Darien was being eyed closely.
‘Just prove your worth and you’ll be OK,’ she advised.
‘If any of them gets too handsy with you, I will not be held responsible for my actions.’
She smiled. For as much as he’d made her shake in her shoes when she’d first met him, he made her feel safe too.
The class instructor finally called them together to get started. Rielle introduced Darien as an observer, and the two men did the posturing thing while they shook hands. Ray had a shaved head and tattoos on his neck, and preferred to go by Stingray, but he knew a tough guy when he saw one.
Darien took a place on the sidelines and watched over everyone as they began to spar. Rielle felt him keeping a close eye on her, but her opponent wasn’t as advanced as she was. She blocked a punch with her forearm and came in with a knee strike. She pulled back on the attack as they were instructed to do, but her kneecap still connected pretty solidly with the guy’s thigh. He winced in pain.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
He rolled his eyes. ‘Like I can’t take a girl.’
Darien chuckled, but frowned when he saw something he didn’t like with another pair of trainees. He held back for a few moments, but, when he saw Ray working with someone over in the corner, he stepped in.
He showed the student why he needed to keep his arms inside his opponent’s in a clinch and had him try again. Ray’s eyes narrowed when he saw what was happening.
‘Does your boyfriend know some Muay Thai?’ he asked.
Rielle blew her hair out of her face. ‘He knows all of it.’
Ray’s eyes lit up. Instead of being territorial, he saw an opportunity. Soon he had Darien in the main ring with him, and the two were giving a showcase on how to do the most damage to one another.
Rielle watched the two fighters in awe. They moved so fast and had so much power. Every move had a countermove, and the battle was as much about strategy as anything. Muay Thai was known as the Art of Eight Limbs, since it used hands, elbows, knees and feet as weapons. Forearms and shins were employed as armour in the close-combat sport, and the fittest survived. It was all about finding weaknesses and defending your own.
As far as she could tell, Darien didn’t have any weaknesses. He was stripped down to shorts and boxing shoes. The overhead gym lights showed the dampness in his hair and the sweat on his body. He called her Beautiful, but he was the one who was gorgeous. His body was ripped, but it hadn’t gotten that way pumping iron or running on a treadmill. She thought of the kinds of training he’d endured in Special Forces.
What kind of physical conditioning did his secret unit do now that kept his muscles rippled and lean?
‘That your new guy?’ one of her classmates asked.
‘Yes.’ She didn’t even think about qualifying that answer.
‘He treat you OK?’
Her lips curled up in a soft smile. ‘Yes.’
‘Thank God.’ Her friend ran a hand along his shaggy Mohawk. ‘It would take all of us to bring him down.’
The seminar took pretty much the entire class, but nobody cared about not getting as much of their usual hand-to-hand time. They’d learned more about how the combat style was actually supposed to work in that session than they did fumbling through themselves. Most nodded at Darien or gave him a fist bump as they headed out the door.
He took a breather in the ring. Leaning over the top rope, he drank deeply from the water bottle Rielle brought him. He was sweaty and tired and sexy as all in his get-out.
His eyes narrowed on her. ‘Ready for your turn?’
‘You want me to get up there with you?’
‘I promised you I’d teach you that clinch move.’
‘Go get him, Rielle.’ Her buddy with the Mohawk slapped her on the tush, and Darien growled.
Ray just laughed at his cheeky student. ‘You’d better get out of here now before he hands you your ass.’
Rielle felt excitement rise inside her. She’d started learning Muay Thai because she wanted to be able to protect herself. She hadn’t known she’d love it.
She wasn’t a violent person. Aggression wasn’t something she needed to work out, unlike some of the others who came here. She liked the fast action and the mental side of the sport, not to mention how strong it made her feel. An hour here would leave all those hot yoga types on the floor, panting for air.
She climbed the steps, and Darien spread the ropes so she could step into the ring. The lights above were more concentrated here, highlighting the main show. She cinched up her ponytail and met him in the centre when he gestured for her to come over.
