“You look tired; it’s well past midnight,” Akchiro murmured and stood, holding out his hand to her. “Nothing needs to be decided tonight.”
She pulled farther back into the cushion. He was incorrigible. “Do you really think we will just take up like we left off in Tokyo?”
“You speak as if I wronged you.” His hand dropped, and he turned from her, driving space between them, shaking his head in what she figured was disbelief. “You act as if I was the one hugged up with another—letting them touch me. You act as if I then came home, made love to you, only to disappear after I lied to you for over six fucking months!” His face was flushed. His pain and rage was finally free to surface now that they were alone. His rage was palpable. She could clearly see the man who came all this way for revenge.
Flower stood to confront what they would never seem to get past. “And now you know I had no choice. I had to return to my family.” She waved in his direction. “But that will never be enough. I will never be enough, and it’s more than that, isn’t it? What you really resent is that you want me in spite of the fact that I’m not for you. Not good enough. Wrong pedigree. Right?”
“I couldn’t give a damn about that. Don’t lay your insecurities on me. You lied, and you left. Now we are here. You will make recompense for your actions or the IPO is dead. I will stay here for the duration, and you may attend to me as you did in Tokyo. I’m sure since you are so eager to sacrifice yourself for your family, who obviously has you feeling that you are so unworthy that you have to lie about who really you are, that you will have no problem doing it again.” His words cut as his eyes glinted with every verbal bomb he dropped.
She wanted to strangle him. She walked straight up to him—all five feet two inches looking unflinchingly up at six feet two inches of brawn and lean muscle. “Use any excuse you want, Akchiro, about why I’m doing this. Just make sure you’re being honest about your own intentions.”
“My intentions are evident. I’m here.” He gripped her chin and kissed her in a soul searing kiss. Before she could recover, he broke contact, walked back to the door, and retrieved his luggage then walked toward her bedroom.
* * *
Akchiro came back into the living room after his shower. He saw that she was bundled under a volume of blankets with pillows all around her. She looked adorable. His heart melted seeing her lying there. He could freely admit to himself that he’d missed her. Tonight had been the most amazing sex he’d ever experienced, but it was more than that. When she touched him, it felt as if he’d come home. Like the times when she’d not accompanied him and he’d come home from trips to find her waiting for him in their flat in Tokyo. Her touch, her smile evoked long nascent feelings in his heart that were far deeper than the heat of passion. The feeling tonight was the balm that his soul needed. He’d not planned on intruding into her home. He found he couldn’t bear to be parted from her. She was his, after all. Whether she admitted now or not, he cared not. He was here to claim what was his.
Walking over to her, he scooped her up. She gave a startled jerk and her eyes fluttered open. She blinked, seeming to bring him into focus. “Akchiro,” she whispered then nuzzled closer. Right under his neck. He could feel her hot little puffs of breath against his skin. He couldn’t deny his body’s response. His dick was so hard. He’d probably frighten her if she saw how much he wanted her. Then again, maybe not because earlier she had been very eager to receive what he offered.
Laying her amongst the pillows on her bed, he looked down at her and longed. He was used to the feeling. From the moment he’d met her, he’d longed for her. Even after he’d possessed her in every way possible, he still longed for her. That longing rode him for over a year. Some part of him knew that the time with her now would not be enough. He’d come here hoping to exorcise her from his heart. He now felt that may be impossible. One touch, one taste, one stroke inside was all it took for him to relapse back into the drug that was his Flower. She was the epitome of the lotus—beautiful, regal, nourishing, fragile and strong at the same time. He would have cherished her had she stayed.
Forcing himself to turn away, he walked back to the living room. He knew she felt she hadn’t a choice, yet the fact that she hadn’t trusted him with the truth after he gave her the benefit of the doubt smarted. Takedas didn’t pout, they demanded satisfaction. He made his name exacting revenge. She would learn no matter how well she pleased him in bed, she walked a fine line of it. He could not allow any slight go unanswered. Not even from her—especially from her.
Setting up his work space so that he could begin his conference calls to his subordinates in Tokyo, he quelled the desire to return to her in the bed. He couldn’t be distracted by—no, softened by her. Her actions wrought consequences that they both had to deal with now, for him the constant barrage of assaults to his business and for her the fallout from her family when they realize that her loyalty belonged to him now. The fact remained they had crossed a path that forged them together. She would realize there was no turning back for either of them.
Chapter 17
“Are you bringing your guy to dinner today?”
Flower removed the phone and looked at it incredulously. “Hell, no. Are you crazy?” She kept her tone low. Akchiro was working in her living room, having taken that space as his home office since he moved in. She was sitting in the center of her bed talking to Ghadi, who had the unmitigated nerve to call her at four in the morning making threats and demands. It was way too early for this mess.
“Well, you haven’t been to Sunday dinner in weeks. No one has seen you since this guy came back into your life, and the whole family is going to come over there if you don’t get your little tail over there today and introduce this guy to mom and dad. Hell, it’s taken everything for me to keep FADE from tearing this whole city down coming after you. I told them to trust you. That shit ends today, baby sis.” She could hear his exasperation and worry. Her eyes darted to the door of the bedroom, making sure she was not being too loud.
