No Ordinary Love (22 page)

“Yes,” I gasped.

“You let me put my dick inside you and I didn’t want to fucking leave. It was so wet and warm.” His nibbles shifted to little bites that made me jump. He explored my breasts with his hands, and they pebbled under his attention. No doubt Zo was getting an eyeful from the living room as well as the rest of the fashion district. “You rode my dick like you knew me, and then you came so hard, you dragged me into ecstasy with you.” He squeezed my ass harder. “Now, my Little Tora, you want to set some distance and rules between us after giving me such an addictive taste? It’s not going to happen.”

I arched into him. I couldn’t help it. My nipples begged to be licked. He could’ve taken my towel off, right there on the balcony.

Damn him.

“Kenji, I just—”

“You don’t get space from me, Tora.”

I moved my face away in hopes to escape his lips. It didn’t work.

“Stop.” I pressed at his chest. He backed away a little, but still held me.

“I will get space from you,” I declared. “I don’t know how you date anyone else, but with me, you’re going to have to respect it. I want my space.”

He leaned forward until the tips of our noses touched. “No.”

I tensed.

“There are things that I will give you,” he said. “If you need time away from me, it can be organized. But there won’t be many times like that. Today, for example. I have to be near you. Space won’t do. Tonight, we spend together. Tomorrow will be another day to discuss this.”

“You’ve lost your damn mind.” I climbed out of his arms. “You don’t tell me what to do.”

He let me go and backed away. “Tora, it’s time for you to catch up.”

“Now you’re pissing me off even more.”

“Too bad. It’s time for you to face the reality of this situation. I don’t have any more minutes to waste.”

He’s truly lost his mind! Or did he have any sense to begin with?

“Trust me, buddy. I’m caught up.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You still think you have some choice in this city. I told you contrary to that before met me the second time. I explained that you have to know who you’re dealing with. You know me. I’ve never pretended to be anything else. A man like me doesn’t experience a woman like you and then walk away blindly, giving you space and time away. A man like me snatches someone like you up, immediately, before any other lucky bastard gets a whiff of your scent.”

“Kenji—”

“Catch up in this game.” He pointed to me and then rested his hand on his chest. “You and I, it’s going to happen, and it will go down exactly the way I want it to go down. This is my city, Tora. You don’t walk around it unless I know what places your toes are stepping on. You remain safe and mine.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Catch up.” He tossed me a wicked grin. “Now, hurry and get dressed so we can go to your friend’s tea ceremony.” He turned to the balcony door, slid it open, and left.

Game? Catch up? It’ll go down exactly the way he wants? He’s insane. Clearly, there’s a serious language and cultural misunderstanding happening here.

When had the game begun? When had he decided I was prey that needed to be hunted? Surely he’d been a predator from the beginning. The whole time, I’d thought he had a fun little infatuation, saw something in me, and decided to try it. No. Whatever this game was in his mind, it wasn’t the typical man’s aim to get panties. His actions came off thicker, stronger, and absolutely crazier than my preconceived notions. A man that sat outside a woman’s apartment, well, he was …

What? I don’t fucking know. This is new to me. Crazy? Dangerous? And then he just tells me that he won’t stop? Now what? Well, it’s time to get control of the situation, but in his own language. Sex.

Through the glass door, I watched him sit down on Zo’s couch. Sweating, Zo stood in the center of the room with his mouth still agape. Who knew what was going through my friend’s mind? Here we had a freaking gang leader in his apartment who had simply invited himself to a tea ceremony that we were going to. Neither one of us had the balls to say no. Zo would be scared Kenji would kill him. Outrageous, sure … Or was it? I, on the other hand, well … Kenji had control of my hormones and for some reason my attempts to stand up to him were lackluster.

I have to nip this in the bud. This ends today.

In my heart, I believed those words. No one was going to just push themselves on me and tell me what to do. I didn’t like bullies. Kenji didn’t straight up push us, but he knew that custom dictated we wouldn’t battle him on this and his position with the yakuza made sure we stayed in line.

