Page 109 of Emperor of Lust

“I love you too,” he murmurs. It hits me harder than anything.

And then he pulls me close, his mouth crashing down on mine in a kiss that leaves no room for doubt.

“Why cranes?”

Hours later, we’re wrapped up in each other back in bed. Damian spoons against my back, his muscled arms circled around me as I curl against him.

“Hmm?” He murmurs lazily.

I flush as I twist the little origami crane I’ve just plucked off the bedside table in my fingers—every edge perfectly straight and sharp, with his customary red yarn bound around it.

It’s not every day that I find them left for me. And I love that. I love that I can be randomly going about my business and find one sitting on my laptop when I come back from getting a snack. Or on my pillow. Or perched on my toothbrush in the morning.

Always the same paper crane, always bound up so beautifully.

“Why is it always cranes?”

Damian shifts behind me. “Because of the crane wife.”

My brows knit. “What?”

“The legend of the crane wife. You’ve got a scroll of it up in your offices back in Kyoto. It made me think of you.”

I twist in his arms, turning to look up into his violet eyes as my brows arch. “I’m lost.”

Damian chuckles. “Which one of us is Japanese?”

I playfully slap his chest as his smile widens.

“In the story, a crane fools a man into believing she’s a woman so he’ll marry her. She really loves him, but she’s scared he won’t love her back if he knows she’s actually a crane. So every night, she stays up and pulls out her feathers with her beak, weaving them into silk for them to sell. But she’s constantly desperate for him to never figure out the truth—that she’s a bird who needs care, who can fly. Every morning, she wakes as a woman again, but she’s always exhausted because it takes everything she has to keep up the illusion, plucking out her feathers, one by one, trying to erase the part of herself she’s afraid he won’t accept.”

His eyes hold mine unflinchingly as I swallow.

“And you think that’s me?” I smirk. “Your crane wife?”

Damian shakes his head. “Your family’s crane wife, Kitsune. Trying to weave yourself into silk to keep the charade going. Afraid of what they’ll say if you just tell them the truth.”

My brow furrows as I chew on my lip.

“When I saw that scroll on your wall the night I decided to break into your office…” he shrugs. “I saw you in it.”

“That seems…sad,” I say quietly.

His lips curl as he reaches up to cup my face. “A little. But I understand it, too. There’s an honor in self-sacrifice for family, for the ones you love. When I figured out thatyouwere The Kitsune, the anger I felt towards that entity changed.”

“To?” I whisper.

“Respect. Admiration. But also…” he frowns, his jaw working.

“What?”

“Aneedto protect,” he growls quietly. “A compulsion to care for you, to shield you from anything. To keep you safe.”

My pulse thuds. A teasing tingle spreads over my skin as I feel my heart somehow grow even bigger for this man.

“Is that why you started binding them up in red yarn?” I tease. “Or was that just to be kinky.”

His eyes hold mine, the piercing intensity of them captivating me.

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