Yuna simply bows again, smiling sweetly. “I’m sorry that I was rude, Nino. Welcome to Japan, and please enjoy your evening.”
She walks away, her covert bomb successfully detonated. Nino turns to him, his coppery brows furrowed. “What the hell is she talking about?”
Haruka rolls his shoulders, stamping down his frustration. Has Yuna always been so undermining and selfish? Had he been totally blind with youthful whimsy and the inherent need to be reconnected with a family after losing his own? The more objective his view of her becomes, the more he sincerely questions the regard in which he originally held her.
“I promise to discuss it with you later,” Haruka assures him, gently pulling him forward. “For now, let’s enjoy our night together?”
Nino relaxes, softly bumping into his shoulder. “Alright.”
Throughout the night, Haruka marvels. He hadn’t been expecting Nino to arrive early to attend his welcome ceremony. Simply having him here feels like the world has shifted and become a much brighter place.
He has surprised Haruka even further. Nino has always adamantly expressed his loath and reluctance to engage within the aristocracy. His actions in the past have strongly underscored his feelings—his refusal to attend events with Giovanni and Haruka in Milan, his harsh silence at Signor Moretti’s dinner and even his complete disregard of the bonding ceremony invitation.
Tonight, though, Nino is different. He initiates conversation and speaks up for himself. He smiles in his bright, handsome way and asks questions. He is the same warm and cheerful purebred that Haruka knows privately, but polished somehow for these curious strangers. The response to him is a healthy mix of surprise and unquestionable delight, with vampires intrigued by Nino and asking him questions about his Japanese heritage.
As Asao drives them home, Nino relaxes with his head against the back seat. Haruka watches him in the soft moonlight—the car smoothly traversing down the winding mountain roads. His body is already strong again from feeding, accustomed to Nino’s unique brand of blood. He constantly gives of himself, never once asking Haruka for anything in return.
For the first time in a very long while, Haruka wants to offer himself. To somehow return the kindness that Nino has continuously shown him.
“You seemed comfortable tonight,” Haruka says, keeping his voice low in the quiet environment. “Has your opinion of the aristocracy changed?”
Nino turns his head to the side and opens his eyes. “It has. I stayed in Milan longer so I could spend time with G. He took me on all of his social and business excursions. Tonight was a piece of cake in comparison to what I went through following him around. Jesus.”
“Was it difficult?” Haruka takes hold of his hand, then slowly brings it to his mouth to place soft kisses against his fingers.
“Mm.” Nino nods, watching him. “I learned two things—my brother is a machine and God help the vampire who crosses him, and not all vampires in Milan are raging assholes.”
Haruka laughs. “Giovanni is an impressive purebred. I wonder if I will be as efficient and commanding as he is when I reach his age?”
Nino sits up and smoothly catches Haruka’s face with his palm. “You won’t be rude like he is, so I think you’ll be even better.” Nino kisses him playfully in the moonlit stillness of the backseat. Firm, sweet pecks, catching his mouth over and over. Haruka slowly moves down, brushing his lips against his neck and breathing him in when Asao’s voice booms from the front seat.
“Do not pull his aura while I’m driving this car. Wait until we get home, please—”
“Asao,” Haruka scolds, startled. Nino laughs, falling back against the seat. Haruka shakes his head, embarrassed.
Thirty-Six
It’s late when they arrive in the small town of Kurashiki. Nino looks out the car window in awe as they pass through the charming historical quarter. There is a shallow and mossy canal streaming through the area—a sleek mirror for the stars above. The streets are cobblestoned and lined with weeping willows softly fluttering in the nighttime breeze.
Nino’s sense of wonder only grows when they reach Haruka’s home and he is given a tour. The house is wide and flat, but beautifully sectioned off in square and rectangular segments. Each area of the compound is connected by elegant hardwood-floor hallways and open breezeways through outdoor gardens. Directly outside of Haruka’s bedroom is an impressive in-ground hot spring.
