Tainted Blood Ch. 01

This is the next series that follows my original work "The Rising Sun and the Morning Calm". It resumes after the Epilogue.

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Angela ended her work day with a deep sense of contentment. Married life agreed with her and she felt blessed to have the life she shared with Noboru. Recently returned from their honeymoon, their daily rhythm though now somewhat routine was a welcome change after the tumult of their past. She still awoke in the morning with the remembrance of nightmares reliving the past which made faith in the predictability of her newfound stability difficult to maintain. Still, it had been about a year since the passing of Noboru's brother. She hoped that the last vestiges of her hesitation would soon vanish forever.

Unlocking the door to their condo, Angela was pleasantly surprised to see her sister and Genzo inside. Noboru had gifted his restaurant as well as a unit in their building to the couple so that the sisters could be closer. Running the business was a full time job in its own right and Linnsa had quit her job in California so as not to be parted from Genzo. Though she had anticipated the decision to be difficult, she found herself surprisingly willing to forgo practicing medicine in exchange for a lifestyle that afforded her more time to be with him.

On the floor, the three cats were busy doing zoomies all over the condo, knocking over various objects in their eagerness to play. Linnsa and Genzo had brought Yang from their home to see her siblings. Because of Yang's deep attachment to Genzo, Angel noticed that she often seemed sad and listless after he had moved into his own place. Given their nearness, she had offered for Yang to live with them. The fluffy tabby was overjoyed to be reunited with him and the couple brought her back regularly for play time with her brother and sister.

Taking off her shoes, Angela gave them both a hug. "How's life in the restaurant business?"

"We're always crazy busy," Linnsa answered with mock consternation. "Thank goodness I have really good employees," she added with a teasing look at Genzo.

"Employee?" Genzo raised a brow. "The last time I checked, we were both owners of the place."

Giggling, Linnsa countered, "Yes, well I still outrank you. That makes you my employee." Her partner rolled his eyes dismissively.

Angela loved seeing them banter. Being with his sister had brought out a side of Genzo that made him almost unrecognizable from the surly reticent man she had met when she moved in with Noboru. When Linnsa was near, the smile never left his face and his adoration of her was unabashed and plain for anyone to see. "How are your classes going?"

Linnsa smiled at her question. With her new lease on life, she had started taking classes part time in Literature online. "It's been really fun. I'm reading so much these days."

Genzo made a grunt of displeasure. "You read too much."

"Is someone feeling neglected?" His face colored at her observation. "Let's not forget that you were the one who actually encouraged me to go back." Genzo muttered something in Japanese under his breath. "Engrish, please," Linnsa reminded him.

They were momentarily distracted by a crash as Snotty careened into a wall, unable to stop himself on the slippery floor. "Naughty boy!" Angela admonished, picking him up. The grey cat contritely allowed her to hold him in her lap. "You guys nervous for the big day?"

"A little," Linnsa admitted. "Only a few weeks away."

Sneaking a look at Genzo, Angela tried not to chuckle, knowing that he was impatiently counting down the days until he could make an honest woman out of Linnsa. He had been single-mindedly focused on setting a date for soon after Angela and Noboru's honeymoon. Because of the women's huge extended family, their wedding was to be held in Seoul. "I can't wait to see [Halmuni] (grandma, K) again."

"Me too!" her sister agreed. "Want to get dinner?"

Angela had to admit, she was hungry. "Let me say hi to my better half and then we can decide what to get." As she walked towards Noboru's study she heard Linnsa squeal as Genzo yanked her into his lap. "Get a room!" she shouted. They were like teenagers all the time. Closing the door, she walked behind Noboru's seated figure and wrapped her arms around his chest. "[Todai-ma]." (I'm home, J)

Swiveling the chair around to face her, he took her hand and sat her on his lap. "I have missed you today," he complained, kissing her in welcome. "It has been very difficult to focus on work matters all day." Noticing that she still had Snotty in her arms, he looked at her glumly. "Do I have to share you with him right now?"

Laughing at his doleful expression, she dropped the cat to the floor and Snotty scratched at the door, begging to be let out to join his siblings. After she had let him out, she felt Noboru's hands grab her waist and soon she was straddling him, level with his eyes. "Nobu, Genzo and Linnsa are outside."

