“Quite.”
“Nonetheless…” I slide my jacket off my shoulders and toss it onto a nearby chair, then move toward the archway leading into the greenhouse. “I’d like to take advantage. Will you be joining me? You can relax, and I’ll let you know when it’s ready? We should shower first, though. I can’t help myself—it’s an engrained behavior.”
Jae laughs. “Okay, sure.”
We shower, but I don’t touch him in any significant way, because apparently, I’m wolfish and mated with a deer. Well, fuck me.
I don’t touch him, but I playfully bump him a few times to take the obvious edge off. He laughs when I do this, and we talk about the day while we get clean. How beautiful the villa and entire ceremony were, how Giovanni is an asshole but he means well. How Nino’s present anxiety is obvious, but he’s going to be a great father and we’re not worried about him.
The moon is high and so bright overhead that it lights up the night. I can see it as I settle down into the tub first. Jae’s phone rang while we were in the shower, so he went to check it in case there’s some emergency with the hospital or Nino and Haru’s surrogate. I relax down, then notice a switch on the edge of the shelf holding about a million potted plants right by my head. Curious, I flick it. A line of tiny white faerie lights glows all along the shelves, their string hidden between the plant vines and leaves so that they appear to just float in midair. The water is perfectly warm, and the glass gives us a wide view of the courtyard, trees and flowers beyond this beautiful space.
When Jae comes back into the greenhouse, he’s still naked and looking all around in wonder. “Well, this is something… Hopefully no one is taking a stroll back here.”
“Indeed. Is everything alright?”
He stops at the opposite end of the large tub, then gingerly climbs inside, avoiding stepping on my feet as I draw them up a little. “Mmhm, everything is fine. It was my father. He left a message and was just checking on me.”
“Did you tell him you were coming to Italy for the week?”
“Yes,” he says, sitting and folding his knees up against his chest. “He wanted to know if I arrived safely.”
“Did you tell him that you’re bonded?”
He grins. “No, not yet. But I will later. That’s a longer conversation.”
“You told me that your father left and moved to Korea when you graduated high school, but he seems to keep contact with you fairly often?”
“Yeah, my father isn’t a bad person by any means. He just didn’t want to be alone in that cottage with me off in university. It made perfect sense for him.”
“But it inadvertently left you alone.”
Jae shrugs, running his wet hands up and through his hair to push it back. “I managed.”
I don’t say anything because I’m not sure that he did. Not well, anyway.
Silence falls between us, and crickets are chirping beyond the glass, the soft call of a nocturnal bird. I look at Jae, and he smiles politely before turning his head to glance away from me. I know what he wants: to come over here and be closer to me. But he’s hesitating and doubting himself.
I don’t know, maybe it’s the wolf in me, but I’m starting to get a little frustrated. How many times do I need to prompt him like this?
Sitting forward, I reach underneath the water, grab one of his ankles and pull. He slides down, his arms flailing up in shock just before his head dips underneath the water. I know he’s going through something right now and trying to get his bearings. I know. But I’m really over this shy shit.
He breaks the surface again, gasping and pushing his soaked hair back and away from his eyes. “Shit, Jun—”
“Why are you hesitating?”
He surprises me when he slaps the surface of the water, sending a wave directly into my face. “Because I bloody hesitate now! That’s what I do!”
“You weren’t like this before.”
“That was before.” He inhales a deep breath, smoothing his hair again.
I wipe my face with my palms. “You’re the same, sunshine.”
“Not biologically speaking. I’m quite different.”
“You’re overthinking.”
He’s looking at me like he’s about to put up a fight—which is fine. I’d much rather he snap at me like this and be honest than politely conceal his feelings, like I’m some stranger he’s sitting next to on an airplane.
Jae is watching me, but then his gaze softens and he slinks over to me through the water. He straddles my hips, and the moment he settles down, I wrap my arms around his ass and pull him even tighter into me. He leans down and kisses me, full on. No hesitation.
He brings his hands up to my head and slides his fingers into the back of my hair, gripping me as his mouth moves on mine—his tongue stroking inside me. The weight and feel of him on top of me is phenomenal. A relief, because I’ve been thinking about him and wanting to be close to him like this for months. I raise my knees up just a little so he’s even tighter against me, and I can feel him warm and hard against my stomach.
My eyes are closed, but they start to burn the longer he kisses me. Breathing in his sweet scent, tasting him and having his slick, naked body in my arms—my nature and everything within me is on cloud nine. He raises his head from the kiss, and I open my eyes to see that his are burning too. The color has changed, but only slightly. The pristine blue from before is now more like indigo—blue but with a dark trace of purple. A little bit of me.
Jae brings one hand to my cheek, staring. “Your eyes changed.”
I smile. “That happens. It’s natural.”
“Hm.” He breathes out and kisses me again. Just a soft, sweet touch of our lips before he pulls up. “I like that you’re a wolf.”
“Good thing. It’s a little late to turn back now.”
He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t ever… I want to talk to someone.”
“About?”