Clearly, he’d never dated a chick from Brooklyn before. There were many ways to tame a dragon. Not all had to do with strong-arming or verbal threats. Some methods cut deeper than others, and my poor Kenji was going to have to learn that some city girls just wouldn’t be pushed around.

All right, buddy. I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.

A plan came to my head as a smile formed on my face. As if sensing my wicked intentions, he turned my way and licked his lips.

Oh, get excited all you want, Dragon. You’ll be getting nothing from me tonight, sweetie. It’s time to teach your ignorant behind a lesson.
 

Chapter 23

KENJI

Coincidentally, my Tora's friend Zo was no longer excited to go to the tea ceremony with all of us. Tora now had a free night, and there would be no denying that she would spend it with me. I'd made my point on the balcony. Although a bit drastic, time was winding down. The gentleman side of me was pissed. I knew better and had never forced my authority over anyone I'd dated before. My whole behavior represented everything I despised. I'd watched my uncles stomp around their women in the same way, year after year, pushing their loves into a darkness where no light existed.

That's not what I want for us.

Look at me. Want for us? What am I even talking about?

Tora and I rode in the back of my limo. She'd said nothing after getting dressed and then leaving her friend's house with me. She remained silent, yet her body language said she teetered on the edge of attacking me with a knee to the groin.

I went too far again. What did I expect? How do I turn this around?

“You've been quiet this whole time,” I said.

“Of course.” She stared out the window on her side. “I'm here against my will.”

“I didn't drag you.”

“No, but you forced your way into my day.”

I wagged my finger. “Your days were already promised to me.”

“I decided to change that.” She turned to me. “I'm allowed a break.”

“Why?”

She scrunched her face up into a confused look. “Why am I allowed a break?”

“No, why did you decide to change your plans today?”

She frowned, probably realizing that she'd let that slip. “You scare me.”

At least she finally said it aloud.

“What could I do to put you at ease?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

I nodded. “I didn't think so, either, but it was worth a try.”

“You're scary. Then add in your reputation … ”

“My reputation shouldn't concern you because you'll never need to meet the Dragon. Who you deal with is Kenji.”

“No.” She crossed her legs. “I've seen the Dragon three times—in the restaurant when you were pissed at Jun, in Castle in the Sky when I started pushing your buttons, and this morning on the balcony, you were in full Dragon mode.” She directed her view back to the window. “I don't like to be bullied into being with someone. Shit like that shoves everything back to square one with me. Last night, we had sex. Tonight, we do nothing.”

I tensed. “Excuse me?”

“Fine, you want my time. Okay, you want to stalk me and hang around my friend's apartment like a psycho, sure. I won't be here that much longer, and none of that gives you the right to truly be with me.” She twisted back around. “Now, if you want me, you'll have to take it. Are you really that bad, Kenji? Are you willing to take it?”

I licked my lips and laughed. “I don't have to take it from you, Tora. You showed me that last night.”

“Yeah, but that was last night.”

I grinned. “Yes, it was.”

“Now we're back at square one.”

The driver turned the car into Kabukichō District.

Square one? Fine. I know the one thing that can smooth you over.

“Is that okay with you?” she asked.

“Fine.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Fine?”

I leaned her way and targeted my gaze on her. Chikusho, she looked so good and so damn close to me. Her fragrance could have been a melody—long and mounting with a thousand violins. Her breasts peeked out of her V-neck top, which had an image of Marilyn Monroe painted in black and white on the front. Her jeans hugged her hips and supple behind. If she'd thought the jeans and shirt would make her less appealing than the dresses she usually wore, then my Tora was dead wrong. My fingers itched to rip them off, and my teeth craved to wrench them open.

“Fine,” I whispered and moved an inch closer, trying my best not to consume her. “I wasn't going to have sex with you tonight, anyway. I only wanted your time.”

