by Aurelia Skye
I guess I’d been in denial about the possibility, and it had been a willful denial that I had refused to even think about, let alone dwell on. Perhaps I’d taken too much reassurance from having my guns and proficiency when it came to marksmanship. It was a good idea to augment my skills, and as I approached the class, though it was a little early, I paused when I realized maybe it wouldn’t be all bad.
There was a single, shirtless occupant in the room, and he was a thing of beauty. He was stretching, displaying his lithe and toned form to best advantage even under the harsh fluorescent lights of the gym. I watched him for a moment, tentatively identifying his motions as either something related to meditation or tai chi. They didn’t seem to have the same force behind them that one would require for offensive or defensive martial arts.
He looked up abruptly, and our gazes locked. He had the most beautiful eyes. They were dark brown, but even from the distance between us, I could see a vivid green ring on the outsides. Surrounded by thick, dark lashes, along with beautifully structured cheekbones and an overall pleasing facial shape, he was enough to send my heart rate skyrocketing and make warmth spread through me.
I moved closer to him, taking in the dark hair that was so black it was tinged with what looked like blue in places from the lighting above us. I sent him a bright smile. “I’m here for martial arts lessons.”
He just frowned at me as he crossed his arms over his chest.
With a frown of my own, I tried again. “Are you the teacher?”
He grunted.
He was no less attractive than he had been, but his personality appeared to be lacking. With a frustrated sigh, I asked, “Do you know martial arts?”
He glared at me. “Of course I do, because I’m Chinese. All Chinese people know martial arts. Hell, all Asians know martial arts. We’re born with the knowledge, and we’re often fighting in our incubators.”
My mouth dropped open at the unprovoked attack. “I didn’t mean—”
Still in a huff, he moved past me, pausing only long enough to glare down at me. “And for the record, I’m also terrific at math.” Then he stalked off.
I stared at him as he went, my mouth still hanging open in shock surprise. Where had that come from, and what had I done to offend him? I hadn’t automatically assumed he knew martial arts just because he was Asian. It had been a logical assumption that he was the teacher since he was here early.
I shook my head, trying to push aside the encounter, as I sat on the mat and waited for the rest of the class to arrive.
A few minutes later, people started to trickle in, and I was soon surrounded by a small group, though I had no idea yet who was the instructor. My heart gave a little leap of excitement when Chris entered, and I gave him a big smile. He reciprocated before moving to the front of the class, making it obvious he was the teacher. I guess that shouldn’t have surprised me, because he had done a few action flicks that required choreographed fighting before he’d landed the role on the TV show that I had watched with perhaps a touch of fanatic devotion.
It didn’t take long to discover Chris was good at instructions, and he kept the class centered and focused. All except me, but I was having a hard time focusing because he assigned himself as my partner, which meant his hands were frequently on me. By the time class ended thirty minutes later, I was a sopping, shuddering mess just from his casual touches. I started to file out with the rest, intent on finding a few minutes of privacy to see to my suddenly urgent need to come, when he called my name. I froze before turning back to him as excitement surged through me and singed my nerve endings.
I forced myself to walk sedately toward him, standing in front of him as we waited for the others to leave. He made no move to speak until it was just the two of us. Chris followed the last student to the door, and I was somehow unsurprised when he locked it and pulled the blinds covering the window. With my heart thumping in my ears, I turned to face him as he approached.
“Since it’s obvious you’ve never done this before, I thought you could use some private instruction.”
For a moment, I almost blurted out that of course I had done it before, but sanity reasserted itself as I realized he was discussing fighting techniques, not sex. Instead, I nodded mutely as I watched him walk around me, his gaze assessing.
“You’re wearing the wrong clothes. Did anyone advise you?”
I shook my head, still rendered speechless.
“Your T-shirt’s too loose, and you shouldn’t be wearing skinny jeans. They’ll restrict your movement.”
I licked my lips, finally finding my voice as he stopped behind me. “I didn’t know I was going to be doing martial arts today when I dressed for the morning. I understand why jeans are a bad idea, but wouldn’t a loose T-shirt be better than a tight one?”
Abruptly, he grabbed the excess fabric behind me, jerking me against him in a rough way, but not in a fashion meant to hurt me.
“The problem with the excess fabric is it gives someone a way to grab hold of you. It’s the same thing with hair.” As he spoke, his other hand dove into my hair, pulling back a little less than gently to emphasize his point. “Wear it up from now on.”
I nodded, trying to sound annoyed rather than hopelessly turned on when I said, “You’re sure bossy.”
He spun me in his arms, clapping his tightly around me to keep me from moving. “I’m trying to teach you something to save your life.”
Once again, I nodded. “I understand. Are you always this dominant?” There was definitely a sensual note to my voice this time, but I hadn’t really made any effort to censor it out.
His eyes widened, and his lips twitched despite his expression remaining serious. “I can be. Strip.”
I took a step back in shock, not having expected things to escalate that quickly. I gave him a frown as I automatically crossed my arms over my chest. “Isn’t that kind of fast?”
He ignored the comment. “I want to show you some moves when you’re not restricted by those jeans or giving me an unfair advantage with the extra fabric. So strip.”
