Contracting Love

A/N: omg, it’s 6:30 in the morning here. So my muse decided to beat the hell out of me until I wrote this, so here you are. I hope it’s coherent enough so that you can figure out what’s going on. And, yay! It’s a longer chapter! Wow. It’s a really good think I don’t have class tomorrow…er…today. Review and let me know what you think. I’m not sure if I think things are moving too fast or not. But this is the speed it goes in my head. Remember, in this chapter, it’s Wednesday. Only a couple more days until the reunion. And believe me, when I get to that chapter, you’ll all be wetting yourselves. You know what I’m talking about. **wink, wink** But in the mean time, enjoy this chapter!
Kiss Kiss
~Ashes

Contracting Love
By Ashes

Chapter 5: Wednesday Afternoon In The Park

Miroku had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

He’d been sitting in her office for about a half hour. Kagome, her secretary, had told him she’d had to go to court in the morning but should be back soon if he wanted to wait for her. So he’d sat down and made himself comfortable on the plush couch that sat in the corner. The room still smelled faintly of Chinese food, but her smell was by far the strongest. He wasn’t sure if it was her perfume or her natural scent, but it reminded him of fresh cut flowers and the warmth of a spring day.

He lounged comfortably in silence, breathing in her sent and thinking about the night before. She’d been resistant at first, but it hadn’t taken much to get her body to respond to his touch. It wasn’t any wonder that she’d responded so quickly; she’d been celibate far too long. It was great a stroke to his ego that he could get such a reaction out of this woman who tried to guard herself so carefully.

He was used to women throwing themselves at him, and their money along with it. But Sango wasn’t like that. Indeed, she’d voiced a very strong desire for that *not* to happen between them. He wanted to respect her wishes and keep things strictly professional between them, but for the life of him, he just couldn’t stop wanting her.

She was strong and passionate, beautiful and intelligent. She was everything those spoiled heiresses and high-society women weren’t. While they used him to get attention from their husbands or alleviate the loneliness that came along with their high social status, Sango was using him to prove to people she hadn’t seen in ten years that she was more than just an old photograph in the year book. While they used him to promote their social status, she was using him to prove she was worthy of one at all. Perhaps not a noble cause, but far more endearing in his eyes.

It still mystified him that she felt she needed him at all. Here was a woman working in a very sought-after position and was still able to maintain her modest charm and dignity. She was more successful than anyone he usually socialized with. And she’d gotten there on her own. And yet, she had no idea of her true worth.

She stumbled in to the room just then, interrupting his thoughts. She stopped in the doorway, hunched over with papers and a heavy looking brown leather briefcase. She wore a maroon skirt, similar to the one she’d worn yesterday, with a light pink tank top and maroon pumps. Her jacket was slung over the arm clutching the papers to her chest. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun with a pencil sticking through it and her reading glasses perched on the top of her head. She blew her bangs out of her face in an almost comical manner.

He rushed toward her and grabbed the handle of her briefcase, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. “Rough day in court?” he asked gently.

“You have no idea,” she said passing him and heading to her desk to dump the papers and jacket unceremoniously on top. “The confession was thrown out in one of my cases, another one offered me a ridiculous plea-bargain, my mother called this morning to complain about how my brother never calls her, and some jerk on a bike almost ran me over this morning on my way into work!”

“And all before lunch.” He just couldn’t help it, she was so gorgeous when she was angry.

“Exactly!” She collapsed into the chair behind her putting one foot on her desk and slouching so far down he thought she might disappear.

Closing the door, Miroku set the briefcase down and came around the desk to stand in front of her. Her hand covered her eyes, but he would bet she could still feel he was near. He braced his hands on the arm rests and leaned in. “I know something that will make you feel better.”

She peaked out from between her fingers. “What?” she asked skeptically.

He held out a hand to her, which she took, and pulled her out of her chair and into him. Caught off balance, she practically fell into his chest, throwing her arms around him in an effort to avoid it. He caught her, his arms around her waist holding her firmly. She straightened herself and looked up at him, but instead of letting go like she thought he would he reinforced his grip.

