Ronin said nothing; he just turned his head and dropped a kiss on her knuckles.
“So here’s my theory. You’re bored. You can’t train like you used to. At least when you were fighting, you weren’t quite sure of the outcome. When you were teaching, it broke up your day and forced you to concentrate outside yourself. Even that’s been taken away from you. So knowing all these factors, I took it upon myself to find a challenge for you.”
“Amery—”
“Hear me out completely before you interrupt. I like rope play, Master Black. As much as it pleases you that I’m your willing partner, it’s not a challenge for you. Figuring out which technique to use on me has its challenges, but nothing like the test of capturing and punishing a disobedient partner.”
Interest stirred his brain and his cock.
“So I’m here to make a confession.”
“What did you do?”
“I broke your ‘no observation’ rule. I’ve watched classes. I even interrupted a class Knox was teaching last night—he’s probably still wrestling with the best way to tell his boss that the boss’s girlfriend has been openly violating rules.”
“That is pretty blatant.”
“And I haven’t learned my lesson. Case in point? I’m up here. Civilians aren’t supposed to enter your domain during class hours. This is the second time I’ve done it in a week. You never let that shit slide.”
“True—I’ve always been adamant about enforcing the rules.”
“So what are you going to do about it? Pull down my panties, bend me over your desk, and spank my bare ass? Huh-uh. We’d end up f**king for sure. And, hot man of mine? Fucking you is always a reward, never a punishment.”
“Are you trying to piss me off or turn me on?”
Amery stood on tiptoe and murmured, “Both,” in his ear. “You know you have to punish me. I know you have to punish me. But there’s no way I’ll be on my knees in the practice room waiting for you to finish up your day to dish that punishment out.”
Ronin whirled around and, shockingly, Amery was already halfway across the room.
“This is where the challenge starts, Samurai,” she cooed sexily. “You’ll have to find me before you can exact the punishment of your choosing.”
“Find you,” he repeated.
“After the dojo closes, I’ll be somewhere in this building except for the penthouse level. I bet I know some really great nooks and crannies that you aren’t even aware of. Or maybe I’ll be plotting my escape back to my place. I’ll give you an hour to find me. If you’re unsuccessful, your bed will seem big and lonely without me in it tonight, don’t you think?”
Ronin started to stalk her. “When I do track you down? What then?”
“You’d better have a plan in place to capture me because I won’t go easy.”
“Baby, throwing down the gauntlet is what I live for. The fact that it’s you issuing the challenge?” His greedy gaze raked over her from head to toe. “Even better. But I’ll give you a warning. If you’re my prisoner? I get to do anything I want to you. Anything.”
“Guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?” Amery smiled and said, “Catch you later.”
“You can count on it.”
She slipped out of the room.
• • •
RONIN warned his instructors they needed a speedy shutdown.
He’d tied a coil of hemp rope from his gi belt. Normally he worried about the burn ratio of the size and texture of the rope against bare skin when he tied her, but not tonight. Tonight when he caught her, he’d give her a taste of the hojojutsu side of bondage. Chase, capture, and bind for the reward.
For the past two hours, since she’d issued the challenge, Ronin had created a defensive and an offensive strategy, breaking down possibilities. After her hint about sneaking off to her place, he knew she’d try to escape from the building. He wasn’t falling for her red herring warning him to search every nook and cranny of the place.
There were two exits from the building where the door lock was automatic and she wouldn’t have to rearm the system. All entrances into the building were locked after five p.m. So she’d either try to sneak out with the other dojo students leaving through the main entrance, or she’d leave by the back door.
Ronin didn’t consider it cheating that he could cover both entrances at once by watching the security camera feed, because guaranteed Amery would try to disguise herself. Still, maybe she’d be bold and not bother. He scrutinized every head for that distinctive strawberry-blond hair until the last remaining instructor killed all the lights and exited the building.
Since the students tended to congregate out on the sidewalk after class, Amery would avoid that side.
Or maybe she’d wait until they were gone, hoping he’d watch the alley while she slipped out the front.
There was no way he could prepare for every contingency.
But he really, really looked forward to the chase.
He left the security monitors for a couple of minutes to send the elevator up to the third floor. Would that flush her out?
Ten minutes after the dojo emptied, there she was exiting the back door to the alley.
Gotcha, baby.
Now his adrenaline was really pumping.
Ronin left via the front entrance and kept his footsteps light as he crossed the street to the parking garage. Another thing to factor in; Amery showed up after work, which meant she’d have to park on either of the top two levels.