DARK ANGEL'S SEDUCTION

by I. T. Lucas

  She shrugged. “I figured my generous hospitality deserved a little something in return.” She turned to Yoram. “If you want to crash at my place while visiting Los Angeles, you can put in some work. Except for love, and you have mine, nothing in life is free.”

  At first glance, the guys seemed intimidating. Standing with their hands clasped behind their backs, their feet parted in a military stance, they looked dark and dangerous. But as soon as Yoram smiled and started his friendly banter with Karen, the knot in Tessa’s stomach eased.

  Sharon elbowed her. “Yum.”

  “Uh-huh.” They were handsome, but neither could hold a candle to Jackson.

  “Ladies, as I’ve said before, you need to practice your moves on real men in real situations,” Karen continued. “Yoram and Gadi are both tough commando soldiers. I know because I trained them both. They can take whatever you dish out. They’ll be wearing groin protectors, so that area is not off limits. The only thing you shouldn’t do is the eye-gouging move I taught the class before last.”

  Tessa grimaced, and she wasn’t the only one. Karen’s no-nonsense fighting technique was brutal in the extreme.

  “Both men are well trained, are in peak health, and weigh around two hundred pounds each. The odds are that you will never encounter a heavier or stronger assailant. Let’s see if you can take them down.”

  Karen turned to the guys. “Suit up, boys, and protect those family jewels. I want to see babies from both of you.”

  Their tough Krav Maga instructor was an interesting cross between a drill sergeant and a pushy mother.

  Sharon smirked. “I would like a go at those family jewels.”

  “Stop it,” Tessa hissed in her ear. “They’ll hear you.”

  “No, they won’t.”

  “Whatever, it’s not my problem. If you want to flirt with Karen’s friends, it’s your business.

  “Sharon, darling, how about you go first?” Karen’s mocking tone convinced Tessa that she’d overheard her friend.

  “Sure.” Sharon sauntered to the mat area.

  The instructor took her by the shoulders and turned her around. “You just stand there, like you’re waiting for a bus. Gadi will come at you from behind and grab you. Try to get free.”

  “Got it.” Sharon rotated her shoulders as if she was a fighter getting ready for a match.

  Tessa rolled her eyes. Her co-worker was one of the worst students in the class. She was in for some major humiliation.

  “Go!” Karen gave the command.

  Gadi rushed toward Sharon’s back. Catching her around her waist, he lifted her off the ground with one arm as if she weighed nothing and closed his other hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming for help.

  The knot in Tessa’s stomach tightened, and she swallowed hard to stop bile from rising up her throat.

  It’s not real. It’s not real, she kept repeating in her head as Sharon thrashed in a futile attempt to get free, pin-wheeling her legs as if she’d learned nothing.

  Gadi pushed her face down to the mat and pounced on top of her, pinning her hands behind her back.

  Karen clapped her hands. “Okay, Gadi, that’s enough. Sharon, you can get up.”

  The guy sprang back to his feet and offered a hand up to Sharon, whose face was redder than a ripe tomato.

  Addressing the class, Karen waved a hand in Sharon’s direction. “See? This was an excellent example of what not to do when someone grabs you from behind.”

  Hands on her hips, Sharon hung her head in shame.

  The instructor clapped her on her back. “Let’s try this again. But this time you do what I taught you, eh?”

  Sharon nodded.

  “Do you need a moment?”

  “I’m good.”

  Karen clapped her on her back again. “Good, good. This time I’ll have Yoram come at you, so you won’t know what to anticipate. Ready?”

  Sharon nodded.

  Yoram grabbed her the same way Gadi had, but used both arms around her middle, pinning her arms to her sides.

  This time, Sharon didn’t panic and dropped down before he had a chance to tighten his grip. From her squatting position, she straightened, elbowed him in his tummy and ran. Exactly like Karen had taught them to do.

  After a few steps, she stopped and turned around. “You let me go. I know I couldn’t have gotten away from you if you really held on.”

  Yoram flashed his cute smile again. “I’m stronger and better trained than the average man. So I allowed for that. But if you want, we can do it again.”

