LOL, who would have thought that so many of you find Naraku a little sexy! 
Well, I hope that not too many of you are disappointed with this being a Inuyasha/Kagome fic - Im a complete and utter sucker for that pairing. (Although I do find Naraku?.interesting 
) I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please do let me know what you think, Im always appreciative of reviews!
Second Best
By kmf
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Language, Limey in parts
Chapter Two
"I would not let you be alone"
The words echoed in Kagome's mind as she felt Naraku's warm lips graze across her own.
Being alone.
Being left behind.
Being abandoned.
Inuyasha leaving her to be with his first love, his only love. The one who had died believing it was by his hand and who sought revenge against those who had wronged her.
Kikyou.
Stinging tears welled up in Kagome's eyes, spilling over to run down her cheeks as she stared into Naraku's beautiful face. She had watched Inuyasha leave her once before, embracing Kikyou's closely, his head buried in her neck. And although he had not physically left that time, it was then that he had mentally left Kagome behind. He had distanced himself from her, told her clearly of his promise to Kikyou.
Kagome had accepted it, as she accepted all things about Inuyasha. It was enough for her to be with him. And as months had turned into years she found herself happy with their inability to collect all the shards; it meant that she had longer with Inuyasha. But sooner or later, the shards would all come together. The jewel would be reformed. Inuyasha would have his wish or Naraku would destroy him.
And either way he would leave her.
Naraku's fingertips softly wiped the tears away from her cheeks, his fingers gentle and sensual against her skin. He trailed them down her jawbone, caressing her neck, following the line of her kimono round to her chest where they lingered over her collarbone.
He wanted her. Kagome could see it clearly through tear blurred eyes. He saw her for herself. Although he had once desired Kikyou, he now desired her. He didn?t see her as a pale copy of the dead miko, but he saw her for herself. And Kagome could not help but feel drawn to that. As he lowered his lips down to hers once again she found that she could not protest, she could not push him away.
The kiss was deeper this time, more confident and assured, his hands loosing themselves in her hair, his body pressed firmly against hers so that she could feel his desire for her. She allowed him to kiss her, but she did not kiss back. She stood passive, her arms by her sides, despite the curious need that was welling up in the pit of her stomach. Even though she felt desire flood through her, a want of comfort, protection and love, she could not act on it
Sighing a little, he pulled away and looked down at her, his head tilted slightly to one side as he regarded her. His mouth pulled into a small smile as his hands once again traveled over her body.
"You prefer a half life to what I can give you?" the question was soft and tinged with a hint of sadness, his eyes penetrating demanding an answer. His hands continued to touch her, exploring her body making her breath come faster. "Perhaps you are not so different from Kikyou after all."
The words made her stiffen and pulled her from the trance into which she had fallen. She stepped backwards, away from the reach of his fingers and wiped her eyes angrily before staring up at him.
"Just what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded angrily.
Naraku smiled, allowing her to move from his reach. "Both of you live half lives to be with the Hanyou," he said, tilting his head the other way as if observing her from a different angle, "Kikyou is dead but half alive in her need for him. You are alive but half dead from your need for him. He makes both of your existences miserable. But I would free you from it if you would just ask."
He paused looking beyond Kagome. For the first time, he frowned, "It seems that we have run out of time," he said quietly as he encircled her once again in his arms and bent his mouth again to claim hers hungrily, his hands touching her breasts and sliding down to between her legs.
This time she did struggle. No one had ever touched her so intimately before and the shock waves of pleasure that wracked her body scared her. She pushed his chest hard attempting to free herself from his grip, but she found that she was not strong enough. Twisting her head she managed to free her mouth from his, but was disconcerted to find that his mouth traveled down to her throat, nuzzling her sensitive skin, nipping her and causing her knees to buckle from the unfamiliar sensation.
"I will be watching you," he murmured, his breath hot against her skin, "And when you decide that you want to be free of the dog I will be waiting for you."
For a moment, Kagome thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her for although his grip of her remained firm, his features became translucent. Looking around the room she saw that it too was fading, the cool greens and browns of the forest becoming visible as the walls of the room melted away. And even when Naraku had disappeared completely, for a moment she still felt his hands on her breasts and his lips against her throat tickling as they moved slightly. His voice echoed in her mind once more before the sensations faded from her skin.
"I will wait for you, my Kagome."
She collapsed to her knees, bringing her hands to her ears trying to block out the sensual whispers that called out to her. She bowed her head, her hair spilling over her face as she hugged herself trying to forget the feel of his hands on her body and the sensation of his lips against her own.
