For some reason, Aaron’s comment pissed him off and Ethan reacted on pure instinct. He threw out a straight jab, going for Aaron’s mouth. Aaron ducked back, barely missing losing a few teeth.
“Oh, I struck a nerve. You really do like her.”
Aaron’s words fueled him, the irritation spurred through his body. Kate had struck a chord in him – an immediate tightly wound cord that she had no business touching. “She’s weak. She needs to learn how to control herself.”
He’d been able to read every individual flicker of emotion that flashed across her face, from the way her pouty lips turned down at the corners, to her overly bright green eyes that belied every thought. God, he was losing his mind. “Why don’t you give up? You never seem to come out on top in these matches.”
Aaron’s smile stretched wide, showing a flash of bright white teeth in his bearded face. “I have a feeling today is going to be my lucky break.”
“You said that the last time and I believe I kicked your ass then, too.” Ethan embraced the free flow of adrenaline their bare knuckled brawling brought on. Even more so when Ethan took his fellow teammate to the ground.
Aaron stopped moving and stared past Ethan’s shoulder. Ethan growled, “Come on man, don’t wuss out now.”
“Look.”
“You really think I’m falling for that?” Distraction was literally the oldest trick in the book.
Aaron continued to stare as if transfixed. “Oh man, I’m going to enjoy this.”
Ethan finally gave in and glanced over his shoulder, keeping Aaron in his peripheral. He caught a glimpse of black tights and a formfitting black shirt that displayed a generous wealth of cleavage. Ethan’s brain blanked. A jolt of awareness shocked his system into a semi-comatose state. The loose pants suit she’d worn earlier had hidden her form, a crime in itself. His gaze continued up to her eyes, which were narrowed on him.
Had she been standing there the whole time? Ethan fought the urge to groan. Freaking Aaron had known and baited him.
Ethan tried to mentally shore up his defenses against the undeniable spark between them, and then she smiled, transforming her entire face. The air left his lungs in a whoosh at the transformation. She was undeniably the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on.
He wanted her. Wanted her bad.
Footsteps pounded behind him, and before he could defend himself, Aaron took him to the ground and shoved his face in the mat. His hands were ripped behind his back and Aaron pinned him down with a thick elbow at the back of his neck. “Thanks for the assist, sweetness. I owe you one.”
Kate stepped into his line of vision, and Ethan caught a glimpse of toned calves before Aaron shoved him back down.
Kate squatted in front of him, “I didn’t do anything.”
“Trust me, sweetness, you did,” Aaron said.
Ethan had thought distraction the oldest trick, but he’d forgotten about the one that had been around since before Christ. Women.
And this one seemed intent on paying him back, something that he honestly couldn’t fault her for if she’d heard his earlier comments. Ethan relaxed, letting his cheek rest on the soft blue matt in Noni’s backyard.
Aaron dug his elbow a little harder, “Ready to admit defeat?”
“Too bad you’re not the one training me,” Kate said.
“You and me both, darling. Why everyone thinks this brute is such a better fighter than me I’ll never figure out.”
Aaron shifted his weight slightly, an inch of pressure relieved off Ethan’s back. Ethan could practically feel Aaron swelling with pride. Ethan roared to life. He shoved up and twisted into a powerful flip, throwing Aaron to the ground. Ethan shoved a knee into Aaron’s back and pinned him down. “They think I’m a better fighter because I am a better fighter.”
Ethan held him down, unwilling to let go until Aaron admitted defeat. “What do you say?”
Aaron mumbled something incoherent. Ethan dug his elbow into his back. “What was that?”
Ethan rode the wave of satisfaction and glanced up to see Kate watching him with an unreadable expression. Ethan winked, “Thanks for the assist, princess.”
CHAPTER SIX
Kate fought to keep her face blank even as her heart raced out-of-control in her chest. Ethan had shocked her to her core, and the triumphant look in his eyes was enough to completely melt her control. She couldn’t help but admire his quick thinking and his brute strength, even if he was a complete ass.
