**Author's note: this chapter is explicit.

A hand roughened by years of weapon practice moved down to Lana's neck and squeezed it not so lightly, once again demanding her full attention. 

"I expect full explanations afterward."

Lana could only reply with a hurried nod. Her breathing had turned shallow and beads of sweat already tickled her temples and forehead.

"Safe word?"

"Re-- red."

"Safe gesture?"

"Tapping my... my chest."

"Remove your clothes." He gave her barely enough space to wriggle out of her clothing; when she was done, he sat back. "Now on your knees. Unbutton my shirt, starting with the cufflinks. Slowly."

Lana gulped down a groan of frustration. Of course, he had to throw in an extra layer. Of course, it had to be a lesson in patience on top of the rest. But he's right. I have to... to get back... back in control.

She pushed herself up, grasping at little things like the sound of his voice, the heat pouring from his body, the fiery desire dancing in his hooded eyes, or his natural scent to keep herself grounded. Licking her lips in anticipation, her shaky fingers got to work on his dark blue shirt, but clumsy, they failed several times.

"Focus!" he uttered under his breath. She blinked, surprised by his low voice. A loud bark would have been -- Oh dammit. Yep. We're not alone.

Usually, they would choose his or Yuki's room for their private games, far from the children and guests. No way she'd give an audio show to their father-in-law.

Finally, long, deep breaths allowed her to complete her task. With calculated gestures, he took off his shirt while always keeping his eyes on her, maybe a bit wary. A loud sigh passed her lips at the glorious sight of his wide chest and stomach. Incredibly enough, he had increased his own rigorous exercise regimen over the past years, keeping sagging flesh at bay. Time had yet to leave any telltale indent on his body; the only marks had been made by nails, fingerprints and teeth -- hers and Yuki's, from a couple of days ago.

Proprietary. Passionate. Worn with pride.

A surge of arousal shot from her core and turned her nipples diamond hard. Forgetting herself and basking in the mindless, purely physical need seizing her, she leaned forward. Her hands reached for his thighs for support, mouth closing on his collaborne, tongue darting --

"Straighten up! Hands on your knees, eyes open but downcast. Take ten deep breaths."

Lana gulped down and did her best to comply, but her body was already trembling. A little voice told her this soft meditation was for the best -- and not only as a lesson of patience. There would be pain. Helpful. Grounding. Not excruciating, but still. She had to be in a better mindset to handle it... and find release in it. And afterward, this was all about stopping her spiraling mind. But goodness, he's just there, half naked, and dio mio, those hands of his... Eight... Nine... Ten.

His hand reached out to squeeze again her neck. "You will refrain from touching me. No grabbing, no scratching, no squeezing of thighs, no biting or kissing back."

"Goshujin sama..." Lana moaned, despondent. The squeezing increased in strength.

"No. Not unless I tell you to. And no loud noise."

Her eyes shot wide open. Impossible!

"I want you to focus on your skin, and not only where I touch you. Assess it. Feel it. From your toes to the top of your head. Feel the heat, the cold, the sting, the burning, the pleasure. Draw a mental picture of this strong body that hosts your powerful mind. Understood?"

"Y... yes," Lana muttered, battling between arousal, annoyance and raw emotions at his loving words.

To her dismay, tears made her eyes tingle. Not out of frustration. No out of fear of what was to come. But of sadness at the pitiful state she found herself in. What a shameful failure. All these years of work, of recovery and healing, all for nothing? Just like that? And what will happen when we're actually there? Am I going to be in a state of panic for three weeks? I can't survive this!

"Lana san!" With a hiss, Lana shook herself and threw her master a distraught and blurred glance. Naruhito stared her down but couldn't completely hide his concern. "My fierce yudansha, you will overcome this." Despite his harsh tone, his use of her pet name felt as good as his previous endearment. "Think of us as two opponents on the mats, training at high speed with bokken. One misstep, one lapse in concentration, and the worse can happen. I am in charge, you can fully rely on me, but it is not enough. Today cannot be only about release. Is this clear?"

