A Smell So Sweet by BelovedStranger

Gallant Knight

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Prompt: Thyme

Canon version. I hope you all enjoy!

“Here you go,” Kagome cheerfully said, handing over a ramen bowl to Inuyasha. It always amused her to watch his eyes light up with childish delight and obvious hunger for the simple meal.

Greedy, clawed hands all but snatched the bowl from her, and she was unable to suppress a small chuckle as she watched him attack his noodles, stuffing his face much like her younger brother was wont to do.

If only he would act like that towards my homemade cooking, she thought wryly before giving him a paper napkin he would most likely ignore.

Standing, she went to Sesshomaru and offered him a bowl as well. It was only polite she offer everyone lunch as the Western Lord and his small group had unexpectedly shown up while she had been preparing their afternoon meal. Rin was obviously the reason for the impromptu visit as the little girl had admitted to missing her and Shippo.

Inuyasha had, at first, blustered, refusing to allow his brother to stay anywhere near him, but a few ‘sitting’ sessions from Kagome shut him up in minutes; however, it was the threat of refusing him his precious ramen that really got his attention if he didn’t play nice with Sesshomaru.

The demon lord had merely remained silent yet watchful during the whole display. He seemed truly fascinated every time she used Inuyasha’s subjugation beads. She had a gut feeling he was amused by the display, but so was she half the time, so who was she to judge?

“Thank you, miko.”

Kagome was slightly surprised that Sesshomaru had not only thanked her, but reached out to take the offered food. His longer fingers grazed innocently along her own as the ramen exchanged hands and she shivered in response. When he looked at her inquiringly, she blushed and opened her mouth to say only God knew what when Inuyasha’s brash yelling interrupted her.

“What the hell, Kagome? First, you let this asshole interrupt lunch, now you’re actually giving him my ramen? Hell, no!”

Kagome, who was still crouching beside Sesshomaru, looked over her shoulder at her hanyou friend, gifting him with an exasperated stare. “It’s not your ramen, Inuyasha. Don’t be so greedy, jeez.”

Turning back to Sesshomaru, she offered him her favorite handkerchief. It had an embroidered image of a bee hovering over a patch of thyme. She had run out of napkins, and without any other option, offered the cloth out of politeness. Continuing, she said, “If you want it so badly, you’re more than welcome to try and take it from your brother, but my money is on him.”

As she stood, Inuyasha sputtered indignantly, “Half-brother!” Then shooting his older sibling a death glare, continued brashly, “I could easily take that ass—hey, monk! What did you do that for?!”

Kagome turned to watch Inuyasha rub his scalp as if he had suffered a blow. Miroku calmly picked his ramen back up before speaking. “You are being rude and obnoxious, Inuyasha. The lovely Kagome had just slaved away at the hot fire to prepare this delicious meal, and you waste your breath with slander. Have a care for the woman’s feelings.” Then he commenced eating his meal with much more gentlemanly tact than his half-demon friend.

Grumbling under his breath that everyone was a traitor, Inuyasha continued to wolf down his ramen, blatantly ignoring everyone while glaring at the ground before him.

Sighing, Kagome settled down beside Rin, which put her in close proximity to Sesshomaru.

“Kagome? What is that picture on that piece of cloth you gave to Sesshomaru-sama?” Rin asked, breaking into her thoughts.

Smiling down at the child, Kagome answered. “It’s an embroidered image of a bee hovering over a patch of thyme, Rin. In another culture, such a thing would be considered a gift given by a lady to the man she saw as her chosen protector. It is a very romantic gesture.”

Closing her eyes, Kagome sighed as an image of a handsome knight smiled down at her while she presented him with her gift appeared in her mind. What girl didn’t dream of her dashing, white knight?

“Yah, right. That’s so stupid. Don’t tell me you actually believe that drivel?” Inuyasha’s harsh criticism snapped her eyes open to spit fire at him for his words.

“Sit boy.”

Inuyasha cried out in surprise as he held his ramen out in a swift move to save the rest of his meal while his face once again greeted the dirt.

Sniffing, Kagome turned her head, ignoring his cursing form, her eyes falling on Sesshomaru, who was regarding her with an unfathomable expression. Before she could inquire about it, Shippo’s and Inuyasha’s loud fighting words interrupted her, causing her to sigh and shake her head at their childish antics.

Later that night, Kagome stole away to the hot springs they had camped near for a well-deserved reprieve from Inuyasha’s attitude when Sesshomaru had yet to take his small group and leave as he normally would after a brief visit. Kagome didn’t know why the demon lord’s routine was different this time, but she was equally glad to be away from under his intense, golden gaze which he had leveled upon her for the majority of the day and into the evening.

