Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “Good God!” Younger drew back in horror. “What is it with women?”

  But Laurie only laughed again. “Don’t be such a drama queen, Younger! It’s not really that bad. Has Caroline broken into your house and hidden naked in your bed?”

  “What? No!” He was absolutely mortified at the idea. “I don’t actually know what I would do if that happened.”

  Laurie’s expression turned thoughtful. She pressed her lips into a tight line and gently tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Why did he keep looking at her hands? It was like he could not stop thinking about them. They were so small and delicate looking. He was supposed to teach self-defense to this woman? She was getting smaller and daintier looking each and every time he saw her. More fragile. More apt to break. Did he honestly want her trying to fend off someone like Josh Bentley? No! He wanted to tuck her into his pocket and make sure nobody ever threatened her again.

  “It’s interesting to me that you say that,” Laurie began in a slow and very deliberate voice. She looked as though she was being careful with her words. “Most people believe men are just slaves to their baser urges.”

  “What? Like if they see a naked woman they can’t stop themselves from having sex with her?” Younger thought distastefully of some of the behavior he had seen in other countries. Things that happened during wartime. She was closer to the truth than he was comfortable admitting. “It is true of some men. And there are situations when people just lose their minds and then yes, they do heinous things they regret later. And hopefully they’re punished because it should not matter what the situation is. You don’t get to throw your conscience and your ethics out the window. What is wrong is still wrong even when your blood is up and you feel invincible, like some ancient warlord.”

  She was gazing up at him with something in her eyes that he could not decipher. She bit her lower lip and leaned in closer. He didn’t know what she was doing. It was odd. Very odd. But he was afraid to speak or to ask. There was something happening here on this bench in the shade. The balmy air was close around him, but Younger could not feel it.

  “You’re not one of those men,” she whispered after a moment or two had passed. “I cannot believe you would be. I don’t even know how that woman who accused you or the man who put her up to it could have believed your name could be associated with that sort of behavior.”

  Her words were a balm to Younger’s tattered soul. He felt his throat grow thick with emotion. Things he had not allowed himself to think or feel for a long time began to resurface. The outrage, shame, and unease if he had allowed himself to go just a little farther down that warpath that he might have become the man he’d been accused of being.

  “Thank you,” he told her. It was completely inadequate but he didn’t know what else to say. What did you say in this situation?

  She reached out and she took his hand. She pulled it into her lap and she stroked his fingers. “Don’t ever be afraid to stand up for yourself. Remember? Even when people are just pushing themselves at you, don’t be afraid to make sure they know it’s not okay.”

  Younger felt a strange bit of tender humor at her words. “Is that what you’ve learned in the last few days?”

  “Yes. I’m trying to learn it,” she admitted wryly.

  Younger lifted his hand and gently cupped her face. “You’re a lot softer-hearted than you want anyone to believe.”

  “Do you blame me?” she retorted. “I think I would easily get squashed if I wore my heart on my sleeve.”

  “There has to be a balance in there somewhere though, don’t you think?” He felt as though he was the one wearing his heart on his sleeve at the moment. “Maybe certain people that you can be real with? People who know you. The ones that are safe enough to be trusted with your thoughts and your fears.”

  “I think I would trust you,” she admitted after a second or two.

  She was looking up into his eyes and Younger could not look away. He was utterly captured by those twin blue pools. How had he convinced himself that he didn’t like her? How had he managed to make himself believe she was a pain in the ass? This woman was just hiding herself in the same way the rest of them did when they were surrounded by an environment determined to squash them flat.

  “Are we still on for tonight?” Younger asked her suddenly. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he wanted to make certain they were. He didn’t want their time together to end and he knew it had to—for now. “We said nine o’clock. The martial arts studio isn’t far from here. It’s in one of those strip malls down Route 76.”

  “Of course,” she told him right away. “I’m looking forward to it. You can text me the address if you’d like. I know you have my information.”

  He did. He picked up his phone and pulled up a new text box that did not involve Caroline’s constant nagging. Younger wasn’t certain why, but he wanted to make a point of sending her the address immediately, as though that would make her see that this was very important to him. He’d agreed to do it and he intended to carry it through.

  A moment later, she took her phone out of the cargo pocket of her short pants and looked at the display. “There. I’ve got the address. I’ll meet you at nine o’clock. Is there anything special I should wear or bring? A body bag maybe?”

  Younger could not imagine what she was expecting after dealing with Josh Bentley in the past. That made it all the more impressive that she was agreeing to do this at all. “Nope. Just bring yourself. That will always be more than enough.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Laurie would have expected to feel nervous as she pulled up and parked her car in front of the martial arts studio where she was supposed to have her first “lesson” in self-defense with Younger Adair. Instead of apprehension though, she only felt excitement. It was the anticipation whipping through her body, not fear. That was already a huge change from her previous experience.

  As Laurie put her car in park, she remembered how the first time she had met with Josh at his gym she’d felt excited. After that, it had been varying degrees of dread just because she knew it was going to be awful.

