Jae laughs, tossing his phone away and onto the small couch just below the window. “No. If he wants to bring kimchi on the plane it’s his prerogative. I’m not fussed about it.” He’s still glancing over at the window, his eyes wide with wonder. “It’s snowing.”

“It’s supposed to snow for the rest of the night,” I respond, talking around two pins sticking out of my mouth. Terrible habit, putting these damn things in my mouth. I shift toward the front of him as I sit on my small rolling stool, then sit up straight to adjust his belt. “Did Cyrus’s plane land?”

Jae snorts. “Yes. He and Sarah arrived just fine.”

I stop, pulling the pins out of my mouth as I look up at him. “Say what? What happened to Benjamin?”

“They broke up last week—again. This is someone from his office that he kind of fancies. He’s just figuring himself out, which is fine, but I’d appreciate it if he didn’t randomly swap out guests. I quite liked Benjamin.”

“Did he tell her that we’re all vamps?”

“Yes.” Jae frowns. “She’s ‘chuffed’ about that part in particular.”

“Oh God…”

“I stopped by the Kurashiki estate earlier to drop off the papers for the second round of surrogacy. Cellina and Giovanni were there.”

“Oh yeah?” I say, before sticking the pins back in my mouth.

Jae nods. “Her belly is so round. She said they’re having twins.”

“Dios mío. Two of Giovanni’s spawn at once.”

He laughs. “Right? Poor woman.” He takes a breath, and I can hear the smile and deep contentment in his voice. “This will be Nami’s first temple visit—and mine too. It’s quite nice…” As he glances out at the snow, he absently threads his fingers into my hair and caresses my scalp. Playing.

This is what Jae really needed. Community. A family. To feel like he’s part of something stable and belongs somewhere. Purebreds are innately designed to be surrounded by other vampires. Their purpose is to serve as the epicenter of a varied and dense circle. It’s kind of like their birthright.

But Jae was a repressed purebred that was forced to be alone—over and over again all his life. His mother dying, his father leaving, then being left with nothing but a series of callous, low-level vamp encounters and a toxic friendship with a person who has his own host of problems. It’s no wonder he had anxiety and confidence issues. Of course he did.

He loves living here. He tells me fairly often, and even if he didn’t, it’s obvious. He still sees the therapist in Osaka, but only once a month. Between work and the surrogacy program, studying with Haruka, his dad’s now frequent visits and playing footsies with me, he’s busy. Still, he makes it a point to do some mental and emotional checks and balances.

This is why I love him. This vampire that still very much has a human mindset. He’s weirdly, amazingly perfect—for me, anyway. I love his humility and kindness. His unique point of view, consideration of others and quirky self-awareness. I don’t love it when he’s crippled with shame or self-doubt, but that happens less and less as time goes on. He’s always growing and changing, and I find that I am, too.

Tonight is New Year’s Eve. We’re all taking a trip to a small local temple together—me, Jae, Audrey, Cyrus and Sarah (apparently), Nino, Haruka and Nami, Cellina and Giovanni, Sora, Kosuke and the twins. Asao and Sydney are staying home to prep the food and drinks for our return (and knowing Asao, probably gratuitously sampling as well).

We all had a great time together during the week we spent in Milan after Cellina and Giovanni’s wedding. We kept trying to plan another gathering, but it was hard to make it work with everyone’s schedule. Finally, though, we’re here, and we’re thinking about making it a New Year’s tradition—start this year in Japan, then maybe next year in England or Italy again. Cellina has already mentioned us potentially staying at her aunt’s house just off the beach in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

I stand from the stool, satisfied with my work as I take in my muse. “That’s it. What do you think?”

Jae slides his hands down from my head, then wraps his arms around my shoulders as he leans and falls into me. I catch him, embracing him at the waist. He presses his forehead into me and whispers, “I love it. It’s the most beautiful piece of clothing I’ve ever worn.”

I smile against the warmth of him. “Did you even look at yourself in the mirror?”

“I’ve been looking the entire time…” He lifts his chin into me, bringing our mouths together. I automatically part my lips for him, welcoming the sweet heat of his tongue inside my mouth. Jae kisses me like… he wants to melt into me. Like he would prefer it if we could truly become one. It’s unapologetically honest, and his desire is so strong sometimes, it leaves me breathless.

Abruptly, Jae lifts his head from me, blinking his beautiful eyes. “Oh God…”

“What is it?” I’m a beat behind him, but a moment later I know what it is.

“Can—can I hide in the bathroom?”

“No, sunshine.” I frown. “Absolutely not. It doesn’t work like that.”

The chime to my front door rings out. “Takayama Junichi? Your grace?”

Jae pulls away from me, but I grip his waist tighter, holding him as I smile. “No hiding.”

When Hisaki appears in the doorframe, he bows deeply at his waist. Ninety degrees. Little fucker. “Your eminence. It is a pleasure to behold your beautiful countenance yet again.”

Sighing, Jae rubs his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Hi, Hisaki.”

Hisaki lifts his eyebrow. “This kimono is exquisite. Your mate has done well to truly capture your radiance and elegant frame—”

“What the hell do you want?” I interrupt. All of this shit just makes Jae uncomfortable. Every time. “I told you last week that I was closed today.”

“And yet you are here. Why is his grace dressed so formally? Is there a special society event today? Where are you going?”

“None of your damn business,” I say.

He flicks his platinum ponytail, lifting his chin as if to speak past me. “Your grace? Is there a special event tonight?”

Jae inhales, then exhales an exasperated breath before he speaks in polite Japanese. “Hisaki, if Jun asked you not to come by today, why are you here?”

Hisaki blinks at the simple question “I… well. As you know, my lord, Junichi is often very terse in his manner toward me—”

“Maybe because you don’t listen to him when he talks to you?” Jae reasons. “If he says don’t do something, you should not do it. It’s simple respect. I know you admire Jun, but you can’t force a relationship with him. This behavior only makes things worse. Does that make sense?”

Hisaki pauses, then bows, his ponytail falling forward. “Yes. I understand, your grace… My apologies, Junichi.”

“Mmhm,” I grumble, pursing my lips. Hisaki stands and breathes a sigh. He wishes us a happy New Year and requests that we please take care of him again next year, then turns and leaves. I look at my mate, grinning. “Out of the mouth of a purebred—”

“Stop it.” Jae frowns, switching back to English. “He’s just young. Utterly clueless.”

“You think he admires me?”

“Of course he does,” Jae says. “You’re stylish, creative and internationally recognized. It’s what he wants to achieve but with his music. He obviously looks up to you—not unlike a big brother.”

“No thank you.”

“You could help mold him? Keep him from being an obnoxious prat of a vampire his entire existence?”

I wrap my arms around his waist again, bringing him into my hips and making him smile. “You have a soft spot for that little brat?”

He slides his hands around my shoulders to embrace me. “Maybe. I might’ve been just like him had I grown up a proper purebred and my family line had flourished. Some insufferable, entitled little twit walking around like the world owes me something because I come from an old English family rife with incest.”

I’m staring at him with my teeth clenched. “You’ve given this some thought?”

“I wonder about it.” He shrugs. “What life would have been like for me as a full-on purebred from the start. How much different I would have been—if I would even exist now as I am, currently. Maybe we never would have met… or if we did, you would have loathed me.”