A sly grin slipped over her shoulder as she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. Gone was her earlier sadness and in its place was a guileless batting of lashes. “But I’ll just get wet again.” She tossed him a second towel and danced away.
He raked his towel over his head and down his body. He might be a patient man, but he was powerless against this particular fae, especially when she dropped her seal coat. He hung his towel on the rack and stalked after her. Her nipples were already tight from the air-conditioning, and the sway of her hips was enough to help him forget whatever lurked in their pasts. When she crawled onto the disheveled bed and peeked over her shoulder, he almost forgot to grab the condoms from under her bed.
“That is, in fact, the plan, Princess.”
* * *
Sebastián held the ring light stand. Lily’s phone, already recording, captured Kieran and Lily’s full bodies. They had finished introductions for the video, and she didn’t know yet what hold they’d be filming. When she knew what was coming, she anticipated his attack, and her movement grew stilted. Inauthentic. When she didn’t know, their Hit It audience took notice. Their StreamScene audience was growing, too, after Hit It users begged for videos too long for the platform’s three-minute video interface.
“Do I have your permission to touch you?” Kieran asked.
Lily’s shoulders relaxed on an exhale, and she shook out her hair. He’d asked her to leave it down today.
“Yes. You have my permission.”
The words were no sooner out of her mouth than he exploded toward her. She stumbled back, and he crowded her toward the gym wall. Sebastián kept pace, and Kieran trusted him to keep them well within the narrow frame of the camera. He’d already been briefed on today’s lesson.
Before her back could hit the wall, he wrapped both of his hands around her neck in a stranglehold. He kept his grip firm but positioned so he wasn’t blocking her airway. Fingers at her muscles, not her trachea. Lily’s lips parted on a gasp, andher chin tipped back. Her pulse danced under his fingertips. Her lashes lowered and one side of her mouth lifted. Just as quick her playful expression disappeared, and her hands closed around his wrists.
He stepped into her space and growled loud enough for the phone to pick up his voice. “Now try to escape.”
She tugged at his palms and tried working her fingers under his.
“Remember, if this were real, you’d only have ten seconds before you’d pass out.”
With his thighs pinning hers to the wall, she couldn’t lift her leg enough to stomp on his feet or jerk her knee up.
She lifted her hands, her fingers curling into claws. “Would this work?”
He eyed her short nails. He still bore the scratches she’d left on his back during round two, but he didn’t need any more scars on his face. “It might, but you run the risk of your attacker holding on.”
Her hands circled his wrists. “Then what should we do if we’re ever in this situation?”
If by “we” she meant him and her, he hoped she’d arch her hips against his and beg him to fuck her. As if she could read his mind, her throat warmed under his touch. Her blush crept heavenward. Knowing where it originated from, it was all he could do not to drag down the neckline of her workout top and her sports bra and swirl his tongue around one of her dusky pink nipples. Though that kind of video would be more appropriate for Just for Fans.
Kieran cleared his throat. “Tighten your neck. Shoulders up, chin down. Gives me less neck to choke.”
She followed his directions. “Now what?” She blinked up at him, all innocence. The tip of her tongue darted out and wet her lips.
Playing dirty.Was she trying to give him a hard-on on camera? Two could play that game.
“Next you’ll want to do a monkey grip,” he explained and let her go long enough to raise his hand toward the camera and curve his palm and fingers into an arc. “It’s a thumbless grip.” Lily copied him. “You’re going to want to hook underneath one arm and over my wrist on the other arm.” She followed his direction. “Without as much room on your neck, my fingers don’t lie flat. So, with your other hand, pry up one of my fingers. You only need one.”
They settled back into the hold, and she got her fingers under one of his. Without even needing to be told, she yanked it back toward his wrist like she meant to snap it.
His hand spasmed, and his hold broke. “Clever girl.”
Her pupils spilled like ink across her irises until only a sliver of bright blue remained. Oh, she liked praise. He’d have to remember that for next time.If there was a next time.
She’d never texted him after he left on Saturday.
“Let’s do it two more times,” she said, surprising him with the cue.
They flowed through the motion again, their movements methodical. On the second, Lily whipped through the hold escape fast enough to make it look real. At least one of them remembered this was an exercise in self-defense and not in self-control.
“And remember,” she spoke to the phone’s camera, “if you’re in the Chicago area, come check out South Side MMA, but if you’re not local, be sure to like and subscribe for more self-defense tips.”
“And cut!” Sebastián removed the phone from the stand and handed it to Lily for inspection. “One take. Not bad.”