He stood over her, looking big and male.
She wanted to climb him like a tree.
He brushed his finger down the bridge of her nose. ‘You’re good,’ he told her quietly.
She scrunched her nose when he made it tickle. ‘Not as good as some of the others.’
‘You’re instinctual. I used my size to subdue you at the Tidal Basin when you pounced on me.’
‘Sorry about that.’
‘Don’t be. You were protecting yourself. You need to protect that instinct just as closely.’
She nodded. That was one of the things she’d learned from her experience with Eddie. She’d never felt the spark of attraction or even that much interest in him. He’d even made her warning senses tingle, but her friend had encouraged her to go out with him. She’d never been a big partier, and he’d seemed quiet and low-key. She’d caved in to the pressure and had gone on a date with him to be nice.
Never again.
‘You don’t have size,’ Darien said, ‘but you have other strengths. You need to use them more.’
‘Like what?’
‘Your quickness and your looks.’
She was quick to respond to that, all right. Temper flared within her. Of all the chauvinistic things to say…‘What do my looks have to do with anything?’ she snapped.
He held up his hands defensively. ‘People don’t expect women to be tough, especially when they’re as feminine as you. They’ll underestimate you.’
She eyed him warily. Well, that much was true. She saw it in some of the bigwigs who came in the office every day.
‘Use that to your advantage,’ he said.
‘Like playing dead?’
‘Exactly.’ He moved around behind her and settled his hands on her arms. ‘Lull them and then explode into action.’
He guided her into a snap punch. ‘Use your quickness. Once you commit, follow through.’
He tugged affectionately on her ponytail. ‘If you do, you’ll do significant damage.’
Rielle looked down at her hands. They were wrapped to protect her knuckles. She’d given up on long fingernails a while ago. ‘I want to damage Eddie,’ she said quietly. ‘Is that bad?’
Darien moved back in front of her and lifted her chin. His blue eyes were stormy. ‘You’re asking the wrong guy, because I want to hurt him too. People tend to forgive too easily these days, if you ask me.’
She agreed. The rage burning in her gut had been there for a long time. She’d tried suppressing it and moving on, but she hadn’t been able to. Now, after seeing those pictures of a moment that should have been private, it was burning brighter than ever. He hadn’t only threatened her this time, he’d threatened Damien.
Darien clapped his hands and became all business. ‘OK, take your stance. Come at me like you did at the Basin, and I’ll show you what I did.’
He coached her through her moves. He was a good teacher, who focused on the basics. He taught her how to place her feet and use her whole body when going on the offensive. Best of all, he taught her how to fight dirty.
They worked through the move and then went on to another style of attack. And then another.
‘Rielle, I’ve got to go,’ Ray called. He’d straightened up the place and had watched the two of them, taking teaching pointers for himself, but time had passed by. ‘You guys can stick around longer, if
you lock up when you leave.’
Rielle looked at Darien.
‘I’ve just got a few more things, and that will be plenty for tonight. We’ll make sure the place is secure.’
‘Sounds good. Nice to meet you.’ Ray left, and they were alone in the big empty gym.
‘OK, again.’ Darien stepped back with one foot and balanced his weight on the balls of his feet.
Rielle punched and tried to follow it up quickly with an elbow strike on the way back. He counteracted her easily.
‘Do you think the detective will be able to get fingerprints off those pictures?’ she asked. The day had been a whirlwind of questions, procedure and instructions. When Sienna and Nina had come in, they’d had to go through it all again.
‘If whoever sent them touched them.’
She dropped her hands. ‘He’d have to touch…Oh, gloves.’
Darien caught her wrists and lifted her hands back up to where they should be. ‘Concentrate.’
She was. She was concentrating on what she’d seen at the bar. She’d looked over the crowd in the direction from which the pictures had been taken. ‘I looked for him.’ She tried the move again. ‘How could I have missed him?’
