The cab dropped us off at a swanky hotel in the middle of Shinjuku, where a bellhop immediately took our bags and loaded them onto a cart. I raised my eyebrows when Raiden ordered rooms for each of us. It seemed kind of extravagant considering that we weren’t actually spending the night here, but then again, he was rich. Besides, it would be nice to actually have some privacy while I showered and got out of these wetclothes.
After we checked in, we got into the elevator and rode it up to the twentieth floor. “Wow,” I said, pressing my nose against the glass window. The city sprawled beneath us, a mecca of color and metal and vibrancy. It looked like something straight out ofBladeRunner.
“Is that Mount Koya?” I asked, pointing at the tiny blip I spotted on the horizon, far off into thedistance.
“Yeah.” Shota came to stand behind me, his hands in his pockets. I glanced sideways, and some of my excitement faded at the grim look on his face. “It’s too bad we won’t be able to go there. It’s prettyspectacular.”
I nodded. “How are we getting to Kai? Shrine-travel?”
“It’s the fastest way,” Raiden confirmed. “The shamans will have set up a portable shrine up there. We’ll go to Nezu Shrine when we’re done here and hopover.”
“Okay.” I gazed at the mountain, a tiny triangle the size of my index fingernail, for a moment longer, before the elevator doors opened and I had to get off. The three of us went our separate ways—we each had rooms on this floor, but they weren’tadjoining.
“Come find me in 2005 when you’re ready,” Shotacalled.
I nodded, then slid my plastic key card into the door of my own room. It swung open, revealing a spacious room with a California King-sized bed and a picture window offering another amazing view of the city. Under other circumstances, I would have plopped myself into the chaise lounge parked there and stared for hours. Instead, I dumped my new clothes on the bed, stripped out of my old ones, and hopped into theshower.
“Ahhhh,” I groaned as the hot spray hit me. The pulsing jets felt incredible, scouring away layers of salt, sand, and other stuff I didn’t want to think about while pounding the tension out of my muscles. There was nothing quite like a hot shower to clear your head after a long day, and this one feltincredible.
I scrubbed myself all over at least three times, then dried off and changed into a pair of clean jeans and a Hello Kitty T-shirt. I didn’t want to waste time blow-drying my hair, so I combed it out, then left it loose down my back so it would dry faster. Looking in the mirror at myself, I wished I had the foresight to buy some makeup. There were circles under my eyes from a severe lack of sleep, and my face was pasty white. It was amazing that Shota and Raiden looked at me withoutcringing.
I sat down on the edge of the bed to put my shoe on, and a wave of tiredness swept over me. Dammit. Longingly, I glanced at the mattress beneath me, which was super comfortable and way too inviting.Lie down,an insidious voice whispered in my head.You can afford a few minutes’rest.
I bit the inside of my cheek to clear the hazy fog of exhaustion that had descended upon my mind. If I lay down now, it wouldn’t be for a few minutes. It would be for a few hours, and I didn’t have time for that. Shota was waiting for me…and so was mymother.
I couldn’t forget that I was doing all this forher.
Quickly, I finished dressing, then grabbed an energy drink from the mini fridge and downed it before heading for Shota’s room. I wasn’t really a fan of Monster or Red Bull, but I needed the extra juice if we really were going to face off against Kaitoday.
Shota’s room was only a few doors down from mine. I knocked on the door, and when I got no answer, used the extra key Shota had given me to gain entry. Shota’s room was a mirror image of mine, with identical furniture. I could hear the shower running, so I went and made myself comfortable on the chaise by the window and spent a long, peaceful moment enjoying the view. My mind drifted as I stared out at the skyline, and I didn’t hear when the water turned off or the dooropened.
“Aika?” Shota’s shocked voice spun me out of my reverie, and I turned to see him just outside the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. His lean, muscled body was practically on full display, complete with abs, and my face flamed as I realized my mistake. “I didn’t know you were inhere!”
“S-sorry!” I shot out of my chair, then tripped over my own feet. Shota lunged forward and grabbed me before I face-planted, but my clumsiness must have been contagious, because somehow we both ended up tangled together on thefloor.
“Relax!” Shota’s arms banded around me as I flailed around like a fish caught in a net. “You’re just making itworse.”
I stilled as Shota pulled me against his body. His body heat seeped into me as my curves pressed against his muscular form, and suddenly I was acutely aware that the towel had slipped away. If I just lookeddown…
No. You arenotlookingdown.
“Sorry,” I said again, wishing I could just disappear. I was simultaneously embarrassed and aroused, the heat from Shota’s body firing me up, turning my core molten. I held very still in his arms, knowing that if I moved my hands just a little, I’d be touching his bare flesh. I could skim them down his back, and maybe over other thingstoo…
“There’s nothing for you to apologize about,” Shota said, sounding a little breathless. My heart pounded hard as his dark gaze bore into mine, and a thrill went through me when he curled his hand around the curve of my waist. “I gave you a key. I should have known better than to walk out herenaked.”
Naked. The word, spoken aloud, sent another wave of heat rushing through my veins. My nipples pebbled through my shirt, and Shota’s gaze turned molten, almost as if he could sense my desire. My lips parted, and I leaned in a little closer, hoping he would finally take thehint…
Shota cleared his throat, his gaze shuttering. “I should get dressed,” he said, pushing himself upright. Cold air rushed between the space where his body had been pressed against mine, sending a chill through me. A healthy dose of shame followed on its heels. “We’ve got training todo.”
Those words, spoken with such clinical dispassion, triggered a wave of anger within me. “Fuck that,” I said, grabbing his wrist before he could get up. Shota’s eyes widened as I yanked him back against me, his mouth open as if he was about to protest. But instead of letting him, I threw my arms around his neck and kissedhim.
As I smashed my lips against Shota’s, I felt azingof electricity, as if we’d completed a circuit. There was a heartbeat of resistance, and then Shota groaned, wrapping his arms around me. He pulled me into his lap, then threaded his fingers into my hair, holding me tightly against him as he kissed me hard. I gasped at the feel of his length pressing against my core, and then his tongue was inside me, filling me up with the taste of him. I sucked on his tongue greedily, my hands sliding down his shoulders, over his arms, loving the way his muscles flexed beneath my touch. The exhaustion that had plagued me earlier had vanished, replaced by a deep-seated need to takemore. I wanted to explore this connection, this current that seemed to flow between us, and see just how far itwent—
“Dammit!” Shota cursed, pushing me off his lap. My breath whooshed out of me as I landed hard on the carpet, but that was more from the shock of his rejection than anything else. I flinched at the anger simmering in his tone, etching itself into the lines of his normally carefree face. “Why are you sotempting,Aika?”
“Tempting?” I echoed, staring at him. No, it wasn’t just anger, I realized as I searched his gaze. There was self-loathing there, too, and I couldn’t understand it. “Why are you treating me like I’m some kind of forbidden fruit? Like I’m a chocolate fudge cake, and you’re on the Atkinsdiet?”
Shota laughed, a bitter sound that tore at me. “Iwishyou were chocolate fudge cake,” he said hollowly. He seemed to remember he was still naked, and threw the towel over his lap. I could have told him not to bother—he was still hard, and the fabric only seemed to draw further attention to the bulge I’d only let myself catch a glimpse of earlier. “That would be way easier toresist.”
