What a Mess

Chapter Five

Nowhere Fast

Fight or flight. When humans are faced with imminent demise, they either choose one of those two options. It is instinct. Kagome’s entire body twitched. It was telling her she’d tried option one and that had been a really bad plan. It was virtually screaming at her via adrenaline being pumped through her limbs to run.

The morbid part of her brain, however, wanted to see what Sesshomaru would do. The whole left side of his face was red. She’d actually focused some purifying energy into that slap. Kagome bet it had stung like hell.

At least he wasn’t snarling or growling. Yet.

He was glowering.

Kagome gave him a nervous chuckle.

“Tell me, miko,” he began, his tone calm and cold suggesting that he either had short term memory problems or he had already decided her fate. “How long did it take you to clean the kitchen?”

“All day,” she replied, backing up a step. He was going to kill her. He just didn’t want to make a mess in the kitchen.

“Hn.” He stepped around her, nearly giving her a heart attack. With a booted foot, he kicked ash and smoldering wood all over the kitchen floor. “Clean it,” he sneered.

“What are you, three? You make a mess, YOU clean it up! If you’re mad about that slap…well…you totally deserved it! You were being a jerk! Why can’t you just say you’re mad like a normal person?” Her anger, she decided, made her crazy. She’d always had a bit of a temper control issue, but really, she was pretty sure she needed counseling at this point. Not that such a thing was available in feudal Japan.

“This Sesshomaru is taiyoukai…not a person,” he said. “You will clean it up. You will do it right this instant. I will kill you if you don’t.” Without warning, he hand snaked out and he grabbed her by the front of her tank top, hauling her behind him. With a hard pull, he sent her sprawling to the floor on her hands and knees.

Her palms smacked on the stone floor, her knees gave a terrible pop. There’d be bruises there to match the one on her ass from when he’d tackled her in the hall. The pain filled her eyes with tears…which only made Kagome madder. Hastily, she blinked her tears away and scooped up a handful of ash.

Kagome jumped to her feet and dumped the ash right on top of Sesshomaru’s gleaming head. For good measure, she wiped her palms on his cheeks, then his chest. “Clean that up. Asshole.”

She turned her back on him and prepared to stalk out of the kitchen, take a nice hot bath, and go to bed.

Sesshomaru, however, seemed to have other plans.

“You dare turn your back on this Sesshomaru?” he bellowed.

Kagome froze. She’d never, in all the years she’d had brief encounters with the taiyoukai, heard him yell. Hell, he’d barely raised his voice to InuYasha. The backs of her hands tingled, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Her whole body began to tremble.

She was about to run, as useless as she knew it was, when something whacked her in the back of the head. It was wet and warm. With a shaking hand, she touched the back of her head. When she looked at her fingers they were covered in blood. Kagome screamed. He’d somehow managed to crack her skull open without her feeling much pain.

Staggering, Kagome turned to face him. She didn’t even have time to duck as a shank of deer meat hit her square in the face. He’s…he’s throwing raw meat at me? She blinked the blood out of her eyes.

#

He’d been a bit shocked when she’d slapped him, but it really hadn’t made him that angry. She was feisty, he half expected her to do something stupid like that.

But when she smeared ashes over his hair, face, and clothes…he’d been flabbergasted and furious. Then she’d had the audacity to turn away from him.

The deer she’d butchered was on a low table by the fire pit. He’d sunk his claws into it, pretending it was her, and then…for reasons he couldn’t even fathom, he threw it at her.

Now, she stood before him, trembling, her shirt and face soaked with blood. It dripped down the valley between her breasts. And he was still hungry. And her breasts looked delicious.

Without another thought, he threw her to the ground, knocking the air out of her pathetically weak body in a whoosh. Sesshomaru straddled her…just to keep her from getting away and began to lick the blood from between her pert breasts.

Had he not already had enough wealth to last him several lifetimes, he would’ve marketed blood splattered miko to his peers. He was certain he’d make a killing.

For several long strokes of his tongue, she was still, but then she seemed to recover from her stupor. The miko thrashed wildly under him, hurling vile curses at him, pulling his hair with her small hands.

No one had EVER pulled his hair. In his youth, he’d had his share of demoness lovers. There had to be a fight before hand to establish that he was strong and virile enough to mount them, but after he won…and he always won, they submitted and were as tame as kittens. So, contrary to rumor, youkai women were not wild in the sack. They were boring.

