Unwound

CHAPTER FOUR

THE next two days passed in a blur of boredom.

Early the third morning, Ronin woke up annoyed that Amery had turned away from him during the night again. He spent an hour in the practice room working on katas. He blanked his mind to everything except maintaining the proper breathing and stance as he moved through the forms. For the first time in a week, he completed his usual routine without any breaks.

He climbed out of the shower, and the cold air chilled him to the bone. But Amery’s heated look when she handed him a towel set his blood on fire. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. The scrapes on your arms and knuckles are healing.”

He wanted—needed—more than just her eyes on him. He craved her touch. “Can you check the ones on my back?”

“Sure.” Amery moved in behind him, and he closed his eyes when her soft fingertips brushed his spine. “You’ve still got discoloration from bruises.” She swept her thumb across his left scapula. “How did you get injured back here anyway?”

“Probably from a takedown. Are there marks anywhere else?”

She lightly pushed on his neck until he dropped his head. More gentle touches across his shoulders. “One here. It’s on a bone, so it’s still a big lump. Does it hurt?”

Not when you’re touching me like that.

“You’ve also got a big knot in this muscle.”

As soon as her fingers connected with that sore spot, his skin broke out in gooseflesh. It’d been a lifetime since she’d put her hands on him.

“This tension is probably from how you’re holding the crutch.” She rubbed a few more times. “Any other tight spots?”

The skin covering his dick was getting tighter by the second—he couldn’t tell her that, but pretty quick it’d be obvious. “No.”

She moved to stand in front of him and placed her palms on his rib cage. “Does this hurt?”

“A little.”

Amery’s scent surrounded him so completely he couldn’t think of anything except pulling her into bed with him and holding her captive until she promised never to leave him again.

“Will any of these marks scar?” She inched her fingers down his belly.

His cock nearly leaped into her hand, and he willed the motherfucking thing to stand down. “Doubtful. They’re just bruises.”

“Just bruises, he says.” She traced the contusions with such tenderness he ached for more. “Such a tough guy.”

“I don’t know about tough, but today I almost feel back to normal.” When she looked up at him, he said, “Being this close to you and not being able to touch you like I want is killing me.”

Just like that, Amery sidestepped him. “I wanted to talk to you before I left for work.”

Allowing her retreat, he briskly towel dried his hair. “What’s up?”

“I think it might be best if I stayed at my place tonight.”

Ronin didn’t answer. He just waited.

“You’re getting better, and you don’t need me—”

Before she could finish, he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and brought her against his body. “Do you really believe the only reason you’re staying with me is because I needed you as my nursemaid?”

She blinked those big blue eyes at him.

“Answer me.”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do know, and that’s why you’re running. Guess what? That’s not happening.” He slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her. Not bothering to hide his hunger, not allowing her to retreat. Holding her in place until she responded with the passion she still felt for him but tried to discount.

The taste of her was hot and sweet. Heaven and hell because he wanted so much more from her than this small taste.

And he knew she wanted more too when she plastered her body against his, not caring he was wet. Fisting her hand in his hair with the possession he’d missed.

He forced himself to end the kiss. He brushed his lips over her chin and down her throat, holding her tighter when she trembled. “Amery, I need you. If I haven’t made that clear, then allow me to do so now. I need you in my life every day. Not just for the short term.” He nuzzled her ear and whispered, “Please. Stay with me.” He tipped her head back and smiled at her. But his smile dried when he noticed her tears. “Baby. What’s wrong? I thought we—”

“I’m scared. I trusted you once, and that nearly broke me.”

Ronin wiped the moisture from her face. “You walking away did break me. I threw myself back into those fights because I wanted the outside of my body to hurt as badly as the inside.”

Her eyes, her posture, everything about her softened toward him.

He had no problem taking advantage of that. “We’re working through this. The only way we can do that is if we’re spending time together reestablishing intimacy and trust, right?”

“You are so damn smooth.” She traced his lips with the tips of her fingers. “And so gorgeous. Sometimes I look at you and find it hard to breathe.”

“You humble me.” He dropped another kiss on her mouth. Then he parted his lips and followed the curve of her neck on a slow glide from top to bottom. Then bottom to top.

She shivered.

Rather than get greedy and push for more, Ronin withdrew, but he had secret satisfaction in seeing that Amery trembled from just the brief touch of his mouth on her skin. “It’s too damn cold in here. I’m freezing my balls off.”

“I thought it was just me.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “There’s no excuse for you not to turn on the heat since you’ve got the funds to cover the higher cost of winter utilities.”

That was the first time she’d joked about his financial status. Had to be a good sign. He smiled at her. “That is an upside.”

