Page 11 of Patience
Haruka let out a ragged breath and pressed his forehead gently against Eli’s. “It was a good idea,” he admitted.
They had time. Perhaps in the afternoon, Haruka would get what he wanted.
* * *
Their afternoon ended up being far too busy for them to come back to the room. Eli wanted to go everywhere and see everything, and Haruka was powerless to deny him—though he tried to corner Eli in the employee break room of a gift shop. Eli flat out refused to let Haruka fuck him in a public space while Kamakura and their other guard Ito kicked everyone out and kept watch outside.
It was worth a try.
They made it back in time for their dinner reservation—but only barely. With the way Eli was sucking a bruise into Haruka’s neck in the car, it was challenging for Haruka to hold back from carrying the boy off to their room and sayingfuck itto their reservation.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that Eli had somehow managed to distract Haruka from making sure they had lunch, Haruka would never have been able to resist the way Eli gazed up at him with midnight blue eyes, heavy-lidded with desire.
Dinner was excellent. It had better have been—Haruka had instructed Chiharu to make sure all of Eli’s favorite dishes were served.
All in all, it had been a wonderful day. He’d been by Eli’s side the entire time, enjoying the look of joy on his face every time the boy came across something new.
Eli hadn’t paid attention to Kamakura once the entire day.
And by the look Eli was giving Haruka across the table, Haruka knew he was finally going to get what he’d been waiting for since they’d gotten to Japan. Eli’s flushed cheeks and tipsy smile were so adorable that Haruka wanted to keep the sight all to himself.
It was time to go upstairs.
Haruka’s phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Someone had better be fucking dead,” Haruka snapped into his phone, not bothering to check to see who the caller was. He didn’t care.
“I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” Eli said quietly and stood up from the table. Haruka admired the boy’s slim form as he left the room, swaying slightly as he went.
“This will only take a minute Haru-chan, don’t hang up,” Chiba Hitomi, the current bane of Haruka’s existence, chirped happily in his ear.
“What do you want?” Haruka said through gritted teeth.
“I just wanted to tell you everything went exactly the way I planned today. You were perfect.”
“You called just to tell me that?”
“It’s basic courtesy, really—”
Haruka hung up and turned off his phone.
He waited patiently for thirty seconds before looking for something to occupy his attention. His eyes landed on the bottle of soju Eli had been working on all evening. Then did a double-take.
It was twenty-four percent alcohol. Eli usually didn’t drink anything higher than seven percent, so it wouldn’t affect his meds. No wonder he’d been so tipsy.
Haruka got up from the table just as a spike of muddled alarm rang out from Eli’s side of their bond. Haruka was down the hallway and around the corner just in time to see Eli shrinking away from the grabby hands of a drunk patron. Haruka was too far away. He wouldn’t make it there before the guy touched Eli.
It would be a mess for the company’s PR department, but if the man laid a hand on Eli, Haruka was going to part him from it.
Then Kamakura swooped in, put the drunk in a headlock, and wrestled him to the floor in one fluid motion.
Ah yes. That was what he kept Kamakura around for. Haruka’s personal feelings aside, Kamakura was the best trained out of all the bodyguards in Haruka’s service.
Haruka hurried to Eli’s side. “Are you okay?” He patted Eli down anxiously, but other than a yellowing bruise from yesterday, the was no sign of injury.
“I’m fine.” Eli had a tiny line between his eyebrows. “Why…?”
“Why what?” Was Eli really asking why Haruka was worried about him? Had he not been paying attention for the past six months?
