Under the Skin (2 page)

Nagoya passed by his window in a sleety, gray-blue blur, and Padraic could make out peaked roofs interspersed with high skyscrapers. The car ran like a cloud over the road, but it couldn't block out the roar of the traffic. Padraic remembered belatedly that Nagoya was one of Japan's busiest cities.

In contrast to the more modern structures that surrounded it, the Inoue Corporation buildings were unrepentant throwbacks, with thick, whitewashed walls and tall roofs tiled in green and trimmed with red. The gate was completely modern, though, and as the reinforced steel clanged shut behind him, Padraic shuddered a little.

"Matsumoto Castle, right?” Jenner said suddenly, snapping his fingers. “That's what the design is copied off of."

The driver glanced back at them.

"The design is inspired from the style of Matsumoto Castle."

"The Inoue like to live it up, I guess,” Jenner said, grinning at Padraic. “These castles, they were kinda banned when feudalism was. Anyone who puts one up after something like that is—"

"Oh-look-the-gate-is-opening,” Padraic said frantically. He tried to make a cut-off gesture at Jenner; he wasn't sure what insulting his host's architecture was going to do, but he was fairly sure that everything they said was going to go right from the car's built-in recording device to whoever handled that sort of thing.

"What are you flailing at?” asked Jenner, but they were mercifully interrupted by the door opening for him.

Getting into the facility was more straightforward than Padraic had imagined. Security passes were made up for them in under five minutes, including a fingerprint and a DNA analysis from a cheek swab. It would have taken even less time if the machine had been up. The security guard apologized profusely and left Padraic and Jenner to their own devices in a plain white room while she ran to fetch the passes from another machine.

"This is going fairly quickly,” Padraic said hopefully.

"Not really,” said Jenner, perched on the chair next to him. “They could honestly just take the DNA, figure out who we are, and let us in or shoot us, depending on whether we are who we say we are. I figure this ‘machine is down’ stuff is just to be polite."

"Wait, what?"

"Not like we flashed ID to the driver or anything,” said Jenner, absently looking around the room. “They just want to make really, really sure that you're Padraic Dahl and I'm William Overfit. Arch must have sent over our DNA in advance."

"William Overfit?"

"Yup."

Padraic had no idea how Arch would have gotten hold of a DNA sample from him, and made a firm note to ask his cousin about it when he was back in the States.

The door opened and they were handed their passes. Jenner's was indeed made out to “William J. Overfit,” and Padraic resolved to keep things on a need-to-know basis—he himself did not need to know unless it was vitally important.

The driver appeared again, and this time Padraic managed a bow that at least didn't tip him over. For his part, the driver smiled encouragingly and led them into the Inoue Corporation.

Padraic was a little surprised when the small room that he was taken to was identical to any small conference room he might have seen back in Milwaukee.

"My apologies,” the driver said. “It seems that the men who are going to be attending your presentation are a bit late."

"Oh, that's no problem at all,” said Padraic vaguely. “I mean, it was all pretty short notice and..."

"It's unforgivable,” said the driver, making Padraic blink at his vehemence. Padraic belatedly remembered someone telling him that apologies were customary in Japan, but this seemed like something more than politeness.

"No, really, it's not a big deal,” he hazarded. “I can wait.” The look that the driver gave him was distinctly unfriendly, making Padraic take a step back.

"Please think better of yourself,” the other man said, and something about the way that he said it made Padraic take a closer look at him.

The driver looked like he was about twenty, making him a few years younger than Padraic himself. He easily matched Padraic's five feet, eight inches of height. Padraic found himself staring into black eyes that met his own sharply and with more than a touch of aggression. He looked like nothing so much as a hunting cat on the scent, muscles wound a notch too tight and ready to pounce.

For some reason, Padraic found that his mouth was dry. He was certain that he couldn't have made a sensible reply if someone put a gun to his head.

"Incoming,” said Jenner, saving the day as far as Padraic was concerned.

The door opened and two older men walked in. The driver bowed deeply to them, and Padraic matched him without embarrassing himself, at least.

"Go ahead and give your presentation,” the driver said quietly. “I'll translate for you."