I shot an uncertain glance at the door and the covered window, reassuring myself that no one was likely to walk by and see me, or enter unexpectedly. As I hesitantly stripped off my shirt, I evaluated his expression, looking for a sign of something I couldn’t identify. I just needed something to tell me whether or not this was really for a workout, or if there was more to it.
I still wasn’t certain as I slid the pants down my legs and stepped out of them, taking an extra moment to fold my clothes neatly to buy some time. Once they were against the wall, I returned to him and stood there with bated breath. On the plus side, I was wearing matching panties and a bra, but unfortunately, they were the cheap chain store variety of plain white cotton. As his gaze skimmed over me, and his eyes widened when they reach the juncture of my thighs, I was certain the white cotton was practically translucent from evidence of how he aroused me.
He moved quickly, lifting me as he brought me down to the mat on my back. His body pinned mine, and I struggled futilely against him. “You could’ve given me some warning.”
He grinned at me. “Do you think an opponent will give you warning? You need to be on your toes and aware of what’s happening around you.”
“What makes you such an expert? Weren’t you an actor? “ It was a condescending question that I regretted uttering as soon as the words left my mouth. I was still off kilter from the way he’d taken me down, combined with confusion about just exactly what we were doing there.
His expression cooled slightly, but he didn’t let go of me or move away. “Six years of classes makes me qualified to give you some instructions. I occasionally did other things besides sit for makeup, waste hours onset memorizing my lines, and bang every chick who came my way.”
I hoped there was a lot of sarcasm in those words, because I didn’t like the idea of him banging any chick but me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you by implying that you couldn’t have the necessary
skills for survival.”
He nodded just once. “Now try to escape.”
I wriggled against him and tried to squirm free, but his body had me locked. When I tried to free my hands to push him away, he grasped them with one of his and held them above my head. I glared at him as I panted, feeling the exertion. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“Slide your foot between my thighs.”
I did as he instructed, feeling strange sliding my socked foot up the skin revealed by his short, tight shorts. “Now what?”
“Twist your ankle and force my thighs apart using your foot.” It took me three attempts to get it to work, and he walked me through it each time until I was finally able to force his thighs apart a few inches. “Now what?”
“If we were seriously sparring, now you’d bring up your other foot and kick me in the testicles as hard as you could. Don’t do that.”
I laughed at the serious admonition. “I have no plans to kick you in the testicles.”
“After you’ve kicked me then you would roll me off and free your hands. While I’m incapacitated, you’d do something to keep me that way before you run.”
I frowned. “Like what?”
“If you have the opening, kick your opponent in the head or something. Even better, if you have your gun, shoot them.”
That troubled me. “It doesn’t seem very fair to shoot someone who’s down.”
Chris cocked a brow at me. “Honey, if he has you down and has bad intentions, you have to be prepared to do whatever’s necessary to defend yourself. I guarantee you if the positions were reversed, he wouldn’t hesitate.”
“Or she,” I added.
He nodded. “Or she. The important thing to remember is when you’re in a situation like this, when it’s real, it could easily become life or death. If you have to choose, you’re obviously going to choose yourself, so you do what’s necessary to survive.”
I weighed his words for a moment, recognizing the wisdom in them. Fair or not, if I was fighting to survive, I’d do whatever was necessary to escape. At least I thought I would. I had so far, having killed five people, but circumstances had forced that. I still had qualms about being able to shoot someone who was lying incapacitated on the ground, but I understood his perspective on it.
“Are we done fighting?”
Slowly, his hand around my wrists unclamped, and he pulled away. “Yeah, we’re done.”
I’m not sure who was more surprised when I lunged forward and tackled him backward, pinning him underneath me. “Or maybe not.”
My victory was short-lived as he flipped us again so that I was underneath him. This time, there was no pretense of sparring. The hard length of his cock pressed between my thighs, and I wrapped them around his waist automatically. My hands gripped his back, nails lightly anchored into his skin as he lowered his head and brought his mouth to mine.
The kiss was hot and hungry, particularly on his side. I wanted him with every fiber of my being, but there was definitely a more intense edge to the way he kissed me. Our tongues and teeth clashed for a moment before we moved in sync, and our mouths blended harmoniously. His tongue swept into my mouth, and I sucked it lightly as I stroked the side of his tongue before nipping him lightly.
Chris growled low in his throat in response, and his hands framed my face as he held me still while his mouth ravished mine. It was frustrating not being able to move, but also strangely liberating, and I surrendered to the pace he set.
His hands moved lower, going to my bra to open it before his mouth fastened over one of my breasts, his tongue teasing the nipple as his hands moved lower, stripping my panties down to mid-thigh. I whimpered with need when his fingers sought out my slick flesh as he surged inside me.
Chris was aggressive, immediately finding my g-spot. His touch was rough and a little overwhelming, but exactly what I wanted. His mouth moved back and forth, alternating between my breasts as his fingers surged inside me, stimulating all my sensitive spots, though he carefully avoided my clit. It was when he finally yielded, running his thumb just lightly around the swollen nub, that I climaxed. A keening sound escaped me, and his mouth moved upward again to seal mine, holding in the sounds of pleasure as I jerked against his hand and writhed underneath him.
