Bound: The Mastered Series (16 page)

“Of which you currently own what? Twenty percent?”

Pettigrew grinned. “Closer to thirty now.”

“Any pies you don’t have your finger in, TP?”

“I steer clear of political soup. Since the bastards won’t let me smoke in here no matter how much green I dump in the coffers, I was headed outside. Walk with me. We can discuss that family business issue you called me about.”

Family business?

“I’d be happy to.” Ronin nudged Amery forward. “I’ll introduce my date before I leave her to her own devices. Amery Hardwick, Thaddeus Pettigrew.”

Amery offered her hand. “A pleasure, Mr. Pettigrew.”

“It certainly is.” Pettigrew winked at her. “I won’t keep your man long.”

Ronin matched his pace to the lumbering Pettigrew and they exited out a side door.

Amery marched to the bar and ordered a drink. Twenty minutes passed with no sign of Ronin.

Someone moved in behind her and she turned, hoping to see her date, but Tyler invaded her space.

“Dance with me.”

She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Where’s Chantal?”

“Who knows? You’ve been standing here by yourself for too long and so have I. The music is playing. Let’s dance.”

Amery’s gaze darted around the room. No sign of Ronin. And to be honest . . . it annoyed her she’d been cooling her heels so long. “Fine. One song.”

A rock power ballad came on. Tyler settled his hands above her ass. “Huh-uh,” she said. “No junior high slow-dancing.” She held up her hand in waltz formation.

He clasped her palm in his. “Did we ever dance like this when we were together?”

“I don’t remember. Why?”

“It’s nice. Better than the mosh pit at Theta Tau.”

“I wouldn’t know. I avoided that mass of writhing bodies back then.”

“But now? If you had the chance to do it again?

“I’d try it.”

“You’ve become the girl who’ll try anything once, huh?”

Amery shrugged.

“Still a little coy, but I don’t buy it because I can see how much you’ve changed.” He twirled them backward. “So, out of curiosity . . . why did you bail from the apartment complex after things ended between us? You just vanished and I didn’t know how to get in touch with you. I wondered if you were okay.”

Bullshit. She’d just changed apartments, not jobs. “I left after having enough of living in Tyler Pessac’s love hotel.” She cocked her head and studied him. “Did Chantal ever find out about Brittney? Did either of them know about Lorena? Or was the fact that their apartments were on different floors enough to keep them from seeing you sneak out of the others’ places?”

Tyler smirked. “See, that’s where everything gets blown out of proportion. Lorena was just one of those things. Brittney was a flash in the pan. I’m really sorry that I didn’t come clean with you about Chantal. There were better ways for you to find out—”

“Than letting myself into your apartment and witnessing Chantal bent over your couch as you fucked her? Yeah, you’re probably right. An e-card or a text would’ve worked better as a breakup instead of the live sex show.”

That took him aback. “You never used to talk like that.”

“Wrong. I think you had some image in your head of me that’s patently untrue. You never really saw me.”

“I was young and cocky. Self-absorbed. People change.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to point out that little had changed with him.

“Anyway, it’s nice to see you’ve gotten out of the shell I could never crack.”

That’s because ham-handed you didn’t have the right tool.

“Although I’ll admit I didn’t expect to see you at a ten-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner.”

Her head snapped up. “The pair of tickets for tonight’s dinner was twenty thousand dollars?”

“You didn’t know that? Black didn’t brag how much money he was dropping on this?”

“Ronin doesn’t brag.”
He doesn’t have to
went unsaid.

“Right. He’s pure of thought, deed, and motive.” Tyler spun them deeper into the dancers. “He’d like everyone to believe that. But the truth is he’s a dangerous, violent man.”

She shrugged. “Comes with the territory of living in the world of martial arts.”

Tyler’s eyes searched hers. “That’s not what I was talking about. He’s not what he appears to be, Amery.”

“Don’t pretend you know him. You don’t.”

“And you do?”

Sometimes. Other times he was as much a stranger as when they’d first met. But she wouldn’t give Tyler the satisfaction of admitting that. “Yes, I do.”

“Knowing him and him knowing you are two different things. Trust me. Break it off while you can.”