“Lies. I had lunch with Willow a week ago and she would’ve given me a heads-up if mom or dad had said anything. I will come. I can’t promise that Akchiro will. It’s already Monday in Tokyo and he will be working—has been all morning,” Flower hedged. She didn’t want to turn an already awkward situation into a full-blown debacle. Then there was the chance that someone may say something out of turn about the past year… She couldn’t have that. And knowing her family, it was almost guaranteed.
She and Akchiro were cohabiting in a tentative truce, but that would all be blown to hell if he had any inclination that she’d kept anything else from him. He would pull the deal and not stop until he destroyed everything she held dear. She had no illusions about that. He was ruthless when it came to business and downright diabolical when it came to their relationship, if it could be even called that. She closed her eyes against the throb in her heart that threatened to erupt into a soul-crushing sob every time she reflected on what could have been and where they were now.
The only thing that resembled what they shared prior was the sex. He drew a hard line at doing anything else with her. No watching shows with her just to keep her company, no reading, no walks, no outings. He worked like a maniac, readying Creative Chaos for the IPO then coming back to her place and working on Takeda most of the evening. He rarely slept more than five hours and most nights not even with her but on the sofa. On the mornings that he found himself waking with her, having been too exhausted from work and sex to leave, he acted as if he’d failed himself in some way. No words could be crueler than the disdain with which he acted when he forgot himself.
She dreaded approaching him, asking him to go and front like they had a real relationship for her family. Nope. She had her own hard lines. “I will definitely be there. I can’t guarantee he’ll be there.” She plucked the duvet, pulling it up to her shoulders, suddenly bereft. She hoped Ghadi couldn’t hear her despair.
“You mean to tell me you are with some
one who doesn’t care enough to meet your family?” His outrage pounded through the phone. Closing her eyes against the need to blurt out a defense because she knew the words would sound weak since she really couldn’t justify her reasons, Flower forced calmness into her voice. “You sound like you are living in the twelfth century. Not a good look. Listen, I’ll be there. I have to go.”
Clicking the phone and stifling the urge to toss it across the room, she pushed it under her pillow and moved to snuggle back under the covers. She was going to need her rest in order to run the gauntlet of her family this evening.
“What time are we supposed to be there?” She looked up the see Akchiro leaning against the door with his arms crossed. His hair was pulled back in a tie, and he had on his silk pajamas. Her mouth watered. He never failed to make her want him. The man was a menace. Too much temptation, passion, and anger rolled up in a beautiful package. So hard to resist and she wasn’t trying, not really. The insatiable urge she had to make right what she’d broken pushed her when she should be walking away. Looking at him as he was now not being cold and aloof always made her think of him in the early days.
“I wasn’t sure you’d want to come. In fact, I’m positive you don’t.” He’d shown no interest in her family since she’d allowed him to stay.
“I’m interested in everything about you.” He stepped into the room, pulling his hair loose.
“What are you doing?” Her body responded as if it had been specifically trained for this action of his because every time he pulled his hair loose, he made love to her. She pulled her legs under her as she watched him move forward. With every step, she could see his hardness pressed against the fabric of his pants.
He stood by the side of the bed and pulled his shirt over his head. “I would think that was obvious.” He smirked, pushing the pants down his legs. Standing, his dick sprang up, slapping against his belly.
Gripping it, he slid his hand up and down the shaft. “I need to be inside you.” Moving over to where he stood, she replaced his hands with hers, loving the feel of his hardness. He hardened further under her hands. She swept the tip, spreading the fluid around and around the head. Dipping her head, she took him in her mouth. He gave an involuntary jerk.
Gripping her hair, he stilled her, “I said inside, Flower,” he gritted. She looked up to see his eyes glinted. She moved to turn around. “I want to see your face.” She realized then that he wanted, no, needed more than sex. He craved her touch. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down to her. She took charge of the kiss, devouring his mouth. She poured everything she dared not say and could not admit even to herself into loving his mouth.
Their tongues sucked, dueled, and nibbled until they were both panting. Leaning back, she pulled him with her. Putting his hands between them, he touched her. “Are you ready? Do you want me as much as I want you?”
Flower’s eyes never left his. He was laid bare, asking her about more than just their lovemaking. “Always.” She felt a tear fall. Mortified, she turned her head away. He turned her face back to his and kissed the tear away.
Replacing his hand, he pressed in, giving her no quarter, not stopping until he slid home. “Always.” His voice was hushed. He clutched the curls at the crown of her head as he began to thrust. “You’re mine, hmm?”
“Yes,” she whimpered and moaned, meeting him thrust for thrust.
“And this pussy?”
“Yours.” Her voice heightened as he picked up the pace.
“And this dick?”
