Another fucking lie. The woman had more secrets than a CIA agent he’d met once while working as a medic in the army. “I’m not the only one who can read a lie these days, sweetheart. Many of us survivors have extra abilities, it seems. You might want to watch yourself.”
Her upper lip curled. “The day I need advice from you, Justice, I’ll be sure to ask nicely.”
Oh, he wanted to sink his teeth into that pretty pink lip. He took a step back, shaking his head free of the image. This was Sami, for Pete’s sake. They were both lieutenants to Jax Mercury, the leader of Vanguard, and they needed to keep it professional. Hell, at some point, if he turned crazier, she might be present when somebody had to put him down.
“You sure you don’t wanna go a round?” she asked again, her stance wide.
His chin lowered. “I don’t think you want my hands on you right now.”
She blinked. “Oh, you are asking for a beating.”
The challenge, arrogant and annoying, barreled right through him. The beast growing in him won. He moved without thinking, grabbing her and putting her ass against the wall.
She gasped as he held her a foot or so off the ground.
He leaned into her face and smiled. “You should watch your mou—”
She chopped to his neck, and he saw stars. Two seconds later, she’d knocked him on his back, planted her ass on his abdomen, and angled her hands around his throat. “Tap out,” she snarled, straddling him.
A day ago, he would’ve tapped out. But something new and dark rose in him, hard and fast. “No.” Sweeping her arms away from his trachea, he grabbed her hip and shoved, rolling them both over. “I’m done tapping out.”
* * *
Sami’s shoulders hit the mat a second before her butt landed. Going on instinct and a lifetime of training, she struck out, nailing Tace in the throat. His head jerked back, and she rolled away, leaping to her feet. “What the fuck?” Her breath puffed out in bursts. How had he gotten to her so fast?
He angled to the left, his movements agile, his gaze on her legs. “Gloves are off, baby. Get ready to haveyourass kicked.”
Tingles spread through her abdomen. He moved with the deadly grace she’d seen in a panther once years ago, his steps sure, his stance aggressive. Tace and aggressive with a woman? They didn’t go together. “What is wrong with you?” she asked, keeping him squarely in her sights.
He chuckled, the sound both pissed and frustrated. “We don’t have that kind of time, darlin’.”
Darlin’. She swallowed and tried to ignore that sexy drawl. Oh, he’d called her endearments before when they’d trained, but there had always been a brotherly fondness to his tone, so she’d been able to keep him in that safe slot. This was different. This tone caught her breath in her throat and shot lava through her veins, which was all sorts of bad. Her penchant for bad boys had ruined her life more than once, but never again. They had to remain colleagues if not friends. “You’ve lost your mind,” she muttered.
“No doubt about that.” He feinted in and back out.
Her head lifted, and she set her feet on the mat. “I guess the good ole boy needs a lesson.” She used the falsest Texas accent she could muster, fighting to remain in control.
His upper lip quirked just enough for her to notice. “One of us is learning a lesson tonight.”
All right. He’d asked for it. She inventoried him quickly. Clear eyes, fluid movements, absolute focus. The fight earlier hadn’t seemed to weaken him. At six foot four inches tall or so, he towered over her. Add in cut muscles and raw strength, and she’d need to take him to the mat to win. She also had her mouth and brain to use against him. “If you’re feeling so frisky, why didn’t you call on the doctor you were screwing? Or the second-squad soldier? The one you’ve been banging this last week.” If he just moved an inch to the left . . .
He angled to the right, his hands loose, his body relaxed. “Those were both casual and aren’t gonna work out.”
“Oh?” Keeping her peripheral gaze on his feet, Sami slid to the left, trying not to care about his relationships ending. When he was with somebody else, she didn’t see him as a possibility, which he could not be. “Why isn’t it going to work out with the inner-city doctor?”
He lifted a broad shoulder. “We agreed on just fuckin’, and I’m getting bored. Angie wants more.”
An ankle shot would take him down, but she couldn’t put him out of commission. “Love, huh?”
“No. A good beating.”
Sami stilled. “What?”
Tace shrugged. “She likes it rough. I’ve enjoyed smacking the hell out of her ass, but I can’t bring myself to use a whip. She wants a whip, and she wants it to cut deep.”
Sami shook her head and took a step back, mentally erasing the image of Tace delivering a sexual spanking. Her chest heated. “She’s a masochist?”
“I guess.”
