Bound (Mastered 1)

“Something on your mind?”

“Yeah. Who’s Naomi?” She glanced up to catch his reaction as soon as she’d said it.

Not a single change in his demeanor. “Where’d you hear that name?”

“I overheard part of your conversation with Knox. He indicated I’m like Naomi—or at least the situation between us is similar? So I think I have a right to know who she is, especially since it sounded bad.”

“You are nothing like Naomi. Knox was talking out of turn and talking out his ass.”

Amery took a drink of water. “Which is fine, but who was she to you?”

Ronin picked up the plates and carried them to the sink. After he took a long time rinsing them, he stared out the window and Amery thought she’d stepped over the line.

When he skirted the island, she wondered if he was headed to the bar and what it meant if he needed a drink to talk about Naomi. But Ronin detoured to the windows in the living area and opened them, letting the breeze wash over him.

She studied his profile. His stiff stance. Everything about this man screamed back off, but she couldn’t seem to stay away from him. She moved in behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and nestling her cheek between his shoulder blades. “We haven’t talked about exes, have we?”

“No.”

“I’ll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours. And just think, this can’t drag on for hours because we have limited time today.”

“There’s a silver lining.”

“So tell me about her.”

His voice was tinged with reluctance. “Naomi and I met at a . . . club. We seemed to have a lot in common. We dated. It became serious, meaning exclusive. Then things went to hell, like really went to hell, and it ended.”

Talk about a short and not sweet explanation. “How long were you together?”

“Almost three years.”

“How long ago did it end?”

“About that long ago.”

Ronin turned around and held her face in his hands. “You’re only the second woman I’ve brought up here, Amery. No other women have been here since Naomi.”

Was that his way of telling her she was special?

He must’ve read the question in her eyes, because he said, “Yes, that makes you—that makes this—different.” Then Ronin kissed her with bone-melting intensity, as if kissing her, giving her pleasure was his sole purpose. It was a kiss unlike any she’d ever experienced. Thrilling, scary, consuming. She wound up twisting her hands in his T-shirt, needing something to hold on to.

Ronin slowed the kiss to a soft glide of wet lips and soft smooches before releasing her. “She’s in my past.”

“I get that. But our past can seriously f**k up the present.”

His mouth brushed hers again. “Your turn. Your ex . . . ?”

“Tyler,” she supplied.

“He still live around here?”

“I’m not sure. After he dumped me four years ago, there was no further communication. I blocked him from social media. Any of our so-called friends were his friends. So it’s not like I’m having drinks with them getting status updates on his life.” Thank god.

Ronin led her to the couch. But when she tried to sit beside him, he settled her on his lap.

“Whoa. What’s this?”

“We have twenty minutes left of our lunch. I want my hands on you while you’re telling me about the douche bag dumb enough to dump you.”

Amery ran her hands through Ronin’s hair. “Fine. As long as you keep it PG. No touching below the waist.”

His hands slid to her ass. “So I can’t do this?”

She said, “No,” primarily because if Ronin kept doing that she’d end up pantsless. “You didn’t look me in the face when we talked about Naomi, so this is highly unfair.”

“I’ve got a solution.” He started kissing her neck. Soft nibbles and sucks, rubbing his smooth cheeks across her skin. “I’ll do this. You talk.”

As if she’d be able to concentrate now. When his warm mouth connected with the skin below her ear, she broke out in goose bumps and released a soft moan.

“This won’t work.” Ronin spun her around, facing her forward. “You make that sexy noise again and I’ll have you naked in less than three seconds,” he growled in her ear.

Amery couldn’t resist wiggling her ass against his erection.

Ronin pulled her hair. “Stop that and talk.”

“I met Tyler at a frat party our junior year in college. We were the only sober ones and hid out in the kitchen, talking all night.” She would stick to the basics, just as he did. “We dated, and he said he wanted to marry me after college once his baseball career was on track. When he got a tryout with the Rockies and ended up on the farm team, I decided to move to Denver.”

“Did you live with him?” Ronin brushed his fingers up and down her bare arms.

“No. At the time it was too ingrained that I’d be living in sin. If I had a ring on my finger, it would’ve been different. So we lived in the same apartment complex. Not quite a year after I moved here, I caught him screwing some skank. He said a bunch of horrible stuff, blamed his cheating on me, and I broke it off. I moved in with Chaz. Focused on my career.”

“Any other men?”

Her face flamed. “I’ve been out on a few dates, but it hasn’t progressed past that.”