“Punch me in the nuts, and we’re gonna have a serious talk when we get home.” He grabs her throat in his palm,not at alllike how Eliza showed, and draws her to the tips of her toes. “And I never taught you, ‘cos I intend to be wherever you are, and tapping him with my elbow isn’t how I deal with men who wanna touch. But since you insist on learning…” He kisses her and lowers her back to flat feet again.
“Oliver.”
Startling, I swing my gaze across to my smirking sister.
“You gonna get into position, or would you prefer to watch Chris and Fox make out?”
“We look good,” Fox teases. “I know it. You know it.” She flicks her hand in our direction.“But it would be best if you focused over there, Doctor Darling. Poor Rose needs a practice dummy.”
“Um…” I meet Rose’s wide, terrified eyes. “Do you want…”Fuck. Me. “If this is too much, you don’t have to… or you could…” I swallow again and groan. “You could partner with Lize, if you want.”
“I-it’s okay.” She turns to face Eliza, but she backs up and stops a whole foot in front of me. “I’m ready to learn.”
“Arm over her shoulder, Ol.” Eliza saunters around the room, nodding her approval for Tommy and Alana’s positioning. Then again, for Chris and Fox. Coming to a stop beside me, she watches, narrow-eyed as I carefully inch forward and lay my arm across the front of Rose’s chest.
My sister is a woman who lacks patience—and tact—so she grabs mywrist and pulls my arm higher, satisfied only when the bone in my forearm rests against Rose’s trachea. Then she slams her hand against the small of my back and shoves me in until Rose’s ass rests against my cock, and Alana’s immature giggle rings across the room.
“If someone’s gonna grab her, he’s not gonna be a gentleman about it.” Eliza moves around to stand in front of Rose, bracing her hands on her shoulders, under my arm, and stares into her eyes.
At least she’s not teasing anymore.
“Maybe this is a bit confronting, and maybe Lana’s giggling like a schoolgirl, but that’s because she already knows how to lay a man out, and the dude wrapped around her has been her boyfriend since she was nine years old. This is for you, Rose, and if you find yourself inthisposition, then it’s gonna be confronting. It’s going to be scary, and you probably won’t be able to breathe. Your brain will be screaming. Panicking.”
Rose trembles all over.
“Lize,” I warn. “Chill.”
“We don’t get tochill untilallof us are safe. So he’s going to squeeze now.” She pushes my arm against Rose’s throat. “And you’re going to realize you can’t breathe.”
Rose whimpers.
“But you’re gonna drop your weight.” She presses down on Rose’s shoulders, pushing her into a deeper stance, then she places Rose’s hands on my arm. “Drop in, pull forward. You’ve just bought yourself a breath.”
Like she’s been underwater for a fucking lifetime, Rose’s lungs clamber for air, expanding and stretching, her intake a noisy, rattling sound that plants an ache deep inside my heart.
“Now you bump him back.” She lowers her hands to Rose’s hips and shoves, pushing me back a step. Then she shoves a second time.
Fuck me.Rose needs no further instruction because she balls her fist and swings her elbow back, clocking me on the jaw right where Tommy got me a few nights ago. Then she hammer-fists down.
“Oh god.” I hold my breath and grit my teeth. Waiting… prepping… praying.Here comes the pain.
But she pulls her strike, bouncing out of my grip and moving a full six feet away, all before my brain can catch up and relief can trickle into my veins.
“Yeah!” Fox claps obnoxiously. “That’s my girl! She got you good, Ol!”
“I did it!” Rose spins and squeals. “Holy cow. I learned something from a professional fighter!”
“Yeah, you did.” Eliza slaps her on the ass and meets my gaze, smug satisfaction rolling from her every pore. “Sometimes that’s all it takes. Now do it again.” She grabs Rose’s wrist and slingshots her back into myarms, forcing me to catch her and hold on, to save her from slamming to the floor. To breathe her rushed exhalation of air. To see, from just five inches away, how her eyes gleam a million new colors when she’s happy.
“Are you okay?” My jaw sings, and my heart thunders. But fuck, I hold her secure against my chest and watch her pulse dance playfully in her throat. “You can slap her back if you want. I’ll hold her down while you get your shot in.”
“I’m okay.” She pants, heaving for fresh air so her shoulders and chest grow with every inhalation. “Can we try it again? Make sure I got all the steps?”
“Of course.” She’s so fucking pretty… and as her doctor, it’snotokay for me to think that. She’s so damn magnetic when she’s happy… and that, too, is a wildly inappropriate thought for me to have. To stare at her lips is just… It’s not right.
I’ve spent too many years trying to repair the repercussions of my poor choices.
To step acrossthisline is unforgivable.
