by Alex Lux
Much to her credit, my best friend didn't hesitate a moment. She pulled on her coat and scarf and waited while I put on my boots, then marched me out of the cottage and to her car. "Get in. I'll drive. I'm taking the class with you."
"Thank you." My insides let out a sigh of relief. If she were with me then I wouldn't do anything bad. I wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. She'd stop me.
Already I felt better about this new adventure.
Fate guided us as we went in search of a studio. Ocean's car actually ran out of gas on a corner that featured a gas station, a laundry mat, a coffee shop, and a martial arts studio called Inner Peace Martial Arts.
When the car sputtered to a stop, Ocean slammed her palm down on the steering wheel and cursed.
I tried hard not to laugh out loud at her antics. Instead I said, "Guess you have to push while I steer."
She glared at me. "We can both push. I'll steer while pushing."
I got out and went to the back of the car, while she stood by the driver's side and leaned in to steer. Once in place, she hollered back to start pushing. It didn't take as much strength as one might imagine to push the car to an available spot at the gas station. She had a Fiat Coup, which wasn't big at all, and we had the advantage of nudging it along with a little magic.
Ocean emptied out her purse on the counter in the gas station, scrounging for loose change and small bills. She collected bits and pieces of what amounted to $4.32 and presented it to the cashier.
Such a small amount of gas pumped into her car quickly.
I pointed to the martial arts building. "Let's go check them out."
She nodded and drove us across the parking lot.
My palms became slick and my heart rate raced as I came face to face with my own rebellion. This was real, not some fantasy. I was actually going to disappoint my mother and coven leader and walk into this new way of living.
I steeled myself, took a deep breath, and opened the door into the heated studio.
And nearly walked right into the absolute sexiest man I'd ever laid eyes on.
The man from my dreams.
He turned to look at me, mouth open as if about to say something, but then 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.
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 anything 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 multicolored 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 workout. 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 Di
ary,
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 in Oregon 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."
