26
Almost every muscle in my body burns with exertion, the want to collapse in a heap on the floor growing with every single strenuous movement. It’s hot out here today, sweat clings to my skin, beating along my scalp and trickling down the back of my neck.
We haven’t even been at this self-defence thing all that long, but I didn’t realise how unfit I am until now. We worked on some stretches to begin with so the strain on my muscles won’t be too severe, but it feels pretty severe right now and we’ve barely even started.
I’m trying my best to concentrate, but somewhere along the way, Alec shed his shirt, so now I’m forced to try to ignore the fact that I don’t notice every ripple of his muscled upper body, every flex of his biceps and every drop of sweat that glistens on his tanned skin that makes my mouth water.
He really is a work of art.
I swear he’s doing this on purpose to test me, and it’s working.
He catches me staring, heat burning in his gaze. “As much as I enjoy your eyes on me, princess, now is not the time for distractions.”
“Then why’d you take your shirt off if not to distract me?” I shoot back.
The bastard actually smirks before leaning in for a quick kiss. “Focus, baby. Now hit me.”
I frown. “What?”
He taps his left cheek with his finger. “Right here. Do your worst, princess.”
“That’s ridiculous, I’m not going to punch you in the face, Alec, are you kidding me?” I fold my arms over my chest.
“You’re not going to learn until you try it for yourself and I need to know you can punch effectively. You’re only little, I can take it. Now hit me.”
He braces himself, setting his feet shoulder-width apart for balance, giving me a nod to tell me he’s ready.
I don’t want to do this, but he did ask for it. I curl my fingers into a fist and swing as hard as I can. My fist collides with the side of his face, and the sound I thought it would make is nothing like I thought it would.
I was expecting the punch to sound like they do in that old Batman TV show from the sixties my dad made me watch when I was little, but now I realise how exaggerated they were.
“It was a good shot, but it could’ve been better. It’s not about just hitting something, it’s about hitting through it. You need the motion to carry long past your target.”
I stare in confusion. “I have no idea what you just said.”
He takes a step back and stretches out his arm so his fist is resting against my cheek. “If I was to hit you from here, standing straight on, there would be now power behind it. But if I do this,” he takes a step closer, turning his body side on with his dominant hand pulled back. He slowly swings his arm around, his fist reaching further than before. “You can throw your body into it. You want to be able to punch through the object in order to have more of an impact.”
He does the same thing again but gets me to do it instead. “Now hit me again, but with some power behind it.”
I stand at a slight angle just as he showed me and draw back my arm. This time when I swing, I feel my whole upper body move with me and my fist smashes into his face.
He stumbles a little, his eyes wide with shock as he touches his cheek.
“Son of a bitch!” I yell, clutching my hand as pain radiates through my knuckles, the shock of the impact ricocheting up my arm.
“Are you alright?” Alec asks, tentatively reaching for my hand to inspect it. The skin is red but thankfully not broken.
“I’ll live. Are you alright? Did I hurt you?” I reach up to stroke his face, the skin warm and red beneath my touch.
“Nothing I can’t handle, princess. That was an amazing punch, you should be as proud as I am.”
His storm cloud eyes hold mine and I melt under his gaze, my chest swelling with pride as I reach up and press my mouth to his.
Just as I’m about to lose myself in the kiss, in a flash, he has his hand around my throat. He’s so fast I didn’t have time to react before he’s pinning me between his hard body and the wall of the house.
He doesn’t add any pressure that would cut off my circulation or starve me of air, but I’m well aware of the strong, thick fingers that curl into my skin.
“Say a guy comes up to you and pins you to the wall by the throat, what do you do?”
On instinct, my hands fly up to the one around my neck, trying to pry his fingers open.
He tuts. “That was your first mistake, princess. That’s everybody’s first move, but it’s the wrong one. There are a number of ways you can subdue your attacker. One, you can dig your thumbs into their eye sockets, that will temporarily disable them long enough for you to knee them in the groin and get away. Two, you can drive your hand as hard as you can into their neck, sort of like a karate chop, ideally here,” he demonstrates by placing the side of his hand at the base of my throat, at the space where it connects with the collarbone, “this is the most effective way because it not only causes a lot of pain, it can temporary cut off their air supply and if done right, it can kill them.”
“Fingers in eye sockets, karate chop to the throat. Got it,” I say with a nod. “So what brought all this on?”
I did not expect him to announce he’d be teaching me self defence not ten minutes after waking up this morning.
He releases his hand from around my neck, taking a step backwards. “I spoke with your brother this morning.”
I still. “You did? What did he say?”
A flash of hesitation crosses his face before he speaks. “There was an attempted break-in at the house the other night.”
I gasp. “What? Is everyone okay?”
“Everyone’s fine, the guards got to the men before they could do anything, but there’s no doubt they were sent by Austin.”
