A loop circled her neck, and she stiffened up.

“For the chest harness,” he explained. “Your torso will bear the brunt of your weight, but the ropes will do the work.”

Ronin’s explanation calmed her, as did the constant contact of his skin to hers as he turned her body into his canvas. His intensity filled the room. He maneuvered her backward until her butt connected with something solid.

Then her upper arms were squeezed by ropes. As was her midsection. A thick band of rope pressed her lower belly all the way to her pubic bone, splitting into two sections that ran alongside the rise of her mound and became a single rope again, nestled in her butt crack.

“Ronin.”

He was right there, touching her, nuzzling her neck. “I’m here.”

“Are you going to fuck me when I’m suspended?”

His soft breath teased her ear, and she felt his lips curve against her cheek. “Of course. You are too beautiful for me to resist.”

As soon as he stepped back, she felt ropes bisecting the flesh above her kneecap and high up on her thighs. Ronin pushed her forward slightly and began to add to the rope configuration across her back.

“Hold still. Here comes the lift.”

Amery felt the tension in her arms and shoulders increase, gasping when she became airborne. The distinctive noise of a pulley echoed to her from both sides. Then her legs were raised simultaneously, and she was spread completely open until her knees were level with her hips.

The binding around her chest squeezed. The ropes on her legs pulled. Although her buttocks rested against a hard surface, the ropes held her in suspension.

Immediately, she squirmed, shifting her hips, and moved her shoulders, but all the movement did was allow the rope to dig deeper into her skin.

“Breathe. I’m here. Stay still. I won’t leave you.” His hands traveled the tops of her feet and the front of her shins, over her knees and her inner thighs, where he stuck two fingers to test the pressure of the ropes. Then his fingers followed the rope on her belly, stopping at her chest to twist her nipples. Ronin fit his palm over her neck as his other hand twined in her hair, pulling her head back so he could ravage her mouth.

The friction and pressure from the ropes was a constant throb. Ronin’s kiss, packed with pride, gratitude, lust, and need turned the pain into pleasure.

Amery reveled in that moment, when Ronin’s satisfaction surrounded her, flowed over her as warm as a summer breeze.

“My beautiful Amery,” he breathed against her lips. “I need you to see yourself.”

Ronin slipped off the bandanna.

She blinked against the sudden light. She first noticed the chest harness crisscrossing above and below her breasts, then the double wrap of rope around her rib cage, which changed into a thick section of braided rope snug against her belly. The tight binds on her thighs were attached to pulleys above her head. The object she was secured to by the ropes was a wooden X.

He was in front of her, stroking her cheek. “If I were to take a picture of you, I’d name it: Goddess—Bound Open.”

“Ronin.”

He lowered to his knees.

Without another word, he worshipped her with his mouth and hands until she cried out and the climax swamped her. Then he shed his clothes and fucked her. Those rough and talented hands on her ass, his teeth on her nipples, his body driving into hers with heat and passion.

After he was spent, he murmured, “A better title is: Goddess—Bound Open. Goddess Mine.”

Amery shook herself out of the memory and returned to the living room. Even the flashbacks of the times she’d been bound by that sexy man made her knees weak, made her body heat, made her want him. Although she’d enjoyed that intense encounter, she still hadn’t been convinced she could do a public demo. Her reluctance had fueled her fears, and those fears slipped in and distorted her dreams. During their weeks apart, she’d almost convinced herself she couldn’t be with Ronin because she couldn’t give him what he needed.

My, how things had changed. Maybe it made her needy, but she kind of liked that the infallible Ronin Black needed her right back.

“Morning, gorgeous.”

She spun around to see a bare-chested Ronin leaning against the wall. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard his approach. “Good morning. I’d ask how you’re feeling, but the pinched look on your face pretty much gives it away.”

The man didn’t blink, but leveled her with his tough sensei stare.

Undeterred by it, she said, “I read the discharge papers. You’re supposed to stay off of that knee, and you need to wear the brace all the time except during therapy.”

