Vic pursed her lips, as if she wanted to throw some sass in my direction but knew that I had a good point.
“Well, let’s do it again. But you have to let me know what you’re going to do! Otherwise, how the hell am I supposed to learn?”
“Fair enough. I’m going to come at you again. But this time, I’ll come in from the right like I said I would.”
“You’d better.”
I laughed, squaring myself up for another attack. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
I moved. True to my word this time, I came in from the right. However, I hadn’t been expecting her to actually stop me. To my surprise, she jumped back with quick grace and clamped her hands down on my shoulders. With a hard shove, she pushed me backward by a few feet. I came to a stop, spinning on the balls of my feet and facing her.
“See?” she asked with a proud smile. “Got you.”
“You got me because I let you get me.”
“Sure, sure. Hm, maybe I ought to let the rest of the guys know that I got the better of you? Maybe they’ll let me be on the team instead of you.”
I laughed, Vic joining me. “Let’s not get too big for our britches. Now, come on, repetition forms muscle memory. Let’s do this a few more times.”
We went to it, repeating the exercise time and time again. It wasn’t long before we both had a good sweat going, our hearts pounding from the exertion. I put my hands on her body over and over, and the effect she had on me never wore off. Her body, her scent, her everything drove me wild.
“Good,” I said after we’d done enough for my liking. “Now, let’s try some grapples.”
“Grapples?”
“That’s right. You watch enough movies, and you might get the impression that fights are like old-time boxing matches or something similar.” I raised my fists in an exaggerated style. “Lots of punch trading and such. But fights in the real world aren’t like that. They’re messier, more frantic. The way they usually work is that one person closes the distance, grabs the other, and brings them to the ground. If you’re in a fight and the opponent manages this, the fight’s good as over. So, what you want is to make sure that you’re the one on top.”
She grinned. “Nothing wrong with being on top.” Vic’s eyes flashed as she realized the accidental innuendo she’d just offered.
“We’ll see about that.” The mere suggestion of anything sexual was enough to push me into an animalistic state of mind feeling as if I could hardly control myself around her. “Now, let me show you what I mean.”
I closed the distance between the two of us, stepping behind her and wrapping my arms around hers from the back. She struggled, but it did her no good—I had her right where I wanted her.
“See what I mean? It’s all about control and leverage. If I’ve got you like this, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”
I let her go and she turned around. To my surprise, she wasted no time jabbing her fist forward, trying to get in a hit.
It was fast, surprisingly so, but I was still able to pivot to the right, grabbing her arm and putting her in a lock.
“Damnit!” The frustration didn’t last long. A determined expression formed on her face, and she made a move, putting her leg behind mine and trying to sweep.
I hadn’t been expecting that, so my leg became tangled in hers and we both went toppling down, slamming onto the mat in a mess of legs and arms. When the world stopped spinning, I looked down to see that I was right on top of her, Vic’s legs spread open underneath me.
Her chest rose and fell, her breasts pressing against my chest, her nipples hard. She looked up at me with wide blue eyes, as if not sure what to say or do next.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Just trying to use the element of surprise. It worked, huh?”
“It worked to get me to pin you,” I said. “Not sure if that was what you were going for.”
“Maybe it was.”
The words had to have slipped out of her mouth, judging by the surprise on her face that followed them.
Didn’t matter. Hearing her say that she’d had the same thing on her mind as I did during the match was enough to make me lose control.