Page 48 of Lore and Lust
“I’m ready.”
Haruka leans across his chest, then licks the concave of Nino’s neck—just as he does whenever he feeds. This time, the feeling behind it is different somehow. Intentional. Seductive. Nino closes his eyes, taking in every moment, every second of this experience that he’s been waiting for.
Nino gasps when Haruka softly bites into his neck. His sleek fangs press deeper into his skin and Nino exhales, instinctively sliding his fingers into the back of his friend’s dark, silky hair. Haruka pulls. Just as it had before, something innate stirs deeply within Nino’s being. It moves, sending flashes of heat throughout his entire body. It’s telling him to trust and let go—to set his nature free and submit.
Haruka sucks harder at his flesh. The sensation feels so warm and good that a deep groan escapes Nino’s parted lips. He slides one hand from Haruka’s hair, down past his shoulders to rest against his spine.
This thing that Haruka is doing feels primal—sensual. He can’t see it, but Nino can inherently feel him using his mind to pull and gently urge, twist and coax his nature from him. It’s as if Haruka is sweetly enticing a timid thing out of its deep hiding place. The very thing that defines Nino’s vampiric essence.
When Haruka pulls again, the thing inside Nino pulses hot—threatening to release. Nino arches his lower back in another gasp, gripping Haruka’s crisp shirt in his fist. With his eyes burning brightly and his breathing labored, he decides to trust in the sensation overwhelming him. He relaxes his body and allows Haruka to take it from him.
Like wildfire, the warmth and energy of his aura rush from his abdomen and up the length of his spine. It releases from every pore and fiber of Nino’s being. It feels as if his aura and everything within him is being flipped inside out, and he moans from the sublime pleasure and liberation of it. The sensation grips him like an intense, emotional orgasm. Nino has never experienced anything so all consuming—so completely gratifying—in his long life.
He stares in awe as the glow of his golden aura encircles them, tenderly wrapping itself around Haruka. He pulls his mouth from Nino and breathes in sharply, then closes his eyes. The room is filled with dazzling light. Nino’s heart is still racing as he takes in the abundance of sensations.
The light of his aura slowly dissipates, fading like the soft glimmer of a firefly as it burns out. Nino’s irises are still glowing, his body hot and trembling as he watches Haruka. His friend’s eyes are closed, but Nino feels overwhelmed with affection for him. For who he is and for the incredible feeling he’s given him. Smelling his milky-almond, rosy skin and sensing his tightly knotted aura… If Haruka were a lake, Nino would swim in him and submerge himself. Happily drowning in him.
He has given of himself. Nino has wrapped Haruka in all that he is—his very composition as a vampiric entity. Now, Nino’s body yearns for something in return. Anythingfrom this enigmatic creature lying beside him.
Closing his burning eyes, Nino lifts his chin. He drags his tongue up the edge of Haruka’s jawline. Just to taste him. To havesomething. His skin is cool and sweet—raindrops on fresh cherries or clean earth and roses. Perfect. Delicious. Haruka opens his scarlet eyes, quietly staring down at him.
Still mindless with pleasure and need, Nino lifts his chin again, this time pressing his mouth into him.
Soft.Haruka’s mouth… It puckers. Naturally. Nino has privately taken note of this across their interactions. His lips aren’t pouty, not thick or full… but the way he holds his mouth and the supple curve of his lips feels like a subtle invitation. Maybe a dare. One that Nino has always adamantly ignored but doesn’t now.
The feel of his mouth on Haruka’s is dizzying, but he opens his eyes and pulls back when he senses him smiling against the kiss. The dark purebred is watching him, his glowing irises seductive in the firelit room. Slowly, Haruka dips and tilts his head, tenderly catching his mouth once more.
Nino parts his lips and caresses Haruka’s bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. He feels Haruka open wider to him, inviting Nino inside to deepen the intimacy and explore in this unchartered territory. He does. Angling his head and slowly dipping into the cool, earthy sweetness of him. His tongue finally slides and twists with Haruka’s. Wet, smooth and satiating. Nino breathes a sigh against the kiss, gripping his fingers in his thick, silky hair.
This is heaven. He has never given heaven much thought. Never questioned whether or not it exists, but this is it. Here, in the warm firelight of this bedroom and kissing Haruka, is absolute paradise.
Just as Nino is beginning to feel hyper aware of the fact that he is fully clothed (and questioning the material’s fundamental purpose), Haruka pulls away from the kiss.
“It is late,” Haruka says quietly, his gaze affectionate. “Should I return to my own room?”
With his fingers still tangled in his hair, Nino smiles, rubbing his fingertips against Haruka’s scalp. “I think you should go get comfortable and then sleep in here with me? If you’re okay with that.”
Haruka nods. “I would like that.”
Twenty-Eight
Haruka wakes up disoriented the following morning. Where is he? What time is it and whose life is he suddenly living?
His face is halfway swallowed by a large pillow as he opens his eyes. He doesn’t move. Instead, he breathes in. The delectable, smoky and cinnamon-laced scent of Nino pours into him, drowning his senses in the most satisfying way. He rolls onto his belly under the warm comforter and shifts his face directly into the pillow.
Haruka inhales deeply, then exhales a loud, contented groan. He smiles against the puffy material.
Pulling Nino’s aura from his body the previous night… He cannot easily describe it. Simple words are inadequate—useless in painting the exquisite masterpiece that is Nino’s essence. Maybe if he tried in Latin, or arranged a new language entirely? He has pulled Yuna’s aura in the past. Many, many times. But the experience of releasing her aura versus Nino’s? The two events are incomparable.
It was like magic. Fizzy, bright and golden. Champagne inexplicably laced with fire. The energy had rushed from Nino’s body like a spell. It was so pure and filled with deep affection, it was almost cleansing as it warmly caressed and wrapped itself around Haruka’s frame. It had intentionally enclosed him, as if it were seeking his own aura within him—a beautiful entity desperately searching for its long-lost friend.
Haruka’s nature had unexpectedly responded, pounding fiercely within him. He’d needed to stop feeding from Nino to concentrate, otherwise his nature would have unwrapped itself from its imposed knot and rushed from his body.
The bedroom door creaks open and Haruka lifts his head from the pillow. Sensing Nino there, he sits upright. The overcast sun washes the room in cool, filtered lighting. Nino is fully dressed, his coppery waves neatly swept back and his sides freshly tapered. To Haruka, his handsome friend always appears effortlessly stylish and casual. Unassuming, as if he’d innocently stepped off the pages of a men’s lifestyle magazine.
“Good morning,” Haruka says, rubbing his palms down his face.
“Goodafternoon.” Nino frowns, pouting.
