25. Shiro

25

Shiro

I t had been one month since I started working night shift at Chase’s clinic doing odd jobs, and a bit more than that since Adam had saved me and took me home with him. It had been my routine that during the day when I wasn’t working, Aka and I would roam the backstreets and deep in the dark alleyways, doing what we do, searching for Kuro. Sometimes Lan would join us, like today, and the three of us would ask anyone we encountered if they had seen Kuro. The search so far had been fruitless, and despite the disappointment we felt with each passing day, none of us were willing to give up.

Now, as the sun started to set, we ended another day of futile searching and started heading toward the subway station. It was home time. I didn’t want to be late since Adam gave me a curfew. Unless I was working, the latest I could be out on the street was ten p.m. It wasn’t like he was my guardian or anything, and I was an adult, since I was eighteen, but Adam was worried about me. Growing up without a caring adult to ever worry about my safety, it was nice to have someone like Adam step into that role.

We were walking along the backstreets and were just about to turn a corner into the main street when a black car came to a smooth stop alongside us. Lan halted, which drew Aka’s and my attention.

Lan said, “Master Nolan?”

Indeed, it was Nolan who stepped out of the car. In his dark suit, he looked sleek and immaculate, like usual.

“Hello, boys,” he greeted, chuckling.

“Hi,” Aka and I replied in unison.

Lan asked, “What are you doing here, Master Nolan?”

The man smirked as he reached out and tousled Lan’s hair. “Just passing through. You enjoying your time with your friends, Lan, having neglected your duty to protect me as my bodyguard?”

Lan said, “It’s not like we’re just hanging out. We’re searching for Kuro and you know it.”

“Yes, yes, I know it,” Nolan said, chuckling. “So, where are you three off to now?”

“Home,” I said.

“Hmm…” Nolan tilted his head to one side. “Home, huh? Adam won’t be at the penthouse, Shiro.”

“He won’t?” I asked.

Nolan nodded. “Since you boys are free, care to join me for dinner?”

Aka and I looked at each other, and then we turned to Lan.

Lan said, “Only if there’s a ton of meat on the menu. ”

Nolan burst out laughing. “You greedy little wolf. What if I tell you it’s a seafood and steak buffet?”

Lan’s eyes sparkled at hearing the words seafood and steak buffet, and Aka nodded his head furiously. But how could we even get into a buffet restaurant as beastkin? We obviously couldn’t just walk around the restaurant with our caps and masks on.

Nolan snapped his fingers. “All right, boys, get into the car.”

Lan opened the door to the passenger seat and we hopped in. Inside was spacious and luxurious, and it was only then that I realized this was a limo of sort, but a shorter one, with the seats facing each other.

Aka and I sat on the back seat while Lan sat facing us. Nolan got in then and took a seat beside Lan. Once the door was shut, he tapped on the glass window behind him, and the car started moving forward.

Nolan said, “How is my beautiful nephew doing? And how is the search for Kuro going?”

By nephew he meant me. Apparently, he had started referring to me as his nephew simply because Adam had taken me in and he was Adam’s younger brother.

I didn’t mind that he was so nice and everything, but I didn’t want him to refer to me as his nephew because it implied something I didn’t want. I was in love with Adam romantically, after all.

I said, “It’s useless. Maybe we should move the search to the other territories?”

Nolan shook his head. “Adam and I won’t have you boys doing that, for your safety. Besides, Adam already had a team scouring the other territories; shouldn’t you be satisfied?”

I knew that Adam had hired a private team to search for Kuro in the Valentino and the Montgomery territories, but I just felt like I needed to do something more. Of course, there was the possibility that Kuro was taken back by the institute, too, but I refused to think that. The thought of Kuro suffering under those bastards was just too much. Yet at the same time, what could I do if he was indeed back at the institute?

Nolan leaned forward and patted my head. I looked up at him and he said, “Don’t stress too much. You know when you’re stressed, it worries Adam, and it worries me.”

I was about to say sorry but caught myself in time. Instead, I said, “I’ll make sure not to get too stressed out.”

Nolan chuckled. “Good boy.”

The car came to a stop and Nolan said, “Before we head over for dinner, you boys want to check out a boxing gym? Adam and Chase go here often. In fact, they’re here now, probably beating the crap out of each other. Let’s drag them with us to dinner, why don’t we?”

“That’s a good idea,” Aka said, undoing his seat belt. “And I’ve always wanted to see a boxing gym.”

Moments later, we followed Nolan in through a double door of the building, and once we were inside, I could feel this intense vibe blasting straight at us. Roaring and cheering echoed throughout the hall, and I saw a bunch of big, bulky men pumping their fists in the air .

