Chapter 17 #2
"The villages had no defense against oni. Farmers couldn't fight demons. Priests could only pray. So the gods chose warriors." I pressed my palm against the table’s surface. "They found humans with the strongest spirits. The fiercest hearts. And they bonded them with guardian animals."
"Bonded them?"
"Fused them." I lifted my hand and spread my fingers wide.
"The animal spirit merged with the human soul, becoming part of them.
Making them inseparable." I closed my fist slowly.
"So. . .at least according to my mother.
. .the shadow you see is that spirit. That guardian.
It's been passed down through my mother's bloodline for generations. "
Nyomi's breath caught. "So the dragon. . ."
"Is part of me. Has always been part of me.
" I touched my chest. "My mother said it's made from a piece of her soul.
And her mother's before that. And hers before that.
All the way back to the first hunter who was chosen.
" I moved my hands as I spoke, painting pictures in the air between us.
"The Shinigami Hunters became legends. They traveled from village to village, destroying oni, protecting the innocent.
They were feared and revered. Some villages worshipped them.
Others tried to kill them out of jealousy. "
I paused, but not because I'd run out of story. It was due to the fact that Nyomi was looking at me in a way no one ever had. And for a moment—one stupid, helpless moment—I forgot what I was saying.
Fuck. How did I get so lucky to meet her?
I cleared my throat. "But the hunters couldn't be stopped. Not as long as the shadows walked with them."
Nyomi was transfixed. Her lips parted. Her body leaning toward me like a flower toward sunlight. “Holy shit.”
"Over time, the demons became fewer. The oni retreated to the darkest corners of the world.”
“And what happened to the hunters?”
I let my hands fall to the table. "With no more threat. . .they had to become something else. Some became monks. Some became farmers. But most became warriors. Samurai."
"And then yakuza."
"And then yakuza." I smiled grimly. "And through time, the shadows stayed. The bloodline continued. But the purpose changed. We stopped hunting demons and started hunting men."
I reached across the table and took both her hands in mine. "My father spent my whole life telling me it was all bullshit. Fairy tales. Nonsense my mother made up to feel special. And as I got older. . ."
I exhaled. "There were times I started to doubt it too. Started to wonder if he was right. If my mother was holding onto a child's fantasy."
My thumbs traced circles on her knuckles. "And then I became a teenager and my father took me under his wing. I didn’t see my mother as much as I wanted. Later, I went into football and then. . .my mother died."
Nyomi's hands tightened around mine.
"But. . .when she passed, I hoped more than anything that it was true. All of it." My voice roughened. "Because if the shadows are made from her soul. . .then she's still with me. She never really left."
“Yes. That’s true.”
I lifted her hands to my lips, kissed her knuckles, and then held them there. "You've given me something tonight, Tora. Something greater than the spies you exposed. Greater even than your love."
She bit her bottom lip.
I looked into her eyes. "You've told me that my mother is still here with me."
Her eyes glistened. "Kenji. . ."
"What's it doing now?" I asked quietly. "The dragon-shadow?"
Nyomi's gaze moved over my shoulder again. And then something shifted in her expression.
"It's closer," she whispered. "Right beside you. And it's looking at me differently now."
"How?"
"Like. . ." She paused and then searched for the words. "Like it's grateful."
My chest cracked open.
All these years.
All these decades.
My dragon-shadow had walked beside me, behind me, within me. And no one had ever seen it besides my mother. No one had ever acknowledged its existence.
Until her.
"If you can see my shadow, then you'll be able to see our children's shadows too."
A nervous laugh escaped her. "Our children?"
The words hung in the air between us.
Heavy.
Loaded.
Full of a conversation we hadn't had yet.
We need to have that conversation. Soon. Very soon.
But not tonight.
Today had already been so deep.
So much.
I wouldn't pile more onto her shoulders.
Instead, I pulled Nyomi close and kissed her. Those lips were soft as silk against mine, tasting faintly of ice cream.
My hands cradled her face, and then moved down to her shoulder where my thumbs brushed across the bite marks I’d given her.
She shivered and then her fingers curled into my shirt, tugging me closer until I could feel her heartbeat against my chest.
Wild and perfect.
I brought my hands back up to her face and the kiss deepened, became a language of its own—each gentle press and parting a promise, a confession, a vow.
Time dissolved around us.
I kissed her deeper.
And the thoughts came crashing in.
