“Same goes.” Then Ronin pushed her against the wall and kissed the holy hell out of her. By the time he let her go, her mind was scrambled and she wondered if she could walk.
All that. From just a kiss.
He murmured something in Japanese to her and retreated.
Before she asked what it meant, Knox strode down the corridor. “We’ve got an issue. You able to handle this now?”
“Yes.” Ronin offered Amery a quick bow and then he was gone.
CHAPTER SIX
THE next night Ronin whisked Amery into the elevator within thirty seconds of her walking in the building.
He didn’t touch her until they were in his penthouse, herding her against the wall with the soft command “Hold still.”
Not only did she hold still, but Amery held her breath.
Ronin’s lips glided across hers. His mouth imparted softness and heat. And patience. Lord, he had such patience. He didn’t dive in. His lips moved with erotic precision, as if memorizing the shape of her mouth.
One of Ronin’s hands cradled the back of her head; the other lightly circled her neck. He held her entirely in his thralclass="underline" her body and her will.
“So warm. So soft. I could eat at his mouth for hours,” he murmured, taking his own sweet time.
Amery clenched her fists by her sides, wanting so much to touch him. To feel the hard planes and the curves of his muscles beneath her hands. But she wanted his kiss—his whole kiss. Wanted to feel his tongue invade her mouth. Wanted him to consume her however aggressively or sweetly he desired.
His thumb swept across the pulse point at the base of her jaw—a lazy counterpoint to how fast her heart beat. And still he teased. Stealing her breath with every leisurely slide of his lower lip over hers.
Finally he said, “Open and let me taste you, Amery.”
Her lips parted and he sealed his mouth to hers. His tongue slipping past her teeth to stroke and lick.
The man knew how to kiss. Gradually cranking the power until she felt the change in him and his passion, his hunger rolling over her in a storm of need.
Amery returned his kiss with equal greed. Losing herself in his taste, letting him lead, but also showing him she’d follow wherever he opted to take them.
The kiss reached the combustible stage. She wanted to claw at his clothes to get to bare skin, reach down and undo his fly.
Ronin broke the kiss and pressed his cheek to hers, murmuring, “Hands at your sides.”
She let her hands fall down.
His ragged breathing ruffled her hair. He remained like that until she relaxed. Then his fingers started caressing her neck. He rubbed his lips across the top of her ear. “It’s humbling the way you just hand yourself over to me without question. That act of trust is a drug to someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” she repeated.
“Someone who not only wants a beautiful woman on his arm and in his bed, but a woman who can truly surrender herself to a man who will give her what she wants.”
“Which is what?”
“Pleasure without apology.”
Amery found herself leaning into him again. “Are you taking me to bed, Ronin?”
“Soon, but not tonight.”
She knew he sensed her disappointment.
“While I want you twined around me in every possible config- uration, there’s no rush.” Ronin kissed her temple, then her forehead, and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. His hands fell away. “I promised you a drink.”
“You said you had a surprise for me.”
“I do. Let’s figure out what we’re drinking first.” Ronin threaded their fingers together and led her to the bar in the corner of the dining room.
She loved the mix of old and new in this cozy corner bar. It had such personality she didn’t know how she’d missed it the night he’d given her the penthouse tour. Exposed red clay brick walls, bright blue neon lighting beneath the teak bar top. Track lighting hanging from the rafters highlighted the glass shelves holding the liquor bottles on the bar-back and cast muted light over the entire area. She slid onto a sleek leather and chrome barstool.
“What’ll it be?”
Her eyes scanned the liquor bottles. “Do you have every kind of booze there is?”
“I like a variety.”
“What do you usually drink?”
“Depends on my mood. I’m leaning toward a gin and tonic.”
“I’ll have the same.”
Ronin smiled. “Coming right up.”
Amery bit back a girlie sigh at seeing his rare smile. With her, away from the dojo, he seemed to have a softer side. Ronin in action as eighth-degree black belt and hard-ass owner of Black Arts had a cool veneer as well as an aura of power. Everything about him screamed discipline.
With that cool veneer stripped away, the man oozed sex. From his unruly black hair, to his liquid brown eyes that changed from ice to fire in one quick blink, to the fullness of his sensual mouth. And don’t get her started on the strength in his body. The measured way he walked—a combination of purpose and grace. The deliberateness as his hands performed a task even as simple as making a drink—no wasted movement. The man was an erotic enigma.
So . . . why was he interested in her?
She’d been so lost in thoughts of him she jumped when he slid a drink across the bar.
“See if that tastes okay.”
Amery sucked in a mouthful and swallowed. Crisp, tangy, limey. She smacked her lips. “It’s perfect. Is there anything you don’t do well?”
Ronin thought about it a bit before he shook his head. “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”
“You’re intimidating as hell, Ronin Black.”
He offered a slight bow. “Thank you.”
Yeah, she was in way over her head with this man.
“Come on.”
Amery followed him inside the elevator.
He opened a small panel above the main controls and punched in a code.
The elevator moved up.
Wait. Up? Weren’t they on the top floor?
Before Amery could ask what was going on, the doors opened and a breeze blew in.
Ronin took her hand.
They stepped out of a small alcove onto the roof. As soon as they turned the corner, she gasped.
Ronin said, “Surprise.”
This wasn’t an ordinary roof in the city with vents sticking up and razor wire strung across the roof supports. This was an urban oasis with a view of the Rocky Mountains, the Denver skyline, and the Platte River Valley. And with the added height of brick walls around the entire perimeter, none of it was visible from street level. She said, “Heckuva surprise, Ronin,” and set her drink on the closest table.
The forward space had been transformed into a Japanese garden, complete with full-sized junipers shaped into bonsai trees and a rock garden with a trickling waterfall. Pots of blooming flowers were scattered everywhere. Long strips of green grass were interspersed with raised beds filled with sand and stones.
Amery looked to the right to where an eight-foot wall bisected the space. The pattern in the brick was eye-catching, as was the curved door in the center, crafted out of ornate metal. She glanced at Ronin over her shoulder. “What’s through there?”
“Take a peek.”
She crossed the decking, giving the thickly padded cushions on the chaise lounges a longing look. Somehow she tore her gaze from the relaxing garden and paused in front of the doorway.
That’s when she caught a whiff of chlorine. “No way.” She pushed through the gate and found herself in front of a big swimming pool with underwater lighting. This side had the same concealing brick walls. Tables and chairs lined the outside of the pool with seating for at least a dozen people. Torches were jammed in planters at various intervals. She squinted at the far back corner and noticed a structure with a grass-thatched roof. Tiki bar?