“Come on, Tyler. That’s a little vague. If you’ve got the low-down dirty on him, tell me.” Of course Tyler didn’t recognize her sarcasm.

“There’ve been rumors that he’s not who he says he is. Rumors that he hasn’t completely distanced himself from his violent past that financed his lifestyle and his dojo.”

Ronin had told her his fighting skills earned the money needed to buy the building he owned, but she wasn’t sure if that was common knowledge. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Denver is a small community in the realm of sports. Ronin is well respected, but he’s feared too. Don’t you wonder why? Don’t you wonder how he’s able to afford to run with major players like Thaddeus Pettigrew and Max Stanislovsky? His dojo is successful, but not to that extent.”

“I wonder why you’re so concerned about what kind of man Ronin is, and questioning his financial background, and listing who his friends are. Are you jealous?”

“No. I’m just worried about you. You’re in over your head with him. You didn’t see the self-satisfied looks he shot everyone who looked at you, but I did. He gets his kicks forcing you to do what he wants, when he wants, where he wants.”

Amery looked Tyler square in the eye, despite her suspicion that he knew what’d gone on beneath the table during dessert. “No one forces me to do anything anymore.”

Tyler stopped dancing. “Your blasé attitude is freaking me out. This is not you, Amery. What happened to the sweet, fun, shy girl from North Dakota that I loved?”

Her back snapped straight. “She grew up and shed that skin after the man she thought
she
loved made fun of her for retaining those embarrassing small-town traits. Now you’re claiming I should still be naive and clingy because that’s the version of me you loved? Bullshit. Need I point out that you couldn’t wait to get the hell away from me when I was the sweet, fun, and shy gal? You don’t need to worry for her, because she no longer exists. I know what I want and I ask for it because I deserve it. So back off. You don’t know me now, Tyler. You never really did.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it. But I have to ask, what do your folks think of these changes in you? Do they approve of you being involved with a guy like Ronin?”

“I don’t care. They’re not in my life. It only matters that I’m happy with the changes.”

“But are you making all these changes for him?”

“That’s an insulting insinuation.”

He grabbed her biceps and hauled her closer. “Listen to me. You may think you’re tough because you live in a city now rather than a small town, but you don’t have the experience to deal with a man like Ronin Black. Very few people do. He’ll chew you up and spit you out.”

Slightly alarmed by his vehemence, she said, “Tyler—”

“Let. Her. Go.” A pause.
“Now.”

Ronin.

Tyler immediately retreated.

“Never put your hands on her like that again. It would end very badly for you. Am I clear?”

If Ronin’s tone were a weapon, Tyler would be lying in bloody chunks on the floor.

Tyler raised his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry. We have a history and it was easy to slip into those old roles.” He shot Amery a quick smile. “Great to see you, Amery. If you ever need to talk . . . now you know where to reach me.” He spun on his heel and left the dance floor.

Then Amery was wrapped in Ronin’s arms. She clutched his back and held on tight.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. He’s just a blowhard who hasn’t changed, except he’s become even more of an asshole.”

“Why did you dance with him?”

“He asked me to.”

His body stiffened. “That’s it? That’s the only reason?”

“Do you have any idea how long you were gone? I was just supposed to cool my heels until you returned? I’ve already done that once tonight, Ronin. I was bored and he was here.”

He made that displeased noise.

“Besides, I was involved with Tyler for a few years. It’s not like he was a strange guy hitting on me.”

“I would’ve preferred a stranger hitting on you to him.”

Amery tried to look at Ronin, but he kept the side of his face pressed into hers, holding her in place. “Why?”

“A stranger hasn’t seen you naked. Hasn’t touched you. Hasn’t fucked you. Tyler has. Goddammit, he had you for three years. The realization that he’d screwed up by letting you go was written all over his face tonight.”

Ronin had read that wrong. Tyler didn’t want to be with her; he just didn’t want her to be with anyone else. “It doesn’t matter because I’m not with him. I’m with you.”

His thumb swept over the pulse point in her throat. He repeated the motion and it felt as erotic as when he’d touched her clit. His scent, his touch, his uneven breathing stirred her hair and her desire. “But are you really with me?”

“I’m confused. With you how?”

“In every way I need you to be.”

