Sarah admired his six pack and smiled. “That ought to do it,” she said.
“What is she up to?” she heard Scott ask.
“I have no idea,” Craig replied. “I can understand what she did to Jonathon, but if she has a score to settle with JD, I’ve no idea what it is and now is definitely not the time to be doing it.”
She blocked the conversation out and turned her attention back to JD. She backed off, allowing him to position himself ready for attack once more. He did so sooner than she had been expecting and she was fighting to defend herself. He was still not using all of his strength and skill against her and she knew it.
He got her against the far wall once more. Her sword arm was pinned in place, but her other arm was free and he wondered what she was going to do.
She made no attempt to free herself. Instead she whispered in his ear. “Are you as turned on as I am right now?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied. Being that close to her was definitely turning him on. Was that what she was trying to do? Was this how she hoped to put him off? She was playing some sort of game with him and he did not like it.
As she had a free hand, he braced himself for the punch, hoping that her left wasn’t as strong as her right, but she didn’t even try to hit him. Instead she ran her fingers down his chest, almost scratching him with her nails. He felt a chill of excitement run down his spine and his stomach muscles tightened. So that was why she had made him undress. That was going beyond fighting dirty. She was using herself against him instead of her skills.
“How about now?” she whispered.
He felt a stirring in his groin and jumped back out of her reach. “Bitch.” The word was out before he even realised he was speaking. He was angry with her. Very angry. He was always in control when fighting, but she had found a way to break through his defences.
“What just happened?” someone on the balcony asked. JD didn’t know who and didn’t care. He was too busy trying to calm himself down before he did something he would regret.
“He just lost his self-control,” Simon answered. “I have never seen him do that before.”
“Why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice low enough that those on the balcony couldn’t hear.
By now everyone was leaning over the balcony to get a better view. JD’s body had blocked Sarah from their line of vison so they had no idea what she had done, they just knew that something had angered JD and he did not lose his temper often.
“You’re clever,” she told him. “Work it out.” She was mocking him? Did she not realise what a dangerous game she was playing? Did she really want to win no matter what the cost? But if winning was all she was interested in, she could have done that long before now. No. She was stringing him along. She had plans for him and all he could do was play along with her until she revealed what they were.
“Sarah,” Craig called out from above. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but if you’re smart you’ll stop right now.” He sounded worried and he had every right to be. They had all seen JD go cold before, when fighting vampires, and knew how deadly he could be. They also knew how close she was to pushing him over the edge. Despite it being against the rules for him to talk to her, it was a risk Craig felt he had to take. He was worried about her life, not her assessment.
“Don’t worry,” she called back. “I know what I’m doing.”
Craig shook his head in disbelief. “Like hell you do.” She had never seen JD in a real fight so had no idea what she was talking about.
JD took a deep breath, willing himself to relax. If he hurt her he would never forgive himself.
“Didn’t you teach her rule 9?” Katie whispered to Craig.
“Of course I bloody well did,” he snapped at her. Then he turned to Doc. “She’s going to get herself killed out there. Can’t you stop this?”
“No,” he replied. “JD has himself back under control. Let’s see how this plays out.”
“If JD doesn’t kill her,” Craig mumbled, “I’m sure as hell going to.”
Sarah attacked once more, this time giving it all she had. JD parried and countered, expertly manoeuvring her into a position he could win from. His hold on himself was fragile so he needed this to end, and soon. He was leading her through a routine they had practiced many times together and they both knew where it would end.
Then she moved her sword in a way he hadn’t been expecting. It was a very dangerous move as she left herself exposed to attack with no way to defend in time. He was so surprised by the risky manoeuvre that her sword caught him on his forearm before he could move it out of the way. Blood trickled down and dripped onto the floor.
“First blood,” Doc called out. “Sarah wins. The fight is over.”
“Like hell it is.” She may have won, but there was no way he was going to let it end there. There was a lot more going on here than he was aware of and he wanted to know what.
He attacked her like he had never attacked anyone other than vampires or Sarah before, holding little back. She could handle it as they had fought like this many times before.
“JD,” Craig cried out in alarm, fearing for her life, but JD had no intention of killing her. He was in complete control and wouldn’t hurt her. And she knew it.
“Craig, calm down,” Scott said. “Look at her. She isn’t scared. She must have fought him like this before. She’s holding her own. So far.”
Both of them were dripping with sweat as Sarah backed away, not once losing her footing or missing a block. Then JD cheated. With a controlled, fluid movement, he swept her legs from under her, making her fall to the ground, hard.
Her breath was knocked out of her and he dived on top of her, pinning her to the ground, intending to make her talk. He gripped her wrists tightly and he knew he was hurting her, but he had to get her to release the sword she was holding. He twisted his hand and she cried out in pain, but still held on.
“Don’t interfere,” he heard someone on the balcony say and he knew they were having to physically restrain Craig, but he didn’t let it distract him.
