Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

HIRO

Clearly, we don’t have to worry about it because after dinner, a woman comes in and makes both futons before telling us that if we need anything to let her know.

“You know what she meant when she asked if we needed anything, right?” Maddox asks after she’s long gone. “I think she was wanting to join in.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I say.

“Look how close she put our futons together. She knew. There’s no gap in there. No one is slipping in there. But the way she was looking at you, she could have made a gap for her own to fit.”

“You are ridiculous.”

“But I’m your fiancé so it’s okay.”

“It’s super okay,” I say as I reach out to his shirt which I tug. “You have far too many clothes on.”

“There’s a really simple solution to that.”

“Rip them off?”

“Or just… push them off, pull them down.”

“Nibble them off.”

“I don’t know why we’d go that route but… I mean… I agreed to love you through thick and thin, and this would definitely fall somewhere in that range.”

“You know what else is thiiiick ?” I glance down.

He looks confused. “The eye flick said you were looking at my dick, but I know you far better than that.”

“My desire for that naked ass,” I say, which makes him laugh.

“You are definitely the man for me.” Maddox wraps an arm around me and pulls me in. He kisses me softly, lips parting and tongue brushing against mine before pulling back enough to talk. “Your… ridiculous jokes… just do it for me.”

“Yeah?” I ask. “Thank you.”

I grin as I pull back enough to push his shirt up and drop it. My hands drift up his chest and over his shoulders before looping around his neck. I kind of forget what I’m doing at that point because I catch sight of my ring and just stare at it for a moment with what is probably a manic smile on my face. He doesn’t seem to mind as he runs kisses down my neck while freeing the button on my pants so he can guide them down. I kick them off as he grabs my ass cheeks and lifts me off the ground.

I laugh at the sudden change and wrap my legs around him as I tighten the hold around his neck. “Oh? How gentlemanly, I don’t even have to use my own legs.”

“I’m going to skillfully lay you on the ground,” he says.

“The way you announced that you’re going to do this makes me worried that you’re going to drop me.”

“I would never drop you.”

“I just… I feel like never is a strong word.”

“I would probably not drop you, but if I do… just know that our life together can only go up from there… especially if you’re already on the floor.”

“That’s weirdly sweet if I ignore the last bit of that sentence,” I say.

“Thanks. I know just how to pretend like I’m great at this, even though I’m now overanalyzing it. Like do I squat and lay you down? Will I lose my balance? Are my pants too tight to squat?”

I wrap my legs even tighter around his waist. “I am impatient to find out.”

“Like usually, I’m laying you on a bed and not on the floor.”

“I’m just glad I took your shirt off first,” I say as I run my fingers down his muscular arms and admire his tattoos. “It gives me something to do as the minutes stretch on while you decide the best course of action.” I teasingly flick a nipple while I’m waiting.

“I probably shouldn’t have taken your pants off so you had some protection in case I drop you. Maybe some knee pads too or something.”

“I’m glad you’ve already committed to dropping me. You could put me down and I could like… lie down. And then you could like… get on top of me. That sounds sexy.”

“No part of that sounded sexy.”

“I could lie like a plank, and you could crab crawl over my body and just… stick ’er in.”

“Umm… isn’t crab crawling like… dick facing up? And you… would be on the floor… like a plank.”

“You’re right. I could do like downward dog and you could crab crawl into me.”

“This is what I have to look forward to… for the rest of my life.”

“It’s gonna be a long life, too,” I say.

“Made longer by conversations like this one.”

“And when we’re old and you go first, you’ll still be stuck with me. You’ll never be able to get away from me.”

“Sounds… hauntingly beautiful. But also like… are you making sure I go first?”

“Sure am. Until death do us part definitely doesn’t apply here.” I laugh as I give his arm a smack. “Come on now. Get me on the ground.”

“Okay. I’m going. Easy now.”

“Ooh baby, this sexy talk is making me hot ,” I say.

“Don’t make me laugh or the likelihood of me dropping you goes up by ten percent.”

“Well, that’s not very high.”

“We were already at an eighty percent chance.”

“Clearly, my life is in your hands,” I tell him as he finally starts to kneel down to lay me on the ground. For how much he cried about it, it goes much smoother than I expected. Or so I assume until I see the look on Maddox’s face.

“What… what is that look for?”

“I… think I ripped my pants,” he says.

“Did you really?” I reach back and find the very prevalent rip. “Ooh, easy access,” I enthuse as I pinch his ass cheek.

He laughs as I cup his ass and enjoy the secret entrance to it.

“I hope you brought plenty more pants,” I say.

“Those were my best pants. Those were my proposing pants.”