"Um, oh, well, good afternoon, er, evening maybe? I'm not sure anymore...” Padraic tried to smile at his audience, who were sitting rigidly at attention in their chairs.

"My name is Padraic Dahl, and I'm the designer and developer for this method of data storage and retrieval. I hope you'll find it, um, helpful and something that your company will be interested in..."

If it was one thing that Padraic could do, it was talk about his tech, and he could feel himself relaxing a little. The two men still wouldn't make eye contact with him, but they were nodding along encouragingly enough. Occasionally, his driver-cum-translator would make a slight gesture, letting Padraic know that he needed to slow down, but his presentation went quite smoothly.

"... and that's about it. Do you gentlemen have any questions?"

The men stood up, almost in unison, and bowed slightly to Padraic before turning toward the door. The door clicked behind them with a decisive snap, and the driver gazed after them, his mouth tight.

"I think that went well,” Padraic said hopefully. “I mean, they didn't ask any questions, but maybe—"

"Severely criticize those entirely in hell” was what Padraic's translation program insisted the driver said.

"Umm."

"Those goddamned, motherfucking sons of bitches,” the driver said, switching to English. He dropped into one of the chairs, rumpling his hair in his hands.

"Well, um..."

The driver looked up him sharply.

"You're brilliant.” It was fascinating how the man could make “brilliant” sound like “You had frenzied and violent sex with my mother."

"Thank you?"

"You are completely fucking brilliant, and those assholes on the top floor decide before you even get here that they are going to screw themselves over by ignoring you."

"Ignoring me?"

Jenner snickered, making Padraic startle. He had almost forgotten that his bodyguard was in the room.

"Totally. Didn't you notice, Padraic? They were practically snoring.” Jenner turned to the still-seated driver. “Oi, Inoue, if they weren't going to give us a fair shake, why ask us all the way out here?"

"Inoue?"

Padraic blinked and looked at their driver again, slowly realizing that he had missed something important.

"Oh, they're going to listen; don't worry about that.” Inoue straightened up in his chair, a stubborn set to his shoulders.

"I'll cram your tech down their throats and make them choke on it."

He glanced up at Padraic.

"Is there a reason that you're looking at me like that?"

"Your name is Inoue, like the company?"

"Exactly like the company."

Jenner coughed. “In case you weren't listening the first time, Padraic, this is Inoue Minoru-san—I'm guessing he's the son of the company's CEO."

Padraic could feel a hot blush come to his face, and he quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry,” he mumbled. “I honestly thought you were—” He fumbled for something that wouldn't make him sound like a complete moron, and was spared by Minoru's quick laugh.

"You thought I was completely irrelevant. Not to worry, it is a belief that is shared by many in this company.” He sighed and stood up.

"You're going to be here for a week. We'll have another chance tomorrow. For now, I'll show you to your room, and you can rest.” He looked Padraic up and down.

Padraic was suddenly torn. On one hand, he wanted to drop his eyes because he wasn't used to someone staring that directly at him. On the other hand, well, he simply didn't want to stop looking at Minoru. There was a quality about the young man that made Padraic want reach out and touch, then run and hide.

Stupid, stupid
, he thought numbly. What kind of prey animal didn't know how to run from something dangerous?

The answer was whatever he was, and Padraic found himself staring at a long, faint scar that ran from the corner of Minoru's lower lip to his chin.

There was something almost shockingly sexy about Minoru's scar and suddenly, with a sinking sensation in his stomach, Padraic realized that he wanted to kiss Minoru very badly.

"It's a shame that you're so pretty,” Minoru said bluntly.

At first Padraic thought he had misheard, but at Jenner's laugh, he realized that he most certainly hadn't.

"I—"

"They might have taken a more mature-looking man more seriously.” Minoru shook his head. “I suppose it can't be helped."

"So was he being pointedly rude, or was he hitting on me?” It was true that something about Minoru made Padraic sit up and take notice. Hell, that was being kind. Something about Minoru made Padraic want to roll over and beg. There was a certainty and decisiveness about Minoru's movements that was completely absent from his own awkwardness, and the thought of what Minoru might look like when he was engaged in more intimate activities sent a shiver up Padraic's spine.