“Let go of my sword,” he ordered. When Sarah obeyed, he relaxed his grip a little.
When he looked in her eyes, however, they were full of challenge. “Now you have me where you want me, what do you plan to do about it?”
She knew just how to play him and this time he couldn’t hold back. He kissed her, violently forcing his mouth onto hers and probing at her lips with his tongue. He almost pulled back in surprise when he felt her lips part, allowing his tongue to enter her mouth, where it was forcefully grabbed by her own.
Easing himself into a more comfortable position, he freed her left leg enough for her to curl it around his body, pulling him tighter against her. He released her arm, moving his hand to her head as he continued to kiss her. He felt her hand move up his naked back and settle in his hair. He half expected her to grab hold and pull his head away from her, but instead she gripped him tight, urging him to continue.
“That was worth the wait,” she said breathlessly when he eventually pulled away.
He kissed her again, rolling her over so she was on top. He needed the others to know that she was free to pull away if she wanted to. She made no move to do so.
“I can guarantee none of them had money on that happening,” Doc called down. “You’re still being watched you know.”
JD didn’t care and continued to kiss her. There was no way he was going to let having an audience stop him.
“We need to talk,” Sarah said when he allowed her to get her breath back.
“Agreed, but not here. Get showered and changed and I’ll take you somewhere more private.”
“Okay. Sorry about your arm by the way. That was an accident.”
JD collapsed back onto the floor and laughed. “You’re the first person to beat me since I qualified as a trainer and you say it was an accident.” He shook his head. “You really are unbelievable.”
&nb
sp; Leaving him lying there, she stood up to leave.
He rolled over to watch her. “Sarah.” She stopped and looked at him. “Don’t forget to clean my sword.” She walked up to the discarded weapon, picked it up and took it with her when she left the arena.
Craig slid down the pole. “What’s going on?” he asked as JD got to his feet.
“I honestly don’t know. But I intend to find out.” Before Craig could say anything else, he left the room.
He showered and changed clothes, then went to get Sarah. Doc, however, waylaid him. “I want a word.”
“Sorry Doc, but not now.”
“You may be the trainer here, but I still run this place,” Doc said, his anger boiling to the surface.
JD sighed. “I know what it is you want to know, but I don’t have any answers for you right now. I’ll come and see you as soon as I do. You have my word.”
I’ll make damn sure I can
There was an uncomfortable atmosphere in the car as JD drove through the Sanctuary gates. There was a lot that he and Sarah needed to talk about, but he didn’t know where to start. He still couldn’t believe that what had happened in the arena had been real and not his imagination.
“Talk,” he finally said. He needed an explanation from her. He glanced at her. She looked nervous, which was hardly surprising.
She told him everything. How she was attracted to him from the very start, but kept denying her feelings. She hadn’t volunteered for the extra training sessions in order to be ready for her assessment sooner, she just wanted to spend more time with him. She knew that there could never be anything between them and each time she thought that might change, he did or said something to remind her that he was her trainer and nothing else.
“So what was today all about?”
She blushed. “I overheard you talking with Doc. As soon as I heard you tell him you loved me, I realised we could have a future together. I heard your objections and knew I would have to get you to declare your feelings publicly so you could not deny everything later.”
“You were lucky you passed your assessment.”
“I didn’t care if I did or not. Today was all about winning you, not earning the right to go on a hunt.”
“I’m not sure I like your methods. You were playing a dangerous game. I could have hurt you. Badly.”
Sarah smiled. “No you couldn’t. I had every faith that no matter what I did, I would never be in any danger.”
“Then you’re an idiot,” he snapped at her. He took a deep breath. “Sorry. That was uncalled for. You don’t understand what a difficult position you have put me in.”
“Actually, yes I do. I overheard your entire conversation. You think you have to choose between being my trainer and my lover. I think you are wrong.”
“Sarah,” he said. “As your trainer, you have to obey my every command. That’s not what I want in a girlfriend.”
“So compartmentalise. I have to obey you when you are being my trainer and I don’t when you’re not. It might take us a while to work out where the boundaries lie, but I think I can cope with that. Can you?”
JD had to pull over to the side of the road before he crashed the car. He stared at her, reading her face. “You’re serious,” he said incredulously.
She nodded her head. He leaned back into his seat as his brain ran through everything her suggestion entailed. He closed his eyes as he thought. Sarah remained quiet, giving him the time he needed. She had had a week to work things out, he had just had this sprung on him, so she would give him as long as he needed.
Eventually he looked at her. “Do you realise what it is you’re suggesting?” She nodded her head once more. “Anything to do with my role as trainer you will have to obey me in. Fighting, training, hunting. Even anything that I deem affects anyone in that regard. It’s a pretty grey area. You will have to do as I say with no sarcastic comments or backchat. You haven’t managed it very well so far, so what makes you think you can do it going forward?”
“I will have a very good reason to. I challenged you so much as it was the only way to get to know you better. I don’t need to do that anymore.”
