Mutual Treasure by Monomyth

Mutual Treasure

Marching into the Inu no Taisho’s study, Sesshōmaru dropped the sword he had carried straight from the battlefield, letting the heavy, jewelled blade crash into the tottering piles of scrolls that rose like mountains on his father’s desk. He didn’t bat an eyelid as the blood-stained weapon rolled a trail of crimson across a fresh batch of appeals that the Inu no Taisho had received mere moments ago from his vassals along the Northwestern border.

“What is this?” Tōga frowned at the letter he had been drafting, now disrupted by a rude spatter of blood across his fine calligraphy.

“It is the prized weapon of the bone yōkai Kiyotsuna. I have ended the fighting between the Taira and Kamizawa clans at the Northwestern border.” Sesshōmaru crossed his arms and lifted his head, perhaps expecting praise from his father for his interference.

“Kijirō was in charge of ending that conflict.” An exasperated Tōga looked up at his son with a heavy sigh. “What is it you want, Sesshōmaru?”

“I require another mount.”

Tōga raised a bushy eyebrow at the demand. “You received your two-headed dragon only a month ago.”

“They are not satisfactory.”

Rising from behind his messy desk, Tōga pinched the suddenly aching area between his brows. “The stablehands told me that your dragon is of the finest pedigree and was hand-raised from their time as a hatchling. There is nothing wrong—”

“General Kijirō’s mount can breathe fire that would set an entire army aflame. The dragon you gave to me cannot even aspire to half of such power.” There was a greedy, obstinate gleam in Sesshōmaru’s eye that his father had seen too much of. He would not be dissuaded; the prospect of greater power had the younger inuyōkai practically salivating.

What a brat, Tōga found himself thinking. Is this how his mother raised him? Rather than speak those thoughts aloud, he cleared his throat and turned to his son. “Your dragon will not be second to General Kijirō’s. You forget that they have been allies in battle for two centuries. What your mount lacks is training and familiarity with your style of combat.”

“I sense that their yōki is weak. I will not have such a disgraceful mount shame me amongst adversaries and allies alike.” Sesshōmaru crossed his arms and met his father’s eyes with a haughty stare. “You will give me another dragon, father.”

Tōga huffed, feeling frustration come to a boil at Sesshōmaru’s attitude. Not wanting to start another argument with his son, he turned and crossed the study, seeking a moment of brief respite from the vexing conversation. The weary general looked out of the window at the pristine gardens below. The green grass was alive with colour, being dotted with the vibrant pinks, yellows, and purples of springtime flowers. Even from a distance, the fragrance of plum blossoms, wisteria, and canolas carried on the breeze. He took a deep breath, drawing in the mingled aromas that helped to soothe his frazzled nerves.

Tōga’s idle musings came to an abrupt halt as his eyes passed over a lone silver-haired yōkai, crouching in a blue sea of nemophilas. The familiar figure of his wife, clothed in her usual resplendent violet silk, could be seen busying herself amidst the flowerbeds. Tōga sighed, something he seemed wont to do when it came to Sesshōmaru’s mother. Shiranui works hard on the gardens. A pity she does not apply the same effort to our son.

And so it was that Sesshōmaru was currently planted in Tōga’s study, making demands and generally being a nuisance to his sire. Tōga eyed the blood-spattered sprawl of scrolls that had tumbled all over his desk thanks to Sesshōmaru’s untimely disruption, his mind working furiously in search of a way to dismiss his son. He trawled his memory, wondering if he could send Sesshōmaru off in pursuit of a new mount or a new enemy across his lands. Conquest and power looked to be the only things his son was interested in, even though the younger inuyōkai had reached the age to take a mate almost a century ago.

“Father?” Sesshōmaru called out, a hint of impatience slipping into his usually indifferent tone.

Something sparked in Tōga’s memory. Holding up a hand to silence Sesshōmaru, he crossed back to his messy desk and rifled through a scattered pile of scrolls on the floor. Sesshōmaru wandered over to Tōga’s desk, his curiosity getting the best of him as he leaned over to watch Tōga hunt through land treaties, complaints, and diplomatic missives. Tōga emerged with a scroll clutched in his fist and a triumphant grin on his face. He had set aside this specific complaint to deal with later, and had not expected that it might come in handy for such a situation.

