by P. A. Jones
I took out my yoga mat and tossed it on the ground. I’d been trying a few new things like Crane and Half Moon from last few days and I decided to focus on that.
I did some forward falls at first and then went into Down Dog. My right hand was hurting slightly, but I ignored that and went straight into the Crane after Down Dog.
Unfortunately, it was too much for my right hand. The moment I put pressure on it, something tore apart inside and I roared in pain as I felt like someone just tore apart my right hand from my body. I fell down on the ground, the pain choking my every sensation. I laid there thinking about my own doom.
“I think you need some help.” A woman’s voice came out of nowhere. And surprisingly she sounded like Nikki. My mind had really started to play games with me. How could Nikki be in my house? Still, I turned to the origin of sound. Nikki was standing there looking at me.
“You...”” I tried to ask, but couldn’t complete it due to pain.
I stood up, and my pain was still going in my head, but the anger was pushing me, too. She was the reason I had to fight with that jerk and get injured again, and now she was standing in my house without my permission.
I pushed her back on the wall with my left hand. I was so angry that I thought I would hurt her. But then excruciating pain shot through me again and I fell back on the ground.
Chapter 6
Nikki
I watched him in silence from the little gap between the closet doors. He moved his body swiftly from Down Dog to Crane. That was a hard position to achieve and he must have worked for months to get that wrist and lower body flexibility.
But he shouldn’t have been doing that with his injured hand. He was putting pressure on his injury and it showed in a couple of seconds; he fell on the ground with a twisted face. Pain was flowing all over him. I couldn’t sit there watching him in pain; I took an oath when I first entered in the college that I would help all the needy without considering the reward. The therapist inside me was crying to help him. I thought for a second and then opened the closet door..That man really needed my help and it could be my little redemption for putting him through all the trouble.
“I think you need some help.”I said as I walked out of the closet.
He looked at me with surprise, his eyes widening. “You...”” His jaw dropped.
He got up and pushed me against the wall with his left elbow; it was almost touching my neck. I felt like my worst nightmare had come true, that he might just kill me for being there. “Please don’t hurt me,” I screamed.
But he couldn’t reply—he fell back on the ground holding his right hand. He was in no condition to hurt me. It was a golden opportunity for me to get out of the house, as he was lying down on the floor, and I could just walk out, leaving him there in pain.
“No, I can’t.” I can’t leave him in pain like this.
“Let me see it. And don’t worry, I have training in physical rehabilitation and I can help you,” I said.
“No, What...”” His mouth shut in pain. A slight groan slipped from his mouth. He must have been feeling excruciating pain.
It was so different than the incident four days ago. There, he was the hunter and today he was a wounded animal. My heart broke just seeing him in such pain. I was never good at seeing people in pain, and here the man was in pain because of me.
I ignored him and sat on the ground near him. I took his right arm in my hand. A dark heat passed through my body the moment I touched him. There was something else going on inside me without my consent. Very dark desire was building inside me. I ignored it and pressed his forearm. There was no knot and he remained silent, so there was no pain there. I slowly started pressing his hand further, checking for knots, moving to his biceps and then his triceps. But everything was good; no knots there.
“Don’t tell me it’s your shoulder.” If it was his shoulder, then he was in trouble. Such pain because in his shoulder wasn’t a good sign. His hand looked just fine.
“It is,” he replied, his eyebrows tightening together in pain.
I touched his shoulder. there was a big knot below his right facial muscle. I pressed it slowly.
He roared in pain. “Fuck!””
“Easy, Tristan, easy,” I replied. Initially, I continued pushing my thumb on the knot slowly and then putting all of my force into it later. It wasn’t going away in five minutes or half an hour. I knew it was going to take many sessions. But the recovery was apparent. , His pain was easing and I could see it in his reaction. First, he relaxed his muscles and then his roaring stopped. Finally, his facial muscles relaxed after almost half an hour of massaging.
“Thanks,” he said, his first plain word in the last half-hour.
“It’s not done. It will need more care than you think and doing a Crane isn’t the way to treat it. Try moving your hand, please, but slowly.”
With some pain, he moved his hand, but it looked easier than before. His face twisted in pain slightly, but it wasn’t near what he had been facing previously.“Thanks,” he said, with a calmness covering his entire face. He relaxed a bit after that.
I checked the other parts of his back muscles; they were stiff and had many knots. He clearly hadn’t had a therapy session in ages, and that was surely killing his body. “It’s not good. You’re going to need many sessions on your back,” I said.
He opened his eyes, and now the calmness spread across his entire face. He rolled on his back to question me.“Thanks, but again, why are you here? Sneaking in my house without permission? “His voice wasn’t threatening, but warm and gentle.
As I’d just broken into his house and had no good answer, I decided to ignore the question and change the subject. ““Let me check your lower back as well.” The therapist in me had taken control and his body was nothing other than a patient's body for me. Damn, I miss being in college.
With ease, he rolled back on his stomach. His bare back was in front of me again, but this time his muscle definition attracted my gaze. His back was trimmed to the waist. Every muscle of his oblique and upper back was popping out.
