InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ My Devotion ❯ Upping the Ante ( Chapter 26 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

While writing this chapter, I was thinking when the baby should be born. I want it to be born soon, but, for all practical purposes, it should be within a realistic amount of time. So, given that Rin has been pregnant for about 8 or 9 weeks in a human gestation period, that would leave around 32 or 31 more weeks to go. However, since she is having puppies and the dog gestation period is a mere nine weeks, I have averaged the two together to give myself an acceptable 24 weeks of pregnancy. Hmm…not what complications could I fill all this time with…?

Upping the Ante

Sesshoumaru had been with her for hours on end. They sat together on the bed, her in his lap. Her arms were chained to the bedpost and as he ran his finger over the fur lined manacles, he sighed. Kagome had been giving her treatments of some anesthetic every time she awoke and began thrashing. It was disheartening to see her this way, so out of control, and frankly, he was tired.

The fist time she had come to, she seemed fine as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and yawned, but as she stretched she let a gasp of pain escape her lips and then she ducked her head, cradling her belly in her arms. When she looked up again, her eyes were red. She leapt out of his lap then and began attacking his half-brother and his pet, Kagome. But rather than allow her to do something she would regret, he hit a nerve in her neck that incapacitated her long enough for the miko to put her to sleep again. He then carried her to the room and had her bound to the bed. She would wake up soon, he knew, but this time Kagome wouldn't give her anymore of the serum she had injected her with twice. Supposedly, she was unsure about the side effects of repeated use and didn't want to harm Rin or the baby.

He heard a groan as he felt her try to turn into his arms and for a moment his whole body was filled with tension so certain was he that she would start that horrible thrashing and shrieking again. Instead, she whimpered, her voice hoarse.

“Sesshy?”

He ran a clawed hand over her cheek. “I'm here.”

“Mmm…I'm so tired…so thirsty…” She yawned as he shifted beneath her and soon the lip of a cup was pressed to her own and water, cool and refreshing, flowed into her mouth. She drank the whole glass and then another before her thirst was quenched. The cool blue that was their walls broken only by a few wall hangings, was like a sea of dark. Rin noticed that the castle was uncommonly quiet for this time of day. But…outside it was night. The last thing she remembered was daylight…Fumiko…falling…

“Koi, why is it dark outside? Why am I chained up? Why--” she felt his lips on her temple and sighed, her fears leaving.

“Sleep.”

That sounds so good. We're so tired…

`We?'

…sister was in pain…couldn't sleep…

`Sister?…Twins?!'

The raven-haired demon took a deep breath of the garden air, fragranced with the fruits of Rin's labor, the scent made all the sweeter by the fast approaching end of their season. But none was so pungent as the scent of sakura, the pale pink petals strewn across the floor of the garden and the clear surfaces of the lake, the neck of which was shielded by a bridge of steamed and curved planks. It separated the vastly different half of life and vivid scents and colors from the characteristically bland and simplified grassy sparring field, a water pump set in the farthest corner where the grass grew longer and greener.

Souten stepped onto the bridge, discounting the light squeaking it made beneath her as her footfalls sounded like thunder claps in the crisp night air. Her forearms supported most of her weight as she leaned against the cold bronze railing, kept at a perfect shine. In the pool of water beneath her, she looked past her reflection and to the koi beneath the rippling surface of the water as they bit at what could have been food. A slow smile spread across her lips. It was peaceful and beautiful out here as it always had been since her stay here began and she would of ten come here two or three times a day to think about her life. Right now however, she was only here for the quiet.

That reminded her about Rin's state. She knew that there had been an assassination attempt by the shades and it had left Rin in a very precarious state of being. The last time she had checked, it was impossible for her to stay in human form which was a pain considering all the shrieking she had been doing all day. Come to think of it, it would probably start up again soon due to Kagome's refusal to endanger the baby with the serum.

This was the reason she had come here in the first place: to wait out the last of this precious silence at peace. However, as a pair of arms wound themselves around her waist, she knew she wouldn't be so lucky. She jumped, pulled from deep thought.

“Hey coward…” he murmured against her shoulder fondly.

“I'm not,” he kissed her slow and long on the neck, “Mmm…that feels good…” She couldn't remember what she had been about to say, but what he was doing felt so good.

“You can't keep putting me off…you agreed…”

As his lips rose on her neck to nibble on the flesh beneath her ear, she found it most difficult to concentrate or think clearly. His vagueness wasn`t helping at all either. “Agreed?”

