No Ordinary Love (18 page)

“I don't have the money.”

“I do.”

“Or the time.” I shoved his arms away and sat up.

“We have all the time in the world.”

“I have other obligations.”

“Other men?”

I could’ve sworn his eyes glowed for a second. “No.”

“There's no one else?” he asked.

“That's not even a question you should be asking.”

His tone darkened. “But is there someone else?”

“No.”

Silence filled the space. I dragged myself away from his arms and got ready to leave. He sat up, but didn’t look pleased as his gaze followed my movements. A few quiet minutes passed as I found my dress, put it on, and yanked it up. “I'm ready to go.”

“Let me take you to my home.”

What?

I waved the comment away. “No, thank you.”

“I would like to spend more time with you tonight.”

“I’m already exhausted.”

“What about tomorrow morning?”

We need some space.

“I’ll be busy,” I replied.

“Busy doing what?”

“Busy minding my own business, for one.” I flashed him a wicked smile but he didn’t seem amused.

He targeted me with his gaze. “Tomorrow night, when we see each other again, expect to stay the night with me. Bring clothes or I will have something bought for you.”

“I’m not sure I want to spend the night.”

Or if we’ll even have sex again.

“I don’t like you leaving,” he said.

“We’ve barely known each other for two freaking days. Calm down, buddy.”

“The way our bodies moved tonight, you would’ve thought that we’d known each other for years.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Tomorrow, you’ll stay with me.” Rising, he rubbed his face and zipped up his pants.

Suddenly, anxiety hit me. I didn't like the rushed way he was trying to keep me close to him, or maybe I was imaging things. The fact that he had the full body tattoo pretty much set me on edge and the choking during sex didn’t help me see this entire situation as normal. As good as it was, I didn’t know if I could do that again.

Some intense pleasures were better left alone.

“I should go,” I whispered.

“Okay. You can go for now.”

I turned to him. “What?”

“Nothing,” he muttered and helped me find my shoes.

We said nothing else. Something about the final moment didn’t set right in my stomach. Unlike Zo’s gut feelings, I took mine very seriously. I couldn’t mess with Kenji anymore, no matter how much I enjoyed the sex tonight. Thrills slithered up my skin at the thought of his lips on my body. Goodness, he was good. Perfect, to say the least. A beast in everything that dealt with desire. And he’d taken me like no other, blocking my oxygen while his cock drove me toward orgasm. I couldn’t reminisce on any of it.

He’s too dangerous.

Usually a bad boy I dated didn’t show his wicked side until the closing of our fling. Most of them could hide the evil within them for short periods of time. Kenji couldn’t. It was painted all over his body and whispered in the streets as if he was a freaking antihero for the people.

What was I thinking? Well, I wasn’t thinking, just horny and excited for the ride.

At least he hadn’t disappointed on all counts. Too bad he freaked me out, too.

“You can go for now.”

I’d caught what he said, but had dared him to repeat himself, which he hadn’t.

You can go for now? What did that mean?

I hope he didn’t plan on keeping me with him when I didn’t want to be with him. That was too dark for me, too close to the path of abuse and sick domination. Not my thing at all. I liked my men rough around the edges, but not rocky and jutting sharp stakes.

You can go for now? Shit. That’s all I need to hear to make me run the other way.

Now I had to figure out a way to put space between us while still observing the district. Maybe I needed to get as much information as I could, and then leave earlier. It would be protecting the book and me. Three weeks with Kenji would be bad for the soul. I’d barely spent three days with him and already I’d been choked to orgasm in front of six strangers on the third level of a luxury soapland. I didn’t think I could survive any more Kenji-type days.

What the hell would he have me doing by week three? Probably an orgy fest with bags over our heads as we choked ourselves into ecstasy. Shit! This brother is too much for me.

Dressed and ready to walk down the stairs, I headed that way. Kenji snatched my hand and stopped me. “What’s wrong, Tora?”

