In Dreams by InuAtashi

Eyes in the Dark

The Dream

Legs spread wide...

...fingers entangled in fine strands of hair...

...thrust after thrust...sensations heightened...

...whispered nonsense that meant nothing & everything all at the same time...

...liquid heat spilling forth...

'Sesshoumaru'

...back arching...hips rolling forward, deeper...

...pure ecstasy, penetrating...

...long legs wrap around slender hips...

...thrust after thrust...deeper, harder...

...flashes of silver, glimpses of blue...

'Oh Kami!'

...warm ragged breaths...soft, erotic moans...

...legs wrap tighter...pace quickens...

...a kiss deepens, nails dig into flesh...

...an echoing growl, demanding more...

'SESSHOUMARU!'

...thrust after thrust after THRUST

...sparks fly, white hot stars...pure ecstasy, radiating

"SESSHOUMARU!!"

Azure eyes fly open to find amber ones, illuminated in the dark by the light of the full moon.

"Sesshoumaru..."

~*~

Kagome shot upright in her sleeping bag, panting heavily while trying her best to remember where she was. She ran her trembling hands across her face and took a deep, shaky breath. With her hands still resting on her cheeks, she took in her surroundings. To her left were the glowing embers of a campfire and to her right was her yellow backpack, dingy and worn after more than three years of continuous use in Sengoku Jidai. Aware once more of where she was, she glanced around at her sleeping companions.

'Thank Kami they're all still asleep!' Kagome winced inwardly on how embarrassing it would have been had they awoken. She had a funny feeling that her dream wasn't a quiet one.

Miroku, opposite from her, was propped against the base of a large maple tree, his staff resting across his lap. Sango was roughly ten feet to his left snuggled into the sleeping bag that Kagome had given her sometime back. Kirara, in her smaller stature, slept near the foot of the bag with Shippou nestled against her. Apparently, her two tails made for a comfy pillow.

She then glanced over to the tree to her right and immediately froze! Her widened eyes locked onto golden orbs, reflecting what light was left of the dying campfire. It just made his glare all the more menacing and Kagome instantly developed a pit in her stomach. It was safe to assume that InuYasha had witnessed her dream. It was even safer to assume that he definitely heard the name she cried out. Yeah, she was pretty sure she remembered calling out a certain inu-youkai lord's name upon awakening.

'OH KAMI, OH KAMI, OH KAMI, OH KAMI!!!! SHIT!!!'

With that, Kagome jumped up, grabbed her pack and took off to the heat spring that was a short distance from where they were camping. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, which would never be fast enough to out run the embarrassment she was feeling, among other things. InuYasha continued to stay perched on his branch and watched as she took off, brows furrowed, as conflicting emotions battled within him...

~*~

InuYasha lounged in an old tree, eyes shut and arms crossed over Tetsusaiga, which he held firmly against his chest. Ears flickered around systematically to catch any sounds that might hint to impending danger. He was dozing lightly when he heard Kagome shift in her sleeping bag. Thinking nothing of it, he began to relax further...that's when he heard it. She let out a soft moan, followed by a sharp intake of air. One snow white ear swiveled forward. When she let out another moan, along with a slightly erotic whimper, his other ear shot forward. As he listened to each and every sensual noise she made, he fought the urge to open his eyes.

He quickly lost that battle when a new scent floating through the air hit his nose. His eyes flew open just in time to catch her arching her back in obvious pleasure. The scent was stronger now, richer and completely intoxicating. It amazingly sweet, similar to budding cherry blossoms, but with a spicy edge...he couldn't place exactly what the scent was, but it didn't matter at the moment. All he knew is that it was coming from Kagome and that was fine by him. It was so different from her usual scent of lavender and soft vanilla, but he liked it just the same. Eyes widened slightly when he realized that this was the scent of her arousal...and it was affecting him nicely. He had proof!

He sat up further on the branch. Balancing on his hands and the balls of his feet in his doggy-like squat, he took in everything he was seeing...

