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I mean, I have no room to talk, but dammit it’s hard to punish a guy who gets off on pain.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Little Shadow.” His voice is husky, but I’m not falling for his shit today. We all need to train so we don’t jump down each other's throats. Should Alexi have consulted us before he killed the guy, yes. I’ll definitely be discussing that with him later. I just knew that if I let them figure it out, it would lead to hours of non-productive fighting. And we have some ladies to train. We can usethatto expel some of this restless energy.
I press my body into Damien’s as he stands up straight, intentionally pushing my very hard nipples into his chest. His pupils visibly dilate. “In that case,” I trail a finger down his abdomen, stopping just at the tip of his sweatpants that are hanging way too low on his waist at the moment to not temporarily distract me. I pause, then look him in the eye.
“Flirt with any girl in front of me again, and you won’t see me naked for a week.”
His jaw drops as I push back before he can touch me. “Now, boys, let’s show these girls how to take down a bunch of assholes.”
???
Four hours later, we are all dripping with sweat. I had no idea how badly out of shape I truly was until now. Nessa and Laney kept up surprisingly well, and after Damien cleaned off in the showers, he worked on footwork with them while Lev and I worked on balance. It is important when you are smaller than your target to learn how to use their weight against them.
I could see Nessa lingering at the end, and I felt like she needed to talk to me alone. I could try to meet up with her after a shower, but I have a feeling these men want to break in that new bed of ours. I have no idea when I would be getting away from them, so I opt to stay behind for some post-workout stretching and invite Nessa to hang.
Laney seems jealous of my single invitation, but when I give her a look, she understands and leaves after a very sweaty hug is exchanged. I knew they didn’t get along the best, but I could see a budding friendship coming to life.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to grasp these concepts in time,” Nessa finally speaks.
“What do you mean? You were doing great today.” I move into another stretch as we talk.
“My punch lacks any sort of bite to it. I’ve never been trained like you guys have. My father is old and traditional. He frowned upon women training with the men. The only time I was allowed to train at all was if I had a gun. I’m a great shot because of it and a decent sharpshooter, but I’ve never truly felt like I could handle my own in a fight. That wholly scares the bejaysus out of me with what we are about to do.”
Her shoulders sag, and I can tell she isn’t used to talking about her feelings. Hell, neither am I. But the way she seems to fold into herself feels like she was conditioned to feel bad for sharing her fears.
“Nessa,” I say, walking to sit in front of her so we are eye to eye. “If you don’t want to do this I understand. I have no doubt you could pull off an amazing scene in the arena with your shooting abilities. I won’t think less of you if you’re not ready for this.”
She shakes her head but refuses to look at me. “I chose you. I want this.”
I lift her head with my hand, helping her see the truth in my words. “You can still choose me and not fight. I never want to ask you to do something that pushes you too far. I’ve been asked to do that my whole life. If that’s how you’re feeling, I want you to know I have too much respect for you to ask you to do something you’re not ready for.”
“Really?” Her voice cracks, and my heart actually hurts for this girl. The brave and strong Irish princess has a heart underneath her cool exterior. I feel so fucking honored to get to see it.
“Really. But I still want to help you. Why don’t you show me the things you want to work on most, and I’ll see if we can come up with something to make you feel stronger.”
She grabs my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you.” She takes a deep breath. “The part that bothers me the most is how weak I feel when I throw a punch. I love learning the maneuvers to overpower them, but I want to know that when my hit lands, it means something.”
An idea sparks to my mind, and I grab her hand. “Come with me.”
I take us to the weapons facility, walking down the stairs to the equipment room we are allowed to purchase from and grab precisely what we need.
Matte black brass knuckles with a blade hidden in the handpiece and small black diamond studs encased in the front.
Nessa laughs. “Evie, no one uses these. They are ancient.”
“What makes you think no one uses them?” I question as I hand them to her.
“I’ve never seen them used.”
I shake my head at her. “When I developed the training program for women in The Shades, my first job was to figure out how to even the playing field with the men. I knew that no matter the amount of training it would be physically impossible to throw punches like half the guys we worked with. And I never wanted my team to feel weak.”
I help her slide them on, putting the one on her dominant hand with the blade facing out, the other hand with the blade facing in.
“I brought up the idea of these with Havoc. He tried to tell me it was cheating, but that's the thing, Ness. If we play fair, we lose. For me at least, being the one who walks away from the fight is all that matters. We are the women of the fucking underworld. We are powerful in our own right because we think outside the box. Men fight with just their bodies.”
“These–,” I point to the weapons she now wears around her fingers, “these show that you’re using your bodyandyour mind. There’s nothing more powerful than a woman who uses all the weapons at her disposal.”
I can see when she accepts my words, letting the teachings of her misogynistic father fall to the side.
