Ninja Assassin: Attraction

by Sally Keira

  And then there was Lawso. Kaiya noticed her own growing attraction to him despite her efforts to ignore him and keep focused on her training. The man was laid back yet also cocky and devilishly good looking. She could almost forget what a dangerous killer he must be. He had a way of looking at her with those bright blue eyes that she found uncomfortable at times. To Kaiya’s irritation it seemed that Lawso even knew what effect he was having on her. Without a doubt, Lawso had a way about him that drew other people to him, including the other opponents. His laugh was infectious, as was his Aussie sense of humour.

  Over the weeks Lawso had been quite playful toward her and seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of her. It was almost as if he was entertained by her feisty nature. This surprised her because usually men were warier of her once they knew what her temper entailed. But not Lawso. Kaiya had even taken a swing at him several times. On those occasions, he had just blocked her attacks and chuckled at her spirited response to him. She felt him getting under her skin and she caught herself thinking about him a bit too often. And the way he had smiled knowingly at her when he had caught her checking him out a few times, was irritating. The cocky bastard knew how good he looked! But throughout all of these weeks Kaiya had remained determined that Lawso would not be getting in her pants.

  The half-way point of the training program eventually arrived. By this stage the opponents had still not met the faceless Sensei. The commanding voice merely announced via loud speaker that the opponents were to be rewarded with having the evening and following day off to rest. This was the first time they had been given a proper break, the training had been relentless to date. By the evening of the announcement Kaiya had already used the bath and the men were taking off to the vacant bath pool to relax. Lawso unexpectedly remained behind.

  “Want to spar with me, Kaiya?” Lawso challenged her in an arrogant tone.

  Kaiya considered declining, but hesitated when Lawso removed his shirt despite the cool air. It was annoying how difficult she found it to keep her eyes off his ripped chest.

  “See something you like again?” Lawso asked in typical Lawso fashion, tossing his shirt on the ground.

  He was unbelievable. She wanted to punch that smirk off his face.

  “Actually no, your chest doesn’t have enough bruises. But don’t worry I can fix that,” she declared confidently, striding toward him.

  “You pick which style of sparring,” Lawso offered.

  “Karate then,” Kaiya decided, stretching briefly.

  Kaiya stood facing him. Her opening stance was low and short, with fists ready. Lawso grinned in anticipation, amused by the deadly expression on Kaiya’s face.

  Although his reach was superior, Lawso allowed Kaiya to strike first. Without hesitation Kaiya slid forward, forward punching with the same side as her leading foot, pulling her other fist back to her waist. Obviously not expecting such a forcible opening blow, Lawso mistimed his block. Kaiya’s leading two knuckles thudded into the side of his chest. The impact was strong, sharp and precise, in synchrony with her kiai shout of attack. Lawso staggered slightly backward in surprise.

  “No gentle warm-up jabs then?” He realised, no longer smirking.

  “Not for you,” she said smugly.

  In retaliation, Lawso also attacked straight forward. He employed a reverse punch, which meant his leading fist was opposite to his front foot. Because he had twice her upper body strength, he had a preference for punching when facing her. His fist was met by Kaiya’s accurate upper rising block. In a counter-attack her leg swung low, with the blade of her foot and toes pointed downward in a side kick. Given her smaller size, it was tactical to target his lower body. Women fighters also had better hip flexibility. So she was well aware that she could do more damage to vulnerable points by attacking from the side. However, Lawso’s reflexes were fast and he knew her style of fighting well by now. He successfully applied a downward block to stop her leg and retaliated again without hesitation.

  Kaiya knew she had lost the element of surprise against Lawso over the weeks because he no longer underestimated her. She had even noticed him observing her fighting technique more closely than the others did. However, to her amusement Lawso deliberately avoided landing blows on her face, the only one of the men to do so. This did not stop her from aiming at his face during training. If he wanted to hold back because she was a woman then that would be his downfall. She would show him!

