Page 4 of The Stolen Dagger

Kat wore similar clothes from the last class: a pair of leggings and a baggy Led Zeppelin T-shirt.

Her short brown hair was twisted up into twin French braids that trailed the back of her head, making the ends flare out to the tops of her shoulders. She clenched and unclenched her fist over the strap of her backpack as her brown eyes zeroed in on my torso.

I knew I was a fairly attractive guy, but as Kat blatantly stared at my bare chest, my ego soared. I tensed my abdominal muscles at her attentiveness, making them more pronounced as they were already shiny with sweat.

“I’m surprised to see you here.” I gave her my most charming smile.

Her eyes were wide when they suddenly met mine, and her mouth opened slightly, as if in shock at being caught ogling me.

Which I didn’t mind one bit, especially because her cheeks turned the prettiest color of pink.

“Your name’s Kat, right?” I asked. “My sister, Leah, told me about you. Is Kat short for something?”

“Katherine.” She nodded and cleared her throat. “Um, where is everyone? I thought there was a class tonight.”

I started undoing the wraps around my wrists and hands as I approached her. “We had to switch up our days this week because of the other instructors’ schedules. There’s a class tomorrow, though.”

“Oh.” Disappointment dripped through her small voice, and her brows creased.

Self-defense was therapeutic for some people. It could be a release for those who struggled with taking control of what happened to them, almost like a safety blanket.

From the look of defeat on Katherine’s face at my words, I suspected the same notion was also true for her.

The urge to soothe her was immediate and overwhelming. My mouth opened before my brain fully caught up.

“But you can stay,” I suggested as she turned to leave. “I’m willing to offer a one-on-one session since you missed the last two classes. If you’re interested.”

Katherine opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it and bit down on her bottom lip. She thought about my offer for a few seconds before she released her lip from between her teeth and gave a small nod.

“Okay.” She sounded apprehensive. “As long as you don’t have anywhere else to be.”

I couldn’t stop my smile from taking over.

“I’m all yours, Katherine.”

KATHERINE

The way he said my name made butterflies erupt in my stomach.

That, combined with how close he was while shirtless and smelling all manly, I could barely think straight.

If I thought being in a class with him was distracting, then being alone with him was even more so as he instructed me through the first defense move.

What is wrong with me? He’s just a man. They’re not that special.

After finding out he was a cop, I knew I should have stayed away. It was too risky with my past, but I couldn’t deny the level of safety I felt just by being near him. Maybe it was, in part, being in a new town far away from Adrian’s reach, but a small part of me knew it was Drew, too.

So, after two weeks of contemplating it, I decided there was no harm in attending his self-defense class.

But then I walked in on him working out and completely froze. I could barely breathe. It was like someone had sucked all the air out of the room as I watched the muscles of his bare back shift and bulge with each swing of his arm.

A part of me knew I should have left right then, but it was like my body had a mind of its own and forced me to stay and watch him.

Not like that was a bad thing because, holy hell, the man was in shape.

When Drew caught me watching him, it was more than embarrassing. Especially considering he was my new best friend’s older brother.

Wasn’t he off limits or something? Was that girl code? Hell, if I knew, but I told myself it didn’t hurt to look.

I was disappointed that tonight’s class was canceled.

When Drew offered to teach me one-on-one, I almost said no, but after missing the last two, I needed the kind of release that only self-defense provided.

I needed a way to channel all the pent-up anger and fear into learning how to protect myself.

So, I decided not to let a little crush stop me from doing just that.

Similar to the last class, Drew took me through some of the same self-defense moves and some new ones, too.

He was patient and thorough with each instruction, explaining the benefits to each move and countermove when possible.

He was a great teacher. By the end of the session, I was more relaxed and confident in my abilities than ever.

“Now,” Drew said against the shell of my ear. His arms locked across my upper chest, banding my arms to my sides. “To get out of this hold, I want you to shift your hips back and use your body weight and the momentum to push me away, giving yourself enough room to escape.”

He shifted against my backside, causing his front to rub against my ass. I resisted the urge to arch my back into him and bit my lip to keep in my moan at the feel of his hard body against mine.

“When you’re ready,” Drew whispered. His warm breath fanned across my exposed neck. Goosebumps erupted along my skin as he counted down from three.

Just before he reached one, I took a deep breath and threw my weight forward, pushing my hips back. The move forced him to bend at the waist with a grunt.

Just as he predicted, his hold loosened slightly, and I used the momentum to throw myself to my hands and knees toward the ground. I didn’t think twice before I shifted and rolled away from him.