'Who is she dreaming about? Could...could she be dreaming of...me?' Although he'd never admit it, the thought of that made his stomach flip-flop. The thought of Kagome reacting like this to a dream about him made his heart swell. True, he was still trying to sort out his feelings about the whole Kikyou/Kagome issue and it would take even longer to get past her recent death, but he knew he loved Kagome more than anyone else in his life. She was his best friend and would possibly be more than that someday, if he could just get over Kikyou. It didn't help matters that the two women favored, and he refused to be romantically involved with Kagome if he couldn't looked at her without being reminded of his old flame.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard her call out his brother's name.

"SESSHOUMARU!!"

'WHAT THE FUCK!?! Did she?? No...She couldn't have!' It wasn't until he heard that name whispered the second time that he was certain his hearing hadn't failed him. He was completely flabbergasted, to say the least. He felt humiliation, ire, dejection, and uncertainty flare up and course through his body like a shockwave. He couldn't move. All he could do was sit there and watch her as she awoke with a start and eventually locked eyes with him. Still, he couldn't move. He couldn't utter a sound. He just sat there and watched as she hopped up and sprinted away.

~*~

Kagome stood at the edge of the naturally heated spring. Arms crossed over her chest with her right hand resting against her heart. The cool breeze of the autumn night swept gently through stray locks of her raven hair. She gazed out across the water at nothing unparticular. She was deep in thought. What had just happened to her had to be the most mortifying experience in her entire life! She prayed that InuYasha had enough sense to stay put in that tree of his...she could not face him right now, which brought up the thought of how she was going to go back at all without dying of heart failure. She had thought of what to say if he decided to question her about her dream. It was blatantly obvious why she called out Sesshoumaru's name, so lying about the reason was out of the question. Besides, Kagome never really liked lying to her friends and was horrible at it anyway.

She wondered how it was going to affect the relationship that she and InuYasha shared. She wasn't really sure how he felt about her lately, she knew he loved her, but to what extent? He had a rough time for quite awhile after Kikyou died. Only recently had he begun to come around to his old self again. She couldn't blame him a bit, though. She could only imagine what it would be like to lose the love of your life for the second time, and in your arms, nonetheless. At least their parting had been peaceful and Kikyou had died an ordinary woman. Yes, she was thankful for that. For InuYasha's sake. Meanwhile, she had come to terms on how she felt about the hanyou. He was her best friend and she loved him dearly, but she knew she would always be a reminder of what he once had. No matter what, she would be the second choice. The reincarnation. She had also noticed during her realization that the pain she was certain she'd feel never came. Wasn't that saying something? She had once promised him she'd always be by his side, and though that still held true, she now knew it would never be as his mate. Oh, why did life have to be so complicated? Especially hers, which was nowhere near normal.

With a huff, Kagome decided a bath was most definitely in order. She quickly stripped off her pale blue pajamas pants and tugged the matching tank top over her head. She noticed the crescent moon design gracing the front of it as she tossed it to the ground. 'Oh wonderful...' she thought,'...I would have to be wearing these p.j.'s of all nights!' She then slid her lacey, royal blue panties down her long legs and unclasped the matching bra. Putting them aside, she reached into her pack and grabbed her shampoo, conditioner and body wash and stepped forward into the soothing waters of the pool. Setting the bottles on the rock just beside her, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Placing her forehead against her knees, she let out a sigh and tried to relax her muscles. The tepid water worked wonders...that is, until she began to think about Sesshoumaru.

'Sesshoumaru.'

She had actually had a dream like that about him. An absolutely thrilling dream that she knew would never, ever come to pass. Yet, it seemed so...real. The majority of it was made up of sensations and emotions and it wasn't until the end of it that she saw anything, and that had been his face, his beautiful, perfect face...and his piercing honey colored eyes, which glowed like the moon itself. Just the thought of it again sent chills down her spine. 'Oh Kami, Kagome, get a grip!' And she would definitely have to get a grip and soon!

She'd had gotten to know him better, recently, but only just a little bit. You could say it was an improvement that he wasn't trying to kill InuYasha, or her, for that matter, any longer. The battle against Naraku had finally brought the two groups to a decision that working together would benefit them in the long run. So for the last few weeks, they had been in constant company of one another. And for the last seven days, Kagome would find herself in the sole companionship of the great Taiyoukai when she'd venture off to herself each evening. She didn't know why he decided to start doing that, but for reasons unknown, he had.

