Page 129 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

She shrugs. "You’ll heal."

I growl deeply, letting her hear my Alpha, and the sound makes her expression shift. The anger stays, but the blush on her cheeks intensifies and heat moves through the bond.

She tries for my knee next, kicking low and hard, but I step inside the arc of her leg before she can build power and catch her around the waist. I haul her against me, and as her body hits mine, her breath puffs against my throat.

The room narrows to the sound of our breathing, the drag of her boots on the mat, and the low hum of the old lights overhead.

Her scent wraps around me, lavender threaded with irritation and arousal, and my cock hardens in response. I roll my hips against her belly, letting her feel what she's doing to me.

Her pupils widen, and her mouth parts.

Her hand slides between us as if she’s feeling the muscles of my chest as she so often does in the nest, and then the heel of her palm snaps upward into my nose.

"Ah, fuck!" I shout, briefly choked by the spurt of blood dripping from my broken nose. I grunt, more surprised than in pain, and release her so I can snap my nose back into place before it heals on a crooked angle.

Halley slips free with a triumphant laugh that goes straight to my cock.

She dances on the balls of her feet, jumping side-to-side. She hasn't bound her breasts the way she usually does before a sparring match, and she must know how it makes them bounce alluringly.

"You're getting distracted, LT," she says in a sing-song voice.

"And you're fighting dirty." I spit out a mouthful of blood and wipe my face on my sleeve. Why is it so hot when she's violent? Fuck, there really must be a screw loose in my skull.

"I was taught to take advantage of Alphas underestimating me."

"You had smart teachers."

Her impish grin softens. "The best."

Then, before I can react to her sweet sentiment, she launches another attack.

She feints left, but her weight shifts onto her standing leg, and I see the right kick coming before she throws it. I let her shin hit my ribs, then trap the leg against my side with my forearm hooked under her knee.

I step closer as I reel in her leg, taking away her balance before she can hop back, and pull her against my chest with her thigh hitched over my hip.

She yelps as she falls into me, and my arm pins her against my chest.

I roll my hips again and chuckle as she gasps.

"Got you."

For a moment she looks dazed as I hold her tight against me, letting her feel my throbbing length and know that I've caught her.

Then she gets a wicked glint in her eye. Her fingers twist in my shirt, and she yanks me down.

She kisses me hard, messy, and full of all the frustration she's kept locked inside her for days. I give it back to her tenfold, catching her lower lip between my teeth until she makes a sweet, whimpering sound that makes pre-come spill from my cock.

Then she drops her weight without warning, making my grip on her leg slip lower. Before I can adjust, she twists her knee free, plants one palm against my sternum, hooks her ankle behind mine, and shoves.

It’s one of Shade’s balance tricks, and is irritatingly effective. She doesn't try to overpower me; she uses my size against me.

I could stop the fall, but I don't.

My back hits the mat.

Halley lands on top of me with a victorious gasp, straddling my hips. Her hair has started coming loose around her face, and her cheeks are flushed from effort.

She looks down at me with pure satisfaction.