"Kagome!"
The sound of her name being called made her flinch and hold herself tighter, rolling up into the smallest possible shape that she could. She didn?t want him to touch her again, she didn?t want to feel his mouth against hers, she didn?t want the temptation rise within her; the desire to be the object of one man's affection and not the pale copy of a more important love.
"Kagome!"
Movement beside her made her wince again and hold herself tighter. A hand touched her shoulder, and she whimpered trying to pull away from the rough grasp. The hand tightened and shook her slightly, claws penetrating the thin layer of silk before pressing into her shoulder.
"Where the fuck is Naraku? Where are the shards? Why the hell do you reek of Naraku?" there was a pause before the rough gravelly voice became more gentle. "Kagome? Are you alright?"
Kagome opened her eyes recognizing the voice and the touch. She lifted her head quickly and saw Inuyasha crouched down beside her, his hand gripping her shoulder, his eyes narrowed as he sniffed her and a frown forming as he discovered he did not like what he smelt.
She could not help herself, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist conscious of him grunting in surprise. She closed her eyes tight and breathed deeply in his warm musky scent. When she began to compare it to the spicy scent that had been Naraku, she tightened her hold, closing her eyes and willing her mind to forget his touch, his scent and his voice.
Inuyasha growled, the sound rumbling in her ear as it pressed against his chest. She felt his arms go hesitantly around her, before his hands patted her back in a comforting gesture. She grimaced. Why couldn?t he touch her like Naraku had touched her? Why couldn?t he trail his fingers through her hair? Naraku gave her caresses and sweet words, but all she got from Inuyasha were curses and insults.
His hands moved away from her back and firmly grasped the tops of her arms. He pushed her away slightly and looked down at her. Tilting her head up she allowed herself to look into his face. But he wasn?t looking at her face. Instead his eyes were looking down at the chain around her neck, or rather at the bottle on the end of the chain which contained the shards.
Irritation rose inside her. She shook him off and stood as swiftly as the kimono would allow her to. Lifting the chain she shook the bottle.
"They are all there, Inuyasha!" she hissed angrily, "I haven?t lost any of your precious shards!"
She turned wanting to run away before he could see the hurt that she felt. Why was it that she always was second best? If not to Kikyou, then to the shards that they fought so hard to collect. Naraku's words echoed again in her mind. He wanted her for her sake, she was more important to him than the shards or the dead priestess that he had once desired. Hadn?t he proven that by not taking the shards from her when he could have easily done so?
Before she could take a step, Inuyasha grabbed hold of her arm, his claws tearing into the delicate material of her kimono. He pulled her back around so that she was facing him, his free hand coming up to grab her chin. He tilted her face back so that she was forced to look up at his face. His face was angry, and as his eyes traveled down her neck his scowl deepened.
"What the fuck is that?" He growled.
Kagome's free hand automatically rose to her throat, to the skin that had been made tender by Naraku's mouth. Had Naraku marked her in some way? She almost whimpered at the enraged expression on Inuyasha's face and she pulled desperately to be free of his grasp.
"What happened Kagome?" Inuyasha demanded, not letting go of her despite her efforts to be free. "You stink of Naraku; he is in your hair, your clothes, your skin.." he trailed off, bending down to sniff near her mouth, "Shit, he is even in your mouth!" For a moment his eyes flashed red with rage, before turning golden again. "Tell me what he did!" he demanded.
His rage fuelled her own. "What do you care?" she hissed back at him, pulling all the while against his grip, oblivious of the way her kimono sleeve was being shredded by his claws. Red welts marked her skin, but she ignored the sting; she wanted, needed, to be free of his grasp. "I still have the shards, I didn?t loose them! What does it matter what he did!"
The scent of her blood reached Inuyasha's sensitive nose and he glanced down at her scratched arm. Reluctantly, he let her go before he caused more damage. But as she turned to walk away, he placed himself in front of her blocking her way with his larger frame.
"What did he do?" he growled once more, his fists clenching.
"He kissed me!" Kagome said, shoving Inuyasha's chest with both her fists. "He touched me!" Again she shoved him, "He said he wanted me! Not the shards, not Kikyou, but me!" She continued to push Inuyasha emphasizing each word she spoke.
Inuyasha's face became cold and hard as she spoke the words. Then without saying anything he bent, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Kagome could not hold back the little shriek that welled up in her throat as Inuyasha launched himself into the air, bounding from tree to tree. Her head bounced uncomfortably against his backside as she struggled demanding to be put down but Inuyasha ignored her and continued on his way.
