“Amery—”
“Hear me out completely before you interrupt. I like rope play, Master Black. As much as it pleases you that I’m your willing partner, it’s not a challenge for you. Figuring out which technique to use on me has its challenges, but nothing like the test of capturing and punishing a disobedient partner.”
Interest stirred his brain and his cock.
“So I’m here to make a confession.”
“What did you do?”
“I broke your ‘no observation’ rule. I’ve watched classes. I even interrupted a class Knox was teaching last night—he’s probably still wrestling with the best way to tell his boss that the boss’s girlfriend has been openly violating rules.”
“That is pretty blatant.”
“And I haven’t learned my lesson. Case in point? I’m up here. Civilians aren’t supposed to enter your domain during class hours. This is the second time I’ve done it in a week. You never let that shit slide.”
“True—I’ve always been adamant about enforcing the rules.”
“So what are you going to do about it? Pull down my panties, bend me over your desk, and spank my bare ass? Huh-uh. We’d end up fucking for sure. And, hot man of mine? Fucking you is always a reward, never a punishment.”
“Are you trying to piss me off or turn me on?”
Amery stood on tiptoe and murmured, “Both,” in his ear. “You know you have to punish me. I know you have to punish me. But there’s no way I’ll be on my knees in the practice room waiting for you to finish up your day to dish that punishment out.”
Ronin whirled around and, shockingly, Amery was already halfway across the room.
“This is where the challenge starts, Samurai,” she cooed sexily. “You’ll have to find me before you can exact the punishment of your choosing.”
“Find you,” he repeated.
“After the dojo closes, I’ll be somewhere in this building except for the penthouse level. I bet I know some really great nooks and crannies that you aren’t even aware of. Or maybe I’ll be plotting my escape back to my place. I’ll give you an hour to find me. If you’re unsuccessful, your bed will seem big and lonely without me in it tonight, don’t you think?”
Ronin started to stalk her. “When I do track you down? What then?”
“You’d better have a plan in place to capture me because I won’t go easy.”
“Baby, throwing down the gauntlet is what I live for. The fact that it’s you issuing the challenge?” His greedy gaze raked over her from head to toe. “Even better. But I’ll give you a warning. If you’re my prisoner? I get to do anything I want to you. Anything.”
“Guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?” Amery smiled and said, “Catch you later.”
“You can count on it.”
She slipped out of the room.
• • •
RONIN warned his instructors they needed a speedy shutdown.
He’d tied a coil of hemp rope from his gi belt. Normally he worried about the burn ratio of the size and texture of the rope against bare skin when he tied her, but not tonight. Tonight when he caught her, he’d give her a taste of the hojojutsu side of bondage. Chase, capture, and bind for the reward.
For the past two hours, since she’d issued the challenge, Ronin had created a defensive and an offensive strategy, breaking down possibilities. After her hint about sneaking off to her place, he knew she’d try to escape from the building. He wasn’t falling for her red herring warning him to search every nook and cranny of the place.
There were two exits from the building where the door lock was automatic and she wouldn’t have to rearm the system. All entrances into the building were locked after five p.m. So she’d either try to sneak out with the other dojo students leaving through the main entrance, or she’d leave by the back door.
Ronin didn’t consider it cheating that he could cover both entrances at once by watching the security camera feed, because guaranteed Amery would try to disguise herself. Still, maybe she’d be bold and not bother. He scrutinized every head for that distinctive strawberry-blond hair until the last remaining instructor killed all the lights and exited the building.
Since the students tended to congregate out on the sidewalk after class, Amery would avoid that side.
Or maybe she’d wait until they were gone, hoping he’d watch the alley while she slipped out the front.
There was no way he could prepare for every contingency.
But he really, really looked forward to the chase.
He left the security monitors for a couple of minutes to send the elevator up to the third floor. Would that flush her out?
Ten minutes after the dojo emptied, there she was exiting the back door to the alley.
Gotcha, baby.
Now his adrenaline was really pumping.
Ronin left via the front entrance and kept his footsteps light as he crossed the street to the parking garage. Another thing to factor in; Amery showed up after work, which meant she’d have to park on either of the top two levels.
So while she snuck into the structure via the back alley, probably cocky enough to ride the elevator, Ronin hauled ass, sprinting for the stairs. He stopped on the fourth level to catch his breath.
He welcomed the chill in the night air as he listened for her. Was that the ping of the elevator? He peered around the edge of the stairwell and watched as the doors opened.
No one exited.
Son of a bitch. She’d pulled the same fake elevator car ride trick that he had.
Or maybe she’s in the corner of the elevator car where you can’t see her.
Either way, when the elevator moved to the lower floor, so did Ronin.
Hurling himself down two sets of metal stairs, three stair treads at a time, tested the stability of his knee. It also played hell on his stealthy ninja attempt because Amery could hear him coming.
He reached the third level of the garage the same time the elevator doors opened and Amery stepped out. She made the mistake of stopping and looking around.
That’s when she saw Ronin.
That’s when she started to run.
Oh, I really gotcha now, baby.
Even though half a garage length separated them, Ronin kicked his stride into sprint stage and grabbed her from behind about ten feet from her car.
He had to give her credit; she didn’t scream, but she did try to employ some of the self-defense tactics he’d taught her.
Tried and failed—but tried nonetheless.
He pushed her against the closest vehicle, keeping her wrists together as he freed the short length of rope and quickly tied her hands. Then he put his mouth to her ear. “Don’t scream.”
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Punish you.”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Then why did you run?”
“Because I was scared.”
Ronin spun her back around and wrapped his hand around the front of her throat. “You claim that you didn’t do anything wrong, but I got you dead to rights. You confessed to breaking my rules at the dojo. Blatant violations result in punishment as your Sensei sees fit. Do you understand?”
That hot little pink tongue of hers darted out and licked her lips—a sure sign of her arousal. His cock was already hard—hell, he’d been semihard since she’d sauntered into his office and challenged him.
“I said, Do you understand?” he repeated.
“Uh, yeah.”
Ronin got nose to nose with her. “The correct answer is yes, sir; yes, Sensei; or yes, Master Black. Uh, yeah is not one of them.”
“Yes, Master Black. I understand.” She pulled back from him and tossed her head. “Now, can we get on with it?”