CHAPTER 17
Aiko slowed as she placed her clothes back in her backpack, drawing out the process because she didn’t want to leave yet, even when she knew it was necessary.
When she felt Esher’s gaze on her, she paused and looked over her shoulder at him, finding him stood in the doorway of his room, the pretty courtyard garden and the other wing of the house a beautiful backdrop for the god who was stealing her heart.
Or might have already stolen it.
That heart felt heavy as she looked at him, catching her feelings echoed in his sombre blue eyes. He didn’t want her to leave either, even when he knew it was necessary.
The original plan had been to part from him yesterday, but when he had taken her home, he had held her so tightly, had been so reluctant to let her go, and when he had finally released her, it had been to tell her to get some things because he wanted her to stay another night.
He was pushing himself. The fight that had happened with his white-haired brother, Daimon, when he had returned to the mansion with her in tow was testament to that. He had been vicious, darker than she had ever seen him as he had warred with his brother, arguing against Daimon’s orders to take her home.
Daimon had eventually given in when Esher had promised to message Marek should he take a turn for the worse and the moon affected him, allowing the rugged earth god to take her home in his stead.
Things had been strained for a while after Daimon had left, but Esher had settled as they had walked the grounds, and watched television, and when she had cooked dinner for him for a change.
When the moon had risen, and she had seen only a sliver of it was missing, she had felt the gravity of what Esher had done.
This afternoon, after spending another day with him alone in the house, savouring every second of it, she had asked him to take her home.
Because she had grown aware that he didn’t intend to do it, that he wanted to keep her with him even when the full moon rose tonight.
He had told her about the way the moon affected him, and she could see that it was already playing on him, had shortened his temper and caused him to fight with his brother, and had him restless. All day, he hadn’t been able to keep still. He had spent most of it in the garden with her, walking the snaking paths with her, taking in the cherry blossoms, or walking without her whenever she grew tired and needed to take a break above the pond on the walkway outside his room.
His restlessness had grown throughout the day, becoming pacing accompanied by glances at her that spoke of worry. Fear. He was afraid of hurting her. Feared that other side of him might emerge when the moon rose and he found himself in the presence of a human.
So she was taking the decision out of his hands.
“You don’t have to go,” he husked, the pain in it tearing at her, weakening her resolve.
“I do. It’s only for a couple of days.” She smiled at him.
She had discovered that he liked it when she smiled, and she was determined to keep on smiling for him, even when she hurt inside.
Damn, she was going to miss him.
“My parents are due home today, and I don’t want them worrying when I’m not there.”
His expression darkened.
“But I need you here,” he bit out, and a flicker of regret crossed his face and he looked away from her, fixing his stormy blue eyes on the pond to his left. “Sorry.”
She shook her head, crossed the room to him and took hold of his hand. He looked down at it, and then up into her eyes.
“You did nothing wrong.” She pressed her fingers to the palm of his hand and brushed her thumb over his knuckles.
He huffed and shoved his fingers through the longer lengths of his black hair, pulling them back from his face as it twisted in agony. “I shouted at you.”
He had hardly shouted. She had seen him shout. His words to her had barely been raised, only a small snap in them as his emotions had gotten the better of him, nothing to apologise for.
Before she could say anything, she was pressed against his chest, his arms steel bands around her as he pressed his nose against her hair and exhaled hard.
“Gods, I’m going to miss you.”
Aiko smiled at that, wriggled her hands free and wrapped her arms around his waist. She held him, offering him all the comfort she could.
“I’m going to miss you too. You can text me. Call me. Whenever you want.” She stroked his back through his light grey t-shirt.
He pushed her back, gripping her shoulders and holding her at arm’s length. “You mean that?”
She smiled again. “Of course. Here, give me your details.”
She pulled her white phone from her backpack, and he fished his out of the pocket of his blue jeans. He held it out to her, and she transferred their details, and a little something else she knew he might need. When she was done, he took it from her and stared at the screen.
At the picture of her.
It was a year old now, and her hair had been shorter, but the way his eyes lit up said he didn’t care.
He looked at her, and then back down at his phone, and then at hers, and she frowned as he fumbled with his, pressing the screen. What was he doing?
It became apparent when he scooped her up in his free arm as if she weighed nothing, holding her off the floor at his side, and reached his arm out in front of him. She smiled for the camera and leaned her cheek against his shoulder as he snapped the picture, and when he grumbled something and went to take another, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
He froze, leaned into the kiss and then reluctantly set her down.
