Stray

(A/N: Thanks to all for your continued reading and for those who leave ratings and reviews~

@ Kit-kit: Well, now you get to find out what happens next! XD

@ Derek: I agree! There's no such thing as too much InuxKouga!)

Chapter 6: Lie Down

Inuyasha stood on the cliff above the entrance to the wolves' den. The warm early spring wind blew through his hair and against his bare chest, his jacket and kosode left in a pile behind him. Beside him, the river that fed the unfrozen waterfall rushed over the edge, never flinching, relentlessly plunging to the pool below before continuing down the canyon into the distance. Always rushing.

 

It had been days since Kouga’s offer, and the hanyou realized that no further amount of reasoning – whatever reasoning was possible during mating season - was going to move him any further. He either had to go through with it or not. As Kouga had said before, it was a matter of instinct.

 

At the cusp of the falls, rocks jutted out from the water defiantly, unheeded by the river’s turbulent flow. He looked down at the base of the falls. Rocks were strewn about the edges, but he knew the center of it was far deeper and as long as he kept his eye on that center, he'd safely land in it.



If he jumped, that is.



There was a chance he'd sink too deep and hit the bottom hard. There was a chance he'd miss and crash along the jagged edges of the pool. Even in the worst case, however, he was part demon. It would hurt like hell for awhile, but he'd still be able to walk away later, same as he was now.



Or he'd jump and enjoy the thrill, a better man for the risk. He knew the jump was safe - he'd seen other wolves make it before - but the black points weren't any less sharp for it.



He traced the ledge with his toes, dangled a foot over and tested the air. He took a deep breath and focused on calming his quickening heart.



"It's what they do," he said. He took a step back and crouched down, coiling the muscles in his legs.



He sighed heavily and choked his mind off, ignoring its cacophonous protests.



He jumped.

 

The water was cold, as Inuyasha expected, and he sank deep underneath, the light from the surface quickly fading in the shadowed pool. He reversed direction again as he felt himself slow to the bottom of his plunge and kicked his way to the surface.

 

He had survived. He was almost surprised at how much this didn’t surprise him, and it dawned on him there really wasn’t any reason he shouldn’t have made it. It was pure silliness to have doubted it in the first place. He’d have to do it again in summer, he thought, which meant regardless of whatever dilemma he was consciously debating it meant he assumed he’d still be here.

 

He could hear his movements and the dull roar of the falls growing louder, and he broke the surface of the water with a gasp, treading water. He shook the excess from his face and ears and swam quickly over to the shore. Despite the warm week they’d had, he could tell prolonged exposure wasn’t a good idea. He climbed out onto the rocky ledges, the water tugging at his soggy hakama. He pulled them back up over his hips and casually walked his way back around to the path leading to the top of the falls. Although the air was initially cold on his wet skin, the sun warmed him rather quickly.

 

Inuyasha knew that wolves mated, that they mated for life, usually for breeding, and that Ginta and Hakkaku were exceptions to the rule. He knew how the basics of things worked – he and Kouga had experienced that the other day – but what about this time? How would this go? Kouga had taken it upon (and up in) himself to make Inuyasha feel even better, and it had definitely worked. If he was seeking to join this tribe, the least he could do would be to offer himself to his friend in kind. It didn’t seem to hurt him, and he appeared to enjoy it well enough. He wondered what that could feel like, Kouga taking him like one of his breeding partners, abandoned to that lust and in his element. If Kouga wanted Inuyasha to be as close to that state as possible when they bred, Inuyasha wanted Kouga to be as close to that state as possible when they mated.

 

He reached the place where he’d stood half an hour before and gathered his kosode and jacket in his arms. They were warm, familiar, close, and far fluffier than Kouga was. He carried them quietly back down the hill to the den. He’d have to change out of his hakama for a while.

 

He knew what could be said of his plan for mating with Kouga. When there was talk of this kind of relationship in the capital, there was always a power play. Someone was more dominant, and that person took the aggressive role in the bedchambers as well. The receptive partner was often more effeminate and was weaker. What would that make him?

