CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Victoria
The guys had treated me like I was made of glass since the night I found the body on the doorstep. It didn't help that Craig hadn't seen anything useful in the footage. All we knew was that the person was male and seemed to know where the blind spots in my father's security were. Still, three days of being treated like I was a delicate flower had started to grate my nerves.
"Morning, Princess." Az spoke as I stalked into the kitchen.
I glared in response and moved to the coffee pot to pour myself a cup. While something had shifted between us when he was teaching me how to plan a D I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I needed that."
"Glad you found it amusing. Now, can we get on with this? If not, I can think of a hundred other things I could be doing right now." I clipped.
"Alright, alright, I'm done. Come here, we'll work on the very beginner level. Let me show you how to make a proper fist and aim your punches."
He worked me through how to make a fist that wouldn't cause me to hurt my hand when I did land a blow and how to aim them properly by having me punch what he called focus mitts, like cushioned gloves. When he was satisfied that I was hitting where I was aiming, we took a quick break. He had me shake out my shoulders and run through a few stretches.
He watched me and corrected my form in places, which he had to do several times because his eyes on me made it difficult to focus. I caught his gaze lingering a few times on areas not related to what I was doing. I didn't say anything, but as time passed, the way he'd snap his eyes to my face to catch my gaze said that he wasn't hiding it.
"Alright, Princess, come here." He pointed to where he wanted me. "We're going to work on breaking holds. I'm going to walk you through what to do, and then we'll practice it until you're sure you'll remember how. He circled behind me, standing so close that I could feel his chest against my back. My breath hitched, and I felt him tense slightly.
"I'm going to grab you so I can walk you through things, but my grip will be loose, okay?" His voice had retaken that low, husky tone. This time, it had me squeezing my thighs together slightly. "Just remember, I'm not going to hurt you. Okay?"
"Okay," I said, my voice more breathy than I wanted it to be. Az wrapped his arms around me, pushing my arms against my body.
He pulled me back against him slightly. I felt my brain short-circuit for a moment as he held me against the hard planes of his chest; then he started talking, and I remembered he was instructing me. I gave myself a mental shake and tried to focus on what he was saying.
"...real tempting to start struggling and squirming when you get grabbed like this. But what you're going to want to do is drop yourself down like you're going into a squat. Lowering your center of gravity is going to make you hard to be picked up or moved against your will." He paused, and we stood there momentarily with his arms around me. "Princess? At this rate, I could just drag you off and do whatever I wanted to with you if you don't stop me."
I blinked several times and shook my head. "Right… Drop down. Like this?" I dropped my weight downward until I was just above a squat.
"Like that. Good girl. Push your feet a little wider apart. They should be just wider than hip width to give you a solid stance…." He paused again, waiting for me to comply. His breathing was slightly ragged. I shuffled my feet to the stance he'd directed. "Good. Rotate and shift your hips to the side… Yes, like that. This will give you a direct path to your attacker's groin. One or two good open palm strikes like this should have their grip loosened if they don't just drop you."
I nodded my understanding, shifting my weight to one side.
"Lunge forward, bringing an elbow back if they didn't drop you with the first attempt. Hit him hard with an elbow and try to twist as you lunge so you're harder to hold on to. Once you've broken his grip, run if you can." He paused so I could simulate those parts of his instructions.
His grip loosened as I pushed forward to lunge away with my upper body, and I stepped out of his embrace. I felt strangely cold without him wrapped around me, and it took a herculean effort to push the thought away. He stood up straight again, and the way he looked at me was pure heat.
"Understand, Princess?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Wide stance, drop weight, rotate, groin shot, lunge and elbow." I repeated a simplistic version of the steps back to him.
"Good girl. If you can't run, start raining punches down on the weak spots of their head and face until you can. Then make your way back to us, and we can take it from there." He instructed. He crooked a finger at me to come back to him. "Now we're going to practice it until you can do it without me letting you go."
"But–"
"Just… don't hit me in the balls for real," he said, sounding like he was only half joking. I took the same position back in front of him. He traced a finger up my spine, making me shiver all over. "Ready?"
Before I could answer, he had me in another bear hug; this one was a little tighter and rougher than the instructional one. He pulled me against him, making me gasp at how he handled me harshly. My mind blanked until he shook me slightly.
"Pay attention!" He snapped, not cruelly, but enough to work. "Get away from me."
I shifted my legs apart and moved through the steps he'd instructed me on, ensuring the groin shot stopped short and I didn't elbow him in the stomach on my forward lunge. He released me and straightened up as I turned to face him.
"Gotta keep your head in it, Princess; every second counts. Again," he demanded.
We reran the break again and again. Each time Az wrapped his arms around me, it was a little harder and more demanding when he pulled me against him.
"You've got the steps, work on the speed. It has to catch your attacker off guard. Again."
I started to feel my heart rate pick up, and my breathing was rapid as I stepped back into position. I moved through the steps again, but when I simulated the groin shot, my hand brushed against him, and his hard-on was evident. I moved to my forward lunge, but he didn't release me this time, and I collided with the cage he'd made with his arms. I started to twist to face him, but my foot caught him, and before I could stop or right myself, I felt my back hit the mat. I closed my eyes and braced for his impact, but he caught himself and hovered above me, perched on his elbows.
