Pater Familias

I awoke looking directly at his hard, proud cock.

Shiva, I’d fallen asleep on his legs, my nose in his crotch like a dog. But, that was alright. He’d apparently fallen asleep with a handful of my hair. I attempted to rise and brought his arm up with me. He quickly woke and disentangled from me. “Apologies, pretty,” he murmured.

“S’okay,” I grunted, falling down beside him. He promptly rolled atop me, caging me with his arms and legs.

“My pretty little cherry blossom,” Hojo said in my ear, making me shiver. “She wants a villain with class, doesn’t she?”

Those eyes hovered inches from mine. I looked into their dark depths, amazed at his focus. He always gave completely to any project worthwhile, and he’d found me worthy. He’d found me worthy early in this game. I only now saw it.

“You definitely have class, Hojo,” I answered, reaching up. His facial stubble felt good and raspy under my fingers. Imagining it against my inner thighs made me shiver again.

“Touching me boldly,” he said in a low, wondering tone. “What did I do to merit it?”

“You let me play.” I ran a hand through his hair, relishing the slick softness and blue-black gleam. “No one’s ever just let me play.”

“Those idiots don’t deserve to even have you as a memory,” he vowed.

“They probably don’t remember much of me,” I guessed, feeling the slender and corded column of his throat.

“Oh, they remember you.” Hojo lowered his eyes to look at my lips.

I felt an electric jolt for his words and his actions. First of all, how did he know they remembered me? Secondly, he looked just seconds away from claiming my lips.

“A man could never forget you, Sakura,” he went on, calming my question. “You’ve got a magnificent brain inside an equally magnificent body. The way you fill out a lab coat makes me want to throw you down and fuck you silly.”

I lost my breath for a moment.

“Still, the way you fill a pair of jeans hits me the same way.” Hojo dipped his head. His lips trailed over mine in a brief, sweet and stinging kiss. “When we get tired of courtship rituals, I’m going to fuck you so hard you’ll taste me in the back of your throat.”

My heart slammed to a halt before giving a lurch and continuing.

“Do you know how it thrills me that you lay there, breathing like a frightened hare?” He bent to me, dragging his soft lips over my throat. “You know how to surrender like an expert, but, do you really mean it, my dear?”

I did know how to surrender, having plenty of practice. I’d come to like it, actually, but not when I felt a man undeserving of me. I volunteered to give up control, which made me powerful.

“For you, I mean it, Hojo,” I told him, whispering. “It isn’t hard to give you control. You know what you’re doing.”

“You have such confidence in me, Blossom.” Hojo rolled off, tugging his fallen pants back up to his slender hips. “I won’t disappoint you.”

Oh, I knew he wouldn’t. Of all things, he could never disappoint me.

“Now, pretty, we get up, get dressed and tend to our bellies.”

As if on cue, from behind him came a dreadful, kitty shriek. “Goodness,” Hojo exclaimed, turning and sweeping Ink into his arms. “Her Majesty is upset I’ve let breakfast and lunch slide by.” He held her close to his face. She swatted his long, straight nose. Smiling, he let her hang off his shoulder by the tail. “I’ll feed her now, since she’s about to start hunting me for prey.”

He disappeared into the next room, then I heard him in the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator, rattled pans and kept a constant litany of chatter to his little cat friend. The second I heard a can give under an opener, Ink began her ungodly shrieking again.

“What a mouth,” Hojo complained, but I could hear he liked her to talk. “Did you speak to your mother with that mouth?”

“Meeeeeoooooooooowwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooowwwwww!”

Laughing, I tended to my teeth and hair, brushing each with equal vigor.

“You don’t have to kill it, Ink. Liver Kitten Chow is quite dead.”

I joined them. It made my heart skip a beat to see Hojo being domestic, his visage stubbly and his hair charmingly askew. Rumpled and half naked, he was a beautiful sight. One of his long hands petted Ink while she ate. As usual, he let her sit on his countertop. My mother would have vapor-locked and died.

I nearly vapor-locked and died when Sephiroth dropped out of the ceiling right in front of me.

“Excuse me,” he said. “I came for powdered cocoa. Aerith is having a…” He paused, cocked his head to one side and considered something, maybe his words. “A bitch-fit,” he announced. “She wants chocolate-water.”

Hojo yawned. “Top cabinet, son,” he managed to say. “Hot cocoa sounds good. Leave me four spoonfuls.”

Sephiroth walked to the cabinet, pulled it open and began riffling. In seconds he had what he needed and vanished.

“I’ll have to speak to him about that,” Hojo said, washing his face in the sink. “I can see it startles you.”