 

He shook this off. What did that make Kouga, then? It didn’t matter, he realized. He didn’t think any less of Kouga. Kouga wasn’t weaker. Kouga was Kouga.

 

He reached his room and tossed the clothes on the pillows. He untied his hakama and let them fall to the floor, sliding down his wet fundoshi as well. He grabbed the white kosode and put it on, drawing the wet belt from the hakama to tie around him.

 

Kouga was Kouga. Inuyasha was Inuyasha.

 

Inuyasha took to the hallways once more. He was on a roll, and it was now or never.

 

-------

 

It had been a rough few days for Kouga, as the scent of sex was still thick in the air. He tried to keep his wits about him by containing himself to his chambers as much as possible. His mind wandered wildly, picturing all the different ways Inuyasha might come to him, the positions they’d mate in, and then he’d remind himself that the hanyou might not come back at all. He kept his dou off to prevent himself from overheating.

 

It was while he was feeling particularly wanting that he heard a rustling behind him. He jumped, heart skipping in anticipation as he turned.

 

Sure enough, there Inuyasha stood, his white kosode wrapped tight around his dripping body and tied off with the red belt from his hakama.

 

Kouga blinked. Was this real? “Inuyasha, that’s you, right?”

 

“Yeah,” the hanyou replied gruffly as he started across the room toward the wolf. His hands lowered to his waist and gripped the ends of the bow.

 

Kouga gulped. “Am… Am I asleep?”

 

“No.” Inuyasha pulled the ends down, undoing the knot and letting the belt fall to the ground. His determination was good kindling for what he had planned, but it still needed a spark. “Now shut up and touch me.” The folds of the kosode drifted apart. He was wearing nothing else, and with a roll of his shoulders, the kosode hit the floor too. He relished the freeness, and Kouga’s eyes on him felt nice. The torchlight played off his wet skin and hair, flares of highlight drawing the wolf’s gaze from his rippled stomach to strong thighs, broad shoulders, proud chest.

 

“A-are you sure about this?” Kouga asked, leaning back on his hands as Inuyasha drew nearer.

 

Inuyasha nodded. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

 

“I mean, you want to ma-“

 

“Shut. Up.” Inuyasha kneeled between Kouga’s legs and crawled forward as the leader flinched backward. “If you want, I could walk back out of here, but I’ve made up my mind and I’d rather not change it.” He craned his neck forward and kissed Kouga soundly, hands finding skin and roaming where they may. There was his spark, just as he hoped, the sensations of their last session flooding his memory.

 

Kouga pressed his lips back against Inuyasha’s, the hanyou’s ardour reassuring, before pulling away and falling back to free his hands to run over his lover in return. “This… is to mate, yes?”

 

Inuyasha grinned and kissed the wolf’s chest. “What a stupid question.”

 

Kouga’s mind was clouding with impulse as the Inuyasha worked lower. “B-because before I also said that you could come back if-“

 

“Yes.” Inuyasha ran his hands up and down Kouga’s legs as he settled between them, nipping at the skin just above his hip.

 

“’Yes,’ what?”

 

“Yes. To mate.” Inuyasha pulled the cord of Kouga’s loincloth and separated the folds of the pelt, quickly exposing Kouga’s growing, pulsing shaft. He wrapped his fingers around it and pumped it once before kissing just below the wolf’s navel. “I can’t say I haven’t been curious about this,” he said. He stuck out his tongue and licked the underside of Kouga’s head, then used it to guide his lips down the rigid member and back up and off. “The taste isn’t bad.” He pumped it a couple more times. “I don’t quite know what I was expecting, but I’m having fun.”

 

Kouga moaned, “Kami, Inuyasha…” His head was absolutely whirling. He placed his hands on the sides of the hanyou’s head and brought their lips together between them. “There’s time for that later.” He pulled the hanyou over him as he leaned back again, their cocks rubbing together between them. Kouga licked Inuyasha’s lips, and the other returned the favor, tongues teasing fangs and each other. The wolf ground his hips up against Inuyasha’s, eliciting moans from both of them. Inuyasha rocked his hips in return, and the two were rubbing back and forth as their tongues writhed and hands explored territory growing increasingly familiar to each of them.

