As The Season Changes

Chapter Nine

It was a good thing she wasn't prone to excessive drinking or tantrums. Ai swallowed two aspirin, more for the Keigo-size headache than for her cramps. She glared at the pink stick and chucked it into the trash bin. Then turned her glare at the calender.

She was starting to get desperate. Her cycle had always been erratic, but there was no mistake. She wasn't pregnant. The disappointment felt like a physical blow to her chest. Her throat tight with unshed tears.

The fact that she wasn't pregnant wasn't for lack of trying. Keigo couldn't seem to get enough of her and Ai was afraid to analyze too closely what was going on in her mind.

The times with Keigo were becoming more and more real. She didn't want to fall in love with the blasted man. It seemed Fate conspired against her, as if the gods were challenging her to love him before they allowed her a child. The spare room was overflowing with baby stuff. A white wicker crib, a high chair, toys, clothes, books. If she wasn't pregnant, she wasn't pregnant. Yet.

Luckily Keigo was on one of his trips. For days she had been alternately weepy and then optimistic. Finally she had become sick of the inactivity. She still had a few months in her 'contract' time left. She just never thought she'd need this much time.

ATSC

Keigo hadn't mentioned the incident, as she was coming to call what had happened at the engagement party with Naomi, all week. He'd been more intense than usual, more serious. Ai thought he watched her as if he were trying to read her mind.

He called her in the middle of the day several days after the party and told her to pack a bag. They were going to Karuizawa for a long weekend to celebrate his birthday.

Ai nibbled the cap of her pen, wrapping the telephone cord around her hand. "Should I pack a bikini or are we skinny dipping?" she asked innocently.

"You won't need any clothes." Keigo sounded amused. "We won't be leaving the bedroom."

"Hmm... so I won't have to haul my butt out of bed at 3:00 am," she said carefully. The cord left red marks on her fingers and she unwound herself, listening carefully to his tone.

There was a slight pause, so light that if she hadn't been listening for something, she wouldn't have heard it. "I'll throw away the alarm for the weekend."

Ai laughed. "How soon can you pick me up?"

...

They flew to Karuizawa in Keigo's helicopter. He didn't want to waste time driving. A shiny black Range Rover waited for them at the airfield when they arrived. The country mansion was far from civilization hidden in the hills. It was built facing the man-made lake. The living room and kitchen and half the enormous bedrooms overlooked the towering pine trees and the shimmering blue lake. It was as luxurious, as she remembered from her childhood.

It wasn't decorated with Keigo's corporate colors. Pale greens, bright yellows, and robins egg blue, all complimented the rustic furniture. It was more casual and conducive to relaxing. And the best part. There was only one phone. Ai was thrilled.

Keigo carried their suitcases into the bedroom and came down into the kitchen for a snack. "You know what the best thing about you is?" He nuzzled her neck.

"What?" Ai ran short nails though his silky hair as he pressed her lower body against the stainless steel sink behind her. She nibbled at his chin.

"You never ask me for anything."

The one thing I want, you haven't been able to give me, Ai thought, turning her face up for his kiss while her heart squeezed hard. There was no use dwelling on it. When it happened it happened.

His open neck blue shirt was the exact color of his eyes and she had ogled him the whole time they'd been traveling. "Actually, there is something I want," she teased, her finger trailing to the top button of his shirt.

"Woman, you're insatiable."

"I can't help myself." Ai pretended to pout. "I just love it." She fluttered her lashes, trying not to giggle. "I think... yep, I think it might be one of my most favorite things in the world."

"Take me, I'm your..." He started dramatically then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Just what is it you love, you little tease?"

Ai laughed. "Gambling."

She stood on her tiptoes and twined her arms around his neck. He smelled of pine and clean air, the stiffness had eased from his shoulders while they were in flight, and the lines of strain had left his face by the time they landed. He smiled down at her indulgently, obviously amused and perfectly relaxed.

"I'm a professional danger junkie, as you've aptly called me, and I've decided you need more risks in your life. Trust me." Her eyes sparkled as she lured him.

Keigo laughingly agreed.