He pressed her hips against his, and she could feel the familiar bulge underneath her. "If they are not already doing the same thing, I can guarantee you that they are thinking about it," he noted, adding, "wife."

She felt a flood of happiness every time he called her that. "We should decide what to do for dinner," she reminded him. "They're waiting for us."

"I do not need more than a few minutes," Noboru replied carelessly. Unzipping his fly, he pulled out his cock and hastily pushed her thong aside, stuffing himself without preamble into her cunt. "Wet for me already? So much for your protests," he growled triumphantly.

Angela kept her eyes fixed on his icy blue stare. God, he was handsome. She ran her fingers into his long black hair and pulled his mouth to hers. The hairs of his beard scratched her face as she sucked on his tongue. She reveled in his groans of pleasure as he forced her up and down his length. She was getting close, her clit tingling in anticipation of being driven over the edge. Working her hips against him, she tore her face away from his when he stopped suddenly. "What are you doing?!" Her tone was desperate, she was so close.

Noboru smirked, and watching his full lips only made her more needy to cum. "I want to hear you." He laughed as he felt her clenching down on him, trying to persuade him to resume pounding her.

"Nobu, no! My sister's outside!"

Stretching lazily, he raised his arms behind his head and grinned at her open mouthed stare. "I want to hear you, or we can finish this later." He bounced his pelvis a few times to remind her that she was past ready. "We are married now, what does it matter if she knows that I am fucking you?" He loved seeing her pinned to him, breathing raggedly with need, her breasts heaving with each breath. He wouldn't be able to make good on his threat, but he hoped she didn't know that. To make his argument stronger, he took one of her nipples between his teeth and began to suck. She began riding him, attempting to achieve her orgasm, but he angled his hips away from her clit, frustrating her.

"Please!" As greedily as she humped him, she needed him to meet her pace.

He bit her nipple and stared into her eyes. "Let me hear you," he ordered.

Beyond caring, she started to moan. Breathing hard, her voice got louder as he rewarded her with increasingly brutal thrusts. "Nobu, fuck! Harder! Fuck me harder!" He answered by grabbing her hips and ramming himself into her in earnest. "Yes! Yes! Don't stop!" The more she screamed her satisfaction, the harder he fucked her. "Fuck, I'm going to cum!"

"Do it!" he snarled. With a hoarse cry, he pushed himself as far as her cervix would allow before he shot his impatient load into her.

Hearing his feral grunts of satisfaction, she seized on top of him as she came, her hungry thrusts spattering his trousers with a cocktail of girl cum and his own sperm. She collapsed against him, their foreheads soaked in sweat, leaning against each other as their breathing slowed.

Outside, Linnsa and Genzo couldn't avoid hearing the frenetic mating going on in Noboru's study. Linnsa hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath. Hearing her sister's cries had been both disconcerting and incredibly arousing. She found herself feeling jealous of Angela's freedom to make love to her partner. Still seated in Genzo's lap, she met his eyes and saw the pained grimace on his face. "Do not move," he warned through gritted teeth.

"Why?" she asked somewhat breathlessly.

"Because if you do, I will cum right here into my jeans," he growled.

Part of her brain recognized that any other time she would have found this funny, except that she shared his frustration. As Angela sheepishly emerged from Noboru's study, her cheeks flushed and her hair in disarray, she noticed her sister perched on Genzo's lap. His eyes were screwed shut as if in intense concentration. Her sister shot her a look that made it very clear that no one was to say anything. After a long silence, Genzo stood up and walked stiffly to the door, his gait widely based. His face betrayed the pain and discomfort of the movement and without bothering to put his shoes on, he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Where is he going?"

Linnsa blushed. "Home." She heard the question her sister was thinking. "You know why. Maybe we can do dinner another time." Calling Yang to her, Linnsa scooped her up and also picked up Genzo's shoes. "I'll call you later," she promised and left.

Noboru came into the living room, having heard everything. Angela wheeled around to glare at him. "I am so embarrassed! Look what you did!" Noboru simply chuckled and she heard him mumble something about his dry cleaning bill.

His cell phone rang as he was changing into a different pair of pants. "[Hai], Ryuzo, [moshi-moshi (hello, J)]."

