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The shivers just wouldn’t stop. Noe kept rubbing his arms to get some circulation going even as he hurried for the onsen. Well, hurried might be the wrong word. Shuffled with enthusiasm?

Noe was trying, okay? He was too frozen to move beyond the pace of goat with a cramping hamstring.

Luca didn’t seem to have the same trouble. Maybe his Bhodhsan blood was immune to such cold or his coat was better—he wasn’t nearly as frozen. Noe found it completely unfair because he felt like an icicle on legs. He desperately wanted in the onsen, but he was of two minds on sharing an oversized bathtub with Luca, too. After their night together, Noe felt oddly shy around Luca. Mostly because he had a reminder of that big cock filling him whenever he looked in Luca’s direction.

ANYWAY.

It wasn’t just that. He also wasn’t sure what was going through Luca’s head. He’d clearly liked having sex the night before, but how did he feel about it in daylight? Did it allay fears? Did it bring up other concerns? They’d not had a chance to talk about it last night or this morning, and Noe kicked himself for not somehow carving out the time to ask.

He wasn’t even sure if he could ask for sex again or if he needed to give Luca time to think. Dammit.

Onsen sharing when part of him still yearned to have sex with the man was bound to be awkward, and his only hope was that he stayed chilled enough to not get an erection. Please and thank you to any god who might be listening.

Noe beelined for the first private onsen he saw and went straight in before remembering about the placard. If he didn’t want visitors, he needed to hang the OCCUPIED placard outside the door. He turned to do so only to find Luca already hanging it.

All the better. Now. How to get buttons undone when his fingers still felt frozen?

And were buttons going to be easier or harder than shoelaces?

He was about to find out.

Turning his back to Luca, he tugged off the coat well enough, put it into a clothes basket, and then went for the thinner coat he’d worn as a secondary layer. The buttons stubbornly clung to the fabric, not willing to budge.

Oh come on .

He heard Luca quickly shucking off clothes, knew he was lagging, but couldn’t get more than a single button undone. Mostly his fingers’ fault—they were too stiff and he couldn’t seem to grasp much of anything.

A warm hand landed on his shoulder and turned him. “Here, let me.”

“I can get it.” Why Noe said that, he had no idea, because he most assuredly could not.

Those light grey eyes caught on his for a second, then crinkled up as if Luca was…amused?

Dammit, fine, Noe was being silly. It wasn’t like Luca hadn’t seen everything and had his hands and mouth on most of it. Even Noe couldn’t explain his own nerves. He was just hyperaware of the man, this situation, all of it. His body still remembered the sex of last night, although thanks to the prepping, he wasn’t nearly as sore as he should have been. Ren had given Luca good advice there.

Luca abruptly leaned in and kissed him, which startled Noe to stillness. He felt too frozen to properly respond, but that kiss was hot, soft, and oh so gentle. He damn near melted under it.

Lifting his head, Luca murmured, “Now can I take your clothes off?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure,” Noe agreed dreamily.

Wait.

Dammit, he hadn’t meant to say that.

It was true half of Noe’s nerves had disappeared with the kiss, though. Like his nervous tension was mostly because he didn’t know how to react around the other man.

While he debated this, Luca lost no time in getting his coat off him, undoing his shirt buttons and pants, and helping balance him while Noe kicked off pants. Then he sat Noe down on the nearest shower stool to help pull his socks off. It felt strangely warmer with clothes off? The humid atmosphere of the open bath likely had something to do with it, the warm air a blessing on his skin. Plus, his clothes had gotten soaked with icy rain, so it was no wonder. He didn’t even try to keep his glasses on, as they’d fog up in here anyway, and set them on top of his clothes.

He stayed on the stool long enough to do a very quick wash and rinse, and then he headed for the sunken stone tub the way baby sea turtles headed for home.

Luca, only a second behind him, slid an arm around his waist as if to brace him as Noe stepped into the water. Which he may have needed because his knees still felt frozen.

Note to self: Buy a coat that went past the knees. Clearly his mid-thigh coat was not sufficient for Shiirein winters.

