Once again I post early. Be glad of it and bemoan the fact it will not happen again.

This is the last one folks. Story's end. And no, I didn't cop out with "Happily Ever After". Loyal readers know that I hate that ending. New readers know it wouldn't fit the tone of the story anyway. Just know that Kagome and Sesshoumaru know each other well, their relationship is strong supported by five hundred years of affection. Hardships will come and go. Happiness will burgeon and diminish but never completely die out. Hope is everlasting. These are truths they have learned together and taught their children. And that is a good lesson.

On a side note. I still have that other project I've been working on. I want to get a little further into it before I start posting, but if I start to suffer withdrawals from all my reviewers, I'll start posting it sooner. I loves yous guys. Heh! I'll warn you now, it's not quite as raunchy as this one is. It was started about the same time as this fic and for some of the same reasons though a different fic spurred me on for that one. Enjoy the last installment of SHE, I always encourage a look into my previous stories, and keep on the look out for the new one in the future.

I do not own: 1) Inuyasha, the characters or world therefrom. Those belong to Rumiko Takahashi. 2) the original idea that spawn this specific plot. That was borrowed from the first chapter of Fortunesque's Hot Salsa found on Dokuga.

Warnings: Mature content throughout. Possible Trigger content throughout. I warned you!

Safe and Sound

Sharp beams of sunlight pierced the veil of exhausted darkness that had cloaked the interior spaces of their bedroom. Kagome knew it was morning already, though her eyes remained closed. The lethargy of too much fun and games held her contentedly hostage. Sesshoumaru wore her out.

It wasn't a surprise, he often wore her out this close to mating season. Pheromones and instinct drove him and quite honestly, she enjoyed it. What had been a bit unusual with the potent mix of biological urges under the influence of that specific chemical stimulant, was that her mate had only resorted to toys, fingers and tongue. Sesshoumaru had fingered and licked her until she had over come the drying effects of her bath. Generally, he preferred to encourage her to produce the natural lubricant that way as opposed to resorting to his wish derived command. Kagome usually preferred it that way too. No matter what games followed.

Her lover usually started their nights arousing her uncontrollably before pushing her into orgasm at least two or three times. Kagome swore he waited until she went cross-eyed with desire before moving past the foreplay and on to the main event. The inu loved to build her up to an inferno and got incredibly creative in the ways he did so, using the youki lines that traced her skin, the knowledge gained from loving her for hundreds of years, and the toys that had only come into production in the last century or so. Most of their nights involved some toy getting lost inside her intimate person, stretching, filling her, and just aggressively fucking her at Sesshoumaru's direction.

She swore he loved to see things disappear inside her. It fascinated him. Once, several weeks ago, he called her on her lunch break and surprised her with some very pointed sexual orders. Somehow Sesshoumaru had snuck a pair of vibrating bullets into her purse when she wasn't looking. He'd asked her to insert one up each of the major orifices below her waist and turn them to the highest setting.

Kagome had been terribly aroused by the game to start with, but the vibrations were too much for her to handle and she came the minute her body registered the dancing eggs inside of her. When she came down she caught on to just what her mate was up to.

Sesshoumaru gave her half an hour to leave the things on inside her body, keeping her on edge. He gave her the power to order her own orgasm until the time was up, after which, even if she turned them off, her body would still react like they were pulsating away inside her. She was not to remove them until Sesshoumaru had the chance to remove it himself.

She also could not orgasm again without him.

It was so hard going back to work after that, with her body humming with increasing need to climax, concentration was difficult to acquire. Kagome had done her level best to last out the day with the piles of children running to and fro, though she was careful not to get too close, not to hug or pick them up for fear of what her unfocused thoughts would cause her to do while she wasn't paying attention. Her desperation for release continued to grow and the sight of her charges only left her yearning more for the culmination of sex that would, under normal circumstances, lead to the creation of such bundles of joy growing in her own body. Kagome often thought that way, though usually it wasn't in conjunction with thinking about sex. She thought about Sesshoumaru, but not the actions that lead to the result she was hoping for. Her brain was seriously messed up when she was so horny.