“I don’t mind that aspect of it,” I admitted. “But, what if we were in here and…busy?”

“And here I imagined it would be in the bedroom.” Hojo grinned as he wiped his face. “Flexible, are you?”

What a double entendre.

“I’m very flexible.”

Our eyes met.

“I’ll see the truth of that,” Hojo said quietly.

“I want you to, eventually.”

“Mmm,” Hojo murmured, but his black eyes danced his amusement and something much darker.

*******************************************************************


He made a fruit dish and sliced a ham for our consumption. I noticed that while I never ate badly at Hojo’s apartment, I rarely ate anything hand made. I could hardly find fault with him if he couldn’t cook. I couldn’t cook, either. I burned water.

“Drink?” he asked, holding up a small bottle of Triple Filter Gold. I’d only had the Silver, and so I nodded yes, wondering why he had a sneaky expression. It relieved me to hear a new seal break on the bottle. Still, I acknowledged that if Hojo wanted to drug me, I’d never know it.

Oh, what a smooth drink. It had flakes of real gold in it.

Hojo, as always, didn’t pour much for himself. He capped the bottle and sat back, eyes intent upon mine. He really, really had beautiful eyes. I knew no one else with real, black eyes, except for his brother Syvas.

I’d really liked Syvas. He knew enough about plants that certain botany experts wouldn’t have wanted to try and show him up. He’d extensively studied his field, just like his brother. They were two men of great determination and intellect.

I should have taken one of his cats.

Ink sat in Hojo’s lap, dominating every inch of space. Like a caricature of a villain, Hojo drank slowly, smoked, and stared at me while stroking his feline roommate.

Completely out of the blue, I wondered if he could ever find peace and contentment away from a lab. I thought he could benefit from a vacation. He looked great, and his energy level seemed fairly good, but he did a distressing amount of coke. I’d never attempt to curtail his usage, naturally, for I didn’t appreciate people butting into my business, either.

I took another drink, feeling the weight of his eyes upon my lips.

Honestly, he made me feel naked. He hid his thoughts much, much better than other men, even better than his stony son, but I felt the vibration of his lust. Shiva, it made me thankful.

I’d done everything I could think of to gain his attention to my body, knowing it my greatest asset. For a long time he’d not reacted to my clothing or to my ploys to get in his personal space. I still didn’t know exactly which switch I’d pulled correctly to have him turn around and see I was throwing myself at him. Then, like a dam bursting, he’d opened up.

I hoped I was prettier than his ex. I found it hard to tell. She seemed taller than me, and willowy instead of curved.

I wondered if she would go back to work for Shin-Ra and if Hojo would be miserable because of it. He truly didn’t seem to want her, and I did believe that, but he wasn’t warm to their interaction at all. Surely it would piss him off to have her around.

Sipping the last of my spirits, I caught a gold flake on my tongue.

“Drink it,” Hojo ordered softly. “It’s bad fortune not to.”

I swallowed the flake, wondering why it had no taste. Surely metal should have a taste.

He still occupied his time petting his kitty and watching me. He hadn’t finished a quarter of his drink.

I’d never had a man who didn’t dominate every aspect of my life from sun up to sun down. Hojo had no interest in scuffling over minutiae. He would enforce a bit of shopping, apparently. He wouldn’t let me run away. I probably would never again put him on the opposite side of a door and dare him to come through it.

Really, the way he’d forced himself into my apartment told a lot about him. He had all the might to make a grand, explosive entrance. He could easily have splintered my door. But, he’d honored the purpose of it while disagreeing with its use. He’d shoved the knob through and broken the lock but not the barrier. And, he’d attempted to speak reason to me first.

Hojo poured me another drink, just half a glass. I accepted it, taking the ice from my first drink and alternating.

“Fresh ice?” he asked, ever the gracious host.

“I’ll get it, you have Ink in your lap,” I said, preparing to rise.

“That won’t be necessary, Blossom,” he replied. “How many cubes?”

“Two.” I watched him closely.

The freezer opened and an ice tray floated out. Hojo leaned back, took it, shook two cubes out, and sent it back with a flick of his finger. “Interesting trick, isn’t it?” he posed. “I only just learned I could do it yesterday.”

“Your son can do it, too, apparently.” Yes, it was a damned impressive trick. I’d love to be able to do such things. Still, more strength still sounded the most attractive thing. I’d probably take Syvas up on his offer of a strength potion.

“Yes, but Sephiroth was weaned on Jenova.” Hojo stirred his melting drink. Ink peered up to see what the noise was, and then jumped onto the table. Sauntering, she sat at the edge between us and began to bathe. Somehow it comforted me Hojo wasn’t one of those rabid germ-freaks and would let his kitty do as she pleased.

