Page 13 of Seduce & Destroy

“You’ll be in pairs. Assigned. Not chosen. We’ll be simulating close proximity knife attacks, from both offensive and defensive scenarios.” Laney said before reading the paired surnames to begin the exercise. Before she reached the letter ‘W’, every single cadet had been selected. Sans me. “Whether, you’re with me.”

Lucky me.

?

After an hour, I was sure all this hand-to-hand combat would leave a lasting bruise. Laney had barely spoken a word to me as we moved from scenario to scenario. It wasn’t until scenario six, while she pinned my wrist down with her knee, seemingly pushing her entire body weight onto it, that I knew there was a reason.

I waited a moment before I flipped her over onto her back, boxing her in with my arms. That way, I had complete control of the situation. She bucked underneath me but didn’t gain any leeway as I held her firmly in position.

“Release me,” she grunted, again, shifting her hips.

Instead of offering a response, I slid my knee to slot between her legs.

She kept fighting as she brought a knife toward the side of my neck but never touched skin. “I command you—”

While the blade skirted an inch from touching flesh, our exposed midriffs were almost skin to skin. I could feel the heat of her body when she squirmed. This was already a compromising position, but the next time she bucks, I’ll knee her in the pussy. Only lightly, of course. Innocent. Indulgent.

“Get the fuck off me—”

“You can tell me, Laney.” I softened my gaze. “You can tell me anything.”

Then she bucked. “No!”

With a jerk, I lifted my knee so that it firmly pressed into her groin, stopping the squirming and silencing her plea. If she moved again, she’d be grinding on it. “Tell me what I did,” I said, moving my face closer to hers.

“Miss Whether, get the fuck off me rig-”

“Miss Whether? I thought you knew me better than that, princess.”

She threw me a desperate glare as she lifted her hips again, struggling to gain traction without causing friction. I knew she felt it because her cheeks turned a rosy hue, and her eyes briefly fell closed. Changing tact, she turned her efforts to my hands, caging her in on either side of her head. She managed to lift one of my fingers with a huff, but I still didn’t budge.

“Why are you so good at training? I see the way you run, and you don’t even break a sweat. You’re not winded now so where did you learn that?” She breathed exasperatedly. Her chest brushed mine with each pant, but I remained still.

“Aw, you watch me run?”

She groaned.

“I’m glad you think so highly of me.” I smiled a wicked grin. It was so easy to taunt an already flustered girl but, as much as I loved to have a girl writhe underneath me, it wasn’t productive. I was no closer to finding out what her problem with me was so that I could fix it. “What do you think I think about you?”

“Well, considering the last two times we’ve met, I’ve been crying, I bet you think I’m kinda weak like the rest of these men,” Laney said with a snarl, exhaling deeply and moving up to lean her weight on her elbows. It brought our faces closer, yet she was looking anywhere but at me. If she did, she would’ve seen my shocked expression at the deprecation in her words. Mafia princess hasn’t been taught her value, huh.

“No,” I said, crystal clear, “That’s not what I think.” I tried, really tried, not to focus on the way that her breasts now pushed into my chest in that moment. But, God, I’m just a woman.

She lifted her chin as I moved to look down, hitting my face in the process. “Eyes up here, baby.” She said, almost in disgust.

My next exhale was haggard. Baby? I’d mutter a ‘sorry’ if I felt like I meant it, but truthfully the baby comment had me breathless.

It was a weakness.

She shouldn’t have that kind of power over me. I had her under me, wasn’t that enough? “You only let men look at you like that?” I spat. I shouldn’t have let my anger filter into my words, that act alone was an admission of weakness. My dad raised me better. Still, it worked a charm.

Her face fell in apparent outrage, and I had my answer. Well, well, well, chaste little Laney. I wiped the subtle grin off my face, relaxed my knee between her legs and lowered my voice. “Why are you mad at me?”

That was the crux of it. She was pissed off and I didn’t know why. I understand her and Neenan’s suspicion, but that usually elicited a far more covert and wary attitude. Anger? That wasn’t a usual response.

“No men,” she whispered under her breath. She shook her head repeatedly as if the motion would erase the thought. “No men.”

If I was to clear a path in her scattered thoughts, I had to be direct. “Answer the question. Why are you really mad at me?”

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