Trapped (The Condemned Series #1) - Alison Aimes Page 0,37
herself for a jarring landing. But like last time, he caught her at the last minute, slowing her decent so she landed with one tenth the force. Still, her shoulder smarted.
“You’re not paying attention,” he barked. “You need to stay on guard. Alert. Any distraction can get you killed.”
Still on her back, she looked up to find him glowering down at her, his arms crossed over his wide chest. Even with that frown, he was beautiful. His chiseled cheekbones and square jaw pure masculinity. His bronzed skin covered in ropey muscle after muscle. The crisscross of scars across his body proved him every inch the warrior. Still, there was no give in him at all. In his body. In his demeanor. In his approach.
Her determination to be optimistic wavered. Could he already regret bringing her to his home?
Maybe that wouldn’t have bothered her if she still thought of him as only a short-term necessity to endure. But her feelings had been shifting, little by little—perhaps even from the moment he’d first touched her with that look of awe—and after yesterday, they’d solidified. Her desire to please him increasingly prompted by far more than the instinct to survive and the deal they’d made.
He might be a Dragath25 criminal; he might have done awful things in his past, but that wasn’t who he was with her.
All her life, she’d been around people—crowded into tight spaces to optimize scarce resources and space—but even so, she’d been alone. Isolated by her responsibilities and her ambition. Sure, she’d dated a few men here and there and indulged in some quick, perfunctory sex when her needs became too great, but none of those affairs had ever lasted beyond a few weeks. None had ever been worth risking her position and allowing herself to get close.
But Caine was different. She’d had to depend on him or die, and in the process, she was pretty certain she’d opened herself up to him as she never had to anyone else. It made her feel ripped wide open and…vulnerable…. maybe, embarrassingly enough, even a little insecure.
He mattered to her. She wanted to matter to him as well.
Which made his aloofness this morning all the more troubling.
Pushing onto her elbows, she studied him, searching for any clues to what he was thinking. “Let’s take a break. Maybe talk? I know so little—”
“No breaks.”
She was flying through the air to land on her feet in the next instant.
“Stop doing that.” She shook off his hold. “I can get up myself.”
He raised an eyebrow. “But can you stay up?”
“This time you’re going down, smart ass.” Irritated, she went into her own crouch, murmuring to herself. “Left hand by the face. Weight on balls of the feet. Grab his wrist, turn, use his momentum….”
Then he was coming at her and there was no more time to think. Just act.
Her shoulder met the ground again. “That’s it.” She rolled to sit, her elbow propped on her knees. Yes, she wanted to learn to defend herself, but she needed time to clear her head. “You’ve pummeled me enough for the morning. I need a rest.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You think 225’s men are going to go easy on you?” He stalked forward until their bare feet were touching. “I can’t be around every minute.” His voice was rough with tension. His features taut. “Come on, Gwen, at least make a god damn effort.”
Her ears twitched, every nerve going on alert. “Gwen? Who’s Gwen?”
His expression blanked. “Don’t worry about it.” He flowed back into his offensive stance as if nothing had happened. “Let’s get back to it, fighter girl. Keep your weight evenly distributed. You can do this.”
She didn’t move.
For some stupid reason, she’d never considered he might have a woman in his life. Someone he missed. Someone he thought of every time he was fucking her.
“My name is Bella. Not fighter girl.” It was suddenly important that he call her that. That she hear her name on his lips.
“What?”
“I’d like you to call me Bella.”
His lips flat-lined. “You think it makes a difference what I call you?”
“You should at least know the name of the woman you’re currently fucking.”
He stretched to his full, intimidating height, tense silence filling the room; ominous, heavy.
Her heart skittered inside her chest, all her silly, happily-ever-after imaginings crumbling to dust.
“You know what, Bella?” he said at last, her name sounding almost like a curse. “You were right before. We could both use a break.”