“Well… I would tell you that I could sew them shut, but I kind of like the secret entrance. Only downside is that you have underwear on. Can you put a secret entrance in those too?”

“What if I just take them off? That could also be fun.”

“Ooh, you could have proposed naked,” I say.

“Could have also gotten to see what a Japanese jail cell looks like, too,” he retorts.

“Nah, you’re so handsome they’d have let you off without a fine.”

I reach around to the front of his pants and unbutton them before sliding them down. He kicks them off as my hand runs down his cock clothed in the light fabric of his underwear. I trace a line around it as he kisses my neck while his fingers slide up my shirt.

His lips find mine, our soft kisses turning quick and fevered, like we can’t get enough of each other. Like I need more of him, even though everything I have is perfect.

I slide my finger under the waistband of his underwear, tugging it down enough that when I slip my fingers under it, they rub along the sides of his cock before I draw his underwear the rest of the way down his thighs. As he pushes them off, he scoots down, kissing a line along my body as he rids me of my remaining clothes. When he reaches my cock, he runs a tongue around the tip, teasing the sensitive skin with the lightest touch before taking the head into his mouth.

Pushing one of my legs up onto his shoulder, he pops open the lube he must have grabbed at some point and slides a now wet finger over my hole. His touch is tantalizing, making a soft murmur escape from my lips. A finger presses against me, slowly pushing inside me as his mouth sinks down my cock.

Another finger joins the first, opening me up as I anticipate the feel of his cock inside me.

Only once I’m aching for him does he draw off me, pulling his fingers free. I reach for him, needing to touch and kiss him. His tongue moves against mine and his hand trails down my leg, pulling me up as I eagerly hold on to him.

I grab the lube, squirting some on my hand before sliding my fingers over him, coating his cock that’s eager for attention. He peppers soft kisses down my cheek and neck as he pulls me in tighter. I can feel the brush of his cock against my ass before the head rubs against my hole.

Maddox pushes inside me, slowly opening me up to accept his thick member. He gently guides himself into me before rocking his hips. It feels so fucking good as he drives deeper, filling me up. Pleasure rushes through me as his cock sinks deep inside me and his hand slides up my dick.

“I love you so much,” I murmur, and in response his lips press against my own. His hand draws away from my side, only to find my hand and squeeze it, his fingers trailing over the ring wrapped around my finger.

I can’t wait until there’s one around his as well.

“I love you too,” he says as he breaks from the kiss. “I love you so much. I love you.”

Emotions swell up inside me. It’s not like I never considered marrying Maddox, but life just has a tendency to get in the way. It seems like every time we’re given a moment to breathe, we run headfirst into something, and the two of us and our life together get pushed back.

But not now.

No… right now is so perfect. The beautiful garden. The fancy inn. Just everything is so fucking perfect.

“You’re perfect,” I inform him.

“You sure? I already ripped my pants.”

“Even that was perfect,” I say.

“And I’m beside you; I’m not sure I can look perfect when I have perfection next to me.”

I grin at him. “You’re wonderful and I love you so much.”

Maddox tells me he loves me again and again and holds me close, and I can feel his love even when he’s not saying it, just from the way he touches me and the warmth he wraps around me.

As he moves inside me, pleasure consumes me. It’s like all of it just wraps around me and I feel so damn happy.

His hand draws down my length, bringing me closer to orgasm as his cock rubs me just the right way, deep inside me. I moan as my cock aches for release, but the way his hand moves over me, knowing just where to touch, pushes me over the edge.

I dig my fingers into him as I come, aided by the rhythm of his thrusts. Bliss washes through me as his pace quickens, and Maddox holds me close as he comes inside me.

Nearly breathless, he kisses my cheek and neck softly, his cock still deep inside me before he slowly pulls out.

“Quick shower to cool off before the hot spring?” I ask.

“I can handle that,” he agrees as he pulls me up to my feet. He draws me into the shower where we quickly wash each other off before hurrying over to the sliding door that leads out to the connected hot spring.

“How fancy for us to have our own onsen,” I say.

“I have no idea what that is.”

“That’s because I’m brilliant and know so much Japanese.”

“You were having Reggie try to translate for you.”

“Fine! It means hot spring. They have public ones for everyone who stays here, usually one for men and one for women, but I thought instead of getting naked in front of everyone, I’d just get naked in front of you and splurge on a room with a private one.”

“You’d think you’d be used to being naked in front of people. I swear you’ve been naked in front of a lot of ghosts.”

“Yes, well, it’s usually not planned or desired,” I say as I walk over to the small hot spring decorated with rocks. There are wooden fence panels separating our outdoor area from our neighbor’s, making it feel private.

