Loving Jiro (14 page)

"We've been together a while now, but I feel like I don't know you,” she told him. “What you do ... Is it difficult? I mean does it bother you to take another's life?"

"Kiara.” His voice held a warning.

"Please,” she begged. “I need to know, Jiro. I want to know you better."

"You want to feel like there is some redeeming quality in me,” he insisted. “It helps your own conscious to think that I lose sleep nights because of the lives I've taken over the years."

She stopped walking, glared at him with her hands on her hips. “Well do you?"

"If I say I do not?” His face remained impassive.

"You make it hard to get to know you. All we've done is make love and go on a few shopping trips,” she grumbled. “Why can't you open up? Why can't you tell me what your fears are, if you have insecurities like regular people? Maybe you're a machine. All feeling is dead, or became so after you killed the tenth person!"

He approached her, his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows lowered. She lifted her chin, standing her ground. This time, he would not intimidate her. If nothing else, she had grown stronger while living in Jiro's house, under his care.

His mouth curved upward on one side. She imagined he guessed what she had been thinking, that she wouldn't be bullied by his unhappy look. It seemed to please him. “Kiara, as much as you desire it, I cannot be the man you want me to be. I am what I am."

"But you want me to be a woman I could never be, too,” she insisted. “You want me to be this obedient little thing that knows ‘her place', and I can't be that person. I am what
I
am."

His expression turned sad. “You're right.” He drew her into his arms, holding her tight and kissing the top of her head. “My pride told me I could have anything I wanted. I wanted you and despite what my grandfather said, I was determined to have you. Even now, I want to take you far away to hold on to you."

She shook, tears flowing down her cheeks. “But you won't. One of the maids said you're very honorable. She said you won't cheat on your wife by keeping a mistress."

Jiro kissed her for a long moment and raised his head. He caressed her tears away from her cheeks. “I will admit to being tempted to forget everything and everyone—my culture, my family."

That was a big deal. She stared up into his eyes. His words went a long way to convincing her that he loved her. She nuzzled closer. Just a little longer in his arms, to hear his deep voice with its sexy accent.

"Come.” He turned her back toward the house. “I must return to my guests."

She told herself the tone in his voice was that of depression at the prospect of looking over the beautiful women, bred to obey him, to offer herself to his every desire.

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The one week wife selecting process was either not true or Jiro was taking longer than he had agreed to choose his bride. Kiara was both relieved and frustrated. The torment and stress of seeing the women fawn over him wore on her nerves, but the nights spent in his arms were all a woman could ask for.

Kiara stretched in bed, glancing over at Jiro. She loved watching him sleep. His lashes were longer than hers, curling on his cheeks and making him seem like an innocent boy rather than a sometimes cold man. She wondered if he would have straight black hair if he hadn't shaved his head, and she wondered what their baby would look like if they had one together. But that wasn't likely. Jiro had made sure she had protection. There would be no accidents, or rather no little blessings to take with her when she left.

He opened his eyes suddenly and smiled. “How long have you been watching me?"

"Not long,” she lied. He gave her a disbelieving look and opened his arms. She settled against his chest, squirming when she felt he was erect. The man's sexual appetite knew no bounds. “You're always hard in the morning.

"It's a male thing. You wouldn't understand,” he said in what he probably thought was a black man's way of saying it. He came off sounding silly, and Kiara laughed. She wasn't aware the man had that much of a sense of humor. He was normally so serious.

"Uh, huh,” she laughed. “Sure."

Jiro kissed her head. “Kiara, are you too sore to take me again before I have to leave?"

She shook her head and reached down between them to take him in her hand. He groaned. She squeezed gently while running her palm up and down his length. His member quivered, igniting memories of Jiro driving deep and hard inside her. No amount of soreness could deny her that once again. Besides, their separation was looming. She wanted all she could get.

Jiro eased her over to her back and positioned himself between her legs. She expected him to enter her already moist center, but instead, he slid lower, kissing along her stomach, caressing her breasts. He tweaked the rigid peaks while she moaned and covered his hands.

