No Ordinary Love (8 page)

“That’s a fair point.”

“I’m a fair man.” He poured himself some sake. “You want access to my district. I want dates.”

“Dates? That's it?”

“What else are you offering me, Little Tora?”

An exasperated breath left my lips. “What else are you trying to get?”

“I enjoyed tasting your lips.”

I enjoyed sampling his too, but I refused to bargain my kisses. “I'll date you, but that's it. When it comes to my body, it’s not up for bartering.”

“Fine.”

I wished I could wipe away that wicked little smile he kept on his face. It was as if everything was going just as he’d plan. That pissed me off the most.

“There's just one more thing,” Kenji said. “In order to play it safe in my district, everyone should know that you belong to me.”

Chapter 8

NYOMI

I threaded my fingers together. “I hope you’re defining
belong
as, I’m in your employment. Not as your love slave.”

He quirked his eyebrows. “Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

The waitress returned and poured sake for him.

“Can I order for you?” he asked me. I nodded. He said several things in words I couldn’t understand. The waitress took the order without writing it down, bowed, and left with a huge smile on her face.

“Do you like eating raw fish?” he asked.

“I love it.”

“Good. Kozue is known for its sashimi.” He gestured to the box next to my seat wrapped in royal blue paper. “Is that a gift for me?”

“Yes.” I began to get it, but he jumped up and grabbed the box himself. Tiny holes decorated the top.

“What's inside?”

“If I wanted you to know, I wouldn’t have wrapped it,” I said. “Kenji, you’re supposed to wait until after you leave me to open the gift. At least that’s what my friend says.”

“I don't like waiting.”

Clearly.

I wagged my finger at him. “Well, you’re the one that’s naughty. I was told that it’s tradition to open it once the gift giver is gone.”

“I’m not good at following rules and customs when it doesn’t have anything to do with my family.” He ripped off the paper and tore open the box like an impatient kid on Christmas morning. Chuckling, he peered in and lifted the plant. I did my best to maintain a serious face.

Against Zo’s wishes, I’d spent the entire day searching for a very special plant, one that looked as close to a penis as possible. There weren't many out there, and I doubted my pitiful attempt at Japanese had gotten my point across with many of the florists. A few had escorted me out when I yelled out “Chinko!”
and then tried to form a huge penis with my hands.

Regardless, I’d hit the jackpot at my last store by buying the
titan arum
. It meant “giant phallus.” One petal circled the bottom. At the center was a huge penis-shaped cluster of flowers that stuck together and soared up a foot. Unfortunately, the downside of the poor
titan anum
was that it smelled like a dead animal. As Kenji opened the gift, a rank odor filled the air.

“I’m unsure of what message I should get from this gift. Being a lover of flowers, I’ve studied the
titan anum
before. ” He looked up at me with a grin. “On one hand, it resembles a huge penis, which I’m hoping was why you gave it to me.”

“And on the other hand?”

“It’s known as the corpse plant because of its odor. Many have used it as a threat or warning. Are you threatening me, Tora?”

My mouth dropped open. “Oh God no. Go with the penis notion.”

Did I just say go with the penis notion? Shit.

He laughed. “Good. I’ll keep it outside my door. Maybe it’ll scare people off and stop them from knocking on it.”

“You’re pretty busy?”

“Yes.” He set my gift down. One of his men immediately grabbed it and took the plant away. “Now on to our compromise on touching.”

“Dear God, it’s not a compromise on touching. Again, I want to compromise on the study. I have to finish this book. It’s not only my job, but an obsession, to study Tokyo's sex industry.”

“Many would say that there is no sex industry here.”

“They would be wrong.”

“So you want access?”

“Yes.”

“And I want access to you.” He tilted forward. “So tell me, if I give you a pass to come and observe Castle in the Sky as well as other soaplands, what do I get out of it?”

Here we go again. Can this bastard think about anything besides sex?

“What do you want?” I sighed.

“You.”

“
You
is not really an answer.” I avoided his eyes. “I already said I would date you. How do you want me?”

“Any and every way possible.” He reached his hand out to mine and trailed his finger across my wrist. “Naked and on my bed, first. Later, there would be other ways and positions.”