Settling her supplies on a large rock, she quickly divested herself of her clothing and sank into the steamy pool with a blissful sigh. She quickly washed her body and shampooed her hair since all she really wanted to do was lay back and enjoy the water’s soothing warmth.

However, she heard a noise intrude on her contentment, and she quickly turned her head with panicked eyes until her chocolate orbs fell on Sesshomaru. Then she made a small choking sound as she tried to swallow an instinctive shriek of maidenly modesty.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she sputtered, crossing her arms over her chest and swimming to the other side of the pool, curling up into a tight ball as far away from him as she could get without actually stepping out of the small pool. “Can’t you see I’m bathing?!”

He simply replied, “Yes,” before his hands lifted to unclasp the intricate clasps of his armor.

She watched transfixed until he deposited his armor on the ground. Before he could stand back up from his bent over position, she was already nervously demanding, “What are you doing?”

He stood regally, eyes locked on hers, trapping her with a heated expression. She froze, her breath caught in her lungs as she watched spellbound as his hands went to his haori.

“Undressing.”

She couldn’t answer. Her mouth had gone dry as his muscular, unblemished chest was revealed to her wide eyed stare. “Why?” she all but croaked, forced to wet her lips, trying to moisten her cotton mouth and only succeeding in drawing his attention to her lips. Holy Moly! That look could make any girl swoon.

“This Sesshomaru is joining you, miko.”

Surprised speechless, she nevertheless opened her mouth in an effort to speak, but then his haori fluttered to the ground at a careless shrug of his shoulders, and she was struck by his beauty. Never before had she seen someone so splendidly beautiful yet unmistakably masculine.

Her eyes drifted across the wide expanse of his shoulders, his skin alabaster white, and heart stopping gorgeous. Moving lower, her gaze took in his sculpted chest, pale nipples, and further down a set of washboard abs that did nothing for her thought process. How could anyone be that perfect?

Her gaze zeroed in on the small trail of white hair leading from just under his navel—which was impossibly perfect in shape as the rest of him—to run down his lower abs to disappear into his hakama which he was now reaching for and untying.

Voicing a shrill, “Eeep!” she quickly shut her eyes, her ears hearing the unmistakable sound of cloth rustling and settling to the ground.

“You can wait your turn! I’m in here!”

In answer, she felt the water gently move against her crossed arms and she knew he had just stepped into the pool. Talking quickly, she said, “You know what? You can have it. If you could just turn around and—“

She felt the water move around her waist, and her eyes unconsciously popped open to see his chest, which she had just been ogling not a moment ago, inches from her face. Her mouth going dry, her eyes glued on the perfection of his flesh, she felt fingers grip her chin and force her head back, her eyes colliding with amber.

She watched him bend his impressive height closer to her level, near her face, his breath brushing her cheek as he spoke in a low, rough tone. “Did you not previously give this Sesshomaru your favor, miko?”

Her eyes clouded with confusion. He must have seen it, for he continued, saying, “Your handkerchief.”

“Ah...that’s not what I...I mean you misunderstood—ah!”

Kagome tried to tell him he had misunderstood her motives for giving him her handkerchief, but he leaned forward and grazed his teeth along the column of her neck, making her gasp with pleasure.

“I think not, miko. I can hear your heart pounding inside your breast, smell your scent spiking with lust,” he rumbled near her ear.

Embarrassed by his easy reading of her body’s reactions, she pushed against the hard wall of his chest. Instantly, he grabbed her hand and placed it over his wildly beating heart. He silently showed her that he was just as affected by her closeness as she was by his.

His head descended again, but this time he settled his mouth against her own, kissing her with banked desire. As his tongue sought her mouth, opening her unresisting flesh; she tasted him. Her fingers flexed against the hard muscles of his chest, and she felt his other arm wrap around her waist, folding her into the contours of his rock hard body. 

His kiss made her dizzy with want, as did the feel of his flesh against her own. Chest to chest, abs against flat stomach, thigh to thigh, but the heavy length of his arousal startled her. Instinctively she tried to lurch back, shying away, but he tightened his hold, pressing her more firmly against his straining body.

Then his mouth left her own, moving erotically across her jaw to her ear where he whispered in a guttural voice, “Do not be afraid. It is another part of myself.” His mouth moved to her neck, pulling on the tender flesh, causing her to gasp in pleasure as lightning shot through her body, her neck obviously very sensitive.

