her, licking and caressing.

class=GramE>“Soon.”

She moaned
and gave herself over to him, her arms coming up to stroke his back and tangle
in his hair.

He could
never get enough of her: her body, her scent, the sound of her voice,
everything about her. Every time they made love he was humbled by her trust in
him. Each time he asked to have her, he half expected her to refuse him. He
kept waiting for her to come to her senses and realize that he was a lowly
hanyou who was unworthy of her, but she always welcomed him into her bed and
her body with joy and love. Even now when he fumbled in his need and haste, she
only giggled and asked him what his hurry was.

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘I still don’t deserve you. I don’t think I
ever will. What half-breed deserves a woman like you? You are my class=SpellE>tennyo. A tennyo
of love who came to heal my broken heart. I do love you Kagome. I do. I
love you so much. And someday I’ll build you a house and live in it with you
for as long as we both shall live.’

Their
joining did take a little longer because of the sheath, but his urgency and
need from being denied her for three days made up for it, and he reached his
peak at the same time she did.

Afterwards,
she took the sheath off of him, rinsed it out and put it in her bag. Anything
that wouldn’t rot in the ground, she always brought back to her world to
dispose of so she wouldn’t pollute his time. Looking at the sheath, he once
again marveled at its effectiveness and the simplicity of the design.

Kagome had
once bought a ‘variety pack’ just for fun and showed him the different shapes
the sheaths could come in. There was one with soft spikes while anothed
rd
ridges and still another had little bumps all over it. She had explained that
the shapes were meant to increase a woman’s pleasure. He’d snorted and said it
wasn’t the woman who needed help to increase pleasure, but the man who was
wearing the damn thing. Still, they’d tried the one with the spikes just to see
what would happen. While he’d hated it because it was much thicker than their
normal kind, her reaction had been… interesting. They’d never used them again
because he couldn’t climax while wearing them, but he often wished that their
thin kind had come in the different shapes just to see her react that way
again.

“I should
wash and head back. Shippou wanted to bathe with you,” he said as they slipped
back into the warm water.

“class=SpellE>Mmmm, okay. I think I’ll soak a bit.”

He kissed
her, chuckling. “I knew you would.”

She gave
him a sweet smile. “You know me so well. Thank you for remembering this place
and bringing us here.”

He smiled
back and nuzzled her. “Thank you for being with me.”

“I love
being with you.”

style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>‘I love being with you too, my Kagome.’
He sighed and kissed her again, before dunking his head under the water to wet
his hair.

Kagome had
‘shampoo’ covered hands when he came up and she scrubbed his hair, using the
pads of her fingers to rub his scalp the way he liked. When his hair was clean
he rinsed it and washed his body, refusing to let her do it because he knew
they didn’t really have time to make love again.

“What took
you so long? Yukio almost went after you,” Shippou complained when he got back
to camp.

Yukio was
sitting next to Kirara in her full firecat form and
looking rather put out.

“’class=SpellE>Tou!” he cried when he saw his father.

“My hair
takes a long time to wash,” he answered neutrally, staring the kit down.