“Still confused.”

“Come home with me and I’ll show you what I mean. What I need. You said anytime, any way. I want you to prove it to me tonight.”

She shivered. “Let’s go.”

They left the dance floor in the middle of the song.

RONIN
held her hand as they waited at the valet stand.

Amery’s entire body tingled just from Ronin lightly stroking the inside of her wrist with his callused thumb. How would it be between them when they were alone? Mind-blowing.

Maybe it did scare her how addicted she’d gotten to his touch.

She shivered.

He swept her hair over her shoulder. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?”

“A little.”

“Here.” He unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged it off. Then he draped it around her shoulders. “Better?”

This was worse actually. The body-heated fabric that carried his scent completely surrounded her. “Yes. Thank you.”

He curled his hands around her face. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t think of anything else but you.”

“Why is that making you frown?”

“Because you overwhelm me. Maybe I’m saying this because of my run-in with Tyler, and realizing he never knew me, not in the three years we were together. You’ve been in my life less than three weeks and you already know aspects of me better than I know myself. You don’t have any problems pushing my boundaries.”

“Are you afraid I might push you too hard?” he asked softly.

“No. I’m afraid that I’ll find out that I don’t have any boundaries at all when it comes to you.”

Ronin rested his forehead to hers. “You have no idea what you do to me when you say that.”

The valet broke the moment. “Your car, Mr. Black.”

Ronin released her and opened her car door. Then he skirted the front end and slipped into the driver’s side.

As soon as they were on the road, he said, “You are spending the night with me.”

Not a request. “We’ll have to swing by my place so I can get some clothes.”

“I still have your jeans. I’d like to see you in one of my shirts.”

“Then I guess we’ll go straight to your place.” Feeling buoyed by her confession, Amery unbuckled her seatbelt. She leaned across the console and worked the knot in his tie. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the equal time.”

“My tie isn’t connected to my zipper.”

“Want me to go straight for the good stuff?”

Ronin gave her a look so hot it scorched the breath from her lungs. “Yes.”

“Eyes on the road.” Amery found the buckle on his belt and unhooked it. She unzipped his pants, and his shaft jumped against her hand. “Spread your legs wider.”

He hissed in a breath when her fingertips brushed the crown of his cock.

With the angle of the seat, she couldn’t de-pants him and she couldn’t play with his balls, so she pulled his cock through the opening in his boxer briefs. She glanced at his hands, gripping the steering wheel much more tightly than before. She lowered her head and swallowed as much of him as she could.

“Sweet Jesus.”

Amery let his shaft slide back out of her mouth. She did that a few more times and his legs went rigid. “Do you wish you had my hair in your hands so you could force me to keep this cock in my mouth?”

“Yes.”

“Pay attention to the road, Sensei. I know how you prefer to look at me while I’m blowing you, but I don’t want to die choking on your dick after you wreck your fancy car.” Amery let her mouth slowly engulf his cock. When she started bobbing her head, the hard shaft bumped the back of her throat on every pass. She hollowed her cheeks and sucked, loving the musky tang of him and the feel of his velvety-soft, steel-hard shaft gliding over her tongue. Flicking the very tip and the thick ridge beneath the cock head before taking him deep. She circled the root and stroked up as her mouth slid down.

“Don’t use your hands. Just your mouth.”

Bossy man preferred her hands on his thighs or his abdomen, or gripping his butt cheeks when she was on her knees before him. Pleasing him gave her such a heady sense of power. But this time she controlled him. She pushed him to the edge at full throttle. No reason to drag this out. She wanted—no, she’d
earned
the right to make him soar and swallow him down.

“Amery. Fuck. Stop.”

She pulled her mouth away long enough to say, “No, give it to me. All of it,” before she took him back in.

Ronin swore under his breath.

His body went rigid. She heard his grip increase on the steering wheel. He bumped his hips up and she felt that moment when he let go. His cock hardened further for a split second and then hot, wet spurts hit her soft palate. She firmed her lips as she swallowed.

As soon as his orgasm ended, she licked the shaft and lightly tongued the tip. He’d never given her the opportunity to nuzzle and kiss his softening flesh.

