“Amazing,” Shinji said with a satisfied sigh.
Teruo chuckled, skimming his palm over Shinji’s chest. They gazed at each other for what felt like an eternity and Teruo bit the inside of his cheek, holding in words better left unspoken. Shinji frowned, looking like he was struggling with something as well. Then he wrapped his arms around Teruo’s neck and pulled him into a soft kiss, tugging at his lower lip, fingers grazing his jaw.
When they broke away, Shinji turned on his side, a hand landing on Teruo’s ass, groping his buttocks. “You up for another round?” His fingers teased Teruo’s entrance and Shinji gave him a smug smirk when Teruo moaned.
“You bet I am,” Teruo said.
Damn.This was the most passionate night he had in a long while. All those negative thoughts he’d had earlier went right out the window and he held Shinji tight to his chest.
A thought which Teruo tried to ignore lingered at the back of his mind. The thought that maybe he wouldn’t be able to keep this casual after all.
CHAPTER 13
Shinji
The nightmare that had plagued Shinji for the past month returned again: vivid, gruesome, painful.
Shinji sat on the cold, dirty ground, holding Haruna’s rigid body in his arms. Her eyes were white, her mouth open, blood dripping out at the corners. She was mutilated, split open at the chest, more blood and viscera pouring out. The bullet wound wasn’t visible in all the mess of scorched flesh from where that monster escaped.
No ordinary ghost was capable of such a thing. What had she seen in the warehouse? Who had she fought with? Why was she the one to be possessed? Because she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Tears ran down Shinji’s cheeks, his breathing becoming erratic. Haruna had been put down like a rabid animal, instead of being helped.
Shinji stared up at the one who killed her, gun still in his hand. His face was blurred. Perhaps Shinji’s mind wanted to reject him, this man he once thought to be good.
“We had to put her down, Shin,” he’d said.
“You’re a murderer!”
Was that what he yelled back then? He wasn’t sure, but he felt like saying it over and over again.Murderer. In his darkest moments Shinji had wished him a painful death.
“I had to do it, Shin. You know that. She was a danger to us all. To you.”
Shinji tuned out the man’s voice and squeezed Haruna in his arms. The blood, warm and sticky, soaked into his clothes and the smell of burned flesh filled his nostrils.
She was gone.
Opening his eyes, Shinji took a sharp breath. His heart hammered in his chest and his throat felt tight, air barely getting in. Vision finally clearing, he realized he was in Teruo’s bedroom. He’d stayed here last night.
Teruo was curled behind him, spooning Shinji, the warmth of his naked body grounding Shinji in this moment. Wrapping his arms tighter, Teruo placed a kiss on the back of his neck.
A knot formed in Shinji’s stomach.
This felt so good. He’d been seething in anger and disgust since the incident, kicking everybody out of his life, including whatever man he happened to fuck. But he couldn’t bring himself to leave the comfort and safety of Teruo’s arms last night.
“You had a nightmare,” Teruo whispered, breath ghosting Shinji’s skin, lips still trailing kisses at his nape and up behind his ear. He let out a soft moan and felt Teruo’s erection pressing against his ass.
“I did?” Shinji feigned ignorance. He didn’t want to talk about the dream. He just wanted to enjoy Teruo’s wonderful kisses and caresses.
“Mhm. You sounded—” Teruo stopped. Perhaps he meant to say ‘scared’ and changed his mind. “You seemed agitated. What did you dream about?”
“I don’t remember,” he lied.
Birds started chirping and Shinji blinked, suddenly more awake.The fuck?Teruo moved an arm toward the night stand and then the birds stopped chirping.
“Is that… your alarm?”
“Yup.”