 

Inuyasha felt the tug of Kouga’s foreskin on his stomach, and he knew how nice it must have felt from the way his own was pulled by Kouga’s skin. The fangs in Kouga’s mouth were a nice touch – he’d never kissed a demon like this before – and the slight bit of pain only made the softer parts of Kouga’s mouth even nicer.

 

Kouga, on the other hand, had never been kissed like this before at all, nerve endings in his mouth and on his tongue coming alive in ways he’d only imagined. It brought him closer to Inuyasha than the other kisses, they were already inside each other, probing and filling and inviting and searching. Inuyasha was right there, so warm, all of the hanyou tight against him.

 

Inuyasha’s fire was well stoked, and he separated his face from Kouga’s. “I need more of you, Kouga,” he said. “You have a bottle around here, right?”

 

Kouga’s heart trilled. He nodded and pointed a hand over toward the near wall. Inuyasha crawled to where Kouga indicated and found it easily. Inuyasha smirked. “Keeping it handy?”

 

Kouga propped himself up on an arm and grinned back. “What’d you expect? It’s not easy to keep my hands away when I’m thinking about you.”

 

Inuyasha returned with the bottle and knelt upright, taking the cork out and putting a little less on his hand than he had the last time they were together. He reached down and coated Kouga’s member in it. “It’s not easy for me to keep my hands away from you either.”

 

“So I see.” Kouga watched, listening to the wet sounds of the salve and relishing the attention being paid by the other demon. The other times he’d bred things were so hurried and it was a nice change of-

 

Inuyasha leaned forward and claimed Kouga’s lips once more before hovering his face, eyes half-shut with desire, close to the wolf demon’s. “If I am to become your mate,” he began. “You will have to take me as such, yes?” He pumped Kouga’s cock again.

 

“Inuyasha… but you’ve never…”

 

“Kouga, I can handle it. I want it,” Inuyasha replied. “Besides, you did this last time. It’s my turn. I want you to lose yourself in me” He pushed the wolf demon back and straddled his hips, pressing Kouga’s legs together with his own. He placed a hand on Kouga’s chest to steady himself and reached behind, feeling around for the other’s length.

 

“Inuyasha…” Kouga fumbled mentally for a word to use, and he settled on the first one he found. “Inu-kun, this… isn’t generally how this is done.”

 

Inuyasha’s growing frustration faded as his mate-to-be addressed him so familiarly. It felt nice to be referred to again with such affection. He rested back on his calves and on his partner’s thighs. He put his hands on Kouga’s stomach and smiled. “Please tell me that’s not going to stick,” he joked.

 

Kouga grinned. “Oh, I think it will.” He curled up and Inuyasha met him halfway for a kiss. “You should get on your hands and knees, Inu-kun. It’s what I’m used to and Ginta and Hakkaku said this should be a little easier on you, too.”

 

Inuyasha laughed. “No, seriously, don’t call me that,” he said. “And that position isn’t high on dignity, is it?”

 

 “As much dignity as can be granted the mate of a leader,” Kouga said, “so quite a bit, actually.”

 

Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow. “Good point.” He was puzzled at how this would work, but Kouga’s hands soon guided him around, Kouga’s lips tracing around his hip and on his back, hands running up and down the hanyou’s sides. Kouga kissed up his spine and the pressure of the wolf’s body against him pushed Inuyasha forward on his hands. His hair cascaded over his shoulder, and the nip of Kouga’s fangs on his ears shot tendrils of pleasure down his spine and to every corner of his body. “Kami, you’re good.”

 

“I’ve had some practice,” Kouga growled low. “Now relax as best you can.” Kouga lifted off of him, and Inuyasha felt Kouga’s weight settle into the wolf’s legs that were pressing against his own.  He felt a lot of energy coming from Kouga’s crouch, and soon he felt the head of the wolf’s member sliding across his opening. It was a light tickling that danced between his legs and bubbled at the base of his shaft.

