Page 160 of His Virgin Romance Series

“He hated you.”

Ryder ignored me. “He wanted to make me strong.”

“I’m not like you,” I said.

“No… but you will be,” Ryder said, as he aimed another punch at my jaw.

I dropped to the ground and backed away from him. “I can’t,” I said, feeling a sob at the back of my throat. “This is… I have no idea what I’m doing… it’s too hard.”

“And you expect it to come easy?”

“How do you even expect me to beat you?” I demanded. “You’re more than a head taller, and you’re double my size.”

“Exactly.”

“What?”

“Those things can be strengths, true,” Ryder nodded. “But if you’re smart, they can also be used as weaknesses. Size and strength are limiting when you need to be agile and fast. Play to your strengths. Use what you have against your opponent. Now get up.”

I gritted my teeth with determination and stood up, dusting off my sweats.

“Punch me.”

I tried again, and again it was like Ryder was swatting away a fly. I sighed in frustration and made another attempt. Again, he sidestepped the punch and hit me in the back. I almost rammed into one of the punching bags.

“There is strength in breathing,” Ryder told me. “Don’t hold your breath when you punch. The more you breathe, the stronger your punch will be.”

We kept up the pace for almost two hours. I wanted to quit a hundred different times during those two hours, but I forced myself to stay the course. I didn’t want Ryder to think I was any weaker than I had already shown him. More importantly, I wanted his respect, and that made me realize that he had mine.

“Drink some water,” Ryder said, throwing me a bottle.

His body was glistening with a light sheen of perspiration, whereas I was dripping with sweat. Ryder didn’t even seem to notice, however. It was almost mid-day, and the gym space had cleared out completely. We were the only two left. Even though my stomach was complaining, Ryder seemed oblivious to such human things as hunger. He walked me over to the ring, and once we were inside, he turned to me.

“I’m going to come at you,” he said. “Try and escape… got it?”

“Ok,” I nodded, knowing already that he would have me on the ground in two seconds flat.

Two seconds later, I was on the ground, struggling to get away from his grip. Ryder straddled me as he kept my hands pinned to the floor on either side of my head.

“Didn’t I tell you I would have you on your back sooner or later?” Ryder told me, with a smile on his face.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “When I’m done training… no one will ever have the power to keep me on my back against my will ever again,” I said fiercely.

I saw a spark in Ryder’s eyes as he looked down at me. “I’m counting on it.”

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