DRAWN (24 page)

          Yuki’s angelic smile flashes.

          Practically pirouetting back to face the editor, I can’t stop beaming even as my mind reels at the hows and whys that got Yuki to pull this off so wonderfully. It’s enough for me to forget about my bra-less state, my nerves, and just pitch like crazy. How can I not when the real-life version of my hero’s standing in this room? This is a story that
has
to be read and seen, if only for girls like me to enjoy Yuki’s hotness.

          Squeals and thunderous applause, with lots of chaotic scrambling, roar out of the hundred or so writers and agents inside the meeting room when I end my pitch. I think I got, umm, carried away just the tiniest bit and said stuff along the lines of “
bishounen
come to life”, “walking girl magnet”, and “irresistible virgin killer”. Oh, and I think I sort of mentioned that my, umm, inspiration is in this very room?

          The good news: the editor’s enamored with my hotter-than-hot
bishounen
and requests for sample chapters.

The bad news: Yuki is so going to kill me for this.

          “That was
fantastic
.” Shelley’s almost shrieking, which for her means she’s beyond ecstatic.

          “Uhh, thanks.” I try not to look paranoid as I search for a glimpse of Yuki, wondering when he’s going to strike. Because he will. Like a bloody rattlesnake.

          “Your Jap,” Jace begins.

          I stop my visual search just long enough to glare at Jace. “Stuff it.”

          “
This
is what I’m talking about.” Shelley doesn’t seem to hear any of us, still lost in a rare state of giddiness.

          Jace tries but fails to look innocent. “All I’m saying is that your Jap must have gone---”

          “DON’T.”

          “Don’t what,
senpai
?”

          Why can’t Yuki have footsteps like normal people do?

Oh, right.

Because he’s a bloody, bloody, bloody
ninja
god.

          Shelley’s
grinning.
With her teeth out. She’s told us once that she
never
does that because it’s garish. “Hello,” she practically coos to Yuki. “So you’re my little girl’s---”

         
Little girl?

         
First, it was Kelly and now, Shelly, too. What is it about Yuki that makes everyone think I’m a bloody little girl? I’m a year older than him, hello?

         
“---boyfriend.”

          “Yes, ma’am,” Yuki says, looking bashful.

          Boyfriend, my arse. Bloody sod’s acting again.

          “I hope you don’t mind that I came over to wish Katerina good luck,” Yuki says.

          I’m so not going to swoon at the sound of my name on Yuki’s lips.

          Well, okay, just a bit.

          “No, of course not!” Shelley looks properly horrified. “You can come with us every time.”

          Ha!

          “But Shelley, you said Jace and I can’t---”

          “That’s so long ago I don’t remember,” Shelley says quickly, still beaming at Yuki. I think I see dollar signs in her eyes, but I may be wrong.

          “Does that mean I can bring Liz---”

          Shelley’s icy gaze shuts Jace up. “No. She’s a different case.” She returns her attention to Yuki, and her teeth-out smile reappears. “You should totally come with us all the time,” she gushes. “I’ve never seen my little girl so confident. She usually stammers when she’s just pitching to me in the conference room.”

          “Shelley!”

           “Thank you for the kind words,” Yuki says at the same time just as he takes my hand in his.

          I stare down at our linked hands, dazzled. It’s my first time to hold hands with him in front of people we both know.

“I hope Katerina---”

          I’m swooning again, especially by the way his accent thickens the slightest bit at the ‘ri’ when he says my name.

          “---asked your permission about today?” Yuki’s angelic smile reappears, and I know Shelley’s a goner after that. It’s one of Yuki’s deadliest weapons, after all.

          “Oh, yes.” Shelley’s still gushing. “I’m sure Kelly also trusts you to take her home safely.”

          “I will, I promise.”

          Jace clears his throat loudly. “Now that we’ve given the blushing
mangaka
away, maybe we can go our separate ways now?”

          Shelley and I elbow him at the same time, and Jace grunts in pain.

          Yuki’s tone is chillingly polite when he answers. “Please do not let us keep you.”

          Jace frowns. “Look, Himura. I get this feeling you still misunderstand things between Chariot and me. We’re
not
just that, all right, man? I have a girlfriend---”

          I bite my lip very hard so that I don’t accidentally blurt out he’s lying, which simply won’t help anyone at this point.

“And she’s way hotter---”

          “I understand,” Yuki says. I think his voice has thawed by a few degrees, but maybe I’m just hopeful.

          “But you should also understand that I have to respectfully disagree with you.”

          “Umm, Yuki,” I say, not really sure how to tell him that Liz
is
way hotter than I am.

          Jace snickers. “Uh, yeah, let’s just agree to disagree.”

          Arse.

          Yuki and I walk with the other two to Jace’s car and we wave goodbye as they leave.

          And then it’s just Yuki and me, again, like I’ve always wanted.

          “So,
senpai
…”

          Bloody hell. I actually forgot I’m in deep shite with him.

          “Now, Yuki…”

          He stalks toward me and I back away, fear and excitement coursing inside me.

          “Do you know how embarrassing it was to hear you say all those things,
senpai
?” Yuki’s baby blues have gone past the gleaming stage. They glitter like aquamarines now, and it’s utterly mesmerizing.

          “But I meant all of them?”

