"Would you think I was crazy if I said I wanted to go for a soak in the pool?"

Nick pressed a kiss to her forehead. "No, not at all. I might even join you. Unless you wanted to go by yourself? Looking for a little alone time? Hm?" He looked at her carefully to assess her mood.

"No, please come with me," she answered, nodding for emphasis. "Though I should warn you, I wasn't going to wear my suit. You up for that?"

He grinned at her. "Just makes me want to get there quicker," he assured her.

She smiled back and they rose together, walking hand in hand to the pool, where steam rose from the water, making the air warm and moist.

Nick held Sumire's hand as she stepped into the pool, enjoying the fact that he could see her lithe body completely for the first time. She moved with grace and fluidity, every motion economical and compact, every muscle flexing as she displaced the hot water with her body.

She let out a sigh as the warmth enveloped her and took her usual place on the stone bench, winding her hair up on her head and clipping it in place. As usual, a few tendrils fell out and curled around her neck.

Sumire watched Nick step in next to her, admiring anew his taut abs and the slight bulge of his hamstrings. She found it amazing that just a little while ago she had been clasping that body to hers, that he had been inside her, that they had been joined, for all intents and purposes as one being.

"You've really changed," Nick noted as he settled in next to her.

"Really? How?" Sumire rose and sat in his lap facing him, straddling him, in a very intimate posture, draping her arms over his shoulders.

"Well, this, for one thing," Nick said, gesturing at her. "You could never, ever have sat like this, actually on me with your legs all spread like this, before, even if you'd been wearing a suit, which you most definitely are not."

"Oh." Sumire looked down, taking herself in before looking back up at Nick. "Is my, um, wanton and immodest pose in your lap bothering or offending you in some way?" She blinked at him, making him laugh.

"God, you're fun," he told her, pulling her close for a hug. "You can't imagine how happy I am that you're doing so well with all of this, you really can't imagine. When I think back to that night in LA, after those assholes attacked you, and you didn't even want me to see you when I was helping you take your sweater off, remember?"

He rubbed her shoulders before leaning forward to press a kiss on first one, then the other. "For you to be able to walk over here with me absolutely starkers like you did, and just step into the water, no worries about whether or not I'm going to see you or touch you? It just makes me so happy, so happy, that's all."

"Oh, Nick, thank you so much for being so patient with me," Sumire said. "Thank you for not being put off by how standoffish and bitchy I was, and for--for seeing something in me worth hanging around for."

"My pleasure."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, then Sumire rose and left, after planting a kiss on Nick's mouth and smiling at him after. He followed a few minutes later, and wasn't suprised to find that she'd dragged her futon from her room to his, lining it up closely next to his so there was no gap between the two.

She was already in her yukata, all tucked in, and the only part of her he could see was the very top of her head peeking out of the top of her comforter in the dim light of the lamp. The picture was very homey and welcoming, and Nick was suddenly exhausted and couldn't wait to crawl into his own futon.

He quickly shouldered on his own yukata, belted it closed, and lay down next to Sumire, who was already breathing the deep, even breaths of sleep. He wanted to hold her as he fell asleep, which surprised him, because this wasn't his normal modus operandi; unless sex was involved, he liked his space, and definitely wasn't a "cuddly sleeper," as Rachel said on an episode of Friends.

Just to make sure he wasn't tempted, Nick rolled over so he was facing away from Sumire's small, sleeping form. He tried not to think about how her torso rose and fell with each breath, how her skin must be flushed and warm from her time in the hot pool. He ran lines in his head to calm himself down, and was just on the edge of falling asleep when he heard rustling behind him, and felt Sumire's arms come around him.

She scooted close, tucking her chin into his shoulder, so her cheek was near his, so he could feel her small, firm breasts pressed into his back and her knees against the backs of his thighs. After a few moments, she turned her head so her cheek rested against his shoulder blade.

"I love you, Nick," he heard her whisper, and then he had to turn over so he could take her in his arms.

