The man from my dreams.
He turned to look at me, mouth open as if about to say something, but he just stood there in silence, chiseled jaw slack. His blue eyes shimmered with a hint of gold, giving him an animal-like quality. But it wasn't just his eyes. He stood so still, as if poised to leap for his prey in a great hunt. Well-defined muscles rippled under his tight black t-shirt, and his gaze held an intensity I'd only ever seen in my forbidden dreams. He smelled wild, like a forest at night. He possessed strength, power, a sway over others, and I would've backed away, intimated, if not for a shuck of black hair that fell onto his forehead, softening his features and giving him a boyish quality that tugged at my heart.
I pushed my mess of hair out of my face and tried to smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that."
This all happened so fast that Ocean still stood behind me, half inside and half outside. When I didn't move, she pushed me forward. My mystery man steadied me with strong, confident hands as my friend muscled her way in. "Rose, what the hell—"
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw a man with his arms around mine. "Uh, okay. Hi, I'm Ocean and this is Rose. And you are?"
Leave it to Ocean to make abrasiveness so charming.
Whatever it was about me that had caught his attention would fade away in the brightness of Ocean's beauty and spunk, I knew that from experience. It didn't bother me anymore. Not everyone could be a star.
But he only glanced at her briefly, then locked eyes with me again. "I'm Derek. I work here. Is there something I can help you with?"
He worked here? We had to leave. No way could I focus on learning to defend myself with this guy around. I'd be frozen in place.
I opened my mouth to tell Ocean we had to leave when she beamed at him and walked over to the desk. "Yes, you can help us, Derek. Rose and I need to learn self-defense, pronto!"
He released my arms and waited until I too walked to the desk before he took his place behind it and pulled out a brochure. He handed it to me. "Here are our classes. We have three a week for beginners, with one for more advanced students afterward. Have you taken any kind of martial arts before?"
"No, never." I had to remind myself not to stare at his lips. Or his chest. Eyes. Focus on the eyes.
"Then you'll want the beginner classes."
Ocean pulled the brochure out of his hand and put it back in the rack. "Actually, we'd like private lessons. Do you do those?"
I groaned under my breath and glared at her. She just twinkled a mischievous grin back at me, but she was forgetting one thing.
I'd noticed the prices for the classes. Not cheap. And that was for a group. "How much are private lessons?"
"Normally, they're $100 an hour. If you and your friend want to take them together, I can give you each half off, so $50 an hour per person. Plus, you'll need to buy your uniforms."
That settled that. "I'm sorry, we're going to need to think about this. It's a bit out of our budget right now."
I tugged on Ocean to get us out of here, but she ignored me. "Do you own this place?" she asked.
He pulled his focus off of me to look at her when he answered. "No, I don't. I trained here growing up, and I've just come back into town and needed some work, so Master Kyoung offered me my job back… until I leave."
The last part seemed to be an afterthought that he had a hard time saying out loud, almost like he felt obligated to say it. My heart inexplicably sunk at the thought of him leaving town. I had no claim on anyone, let alone him. He could do what he wanted, why should I care?
I shouldn't let him stop me from getting the training I needed either. He'd be leaving soon, so that was a good thing. I wouldn't have to worry about getting distracted by some random hot guy that made all of my insides gooshy, even though he didn't feel so random when I had memories of that body, that face, from my dreams. Still, I had no time for gooshy, thank you very much.
"Is Master Kyoung here right now?" I surprised myself by asking.
"Yes, he is. One second." He left through a door into what looked like the main workout studio, with a mirrored wall and padded floors. Two voices echoed through the hall, his and a man with a thick Korean accent, presumably Master Kyoung. I couldn't tell what they were saying, but when they came back in, a short man with kind eyes bowed to me, and I bowed back. "You Rose? You interested in training? Learning to fight?"
"Yes, Sir. But I'm afraid your prices are steep. I was wondering… " I swallowed and willed myself to continue. "I was wondering if you had a website to advertise your studio, or if you needed a new one. I do web design and I can make you a really nice one if you'd be willing to trade for lessons and two uniforms?" I held my breath as he considered my proposition.
Ocean's eyebrow shot up, and she grinned. I started to feel pretty pleased with myself as well. Regardless of the outcome, I hadn't given up until I'd explored all options.
He turned the laptop on the counter to me. "Show me your work."
I typed in the site I'd developed for Mother for her kennel, then opened up new links to type in a few other sites I'd built for members of our coven. "Here are a few examples. I can customize it to exactly what you want."
He clicked through the pages, looking at the sites, then opened up a new site on the screen. "You make this better?"
I browsed through his website, impressed with the quality and ease of navigation. My heart sank. "Honestly, this site is very well made. Unless you just want a whole new look, there's not much I could do to improve on it. Whoever you hired did an excellent job."
He nodded. "Yes. I use new website. New look. And you and friend train with Derek." He slapped Derek on the back. "He teach you how to be strong. How to defend yourself. That work?"
I would have hugged him if I'd known him better, and didn't have an aversion to touching people. Instead I smiled and bowed again, thanking him for his willingness to work with me.
