Whizz got to his feet, wrapping the jacket around her shoulders. The leather smelled of him.
“Let’s go to the beach.”
She’d go everywhere with him. Whizz went to climb on the bike, but she stopped him. Gripping his arm, she cupped his cheek. She pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you.”
****
“For fuck’s sake, Angel, put some muscle behind it,” Gash said, growling at her. He watched her land on her ass again after she failed, again, to get a hit out at him.
“I’m trying,” she said, blowing some blonde hair off her face.
“I’ve told you it would be easier to just shoot the fucker in the face. I’ll teach you how to work a gun.”
“No, a gun would be useless. I wouldn’t carry a gun. Every time I’ve been attacked a gun would have been useless. I’d have to reach for it to grab it. I’ve not had any time to grab a gun. The only thing I’ve got is to be able to attack back or to stall them.”
“You’re doing fuck all to try.” He moved away from the mat to grab some water. The gentlemanly thing to do would be to offer her a hand. When she was in the middle of a fight, man or woman, no one would act nice about her landing on her ass. He’d tried to get her to take the gun training, but she wouldn’t do it. Gash understood why, but it pissed him off. He took a long swig of the water watching her get to her feet. She wore sports gear. The shorts clung to her body like a second skin while her shirt, long with a picture of a skull in the center, had to belong to Lash. Angel was a beautiful woman, no denying that. Her biggest problem was the fact she was too damn nice. “How the fuck did Lash get you? He’s an asshole.”
“That’s not nice. Lash is a wonderful man.”
“You and me, princess, we see two different kinds of men.”
“No, you see a different kind of man. I see the man I love.” She got to her feet, stretching out her muscles.
He watched her closely as she started to wince. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Your biggest problem is you’re too afraid to hurt me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. This is only supposed to be about training.”
For the past couple of days they’d sneaked away to start her training. She was making little progress. He needed to up the stakes for her to realize the real danger she could be in.
“You’re right. This is supposed to be training.” He put the bottle down and advanced toward her. “But this is not training.” When he was in front of her he grabbed her around the neck. He held her tight, not enough to leave bruises but enough to make her start to panic. “This is the fucking reality, sweetheart.” He turned her around so her back was pressed to his front. She started clawing at his arm. Gash didn’t let her go. Angel was useless at self-defense. How Lash could live with himself knowing that his woman was unprotected was beyond Gash. Angel would be in a hell of a lot more danger when she took the role of Eva in years to come. “What are you going to do now? Men are going to want to touch you, Angel. They don’t see a mother or Lash’s woman. They only see a woman with a body capable of fucking.”
He moved them both so she was pressed against the wall and his body flush against hers. She cried out as he connected them to the wall. Releasing her neck, he grabbed both of her hands, capturing her in place. “I was able to disarm you without worry. I could beat you, rape you, kill you without even breaking into a sweat.”
Gash moved in close, adding to the threat.
Withdrawing away, he gave her space she needed.
She turned to face him. Tears were in her eyes, and she stared back at him.
“This is not training. You’re at risk every time you go out. Lash knows the risk, and yet you’re still unprotected.”
He saw she was scared.
“I want you to know I’ll never hurt you. I’ve never in all my life hurt a woman. I was convicted of raping one and murdering a man. I didn’t kill or rape anyone. When you’re here, you need to start taking this training seriously. There are men out there who will go out of their way to make you suffer.”
She placed her hand over her neck, taking several deep breaths.
“If you want to continue training, you’re going to have to get used to the fact you’re going to hurt me. I need you to hurt me to know that this is working.”
Angel nodded.
“The choice is up to you.”
“I want to continue. I need to do this. You’ve just proven how much I need this.” Her eyes grew wide as she spoke.
“Good.”
They both walked back to the center of the mat. “Then let’s start this again.”
Gash moved to grip her, and Angel started to put more force behind her hits. She didn’t get the better of him, but her kicks and punches were starting to hurt him. Throughout the session she stopped shaking from his threat and started to channel her fear into her attack. He saw the change in her eyes and stance. Gash hoped he didn’t need to put his hands on her again. He wasn’t lying to her. Gash never put his hands on a woman in anger. In a few months time when he got the all clear from Tiny, he was going to do exactly that. There was a woman out there he was going to kill.
Chapter Ten
Whizz arrived at the beach a little after one. Lacey climbed off the bike, handing him the helmet. He watched her as she took in the scene around them. The beach was filled with lots of people soaking up the last of the sunshine before fall truly hit. It wouldn’t be long for Christmas to be upon them and then all chance of sunshine would be lost. Fort Wills often got a lot of snow, making it impossible to drive anywhere.
“Wow, this is beautiful.”
Over the horizon he saw the ocean. A couple of ships were out at sea, but the sun shining down created a beautiful, picturesque view. Whizz was more interested in the woman staring out at the view. Lacey looked like she’d never seen a beach or ocean before, and he asked her if she had.
“I’ve seen one. I’ve just never gotten the chance to enjoy the view before. It’s beautiful. Breathtaking.”
“Come on. Let’s go and join in with the crowd.” He left his bike and took her hand.
On their way down to the beach his cell phone started to ring.
“I can’t go anywhere,” he said.
Lacey started chuckling.
Answering the call, he saw Killer was calling him.
“You went to the beach and didn’t even think to invite us?” Killer asked.