“No. I want your hands on me, Amery. Your scratches on my back. Your nail marks on my ass. Your teeth on my throat.” Ronin kissed a line down to her nipple. That warm, firmly sucking mouth latched on to the tip, and he didn’t miss a beat as he continued to hammer into her.
Amery hooked her heels on the inside of his thighs, using his body motion as leverage to grind her clit against him. She twisted her fingers into his damp hair, slipping her other hand between them to feel that sexy flexor muscle tightening as he f**ked her.
Ronin slowed down a little, letting his body abrade the magical spot on hers longer on every stroke. So in tune with what she needed.
She rubbed her lips across the shell of his ear. “I missed you.”
“I never want to be without you again.”
Her emotions were on overdrive because she had that urge to cry again.
His rapid breath drifted across his neck. “Baby, I am not going to last long.”
“Do that hip twist thing, and I’ll be right there with you.”
And he did.
One second she was clinging to him as he bucked hard and poured himself into her; the next, her pu**y clamped down on his shaft. Every pulse in her clit and tightening pull of her soft tissues reverberated through her body like distortion bouncing off feedback from a microphone. When the throbbing stopped, her hearing was muffled as if she’d been at a loud concert.
Ronin found her mouth and kissed her with the familiar sweetness, fire, and satisfaction she’d missed.
Afterward, when they were lying side by side on the mat, Amery asked, “How’s your knee?”
“Ready for round two.”
She slid her hand down his belly and cupped his softening cock. “Yeah?”
“Keep it up and we won’t make it to the bedroom.”
She propped herself up on her elbow and started to peel off the wax droplets.
“Leave them.”
“We don’t need wax in the sheets. Especially since they’re what? Two thousand thread count?”
“Point taken.”
She remembered when he’d removed the wax he’d left a soft kiss on each spot. So she did the same, using her mouth and the gentle rub of her fingers.
By the time Amery finished, Ronin was ready for round two.
They didn’t make it to the bedroom.
And the second time wasn’t slow and sweet either.
• • •
AFTER they ate a light supper and were lazing around, talking, touching and just existing in the same space, Amery knew Ronin needed to rest. He kept yawning, and every time he shifted positions, he made a pain-filled huffing noise.
She crawled into the big bed and watched him flexing his leg. “You put too much pressure on your knee when you f**ked me from behind in the practice room.”
“I’ll take the twinge of pain if I can be naked with you. Besides, it’s sore no matter what I do—or don’t do.” He seemed annoyed with himself after that admission and reached out to touch her cheek. “And I’ve had a few hours’ recovery time, keeping it elevated, thanks to you.”
Amery kissed his fingertips. “Is that your way of telling me you’re up for a third round?”
“While hard and fast always appeals to me . . .” Ronin followed the V of her pajama top from the edge of her collarbone to the swell of her cle**age. “I haven’t put my hands on you with slow deliberation for seven weeks.”
“You are a menace with those hands.”
He pressed kisses across her collarbone, stopping to run his tongue in the dip between her neck and shoulder as his rough-skinned hand caressed her belly. “I missed this. All the different ways I can worship you.”
When she twisted her fingers in his hair and tried to pull him away, he continued his maddeningly erotic exploration of the sensitive skin on the side of her breast.
“You know what I do with hands that get in my way,” he warned, rubbing his soft lips across the same spot.
“Tie them up.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t like that.”
“I do like it. It’s just . . .”
Ronin raised his head, stopping his delicious torture. “It’s just what?”
“I’m really sore from earlier.” She tried to say it without blushing but didn’t quite manage it.
“So touching you automatically leads to f**king you?”
“It always has in the past. Not that I’m complaining,” she added quickly.
“Sounds to me like you are.” Ronin pushed upright. His eyes were dark with that you’re-in-for-it now look. “It’s up to me to prove you wrong. Hands above your head.”
“I didn’t mean . . .”
He got nose to nose with her. “I won’t repeat myself.”
Shit. Amery raised her arms and grabbed on to the headboard.
Ronin reached into the nightstand and pulled out a length of rope.
“You keep rope in here?”
“Baby, I keep rope everywhere. I never know when it’ll come in handy.”
She watched with total fascination as he folded the rope. Then he straddled her chest, and within thirty seconds, he had her wrists bound and secured to the headboard. “What was that?”
“Hojojutsu quick bind.” Those wonderfully callused hands skated down her arms from below the wrist binding to her shoulders. “That’s the only thing that’ll be quick about this. One of my greatest pleasures is getting to put my hands on you whenever I want.” He circled her nipple with the tip of his finger. “Not just the obvious parts.”
Her stomach performed a little flip when he brushed a velvety-soft kiss on the edge of her jaw.
“And using my mouth to taste and tease is another pleasure.”
His warm breath and deep voice sent tingles down the left side of her body.
“You’ve voiced your concerns about establishing intimacy outside of sex.” He nuzzled beneath her chin until she arched her neck, giving him the section of skin he wanted. “Let me establish it right now. I will touch you, taste you, tease you—but I will not f**k you. This isn’t about seeing how hard I can make you come. It’s about you understanding how much I enjoy the journey of getting you there.”
Amery gave herself over to him.
His hands and mouth were in constant motion. Sweet, powerful words were whispered against her skin. He stayed true to his word; no part of her body went unattended. When he reached her sex, he touched, licked, nuzzled, and kissed with no more reverence than he’d given the flare of her hips and the curve of her outer thighs.