“This is much bigger than prom,” Emmylou said, unwinding the curling iron from Amery’s hair.
Sasha, the blonde Amery secretly called Marilyn, swept powder over Amery’s face. Maybe she’d lucked out that Sasha made her living as a makeup artist, but to be honest, she was half-afraid to look in the mirror. What did it mean when Sasha swore Amery would look “glamorous yet natural?”
“I still can’t believe you’re going to this. I’ll bet John Elway is there.”
“If he is he’ll be mobbed. He’s on equal footing with the Messiah in this town,” Amery said.
“As he deserves to be.”
Amery fought the urge to roll her eyes. Emmylou was a jock through and through—sports heroes were the only heroes in her eyes.
“How much longer?”
“Just your lipstick, sweets, so pucker up.” Sasha started painting her lips with a thin sponge.
“Better make it the kiss-proof kind. The way Ronin looks at her . . . I think he might actually eat her up.”
“Emmylou, you are such a romantic,” Sasha said with a sigh.
“Back atcha, babe,” Emmylou cooed.
Amery looked away as they pawed at each other and kissed noisily. When the grab-ass session continued, she slipped from the barstool and went into her bedroom. She picked up her shoes and her beaded handbag and headed downstairs. She texted Ronin: R you picking me up in the alley or out front?
Ten seconds later her phone vibrated.
RB: I’m parking out front right now.
She slipped on her shoes and reached the front door the same time Ronin walked in.
He stopped dead. His gaze started at the tips of her toes and wandered up her body, lingering on her hips and breasts before locking on her eyes. “You are absolutely exquisite.”
Amery blushed. “Thank you.”
“But . . .”
Her stomach pitched. “But what?”
“But here’s a warning; I swear to Christ, if we get five minutes alone in a dark corner, I’ll have my hands and my mouth all over you.”
The emphatic way he growled that caused her girl parts to tingle. As much as he kept eyeing her hungrily, she returned the favor. The man could rock a suit. In black, of course, a modern cut worn with a white shirt and a subtly patterned tie. Ronin hadn’t done anything to his hair, like pull it back into a ponytail when he was in the dojo, so the casual messiness of those dark, thick locks and the formality of the suit made her mouth dry and her panties wet. Amery’s lust-filled gaze hooked his. “Same goes, Master Black.”
Chaz exited the bathroom and marched up between them. “The two of you will turn heads at this gala.” His gaze flicked over Ronin from head to loafer. Then he said, “Tom Ford?”
“Yes.”
“Sharp. Always an excellent choice. So, did you pick up my gorgeous BFF in a limo, Mr. Class Act?”
“No. I hate having someone else drive me.”
“In charge in all aspects. Gotta respect that. Can I snap a picture of you two to commemorate this occasion?”
Just as she’d been about to say yes, Ronin said no.
Why didn’t he want a picture of them?
Because this isn’t prom, Amery. Don’t act like a North Dakota rube.
Ronin held out his hand. “Let’s hit it.”
Amery air-kissed Chaz. “Don’t wait up, Mom.”
He swatted her butt. “I’m more like your fairy godmother and I’m here to lock up, so you don’t have to worry about coming home at midnight, Cinderella.”
“Thank you.”
As she and Ronin clipped down the sidewalk, the sun’s intensity had faded but retained enough brightness that she needed her shades. She didn’t see his Lexus and for a brief moment she feared he’d ridden his bike. But he stopped beside a sleek black sports car parked at the curb.
“This is yours?”
“Yes. I don’t drive her very often.”
“This is a Corvette?”
“Corvette ZR-1. She can haul serious ass, but I’ll drive with utmost caution tonight, I promise.”
Amery moved in close enough so their chests were touching. “Oh, I don’t know. Might be fun to go fast.”
“There is that . . . thrill,” he said in the silken timbre that caused her pulse to zing. “To see how much she can take when I push her to her limits.”
A funny tickle started low in her belly. “Do you do that a lot?”
“Push boundaries? All. The. Damn. Time. And especially with you.” Ronin tugged her against his body. “Before you slide in and torture me with those legs for the next half hour, gimme this mouth.”
Ronin took her mouth; there was no other way to describe the kiss. He owned her in that moment, his warring tongue stroking and teasing hers. His passion for her was barely contained. On the outside he might look like a sophisticated gentleman, but on the inside Ronin Black was pure sexual beast.
His mouth brushed her ear. “Good thing your friends were at your place. Because if we’d been alone? I would’ve hiked up this dress and fucked you on your desk. And then I would’ve bent you over the back of the couch and fucked you again.”
She trembled. “Ronin.”
“And you would’ve said yes. Both times.” His mouth meandered down her throat. “Will you spread your legs for me in the front seat of my Corvette? Let me slide my fingers into your pussy and finger-fuck you until you come?”
Her next shudder was more pronounced. “Yes.”
Ronin made that low rumble in the back of his throat, and it vibrated against her skin. “At some point tonight I will have my hand up your dress and you will come for me. Anything I want, any time I want was a very dangerous promise to make to me, Amery,” he whispered against her jaw, “because you have no idea what I want from you.”
“I don’t care,” she breathed, “it’s yours.”
Someone yelled, “Get a room!”
Amery blinked out of the sexual fog and realized they were still standing on the sidewalk.
He placed one soft kiss on her lips. “I lose my head every time I’m around you.”
But will you ever lose your heart?
Where had that thought come from?
Then he stepped back and opened her car door.
The Corvette practically hugged the ground and she was glad the dress wasn’t any shorter.
Ronin slid behind the wheel and the car made a throaty purr as he started it. He smiled. “Hang on.”
So much for him driving with utmost caution.
After a few minutes of enjoying the ride, she said, “I’m surprised you have a sports car.”
“I don’t seem like the Vette-driving type?”
“You have a nice car, and a nice bike, and an awesome penthouse, but you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who cares about owning expensive toys to impress others.”
“I don’t.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. “But I do like things that go fast, and buying a Ferrari or Lamborghini seemed indulgent.”
Her mouth fell open. He could afford to buy those?
“Kidding. A guy I know got in over his head with this car and I took it off his hands before the bank re-poed it.”
“That explains the purple fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror,” she said.
“Those are mine. Needed to pimp it out a little.”
She laughed.
A few minutes later, Ronin said, “You’re quiet.”
“Nerves. This gala is a big deal to you—”
“The gala isn’t a big deal to me. The fact that you’re going with me is all I care about. And right now if you said let’s blow this off and have an intimate dinner, just the two of us, I’d do it in a fucking heartbeat.”
“You just want to get me out of this dress.”
Ronin flashed her a predatory smile.