He shuffled forward. “That’s one doctor’s opinion. I read online that other doctors advocate the more you work a sprained limb, the quicker the recovery time.”

“I call bullshit on that. I know you weren’t booting up your computer and checking medical facts last night. You were passed out.”

“I’m curious as to why there’s a blanket and pillow on the couch.”

“Because that’s where I slept.”

His dark eyes pierced hers. “You were supposed to be in my bed,” he said with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“We were supposed to talk, and until that happens between us, there’s no chance anything else will.” That blank mask covered Ronin’s face, reminding Amery of her dream last night, and she suppressed a shudder.

“Fine. We’ll talk now.”

Ronin Black was back to being bossy and terse—big surprise.

When he eased himself onto the couch, she sat across from him.

“I don’t know where to start.”

Don’t fall for his helpless act. “From the beginning. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About my family connections?”

She wouldn’t put up with him hedging or answering her questions with another question. “About your status as a billionaire.”

“I’m not a billionaire.”

Amery looked at him suspiciously. “So you’re not an heir to the Okada Food conglomerate in Japan?”

“I am, but I’m not.”

“Well, that cleared things up a fuck ton. Thank you.” She stood and started toward the elevator. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what? Give me a second to get my head on straight?”

She whirled around and faced him. “We were together for months prior to the breakup. So you’ve had plenty of time to devise a way to tell me, so it’s not like I’m asking for something you aren’t prepared for.”

He played the silent card.

“Look, you don’t need me here. You didn’t want me here in the first place, and I pushed my way in, so it’s best if I leave.”

Ronin lifted his head and looked at her. “Don’t go.”

“Give me a reason why I should stay.”

Very carefully, he pushed up from the couch and stepped into the path between her and the elevator. Curling his hand around the nape of her neck, he pulled her in, bringing her mouth to his for far too chaste a kiss. Then he rested his cheek to her temple. “Is that reason enough?”

“Ronin—”

“Look at me. I’m covered in sweat just from walking to the damn couch. Part of the reason I ignored medical advice and left the hospital when you weren’t there? I hate that you’re seeing me like this . . . like a fucking invalid. I’d rather take another beating than let you see me, even briefly, in a goddamn wheelchair.” He broke eye contact.

Amery grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. “Don’t. I get you’re injured. But you need to understand that I won’t let you use it as an excuse; nor will I stick around if you keep avoiding the issues between us.”

“I get that now. And I’ll tell you everything—I will answer every single question you throw at me with complete honesty from here on out, but can we please sit down during this discussion?”

Then she felt like an ass. The man was wounded. “Pick a spot because we’ll be there for a while.”

He hobbled back to the couch.

After she sat next to him, she gave him a pointed look. “Start talking, billionaire baby.”

He sighed. “Contrary to what my sister told you, I’m not a billionaire. The Okada empire is worth billions, but I’m not directly involved in it.”

“Except for suggesting Okada use my company for a prime design gig.”

“After you told me you were struggling financially, I tried to help you out because I know you’re talented—not because we were lovers. But in my defense, I never knew Maggie Arnold followed through and contacted you.”

“If she had, then you would’ve told me the truth?”

“Yes. But Shiori wields the corporate power. If she told Maggie to keep me out of the loop, she would. Why didn’t you say anything to me when you were contacted?”

Oh, hell no. She was not taking the blame for this. “I signed a ton of nondisclosures. But that’s not the point.” She jabbed her finger at him. “You did nothing when I confronted you with the truth except treat me with disdain. There wasn’t a single sign of the man”—I’d fallen in love with—“I knew when I showed up to talk to you. You’d never treated me like that, Ronin. It hurt. It scared me, and I lashed out.”

“But you’re not apologizing for your behavior,” he said curtly.

“At the time, I wasn’t sorry. Because you showed all the emotion of a goddamn parking meter.” She inhaled and exhaled. “That’s why I left. If you’d acted like you cared at all—”

“Five minutes after you ran out, I hurled a chair through the window. I’d gotten a good start on destroying the conference room when Knox stopped me.”