The first time it happened, she had wandered off to a river a short walk from where they had set up camp for the night. The sun was low in the horizon and the crickets were beginning to chirp eagerly to the darkening sky. The last fireflies of the year dotted the tree line, blinking in and out of existence. In truth, Kagome had decided to take a walk to get away from the annoying and very pointless squabbling of Jaken. If that damn imp called her a filthy ningen just one more time, she was sure she'd end up purifying him. How she had managed the previous two weeks, she wasn't sure, but it was nothing short of a miracle. She decided she would have to ask Sesshoumaru his secret at some point.

Just as she had finished that thought, she felt a powerful, yet familiar youkai aura very close by. Before she could even begin to register who it belonged to, there he was in all his glory, standing not two feet from her. She peeked over at him as he stared across the rushing waters of the river. The first thing that entered her mind was how good he smelled. His scent was that of an approaching rainstorm laced with the smell of young evergreens. She had began to notice a long while back that all youkai had distinct scents, which also reflected their physical attributes, power, as well as age. Sesshoumaru's was tantalizing and definitely made a statement.

Secondly, she wondered what was going through his head at that moment. Then she told herself not to stare, so she once again looked out over the river while trying to figure out exactly what it was that held his attention.

"It would be wise to not wander this far away on your own again. The southern lands are not safe."

She nearly jumped out of her skin at his statement. And how would she respond to that without sounding like a total idiot?!

"Oh, I, uh...will be fine. I have my bow and quiver, so there's no need to worry." 'Oh nice going! I'm such a dumbass; as if he's really gonna worry about me....'

"Hn."

She glanced over at him to see him staring intently at her. Seconds seemed like hours before she looked away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him face forward once again.

She had to think of something to say, that was at least a little less stupid than what she had just blurted out.

"May I ask you a question, Sesshoumaru-sama?" She got no response, so she assumed after a few moments, it was safe to proceed. "How is it that you're able to be around Jaken day in and day out without killing him?" There, she said it. Now hopefully it wasn't a question that he would find offensive. She didn't feel much like dying today, but as the seconds ticked by without any response, her nerves began to feel a bit more frazzled.

"I have found that a swift kick to his person does wonders for ones' sanity..." With that said, their eyes met once more and Kagome swore she saw merriment flashing in them. She couldn't hold back the smile that graced her lips, then she saw something else flash through his eyes, but it was gone before she could identify it. Whatever it was, was a good thing. That was when Kagome learned that he was not an emotionless demon lord, you just had to know where to look to see that he truly had personality; and that was his eyes...even in the dark.

This time, it was he who looked away first. The next words that came out of his mouth would shock Kagome to no end, though.

"'Sama' is unnecessary. You will call me 'Sesshoumaru.'"

Nobody called his name without the honorific...well, except for InuYasha that is, unless you considered colorful names such as 'bastard' an honorable title. Even Rin lovingly added 'sama' and Kagome didn't ever remember hearing him correct her. So why was she any different? All she could manage was a nod in response to that and after few more minutes, they headed back to camp in comfortable silence.

That was the start of what would become a routine for them, except for tonight. He along with Rin, Jaken and Ah Un had set off to check on his lands the night before and wouldn't return until tomorrow morning. 'Thank Kami, too. I don't know what I would have done had HE witnessed my dream, and he wouldn't have missed a thing either!! Damn inu- youkai with their delicately perceptive senses!'

Pushing any further thoughts of Sesshoumaru and "the dream" out of her head, she finished bathing and slipped out of the pool to dry off. She slipped on a red set of underwear and a long sleeved cotton night shirt. She would have preferred pajamas, but this was her last clean thing to sleep in. It would have to do. She gathered up her bathing supplies and dirty clothing and stuffed them back into her trusty backpack. She then took a deep, cleansing breath and gingerly headed back toward camp. It would truly be the most difficult walk she'd ever have to make.

Ten minutes later found her nearing her sleeping bag. Glancing around quickly, she noticed InuYasha was nowhere to be found. Most likely he was off to himself somewhere, brooding, so as quickly as possible, Kagome burrowed into her sleeping bag. Eventually, sleep came to her...her last thoughts were of Sesshoumaru and what tomorrow morning would bring.