Tōga’s eyes swept across the page as he scanned for the pertinent details, before he cleared his throat to address Sesshōmaru. “A dragon has been wreaking havoc on human and yōkai villages alike, about 50 ri west of here. If you—”

“You want me to slay this terror,” Sesshōmaru interrupted, flexing his claws. “And in exchange, I shall be rewarded with a better war dragon?”

“No.” Tōga sighed, shaking his head at his predictably bloodthirsty son. “You may find that subduing this water dragon will render it a perfect battle mount for you.”

“Hn. I will find this dragon, and if it disappoints me, I shall kill it.” Without waiting for further instructions, Sesshōmaru turned away with a flick of his long, silver hair. “No weakling will have the honour of carrying me into war.”

Tōga waited for Sesshōmaru to leave his study before he allowed himself a wicked grin. He had obscured some of the details, including the fact that Sesshōmaru’s new opponent was no low-level dragon like the battle mount he so scorned. The angry complaints had mentioned that this was a particularly feisty dragon with command over water and weather, and for some reason, had a strange habit of mouthing off at the villagers she supposedly terrorised.

And yet, said dragon’s apparent reign of terror had not stopped some of Tōga’s scouts from being enamoured of her. If their reports were any indication, the water dragon was a stunning beauty and wielded devastatingly destructive power. Some of the reports his scouts had provided seemed more like drafts of love letters to said dragon rather than any important, reliable observations or serious tactics. Perhaps this dragon will teach Sesshōmaru a lesson or two, Tōga mused.

Now that his wayward son was out of his hair and his desk was too much of a mess to continue with his work, Tōga wondered how he would pass the rest of such a fine day. He crossed to the window again, focussing on the scent of wisterias. It’s been a week since I’ve seen Izayoi. 

Out in the gardens, Shiranui was momentarily distracted from tending to her plum blossoms as a large shadow fell over her flowerbeds. Gazing skyward, she caught sight of her husband, soaring through the skies in his true form, flying Eastward and likely into a particular young hime’s arms. Shiranui clenched her jaw and gripped her gardening shears in a white-knuckled grip, before she continued to prune the saplings with ruthless efficiency.

.·˙✦

˙·.·˙˙·.✦ 

Taking off on a yōki cloud, Sesshōmaru decided he had found out all he needed to know about the water dragon. He tore away from another devastated yōkai village, where the enraged inhabitants told of devastating floods that had ruined crops and property. A detail that had aroused Sesshōmaru’s curiosity, however, was the missing children. Some of the villagers spoke of a handful of missing children, no doubt abducted by the dragon. Their fates were unknown, and Sesshōmaru idly thought that the unfortunate younglings must’ve been devoured—or worse, forced into servitude.

However, their plight was a distant concern to him, for now that he had seen firsthand the damage this water dragon was capable of, he found himself most eager to meet him. The dragon’s affinity for destruction would be a good match for his own, and if this was what the creature could do to yōkai villages, Sesshōmaru delighted in imagining what he could do on the battlefield.

Invigorated by the possibility of more power, Sesshōmaru tracked his prey. With his superior sense of smell, it was not difficult to do. He followed the sharp scent of ozone and saltwater and power that laced the air, feeling satisfaction when his South-bound path took him towards stormy skies. As he drew closer to the sea, the grey clouds around him surged and crackled with lightning, twisted by the manipulations of a strong, coiling yōki. Cutting through the storm clouds, Sesshōmaru felt the foreign yōki like static on his skin, brushing against him, testing him. He pushed back with his own yōki but smiled at what was no doubt the challenge of the dragon. My future mount is strong.

Sesshōmaru’s yōkai senses allowed him to see bright blue threads of yōki, swirling among the clouds and leading him to his destination below. They connected in a dense web above a series of steep cliffs that created a sharp drop into turbulent seas. He masked his own yōki and drew closer, taking in the curious sight before him.