 

“Mn, that feels nice.” Inuyasha moaned.

 

“Is it?” Kouga asked.

 

“Yeah,” Inuyasha answered. “Why?” And with that, Kouga started pressing his head against Inuyasha’s entrance. The hanyou gasped as the sensations shot up his spine the other direction. It felt good, and Inuyasha only knew he wanted more. He rested his head on his forearms.

 

“Because we’re just getting started.” Kouga pushed his tip into the hole slowly and felt the ring of muscle slowly give way. “Let me know if it hurts.”

 

Inuyasha shook his head. He wanted to snap back at Kouga, but there was no way he was delaying things further when he felt like this. “No, it’s incredible. Keep going.”

 

“Okay.” Kouga gripped Inuyasha’s hips and pressed his length in further, sliding easily in with Inuyasha’s eagerness and the salve.

 

Inuyasha felt his legs melt, and felt himself… He just FELT. It must be how females feel, he thought, and he understood the other side of that oneness. He pressed back against Kouga some more, only to find the wolf’s hips right there. It caused a little discomfort, but he figured it had to be the same thing that Kouga had experienced last time. He knew it wouldn’t hurt the next time. His cock also felt full, the sensations starting to collect low in his body in a way that seemed more physical than usual. It just felt… complete.

 

Then Kouga started to move.

 

The thrusts started slow and long, and Inuyasha grew more accustomed with each one, moving just behind Kouga’s movements, letting Kouga push him forward, and following the wolf back to have him push forward against the hanyou’s hips again. The filling and the pulling and the pushing touched places inside Inuyasha he didn’t know he had, and each time it got easier and felt nicer.

 

“Getting the hang of this, are you?” Kouga asked.

 

“I think so,” Inuyasha replied.

 

“Still doing alright?”

 

Inuyasha scoffed. “Yeah. More than alright.”

 

Kouga hunched forward and aligned the tight curve of his stomach once again with Inuyasha’s back. “You’re doing a lot better than I was.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes.” Kouga started moving again, accenting his faster thrusts and nearly bouncing as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet.  “You actually enjoy this.”

 

“Oh, I do.” He felt every inch of Kouga’s cock sliding in and out, and he had no idea what it was brushing along the way, but every time he hit it Inuyasha felt a little bit fuller, the sensation in his own member tingling a little more and spreading even further across his body. It slowly reached his fingertips, and he kept crashing back into Kouga’s thrusts to push it higher. “Nn… Don’t stop, Kouga.”

 

“Heh. I don’t know if I can,” Kouga replied through gasps. His hanyou was enjoying himself, and so was he. The thrusts were so easy, Inuyasha’s walls tight around him, occasionally squeezing with a twitch from his lover that brought him closer to his own release. He wrapped his arms around Inuyasha’s stomach and put more of his weight on the hanyou’s back. His hips started thrusting hard and erratically, frantically seeking that last bit of friction.

 

The shift of Kouga’s weight, holding him in place, made his pushing back impossible– not that he needed to keep reciprocating anymore. The redoubled effort of the pack leader was doing fine on its own, going deeper, faster, dancing across the nerves of his whole body, and he felt like he was dancing on the edge. He shifted his weight to a forearm and reached a hand down underneath him to his neglected member. The first down stroke revealed he was a lot closer than he thought. The next thrust from Kouga pushed his cock along his hand enough to send another jolt of pleasure along his length, and as soon as he realized one more stroke would send him over, Kouga pounded into him again.

 

 “Ah!” Inuyasha yelped as his entire body came alive, sighing in near-whimpers as the euphoria washed over him in waves. He spurted onto the pillows below and his body clenched onto Kouga’s still-thrusting member, every push from the wolf demon seeming to start the cycle over again.

 

Kouga lowered his forehead against Inuyasha’s back and rode the hanyou’s orgasm for all it was worth, thrusting fast and hard to push himself to his own climax. He closed his eyes and grunted as his lover’s body squeezed him. He huffed as his pleasure crested, gasping as his seed pumped into Inuyasha’s hole. His hips pushed every time his cock pulsed, drawing out the feeling as long as possible.