It was only after they were in the car and halfway around the lake that Keigo asked mildly, "So what is this risk venture of yours?"

"Shopping."

Surprise couldn't cover the extent of what he felt. He couldn't remember when last he'd shopped for clothing for himself. Years. Normally his secretary called a clothier in London or Milan, and they'd send him what he needed.

Clothes shopping with Ai was surprisingly pleasant experience. She didn't dawdle about making selections. She knew exactly what she was looking for and didn't linger if the shop they were in didn't have it. Two hours later, Keigo was the recipient of three pairs of jeans and several shirts he wouldn't have looked at twice if he'd been on his own. He'd tried to tell her he only wore suits.

Ai had coerced several walking senior citizens to come into the store to give him their opinions. How could he win against Saotome Aiko at her best, and several white-haired old ladies?

After depositing his new purchases in the hands of the owner of the local laundromat they went to lunch.

"I hate to ask—" Keigo toyed with her fingers on the bare oak table as they waited for their food to arrive "—but why did we just purchase clothing that needs to be laundered before I wear it?"

"The jeans have to be prewashed a couple of times before they feel slouchy," Ai said absently as she watched a toddler across the room trying to get into his baby brother's high chair. She smiled at the ensuing drama.

Keigo glanced over his shoulder to see what Ai was smiling about. He'd never seen quite that look on her face before.

She gave the waiter a soft smile as he set the plate down. The teen almost tripped on his own feet as he became the recipient of the smile Keigo should have gotten. He shot the hovering kid a pointed glare and almost had the plate contents deposited in his lap. The kid gulped and scurried to make himself scarce.

"I love kids, don't you?"

"I don't know. Probably not." Keigo unwrapped his silverware from the paper napkin. "The only ones I've been around seem... disorganized."

He looked up as Ai burst into peals of laughter. "Disorganized?" She choked. "Of course they're going to be!" Her eyes were sparkly with mirth. "They're just learning everything. Even you were disorganized as a little kid."

Keigo thought if he could bottle and sell that laugh he would quadruple his money. "I was not." He pushed around the food in his plate. "I was a well-disciplined, clean, respectful and organized child from as far back as I can remember."

Her eyes got more liquid as that sweet, soft smile quivered then died.

"Bloody hell. Don't start crying." He leaned over and wiped away the mascara under her right eye.

Ai blotted her eyes with her own napkin. "I'd always thought if I had been more like you and less.. me... she would would have..."

He cursed under his breath. "Your mother was a real bitch."

She smiled sadly. "No arguments there."

"You had a shitty parent," he said fiercely. "You don't have to change who you are."

"I know." She nodded, accepting his words.

Part of him blamed himself. There was no doubt in his mind that bringing her to this place, back to where their lives had first intertwined, would also bring back bad memories. Despite all the good times they shared. He wished he could have taken her out of the country, to visit those places she's been wanting to go to.

"Are you done poking that revolting mess? I'd like to go somewhere and get some real lunch. Then I'll take you to some den of iniquity so you can throw away my money."

Somehow the glow seemed to have gone from Ai's face. After playing a few hands of blackjack, with the money she had brought for the purpose, thank you very much, she wanted to go home. Keigo liked the sound of that.

"How about going for a walk?" he asked after parking the car in the carport beside the house. He held his hand for her and she handed him the laundry and an arch look instead.

"Go put on your new jeans and shirt first." She followed him into the house, immediately throwing open all the windows on the first floor to let in the autumn scented air before she followed him into the bedroom.

"I just love this house." Ai flopped down on the king-size bed, watching him with hot-chocolate eyes as he changed. "If I ever have a summer house, this is what it would be like. Far enough away from city noises. Nice, clean air." She fell onto her back as he struggled with the unfamiliar closure of the jeans. "That fabulous smell of pine and lake water. Fishing. Boating. Gambling—"

"Ai?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think you could help me with this?" He walked toward her sprawled legs.

Without moving and not bothering to hide the smile tugging at her lips, Ai asked seriously, "Which do you need help with, Keigo-sama? The buttons or the erection?"

