Ashes to Ashes (Book Two of The Kazuya Series) (✔️)

十 (Ten)

(Arielle's POV)

Movement is what woke me up. Opening my eyes I saw Koan sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. I sat up and crawled over to him, slipping underneath his arm and moving to straddle his lap.

The clock on the table read 5:34am.

"Hi." I murmured.

"I'm sorry."

I cupped his face in my hands and pressed my forehead against his.

"Tell me what happened. How did you get here?"

"Plane."

"You got on a plane? Not one of your father's, but an actual plane?"

There were some places that Koan would never go to and an airport to get on a plane besides his father's was one of them. Too many people, too many germs, too much noise, too much of everything.

"Had to..."

"Had to what?"

"Get to you. Safe." He said and my heart ached.

He had to get to me because he was safe with me.

"Please tell me what happened. Seiichi called because no one could find you or get hold of you."

"Phone in car. Car at gym."

"You got a taxi to the airport?"

He shook his head. "Ran."

I pulled him closer and he tucked his face against my neck, his arms wrapping around me.

From that position, with his face tucked as close as possible and his arms squeezing me as tight as possible, he told me what happened. He told me everything. From the time Masaki walked in to Koan walking into the banquet hall.

It explained his urgency to have me right there in the conference room and the whole 'yours' thing. In a sense he needed to be reminded, he needed to be reassured that he was mine and I was his.

Also, I now had an answer to my unasked question about why I was only getting very few words from him. It's part of his defense mechanism. It's how he blocks himself off from people and. Even me in dire situations.

"I am proud that you bit him."

"Bought toothbrush at airport."

"To clean your mouth?"

He nodded. "Blood. Germs."

We sat there in silence for I don't even know how long. He had reburied his face in my neck while I was soothingly running my hands along his back and occasionally into his hair.

"Mad?" He asked, his lips brushing my skin as he spoke.

"Pissed."

"Not me."

I kissed his shoulder. "Never you."

"Missed you a lot."

"I missed you more."

He sighed and turned his head enough to see the clock.

"What time?"

"I have to be there around eight."

"Till?"

"Whenever the last class/seminar I signed up for ends. Today I think it ends at two."

He nodded.

"You can stay here and sleep unless you planned on going back home."

"Stay. Not leaving you."

"Good. I don't want you to leave." I smiled. "Now would you like to sleep more or take a shower or bath with me?"