She pulled his arm towards her so she could see the picture. This time, she wouldn’t have been able to contain her smile if she had tried.
Esher was blushing in it, his blue eyes wide as she kissed his cheek.
Before he could protest, she transferred it to her phone.
“It’s an awful picture.” He tried to get her phone from her, but she evaded him, giggling as he came close to catching her.
“It’s mine now. I’m keeping it.” She dodged him again, edited the picture with some text and graphics, and added it to his name in her contacts.
This time, when he reached for her phone, he did it in earnest and she wasn’t quick enough to get away from him. He had her phone in his hand before she could blink.
But he was the one who blinked at her as he looked at the picture.
“Watashi no kareshi?” He lifted his eyes to her, that hint of a blush on his cheeks again, tempered by the fire blazing in his eyes that told her he liked it, and that if she didn’t leave soon, it was going to be even harder to leave because she would be swept up in him again, in the need that overcame her whenever he looked at her that way.
As if he would die without her.
She nodded. “Would you prefer ‘my lover’?”
He growled, swept her up into his arms and kissed her. “Boyfriend is just fine with me.”
She kissed him back, and it was hard to force herself to stop and make him put her down. Mostly because he kept growling at her whenever she tried, the inhuman sound leaving his lips no longer frightening her.
When he finally set her down, the sun was lower.
“I don’t want you to go.” He smoothed his hands over her hair, down her cheeks, and framed her face, his blue eyes tearing at her resolve again as she drowned in them and the pain they held.
“Two nights. We can talk all through them.” Although that did depend on whether he was grounded enough to talk to her.
Daimon had caught her alone at one point yesterday and warned her that even when it wasn’t a perigee, Esher could be a little different during a full moon.
She refused to let that scare her.
Esher let out a long sigh, slipped his hand into hers and led her towards the main room of the house. When he reached it, he paused and looked as if he wanted to say something. He didn’t. He walked with her to the door of the house, jammed his feet into his army boots and waited for her to put on her shoes, and then took her hand again.
“Ready?” He pulled her close to him.
No. She wasn’t. But she nodded, even as that ache in her heart grew.
He sighed again, wrapped her in his arms and she closed her eyes as the world whirled around her. When it settled again, he continued to hold her, and she couldn’t let him go either. She clutched his t-shirt in both fists, fighting tears that felt foolish and stupid, part of her wanting to hold them back so he didn’t see them, so she didn’t make this harder on him.
She convinced herself to release him, took hold of his hand and walked across the small play park where he had landed with her, towards her family’s clinic.
The door opened, and she flinched as her mother bustled out, dressed in a blouse and pencil skirt that made her look more like she had just returned from a day at the office rather than a vacation.
“Aiko!” Her mother called, all smiles as she waved her hand.
That smile dropped off her face when she noticed Esher.
Aiko felt his gaze land on her and she knew what he expected. He thought she would let go of his hand, be ashamed of him because he was a foreigner, or something like that.
She held it tighter, showing him that she wasn’t going to let him go. She loved her parents, but their opinion wouldn’t sway her. Whether they liked him or not, her feelings for him wouldn’t change.
She would always love him.
“This is Esher, my boyfriend.” A smile tugged at her lips as he immediately bowed.
Her mother eyed him, and spoke in Japanese, clearly believing a foreigner wouldn’t understand her. “Where is he from? Where did you meet him? He looks dangerous.”
Everyone looked dangerous to her mother. The postman looked dangerous. The high school boys and then the college boys that Aiko had known through her friends had looked dangerous. Even the local children playing in the park looked dangerous.
“I’m not a danger to your daughter.” Esher’s response in perfect Japanese had her mother’s eyes widening in horror.
“Does he teach?” She looked to Aiko, as if Esher was incapable of answering for himself.
“No. He’s lived in Japan a long time, Mother. If you have questions, you can ask him.” Aiko wasn’t surprised when her mother gave her a look that said she wouldn’t. She sighed and turned to Esher. “This is my mother, Fumi Matsumoto.”
He bowed again. “A pleasure to meet you. Aiko has spoken much of the work you and her father do here.”
She hadn’t, but he scored points for trying to get into her mother’s good book.
“Anata,” Fumi called over her shoulder, a term of endearment for Aiko’s father, and she wanted to cringe.
