The Vanishing by Karla Nikole
Twenty-Three
Haruka bolts upright in bed, eyes wide. Daylight. He sucks in a deep breath as if he’d been dead—the rush of oxygen in his lungs bringing him back to life. Fear washes over his body as he whips his head to the side.
“Everything is fine.”
Nino is freshly showered beside him, sitting in his navy yukata with his back against the headboard. He’s reading something. “I’m right here.”
Exhaling, Haruka falls back hard against the bed. His entire body feels like pudding, or something else soft and without discernable form. He’s still completely naked and tangled up in the bed sheets as a result of last night’s encounter. Locating and putting on his robe feels like an insurmountable task. He groans and rolls toward Nino, scooting himself so that his head rests on his firm thigh. He snuggles against him and wraps his arms around Nino’s waist. His voice is raspy and full of sleep. “Good morning.”
“Hello, gorgeous. How are you feeling?”
Haruka stops, taking inventory. He needs a shower and his legs are numb. “Like… mush.”
Nino snorts, laughing. “Good. You’ve been disturbingly tense for the past two months. Turns out you just needed to be thoroughly fucked.”
At this, Haruka stiffens. He burrows his flushed face into the soft bend of Nino’s hip, his voice muffled. “I’m not sure what that says about me…”
“Well, it’s definitely not the only thing you need.” Nino runs his fingers against his scalp. “But you enjoy sex. There’s nothing wrong with that, Haru.”
“I enjoy you.” Haruka lifts his head, blinking up at him. “The sex is a bonus.”
“I enjoy you, too.” Nino lazily combs through the length of his hair, pulling and untangling the long strands. Haruka closes his eyes, calm as he rests against the warmth and firmness of Nino’s lap. He takes a deep breath, inhaling the woodsy and sweet essence of him. This singular moment… It is the most tranquil Haruka has felt in months.
“Tesoro?”
“Mm?”
“I have something for you.”
Haruka drags himself upright, the thick weight of his hair falling and covering his bare shoulders. “For me? Why?”
“Remember on our anniversary, I told you I had something else for you? It’s here…” Nino leans, grabbing a brown gift box from atop the nightstand. It is the size of a large book and tied with a red silk ribbon.
Haruka accepts the offering with both hands, placing it in his lap. He unravels the bow, then removes the box top. He separates the crisp white tissue paper inside to reveal a very neat-looking journal. His heart beats faster as he reads the embossed title.
“I backed up and reprinted Lore and Lust.” Nino wiggles his coppery brows. “I started working on it right after we bonded last year. It was crazy to me that you just had one hard copy of something so important to your family legacy.”
Haruka lifts the condensed version of his clan’s research from the box. It’s bound in the same tawny leather, but sleeker and newer. He flips through the pages, and the typeface is also clean and organized—even more so than the data in the original version.
Nino bites his lip. “I reorganized the entries a bit… It’s set up by section, then by time frame, and then again by couple ranking and last alphabetically. Now, you can see bonding patterns and make comparisons. There’s an index too.”
Flipping back to the index, Haruka stares in awe, scanning the list of first names and last initials. Nino has even addressed the privacy matter Haruka had been concerned about. It is incredible that he’s mated to someone with such impressive organizational skills. Haruka isn’t sure if he has a singular organizational skill within his entire being.
The box shifts in his lap and Haruka looks down. Something slid across the bottom. He reaches into the mess of tissue paper and pulls out a small USB.
“I put all the data in a spreadsheet too,” Nino explains. “You can manipulate it any way you want, depending on what you’re looking for.”
Haruka sets the book and USB back down in the box, then places his gift aside. He leans forward, wrapping his arms around his infinitely thoughtful and clever mate. “I cannot believe you did this alone—and within a year!”
“You know I work fast. Plus, late nights and long train rides back and forth to Kyoto gave me lots of time.” Nino hugs Haruka at his waist, pulling him closer. “It needed to be done. I know Lajos took the original, but at least the information is still in your hands?”
“You are phenomenal,” Haruka whispers, lifting from the warm embrace and cradling Nino’s head in his hands. “Exceptional. Brilliant…” He leans, lips already parted when he meets Nino’s mouth. Nino reciprocates, and Haruka opens his mouth wider, sliding his tongue against his mate’s and sighing from the taste of his cinnamon-and-coffee-infused flavor.
When Haruka pulls away, Nino’s honeyed complexion is flushed and his smile bright. “With this new tongue, you’re technically my first kiss!”
Haruka rises to his knees, climbing onto Nino’s lap while still gripping his head. He leans down, ravenous in taking his mouth again, growling from want of him and plunging his tongue into Nino’s wet warmth.
Nino rests his palms against his naked hips, but he startles Haruka when he pulls away from the affection. Nino swallows, his face pained. “I really… really don’t want to stop this.”
“Why would you?” Haruka smirks, gripping his mate’s coppery hair in a fist and playfully yanking his head back. He raises an eyebrow. “You would deny me?”
“I would never,” Nino sighs, closing his eyes. “But… I think we’re overdue to talk about some things…”
“Such as?”
Nino takes a deep breath. “Maybe you should get dressed first? We can go sit in the kitchen and—”
Something in the atmosphere shifts and Haruka freezes. He looks down at his mate beneath him and his amber eyes are wide with alert. Haruka moves with the speed and intensity of a tornado, jumping up from Nino’s lap, grabbing his robe at the end of the bed and wrapping his body up. Without a word, he moves toward the door of the bedroom with Nino close at his heels.
The sensation is unmistakable and the scent of sage hangs in the air like a toxic gas. Nino’s abductor has returned.
