She tossed her hair back and grinned. "Talk is cheap, McDaniels. You got something to show me that I didn't see in your tapes, let's see it."
The pulse in her neck was beating so hard I could see it, and although I'd barely moved a muscle, I could feel mine ramping up in time.
This girl was nothing but a pain in my ass, but some twisted part of me must have liked trouble, because she got my juices flowing.
I stepped back and eyed her, considering. If I said no, she was going to keep badgering me. If I said yes, she could actually get hurt no matter how easy I went on her. I outweighed her by a solid eighty pounds, and even a misplaced punch coming from her end could wind up causing her injury.
She took the decision out of my hands when she came at me, full bore, with a lightning combination. Two quick jabs that skimmed my jaw and an uppercut that I was pretty sure would have actually hurt if she connected clean.
Instinctively, I fell back into my stance and faded the next two shots and then leveled a quick cross her way, tapping her chin in warning. She blinked in surprise, and then a saucy grin stretched her lips.
"I like," she murmured before taking the offensive again, skipping across the floor in a flurry of open-handed blows.
Despite my best effort, a solid half of them landed and I grunted as the last one found its mark, straight to my diaphragm.
"Nice," I admitted, realizing right then that this was no YMCA-level training. She was clearly a serious martial artist. Tae kwon do, from what I could tell, and fuck if that didn't send both my respect and my dick on the rise.
A chick who could fight? Hot. So fucking hot, and now all I could think about was wrestling with her in the sheets. Knowing she could take whatever I had to give and more and then turn around and serve it right back.
Her chest was heaving as we circled one another, cheeks flushed, hair a wild tangle around her shoulders, and it was hard not to stare.
"I'm impressed," I said, voice gritty from all the carnal thoughts roiling around in my head.
"You should be," she responded, dipping in for another quick jab to my side before feinting back again.
She was so quick, so light on her feet, it was like watching a ballet dancer.
A ballet dancer who was intent on bringing the pain.
"But I want you to impress me. If I'm going to go to gyms and meet with guys and sell you, I want to know what I'm selling, Matty. Come on, surely that's not all you've got."
I don't know if it was the challenge in her eyes or the fact that, for some reason, I didn't want to let her down, but it finally got to me. I shook off the last of my hesitance and faced her like the worthy opponent she was.
We sparred for a full five minutes, and with every passing second, I realized more and more exactly how skilled she was. I let a few chances to end it pass because I wanted to see what else she could do, but when she attempted a crescent kick, I used her momentum to lay her flat, going down with her to cushion the fall.
"Now I'm impressed," she said, her voice breathy as she stared up at me.
"You hurt?" I asked. The words were terse and sounded choked, but fuck if I could help it. Her breasts were crushed against my chest and I could feel her stiff nipples through the cotton of my T-shirt. My cock had never been so hard and I was running on what few brain cells hadn't spontaneously combusted out of sheer lust.
She shifted beneath me and shook her head. "I'm okay. You?"
Was I? I went for brutal honesty, too far gone in my lusty stupor to do anything else. "Nope."
"Did you twist something?"
I shook my head and took her hand in mine, dragging it between us until she cupped my dick.
She wet her lips and I followed the path of her tongue with my eyes.
This was bad.
Real bad. This girl was Mickey's protégé, and that meant she was as much my enemy as Mickey himself, didn’t it?
But what was that old saying? Keep your friends close…
"We don’t like each other much, do we?" she asked, her eyes locked on my mouth, her hand closing tighter over my cock, melting every thought in my head.
"Not much, no," I admitted. But that was a lie. In another place, at another time, I would have liked her a lot. I would have liked her all night long, and halfway into the morning if she let me.
But like or not, the longer we stayed in that position, the more I had to wonder if she’d let me…
Kayla
This shouldn't be happening.
That thought played over and over in my head even as one hand squeezed his massive erection and the other clutched at his back, holding him closer to me.
He’d just admitted he didn’t like me. It should’ve been easy to walk away, but for some reason, that made it harder.
"You want this, Red?" he muttered, his breath coming harsh and fast in my ear. "If you want it, it's yours. If not, you need to give me some fucking space."