Kiss me to Springtime - 8. Chapter 8

“I made dinner.” Ryo pulled out a seat at the kitchen table for him. “It’s yakitori, your favorite.”

Soubi stared at the dishes laid out on the table: grilled skewered chicken and vegetables, rice and miso soup. He sat and smiled when Ryo helped him push in his chair. He touched the fine black lacquered plate set before him.

Ryo sat across him, poured green tea into two cups, and slid one to him.

Soubi picked one of the skewers from the tray, affording Ryo a smile, and bit into the chicken. They ate in silence for a while, constantly stealing glances at each other. Soubi blushed when he glanced up at one point to find Ryo watching him while he sipped his tea.

Soubi cleared his throat and placed his chopsticks on the placemat.

“Where is Kaito?”

“Busy elsewhere,” Ryo shrugged. “We have the house to ourselves tonight.”

Soubi sipped his green tea and sat back.

“Where is my gift?”

Ryo chuckled.

“Well,” Soubi raised a brow waiting, trying to remember the last time he’d gotten a present.

Ryo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Soubi held out his hand for the jade wrapped present.

“If you take this Soubi, you and I, we’re a couple now.”

Soubi’s lips curved into a smile when he saw the thin silver chain resting on a bed of dark velvet in the dark polish box. He extricated the high-quality chain from its bed letting it dangle on his fingers. An intricate silver eagle almost identical to the one he’d given Ryo a week ago sparkled in the light. Its artisanship delicate, and beautiful.

“Can you do one thing for me?” Ryo asked, his tone low, hesitant. “Will you take off the key on your neck?”

Soubi reached for the old chain on his neck in surprise. Ryo moved his plate to the side leaning his elbows on the table.

“I’m sorry you were alone, Soubi. I haven’t forgiven myself for leaving three months ago. I should have left you with Kaito.”

“I wasn’t your responsibility, Ryo. The sex, drugs, boozing, and the clubbing, those were all my decisions. You’re not to blame.”

Soubi fought away memories of acute loneliness.

“I’ve needed someone taking care of me all my life. From Grandma, to Rin, and then you, I thought if I tried to make it alone…well—,” Soubi shifted in his seat. “You don’t need forgiveness for my mistakes.”

“Then let’s talk about Rin.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Tell me about the key. You two broke up two years ago. Why are you still wearing that chain? Why is Rin wearing the padlock?”

“Because,” Soubi put Ryo’s eagle back into the box on the table. “We made a promise to each other the year we met.”

Soubi pulled at the chain on his neck, the key rusted with age. He didn’t even know if it could open the padlock now. Rin was stuck wearing that stupid padlock around his neck. They could always cut the chain but—

Soubi met Ryo’s gaze.

“Rin was my best friend before he became my lover. When my parents died, I moved into Grandma’s house. I was fourteen, angry and in constant trouble. There weren’t that many people who could stand me. Grandma kept warning me to stay away from a local gang but I wouldn’t listen. One night, a bunch of us robbed a video game store and I almost got caught by the police. I ran down an alley, the inspector behind me, Rin appeared out of nowhere. He pulled me into the back of a convenience store where he worked and closed the doors. Rin saved me from jail that night.”

Soubi stared at the key, the past close.

“I’d never met someone like Rin before. He lived in an orphanage and used to work at the convenience store, being paid under the table. During his spare time, we’d go to the docks in Shinagawa and I’d watch him play his guitar for hours. We talked, argued…fell in love. He showed me what it was to be alive. I was fast on my feet, useful when you’re pick pocketing on the streets. The gang was determined to get me back. Rin got me out of the gang using this key. When they came for me, Rin told them he owned me.”

Soubi looked at Ryo trying to make him understand what Rin Kouga meant to him.

“I don’t like to think about how my parents died, but ending up at Grandma’s was hard, Ryo. Rin kept me sane when I didn’t think I had anything to live for. By the time we met you, I’d been with Rin three years.”

The night Soubi met Ryo was so clear in his memories.

Rin’s band, Blazing Red, had been playing at an Asada club in Ginza. Soubi had just started modeling those days. It was his first time mingling with the elite crowd found in the high-end clubs. He had felt out of place among the high rollers. Ryo had shown up with Kaito for the concert. Perched on a stool at the bar, Soubi watched Ryo mingle, captivated by Ryo’s handsome face.

His Ryo fantasies started that night.

Kaito had come to the bar to get drinks. Soubi didn’t know how it happened, but Kaito managed to spill a drink on Soubi’s white t-shirt. Ryo was apologetic about the accident and offered to buy him drinks while he waited for Rin to finish on stage. Inviting him to the VIP section upstairs.

