Page 52 of Lore and Lust
“So…” Cellina says. “You want to bond with him?”
“I just want to be with him. I love having him close like this and always talking to him. I want to touch him and I don’t want any more boundaries between us. If all that means forming a bond thenyes.”
Cellina pouts in a sigh. “But he doesn’t want to bond.”
“Right,” Nino says, his head still low and pounding.
“You can only go so far.”
Nino nods in his hunched position. He doesn’t know exactly how far because they haven’t discussed it. But there is absolutely, unequivocally a limit.
“He’s been traumatized by having a bond break,” Cellina muses. “I mean, it’sunheardof. The fact that he even survived something like that. Wow… Did he talk to you any more about it?”
Nino lazily sits upright. “He did. He told me what happened.”
“I think that’s a positive sign, Nino. Don’t be so downhearted. You two are making beautiful progress, so just keep being patient and let him heal. He used to hide in his house all the time, but now he’s here in Milan,with you. And I think he’s damn lucky to have you. Most vampires are horny jerks these days. With that rosy aura he keeps wrapped up, he’s like a magnet.”
“You’re right. Thanks, Lina.”
“Has he ever let it rest for you?” she asks. “His aura?”
“Not intentionally, no.”
Cellina picks up her cocktail and takes a quick sip. She makes a face that tells Nino she is pleasantly surprised by its contents. “I think he will. He trusts you. It’s inevitable. Whether he wants it to or not it’ll probably just slip out. His blood feels even older than mine, so it’s probably potent. You better be ready for that shit.” She takes a bigger sip of her cocktail.
Nino smiles. “You mean yourmother’sblood—that ‘two-thousand-year-old Tanzanian royalty’ blood?”
Cellina pulls her glass from her lips and lifts her chin in a proud smirk. “Damn straight.”
Nino laughs. “G keeps asking me when you’re coming by the house again.”
“Tell your brother to mind his own fucking business.”
“He has a lot of business already.” Nino scrunches his nose, teasing. “He’s busy but he’s always asking me about you.”
“Well he needs a hobby. He made it very clear a long time ago that he wants nothing to do with me.”
“Lina…” Nino shakes his head, sighing. “Everything that happened… Honestly, I think G feels—”
“Nino, are we here to enjoy lunch together or talk about your brother? Because if it’s the latter, there are about twenty other things I could be doing.”
Understanding loud and clear, Nino picks up his own drink. He knows when to quit. “Got it. How was your interview the other night? Have you heard back?”
Thirty
By the time Haruka returns to the Milan estate, takes a shower and changes into his night clothes, it is well past one o’clock in the morning. Giovanni had taken him to see the symphony at Teatro alla Scala, followed by a late dinner and drinks with the orchestra’s second-generation vampire conductor. The evening had been truly lovely, and much unlike his experience at Hertsmonceux, Haruka is genuinely enjoying the vampires of the Milan aristocracy.
He knocks quietly against Nino’s bedroom door. No answer. He cracks it open and steps inside. The room is dark. Even moonlight is scarce tonight as Haruka moves toward the bed. Nino is resting comfortably on his side underneath the heavy comforter. Haruka slides into the bed behind him. “I’m back,” he whispers.
Nino inhales deeply, his eyes still closed. He exhales his sleepy response. “Bentornato, amore mio.”
Haruka pauses, his smile broadening and his heart beating warm in his chest.Welcome back, my love.Nino has never addressed him so affectionately before. He likes it. “Sono il tuo amore?”Am I your love?
“Mm.” Nino’s eyes are still closed, his breathing even. He’s silent.
Haruka slips his arm underneath Nino’s and cradles his chest. As he envelopes him, Nino naturally shifts back into the warmth of his body. When they’re settled, Haruka softly kisses his neck, drawing a line down his spine to the curve of his shoulder.
With the passing of each day, Haruka feels starved for him. As if feeding deeply from Nino is only teasing a profound desire within him. He needs more, and he is gradually losing sight of himself and his strict control over his nature.
