“Did you miss me, pretty girl?”
“What? Psh.” She shakes her head and stretches her arm across her body. “Sure, like I miss a rash that won’t go away.”
“You wound me.” I whip my shirt off and toss it aside, and her jaw goes slack as her eyes move over my torso, eye fucking me.
Yeah, baby, I’ve missed you too.
“Are we going to talk all day, or do I get to kick your ass?” she asks.
“You can try.” I can’t keep the smile off my face. Fuck, she’s amazing. “What style are you doing?”
“I’ve taken kickboxing classes for about ten years,” she says as she lifts her fisted hands and assumes the fighting stance.
Jesus, I’m getting hard. Her arms and shoulders are flexed, and I want to bite the muscles there.
“Stop fucking me with your eyes and do something,” she says with that determined look on her perfect face.
“I don’t attack women. You get the first move.”
She doesn’t say a word, she just advances, and she’s fuckingfast. I evade two right jabs and manage to get her arm behindher back and press her to the mat before I get up and gesture for her to go again.
“You’re holding back,” she accuses me.
“I’vekilledmen in the cage, Violet. Of course, I’m holding back. I won’t hurt you.”
That makes her pause. “But I need you to make metry. I know I can’t beat you, but if you’re not going to make it hard for me, get Danny back in here.”
“I willnothurt you. I won’t hit you.” Just the thought of it makes my stomach turn. “But come at me again, and let’s see what we can do.”
She’s damn good. Her jabs are fast, her kicks powerful, and I let her get some hits in so I can use my body weight to throw her off balance, to make it tough for her, and after about thirty minutes of this, we’re both sweaty and her breath is heaving.
“Yeah, that’s better,” she says with a nod, pacing away. “That’s what I need.”
“Why did you start doing this?” I ask her.
“My parents died, and it made me feel safer.”
Well, fuck.
Now I want to cuddle her and assure her that she never has to feel unsafe ever again.
“Again,” she says, and we go through similar paces. She advances, and I deflect but make it a little more rigorous than I’m really comfortable with.
She falls on her ass and winces and then holds her hand up.
“I’m okay.”
I squat in front of her and rest my hands on her thighs.
“Take a breather, Savage.”
“If someone’s coming at me, I can’t take a breather.”
I tilt my head, watching her closely. “Who the fuck is coming at you?”
“It’s hypothetical,” she says but won’t meet my eyes.
“Violet, what’s going on?”Talk to me.I torture men to make them talk. Ihatebeing in the dark, and this woman won’t let me in.
