In Deep Kimchi - By Imari Jade Page 0,36

corner. He stopped dead in his tracks. Yori and Shaundra stood outside her door locked in a passionate embrace. Neither of them noticed him, or anything around them for that matter. Yori held the shorter Shaundra up in his arms like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold.

The lust radiated off of them and made the air hot around him.

Satoshi stepped back around the corner and listened as they uttered endearments to each other.

"What's wrong? Don't you like me?"

"It's not that," Shaundra replied.

Good, Satoshi thought. Shaundra is resisting. He slipped away from the area and headed back to his room, fearing being discovered, yet hoping no one else came out of their door and saw the mating couple. He hurried to his room, slipped the key card into the lock and entered. He found Takumijo and Ichiro playing cards.

"Where's Yori?" Ichiro asked.

"He's coming."

Someone knocked on the door. Satoshi turned to answer it. Yori stood on the other side looking a bit disheveled and wiping his lips.

Satoshi smirked. Yori had struck out.

Shaundra entered her hotel room and sat down on the sofa, trying to regain her composure. Her heart beat erratically in her chest and her face felt flushed and damp. "Whew, that was a close one." She burped, tasting the champagne. The last time she'd drank champagne she ended up pregnant with Tricia. "Note to self, stay away from champagne." Her eyes landed on her laptop, idle for the last couple of days since she'd met Aomori. She'd been in Japan nearly a week and hadn't written a single word. "Too many damn distractions."

Shaundra rose from the sofa. After a quick run to the bathroom to get rid of the alcohol, she returned to the living room, sat down at the desk and turned on the computer. She surfed the Internet for about an hour and caught up on the world news and what was happening back home in New York. The surfed to the New York Times, checked the crime stories, the fashion section, the obituaries and then, finally, the book section. It did her good to finally see her name up by the number one seller. Harper had eluded to it a couple of days ago, but she'd been too afraid to check.

She had to give it to herself. Drinking did make her braver and pulled her out of her comfort zone. Once her curiosity was appeased, she went to Facebook to check on her friends who probably thought she'd deserted them. An hour or so later, she turned off the Internet, shoved a flash drive into the USB port and opened the last file she had been working on before she left home.

"Oh yeah, a gay romance." That would keep her mind off of the lusty Yori Morioka.

Shaundra tried to concentrate, but her head felt fuzzy and disoriented.

She was tired and still reeling under the effects of the champagne and whatever the hell Yori ordered before that. Another reason she didn't like alcohol was because it made her do foolish things that were out of the norm for her like almost sleeping with a twenty-five year old, no matter how handsome he was, and Yori Morioka was one delectable-looking man. Fortunately, common sense had kicked in just before things got too carried away.

Damn, but he could kiss. She pressed her finger to her swollen lips as she remembered. The last one he'd bestowed on her had been deep, passionate and very effective. No one had ever kissed her like that before and he had been beginning to break down the barrier until reason reared its ugly head. He seemed disappointed that she turned him down, but he hadn't tried to force her. She smiled. He scored many brownie points with her because of this.

Shaundra pounded away at a scene that just jumped into her head.

Hopefully, her muse wasn't drunk. Hours passed and ideas kept popping up. Nope, her muse was sober and nourishing her. One scene turned into another and then, finally, a completed chapter. Shaundra yawned and saved her document. She was too tired to go on. The thirteen or fourteen hour difference between the United States and Japan still had her all screwed up. And just when her body adjusted, she'd be back on a plane headed home.

She rose from her seat and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. Afterwards, she crawled into the bed and closed her eyes.

Tomorrow, they were doing some promoting on a local talk show. It would be