Bound: The Mastered Series (28 page)

Amery’s pulse jumped. “What happened?”

“No matter how much she begged and cried, I refused to punish her in private. I bound her in a pose called humiliation, which includes neck ropes. Then I gagged her and used a paddle on her. After I’d broken her, I fucked her but didn’t allow her to come.”

She turned her head away. That didn’t sound like him at all.

“Rather than it upsetting her, she got off on it. I rarely use humiliation in the dojo as a teaching tool, because it doesn’t work. I was completely unprepared for her reaction and my disgust with myself. I quit going to the club.”

“Ronin.”

“Then Naomi stopped showing up at my place, unless she was drunk, crying, and a mess. I always took her in. At the time I hadn’t known she’d still been going to the club and she’d become a submissive to several Doms. A few months later the club owner asked me to come back and give a shibari demo, but Naomi refused to be involved unless I fucked her during the scene. I found another rope model. Naomi went a little psycho after the demo and started threatening me. So I had her banned from the club.” He set his chin on top of her head. “She told everyone I ruined her life and she returned to Japan.”

Amery let that sink in before she spoke. “She was responsible for her choices. You did what you had to, to protect yourself and your reputation.”

“It is my fault. She was young and I pushed her to the edge and she liked it.”

“And you ended up at war with yourself for giving her what she wanted.”

“Yes.”

Amery turned and kissed his jaw.

“Needless to say I joined a new club—the same one Knox belongs to. The women who agree to be bound by me know my rules. I rarely deviate from them.”

“So the woman at the club who ended up with Knox . . . ?”

“The club auctioned off a rope session with me for charity. The woman’s husband gave it to her as a birthday gift. They requested Knox as the demonstration closer.”

“I didn’t stay for that part.”

“Good. You should know that Naomi is also the reason I built the practice room. I thought if we had a designated place she wouldn’t need to go to the club. It didn’t change anything. And that room has been unused since then, until I met you.”

She closed her eyes. She’d heard men talking about being fucked up by an ex. But what Ronin had dealt with Naomi? Epically fucked up. And she suspected he hadn’t told her everything. Maybe he never would. It scared her to think Naomi had damaged him to the point he’d never trust her enough to open up completely.

•   •   •

THE
next morning Amery scrutinized the marks on her body. Some had started to fade, but makeup wouldn’t cover the hickeys and scrapes on her neck. Was it ironic she chose a scarf that Ronin used to bind her to cover up the marks?

She opened the office, started coffee, and got to work.

Molly dragged in an hour late. The girl looked horrible.

“Are you all right?”

“Not really.” Molly bit her lip as if trying to hold back tears.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not yet. It’ll help if I focus on work.”

“Being the über-organized boss I am, I e-mailed the updated daily task lists first thing.”

That earned her a smile. “Über-organized. That ages you, boss. No one says über anymore.”

“Get to work, whippersnapper.”

At lunchtime, Molly came into her office and shut the door.

Looked as though she’d decided to talk. They’d gotten a lot closer in the past few months. Whether it was because they’d passed the martial arts class together, or was due to Molly’s newfound confidence—either way, she’d opened up. They’d gone out for dinner and drinks several times, and their conversations hadn’t revolved around work. Amery had hung out with Molly more often than Chaz or Emmylou. “What’s up?”

Molly slid into the chair in front of the desk. She stared at her hands for a moment and blurted, “I cheated on Zach last night.”

Not what she’d expected. “Okay. How’d it happen?”

“Zach and I were supposed to go to a movie last night, but he called and canceled again. It’s happened so many times because Master Black makes Zach do jobs outside the dojo. Jobs he can’t talk about and he’s keeping really weird hours.”

Amery frowned. Ronin had been keeping odd hours too and hadn’t been forthcoming about what he’d been doing either—except he had come clean about jumping into the ring. But prior to that, when she’d asked why she couldn’t get a hold of him, he’d given her that scary “back off” vibe, so she hadn’t brought it up again.

“Anyway, this has been going on for weeks and last night I’d had enough. I went to a sports bar with my new friend Nina and she introduced me to one of her guy friends.” She sighed. “A really cute guy friend, who was funny and charming and he was way into me. One thing led to another and I went home with him.” Her cheeks turned crimson.

“Have you ever had a one-night stand before?”