“You got it!” Drew cheered behind me.

I turned, and he was there with a bright smile on his face and his hand outstretched.

Proud of myself, I returned his grin and let him help me up.

When Drew pulled me to my feet, I gasped, not expecting to come up so quickly, and braced myself against his hard chest.

“Easy there, darlin’.” He steadied me with his large hands on my elbows.

The term of endearment sent a flood of arousal straight to my core, and I rubbed my thighs together as if to tamp down the feeling.

I had been in the South for a few months now and still wasn’t used to how friendly everyone was. I’d been called “honey”, “sweetheart”, even “darling” on occasion.

But the way Drew said it mixed with the deep timbre of his voice was like a gentle caress against my skin. I practically turned to mush from a single word.

And when he gazed into my eyes with a look of hunger on his face, I didn’t have time to question it before he relented to the tension that had built steadily between us and pressed his soft lips to mine.

His mouth moved against mine with a fierceness that surprised me. His kiss was like nothing I had ever felt before—fireworks and all.

He made me feel things I had no right feeling.

And when his tongue pressed against my closed mouth, I didn’t hesitate to open for him. Like a dam had burst, so did my need for him.

Drew took advantage of my eagerness and deepened the kiss. I had no other choice but to relent to the strong, confident strokes of his tongue as my mind went blank with pleasure.

His kiss alone heated me from the inside out, but when his hands roamed the expanse of my body, I was aflame.

A fire could have consumed the room and I would have stayed just like this, wrapped in his muscular arms.

Nothing else mattered but the way he kissed me, as if he reached inside me and touched my very soul with his.

The feeling was all-consuming. I had no other worries or thoughts except for him and this moment. They were all that mattered.

When he broke the kiss and pulled back, my lips tingled as if still recovering from the feel of his mouth on mine.

“Whoa,” I whispered.

Staring into my heavy-lidded, lust-filled eyes, Drew said, “That was …”

Perfect. Dangerously perfect.

He smiled with a look of wonder on his face and leaned in again, but a wave of panic rose inside me.

What the hell am I doing?

I couldn’t get involved with a cop. No matter how nice and handsome and caring and dreamy he was. Not after Adrian . Not after what he did .

I placed my hands on Drew’s chest, and as wrong as it felt, I pushed him away.

“I—” I started at the same time he spoke .

“I’m sorry.” Drew straightened and dropped his hands from my body. The loss of his touch was like being submerged in ice water. He stepped back and ran a hand through his dark, wavy hair. His brows crunched in concern and confusion. “I thought?—”

“I know.” The urge to spill everything right then was strong, but I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t burden him with my shitty past that followed me like a storm cloud.

Adrian’s warning to me after what I witnessed rang through my head at full volume. His fear-inducing words still had an unrelenting grip on me.

“But we can’t,” I tried to explain. “I can’t.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Drew asked, hurt mixed in with his confusion.

“No.” I looked down at my feet, not wanting to look him in the eyes as I lied. “It’s just … Leah is my friend. I don’t want to ruin that by sleeping with her brother. I’m sorry.”

He was silent, so I glanced up, expecting him to be angry or to yell at me for being a tease, but he wasn’t doing any of that.

Instead, there was a small, knowing smile on his face.

“Leah?” Drew asked in amusement.

“Yes …” I said, but it came out more like a question.

What is he doing? Shouldn’t he be angry that I was rejecting him?

Drew chuckled. “Is that the best you could come up with? Because of my sister?”

“I—” Fuck. What do I say?

“Okay,” he said simply. “I’ll accept your bullshit excuse about Leah being the reason I can’t kiss you so hard we’re both drunk with desire.”

He placed one hand on my hip and pulled me until I was flush against him. I sucked in a sharp breath at the feel of his hardened cock through his thin gym shorts .

His mouth hovered beside my ear as he whispered, “And believe me, darlin’, I want to do much more than just kiss you silly.”

I shivered as his hot breath fanned over my chilled skin.

“But I’m not giving up.” Drew pulled back slightly, his viridian eyes holding me captive. “Because whatever this feeling is between us, it feels too right to ignore.”

At a loss for words, I just stood there, not used to a man so confident in his feelings. A man who didn’t lose his temper at me saying or doing something he didn’t like.

This is all too much. I can’t … I need to get out of here.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, stepping back and out of his arms.

I grabbed my bag from where I had left it on the corner of the training mat and practically ran out of the room without looking back.

Because if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from giving in to the one man who could easily unravel everything I had tried so hard to bury deep inside myself.