Chapter 11
CONNOR
Eve all but tumbled into the almost full room with Lacey and her other friend. Outside of investigating Nina to ensure she was harmless, if not a little shallow, I knew nothing else of her. As long as she didn’t mean any harm to my bratty roommate, then I’d leave her alone.
I waited impatiently for a few minutes, hoping Eve would at least glance around the room, but to no one’s surprise, she did not.
She was absolutely atrocious at keeping herself safe.
She never cased her surroundings; she never catalogued others in the room with her.
I could have snapped her neck before she even looked my damn way.
That stupid dead fuck, clearly a hired gun for anyone with enough money, had to be the most useless asshole in the world if he didn’t manage to end her by simply pushing her in front of a bus as she stared off into space. Still, I was grateful for his incompetence.
Eve was alive, and now she had me to keep her safe, and I’d destroy every single one of her enemies before they even breathed in her direction. I wouldn’t be letting Andrew down, and if I was being completely honest, I’d miss the little brat.
Researching who had hired him had already hit a dead end, but I’d figure out the money behind the muscle if it was the last thing I ever did.
When Eve’s wide blue-gray eyes met mine, she froze, and I could have sworn a flash of panic dilated her pupils. In seconds, though, I was the recipient of her glare, and I barely managed not to chuckle at the kitten attempting to flash her claws.
She had no idea who she was baring her teeth to, but I’d show her soon enough.
“All right, let’s get this class started,” I called, and the two dozen women in the room stopped gawking at me and moved into the center of the large facility that I’d hired for this class.
Was this the first self-defense class I’d ever taught?
Yes. Had I created it solely to get Eve to learn how to fucking look after herself?
Also, yes. Would it be a fucking pain in the ass dealing with all the chicks in here who thought they could bat their eyelashes at me and I’d fuck them? Just kill me now.
Why women were attracted to danger I’d never understand, but it had been proven too many times that most of them were searching for the scariest predator in the room, all the while hoping that he’d be soft for only them.
For that reason alone, every single one of them needed self-defense classes. And a reality check.
“You’re all here tonight to learn how to protect yourself out in the world,” I said, my gaze lingering on Eve, who continued to purse her lips like she’d tasted something bad.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Lacey shaking her head at me, and I was fairly sure she knew exactly why I was the one leading this class.
She knew me almost better than Andrew, and had no doubt caught on to my slight obsession with a certain purple-haired annoyance who had a predilection for getting herself almost murdered.
“First, we should warm up,” I instructed, moving through a series of stretches. For a moment Eve hesitated, as if she was going to walk out, and I shot her a stare that was all challenge.
Come on, kitten. Where are those claws now?
Her return hiss was all in my mind, but I heard it all the same.
With only a tenth of my attention on the class, the rest remained on Eve as she tried to bend herself into a stretch, only to grimace when it hurt.
My chuckle was loud enough to draw attention, but she was refusing to look my way.
She was soft and gentle in my world filled with violence and trauma, and I craved whatever it was that made her so different.
It bothered me to force her soft nature to harden, but I also couldn’t fathom her not existing here.
When one danced with darkness, one had to have some skills to protect themselves. Even if I was determined to keep her from ever using those skills in a real-life situation.
“Okay, that’s good,” I called again, when we finished the ten minutes of stretching. “Now, let’s get started on our first lesson, which I like to call Watching your fucking surroundings. You have half the battle won in defense if you’re not taken completely by surprise.”
Like not getting kidnapped because you run screaming into their damn arms.
Even if she had been trying to save my life at the time.
I wasn’t sure anyone had ever risked themselves to save me, not even my father, and I had no fucking idea how to take her altruistic nature.
Her father was a career criminal, and somehow she’d still appeared on my doorstep like a damn fairy princess, all sweet and kind to animals.
“First thing, eliminate distractions,” I said, pacing across the front of the room.
“Do not have your earbuds in. Do not doomscroll your phone. Do not stare up into the sky and try to find a fucking cloud animal. Just don’t.
Look around you. Take in the dangers that exist and stay hyper-vigilant.
You should be noticing what is around you, whether that be men, animals, or random bags sitting unattended. ”
Shifting directions, I started to wander through the rows of women who had positioned themselves at arm’s length apart.
“Next, enhance your senses. Listen for footsteps or noises that are out of place. Use your peripheral vision to take everything in. And trust your damn gut when it says there’s danger out there. ”
A giggle sounded from my right, and I snapped my gaze to take in a tall brunette who had big green eyes and full lips.
She swallowed roughly when I narrowed my eyes on her and nervously stuttered.
“Uh, my instincts are telling me you’re dangerous, but I still kind of want to pet you.
Like…a lion. I—” She cleared her throat. “I think my gut might be faulty.”
Irritation bloomed within me as I replied, “Very faulty. Trust me, I’d eat you like a fucking lion, and not in the way you’re hoping.”