She knew she was ready to try again and Kagome hoped Sesshoumaru was too, she just hadn't expected it to become yet another thing to increase her libido. But that day it had, and for some reason, it had every day since. Policing her thoughts at work had become incredibly necessary and wasn't as difficult a task when her body wasn't betraying her the way it was that day.

She barely made it through the hours left in her work day. The restless energy had managed to convey itself to all of her coworkers and a number of the more sensitive children resulting in more incidences of hyper activity. By the time the last of their charges were returned to their parents, no few of her compatriots were exhausted and a handful of the children were drowsing in the arms of their caregivers. Even her boss had noticed and insisted that Kagome go home then instead of staying the extra hour to help clean up.

The woman's slightly indulgent if amused expression had hardly registered before Kagome was on her way to ambushing the male responsible for her state. Normally, even staying the extra hour at work to clean up toys and mats, fold blankets and scrub up whatever food had managed to get left in the strangest of places, Kagome would still beat Sesshoumaru home with enough time to cook herself something to eat.

Instead, she had traveled directly to his office, barging through security, secretaries, and into a meeting which she successfully broke up before kicking out every one except her target, locking the door behind them. Then she was on Sesshoumaru, shoving clothing aside and sliding him inside her dripping need before he had the chance to do more than harden in reaction to her aroused scent. She hadn't even bothered to remove the stupid toys first.

Naturally, as he had warned centuries earlier, anything she started Sesshoumaru finished. A sweep of his arm to clear the desk in front of him and she was sprawled out over it with him pounding away inside her.

Which is the most common way his efforts at foreplay with toys tended to end, with Sesshoumaru eagerly buried inside her body driving them both to ecstasy. Although, they were usually more careful of furniture and less likely to engage in play in such a public spot. Sesshoumaru had been required to replace the desk and the carpet under it along with two of his three secretaries afterward. The employees had apparently felt safe to comment on Kagome's integrity and virtue after that. Her mate refused to stand for it. The little snipes were lucky he hadn't resorted to more violent solutions. The inu could be ferocious in defending her honor.

The thought made her smile and encouraged her to open her eyes to the glare of day slicing into their haven. Kagome made no move beyond that. Hundreds of years mated to a youkai that seldom slept and suffered some form of minor abandonment issue had taught her the futility of trying to move away from him while he did sleep. If she shifted in her sleep in the middle of the night, there was no issue, but once she was awake his arms were rather like shackles. If she attempted to stretch while he was asleep beside her, his grip would turn almost punishing in the subconscious effort to lock her close to him.

His sleeping fears actually told her more than his waking mask and efforts to appear strong ever would. They told her that he worried she would leave, that someone would take her away and that Sesshoumaru never wanted to be separated from her. Some might argue that it was a result of inu possessiveness, and that was probably part of it, but the other reasons were also true. They all added up to a simple truth: that he wanted her, to keep her close and safe and well.

It wasn't a problem most mornings. Sesshoumaru didn't sleep often. He liked to watch her sleep in the hours when the human world slept and business was limited to only those that were likewise still awake and open. In fact it was odd for Sesshoumaru to sleep this close to the coming rut. He was usually wired leading into it, unable to sleep until he crashed in the exhausted aftermath.

Sesshoumaru was likely still being effected by the sedatives used to keep him down before his release. Though Kagome wasn't certain his being fully conscious would have altered the path their sexual game had taken last night. It wasn't the first time their night had been marked by a lack of proper coitus.

The most common instances occurred after the rut when they'd both been so incredibly over-sexed it was almost a relief not to. The years of his illness had likewise been characterized by desperate efforts on his part to push her to orgasm without mounting her. There was a brief period after Suguru's death where he couldn't bring himself to take that last move to utter physical intimacy as well.

Kagome had no doubt that once he woke up today, clear of the medicinal haze and she had talked him out of whatever guilt he assumed over the situation she'd just freed them from, their regular scheduled program would resume in earnest. She hoped anyway.

