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It hit her like a fist to the stomach that she didn’t know this man at all She shouted at hi her mouth, no sound came out at all

That’s when she woke up She blinked at the strobelike effect co from the TV and had a flash of panic Where was she?

Then she reh her hair Jesus Talk about fked up Ae stuff, yet the dream unsettled her The symbolism in it touched on too many of her fears about Ronin to h she returned to his bedroom to check on him, she couldn’t sleep with hi in the balance the last feeeks So she slept on the couch

• • •

THE next ing by his peaceful expression, it looked like he did rest better in his own bed Or maybe he’d doubled up on his pain pills He hadn’t moved from the bed in fourteen hours

You needed it, baby

Amery placed a soft kiss on his forehead and tiptoed fro a pot of coffee, she wandered through the penthouse, unsure what to do with herself That’s how she found herself in front of the door to his practice roo if he’d used it in the last feeeks Prior to their split, Ronin had beco his rope ainst the cool wood, her hand on the doorknob, her heart pounding crazily as the vivid memory of the last time she’d been in the practice roo on you"

A me from hooks and stuff? Like a slab of ers around her throat and lower jaw, guaranteeing her undivided attention "No Like a piece of art Like beauty suspended in time"

The intensity in his eyes had overwhelmed her to the point she’d felt her knees start to buckle

"Do not move"

After she’d found her balance, Ronin had n of heat, baby Talk to me"

"I don’t understand the suspension part of kinbaku Why it appeals to you"

"Or why it frightens you," he countered

Amery stared at him, this ht into the heart of her and refused to let her hide fro fros are cos that worry you"

"No It’s the impersonal aspect of suspension that freaks es I’ve seen in your bondage books"

"Neither how you feel or your fears are ever stupid" He gentled his hold and stroked his thu her jawline "It’s never impersonal when I bind you The only way I can allay your fears is to show you Will you trust me?"