Her Fearless Ronin (The Syndicates #4)

Chapter 11

Hope

T he morning light filtered through the curtains, painting the room in soft hues as I gradually awakened from a night of passion. My body felt pleasantly sore, a lingering reminder of the intensity of our lovemaking. I turned my head to the side, my heart skipping a beat as I looked at Jiro. His features were relaxed in sleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

I smiled, looking at him for a while. He had kept his promise and gave me six orgasms before the sun started to rise.

Last night, I bared my heart to him, confessing my feelings even though I knew he couldn’t reciprocate. And surprisingly, I didn’t regret it. It was as if the weight of my unspoken emotions had been lifted, and now I could face the uncertain future with a newfound clarity.

I was not broken; Jiro had proven it, and I wanted him again and again. I closed my eyes and smiled, still feeling his hardness inside of me.

Just as I was lost in my thoughts, my phone vibrated on the bedside table, pulling me back to reality. I grabbed it, my heart skipping a beat again as I half expected it to be an issue with my mother.

“Hello?”

“Whatever you’re doing, Hope, it stops now.” His words hit me like a bucket of cold water, instantly pulling me out of whatever trance I was in. I sat up quickly, almost knocking the lamp off the nightstand. Beside me, Jiro stirred, his eyes blinking open as he was roused from his slumber.

I placed the phone on speaker mode and set it down on the bed, knowing that whatever my brother had to say, Jiro deserved to hear it too.

“Hope, are you there?” Leo asked, the coldness in his voice so unfamiliar.

I glanced at Jiro, my heart racing. This wasn’t like Leo at all. Jiro’s eyes locked with mine, his expression a mix of curiosity and concern.

“Leo, where are you?” I asked, turning toward the phone again.

“It’s irrelevant,” he started dismissively. “You’re poking your nose in Valdez business and with that fucking yakuza!” he spat with barely veiled disgust in his voice. “Do I need to remind you what he cost us? I’m sure Anna is rolling in her grave seeing you together.”

I turned back to Jiro, a mix of emotions swirling in his eyes. His face was a mask, his expression unreadable, but I knew those words had struck a deep chord within him, just as they had with me. It was like Leo’s words were designed to target every ounce of guilt and pain that he carried from the past.

My hand instinctively reached out, my fingers brushing gently against his cheek in a feeble attempt to convey comfort, to let him know that his past sins were not the sum of who he was. His lips pressed against my palm, a soft kiss that sent a shiver down my spine. He left the bed, his naked form a powerful sight, and my eyes followed him as he headed toward the bathroom.

“Hope,” Leo’s voice snapped me back to the phone, his tone accusatory. “What do you think you’re doing?”

I sat up straighter, determination welling up inside me. “You disappeared, Leo. For weeks, I thought you were…” My voice trailed off, the emotion of those weeks without him choking me for a moment. “You left without a word, without any sign of where you were. And now, you dare to call and give me orders?”

I could feel my frustration boiling over, the helplessness of not knowing what had happened to my brother for so long. And yet, he called as if he had the right to dictate my actions, to criticize my choices. It wasn’t fair, and I wasn’t going to let him control me any longer.

“Think again, Leo,” I retorted, my voice firm. “I’m not a child anymore. I can make my own decisions, and I’ll do whatever it takes to find out what happened to you and to help our family. If you’re not going to share the truth with me, then I’ll find it on my own.”

“Hope…” He sighed. “I am working, and this has nothing to do with you. Trust me, I’m just looking out for you.”

My eyes flashed to Jiro, who was now wearing a pair of boxers, leaning against the bathroom door, frowning at the phone.

“Like you looked out for me when you used the money Jiro sent each month for your stupid club, forcing me to drop out of school?” I asked with anger.

“Is that what he told you?” He let out a little laugh. “He lied to you, Hope. Just go back to your life and let me live mine, okay? Just… BACK OFF!”

“You know what, Leo? You back off!” I shouted into the phone, my anger fueling my words as I ended the call abruptly.

Jiro approached me, his footsteps silent as he walked over and sat down on the bed. His fingers found my foot beneath the covers, squeezing it gently, a silent reassurance that he was there.

“He’s lying,” I said, my voice thick with frustration and anger.

“I know,” Jiro replied, his tone calm and collected, a soothing contrast to my boiling temper.

“None of what he said makes any sense,” I continued, my hands gesturing wildly in the air. “And where’s his phone? He wouldn’t have just disappeared like that, not without a word. I know my brother, and he’s not that egotistical. He wouldn’t have left me to worry like that; he would have said something. I know he would have!” I added defiantly.

Jiro nodded, his gaze fixed on his hand resting on my leg. “It doesn’t add up.”

I felt a surge of relief rushing through me. He believed me, believed in my brother’s goodness despite the lies and the mystery surrounding his disappearance.

