Polly checked Loki’s schedule and then left her phone with her folded robe as she wrapped a piece of white muslin around her and headed to the onsen. Loki and Minoru were both leaning back in a grotto, talking about business.
Polly’s hair was up, her skin was clean, and she removed the wrap as she stepped into the water. The bath attendant took it as Polly floated deeper into the pool. Attending the hot spring had been an order by Loki’s business partner, so she was visible but not close enough to interfere with their discussions.
The attendant brought a floating tray with sake, tea, and water. It was set for three, and Polly took the hint. She floated the tray over to Loki and Minoru. The hotelier gave her a dismissive glance, so she poured him a cup of sake and handed it to him. He took it, and she did the same for Loki but with chilled green tea.
She floated up against the wall of the grotto and only came out when it was necessary for the next pour.
After half an hour, she swayed a little. Loki said, “Polly, we are good. Go lie down. We have more meetings tomorrow.”
She nodded, checked the tray, bowed slightly to Minoru, and he gave her a tense nod. “Miss Polly.”
She turned and moved through the warm water, stepping out of the spring. When she was still waist-deep in the water, there was a low growl, and she was wrapped in the arms of an alpha who had his nose buried in her hair. The attendant was shocked. Polly gave her a calm look and shook her head.
The other woman backed away with her head down.
“Mr. Minoru, while I can appreciate the hug, it is a little startling.”
His rumbled words were so low, she could feel them more than hear them when he murmured, “You are marked for me.”
“The claw marks? They are kinda big. They showed up on our last business trip.”
He sniffed along her neck and behind her ears. “I can smell you now. You block your scent?”
“Yeah. Safer when travelling.”
“You are sweating.”
“The pool is a little warm for me.” She swallowed and then took in the fact that he was pressed against her from neck to knees, erect, but obviously felt chatty. “So, your... other half makes those marks?”
“He does. He is very pleased that you have come to us.”
“Um, Loki came to you. I just travel with him. This isn’t going to get weird, is it?”
He dragged his tongue up her neck. “Define weird.”
“One of the richest hoteliers on two continents is licking my neck. I am not going to make any sudden movements.”
He chuckled and sighed. “Your skin is so soft.”
“It’s wet. I am turning into soup. I am dry and scaly when I am running around normally.”
“Are you trying to dissuade me?”
“Oh, I would never try to get between an alpha and his prey. I am just hoping to find someone to shove between me and him.” She murmured, “I don’t have to outrun him, just them.”
He chuckled and licked her neck again. “Oh, my kind will track a little treasure like you down. We will tear right through the bait to our prey. And such lovely prey you are.”
She muttered as astonishingly long nails lifted her head. “I went from annoying servant to lovely prey?”
He drew a deadly nail down her neck and licked the mark. She whimpered, and he paused, lifting his head. “I am so sorry, miss. I didn’t mean to scratch you. Are you all right?”
She tensed and slammed her head back into his nose as she jerked her heel up between his thighs, and he splashed back. She grabbed a robe and pulled it around her shoulders, looking back at him to see the blood coursing from his nose and into the pool. She wasn’t even to the door before she knew that that move would cost her.
Polly sat in her room and finished confirming the payment and arrangements. Loki came in and sighed. “You know that it is going to hit the fan.”
She nodded. “I know. I am making an appointment with him in two hours. I am going to grovel.”
Loki paused. “Are you sure you want to do that? He might take advantage.”
“He won’t. I am doing this formally as fuck. The kimono is coming with the dressers, and I will be on my knees in front of him if he accepts the request for an audience.”
Loki nodded. “Right. Well, I will go and tell him that if he accepts, he will receive a formal apology.”
She nodded. “Thanks. The concierge has been astonishingly helpful.”
“How is your Japanese coming?”
“I can giggle along with the tiny girls on anime so far.” She wrinkled her nose.
He snorted. “You aren’t trying.”
“You are correct.” She nodded and fidgeted as he left.
Half an hour later, she got an acceptance of her request and the notice of the arrival of her request from the concierge. She pinned her hair up and headed to the lobby, a conference room had been set aside for her, and she went in with the dressers, and they showed her how to get dressed while the concierge translated. When they finished, she was swathed in a kimono, but something had gone awry in translation. Her face had been painted in geisha makeup. She guessed this was a common fetish for wealthy folks visiting Japan, and she was fine with it.
