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by Shannon M. Richmeyer |
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Tsuzuku reached for the coffee pot and poured for himself as he said, "Tannis is the artist. Remy keeps a journal." "May I?" Matsuri and Hajime asked at the same time, Matsuri indicating the drawings, Hajime the journal under his hand. He nodded at Matsuri, then tipped his head at his brother with an amused smile. "I would like to read it first, Brother, if you wouldn't mind?" Hajime smiled back and bowed his head in unspoken apology. "I would like to meet these people, Brother." "Maybe you could invite them over for dinner on Monday," Matsuri suggested as she smiled at the picture of Tsuzuku and Amaru. It was the day that both she and Tsuzuku had off, the restaurant not needing six servers for the sparse Monday business. Tsuzuku favored her with an unreadable expression but nodded agreement as Hajime poured himself a cup of coffee and readied himself to discuss other family business. "Some things occurred today that you need to know about, Brother." Tsuzuku looked at Hajime sharply, drawn out of hectic thoughts of what they could afford to cook for the dinner and if he could keep this hentai attraction to both Tannis and Remy hidden from his brother's awareness. He was warned by the calmness in his brother's tone and the stillness about his frame as he took a small sip of coffee that something unpleasant was coming. "Owaru had an altercation with the White Tigers this afternoon." Tsuzuku closed his eyes for a moment and groaned mentally. "What happened?" "They were attacking a school mate of his. And if our youngest brother is to be believed, Owaru has finally started to notice girls. This girl in particular. It got out of hand and he got shot." Tsuzuku startled and was at the closed bedroom door in a blink. Hajime rose and followed at normal, human speed as Tsuzuku opened the door and slipped to his younger brother's side. Owaru was sleeping on his back, his right arm up over his head and bent at the elbow. Tsuzuku could easily see the darkness of the bruise that covered the pale skin of the underside of his arm and the raw scratches around the raised welt of the healing wound. "He's all right, Brother," Amaru's hushed voice assured him from where he lay in a curl at Owaru's other side. Tsuzuku noticed that Amaru had his hand around Owaru's left wrist as Owaru shifted and tensed, straining a little against Amaru's grip. Amaru kept Owaru's hand down and still and made a soothing noise as Owaru grumbled and frowned. "He'd scratched the bandage off and was scratching it raw in his sleep," Amaru explained as Owaru moved his wounded arm against the bottom sheet with a few short strokes, trying to ease the itch before falling back into a deeper sleep. "Why didn't you call me, Amaru?" Hajime asked as he came into the room and knelt next to Owaru. Amaru pushed himself up to his elbow and favored him with his gentle smile. "You needed some time alone with Matsuri-chan before Tsuzuku came home. And I don't mind." Hajime didn't miss the sideways look that comment earned from his second brother. He ignored it for the moment. Right now he had to tend to the youngest members of his family. "Well, you have to get some sleep. I'll stay here with Owaru, if that's all right with you, Matsuri-chan?" He felt he needed to ask for her permission even though they had been intimate. It was simply the...correct thing to do. "No, I don't mind at all, Hajime-san," Matsuri answered softly from the doorway, her tone neutral but the gleam in her eye amused as she met first his glance and then Tsuzuku's suspicious stare. Hajime smiled back with a little mental sigh, wishing...he distracted himself quickly. Since there was only enough space in the tiny bedroom for Matsuri's bed and the two futon Amaru would have to sleep in the living room with Tsuzuku. "Tsuzuku, get my futon out for Amaru." Tsuzuku nodded and beckoned Amaru out. He shut the door as Hajime stretched out onto the bedding Amaru had vacated. He put his hand gently over Owaru's left wrist and studied his brother's features in the dim light from the window and found that he hadn't realized that Owaru's face had lost all of its 'little boy' softness. He wondered about this girl that Owaru had put all of them at risk for. He hoped she was worth it. The Tigers. Gods, they answered to the local Yakuza. How far up did the connection go? How long would it take for the news to filter to a Four Sisters operative? And it would sooner or later. He had no doubt of that. Gods, they were going to have to run...again. He sighed softly, his mind spinning out frightening scenarios as he realized that even that easy solution to their problem had just gotten much more complex.
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"Matsuri-chan, is there something else going on that I should know about?" he asked innocently.
She nodded and colored prettily. "Hajime and I, well, we...had a very nice talk this afternoon."
"Sa. I take it that is was a very informative discussion?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Tsuzuku-kun!" Matsuri attempted to look and sound scandalized and failed miserably.
"So, should I start calling you 'sister' now instead of cousin?" he teased and watched her turn as red as his dragon.
He pulled her into his arms for a fast hug. "I'm very happy for both of you, Matsuri-chan."
"I'm glad you approve, Tsuzuku-kun," she responded with a choked voice, half laughter and half on the verge of tears.
"Oh, I approve very much, Matsuri-chan!" he grinned at her as he let her go. "I was starting to despair! You wouldn't believe the visions that kept popping into my head. They all had to do with another young man coming along and sweeping you off your feet and leaving me to try to explain to the local police why my cousin's fiance was squashed into a singularity by a very annoyed Blue Dragon!" he teased with a wink.
She laughed back at him, very amused and flattered, then changed the subject by starting to suggest a tentative menu for their coming dinner party.
