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"I don't want to hit you," she mutters, lifting her gaze to mine.
"Why not?"
"Because you matter." Her earnest green eyes make my heart pulse. "Because…because it's cruel, Kaiden. You aren't even trying to defend yourself."
"Princess." I bite back an amused smile. She's so goddamn cute when she's upset on my behalf. It's been a long time since anyone felt that way about me. Shit, I can't even remember the last time it happened. "You aren't going to hurt me."
"I might."
"I can't teach you how to redirect a punch if you won't throw one."
"I did!"
"No, you poked your arm in my general direction."
She scowls at me.
"You hit like a girl, Laura."
"Is that supposed to offend me?"
"I don't know. Is it working?"
"Maybe."
I smile.
She huffs and throws an actual punch, allowing me to redirect her arm at a forty-five-degree angle. I do it carefully, fully aware that I'm about three times her size and could easily hurt her. That's the last thing I want to do. But she wants to learn what I can teach her, and I won't tell her no. Fuck that. Even if she never uses it for a movie, she can use it to defend herself, and that's reason enough to teach her.
"Whoa," she whispers, blinking wide eyes at me. "Do that again."
"But you don't want to hit me," I remind her.
She shoots me a dirty look, making me chuckle.
"Aim right here." I tap my jaw.
She throws the punch, aiming exactly where I pointed. It's cute as hell. She concentrates hard, her brows furrowed and the tip of her tongue peeking from between her lips. I don't think she's ever thrown a punch a day in her life. When she tries, she puts force behind it, though. I deflect it again, pushing her fist away at an angle.
"See what I did?" I ask and then guide her through the steps, showing her how to do the same thing. I reach toward her several times, allowing her to redirect my hand in the same manner.
"Throw a punch," she says, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Uh, fuck no."
"Come on. I can deflect it."
"I'm not fucking throwing a punch at you, princess," I growl, glaring at her. She's lost her damn mind if she thinks that's gonna happen. Hell will literally freeze over first. "We'll practice like this."
"You're no fun."
"This isn't supposed to be fun."
"It was fun when you were pinning me to the mat."
My dick throbs at the reminder. I grab her around the waist, dragging her into my arms to kiss the smirk from her face. She laughs against my lips, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I don't pin her to the mat. This time, I pin her to the wall, prying her arms from around my neck to hold them hostage above her head.
She moans, grinding against my erection.
"You don't know how to behave, do you?" I growl, kissing a trail down her throat.
"You love the way I behave," she gasps.
I bury my face in her cleavage, breathing her in. Trying not to fuck her against the wall even though that's exactly what I want to do. I have no restraint around her. As soon as I get my hands on her, nothing else registers. Nothing else matters. She consumes every thought in my head, turns me into a snarling, greedy beast who only wants to fuck and feast and then do it again.
Somehow, I manage to ease off before we get carried away. I press a kiss to her heart and then press my face to her throat, simply holding her. She runs her fingers through my hair, scraping her nails against my scalp.
"This is nice," she whispers after a moment.
"Shit. I'm smothering you."
"No." She tightens her legs around me, trying to keep me where I am when I go to pull back. "Don't move yet. I like when you hold me."
"Good. I like holding you."
"Yeah?" I hear the smile in her voice. "I've never been held before."
I hold her tighter, wrapping her up in the safety of my arms. She'll never be held by anyone else if I have a say. Only by me. Christ, how did she become something so precious, so vital, so quickly? I don't know, but she did. She swept into my life and stole every goddamn piece of my heart.
"Never held anyone before," I murmur against her skin.
"Really? You never dated?"
"Nope."
"Not even before…?"
"I wasn't a saint," I say. "I went on a few dates and did a few things I'm not proud of. But I was never in a relationship."
"Oh," she whispers, her nails still scraping through my hair. "For the record, I never asked for a saint, Kaiden. I'll take a sexy former stuntman any day."
I snort. "The only sexy one here is you."