‘The place was busy.’
‘But you were looking for someone too. Did you find her?’ Rielle’s chin lifted. ‘Oops, sorry.’
She wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. ‘How do you pick someone out in a crowd like that? What do you look for?’
He came at her fast, and she wasn’t ready.
‘Pay attention,’ he ordered again. He had her wrapped up in another unbreakable hold from behind.
‘I’m trying.’
His hold gentled. ‘Maybe that’s enough for tonight.’
‘No, I can do it.’ She had too much energy buzzing inside her to stop. She wanted to hit something. Or, more precisely, someone. ‘One more time.’
‘You’re over-tired.’
She wiggled in his grip, trying to break the hold. ‘If you’re not tired, I’m not.’
‘Oh, I’m tired.’ He pulled his foot out of the way when she tried to stomp on it. ‘Your buddy Stingray is no slouch.’
She fought harder. He was hot behind her, and his body was wrapped around hers like a cocoon.
‘Uh, Rielle,’ he warned.
She was so tired of the world pressing in on her. She wanted this mess over now. She wanted Eddie caught.
‘How long will it take for the police to get those fingerprints?’ she asked. ‘How long for a match?’
‘Morgan will put a rush on it.’ Darien’s voice sounded tight.
‘What if it’s not Eddie?’ She struggled until she was panting. That would explain why she hadn’t seen him. ‘What if it’s someone from Luxxor? What if it’s someone from here?’
‘I don’t think it is. I was watching them.’
‘But what if it is?’
‘Beauty, relax. We’ll deal with it.’
‘I want it dealt with now!’
‘All right.’ He grunted when her hips ground against him. ‘If you say so.’
She gasped when he pushed his hand down the front of her shorts. She suddenly became aware of the erection bumping into the small of her back, and the way his hold on her had changed. His arms were just as strong, but his body wasn’t defensive any more. His voice was gruff when he whispered in her ear. ‘Let’s go, and we’ll deal with it all you want.’
At once, all the frenetic energy inside her shifted and attained new focus. Her body was warm and her muscles were loose. They’d been grappling, their bodies bumping and rubbing. She arched when he ground the ball of his hand against her pelvic bone. ‘Ahhh!’
‘Good, we’re in agreement.’ He began to turn her loose, but she slid a hand down to cover his and hold it right where it was.
‘No, here,’ she said.
He went still. ‘Are you sure?’
She looked around the dimmed, empty gym. The only lights Ray had left on were over the ring. Unused equipment sat idle, waiting for the next day. It was such a physical place. So primal. She reached back and caught him by the back of the neck.
She was suddenly so turned on, she could barely stand it. She ground against his hand and felt her nipples pinch. ‘Yes. Now.’
He could move quickly when he wanted to. From the way he took her to the canvas, he wanted to badly.
Rielle shifted her hips, trying to help as he shoved down her shorts and panties. His hand bumped against her bottom as he dealt with his own. He bent her forward onto all fours, and there was no foreplay as he came over her from behind and entered her with one hard thrust.
‘Darien!’ she cried. Her belly squeezed and her neck arched back. He felt huge this way. The invasion was heavy and full, and she creamed harder around him.
He spread his hand wide on her belly and tilted her hips up towards him. There was something sexy about the way his wrapped hands felt on her.
‘Ohhhh,’ she moaned as he began to thrust.
Her fingers dug into the canvas flooring beneath her. He had her covered. His knees spread hers wider, and the friction of his thighs against hers was hot. His chest was pressed against her back, a heavy weight, as he held her down. Her breasts juddered in time with his heavy thrusts until he worked a hand under her athletic bra and cupped one possessively.
‘My shorts,’ she said. They were stretched wide but binding her thighs, pulling them together.
‘Next time you’ll have to wear something else.’ He pushed them down, but they only cinched at her knees, creating an even tighter fit. He nipped at her shoulder. ‘Like ugly grey sweatpants.’
