SOAR (The Indigo Lounge Series Book 4) (14 page)

FIFTEEN

After
getting slammed on her back with enough force to jar her teeth for the fifth
time in a row, Leia growled. “If you’re trying to say something, can you use
words rather than actions, please? I’d prefer not to attend tonight’s event
covered in bruises.”

Warren
straightened and slicked his hair back into place. The previously pristine
bandages wrapped around his knuckles were spotted with blood, making Leia
wonder just how long he’d been in the gym before she’d arrived half an hour ago
for their weekly sparring match.

“Very
well. Either you concentrate, or concede the fight. I won’t have my time wasted
with paltry attempts.”

“What
the fuck are you talking about?” she snarled through the pain in her right
shoulder. “I was doing okay before you decided to go into Terminator Mode.”

“If
you seek clarification using such coarse language, then perhaps we need to end
this session.”

She
hadn’t wanted to spar today, but the alternative had been to lie in bed,
thinking about Noah and what happened last night. Wanting to repeat it again
and again.
And again.

In
the end, the need for some other form of pain to mask the one gouging itself
endlessly through her heart had won out. “No, I’m fine,” she said and pulled
herself up. “Consider me concentrated. Let’s go!”

Loosening
her knees into the desired
bartitsu
stance, she
rolled her shoulders and brought her fists up. Warren took his time centering
himself, long enough that her concentration slipped again.

He
attacked without warning.

She
managed to block him a few times before he caught her in the ribs with a
merciless chop. Her breath knocked out of her and unable to move fast enough,
he swept her feet from underneath her with a vicious kick. She landed painfully
on her left hip.

“Dammit!
What the hell are you trying to prove?” she shouted.

“That
you’re useless to me unless you’re as committed to this as I am.”

She
blinked at the cryptic warning. “For heaven’s sake, say whatever the hell it is
you mean, Warren. I’m too fucking tired to decipher your codes today.”

“You’re
tired? It’s only seven-thirty in the morning,” he delivered icily. “You didn’t
come home on Thursday and you were out of touch until past midnight last night.
Your behavior this past week has been quite disappointing. Can I presume to ask
where you were? Or should I hazard a guess? You were with King?”

“No,
I wasn’t with King.” She didn’t feel bad at the technical half-truth. “I
haven’t been with him since…” She stopped as her stupid emotions painfully
counted the days. “I checked into a hotel on Thursday night because—” She
paused again. Knowing about Noah’s suspicions where Warren was concerned, did
she want to tell him that Noah had people watching her? “Because I wanted to be
alone. And I stayed there because I didn’t have any pressing appointments in
the office yesterday morning. As for last night…” She shrugged. “I went for a
drive.” Also technically true, but it had been a drive like no other. Her
stomach still quivered at how the hot and steamy drive had ended her with her
so wrung dry, she’d fallen asleep in the back of Noah’s car and woken up two
hours later to find Noah watching over her.

Her
heart had tripped over itself at the look on his face. But before she could
speak, he’d sent her a crooked smile, wished her good night and hung up.

“I
find that hard to believe since your driver returned without you at nine
o’clock.”

She
refocused reluctantly on Warren and admitted with a sinking heart that their
relationship had indeed changed beyond recognition.
And not
for the better.
What she’d suspected before she’d taken the Indigo
Lounge trip had come to fruition. She couldn’t avoid it anymore. “Are you
calling me a liar?”

“I
find myself unable to trust you as readily as I used to…but I’m willing to make
allowances for the sake of your present circumstances.”

She
laughed and shook her head. “So because I’m a little stressed, it’s okay that
I’m a liar? Hmm, I wonder what else I can get away with.”

She
lunged at his unguarded flank, but he was too quick for her.

He
countered her attack with another hard chop to her side. She crumpled onto her
knees and wheezed. When he held out a hand to her, she struck hard at his
midriff.

He
doubled over but delivered another flat kick with his foot that sprawled her
out on the mat. He landed on top of her. His arms imprisoned hers and his
strong legs trapped hers between the steel of his.

Dark
brown eyes gleamed displeasure, mixed with other emotions. Focused on setting
herself free, Leia didn’t feel the full impact of his body until he shifted.
Then the truth of his feelings became unmistakable.

Hell.
She didn’t want to admit what his body was blatantly stating to hers but the truth
of it was pressed against her belly.

She
shook her head, unease tightening her body as her conversation with Noah in the
bistro rolled through her mind. “No, Warren…no.”

His
expression hardened. “If you pretend you didn’t know this was coming, I will be
very disappointed in you.” The words were breathed softly against her cheek.

Turning
her head a fraction, she concentrated on the ceiling, struggling to remain calm
as he kept her pinned. “I knew it was coming.”

He
remained silent for so long, she reluctantly brought her gaze back to his.
Satisfaction flared in his eyes. “So it’s not foolish of me to deduce that
you’re here, with me, because the idea isn’t repugnant to you.”

“It’ll
never work. We don’t want the same things, Warren.”

A
cool chill replaced the satisfaction. “Explain.”

She
thought about Noah, about how being with him made her heart, hell her very
soul, lift, race toward danger with sheer abandon.

“You
crave being controlled,” Warren said. “But you wish to have free will as to who
you let control you. I’ve known that about you since you were a child. Have I
not given you that, nurtured that in you?”

“Yes,
but I also crave warmth. Passion. And a little loss of control every now and
then isn’t a bad thing.” It showed that she was human.
That the
man who commanded raw, gut-wrenching emotion from her was human too.

“You
haven’t been ready for what I can give you. Now you are.”