I climbed out of his grip. “Nothing.”

“You haven’t said anything since we got dressed.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“Since when?”

“Since now.”

“Is something different between us?”

I looked at the ground. “Of course there is, we’ve just had sex and … very different sex from the norm.”

“Is there something I can do?”

“I’m fine.”

He reached for me again, but I stepped out of his way.

His voice lowered. “Tora?”

“I’m fine, Kenji. I’m just ready to go home.”

Chapter 18

KENJI

Someone said long ago that,

“Love haiku is when

Everything comes to heart &

Nothing comes to mind.”

Most haiku depicted the natural world. Few truly explored the concepts of love. The ones that did flew over my head. I could barely conceive the meaning of those poetic lines. It’s not that I hated love. I’d had relationships, dark ones. Others were only flings. Being in the limelight for sports made me a magnet for women who craved money and excitement. Plus, I was too young to want more than the taste of a woman’s flesh and the sound of a feminine laugh from time to time. Once the gang shooting occurred and I was forced to return to Tokyo to take over my father’s place above his men, well, love plummeted on my priority list. In fact, I hadn’t known the possibility was even there, until Nyomi.

Nyomi’s face flashed into my head, her face right as she was having an orgasm—mouth open, eyes widened in pure heat, her lips shivering as she groaned in pleasure. Hunger shot to the tip of my dick.

Everything comes to heart and nothing comes to mind. So the person was saying that no one thinks when they’re in love? Why did I let her go home?

A cool breeze rustled my hair as I lounged on my balcony with a cold beer in my hand. The beer was called Asahi Super Dry. I kept cases of the stuff in my fridge. It had a pure crisp taste that other beer companies couldn’t match, yet the liquid did nothing to better my mood.

Nyomi couldn’t wait to get away from me tonight. I could see it all over her face. What made her so scared? Was it the choking or something else?

Sighing, I lifted my bare feet up and set them on the small table in front of me. Every night, I watched the lights turn off on the Tokyo Tower. When I was young, I would’ve never imagined that I’d get such a good view as the one I had now. Being on the ninth floor of my building and only minutes away from Shiba-koen district, I had one of the best views in the city.

I wanted to show it to her, as well as other things.

My cock jumped in my pants. Since her departure, he’d been erect and hungry the rest of the night. She’d stirred up something in me that no other had. Excitement. Emotions. Feelings that I thought I’d never experience before this day.

I gulped some more of my beer. That cold liquid slid over my tongue and traveled down my throat. I took no joy in the moment like other times. Even the tower’s lights didn’t have me in awe.

Tokyo Tower was lit up differently on various days. In winter, those one hundred and eighty lights sparkled a warm orange. During the summer, it blazed cool white. Colors continued to change for the seasons. Once I’d seen it covered in a bright blue glow, illuminating the sky and causing me to stare at the tower for several quiet minutes. This spring it stood before me, golden and enflamed. It burned hot like fire, or even as scorching as my Tora’s flesh while I glided in and out of her.

She leaves me, yet her damn scent, voice, and body stay on my mind. Or was this all dealings with the heart, just as Love haiku is supposed to be?

If I’d been using my mind, we would’ve never had sex in the hallway. That alone made everything dangerous for her, which made it problematic for me. No woman had ever been seen with the Dragon in such an intimate way. Sure, lovers wore my jewelry and some happened to be with me as news cameras snapped a few pictures, but no one ever witnessed me—pants down, cock out, and moaning for a woman.

No female ever fogged my head up so much that I couldn’t think.

I’d let my cock maneuver the situation.

What is she doing right now?

I checked my phone. She hadn’t called, not that I expected her to. She barely wanted to see me tomorrow. If she figured we were done, she was wrong.

I picked up my phone and typed in a message to her number, hoping that Jun had given me the right one.

Me: Tora?

Minutes passed before my phone buzzed. I rushed to grab it.