He realized wryly that it was men like Minoru who had always given him problems. They all had a confidence that bordered on arrogance, and an understanding of the world that Padraic suspected he lacked. Arch had it, and the last few men he had been with had had it. That quality had gotten him into trouble in the past, and he realized that consciously staying away from such men had led to his current long dry spell.

Jenner cocked his head at Padraic's plaintive question.

"Was that an invitation to speculate, or are you just thinking out loud?"

"The first one."

The suite they were staying in was actually a part of the Inoue Corporation's compound, and Padraic had discovered the alcohol that was kept discreetly at the back of the refrigerator. He was not regularly a drinker, but it had seemed like a good idea today, and at the very least, it had given him something to do while Jenner swept the room for bugs.

"Honestly? I don't know if there was a difference for that guy."

"Oh? Please continue."Padraic tried to gesture magnanimously but banged his hand hard into the back of the couch instead.

"You're an incidental,” Jenner said bluntly, running his hands over the wooden trim in the room. He smiled suddenly, and there was a short blue spark that arced from his fingertips to the wood.

Padraic frowned. “You've used that word before."

"Mm. The more you're able to plan, the more you have to take into account what's important and what you're going to leave by the wayside if it comes to an all-out explosion. So for Inoue-san, you've got to figure that his number-one priority is going to be your tech, and that somewhere down near, oh, let's say twenty-six or twenty-seven or so, is the fact that you get his dick hard."

Padraic blushed and looked away. The mention of Minoru's dick made him shiver a little, and he had a moment to reflect on how long it had been since he had had anything more intimate than a brief and furtive one-night stand. He supposed he should have been irritated, if not downright alarmed, by Jenner's assessment of his status with the man, but it was oddly comforting. At least he had some value to Minoru; at least he had some right to talk to him.

"Thank you, that was... completely without tact."

"Trust me, they really, really do not pay me for tact.” Jenner grinned and got to his feet. “So all of this slumber party stuff is nice, but unless we're going to, I dunno, get out Popsicles and practice blowjobs on them, you should turn in. I'm going to put down some basic security for the place."

Padraic got to his feet and gave Jenner a look.

"So what kind of slumber parties have you been to?"

Jenner just shrugged and smiled, and Padraic turned toward his room.

"If only Minoru weren't so hot,” he found himself muttering. At Jenner's snicker, he reddened again and shut the door behind him.

The fact that he fell asleep almost immediately surprised him. The fact that he dreamed of Minoru surprised him even more. The dream was a dark and murky thing, with hands that grasped at him and plucked his clothing. He was on the edge of panic, and suddenly he found himself firmly caught by the Inoue heir, one strong hand gripping his wrist and pulling him back.

"I can't,” he tried to say. For some reason, he gestured at his head and heart, to the neural net and the interface over his breastbone. “I can't, they'll..."

"It doesn't matter,” Minoru said, running a hand that felt all too real up his side. “It doesn't matter to me at all."

Minoru's hand brushed Padraic's away from the jacks, touching them briefly before sliding lower. Somehow, Padraic's clothes had fallen away, though Minoru remained perfectly dressed in that sharp suit. Minoru's bare hand fondled him briefly between the legs, stroking Padraic's cock twice before reaching down to cup his balls. Padraic remained as still as he could, as silent as he could, but then Minoru stepped closer, wrapping his slender fingers tightly around Padraic's cock.

"It's all right,” Minoru said softly. “Let me take of this, yes?” Padraic meant to make a reply, but then Minoru's hand started to stroke his erect flesh, ignoring Padraic's startled moan to pick up a rhythm as steady as a heartbeat...

Padraic awoke, certain he could hear an echo fading in the air. He listened for a moment and heard only his own light breathing.

With a sigh, Padraic lay back down and turned over, trying to get back to sleep. It had been a sexy dream, but it wasn't the distinct arousal that made him sorry he had awakened too quickly. In the darkness, his hand slid up to the jacks in his chest, stroking lightly.