When he winked at her, she nearly jerked in response, her body yearning for those perfectly sculpted lips. Her libido broke out into a full blown booty shaking happy dance.
Kate turned away before he saw the open lust in her gaze. She was supposed to let him touch her? Train her? And come to grips with the fact he was the first man she’d ever really desired in years?
Hadn’t she learned her lesson at the CIA? Men objectified women and here Kate was ready to roll over with a single look.
She schooled her features and turned to see Aaron and Ethan standing up, both of them grinning and clapping each other on the back like they’d just won some big prize as opposed to fighting in the dirt like a couple of school boys. Kate snapped. “Are we going to start sometime today?”
“Sure you don’t need me to stay out here and help?” Aaron asked.
Ethan shook his head. “No, I’ve got this.”
“Alright, just scream if you need me.” Aaron passed Kate on the way back to the house and whispered, “Give him hell, sweetness.”
She watched him disappear inside, trying to figure out whose side he was on.
“Getting cold feet?”
Kate spun to see Ethan standing there with his arms crossed, biceps bulging with mouthwatering perfection, and smug expression on his face. Irritation sent her blood racing. He saw her as weak. “Around you? Give me a break, I can take you down blindfolded.”
“Alright then, let’s see what you got.” Ethan held up a hand and gestured for her to join him on the mat.
ETHAN stood at the edge of the blue padded mat, anticipation flooding his senses. He barely kept himself from scrubbing a hand over his mouth in appreciation for her curves.
She stopped about a foot away. “You don’t have to do this. Really.”
“Yes I do.”
“Aaron could just as easily take your place, it’s obvious you don’t want any part of this.”
Her words shocked him, even though he wished she spoke the truth, the thought of Aaron’s hands on Kate put him into a frenzy of jealousy. Before he could say anything she spoke again, “That’s it. I’m not doing this.”
She took a step away and Ethan’s arm shot out without thinking and he grabbed her arm. “Yes, you are going to do this and I’m going to be the one training you. Not Aaron. Not anyone else.”
Heat sizzled from her arm through his hand and they both locked gazes in a silent contest of wills. “Let go of my arm.”
“Make me.”
He sure as hell wasn’t about to let her ask Aaron, and now was a good a time as any to start testing her skills. Holden had filled him in on the past few years of Kate’s life, including the fact that the closest she’d been to physical combat was at a computer, so he was surprised by the firm muscles of her arm.
His hand slid down, testing the silky texture of her skin. Kate’s lips parted, drawing Ethan’s gaze to her mouth. There was no way in hell he’d make it through training her without tasting those lips.
Kate wind milled her arm in a large arc, broke his grip and caught him by surprise. He’d been so focused on her mouth he’d forgotten his own challenge. She dropped, sweeping her leg in a wide circle and caught him on the side of his shin. He barely felt her kick, but Kate dropped to the mat and grabbed her foot. “Ow.”
Amusement tinged his words, “Good idea but terrible form.”
She frowned up at him and rubbed her leg, “Bite me. I was just warming up.”
He held out his hand, but she ignored h
im and got to her feet without his assistance.
“Why don’t we start with you showing me what you know?”
Ethan took a step forward and Kate countered with a backward step, keeping at least a foot space between them.
“Good, but you’re too stiff, bend your knees, raise your hands up.” She followed his instructions, but her movements were wooden and unnatural. She’d fall as soon as anyone got close. Ethan circled her, taking the time to study her form and getting distracted by the curve of her perfectly round ass in those tight pants.
“What are you doing?” Kate asked between clenched teeth.
Ethan coughed and cleared his throat. “Be ready.”
“Come on. Attack.”
Ethan kept circling, showing Kate with his own body how he wanted her stance. After a few seconds, she relaxed into the crouch the way Ethan wanted. “Good, that’s better. Keep your hands like mine, ready to block.”
