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"Hustle up!" Thad urged, sweeping his hands at me to hurry.
I grabbed my clothes and turned around to find him still watching me. My mouth quirked upward. “You can’t watch me change.”
He raised a brow. “Really? I don’t see you kicking me out.”
With clothes in hand, I folded my arms and inclined my head to the door. “Go.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Fine. I'm going to change and come back.” He pointed a finger my way. “No leaving without me," he warned.
"Grumble-grumble is all I hear," I tossed back.
"This is not a game, Tits."
I swung a punch at him, but with his quick moves it was impossible to get in a hit.
"Hey-hey, leave it for the ring. Justin is an easier target."
"Don't call me Tits!" I growled, frustrated now.
His lips curled up as I came at him again. He easily avoided me before scooping me up like a bag of feathers and tossing me on the bed, pinning me to the sheets. Blood was pumping fiercely through my veins as my heartbeat quickened. His eyes lit with amusement as he held down my wrists. A brief flash of Eric’s attack had me struggling. "What the fuck are you doing?"
He bowed his head, and his nose, of all things, traced my cheek until his lips settled on my jawline then fell just below in soft, sweeping kisses until they rested on my beating pulse. "Calm down. I’m not going to do anything you don't want. You say, 'Get the fuck off me, Thad,’ and I'll do it, but I promise you, no clothes are coming off." He shifted his hips, pinning mine, and I fought the urge to open up for him and let him rest closer than I should. "You good, Tits?"
Anger flared. "Don't call me Tits."
"If not Tits, how about Red?" His hands tightened on mine as he shifted against me once again.
I tried to relax, knowing it was Thad and not Eric. "No."
"Firecracker?"
I bucked against him. "Don't do hair jokes. It's not nice."
The deep rumble of his laugh vibrated in my chest. "Okay... Juju."
"Juju? What the hell kind of name is that?"
"It's a popular style of music using guitars and pitch drums, which has a similar beat to your racing pulse. It's... invigorating. I happen to like the way you invigorate me."
Snorting, my stare pinned him. "It's hard to believe that word is coming out of your mouth. Plus, isn't it also referred to as dark magic?"
"Shut up, Juju." Then he took his lips off my racing pulse and kissed me.
They were slow and coaxing kisses that had me softening beneath him and giving him as much as he was giving me. On a sigh, he raised his head, let go of my wrists, and tapped my thigh before he jumped off. "Enough playing around, Juju. Let's get going." Then he was gone, leaving me wondering if I even had enough energy to fight today.
After a moment, I bolted upright, wanting to be ready now that I was excited about him teaching me. I did as he’d asked and grabbed my athletic shirt and spandex pants from the closet and promptly got dressed before going through the closet for my running shoes.
Justin shimmed in dressed in gray sweats and a black shirt that said, “Elite Warrior: Shimming is for girls.”
I snorted, annoyed that he’d shim into my room at a whim, and gestured to his shirt. "How can you wear that? You shim everywhere!"
He smirked. "It's referring to training and fighting. Warriors are considered weak when they shim to avoid an attack."
My lips pressed together, and I nodded. "Okay then, no shimming."
His eyes lit up as he moved my way and slipped my hand into his. "I'm willing to bet I can get you to shim."
I squeezed his hand. "Game on."
***
Despite my light and airy outfit and the cool air that lingered, sweat poured off my back as time and time again Justin pinned me to the ground. My body ached in places it shouldn't, and we had drawn a crowd, but I was determined to get him at least once.
He was now on the other side of the loose dirt square that we stood in with his head cocked to the side. Thad was outside of the dirt ring giving me pointers and pausing in between rounds to show me what I needed to do and allowing me to practice on him. Justin did that too, but each time I went in and thought I could get away from his attack or even defend myself, he had me on the ground, and he didn't shim either. I wasn't about to give up.
"You going to shim this time?" he mocked playfully, helping me up for what felt like the hundredth time.
Ruffled by that, I shook my head. I had it this time; I knew I did. We moved away from one another, and I adjusted my shoulders, readying myself.
"Go!" Thad yelled, and Justin came at me full force. I matched him in the middle.
"Move to the right!" Someone yelled. "No, your other right!"
Damn it! His right, my right... I ducked and aimed a punch for his stomach, but he jumped back before I could even touch him. My right hand was caught as he twisted me around in an arm lock. Shit. We didn't cover this. With his head and lips right next to my ear he taunted me, "Going to shim yet?"
Fuck it all to hell. An hour. We had been at this for an hour. I wasn't going to win anytime soon, and I didn't want to lose, so I let some power out and all the metal weapons that were around us came at Justin and me.
"Shit!" Justin cursed as he let me go, and the weapons parted and aimed at him. I twisted around and saw him with his hands up, shaking his head. "Stop it, Trace."
They all hovered in the air, pointing at him. I was surprised at how easy it was, little to no effort.
The weapons dropped when I realized how it looked. Justin wasn't scared or angry but standing there with a grin. I must have looked like a crazed woman. "Sorry."
Clapping started from everybody around us. I looked around at the crowd and couldn’t help the prideful grin that spread across my lips. Thad stepped into the ring, put his hands on my shoulders, and started to massage them. "Good job."
I leaned back into him, letting his hands work their magic. "I didn't want to shim."
Justin reached us and brushed a kiss across my lips. "Thanks for not pelting me with weapons." His humor was a relief.
"Thanks for not killing me."
He chuckled. "You still cheated."
I ripped out of Thad’s grasp as my temper flared. "The fuck I did!"
Justin ignored me and twisted around to all the warriors who had gathered. "Get back to training or get lost! Nothing else to see here!"
I snagged a hold of Justin's shoulder with the intent to yank him back to face me, but I didn't get that far. His hand reached up, gripped mine, and he bent forward, flipping me over him. I expected to meet the ground on the other side, but luckily, Justin had moves. My back met his front as his arm curled around my stomach, and he shimmed us just in time to tumble over onto a soft bed.
Fuck. He sucked.