Homecoming - Chapter Fifteen

It had all gone rather smoothly from there. He’d carried Noemi down the steps, put her in her mother’s arms in the backseat, and driven back to Tokyo, not really caring about speed limits or rules of the road.

Kazue had indeed been waiting for them with a full pediatric team.

She’d cursed softly under her breath when he’d handed her the vial, then called for an extra dose of something he couldn’t pronounce. Ryo guessed it was used to countermeasure sedation.

Which obviously worked, because after less than fifteen minutes, Noemi was already showing signs of waking up, and Kaori finally got some much-needed color back in her cheeks.

Noemi had woken up just as Mick and Umibozu arrived with the news that the suspected clusterfuck at Kuroda’s compound was indeed a clusterfuck of epic proportions, also connected to the open missing-person’s case their own company had been working on. Not to mention several dead bodies in various states of decomposition found buried in shallow graves in the garden.

Ryo had had no time to process that particular information, because he’d had to save Kazue from Kaori’s wrath. Kazue wanted to keep Noemi overnight, just to make sure there were no side effects from the sedation or the antidote, but demanded Kaori go get some rest.

Of course, that didn’t go down well with his former partner, but somehow, with Mick and Umi’s help, he’d managed to bodily remove her from the hospital.

She’d been fuming ever since.

He mentally shrugged. If she wanted to fume, let her, but he'd make sure she got some rest. She’d obviously not slept the previous night, and she’d do Noemi absolutely no good if she collapsed from exhaustion.

“Do you want something to eat?” he asked her after she’d spent what seemed like an eternity staring out his living room panoramic window.

“No.”

Well, at least she was talking. Monosyllabically, but still.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“No!” she snapped and turned, eyes blazing. “I’m angry. Why the hell did you drag me out of the hospital, huh?”

“You’re angry?” he asked, feeling his own anger tug at its reins. He’d kept it suppressed during the rescue mission and after, at the hospital, but mixed with the blood-curdling fear at the thought of something happening to Kaori while he wasn’t there, it was quite a powerful entity. “You’re angry?!”

“You’re yelling again,” she reminded him archly.

“Damn right, I’m yelling!” He stalked toward her. “What the hell were you thinking going on your own?!”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” she screamed back, closing the distance even more until they were toe-to-toe. “I have all the right to be angry at you for keeping me away from my daughter!”

“I’m not changing the subject!” he shot back. “We didn’t finish this conversation earlier!”

“It’s not a conversation, it’s a screaming match! What will your neighbors think?!”

“The apartment is soundproof.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course, it is.”

“Now, who’s trying to change the subject?”

She huffed. “Whatever.”

“Child.”

“Asshole.”

He shrugged. “Fair. But why the hell did you go on your own? Why didn’t you call me?” He ran a hand through his hair. It was probably sticking every which way, but he didn’t care. “Damn it, Kaori!”

“You’re yelling again!”

“I was worried about you!”

That shut her up. But just for a moment. “I can take care of myself.”

“That I saw,” he replied, replaying the earlier scene of her using the taser on Kuroda in his mind. “But that doesn’t change the fact you went into an unknown situation without backup.”

“I called Saeko,” she reminded him.

He sighed. “Saeko’s pregnant. Why didn’t you call me?” That was what galled him. She didn’t call him.

“Because it’s my mess.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit!” She pushed at his chest. “I told you! I didn’t want you to relive bad memories!”

“That should be my choice,” he snapped. “Look, what happened, happened. It was a long time ago, I dealt with it.” Mostly. “You should’ve called me!”

She pushed at his chest again. “Stop yelling at me!”

“It seems to be the only way to get through to you!”

“I’m not one of your bimbos to be yelled at!”

“I know you’re not,” he growled.

She was in a completely different category. She was Kaori. Even angry and yelling at him, especially angry and yelling at him, she was absolutely mesmerizing. Gorgeous, with her eyes blazing and focused solely on him, cheeks flushed, sexy as hell with her chest heaving, panting, her entire delectable body trembling…So he did what he’d always wanted to do before when she stood before him like a vengeful goddess of anger.

He kissed her.

She froze for less than a heartbeat before she responded, opened her mouth beneath his, and welcomed the invasion of his tongue with an enthusiasm that quickly made his pants too tight. They grew even tighter when she clutched at his shoulders as if her life depended on it.

He pulled her impossibly closer, fingers kneading her butt, and she moaned, rubbing herself against him.

This isn’t right. Not like this.

She was exhausted and worried about Noemi; he couldn’t take advantage of her. Not like this. Not now. They needed to talk first. He needed to explain. Everything. Tell her the truth. That he loved her. That he never stopped loving her, that he never would. He wanted to ask her to stay. Her and Noemi. He wanted them to stay, and maybe, maybe, she’d come to love him again.

He broke the kiss, staggered back, hands up. “Sorry.”

Her eyes were glazed, her mouth was parted, and her lips were red and puffy. “Why did you stop?” she whimpered.

He ran his fingers through his hair. “We’re both tired—”

“Don’t you want me?”

She sounded so small, so wounded; he wanted nothing more than to pull her back into his arms.

“It’s not that.” Not want her? She was the only woman he’s ever truly wanted.

“Then what is it?”

“You had an emotional couple of days,” he tried to reason mostly with himself. “You’re exhausted, worried about Noemi…I don’t want to take advantage of your vulnerability. I…I respect you too much, Kaori.” God, it sounded lame. “You should get some sleep, we’ll talk in the morning. We need to talk.”

She stared at him for a few long moments, her eyes glazing with desire, behind which hid something he had no hope in deciphering. Then, shoulders set as if she’d made an important decision, she sprang forward, stood on tiptoes, and, grabbing the back of his neck, pulled him in for a deep, wet, ravenous kiss.

The moment she slipped her tongue into his mouth, Ryo was lost.

X Y Z

Kaori slowly, gingerly got up so as not to wake him and dressed quietly in the living room. She made sure the flight was on time and checked both herself and Noemi in on her phone.

Her duffel was still by the front door; she could just slip out, but she couldn’t resist one last glance. The last goodbye.

She tiptoed back into the bedroom and stood over him for a moment, watching him sleep.

God, he was gorgeous. And for an oh-too-brief couple of hours, he’d been hers.

She’d been dishonest last night by not telling him she was leaving first thing in the morning. And she’d been selfish by demanding he make love to her—a demand he’d been more than willing to fulfill.

Heat infused her as memories flooded. Memories of his strong arms holding her, fingers brushing, seeking, the smell of his skin, the unique essence of their combined sweat, the look in his eyes as he kept them locked with hers the entire time, the sound of his, hers, and their moans…

She’d been dishonest and selfish, but she needed one last memory, this memory to sustain her for the rest of her life. She felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes at the thought of never seeing him again.

She didn’t belong in his life. Not anymore. And Noemi always came first.

With one last look, she walked out of the bedroom, his apartment…

And his life.