Molly peeked up at her. “It’s probably hard to believe because I come across as shy, but yeah, I’ve done the walk of shame a couple of times. I like this guy, we had fun, and he wants to see me again.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“What if the only reason he wants to see me is that he thinks I’m a slut? And what about Zach? He’s really sweet and I like hanging out with him, but he’s taking things so slow. I don’t know if it’s because he thinks I’d have anxiety during sex because I was attacked or what, but we’ve never done anything more than kiss. Even when I let him know I want more, he says stuff like
no rush
. So I’m back to the same worry that I’m some kind of slut for wanting sex from one guy one day, and another guy the next day.”

“Molly, as long as you’re having safe sex and your partner or partners are enjoying it too doesn’t mean you’re a slut. It means you’re a normal college girl with a healthy sex drive. And that’s not something to be ashamed of; that’s something to be proud of.”

“Really?”

“Really. I’ve struggled to reconcile my feelings of guilt about sex, wanting it and having it, since I was in my teens. The way I was raised is a pretty powerful deterrent to accepting and embracing my sexuality.”

“Even now?”

Especially now that she was involved with Ronin and all the layers of kink he’d added to the mix—kink that didn’t seem dirty, bad, or wrong when she was in the moment with him. But she still had an uneasy feeling if she thought too much about how other people would react if they ever found out what she liked and what she did behind closed bedroom doors.

“Amery?”

She glanced up. “Yes, even now.”

“I’m not glad to hear that, because those feelings suck, but I sort of am because it lets me know I’m not alone with some of these hang-ups.” She smiled sheepishly. “So thanks.”

“Anytime.”

“So what do you think I should do about Zach?”

“Break it off with him. He had his chance; he blew it. Hang out with the guy who wants to spend time with you. No pressure. Just have fun.” Amery grinned. “And if he’s good? Girl, hit that hard every chance you can.”

Molly smirked. “Now that the woman who’s banging the hottie known as Master Black has given me sex advice . . . I plan to.”

“Good.”

“And there’s one other thing I need to talk to you about.” She threw her shoulders back and lifted her chin. “Are you planning to let me go because business has dropped off?”

She’d hoped to have this conversation later, possibly even never. “I won’t lie. It’s not looking good. The new clients I’ve picked up still aren’t making up for the loss of income from Townsend’s. And I’ve been out on every call, no matter how small the job . . .”

“What about the secret project you’ve been working on? Does that have potential?”

Amery’s eyes narrowed.

Molly rolled her eyes in response. “Come on, Amery, I work here. I’d have to be blind and stupid not to notice the packages and phone calls from Seattle. Why is it so top secret?”

“I signed a nondisclosure agreement with them. And I’ve got that
don’t talk about it and jinx it
superstition too—I’m not sure anything will come from it.” Which would be too bad because she’d really enjoyed the challenge and the creative freedom of working on something completely different. The client had assured Amery she’d welcome all ideas and designs that focused on thinking outside the normal frozen food box. So she’d worked up several concepts after-hours while Ronin was torturing his jujitsu students and doing his mysterious nocturnal things. Maggie said she’d hear Amery’s full pitch in Denver sometime in the next month, which put extra pressure on Amery to have it ready soon.

“Earth to Amery.”

She looked up from the doodle she’d drawn on her printout. “Sorry, I’m zoning out today.”

Molly leaned forward. “Let me help you work on this project.”

“While that’s sweet—”

“Hear me out. I’ll work on this project for free.”

“Why?”

“Because if Hardwick Designs doesn’t get new business soon, I’m going to be out of a job anyway. So there’s an incentive for me to bring my best. And I’ve already signed a nondisclosure with you, so if you bring me onboard I can’t discuss it with anyone.”

Amery tapped her pen on her desk, studying her eager employee. “Extra work for no pay won’t put you in a bind?”

“No. Look, my grandma is so elated I finished college and I’m pursing an MBA that she’s funding my living expenses. What I earn here goes into my savings account. Besides, a lot of students in the grad program spend their summers and even part of the school year in unpaid internships. At least you pay me. If it makes you feel better, we can call this an apprenticeship because I’ll bet you’re not getting paid either unless you land the project. What company is this?”

“Okada Foods. They have roughly thirty percent of the overseas market in Asian food and they’re looking to expand here in the U.S.”

Molly’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “Are you fucking kidding me? No offense, but how did that happen? They’re huge.”

No idea. “I guess they saw my ad work with my other organicfood–based clients. Maybe lady luck is finally smiling on me.”