"Yes.” She lifted her hips to him when his mouth reached her apex. His tongue teased her button. He sucked it into his mouth and then let it slide out. He lapped at her juices, dipping his tongue inside and withdrawing. She pulled his head toward her. He pushed her hands to her sides, holding them in place.

"No, lie still. Let me pleasure you.” His eyes had darkened. He buried his face between her thighs, and she was lost as he ate, greedy and wild, noisy to the point that she was coming with the erotic sound alone. He nuzzled her with his nose. “Mmm, you're delicious,” he told her. She prayed he would never stop.

Jiro covered her swollen bud and sucked. His hot mouth coaxed her desires to volcanic levels. She screamed, knowing no one would hear in her own little house. “Jiro!"

"Come,” he demanded.

Her body exploded. She writhed, fighting his hold on her wrists. The waves crashed over her abdomen, arrowing down to her wet apex. Jiro greedily licked up every drop she offered him. What a turn-on, to know her lover enjoyed her flavor like she was his favorite dessert. She arched her hips, pushing up to his mouth. He didn't stop licking and teasing her nub until she was climaxing for the second and then the third time.

"Once again,” he demanded, like her body was his to command. Yet, the hot thing obeyed the man like her mind never had. She came and came. Only when she gasped for a needed breath did he stop, resting his moist cheek against her thigh. He glanced up at her, struggling to regulate his own breath. “Did you like that?"

"You know I did."

"I need to come,” he told her, an eyebrow rising in question.

She nodded. “Let me ride?"

"Not this time.” He climbed up higher, resting his thick erection at her entrance. “I want to thrust and pump."

"You want to dominate me,” she told him. “You love me on my back in the missionary position."

"Is that a crime?” Now both his eyebrows shot upward. He wasn't angry. Jiro was not ashamed of what he liked or what he wanted. He would never force her, but the man was all about claiming what was his. Neither of them could deny her body was one of the things he owned without question.

He pushed in without warning. She bit her lip, her eyes closing automatically. His strokes were long and slow, easing all the way in and all the way out. She felt him watching her face as he normally did. He liked to see the expressions flit across her face. At first, he had encouraged her to watch him in return, but that had been impossible. Making love with Jiro was too much, the pleasure too intense not to lose all sense of time and space.

His tool, thick and long, filled her to capacity and pushed her past that point until she wept at the pain and pleasure combined. He took it slow until her muscles relaxed, and then he thrust hard and fast. His hips slapped against hers. His balls banged her rear each time he drove inside. She cried out his name, pleaded with him, for what she didn't know. He grunted and groaned, sweat beading and then dripping down his forehead. Still he drove in and out.

Don't let it stop, she cried silently.

Jiro lifted one of her legs and pushed it over his shoulder to rest on the opposite one. The move caused him to slam against her ass and heightened the experience. She fought for a breath. “Jiro!"

"Hold on, Kiara,” he encouraged. She was roaring toward another orgasm, but he wanted her to hold on. As far as she knew, no man could hold on as long as Jiro. He could pound at her yet still not come until he was good and ready. She loved his control. Jiro liked to keep the pleasure going for long minutes until both of them were nearly out of their minds.

"Jiro, I need to come,” she screamed.

He squeezed one of her ass cheeks while he pumped. That did it. Her thighs quivered, pressure built deep inside. She gave in. Her climax burst forth. Simultaneously, she felt the hot flow of Jiro's seed filling her womb. She wiggled beneath him, doing her best to milk out every single drop. After a few trembling thrusts, he collapsed on top of her, his lips pressed against her neck. “Kiara.” A world of feeling inhabited that single word.

Kiara hid in the library, where it seemed none of Jiro's potential wives bothered to go. She strolled along the rows of books stretching from floor to ceiling in search of something to help her pass the day. Jiro had taken her into town to get her hair done and allowed her to shop for a few hours. But that had been days ago. Now, she was having a time finding something to do.

"Kiara!” Ayumi's excited voice startled Kiara. She swung around to see the young girl standing just inside the door. Before Kiara could utter a word, Ayumi flew across the room and into her arms. “I've missed you so much. How can we live on the same property and not see each other for two weeks?"

