Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
And true.
“Okay,” I whisper. “Two weeks.”
“My dad and I owe a lot to them, and I don’t want the Nakagawas to feel we’re turning our backs on their family because they have nothing to offer.”
“I believe you.”
He slowly tips my chin up, and I don’t shrink away from his gaze.
“That’s it?”
This time I can’t help smiling a little. “T-that’s it.”
“No questions?”
I shake my head. “No questions.” And suddenly, I just can’t stop myself. “Because I love you.”
His face whitens.
A hollow silence forms between us, turning the memory of my words into a silent echo.
Maybe it’s too soon, maybe I should have waited for a better time to say it—-
But somehow I just can’t make myself regret it.
Because I do love him.
Yuki’s chest heaves, and I stiffen, preparing myself for the worst.
But in the end all he does is lay a hand on my cheek—-
“You’re really good at breaking my heart, senpai.” And yet, the way he says it is almost like he’s saying he loves me—-
That he still loves me, and not even his greatest fears have kept him from loving me.
My eyes sweep close. I’m so close to crying, and I don’t want to risk him thinking I’m weak because of it.
His arms wrap around me again, and I lay my head against his chest. We’ve come so far since the first day our paths crossed again. So many things have happened, so many things have changed, and now—-
We both know we’re nearing the end of the line, and yet the future remains as unclear as ever. A thousand and one Hikaris can come to bother us, but we both know none of them will matter—-
It’s always only the two of us that can keep us together – or apart.
“I wish you’d ask me something – anything – in return,” Yuki mutters against my hair. “I know I’m being selfish, but I just wish there’s something I could give you that—-” He stops speaking when he feels me nodding. “There’s something you want?”
I nod again.
“Tell me.”
“But you might not give it to me,” I mumble.
He pulls away, saying wryly, “Even my head on a platter won’t be impossible at this point.” His blue eyes look into mine searchingly. “So tell me. What do you want?”
“You.”
Silence.
“I w-want you to make love to me.”
Yuki seems to recover himself, and says abruptly, “No.”
His absolute rejection would probably hurt if not for the almost hilarious way he’s so swiftly released me and placed distance between our bodies. “Has the world turned upside down,” I can’t help teasing him a little, “and you’re the one with virginal chastity to protect now?”
Yuki only glares at me. “Nothing about this is funny.”
“I beg to disagree.” And this time, I can’t stop my smile from widening into a grin. “It’s pretty funny, the way you – of all people – are acting like you’re afraid of sex.”
His face remains stoic. “Ask for something else.”
“But I don’t want anything else,” I say helplessly.
He rakes a hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration. “Can’t you see I’m doing the right thing here? There’s no going back if we do this, and I don’t want you to regret—-”
“But that’s the thing,” I say softly. “I know I won’t regret anything. I’ve wanted to be yours since I was seventeen, Yuki—-”
“Goddammit, senpai, didn’t I tell you it’s forbidden to seduce me like that?”
A laugh escapes me, and the sound is wonderfully throaty, and yes, seductive. I have no idea where it’s coming from, but I’m definitely not complaining, especially with how it’s made Yuki breathe hard while his nostrils flare.
I set aside the thin cover that’s wrapped around my body, and I sit up to slowly unknot the robe around my yukata. I’ve never done something so bold in my life, but everything just feels so natural, and I can’t help shivering when I hear him suck in his breath as the cotton slowly slides off my body and bares me to his gaze.
He wants me.
His blue eyes are intensely bright as they roam my form, and I bite back a whimper as I feel my breasts grow heavy with arousal. I see his fists clench, and I know he’s fighting for control. I probably should take pity on him, but I don’t.
Because right now I don’t want a Yuki that’s in control—-
My tongue darts out to wet my lips, and his whole body stiffens.
“Isn’t it time for me to belong to you, Yuki?”
For one moment he only stares at me—-
And then I hear him say, “I give up.” He snatches me close. “I fucking give up.”
I don’t even have time to thank him or mentally celebrate.
He rolls me to my back, and his mouth crushes mine under his. Passion, left to simmer and boil for years, explodes in an instant, and a desperate need to feel our naked bodies against each other strikes both of us. His hands move to unknot the tie of his yukata while my hands rush up to shove the fabric off the massive breadth of his shoulders.