“What
you don’t get is that I don’t want it with you, Warren.”

For
several seconds he said nothing. Then he vaulted off her and held out his hand.
“We will revisit this another time. When you’re in a better frame of mind.”

The
Leia of a few weeks ago would’ve acquiesced immediately. Avoiding confrontation
had kept her safe for five years. But, for good or ill, she was no longer that
person. She rose without his help and went to the cooler to grab a bottle of
water. “Don’t hold out hope of me changing my mind.”

He
half circled the room, his fists clenching and unclenching once. “You won’t
afford me the courtesy of a discussion?”

“There’s
no point in discussing it. I won’t change my mind. Once Stephen is caught, I’m
moving out.”

He
tensed. The atmosphere grew icier. When he faced her fully, she accepted once
and for all that the cool, unflappable Warren, whose strength she’d leaned on,
was gone forever. A flash of malice blazed in his eyes before he banked it.

“You
are not strong enough to leave me.”

“You’re
wrong. I’m more than strong enough to stand on my own two feet.”

The
curling of his lips was so
evanescent,
she thought she’d
imagined it. “Did King put you up to this?”

“You
used to think me capable of making sound decisions before I met Noah. Have I
suddenly changed so much that you can’t accept that the decisions I make are my
own?”

“
Countless errors of judgment in the space of a week beggars
that belief.”

Her
shoulder,
ribs and hips ached. She wanted to walk away
but she knew this conversation needed to happen. “You’re welcome to make any
conclusions you want. But I’m doing this, Warren. I’m moving out. I’ll always
be grateful for everything you’ve done for me. Please, know that. Without you,
my life would’ve turned out a hell of a lot differently. But I don’t owe you
the rest of my life.”

She
headed for the door of the gym. She was one step from it when she heard him behind
her.

“Wait.”

Suppressing
a grimace, she turned.

He
stood in the middle of the room, cool,
lean
, his hair
slicked back in place. “This sparring session isn’t over. You’ve never given up
mid-lesson. Are you going to start now?”

The
challenge was a blatant test, a taunt for her to prove to him that she hadn’t
abandoned everything he’d taught her. She was tempted to say to hell with it
and walk away. But walking away would mean he’d won. She needed to stand her
ground.
To fight.
She headed back to the center of the
mat. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

A
whirling series of kicks and blocks followed that made her grunt in pain, but
Leia didn’t give up. She even managed to get in a hit or two of her own. A few
minutes before the
fifteen minute
session was over, he
increased the strength of his strikes.

“Warren,
that’s enough…” She tried to block another one, but he came at her. “Warren!”

“You
think you’re strong enough? Then fight harder!”
Another
lethal strike.

She
cried out as he caught and twisted her arm up her back. “Warren, stop. Shit,
that hurts!”

He
pushed her to the floor and slammed his body onto hers. “Show me how strong you
are, my dear. Once I deem you worthy enough to stand on your own two feet, I’ll
let you go.”

“Fuck
you! Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I
am the man who wants what’s best for you.” A soft kiss landed on her cheek. She
shuddered and closed her eyes. “The
only man
who knows what’s best for
you. Why do you fight me?” Another kiss caressed her jaw before it trailed down
the side of her neck.

“Warren,
get off me.” She tried her best to emulate calm even though her heart was
racing loud enough to drown every other sound.

“I’d
never hurt you. Not the way he did.” He brushed her hair off her temple and
trailed his fingers over the shaven patch above her ear.

That
touch…right there in that exact spot, felt like the worst violation. She
relaxed her body long enough to distract him, then launched herself up. The
back of her head caught his nose.

He
grunted in pain. She scrambled to her feet, but his grip on her arm tightened.
Using the advantage of his superior strength and height, he yanked her closer.
Her wrist exploded in agony, but she didn’t have time to acknowledge it before
he lifted and propelled her back against the wall. Once he had her caged in, he
let go of her arm.

“I’m
sorry, Leia. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Please don’t think badly of me.”

Fear
and shock held her rigid long enough for his head to descend toward hers again.

Oh
God
.

She
started to turn her head but couldn’t avoid him quick enough. His mouth crashed
onto hers. Cool and moist, he explored her with a clinical expertise that left
her cold.
And angry.

She
lifted her hands to his shoulder, ignoring the painful throb in her left wrist,
and locked her fingers behind his neck. He made a sound, perhaps of
satisfaction. Or arousal. She didn’t waste time examining it. With his thighs
braced on either side of hers to trap her, he’d left himself wide open.

She
brought her knee up hard and fast. Bone connected with soft tissue. An angry
howl accompanied her freedom.

Leia
stood over Warren’s bent form, her heart thumping in pain and disappointment.
“You taught me to defend myself, Warren. Did you think I wouldn’t defend myself
against you?”

He
wheezed in answer, his impeccable hair hanging around his face in disarray.
Weirdly, Leia pondered how that made him seem a little bit human.

She
backed away, keeping an eye on him as she neared the door. “Come near me again,
and it’ll be more than just your crushed balls on fire.”

***

Noah
checked his watch and cursed himself for the hundredth time for not taking his
Maserati. Why the hell was he stuck in the back of a limo? Oh yeah, that’s
right. He didn’t plan on getting through this evening sober. But then he
should’ve ordered a different car or taken a goddamn helicopter to the event.

Because
sitting in the same spot as Leia had done last night, surrounded by her
exquisite perfume and the lingering smell of her arousal, was beyond stupid.
Not to mention the enclosed space and the images smashing through his mind,
were giving him the boner to end all boners. He would be lucky if he arrived at
his destination alive.