The concierge looked at her. “Do you need help returning to your quarters, miss?”
“No. I have an appointment with Minoru-San.”
The concierge realized that he had made a very big error in assumption. “I will help you remove the makeup, miss.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry. I find it funny, and I will make sure that he does as well.”
She bowed to the dressers, and the concierge confirmed that he would have the kimono returned to them the following morning. She lifted the front of the silk carefully and walked to Minoru’s room. She scratched gently at the door and heard, “Come.”
She slid the door open, crept through, turned around, and closed the door, then she got up and looked for Minoru. She saw him sitting next to his desk, and she walked to him, lowered herself to her knees, and bowed with her hands together in front of her. “Minoru, I am very sorry that I injured you. The pain was unexpected.”
His fingers caressed her hair. “That is a very striking image. I will have to bring the photo up when I need to remember this moment.”
She sighed. “Glad I am wearing the makeup.”
“Will you ever do that again?”
“I will not headbutt you again, alpha.” She kept her posture in the supplicant bow.
“Will you fight me?”
“If you do something that makes me fear for my safety, yes, alpha.”
Her hair unravelled and covered her arms on both sides.
“I will pay for the hair tie.” His hand stroked through her hair.
“Do you accept my apology, alpha?”
He stroked his hand through her hair again. “I am thinking about it.”
She kept her head down and waited.
He stroked her hair calmly, and she got sleepy and tilted to one side.
She caught herself and resumed her formal position.
He leaned down and murmured, “It’s okay, Polly. I accept your apology.”
She tried to push herself back to sitting, but he helped her.
His lips quirked. “What is the makeup about?”
“The concierge didn’t understand what I was doing, and he thought that Loki was a North American business man with a geisha fetish.”
He looked at her from the left side and the right before he leaned in and kissed her softly. She stared and blinked slowly as his breath trickled into her lungs. He backed away, and she blinked, giggling. “You are wearing my lipstick.”
He smiled. “I don’t care.”
He pulled her against him and kissed her again. She felt his face moving, and she made fists inside of her sleeves, gripping the edges of his yukata as she held on as he kissed her again. She leaned back and blinked. He was a monster.
Red skin, long black hair, curving silvery horns, red eyes, and a fascinated expression. “Oh, hey.”
He grinned, showing way too much teeth. “Hello, Polly.”
“So, you got bigger.”
“Kimono and yukata are very forgiving.” He chuckled.
The creature would have been terrifying, but he wore lipstick and white makeup. It softened the expression.
She stroked his cheek, and he leaned into it. The marks on her back were tingling in an unfamiliar way. The tingling went everywhere.
Polly licked her lips. “So, if you have forgiven my act of self-defense, I should probably be going.”
He held her with arms above and below the stiff obi. “I think you should apologize once more, so you realize how close you came to triggering my taking you with that little action. It is hard to control the kijin when he rises. He likes you though. He likes you very much and wants to keep you happy and willing.”
He changed back into the handsome, graceful features she had been staring at for days during negotiations. She touched his face again and rubbed her thumb across his lips. “Happy is easy for me. Willing is more difficult. Surrendering is the hardest thing of all. But I need to get out of the kimono before I stain it.” She blushed. “I put the deposit on Loki’s account. He might notice and freak out.”
He chuckled. “I will tell the concierge to move the deposit, but if you could remove the makeup, that would be helpful.”
She nodded and had no means of purchase where she was lying. “Could you help me up, please?”
“Of course, my bride.” He lifted her until she was standing.
She bobbed a quick bow and found his bathroom. The makeup didn’t come off as easily as she would have liked, but it did come off.
Polly returned to the outer room, where Minoru’s face showed no signs of makeup, and the concierge was speaking rapidly. Minoru was rubbing something between his fingers, and she swallowed as she recognized the hair tie he had snipped off her head with his claws.
Polly walked up to them and bowed to Minoru. “I think I should stop playing dress-up and get back into my standard clothing.”
He chuckled. “Not just yet. Do you have any zori?”
She blinked and shook her head.
The concierge nodded. “Yes, of course. I will be right back.”
He let himself out.
Minoru turned to her and lifted her chin on his fingers. “Lovely. You scrubbed hard, though. I like your skin intact.”
