Usually he preferred to be in control, even when Amery was blowing him. He liked keeping a tight grip on her hair. He liked pushing his c**k to the back of her throat and holding it there when he came. He liked binding her hands and holding her face between his palms as he directed how fast, how hard, and how long he plunged in and out of her addictive mouth.
But he kept his hands by his sides, allowing himself to feel all the nuances of how she wanted to please him. Her soft tongue. The scrape of her teeth. Heat and wetness and pressure.
He tensed when she reached between his legs and fondled his balls. But she didn’t stop there. She rubbed his perineum with her thumb. Up and down until she brushed his ass**le. She swept around and around, the wetness making the pucker slippery enough so she could press the digit in slightly.
Jesus, that felt amazing. He’d started to pant as she brought him closer to the edge.
Amery switched her hand position, easing a finger past the sensitized ring and into his ass. She sucked his c**k with shorter, tighter strokes, and she rubbed the tip of her finger across his gland.
Ronin felt every other muscle in his body going equally rigid, desperate for the explosion of orgasm. When he glanced down at Amery’s beautiful face, her sexy look of determination had him relaxing into the mattress, allowing her to give him the orgasm rather than chasing after it.
As much as he tried to focus on her, he squeezed his eyes shut in ecstasy as his c**k and balls tightened with a warning tingle. Then his ass clamped down on her finger, and liquid heat pulsed out of his dick so violently he felt the pulling sensation in his lower abdomen.
“Fuck. Yes. Jesus, don’t stop.”
Amery kept that magical mouth and finger connection going, dragging out his climax until he saw spots behind his eyes and his entire being floated in a quiet void. As the pulses faded and he became aware of his surroundings, he decided the bliss of orgasm defined a Zen moment.
She removed her finger and her mouth. Took him a second to figure out the vibration on his lower belly was actually Amery’s chuckle.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and caught her attention. “What was that giggle for?”
“I believed you called out nirvana at one point.” She offered him a sly smile and tongued his belly button.
“That it was.” He ran his knuckles down her cheek. “Goddamn, woman, I love you.”
Amery pushed up and away from him. “Of course you say you love me after your dick has been in my mouth and I just blew you to nirvana.”
What the f**k? Rather than call her on her bitchy comment, he calmly said, “I tell you I love you all the time, not just after sex.” He stared at her, letting her unspoken words, words he was so desperate to hear from her, hang in the air between them, almost like a dare. Tell me you love me, Amery. Come on. It’s not that hard.
His response didn’t prompt her to do anything but retreat. She rolled off the bed, slipped on her robe, and announced, “I feel like making popcorn,” and fled from the room.
He resisted all of five seconds before he punched the pillows. Maybe she didn’t love him, but her discounting how he felt about her wasn’t fair and it sure as hell wasn’t happening again.
• • •
NOTHING on the sports channels caught his attention.
Amery wandered in munching on popcorn and plopped beside him. “Anything good on?”
“Not really. Was there something you wanted to watch?”
“What’s on the classic TV channel?”
“I don’t think I can sit through another episode of Bewitched.”
She shot him a sideways glance. “I know you’re secretly hoping Kung Fu is on.”
He groaned.
“Maybe I’ll check out your DVDs.”
That would take her all of two minutes.
So when she was still pacing in front of the bookshelves ten minutes later, he knew she was nervous—which caused his heart to skip a beat. Was she about to tell him that he’d have to make room for her DVDs and stuff when she moved in? “Something on your mind?”
“Yeah. But I feel stupid bringing it up now.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to think I sucked your dick in hopes it’d soften you up.”
“Baby, you sucking my dick makes me harder, not softer.”
“You know what I mean.”
Ronin stood, removed the popcorn bowl from her hands and set it on the table. “No bullshit between us. What’s going on?”
“I need a favor.”
He kept his face blank and banked his disappointment. Why did it always boil down to this? When he’d called TP earlier to ask about the protection business around Blue’s dojo, TP said he needed a favor and insisted on setting up a meeting to discuss it. “What kind of favor?”
“You know those supersexy pictures I took of you blindfolded that day?”
“Like I could ever forget that,” he murmured.
“I know I told you they’d be for my eyes only. But I heard from Cherry Starr, and she wants me to do another cover for her. Evidently the book has been really popular, and she’s decided to write a series. So for the next book, she wants a bound guy on the cover. She isn’t in any rush, so I do have time to set up another photo shoot. But I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask you first.”
No, immediately jumped into his head. Given his level of expertise in two disciplines—jujitsu and rope bondage—it’d be . . . embarrassing if anyone recognized him. Especially if they believed he was submissive behind closed doors.
Letting silence distort the mood hadn’t been intentional on his part. So when Amery said, “Forget it,” and tore out of the room, he realized he’d been so lost in possibilities that he hadn’t answered her.
Of course Amery would assume he’d hedged because he intended to say no.
But don’t you plan to say no?
Ronin found her at the bar fixing herself a cocktail.
“I’m driving you to drink?”
She shook her head. “It’s just been a crazy day. And you dragging me to bed two seconds after I walked in tonight and trussing me up to ravish me made me forget the stress of my day. So now I’m making the stress reliever I intended to.” She pulled out another lowball glass. “Want one?”
“What are you making?”
“A White Russian. The sweet goes very well with the salty.”
“I’ll pass.”
After measuring out the booze, Amery headed to the kitchen, adding ice and cream to the glass. She stirred, sipped, and sighed.