I step into the water and reach back to pull him in with me. The hot water feels absolutely amazing, and I decide that I definitely do want one of these in my backyard. Spite flies down and hops over to the edge of the spring. He cocks his head, either eyeing the water or his reflection. He must think he’s a rather handsome bird because he struts around the edge, looking pleased.

Maddox sinks down into it, and I settle between his legs, leaning back until my back is against his chest.

“This is like heaven,” I decide. “Soooo, when do we want to get married?”

“I’m so fucking happy right now that you could go ‘Right this second’ and I’d haul you off to like Japanese Vegas.”

“I… don’t even know if that’s a thing.”

“I don’t either. But I’d find it for you. Has there ever been anything specific you wanted to do for your wedding?”

“I… honestly don’t know. It’s like as long as the people I love are there, I’d be happy having it anywhere. But I think something quieter sounds nice. Unless you want something huge and flashy.”

Maddox quirks an eyebrow. “Do I look like a huge and flashy kind of guy?”

“Maybe you’ve lain awake since you were seven thinking of your dream wedding. I don’t judge.”

“I can assure you that when I was seven, getting married was definitely one of the last things on my mind. Now when I was ten, I already had my tux picked out…” he teases.

“Small and personal sounds fantastic. Maybe one of those outdoor weddings with like… a little pond in the background or… something?”

“That sounds really nice,” Maddox says.

“I’m… assuming that out of your relatives, you’d just invite Ben and his family?” I ask curiously.

“Sure as fuck not inviting my parents. Unless you want to see a brawl. You put the two of them into the same room and there’s definitely going to be a brawl. And I’d probably be the one brawling them.”

“I would honestly rather watch you brawl someone with your shirt off. Like instead of smashing cake in each other’s faces, which I’m warning you right now that you will not do, you could jump out of a cake with no shirt on.”

“So you don’t want to ruin one slice of cake, you want to ruin all of it? And I’m confused, where does the brawl come in?” he asks.

I let my hand skim along the top of the water as Spite takes notice and hops our way. “When you pop out of the cake, you realize that I’ve been abducted. And you have to brawl my abductor.”

“Are you like Princess Peach in this scenario?”

“I’m so proud that some of my nerdiness has rubbed off on you. I remember a time when you…” I pause to wipe a fake tear off my cheek to emphasize how proud I am of him. “When you… didn’t even know what Mario Kart was.”

“You’ve already broken your promise to be kind to me.”

“I am positive I never promised that. And who are you hoping to fool? You love my sassy ass.”

“Maybe.”

“You love it, and you know it,” I say with a grin. “Ooh, we should do a choreographed dance. Something super romantic but themed… ooh, Joker and Batman.”

“They’re in love now?”

“Everyone’s in love if you dig deep enough into the internet.”

“Sometimes I don’t want to dig deep.”

“I want Bandit to trot in with our rings.”

“He would get distracted by a fly and never show up.”

“Then Stella.”

“She’d get distracted by the cake and start eating it. You know that cat loves food.”

“Spite, then. We’ll just creep everyone out. Ooh, we could make it a haunted house and just have my ghosts terrify the guests. Those who make it to the end can be added to our will.”

“Why is this getting more wild and menacing the more you talk? And weirdly… less romantic.”

“I should be writing these ideas down.”

“Hopefully to laugh about later.”

“Maddox, do you want to add anything?”

“I’m not sure what I’m adding to. Are we still rolling with the horror show? Maybe we should make it a musical while we’re at it. We already have dancing in there.”

I grin. “You’re onto something. I can’t sing very well, though, so I’ll lip sync, but I expect you to be the lead singer.”

“Have you ever heard me sing?”

“No, which is why I assume you’re like a closet superstar.”

“Our guests won’t leave out of terror, they’ll leave because their ears are bleeding.”

“Makes those who manage to stay until the end and get signed onto our will all that more special.”

“I’m glad that the gift for the guests is being on our will. Not weird or dark at all.”

“Right? I’m glad we’ve already worked all of this out.”

“I think you’ve been hanging around your ghost friends too much. You’re starting to ramble about the strangest things.”

“Or are they the right things?” I tease.

He grins before kissing the side of my face. “Whatever you want, hon. Besides me singing. Anything else, I’ll do it with a grimace on my face.”

“Perfect. You know I love your grimacing face. It’s nearly as handsome as your thinking face.”

“I’m thrilled you think so. What’s our plan for tomorrow?”

“Osaka! Then return here and then the next day back to Kyoto. Then from there we go to Tokyo and then we do day trips to Nikko and Mount Fuji.”

“How many murderers are we going to run into along that path?”

“Probably more than I’d like.”

Maddox laughs as he squeezes me in close and we sink into the warmth of the spring.