• • •

THROUGHOUT the day, Ronin’s determination that they’d reunite as lovers grew. He’d made his intentions clear this morning; tonight, he’d drive the point home.

After he left the dojo, he stopped in the penthouse long enough to grab a beer, a towel and to tell Amery he was going for a swim.

On the pool deck, he rolled back the thick plastic cover, leaving three quarters of the water covered. He popped off his knee brace and shed his gi pants and T-shirt. The brisk wind blowing over his nakedness forced him to get into the pool quickly.

The water warmed him, but it wasn’t as warm as he’d like. His outdoor spaces designer had assumed he would use the area for entertaining and had set it up accordingly. But half the lounge chairs hadn’t ever been used. The tiki bar looked cool in theory, but in reality, he’d rather have a hot tub.

Sipping his beer, Ronin stared up at the sky, wondering if it’d take a helicopter to get the heavy tub portion up here. The bad thing about downsizing the cargo elevator was he lost the ability to haul big pieces past the fifth floor. He could’ve opted for big, symmetrically shaped plastic pieces for a cover, which, once assembled, encompassed the entire roof. But he’d had no place to store them in the summer months. He’d chosen extreme weather-resistant plastic, which made a tight enough seal around the area that some of the heartier trees on the garden side didn’t have to be moved indoors when the temperatures dropped below freezing.

Wouldn’t be long before that happened. He’d better get the guy here to set up the winterization kit next week.

That decided, he performed water therapy exercises on his knee. Something in the movement caused the pain in his shoulder to flare. He did push-ups against the side. One arm, then both arms. Then he raised his arm over his head like he was swinging a hammer.

“Are you supposed to be doing that?”

Ronin jumped. Then he spun around. “Were you trying to sneak up on me?”

The smile on her face said everything. “What goes around, comes around, ninja.”

“I deserve that.”

Amery shoved her hands in her pockets. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Why?”

“I don’t know. I thought you were mad at me or something.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“You hardly said anything to me when you came up from the dojo.”

He slowly moved his arm across the front of his body, then pulled on his wrist with his other hand. A loud popping sound echoed.

Her eyes widened. “Was that a body part?”

“Yeah. But it feels remarkably better now.”

“Oh. Well. Good.”

“I’d invite you to join me, but I know you’ll decline. I’ll probably stay in another half hour.”

“Why don’t you think I’ll join you?”

“Because I’d demand you strip to skin. And if you decided to thwart me and jump in in your swimsuit, I’d take great pleasure in tearing it off you.” He let his wicked intent show in his eyes. “With my teeth. Then I’d probably tie you up with your bikini strings.”

Clearly torn between defiance and desire, Amery blinked at him.

“So, baby, what’s it going to be?”

“Ronin—”

“That’s what I thought.” Ronin turned his back on her and resumed his exercises.

It took twelve reps of lunges before she stomped into view. Her pink-tipped toes twitched with anger.

“Do you know how much I hate that dismissive tone of yours? You assume a lot sometimes, Master Black.”

“Arguing with me about why you won’t get in the pool isn’t getting you into the pool, so why do it?”

“Infuriating man.”

Ronin swam to the opposite side.

“So you invite me into the pool and now you’re getting out?”

“No. I’m just grabbing my beer.” He drained it. “And I didn’t invite you, remember?”

“Rude, infuriating man.”

And it was about to get a whole lot worse. He waggled the empty bottle at her. “Babe, since you’re probably stomping off anyway, would you mind throwing this away on your way back downstairs?”

If that wouldn’t get her in the pool, anxious to dunk his ass, nothing would.

“Babe?” Off went her jeans as she spoke. “Babe?” Then her panties. “Babe?” Her T-shirt was next. Hey, wait a second; that was his T-shirt.

Her escalating use of the word babe culminated in an angry jump into the pool. Amery splashed him while flinging phrases like sexist pig and bossy bastard at him.

Eyes flashing, her tits bouncing, her nipples rigid points . . . goddamn, the woman was a fucking goddess.

“Ronin! Are you even listening to me?”

“No.” He caught her wrist before she splashed him again. “Nothing registered after you started coming toward me, those perfect perky tits leading the way.”

“Omigod, you are such an ass.”

Ronin hauled her against his body. “Thanks for joining me in the pool.” His lips started at the spot below her ear and moved across that stubborn jawline, tasting her skin beneath the chlorine. “I miss that breathy sigh you make when I kiss you right here.” He zeroed in on the spot two inches below her ear.

She made the sound.

“I could spend the next hour telling you everything I missed in the past seven weeks, but I’d rather show you.” Holding her head in place, he kissed her with all the need he felt for her, with fire, with impatience.

Amery kissed him back, but her hands were wrapped around his forearms, holding him back.