High up on the cliffs, somebody moved—no, danced. There was no other way to describe what he was seeing. Sesshōmaru hovered, watching as the mysterious creature tossed their head, inky black hair wild about them, arms raised high above their head, hands curling in elaborate patterns that directed the movement of the winds and pulled rain-laden clouds closer to the earth. Sesshōmaru’s unrestrained curiosity kept him looking, letting him take in the rhythmic sway of the person’s hips and the smooth gliding of their bare feet across the rock. They span in an elegant twirl, and Sesshōmaru realised for the first time that the dancer was a woman.

Lost in the rhythm of her dance, she seemed oblivious to his presence. An electric blue aura flared around her as she moved, connected to the web of yōki threads that hovered above them both. As she entered her final pose, arms reaching to the heavens, thunder boomed overhead. Drawn by her call, the clouds opened, bringing heavy rain down upon the land. Sesshōmaru’s keen ears heard the dancer let out a happy sigh as she started to make her way to the edge of the cliffs. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, Sesshōmaru saw a dragon, with its long, shimmering body coiling through the air before plunging into the sea below. Eyes narrowed as he pursued his target, Sesshōmaru followed close behind and watched her disappear into a crevice on the cliff face.

The crevice turned out to be a large cave that offered him shelter from the raging storm. Just as he landed on his feet at its mouth, he heard multiple voices from further within its depths. Sesshōmaru wondered if this was a family of water dragons and if he would they would be obstacles in the way of his prize. The thought of doing battle brought a new spring to his step, and he roamed deeper into the water dragon’s abode, excited by the prospect of combat. He drew close, and then stopped short, frowning with confusion at the sight that greeted his eyes.

There were children. Lots of children—and by their scents, they were a mix of yōkai, hanyō, and human children too. The little scraps were clamouring around an adult gathered in their midst, trying to get her attention. Many of them sounded like they were saying all at once, “Kagome! Can you play with us today?”

Sesshōmaru heard a laugh as the adult turned, revealing a woman dressed in a pale blue silk kimono with patterns of swirling clouds on the hems and sleeves. She immediately caught his eye, her lips parting in a silent show of surprise before she beckoned him over with a crook of her finger.

“Caught in the storm were you?” She asked, looking somewhat apologetic. “I’m sorry about that—I wasn’t expecting any guests. Feel free to take shelter here until it clears up.”

Sesshōmaru stared down what was sure to be the water dragon, who had now assumed a semi-human form. Wavy raven hair framed a face with large, azure eyes and a widely smiling mouth. As he watched, she pushed back a lock of hair with a finger that ended in a royal blue claw. She returned her attention to the children and turned her back on him, giving him ample opportunity to notice her slender waist and the way it curved out into a shapely—

He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of unexpected thoughts. He was here to conquer. His mission here was to best the dragon and bring her under his control so he could finally claim the battle mount he deserved. Thankfully, Sesshōmaru soon recovered and marched up to the dragon, the children falling silent as they took in his unusual appearance and intimidating manner.

“You. Dragon.” He spoke in his usual imperious tones.

“Hmm?” She hummed, distracted by a child still clinging to her sleeve.

“You will fight me,” He declared. 

“Not interested, sorry.” Though her response was immediate and deceptively cool, tension suddenly radiated through her rigid frame. Her hands stopped fussing over the child in her grasp and she remained completely still as she looked at him out the corner of her eye, no doubt assessing him as a threat.

“It is not a request.” With these words, Sesshōmaru leapt through the air, flying towards her with poison-tipped claws outstretched. The children surrounding her scattered towards the corners of the cave, letting out wild shrieks of terror.

The dragon’s eyes flashed as she dodged the attack. Now that they were close to each other, she lowered a shimmering barrier over them both, trapping Sesshōmaru and herself within a dome.

“Rin! Get everyone else out of here!” Kagome called out.

“H-hai!” A girl with messy hair and wide brown eyes answered in the affirmative as she corralled the remaining children and ushered them hurriedly towards the exit.

“You would attack me even with innocent children around?” Kagome's words were terse as they circled each other. “Why are you here?”

“It is you who has been terrorising those villages, is it not?” Sesshōmaru’s eyes roved over her form, noting how she raised her own claws and how they glowed with a vibrant blue aura. Interesting. He wondered if the water dragon had poison powers of her own, or if she was capable of using the same energy-based attacks he did.

