Loving Jiro (12 page)

"Put me down, Jiro,” she demanded.

"Why? So you can leave me? No! You disobeyed me, Kiara.” His voice was so harsh, she didn't recognize it. “I told you to go to your room."

"I'm not a child for you to boss around,” was her snappy comeback.

"And you should know better than to make your pointless stance when I have a house full of guests!” He kicked open the front door just as one of her shoes fell off. A maid, who had appeared out of nowhere, picked it up and followed them down the hall. Several people milling around saw. She hid her face in his chest, humiliation spreading throughout her body.

When they were in her room, the maid placed the shoe just inside and closed the door on her way out. Jiro dumped Kiara on the bed. She scrambled to a sitting position in time to see him undoing his belt. Fear tightened her chest. “What are you doing?"

"Take off your clothes."

Her eyes grew wide. “Jiro—"

"Take them off
now
!"

She struggled out of the layer upon layer of clothing and dropped them on the bed. In matching lacy panties and bra, she waited silently with her hands clenched in front of her. He soon stood bare from the waist up and pinned her in place with an angry glare. She looked down to see that the knuckles of his right hand were deep red.

"Y-You hit that man,” she whispered.

"He knew you belonged to me. Everyone here knows which woman is available and which is not. He disrespected me when he touched you. And you,"—he took hold of her chin to force her to look up at him—"you dishonored me when you disobeyed me. I told you very plainly from the start that I would care for you, but you must not break my rules. Did I not say that to you, Kiara?"

She closed her eyes. “Now you'll hit me like you did him."

He growled. She felt his fingers, cold from being outside, slipping over her skin. He unsnapped her bra and let it fall to the floor. Her panties followed.

A tremor rushed through her body when he pulled her tight. Her nipples grazed his chest, sending ripples of pleasure over her despite her fear. Jiro kissed her earlobe. “You silly woman. You still don't get it,” he whispered in her ear. “I'm not going to beat you. I won't abuse your precious body.” He ran his hand down over her ass, squeezing gently. “But you will obey. Won't you?"

He moved to kiss her lips and pushed his fingers between her ass cheeks to massage her hole. Kiara whimpered, melting into his arms. She let her head fall back while he feathered kisses along her neck.

She wasn't sure when he had loosened his pants, but in another moment, he checked that she was wet enough and he lifted her onto his erection. His shaft eased all the way to the hilt. She cried out her pleasure.

"Kiara,” he groaned.

Deep inside then all the way out before thrusting harder, he took her. She didn't know how he kept his balance but he did standing at the side of the bed with her legs wrapped around him.

"Kiara,” he said again. “Say it."

She wanted to tell him no, to tell him he didn't own her, but how could she utter the words when she wasn't happy if he wasn't at home? When one touch sent her airborne, greedy for more.

He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled her head back. “Kiara!"

She cried out. Fresh tears started down her cheeks. “Yes."

"Yes, you will obey me,” he coached.

"Yes, I will obey you.” Her climax crashed down over her, as if he had been the one holding it back. She shook and whimpered, calling out his name until the intensity eased. Gently, he lifted her off his rod and placed her on the bed. He bent down to gather their clothes from the bed and floor before tossing them on a chair. Clicking off the lamp, he joined her on the bed.

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The next morning, Kiara searched the grounds for Ayumi, but found the girl nowhere. She questioned the servants and learned Ayumi had gone off on her horse with Luke. Luckily, Jiro had been called into a meeting with his grandfather, so he hadn't been looking for the girl. Kiara switched the dress she had chosen to wear that morning for a pair of comfortable slacks and tennis shoes. If it killed her, she would ride a horse and find Jiro's sister before he knew what was up.

Arriving at the stables, Kiara glanced around. A stable hand walked up to her. “May I help you, miss?"

She nodded. “Yes, I'd like to borrow a horse to ride, please. Also, can you tell me which way Ayumi went?"

"Yes, yes.” He pointed and said something very quickly.

"I'm sorry, could you run that by me one more time?"

