Roman (Raleigh Raptors #2) - Samantha Whiskey Page 0,31

girl looked capable of rendering five men useless with a simple flick of her wrist. She wore tight, snakeskin active-wear pants, a black sports bra, and her hair was pulled back in a perfect wonder woman braid. Her muscles were toned and looked more than ready to kick some ass.

I’d always loved Savannah, but I’d never wanted to be like her as badly as I did at that moment.

She smiled and nodded with a silent you’ve-got-this look.

“Okay,” I said, my voice cracking despite my efforts to sound strong.

“All right,” Drew said, motioning for Savannah to move off the mat. She quickly did, retrieving her water bottle on the other side of the room. “Let’s feel the power behind your palm strikes first.”

I nodded, shifting my position to have one raised palm tucked back slightly, my left remaining in front of my chest. Drew raised his hands before him, motioning for me to strike.

I snapped my right palm toward his hands, rotating my entire body just like he’d taught us. I used my core, my thighs, my calves, everything to push power behind the strike. The loud smacking sound was a satisfied crack after connection.

“Good,” he said. “Again.”

I lashed out again.

“Good.” He motioned for me to continue.

So I did.

Over and over until the breath in my lungs rushed past my lips, and my chest heaved.

“Perfect,” he said. “Now, show me how much you’ve been paying attention.” He quickly shifted his stance.

I tracked his movements, noting the way he subtly shifted into my personal space. Awareness prickled on the back of my neck, an old familiar instinct boiling to the surface and coating my mind with an icy panic. Before I could blink, he’d slipped around me, a thick arm securing me from behind.

Adrenaline surged in my blood, choking off my airways, and trembling my muscles.

“You knew how much I hated that color, and you wore it anyway.” Rick’s voice was cold, sharp where he spoke directly into my ear. I’d frozen against his hold—too tight to be a loving embrace. “And you paid for it with my money.”

“I didn’t,” I argued, my fingers tugging at that forearm that kept my spine locked against his chest. “I used the money from the last painting I sold.”

“You’re arguing with me?” His hold tightened.

My lungs ached from the pressure, and I shook my head.

“Good,” he said, jerking me against him. “Because you know you don’t have the grounds to argue with me. Not when you made a fool of yourself tonight in that dress. Listening to that dumb girl of Nixon’s? You think she knows you as well as I do?”

Tears welled in my eyes, the air harder and harder to get into my lungs the longer he kept me pressed against him.

“No one knows you like I do. I know what you like. I know what you look best in. I know what you should eat. I know how to make you smile. Me. No one else. You understand?”

I trembled against him, my entire body shaking at the fear of what would happen if he didn’t let go soon.

He smoothed his free hand over my hair. “Now, I’m going to fuck you,” he said. “I’m going to remind you how good I can make you feel. Remind you how great we are together. How I’m the one who makes you come. Me, I have that power. And maybe, this time your body will listen. And we’ll have the family you’ve always wanted.”

God, he was going to kill me if he ever found out about the birth control.

My stomach twisted at the thought.

He didn’t loosen his grip as he walked us to the bedroom—

“Shake me off!” Drew shouted, snapping me back to the present. “I’ve got the high ground from behind. You can’t reach my eyes with the way I have your arms pinned.”

I couldn’t fucking breathe.

The memories clung to my skin like little pricks of ice.

“What do you do?” His grip tightened, and all that rage, all that panic and fear shot to the surface, right alongside everything I’d learned the past four classes.

I planted my feet, jutting my hips backward with all the power I had while simultaneously digging my fingers into his forearm and propelling him forward.

His massive body rolled forward over my back until his spine smacked against the mat.

He’s going to kill me.

My brain flashed from Rick to the present and back again.

I didn’t waste a second, my muscles almost reacting on memory as I kept hold of that