Amaya turned at the top of the stairs, her brilliant smile in place as Ryo preceded her, escorting her to the door in the middle of the hallway.

Opening it, he went completely still, his mouth dry as the desert in the height of drought, his eyes glued to the window. The window, where the curves he’s been brooding about, wiggled spontaneously and a little too vigorously for his peace of mind.

Amaya released a muffled ‘oomph’ as she slammed into his back.

Ivory skin glistened in the gleaming sunlight as he ran his tongue along the length of the woman’s neck, committing her salty, feminine taste to memory. He growled softly...

Hearing that same soft, a little choked, but still predatory growl behind her, Kaori lost her perch on the chair. Her arms flailing, making the sponge she clutched spray foam all over, she leaned backwards, her eyes squeezed shut.

“Oh, shit!”

Amaya blinked at the speed of the man as one moment he’s been frozen in the doorway and the next he was holding the screeching redhead in his arms.

Wiggling her fingers and toes, Kaori slowly pried one eye open. Her bewildered stare for not having ended up sprawled on the floor collided with Ryo’s concerned eyes.

“Are you okay?” he murmured.

The image of him licking glistening ivory skin stuck on the inside of her skull, she pushed him away, gaining her feet. “Just peachy. Thank you for asking.”

He blinked. What has gotten into her? He’s just prevented her from tumbling to the floor and she goes into bitch-mode?

“Your mother,” she grumbled, picking up the soaked sponge and bucket she’s dropped.

He caught her arm, pulling her closer. “What the hell is wrong now?” he growled, his fingers probing at the side of her head. He still got the urge to kill someone each time he touched the slight bump there, the clear evidence of her fragility...And his own inadequacy in protecting her.

“Nothing,” she mumbled, smiling despite herself at the Neanderthal protectiveness of her partner.

“Kaori—”

“It’s nothing!” She turned her head away, but his fingers caught her chin, tipping her head up, making her look at him.

His eyes searched her face, trying to understand just what was wrong with her lately, but apparently he wasn’t as adept at reading people as his little Sugar Boy was.

She gritted her teeth at the nickname. And to think whenever she brought up their real first meeting, he appeared not to remember they’ve met when she was still in high school. A shadow of a smile ran across her face. So he did remember. Why did he pretend otherwise?

His features softened, mirroring her smile as he gently massaged her scalp, sending delicious shivers up her spine and Kaori knew she was starting to blush. Drat the man! How was she to pretend they were just friends, that all she felt for him was love for a big, overprotective brother, when she started hyperventilating each time he was close to her. Not to mention the blush that always crept up her cheeks when he looked at her as he was doing at that precise moment. And those fingers still buried tenderly in her hair...

How she longed to be touched like that every day. To be able to tell him how she felt for him, to hear him repeat those same words...How she longed to be able to call him her man, fall asleep beside him and wake up in his arms.

Seeing her blush turn from rosy pink to downright purple, Ryo grinned. She could act all high and mighty, claiming all those mallets she kept hurtling his way were just a means to protect their clients, but he knew better. Each time he stood near her or, God forbid, touched her, she betrayed her true feelings for him. He was secretly proud of her jealous-mallet-of-doom scenes. It showed a man he was cared for, loved. That his woman wasn’t a sharing type—and neither was he, so hands off his little Kaori...He frowned as her mouth dropped open and she sounded out of breath.

Kaori’s eyes were wide as saucers as she stared up at him. Since when was she ‘his little Kaori’? At the moment she didn’t care if he saw through her act of indifference toward him. She was transparent when it came to him, so what? But ‘his little Kaori’? That made her pause. The ‘hands off’ made her pause a little more. Those weren’t the thoughts of a friend. They drew more along the line of the possessive Neanderthal she’d encountered at the hospital when she woke up. Those were more the thoughts of a man in—

There was a loud, annoyed clearing of throat and Ryo turned to look at the woman in the doorway. Her eyes were flashing with irritation.

“Amaya-chan.”

Kaori smiled, waving slightly. “Hi.”

She was utterly aware of Ryo’s hand still in her hair, the other holding her chin. She tried to take a step back, but he dropped her chin and moved his hand to her waist restraining her.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am. I’m perfectly fine, thank you. Now, unhand me.”

“Fine my ass! You almost crashed to the floor!”

“I just lost my balance!” She slapped his hands away. “If you’d remembered to replace the ladder I wouldn’t have to use a chair to clean the windows.”

“If you wouldn’t have hit me over the head with the ladder, it wouldn’t be broken in the first place!”

“If you’d manage to keep your Mokkori-tool reigned in, I wouldn’t have had to bang you over the head with the ladder!”

His eyes sparkled mischievously as he grinned like an idiot. “I just have to look at you, Kaori-bō, and he dwindles in a jiffy.”



Amaya’s head turned from one to the other as if watching a tennis match. The words flew about with such rapidity she could do nothing but blink. Mokkori-tool? Ladder? Bō? Why did Saeba call that woman with a male preposition? And what dwindled in a jiffy? The ladder? Or the still-unidentified Mokkori-tool?

Her eyes widened even more at the sight of that tall, slender woman pulling a huge mallet out of thin air. What in the world was going on?

Her eyes flashing crimson, the woman’s canines elongated into fangs. Twirling a 500 ton ‘Die You Ungrateful Lout’-edition mallet above her head, her nostrils flared.

Tiny, tiny, Saeba cowered at her feet, trying hard not to laugh.

“Kaori-sama! Ryo-chan promises to be a good boy! Please, have mercy, Kaori-sama!”

“Silence!” she roared, swinging—

He let out a blood-curdling screech a heartbeat before the floor swallowed him, caving under the impact of the mallet.

Gulping, Amaya stared at the only body part that was visible—a leg twitching from under the wooden apparatus. Where has she ended up?! Her heart hammering in her chest, she started retreating into the hallway as she noticed the woman, once again normal-looking, striding purposefully toward her.

Kaori grabbed the pale woman’s hand. “You must be Amaya.”

Staring at her, Amaya nodded.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kaori. I’ll show you to your room.”

“B-but...but what about him?” The question ended in a shaky whisper.

“Oh, he’ll be fine!”

“B-but—”

“Don’t worry, he’s used to it.”

“B-but...” Amaya took a deep breath. “Why...”

Kaori glared at the mallet still buried in the floor. The leg has stopped twitching.

“I know he does it only to goad me and I shouldn’t react the way I do.” She rolled her shoulders as if to get rid of the tension. “But sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She grinned. “You should try it sometimes. It’s better than a spa treatment. Shall we?”

And she pulled Amaya into the hallway, closing the door smartly behind them.



As their footsteps quieted, Ryo slowly lifted the mallet, staring broodingly at the door.