          “I know,
senpai
, and that’s why I was so turned on, too.”

          I trip at his words, forgetting to check where I’m backing into, but of course Yuki catches me easily. Leaning in the circle of his arms, I blurt out, “Why didn’t you call me?”

          Yuki sets me on my feet, raking a hand through his hair. “It’s not important.”

          “But---”

          Yuki glares at me as he says between clenched teeth, “Because I got caught up
shopping
.”

          “Shopping?”

          “Yes,
senpai
,” he grits out, practically spitting the words. “
Shopping.”

         
I start to ask what the bloody hell his probably thousand-dollar shopping habits have to do me but Yuki furiously slashes his hand in the air, like he’s cutting my tongue with it.

         
 
“I haven’t slept for over 24 hours
, senpai
! That’s how long it took to get your outfit right!”

         
“Are you serious?”

          Yuki’s hand slashes down again, more violently this time. I think this one has just chopped my head off. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

         
I’m so not going to answer anymore. I’ve finally seen the light and realize Yuki prefers a mute listener when he’s in an angry roll.

          Yuki tugs his belt, hard enough that one of the loops on his jeans actually starts to tear. “And this! Do you know how much I had to bid on eBay just to get this damn belt,
senpai
?”

         
Rhetorical, rhetorical
, I remind myself.

“Do you realize how hard it was to get it shipped all the way from Albuquerque in less than 24 hours?”

Not gonna answer, not gonna answer.

“How in the hell did you come across this belt in the first place?”

          “I didn’t?” I catch sight of Yuki’s literally-drop-dead look and nearly groan. 

          Oh, shite. It’s still rhetorical!

“Come again,
senpai
?”  

          No, I don’t think I’ll come again. Certainly not when he’s doing his best to kill me by hypothermia with his gaze.

          “Last warning,
senpai
.”

          One sneak peek at Yuki’s blazing baby blues has me confessing the awful truth. “I didn’t really know about it. I just imagined the whole design.”

          “
Imagined
?” Yuki actually yelled. If I’m not mistaken I think he wants to yell some more.

          “
Y-you
---”

A god stuttering in rage is a scary sight.

“
I’m sorry
! You didn’t have to use the same belt! It would have been okay if you chose to make do---” I shut up again when I see Yuki’s chilly gaze. Right. I forget. Gods do not “make do”.

          “You
fucking
imagined,” Yuki whispers.

          Hearing the F-bomb fall from Yuki’s lips the first time makes me wince. I guess ‘furious’ is too mild a way to describe him now. Thinking madly of a way to prevent Yuki from becoming a detonating bomb himself, I say, “Yuki, believe me, I would’ve just used another belt if I had known you’d be sweet enough---” Too late I remember my mistake and my voice trails off.

Oh, shite.

          Yuki’s smile is so beautifully angelic I have the urge to hide under the covers. It reminds me of Norman Bates, if he was a Japanese teenage cutie.

          “
Schmuck
. I said if I had known you’d be a schmuck---”

          “Come here,
senpai
.” He takes my hand. As we walk – well, it’s more like I’m getting dragged to be honest – Yuki starts talking in an easy manner that strangely sounds like a death sentence.

          “I’ve rented a room in the hotel---” That’s my prison location.

          “For the day…” And that’s how long my sentence is.

          “And when we get there---”

          But I’m going to draw the line at hearing the
nature
of my punishment.

           “How did you reserve a hotel room for us when you’re not 18?” I’ve seen the list of policies at the front desk, and they’ve pretty much threatened police arrest for anyone below 21 booking a room without an accompanying adult.

And yes, I’m trying to change the subject. No, I don’t mind if it’s a very obvious ploy for distracting him from whatever it is he’s planning. Desperate measure, I think it’s called.

          “I have a fake ID, a platinum credit card, and if that doesn’t work I also have enough cash to grease palms.” He smiles down at me. “But don’t bother thinking about those things,
senpai
. I promise you, you’ll have more things to worry about in just a bit.”

          By the time he’s finished his threat, we’re already stepping inside the miniscule elevator of the boutique hotel I’ve just checked out of.

         
Please, please, please let someone come in---

          The elevator doors slide shut.

          “To continue,
senpai
,” Yuki says, still holding my hand but otherwise not touching me anywhere else, and it’s kind of – well, okay, completely – driving me nuts.

When are we going to kiss, blast it? I also want to know when he’s going to fall in love with me, but since I’m not a god, I can make do with an answer to the kissing part for now.

          “When we get to my room, we are going to have our first---” Yuki coughs delicately. “---homemade video.”

          “A WHAT?”

          “The kind that I know you love to watch,” Yuki practically purrs into my ear.

          Shudder, shudder. That’s me, completely gobsmacked because of all the lustful thoughts crowding my mind.

          We are going to make
that
kind of video.

          There should be an ‘oh no’ before that, by the way. I just haven’t gotten around to thinking it. I try to imagine what making that kind of video would feel like, but my mind can’t picture it clearly, not when I’m already so turned on I can’t think straight.

          “You are going to love it,
senpai
,” he whispers.

          I will…not. I so will not.

          “But what if---”

          “I won’t keep a copy,
senpai
. We will use your phone and---” He smirks. “I’ll let you decide if you want to keep it afterwards or not.”