Knox showed up ten minutes later. "Amery. Sorry to keep you waiting. Sensei has been detained, so I'm escorting you upstairs."
"But . . . Alone?" She wouldn't feel comfortable just roaming around his place without him there.
"He insisted. You don't want to get me in trouble by refusing a direct order, do you?"
"I suppose blindly following orders is why you're Master Black's second-in-command ninja badass, huh, Shihan?"
Knox grinned. "It helps."
They didn't make small talk as they rode the elevator to the fifth floor. She expected he'd put her in the next elevator and then leave. But he swiped the card and punched in the code for the roof.
When Amery gave him a challenging look, he smiled again. "I know about it because I'm his second-in-command ninja badass. But that doesn't mean he lets me wander around up there by myself as he's allowing you to. He's a very private man for a reason." Don't fuck that up for him went unsaid.
The doors slid open. She faced Knox before they closed again. "Thank you. I promise not to run off with the silverware."
The stress of her day vanished when she entered the garden. She wandered through the tree canopy, running her hands along the smooth bark. The garden designer had created a bonsai look with the trees without all the years it took to groom a tree to that size. Pots of flowers were tucked between the trees and ringed the perimeter. She loved the riot of colored blooms, from azalea bushes to bird-of-paradise and anthurium. How often did he have to replace these plants that weren't native to this area? She paused at the sand garden and looked at the zigzag pattern. Different than the last time she'd been up here. What had Ronin been thinking when he'd drawn that pattern?
Amery stretched out on a chaise and stared at the purple twilight sky. A breeze stirred, bringing the sun-warmed scent of petunias.
Time truly lost all meaning when she was nestled in Ronin's rooftop paradise. Closing her eyes, she let herself drift into that place as relaxing as savasana.
Even in that dreamy state, she sensed his presence. She smiled without opening her eyes. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to plan what I intend to do to you first."
Amery didn't bother dressing to impress when she came to Ronin. She wore yoga pants, no underwear, and an athletic tank top-all clothes that could be easily stripped away. Just hearing him say he had plans for her made her wet with anticipation. Made her arch and purr because he was about to pet and stroke her until she yowled.
"Did you get the test results today?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm clean. You?"
"Clean. So I plan to get very, very dirty with you tonight. Take off your pants."
She did as he bade and waited for further instruction.
"Lower the chaise completely and remove your shirt for me."
Her blood began to pump faster as soon as she was naked. But she didn't feel bare, or exposed, just anxious for his touch.
"Your skin glows. You like being out here, naked in my garden, waiting for me, knowing I'm as drawn to you as the bees are drawn to the brightest, sweetest blooms."
Hearing the scrape of his bare feet across the cement as he erased the distance between them, Amery felt her stomach pitch.
"I can smell that honey you're making just for me. A full bouquet that's sweet and creamy on my tongue."
How could just his words turn her on this much? She squirmed, rubbing her thighs together.
"No cheating. I will take you there."
She opened her eyes. Ronin was less than a foot away, and his eyes were molten. Hungry. Assessing. He still wore his gi.
He touched her then. A single fingertip down the center of her body, from the hollow of her throat to the rise of her pubic bone. "Yes, I came here straight from class because I couldn't stay away from you another moment."
"Ronin-"
He placed his fingers over her mouth. "Do you trust me?"
She nodded.
"Drop your hands to the ground. Palms flat, press the inside of your arms against the support posts of the chaise."
Amery had to scoot down to stretch out her shoulders.
"Good. Now stay still." Ronin dropped to his knees. His hard-skinned hands caressed her forearm, from the bend in her elbow to her wrist. Goose bumps spread across the right side of her body from that simple touch.
The long strings from the chaise cushions tickled as he untied them. Then she felt the ties crisscrossing her forearm as he tied her to the support post. It didn't hurt, but she couldn't move. Then he switched sides and secured her other arm. His hands followed the length of her arms up to her shoulders and down to her breasts.