  As soon as she was out of the car, she realized she could see Younger and another guy—an older gentleman with silvery inside on the mats. There did not appear to be anyone else there. There were a few cars parked around the strip mall’s front façade, but it looked as though whatever classes had been going on earlier that evening were done and over with.

  The first thing that Laurie noticed was the way Younger was dressed. She had never seen him in anything but black cargo pants, a snug cotton T-shirt, and his ever-present worn-out combat boots, also known as his personal uniform. She understood since she had one since her job did not provide one.

  But tonight, Younger was wearing terry cloth sweat shorts and a loose fitting tank top that showed off his arms. His arms? Hell, that clothing showed off everything! Laurie felt her mouth go dry as she looked at the muscles rippling across Younger’s back and arms. His legs were like tree trunks. Even his calves had lines of muscle on them. He could have modeled swimwear. She remembered him saying he’d been a swimmer. No doubt that was where he got his spectacular shoulders. It was not difficult to imagine him doing the one hundred meter butterfly. And I bet he looked like a god in those tiny swimming suits!

  Laurie felt silly in her yoga pants and snug-fitting workout top. Her breasts were okay, not great, but at least they weren’t sagging to her waist like her mother’s had after she’d popped out a few kids by the time she was Laurie’s age. Laurie tried to keep in shape. She walked a ton at work so at least her cardio was decent. But Josh had always been after her about her pot belly and her flabby, weak arms. And that was what was making Laurie wish she’d brought an over-sized sweatshirt with her. It was just too hot for that though. Too. Freaking. Hot.

  Taking a deep breath, Laurie forced herself to march right up to the front door of that martial arts studio and pull it open; the draft sucking it back from the inside almost ma
de it an impossible task. Laurie could not believe how ridiculous it was to think that she was trying to get inside this place to learn some basic self-defense and it turned out that she was too weak to even open the door. Good night!

  Joe’s Martial Arts wasn’t a large establishment but the huge name that seemed to go on forever in the massive logo that decorated the backs of thirty to forty kids in matching white uniforms and colorful cotton belts adorning the pictures on the walls was quite impressive. It was already turning out to be different from Laurie’s previous experience. When she got inside, the room did not just appear to be empty, it really was.

  “Hey, Laurie! You made it!” Younger paused to wave to her.

  Unfortunately for Younger, that left his opponent a great opening. The gray-haired man in tight black sweats darted in and grabbed Younger by the waist. He levered his body weight to swing Younger around and then flipped his own body head over heels to take Younger to the ground. As the two men grappled, Laurie covered her mouth with her hands and watched in horrified fascination as they both struggled for dominance.

  It was incredible to see the way these two powerful men used every single muscle and sinew in their bodies to try their best to dominate their opponent. They scissored their legs, tangling them together. They twisted and turned. Bracing feet flat on the thick blue mats in order to gain enough leverage to arch their bodies up to unseat their opponent and change who was in charge. But finally, Younger managed to get what appeared to be the upper hand. He wrapped his long powerful legs around the gray haired man’s waist and rolled forwards to fold the poor guy nearly in half. The man’s legs were scrambling to find somewhere to push off from, but Younger’s position left him too rolled into a ball to even get near the ground. Younger’s legs and his arms were wrapped around the man’s waist. His shoulders were pinned to the floor and, finally, the man’s hand started beating against the mat.

  “I give!” he called out.

  Younger rolled backwards and let go. Then he sprang to his feet and leaned down to help his opponent up off the floor. “You almost had me right there. If we hadn’t said we were going to stick to Jujitsu, you would have.”

  The older man laughed. Then he looked over at Laurie. “Younger here just had to hand me my ass to pay me back for turning him into a pretzel last week.”

  “So, is this wrestling?” Laurie looked from Younger to the gray haired man and thought that she was in the wrong place. “Because I don’t know that I can do that.”

  The stranger beamed at her. “My name is Joe.”

  “Joe?”

  “Just Joe,” he told her firmly. “And no, it’s not just wrestling. Jujitsu is a grappling art. But my friend Younger here is a Marine. He can teach you all kinds of practical self-defense.”

  “Thanks, Joe.” Younger smiled at his friend. “I’ll teach some classes for you next week if you like. Trade and all.”

  “That would be great.” Joe looked very pleased. Then he jerked his head toward the door. “Just lock up and turn off the lights before you leave.”

  Laurie didn’t know what to say. Not only had Younger offered to do this for her without compensation, but he was trading his own free time next week to teach classes so they could use this space? That seemed grossly unfair.

  As soon as Joe had stepped out, Laurie tried to find the words to make it right. “Younger, I don’t want you to put yourself out on my account. I’m willing to pay you to teach me. I don’t expect favors.”

  “Favors?” He frowned as he walked to a bench and picked up a bottle of water. He downed most of the bottle in one pull. “What favors?”

  “You’re going to teach classes here next week to compensate him for using the space?” Laurie was feeling more and more uncomfortable as she spoke.

  “Oh, that?” He shook his head, finished the contents of the water bottle, and then tossed it into a trash bin. “I would have taught the classes anyway. It’s a good way to keep myself in shape and in practice.”