I touched his lower back slowly and massaged it from the middle of his back to his lower back, down to the line where his waist met his hips. That was a sexy line—I’d never worked on such a beautiful back. seen and treated many patients when I was in college, but only on normal people—nobody like this. Even touching it ignited something deep inside my core. I felt like I could just continue massaging his back for hours and then maybe rub his sexy thighs and legs. Dammit, what is happening with me? I had never felt such erotic feelings while massaging any patient's back.
I rubbed his back again and again, feeling it with my soft hands, but you have to stop at some point, and I didn't’ have any pain relief gel to use so it was almost futile for him. I took his exercise towel and cleaned my hands on it. “That’s it,” I said.
He rolled on his back; a smile covered on his face. “Do you know magic?” he asked.
“What?” I asked with surprise.
“Nothing. I’m really feeling pain-free right now.” He grinned.“This feeling is awesome.”
I hadn’t expected such gratitude from him. Surprised at his response, I decided that now was the time to ask him for what I really wanted. “Will you teach me to fight?”
“Nope. I won’t.” He replied in a fraction of a second.
“Why?”
“That’s none of your business. Please close the door when you leave.” He rolled back on his stomach and started stretching himself in the superman position.
Did he just insult me? My blood started boiling inside and I frowned. I wanted to hit him with a dumbbell or something heavy. No man until now had behaved like this with me. I wanted to kick his butt right then and there, but I controlled myself. I had to get some work done from him, and for that I was ready to do whatever he asked for. Anything for you, Stephen.
I turned and walked out of his house; Carrie was still sitting in my car, waiting for me. She
jumped out of the car as soon as she saw me. “Thank God you are alright,” She hugged me tightly.”And how did you came out of the front door and what happened to your cell? I’ve been calling you for the last hour.”
“What?” I took out my cell and there were fifteen missed call alerts from Carrie. My face flushed; it was my mistake.”“I’m sorry, I must have forgotten to turn it off silent.”
“Never mind. The only thing that matters is that you’re safe. If you hadn’t come back in five more minutes, I was going to call your dad...”
I quickly cut her off; she was saying something we had agreed was forbidden to talk about.. “Never, ever think about it. He would kill Tristan and then ground me for rest of my life.” Calling him was like poking a sleeping dragon.
“Okay, I won’t,” she replied.“But I was so worried. What happened inside? How come you came out the front door?”
“That’s a long story, but he is really an ass.” I looked at his home with a mouth full of curses. “He insulted me and told me to get out.”
“Wait a second. You just broke into his house an hour ago and now you’re saying he asked you to leave? What else should he have done. Thanked you for breaking into his house?” She shook my shoulders hard, shaking her head. “Is he mad? I thought he would call the police or kick you out as soon as he found you.”
“That was the plan, but then he fell.” I smiled; I had a way to get to him.
“What’s really going on in your heart and what do you really want from him?”
“I need some time to come up with the whole plan, and you’ll be the first to know when I do. Just know that he is the key to get to Stephen.” I smiled.
Chapter 7
Tristan
“Good evening, Tristan,” Trisha smiled at me with her eyebrows raised. She looked like a cute baby with her surprised expressions.“How come you’re book store here before me?”
“Is that a problem? Am I in trouble, princess?” I slapped her head lightly. I was a part-time owner for her, who visited the book store a few times during the week.
“No, nothing like that. I’m sorry if I sounded that way.”She smiled slightly, and said, “You never been to the book store this early in the evening.”
“I was kidding, don’t worry.” I stretched my muscles; it felt so good. Nikki really worked magic on me and I was feeling so good that I was eager to get back to the punching bag. The down side was that I was still feeling sleepy, because the feel of her hands over my bare back had kept me awake most of the night. When was the last time? Yes, it had been almost six months since a girl had touched me like that, and it felt so good coming from Nikki.
Damn, I sound so desperate.
I wasn’t desperate for a woman’s touch, but it was a good feeling. Her touch was a sensual feeling that was lacking in my life, maybe in any woman I had ever touched. What’s so special about this girl? Nikki Jordan. I closed my eyes and I could see her again, running her hands on my bare back, her fingers working on my knotted muscles and the warmth they passed to my body. Damn, what is happening to me?
“Tristan,” Trisha called, and I was snapped out of my fantasy.
“Yes, what happened?” I was back to my senses. I was sitting on the chair and Trisha was standing across the counter.
“Nothing. I wanted to ask you something,” She paused and looked at me, her head cocked to one side.“Never mind.”
“Hey, Trisha, what happened? Tell me.” She was unsettled, moving her weight from one leg to another. She was bothered about something and I didn’t like that. I always treated my employee as friends and with dignity. “Anything bothering you?”
She looked down, “Can I leave early today?”
“Yes, of course you can. That’s not a thing to be afraid of. Don’t worry, I can manage the book store for one evening,” I smiled back at her. “Who’s the lucky guy?” She wanted to go early and she was in her early late teens ,so I guessed it would be some guy she was going out with.
“I wish...” Her words were followed by a deep sigh. Her face turned dark and a small tear rolled down her cheek.
