Most people thought fighting was about power and speed. And it was. But it was also about messing with the opponent’s head. Faking left and going right was the simplistic version of that.
She inched closer to him. “You’ll regret pulling that punch,” she said, then jabbed at him with her fists. She was at a significant disadvantage. Her arms were shorter than his, and just as she expected, he blocked her with ease. But counting on the fact that he wouldn’t make an aggressive move, she turned and slammed her body against his, pushing him hard into the wall.
She heard his moan a millisecond after the thud of his body against the solid Plexiglas.
“Alessa, I don’t want to do this.” The way he said her name, the apology in his tone, sent warmth through her heart. It was her downfall, the momentary distraction. She was already at a disadvantage trying to hold down his large body with her smaller one. Before she knew it, Luke had spun her around and pinned her arms to her back. He held her close, his grip firm. Focusing on the rise and fall of his chest, she calculated her next move. She wasn’t going to let him get inside her head again.
In a normal fight, he could put a knee to her back and push her to the mat, but instead he leaned closer to whisper in her ear.
“You underestimate me. Maybe I was just making you comfortable to get the better of you.” If the words were meant to be menacing, they were badly delivered. His breath was ragged in her ear, his voice thick and throaty. Is he also having trouble concentrating? She shook off the thought. He was trying to distract her.
She kicked behind her, catching Luke in the knee. Hard enough that he grunted and loosened his grip just a fraction, which was all she needed to free herself from his grasp. She whipped around to face him in their now-familiar standoff.
His eyes smoldered. Her entire body burned. I could end this now, say I’m not feeling well. Fighting Luke was a kind of torture she didn’t need. It didn’t matter what he did or did not feel for her. There was at least a flirtation between them and the entire team was watching. Try as she might, she couldn’t focus on the fight and the guys would know it. She needed to be above reproach to counteract everything that had happened in Kuwait. The guys had all been in the pit with her; they knew she didn’t fight this sloppily.
Time to focus. Whenever she was in over her head in a fight, she thought about her father. It was a good tactic to bring in a rush of anger that helped her overcome any pain or doubt. The trick had never failed her. But now, all she could think about was the way he was looking at her. No man had ever looked at her that way. More importantly, no man had ever made her feel the way Luke was right now. Like she mattered. Like he cared. Shake it off Alessa, it’s not real. But she couldn’t.
A bang on the Plexiglas made them both flinch. Rodgers held up his hands in a gesture of confusion. They’d been standing there without doing anything for several minutes. Alessa took a breath. She had to get through this; if the guys thought there was anything other than a professional relationship between her and Luke, her career was over.
I need to end this. Rodgers was still miming, and while Luke’s attention was on the other man, she charged at him with everything she had. She crashed into him as she intended, but he twisted away. Before she could deliver her final blow, he pivoted and crouched at the same time. He knocked her off her feet. She landed on the padded floor but not before she managed to sweep her leg under his. She turned immediately, intending to get up before he regained his balance but he was too quick. He rolled over top of her to keep her down.
His face was less than an inch away from hers, their noses nearly touching. His blue eyes drew her in and she found herself unable to look away. Even though she knew it was crazy, she felt as if a riptide was pulling her into the depths of his soul.
They were both frozen, unsure of what to do with such intimate contact. “We’re ending this.” Luke said softly. He shifted his weight with a clear intention to let her up.
As soon as she had room to move, she shoved against his chest and his grunt told her she’d successfully knocked the wind out of him. It was a provocation. His eyes flashed at her, a clear warning that she was playing with fire. But Alessa wasn’t going to let up. Never in her life had she been so aware of every nerve in her body. She wasn’t ready to let go of whatever it was that was igniting her from the inside.
She was still in a vulnerable position and this time he didn’t go easy on her. He returned her jab and attempted to pin her back down but she was quicker, managing to twist away from him while delivering a few kicks. Luke had asked them to train with their shoes off, partly to avoid serious injuries but also because shoes add an inch or so to the foot. If they got used to kicking with bare feet, the extra shoe length in real combat would maximize their contact with an opponent. Alessa had trained barefooted in martial arts gyms, breaking boards with her hands and feet. She knew all about aiming past the target to maximize her blow and she used this training to the fullest. Luke moaned after a particularly vicious jab that she managed to land on his solar plexus. When she paused to make sure she hadn’t gone too far, Luke came at her within a second and she forgot all about her concern. Now that they were in the throes of the fight and he’d stopped handling her delicately, she was enjoying their encounter. Luke was good. Better than the rest of the team, even Rodgers.
He managed to get her against the wall. “What are you doing, Alessa?” he snarled, his breaths coming fast and heavy, blowing warm air against her ear.
What am I doing? He had given her plenty of chances to get out of this; why wasn’t she taking them?
“I want us to finish this exercise,” she squeezed through a closed throat. He had her pressed tight against the Plexiglas and her lungs were starting to burn. As if realizing that, he eased up just a little, enough that she could take a full breath but not so she could get the upper hand.
“You want to finish the exercise, you got it.”
He twisted her arm behind her back. Alessa knew what he was trying to do. He would pin her to the floor so she couldn’t get up. Like a wrestling match, it would effectively end the exercise.
Taking a breath, she twisted her shoulder, wrenching her arm tighter against him. Luke swore under his breath. There was only one way he could keep her down and that was to put a knee in her back and slam her head into the floor. It was a vicious move and she needed to find out whether he’d use it on her. She knew without a doubt the other guys wouldn’t hesitate to be rough with her.
“Why are you so stubborn?” he asked through gritted teeth as she continued to struggle against him. Her shoulder and arm burned, but she didn’t care. Pain was something she understood, something she could deal with. The feelings Luke was bringing out in her were something she could not.
He placed a hand between her shoulder blades. Rather than knee her back, he was going to force her down with his hand. It was a kinder, gentler way, but just as effective, so she wrenched her shoulder as hard as she could against his hand.
Something popped in her shoulder and a searing pain traversed her arm. She cried out, then collapsed.
LUKE KNEW THAT the floor was padded and Alessa wouldn’t be seriously hurt if she fell, but he couldn’t stop himself from catching her. He gestured to the team and they came rushing through the door. Rodgers had some basic medic training.
“She dislocated her shoulder,” he said immediately. While Luke was no medic, the protruding knob on her shoulder was clear as day. Her face twisted in pain as she clutched her arm, and his chest burned. What was I thinking? He’d known from the moment he stepped into the ring that this would end badly. When Rodgers first asked him to fight Alessa, he should’ve declined. She wasn’t one of the guys, and treating her like one had gotten her injured.
Luke yelled for someone to get the medic kit. While Rodgers