Bound by Tradition Read Free Page B

very seriously. And what does a nice girl like you know about BDSM?”
    I blushed. “Seriously?”
    “Okay, okay, I know, age of the Internet, pop-up porn ads. We grew up with the visual.” He looked at me with a sideways glance and asked, “But have you ever played?”
    By the sound of his voice, I believed anything I’d admit to would seem childish, and really there was only that time I handcuffed an insurance salesman to a bed in Phoenix. And that cowboy in El Paso kind of lassoed me to a bed. I stifled my chuckle. Olé! There was no room for a nice girl in that hotel room. “Nice girls don’t kiss and tell.”
    He smirked and turned off the main road.
    “Where are we going?”
    “Desert National Wildlife Refuge.” He reached behind my seat, grabbed a photo album, and handed it to me. “And while we drive you can settle the curiosity in your eyes about me.”
    I didn’t open the album, although I was dying to. “Maybe I’m not that curious.”
    “That kiss back in the parking lot is evidence to the contrary.”
    “You kissed me!”
    “You definitely participated, and I never start anything with anyone unless what I do on the side is fully disclosed. There’s no room in my life for jealousy.”
    “Whoa, slow down. Jealousy? Starting things? I think you misread that kiss.”
    “Did I?”
    I stared down at the book and took a deep breath. “Yes, definitely.”
    Very softly he said, “That’s too bad. It would have been nice to have gotten to know you better.”
    I didn’t look at him, couldn’t look at him. Why even get my hopes up of finding a guy to date. My life had no time for it, and I’d only be pretending if I alluded to anything different. “Why are we going to a wildlife refuge? I really can’t be gone too long.”
    “I thought a hike might help you blow off steam, get your head centered before the next match. Maybe we can gossip about our families’ feud. Share what we know.”
    He met my gaze, and I rolled my eyes. “What you know maybe. All I know is to not say your father’s name.”
    “What about my mother’s name?” he asked.
    I frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything about your mother.”
    “Curious. Her name is Rumiko, and I believe she was the root of the feud between our fathers.”
    He had my full attention with that, and I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. “Okay, you cannot leave me guessing. Tell me what you know.”
    “They were best friends. They went to college together, trained in a dojo together—”
    “I know that! Your dad, my dad, connected at the hip, blah, blah, blah. How does your mom fit in?”
    “I believe the three of them were connected at the hip. At least until my dad asked my mom to marry him. She said yes. The problem was that your dad wanted her for himself.”
    “Seriously?”
    He shrugged. “That’s what I got from my mom. Dad doesn’t say much except that he is sorry for the loss of friendship.”
    “Huh. I didn’t know.” I opened his album, hoping to hide my curiosity about our parents’ love triangle in a quick glance through. My jaw dropped at the intricate rope bondage and the very naked woman on display. “Holy shit.” Embarrassed, I wanted to crawl under my seat, but instead I flipped the page to find more of the same.
    Catching his gaze, I saw his smile was nothing short of wicked. I demanded, “You tied up these women?”
    His smile widened. “Yeah. I told you that that is my thing.”
    “How old are you?”
    “Twenty-two, same as you, same as Suki.”
    I don’t know what thought hit me first; that he and Suki were twins, that we were all the same age, or that he obviously had a lot of experience with women. I swallowed hard. “Shit.” It was all I could think to say as I flipped pages, enthralled, disturbed, but mostly intrigued. I hated to admit it, but I was also getting more than a little horny sitting next to Mr. Hottie who I now knew tied up girls for fun.
    “I could tie you