“Terrorising?” She frowned, her guard slipping for a moment. Sesshōmaru saw his chance and dove towards her, slashing at her chest. This time, she wasn’t so quick—he ripped through the front of her kimono and left a wide gash across the material that revealed the tops of her breasts and their smooth, creamy skin—

“Hey! Eyes up here, buddy!”

Sesshōmaru’s eyes snapped back up to her face as he tried to school his features into their usual mask of indifference. Still, he couldn’t help but notice how her breathing had accelerated and the way it made her chest heave.

Pretending nothing had happened, he continued down her list of crimes. “Did you not flood that yōkai village in the heart of the Western lands? Truly, water dragon—”

“My name is Kagome.” She bit out through gritted teeth, giving him a defiant glare. “And what are you talking about? That particular village was suffering from a drought. I did what was necessary.”

“By sweeping away half the villagers’ dwellings?” He prodded, a sarcastic smile touching his lips.

There was an awkward pause.

“So maybe I don’t have the greatest control over my powers yet,” she conceded, looking very sulky with her admission. “I made it up to them, okay? Nothing but consistently light rain for the next year.”

Sesshōmaru ignored her claims, though he found himself eyeing her lips as they pushed together in a pout. “And did you not drown another on the borders of the South and West territories?”

He watched with great interest as her eyes hardened at this particular accusation. “It was a village that abducted hanyō children to be sold as slaves to yōkai families.” Kagome’s voice, sullen just a moment ago, now dropped to an icy chill. “They wouldn’t stop, even when I asked them.”

Sesshōmaru raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You asked slavers to stop? You were surprised that they didn’t?”

Kagome ignored him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Whatever happened to them, they deserved it. These children didn’t stand a chance with those monsters.”

“Ah,” Sesshōmaru nodded, pretending to agree. “It is apparently now the job of random yōkai to dispense justice, rather than the lord of the land himself. You, Kagome, are a traitor to the Western lands, and I, Sesshōmaru—”

“You—” Kagome pointed a shaking finger in his face.  “You dare to come to my home and accuse me of these outrageous things?”

“Are they outrageous if they are true?”

Kagome lunged at his provocations. Briefly surprised by her burst of speed, Sesshōmaru barely managed to dodge in time, and he felt her claws swipe through the air just beside his head. He noticed that each claw burned with brilliant blue yōki, extending into curved, viciously sharp talons. The energy that seethed and roiled beneath her fingertips was palpable, and the thought of her barely-contained power excited him.

She is strong. She deserves to fight beside me.

“What do you want?” She demanded as they came face to face again.

“I will defeat you—”

She snorted at his haughty declaration.

“And I will ride you—”

“That’s awfully forward of you,” Kagome interrupted, feeling a sudden heat rise in her cheeks. Yes, he was attractive—even she could admit that to herself—but at what cost?

“To battle.”

There was a moment of silence as Kagome’s prior reluctant interest dissipated in an instant.

“Not how I expected that to turn out,” she muttered.

Regardless of his intent, Kagome’s misinterpretation of his words now made… something hang in the air. The hostile atmosphere of two foes gave way to tension of a different sort. The two yōkai regarded each other with wary gazes, cool gold meeting heated blue.

“You think you can bring me to heel? And have me serve you?” Kagome’s voice positively dripped with honey and bubbled with mirth.

“There is no ‘think’. The outcome of this battle has already been decided.” Sesshōmaru made the first move, lashing out with his yōki whip and smirking with satisfaction as it looped and tightened around one of Kagome’s slender wrists. His victory was cut short when Kagome sliced through his whip with a quick swipe of her claws. Burning blue yōki cut clean through acid green. Sesshōmaru’s eyes widened at the sight.

The fact that she’d escaped his yōki whip like it was nothing—and her gleeful little laugh—sent a delicious thrill down his spine. In the time he’d spent admiring her, however, Kagome had managed to acquire a weapon. Like his whip, the staff formed from pure energy, and in her grip, it glowed radiantly with her brilliant blue yōki.