He grinned down at her. He rather liked this position, with her body pressed so closely against his. He could feel her gorgeous breasts through the thin fabrics that separated them… “Do you have a change of clothes?”

She frowned. “Yeah, why?”

“Then hurry up and change,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose. “I have a surprise for you.”

“What kind of surprise?”

“If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” He released her and stepped aside, giving her butt a healthy whap to hurry her along. Sango gave a surprised “Eep!” before hurrying off to change.

***

The surprise turned out to be a carriage ride through Central Park and a picnic lunch under the shade of a large oak tree. Miroku had surprised her with a basked containing several different sandwiches, a Hershey’s chocolate bar, and a bottle of sweet white wine. There was even a checkered blanket for them to sit on.

Sango felt warm and comfortable in a pair of jeans, white tennis shoes, and a see-through lavender knit sweater. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail and left her glasses at the office. Miroku was handsome in his khaki pants, brown shoes, and light blue dress shirt with the top button undone and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He’d tied his hair back as usual, and sat leaning against a tree with his legs stretched out in front of him and his ankles crossed.

“Wow,” Sango said. “You were right. This does make me feel better. Although, I don’t think I’ve ever had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with wine before.”

“There’s a first for everything,” was his reply.

He’d brought several sandwiches, unsure of what she would like, including PB&J, ham and cheese, turkey, and tuna salad. She’d immediately pounced on the peanut butter and jelly while he took the ham and cheese. He munched happily on his sandwich as he watched her eat. She sipped her wine delicately, rolling it around in her mouth to savor the flavor before swallowing. He watched her throat work, entranced by the gentile movements. Her words broke the hypnotic spell she’d cast on him.

“You sure brought a lot of food,” she said, peaking in the basket once more.

“I always like to come prepared. So have I managed to brighten your day even a little?”

She threw the last of the saran wrap that had held her sandwich into the basket and smiled. “Yeah. It’s looking much brighter now.”

He grinned. There was a pause as the two of them looked at each other for a moment before Sango got to her knees and waddled over to sit next to him. She leaned against his side, resting her head against his shoulder with a small sigh.

“Wow,” Miroku said, putting an arm around her and rubbing her arm with his hand. “I didn’t even have to force you or anything.”

“Yeah, well I’ve been thinking. I had a long talk with myself last night, and after some very heated arguments, I decided that I can either do one of two things. I can either make this really difficult by resisting you all the time, which wouldn’t work since we’re supposed to be madly in love, or I can just get over myself and go along with it. So I’ve decided that I might as well just go along with it since it was my idea in the first place.”

“So does that mean you’ll stop resisting me, Sango?” Was it him or did his voice suddenly get husky?

“Mostly. There are still some things that I would consider crossing the line, so no funny stuff.”

“Define ‘funny stuff’.”

She thought for a minute, cocking her head away from his shoulder. “I’m not sure. I’ll let you know when you do it.”

“Fair enough.”

The two settled more comfortably in each others embrace and sat in silence, enjoying the day. Across the lawn, a college student played catch with a golden retriever. A couple on a double bike peddled along on one of the many trails as a woman in what looked like a maid outfit ate her lunch on a nearby park bench.

“Sango?”

“Yeah?”

Miroku continued stroking her arm lightly with his fingertips. “How did we meet?”

She leaned away to look up at him. “What?”

“Well, I’m your fiancé, right? So how did we meet? Did I approach you, did you approach me? Did we bump into each other randomly at the coffee shop? People at the reunion might want to know this stuff.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She nestled back into him. “Well, let’s not stray too far from the truth. Let’s say… a mutual friend set us up on a blind date.”

“And how is that not too far from the truth?”

“Remember Kagome, my secretary?” She felt him nod above her and continued. “Well, she’s also a very dear friend of mine. She’s the one who gave me the number of the agency.”

“Ah. I see. …So where did we go on this first date of ours?”

“Um…the park?”

