“Fucking hell no. But the chance you’ll kill me while I’m helpless is abiggerfucking turn-on.”
“You’re into some freaky kink shit, Arakawa.”
“Yeah. You in or not?”
“Fuck, you even need to ask?”
SIXTH KNOT
The drive is short.
His place is above a mechanic’s garage with no signs outside, just a rusted staircase on the side and a metal door that groans when he shoves it open. The place is cluttered as hell, too. Boots by the door, shirts flung over the back of chairs, old speakers stacked in a corner, empty beer bottles on the windowsill, magazines everywhere. It smells like sweat and cologne, mixed with cigarette smoke, grease and metal.
It’s not a bad place at all to get railed.
He tosses his keys into a bowl on a cluttered counter, kicks off his boots at the entrance, and goes straight to the kitchen, cracking open the fridge.
“Beer?”
I nod, and he throws me a bottle. My throat’s fucking dry, and the first sip goes down too cold. Great thing to put your brain to sleep when you’re about to do something stupid—like being tied by your gang rival and fucked in the ass.
He jerks his head toward the hallway.
“Come on.”
His bedroom is bigger than I expected. Mattress on a metal frame with no headboard, covered by dirty, crumpled sheets. There are two chairs in the corner, a dresser, a big-ass closet, an ashtray full to the brim, and a small TV.
He walks over to the closet, and pulls it open with a verysuspiciouslittle smile. And I know immediately why.
Inside, hanging and stacked, isgear.
Ropes, coiled and neat. A row of ties. Handcuffs, real ones, heavy metal. Blindfolds. Leather straps. Chains. A fucking spreader bar. A couple of harnesses. Hooks. Things I don’t even have names for, but I can already feel what they’d do to me.
He scratches his neck.
“Not really my thing. My ex was the one who liked it. Left most of it behind, though.”
I step forward, run my fingers over a thick rope. The fibers are artificial and strong. I can already feel the burn of it, the drag against my skin.
“You ever use them?” I ask.
He shrugs.
“I’ve done the tying. It’s alright.”
I pick out two lengths of rope, one of the blindfolds, leather with padding, and hesitate at the spreader, but then take it too. Ryo takes a long chain and two leather cuffs.
I look at him.
“You know how to use all this?”
“Well enough not to kill you.”
“Good. That’s the line, then.”
Ryo sets everything down on the bed. He stretches his arms the same way he does before a fight, then rolls his shoulders.He’s absolutely ridiculous, this guy. I want to punch him in the face and I want him to punch me back.
I finish my beer, toss the bottle in the corner, and just start undressing. I feel the cool air over my skin as I peel away the heat of the night. Shirt, pants, socks. Nothing left.
