RILEY

She was good. Better than I thought she’d be. Her instincts were sharp, her movements practiced and precise, and soon, despite what she was wearing, despite the hard-on I’d been rocking at the beginning, I got into the exercise of it. Matching her movements, blocking her kicks and hits, pushing her and challenging her, while doing the same for myself.

She was shorter, smaller, but that made her quicker and sleeker, able to twist out of the way more easily when I came at her. And watching the determination on her face, the concentrated look in her eyes, was hot as hell. She took this seriously, as seriously as anything, and that was damn sexy.

As if I needed another thing to find attractive about her.

That heat between us was unmistakable. Despite the years we’d been apart, despite all the shit piled up between us now, there was still chemistry. And I’d have to be blind not to see it in Evie’s eyes when she looked at me, too.

Breathing heavily, she stepped back and brushed the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail back from her face, ending that sequence. She walked over and grabbed her water, then downed it before setting the empty glass back on the counter. With her hands planted on her hips, she stood and stared at me.

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye as I followed her lead and went to get some water, guzzling it in a few swallows, then filling the glass again. Before I drank that one, I asked, “What?”

If I’d thought she’d had steely determination in her eyes before, it had nothing on what I saw there now. She rolled her shoulders back, jutted her chin up. “I want you to show me how to get out of that hold. The one you had me in at my house.”

I paused with the glass halfway to my mouth, assessing her, then gave a slow nod. Trapping her like I’d done, besting her in less than sixty seconds, was something that would eat away at her. She’d always thrived on being in charge, and being forced into a submissive position like that would piss her off.

I downed the water, then set the glass on the counter before walking over to her. Crossing my arms against my chest, I stared down at her. “You want to go over it from the beginning?”

When she nodded, I spun her around and didn’t give her warning before I went at her the same way I had in her house. We replayed everything, exactly the way it’d happened. Her walking away, me grabbing her arm, and the ensuing struggle. And every time, just like at her house, I had her pressed up against the wall in under a minute.

This time, though, we had the heat of unmistakable chemistry bubbling between us instead of just the fear I knew Evie had been consumed with that night. Feeling her against me every time I pinned her, the curve of her ass pressed against the dick I was barely managing to keep at half-mast from sheer will alone, wasn’t helping the situation. Neither was the fire in Evie’s eyes every time she got bested. Seeing her hatred of being dominated made me want to do exactly that, but with far less clothing between us. And seeing her determination every time she spat “Again” didn’t douse the fire. She was sexy as hell like this, all worked up and frustrated, slick with sweat and smelling like pure, undiluted Evie.

I wanted to pin her like this, shove down those tiny fucking shorts, and see if she was slick everywhere.

Giving her a wide berth to get into position, I couldn’t help taunting her. “You gonna get out of it this time?”

“Shut up and start.” She spun around, turning away from me and presenting me with her back. Her hands hung loosely at her sides, but I could see the tension in her shoulders.

Stepping up right behind her, I leaned in close, the dampness of her shoulders brushing against my chest as I pressed my lips to her ear. “You’re all bark and no bite, baby. You think you can boss the bad guys around until they walk away?”

“Fuck off and—”

I cut off her rant by grabbing her arm, just like I had every other time before. And just like every other time, she spun and came at me with a kick—one I easily dodged—and then I had her on the defensive instead of on the offensive like she needed to be. She was too busy blocking my movements, not worrying about me herding her toward the wall.

And as much as I loved sparring with her like this, getting out the sexual frustration I’d felt since I’d seen her again in the only way I could, I wanted her to be able to do this on her own. “Think, Evie. How can you get out of this? Use my strength against me.”

She didn’t acknowledge me, just continued to respond to my strikes with more of her own. But soon, the wall was inching closer and closer, and she didn’t have anywhere else to go. With one hand, I gripped one of her wrists and pulled her arm around, spinning her to face the wall as I captured her other wrist and held them both easily in one hand while I pressed her into the wall with the force of my body.

“Goddammit!” She was red faced and breathing hard, her body trapped between mine and the brick wall. Her arms had been in a slightly different position each time I’d pinned her, as she tried different things on me. Stretched over her head. Flush against her sides. With how I had her now, both wrists encased in one of my hands and pressed into the base of her spine, it forced her to arch her back. My other arm lay flush between her breasts, my hand wrapped around her neck, tight enough to make her think twice about allowing herself to be put in this position but not hard enough to hurt. Her breathing was harsh, the rise and fall of her chest pronounced, the position she was in doing nothing to hide it.

And I couldn’t bring myself to look away.

“Let me go.” Her voice was hard, her words low and controlled.

I pressed against her a little harder, pushing her limits, doing exactly what I knew I shouldn’t. And when her hands twitched in my grasp, the side of her palm brushing lightly against my ever-growing cock, I cursed under my breath and let up, allowing her to push free.

I blew out a breath and walked in a circle, needing to get myself under control. If I was going to help her get out of this, truly help her figure this out, I needed to get my goddamn dick under control.

She paced in the open space, her jaw clenched. Frustration bled into her voice when she snapped, “Why the hell can’t I get this?”

“Because you’re thinking too much.”

She turned to me, her face bright red, her eyes hard. “Knowing what moves I need to make is the only way I’m going to get out of this.”

I was shaking my head before she’d even finished. “No. Knowing the right moves helps you, but sometimes you have to go with what feels right. You have to break the rules and do something you think might not work. Sometimes you have to take a gamble. See what happens if you let me get a little closer before you go on the defensive.” I stepped closer to her, ready to try again, forcing myself to ignore the labored rise and fall of her breasts, the sheen of sweat over her shoulders trailing down her chest into the shadow of cleavage at the top of her tank. Forcing myself to ignore everything but helping her figure this out, despite what my dick wanted. “If you’re gonna gamble, at least gamble with me. You know I’m not going to hurt you. You know you’re safe with me.”

EVIE

His words shot straight to my heart, sparking it in a way it hadn’t been for so long. Every word made me crave him even more than I already did.

Made me crave him a hundred times more than I ever should’ve.

And with the need … the want currently coursing through my body, it was a bad combination. Bad, but one I didn’t want to stop. After blocking off my emotions for so long, it was a rush to actually feel again.

“Ready?” he asked, his voice pitched low.

I nodded, looking up into his eyes, and then he reached toward me, gripping my shoulders and spinning me around again, repeating the same movements as every other time. Even though we’d done this nearly a dozen times, it didn’t stop the bolt of awareness I felt at his hands on me. That heavy warmth that settled low in my belly when his large hands cradled nearly every inch of my shoulders within his grasp. His strength was apparent in the grip he had on me … as was his restraint. I wasn’t unaware of the fact that if he wanted to, he could have me pressed against any surface in this apartment in fifteen seconds flat. And that pissed me off, making me want to fight that much harder.