I shrugged. “I can’t control how I feel any better than you can.”
Oh, she didn’t like that. Her eyes narrowed, and that hum in my chest went crazy, something I was fast becoming addicted to feeling. My smirk only made it worse and shit, there was no controlling the truths that spilled from me then.
“You’re so fucking hot when you’re mad.”
Her fury sparked, pulling at the bond like a kick to the ribs, and she launched herself at me. It was a perfect punch, just like I taught her, but it wasn’t near fast enough to land. I ducked and came back up with a delighted grin.
“Back to training then?”
Laughing probably wasn’t the best reaction, especially since she almost broke my nose twice in the last thirty seconds. Getting hard was an even worse reaction, but I couldn’t control that one. She was too perfect. We moved far from the bloodied bag, working our way through the side garden where I used whatever I could to keep the distance between us; chairs, bushes, a fucking table umbrella.
I wanted her to empty all that rage, not actually rearrange my face with it. Being on the constant attack was finally starting to take its toll, and her hits were becoming more strategic and less animalistic. How anyone could pity this magnificent creature was beyond me. She didn’t need it. Hair half fallen from her bun, cheeks rosy with exertion, and that nose. Could someone be sexyandadorable at the same time? Sexable? Whatever. It washer.
“I never noticed how much you scrunch your nose when you’re pissed. It's cute.”
“Shut up!”
“Make me,” I taunted, and let her get a little closer.
“The only reason I haven’t smacked you yet is because you’ve been nice lately.”
Ha! My poor deluded little spitfire.
“No, you haven’t hit me because you can’t catch me.”
I took that moment to hop forward and smack her ass before spinning away with a laugh. Her enraged shriek was like music to my ears; I knew she had more rage hiding in there. I wasn’t doing my job if I didn’t lure it out. The only downside to my plan was how long it took.
Exhausted now, she got sloppy. When another miss of my face nearly broke her hand on the side of the house, I knew it was time to bring this to an end.
“Ok, fun’s over. Time to get back to work.”
“Fun?Fun?”she roared and charged me. Like a damn linebacker.
She threw another punch to my head, and I dodged to the side, refusing to step back and let her gain more ground. There was hardly enough room on the patio for this. With a smirk, I stepped closer and grabbed her waist with both hands. With her next strike, I helped her along with a twist and almost knocked her off balance.
“Power comes from your hips, remember?”
Her growl did funny things to my dick, and I sent a mental order for him tostand down. Rani’s little hands clutched my shoulders as she brought her knee up to hit the very soldier I was trying to control, and I deflected by stepping to the side and catching her leg. I pulled it higher, anchoring it over my hip, and pushed forward until she was trapped between me and the sliding glass door.
We almost lined up. If I lifted her higher or she stood on her tippy toes we could rub together inallthe right ways. Instead, I kept her stuck where she was, close but not close enough.
“We haven’t moved on to kicks yet, babe,” I tsked. “You gotta walk before you can run.”
We stared at one another, chests rising rapidly as we fought to catch our breath. Her a little more than me. I was in excellent shape. I took advantage of having her so close and checked her over for anything I might have missed. Those dark circles under her eyes weren’t lighter, only covered with makeup.
Her cheeks were a little less round, another product of her losing weight. Something behind her eyes was screaming for help. She might not realize it, but it was in there, fighting to get out. To be free. I had a feeling it was the siren part of her she’d locked away.
“Let me go,” Rani demanded. “I’m ready to go back inside.”
More like she wanted to hide. I saw too much. All those little broken pieces were on display with no wall to hide behind, and I was witness to them all.
“Inside, Ezra.”
I shook my head. “I can show you how to fight in there, but all the soft surfaces will distract me.”
She wiggled in my hold, and I held back a groan. Just because she wasn’t right over my dick didn’t mean I couldn’t feel her heat. I knewexactlywhat I was missing each time she pushed against me to try and break free.
“This is just an excuse for you to put your hands on my ass.”