A shiver snakes down my spine at the mention of that man’s name, his harsh voice and his cruel words ringing in my mind.
“Hey,” Alec says, stopping me from getting into my own head. “He’s not going to touch you or anyone. Your brothers and I will do everything in our power to bring that fucker down, I promise you. But this, teaching you self-defence, I need to know you can handle yourself should I not be there to protect you.”
“I understand.”
“Good girl, now turn around,” he instructs and I spin so I’m facing away from him.
I can’t deny the rush of arousal that spreads through my body at his commands. I feel him step closer, my back brushing up against his front and I shiver from the proximity.
His lips dust over my shoulder and I tilt my neck to allow him better access.
“You are my greatest temptation, princess,” he murmurs against my skin, his lips soft and gentle.
Just as I fall into his touch, his arms come around me like a bear hug from behind with his hands locked together around my chest, pinning my arms to my sides. “You can’t afford for distractions, not even from me. The slightest slip of concentration could be the difference between living and dying.”
“Then you shouldn’t distract me,” I say playfully, wiggling my ass against his cock that grows more rigid by the second.
One of his hands falls away from me, only to administer a sharp slap to my ass that makes me yelp, but the feeling that radiates through my body is definitely not pain.
“You little tease.” He chuckles. “There’s more where that came from, baby.” His arm returns around my body. “Now, if someone comes up behind you and grabs you like this, what would you do first?”
I think for a moment, figuring out what I can use to do the most damage. “Head-butt them?”
“Very good. What else? What happens if he has your hair wrapped in his fist and you can’t move your head?”
“Um… Elbow him in the stomach?” I suggest.
“Good, but what if you can’t move your arms? Try it.”
I try to wriggle out from his hold so I can manoeuvre my arm enough to strike him hard in the gut, but he’s too strong. My shoulders sag in defeat. “I can’t.”
“What you do, is you lift your foot and you kick them in the shin as hard as you can. It will bend their knee back and it will snap. They won’t be able to chase you when you run.”
The thought of someone’s knee bending the wrong way makes me shudder, but in a life or death situation, I guess you’ll do anything to survive.
“We should call it a day. You did really good, princess.” He presses a tender kiss to the side of my neck, letting his lips linger there. “Now, do I spank you for being the little tease you are, or fuck you so hard you scream for me?”
Arousal floods through me. The warmth of his breath on my skin makes me shiver. “Or you could do both?”
“Naughty girl,” he groans. His arms around me slacken and I manage to drive an elbow into him, not enough to hurt him but just enough for him to release me from his hold.
He grunts, clutching his side. “What the hell?”
I back away from him, grinning. “You can’t afford for distractions, Alec, you said it yourself. You want to spank me? You’re gonna have to catch me first.”
I take off in a run towards the water and judging by the heavy footsteps that grow louder, he’s gaining on me. I almost slip as I head down the small grass verge that leads towards the dock, but I manage to stay upright.
I glance over my shoulder to find Alec hot on my heels and I scream, giggling as I pump my legs harder, my muscles burning.
The dock isn’t that long, but as I reach the edge, two arms wrap around my middle as we tumble over the edge, the surface of the water getting gradually closer to my head as we fall through the air.
Alec rotates us mid-air so that his back hits the water first, taking the brunt of the impact as we both go under. We break apart, but only for a few seconds as he spins me around so we’re chest to chest.
My eyes are tight shut. I always hated the feel of salt water in my eyes.
His hand cups my face and his lips meet mine and my arms wrap around his neck to hold him close. My lungs burn from holding my breath, but the feel of his mouth on mine is enough to overshadow the pain in my chest.
A few moments later we break the surface and he grips my ass and guides my thighs around his waist. The water is shallow enough for him to touch the bottom, and he walks us back towards the short dock.
My back hits the wooden dock as the smooth waves of the water lap around us.
The taste of salt water mixes with the taste of him as my tongue slides into his mouth. His hard cock presses between my legs as I begin to move against him. With every motion of my hips, his erection grazes my swollen clit through his sweats and my leggings.
“That’s it, princess. Use me to make yourself come,” he says before his mouth heads south, over my chin and down my neck. He sucks on the skin there so hard I’m sure he’s going to leave a hickey, but I don’t really care.
I want his kisses. I want him to mark me.
All I want is him. I’m intoxicated by him and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.
With one hand still supporting my weight, he slides my shirt down along with my bra strap, exposing my left breast which he takes into his mouth.
I cry out as he nips at my hardened nipple, tugging it between his teeth and his lower lip. He licks and sucks, getting me more worked up as I rub myself against his cock.
It’s not long before I’m coming so hard stars dance in my vision, my body turning lax as I fall against Alec’s chest.
“Take me into the house, Alec. I need you inside me,” I moan.
“I’m at your service, Ma’am.”