“Exactly,” I said, my voice still tinged with frustration, but the weight on my chest was slowly lifting. With Jiro by my side, supporting me and understanding the turmoil I was going through, I felt stronger. More determined to uncover the truth about Leo’s vanishing act.

I didn’t think he realized it when his hand began to trace soothing circles on my leg beneath the cover. His touch was both comforting and electric, sending a thrill through my veins.

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?”

I shook my head with a sigh, his caress on my leg not ceasing. “No, I won’t.”

“We’ll figure it out together.” His eyes held a certain intensity that sent a shiver down my spine. Then his tone softened. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

I understood that his question went beyond the phone call. It was about what we’d shared. I blushed, my heart racing as I met his gaze, which held a depth of emotion that sent my mind spiraling.

“I feel… better than I ever thought I could,” I confessed with a shy smile, my cheeks growing warmer as I recalled the passion and pleasure of our shared night. It was like I could still feel him deep inside of me. My words trailed off, my thoughts too intimate to voice. But I didn’t need to finish my sentence; he already knew how profoundly he had affected me.

Jiro let out a deep breath, a visible sign of his relief, and nodded. I noticed the tension in his body slowly melting away, and I realized how anxiously he must have been awaiting my response. It only endeared him to me even more.

“That’s good. I feared that your reaction to… us might have been different in the light of day,” he admitted, a rare vulnerability seeping into his words. It struck me that he was sharing a deeply private part of himself, something that he likely didn’t do often.

I tilted my head slightly, puzzled by his words. Hadn’t he heard me tell him that I loved him? I had said it, hadn’t I? I remembered feeling him tense against me when those words escaped my lips.

I wanted to ask him what he meant by “us.” It could mean so much and so little at the same time, but it seemed trivial right now. Also, I was just so high, so drunk on all the pleasure he had given me last night, that I feared the answer he would give me might deflate the happy bubble I was in.

My phone beeped, jarring me from my thoughts. I sighed, reluctantly accepting the intrusion of reality. “I need to go. I have work and my mom, you know.”

Jiro nodded, his fingers trailing as he pulled the cover off my leg, his touch lingering and sending a shiver up my spine as he grabbed the arch of my foot and pulled it up to kiss the top of it. “Yes, go take a shower, and I’ll call Hoka. We will need his help to meet with Valdez.”

I could see that involving his friend in all this bothered him, and it made me feel guilty for dragging others into the mess. “Listen, you don’t have to—”

“I know I don’t have to, but I want to,” he interrupted softly, his eyes unwavering as they locked onto mine.

I nodded and got out of the bed, retrieving my clothes along the way. I couldn’t help but smile as I felt his burning gaze on my back, and I swayed my hips a little more than necessary as I disappeared into the bathroom.

Once inside, I started to lather some of the hotel shampoo into my hair when he slipped in behind me, his presence a magnetic pull that I couldn’t resist. He pressed his chest against my back, his warmth seeping into my skin, and his fingers reached out to take over where I left off. His touch was gentle, almost reverent, as he massaged the shampoo into my hair, his fingers working through the strands. The intimacy of the moment was overwhelming, and I closed my eyes, savoring the sensation.

“I know how pro-environment you are, so I thought we might save water and shower together,” Jiro’s voice purred behind me.

I couldn’t help but smile, still keeping my back turned to him. “Oh, do you now?” I teased, the corners of my lips lifting in amusement.

A gasp escaped me as his lips found my neck, his teeth grazing over the sensitive skin. Automatically, I sucked in my stomach, the sudden contact causing goose bumps. His arms wound around my waist, pulling me closer, and I felt the heat of his bare skin and his hard cock against my back. Despite the fact that he had seen, kissed, and licked my entire naked body, the intimate vulnerability of the moment made me self-conscious under the harsh, unforgiving fluorescent light of the bathroom.

His lips brushed against my earlobe, and his warm breath sent my senses into a frenzy. “It’s only me, koibito . Your Jiro,” he whispered, his words a gentle reassurance against the shell of my ear. I exhaled a shaky breath, releasing the tension I didn’t even know I was holding.

As we stood there, the water cascading around us, I realized how fleeting this moment might be. The reality of the outside world could easily wash away this intimacy we were sharing. I was afraid that once we stepped out of this bathroom, the warmth and connection we had would fizzle out, leaving behind the distant and cold Jiro I had known before. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to this, to him, to the pleasure he had brought into my life. I wanted more, needed more.

“I want more of you,” I found myself admitting, my hand reaching behind me to touch his wet cock. The sensation of his hard length under my fingers sent a jolt of desire through me, and I leaned into him, craving the feeling of him deep inside me. “When you’re inside me…”

“You can have all of me… I’m ridged for your pleasure,” he murmured, his voice filled with a playful charm. I could hear the smile in his words, and it tugged at my heart, knowing that what he was offering was a moment of rapture in this shower and not the forever I knew I would crave at the end of this journey.