“To be my mate.”

Suddenly the nibbling around her neck seemed more meaningful. Dangerous even. And as she blushed all the way to her shoulders, she felt his warm breath on her skin as he smiled.

“I don't think…”

“You promised me.”

He began to nibble insistently on the place where he would mark her. She spun around to face him and tried to push him away.

“Shippo! Get. Off me!” She was desperate to get away from him. Yes, she had promised and she had every intention of allowing him to do this…eventually. But not like this, not here. Her eyes began to glow an electric blue as she gathered strength within her to free herself. The water beneath them caused sparks to fly in the air.

Shippo noticed the power in her aura rising and knew she was angry. He didn't understand. He wasn't intending to do anything…yet. He just wanted her to be aware that he had every intention of making her live up to her promise. However, he thought being burned to a crisp would rather put a damper on their relationship, so he stepped back.

Her point across, the thunder demon heiress let her power sink into the wood and flow into the water, a steam rising around them in the cool night. Blinking, her eyes returned to their striking red, like crimson. “You shouldn't have done that.”

He came close to her again, leaning his weight on the one arm he used to grip the railing. With his other, he tilted her chin up and stared into her eyes, stroking her full and soft lips with his thumb. As she closed her eyes, he brought his forehead down against hers and whispered lightly against her lips. “I can't help it. I couldn't help it. I just couldn't.”

Souten shivered as his breath rolled over her lips, caressing them, warming them. And when he pressed his body against hers, forcing her own against him by pressing his palm to the small of her back, she let a half-sigh, half-moan slip from her lips. He kissed her then, though lightly at first, but soon, her fingers had worked the tie from his hair and were running through his fiery locks.

Much to her dismay, he pulled back briefly to whisper in her ear, “Please…” Even more disturbing was the fact that she didn't want to say no…

Rin shot awake from her slumber, gasping as she was restrained. There were fur lined manacles around her wrists. Where was Sesshoumaru? Surely he wouldn't just leave her like this. It was still dark out. She doubted she had rested for that long. Perhaps her mate thought he had time to catch a quick meal while she was asleep.

Rin's stomach growled. Food. She was sooo hungry. How long had it been since she'd had a real meal? She looked around her, searching for some kind of victuals to consume. On the bedside table was a pitcher of water. It seemed so far away, but she had to have something to soothe the burning cramp in her stomach. Her arms were useless, but if she was careful, she might be able to get it with her feet.

Leaning her body so her left foot was outstretched towards the table, she was able to catch the handle with her big toe. However, in her state of hunger, the instinct to feed overrode rational thought, resulting in a vast underestimation of the weight of water. As she wrapped the rest of her toes around it, it splashed all over the bed before crashing to the floor, shattering.

`Damn' she thought.

In the dining room, Sesshoumaru was sitting. He was not hungry, but neither could he busy himself with the task of sharpening his sword. Demon swords were far too durable for that. So he sat, staring blankly out into space. This was the quietest place in the whole castle at night. He sat here often to think, but this time it was to mostly to enjoy the silence. However, honestly, he was worried about his mate.

The most recent attempt on her life had been far too close for comfort. They had gotten past his guards and into his domain, hurting Rin. He had sworn. He had sworn to protect her. Now he was learning that such promises to oneself were often difficult to keep. There had to be some way to keep her from harm that she would agree to. She would wake soon and he hoped that her former habit of transforming would cease.

He wanted to be with her tonight, just as she was. Besides, the things he could sense going on in his abode were unsettling. He was focusing on not focusing on that when he heard the sound of something shattering coming from his quarters.

He was waiting. He was waiting for an answer. She knew he could smell her arousal. She could practically taste his. Then why did she hesitate so? In her pause, she let her fingers caress his face, to trace every contour. He closed his eyes and sighed beneath her touch.

“Shippo…”

“Yes?”

“I-” something shattered in one of the rooms inside. She became less focused with Shippo and more alert to the danger in which her friend could be. She sifted through the air with her nose, but no alien scents wafted through them. “I should go check on Rin.”

With a heavy sigh, he stepped back once again from their embrace and let her go. When she was out of earshot he slammed his fist against the railing. He had been so close. So close to having her as his mate. If some stupid little chit had been more careful with a vase or teacup, he just knew Souten would have said yes to him. She had to if the effect she'd had on him was any way of telling the effect he'd had on her.

