Gilded Cage

Then he saw her grinning. Guess he was wrong. She wasn’t as fragile as he thought she’d be. Lillian slid from the chair and huddled behind him. She clutched his jacket tightly, her eyes widening. There was no fear in her eyes. They were more…curious. Brandon motioned her to stay quiet. He pulled out his Glock, waiting.

Cacophonous sound exploded in the hall. Men shouted and the noise of the booth’s doors being kicked blasted to the ceilings. He heard whimpers and shouts of surprise from unsuspecting patrons. The men started to check out the booths. Brandon focused his attention. Listening. Counting. Calculating. Judging from the footsteps and the rackets those men were making, Brandon got a firm estimation that there were about four of them. When they kicked open this booth, he’d only have five seconds to take them all out. One second and a single bullet for each of them. Another spare second if his calculation was incorrect. But he never made a mistake. He was gifted in speed killing.

The footsteps approached. Somebody stood in front of their booth. Brandon readied his Glock. Here we go. Then he heard Donahue’s voice screeching in Japanese. An argument broke out. What the hell? Brandon listened. He felt Lillian inch closer and she wrapped an arm around his neck. Before he knew it, she fisted his hair and pulled his face towards her. Her mouth crushed his a heartbeat later.

What the…

He couldn’t think for a second. Her kiss wiped his mind blank. When he realised what she was doing to him, his instinct took over. Fire burned in his groin. Lust seared his veins. His cock jumped under pants, hardening. Lillian pushed open his mouth with her tongue. The sound of her low moan engulfed his body in a brimstone of sexual heat. He nibbled her back. Kissing her. Plundering her. He wanted to stop, but he couldn’t. He found himself lost in her eyes, lost in the sweetness of her lips, the ripe tender lips made for kissing, and the warmth of her fair skin.

He should stop. He should. Must. Couldn’t. He wanted…so fucking wanted…

Brandon’s brain went to mush. Stanford’s men were only two feet away from where they were hiding, yet here they were, making out like a pair of high school kids who so desperately couldn’t get their hands off each other.

Stop it. For the love of God, get a hold over yourself.

Brandon tore his mouth off hers, panting. Lillian lunged, still wanting to kiss him.

“Sssh,” he whispered, half-panicked. Goddamn. He was actually panicking. He was afraid if she kissed him again, he wouldn’t be able to stop. It’d been forever since he’d had a woman. If Lillian kept doing this, he would lose control and ravish her in this very booth.

He couldn’t do that. God forbid, he was her bodyguard.

Lillian did stop. She licked her lips, staring at him wide-eyed as if she had just found a new wonder of the world. Brandon forced himself to look away from the sirenic temptation, trying to concentrate on what was happening outside the booth. He heard Donahue’s angry voice and a man talking in rapid Japanese. The shouts faded. Feet shuffled. People lumbered away from the hall.

They were gone? Were they really gone?

They were.

Brandon took a deep breath and lowered his Glock. What the hell did I just do? Those men could have barged in and shot them. Killed him and took Lillian away. He was supposed to protect her. “Why…” Brandon couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence. Why did she kiss him? And as a matter of fact, why did he kiss her back? The boundary he’d tried to set up between them was broken to pieces when he lost his self-control. He couldn’t believe what he’d done. He was never this reckless.

“Well…” Lillian smiled sheepishly. “If I were to get caught and dragged back to my father, at least, I’d have had my first hot kiss.”

Brandon was mad.

Least, she thought he was. He became quiet as they sneaked from Donahue’s Otakutopia to their temporary hiding place. His lush brows furrowed. His grey eyes steeled and his jaw hardened. Lillian could hear him grinding his teeth, too. Was he mad because she’d kissed him? She bet he was. Maybe it was the timing. Definitely bad timing. She had distracted him at a crucial moment. They could’ve gotten themselves killed. Honestly, she didn’t know what she was thinking. Being with him, her hero, so close, she couldn’t control herself. It wasn’t her fault Brandon was so sexy. Him and his gun, just like a spy in an action movie.

He halted her. Apparently, she’d almost walked into traffic. Lillian stole a glance at him. Brandon looked grim. Is he going to be mad at me forever?

Lillian wanted to ask where they were going, but after a brief consideration, she decided not to. Brandon might get even more irritated than he already was. She tailed him, trying to catch up with his long strides. They walked past the Bunkamura shopping centre towards the dense business area. Funky neon and flashy signs sprouted like mushrooms. Lillian widened her eyes, squelching her urge to giggle when she read the names of some of the businesses. Some of them bordered beyond weird like “Licks Strawberry” or “Sweet Happy Vibrations.”

“I know this area.” Lillian snapped her fingers. “Dogenzaka Street. And there’s Love Hotel Hill. I read about this on the Internet.”

Brandon’s jaw twitched. He kept his silence. He only snatched her hand and pulled her into an alley. The narrow street was emblazoned with even more ludicrous signs. Some of the buildings were built according to their themes. She saw a medieval castle, a French bistro and something that resembled a spaceship. They stopped at one particular limestone-swathed building with multiple entrances. The place was called “Koi.”

“Donahue, you son of a bitch.”

“Your friend owns a rabu hoteru? Love hotel?”

He ground his teeth again.

“I think it’s cool.”

Brandon cast her a dark look and urged her to follow him into the lobby. Inside, a small hexagonal room covered in Asian carp murals welcomed them. No attendants were in sight. The lobby was only filled with vending machines, selling various items from condoms, lubricants and novelty sex toys, to snacks like instant ramen, cold sandwiches and beverages.

A big split-screen monitor perched in the middle of the lobby displayed all available rooms. Apparently, Donahue’s business was booming. From Koi’s twenty-four rooms, only seven were available to choose from. Brandon’s face plunged into a deeper frown. Each of the rooms carried different themes—vintage, futuristic and classic, to something that came from torture chambers in the medieval ages. The rates of the rooms were displayed in neon green. “Rest” rate started at fifteen thousand yen. Overnight stay tripled. When guests had made their choice, they could pay with cash or credit cards through the automatic teller machine on the bottom of the screen. The ATM would cough out a key card when it approved the transaction.

She heard Brandon grumbling again. “What’s your problem?”

“You shouldn’t be in a place like this.”