Even as I said it, I regretted it. It was true, but it hurt the baby Omega inside me that desperately wanted the opposite.
Andrew inhaled sharply, like I’d slapped him, but he recovered quickly. “You’re right. But that doesn’t mean we don’t… care about you.”
Gabriel stepped in and slipped his hand into the crook of my elbow. “We should go for your lesson. We can speak rationally without all these Alpha pheromones.”
The gym was just down the hallway and reserved for use by the twelve apartments on the top floor. There were two treadmills, an elliptical, and a set of weights in the main room, and a small room off to the side with mirrored walls that was probably meant for yoga. That’s where he was teaching me the basics of Krav Maga.
Gabriel pulled the blue gymnastics mat we’d used before from the side of the room and spread it in the middle of the floor.
“Do you remember your stance?” he asked, standing in front of me.
I spread my feet shoulder-distance, scooted my right foot back, and bent my knees slightly. I raised my hands, elbows pointed down. Gabriel gently lifted my elbows until my hands framed my face.
“Shoulders down,” he said, and I tried to bring them away from my ears. “Better. I will push your arms; you try to keep them steady.”
He pushed on my arms, first slowly, then more quickly, and I fought to keep my stance. Pride rushed through me as I withstood his pressure.
“Good,” he said with a grin. “You have a strong core.”
“Pilates,” I said, smiling back. I was already breathing heavily, though. Who knew standing still could exert so much energy?
“We will practice kicks,” he said. “For you, aim for the weak points. The groin is the best. And it is better to use your knee than your foot.”
“I’m not kneeing you in the groin,” I said, horrified.
Gabriel laughed. “Do not worry. We will just practice the position.” He stood in front of me. “If a man comes at you from the front, push off your back foot and drive your knee into him, as hard as you can.” He nodded at me. I raised an eyebrow, then slowly raised my knee until it was level with his groin.
“Si. Remember this height, and hit my hands,” he said. “Come, carrissima, you will not hurt me.”
I got back into my stance, then jabbed my knee forward into Gabriel’s hands. “Like that?”
“Harder,” he encouraged.
I tried again, and he absorbed the blow with his hands.
“No. You are holding back. Harder, as if you mean it,” he said.
My next strike was at full strength, and Gabriel grunted on impact. “Yes, Bridget. Very good,” he praised, and my mind conjured up the way he’d murmured “good girl” in my ear as Andrew’s fingers worked me into the hardest orgasm of my life. I shut that thought down as quickly as possible.
“Why shouldn’t I use my foot?” I asked, trying to bring my focus back to the present.
“I will show you. Kick out at me,” he said.
I complied, and he grabbed my foot. I was immediately off balance, but Gabriel didn’t let me fall. He held my leg steady. “See? I can control you now; put you on the ground. That is the last place you want to be.”
“Right. So no feet,” I said with a nod.
We practiced my knees a few more times until I was fully confident with the motion.
“Now, we do it from behind,” he said. My face burned bright red at the unintentional innuendo, and Gabriel grinned at me. “Dirty mind. Focus, carissima.”
“Sorry,” I said.
“If a man grabs you from behind, you will fight like hell to break his grip,” he said. “May I?”
“Sure.” Suddenly he wrapped himself around me, his arms enclosing mine and pinning them to my chest. He was shorter than Andrew and Nathan, more compact, but he radiated strength. I tried not to, but the posture was so similar to the other night that I couldn’t help remembering that last time his arms were around me. Was he remembering it too? Of course he wasn’t.
“You try to break free,” he said in my ear. His breath against my hair made my whole body shiver.
