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Pulse skittering in my throat, I whisper, “You won't hurt them?”
He leans close enough to conceal his hand creeping up to cup my breast. “No.”
“You won't hurt me?”
“Never.”
“Never say never.”
Ryoichi's hand peruses the slope of my breast, then a thumb brushes over my agonized nub. His fingers trail the silk of my collarbone to cradle my neck. “You have my word, Ryann. You may take my life if I betray your faith. I will never hurt you.”
I'm reluctant to speak, but the last question burns straight through me. I gasp. “And-and you'll let me go? Soon?”
“Never.”
“So, not soon. Never let me go? Or . . . I’m sorry. I have this habit of asking too many questions at once.” I chew my lip. “You mean, not soon, right?”
Ambitious eyes scrape over me. “Not. Ever.”
The sound of the drumline in my chest fades as the elevator doors swing open, but I still feel it. My heart beats wildly, damn near out of my chest. The lobby’s abuzz with nightlife. I'm conscious of my every move as I slip out of the elevator behind the retired couple. Mrs. Thang has changed her tune. Perceptive heifa assumes I hadn't held the elevator because I was playing a game with my man.
A sexy, fun game.
One like they'd probably played on some vacay in '86.I wish, lady.
Although the boutique hotel is all wide-open spaces with the ocean breeze sweeping in through from the east, my temperature has risen to a dangerous level. With a carefree smile on his lips, Ryoichi wraps me into his arms. The side of my face is planted against his chest as he captures me in a warm embrace. The steady boom of his heart taunts me to slide a dagger straight through it. If this were a book, I’d have a friggen dagger. No, fake Tatsun’s ass wouldn’t have died. He would’ve saved . . . me.Wouldsave me from an actual murderer. Because I only like my men dark and mysterious in fictional scenarios. Not real life!
Ryoichi's knuckles stroke over the curve of the opposite side of my face. He places a reverent kiss on the crown of my head.
My entire body breaks out in delightful goosebumps, and a shiver runs through me. I say, “Stop that,” with a look.
Reading me, Ryoichi replies, “This is for you,bijin. Come willingly.”
“No-no, it's not.”
“I beg your pardon,bijin?”
“I-I don't want you to call me beautiful anymore. I don't want you to se-see me,” I mutter.See me? What the hell, Ry? But that’s how I feel. I spent all my grade school years fidgeting at the thought of someone staring at me. Shyness was and still is a physical pain for me. My brain helps by telling me that people find fault in everything I am and everything I do.
Essence has tried for years to break through the lies my brain tells me. The thoughts that someone is criticizing this about me or that about me. My shyness is likely nature, but truth be told, my inadequacy issues probably stem from a nurturing father with every letter in the alphabet behind his name. PhD, blah, blah, blah. The kind of father who wants the best for you but leaves you hyperventilating because he overwhelms you, trying to pry you from your shell. And there’s my snort-laughter, which still makes me so self-conscious even at forty-two years old. Awkard sums me up.
But as Ryoichi and I embrace in the middle of the opulent hotel, I mutter, “Stop seeing me. Just leave me alone.”
“Can't.” His lips brush over one of my eyes and then the other. “All I see is you.”
I lift my foot, bringing it down on his shiny, expensive loafers.
“Still see you, Ry.” His murmur melts over my skin like warm butter.
“I hate you.”
“I cannot wait to wake up with you in the morning. Walk with you beneath the cherry blossoms on my compound.” His eyes move away from me as if seeing our lives together. “Watch the sakura whisper over your shoulder, or better yet, pluck one of the blossoms from your hair.”
“You don't talk about a Black woman's hair.”
He laughs.
“I'm not joking, Ryoichi.” I squeak as he holds me tighter still. The practical part of my brain screams that I should literally scream. I stare into Ryoichi's obsidian gaze, hypnotized. Finally, I stutter, “I wasn't hit by someone I'm dating, Ryo. I'm not in a relationship.”