  Kaiya concentrated on the sound of their breathing, and the thudding of fists and feet making contact. She preferred striking with kicks when fighting against him. That way she could manage a longer reach than his arms. Lawso seemed to be enjoying their bout. But Kaiya remained serious. Her hits became increasingly harsher, even though they were required to hold back in training to prevent serious injury. Something about this man was driving her crazy, so she even tried to hurt him now.

  Lawso realised she was going in too hard.

  “Control your hits, beautiful. Let’s not have any injuries,” he reminded her.

  Kaiya frowned at the endearment.

  “Anata wa totemo utsukushii desu,” Lawso insisted.

  You are beautiful, he had just told her. His Japanese pronunciation was spot on. Which one of the men had taught him how to say that? Distracted, her middle block failed and Lawso impacted a spritely jab to her stomach. He chuckled in awareness that his comment had thrown her focus off. This frustrated her.

  “Just keep your arrogant, flirty mouth shut,” Kaiya demanded.

  “Not a chance, I like watching you get flustered,” Lawso teased.

  Spinning, Kaiya employed an unexpected back kick with her heel. But not only did Lawso avoid her blow, when she turned again he jabbed her repeatedly on her upper chest. He was careful to avoid her breasts, as part of their unspoken agreement that she would also avoid hitting his balls. Lawso easily danced out of the way before her swinging leg could strike back. Somehow another mild jab hit her shoulder. Again, Lawso jumped out of her range rather than just blocking her counter-attack. Her frustration became anger when she swiped at air again. He was playing with her.

  “You keep missing, beautiful,” Lawson goaded.

  An uppercut to Lawso’s chin snapped his head back. And snapped him out of teasing her. It was a good blow but the force of her strike was unnecessary in a sparring match.

  “I didn’t miss that one,” Kaiya snapped.

  He was done playing with her after that. Circling her, he exhaled deeply to retain his control over his rising testosterone-fuelled temper. Had he been facing anyone else, his next strike would have undoubtedly turned bloody in retaliation. But he would retain his control against her.

  “That’s enough of that, Kaiya, we’re just sparring here,” Lawso warned her, speaking through teeth clenched.

  Her response was a fierce roundhouse kick with the ball of her foot (with toes curled and foot turned sideways), toward his jaw. Had Lawso not successfully employed an upper rising block, she might have broken his jaw or knocked him out.

  “I said that’s enough!” Lawso declared, narrowing his eyes at the smug look on her face.

  “I guess you don’t want to play anymore then,” Kaiya smirked.

  “Oh, I want to play,” Lawso said.

  Using his strength advantage he unexpectedly charged her, roughly tackling her to the ground. Lawso was so quick that Kaiya was caught off guard. In utter surprise she found herself restrained in the dirt beneath his hard body. He pressed her legs in place with his stronger thighs and pinned her wrists to the ground above her head with his hands. Unable to move, Kaiya was shocked to realise that Lawso had secured her petite body beneath his stronger one. How had he gained this advantage on her so quickly? And why did she feel a tingle of excitement from being overpowered like this?

  “Are you trying injure me?” Lawso stared down intensely into her green eyes.

  His mouth was only inches from hers. There was anger in his expression, but something else too. She wondered i
f he wanted to throttle her.

  “Maybe,” she murmured, with a naughty look in her eye.

  Kaiya bucked her hips to test his restraint. Lawso’s eye’s flashed dangerously when she only succeeded in rubbing her groin against his obvious erection, through their pants.

  “Mmmm,” Lawso groaned deeply in response to her thrust. “Can’t get up now, can you?”

  Lawso was taunting her. The chemistry between them was at bursting point.

  “Let me go, Lawso,” Kaiya panted, realising she was at his mercy.

  “Nope. I like you just where you are,” he told her, his lips even closer to hers now.

  Again, Kaiya squirmed about under his hold, still unable to free her wrists or her legs. Further bucking only resulted in further grinding against his cock. Clearly the smirk on his face meant that he liked her struggling beneath him. He was enjoying holding her in this comprising position. His gaze dropped over her lips, lingering there.

  “I think you like this,” he said.