He tugged on her hair. “Baby, you have to stop. I’m about to wreck the car.”

Amery kissed the head of his penis before pushing upright. “Why were you going to wreck the car?” she asked innocently.

“Because instead of throwing my head back and closing my eyes like I do whenever your hot mouth works me, I focused on the road. But my foot stepped on the gas and I don’t need a ticket for a hundred and seventy miles an hour.”

“We were going that fast?”

“Almost before I blinked.”

She zipped his pants, then refastened his belt. “There. You don’t look so disheveled.”

“I like that look.” He snatched her hand and kissed the center of her palm. “On you. And by the time I finish with you tonight? You will be thoroughly disheveled.”

Silence settled between them, only broken by the hum of the engine.

Amery angled her head in the confines of the car and stared at the Denver skyline as it came into view. How many of the people at the party tonight lived in the expensive high-rises with the gorgeous view of the mountains? Probably their places made Ronin’s penthouse look like a dive. But how many of them were poseurs like her? Only there rubbing elbows with Denver’s elite because of a benefactor who invited them to the fancy shindig?

“What’re you thinking about?”

“The ratio of people at tonight’s party who were filthy rich and how many of them were pretending to be. Tyler told me the event tickets were ten grand a pop.”

“They are. But for all the glamour and glitz, it is a worthwhile cause. The bulk of the money goes to the organizations, not to fund a party, which is why I’m still donating to them.”

Twenty grand. Poof. All that hard-earned cash just passed over and tucked in someone else’s pocket. Amery didn’t know if she could ever be that cavalier about money. Ronin must be doing better in his dojo than she assumed if dropping that many Benjamins didn’t put a dent in his checkbook.

She hated that Tyler’s questions about Ronin’s finances jumped into her head.

“Don’t fret about the money, Amery.”

“I can’t help it. I feel like I owe you.”

“You owed me nothing but the pleasure of your company tonight, and you provided that beautifully.”

Amery noticed they were close to his building and he turned into a parking garage. “Did the blow job fluster you so much you forgot where you live?”

“No. It’s the closest place to keep my car. This one doesn’t get parked on the street.” He pulled into a spot resembling a concrete bunker. After they climbed out of the car, he clamped a tire lock on the front tire. He brushed his hands and sent her a sheepish look. “I make this car as hard as possible to steal.” Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Is the jacket keeping you warm?”

“Yes. Thank you.” She glanced at his thin dress shirt. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Rarely. I’m pretty hot-blooded.”

“I’ll say.”

Ronin brushed a kiss on the top of her head. “And you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

They walked at a decent clip to his building and her feet were starting to get sore. Ronin opened the front door instead of entering through the alley. By the time they’d reached his penthouse, Ronin took it upon himself to ignite the fire that simmered between them with an urgent kiss.

His jacket hit the floor first. She wrapped her hands in the loose ends of his tie and pulled him closer to kiss him harder. Then she started in on his buttons.

He didn’t attempt to undress her; he just controlled her mouth as he controlled the direction they headed.

Once Amery had his shirt undone, her hands roamed over his torso, from his pectorals, to his rib cage, to his six-pack abs. Her thumbs traced the deep cut of his hip muscle until it disappeared into his pants.

His intense kiss didn’t falter.

She knew the instant they were in his bedroom. Not only did the flooring change, but Ronin changed. He ended the soul-deep kiss, but his mouth kept teasing hers with licks and nibbles and a teasing glide.

“I want you, Amery. But I want you my way.”

“Which way is that?”

“My way,” he repeated. “And you’ll have to trust me. Can you trust that I’ll make you feel beautiful and bold?” He tilted her head to kiss below her jawline. “Trust me to worship your body the way it’s meant to be?”

“Didn’t I already say yes?”

“You did.” His teeth followed the tendons in her neck. She shuddered in his arms and she felt his smile against her skin. “But I want to blindfold you so you can focus on how you feel, not on what I’m doing.”

“What will you be doing to me?”

A kiss below her ear. “Teasing you.” A soft kiss in front of her ear. “Pushing your boundaries.” He gently blew in her ear. “Boundaries that you claimed earlier might not be boundaries at all.”