“Alright,” he said. “You will have to accept any punishment I feel appropriate if you do break the rules and you can’t intercede with me on the others’ behalf.”
“I know. I can live with that. But can you? Can you cope with me not obeying you when you are acting in your role of boyfriend instead of trainer?”
He leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll make damn sure I can.”
He then put the car into gear, checked his mirrors, took hold of her hand and continued driving, one handed.
He took her to the mountains. “I love this spot,” he said. “I come here whenever I need to be alone to think. I’ve been doing it a lot more since you came into my life.”
He led her down a trail to a lookout. The view was spectacular. “I can see why you come here,” she said.
He sat down on a rock, his back against a tree, and pulled her down in front of him so she was sitting between his legs and leaning back against him. He put his arms around her and hugged her tight. “You do realise that I am never going to let you go.”
Her reply was to turn around and kiss him.
“Can I ask you a question?” he asked when she settled down once more. He felt her nod her head. “The afternoon we had to stop training early because you couldn’t concentrate. You went to visit Alex’s grave.” She turned and looked at him, her eyes asking him how he knew. “I had Craig follow you,” he said, not feeling the least bit guilty for having done so. “What was wrong with you?”
She didn’t reprimand him for having Craig spy on her. It made her feel protected rather than stalked. “It was what you said about me having to behave in front of the others. The way you said it was the way it had to be made me believe that you could only ever be my trainer. I went to speak to Alex about my feelings and what I should do. I couldn’t go on training with you if that’s all it would ever be so I had to decide if I was going to leave the Sanctuary for good.”
“I didn’t realise you were that upset. You seemed fine the next day.”
Sarah wrapped her fingers in JD’s. “Alex helped me decide to stick with it. You were worth fighting for. I would continue to find a way to have you as my trainer and my lover and if I couldn’t, I would give up the training. I just needed to find out how you felt about me and that was a lot harder to do than it should have been.”
“Everyone else knew how I felt about you. Well not exactly how I felt,” he amended, “but that I liked you. A lot. According to Doc it was obvious.”
“Yet they never told me? I’ll be having words with them about that.”
Sarah’s phone rang and she looked at who was calling her. She answered, then immediately hung up. She switched it off before returning it to her pocket.
“Craig?” JD asked. She nodded.
Then his phone rang. He saw who it was and didn’t answer.
“Jonathon?” He nodded.
“Speaking of which. Were you never attracted to him? The way your face lit up the first time you saw him suggests otherwise.”
Sarah laughed lightly. “And you called me an idiot. It wasn’t him that grabbed my attention, it was you. It was the first time I saw you in your hunting suit and you took my breath away.”
“I see. So this is just lust then is it?”
She was saved from answering when JD’s phone rang once more. Again he saw who it was and didn’t answer it.
“They’re going to give you a hard time about the rules around dealing with me when we get back you know,” he said and grinned when he felt her stiffen.
“What do you mean?”
“Well I know you broke at least two today. Never touch my sword and never make me angry.”
She leaned forward then twisted around to look at him. “You know about the rules?”
He winked at her. “I’ve always known about them. I find it rather a
musing that they need rules to be able to cope with me. And that you kept breaking them, especially at the beginning.”
“You don’t want me to mention this to them, do you?”
“No, I don’t,” he said and kissed her.
“So I can’t talk to them about anything you tell me and I can’t talk to you about anything that they say or do. Is that right?”
“Sounds right to me,” he said and started to caress her neck. “Oh for God’s sake,” he exclaimed when his phone rang once more.
“It may be important,” Sarah said when he ignored it again. “How do you know they haven’t been called out on a hunt? I know it isn’t dark yet, but Craig told me that sometimes vampires don’t wait till night time.”
“They can go without me. This is more important right now.”
They continued to talk, and ignore the phone. The sun was beginning to get low when JD’s phone rang yet again. “This one I have to get,” he said as he hit the answer button. “Silvia, what can I do for you?”
Sarah couldn’t hear what Silvia said, but she worked it out from JD’s reply. “To be honest I hadn’t really thought about it, but now you mention it, it will probably be a good idea if we eat out tonight.”
“Why?” Sarah asked once JD had hung up.
“I’m not ready to face anyone yet. I know they wouldn’t dare say anything to me, but you’re going to be in for a hard time and I would rather postpone that as long as I can.”
She kissed him then settled down again. “So tell me all about these female lawyers you keep bedding,” she said.
“How do you know about that?”
“Your family talk. Especially about you when you aren’t around. You seem to be their favourite topic of conversation.”
“Oh.” He had no idea they talked about him when he wasn’t in the Sanctuary. “By the way, it’s our family, not just my family. I would have thought you would be used to that by now.”
“Stop changing the subject.”
“A lot of lawyers are sex addicts. They like to celebrate, or drown their sorrows, after a verdict by having sex. Often with opposing council.”
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