Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101427 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Because only here, under her control, could I stop pacing the battlefield in my head.
Only here could I breathe without thinking of blood.
Exist without ordering death.
However. . .I knew that if some of my men saw this. . .they would fear that Nyomi might have absolute control over the Dragon.
And they would be right.
I just hoped she never fully understood that very fact.
But today. . .in this water. . .I knew. . .
Trust like this was rarer than loyalty in my world. Men swore oaths, but oaths could be broken. Gangs pledged allegiance, but they scattered when the wind turned red from blood.
Trust—real trust—was different.
Currently, I was surrendering my body to her hands and trusting that she would not let me drown.
She would never.
Even bound, even with my chin a breath from the surface, I felt the tether of her watching me. She was my anchor and my air. My pulse beat steady not because I was calm, but because she was near.
Our bond. . .it’s becoming stronger. . .already it’s sharper than any katana.
If she asked me to die for her, I would place my head in her hands to cut it off.
If she asked me to set the world on fire for her, I would burn my own body for kindling.
No other woman could have me now. My heart, mind, cock, and soul were all locked in her hands, and the key shattered to dust.
High as a fucking kite even though I had not taken any substances, I whispered to the rippling water, “Nyomi. . .I love you. . .”
Through the shimmer of the water and the blur of my vision, movement shifted above me. Then she was there—my Tiger—stepping into my narrowed world like she’d been painted into it.
I blinked.
There you go, Tora.
Her face came into focus first. God, she was beautiful. Too beautiful for the state I was in. I felt the corners of my mouth lift before I even realized I was smiling—slow, stupid, worshipful.
She chuckled, and it came out muffled with my ears in the water.
Yeah. . .I must look insane to her.
Her hand came to the back of my head. Her fingers were gentle. Slowly, she lifted my head, coaxing me upward until the water slipped from my ears and her voice could reach me again. “How do you feel?”
“Right now. . .I would fail every drug test in this world.”
She chuckled, low and knowing. “You feel high?”
“Feel high? No, Tora. I am high. The very definition of it.”
“And. . .do you remember the safe word?”
“I will not say it. I like this feeling.”
She smiled. “But do you remember?”
“Yes. Ume.”
“Good, little Dragon. We are going to play now. Do you remember our rules? If you need to breathe or feel the panic rise—”
“I remember, Tora. Stop being safe. Let’s do this.”
“Kenji, I don’t want to—”
“We will be fine.”
“Are you scared?”
“No.” I let the word carry the wildness firing through my nerves. “I’m intrigued. And thrilled. And fucking. . .high and horny and. . .currently thinking about how to give you my soul.”
She tilted her head. “You should keep your soul, Kenji. It’s important.”
“I don’t want to keep it. I want to give it to you. You already have my heart and my cock. Might as well take the rest.”
“Wow. I’m thankful. I had no idea.” Her mouth curved like she was holding back a laugh. “So then. . .should I give you my heart?”
“Yes.”
“Mmm. . .problem is, I already gave it to this guy. I guess I’ll have to call him up.”
I stilled. “I would kill him.”
Her eyebrows lifted, the corners of her mouth twitching. “You would kill him?”
“Not quickly.” I lifted my head up, letting my voice drop into the dark places I knew she felt in her bones. “I would peel him apart slowly—vein by vein, nerve by nerve—starting with the ones that made him scream without losing consciousness.”
She widened her eyes.
“I would split the skin from his fingers like fruit, take the nails one by one, listening for the catch in his breath. I would saw through each tendon and muscle until every heartbeat was a pulse of agony and every exhale a plea he choked back. And when his eyes went glassy, and he finally begged for death, I would lean in so close he could feel my breath on his ear. . .and tell him exactly why I was torturing him. I would whisper your name over and over as I stabbed him.”
Her mouth was wide open. “So. . .I see that certain jokes or role play might be too much for you.”
“It may.”
She cleared her throat. “O-kay. Back to this. . .”
I smiled. “What are you going to do to me, Tora?”
Her gaze warmed. “You told me once you enjoyed breath control with ropes. It was in Spain. Right?”