Page 26 of Steel Rain

I felt my eyes shudder closed for just a moment as my body reacted to her.

I coughed, shaking off the natural biological reaction I had to this woman.

“One more time,” I said, getting up and separating from Snow White.

She brought her arms up, her hands in fists near her face, her feet shoulder width apart, one foot slightly in front of the other. But even that made me hard. A woman who could fight … that had never been my kink. I had trained women and felt nothing.

But her? It was unbelievable how the urge to take her was surging through my blood.

I had to get a hold of myself. I needed to get my shit together. I gave myself a longer pause than I would have for anyone else. Just a second. A brief moment of weakness.

I was not a man who would ever take advantage of his position to get a woman. I would never cross that fucking line …

Then I dove straight into temptation, sweeping her legs out with a loud exhalation of breath. I heard her surprised gasp, and it should not have sounded sensual to me, but it did, and my body vibrated with need. I took her down, and she fell onto her back with perfect technique, her hips slightly thrust up towards my chest as she fell. Even that split second of friction filled my mind with flashes of her naked body open for me to taste.

She landed with her legs around my ribs, her ankles locked behind my back, her knees wide open to me, almost inviting me in.

She must have sensed my hesitation, because she aggressively unlocked her legs, trapped one of mine, and flipped us. I went over with a slight grunt, my back slamming down. I was looking up at her, as she smirked down at me from her mount.

Fuck, that didn’t improve things for me, and I was praying to God she didn’t notice the sudden log making itself known in my compression briefs.

I could literally visualize her bare chested and on top, head thrown back in ecstasy. A deadly Snow White.

I snapped myself out of the visual before she could lock me into a submission. Jutting my hip, I rolled her to her side until we wrestled for control, with me ultimately coming out on top, holding her in a lapel choke. She tapped, her face turning red, and a blush crawling to her cheeks.

I released her, and she looked up at me with slightly glassy eyes.

I should get up right away. I should get up and push away from her. But I lingered, feeling her chest heave with her harsh breathing as my fist lightly grazed down her lapel, resting near her breast. We looked at one another, the air crackling in the space between us.

“Nice try, Shiny,” I said, feeling like using the name Eoghan and Dairo used, as if it would create a greater intimacy between us. I was hungry for her. Salivating. My tongue thick with the need to bend down and taste the soft layer of sweat on her perfect skin.

“I hate that name.” I bet she wanted to sound angry. That seemed to be her default position. But she had exerted herself so much that she just sounded breathy. Like we had undergone a different tumble entirely.

“I think I like it,” I said between pants, crawling off of her, and coming to my feet, then offering her my hand. She took it and rose.

Many gyms don’t allow opponents to “help” one another to their feet. It can create bad habits. You wouldn’t do it in a fight, so why do it in training?

There’s a technique of getting up into a fighting stance that puts distance between a person and their opponent. But I didn’t enforce it with the Irish. Not letting them repair their egos the first few days led to more animosity and building resentment between the testosterone-filled men who had long histories, and even longer grudges. That was just the culture withinthisspecific circle of people.

So, I let it go.

And when her cold hand slipped into mine, and I felt her pull herself to her feet using my hand, I was suddenly grateful for it all.

She came to her feet, her palm facing down, her fingers still in my grasp. I could have kissed her hand in that moment.

“Thanks, coach.”

She stepped away, looked at a slightly confused O’Malley, then smiled. “Wanna go again, Kieran?”

And that felt like a kick right to my fucking teeth. Why thefuckwas she calling anyone by their first name? And why him?

Chapter 13

Ajax

Ajax

Foroveranhour,I watched her cozying up to O’Malley. Did I ever dislike O’Malley before? No. He was a perfectly fine man, and an easy student up until this very fucking moment. Now I wanted to wring his little neck, and crack him over my knee. Maybe then she’d acknowledge me.

---