Nyomi: Kenji?

Me: Yes. I just wanted you to have my number.

She waited too long again. I wondered what went through her mind.

Nyomi: Thank you.

Me: What are you doing?

Nyomi: Lying down on my friend’s futon, and you?

This friend better not be on the futon with her. Zo without an e makes me nervous.

Me: I’m on my balcony, staring at the Tokyo Tower. It’s beautiful.

Nyomi: I bet it is. But it’s late. Aren’t the lights off by now?

Me: In a few minutes. It’s almost 10.

Nyomi: Well, enjoy, Mighty Dragon.

I laughed. Others said the nickname and inspired fear. Half the time I heard it and wanted to gag. Nyomi made fun of the situation. Perhaps, she saw me differently.

Or maybe she hasn’t seen enough of me to truly be scared?

I gripped the phone harder than I should have. The damn device had done nothing to get me in this current situation where my life was owed to the Yamaguchi, instead of myself. It was other things—my father’s ordering, loyalty to my mother, and pure cowardice on my part. Now my feet and me were glued to the situation.

Damn you, Takeo.

My oldest brother, Takeo, had died right with my mother. My present position was meant for him. Takeo should’ve been sitting on this balcony right now. We never had a close relationship. We’d been ten years apart. By his teen years he’d already been hanging out with gangs and getting into trouble. He laughed at my soccer playing, never went to a game, even during my professional career. We’d never fought. I loved him, and he cared for me too, in his way. The only thing we truly had in common was our insane love for beer.

Takeo would’ve been perfect for this life. It was all he’d dreamed of. My father had been preparing him for years, and just like that he died, and my father had to look to me to fill his shoes, ones that barely fit.

Now Takeo is free, and I’m here, stuck in a world that I can’t get out of.

I returned to my phone.

Me: Can you see the tower from there?

Nyomi: No. I wish.

Me: Too bad. I wanted us to see this together. There is a myth that if lovers watch the lights go off together, then they’ll have good fortune for the rest of the year.

Another minute went by without her reply. As soon as I decided to type something else, my phone buzzed.

Nyomi: Is that what we are, lovers?

What a tricky question, Little Tora.

Now it was my turn to take my time. I couldn’t go too far. Pushing too hard could scare her away. For now, she had the ability to run from me. I didn’t want to take it there. Not that I was ever afraid of a good chase, and plus she had absolutely nowhere to go.

I’d find her and bring her back to me. That’s what you’ve done, Tora. You’ve incited me to be a madman.

There was nowhere for her to hide, if I truly needed her. She could go back to her city in New York, but I would find her. I had many business connections in that area. It would be nothing to make a call and have her flown back.

But that’s not how you catch a tiger. You don’t ever trap a wild beast in a cage. You give it a huge area to play in, so big that the lovely creature never sees the walls and bars behind the bushes and trees.

Me: I’m willing to be whatever you want me to be. For you, I’d do it all.

Nyomi: I’m not ready to call us lovers.

Me: ok.

One day, you will be.

Me: Then what should we call each other?

Nyomi: We should call each other friends.

At that moment, the lights shut off on the tower. Darkness spread throughout the city. Stars littered the sky, but didn’t possess that same glow. Night had truly come for Tokyo and me.

Friends?

I almost laughed. Not many friends stayed in contact with me during the years I’d returned. Almost all of my soccer buddies stopped calling or visiting. They were smart enough to read the news articles and listen to the gossip that I’d taken over my gang. No one with any logic would get dirty with me.

Too bad you no longer have a choice, Little Tora.

Love haiku didn’t deal with the mind. It focused on the heart. I was suddenly ready to dabble in this art. I’d written many haikus before, thousands of them, from my youth to even these adult years. Lots of them dealt with death. Others focused on a favorite flower or plant I’d learned about.

Maybe I’ll get my notebook out and write something about this crazy tiger.

Nyomi: Is that okay? Let’s just be friends.