She gave his hair another sharp yank, and unbidden, a low growl of pleasure bubbled between his lips. He loved it. Maybe he could make her angry enough that she’d slap him again.

“Mmm,” he practically purred by her ear. “Pull harder, miko.”

With a shriek she stopped her delicious torture of his scalp. “Get off me you hentai bastard! I hate you! Get off!”

He nipped at her earlobe. “Make me, bitch.”

“Oh, I will! I’ll purify your ass straight to hell!”

He snickered. She would do no such thing.

And then she did.

A blast of white-hot pure power made him fly backwards, scalding his skin. He was momentarily dazed, the room pitching wildly around him. He shook his head, and his vision cleared. The wench was attempting to get away.

The miko threw open the shoji screen that led to the courtyard. She paused when she saw it was raining, but then she fled into the stormy night.

He smirked. She couldn’t escape him.

#

Kagome shivered, the rain soaking her. At least it had washed the blood and soot off her.

She waited in the darkness like a lioness for her prey. Any second now, she thought, a large stick gripped in one hand, a small rock in the other.

Like clockwork, Sesshomaru stepped into the courtyard, his golden eyes narrowed, his nose up in the air as he searched for her scent. Kagome hurled the rock to her left. It clattered on the cobblestones. Sesshomaru grinned in triumph and began to march over to where he’d heard the noise.

From her bush, Kagome stuck the stick out just in time to catch him in the shins. A bright flash of lightning illuminated everything just in time to see him topple over and land right on his face.

Kagome emerged from her hiding place, grinning like the devil. “Ha! Serves you right!” she said.

He didn’t move. Sesshomaru was absolutely still.

She waited knowing that any moment he’d spring to his feet and tackle her…maybe even kiss her again. He certainly knew they were playing…right?

He still wasn’t moving.

An odd twinge of what felt like panic stirred in her chest. Maybe she’d hurt him with that blast of purifying energy? Maybe when she tripped him, he’d fell and cracked open his skull and now was dying of a brain hemorrhage…certainly even youkai could get brain hemorrhages?

“Sesshomaru?” she asked, her voice quavering. Gently, she nudged him with her bare foot. He didn’t even twitch. “Oh no…,” she breathed, fingers coming up to her lips.

Dropping to her knees beside him, she rolled him over onto his back…which was very difficult. Despite his lean frame, he was deceptively heavier than he looked. Grunting and pushing, she finally managed it. His head flopped over to the side, a thin trail of blood leaking from the corner of his kissable lips.

It was easy to admit how utterly kissable he was when she thought he might be dead.

His face was so utterly still. She thought he might’ve looked paler than usual. With trembling fingers, she slid open his haori revealing the smooth expanse of his muscled chest. It didn’t rise or fall with breath.

“Sesshomaru!” she shouted, eyes filling with tears. “Please wake up!” She pressed her ear over his heart. Kagome frowned as it beat wildly against her cheek. He was alive, but why-

“Kagome?” His voice rumbled through her whole body. Choking out a sob of relief, she looked up at him, intent on kissing him in her gratitude.

Instead, she got a faceful of mud.

Sputtering, she wiped it from her eyes and spit it out of her mouth. He looked up at her impassively.

“I thought you were dead!” she cried.

Sesshomaru snorted. “You are truly gullible, wench. As if you could harm this Sesshomaru.”

Kagome pouted, she couldn’t help it. “Yeah well, I might be gullible, but don’t ever do that again. That little stunt took three years off my life at least. And I’m human. I need all my years.”

Raising up on his elbow, he gave her an odd look. “You were truly frightened?”

Averting her gaze, she nodded.

Sesshomaru sighed. “It is as I suspected.”

“What?” She frowned, not liking his smug tone.

“You are hopelessly in love with this Sesshomaru.”

Her cheeks burned in indignation. “I am so not! I don’t even like you! Okay, maybe I like you a little, but not much. You are a jerk, you’re mean, you’re crazy, you’re cold, indifferent, homicidal, mean-“

He held up a clawed finger. “You mentioned that one already. Truly your attempts at verbal sparring are tiresome.” He yawned for effect.

Kagome grabbed a handful of mud, preparing to sling it at him.

Sesshomaru was on her before she could draw her arm back. His grip mashed the small bones of her wrist together. She hissed through her teeth in pain.