“I didn’t want to fight you,” she muttered, adjusting her grip as Sesshōmaru eyed her, stalking closer. “But now…”

Kagome dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of strikes, swinging the staff left and right as she attempted to land hits on her adversary. Without a weapon of his own yet, Sesshōmaru was forced to deflect her blows with his claws. Sparks flew at each point of contact. He felt a rising sense of alarm as he realised that Kagome was every bit as fast as he was. What Kagome lacked in training, she made up for in raw power that simmered just beneath the surface and spiked unevenly in moments of intense combat. The only edge he maintained over her was that he had greater experience and was able to fend off most of her attacks.

Knowing that his yōki whip would be no good against her, Sesshōmaru extended his fur, trying to lock her ankle and pull her off balance. Kagome flicked her wrist, sending the fur back towards him with the back of her hand. The barrier that had formed around her arm, however, did nothing to stop the caress of his pelt against her skin as it grazed her, causing ripples of sensation that radiated through her entire body. Again they came face to face, each feeling a shortness of breath and a palpable, tingling excitement that hadn’t been there at the start of their battle. Sesshōmaru contemplated his chances, knowing that there was no way this woman, this Kagome, would best him. She was strong, sure—that was why he wanted her, no other reason—but he was stronger, and the sooner she recognised that fact, the sooner they could stop this pointless conflict.

Kagome remained deceptively still. As Sesshōmaru formulated his own plan of attack, Kagome was thinking hard too. Whether it was arrogance or something else—Kagome recalled the way he had referred to himself as Sesshōmaru and decided it was likely the former—he fought without a weapon and had been relying on a mix of yōki attacks, claws, and his fur. They were at an impasse. I wonder… she eyed the mass of fur on his shoulder. Then Sesshōmaru attacked again, and as predicted, sent his fur snaking through the air towards her.

Kagome leapt, waiting for him to recall his pelt—then pounced. She sank her fingers through the dense, fluffy mass, feeling pleasantly surprised at how soft it was. Clinging on tight, she reveled in the sight of Sesshōmaru’s wide eyes as both his fur and herself recoiled towards him at dizzying speeds. Kagome crashed into him, sending them both staggering backwards towards the cave wall. Off-balance, they tumbled and rolled to the ground. Determined to maintain the upper hand, she closed one of her hands around Sesshōmaru’s neck, letting the yōki infused within her claws burn him just a little as a warning.

Sesshōmaru writhed, trying to throw her off, but Kagome was every bit as stubborn as he was. She locked her legs around his waist and maintained a firm grip on his neck, drawing more of her power to the surface and letting it enclose his neck like a collar. They came to a stop with Kagome on top, straddling Sesshōmaru with her hands around his throat and a devious gleam in her eye. He growled, first out of displeasure at the turn of the battle, but then for entirely different reasons as Kagome sat herself directly over his groin.

Kagome licked her lips and wriggled her hips. “Did you really want to ride me? It’s starting to look more like you want me to ride you.”

Though he refused to dignify her taunts with an answer, it was much harder to control his uneven breathing. It was the way her thighs cushioned his hips, he was sure of that. They were soft, plump, and warm in a way that drove him to distraction. That, and the gash that he’d opened in her clothing now gaped in a way that one might almost call obscene. A hardened, rosy nipple peeked through the rip and drew his eye. He could not look away.

“Cat got your tongue, dog?” She laughed. Removing one of her hands, she trailed a claw down the length of his face, drawing a warm trail from the corner of his eye to his lips. He made the mistake of drawing a deep breath and she hooked her finger into his open mouth. Sesshōmaru cursed himself as he felt his tongue defy his will and start to lap against the length of her finger.

“I think…” she leaned forward, bringing her face close to his. He felt how uneven her own breathing was, gusting on his cheeks in an irregular rhythm. “I will keep you.”

Sesshōmaru finally found his voice again. “I didn’t figure you were one for hoarding treasure, dragon.”

Kagome laughed and he felt the vibrations through his hardening cock. “What did you think all those children were, Sesshōmaru?”

The way she purred his name did terrifying things to his self-control. “I am not a child,” He tried to object.

“You are not,” She agreed, looking very amused at his protestations. “But I wasn’t looking for another orphan. And I want to do distinctly un-childlike things to you.”