Wow! They were very gung-ho, weren’t they? The atmosphere was high and intense.

As we walked in farther, the noise got louder, and the intensity increased. I shifted my gaze to the ring, where everyone’s attention and cheering were directed.

In the ring were two men and they were currently going at each other, punching and kicking at speeds I couldn’t imagine any men, even the pro boxers, could even master. Beastkin, as I recently found out, were indeed intense and fast.

“Looks like they’re at it,” Nolan said, chuckling.

“Isn’t that Chase?” Aka asked, looking bewildered at the guy wearing blue shorts and blue boxing gloves and headgear.

I looked closely, too, and realized that that was indeed Chase. His muscles were bulging like I’ve never seen on him before. Then again, I had never seen him without this much clothing off before since he was mostly in his scrubs or working clothes and a doctor coat when he was at the clinic.

Chase’s opponent wore red shorts and boxing gloves and headgear, his muscles bulging as well, firm and big. Despite that they looked the same height and size, strangely enough, I felt like the opponent was much stronger than Chase.

Swish! Swish! Swish! They swiftly swung their fists at each other, missing each other’s face and other body parts by mere inches. Once again, Chase threw his mighty fist toward his opponent. The man sidestepped Chase and then swung his fist toward Chase’s back, thus sending Chase stumbling forward, which made Aka gasp. “Oh, no!”

Wow! That other man was strong, wasn’t he?

Suddenly, I was invested in the fight and I found myself moving toward the ring, eager for a closer look at the battle unfolding. I was also wondering who Chase’s opponent was. At this point and from this position, I couldn’t quite see his face because he had his back to us, but strangely enough, his build and the way he moved seem very familiar to me. He moved like Adam, with that ease and grace I found so sexy.

Chase sent another fist at the opponent. Swiftly, the opponent rewarded Chase one in return, and then they continued to smash each other in the face, swinging their fists at each other at, once again, speeds I couldn’t quite comprehend. How could they move that fast? My eyes couldn’t even keep up.

And holy shit! The intensity in which they sent blows at each other. I swore if they didn’t have headgear on, their skulls would have been broken.

They switched positions and now Chase had his back to us, and finally I got to see who the opponent was. The moment I did, however, I felt my stomach knotting in dread.

Adam? That man up there boxing was Adam? But of course, it would explain why I had thought the build and movement seemed familiar.

I tensed and held my breath as Chase and Adam went at each other some more. Oh, shit! Was it normal for a pair of friends to beat each other up so intensely like that in boxing ?

Beside me, Nolan said, chuckling, “Adam is not playing nice, is he?”

Adam slammed his fist into Chase’s face, which sent Chase falling onto his back on the floor with a loud thud . Then it was all over and the bell dinged twice. An ear-deafening cheer erupted, followed by a lot of hooting. Up in the ring, Adam grabbed Chase’s hand and pulled his friend up. They were slapping each other on the back and chatting again, as friends do.

Nolan snorted. “He must be that sexually frustrated to go all out like that and coming to the gym so often in the past weeks.” He turned to look at me and asked, “Did you enjoy that, Shiro?”

I swallowed hard and said, “It was… different.”

Lan stiffened and said, “Master Adam is coming over and he looks pissed. Why?”

Aka rushed off over to Chase still in the ring, who was apparently quite shocked to see him showing up out of the blue. Well, I bet Adam was shocked to see us, too, what with that dark frown on his face.

Since I had started living with him over the past month, I rarely saw him with that kind of dark look on his face, and I knew it meant he was pissed about something. Was it because Nolan had brought us here?

Once he was in front of us, I said, “Adam. You were awesome up there. I didn’t know you did boxing.”

Of course, I knew he knew how to fight since he had started teaching me self-defense, which I must say I was pretty good at so far, just learning and mastering the basics. But boxing was a whole different story. I wondered if he knew other style of fights, too, like mixed martial arts or something?

He took in a deep breath, as if working on calming himself down or something. Then he reached out and patted my hooded head. To Nolan, he said, “What brings you here?”

“To take you to dinner, of course,” Nolan said. “Since we successfully wrapped up our business deal with Mr. Morrison this afternoon, I thought why not celebrate? I’ve invited the boys, too, by the way. The more the merrier.” Turning on his heel, he continued. “Hurry up and get changed. It’s at The Red Velvet. I’ve arranged us a private dining room. Tell Chase to come, too.” To Lan, he said, “Coming, Lan?”

Lan nodded and then followed Nolan out the door.

To Adam, I asked, “Are we going?”

“Do you want to?”

I hesitantly nodded my head. “I’ve never been to a buffet restaurant before,” I said, chuckling.