“There are times I wish I met you before I met Rin.” His heart ached with that confession. “Without Rin, however, I’d be dead or in jail.”

“Don’t stay that.” Ryo reached out to take Soubi’s right hand in his. “What was the promise you made Rin?”

Soubi lowered his head.

“To be there for each other until the day we died. As long as I was wearing the key, and he the padlock, we’d know we’ll always fit, no matter what happens.”

Ryo cursed under his breath and withdrew his hand.

“Does that count when he left you? He has his hooks so deep inside you, I’m so jealous.”

“There is nothing to be jealous about. You’re the one who picked me up when he left. Maybe that is the problem with me. I never learned how to let go of the people I love.”

Soubi sighed.

“The same way I’m not ready to give up this key. Despite what’s happened between Rin and me, he’s the one that made me live, Ryo. I made a promise.”

“What happens if Rin doesn’t keep his side of the promise?”

“I’ve only cared about three people in my life. Grandma, Rin and you,” Soubi said quietly. “I’ve broken a thousand promises to Grandma, and let’s not even tackle how many I’ve broken with you. This,” he pulled at the key, “is the last promise I haven’t broken yet in the past eight years.”

Ryo stood and started picking the plates from the table.

Soubi sat not moving worried that his need to cling to a past he dared not give up was going to make him lose Ryo. He watched Ryo clear the table in silence, expecting him to leave after the table was clean.

It would be fitting, wouldn’t it?

Soubi touched the eagle on the chain. He wanted to wear the eagle so badly. He wanted to belong with Ryo so much that his heart ached.

“Want some coffee?” Ryo asked, placing a mug before him anyway. Ryo sat in his chair his own mug steaming. “Keep the key, Soubi.”

Soubi gasped.

“You don’t mind—

“I do.” Ryo’s fingers curled into tight fists on the table before he released them. “I wish I could break this bond Rin is making you keep on your own, but, I can’t. It’s your bond. I’ll honor it to a point, Soubi. Please take the eagle it’s yours.”

Soubi smiled wide. He picked up the chain and met Ryo’s dark gaze.

“I thought it was coming with a set of ground rules.”

“It’s a gift, no attachments.” Ryo sipped his coffee. “The three ground rules are for our relationship.”

Soubi toyed with the little eagle.

“What are they?”

“Rule one. We have to talk to each other. I never want to go to bed without you talking to me. If you’re angry, tell me, scream at me, fight with me, but, please don’t shut me out.” Ryo frowned. “I found it too painful not talking to you Soubi.”

“Deal.” Soubi couldn’t argue with that, he’d felt like he was losing his mind not talking to Ryo too. “Second one.”

“I’ll never lie to you. I hope you know that, Soubi.” Ryo placed his mug on the table and shook his head. “I’ll always tell you the truth as best as I can, even when it hurts. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about the drugs.”

Soubi stood and walked around the table to Ryo. He smiled when Ryo pushed his chair back making space.

“I’ll always tell you the truth too, Ryo. The best I can,” Soubi murmured, moving to straddle Ryo’s lap. He wrapped his arms around Ryo’s shoulders and hugged him tight. “What’s the last rule?”

“I don’t share, Soubi.” Ryo warned fingers sinking into Soubi’s hair to pull his head back. “Not with Rin, not with anyone. That’s a promise I want from you.”

“I promise,” Soubi breathed.

Ryo let his hair go and he buried his face into Ryo’s shoulder. He took in Ryo’s scent mingled with the warm delicious scents of coffee.

He lifted his head and stared at Ryo’s lips: firm, smiling. He kissed Ryo’s lips before he pulled back and held up the chain.

“Are you going to put this on me to seal the deal?”

Ryo chuckled, a deep rumble that thrilled him.

He gave the chain to Ryo and watched him undo the clasp. Leaning his forehead on Ryo’s shoulder, he reached up to move his ponytail for Ryo to fasten the chain.

Soubi had dreamed of being in Ryo’s arms. No matter how many times he denied it, he had imagined what it would be like to make love with Ryo. When he was with Rin, he’d thought it a betrayal. When he broke up with Rin, it was torture to lust after Ryo, his knight.

Now—

His hips moved, wanting to feel Ryo’s hardness against his.

Ryo was his.

His heart dipped, wanting nothing more than to be so close to Ryo that they seemed one. Ryo captured his lips in a hot searing kiss.

