The Vanishing by Karla Nikole

Forty

Nino is staring up at Haruka with bright amber eyes. The soft, emergent moonlight above makes his honeyed skin glow. His mate is dazzling both inside and out, the heartfelt question hanging between them.

Considering, Haruka looks away. “I was not keeping this from you. I had not thought about having children in decades. After… When my bond with Yuna broke, I thought I would be alone forever. I thought, ‘This is life’s way of telling me that I am meant to be isolated. It is my fate.’ I had accepted that truth. But when we became friends… then lovers, and our bond triggered so easily… I was astonished—”

“You freaked out.” Nino laughs.

Haruka’s face falls flat. He pokes Nino’s side, making his mate’s body jerk as he continues laughing.

“Yes,” Haruka admits. “Will I never be pardoned for this?”

“No way.” Nino shakes his head. “It was great. Because even though you were stressed, you tried so hard to pull yourself together and you held my hand. I’ll never forget that.”

Haruka smiles, self-deprecating. He appreciates Nino’s positive point of view on a shameful moment in their history. He reaches down, and Nino closes his eyes when Haruka runs his fingertips along his jaw.

“Once I came to my senses,” Haruka continues, “I felt eternally grateful for you. I never fathomed meeting you—or having this second chance. To not live my life alone, but to spend it with a vampire so warm and affectionate. So loving and kind. How could I want or ask for anything more, when you are exceedingly above my expectations for my life?”

Whatever Nino saw—this behavior that he described in Trentino—Haruka was unaware of it. Just as the thought of being mated again had been sealed in a box and tucked away until being with Nino ripped it open, the thought of having a family was the same. It wasn’t an option, so he’d buried it deep down and ignored it.

Nino takes hold of Haruka’s hand, bringing his palm to his mouth and placing a kiss there. “Tesoro, it’s healthy to hope for things—to like certain things or want things. You don’t have to be complacent and just accept what life hands you. You can push for what you want, or at least express it?” Nino chuckles, lifting his gaze to the sky. “That would make things easier for me, so I don’t have to Sherlock Holmes everything out of you… Do you know who—”

“Of course I know who Sherlock Holmes is.”

“Right.” Nino nods against the soft grass. “Literary reference. Did you know there are Sherlock Holmes movies? And there was a popular TV show, too.”

“They could not possibly live up to the intricate, masterful writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”

“They’re not bad,” Nino says. He adjusts his grip on their hands, then pulls Haruka over until he hovers above Nino’s body. Understanding the hint, Haruka lifts himself to straddle him, then lies flat, settling his hips square against his mate. He rests with his elbows on either side of Nino’s coppery head.

“So let’s take inventory.” Nino smiles, adjusting underneath Haruka’s weight. “You like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, you don’t like dystopia novels—I noticed that a few months ago.”

“I do not,” Haruka confirms. “Self-help books are also objectionable. You like contemporary films and television shows—especially those set within the sci-fi genre—”

“Right, right. This isn’t about me, because I tell you what I like and want, and I’m easy to read, remember? This is about decoding Haruka.” Nino artfully tugs at the side of Haruka’s belt. Haruka lifts, allowing his husband to untie it.

When Nino parts the cotton robe, Haruka sucks in a breath at the night air caressing his naked skin. “Decoding…” Haruka smiles. “Am I an enigma?”

“Sometimes,” Nino breathes, sliding his warm hands down Haruka’s sides until they rest at the small of his back underneath his robe. “But if I pay attention, I can figure you out.” He urges Haruka back down, pressing his fingertips into his spine. Haruka sighs from the warmth of Nino’s frame underneath him. From their naked bodies wonderfully aligned and pressed together.

“I’ve also noticed…” Nino slides his hands down, cupping his ass firmly with both hands. “That you have a preference when we make love.”

Haruka spreads his thighs and shifts his hips against Nino’s body, wanting to feel and move against him. He is helpless to it, as if his nature within him desperately needs it. Requires it. He leans down into Nino, shaking his head and rubbing their noses together. “I don’t,” Haruka breathes. He brushes their lips, his body temperature rising as one of Nino’s hands slides lower and between his cheeks.

Nino breaks the feathery kiss, his full lips shifting into a smile as he opens his eyes. “You do.” His fingers are playful in spreading Haruka’s flesh, and when Nino uses one finger to caress the soft skin of his opening, Haruka gasps and rocks his hips back, chasing the sensation.

“Tesoro, your reaction is different… stronger when we make love a certain way.” Nino caresses his sensitive skin with his fingers while he grips his cheek with his free hand. Haruka feels as if a fire is burning in his groin and lower spine, and Nino’s teasing only makes him ache and writhe.

He tries to breathe, but his heart is beating like a rabbit’s. “No, I… I love everything we do—”

Nino lifts his hips, shifting Haruka up a little higher, just right against his body as he continues teasing him with his fingers. “I know,” Nino says. “But you have a preference. Can you please say it to me? What you really like…”

Haruka swallows hard, his chest tight from both yearning and anxiety. “You are much more… liberated in voicing your sexual preferences than I am.”

“Is that bad?” Nino raises his hips once more, sliding his fingers in between their bellies and dragging his digits along their damp flesh.

