Unwound

“Got the fever now?” he whispered in her ear.

“Just for you.” Amery kissed him. “Because you are worth fighting for.” She whispered, “Aishiteru wa.”

His eyes softened, turning that beautiful liquid gold. “Baby.”

They danced in silence for a while, just holding each other.

Then Ronin said, “Were you high on victory when you threw down the gauntlet about doing a rope demo at the club?”

“Maybe. She pissed me off. I’ve been mad at her since this morning when I heard what she said to you last night. And her look of shock when I informed her she was wrong? Totally worth it.”

Ronin stopped dancing. “What won’t be worth it? Your look of shock in the club when I’m binding you in front of a crowd. Letting her push you into doing something that scares you gives her power.”

“No, I took the power. I talked to Shiori about my concerns about a public binding.”

At first it looked like he might protest about her choice of confidante, but he said, “I’m glad you talked to someone.”

“Shiori also said depending on the type of technique, maybe I wouldn’t have to be naked.”

He gave her that patient Sensei stare.

“Aren’t demos more about the completed rope configuration instead of the individual knot techniques?” She swallowed hard at the coolness in his eyes. “In a few of the books you had me look at, the rope models were partially clothed. The clothing even adds to the rope configuration.”

“But you are serious about letting me bind you at the club?”

Amery inhaled and exhaled before she spoke. “I’m willing to take it situation by situation. I don’t want to lose you, Ronin. And I meant what I said to Naomi. I want to be your only rope model. Giving people a glimpse of the passion between us, the sensuality of how you tie me . . . maybe that’s not a bad thing to show off, since I know you respect the intimacy between us.”

His mouth crashed down on hers hard. The blistering kiss set every nerve receptor in her body into overdrive. “Need you.” He barely brushed his lips over hers. “Come home with me.”

“Yes.”

“I may f**k you in my car just to take the edge off.”

Amery smiled against his lips.

“You like that idea.”

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to f**k in a limo, and your sister has one parked outside. What do you say we ask if we can borrow it?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“AMERY is really letting you bind her at the club?” Knox asked.

“Yes.” Ronin stared out the window at the falling snow. The sky remained a murky gray even at two in the afternoon. An abrupt temperature change always wreaked havoc in the dojo—put the kids on edge, made them energetic and sometimes careless. Thankfully his instructors were clued in enough to pay attention to those types of changes so he didn’t have to warn them about his extra safety concerns.

“Do you know which binding you’re demonstrating?”

“I know what style and components I’ll use, but I’m still working out specifics.” Specifically why Amery insisted she’d wear a traditional kimono or a bodysuit and not be bound naked.

You let your student dictate the rules to the master, pu**ycat?

He shook his head, trying to exorcise Naomi’s phantom voice. The thought of anyone but him seeing Amery’s bound beauty, the glow of her skin, the serenity on her face when she was at his mercy, the constriction of her ni**les and ropes framing the secret heart of her, didn’t bring him a sense of pride but a fierceness to protect it. He’d never felt that way. And he sure as f**k didn’t know what to do about it.

So the irony was, now that Amery had initiated a demo night at the club, he was the one feeling unsure about going forward with it. But there was no way to stop it.

“Ronin?” Knox said behind him.

He turned. “Sorry. Lost in thought. What did you say?”

“Naomi has always f**ked you up. I wanted to throw a freakin’ party when you said you were done with that psychotic bitch. I never trusted her. I hated the way she’d burrowed herself into your life, with her controlling, needy bullshit.”

Ronin studied Knox.

“What?”

“Is there a reason you didn’t mention any of this to me when I was with her?”

Knox scrubbed his hand over his face. “Truth? You’d just hired me. I needed the job—hell, it was my dream job—and at that time we weren’t friends. You were too f**king wrapped up in her to have any friends. And what would you have done if I’d said the two of you were in a dysfunctional relationship and the only way it’d end was badly? You would’ve canned my ass. After you found out how your grandfather had manipulated you, I was the only guy left standing in the dojo. It was only after you handed Naomi her walking papers that you and I established a friendship outside of boss and employee. Deacon gives me shit for saying stuff like this, but you guys are my brothers. I don’t hesitate to speak my mind now. But we both know if I would’ve confronted you about the f**ked-up situation between you and Naomi years ago, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Ronin exhaled slowly. Why had he geared up to level Knox with a verbal smackdown? Because he hated to admit that Knox was right? He needed Knox in his life, not only as his right-hand man in business, but without Knox’s friendship he’d be on a different path—a destructive path. “You’re right. That pisses me off.”