The Things We Carry #3
It did not ask my pain to leave.
It simply wrapped itself around every broken piece of me, fierce enough to keep the darkness from reclaiming what his love had already chosen as its own.
It was hard to speak.
All I could manage was. . . "I love you, Kenji."
"Thank God for that." And then, he kissed me.
His mouth met mine, and the whole night tilted. He tasted like desperate merciless want held too long.
Dark, greedy need.
Overwhelming hunger.
The warmth of his mouth spread across me, and the war moved out of him. I felt it come up through his chest to meet my lips—every bullet, every battle, every moment where he had believed he might not come back to me crashed into that kiss.
My breathing grew ragged.
I opened my mouth and sucked on his tongue.
A searing hot primal groan left him.
Kissing me some more, he raised his hands and ran his fingers through my braids. Every place his fingers pressed into my scalp sent heat cascading downward, pooling low into my pussy. And soon he gathered a fistful of my braids, and he tilted my head back, so his tongue could go deeper.
Oh.
I closed my eyes and drowned in a symphony of sensations. The world narrowed to him. Colors bled behind my closed eyes—deep reds and amber, pulsing in time with my own heartbeat.
His other arm wrapped around my waist and locked to me, holding us both up.
I tasted salt and opened my eyes. That was when I realized that. . .we were both crying. And that was what was spilling into my mouth.
His tears and mine.
His lips left me only to find my mouth again from a new angle. His breath came ragged between kisses. Groaning, he caught my bottom lip with his teeth and gently bit. A small bright pain bloomed and he soothed it with his tongue in the same breath.
Oh, fuck.
I trembled against him from the crown of my head to the arch of my feet.
When he finally stopped kissing me, he leaned a little back and pressed his forehead against mine. He was breathing hard, but I was breathing harder.
Our mouths hovered a single breath apart, and neither of us closed the distance.
“I should fuck you right here, but I want a doctor to make sure you’re okay—”
“Your blood healed me. I’m fine.”
“Still. . .I’m tired of this island. Too many. . .fucked up memories. . .” His hand slid from my braids down the back of my neck. His thumb pressed against the wild pulse under my jaw. He kissed me again, and then whispered across my lips, “Tora. . .”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I’m sorry. . .”
“Don’t say sorry, Tora. It was an impossible situation.”
“But still. . .we would have. . .loved her. . .”
“We would have. . .” He lowered, put one arm under my knees quick, and lifted me. “Let’s go.”
I gasped. “We’re leaving the island?”
“And heading to Tokyo.”
“Your mansion?”
“You’ll be the first woman I ever bring inside that space. The first woman to lay in my bed.” He carried me toward the double doors.
I leaned against him. “Kenji. . .”
“Yes, Tora?”
“I love Hiro’s twins.”
“Of course you do.”
I gave him a sad smile. “We’ll help Hiro take care of them.”
“Of course. Those are my nephews. Twin dragons.”
“No. Twin tigers.”
A dark chuckle left him. “We’ll see.”
I thought about the vision of them as young men and smirked. “We sure will.”
Kenji stopped us in front of the door and knocked.
The doors opened.
Two guards held them.
Kenji nodded and carried us out.
And then I realized. . .the hallway beyond us was full.
Oh fuck. Why is everyone here? I thought the building had cleared after the war.
I scanned all the faces. Three Claws waited further down—Kaede, Daisuke, and Toma.
They’re safe.
Two Fangs stood across from them—Kaoru and Satoshi. Beyond them Scales lined the wall. Dozens of them. I didn’t even realize so many people could pack this tiny space.
I looked at Kenji. “What are they still doing out here? What’s going on?”
“They wanted to make sure you were okay.” Kenji carried me down the hall.
I shivered.
When we got close to Toma, he met my eyes and a sad expression covered his face. “Thank you, Tora.”
“For what?”
Kenji kept walking us forward without letting Toma answer. “The twins are worse than gossiping schoolgirls.”
“What do you mean?”
“The twins were there when Hiro said the baby girl was yours. Reo put two and two together on the sacrifice and then news spread—”
“No. I didn’t want anyone to know.”
We got to Kaede, and he bowed along with Daisuke. They both kept their heads low and said together, “Thank you, Tora.”
Oh, God. They know too.
Daisuke’s eyes met mine over Kenji's shoulder, and they held tears.
We got to Kaoru, and he bowed his head lower on the right. "Thank you, Tora."
The rest did the same, and then it was Scale after Scale and I didn’t know what to do but hide my face against Kenji’s chest because their love was so strong that it hurt.
"Thank you, Tora."
The Scales bowed as we passed. Row after row. Their voices lifted as we got closer to them. “Thank you, Tora.”
It was a chorus almost without end because the hallway was too damn long.
I cried.
Damn it. What am I going to do with them?