For Her Protection(4)

His lips twitched and his voice lowered to a rumble. “I’m more than prepared to satisfy all your needs. But are you prepared to give me what I want if I win?”

Heat progressed down her cheeks to her neck. God willing she wasn’t as red as she felt.

Only if it involves the facedown, ass-up scenario.

Her pussy throbbed. She’d lost it. Must have just let herself get a little too wound up. Her libido was getting confused with everything going on and the fact that the caveman was hot. She didn’t want to jump him anywhere near as much as she felt like she did. Yep that makes perfect sense. “What is it you want?”

“Not much, just an apology. First to me then to the two meatheads out there.”

An apology? He looked at her like that and all he wanted was an apology? He’d have more chance with the ass-up bit.

“Of course if you think you’ll lose…”

“I won’t lose.” She held his gaze. Sure he’d be able to pin her down eventually but no way would she let him do it in three seconds. She could run, she’d played her share of dodgeball. She could evade. “Assuming I get an advantage?”

“What kind of advantage.”

Charlize stepped back. “I’m thinking six feet. It’s only fair since you’re not trying to sneakily catch me off guard and all.”

He flashed his neat row of teeth again and pressed buttons on his watch. “Six feet it is. Three seconds on the stopwatch.”

She took her remaining steps back.

He glanced up. “Now to be clear…three seconds and you go facedown on that mat.”

“I understand—if you can get me there.” She flashed him her own set of pearly whites. “I’ll countdown from three then your three seconds begin.”

He nodded and she put one foot back, ready to spin and run. “Three.” All she had to do was outrun him for three seconds. “Two.” Her muscles poised. “One.” She spun off her back foot. Her other foot didn’t reach the ground before a solid resistance slammed into her from behind.

She hit the mat facedown, fall broken by the lift of her arms over her head. Her knees pressed into the mat, her bottom pressed into the air as a weight descended on her, sinking between her knees. His hips rested behind hers. He held her wrists in the vise of his fingers.

A beep filled the empty studio.

“You yield?”

Warm breath brushed against her ear, shivering its way down to the throbbing pulse of her pussy.

She was pinned—immobile—helpless. Yet the urge to flee never turned up. Instead her hips flexed backward, seeking the hot weight behind her—trying to grind against something that might ease the ache in her core, the mounting pressure that needed something to uncork it so she could finally explode out of the bottle she’d been stuffed inside for too long.

“No.”

He groaned behind her. His hips met the grind of hers. A large rock-hard erection pressed through fabric to brush against the crease of her backside. She swallowed a soft moan.

“Shit, kitten, I’m starting to think this was your plan all along.”

Her hips bucked and his fingers tightened on her wrists.

“Connor, what the fuck are you doing?”

The voice broke through the single-minded, heat-seeking agenda of her body. He jumped off her, rolling to his feet smoothly. Charlize glanced up and a different, less pleasant kind of heat burned its way over her face. Her cousin Alicia strode into the room, coming to a stop beside them and crossing her toned arms over her chest.

“Charlize?” Alicia stood above her, brows twisted in a look of complete what-the-fuckery. “What the hell is going on?”

Connor glanced down at Charlize then took her by the elbow and eased her to standing. He cleared his throat. “Just giving her a private lesson.”

Alicia’s gaze flicked between the two of them. “Yeah it sure looked private.” She settled her attention back on Connor. “But you didn’t have the studio booked for a private lesson and you have women lined up outside ready to begin their class.”

Connor flashed Alicia a smile. Not the kind he’d given her, but one that lit up his face and made her insides quiver. For an instant she felt the urge to act like a possessive three-year-old and push her cousin—whom she adored—over on her rear end.

This day was getting worse by the second.

“It was one maneuver. I thought we’d have time. You can let the ladies in, I’m ready.” He ran his fingers from Charlize’s elbow to her fingers and pressed his lips to the top of her hand with an infuriating wink.

She snatched her hand away.

“I guess I’ll take that apology next time?”