Silence stretched between them as Sesshōmaru wondered if giving in would be a sign of weakness.

“Well, how about it? Will you stay? Will you… behave?” She teased, disrupting conflicted thoughts. On the last word, the collar around Sesshōmaru’s neck tightened and heated, earning Kagome a gasp for her troubles.

“It appears I do not have a choice.” He grumbled. Kagome wasn’t fooled in the slightest.

“Don’t act like I’m forcing your hand, Sesshōmaru.” Her peachy pink lips stretched widely in a grin. “Because it seems as if…” She settled against the length of his cock as it strained in his hakama. “You want to be here too.”

Sesshōmaru’s tone was the most humble it’d been. “I do.”

Kagome didn’t wait a second longer than necessary—she kissed him, driving away any reservations that’d been lurking in the back of his mind. His arms reached out to wrap around her, marvelling at how cool her skin was compared to his. Her sharp teeth nipped at his bottom lip, hard enough to leave an indentation, but not yet drawing blood.

She sat up, wiping her mouth with the back of a hand. Though she’d removed her grip around his throat, he still felt the warmth of her yōki around his neck, a reminder of her power and the hold she had over him. He would never admit it, but the slight constriction was taking his arousal to unprecedented heights. The hum of her aura against his own was the most potent aphrodisiac he’d ever tasted.

“Now, Sesshōmaru. Since you had the nerve to ruin my clothing, I will give you the honour of removing it.”

He nodded mutely as he was pulled to a seating position. Kagome placed his hands on her obi and motioned for him to begin. Sesshōmaru’s claws worked on the loosened knot, making quick work of the accessory. He sighed as her kimono began to gape, revealing more smooth, silky skin beneath. He pushed his hands beneath the fabric, exploiting the opportunity to caress her breasts.

“You’re a handsy one,” Kagome observed, her tone still teasing.

“Hn.” The truth was, her flesh felt very good beneath his hands, and he was reluctant to let go. It took a nudge from her before he remembered his duties and moved to push the kimono over her narrow shoulders.

“Now it’s your turn,” she grinned. She twirled her finger. “Strip, and make me want you.”

For the first time in a long while, Sesshōmaru wanted to roll his eyes. If the strong scent of the ocean emanating from her body wasn’t proof that she already wanted him, then the shortness of her breathing and her dilated pupils surely was. However, he would never be caught dead doing something so undignified. Regardless, he heeded her orders, his hands reaching for the secures of his armour and loosening it so he could reach his kimono beneath.

Kagome watched him work with a lazy smile on her lips. He tugged off the garment, revealing a broad, muscled chest with pale skin beneath, marked by the occasional scar. The sight of those crisscrossing lines made Kagome want to soothe each one with her tongue, but she held back. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now, she could feel her blood sing with anticipation as he finally stripped down completely, and her eyes roved lower, watching his hard cock bob in time to the pulse of his heart.

“You like what you see?” His voice held a challenge, his eyes daring her to step up and claim him.

“Of course,” she answered, moving close enough to touch. Her fingers hovered dangerously close, barely an inch away from his throbbing erection. “You’re a treasure of mine, after all.”

Sesshōmaru snorted at her possessive words. He wasn’t sure if it was the nature of dragon yōkai to be so direct and demanding, but he found he liked it. Kagome didn’t speak like a woman—there wasn’t a trace of docility or demureness in her tone. And there was certainly nothing ladylike in the way she shoved him flat on his back and closed her lips around his cock, exerting firm pressure with her lips as she dragged her tongue along the underside of his sensitive head. Her claws made the slightest prickling sensation against his skin as she pumped him with a rhythm that matched the ministrations of her mouth. The slight hint of danger made him let slip an involuntary groan.

His thighs rose, trying to clamp around her head. She chuckled around him, the sound like a strike of pleasurable lightning coursing through his body. With her lips still wrapped tightly around him, she placed one hand on either thigh and shoved him down, rendering him utterly helpless to the relentless suction of her mouth. Sesshōmaru whined, aching and desperate, wishing he could buck into her throat. Kagome pulled herself off him and met his eyes with a steady gaze as she whispered, “You can touch me.”