Like. Hell.

“Need my mouth on you,” he growled against her throat.

“Ronin—”

“Now. Tell me you don’t want my mouth between your thighs.” He sucked on the spot below her ear that made her moan.

“I can’t think when you do that.”

“So stop thinking and give me what I want.” He pushed her backward until they reached the folded pool cover. “Lie back.”

“Won’t I sink?”

“Not if you hold still.”

“But I can’t hold still when you . . .”

“That’s never a bad thing. Arms above your head like you’re floating. That’s it. Beautiful.”

Ronin lowered himself into the water and raised her pussy to the level of his mouth. He licked her slowly, searching every soft fold for the sweet taste of her.

There it was. Goddamn. There it was. He greedily buried his tongue inside her.

“Oh, god.”

He pulled back and rubbed his lips over the inner swell of her mound. “Tell me you missed this.”

She moaned.

“Tell. Me.”

“I missed you.”

You. Not this.

“I missed you too, baby. I . . .” Ronin’s attempts to tell her that he loved her were met with resistance, so here was his chance to show her.

He was too starved for her to slowly drive her to the detonation point. He pushed back the skin hiding her clit with his lips and settled his mouth over the hot spot. “You taste so fucking sweet.”

“You’re so amazing at that.”

His response was to suck harder in precisely the way she liked.

Wasn’t long before she started to rock her hips into his face, and he felt that first spasm against his mouth.

He sucked and swallowed those sweet juices, growling against her tender flesh. When her legs stopped trembling and the pulses ended, he kissed the inside of her thigh. As he eased her off the pool cover, he kissed straight up her belly. He latched on to her nipple, which had gone tight in the cold night air.

Amery wrapped her legs around his waist. When she was fuzzy from orgasmic bliss, worrying about his injuries appeared to be the farthest thing from her mind.

Ronin feasted on her nipples. Warming them with his mouth, wanting to slide her body down to where he ached and slip inside her. He kissed his way up her chest to her chin. “Amery, baby, I lo—”

She slanted her lips over his and kissed him with deliberation. “I do taste pretty sweet on you,” she murmured between soft pecks on his mouth.

Once again, she’d stopped the words in his heart from passing through his lips. Why?

Because she’s scared.

Then she proved it by pushing away from him. “I’m cold. Let’s go inside.”

• • •

AFTER they crawled into bed, Ronin said, “I should let you know that Shiori will be calling you to have lunch tomorrow.”

“Did she say why?”

“No.”

“Huh. That’s weird.”

“You don’t have to go.”

“I know.”

“In fact, I wish you wouldn’t.”

She turned over and gave him a cool look. “Why’s that? Afraid she’ll ask me how your injuries are healing since I doubt you’re being honest with her either?”

“Either? It’s been a week since the fight. I’m nearly back to normal.”

“Then there’s no reason for me to stay here and tend to you, is there?”

Goddammit. Why was she baiting him and then moving closer to taunt him?

Amery touched the bruise on his chest. She ran her hands across his ribs. “Are you so insistent I see you as bounce-back Black that you’d rather I leave than admit that you aren’t one hundred percent?”

“Would you rather I pretended my recovery time is taking longer than I expected so I can keep you here?” he countered.

She sighed. “You are such an exasperating man.”

Ronin plucked her hand from his chest and ran his thumb over her knuckles. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

His declaration didn’t seem to bother her because she didn’t argue. “Will you start driving tomorrow since it’s been a week?”

“Maybe. I’d thought about taking you to lunch, but my sister beat me to it.”

“How about if I cut out early and bring you food? Then, if you’re feeling stir crazy, we could go for a drive.” A wide smile spread across her beautiful face. “I’d love to get behind the wheel of your Corvette.”

“No chance.” He kissed the inside of her wrist. “And the only time I’m stir crazy is when you’re not here.”

“What happened when you went down to the dojo today?”

“Are you asking if I overexerted myself? I didn’t. There were a few business things I needed to handle. All in all, I wandered around and felt pretty useless.” Jesus. Why don’t you just blurt out all of your fears? That with limited physical contact, your students will see you the way you’ve seen so many other martial arts instructors—as washed up? As a teacher who knows the techniques but can no longer employ them?

“You’re not useless.” She scooted even closer. “You’re so not.”

He wanted to show her just how useful he could be to her.

But then the crazy woman shocked him by pulling his mouth to hers and kissing him. She never let it get to the combustible stage, keeping it slow. A gentle exploration. A sweet communion. A promise of more.

After she’d incited him and soothed him with her kiss, she didn’t sleep on her side of the bed for the first time in five nights. She curled her body into his and fell asleep in his arms.