When he questioned his own worth as a mate they tended to run into problems. That was the worst cause for impotency as far as Kagome was concerned. Sesshoumaru's remedy was always to finger and lick and molest her in a non-stop orgasmic marathon until she was raw and exhausted and he felt that he had earned the right to mount her properly again. Then he would do just that until she completely passed out and she was certain her tunnel was about to bleed out from his use.

It was a rare problem. Sesshoumaru's inborn arrogance typically protected him rather well, but it did happen from time to time. Typically as a direct result of a council ruling.

Hmph! She should have purified the lot of them even more.

Kagome sighed loudly in the stillness that filled their room. She didn't have to look to know Sesshoumaru was wrapped around her with his limbs entangled with her own. He always slept that way, determined to maintain as much contact with her as possible. If there was a way for him to do it, there was no doubt in her mind that he would lock them both up away from the world so that they could always be close enough to touch. Despite the warning signals drifting up from below her waist, she wanted that too. At least for a little while after this latest insanity.

She knew the minute her inu came awake in the quiet dusk filling the air behind the curtains. There was a special kind of tension lacing his embrace that hadn't been there before. An anxiety that feared the things his senses were telling him weren't true.

As far as Sesshoumaru knew, he was to be kept incapacitated and unconscious until the rut ended during which time the woman seemingly in his arms was to be used by another male. He just had no way of properly assessing the situation without knowing a few important things, such as the fact he had only been taken away the night before last. He didn't know that Inuyasha was currently someone else's problem and would remain so for all eternity if Kagome had her way.

"Sesshoumaru?" the miko called to her subtly confused mate. "Sesshoumaru are you all right?"

"Why is this Sesshoumaru here, mate?" his voice rumbled against her back as the big inu reflexively clutched her tighter in his worry that she would disappear like the apparition he was certain she was.

Kagome took a moment to think of all the many ways she could answer that question as her bed partner slowly extracted himself from her body and left the bed. The moment he was free he turned to lift her from the rumpled bedding. "The Youkai Council was made to see the error in their judgment and returned you to this Kagome," she finally replied with a hidden smirk as he carried her back into the bathroom. She had little doubt that his intentions were to simply clean her up.

It always started that way on mornings neither of them had to work. Sesshoumaru would help her bathe their joint exertions from her skin, intending to allow her a needful soak afterward only to be distracted by the water running off her skin, the scents of sex – even if it was stale – and the prolonged exposure to her complete nudity. The next round was in the offing.

Whether this round would involve nothing but toys or the strong personal weapon of her lover, depended on just how much information she could get across to him before they got that far. "Impossible," he scoffed in disbelief. "The council is not known for admitting error even after decades have proven a decision as such."

Kagome huffed delicately, careful not to jostle too much of her sore body, "Then how are you here not two days after your removal?" She was a little miffed that he didn't believer her. True, it was practically unheard of for the Youkai council to reverse a decision once made, but it wasn't impossible, especially when one was a pissed off miko with enough righteous anger to forcefully prove her point. "How are you not fully unconscious in the custody of the kuma that incarcerated you while the air still reeks of pheromones?"

His golden eyes blinked down at her befuddled by the entire situation. Common sense and memory told him one thing while his ever truthful mate and senses told him something else. Sesshoumaru certainly couldn't deny the enticing scent hot-wiring his body's reactions indicating a truncated imprisonment. Despite his terrible confusion and puzzling weariness, he struggled to reconcile all the information into one cohesive reality that allowed him to keep his miko and follow the council's decrees. His turmoil only increased when he spied the mess left in the bathroom.

Sesshoumaru was fastidious when it came to cleaning up after their games. Every toy was thoroughly cleaned before being returned to its designated hiding spot. Kagome was very rarely conscious to witness this ritualistic cleansing, but she always took note of the result. "Did you allow the bastard halfbreed to use our toys on you?" he demanded with a snarl. His reason declaring it impossible for the mess to have been made and then left by himself.