“Also, I have a limited success with telepathy. My ability seems to mainly exist for speaking privately with Sephiroth. I discovered yesterday that I could block him out, too.”

“Yesterday must have been a special day.”

Hojo’s eyes sparked. “Yesterday had its highlights, Blossom. The best part was going to bed with you.”

I smiled. Hojo didn’t know it, but he was the first man I’d relaxed with in bed. I’d slept with one eye open for so long, but I didn’t have to with him. Even if he decided not to honor my wish for slower sexual satisfaction, he would not hurt me. I knew it at my core.

“I work in the morning,” he said. “What will you do tomorrow?”

Well, since he’d effectively ruined my ability to lock my apartment door, I’d be here. I couldn’t take a chance that George, Tracy, Evan or Steve would find me. Those odd security guards seemed really intent on protecting me, but they weren’t Hojo.

Maybe Hojo would like it more if I asked and didn’t assume?

I looked at him. His secretive smile made me doubt his limited telepathy. “May I stay here?”

“I thought you’d never ask or admit to the preference,” he murmured. “You know by now you are welcome to never leave.”

I stopped breathing for a second. With Hojo, that could have been hospitality or a warning he never intended I leave.

Did he know what happened to the bulk of my fortune when I married? Did he know I’d run away from it time and time again because the simplest solution meant marrying a stranger? Not that he would ever marry me. He had a certain cosmopolitan experience and doubtless thought marriage outdated.

I finished my drink. I had a nice little buzz going now, but I didn’t intend to strengthen it. I tended to drink too much. Junon bloodlines.

“You’re carrying a lot of tension in your back, pretty,” Hojo commented lightly.

I loved his nicknames for me.

“You know I’m a chiropractor?”

I nodded. I knew all of his accreditations. He had an alphabet after his name.

“I’ll have a look at you, if you like,” he offered.

The idea both appealed and appalled. I’d love having his hands all over me. Still, having his hands all over me might prove more temptation than I could handle. I still didn’t want to go too fast. Yes, he’d left the pace entirely up to me, but I didn’t know if I could control myself.

“It might not be wise,” I finally answered.

Hojo smiled slightly. Again I felt like a tasty morsel viewed by a hungry man.

He had appetite.

“There’s a Shin-Ra mixer in the works at the end of the coming week,” he sad, changing the subject. “Did you know?”

“I had no idea.” Wow. A party. I hadn’t been to a party in ages.

“I would be honored if you would attend it with me.” Hojo slid me his glass.

I thrilled. Go as his date? Be seen as his? It was a dream come true. I could get a nice dress and a pair of wicked shoes. Maybe he’d dance with me. He had to be able to dance. His generation had style.

But I would have to be careful. My picture would go into the paper. My parents and ex’s could track me.

Suddenly, I felt angry I even had to consider it. Regardless of whether or not Hojo protected me, who were these people to decide what I did with my life? I would go with him, dress up and enjoy myself. If I ended up in the gossip columns, so be it. I’d go buy a gun and shoot dead the first man who tried to drag me away from my new life.

“I would love it, Hojo,” I told him quite honestly.

“Good.” A pleased light settled into his dark gaze. “I have people you’ll want to meet. There are representatives from your prospective employer, Bio-Tech. Garchae wants to make us a ‘green’ company.”

Oh, double wow. I’d get to meet my higher-ups before even entering the company.

“Sephiroth will take Aerith, naturally.” Hojo leaned back, looking up at his ceiling. “She’ll appreciate your presence, as she is nearly as high-profile as my son, and visibly pregnant. Her term will be all over the news.”

“You’re her physician?”

“She asked me and I agreed.” Hojo smiled.

“That makes you happy,” I pointed out.

“It does, Blossom. What I would have once taken is now freely given, and with love. I love my little daughter-in-law.”

I heard that love plainly in his tone, saw it in his relaxed body language.

“She saved me. I can put it no better than that. She also saved my son.” Hojo got up and cleared the table, still smiling.

I watched him putter around. His mood seemed infectious. Soon I had a smile and felt relaxed. We adjourned to the living room, picked up our books, and settled on the couch.

Too soon I felt sleep trying to claim me again. I fought it, desperate to spend some waking time actually awake.

Hojo’s hand appeared. He took my book and put it on the table, open to my place. His arm guided me to put my head in his lap. Gently, he put his hand over my eyes. “Don’t fight it,” he murmured. “The more sleep you get, the better you’ll feel.” So saying, he began to read to me.

I fell asleep to a tale of isotopes and neutrons.