Page 44 of The Oyabun's Boy

Joy looked at me for a long moment, something shifting in his expression. Then he took my hand—the same hand that had killed two men just hours earlier—and pressed a gentle kiss to my scarred knuckles.

"Then I'll stay," he promised, his lips moving against my skin. The simple declaration hit me with more force than any bullet ever had.

"You don't know what you're offering," I warned, even as something hungry and hopeful uncurled in my chest. "My world is violence and death and power. It will taint you."

Joy's lips curved against my knuckles. "Maybe," he conceded. "Or maybe I'll taint you instead. A little light in all that darkness."

The thought should have repulsed me—weakness, vulnerability, attachment were liabilities in my world. Instead, I found myself drawing him closer, reclaiming his mouth in a kiss that was gentler than any we'd shared before.

When he sighed against my lips, something inside me shattered and reformed, restructuring itself around this new reality where Joy existed in my arms.

Outside, the city continued its dangerous dance of power and survival. Blood dried on warehouse floors. Enemies plotted their next moves. My empire required constant vigilance.

But here, with Joy's body pressed against mine, I allowed myself the luxury of setting it all aside. Just for tonight. Just for these precious hours of peace.

As sleep claimed him, Joy's breathing deepened, his body growing heavier against mine. The moonlight shifted, casting silver patterns across our entwined bodies.

I watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the way his copper lashes fanned against his cheeks, the slight part of his lips as he dreamed.

Even in sleep, my body remained attuned to potential threats. One arm curled protectively around Joy's shoulders, the other within easy reach of the gun I kept beneath the mattress.

My senses remained alert to any sound that might signal danger approaching. The predator in me never fully rested, especially now that I had something—someone—worth protecting at all costs.

But for the first time in longer than I could remember, I felt my consciousness begin to drift without the aid of alcohol or exhaustion. Joy's warmth against me was better than any sedative, his rhythmic breathing a lullaby more effective than any I'd known before.

As sleep pulled me under, I tightened my hold on Joy, keeping him secure against my chest where he belonged. WhereI could protect him. Where he could continue working whatever magic had silenced the constant noise in my mind.

Tomorrow would bring new threats, new battles, new blood. But tonight, with Joy's heartbeat steady against mine, I allowed myself to fall into dreamless sleep, my body curled protectively around the one person who had somehow become more precious to me than my own survival.

Chapter Eleven

~ Joy ~

I woke in stages, consciousness creeping in like a thief stealing pieces of my peaceful oblivion. First came warmth—delicious, all-encompassing warmth that wrapped around me like a living blanket.

Then, the unfamiliar sensation of not being alone.

A heavy arm draped possessively across my waist, a solid chest pressed against my back, and the steady rhythm of someone else's breathing tickling my neck. Not just someone. Kenji.

My brain finally caught up with my body, memories of last night flooding back in a rush of heat that had nothing to do with the expensive sheets tangled around my legs.

I tried to stretch discreetly, only to discover I was effectively trapped. Kenji's muscular arms held me against him like a python that had found something particularly delightful to squeeze.

His legs were intertwined with mine, one heavy thigh thrown across my hip in what could only be described as a full-body claim of ownership.

Great. Even in sleep, he's possessive.

"I know you're awake, Princess." His voice rumbled against my ear, impossibly deep and irritatingly alert for someone who should still be halfway to dreamland.

"Mmph," I eloquently replied, burying my face deeper into what had to be the world's most expensive pillow. "Five more minutes."

His chuckle vibrated through his chest and into my back. "You talk in your sleep, did you know that?"

That got my attention. I twisted in his arms, suddenly very awake. "What? No, I don't."

Oh god. What did I say?

"You do." Kenji's dark eyes were amused, a rare softening around the edges that made my stomach do a complicated gymnastics routine. "It's... illuminating."