She wanted this sexy, intense man to make her so mindless with lust, to get her so drunk on him that she couldn’t think. She nuzzled the base of his throat. “No boundaries, Ronin.”

He kissed her with zeal. With finesse.

And she lost herself in him.

“First I want to get you out of this dress.” Ronin turned her around and undid the zipper. Slowly. He dragged his fingertips up and down her spine in a featherlight touch that brought all of those nerve endings alive. He slipped his fingers across her shoulders and loosened her dress.

Amery felt the beaded material slipping down her chest and she stopped it just before it cleared her nipples.

Then Ronin stood in front of her. He traced the edge of her jaw. “Do you have any idea how appealing you look right now? With your hair tangled from my fingers. With your mouth so full and ripe from kissing me.” His rough thumb followed the upper and lower bow of her lips. “With your sexy little dress clutched over your breasts, attempting to conceal what’s mine tonight.”

The man had a way with words that made her tremble.

“Drop the dress, Amery.”

She let go and it landed on the floor in a soft whoosh.

“Bend over and place your hands on the bed.”

Amery put an extra swing in her hips as she rolled herself down until her palms were flat on the mattress. Ronin stared at her ass so intently she swore his heated gaze singed her skin.

“Head up.” Ronin nestled his groin against her ass.

A spike of desire nearly shot her through the roof.

Then something soft and silky covered her eyes and everything went dark. “Is that your tie?”

“Yes.” His fingers hooked inside her thong and he slowly dragged it down her legs. Once it reached her ankles, Ronin dropped to his knees. He tapped the inside of her right calf and she lifted her foot, expecting he’d take her thong off. “No. Widen your stance with the thong where it is.”

His commanding presence filled the room, permeating the air. His will seeped through her skin and settled into her bones. And it was like this every time they were together. Would it flame out because it burned so hot?

“Hey, baby. Where’d you go?”

That quietly controlled voice caused her to jump. “What?”

“You were relaxed in a happy place and then you weren’t. What changed?”

“I had the fleeting fear this would burn out.”

“Don’t think.” He pressed openmouthed kisses across the backs of her knees. “Stay steady. Even when I do this.” He licked the crease of her knee, a soft tickle of his tongue while trailing his fingers on the outsides of her thighs.

Amery was half tempted to fall face-first into the puffy mattress; her legs and arms were absolutely quaking from his wickedly talented mouth. When he swept butterfly kisses across the curve of her ass cheeks, she made a low moan of need.

Even that didn’t hurry the man up. If her groin was closer to the bed, she’d be grinding her clit against it, trying to come. She sighed when Ronin gently urged her passion-flushed face to press against the mattress.

“Put your hands behind your back, palms facing out.”

Thank God for yoga. What would he do if she couldn’t hold the position he demanded? Spank her?

That’s where she’d draw the line. She’d been spanked as a child, by her father’s hand, a ruler, a hairbrush, a plastic pipe.

“Amery. Stop thinking.” He twined something soft around her wrists. As soon as he finished, he caressed the skin above where he’d secured her hands. Then he rested the side of his face against hers, his chest to her spine.

Having her vision blocked heightened her anticipation. She wanted the intimacy of skin on skin so much she squirmed.

“Stay still.”

“I can’t. I want—”

“I know what you want. Are you wet enough for it?”

“Yes.”

His hand slid around her waist and through the thin strip of hair covering her mound. That long, deadly accurate middle finger slipped inside her. “You are wet.” He plunged in and out a few more times, stroking and teasing the swollen flesh. “Wouldn’t take much for you to come.”

“You touch me and I can’t help it.”

“But you won’t come until I say.”

“Are you punishing me for something?”

“No, baby, I’m giving you this. So relax and let me.” Ronin began drawing tight circles on her clit. Immediately she started to tremble—inside, outside. He held her down and steadily increased the pace of his finger until her body tensed. When he whispered, “Now,” she went off like a bottle rocket.

Every molecule in her body went taut, leaving her breathless and dizzy.

Then Ronin was slamming into her as the last pulse lingered, setting off another wave of contractions in short, sweet bursts.

His hands bracketed her hips as he powered into her with forceful thrusts. There was a frantic edge to the way he fucked her. Animalistic. Fast. He had no intention of making this last.