Frostbitten (Otherworld 10)

"Still tired from yesterday?" he said. "I could go easier on you."

I sprang up and we went a few rounds, throwing punches and kicks. Only a few connected, but not for lack of trying. We didn't "go easy" on each other, just avoided blows that would do serious damage. Bruises, though, we'd have. I didn't care. It's not like I'd be walking around Anchorage in shorts and a tank top.

Finally I had him pinned with his arms over his head, my knee on one thigh, keeping him down.

"Give up?" I asked.

He grinned. "Depends on the forfeit."

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

I bent to the base of his throat and tasted it, hot and slick with sweat. He shivered. I grazed my teeth over his skin.

"You admit I beat you," I murmured between nibbles. "And we'll adjourn to the showers."

"Beat me is a little strong. You briefly got the upper hand. I'll admit to that."

"Nuh-uh. Beat you."

"Temporarily bested." He jerked his hands free.

I caught and pinned them again. "Beat." I tickled my tongue up to his ear, making him shiver again. "If you care to contest it, we could go a few more rounds." I leaned into him, rubbing against him. "Postpone the showers. Hope no one else shows up in the meantime."

He closed his eyes, hips lifting to grind into mine. When I pulled back, he growled deep in his throat and opened one eye.

"So to get sex, I need to concede defeat?" he said.

"Yep. Nasty and totally unfair, I know. But..." I slid my hand to his belly, tickling under his shirt. "Since I do seem to have the position of control..."

"Temporarily."

My hand slid under his waistband. "Ceding a fight is tough, I know." I wrapped my fingers around him and gave one firm stroke. His eyelids fluttered and he growled again, then he reared up, throwing me off. I tried to scrabble out of reach, but he grabbed my leg, yanking me facedown to the mat, then flipping me onto my back and pinning me.

"That's better," he said. "No need to choose when I can have it both ways."

I struggled, but he had the advantage of weight and strength.

He grinned.

"Like that, do you?" I said. "Well, there's one flaw in your plan. Unless you can get me into that change-room by force, the shower is out."

"No need to go at all, is there?" He glanced at the door, then pushed my shirt up over my stomach and tweaked my waistband. "Haven't seen anyone in almost an hour. And I'm nothing if not quick."

"You wouldn't dare."

A teeth-flashing smile. "Is that a challenge, darling?"

"No, it absolutely is not." I squirmed, but even with just one hand holding my wrists, he had me pinned better than I'd had him with two.

He pushed my T-shirt up my rib cage, stopping just below my breasts, then sliding his hand under, tweaking my nipples hard enough to make me gasp... and momentarily forget that I was opposed to this idea.

When I remembered to protest, he cut me off with a kiss. We broke off fast when footsteps sounded in the hall. They headed the other way.

"Going to the business center," Clay murmured. "No one's coming in here, so there's no reason I can't just..." He slid my sweatpants down over one hip and hooked a finger through my panties, giving a tug.

I tried to squirm away. "Don't you dare."