I stirred in my seat and moved my hand. “I’m … I don’t know about that. I find you attractive and everything, but it sounds like you’re saying I must have sex with you in order to get what I need. I’m no sex slave.”

“No, I didn’t think you were, but you asked me what I wanted. That was my answer.” He pulled one of my hands close to him, flattened it on the table, and stroked it. “However, I’m a logical man. I’ll give you access to Castle in the Sky as well as my district. But your remaining weeks in Tokyo must be with me. I want your free time to be exclusive to me, and no one else.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek before responding, “I'm going to need you to elaborate. What does being with you mean?”

“Like I've said before, I want to date you.”

“Nothing else?”

“No.”

“Come on. I’m being serious. Are you talking about sex, oral, anal, or anything else?”

“No. I’m talking about spending time with me, sipping sake, and possibly being entertained by something around us. As far as the sex is concerned, I don’t want your body unless you beg for it, and you will, until your voice is hoarse and your lovely panties are soaking wet.”

I leaned forward. “I won't.”

“We’ll see.”

“Whatever,” I muttered. “Anyway, are you prepared to hear the word
no
over and over for these next three weeks?”

“I'm prepared for it all.”

I cleared my throat. “I could spend time with you, but not all of it. I'm visiting a friend so I can't give every minute of my day. Plus, I want to research the district at night.”

He leaned back in his chair. A frown spread across his face. “Is this friend Zo without the e?”

“Yes.”

“You dated him.”

“That's a yes.”

“That wasn't a question. Are you still dating now?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Not compatible. Plus, neither one of us wants any sort of commitment. We're free birds.”

“You're staying with him?”

“Yes. Tokyo hotels are expensive. It's helpful to have a good friend in the area, one who would let me sleep on his futon and not expect anything else.”

“And this Zo without an e is that sort of friend?”

“Yes.”

The line of his jaw twitched, but his face portrayed nothing else. “Then how about we agree that your nights are mine. I'll spend time with you during your research.”

That’s fair. Weird. Odd. Slightly enticing, but fair.

“Okay,” I said. “I just want to make sure we both understand each other. Am I expected to have sex with you at all?”

His fingers painted delicious, shiver-inducing strokes along my skin. “No.”

“So we just hang out—”

“Date.”

I sighed. “So we just date?”

“Yes, Tora.”

“My name is Nyomi.”

“For others, yes. For me, it’s Tora. And if I hear another call you that, it won’t be a good thing.”

“Why not?”

Ignoring me, he snapped his fingers. The tallest of his men approached the table with a tiny box in his hand. Velvet covered the outside. Kenji grabbed it and the guy left. “Here’s another gift.”

I took the tiny box and opened it. A silver pendant carved like a tiger lay inside. Rubies served as the eyes. Diamonds that I figured were fake formed the claws and stripes. I lifted it up and spotted the long necklace it hung on. “This is beautiful, but I can't take this.”

“Not taking my gift is disrespectful.”

“But … ” I squashed my protest since it seemed he was warming to the idea of me doing my research. “Thank you for your gift.”

“It's more than a gift. If you say yes to dating me, then you need to wear this tiger around your neck the whole time. People will recognize it in Kabukichō and know you belong to me.”

“How? I can’t be the only woman wearing a tiger on a necklace in Tokyo.”

“You’ll be the only one that looks like you and is wearing one.” He gestured to my dark skin and curls. “Everyone was alerted that I’m pursuing you. The pendant confirms that you’re one of mine.”

I snorted. “One of yours? Do you have others sporting your chains?”

“Yes.” He picked up his small cup and finished his sake in one gulp. “When I date a woman, I name her something she reminds me of and give her jewelry that lets others know not to harm her.”

For the second time that night, I stared at him flabbergasted. “Maybe I should be writing about you instead of the sex industry. You sound much more interesting. How many women are you dating right now?”

“None at this moment.”

“How many have you dated?”

“More than I feel like counting.”

“And they wore little animals on chains.”

“Yes, and most of them are still allowed to wear the chains.”

“Why?”

