Know Me Well (Wishful 3)

“Start again. Slower, this time.”

Once again, she stepped back as she grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward, until that broad chest bumped into her back. And once again, she forgot what she was doing.

“Trade places,” he ordered.

So Riley grabbed him by the shoulder.

He hunched down a bit, so as not to leave her dangling. “You’ve got this first bit right.” His grip around her wrist was firm, but not bruising as he tugged her forward. “What you’re forgetting is to step back with this foot—” He shifted his lead leg behind her. “—grab this hand between both of yours and then duck and twist, bringing your opponent’s arm up.” He followed through, and Riley found herself bent forward, her arm at an awkward angle behind her back. “And at that point, you grab the collar and drag backward, to the ground. Or you can take out a knee, whatever works. From here, you have complete control over your opponent’s body.” With careful motions, he proved his point “Got it?”

Riley flushed. Stop thinking about his control over your body. “Yep.”

He made her go through it several times slowly, correcting small motions, until he was satisfied she had the technique down from both sides. Then he let her do it at speed. He ended up on his knees, a fact which left Riley feeling more than a little satisfied.

“Good job. Now let’s try a double shoulder grab.”

It came back quickly as Liam put her through the paces. He was a patient, thorough teacher. They progressed through basic releases, into some simple throws. He’d picked up some new tricks in the years since they’d last done this, and Riley enjoyed proving she was a quick study. Was there anything more satisfying than successfully tossing a Marine on his ass?

“Okay, so let’s say all that fails. Somebody gets you on the ground in a compromising position.”

At his direction, Riley laid back flat on the mat. He pinioned her arms above her head, pinning the rest of her with his weight against her hips. And oh, yeah, there was definitely something that would be more satisfying than tossing him on his ass.

Focus.

But his pupils had blown wide and his breath quickened against her chest as he stared down at her. It became rapidly apparent that she wasn’t the only one having a hard time concentrating. Her core muscles tightened, everything in her wanting to grind her hips against the erection now pressing between her thighs.

“Compromising position?” she prompted.

“Right. What are you going to do?” His voice was rough and low.

Struggling to think past the haze of lust, Riley considered her options. There was no getting her hands back from here. She had only one real alternative that she could see. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she squeezed him tighter against her center. Liam dropped his head and let out a strangled moan, and she took advantage of his distraction, shifting her hips and rolling until their position was reversed.

Now what? Was there an actual protocol for when your sparring partner was sporting a hard on? It probably wasn’t licking his throat and begging him to strip you down to get to know every sweaty inch better.

Liam yanked, and what leverage she had was lost. She collapsed on his chest with a whoosh. He rolled and then he was on top again, his breath hot against her throat.

Oh please, yes.

“Mistake number one. Never let somebody get this far.”

Riley blinked up at his shoulder. Okay, so he was sticking to instructor mode. They were not going to acknowledge what was going on in his pants.

“But if they do,” he continued, “you’re going to shrimp out of it.”

“I’m going to what now?”

He rolled off her, onto his own back, and Riley kept her eyes firmly on his chest as he demonstrated the technique. By the time they’d gone through the escape again, from every point at which she could stop an attacker, all the way to where they’d started, he’d managed to get himself under control. But he didn’t quite meet her eyes as he suggested they call it a day. It was a strange and fascinating thing to see Liam Montgomery embarrassed about something, and it left Riley wondering if Autumn wasn’t on to something after all. Was this about her? Or would he be just as turned on doing this kind of training with any woman?

“Thanks for the refresher.” She gulped down water.

“No problem. You remembered the original stuff pretty well, and picked up the new quickly.”

“I could probably use some more practice. Some of those techniques I’m not going to remember in an hour. I’d feel better with some more drills.” Neutral face. Neutral face. Neutral face.

“Sure. We can do that.”

“Great.” They’d keep getting hot and sweaty together, and she’d put the theory to the test.

~*~