His fingers sunk into Ryo’s hair, enjoying the thick soft texture. Ryo’s lips fitted against his, his tongue slid over Ryo’s soft plump lower lip. Their breaths mingled, he closed his eyes in bliss when Ryo allowed his tongue in. He explored Ryo’s hot delicious mouth savoring Ryo’s taste. His tongue sliding over Ryo’s, dueling, and then Ryo took control. His breath quickened when Ryo bit his lower lip gently.

Ryo’s kisses trailed along his jaw, to his neck, his fingers tightened in Ryo’s hair when Ryo sucked on his skin, marking him. Heat pooled at his crotch, so hot it burned. He’d never realized having someone suck on his neck could be so erotic.

Eyes closed, head thrown back, he bit his lip as Ryo kept up his gentle assault on his neck. Wandering fingers pulled up Soubi’s t-shirt and he helped Ryo remove it. Soubi helped Ryo remove shirt too. He splayed his hands on Ryo’s shoulders. He pressed a kiss on Ryo’s shoulder unable to believe this was happening.

With a soft sigh, he bit Ryo’s shoulder gently and was rewarded with a harsh grunt in return. Ryo wrapped a strong arm around his waist and stood. Their lips melded in a wild kiss, their breathing erratic, his fingers dug into taut shoulder muscles as he tried to get as close as he could to Ryo’s burning chest. His legs wrapped tightly around Ryo’s waist. A frenzied lust overtook his brain, drowning him as they kissed, his fingers digging into Ryo’s silky hair. Craving, needing, crazed with lust.

Ryo dropped Soubi’s feet to the floor and with their mouths still melded; sure fingers fell on his trouser zipper. Soubi gasped into Ryo’s demanding kiss when the zipper rolled down, and Ryo grabbed his cock. A few firm strokes and he was ready to cum, his hips grinding into Ryo’s clever hands. Ryo lifted him on to the kitchen table sending their coffee mugs to the floor.

Soubi helped Ryo strip his trousers off and shivered when Ryo pushed him to lie back on the table. Fire scorched through his veins when Ryo took him into his mouth. He arched into the burning, wet heat and cried out as Ryo sucked on him without mercy, driving him to madness, bringing him to a quick climax.

Minutes, or may be hours, later, he sat astride Ryo on a great king sized bed, eyes level with Ryo’s, half-closed in ecstasy as he grinded his hips. Ryo’s hands closed hard on his hips, shoving him downward while Ryo violently thrust upward, sending sizzling tingles through his body. He arched into Ryo’s thrusts, his fingers digging into Ryo’s shoulders. Ryo thrust again, and again, short fevered gasps escaped as Soubi threw his head back in rapture.

Ryo’s strokes were unrelenting, his rigid length thick and hot inside him, rubbing over and over on that magical spot inside him. Unrelenting thrusts drove wave after wave of pleasure through his body.

Ryo wrapped Soubi’s hair in his arm, giving it a subtle tag; he brought their lips together in a wanton kiss.

“I love you, Soubi,” Ryo murmured into his ear.

Words escaped him. Ryo held him tighter, fucking him hard, driving him over the edge. Soubi came with a harsh scream arching violently while Ryo gripped his hips tight. Tears spilled down his cheeks when Ryo came into him, pouring white-hot seed into him, his body trembling. He clung to Ryo tightly as the world faded.

***

It was ten-thirty at night as per the clock on the bedside table. Soubi traced the inked eagle on Ryo’s back, his head propped on his left arm as Ryo lay on his stomach. Ryo’s head was turned to him on the fluffy dark pillow. He traced a finger over Ryo’s spine, trailing down to the curve of Ryo’s ass. Ryo smiled. Soubi leaned over to taste that smile.

“Did it hurt?” Soubi asked, returning his attention back to the eagle, tracing the eagle’s white tail at the small of Ryo’s back. The tattoo had detailed artwork. It would have taken hours to get it on.

“I was too drunk to care. My brother has a phoenix on his back. His took more time than mine. Our mother wanted to kill us when she found out.”

“Why did you do it?” Soubi asked.

Ryo shifted to his back kicking off the sheet over them in the process. Drawing Soubi’s to Ryo’s crotch, his own cock responding at the sight of the slightly swollen cock.

“We were rebelling against father, and his ridiculous rules.” Ryo shrugged. “My brother wanted to live outside the estate for the duration of his university studies. Father wouldn’t let him because he wanted him to take over business matters. Since I was graduating from high school two years later, Tohaku fought with father in order to get permission for both of us. Father refused Tohaku, but allowed me the four years out of the estate.”

“So you got the tattoo because your brother was imprisoned for your sake.”

Soubi rested his head on Ryo’s shoulder. He’d only met Tohaku, Ryo’s older brother, once. Well, not really met, he’d seen Tohaku Asada talking to Ryo from a distance.