I must have touched some sore nerve.“Hey, Trisha, are you all right? Is everything okay?” I stood up and held her shoulder to make her sit.“You can talk to me if you want or you can go now if you’d rather.” She was a small girl and she was like sister, which I never had. From day one of the opening of this branch, she joined in. All along, she’d worked very hard and I liked her very much, but she never had been sad like that. Heck, she had always been happy. She was one of the only people I never saw sad.
“I’m sorry, Tristan. I don’t want to trouble you with my problems.”A sob came out.
“You can trouble me as much you want, Trisha, you are like my little sister so go ahead and speak up.” I consoled her. I wasn’t good at it, but I had to try. I couldn’t stand seeing that little girl crying.
“My mother...” She wept in sorrow.“She is in the hospital. I’m afraid, Tristan. Afraid for her. She had been sick over a week now and the doctors couldn’t diagnose anything.”
I stood up and half hugged her.“Don’t worry, sweetheart, everything will be all right. Where is your father, by the way?” I felt sad for knowing so little about her.
“He died a few years ago and whenever found out why. I’m afraid that Mom will leave me, too.” She started crying hard. I couldn’t think of a way to stop her. Stopping a crying woman was really out of my league. I just held her closer to me.
After few minutes, her crying slowed and she wiped her tears.“Thanks a lot, and sorry I bothered you. I’ve never opened up with anyone before.”
“That’s fine, Trisha. You can always tell me anything you want.” I looked at her; she was still wiping her eyes with a tissue.”Do you need some money Trisha?”
She looked at me with a faint smile. “No, I have some and Mother’s treatment is covered by insurance, so I can manage.” She was a prideful little girl. I liked her for her attitude.
“Ask me anything you need, just anything, and I’ll help you,” I replied.
“Thanks, Tristan. You are a real good person.”She smiled.
“Hello.” A sweet voice appeared from nowhere.
With a jerk, I looked to the book store door. Nikki was standing there in a light blue dress that matched the blue shade of her big eyes, the biggest I’d seen in anyone. Those eyes would kill my heart someday.
“Did you say something?” The girl with the blue eyes spoke, my heart trampled by her voice. Whenever I looked into those blue eyes, I felt like they were talking to me. I felt like drowning in the ocean spread across the horizon. She blinked her eyes again.“I said hello.”Her pink, lush lips parted slowly. An urge to kiss her shot up inside me. What’s happening to me?
“Hello, Miss. May I help you?”Trisha went forward to help her. She must have mistaken her as a customer.
“Trisha, she is here for me. I’ll see to her,” I said without taking my eyes of her lips, the urge to kiss her deepening more. My nerves were shooting tingles all over my body. “I want to kiss you.”
“What?” Nikki said, “Did you say something?”
What the hell am I doing? I looked around; Trisha was smiling at me. She must have heard me.
She smiled at me and looked deep into my eyes; her eyes glowed with a blue light as she tried to talk with me through her gaze.
“Why are you here?” I asked when what I really wanted to ask her was how she was doing. My tongue was tied to my brain and it wanted to know why she was in my book store and how she knew about it.
“To see you.”
“You can go now. You’ve seen enough of me.” I was still looking in those deep blue eyes. Why am I attracted to her eyes and her lips? Why am I feeling something like I could never forget her eyes and lips in my whole life?
“I want to talk to you, Tristan.” She looked determined.
What the hell? I need to know this girl better. “Let's grab a coffee, then,” I said, “Tr
isha, if I’m get please go ahead to the hospital. And if you want me to come with you, just give me a call.”
“Thanks, I'll be here for few more hours and if you don’t come back, I'll close up and go.”Trisha winked at me.
I walked outside the book store. a nice coffee shop was just near my book store and I was curious about what Nikki wanted from me.
“Black coffee.” I ordered one for me.
“One for me, too,” Nikki echoed.
“You, too?”
“Yes, any problem?” She looked in my eyes.
“Nope, just checking if you are stalking me now.” I chuckled.
A few minutes later, we were sitting at a table sipping our coffee.
“This is good,” she said as she sipped the coffee.
“It's a special one. I enjoy the coffee in New York much more than L.A.”
“So you are from L.A. basically?”she asked.
“Nope, Santa Ana, actually,” I replied. I wasn't so comfortable in talking about my life with anyone, but with Nikki, things had been turning strangely different.
“Nice place. I’ve been there once with my Dad.”
“What do you want from me, Nikki?” I asked. I couldn't control my curiosity any longer.
“I want you to train me, Tristan. I need to train.”
“Any of your dad's employees can train you, in that case. He seems to be a man with lots of power. So why me?” She could actually ask that Chase guy, too.
“No, you are not understanding me.” She slapped her coffee cup on the table.“I need this, Tristan. Please try to understand.
“Why do you want to train in first place? Are you planning to enter in your dad's illegal MMA league?” I'd heard about this so-called MMA battle ground earlier. It was a death wish. People died there and it was completely illegal.
“I can't tell you that.” She looked at the brown table we were sitting at. She extended her hand and took my hand in her palms.“Please, Tristan, I need to train and only you can teach me how to fight.”
