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Chapter 10

Naru's POV

I'd finally found a way to stay in control with Mai, I kept my hands on her and kept talking to her but with my eyes glued to Lin's work I stayed completely aware. She was so easy to lose myself in, I wanted to possess her life, her vigor, her everything bad enough to make my hands shake.

I kept my fingers splayed over her shoulders, running my thumbs up and down the back of her spine while Lin disinfected the cut. I'd pulled up a chair and sat behind her, reassuring her in low tones and occasionally catching Lin's eye when he glanced up to warn of a painful or deep stitch so I could whisper something particularly distracting.

"You have a beautiful body." I murmured in her ear. "I don't think I'll be happy until I've explored every inch of it." I winced as Lin dug the curved needle deep in her arm, her eyes darkened with pain but she kept them on me. "I'll start with examining you with my eyes. I want to see all of those scars from your visions."

"There's quite a few of them." She said quietly. "That might take a while."

"I've got all the time in the world." I brushed her cheek. "But don't worry, then I'd touch you, everywhere. With my fingers, with my mouth…" He was almost done, thank god. I could imagine all kinds of scenarios to play out with Mai, I could keep talking about things I wanted to do to her until the next decade but my body was already aching from the foreplay and denial from earlier and more talking with no acting was turning exquisite torture into ordinary torture.

"When do I get a turn?" Her eyes burned with a desire that I shared and her husky whisper would be my undoing. "I have big plans for you Naru." Her eyes slid down my body, settling somewhere below my waistline. "Yup. Big."

I had to work to keep the surprise off my face. Her cheeks flushed but her eyes held no regret. The little flashes of raw honesty were sexy in their own way. It was hard to imagine someone who acted almost purely on impulse since I never acted without considering all angles and perspectives but it was also thrilling. She was thrilling.

She flinched as Lin tied off the stitches and I took her free hand, letting her squeeze. As Lin bandaged I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Masako and John in the doorway. They looked sated which would probably explain why it had taken them so long to get here. It seemed as though everyone was having a busy evening.

John was watching us with a smug expression and I glared at him. Masako wasn't looking at Mai at all, in fact she and Ayako were both giving me speculative looks. I felt uncomfortably exposed in my barefeet and pajama bottoms. It didn't help that every now and then I'd clench my stomach as Mai said something particularly daring.

Usually I didn't mind the attention, quite the opposite in fact, but all I cared about was getting Mai bandaged and in bed, I had no interest in being ogled by two women I only considered friends. Masako's eyes held a trace of disappointment in them, I didn't know why since the few dates she'd blackmailed me into were disastrous. She was confident in her powers, her tv presence and her ability to coerce me into going but once we were on the date she was timid and almost shy, albeit smug.

Both women seemed to find my abdominal region particularly fascinating and I shifted to face Mai more directly and block their view.

"It's going to take months to undo this damage." Mai sighed.

"I think it will heal a little faster than that." I looked at the almost completely bandaged arm.

"I was talking about the ego-inflation you're getting from the peanut gallery." She smiled ruefully. "Which you so don't need."

Lin looked at me with warning as he prepared to tie off the bandage. "I'm only interested in having anything of mine inflated by one woman." I whispered this in her ear and was satisfied when her eyelashes fluttered and her lips parted, she barely even registered the tight knot.

"Done." Lin pulled a small red plastic bag from his kit and carefully placed all bloodied gauze wipes, excess thread and the needle in it. "Try to get some sleep."

"Here." Ayako rummaged in the purse she'd left on the gallery table. "The good stuff." She handed Mai two pills. "You won't feel a thing I promise."

Mai looked at the pills with a frown.

"Take them." I urged, resigning to another night with no satisfactory ending.

She closed her palm and smiled her thanks at Ayako. We stood and went back up the stairs.

"If it's not Toro who is it?" Mai asked quietly.

"I've got some ideas but we're done working for tonight. You've earned your keep." I closed her bedroom door behind us and turned down the bedding. "Take the painkillers Mai."

"But I don't want to not feel." She stepped out of the pajama pants and let the robe drop, placing the pills on the bedside table.

I swallowed hard and chalked up her terribly phrased sentence to the blood loss. "I'm not going anywhere Mai and I don't particularly like the idea of you associating pain with pleasure."

"So I just get pain." She glared at the pills. "Fine."