“It wouldn’t be right to leave them unprotected after we’ve decided to end it.” He checked my cup, saw it was still full, and poured more sake for himself. “Another condition of our agreement is that when you study these places in the district, I’m with you. Necklace or not, I don’t like the idea of you sitting there, turned on, without me by your side.”

I laughed. “So you would be hanging around me just in case I get horny?”

“Yes.” He licked his lips. “But we're not done.”

“Oh goodness. There's more?”

“The next condition is you do what I say. I’ll give you an alternative if you don’t want to do it, but I’d like you to say yes to me as much as you can.”

Curious, I smirked. “What would you ask me to do? Give me an example.”

He seared me with his gaze. “Take off your panties.” The command came out in a deep growl of desire. I moistened from the sound.

The waitress approached with two tiny plates of seaweed salad. Not moving an inch, Kenji kept that intense stare on me. I unraveled right there, getting damper with each second. If he could fuck me with his eyes, I would’ve been head down on the table, ass in the air, and moaning as he clutched my breasts with one hand, massaged my clit with the other, and pumped me with his cock from behind.
Holy shit.
I closed my eyes to get rid of the thought, but found no escape. Visions of our bodies entwined filled my head.

“Oh, my naughty Little Tora. What are you thinking?”

I opened my eyes and did my best to not look at him. Instead, I focused on the waitress as she placed the plates on the table, unfolded our napkins, and handed us ivory chopsticks.

“Thank you,” I said in a hoarse voice.

“Do you need help?” he whispered as she left.

“With what?”

“Taking your panties off.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very.”

“Right here?”

The next word was a rumble, a forceful plea, lathered in sex and dripping with need. “Yes.”

I gulped. “Why do you need my panties?”

“Because that will seal the deal.”

“And … when I give you my panties, you'll let me start my research?”

“Yes.” He pulled my recorder out of his pocket and placed it on the table. “If I get your panties tonight, you get your device and you can start observing tomorrow night. I'll send a car to you around the same time I did this evening and have a driver bring you to Castle in the Sky.”

Okay. Relax. They're panties, not my soul or social security number. He can't harm me if he has them. I think. What? No. He can't do anything. They're just panties.

“Tora?” He raised one eyebrow.

“I’ll be right back.” I slid back from the chair, stood up, and did my best to walk fast enough, without stumbling, to the bathroom. I had no idea if I would take my panties off or not. Desire fogged my head. I was wet just from him sitting across me. That was dangerous.
I have to call Zo. See what he would do.
I glanced over my shoulder. He watched me walk away with that same hungry mask on his face.

Damn it. Stop looking at me like that!

In the bathroom, I had the phone to my ear. Zo’s line rang and rang, but he never picked up. I stood there with my shoes kicked off as I paced the bathroom. “Answer the damn phone, man! What could you be doing?”

After a fourth try, I hung up and looked at myself in the mirror. It was now solely up to me to figure out what to do. Taking off my panties wasn’t difficult. It was what the action said that gave me pause. It would be an agreement to date him and do whatever he asked.

I don't know. Is this book worth it? Yes. Of course it is worth it. Everything depends on this book.

The literary world watched me like crows hovering over a wounded animal as it lay in the blood-stained snow for its oncoming death. Critics hoped for my guts to spill out and feed them for winter. My father's side of the family prayed for my demise. Most fans of my first book doubted the second's success and declared that I wouldn't repeat another clever one, due to me being so far removed from the subject this time.

And then there's Dad.

He mailed off letters from behind prison bars, treacherous ones, filled with hate and ridicule. The sort of disgust that only someone who despised another so much could produce. His words mocked me. He'd always been a great writer. Judges had to be able to twist the meaning of words like wizards in order to force the law to fit the decision. And he'd been the greatest twister of them all. At the height of his career, he'd swerved and turned like a violent tornado of language and bullshit. Nevertheless,
Dad's letters sliced me with each comma and drained my blood with a mocking
love, your father
at the end. I'd asked the prison to stop him from sending me mail. They'd tried, yet still Dad's letters arrived at my apartment, with
your karma is coming
decorating every envelope in black, foreboding words.