Page 103 of Us Dark Few

Her lips twitched. She liked this game. She liked this gamea lot.

Takeshi was strong, agile, and able to end her life in a flash if he wanted, but an insane part of her enjoyed the high of battling him. He wouldn’t make this easy, though.

She’d have to play smart to win.

“Fine. But I need something from you.” She faced him. “I have a sizable knot in my back from the first shift and can’t reach it.”

Takeshi’s gaze narrowed. “And you expect me to what…rub it out for you?”

“Thought you wanted it to be a level playing field, but if not, that’s fine. I’ll deal with it.” Khalani shrugged and turned away.

An exasperated sigh sounded over her shoulder. “Get your ass over here, Kanes.”

Khalani fought the grin tugging at her lips as she edged closer. His hooded eyes blazed intensely, and he jerked his chin for her to turn around.

Takeshi’s fingers brushed her shoulder as she gave him her back, kneading the skin slightly with his warm touch. She forced herself not to groan in bliss as goosebumps raised on her collarbone.

“Where’s the kn—”

She quickly pulled her arm back, elbowing him in the stomach. A loud grunt left his mouth, and she bounded forward, ready for his retaliation.

Takeshi heaved in a rough breath and slowly straightened, a menacing flicker stirring beneath his glower.

“You cheated.”

“Fighting’s never fair. One point for me.” She couldn’t help the slight upturn of her cheeks.

A nefarious expression played on his face. “You know I’m going to make you regret that.”

“Maybe a cane will help you move faster. It would make me feel better about beating the elderly.” Khalani readied her stance and tightened her fists.

A part of her core shook at the narrowing of his eyes, but the wicked side of Khalani laughed and told her to cut deeper for all the times he made her care without giving anything in return.

His tongue smacked against his teeth like a caged animal, and he launched forward without warning.

She panicked, barely managing to block a hit toward her core, but Takeshi was incredibly fast. He smacked her on both sides of her ribs with an open palm. Damnit.

Her teeth clenched together as she showered him with a barrage of punches toward his torso. He effortlessly blocked each one without breaking a sweat. A sly look overshadowed his expression, and he countered her with another hit to her core, grabbed her wrist, and turned her body around so her back was flush to his chest.

Takeshi’s forearm quickly wrapped around her neck, not tight enough to where she couldn’t breathe, but his other hand held her left wrist immobile by her side.

“Elderly, huh? I think you mean experienced, Kanes. I know some tricks that would make a girl like you turn crimson at the thought. Still wanna fight dirty with me?”

The heated and not-so-gentle whisper against her ear brought shivers down her arms and spun her mind into forbidden territory. Their chests rose in unison, and she fought the urge to turn around and see how riled up he was.

“You wanted to play. Let’s play,” she retorted and stomped on his ankle.

Takeshi grunted and, quick as a viper, swiped her legs out from under her and brought her down on her back, but not before she wrapped her arms around his head, bringing him down with her. They rolled on the hard ground, and she felt two more hits to her chest before she landed on top of him.

Khalani quickly captured his wrists with both her hands as she straddled him, knowing full well that he let her hold him down. Her eyes widened in triumph but paused at his vicious smirk.

“Shit.” He made it to 5.

“I win,” Takeshi huffed out. “Almost forgot how hard you like to make things.”

Their eyes connected, and she didn’t immediately move her hips from his. Her nails tightened over his wrists, digging into his skin, nearly drawing blood in a cruel effort to deal him pain like he’d dealt her that humiliating morning in his bedroom.

But Takeshi didn’t move. Didn’t object. His face cemented in resolve, as if he was more than capable of handling all the punishment she had to give, like he could take every inch of suffering from her and bear the weight himself.

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