Unraveled by Lorelei James Page A

lost in thought.
    He spun her around. “Sex has to be part of this, Shiori. Otherwise—”
    “It is. Or it will be.”
Tell him you’ve never been attracted to a man like you are with him. Tell him the
     idea of leashing him, the big alpha dog, to your will, gets you hot. Tell him you
     can give him what he’s always been looking for.
“Come to me tonight.”
    “Will I get to fuck you?”
    “Pushy, aren’t you?”
    He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Yes. So I’m warning you
     I’ll probably be a terrible submissive.”
    Shiori grinned. “I have ways of dealing with that.”
    “I’ll bet you do.”
    “Show up at seven. The guy at the front desk will let you up.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    KNOX entered the lobby of Shiori’s apartment high-rise and headed to the security desk.
     “I’m Knox Lofgren to see Shiori Hirano. She’s expecting me.”
    The armed security guard held out his hand. “Two forms of ID please.”
    He opened his wallet and passed over his driver’s license and his military ID.
    The guard scanned them both and passed them back. “Follow me.” At the bank of elevators,
     the guard swiped a keycard to get the doors to open. He stepped inside, used his keycard
     again, and inserted a small key next to the highest number on the panel. “That will
     take you up to the penthouse level. If you hit any other floor number, the elevator
     will stop and bring you back down to the main level.”
    “Understood. Thank you.”
    “Have a good evening, sir.” He stepped out, the doors closed, and the elevator started
     going up.
    What was with the Black siblings and their need for such extreme measures with security?
     And their need to live on the top floor? Oh, right. Being Okada heirs gave them a
     dose of paranoia,thanks to their grandfather’s billions. Access to trust funds meant they didn’t have
     to compromise and live in a shitty fixer-upper. Ever.
    But that wasn’t entirely fair. Ronin had lived modestly for many years. Knox doubted
     Shiori had lived modestly a day in her adult life.
    For the hundredth time, he asked himself what he was doing. Did he really want to
     become a rich woman’s sexual plaything? Have her calling the shots? She said she wasn’t
     into humiliation, but what if her idea of humiliation and his were vastly different?
    A voice of reason intervened.
This is Shiori. You like her. You respect her. You promised her you’d try it one night.
     If it doesn’t work, you can go back to the way things were.
    The elevator doors opened into an entryway. Off to the left was an elaborately carved
     wooden door. When he reached the door, he saw she’d taped a note:
    Welcome, Knox—inside please strip down to your underwear. Wait for me in the living
     room. I’ve placed two candles in the large window, stand between them in military
     rest position, looking out at the city view.
    No signature. Had that been intentional? She wasn’t Mistress B to him, and yet signing
     her name didn’t seem formal enough.
    He closed his eyes and inhaled, then let out his breath on a slow exhale before he
     opened the door. Once inside her lair—not cool that was the first word that’d popped
     into his head—he took stock of the entryway. Not the gilded crown molding and marble
     he’d expected, but it still screamed money.
    Quit gawking; start stripping.
    Knox yanked the long-sleeved Henley over his head and folded it, putting it on the
     bench. Next he ditched his socks and shoes. Last he removed his jeans and folded those
     too. The habits he’d picked up from his years in the army were hard to shake.
    Speaking of shaking. Jesus. He hadn’t been this nervous the first time he’d jumped
     out of an airplane.
    The wood floors were warm beneath his bare feet as he left the foyer and entered the
     main living area. He allowed a quick glance at the large space with a minimal amount
     of furniture before his gaze zoomed in on the candles flickering in the