“You have to let me work on this project with you. Please.”

“You sure you want to do this now, Mol? The extra hours will cut into your social life.”

“The reason I love this job is that I get to use the creative side of my brain, not only my business side. It balances me.”

That tipped Amery into the
yes
camp of bringing Molly onboard. Ronin had mentioned the same type of thing: a need to express himself creatively outside of his normal routine. Who was she to deny Molly that chance?

Plus, she loved that she’d have someone to talk to and bounce ideas off for this opportunity.

She grinned. “Order us some Jimmy Johns and I’ll bring you up to speed over lunch.”

One month later

“AN
hour?”
Take a deep breath
. “Absolutely I can be there. I’ll be meeting with Maggie?” She felt her hopes plummeting. “No. I understand. Of course. Please tell her I’m looking forward to it. Thank you.” She hung up the receiver and said, “Fuck.”

Molly poked her head in. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m pitching the Okada project today. In a freakin’ hour.”

“Amery, that’s great!”

“No, it’s not because I’m not pitching it to Maggie. The VP of Okada is here and I’m meeting with her.”

“The VP of the North American division?”

“No, the big VP. She answers directly to the president of the entire company.”

“Oh, man. What can I do?”

“Pat yourself on the back that we finished by the skin of our teeth last night.” She pointed to the studio, where they’d spread the design paperwork on the floor. “Get everything together. Check it. Double-check it.
Triple-
check it. Then put it in my portfolio and type me up a list of what’s included. I have to change into a power suit and get my game face on.” She scaled the stairs to her loft two at a time.

Amery tore through her closet. Where the hell were all of her dress clothes?

Dirty. She’d been so tied up in the Okada project and pounding the pavement for new clients that she hadn’t done laundry in two weeks.

Tied up. There was a play on words.

Her gaze landed on the coil of black rope on the floor. Strange, Ronin never left his ropes behind. But last night had been . . . intense. Even more intense than usual. Maybe he’d been as scrambled as she’d been this morning. She looked around and smiled. But he had remembered to take his gift.

Ronin had shown up late last night. After wrapping up the Okada project, she was wired. Like really wired. As soon as he’d ditched his overnight bag, she was on him. Kissing him crazily. Slipping her hands beneath his tank top and running her fingers all over his muscled torso. Biting and sucking on his neck with complete abandon.

“I take it you’re happy to see me,” he said, pushing her face back into his neck when she stopped sucking on his favorite spot. “More and harder.”

“I don’t want to leave a mark.”

“With you this restless tonight? Baby, I don’t care. I’ll wear your mark as a gift.”

She sucked on him until he hissed and she eased back. “Speaking of . . . I have a gift for you,” she whispered in his ear.

“For me? What’s the occasion?”

“Just because. Hang tight and I’ll get it.”

She’d made it halfway across the living room when she heard him say, “Strip for me.”

Amery turned and looked at him. “Don’t you want your present?”

“Yes. But you’ll give it to me when you’re naked.”

She whipped off her clothes. “Happy now?”

“Yes. Seeing your bare ass jiggle is a gift in itself.” He grinned at her. “But yeah, go ahead.”

She’d hidden the wrapped package in the linen closet. The brown paper wrapper wasn’t fancy, but she’d gone online and watched a video on how to tie decorative knots. So the twine was similar to the plain jute rope he used on her sometimes.

For some reason she had a bout of shyness when she returned with the package. But Ronin’s uncharacteristic “Gimme” made her laugh.

He studied the knot, as she’d hoped he would. When he looked up at her, pure pleasure shone in his eyes. “Someone has been studying up on knot-tying techniques.”

She shrugged and smiled.

He didn’t untie the knot; he said, “I’m keeping this as part of the gift,” and slipped the twine off. He tore the paper away and went motionless as the pieces fell to the floor.

“Do you like it? I know it’s probably bigger than what you were expecting, but I figured that no one else is going to see it but you.” She’d enlarged the picture he’d declared as
his
from the bondage cover photo shoot and framed it in an Asian-inspired red-and-black lacquered frame. It’d taken her a few weeks to find the courage to take it to a printing shop. Even then she’d chosen a place on the outskirts of Denver, given the clerk a fake name, and paid in cash—not that she’d ever confess that to Ronin.

The longer he stared at the explicit image without speaking, the bigger her fear became that he hadn’t really wanted a picture of her bound. “If you don’t want it . . .”