“I tire of your childish games, miko,” he growled.

Kagome decided to make a decision. He was flirting. Maybe he didn’t even know that was what he was doing. She didn’t have his crazy youkai senses, but there were other ways of telling…and frankly, he was being pretty obvious.

So, instead of hurling the mud at him anyway, she let it dribble from her hand. Kagome closed her eyes and leaned forward, licking her lips in anticipation of a kiss.

Her lips brushed his, and she felt his entire body stiffen.

Then Kagome was kissing air.

“Huh?” She looked up at him, but he was already gone.

#

Sesshomaru may have teased the miko that she was in love with him, but he hadn’t really believed that she was.

Not until he smelled her tears when he’d played dead. Not until she’d pressed a tender kiss on his lips.

He’d only wanted a little fun…nothing serious. Of course, being female, she had to go and make it serious. And for arguments sake only, supposing he wouldn’t mind being a little serious with the girl, he didn’t want her tears or her tenderness. He wanted her fire.

He wanted hair pulling, slapping, pinching, biting…and a good hard fuck. Sesshomaru was tired of always having to be the one doing the seducing. No demon bitch had ever come after him…they were scared shitless he’d rip their heads off and spit down their neck before he’d let them touch him.

Sesshomaru didn’t want her falling into his bed, he wanted her to drag him to bed.

Was it wrong that the most erotic thing he could think of was being dominated by a feisty, little, human wench? Yes. Yes, it was very wrong. And that was why it turned him on so much.

Stripping out of his wet clothes, Sesshomaru flopped down on his futon, not bothering to put anything else on. The cool air of his room felt good on his hot wet skin. Certain parts of him were begging that he go back and do anything the miko asked. He pictured Jaken naked to calm that part of him down. And it worked.

For two reasons. One being that it was Jaken. The second being that he’d forgotten for a moment that his retainer was dead which led to an annoying little pang in his chest. Nothing kills the mood faster than repressed grief and pent up emotion.

He was pleased that he’d made so much headway with the miko. Sesshomaru was certain that she was miserable at that very moment. And he intended to carry their game even further.

Come morning, he would send word to the Lord of the East, South, and North that he was having a get together at his palace. This would achieve many things.

The most important being how much it would unnerve the miko to learn that she had only a week to make his palace look presentable. Surely that would return her fighting spirit.

Sesshomaru let himself fall asleep with visions of a red-faced furious Kagome bending him over her knee and spanking him soundly with miko-charged slaps.

#

Kagome retired to a small room in the east wing. It was musty and dust covered everything, but it wasn’t filthy.

She decided as she lay down on the moth eaten futon that she hated men. Youkai men in particular.

Okay, just Sesshomaru.

She shouldn’t have feelings for him other than terror and disdain. It shouldn’t matter that he was hopelessly sexy, or that he was a good kisser…or that she’d secretly enjoyed every moment of their physical and verbal fighting.

She decided, right then and there, to make the feelings stop. They were stupid. All he likely wanted was to get her in the sack. Then, in his typical fashion, he’d humiliate her and tell her he didn’t give a damn about her.

That’d been his evil plan all along, Kagome just knew it.

She supposed she could just run away.

But…!

“Argh!” she grumbled, turning her face into the musty fabric.

Well, if he could confuse her, she could confuse him.

It would start with no more flirting. Nope. Not even a wink or a coquettish grin. Not from her. No way. Every sexual advance would be rebuked.

That would be Phase Three of her plan to Make Sesshomaru Suffer.

If he wanted her badly enough he was going to have to do it properly. Flowers, poetry, proclamations. No more, “You’re mine to do with as I like, wench,” from him. Kagome was sick and tired of that crap. She wanted romance. Heaving bosoms, throbbing…things, ripped bodices, undying love, the whole nine yards. And she was going to make him do it if it killed her.

She’d clean his stupid house, and do it properly. She’d take care of Rin too…mostly because the girl was too cute to resist.

But if that arrogant dog thought he’d get a repeat of tonight, he was sorely mistaken.

Satisfied…well, no…but close enough, Kagome closed her eyes and dreamed of all the ways she could humiliate the taiyoukai. Her dreams were the best she’d ever had.

A/N: This story is too fun.
Oh…the ideas I have. Hee hee hee.

Thanks to Walter for pointing out my html blunder. Die broken html, die!