Did that mean he was washing his hands of her?
“Face me,” Sensei said curtly.
When Amery turned around, she swallowed a stab of longing. The man before her was not the man who’d dripped candle wax on her breasts and scraped it off with his teeth while giving her an explosive orgasm that caused her sex to clench in remembrance. He wore black gi pants and a black tunic-like top. Red lettering in Japanese and red embroidery started at the knot of his black belt and stopped at the fringed ends.
His voice was so low she strained to hear it. “Get into position and show me what you learned last week.”
Fuck me. That bossy tone of his did it for her in a bad way. As soon as she assumed the position, he shook his head.
“Defensive stance. I can knock you over with little effort.” Master Black put two fingers in the center of her chest and pushed.
Amery tumbled back a step. The movement hadn’t hurt anything but her pride. “Why’d you do that?”
“To show you that type of balance has no place here. Again.”
She resituated herself. This time he pushed his shoulder into hers and knocked her back a step.
“You are still fighting the form.”
“I’ve been practicing yoga for eight years. The concept of balance is pretty ingrained.”
“Watch me.” Master Black moved into a squat position. “Push me.”
She did and he immediately lost his balance.
“Watch how a small adjustment changes this into a defensive stance.” He dropped into a semi-squat but turned his right foot in, keeping his shoulders in line. “Now try and push me over.”
Amery placed her hand on his chest and shoved him. He didn’t budge. “Oh. Now I get it.”
“Face forward.”
As soon as she was in position, Master Black slipped in behind her. When his hands curled around her hips, she jumped.
“Relax. Concentrate.”
His heat and strength overwhelmed her. Amery wanted to turn her head and rest her face in the curve of his neck. Feel his pulse against her lips to see if he was as deeply affected by the touch of their bodies as she was.
“Stop.”
I can’t.
Master Black retreated.
Okay. So he wasn’t bothered by being in such close proximity to her.
His voice, so even toned and precise, melted into her ear. “Here you are the student. I am the teacher. That is all we are. Understand?”
She needed to pull herself together. “Yes, Sensei.”
“Return to position.”
The position she wanted to be in? Naked, on her hands and knees on the mat. Ronin would have one hand fisted in her hair, holding her head upright as he fucked her from behind. His lean hips powering into her. His fingers digging into her skin, holding her in place for his sexual blitz on all her senses.
Amery could feel the give of the mat beneath her knees. She could hear the slap of his groin against the flesh of her ass as he thrust into her. Would Ronin come in silence? Would he roar?
Rough-skinned hands latched on to her chin, forcing her head up to meet his gaze. The dark pools of his eyes held no amusement. “Were my expectations unclear?”
“No, Master Black.”
“Resume the position.”
She moved her feet and threw her shoulders back. He pushed her, but she didn’t wobble as easily.
“Better. Now find the stance again.”
Amery shook it off and found the place between balance and aggression. He couldn’t knock her over, but he came up behind her and put her in a headlock. Her hands went up to claw at his arm.
“Remember the training,” he suggested as he calmly tried to choke the life out of her.
Fuck, fuck, fuck bounced in her brain. Think, Amery. She kicked out behind her and connected with his knee. That caused him to loosen the hold.
But he didn’t let go, which meant she still didn’t have it right.
She reached behind her and cupped his groin. His cock was completely hard. In class.
“Let go,” he said in that deadly quiet, yet demanding tone.
Feeling bold, she managed to rasp out, “Maybe you should show me how you get out of this hold.”
In hindsight, she probably deserved to get thrown on her ass.
One second she’d had a loose hold on his groin; the next he’d twisted her arm behind her back, knocked her to her knees, and placed his elbow on the base of her neck while pushing her face into the mat.
Ninja skills: 1.
Amery: 0.
The position didn’t hurt anything but her pride. Although the man had her pinned down—when had he grown an additional pair of arms?—he still had the flexibility to put his mouth on her ear. “Smart responses will always get you in trouble. A challenge will always get answered. Understand?”
“Yes, Sensei.”
He released her and said, “Stand.”
Amery didn’t bother to look around and see if anyone was watching them. Being dumb enough to taunt Master Black was humiliating enough.
Then the man wrapped his arm around her neck again. “Free yourself.”
She raised her arms and grabbed two handfuls of his hair. Before she could pull hard, he let her go.
“That wouldn’t work if I were a bald man.”
She faced him. “Isn’t self-defense all about adapting? I would’ve tried another move on a bald guy.”
“Show me.”
Dammit. She’d fallen right into that one.
His muscled arm snaked around her throat. This time she reached for his ears, intending to tear them off his head, but he dodged her. Same thing when she attempted to scratch his face or gouge at his eyes.
“Think.”
“There isn’t an automatic response for me yet, like there is for you,” she choked out. “This is only the second class. I don’t think I’ve even learned some of the maneuvers you expect me to know.”
“Then next class you’d better pay closer attention because there will be a test afterward.”
Yippee.
Master Black dropped his arm and stood in front of her, blocking her from the room. “I will push you, Amery, because I have a personal interest in your safety.”
Sandan Zach clapped his hands and said, “Everyone line up.”
Sensei offered her a bow and disappeared around the corner.
And she still found it really hard to concentrate for the remainder of class even when he wasn’t in the room.
AFTER class, Molly was quieter than usual. Amery should’ve let it go, but that wasn’t her way. “Something wrong?”
Molly whirled on her. “How is it fair that you get Sensei Black’s personal attention? I was the one who was traumatized after being attacked by a homeless thug, not you. I’m the one who needs to know how to defend myself. But this class is just like everything else in my life.”
“What do you mean like everything else in your life?”
“Forget it.”
Count to ten. “No, Molly, you started it. Tell me.”
“You won’t understand. You’re so pretty that everyone is drawn to you. And it’s stupid for me to be jealous of the attention you’re getting from Master Black, because even if you weren’t there, he wouldn’t be focusing that attention on me. I don’t shine like you do. I’m just a bland blob that everyone overlooks.”
Amery was shocked and a little pissed off by this conversation. “Why did you ask me to attend this class with you?”
“Because I didn’t want to go by myself.”
“So by having me there as your crutch, you don’t have to mingle with other students, you don’t have to step out of your comfort zone. That’s what this all boils down to, Molly.”
“No, it boils down to I’m a freak who’s having a hard time making friends here. Then it seems I’ve been on the outside looking in my whole life.”