“I think you know I’m the cockiest.” I grinned and feinted toward her.
She stumbled back, then got her feet beneath her again and shot me a scowl. “Cheap.”
I shrugged. She jumped.
“You need to relax.”
“Relax?” She shook her head.
“Yeah. You’re on a hair trigger. You’ll exhaust yourself, jump at the wrong things, and wind up hog tied by Dmitri.”
She flinched.
“Sorry.” I held my hands up. “I want to make sure that doesn’t happen. So let’s work on it, all right?”
Shaking her hands out, she nodded.
“You need to be relaxed but aware, if that makes sense. Watch everything, calculate, figure out what your opponent is doing before he does it. Look for tells.” I put my fists up. “A lot of the time, he’ll lean whichever way he intends to go. It’s simple, but it works. Watch the body language. Are his hands in fists? Then you need to splay your fingers to try and block or slap his arms away. Are his hands open? Then he’s going to grapple you. Like this.” I darted forward, grabbed her arm, and flipped her over my hip.
She landed on her back, all the air whooshing out of her. Her scent mixed with the smell of fresh grass. Glaring, she got back to her feet.
My arm stung like a son-of-a-bitch, but I’d be damned if I’d let it show. “Watch me. See if I telegraph anything.” I backed away a few steps and put up my fists.
She opened her hands.
“Bend more at the knees. Get lower. It’ll help you be more explosive.”
“I’m low.” She watched my hands.
I feinted right, then ran hard left, punching out and missing her face by a few inches.
“You missed.”
“On purpose. I could have knocked your teeth out.” I ran a hand through my hair. “You need more practice.”
“It’s my first day.” She put her hands on her hips.
“Right.” I stood straight and still. “Take my knee out.”
“What?”
“You want to take a man down, the easiest way is to take out a knee or go for the crotch. You need to focus on those areas.” I waved her toward me. “Break my knee.”
She cocked her head to the side. “What if I hurt you?”
I laughed. “Not a fucking chance.”
She scowled and took a big step, bringing her right foot up to crush my knee.
I sidestepped and pulled her to me, her back to my front, my good arm locked around her waist. “Too slow.” I wanted to lick the sweat from her neck.
She threw her head back. Stars bloomed in my vision when she made contact with my chin, jarring me. I let her go.
Grinning, she backed away. “David taught me that one. Apparently, most people have a nerve in their jaw that, when hit, can knock them out.”
I rubbed my chin. “Glass jaw.”
“Right.” She bounced on the balls of her feet, her breasts shaking with the movement, her nipples hard beneath the fabric. “Want more?”
I want it all. My cock agreed, going from semi to full mast with a single pump of my heart. No, no, no.
“Come at me, bro.” I tweaked my nose with my thumb.
She stepped forward, feinted right, and kicked out toward my crotch. Missed by a mile, thank god.
“Not bad, but you have to move faster.”
She wiped a stray hair from her face, then rushed me when she was halfway through the movement.
I dodged, laughter bubbling in my chest. “Misdirection. I like it.”
She made a grrrr noise and wrinkled her nose. “You move too fast.”
“That’s what all the girls say. Then they drop their panties.”
She roared and charged me. Her small fists thunked against my chest until I grabbed them and wrenched her arms behind her back.
“You can’t act out of anger. It makes you sloppy, unfocused. Plan ahead.”
“I can’t when you talk about other women you’ve fucked!” Her eyes glistened as she yelled into my face.
“Hit a nerve?” I let her go.
“What if I changed my mind about saving it for you and got on my back for the next guy I see?”
Daaaaaamn. My hands balled into fists at the thought of another man touching her. She rushed forward and shot her knee toward my junk. I backed away just in time.
“Anger makes you sloppy,” she parroted, a little smile of triumph playing across her lips.
I lunged forward and captured her in my arms. She squealed and grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking as I lifted her off her feet and pushed her up against the stone side of the house. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and before I could reason with myself, I kissed her. Hard and rough, the cost/benefit analysis nowhere in sight, I plunged my tongue into her mouth—owning her as she melted against me, her arms wrapping around my neck.
Reaching between us, I flattened my palm against her pussy. She was burning up for me, her body open and wet. I removed my hand and ground my cock against her.