Kiara laughed while hugging her close. “I don't know, but your brother and grandfather have managed it well. Most of my days are spent down at my cottage, near the lake. It is nice though."

Ayumi agreed. “Yes, that is nice. I've been told to stay away from that area, but when I saw you come in here, I ditched my new art teacher to sneak in to say hi."

Jealousy hit Kiara over Ayumi's new instructor. “Is she any good?"

Ayumi shrugged. “She's okay, but not as good as you. She's kind of too sweet, and she keeps reminding me to tell Jiro-san that I'm happy with her. I think she's more interested in impressing him than me.” The girl rolled her eyes. “Another woman trying to get my brother."

"Like there aren't enough already.” Kiara's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth, embarrassed. “Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't worry. Everybody knows you're the only one for Jiro-san,” Ayumi asserted. “Those other women are too boring. Jiro-san likes someone to keep him on his toes.” Ayumi's face suddenly fell, and she looked down at the floor. “Kiara, I'm sorry for what happened when I went off with Luke. I didn't realize you would get into so much trouble."

Kiara hugged her. She pulled the girl over to a loveseat and sat her down. “What happened? Where did you go?"

"Luke and I never left the property.” She rolled her eyes again. “He was too scared. Talk about just a pretty face!"

Kiara laughed.

"We took the horses and road out of sight of the stables. Then we hid them in the old barn that nobody uses anymore. Jiro-san was supposed to have it torn down, but he hasn't yet. Then we went over to the guesthouse and played board games."

"The guesthouse!” Kiara remembered seeing the woman in the window stripping down the other night. She hoped Ayumi and her friend hadn't been privy to activity like that over there. “Sweetie, that's not the kind of place you want to hang out."

"Don't worry.” She patted Kiara's hand as if she were a child herself. “We actually went down to the basement. There's this passage that leads to a bomb shelter. I should take you down to see it sometime. Anyway, it wasn't until Luke fell asleep and I started realizing he wasn't all that smart that I got bored with him. After that, I came back to the house."

Her offhanded comment about Luke not being smart enough bothered Kiara, but she was young. Her fascination with him was over, and he had been sent home never to be invited back. Hopefully the entire experience had taught her something about not worrying her family and the consequences of her words and actions.

Voices in the hall caught Kiara's attention. She jumped to her feet. “Ayumi, you better get out of here. If we're caught together, we'll both be in trouble."

Ayumi nodded, gave Kiara a final hug and hurried for the door. She stopped and turned back. “Well I'm going to sneak and visit you at your cottage, Kiara. I don't care what anyone says."

"Ayumi,” Kiara began, but the girl disappeared. A moment later, her loud greeting using the word Kiara recognized as that used for her grandfather reached Kiara's ears. Kiara glanced around the room. She spotted a door leading outside and hurried over to it to let herself out.

As soon as her feet touched the gravel on the driveway and turned toward the direction of her cottage, a hand covered her mouth. An arm hoisted her up off her feet and ground her against a hard body.
Not again. Please!

A car pulled up alongside her, and the man holding her, shoved her inside. The car pulled off. Kiara elbowed the man's ribs and kicked as hard as she could. Her efforts were pointless. The man yanked her hands behind her back, tied them securely and then stuffed her mouth with a cloth.

She had been abducted yet again. Life with Jiro had too many issues. She wondered when and how the men had gotten past all the guards on the property. And then a new idea hit her. At night the grounds were crawling with Jiro's men. In the daylight, as it was now, the possibilities of someone getting by them was impossible. That could mean only one thing, she thought. The men may have been following Grandfather's orders.

Just yesterday, she had overheard an intense conversation between Jiro and his grandfather. From the few words she could figure out, Jiro was still dragging his feet about choosing a wife. Her guess was he had decided to take matters into his hands. He would get rid of Jiro's temptation—
her
!

For what felt like hours, the car careened down whatever streets it traveled on. Kiara continued to work against her bonds while the man who had grabbed her had moved to the front see with his buddy. Kiara listened, trying to make out their words, but somehow she thought they were speaking a different language other than Japanese. Yet, their accent was distinctly Asian.