"Oh, baby, I love you too," he murmured into her neck, "I love you so much, so much." He threaded his fingers through her hair and slowly pulled her head back so he could suck on her neck. "Mm, god, your skin tastes fantastic, Mimi-chan, just fantastic." He stopped sucking so he could nip at the tender flesh as with his other hand he pulled at the obi that held her yukata closed.

He slid his large hand over her smooth, round hip, enjoying the velvety feel of her skin after its prolonged immersion in the onsen. He cupped her bottom briefly, then kept going, grasping the back of her thigh so he could lift her leg over his body. He ran his hand all the way down her leg, the way he had earlier, again marveling at how supple and graceful it felt.

"Well," Sumire murmured, and Nick could hear the smile in her voice, "I'm all nice and naked, but you're still wearing this bothersome thing." And she reached with nimble fingers, untying his obi with a few quick pulls, making him as naked as she was.

"Nick, you're already hard," she said, surprised.

"Yeah?" He chuckled. "You're a very exciting woman, Cucumber, and it's been awhile, you know? I'm making up for lost time."

Sumire reached for him but stopped, looking up at him, eyebrows raised in query.

"Knock yourself out," he said with a smile.

He took a deep breath when he felt her slim fingers grasp him, and he put his hand over hers, showing her what to do. Sumire understood what he wanted, and kept moving in the rhythm he established, keeping the pressure firm, listening for changes in his breathing to cue her.

"Okay, I really don't want to splatter all over your pretty tummy," Nick said after a few minutes. "I'd rather do this the regular way, if you don't mind, so let's stop."

Sumire nodded, and Nick tipped her chin up to kiss her, letting out a moan of pleasure as he did. He grasped one of her breasts, cupping and squeezing, loving the way it filled his palm, loving the way the other one was pressed against him.

Sumire gasped when he squeezed her nipple, and bit Nick's tongue, rather hard, in response.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Nick--"

"It's fine, I'm fine," he assured her. "Kiss me, just kiss me, Mimi-chan, please."

She could feel the tip of him nudging at her entrance, pressing against her, and she opened her legs a little wider, lifting the one that was resting on his hip.

Their skin was slick with moisture and perspiration because they'd been in the pool, because they were under the comforters, and they were hot. Nick found a slippery Sumire incredibly hot, and Sumire thought that a Nick who was shiny with sweat was just about the sexiest thing she'd ever seen.

"Oh god, Nick, Nick," she gasped as he rolled them so she rested on top of him.

"You ready for me, baby?"

Wordlessly, she nodded, and, although his instinct was to just push and fuck up into her as hard as he could, he was careful and gentle and pressed into her tightness as slowly as he could, just like last time. He felt her hand squeezing his bicep and used that as a gauge to measure how hard he should press.

Being inside Sumire felt like sliding into hot honey.

"Oh shit, oh fuck, Mimi-chan, you feel so fucking good inside," Nick gasped. "So fucking amazing, Jesus--" He gripped her hip, pressing with his fingers, hoping he wasn't bruising her tender flesh with his hand.

Sumire closed her eyes as he filled her for the second time that night, resting her head against his shoulder and turning her head from side to side at the sensations he evoked.

"I can feel all of you," she whispered. "All the way inside me."

She flexed, clenching on him, as tightly as she could, causing him to gasp.

"Whatever you just did, did you do it on purpose?" he gasped.

She nodded against his shoulder.

"Jesus H. Christ, can you do that again?"

She nodded and tightened down again, and Nick began pumping and thrusting inside her.

"Nick--Nick--Nick--" Sumire chanted in rhythm with their rocking motion as they faced each other in the futon.

He just clasped her to him, trying not to hold on too tight.

"I love you--I love you--I love you--" he whispered softly in counterpoint to her voice as she spoke his name.

They slept and made love most of the night, falling into exhausted, blissful sleep just as dawn broke over the beautiful mountains of southern Japan.