Ai reached up and gave him a quick peck on the lips before she pushed at his shoulders, her eyes devilish. "I think you need help with those pesky darn buttons so we can go for that walk."

"Touch these buttons and I won't be able to walk, woman."

Ai lectured him on self-control, all the while her nimble fingers enclosing him tighter than a straitjacket behind the row of metal buttons.

"I don't think I like jeans, Ai." Keigo confessed pitifully as she dragged him outdoors.

Ai grinned. "They look ma-a-avelous on you, dahling." She hung back then patted his behind. "Great butt." She linked arms with him and gave him a sultry look. "We'll keep them at my house. I don't want you wearing these when I'm not there to beat the women off with a stick."

"That good, huh?" he asked, highly amused. Glad her good mood was back. If he had to wear these damn jeans to make her smile like that, then he'd happily suffer the constriction.

She gave him a playful look, and he wondered fleetingly what he had ever done to deserve her and how he had managed for fifteen years without her.

They walked hand in hand on the lake-shore with the crunch of dry leaves under their feet. The smoldering fire of the sun melted into the water, leaving a dancing, shimmering reminder as dusk stole slowly over the the lake. Purple and royal-blue faded into black ridges and ranges, spiked with the suggestion of forest. There was an anticipation of things to come as stars started shining more brightly and the velvety sky darkened to reveal a wisp of the moon. The temperature lowering to what was more akin to the Autumn season.

When she held back a shiver, Keigo turned around, to start their trek back. Once back, she changed into brown leggings and a thick, white cotton sweater with a wide neckline that kept slipping of her shoulder. He took her hands, pulling her against him, to the terrace outside. Her skin felt cool as he caressed the back of her neck, his thumb finding the vulnerable hollow at her nape. He touched his lips to her temple.

Ai turned in his arms, rising up on her toes as she gathered handfuls of his hair in her fists. With little pressure she brought his face down to hers. "Don't play with me, mister," she warned in a tough voice, and kissed him, her lips insistent and ravenous.

They eventually had to come up for air. Ai's dark gaze stayed riveted to his face. "I can hear your mind whirring," he said, amused at her intense scrutiny. "What are you thinking about?" Her lips looked soft and slightly swollen from the kiss. The moonlight loved her face, sculpting it with silver.

She opened her mouth as if to say something; Keigo held his breath for a painful heartbeat. Then she shook her head. "Nothing." She touched his face with a small, cool hand as her eyes seemed to memorize his features. "You make me very happy, Keigo."

He couldn't explain his disappointment. Didn't even try. He dipped his head and feathered a kiss on her closed mouth. She tasted of the rich coffee ice cream they'd bought on the way home. Ai had eaten more than half the carton in the car and then claimed that the bites she had spoon-fed him had been way bigger than the teeny ones she'd had.

He turned her and braced her back against his chest. Wrapping his arms about her, he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "I had no idea," he said into the deep pool of silence, "that I could feel this... content." Ai stroked her head against his chin, resting fully against him, as they overlooked the glittering lake. He added softly, "You make me happy, too, Ai."

Around them the gentle silence of night drifted as soft as a breeze. The air was cool and fragrant with her floral perfume and the scent of the changing season of the woods and water.

There was nowhere on earth he would rather be than right here, with Ai in his arms. There was no need for conversation. Even his sexual desire seemed tamed and manageable. He felt... calm. For the first time in memory, he felt strangely at peace with himself.

He had learned his lessons of self-preservation as a child, but with Ai he found his emotions blatantly out there. Sometimes he felt so raw and exposed with her, he wanted to flee back into the same protective, rocky shell he was almost ready to cast aside. And other times, like now, she brought him more joy and contentment than he had ever known.

He didn't want her to know just how vulnerable he was to her vibrant spirit, her gentle eyes and soft mouth. He felt raw enough as it was.

ATSC

The next morning Ai went swimming in the lake. Her suit was perfectly decent. Red. Plain. Skintight. Keigo watched her from the window in the kitchen as she played in the shallows like she had as a child.

The waves were lapping at Ai's calves when he came out to join her. "Hi." Her smile was brilliant, white and directed solely at him. "I though you had calls to make."