"We have a problem, boss."

Noboru straightened, alarmed at the seriousness of his tone. "What is it?"

"Some anonymous person has been sending us messages threatening to expose us and our research to the press. Whoever this person is, he keeps demanding that you meet him in person. He won't tell anyone else what his demands are but you."

Racking his brain, Noboru tried to think of who could be blackmailing him. To his knowledge, all of Saburo's men were dead. He didn't doubt the loyalty of his own staff, so it was hard for him to even imagine who could be trying to extort him. "What else did this person tell you?"

"He's giving you a month to meet him in person, otherwise, he's going to reveal intimate details of our operations." He paused. "And he knows the details, this is not an idle threat."

It had to be someone who also harbored the virus. "Do you still have samples of the antivirus stored away?"

"Of course, [Donno]." (lord, J)

"Keep it on standby. I will make the arrangements to come to Tokyo." Hanging up the phone, he sat on the edge of his bed, his head reeling. Of course it was too good to be true. To think he had actually believed that he could lead a normal life without dealing with Saburo's shadow lurking over him. Instinct told him his late brother had to have been involved in this somehow. He cast a sad glance at his soiled trousers and the carefree times it had represented, now once again lost to him.

"Okay, Mr. I-don't-care-if-I-embarass-my-wife. So where-" Angela stopped mid sentence as a familiar feeling of fear swept over her at seeing her husband's grave expression. "No, no, not again. Please tell me you're not-"

He sighed, confirming her need for concern. "I must return to Tokyo. I do not know how long I must be away."

"Why does this keep happening to us?" she shouted to no one in particular. "Why can't we just live our lives like a normal couple? How soon do you need to go?"

"I must be back no later than a month from now."

She knew she shouldn't be angry with him, but she couldn't help snapping, "What is it now?"

"Someone is threatening to expose my secrets. The virus, my research, the existence of wolf-human hybrids. What makes it worse is that I have no idea who this person is or what he wants."

Angela pulled up her schedule on her phone with a scowl. "I guess I'm just going to have to go on hiatus for a while," she muttered.

Noboru stood up abruptly. "You are not coming with me this time. I forbid it."

She gave him an annoyed look at his order. "You don't tell me what to do. I don't work for you. I am your fucking wife and I am not going to be away from you for God knows how long until this matter gets settled! If you don't like it, you can give me a divorce and the antivirus and you can have your way."

"It is for your own safety!" He tried to put his arms around her. "I have no idea what sort of danger awaits in Japan."

She put a hand on his chest and pushed him away. "Whatever this is, we're stuck in it together. That's the price we have to pay to be with each other. I'm at peace with that. If you're not, then tell me now and I will walk away, but you will not just leave me behind to worry."

He knew it was useless to argue. "You are right. [Gomen]. (sorry, J) I should not have assumed I would go without you."

Angela finally let him hold her. "Good, that saves me the trouble of looking for a divorce attorney." He couldn't help laughing at her comment. "Don't laugh," she threatened. "If we divorce, I'm going to take you for everything that you're worth."

Nuzzling her ear, he admitted, "If I lost you, none of that would have mattered in any case."

"And don't you forget it," she huffed grouchily. "Now let's get our tickets sorted. I want to make sure we clear this up as fast as possible. I would hate to tell my sister that I couldn't be at her wedding."

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A few floors down, Linnsa entered the unit she shared with Genzo and dropped Yang. "Sweetie?" She walked into their bedroom and found him lying on the bed. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," was his morose reply.

She sat next to him on the mattress. "Why did you leave like that? Without saying a word?"

"I was in too much pain to speak." When she threw him a quizzical look, he explained, "One of the more uncomfortable episodes of blue balls I have had around you."

She couldn't help giggling. "You poor thing." Flopping next to him she let loose a snicker as he sucked in his breath, still apparently sensitive all over. "At least in a few weeks you won't have to deal with that problem anymore."

He shot her a sidelong glance. "Yes, and I will be making up for lost time. Consider yourself on notice."

Living together over the past year had been a joy for her. She studied his face, his brow slightly creased because of his discomfort. Linnsa knew how difficult it had been for him to be so close to her without their having actual sex. Thankfully, no longer being part wolf imparted him a greater level of self control, despite not having diminished his libido. Not that they didn't have their fun, but she knew he was frustrated. She found herself wondering how she had ever believed that she wouldn't be able to love him. Hugging his giant arm, she nuzzled his shoulder affectionately.

