Page 72 of Fighting Conviction
“I don’t know what the fuck that is, but if it looks like this, then sure.”
Ellie did a thumbs up with her hand and blew out a breath. “Okay… okay. I can do that. What about my arms?” She held up her taped arms.
“Those…” He leaned forward to grab her by the forearms. “You do like this—” He kept hold and shoved her hands into her stomach, stopping before he slammed her wrists into her belly. “… as hard as you can. Don’t break speed and make sure your elbows are out. That’s how you make sure you’re getting the right angle to tear the tape.”
Ellie’s gaze was unfocused, like she was envisioning it in her mind. “Got it.” Her shoulders raised and fell with her exhale of determination.
“Alright, try it again.”
At Ellie’s nod, Devil stood and backed away to give her room to sit her ass back on the floor. He held his watch up to monitor the time. “Three minutes. And… go.”
This time, it seemed Ellie didn’t focus on the tape as much as on her exit strategy. Single-minded conviction to fight through the moment creased her forehead as she maneuvered to get on all fours and struggled to stand up. Devil glanced at his watch.
“Two minutes, thirty seconds.”
Instead of whining or signaling her frustration, she stuck her tongue out slightly between her lips in concentration. Her perseverance was hot as fuck and Devil’s mouth watered as he watched her pink tongue gloss over her bottom lip. When her teeth dug into the plump flesh, he desperately wanted to tug it free.
Fuck, I’m being an asshole. I literally just yelled at her for not having her head in the game. Focus.
He folded his arms and leaned against the wall, creating some distance to keep from pouncing on her.
Ellie moved her feet around like Devil had taught her and all of a sudden she fell to the ground in “crisscross applesauce,” whatever the fuck that was. The tape made a satisfying rip as it split down the middle.
Ellie squealed and looked up at Devil from the ground. “I did it!”
Her enthusiasm was contagious and Devil barely kept his composure. He dipped his chin in a gesture of approval but that was it. He couldn’t distract her or slow her down. But all he wanted to do was lift her up from the ground and show her how sexy it was to see her overcome adversity. Instead, he did the responsible thing and glanced at his watch.
“Two minutes, Ellie. The bad guy’s in the next room taking a piss. Gotta hurry.”
“Ew.” Ellie grimaced and he rolled his eyes.
“Come on, what’re you gonna do? Stay in the moment. He’s coming back any second.” He glanced at his watch. “One hundred and five… to be exact.”
“You got this,” she whispered to herself and Devil tilted his head to analyze her. He’d noticed her do it before, talk to herself almost as if she was expecting someone to talk back, but fuck, whatever she needed to do to beat any assholes trying to steal her away again, he was all for it.
She stood back up on her unbound feet and pointed her elbows out to the side.
“One shot, El, it might be all you got,” he encouraged her in a low voice. “The tape could roll up and make it harder to tear. Give it everything, baby.”
Ellie watched her hands and nodded, breathing out.
“Forty-five seconds left.”
Ellie suddenly slammed her wrists so hard against her stomach, Devil involuntarily reached out for her with concern, but she only gave a soft grunt. The tape ripped on the first try and Devil whooped. He leaped toward her to celebrate her escape, but Ellie whipped around and his open arms missed her. Before he could follow the direction she fled, he heard the rack slide on his Glock.
Ellie held the gun with precision and, but for her hand gripping the handle far from the trigger, she had perfect form as she raised the pistol at him. With a fucking smirk on her face.
Devil slowly lifted his hands out to the side, playing along. He’d been cleaning the gun before she arrived, so he knew it was empty. He also knew she’d racked the slide to double-check before she pointed it at him. When his gaze met those pleased, delicious caramel eyes, a smile of pride formed on his face, despite the fact he was essentially caught with his pants down.
It was interesting because, when he fucked, Devil thrived off control. Truth be told, Devil thrived off of control at all times, but seeing this woman play with the illusion of their power dynamic? Fuck, his cock was threatening to stand at full attention.
“What’re you gonna do now, Ellie? You’ve got the bad guy in your sights.” He licked his lips, letting his thoughts linger in his gaze as he ate her up in his mind. “What would you do next?”
Ellie kept the gun steady and breathed deeply through her nose, blinking slowly before glancing around the room. “I would… I would’ve already checked all available exits. If there were other people with him, I’d have tried to keep tabs on them. But he’s by himself, so… I would—”
“Act it out, Ellie. Follow through with it.” Devil spoke low and she nodded before gulping. His hand twitched to feel the motion under his palm as it traveled down the column of her neck.
Without skipping a beat, Ellie kept the gun pointed at him and sidestepped one foot next to the other slowly, her back facing the wall as she traveled to the door. She curved her trajectory, keeping well within the safe zone as she passed him. Her breaths were calm, slow, like they’d practiced during her training. His chest filled with so much fucking pride, he nearly broke the moment again.