  He was so close that his lips deliberately brushed ever so lightly against hers when he spoke. Her breath caught. Her heart pounded in her chest. Time stretched…

  And then his lips roughly crushed against hers. His kiss was fierce and possessive at first, igniting a response from her. She liked how aggressively he claimed her mouth. The hot caressing movements of his lips awakened a sweet ache deep within her core. His lush tongue stroked and played with hers, as he skilfully deepened the kiss even more. Kaiya fought further against the commanding restrain of his hard body by tugging on her secured wrists, but to no avail. Her traitorous mouth lapped up his kisses, enjoying the domination of his lips and tongue. Kaiya breathed in his raw masculine scent, while his hot mouth continued moving against hers in delicious assault. Consumed by passion, and turned on by being enclosed in the hold of this hard, sexy man, she released a feminine moan from her kiss-swollen lips.

  “I need to touch you,” Lawso said.

  Swapping Kaiya’s wrists to a single handhold, Lawso could now touch her with his free hand. His fingers and palm stroked down her cheek, through her hair and then lower still. While he distracted her with more tender kisses, he reached under her shirt to roughly cup one of her breasts. He slipped his hand under her bra and teased a nipple with his thumb and finger, earning another soft sigh from her lips. At the same time, he pressed harder with his pulsing cock against the crotch of her pants. Kaiya liked that too and continued moaning into his delicious mouth.

  "I've wanted you since I first saw you," Lawso said.

  His other hand released her wrists. He wound his fingers through her hair with his newly free hand, whilst his other hand continued to caress and knead her breasts.

  “I know you have,” she smiled knowingly, before slamming her lips back against his.

  Kaiya's own hands urgently explored the muscles of Lawso’s neck and biceps. Her fingers trailed through the sandy hair on his hard-muscled chest.

  “You’ve wanted me too,” Lawso said.

  “You’re so sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Kaiya said.

  “Yes.”

  Kaiya surprised him by managing to flip them, so that she was now on top of him.

  “Mmmm, I like you on top of me,” Lawso nodded his approval at her aggression, eagerly cupping her butt with both of his hands.

  They continued kissing and gyrating against each other, possessed by need for each other. Lawso enjoyed Kaiya’s passionate response. He very much liked touching her, stroking her, groping her. He had been dying to do so all this time. She was toned with muscle, yet also femininely soft and perfectly curvy, just as he had anticipated. He hungered to strip the clothes off of her so that he could stroke all of her luscious body. His lips could not get enough of her. He was hungry to kiss her everywhere….

  Kaiya felt hot and aroused. She was turned on by his masculine smell and the roughness of his stubble scraping her face. Her hungry mouth enjoyed his sensual onslaught. Her hands were greedy to explore all of him and she was damp with desire from rubbing herself against his cock. Caught up in the passion of the moment, her resolve that Lawso was not going to get into her pants was long forgotten.

  Laughter interrupted them. It was Satoshi, who had quietly re-entered the dojo with the others close behind him. Kaiya abruptly pulled her lips away from Lawso’s. The other opponents were all standing there inside the courtyard smirking at them.

  “You two look cosy,” Kazuo said, shaking his head in feigned disapproval.

  Kaiya groaned in embarrassment, hiding her face in Lawso's neck. Lawso just held her against him, still on top of him. His hands were still cupping her butt, and he kept them there.

  “What’s in your hands, Lawso?” Anton asked.

  “Keep walking, you pricks,” Lawso said, with a hint of amusement.

  “I’m off to bed,” Yoshito said, somewhat indifferent.

  “Very amusing,” Satoshi said. “See you all tomorrow.”

  After the others left, Kaiya looked down into Lawso's intense blue eyes and they watched each other for a moment. They continued lying together in the uncomfortable dirt under the stars. Lawso did not break eye contact as he lightly stroked her full lips with his index finger.

  "I'm going to go upstairs to bed,” Kaiya eventually broke the tension.

  "Stay a while," Lawso murmured as he pulled her hips against him, and reclaimed her lips in a slower tantalising kiss.

  She moaned softly into his kiss as he tugged sensually on her bottom lip. Eventually, she pushed off his bare chest and put some distance between them.