She’d thrown him a lifeline. As she returned her attention to his cock, Sesshōmaru wound his fingers through lush, long locks of raven hair, binding himself to her as if she were his only anchor in a ferocious storm. His barely-coherent thoughts marvelled at the way her hair shifted between shades of deep blue and darkest black in the warm light of the cave.

He was very close, he thought, feeling rather dazed. There was a delectable pressure building deep in his core and tickling at the base of his spine, and with each hard suck, he felt that pressure rise, his pleasure being coaxed to the surface until it threatened to overflow. Sesshōmaru felt his body grow taut, he was going to release, and then… Kagome released him from her mouth and tugged firmly on his heavy, aching balls.

Sesshōmaru tossed his head back into the hard floor, growling his indignation. “Why did you stop, you vexing woman?” 

Kagome’s lips pursed into a pout that he would’ve found cute were it not for his frustration. “You were close,” she said, as if her reasons were perfectly obvious.

“So why did you stop?” Sesshōmaru wondered if he was about to lie with a sadist. There was no other way to explain how she revelled in his torture. He twitched with irritation and unspent pleasure, his fingers opening and closing, deprived of their grip in her soft, fragrant hair just moments ago.

“You selfish dog,” she chastised, wagging her finger in a mocking gesture. “You’re not the only one who’s hard up, you know.”

Kagome pushed him back down, sliding up the length of his body to remind him of her own predicament. First he got lost in the sensation of her stiff nipples grazing his chest, then something else stole his attention. She was hot and wet and sticky on his thigh. Sesshōmaru felt the way her lips parted like the petals of a flower, spread apart as she pressed herself open against him. If he closed his eyes and focussed, ignoring the thick haze of desire that clouded his mind, he could even feel the swollen ridge of her clitoris dragging up and down his thigh, using him for her own pleasure.

She moaned with abandon, cradling Sesshōmaru against her breasts as she concentrated on how good she felt moving on him. Kagome could feel how hard and hot he was against the inside of her thigh, and gods, if he wasn’t ready, she didn’t know how much more teasing she could take before she took leave of her good senses.

“Are you ready for me?” Kagome asked, her voice husky with want.

“Yes,” he choked out, still focussed on the way she was rubbing up against him.

“There’s a good boy,” she sighed, removing herself from his embrace. Sesshōmaru reached out, wanting to pull her in again, but she slapped his outstretched arm out of the way with a wink. Foiled, he chose to run his fingers through the slick spot on top of his leg, coating them with the evidence of her arousal. He brought her nectar up to his lips and sucked, tasting her. Kagome’s taste was an explosion on his tongue—like her scent magnified tenfold. There was the salt of the ocean, laced with the potent aroma of water lilies and lotuses, along with a zing that was almost like lightning against his taste-buds. Her power was apparent even in her juices. The thought of possessing her, this creature of unfathomable potential, brought about an overwhelming tide of arousal.

Meanwhile, Kagome had lowered herself on all fours in front of him, looking over her shoulder with a cheeky grin. Sesshōmaru stared, his mouth agape at the sight. She was offering herself up to him.

“Isn’t this how you inuyōkai take your women?” Kagome goaded. Seeing that Sesshōmaru appeared to be dumbstruck, she propped herself up on one elbow and reached behind with a hand. Her clawed fingers spread swollen lips open, and Sesshōmaru saw a string of her sticky honey stretch across her labia and drip onto the floor below. He could see every detail of this most intimate region. There wasn’t a trace of hair—the skin around her pussy was textured with a pattern of soft, sensual scales, milky blue and iridescent. These scales were meagre protection for the even more sensitive, vulnerable flesh within, a series of delicate folds flushed palest pink. And there, at the top of where she spread herself for him, her cunt clenched deliciously, aching and ready to be filled.

Sesshōmaru rumbled in agreement and closed the distance between them, rising to his knees and pulling her flush against him. He let Kagome feel the ridge of his cock as it pressed right down the seam of her pussy, letting her feel a teaser of the way he’d split her open. He grabbed his erection and traced it along her slit, lingering a little longer against the hard bead of her clitoris. He gently tapped his head against the engorged nub, wearing a devious grin of his own as she moaned.