Eventually, he gave up on wallowing and followed her to the source of the sound. It just so happened that the stupid little chit he'd been angry with was Rin. All the girls were inside the room babbling excitedly while Sessohumaru, the monk Miroku, and InuYasha sat outside, one taiyoukai looking especially peevish.

“What's going on?”

“What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on. That stupid wench woke me up. Said if she had to deal with Rin howling and scratching, so did I.”

Sesshoumaru seethed at his half-demon brother taking that tone while speaking of his mate. “Calm yourself, InuYasha. If anyone has reason to be upset, it would be your fox friend.”

Taking the time to pull himself from his dismal state, the golden-eyed hanyou smelled a very peculiar smell coming from Shippo that he had not previously smelt, but he knew it. “Heh, guess someone cut into alone time, huh?”

The fox demon flushed a deep red from anger and embarrassment. “It's nothing like that.”

“Your nose used to be keener, InuYasha, I could smell them from the garden, even with the perfume of the flowers,” Sesshoumaru murmured indifferently as InuYasha began sniffing again, following the trail of the same scent on all fours until he was at Souten's heels. When she felt something bump against her heels, she turned around and glared down at him. He backed away slowly until he was once again in the hall.

“Oh Shippo. And I thought Sesshoumaru was a dog.”

Shippo blushed even harder and promptly decided a change of subject would me much in his favor. “Um…I still don't know what's going on.”

Sesshoumaru seemed to shy away from the topic. “Well…”

He'd heard the glass break and was at their room in minutes. Though he wasn't one for smiling, Sesshoumaru couldn't help the smile that quirked at his lips. She was soaked in water and pouting like a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar.

“Rin…” he murmured bemusedly. She actually looked quite appealing wet.

“I was hungry.” She glanced at her restraints angrily and in a moment they were undone. Then he told one of the evening servants to fetch their Lady something from the kitchens before returning to her. She seemed nervous and excited and he waited for it to bubble over, allowing her to speak her mind.

“We're going to have twins!”

Lord Sesshoumaru looked at her, offering not even a blink of surprise, but his normal nonchalance. “Yes.” Of course he had known. His hearing was impeccable. He could hear all three heartbeats coming from her body. As her brows knitted together in anger, he began to understand that she could have no way of knowing and that his less than exuberant response had severely angered and even hurt her.

“You knew?” He didn't nod or say anything, but his silence spoke as loud as ever. “And when were you planning on telling me?” she yelled.

“Rin,” he warned.

She was completely ready to argue and yell at him and though she had no idea where this surge of audacity came from, she didn't care. His greater-than-thou attitude was severely starting to annoy her. She was his mate. She deserved better. She opened her mouth, but a frightened servant girl appeared in the door with a tray of food and tea, trembling.

“M-my…Lord…” she squeaked, dropping a curtsy that made the small cups tip over and spill their contents all over the silver platter. “My Lady.”

Rin sighed and got up to take the food from her and told her, “thank you,” rather icily, telling her to leave which she did with haste. And when she was gone, Rin turned on her mate.

“Now, Sesshoumaru, answer me.”

`I don't have to take this,' he thought to himself. `I am the Lord of the Western Lands and no woman, not even Rin, has cause to order me. If she weren't with my child, I would have to make that clear.'

He walked past her and out into the hall.

`That bastard!,' her mind screamed. Her rage was rising and her eyes began to cloud with red. Rin bit back the transformation and threw a crystal teacup at his head. He moved at the last moment and it grazed his ear before crashing against the other wall of the hall. Sesshoumaru spun around to face her and was going to do something when InuYasha came up trailing his wench and the priestess walked straight into his room, slamming the door in his face.

When he turned around, InuYasha and him were face to face. “Hard night, eh, Sesshoumaru?”

The two sat on opposite sides of the wall as Souten appeared and walked through the door, leaving it wide open to the sounds of the two girls laughing and talking excitedly.

`From angry to happy like that? Dangerously quick.'…

“We're having twins,“ commented the stoic demon. He said nothing more.

Author's Note: Can you say hormonal? Lol I feel I must add an element of reality to this relationship as Rin is unaccustomed to being a hanyou and doesn't feel like one and, not to mention things usually get a little strained during pregnancies. And besides, Sesshoumaru needs to be as open with Rin as she is with him. Lol, this is gonna be fun.