The other voices reminded me I was a terrible brother, and that Bennet would never forgive me. I wasn’t good enough for Emily Archer. Everyone knew it, and no one knew it better than Bennet. I’d be lucky if he ever spoke to me again after he knew I wanted to get her pregnant with my kid. If he knew how I wanted to tie her to me so she could never leave, he’d probably kill me.
“Hey,” Emily spoke behind me, and I saw her reflected in the mirror, standing by the bottom of the stairs, watching me pull myself up and down on the functional training equipment. I dropped to the ground and turned, my eyes skating over her outfit and screeching to a stop.
“Jesus fucking Christ, kid, are you trying to kill me?”
“Kid? I’ve not heard that one in a while.” She grinned at me.
“Yeah, well, the other one is a little obvious, isn’t it?” I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to release the tension that coiled in my belly at the sight of Emily’s body clad in figure-hugging black lycra, complete with mesh inserts and strategic rips.
“You don’t like my outfit?” she asked, twirling around. She was fucking with me, and I wanted to put her across my knee and teach her to do it more.
“You looked like you’ve been ravaged by wolves,” I muttered.
She laughed, throwing her head back. Her ponytail swung, looking perfectly grabbable. “Who says I haven’t? It certainly feels like I was… again and again.”
I held up a hand to her and looked up at the ceiling. “Knock that off, or I swear, your brother will find out about us by walking in here and finding me balls deep in you right here on this mat. We have to train,” I said, trying to get a grip.
Emily sighed. “But the former sounds so much more fun.”
“Later. For now, please go stand against the wall.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, clearly intrigued. I crowded her against it and brought my hands to her throat. Her pulse fluttered beneath my fingers.
“One of the biggest vulnerability a woman has in a one-to-one fight with a man is soft, small places, like the neck, and the fact that a man will be stronger.”
“Are you telling me to lift weights?” she teased, tilting her head back and leaning into my light choking position.
“It won’t make a difference. I could bullshit you it would, but I want you to be safe more than I care about making you happy. Got it?” A thrill of darkness went through Emily’s eyes. I was pushing her on purpose. I knew she was competitive as hell and there was no one she liked to compete against more than me. I needed her to pay attention and learn to protect herself.
“I can get out of this,” she ground out.
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Go ahead, then. Surprise me.”
She frowned, looking hurt for a split second, before she attempted to bring her knee up between my legs. I’d expected the move and blocked it quickly.
I tightened my grip slightly around her neck and stepped in. “Now I’m mad and expecting it,” I told her. She narrowed her eyes at me.
“What can you do that I won’t expect?”
She suddenly went limp, and I’ll admit, it surprised me. She dropped, and I let go. Next, I felt her kick at my legs. Fighting a grin, I jumped away from her little feat, spun around, and landed on her, only just keeping my entire weight off her. She wormed away, and I let her go a little, before grabbing her from behind. Securing my legs around her hips from behind and pinning her legs, I locked my arms around her neck.
“That only worked because I didn’t want to hurt you. It wouldn’t work on someone who didn’t care,” I told her. She wiggled her ass against my hips and sent my concentration skittering away. Fuck, I was about to get far too distracted holding her like this.
“So you say,” she said and slipped her hand back, tucking it between our bodies. She stroked my hard-on, then.
“How about this? Would this work as a distraction?” she asked, her voice sweet and teasing.
I groaned against her hair as she slid her palm up and down me.
“Do this to another man, and you won’t have to worry about getting away from him. I’ll kill him.”
“Hm, big talk.” Emily had wriggled herself so tightly against me now. I stiffened even further when I felt her hand leave me, just to roll her stretch pants down. I looked down to see she had no panties on. She’d planned this. The thought destroyed any self-restraint I’d had left. My hand fell to my cock, and I freed it, pressing between her legs as soon as I could line her up. I was still spooning her from behind, and now, I grabbed her leg that she was holding up to let me in and held it for her as I slid home. Fuck, she was wet. I wondered wildly if that wetness had anything to do with me coming inside her earlier. The thought nearly made me frenzied as I rocked into her. Christ, what if someone came down here? What if Bennet did?
“They already left for Benji’s school thing,” Emily panted, rolling her lithe hips against me. “Everyone’s out. I already locked up.”
“Is that right?” Desire and relief surged through me as I pulled her to me and rolled us so she was prone before me, spread out against the black mat. The new angle slid me even deeper, and I bit back a curse as I looked down and saw myself disappearing into her tight hole. I parted her cheeks and watched with fascination as her pliable, beautiful body took me. I brought a hand down on the plump, rounded mound of her behind. “And you knew that, came down here and teased me, without letting me in on that little bit of pertinent information?”
She laughed and wriggled her ass, raising her hips so I sank even deeper. “Yeah, I did. What are you going to do about it?”