Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 66993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
She mirrored me. “And to mothers.”
Stunned, I smiled. “Yes, and to mothers.”
We drank.
For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine what it would be like to drink with her every night. To tell her things I’d never shared with anyone else. To let her sit across from me for the rest of my life, fire in her eyes and strength in her bones.
The shamisen shifted tempo and his hands danced faster along the strings making the sound rise within the wind and along the blossoms.
I watched Nyomi watch him. Her mouth slightly parted. Her expression soft and thoughtful.
She didn’t understand how devastating she was.
That’s what undid me the most.
Not just her beauty.
But her unawareness of her power over me.
The purity of her confidence.
The way she walked into this garden like she didn’t know she would wreck me for other women.
Maybe she didn’t.
But I did.
She lifted her cup and took another sip of the sake. Her throat moved with a quiet grace that made my hands twitch. Then, she set the cup down, leaned slightly closer, and for a breathless second, the scent of plum intensified—warm, ripe, and devastating.
I told myself not to move.
I didn’t listen.
I reached my hand out and my fingers found hers on the table—just a brush, the faintest graze of knuckle to knuckle.
She didn’t flinch.
Didn’t pull away.
So I kept going.
I let my fingertips trail along the back of her hand—slow. . .as if I were tracing a path across something sacred.
Her skin was warm silk.
The shamisen player shifted to another new rhythm. The melody climbed the night air, twining with the wind, as if the strings knew what I was doing and had decided to score it.
She looked down at our hands.
Then up into my eyes.
I licked my lips. “In your letter, you said you would meet me tonight but not for a date.”
She arched one brow. “I did.”
I smiled darkly.
“Let’s make one thing clear right now, little tiger.” My voice lowered. “This is a date. On this subject, there won’t be any compromises.”
She tilted her head slightly but said nothing.
“How long will you be in Tokyo?”
“Three and a half weeks.”
I frowned. “That’s not enough time.”
She grinned. “Time for what?”
“For everything I want to do to you.”
Her eyes widened a little, I swore heat bloomed beneath her lashes.
I pierced her with my gaze. “Extend your stay.”
“I wish I could but my budget is set for that specified amount of time.”
“You’re going to be with me now. So there is no budget.”
She chuckled.
I frowned. “Do you think that was a joke?”
“Kenji, I am only staying for three and a half weeks. That is final.”
I didn’t argue.
In my mind, I was already setting the wheels in motion.
I would have Reo find out her exact return flight and buy out the airline. The entire route from Tokyo to New York City would cease to exist—at least for her.
She would stay until she understood her place.
Next to me.
She sipped more of her saké. “So. . .speaking of my time in Tokyo.”
Here it comes.
I moved my hand from hers and picked up my cup of sake.
“Kenji. . .I would like to discuss a compromise about visiting other soaplands in Tokyo or even other cities.”
The very idea sent a jolt of rage through me.
I nearly crushed the cup in my hand.
Is she trying to start a war in Japan?
I had to calm myself.
She didn’t know who she was playing with.
Not yet.
I didn’t even lift my cup to drink. “You won’t go to any other soaplands.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Look. I came to Tokyo to write a book about the underground sex industry.”
I stayed silent.
“How am I going to do that if you’re banning me from all of Japan’s red-light districts?”
“Your research is dangerous.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Her chin lifted. “You don’t get to be as successful as I am from being afraid to do things.”
Mmmm.
The way she said it. Like a woman who had already walked through fire and would do it again with no hesitation. It all made my cock stir in my pants.
Then—she smiled. “However. . .if you think it would be so dangerous. . .maybe you can be next to me when I do my research.”
A hum of desire pulsed through me—low and deep, centered between my ribs and my cock.
She’s very good.
I imagined it all in one blinding flash.
Standing beside her in a red-lit corridor while shadows danced behind paper screens. The scent of sweat, perfume, incense. Watching her gaze linger as a woman in a latex suit moaned on a rotating stage.
Seeing Nyomi’s pupils dilate, her breath hitch, her thighs clench.
Knowing she was turned on.
Knowing I would be the one to deal with all that heat later.
I grinned slowly. “Naughty Tora, I believe you’re starting to understand your power.”
“Sounds like you want to be my research assistant,” she tilted her head. “Do we have a deal, Kenji?”