Page 20 of Twister

They were going to be performing a workout that wrecked them all, including Bondo. Twister was so aware of her, he had to make himself focus on Bondo. Working out, staying fit was all about functional muscle, strength, and endurance. That’s what they needed every day to remain fully operational. Tex wasn’t a proponent of a lot of lifting, and his LT was unconventional in many ways, but it always benefited the team.

Tex believed it wasn’t necessary for them to put on mass. They wanted to be lean, mean, operating machines. So, instead of the traditional three-set system, they went for a workout free of anything except their bodies, since there were many places where a fully equipped gym wasn’t available. All it took was a strong back core and a will to suffer. It was an interval workout—thirty seconds of work, thirty seconds of rest, clocking in five exercises in about twenty-eight minutes of PT.

Bondo started them off with frog hops. It was a simple jump with their hands locked together behind their heads for that thirty/thirty for four minutes, followed by a two-minute break. Twister took the time to grab some water and stretch.

Sadie looked like she’d finished. She gave him a soft look. “About time, slacker,” she said as he opened a bottle of water and chugged the whole thing.

He grinned, loving her sweet, teasing energy. “I’d say whatever candyass work out you divers do is tame to what we do.”

Her eyes flashed at his challenge. “Is that so, tough guy? We’ll have to see.”

Tex was also more interested in single-leg training to help with climbing mountains, rope ladders, rocks, all while carrying packs. So, the next exercise was split jumping, with the samethirty/thirty-second interval. As they started, he turned to find Sadie standing next to them, joining in.

Several of the guys behind him started to chuckle as she kept up. He smiled, knowing that after this was burpees, and he’d done thousands of them, each time a challenging workout. He could see that she was in amazing shape, knowing that all divers, regardless of whether they were combat, salvage, recreational, or pro, had to be fit to withstand the rigors of the ocean in all its watery glory. But out of all these exercises, these were the ones that took a lot out of them.

At the end of the split jumps, he said, “Make sure you use every second of these two minutes for rest.” She was breathing hard.

“Looks like we have a guest joining us. Let’s give her a proper welcome,” Bondo said with a grin.

“Hoo-yah!” they all shouted.

Sadie nodded and smiled, waving her hand.

“Okay, guys. Now we come to the most favorite of all the exercises we do. Burpees, and I don’t want to see any garbage burpees, or we’ll do another set. For it to count, I want your chest to the ground, at least a six-inch jump, and a clap overhead. It’s just a way to show our burpees they are the star of the show. Let’s move.”

“Hoo-yah!” they shouted, and Twister started moving. His legs were starting to burn, and he saw that Sadie was keeping up admirably. But when she fumbled the chest to the ground, Bondo called out with a sound like a buzzer.

Everyone groaned, and Sadie looked around with an apologetic look on her face. Bondo immediately went into another set, and this time, shaking with effort, she kept up.

“Take your two. Hydrate, people.”

“Damn,” Sadie said, folding down to the ground. “Those are freaking challenging. I like it.”

“Sure, you do,” Dagger said, shaking his head. “No one likes them, freak.”

She laughed. “I happen to think that anything that can kill you only makes you stronger.”

He shook his head, looking at Twister. “This woman is crazy. She fits right in.”

“Time’s up,” Bondo yelled. “It’s push-up time. Same drill, chest to ground, full extension, and a plank position I can set my beer on. No gut sags!”

Flash lifted his shirt and slapped his tight abs. “No gut here.”

Sadie studied him for a moment, and those pretty eyes came back to him. “How about you?”

Her eyes traveled down his torso, stopping at his midsection, those sunshot amber eyes so beautiful, her lashes so thick. His mouth quirked, and he pulled up his shirt. She stared at him for a long, quiet moment. Admiration settled over her features, awareness sparking in her golden gaze, as did a glimmer of heat, ramping as she devoured him with her eyes. Damn, he wanted her closer…much closer, until their bodies were touching intimately, but he had to settle for that sparking promise. She wanted him, and she was silently daring him to be bad, to throw every bit of caution to the wind and give in to some reckless, shameless acts. That look in her eyes drove him back to the brink of sexual frustration. Yeah, when the time was right, reckless and shameless…he would be both.

They pushed out each pushup and rested again. It was the first time he’d done that with a full, raging hard-on thanks to her expressive eyes.

“Last set. We’re doing squats. I want to see those parallel butts.”

Standing next to him, she got prepared, whispering to him in low tones. “I want to see the rest of what you got there. I’m cursing the Navy right now.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, Uncle Sam is a pain in my parallel ass right about now.” The words were uneven. His heart beat heavily in his chest. He was going to have to find an opportunity to kiss her. He couldn’t possibly get through this day, or even the next five minutes, without kissing her. His body was nearly electrified with the need to touch her, to somehow draw her close and bury his face in the curve of her neck and shoulder, to open his mouth on her skin and run his tongue all the way down her body from her throat to between her legs.

She laughed out loud, and Bondo gave her a narrow-eyed gaze. “No laughing.”

“Yeah, right,roar,” Dagger said. “No fun!”

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