  With a wink, Sharon shook her head. “Maybe after everyone else has a go and you’re tired.”

  He pointed a finger at her. “It’s a date.”

  Sharon turned and sauntered back toward the group, sashaying her hips, then looked back to catch Yoram ogling her ass.

  Someone was going to get lucky tonight.

  Karen, being the insightful woman she was, kept Tessa for last. The guys were good sports. Even though they were tired and sweaty, they both kept smiling and encouraging the women to do their worst.

  “Tessa, you’re next.” Karen beckoned her to the mat.

  Tessa took a deep breath and got in position. After watching Yoram and Gadi with the other women, she was okay with one of them grabbing her.

  Hopefully.

  The last thing she needed was a panic attack in front of all these women.

  Karen walked over to her and bent her knees, so they were eye to eye. “You’re small, Tessa. But that’s actually an advantage. First of all, no one expects you to fight. You look like easy prey. Use it to your advantage. The faster you respond, the better. The moment he grabs you from behind, make yourself limp as a noodle and drop to the ground. Take a step forward, and while you’re getting up, use the momentum to kick him in the groin as hard as you can, then run while he’s nursing his balls. Got it?”

  “Got it.” Tessa glanced at Gadi.

  He cupped himself, tapping his knuckles on the rigid protection over his family jewels. “Don’t be afraid to hurt me. Kick like your life depends on it. Your foot is probably going to hurt more than my nuts. ”

  She nodded and turned her back to him.

  Gadi lunged at her, gripping her not too gently. But Tessa had practiced this move so many times, the response was instinctive. She didn’t need to think what to do next, she didn’t need to think at all. She just acted. Turning her body limp as a noodle, she dropped the second she felt him coming at her, not giving Gadi a chance to get a good grip. She turned exactly as Karen had told her to, delivering a roundhouse kick to Gadi’s protected family jewels.

  Somehow, her kick was powerful enough to send the two-hundred-pound man flying back to land on his butt, gripping his injured privates and writhing on the floor.

  Shit, he’d lied to her. Her foot hurt only a little, while he looked like he was in real pain. Unless Gadi was pretending to boost her confidence. She eyed him suspiciously, but he was either a very good actor or hurting for real.

  Nevertheless, it had been a commendable performance. Hers as well as his.

  Karen was the first one to clap, followed by Yoram and then the rest of the class.

  Poor Gadi was still on the mat. Had she really hurt him?

  Tessa crouched next to him. “Are you okay? Is this for show, or are you really hurt?”

  He winked at her. “A little bit of both. Good job, Tessa.” He offered her his hand.

  Not sure if he wanted her to help him up or shake it, she opted for the safer route and tried to pull him up.

  If he hadn’t helped, Gadi would still be down on the mat. His two hundred pounds were more than double her weight.

  Karen pulled her away from the smiling Gadi, wrapping her arm around Tessa’s shoulders.

  “You see, ladies? This is what training can do for you if you practice the way you should. If Tessa can do it, so can you, eh?”

  Sharon clapped again, and the rest of the class followed. “Way to go, bada
ss!”

  Tessa grinned. She was a badass.

  Gadi came over and wrapped his arm around her middle, pulling her away from Karen.

  “How about we celebrate? Can I interest you in a drink? Or a cup of coffee with a Danish?” He leaned to whisper in her ear. “I’m not much of a drinker. I’m more of a coffee and cake kind of guy.”

  Unbelievably, Tessa felt flattered by his flirting, and not anxious at all. “If I weren’t engaged, I would’ve loved to. You’re an awesome guy.”

  He made a pouty face, which looked adorable on his rugged face. “That’s a shame. Do you have a friend you can hook me up with?”

  She glanced at Sharon, who was all over Yoram. “I think your friend called dibs on mine.”

  Gadi followed her gaze. “I see. Well, it seems like I’m on my own. Do you know which of these ladies are single?”

  “I do.” Tessa spent the next five minutes giving Gadi a rundown on each one of the unattached women.

