Page 117 of Fierce-Zander

He didn’t like hearing that.

“We all have choices.”

“We do and we don’t,” she said. “I listened to what you said and it wasn’t unreasonable, but I still feel like it wasn’t my choice.”

“Then the next thing I’m going to say won’t make you happy either.”

She sighed. “What is that?”

“I’d like to teach you some self-defense moves.”

She smirked at him. “That I don’t have a problem with.”

“Really?” he asked. That went better than he expected.

“Nope. Anything to get my hands on you.”

35

HIDDEN TALENTS

Zander landed on his back with a thump, the air knocked out of him for a second and by the time Regan moved around and straddled his hips and sat down, the wide look in his eyes had diminished some.

“Did I surprise you?” she asked.

“You did,” he said.

“Are you going to think I’m a helpless woman again?” she asked. Her hand reached around and cupped his balls and squeezed more than a playful motion.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

She squeezed more and he flinched. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You do know that I can overtake you right now if I wanted to, right?”

More pressure. “Just like I could have finished you off after I had the element of surprise on my side. I’d say we are even and I didn’t even need to pull a gun out. Back to my question. Do you still think I’m helpless?”

“No,” he said, his voice almost squeaking. “You’ve taught me several times how strong you are.”

She let up on the pressure and all but pet him like she would a dog, then slid up more and put her lips to his.

“Very well,” she said. “I’ll admit it’s been a long time since I’ve done that. I’m glad I didn’t pull a muscle. But my back might be just as sore as my hand tomorrow.”

“I’ll rub your back for you,” he said. “If you do it for me too.”

“I suppose it’s the least I can do,” she said. She moved off of him. “Roll over and I’ll do it now.”

“On the floor?” he asked.

“Maybe I don’t want to walk upstairs. Maybe I’ve found this whole situation a major turn-on. You’d want me to play off of that, right?”

“Of course,” he said, rolling on his stomach. She moved over and grabbed a pillow from the couch.

“Do you need another?”

He picked that one up and put it under his head, his arms crossed above his head.

“No,” he said.

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