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Gazing up into those sparkling eyes, I grinned even wider. "Nice. But what if we change it up?"
Intrigue peeked through the sheer joy in her eyes. "How so?"
"May I?" I didn't resist her pinning me, but I also didn't urge her to move. The feel of her taut body pressed up against mine was far too enjoyable to rush this along. Regret filtered through me as I realized that I would actually have to fight back and try to resist her pull.
Alas, what I would do for this beauty.
"Please," she murmured. "Should I..."
"No, no," I assured her. She had control over one of my arms, the other was folded uncomfortably behind me. I needed to wiggle it free, but to get out of the arm lock, I'd need to break the leg lock. "This is fine."
"Alright." She studied me, her expression patient. I flexed upward, thrusting with my hips not to dislodge her but to get her to adjust her grip or she would lose her balance. It worked, only instead of just freeing my arm so I could slide upward and then roll her onto her back and pinning her, I found myself flipped, with my arm pinned once again and my face smashed to the mat.
"Huh." The grunt escaped me.
Vienna laughed. With a gentle care, she let go of me and rolled back to her feet before holding her hand out. She wasn't even sweating. I clasped her hand and let her help me up as I studied her.
"You're good." I had zero trouble admitting to my admiration. She was more than good. She was fucking amazing.
"Thank you." She gave an almost modest little bow. "I train."
"I was going to hold back because I wasn't sure what you knew."
"Oh, Merrick," she said with a bit of a tsk in her voice. "Do your worst."
I'd trained on and off for years. Another way to try and discipline my rather unorthodox and undisciplined need to attach myself to others. The style she used was a form of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It was perfect for someone her size. Only it forced her to get in close, which meant if she could get them, they could get her.
"Turn away from me," I added a hint of a request to my tone rather than an order. With a nod, she pivoted and faced the other way. The entire wall of mirrors would negate some of the element of surprise, but then, I wasn't really trying to hurt her.
This time, I rushed her. She sidestepped as my arms closed over hers, and slid down a dead weight. Half-expecting that reaction, I braced my legs and kept my knees loose so she didn't pull me down with her. I got one of her arms in a lock, but she turned into a damn rubber band, bouncing up and using my grip on her as a fulcrum.
I hit the mat. We started over. This time, I used my reach against her, but she never failed to twist, arch, climb, or tumble down and get loose. While I was sweating, her skin had barely been glistening. I wrenched one of her arms back, careful as hell but keeping my grip firm, I refused to let her break this hold. She stepped back into me which made me lower my hand and then, I was airborne.
When I landed flat on my back this time, it knocked all the wind out of me. Gazing down at me, Vienna smiled again without an ounce of arrogance. "Ready to do it my way now?"
No one that fragile should be this good. But she was breathtaking in every way.
"Only if you promise to teach me." I might be pushing my luck, but she knew how to do things I hadn't even realized were possible.
Triumph filled her expression as I accepted her hand. "Deal."
7
Vienna
Ipretended like I couldn’t see Merrick watching me from the front window as I drove away. If I acknowledged it, I might have caved and let him come to at least one appointment.
But no, this was safer. He was safer here. And if he thought anything about being asked to stay inside while I was gone, he never made a peep.
No, instead he used those ice blue puppy dog eyes to coerce a promise to text him when I made it to an appointment and when I left. He’d actually asked to link our phones, but my very obvious balk at the request had him backpedaling.
This was slightly hypocritical of me, given I’d switched his phone the first night he’d been sleeping here so his was no longer traceable. I also had access to his location via GPS tracker. Mine just wasn’t enabled for him. Merrick made it too easy to swap out, using a basic model with few apps and a generic background. The only thing he would ever question was the missing contact numbers. Having contact with his old life was an absolute hard no at this point. For his safety and mine.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t confiscated it before we got to my house, but I had been operating outside of the norm.
Having chastised myself, I now thought three steps ahead when it came to Merrick. Which was damn hard, when he had no idea I was even doing anything out of my usual routine in the first place. Maybe this was why Daddy told me never to form any attachments. There was too much room for error, too many opportunities for your associate to blow everything to pieces.
Forcing my thoughts away from Merrick and back on my agenda for the day, I steadied my breathing as I left the old subdivision. All the while, I scanned the trees, houses and road, to make sure there was absolutely zero threat to my current haven. I say current, because we’d acquired quite a few of these properties around the US.