Opening her glazed eyes, she saw the silver sheen of his hair so close to her face, and she moaned his name as need crashed through her small frame. For months she had been denying her growing attraction for this man, knowing it was yet another unrequited love waiting to happen, but now, with Sesshomaru so close, touching her intimately, she knew she still wanted him. It was more than lust, but was it love? The feelings he induced in her were too new and confusing to be sure.

However, she was confused by his motives. Never before had he shown any interest in her and yet now he treated her intimately, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. His mouth was at her collar bone, nipping gently, exciting her further as her breath came in short, breathless pants.

“Why...why are you doing this, Sesshomaru? Y-you barely know me,” Kagome asked.

With an arm still around her hips, keeping her close, he lifted his other palm to her left breast, molding the firm globe which had her breath hitching in her throat.

“I know,” he whispered wickedly to her, bending to her breast to lick the top swells of both with his slick tongue.

Goosebumps rose on her flushed flesh.

“I know you to be brave in the face of danger,” he murmured to her, his nose gliding between her aching breasts. “Powerful.” He kissed the tip of one peak and she jerked with the shock of it. “Compassionate yet filled with fire,” he rasped before suckling her nipple, drawing it deeply into his hot, moist mouth. His tongue lavished attention upon her nipple until it hardened and ached for more.

She leaned her head back, her fingers thrust into his long hair, her forearms holding his head close and immobile, encouraging him. His hand cupped the underside of her breast like an offering, caressing the bottom swell as he continued to suckle. Then he was moving to her other breast, lavishing the nipple with the same attention, while he pinched the abandoned side. She jerked against him, pleasure racing from her breasts to her woman’s flesh between her thighs in powerful waves. She thrashed and moaned under his pleasurable assault.

His hand was moving again, stroking down her flat stomach as he released her nipple from his hungry mouth with a pop. “You are rash, but tempered by innocent wisdom beyond your years,” he rumbled.

His searching fingers found her wet, hot folds. “I know you,” he repeated as his thumb circled her nub.

She gripped his biceps with both hands as her head shook from side to side, but not in denial of his words, but for the pleasure his wicked fingers gave her. She clung to him, surprised by his words, yet pleased.

When he leaned his upper body away from hers, she blinked through the pleasure and lifted her gaze to his.

“This Sesshomaru wants you.”

Then he was pressing a long finger inside her tight sheath.

As she rode his finger, she felt him thrust his penis against her hip, moving against her in an erotic dance. Forcing some coherency into her muddled mind, she reached down and wrapped her small hand around his pulsing flesh, stroking his cock in long pulls. His deep groan made her heart leap with added excitement.

“I know you, too,” she panted, needing him to know.

Leaning towards him, she kissed his chest. It was difficult to form words let alone think, but she managed. “I know how kind and honorable you can be.” She licked the disk of his nipple, hearing him growl with lust at her actions. “You’re firm, but not overly cruel.” She drew on his nipple with her lips while tightening her hold on his cock and he plunged his finger inside her harder before adding another.

It took her long seconds to catch her breath to say the last. “Reliable,” she moaned, “Capable.”

She was close. She could feel her womb tightening, her thighs quivering, as she labored for her next breath, her hand stroking along his flesh in a faster rhythm, wanting him to come with her.

She moaned his name, arching her back, almost....there...

But then he removed his finger, leaving her bereft. He removed her hand from his cock and she groaned her disappointment, but he was turning her around, bending her over a rock. She felt the round tip of his penis tease the wet folds of her sex, and she arched her back invitingly, needing him to assuage the intense ache he had created deep inside her.

“Please...” she begged in a low, husky voice, her hands flat on the rock, her eyes half closed as she waited, breath suspended.

She felt him lean over her, his hands engulfing her hips as he whispered near her ear. “We are about to get to know each other more fully, miko.”

He thrust forward, slowly pushing his engorged cock past her clasping folds, the untried tissue stretching to accommodate his large size. His hand quickly covered her mouth, muffling a scream of both pain and pleasure that escaped her lips as he took her from behind. She knew he didn’t want her to bring Inuyasha and her friends running at her cry of rapture, and she was grateful for his consideration.

Inch by slow inch he stretched her, forcing her to take him, and she loved his possession, craved this intimate act with him, only him. When she was sure she could take no more of him, he forced her to take yet another inch before he was finally fully embedded inside her. Then he held still, allowing her to grow accustomed to his penetration.

A few minutes later, he was moving. The discomfort had made her lose the orgasm she had previously been striving towards, but Sesshomaru proved to be a skilled and thoughtful lover, patiently reigniting her passions. His chest lowered over her back, pinning her down as he controlled her hips, forcing her to take his thrusting flesh harder, faster, before he let her go only to reach up and around to cup her swaying breasts. 