"And that's why a wide stance is so important. Because, Princess, you've just created a whole new problem for yourself." I opened my eyes and stared directly into his blazing blue gaze. He wore an expression I didn't think I'd see again, and my breath caught in my throat. "Now, what are you going to do to get away from me?"
The thought crossed my mind, and I acted before the logical part of my brain could protest. I reached up, wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled him down, and kissed him. He stiffened before he softened and kissed me back. His hand went to the back of my neck, and the other tugged my hair out of its bun to thread his fingers through the curls.
When he pulled away, we were both breathing hard. He searched my face for a moment, eventually finding whatever he sought. He closed the distance between us again, letting his hands roam across my exposed skin, teasing along the hem of my sports bra and the curve of my breast. A low, appreciative sound escaped his chest, and I shivered.
He broke away again, starting a trail of blazing kisses down my jaw and neck to my shoulder. He stopped and paid particular attention to the exposed bruises, suckling on them gently before continuing. He moved across my chest and looked up in a silent question as he moved lower. In answer, I pulled my sports bra above my head and tossed it away gently.
He groaned, his gaze raking over my torso like he was committing every inch and curve to memory. I squirmed beneath him, getting impatient. He'd made me wait long enough. I reached down and pushed at the waistband of his pants. He raised an eyebrow and smirked before leaning down and kissing me again.
"Hold that thought," he whispered against my lips. Then he moved over to where there was a mid-sized shelf of cubbies and drawers. He pulled open a few drawers and made a slight victorious sound before striding back to where I was.
He held up two fingers with a condom between them, and I suddenly had the mental image of condoms stashed with the guns in various places around the house. I couldn't help the way it made me laugh. He raised a questioning eyebrow.
"I'll tell you later," I said, shaking my head. "Now, come help me out of these clothes so we can put that to good use. Please ."
He was on me so fast it made me gasp. He kissed along my chest, taking one of my nipples in his mouth and sucking hard enough that I was sure he'd leave the outline of a hickie around it. He swirled his tongue around it as he pushed my panties and yoga pants off my hips, only breaking enough to pull them off one of my legs. His fingers skirted down my body, tracing featherlight paths down my stomach and hips until he found my core.
"Already so wet for me," he breathed. I wriggled, moaning as he stroked along my slick folds. He easily slipped two fingers in and curled them against my sweet spot. My back arched almost entirely off the mat beneath me.
"Az–" I started, but my words died on my lips as he curled his fingers inside me again and stroked my clit with his thumb. I knew what he was doing, and fuck, it felt good, but it wasn't what I wanted. I whimpered since my voice had failed me.
"I should make you wait for how you've been driving me crazy. I should punish you for being such a fucking brat…." He said, his voice throaty and laced with as much need as I felt.
" Please. " The word sounded more like a moan as I rocked my hips into his hand. I could feel the tension coiling tight inside me, and my eyes fluttered closed. "I need…."
"When you ask so sweetly, how can I say no?" I heard the foil on the condom rip, and seconds later, I could feel him lining up with my entrance. He hooked his hand behind my knee and threw it over his shoulder simultaneously as he pushed inside me.
I cried out as I stretched around him, my back arching off the mat. He held my hips down with a hand pressed on my lower stomach as he pumped inside me.
"Fuck, Princess," his words stretched into lengthy groans as he punctuated them with deep thrusts. "So much better than the fantasies…."
He gripped my leg wrapped around his waist, hoisted my hips off the mat, and picked up his pace until he slammed into me so hard it caused my whole body to shake with every thrust. He slipped the hand that had held my stomach downward and started circling my clit in time with his thrusts.
"Don't fucking stop. Oh god, please don't stop!" I cried as each stroke sent me hurtling toward climax faster than I'd thought possible.
His dark chuckle was my only answer, and his efforts redoubled. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I bit my lip as the tension he'd started with his fingers nearly reached a critical point.
"Not yet, you don't." He removed his hand, giving me a swift slap to the side of my ass as he pistoned into me.
My eyes flew open to find him smirking down at me, his blue eyes shining. I rolled my hips into his thrusts and clenched around him, groaning my disappointment and trying to make up the last distance. I clung tightly to that cliff's edge and panted in desperation to fall over.
"You remember how this goes, don't you, Princess?" His voice was strained as if he was holding himself back. His fingers teased along my skin, but not once did his strokes stutter or break pace. My mind flashed back to the club.
"Please–"
"Please… what?"
"Fuck! Az, please let me cum. Please! " The words were strangled and desperate. I met his every stroke with my own, still chasing the release he made me cling to.
"Good girl." He growled. His fingers returned, and his pace became brutal and harsh. My whole body bounced against him as he slammed into me. "Good… fucking… girl… Cum for me. Scream for me."
My body let go as if on his command, and I screamed his name as my orgasm slammed into me with the force of a moving train. My limbs shook, my back arched, and I even felt tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. His thrusts sputtered slightly and slowed as he followed me into his own climax, his fingers tightening on my hips to where I was sure there would be fingerprint bruises to go with the bite marks and hickeys I was already sporting.
He slowed until I was done contorting and shaking beneath him. It felt like ages before he pulled out, collapsed on the mat next to me, and drew me into his arms. I felt lightheaded and a little giddy as my body relaxed against him.
"You have no fucking clue how long I've wanted to do that," he whispered into my hair before planting a small kiss on the side of my head.