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He rose and went to change, then settled next to Amaru and tucked the journal under his pillow. Hajime might respect his privacy but he wasn't so sure of his youngest brothers. He draped his forearm over his eyes to shut out the glow of the street lights that kept this apartment from ever being truly dark. Images of both Tannis and Remy shimmered into existence in his mind and he clenched his fingers into a fist.
No. He bid them go and leave him in peace for just one night. Just one night...
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"Only a petite touch, Lov. Jus' enough to be remindin' me not to have so much fun," he assured her.
She relaxed as soon as she heard him speak. That was what she used to gauge the little ones, the ones that didn't send him to the ground and scare her half to death. There was no slur to his words, no thickening of his accent. She hugged him back fiercely, fighting the terror that one day one of these seizures was going to be more than his dragon heritage could heal.
"Tannis, it be fine. Nothin' to be worryin' over. It do neither of us no good, anyhow," he said into her hair with a weary resignation.
"Easy enough to say, much harder to do!" she parroted her father's favorite saying back at with him with all the pompous arrogance that he used with his underlings in the firm and won a smile.
She took his hand and guided him unresisting to the bedroom, knowing that he needed to rest, wanting to crawl between the sheets and cuddle, wanting reassurance that he was still at least half hers. She left him to undress as she went into the bathroom and came out to see him shirtless and barefoot and laughing softly as he continued to wrestle with the button of his jeans. A little worse than she had first thought.
"Tannis, Lov...I be stuck..." he gestured at his button with a chuckle, then threw up his hands in a half-mocking gesture of self disgust.
She swallowed the constriction in her throat and blinked the sudden sting of tears away. Remy's easy acceptance of his debilitating condition and the humor with which he always faced it wrung at her heart. She knew that she would be a foul-tempered bitch if she had to live with it and smiled back, determined to match his humor as she came to his rescue. She undid the button and tugged the jeans down off his hips along with his briefs. His penis sprang up to greet her, proud and hard and she rolled her eyes at him in exasperation as he sat back onto the bed and let her pull the pants the rest of the way off.
"Remy, you never cease to amaze me!" she teased gently.
A glint of his normal mischief came back into his eyes.
"I had a very frustratin' afternoon, Lov! Tsu, he not ready nor willin' to return the favor yet and you comin' out 'au natural' not helpin' matters none."
"Guess I better go dig out my ugliest flannel nighty then. I don't want you stroking out again," she answered seriously.
"No," Remy grabbed her wrists and pulled gently, guiding her up to sit on his thighs, "you need to put this poor Cajun out of his misery, neh? This," he put his hands on her rear and rubbed his length against her mound with a rock of his hips, "very, very stressful, oui?"
"Remy!" she started but was cut off when he caught her mouth with a kiss and sent his tongue to stop her protest.
She resisted for a few moments more as his hands floated up and down her back, bringing twitchy shivers as he tickled along the most sensitive areas of skin, then melted into his kiss. He was impossible to resist when he was determined, and she really never wanted to resist him. They moved all the way onto the bed, still locked in kisses. She made sure Remy stayed on his back, determined to make this as unstressful as she could. She straddled his hips and rubbed her slit along his length gently, again and again, feeling herself part and moisten as he brought his hands up to play with her breasts and nipples. When she was ready, she arched her hips and caught his tip and sank onto him slowly.
He 'uuummm'-ed, his eyes closing with pleasure as she sat and squeezed him with her inner muscles. She returned the sound as he wormed his right hand down between them until he found her clit to press and stroke. She pressed against his fingers with a gentle rock as she moved on him with careful, controlled passion. No teasing, no stopping, just moving and finding pleasure in the slowness. His hips started to come up to met her and she whispered for him to be still, to let her do the work as she continued, slow and feeling her own release building. He tensed and sighed softly, tossing his head from side to side as she felt him throb and pulse deep inside, reaching his pinnacle. She let herself have a few hard, furious strokes, enough to send her over the edge and ground herself against him as she rode the waves of pleasure.
She collapsed onto his chest with a purred sigh. He wrapped his arms firmly around her as she propped her chin on her crossed hands so she could look up into his face. It was relaxed, his eyelids almost closed as his breathing evened out under her. A slight smile curved his lips as he forced his eyes back open and gazed back, the silver flecks in his eyes sparkling in the subdued light.
"Love you, Tannis. Nothin' ever gonna change that," he promised her softly.
She let out a little huff of amusement/annoyance at how easily he could read her.
"I know. I just need to be reminded..." she wiggled up and gave him a lingering, teasing kiss, "...constantly."
He chuckled softly and rocked his hips up against her. "You need remindin' again, Lov?"
"Stop that!" she laughed back at his half-serious tease. "Are you up to going with me tomorrow?" she asked to distract him.
"Wouldn't miss it, Lov," he answered around a yawn.
She nodded and watched his eyes shut as his weariness finally overcame him, then put her head back down on his chest. Bits and pieces of the evening started to play itself out in her memory as she cuddled. She frowned and told herself to stop it as she found herself focusing on their Dragon. The unconscious grace of his movements, the sound of his voice, the charming expression of puzzlement on his face as he'd try to decipher one of Remy's colloquialisms. It didn't work and he followed her down into her dreams as the even beat of Remy's heart under her ear lulled her to sleep.
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