  “Thanks,” he said when she was done. “I’d better get to work before they all scatter.” He rubbed his hands, a predatory gleam shining in his eyes.

  It seemed like another lady was going to get lucky tonight.

  Karen clapped her hands. “Listen up, ladies. I promised you dangerous jewelry, and I brought samples. Come take a look. If there is anything you like, there is a stack of order forms next to the display you can fill out. When you’re done, hand them to me.”

  Tessa had been waiting for that. After Karen had told them about the rings and bracelets that doubled as weapons, everyone had been looking forward to checking them out.

  “This one is simple.” She lifted a silver-toned ring with a pointy edge. “You use it as a knuckleduster.” Karen demonstrated, making a fist and punching the air with the sharp triangle pointing out.

  Tessa put it down on her order form.

  “This one is special.” Karen put on a heavy ring. “It has a retractable blade.” She pressed on one of the fake jewels and a tiny blade popped out. “Now I know what you’re thinking. What on earth can you do with such a small blade?”

  With a secretive smirk, she looked around at her eager audience, waiting for someone to make a suggestion. When no one had, she turned to Gadi. “Can you give me a hand?”

  He walked over, and Karen handed him duct tape. “Wrap it around my wrists.”

  When he was done, Karen used the tiny blade to cut through the tape. “This could also work on a rope. Or to gouge out an eye.” She jabbed the blade in the air at eye level.

  Tessa cringed again but added the blade ring to her order form.

  “The bracelet.” Karen lifted a plain looking metal cuff with several gaudy fake jewels glued to it. “This you can kill with.” She tugged on one of the jewels, pulling out a metal wire so thin it was barely visible.”

  Moving fast, she caught poor Gadi by surprise, holding the wire a few inches away from his throat.

  Gadi froze. “Careful with that, Karen.”

  Gasps sounded from all around.

  “I am, darling.” Karen kissed his cheek and carefully withdrew the wire. “This is so thin, you don’t need much force to cut someone’s neck. Very useful. But there is a caveat. You need to act fast and catch your nemesis by surprise.”

  Tessa added the deadly bracelet to her order. “Anything else in your bag of tricks?” she asked Karen.

  “Oh, there is plenty. But I didn’t bring it all. You can have spiky heels that can kill, sneakers with retractable blades, pendants with tracking devices. You tell me what you want, and I’ll bring a sample.”

  Tessa handed Karen the order form. “I don’t know what else there is. So how can I ask for it if I don’t know if it exists?”

  “Good point. I’ll bring the catalog next time.”

  “When will the stuff I ordered get here?”

  “A few weeks. Everything is made in China. Slow shipping.”

  That was a shame. Tessa couldn’t wait to have all those gadgets. She’d feel like a real 007.

  Casting a quick glance at Sharon, she saw her friend was still busy flirting with Yoram. But it was okay.

  After today’s lesson, Tessa felt confident enough to go out into the dark street and walk to her car by herself.

  CHAPTER 17: JACKSON

  “All done,” Gordon announced. “I’m ready to hit the sack.”

  Jackson glanced at his watch. “Dude, it’s only eight-thirty.” He needed to talk to his friends about their future.

  Gordon was leaving at the beginning of the school year for the University of Arizona, and Vlad was starting Santa Monica College. At least he was staying in town.

  “I’m tired. I just want to get in bed and watch a few episodes of Rick and Morty before I fall asleep.”

  Both Gordon and Vlad were obsessed with the cartoon. It had a few funny episodes, but Jackson didn’t get their fascination with it.

  “I want to talk to you guys.”

  Gordon sighed. “About?”

  “What am I going to do when you guys are in college?”

  Vlad emerged from the kitchen with a six pack of soda cans. “I’m still here.”

  “Yeah, but how many hours can you work?”

  His friend folded his long and wiry frame into the front booth and popped the lid off one of the sodas. “I can still do the mornings, preparing the dough and doing the baking for the day, but I can’t stay after that.”

  That was better than nothing, but not enough. Jackson pushed his bangs back and slid into the booth next to Vlad. “I’m thinking about closing the café.”

