“Hold still. Here comes the lift.”
Amery felt the tension in her arms and shoulders increase, gasping when she became airborne. The distinctive noise of a pulley echoed to her from both sides. Then her legs were raised simultaneously, and she was spread completely open until her knees were level with her hips.
The binding around her chest squeezed. The ropes on her legs pulled. Although her bu**ocks rested against a hard surface, the ropes held her in suspension.
Immediately, she squirmed, shifting her hips, and moved her shoulders, but all the movement did was allow the rope to dig deeper into her skin.
“Breathe. I’m here. Stay still. I won’t leave you.” His hands traveled the tops of her feet and the front of her shins, over her knees and her inner thighs, where he stuck two fingers to test the pressure of the ropes. Then his fingers followed the rope on her belly, stopping at her chest to twist her ni**les. Ronin fit his palm over her neck as his other hand twined in her hair, pulling her head back so he could ravage her mouth.
The friction and pressure from the ropes was a constant throb. Ronin’s kiss, packed with pride, gratitude, lust, and need turned the pain into pleasure.
Amery reveled in that moment, when Ronin’s satisfaction surrounded her, flowed over her as warm as a summer breeze.
“My beautiful Amery,” he breathed against her lips. “I need you to see yourself.”
Ronin slipped off the bandanna.
She blinked against the sudden light. She first noticed the chest harness crisscrossing above and below her br**sts, then the double wrap of rope around her rib cage, which changed into a thick section of braided rope snug against her belly. The tight binds on her thighs were attached to pulleys above her head. The object she was secured to by the ropes was a wooden X.
He was in front of her, stroking her cheek. “If I were to take a picture of you, I’d name it: Goddess—Bound Open.”
“Ronin.”
He lowered to his knees.
Without another word, he worshipped her with his mouth and hands until she cried out and the climax swamped her. Then he shed his clothes and f**ked her. Those rough and talented hands on her ass, his teeth on her ni**les, his body driving into hers with heat and passion.
After he was spent, he murmured, “A better title is: Goddess—Bound Open. Goddess Mine.”
Amery shook herself out of the memory and returned to the living room. Even the flashbacks of the times she’d been bound by that sexy man made her knees weak, made her body heat, made her want him. Although she’d enjoyed that intense encounter, she still hadn’t been convinced she could do a public demo. Her reluctance had fueled her fears, and those fears slipped in and distorted her dreams. During their weeks apart, she’d almost convinced herself she couldn’t be with Ronin because she couldn’t give him what he needed.
My, how things had changed. Maybe it made her needy, but she kind of liked that the infallible Ronin Black needed her right back.
“Morning, gorgeous.”
She spun around to see a bare-chested Ronin leaning against the wall. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard his approach. “Good morning. I’d ask how you’re feeling, but the pinched look on your face pretty much gives it away.”
The man didn’t blink, but leveled her with his tough sensei stare.
Undeterred by it, she said, “I read the discharge papers. You’re supposed to stay off of that knee, and you need to wear the brace all the time except during therapy.”
He shuffled forward. “That’s one doctor’s opinion. I read online that other doctors advocate the more you work a sprained limb, the quicker the recovery time.”
“I call bullshit on that. I know you weren’t booting up your computer and checking medical facts last night. You were passed out.”
“I’m curious as to why there’s a blanket and pillow on the couch.”
“Because that’s where I slept.”
His dark eyes pierced hers. “You were supposed to be in my bed,” he said with a dangerous edge to his voice.
“We were supposed to talk, and until that happens between us, there’s no chance anything else will.” That blank mask covered Ronin’s face, reminding Amery of her dream last night, and she suppressed a shudder.
“Fine. We’ll talk now.”
Ronin Black was back to being bossy and terse—big surprise.
When he eased himself onto the couch, she sat across from him.
“I don’t know where to start.”
Don’t fall for his helpless act. “From the beginning. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“About my family connections?”
She wouldn’t put up with him hedging or answering her questions with another question. “About your status as a billionaire.”
“I’m not a billionaire.”
Amery looked at him suspiciously. “So you’re not an heir to the Okada Food conglomerate in Japan?”
“I am, but I’m not.”
“Well, that cleared things up a f**k ton. Thank you.” She stood and started toward the elevator. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what? Give me a second to get my head on straight?”
She whirled around and faced him. “We were together for months prior to the breakup. So you’ve had plenty of time to devise a way to tell me, so it’s not like I’m asking for something you aren’t prepared for.”
He played the silent card.
“Look, you don’t need me here. You didn’t want me here in the first place, and I pushed my way in, so it’s best if I leave.”
Ronin lifted his head and looked at her. “Don’t go.”
“Give me a reason why I should stay.”
Very carefully, he pushed up from the couch and stepped into the path between her and the elevator. Curling his hand around the nape of her neck, he pulled her in, bringing her mouth to his for far too chaste a kiss. Then he rested his cheek to her temple. “Is that reason enough?”
“Ronin—”
“Look at me. I’m covered in sweat just from walking to the damn couch. Part of the reason I ignored medical advice and left the hospital when you weren’t there? I hate that you’re seeing me like this . . . like a f**king invalid. I’d rather take another beating than let you see me, even briefly, in a goddamn wheelchair.” He broke eye contact.
Amery grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. “Don’t. I get you’re injured. But you need to understand that I won’t let you use it as an excuse; nor will I stick around if you keep avoiding the issues between us.”