Haruka nods. “Of course. Jae, have you ever been sick? Perhaps a cold or the flu?”

Jae laughs, and I’m relieved. Haruka’s questioning feels intense, but I also see what he’s driving at. “I don’t think so,” Jae answers. “Lucky, I guess? Haruka, I am not a vampire. I don’t drink blood and I’ve never wanted to. I’m just… weird. And…”

“Yes?” Haruka encourages.

“I… I’ve had lower-level vamps bite me before. They say I’m pretty disgusting. Bluntly, actually. If I were a vampire, I’m certain that wouldn’t be the case.”

At this, Haruka sits back and picks up his wine glass, bringing it to his lips. This last bit of information… It says something. Significant. Haruka recognizes as much and has clearly come to a decision. He raises his eyebrow before he takes a long sip. “Not necessarily.”

The rest of dinner is much less tense. Whatever Haruka was digging for, he’s satisfied with the result. Afterward, when I’m standing outside the stone walls of the estate with Jae, I exhale a sigh.

“Well, my apologies for our host tonight. He’s usually much more laid-back than that. I didn’t think we were walking into an interrogation.”

Jae shakes his head, smiling. “No, no. It’s okay. It was… interesting to talk about those things. I’ve had the thing with my mother bobbing around in my head for years, so it was nice to hash it out, actually.” Jae runs his fingers through the back of his hair and laughs. “And Haruka is quite… compelling? It almost feels like I have to answer him. He’s like vampire royalty.”

I narrow my eyes at this. His word choice, coupled with the tense discussion of whether or not Jae could be a vampire, raises a flag in me. “Do you feel compelled to answer him? In some innate way?” I ask. Haruka is young, but his bloodline is very old, which deeply impacts all ranked vampires he encounters. Whether they want it or not. We’re all very fortunate that he’s more of a levelheaded introvert than a power-hungry egomaniac.

Jae frowns at me. “Christ, Jun—not you too? I’m human. Do you really think I’m standing here as a vampire and wouldn’t know it?”

“Truthfully? I don’t know, Jae. You smell good to me and register as attractive to my innate nature, which is unusual. But you don’t feed—don’t want to feed—and you’re healthy. So maybe you’re right? Or maybe you’re a low-level vamp and you ignore your diluted bloodline?” Although low-level vamps never smell as good as he does…

Jae shrugs. “Maybe? Anyway, I know what I feel. I’m human… a human with a great deal of anxiety.”

This doctor with his radiant skin, chestnut eyes and this neat little outfit that he clearly picked off a mannequin at an upscale department store. I don’t usually have sex in my house, but I’m considering taking him home with me. That sounds strange, but because of my circumstance with my source, I always conduct my intimate affairs and relationships when I’m abroad and stay clear of the aristocracy—my home. In the rare times I’ve met someone in Japan, it’s usually Tokyo or Sapporo, somewhere far off where no eyes are watching me.

In this current context, there’s no way to say, “Should we get a hotel?” without sounding sleazy and arrogant. That’s not how I do things.

Jae is standing beside me until he does a half-turn so that he’s directly in front of me. Our bodies are almost touching, but he puts his hands behind his back and looks up at me from behind his black-framed glasses. “You’re quiet?”

I’m remembering yesterday, when he shocked the hell out of me and slid his fingers against my cock and gripped me. I don’t know what I was expecting when I walked into his office to say hello, but it was not that. That… was a glorious surprise. And kissing his sensual little mouth was even better.

For some reason, I expected him to be shy. He’s not exactly short, but much shorter than me and with a lean frame. I assumed I’d have to make the first move. He constantly shifts between insecure (ashamed?) and brazen, but I love his feisty, bold spirit. I never know what I’m going to get, and it’s enthralling. It’s not easy to catch a one-hundred-and-thirty-year-old vampire off guard, but he succeeds over and over again.

I look down at him, but I don’t kiss him. I could. He’s right there. “I’m thinking.”

“About?” He’s staring up at me. It feels like he’s goading me to take his mouth. Earlier at the train station, he went rigid when I kissed him out in the open, but we’re the only ones on this street now…

I lean down and brush my nose into him. He closes his eyes and sighs, returning the gesture. He really likes this. “You,” I say, “and me.”

“Doing terrible, very bad no-good things?”

I laugh. “Is that what you want, Jae?”

“Yes,” he breathes, still caressing his nose into me. He tilts his head and lifts his chin, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “Do you?” he whispers.

Caving, I wrap my arms around his waist and bring him into me. He puffs out a breath when he hits my chest and groin, then smiles. I kiss him again before I say, “I would rather do wonderful, beautiful, very good things to you, if that’s okay? Will you come home with me?”

He lifts, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pressing his body even tighter into me. I squeeze him because he feels marvelous and warm. He whispers against my mouth, “Absolutely.”

Sixteen

Jae

Junichi has a cat. She’s black, with a black leather collar and golden eyes.

At first, I was shocked by this. And she likes me. Junichi is shocked by that. The moment I kicked my shoes off and stepped onto the hardwood floor, she started slinking around my legs. When I petted her, she arched her back up into my palm. Her name is Lulú. He told me she usually scratches and hisses at anyone who comes in besides him, and he has to yell at her to go upstairs (apparently, she listens, which I find remarkable). Anyway, I consider this a good thing. Lulú is definitely in my corner.

