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He smiles slightly. “I think it’s a good idea ifsomeonelets slip how dangerous you two are. That should keep you safer. But…” He lets out a long breath.
“I think it’s a good idea for Derrick to give you some training.” He quickly continues. “Not because you’re no good, because you’re plenty dangerous as you are. But I don’t know if you’ve got experience with guns or anything other than knives?”
I shake my head and when he looks at Vera she also shakes her head.
“Caleb trained me, so anything he knows, I know too. But I’ve never shot a gun or anything like that.”
“It’s probably good to get some training, then.” Mathew lets out a soft laugh. “Plus, it’ll get Derrick off my back, since I’ve been neglecting my training lately.”
Combat training, actual training and not just whatever I’ve picked up over the years, that does sound interesting. And knowing that Vera will be able to protect herself better will hopefully help me to stress less about her safety all the time.
Not that she’s helpless, far from it, but I can’t help but feel nervous when she’s out of my sight. She’s short and cute and people tend to think they can bully her around, sometimes physically, which is why I taught her everything I know. But the fear that people might hurt her never goes away.
And posing as Mathew’s bodyguards doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Not if it lets us be at his side without drawing too much suspicion…
2
Vera
“One more round.”Derrick stands in the middle of the field as he has us run laps around it.
This is my fifth round and I’m getting tired. My stamina severely sucks, which Derrick seems to enjoy pointing out all the time.
My legs feel like lead and the rest of my body feels like a wet noodle, not much energy left in me at all.
How the hell am I supposed to last another round?
I thought we were going to do combat training, not running around fields all the time or jump over shit or anything like that. This isn’t combat training, this is torture.
“You can do it!” Caleb waves at me from the side of the field.
Since the cut on his foot is still healing, he’s not running as much as I am, which means I’m doing this with the people from Derrick’s team instead.
There are both men and women on his team, but they’re all way taller than me, so their strides are much longer, and they’re all clearly better trained. Making me run as much as them feels very unfair.
I catch a whiff of Mathew’s scent, just before his hand grazes my arm and he entwines our fingers.
“You’re almost there.” His voice is clear and he’s breathing harder, but he’s definitely not wheezing the way I am.
He said that Derrick was giving him crap for not working out enough, but if this is him when he’s slacking off, I don’t want to know what he’s like when he’s actually seriously training all the time…
Though, seeing him in a pair of workout shorts and without a shirt is definitely the highlight of these sessions, especially when his abs are glistening with sweat. That’s a great way to get my blood pumping.
“Aaaand, done!” Derrick pulls me from my thoughts.
The next moment, I’m swept up in Mathew’s arms, the scent of his sweat and pheromones surrounding me, making my own pheromones spike and heat pool in my core.
Damn, he smells good… So fucking good.
Mathew picks me up and carries me over to Caleb, lowering us onto the grass next to him.
Caleb hands us both a bottle of water, before he starts to knead my legs, easing the stress and tension.
“You did so well.” His voice is like a low purr and filled with pride. “This has been your best day yet.” His hands make soothing motions over my calves and the next moment, Mathew is massaging my back, making me melt under their touches.
“I’m still sore every morning.” I groan as Caleb rubs over a particularly persistent sore spot on my leg.
Both Caleb and Mathew snort and I try to swat at them, but my arms are too tired. “Not fromthat. From running and all the other stuff we have to do.”