“Mine,” she cried out as his hips pumped into her. Bending down in a way that made her marvel at his flexibility, he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked one then the other, not losing his rhythm as he fucked her. “Open wider for me. Take all this dick, Flower.” She obeyed him and met him. Her head thrashed. He held her still and sucked the hollow of her neck. She knew it would bruise but didn’t care. All she cared about was chasing her dragon into his pleasure garden. Relentlessly, he fucked her until she begged him to let her come. Reaching down, he began to swirl his thumb around her distended clit. “You’re mine, Flower. Nothing ever changes that and this hot little pussy will always be mine.” Over and over again he whispered his naughty words to her. Flower’s body bowed as her orgasm shook her body. She could feel how hard her body gripped Akchiro’s, milking his dick as he followed her over the edge. His own body thrusting his nut deep into her womb.
* * *
“Where’s Bao?” Flower saw that the Rolls Royce was being held open by the valet.
“I’m driving. You can enter the directions into the GPS.”
“You can drive the American way?” She looked from the car to him skeptically.
“Yes.” He nodded in the direction the car, indicating that she should precede him, not touching her in any way. Well, this was something that had not changed. She’d already told her mom no big hugs because that was just not how Akchiro had been brought up. Her mom was a world traveler at this point, but her Southern mores were still strong. Most people loved her for it. Flower was so nervous that her wildly affectionate and loud family was going to have Akchiro in for a huge culture shock. There was Western culture, but Black American Southern culture and cuisine was a whole different thing. She kept replaying that “she wasn’t ready” meme in her head and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Why are you laughing to yourself?” He quirked an eyebrow her way as he pulled away from the curb.
“I’m just imagining how strange you are going to think my family is. You’ve been warned is all I’m saying.” Flower’s eyes twinkled up at him in laughter. She heard his soft chuckle as he took to the road.
Her parents lived outside the city in Murray Hill, a suburb in Scarsdale, and she and her brothers used to travel from the city together. That had all changed last year after FADE’s injury. She and he had started missing Sunday dinners until the family put their collective foot down and demanded that they keep the tradition. It had been the best thing for them really. FADE also began bringing Delightful, which was awkward for her and Ghadi because of the part they played in keeping them apart right after his shooting. Though all was well now, it had been a tough road, and they had yet to pick the carpool back up.
“Why are you so quiet?”
Flower looked down to the hand that was caressing her thigh then up to his profile. Though his eyes were on the road, he hadn’t missed even the slightest change in her demeanor. “Umm, just thinking of all of the changes that happened since FADE almost died. My family is bruised but not broken,” She forced a small smile in his direction.
“I’ve read the reports of what happened. I know it must have been hard for you all.” He patted her thigh. “I’m here for you.”
Flower didn’t doubt that nor his wrath if he found out she’d kept another secret.
“Awwwe, darlin’, aren’t you the cutest thing ever!”
Akchiro couldn’t help but smile at the effervescence of Flower’s mother. He knew he was flushed with embarrassment but was determined to soldier through because Flower, who stood next to him, looked as if she was going to expire from mortification. That he wouldn’t allow. “Thank you, Mrs. Carrington. You honor me greatly by inviting me to your home.” He bowed deep in a sign of respect.
“Oh my, how wonderful of you to say, and call me Grace. Please come in.” She clasped her hands over her heart in sheer delight.
Akchiro stepped in and saw just how thoughtful Flower’s mother was. She had slippers ready for him to slip into. He noticed that the rest of the family all had the same. They had gone out of their way to make him feel welcome. He glanced at Flower and saw that she was absolutely delighted. His heart kicked faster at seeing her visibly relax, and her mother hugged her in welcome followed by her father.
“Mr. Carrington.” He bowed again as the tall distinguished man stepped away from his daughter and took the hand that was proffered.
“Welcome, Mr. Takeda.” His formalness alone told Akchir
o three things. This man did not like him, did not trust him with his daughter, and he would have a long road to prove himself.
“Daddy,” Flower admonished softly as her eyes darted back and forth between them.
“Fernando, come help me in the kitchen,” Grace huffed, tugging her husband behind her. He could see where Flower got her assertiveness. Her mother was even more diminutive than Flower’s five foot two but did not let that stop her ordering people about as he could clearly hear she now did in the kitchen when he and Flower traversed the house. She led him through the palatial space out to a veranda where a huge spread of food awaited. The family was all assembled it seemed, with him and Flower being the last to arrive.
“Good, now we can eat,” Ghadi crowed, came over, and shook his hand then wrapped Flower into a bear hug.
“I’m proud of you,” he whispered into her hair and gave Akchiro a wink.
“Hell—I mean, heck yeah,” another smallish woman, chimed in coming up behind Ghadi.
“Move!” She shoved him, replacing his hug with her own. Her whispered words couldn’t be overheard but when she pulled away, her eyes were suspiciously bright.
“I’m Willow.” She gave him a crooked smile. She looked like Flower yet didn’t. She was slimmer where Flower was curvier. Her hair was a tad shorter and held more riotous yet looser curls and was every color of the rainbow. She was, in a word, interesting. Her eyes sparked with mischief as she beheld him. “And you’re the infamous Akchiro Takeda. I like your tech.” Her smile was impish as she winked and moved away with a floating grace that belied her personality in some way. Flower had told him that her sister was a ballerina and traveled a bit with her company, so to have her home for this little bit was huge.
Lotus Flower Bomb: The Mogul Series Book Two Page 15
