.
.
In the darkness, Yaeko moaned. Breath heavy with opium, her face was warm and flushed; pieces of hair were sticking to her forehead. Slowly, Adam brushed her hair aside with his fingertips, peeling back the layers of fabric around her kimono. Around him, the smoke drifted; candlelight flickered in the wind. Adam sank to his knees and kissed her on the hollow of her neck, her breast, each pert nipple and then to her sex.
"Please," Yaeko said, softly. A thin film of sweat beaded up on her face. Quietly, Adam readjusted the bowl of opium, letting the smoke drift gently toward her. "No..."
He worked his way inside her, his hand on the slope of her thigh. He felt her wetness like honey, slow and languid and deliciously soft. Yaeko groaned, her eyelids fluttering. "Stop..."
The candlelight flickered, and outside the storm clouds eased into a slight haze over the moon.
"What is 'love'?" Yaeko asked, in Japanese. In the tent, she held one of Adam's books; her fingertips brushed against the English word.
Wordlessly, Adam drew the kanji with broad strokes. "This is love," Adam said, and Yaeko smiled. "This is how I feel about you."
His fingers sank into the fleshy underside of Yaeko's arm. He began to thrust more violently. Yaeko gasped; even in her stupor, even with the smoke and the opium-tinged air, she clasped his arms, hard. "No, no, no..."
He would never hurt her. He would never harm her. He would follow her to the ends of the earth and he would never leave her. "What is love?" Yaeko asked.
Love is a thousand moments between two people that bind them together.
Love is a shared secret. Love is the breadth of the soul.
He could feel her contract around him, feel the muscles tense and her back arch against him. Her mouth was gaping open; her hair was stuck to her face.
"You are the one I love," Yaeko said to Hiro.
Adam pounded harder, gripping her tight.
"My Hiro-sama," Yaeko said, and she kissed Hiro's face. "My Hiro-kun."
He came with a hoarse cry, sinking into Yaeko's breast. Slowly, the pounding in his ears began to recede, and he looked up at Yaeko's blank face.
"Kill me," Yaeko said, softly. She looked up at Adam with terrible eyes. "Please."
Her skin was cool and damp. And it was like he was ripped in two.