A rascally glint appeared in his eyes as he turned his back to her.

"Get on." he smiled back to her, but it looked a little more like a snarl due to his enlarged fangs. Kagome just stared with her mouth wide open. "Well, are you going to climb on or will I have to put you there? The brat is asleep, the others are definitely busy, and I have only have an unknown amount of time to do this. Kagome could not argue with him on any of those points, and she was definitely curious as to what he was talking about. So, she did as he told her.

Once out of the village, he picked up speed and careened through the dense forest.

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked. She was pressed tightly against his back, and her eyes were shut. He had never gone this fast before, the speed at which the trees raced by had begun to make her sick. After what seemed like a few minutes, he came to an abrupt stop. She opened her eyes and climbed down from his back. He grabbed her hand carefully, and led her to what appeared to be a large moss-covered boulder.

"This way." He reached for the moss, and revealed the boulder to be a cave. He gently tugged her hand, and they entered the darkness.

***

Sango dragged Miroku into the hut by the collar of his robes, and threw him onto a futon. She put her boomerang away, and collected the first-aid supplies. As she was heading back to the monk, she took a quick look around the room. She saw Shippou asleep on the floor, but her other companions were most definitely gone. ‘Where did they go?’ she thought, but shrugged it away. She figured that Midoriko had already awakened, and Kagome must have used this as an opportunity to talk to the ancient priestess. She let out a sigh and sat down next to Miroku.

"You know what I think?" Miroku’s voice came out in a ragged whisper. "I think you get-off on watching me bleed."

"What?" The comment had caught her completely off-guard. Miroku struggled a bit, but was able to sit himself up.

"Why else would you beat me up so much?"

"If you weren’t such an evil lecher, then I would do it as often." She turned from him smugly.

"I believe that is nothing more than your excuse." He pointed out to her. "It is my opinion that you do this just so you can fix me up afterwards. In short, you like taking care of me, and whenever you do something like this to me, it gives you an excuse to get close without revealing your true feelings." He smiled at her, his teeth being the only thing still intact on his face. She turned to look, but abruptly faced her back to him.

"That is not even close to being true. I beat you this time because you were just so mean. That was a very evil thing for you to do, I don’t think that even Naraku would stoop that low." Miroku coughed and grabbed Sango’s shoulder. She was surprised when it did not travel, and turned back to look him in the eye.

"I’m sorry, but if you would let me explain, I didn’t want to see you get hurt." His eyes were sincere and Sango saw something she rarely saw from within him. Truth.

"What do you mean by that?" She was still unsure of the meaning in his comment.

"I knew that I could do nothing to help you, since I had to heal for a week. I thought that by playing the victim of memory loss, I could keep my pride from not being able to do anything."

That is when it dawned on her. ‘He didn’t want to be out there with us. If he had gone and seen me hurt, I think it is more than his pride that would have been broken.’ She smile and love welled up in her eyes. Sango just reached out and hugged Miroku. Sadly, she had bruised his ribs in the previous beating, and he passed out from the pain.

"Oh, sorry." she whispered, then placed him gently on the futon. She turned back to the first-aid kit and began dressing his wounds.

***

Inu Yasha led Kagome through the cave until they came upon a chamber lit by a faint glowing moss that covered the roof.

"What is this place?" She looked around in wonder.

"Well, in simple terms, this is where I lived before I met Kikyo. My den, you might say. I haven’t been here in a long time. It’s kind of a personal place, if you know what I mean."

Kagome nodded and continued to take in the wondrous glowing moss that was around her. "I didn’t bring you here to ogle the lichens." This statement held many emotions under it and Kagome picked up on each one.

"Do you think that this is a good idea?" She asked. "I thought you had control of this form."

"That’s just it, I do. This feeling, this need has been around since I’ve gotten to know you. Everything is stronger in this form, including my feelings for you." he leaned towards her and took her lips with a vigor and force that she could never even imagined. So much flowed through the kiss that Kagome knew the driving force behind it. Love. Not the kind of love shared by the cheerleader and a football player in the backseat of a car after winning the state championship. No, this was definitely different. This love was one that held care and need. The caring to give what was wanted, but the need to take what was desired.

He entered her lips with his tongue, and began to stroke her own with it. He was begging for her to taste him just as he was doing her. At first, the act surprised her, but she relaxed into it and allowed her body to do as it pleased. She pushed his tongue out of the way and allowed her senses to take in every part of him. He tasted of everything forbidden, and she was wanting to reap of that tree. She pulled away to breathe, and he began to travel. He started licking her jaw line, and a shiver traveled down her spine. She gasped in pleasure, and he made a move. He wrapped his arms around her, and in a single move pulled her close and placed her gently to the ground. The floor of the cave was strangely soft, and enveloped the two lovers. He moved down to her feet and removed her shoes, then her socks. He gently took her left foot into his hand and began sucking teasingly on each toe. Passion spiked throughout her body. ‘How did he know that would effect her that way? Or did he just have some kind of foot fetish?’ Either way, she didn’t care. All she knew was that noone has ever managed to make her feel like this. Not that she really had the chance for it to happen either. She bit down on her bottom lip as he switched feet. Once finished there, he trailed his tongue up her right leg. She felt that she knew where this was headed and braced herself, but was surprised when he stopped mid-thigh and came to meet her face to face once again. He leaned in and nibbled on her ear. She realized that wanted this to be as important for her as it would be him. He breathed gently into ear and began to remove her blouse. She let him do as he wished and awaited what it was he planned next. Once he had removed her top, he took off his coat. He grabbed her hands, and placed them on his undershirt. She took the hint and removed his top as well. She massaged his bare chest a bit before he leaned in hard and fast. His hand was grasping his chest and he was breathing hard and his eyes widened in pain. He stood up and stumbled backwards in an agonizing manner. When his back hit a chamber wall, he slid down until he was in a seated position. His bangs now shadowed his eyes and he began to howl in agony.

Kagome sat up not caring that she was only in her bra and skirt. She stood and ran over to Inu Yasha. When she reached him, he turned his face to her. Kagome looked at the white globes in front of her, and her own eyes filled with a bit of sadness. Midoriko noticed this, and quickly took in the scene around her.