"Yes, goshujin sama," she replied much more steadily than expected.

Naruhito let out a grunt of approval, and then a small smile cracked his stern mask. "If you perform as well as I expect you to, you may offer me release."

A fresh burst of arousal turned Lana wet; she licked her lips and gave him a formal bow. "It will be my privilege."

"Now turn over, put your head on your folded arms, raise your hips and spread your legs. A little more. Yes, like this. Don't move." Straining her thighs, her position was far from being comfortable. Despite all of her daily practice at the dojo, and the number of squats she could do now, it wouldn't take long for her muscles to start shaking.

First came his lips. Hungry, yet soft and humid, running from her left calf to her softest skin near her dripping core, then going down on the other leg, and back to where they started. Loving and appreciative, skillful. Nothing else. Head buried in her cushion, eyes tightly shut, Lana couldn't see where her husband's hands were, but they didn't touch her. She shuddered and in a few minutes came very close to unraveling out of sheer emotional relief at his delicious proof of care.

But then came his teeth. Naruhito's mouth followed the same trail but it was no longer smooth and delicious. The second they sunk in her left thigh, Lana had to muffle a scream by biting her cushion; the scream turned into continuous moaning. Out of pure reflex, she jerked and tried to move away, but this time, two powerful hands brought her wrists together in her back.

"Don't move!" came the stern order. He held her wrists in one hand, so the other gripped her hip, digging hard.

One, two, three, four bites, in different spots, from her butt cheeks to her legs. Maybe more, but she stopped counting. Each of them sent jolts of pain and pleasure shooting along her spine, turning her whole body aflame. Combined with the tight grip straining her arms backward, her strained legs, the iron glove sliding from her hip to tweak her nipples, it seemed like there wasn't one muscle, one single spot that didn't hurt.

Lana stopped fighting and embraced the fire. Met his mouth instead of trying to flee it. Focused on each burning area to reconnect with her body. Cold and numbness made way to heat and tingling nerve endings. Blood rushed in her ears, deafening, and she could taste some in her mouth. The more she felt all her limbs again, the wetter she became. Soon, her need to scream had a complete different purpose.

"Please, please... please goshujin sama," she begged under her breath, face wet with tears. "Please, I need to come now..."

Her master let go of her and flipped her on her back before covering her once more with his body. To her dismay and mounting aggravation, he hovered above her without touching.

"Do you?"

"Yes!"

"How about being a bit more patient for once? I haven't even gotten here," Naruhito gulped down her left nipple and bit it harshly.

Lana arched under him, stars exploding behind her closed eyelids. His mouth crashed on hers before her long, keening scream could fill the room. Their tongues and sighs met, and a new kind of fire filled Lana, this time not born out of pain. A short, violent climax shook her. Just the right amount for now. She wanted so much to increase contact and feel his skin against hers, but he had yet to allow it.

He broke their kiss and, with pitch-black eyes, stared at her face for what seemed an eternity, as if searching for something. It took her excruciating efforts to swallow down moans and cries for more.

"Who are you?" he finally said.

"Lana... Lana Martin," she replied in a shaky voice.

"What are you?"

She wet her parched lips. "A... business manager. An expert at what I do." She took another deep breath and her next words came out more steadily. "A wife and mother. A friend. An aikidoka."

"Where are you?"

"Home. With... with my family."

"Who is your family?"

"You, beloved husband and master. Yuki sama, beloved wife and mistress. Our children: our smart daughter, Nana, and our... our sweet son, Isao," Lana finished in a broken whisper turning into a heavy sob as new threads of fear clutched her heart. Warm fingers cupped her face.

"This is about Isao kun, then," her husband said, suddenly much more urgent. "Lana san, talk to me!"

Throat aching, Lana nodded, in search for the right words; but she needed something first. "May I... may I touch you now?"

At his curt nod, her arms went around his neck and she pulled herself up until she could bury her face in his nape despite her screaming abs. The wave of relief at the contact and the taste of his skin on her lips made her giddy, but barely helped.

