She limps a step back, then takes a fighting stance once more.
Paula moves forward, swiping Aurora’s feet from under her.
You can do it!
She grabs Paula’s leg and yanks her to the floor, then twists her body and locks Paula in a chokehold.
That’s my girl.
Paula struggles, delivering punches to Aurora’s right knee, but my woman stays strong until Paula taps out. “Yield.”
I want to sweep Aurora up in my arms and tell her how fucking proud I am, but instead, I have to watch as she struggles to her feet.
Abbie rushes to her, and wrapping an arm around her, she helps Aurora over to the side of the class.
“You can do better, Miss Almeida,” Instructor Nikolai says, then he barks at Abbie, “Get your ass over here, Miss Sartori.”
I walk toward Aurora, and as I pass Abbie, she mutters under her breath, “Dickhead. Asshole. Bastard. Ugh, I hate him.”
I suppress the chuckle, then crouch in front of Aurora to look at her ankle and knee. “How’s the pain?”
“Bearable?”
I glance up at her. “Get an icepack on your ankle.” I rise to my full height, then whisper, “I’ll check on you after class.”
“Okay.” She glances at Instructor Nikolai, who’s too busy torturing Abbie to notice as Aurora limps out of the room.
Walking to the back of the class, I gather the equipment and put everything in its place.
When the allotted time is up, I’m out of the room like a flash of lightning, running to Aurora’s suite.
I knock on the door, and the instant it opens, I dart inside and sweep my woman into my arms. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
“I have a good trainer,” she chuckles.
I move her over to the couch and wait for her to sit down. Crouching in front of her, I take a closer look at her ankle. “It’s going to hurt for a couple of days. Next time use the inside of your foot.”
“That’s what I was going for,” she sighs. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”
Getting up, I lean over her and press a kiss to her mouth. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
“I’m injured,” she pouts. “I need another kiss.”
Chuckling, I sit down beside her and pull her onto my lap.
“Yeah, is that the prize you want for winning the fight?”
Aurora frames my face. “Yes.”
We spend close to thirty minutes making out like teenagers, and it has me forgetting where I am.
Fuck, I hope Viktor won’t lose his shit when I tell him I’ve fallen in love with the enemy.
Chapter 25
Aurora
With every passing day, Misha grows tenser. He hasn’t snuck into my room since our make-out session.