Her gaze strayed to the sky as she waited for her father to appear, awareness that evening was falling growing stronger as the sun sank lower, painting the blue with swaths of pink and gold.
Esher needed to go, but she knew that he wouldn’t, not when her parents wanted to question him and see what sort of man had stolen their daughter’s heart.
Not even when it was becoming increasingly dangerous for him to be outside the mansion grounds and the wards that protected it.
“What’s the fuss?” Her father halted behind her mother, and when his eyes lifted to land on Esher, he blinked. Looked at Aiko for an explanation.
“Esher, this is Hirotami Matsumoto, my father.” She waited for him to bow before turning to her father. “Father, this is Esher, my boyfriend.”
He didn’t seem pleased to hear that.
“We can argue about this later. Esher needs to go now.” She ignored the way Esher scowled at her, because they had all the time in the world after the moon was no longer full for him to win over her stubborn parents.
It was probably going to take at least another four or five full moons, or even more, before they accepted that she was in love with a foreigner.
She didn’t even want to think about how long it would take for them to accept she was in love with a god.
She could only thank those gods that her mother hadn’t inherited her mother’s gift as Aiko had and wasn’t aware that Esher wasn’t human.
When neither of her parents showed any sign of moving, Aiko turned away and tugged on Esher’s hand. He refused to move, and she looked back over her shoulder at him, a sigh leaving her as she found him staring down her parents with a look in his stormy blue eyes that said he was ready to do battle.
She pulled on his hand again, and he glanced her way this time.
She smiled for him and said in English, “After the full moon.”
He looked as if he didn’t want to accept that, but then he turned with her and followed her back towards the park. She stopped near the gate, under the shade of the trees, and wrapped her arms around him, not caring that her parents were still watching. She needed to hold him, and hold on to him a little longer.
He sighed and wrapped her up in his arms, held her so tight she wanted to cry, and buried his face in her neck. He didn’t resist her when she twisted her head towards him, was swift to capture her lips and kiss her, his desperation matching hers as they clung to each other.
When he eventually released her, it was to pull back and reach into his jeans pocket.
“I made something for you.” He pulled his hand out, held it between them with his palm facing downwards, and opened his fingers.
A small, round ginger cat dropped from the black string looped over his middle finger.
It had tiny white wings.
“I remember the one you had on your backpack that night, and I noticed you didn’t have any charms on your phone, so I made one for you. Do you like it?” He sounded as if his life depended on her liking it, a hint of nerves in his deep voice as he looked at her.
“I love it.” She took it from him, pausing for a heartbeat when her fingers touched it and she felt the power in it.
She settled it in her palm and stared down at it. It was cute, but no ordinary charm. The sensation she got from it was similar to what she felt when she neared the ancient cherry trees in Esher’s garden, and some of the lanterns and boulders, and one of the maples.
He scrubbed his hand around the back of his neck. “I might have put a little magic in it.”
Aiko attached it to her phone and gripped it as she lifted her eyes to his. “What sort of magic?”
“Protection.” He reached out, took hold of her hand and uncurled her fingers, revealing the cat. “They’re gods, you know? Every one of them. This one will protect you.”
They were?
She wasn’t sure she would ever look at a cat in the same way again.
Esher’s gaze drifted away from her, and she frowned as it turned distant.
“Esher?” She touched his hand, and her black eyebrows pinched together as she saw the trident on the inside of his right wrist, just above one of his matching black bracelets, was dark.
“I better go,” he muttered, as distant as his gaze, and then shook his head and looked down at her. “I’ll see you in a few days?”
He didn’t sound sure, so she nodded, tiptoed and kissed him one last time, a slow one that held all the love she had in her heart for him.
He pressed his forehead against hers, growled as frustration rolled off him, and then kissed her again.
“Be safe,” he whispered against her lips, and then he was gone, leaving only wisps of black smoke behind.
She looked around, glad that no one was watching them, and couldn’t hold back the sigh that rolled up her throat as her heart grew heavier. It was only two nights. She could survive that long without him, and it didn’t do to depend on a man too much. She was strong, independent, and able to take care of herself.
But she still grinned like an idiot when her phone vibrated.
She opened it and smiled at the screen and the message there.
Miss you already.
She fired one back as she turned on her heel and walked towards her home.
“Miss you too. Be safe. I’ll be waiting.”