Having all of Luca’s firm, male body pressed up against his side threatened to make him jittery all over again. Noe just didn’t know where the line was right now. Luca seemed far more comfortable about being in his personal space than he had been previously. Noe’s brain was hyperfixated on every little difference, and he finally told it to shut up. He could get warm and enjoy the cuddles, right? There was nothing wrong with that, was there?

Fuck if Noe knew.

Luca sank into the water with a sigh of relief. “That tingles a bit, but gods, feeling warm again is amazing. Settle, man, settle. Enjoy the heat for a moment.”

It did feel good, even if Noe’s toes flinched going from stark cold to blazing hot. Still, he settled into the water, standing at first because he wasn’t sure where to sit. The bench Luca sat on didn’t have much room left, and he’d need to be practically on the man’s lap to sit there. Which, normally, he wouldn’t question. But after last night, he also felt it would be very suggestive, and he wasn’t trying to suggest sex right now. But the other closest bench was on the opposite side, and he didn’t want to give Luca the impression he was upset with him, because Noe very much wasn’t—

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Luca said without any segue whatsoever, “and I think I’ve resolved any doubts I had. You’re very much the person I want. Marry me?”

Noe snapped around so fast, he slipped on the tile and abruptly went under. He came back up spluttering, carding hair out of his eyes, quite sure his eardrums were too frozen to hear properly. There was no way in hell Luca had just proposed to him.

Two strong hands caught him by the waist and hauled him in closer. “Did you slip?”

“I…uh…Yes, I did, and did you just propose?”

“Ah.” Luca blinked up at him like the thought had just occurred. “I should have had a ring to propose with. Dammit, what was I thinking?”

So he had meant it?!

Okay, the absurdity of being proposed to in an onsen aside—seriously, why?—Noe could only focus on the question itself. He stared at this man whom he had growing feelings for, whom he knew to be a good man, a wonderful person, and his heart hijacked his mouth. “Yes.”

Luca lit up, his entire face aglow, smile wide enough to stretch from ear to ear, like Noe had just given him something he’d desperately wished for. Then, without warning, Noe was yanked in. He straddled those massive thighs for the second time in twenty-four hours, ardently kissing this crazy man he was falling in love with—and was kissed just as passionately in return.

His now fiancé pulled back from the kiss, grinning.

“Clothes, Luca!” Noe griped at him, equally as thrilled as he was exasperated. “We should have been clothed for this proposal!”

“I’ll get you the best ring ever,” Luca promised him, still grinning.

“Clothes,” Noe insisted. “Clothes first and foremost. Although I’ll take the ring.”

Luca chuckled, the sound vibrating his chest, and kissed Noe again. “I’ll call you an endearment from now on, I think. Which do you like?”

“I’m your future husband. You’d better be calling me by cute nicknames. Um.” He didn’t want doubts to spoil the moment, but he had to ask. “But why are you asking me this now? We’ve barely dated a week. It’s not because we slept together, is it?”

“No. But yes. No, I don’t feel obligated to propose to you because we slept together.”

Phew. Okay, that had been his main worry.

“Yes, because I realized our chemistry is very good and I want that in my marriage. You’re the type of man I want as my husband, and after this past week, you’ve resolved any internal conflicts I’ve had about it. I’m confident you’re the one I should marry.”

Noe felt all sorts of better hearing that. He could finally relax, worries brushed aside, as they had no place here. He settled more firmly on those thighs, arms wrapped around Luca’s shoulders, and felt perfectly euphoric.

For a man who hadn’t been sure he wanted to be intimate with another man, Luca seemed comfortable with it now. He had his hands on Noe’s ass, keeping him right in place, even as he teased Noe’s mouth with kisses.

“I’d suggest making love right here,” Luca murmured, “because I’m certainly in the mood to celebrate, but there’s no oil and you’re still half frozen.”

“I’ll warm up quickly,” Noe promised him, utterly delighted Luca wanted him again. “I have quite a few questions to ask?”

