"Why?" My voice came out too high. "Why would he want that?"
"I don't know why. But he was adamant about you burning him."
I shook my head and tried to breathe. "So. . .he’s going on the slab?"
"He is."
The words landed like a blow.
"I don't know how to do any of this." I gestured at the instruments, the candles, the men with their extinguishers.
"That's why I'm here." Hiroko gave me a sad smile. "I'll be with you through the beginning. I'll guide you."
I pressed my hand to my chest. My heart was racing too fast. "I don't want to hurt him."
Hiroko's expression shifted. Her eyes softened. The professional mask slipped, just for a moment, and I saw the woman underneath—the one who had seen everything, done everything, and still found herself moved by what was happening in this room. "I know. He knows too. That’s why he wants you to do it."
The men stepped forward from the corners.
They approached Kenji. One on each side, the men guided him onto the slab and laid him flat against the cold stone.
The third secured his wrists to the metal loops above his head. Then his ankles. The restraints were leather—soft but strong.
He wasn't going anywhere.
The position stretched his body long against the stone. Arms overhead. Chest expanded. Every muscle pulled taut. The tattoo dragons strained across his pecs like they were trying to break free.
His abs contracted with each breath—a ladder of muscle that led my eyes down past the katana tattoo to those ridiculous shorts and the thick, heavy print of his cock pressing against the leather.
He looked like a sacrifice laid on an altar.
And I was the one holding the fire.
No. This can’t happen.
I moved before I could think.
My feet carried me across the room, past the candles, past the instruments, until I was standing beside the slab.
Beside him.
His eyes tracked my movement and never left my face.
I kept my voice low. "Kenji. We are not doing this."
He smiled. "We are, Tora."
"This is dangerous." I gripped the edge of the slab. "I've never done this before. I don't want to hurt you."
"You could never hurt me."
"I feel like I need to read books first. Watch videos. Learn something before I—"
"You did well with the water."
"That's different. This is fire. I know what fire does, Kenji. I know what it can do to a body."
“I know too.”