  Gordon sat across from them and grabbed one of the sodas. “That’s extreme. Why don’t you hire a couple of humans?”

  “It’s not going to be the same without you guys.”

  Gordon put a hand over his heart. “I’m touched. But really, man, life goes on. You can’t expect things to stay the same.”

  “I know. It sucks. Vlad and I will need to find a new drummer for the band.”

  Jackson had known that one day they would need to part ways, but he’d hoped he had more time.

  “What about the new place?” Vlad asked. “The village needs someone to run the café over there.”

  The thought had crossed his mind. Nathalie couldn’t manage it for the foreseeable future, but Carol was doing fine without her.

  “Kian will probably close the one in the keep and Carol will manage the new one.”

  Gordon shook his head. “I overheard Bhathian talking about her training for some secret mission.”

  Jackson’s ears perked up. “And you kept it to yourself? Talk!”

  Gordon shrugged. “I don’t know what it’s about. Bhathian was talking to Andrew about it, and both of them were shaking their heads like it was the dumbest idea ever.”

  Whatever it was, Carol leaving the café was news to Jackson. Without her, there would be no one to run the old or the new place, and people would be majorly bummed if that happened. Besides, it was a wasted business opportunity.

  If he could figure out the logistics, maybe he could jump on it.

  “I can’t run the place by myself.”

  Vlad put his empty can on the table. “What about Onidu? He’s doing a fine job.”

  “If Amanda agrees for him to continue, then I might be able to pull it off. But I still need you to bake.”

  “I said I would.”

  For a few moments, the three of them sat in silence, thinking.

  Gordon lifted his head. “Maybe you could advertise a position on the clan’s digital bulletin board. Not everyone works full time. Before Carol took over Nathalie’s café, she was a bum. Does Sylvia work?”

  Jackson shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  The board was a good idea, though. Maybe some of those who had jobs would want to quit after moving to the village. The commute was going to be much longer. Besides, the place was so nice people would want to hang around.

  “Tessa and I applied for a house.”

&
nbsp; Gordon grinned and lifted his palm for a high five. “Congratulations, man. Moving in together is a big step.”

  “We didn’t hear from Kian yet. Maybe we need to be officially mated first.”

  Vlad toyed with his empty can, squeezing and bending it into different shapes. “That’s an even bigger step. Are you sure about it? You’re still a kid.”

  “I don’t feel like a kid. And yes, I’m sure.”

  Vlad flipped his long bangs back. “Then you’re lucky. I wish I could find a girl. I wouldn’t even mind a human.”

  Jackson sighed. “Tessa is still one.”

  Vlad patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. She will turn. The Fates would not have brought her to you just to dangle happiness in your face and then take it away.”

  That was exactly what Jackson was afraid of. “The Fates are not always kind. Sometimes I think that they like to play with us. They get bored and look for poor saps like me to mess with.”

  It felt both good and bad to finally voice his fears. He’d been keeping them inside him for too long, fronting optimism for Tessa’s sake.

  Vlad shook his head. “I don’t think the Fates are capricious. I think they just have a bigger plan than we can see.”

  Gordon pushed to his feet. “All this talk about Fates is one big bullshit. I’m going to bed. You guys can discuss philosophy without me.”

  Jackson nodded. “Goodnight, Gordon.”

  The guy took a few steps then turned around. “I’m sorry, Jackson. I know that you’re scared, and believing in some cosmic order makes you feel better. I shouldn't have said anything.”

  “No, that’s okay. You’re right. The moment I start relying on the Fates is the moment I start relying less on myself, which is not good. I will do what I can, and if the Fates want to help, that’s great. But if they don’t, it’s fine too.”

  Gordon smiled. “That's the Jackson we all know and love. One hell of a cocky bastard who thinks he can take on the world and win.”

  “You betcha.”

  CHAPTER 18: RONI

  Roni’s new throne room left a lot to be desired, but considering that it started with a hospital bed and an assortment of medical equipment, he couldn’t complain.