“Pool side.”
He kissed the area below her ear. “Pick a spot and I’ll grab your drink.”
She wandered around the pool, choosing a chair with an ottoman. After sinking into the plush cushion, she propped up her feet. A soft breeze drifted over her and she closed her eyes. She heard Ronin wandering around and opened her eyes to see him lighting a candle on the table.
“I feel like I’m in some tropical paradise far from the mountains of Denver, Colorado.” She sipped her drink. “Do you spend much time up here?”
“As much as I can. I swim most mornings. I don’t bring work up here. I keep it . . . pure, for lack of a better term.”
“The sand and rocks portions on the other side . . . part of a Zen garden?”
“On a small scale. It is gratifying and mind clearing to draw images in the sand and attempt to stack rocks. Humbling to witness the resilience in nature’s elements and understand that no matter how much we fight against it, we can’t control it.”
His mind fascinated her; he had such a unique outlook. “I hope you don’t take this question the wrong way, but is a Japanese garden a family tradition?”
Ronin looked at the wall as if he were looking through it. “I never thought about the garden being a household tradition. But there’s been one in every place I lived growing up, even for the few years we lived in the U.S.”
That was the most he’d ever said about his family beyond the basics. “Do my questions bother you?”
Those sharp eyes were on her. “You ask me questions most people don’t, which is probably why I answer them.”
“I wasn’t allowed to ask too many questions growing up, so I made up for it after I escaped to college.”
His thoughtful gaze remained on her as he sipped his drink. “We had that in common.”
Silence lingered between them.
Amery let her head fall back and closed her eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so content.
Yet she felt Ronin’s eyes on her, moving across her body with as much power as an actual caress. She knew Ronin wanted her. They were adults; they should feel free to act on those desires. What was the holdup?
“What are you thinking about that’s put that furrow in your brow?”
She didn’t respond immediately.
“Don’t try to craft a plausible lie; I’ll know if you’re telling the truth.”
“How? Ninja mind tricks or something?”
He laughed softly. “No tricks. I can tell by your eyes. You have very expressive eyes, Amery. Your emotions are right there.”
Feeling a little reckless, she opened her eyes and leaned closer to him. “So tell me what I’m feeling, Ronin.”
He reached out and ran his knuckles down the side of her face, his gaze locked on hers. “You’re frustrated with me. You wonder why we’re not in my bedroom or even going at it right here on a chaise. You wonder if the problem is you. If you’re acting too desperate for sex and if it’s a turnoff for me. You also wonder if it’s me. If I have some kind of sexual dysfunction.”
Could he tell, even in the darkness, that she was blushing? She picked up her drink and drained it. Then she hopped up from her chair and walked around the edge of the pool. The concrete had retained some of the day’s warmth as she crossed to the steps on the far end. She dipped her toe into the water before she dropped both feet onto the first step.
She sighed. Of course the water was the ideal temperature. What would it feel like to have the warm caress of water over every inch of her bare skin? To float in the void where all her senses were dulled?
“You’re welcome to swim,” he said from across the patio.
“I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“So swim naked.”
Amery choked back a laugh. Right. She’d just strip and dive right in as if being naked in public was no big deal. It was a very big deal to her, and she hated that it was.
That sense of panic seized her. How had she ever believed she could get naked with Ronin Black? A man who probably had zero inhibitions and acres of muscles beneath his golden skin. Whereas she . . . had pasty white skin everywhere, the majority of it never having been exposed to the sun, or to very many men.
Right then she suspected this would be the last time she’d be alone with Master Black. She couldn’t risk—
Rough-skinned hands curled around her face and tipped her head back. Ronin said, “Lose that forlorn look, Amery. And don’t even think about leaving,” before smashing his mouth to hers in a consuming kiss.
If she hadn’t gripped the handrail tightly, she would’ve lost her balance and tipped them both into the pool. Her knees were feeling as weak as her will. Her head buzzed and she didn’t know if this was from slamming her drink or from his powerful kiss.
When she shifted toward him, he made a low sound in the back of his throat and scooped her into his arms.
Okay. The buzzing in her brain and the zinging in her blood were definitely from this man.
Ronin sat, keeping her sideways across his lap, continuing to kiss her. A hot, wet kiss that deleted all thoughts beyond more. The hard ridge of his c**k digging into the outside of her thigh erased her doubts about his attraction to her.
Finally he broke their lip-lock and rested his forehead to hers. “You are beautiful. Get it out of your head I don’t want you because I haven’t pinned you to the ground and f**ked you until my knees are raw.”
“Ronin—”
“Listen to me.”
That tone immediately had her mouth snapping shut.
“What were you thinking when you were standing in the pool?” He eased back to look into her eyes. “Truth.”
“That for all my bold talk I’m not brave enough to strip my clothes off in front of you and dive naked into the deep end of the pool.”
“Why?” His eyes darkened. “Do I scare you?”
“I scare me. I’m not a casual nudist.”
“And yet . . .” His fingers traced the seam of her capris up the inside of her thigh. “You tore off your pants and threw them at me the first night we met. Seeing those purple bikini panties? Every professional thought vanished from my head.”
She buried her face in his neck. “I don’t know what possessed me to do that. I’ve never done anything like that before in my life. I was just so . . . mad at you.”
“I’ve been told I have that effect on people,” he said dryly. “But most people throw punches at me, not clothing.”