Page 15 of The Arrival
“Nino, if we should start getting—Ah—” Haruka clenches from a sharp pinch inside his thigh. It stings, but also creates a flurry of arousal in his groin. Nino pulls Haruka’s sleep pants down past his hips to expose him, then presses his lips to the skin just below his navel.
“Shall I please his lordship here?” Nino smirks from between his gaped thighs. “Or would he prefer to come in the shower?”
While Nino speaks, his fingers slide and tease lower, caressing the sensitive flesh underneath his shaft, then down into the chasm of his cheeks and toward his opening. Haruka shifts his hips, the throb of his length almost painful as he chases Nino’s fingertips. Pulling himself together enough to fully undress and walk to the shower sounds like an insurmountable task—like walking across the Sahara Desert with an erection.
As he lifts his head from the pillow, his deep voice passes through his lips on a breath. “Here, please?”
Still grinning, Nino dips his head. When the wet heat of his mouth slides and licks over his hardness, Haruka’s energy radiates and surges once more from the bloom of pleasure racing throughout his body—across every inch of his skin.
Hewassatisfied having fed from Nino. Truly, he had been content. But this is his existence now, and with this attentive, honeyed vampire. Always above and beyond anything he could ever want. More than anything he could have ever imagined.
APRIL
FIVE
GRATITUDE
“Where did I…”
Haruka abruptly turns in the silence of his library, contemplating. He scans the tall bookcases lining the back wall, the rich wood shining in the glare of sunlight streaming through the windows.
“Ah.” He pulls a thick book with a faded red spine from the shelf, then stalks back across the tatami and toward the low floor table in the center of the room. He opens the book, skimming as he crouches and sits atop one of the ornately designed cushions. Against the wash of brown, beige and tan dominating the rest of the room, the pattern of the floor pillows is bold—rich, satiny blue fabric with oversized golden chrysanthemums.
He finds the exact page he’s looking for and sets the weighted hardback open on the table before him. Grabbing his pen, he leans over his notebook to continue writing his observations regarding the doctor’s awakening.
… it is unknown. Five months after the awakening, the subject’s vampiric biology continues to thrive and advance despite the absence of a dense community to support their needs. Of note:
Physical
Marked vision improvement of 20/50 to 20/10 (confirmed)
Increased physical strength (anecdotal evidence)
Eye color transformation (confirmed)
Supernatural resilience in scarring and scraping of skin (anecdotal)
“What are you doing?”
Haruka looks up from his journal to find Asao standing in the doorframe of the library. “Updating my record on Doctor Jae’s progress post his awakening.”
“That’s nice, but have you finalized the Hashimoto-Arima confirmation certificate?” Asao’s hands are in his pockets as he strolls forward. He walks with the confidence of someone who has asked a question but already knows the answer.
Sighing, Haruka drops his pen and rubs his palms against his face. “No.”
Asao sits on the cushion opposite him, folding his legs and leaning against the table with his elbows. “The preliminary meeting is in two days.”
“I am aware.”
“Then why isn’t it finished?” He shakes his head, smirking. “It’s amazing. Your personality is the mirror image of Aika’s, but this damn procrastinating you do—one hundred percent Hayato.”
Haruka’s eyes are flat. “There is a problem.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“The couple requested that the bonding certificate trace five hundred years of their respective genealogies.”
Asao scoffs, folding his arms. “That’s even before my time. The standard for these certificates is only three hundred years.”