Nino walks around the perimeter. The silent steam is rolling and curling atop the placid green water. Tall bamboo stalks are pressed together to create a natural privacy fence around the large, open space. Here too, giant cherry blossom trees flank the bath area like knights watching over their king.
Nino turns to him and smiles. Haruka is standing near the glass doors and watching him as he explores the picturesque outdoor area. “Haru, your house is beautiful. This hot spring is incredible.”
“I am pleased that it is to your liking,” he says. “Would you like to try it?”
Nino walks back toward him. “Take a bath? Right now?” Haruka simply nods. Nino grins. He can’t stop grinning. “I would love to.”
After reaching down to hold both his hands, Haruka steps backward toward the open patio doors leading into his bedroom. “We should shower first.”
“I’m fine with that…” says Nino, his body hot and his nature within him pulsing and twisting in knots. If he isn’t out of this tuxedo and intimate in some capacity with Haruka soon, he might explode from the strain. He needs to touch and feel him. Badly. Without restrictions or hesitations.
Haruka urges him back into the room and closes the doors. Facing Nino, he smoothly slides his hands inside his tuxedo jacket at his shoulders, encouraging him to remove it. Nino shrugs out of it, tossing it onto a nearby armchair. Haruka pulls his bow tie apart with his long fingers, then unfastens his shirt buttons.
His gorgeous, wine-colored irises have already returned. Nino is mesmerized as he quietly leans into Haruka and kisses him, taking his bottom lip between his own before dipping his tongue into him. When Haruka’s hands are at his belt buckle, Nino pulls up from the kiss. “Can I undress you? Tell me how.”
Haruka smiles with his eyes, seductive and focused on Nino as he lifts his hands to remove his outer coat. It slides from his square shoulders, down his long body and onto the floor. He takes Nino’s hands, guiding them past his waist and around to the thick, knotted material of his belt at the small of his back. Nino holds him close as he unties it, the warmth of him pressed into his hips making Nino’s breathing short and his hands shaky. Haruka quietly sprinkles kisses on his face and jawline as he works. When the belt is finally loose, it unravels from his body and falls to their feet.
Nino unties a second, thinner belt before he finally pulls the beautiful material of the kimono from his shoulders, then lets it slide and fall from Haruka’s tall frame. But when Nino is met with another, lighter set of robes and belt, he laughs. “Why do I feel like I’m playing with a Russian nesting doll? How many belts and robes do we need?”
Haruka snickers, throaty and deep, while he continues littering Nino’s neck with kisses.
“Is there another layer underneath here?” Nino frowns, untying the third belt and holding in his laughter.
“No,” Haruka says, his voice muffled from his face being pressed into the curve of Nino’s collarbone.
Nino swiftly unties the belt, then parts the light material of the second robe at Haruka’s chest. He pulls it over his shoulders, urging Haruka to drop his arms and allow the fabric to fall from his body. When it does, he is completely naked. Gloriously so. His lean, sculpted body is washed in the moonlight spilling in from the glass doors behind them. Nino swallows, gratuitously taking in his beautiful almond skin, dark hair and bewitching eyes.
Haruka steps into him, pressing his bare body against Nino’s suited frame as he takes his mouth. He laces his arms around Nino’s shoulders and slides his fingers into his hair. Nino embraces him tightly, gliding one hand up his spine and the other down to grip the firm curve of his ass. Everything about Haruka registers as cool and refreshing. As if nature has uniquely cultivated him from its most beautiful elements—spring rain, the starry midnight skies and roses in full bloom.
As much as Nino loves the pressure of his body against him and the feel of his nakedness underneath his hands, it isn’t enough. He needs more. He wants everything.
Haruka breaks the kiss. Keeping their bodies tight and their foreheads pressed together, he whispers, “Shower?”
“Please,” Nino breathes. Haruka clasps his hand and guides him toward the master bathroom.
