Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 115388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“I didn’t think we would be here.”
“Here?”
He gestured to the space. “Your. . .cooking for me. Opening yourself up to me. Doing this big night and. . .changing me. I never thought this would ever happen. I’ve never been here before.”
“Well, we are here now. . .because I’m. . .”
He quirked his brows.
“I’m. . .really. . .liking you.”
He studied me like he was memorizing the moment, and maybe he was. “You’re more than. . .liking me, Tora.”
“Maybe.”
“You and I both know that this is more than. . .liking for the both of us.”
I shivered. “You’re dangerous and scary, but for some damn reason. . .I want this to work. I know a long-distance relationship could be difficult and now with the addition of the kids. . .that could be challenging, but I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I want it to work.”
“Long distance. . .”
“Yes. Me in New York? You in Tokyo? Planes. Time zones. Real life. And. . .maybe babies.”
Something in him changed. Gone was the cool, amused expression. His smirk flattened into a line. The fire behind his eyes roared back to life.
I shifted in my seat.
“Tora. . .I accept your need to have boundaries. I will respect them, but there will be no distance between us.”
“There may. . .while we are figuring things out.”
“There won’t. I would make you stay.”
“You could try.”
That got a twitch at the corner of his mouth. Not a smile. Something darker. Something unspoken. “I’m not the type of man people walk away from, Tora.”
“Then maybe it’s time you learn how to be that man.”
His expression cracked—barely—but I saw it. The tension in his jaw. The death behind his eyes. The part of him that decided to cage me in silk and gold and never let me leave.
“I want you,” he said, and it sounded like a curse. “I’ve never wanted a woman like this. And you think I’ll just accept distance?”
“No. I think you’ll have to learn what compromise feels like when love is real.”
“Love. . .” He watched me for a few seconds and then his voice lowered. “Is that what this is?”
I hesitated and then I nodded. “Maybe. . .at least for me it’s the beginning of the fall. . .”
My heart hammered in my chest.
“You say that to me and my body hums.” He pierced me with his gaze. “And you think I would let you get on a plane to leave me?”
“Kenji. . .eventually I would have to. My life is in New York.”
“It was in New York, and understand this. . .” He moved my way until he was close to me with his arms over my shoulder, pulling me toward him. “With you. . .I will never do long distance. But. . .I will do obsession. I will do devotion. I will do war if I have to. But distance?”
He leaned in even further and his lips ghosted the shell of my ear. “Never.”
Hiroko cleared her throat, signaling to me to get Kenji back in check.
I did what we practiced, a gentle hand to his chest and my leaning away but that didn’t work.
His hold was firm and his gaze was locked on me. “I’m sorry about not telling you about the pregnancy sooner. You came into my life. Then my father did something horrific and that took up my time. . .I’m sorry, Tora.”
“I accept your apology.” I tried again to gain control, the subtle slipping away from him, but he would not have it.
Hiroko cleared her throat once more.
I swallowed.
“I’ll make sure to never fuck up again.”
“Okay, Kenji.”
“But since we are discussing tough topics, it is time for you to understand that your place is now in Tokyo.”
“It is not.”
“It is.”
“There will be distance in the beginning of our relationship.”
“Hmmm.” He came in closer and exhaled a breath that danced against my neck. “Don’t ever say that again, Tora. Not unless you want me to scorch every border, fill the ocean with bodies, and bury all miles in blood.”
My breath caught.
“After all that you have done for me tonight, if you think for one moment that I will ever let you go. . .you’ve lost your mind. Even if you ran, even if you hid, I would find you. Fuck you until you forgot your name. Whisper mine into your spine until the idea of leaving makes you sick.”
A shiver skated down my spine.
He pressed his body closer—just enough for me to feel the heat of him. The unmovable weight of him. Like gravity chose him instead of the other way around. “I meant it when I said this changes nothing, because. . .Tora. . .I am currently rearranging my entire empire for you. I am carrying your scent into war.”
“What?” My pulse pounded.
I couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t breathe.
He leaned back just enough to meet my eyes. “I will not share you. I will not compromise. And I will not allow the woman I’ve chosen to ever doubt her new place in my life. . .her new place in my heart. You will be respected, but you will also not leave.”