“Like today?”

“Yeah. We can say that we met by the carriages and took a ride and had such a nice time we decided to eat lunch in the park together and just hit it off after that.”

“And how long have we been together?” He began playing with one of her hands, studying her fingers and entwining them with his own.

“Well…we can’t have been together for more than six months because the last time I saw my friends from high school was about six months ago for my friend Missy’s son’s birthday and I wasn’t seeing anyone then.”

“Six months and we’re already engaged?” He squeezed her gently. “You sure move fast, little girl.”

She rolled her head back on his shoulder to look at him. “Hey, don’t look at me, you’re the one who proposed.”

It was the perfect kissing position.

He couldn’t have found an opportunity like this one if he had planned it himself. They stared at each others lips, Sango’s breath catching in her throat. He brought his free hand up to brush it lightly against her cheek. Leaning down, he gently touched his lips to hers in a soft lingering kiss. He broke the kiss only briefly, pulling back to gage her reaction. She drew in a shaky breath before leaning in toward him. It was all the encouragement he needed as his lips sought hers, his thumb massaging her jaw line, coaxing her to open for him. She did and their tongues took turns tasting the others mouth. She tasted faintly of peanut butter and the wine she’d been drinking. The kiss deepened making his body surge in response.

He leaned forward for a better angle, folding his legs for leverage. She brought her hand up and slid it tentatively from his wrist to elbow, then gripping and leaning closer, urging him on. He drank her in greedily, relishing her. Her scent filled his senses, making his head swirl with pleasure. He’d never been so hungry for a kiss in his life.

Miroku ended the kiss, much to Sango’s displeasure, but didn’t pull back, breathing lightly on her skin. He rubbed his thumb along her jaw line, his other hand slipping under her shirt to graze her ribs.

“How long before we were engaged, Sango,” he whispered.

It took her a moment to process the information in her fuzzy mind. Her voice was shaky and uncertain when she finally answered. “Um… three months?”

His lips grazed her neck, his breath fanning her, causing delicious waves to roll through her body. “How about,” he said slowly, “I bought the ring after three months, but waited another month to ask you.”

“Wh…why would you wait a month?”

“Because I was scared you’d say no.” His hand slid higher to cup her breast and grinned as her breath hitched in her throat.

“And…” She swallowed thickly. “How did you…how did you ask me?”

“Well…” He kissed the underside of her jaw before bringing his eyes to meet her glazed ones. “How about… I sent one long stemmed red rose to your office every half hour until you had twelve.” He kissed her swollen lips lightly. “And then I brought another one myself, a white one, with the ring tied to it on a white ribbon.”

“That’s… really good.” She practically groaned the words.

He smiled devilishly. “I have many talents, Sango.” Capturing her lips again, he sent them both down another spiral of desire.

Sango pulled back suddenly. “Miroku, you don’t have three hands, do you?”

He frowned. “No.”

She stiffened. “Then what’s touching my back?”

He looked over her shoulder and grabbed her hips. “Don’t move,” he said fiercely.

Panic overwhelmed her, squashing the tight feeling that had been growing in her stomach. “What?”

“Just… Just relax, Sango, and hold still.”

She sat there, frozen, while his hands did something she couldn’t see. Her unease was rising dangerously close to hysteria when he leaned back. In his hand he held a very long skinny brown bug.

Sango screamed and jumped off the blanket, smacking at imaginary insects that covered her body. Miroku carefully set the curious Walking Stick on the bark of the tree they had been resting against before going to calm the frightened woman.

“Sango, calm down,” he said gently.

“Get them off me!” she squealed, refusing to settle down.

Miroku grabbed her by the shoulders, effectively stopping her movements. “Sango, it was just a little Walking Stick! It’s gone! I took care of it. Now just calm down. There’s nothing crawling on you.”

“You’re sure you got it?” Her voice was small, like that of a child, and there was so much panic in her eyes he wanted to laugh.

“Yes, I’m sure. Now just relax, baby, it’s okay.”