The man saddled a horse, guided it out onto the path in the direction she should go. To save her embarrassment, he placed a stool at the side of the horse and held the reins while she prayed her leg muscles were strong enough to slip a foot in the stirrup and hoist her body up and over the horse. He patted the kinky blond mane and spoke soothingly to the animal. Kiara's stomach dropped. She thought she might spew out the shrimp and rice she had consumed twenty minutes ago, but swallowed repeatedly to keep it down.

Finally, she was on her way, bobbing and dipping from side to side and gripping the reins so hard, the horse complained. “Sorry.” She gasped as her stomach bubbled. Giving into dizziness when she rounded a turn passing out of sight of the stables, she rested her cheek on the horse's neck.

"Just take me to Ayumi, girl."

Two hours later, she sat on a rock waiting for someone to rescue her. She prayed Ayumi had returned to the house by another path, and that she herself would be missed. “More likely, if Jiro stays shut in with his grandfather, I'm screwed.” She wondered how the other mistresses dealt with the cold shoulder they were given. Maybe if they had been around a while, they had formed friendships. She vowed to find out which women had her lowered status in the Fuschida household and to make friends with them. She would at least have someone to talk to when Ayumi and Jiro were busy with their guests.

The sky grew dark with thick grey clouds. Lightning sparked intermittently, and she was sure she heard a distant rumble. “Great."

She shoved up to her feet and moved to untie her mare from the branch where she'd left her. A crack of thunder split the sky. The horse reared up in terror on its hind legs. Kiara jumped backward, smacked her ankle on the side of the rock and crumbled to the ground in pain. By the time she got her head to clear of confusion brought on by her injury, she looked up to see the horse galloping away. Panic choked her cry.

Limping, she plodded along the way she had come earlier. Only after passing a fork in the road maybe a mile back did she remember she had veered along a different path to look for Ayumi. The day steadily darkening to night, she shuffled back to the fork in the road and stood trying to picture how she would have come to it the first time. She couldn't remember.

She chose one and followed it. The rain came soon after. A check of her watch showed it to be going on eight-thirty. The sun was most firmly down and with the storm, the night sky was blacker. The moon had half hidden itself, so that it was hard for her to find her way. Tears flooded her eyes, mixing with the rain. She shivered with the drop in temperature and sodden clothing.

At midnight, she heard the shouts, people in the trees and calling. She thought they were calling for her until she drew up closer. They called for Ayumi. Her heart sunk, and she cried harder.

Reaching the grounds immediately surrounding the house, Kiara rested against a tree. She planned to change her clothes, find an umbrella and help look for the girl she loved like her little sister. Worry tugged at her as she stumbled toward the main house.

"Don't worry,” someone was telling Grandfather, “we will find her. The woman, she guessed, was one of the business associates’ wives. Others’ conversation was not discernable.

Kiara considered asking for an update from Ayumi's grandfather, but when his cold eyes swept over her, her tongue froze. He said something to the person beside him, and the man who had just moved to his side turned to face Kiara.

"You!” the man spat. “Where is she?"

Kiara's stared in shock. “I-I don't know. I went looking for her."

"Liar!” Grandfather shouted. It was a testament to his fear over Ayumi's welfare that made him speak directly to her. He stiffened his back and turned away to say something to the man again.

"She left a message for her brother where he would not find it right away."

Kiara closed her eyes. The girl was too clever for her own good.

The man continued. “The note says for Fuschida-chan to trust her just like
you
trust her. So I ask you once again. Where is she?"

This is ridiculous. Ayumi is no lovesick teenager. If only they had given her some freedom. Maybe she just desperately needed to get away.
Kiara's art lessons had continually taken a back seat whenever Jiro was not at home. No one valued the art but him, and Kiara had been nervous about starting trouble by telling him. Ayumi hadn't seemed to care as much either. Now Kiara realized it was because of her fascination with Luke. She kicked herself mentally for her stupidity.

The storm outside raged on, rattling the windows. Kiara rushed away from the angry men to her private bathroom. She dry heaved over the toilet until the last of her energy had been spent. At that point, she rested her head on her arm above the rim.

The bathroom door opened. She peeked up through slits to see Jiro. Her stomach roiled again.