Their quiet moment ended when her phone rang. "Hi, [Unnie], (sister, K) I was going to call you in just a bit."

"Can you come back up to our place? I need to talk to you both."

Linnsa sat up. "This doesn't sound good. Are you okay?"

"I am right now, but I'll explain more when you get here."

"Okay, bye." Getting up she asked Genzo, "Are you feeling well enough to walk again?"

He knew something serious had happened. "I will manage."

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When they had returned, the two pairs sat opposite each other on the couches and Angela began. "I don't want you to get freaked out, but I might not be able to be at your wedding. I'm hoping this won't be the case, but I can't be certain."

"If you can't be there, then we'll have to postpone it until you can!" Linnsa insisted. Noboru noticed that despite the fact that Genzo's face showed no change of emotion, the vein in the middle of his forehead had become much more noticeable. "What happened?"

"Someone is trying to blackmail me in Tokyo," Noboru explained. "This person is demanding that I meet them in person to discuss their demands."

"Blackmailing you with what?" Before Noboru could answer, Genzo began speaking to him in rapid Japanese. The two sisters watched as they conversed back and forth, not understanding a word of what was being said. "English, please!"

Genzo put a reassuring hand on Linnsa's lap. "It was faster for him to explain in Japanese. This person is threatening to make public the existence of the virus and has given Noboru a month to meet him in person to receive his demands."

"Are you both going?"

Angela shot Noboru a defiant look. "Yes we are."

"[Unnie], isn't that dangerous?"

"Would you let Genzo walk into a dangerous situation alone?" She had her there.

"Shall I come with you, [Donno]?"

Noboru smiled and shook his head. "Genzo, in a few weeks, we will be brothers, literally. You must stop calling me [Donno]. [Oni-san] (older brother, J) would be more fitting. And no, I could not ask you to come. You do not work for me any longer."

"But I have always been with you in times of trouble. Why should now be any different?"

Looking at Linnsa, he replied, "You are to be married soon. We cannot risk anything happening to you. Firstly, you no longer possess your former abilities and secondly, my sister in law would likely 'kick my ass into next week', as she so delicately puts it." He said the last part with an amused laugh.

"Maybe we should come with you," Linnsa agreed. "It's not like Tokyo is so far from Seoul. If this gets settled soon, we could just fly straight to the wedding. I don't know how I would deal with being worried about you."

"We're family now," Angela conceded. "If the two of you want to join us, then you should. Noboru?" She hissed his name with a warning tone as he attempted to object. Her mate closed his mouth and sighed louder than he had intended. "I heard that," she added, hearing him swear in Japanese.

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Back at home, Linnsa climbed into bed and snuggled against Genzo's chest. "I'm sorry this might throw off our wedding plans."

Though he was not pleased about a potential delay, Genzo also couldn't put aside his concern for Noboru. "I will survive this."

Linnsa noticed a small smile suddenly flit across his face. "What's that about?"

"I had not really thought seriously about the fact that marrying you would make Noboru my brother." His smile widened the more he played it out in his mind. "I will have an older brother - a family - again."

Her heart skipped a beat at the happiness he felt at this prospect. "You deserve it." As she thought over everything he had done to be with her and make her happy, she added, "and you deserve not to have to wait." Genzo looked down at her in surprise, not understanding what she meant. "Tomorrow, let's go find a Justice of the Peace," she suggested. "We can still do the wedding for my family, but I don't want to have to wait to be your wife any more."

His eyes widened at her statement. "You are serious?"

She nodded. "When I heard my sister today with Noboru, when I heard [Unnie] call us a family," her voice choked a little with emotion, "I knew I didn't want to waste any more time. I don't know what will happen to all of us, but I don't want to regret losing a single day with you. I love you so much."

Genzo felt his heart and his dick swell at her admission. "I love you, too," he whispered, still in disbelief at her words. "Come to me." Taking her in his arms, he began kissing her passionately.

She breathed his name between kisses and pulled at his shirt, trying to get him naked. "I need you. Please."