Loki was muttering, and he walked by the open door. He paused. “Polly, what the hell is this fifteen thousand dollar charge on my account?”
“The security deposit for this kimono and the cost to have dressers put it on.”
Loki paused and cocked his head. “You are stunning, Polly. But, what the hell?”
“Formal apology, remember? You can’t get much more formal than this unless I cut off my pinkie.”
She was immediately hauled back and held against Minoru. “No cutting anything.”
She glanced down, and the hand holding her was red. She stroked his warm fingers and said, “You are freaking out the fox, husband.”
He must have liked the sound of that because she was held draped over one arm as he kissed her until her lips throbbed. When he set her on her feet, the concierge was standing there with boxes of zori, and she quickly got a pair that matched her kimono.
Minoru smiled. “I wish to know more about my bride, and the walls have ears here. Shall we walk?”
“Small steps. These shoes feel a little odd.”
Loki grinned. “You are going to go for a walk?”
Minoru shrugged an open jacket on over his kimono. “We are going for a walk on the grounds. I need to know as much as I can about my bride.”
Polly blinked. “Right. That would be helpful. Can I learn about you as well?”
“Of course. For you, I am an open book.” He offered her his arm.
She wrapped her hand around his forearm, and she nodded. Loki took a few pictures of them, and Minoru’s phone chirped. He checked the phone and smiled. “Thank you. My family is getting the images now.”
Polly blushed and walked with him as he headed toward the door, onto the deck, and then the crushed gravel path that led through the formal gardens.
They were a few minutes from the inn when Polly said, “I think I need to explain a few things about my family.”
“Please do. I look forward to meeting them.”
“Oh, that isn’t going to happen. First, I will tell you about my twin sister Molly. She is an omega who took a placement with a pack, but she didn’t actually tell them that she didn’t want kids and had taken steps to ensure that when she was a teen.”
“That isn’t good. If she was an omega, how did they do the procedure?”
“Oh, she said she was me. On paper, I am sterile, but based on my last exam, I am perfectly fine.” She sighed. “That brings us to the problem. Molly’s pack wants children, and while we aren’t identical, we are still twins, so they have decided that I will make a suitable breeder. Loki is helping me hide from them in public spaces.”
“How?”
“Foxes stink. He rubs his neck along mine and his hands down my arms every morning.”
He tensed but then nodded. “It is sensible that he makes sure you are safe, but I don’t suppose you would have the name of her pack?”
“I do, but all they have done is tried to abduct me once. Now that I am living with Loki, things are a lot easier. With him next to me, they haven’t made a move.”
“So, you are depending on him as a repellent for your sister’s pack?”
“Yeah. I have friends in other mated pairs and quartets that let me hide with them as well.” She sighed. “There is also the book club if the pack gets too close. Those betas are ladies you don’t want to cross. I have a friend who is an excellent bodyguard, and she makes amazing cupcakes.”
He nodded. “So, if your sister’s pack disappeared, you would be upset?”
“Yes. They are bastards, but they love her and just want her to be their omega as well as their matriarch. If they wanted to, they could have rejected her and returned her to the omega centre, but they looked for a breeder instead. It is kind of sweet, but from my view, also horrible.”
“You could remain with me. I would keep you safe.”
“Um, no. My visa is for work only. I have to leave in the next week, or I can be deported and banned from returning.” She chuckled.
“You are remarkably calm for a tempting beta walking at my side.”
She chuckled. “You won’t harm me. You need me in one rather large piece.”
“You are disregarding the self-control I have been exerting not to flip you to your back and drive into you.”
She patted his arm. “If you did that, you would find out how good I am at hiding firsthand.”
Minoru stroked her cheek. “You would find out how good I am at hunting. I have tasted you, and there is nowhere you can hide from me. Now, what do you have in mind for your wedding?”
“I have never really given a wedding any thought. What is traditional for you?”
“Me in a black kimono, you in a red one. White is becoming more traditional, but I like the red. Flower petals falling, you looking at me like I am the only male in the world. Friends and family there to witness and celebrate with us. Of course, we will need new kimonos, which will take months. This is going to be torture, but it will let me court you as you deserve.”
“Court me? As if there is an option in this?” She chuckled.
“No, court you, as in make you used to me, and perhaps, you will look forward to seeing me when I return to our home.”