“You are not inuyōkai,” He murmured, letting go of his pride for a single moment. “You are even better.” With that, he lined himself up against her opening and drove forward, relishing the drag of her inner walls against the sensitive underside of his cock.

Kagome arched her back, her cries approximating the howl of a lustful inuyōkai. Her claws dug ridges into the rock floor, scrabbling for purchase as she lost herself in pleasure. Sesshōmaru felt vindictive satisfaction at the way she writhed beneath him. She was finally as desperate for him as he was for her—she wasn’t the only one who could tease. He refused to thrust yet, wanting her to beg him to move.

“Move, you stubborn dog,” she pleaded. Sesshōmaru was about to say that she needed to say please, but lost his train of thought as she clenched around him in tricky little pulses. One squeeze, then three in quick succession. And then another very tight squeeze, as if she were trying to wring his very soul straight through his cock. He growled. This woman knew how to push all his buttons.

Sesshōmaru conceded and moved his hips in a tight rhythm, hardly wanting to remove himself from her hot, welcoming depths. Then, to his astonishment, Kagome widened her legs and dropped her hips even lower, allowing him to slide yet a little deeper into her cunt. His head nearly nudged the entrance to her womb, and both groaned at the intense, intimate sensation. He needed to come, and she probably did too. He got in his last tease, pulling almost completely out of her before he slammed in again and felt her opening kiss the base of his cock.

Sesshōmaru drove into her, his claws tight around her hips as he steadied her for the force of his movements. His thighs slapped against her own, her soft flesh the perfect cushion for his hard thrusts. He noted the way she moaned when his cock slid over a spongy area along the front of her cunt, and he made sure that his cock pushed firmly into that spot with each pass. Kagome wrenched one of his hands from her hips and pulled it beneath her, directing him to her neglected clitoris.

Sesshōmaru obliged, plastering himself to her back as he closed forefinger and thumb around either side of her swollen nub. He maintained his bruising pace, gently squeezing her clit in a rhythm that matched his thrusts. In just a few moments, Kagome arched up against him and he watched in surprised delight as she shifted beneath him for just a brief moment. Her body elongated, becoming slender and sinuous, her smooth, silky skin giving way to hexagonal silver-blue scales that glimmered beautifully in the soft light. Sesshōmaru quickly dragged his fingers over her scales, feeling an unexpected thrill at the way his claws dipped into the crevices of her inhuman skin. The head she threw back in ecstasy bore two horns that resembled corals from the ocean floor, curling back into a neck with a mane of deep blue hair.

The reminder that he was currently fucking an extremely powerful dragon yōkai undid him and he sank his teeth into the back of her neck as he came, burying his moan into her flesh. Kagome collapsed under him and they fell to the floor together, neither moving as they recovered from their coupling.

Finally, Kagome gave a breathless chuckle. “You’re heavy.”

Sesshōmaru rolled off her, murmuring an apology. He looked out towards the entrance of the cave, noticing that sunlight now streamed through. The stormy skies had cleared up completely.

“I must report to my father,” he muttered, aware that he had probably taken longer than expected to “subdue” this dragon. He began to get to his feet, feeling a little exasperated that he’d been so distracted from his original mission. His father would be wondering if he’d taken care of this particular “problem” plaguing his vassals, so he’d better—

A scaly tail wrapped around his ankle and pulled him off balance. Sesshōmaru fell to his hands and knees as Kagome dragged him back towards her. He looked back, taking in the sight of her true form as it loomed over him. She wound herself around the struggling inuyōkai, the coils of her body rendering him prisoner. Kagome’s face hovered near his own, serpentine eyes looking into his own startled, golden ones.

“You are my treasure now,” she rumbled, her voice slightly gravelly in this form. “You’re not going anywhere until I allow you to.”

“I wasn’t going to—” His response was squashed as Kagome abruptly returned to a more human shape and crushed his lips with her own. Her claws skimmed his throat, reminding him of the yōki collar that still circled his vulnerable neck.

“No excuses,” she purred as she finally released his lips, smiling with satisfaction at his breathlessness. “It seems I have to teach you what it means to be claimed by a dragon.”

Lucky for him, Sesshōmaru was a fast learner.