I handed her a glass of water and watched her take them, catching her chin and looking in her mouth to make sure she swallowed them. "Good." I saw the anger light her eyes that I'd checked and quickly pressed my lips to hers, taking full advantage of her surprise by slipping my tongue past her parted lips. "Very good."

"You're a jerk." She said but her eyes were half-closed with wanting. "A big narcissistic jerk."

I smiled. "Well since those are my only faults I suppose that's not too bad."

Her eyes narrowed. "Narcissist."

"Go to sleep Mai." I turned off the light and got into bed with her, letting her snuggle into my chest.

"Good night Naru." She mumbled and I dedicatedly ignored her soft curves.

"Good night." My voice was a little hoarse after all the abuse my body had gone through. It certainly didn't help that Mai seemed to be determined to get close enough to share my skin.

I let my head fall hard against the pillow and wanted to be anywhere but where I was and nowhere but where I was. Mai in my arms was a fantasy I'd held on to subconsciously for years, naturally usually we were wearing even less clothing and the sexual tension had been relieved for the time being.

I wasn't sure what would be worse, withholding for the sake of keeping my power in check but sacrificing my sanity or indulging and risking blowing up the whole building. If I abstained and went insane then I wouldn't care about controlling my powers anyway so indulging seemed the safest route.

I smiled slightly at the thought, it was silly and dramatic, Mai must have been affecting me even as she slept. I kissed her forehead and was rewarded by her fingers skating sleepily across my chest. She settled by nuzzling into my side and crushing her soft breasts against me. My own personal hell.

I woke up facing a steaming cup of tea and a small hand stroking my arm. As soon as rolled my shoulders in a stretch the hand drifted down to my stomach. I smiled slightly as I realized she was pressed against my back, spooning I believe is the technical term.

"Morning boss." She smiled.

"How's your arm?" I reluctantly sat up, and when she showed me her clean bandage I took my tea. "How long have you been up?" I asked when I saw her in a soft cotton dress.

"Not long, my arm woke me up early. Lin was awake so I had him rebandage it then I made tea." She propped herself up on the pillows. "It's a good thing you woke up, you looked so comfortable I was getting ready to join you."

"I wouldn't have minded." The tea was perfect. For some reason I could never make the tea the same, it always was the wrong temperature or too weak or too strong. Mai had mentioned once in passing that her mother had taught her how to make tea. "I think they gave you the more comfortable mattress."

"Ah, that must be it." She grinned. "You can stay as long as you like. Our fearless leader needs his rest."

"I do sleep unusually well in this room." I commented idly. "Good feng shui."

She laughed and stood, taking her hairbrush from the dresser top. "That must be it."

"Mai…" I began, thinking about what John said. "When this case is over, will you have dinner with me?"

She slowed mid-stroke and swept her hair to one side. "Are you asking me out?"

I shrugged, taking my folder and flipping it open.

"Well gosh I don't know, that was a little unclear." She put her hand on her hip and glared. "Want to try again?"

"Not particularly." I turned a page and sipped my tea. Riling Mai up had always been something of a hobby for me and now was no different. Out of the corner of my eye I noted her dark eyes sparking with anger, a flush making her cheeks rosy and her body language defiant.

I could get used to mornings like this. I had to bite back a smile.

"Fine. Then I get to pick where we go." She turned back in a swirl of auburn hair.

I caught her eye in the mirror and held out my hand, beckoning her to my side. When I had her hand I touched my lips to her fingertips. "Where exactly would that be?"

"A little family-run restaurant just outside of Tokyo. They do sea food."

I was about to tease her when I saw a distance in her eyes, sad and excited at the same time. I had a feeling that wherever she was talking about had some meaning. "Why there?"

"It was…" She looked out the window and blinked hard a few times. "It was where my parents went on their first date. They went back on anniversaries too. I think it'd be good luck." She blushed.

"Sounds good." I cupped her cheek. "If that's where you want to go that's where we'll go."

"Thank you." Her smile was brilliant and I would have agreed to anything she wanted.

It was still early enough that we had time before breakfast and I went to my room to change into my gi and spar with Lin. Mai came with me, she wouldn't tell me why it was so fascinating, just that she wanted to watch. As always we wordlessly agreed that we'd tied after thirty minutes of constant sparring. It was intense work and I felt the beginnings of a sizable bruise on my ribs where Lin had caught me off guard.

