Schooled(3)

He rested his forehead to hers. “You are my life regardless of where we are. I know I’m selfish for demanding you come with me. I can’t stand the thought of being away from you for two and a half months. But if that means you resent me—”

Amery lifted her head to gaze at him and then pressed her lips to his. The feel of his weight on her, the taste of him, his scent, those were familiar. Those things grounded her as much as they grounded him. That’s why she was going. He needed her there with him. “No resentment. But you’ll have to figure out a way to deal with my freak-out moments, because this is the first of many.”

Ronin’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “I’ve come up with a few ideas on how best to distract you, baby.”

“Do those ideas involve rope?”

He rubbed his nose to hers. “Always.”

The plane started to move. “Whoa.”

“It appears they were as ready to take off as they claimed.” Ronin kissed her quickly and pushed onto his knees.

“Do we have to go back to the main part of the cabin and buckle up?”

“Nope.” He stretched out beside her, placing his feet on the pillows. “Do this.”

“What?”

“Lie beside me like this.”

She spun around. “Now what?”

He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Now have some patience.”

It was weird lying on the comfortable mattress, facing the wrong way, staring at the back of the TV screen as the plane rolled along.

After a couple of turns the plane stopped.

“Ronin—”

“Hang on. Wait for it.”

The bumps were jarring when the plane started to accelerate. When it lifted off the runway, so fast, at such a sharp angle, she felt like she was standing up. And for just a moment . . . she felt weightless, as if she’d entered a zero-gravity chamber. Despite the stomach-churning sensation, she turned her head and looked at him with a smile.

He wore a boyish grin. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“How’d you figure it out?”

“I crawled in bed before the plane took off one night and damn near ended up ass over teakettle. It’s a steeper climb for smaller jets to reach altitude. Now, whenever I’m on this aircraft, I act like a kid who thinks he’s on a rocket ship during takeoff.”

She laughed. “Crazy man-boy. I thought you dragged me to the bedroom because you wanted me to join the mile-high club.”

Ronin rolled her on top of him and kissed her, mouth avid, keeping his hands clamped on her butt. Between his all-consuming kisses, he spoke against her lips. “Maybe we should take the edge off.” He treated her lips to a few more teasing kisses. “You seem tense.”

“You’re up for a quickie?” She moaned when he nipped the side of her neck and then soothed the sting with hot, slow kisses.

“Who said anything about a quickie? It’s a long flight.”

***

“Amery?” A soft kiss brushed her bare shoulder. “We’ve landed.”

She blinked, forgetting for a moment where she was. Why was she naked?

Oh right. She was on Okada’s private jet. And she was naked because her husband was a master at seducing her.

Amery reached up and touched his gorgeous face. “Hey.”

He pressed his lips to her wrist. “Hey, yourself.”

“How long did I sleep?”

“Seven hours.”

“What time is it now?”

“We left Honolulu at four p.m. It’s nineteen hours' difference so it’s eleven a.m. here in Osaka. The next day.” He smiled. “Just in time for lunch.”

Amery stretched and stood. “Do I need to change clothes?” She picked up the pile of clothing and slipped on her bra and panties. “I’ve been in them . . . ? How many hours?”

“The time change will really screw with you if you think too hard about it.” His gaze moved over her as she yanked her black jeans up over her hips. “And technically once we ended up in the bedroom you didn’t have your clothes on for very long.”

Such a smug look. “I’m reminded again why I don’t wear clothes that need ironing since you tear them off me and throw them on the floor every time the opportunity presents itself.”

“At every opportunity, sexy wife of mine.” Ronin flashed his roguish grin before he pulled on his black cashmere mock turtleneck. He’d already slipped his jeans back on. He sat on the edge of the bed and donned his socks and motorcycle boots.

Amery loved watching Ronin get dressed as much as she loved watching him get undressed. Maybe it was a power thing; he wasn’t comfortable showing skin in public. The only time he let down his hair, so to speak, was around her. Only she knew what a powerful, muscular, hot body was hidden beneath his gi or his clothing.