Those golden eyes met hers. Must’ve been a trick of the light, because for a split second she swore she saw a shimmer of tears.

Then he said something in Japanese.

“What does that mean?”

“It has no literal translation, which is an indication that I’ve got no words to give you for what this means to me, Amery.” Then he bowed to her deeply.

Which was weird even when part of her realized he’d just paid her a high compliment.

Ronin carefully wrapped the twine around the corner of the frame and carried it into her bedroom.

After a minute or so when he hadn’t returned, she followed him.

He stood beside the bed, bare-chested, wearing white gi pants. Even if she hadn’t seen the black rope in his hand, she recognized he’d slipped into rope master demeanor when he’d slipped on his uniform.

“Beauty given from the heart should be rewarded.”

Her entire body quivered.

“Come here.”

She took two steps, stopping next to the bed.

“Stand still.”

His body brushed against hers.

Amery trembled harder.

His hair tickled her cheek and her neck as he kissed her temple and nuzzled her jawline to the tip of her chin. Warm, soft lips followed the cords straining in her neck, down the hollow of her throat, over her breastbone, and between her breasts.

“Sit on the bed.”

She perched on the edge, knees open, never taking her eyes off the man before her. Ronin’s wicked mouth landed on her sternum and zigzagged down her belly, pausing to lightly skim the sensitive area between her hip bones. After gracefully dropping into a squat, he pressed kisses over her bare mound, softly suckling her clit. Then he dragged his tongue down the seam of her sex and plunged deep into her cunt. He made the growling noise that sent additional shivers through her.

Her skin beaded, electrified by every touch of his lips, or his fingers, and even the soft lash of his hair.

His hands were on the inside of her thighs pushing her wider open yet and pulling her forward until her lower back pressed against the edge of the mattress. Ronin’s liquid gold eyes were on hers. “Every part of you is sacred to me. Every. Part.” He swirled his tongue around her anus.

Amery gasped even as she blushed. She never imagined that something so . . . dirty and forbidden could feel so good.

“I will have you here. Every part of you is mine to worship.” He lapped at the rosebud several more times and pushed his thumb against the tight pink muscle. His teeth grazed the fleshy outer edge of her pussy and he soothed the sting with soft kisses.

After more long drugging kisses from her clit to her anus, he set her feet back on the floor.

“Stand up, spread your legs wide, and grab your ankles.” He toyed with the black rope as she got into position.

Then he very calmly started binding her right wrist to her right ankle.

With her hair hanging down, obscuring much of her vision, she couldn’t tell if it was an artistic wrap or merely a functional one. She basked in Ronin’s sexual energy. By the time he finished his handiwork, she was dripping wet.

He took another length of rope and let it dangle through his fingers as he caressed her chest, preparing her for the next section of her body he intended to bind. When he finished the chest harness, she’d transitioned into shallow breaths, the white bliss of subspace teasing the edge of her awareness.

Every time he bound her, he checked every strand of rope to ensure that it was properly placed and any pinching sensation was intentional.

Ronin cupped her face in his hands, pushing her hair back to peer into her eyes, and straight into her soul. “Gorgeous. I would like a picture of you like this, black rope against your pearly skin. Showing your eyes as you struggle to understand why your being bound for me appeals to you.”

She remained quiet, hoping to find that dreamy space where she could hear Ronin’s broken breaths in the same tempo as her own. Where their blood pumped thick and hot and slow in perfect synchronicity. Where they were two entities bound together by one rope.

Ronin stroked the inside of her thigh with his entire palm. “See how when I use my fingers here”—he lightly pinched the section of skin where her thigh curved into her butt—“how beautifully your skin quivers? It’s a drug, Amery, how perfectly you react to my touch. I want to feel that quiver against my lips. I want to feel it on the outside of my thighs as I’m fucking you.”

His words settled in her like a seed and she knew he’d coax her to bloom beneath his hands.

He turned her and lifted her onto the bed as if she weighed nothing. As if she were an object to be moved at his whim.

She twisted her shoulders, trying to find a better balance point.

“Stop.” Ronin was right there calming her, petting her. “The harder you struggle against the bonds, the higher the chance of marks.”

“Don’t you want to mark me? Isn’t that part of the appeal for you tonight?”

“I wanted a mark from
you
. I demanded one. And I’ll ask you before I leave marks where others can see.”