Not the careful, strategic thoughts of the Dragon. Not war plans or power moves or the thousand decisions waiting for me tomorrow.
These were older.
More primal.
From a place beneath the throne.
She's more than mine.
Not my Tiger.
Not my Heart.
Not even the woman who exposed my father's and the Lion’s spies, proving herself invaluable to my empire.
She's my soul mate.
The word detonated inside my chest.
Soul mate.
My mother's stories were real. The shadow beasts were real. And if the shadow beasts were real, then everything else was too—the bonding, the choosing, the ancient recognition between two souls that were built to find each other.
This wasn't just love.
This was fate confirming what my blood had known from the moment I first inhaled her lush scent of black amber and ripe plum.
She will be my wife.
My hands tightened on her.
She will carry my children.
My mouth moved harder against hers.
Our children will have shadows of their own, and she'll see every single one of them.
The image hit me so hard my breath stuttered—Nyomi round with my child, her hand on her belly, laughing at something I'd said while a small shadow curled protectively around her like smoke.
Fuck.
I groaned against her mouth and pulled her closer until there was no air between us.
My hands slid from her face down the column of her throat, and I felt her pulse hammering beneath my palms.
Fuck. I want to be inside of her. Right now. Right here in this war room with Tokyo glowing at our feet.
I broke the kiss and let my mouth drag down her jaw.
Slow.
Along the side of her neck.
Tasting the salt on her skin.
Breathing her in, that scent that gave me peace, that made the dragon in my blood go quiet and ravenous at the same time.
My lips found the bite marks on her shoulder.
Fuck. I want to mark her some more.
I kissed the first one.
Felt her tremble underneath my mouth.
I kissed the second.
Moaning, she dug her fingers into my back.
Then I opened my mouth over fresh skin—right beside the marks I'd already left—and let my teeth graze the surface.
I didn’t bite.
Not yet.
But the promise of it was on the sharp points of my teeth as I slipped them along her flesh.
The threat.
The edge of what I wanted to do to this woman who had just changed the entire axis of my world.
Oh, Tora. Why would you tell me what you could see? I’m already unhinged with you.
Her breath hitched. Her head tilted back, giving me more of her neck.
Surrendering it.
Yes. That's it. Give me—
A sound cut through the war room.
No. Not yet. I need more time.
More noise sounded from the side.
Footsteps.
The creak of leather.
The soft murmur of voices.
The clearing of a throat.
Goddamn it. That’s okay. Soon. So soon.
I pulled back from her neck. Slowly. Let my teeth drag across her skin one last time before I straightened.
The Dragon doesn't like being interrupted.
But the Dragon planned this. And the plan was worth the wait.
I checked my left.
Hiroko entered the war room with her two assistants. Her gray hair was pulled back in a severe knot.
Her kimono was black leather, fitted and gleaming, with delicate stitching along the edges.
Her two assistants flanked her, both dressed head to toe in leather—corsets, pants, gloves, and boots that clicked against the floor.
That’s okay. This surprise is worth it.
I kissed the bite mark and then let her go.
Lust filled my Tiger’s eyes. She turned and saw Hiroko, all the leather, and the assistants. Confusion crossed her face. "What’s going on?"
"Remember. I have a hot surprise for you."
Her brow furrowed. "But wasn't this the surprise?"
"No." I shook my head. "I told you a HOT surprise. This wasn't hot at all."
"I thought this was pretty amazing."
"It was." I kissed her again—quick this time, but firm. "But this wasn't the surprise. This was just the discussion."
Her lips curled into a skeptical smile. "And what might this so-called hot surprise be?"
“It’s a surprise, Tora. I’m not telling you.”
“And you’re working with Hiroko?”
“I am.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m the only one that sets up surprises with Hiroko.”
I chuckled. “I knew her before you.”
Nyomi sucked her teeth. “I don’t like surprises because I’m incredibly nosy.”
“Well. . .you’ll see what it is soon. You just have to get ready.”
“Get ready?”
“Yes.” I rose and helped Nyomi to her feet too. "I'll see you soon."
"Where are you going?"
"You'll see."
She frowned. “You can at least give me a hint.”
“I said it was hot.”
“That’s not a damn clue. Lots of things can be hot.”
Chuckling, I walked toward the exit, thinking about what we had in store which made my cock begin to grow in my pants.
And every step away from her was a war against my own body.