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401 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 2014
A hard hand landed on her shoulder. "Slow down. Don't want this pretty face of yours smacking into the concrete."
She wheeled around. "What are you still doing here?"
"Helping you."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Seriously."
"Seriously. I don't know." He encroached her space, coming chest-to-chest with her. "So will you please cut me a break and let me make sure you fall face-first in your bed and not on the floor?"
Something...oddly sweet flickered in his penetrating stare, and her flip comment dried up. "Thank you, Ronin."
He smoothed her hair from her cheek. "My pleasure."
"Why didn't it bother her that he touched her with such familiarity? Amery turned away before she did something stupid like face-plant into that amazing chest of his.
He followed her closely up the stairs. The breathing-down-her-neck proximity didn't change when she cut towards her bedroom."
He loomed over her. "It's twelve blocks. If you hate the ride over, I'll call a cab to bring you back here after lunch. But you've got to at least try it. You know you want to."
How had he known that? "I'm putting myself in your hands, Ronin."
"You have no idea how much that appeals to me," he murmured.
"Why me?" she blurted. "To hear people talk, you're some kind of martial arts god. You have that whole scary, mysterious Zen thing going on. And you are one of the hottest guys I've ever met."
"One of?" he repeated.
"Okay, the hottest guy I've ever met, but I didn't want to admit that because I didn't want you to get a swelled head."
Ronin smiled. "Thank you for the compliment. But I'm just a guy, Amery. A guy who works too hard and plays too little. And after meeting you?" His heated gaze roamed over her face. "I'm more than ready to play."
A hand landed on her shoulder and Ronin's smooth cheek brushed hers as he inserted himself between them. "Sorry I'm late. I know how much you hate waiting." Then he offered his hand to Will. "Ronin. And you are?"
"Will."
"Thanks, Will, for keeping my girl company."
What was up with Ronin acting as if they were a couple?
"My pleasure." Will smiled at Amery. "Good seeing you again." Then he moved to the other side of the bar.
"You ready?" Ronin asked.
"For you to explain to me exactly what the hell that was? Yes. Start talking."
Ronin squeezed her shoulder. "A friendly reminder that you're off the market."
"Like I'm a slab of meat?" she asked sharply.
"You are Grade-A prime cut all the way, baby."
"Sucks when you have to haul groceries, doesn't it?"
"That's why I don't have a membership at Costco."
He had a better sense of humor than Amery had credit him for.
Art hung here and there. One picture contained a graphic scene- a fat Japanese man opened his robe, exposing his exaggerated genitalia to a disheveled geisha cowering on the ground. Two more similar in these hung next to it. One with a long-haired samurai wielding a sword at a snarling tiger standing in front of massacred bodies. The last picture featured a crouching Japanese man, naked, his oversized genitalia resting on the ground. In front of him was a half-clothes woman, tied to a post in some fancy rope configuration, and the man held her foot, licking the sole with an enlarged tongue."
From behind her, Ronin said, "Those are shunga prints."
"Interesting decorating choice."
"They're heavy with symbolism, not at all what they appear to be on the surface."
Ironic that description could also be applied to him?
Ronin made that low rumble in the back of his throat, and it vibrated against her skin. “At some point tonight I will have my hand up your dress and you will come for me. Anything I want, any time I want was a very dangerous promise to make to me, Amery,” he whispered against her jaw, “because you have no idea what I want from you.”
“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.”
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He stared at her, equally mesmerized. In that moment she knew what would happen if she let him in. But he didn’t push. Didn’t speak. He left the decision up to her. Was she ready to be Ronin Black’s lover? And the answer came quickly in a mental shout. Yes.
VERY GOOD: The characteristics of a 4 star book include: a great story; I loved the characters; and there was an interesting plot and unique story elements; there may have been a few odd things kept the story from being amazing. I would read it again and I would recommend it to a friend.Bound is the inaugural book in Lorelei James' new series, The Mastered.