“You must love your brother very much.”

“Brotherhood is great, but it can turn into a burden,” Ryo said, his tone low.

“Ryo, can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” Ryo said.

“Two years ago, just before Rin left, you told me you were going back to the estate. Why didn’t you? Was it because of me?”

“Yes.” Ryo reached for his hand and tangled their fingers. “After I found you in that awful apartment, alone, I couldn’t leave you.”

“Your mother came to see me,” Soubi confessed softly.

He’d kept it hidden for so long it felt strange revealing it now, but he’d made a promise not to lie.

“She found me at Grandma’s when you were at work one day that first year. She asked me to tell you to go back to the estate.”

“What?” Ryo sat up, taking him along. Ryo gripped his upper arms and shook him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was high. Her angry accusations are all I remember. She kept saying it was my fault and that I ruined you.” He felt tears burn the back of his eyes. “I didn’t know what she meant so I tried to apologize. She said she’d never forgive me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryo demanded again, his dark eyes stormy with anger.

“I figured if I fixed what was wrong with me you wouldn’t have to stay. You’d return back to her and the estate. But you didn’t, and—

“I’m going to kill her.”

Ryo let go of him and started to get off the bed.

Soubi grabbed Ryo’s left arm to stop him.

“Where are you going?”

“She has no right to interfere in my business. How dare she come to lecture you?” Ryo shrugged his hold off angrily.

Soubi scrambled after Ryo, jumping off the bed, he got in front of Ryo and placed his hands on strong shoulders. He pushed Ryo back to sit on the bed and straddled Ryo wrapping his arms tightly around Ryo’s shoulders.

“Think, Ryo. It’s almost eleven o’clock at night. Your mother might be sleeping by the time you drive almost three hours to the Asada estate. There is no need to confront her about a past that’s over.”

Ryo cursed under his breath, his arms wrapping around Soubi.

“She hurt you. I was protecting you and she hurt you. I should have known.”

“She gave me ammunition to start thinking and taking care of myself.” Soubi pressed a kiss on Ryo’s shoulder before he whispered. “You’re more hotheaded than I am, Asada. Are you seriously going to leave me in this bed alone?”

Ryo held him tight, their naked bodies pressed together.

Soubi reached between them for Ryo’s hardening cock. Stroking until Ryo was breathing hard. Shifting up slightly, he reached behind him to guide the rigid length into him. He didn’t stop until Ryo’s full length was deep inside him.

“Are you seducing me?” Ryo teased as they stayed still for a moment.

Soubi smiled, biting his lower lip as his body adjusted to having Ryo inside him. He was half-afraid he’d never enjoy having sex with anyone else. If Ryo were to leave him—, that thought was cut off when Ryo thrust into him.

“I already did,” Soubi murmured, grinding his hips into Ryo’s thrusts.

He could do this all night, days, weeks, gods, fucking Ryo was heaven. Ryo cupped his ass and set a frenzied pace that had him gasping for more.

***

“I’m glad to see marital bliss in here.”

Kaito praised the next afternoon when he walked into the house. Soubi stood by the sink washing fish while Ryo leaned on the counter beside him.

“Kai, where have you been all day?” Soubi smiled in greeting turning off the water. He wiped his hands on a towel ready to hug Kaito.

Ryo pulled on his ponytail stopping him.

“Where do you think you’re going? Kaito, keep your damn hands to yourself.”

“Possessive,” Kaito laughed.

Soubi shook his head at the comment. He ignored Ryo’s warning and accepted Kaito’s short hug.

“You have hickeys all over your neck!”

Soubi blushed hot jumping out of Kaito’s arms. He pulled up his turtleneck; he’d thought he hid those. Ryo was obsessed with marking him. He gave Ryo a warning glance. The silly grin that followed made him glare.

“What?” Ryo asked, still leaning on the kitchen counter. “How’s the shop? Aren’t you home a bit early?”

Kaito sat at the kitchen table picking out a cookie from a tray in the middle of the table. Soubi stared at the corner where Ryo had held him the night before and felt heat flood his face. Jeez, he returned to the sink and ran cold water. Ryo dropped a kiss on top of his head.

“Actually, I have some news. Blazing Red is coming to town.”

Kaito reached into his pocket to pull out a folded poster. He slapped it on the table and took a bite of his cookie.

“Rin Kouga is going to be hanging out in Shimokita for a week. I hope you guys are ready for that idiot.”

Soubi tensed with his hands buried in a bowl full of fish. The euphoria of a night spent in Ryo’s bed quickly disappearing at the thought of seeing Rin again.

***