She threw herself into his arms. “Yuck! I hate bugs! Especially the ones that crawl on me!” She felt the rumble in his chest as he laughed. She looked up at him, a sheepish grin on her face. “I’m sorry. You must think I’m pretty silly, getting so worked up over a bug.”

“It’s okay, I understand. And stop saying your sorry all the time. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“Sorry.” She slapped both her hands over her mouth, but it wasn’t enough to stop it from coming out.

“Okay, that’s it.” He rested on hand on her lower back and the other went up to take her hands away from her mouth. “Every time you say you’re sorry, you owe me a kiss.”

“But I-”

“No ‘buts’. Except maybe this one,” he said grabbing her rump. She let out a startled yelp. “Now. You own me two kisses. So pay up.”

“Hey.” She poked a finger in his chest. “I’m a strong, independent, beautiful, smart, sexy woman, and you can’t tell me what to do!” Her eyes burned with triumph.

“Is that a fact?” Before she could respond, he leaned in and took her mouth in his, stealing the kiss. When he pulled away, she was breathless. “Now,” he said satisfied, “are you going to give me the next one or do I have to take it too?”

She smiled playfully. Just as their lips were about to touch once more, something bumped their legs. The startled couple looked down to see a golden retriever picking up the stick that had landed at their feet. The dog ran off and they looked to see the owner wave an apology. Miroku waved back before turning to the woman in his arms.

“Now, where were we?” He leaned in.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sango caught a glance at her watch. “Oh shit!” Startled, Miroku jumped back as she pulled out of his embrace and took a closer look. “I have to get back to the office. I was supposed to be back almost an hour ago!” She looked at Miroku, pleading. “I’m sorry, I-” She slapped a hand over her mouth, but smiled when she heard him laughing.

“That’s another one you own me. Common. Help me clean up and I’ll take you back.”

The two walked out of the park holding hands. Sango stopped only briefly to give the rest of their sandwiches to a homeless man sitting on a bench. The man smiled and thanked her.

“That’s some woman you’ve got there, young feller,” the man said as they began to walk off.

“Don’t I know it!” Miroku shouted back, slapping Sango’s butt and then draping his arm around her shoulder.

They continued walking a few paces before Sango stopped and looked at him, a puzzled look on her face.

“What?”

“Do you like old movies?” she asked.

She wanted to laugh at the almost frightened look on his face. “Like ‘Casablanca‘?”

At that she *did* laugh. “No, like old B-Movies. You know, ‘The Brain That Wouldn’t Die‘? ‘Frogs’? *Those* kinds of old movies.”

“Are you kidding! I own every movie Ed Wood ever made!”

Her face beamed. “Really?”

“Yeah. He’s, like, the *king* of bad movies.”

“Well…” She felt a blush creep into her cheeks. “There’s a movie marathon on tonight. Kagome only watches them with me when I promise to watch Lifetime Original Movies with her later. Would you… like to watch the marathon with me tonight?”

This woman never ceased to amaze him. She liked Chinese food, peanut butter and jelly, and now she was a B-Movie buff? If he wasn’t careful, he just might end up falling for her…

Where had that thought come from?

She stared at him expectantly, and Miroku realized he must have a pretty dumb look on his face. He managed to snap himself out of it long enough to answer her. “How’s 7:30?”

“Perfect.” She grinned. “The Marathon starts at 8.”

He pulled her to him for a light kiss. “And then we can work on lesson number three.”

“Lesson three? What was lesson two?”

His lips met hers hungrily and she sighed, leaning in to him for more. He pulled back, a devilish grin on his face. “Kissing.”

She quirked a brow, almost warily. “And what’s lesson number three?”

“That, my lovely Sango,” he said, leading them down the path and back toward her office, “you will have to wait for tonight to find out about.”

***

A/N: Okay, so maybe it’s not *that* long, but a little longer than the last chapter, right? Okay, so the sun’s coming up which means I should have been in bed like 8 hours ago. So, night all! …Or…good morning…or whatever…