If Kagome wasn't already so sore and completely exhausted, she would have knocked him on his ass, be-damned the consequences of such an outburst. It would almost be worth the inevitable bruising as she went down with him. Accusing her of doing anything sexual with Inuyasha of all people. She would never cheat on Sesshoumaru. No one ever even tempted her and he'd never foolishly accused her of it before. "Put me down you pompous prick! I'm going to slap you so hard your ass will break when it hits the floor! How dare you fail to acknowledge what your own nose is telling you before speaking to me!" her glare may not have been lethal, but she was very capable of backing up her threat.

Normally, Kagome wouldn't even think of resorting to violence against her mate, the occasional singeing aside, which he definitely deserved every time. "Observe a situation before drawing conclusions. Isn't that what you're always lecturing the pups about? Take your own damn advice!"

She shoved ineffectively against his shoulder, but the inu just clutched her tighter. She subsided with a huff. The strain was a bit much for her tired body to do more, but if Sesshoumaru didn't get his act together, she was more than capable of purifying something that would get his attention. Her reiki was seemingly endless most days and the ability to use it effortless. Kagome could be broken on the floor, reeling in exhaustion and still be able to purify some part of the (if not the entire) attacker.

Kagome swore that if he tried to peg the mess on her using the toys without him she would point blank tell him that a woman had needs and leave it at that. It would serve him right with all the times he and their sons claimed that men had carnal needs as excuses for excessive promiscuity. Raiden had been a virtual manwhore before he settled into his mating. Sesshoumaru had insisted it was allowable and normal for males, but god forbid the girls do the same outside the inu rutting season.

It was a long standing argument that came up every time one of the girls took a casual lover outside of the urges of their hormones to breed. A bone of contention that would always remain. Kagome disapproved of promiscuity in any of her children whatever their gender. Danger lay in that direction whether from communicable disease or simple jealousy or terrible heartbreak. The emotions of romance were risky to toy with.

Sesshoumaru set her down gently on the edge of the upside down bath cover. Normally, the cover would be returned to its correct orientation to hide the built-in restraints, but it was something else her semi-sedated mate had failed to correct before succumbing to rest the night-erm, morning before. "Hn," he questioned with his tone as Kagome carefully rolled back off her bottom to lounge over the hard flat surface. She was certain she could handle being on her feet or laying down, but anything in between would be incredibly uncomfortable.

Kagome watched her lover pick up the toys one by one and carefully inspect each before he cleaned them and hid them all away. He was meticulous about each, for each was a fond favorite or it would be hidden in the lost toy spot under the sink with the rest of the failed novelties. There were not as many favorites as there were failures given that every toy ever sold had been tried on her at least once. Sesshoumaru had exacting standards and a near obsessive fascination with the various types and designs, but only as applied to items that could be used on her.

Sesshoumaru never cared about anything that could be used only on him.

Eventually he worked through all the pieces laid about the floor to discover one of them missing. "Where is-" he began in a demanding tone.

"It's right where you left it," Kagome declared shortly. "Don't you remember?" She certainly did as the long thick dildo with a sturdy handle and grip was lodged up her ass. She wasn't looking forward to having the thing removed after being in so long. It wasn't painful per se, just uncomfortable. Removing it would be less than pleasing given that anything that had assisted with a smooth insertion was likely to be long past its usefulness now. Depending on his mood, it's very likely that he'll be quick to remove it.

On one side, it would be easier, like ripping off a band-aid, but it wasn't the best way. It would be better if she could calm him down first, then he would think of reapplying a lube and working it in around the toy as far as he could first. The extraction of fake phallus would still be awful, but easier to take then no matter the speed of removal. She would survive either way, and she wouldn't get angry with him. Using her body was his therapy, his way of working things out. She'd rather come out a little worse for wear physically than suffer emotional or verbal abuse. Not that the things he did to her were abusive. She sometimes liked a bit of pain, experience had taught her that. Making love was nice sometimes, being so turned on she couldn't see straight was nice sometimes, but nothing was worth the risk of going stale or becoming boring. Pain added an edge that sometimes felt nostalgic, like those long ago first episodes of sex between them.

