Harold Collins didn’t have any social media presence. I scrolled through all the images with that name, and other people showed up, but none looked like him. Then I typed his name into the dark web search engine, and new images splashed onto the screen.
My eyes landed on an image of a group of men fishing in Maine. I enlarged the image to study the five men. Though the picture wasn’t clear, I couldn’t stop staring at a man who looked like a younger Harold Collins.
Recognition cleared the fog. “Holy shit.”
Chapter Nineteen
Eva
Working out at Kain’s gym for the past few days recharged my body. I was sore, but in a good way that allowed me to sleep better and boosted my energy levels.
“Your reflexes are better today.” Kain studied me, making me feel hot all over.
But this wasn’t the heat caused by working out. This was the powerful liquid heat making me want to jump him and strip off his athletic clothing to see what lay beneath.
I shouldn’t have glanced down at his pants.Big mistake. My cheeks bloomed from the obvious bulge making its presence known.
“Shouldn’t you concentrate on something else?” I flicked my gaze back up to him.
As if proud of himself, he squared his shoulders, standing straighter and making his erection even more prominent.
“You’re my student.” His voice came out with a rumble I felt in my core. “So my focus is only on you.”
A gentleman would be considerate of my embarrassment, but not Kain. In this room where there were only two of us, he took pride in showing me his desire.
“That’s not very gentlemanly,” I said, turning my attention to the sandbag and giving it a forceful punch.
“Right now I don’t feel very gentlemanly, Eva.” Kain stepped up behind me and placed his powerful hands on my shoulders, massaging. Tingles blossomed at his touch. “You have no idea the things I want to do to you.” His warm breath caressed my ear, making me shiver. “And gentlemanly isn’t the appropriate adjective.”
I swallowed as provocative images filled my vision. What did he have in mind? My mouth grew dry, and I licked my lips, wanting to touch him. The sexual tension thrummed against the walls and the equipment, practically radiating from the two of us.
Overwhelmed by need, I couldn’t speak. But I also knew this wasn’t the place to act on my desire. The wall of mirrors in front of us showed his facial expression, but he turned me around, studying me.
“Then what is the appropriate word?” I murmured.
A wicked smirk lifted his lips. “Provocative and very inappropriate.”
The intensity in his eyes pierced through me, adding more pressure to the heat pooling between my thighs. I’d never experienced desire this powerful. It was as though the wild version of me took the stage, pushing aside the good girl Eva.
With darkened eyes, Kain swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. But then he broke the trance and stepped back, waving his fingers. “Show me your moves.”
“What?” I asked, coming back from an arouseddaze.
I’d been so focused on the chemistry between us that his comment completely threw me. Or rather, I thought he was asking to see what moves I wanted to do to him. I could kill him right now for leaving me aroused and confused.
“Let’s practice what you’ve learned.” He bounced on his feet. “We need to release some tension.”
Oh.This was his answer to our problem. At least someone was thinking clearly.
“I’ll be the enemy,” Kain said. “Dodge my attack, okay?”
“Okay.”
He punched left, and I shifted right. He threw his arm to the right, and I dodged left. We continued this practice for a few minutes until my body shifted naturally. The next practice consisted of him kicking toward me and me ducking his attack. The fake sparring was more fun than I would have thought.
“Now it’s your turn to attack me.” A gleam sparked in his eyes.
“Okay.” I smiled and punched to the left, but he dodged quickly.