Rielle began rocking back and forth. She could hardly bear it, but she wanted more. ‘I can move in these.’
‘I know.’ He reared up behind her. ‘Everyone knows.’
His hands clapped onto her hips, and she let out a pleasure-filled cry as he began to fuck her hard. Who needed foreplay? The past hour and a half had been full of strenuous physical exertion. Bodies confronting bodies. Aggression meeting resistance.
She wasn’t resisting now.
The ropes in front of her bounced up and down as her body shuddered. She squeezed her eyes shut, but that only intensified the feel of his big cock stroking hot and fast.
Her ponytail dropped forward and it swayed in time with his hard rhythm as he rode her.
It was too much. Too raw, too intense. Under the spotlight. Out in the middle of the gym where she’d learned how to fight – not make love.
She let out a cry of completion as she came.
‘Fuck,’ Darien cursed. He bent over her again, riding her higher, and it emphasised how much bigger he was than her. He was pumping deep inside her in short, little jerks. The constant slapping of their bodies sounded loud in the echoing chamber of the gym. His hips suddenly bucked, bumping her forward on her knees. He did it again and, finally, came.
So did she. Again.
Rielle squeezed her eyes shut until the light-headedness passed. Darien rested upon her heavily. She loved it, but she dropped down onto her elbows when her arms quivered.
‘Sorry,’ he murmured. He braced his hand beside her. There was sweat on the canvas, the kind a trainer would wipe down before the fighters went at it again.
She dropped her head and tried to catch her breath. She didn’t have the energy to go at it again. She didn’t know how she’d make it home as it was.
Darien caressed her hip. ‘Feel better?’
She swallowed and tried to find her voice. ‘Better.’
‘Me too.’ He let out a wearied groan.
He patted her bottom possessively as he pulled out of her. Even limp, his cock made her nerve endings fire. He got dressed and pulled her shorts up over her. She eased back onto her haunches and his arms came around her in a hug.
‘We’ll be ready when the time comes,’ he promised. ‘We’ll hit him hard and fast. Both of us. Together.’
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning they managed to sleep in. The Muay Thai and hot sex had finally won out over the worry and stress. That, plus the fact that they’d found another safe place to stay, had given them both the security to rest and regroup. Darien stretched as he headed for the kitchen, but he checked each room as he passed. The new apartment was more homey and comfortable than the safe house, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still on high alert.
He snapped to even greater attention when he turned into the kitchen, but for a very different reason. Rielle was bent over the oven. Her hockey jersey was riding high, and the backs of her legs looked long and sleek. He cleared his throat. ‘That looks good.’
‘Doesn’t it?’ She pushed whatever she was baking back onto its rack and closed the oven door. ‘Erin left us a breakfast casserole.’
She tossed the pot holders onto the counter, but blushed when she caught him staring at her legs. ‘Darien.’
She tugged the jersey down, but that just stretched it tighter over her breasts.
He grinned. ‘The food looks good, too.’
He caught her by the waist and reeled her in. Her hands settled on his chest as he gave her a good-morning kiss. ‘You didn’t tell your friend why we’re here, did you?’
‘Sienna knows, but Erin thinks that my apartment is being painted.’ Rielle’s big brown eyes clouded over. ‘I hate lying to her. We could trust her. She’s the best secret-keeper I know.’
‘The fewer people the better.’ They could have gone to his place, but his one-bedroom apartment wasn’t much fancier than the safe house. Taking her out of the city might have been best, but it simply wasn’t an option – not with him in the middle of a mission. ‘Are you sure we aren’t inconveniencing them?’
‘They’re both practically living with their boyfriends anyway. They’ve been looking for somebody to sublet the place until they can get out of their lease.’
The apartment wasn’t as secure as the safe house. There was only one way in and out of the building and no alleys to speak of. The windows latched securely, though, and the door had a deadbolt. Best of all, there was no connection to either of them.
Courting Danger Page 19