The warmth filling her had nothing to do with his mastery with ropes, but how he’d mastered reading her.

“Let your thoughts go. Give yourself over to me.”

Ronin literally kept her balanced on the edge of the bed. He gripped the inside of her thighs as his mouth covered her pussy. Suckling her intimate flesh strongly, resting his teeth above her clit, almost as if he was about to take a big bite.

Amery fought the urge to buck and writhe. She focused on her breathing. The delicious worship Ronin gifted to her cunt. She could feel the stickiness flowing from her sex and spreading across her inner thighs as Ronin ate at her like a juicy peach.

Then Ronin began sweeping the pad of his thumb across her anus. Tender sweeps that heightened her arousal. So when his thumb pushed past the ring of muscle, she gasped.

Did he plan to fuck her ass tonight as he’d warned her?

The wet whip of his tongue on her clit brought her focus back to that buzzing tingle building at the base of her spine.

He was persistent in pursuit of her orgasm. As soon as that first spasm hit, he thrust his thumb in and out of her ass in time to the blood pumping into her clit. Every swirling plunge of his thumb brought awareness to the nerve-rich tissues. The added sensation prolonged her orgasm—she cried out and lost herself in the moment of pleasure.

Ronin drove his cock into her and she immediately felt another orgasm gathering steam. He wrapped his hands around the place where her ankles and wrists were bound together. The gentle caress of his fingers over hers while he was pounding into her so furiously was a perfect dichotomy—so perfectly Ronin. When he whispered, “Let go,” she did.

The sweet, sweet throbbing took on a sharper edge with the violent movement of his pelvis. This time Ronin didn’t come in silence. He came with a roar, after demanding, “Look at me.”

In that moment she knew his passion for her was the real beauty.

And her passion for him had turned into love.

Tell him.

His mouth brushed her ear. “Tell me what?”

She tried to remember if she’d blurted that out but her thoughts were still muzzy. “What are you talking about?”

“You said,
Tell him
. Tell me what?”

Her stomach had knotted with nerves. Instead of confessing her true feelings, she tossed off a breezy lie. “Just that I should give you gifts more often.”

He’d laughed then. He’d laughed so hard the bed shook.

But now she regretted that she hadn’t told him the truth.

Amery snapped back to reality. Shit. What was wrong with her? She didn’t have time to moon dreamily over a coil of rope. She had a presentation to give in . . . fifty minutes.

But that memory had kicked a memory of something else that Ronin had once told her about Japanese customs. Every time he trained in Japan, he brought a gift for his sensei. At the beginning of a business meeting, before any business discussions were done, the person who required the favor always presented a gift.

Since she needed Okada to hire her, she needed to present VP Hirano with a gift.

Dammit. Amery was fresh out of gifts with no time to buy one.

Except . . . she had picked up a small token at the downtown Renaissance Faire a few weeks back. A small tintype of a Japanese Zen garden she’d planned to have mounted and framed for Ronin’s office.

Sorry, Ronin, I’ll get you something better, I promise.

She dug it out of her pajama drawer, hastily rewrapped it in a piece of brown paper, and tied it with twine. If she had time, she’d tie a better bow, but after her flashback to last night’s bondage games, she had ten minutes to make herself presentable.

•   •   •

HER
courage from the pep talk she gave herself on the drive to the Ritz-Carlton vanished when she stepped foot into the hotel’s luxurious lobby.

Uh, yeah, this opulent place was way out of her league. On so many levels.

And she still hadn’t figured out how this pop pitch to the Okada Foods VP had come about, when she’d been dealing with Maggie Arnold in Seattle exclusively. But guaranteed she’d get to the bottom of it today—for better or for worse.

She adjusted the strap on her leather portfolio as she waited at the front desk.

“How may I assist you?” the clerk asked.

“I’m Amery Hardwick and I’ve got an appointment with Okada Foods. I’m to ask which room we’re meeting in.”

The clerk’s fingers clicked on her keyboard. “Yes, Ms. Hardwick. I’ll need to see a photo ID for security purposes.”

Security? Amery dug out her wallet and flashed her driver’s license.

“Thank you.” The young female clerk picked up the phone, poked a few buttons, and waited. “This is the front desk. Ms. Hardwick has arrived. I’ll tell her. You’re welcome.” The clerk smiled at Amery with a practiced hotelier smile. “They will meet you on the eleventh floor. The elevators are around the corner.”