"Our son plays with his siblings," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "In the garden, by okaa sama's shrine. He sees them. They talk to him. Tell him... things. About our trip to Italy." But I can't... I won't... I won't tell you more than this.

Strong arms seized her and pulled her up until she straddled his folded legs. The pain shooting from her bruised legs and buttocks made her grimace, but she pushed down the discomfort; they ended up locked in another tight embrace. His muscles were marble hard now, his tension unmistakable. His own breathing had turned shallow.

"I... I had guessed as much," he spoke in her hair; she tensed at his confession, but couldn't move away. "I have seen him play around the shrine, speaking aloud. At first, I dismissed it as simple child game. Making up stories with imaginary friends. But then, he does this only there. Never inside the house, even in his room, or where we go for a stroll or to a park. So I gathered it was something else."

Lana let that sink in. She couldn't blame him for keeping it to himself. Still, she had to know. "Have you seen them?" Seen her? Seen... your boys?

"No, not since the day of Isao's birth, when they showed themselves as Jizo statues."

"Why can't we? We used to... we used to see things. Why can he?" she exclaimed, face still pressing against his shoulder.

"Maybe we are not so much in touch with all of this anymore, Lana san. Or maybe, they reveal themselves to him because of their special bond. Because of the way he..." his voice trailed off.

"The way he was conceived. And the way he was born," she finished for him. Two defining moments filled with blood and suffering, influenced by surges of many different powers, some much darker and evil than others. More lengthy minutes of heavy silence stretched between them. "I can't help but believe he can see much more than this. And that we can't protect him from them."

Her husband sighed and relaxed his embrace to caress her face. "We can explain things to him. We should. Step by step, like with the rest of what we will teach him and his sister. He needs to understand the difference between our reality and... what's behind it."

Lana sighed and nodded, before biting her lip and reaching out to trace his features with feather-like fingers. Can I? Should I...?

"There is something else on your mind."

No way back.

She landed a soft kiss on his lips, almost an apology. "Isao told me of his older sister. I was right. It would have been a girl," she whispered. "But he also told me of... of his three brothers," she finished with a strangled sob. Pain twisted Naruhito's face but his next words shocked her.

"I know."

"What?" This time, it was his body that began to shake, and an urgent need to embrace him, to soothe him, filled her.

"Each time Yuki... Yuki miscarried, that... that thrice cursed onryo wench would show up unexpectedly. When I would take a walk. In a shop. At a restaurant. She would nag me about it. Telling me about each of them. That they would have been boys. How they would have looked like. What they would have become. A part of me hoped it was only pure cruelty and malice, another form of pernicious torture, to force me to give them a face and identity, and make the sense of loss even more terrible. But deep down... deep down I knew."

"Amore mio..." Lana whispered. And he kept all of this for himself. He spared Yuki, again and again. Protected her against this insanity, this agony. "Some days, I wish that demon was still around to be able to cut her down myself. For all the pain she caused you."

A low, strangled noise was his only answer. They remained like this, limbs locked, unmoving, until both of them had recovered enough self-control. I don't want this evening to end like this. I don't want to leave home tomorrow on tears and mourning. We deserve so much more than gut-wrenching sadness and dread, again and again.

His warm breath tickled her neck, and she longed for the touch of his tongue and fingers. She began to place small kisses on his jaw and neck.

"Was my performance adequate?" she whispered in his ear. For the first time since he had come into her bedroom, her tone was seductive, sultry even. To her deep pleasure, he stiffened under her.

Naruhito pulled her hair and locked eyes with her, a half smile curving his lips in the dim light of her bedroom. "Your pain management skills are now truly remarkable, my yudansha. But like often, I find your patience lacking. I wonder if you will ever make progress in that respect." Indignant, she opened her mouth to protest, but his hard kiss cut her short. "The sanction is simple: give your all to bring me to release, but you will not come before me. And remember: be quiet."

