Page 30 of Erik's Redemption
This time, she didn’t think about technique or the way the bag remained so still. She just…punched. Then she punchedagain. Suddenly, the moves were like breaths of fresh air. Like every frustration in her body was released in a single impact of fist against bag.
She did it again and again, feeling the same release each time. It was crazy that she was standing here, punching a bag in only a T-shirt and panties at three in the morning, and shelikedit.
“How’s it feel?”
Her lips twitched. “Good. I can see why you like this. But I think I need a bit more help. Can you put your hands on my hips and guide me?”
There was a small pause, and she could just about hear the man thinking.
Yeah, she was playing a game. But she didn’t care. She wanted more ofthisErik. The Erik who touched her without hesitation. The Erik who laughed freely.
He stepped to her back and touched her hips, and suddenly that sense of rightness, of peace, returned to her.
The heatof Hannah’s skin moved through the thin material of her shirt and straight into Erik.
He’d come down here because, yet again, he couldn’t sleep. He’d been looking for refuge. He hadn’t found it. But since Hannah had arrived, he could almost convince himself he had.
“Can you guide my hands again too?” Her soft voice cut through the quiet, twisting his insides.
He grazed his hands up her sides to her shoulders, then down her arms to her wrists. Carefully, he guided her jab and cross punch. When her ass pushed into him, he bit back a groan. He tried to ignore it as he led her through another combinationhit. But her ass pressed back again…and this time she ground against him.
He stilled, and the words that came out of his mouth were short and sharp. “What are you doing, Angel?”
“I’m learning how to box. But I think I need you a bit closer so you can guide my entire body.”
He stepped closer. Immediately, she wiggled her ass. His cock hardened. “Angel—”
“That’s good. I feel like I can really get an idea of what to do with my body now.” She leaned back into him.
He groaned. “You need to stop.”
“Okay. Could you take these off for me?”
Erik frowned. That was too easy.
He unstrapped the gloves, but once they were off, she didn’t walk away. Instead, she turned and grazed her fingers down his bare chest. “That’s better. Now I canreallyfeel you.”
She leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to his chest, right over his heart. It was barely a brush, but he felt it like she’d marked him. Carved herself into his flesh.
His breath caught in his throat. She kissed him again.
“Angel, it’s the middle of the night. I need to shower. And you need sleep.”
She was shaking her head before he’d finished speaking. “No. The only thing either of usneedto do is findusagain.”
He gripped her hips, not sure if he intended to push her away or pull her closer. He did neither. He just stood there, incapable of moving, feeling like a man in chains.
“I love you, Erik.” Her breath whispered across his skin, her words turning his insides into a tattered mess. “I love your heart. Your goodness. And I love how safe I feel with you, body and soul.”
Safe…she felt safe with him. But was she?
She cupped his cheek, pulling his thoughts back to her. “I can see your mind working. But Erik, there is nothing you could say that would make me doubt us. Do you understand? You’re my person. In every scenario. In every version of every story that’s ours, you are mine, and I am yours.”
Then she tugged his head down and kissed him again, slipping her tongue between his lips and tasting him. It was instant fire. An explosion of need and desire inside him.
He lifted her against his body and turned, pressing her to the wall. The shirt gathered around her waist, the heat of her core pressing into his bare stomach.
“Erik…”