Sesshoumaru's brow creased as he struggled to remember the night before. His eyes cleared a moment later, though the crease of disbelief remained, "That was a dream."

"What makes you think it was a dream?" Kagome asked as he grabbed at the toy they were concerned with. He didn't pull it out so much as press it farther in a fraction of an inch, causing her to grunt at the added pressure. Before he let go and the pressure receded slightly. She was still stretched to discomfort, still deliciously full beyond common capacity, but the feeling was back down to the dull sensation that had been her companion into sleep and back into waking.

But Sesshoumaru's attention had been diverted to the other toy stuck inside her. His words were to answer her question, his tone demanded explanation, "I didn't remember the journey home."

"Do you remember how you left?" she asked instead of addressing his new concern. Sesshoumaru's attention had been caught by the use of his newest toy inside her private tunnel. When he bought a new novelty, sometimes he liked to leave it in a spot untouched for weeks before using it. Instead he would fuck her to orgasm with her view locked on to the toy, whatever it was so that by the time he decided to use it on her she was predisposed to associate it with pleasure and sexual climax. It usually worked, but the ones that underwent that particular ritual weren't guaranteed to be favorites.

The big inu shook his head in frustration as the requested information failed to surface, "Hn." His tone was ponderous and surprised to find his memory so fallible.

"You were sedated, Sesshoumaru," Kagome reminded him. It took seriously powerful chemicals to knock Sesshoumaru out for any span of time. That strong a narcotic had serious effects on memory retention and perception. It didn't surprise her that he'd thought the night before was a mere unconscious fantasy. "The kuma came and took you."

"The hanyou." Sesshoumaru's tone was an amazing study in fear of the unknown, of what he was certain had happened and hope that what the council had ordered happen to his mate had not come to pass.

"Hmph!" Kagome huffed with a scowl, "That jerk is learning a long, painful lesson about failing to get the proper permission from the right person before acting against me."

"He had council backing-"

"Do I look like a youkai council?" Kagome scoffed coyly. "Hell, do I even look like a youkai anything?" The smirk on her face was only slightly sadistic. She didn't have the correct personality to achieve a proper lasting sadism like Sesshoumaru sometimes could, but she could act it when necessary.

"Hn, Inuyasha might argue that point," Sesshoumaru finally relaxed a little. "What did you do mate?"

"His release from punishment is contingent upon me forgiving him enough to tell you," Kagome answered lightly feeling as Sesshoumaru reached back to the toys still stuffed inside of her. He pointedly jostled the handle with his displeasure causing the length of it to wiggle against her used and sensitive insides. She choked back the aroused squeal, refusing to let on how much she was enjoying toying with him. He needed the opposition, soft as it was until he was driven to instinctive reaction, to prove strength and dominance. She knew him so well, knew what he needed to be himself. And she preferred him as himself.

"And the Council?"

"I'm sure you'll hear about it after the rut," Kagome shrugged casually. There was no question he would get some version of events. Likely the youkai version would be different from hers, one that didn't make her out to be as in control of the situation as a powerful miko forcing them to capitulate to her rule. They would diminish her strength to make them feel better, look better than reality portrayed them. She didn't care what version Sesshoumaru got as long as they never forgot the lesson.

"Tell me now, mate," Sesshoumaru demanded, tugging at the fake dick up her rump.

"What on earth do you think a little girl like me could do to a youkai council?" she refused to divulge what he wanted. From her lips he might take what she had done as an indication that she didn't view him as capable of protecting her or doing his job as mate. From the lips of others it would come across the way as she meant it. That He was the council's protection from her, making Sesshoumaru her equal and partner the way it has always been.

Her reward was a sharp yank that removed the handled dildo from inside her rather abruptly. Her exclamation was wordless, like the screams she gave out during contractions, though not as loud. Kagome shifted slightly after the act was done and Sesshoumaru turned to clean the toy for storage. He paused and reached back between her legs to touch on the other toy he'd left there. A quick flick of his claws and the thing came to life in a way she hadn't known it could.