She ducked her head. “So, how many months will the courtship be?”
“It depends on the artisans, but four to six months. We have wedding planners who work with our hotels, but if you have a preference for someone you think you would enjoy working with. We can have a conversation about this when I return home in a week. Make any notes for what you would like, and we will try and fuse the two paths together.”
They walked slowly past small rivers and surprising waterfalls, and he covered her hand resting on his sleeve as they paced slowly down the path. They reached a path that led out onto a calm lake, and he turned to hold her hands.
She smiled shyly. “You are taking things really slowly.”
He nodded. “Once I get inside you, I will remain as long as I can. So, several days. But now is not the time for that. My parents are across the ocean, so we can have our meeting with them when I return.”
“Oh, fuck.” She blinked.
“And the cursing might need to be taken down a notch.” He stroked her cheek with his finger.
“It is how I blow off stress. That was the tip of the four-letter iceberg in my mind.”
“Well, what else do you need to say?” He tilted his head.
She looked into his red eyes, opened her mouth, and let loose a cascade of cursing that made his eyes open wide and his horns flick in and out of vision.
When she finished, he stared for a moment, and she began to think she owed him another apology.
He leaned down and stroked her hair before pressing his mouth to hers in a devastating kiss. When she was swaying in his arms, he lifted his head. “I had to find a better use for that charming mouth of yours.”
She blinked. “Am I supposed to apologize for that? I still have the outfit on.”
He grinned. “Next time you irritate me, and I am sure you will, you can wear one and make the formal apology.”
Polly winced. “That is going to get pricey.”
He smiled. “Mine is the requirement; I shall bear the cost.”
She blushed. “I think that one kimono would be fine.”
He turned, and they headed back to the inn. “Let me tell you about my family and how long they have waited for me to choose a partner. There have been trans-pacific introductions. Lines of omegas who all run for it when they see the red eyes, not to mention the horns. They didn’t remember what they had seen, but it was disheartening to my family when they realized I would never find someone. They will be delighted with you. You have experience with an ayakashi alpha. You didn’t run screaming when you saw my full form. Loki wishes to do business with us, so my family will consider themselves to have the upper hand.”
She paused. “I am not a member of Loki’s family.”
“I know. He is a second son but a high-ranking alpha. That you manage to work with him indicates your patience and capabilities. He is clever, so you obviously have intelligence.”
She walked carefully and swallowed. “How are you sure your family will not object?”
“Oh, pretty sure. They have been blowing up my phone since Loki shared the images of us together.” There was a smile curving the edges of his mouth.
“I haven’t heard anything.”
“You will pick up on energy signatures over time. It comes with the hunting abilities.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “They will show up soon.”
“Why?”
He turned her palm and licked it. “Because I marked you. It was gentle but will grow over time.”
She remained quiet until they got back to the inn. “Right, well, I have to get this kimono off and get back into clothing that doesn’t make me worry about trading in my car.”
He sighed. “Will you have dinner with me tonight?”
She blinked. “Um... I thought Loki was having dinner with you tonight.”
“What were you going to do?”
“Sprint down to the convenience store to the left of the temple. I am a big fan of ramen.” She smiled. “Um, thank you for the walk. It was nice.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear so that the line of his scratch was visible. He stroked the thin line and smiled. “I will ask Loki to invite you to dinner. Will you wear an inn yukata?”
She blinked. “Uh, I have work to do. I am not sure that I will finish by dinner.”
He smiled, his fangs showing. “I am sure that Loki will assist in anything you need to complete.”
“Him fussing will be the opposite of helpful.”
“I will see you for dinner.”
He walked her to her room, and the room attendant got there before her and helped her step out of the zori before she walked in. She was surprised when Minoru came in behind her.
He chuckled. “Did you get in on your own?”
“Oh. My. Right. Fuck.”
He tapped her nose. “You are cruising for another apology.”
She swallowed and let him untie the cords and cables of the outer layers before tapping her on the nose again and leaving her with the slowly sliding silk layers exposing her shoulders. He took a quick photo, winked, and left her.
Polly waited until the door slid closed, then untied the last few ties and slid out of the entire mass. She darted to her drawer and put on a change of clothes—a business dress and some slippers. Now she had to fold up the kimono and get it ready to return.