Flight of Love by Aurora Antheia Raine

Chapter One: Fall from Grace

Kagome sighed contently as she slowly stepped out of the hot springs, wrapping a white, fluffy towel around her dripping frame. The mist from the spring continued to rise, offering her the warmth she had felt while she had been soaking. Tucking the corner of the towel inward to keep it in place, she closed her eyes and tilted her face up to bundle her wet hair into a messy ponytail.

She was perfectly relaxed and at peace with her surroundings. The bath was exactly what she had needed to unravel from a hard day’s work of demon slaying and shard detecting. She opened her sapphire eyes and a faint movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Immediately, her hands went to grip the top of her towel tightly.

Cautiously, she squinted her eyes, trying to find that shadow again, but all was quiet. There was no rustling of leaves or the sound of the wind. It was eerily still and Kagome could feel herself becoming paranoid.

Bending down to pick up her first article of clothing, another flash of white from her peripheral vision made her gasp. Startled, Kagome dropped her panties on the ground and whirled around, only to meet thin air. Heart beating frantically, Kagome looked up at the sky again, Inuyasha‘s name at the tip of her tongue.

Then, she noticed something. It was still quite a distance away, but it was there. A bird, it appeared. Perhaps a demonic one, she couldn’t be certain. Mesmerized, she continued to stare at the figure that seemed to loom closer and closer. She squinted her eyes again, trying to figure out what species of bird it was.

Then it hit her. Literally.

And with a loud shriek, there Kagome was, lying flat on her back with her eyes squeezed shut, naked as the day she was born, with her towel sprawled out beneath her and the large white bird on top of her.

Too terrified to open her eyes, she waited for her demise, but all was still. Slowly, she cracked one eye open, followed by the other. All she could see was a head filled with fine silver hair and she couldn’t help but muse at how beautiful the bird was.

But upon closer inspection, Kagome realized with horror that it wasn’t a bird at all. Not unless the typical bird had long, silvery locks and golden eyes. Well, perhaps it was possible, but no bird in existence would have magenta markings upon their cheeks and a blue crescent moon upon their forehead.

She gulped audibly and the sound roused the unmoving figure. He raised his head to look at her and Kagome’s eyes widened even more. She was going to get killed this very instant, she knew it. There was no way Sesshoumaru would keep her alive after this awkwardly embarrassing episode.

Speaking of awkwardly embarrassing, she had the terrible urge to shove his head away from her exposed cleavage, but she was too afraid of missing her limbs. She preferred to go home with both arms and hands attached, thank you very much. Still, she could feel his even breathing on her breasts and it was a highly uncomfortable situation.

“Ano, Sesshoumaru…,” Kagome whispered, fear etched in her voice, “could you… get off of me? Please?”

Before Sesshoumaru was able to respond, much less move, Inuyasha burst through into the clearing, Tessaiga drawn and swinging.

“Kagome?!” he shouted, eyes wild as he scanned the lush hot springs for the human girl who always seemed to know how to find trouble and danger.

Kagome slid her eyes shut in defeat as she let out a nearly inaudible groan. This was not going to end well and oh, how right she was.

Inuyasha’s gaze finally settled upon the pair and all hell broke loose. Kagome’s completely bare form, still moist from the humidity, was underneath Sesshoumaru’s hard, masculine body. His head was buried in between her supple breasts and his hips were pressed intimately into her parted and very bare legs.

“Get the hell away from her, you bastard!” Inuyasha cried, darting forward with the intent to throw Sesshoumaru off of her if necessary. His claws suddenly itched for a fight and if Sesshoumaru refused to move, it was a fight they were going to have.

However, his next words stopped Inuyasha cold in his tracks.

“Sesshoumaru…,” he said in awe, enunciating each syllable slowly as he tested the word, “is that… my name?”