Page 76 of Pragma
I can feel him relaxing, as he completely gives himself over to me.
“I’m here, Aki.” I grab his hand and give the puffed knuckles a kiss. A ball of emotions gets caught inside my throat, and I can’t add more to it.
“We have been slow burning for a long time, eh, bunny? Until we finally caught fire, and do you want to know a secret?” He giggles while a tear falls from the corner of his eye. “It’s butt-clenching, toe-curling, rib-tickling…wrist-tying good.”
I delicately cup his cheek, and he turns his face, pressing it tighter against my palm. Another tear rolls down as he declares, “You’ll never leave me.”
“Never,” I confess.
“Good.” His eyelids slide down. “I’m okay. Really. No more sugar, Doris, only matcha. Keep the change.” He slurs nonsense just before he passes out.
I quickly check his pulse, and when I feel it strong under my finger, I let out a relieved sigh. How did I ever think I could leave him? Even if he marries someone else, I’ll still remain by his side so that nothing like today will happen again. Taking off my vest, I place it on top of him before lifting him in my arms.
“Stay behind me,” Marco tells me, as he yanks Aki’s sword from the wall, letting the corpse drop on the floor. Then with his men he leads the way out of the room and the restaurant.
Chapter Eleven
AKIRA
My first conscious thought iswhere the fuck am I?
I feel like I’m floating in space. A wet and warm space. Then I realize I’ve got the worst case of brain fog and pasty mouth.
I open my eyes, blinking and frowning against the bright light. I focus my gaze on the red tiles in front of me.Where have I seen them before?The round edge of a bathtub, my feet under the water. My legs cradled by powerful thighs, one is scarred. River. I’m in River’s bathroom. In River’s tub. In River’s embrace. His thick, veiny arms are on both sides of me, resting on the ceramic rim. His chin keeps rubbing over the crown of my head.
I’m momentarily distracted by the familiarity of our position. His grip is much gentler than usual, like I was made out of fine china. The smoothness and comfort of his skin against mine is more than welcome. It’s hard to wrap my head around anything else right now, but flashes of memories are being insistent in finding a space in my mind. I turn my cheek on his chest and rub my nose over his strong collarbone, taking in his smell.
“How do you feel?” His rumbly voice makes me tremble in delight. How can I ever have enough of his gravelly voice?
“My head feels like cotton wool, and my mouth is as dry as the desert,” I tell him. A glass appears in front of my eyes with a couple of pills. I swallow them and wash them down with the water, all in one gulp.
“What service!” I sigh.
“You look like hell,” he states mercilessly after a few seconds.
“Thanks,” I snap back sarcastically.
“You looked like death before; hell is an improvement.” Is he teasing me? His tone sounds grave, though. Heavy with remorse.
Even without seeing his expression, I know too well what he’s thinking. “Stop with that face, you ass. What happened is not your fault!”
“I should have come earlier,” he mutters, delicately lifting my hand. There’s cuts and bruises on my knuckles.
“You arrived at the right time. And saved my ass…literally. Ling Wang’s miniature dick had STD written all over it.”
I feel his body tensing behind me. “It’s my job to protect you.”
“Even your middle name says it. RiverIchigoLocke.” Maybe the reminder will distract him.
“Did you do it for real?”
“I told you I went to the city hall myself,” I clip. Such little faith in me. “Ichigo meansone who protects. And you do a fine job at that. So you can’t ever leave me.”
His silence makes me frown.No, he isn’t!
“You fucking bastard!” I spin around until I kneel on the bathtub floor between his legs, water sloshes over the edge. “Quit running scared and tell me why. Why are you thinking of leaving me?”
Fuck, but he’s a handsome bastard with his long, wet hair tucked behind his ears.
