Page 134 of The Dragon 2
Damn it, Reo. You could have warned me. No wonder you had on those damn glasses.
I swallowed hard and my adrenaline licked at the edges of my nerves.
No part of me wanted to turn back.
Soon, we stopped in front of double doors so dark they absorbed the light. But it wasn’t the doors that held my attention.
It was the ceiling above. A fresco stretched across the space—hand-painted, baroque in detail, and coated in carnal power. At the center of it sat a woman lounging on a red throne carved with roses. Her expression was regal and unbothered.
She wore nothing.
At her feet, a collection of men knelt. Strong men. Pale men. Older men. Each of them sculpted in agony and awe. Bodies contorted into living footstools. One man’s lips kissed her toes. Another’s back arched beneath her heel. They weren't bound, but they looked utterly possessed by her.
Oh my.
I tilted my head to take it in more.
And, I shouldn’t have, because then I began to imagine Nyomi up there—on that throne. That same lazy smile on her lips. Her foot pressing into my chest. Her eyes half-lidded, knowing I would never leave her feet unless she told me to.
My cock twitched.
Fuck. Do I want that? Even more. . .Tora. . .do you want that?
I put my view back on the doors and noticed that to the left, set into an alcove beneath a lantern carved with angels and vines, sat a shallow obsidian bowl.
Steam curled from its surface.
I caught a floral perfume coming from the liquid.
Beside the bowl, a silk red cloth lay folded.
Above the door was a sign covered in flowing script that read,Enter not to dominate, but to be undone.
I stared at it and then turned toward Hiroko.
She didn’t meet my eyes. She only nodded at the bowl and spoke, “This space is sacred, Kenji. Please cleanse your hands.”
I looked down at my hands, fingers that had broken men, and then stepped forward.
A sacred space? Is it now?
Smiling, I dipped my fingers into the water.
Heat kissed my skin.
The perfume clung to my flesh.
Then, I lifted the cloth and dried my hands slowly. It was softer than any linen I’d known.
“Thank you.” Hiroko turned and opened the double doors.
So close. . .so fucking close. . .
Chapter twenty-six
Before the World Gets Cruel
Kenji