Naturally, Junichi’s house is exceptional. It’s like a fashionable rainforest. The walls of the hall are creamy and warm with soft lighting, but his main living room is painted in a deep, deep green (like, navy green). There are loads of plants, interesting pictures framed in black and white, and his plush sofa is the color of sunflowers. The entire back wall of the house is glass, and I can see grass outside, a privacy wall of bamboo and a patio with comfy-looking furniture.

I’m only able to glance at these things, because Junichi holds my hand and pulls me through the open living room and kitchen area, then down a narrow hall. It’s thrilling. I’m in Junichi’s house and it’s saturated with his scent: the epicenter. His hand is warm and firm, sending something like electric shocks up my arm. I can’t catch my breath.

His bedroom is dark. The glass wall continues into this space, so the soft blueish haze of the moon is the only source of light. He’s pulling me toward the bathroom and smiling. “Can we shower first?”

I nod. I showered before I left Himeji for dinner, but what the hell? We can damn well do anything he pleases.

What’s mind-blowing to me is that there’s more. If we didn’t do anything else besides that shower, I would feel like the luckiest man in the world.

Junichi has an impressive shower, like a large stainless-steel box raining down water from the ceiling. It was perfectly warm and his large hands were all over me, and mine on him, as if we were cautiously trying to figure each other out. People-shaped Rubik’s Cubes.

While he was kissing me and my mind was focused on his mouth and the slippery heat of him against me, his hands slid down to my arse. He stuck one of his long fingers inside me, and it was so gentle and slow that it took me a moment to register it.

When I did, though, it made me feel dizzy because of how good it felt. It didn’t burn or feel awkward like it usually does when a guy does that to me. His mouth was hard on mine—his cock sliding against me and his free hand stroking my lower back and the hot water raining down… It’s like there were too many sensations to manage, and all of them felt incredible.

I’m in his bed now, naked and on my back with a pillow tucked underneath my hips. That’s new too. I’m elevated slightly. A sex ramp. He’s got two slick fingers inside me and his head is slowly bobbing between my thighs. My cock is in his mouth, and I can feel his tongue licking and sliding against me as he twists his fingers inside me. He keeps pulsing them, so slowly, in and out. I groan, stretching my lower spine. God this feels so good. All of it—the cool, soft sheets against my back, his free hand caressing my hip, the clean, lavender smell of him as I inhale. The orgasm is bubbling low and hot in my groin, like he’s slowly pulling it from me. Cultivating and releasing it for me.

“Jun.” I breathe his name just before it rushes from me and all through me, making me tremble and stiffen until it releases its hold on my body. I said his name to warn him that I was coming, but he kept his head there, steadily licking and tasting me. My chest is heaving when he pulls his head up. He licks my tip, and it is the sexiest shit I have ever seen—like he couldn’t get enough of me and wants every drop.

He lifts. I suck in a breath when I feel him press a third lubed finger inside me. It’s incredible. Already I feel the warmth of pleasure bubbling in my groin again.

When he’s hovering over me, he rests down on one elbow because his other hand is still busy inside me. His long body is perfect—beautifully brown and smooth like peanut butter and with elegantly defined muscles. A smattering of silky dark hair on his chest. I spread my thighs wider, letting him stretch me to his heart’s content.

“Are we okay, sunshine?” he whispers. The warmth of his breath grazes my skin. I lift my chin, parting my lips as I take his mouth. I’ve never felt this before, but I want to taste myself on him—mixed in with his perfect lavender and minty flavor. I didn’t think I was into that, but I am. Quite suddenly.

He does something with his three fingers inside me that makes me grunt in pleasure against his mouth. He lifts and I inhale sharply. When I can gather myself, I say, “I’m ready. I want you.”

Junichi smiles, warm and frisky, like I’m not just some human he’s fucking. Like he really believes I’m this beautiful, inexplicable creature. He slowly removes his fingers from my body, hooks his hand behind my knee and gently slides me and the pillow down further on the bed. The move surprises me, and I laugh, breathy and happy. I’m utterly euphoric. I don’t know if I have ever been this happy and carefree with anyone in the sack.

There’s a condom beside Junichi, and he grabs and tears it open. I push myself up, grinning. “Let me?” He hands it to me like he’s passing the butter dish at dinner, smirking. I pull it from the package, feeling the wetness in my fingertips. He kisses my forehead, then my nose and cheek as I reach down to grip him. He goes in to kiss the concave of my neck, but I hunch my shoulder, laughing. “Fuck, Jun, you’re distracting me.”

He laughs, but stops to let me concentrate. When I have the condom on his tip, I carefully unroll it. That’s when he ducks down to take my mouth again. I roll it up his length until he’s properly covered, indulging in the rhythm of his mouth on mine as I finish blindly. Just feeling and gripping him.

Junichi pulls up from the kiss and presses his fingertips into my chest, urging me back. I flop back down somewhat dramatically and exhale a sigh. I swear to God this is the longest plow I have ever had. We just keep going, and he hasn’t even fucked me yet. It feels like it’s been hours of bliss, and I’ve already come two times (I came in the shower, too, from a nice mix of tobacco sandalwood soap and frotting).

“I warned you that I like to take my time,” Junichi says. I’m gaping my thighs wide for him again as he settles down between them, leaning over me. I can feel the tip of his shaft pressed to my opening.

I smile. “You did. I have no complaints.” He slowly presses himself inside. I plant my feet and shift my hips up and into him, urging him deeper. But he rocks himself against my body, making me lift my feet and pull my knees back toward my chest. He’s warm and thick inside me, but not all the way in quite yet.