For some reason, that only had the wide shininess of her eyes growing, and she didn’t stop smiling.
Dismissing her, I continued to walk. “You need to plan for the unexpected. Know your locations, know your exits, know where you would run to get to safety. You should share your location with trusted friends and family as well, and have a quick way to send out an emergency call for help.”
Something we needed to organize for Eve.
I was almost at her, and I could smell the light berry of her shower gel over every other perfume and scent in the room. “And lastly, you need to do as you’re fucking told when you have people in your life with a vested interest in saving you.”
That one I directed right at her, and her chest heaved in the pink sports bra visible below her white top. Red splotched up her neck and to her cheeks, a combination of fury and embarrassment. But she didn’t say a word.
Good girl. Already learning how to do as she was told.
Lacey stifled a laugh, and I shot her a slow smile, enjoying that I could finally stop pretending I wanted to marry her. I loved her, she was one of my best friends, but it was more like a brother-sister relationship. And always had been.
Our parents were going to be pissed that the relationship was done, but I was personally relieved as hell.
“Okay, I’m going to show you a few moves. We’ll start with if someone grabs you from behind.” My hand landed on Evelyn’s shoulder, and while she stiffened under my touch she didn’t move away. “I think you’ll make the perfect assistant so we can demonstrate,” I added.
My hold tightened as I guided her to the front of the room.
I could feel her annoyance, though I couldn’t see her expression as I remained right on her perfect ass.
An ass encased in black workout pants. Fucking hell.
Maybe it was a mistake to do this with Eve, when we had an audience of twenty or so.
My cock was already twitching just staring at her ass, and soon enough I’d have my hands all over her.
When we reached the front of the room, Eve whirled around and dropped her hands on her hips, as if daring me to touch her again.
Oh, my annoying little brat, you have no fucking idea.
“I think we should start with an attack from behind,” I said, teaching the class, even if my gaze was locked on her. When she fired up, the blue in her eyes deepened, until it was closer to navy. “Since that’s a common way a woman would be attacked.”
I twirled my finger to indicate she should turn. “I want you to just stroll along as if you’ve got no cares in the world, and I’ll come up behind you.”
Her pupils flared again, and I would have paid out all my fortune to know what was going on in her head right now. “Okay,” she said, stiffening her spine. “I can do that.”
Turning her back to me, she started to walk casually, and I crept up behind her in a few long strides. Her shoulders tensed right before I grabbed her, and then she froze when I hauled her back against me.
“Okay, what do you do now?” I asked, trying to ignore the heat of her body pressed all down mine. Trying and fucking failing.
As I expected, she immediately began to wriggle against me, fighting in the same way all untrained people did, which was both useless and an over-expenditure of energy.
After a minute, I growled in her ear. “Enough. All you’re doing is wearing yourself out, and I have the strength to wait you out for as long as it takes. ”
Eve stilled in my arms, her body sinking against mine again, as if she was already exhausted and needed my strength to keep her standing. The fact that I wanted to keep her standing was a fucking issue, so I forced both of us to focus.
“If you’re taken from behind by a taller, stronger attacker, you need to be smart and strategic in what you do to give you an avenue of escape.
” Dropping my hands to her hips, I let my fingers press into the soft flesh under her clothes.
“There are a few methods, but let’s start with the dropping of your hips to push back and knock off his center of gravity. ”
Once again, Eve just let me move her how I wanted, her kitten anger all but gone as she followed my instructions perfectly. Within a few minutes, she had the movement down, and I directed the others to team up and try this as well.
This was the point Eve tried to leave and head back to her friends, but I tightened my hold on her hips once more, keeping her firmly against my hard dick.
The second she’d dropped her hips into me, it was all fucking done.
I barely managed to keep the tent in my basketball shorts from flashing the damn room.
“You’re not going anywhere, brat,” I growled in her ear. “You’ve got me in a bit of a situation here.”
The tiniest little moan escaped her lips, and the jerk of my length was almost painful now.
“Fuck,” I grumbled. “When you’re a good girl like this, doing exactly what I say, it has me wondering if maybe you’re not a little submissive in the bedroom, Evelyn Cromwell.
Is that what my roommates get to experience when they’re fucking you every night? ”
Yeah, I could hear them all the damn time. It was slowly driving me insane, but why the hell was I voicing my inside thoughts out loud for her to hear?
Her head darted to the side, but the class was mostly focused on following my instructions, which had her wiggling against me once more, only to jerk away when her ass landed fully against my dick.
A satisfied laugh shot from me, and I realized that I was enjoying myself. My life hadn’t really been one for laughter, except when I was with my brothers, but since this little interloper had stumbled into our world, everything had changed.
Now I just had to ensure that the darkness in all our worlds didn’t touch her ever again.
If it was the last fucking thing I did.