behind us.
"Is everything all right?" "Did you see - ?" she began, looking to him with her question.
"See what?" I demanded, as his head snapped up and his trained gaze raked the length of the street.
The absoluteness of his focus sent a shiver down my spine.
"Let me drive you three the rest of the way," he said quietly.
The entrance to the Crossfire was literally across the street, but something in Clancy's tone brooked no argument.
We all climbed in, with my mother taking the front seat.
"What was that about?" Megumi asked after we'd been dropped off and had moved into the cool interior of the building.
"Your mom looked like she'd seen a ghost."
"I have no idea."
But I felt ill.
Something had frightened my mother.
It was going to drive me crazy until I found out what it was.
Chapter 7
My back hit the mat with enough force to knock the air from my lungs.
Stunned, I blinked up at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath.
Parker Smith's face came into view.
"You're wasting my time.
If you're going to be here, be here.
One hundred percent.
Not a million miles away in your head somewhere."
I grabbed the hand he extended to me, and he yanked me to my feet.
Around us, a dozen more of Parker's Krav Maga students were hard at work.
The Brooklyn-based studio was alive with noise and activity.
He was right.
My thoughts were still stuck on my mom and the bizarre way she'd reacted when we returned to the Crossfire after lunch.
"Sorry," I muttered.
"I've got something on my mind."
He moved like lightning, tagging me first on one knee, then my shoulder with rapid-fire slaps.
"Do you think an attacker is going to wait until you're alert and ready before he comes after you?" I crouched, forcing myself to focus.
Parker crouched as well, his brown eyes hard and watchful.
His shaved head and cafe au lait skin gleamed beneath the overhead fluorescent lighting.
The studio was in a converted warehouse, which had been left rough for both economic reasons and atmosphere.
My mother and stepfather were paranoid enough to have Clancy accompany me to my classes.
The neighborhood was presently undergoing revitalization, which I thought was encouraging but they thought was troubling.
When Parker came at me again, I blocked him.
The tagging came fast and furious then, and I pushed all other thoughts aside until later, when I was home.
When Gideon came over about an hour later, he found me in the bath surrounded by vanilla-scented candles.
He undressed to join me, even though his damp hair told me he'd already showered after spending time with his own personal trainer.
I watched him strip, riveted.
The play of muscles beneath his skin and the inherent gracefulness in the way he moved sent a delicious sense of contentment sliding through me.
He climbed into the deep oval tub behind me, his long legs sliding in on either side of mine.
His arms wrapped around me, and then he surprised me by lifting me up and back, so that I was sitting on his lap and my legs were draped over his.
"Lean into me, angel," he murmured.
"I need to feel you."
I sighed with pleasure, sinking into the hardness of his powerful body as he cradled me.
My aching muscles softened in surrender, eager as always to become completely pliable to his touch.
I loved moments like this, when the world and our emotional triggers were far away.
Moments when I felt the love he wouldn't profess for me.
"Soaking more bruises?" he asked with his cheek pressed to mine.
"My fault.
My head wasn't in the game."
"Thinking about me?" he purred, nuzzling against my ear.
"I wish."
He paused, then switched gears.
"Tell me what's bugging you."
I loved how easily he could read me, then revise and revisit his approach on the fly.
I tried to be as adaptable for him.
Really, flexibility was a requirement in a relationship between two high-maintenance people.
Linking my fingers with his, I told him about my mother's weird reaction after lunch.
"I almost expected to turn around and see my dad or something.
I was wondering .
You have security cameras that cover the front of the building, don't you?" "Of course.
I'll look into it."
"It's a ten-minute window of time, max.
I just want to see if I can figure out what went on."
"Consider it done."
I tilted my head back and kissed his jaw.
"Thank you."
His lips pressed to the top of my shoulder.
"Angel, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
"Including talking about your past?" I felt him tense and mentally kicked myself.
"Not right this second," I hastened to add, "but sometime.
Just tell me we'll get there."
"Have lunch with me tomorrow.
In my
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