“Too predictable,” he murmured against her ear.“You lead with emotion.That’s your weakness.”
“I thought emotion made me human,” she said, twisting slightly in his grip.
“Maybe,” he said.“But it’ll get you killed.”
She tried to elbow him in the ribs, and he tightened his hold.They struggled.The more she fought, the more aware he became of how close she was.The faint scent of her shampoo, the warmth of her skin through her thin t-shirt, the soft sound of her breath catching when his hand brushed her stomach.
He forced himself to let go.
“Again,” he rasped.
Viper forced himself to step back before he did something he’d regret.
She turned, eyes flashing.“You keep saying that like I didn’t land anything.”
“You didn’t,” he said.
“Oh, I will.”She came at him again, quick as lightning.
The next few minutes blurred into a tangle of movement.Punches were thrown by Mara, Viper blocked each one.There was sweat and breathless laughter.Mara wasn’t perfect, but she was relentless.
She fell once, twice, each time getting back up faster.It made something fierce bloom in his chest.Pride or protectiveness or maybe something that scared the hell out of him.
When she finally stumbled, he caught her before she hit the mat.Viper wrapped his arms around her automatically, steadying her.Mara pressed her palms to his chest, and she looked up, eyes wide and bright.
“Got you,” he told her.
Her lips curved, a small, knowing smile.“Seems like it,” Mara answered.
Neither of them moved.The air between them felt charged, heavy with the memory of yesterday’s kiss.He couldn’t stop thinking about it since.He’d told himself it was a mistake.That she deserved better, that he wasn’t the kind of man who could give her anything but trouble.
Standing here, though, hearing her heartbeat fluttering under his hand, all that logic went out the window.He brushed a loose strand of hair from her face.Viper grazed her cheek with his knuckle, and she shivered.The sound delighted him.
“Viper,” she whispered, voice low.“Why do you keep pulling away?”
He didn’t answer right away, because he couldn’t.She had no idea how hard it was not to cross that line every damn night.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for,” he said finally.
“Don’t I?”she shot back, stepping closer until there was no space left.“You think I don’t see you?The way you watch me like you’re trying not to?”
He clenched his jaw.“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”Mara brushed his arm using her fingers, tracing the edge of an old scar there.“You’ve been through hell, I get that.But I’m not made of glass, Viper.You won’t break me.”
Her words hit him hard, sharper than any blade.He’d spent years keeping people out.Viper had convinced himself that distance meant safety, that if no one got close, no one got hurt.Mara however, she was in, already under his skin, in his blood.
“Don’t do this,” he warned.
“Then tell me you don’t want me,” Mara said, throwing him a defiant look.
He swallowed hard.“You know I can’t.”
She looked up at him, defiant.“Then stop pretending.”
That was all it took.One step, one breath, and he was kissing her again.
It wasn’t gentle this time.It was heat and hunger and everything he’d been trying to bury.She rose on her toes, curling her fingers into his shirt.Viper pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.Every inch of him ached for her, and when she made a soft sound against his mouth, something inside him snapped.