He let his hands glide upward with a featherlight touch, his palms finally cupping my breasts, running his fingers on top of my hardened nipples before pinching them, sending a zing of painful pleasure along my body, causing moisture between my thighs.

He trailed his lips on the back of my neck, letting his right hand slide down to the throbbing part of me, spreading my slit and rubbing slowly. “Ummm, you’re so wet for me, sweetheart. Tell me you like it when I’m inside you.” He grazed his teeth from the curve of my shoulder to my neck and bit it softly.

“Yes…” I let out on a moan, pushing back against him.

He licked the spot he bit. “Ummm, I love the way you taste. You enjoy when I eat you, don’t you?”

“I do.” I rested my hand against the white tiles and looked at his strong fingers playing with the most sensitive part of me, keeping me on the edge of orgasm. “I love how you taste too. I love being on my knees for you.” And that was true. I loved seeing how my mouth brought him to his knees.

He growled, pushing two fingers inside me, thrusting them back and forth slowly. I rested my other hand on the wet tiles.

He removed his hand abruptly, and I let out a pitiful whine.

“I got you; rest your foot on the edge of the tub and hold tight, sweetheart. I’m taking you for a ride.” His voice was commanding, and excitement bubbled inside me as I followed his order, lifting my leg, bracing for the sweet torture his cock was.

He murmured something in Japanese, and he gripped my hips, entering me from behind in a long, swift motion.

I let out a broken cry that was more pleasure than pain. I arched my back, my eyes rolling back at the intense pleasure of this new angle and how his piercings enhanced the friction of his length against my walls.

He stayed in me unmoving, letting me accommodate his size as he let his hand trail up my body to rest it on top of mine. He interlaced his fingers with mine, keeping our hands on the wall, and I looked at them. My heart tightened with love for this man; this simple, tender gesture in the midst of our passionate moment meant far more than anything he could have voiced.

I squeezed my walls and moaned at the sensations caused by his pierced length. It felt like it was waking every nerve of my body, making me far more sensitive to every touch.

I squeezed him again, eliciting a hiss from him. In response, he bit down on my neck, the sensation a mix of pleasure and pain, not breaking the skin but leaving behind a mark that would serve as a reminder of this moment.

“Mine.” His voice, rough and possessive, rumbled against my skin, proclaiming his ownership.

In a breathless whisper, I replied, the heat of the moment intensifying my words, “Yours.” I shifted against him, a silent encouragement for him to move .

Jiro started slow and deep but quickly moved to more forceful thrusts that would have made me topple over if it wasn’t for the wall and his bruising grip on my hip.

“Faster,” I whispered breathlessly, closing my eyes, submitting to the sensation of the hot water on my skin, his erotic grunts, his powerful hips, and his imposing cock hitting just the right spot from this new position.

He growled, increasing the speed, taking me over the edge faster than I thought possible. He joined me almost immediately after my orgasm.

A soft chuckle vibrated against my back as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close against him. “Best shower ever,” he murmured, his voice still carrying a post-passion raspiness.

I nodded, a contented smile tugging at my lips as I leaned into his embrace, my head finding the perfect spot against his shoulder. “I would never have thought I’d end up dirtier in the shower than I was before getting in,” I quipped, a playful glint in my eyes. The absurdity of the situation brought a surge of laughter, and I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of happiness, even in the midst of uncertainty.

Once we were dressed, Jiro and I hailed a taxi to take me back home. The transition from the private cocoon of the hotel room to the outside world felt like crossing a boundary I wasn’t entirely prepared for.

When we stopped in front of my building, he asked the taxi to wait and followed me silently. As we reached my front door, I fidgeted with the strap of my purse, my mind racing with unspoken questions about where we stood now .

Jiro must have sensed my uncertainty, for he gave me a small, reassuring smile, his hand gently cupping my cheek. The warmth of his touch against my skin calmed my nerves. “Call me when you’re free,” he said softly, his words carrying a promise that sent a rush of joy through me. “I’ll take you out for dinner.”

His simple invitation filled me with a surge of happiness. He leaned down, his lips brushing against mine in a chaste kiss that held a world of unspoken emotions. Just as he was about to pull away, he murmured something in Japanese against my lips. I blinked, my heart skipping a beat as I tried to catch his words. “What did you say?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

A tender smile played on his lips, and he met my gaze with a depth of feeling that left me breathless. “You’re everything I want and everything I don’t deserve,” he confessed, his voice filled with awe and longing. The vulnerability in his eyes mirrored my own feelings.

I watched him walk back to the waiting taxi, my heart racing with happiness and uncertainty. As he got into the taxi, I found myself silently sending a prayer to whatever higher power might be listening, hoping that fate would allow me to keep my yakuza.

Jiro had been a fool last night, claiming that he was the only yakuza I could ever have. In truth, he was the only yakuza I had ever wanted, the only man I truly desired.