Tokyo Seduction (Book 1 Of The Gaijin Series)

Chapter 1

Mimi rested her forehead against the window, careful not to smudge her makeup. Locked under the weight of his stare the enclosed space of the Mercedes Pullman closed in on her. She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath. The atmosphere inside the car was thick with barely contained fury. Mimi knew her dress would provoke Jinpachi. She hoped the memories it held would not only hurt, but drive him away. However, her plan backfired.

His angry desire coiled around Mimi like a snake, choking her. She reached a shaky hand up to her long golden locks, twisting her fingers in it until they hurt. Mimi tried focusing on the falling snow as the car crawled along in the evening traffic. But the tinted windows acted like a mirror and Jinpachi's relentless stare kept pulling her attention back to him.

She shifted in her seat determined to ignore him and watched the commuters on the busy sidewalk. It always amazed her how organised rush-hour was in Tokyo. Despite the people being packed like sardines and everyone jostling to get home they maintained order.

Mimi grit her teeth, Things have to change! she chastised herself.

She had to stop repeating this dance she and Jinpachi were locked in. Yet, going by last week's antics, her resolve to permanently end things was about as strong as gossamer. Just thinking about what they'd gotten up to sent a sweet river of fire through her. God he can be so─

Mimi caught his gaze in the reflection of the window. His expression softened amid the passing lights of the city, melting her insides down to puddles of liquid fire. His hungry gaze, slid ever so slowly, down the curve of her dress, resting on her cleavage, before lazily inching lower, lower. Her breath caught in her throat watching the tip of his tongue wet his lips; teasing her with unspoken words of the heat he could ignite in her. Finally his eyes, travelled upwards again, locking with hers, daring her to turn for more. Daring her to glimpse just one real look, and become ensnared. But Mimi froze and so did his expression, icing over like an arctic storm.

The tempest in his eyes snapped Mimi out of her trance. She shoved all thoughts of last week away;He's a righteous, self-loathing, dirty, no good, pig! I have to be strong. Otherwise. . . Mimi shook her head and desperately tried to stamp out the flames his sultry stare had ignited deep inside her core. If she had any hope of getting through the night without repeating their same destructive pattern, she had to be strong.

A slow grin spread across Jinpachi's face, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. He brushed his long index finger up her arm and started humming softly. She instantly recognised the song and sunk her teeth hard into her bottom lip trying to bite back an anguished groan. 'Bloodstream', had been her all-time favorite, their, favorite song. But now the lyrics wrapped around her heart, forming into a knife, cutting it open.

A strangled whimper squeezed its way out. Unwanted memories surfaced leaving Mimi feeling raw and complexly exposed. She clutched her chest and looked down at her lap, trying to gain control over her emotions. The past slammed into her like a freight train, smashing all her defenses. He hadn't always regarded her with such disdain. Mimi remembered how deeply he cared and cherished her. Before . . .

The pain of those memories was unbearable. Her throat tightened and burning tears clawed at the back of her eyes desperate to get out. The love they once shared was still there but it had been thrown in a blender and mashed up with anger, sorrow, guilt, lust and hate.

She pinched the inside of her arm and twisted hard to stop herself from thinking about: That. The days of sweet romance and tenderness were gone replaced with something darker, something neither of them seemed capable of walking away from.

His humming grew louder and she wanted nothing more than to jump out of the moving car and flee. Mimi shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and looked across from her at her best friend, Ritsuko, and Ritsu's father, Genma. The last thing Mimi wanted was to involve either of them in the macabre game she and Jinpachi were playing.

Shaking her head Mimi asked herself, why oh why did I wear this stupid dress?

You know who's to blame; a darker voice answered with a wicked laugh. Narrowing her gaze, she looked up at Jinpachi, annoyance laced with desire coursed through her. What else did he expect when he backed her into a corner?

This whole mess started the day before. Ritsu had called Mimi begging her to attend tonight's business party. At first, she refused, knowing Jinpachi would be there. But Ritsu sweetened the deal with free lodging for the summer, and Mimi was in no position to turndown free lodging.

She spent the entire day, cutting class to find the perfect dress with Ritsu. Mimi even grew excited to go after having found a vintage, backless harlot-red, sheath-column tea-length, dress with multi layers of flowing chiffon and a bodice of sparkling silver sequins. Deep down, she knew it would drive ever male including Jinpachi, mad with desire.

But, Jinpachi had other plans, flooding her phone with demanding texts, not to go. Mimi had ignored them. She wouldn't and couldn't get suck into his madness. If it wasn't for his voicemail, full of profanities, and bulling comments. She would've done as he asked, not for him, but for her battered heart. However, after making her fell like something he'd scraped off his boot Mini had a point to prove, and she wanted him to choke on his own spite.

Mimi caught Ritsu looking up at her and turned. Her best friend gave her a tight smile then looked over at Jinpachi. Mimi could tell Ritsu was still irate with her. Ritsu had a conniption fit when Mimi turned up in The Dress instead of the outfit they'd chosen. The offending dress was a backless indigo, full-length wispy lace sheath number with an elegant v-neck and a sweep train. Her roommate altered the once ivory dress─ after rescuing it when Mimi wanted to burn it─ by dying it and adding a thigh-length slit up each leg.

Ritsu knew all about The Dress and its painful history. The pair even got into a fight over how cruel Mimi was being to Jinpachi by wearing it and demanded that Mimi wear one of Ritsu's dresses.

Ritsu was like a sister to Mimi. The whole Hanabushi family, had acted as a true family would, and embraced her into their home. Mimi, herself, had started even imagining herself as a daughter, and would do anything for them. But, her twisted relationship with Jinpachi, was private and Ritsuko knew that. Mimi had stubbornly refused to change into another dress. After that, Ritsu, flat out refused to support her in any fall-out between her and Jin.

"Oh for Christ's sake, Jin, would you knock it off. I know you fancy yourself the next Kamenashi Kazuya but I am trying to watch J-rockN. You're incessant humming is annoying and interrupting Heiwajima Kaien from Kuro Ikazuchi.

Mimi smiled, holding in the giggle that was trying to force its way out. She knew this was Ritsu's way of backing her up without getting involved. Mimi had met the crazy twenty-three-year-old, Ritsuko, the second week she'd moved to Tokyo, on a club crawl with her friends from university. It was by pure chance that she had literally bumped into Ritsu that night, and despite everything that happened, Mimi never regretted meeting her.

"That's harsh, Ritsu," her father Genma said looking up from his TV screen. "I've always thought of Jin's singing as beautiful. He would've made a fine singer, if he hadn't agreed to run the company."

"Agreed, uncle. Unlike the wailing orchestra of cats," Jin pointed to Mimi and Ritsu," my voice is divinity." The twenty-five-year-old was the son of Genma's late sister and Mimi knew he thought the world revolved around him.

"Oh shut up, Jin! I don't care how good you think you are. You're no Kaien and right now I'm missing this interview with him." Ritsu snapped.

"I love Kuro Ikazuchi, what channel is it on?" Mimi asked jumping at the opportunity Ritsu had just given her to ignore Jinpachi for the rest of the trip.

"It's on Nippon TV and I know you love them," Ritsu replied with a conspiratorial smile. 

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Hi all hope you liked the first bit. Things get a lot juicer and hotter from here on out. 

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love ya.