Then I looked at Derek, his eyes still locked with mine, and my knees shook from a sudden weakness. What had I just gotten myself into?
FOUR
My Heart
DEREK
Did my heart love 'til now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.
— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
WHAT HAD MASTER Kyoung just gotten me into? I followed him back to his office, waiting until we were out of earshot of Rose and Ocean before speaking. "What's going on? You just had your website redesigned last month. Why are you giving away free lessons for something you don't need?"
The compact Korean sat behind his desk in silence, waiting for me to sit and breathe before he answered. "She special. She special for you, so I take new website and you take girl and teach her. She need your help."
"Master, with all due respect, if you're trying to play matchmaker, I'm not available. I'll be leaving town as soon as we sort things out with my brother." My pulse rose when I thought of the girl out there, so I shoved her from my mind. "I can't afford any attachments."
The walls of Master Kyoung's office were lined with imaginative weapons of all kinds. This room, so different from the book-filled library at home, had been a second home to me growing up, and where I learned not just how to fight, but when to fight, and when not to fight. The latter was still a much harder lesson for me to grasp.
Master Kyoung twisted the wedding ring on his left ring finger. "You have too much unattachment. You like a tree with no roots. You think you tall but you die soon. This girl, Rose, she save you from that, if you let her."
"You're putting an awful lot of expectations on a girl that just walked into your studio about three seconds ago. Besides, her friend is more my type." That last part would have been true before Rose walked into my life. Ocean was sexy, assertive, flirtatious, everything I liked in a woman. But as soon as I looked into Rose's eyes, everything had shifted under me. Even saying I would be leaving soon felt wrong, like a lie, and that scared the crap out of me, because I didn't want anythi
ng tying me to this place and this life.
"I know things, secret things, and I know this. Ocean, she meant for another, but Rose… she meant for you. Now go, teach her to fight. She need you and I hired you." Master Kyoung looked back down at his paperwork, clearly unwilling to discuss the issue any further.
The choice was mine. Stay and train a girl my psychic Master thought would be my one true love, or quit the only job I had in this area and depend on my dad for money. If I was going to be in town for more than a few days, I couldn't hustle my way into cash—too risky. Looks like I would have to keep my defenses up. Shouldn't be too hard, I had a lot of experience keeping women at a safe distance.
With renewed confidence that one petite girl could not be my undoing, I focused on the job at hand. Grabbing two black uniforms, I walked back to my waiting clients.
Ocean should have attracted more of my attention, but as soon as I saw Rose, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Her petite frame wouldn't be affective in a full on attack, so I'd have to teach her how to use her opponent's body weight against him. She pulled her hair back and tied it up with a rubber band, leaving her long pale neck exposed. Everything about her was so delicate, so fragile, that I wanted to protect her more than teach her to protect herself.
She looked like a porcelain doll with her multi-colored hazel eyes, dark curly hair and skin the color of cream. When she saw me, she smiled, transforming her face from pretty to stunning and making me feel like the only person in the world. I had to resist the urge to lean in and kiss her right there. I pulled myself back in time, not wanting to attract any sexual assault charges my way. Instead, I offered her a uniform. "Did you want to get started now or…. "
"Now, if you're available." I wanted to say no, I wasn't available in any way, but I choked on the words and nodded.
Ocean grabbed her uniform from Rose's hands. "Where do we change?"
I pointed to the women's bathroom. "I'll be in the studio when you're ready." Hopefully the bulge in my pants would be gone by the time they got back. This was ridiculous!
When Rose came back out, she had on the pants and jacket, but it hung open, revealing flashes of her smooth stomach. She held out the white belt. "I'm not sure how to put this on. Can you show me?"
Heat flooded my body with each step I took toward her. "Sure."
She handed it to me with a gloved hand. When she saw me noticing, she blushed a flattering pink. "I… have a condition… and I need to wear gloves. Will that be a problem?"
"Um, no, I don't think so. Put your arms out so I can wrap this around you."
Her jacket fell open even more, and I saw more than just her skin. Her black bra peeked through, the lace forming a pattern over her cleavage. I inhaled and forced my arms around her waist, trying not to touch her for fear of what my response would be if our skin connected. Pulling her jacket together, I wound the belt around her until I had just enough to form a knot. She watched my hands, likely memorizing the technique so she could do it herself.
I yanked the knot closed and stepped back, hoping she didn't see the effect of being so close to her had on me, as hard to hide as that effect might be.
She stepped back at the same time, her skin still flush pink. "Thank you. Um… Ocean should be out soon, she takes a bit longer to get ready. Is there something I should do while we wait?"
Me. You could do me. I mentally swatted myself. "Why don't we warm up with some stretches?"
Ocean joined us after a few minutes, and I helped her with her belt. Despite a killer figure, my body gave no reaction when I wrapped my arms around her. I could've been helping my sister, for all the attraction I felt.
I was in serious trouble.