Ethan waited until she followed his instructions and darted behind her, snagging an arm around her neck, exerting enough pressure to hold her in place but not enough to actually hurt. Kate reacted, dropping her chin, but too slow, obviously knowing what to do but severely out of practice. “Focus. Break my grip. Strike my weak points.”
Kate strained against him and tried to nail his shin with her heel. Ethan read her move and side stepped. She snarled and tried again, and again he countered. Finally, he let go and she stumbled, catching herself before she face planted on the mat.
He came at her again, the same move, snaked an arm around her neck, but this time Kate froze instead of fighting.
“That’s it, now concentrate on dropping your chin. You want to break my hold.” Ethan felt every inch of her body pressed to his. Kate pulled his arm out and dropped her chin in one move, giving herself an inch to spare, then threw an elbow back and caught him in the side, and he let out a soft expel of breath as she hit her target. Ethan released her and Kate circled round at the ready. “How was that?”
“Much better, but next time I want you to follow through with a knee to the balls. You need to temporarily disable your attacker long enough to grab Caroline and escape.” Ethan hunched over, hands on his knees.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kate collapsed onto the bed with a loud groan, not bothering to try and keep the pain inside. “Oh my God, I haven’t been this sore since basic training at the Farm.”
Celine collapsed into the padded rocking chair near the foot of the bed and emitted her own groan when her butt made contact with the seat. “I’ve never been this sore in my entire life. Aaron Spears better be worth all this trouble, if he turns out to be a bust I’m going to be so pissed.”
Kate chuckled and rolled onto her side, eyeing Celine. “So did he ask you to help out? Or did Team Omega hire you?”
Celine closed her eyes and rested her head against the chair back. “Aaron asked me. At first I thought he was asking me to be his date for the wedding. It wasn’t until later that I found out his intent was really torture.”
Both of them had been working hard most hours of the day, constantly training, with Kate honing her skills and Celine learning completely new ones. “Well, no offense, but you have absolutely no experience in the protection or security. My money is on the fact that he wants you.”
“That’s what I thought too, but every time we get close, not training I mean, he backs off completely. I swear I’ve gotten more mixed signals from the man than I can keep track of. One minute he’s hot, one minute he’s cold, I just don’t know anymore.”
“At least he asked you, Ethan thinks I’m a pushy female trying to be a man, he can’t stand to be near me.” The way Ethan growled and snapped at her every mistake was doing serious damage to her already sagging self-confidence. And to top it off, whenever she got close to him, she panted like a dog in heat.
Celine sat forward and pinned Kate to the bed with an amused stare. “Honey, the man can’t keep his hands off of you.”
“That’s a no-brainer, he’s training me.”
“Yeah, he’s training you alright, and every time he touches you sparks fly. I’m just waiting on the moment he throws you down on the mat and devours you.”
“You’re insane, if sparks fly it’s because he’s so pissed off at being forced to train me.”
Celine crossed to the bed and perched on the edge, tucking a loose strand of her short platinum hair behind her ear. “I thought you were supposed to be smart or something.”
“Excuse me?”
Celine rolled her eyes, “A blind man can see he wants you. I guarantee you by the end of next week, you two will be hooking up.”
The image of her and Ethan, stretched out together on the bed locked in a hungry kiss filled her mind and Kate’s body flooded with heat.
“And you want him too!” Celine exclaimed.
“Do not.” Kate defended, suddenly feeling like a teenager with a crush. She could convince herself she didn’t want him in the least. He was too wild; she could see it in his eyes. He drove a motorcycle for crying out loud.
He didn’t have anything more than a leather saddle bag and his toiletries kit was in serious need of a new razor. He smelled too, like the earth, all raw and masculine. Not at all her type.
Ethan Slade was a loose cannon just waiting on the right match to set him off, and Kate didn’t want to be around when he exploded.
Celine grabbed her hand and pulled Kate off the bed. “Come on, let’s go to my room, I want to give you something.”
Kate allowed herself to be propelled out of her bedroom, across the hall. Celine let go to yank open her bedroom door and go inside, leaving Kate to stand, frozen, in the doorway. “What happened?”
