Page 20 of The Jorogumo (The Sanctuary #2)

Haruto

It'd been a week since our club date, and I'd decided I was going to ask Liam to move in with me. He'd already expressed his desire to live at the Sanctuary, even if he didn't know I'd heard it, and that was more than enough for me.

Liam had the day off today, and he'd be coming over at any moment. Our plan was to have a quiet day at my place. We were going to cuddle and watch a few Marvel movies, and I was going to pop the question at some point.

I didn't think Liam would say no, but I still didn't feel as confident as I wanted to. While I had complete faith in our bond, in Liam's love for me, I knew most humans dated for a lot longer before moving in together. But Liam wanted to move in with me, so it should be okay, right?

"You okay? You look like you're gonna puke." I glanced over at Khush, and wondered when he'd slithered up. How lost had I been in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed him?

"Where's your better half?" I asked, curious. Khush didn't really leave his mate's side these days, so it was strange to see him without Dustin.

"Touya, Bellamy, and Dustin are having a 'human hangout,' and they kicked me out."

Translation: Dustin made shit up to get Khush to stop hovering for a bit.

Nodding slowly, I decided to share my worries with him, if only so he'd stop worrying about his mate for a few.

"I'm going to ask Liam to move in with me today. And I'm just worried he'll say no."

Khush blinked, then smiled widely. "Hey, man. That's awesome. Congrats! And I'm sure he'll say yes. He looks so excited every time he's here. I think he'd love to live here."

"Yeah?"

Khush nodded quickly, then tilted his head. "Did you talk to the headmaster?"

I nodded. It was the first thing I'd done after I made my decision, and the headmaster had been happy, though I hadn't really liked the dark circles under his eyes. He was working himself to the bone, and something needed to change before he destroyed himself.

"Speaking of, have you noticed how tired he looks these days?"

Khush frowned. "Yeah. I tried talking to him about it a few times, but he keeps blowing me off and acting like everything's fine."

"I noticed a few more... glitches around the Sanctuary too," I murmured. They'd all been small things, really. A random bush that was bright pink instead of green, a patch of sky that showed daylight when the rest of it was night. Things like that. Something was up with the headmaster's magic, and if it wasn't resolved, things could get so much worse.

"Yeah, so did I. Keoni's the only one who's been able to talk to the guy, and he says the headmaster is 'working on it,' whatever that means."

"You know, for someone who taught us to work together and depend on each other, he's really bad at doing it."

Khush snorted. "Right? We might need to perform an intervention or something at some point."

If things got any worse, we might just have to.

My phone buzzed, telling me Liam was at the door, and I patted Khush's arm.

"Liam's here."

"Go, go. And Haruto?" I paused, glancing back at him. "Don't worry, okay? He'll say yes."

The confidence in Khush's voice made me smile, and I nodded gratefully.

Liam smiled widely when I opened the door, like we hadn't just seen each other yesterday morning. He hadn't come over last night so he could finish his chores and spend all of today with me, and I couldn't fault him for it, even if I'd desperately missed him.

I pulled him into a kiss as I shut the door behind him, and he hummed, wrapping his arms around me. I wanted to wrap him up in my webs so he'd never leave again, but since I wasn't a monster, all I could do was ask him to stay and hope he did.

We made our way back to my place and reached it without being stopped once. Khush had disappeared, probably off to stalk his mate some more, and no one else was around .

We settled on my hammock with the bag of premade popcorn Liam had brought—"A movie-watching experience isn't complete without popcorn, Haruto!"—and his laptop, which he'd also brought so we could watch the movies on a bigger screen.

We'd been watching the Marvel movies in chronological order, and Liam started the next one and placed the laptop on the perch I'd made for it so he wouldn't need to keep it in his lap.

He snuggled into my side, sighing softly as he wrapped an arm over my stomach, and I slid my arm under his shoulders, pulling him into me.

"This is perfect," he murmured, placing the bag of popcorn on my stomach.

"It is," I agreed, and for a while we just watched the movie while munching on popcorn. It was amazing to see characters I'd read about in live action, to see their adventures in a completely new format. I felt like I was meeting my favorite characters for the first time all over again.

Even as we watched the movie, though, I couldn't focus on it completely. The question I wanted to ask Liam danced on the tip of my tongue, and I had to swallow it back more than once. I knew I wouldn't be able to rest until I popped the question, but all the courage and determination I'd felt earlier seemed to have deserted me.

I blinked when the screen went black and text started scrolling through, startled to realize the movie had come to an end while I was stuck in my thoughts.

"Haruto? Are you okay?"

Of course my sweet mate had noticed my preoccupation. I turned to meet his concerned gaze, and smiled, hoping he couldn't see just how nervous I was .

"I wanted to talk to you about something, and I've been trying to find the best way to say it."

Liam

What could Haruto possibly want to say? He was always honest and clear about what he wanted, sometimes to a fault, so I couldn't imagine what it was that had him looking so nervous.

"What is it?" I asked in a strained voice, his nerves making my own anxiety flare up.

