Page 29 of The Arrival
“Ah.” Simone twists slightly to view Sydney, who is seated behind him on the patio. “The youngest among us wants a turn. Sure, darling. Pick a number.”
“How about five?”
“Five it is. Let’s see… what is your favorite activity?”
Giovanni theorizes, “So, the higher the number, the more fucking intense the question?”
“Shh.” Asao places his finger to his lips. “Let Syd talk.” Surprisingly, Giovanni takes a bite of his biscuit without contestation.
“Well… I really enjoy cooking,” Sydney says, his sage-green eyes lifted to the sky in serious contemplation. “But… I also love sleeping in a bed. It is a tie for me.”
“Oh my.” Simone slaps his hand to his chest once more. “That was the most wholesome and sweetest answer ever. Sleeping in a bed! The world doesn’t deserve you.”
“It reallyiswonderful,” Sydney goes on, speaking directly to Simone. His attention is fixated, as if only the two of them are speaking. “In the mud house that I grew up in, we didn’t have bedframes—or mattresses or sheets. Heavy duvets and pillows. The surfaces were hard and smelled of earth and rot. The summers were so dry, and the dust made my skin peel and scab. Sleeping in the caves after I came of age and was forced to join the army was harder. There, the ground was so cold, wet… Strange things would crawl on me and sometimes bite me. But in beds, those things never happen. I really enjoy it. I’m grateful for it.”
The group is quiet, stunned by the dark imagery of Sydney’s words. The descriptions take shape in Haruka’s mind, the same way they do every time he speaks with a vampire from Socotra. Their stories haunt him—the cruelty and inhumane conditions that they were subjected to for years.
“Oh, honey…” The playful tenacity in Simone’s countenance is gone, like a roaring flame suddenly doused with a bucket of water.
Sydney shakes his head, his eyes filled with unease. “I-I’m sorry.” He looks to Asao, then Haruka. “Have I upset everyone? I don’t mean to, I—”
“You did well, Sydney,” Haruka says encouragingly. “Thank you for joining in the game. You know that Ialwayswant to hear whatever you have to say.” Sydney has come a long way within the seven months since leaving Socotra and moving into their home. The young vampire is still shy and rarely speaks when they attend events or social gatherings outside of their estate in Kurashiki.
This moment is indicative of his great progress.
“We all want to know more about you,” Giovanni adds. “What do you like to cook the most?”
Sydney’s eyes flicker over to Haruka, but Haruka simply waits, fully attentive. “Um… well… I—Lately I have been learning about Italian food. I wanted to learn more while I was here, and Nino helps me sometimes, too. It’s my favorite style of cooking so far.”
“Any particular recipe?” Cellina asks.
Twisting his hands in his lap, Sydney takes a breath and goes on. Haruka smiles, focused, but distinctly recognizing his mate’s hand clasped in his own. It’s reassuring, and Nino grips him just a little bit tighter.
* * *
The afternoon wearson with the sun inching higher in the hazy blue sky. The weather is warm for a spring day, so much so that Haruka decides to open the patio doors, allowing the balmy air to filter into his and Nino’s large bedroom.
With plans to reconvene for dinner, the group has separated. Nino is greeting and speaking with his father and Giovanni in another part of the estate. Jae has agreed to Haruka’s previous recommendation that he should learn the capabilities of his aura slowly and with his mate. But both Haruka and Nino assured the doctor that they would be happy to assist with more finite control, if necessary.
This day—with its temperature a little too hot and its partly sunny sky—is soothing to Haruka. Leisurely in an exceptional and rare way. In Kurashiki, his afternoons are typically filled with tasks and requests. His mind and consciousness buried deep in some research manuscript or historical reference to the point where time escapes him like some elusive thing.
Today, though, he is fully present. The afternoon hovers thickly around him like a new, exciting and mysterious dimension.
Stretching his arms up, Haruka takes in the stunning view of the lake, the grandiose mountains and the bounty of early-spring green. He suddenly wishes that he had access to a hot spring. A relaxing soak would be the perfect exclamation point on this moment.
Since he doesn’t have an onsen here, he decides that a shower is the next best thing.
Taking his time, he makes his way into the indoor-outdoor bathroom space to undress. The shower within their suite is outdoors, but walled. Only the ceiling is open to the view of the sky. Stepping onto the stone floor, it’s heated against the soles of his feet, naturally baked from the sun up above.
With the showerhead on, Haruka closes his eyes and dips underneath the heavy, hot stream. Breathing, he opens his senses to absorb the world around him—earthy air and the sensation of water dotting and rolling down his body. The undeniable calm and white noise of the spray hitting the stone. Birds singing amidst the hush of windswept tree leaves.
When he inhales deeper, his heart accelerates, knowing that his mate has returned to their room. Haruka turns so that the water streams against his back like a massage. He’s thinking that it would be wonderful if his mate joined him in this rogue moment—this stolen afternoon of placid freedom. It would be like a second exclamation point, or perhaps a form of grammatical punctuation that does not yet exist but should. Some new symbol to express sublime passion and fulfillment. Haruka will give this more thought later.
For now, though, his wish is granted.
“May I join you?” Nino appears in the narrow doorframe, superbly naked. His tall, sculpted body lavished in golden-honey skin. The sight of him makes Haruka’s fangs pulse and his groin hard. Already, his nature swirls in excitement from want of him.
“As if you have to ask,” Haruka says, grinning and lifting his arms to welcome him into this space. Not just the shower, and not only within his physical embrace, but into this emotional atmosphere as well. To bring Nino into his serenity and contentment—into the loving veil of his passion and desire.