"You knew about this?” he asked softly.

"No.” She focused on the trail of water she had left on the tiled floor and on the carpet in her room.

"You knew about Ayumi's ... interest in the boy?"

Oh no!
“Yes."

Without another word, Jiro left the bathroom and walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He didn't slam it as she expected, but snapped it closed with barely a sound. Yet, it might as well have been a gunshot to Kiara. She dragged herself up from the floor, ran bath water as warm as she could stand it and stripped down. A half hour later, she was dressed in dry clothes, but sneezing uncontrollably. She sat on the side of her bed to wait.

Sunlight warmed her face, and Kiara sat up in bed, realizing it was morning. She looked down to find someone had undressed her and put her under the covers. Pain shot through her skull, and her throat was scratchy. She could barely take in any air through one nostril. A cold. She moaned.

Pushing her legs over the side of the bed to the floor, she glanced at the clock. Eleven-thirty. No one had come to tell her whether they had found Ayumi. On unsteady legs, she wobbled to the bathroom only to come to the realization that the person who had undressed her had removed her panties and bra as well. That had to be Jiro. At least if he was angry, he cared enough to put her to bed, unless of course he was avoiding having her death on his hands from pneumonia. She hoped the former was the case.

Dressed and still not feeling whole, she left her room. The house was quiet. She strolled toward the dining room, hearing voices in that direction. At the slit in the door, she spotted her young student and sighed with relief. Ayumi had two spots of red on her cheeks, and she stared down at her plate, not eating her food. Kiara would have gone in except she heard Grandfather speak. She hesitated. A moment later and Jiro spoke to his grandfather. They were a family, she thought, feeling left out. And she wasn't allowed to join them.

A tickle started in her throat. She slapped a hand over her mouth and hurried down the hall. She made it to the front door before a cough exploded from her throat, and a stream of sneezes soon followed. Weakness stole over her limbs. Her eyelids drooped, and disoriented, she began thinking of lying down on the floor.

Someone stepped up behind her. “Miss?"

Kiara spun around too fast. She swayed. “What?” This was the woman who had calmly put her shoe in her room the night Jiro carried her in there, and the one who had barely said two words at the party when Kiara questioned her. A genius could figure out the woman disliked Kiara, so she felt no compunctions about being anything but rude. Her mood, and her health didn't allow for it.

"Fuschida-san has asked me to tell you to return to bed, and for me to get you something to eat. What would you like?” The woman meant Jiro, she guessed. Kiara didn't like being commanded to bed, but she figured someone would have to carry her if she didn't go.

Grumbling, she returned to her room, requesting only toast and coffee. She lay there for fifteen minutes, and then the maid returned with a tray. Kiara watched her prepare the coffee after Kiara had told her how she liked it. Searching her mind for the woman's name produced nothing. Obviously she had never been told.

"Um, sorry, I don't think I ever learned your name,” she began.

The woman didn't look up. “Miki,” she mumbled. “Here is your toast and coffee. Will there be anything else?” The question had been asked grudgingly.

"Yes,” Kiara began but then sneezed five or six times before she could continue. “Excuse me. I wanted to ask if I'm in the doghouse with Jiro."

Miki blinked large round eyes Kiara thought meant she was mixed, and rubbed her hands down the front of the plain black dress she wore. She looked like she was about to turn away without a word, but she paused. “Fuschida-san—"

"Jiro?"

She nodded. “He is very angry with you. You did not tell him of the problem with Ayumi-san, and he and his grandfather were terrified for her safety. That is a big deal. She is precious to them both, having lost her parents and her other brother."

Kiara thought about that for a minute. “I'm very sorry for my poor judgment, and if I had to do it over again, I would tell Jiro. I love Ayumi too. Does this mean I will get the colder shoulder than usual?"

Miki didn't seem to know what she meant by that, so she didn't bother answering.

Kiara blurted out, “Does this mean, I'll have to wait longer for Jiro to visit me?"

Two spots of red showed on Miki's cheeks. Kiara wasn't overly sorry for putting them there. The satisfaction she had heard in Miki's tone when she told Kiara that Jiro was angry with her was apparent.