I stop. The word dies in my throat. Blood drains from my face. A softness creeps over his expression.
Pity probably. Exactly what I don’t want. I breathe through it. Refusing to go back there. “Just show me how to fight, Drago. Then I’ll go back to my room, and you can pretend I don’t exist. You seem to be nailing that.” I pin him with a glare.
“You think that’s what I really want?” he mutters.
I frown. “Excuse me?”
He ignores me. “Punch me.”
He says it so bluntly like a command. And I hate to admit that kinda turned me on.
“Where?” I ask.
“Anywhere.” He shrugs.
“Wherever you think it’ll hurt most. Where you think it’ll give you a chance to run if I were attacking you.”
My eyes dip to the outline of his dick in his grey sweatpants. I bet that’s a monster too.
“No. Not there. But if someone is attacking you, do that as hard as you possibly can.”
I grin. “Noted.”
I step closer, heart hammering. My fist tightens, and I drive it straight into his stomach.
He barely reacts to the punch, just looks down at me like I’ve bored him.
“That was as hard as you can hit?” he asks, flat.
Heat rushes up my neck. “You told me to punch you. I did that.”
“I told you to hurt me,” he corrects calmly. “Again. But this time, use your body. Not just your arm.”
He steps closer, and suddenly he’s everywhere. His hands slide over my hips, adjusting my stance and nudging my feet wider apart.
“Balance,” he murmurs. “If you’re off balance, you’re already as good as dead.”
His palms linger a second too long. My pulse jumps, and I swallow.
“Now,” he says, stepping back with a grin. “Hit me. Hurt me.”
I swing again, harder this time, aiming for his ribs.
He catches my wrist mid-strike and twists, using my own momentum to pull me forward. I gasp as I stumble, and suddenly my back is against his chest. One arm locks around my waist, the other pinning my wrist behind me.
“This is where most people panic,” he says quietly, mouth close to my ear. “They freeze.”
His breath skims my skin. My thighs clench.
“What do I do?” I ask, breathless.
“Feel where I am.”
I do. Too much. And I like it way too much. I usually have to be drunk out of my mind. But feeling his muscular body pressed against mine is turning me on.
“Now drop your weight.”
I hesitate. “Drago?—”