Before she could react, his thick arms slid down her back and he stood in one smooth move, taking her along with him without even a wince. A surprised chuckle escaped her, but her smile turned full-fledged and voracious when in three strides, he brought her against the wall next to her garden windows. The best one: no room behind, and no structural load to bear.

Her mind might have lost its footing tonight, but her body was as strong as ever and she wanted to return all the unconditional and non-judgemental love he had showered her with. No need to second-guess his instructions; everything was indeed fair play as long as he'd get his release first... and she didn't wake up the whole house. It was time for blissful oblivion, for finding each other at a pure physical level.

Back pressed against the wall, her heels pressed on his lower back and her solid thighs squeezed his bulky frame. She didn't have to care about checking her strength. Her nails racked his skin from his shoulders down his flanks. A low hum of appreciation followed by a raspy chuckle as his lazy tongue ran all along her neck were all the encouragement she needed.

His erection found her dripping entrance; her arousal quickly reaching new heights, she grounded herself against him with something close to violence. He slipped in, replying to her demand with a rough slam. A searing kiss muffled their groans; they remained unmoving for long minutes, revelling in the firework of sensations, the quivering and spasming of their bodies, inside and out.

"Mine, you are mine..." Naruhito whispered against her mouth. If that was even possible, her heart raced faster and stronger.

She gripped his neck and licked his lips. "Mine..." she breathed back. And in the back of her head, like a shooting star gone before she could really see it, the word rang again. Yuki.

Her eyes met her husband's; he had heard it, too. It happened now and then, when their emotions burned higher than usual. A reminder that the three of them were bonded by something else than fierce love and duty.

Choked by emotions, Lana shifted in Naruhito's embrace. Bruised and pushed to their limits, her thighs protested so much her eyes watered, but it was a problem for tomorrow-Lana. Her here-and-now self was all too delighted to get lost in the rough and dirty tumble they needed so much.

"Ready, my yudansha? Hold fast." His purr dripped with dark desire, making goosebumps erupt all over her body despite rivulets of sweat running along her spine.

"Oh yes. Do you worst," she taunted him with a low laugh.

She didn't have to tell him twice.

Bracing against the wall, and thanks to a burst of energy he hadn't shown in a long time, Naruhito began to thrust -- or rather, to nail her to the wall. With an earth-shattering rhythm, he reached deep and new places that made see her stars.

Gasping for breath, she lost the will and capacity to keep her own iron grip on him. She bit down his shoulder to smolter her cries; her control over the waves of raw pleasure surging inside her ran increasingly thin and she tried to focus on his moves, desperate to catch the tell-tale signs of his imminent climax.

Finally, he let go and with a muffled groan spilled himself inside her warmth. With a long sob of relief, Lana let herself swept away and blacked-out, body slackening, free from any form of tension.

Lana came to lying on her futon, nestled against a broad and warm chest. Her fingers tracing his muscles, she basked in the pleasure of this little moment of respite.

It couldn't last all night, though. "Thank you." Such simple words. So many layers behind them.

"I am glad I could help you. But next time, come to me right away instead of trying to... hide it under your futon."

"I promise I will." Because, of course, it would happen again. A loud noise coming from her rumbling stomach made her blush and him chuckle. "Looks like I'm hungry again. Time for a cold dinner and a shower."

Naruhito opened his arms and watched as she got up carefully, mindful of her wobbling legs and strained muscles. "And your carry-on bag," he pointed out with a knowing smirk.

"Yes, yes, that too."

"When you are done, please join us in Yuki's room."

"It will be so late..."

"No, don't sleep alone tonight."

Lana hid her expression of relief behind a low bow. "Thank you, I will indeed sleep much better." His next words stopped her before she could reach the door.

"Hmm, don't forget your shirt and pants, now. Mind our guest."

With a hearty laugh, she put her discarded clothes back on. "Right. We need his babysitting skills for the three next weeks, so not really a good time for a heart attack."

His wistful eye roll spoke volumes.