  "I'm going upstairs to bed," Kaiya repeated, possibly as much to herself as to him.

  Lawso reached for her again but she rolled out of his reach and rose from the ground.

  “This can’t happen again,” Kaiya told him, regaining her composure. “I have worked so hard to get here. It is ok for you because you’re a man. But I don’t want to throw away respect earned by hooking up with another opponent. This is not what I’m here for.”

  “Kaiya, you’ve already earned everyone’s respect. Don’t worry about the others. They guys aren’t shocked, they already knew I wanted you. It was only a matter of time.”

  “Unbelievable!” Kaiya fumed at him, shaking her head at his arrogant comment. She did not want to hear any more.

  “What?” Lawso protested innocently.

  “You’re such a cocky bastard!” Kaiya muttered, as she stormed off and left him there in the dust.

  ***

  When Kaiya joined Satoshi, Kazuo and Anton for breakfast the next morning she was greeted her with woof whistles and teasing jeers.

  “All of you can get stuffed,” Kaiya said, even though the main culprit was Kazuo.

  "Kaiya Takahashi, I never thought I'd see the day where you would get so distracted from your training!" Kazuo couldn’t resist tormenting her further.

  Kaiya took the bait and snapped back at him by attacking his friendship with Yoshito.

  “Yeah, and I never thought I’d see the day when you became chums with Yoshito! He is working for Tadao, you traitor!"

  Obviously, she had hit a nerve because Kazuo slammed his bowl across the room and it shattered on the floor.

  "It's not my fucking blood feud, we're all tired of the pointless bloodshed!" Kazuo yelled at her, before he turned and stormed out of the kitchen.

  Anton yawned obnoxiously into the silence of the room and loudly slurped down his breakfast. When he rose from the table to leave, his boots carelessly crunched over the broken pieces of the bowl. Then he burped loudly as he stalked out of the room.

  Satoshi turned toward Kaiya. “Are you ok?”

  She nodded, actually annoyed that she had started a fight with Kazuo.

  "I'm pretty sure Kazuo was just joking around," Satoshi added.

  Kaiya sat there looking miserable. Perhaps she had over-reacted to Kazuo teasing her. But she knew she had a point about him befriending Yoshito. Her irritation over their friendship ha
d been brewing for some time. The pair’s friendship was not going to bode well for anyone when they returned to Tokyo. Kaiya sat quietly stewing and was grateful when Satoshi changed the subject.

  “Before you came to breakfast, Yoshito and Lawso took off into the forest. Yoshito said he had seen tracks yesterday for a wild boar and Lawso decided he'd like to put that boar on a spit.”

  Satoshi realised that he held Kaiya’s attention. “The others are going to build a fire pit. I’m going to build the spit while they’re gone. Want to assist me?”

  “Sure, why not,” Kaiya agreed.

  Satoshi probably did not need any help but Kaiya was glad to have something to do. They left the dojo together and set to work in the forest, chopping down various lengths of wood. After they carried it all back inside the dojo, Kaiya helped hold the pieces in place whilst Satoshi nailed most of his contraption together. It looked like Satoshi had done this before.

  Kazuo later entered the courtyard, and dumped a bag full of small stones on the ground that he had collected from the stream. While spreading them together in a flat long rectangle on the ground, Kazuo frowned up at Kaiya.

  “Why is she helping?” Kazuo said.

  He was clearly still fuming at her. Although she knew Kazuo often stewed for hours when he got angry, his expression nevertheless stirred up more fury in her.

  With her hands on her hips, she stood glaring back at him. “I’ll do what I want, traitor.”

  Anton entered the dojo then carrying a huge pile of chopped firewood.

  “This will do us,” Anton bragged.

  Anton probably thought he was the strongest of the men and was clearly showing off. Probably because he lacked other talents, Kaiya thought. Anton dumped his wood pile nearby and arranged several chunks of wood on top of Kazuo’s stones for burning later.

  Satoshi went to work securing the supported poles for the spit at either end of their makeshift fire pit. It was a pretty good team effort, despite the anger lingering in the air.