“Fuck.” Justice ran his fingers through his hair and stared at Vin. “When the hell did you become the guru of relationships?”
Vin chuckled and then raised his knuckles and blew over his fingernails in a pompous manner. “Some of us just have it, and others don’t.”
Justice shook his head.
* * * *
He waited, watching the illegal deliveries go in and out of the warehouse. It was hard to concentrate on the players when all he kept thinking about was her. She came as such a surprise to him, yet she had seemed to be right in front of him for far too long. The moments they shared he cherished. Ties when he couldn’t resist so he touched her with thoughts of that moment when they would be one.
The sight of her long brown hair, the sweet smile, and the way her body attracted so many. It pissed him off, made him want to extend his list and end this madness.
He pulled the daisy from the fresh bouquet of flowers. He pressed it under his nose and inhaled then smiled as he thought of her. His desire to have her, make love to her, was overpowering. He needed another. Someone who could satisfy the urge building so deeply in his groin and in his heart.
He looked down at the iPad and watched the surveillance video. He needed to do something, and get to her, make her see that he was the right man and no other. Who was that man walking her out of her office last night? His heart hammered inside his chest. Hadn’t she learned yet, that he was the only one for her?
He looked back at the daisy and began to pull the white petals from the lovely flower.
“She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me…”
* * * *
Ellie tried to make excuses to get out of going to the self-defense class since Moira went the night before, but her roommates wouldn’t have it. Even Unc called and told her to go and that he wanted to hear all about what she learned tomorrow at lunch.
As she entered the training room, she saw a lot of women heading toward one room with some guys dressed in matching black T-shirts. To the left she saw Mace and Hunter. They were talking to a few women with three other men.
Hunter saw her first and waved, then Mace. They waved her over as the other three men walked with the three women to the center of the mat.
“So glad you made it,” Mace said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Hunter kissed her next, and her nerves about whether they would be upset with her disappeared. Now she felt like some lustful woman who had the hots for her two instructors. This could be disastrous.
“Are you ready to learn some basics?” Hunter asked her.
“I guess so. Just take it easy on me. The only workouts I’m used to are jogging and some kickboxing classes.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows up at her. “We can incorporate that into some moves, no problem. Come on. We’re going to use the other room. These mats are being used by the regulars.”
As she followed them into the other room, their size and their extra large bodies became her mind’s and her eyes’ focus. Considering that most of the time they had spent together she was wearing high-heeled shoes, right now both men towered over her and she was worried about how intimidating it felt.
As they started talking with her, setting up some scenarios she thought she could handle, that bit of anxiety and fear started to bubble in her gut.
“Okay, first of all we need to see instinctually what you would do and how you would react in a series of different situations. That being said, don’t think of it as friendly and that you know us. Pretend you don’t know us. We’re strangers, and you need to protect yourself. Got it?” Hunter asked, and she looked at both of them.
“You’re both not going to attack, are you?” she asked. Mace stood back with his arms crossed in front of that sexy big chest of his. The muscles in his upper arms were stretching the material making it roll up slightly. They both had rock-hard abs. She could tell because she was so close to them.
“We’re going to simulate an attack to see your response. Okay, let’s go over the first scenario.” Mace had her focus on him as Hunter did something behind her. Mace told her what to do and that she was walking from her office to her car at night, and the parking lot lights were dim.
As she began to walk, she sensed someone behind her, and when she turned to look, there was Hunter wearing a hoodie, he grabbed her from behind and she automatically used her elbow to thrust into his gut and then turned out of his arms.
“Very good. Perfect. You immediately retaliated, you got out of his hold, but the only thing you didn’t do was scream for help and then take off. You need to draw attention to yourself. Get out of his hold, scream, and run,” Mace stated.
She felt her throat clogging up, and she tried to push bad memories out of her head. This was practice, a way to prepare to defend herself if someone went after her. Would Paul come after me again? Could I stop him from hurting me, taking what he wanted, raping me?
They went over a few other
scenarios, and each time she used a move she knew or one they taught her. Every time Hunter or Mace showed her the steps to the moves where they had to press their bodies against her and show her step-by-step, it was difficult to follow. Somehow she did and she started to feel comfortable with them.
“Okay, now we’re going to try something different. A little bit scarier,” Mace stated.
“Like what?” she asked, looking to each of them, and then Hunter walked over toward a basket and pulled something out.