Page 85 of The Vanishing
Nino slides off the veranda, but grabs his mate’s hand as he moves to lie against the soft grass of the garden below them. Haruka blinks in confusion at first, then allows Nino to drag him down to the ground. Nino relaxes on his back, staring up at the darkened sky as Haruka settles down next to him. His mate lies on his side, resting on an elbow and looking at Nino with affection in his vintage-wine eyes.
“So happy…” Nino whispers, watching him. The sheer peacefulness radiating from him is incredible—a drastic (and welcomed) shift from his disposition a couple months ago. “Haru, if you wanted kids, why didn’t you just tell me?”
Forty
Nino is staring up at Haruka with bright amber eyes. The soft, emergent moonlight above makes his honeyed skin glow. His mate is dazzling both inside and out, the heartfelt question hanging between them.
Considering, Haruka looks away. “I was not keeping this from you. I had not thought about having children in decades. After… When my bond with Yuna broke, I thought I would be alone forever. I thought, ‘This is life’s way of telling me that I am meant to be isolated. It is my fate.’ I had accepted that truth. But when we became friends… then lovers, and our bond triggered so easily… I was astonished—”
“Youfreaked out.” Nino laughs.
Haruka’s face falls flat. He pokes Nino’s side, making his mate’s body jerk as he continues laughing.
“Yes,” Haruka admits. “Will I never be pardoned for this?”
“No way.” Nino shakes his head. “It was great. Because even though you were stressed, you tried so hard to pull yourself together and you held my hand. I’ll never forget that.”
Haruka smiles, self-deprecating. He appreciates Nino’s positive point of view on a shameful moment in their history. He reaches down, and Nino closes his eyes when Haruka runs his fingertips along his jaw.
“Once I came to my senses,” Haruka continues, “I felt eternally grateful for you. I never fathomed meeting you—or having this second chance. Tonotlive my life alone, but to spend it with a vampire so warm and affectionate. So loving and kind. How could I want or ask for anything more, when you are exceedingly above my expectations for my life?”
Whatever Nino saw—this behavior that he described in Trentino—Haruka was unaware of it. Just as the thought of being mated again had been sealed in a box and tucked away until being with Nino ripped it open, the thought of having a family was the same. It wasn’t an option, so he’d buried it deep down and ignored it.
Nino takes hold of Haruka’s hand, bringing his palm to his mouth and placing a kiss there. “Tesoro, it’s healthy to hope for things—to like certain things or want things. You don’t have to be complacent and just accept what life hands you. You can push for what you want, or at least express it?” Nino chuckles, lifting his gaze to the sky. “That would make things easier for me, so I don’t have to Sherlock Holmes everything out of you… Do you know who—”
“Of courseI know who Sherlock Holmes is.”
“Right.” Nino nods against the soft grass. “Literary reference. Did you know there are Sherlock Holmes movies? And there was a popular TV show, too.”
“They could not possibly live up to the intricate, masterful writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”
“They’re not bad,” Nino says. He adjusts his grip on their hands, then pulls Haruka over until he hovers above Nino’s body. Understanding the hint, Haruka lifts himself to straddle him, then lies flat, settling his hips square against his mate. He rests with his elbows on either side of Nino’s coppery head.
“So let’s take inventory.” Nino smiles, adjusting underneath Haruka’s weight. “You like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you don’t like dystopia novels—I noticed that a few months ago.”
“I do not,” Haruka confirms. “Self-help books are also objectionable.Youlike contemporary films and television shows—especially those set within the sci-fi genre—”
“Right, right. This isn’t about me, because I tell you what I like and want, and I’m easy to read, remember? This is about decoding Haruka.” Nino artfully tugs at the side of Haruka’s belt. Haruka lifts, allowing his husband to untie it.
When Nino parts the cotton robe, Haruka sucks in a breath at the night air caressing his naked skin. “Decoding…” Haruka smiles. “Am I an enigma?”
“Sometimes,” Nino breathes, sliding his warm hands down Haruka’s sides until they rest at the small of his back underneath his robe. “But if I pay attention, I can figure you out.” He urges Haruka back down, pressing his fingertips into his spine. Haruka sighs from the warmth of Nino’s frame underneath him. From their naked bodies wonderfully aligned and pressed together.
“I’ve also noticed…” Nino slides his hands down, cupping his ass firmly with both hands. “That you have a preference when we make love.”
Haruka spreads his thighs and shifts his hips against Nino’s body, wanting to feel and move against him. He is helpless to it, as if his nature within him desperately needs it. Requires it. He leans down into Nino, shaking his head and rubbing their noses together. “I don’t,” Haruka breathes. He brushes their lips, his body temperature rising as one of Nino’s hands slides lower and between his cheeks.
Nino breaks the feathery kiss, his full lips shifting into a smile as he opens his eyes. “Youdo.” His fingers are playful in spreading Haruka’s flesh, and when Nino uses one finger to caress the soft skin of his opening, Haruka gasps and rocks his hips back, chasing the sensation.
“Tesoro, your reaction is different… stronger when we make love a certain way.” Nino caresses his sensitive skin with his fingers while he grips his cheek with his free hand. Haruka feels as if a fire is burning in his groin and lower spine, and Nino’s teasing only makes him ache and writhe.
He tries to breathe, but his heart is beating like a rabbit’s. “No, I… I love everything we do—”
Nino lifts his hips, shifting Haruka up a little higher, just right against his body as he continues teasing him with his fingers. “I know,” Nino says. “But you have a preference. Can you please say it to me? What you really like…”
Haruka swallows hard, his chest tight from both yearning and anxiety. “You are much more… liberated in voicing your sexual preferences than I am.”
“Is that bad?” Nino raises his hips once more, sliding his fingers in between their bellies and dragging his digits along their damp flesh.