He massaged her swollen flesh, pinched her aching nipples, while he pistoned between her legs, stroking sensitive, inner tissue with each thrust of his impressive length until she saw sparks. Again he covered her mouth when she climaxed with a cry of ecstasy, her womb bathing him in her warm fluids.

He had stopped moving, allowing her to catch her breath, but still hard and buried deeply inside her. She felt his breath at her ear as he whispered huskily, “Another time, when we have more privacy, I shall take great pleasure in making you scream my name to the heavens, miko.”

His hips started pumping again at a fast yet controlled pace. This time, Kagome was more aware of her surroundings, of the water lapping around their straining forms, his legs forcing hers wide open, and the slap of his hips against her bottom with every forward thrust.

Now that she was calmer, having just felt the strongest most powerful orgasm of her life all thanks to the man still taking his pleasure from her, she could feel him. How he stretched her, made her feel impossibly full, and how his size hit every sweet spot inside her, over loading her senses. But, really, it was the sounds that he made that turned her on more, her body once again responding to his. He groaned and growled against her ear, his breathing coming fast and hard, his chest expanding with each breath he took.

All of a sudden, he straightened, his arms around her middle bringing her with him as he stilled inside her. He took a few slow steps back, never disengaging from her body, keeping her suspended in the air then he stopped. Before she could voice a question, he was gripping her thighs, raising her legs fully out of the warm water. He moved his hands at the bend of each knee, lifting her high up in the air while spreading her knees wide. Should anyone stumble upon them in that moment, all would see her pussy stretched and stuffed with his cock.

She felt him bend his legs, then his hips were thrusting, retreating, and plunging back in at a fast clip. His movements bounced her on his cock, taking him deeper than before as the head of his penis pressed against her womb with every upward lunge.

She fell back against his chest, her hands clinging to the bends of his arms as pleasure consumed her once more. She felt her breasts sway with Sesshomaru’s vigorous pounding, but she hardly noticed, her whole focus on where they were joined.

When he nuzzled her cheek, she turned her face towards him and their lips met. He devoured her. His tongue thrust inside her mouth, imitating the movement of his hips. His hunger for her mouth make it hard for her to breathe, but she wouldn’t change this moment for the world, answering his dominating tongue with her own even as she tightened her core, making it harder for him to pound inside her.

He growled at her actions and forced her legs farther apart, ramming into her, forcing her to loosen up for his possession. With a cry of both submission and rapture, she let him have his way with her, pushing her aching and needy flesh to the limit until he forced a mind shattering orgasm out of her.

As she came, she took him with her, his hot seed filling then escaping her pulsing core to gush down his balls and thighs. She felt his teeth clamp down where her neck met her shoulder, piercing the skin, but the small pain only made her climax roll through her longer.

Then it was over.

They were both breathing heavily, Kagome laying boneless against his heaving chest. When he moved, turned around and sat down, letting the warm waters lap over them, he rested his back against the same rock he had bent her over. Kagome noted he was careful not to disengage their flesh, and she was secretly glad. She didn’t want to be apart from him just yet.

She relaxed against his hard chest, content, a small smile hovering over her lips but then her eyes darkened on a thought. “Ne, Sesshomaru?” she hesitantly inquired.

“Hn,” his arms wrapped more snuggly around her middle as he rested his head back, eyes closed.

“What are we going to do now?” She was half afraid of the answer, fearing this was a onetime only deal. She still wasn’t sure of her feelings, and she yearned to understand his own.

She felt him breathe deeply, his chest expanding against her back. “You are mine, miko.”

Kagome wasn’t sure what that entailed, but for now it was enough. On a smile she said, “Okay.”

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The name Thyme is derived from the Greek thumos and/or the Latin fumus which both mean smoke. Thumos can also signify courage, bravery, style, elegance and sacrifice. Ladies, in the days of chivalry and knights, would often embroider a bee hovering above a spray of thyme upon scarves that they would present to their chosen protector. It was a compliment to say that someone smelled of thyme. It was burned as incense in temples, its sprigs preserved wine and fruit, its tea prevented nightmares, and it was grown to nourish beehives and provided a well-known scented honey.

Romans gave thyme to people who seemed melancholic or shy in the belief that thyme’s cheery scent could cure them.. Danish and German folklore list patches of wild thyme as a favorite place to find fairies. With its elfin leaves, delicate blossoms and subtle, woodsy flavor, it is easy to see why thyme might be associated with things elusive and magical, even in the kitchen.