Before long, the blood started to rush to her head making her feel dizzy and unfocussed. Bright white flecks danced across her vision as she held her eyes tightly shut and an odd roaring in her ears all but deafened her. She was so disorientated that she did not notice when Inuyasha suddenly let her go.
The shock of ice cold water made her exhale sharply, and, opening her eyes, she watched the bubbles from her released breath pass before her with detached numbness. Then she realized that she was in dire need of oxygen. Struggling, her head broke the surface of the water and she inhaled gratefully before a clawed hand on her head forced her once again under.
This time water went up her nose causing a burning sensation around the back of her eyes and throat. Did Inuyasha mean to drown her? It was impossible for her to shout out the word that activated his subduing spell when she was under water, so if he did mean her mortal harm there was nothing that she could do to prevent it. But before she could consider her predicament any further, his hand slipped down to her shoulder and grasped the fabric of her kimono pulling her back up out of the water.
He sniffed her once again, his mouth turning up slightly at one corner.
"Thats better," he said, "I couldn't think while you reeked of Naraku."
Kagome tread water whilst she coughed and spluttered, the fabric of her kimono weighing her down and tangling around her legs. Inuyasha gazed at the sky blue fabric, his eyes narrowing. His hands flexed showing his claws.
"Don't you dare!" Kagome read his thoughts easily, floundering further away from Inuyasha.
He caught her easily and bent his nose down to the fabric, sniffing. He frowned but seemed to find it acceptable, as he made no further efforts to remove her clothing. Instead, he took her by the arm and dragged her to the waters edge, pulling her out of the lake when she found the weight of her kimono made it almost impossible for her to leave the water on her own.
She sat on a rock, shivering with cold. Her hair hung about her face dripping with water and her kimono clung to her uncomfortably. She glared at Inuyasha and he glared back at her, his arms crossed and his foot tapping in irritation.
"Now what the fuck were you saying?" he growled at her.
Her only response was to sneeze loudly.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Feh!" he muttered and turned striding off into the woods surrounding the lake.
Kagome watched him go, her heart sinking. Why on earth had she said what she had? After so many years of following Inuyasha and being content with her place as his friend, why had she now yelled at him that she was tired of being second best? She lowered her head studying the silk that clung to her knees. Probably because, if she was honest with herself, she had never been content as just his friend. But she had kept silent and accepted how Inuyasha viewed her because for so long as she did she could remain close to him.
But after Naraku declared himself to her, after he had said that he thought of only her, it made her long for what could be. It felt nice to be the first in someone's affections, even if that someone was Naraku. And what she wouldn't give to be first in Inuyasha's affections. But Inuyasha had always made it clear that he had pledged himself to Kikyou and would save her, even at the cost of his life. How could she ever compete with a love for which he was willing to make such a sacrifice.
.
The crack of wood against stone brought her head up again. Inuyasha had returned, dropping an armload of wood on the rocky shore of the lake. Moving stones into a circle, he stacked twigs before pulling a hand full of hair from his head. Pushing the hair into the twigs, he used it as tinder to light the fire, screwing up his nose a little as the acrid smell of burnt hair assailed his senses. Then his face became blank as he concentrated on the fire, gradually feeding the small flames larger and larger pieces of wood until the fire was established.
Kagome could not help but lean closer to the flames, holding her hands out in front of herself in an unconscious effort to gather the warmth to her. Inuyasha sat cross-legged beside her. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes while she eyed him warily.
"Naraku's words mean shit," he said keeping his eyes closed. "He wanted the shards, not you."
Kagome felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation.
"He could have had the shards, but he didn't take them," Kagome grated, her fists clenching, "He wanted me. You might find it incomprehensible that someone would want me, but-" She was cut off by Inuyasha snorting.
"He wanted you for the power you have," he said without opening his eyes, "And with you go the shards. His mouth is full of lies and you must be a fucking idiot not to realize it!"
Kagome surged to her feet, her voice cracking with emotion.. "Of course! How stupid of me! No-one could ever want me for being me." She bit her lip as tears started to well up in her eyes and she spun around as fast as her sodden clothes would allow ready to stride off.
A red clothed arm wrapped around her chest, and she found herself being pulled back into the warm embrace of Inuyasha. Heat radiated from his chest, burning into her back and his hair tickled the side of her face as he bent his head down to her ear. His breath was hot causing shivers to pass up and down her chilled body as he held her tightly.
"Make me fucking understand what happened!" he demanded.
TBC