“I’m sure you do. Go on.”

“Do you mind a more lengthy engagement? I don’t want to rush into a marriage, and I feel like we do need a little more time to get to know each other better. Say, live together for six months or so.”

“Ah, I see why you ask.” Luca’s head canted to the side for a moment, brows pulled together. “Hmm, yes, I think that’s wise. It’s not like we’re going anywhere, we’re both stuck here for another two years, at least, so we’ll just pick a ryokan and move in together.”

He was so amenable, so easy to speak with, that Noe felt sure they would handle married life just fine, but he also wanted to give them both time. Rushing things never panned out well.

Luca’s eyes searched his as he spoke. “Noe, I hold a great deal of respect and affection for you. You’ve been someone I could trust and confide in since the day we met. I can give you companionship and intimacy without question. I don’t know, though, if I’ll ever romantically be in love with you. Is that all right?”

Was it? Even Noe wasn’t sure, but he did know one thing with perfect clarity. “You’re offering me a home, a family, children with a man who I know will treat me well. Someone who will openly call me husband and be a stalwart companion when shit goes sideways. Honestly, Luca, you’ve given me the best offer I’ve ever been handed. It’s why I said yes. Because I want everything you’ve offered. That said, I’m probably going to be very affectionate, both physically and emotionally. Is that all right?”

“Of course. I don’t want you holding back from me because you feel like it won’t be wanted. I very much want to have a good relationship with you, to have that natural affection between spouses. I just worry about giving you the same in return.”

If Luca didn’t find Noe’s over-the-top affection squicky—as a previous partner had called it—then they’d get along fine. Falling in love with someone who cared for him was more than okay by him.

Still wanted those six months together, though. Just in case there was some fundamental difference between them to sort out.

“Rather, I hope you do kiss me when the impulse strikes.” Luca kissed him, a sensual tease that promised heat and sex. “I want to hug, and cuddle, and hold hands. I want to curl up with you under a blanket, lounging in bed on cold mornings and speaking of anything and everything to avoid the chilled air. I want a lifetime of that.”

The picture he painted was so perfect, Noe could only agree. “A lifetime of that sounds blissfully perfect.”

“Glad we’re in agreement. Noe.” Luca wet chapped lips and looked hesitant for once. “I don’t…know what I’m doing. I’ve mentioned before that my parents were an arranged marriage and they don’t get along well?”

Noe nodded because, yes, he had mentioned it.

“Growing up, I never saw a healthy marriage dynamic. It wasn’t until Sho and Brahms got married that I saw what a strong, healthy marriage should look like. It’s because of them I even embarked on this crazy idea of mine. What I’m saying is, aside from their example, I don’t know how to build a strong relationship with you. I might misstep from time to time.”

Was that where his nerves came from? It all made more sense, then—he had no roadmap to follow, only one example to look toward for guidance.

On this at least, Noe could take point. “Fortunately for us, we can always use our parents as bad examples and avoid their behaviors. I have a good place to start. First, talk to me. Even if it’s silly things, such as, you don’t like red socks—”

Luca snorted a laugh. “Red socks, eh?”

“—even something like that, talk to me. Especially do not make important decisions without consulting me first. I want an equal say in how things are handled.”

Luca dipped his head in agreement. “It might take forming the habit, but I’ll do my best. What else?”

“I think we’ll get on the best footing if we sit down and outline our goals. How many children do you want? What goals do you have for your land, your people? How do we want to handle a wedding ceremony? Things like that. If we set ourselves up for success, it can only help us be united.”

“I like your idea very much.” Luca blew out a stressed sounding breath. “On that note, there’s several things I need to explain to you.”

“I’m all ears. Uh, I’m not too heavy though, am I?”

“You stay right where you are until the heat proves too much.” Luca snugged him another inch closer. “I like you where you are.”

“Okay, good.”

Noe had no idea what Luca felt stressed about saying, but hopefully it wasn’t a deal-breaker.

He didn’t want to let go of this man. In fact, he wouldn’t. He absolutely refused.