  Laurie felt somewhat better, but not entirely. “So, you teach lots of self-defense classes? Would you rather I just came to one of those so you don’t have to sacrifice your Saturday night?” She actually thought she might weep if he said yes.

  Younger crooked his finger at her and pointed to the mat a few feet away from him. “Would you stop trying to get out of this? It’s fine. I swear. If it wasn’t, I’m supposed to just say so. Remember?”

  “Oh, right.” She felt silly as she walked to the indicated spot. “So, how do we start? Do I pretend to be walking down the street?”

  “What?” He looked confused. “Why would you do that? It’s impossible to simulate something like that. Besides, it’s not the best way to train your muscles to react. It’s…” He looked thoughtful. “Is that what Josh Bentley was doing? Having you pretend to get into bad situations and then make you defend yourself?”

  She grimaced. “Yeah. And sometimes he would enlist the help of other jackass body building morons at his gym. Usually, they were huge and sweaty and gross and I didn’t want to get anywhere near them.”

  “And you probably find yourself in a lot of back allies right?” Younger almost sounded as though he were teasing her. “You often head into dark dangerous places on your own seeking out trouble so you can prove your self-defense skills?”

  That was a preposterous idea. “Uh, no.”

  “So then why would we try to set up some fake situation for you to work yourself out of when I can teach you some things that you can practice on your own that will soon enough become what they call a muscle memory.”

  “Oh.” That actually made lots of sense. “Like riding a bike.”

  “Exactly.”

  He held up one powerful arm. His forearm literally looked as though it had been carved from stone. Why had she never really noticed this before? He wore short sleeves. But this? Good God, it was different to see his forearm with his elbow attached to a bulging bicep that looked so anatomically perfect that she wanted to touch it just to see if it felt as hard and delicious as it looked.

  “Now, hold up your arm,” Younger suggested.

  Laurie did as he asked and felt as though her arms were every bit as flabby as Josh had told her. She put it down quickly before Younger could notice. Maybe she could start lifting weights at home. She had some jogging weights in her condo somewhere.

  “Don’t put it down.” He reached for her arm and picked it back up.

  Just the feeling of his fingers against her skin made her breath stick in her throat. He lightly ran his palm over her arm. There was nothing pushy or sexual in it. But the touch was gentle all the same.

  “I’m a weakling,” Laurie whispered. “I know.”

  “No. You’re a woman,” Younger corrected. “And that’s not to say that women cannot build muscle or that they are weaker than men in general. It’s just to say that a man has the ability thanks to genetics and evolution, to become more muscular with less effort. All right? So, is there any point in you trying to use your fists or your arms against me?”

  She felt a wave of hopelessness. “Not at all.”

  “But that doesn’t mean we can’t maximize your assets.”

  “Huh?”

  “Look at your legs.”

  He was looking at them, letting go of her arm and reaching for her right leg. He picked it up in one hand and lifted it off the ground. She pivoted in order to stay vertical. His hand was warm against the underside of her bare thigh and she felt a tingle whip through her nervous system.

  Ugh! They were supposed to be doing something practical right now Not something sexual. She really needed to get a grip and focus.

  “Your leg has a lot more muscle and flexibility. You always have to remember that what you have going for you is your mobility. I would bet that you can contort yourself into a hell of a lot more yoga poses than I can no matter what I do. This bulk comes at a cost. And the first part of that cost is some degree of flexibility. That’s just basic logic and physi
cs.”

  “Oh.” Laurie was pleasantly surprised. She’d never thought of it that way. “What about technique?”

  “Screw technique when it comes down to it.”

  He sounded almost flippant as he let go of her leg and slipped his arm around her waist. He brought her in close, so close that she could smell his breath. Cinnamon. As though he’d been eating mints or chewing gum. Then there was the sandalwood and cedar smell. Good God he was hot! His chest was pressed against her chest. Her nipples were getting hard beneath the padded built in bra in her top. She wanted to swoon against him just to feel him take her completely in his arms.

  “Let’s say that we’re here. Right?” Younger’s voice was firm. Not loud. Not rude. Not even suggestive. It was the sort of voice you hung onto. “We are right here and we’ve just had a good time. I’m taking you home but maybe I want a little more than you want to offer.”

  Even the idea that he could be doing that was preposterous. How could she have ever entertained a single doubt in her mind just because Josh Bentley said so? But this was roleplaying and she had to get with the program, which did not include a moment where she begged him to take her to bed. That wasn’t the situation they were recreating here.

  Abruptly, he pulled her closer. They were now smashed together. His hold was too firm. Maybe even bordering on uncomfortable. If it had been anyone but Younger Adair, Laurie would have been squirming. She reflexively pulled her hands up between them and put them flat against his chest.

  “Push,” he told her. “Tell me if I hurt you. But I want you to push as hard as you can. Don’t worry about hurting me. I’ll mend.”

  Laurie tried. She did. Her hands pressed against his chest, she gave it absolutely everything that she could. He did not budge. She could feel the iron hard band of his arm around her back. It was absolutely immovable. She could not move. She could not even budge him away from her space. Her mind began to go fuzzy and she started to breathe funny.