Page 126 of You Only Love Twice
Charlie blinked beneath him, and then grabbed Obsidian's wrist. A swivel of his hips, and his legs locked around Obsidian's waist. They crashed to the floor.
Flung apart with a grunt and a pair of punches.
The keys went sliding across the marble, and he still wore the cuff on his left wrist.
Stubborn bloody bastard.
He rolled to his feet as Charlie drove a boot at his face. Obsidian slapped it aside, feinting forward and slamming a punch to Charlie's ribs. A clenched fist smashed into the side of his face, making his ears ring. Charlie ducked under his retaliating blow, and the pair of them broke apart, facing each other with feet spread.
The young man could move.
"You've been training with Gemma," he noted.
Charlie glared at him and spat blood as he brought his fists up. He stepped between Obsidian and the elevation chamber. "Like I said, you're not going anywhere."
It was a shame. He almost liked the young man.
Obsidian feinted to the left, then ducked under the next wide-flung punch, his fingers locking around Charlie's wrist. He twisted, hooking Charlie's arm over his back, and then with a thrust of his thighs, he rolled Charlie over his shoulder and slammed his back to the floor.
Two quick movements, and suddenly Charlie was lying flat on his stomach, one of the cuffs slapped around his wrist. Obsidian twisted the loop of chain around Charlie's other wrist, pinning them behind the young man, and kicked the keys toward himself with his boot.
A flick of the wrist, and he was free.
He snapped the second cuff around Charlie's wrist.
"Shit," the young man swore. He squirmed, his arms tied behind him. "Bloody hell."
"You did better than expected," Obsidian said. "Gemma likes you. She wouldn't want me to hurt you."
"Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"To find Gemma. If someone's shooting at people, she'll be in the midst of it."
The elevation chamber pinged just as he reached the doors and began to slide open.
Ingrid staggered out, blood splashed across her shirt and her eyes wild.
A dash of quick footsteps alerted him.
An arm wrapped around his throat, yanking him back against a bigger body. Charlie got him in a chokehold, no sign of the cuffs.
"Sorry," Charlie gasped. "But I can't let you near the queen."
Obsidian hammered his head back and felt a sharp crack as the back of his head smashed into Charlie's nose. The young man fell back, but one of the cuffs was snapped around Obsidian's right wrist, binding the pair of them together.
"Guess you ain't going anywhere without me," Charlie said.
"How did you—?"
Charlie rubbed at his bleeding nose. "I'm the best thief in the business. You didn't think a set of cuffs was going to hold me?"
Fine.Obsidian stepped forward as Charlie danced lightly on his feet—
"We don't have time for this."
A boot swept his legs out from under him. Obsidian twisted like a cat as he went down, but there was no stopping the fall. He hit the marble and rolled, flinging his hands up to protect his throat as Ingrid pressed her boot there.
He gripped the boot, his breath rushing through him, and thought about it.