Intense vibrations and a strong sensation of shallow thrusting rolled her eyes back in her head. "Did this Sesshoumaru tell you about the story behind that particular design?" he blandly asked her as he turned back to the task of inspecting the inert dildo in his hand. "It was designed by an Irish wolfhound youkai having difficulty courting the female of his choice. He wanted to be her only male and she refused to submit. In a clever, if desperate act, he developed a very special tool for female stimulation. It was made to youkai proportions with motors that would both vibrate and simulate thrusting, driving the female who used it mad with pleasure. The catch is that it will not stop until a youkai's seed is spilled in close proximity to the toy in use. You will be stuck with that thing inside of you until I deign to mount and fill you."

Kagome was already approaching climax having barely heard what he had said. But she was coherent enough to continue her nominal defiance, "So what? Did he fuck her after tricking her into using it?"

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru commented evenly. "He gifted her the device and came when she called after realizing her predicament. He refused to mount her until she promised to commit to a mating."

"Was the mating allowed to stand?" Kagome knew enough that if there were other possible males vying for the same female a promise made under such circumstances could be contested.

"Wise, miko," Sesshoumaru glanced her way as he settled the last favorite into the place reserved for it. "It was not, another male had better claim. The council ruled in his favor. The transgressor was sentenced to ownership under Angel's program." Probably forced to stud by council stipulation. Another case of the punishment fitting the crime. "The female so sinned against asked for and received the designs for the toy which was then marketed with two different versions. The human design has smaller measurements and an off switch. The youkai design is as close to the original as could be contrived since the female wouldn't give it up."

Kagome's brain fuzzed in and out with the coming and ending orgasms dragged from her body, but she heard most of her mate's words and at least the gist of everything she hadn't. She was growing desperate to be filled with Sesshoumaru for more reason than the toy pulsing away at her womb. Her hands were starting to shake from more than arousal. She was starting to feel the edges of hunger. Their games last night combined with the continued exertion of today had exhausted her reserves. She was in bad shape for this. Centuries had taught her the signs of when she was nearing a danger point. If this went on much longer, if she expended much more energy she was going to start starving.

Kagome could bring his attention to it. Sesshoumaru knew the dangers as well as she did. Better, for he dealt with the clean up, and he was usually more attentive to her health. She needed to fix this fast, but she needed to do it without seeming to do anything. "What-hm-what did he call it?" Sesshoumaru generally found the design names amusing. For instance, one of the toys he'd just put away was named the "Punisher", it was twelve inches long, eleven of those insertable and pleasingly girthy. But it was flexible and made of a fairly soft material. He didn't think of it as much of a punisher and neither did she after so long of Sesshoumaru's personal sex.

"The wolfhound had a sense of humor. He was courting a wolf so he named it the "Silver Bullet"?" Finally the inu approached her, settling in to scent her closely with clawed hands roaming the contours he loved best. His mouth found hers to nip at her spunky grin. He wasn't completely unaware of what she'd done and was doing for his benefit, they'd known each other far too long.

Kagome moaned her desperate pleasure against his probing tongue. Centuries had allowed her lover to perfect the kind of kissing she'd always looked for. And then he had gone beyond what she'd always wanted into what she never knew she needed in oral affection. He ended the kiss to turn her over and drag her to the end of the bath cover until her legs hung off the edge and he mounted her.

Sesshoumaru thrust once, twice, thrice and exploded inside of her leading the toy to switch off. She climaxed a minute later when she absorbed the semen she'd needed so badly.

Kagome came down with a sigh. "I'm glad you're home, Sesshoumaru."

"Hn, this Sesshoumaru is glad to be home, mate," her lover replied before pulling out and finally freeing her of the "Silver Bullet". After secreting their newest sex accessory in its very own hiding spot, he turned on the water for the shower and lifted Kagome into his arms. Their morning resumed its regular course. An interrupted effort at bathing followed by more amorous activities that in no way involved unnecessary toys or add ons. Just Kagome and Sesshoumaru together the way they'd been from the start.