Adam sighed. “Why do I even ask?”

I pouted. “It’s not like I’d get another chance.”

“You’ll have plenty of opportunity in the future,” he said, grabbing my arm. Then he steered me toward a door along with him.

I wasn’t sure where he was taking me, but I assumed it was the locker room, which it was. And then suddenly, he was stripping himself naked.

Fuck, it wasn’t like I had never seen him naked before. Having lived with him for the past month, I had glimpsed him going about nude now and again, but there was that something different about Adam naked and with his toned, muscular body dripping with sweat. Damn, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was so beautiful and delicious to look at.

I watched him as he went into the shower, and because I couldn’t help it, I found myself staring at his muscles flexing as he moved about washing himself while the shower water rained down on him, kissing his tanned, smooth skin. The longer I stared at him, the more I was mesmerized, and I felt my heart racing, my body heating up, and my face feeling hot.

Adam was just… beautiful.

I felt myself shaking and my insides down there aching, needing to be filled. Oh, fuck. What the heck was wrong with me? Sure, I was in love with Adam and had fantasized about kissing him and touching him, which I had never wanted to do with other men before and had hated it when other men did those sorts of things to me, but with Adam, it was different. With Adam, I wanted to be ravished by him.

These past few weeks, that feeling and desire was mounting daily, and it was hard not to show just how much I wanted Adam.

I flicked my gaze away from the sight of him, groaning softly. Calm down, Shiro, I told myself. Just calm down. This was no place to fantasize about Adam making love to you.

A few minutes later, Adam turned the shower off. He headed back toward me, a small towel wrapped around his waist. And then he had to go and strip it off again right in front of my face and…

I couldn’t handle it anymore and shot up to my feet. I was about to march out when Adam wrapped his hand around my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“And where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“I’ll wait outside,” I stammered, my gaze on anything else but him.

“You can wait in here,” he said. “I won’t be long.”

Fuck, he was making it hard for me to think straight. Even breathing normally was difficult. My heart just wouldn’t stop racing.

I said, “Okay,” and moved my arm from his grasp and then sat down on the bench again, my back to him. I felt him moving about, probably getting dressed. When I felt his hand on my head a moment later, I knew he was done and I turned.

I widened my eyes, just staring at him. He was a hunk, freshly showered and with his shirtsleeves rolled up to his forearms.

I licked my lips, feeling my throat going desert dry. Fuck, my head was spinning just looking at him and smelling his wonderful scent—the fragrance that was just so Adam.

“Let’s go,” he said.

A little dazed, I nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

We were nearly at the exit when Chase called out, “Adam! Aka said Nolan invited us for dinner?”

“Yeah, at The Red Velvet,” Adam said. “See you there.”

“Okay,” Chase said. “We won’t be long.”

Outside, Adam unlocked the car, and I got in the front passenger seat. The moment Adam hopped into the driver’s seat beside me, his scent hit me again and my head swam in a daze. My body started to heat up, too, and I felt this weird shivering passing down my body, the likes of which I had never felt before.

What the heck was wrong with me? Was I getting a flu or something?

“Shiro?”

“Huh?” I turned to see Adam watching me, his hand on my head.

“What’s the matter? You look flushed. Are you all right?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” I chuckled. “It’s probably because I’m out all day and running around so I’m tired, that’s all.”

“I know you’re eager to find Kuro, but your health is important,” he said. “There’s no need for you to be out searching for Kuro every day. Get some rest now and again.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll take a few days off then,” I said. I’d need it, what with these strange, feverish symptoms starting to show up—the hot and the cold, the shivering, this dazedness in the head, and the aching down there.

Oh, fuck…

I tensed and then took in a deep breath.

It’s fine, I told myself. Everything is going to be fine. Once dinner was over and we got home, I could rest and then the symptoms would go away. I was sure of it. I was just tired; that was all.

Adam started the car, and before I knew it, I closed my eyes, my body feeling so achy and weak and getting even hotter. It wasn’t long before I felt Adam calling my name again, urgently, and I fluttered my eyes open .

“Shiro!”

“Hmm?” I answered weakly. “Are we here already?”

Adam looked concerned. “You’re burning hot. You’re not well. I’m taking you home.”

I shook my head. “No. Please, I want to go to the buffet. I’m just tired. I’ll be fine once I have some food and then rest.”

He sighed. “Shiro, there’s always another time.”

“But Nolan said it’s to celebrate the closing of that business deal, right? For the Sullivan, right? So it’s important to celebrate.”

Adam looked at me long and hard for a moment and then said, “All right, we’ll go but you must tell me if you’re not up to staying. Got it?”

I smiled, pleased. “Got it.”