Usually that wasn't a problem for me, focus was what I excelled at, but Mai had stretched when we were circling and I'd happened to be facing her. It was brief, I'd glimpsed her arched back, breasts pressed against the taught fabric of her dress and long legs with her toes pointed to maximize her stretch. Then Lin had landed a kick.

He'd looked almost apologetic but with no regret, since he was the one who taught me focus and control and I was clearly unfocused. We ended it soon after that, I'd had no hard feelings but Mai looked ready to land her own kick on Lin.

"Are you all right?" She'd followed me up to my rooms.

I untied and removed the top half of my gi, examining my ribs in the mirror. "Fine. I deserved it."

Before I knew it she was kneeling in front of me, touching the edges of the forming bruise. "I think we need to remind Lin of the definition of guardian."

I brushed my hands through her hair, twisting it into a knot at the base of her neck. "He did exactly what he should have done. Anyone else who caught me offguard would have been much less kind."

"Naru you've never been offguard. I think you were guarded in the womb." She placed her cheek on my ribs and smiled at me. "Get dressed, breakfast should be here soon."

"So it's not the kid." Houshou was saying as we walked down the stairs minutes later. "And it's not the older maid who gave the dress to Alison McIntyre."

"I have an idea of who's behind it." I said when we reached the bottom of the stairs. "But if I'm right we need to permanently ward and purify the whole ground. Ayako?"

She nodded. "If I can convince the trees to let me purify their roots then it will stick to the land longer than any human's influence."

"Good. Mai, we need to carve wards in about two hundred places in the main in, pavilion and base."

She frowned and bite her lip thoughtfully. "We should start with the pavilion, at night it'd be too conspicuous with flashlights. Then the base, but we should wait until after dark for the main inn."

I nodded. "John, when are you and Masako leaving?"

"Right after breakfast, she's due for a séance and I'm acting as spiritual security." John smiled and I narrowed my eyes at Mai when she blushed.

I supposed John would be found handsome by girls in a very Aryan sort of way. And apparently his thick Australian accent was considered more exotic than my much subtler English one. Gene had always teased me about that, about having a voice so neutral I could have come from anywhere.

I tangled my fingers into Mai's hair behind her back and was rewarded by a much more distinct reaction than the small blush John had earned.

Jealousy Oliver? My subconscious sounded suspiciously like Gene. That's not like you.

As I leaned comfortably on the back of Mai's chair she stroked a hand down the back of my knee, which was more sensitive than I would have ever thought. I had to take care in my posture so as not to react obviously to the stimulation. Her fingernails scraped along the fabric of my pants and I clenched my hand around my tea cup. This girl would be my undoing.

"If you get the knives I'll find paint." Mai said while casually migrating to the inside of my knee and upwards with her fingertips.

I stepped away and went to the back of the room where our extra supplies were kept, grateful for the excuse to escape with my dignity intact. The small carving knives Lin kept carefully sharpened were exactly where he'd packed them.

Mai found a little tin of white paint from god only knows where and we went to the pavilion, Mai humming something completely off-tune that was going to be stuck in my head all day.

"All directions." I handed her a knife. "Under the railing."

We knelt and started cutting the symbols for 'Pure Land' into the underside of the railing encircling the pavilion.

I stood when I was done and looked at Mai, still kneeling and carving. "What's taking so long? It's barely more than ten strokes Mai."

"Naru… Hearts… Mai…" She muttered, eyes intent on her work. "There! All done!"

I glared and stooped to look at her handiwork, which was could have mirrored mine. Her lines were carefully defined and clean.

"Come ON Naru, I'm not twelve." She rolled her eyes when I straightened. "Do you want me to infuse yours while you carve the other two Mr. OCD controlling egomaniac?"

I brushed a finger under her chin, tilting her face up. "You're so cute when you talk about me."

"Narcissist." She jerked out of my grip and marched over to my carving, slipping her fingers over it and closing her eyes.

I moved to carve the third and fourth with Mai following and infusing the marks with power and a fresh stroke of paint.

"Four down that leaves only… one hundred and ninety six to go?"She brushed off her hands and raised an eyebrow at me.

"That sounds about right." We walked back to the almost deserted base, with only Lin and his headphones present. "Do you want to start upstairs or downstairs."

"Oh I don't know, I'd feel so much safer if our rooms were warded first." She smiled coyly and I felt my heart begin to pound.