For the most part, I'd accepted the fact that Haruto loved me, that he wanted me just the way I was. But when shit like this happened, I couldn't help bouncing back to that same insecure guy who'd been dumped one time too many.

Haruto took a deep breath, steeling himself, and I held my breath, feeling like there was a band of steel wrapping tighter and tighter around my chest.

"Liam, will you move in with me?"

I stared at him, blinking rapidly as I struggled to process what he'd said. When it finally clicked, I jerked upright, making the hammock sway gently.

Then, I smacked his shoulder, hard. I knew it wouldn't actually hurt him, which was the only reason I did it. "You bastard!"

"Ow." He rubbed at his shoulder as he sat up, giving me a confused look. "Why did you do that?"

"Why did I—why did you say it like that? I thought you were going to dump me or something!"

I jerked my gaze away as my voice choked and my eyes started stinging. Fuck, talk about an overreaction. I scrubbed my face with my palms, keeping it covered as I sensed Haruto shifting around on the hammock, making it sway a little more .

Haruto wrapped a hand around my right wrist, but didn't try to pull my hand away from my face.

"I got nervous. I'm sorry I scared you."

I nodded to let him know I understood, but I still wasn't quite ready to face him after the way I'd freaked out. Fuck, I'd almost cried . What the hell was wrong with me?

I couldn't remember the last time I'd cried, and I'd never, ever teared up about something so dumb.

My face heated up as I went over my reaction again, and a soft whimper escaped my lips before I could bite it back.

"Liam? Will you look at me please?"

I would have to do it at some point anyway. Might as well bite the bullet.

Slowly, I raised my head, meeting Haruto's familiar brown eyes, so warm and full of love. There wasn't a hint of amusement or scorn over the way I'd acted, and I felt a little ashamed I'd expected him to react that way.

"Sorry," I mumbled, and he shook his head.

"It's okay. It was a misunderstanding. We both got anxious, and it was no one's fault."

I nodded, agreeing with that much, at least.

"And for the record, I will never, ever break up with you. You're stuck with me, and if you ever want to separate, you'd have to be the one to break the bond," Haruto said, not a speck of doubt in his voice.

My breath caught in my chest, the tightness from before releasing with a soft exhale.

"I want to move in with you," I said, and he blinked at me before a wide smile took over his face.

Leaning forward, he slammed his lips against mine, kissing me with smiling lips as he practically wiggled with happiness.

"Thank you, Liam. Thank you for saying yes. "

I smiled, letting go of the last of my anxiety as excitement filled me. The thought of spending all my free moments with Haruto, of sleeping in his unique bed, of being better friends with the supes of the Sanctuary...

"Is this real?" I asked, afraid I was at home in my bed, and this was nothing but an amazing dream.

"It's real, Liam," Haruto promised, leaning forward to give me another kiss. "It's the realest thing I know."

Nodding, I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck as I slid closer to him until there was no space between us. All eight of his legs hung awkwardly over the side of the hammock as he twisted at the waist to face me—he'd assured me multiple times that his legs were extremely bendy and unbreakable—one hand cupping the nape of my neck while the other clutched my hip.

Haruto pulled back after a moment, giving me a chance to catch my breath as he rested his forehead against mine. "I love you, Liam. And that's never going to change."

Swallowing hard, I murmured a reply, "I love you too. More than anything in the world."

Haruto smiled, faint crinkles forming around his eyes, and I'd never seen anyone more beautiful than him.

Placing my hand on the center of his chest, I pushed, and he raised a brow as he allowed me to get him horizontal. I climbed on top of him, straddling his torso as I pulled him into another kiss. While he wasn't interested in coming, Haruto loved being touched, and I enjoyed touching him.

I wanted to show him just how much I loved him, how much I wanted him.

Sitting back, I reached for his shirt, and slowly started unbuttoning it. He watched me with a faint smile but didn't stop me, trusting me to know his limits, to not try to push past. He'd told me before how he'd given up on being with anyone after people kept doing that, kept thinking they'd be the one to 'change his mind.'

The fact that he trusted me so completely despite his previous experiences made something warm and fuzzy settle deep in my chest, and I pushed the lapels of his shirt to either side, letting my eyes roam over his smooth torso because he liked it. He liked that I found him attractive, that he turned me on. He enjoyed consuming my lust, and I enjoyed feeding him.

We were a match made by Fate, his strength to my softness, my desire to his hunger.

Leaning down, I pressed a soft kiss on his chest, right over his steadily beating heart, then glanced up at him.

He gave me a soft smile, and I smiled back as I placed my palm over his chest, soaking in the warmth of his skin.

Instead of watching another movie, we spent the rest of the morning just like that, with me exploring every inch of Haruto's skin, and him feasting on every drop of my arousal. It wasn't about me just then, and I didn't ask or want to come. All I wanted to do was show Haruto how much he meant to me, how much I loved him, and judging by the soft look in his eyes as he watched me, I'd succeeded.