Six Signs of Submission (Desire Island 6)

Lainey cast him a sidelong glance, a grin on her face. “I’m sensing some kind of trap here.”

Cooper lifted his hands, palms up. “What?” he said with as much innocence as he could muster. “It’s a no-brainer for you, right? I mean, since you’re going to kick my ass.”

She laughed. “Right. Yeah, okay.” She jumped up from the towel and smoothed her short dress down over her shapely thighs. “You’re on. Let’s do this thing.”

Chapter 5

While Cooper went upstairs to his room to change, Lainey entered the small staff locker room just off the aerobics room. Opening her locker, she pulled out her duffel bag. She quickly stripped off her dress and demi bra and folded them into one of the side pockets, along with her high heels.

She pulled out the spare set of workout clothes she always kept on hand—a sports bra, Lycra tank top and leggings—and pulled them on. She left her feet bare.

Ah, that was better. She wasn’t really a dress-up kind of girl—the dress and heels had been Abbie’s idea.

She was still disconcerted by the interaction with Cooper in the dungeon. A lingering sense of thrilled wonderment had settled over her like a gossamer web. Yet, at the same time, she’d felt off balance. Her usual self-confidence had been shaken, not so much by what he’d done, but by her reaction to it.

It was completely unlike her to let a guy touch her so intimately after having known him only a few hours. And yet, while it had been happening, she had been so caught up in the moment that it hadn’t even occurred to her to protest.

In retrospect, she couldn’t quite believe she’d allowed herself to be so vulnerable with a man. Though she’d been helpless and exposed, she hadn’t been afraid—at least not of Cooper. No—she had trusted him completely. Which was really weird, when she thought about it, since Lainey rarely trusted any man right away. She’d had too many encounters with pricks who thought no meant maybe and maybe meant absolutely.

Perhaps it was the blindfold and the restraints that had allowed her to let go so quickly and completely. She’d been shocked—even outraged—when he’d smacked her between the legs with his hard palm. But the freaky thing was that, though it really did hurt, the sensation had shifted almost immediately into this dark, buttery warmth that was nearly orgasmic in nature.

Yes, she definitely wanted to continue to explore the concept of erotic pain. But the whole submission thing?

“Don’t count on it, buddy,” she muttered aloud. No one told Lainey Miller what to do, no matter the context.

Bringing along her travel duffel, she returned to the aerobics room. Setting down her bag near the door, she opened the storage closet and pulled out a couple of mats. As she was arranging them on the floor, Cooper appeared at the door. He’d changed into a black T-shirt that stretched over his wide shoulders and hung loosely at his narrow waist, along with a pair of red workout shorts and flip-flops. He really was very easy on the eyes.

“Ready for a little submission grappling?” he asked with a sardonic grin as he slipped off his shoes.

“You betcha,” she replied, grinning back. Was it a coincidence that wrestling and Jiu Jitsu used the term submission? Submission grappling was a general term used in martial arts. Its primary focus was on clinch and ground fighting, forcing the opponent to submit, or give up. Lainey, who routinely beat bigger, stronger opponents with her grappling skills, looked forward to shifting the balance of power between them back in her direction.

They did some stretching and cardio warm-up exercises for a few minutes to get loose. “Ready?” she queried. She was slightly out of breath, her muscles pleasantly warm and tingling.

“Let’s do it.”

They started in classic stance, moving slowly around one another, staying light on their feet. They engaged in some hand fighting as they jockeyed for position. Lainey felt energized and alert, despite a very long day.

He was definitely out of her weight class, but she had the advantage of agility and flexibility. She also had the secret advantage that her male opponents tended to routinely underestimate her. She’d spent her whole life fighting boys who were bigger and stronger—and winning more often than not.

She bided her time, looking for an opening. Then it happened—he made his move, lunging suddenly for her. She easily sidestepped him and caught him in a sweep. Anchoring herself, she locked her leg around his and used her hip to get him off balance.

He went down, grunting at impact.

Elated, Lainey dropped down, quickly assessing her next move. It was important to get down the timing and leverage before he had a chance to recover. If she did things correctly, she’d have him beat in three minutes.