This caginess drove him crazy. “Get to the point.”

“I don’t want to hide that we’re romantically involved. Not from the people we work with or anyone else.”

Knox couldn’t stop his big grin. “Seriously?”

“Yes. I know how to be your Domme, but the rest of it outside that . . .”

Knowing how much pride she had, he understood how hard that’d been for her to admit. “I’ll make you a deal. Since you are the big, bad Domme for sexy times, I’ll take the lead on the relationship side. If what we do together as a couple is in the gray area of who calls the shots, we’ll discuss it, okay?”

“Okay.”

He kissed her, and soon soft and sweet turned into hard and hungry. He wanted to eat at her pussy the same way he ate at her mouth. “Stay with me tonight.”

“I can’t. But ask me tomorrow.”

“And every day after that. I like having you naked in my bed, kitten.” He let his breath tease her ear. “Be forewarned; I’m staking my claim on you tomorrow at Black Arts.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“Well, I have this fantasy of bending you over my desk and fucking you until you scream, Yes, Shihan, over and over.”

“You’d have to get my permission to do that, remember?”

“Huh-uh.” Knox nuzzled her neck. “The dojo is my domain, remember? I’m in charge.”

She sighed. “Nailed on a technicality.”

“Literally.” He laughed. “But I promise I’ll only nail you when we’re alone. No one gets to see any naked bits of you, Mistress. They all belong to me now.”

“Same goes,” she murmured.

“And since you outed yourself as my Mistress to Master Merrick, that means I get to take you out on a real date this week too.”

“You are enjoying the hell out of this.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

TUESDAY morning Ivan walked into the conference room and caught them kissing.

His face turned the color of borscht and he left without uttering a word.

“Won’t be long now,” Shiori said.

“Three minutes, tops.”

Sure enough, Deacon stormed in. His gaze went from Shiori, sitting on the conference table, to Knox, standing between her knees, to Shiori’s hand on Knox’s chest, to Knox’s hands on Shiori’s ass. “I told Ivan he’d probably misread the situation. Either that or I’d misheard him—figuring he’d meant you two were killing each other, not kissing each other.”

Knox brushed his lips across hers. “Ivan’s eyes did not deceive him. We got a little carried away. Probably something you should get used to seeing.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. You two are together?”

“Yep.”

“How long have you been secretly playing grab ass?”

Shiori tugged the lapels of Knox’s gi top. “A couple of weeks.”

“That’s it. I’m making a call.”

Deacon made it to the door when Knox said, “Wait. Who are you calling?”

“My priest. Seeing the two of you sucking face is a sign the end of the world is near, and I’ve got a lot of shit to confess.”

After Deacon slammed the door behind him, Shiori said, “That went well.”

Knox laughed.

Later that afternoon, when Shiori was changing in the women’s locker room, Fee ambushed her. “You’re bending the bedframe with that knockout Knox and you didn’t tell me?” She hit the metal locker with her fist. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are.”

“Sisters share shit like this, Shiori.”

“Say that five times fast,” she muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. Look, we didn’t tell anyone. We weren’t sure it would last beyond—”

“One good, hard fuck?” Fee said.

“Yes. What if we fizzled instead of sizzled in bed? Not something we wanted everyone we work with to know about.”

“I’m assuming the sizzle factor won out.”

Shiori slumped against her locker. “It’s so fucking hot between us sometimes I think we should wear fire-retardant clothing.”

Fee held her hand up for a fist bump. “Damn, girlfriend. You’ve bagged Knox. I’m jealous.”

“Thanks . . . I think.”

She laughed. “Now you can wear that well-fucked look with pride, my friend. After sneaking around, you’ve earned it.”