 

Inuyasha collapsed, his fingertips tingling and head spinning, delirious from his prolonged release. Kouga fell with him, releasing the hanyou and resting on his elbows, still buried inside Inuyasha. He kissed his mate’s shoulder as his senses started to return. “So that’s it.”

 

Inuyasha’s voice came muffled through the pillows. “That’s… sorry? What?”

 

Kouga laughed and smiled, content. “That’s it. It’s done.” He slid out of Inuyasha and flopped on his side facing the hanyou.

 

Inuyasha turned his head toward Kouga. “That.” He raised his eyebrows. “Was incredible.”

 

“Good to know. Because you have a lot of that to look forward to.” Kouga reached a hand up and touched one of Inuyasha’s ears.

 

Inuyasha shuddered and flinched away. “Whoooaaaa, don’t do that,” he said. “I mean, it doesn’t hurt or something, it’s just… things are very sensitive right now. Moreso than usual.”

 

“Sorry,” Kouga said, still smiling, bringing his hand back.

 

Inuyasha relaxed again, letting out a long sigh before rolling on his side to face Kouga. “So that’s it.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Inuyasha took a moment to grow a little more accustomed to the sky blue eyes of his new mate before leaning in to kiss him. He rested a hand on Kouga’s waist and pulled away from the kiss. “Okay.”

 

“Okay.”

 

The hanyou’s humanity spiked back into play. There were a lot of implications now. What was he going to do about the other wolves? What would Ayame say about him giving in? Would the fact that he’d be mated with as a female would come into play? “I don’t know what happens now,” he said.

 

“Well, I think now we clean up and possibly do this again down in the hot spring,” Kouga said with a grin.

 

“No, smartass,” Inuyasha said.  It was too late to do anything about it now anyway. “I guess my fears are all just cropping up again.”

 

Kouga concernedly furrowed his brow. “Which ones?”

 

“Things are really different now, aren’t they?”

 

Kouga shook his head. “They’re as different as you want them to be, I think. You’re still you. I’m still me. I’m the leader, you are my trusted advisor. You are my kinsman – even moreso now than you were before.”

 

‘Kinsman’ settled into Inuyasha’s mind and it soothed him. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he said, a corner of his mouth turning up. Things were the same. He didn’t have to act like things were normal, because they actually were normal.

 

“Don’t tell me we’re going to have to go over this every time we have sex,” Kouga said with a laugh.

 

“Nah,” Inuyasha said. “I don’t think it’ll come up again.”

 

“Good,” Kouga said. “Now let’s get this taken care of, shall we?” He brought his legs underneath him and kneeled, surveying the mess.

 

“Probably a good idea,” Inuyasha said as he tried to bring himself to a kneeling position. His strength had not quite yet returned to his arms, however, and Kouga caught him.

 

“Careful,” the wolf said. “I guess I really did get you pretty good there.”

 

“Yeah, I told you so.” Inuyasha said, gripping onto Kouga for stability. “Though I didn’t know it’d have this much effect on me either.” He gathered his feet below him and pushed off of Kouga to stand. Blood rushed to his head and he started to fall over, but he caught himself.

 

Kouga quickly stood and again steadied his hanyou. “Easy!”

 

Inuyasha closed his eyes for a moment and let the ground stop moving below him. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

 

“Okay,” Kouga said. He let go of Inuyasha tentatively, and sure enough the half demon held his stance. Kouga bent over and picked up his pelt, tying it around his waist. “Think you can handle walking?”

 

Inuyasha wasn’t certain, but he would bet that even if he couldn’t handle it, Kouga would be quick to put his arm around him and be his crutch until he got his legs back. Not bad for a worst case scenario. “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

After a couple unsure steps, Inuyasha’s balance was completely back. He put his kosode back on, Kouga picked up the soiled pillows, and the pair took again to the hallway. Inuyasha still wasn’t entirely sure how things were going to work moving forward – only time would tell that – but his instincts told him that, in the end, they would.