“Still think this is gonna come back on you, Sensei. But Merrick agreed—just this one time—and provided a camera that is encrypted. I’ll show you where the recorder is.” He took Ronin to the side and pointed to a chair in the front row marked off as reserved. “There.”
“I don’t see it.”
“That’s the point.” Knox pulled a small fob out of his pocket. “The recording is going and has a limit of two hours. Push the yellow button when you’re ready to change the lighting. I’m bringing Amery in now.”
Ronin stretched out his muscles, rolling his shoulders and bending forward and sideways. He performed a couple of jumping frogs as the lights dimmed. Closing his eyes, he inhaled. On the exhale, he opened his eyes and walked onto the stage. He heard the murmurs of the crowd, but their faces were a blur in the darkness.
When he saw Amery on her knees on the mat, her head bowed, wearing a kimono, his body stirred, his heart leaped, and his head swam with one thought: That beautiful woman is mine.
The bright stage lights came up, and the audience faded away; it was just the two of them, ready to get tangled up together. He studied her. The overhead lights put an extra sheen on her red-gold hair. Her chest heaved as she breathed much too quickly. The tight clasp of her fingers resting on her lap revealed her nervousness—but only to him.
He circled her twice before softly commanding, “Stand.”
Amery pushed to her feet.
He moved in behind her and suddenly wrapped his arm around her chest above her br**sts, pulling her hard against his body. He whispered, “Ready?”
She nodded, angling her head against his.
Ronin stepped back and peeled the kimono away, revealing her body in a flesh-colored leotard, which enhanced her curves and gave the appearance of complete nakedness.
He draped the kimono over the back of the chair. Then he removed his gi top, placing it over her clothing, and he reached for the robe tie.
Amery trembled when he trailed his fingertips over the slope of her shoulder. He knew her reaction wasn’t from fear but from his erotic touch.
After he secured the blindfold at the back of her head beneath her hair, he followed the line of white satin beneath her eye and across her face. He murmured, “Arms loose at your sides. Feet slightly apart. In a yoga position rather than a defensive position.”
She inched her toes out, creating a small gap between her legs.
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck—his signal the binding would begin.
The rope was smoother than he usually used. He placed the midpoint of the rope at the base of her neck and pulled the two lengths forward so they draped across her collarbone. He tied an overhand knot at the V of her cle**age and continued down her body, placing a new knot every four inches.
As much as he liked that the rope wouldn’t chafe her skin, Ronin missed the feel of her flesh beneath his fingertips. Once he passed the apex of her thighs, he spent extra time letting his knuckles rub on her inner legs as he tied knots.
The heat and scent of her body soothed him, incited him.
When he reached her anklebones, he shifted behind her, resting on his haunches as he created knots running up the back of her body that mimicked the knots on the front. As soon as he reached the center point at the base of Amery’s neck, he passed the two rope ends through, then tied them together before separating the sections and pulling each line against the swells of her br**sts above her armpits.
Once again Ronin moved in front of her, holding the two ropes in his left hand. Before he started on the next step, he studied her face and her reactions. She’d slowed her breathing, yet the pulse point in her throat throbbed beneath his thumb. Her upper teeth were digging into her lower lip. So sexy.
He couldn’t resist rubbing his mouth over hers, just a brush of lips and a sweep of his breath. “You are doing great, baby.” The whispered words sounded as loud to him as a shout, since he rarely spoke during a public scene, but the only person he cared to hear them offered him a soft sigh of gratitude.
Ronin nuzzled her temple as he tucked the rope ends through the space between the first and second knot. He pulled hard, creating a diamond shape. He slipped his fingers across the curve of her side and around back, tucking the rope ends once again through between the first and second knots in the rope against her spine. Another tug and he checked to made sure he hadn’t cinched it too tightly before he expanded the diamond shape and returned both sections of rope to the front.
As he added more rope, the diamond shapes ran in a straight line down her body. The connecting sections kept the smooth, clean look of a tortoiseshell. He added more force so she could feel the impression of the ropes digging deeper into her skin.
With her rounded hips and thighs, the narrow line of her knees and calves made her a gorgeous sight. Ronin knew he’d bind her wrists in a gauntlet from behind her so everyone could see how exquisite she looked in the front.
After he secured the final diamond shape between her shins, he left the remaining rope pooled on the floor and rolled to his feet. Letting his hands roam over the bindings and her body, ever so slowly, he enjoyed the tactile experience of the ropes beneath his palms and feeling the heat from her skin.
He snagged another bundle of rope and reached up to slide the O-ring over Amery’s position. Holding the folded end of the rope in his teeth, he circled each of her wrists and held them together above her head with her palms touching. As soon as she held the pose on her own, he started to craft the gauntlet. Threading and wrapping the rope from her wrists to her forearms, leaving enough room between the columns to attach the suspending section of rope.
Ronin hooked her to the O-ring before he stepped back to scrutinize his handiwork.
Gorgeous. Now he needed to wrap her feet and the binding would be complete.
But before he reached that final stage, Ronin followed the sensuous arc of her arms down to her shoulders. He smoothed her hair and fanned it out across her upper back, stopping for a second to bury his face in the softness and sweetness. To ground himself in the knowledge the woman he loved was putting herself out there for him—he would celebrate that.
He stepped back and pulled the rigging, lifting Amery off the floor about a foot. He tied her off into a stable hanging position and snatched another bundle of rope. He knelt, making a loop around her big toe. Then he proceeded to wrap the rope up her foot. When he reached the leftover ends from the body binding, he quickly looped them around her shins to her ankles.
A hard shudder rolled through her, and he glanced up.