Page 145 of Carnal Games

“Good girl.”

My stomach does a backflip at those two innocuous little words.

“Are you going to let me teach you now?”

I nod and curiously ask, “Can I even do any damage if the other person is bigger than me?”

“The goal isn’t for you to fight them but to hurt them long enough to run away and scream for help.” Straightening, he says sternly, “I’m going to show you different strikes. Tomorrow, we’ll practice dislodging grips.”

“Cool— What?” My engagement ring is smoothly snatched from my finger.

“So you don’t accidentally hurt yourself.”

“Or you.”

“Not any more than it already does,” he utters low, glaring at the ring. Pocketing it, his features smoothen, but his pained admission has resided deep inside me. “Ready?”

As he begins to take me through elbow and knee strikes, making me practice on him, which I do very reluctantly, I gain confidence when I land the blows precisely. Though I can sense he is taking it easy on me. Probably because now and then, I become distracted by his hands brushing my ass when he corrects my posture.

“Stop holding back, Kian,” I tell him. “The attacker won’t.”

His gaze narrows. “How about you let me be the judge of that?”

“As you wish,sir.” I lick my lips, drawing his gaze to my tongue peeking out. As they darken, I attack, aiming for his groin area. I never make contact.

Twisting my arm behind my back, I’m yanked against his hard chest. The heat of his skin seeps into mine. His mouth grazes my earlobe as he growls, “Is this what you wanted, little rainbow?”

“Yes,” I pant.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir.” His cock twitches against the small of my back, earning a moan from me. Powerlessly pushing back against it, I tilt my head until it rests against his chest. I tease over my racing pulse, “I think you were looking for an excuse to touch me.”

His palm trails up to grab my throat, squeezing lightly. “We both know I don’t need one.”

My head is spinning as he lets me go.

“We’ve done enough for today,” he announces, walking away to grab his discarded shirt. I twist away to pick up my yoga mat when he beats me to it and grabs it himself. “Grab your phone.”

Together, we leave the gym and slide into the elevator. The silence is comfortable, while I restrain myself from reaching for his hand.

I step out of the car once it stops on our floor and freeze in my tracks. Outside my apartment door is the last person I expected to see. “Mumma?”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kian

One glance at Iris’s mother and I realize where she gets her beauty from. The resemblance is uncanny. Both women have blue eyes and exude serene energy.

Shock wearing off, Iris skips to her mother’s side, who hugs her tightly. “I missed you so much,bacha.”

I feel like a bystander, intruding on a wholesome moment that is a conundrum to me. I’ve never had that.

“What are you doing here?” Iris asks after pulling back. “Is everything fine at home?”

“Do I need a reason to stop by my daughter’s place?”

“Of course not. I’ve wanted you to check out my new apartment.” Diving in for another hug, Iris laughs with the biggest smile I’ve ever witnessed on her face. “I missed you too. Let me show you the place. It has the best view everrr.”

---