"Made." He dragged his eyes from her sun-kissed face down to her glistening body. The tight Lycra of her suit flattened her breasts, but he could clearly see her hard nipples. She wasn't a child anymore.

"Finished swimming?"

Ai looked at him from under her lashes. "Got a better idea?"

"How does grabbing a blanket and taking a walk deep into the woods sound?" He wiped away a droplet of water from her temple with his thumb, her skin was sun warmed and damp.

"Why do we need a blanket when we're going for a walk?" His lady had very expressive eyebrows.

Ai rolled him off the blanket. Something jabbed him in the back as straddled him, her eyes determined, her hands firmly planted on his chest. "I don't know why we brought the blanket," Keigo said mildly, as he shifted his hips and Ai's off whatever was under his bare back.

"Cause you thought I'd be on the bottom." Ai pointed out reasonably, her knees nudging his sides.

He reached up to gather her loosened hair back into the scrunchie and out of her face. "Why aren't I on top?"

"You were being to darn fussy." She leaned forward to nibble a damp path up his chest as she spoke. "Everybody knows... one... never... bothers to fold their... clothes in the woods."

She reached his jaw, while behind her she slapped at the hand he was using to try to get her hips and other body parts aligned where he wanted them. "I don't want you rushing me," she groused against his throat.

"In fact," she took a sharp nip and every nerve in his body stood at attention, "don't touch me at... all."

She bit his lower lip.

"At all?" His hands itched to caress her smooth, damp skin.

"At all," Ai whispered when they were nose to nose.

"You don't like me to touch you?" he asked. In answer Ai slid her sweet breasts sensuously across his chest "Because, Aiko-darling, I sure as hell love to touch you."

"You will lose control."

Keigo huffed. "Are you telling me or hypnotizing me?" It was damn hard to be amusing when he felt like taking off like a rocket.

"I want to see you lose control. Don't touch." When she paused, he could feel the rush of her blood through her veins as she pressed him down. He closed his eyes, letting his arms fall over his head. "You have too much control," she added.

"There's no such thing as too much control, Ai," he murmured, using every scrap he had. "Although I must admit, with you I seem to have less control than ever..."

She looked down into his eyes. "Let me see you lose control, Keigo. Don't think. Just close your eyes and feel." Her small white teeth closed in to give a sharp love bite on his neck before she dragged her body up his and took his mouth in a kiss so sensual, so erotic Keigo had to give himself up. He wanted to howl with pleasure of it.

He sighed, slitting open his eyes. "It's my birthday you know. Shouldn't you be doing me favors?"

"We're deep in the woods about to have sex." Her nimble fingers slid unfairly up his sides. "Your idea."

"Yes, well, you did say to be more risky."

She laughed softly, "So it all comes back to me?"

The air smelled of pine and that sweet smell of the earth. Dusty sunlight filtered through the tall trees, dappling her tanned, lithe body as she drove him wild with a deep, wet kiss. He allowed her to believe she was suppressing him with her small hands and pressing his above his head into the fallen tree branches and leaves that made up their bed.

He had never seen her like this. She tormented him with her mouth. Slowly. Maddeningly. Keigo lay where she had pushed him, half on, half off the blanket. Her eyes got so dark there were almost no pupils. She kissed his cheekbones, his nose, his eye sockets and his forehead before she got down to some serious lip action.

He could smell her sensual woman's essence as she broke contact. Her breasts heaved as she gulped in air, her hands braced on his chest. She must be able to feel his heart thundering beneath her palm.

"I'm glad you took my advice." Her hair slipped from confinement and tumbled into a dark cloud around her shoulders. She grinned, as she slid slowly down his body, kissing a path toward very dangerous territory.

He sank his fingers in her hair. He knew exactly where he was and who he was with bare-ass naked, outside, in broad daylight. Hell, he'd never considered making love in the wide-open wilderness until he'd met Ai. Out here in the woods where any hikers could trip over them. He didn't give a damn. Keigo closed his eyes on a prayer before muttering, "Have your wicked way with me."


TBC...