“Just my time?”

“That's what we agreed on.”

She tilted toward me. Our lips were barely an inch away from each other. I could write a haiku on that mouth alone. She exhaled and her minty, cool breath skittered across my skin. My dick grew in my pants.

“So no sex?” she whispered.

I bit my lip. “No.”

“I'm glad we agree then.” She moved away and it took everything inside of me not to clasp my hands onto her hips and bring that sweet body back.

The limo stopped at the section that I'd instructed the driver to go to earlier.

“Where are we?” She peered out the window.

“Where most don't travel to in Kabukichō District.”

“Why not?” She scanned the dark alley.

No one walked there, yet several businesses flanked the path. Every few doors, men stood outside, smoking cigarettes or chatting with one another in whispered tones. I knew all of this without stepping outside the car. It was by my instruction. Anyone traveling on the street by foot needed to be escorted away. The few that were bold and rich enough to purchase these services would have a driver anyway and wouldn't be caught walking around in places like this.

“Why are we here?” She looked over her shoulder at me.

“You want to write about Tokyo's underground sex industry. This is a section that not many people in the city know about.”

Her cheeks twitched as she tried to hold in her excitement, but she couldn't. A smile burst over her face. She fixed it quickly, and then formed her mouth into a straight line. “What's this area called?”

“I won't tell you. There are things that cannot be put into your book and the name of this place is one of them.” I considered the part I'd played in her research. “And I don't have to explain why any information about me or my … family should not be in the book?”

“Of course not.” She slanted her mouth to the side. “I don't want to deal with the Dragon.”

I don't want you to either.

We got out of the car. Moonlight bathed our skin. She glowed, and I held my lips apart just trying to breathe her all in. This was where I needed to be, next to strength and … something more.

Hope?

I wasn't sure why she lured me into something deeper than sex, when others could never come close. But I had no time to think of it anymore. I extended my arm and she hooked hers around mine. My driver closed the door behind us. The slam signaled to the other people in the alley. They stirred in front of their doors. Everyone knew my car and had been told that I would be in the area that night.

There would be no complications in front of her.

Our footsteps clicked on the cracked pavement. Every now and then a puddle lay before us and I guided her around it. She didn't speak, yet her attention wandered from side to side, to each shadowed space that seemed to inhale and exhale on its own. Although dark and quiet, the whole place was alive. Anyone with half a brain would recognize that in some of those shadows people hid, and that those individuals would do them harm if necessary.

It was dangerous and reckless taking her here. Word could spread. My father could find out. My men weren't used to seeing me with a woman more than a few times. To bring her to this area was to tell everyone that she was on a higher level than the others. Only the most trusted women were allowed to escort my men.

“What are we going to see?” She kept her voice low.

“What money can buy.” I continued to guide her to the end of the alleyway.

“And what can money buy?”

“Anything.”

“Not love.”

I chuckled. “You would be surprised. Granted, love hasn't been fully capitalized here, but the elements of love are already being boxed and marketed.”

She gave me a sidelong glance. “The elements of love?”

“Think about what makes a relationship addictive. Intimacy, sex, and this feeling of connecting with someone else.”

“Interesting.”

I stopped us both on the path. “What?”

“I didn't think you'd ever been in a long-term relationship.”

“I haven't.” I directed my gaze to her. “I'm just going by what I've seen from others. What about you? Have you been in any long-term relationships?”

“No.” She unhooked her arm and walked forward. “So how has Japan commoditized these elements of love? What were they again—intimacy, sex, and some sort of an emotional connection?”

“Yes.” I sped up to her pace and placed my hand on her waist. “Stay close to me, please.”

Her body tensed under my grip but she said nothing else.

“The men that frequent these places possess power that even makes me nervous. They’re smart, so they won't cause any unnecessary problems with me, but still, if you walk in there without showing that you're mine, you could get their attention. And neither of us want that.”