The hour-long lesson nearly undid me as I adjusted Rose's stance, molding her soft body into hard shapes with my touch, and watched her bend over, twist, kick and punch. She had surprisingly good form and strength for someone who'd never fought before, but she seemed nervous every time I touched her, like she was scared I would hurt her. This triggered warning bells in my head. Was she in danger? Had someone else hurt her? I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but that didn't seem my place. Instead, we focused on the drills and the lessons, and I bit my tongue but kept my eyes peeled for unusual bruises.
At the end of the hour, both girls had put in a good work out. Rose's face shined red from the exertion, and beads of sweat clung to her neck and chest, dripping seductively into the valley between her breasts.
She disappeared into the bathroom to change and emerged in her regular clothes. She held out a gloved hand to me. "Thank you for the lesson."
I took her hand and we stood there, not really shaking hands, not really holding hands, just… suspended in the moment.
Before I could still my tongue, I blurted out, "Would you like to go out with me? On a date?" What? No. I needed to take it back, but I couldn't.
She pulled her hand out of mine and looked down at her feet. Ocean walked up behind her and smiled. "She'd love to. How about tonight? Say, 8:00? You can pick her up at this address by the gate." She handed me a slip of paper with an address in Olympia.
Rose looked up in surprise.
As much as I wanted this date, Rose had to agree or it was a no-go. "Rose? Do you want to go out with me? It's okay if you don't. I probably shouldn't have asked since I'm training you. You can forget I ever said anything."
"No!" She reached for my hand again. "No, I mean, yes. I'd love to go out with you."
A lightness of being infused me. "Great. So, does 8:00 work for you?"
"Yes, that's fine. I'll see you then, Derek."
When she said my name, it floated in the air like the wind, and like the wind it caressed my skin. "See you then, Rose."
FIVE
No Time to Woo
ROSE
These times of woe afford no time to woo.
— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Dear Diary,
There's an order to Community, a sense of things getting done and things working out. Someone handles all the food, someone else the money, and someone yet again handles all repairs. It gives everyone an assurance, the same assurance parents give their children, that everything will be okay. Some look down upon our living, but I don't find it so strange. I've never been to a village, but I've read of them, and if our Community had need of another name, I suppose I'd call it that, a village. We raise kids together. We spend nights by the fire. When the morning rooster sings its song, we all hear the same melody and move to the same tune. We all breathe the same northern wind, carrying the scent of pine and the chill of winter. We all walk the same earth and leave footprints in the mud. My mother started Community as a place where people can be themselves, but we became more than one self could ever be alone. We raised each other on our shoulders and built a place sturdier than any other home. There's an order to Community, a sense of things repeating and things fitting in. Someone handles all the rules, someone else the punishments, and someone yet again handles all our futures. Everyone works together. Everything fits.
Except me.
MOTHER LEAD A discussion on what our response should be to the recent attacks on our coven as my mind wandered to my time with Derek. The way he'd said my name, the way he'd touched me… I just couldn't stop thinking about him.
Flutters of butterflies swarmed my belly when I envisioned what our date that night would entail. Would he try to kiss me? Would I let him? That would have been an easy question to answer yesterday. Of course no one could touch me or kiss me. I couldn't risk it. But now, all I wanted was to feel his body pressed against mine for more than just martial arts training.
Ocean leaned over to whisper in my ear. "If you're trying to keep lover-boy a secret, you might want to stop gazing off into the distance with that lovesick grin on your face. Someone's bound to notice."
I forced myself to frown and focused my eyes on my lap. "You're right. I'm never going to be able to keep this a secret!"
"You don't have
to, you know. As I believe I mentioned before, you're an adult. You're allowed to date anyone you want." Ocean stuck her tongue out at me and I giggled, then covered my mouth.
Grandma Florence caught my eyes and smiled at me with a mouth full of dentures. I blushed, sure that she could read my mind and tell all my secrets. What would Grams think of what I was doing? Part of me wanted to confide in her, to have an ally other than my impetuous best friend, but if she didn't approve and she told Mother, I'd be busted.
Despite Ocean's assurance that I could do what I wanted, I still had to deal with Mother's outbursts, and my whole world revolved around this coven; without them I had nothing. No one. The risk of exposure was too great to bring anyone else in on my secret.
Time to focus back on the meeting, if I could get my head out of the clouds.
The room smelled of old things and stories long forgotten. Each member of our coven had left their mark in this well-used room over the years, and the collective energy settled into the wooden floors that creaked and the soft couches and cushions that didn't.
The room, though large, couldn't grow to meet the demands of our ever-growing coven, and large pillows had been added to accommodate comfortable seating on the floor, giving the whole affair the look of a confused sleepover.
Amber Carlisle, a talented witch of earth magic, held tightly to Lauren's, her wife's, hand as she voiced concerns about taking on the Druids. "We're not as strong as you'd like for us to be, Rainbow. Going up against them like this could be dangerous, even deadly. Have you considered the risk to our coven? To our children?"
Aside from my sister, who was nearly an adult, there was only one child left in our group, a darling three-year-old, Mist. Karen and Darren Kurtis had joined us a few years ago and brought their healing skills and their adorable daughter with them. Any of us would have done anything to keep that little girl safe.
Seduced by Innocence (The Seduced Saga, Book 1 of Rose's Trilogy) Page 3