“No—of course not. I am just… unaccustomed to it.”

“You and Yuna never talked to each other about what you liked?”

“Never. And… if you notice what I like, why do I need to say it?” The sensation of Nino’s wet fingertips against his body derails him from his thoughts. Haruka moans, relaxing himself as Nino presses them inside.

“Because I want to hear it,” Nino says, lifting his head to lick and suck Haruka’s bottom lip between his own as he moves his fingers deeper. “Knowing what turns you on gives me confidence—and I don’t want you to feel ashamed to tell me what you like or want to try…”

Haruka’s body trembles with want, with desperate need of his mate and their completion.

“Ah—”

Nino pulses his energy inside, the sensation like fizzy heat radiating from his slick fingers. Haruka is breathless as Nino’s energy intensifies. When the low embers of pleasure finally spiral outward into a blaze of ecstasy, he stretches his spine, letting the bliss of climax wash over him—surrendering to what Nino is giving him.

He breathes through it: inhaling the scent of grass and trees swirled with the cinnamon notes of Nino’s essence. It makes Haruka’s head foggy.

Removing his fingers, Nino grips his body and rolls, delicate in shifting Haruka onto his back against the grass. Nino straddles him, but as he leans down, he slides his fingers through the damp of Haruka’s release against his abdomen, then reaches down to grip and stroke his own shaft.

Haruka shifts his tailbone down and lifts his knees. He is blissful, watching his honeyed mate through hazy eyes. This love. These feelings that Nino cultivates inside of him: honesty and freedom, hope and promise. Haruka never imagined this was possible. That the cold darkness of his life could be changed and painted with such color and joy. That he would feel so alive.

Nino hovers above him, his amber gaze soft. “Say it, Haru,” he whispers. “Please?”

He closes his eyes as Nino’s palms rest against his hips. He waits for Haruka’s response, patient as he caresses him. Haruka takes a deep breath, pushing through the block he feels in his chest. “I—” Haruka swallows, self-conscious. He brings his palm to his forehead. “I like… I prefer… you. Inside me.”

Nino lowers his hips, pressing his damp tip to the outside of Haruka’s body. “Tesoro, relax for me.”

Haruka blows out a breath, easing the strain in his body after the confession. He shifts his hips upward, still breathing to relax himself but wanting to meet Nino’s body. Wanting him inside. His mate lowers his hips, but not enough to push through. Not enough to break the intimate barrier.

“Thank you for telling me…” Nino smiles, leaning down and kissing the mole on the bridge of Haruka’s nose. When he pulls back, his tone is gentle but serious. “Can we try to be more open and talk about these things going forward, so I don’t have to guess all the time?”

Staring into his mate’s eyes, Haruka nods in earnest. “I’ll try,” he breathes.

Nino slowly guides himself into his body, and a wave of relief and satisfaction washes over Haruka from head to toe. He closes his eyes and arches his neck in a groan, loving the feel of him. Wanting him deeper.

Nino keeps his body low and still, allowing Haruka to independently roll his hips up and into him, over and over again as he holds the small of Nino’s back. Already, he feels the second climax bubbling in his groin like a pot of hot water, so close to boiling over. Through the thick haze of lust, he hears Nino’s voice. “How do I feel inside you?”

He licks and bites his bottom lip, his body shaking. So close. “Full,” he breathes. “Perfect.”

Something in his response triggers Nino into movement. He presses his hips down, driving Haruka’s body back into the lush grass as he thrusts and rocks. Haruka lifts his knees to cradle him—the passion behind Nino’s movement sends a flash of heat up Haruka’s spine. Soon, he groans in pleasure, his deep voice echoing in the vastness of the starry sky above him.

He grips his mate’s strong back underneath his robe, holding him tight as the climax subsides. Haruka sighs in pleasure when he feels Nino’s sculpted body tense in his arms—the heat of his release pouring out like something delicious and intimate inside of him.

Haruka rolls his hips once more, reveling in the weight of him and the wetness of their bodies. Nino dips his head into the nape of Haruka’s neck and bites down. He feeds and Haruka’s eyelids grow heavy—his body relaxed and profoundly satiated.

By the time Nino is finished, Haruka can barely keep his eyes open. As always, his mate smiles, genuine and handsome. “I also notice… that if I do a good job of making love to you, you fall asleep right after.”

Haruka frowns, but it feels weak. Without true conviction. He’s too warm and too comfortable lying half naked in the grass. The image of his mate hovering over him and set against the starry sky is too dreamlike. “It’s—” Haruka yawns, the sensation rattling his chest. “Embarrassing.”

Nino laughs, the sound like a gentle echo far away from his conscious mind. “It’s not,” he says. “I love it—that you trustme enough to be vulnerable and let go like this. Shall I carry his lordship to the bedchamber? Is this context appropriate for such an act?”

“No.” Haruka breathes deep, unable to keep his eyelids open. “I… I’ll walk…” But then there is nothing. Just blackness, deep contentment and calm.

When Haruka flickers his eyes open again, morning light and a cool breeze are pouring in through the open patio doors. He is warmly tucked into his bed, the love of his life nestled against his chest and sleeping in his arms.