When I was finally silent, his mouth moved again. This time, he sought out the bend of my neck and sucked forcefully, surely leaving a hickey. It felt like a mark of possession, and I wasn’t certain whether I should enjoy the thought or be annoyed by it. At the moment, I had no brain power to decide as I focused solely on the pleasure still coursing through my body.
Chris angled me the right way, his mouth never leaving my neck as his back arched so he could settle properly between my thighs. A moment later, the head of his cock pressed into my opening, and he surged slowly inside.
It had been a while—a long while—since my last lover, and it took my body a moment to adapt to the sudden intrusion.
He lifted his head, his expression startled. “Are you a virgin?” He sounded appalled at the idea.
I gritted my teeth and managed to answer, temporarily conquering the myriad sensations washing over me. “No, it’s just been a long time.”
He seemed relieved as he partially withdrew and slid inside again, his motion smooth and steady, while designed to open me up to him as fully as possible. He clearly had good technique, and I tried to push back a surge of jealousy as I imagined the number of women he’d been with. None of that should matter, because it was before we’d ever met, but I was still jealous.
Once I was accustomed to his size, he was able to move freely inside me. Chris cupped my buttocks in his hands, pulling me tightly against him as he set a steady, rapid pace. He fucked me until I was almost in a state of complete oblivion. As I started to come again, I was only vaguely aware of him withdrawing, feeling it most keenly in the sudden emptiness inside me as my sheath contracted around nothing while my orgasm washed over me. A brief splash of warmth on my stomach heralded his own release, and I might have greyed out from the pleasure for a moment.
When I became fully aware again, I realized Chris must have left me for a moment to retrieve a towel. He was kneeling on the mat beside me now, wiping off my stomach with the white gym towel. I frowned at him, still trying to piece it all together.
“I wasn’t sure if you were taking birth control, and I didn’t have a condom.” His lips curved downward. “Not that pulling out worked the last time I tried it.” He must be referring to Erin’s pregnancy.
With sudden clarity, I appreciated his ability to think straight, because I’d been too lost in the throes of passion to even think about such things. “I started my pill today, so we just have to be careful for a week or two.”
He helped me sit up, using the cloth to clean between my legs for me before handing me my clothes. There was an air of brooding about him as he watched me dress, and I frowned at him when tension stretched between us. “What’s on your mind?” I finally asked, perhaps more forcefully than necessary.
He shrugged. “I guess I just realized I’m going to have to share you. I mean, I knew that going in, but it didn’t seem so bad until just now.”
“What changed?”
There was a bittersweet smile on his face. “The reality, I suppose. I don’t like the idea of sharing you with anyone else, or you having this experience with others. It’s something I’m going to have to get over, and quickly, but it’s definitely bothering me.”
I wasn’t sure how to reassure him, so all I did was reach for his hand. What could I say? I had come to the base on the agreement that I would try to share myself with more than one partner and attempt to balance out the gender inequality. After getting to know Collier somewhat, I was confident he would probably release me from that agreement if I went to him and told him I only wanted to be with Chris, but I hesitated.
Of course I wanted to be with Chris, or I never would have given myself to him just now. But I didn’t want to be wi
th just Chris, and I had to admit that to myself despite the way it made me squirm internally. I wanted Finn too, and there were other possibilities as well. I wanted to keep myself open to the idea of more than one partner, rather than settling back into my old ways, or going for the conventional choice of one man for the rest of my life.
He shrugged. “Like I said, I’ll get over it. It’s just going to require some adjustment. I’ve never really been the jealous type, but I don’t like the idea of sharing you.”
I could relate to that, and I smiled. “I don’t want to share you either.”
Chris snorted. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Alyssa is taken, and the few girls we have are all kids, so that’s not an issue at all.”
I frowned. “I don’t want to be your fallback choice, or be with you because you have a lack of options. If ten women suddenly appeared tomorrow, I still wouldn’t want to share you with any of them. I know that’s strange, and probably seems unfair, but the thought of you with anyone else makes me want to scratch her eyes out and tie you up and brand you as mine.”
He looked startled for a moment, but then he laughed. “I’m glad we got that out in the open. I don’t expect any other women to arrive at the armory, but if they do, I promise I’ll only have eyes for you.”
“Even if I’m with others too?”
He didn’t even hesitate as he nodded. “Absolutely. You can believe it or not, but I’ve never cheated on anyone in my life. Erin was my first serious relationship, but even the girls I was with for only for a few weeks got all my attention. A surprising number of them cheated on me whenever they had the chance, but I never reciprocated.”
I reached out to squeeze his hand a little harder. “I do believe you.” He could have been spinning a line, but I really believed his sincerity. It was reflected in his expression and the earnestness in his tone.
He let out a long sigh. “I hate to rush you, but I have another class in a few minutes, and I imagine you want to get dressed first.
I nodded as I got my feet, quickly scrambling into the clothing he had handed me a few moments before. “No offense, but I’m skipping the next class. I feel a little sore.”