Celine glanced around. “What do you mean?”
“It’s…it’s… did a bomb go off in here?” Kate said, each word rising, horror-struck at the insanity before her.
“It’s not that bad.”
The bedspread lay half-hazard across the bed, the whole top half touching the floor. Shirts lumped in heaps everywhere. Different color bra’s hanging off the chair. Make-up was strewn across the dresser, powder spilled in piles. A tremor worked through Kate, her entire being itching to either wipe the disaster zone clean or run screaming. “How can you live like this?”
When she’d first seen Celine, Kate had assumed she was as neat as herself. Celine’s hair was always perfectly styled in a bob and her clothing matched. She looked clean. But the real Celine was chaos.
“OCD, huh? My big sister had that problem. Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m looking for. Just have a seat on the bed.” Celine went to the open suitcase, laid out at an angle against the far wall.
“Um, I think I’ll stay right here.” Kate gripped the door frame and stared at the wall, trying to block out the insanity.
“Suit yourself.” Celine dropped to a knee and started throwing clothes over her shoulder.
Each piece fell in scattered disarray. The bed. The floor. The dresser. When the next shirt flew in Kate’s direction her hand shot out of its own volition and she caught it midair. Before she could stop herself, she lunged forward, snatching Celine’s clothing up into her arms. She turned to the bed to dump them. Nope. Kate dropped the clothes and yanked the quilt up, not stopping until the bed was made perfectly.
Then she stooped for the clothes and started folding. One sleeve over the other, crease down the middle, smooth out the wrinkles. Shirts went first. Then pants. When she finished, Celine’s clothes lay in a perfect row, sorted by type and color on the bed. Kate propped her hands on her hips, feeling a small measure of relief, until she saw Celine staring at her, wide eyed.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. You’re a machine.”
Kate tried to ignore the mess on the dresser in her periphery and focus on Celine, but her need for order over-threw her control. Celine dove in front of her just before she reached the first open tube of lipstick. “Nope. Don’t touch the make-up. I have a system.”
&nb
sp; “System’s involve order; you do not have anything remotely related to a system.” Kate made to reach for the lipstick. She already had the pattern worked out. Three bottles of base. Two-tubes of mascara. Eyeshadow. The mess practically screamed for help.
“Stop eyeing my stuff. I like it like this. Here, take this.” Celine shoved a bundle of clothes at Kate, forcing her to take them or allow them to hit the floor.
“What is this?” Kate held up the shirt first, a satiny emerald green tank top and matching spandex tights.
“Our new plan. This whole time I’ve been trying to blend in with the locals, dress for work you know? I should have been gearing up with the right kind of armor.”
“Armor? This looks like…like…” Something a stay at home mom wore to the grocery store.
“Yep, this whole week I’ve been completely losing hope. Aaron’s been doing nothing but looking and I’m ready for some touching. I’ve made it too easy on him.” Celine spun, and reaching into what must be a bottomless suitcase, pulled out a matching teal tank top and biker shorts. “No man can withstand the booty shorts.”
“I’m not wearing booty shorts.”
“I know, silly. That’s why I gave you the leggings.”
“This isn’t what you wear for training.” She had three separate pairs of black cotton tanks with black pants, standard issue to train and loose enough to allow for movement. “How are you supposed to drop kick someone in this?”
“Honey, if you wear that, you won’t need to drop kick anything. He’ll be on his knees already,” Celine said.
Kate was already shaking her head. “This isn’t right. I don’t want Ethan to see me as anything other than a teammate.”
“Really? Then why did you blush when you said his name?” Celine arched a blonde brow and cocked her lips into a small smile.
Was she that transparent? She was supposed to be the trained operative, able to control her emotions and reactions. Her whole career she’d been a cold machine, living for work and the next job. She’d given men about as much thought as she’d given fashion. Zero.
The Omega Team: Ethan's Promise (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Men of Mercy Book 7) Page 5